November 22, 2003

Well, we managed to gather enough people for a fun gaming session on Saturday. Attending were the Jones’s (minus Rachel who was at a slumber party), Dan K and Rachel S, Eric, and first-timers Cary (husband) and Jo (wife). We were very happy that Cary and Jo were finally able to join us.

Below is the tally of games and some comments. Winner listed in bold.
Tote Board

• Crokinole - Eric, Bob
• Kahuna - Bob, Eric
• Crokinole - Eric, Dan (taking over for Rachel J who had to leave)
• MarraCash - Bob 4975, Rachel S 3775, Eric 3150, Dan 3100
• Samurai - Dan, Eric, Rachel S, Bob
• Epic Duels - Cary (Count Dooku), Dan (Emperor), Rachel S (Darth Maul), Bob (Darth Vader) vs Jo (Obi Wan), Carol (Anakin), and Eric playing Yoda and Mace Windu
• Buried Treasure - Carol, Dan, Bob, Eric
• Crokinole - Dan and Eric vs Carol and Bob

Yes, Eric bought a Crokinole board. For those of you who may not have heard of such a thing, Crokinole is a game of flicking wooden discs similar to Carrom and Shuffleboard. The object is to get more of your disks near the center of the board. Click here for some pictures. I have long known of Crokinole but never played it, thinking it more akin to bumper pool than a strategy game. I was right that it is more physical than anything, but it is loads of fun. We obviously enjoyed it as we played three games. Maybe we’ll have a tournament at Babycon 11.

MarraCash, one of Eric’s recent acquisitions, is a fun bidding/placement game where you’re buying shops in a bazaar hoping to attract tourists to buy goods. The game has simple mechanics but very deep strategy. Looking forward to playing it again.

Eric’s Notes

• 4:51 pm: Eric arrived at Bob’s around 2:30. Bob and Eric played a game of Crokinole. Eric won. Then we played Kahuna. Dan arrived while we were playing. Bob won. Rachel J and Eric played a game of Crokinole. Rachel had to leave before the end of the game and Dan took over for her. Eric won again. Rachel S arrived and the four of us decided to play MarraCash.
• 5:56 pm: Bob won with 4975, Rachel had 3775, Eric had 3150, Dan had 3100.
• 6:12 pm: Next we played Samurai.
• 6:56 pm: Cary and Jo arrived while we were playing Samurai.
• 7:38 pm: Dan and Eric tied.
• 8:21 pm: Carol came home and the seven of us played Star Wars: Epic Duels. Carol (Anakin), Jo (Obi Wan) and, Eric (Mace and Yoda) played the good team. Bob (Vader), Rachel S (Maul), Dan (the Emperor) and, Cary (Count Dooku) were the evil team.
• 10:41 pm: The Emperor and Darth Vader played a bunch of special cards on Yoda and got him down to one hit point in the first few turns. Mace attacked Darth Vader with Battlemind and then was killed. Yoda moved next to Darth Vader and used Force Lift. Obi-Wan finished off Vader before he could recover. Rachel S left after Darth Maul was killed.
• 11:00 pm: Clone troopers whittled away at Dooku who was finally killed by Padme.
• 11:08 pm: The game came down to Padme versus the Emperor and a battledroid.
• 11:13 pm: The Emperor killed Padme and the dark side won.
• 11:21 pm: Cary and Jo left after Epic Duels.
• 11:33 pm: We decided to play Buried Treasure.
• 12:06 am: Carol won with 35, Bob and Dan each had 27 and, Eric had 18.
• 12:40 am: We played a four player game of Crokinole: Dan and Eric played against Bob and Carol. Dan and Eric won.

September 27, 2003

Hi, everyone! I haven’t heard from some in our game group for a while. I hope everyone's well. The Joneses are doing fine. Rachel’s in 4th grade now and Ben just started Kindergarten. Yikes!

We gamed last weekend and although we thought we’d have a small group, we ended up with eight gamers! Of course, I was there along with Carol and Rachel (for one game). Our guests were Dan K, Eric, and Jay (his first gaming session in a LONG time. :-) ) Rounding out the group were Alex and Jason. It was a great time, as usual.

The tote board is below along with a few comments. The winner is listed in bold. Eric’s detailed timeline (on which all of this is based) is below. Thanks Eric.

I hope we’ll get to see each of you soon.

Bob

Tote Board

• Coloretto - Carol, Dan, Bob. This continues to be our light filler of choice. Easy, quick and, fun.
• Web of Power - Dan 70, Bob 67, Eric 60, Carol 55. A very close game. We thought Eric’s strength in advisors would carry the day but, Dan pulled a great last minute move that guaranteed him the win.
• Bang! - Alex won as the Renegade. (No small feat.)
• Bang! - Jay and Carol won as the surviving outlaws. The third outlaw, Jason, was killed.
• Tigris & Euphrates - Carol 7, Jay 6, Eric 5, Dan 5
• Merchants of Amsterdam - Jason $1,460,000 Rachel $1,110,000 Bob $1,070,000 Alex $850,000
• Acquire - Eric, Jay, Carol, Dan Only one merger was consummated until very late in the game. Eric won by a large margin.
• Titan: the Arena - Bob 14, Jason 13, Alex 3 Another very tight game. Secret bets won the day.
• TransAmerica - Dan & Jay tied, Carol, Eric
• Puerto Rico - Bob 50, Jay 44, Carol 31, Eric 30, Dan 24. Bob went with a mostly corn strategy. Grow a lot of corn and ship it often. He had nabbed three coffee plantations but was shut out from coffee production when the last coffee roaster was purchased. On the last turn, what he thought was a mistake in not choosing Captain to ship his corn worked to his advantage when he was able to build one of the large buildings to add 10 victory points at the end, fending off a very strong surge by Jay.
• Samurai - Bob, Dan, Eric Bob won by having the most in two of the three categories. A very tense game.

Eric’s Notes

• 2:18 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ house around 1:30. Dan Korn was already there. Dan, Carol and, Bob were playing Coloretto. Carol won. Next, the four of us played Web of Power.
• 2:48 pm: Jason and Alex Ruvinsky arrived during Web of Power.
• 3:23 pm: Dan won with 70, Bob had 67, Eric had 60 and, Carol had 55.
• 3:45 pm: Bob explained the rules to Bang!
• 3:54 pm: Jay arrived and, joined in the game of Bang!
• 5:11 pm: Carol was the Sheriff. Alex won as the Renegade. We decided to play again. Eric was the Sheriff.
• 5:43 pm: Jay and Carol won as the outlaws (Jason was the third outlaw but, he had been killed before the game ended).
• 5:50 pm: Bob started cooking hot dogs. After dinner, Jay, Carol, Dan, and Eric played Tigris & Euphrates while Bob, Alex and Jason played Merchants of Amsterdam.
• 7:42 pm: Carol won Tigris & Euphrates with 7, Jay had 6, Eric had 5 and, Dan had 5.
• 8:04 pm: After Tigris & Euphrates, we started a game of Acquire.
• 8:44 pm: Jason won Merchants of Amsterdam with 1,460,000, Rachel had 1,110,000, Bob had 1,07,0000, and Alex had 850,000. Bob, Jason and, Alex then started a game of Titan: the Arena.
• 9:27 pm: Eric won Acquire with $52,300. Dan, Carol, Jay and Eric started a game of TransAmerica.
• 10:13 pm: Bob won Titan: the Arena with 14, Jason had 13 and Alex had 3.
• 10:23 pm: Dan and Jay tied for the win in TransAmerica.
• 10:28 pm: Jason and Alex left.
• 10:45 pm: The remaining five of us decided to play Puerto Rico.
• 12:40 am: Bob won with 50, Jay had 44, Carol had 31, Eric had 30 and, Dan had 24.
• 1:02 am: Jay left and Carol went to bed after Puerto Rico. Bob, Dan and, Eric decided to play Samurai.
• 1:59 am: Bob won by having the most in two categories.

August 31 & September 1, 2003

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We certainly did.

Thanks to Eric, Kimberly, Royal (and Sammy and Christopher), and the Ruvinsky’s, Bill, Jason and Alex, who made it a game-filled weekend! Eric and Kimberly arrived Saturday afternoon, stayed overnight and gamed until Sunday after midnight. Royal showed up around 3PM on Saturday and stayed until almost midnight. The Ruvinsky’s arrived around 10PM on Saturday and stayed for a few hours.

Since we had a smaller crowd, we postponed showing The Two Towers. I hope to have a showing sometime in September for those interested.

Below is the tote. (Thanks to Eric for keeping the tally.) The winner is listed in bold:

• Wettstreit der Baumeister - Bob 36, Eric 33, Kimberly 27, Carol 24
• TransAmerica - Royal, Bob, Eric, Kimberly, Carol
• Chrononauts - Carol, Kimberly, Eric, Bob, Royal . The space/time continuum was destroyed by Royal creating the 13th paradox. Everyone lost.
• Emerald - Royal 30, Kimberly 24, Eric 19, Bob 16, Carol 12
• Puerto Rico - Eric 47, Royal 41, Bob 40, Kimberly 39, Carol 28. A hard fought victory by Eric.
• Africa - Bob, Alex, Rachel, Jason
• Coloretto - Bob, Jason, Rachel, Alex
• Coloretto - Jason, Rachel, Alex, Bob
• Wyatt Earp - Carol 32, Bill 31, Kimberly 21, Eric 21
• Frag - Alex, Bob, Eric, Kimberly, Rachel, Carol
• Settlers of the Stone Age - Bob 11, Kimberly 8, Eric 4, Carol 3. This is a very good new variant on Settlers. Lots of options but still the basic Settlers mechanics.
• Princes of Florence - Bob 63, Carol 58, Rachel 58, Eric 45, Kimberly 25. A very hard fought game that nearly ended in a three way tie!
• Acquire - Carol $47900, Bob $41900, Rachel $37600, Kimberly $29800, Eric $15100. Kimberly never got a single merger, but still beat Eric!
• Coloretto - Rachel 40, Carol 22, Eric 15, Kimberly 14
• Amun-Re - Eric 38 and 8 pyramids, Rachel 38 and 6 pyramids, Carol 35, Bob 34, Kimberly 34
• Vampire Hunter - Carol, Kimberly, Benjamin, Eric

Check out Eric’s pictures.
Next weekend I'll be in Chicago for Erik Light's wedding! I hope to see you all soon.

Below are Eric’s notes, taken as we gamed.
Saturday 8/30/03

• 3:07 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ around 1:30. Kimberly was already there. We played Wettstreit der Baumeister. Royal arrived while we were playing. Despite being the only player to not complete his city, Bob won with 36. Eric had 33, Kimberly had 27 and, Carol had 24.
• 4:09 pm: Royal joined us for TransAmerica. Royal won, connecting his cities in record time in the last round.
• 4:30 pm: Next we played Chrononauts.
• 5:10 pm: We all lost when Royal created the thirteenth paradox.
• 6:12 pm: We took a break for dinner and, then Bob set up Emerald.
• 7:02 pm: Royal won with 30, Kimberly had 24, Eric had 19, Bob had 16 and, Carol had 12.
• 7:36 pm: After Emerald, we played Puerto Rico.
• 9:56 pm: Bill, Alex and, Jason Ruvinsky arrived during the last couple of turns. Eric won with 47, Royal had 41, Bob had 40, Kimberly had 39 and, Carol had 28.
• 11:42 pm: We watched the preview for The Return of the King. Royal left after the preview. We then split into two groups. Jason, Alex, Rachel and, Bob played Africa while Carol, Bill, Kim and, Eric played Wyatt Earp. Bob won Africa. Jason, Alex, Rachel and, Bob then started a game of Coloretto.

Sunday 8/31/03

• 12:05 am: Bob won Coloretto. Wyatt Earp still wasn’t finished so, they played Coloretto again.
• 12:26 am: Jason won the second game of Coloretto.
• 12:43 am: The Wyatt Earp game finally finished. Carol won with 32, Bill had 31, Kimberly and Eric both had 21.
• 4:34 am: We chatted for a while, then Bill and Jason left. The rest of us played Frag. A couple of forgotten rules made the game drag on much longer than it should have. Alex won. After Frag, Bob took Alex home. Then we all went to bed.
• 1:06 pm: People started waking up about 10:30. After breakfast, we started gaming again around 12:15. Bob, Carol, Kimberly and Eric started with The Settlers of the Stone Age.
• 2:57 pm: Bob won, Kimberly had 8, Eric had 4 and, Carol had 3.
• 3:15 pm: Rachel joined us for Princes of Florence.
• 5:05 pm: Bob won with 63, Carol and Rachel tied at 58, Eric had 45 and, Kimberly had 25.
• 5:48 pm: Next we played Acquire.
• 6:40 pm: Carol won with $47900, Bob had $41900, Rachel had $37600, Kimberly had $29800 and, Eric had $15100.
• 7:06 pm: We ordered dinner from Old Shanghai.
• 7:23 pm: Carol, Rachel, Kimberly and, Eric played Coloretto while waiting for dinner.
• 7:34 pm: Carol had 22, Rachel had 40, Eric had 15 and, Kimberly had 14.
• 9:30 pm: After dinner, we played Amun-Re.
• 11:27 pm: Eric won with 38 and 8 pyramids, Rachel had 37 and 6 pyramids, Carol had 35, Bob and Kimberly had 34 each.

Monday 9/1/03

• 12:15 am: Carol, Kimberly, Benjamin and, Eric played Benjamin’s new game, Vampire Hunter. Carol won.

July 12

Gaming on Saturday was a good time as always. Somewhat to my surprise, what I thought would be a small group of 4-5 players turned into seven players when Jason and Alex Ruvinsky and their short-term Spanish exchange student, Rodrigo, called to say they were coming by! Rodrigo turned out to be a very sharp guy and picked up on the games very well.

Unfortunately, Jason had to leave early but the rest of us continued with our first playing of Age of Steam. This is a deep and somewhat complex game and it took us a long time to finish. It wasn’t until the very end that we really figured it out. As you can see, the game was not very high scoring and two players actually ended up with negative scores! Despite the frustrating experience, it is definitely a game we should try again.

Here’s the tote. Eric’s notes follow.

Tote Board

• Coloretto Bob 32, Eric 30, Carol 20, Dan 23
• Wyatt Earp Bob 35, Eric 34, Carol 27, Dan 27
• Aladdin’s Dragons Rodrigo 7 (& 2 scrolls), Alex 7 (& no scrolls), Bob 6, Jason 4
• Titan: the Arena Bob 13, Alex 11, Eric 9, Rodrigo 3, Jason 0
• Age of Steam Dan 22, Bob 6, Rodrigo 3, Eric 1, Alex -1, Carol -6
• TransAmerica Eric 13, Dan 7, Bob 3, Carol 2
• Too Many Cooks Carol 20, Bob 15, Dan 15, Eric 2

Eric’s Notes

• 2:26 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ house around 1:30; Dan was already there. We played Coloretto. Bob won with 32, Eric had 30, Carol had 29 and, Dan had 23.
• 2:32 pm: Next game up was Wyatt Earp.
• 4:45 pm: Alex and Jason Ruvinsky and the Ruvinsky’s exchange student, Rodrigo, arrived during the game of Wyatt Earp. They started a game of Aladdin’s Dragons with Bob. (Yes, Bob was playing two games at once!)
• 5:33 pm: Bob won Wyatt Earp with 35, Eric had 34, Carol and Dan each had 27.
• 6:28 pm: We ordered dinner from Old Shanghai. Rodrigo won Aladdin’s Dragons with 7 treasures and 2 scrolls, Alex had 7 treasures and no scrolls, Bob had 6 treasures and, Jason had 4 treasures.
• 6:42 pm: Bob, Jason, Alex, Rodrigo and Eric started Titan: the Arena while Carol and Dan went to pick up dinner.
• 7:36 pm: Bob won with 13, Alex had 11, Eric had 9, Rodrigo had 3 and, Jason had 0.
• 8:06 pm: We took a break for dinner. Jason left.
• 12:54 am: We played Age of Steam. This was the first time playing this game for everyone except Eric. Dan won with 22, Bob had 6, Rodrigo had 3, Eric had 1, Alex had -1 and, Carol had -6.
• 1:45 am: Alex and Rodrigo left. We played Trans America. Eric won with 13, having finished first in all three rounds, Dan had 7, Bob had 3 and, Carol had 2.
• 1:48 am: Next came Too Many Cooks.
• 3:16 am: Carol won with 20, Bob and Dan both had 15, Eric had 2.

Babycon X

Babycon X was held over Memorial Day Weekend, May 23 to May 26, 2003, at the Jones house in Germantown, Maryland. We had a huge turnout, with 25 players and a host of children in attendance. Every year someone comes to Babycon for the first time and this year was no exception. John Weber, a coworker of mine and an active organizer in the Games Club of Maryland, came to play on Saturday and Sunday. John introduced our group to several new games, including Emerald and Traumfabrik. For that, we are very grateful.

Special thanks go out to Kimberly Stern and Royal and Stephanie White. They worked hard to produce Babycon X souvenirs, including t-shirts and scrapbooks filled with color photos of everyone who has attended Babycon, nicknames, quotes, favorite games, and a host of statistics from Babycons 1-9. Many people bought a t-shirt and each person attending was given a scrapbook.

We started early this year, at 1PM on Friday, to get in another five hours of gaming. On Friday evening, we dined at a local Mexican restaurant, Mi Rancho, and returned for a packed weekend of gaming.

Since this was the tenth Babycon, we had several special events to commemorate the occasion. The biggest event was a huge Epic Duels tournament with eight teams of three players each. We also ran full group games throughout the weekend. More on all of this later.

As usual, each person started out with 15 unique Babycon Bucks one of which was antied at the start of every game. At the end of the weekend, those with the most Bucks were Paul Czarnota and myself, Alex Ruvinsky and Steve Bramer. See the Master Tote Board for full results.

Some weeks ago, Joe Bloch set up a Babycon group at Yahoo! We sent out invitations to join but I’m not sure they all got through. The group is a place to share information and Babycon news. If you haven’t yet, check it out here. We’ve posted many Babycon X pictures there in their full glory.

My thanks to everyone who attended. After the huge preparations for Babycon X, we’re making Babycon 11 a much more low-key, informal affair. We hope everyone can make it.


The most successful event of the weekend was the Epic Duels Team Tournament. Eight teams of three players each fought it out over two days in a single elimination tournament. At the start of each match, the teams were randomally assigned either to dark or light side (of the Force, of course) and were given some time to pick their characters. Battle was then joined in a fight to the death! The prize? Bragging rights, plus a custom made Yoda Trophy for each member of the winning team.

Special thanks go to Brady Severns whose unique contributions made this event especially unusual and interesting. Brady enlarged the Epic Duels boards to accommodate the 3" Star Wars action figures. Using the huge boards with the large figures added a great deal to the game. Also thanks to Jeff Spencer for bringing many of his Star Wars figures to round out the character ranks.

One testament to the success of the tournament, after numerous games over many hours, several people continued to play Epic Duels. Many players playtested Brady’s custom-made decks and figures which included Star Wars characters not included in the official game!

Haggle was the big game for the weekend, starting on Friday night after dinner and running until Sunday at noon. In Haggle, each player started with 10 randomly distributed “treasures”, plastic pieces (pineapples, trees, shells, fish) and glass stones of various colors. At the end of the game, the treasures were valued following a set of 25 rules. In addition to the ten treasures, each player started out with two of the rules. The goal of the game is to trade rules and treasures, figuring out the value of each treasure, and turn in the set of treasures worth the highest value.

While not everyone participated, many players engaged in active trading of both rules and treasures. Jeff Spencer, Zoe Spencer, and Rachel Jones worked together to gather as many rules as they could. Dan Korn began spreading false rules around to throw other players off the track.

In the end, Royal White turned in the highest valued set for the win.

Haggle Scores:

* Royal White - 74
* Alex Ruvinsky - 64
* Jason Ruvinsky - 61
* Rachel Jones - 49
* Dan Korn - 42
* Jeff Spencer - 36
* Marvin Gersho - 36
* Ken Cline - 35
* Zoe Spencer - 34
* Karen Bloch - 33
* Stephanie Ruvinsky - 32
* Brady Severns - 30
* Eric Haas - 28
* Glenn Bramer - 27
* Carol Jones - 8
* Bill Ruvinsky - 4

The 25 Valuation Rules for Haggle

1. The Crystal Gem has the highest value and is twice the value of the Pink Gem.
2. The Pink Gem is worth 4 points which is also the value of the Pink Clamshell plus the Rose Shell.
3. The value of each Blue Sea treasure is one quarter the value of the Crystal Gem.
4. The value of the Blue Gem is twice the value of each Rose Sea treasure and one third the value of each Stone.
5. The value of each Stone is equal to the value of each Green Island treasure plus the value of each Pink Sea treasure.
6. The value of the Green Gem is half the value of each Crystal Island treasure.
7. The value of each Yellow Island treasure equals the value of the Blue Shell minus the value of the Blue Gem.
8. Each set of a Green Tree and a Green Pineapple will cost you six points.
9. Each set of all four color Gems is worth bonus points equal to the value of each Stone.
10. If all your Gems are one color, you receive a bonus worth the value of the Crystal Gem.
11. The pineapple with the red dot on the bottom is worth fifteen bonus points.
12. The value of the Blue Stone is six points, which is also the value of the Crystal Tree plus the value of the Pink Gem.
13. Each set of four of any one color Gem is worth seven bonus points.
14. The difference between the number of Fish and Starfish will cost you one point per piece.
15. Having no Gems or no Stones will cost you points equal to five times the value of each Green Island treasure.
16. Having the number of Fish equal to the value of the Blue Gem in each of the three Sea treasure colors is worth ten bonus points.
17. Having more than three Crystal Gems will cost you twenty-four points, which is also the value of the Pink Starfish multiplied by the value of the Crystal Gem.
18. Having at least one of each Sea treasure is worth a bonus of twenty points.
19. Each set of a Yellow Pineapple and a Yellow Tree is worth six points.
20. Having the most Pineapples (no ties) is worth the value of two Crystal Gems.
21. Each complete set of Pink Sea treasures will cost you four points.
22. Each complete set of Blue Sea treasures is worth three bonus points.
23. Each complete set of Rose Sea treasures is worth one bonus point.
24. You lose five points for each treasure you turn in beyond fifteen treasures.
25. The value of the Blue Stone is six points, which is also the value of the Crystal Tree plus the Pink Gem.

Tote Board
Acquire Steve, Joe, Glenn, Ken
Adel Verpflichtet Bob, Ken, Rachel J, Jason, John
Adel Verpflichtet Brady, Marvin, Bob, Jason, Zoe
Epic Duels Alex, Kimberly
Epic Duels Alex, Kimberly
Epic Duels Stephanie W, Brady
Epic Duels Stephanie W, Brady
Epic Duels Marvin, Ken
Epic Duels Marvin, Ken
Amun-Re Jeff, Glenn, Eric, Bob, Carol
Amun-Re Dan K, Eric, Bill, John
Babel Marvin, Royal
Battle Cry Brady, Glenn
Bohnanza Paul, Joe, Karen, Dan K, Brady, Rachel S, Kimberly
Carcassonne Paul, Brady, Zoe, Kimberly
Cartagena Paul, Rachel J, Brady, Rachel S, Zoe, Kimberly
Cartagena Alex, Rachel J, Dan K, Stephanie R
Cartagena Paul, Bill, Jason
Cartagena Paul, Bill
Cave Troll Carol, Jeff, Kimberly
Chess Paul, Bill
Citadels Dan K, Karen, Paul, Eric, Bill, John
Daytona 500 Glenn, Steve, Eric, Jason
Delta V Dan K, Ken
Delta V Dan K, Bob, Rachel S, Jeff
Dragon Delta Jeff, Joe, Rachel J, Zoe

March 29

Saturday’s gaming event went well. The Joneses had a great time and hope everyone else did as well. We welcomed Jason’s friend, Paul, to his first gaming event. Also attending were Dan K and Rachel S, Kimberly, and the Ruvinsky clan. We missed Eric for the first time in a long while.

Below are the results. When everyone had arrived, we played Epic Duels to teach the Ruvinsky’s the rules before Babycon. The dark side team was beset early on but nearly pulled off the win with a mid-game rally. Unfortunately, the light side’s tactics of constant retreat (followed by some healing) was too effective. Also, the fact that they had all Jedi may have helped.

The tally (winner is listed in bold):

• Zèrtz Stephanie, Alex
• Titan: the Arena Stephanie 11, Bob 11, Rachel Jones 5, Alex 2, Carol 2 Stephanie won by the tie-breaker rule.
• Epic Duels Rachel J (Obi Wan), Stephanie (Luke), Alex (Mace Windu), Kimberly (Yoda), Jason (Anakin) vs Carol (Darth Vader), Bob (Darth Maul), Bill (the Emperor), Paul (Count Dooku), Dan (Jango Fett)
• Settlers Rachel S 10, Bob 9, Dan 8, Jason 8, Paul 7
• Vino Carol 33, Kimberly 31, Alex 31
• Pizarro & Co. Bob 49, Dan 41, Kimberly 29, Alex 29, Carol 26
• Chinatown Bob 123, Dan 115, Kimberly 112, Alex 98, Carol 86
• Lost Cities Alex 151, Dan 126

February 22

• 2:27 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ house around 1:30. Bob, Carol, Rachel J and Eric started a game of Daytona 500. Some of the Ruvinskys arrived during the first round so, we called the game after one round. Eric had $560,000, Rachel J had $520,000, Bob had $370,000 and Carol had $240,000. Afterwards, we split into two groups of 4. Bill, Rachel J, Rachel R and Alyssa played Big City. Alex, Carol, Bob and Eric played Attila.
• 2:46 pm: While Bob was explaining the rules to Big City, the rest of the Ruvinskys arrived. Jason joined in Big City.
• 3:01 pm: Steffie joined in the game of Attila.
• 4:18 pm: Alex won Attila with 78, Bob had 76, Steffie had 54, Eric had 47 and Carol had 42.
• 4:33 pm: Steffie and Eric played Lost Cities; Steffie won with 51 and Eric had 1. Bill won Big City with 85, Jason 44, Rachel J had 43 and, Alyssa had 14. Rachel R dropped out of the game early.
• 4:39 pm: Dan K arrived. The Ruvinskys left.
• 5:01 pm: Dan and Bob played a couple of games of Brawl. Then Bob, Dan, Carol and Eric played Taj Mahal.
• 6:16 pm: We took a break so Carol could order pizzas from Domino’s.
• 6:38 pm: Rachel S arrived.
• 7:04 pm: Carol was in the lead for most of the game but, Bob managed to pull ahead right near the end. Bob won with 48, Carol had 46, Eric had 34 and Dan had 28.
• 7:48 pm: We ate dinner and talked about steak houses. Dan tried unsuccessfully to juggle. Then Bob, Carol, Rachel J, Dan, Rachel S and Eric decided to play Bohnanza.
• 9:46 pm: Bob won with 14, Rachel J, Dan, Rachel S and Eric were tied at 11, Carol had 10.
• 10:11 pm: Rachel S left. Bob brought out La Città.
• 1:53 am: Carol won with 36 and 3 gold, Dan had 36 and 2 gold, Eric had 28 and Bob had 15.
• 2:59 am: We talked about religion and morality until 3 and then we said goodnight.

January 18

Photos of this session.

• 2:31 pm: Eric arrived at the Jones’ around 2:15. Royal and Kimberly were already there. Bob, Royal, Kimberly, Rachel J and Eric decided to play the new version of Fluxx.
• 2:44 pm: Rachel J won.
• 2:54 pm: Glenn and Beth arrived just as we were finishing Fluxx. We decided to play Corruption since it can be played with seven.
• 4:36 pm: Beth won with $2.5 million, Glenn came in second with $2.3 million, Eric had $2.0 million.
• 5:14 pm: We split into two groups of four. Glenn, Kimberly, Rachel and Eric played Edison & Co, while Bob, Royal, Carol and Beth played Attila.
• 5:24 pm: Dan K and Rachel S showed up just as we were starting. Dan joined in the game of Attila.
• 6:00 pm: Glenn won Edison & Co with 74, Rachel J had 59, Eric had 49 and Kimberly had 34.
• 6:25 pm: Kimberly, Glenn and Eric started a game of Quo Vadis.
• 6:56 pm: Eric won with 34, Glenn had 29 and Kimberly had 18.
• 7:00 pm: Bob won Attila with 40, Royal had 30, Beth had 29, Carol 27 and, Dan 26.
• 7:47 pm: We took a break for dinner and discussed The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. About 7:45, we went back downstairs to game.
• 8:04 pm: We started a 10 player Epic Duels. Royal, Rachel, Bob, Beth and Glenn played the good characters, while Rachel S, Dan K, Carol, Kimberly and Eric played evil. Glenn played Luke, Carol played Darth Vader, Rachel J played Yoda, Dan played Darth Maul, Royal played Mace Windu, Kimberly played Count Dooku, Bob played Anakin, Rachel S played Jengo Fett, Beth played Obi Wan and, Eric played the Emperor.
• 9:09 pm: Rachel S had to leave; Dan K took over her charcters.
• 10:05 pm: Yoda killed Darth Vader. Carol took over Jengo Fett.
• 10:16 pm: Jengo Fett killed Luke.
• 10:33 pm: Darth Maul killed Yoda.
• 10:50 pm: Anakin killed Jengo Fett.
• 10:56 pm: Count Dooku killed Obi Wan.
• 11:07 pm: Mace Windu killed Darth Maul.
• 11:29 pm: Anakin killed Count Dooku.
• 11:43 pm: The Emperor killed Anakin.
• 11:58 pm: Mace killed the Emperor; the good side won.
• 12:16 am: Dan, Glenn, Beth and Royal left. Kimberly, Carol, Rachel J, Bob and Eric decided to play Pizarro & Co.
• 1:31 am: Kimberly won with 42, Carol, Bob and Eric tied at 37 and Rachel J had 27.
• 1:57 am: The five of us then played Where’s Bob’s Hat?.
• 3:04 am: Carol won with 51, Eric had 8, Kimberly had -8, Bob had -38 and Rachel J had -44.