Panickin' Skywalker

This week's regular gaming forum was held at Adam's place, minus Hannah who was away for work. But here for play were Katy, Sam , Joe, Ian, Martin, Andy and myself. There was apple crumble on offer once we had arrived and Adam looked quite relieved we he found out that we hadn't finished the lot before he'd got his son to bed.

But what to play? Andy had bought plenty of new options, including a still-shrinkwrapped Stefan Feld game. But Adam's eye was caught by Sam's copy of The Networks and Joe had bought the betting and racing game Down Force which got enough approval to be set up.

Sam, Adam and I played The Networks on the blue coffee table. It was new to me but the rules aren't complicated although it certainly looks baffling to the uninitiated. Before long, I was scheduling prime time entertainment for the masses along with the best of them.

I began the game, which meant Adam had last choice in the first round. This was considered a disadvantage when it was last played, so I thought it was a fair method of levelling the playing field against the might of Adam.

I was keeping pace with the other two quite happily throughout and made sure I was always cash-rich so I was never short of choices. Adam, though, made no money from his TV network until halfway through the game, and he was living hand to mouth until the end.

This lack of money almost blew up in his face in the last round when he forgot that he couldn't pay for his programming. He sheepishly changed a recent decision from Get Viewers to Get Money to avoid the hit on victory points he'd receive.

He might have still won, though, as he proved the last-player disadvantage to be an illusion.

Adam 142
Sam 125, plus money tie breaker
Andrew 125

I enjoyed it a lot and am keen to play again. With just three players, we'd shaved a full hour off the playing time of the previous four player game.

On the big table Down Force had ended. I paid it little attention, apart from the times when I took a photo, but Andy came out a clear winner, which makes sense since I remember him being good at Winners' Circle, too. No idea what happened to Joe.

Andy 24
Martin 19
Katy 15
Ian 11
Joe 7

So while we on the coffee table were still haggling over fading stars and dodgy TV formats, they played Hanabi (after Andy didn’t seemed hugely excited by the offer of Bemused, with the enticing slogan “we’re pretty sure you’ll hate it”). I felt a bit jealous when I saw this. I think it was Katy's first game, but I could be wrong about that.

They set about putting on a fireworks display and, although they didn't complete it and Katy often complained that she knew nothing about her cards, they got 20 points (out of 25) which, according to the German rules, was "Gut" and only one point off "Sehr Gut." Well done!

However, the two tables were completely out of sync. While they played Hana-bi, we started on Finca. Sam persuaded Adam to play it by suggesting it was exactly the kind of game that he was good at.

The last time Sam and I played it, we hid the bonus tile at the bottom of the pile of delivery tiles. This time, we didn't, instead preferring the official rules. We also didn't use the Special Ability tiles. As we're all still newbies, there doesn't seem much point. The game is already plenty complicated enough.

It was a tough game. I think both Sam and I split our tactics between trying to stop Adam and trying to not be last. Sam did that better than me, as his original prediction regarding Adam's suitability proved bang on the money.

Adam 53
Sam 39
Andrew 35

Another game I'm keen to play again. On reflection, I think three players might be the sweet spot: two players and it's too predictable; four players and it's too random. Just my impression, though.

While Finca was reminding us of Adam's immense AlphaGo-style ability at reading a game, The five on the other table were starting on a game of Kribbeln. In this game, Martin went very high on his Kribbeln right from the start, and came to regret it. Joe, though, stormed back with almost a clean sweep of round three after a poor opening. Ian, meanwhile, lived up to his reputation as Le Coq Blocquer when he consistently tied with Katy, taking points from her whenever he did.

Kribbeln: not a very photogenic game

Joe 27
Andy 25
Ian 22
Katy 22
Martin 18

Now we had all, finally, ended at the same time. There was a brief reshuffling of tables, with Joe, Sam, Martin and Katy deciding to save the Earth with Flipships. Andy, Adam, Ian and I went for the more prosiac option of real estate gaming with For Sale. It was an odd game for most of us who are used to the Italian edition, with it’s different number spread. Adam, though, had no difficulties in that respect.

Adam 65
Andy 55
Andrew 50
Ian 49

The invasion of Earth was still underway, but we ignored the possible extinction of the human race and chose No Thanks.

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and the suspicion that someone hasn’t shuffled the No Thanks deck properly. In today’s game, we began with a glut of cards in the twenties. I went for high twenties and got lucky. Adam and Ian fought over mid-to-low twenties and got in each others’ way. Andy went for mostly low cards, but got stung by a lone 30+ card.

Andrew 24
Andy 31
Ian 54
Adam 57

We had finished just as Flipships was entering its final round. By now Katy’s unerring accuracy had earned her the nickname Red Leader One. But despite the four of them wiping out the horde of alien fighters, the Mothership was still on four hit points, just down from six at the start of the game. So it was just a case of each player hitting the mothership once in the final round, and they’d win the game.

Martin went first. He hit it once, sticking to the plan. Sam was up next, but didn’t get a hit. Then Katy, who struck twice. Back on track!

All our hopes were with Joe. This genial guy, famous for his flicking issues with Ascending Empires, now had to save the planet. He felt the pressure acutely, all the more so since now we had to whisper since Adam was upstairs putting his son on the toilet. (It was now that Ian said the words which are now the blog article’s title.)

He flicked high and long. He flicked high and short. He veered far off course. He came so close. But not one ship found its target. The end of the world. A disaster.

We're all dead

The end of the evening, too. Luckily this evening was anything but a disaster. Thanks for hosting, Adam. And thanks for playing, everyone else.