Games played: week 11

With Norway enforcing widespread quarantine rules our usual game night got cancelled, but that didn’t mean I didn’t get to play board games. For when you are stuck inside, what better than to play some games? This week was also spent rummaging through the cellar uncovering some board games from my childhood.

Trails of Tucana

# of plays: 4

This Norwegian-designed draw-n-write game has seen much play these last few weeks. I find it a relaxing end to the day, simple while still challenging enough. To be honest, I still haven’t “cracked” the game, still struggling to really score big in the games I have played. This is of course a good thing as it still feels as I’ve have things to try and better in the next game.

Trav

# of plays: 1

This was a blast from the past! Trav was made sometime in the early 80s, and as the box says, in collaboration between the publishers (Damm) and the Norwegian Trotting Association (Det Norske Travselskap). The box has no indication when it was made, and as was usual in older games, no mention who actually designed it. I tried searching boardgamegeek and I didn’t managed to find an entry for the game. The closest was a Swedish game made roughly at the same time – it also paired up with the local trotting association. Harness racing has long traditions in Scandinavia and is closely linked with gambling (which is otherwise state controlled and highly regulated in the region. It is a fairly simple racing game, where pieces move around a oval track by throwing dice, with some chance cards thrown into the mix. Players play through 5 races and the point is to accumulate the most money. Each race has a starting price per horse you enter and you win money if your horse places 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Between races the price for each horse also gets revaluated and after the 5 races you sell the horses. The final way to earn money is perhaps a bit strange to be included in a family game. Each race you can gamble on who is going to win, and can score double and triples to earn even more money. It is not a great game, but is actually more complex than you’d think for a 80s family board game. And for me it is closely linked with fond childhood memories – it was one of the few board games we played with my grandfather.

Scrabble

# of plays: 4

This week wasn’t all solo games, I also had 4 duels against my mother. I ended up winning each time, but she closed the gap between rounds. This is also a game I played a lot in my childhood – I expect we’ll play a few more rounds during Easter when my brother is also at home.

Plague Inc.

# of plays: 1

What better game to play during a coronavirus-lockdown? Well, perhaps Pandemic is a bit more optimistic. It was a soloplay versus the Plaguebot, and I ended up getting crushed. Hopefully the world will manage better against the coronavirus.