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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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June 14th:
With 4 we could try Wasabi! again. First time with 4 and a first time for Tom. But it is not a hard game to explain and pick up so we were off and running quickly. J kept to her "no 5" approach, which has been effective, but the rest of us at least picked up a 5. Tom did small recipes forst, several 2s, while Rick and I got 3s finished. I was then trying to set up my 5 and had the cards and ingredients in place but an ill-timed wasabi card and a switch messed the set-up, so I looked at getting a 4 instead, managing a neat 2 at once move. Tom was a in lull after his early burst and Rick was apparently doomed to play out the rest of the game without completing another recipe. Meanwhile J was marching solidly on completing recipes a-plenty.
Turned out Rick was not quite done as the board shifted and new opportunities arose. And Tom got things going again, first a small one and then, miraculously, he announced he had his 5! As the board filled up, Rick had caught up with J, neck and neck (down to their 4 wasabi cubes). The board almost full, there was little left to do. I stacked up a final 2, J filled space, Rick got one more turn he wasn't expecting, only to find that J won by playing her wasabi card (for the extra cube) and won by that single point. Prompting Rick to see if HE could have gotten a wasabi card to do the same (the consensus was he could).
A close game.
Rick: 31
Me: 26
J: 32
Tom: 23
There was some discussion last week whether there was real control of your game or just the illusion of control and with 4 players, the chaos is ratcheted up another level. Getting a 5 length recipe takes a combination of luck and players not paying close attention to what you are doing - a feat I never managed, though often it tempts you with the hint of the possibility of completion that can be maddening and my pursuit cost me here, though IF I had pulled it off, I would have won.
Rick said he would play it again as a 2 player but was more doubtful about it as a multi-player game. That was during the point of the game where he thought he would complete no more recipes, so maybe just the despair talking and it did turn around for him. But planning is difficult, it is intensely tactical: if the board is good for you this turn, take the shot, because there's a good chance it won't be so favorable by your next turn.
Maybe not quite the perfect lunch time game then.
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