The last few weeks have been filled with some great gaming for me, despite being incredibly busy at work! I got to play a game recently featured on Tabletop for the first time, a few classics, some all-time favorites, and a game that I have been looking forward to for a very, very long time! Here are a few of my gaming adventures from the very recent past!

The Jester’s Court

Ultimate Werewolf

My very good friends and owners of my FLGS, Sean and Trudy, asked if I’d be interested in helping out during a game night for a local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization called Partners. It was my day off so naturally I told them I’d be happy to!

The kids, their mentors and family/friends showed up to the store and we decided to ease them into modern board games, so we started with a large group of Ultimate Werewolf with all 20 or so people in one game. We improvised a few rules in order for the game to not take up the entire 3 hours set aside for the event, and I was asked to moderate the group. I have always enjoyed Werewolf and so I said I would. The final count of players was 22, and that was the largest group I had ever moderated during a game. We decided to keep it simple and only kept the Villagers, Werewolves, the Seer, and the Village Idiot in the game, nixing the more complicated roles.

Outcome – Those pesky werewolves managed to edge out the victory, with the remaining players’ final choice deciding the outcome. Had they chosen a werewolf the Villagers would have one, but alas, they were all eaten in the end!

Nevermore

I purchased Nevermore based simply on the artwork on the box and the fact that The Raven is pretty much the only piece of poetry I have ever enjoyed. I read the rules and found them to be a little confusing and so I shelved it for a few weeks and stuck with proven favorites instead, but its time had come and so we busted out. Sergio joined two of my sons and myself for the inaugural game, and we had a blast! We made some mistakes but we laughed a lot at each others’ confusion.

By the time the first game had ended we had pretty much figured it out, and so we gave it a second go; it was even more fun. The game features drafting (I LOVE drafting) and “take that” mechanics where players can cast spells and attack one another. During the second game I was killed by that lousy rascal, Sergio, but it turned out to be a good thing. I was reborn as an evil raven and I got to peck the other players and generally cause mischief (since you’re invincible when in raven form). I never managed to turn back into human form, which prevented me from winning the second game, but I sure had fun being a trouble making bird!

Outcome –  I won the first game simply due to the fact that I was the only one of the four of us to read the rulebook. During the second game my son, Blake, won, but I had a lot of fun as an undying force of chaos!

Sergio’s House

Sushi Go!

I religiously watch Tabletop and the show was my first encounter with Sushi Go! I had seen it many times in the past and since A. I don’t like sushi, and B. the game looks childish, I had avoided it and not given it a chance. What an absolute mistake! The game is super easy to setup, quick, and can be taught to a new player in a matter of minutes. At Sergio’s house we tried it out for the first time and had a blast!

The game features a drafting mechanic at its core (did I mention I LOVE drafting?) and super cute artwork! While the later might not appeal to some, the game play more than makes up for it. Players attempt to collect sets, block others from completing their sets, plan for the end game, and attempt to be aware of all the cards being passed around! If you have kids, this is a great card game to play with them. If you don’t have kids, it’s still a great game to have in your collection!

Outcome – I was undefeated (that first night) with 3 victories! I was later stomped into the ground in Concept and Dixit, so the victories were short lived!

Spyfall

Hi there, Spyfall. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet/play you…

So I finally got my copy of Spyfall (FINALLY!) and it was so worth the wait. Sergio, his nephew and his sister’s boyfriend all joined me for my first playing of this game that I had anticipated for SO long! We had a blast! The game elicits a lot of laughs, and setup is an absolute breeze! The game takes seconds to setup (literally) and can be taught in only a short time longer. Top if off with universal appeal and this game is a real winner!

We played multiple round (apx. 5-8 minutes each) at Sergio’s house and then took it to The Jester’s Court the following night. Several of my gaming friend joined us for a maximum player size of 8, and we had an incredible amount of fun! The game is certainly worth playing with 4 or 5 people, but even better with 8! It makes hiding as the spy a little easier with more people because the questions are more evenly dispersed (players take turns asking other players questions to weed out the spy, who has to try and figure out the location), and multiple suspects makes for more accusations and zaniness!

Outcome – Buy Spyfall. Just do it.