We skipped out on posting “On the Table” last week because we were preparing to go on vacation and really didn’t play much. However, last week, we went out to a remote cabin* in the woods and more-than made up for it. So here’s what we played on vacation:
Animal Kingdoms – We love the artwork on these cards, and it plays pretty quickly, so we get this one our fairly often. As it usually goes, Em won 84-72. Jay got to look at red pandas, so he can’t be too salty.
Elder Sign – We went up against Shub-Niggurath and, for the first time in a while, were almost defeated. Almost. In the end, with few options left, Carolyn Fern and Amanda Sharpe managed to close the gates and drive the Black Goat of the Woods back to her dimension, and we only lost Ashcan Pete and Jenny Barnes in the process!
Bunny Kingdom – Jay wins less than 50% of games he plays, and he’s even worse at Bunny Kingdom, but for some reason, he was on fire this time. We won’t even post the score here, but Jay won pretty handily.
Rivals for Catan – On the other hand, Rivals for Catan is a game that Jay usually does fairly well at, even when he loses. This time, though, he focused too much on one strategy, and it failed him, netting himself 4 points to Em’s 12. This may have been Jay’s worst game of Rivals.
Gizmos – Another game we can knock out pretty quickly. Em tried a new strategy, which she’s keeping a secret, and Jay went with the tried-but-not-always-true method of getting cards that change energy into other energy. Jay won this time, 33-22.
Ticket to Ride: The Card Game – Another game that Jay usually does well at, but his luck ran out this time. Em won 152-144. A couple people asked us, and we’ll say that the card game plays very differently from the board game, in that you have to remember what cards you’ve scored towards your routes, and your opponents can see what cards you’re trying to score and try to block you. It’s fun, and it has a much smaller table presence than Ticket to Ride, the board game.
The Captain is Dead – We’re out of practice with this one, so we decided to play on “coward” level. Jay was the Tactical Officer, and Em was the Scholar. With all those discounts on actions, you would think that we’d have an easy time, but we just could not get engineering cards in our hands. Luckily, Jay kept the shields up and running, and Em kept the hordes of aliens at bay, so the crew managed to jump to safety eventually.
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion – We’re playing through “The Beguiling Sewers” with the Hatchet and the Demolitionist. It…did not go well. We didn’t die, but we were exhausted, with only one objective left to take care of. We might try “The Defiled Sewers” to see if we have any better luck.
Teotihuacan City of Gods – Our first play of Teotihuacan! We’ve owned it for about a year, but it seemed daunting to learn. And really, it was, but it was worth it! Em felt like she wasn’t doing well throughout the game, but in the end, she managed to pull off a 238-191 victory.
Forgotten Waters – We played our first session of Forgotten Waters with our friends via Zoom and the Forgotten Waters app! Jay was the alchemist Jeanne the Chaste, and EM is the debater “Snaggletooth” Carl. We finished the first part of scenario 1, and we’re looking forward to the next pARRRRRt.
And that’s what we played this week! What made it to your table? Let us know in the comments, or anywhere else on the internet!