October 5th, 2004 |
Should be the last Game Night on a Tuesday, as I'm starting to get slammed with too much work to do on Wednesdays. So we'll be moving to Thursdays. I just bought some new games on the weekend, and I was eager to try them out, so we did.
| Colossal Arena |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | 13 | 1 | * |
| Dan | 12 | 2 | * |
| Mike | 9 | 3 | * |
| Annie | 8 | 4 | * |
Notes: In Colossal Arena, players bet on monsters to last until the end of the battle. There are 8 monsters, and only 3 will survive. Each round players play cards trying to help the monsters they bet on while hurting their opponents' monsters. Bets placed earlier in the game are worth more, but at higher risk to the bettor. Add to this some special cards and special monster powers useable by each monsters current backer, and you get a fun, quick game.
Dan was kind of slow on the uptake, and no one else placed a secret bet except me. Dan tried to make a secret bet in the second round, but - sorry, Charlie - secret bets can only be made in the first round. Sometimes Dan has selective hearing and then blames me for not telling him all the rules. This time I was innocent.
The Seraphim was the first to perish, but no one had bets on him. I had placed a secret bet on the Gorgon, and Karla showed me that it was a good idea when she placed a bet on her AND asked for a future Gorgon card when she used the Gorgon's secret power. I had still had an excellent Gorgon card left, so I knew the the monster would last a good long while. I sighed with relief over my good play.
I was the top bettor on the Colossus, and used him in the 2nd round to switch a bet from the Wyrm to Unicorn, who looked to have a nice spread of bets. Karla placed 1st and 2nd round bets on the Amazon, and Dan became top bettor on the Wyrm after I switched my bet. The Titan, whom Annie and I had bet on, was the next to die. "No worries," I thought, "I can grab my bet with the Colossus and move it."
I was wrong. I was soon overextended, and I had to re-evaluate my bets and get in on the popular choices, most notably the Unicorn. I had absolutely no Colossus cards the rest of the game, and was forced to use Fan cards. The Kraken saved the Colossus' tush in the 3rd round, and Karla inexplicably killed off the Cyclops (much to backer Annie's chagrin), even though she had a bet on him. She also placed her last bet on the Amazon (again!). Dan tried to target the Amazon, but was unable to kill her off.
In the 4th round, the lack of bets on the Colossus (and my disastrous lack of good cards) led to his defeat. The Gorgon, with bets from everyone on her (including my secret bet), and the Unicorn were shoo-ins to survive. The only question was whether Dan and Annie's Wyrm would outlast Karla's Amazon. Mike grumbled in disgust.
In the end, the deck ran out before the three victors could be declared, which probably netted Karla the victory. Dan was slow in getting his bets out, but they were good bets, and I don't think he lost a single betting chip, as all his bets were on the Gorgon, Wyrm, and Unicorn, who all made it. Still, the low bets doomed him to defeat, as Karla got her early bets to survive, and netted 9 Gold from the Amazon. Annie seemed to get the way of other people's plans, and if I hadn't made a fortuitous secret bet, I would have run away and hid with last place.
| Betrayal at House on the Hill |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | Lived | 1 | * |
| Dan | Died & Won...sort of | 2 (Tie) | * |
| Karla | Died & Won...or did she? | 2 (Tie) | * |
| Annie | Killed & Lost | 4 | * |
Notes: This was our first time playing this, and there was much complaining at first over getting the little plastic markers onto the side of the character cards. Karla and Dan kind of crumpled the edges from trying, and Annie did a pretty good job. I barely scratched mine, and I told them not to worry about it, just to smoosh them on. I kind of regret saying that, as Dan and Karla kind of did a number on the edges of their cards.
I decided to be "Flash" Williams, who has a 6 Speed, but is pretty mediocre otherwise. Annie was Heather Granville, and Karla was Madam Zostra. Dan was Professor Longfellow, a name he enjoyed saying. Everyone started off goofing around, as they laughed at their characters' hobbies and birthdays. In fact, as the game started going I had to shush Karla because she was acting too goofy during the game play.
Heather was first to go and soon found herself in the basement, after having gone to the second floor and finding the Mystic Elevator. Madam Zostra found the Patio and after meeting with a Civil War couple, she learned some secrets of the house and gained some knowledge. Flash went next and found a spear in the junk room - an item that was incredibly helpful later on. Professor Longfellow wandered into the chapel and experienced some vanishing footprints.
Little Heather explored the basement, finding various items in the kitchen, and eventually finding the stairs back to the foyer. Flash ended up in the basement, too, as he fell down the coal chute. Madam Zostra fell through the collapsed floor and ended up in the statuary. Professor Longfellow found some mystical smoke in the Organ Room (which got him high, he insisted), and he managed to get a holy object to boost his sanity. He also found a little girl who accompanied him, and Flash found the brass bell.
Then, hunting around in the basement, Heather stumbled upon a sacred book that taught the secrets of reanimating dead tissue. With a giggle and chortle, we ended up with Haunt #29 and the Frankenstein Monster came to life as Heather betrayed us. Flash, Longfellow, and Zostra had to either push the monster off the chasm or burn him 4 times with torches.
Flash, with his excellent speed, ran to the kitchen and lit a torch, while Madam Zostra used a special card to arrange the tiles so that Prof. Longfellow would next pull out the Charred room, a room that enables the characters to light a torch. The goofy and cavalier attitude of Dan and Karla were gone as we tried to use teamwork to kill the monster. Heather was incredibly pesterous, attacking us if the monster couldn't get there.
The monster made for Madam Zostra first, and as Zostra took her first blow, Flash hit the monster with a torch. Only three more to go! Flash made for the kitchen and lit another torch as Prof. Longfellow lit one in the charred room. Madam Zostra tried to escape by pulling new tiles, but she quickly became trapped, and we lost contact with her as the monster closed in on her once again.
Prof. Longfellow tried to come at the monster, but he couldn't make it past the catacombs. He survived an attack from little Heather, who fought with a savage ferocity. Flash used the brass bell to move Longfellow one space closer to him, enabling him to escape the confounding maze of catacombs. Then, he hit the monster with a torch, but couldn't get far enough away from him or Heather. Flash used his spear to jab Heather, but the Monster was too much, and Flash was injured badly.
Flash was now way to injured to push the monster into the chasm, so he ran off to get another torch, his speed now down to 4. Professor Longfellow, however, threw another torch at the monster, and luckily hit him. He could only make it to the kitchen, though, as his speed was only 2, and both Heather and the monster teamed up to kill him. But he had set up Flash to hit the monster with his final torch...but he missed.
Flash cursed his luck and fled up the stairs, barely escaping to the mystic elevator. Heather caught up to him though, and ambushed him. Again the spear came in handy, as Heather's frenzied eyes turned confused as she looked at the spear shaft that had gone through her heart. "Evil never pays, little girl," said a patronizing and guiltless Flash.
The monster was hot on his trail, though, and Flash had to flee to the Mystic Elevator, which fortunately landed him in the basement. He sprinted to the kitchen, and soon had one last shot at the monster, which had trapped him in a corner. With the game on the line, Flash, with 4 dice, rolled...a 3. There was much grumbling and worry. Annie rolled for the monster with 3 dice and rolled...a 2! Victory went to the good folks!
Or so it seemed. As Flash burned the book, page by page, the simplicity of it all struck him. "Those fools! How could they not see how it works!" He burned his finger as he put out the burning paper and stashed the damaged parchment back within the ancient tome. "It's all so easy!" he said, as he limped to the research laboratory...
Worth Mentioning: According to my records, it has been 3 months and 17 days since I've been angry enough in a game to call someone a "jerk", "idiot", "retard", or "asshole."