Vacation Weekend, Day Two: Game Day

So, today we went over to Jeff & Kate's house for one of their excellent Game Days that they host two or three times a year. Had a great time visiting w. folks, some of whom I hadn't seen in too long. It was a special treat to get to see the two little kittens Kate is watching for the neighbors while they're away -- it's been a while since I've seen kittens that small: I'd guess about five or six weeks old.

As for the games, I got to play ALHAMBRA for the second time (the first being the last time they had a game day), which I find I rather like, even if I'm not particularly good at it (I came in last place, fifth out of five). Then we set to with a somewhat larger group (seven players) and played THE ARKHAM HORROR. Last week I'd gotten to play the newer version from Fantasy Flight Games [2005], which I'd only played once before (at Bill & Michele's, right after it came out) and found totally incoherent. This time it went better, since several of the people playing knew the rules well, but I still found it pretty much of a mess.

Similarly, I'd only played the original Chaosium version of ARKHAM HORROR once before (again at Bill & Michele's), ten years back when Lester Smith came to town. But I'd rather liked it, and playing it once again confirmed that this is a really good game despite its quirks -- far better than the much fancier later version. I'll definitely be playing this one again, and more than once a decade.

--JDR