Quite a while ago, I tried to get friends to have weekend tabletop gaming session, but after numerous failed attempts I gave up on this idea.
I changed tack to utilise the long lunch hours we get every Friday, and that seems to be working. I got my tabletop gaming fix this way.
Long lunch hours are not really that long though, so play time became an important factor in my decision to buy new tabletop games.
There are of course games that interest me that take long hours to play, I mostly shy away from those games since what's the point of getting a game that I can't get people to play with, right?
This is apparently not a concern for those who are lucky enough to be able to get enough people to play on weekend. Feel so jealous.
Well, out of the blue, on the Friday before last weekend, I was contacted by some gaming friends asking if they could come to my house for gaming in the weekend.
Aprils Fools' prank?
It didn't happen anyway, because apparently ladies' hairdo took a ridiculously long time and that ruined the gaming plan. I was disappointed, but not too surprised by the outcome.
I was contacted again on Friday before this weekend, saying the same thing, minus the hairdo, and it actually happened! 0_o
So, the five of us played Power Grid yesterday, took us 3 to 3.5 hours, I couldn't really remember and by the end of the game didn't really care. =P
Power Grid is a game that I have seen the review online, and marked not interested in my own tabletop game list. The long play time is a main factor, and potential long down time playing with analysis paralysis players do not appeal to me.
And it involves mathematics, so it's surprising that it's a lady who isn't really that good in maths who bought the game.
Anyway, it started off well, fresh and fun. Pretty soon everyone was checking their money surreptitiously, counting and checking prices, scheming and planning. I started off handling the maths in my head, but by the end I, like everyone else, used calculator.
I honestly started to have headache nearing the end of the game. Most probably because I woke up early to go archery and it has been a crazy week with many a sleep-deprived weekdays.
By the end, it sure felt more like a strategic planning exercise involving maths than a game. >_<
Will I get the game? No when I first saw the review, definitely no now that I have played it.
Will I play it again? Yes, but when I am mentally prepared and when I got a good night's sleep, and definitely with a calculator.