Coffee Before Murder

This was Emily's last day in town. We started the morning with more games. Emily picked out Glen More. It was a pretty tight game with a very short 3rd round. I won by a single point. We then wedged in another game.

Viva Java: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game 1-4 players

Another kickstarter I chipped into. It seemed like and interesting spin on the Yahtzee mechanic. You are each competing coffee companies. On a player's turn, they roll 5 coffee dice (the faces have different color coffee beans and pips to indicate value), but that is it. No re-rolls or anything. At least not yet. Depending on how you roll, you can either make a blend or put dice towards research. If you make a rainbow blend (5 different colors), you score points and at the start of every one of your turns as long as someone doesn't steal it from you. If you make a signature blend (series of common color beans), you place your dice on the coaster meaning on your next turn you just score points and don't roll. The blend will degrade (dice get removed), making it easier for other players to beat. Research, on the other hand, is what makes this game interesting. You can put research towards one color of bean. Each bean will give you a power or double power when you get enough research. So, for example, you can get re-rolls if you put 2 research into white. The other tracks could have you manipulate the dice or get you extra dice for your next turn. If you put enough research into a track, you score extra points for it, but loose all the powers gained from it. Once a player reaches 21 points, they win.

I started my game gaining points from blends. Emily did mostly research. I was about 6 points from winning when Emily jumped into action and closed a number of her research paths and closed the gap. My engine was too slow to do anything and she won.
I really like this game. I've only added the extra powers 1 or 2 times. I really want to play this one more to really test the limits.

We took a break to get food, get a bag for Emily, and carve pumpkins. Once we cleaned up, we played Tokaido. Emily had played this before, but was new to the expansion. I, like the last game, started with a strong lead, but Emily was building it all up for the end. She had gotten every calligraphy and trounced me by about 10 or 12 points.
We followed this with another game of Viva Java. I made sure not to make the same mistake as last time, which was to my benefit. I was crowned the victor finally.
We took another break to pick up Liz and go to bowling. Once back, Emily was eager to help me knock one more game off my list.

Clue 2-6 players
Everyone seems to roll their eyes when they hear the mere mention of this game. It's not great, I'll give them that, but it's one of the better game from my early childhood. It's all about logic instead of a random card draw or die roll. You can even bluff. Hell, you should bluff if you want to play well. I have the Simpsons version. It's the same but with new characters, weapons, and rooms.

Liz joined in for this game. I kind of guilted her into it and I don't feel bad about it. The game is really short and isn't that much work. I had a good idea of the solution, but couldn't get to the room in time before Emily decreed her suspicion.

The major flaw of this game is the die. Since you must be in the correct room to make an accusation, getting to the correct room is so hard. I've heard that there are better implementations of this game, but I've never really looked into it. I know there much better mystery games: Witness and Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective.

Tally: 133/175  Bonus: 31/50