Well, the teetotallers have all been kept away by the snow and ice, but some more addled brains have been consulted; I have been reminded that we played Loot, a neat pirate card game, Rolit, which we were given years ago and have only just got round to trying (really quite good but appears to be only available in America or Europe), Powerboats (picked up from Essen in '08 and I really should try to get it back in stock), and Imperial 2030. How could I forget that, it was the other one I asked Father Christmas to get me and he did not let me down. Having played the original 19th century Imperial less than two months ago I was familiar with the rules - not familiar enough to win, but I think I came second. This near-future version of the game has the slight edge on the original, but I am perfectly happy to play either. Although it is a long-ish game it still fits into an evening, so has been taken back into the shop with a view to gathering a quorum on a Wednesday night before too long.

Not surprisingly, we were kept busy in the shop on the Tuesday after Christmas, but at 6 O'clock we adjourned promptly to Raiders of the games Cupboard going on across the road, and fitted in a quick game of Ad Astra. In fact, it was the quickest game of it to date, just an hour and a quarter, with Andrew who had been helping out at the shop getting the hang of jumping on every scoring opportunity very swiftly and leaving most of us trailing in his meteoric wake. Quaking in his meteoric trail? Anyway, I came last, but enjoyed it as always. Were Father Christmas slightly richer I would have had one of those too.

And so at last, after another four days off over the New Year to get out of the habit of work, noses are back to wheels, shoulders to grindstones etc. during the day. There is much to do at home in the evenings in preparation for the coming Spring - not so very far away with a bit of luck - but instead we have been lounging around playing more Kingsburg variations, trying Tobago as a two-player (very similar to a three or four player game, I am pleased to report), the ubiquitous Roll through the Ages, and introducing more people to Small World. I still haven't played my China/Korea expansions for Powergrid. So much to play, so little time...