Birthday Board Games Wishlist

Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority Hagalaz

Should this one by on the list, I’m not sure. But it’s on the list because I am interested in it. But it’s not the game that I’m going to get for myself. I need to play the Mass Effect video games as well, but I feel like that ship might have sailed on me. That said, I do own them on Steam, so maybe I’ll get around to them. But a game set in that universe sounds interesting to me.

Digging for Dinos

This is one that I might just pick-up for myself at some point in time. But Digging for Dinos is a set collection dinosaur game where you are trying to complete your skeletons and that gets you points. But you have two archeologists who move around either orthogonally or diagonally and then flip to move the other way. Simple but fun.

Spooktacular

We’ll see how much longer this one stays on my gift wishlist. Mainly because I really want this game. I love the theme and campy nature of this game. You are horror movie tropes/villains that come off the big screen at a movie showing. And you want to kill as many people as you can in the theaters, so you are, in your own special thematic way, doing that and I just adore the idea of that in a game.

Corps of Discovery

This game just looks like my type of game as well. Corps of Discovery is a deduction sort of game, if I remember correctly but can be played solo. You play in this Lewis and Clark sort of setting or that time period but it’s not just the normal world. This is also based off of a comic. The game and scenarios definitely sound interesting as you play.

Duel for Cardia

This is a two player dueling game that is a lot of fun. I’ve played it a bunch on BGA and I really enjoy every play that I’ve had of it. You are playing out cards where you want to win a certain number, I believe it is 5, before your opponent. But if you win the battle you get the point (for now) and your opponent gets to activate their cards ability. And that can mess with previous duels that you’ve had. And I like that back and forth of maybe trying to lose sometimes for the power

Galactic Cruise

Honestly, this might be a game that I wait to see drop into a local game store used. I have played it on BGA and I find it to be a really fun game though very crunchy and one that I probably need to play another 2-3 times to get everything down. But that’s the fun of some games and the theme of launching cruise ships into space and become the best not pilot but best coordinator for the company is a lot of fun

Splendor Duel

Now, I am not the biggest fan of Splendor. Mainly because I feel like the game becomes very samey over time and that’s not a bad thing but it’s a game that I’ve played enough. Splendor Duel feels better. You have three ways to win and the grid of gems is going to change. So while the game definitely has a lot of the same collecting vibe, it’s just handled in what I’d call a better game.

The Battle of Versailles

Did I think that I’d want a game that is about fashion ever, no. But this one sounds really intriguing as a two player game battling over a historical fashion show where two different groups were trying to come out on top. The back and forth nature of a two player game draws me in more than the theme does and the company is also really intriguing.

The Hobbit: There & Back Again

I am a sucker for Lord of the Rings themed games. I like Lord of the Rings a lot. But my wife likes it more so it’s something where I feel like I can get it and it’s much more likely to get played. Because of that, The Hobbit: There & Back Again is on the list. And the game itself does sound interesting to me. Interesting that it’s competitive, but that doesn’t bother me.

Darwin’s Journey

This is another game that we’ll see how long it sticks to the list because I really want this game. I played it twice now on BGA and I feel like I understand it, but I’m not that good at it. There is so much going on in the game as you are exploring the islands, sailing, as well as then finding specimens, sending them back to museums and it’s just a lot. Plus the game is beautiful as well.

Toy Battle

This is a two player game that I debated if I really wanted it or not for a while. And the answer is yes. This is a two player lane battling game in the vein of a game like League of Legends. You either draw tiles or play a tile on your turn. Your goal is to get points and get enough to win. Or to get to your opponents base and place a tile there. The tiles all have powers and the maps change up paths and strategies.

Turing Machine

I didn’t think I’d like this game. I won’t lie. I thought that the game was going to be too difficult to really puzzle out. Then I learned it on BGA and I really like the game. I bounce off of some of the more obtuse board games when it comes to deduction, like Orapa Mines. But Turing Machin just works for me. And I love the idea of this as a puzzle of the day for me to get my brain going.

Yaxha

This is a light filler game of selecting stones and building up a pyramid. I have this one on my list for myself but also because I think that others in my group would like it. And sometimes those are the board games that I put on my Birthday list or gift list. I know which board games I want to play and I tend to buy those for myself. But the board games that others might like better, I like those as gifts.

Final Thoughts

Thank you all for sticking with me through years of Nerdologists. As I get older this is something that is going to keep on going and talking about board games because I love doing it. How I write and what I write about has changed over the years but my passion for this hasn’t. So thank you again for sticking with me through the thick and the thin of board gaming fun.

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Top 5 New To Me July Board Games

5. Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest

Now, if you read yesterdays article it might seem like I didn’t love this game. And I don’t love it. But I did enjoy it well enough. I think that in person I’d probably enjoy it more. But it’s in that camp of game that I like well enough to play but not well enough to own. So if a friend wanted to play it, I’m in. I’m just not going to own it. I like the hidden role selection but then the actions and interactions are just okay for me.

4. Droles de Zebres

This one is also in that camp of I’d gladly play it but I’m not going to seek out the game. It’s simple and fast enough when playing two players. The downside of the game is that I think it’d start to feel very similar over time. Also this game could be any theme. Why does the crocodile and gazelle switch spots if you want, no one knows. But those interactions are what makes the game interesting and sticking your opponent with a placement they may not want.

3. Seasons

Seasons is a game on the cusp of me wanting to own it. And it is a tricky game to know if I should pick it up or not because it’s a game that I think I’d play some. But also a game that I think with the combos would be a game that not everyone in my group would want to optimize. And the more you play it, the more it feels like it’ll get out of balance with players who know the combos and players who don’t.

2. Twinkle Twinkle

I own Twinkle Twinkle but I played it on BGA before I played my copy. And I like it, clearly, so I’m glad that I own it. I even backed it on crowdfunding, so I believe I have the extra box for it which adds in a little bit more but also, I believe, gave me acrylic tiles. This is a simple game but it’s also a lot of fun with how simple it is which is a good combo for getting to the table.

1. Magical Athlete

Magical Athlete is easily the top game on the list. Why, because it’s the one that I got and because the game is just fun. You can read my full review of it here. But the simple premise of it is that you draft racers, you pick one of your drafted racers and then you roll dice and see whose racer can win the race and get the points. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does because of the racers powers and the dumb fun that happens.

Final Thoughts

Which of these games would you like to know more about. Let me know that and let me know which are your favorites. While July wasn’t as strong a month as some, the top two are really great. And Magical Athlete had tempted me, I held off on buying it, but after playing a friends copy it is a must buy game for me and now is part of my collection to play with family and friends who want that silly fun sit around and talk game.

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July Board Games (Part 2)

Sheep Boom Bah

A dud of a game. Two sheep board games this month and neither of them were that fun. You wanted to get your sheep to your barn but were moving blindly around a board. Plus you could mess with other peoples sheep. It’s a simple concept for a game but is one of those things where it just doesn’t fall into the category of fun for the amount of randomness in the game.

Perch

Perch is, in theory, an interesting game. I say “in theory” because the game works well for what it’s trying to do but just fell flat for me. You are playing birds to different locations. Depending on the location you score points if you have the most, middle, or fewest, and you might get extra perks. The interesting twist is that you play some of your birds and some of your opponents so you can try and mess them over. In theory that is fun, in execution it’s just okay.

Flip 7: With a Vengeance

A new version of Flip 7, this one with more mean cards. But I will say, I think that it works. Now, do I need to own this and Flip 7, absolutely not. And Flip 7 is simpler math and easier to teach. For that reason it’s going to stay in my collection versus this new version. But if you like the chance to be a bit more take that, Flip 7: With a Vengeance is going to be a solid choice for you. And it’s light and fast so it doesn’t feel bad.

Quartz: The Dice Game

Quartz might be a game that I demoed at Gen Con previously and hadn’t rated. But it’s a mining game. And then you roll dice to see what extra actions you get. You can get rid of the bad things that you didn’t want to mine, save gems you have mined for points, or dig more. It’s a game that works. And that’s kind of negative sounding. I don’t mean for it to be that way, it’s just a simple filler sort of game that some people will want and for me was a pass long term.

Magical Athlete

Magical Athlete is a game that I did a review on already that you can read here. The simple version is that this is a roll and move racing game with powers. But it works for what it is. You draft racers and then you roll dice and see what happens but what happens is generally a lot of silly fun times. And each race doesn’t take too long.

Droles de Zebres

I’m sure there is an English name as well, but this is what it is on BGA if you want to find it. It’s a two player area control game on the African savannah. You move a safari guide, I think, around the edge of the board and that determines what column or row you can place your next animal in. If you have majority in an area you get the points. But the crocodiles and lions can mess with placement. It’s light and pretty fun for a game like this, but not a two player game that I need.

Jackpot: Set the Reel

Jackpot is the second slot machine game that I remember relatively recently. This one you are trying to lay out the best combination of 3 cards to get coins which lets you buy more and better cards and score points, if you play out three of a kind. But you can’t change where the cards are in your hand. This is not a hard game to play as you improve your hand and pull cards into your hand to set-up future turns. But it’s also not that fun.

Liberatlia: Winds of Galecrest

I haven’t played the original Liberatlia so Winds of Galecrest is my first play of it and I think it’s a solid game. It isn’t a game that I love as you try and play out characters which then give you a benefit and you guess what your opponents might be playing. On BGA this maybe suffers from the downtime as you play asynchronously. That said, I just felt like it was a good game not a great game.

Name The Thing

This is a party game where the person who is it flips over a card that says something like “A 90’s Boy Band” or something like that and the other players use cards in their hands to create names. The person who is it picks their favorite. This is the type of game that has been done a million times. And it’s the type of game where sometimes you have something great that you can play from your hand and something you have nothing. So just a normal party game.

5Pairs

Final game for the month of July is 5Pairs. This is a game played over multiple rounds of creating pairs of cards either by color or number and scoring points. If you get both color and number to match you get double points. This is a perfectly average game. Mainly because there aren’t many decisions to make. You either have a pair and you take that or you don’t and you draw two cards adding one to your hand and one to the middle to make a pair again. Of course by the time it comes around you might be stuck because you have no pairs or no cards in the middle. A lucky game.

Is there one of these games that you’d like to learn more about, let me know in the comment section.

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July Board Games (Part 1)

Azul: Queen’s Garden

Another version of Azul. And Queen’s Garden isn’t a bad game. I don’t think that any of the versions of Azul are bad games. But I’ll say, I think that’s not nearly as good a game as the original. They almost add more to do in the game and that more to do often is just extra work in the game without feeling like I get a ton of extra payoff. Queen’s Garden is maybe the worst offender for that from the ones that I’ve played.

Nacho Pile

Nacho Pile is a little push your luck tile drawing game, or nacho drawing game. It’s fine for what the game is. But like a lot of these push your luck board games they feel pretty similar to a lot of others. And for that I kind of bounced off of it, not in a bad way, just in the way that I’ve played games like this before.

TREOS

TREOS is an interesting quest completion game with some unique movement rules as to how you can move based off of the card that you can play. Both the compass on the card and the number there. I wish that it felt like it had more fun to the game. Yes, you program out your movement and then you wait for everyone to take their turns because they might move a bandit around.

Letter Tycoon

Letter Tycoon is a stock market word game, kind of. You make words that give you funds to buy letters from your word. If your opponents use those letters you get points or money or some benefit. Overall it’s an okay-ish word game that doesn’t work on BGA. Why doesn’t it work, because you can challenge words, which is fine in person because you can do that really quickly. When every turn there is a challenge phase that just draws out the game.

Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game

Another Terraforming Mars game. I’ve played Ares Expedition and Terraforming Mars and this is the worst of them. That isn’t to say that it’s a very bad game, it’s a fine game. But when it comes to Terraforming Mars it feels like it’s lacking. And the game itself just doesn’t ramp the way that I’d like to see it do, especially when compared to the other two.

Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle is a lot of fun and does some things that I like a lot. I like tile placement or more tableau building where I maximize my scoring by how I place out my tiles. But beyond that, I really like the open drafting mechanism for this game. It uses the metho that I love in Floriferous where you draft and depending on where it is in the row in this case, that sets your draft order for next round. And you see what is coming up next. Scoring is simple and it’s a light game, but a good one.

RabbitZ & Robots

Not a fun game, in my opinion. This one is a lot of luck and randomness. Now, I will say, I played it on BGA. Why say that, because this type of game is going to be better in person with a group who is up for dumb fun. But it’s mainly just dumb, unfortunately, and doesn’t offer anything that I find to be worthwhile to checkout in person. Now, that’s really negative, but I didn’t like it.

Relative Space

Another game that isn’t that fun. You are trying to get things onto escape pods. But what you’re really trying to do is get rid of your cards first. To do that you need to play a higher value card than the last one. And sometimes you don’t know what value your card is going to be. So it’s lucky and yes, you can stick your opponent with a harder spot to get a card played out just by jumping a number more, but that’s not that much fun.

Penalty Challenge

Now another one that is a bad game. Relative Space isn’t bad, just not that much fun. This one is more like RabbitZ & Robots. This is a game of mainly luck that goes on way too long. You want to be the first person to score 5 goals. You pick a shot card, your opponent sees that and picks a goalie card, they then block off some spots and you need to roll a die to see if you score. This is a soccer game, you should score more often than not, but not in Penalty Challenge.

Seasons

I want to play Seasons again. That is a good sign for a game. I want to play it again because I think that I could do better and I think the more you play it the better that you do. Seasons is a game of building up points and an engine to get points. Playing it on BGA, I felt like I lacked the time/desire to fully dive into understanding the combos at all times. But when I did, it was good combos. And there is some messing with the other players as well, or more depending on what cards you have in there. Fun concept and execution of a game.

Which one of these games sounds the most interesting or would you want a review on? Let me know that down in the comment section below.

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What Are Expansions?

Let’s start out firstly with what an expansion is. I think that we probably have a general idea, but I want to make it clear. Expansions are separate boxes/purchases that you make for a board game that adds in additional content to that game. They are separate from being a module that comes in the box, so if something says solo player rules in the box for a game that isn’t “solo” that’s a module for that game, or special rules, not an expansion.

Good vs Bad Expansions

Expansions can be both good for a game and bad for a game. I’ll go into detail on some of the common types of expansions for games and if they are good or bad for a game. But let’s talk about why that could be and mainly why an expansion could be bad.

Bad expansions are sometimes used in crowdfunding to keep part of the game behind a paywall. The company looks at a game and splits it into two parts, something playable and something good. This also happens after the fact. If a game is not properly playtested through the whole game experience you end up with a game that is broken when it is printed, the first expansion then fixes the game. But not people have purchased multiple things.

Good expansions are going to take what people already love about a game and enhance it or add more to it. It’s not going to fix that flaw in a game. But now that we have a basis here, let’s talk about some of the different types of expansions.

Different Expansion Types

More Content

Let’s start off with this expansion as this one is generally a good expansion type for a game. When you make an expansion with more content generally you aren’t adding to the rules and complexity of the game that much. It, instead, is just giving the players more of what they want.

Now, not all more content expansions are perfect. The big thing with a more content expansion is that it should be easy to integrate with the existing game. Sometimes the more content is play with some cards of the expansion and then remove some cards from the base game, for example. But then you can play with the other cards in the expansion, but if you do, not the first group of cards. So you need to make that simple to differentiate between those two otherwise it causes overhead and makes the game harder to play.

More Players

This one is a very hit or miss expansion type. The prime example of this is Catan which you can get a 5-6 player expansion for the base game and every expansion that they have. The more players in a game like Catan, the longer that game is going to take. Now, Catan does balance that some by getting resources on other players turns, so you have potential to get more. But a lot oft he time the more player expansions are just going to add in more time as well as players.

The risk with adding in more time is that it can take a 90 minute game to over two hours, or maybe a 30 minute filler to an hour long game. So it needs to balance that out. But for other games it doesn’t matter. Guild of Merchant Explorers, for example, plays at 4 out of the base box. But everyone plays at the same time. So the expansion that adds in a few more cards and 4 more players won’t add much time because the speed is always the speed of the slowest player in the group.

New or More Mechanisms

This is another one that is risky. And I think that New or More Mechanisms is often a spot where the fixing the game falls into. But, like the more players, this can cause issues, or even the more content it can cause issues. With adding in something new like a new mechanism these expansions are fundamentally changing how the game is played.

Sometimes that can be a fun little addition to the game. Other times it changes what is a game that people like into one that people don’t like. Or, it becomes difficult to play without it if you want because that is now integrated into cards in the main box. An example of that would be Roll Player which adds in new things with expansions, but it’s all cards so very hard to remove it if you want to teach the simpler base game.

On the flip side, you have a game like Lost Ruins of Arnak. I love that game and I love it even more with the expedition leaders. This added in minor new mechanisms for each player to have in the game. But you only need to know your mechanism for that game. That improves a good game already and is simple and light to add into the game. And easy to not play with if you want.

Prelude

Prelude expansions are generally good expansions. But I’d also say generally bad expansions because I think this is often something that should just be in the box to start the game. What is a prelude expansion? This sort of expansion is going to reduce some of the grind at the start of the game. If a game takes 2-3 turns to get going and get engines up and running these expansions are going to offer a way to bypass that. The most obvious example of this is Terraforming Mars Prelude.

This is often going to shorten up a longer game. But the biggest benefit is that it gets rid of those dud turns. An example of not an expansion but a rules option for this would be in Space Base. And it’s the one I’m most familiar with. But that one lets you draw some cards and then spend to get them into your engine before the game starts. So when you start rolling the dice to get money and points, you already have something unique to start. And you get money and get moving faster.

Big Box

The final one I want to talk about are big box expansions. These expansions come out after a game already has a number of expansions. Often times one of the downsides of an expansion is that you have spot to store everything. So expansions are going to give you five boxes to lug around if you want to take it all with you. Thus the big box was born.

A big box is often good, but very often poorly done. When you make a big box expansion there are two things that I think are a must. It can’t just be a box. There are companies who sometimes just release a big box and all that comes with it is a box and they charge you $40 for it. Yes, that is how much it costs to ship and get over here carefully because it’s an empty box, but that’s lousy value for the consumer. So put in some small expansion, whether it’s just more cards, or in the case of Arnak some more research tracks. Make it worthwhile.

The other thing is that a big box shouldn’t be empty in terms of storage either. Lost Ruins of Arnak gives you a way to make it faster to get to the table. Versus Roll Player which gave you a big empty box. All the stuff fits but now it’s a pain to get to the table because there’s not organizing everything. So a big box expansion must have a way to organize everything to be good, or at least instructions for how to take organizers from the other boxes and use them.

Expansion vs Expandalone

Finally I want to talk about an odd distinction here that is kind of only a thing in board games. I can’t think of many or any video game expansions that fall into this category. But what in the world is an expandalone? An expandalone is something that is an expansion but also can be played standalone.

I have two major examples for this, Aeon’s End and Dice Throne. In Aeon’s End, each box comes with mages to play as and nemesis to fight. So each box is a separate game that you can play on it’s own. But, all the mages and nemesis are also compatible with all the other versions of Aeon’s End. So if you want to mix one from the core box with Aeon’s End War Eternal Expandalone, you can do that.

The same can be said for Dice Throne. You can take any two of the characters and battle them against each other. If you want to get the Santa Claus vs Krampus box and the Dice Throne Season 1 box, you can do that and battle Santa Claus and Krampus one time and then the Pyromancer versus Krampus another time.

So expandalones fall into that expansion category of more content for a game. But they give you enough to still be able to play the game without anything else.

What are your favorite expansions for board games?

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Gamefound Summer Feast 2026

Fantasy Flight Vault Series – Arkham Horror Remastered

Oh screw that noise they immediately get me. I loved my play for Arkham Horror 2nd Edition. But I never got my copy played, I got 3rd Edition and I never played it. So I hope that it’s the same game but maybe a little bit faster, little bit easier to play, and I’m so in on this. I think it’s going to be crazy fun to get this and maybe get all of this because I can.

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Chaosium -Old Ones Origins

Another spooky games and it sounds like a lot of fun. This is going to be a game like Forbidden Stars, at least in terms of the basis for it. But now it’s old ones and it sounds like a good game to me. I’m very much into that sort of game as we know. But I never played Forbidden Stars but it’s been one that I’ve heard good things about.

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Unstable Games – Ordinary Magic

This looks like a cute little game. I’m not familiar with this series of games, but one of them is a local bookshop which sounds cute. The downside is that there is nothing more on the three games in terms of details. I wish I could say more, but it’s mainly that these games look cute. Honestly I just don’t know for sure anything about this campaign.

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IV Studios – Tend: Hive and Cellar Expansion

Again nothing on this one. But if you’ve played Tend there are expansion(s) coming for it. So I think this is going to be a lot of fun for a lot of people.

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Wonderbow – Kelp: Offshore Offspring

It’s an expansion for this asymmetric two player game between sharks and octopus. I thought, in my play, that Kelp was a decent game, but I didn’t feel like it was amazing. And that’s not a bad thing just means that it’s not a two player game for me. But I think that a lot of people are going to enjoy it as well and I should maybe try it some more.

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Mood Publishing – Satisfactory

I’m not familiar with this IP, Satisfactory. But it’s an IP that is about making interesting production things and optimizing that supply chain. Honestly the setting look cool, but if I didn’t know it was a video game, I might be more interested in it. I hope that it doesn’t just try and remake a board game or it makes the board game in a good way because it looks fun in the terms of aesthetics.

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Synergic Games – Metal Slug

Another IP that I’m not familiar with, but it’s a game with some cool looking minis. It’s coming in 2027 and they gave us just a tiny little teaser trailer. This is a side scrolling game as a video game and about blowing stuff up. How is this going to be a board game, no idea.

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Fantasia Games – Mobius

A time travel board game that is an Euro Game. Your worker spot is going to be moving through time and when you place depends on what’s available. And at the end of the round time is going to shift. Honestly, this sounds amazing to me. Plus you can cause paradoxes and that means that times can move through different time and I love love love the idea of that in a game as well. I think a lot of folks I know will love this theme and idea. Plus it’s an asymmetric game.

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Cranio Creations – Lorenzo Il Magnifico – A New Renaissance

It’s a new edition of Lorenzo Il Magnifico. It’s going to be an updated version of the game with new rules, scoring and some tweaks while still being the same game. Plus there is a solo mode now for the game. And it’s going to to have a box full of deluxe addons if you want. This is a game that’s never drawn me in as one that I want to play but who knows.

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Skellig Games – Steam & Cheese

Steam & Cheese is a really weird sounding game. This is a steam punk cheese making game. It’s going to be a dice placement game. The dice that you pick is going to get you cheese depending on the color of the die as well then placing the die. And it’s not about the number on the top of the die but on the sides of the die and where it is pointing which sounds really interesting and unique. I like the sound of this one a lot.

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Greater Than Games – Defenders of the Realm

This is a cooperative tower defense sort of game. It’s simultaneous play which is interesting. I haven’t played the game before, but it’s been one that I’ve heard about. First off, I’m mainly glad that Greater Than Games is back. And I think that the game sounds like a good time with how it works. The spend cards but the better and more cards you spend is going to make things escalate faster.

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Ghostfire Gaming: Aberrations: Oblivions Embrace

Spooky game of defending a village with awesome looking minis. And this looks like my sort of game again. Defending the tower is interesting as well and setting traps, fortifying defenses. Does this game need awesome minis, no. But it’s going to look even more awesome because of that. Plus the monsters are going to twist and change. Plus then there is going to be a great beast as well in this game. I hope I can get it without the minis. This is going to be an expansion as well as get the base stuff.

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Skytear Game – Fortressfall

A deck building game with a king of the hill sort of thing. I love deck building there is no doubt about that. Plus it’s Skytear Games and I like their games. Not much more on this one, but sounds like my sort of game.

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Dragori Games – Dungeons of Tanares

Do you want more Tanares, you can do that. I have Tanares and I need to play what I have. This sounds funs to have more of it, but I’ll say that I’m not going to be backing this. Why, because I need more to play what I have. But it’s great to have a spot to jump into it for the first time.

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Skykingdom Games – Steadfast

This is going to be a tactical game where it’s going to be scenario based. This is going to be the company that brought you The Isofarian Guard. So if you wanted to play that but you didn’t want a massive game, though this will be huge still, so maybe a massive campaign I should say, Steadfast is supposed to help with that. You can play it as a campaign but you can also play it as one offs. Plus it’s going to have that good Foreteller voice acting and score. One that I want for sure but unlikely to back because I already have Isofarian Guard.

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Tycoon Games – Fable Quest

Did you like Arcadia Quest? This is going to be a cooperative game kind of using some of those systems. This looks like a good time and like it’s going to have good minis and the chance to explore and have fun. I think this is going to be that friendly sort of not so much dungeon crawler but light exploring game which is going to be a good time. I’m very much sold on this one which is dangerous as always, too many good looking campaigns.

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Red 23 – Shadows of Nosferatu

A horror themed game, which is of course something that is up my alley in terms of a game. It’s a roleplaying game though, not a board game. I do like roleplaying. But it’s an easy pass for me.

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Buer Games – Pilgrims: The Haunted Frontier

The artwork is a nice black and white on this game. But it’s another roleplaying game. So we know what that means. But the theme and setting do sound amazing. Okay, maybe a skirmish game, either way, not a board game board game.

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One Page Rules: Grimdark Future – Jade & Claw

This is a miniatures game. And I don’t mean as a board game but as a miniature battling game. I’m meh on the idea of it just because I don’t need that sort of hobby to jump into as I already have so many board games to play.

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Freecompany – Eldfall Chronicles Apocrypha

This is another game that is going to be a ton of minis in the game. It feels kind of like an RPG and a dungeon crawler. It feels like it’s going to be pretty huge in terms of what it does and it is good because of that. At the same time it’s just a lot and when they showed off the table of the previous stuff, do I have enough table room for it, who knows.

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Rebellion Unplugged – Dino Battle

A dino battling game. It sounds very epic in how they talk about it. But for me, it’s a battling game and just going to be too aggressive for what I want to play. Because this is going to be just a big dice chucker.

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Level 99 Games – Bride of Spooktacular

This is going to be another Spooktacular game. Honestly, this is a game that I need. Now, do I need this one, probably not, but I need the base game. But I love the sound of it because it’s a game of playing those movie horror monsters and trying to be the best one.

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Everything Epic: Agents of Smersh and Expansions

Another game that is already out there but if you want to get more of the game of jump in for the first time, this is your chance. Agents of Smersh does sound fun, but do I need to jump in?

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Starlit Ocean Games – Neon Cartels

This one sounds pretty cool. You’re trying to be the best cartel as you build up your part of the empire. So sounds like a lot going on and a chance to be somewhat in your face. I like the idea of these hidden actions that you are picking. This sounds like a good sort of game as you try and guess what your oppents are doing.

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International Team – FIEF France

I don’t know a ton about this one. It seems like a very historical game and it doesn’t sound like a ton of fun to me. Is that a bad thing, no, just not the sort of game that I’m super excited about.

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Lucky Duck Games – Food Chain Magnate Fancy Edition

It’s back again. And I’m still not at all interested in this game. Yes, it looks good now, but it’s a game where you can lose on your first turn and it’s a big and crunchy game. So yeah, just a pure pass for me. I’d try it but only with people who are up for helping me learn how to play it.

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Final Thoughts And My Top 5’s

It’s a tough list to come up with only five from, but here’s the quick breakdown of my top ones in no order.

1. Arkham Horror 2nd Edition Remastered
2. Steam & Cheese
3. Mobius
4. Fable Quest
5. Aberrations

All of those games really tickle my fancy. I strongly considered Spooktacular as well. And I think that one is going to be one that I just see if I can pick-up a copy with retail.

What games would make your list?

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5 Board Game Themes We Need More Of

5. Literature

Now, this one is an odd one for me to put down. We have a lot of board games that are based off of books, and that is what I mean. I want more like that. I want more games based off of my favorite series. Right now, for example, there is a game based off of The Dresden Files. But I’d say that the game it out of print. I want another game around that, I want five more games around that really.

And I think we are starting to see more games in that area. That is why it is lower on the list. But it’s been pretty recently with Brandon Sanderson making waves in the board game industry that we are starting to see more games, like the Wheel of Time board game or Dungeon Crawler Carl get picked up. And I know there are so many series that I’d love to see more board games about or even one off books.

Stories are just a massive pool to draw from. And a good board game could be made about any book. But finding that audience and knowing which one to grab onto is the hard part. Or, maybe it’s not that hard, but getting a good board game out of that might be tricky instead of something just generic.

4. Werewolves

This one is really specific but I mean it. I want more games with werewolves. Now, I do have a Werewolf big campaign board game coming from Flyos Games the same company that made Vampire The Masquerade Chapters. But I want more games with this theme. I think that transformation element is giving a lot to play with.

I find it interesting how vampires are super common and zombies offer a survival type of game. But generally werewolves are very much under utilized in the board gaming space but also just in general in media. So give me more with them, I think the ability to be a werewolf at night but not during the day and maybe more randomness at night but less during the day, that could create an amazing combo for a game.

3. Fairytale

Now, this is maybe something that is close to fantasy and just falls under that. But we get a lot of games with fantasy in them and maybe pull a little bit of fairytale. I want more games that just use the classic fairytales in different ways. A good board game around Hansel and Gretel where it’s maybe one versus all, that sounds cool to me.

Also, make your fairy tale board game dark and gritty as well. I love a good dark storyline where it is something we know but twisted. No, I haven’t watched the Winnie the Pooh horror movie, but stuff like that is often fun. And when it comes to the Grimm Fairytales and things like that, they are dark and disturbing, not that happy Disney version.

2. Pirates

Yes, I know there are a good number of pirate games out there. But I find that not many of them give me that pirate feel. I want swashbuckling on the high seas. And a lot of them give me pick-up and deliver without the fun and adventure. Now, I have some games that I need to play with this them. Mainly I have Sea of Legend and Scoundrel’s Bay. But I want more games like that.

And I think some of this is that I want a big legacy game that gives me this. Y es, there is a game out there called Seafall. No, Seafall is not a good game when it comes to this. I actually have ideas of how to take the base of Seafall and turn it into something better. That said, I want more with this theme and with that adventure feel.

1. Anime

Now, this is starting to pick-up a little bit. And there are some companies, Japanime and Level 99 who have games with anime themes. But, I hate to say it, a lot of those games aren’t that great. They take an anime and they slap a pretty generic game to it and ship it out. And some of that might be the companies that are being worked with, or it might be what the licensing company is asking for. But I want a great board game with an anime theme, and I haven’t found one yet. Middara is probably the right answer, but I haven’t played it yet.

And I think the easiest way to make this work is to not use an existing anime. A smart designer who knows anime will be able to create a game that feels like an anime. But they won’t be tied down to making a board game that needs to fit perfectly with an anime vision.

What type of board game, in terms of theme, do you want more of? Is there one that maybe hasn’t had the quality or is maybe just not used as much?

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Top 5 Games I Want To Demo At Gen Con

5. Satchel Quest

This is a bag building game. What is a bag building game, it’s like deck building, but instead of cards you are adding tokens to your bag and you draw from those. This gives it a fantasy theme as you are building out your bag to go adventure, fight monsters and create interesting combos. So it’s a dungeon delving game but not a campaign game.

I feel like Satchel Quest is going to offer something unique and fun as a game from building up the dungeon, heading to town to heal, upgrade and buy more tokens and then delving back into the dungeon. So a fantasy theme which I find fun with good sounding mechanism and unique sounding mechanisms for that type of game have me really curious.

4. Class of ’89

I was alive in 1989, though no where near graduating. But this game, from Paverson Games, sounds like a lot of fun. And Paverson Games has hit it out of the park with both Luthier and Distilled in terms of people loving the game. This game is about building your best yearbook and that just sounds fun. I think and maybe even hope that this will be a lighter game, but when you give me a good theme, the Paverson Games production values and attention to detail in games, I’m super excited for this one.

3. Excursions

Excursions is going to be a top game to demo for a lot of people. Why, because this is a follow-up game to Galactic Cruise from Kinson Key Games. Now, I know that I like Galactic Cruise. I’ve played it a few times and I really like the game. That one is all about scoring points by being the best cruise planner and launching cruises. This one is more about the cruises that are already in the air and now you are making sure everyone is having a good time there.

That theme is a lot of fun. And I like that it’s a continuation of the theme from Galactic Cruise. But it’s not something that would be locking them into just being that sort of company for their games. If you want to demo this game, get there first thing in the morning, I’d say. This is of course assuming they have a demo at their booth. It might be only ticketed demos, I haven’t looked.

2. Wobbly Life: The Board Game

This game just sounds like dumb fun. And that is a great type of game to tryout at Gen Con instead of just buying it. Now it’s not available to buy, but let’s talk about the game.

This is a dice rolling dexterity game where my assumption is that you are flicking your character around a board to land on different life events. And depending on how well you do that, you get a job, make money, buy a house, all the things that you would do in The Game of Life. But this just sounds more silly and fun. Honestly, this is a game that I’ll probably look to track down when it comes out.

1. War of the Dragon: The Wheel of Time

I like the series for The Wheel of Time a lot. It’s one that just has that classic epic fantasy feel to it. And I considered backing the game when it was on crowdfunding. But I held off on it for two reasons. The first is, I watched a little game play and I wasn’t sure how much I’d love it. I think that I would, but not completely sure. The other is that it’s a 2 player game (it says 2 to 4 but I assume really 2) and 2-4 hours per game. That is a lot of time.

So this is the perfect type of game for me to demo at Gen Con. I would give it a try and see if I like it. If I do, then doing a late pledge is always going to be an option for me.

Honorable Mentions:

Mistborn: Well of Ascension is just an honorable mention because I already know that I like the game. It’s a deck building game around the Mistborn series from Brandon Sanderson. So this is just going to be more stuff for that game and I’m excited for that.

Defenders of the Dictionary is another that I already know that I like quite well. I got to demo it two years ago now at Gen Con and I had fun with it. It’s a cooperative Scrabble type of game where you are trying to create words that connect different spots on the board and dealing with enemies as well. Interesting combo but works.

Final Thoughts

If you are heading out to Gen Con this year and demo these games, let me know. I’m really excited to hear more about all of these and how they play. Maybe one of them, or more, will be duds and that’ll be good to know. But I’m excited for all of them, am tempted to buy all of them when they show-up, and would love to know if that’s a good choice or not.

What games are you excited to demo at Gen Con?

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How To Play Up Or Down

Up Or Down is an open drafting game where you are trying to get numbers in order. If you want a board game comparison, it reminds me of Ohanami, but more complex drafting and simpler scoring.

In Up or Down you create three columns of cards and those are your scoring columns. But once you start building on a column the numbers either need to go up or down. So if you start at 9 a 1 or 2 is not going to be useful for that column. Now, if you can’t take play a card or don’t want to add it to a pile you can trash a pile and score 1 point per card.

But let’s talk about how to get cards. In this game you have a circle of cards from high to low. When you play a card you add it to the circle of cards. And you slot it between the numbers it falls in numerical order. So if you have a 42 it goes between the 32 and 45, for example. Then you take one of those two adjacent cards to add to your columns. Remember you add but you always add in the direction it was started in, either increasing or decreasing.

Then you draw a card and your 42 is added to the cards. The game goes like that until all the cards have been played. That means on your last turn you have a single card to play.

Scoring

So we know you get one point per card. But everyone ends up with the same number of cards. Each column is going to score one point per card in the column. And then you multiply that by the most common card color in the column. So a column with only five cards but four of them are the same color that is going to score you 20 points. As compared to a column with 10 cards but the most common color is only a two, that also gets you 20 points.

What Doesn’t Work

There is some luck in the game. Now I say some luck because you don’t know what your opponents are going to do. And the blind draw of cards, into your hand of three, can leave you stuck with numbers that are in a range that limits your options. Let’s say you get the 35, 42, and 44. In my example above, all of those cards fall between 32 and 45, so you only get two options on cards. That said, that happens to most people once during a game, so it’s not a massive limiting factor, and it’s all about pivoting.

What Works

Firstly, I like how simple the game is, but the card playing mechanism, in terms of the card you get for your column is clever. If you could take anything, it would be too easy. But it would also be too limited if you couldn’t take many cards. I think most of the time I have around 4 cards I can take that are unique when you play. Yes, it could be all six, but that’s unlikely with how the hands of cards work out.

The scoring is very good as well. I compare this game to Ohanami, but that game is much harder to teach the scoring. And while the drafting is simpler in Ohanami, the game takes longer to teach. So I like how Up or Down makes it that you just need to pay attention to colors. It is also going to make some interesting choices. Sometimes you look and you want to make a large jump to get the color you want. But when is the right time to make that jump, or is someone going to take the card you want.

Who Is Up Or Down For?

This is a good filler game. It is not extremely fast in it’s play, but it’s easy to teach and learn and turns are that fast. It is mainly that you go through a good number of cards. And the game is nice in that it gives you a long and short way to play it. So that is going to make the game tailored to how long you want it to be. I think that this is a solid filler for a good variety of players.

Final Thoughts on Up or Down

I enjoy Up or Down a lot in person and digitally on BGA. It is one of the BGA games that I find that I come back to pretty often. And because it’s so simple, it’s easy to jump back in without forgetting the rules to it.

The card playing is what really makes me like this game and why I picked it up. That manner of getting cards is just clever and it isn’t too complex. It feels like the right complexity and choice for the type of game that it is. I think that the same is true for the scoring of the cards in the game. Sometimes you make three really great columns of five cards, four of one color in each. Or sometime you have one column that scores one point per card and another that scores 4 points per card and has 10 cards.

I do really recommend this game. If you want a fun filler, this is a good choice. And it’s one that I think both my parents will understand and it’d be easy to play with them and other people who maybe don’t play as many games.

My Grade: B+
Casual Grade: A
Gamer Grade: B-
Luck: 2.5 out of 5
Strategy: 2.5 out of 5

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Galileo’s Truth – Want To Back

I won’t lie, this game is generally outside of the type of game that I normally back. But there is a real reason why I am so tempted to back the game. And that is actually another game. In the same aesthetic mode there is a game called Darwin’s Journey. Darwin’s Journey is a game that I have played a few times on BGA. And I love the game. It is complex and thinky in what you are doing. But not too complex that you can’t figure it out.

Galileo’s Truth tempts me for two reasons. I can get a nicer version than the retail version of the game. The other reason is that I can back Darwin’s Journey there as well. But I am not going to. Mainly because I can buy Darwin’s Journey now. It is still a pretty deluxe game wherever you get it. But the version you can back is going to be even more deluxe.

Two Games I’ve Backed – Rolling Deep

One word that got me to back this game. Balatro. Yes, this is a game that compared itself to Balatro one of my most played video games over the last handful of years. In fact, I plan on playing some more Balatro today. But this is not a card game, so how does it compare itself? It’s a solo only roguelike board game where you are rolling dice on your way to the center of the Earth. But the dice are upgradeable. So you might have some decent sides to start, but the more you play and roll the better they get.

That element of the game is really interesting for me. And it is an element of a game that is good for Malts and Meeples. I can easily sit down and play a dig, see what gets upgraded, what is unlocked or what changes up as I go. Then put it away and pull it out and play another run. And I like that in a video game and I like it in board game.

Two Games I’ve Backed – Echobound Adventures

Open Owl Studios is the main reason that I am backing this game. I like what they do. While a game like Mythwind is maybe not my favorite game of all time, I like it a lot. And I like Stonesaga, what I’ve played thus far. And I love Stars of Akarios. So of course Echobound Adventures sounds fun.

Some have compared the game to Unsettled in some ways. It is a game where you go on an adventure to a world and you see if you can win that scenario in a cooperative sandbox style of game. And the worlds that you go to look cool in this game. It is also nice that it isn’t a campaign game from Open Owl Studios. They make great campaigns, but I want some that are shorter to play as well that still give me their immersive and interesting feel of their games.

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