Sunday, February 10, 2008

O:8S 7.1 To anyone who came bounding at me this past holiday season hopped up on egg nog and incessantly braying 'Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!' at the top of their lungs, I have this to say: You got what you wanted, so deck your halls, jingle your bells, grab your damn snow shovel and get your freakin wish out of my driveway! Ho, ho, ho, now make it go, go, go! Maybe I'll have some figgy pudding for you when you're done.... For the past week, the only action at the game table was an away game that took place at work. In what has proven to be an almost impossible achievement in recent history, Kittyluv and I squeezed in a complete game of Five Crowns. Now, before you go getting all lippy, it was Super Bowl Sunday, and the weather outside was absolute crap, so buisnes was pretty slow. It was either sleep, play cards, or continue the rubber band war that had already raged in full force for over an hour. And still unanswered is the question of how many ringers it takes to win the big hairy monster. The idea that you can cause someone's head to explode by touching their elbow was confirmed, however. But back to Five Crowns. I can't really think of any new or novel play elements in this rummy style card game, and I'm starting to think that may be the reason it's stayed popular in our group for so long. You draw cards to build runs (cards of the same suit in sequence) and sets (groups of cards of the same rank) in order to go out before your opponents do. Getting caught with unmelded cards in you hand when someone else goes out could get you a whole lot of points, which is to be avoided in this lowest-score-wins contest. Don't worry though, there are 11 hands played in a full game, which gives ample opportunity to make up for a bad hand or two. The first hand dealt is only three cards, with that number increasing by one for each round played, until, in the last deal, you end up holding thirteen cards. Another neat feature of the game is the number of cards in the hand also indicates what rank of cards is wild for that hand. If that wasn't enough help in building your sets and runs, the deck also contains a good number of jokers that are always wild. Like many card games, this on claims to be playable by two players, but the flavor of the game just isn't the same as it is with three to six players. It also claims to be able to support seven players on one deck, and eight or more on two decks. I haven't tested either one of these claims, but that does lead me to an interesting point about the deck itself. It's big. Really big. Megaginourmously big. Ultrahumassively big. Porn star big. It's so big that if you know someone with teeny tiny hands, or some type of shuffling disability, this deck could reduce them to tears in short order. Even weak wristed normal handed folk may have to make a couple attempts to get it mixed properly. Weighing in at 116 cards, it's right around, if not slightly bigger than, the size of a standard Uno deck. It may just send you digging for that card shuffler that's lurking in the back of a closet somewhere. Still, the simplicity of the game, and the potential to be dealt a perfect hand that lets you go out immediately and stick your opponents with a ton of points, keeps this game continously popular. Even though at first it may seem like it will take forever to play a whole game, the play moves along at a good pace. In fact, it usually ends with more than one person saying, 'C'mon, one more game!' That was not the case in my game with Kittyluv on that snowy sunday evening. Not only did we run right to the end of my shift, finishing right brfore I was due to walk out the door, she quite easily managed to hand me a loss. My only consolation was the fact that I mangaed to cut her lead to the point where I fininshed with only a mere twice as many points as she had. Nope, not an ending that left me screaming immediately for another game. Production values aren't the top of the line, at least for the copy I have. Other than that, the cards have stood up well to years of play, just going a little grey around the edges, and having a more or less permanenet bow from the force required to shuffle them. The card faces have kept their detail and color, and only just now are the corners starting to split. So, for a card game that's a quick learn, stands up to large groups, and keeps it's fun factor, Five Crowns (Set Enterprises, Inc.) is a good game for the huge handed card shuffler in your life. Say What??? *Once one has discovered how easy it is to get into your bosses' locked cabinets, should you go on to see how easy it is to get into their drawers? *Some very harsh words (perhaps deserved) from RN4.0 have left me with questions. Serial killer? Crazed stalker? Guy with bodies in the crawlspace? A deliciously hot piece of man-cake? You decide! On my MySpace page, go to my pictures and check out the folder marked '????' and let me know what you think. In return, I'll be sure to let you know if I intend on continuing to speak to you. To RN4.0, I guess this means no 1 on 1 strip volleyball match, huh? *Twang! Zing! Twang! Whizzzz! Honk! Honk! (you know who you are....) *Princess Cowgirl no touchee wizard! Wizard big mojo! Much juju! You no touchee! *As the frozen wind scours the flatlands of IL, I still have no idea where the Amazons have gone. *The clock continues to count down towards MTHS+20. Save Ferris! 01:29 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment -

My life in six words.... So far, not my best effort.