I’m posting this on Monday, but the actual gaming took place last night. My husband and I got to sit down at our usual haunt with game developer & author, Jonathan Tweet, to play some new games.

The winner of the night was the game Three Dragon Ante, a D&D based card game that’s half poker and half strategic card game.

While there’s some luck to it, the strategy changes with the number of players and which cards get played. I started out with a ton of money early in, taking the pot several times, only to end the game in last place and in debt–so the game can shift easily!

It was a load of fun playing this game (I just bought a copy because I liked it that much). Think of it as a dragon-themed poker game with a twist.

Besides this game, we also tried out Love Letter for the first time. We’d heard a lot about this game but hadn’t ever played it. It’s not a game I would recommend for two players, but with three, it worked fine.

This game was also a lot of fun, though simplistic in design. Sort of felt like an ramped up version of a themed Go Fish. The idea of the game is to collect affection, which comes in the shape of cubes (and of course, we dubbed them affection cubes which led to jokes about companion cubes).

You collect affection by completing a variety of tasks like guessing what cards someone holds, seeing their hand, trading hands, etc. People lose a round by holding certain cards (think Old Maid but cooler and less misogynistic), having someone guess what cards they hold, etc.

All in all, it was an entertaining evening of games, food, & drink. (We were going to play Dixit, but didn’t have a fourth player. Another time, perhaps!)

What new games have you played recently? Any that stand out as excellent?