How to Play Kamon

In Kamon, you play against an opponent on a board that is already full of pieces, or symbols. And you want to create either a path connecting two opposite sides of the board of your piece. Or you want to surround a single piece with only your pieces. The player who does that first, either one, wins the game.

But it’s interesting how the game works. On your turn you can’t just claim any piece that you want. No, instead you play based off of what your opponent played. You either need to match color or symbol on the piece. Then your opponent does the same as well. When either of the win conditions are met, or there are no possible moves left, the game is over.

What Doesn’t Work

This is an abstract game. It doesn’t even pretend to have a theme. So if you love a game with a theme and it needs to have some sort of theme, this game isn’t going to do it for you. Normally I fall into that camp, but we’ll see if I do this time. But it’s just going to be a straight forward system that if you plan more turns ahead, you’ll probably do better. This is less of a negative and more of a learn more about the game.

What Works

The turns are fast. While there is a lot to consider, there isn’t always a ton that you can do on your turn. And this isn’t a negative, because it’s all about setting up yourself and preventing your opponent from winning. So each turn and action is going to be limited because of how you are able to chose. And as the game gets tighter and turns matter more, it is even more limited.

Because of that the game is also fast. There is no chaining of actions, it is simply picking from the options you have and verifying what it means for your opponent. I also like to think about what my opponent can do and if I can set them up to give me something I want. But that is a later game element, so it means that it’s limited in what you can do and keeps the game moving.

I also like how there are two (technically three) ways to win the game here. I find that it’s not uncommon to pivot on what I am doing in a game. And then I might pivot back. It means that there is enough to look at in the game to keep it feeling like you are not out of the game.

Who is Kamon For?

This is for people probably a couple or a regular gaming partner whom you want a short abstract game with. This is one that isn’t too heavy and doesn’t require too much planning. So it’s that filler waiting for more people to come to a game night or filling in the end of a game night after a heavy game when you want something lighter and easier to play.

Final Thoughts on Kamon

I expected not to like Kamon. Mainly because I thought it might be like Quarto. And I don’t like Quarto. In that one you pick a piece for your opponent to place. That game it feels like it is locked in and you wait for someone to make a mistake. And that is how you win the game. In Kamon, it is a bit more free, but it also has that element of setting up your opponent to maybe make a mistake. I feel like I have a healthier control to winning the game versus a control in not losing the game.

And I think that this game feels like it has more variety to it. Yes, the game is the “same” every time in terms of what you are trying to do. But the board is larger and more dynamic in how it is set-up. So that is going to make it feel like different options work better every time.

My Grade: B
Gamer Grade: B-
Casual Grade: B
Strategy: 8
Luck: 0

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How To Play Pyramido: Forgotten Treasures

This is a very simple game. You make a 5 x 4 (or 4 x 5) grid. On your turn you select one of the three face-up tiles from five stacks of tiles. Your also take one of the gems next to that stack of tiles that’ll be used for scoring. Then you choose one of the facedown tiles to flip face up. After that you place your tile into your grid, and it always needs to be adjacent to another tile.

You do that until you complete your 5 x 4 grid. At that point in time you spend your gems to activate the area matching the color of that gem. Or you spend two wild gems to activate an area. And you decide which ones you want to activate.

Because after you complete that first round of building and scoring, you do it again. But now it’s a smaller area you are filling in. You leave the outside rows and columns empty and repeat the process. And you do that until there is a single tile on top.

Whomever has the most points from scoring their gems at the end of the game is going to win.

What Doesn’t Work?

This is an abstract game, so if you wanted theme in the game, it isn’t there. This idea of “forgotten treasures” in the title is just the gems. I think by looking at the game that is pretty obvious, but that’s something I wanted to call out. Because, I think the title does indicate there might be something thematic or adventure like about the game, this is a pure abstract game. Something I normally don’t love, but this is my only negative/word of warning.

What Works?

Turns are great and simple. I love how fast they go. You do need to think about things once in a while. Do I take that slightly worse tile in order to get the better gem for scoring. Or maybe will that come back to me again. But it’s very simple, I grab a tile, grab a gem, flip a tile, and you can take your turn while I place my tile. So the game, even on BGA being played asynchronously is one that can just fly if people happen to be online at the same time.

I also like the scoring in the game. I think that works really well. You activate the area(s) that you want to score by spending gems. But you also can overpay as well. If you pay two extra gems from the ones you collected when playing tiles, you score the ones printed on the tiles twice. So you if create a great area, then it might be worth to activate that one twice versus another lesser scoring area once. But that all depends on you having the right color of gems.

The pyramid building is the final thing that I want to talk about. Because you build up and leave an open row/column around the edge every time that sets up some scoring as well. If I pick and place tiles so that the gems on those tiles are at the edge of the are, they score throughout the whole game, as long as I activate that area. Even if that area isn’t on one of the tiles on top, I can always activate it along the edge. So I might want to focus on building out a specific area.

Who Is Pyramido: Forgotten Treasures For?

I think this is a great game for a lot of people. For gamers, it might be a little bit less thinky than they might hope for an abstract game. But for more casual gamers or people who maybe don’t play many games, this is an easy one to learn. And for those gamers, I do think the game offers a few good decisions each turn which works well. But I could see this as a game that becomes a family holiday favorite or something like that easily.

Final Thoughts on Pyramido: Forgotten Treasures

I enjoy Pyramido: Forgotten Treasures. And you know from some of my other reviews, like Harmonies, that I don’t always love abstract games. But this one works for me. I think it works for a few reasons that I mentioned above. But mainly, I think it works because you need to be a little bit adaptive as you play. But it still lets you come up with a plan for what you want to do and what you want to shoot for as you play the game.

And the game is fast. I think that is also a great element for the game. I said that it’s fast when you play it on BGA. And in person this game would just fly as you play it. So it just works really nicely that way for me as well while giving you a few clever things to think about. Mainly, how do you layer up your pyramid and when do you go from that really big scoring round, or do you just score everything (or as much as you can) once per level of the pyramid?

My Grade: B+
Strategy: B+
Luck: C-

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How To Play Hamonies

Harmonies is an abstract game where you are taking discs and adding them to your board. You place down the discs to create patterns. Those patterns should (ideally) match those on cards that you have. The game ends when either someone has filled all the spots on their board, or when there aren’t any more of the discs left.

On your turn you do two things, generally, you take a card which will give you a scoring opportunity. And you take discs. Then you place all of the discs. You check if you completed any of your scoring objectives. If you did, you place a token on the spot designated from the scoring card. You are able to complete objectives multiple times or different ones on the same turn based off of how the scoring cards are set-up.

What Doesn’t Work

I think this is a standard abstract game. Now that sounds more mean than I mean it. The game does some interesting things. But it’s a game where if you can plan out moves and get the right corresponding cards and tokens you can strategize to create big scoring turns. But you do need to be a bit reactive as well in how you play. The game is a very mechanical game in nature and for me, that is generally going to be more of a miss than a hit.

What Works

The simplicity of the turns is good. Like I said, as a negative, the game is mechanical in nature. But like some of the better abstract games, it makes sure to keep things simple in what you are doing. The strategy comes in around how you can keep the different scoring options in your head and how you can complete them multiple times or use what you’ve already done to complete other scoring objectives.

Harmonies is also a quick game. I played it asynchronously on BGA. So, that is going to take longer, but the turns were very fast. This again is because of that simplicity but also the clarity in the mechanisms of the game. I expect that in person there would be a few moments in the game, as there were in BGA, where you would ponder a turn a bit more, just debating the combination of options.

I also appreciate that you can score the different options multiple times. So each scoring card is going to be able to be scored I think between 2-4 times, or it might be 2 or 3 times. So you want to repeat some shapes and you want to figure out how you can build off of what you already have to do that. Only one of the spots isn’t able to be reused when you complete a shape, so it’s a challenge to figure out how to get that to work.

Who Is Harmonies For

Harmonies is going to be for people who like an abstract game. The best people at playing this game are going to be people who slow down the game, consider all the options and figure out how to combo as many of the different scoring opportunities at once. So if you know someone or are someone who likes to think about those puzzles in a game, Harmonies is going to be a strong option for you.

Final Thoughts on Harmonies

Let’s get it out of the way quickly here, I am not a big fan of abstract games. Especially ones that really rely on you to think through all the possibilities to do well in the game. Harmonies gives you a ton of those options in the game. So I know that it’s a game where you can be very smart and clever, but it’s not how I like to be smart and clever when it comes to board games.

That said, I do appreciate it more than other abstract games. Games like Quarto and Boop for example I did not enjoy much at all. Here, I think there is enough extra, those scoring cards for example, that make the game more enjoyable for me. I might not be able to plan out being smart and clever as well as some in this type of game, but it does make you feel good when you stumble into it.

My Grade: C+
Gamer Grade: B
Casual Grade: B

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How To Play Boop

Boop is a pretty simple game. You put down a kitten and boop any adjacent kittens one away from you. The goal is to get three cats in a row. But as you put things down they are always booping further away from the other kittens. So you are trying to setup a situation where you either can boop a kitten into place or have kitten in a position that it can’t move.

Once you complete getting three kittens in a row you turn them into cats. And now your goal is to get three cats in a row. And you can turn kittens into cats in multiple times. Kittens can boop other kittens around but they can’t boop cats around. But cats can boop kittens and cats around. So the goal at the end is get three cats in a row, or for one player to have all eight of their cats on the board.

What Doesn’t Work

Honestly, no major complaints here. I think that like most abstract games it will have one inherent issue with playing it. This isn’t something that needs to be correct, just should be known. The more you play, the more you will know the patterns. So if you play a lot, you will get better faster than the people you play with, unless it’s one person. It is a game of skill and planning, so the more you can do that and experience that, the better you will get.

Now, I do want to quickly touch on that this isn’t an issue. When I look at Boop, I place it in the category with other abstract games like Quarto or Chess. Complexity might be very different. But Boop is a game of learned strategy which is what games like Quarto, Chess, the Gyph series, and more abstract games are known for. So Boop is going to become snappier and quicker for you the more you play. But you might pass the people you play against in skill level.

What Works

First off, let’s talk about how cute this game is. The cats are cute, the kittens are cute, the quilt you play on is cute. Boop doesn’t do what a lot of abstract games do and create something that is purely functional. Boop is functional, but it is cute and fancy as well.

The next thing is that Boop is simple. It’s not the simplest abstract that I’ve played, but it’s not near the most complex. Actions are very simple and lead to simple decision making, though there is a lot of strategy. This is a solid balance because I want, in an abstract, a game that won’t bog itself down with too many decisions. Turns won’t have too much analysis paralysis because the options are just limited enough.

Finally, Boop does offer good strategy. You need to think about how you’re trying to setup your pieces to make it so your opponent will set you up, or your opponent can’t cover everything to let you complete a row of cats or kittens. It’s smart that way and offers you chances to be clever in what you are doing. Again a hallmark of a good abstract game.

Who Is It For?

I think it’s for fans of abstract games. But I don’t think that is who they mainly cared about. This is for gamers who might have someone who doesn’t like abstract games that well in their life. Boop offers a theme, which is pasted on, that is cute and that will draw people to the game. Because it’s not just the theme it’s the components matching that theme. So this is for people who like abstract games and maybe play with someone who doesn’t as well.

Final Thoughts on Boop

I think it’s important to talk about where I come from with abstract games. I am not the biggest fan of abstract games. Boop was added to my collection because of the theme, not because of the style of game. I took a chance on it for that, because I do want to find a streamlined abstract game that I like.

For me, Boop is a fine game. I had fun with it, but I don’t think it is a long term game for my collection. Why, because when I pick a two player game, I want to play Dice Throne, a little bit longer but more epic feeling. Or if I want a fast two player game, Hanamikoji which is a shorter game with as much theme. But there is more randomness in both, which means that me playing a lot does make me better, but won’t create as much of a gap.

That is very much a me thing. In terms of theme and game play, I liked it. I love cats, own three of them, so it makes sense that I’d like a cat themed game. But the game play is just good for me, and that comes down to my taste. I think you’ll see how that is reflected interestingly in my grade.

My Grade: C+
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: B+

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Checkout 100 through 91 first here.

Checkout 90 through 81 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 80-71

80 – Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars: Rebellion is a big Star Wars game with lots of fighting, dice chucking, but is really a game of cat and mouse. The empire is trying to find out where the rebel base is. The rebels are trying to complete missions and get the support of the people and undermine the empire. It really is a big game of cat and mouse which feels like the original trilogy.

The one downside to this game is how long it is. I do not mind that it’s two player only, you can play on teams but it’s two player only. But it’s a three hour game, now, that can be awesome a lot of the time. But you need to plan when you want to play Star Wars Rebellion.

Buy from Cool Stuff Inc

79 – Say Bye to the Villains

Say Bye to the Villains is an extremely tricky cooperative game. Players take on the roles of different Samurai who are preparing to takeout Yakuza. The plan is simple, but the game is tricky. It’s all about optimizing your character so that you can be the villain that you end up with. But you only have a limited amount of time and everything you do takes up time. Can you balance it building up your character, supporting the other players, and figuring out what the villains are up to. It almost comes down to the last villain and samurai being a coin flip as you just don’t know.

Buy from Amazon

78 – The Quacks of Quedlinburg

I like deck building and The Quacks of Quedlinburg gives some of that feel. But it is really a push your luck bag building game. You start out with your potion that you’re trying to make and it’s mainly lousy ingredients. You can’t push too far because you’ll bust. Of course, busting isn’t the end of the world, it gives you either money or points, you just can’t get both. As you get money you spend it to get even more ingredients to your bag which means that you can push even farther.

The strategy in this game is surprisingly good. And I really appreciate that about it because there is a lot of luck. But you can build up your bag so that it combos off each other. Where you can score more points if you don’t push your luck, just in case you bust.

Buy from Cool Stuff Inc

77 – Point Salad

Point Salad is another game that is pretty simple, you either take two veggies or a scoring card, but has good strategy. You need to pay attention to what everyone else is doing around you. Because as vegetables are taken, that flips cards off the decks. But on the back of those cards are scoring cards. It’s easy to play, but gives you that good decision of not knowing if you should risk leaving a scoring card, or will get get flipped. A nice filler length game at lower player counts. I think I prefer it at 2-4 and less often 4 because it makes the game longer and more random.

Buy from Miniature Market

76 – Metro X

I actually stayed at the table, after my stream last night, and played some Metro X. This is a roll and write game where you are filling in bus routes. But the bus routes cross each other, and that can be great. It means that you might fill in multiple spots on a route. Or it can be lousy, because you might want to put a big number onto a route, but you can’t as it’s been split.

Metro X is a good example of a puzzle roll and write. You need to figure out the optimal way to fill in everything. But also a roll and write that limits the complexity. You just fill in spots on the routes. Each bus can have a limited number of numbers used on that route. Because of the randomness it can be frustrating sometimes, but everyone is dealing with that.

Not Available

75 – Kohaku

Kohaku is a relaxing game of building out your Koi pond to score as many points as possible. You draft or select tiles form a pool of koi and scoring tiles taking adjacent ones. And then you add them anywhere to your koi pond. The only thing is koi can’t be by koi and scoring can’t be by scoring. I find this game to be relaxing. The tiles are beautiful dual layer that gives it that watery depth. And while I try and win, it isn’t a game that is so intense that it feels like everything is pressure filled each decision.

Buy on Miniature Market

74 – Calico

Another pretty game, Calico is not as calm as Kohaku. In fact, the puzzle of trying to play everything in is stressful. You need to think about scoring for buttons, cats, and your own objectives. And you really want whatever patch you’re adding to your calico quilt to help you in multiple ways. But as you play down and fill in your quilt, your options become less and less. And I like that tension of can you get the right tile to complete maybe two of your scoring objectives. Or will you need to settle or less?

The game is simple though. You play one of two tiles to your quilt. Then you replenish with one of three tiles, that is it. But each decision you make matters a ton in the scoring of the game.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

73 – My City

We’ll see how long My City sticks on this list, mainly because it’s a legacy game. And legacy games slowly drift down over time, I’ve found, the further I get away from playing them. But right now, I’m still in the midst of My City and it is great.

My City is a tile laying game where everyone is putting down the same shaped tile every turn. But there are new rules each time that come up. And you want to cover up open areas the best you can, but also build up groups of buildings that are the same type. And it adds more and more to the game without making it longer than a 15-20 minute game. Highly recommend this one as a light legacy experience.

Buy on GameNerdz

72 – Roll Player

Roll Player is another drafting game on the list. This one is dice drafting. And you are picking the dice to get them for your RPG character. The concept of the game takes one fun part of role playing games, building a character, and really focuses in on that.

Each attribute, standard ones for Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder, has a power that goes with it. It might make it cheaper to buy equipment. Or it might let you flip a die in order to push your stats higher. It’s a really fun game that I need to get around to building my insert for it. Because once you have everything, it is a bit difficult to get it to the table.

Buy on GameNerdz

71 – Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game

Wrapping up this section is technically two games. I went with my favorite/harder to find of the two in Battlestar Galactica, but this is also Unfathomable. Both of them are big hidden traitor, social deduction games of trying to get to some final location.

I do not like social deduction. In fact, I’d say with high confidence that there is only one other one on the list. But BSG and Unfathomable work because there is so much more game going on. You are fighting off monsters, whether it’s deep ones or Cylons. And there is just a lot going on with a lot of challenges that happen in the game. All the while trying to figure out who might be the one(s) who are traitors. And at the start of the game, it might be someone, but by the end, there will be for sure.

Buy Unfathomable on Miniature Market

Upcoming Streams

First off, reminder that there is no stream tomorrow. I am out of town so no stream happening. I think the following Wednesday will be the finale of my Stars of Akarios live streaming. With likely Chronicles of Drunagor hitting the table next.

And next Monday, the Top 100 games are going to continue. 70 through 61 in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition. You can find the link to that video below. Join me live, chat about the games hitting the list, which are your favorites, or which you want to try.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How to Play Land Vs Sea

Land Vs Sea is a simple tile laying game. You have two tiles in hand, and you try and complete groups of land or sea, closing them off kind of like the cities in Carcassonne. But the twist on this is that one person scores for sea sections closed off and the other for land sections. One point per tile used.

Now, this just seems like it’d be all about not closing off your opponents section. But in the basic version of the game, there are X’s on some of the tiles. The person who closes off the land or water mass scores for the X’s on the tiles. So even though I might be giving you points, if you are sea for example, if there are enough X’s, it makes it worthwhile for me to close it.

At the end of the game, the person who has scored the most points is the winner. There are advanced versions of the game, or versions for more than two players, but I haven’t played those yet.

What Doesn’t Work?

I have two issues with the game. One is minor, the other is a bit bigger. So let’s start with the minor one. I think that figuring out the scoring during the game is fine. But I also think that no one will ever play a game where they don’t mess up the scoring sometime. A large land or water mass is just hard to remember if you’ve already counted a tile. It’s not a major issue because scores are high enough it shouldn’t matter.

The one thing for me that is a downside is that as you build out this map, the game slows down. When you start there are two or three options that are good for you. The longer you go, the more options you have, and the slower the game goes. This might be fun for some people. But at that point in time, I want the game to feel like it’s ramping up, or something. And really it’s just the same game as before.

What Works?

Firstly, the scoring works. I like that one player is land and one player is sea. It adds in strategy that you just wouldn’t get if whomever closed off the section could score it. But because of the X’s on the board, it isn’t like you just try and avoid scoring anything at all costs. You want to close stuff off to get points. So the game doesn’t skimp on points which is nice.

I also like that the tiles are two sided. That means that even though you only have two tiles in hand, you have a lot of options. Now, I just said that there were too many options, but that’s on the map. I don’t mind having options in my hand. It’s just trickier when those options are also on the board with so much to look at. But double sided tiles means that you can look and think about options but not too many options in your hand. And you can maybe bluff your opponent.

Who Is This For?

I think the people who like a fairly easy game to get into, it at it’s basic level is a gateway game or an inviting game. It is also going to be a game that works well for couples or a date night. Or people who really like that head to head abstract game.

Final Thoughts on Land vs Sea

I need to play this one more, and in particular with some of the other rules in place. But I suspect my opinion might not massively change on it. Why, because it’s an abstract game that lends itself to going slower and slower as you play.

In my head, I put this game kind of in the same category as Calico. Some of that is the tile shape, but some is also because there is that abstract puzzle piece to the games. But with Calico, when you get closer to the end of the game, it moves faster. Fewer choices and you know what you want to do. In Land vs Sea, it just gets slower and slower and slower as you play. Decisions might matter more at the end of the game, but the game suffers with that slowdown.

But let me know if you think I’m missing something in the game? Or what do you think of Land vs Sea. It’s one I plan on coming back to, to try at least one more time, but I”m not sure if it’s for me.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Simple But Deep Board Games

10. Black Sonata

One of two solo games on the list. Black Sonata is about figuring out who the “dark lady” was in Shakespeare’s sonnets. But it is really fascinating because it is a solo game where the dark lady moves around in basically a hidden movement sort of way by an AI deck of cards.

What you do as a player is try and get ahead of the dark lady so that you can look for her, and basically find out clues about who she is not. So your turns are pretty simple. You move, or you search a location. But figuring out that pattern of where they are going is challenging. And then it is a Mastermind style puzzle, or so it feels, to figure out who the lady is. I really enjoy that puzzle aspect, but simple game to hit the table.

9. Century: Golem Edition (Or Spice Road)

This one is not a cheat having two games on it, Golem Edition and Spice Road are the same game. I prefer the Golem Edition because it looks better, and I like that. But this is a game that is about building up an engine of cards in your hand. But how you play is extremely simple. Mainly because you do a single action on your turn.

On your turn you pick up the cards you’ve played, you get a card, you play a card, or you get a golem. You never complete more than a single action a time. And turns fly because of that simplicity of all the actions and the single action. But when you get a card, how much you pay for it, how it works into your engine, all of those things make a very rich but simple game.

8. Quarto

This, I get is one that has depth to it but not one that I like. The game is pretty simple, you are trying to get four in a row. But you pick what piece your opponent is going to play. So you want to give them something that’ll set-up you with the options that they have left to give you. It’s a cool idea that I enjoyed the couple of times that I played it, but it didn’t grab me enough.

Still, for a lot of people, this is going to give them that feeling of outthinking their opponent in a game. Basically making your opponent give you a win. But all you are doing is either placing a piece of picking one for your opponent to place.

7. Potion Explosion

This one is maybe one of the less simple on the list. But what you do on your turn, or at least on every turn is very basic. You pull a marble and then any like colors that hit. Then you put them into a potion, trying to complete them. That is very simple and fun action for a turn.

But where the game is more complex or offers interesting decisions is when you get your potions done. Now they give you powers, and how or when you use a power offers great decision making space. Especially when you can chain a few potions together to complete a potion and then use that potion to complete another potion. It offers that nice combo and cleverness feel a game with depth in it’s decision making should give you.

6. The Fox in the Forest

I could have a number of trick taking games on the list. Matcha, The Fox in the Forest Duet, and others, but I just put The Fox in the Forest on the list. This is a two player trick taking game where you are trying to take some tricks, but not too many. Because if you “shoot the moon” you get no points. And if you just get a few tricks, but slightly too many, it reduces your points a lot.

It becomes a question of how you can give your opponent just enough tricks so that they score poorly and you can score well. Or to trick them into taking all of the tricks. And since it isn’t a one and done sort of game, it allows you to develop more strategy based off of your opponent as time goes on.

5. Letter Jam

Letter Jam is almost a party word game. But it isn’t because you need to figure out how to give good clues. Let me explain, in Letter Jam everyone has a scrambled word in front of them, or the letters for it. Unscrambling wouldn’t be too bad if you could see the letters. But you can’t see your own.

Instead, you have one facing away from you that everyone else can see. And they give clues, in the form of a word, by putting down chips in front of other people’s letters to help you. For example, if I have an R in front of me and someone else has an F, O, and M, you could give the clue FROM or FORM. But one clue is better than the other because FORM could be FOAM as well. So how do you give the best clue to get people to know their letter?

And everyone needs to give clues too. So that adds to the challenge. I have a word, you have a word, and everyone does. So you need to give clues to help me, and I need to give to help you. It’s a very clever design that seems simple to start, but offers a lot of depth.

4. Floriferous

A drafting game, kind of, a set collection game, and a game where you are building up different scoring things. But how you draft is what makes this game so clever and gives it depth. Turn order for each round of drafting, since you pick from a limited set separately, is based off of the person who took the highest thing from a column the time before.

Let me explain that a bit more, in a two player game you have three rows. Two or them are flowers and one is a scoring card. The scoring card is always at the bottom. If I pick-up the scoring card, for my pick, that means that next time, since I’m at the bottom of the column, I pick last. So if there is something I really want in the next column, I would want to pick the highest thing in the column, just to guarantee I go first next time. But if you don’t get enough scoring cards, now you aren’t scoring many points.

3. Under Falling Skies

The next solo only game on the list. A few can be played solo, Under Falling Skies is a combination of Space Invaders meets Independence Day. That it in and of itself sounds pretty cool. But how does it play, what is simple about it. The game is basically rolling a bunch of dice and placing them so that one is in each column to activate things. That is pretty straight forward for what you are going to do.

The depth comes in with how you place the dice. The higher the number, the more the alien ship in that column descends. And if too many hit land you lose the game. So you need to blow them up, and you can do that by putting dice onto attack spots. But that then eats up other things you can do, and that also causes a ship to descend.

So you need to think not only about what power the die is going to give, higher means more, but also what it does to the ships. And you also still only have one die per column. And once you place it, it locks in. So if you aren’t careful, you end up placing a dice in a less than ideal spot with your last placement.

2. Calico

The top two were two that I instantly thought of. Calico is a very simple game with massive brain burning tendencies. In Calico you are making a calico quilt to get cats to sleep on your quilt. You score points by getting like colors adjacent for buttons. Patterns in certain groupings to attacks cats. And finally there are scoring tiles on the quilt that give you points based off of both pattern and color combinations.

That is a fair amount for scoring, but your turn is simple. On your turn you place a quilt tile onto your board and take one of the three available. But because the scoring overlap where you’ll use tiles for a button or cat in your quilt scoring. You really need to think through and plan out what you want to do. It’s a brain burner of a game. But I love it, and I love the limiting it puts on you, so you might be hoping for that one last tile you need to get pulled from the bag.

1. Hanamikoji

Instantly thought of this game, Hanamikoji is a simple game but such a brain burner. You want to win the favor of Geisha by giving them gifts. That isn’t that complex an idea, and the game gives you actions that you take to put gifts in front of the Geisha. But how you do that creates a fascinating puzzle of a game.

You must do all of the four different abilities. So whether that is putting one face down that you use at the end of the round, or discarding two face down that only you know are hidden, that limits what you know and your opponent. Plus then the other two actions are much trickier to figure out. You need to give your opponent the choice of one of three cards, you use the other two. Or two sets of two, they get one, you get the one they don’t pick.

And while those decisions are very tricky to make. There are so few of them that it doesn’t make the game too complex to play. You’ll just be worried about what is going to give your opponent what they need. And try and read their brain to see what it seems like they have.

Final Thoughts

I think I had about 25 games in my list that I sorted. There are some games that once I was further into them that are big games that now I realize are pretty simple. I’m going to mention Gloomhaven and Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift. These two didn’t make the list that I sort, but once you learn the core loop of the game, the card play in Gloomhaven and Rondel with card play in Perdition’s Mouth, they aren’t that difficult.

But that is only once you get to that point. Because if you play either of those games enough, you just know what the status effects do. But to get to that point with either of those games is going to take time. You need to learn the symbols and learn the game. But the core loops are simple and give great depth of game play. So they don’t quite make the list, but could fall into that category.

Just missing were the likes of Photosynthesis, Sonora, Hats, and Orchard. All of them have pretty simple base mechanics. But the optimize what you are doing and your scoring, you need to think a few steps ahead.

What are some of your favorite simple but deep games?

Send an Email.
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.

How To Play Quarto

The game is pretty simple, you are trying to get four in a row based off of one of four different things. You can get your four in a row by height, color, shape, or top. By top, some tops have a divot cut out of them, others don’t. That isn’t too complex for what you are doing.

Where the twist comes in is that I pick the piece you place on the board. And you pick the piece that I place on the board. So I need to look through all my piece options while placing to make sure I can still keep you from winning, and vice-a-versa. The player who puts down the piece for four in a row wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

If I had a complaint about the game, it is that the decision space of the puzzle can be a bit limited. You make a decision or two really. Place a piece, give a piece. Now, that is an interesting decision on where you place or what piece you give. And that’s the point, it’s supposed to be a strategy game of picking what won’t let your opponent win and make them give you a piece to let you win.

What Does Work?

I like the giving of the piece to your opponent. That feels different. I am familiar with the game connect four, and that is simple. Quarto feels like more depth is happening but all the while keeping the simple systems in place.

I also like that the game is fast. This might sound like a negative, but when I play an abstract game, I want something that gives me good decisions and a short time frame. If I want to play something longer, I want there to be a lot of theme. And Quarto definitely doesn’t have theme, so make sure the game plays fast.

Who Is This For?

The abstract gamer in your life (or that might be you), will likely like this game. There are fun but simple decisions to make in the game. I actually think that Quarto is probably a good game to introduce to middle school kids or upper elementary. It’ll help them think through things in a different way, but also is simple enough to learn. It almost feels a bit like a light Chess, if Chess were Connect 4.

Final Thoughts on Quarto

I don’t like Quarto that well. I think it is a fun abstract game, but I don’t find the decision space interesting enough. And I don’t think that there is enough variety in play. BoardGameCo did a video talking about that a while ago where even though Chess isn’t variable, it feels different with different players. Quarto doesn’t give me that feeling. The games that I’ve played, they feel the same.

And that’s the knock that I can’t get over. The decision space is just limited too much for it. I can sit down and puzzle out every piece and how it could be used to create a row once there are enough pieces on the board. And I’m sure a very good Quarto player could start laying a trap early. But I don’t think it’s interesting enough to get that good.

That said, I don’t think it’s a bad game, I can see what it is doing. I can just say that Quarto isn’t a game for me. I think that a lot of abstract gamers would love it, but I want theme. Even if it is basically an abstract game, give me some sort of theme on it.

My Grade: C
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: B

Send an Email.
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.

What Board Games Are Leaving?

There are four games that are kind of leaving, or potentially doing so, let’s go through those first. Mainly, I remember those off the top of my head. One for sure is leaving, but also staying. One might come to live at work. And two I need to check on to see if they will leave.

Boomerang USA

Boomerang USA is kind of leaving. I got it on a good sale and then realized I had Boomerang already for a roll and write game. I don’t need two copies of what are basically the same game. Just Boomerang USA is a US map and regular Boomerang is Australia, which makes more sense.

Quarto

This is the one that is going to work to see about. It is a solid abstract game. I like the concept of it when I played it. You pick the piece your opponent places down. What keeps me from loving it is that after two plays, the game didn’t feel like it’d be that different. I want to try it at work because it is a fast game. So might work better in that setting. I just know I won’t play it at home more.

Quoridor

This is a game that I have enjoyed. And I think Quoridor is one that is great for a lot of people. It’s a simple abstract game that gives you some real clever plays. The issue is my group has “solved” it. By that I mean we always make the last possible person block. And honestly, it is not that much fun when you stick the block with the last person. I could see it being better now at two than four, but not one that is going to stick around, I don’t think.

Second Chance

This is a game that has had a dramatic fall for me from my original top 100’s to being outside of it this past year. Second Chance isn’t a bad game. I suspect that it is one my wife is likely to save. My issue with it is that I’ve played it a lot. I’ve gotten my phone with it and I am ready to move on from it. Patchwork Doodle does something similar and offers more choices.

Deadly Doodles (1 & 2)

Deadly Doodles is a solid little roll and write game. It takes a dungeon crawl idea and makes it extremely simple. And that’s why it is leaving. I think the expansion adds in more, but it has a lot of expansion boards. And with those boards, you need to learn more and it is harder to get to the table. I would say, there are probably too many extra boards. Plus, Paper Dungeons has knocked this one down for me. Similar concept, but Paper Dungeons is a more interesting game.

Photosynthesis

This one was tough to say that it was leaving. I like it as a good abstract game, but I knew I was starting with that cube, and I knew it just wouldn’t make the cut. The game is gorgeous. 3D cardboard trees look amazing. And I like how mean the game can be. I am trying to get my trees to grow better and faster than yours and block your trees from getting light points to spend as action points. The game looks less mean than it actually is, and I am keeping another game like that.

Ascension: Immortal Heroes

I have three versions of Ascension. I thought that I’d maybe play them all more often than I do. And I guess, that is three versions of Ascension that I am keeping. But I can get them all into one box, so they are sticking around. Immortal Heroes, it seems fun, but higher player count doesn’t add much to me. And I don’t know that I need any more Ascension than what I already have.

Welcome To New Las Vegas

I own Welcome To, which I love. I own Welcome To The Moon that I want to try. But Welcome To New Las Vegas, I was really excited for. I am not so excited anymore. The game looks good, but it looks like too much to me. It’s a two sheet roll and write game, which I don’t mind. But it feels like a lot of busywork without the fun theme of Welcome To. So I don’t think I need all three of the games in the line. And Welcome To The Moon with it’s campaign, that is more interesting.

The Drink

Just an Old Fashioned again. This time, though, I made it with rhubarb bitters. Now, I am out of rhubarb bitters. I really like the flavor of rhubarb, it grapefruit, and lemon are probably the bitters that I always want to have on hand.

Upcoming Stream

So, next Monday, I plan on streaming. I will not be streaming next Wednesday. I have family in town so I won’t be around on Wednesday. Monday, I am planning on doing more of the Should It Stay Or Should It Go series.

And I have to say, I am pleased with the amount I found again for the chopping block. Granted, a few might be going back. I think there is a decent chance that Second Chance is saved because it is so accessible. And it is a fun game. For me, I won’t complain if it is, because I don’t mind it. It is just one that I like to play now versus one that I want to pull off the shelf myself and play.

Which one would you save? Which one would you get rid of?

Send an Email.
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.

Ranking My Sci-Fi Games

16. Star Wars: Destiny

I don’t dislike Star Wars: Destiny, I just find that I have room for one collectible game in my life. And right now that is Magic: The Gathering. Destiny is fun, though, because it is cheaper to play. And I know someone who has a bunch of cards (they bought all of mine) so I can play it if I want that way. But it’s a good head to head game.

15: Firefly: The Game

This is a game that I really need to give another chance. Again, I don’t dislike this game, it’s just that I kind of played it once. Everyone was learning and nothing was going that well for us in it. And it just got longer and longer without making progress. But I see how the game works and I think there are some cool elements there. And I know there are people who really like the game. So I want to try it again and set aside the time and group to really play it.

14: Legendary Encounters: Firefly

Much like Firefly: The Game, Legendary Encounters Firefly is one that I’ve had fun with, but I want to play more. I really like the show, and I think that the Encounters version of Legendary works better than the Marvel version. And it also falls into the category of I know someone who owns the game, so I could pretty easily play it again if I wanted.

13: Cosmic Encounter

Cosmic Encounter is one that I had in my collection, I really enjoyed, and I traded away. Mainly because I don’t think I can get it to the table all that often. Cosmic Encounter is a really silly negotiation game that works when people lean into that negotiation. There is strategy to the game, but you need to lean into that negotiation to make it work. So it just limits who I can play it with, but I’d never turn down a chance to play Cosmic Encounter.

12: Cry Havoc

Cry Havoc was high on my Top 100 a few years ago, and it dropped down and I sold it. Again, a game that I really enjoy and I would play any chance I could. But it’s an asymmetric game so it is a bit harder to teach and play. With that, I prefer Root to it which is in the same family of asymmetric games. But this is a fun area control game with a cool combat mechanic that is simple but different.

11: Star Wars: Imperial Assault

More Star Wars on the list. Imperial Assault also left the collection only because it is a campaign game. Campaign games are harder to get to the table for sure and Imperial Assault is not exception. I want to get it back sometime and play it. I liked the app that you can use with it to play fully cooperatively. And I like that it feels like a Star Wars adventure.

10: Shadowrun Crossfire

I almost didn’t add this to the list, I don’t know where I want to put Cyber-Punk. But Cyber-Punk is Sci-fi. Shadowrun Crossfire is a game of deck building and defeating challenges, getting XP, and leveling up your characters slowly. That’s the big knock on the game that you don’t level up fast enough, but people house rule around that. It is one I need to dive more into the game, I think you can play it solo, even if it is multi-handed solo gaming.

9: Gravwell

Gravwell is an abstract game with a space theme put on top of it. In particular Gravwell has you getting passed through a wormhole that is closing and now you use different elements to try and escape back. But the different element either pull you towards the nearest object, push you from it, or pull them towards you. It’s a fun little puzzle that keeps it close until someone can get the right cards to make it to the end.

8: Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars in a box, as people like to call it. Star Wars: Rebellion has the Rebels trying to undermine the Empire and complete missions. The Empire is trying to figure out where the Rebels secret base is. All while building up troops and skirmishing as you go. It’s a massive two player game, but an amazing one. If you have the time it is worth sitting down with an getting that original trilogy Star Wars feel.

7: Under Falling Skies

Under Falling Skies is Space Invaders meets Independence Day. This is a solo game about fighting off waves of alien ships and researching the mother ship in order to beat the game. I have yet to beat the game, but it is a lot of fun. But I always feel like I’m getting close. I also really like that high numbers make some ships descend faster but are more useful to research or blow up ships. It’s a clever system and a pretty big little game.

6: Galaxy Trucker

I normally don’t like real time games but Galaxy Trucker is an exception. In Galaxy Trucker you build out your cargo ship as fast as you can. Then you sit back an watch it get blown up. Well, ideally not blown up, and ideally you pick up cargo along the way. You deal with asteroids, space pirates, and come across planets full of goods along the way. It might be too chaotic for some, but I really like it.

5: Battlestar Galactica

BSG (Battlestar Galactica) is a massive game of survival when you might have hidden traitors among you. The Cylons are aboard the ship and you might not even know you are one. This is a massive three hours deduction, survival, even a bit of social deduction game. You try and figure out who is a Cylon and if you can get them off the ship in time before they mess everything up. But that’s way easier said than done.

4: T.I.M.E Stories

TIME Stories is almost any setting. There is Ancient Egypt, a land of dragons, pirates, zombies taking over a town, an asylum, you name it. But the core conceit of the game is that you are launching out, sending your mind back in time from the future, to deal with these problems, where time is changing. The concept is amazing, and I have liked each adventure I’ve gone on. I wish it had more of a story running throughout, but the different missions all feel unique.

3: Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

Rogue Angels isn’t even out yet, I have only played it on TableTop Simulator (TTS) but it is amazing. You can watch my play through of it here with the designer, Emil Larson. The game just works, it is a dungeon crawl style game in space. But it isn’t a dungeon crawl game where you just go in fight the monsters and leave. You make important decisions. And you upgrade your character as you go. There is so much I like about this game. When I get a physical copy, I suspect it’ll move up higher.

2: Clank! In! Space!

Clank! In! Space! is a deck building adventure game where you are breaking into a spaceship, trying to be as quiet as possible so you don’t Clank about. But to move faster, defeat more bad guys, and generally win the game, you will need to Clank. Plus there is a push your luck element where you want to get as far in as you can to get the best treasure. But the longer you are in the ship, the more clank and damage you can accrue.

1: XenoShyft: Onslaught

XenoShyft is a tower defense deck building game with some amazing cooperative elements to it. Mainly, I can buy a card and then give you that card if you need help. You only have two troops to defend your side of the base in your hand, I can help you get more. I can even drop in a paratrooper in the middle of fighting a wave of bugs. Add in that you always get money, that’s even better. I rarely defeat the waves of bugs, but it’s so much fun to try.

Final Thoughts

I own a fair number more Sci-Fi themed games that I need to try. Middara blends Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Nemesis is basically Aliens the board game. And I just realized that I missed Not Alone on the list, probably top 6-7. But I still think there are more fantasy games out there that look interesting.

Some that I don’t own that I really should try are the different Dune games. I own the one based on the Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game system which I need to carve out a weekend chunk of time to play.

What are your favorite board games with a Sci-Fi theme?

Send an Email.
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.