Arrive anytime after 1; RSVP's and ETA's appreciated but not essential; snacks likewise. If arriving after 6, call ahead in case we're out to dinner.

I have a few new games that demand to be played.

One of them, Space Alert, is a rather intriguing cooperative game with shades of RoboRally. It has a set of tutorial scenarios, and I would like to play through a few of them Sunday with 3 or 4 like-minded eager space cadets. Scenarios take about 25 minutes each, and involve an audio CD which gives real-time reports etc. during the 10 minutes of mission execution.

Another, At the Gates of Loyang, is a simulation of the famous Battle of Loyang, in which the defenders mounted a desperate sally against the Besieging--no, wait, it's actually about vegetable sellers who set up stalls in the market just outside the city gates. This looks like an engine-building game in which the first 3 turns or so are rather hardscrabble, and one starts hitting one's stride around turn 5, of 9 total turns. It has vegimeeples: cute little pumpkins, radishes, leeks...!

The third, Carson City, I haven't worked out the rules for yet, but it's a worker-placement game. Unlike most such games though, there is a solution to the annoyance of someone doing what you wanted to do before you could get there: shootouts! Lots of bits, plus you get cowbeeples!

Also acquired were Nile, Tichu, the Small World: Tales and Legends expansion, and the spiffy blocks for Agricola, although I still don't have sheeples, mooples, or piggles. I have horsles, though! Tichu is a known good game. Nile was a mistake based on BoardGameGeek info; it turns out that it seems to be a shoddy card game that is in all ways inferior to Bohnanza.

Missing is Dominion: Prosperity, which has been short-shipping because the (adjective deleted) manufacturer didn't print nearly enough copies. I also ordered Shipyard but my ship didn't come in on that one.