What I Played Last Week Stag Edition Pt. 1
I played 11 different games over the course of my stag weekend, most of them several times over, so it seems fitting to do a bit of a stag edition of my usual What I Played chats.
I have split this into 3 blog posts for the sake of your sanity. Here’s the first: party games!
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Every time I introduce this game to new people, I find that it surprises me in different ways. We mess with the roles a lot, we find new ways to lie, we find new tactics to catch people out. This time around, we saw an incredible move from the werewolves claiming masons in a game where there were already two masons, causing much chaos, and an incredibly well played robber into werewolf that no-one saw coming. I can’t wait for the expansion.
If I’m going to be critical, I don’t find this game worth playing with less than 5 people, and 5 is a bit of a push. That said, if you’ve got 5 people or less, play Coup instead.
2 Rooms and a Boom
Much like One Night Ultimate Werewolf, I wasn’t sure how 2 Rooms would ever work, but everyone has been saying it is incredible, so I was really looking forward to giving it a go. The first thing I have to note is that the quality of the cards definitely made a difference here - if you’re using the print and play versions, print them as nicely as you can, put them in deck protectors, and whack a card behind them if you need to, just to make them a robust object. Make the cards feel precious and the rest of the game will follow. That said, this game boasts a whole new set of tactics that I’ve never used before in gaming: sneaking around behind people as they whisper to each other, publicly reviewing your card, carefully wording questions to avoid giving things away - all kinds of comedy is possible here. Any bad game experience can usually be fixed by adding the right roles from what I’ve seen, so an attentive games master (of sorts - they can take part, so it’s not a rough job) will probably help with the smooth running of the game.
I’ve heard people say that if you play this enough it becomes a guessing game quite quickly - all the reds end up in one room, and all the blues in the other, and it’s just about shuffling the bomber and president from room to room - but after 5 or 6 games we definitely weren’t anywhere near that point, so it’s absolutely worth printing up and having a go on. The hard bit is finding 15 friends - I think it needs around that number. I assume with more it would get even better.
Cash ‘n’ Guns
The recent re-release of Cash ‘n’ Guns has seen a fair bit of hype in the circles I follow, fitting that wonderful niche of quick, fun, simple party game, with the added bonus of foam guns.
This is a perfect case study in how important physical board game components are. Hand each player a foam gun and, if your friends are anything like mine, you’ll get at least 20 minutes of fun before you even get on to explaining the rules. When you do get around to it, they’re simple, allow for a bit of tactics, and don’t drag on too long. You can’t ask for much more out of a party game. Sure, Cash ‘n’ Guns lacks the complex tactics of some games, but that’s not what it’s for. People who find social interaction games like Werewolf hard work, or just don’t have the brain power for that right this second, will probably still enjoy a round of this. I’m not sure that it has heaps of replay value, but it’s quick enough that I’ll never turn my nose up at it if people fancy a quick round.