G&G XX - Racers on Wheels, Flippers for Reals

For those of you just joining us: back in 2006, I invited my friends over to my new house for a weekend of dedicated gaming, with most sleeping over so no one needs to count their drinks. Two came from out of town, which added significance to the gathering. It was close to St. Paddy’s Day, so we called it Gaming & Guinness. I made t-shirts with deskjet iron-on transfers as a lark, and at the end, Island Mike said, “next year, my place.”

And we’ve kept it up every year since, even when COVID meant doing it virtually, and this year was our twentieth.

 

G&G XX got off on kind of the wrong foot this year though. There were a few participants whose plans were in flux, so we didn’t end up setting a date until much later than usual. And wouldn’t you know it, the week after we picked the last weekend in May, two expected out-of-province memorial services for Earls' relatives landed on that same date. Pete offered to host at his home, nicknamed the Crystal Palace, which would provide the most space we have had to date.

Knowing that Earl would only be able to attend three evenings of our three-and-a-half day get-together demoralized me more than I had expected. After all, work or other commitments have held members of the core group out before, so I am unsure why this felt so impactful. But it gave those of us who were in town and available on Tuesday night an opportunity to prime the pump a little with shawarmas from Sunbake Pita and Jackbox Games on the TV before the main event began the next day.

Troublesome airline schedules and a nationwide NAVCAN outage meant we weren’t fully assembled until later Wednesday evening, but in the afternoon, seven of us got in a game of Dungeon Kart, a new game to us I’d found that very day. A hex-based racer that blends characters from the Boss Monster game with some mechanics from video games like Mario Kart (better spells (power ups) for those further back in the pack). 

Dungeon Kart boasts clean rules for the most part, top notch components and a lot of replayability through not only the combination of differing cars and character abilities but also tremendous permutations of the tracks. 

Our first race saw Rob beat Scott over the finish line in a real nail biter, and once Island Mike completed our group we moved on to Fantasy Solutions to Modern Problems – an Apples to Apples/  Cards Against Humanity clone that not only has tremendous writing and art, but spices things up with spells and curses that make other players howl on command, take deep inhalations of another’s breath, or freeze them in place with rigor mortis.

Player 1: I hope you didn’t need to pee.

Player 2: Oh, I can still pee.

As a means of strategic competition, FSMP is only so-so, but as a source of laughter, I think it was unmatched over the entire event. There were chuckles, hoots, snickers, guffaws, belly laughs, table slapping and at least one confession about the difficulty of bodily function control. Wiping our eyes, catching our breath, we were all grateful for the release that deep, heartfelt laughter brings.

To commemorate his impending retirement next month and our 20th convocation, Rob had brought a very special bottle of 18-year-old Glenmorangie to share. Some with whisky and some with cream soda, we all shared a toast.

There are still two drams left, only to be drunk at G&G and never by oneself.

Thursday began with some impromptu Timeline, followed by another Dungeon Kart race so Mike could experience it, and this time Scott teleported himself to a clear victory.

After that it was on to Wits & Wagers, a trivia game that lets you bet on other people’s answers instead of your own. We’ve been supplying our own questions for years now, and Scott, Pete and Mike brought some real dandies.

Following that, we gathered for our group photo, displaying both sides of the wonderful t-shirts Jeff and Pete designed the best that we could.

[PLACE HELD FOR GROUP PHOTO]

After dinner (generous servings of Pete’s amazing chili verde!), it was on to one of our marquee events, Circvs Maximvs. This year some of us went with heavy chariots, which took us out of contention for the trophy but gave us tremendous latitude to wreak havoc. Alas, Jeff and I found ourselves largely ineffective in this role, but Pete managed to kill three horses, a new record. Rob won this race too!

[PLACE HELD FOR PODIUM PHOTO]

Earl left for BC the following day, but being the generous soul he is, left his shiny new 10th Anniversary edition of the Firefly boardgame so we could break it in for him. It is an absolutely gorgeous re-rendering of a very decent game system, and the many, many supplements and expansions that have come in the past decade. So many, in fact, that a four-player game can now support up to ten players!

It took quite a while to get all the counters punched, ships assembled, and rules sussed enough that we could play a game without having to use every rule from every expansion. The game also has the largest footprint of any game I have ever played (the table above is 4x8) – and I am a wargamer! Luckily we found a “blitz” set up that sees each captain collect as many supply cards as there are players, which gets things off to a much faster start.

Even with this innovation though, it still took us over five hours to play the scenario to its (shortened!) completion with seven players (with Jeff triggering the endgame and Pete emerging as the winner). But no one complains, because time spent in that ‘verse is time well spent, especially with friends.

Jeff had also smoked a brisket overnight and served it up to us for supper, which I paired with a Crown Float (Guinness and Strongbow).

Afterwards we pivoted to shorter games like Heroes of Barcadia - a drinking-themed dungeon crawling game that uses beverages for hit points and has the best pun names for the monsters you encounter, like the Sipogriff and the Phoenix Colada. Sadly, the end goal appeared very early in the game so it didn’t run as long as I would have liked, but hey, at least I won?

JenG&Ga has been a featured game at previous G&Gs, usually on the first night, but with our schedule in disarray it made the scene on Friday instead. The “make a rule” block appeared multiple times, meaning that at some points, players were pulling blocks with their non-dominant hands with one eye shut and standing on one foot and singing their favourite song. And in between turns, you couldn’t use proper names or point. Despite these handicaps, Pete got us to a new record of 32 levels before it collapsed!

There was just enough time before bed for us get in two games of Bang! The Dice Game, a long-time favourite. We payed with expansion cards that gives each role (Deputy, Outlaw, Renegade) special rules but only if the player reveals what they are. My recollection is that both games went to the Outlaw faction, but it was pretty late by then, and besides, I was el Renegatto in the second game anyways.

Despie our collective fatigue, the hard-chargers (Island Mike, Pete, Totty and I) went until 3:00 am with Timeline Twist, a collaborative version that saw us score 35 points, but we were not as successful with The Mind as we were a few years ago.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, so we made the most of it by driving to a dimly lit retro-arcade in Sherwood Park called Arkadium. Kidding! The upstairs is generally well lit and features an astonishing array of pinball machines which we used to hold a short tournament. 

This matchup saw us playing on Jaws, Dr. No, and Kiss machines before Island Mike and I moved on to the final on Pulp Fiction, which he won handily.

It is a flat fee, licensed establishment that hosts competitive pinball leagues but has lots of other great machines too, such as bubble hockey and this crazy Taito game called Ice Cold Beer. This novelty sees you balancing a physical ball bearing on a metal bar that you can raise each end of independently with two joysticks as you navigate a maze of holes.

It was entirely too compelling and I will need to return at some point to get to level seven.

(my personal high score, in case I forget)

Before we knew it we had spent four hours lodged in the amusements of the past (which for a $20 admission is a hell of a deal, really, even compared to 1980s prices), and returned to the Crystal Palace. We ordered in Malaysian food from Tropika and played cribbage (on the amazing D&D board Audrey commissioned for my birthday!) and crokinole while we waited for it to arrive.

For the finale I had chosen an old-time favourite that I had not played in years – Talisman. A fantasy quest game with neat player-vs-player mechanics, we got rid of the corner expansions and shortened the experience requirements, but it was still pretty late when Rob finally slew the Dragon King and claimed the Crown of Command with his Shaman - his third big victory this week!

Despite how long it took, it was great to see my old miniatures getting used again.

And that was G&G XX – an event that teeters between overscheduling and anarchic improvisation to compensate for games that run longer than anticipated. Luckily it is saturated with strategy, luck, laughter and a deep and abidingly sincere appreciation for the friends who continue to come out every year for this silliness and who put so much into it!

May you all find a crew as good as this - but these ones are mine