Another Game Session

Our friends Stephen and Pauline were over for a week and they brought a friend with them, Lynne. A bridge partner of Stephen, I don't think she had played any euro type games before. Anyway, we decided to play Alhambra first, Tina and I had played a couple of times utilising the intrepid phantom third player, Dirk. After explaining the rules and answering a few questions about gameplay we were off.

Alhambra layout - Jubilee Edition
I found that with five players getting the perfect tile for your Alhambra was a lot more difficult, by the time it gets round to your turn again the tile has often been purchased. The game progressed smoothly enough and after the first scoring the points were fairly close together. By the time we had reached the second scoring Pauline had got a majority in the purple towers and took a healthy lead. Surprisingly nobody used their reserve much, I think Lynne and Pauline did once each.

Pauline enjoying the game and Lynne deciding what to buy
Eventually the final tile came out and the remaining tiles were distributed, Stephen capturing two with most appropriate money. I think everyone enjoyed the game and would 'get it' better with a second playing.

Final Scores
Pauline 88, Stephen 80, Colin 75, Tina 71, Lynne 68

Pauline suggested that we next play 'the game that Janet liked' ie Zooloretto. This is a light, family friendly game involving collecting animal tiles to place in your zoo. Last time we played I did really badly and came last in both games. Again the rules are fairly easy to explain and it didn't take us long to get under way. This time I did marginally better but still managed to get -4 points for animals in my barn. Stephen was doing particularly well with his breeding stock, although he did miscalculate once and had two very friendly male kangaroos!

Zooloretto in progress
Again this game works better with 4/5 players as the options on the lorries are more interesting. I don't think this game works so well with only two players.

Final Scores
Pauline 24, Tina 23, Colin 22, Stephen 21, Lynne 14

I have resisted Twitter for awhile now, but eventually succumbed and signed up. My user name is 'coljen' if anyone is desperate enough to see what my latest tweets are!!

Happy Gaming!!