It’s been a busy week, with only one post! Yeah that’s like me having the blogging equivalent of losing my voice or a sore throat.

Last night there was no FEG@TA arranged. Instead a plan was hatched to have a look at The White Lion. 

Jonathan and I were both running a tad late. But Debbie wasn’t there waiting for us, so we were able to be a little guilt free.

But Debbie wasn’t there! She was going to be there. She’d thumbed up on the mornings invite about meeting up. She never responded to a “where are you?” message on Facebook. How odd? Had she been kidnapped by space pirates? Or was she so guilt ridden she felt ashamed to respond? Who knows or cares? Jonathan and I had a large table that was well lit, two bags brimming with games, and our pints of cider. Debbie who?

So while we waited for Debbie to arrive in case she too was running late, Jonathan and I played Qwixx. Even if I hadn’t taken three negative marks during the game Jonathan would have beaten me, he had built up a comfortable lead to absorb any attempt at a come back.

Jonathan and I next played a game that he got in a trade and had been sitting in his pile of shame for a long long time, called Wurfel Express.

This was a German edition of Wurfel Express, with a poor translation of the rules. I do admire and appreciate that a bgg member has taken the time to translate the rules and make them available. However, (there is always a however) I wish they would take longer to not just do a straight translation but also make the rules readable!

This wasn’t the worst game I’ve ever played. That title is still held by Nantucket. But it this is a game that would never set the world on fire.

It’s got that push your luck Yahtzee  rolling of dice mechanic. And that’s about as exciting as the game gets. 

I know this is meant to be a family game. So it should be appealing to young and old. Which is totally possible to do. Apparently a good example would be the Stronghold Games Spiel des Jahres recommended game Animals on Board. I say apparently because I’ve not played it. But by all accounts it appeals to both young and seasoned gamers alike. Hey even Pixar produce films that appeal to all. Sadly this game doesn’t hold much to appeal to the more mature player.

So Jonathan can tick this game off his pile of shame and add it to his new gaming wing of crapness that takes it name from its founding entry The Nantucket Wing.

Our final game of the evening was the excellent small box pick up and deliver game The Great Heartland Hauling Co.

This game has a lot of replayability. In our game we used one of the alternate board layouts for two players called ‘Black Dog’. But there are two other two player alternate layouts, along with three and four player alternate layouts. You can play with the Badlands expansion (which adds a fifth player and two new location cards), and/or the truck stop cards (which offer upgrades you can purchase). We played with the truck stop cards last night.

During our game I got the truck stop that allowed me to move diagonally. Whilst Jonathan got one that when he stopped on the starting location he could draw five additional cards and then discard five cards. Jonathan’s was handy for that trying to draw to find the cards you need. But it doesn’t help if you are unlucky in your deck diving!

I triggered the end game, and when all the points were tallied I had won by a single mighty point. 

So after an evening of great company, drink, a fantastic gaming location, we took off to grab a wrap of dodgy meat for our supper.