Gaming at GWAN - 3

Wednesday evening found me at GWAN (Gamers Without A Name), a game group hosted by Kevin (BGG user cyberkev63) at his house. Also in attendance were two others I had gamed with before, John (BGG user Friendless) and Justin (BGG user jwalduck).

Our first game of the evening was A Game of Games. My understanding is that this was a game designed for the Gathering of Friends 2008 by Ted Cheatham and Mike Perry. The Gathering of Friends is an annual invitation-only gaming event hosted by Alan Moon. The event started about 20 years ago, and continues to this day. I think Kevin went along last year and that's where he picked up this game.

A Game of Games

The game is played by two pairs of players. Each pair attempts to be the first to guess the name of a board game. On a turn, a player from each of the two teams looks at the name of the board game. They then take it in turns to say a one-word clue to their team mate who attempts to guess the game. A correct guess is worth two points. The winning guesser of that round then attempts to deny the opposing team the opportunity of scoring a point each for the year the game was released and the name of the designer. The other team's guesser then has the opportunity to score the points for any remaining unguessed year or designer for that particular game.

The teams were Kevin & Justin vs John & Wayne (me).

Round 1: Game - Cheops - Kevin and I were giving the clues to Justin and John. Kevin went first.
Clues: Sticks, Egypt, Eat, Pharoah, Chinese, Pyramid
Correct guess: John

Round 2: Game - Detroit/Cleveland Grand Prix - Justin and John were giving the clues to Kevin and I. Justin went first.
Clues: Michigan
Correct guess: Kevin (although he guessed Cleveland Grand Prix we gave it to him)

Round 3: Game - Caesar and Cleopatra - Kevin and I were giving clues to Justin and John. Kevin went first.
Clues: Senators, Richard Burton (aargh! I stuffed up by giving a two-word clue), Egypt, Rome, Julius, Asp, Conjunction
Correct guess: Justin

Round 4: Game - Cartel - Justin and John were giving the clues to Kevin and I. John went first.
Clues: Oligopoly, Merchant, Opec, Automobile, Duopoly, Speak, Oil
Correct guess: Wayne

Round 5: Game - Careers - Kevin and Wayne were giving the clues to Justin and John. Kevin went first.
Clues: Jobs, Work
Correct guess: John

Round 6: Game - The Downfall of Pompeii - Justin and John were giving the clues to Kevin and I. Justin went first.
Clues: Volcano, Vesuvius
Correct guess: Wayne

Round 7: Game - Civilization - Kevin and Wayne were giving the clues to Justin and John. Wayne went first.
Clues: History, long
Correct guess: Justin

Round 8: Game - Princes of Florence - Justin and John were giving the clues to Kevin and I. John went first.
Clues: Michaelangelo, jesters
Correct guess: Kevin

Round 9: Game - Nautilus - Kevin and Wayne were giving the clues to Justin and John. Kevin went first.
Clues: Nemo, submarine, name, shell
Correct guess: John

Final scores were John and Wayne winning with 10 points and Kevin and Justin coming 2nd with 8 points.

I quite enjoyed this esoteric guessing game.


Our second game of the evening was Glory to Rome. We'd all played at least once before (this was my second game) so we didn't have to waste too much time going over the rules.

This was my first full game of Glory to Rome and I found it to be fairly enjoyable. Not a game I'd go out and buy though as I find San Juan scratches the itch of this type of game and is much quicker.

My final play area

Final scores were John with the win on 17, Kevin 2nd on 12 (tiebreak), Justin 3rd on 12 and myself 4th on 9.