January 24, 2008 Session Report

Attendance was good again this week, in spite of the cold weather. Gabe was back to join us, along with Paul, Rodney, Sarah, Nick, Doug, Abe, Eric, Ben, Tucker, Bob, Val and myself == bringing total attendance to 13. We played a total of seven different games: Quiddler, Formula De, Lost Cities, Kingsburg, Incan Gold, Citadels and Category Five. I almost didn't make it as it turned out when I was ready to leave at quarter til 6, my car wouldn't start. Fortunately I was able to get some road service help through my extended warranty insurance, which it turned out is a good thing to have.

When I arrived at quarter past seven, there was already one game in the books and another well under way. First up was Quiddler, in which Doug and Sarah finished one-two playing against Gabe and Paul. The Formula De game roped in most of the attendees at the time, and (after a few crashes) it wound up Doug first, Gabe second and Eric third. I arranged a quick Lost Cities game with Abe, who did admirably in his first effort although I got a nice score due to the 20-point, 8-card bonus. By this time Tucker and Bob had arrived and we set up Kingsburg, a game which I had taught them at another club. Ben and Abe joined us, and the game took just about the rest of the evening. Final scores were close, with Tucker edging Ben (46-45) based on some handy VP bonuses from the last battle, followed by me (43), Abe (39) and Bob (36).

The other table played three more games in the time it took us to wrap up Kingsburg. Seven played Incan Gold, and Doug made it three in a row, winning a close on (25-24) over Gabe in second and Paul (22) in third. Gabe got some measure of revenge in the next game, Citadels, snapping Doug's winning streak in the process. Sarah was second and Nick was third. By this time Val had arrived from her bowling and got in the final game, Category 5, where Doug was once again the winner == making it four out of five for the night. Well done, Doug! Sarah was once again second, with Paul finishing third.

Abe joined Nick and Sarah's mom, Joan, as new members of the Games Club of Maryland. I hope to turn in the paperwork soon to make it official.