Year End Gaming

I managed to get a couple of games leading up to the end of the year.  Earlier this week I purchased Suburbia; this is a game that has been on my wishlist for a while and we played a game.  New Years Eve my sister-in-law came over and the three of us played a couple of rounds of Settlers.

Suburbia is a game me and my wife played about a year ago at a friends' house with him and his wife.  Unfortunately they live a long ways away, so we don't get to see them very often.  Ever since then the game has been one we are both wanting, so with some spending money that was burning a hole in my pocket I went and got it.  We got one round in, and the first thing that I noticed was that with 2 players the tiles stay in the market a lot longer, so you can be a little more strategic about the order you buy them in, to hopefully get the for a reduced price.  My wife was rather tired, so it wasn't much of a game, but was fun and I look forward to many more plays.

My "city" at the end of the game

I don't recall ever having played boardgames with my sister-in-law, but apparently at one point in her life Settlers was a regular thing for her, so after a quick refresher of the rules we were off and running.  It quickly became apparent that she has more of a competitive streak than my wife, which led to a lot more bantering than is normal around our table.  I have always felt that 3 players is optimum for Settlers, it allows enough space to build and find the resources you need, but still allow some "blocking".  I managed to win the first game, through it was relatively close.  The second game my sister-in-law was running away with, but I managed to squeak out a come from behind victory using victory cards (2 victory points and largest army).  It was a fun night of gaming, and now that I know she is so into it I am looking forward to more games with the 3 of us in the future.

New Years Eve Settlers, round 1

New Years Eve Settlers, round 2