The Dice Cup Board Game Café

Anyone who reads this blog with even semi-regularity will probably have picked up on the fact that we like board games in our family.   We own a lot and we do play a fair few of them pretty regularly, we also have a few friends that we have borrowed others from (and lent a couple of ours in return).  We had a great time at Thirsty Meeples when we went to stay with Uncle S and Aunty P in Oxford, so when we found out that there was going to be a board game café in Nottingham, we were very happy.  It took rather a long time from when we heard that it was on the cards (sorry - couldn't resist!) to when it actually happened and then a bit longer before we got round to trying it out.

Yesterday morning, M said to me 'You're probably going to say no, but there's something I'd like to do today.'  In my defence, my nos are often because the requests to go somewhere or do something are frequently too late in the day for the request to be possible or worth the trip.  However on this occasion it was made early enough in the day, so I agreed that it was possible if the girls managed to get various things done first.  So, after having the rats out to play for a while, piano practice for K and some addition with decimals on Khan Academy for M and having some lunch, we jumped on the bus and headed for town.

The Dice Cup is very handy to get to, at the Vicky Centre end of Mansfield Road, just by the bus station.  The people are very friendly and helpful and at £5 for four hours (minimum - they'll only enforce that if they're busy, otherwise you can stay longer) and children under 13 free with a paying adult, it's really good value for money.

Now to the games.  They've got a pretty good selection to choose from, although not as good as the place in Oxford, to be fair though they've not long been open and I imagine they will build up a bigger one over time.  We started off with Ticket to Ride: Europe, as we have got the original Ticket to Ride and really like it.

I forgot to take a photo while we were playing!

It's pretty similar to the original, where you claim tracks between neighbouring cities to get points and attempt to complete 'tickets' by linking the cities on the cards.  One thing that I think it a big improvement in this version is that the tickets have been divided into two sorts, with each person getting one longer one and three shorter ones of which you must keep at least one.  There are also the additions of tunnels, ferries and stations, which provide enough difference to make it an interesting variation well worth a try.  In fact, this is one of the really good things about board game cafés, you can try variations of tried and tested favourites when they are probably too similar to want to own more than one, but different enough that it's fun trying them out.

We briefly had a try with Catchphrase, because the girls like the quiz show on the telly, but to be honest, it wasn't much cop.  After this, we had a go at a game that one of the staff recommended as quick, easy and fun.  He was right, but it wasn't one that really suited K, although she said that she did enjoy it.  It consists of  5 small wooden objects, a red chair, a blue book, a green bottle, a grey mouse and a white ghost and a pack of cards.  On the cards are two of the objects, if one of them is the correct colour the first person to pick up the correct wooden one wins the card, if neither of them is correct there will be only one of the wooden objects that is not represented by either colour of shape on the card and then that is the one you need to pick up.  If you pick up the incorrect object you lose one of the cards you have already won.  It's really straightforward and fun, although K is just too polite and 'doesn't like snatching' and since speed is of the essence there's quite a lot of snatching involved.  She did enjoy it though despite only winning two cards while M and I split the rest of the pack almost equally.

The game with a couple of the cards as examples.

The next game was another recommendation and we all really liked it.  It was called Ingenious (although they also have the same game but with the alternative name of Mensa Connections).  It's a tile strategy game played on a hexagonal board with tiles that are two hexagons stuck together.  There are six shapes, each with a different colour, and points are scored for lines of shapes.  You score separately for each of the colours (you can see the scoreboards in the photo) and it is your lowest scoring colour that is the one that determines the winner, so you need to ensure that you score points with each colour.  This was my favourite of the games and both K & M really enjoyed it too, so much so that this was the only game that we played twice.

Ingenious mid-game.

We finished off with Coyote, which was a sort of mathsy guessing game.  You wear a headband and stick a feather in your own without looking, although you can see everyone else's.  The feathers mostly have numbers on them from 1-10, 15 or 20, but there are also a few negative numbers along with a few that get rid of the highest number or turn it negative, there's also one that multiplies the total by two.  You go around the players stating what you think the total will be, always having to give a higher total than the person before until someone challenges what the person before them has said.  If the total is higher than the last guess, the challenger wins and receives a tomahawk to add to their headband, if it is right or lower the person who gave that number wins.  The loser receives a tomahawk to add to their headband, and when you have three tomahawks either that person is out and you continue with one fewer players, or you can start again.  K in particular did not like the idea of tomahawks on heads, but that part of it could easily be glossed over.

K, me and M mid-game.

We arrived at The Dice Cup soon after 2pm and I had anticipated staying a couple of hours and leaving before the rush hour got properly going.  As it turned out we stayed until gone 6 o'clock and will definitely be returning!