You don’t Hab to be Gut to work here

This Monday's gaming began in confusion, with Sam texting thirty minutes before we were due to begin that he wasn't feeling well, and he'd have to cancel. Then, just five minutes later he texted again saying that he'd battle through, and we should come as planned. This meant I was walking back and forth along Zetland Road, checking my phone for updates.

Sam had initially planned on getting a few new games to the table, but in his slightly groggy state, he asked that we stick to old familiars. And so we began with 7 Wonders, a game so familiar that I barely need to describe it.

Andy went for sciences and guilds, and I tried to get lots of money by getting a monopoly on the refined materials. Sam went for war but Ian found himself in a pickle, coming into the final round with almost no money. My last-minute attempt to overthrow Sam's military empire fell short and Andy took the win by copying one of my guilds.

Andy 54
Sam 50
Andrew 45
Ian 39

Then we play Hab & Gut. It was new to Ian, so we went through the rules for him, coming up with a little variant of our own. Each player gets to choose which cards dealt to them go on which racks. This allows you to control who get to see the cards you hold. It added a little strategic something, and may become a GNN house rule if others try it and like it.

Sam's choice of cards he wanted to share with me.

As for the game itself, black and red were expensive, white collapsed and yellow barely moved at all. Just like the real thing! Sam was over-confident in his donations. He’d made the most donations after round one, with 300 whatever they are (marks, I suppose). At the time Ian had pledged only 80. But in the final count, Ian had suddenly seen the light. He donated 405. Sam had only given 105 in the final round, making him the least pious among us and, therefore, out. His score would have been an impressive 850.

Andrew 580
Andy 340
Ian 245
Sam OUT!

We had half an hour remaining, so for our last game we chose Love Letter. Andy and I shot off into a 2-2-0-0 lead. Sam and Ian pegged us back to 2-2-1-1, until the inevitable happened and Andy won his third round. A game with very few successful guesses when people played Guard cards. Unless I was the King, in which case they usually got me.

Andy 3
Andrew 2
Sam 1
Ian 1

A lovely end to the evening. And Sam made it through to the end without falling asleep or throwing up, which is surely the cherry on the cake.