The big 3-6, and a Takenoko Tournament

By Meeple Lady | September 21, 2016 | Comments 1 comment

So I turned 36 last Sunday. Eeeeks. I can’t even fudge it a bit and say I’m in my early 30s. It’s all good. I’m here to officially embrace my late 30s. And I’d like to think I don’t look like I’m 36. (Don’t answer that). Anywho …. I celebrated with my framily (my Phoenix friends who are my family), and my board-gamer peeps. And what’s the best way to celebrate? With food, desserts and a Takenoko Tournament!

Yes, I am that person who decided to host a board-game tournament on her birthday. We all met up at Joe’s Farm Grill in Gilbert, which has excellent food, if you guys are ever out here. Also, on your birthday, you get $10 off your lunch. It’s a cute outdoor spot where you can hang out with your friends on large picnic tables. Just don’t sit too close under the main tree, as birds might poop on you.

We then all went to my friends’ home nearby to set up for the tournament. (And a big thank you to them to opening up their home to host festivities.) I had 4 stations of Takenoko, and each station’s winner went on to the finals round.

I chose Takenoko because it’s one of my favorite medium-weight games to play, it’s freaking adorable, and it’s not too hard to teach people how to play. Plus, a lot of us has a copy of this game, so it was easy to secure extra sets. I actually have two copies of this game, one being the fantastic collector’s edition. Side note: I noticed that the Takenoko: Chibis collector’s edition is on preorder online. Man, I totally want to get that …

We diplomatically decided who would go first ... via the Chwazi finger app. — At the final table, we diplomatically decided who would go first … via the Chwazi finger app.

The winners at each station then moved on to the final game, which was played out on the big set. Everybody at this table got prizes, the top prize being a $20 gift card to Target. The scores at the final table were 46, 30, 28 and 27. Good times were had by all.

The Takenoko Tournament winners, with my friend Mike being the big winner and getting a Target gift card. — The Takenoko Tournament winners, with the big winner receiving a Target gift card.

After the tournament, we had ice cream and cookies, and played a couple rounds of Codenames. I got a bunch of awesome presents, some board-game related of course. The biggest surprise were these two paintings my friend made for me.

My very talented friend painted these for me. These are all my favorite board-game characters!

Aren’t they stinkin’ adorable??? All of my favorite things! I also received Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu. I’m excited to get this on table!

I seriously love the Lovecraft/Cthulhu universe. — I seriously love the Lovecraft/Cthulhu universe, and I know this version changes up Pandemic.

Lastly, the biggest surprise was that the day before my birthday, I was in Flagstaff heading home from my northern Arizona road trip with my best friend when we stopped into Bookmans to check out the board-game selection. We had been in Sedona and Page since Friday to go hiking and check out Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon. Inside Bookmans, I seriously squealed when I saw a pristine used copy of 1960: The Making of the President. I started hugging this box like it was a small child. I had some store credit and then my bestie pitched in for the rest as my birthday gift.

This game is out of print, which made the find more awesome. It's a card-driven area-control game in which Nixon and JFK are trying to become president. — This game is out of print, which made the find more awesome. It’s a card-driven area-control game in which Nixon and JFK are trying to win states to become president.

And that sums up my birthday weekend. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by such awesome people, and here’s to another great year of friendship and board-gaming!