Vacation Gaming on a Strip of Sand

Every year, along with a group of close friends, we rent a house for a week, out on Fire Island, a barrier island just off the south shore of Long Island.  It’s a week of eating, drinking, music, sunning, and - of course with us in the house - board games!  Not everyone joins in, but we had a great time this year playing with our friend Marcus, sibling friends Leigh and Michael as well as Leigh’s 5-year old son, Max. Here’s a recap of what was played last week on our holiday.

Our gaming, food, booze, sun, water and love getaway!!

Latice - In past years, we’ve played a lot of Qwerkle out on Fire Island, so this somewhat similar game, but one with an “island” theme, seemed like an obvious choice.  We broke this out right away and played quite a few games of it.  A big hit with Leigh, Michael, and Marcus alike.

Beach themed game at the beach!!! See what we did there???

Sutakku - We got this in a recent Board Game Bento box and it’s proven to be a simple, quick, warm-up kind of game.  It’s a simple dice-rolling game where you must stack dice in ever-increasing quantities, pushing your luck to get the maximum points.

One day we will tell you all about the irony involved with playing a dice STACKING game that frequently brings you to the brink of knocking the stack over in frustration!

Sushi Go - Always a favorite beginner game, we had fun introducing this one to Leigh one morning. Though not without the usual hiccups that can sometimes happen when we’re picking and passing furiously, we played several rounds.

It's all about Sushi Go Party tho these days!! Still fun!

Tiny Epic Galaxies - Susan always wants to bring this one - it’s small, has a nice blend of luck and strategy and we get to say, “move it, move it” every time we launch one of our ships into space.  We played a few games of this by ourselves throughout the week.

Always satisfying!!

Isle of Skye - Mike got this soon after it was named the Spiel des Jahres Best Game of the Year and we thought that the holiday week was a good time to break it out.  We’ll write a full review soon, but suffice to say, the first few rounds were very fun.  We pulled Marcus into a game and he adapted quickly.  The best part is Mike’s hysterical Scottish accent while he plays.

In this case the word "hysterical" is standing in for the more commonly used "annoying"!

The Networks - This was a game we Kickstarted and had played once before we took it to the beach. We played it once more - this time pulling Leigh into the game - and it was fun, but already on the second go, the long-term replayability of this game is beginning to be questionable.  We’ll review this one in more depth soon, too.

Lots of feels about this game, We'll talk more later!

Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City - We liked Machi Koro when we bought it last year, but it soon grew to be a little boring, so there was some anticipation that this new edition would add some spark.  We taught it to Marcus and played several games of it.  There’s only a few changes from the original game, however and it didn’t feel like really enough of a difference.  It’s easy to learn and has a good flow, but it’s just not a deep game. (Oh, and Susan always won.)

That's Marcus not Mike... geez, we don't all look the same!!!!

Codenames: Deep Undercover -
A recent Target exclusive, Mike nabbed this before our trip. This is the R-rated version of the top party game of last year, with many cards alluding to sex and drugs (though sadly not much rock and roll). We played several rounds of this with Marcus, who picked it up (mostly, see below) right away. The adult words didn’t necessarily make it any juicier or challenging, in my opinion.  The best part, though, was Mike giving Marcus a clue of “kettle” and him guessing “monkey.”  Turns out he thought he said “kennel.”  Oh yeah, that explains it completely.

He he he, you said "booty"!

Uno - Leigh’s 5-year-old son Max brought out a few of his favorite card games and we spent a while playing with him, along with Marcus.  Max turned out to be a ruthless Uno player, cackling wickedly every time he laid down a “Draw 2” card on anyone.  When Marcus tried to play a “Wild, Draw 4” card with a fistful of cards, Mike happily educated Max in the challenge rule.

This dude learned to not let people sucker him into Drawing 4 when they are lying ass liars!
Right Marcus???? 

Go Fish - This was one of Susan’s favorite games to play with her grandmother when she was little and turns out that Max does that, too.  We were impressed with the whimsical art on a sturdy set of cards that apparently only cost $1.  Mike proved to be the best fisherman in both games.

We didn't take any pics of us playing Go Fish, but here's a nice shot of Abe Vigoda as Sgt. Phillip K. Fish in the beloved 70s sitcom Barney Miller! See how you always win with Two Damn Board???

And so the sun sets on another summer of fun, but we won't stop! Though Susan's away for a little while, we'll be back playing and snarking at each other in November! We promise we'll go back to regular reviews then.