Four weeks later and it's time for another board game night. Everyone who can is still attending and it's really obvious that people are looking forward to it each month! In the last four weeks I know that at least one colleague has bought two games - Rhino Hero and In A Bind - and a few others are talking about buying games as Christmas gifts, so I must be doing something right!
Week 14
Number of Attendees: 7
Games Played: Sushi Go, Telestrations, Codenames
The Successes
Another hit game
This week I introduced Telestrations to the group. I recently bought the 12-player party pack and this was it's first outing (even though we never have more than 8 people at work). I'm not sure why I've never taken this one to work game group before, because it's a sure fire hit! It's great to be able to bring so much laughter to the table and I'm sure many of my colleagues are planning to buy a copy to play with their housemates or at Christmas with their families.
Rules recollection
This week we played both Sushi Go and Codenames for the second or third time. Both games has one or two new players, but I was really happy that everyone who had played before pretty much remembered all the rules and that they were able to help out the new players. Our game of Sushi Go was probably the quickest I've ever played - possibly a bit too quick, as there were moments when people got out of sync with passing the the cards. We're even pretty quick at Codenames, with a lot less thinking time then I've experienced in games with other friends or family.
The Challenges
New Games for High Player Count
Keeping the group together is still important to me at the start of the evening when the total number of players is still unknown. Dixit, Codenames and Telestrations all work well for the number of players I normally have, but I also get the impression that this group of colleagues want to try more and more new games from my collection. It's always a struggle to find high player count games that are more interesting than just playing party games every time we meet, but at least it's good to have a group who don't seem to want to get stuck on one game they love.
New Games for High Player Count
Keeping the group together is still important to me at the start of the evening when the total number of players is still unknown. Dixit, Codenames and Telestrations all work well for the number of players I normally have, but I also get the impression that this group of colleagues want to try more and more new games from my collection. It's always a struggle to find high player count games that are more interesting than just playing party games every time we meet, but at least it's good to have a group who don't seem to want to get stuck on one game they love.
Playing Some Bigger Games
I say the same thing every week but it's really hard to switch to the 'less exciting' games once you've got a group interested in party games. This week I brought Ticket to Ride Europe and Barenpark and my plan was for me to teach Barenpark and my new gamer colleague to teach Ticket to Ride. Unfortunately work got in the way for my colleague so the group started the evening as one big group and it was very hard to split after that point.
I say the same thing every week but it's really hard to switch to the 'less exciting' games once you've got a group interested in party games. This week I brought Ticket to Ride Europe and Barenpark and my plan was for me to teach Barenpark and my new gamer colleague to teach Ticket to Ride. Unfortunately work got in the way for my colleague so the group started the evening as one big group and it was very hard to split after that point.
Lessons for Next Week
Try Again Next Time
Once again I'll be trying a to get the group to start with one of my 'bigger' gateway level games next time. Circumstances often get in the way, and the large group size is a challenge, so I might try something like Jamaica, which can support 6 players or even a push your luck game like Celestia, which will be quick and also supports six.
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