This is going to be half a normal Point of Order and half talking about how we can support board game companies. I’m going to start with that part, because it does have some to do with an order. But there are a bunch of expansions to be talking about today in terms of the my orders. That could have been the title as well, board game expansions.

Shipping Problems

So, like I said, I’m going to start with the big issue that is happening in board games, and generally just shipping period. Getting onto a ship or even into a shipping container costs a ton of money, way more than a lot of companies were planning for. This has especially hit Kickstarter companies. If a game as Kickstarted in 2019 and is shipping now, the amount charged for shipping would be vastly different. Along with that, manufacturing costs can also be higher.

Needless to say, this has hit some of the board gaming companies hard. There is one company that I know of which is asking people to pay additional shipping right now. They’ve already collected but the options are pay additional shipping, only be able to ship part of it, or wait on shipping until prices come down. Another has said that they will cover the shipping but gave a PayPal account. And another asked people buy/order from their webstore. Mainly because they make a standard profit on that, so it can help offset shipping costs.

Roll Player Promos

Thunderworks games as the company that asked for people to buy from their webstore if they could, to help offset shipping. While I already have most of what I want from them, all or Roll Player and Cartographers, plus getting Roll Player Adventures and the Cartographers expansion via Kickstarter. But I didn’t have the two extra character for Roll Player. They don’t really add much to the game, it is just more characters. But like I said, this was a way to help offset some of the shipping costs for Thunderworks.

Cartographers Playmat

Now, the promos were very cheap, I think $6 per promo, so I decided it’d be good to add something bigger. Had Lock-Up, their worker placement game set in the same world as Roll Player been available, I might have gone with that. But that was sold out, so I decided to get a playmat. This isn’t needed for the simple roll and write that Cartographers is, but it does help. Like with Welcome To the playmat just helps lay out the cards that everyone is using nicer. Plus the artwork and look of it is cool, so they not.

Now onto the expansion order:

Terraforming Mars: Turmoil

Turmoil, surprisingly, doesn’t make the game easier. in Terraforming Mars: Turmoil you now get planetary events, like sandstorms that can come in and mess stuff up. Plus there is a governing body that you want to control or at least influence so things that happen are good for you. Terraforming Mars gives you a lot to think about and this one just adds in a little bit more. I feel like with that and Prelude I now have two interesting expansions that I can mix into the base game.

Folklore The Affliction – Fall of the Spire

An expansion for an RPG in a box. Folklore The Affliction really tries to be that game that has you rolling dice, dealing with encounters and world events and finding a story. This just adds in more story and more game content. Folklore is a campaign game that I really need to get to the table sometime soon. Though, honestly it’ll be a bit because I have Aeon’s End Legacy to play through and we’ll see what I get to after that.

Tiny Towns: Villagers & Fortune

Finally, two expansions for Tiny Towns. Now, I like Tiny Towns, I think it’s a fun simple game, and that’s really why I got more of it. There a ton of different combos but when you’ve played with all the different buildings you’ve played with them. Even if you can mix them together differently. So what I’m hoping is that Villagers and Fortunes will both add in a little bit more content that’ll be fun to play around with. I don’t need them to keep playing TIny Towns, but I think without them the shelf life of Tiny Towns would be shorter.

Dune: House Secrets

This is one that I just pre-ordered today. While the others are either already here or will be shortly, Dune: House Secrets will get here in Q4 of 2021, so a few months from now. Why pre-order it? Good question, Portal Games does a great job of making sure that there are plenty of copies of their games. But with the pre-order that means that I’ll get some extra bonuses. For Vienna Connection, that was wooden tokens, some design diaries, and more. Just stuff to add to the experience, they are doing something similar for Dune: House Secrets, so I just wanted that extra little bit.

Plus, Dune: House Secrets is based off of the Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game system. I really like that system. It creates interesting stories and I love the deduction aspect that it gives you. So, I’m hoping that they’ll be able to leverage that into an interesting story of intrigue set in the Dune world. I like the Dune world/universe that is in the books, so I think that it should work well for me.

Which Do You Want To Play?

I have to be patient for Dune: House Secrets, so I’ll set that one to the side. Right now I think that playing Terraforming Mars is at the top of my list. I know it has a solo mode, but it’s a long game. Maybe I can get it set-up say this week after Aeon’s End and then leave it up and play it over a few evenings. Let me know which one you want to play.

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.