Message:
After a bit of scheduling SNAFU, only the hard core showed up.
Still 8 people.
Coloretto
Started with Coloretto. A little too abstract for my liking. Not a bad game and interesting ideas. Just didn't brain my itch.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5782/coloretto
Planted
Grow Plants. Get Points. Avoid games for things you can do in life.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/365104/planted-a-game-of-nature-and-nurture
Pretty game. Not my taste.
Innovation
As before ... 4th edition. A civilization card game. Three of us with our heads down plotting. I thought I was running away with it and got tripped up. Game plays different every time.
Zendo
A Looney Labs game which seemed a long time favorite of one of the gamers there. A bit abstract but basically, from a set of shapes (rectangle, wedge, pyramid in three colors), build one case which meets your rule and one that does not. For example, my rule might be "Exactly three shapes". So, my "True" example, it might be three shapes and my false example might be four shapes.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6830/zendo
Now, this game can get ridiculous but the game makes it easier by giving you a card from a deck with the rule on it. The "beginner" card "rules" are not super complex.
Players take turns trying to guess the "rule". Sort of "Master Mind" but with shapes.
What was interesting to me was ... this is a hard game to "grok". Because of the cards, the "rule" is very simple. But, gamers can't pick the simple solution. Their brains won't let them. It must be some complex solution ... even though we said what seemed every 4 sentences,
"it's not a complicated solution".
Worse, the game requires you to be a little bit cooperative (at least at first). But, the game is competitive. So, for some crazy reason, in competition, others don't want to find the answer based on the information gained from other people's guess.
It is a blind spot for gamers.
One of the guys was a long time fan of the game.
It hurt people's heads so we stopped after 5 rounds. With the right group, it could be revealing.
X-Machina
A party game which came out because "the game name started with X" and they were trying to go through every letter.
Terrible game. It was a silly party game. We played a few rounds so we could check if off our list.
Gamers are an odd lot.
Went home and got a nap. Not a bad Saturday.
Yours,
IronConrad
23-Nov-2025