Gloop dynamics

Tonight saw the return of Joe, after a couple of weeks away. Joe and I arrived at Steve and Anja’s, raring to go. But Steve was still eating and no one else was there yet. Except Anja, of course, who was busy trying to placate Luther, who was crying about something. Perhaps he’d just found out he couldn’t join in with board games.

Slowly, the gang arrived, left for chips and then arrived again, and meanwhile while of us (me, Joe, Steve and Adam) played Augustus. A roman-themed game where tiles are drawn from a bag and its symbol matches (or may not) on a tile you’ve got in front of you. It is, effectively, Roman Bingo (or Bingus, as I quipped).

Steve flew into an early lead and stayed there, picking up bonuses left right and centre which gave him a commanding win over the other three. Adam’s dreams of a perfect five wins in a row stood no chance against this.

Steve 61
Joe 48
Adam 43
Andrew 33

I can’t say I was hugely convinced. I felt like I was watching the game being played, rather than being part of it. Plus, the game suffered from a lot of interruptions and so perhaps lost a lot of flow. It’s supposed to be a light half hour game, but we managed to stretch it out.

Now, with Luther showing no signs of giving up, and Sam and Hannah having arrived (with exciting gossip about Adam having categorised all the games he's played since GNN began), we went for a quick game we could play until Anja got the baby off to sleep. We chose 7 Wonders. It’s a bit of a luck-fest with six, but at least we all knew it and could get it started quickly. It was a high scoring, quick-fire game.

Steve went into Sciences in a big way, and I was best soldier, but only because those were the cards handed to me at the end of the game. Hannah kept “accidentally” building armies and Joe, once again, barely had any materials of his own. Steve ruined Adam’s game when he built a last minute army, without seeing the armies perched on Adam’s wonder. Instead of a five-point bonus for one of them, they cancelled each other out. Sam scored in every category (except Science) and that is how the game is meant to be played.

Sam 63
Steve 53
Joe 50
Hannah 49
Adam 48
Andrew 45

Then Anja arrived and Hannah bowed out of the next game, and we split into two groups. Kingdom Builder was the attraction on one table, and it was enticing enough that it looked like there’d be four on that table, while Sam and I played out a rematch on Lords of Waterdeep. But Steve joined us, and so the three of use strode, side by side, down the quaint medieval streets of Waterdeep, recruiting clerics and calling them wizards by accident, before setting off on our quests: studying arches, placating statues and doing things to undermountains.

It was another close game, and as round six began, we were all next to each other on the score track. In the end, though, Steve had enough in reserve to push through to the end.

Steve 193
Sam 186
Andrew 165

Hopefully, someone from the other table will tell us how Kingdom Builder went. The scores were

Adam 57
Anja 50
Joe 48

Anja and Joe rounded off the evening with a little Augustus: Joe 74, Anja 61. A score that Joe graciously called “not a whitewash.”

On the form table, Steve loses three four-pointers and jumps to the head of the queue. Three rivals stay in close contention, though, looking over his shoulder and tutting.

						Points
Steve	1	2	1	1	3	9
Sam	2	1	3	2	2	10
Anja	2	3	1	1	3	10
Joe	3	3	2	1	1	10
Adam	1	5	3	1	2	12
Jon	2	1	2	3	5	13
Hannah	4	5	2	1	4	16
Quentin	2	2	3	5	5	18
Andrew	3	6	4	2	3	18
Will	3	3	5	5	5	21

But will we ever find out the secrets of Adam's "Will Never Play Again" list?