Grinnell, Iowa Game Day - January 27, 2007
Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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Last month my wife and I decided to host a game day at our house in an effort to groom some people to play with. The first one was fun. The second one was better still.
Grinnell is a college town of about 9,000. We're an hour from Des Moines, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids. Most of the gaming we do is in Iowa City or Des Moines, and we're grateful for those opportunities. We have 3 couples on our street we occasionally play with. None are as hardcore as we are. One of the couples introduced us to Acquire, Clans, and several party games. In turn, we've introduced them to quite a bit. Another of the couples comes from the card game/word game tradition. They're willing victims when we can corral them. Anyway, mostly it's my wife and me in 2-player games. Increasingly, we can't get our 15-year-old son to sit down with us. Our 17-year-old daughter has Down Syndrome and many of our games are not a good fit for her.
We're trying to nurture some gamers. We thought the best way to do it is to make blanket invitations up and down our street. Let them know the types of games we'd be playing. The fact the people mostly know each other makes it less threatening to them and more fun. They can come for a friendly gathering of neighbors, and if they happen to get exposed to a game, well so be it.
I made a chicken tortilla soup. My wife baked some of her world-famous cookies. We put out some snacks and drinks and opened the door at noon. The plan was to go from noon to nine. People could come and go as they wished. They were encouraged to bring a drink or snack of their own. We ended up with at least 28 people of all ages. I don't think any of them belong to BGG (yet).
The purpose of this list is to encourage others in similar straits to give it a try. My comments about the games will probably be a little spare.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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One of my friends, Bill, showed up at noon. He wanted to try this. We played with 3 teenage boys (his, mine, and a friend). His boy beat me by 2 points. It was a hit.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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We had this set up on a table in another room. My wife, who didn't get into Ticket, played this with a neighbor who wandered over a few minutes later. In his first playing, he crushed her. I assume he'll play it again.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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With Ticket over, the boys went to write a movie script. Bill and I played this quick filler while waiting for Thurn and Taxis to break up. As we were playing, our biology professor neighbor came over. He was impressed with the game concept and the game play as he watched us.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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This got played once early with new players and my wife and then 3 times late with my wife and neighbors who love this game.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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Bill and Doug and I played 1 round of this just because I thought they'd both like it as a game they could play with their young children.
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6.
Board Game: Samurai
[Average Rating:7.49 Overall Rank:76]
Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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I introduced this to Bill, Rebecca, and Rebecca's daughter, Amelia. Amelia won. It was well-received.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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A 7-player game of this got going in the other room. I could hear a lot of laughing. It was new to at least 5 of them, maybe 6. As soon as the game ended, the 6 people playing who aren't married to me all left. My wife assured me it wasn't because of the game. It was just the time of day.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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My daughter's latest acquisition. She played this with a couple of college buddies and some of the younger kids.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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When Scene It? ended, the younger teens grabbed this and hooted it up for awhile.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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My daughter's favorite game. That's my picture. They had a good time with this.
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11.
Board Game: Fjords
[Average Rating:6.70 Overall Rank:613]
Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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I played one round of this with Rebecca before she had to leave.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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Mike and Diane came with their two youngest. Another of their kids was already here with my son. Mike is not a gamer, but was here for the eats and the company. We played Cartagena. Mike beat me by 1 turn. He enjoyed it, understood it, and will probably be back for more.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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A 5-player of this game broke out. It was the only time all day I played with my wife. I won by 2 points. The farmer scoring confounded the 3 newbies a little, but by the end, I think they grasped it. The game went over well, though the teenage girl didn't seem to like the screwage factor so much.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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One of the kids brought this, and it was played. I don't know much about it.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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We ended the day with a 3-player of this. I got this from Secret Santa, and I love it. My wife is playing 10 Days with our next door neighbors while I played this with Anne who lives on the other side of them and Yoji,a Japanese student from the college. I won the game. It was tight and tense. Both newbies loved it and will play again.
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16.
Board Game: Poison
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:850]
Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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Yoji earlier played this with my daughter and another girl while we were finishing Carcassonne.
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Steve Bennett
United States
Grinnell
Iowa
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My daughter and a young friend played this while we were doing San Marco.
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Grinnell
Iowa
Illinois
Congrats on your game day! Looks like it was a great one. Lots of people, lots of games, lots of fun.
Keep it up,
Jason