Tuesday 24 July 2012

Guten Tag, Hab unt Gut

Perhaps jealous of our nine-hour game binge this weekend, Joe suggested we meet at his place for a little pre-games night gaming. Perhaps unsatisfied by our nine-hour game binge this weekend, Sam and I agreed.

It was just the three of us. We began with Hab unt Gut, a game set the exciting world of the German stock exchange. In this game, one has to buy and sell shares to make the most money, but beware! Are you bewaring? Good, because you also have to donate money to the church. The player who donates least automatically loses, no matter how much money they have. Of course, donating to the church lessens your overall score, so it's a delicate balancing act between cold-hearted greed and trying to buy your way into heaven.

In the end, Joe miscalculated how much he needed to donate and game in last, giving Sam and I first and second respectively.

Sam 655
Andrew 525
Joe OUT! (but for the record, he had 1,160)

Next to the table was Manila. Another game involving the value of goods, but this is more to do with the black market and a bit of pirating. At one point Joe was almost broke and only had two shares in front of him. It looked like another bleak evening for this season's kicking boy.

But then, a miracle occurred! Joe's pirates got hold of a ship and netted him a handsome return. Suddenly, he was Mr Moneybags, and Sam and I were the ones facing a stint in the poorhouse. We never recovered from that, and Joe made his advantage count, running out as the winner in a close game.

Joe 77
Sam 72
Andrew 68

The night was still young (about half past ten) so a quick game of No Thanks was suggested. This game of bluff, risk-taking, and counting is always a favourite.

I was a bit thrown by Sam and Joe making noises of disgust whenever I sent a card I wanted round the table to pick up more chips. They seemed to think it was ungentlemanly. Not that it made much difference.

Joe 37
Andrew 57
Sam 62

We went for one more game of No Thanks, and the pattern was pretty much repeated. Cards we wanted never turned up or were taken by other players. 32, especially, was noted for it's absence in both games. Especially by Sam.

Joe 59
Andrew 75
Sam 84

A sterling performance by Joe, hurling himself up the form table.

Points
Adam1 1 2 1 1 6
Andrew22323 9
Joe 11134 10
Hannah 2 1 2 3 2 10
Steve 1 2 1 2 511
Sam 33213 12
Anja 2 2 1 4 514

3 comments:

  1. Brilliant summary of Hab and Gut, Andrew.

    Well played Joe, who really pushed the Manila envelope, whereas I played more by the letter.

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  2. Nice.

    Yes, a lovely evening all round. Very interesting, Hab and Gut - I'm trying to remember what everyone's donations were; yours were both in the seven hundreds (or was that just for the second round?), Mine were 500-odd total. Donations in the second half are going to be much bigger, as Sam pointed out, since some of the shares will have soared. So it would be canny to drive those down in the last two turns, if the opportunity was there. I have a feeling 4 players might be the sweet spot - we almost had too much information between us.

    I am amazed at the capacity for comebacks in Manila - I was silently cursing it for being deeply unforgiving, until my luck changed. Then I forgave it. I was surprised when I won, which is always nice. It was such a close finish, had I bought a share on that last turn I'm not sure I would have done it.

    Creature ravaged Manila (6)

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