Berks County Gaming

Last night I traveled to Berks County for some gaming with Jim and others. The Berks County gaming nights are held monthly and are typically attended by more casual gamers and younger kids who enjoy lighter filler games. Because of this, I am often a bit more hesitant make the trip. However, I had not seen Jim for a while (he hosts the nights), and I missed gaming with my friend.

So, I rolled in at close to 7pm and found Jim inside the church setting things up. We chatted for a bit before everyone showed up and then pulled out the first game of the night. We had four gamers (Jim, myself, Player Y, and Margaret), so For Sale! was the first game on the list.

Jim had the nice older edition of the game (I must track down this edition) and after a brief rules explanation, we started up the game.

I should probably take a minute to mention something. I had gamed with Margaret before, and had a great time. She is soft spoken and quiet, and you may think that she does not understand the game or is not paying attention. Then, BAM! She will pull out a brilliant move that leaves you in the dust. She did this to me the last time we gamed together (Lost Cities) and I knew to watch out for her. :)

I had not met Player Y before, but she is definitely a more casual, and new to gaming, gamer. She is very nice but also displays some of the attributes that make here difficult to teach games to and to game with. Most importantly, she talks through and rushes rules explanations and then complains that they were not taught well. AND, she consistently does not pay attention to the game (more on this later).

Anyhow, I really like For Sale! We had a good time with this game, as the length and complexity level was ideal for the Player Y's tastes.

We were then joined by two others (younger kids who were enjoyable to play with) for a 6 player game of Diamant. Actually, make that two games. I don't mind this push your luck game, but two games in a row was pushing it for me. Still, we had a good deal of fun, especially when one player was able to stick it out long enough in the caves to gain a 17 point pay out! Ha ha, now that is the beauty of the game! Seriously, I lost miserably, but it is so much fun to see that happen that I cannot complain about the "luck" involved in the decision.

Now, the final game of the night. It is 8 at this point and we pull out Ticket to Ride. We were joined by another player, a very new gamer who did not seem that interested in being there, who also showed the same inattention to the game that Player Y displayed. This made the game last almost 2 hours, as each and every time it came to there two individuals we had to sit there and then remind them that it was their turn. Very annoying. Even worse, around 9:30, about 2/3 of the way through the game, the one player said that she had to leave and simply did nothing for the rest of her turns in the game. I apologize for complaining, but this type of behavior is rude and not excusable. It is because of you that the game is dragging and then you complain that the game is dragging. Ugh.

So, I failed to complete two of my tickets in the end and only netted 1 point! I lost, and Margaret won (congratulations). It was 9:45 at this point and I had a 45 minute drive home, so I had to leave. All in all, I had a decent time, but it again makes me hesitant to make the trip in the future. But I will. Why is that? Because I like seeing Jim and Margaret (and Perrianne when she makes it).

Good times.