First off this weeks cookie had an outbreak... of delicious:
This week we had a total of 6 adults - so a good number. Started to split things into 3&3 (girls and guys) but one of the newer ladies was wanting to learn something new. So we split 4 and 2.
The "mom" group of 2 played Rummikub while keeping an eye on the kids in the living room. We have a small dining area beside our kitchen which is beside a sunken living room - so it provides both a good vantage point, but a little separation since it is up a few steps.
The rest of us decided to try out a new game to all of us - Lords of Vegas. I had watched all the videos and glanced over the rulebook so I thought I had a good grasp on it. I put the "glover" explanation video on the iPad and played it for them while I set things up.
That worked quite well. It took a few turns for things to click but everyone was enjoying it by the end. I think I like it a good bit - a little luck, a little strategy, a little puzzle-y, and a little trading. We didn't really use trading effectively the first time but I can see where it will add a lot to future games.
We did mess up one fairly major rule unfortunately - when double checking the turn order I read the first part of the paragraph aloud where it mentioned something to the effect of: In this part of your turn take the following actions in order to manage your casinos...
Reading it I put the emphasis as "following actions in order to manage..." and stopped there saying oh so you have to do the actions on the card in that order. So we did that for the whole game - even commenting a couple of times how it is a little strange that you would gamble at the end of your turn and have to wait a turn to use the money.
Turns out that the second half of the paragraph mentions, VERY CLEARLY AND VERBOSELY, that you can take the actions in any order and as many times as you want (other than those limited to 1x per turn). D'oh! Oh well everyone still enjoyed it and talked about playing it again next time - I've sent an email to everyone clarifying it.
One more note about LoV, or for any game that uses paper money for that matter, use poker chips instead (preferably in a chip carousel). It is so much easier to grab chips quickly without having to check to make sure bills are stuck together.
After LoV wrapped up our kids were in bed so we were able to re-merge the 2 groups for a few full games of Cash and Guns - introducing it to a couple of people who missed it last week. It is a perfect "no brain left" wrap up to an evening. A few people were tired so things ended shortly after that.
Lessons learned: 1) Always solo a game first to work out the best way to explain it. 2) Videos work well to get things kicked off in a new game.
I've thought for a while that a video explaining the basics of how to play - without any review about the game itself - would be an excellent way to kick things off. Start video, set game up, answer any questions and play. I've actually experimented with doing them myself in the past with this one:
I think that concept worked so well tonight (despite the one rule flub) that I'm going to try and make a few more.
So next week will be the first cancelled game night of 2011 - for good reason however - I'll be attending my first game convention at TN Game Days in Nashville.
