What I Played Today: June 22

Race for the Galaxy, Cosmic Encounter, Bohnanza

WELL we were supposed to have a party today with drinking and video games and all sorts of fun but there was a monsoon somehow so we were without power all day. I was so excited about the party, you guys...

Anyway, instead I went to a place where I knew there was power and played some board games. I lost a game of Race for the Galaxy by a jillion points. Okay, not so drastic, but I wasn't paying attention to what someone on the other side of the table was up to and he was taking all the cards I needed, and as his last action, he decided to steal one of my planets and deny me a fifth of my points. I wasn't happy. But it didn't matter, because I would have been clearly in last even if he hadn't done that.

Then a game of Cosmic Encounter which I guess I won, but I got bored with it quickly, as I do with most games of Cosmic Encounter, because it starts to just stagger on after mid-game. Someone was playing the Parasite, which meant they could get points whenever they wanted to, and another was playing the Will, which broke the way the game happened, and meh, screw this game.

Then another damn game of Bohnanza, went about as well as last time. I did buy a third field this time, but it didn't help.

What I Played Today: August 17

7 Wonders, Cosmic Encounters, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride

A game of 7 Wonders with seven people was played at around 7 p.m. It went alright, I didn't win, and this game somehow always ends up being harder to teach than I think it should be. I mean come on guys, can't you juggle literally 20 different types of icons and immediately know what they mean?

A game of Cosmic Encounters, which went oddly. One of the races picked got to choose who attacked who every turn, which was crazy. I had a race that didn't lose enemies to the warp when I allied with people, and I used this ability to constantly throw in with the defender and get more cards. For some reason, this pissed off everyone, and nobody wanted to be my friend, so I didn't win. That happens.

Then a five-player game of Pandemic, which we totally won somehow! We had some good roles and were pretty creative with our ideas, and also we managed to completely cure the blue disease by my third turn, which really helped, and although we did have a turn where there were three outbreaks, we managed to get it under control and won. And I cured two of the diseases! Go me!

Then a game of Ticket to Ride Europe, which I sweeped. Everyone was really focused on building tracks in Western Europe, and they completely ignored Eastern Europe, which I bought up. I also completed my long route, which let me hit triple digits. Good for me.