Session Report – 8th April 2005

Players: Ian, John, Mark G, Mark K, Garry

Last time we played this was with just three players and we all enjoyed it very much. This time, we had five players and the game took quite a bit longer to complete, which reduced the enjoyment a bit. It was still good and I think the way the river moves is very clever. The current seemed a bit stronger on this occasion and it was certainly tougher to land your gems. Also with five players, there was much more likelihood of gems getting stolen from your boat. We had a few boats lost over the falls, including Mark K early on. Ian looked to be in a good position as did John at one stage. However, Mark K eventually timed a surge up river just right to steal two gems and nobody could stop him from landing them on the next turn.

Result: Mark K = winner

Ratings: Mark K 6, Ian 6, Others already rated

Ticket To Ride

Players: Ian, John, Mark G, Mark K, Garry

Another outing for last year’s Spiel des Jahres winner and I remain very impressed with this and will be interested to see how Ticket To Ride Europe changes things (Yes, Mark, apart from playing on a map of Europe!). This time, I kept two destination tickets which looked very easy to complete. My plan was to get them well on the way to completion and then go for some extra tickets. Things didn’t work out that way as one of my destination cities got completely surrounded by other players routes. Hmm! A guaranteed minus 8 points. I also stood no chance of competing for longest route as Ian, John and Mark G were trading blows in that contest. So I went for just completing 15 point routes and it nearly worked. However, I made the mistake of not blocking Mark K when I had an opportunity to do so. Serves me right then that he managed to beat me by a single point. However, things were extremely close between Ian, John, Mark K and myself. However, Mark K was able to claim his second win of the evening.

Result: Mark K 89, Garry 88, Ian 85, John 82, Mark G 61

Ratings: Ian 8, Others already rated