a pursuit of fruitless endeavors and endless refinements

Victory And Happy New Year!

It was a long fight and it had some assistance from my kids this morning, and my wife later in the day, but I pulled through and completed 100 unique game plays over the year.

We even broke out some champagne to celebrate.  Well, that is what I was celebrating.  There was this whole “new year” thing going on too that was pretty special.

To make it all happen, my kids started the day right with a setup of some Loopin’ Louie right before I shuffled them off to daycare.

When I got home, I double-checked my list and grabbed a few solo games to work through for the rest of the day as most everyone else was working still.  Monkey Business is a quick dexterity game that you can play against people or solo different building structures for a loose solo experience.  I lost my first game attempting to stack all 12 monkeys on no more than 4 monkeys at the base.  I eventually got it done with a 3 monkey base and separate tower schemes.

Next I pulled out my travel companion, Mr. Bones to play a solitaire game of Iunu from Ludi Creations.  This game was a gift from a friend that accidentally ordered too many copies.  I hadn’t really given it much thought but when I saw it was solo-able, I pulled it out.  It’s an interesting set collection game with an auto-playing opponent (the god Osiris).  It was a bit too easy to manipulate his strategy and mess him up so either I was playing him wrong or the AI is a little weak.

I got a call from the missus halfway through Iunu that she was coming home early and was interested in gaming so we pulled out an old couple’s standby: Bananagrams.  I thought for sure I might finally beat her but in the last 3 letters, I pulled a “Q” and had to do some major triage to reboot and fit it in. She ended up calling the win right as I was laying my last letter. So close!

Next up was Knizia’s Lord of the Rings: Confrontation.  I really like this game and it’s Stratego rip.  She was not too keen on the power difference but I ended up over committing and forgetting some of the crafty Fellowship powers.

The end of the game was a mad dash to the opposing sides and Frodo was just one move ahead.  Another loss. So close!

For our evening entertainment, we pulled up Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2e, co-op Road to Legends.  Because it had been awhile, we ran the tutorial adventure.  It was slow and laborious getting through all the various instruction menus but it also helped me re-familiarize myself with the system.

After some quick skirmishes, we ran up against the big bad, an Ettin Abomination that was about to make quick work of my little berserker dwarf.  The game politely told me this round, the Abomination would gain two surges (basically auto adding 3 more damage to the attack). With a paltry 3 life left and our morale sitting at death’s door, he was all but guaranteed to knock me down and have us lose the adventure. But fate said it was not so and he rolled the dread “X” to cause him to full on whiff the attack.

My wife followed up with a quick staff jab and the Abomination was toast. Victory from the jaws of defeat!

And with the felling of the Abomination, 2018’s 100 unique games’ challenge was also laid low. I’ll take some time to reflect on what I learned in this challenge as well as the “one that got away” as my 100 games of Walking Dead: All Out War did not pan out.  In the meantime, Happy New Year! May your 2018 memories be all the greater in the rearview and best of luck for 2019!

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2 Comments

  1. Russ Spears

    Of the last two entries of gaming goodness, Bananagrams with the missus just makes me smile the most.

    Have a happy new year Christian! Looking forward to reading more here in the coming year!

    • Christian

      Thanks Russ! Happy New Year as well! Those games were fun and while I didn’t get a commitment to play a campaign of Descent I didn’t get a flat out “no” 🙂 Maybe after we wrap up Pandemic Season 2 and that cools a little…

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