Bamboo-zled

We did a little pre-shopping and a little actually shopping. Later, we met up with Becky and Carl,
Becky had Ticket to Ride: Europe set up. They loved the game so much they finally bought a copy of their own. Carl was out doing yard work, so We played a 3-player game. It was a close game for me and Liz. Had Liz finished he last ticket, she would have had the win by far. Becky wasn't even close.
Carl showed up after and Becky took off to pick up food for themselves. To kill time, Carl picked out...

Takenoko 2-4 players
I saw this game on Watch It Played and found it adorable. Who doesn't love the idea of a panda waddling around, chompin' on bamboo. On your turn, you do two actions. Actions include getting more goal cards, expanding the garden, having the panda eat, having the gardener grow the bamboo, or getting more irrigation. Once a player completes a certain number of goal cards, play ends and the most goal points win. It's a very pretty game and pretty easy to learn. I added a small board to the box so that when I store it vertically things don't shuffle around. Darrin seems to loath the game and I'm not sure why. I can agree that the goal cards and weather die can make it a bit random, but no more than most other games.

This was the most intense game we had ever played. We were running really low on goal cards and the bamboo was growing really high. Carl could have ended the game earlier, but he was waiting to have enough point to beat me. I was just trying to end the game fast, but I kept digging out difficult cards. Carl forced the end eventually, but I was able to finish two more goals on my extra turn.

This isn't a very thinky game, but it's really nice and fun. Even though Becky didn't play, she found it supes adorable.

We finished off the night with a game of Escape. We played with character abilities and the standard chambers. We were doing moderately okay for most of the game. Becky just kept doing worse and worse. She lost 2 dice and got locked up a lot. I had to come and save her a number of times. Carl got out first, and Liz got out next. Becky and I struggled to get to the exit chamber, and were eventually crushed to death.

Tally: 68/156  Bonus: 20/50