Family At Easter

We have William, Laura and Laurence staying with us over Easter. Here we are at the dinner table yesterday.

As usual. Laura and Laurence brought some games with them. This is the potion brewing game, Quacks of Quedlinburg in action.

Today we played two more - another favourite, Sushi Go, 

This is a description of the game...

"In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favourite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you!

Sushi Go! takes the card-drafting mechanism of Fairy Tale and 7 Wonders and distils it into a twenty-minute game that anyone can play. The dynamics of "draft and pass" are brought to the fore, while keeping the rules to a minimum. As you see the first few hands of cards, you must quickly assess the make-up of the round and decide which type of sushi you'll go for. Then, each turn you'll need to weigh which cards to keep and which to pass on. The different scoring combinations allow for some clever plays and nasty blocks. Round to round, you must also keep your eye on the goal of having the most pudding cards at the end of the game!"

Then we tried a new one that Laura and Laurence hadn't played yet themselves - Cockroach Poker

Here is the description...

"Cockroach Poker is a reverse set collection game that has nothing to do with poker – except that the game is all about bluffing, with cards that show cockroaches, rats and stink bugs. The goal is to force another player to collect 4 of any one type of critter.

The deck includes 64 cards, with eight copies of eight types of critters. To set up the game, shuffle the deck and deal the cards out to players.

On a turn, a player takes one card from their hand, lays it face down on the table, slides it to a player of their choice, and declares a type of critter, e.g., "Stink bug". The player receiving the card either

• Accepts the card, says either "true" or "false", then reveals the card. If this player is wrong in their claim, they keep the card on the table in front of them face up; if they are right, the player who gave them the card places it face up before them.

• Peeks at the card, then passes it face down to another player, either saying the original type of critter or saying a new type. This new player again has the choice of accepting the card or passing it, unless the card has already been seen by all other players in which case the player must take the first option.

Whoever lost a challenge and had to place the card before them on the table begins the next round.

The game ends when a player has no cards to pass on their turn or when a player has four cards of the same critter on the table in front of them. In either case, this player loses and everyone else wins."

Great fun! Thank-you Laura and Laurence for coming to visit... and for the games.

P.S. No Sarah this weekend. She was Caving in Wales... in the snow!