This week, freezing fog, work and family commitments conspired to reduce our numbers to four, none of whom were there much before 8pm.  So we kicked off straight away with the “Feature Game”, Alhambra, which is a tile laying game where players are architects, competing to build the greatest palace.

With two new players, the realisation came slowly that leading in the early stages is not necessarily significant and a lot can change in the final scoring.  In the end, the game was really tight between three players with a surprising, small lead for the winner (who had no idea how it happened).

For some reason, Alhambra which should take less than an hour took nearly two, so we only managed the one other game, which was Thurn and Taxis.

This is a game that is often describes as “being a bit like Ticket to Ride“, however, in reality it’s nothing like it and probably has more in common with games like Elfenroads or Elfenland.  This game was probably best characterised by frustration with people waiting patiently for cards they wanted only to see them shuffled away just as they turned up.  This game was also quite close, but it was clear that acquiring high value tokens was the key which meant that having played the game before was a significant advantage.

Learning Outcome: Patience is a virtue, but having multiple strategies is more often rewarded…