The current COVID-19 lockdown is obviously having a huge impact on everyone's life in New Zealand at the moment. Join us for a game of 'Welcome To...' over the next few weeks. All you need is a few minutes per day.
Twice a day (8am and 8pm) we will post the new cards, both here and on our Facebook page. We keep playing until someone triggers the end of the game (we will explain how that works as we go). Then we all report our scores, and see who wins!
Head over to our 'Learn To Play' page to find out how to play, and to get yourself a copy of the score sheet you will need.
GAME ONE - STARTED MARCH 27th, 2020
LET'S PLAY! - TURN 1
You need to pick ONE of these numbers (8, 7, 12) and place that number in one of the houses on your sheet. Remember that the numbers always increase left to right. The cards go from 1 to 15. You then can use the bonus associated with your card.
The white "fence" card with the #7 lets you fill in a fence anywhere on your sheet. The fences are important for scoring points. A group of 1-6 houses that are filled in (no empty houses) with a fence on each end is an ESTATE, which is worth points at the end of the game. The ends of each row are already fenced.
The purple "real estate" card with the #8 lets you cross out the lowest value in one column in the real estate section at the bottom of your sheet. This shows you how much each 'estate' is worth at the end of the game. Crossing out a number means that size estate is now going to be worth more points (the new top number).
The blue "pool" card with the number 12 gets you extra points if you put the 12 in a space with a pool. If you do, circle the pool and cross out the lowest number in the pool section.
The 3 cards on the right are another way to get points. I will explain them tomorrow.
TURN 2
You need to pick ONE of these numbers (6, 12, 1) and place that number in one of the houses on your sheet. Remember that the numbers always increase left to right. The cards go from 1 to 15. You then can use the bonus associated with your card.
The purple "real estate" card with the #6 and #12 lets you cross out the lowest value in one column in the real estate section at the bottom of your sheet. This shows you how much each 'estate' is worth at the end of the game. Crossing out a number means that size estate is now going to be worth more points (the new top number).
The pink "bis" card with the number 1 lets you place an extra house on your sheet, duplicating an existing number! First, fill in the 1, and then place a "B" next to any existing house (before or after it). Note that there can never be a fence between a house and its "B". Careful: Each time you use the BIS power you will get some negative points!
The cards on the right are "City Plans". They will earn you points for completing Estates of certain sizes. Check out the image for more details. I will post the cards for turn 3 later today.
TURN 3
You need to pick ONE of these numbers (8, 5, 9) and place that number in one of the houses on your sheet. Remember that the numbers always increase left to right. The cards go from 1 to 15. You then can use the bonus associated with your card.
The orange "temp agency" card with the #8 and #5 lets you MODIFY the number up or down by up to 2. That means the 8 could be a 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10! Whenever you choose a number paired with a TEMP AGENCY card, cross our a symbol in the matching area at the bottom of the board. The people who have used the most at the end of the game will earn some points!
The white "fence" card with the number 9 we have seen before. After adding your 9, place a fence anywhere on your sheet. Remember that fences help you complete Estates which are worth points.
TURN 4
Pick one of these numbers to add to your sheet, and (optionally) use the associated special power. All of these powers we have had before (there is only one we haven't had, coming in Turn 5!), so I have just added brief reminders to this image. How is your neighbourhood coming along?
TURN 5
Here we have the final type of bonus card - the LANDSCAPER bonus. When you use a number with this green bonus, cross out the lowest number in the trees at the end of the SAME STREET. This will make the street worth more points at the end of the game. We hope you are having fun with this - we plan to keep posting these twice a day (will try to stick to around 8am and 8pm). Sing out if you have any questions!
TURN 6
We've had all the bonus powers now, so you should know to play!
TURN 7
Here we are for Turn 7 - plus a little reminder about how the bonus powers work, and a couple of other parts of your score sheet that we haven't covered yet. How is your neighbourhood developing?
TURN 8
Have you named your neighborhood?
TURN 9
What happens if you find that you can't place any of the numbers? Then you have to cross out the top-most hexagon in the bottom right of the sheet, and you can't use any of the bonuses for the turn. You can only ever use a bonus power if you place the number.
TURN 10
Nothing new here! In the next post, we will explain how the game might end, and what happens when you complete a City Plan.
TURN 11
Here is Turn 11 - along with an explanation of what happens when you complete any of the City Plan objectives. Remember that the City Plans require you to have completed a number of Estates of the specified sizes. An Estate is a group of numbered houses with no gaps (empty houses) and a fence on both ends. If this turn means that you have completed one of our City Plans, or if you have completed one in a earlier turn, then email us at [email protected] with a photo of your neighbourhood, and include which turn it was when you completed it! Check out the image for more details.
TURN 12
City Plans 1 and 3 have now been claimed, but you can still claim them as well! Anyone who completes them after Turn 10 will get the lower number on the right, so still follow the instructions from the last turn when you complete one. Remember that if you use the BIS power, there can never be a fence between a house and its "B".
TURN 13
All three City Plans have now been claimed. You can still get the lower points for each one by completing them, email us with a photo when you achieve one. I was going to talk about how the game ends tonight, but I think I will cover that tomorrow. Don't worry if you haven't completed any of the City Plans yet - I haven't either!
TURN 14
Time for Turn 14! At the end of this move, you should have 14 houses filled in on your board, plus one for every time you have used the BIS power (which you can tell by how many times you have crossed off the BIS section). Today we find out how the game ends. One of the really fun things about this game is that anyone could trigger the end of the game, so it may end at any time. If one of these things happens to you - the game is over and you need to let us know ASAP!
you have completed all 3 City Plans
you have filled every house on your board
you have been unable to move 3 times (crossed out all 3 hexagons in the lower right of your board).
Feel free to email us a photo of your board at any time, we'd love to see those neighbourhoods!
TURN 15
A few more people have got in touch with us claiming the City Plan points. Don't forget that you can still claim them, even though someone else has beaten you to it. You still get points, just not as many as the first player to achieve them.
TURN 16
Turn 16! Your neighbourhoods should be about half full by now.
TURN 17
Here is Turn 17! I'm really curious as to how many players we have here. I guess we'll see when the scores start rolling in later!
TURN 18
Here is Turn 18. What other games have you been playing over lockdown? We just tried our first 'games over webcam' last night - we played Mysterium (both houses had a copy) and Codenames. It was a whole lot of fun!
TURN 19
Here we go for Turn 19. I haven't hear anyone say they have 2 City Plans completed yet - make sure you let us know when you complete one! We had a great question come through this morning - "are all cards equally likely to come up" - and the answer is NO! The numbers at the end (1,2,14,15) are more rare, and those in the middle (7,8,9) are much more common. Even some of the bonus powers are more rare than others. Check out the image attached - it may affect which number you pick!
TURN 20
Time for Turn 20! The game could really end at any point now. Remember, the game ends once any player completes all 3 City Plans (at least one player has done 2 already) OR one player is unable to place a number 3 times. Has anyone been unable to place a number yet? Remember that if that happens, you cross out one of the hexagons in the bottom right, and you can't use any of the bonuses that turn. The final way the game can end is for one player to completely fill their houses, however that will still be a while away yet.
TURN 21
Turn 21. By now you are probably REALLY HOPING for particular cards to come up. We can see here that there is a Pool coming next turn - I wonder what number it will be? As always, let us know if you complete a City Plan or are unable to place a number. I've already placed three 12s, but luckily I still have room for the other numbers.
TURN 22
Here we go for Turn 22! I did a quick count-up of the people who I know are playing along (based on comments) and I got to 16. I am sure there are some more playing along in silence...
TURN 23
Turn 23. I actually had my hand forced with this one. With only two numbers to choose from (10 and 9), I found I had already placed 3 nines, and only had one place I could put a 10! Things like that are more and more likely to happen towards the end of the game. Remember, if you can't place a number at all: cross off one of the hexagons in the lower right, and let us know!
TURN 24
Here is Turn 24. We had our first reports yesterday of people being unable to place a number. The end of the game is definitely approaching. Completing all 3 City Plans requires a minimum of 28 houses. Someone who had used Bis four times could in theory end the game here (but would be getting -9 points from all those uses of Bis).
TURN 25
Turn 25 is here! There are a couple of the "Temp Agency" powers today, these let you adjust the number up or down by 0,1 or 2. So you can even use the 15 as a 17 if you like. (If paired with a 1 or 2, these could be made into a 0, but never a negative number). Remember to cross off one of the orange diamonds if you use the 14 or 15, even if you don't adjust the number. I expect the game is going to end very very soon, so I wouldn't go making any long-term plans. At least one person has been unable to place a number twice, and several have completed two City Plans. How many more turns will we get?
TURN 26
Time for Turn 26. Uh-oh - those are all pretty high numbers. In fact, I can't move this turn!
GAME OVER!
That's the end, folks! We have a player who has been unable to place a house 3 times. (Several players, including myself, were starting to get stuck!) Before we can do the scoring, we need to know how many times each player has used the orange 'temp agency' bonus. Let us know how many of the orange diamonds you have crossed out (even if it is zero). I will post later today with how to calculate your score.
CALCULATING YOUR SCORE
Here is some help on how to calculate your final score if you need it (this is my neighbourhood - Locktown). If you have any questions, just ask! We have 22 players that I am aware of, and about half the scores have come in so far. Email us with your score, and we will reveal the rankings once they are all in. So we are only halfway through lockdown. We are looking at running another game of this, and other options, so stay tuned!
