Beaten by a 7 year old

An article by Don Quixote

Last night was game night and we had a great turn out considering we haven’t had one in a long time. Laura & Jeremy Carnahan showed up as first time guests as well as Mark & Ellen (7) Robbins. Also attending last nights get together was Mr. Jon Adam, Michelle (well, she lives there so she had no choice really) and Bobby Rothrock.

The first game on the table was a German classic called: Rette Sich Wer Kann (Save yourself who can, or Everyman for himself or Lifeboat). In this clever game with no cards, no dice, you do your best to get as many of your crew to shore as the main ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Each turn a lifeboat springs a leak. If there are enough open slots for the leak to sit in, nothing happens. If not, then the members of the boat have to vote who gets tossed out, the majority rules (with one exception). At any time there are more leaks in the boat than people, the boat sinks. Next everyone votes which boat moves closer to shore, again majority rules (with one exception). Lastly everyone has to jump out of one boat and swim to a new one in hopes of improving their lot, if they cannot swim to a new boat, then badness befalls them and they don’t make it to shore. The one expection to every voting rule is that everyone has 3 captain chips. If you vote captain, you get to make the decision regardless of whateverone has chosen… that is of course if no one else has chosen captain as well. When that happens, you both loose your chip and your votes don’t count. After all the teams were picked, Bobby arrived from his second job so I left Michelle to manage team purple and played some two player games with Bobby.

Things seemed to go well over at the Lifeboat table, lots of laugher, bribing, and a good time seemed to be had by all. In the end, I gather that Ellen won (after all, who would sink the boat of a 7 year old). While all that voting was going on, Bobby and I turned our attention to trying out Duell. Duell is a card game that simulates the feel of fencing. On your turn you play a card and do one of three things: Move Forward, move backward or Attack (STAB! as Ellen would say). It’s really that simple as you dance back and forth looking for the right opening. At first it seemed like the game would be a run away as I took a quick lead on Bobby, but he quickly turned things around with some clever card play. In the end it came down to the final round which Bobby won 5 to 4. We also busted out HIVE, which is on the top of my two player game list and had at it. Without going into the messy details, Bobby didn’t have a good time. Looks like he needs some more practice at www.hivemania.com.

After Lifeboat, Laura and Jeremy decided it was time to call it a night and so they took off. The rest of us decided that play a game of Ticket to Ride. Ticket to Ride is a clever game from Alan Moon where you have tickets that list various cities on it and it’s your job to connect them. The farther apart the cities are the more points your tickets are worth. Bobby decided to sit out and watch since he had a “staff” meeting at 9:00. I explained the rules to every one (On your turn you can do one of three things, take up to two card [only one if you take a wild card], claim a route [playing matching cards to the route on the board], or take more tickets [you take 3 and you have to keep at least one, though you can keep all 3]). I was a little concerned if Ellen would be able to get it, I mean after all she was only 7, but she said she understood and a way we went.

Let me tell you that I haven’t had this much fun playing board games in a while. Ellen was a TOTAL RIOT (Ellen you are welcome at game night any time – though we’ll do our best to get you to bed at a decent time). She fit right in with our group (which might tell you something about our group), she was cracking jokes, talking trash, and even picked up on the popular game night catch phrase, “Cures you Bob! [Closed fist shaking included]. It was a great time. And in the end, with only a little help at the end (which wasn’t really help at all) from her Dad, Ellen tied for 1st with 110 points (with her dad).

It was a great time, and I certainly cannot wait for the next one. A great time was had by all and laughs all around thanks to the wonderful demeanor of very special 7 year old (that and the one can of Pop she had).

Well see you all next time – which should be every other Monday.