Are you sure you wanna call that Grand Tichu?

Submitted without comment for inspection: the scores from our Tichu game Thursday night followed by the scores from the losing team's requested rematch on Friday evening. I was DEFINITELY on the winning side of this one.

I love Tichu but I don't believe I'll be playing it with this group again any time soon....

You tell me: your most played games....

Writing a blog about board games means one should try and play a variety of games, not only to remain knowledgable and up-to-date, but also so one doesn't keep posting about the same damn things all the time.  Unfortunately, our group of friends tend to get hooked on certain games.  There was a good 5-6 months where we ONLY played Dominion and for the last  year or so every evening has ended with a couple hours of Tichu.  This last month I've found that all I've wanted to play was Agricola (which is quickly becoming an all-time favourite, up there with Ticket To Ride and Acquire). 

What game is your group obsessed with?  Which games do you keep going back to night after night?

RELATED:  Dominion: Prosperity is now available and I can't help but want to play it.  More treasure and bigger points could get us back into Dominion....

Bridge nights...

...well, not really, but Tichu nights!  The last couple weeks we've had 12-13 people over playing Tichu.  It's been quite a lot of fun and we've already introduced some newbies to the game.  In a couple weeks, we may have enough for four tables.  I think we may need a bigger apartment.

I'm starting to feel like the homemaker hosting Bridge nights from days of yore.  I plan to make some lovely appies from Gourmet Game Night for the next evening.  May as well get me an apron with dragons all over it...

ASIDE:  BGN points us to an well-written article about Eurogames in which Settlers is referred to as a 'Monopoly-killer'.  Oh, if only.

Some random tidbits...

Age of Industry - I've waited a couple years to play Martin Wallace's Brass but I never picked it up because it seemed too complicated for my group.  I now have this streamlined version in my hot little hands...  Yippee!

Haggis - No, not the food.  Check out Brian Bankler's description of this 2-3 player version of Tichu.  Sounds a little gentler but still quite strategic.  Now I'll have to play Tichu all the time.

Game giveaway! - In case you missed the post last week, check it out here.  I'll draw names on Friday!

UPDATED:  Age of Industry just won the International Gamers Award for 2010!  The IGA is like the serious strategy gamers' version of the Spiel des Jahres.  Even more excited to play it now. 

Oh Tichu, how I hate thee....

Two games of Tichu.  

One last night ended with a friend shouting at his girlfriend and me shouting at the friend and calling him a rather immature term for a man's bits and pieces.

A game tonight with more heated arguments between another friend criticizing his partner and me trying to tell him his tone was out of line.

Sigh.  I think we need to shelve this one for awhile and go back to Dominion.  Does anyone else get this angry and passionate about Tichu?  It's actually becoming for us more volatile than a drunken game of Risk....

Someone please pass me a Tichu...

I think we might need a little break from Tichu.  I'm starting to think it might not be so good for my relationship...

6-player Tichu...

Don't think I'm a fan. With only 9 cards a hand, it's a lot tougher to play any real interesting combos which makes each hand feel pretty luck-based. Also with five people having to pass consecutively, each trick seemed to go on and on and on...

Still, we love playing this game so I imagine we'll have a few more 6-player hands in the future and I probably won't say no.

The continued Race For The Galaxy....

The fourth instalment of RFTG is arriving soon and I gotta say, I probably won't be picking it up. I haven't even played the Rebel Vs. Imperium set with conquest rules. It's a great game but I've barely played it since Dominion came out. And I haven't played that much lately, either, partially due to this lovely little card game Tichu.

With another evening of Tichu planned tonight, I imagine I will soon be writing a longer review/strategy article. Seriously, it's that good. Takes me back to my duplicate bridge days with the parents but WAY more fun and about a million times easier to get into.

Oh, and Dominion: Alchemy is out soon. I imagine I'll cough up the dough for that. Dominion: Seaside was/is pretty awesome.

"Aw, does the poor baby need a... TICHU!"

New favourite card game: Tichu. Four players in two partnerships. One simple deck of cards. Plays like many climbing games (see Presidents & Assholes or The Great Dalmuti) but with a few twists. There are point cards as in hearts and four special cards which throw a wrench in everything. As well, the types of sets you can lead come in many varieties.

What this makes is a VERY strategic card game with just the right amount of chaos. Think Wizard but a bit heavier. And quite possibly better.

We're heading to the cottage this weekend so I imagine many rounds of this will be played. I'll also be bringing Macao and Hansa Teutonica which have been waiting for test drives. Should be fun.

4 is the loneliest number...

I've been trying for the last 3 weeks to get a group of exactly 4 people together so we can play Tichu, the classic Chinese card game that is so damn popular on BGG. I've owned a Tichu deck for months but never seemed to have the right amount of people to actually try out the game. Someone always seems to bring a friend along ("oh great, a fifth!") or just not show up last minute (looking at you, Mr. Brown....)

I think I had the same issue a decade ago when Catan was popular. Never could get exactly 4 people. Sigh.