We had our family dinner on Monday as has been usual practice for years now although we broke the tradition quite often during earlier COVID restrictions. We had a long layoff in both the first and second waves, but I have since lost count of the waves, so let us just call this the O-wave.
The province has gone into a circuit breaker although I don't think they have used that term. The resumption of school has been postponed by two weeks, and dining in restaurants has been curtailed. You can guess the various other restrictions. Hopefully, these measures will get this incredible explosion under some sort of control. Also hopefully, maybe this wave will soon subside as seems to have been the case in South Africa.
We felt safe and within limits as the 5 of us got together. I can't remember all of what was said, but I think all three tested before coming over. Shauna did for sure.
We served Mexican lasagna with layers of tortillas alternating with meat sauce which included corn and black beans. It is a very good dish that we tend to repeat several times a year.
Afterward, we played a game of Wizard. We had played it with JJ on his Christmas sleepover, and he loved it (first photo, below) and wanted to play again. Shauna had played it in the past, but it was Danica's first time (second photo below). We had a blast.
Long long ago, we used to play with an ordinary deck of cards and called it Oh Heck! The Wizard deck is just an traditional set of cards with two types of wildcards added — 4 Wizards and 4 Jesters.
We start by dealing one card to everyone and turn up the next card to be trump. Everyone bids on whether they think they will take the trick or not. Obviously, a person can only say 1 or 0 in that round. But the bids cannot add up to 1 in total, for someone must lose. For example if the first of 5 people bid 1 and the next 3 people bid 0, the last person, the dealer, would be forced to bid 1. Likewise, if all 4 people bid 0, then the dealer, would have to also say 0 even if they were holding high trump or a Wizard.
If you made your bid in that case, you would get 10 points or 11 if you made your bid and you had also bid 1. This is our adaptation of the scoring system, which is a little different than the official Wizard suggestion. It comes from how we used to play Oh Heck.
The nest round is 2 cards each and so on. We go up to 7 and then back down to 1. You can go higher; we used to go to 10, but holding that many cards becomes a little unwieldy and also makes the game long, so seven seems about right.
The game is completely unpredictable, which is what makes it so much fun. You can actually take a trick that you don't want with a very low card if the others are out of that suit. On the other hand, you could also lose an ace of trump if someone were to play a Wizard. You can also lose your Wizard if another player plays theirs first. This actually happened during the game.
As I said, it is fun, and we had a lot of laughs.
20 comments:
I've never played it (that I can remember) but it sure sounds like fun. It probably could go on for hours! So glad you all got together.
It sounds a lot like Uno here. That is a lot of fun to play, although I haven't played in many years. Nowadays, it's usually a very competitive scrabble game with my sister.
That sounds like a game above my pay grade. Anything involving bidding! But your group seems to be having fun.
I've not heard of it.
I've heard it most often called Oh Hell but I'm not surprised that you polite Canadians call it Oh Heck. Growing up, my grandfather taught me a similar game but called Hucklebuck. We started at nine cards down to one and back up to nine with the same rules and scoring. I so loved playing that game and have been itching to teach my daughters how to play it.
That kind of card playing is good for the brain. Hope it prevents dementia! LOL.
New game to me. Looks like a great visit. :)
I am mathmatically challenged so find card games like that to be quite foreign.
We will have to try that one. Our games are usually Hearts or Euchre - and cribbage if we are feeling mathmatical.
Um, ac, what were you holding in the photo with the eyes?
That sounds like a wonderful evening. We are longing for family again!
Our kids wouldn’t be able to play…yet!
Have not heard of that version but we have been playing Oh Heck for years and years. It's a game we learned from my parents back in the 70s. We start with the greater number of cards go down to 1 card and then back up. Like you said it is very unpredictable. The last time we played we included 7 year old granddaughter. She caught on very fast and we all had a grand time.
I used to play a lot of cards and this game sounds fun. These days I can't rustle up enough people to participate. :(
And I would LOVE that lasagna, especially if it also has lots of cheese.
It sounds like fun! I laughed at your expression in that second photo. :-)
Board or card games with family is something we should never lose.
Wizard is new to me, but I heard my girls and friends playing a lot of O Heck.
What a lovely family tradition! And Mexican lasagna is something I need to try.
We played Wizard few times way back with fellow residents, but it’s been quite awhile and I know we’ve forgotten the rules now, but we have the game if you are ever in NH.😉
Our grandies adore games, and puzzles, too. I'll have to bookmark this. Somehow. Or I shall just ask you again about it! I'm getting old and forgetful.
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