Ah, Sunday morning. A beautiful time to be awoken at too early o’clock in this hotel by loud teenaged dance teams. This has never been the quietest hotel, and being placed near the elevator pretty much means I’m awake by 7am every day.

Good news is that I’m trying to keep my normal sleep schedule as I’m only here for four days. Yesterday night was a fun filled time. After all, any restaurant dinner that involves no fewer than four wine spills has to be considered a success!

Though I was probably not in the best shape for playing games when I got back, I did get in some lighter stuff while I was socializing. 

Another game of Traexx, though this time with my lowest score yet, a very sad 9 points. Then, I did have a wonderful game of Lumis with William Attia. Stephen Glenn had just arrived with a case of Lumis fresh from Europe. We opened one and got to playing. It’s essentially a slightly more complex take on Twixt. Each player is trying to connect two sides of the board. You have to draw cards which determine where you can play, and this drawing and playing of cards adds a bit od tempo to the game.

We had a nice struggle for area control of the center and then I managed to cut William off at the pass ro secure the win. It was a decent game for 2,but Stephen tells me that it shines with 4 in a partnership game. I’ll hopefully have a chance to try that too.

Finally, I ended the night with a bluffing game, Dead Man’s Chest, which is done by Paul Jeffries and is being kickstarted by Gryphon. Lots of fun and laughs, and I was out first because red wine makes me an awful bluffer.

So, now on to mt final day. The ballroom ia pretty sparse at 9am when I managed to get down there.

First thing today was a bit of playtesting with Zman. A few new expansion ideas for Pandemic contagion. I can’t say much yet about the details, but there are up to three different modules in testing.

Quickly I managed to get into a game of Porta Nigra, a new heavy game from Kramer and Kiesling and Menzel with art. Should be coming out in Essen? I haf to endure a game with Stephen B from Stronghold who was evaluating the game. One of the things that always happens at the Gathering are people partnering up to do games. With representatives from over 20 companies here, there are always deals going down.

Porta Nigra is pretty meaty, took us two hours for the first game (4p) with rules. can’t wait for this one to be done. More details later in the week once I am home.

On to Friday’s for a caloric dense meal and a super interesting business meeting that I was able to be a fly on the wall at.

Back to the ballroom for another Eggert game, this time Mombasa. Super meaty. Our game took just over two hours.

There are about six things that you’re trying to do. I could only focus on one.

After these two complicated games, I had to take some mental time off so nothing but fillers and conversation until dinner.

I’ll try to post once more before I leave!

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