Only a game

Melbournians are in general extremely passionate about their sport, more obviously so than any other Australians.  A clear example of this is in the number of AFL teams that originate in Melbourne.  Out of the 18 teams in the premiership 50% are Melbourne based teams.  It is not surprising then that they take events such as the world cup very seriously.  A little too seriously for my own personal liking, I have never understood how people can become so obsessive over what is essentially a hobby.  Still I have managed to avoid it impacting my life too much as Australia got knocked out quite early on, and local interest quickly waned.  Still with Wimbledon and the Tour de France still going on, I have plenty more to avoid.

One such way I have found to avoid watching or hearing about sports that do not interest me, is to play games that do.  Last weekend after a lot of umming and ahing I finally gave in and decided to buy a copy of my favourite board game, Ticket to Ride.  I had been struggling to justify the $80 price tag, with Barnadi telling me I would have no one to play it with anyway.  Fortunately Barnadi was quickly proved wrong as in the week since I acquired the game I've managed to have two board game nights.

For those who have never heard of the game, Ticket to Ride is a strategy game where players compete to build trains routes across a map, in this case, of Europe.  This is done by collecting enough cards of a matching colour to link two cities.  Points are awarded for each route laid, with extra points available for completing specific routes which are available on ticket cards, points can be deducted for any ticket not finished before the end of the game.

My first game night was on Wednesday when Mona came over for a game or two or three.  Despite getting confused between Budapest and Bucharesti she still managed to beat me twice, but as all good losers know it is not about the winning.  It was just a good feeling to be playing again after so many years without.  For my second board game night Gene, Cameron and Kirsten all came over for dinner and a game.  Barnadi was working so I attempted to cook, by making a fish pie.  Again the night was completed with three games.  I managed to walk the first game with a very convincing win, but by the second game I did a Mona, miss reading my main mission and losing a whopping 21 points, allowing Gene to storm ahead and take the game.  By the third game I think the wine had been flowing a little too much and it was the lowest scoring game of the night.  It was Gene's turn to do a Mona as he got confused between Erzurum and Smyrna, allowing me to make a sneaky win.

I am sincerely hoping that at least one or two people will become regular visitors for a game, I might even be organised enough to remember to make a pudding.  Then I can justify expanding my board game collection with games like Bohnanza.  Not that I ever hope to have a collection big enough to rival Martin and Laura's library of games it does make me feel a little less homesick.

Jessie enjoying a game