This week we focused on collaborative games. My group (Mia, Delaney, and myself) first played Pandemic with Professor Ames’ help to set up. We didn’t read the character cards, but rather just picked the colors we wanted and went with the corresponding character cards. I had the contingency planner, Delaney had the medic, and Mia had whatever the dark green character was. In terms of acts, it took us a bit to get a hang of the rules, even with Ames helping us out. We finally got into the swing of things after 4 or 5 rounds, which leads us to act 2. At this point, we had cured but not eradicated two of the viruses and we were really getting into the swing of things. We were working as a team to try and get the other two cured… when we ran out of draw cards. Which Ames gleefully told us meant the game was over and we’d lost.
None of us realized that lose condition for the game and were, understandably, shocked and upset. Ames asked if we would play Hanabi, but the three of us unanimously decided to play again. This time, we read the character cards and talked it over with each other to decide which roles would be the best. Delaney stayed the medic, Mia was the scientist, and I was the dispatcher. We were able to get into it a little better this time, and thankfully those stupid epidemic cards all came up relatively early. It took a round or two to fall into our new character roles, but then we were off. We had cured but not eradicated three of the viruses when we all simultaneously realized there was only two more draws worth. This started act 3, and though we tried valiantly in our last two remaining moves, we did not win.
In the last fifteen minutes or so of class, we picked up Hanabi. This also took us a bit to figure out because a) the board was circular and b) neither Mia or Delaney had ever played chess before, which Hanabi is based on. I think we got a decent way through the game in ten minutes before just packing it up and leaving class as it ended. I am unsure that I would play that game again, unless it was with people I knew had played chess before.