Mike invited us over to his family’s house for his birthday. Great food. The main dish was steak. Too bad we’re vegetarians! He picked up three new games, only one of which he heard about before. Who does that?!

He bought Alcatraz, which we he and his friends played the night before. They said it was pretty fun, and it sounded like it was. It’s a prison break game, where you’re forced to leave one player behind as the scapegoat. We did play Room 25‘s traitor variant. It’s like a mini-Betrayal at the House on the Hill (which is the third game he bought). We had no clue what to do, and even though Mike was the hidden traitor, he only had to waste his actions rather than actively stop us to win the game. Oh, and Amara and I let a teammate walk into an Orb of Obliteration. But he could’ve been the traitor! We didn’t know! At least it was a quick death.

I sheepishly brought Resistance along, as I know Mike loves that game. I would’ve bought Avalon for his birthday if I was invited more than two days in advance :/ We played three times, and those were the worst three plays I’ve ever experienced. I tried the Lady in the Lake variant once, which the creator supposedly uses in every game. It did not fare well with the group. People didn’t seem to want to figure out who was who. Some Resistance members just went with the flow. When that happens, the Resistance loses. The other players enjoyed my table antics, at least. By the end, it became a game of Confuse Anthony.

Last night I invited Alida, Leo, Anthony, and Gabbi (GabÉ) over for six-player Eclipse! And it was just as unfun as two-player. The others enjoyed themselves, but I think that was due to the newness factor.  I played twice previously, but only with Amara. I warned them the game takes three hours. It took six. SIX. And I lost handily. Amara got pretty much wiped off the map near the midpoint of the game. By her ally, no less! I had no strategy, and felt bottlenecked. Everyone was laying the tiles out to prevent completing warp gates with their neighbors as much as possible. At least people made diplomatic ties. Can’t do that in two player.

Aaaaaand it’s twelve hours later, I want to play again. Friggin’ Eclipse.