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.