Although the test event at the Horse and Jockey was very successful last week, we have decided to continue online this week.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 17^th August 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

One of the more popular games that we have played online was the “Roar and Write” type game, Welcome to Dino World.  We have only played the “Lite” version, so this week, the “Feature Game” will be “Dinos in Danger Mode”.  This is much nastier and altogether more likely to lead to an Isla Nublar type incident…

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of Dinosaurs…

Jeff and Joe had just finished watching Jurassic World and as they watched the credits, Joe said commented that he thought it was a fantastic film.  Jeff was less impressed.

Joe enthused, “But just look at what they made those dinosaurs do!”

Jeff replied, “Yeah, it’s great—they were able to train raptors. Still, that’s not as impressive as the Flintstones convincing a bird to be their record player…”

With the Jockey closed last week, we have decided to postpone our planned to return to the Horse and Jockey.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 3^rd August 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

We had hoped to mark The Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo and our return to The Jockey by playing Ticket to Ride with the Japanese map.  However, circumstances mean that this is the third unsuccessful try for that game.  So instead, this week, the “Feature Game” will be the Ishikawa map for MetroX.  The Japanese are very fond of their railways, so as the Ishikawa map is quick to play, we will follow it with another game of the new Railroad Ink Challenge, which we first played a month ago.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of the Olympics…

Jeff had been out shopping and bought some new condoms.  When he got home, his wife noticed the brand. “Olympic condoms? What makes them so special?” she asked.

“They come in three colours,” Jeff replied. “Gold, silver and bronze.”

“What colour are you going to wear tonight?” his wife asked.

“Gold, of course,” answered Jeff.

“Really?” his wife responded. “Why don’t you wear silver?  It would be nice if you came second for a change…”

Although restrictions are lifting, it is with a heavy heart that we’ve decided this week is too soon to return to the Horse and Jockey.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 20^th July 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Skills Mini Expansion for Cartographers.  We have really enjoyed playing Cartographers several times and, with the Spiel des Jahres winners announced this week, this is the nearest we can get to playing a game to mark the occasion (it received a nomination for the Kennerspiel award last year).  The Skills expansion gives players a way to spend the coins they earn, enabling them to find other ways of achieving their goals.

– Image by BGG contributor kalchio

And talking of skills…

Jeff was applying to be a policeman.  To test their skills in recognizing a suspect, the interviewer showed Jeff and another candidate a picture for five seconds and then hid it.

“This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?” he asked.

The first candidate answered, “That’s easy, we’ll catch him quickly because he only has one eye.”

The Interviewer said, “Well… That’s because the picture I showed you is his profile.”  He turned to the second candidate, “How would you recognize him?”

The second candidate smiled and said, “He’d be easy to catch because he only has one ear!”

The interviewer responded, “What’s the matter with you two?!?!  Of course only one eye and one ear are showing because it’s a picture of his side profile.  Is that the best answer you can come up with?”

Becoming frustrated at this point, he turned to Jeff, the third candidate, and asked, “How would you recognize him?”  The interviewer added quickly, “Think hard before giving me a stupid answer.”

Jeff thought for a moment, and then slowly said, “The suspect wears contact lenses.”

The interviewer was somewhat taken aback, because he really didn’t know himself whether the suspect wore contacts or not.  “That’s an interesting answer,” he said.  “Wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I’ll get back to you on that.”

He left the room, went to his office, checked the suspect’s file on his computer and came back with a beaming smile on his face.  “Wow—it’s TRUE! The suspect does, indeed, wear contact lenses. Excellent work! How were you able to make such an astute observation?”

“That’s easy,” Jeff replied. “He can’t wear normal glasses because he only has one eye and one ear.”

Although it feels like the end is in sight, we have at least one more games night before we can return to the Horse and Jockey.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 6^th July 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Railroad Ink Challenge: Shining Yellow Edition.  We have played Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition several times, both with and without the mini expansions and have really enjoyed it.  This new version steps it up a little with several new challenges to add to the base game.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of challenges…

Jeff was chatting to his mate Joe about impossible questions.  As the conversation went on, Jeff said he thought he could answer all questions with just two sentences.

Joe wasn’t convinced, so Jeff explained, “Any question can be answered by either, ‘None of your business’ or ‘None of my business’.

Joe said, “Don’t you think answering questions like that make people unhappy?”

Jeff replied, “None of my business.”

Joe wasn’t impressed, “You really DO think you are the cleverest person, don’t you!?!?” he grumped.

Jeff grinned and replied, “None of your business.”

Joe took that as a challenge and sat and thought for a moment, then he smiled and said, “Did you know that I’d slept with your wife?”

Summer is officially here, though the weather means it doesn’t feel like it.  The restrictions are still here too, but although things are improving, people still need “remote gaming“, despite its limitations.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 22^nd June 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Sphinx und Triamide expansion to Das Labyrinth des Pharao.  Das Labyrinth des Pharao is a tile laying game in a similar vein to Take it Easy! and the Spiel des Jahres nominee Karuba which we last played a long time ago.  This game has an Egyptian theme though, with players exploring a pyramid, or with the expansion, three pyramids/a sphinx.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking about Egypt…

Jeff was living in Egypt by the banks of a beautiful ancient river.  Every year the river flooded, but Jeff remained certain that the river would not destroy his house.  One year, the people of the village tried desperately to persuade him to evacuate, as the floods that year were particularly severe.  Jeff would not listen though, convinced he was right.  The floods came within the month, however, ruining his house and pulling him, and the debris, into the river.  The people, watched from the shores, shouting at him, and yelling, asking him why he didn’t listen.  Jeff continued ignoring them—he was still in de-Nile.

Spring is here, the evenings are getting brighter and it really feels like the end is in sight, maybe.  People still need what social contact they can get though, and board games are a great medium for that.  Despite the limitations of “remote gaming“, everyone feels it is important to stay in touch, so we are persisting with online meetings.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 8^th June 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Fortune expansion to Tiny Towns, a cute little area control, resource management and town building game.  The expansion allows a little additional flexibility giving players the opportunity to acquire gold and then spend it so they can choose their own resources.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of fortunes…

After his rich uncle’s death, Jeff was very anxious about his uncle fortune.

“Am I mentioned in the will?” he repeatedly asked the solicitor.

“Of course you are,” the solicitor replied pointing, “Right here on the second page…”

Jeff read aloud, “To my niece Sally, I bequeath £123,000; to my cousin Thomas, £55,000; and to my nephew Jeff, who was always asking whether he was mentioned in my will, HELLO JEFF! I didn’t forget to mention you, did I?”

Spring is here, the evenings are getting brighter and it feels like the end is in sight.  People still need what social contact they can get though, and board games are a great medium for that.  Despite the limitations of “remote gaming“, everyone feels it is important to stay in touch, so we are persisting with online meetings.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 25^th May 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be  the “Roar and Write” type game, Welcome to Dino World.  This is unrelated to the Welcome to… games we have played previously, except for the similarity in the names of course.  There are two levels, but as this will be the first time we have played it, we will save “Danger Mode” for another day, reducing the risk of there being an Isla Nublar type incident…

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of dinosaurs…

Three dinosaurs stumbled across a magic lamp. They rubbed it, and a genie appeared.

“I have three wishes, so I’ll give one to each of you,” the genie announced.

The first dinosaur thought hard. “Alright,” he said, “I’ll have a big, juicy, piece of meat please.” Instantly, the biggest, juiciest piece of meat he’d ever seen appeared in front of him.

Not to be outdone, the second dinosaur thought even harder.  “I know!  I’ll have a shower of meat!”  Immediately, huge pieces of meat rained down around him.

The third dinosaur, certainly not to be outdone, thought even harder than the other two dinosaurs.  “I’ve got it!” he cried, “I want a MEATIER shower!”

Spring is here, the evenings are getting brighter and it feels like the end is in sight, maybe.  People still need what social contact they can get though, and board games are a great medium for that.  Despite the limitations of “remote gaming“, everyone feels it is important to stay in touch, so we are persisting with online meetings.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 11^th May 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Neue Entdeckungen (New Discoveries) expansion to Cartographers.  This is a “Roll and Write” game we’ve played and enjoyed quite a bit, but this expansion adds a new map with more wastelands to try to work with.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of cartographers…

Jeff’s cartographer wife, Jill, was worried she’d lost some very important topographical maps.  They spent all morning trying to find them, looking high and low. Eventually, when all hope was lost and Jill thought she was going to have to start again from scratch, Jeff opened a desk draw they had already searched twice, and there they were.

When Jeff showed his wife what he’d found, she said, “Oh, that’s a relief…!”

Spring is here, the evenings are getting brighter and it feels like the end is in sight, maybe.  People still need what social contact they can get though, and board games are a great medium for that.  Despite the limitations of “remote gaming“, everyone feels it is important to stay in touch, so we are persisting with online meetings.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 27^th April 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, to celebrate the start of “Golden Week” on Thursday, the “Feature Game” will be the MetroX expansion, Sendai & Hakata & Nagoya.  “Golden Week” encompasses four of Japan’s national holidays, celebrating the Japanese Constitution (May 3^rd), Children’s day (May 5^th), Emperor Hirohito’s birthday (April 29^th) and his love of plants (May 4^th, also known as Star Wars Day).

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of holidays…

Jeff was working in a department store in Japan when a small boy went up to him and said he would like an electric train set to play with during “Golden Week”.

Jeff thought for a moment, and then said, “If you get a train, your dad is going to want to play with it too. Is that all OK?”

The boy went very quiet.  So, moving the conversation along, Jeff asked, “What else would you like for “Golden Week”?”

The little boy promptly replied, “Another train.”

Although the spring is definitely on its way despite the snow, with the current stresses, people still need what social contact they can get, and board games are a great medium for that.  Despite the limitations of “remote gaming“, everyone feels it is important to stay in touch, so we are persisting with online meetings.  Therefore, our next meeting will be on Tuesday 13^th April 2021; we will gather from around 7.30pm, and start playing at 8pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Tiny Towns, this time with the Monuments module.  Unusually, this is not a “Roll and Write” game, though it has some similar elements.  It is an area and resource management game where players are planning and building a town.

– Image by boardGOATS

And talking of planners…

Jeff went to see a planning consultant to ask for help building his new house.  As he arrived and was being introduced to the consultant, he asked, “What’s your least expensive fee?”

The consultant answered, “£150 for three questions.”

Jeff looked quite shocked and exclaimed, “That’s very expensive, isn’t it?

“Yes, it is,” replied the consultant. “So what’s your third question?”