Back to the Dice Cup again.

Yesterday was International Table Top Day and The Dice Cup was celebrating with a special offer of no cover charge.  A's cricket season started, so the girls and I had the afternoon to ourselves and headed into town, where we met up with friends and bumped into others.

We arrived before our friends, and had an abortive attempt to play Dixit, which we've played before a few times, but it doesn't really work very well with just three.  So while we were waiting we had a game of Ingenious, which we played on both of our previous two visits, and then once our friends (rather confusingly also K & M - so I'll call them K2 & M2) arrived we had another go as they didn't know it.

M2 wanted to play a game that he'd played before, which I really rather liked and I think the girls did too.  It's called Zeus on the Loose, it's a card game that's a bit mathsy and strategic but with a sizeable dose of luck needed too.

Next we had one of the two games that M really wanted to play again, Telestrations, the 'chinese whispers drawing game'.  I don't know if we were particularly good at drawing this time or whether playing it with fewer people makes for less inaccuracy in identifying drawings, but while it was still fun, it didn't cause quite as much hilarity as last time.

Hey, That's My Fish came next.  This was another one that K2 and M2 already knew.  It's for 2 - 4 players, so K decided to sit out the first game and watch.  It's one of those games that it very simple to play, but actually very strategic.  The idea is to catch as many fish as you can, while trying to block other penguins from doing the same.

Near the beginning of the game.

Since it was also Love Your Local Yarn Shop Day, I nipped out at the this point to the absolutely fabulous Knit Nottingham and bought some yarn, since I'd just finished my most recent project (which I forgot to take a photo of before posting - oops).  I've bought some yarn and a pattern from Ravelry although I think may have been a bit ambitious.  However, I know that I can do what I have done previously when I've got stuck, which is visit the shop, say 'Help!' and get it!

When I got back, K, M & M2 (K2 was watching), where playing a new game with a little bit of help from one of the lovely Dice Cup people.  I got the gist of it more or less by the end, coming in half way through as I did, and the kids seemed to be enjoying it.  Rather than try to explain, you can read about Port Royal here.

Mid game.

Unfortunately K2 & M2 had to dash off after this, but K, M & I stayed on a bit longer.  M and I had a go at Munchkin Loot Letter.  K didn't fancy it.  M and I weren't madly impressed to be honest, but it might be better with more than two. 

We had one final game before heading home, this time another one that we had played before a couple of times at the Imagination Gaming sessions at our local library, Anomia.  You take it in turn to lay cards down and when the symbol on your card matches an opponent's, you have to name something in the category written on their card.  Harder than you might think!

Anomia.

Given it was free to play, it was unsurprisingly very busy in there, which is really good to see because it's a great place.  A group on the table next to us were playing Pirate Fluxx (I had the orginal version for my birthday), K in particular, being closest to them, found it quite hard to concentrate because they were talking in pirate voices, presumably because there's a card that says you have to do so!  Admittedly it was very funny and I think that might be one that we'll have a go at another time.

It was also brilliant that although we've only been there three times (so far!) that one of the lovely blokes knows us enough to want to tell us about a new game they've got in that he thinks we'd like (only in the shop so far, but hopefully to play soon).  The game in question is a co-operative game called Mysterium, which sounds a bit like a combination of Dixit and Cluedo with a bit of something else and definitely sounds like something we would indeed enjoy.