All Systems Go

Dorfromantik: The Duel

A cooperative game has gone competitive as now it’s two players facing off against each other in Dorfromantik. This is one that I picked up because it was on a good clearance. 40% off the price was worth it for me to check it out. And if I think I’ll find what I like in the game, it’ll be one that my wife and I could play. Or I play with another person 1 on 1 often so this one might work well for that. The game doesn’t look much more stressful than the original, which is to say not at all, but one to get played.

Art Society

Next up is Art Society from Mighty Board. This is one that I’ve thought about getting for a little bit. The premise of the game is very interesting to me. You a patron of the arts, so you want to build out the best art wall. But there are certain things you need to think about when placing your artwork on the wall, such as eye line. Another game that looks pretty light but like a lot of fun.

In the Hall of the Mountain King

I got talked into this one by my friend, the owner of All Systems Go. This one is a tile placement, worker placement game. And it was the Kickstarter deluxe version. So it came with great trays to be able to get it to the table quickly. One that I’ve heard good things about but wasn’t on my radar. As I’ve played more euro style games lately, it’s moved up in ones that I wanted to try.

Pit

This is one that my wife grabbed. I have enjoyed Pit but haven’t played it in years, and isn’t one that excites me to play again. That said, it’s a good enough classic. I might own it, and if I do, we can pass it on to someone else.

Diamonster

This one has monsters and the kid spotted it. I don’t know anything about the game really, looks almost like a hand management trick taking combo where you are trying to complete some objectives to win. Right now he can play with the cards, looks a bit complex for a five year old. But another one of those, sure why not purchases.

Spirits of the Forest

This looks like a fun light little game. According to Board Game Geek one that is primarily two players, but can play up to four. You try and collect the most spirits by collecting gems and other things. If it’s a light and pretty fast playing game, I’m cool with that. The artwork and aesthetic on the game look great.

Reign of Dragoness

This is a game where you want to get rid of the cards in your hand. First person to do so is going to win. To do that you need to set out a pattern of cards, might be a single card or it might be a set or a run. Other players need to beat that. And it keeps on going until no one can beat it. Then whoever won the last “trick” leads out the new pattern. The game sounds pretty simple and it reminds me of Scout a game that I like. So I’m glad my wife spotted it.

Miniature Market

Distilled

This is a game that has been on my radar for a while. Firstly because it is a theme that I like. I’m a fan of distilling and especially a good whiskey. So while it is one that is outside of my former wheelhouse, meaning it’s Euro in nature, I think the theme will help for me. Plus, I find that I like more euro games now. This is one that also has a lot of love from a lot of reviewers who I like, so when Miniature Market had it on a good sale, it was an easy on to pick up.

Folklore: The Affliction Minis

This one is just minis. Do I need minis. I do not. Is it all the minis for the game, it is not. Will I buy more minis to fill out the box, probably. But Folklore: The Affliction is a game that I really need to play. It’s been on my list to stream for Malts and Meeples for a while. Once I’m done with The 7th Citadel we’ll have to see if it’s one that I get to next.

I Bought It On eBay

Etherfields

I regret selling my copy of Etherfields. So I no longer need to regret that because I picked up a new copy. And I picked it up with all the bells and whistles of everything. Did I need everything, probably not, but the price was solid for someone who was trying to unload their collection. This is an Awaken Realms game where you are going through dreams, and not nice happy dreams. The theme is very exciting, there is hand management and deck building in the game, so I think I am going to like it.

Renegade Games

Artisans of Splendent Vale

This is a game that I’ve looked at a lot. But to this point I’ve passed on it because the writing in Legacy of Dragonholt, another story game from Nikki Valens, was not up to par. So I was worried about Artisans of Splendent Vale. And from what I’ve heard, it’s interesting writing but not the best writing. So why pick it up? Well Renegade Games was selling it for $10, that is why. They must have ran out of warehouse room. So they sold 50 copies for $10 and that is enough for me to try it. It’s normally $110. This is another one that I might end up streaming down the line.

Final Thoughts on New Games

This is lighter than sometimes. Not to say that it isn’t a number of games. But when your friendly local game store is closing, it’s kind of worth it to pick up some things. And I say closing, let me correct that, dropping it’s brick and mortar location. Which of these games would you want to try first? I think some of the smaller ones have a better chance to hit the table. Or maybe Art Society, a bitter game, but one where I think people will be on board with the theme.

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The New Games

Thunderstone Quest

This is one of the games that was on a great sale. And when I say great sale, I mean about as amazing a sale as I’ve seen. I got a massive box, 16lb game, at basically a dollar per pound before shipping. Plus a few expansions for it. It’s a deck building game that I’ve been wanting to play for a long time. With that sale price point, it was easy for me to pick up. And if it’s not for me, I’ll move on from it, but I suspect that I’m going to like it, a lot.

Pumafiosi

This one came up, as two one more on the list, from The Dice Tower. Pumafiosi sounds like a great three player game, though it can be played two two or up to five. But at three I think it sounds the most enjoyable. In fact, it was on The Dice Tower three player game Top 10 that they did a week or so ago.

But this is a game where you want to play down the card that is in the middle. Then if you do, you get to score that card. So, that is the main reason why it sounds best at three players. You have three cards, but you want to mess with it, so that the right card gets played. Because you score points after each card play. And depending on where you play your card, if you win with the middle card, you can mess around with the points and give people negative points.

Jump Drive

Now, The Dice Tower isn’t the only YouTube channel that got me to pick up a game. Meet Me at the Table and Colin with two of his playthroughs got me to pick up games from the Race for the Galaxy line of games. Jump Drive is one of those games.

In Jump Drive you are building up an engine of cards. They mainly give you two things, more card draw, or more victory point, or ideally both. You play out cards by discarding other cards from your hand to get them into play. And the player with the most points at the end of a number of rounds wins.

I got this one for the solo play. The solo play is the same game, there isn’t interaction with multiplayer. But solo play also made the game look like about a 15-20 minute solo game with a bigger experience than some, though not too big that it’d be a massive table hog.

New Frontiers

The other one that Colin from Meet me at the Table showed off was New Frontiers. I’ve already played this one a few times. I won’t go into massive detail, but you can find out more on that game here.

Pre-Orders

Paper App Dungeons

The first of two pre-order games is Paper App Dungeons. This is a solo roll and write dungeon crawler campaign of a game. I expect a loose campaign, but it sounds like you can level up your character as you go. My one concern might be that the game is too simple, as it does sound really simple. But for a little roll and write game, I’m going to give it a whirl and see if it’s one for me.

Mind Up!

The other game in that pre-order is Mind Up!. This is one from the Dice Tower as well in terms of why I ordered it. Mind Up! is a filler type of card game, which I tend to enjoy. But one that has some interesting strategy going on. You are playing out cards to win other cards. And the cards that you win get added into scoring columns. The same color always goes in the same column, so you are trying to optimize getting cards in your scoring column that gives you the most points.

But, to go with that, everyone is playing out cards. So where your card falls in numerical order determines what card you get. So there is luck, and you might pivot because of that. It doesn’t stop there, though, because the cards that you just played out, those are the new cards that you try and get. And at the end of the round, you collect the cards you score with, and that makes you hand for the next round. It is going to be random, but it sounds like a ton of fun.

Crowdfunding Games

Aeon’s End: The Descent

Now we’re into crowdfunding games. And I’m going to be fairly brief on these. Mainly because you only know so much about them if they are crowdfunding. I know the most about Aeon’s End: The Descent because I love Aeon’s End. I am excited to get more of this cooperative deck building game. The basics are you are building a deck to be able to defeat a monster. But you never shuffle your deck so you can kind of try and stack it.

25th Century Games – Import Collection

This is the big crowdfunding game that I’ve done. I’m not going to go into all of the games because there are a lot. But 25th Century Games is doing something cool. All of the games exist that they are crowdfunding, but they haven’t had US releases or don’t have an active one. So they are bringing them all to the US. Let’s see what the big list looks like.

• Circus Flohcati
• Dracula vs Van Helsin
• Hamster Roll
• Jalape-NO!
• Jekyll and Hyde vs Scotland Yard
• Mojo
• Penguin Party
• Run Run Run
• Tasso Banaa
• Vampire Queen
• Witchcraft

When this comes in I’m going to have a lot of games to play.

Snowfall Over Mountains

Snowfall Over Mountains and the next one are from Pencil First Games. I tend to like their smaller box games. Snowfall Over Mountains is a path and route building game. It looks like a fun and I think I’d say peaceful little game. And that’s what I’m looking for from the Pencil First Games that I own. Floriferous is one of my favorite games.

Sunrise at the Studio

Sunrise at the Studio falls into the same camp. However, this one is going to have more set collection and some different mechanisms as compared to Snowfall Over Mountains. But I like the aesthetic of the game. And to me, it looks like another fun and smaller box game from Pencil First Games.

Final Thoughts

It hasn’t been that many games. And I’m trying to slow down even more. But I’m excited for most all of them. I know from the 25th Century Games bundle, not all of them are going to be for me. But I know that I’m going to find some that I love. And just finding and being able to get Hamster Roll, which I have played, that one is going to be worth it.

Of the ones that are already here, I’m ready to get Pumafiosi played. I think that is going to be a fun one. I’m not sure how often I have three players to play it, but I’m hoping that I’ll find enough opportunity to check it out. And I’ll try the two player version as well. But I expect that I’m going to like it best at 3 or at five. We’ll see how quickly I can get a review of that one up.

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All Systems Go

This is the shop where I plan to keep on doing some buying because I get store credit there. So I went in to drop off some games to sell. I also left with some games that I bought.

Jurassic Parts

This was the one that I maybe shouldn’t have grabbed, but it was cheap. Jurassic Parts is kind of an area control set collection game. You use bones, because okay, to cut off sections of the map. As you do that, you get to flip those tiles and see what you get. That’s if I remember correctly. I did watch it a while ago on the GloryHoundd YouTube channel. So it’s one that I thought looked intriguing enough to try when I could find it cheap.

3 Ring Circus

This is one that I almost picked up a few times. But I had held off on until I could use store credit. 3 Ring Circus isn’t my normal type of game. It’s not the most heavily thematic, but it is a thematic worker placement game.

In it you are building up your best circus and performing shows. It’s better to do it in the bigger towns, but beware that might mean you’re up against PT Barnum. So it seems like they worked theme into the game as well, which I appreciate as well as the mechanisms.

Wild Assent

Finally, I grabbed Wild Assent. Wild Assent is one of those crowdfunding board games that I’ve been interested in, but I didn’t back. Even when there was another campaign for it with new stuff, I didn’t back it. Why, because it was expensive, and I wasn’t sure it was a game for me.

Fast forward to now. I like the look of the game, so I was always interested in it. But now, again, buy it with store credit and it makes it easier. This is an adventure, mini campaign style game. Really, I see it more as a boss battling type of game. You go to camp, level up, and then leave and battle a monster. It sounds fun.

GameZenter

Normally when I visit the GameZenter or a local game store, I want to make a purchase. Why, because I like having a lot of game stores near me. So I like to support them. GameZenter is the biggest one, but that is no excuse, if you go there, not to support them.

The Castles of Burgundy

Another game that is outside my normal wheelhouse. But so many people love The Castles of Burgundy, I want to give it a try. It’s a big dice drafting, placement game where everything gives you points. I like the sound of that, assuming that I have it right. But one that I want to try, and I know, one that if I don’t love it, I’ll be able to sell and someone else will.

Pandasaurus

This one I blame on the Dice Tower. But it is a small game, so it won’t add too much to my collection.

Faraway

Faraway is a very small game about collecting resources and scoring points. That is not my normal type of game, though I am dabbling in them way more often. But this one is way smaller and simpler than a lot of them. But the hook of Faraway is amazing.

In the game you play out 8 cards into a row. Those are going to be the cards that generate your resources and score you points. You play them out left to right. Well, resource gathering and scoring wise, you do that right to left. So the last card I play, it’s unlikely that I get points. But the more I go back along the more resources I have. So it’s how do I generate resources to score points.

AEG

Good sales still get me, that is why I bought from AEG.

Thunderstone Quest + Expansions

This one definitely got me because of the price, like I said. AEG is running a massive clearance. And Thunderstone is a game that I’ve always wanted to get and play. It’s a deck building game, and I like those, and I enjoy competitive ones a well. The only downside is you need to get an expansion to make it able to be played solo. Upside, that is on clearance as well. So I bought a chunk and I bought a number of the quests, but it was still cheap overall.

Crowdfunding Board Games

Only one campaign to talk about, though a new one coming soon that I’ll be backing.

Spire’s End: Rangitaki

It’s another Spire’s End game. That should be simple enough. I believe it takes a character or one similar to what we’ve seen in Spire’s End, and now it gives them their own story. This is a different setting from Spire’s End normally. Or at least a different part of the world. Hildegard and base Spire’s End are very much in the same spot. But I expect it’ll continue to build on the lore of the world.

Spire’s End is a series of games that I’m likely to continue buying. They are good solo games, a good amount of story, and easy enough to just sit down and play some. So for me, that’s always an easy type of game to buy and enjoy as it comes up. Plus the small publisher, extremely small, I like to support them.

Final Thoughts on the new Board Games

I’m very much excited to try all of them. I realize there is a chance that some of them won’t stay in the collection that long. I think of Jurassic Parts for that role mainly. But when I can get it partly on store credit, it softens the blow.

The one that I’m most excited to try is Faraway. Though Wild Assent is a close second. Faraway just sounds like such a fun puzzle. It is small, but it offers some thinky game play. And I like that combination. I need to think a lot about a few decisions. And even the decision space itself for the game, as to what I play out, isn’t that large. So I’m excited to get that one in, once the pre-orders fulfill.

Which of these board games would you try first? Do you have experience playing any of these board games?

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Miniature Market

Let’s start with one of the smaller orders, or a few of them. And when I actually get down into it, it is still a lot, mainly there are a number of board games ordered post Gen Con. Let’s get to the list.

The Potion

I remember a few years ago on BGG with either their Essen Spiele coverage or Gen Con coverage. This is one that is a small game that looks like a simple push your luck sort of game. I’m h oping it’ll be a fun filler, but I don’t expect more from it than that.

God of War

God of War is one that I got to demo at Gen Con in 2019, and I was a bit disappointed by it. Why get it, because I only played a scenario. And because it was an IP game, but from CMON who generally makes stuff that I like, I want to give it more of a go. It might be that it isn’t for me, but if that’s the case, I’ll sell it or move it on when that happens.

Blank

Was in my collection, then left my collection. Blank is a simple game from what I can tell. Kind of like a Uno mixed with We Didn’t Playtest This Legacy where you add to cards, maybe some Fluxx mixed in as well. But it has a fast play time, so if it does play fast, then it could be a fun warm up to game nights or wind down.

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

One of the campaign games. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is going to be a lighter dungeon crawler game. And I like the setting of Red Dragon Inn and the characters. So I want to give this a whirl. I don’t need regular Red Dragon Inn, but this one definitely more interesting looking and looks like there is more of a game.

Vampire the Masquerade – Chapters expansions

This one might be the first, or almost the first, to get played on the list. These are two new characters or types of vampires to play. Chapters is going to be the next campaign game with a group. I need to learn how to play it in the next week or so because when we start is coming up fast. These, I believe, just gives more variety in what you can play.

Number Drop

Number Drop is a roll and write game that I almost got played. I almost got it played while I was sick, I just didn’t have a pencil, and I was too lazy to hunt one down. But it’s a Tetris type game where you are dropping in shapes to complete rows. Obviously, they won’t go away, but can you optimize how you are playing, or play solo, so I’m very curious.

Table Golf Association

And finally from Miniature Market we have Table Golf Association. This is a flicking dexterity golf game. I like a good dexterity game. And I am hoping to find a really fun golf game. I think it’s going to be a very fun one for me. It does look a bit more complex than some cooperative games, but that’s okay.

All Play

One group was a Kickstarter, one from another company that All Play ships out. But a few more games here.

Trailblazers

This is one that is from another company than All Play. But they ship through All Play which is cool. I like it can be played solo and it looks like a simple game. But a simple game with some fun path building strategy. I plan on Monday to this game because I think it’ll be one that is solid for streaming.

Dandelions

This is one of games that got to play at Gen Con. Dandelions is game where you are using dice to move your pawn around and trying to get area control. It’s odd for a Dandelion themed game but I think it’s a fun one. And it’s a simple one with simple scoring. So I hope it’ll be one that works well as filler for my group.

Sail

Sail is a two player only cooperative trick taking game. I enjoy trick taking games and two player cooperative trick taking is also fun. In fact, my other two player trick taking game is cooperative as well. So will Sail beat that one out, we’ll have to see.

Chomp

Dinosaurs, I like them, haha. But this one is about building dinosaur tableau. This looks like a light and fun game and one that will just be fast. Can you build out the best habitat so that dinosaurs are all being fed? A fast fun filler sort of game.

Couture

Couture a 3-6 player game, higher play count than some. It’s another quick game about getting models and showing off your fancy dresses at all the shows. I think it again looks like a fun filler game that can go higher player counts.

Mind Space

Finally Mind Space is roll and write game. It looks like another polyomino style game and I’m hoping that it’s different in some way. I think it will be looking at the fact it has dice. But how it’ll play compared to Patchwork Doodle or Second Chance, I want to know that.

GameZenter

Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R.

It’s Marvel game so of course I’m going to pick it up. Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R. is Eldritch Horror but with Marvel and without the Eldritch or the horror. I am hoping that it’ll be a fun Marvel adventure game. I like the variety of adventure or bad guy fighting games. I saw it at GameZenter when I was at CMON Expo, but not a CMON game, still knew one that I was thinking about.

CoolStuffInc

Now let’s get to a number of games, though, all in all it was less than I was thinking. A bunch of smaller stuff. Helps to skip two, extra dice and Trek12 as I already own Trek12 but as a roll and write game I really like it. So grab it cheap as a gift for someone else.

Trudvang Legends

Trudvang Legends is another one of the campaign games. CMON game which wasn’t actually at CMON Expo. That was odd to me, but I know they are still trying to get everything out for it, and it’s been a long time in coming. This one is a Viking themed game with a board and actually pocket on the board so you can swap what you are doing or what locations look like. I like that system and it’s one that I want to try.

Shivers

Shivers is a pop-up book of a board game. I think a cooperative game or one versus all with one person running the story. But you look around the pop-up setup to see what is happening, to find clues and work through the case. I like the 3D element of the game and I almost backed it.

Studies in Sorcery

Studies in Sorcery is an engine building game around magic. I like games about magic, and this one looks like a smaller card game. if it gets to the table easily because of the size and has some fun combination that will be great. I’ve found that I really enjoy other engine building games, so while I hadn’t heard of this one before, I am excited to play it.

Embers of Memory

Embers of Memory is a two player game only. So one that I’m not sure will stick around. But the aesthetic of the game looks great. And if it’s two interesting parts of the game, I think it’ll be a solid two player game. Is it one that is going to stick around, that’s always the question. There are some other two player games that do stick around all the time, which means it kind of needs to bounce one of those.

Zombicide: Gear Up

Another roll and write game. I remember when CMON announced it I was curious about it. Gear Up doesn’t inspire me that much, but it’s about getting weapons, getting ready, and fighting zombies. If it falls in line with the Zombicide games, then it should be a nice beer and pretzels roll and write.

Arkeis expansion

Just an expansion for Arkeis, not the last campaign game. I think I wrote about Arkeis before, but this is a legacy game of exploring tombs in Egypt. A Kickstarter game that took a long time to fulfill. I wouldn’t have gotten this expansion, but it was cheap on the sale, I hope that it’s a fun game that I really enjoy.

Root Expansions

A whole mess or Root expansions. Basically just more that can be mixed into Root and added to what I already have. I need to get the game to the table again because I have enjoyed my plays. This is one that I really need to learn more of the characters. I’ve heard that the app is good, so I might play that on Steam and stream it to learn the game better.

Incredible Dream

Kinfire Chronicles

The final game on the list and the final campaign game. Kinfire Chronicles is one that I almost picked up at Gen Con, it’d have been one that I could have ordered there and got free shipping. Because it’s a bigger more expensive game, they gave it free shipping again. I thought, looking at Gen Con since it wasn’t a real demo, that the game looked interesting. But it wasn’t until there was talk about it on the OSCS (One Stop Coop Shop) Discord that I got more interested in it. That it is a system that works well, so I’m excited to try it.

So that is a lot of board games. Which is the one that you’d want to try first. I’m hoping that Trailblazers and Table Golf Association can get to the table quickly. Plus about a week away from Vampire the Masquerade Chapters from getting played.

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Arcane Wonders

Senshi

In Senshi you are trying to raise your characters stats so that you are the strongest warrior monk. It looks like a quick little filler and I used it to get to a shipping threshold so not one that I know a ton about. But if it’s a good filler while waiting for game night, I’m interested in it.

Four Gardens

Four Gardens is one that I have seen played, and part of the appeal is a giant stacked pagoda in the middle that rotates. That determines what resources you get and then you use those resources to create paintings which at the end of the game score you points. It again doesn’t sound like a heavy game, but one with a cool mechanism to it and hopefully interesting enough game play.

Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect is one that I looked at for a long time before it was on sale with Arcane Wonders. This is a game about trying to setup the perfect picture. Each person has information about how characters want to be setup. And you try and keep track of all that information so that the lady of the house doesn’t have to be too close to the dog and the dog is next to the potted planet, and the potted plant is, well you get the picture – all puns intended.

But then at the end of the game, you snap a picture of your display and you see with all the clues out there, how well you did. That just seems unique, but I didn’t pull the trigger before now because I want to know it’s a game I’ll like. I think it is one that will work well, but it has more risk to it for myself and my group.

Smartphone Inc

Finally, Smartphone Inc is going to be a heavier game about building up your smartphone empire. You produce smartphones and you need to know when is the time to sell them, and when is the time to hold back. I like that as an idea, but heavier euro style games get played less. So I am curious to know if this is one that I will like. I generally hear very good things about it, so I’m excited to try.

Noble Knight

Arkham Horror LCG Characters

Last time, I said that there would be more characters coming up. Instead of listing them all off, just know that there were three more of the original characters that I can mix into the game now. I want to find some time soon to sit down, pick a character or abilities and spend some time using all the cards I have now, as I own a couple different investigator boxes plus these packs, to build a character to use.

Aventuria

This is supposed to be a card driven adventure and story board game. One that I looked closely at their latest Kickstarter but I couldn’t quite pull the trigger. Noble Knight sells used games, so when this was available to grab used, it made a lot of sense to get it that way to try. And if I enjoy it, I’m confident that they’ll run another crowdfunding campaign that I can jump in on. But card driven adventure and campaign, I want to know more.

Medieval Academy

The Dice Tower played this one on their 36 hour marathon. And Medieval Academy is not a new game. But it is one that as I watched it played, I thought it looked interesting. It is a mechanism that I like, drafting. I want more drafting games in my life. And this one lets you draft and push up on tracks to try and score points. The game is one that looks simple, but it is different than a Sushi Go Party!. And did I mention, I like drafting.

Beyond the Sun

Another game that is here because I could get it used. But it is also another game that has been on my radar for a long time. Beyond the Sun is a space game, kind of. Really, it is a game where you get techs. I like that the game is described as a giant tech tree. So you look to improve your ship and build out your tech more efficiently than others are doing. Mainly, that is something that sounds different. I own a number of space games, but nothing like this.

Boardlandia

The Legacy of Yu

This is one that I can thank the Man vs Meeple Discord for getting me to pre-order. The Legacy of Yu is a solo only campaign game. As I look into it more, I like the sounds of the puzzle. This struggle to build out enough buildings, build up enough troops or power to resist the enemy, and keep the enemy from progressing too quickly. It is a puzzle that you complete with worker placement and getting characters for powers.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

And Heat is not here yet. This is a pre-order that should ship at the end of the month, or maybe start of the next. It is hard to know, shipping makes everything interesting. But Heat is a racing game, and one that is fast. But it is also tactical as you try and push up to turns and not go around them too fast so that you wreck.

And you can push yourself sometimes. But when you do that, you gain heat which clogs up your hand of cards. So Heat plays with that idea of hand management as well. I love racing games, so I’m glad that the game is at least getting out there more as it was hard to find for a while.

Amazon

Inside Job

This is a game that I will fully admit, maybe shouldn’t have gotten it. Why, it is my genre of least favorite games. It is a social deduction game. But, unlike most, you do get information to go on. Because Inside Job is a trick taking game as well.

The good guys need to win a certain number of tricks will fulfilling objective. The bad guy needs to win a certain number of tricks before that happens. But it is possible that neither of those conditions will be fulfilled. So the bad guy can still win if the good guys can figure out who they are, and the majority vote for them. That end part is as expected. But I want to know if that trick taking experience gives me enough information to work on, or not.

Clever 4Ever

And I finally found this, in German. But this is the fourth game in the Clever collection of roll and writes. I love Ganz Schon Clever, Doppelt so Clever, and Clever Hoch Drei (or their names in English). And that means that I tracked down two from Germany before. Thankfully there is an app, so I can learn the rules in English that way. I need to spend more time learning Clever 4Ever that way. But I am so excited to get this one here.

Set

This is a game that I played growing up. I wanted to get a copy of it. It’s basically a pattern recognition game where you try and find sets of three. You either need to match everything or not match at all across those three cards. So I can match three purple circles and then have their fill be different. But the second something overlaps they all need to overlap. And the second it doesn’t, they need to all be different. I am good at pattern recognition, so I like it, but we’ll see how well it goes over when I pull it out.

Dorf Romantik

This one is based off of a video game. I know nothing about the video game. But the game itself is a cooperative Carcassonne that I’ve heard described more as an activity. But that activity sounds fun, so I want to give it a try. And it is a game that was just nominated for the Spiel in Germany. So that makes me more curious about it.

That’s the next part of the list. You might be wonder, there is more? I do believe that there is. But I need to track down what those are because I might have covered them. And you might wonder about shelf space. Well, I have about 45 games that will be sold this weekend. So there is going to be a Point of Sale soon. Which game from this list would you want to try first?

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CoolStuffInc

Dungeons and Dragons: The Yawning Portal

I don’t even know that much about this game. But it’s a theme that I like a lot, Dungeons and Dragons. And from what I know of The Yawning Portal, that’s a portal in a tavern that leads to a lot of different adventures. It’s part of the Sword Coast and Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons and Dragons. I’m hoping for a fun, lighter, adventure style game.

TIME Stories Revolution: Cavendish

I still get basically everything for TIME Stories. This is one the new cycle now so I need to get through the first stuff, first. But it’s been a game that we’ve enjoyed a lot. And if I figure out a better storage solution, I can make it take up a whole lot less space on my game shelf. But I’m curious to play more. And even if it isn’t the most loved thing, it should be fun for my group still. We’ll see when we get this far into the series.

Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar

Next up we have a legacy game with mixed reviews. But mixed reviews was enough to keep me from running out to get the game. I think for a lot of gamers it has been. I wonder as it goes on sale more, if more gamers or people will buy it. It’s a Jurassic Park/World park building game where you are avoiding dinosaurs and basically playing through stories around the movies, not really the movie stories. It looks like light fun, which is why it felt like the right price to get it when it was pretty heavily on sale.

Reload

Finally from CoolStuffInc we have Reload. I’ve heard very mixed things about this game as well. But I like what it is in concept. Kind of that battle arena like a Fortnite or PUBG style of game. You run around, the area gets smaller, you want to be the last person standing. It sounds like a fun time with some complexity and decision making, if you make it through the rules.

Miniature Market

Rome and Roll

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but in a short chunk of an evening you can build it up in this roll and write game. Or at least build up your gladiators, warriors, and I believe civilization as well. It’s a heavier and crunchier roll and write game. One that I want to play to see if it’s a good game for me. That, Hadrian’s Wall, and Twilight Inscription might be my heavy roll and write games.

Stranger Things: Upside Down

This one should be arriving today or so, but it’s a Stranger Things board game. And one from the designer of Pandemic. Now, it’s not just the Pandemic system. But it is a light to mid weight cooperative game. And kind of follows some of the things you expect. You do things and then bad things happen. But how the bad things happen and how many is determined by what you do. So it adds this element where you need to push to complete things. but that can cause more bad things to happen.

Lucky Numbers

Lucky Numbers is a game that I don’t know too much about. But it looks like a tile, or number, laying game where you are trying to fill out a grid in a specific way. It looks light, it has a solo mode, so one that I want to try out and see what it’s like.

My City: Roll and Build

You saw this one, potentially, already because I just played it on Malts and Meeples. Let me drop the video below, but it’s a roll and write version of the legacy game My City. I still enjoy it this way, and it makes a nice solo game.

The Quest for El Dorado

Kind of a classic game at this point, and a deck building game. I do like deck building a lot. To go along with that, it’s also a racing game. As you try and navigate a path to El Dorado as efficiently as possible. From what I’ve heard, it has some fun twists on it, which I’m here for. I like deck building a lot, but I don’t need all my deck building games to just be deck building, this one adds in more.

Arkham Horror LCG: Winifred Habbamock

I’m going to have to do a part 2 on this because this article is getting long. And there will be more Arkham Horror LCG character packs on this. I’ve started playing some with a friend, and it’s been a grand time. So I picked up some of the character packs because that is where you get some of the best cards.

Joan of Arc Expansions

This one come from Mythic Games selling off the rights to this game. It’s a bummer because I’m not sure Mythic Games is sitting in that much better of a spot. But for me it’s been a chance to grab more expansions. It’s still a game I need to table. But I like the idea of it as a miniatures style game, but with less overhead.

Omen: Heir to the Dunes

Another one I can’t say that I know that much about. I picked it up because it was on a good sale. It’s a two player head to head game. So the type that might stay in my collection. But it, and Radlands are games that I want to see how they play and if they’ll dethrone my favorite head to head game, Dice Throne.

That’s a Question

Another good sale game. This looks like a simple party game. I’m not sure it’ll be for me, but if I remember correctly it was $3 or $4 so cheap enough to take a flyer on. I don’t know that I need more party games, but I also find that party games are the ones that I rotate the most.

Robots

Robots was another game from that sale. It’s a kids type of game from what I can tell. But in a small box with cute artwork, another one where I look at it and think, why not try it. It might be a fun filler game about making silly robots. If not, it cost $3, so not a big deal.

Skytear Horde

Another one that you’ve seen on Malts and Meeples. So the video will again be below. But this is a tower defense, lane defense game. I like it because it’s just a fun experience that as you start to get into the swing of the game, it moves quickly. Yes, the learning of all the steps can take a bit, but once you’re in, it’s not too bad.

D&D Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Undermountain

Finally another roll and write game. This one with again a Dungeons and Dragons theme. I want to play it, and I want to play some of my other dungeon crawling or scrawling roll and writes, but two of them, this one included, don’t have a solo mode. That’s my only bummer about the game. But a D&D based roll and write game is a theme and style I’ll gladly give a try.

And like I said, more to come. But those are some of the games that are entering into my collection. There’s been a lot coming in, which means that I need to have a decent number of them leave soon as well. Which is what will be happening this weekend.

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Via Kickstarter

Let’s start here because there are a number of note. A quick rundown on these will be good, but a number of them I already talked about in Back or Brick.

Once Upon a Line – The Butterfly’s Breath

This one I wanted to back because it looked incredibly different. It talks about how it is so new with it’s scratch off stuff for a board game. That isn’t “new” but to build a whole game around it is definitely is. This is an adventure game where you try and scratch off words or shapes to progress story. The concept just sounded fascinating, but also like it was pretty straight forward.

For that reason I didn’t go all in on this one. There is going to be plenty of content in the base game. But I didn’t have enough confidence in the game beyond the interesting mechanic to say that I wanted it all. But I also think that this game is unique, so I want to try it.

Marvel United: Multiverse

It’s more Marvel United, of course I backed it. Marvel United: Multiverse really describes the core box. But, the rest of the expansions, around events like Age of Apocalypse, Annihilation, or Civil War, and there are more as well, are very interesting.

Plus the game adds in a few news things as well. Mainly it adds in equipment cards that you can swap in generically or for specific characters. And then campaign decks as well which will change up how you can play a series of games. I like that idea for the game. And while I still want a dungeon crawl style game with these characters, CMON did a great job of offering so many fun things.

Catharsis Sagas: Nocturne

This, honestly, was not going to be a back because I have to play Catharsis still. The game does look like a ton of fun, so I want to get it to the table and chuck some dice. But do I need more, the answer is really no. But it is cheap, so I grabbed it. It is more adventure for Catharsis and new characters to face off against, or play as, I’m not completely sure anymore as this one has wrapped up. And when a crowdfunding campaign wraps up, I kind of forget about it between updates.

Fork

This is a small back, as was Catharsis Sagas. Fork is a trick taking game where Fork stands for Fox, Owl, Rabbit, and Kale. And depending on what you play down, it determines who wins. The concept seems simple, but like there is enough game there and enough different of a twist to trick taking that I wanted to give it a try.

Stonesaga

I am lucky enough to know one of the designers and game with him often. So this is one I got to playtest already and actually get to see the prototype this past weekend at The Source in Roseville Minnesota. But this is a fun survival exploration game as you build up your society, gather food, and try and survive.

It is played in a legacy type of experience. So you create your character(s) throughout the game and develop the society your way. I think that the mini games you play are good and easy to follow what is going on. It isn’t a cheap game, but the components are nice and there is a lot in the game.

Chomp, Sail, Couture, and Mind Space

Finally, from All Play (used to be BoardGameTables.com) there is a set of four small games. Chomp, Sail, Couture, and Mind Space. Each of the games looks interesting. And I backed it for all of the games. A couple of reasons for doing that, the games do all look interesting. I am least interested in Couture, but when you want to get three of them, it is better to get all four because you get the upgrades for free.

Chomp has a fun dinosaur theme. Sail is trick taking, and Mind Space is a roll and write game. So I am definitely interested in how all of those will work. And Couture is an auction game which might be very interesting. It just jumped off the page less to me than the other ones did.

Gamefound

Gamefound is generally slower than Kickstarter. Though there are some good projects on there that I backed as well.

Arabella

This is an interesting one for me to have backed. It is a roll and write game, I love roll and write games. There isn’t anything interesting about that. But it is an 18xx train, stock game as a roll and write game. I don’t play 18xx games. They don’t interest me that much because it’s really a whole system to learn and get good at. And the people who are good at them are very good at them. Plus, probably one that is harder to play.

But as a roll and write game. Now it is a more interesting to me. I like the idea of taking a big game like that and making smaller. It might still take a while, but it won’t take as long. And I hope that it offers a very big and different roll and write experience.

Witchbound

Witchbound is another one that I got to preview and one that I am very excited for. This and the next one are two similar games. But Witchbound is a game where you are the first witch on Coven Cove in over 100 years. And it is a point and click adventure as you interact with people and locations and solve puzzles, fight bad guys and more.

What I like about this one, besides the fun theme. Is that it is a simple gaming experience with a lot of story. So I can pull it out as a solo game and play around with minimal setup. Plus then a good amount of story with minimal setup which I think is a lot of fun and a sweet spot that not too many games are in, Lands of Galzyr being the best example I have.

Robomon

Finally we have Robomon. This is one that I almost backed when it was active and then I late pledged. But Robomon is basically a Pokemon game with robots instead of creatures. But it looks like a simple adventure game, and while there is more going on mechanically than Witchbound, my hope is that it’s not too much.

The style of game and the artwork in the game work for me as well. Again, I hope it is a sweet spot of story but also then good game play and ease to get to the table. Another game that I hope is a good easy to the table game with story that is fun to play.

Final Thoughts on Crowdfunding

I picked back up some of what I have been backing. A few reasons for that, but mainly, I knew there would be a few bigger games to start the year that I wanted to back. I know that in March there is going to be another one with the Chip Theory Elder Scrolls game.

What games will you be adding to your collection that you’ve backed in the past few months? Any ones that I maybe missed that you should I should checkout?

One that I had backed and dropped my pledge is Andromeda’s Edge. I want it still, but space Dwellings of Eldervale. While that sounds fun, and I am sure it is more than that, do I need two games that are going to be similar? I ended up deciding no on that one.

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Eagle-Gryphon Games

Tumbling Dice

This is one that has been on my radar for a long time and I wasn’t sure where to buy it. But it’s a cool looking, pretty big game, that is really simple. You take turns rolling a die down a track. And once everyone has rolled their dice, whatever dice are on there and the face they it is on determine how many points you get. Is it a serious game, not at all, but it looks fun.

And the further that you can roll it down the higher a multiplier you get. So if you have a 4 at the top it’s worth 4 times 1. If it’s at the bottom it’s 4 times 4. Of course, you might roll a one as well.

I went with the Tom Vasel method from the Dice Tower, too, I bought some roll playing dice sets. And I’ll probably make up some more as well. That way you aren’t just rolling 4 four sided dice. You can roll the full set of seven dice and get crazy numbers if a 20 lands on the times 4.

Miniature Market

This was over a couple of orders. Miniature Market did sales throughout the month of November, plus then Black Friday sales.

Imperium Legends

This was the one from the first order. It’s a solo game, or multiplayer that I’ve heard good things about. I mainly grabbed it because it was solo and I wanted to try it. I’m not sure it’ll be a solo game for me, because I’ve also heard okay things about Imperium Legends from some reviewers who I tend to match up with taste wise. But on a sale it was worth a try.

Dragonscales

Dragonscales is another one that I’ve heard some about and I’m not sold that it’s for me. But it was on a good sale and in this case it was the last piece to get to free shipping. It’s a push your luck game, and I am hoping to find one that works well for my group I do have Can’t Stop that I need to try as well. But Incan Gold worked okay, we just have some people that really like to push their luck.

Chronicles of Avel

Chronicles of Avel I’ve seen on shelves for a while, not like a super long time the game is pretty new, but every time that I see it, I want to buy it. It’s a lighter more family focused adventure game. And the artwork on the game looks amazing. And it’s supposed to be a lighter game, really good Board Game Geek rating, that gives you the same upgrading and creating characters to play, but for the whole family.

Paw Patrol Spot It

This actually was the main reason that the Black Friday order from Miniature Market happened. I have a kid who loves Paw Patrol, and Spot It is a game that he might not quite be ready for, but I would guess in the next six months we could start playing it. I think Spot It is fine, but to get a version that he’ll love and we can play together as a family, I’m all for that.

Ascension Gift of Elements

I’ve been eying this one for a long time as well, Gift of the Elements has been on sale a lot. I don’t think that I need to get all of Ascension, but I have two other expansions and I want to add this one into the mix. Why, because I think the stuff it can add in looks cool. Really what I’m noticing about Ascension right now is that I need to get it back to the table again. I really love it as a basic deck building game.

Journey Through the Radiant Citadel

And this is D&D adventure book. I don’t tend to buy those, but part of me is wanting to pick them up and grab story elements from my own campaign. Plus it was the alt art book cover. If this one doesn’t work for me, I can trade it in, or I can glean what I want from it and then trade it in. But in terms of adventures, the book seems more interesting than some.

Lone Shark Games

Thornwatch

I know Lone Shark Games for one game, Apocrypha. I actually forgot that they had made more. And this one is with Jerry Hawkins from Penny Arcade. It has solid ratings but again, it was really cheap, cheap to the point with very cheap shipping that it felt bad not to give it a go. I want to know if it has that Penny Arcade humor in the game and if it’s going to be a fit for me, because the cover and description make it look like something I should enjoy.

Snowdale Design

Lands of Galzyr

I blame, directly, Meet Me At the Table, YouTube channel for this one. He had a really good playthrough of one game, and this looks like a choose your own adventure big game, with fun tests and characters, that I love. And it doesn’t just look like that, but it also looks relaxing. A lot of the big games like it tend to offer big decisions and big consequences, whereas Lands of Galzyr offers you good choices but the stakes, at least early on, don’t seem as high.

Brotherwise Games

Call to Adventure: Epic Origins

I almost backed this one on the Kickstarter. And yes, ordering it later means that I missed out on some of the exclusives, but it was also cheaper. And I don’t care too much about the exclusives I missed out on. But I do want to get the game to the table, and I want to see what it adds in, as a standalone game.

Chip Theory Games

Too Many Bones + Tink Bundle

Too Many Bones and Chip Theory got me on this one. It is a good way to start building up the collection. I have Undertow. And I backed the last one that Gamefound that they had about a year ago for two new characters. Now I’ll have a ton of characters to play with and explore the weird world of Too Many Bones.

Amazon

Get on Board

I almost picked this one up at GenCon this year. iello brought it over to the US. But it’s a roll and write, sort of game. There is a main board where everyone is creating bus routes to pick up and drop off people. But you don’t want to overlap with other people and other routes because then you are creating traffic and slowing things down.

That is on a joint main board but then you each have your own board that you are filling in things on that are tracking who you pick up, points that you are getting and possibly other abilities. I like that it has roll and write elements but overlaps more.

Abyss

Abyss is one that I wanted to demo at GenCon, though maybe was a good thing I didn’t or I’d have been tempted to buy it then. Plus Abyss has great artwork, and I think I’d have been disappointed if I bought it when it came out because it looks so epic. The game itself is a smaller game in what you are doing and now knowing that, I think it’s the type of game that I’d enjoy.

Mansions of Madness Expansion

In this case, I finally decided to grab an expansion for a game that I love and is in my Top 10 Games of all time. This is just going to add in a little bit more that I can play, give some new tiles new characters things like that. Definitely makes me want to get Mansions of Madness to the table again though.

Dice Conquest

I thought, when I first looked at it that Dice Conquestjust looked like an okay game. And I suspect I don’t find it amazing but will find it fun, and for a game that I can play solo, I’m excited for that. I always want to find small footprint solo games, and Dice Conquest, while it can be multiplayer, is also small footprint for solo.

In this game you are rolling dice, you standard D&D combination of dice, and fighting off monsters, taking damage and trying to make it through the dungeon. Or at least I think of it was a dungeon, where you will then face off against the big bad guy. Each monster is a bit different, and the characters have unique powers, so it should offer fun repeated plays.

All Systems Go

Cascadia

Cascadia is one that I’ve known that I want to try. I actually went into my local game store not to get this game, but the used game I was interested in was already bought. And I have been wanting to try this one. I like Calico, from the same company, which has simpler game play but more punishing.

I am hoping that Cascadia is still easy enough and with the expanding board will work well for a nice relaxing and fun game to play. To me, I think I’ll enjoy that it has a good amount of variety as well. It might lack the tension that I’ll get from Calico but be more relaxing to play.

Thousand Year Old Vampire

I also grabbed this solo RPG book, Thousand Year Old Vampire. I’ve heard about a handful of times and a solo RPG just sounds interesting to me. You are a vampire and it is basically giving you prompts and things like that which you can answer. It might not be for me, it is mature in theme as you’d expect from a vampire, but I want to give it a try.

OOMM Games

Stars of Akarios Minis

Final item on the list is minis for Stars of Akarios. I love Stars of Akarios, and the standee ships are cool. But to have minis for them, for the enemies since your characters have minis already, is going to be awesome. It’s just going to make the board look more epic, and I’m not going to lie, I kind of want to get it back tot he table when it comes in.

Final Thouhts

It’s a lot of games coming in for sure. And some of them are already here. Plus some Kickstarter and Crowdfunding games that I’ve ordered are starting to come in. Mainly I had Tiny Turbo Cars show up a couple of weeks ago. And I just got confirmation that Zombicide Undead or Alive is on it’s way as well. Plus I know Frosthaven is shipping so there are a ton of games.

In fact, there are enough that I’m actually going through and rearranging my game shelf, sorting things again, and possibly finding some to trade away because I need to get more room on the shelf for everything. I’m disappointed though, I have some time off, and Ikea doesn’t have a 4×4 Kallax available, otherwise I’d run and get one of those to get even more shelf space to use.

Which game out of these would you try and get to the table first? I suspect the first might either be Get on Board or Tumbling Dice.

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The Gen Con Haul

I know that people don’t always have time to watch the videos, so I’m going to do a quick write up as well for the games that I picked up. This is not the list of everything I played, expect that tomorrow. But it is everything I bought and stuff that has come in as well.

Kingdom Rush – Not from Gen Con

This actually came in a bit ago. Kingdom Rush is going to be a tower defense game where you cast spells and try and stop waves of enemies from reaching the end. Classic tower defense, and based off of an app, I believe, that I should maybe checkout. This one I got because I got a code from Lucky Duck Games for 20% off, and it’s one I’ve wanted to try, but wouldn’t have without a discount.

City Chase – Not from Gen Con

Korea Board Games sent me City Chase to cover. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but this is going to be a family weight hidden movement or deduction game as you take helicopters around trying catch a car, from my understanding. And the car can hide under buildings, so a bit of a deduction and trying to narrow down and trap where the car can go.

Arcadia Quest – Not from Gen Con

This is another game that I maybe wouldn’t have picked up except that it was used. Arcadia Quest is basically a go into a dungeon, complete objectives, knock out your opponents sort of game. Tons of minis and expansions for it, I only got the base game, but I figure I can add more later if I want to it. Seems like a solid light game with some good tactics and fun minis.

Oathsworn – Not from Gen Con

And then we have a big game from Shadowborne Games. I backed this one on Kickstarter quite a while ago and it came in the day before I left for Gen Con. I am excited to get this campaign to the table. Two cool things for me about this game is the cool down track for abilities. You need to play cards out to cycle abilities back, down this track to your hand. So there is a puzzle with that.

Plus then you can roll as many dice as you want or draw as many cards as you want. But if you get two blanks, you fail. So there is a push your luck element to it. But, there is a less luck in the cards. The cards don’t reshuffle until all of them have been drawn. So the deck remembers and players know, you might have a hot deck with the blanks already out, or it might be cold with blanks left and just a few cards to draw.

Batman: Everybody Lies

I talked about this one yesterday, and Paint the Roses in my Highlights from Gen Con. As I said in that, I split the cost of the game with some friends, so I’ll probably be playing it tonight again. This is based off of Portal Games Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game series and system. But it has a Batman theme to it, it was a lot of fun. And it’s cool that we got the designer, Ignacy, to sign the cover for us.

Burncycle + Expansions

Burncycle is a post post apocalyptic cyperpunk world where corporations have taken over, granted this is after humanity took back over from the robots. You play as robots trying to hack into the system as well as complete objectives on the physical map. The game play seems like a lot of fun, and the production quality, as it is a Chip Theory Games is amazing. Probably one I’ll at least learn solo, if not play that way mostly.

Long Shot The Dice Game

This is a roll and write horse racing game. It’s one that I got to play the last day, and because it was the Kickstarter copy they were selling, decided I should pick it up. In this game, you are trying to buy horses, put bets on horses, and end up with the most money at the end of the game. It’s a good time, I like the artwork, and I like that there is a board, which is dry erase so you can mark it up with one of the expansions. I think it’ll be one that gets to the table pretty often in my sea of roll and write games.

Hero Realms + Expansions

Hero Realms is another one I got to demo, in fact I demoed it and got stomped. But I really liked what it was doing. And I decided to go in on it to the point where I could play it solo as well. Wise Wizard Games had a bundle you could buy to get the coop game play that allows for solo. Normally this is a head to head deck building and battling game that plays fast and you feel like you ramp up quickly.

Cartographers Expansions

No surprise here with new expansions for Cartographers that I’d grab them. This is three new map packs as well as then a bonus little hero pack for Cartographers heroes. I’m excited to see what different the maps do. And I need to play with all of the maps that I have now, because, well, there are six map packs, plus the base map which is double sided, so 8 different map options.

Paint the Roses

The other one I talked about in the highlights. Paint the Roses is a deduction game as you try and figure out what card a player has in front of them currently. You do that by putting down a tile, and then all players put down cubes on that tile if it creates a match. So if I put down a rose and my card is rose rose on it, if I put down that rose tile so it touches two other rose tiles, I’d put two cubes on it. Then everyone else would try and figure out what is my combo on my card. Simple but a ton of fun and pretty thinky.

Marvel Remix

Marvel Remix is a retheme and reskin of Fantasy Realms. In Fantasy Realms, from what I know, you are building out your best hand of cards to score points. It did it with a fantasy theme first and now with a Marvel theme. I believe that there are slight changes to the rules, but not sure what they are, and won’t really know as I haven’t played Fantasy Realms.

Lost Ruins of Arnak Expedition Leaders

Another game I got to play was Lost Ruins of Arnak. I even played it twice. Expedition Leaders is the expansion for it. It adds in some new items and relics. But the big thing that it does is it gives you, as the name would suggest, an expedition leader. They have unique powers and you start out the game with just that little bit of variability. I like that in a game, so seemed like an easy expansion to add.

NFL Five

Free game for demoing it. It’s basically a little football themed game. Not much going on it. I describe it in the video as rock, paper, scissors but harder. There is no tie and try again. It is just put down a play and hope that you match. But or something that’s football themed and from a football card company, it’s basically what I expected. And I don’t think it’s that bad, it’s just very basic.

Pocket Paragons

Finally, another game that I got handed, a little duel set demo of Pocket Paragons. I know nothing about this game, I’m assuming it’s a head to head battler, probably deck crafting, though maybe more like Dice Throne (just cards only) where you have stuff already set. I’ll have to learn it and give it a whirl, see what it is like.

Upcoming Streams

So, Wednesday, the plan is to play Stars of Akarios. I was hoping to get to rules read in the evenings at Gen Con and while I had some evening time free, I didn’t get to it. So it might get pushed back a week, depends on how well I can learn the rules today. If it does, I’ll be playing some other game solo on the stream.

Next Monday I think I’ll be doing a Top 10 list. Not sure what the list will be on. But I think that’ll be the plan. I of course, do have some games, like Long Shot the Dice Game, Cartographers, Hero Realms or Lost Ruins of Arnak that I could set-up and play solo as well. We’ll have to see what I end up wanting to do.

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Miniature Market Orders

Yes, it is plural. Though two of them are closely tied together. And the latest one was because they had a very nice sale for the 4th of July week, or the week leading into it.

Massive Darkness and Expansions

This one you’ve already seen on the website because I did an unboxing of it on Malts and Meeples. You can checkout that video below. I didn’t get this one on Kickstarter but I was very interested in it. Any game with a campaign mode is going to interest me. Plus this is generally a pretty well rated game, even the original version. So it is one that has been on my radar for a little while. And I want everything for it, but I know I don’t need it. So I got two character expansions and then the core box and the campaign box because of course I want a campaign game.

Fireball Island: Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees

This is part of the sale. I want to say that they were 33-50% off so a good amount. And this is just going to add in more content for Fireball Island. The Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass actually adds to the board this ship wreck area that is cool. And the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees is an expansion that adds a tiger that you launch as well as then a lot of bee marbles.

Once it is in, I am going to make it a priority to table Fireball Island. I think it’s going to be a fun one for a number of groups. Plus it looks great on the table and is a simple enough game for almost any group. That combination is always a good way to get a game played.

The Quacks of Quedlinburg: Herb Witches

I enjoy The Quacks of Quedlinburg a good amount, I think that the game play is simple and fun. And while you can plan, you are really just pushing your luck, which is fun. I do think that out of the box, since they want you to play specific combinations, it might end up being a bit limited. That is where the Herb Witches expansion comes in.

The Herb Witches is going to be an expansion that adds in two more ingredients, I believe, that you can use, plus more scoring combinations. And while the new ingredients will change up the game play. I don’t know how much I really need more of those. But more ways to score is interesting to me.

All Systems Go

All Systems Go, as a reminder, is my preferred FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) though not the only one that I go to, as you’ll see. But I currently have had a bunch of store credit there, so it is a good spot to get some games.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

You know that I am playing the 2nd edition over on Malts and Meeples. But while I am getting into that, I bought up the first edition stuff. Someone had traded in the Mummy core box and the Wrath core box, including the Wrath with all the story expansions for it. So I grabbed that to go along with my Skulls and Shackles core box. Now I have basically all of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game that is out there. There is a 2nd Edition expansion that I kind of want to get.

Ra

Ra is a game that flirts with my Top 100 often. Why, because it’s such a simple game but with a good auctioning mechanic. I really like how there is a closed market and a loop to it. I bid, I win the bid, I get the bid token in the middle, mine goes into the middle. So if I bid with the 16, I think that’s the highest, now the next person to win a big will end up with a 16 to use the next round. It’s clever and it works well.

Zoo-ography

This is one that I don’t know too much about. It plays from 1-4 players and 15 minutes per player. So the game is going to be on the lighter end of things. But it looks like it comes with a lot of cool animal meeples, always a good thing. And it is a drafting game. I really enjoy drafting, see games like Draftosaurus, Sushi Go! Party, or drafting in Blood Rage. So this one with a lot of cute components really interested me.

New York Zoo

And sticking to the zoo theme and animal meeples, we have New York Zoo. This is a polyominal game where you are getting tiles to put into your zoo. Then getting animals and breeding more animals until you get enough to put in attractions. It seems like a pretty straightforward game like Zoo-ography, but one that will also get played. Plus much like drafting, I enjoy tile placement, and New York Zoo seems like a fun theme for that mechanic.

Target

So, every July, at some point in the month, Target rolls out some Target exclusive games. Most notably in that was Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion a few years ago and then Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition last year. I don’t know when that is happening this year or what the games are. But I do know that they often do clearance on games right before. So I picked up one new, and one clearance.

My Hero Academia: Plus Ultra!

I don’t actually know anything about this game. My Hero Academia is an anime that I enjoy but I struggle to watch consistently. Mainly the main character gets way to emotional way to often. But when they have action sequences it is good. Plus there is a really good story with it. I don’t know if this board game is going to be good. It looks like it just came out, but I figured I’d give it a whirl just for the theme.

Summer Camp

And from the clearance side of things there is Summer Camp. This is a deck building game about Summer Camp, oddly enough. You are trying to go up on three different tracks. From what I know of this game, it is a pretty light game but I figured I’d give it a go. Plus it was 50% off, so the price wasn’t bad at all.

The Source

This is the other local game store. But really it’s games, comics, manga, nerdy things store. And I mainly go there to pick up manga, which I’ll be writing sometime soon about the ones that I’m reading.

Dungeon Party: Starter Pack

This is a dungeon questing, monster fighting board game where you are bouncing a quarter onto a coaster. It is purely silly but I am down for that. I might even work it into my Thursday D&D game. Make that be part of what we are doing for fighting a monster this week. Bring the characters to another dimension or something like that. I haven’t worked it all out.

But this is a game that I want to own just for the goofy nature. You probably know by now that I like my dexterity games. And I’d love to find an evening to just have some beers and play this game coming up here. I think it’ll provide a lot of laughs and a good time.

Half Priced Books

HPB is a book store mainly for used books. I’ve picked up some fun series there. And they have a game section. That is where I’ve gotten games like Tannhauser before. This time only one game caught my eye.

Periodic

This is going to be a game about the Periodic table. I know of someone who might like the game better, they have Genotype as well from Genius Games. I’ve heard good things about Periodic, so when was used there, I figured that I’d grab it. I’m not sure it’s a game for me, but we’ll see. And like I said, I think I know someone who would like the game if it isn’t for me.

eBay

Stars of Akarios

I blame the GloryHoundd discord server for this. You can join me on that discord server here. But one of their members found it on eBay with a listing that had a number of the game as a slightly better price than going through the store.

But Stars of Akarios is going to be a game of fighting and exploring on the fringes of space. But it hits so many of the words that I look for in a game. This is a narrative-driven, cooperative, campaign game that can be plays solo. I don’t know why I missed this one on Kickstarter, but I’m glad to have grabbed it now.

Amazon

Yup, Amazon has gotten a little love too. Mainly I’ll toss on a cheap game from time to time. Or sometimes Amazon is the only spot I can find something.

Skull and Shackles Expansions

This is again more Pathfinder Adventure Card game stuff. The story expansions and I think two character expansions for Skulls and Shackles. The name might not imply it, but this is the pirate base game for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. And that is a theme that I really like. So I am curious to see how they will make that game and story work. I always want to run a pirate D&D campaign, maybe this will inspire me.

Crowdfunding

Marvel Dice Throne

This is one that came in. And it’s already gotten to the table 3 times. The downside of it being 3 times is that I still have two characters I need to play. Black Panther and Captain Marvel are waiting for their shot in the sun. I’ll have a whole lot more on this probably around the end of the week.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

This is one that I just late pledged. My curiosity for the game got the better of me. I again, am a sucker for a cooperative, solo playable, narrative-driven campaign game. And Arydia promises that for me, plus some cool minis that you can customize.

Overall, this is just one of those big box games that I’m going to have to start playing as a campaign. I really want to figure out some game to play as a campaign on my own, not stream. Or maybe one that my wife is interested in, and do that once a week just for a little time. I have half of the gaming table that should be free to play on a lot of the time.

Aeon’s End: Past and Future

More Aeon’s End, I am of course going to back this. It is an interesting project though, and it is available for late pledge. But Aeon’s End Past and Future is not a big box expansion like they normally do. Normally it is the next part of the story that they are going through. This actually goes back to the past and looks to the future and you need specific sets already to be able to play it. Of course it’s mainly just more content, so I am down for that.

Deathly Thrones

Deathly Thrones is the only print and play game on the list. This one is interesting, though because it’s not a roll and write game. It’s a solo print and play roguelike game where you use a deck of cards. I didn’t look into it too much, again it is one that was shared to me via the GloryHoundd Discord server. But I think it looks really interesting and unique. If it can pull off a fun game, I could see having this a smaller sized game to pull out and play.

GameNerdz

I said it was a big list and a lot of it is that it has been a while since I’ve done one of these. I don’t believe that I’ve written about this one.

Vampire the Masquerade – Chapters

This is another one of those games where I wish that I’d backed it on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter hasn’t even fulfilled yet and the regret got me, especially since I found it too late to late pledge. Or found it again too late to late pledge. This is going to be another one of those big story driven cooperative solo campaign games set in the world of Vampire the Masquerade.

What intrigues me so much about this one is that it has story and the story from Vampire the Masquerade where it isn’t just vampires chomping necks and sucking blood. But there’s this whole code of what you do. And then you get down to a tactical level map where you can interactions with people and battles that happen which is really interesting. I like that variety in what it does.

GameZenter

Another LGS (local game store) to go along with All Systems Go and The Source. All of them are very nice, I am lucky to have so many around me. And I like to buy something every time I go somewhere and play. And the GameZenter is my favorite spot to play out of the two that you can play at, GameZenter and The Source.

Spirit Island

Spirit Island is a game that I should have played sooner. And in all fairness I have yet to play it now. But it is a cooperative or solo game that has great puzzle elements to it. And it’s complex enough in what your spirit is doing to fight off the colonizers that are coming to the island. So I really want to give it a go and see how it plays. I suspect it’s going to be a game that is bigger that I really like to play solo or at two players.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, I think, that I haven’t talked about. It’s been a busy time getting in games, or getting them in soon. I need to start playing them. But I am close, still to that 100 game total which I wanted to get under for unplayed games. Granted, that number will go up a bit again soon with a few more big box games coming in. I know that Oathsworn is getting close, so I’m sure I’ll write about that in the next Point of Order.

And then other Kickstarters and Gamefound games are starting to get produced. There is a production copy that was unboxed for ISS Vanguard, so I expect that to show up October or November. And Grove is getting close as well as Tiny Turbo Cars. And I think even Spire’s End Hildegard just locked in it’s shipping addresses, though I might be off on that one. Oh, and Chronicles of Drunagor. So expect another big one coming, likely post GenCon.

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