RogerBW's Blog

On New Year's Day I went to the Jack of Both Sides in Reading (now renamed the Hope and Bear, but it has a different name each time I go there – all right, I only go there once every few years – and the locals still call it the Jack) for boardgames with the Reading Boardgames Social.

Although it's a large group that holds several meetings a week, only about seven other people turned up, which was a bit disappointing. They'd changed the venue from the one that had been announced, which may not have helped.

In case you forget what you're drinking…

The first game I played was Patchwork Doodle, a roll-and-write that reminded me strongly of Second Chance, which I played with other members of the Reading group last year: get a polyomino and fill in your sheet with it. I worked out how to exploit the scoring and came away the winner; it was fun, but certainly not enjoyable enough to buy.

Century: Spice Road next, in which I thought I'd got things more or less working but ended up coming last. Ah well. Still had a good time.

I got out Letter Jam, which people picked up fairly quickly, and the cards cooperated more than they did last time I played.

Then Citadels, which clearly has a skill component to it that I don't really get.

Finally, Between Two Cities, which came together very nicely. (Future Roger, remember to use the standard-layout scoreboard, not the boustrophedon one on the other side; it's much quicker when you're jumping in steps of ten.)

I enjoyed all the games, though speaking as someone who is not usually the soul of the party, this group didn't seem like a particularly lively bunch. Post-Christmas tiredness perhaps.