Gaming With Grandma - 54

Saturday morning saw my mother (AKA Grandma), my 6-year-old daughter (AKA Maddie) and myself get together to play some games at our dining room table.

Our first game was Flying Carpet which I hadn't played since March 2006 (2 years ago!). In this game the goal is to move your magic carpet-riding character (represented by a circular coloured wooden playing piece) from the top of the tower on the left of the board to the top of the tower on the right of the board. The first player to reach the tower on the right wins the game. Maddie was red, I was green and Grandma was yellow.

The Flying Carpet board looks like something from out of the One Thousand and One Nights

At the start of the game players are dealt 4 wind cards and 5 direction tiles. You move by playing a wind card which has several options of movement and direction. Wind cards are replenished back to 4 every turn. These wind cards may also be modified by using a direction tile which may change movement one space in any direction. When you use a direction token it is not replaced. There are also obstacles like buildings and clouds which must be negotiated and stars which will trigger a random occurrence when they are landed upon. There are three coloured sky bands on the board which also affect one's movement. In the lowest beige coloured area there is no change to your movement. In the light blue band you will be blown one extra space horizontally to the right. In the top dark blue band you will be blown two extra spaces horizontally to the right.

This game reminds me somewhat of a simpler version of RoboRally in that you must use directional cards to move around obstacles. We had fun with Maddie coming 1st (with a little assistance from me), myself 2nd and Grandma 3rd.

Our second game of the morning was another I hadn't played in a while, Guillotine. In this card game players are executioners in revolutionary France competing to cut off the heads of nobles. Little did those who were executed during the period from 1793 to 1794 suspect that just over 200 years later a lighthearted, humorous card game would be published based on the Reign of Terror.

I'd last played Guillotine back in May 2006 (Is it just me or does time seem to speed up as you get older?). Maddie chose to sit this one out meaning this would be a 2-player game between Grandma and myself.

The line of nobles awaiting execution

Guillotine is a fun game. It even comes with a cardboard guillotine which is set up at the end of the line of nobles, each worth a varying amount of points. The game is played over 3 days (rounds) with 12 nobles up for execution on each day. Players have a hand of action cards which allow them to change the order of the nobles. Choosing to play an action card is optional. You then take whatever noble is at the front of the line.

Some nobles are worth more in combination with others and some nobles have negative points. Some action cards may be played on your own score pile to give you extra points or on your opponent's score pile to deduct points or hinder them in other ways. Overall the game is fun, light and quick. I ended up winning with 40 points to Grandma's 30.