Boardgames & Beer

    Wildlife is a fun, 6-player game that has multiple strategies to accrue victory points and win

So, Allen wanted to host the first Sunday in January so we could help him drink his leftover Christmas beer. In addition, he'd also received a "flight" of beer shot glasses -- essentially a wooden paddle with round slots for four glasses. Appropriately, there were four in attendance to sample the variety of beers from his fridge. I actually found a smoked porter that wasn't repulsive and did not taste like bacon. Despite universal acclaim for bacon's taste, when the main flavor in a beer it is gagging. Stone's Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean was actually quite tasty.

On to the games! There were six of us in attendance, so we had a choice of about a half dozen board games to choose from. Allen was the only one with a preference, so we ended up playing Wildlife by Uberplay. This game is best with six players, and has each player taking on the role of a creature (Men, Crocodiles, Snakes, Eagles, Mammoths, Bears) trying to become the dominant one on the planet. I actually picked up this game years ago in the "swag party" after volunteering at Origins. It is a fun, interactive game -- your choices definitely affect the fortunes of the others. For some reason, both of the last two times we've played, I've ended up playing the Snakes. I am not sure what is says about me, but the others made no bones about what is said about my advice -- particularly when offered up to Joel (the Human player).

Steve V played the Eagles and cruised to an early lead. Allen (Bears) and Mike S (Mammoths) gave him a run towards the middle of the game, but he pulled away even more at the end. Allen was a distant second, while I ended up middle of the pack. That was better than last place, where I was most of the game. I didn't do a very good job of adjusting my strategy when others circumvented it early on. Although Keith (Crocodiles) and I -- while not actually cooperating -- did not interfere with each other overly, it still wasn't enough. I was unable to really dominate enough of the regions to score many victory points.

Next week, we are scheduled to give Mike S and his Star Wars skirmish another try. He uses Flying Lead rules, and we've played it once before and had a good time with it. My third running of Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures is scheduled for the last Sunday of the month -- Jan. 26th. That gives me extra time to finish up the last of the terrain pieces I need to for the scenario...