Saint Petersburg

Rachel and I went on a date to Game Night Games last night.  Hurray for Uncle Brian baby sitting!

We arrived at almost 8.  All the tables were jammed full with games in progress.  Off in a corner we spotted one lone guy setting up a game, so we asked if he had room for two more players.  Sam had room, so we joined him for a game of Saint Petersburg, along with Tim, who turned out to be the store's owner.

Saint Petersburg took us two hours to play, which seems long given that it's supposedly a 45 minute game.  But playing through your first time can be like that, especially if Sam is doing the explaining.  Tim told us that Sam plays that game "a lot."  Sam clarified: "I've played over one thousand... no, over eleven hundred games of Saint Petersburg."  That's pretty obsessive.

SP seems simple but there is definitely skill involved, as demonstrated by Sam and Tim both  doubling Rachel's score and mine.  (I was last by a good margin.)  If it really does play as quickly as 45 minutes when you know what you are doing I am tempted to pick up a copy.