I'll Get You For That

No karaoke for me this Friday. This freed me up to have a game night with Emily and Drew. We headed over and were greeted by Saba and Eleanor. We said our hellos, but once that was through, Eleanor got us right to gaming.
She popped out Spot It! and set the game up. This was the Camping version of Spot It so all the symbols took some getting use to. As we were playing, Drew noted that he plays with the challenge that you can't take the card until you notice everyone's match. I began doing this once I got use to the symbols. By the end of the game, Eleanor won by 2.
She then had us move on to Hoot Owl Hoot. We had lost this cooperative game last time we played it, but Eleanor had gotten much better. There were a few times she wanted to play random cards, but right off the bat she was able to call out some really great moves. Through working together and communication, we were able to easily win this time.
Eleanor wanted to crack open Candyland, but it was time to eat. We had a great meal that Emily put together and we followed it up by going to a nearby ice cream shop to support Miles's school. It was a perfect treat.
Once we got home and the kids made it into bed and we read them a few stories, it was all about the games. We began with...

Diamonsters 2-5 players

Liz and I were on our way back from a lovely trip out to White River Falls and we stopped in Hood River to get some nibbles and sips. We had been in the town before for a beer fest when my family came to visit, so we knew of a small little game and hobby store called Hood River Hobbies. We wanted a small game to play while we ate. I pointed out a number of games that fit the bill and Liz made the final decision of Diamonsters. It's a very simple game. You all start with cards number 1 through 5 and everyone secretly plays one card. Ties cancel and the high card wins, but 1 always beats 5. The winner gets a free card and the card they played into their monster collection. The first player with a diamond value of 5 or three of the same card in their collection wins the round. After one person wins 3 rounds, they win the game. I think it's cute. It plays best with 2 or 3, but gets a little stupid with 5 or 6. The box it comes in is a might big for what comes in it. I made a smaller box so that it would be easily portable.

From the beginning, Emily and I continually played the same card and therefore were canceling each other out. It got to the point of laughable eventually. Drew and Liz were winning the rounds and I won a round in there too. Liz took the game.
This game plays really well with 4. It may have been the people we were playing with, but it was a riot. I'm very glad we picked this up now.

Liz suggested we play Survive next. She loves that game. I started setting it up and she popped open another bottle of wine. The game started pretty slow. No real dangers because all of us kept rolling the whale with no whales present. That changed quickly. Soon we were rolling nothing but the sea monster and the deal making and deceitful words started to fly. Liz sunk a ship full of Drew's survivors. Then the rest of us got our boats to shore. Eventually, Emily rolled a sea monster and she had a choice: kill one of two of my survivors, or move one away in accordance with the deal I proposed earlier. It was an extended period of Emily weighing the arguments. On my side, I pointed out how I had helped get one of her survivors to safety. Liz and Drew's position mainly boiled down to the statement of "KILL HIM!" She decided not to hurt the boat that helped her live, but not to save the other dude. There were many other "lively" discussions in this game, but as all good things, it eventually came to an end. Emily dominated this game. I love this game.
Up next we played...

Tobago 2-4 players

I saw a playthough of this game and knew it would be quite welcome in my collection. The design is frickin' amazing. The board interlocks and can be set up in 32 different ways. You also add little huts, trees, and statues randomly to the board. Past just being outright beautiful, this is a reverse deduction treasure hunting game at heart. On a players turn they can either move 3 legs or add a card to one of 4 possible treasures. The cards that are added add rules to where the treasure can be found. The cards say things like "in the largest forest", "within two spaces of a tree", or "not next to the ocean". Once the treasure can only be logically located in one place, it can be dug up when a player gets there. Everyone who put a card on that treasure gets a bit of the booty in a sort of reverse order to when the cards were added. It's a hard game to find. I'm pretty sure I ordered it from a European online store through Amazon.

This was the first time we got to play with more than 2 people. The game went really well. Drew spent a lot of time thinking carefully about his moves. It was then I knew he was enjoying the game. On the last treasure, it really came down to the wire. Had a card or two come out earlier, I would have won. Emily got the win, beating me by 2 gold. So close.

Tally: 111/171  Bonus: 26/50