As the group of 7 gathered, it was agreed that all were old hands in the board gaming hobby and heavier games were tabled for the night, Francis Drake and Mexica. Francis Drake was played by Jamie (One of the Founders of Lunch Actually and a board game enthusiast), his son Quorum, Rajeev and Gabriel.
Related: Boardgamers of Finland #1: Dion Garner (The Ambassador)
Francis Drake is a worker placement game where players play privateers who gather their goods, crews and guns at a port before sailing off onto the high seas for treasure and plunder.
As for Dion, Seng Chin and myself, we pitted wits at Mexica. The goal being to build the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan as according to the Emperor's wishes. It is a game of area control by dividing the island into districts and making sure that one has the most spiritual grandeur in each area via built temples.
The night ended with the the best privateer being Rajeev Batra. Whose commanding skill on the high seas beat Jamie's best efforts to channel his inner lucky four leaf clover. That being said there was an upset in the next table as Seng Chin, the agreed upon most skilled of the players playing Mexica lost to Dion, who was pronounced the most influential noble of the Mexica.
To add insult to injury, while waiting for the game of Francis Drake to end, Seng Chin who is the best chess player among the gathered played Quixo, a strategic variant of Tic Tac Toe and beat Seng Chin again to the ruckus surprise and cheer of Dion and myself.
Looking back, this is what ToyTag is about, the gathering of friends and minds being skilled and honed by play. Thank you for those who came and we hope to see you all again soon.
