And we’re back – a little bit delayed as I was away for a work event through the weekend, so these are games we played on Friday and then Monday night.

Big thanks to Amy B. for her donation! We’re now at $290 of our $600 goal as we get close to the final week. Thank you everyone for following along and for your donations! If you’d like to donate (or learn more about CAMH), you can do so here.

Night 3

For Night 3 we decided to go with one of our charity challenge staples that we somehow haven’t played yet – we decided to play 7 Wonders Duel!

7 Wonders Duel is the two player re-implementation of the very popular 7 Wonders, a drafting game where you pick cards to build out a civilization from resources, to commerce, to science and military.  In 7 Wonders Duel two players take turns picking cards from a structured pyramid to build their civilization.  Some cards give you resources, some cards give you science, or military and some give you economic advantages.  There are three ways to win:  by having the most points at the end of the game OR collecting 6 different sciences (the game ends immediately when you collect a sixth science breakthrough) OR militarily by defeating your foe (if your military grows a certain strength beyond your opponent the game ends immediately).

There’s a lot going on in this fantastic two player package.  If you’d like to learn more please check out this excellent video from PEI’s Rodney Smith.

7 Wonders is a really swingy game for us, one of us tends to dominate (and we have a 50/50 win %). Tonight it turns out it was my night. Rachel had a lot of trouble getting resources going and I did pretty well in the first age. From there I just built on my advantage and ended up winning 68 to 49

With that I’m one win away from preventing Rachel from winning FOUR weeks in a row. Let’s check out if Rachel managed to keep her dreams of a full sweep alive…

Night 4

In night 4 Rachel and I agreed to play Second Chance, another game we’re pretty 50/50 on with Rachel having a slight edge. If I can manage to win this game I’ve won week 4 and Rachel hasn’t managed to clean sweep me 4 weeks in a row.

Second Chance is a “flip and write” game where players have to draw tetris shapes that are revealed on cards. You need to efficiently puzzle the pieces on your board because whoever has the least blank spaces at the end of the game wins. The reason the game is called Second Chance is because you draw shapes until you cannot fit the shapes that are drawn onto your board. At that point you flip up one more shape, your second chance, and if you fit it on your board you keep playing, otherwise you’re eliminated.

To learn more about Second Chance checkout this video.

We play Second Chance best of 3 and Rachel managed to win the first game easily and I was worried I might be in some trouble. However the second game Rachel had probably her worst ever score. She missed THIRTY FIVE squares and I easily skated to a win. Game three was super close but in the end Rachel had 5 squares left, and I had 2 left – I had won the game, won the night, and won the week. And most importantly, I’ve prevented Rachel from wining four weeks in a row!

Thanks for checking in, we’ll be back in a few days with the final game of week 4 and likely the first game or two of week 5. Remember there’s still time to donate, we’d really appreciate you donating if you can! You can do so here.

We’ve got week 4 off to a start! I’m a few days behind on posting these, so I will combine these days – sorry about that (Two kid birthdays in a week + the other seasonal commitments + actually playing our games every night is a lot!).

If you’d like to donate to our campaign in support of CAMH you can do so here. Your support is so very appreciated!

Rachel’s Victory

Rachel last week completed the first ever clean sweep in Charity Challenge history. I wanted to take a little pause here to congratulate her on a well fought battle, bringing the historical record to 4 tournament wins to 3 for Rachel.

I’ll be back next year to try and tie it up!

As I said in the last post, we’ve still got two weeks of games to play out, and we appreciate you following along.

Night 1

Now that Rachel has won this thing, we’re probably going to pick games together that’ll maximize our fun. Rachel went straight to the shelf tonight and grabbed Blokus Duo, the two player game of Blokus.

Blokus is a game where you strategically place tetris-like pieces on a board trying to block your opponent from placing theirs. It’s a fun and accessible puzzle that’s great for families. If you want to learn more about the game you can check out this video.

Rachel went into this knowing that she was heading into a game where she doesn’t often win and the first game went quickly in my favour (we played best of 3). HOWEVER the second game Rachel put up a really good fight and we went into game three ending up with a rare draw.

The decider was back and forth but in the end I managed to play a pretty solid/steady game and ended up winning -9 to -17 (you lose points for the pieces left in your hand at the end of the game).

Night 2

On Night 2 we were exhausted from a week of hosting two birthday parties for Claire and Saige so we decided to go with something light and fun – we decided to play best of 5 Connect Four.

Connect 4 is a mass market classic – you are dropping pieces onto a board trying to get 4 of your colour in a row. It’s simple and straight forward fun, and the perfect antidote to an exhausted evening.

Ok, let me just say this straight up – Rachel is better than me at Connect 4. There’s something about my ADHD where I just am blind to certain corners of the board and she always manages to find that one little corner I’ve not found. THAT SAID. We went long on this one – I managed to win game one, Rachel won games two and three, and then I won game four.

We then fought hard through an indecisive game five, as we ended up drawing. After that however Rachel won pretty quickly, clearly not willing to lose two nights in a row and with that Rachel had won the night!

Wrap Up

Two really fun and low stress nights as life has been busy, but we had a lot of fun. We’ll see you tomorrow for the next installment of the Charity Challenge 2022.

Last night Rachel clinched her win of the 2022 Charity Challenge. We still have two weeks of gaming and raising funds for CAMH, so please keep coming back and following along.

If you’d like to donate, you can do so here!

The Choice

Well I lost the whole thing yesterday, so the choice comes to me. Tonight we’ve decided to go with one of our favourite games to play together to sorta reset for the final two weeks of the competition.

Tonight we’ll be playing Ticket to Ride (Nordic)

The Game

Ticket to Ride is a really fun game that we all enjoy, but it typically doesn’t play amazingly well for two players, but Nordic Countries solves that. The map and routes are designed specifically with 2 and 3 player configurations in mind.

If you don’t know what Ticket to Ride is it’s an insanely popular game built around collecting sets of cards to build train routes across a map. As you play you will collect destination tickets, and completing the routes on those tickets will get you points. But be careful, if you don’t finish your tickets you will get minus points.

To learn more about Ticket to Ride check out this video.

The Result

Ahhhh, I can win a game! Tonight it felt like I was ahead of most of the time and I managed to win 119 to 106. We had a fun game, but Rachel got a little bogged down looking for some blue trains, which I unknowingly was holding them away from her.

That completes week 3, we’ll see you next week for week 4 and Rachel’s trophy ceremony.

Thanks for coming back and following along. If you’re new make sure you check out what we’re doing here and if you’d like to donate to our campaign in support of CAMH, you can do so here.

The Choice

The choice is in my hands tonight and it’s a big one, if I lose tonight we have the first ever clean sweep as Rachel will clinch the trophy after just 3 weeks! I can’t have that.

So tonight I’ll be picking a game Rachel has only ever won once in the 8 times we’ve played it. Tonight we’ll be playing Century Spice Road.

The Game

Century Spice Road is a card based engine builder for 2 to 4 players.  Every turn players can do one of four things:  Play a card and do what it says, or claim a new card from the board, or claim an objective card or take back all the cards you’ve played into your hand.  The goal of the game is to collect spices and trade those spices for objectives, which are worth points. 

The cards let you either acquire new spices or trade up or down your quality of spices with varying efficiencies.  The game is a balance of building up a hand of cards that combo together to get you resources efficiently versus using those cards to actually get you things (since you can only do one of play or acquire cards each turn).  It’s a bit of a race as the game ends as soon as a player acquires their sixth objective card.

If you’d like to learn more about the game you can check out this Watch It Played video.

The Result

Oh no. I saw it coming early – this game is a bit of a race and balancing act and it was clear early that Rachel was ahead in that race. I tried to alter my strategy to go faster but my cards were more conducive to being a bit slower and I just couldn’t do it.

So in the end Rachel won 89 to 69 and as a result has won the Charity Challenge 2022. We’ll have a championship wrap up post tomorrow, but the challenge will go on for the next two weeks as we continue to raise money for CAMH and play through our month.

I’ll see you tomorrow!

We’ve reached the mid point of the Charity Challenge – thank you everyone for following along!

We are raising money for the Center of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) – if you’d like to donate you can do so here.

The Choice

The week is tied up 1-1 and Rachel has the selection in her hands tonight. She’s not resting on her laurels being ahead in the competition overall, tonight she’s straight up playing one of her trump cards, going for the kill this week. Tonight we’ll be playing Quarto

The Game

Quarto is a simple abstract game – you have pieces that are one of two colours, are solid or hallow and are tall or short.  You win by placing the fourth of any of those combinations in a sequence, that is to say you win by placing the fourth item in a row of either short/tall, light/dark or solid/hallow.  It’s a fascinating game where every move matters and there’s very little room for forgiveness.  Oh yeah, and your turn?  You place a piece YOUR OPPONENT chooses.  It’s a great game that feels vaguely like chess, full of move and counter move.

For more information about the game check out this quick overview video.

The Result

We always play Quarto best of 5. Game 1 Rachel came out and won pretty quickly. I managed to take game 2 and 3 to make it interesting but then Rachel wasn’t playing around, taking game 4.

We went into a decisive game 5 and it was back and fourth all game, but in the end Rachel prevailed, so her trump card worked out in a big way.

Rachel now has the edge and is one win away from winning the whole thing if she can finish off this week as the victor. I will be bringing out some big guns to try and take control of this week.

We’re about half way through the 2022 Charity Challenge and things are going great (my performance so far aside). We’ve raised $205 of our $600 goal in support of CAMH. If you’d like to donate you can do so here.

Let’s get into today’s game!

The Choice

Tonight I’ve got to put a full stop to Rachel’s win streak, so it’s time to pull out the big guns – or the very little but very effective guns in this case. Tonight I’m calling a small dice game that I tend to dominate Rachel in, tonight we’re playing Harvest Dice

The Game

Harvest Dice is a roll and write game (think Yahtzee) where there’s three different of colours of dice: orange for carrots, red for tomatoes and green for lettuce. Each turn players will take turns picking one of six dice. Based on the dice you take you draw either a carrot, tomato or lettuce into your farm. The value of the various veg changes based on what type of die is left at the end of the round.

It’s a very fun game and I’d recommend it highly for anyone who enjoys roll and writes (and that’s everyone right?). If you’d like to learn more about the game check out this video.

The Result

FINALLY! Finally I made a call on a sure thing and it came through, finally I was able to slow Rachel from running away with this thing. The game was fairly quick as I dominated, managing to snag almost all of the bonus points. The final score was 90 to 56 and I snagged my first win in a minute.

The week is now tied up 1-1 and we’ll see what Rachel picks tomorrow. We’ll see you then!

Welcome to Week 3! We’re getting near the half way mark in the competition and we’re at $205 of our $600 goal – thank you all for following along and contributing to our campaign in support of CAMH.

Special thank you to our most recent donor Charlene – we super appreciate your generous donation!

The Choice

Control of the evening is in my hands and I’ve gotta say – I’m doing dreadful this year. Rachel is up two weeks to none and I’ve gotta put a stop to her winning ways and quickly if I want to have any hope of winning the trophy this year. So tonight I’m going to pick a game where I have a ~75% winning rate against Rachel – tonight I’m picking Azul

The Game

Azul is one of those hobby games that has made its way into the mainstream. In the US you can find the game in Target or Walmart and it’s becoming one of those ubiquitous games that transcends the more hardcore hobby gamers. I’ll leave the explanation to the publisher’s official blurb, which does a pretty good job of explaining the game:

In the game Azul, players take turns drafting colored tiles from suppliers to their player board. Later in the round, players score points based on how they’ve placed their tiles to decorate the palace. Extra points are scored for specific patterns and completing sets; wasted supplies harm the player’s score. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins

boardgamegeek.com

To get a more detailed look at Azul, you can check out this video.

The Result

So usually when we play Azul I pull ahead of Rachel by quite a decent margin early and then usually manage to maintain that lead and pull of the win. Well *sigh* This year is different apparently.

I did manage to pull out a lead for most of the game, but only of about 5 points and when it came time to bonus points Rachel scored 21 to my 14 and well – that was all she wrote, Rachel had won 82 to 79 in one of our closest games of Azul ever, end to end.

And with that Rachel takes the lead in week 3 and is in pole position for a victory. I’ll have to go big tomorrow, there’s not much time left for me to turn this around.

We’re wrapping up week 2 tonight, thank you all for following along and contributing to our campaign. We’re raising funds and awareness this month for CAMH – we’d really appreciate your support and if you’re interested you can donate here.

If this is your first time here you can learn more about what we’re doing here.

The Choice

I’ve already lost the week so tonight we’re going to pick a just for fun game. Tonight I’m going to pick a game that’s been on my backlog shelf unplayed for a long time and I don’t think I’d call on a night where things are on the line. Tonight I’m going to pick Dice Throne

The Game

Dice Throne is like Yahtzee combined with Magic the Gathering. You roll dice, and play cards – all with the goal of knocking your opponent out. The official description for the game reads:

Dice Throne is a fast-paced 2-6 player combat game, whether 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, or free-for-all. Select from a variety of heroes that play and feel completely distinct from one another. Attack opponents and activate abilities by rolling your hero’s unique set of five dice. Accumulate combat points and spend them on cards that have a large range of effects, such as granting permanent hero upgrades, applying status effects, and manipulating dice directly whether yours, your teammate’s, or even your opponent’s.

boardgamegeek.com

If you’d like to learn more about the game, you can check out this video.

The Result

Damn it guys. This type of game is supposed to be my thing! So Rachel’s character was a bit wonky (I think it’s likely the more advanced of the characters in the box, she picked it blindly) but it sure was powerful if it came together and it did! Rachel ended up knocking me out with her having 6 life left. So it was really close, but she edged it out.

Aww well – we had fun and we’ll want to get back to this game when the challenge is over!

Welcome back to night 4 of week 2 in our Charity Challenge in support of CAMH! If you’d like to donate to support CAMH’s vital work in support of mental health services, you can do that here.

The Choice

Tonight’s a big one – the game choice is in my hands and if Rachel wins she’s won another week and is sitting pretty at 2-0 overall and looking like the favourite to win the whole thing.

So tonight I have to pull out one of my trump cards – tonight I’m going to call Crokinole, a game I’ve only ever lost to Rachel a small number of times.

The Game

Crokinole is a dexterity game that plays out the dynamics of something like curling on a game board.  Crokinole is a cottage country classic, played widely and often taught by the elders and passed down to generations of grand children.  If you’ve never seen it played before you really should check out the championship games that are on YouTube (yes I watch them).  In the game you are flicking discs and if your opponent has no pieces on the board you are just trying to sink the disc in the hole in the middle of the board.  If your opponent has a piece on the board you need to hit their piece or your shot doesn’t count.

At our (relatively low) level of skill, the game is about controlling the board, making sure you keep your pieces protected and your opponents pieces off of the board.

If you’d like to see some great Crokinole played here is one of those championship videos I mentioned.  Please note – we are not this good.

The Result

Oh no. I struggled to stay caught up to Rachel in this game in a big way. She took an early lead and just kept building and building. We were probably halfway through the game before I managed to win a round and score points. I did manage to score a decent 70 points in one round but it was far too late – Rachel had managed to rip up my trump card and won the night 335 to 130.

And with that Rachel has won week two and has now won two weeks on the trot. If I don’t dig deep and start stringing together some wins this competition might be all done but the crying in record time.

Welcome back to the Charity Challenge 2022. We’re playing board games every day for a month and raising funds and awareness for CAMH – if you’d like to donate you can do so here.

The Choice

I’m picking the game tonight and I’m trying to do a bit of a maneuver – there’s a game that Rachel traditionally dominates me in BUT I’ve been playing it non stop online for the last few months. So I want to try and turn the tide on Sagani

The Game

Sagani is a tile laying game where you score points by putting tiles next to each other. Each tile will have arrows on it that tell you what colour tiles it wants adjacent. As you place the tiles you need to put out scoring discs for the number of arrows on the tile, and if you run out of discs (i.e. if you’re not efficient) you start to lose points.

If you’d like to see the game in action, you can check out this video.

The Result

Man I came out swinging tonight. I tore off to an early lead and it looked like I was going to post an easy win. Rachel even took a negative point for the first time in the many games of this we’ve played. But man. Somehow. Somehow. My giant early game lead just started to disappear in the mid game and then Rachel blew past me. In the end the score was 79 to 76 and Rachel had come out ahead, unbelievable.

My months of playing this game has just got me to a place where I didn’t take any negative points (usually I end up taking one or two hits when Rachel and I play – tonight 0), so that’s my moral victory.

Rachel is now sitting pretty for week 2 and tomorrow I have to play something that’ll stop her in her tracks. We’ll see you for that tomorrow!

Night 2 of Week 2 is here and we’re continuing to battle the flu/cold/swear its not covid that’s been tearing the house down the last week or two. So we’re certainly not at our best but we soldier on!

We’ve already raised $105 of our $600 goal – thank you all so much so following along and contributing. If you’d like to donate you can do so here.

The Choice

Rachel’s dominance of the competition so far means that she’s making a rare game pick tonight. She’s decided to go straight utilitarian and has picked one of the games where she just straight up has a high win %.

So tonight Rachel has picked a game she has an 80% win percentage in, she has picked Metro X

The Game

Metro X is a route building flip and write game by Japanese designer Hisashi Hayashi. In the game you are using the values on flipped out cards to build subway routes. I think the publisher description does a great job of laying out how the game goes, so I’ll share that here:

In MetroX, players create subway networks by filling in the station spaces on their individual game sheets. Using the numbers revealed by the cards, all players fill up their subway map with ◯s in the station spaces. However, the number of times they can add stations to each line is limited, so they have to make tough choices. Players can score many points by getting their star bonuses in stations with many intersecting routes. Players also get bonuses by being the first to complete routes. Try to fill in all your stations to minimize the penalties and achieve a high score!

In more detail, each player has their own sheet of paper, with all players using either the Tokyo or Osaka map. Each sheet shows an interwoven subway system, with the system consisting of many subway lines; each line has a name, a number of indicator boxes, a number of empty station boxes on the subway route, and two bonuses. On a turn, a player reveals the top indicator card from the deck of twenty cards, then each player individually and simultaneously chooses a subway line, then does something depending on which type of card is revealed:

If a number is revealed, the player writes the number in one of that line’s indicator boxes, then draws a ◯ in each box in the line starting with the closest empty box, stopping when they’ve reached the end of the line, reached an already filled-in space, or drawn the indicated number of ◯s.
If a circled number is revealed, the player does what is described above, but they can skip over already filled-in spaces instead of stopping.
If a star is revealed, the player draws a star in one of that line’s indicator boxes, then in the closest empty space on that line they write a number equal to double the number of lines that pass through that station box.
If a circle is revealed, the player writes nothing in an indicator box and draws a ◯ in any empty station box.

At the end of a turn, if a player has finished a subway line by reaching the final space, they announce this to all players, then score the larger of the two bonuses for this line; all other players cross out the large bonus and can score the small bonus for themselves if they complete this line later. Multiple players can score a line’s bonus on the same turn. If the indicator card has a shuffle icon on it, shuffle all of the indicator cards together before the next turn.

Once all the indicator boxes are filled, the game ends. Players tally their points scored for completing lines and for writing numbers in boxes, then lose points based on the number of empty spaces that remain on their sheet. Whoever has the highest score wins!boardgamegeek.com

If you’d like to learn more about the game, you can check out this video.

The Result

This was a tight and tense game throughout. We got to the end and neither one of us wanted to share our score because we figured we’d both lost. It came down to one point, and there was a very specific moment in the game when I made a decision to go one way and Rachel went another and it decided it. Rachel ended up getting that bonus point and it was difference. Rachel gets back to winning ways and ties up week 2.

See you tomorrow night for more!

We’re back after a break of a few days – We’ve had some really nasty cough/cold/flu combo tearing through the house the last few days and Rachel has been very down and out. We’re glad to be back at it.

We’ve had two donations come in – thank you Mom and Aunt Barb and Grandma for your donations! We’ve now raised $105 of our $600 goal! Thank you everyone!

If you’d like to donate and help us get to our goal you can do that here.

The Choice

Rachel takes control for the first time in the competition and is coming out swinging with one of her favourites. Tonight we’ll be playing Cottage Garden!

The Game

Cottage Garden is a cousin to Patchwork, a game we’ve already played in the competition this year.  In Cottage Garden, like Patchwork, you are placing tetris shapes on a board trying to fill in spaces.  Cottage Garden is more straight forward than its cousin, there’s no currency or engine aspect to the game.  On your turn you simply take a piece and place it one of your two boards, the winner is the person who continually fills in their boards the fastest.  There’s a few other mechanics in the game that help you fill out your board but that’s more or less what it comes down to.  You score points based on the number of pots you leave uncovered on the board, by optimizing the way you place your pieces.

If you’d like to learn more about the game check out this video.

The Result

I have to say up front – Rachel is still not feeling well and this is one of her favourite games, so the outcome was certainly impacted by how she’s feeling.

With that said – in the end I won 74 to 52. I came out to early lead and managed to keep the pressure up all the way through.

So we’re off to the races in week 2, and we’re excited to see where it goes.

We’ve arrived at the end of Week 1 of 5! This week has gone by really fast and it feels great to be back in the groove of the Charity Challenge again.

We’ve raised $35 of our $600 goal coming to the end of week 1. Thank you all for your donations and for following along! If you’d like to donate you can do so here. We are raising funds in support of CAMH!

The Choice

Well guys – I’ve managed to go four nights without a win for only the second time in the 7 year history of the competition. Last time this happened (last year) I went on a big winning streak and I’m hoping tonight we can get that started. But I’m being strategic with my choice tonight – tonight Rachel has already won the week and I’m choosing the game, so I’m going to pick one of her best games to take it off the table.

Tonight we’ll be playing one of Rachel’s favorites: Qwirkle

The Game

Qwirkle is a game that plays sort of like Scrabble, but with colours and shapes.  There are 6 different shapes in 6 different colours and you need to lay out combinations of those shapes and colours.  A row can either be made up of the same colour in different shapes or different colours of the same shape.  Each tile placed is worth a point (and includes re-scoring if you link into tiles already placed) and if you manage to get six in a row down you get a Qwirkle, giving you 12 points for that completed row.

To learn more about Qwirkle check out this video.

The Result

So if I lose tonight I’ll get to pick the game to start Week 2 tomorrow night. So how do you think it went tonight? I won of course!

I pulled really far ahead of Rachel in the early game. I was up by 40+ points at one point thanks to some really big scores on a very tight board. But as the game went on Rachel really focused up and chipped away at my lead. In the end she played the tile to end the game but even with the game ending bonus in hand I managed to win 215 to 209. A fairly low scoring and tight game – this was a really fun one.

So there we are – week 1 is done. Thank you all for tuning in this week and come back tomorrow as we get week 2 under way.

Remember if you want to donate you can do so here.

Welcome back to 2022 O’Sullivan Charity Challenge, where we’re raising money in support of CAMH!

Huge thank you to my sister Amanda for getting our donations started setting us at $35 of $600 goal! If you’d like to donate and support our campaign, you can do so here.

The Choice

Rachel has already won Week 1 so tonight is mostly about fun I think – I’ve decided to go with a fun little dice game that we’ve played before in the challenge. Tonight I’ve chosen Strike!

The Game

Strike is a dice game where you are trying to get matches – the first to lose all of their dice loses the game. The official description:

The game consists of an “arena” (the game box with an insert) and lots of dice. The goal is to be the last player who still has dice. At the beginning, one die is in the arena. The active player throws another die into the arena. If both dice now show the same number, the player must take them out and end the turn. If not, the player can decide to throw in another die (possibly trying to overturn other dice) or end his/her turn. A die which shows the X face is removed from the game, as is any die which falls out of the arena. A player who holds no more dice is eliminated from the game. The last player who still has dice is the winner

boardgamegeek.com

The Result

We always play this one best of five at least, and so we did today. I won the first game quite handily, however from there Rachel’s complete domination of week 1 clicked back into gear and she managed to win the next 4 games (we played the extra game just so I could try and prove I could do it – I could not).

I’ll have to try and pick a strategic game tomorrow – I’ve gotta stop Rachel’s domination and get setup for success in week 2 and beyond!

It feels like we’re flying through this year’s challenge, but we’re only three days in! We’re having a lot of fun and we super appreciate you following along.

If you’d like to donate to our campaign supporting CAMH’s vital work in mental health and addictions you can do so here.

The Choice

I’m down two games to zero and it’s not looking great for me to start here. So I need to pick something Rachel isn’t great at to try and stop her winning the winning tonight.

I’m thinking through games where Rachel has a lower win %’age but that we both really enjoy. I think I’ve got the perfect pick here, tonight we’ll play Cubitos.

The Game

Cubitos is a dice builder push your luck game. You’re building up your dice to be the first to win a race. The official description of the game explains it much better than I could:

Be fast or be last!

In Cubitos, players take on the role of participants in the annual Cube Cup, a race of strategy and luck to determine the Cubitos Champion. Each player has a runner on the racetrack and a support team, which is represented by all the dice you roll. Each turn, you roll dice and use their results to move along the racetrack, buy new dice, and use abilities — but you must be careful not to push your luck rolling too much or you could bust!

To learn more about the game you can check out this review and overview.

The Result

In the first round I pushed my luck and busted, letting Rachel get out the gates quickly. In the second round I pushed my luck because I had to catch up, and Rachel was 4-5 squares away.

And so it went for the entire night – Rachel managed to stay ahead almost the entire time, I did manage to catch her somewhere in the mid game but she managed to use her better dice (she managed to get a die with 4 movement (very high) in the second or third round) to just push and push. And so in the end I lost Cubitos, lost the night and already have lost week 1.

Woof. I’ll have some pushing to do when we get to week 2, come back for nights 4 and 5 of week 1 while we close things out for this week!