The one about games nights
Well, I had my second games night last night, so I guess I'll give an update on how they're going.
Last week, I got most of the regulars, plus a few people I haven't seen in a long time. No one was on time; I was hanging out with Stephanie until 8PM when more people finally showed up (I invited them all for 7PM). Once there was a sizable number of people here, I started off with Apples to Apples since it was so easy to explain, and is good for semi-large groups. It went over well as usual, but it's easy to get bored of it if you play it too much, and most of the people there had played it a few days prior.
After that, I tried to live my dream of playing Werewolf. There were 8 of us, so that meants 7 playing with me moderating. The first game was a bit haphazard since the only way to really learn the game is to play it. Grant showed uppartway through the first game, so the next game had 8 players. Chanel graciously took over moderating so I could play. Both games were really short, and as a result I'm going to say that Werewolf is no good until you get at least 10 people. 9 players means that there will be at least three votes before the werewolves can win. With only two votes, the werewolves have it way too easy. Luckily, I was able to convince most of the people there to try again when we have more people rather than giving up on the game after a bad introduction.
When we were down to seven people after that game, we broke out Bohnanza. I didn't read the rules very carefully and we didn't play correctly (you are supposed to change some stuff when 6 or 7 people play), but everyone enjoyed it quite a bit. I like it too, but I always get so impatient in trading games. This game ended at nearly 11, so everyone left after that.
Last night, I had pretty much the same crew, except that Veebs and Jason were able to make it. As I was waiting for people to trickle in, I played a game of Crib with Grant (he won), and then High Society with four and then five people. All of my friends in Waterloo hated this game upon first playing it, but it went over really well. It can be a pretty intense game at times, and I had a really good time playing it. Perhaps it helped that I explained the rules well this time, though it could just be that I was playing with the right people.
Once the second game finished, there were nine of us and I recommended we split up into different tables. I agreed to play Settlers of Catan with Grant, Veebs, and J, while everyone else said they wanted to play Bang and Bohnanza. So I first gave them a crash course in Bang. I think that the game is a bit dry when you play with all the slightly more confusing cards stripped out, but it's hard to play if you have to go to a reference sheet every five minutes. Everyone at that table had already played Bohnanza the week before, so I didn't need to worry about teaching them that. I left them to their devices, and I went to teach Catan to the others.
After a Catan tutorial, we were on our way. Everyone made quite a bit of use out of ports the entire game. It was overall a pretty friendly game. No one was really left behind, since at the end of the game, everyone was near 7 or 8 points. I've heard it's a good rule of thumb to not win any game that you're trying to teach anyone, but the dice really seemed to be coming up my way and I won (it was also getting sort of late, so I didn't want to try to wait around for someone else to win). It also went over well with everyone who played it (how could you not like Catan?), so I'm sure it'll see some playtime in the future.
Next week I'd like to get Ticket to Ride on the table, and I'm sure that at least a few games will get requested. I'm trying to avoid playing the same games week after week so that they don't get stale, so I hope I can get some new games out next week. I'm also hoping to get a bit of a better turnout. I'd still like to get a 10 or 12 player game of werewolf going, and I'd like to play in a seven player game of Bang myself so I can play with all the cards in the deck.
Wednesday is the worst day of the week cause it's as far away from games night as you can get.
Listening to... Hopesfall - April Left With Silence
Link of the moment... Funny dubbed scene from LotR
Last week, I got most of the regulars, plus a few people I haven't seen in a long time. No one was on time; I was hanging out with Stephanie until 8PM when more people finally showed up (I invited them all for 7PM). Once there was a sizable number of people here, I started off with Apples to Apples since it was so easy to explain, and is good for semi-large groups. It went over well as usual, but it's easy to get bored of it if you play it too much, and most of the people there had played it a few days prior.
After that, I tried to live my dream of playing Werewolf. There were 8 of us, so that meants 7 playing with me moderating. The first game was a bit haphazard since the only way to really learn the game is to play it. Grant showed uppartway through the first game, so the next game had 8 players. Chanel graciously took over moderating so I could play. Both games were really short, and as a result I'm going to say that Werewolf is no good until you get at least 10 people. 9 players means that there will be at least three votes before the werewolves can win. With only two votes, the werewolves have it way too easy. Luckily, I was able to convince most of the people there to try again when we have more people rather than giving up on the game after a bad introduction.
When we were down to seven people after that game, we broke out Bohnanza. I didn't read the rules very carefully and we didn't play correctly (you are supposed to change some stuff when 6 or 7 people play), but everyone enjoyed it quite a bit. I like it too, but I always get so impatient in trading games. This game ended at nearly 11, so everyone left after that.
Last night, I had pretty much the same crew, except that Veebs and Jason were able to make it. As I was waiting for people to trickle in, I played a game of Crib with Grant (he won), and then High Society with four and then five people. All of my friends in Waterloo hated this game upon first playing it, but it went over really well. It can be a pretty intense game at times, and I had a really good time playing it. Perhaps it helped that I explained the rules well this time, though it could just be that I was playing with the right people.
Once the second game finished, there were nine of us and I recommended we split up into different tables. I agreed to play Settlers of Catan with Grant, Veebs, and J, while everyone else said they wanted to play Bang and Bohnanza. So I first gave them a crash course in Bang. I think that the game is a bit dry when you play with all the slightly more confusing cards stripped out, but it's hard to play if you have to go to a reference sheet every five minutes. Everyone at that table had already played Bohnanza the week before, so I didn't need to worry about teaching them that. I left them to their devices, and I went to teach Catan to the others.
After a Catan tutorial, we were on our way. Everyone made quite a bit of use out of ports the entire game. It was overall a pretty friendly game. No one was really left behind, since at the end of the game, everyone was near 7 or 8 points. I've heard it's a good rule of thumb to not win any game that you're trying to teach anyone, but the dice really seemed to be coming up my way and I won (it was also getting sort of late, so I didn't want to try to wait around for someone else to win). It also went over well with everyone who played it (how could you not like Catan?), so I'm sure it'll see some playtime in the future.
Next week I'd like to get Ticket to Ride on the table, and I'm sure that at least a few games will get requested. I'm trying to avoid playing the same games week after week so that they don't get stale, so I hope I can get some new games out next week. I'm also hoping to get a bit of a better turnout. I'd still like to get a 10 or 12 player game of werewolf going, and I'd like to play in a seven player game of Bang myself so I can play with all the cards in the deck.
Wednesday is the worst day of the week cause it's as far away from games night as you can get.
Listening to... Hopesfall - April Left With Silence
Link of the moment... Funny dubbed scene from LotR
Labels: apples to apples, bang, board games, bohnanza, games night, high society, settlers of catan, werewolf
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home