Table Top Market Sales

18 Holes Roll and Write

While I enjoyed my time with this game, it’s competing against a lot of roll and write games. So it is just one that was fun, but didn’t offer enough choices to really make me want to keep it around for sure.

Age of War

Age of War is one that I know someone who owns it, I believe. And it’s a filler game but has an issue that can plague some fillers. While it can go fast, there is no guarantee that it will. It’s dice based, so if you get unlucky, you might be playing a long time.

Ares Expedition: Crisis

Accidentally got two.

Arkham Horror LCG

Accidentally got two.

Black Rose Wars *

The ones with an asterisk are getting sold at my local game store because they didn’t sell at the market. But Black Rose Wars, one that I still want to try but I’ve heard a lot about for good and less good. Mainly that it’s a bear to learn and teach, which has kept it on my shelf for quite some time.

Boop

Boop is one that I played a few of times. It’s a super cute abstract game, but not one that I loved. I’m pretty miss on just pure abstracts, but you can see my review here.

Chronicles of Crime *

This is just one that has been over shadowed. If I want to play a story about solving crimes I always go with Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. So why have two games that do the same thing when I’ll only play one?

Clever Hoch Drei Challenge Sheets

I got two, it was the only way to order them.

Codinca

An abstract game again, one that I never got around to playing. But it looked fun, but again, if I haven’t played it in years, why keep it.

Cowboy Bebop

Another one that just sat on my shelf for years. I picked it up at Gen Con in 2019 right after I’d watched the show. It’s one that I’ve come back to, but the game while it has a theme that I like isn’t one that I feel the need to play. Plus it’s not the deck building one that I sold.

Descent 2nd Edition

This isn’t the app driven one that I plan on playing still. This is the one versus all version that I got to learn to paint with. I haven’t gotten around to painting, so time to sell it.

Dragonscales *

Dragonscales is a push your luck game. I’ve determined that my group prefers the simple push your luck games that don’t add too much. Incan Gold wasn’t much of a success, so Dragonscales seemed like too much.

Dresden Files Fate Book

An RPG that I haven’t gotten to. I wanted to, because it’s Dresden, but I didn’t.

Etherfields

Probably the shocker among the group. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested or I’m not interested. I still am. But it’s the campaign game and I need to consider which campaign games I keep. And right now I have a lot more I want to play over it and more coming in. So it’d always be towards the bottom of my list.

Fate Core Book *

RPG system I didn’t play.

Fruit Picking

I think I played Fruit Picking about 10-15 times. And I enjoyed my time with it. It’s not the most complex game, and I feel like I experienced it enough that I don’t need to anymore.

Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea

Covid purchase of the promise of future gaming. But I got another 4X game, and a cooperative one that I’m likely to play over this one.

Kabuto Sumo

Played it, had fun, but had a game that just ended immediately because nothing fell off. So I see the issues with the game, let someone else get it.

King of Tokyo

Bought the bigger box with more monsters included. So it’s a cheat.

Last Heroes *

Honestly, was a game that I ordered to get over $100 for free shipping. So one that was so cheap it was meant to be sold.

Loup Garou

I picked this up at Gen Con in 2019 and never played it. If it’s sitting on my shelf, let someone else get a chance to play it.

Lucky Numbers

Accidentally ordered two.

Mesozooic *

Expansion that I accidentally ordered two of this expansion.

My Hero Academia *

It was on Target clearance and I never got around to playing it.

Paper Tales

One that I ordered, I thought it was Paperback. I’ve heard good things about Paper Tales but when I ordered the wrong game, less interested in playing it. And might as well let someone else who is more excited for it play it.

Point Salad

Got the Korean All Eevees version.

Promos

I don’t own the game the promos are for.

Reichbusters *

See Etherfields really. I have too many campaign games and this one was lower on the list.

Relics of Rajavihara

I played through it, it’s a puzzle game. I beat the puzzles, I’m good. I don’t need to keep it around.

Roll to the Top

Roll and write game that I didn’t enjoy. Too much luck for what I want.

Shadows of Normandie

Bought, didn’t play for a long time. Let someone else enjoy it.

Silver

Played it a bunch, had fun with it. Just not one that I’ve played in several years. So time to let someone else enjoy it.

Similo

A party game that I’m not that apt to pick. So get rid of it, had fun while I had it, but others I like more. And party games tend to rotate a lot for me.

Splitter

Roll and write game that I didn’t find that I enjoyed enough. One that I won’t need to come back to.

Starship Samurai

Picked it up cheap with the expansion. I maybe could have kept it for the minis for my kid to play with. But it wasn’t a game I was playing.

Super-Skill Pinball

Now, this isn’t the base game. It was the first standalone expansion. I found that if I play, I pick the base game versus the standalone expansion. So do I really need more of it, and I have the Star Trek, the answer is not really.

Star Wars Destiny

Don’t play it, did play it, I like it. And I ended up giving it away to a kid and made his day.

Takenoko

While I enjoy this one, it’s a bit much/complex for how cute the game is. If I want a really cute looking game to play, I also pick others first. Not a bad game at all, though.

Terracotta Army

This was sent to me on accident, and during the process to try and return it, they closed the ticket, so I sold it.

Tiny Towns

One that I enjoy, but I played it a number of times and enjoyed it. But I’ve played it, I feel like with the expansions it isn’t that much different. A good one, but one to let someone else enjoy.

Tiny Turbo Cars

And another game that I played, I enjoyed, but I won’t play it over other racing games. It’s a bit fiddly, and a bit more to learn than I wanted. I might miss the game, but the family who got it will enjoy it more.

Titan Race

Another racing game and another one that went to a family who will enjoy it. Titan Race is a great little game of fun dice drafting. But I want to play other racing games more.

Truffle Shuffle

A nice little drafting game that works pretty well with two players. But I have 7 Wonders Duel, so I want to play that one more than Truffle Shuffle.

Village Green

Village Green is another one that has been replaced. And I think that’s a common theme, a game that I like, but do I want to play Village Green where it just might never work out well for you, or Village Rails which is a lot of the same thing but a lot more forgiving? I want to play Village Rails.

Warhammer Quest *

Another one in that category of game I owned and didn’t play. And while I kind of want to play it still, it isn’t one that I’m going to go out of my way to play. So let someone else get to play it sounds better to me.

It’s a lot of games. I still have very full shelves, so not like I’m missing those games too much. And when I do this, I always think about how someone else will enjoy those games. And for a lot of them, really all of them, I can get them back when and if I want to play them again. Some might be harder to find than others, but that’s okay, if I really need it back for some reason I can get it back.

Now, it’s time for me to play more new games.

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Games from Miniature Market

Bonfire

This is a game about gnomes building a bonfire, well, maybe that’s some of it. But it’s a Pegasus Spiele game, like the next one. And Miniature Market had a sale on them. Pegasus Spiele got on my radar because they put out First Rat, a game I wasn’t sure I’d like, but then I really did. Bonfire looks more complex, so I was interested in trying it.

Raccoon Robbers

This one I bought because it looked like a fun, more simple game from Pegasus Spiele. So I wanted to give it a go and see if it would work for me. Plus it’s about raccoons, a fun theme and comes with 3D (ish) houses that they climb up on, so fun components.

Via Magica

This is a light game that I wanted to try because I thought when I heard about it on the Dice Tower a while ago, Camilla is a fan of it there, it sounded fun. You can read my whole review here.

Mesozooic: Jurassic Mini Expansion and Triassic Mini Expansion

I’ve written a review on some of the games. Mesozooic I actually bought the base game a while ago. The two expansions were unlikely to be around much longer, on closeout, so I bought them. You can read my review on Mesozooic here.

Abyss: Kraken Expansion

This is an expansion, I own both, for a game that I need to play. It is probably not the smartest plan, but I have them now, so I need to get Abyss to the table soon. Abyss looks like a massive epic game, one you’d expect a lot of minis for. Well, it’s a much smaller simpler game than that type of game. More of an engine building from what I know. So I hope it’s one I really enjoying.

Escape the Dark Castle

This is one that just came back into stock recently. It and Escape the Dark Sector or games with fun dark looking artwork and, well, a dark theme. I want to play them and see how they stack up against something like Spire’s End. I know both can be played solo, so I’ll be getting to this one soon to really know.

18 Holes: Course Architect

18 Holes: Course Artchitect actually needs to get a review written about it. Same with the next one though that one I need to play more. But 18 Holes is about building out a golf course in a roll and write game and seeing how well that you can do. It’s a bit rules heavy for how simple the game is, but the more I play, the easier it is to pick up each time and faster games go. So it’s one that might just stick around as a solo game for me.

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

Bargain Basement Bathysphere is a solo game. And you can watch me play it on Malts and Meeples. It’s a roll and write game that is a campaign. So I want to see how it is over the long run before I write a review. It’s definitely very loosely a campaign. But the two games I played of it were a lot of fun, with really simple mechanics.

Clank! Catacombs

Clank! Catacombs I knew was a game I would buy. I waited until after Christmas, and then when I was told about Bargain Basement Bathysphere, I used Catacombs to get it to a level where I could get free shipping. It’s just another version of Clank! but one with a modular board which is build every time. Clank! In! Space! has a modular board, but that one is set to start the game. This could come out differently every time.

Three Sisters

A roll and write game from the people who did Fleet and now Motor City. I am curious about this one. I like Fleet, but it is a lot of mechanics, especially solo. Though I wonder if I will feel the same with Three Sisters. But it is one that I want to get to solo.

Star Realms Deck Building Game

Star Realms is the space version of Hero Realms, kind of. They are different games and Star Realms came first. But it’s a two player deck building game. I wanted to try it and see which one I like better. I think I’ll enjoy both, but will both stay in my collection?

Thornwatch: The Dark of the Wood Expansion

Thornwatch is a game that I picked up on a sale, probably hasn’t been in a Point of Order yet. I got it around Black Friday from the publisher. It looks like an adventure dungeon crawl sort of gaming experience. And it has some work done on it from Penny Arcade guys who I like their stuff. So I am curious about it and if it’ll be a dungeon crawler for me.

Planet Unknown

This one got an order all by itself. And I still need to play it. But Planet Unknown is a game about terraforming a planet. Yes, I own two games like that already. But it uses polyominoes and a lazy Susan. Though mine doesn’t come with it. But as you select pieces for your planet, you rotate a this central piece. And where I decide to stop rotating it, that determines what you get. So there is a bit of a puzzle where I might take a slightly worse for me piece to stop you from getting the perfect piece.

Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

I own two, no three, versions of Super-Skill Pinball. It is a roll and write game that I really enjoy and one I should play more. It is playing pinball and this one has a, you guessed it, Star Trek theme. There is a Christmas one as well with Christmas movies that I’m less interested in. But I do like Star Trek so I wanted to play this one.

Featherlight

Featherlight, another one that I played on Malts and Meeples with Bargain Basement Bathysphere. So you can find that in the video above. I like it as a way to optimize how you are scoring. It’s kind of a puzzle with some randomness. And I think that works really well for the length and weight of the game. It is very light, but offers you good choices as you play.

Unmatched: Marvel – Redemption Row & Hell’s Kitchen

I hadn’t planned on getting into Unmatched. But Marvel is what drew me in. And I have made a promise to myself that I won’t buy other sets, unless they are Marvel. So I am trying to get my hands on Deadpool, just waiting for someone from a Discord to ship it. But their lives are busy, so I understand. And there are upcoming Marvel sets, but I will talk about those later.

The Librarians

This is one that I got to try in 2020 when I did the digital GenCon. But it is a game around the Librarians TV show. The game is good, and I didn’t back it because I was backing too many things. So when it hit retail and hit a sale, I wanted to get it into my collection. It is a cooperative game and a fun theme that I want to play.

Ascension X: War of Shadows

Ascension, I’ve talked about it, this is my favorite introductory deck building game. I have two expansions, this one and a nature themed one, that I need to play still. But more is good because they are standalone or can be all mixed together. Well, maybe not all, but somewhat mixed together.

18 Holes: Second Edition & Expansion

You saw the roll and write, this is the tabletop version. It is still building a golf course. But you do that as a group. And then you play that course to see how well you do. I’m excited to try it. Sports games often aren’t the right match for board games. But I think that a golf theme works better than a faster spaced sport like Soccer or Football.

Starship Captains

Starship Captains is one that I played at GenCon in 2022. And I enjoyed it, but it is one that I want to spend more time with. It is a fast game, and I think that end snuck up on me in my one play. Is it one for me, or will it always feel too short? We will have to see, but I want to give it more of a try.

Relics of Rajavihara & Expansion

I just wrote a review on Relics of Rajavihara and you can read that here. But it is a fun puzzle game and I hope that this week or in the next two, I can fully wrap up the game. It’s fast and fun and a great puzzle.

Solomon Kane Expansions

Mythic Games is getting rid of their extra stock as they try and raise funds to complete and ship out other games. I could explain it more, but basically the pandemic hit them harder than a lot of companies. So this is a chance to grab the last of the stuff I don’t have. I think I own basically all of it now.

Enchanters

Another Mythic Games, another one that they sold the rights to. So it is discounted as they move their stock. A deck building game, but one I wasn’t super interested in. But when it is on sale and I can get the all in Kickstarter, or near that, it is worth buying and trying.

D&D Books

Just some more setting books and different books for more D&D content. I am there for that, and I want to mix it into my game.

Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama

This is one that Zee mentioned in his Top 100 Games. It is a rework of an existing game, with a theme that Indie Boards & Cards has used before. So I want to try it with that theme. The rest of the Kodama games are less interesting for me. But this one because it’s an existing theme is interesting.

Exit: Lord of the Rings

It’s an Exit escape room board game. And this one my wife wants to try because of the theme. And in all fairness I’m excited for the theme as well. Exit games are not my favorite of the escape room style games because they are destructive. So it’s a one time use thing. But the theme in this case pulled me in.

Skyrim: The Adventure Game

Another one where the theme pulled me in. I avoided backing it on Gamefound. The game play looked fun, but I can only back so many games so often. Then as more came out about the game, the more interesting it became to me. And I hope that it’s a pretty narrative driven game that feels like Skyrim.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

And to wrap it up, another video game one. And one that I wouldn’t have looked at too much. But it turned into one that I was very interested in because it has that big campaign feel to it, and cooperative play. And we know that is what I like in games.

Pre-orders

Plus there are a few pre-orders to talk about.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery & Crisis Expansions

This one I should have added to my other set of pre-orders, but both of these are expansions to a game I really like a lot. Ares Expedition. One gives you ways to upgrade your action selection which will make you different and unique in the long run. The other one is going to offer a cooperative or solo play opportunity. So two things that I’m very interested in. There is a third one as well, but when it was on Kickstarter, it just didn’t interest me as much.

Earth

Another one coming from Kickstarter that I am picking up now. It’s an engine building game that looks like it should be pretty on the table. I find that I really like engine building games. And this one looks like it is in that framework of being light, but not too light. I’m hoping, mainly, that the rules are in a place where it is easy to teach and get to the table.

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom

See what I said about Lord of the Rings before. This one is going to be an adventure book style game where you play through different scenes. Besides it being Lord of the Rings and based off of the same or similar system to the one used in the Princess Bride game I don’t know a ton more. But I’m more excited for this one than the escape room game.

Final Thoughts

Some of this has just been catching up on games that I’ve had an eye on and have been on my wishlist. The Librarians, Skyrim, and Assassin’s Creed were all on that list. And you can see a number of expansions as well.

But if it were you, which of these games would you play first? Of course, I’ve played some already, but I tried to call those out.

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CoolStuffInc Board Games

The Faceless

This is an interesting one and originally was a Kickstarter game. It mainly caught my attention because it is on a warehouse clearance, or was. So the base game and two mini expansions, terrain and another compass basically, cost all of $15. And this isn’t that simple a game. Now, I didn’t just buy it because of the price, the concept is also interesting.

The Faceless is a game where you are trying to avoid this goat monster, and how the monster moves is determined with how an arrow on a compass is facing, I believe. So as you move around the board trying to pick up things, or complete objectives, the magnets in the character bases are going to affect where The Faceless is going to go.

Is this going to be a good game, I don’t know. But the gimmick of the magnets was cool enough I wanted to try it. And a terrain expansion for $3.99 seemed like an easy pick-up to make the game look even better. If nothing else, this game is going to be fun to try and then pass on and let someone else try it.

Pioneer Days

Now we come to the company, Tasty Minstrel Games (TMG) that is going out of business for sure. And CoolStuffIn was handling their liquidation of their products, and while a number interested me, this is the one I pulled the trigger on. Pioneer Days is a euro game that has some nice artwork on it. And for I believe it was $25 or so, it was worth the try.

Normally, I don’t gravitate towards Euro games because the mechanic just isn’t that interesting to me. But, this one looks more interesting than most, and it was a good price. It isn’t that I dislike euro games, it is just that I am less apt to buy them for myself. So when a good deal came along, it was worth me looking at it.

All Systems Go

I also went past my local game store. Now, no shock there, but I went by because they moved to a new location. The space is a little bit bigger, I believe, but mainly, it has a parking lot. Street parking isn’t horrible at the old location, but not great either. And while the new location’s parking lot is very tight, it is a parking lot. Plus the store is a little bit closer to me, which is clearly important.

Village Green

I didn’t pick up much while I was there, just a used copy of Village Green. This is one that I’ve been keeping on eye on because the game play seems interesting in it. You are drafting and filling out a grid that will score you points in a lot of ways. The two things you draft are green cards and scoring cards. The scoring cards go on the outside of the grid. And the green cards fill out the rest of it.

What seems like an interesting challenge is that you score the scoring cards based off of the columns or row that they match up with. It is a bit like Criss Cross in that you need to think about your scoring in both directions. This, however, offers way more depth to what you are thinking about. The challenge of this excites me, also the complexity of game play doesn’t seem to high. That means it is a game that is easier to get to the table.

Kickstarter

Catapult Feud – Hydra Expansion + more

Yeah, it is a silly game, and it is one that I need to play, but it is a Kickstarter exclusive expansion. Is that a good enough reason to buy it, the answer to me was yes. You can see my Back or Brick on it here. I think if nothing else, this can be a great toy to play around with, and i suspect that I’m going to like the game as well. Just the nature is so light and silly.

I guess I didn’t explain too much what the game is. Catapult Feud is a game where you try and knock down your opponents castle. But you don’t do this with clever card play or worker placement, or even chucking dice. You actually are launching rocks or beehives, at the actual castle your opponent built. The goal is to take out the guys on the castle, first one to do so wins. And there is card play, but we’re here for launching attacks and building castles really.

Point of Sale

So only one item, which is why it isn’t it’s own article. And I didn’t actually sell it. But it did leave my collection and I’m really happy that it did. Why, because I gave it to someone who is going to play it now.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

Why is an easily accessible version of my favorite game of all time leaving my collection? So it gets played. I don’t think I am going to play it anytime soon. I have Frosthaven coming in sometime later in this year. And I am playing through Tainted Grail, right now, as my campaign. And my streaming campaign is Sleeping Gods.

Plus, I learned about a couple of kids from a family I know who loved the idea of Gloomhaven. Now, I did have to warn their dad, who is playing with them, that it can get intense. I gave it to them on Sunday and they are already playing it. I played through the starting scenarios and I liked it. But I knew I wasn’t going to play it. I also know I can get it back. When I want to play it, when I want to introduce someone to Gloomhaven, it is easy enough for me to buy it again and play it then. But right now, I have more shelf space.

That’s get, those are the games that I’m adding to my collection and the game leaving my collection. And I must say, I’m happy with all of them. Will they all stay in my collection or having left my collection long term, who knows. But I’m excited to try all of the new ones, especially Village Garden which I hope to play this weekend, or maybe even solo sometime this week.

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Tofu Kingdom, Brewcrafters Travel Card Game, The Mind & Cthulhu Fluxx

I lumped these together. They are all smaller games, I gave them a chance, and while they aren’t bad, I have a number of smaller games that I’m going to pull off the shelf before them. And often that’s why games leave, something like Cthulhu Fluxx was a great gateway game for me, but now I have others.

I think that most people might be surprised by the Mind. My experience with that was just okay at the best. The game with it’s, you can’t share information is fine. But also leads to long chunks of time of people not talking. I wish there was more fun and funny going on for a game that is so simple. The Mind is like Cosmic Encounter for me as well, where it is very group dependent.

Gloom

Gloom is a very fun game. It has transparent cards and you are trying to kill off your family with them having the most miserable lives possible. And you tell stories as you do it. It’s a blast to play, and I haven’t played it since before I was married. I was dating now wife but we were maybe engaged. That’s over 7 years.

So, you can guess why this one is leaving. I just don’t play it often enough, or at all anymore. If someone else has it and pulls it off the shelf to play, I will play it and love it. I might even buy it again at that point. But right now, even though it’s a small game, it opens up room for other small games to try and play.

Werewords

This one came into my collection not that long ago and now it’s leaving my collection. I am always trying to find a second social deduction game that I like. I even watched on Board Game Geeks YouTube channel Werewords played and thought that it’d be it. It’s a game of twenty questions with a traitor, the concept even sounds fun.

But it’s like so many social deduction games, when it comes down to it, you are just guessing. If you don’t guess the word you will take a random stab at whom the traitor is and probably be wrong. If you’re the traitor and the word is guessed, you’ll give a random guess on the seerer unless they were extremely obvious. I want more deduction in my social deduction is what it is, I guess.

Werewords is a solid game, it’s just not for me.

Onirim

This one might surprise people. I like Onirim as a solo game. But it’s going away for three reasons. The first being Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game, then A Gentle Rain – another solo game, and finally, because I own the app. I can still play Onirim, but I’ll do on the app. And there will be much less shuffling.

I know that a lot of people even like the app better because it does all the shuffling. I still think I prefer the physical game, but if I’m going to play a solo game right now, it’s going to be Orchard or A Gentle Rain. They are easier to get out and play, so sorry, Onirim, you’re leaving the collection. Again another really good game and this one is for me, but I just have others to play now.

The Siblings Trouble

This is one that I never actually played. I picked it up because when it was on Kickstarter, I had backed the companies other game, Lift Off! and wanted to back another one of their projects. It’s a kind of RPG like game that is tailored for kids. But it came out at the same time as No Thank You, Evil! A kids RPG that has more support. And I likely would just play D&D with my kid eventually.

Hex Roller

I got this game quite recently, I played it, and I’m selling it. Hex Roller is not a bad roll and write. But it isn’t a game where what you do will change much. The dice rolls will change things up, but the mechanics don’t change. So I’ve played it, and I’m passing it on to someone else.

My knock on Hex Roller is that while the scoring is simple, the teach is not. The rules are a little bit weird for how you take dice and use them. It just teaches harder then a game that doesn’t have that much going on should. I understand that they wanted the game to be clever and give you lots to think about, but it’s just a solid game. Not good enough for me to come back to.

Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger

This is a really fun and goofy game. It is also a story game that has limited replayability. Now, I am not done with the story, so why am I getting rid of it. It’s easy, I know two maybe three people who own it. If I want to play it again or play it the whole way through, I can.

Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger is a great time. It’s goofy and fun to sit around and play. If you play lighter games, I definitely recommend it. But most likely, like me, you’ll end up selling it once you’re done with the story. The downside is I won’t get much for it, the upside is, someone can play it and enjoy it again.

Blossoms

Blossoms is a two player push your luck game. You are trying to grow flowers and then harvest them at the point that it’ll give you the most points. It’s a pretty little game, though in a larger box than really needed. But it is a two player game, so the question I asked myself, how many two player only games do I need?

The answer didn’t include Blossoms. When I look at my two player games, I would pick Hanamikoji before it, Skulk Hollow, 7 Wonders Duel, Fox in the Forest, Fox in the Forest Duet. All of those I’d play before Blossoms. Blossoms is just a little bit too simple for when I want to play a two player game. But if you have a parent or grandparent who likes more classic feeling games, Blossoms would be great.

Cry Havoc

This is a tough game for me to get rid of. I really like Cry Havoc. This is another situation where I just own other games I’m going to play before it. Cry Havoc is asymmetrical area control. If I want area control that’s pretty complex, Blood Rage. If I want asymmetrical, well I own Root now. Cry Havoc is leaving because I own enough other games that do similar things. And I own enough other games that I’d play before it.

It is a bit of a casualty of my Top 100 that I just wrapped up, actually. When going through the Top 10 and seeing games like Lords of Hellas and Blood Rage, th ose will get played before Cry Havoc. So even with Cry Havoc just missing at 103 and being there last year, it’s time for it to go.

Castle Panic

This is getting bumped because of a future Kickstarter that is coming. It’s also getting bumped because it’s too easy a cooperative game. Now, some of that is that I’m older than the target audience. This is a tower defense game for 10 year old kids or younger. It’s not targeting someone like me. Village Attacks as a tower defense game is.

But this is a game that I win too often. And again, I think that’s with the target age. A 10 year old will want to win more often than they lose. I personally like to lose about 60-70% of the time when playing a cooperative game. In my Top 100 I have Say Bye to the Villains, I have yet to beat that game. I don’t think I’ve lost Castle Panic.

Lift Off!

I just talked about this one, it’s the first game that I backed on Kickstarter. I am greatly tempted to keep this one. I’ve played it a few times but it hasn’t been in years. It’s a fun little game, and I like some of their other games. I still have Skulk Hollow which won’t be leaving anytime soon.

This is one that I am tempted to keep to just play a few more times. It is also a game that isn’t going to come off my shelf all that often. It’s like Castle Panic in that it’s younger focused, not my gaming group, and there’s enough other games I’ll play before it.

Dicecapades!

For a mass market game, Dicecapades is generally a lot of fun. You get goofy things like stacking dice. Or you roll a die and need to do that many push-ups. Or you roll a die and there is trivia. Wait, there is trivia, what does that have to do with dice , the answer, nothing. And that’s why I don’t pull it out anymore.

Everything else in the game is fun, but you need to answer a trivia question on a random area that is determined by a die roll. If you get it wrong, you stay and then do it again next turn. Meanwhile, everyone else is doing goofy fun things, until they get stuck on trivia as well. And if I roll sports before you roll movies, because that’s what we know best, I get going faster just based off of luck.

It is a mass market party game, it is supposed to be lucky. But it’s just not that fun when you get to trivia. Remove the trivia from the game, I’d probably keep the game. It’s one that I can play with cousins and non-gamers. But with trivia, it’s annoying. If I want to do trivia, I own Wits & Wagers.

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

Now, this is the tricky one, and it might stay. I want to play this game. The intro scenario to teach you the game, I’ve played it twice. But it’s a campaign game, and it’s a campaign game with an app before apps were common. So the app itself isn’t great. Not bad, but not great. And I don’t have a group to play this game. So it’s a lot of work to play solo.

If I had a group, I’d play it. I might even play it solo, if I go through the introductory scenario again. But am I going to do that when I have Isofarian Guard coming sometime, Destinies coming that can be played solo, Middara, Roll Player Adventures, Solomon Kane, Deep Madness and more? I think it might leave like Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth did. Not because it is a bad game, it isn’t, it’s a lot of fun, but because I own so many.

16 Games of Shelf Space

It’s a tough list to cut. I look at Star Wars: Imperial Assault, Cry Havoc, Onirim, and Gloom especially, and I really enjoy all of those games. But the question is, will I play them? Or am I just keeping them on my shelf because I like the idea of getting back to them sometime?

I think it’s more the latter than I’d actually get back to the games. And some of them, Gloom in particular, that depends on the group. If you like a tell a story, it works well, if you just play the cards, the game is fine. So, all of these are leaving, probably over the weekend, to get traded into my FLGS. And I’m looking at a few games, Escape The Room and Star Wars Unlock, that I need to play to then free up more space.

Which one, if you could get one of these games I’m trading in, would you want to play most?

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Fae

Fae was a game that I picked up out in San Diego, I believe. It was one that I played at a game store out there and I enjoyed it quite well. Since getting it, I’ve played twice maybe three times. The game is good and interesting. In it you are getting circles of druids together to complete rituals. The color of the druid relates to a specific spirit or fae. Each player has a fae but it’s secret, so each ritual pushes scores higher for every color. You want to push yours high but without it being too obvious so other players try and tank it.

The game was a lot of fun when I played it. For me, though, the game play was just a little bit less than I’d have wanted and the set-up time was a little bit more than what the game was. I think for a High School group, though, it offers something different in terms of game play. The hidden aspect is going to be a twist that they might not have seen before.

Dead Men Tell No Tales

Dead Men Tell No Tales is another game that I have enjoyed a lot. The game play is pretty straight forward and it is a completely cooperative game. You are pirates boarding a ghost ship. You have guardians to fight, treasures to get, and skeletal deck hands to keep in check. All while the ship is on fire and rooms are burning up. It seems like a lot going on, but it really isn’t and it works well.

This is a gateway plus game, I’d say. It’s kind of like Pandemic but just some more going on. I’d say that it’s more thematic than Pandemic as well. However, I find that I’d pull them both out in the same situation most of the time and Pandemic is faster for me to get to the table. Dead Men Tell No Tales will be more thematically interesting than Pandemic and probably better right now.

Munchkin Zombie

This one I was surprised that I kept in my collection as long as I did. Munchkin is an amazing gateway game. It’s something that very familiar with because it is a bit of a take that game. In it you are kicking down doors and fighting monsters. If you beat them you get rewards and possibly level up. You play down armor and weapons to be able to defeat them as well as boosts, but other players can play cards to make you weaker or the monster stronger.

It’s a game that helped me get into the hobby in some ways. Catan and Ticket to Ride are the biggest reasons I started board gaming, but Munchkin Zombie is more in your face. So it’ll be one that a lot of people will get it because it is simple and it’s goofy. I don’t want to play that many take that games anymore, especially Munchkin Zombie, but a good one for new gamers.

Lanterns

This is the only that I haven’t played. It was part of a Target Buy 2 get 1 Free sale, or something along those lines. I’ve see the game played, I forget if it was on Wil Wheaton’s TableTop or some other show. And the concept is interesting, you are completing a firework display by laying down tiles into a big communal grid. Depending on what color is pointed at you, that gives you a card and you are building out sets that give you points. Game play seems nice and easy and colorful.

I’ve just never gotten it to the table. is there a good reason as to why I haven’t, not really. I think it is a situation where I have other gateway style games that I like a lot, so when I consider pulling it off the shelf, I just go with one of those instead. I’d probably like it if I played it. It’s just one of those games that I can look on my shelf and know I can get it again pretty cheap if I really want to play it. So might as well let it go somewhere to get played more.

So I’m sad to see these games leave, but I love that I can help someone else out with getting some games played. I want more and younger generation of gamers. I think there are lots of younger gamers, but the more the better because that means in the long run the hobby stays strong and more interesting games are made.

What games would you give to a High School for gaming?

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Seafall

This is a game that I really wanted to love and that we kind of gave up on when we were playing through it. Now, I am not selling or doing anything with my half played copy. That a friend owns and I hope they don’t have around anymore. But I did get a copy from another friend that is in shrink still. I am selling that copy.

I had considered, for a while, using that copy of Seafall to make my own game. Why, because Seafall, I think, has some solid ideas it just runs into some problems. There isn’t a good story running through it. They attempted making a very broad story but it lacks depth or progression. The dice are too lucky, and the games take too long. Hopefully someone else will like it though.

Cyclades

I’ve heard amazing things about this game. But I had it for a few years and I never played it. I opened it up, learned the rules once, but I never even punched it. Why is that, well, because I don’t play that many area control games, and when I do, I want to play Blood Rage. This was the case with a game where I probably would like the game, but would I play it over other games.

Blood Rage gives me that more complex area control game. On the flip side, Small World gives me that really easy to get to the table area control. I just can’t see myself pulling out Cyclades over either of those, especially because I can teach both of those quite easily. My memory banks can only remember the rules to so many games.

Nemesis Terrain Pack

So, this is coming into my collection, one of two things. Nemesis is a game that I’m very confident that I’m going to like. Why, because it’s a space horror game, and I like that theme. It is a survival game, and I like that. And the terrain pack is just going to make the experience more immersive. I’d almost picked it up before, but when it was there again, I knew I was going to get it.

Detective: Season 1

So, I love Detective, I can’t say that enough. I’m not sure where, at the end of this month, start of next, this will end up, but I expect it’s going to be very high. I have the Vienna Connection, the base game, LA Crimes, Dig Deeper, and I already pre-ordered Dune: House Secrets from Portal Games. The one thing that I didn’t have was Season 1.

Season 1 didn’t interest me as much because it was one off games. What makes the base game so amazing is that you are playing through a series of tied together games. You are getting a full story in five chapters, I wasn’t sure if Season 1 would feel the same with one offs. But I had Dig Deeper and I got to play it last month. And that game holds up. Just as a one off it is still a lot of fun, so I’m now more excited for Season 1.

HEXplore It: The Forests of Adrimon

Now, I said I was just getting 2 games, and those are the two that I’ve ordered or have in hand. But at my FLGS, I had them set aside this for me, and an expansion. When I sell the two games at the top and Captain Sonar, I’m going to use that store credit to pick up this game. HEXplore It as a series of games has been on my radar for a while. I never got in on the Kickstarter because they cost a fair amount. But used, it wasn’t too bad.

I am very curious to try it because it is another dungeon crawl and exploration sort of game. The map level is higher than your standard dungeon crawl, but there are a lot of bad things that can happen to you. I also like the unique setting in this game, it feels different than some of the other HEXplore It games.

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Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview

These first three are all fro a sale that was titled Gamer’s Choice, and they really were choice games. They had a lot of great ones in there. I decided to take the opportunity to grab this expansion for Chronicles of Crime. Mainly because it’s a kids on bike style expansion and story for the game.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept of kids on bikes, think of Stranger Things, that is a kids on bikes story. Or the Goonies would also meet that style of story. Basically it’s an adventure that kids have with only a little adult interference or interaction.

And if you aren’t familiar with Chronicles of Crime, it is an app assisted board game where you are investigating crimes. It gives you a view of the crime scene through the app as well as facilitates the questioning and story elements as you scan in QR codes to ask people about things. It allows the game to have a more dynamic world than you could without the app.

Under Falling Skies

The first of two solo games in the order. Under Falling Skies is a resource management dice game. It has you fighting off waves of aliens. The better the dice you activate are or the better the ability the faster the alien ships will make it to earth. So it’s a balancing act of using lower dice so that when you need to use a higher die value you can. I want to build out my collection of solo only games because I do enjoy them. Expect to see this on Malts and Meeples before too long, I just need to finish up Aeon’s End Legacy first.

Orchard: 9 Card Solitaire Game

While Under Falling Skies is a bigger solo game, but not a big solo campaign game, Orchard is clearly a small game. Nine cards is not much. I am hoping that this gives me a nice puzzle to try and solve and then maximize my points for. It has you laying out and overlaying cards while you are putting dice on them. This one really interests me because it is again a small footprint game and a fast game. It says 5-10 minutes so I could knock out a bunch of these fast while watching football or soccer in the upcoming months.

Ascension: Immortal Heroes + More

I didn’t list out everything I got for Ascension, but I got a few theme packs as well. Leprechaun, Rat King, Samael Claus, and Rat Queen. All of those were $2.50. Just like a fun extra thing for sure. The Immortal Heroes is a bigger box expansion which is always fun to add in. I now have a nice collection of different Ascension sets to play around with. Though, I do mainly play with the base game. The game as a whole is a lot of fun though. I do want to find a better way to track the different resources that I have in that game as a player.

Downforce: Danger Circuit and Wild Ride

So, after playing Downforce last weekend, you can see how much I liked the game here. Danger Circuit gives two new tracks and some new powers. And if you saw my complaint, you’d know that I wanted more powers. But Wild Ride adds in a number of things. There is one that features a water jump and ramps. The other side has wild animals that might show up on the track. I’m curious to see how those two different things play out but I think they’ll be a ton of fun. And I guess I should say, the Danger Circuit has loops and splitting roads. While the other side has rough terrain.

I’m definitely going to be creating a Downforce league at some point in time. Like a once a month Saturday racing league, that just seems like too much fun. Now I just need to find my racers.

So that’s everything new that I ordered. I did just sort all my board games on the shelves again, and I have one game I’m planning on leaving my collection so I’ll talk about that here as well.

Captain Sonar

Captain Sonar is a great game. I love the hidden movement trying to figure out where the other teams sub is in real time and sink it before they can sink yours. But I just know I’m not likely to play it much again. At least I won’t play my copy too much. Why, because the game is a lot to teach. Each different person, Captain, First Mate, Radar Operator, and Engineer all play differently. And that means that you need to teach four different things each time. While it has been fun to do in the past, I just have other games that are easier to get to the table that can play eight, or more. And that’s the other thing, Captain Sonar is ideal with eight.

Which of these games would you try and get to the table first?

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Point of Sale – Out With the Old Board Games

Cosmic Encounter

This one might shock some people. It is a dearly loved game and Tom Vasel of the Dice Tower talks about it all the time as it’s one of his favorite games, or he did. And I have played this one and I liked it quite well. I think that with the right group, Cosmic Encounter is an amazing game. And that is why am I got rid of it. I am not sure that I have the right group to play it with. The game is very loose rules wise and while some of my main group is fine with that, others prefer more structure.

So, with Cosmic Encounter, I had to ask, is this a game that I’m going to be getting to the table? I don’t know when I’ll play it again, I suspect if I do play it, it’ll be at a convention or a board game store that has it. It is, unfortunately, a game that just wasn’t going to make it off of my shelf. So as much as I want to keep it and play it more, it just wasn’t going to happen.

Rising 5: Runes of Asteros

Rising 5: Runes of Asteros is a different case. A cooperative game that leverages Mastermind like mechanics to create a card game with a tile puzzle. It is kind of my type of game. I love having something to figure out. But, I had to ask myself, did it add something to my collection.

Lately, the puzzle games I’ve been playing are much bigger or one off things like the Unlock games. And while, I think a replayable puzzle game is a great idea, I don’t know that Rising 5 was going to get to the table. Most of the time I am going to want something bigger to stretch my brain like Mastermind and Rising 5 do.

Point of Order -In With the New

Clank

Now, this one might be a little bit more confusing. I already own Clank! In! Space!, and in my Top 10 To Be Played games, I had Clank! Legacy. So why do I need more Clank. The answer is, I really don’t but each Clank does something different. And regular old Clank has a lot of expansions that make it a very unique game compared to the other two. So I think that all of the three of are pretty unique. So I’ll probably grab some expansions after I’ve busted out the base game a few times.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

Final one is another sibling of a game that I have. I picked up Terraforming Mars not too long ago. But then the Ares Expedition came out. This keeps some of the same stuff from Terraforming Mars, but drops the big boards. So now it’s about building up a card engine from a massive stack of cards. And because the stack of cards is so massive, it makes the game more tactical in nature as well.

This game just seems to ramp up faster than base Terraforming Mars does and while it is just cards, it still offers a lot of meaty decision making. While I know that both of them have solo, I am more likely to play this one solo as well because it’s easier to get to the table in terms of set-up. Though, I’ve heard that there are a few issues with the pieces and knocking them, but I can always do an Etsy upgrade since I missed/didn’t back on the Kickstarter.

Which of those two games do you want to play?

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There is going to be a consistent theme on a lot of these games. When I look at them, I think I have games that do something like it better, for me. But let’s not spoil too much and get into all the games I’m either selling to friends or trading into my local FLGS.

Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth

This was probably the hardest one to get rid of, but also one that I’ve been wondering about for a long time. I really like Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth, but I don’t know when I’ll play it. I look at my shelf and see a lot of campaign games. Games like Solomon Kane, Reichbusters, Arkham Horror The Card Game, Star Wars: Imperial Assault and more are going to get played before it.

Plus I have Kickstarter games coming in like Etherfields, ISS Vanguard, HEL: The Last Saga, Primal, and Oathsworn. So when I look at Journeys in Middle Earth, I had to ask myself, would I play this before those. And the answer is, probably not. While the theme is one that I love, and the game was a lot of fun, I don’t see myself playing it when I have other bigger campaign games and other smaller campaign games.

This one I sold to a friend last night actually who had a group that had gone through Imperial Assault. For them it could be a good next game to play, and again he also really likes the theme as well, so it works well for him. I wish I’d played it, but I also know that I won’t.

Legacy of Dragonholt

Another campaign style game. This one is different though, it’s choose your own adventure with character stats. It’s somewhere between an RPG and a board game. I’ve played the start of it a few times and it’s fun. I think that it does a lot of things really well, but again, you saw my list of campaign games. When am I going to fit this one in?

Oddly enough, I think that it’s just a little bit too big for it’s own good. It takes a bit too much effort to get to the table. And the ruleset is just a bit too complex, though really simple, to play and then come back to in a few weeks or in a couple of months. If I want to do something that is purely choose your own adventure, I have Choose Your Own Adventure House of Danger. If I want that storybook and stat sheet, I have Loup Garou from Van Ryder games that is a one off thing.

Legends of Andor (and Expansion)

This, I think, is kind of another campaign game. Now, I say I think because I didn’t delve too far into the game. It is a fun puzzle game where you are trying to maximize what you do. However, for me, it’s just one I won’t play again. Legends of Andor has some really cool things about it though.

It does have that story element that I like to a game. And it makes you think about what you’re doing for an adventure game where there are monsters. You can’t just kill all the monsters, if you kill all of the monsters, you push up on a track. The faster you push up on that track the faster the game will end. So you only need to deal with the monsters that are a threat or are in the way. That is what really drives the puzzle aspect.

But, again, it falls into that category of a game that is pretty light, but has just enough rules that I can’t pull it off the shelf and get it to the table in minutes. And the campaign element isn’t strong to it, so I could play one off scenarios, but I’m likely just going to play the tutorial one again if I were to play it more.

Bring Your Own Book

Bring Your Own Book was one of my first Kickstarted board games. I liked it a fair amount in concept the game, just a bit less in actual game play. The idea is simple, everyone has a book and there is someone who is it. They put out a prompt and everyone has a couple of minutes to find a sentence or phrase in their book as an answer. Sounds fun and funny to have a wide variety of books.

There is one flaw in the game for me, though. It isn’t easy to find passages. Two minutes of time, or let’s say even three, isn’t that long. And while it’s funny to have a textbook and a biography and a novel as people’s books, some books just don’t work as well. And some people aren’t as fast as flipping through their books. I am not a speed reader but I can skim/read fast. Even for me it was tricky at times, or what you land is just something because you have to, not because it’s any good. I’d describe this game as clutchy, it can work, or it can stall real easily.

Boss Monster

Boss Monster is another I’d call clutchy. It is a pretty fun game with a great theme. You are building out a dungeon and are the boss monster at the end of it. Your goal is to kill as many adventurers as possible. And if you have the most of some symbols you attract adventurers.

That is where the game gets clutchy though. You don’t start out with a dungeon good enough to kill the adventurers. So they only show up in your dungeon if you have the most, so you are trying to tie with people the first few rounds. That isn’t fun, simple as that. If we started with a preseeded dungeon and we could make it bigger or better, that’d be more fun. Also some of the other mechanics aren’t what I’d call intuitive. With that said, I don’t hate the game, I just know I probably won’t play it again.

Sentinels Tactics: The Flame of Freedom

This one is pretty simple to describe why I got it and why it’s leaving. I got it on accident, I thought I was getting another Sentinels of the Multiverse expansion, it is a different game. Why is it leaving, tactics games like this one aren’t always my jam. I have not that many teams on a map games, Super Fantasy Brawl being my favorite. And I know the comparison isn’t perfect, but it’s in a category of games where I just don’t think I’ll get it to the table. It’s just a genre of games that I don’t need that many of.

Small World Underground

Finally one that might be surprising but don’t worry Small World is still in my collection. Small World Underground is basically the game thing as Small World, it just adds in a few little things, like locations to control that give you something more you can do. It is a lot of fun, so why is it leaving?

It’s leaving because I have Small World. That little extra thing to teach means I don’t want to play it as often. When we play Small World it’s generally because we can pull it off the shelf and play immediately. Nothing needs to get taught, everyone in the group knows it or needs a two sentence refresher on it. If I were to pull out Underground, we couldn’t get it to the table as fast.

Which Would You Keep?

So, in all fairness, I actually pulled back one game that was in the pile as I was talking about it. I am keeping Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, at least for right now. It’s such a simple deck building game with a theme that people like, even if they don’t like JK Rowling. And I kind of do want to push through all seven chapters just to see everything that changes. It might not last for a long time, but we’ll see, maybe I’ll stream it.

As you can see, though, there are two main things that pushed games off my shelf. Would I play them over other games in the same genre, and are they in that category of too complex but easy. I’m not sure that makes sense, the better way to put it might be that the games a pretty simple when you get down to it, but have enough rules that you need to refresh yourself to play them.

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Dice Throne Season 1 and Adventures

So, the whole story of why I am selling Adventures is in the Point of Order article. Basically, I got painted minis and a second copy of Dice Throne Adventures in a sale, so I am selling that one. I can still play with my own copy. Probably the more interesting is Dice Throne Season 1. That game is one that I love, so why am I selling it. Well, because my version was the original version of the game. For a lot of people, not an issue, for me not much of an issue either. But for a lot of people, they’d upgrade it to the big box version, I went the opposite direction. I have all of Season 2 in the duel boxes, think boxes with two characters in them. Then I got the Ninja vs Treant duel box. I wanted to get the duel boxes for the original six characters. Mainly, they’d fit on my shelf nicer, and it makes them easier to transport around. So it’s less I’m getting rid of the game, more that my version is changing.

Sword & Sorcery

Now, I was stoked for this game. I picked up the base game and then an expansion, plus character packs. Now I am selling it. Am I said that I’m getting rid of it, no, because I had my fun with it. My hope was that it’d be like Gloomhaven. A massive campaign that I’d want to keep around and play again. Sword & Sorcery fell short of that. The story lacked for me. The game play, while fun, repeated too much. You roll dice, see if you hit, the bad guys go, repeat the process. You find weapons, you level up and get new skills, and you repeat. While Dice Throne has you chucking dice like this does, the characters in Dice Throne feel more unique. In Sword & Sorcery, the characters were fun but everything lacked feeling so different. And the actions you could take, outside of combat, were too basic or possibly not common enough. We reached a point where we had a few actions, but couldn’t do anything with all of them, so there was waste every turn.

All of that is pretty negative. But I still like the game. It is or was in my Top 100, I think it’ll drop out. The game play works, it plays pretty fast, and you can get through the story quickly. It’s not like Gloomhaven where the story lasts for weeks and weeks and it took me three years to get through it. Sword & Sorcery, it took 3 months to get through it. That is nice to have a shorter story game. But, because the story is simpler and shorter, and the game play is simpler, I don’t see myself going back to the game. again.

So I am selling all of that. The store credit will help with getting more Marvel Champions characters and expansions as they are released, or it might help get more Deep Madness expansions as well. We’ll see when it all comes through. So really with all of this, I’m going down one game, and it’s a game that I’ve had my fun with it, now it’s time for someone else to have fun with it.

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