Josh SOG session. 7-player Falling, 4-player Java, 2-player Dvonn, 2-player Magic: the Gathering.
Considering that we, as a policy, don't like the games the other likes, Chris and I had a vicious verbal battle over which games would be played. In the end, I whimpered away to the kid's table to play my choice of games because Josh, in spite of being the fine host that he is, wanted to play El Grande.
Players were Gary, Josh, Chip, Lewis, Don, Chris, myself. New players to the game were: Gary, Chip, Lewis, Don, Chris, myself. Chip had the first turn.
We spent 3 minutes going over the rules.
This is a quick, real-time card game. Basically, the dealer flips a card to each player face-up. Players use one hand to take their top-most card and play it on another player or themselves, to push a card, split their hand, skip their turn and to get another card. The dealer sweeps away a card played on a player when he deals them a card, and the mayhem continues.
The theme is that all players are falling to the ground. The last cards in the dealer's deck are ground cards. The last player to be dealt a ground card wins.
We played two games. Josh was acting the dealer, and dealt out cards slowly and evenly so we could get into the game.
We all had fun playing the game while waiting for Mark to arrive. It's a good multi-player filler.
Game lasted 5 minutes per game. Final scores were:
Click here to buy Falling at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Falling at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Lewis, Don, Chip, myself. New players to the game were: Lewis, Don, Chip. I had the first turn.
We spent 15 minutes going over the rules.
I gave everyone my strategy sheet so that they'd have a good idea of how to play well.
Everyone made an effort to get the highest rank at 10 point palaces, so things got fairly crowded. And Don silently concentrated on building up his score, though he was pretty much last place during the game, until the end.
Players were surprised that final scoring can practically double the score to that point.
Overall, I think people found it an exhausting brain-burner. Normally, I think that's a good thing, but this crowd didn't seem to think so.
Caption: Lewis, Don and Chip pose happily for the camera, before clutching their brains painfully over a game of Java.
Game lasted 111 minutes. Final scores were:
What an aweful memory I have. Chip adds the following:
Before I forget, I had a quick note on your last session report. According to my notes (and vague recollection), Don was in first place for most of Java, while Lewis was in lagging behind (although he eventually won). Don was at at least 3 ahead of everyone before final scoring. If it'll help, I have the pre-final scoring scores as: Vitas*:43 Lewis*:46 Don :49 Chip :43 * As you started the game, you and Lewis had one extra turn before final scoring.
Click here to buy Java at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Java at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Chip, myself. Chip had the first turn.
We played three games of Dvonn. Chip was greedy at first, but when I throttled him, he took a cautious strategy after that.
Overall, Chip considers this a brain-burner, like Java, but not as long.
Caption: Chip realizes (during the first game) he has no hope in this game of Dvonn.
Game lasted 10 minutes per game. Final scores were:
Click here to buy Dvonn at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Dvonn at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Chip and myself. Chip won the toss of the coin and went first.
Chip brought a couple decks to try out, including a black deck just for me. He was able to set himself up with armadillo cloaks to gain more and more life as he attacked my inadequate defenses. All I can say is, I have to stop sulking about my lost Magic decks, and start creating new ones, so when I get beat, at least I'll be beat on my own terms.
Game lasted 32 minutes. Final score:
Click here for Chip's take on the session.
