Grand Prix

Almost a year and a half after my first encounter with Grand Prix, I am happy that my opinion has not changed. It is not one of those games I need to dissect down to the last detail in order to justify why it has stayed in my mind: when a big group gathers, it is fun. The very idea of running a tournament for it at the club sounds right to me.

The experience rests on the group gathering around the same race and following its progress. It is not a game that stayed with me because of some elaborate mechanism; it stayed with me because of the shared laughter, the tension of the moment, and the fact that a full table gives it a completely different energy.

At the table, then, interaction mainly comes from everyone taking part in the same spectacle and reacting to what happens in the race. I can imagine it working even better in tournament form, with game after game and the group giving the evening its character, rather than everyone chasing some weighty strategic analysis.

I had to leave early with the Swiss guy because of obligations, leaving the others to digest the pie we had cut — congrats, Fotara! — and carry on with two games of the new Civ. But Grand Prix remains on the list for the next big gathering. Let us start the new year strong, with fewer idiots getting on our nerves. After all, it is better to be lucky than good!