Playing card games has been one of the main bonding activities Gabriel and I enjoy since we met in 2013. In fact, the first gift he ever game me was the core set of A Game of Thrones, a living card game based, of course, on George R.R. Martin's epic series A Song of Ice and Fire. He is a card and board game enthusiast, being a player of Magic The Gathering for some years now, and ASOIAF was a common factor for us (I was very much into the series that time–until now, needless to say), so it was a good starting point as we got to know each other more. It was an engaging activity we learned together through time and enjoyed whenever we could find the time and place to play.
I think if we weren't introduced to each other by a common friend, we would still have met if the said common friend took me to one of their "game days," a gathering of their group (which Gabriel is a part of) to play MTG and other games, as we have agreed months before. This common friend had introduced me to MTG and I was quite interested to learn more, so it was just as well that I was inducted into their group. And so as Gabriel tried and continues to try his best to teach me MTG, creating a deck that I could use to play against him and the others in the group, playing card games have been a staple in our meet-ups, lugging around deck boxes or the huge box containing AGoT cards and tokens.
He says I'm learning fast and that I'm doing good–Magic is still way over my head even if I snag wins against his lesser decks often, but Thrones, I am definitely confident playing, especially when using my favorite Houses Stark and Baratheon. We used to play with wagers, to make things livelier. But I win so much in the game, it was no use anymore. Hahaha! So on January 10, we had another match at one of our favorite coffee shops. After a year of losing to me in AGoT, Gabriel finally won a duel against me. Haha. Maybe that was the main point of this post, to celebrate his overdue win against me. :p I am demanding a rematch, of course. :))
On the first day of the five-day holiday due to the Papal Visit, we tried a new game with a couple of other friends. We finally got to play his Mansions of Madness that he got last Christmas. It's an adventure cooperative board game that we had too much fun playing to notice that a round takes a little more than two hours to complete. Playing this occult-themed mystery game is a new for me, and it is really fun to be carried away by the story unfolding through the actions we as player-characters were taking. We lost the two games we played, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. That day, Gabriel also turned over to Miguel, care of me, his Star Wars toys that are a part of a battle figure game. It shames me to admit that my little brother knows more about Star Wars than I do. Haha.
That Sunday, the 18th, their playgroup held their (delayed) year-end game day where Mansions was among the games played. Of course I joined the group that played this, while the others played MTG in duels and multi-player matches. Again, the players lost, this time to the gamekeeper. After a round of Mansions, we decided to try Resistance, a quick party detect-the-bluff game that tests social deduction and hones a person's deception and acting skills. Haha. It was hugely entertaining, if only a little stressful especially if you happen to be drawn into the "enemy" side and you had to pretend you're one of the good guys. But I appreciated playing it, not the least because it helped me interact with his friends considerably more than I would normally have. #SocialAwkwardnessAlert!
All in all, I had great time playing these games. Gabriel is intent on growing his card and board game collection, so I guess I will be playing more of these, with just the two of us or with our groups of friends. :D
