This week we had two new gamers, so we started out gently with the “Feature Game” which was Coloretto. This is a simple card game where players have to collect sets of coloured chameleons.  However, while the three largest sets contribute positively to the final score, any others are subtracted.  The game was really quite tight with only three points between first and second place.

Next up was Carcassonne which had its second outing in as many games nights.  In contrast to the last game, this was played very “nicely”.  We started out with a selection of tiles from the two river sets and then played with just the base game, without farmers.  The youngest player managed to draw city after city tile and built a massive, uncontested city.  Meanwhile, the other new player got meeples stuck in a city and on a road that required two tiles to infill a hole, one of which was quite specific.  In a masterpiece of courage, she waited it out and drew the last required tile in the penultimate round.  Despite these heroics, however, his seemingly never-ending stream of cloisters meant nobody was quite able to catch red, who ran out eventual winner.

Given that the new players have an interest in horses, we then moved on to Turf Horse Racing.  This time, the new players ganged up, backing Roamin’ Emperor who had a one in six chance of moving 20 lengths and it stared really well, launching into the lead, only for Silver Blaze, Red Baron, and Desert Prince to move ahead.  Mosstown Boy and Lagoon Lady hung on to the back of the pack while the old nag Raven Beauty seemed to be going backwards.  Lagoon Lady started to loose contact when, with a sudden burst of pace Roamin’ Emperor made a dash for the line winning by 15-20 lengths from Silver Blaze and Red Baron.

Finally, we finished with a few quick rounds of one of our old favourites, Dobble.  We managed three different riotous variations and honours were pretty much even.

Learning Outcome:  When it comes to boardgames, playing on a tablecloth is a BAD idea as it moves and causes “earthquakes”.