Games 20 through 11 of 2024

Now, first off, I do want to say, there are some games on the list that I don’t really enjoy. The bottom three I find to be poor or just okay, but let’s get to them.

20. Takenokolor

Takenokolor is a roll and write game where what you are rolling is the pens. However, the game itself is really simple and the choices are generally very obvious. They do have a few different “boards” that you can play on, but even the more complex ones tend not to offer that much more choice than the others. It feels like a very basic roll and write game with the gimmick that you are rolling pens. And even the added complexity doesn’t make the game more fun, it’s still very basic, just extra rules for the sake of extra rules.

19. Landmarks

Landmarks is a party style of game where one person is “it” and they are giving clues to lead the other players around a map. And the clues they give are one word based off of other words on the board. Basically, there are hexes, three of them have words on them, to start the game, and the clue giver gives a clue and the other players need to figure out where it makes sense to place that new tile. Does it make sense to connect to two words, or is the clue giver trying to keep you away from some.

Now, I said at the beginning that I wasn’t a huge fan of the bottom three. I think I want to try this one again. My hopes are fairly limited that it’d be a consistent hit for me, but I do believe, in the right group, this could be a fun game.

18. Odin

Odin is a card shedding game. Probably the best known card shedding game right now is Scout, which just broke into the Board Game Geek Top 100. Odin isn’t that, it’s a solid but simple card shedding game that works on a more basic principle than scout. You play out cards either as a bigger number of one color or a bigger number of a set of one number than the previous person did. Then you take one card to add to your hand from what the previous person played.

I think that this one is probably a 7 for me at 2 or 3 players if I were to rank it out of 10. But it plays higher than that. And at higher numbers than that it’s just very random. And you find lots of turns where you aren’t able to play and that might happen several rounds in a row. In Scout at least you are picking up new cards when you can’t play, here you are just left stuck with what you have.

17. Icecool Wizards

Icecool Wizards is not as good as Icecool. But if you want a smaller box and a bit more game play, there is an option for you. The core mechanisms remain the same. You flick around a penguin, but now you are trying to get elements to cast spells, basically set collection. And you do that by flicking your penguin over the elements and then flicking them over spells to collect those spells.

The one thing that keeps it from being up higher is that there is almost more luck than the basic game. What do you flip out for a spell, who knows. Now that balances out somewhat over the course of the game, but it’s just an extra element to the game that isn’t completely needed.

16. Festival

Next up we have Festival. I like games with fireworks, fireworks are fun. But Festival is just fine for me because it’s basically a pattern building game. And while I think it works well, it’s very abstract, and I’m just okay with abstract games. You take one of two tiles that’s visible and you’re trying to complete goals. But, instead of taking tiles you can reserve a goal as well because you can only score goals that you reserve.

Honestly, I think it’s the reserving the goals that bugs me about the game. It’s an extra turn that you take, and generally you reserve and score it the same turn. Unless you spy someone else going for it, you’re not going to waste a turn grabbing it early to then never be able to score it. It might be more exciting of a game if you just scored if you were the first to get it, though maybe a bit more deterministic, I see you one turn ahead of me for a goal, I pivot goals, whereas now you can steal it out from under another player.

15. Metrorunner

Next up is Metrorunner. This is one that I got to play at Gen Con and it’s a fun game. You are going around a rondel collecting cubes and trading them in to complete missions. It’s not that super unique a game, but I like that rondel mechanism in it. It feels different while still being an accessible and easy to understand and play game.

But the game has an interesting extra element to it. In Metrorunner you also have a sliding puzzle game in the middle. It reminds me of I believe it was called Pipes Dream where you connect one side of the board to another specific side with pipes. You do that here, but you do it with limited moves and only a few special abilities to help you. I won the game because I am very good at figuring out those puzzles, and you can do it a lot in the game.

14. Captain Flip

This one is a game that I’d love to add to my collection. I own 15 & 17 already, but Captain Flip is maybe the last one that I don’t own on the list. This is a fun game of drawing a tile, you see one side and that tells you some of the scoring that might be on that tile. And it is scoring that you can use and add to your pirate ship. But on the flip side is some other scoring and that scoring might be better. But, once you flip you are locked in on that side of the tile. So do you push your luck or not. It’s a very light game but a good time.

13. Adulthood

Adulthood is a game with a fun theme of being an adult, though, I’m already an adult and I think the game is more fun than real life. You have less taxes that you need to do in the game. But the game is all about how you spend your time and money. And the artwork is great and goes well with the theme because it just creates this fun experience.

I love how you might lose your job but you find a new one easily. Or you fall in love and get married and how you have a new action spot to spend time and money on. Plus you also are trying to play out other cards that are life experiences. If you do well with those, they are great way to score points, but a lot of them require that you have other life experiences first. No going to the PTA meeting without having a kid first. And who knows if you find that kid because it’s a big deck of cards you dig through.

12. Cafe Baras

Cafe Baras is a game with a really fun theme. You are Capybara baristas and you want to make your best coffee shop. So you buy items to put on your menu. Then you bring in customers who will give you money. And if you match everything a customer wants, you can get a repeat customer, which is going to give you points. Plus there are special customers. They score at the end of the game and only if you cafe meets certain things.

The game is from Kids Table Board Games and it is light. But because o that it plays fast as well. And it’s a pretty easy game to teach. I don’t think with a silly cute theme I’d want it to be longer. So Cafe Baras is a very fun time.

11. Stonespine Architects

And just missing my Top 10 for 2024 is Stonespine Architects. Though it is one of my most played games in 2024, at least in person. I really like this game because it’s all about building out a dungeon. And you want your dungeon to meet certain things. If it does you are going to get points. But there is an element of drafting cards to add to your dungeon. And then buying items to enhance your dungeon.

I also really like that you draft some scoring objectives as well. Players add three to the game as they play, each of them unique to that player. So while there are shared scoring elements, your dungeon is going to become more unique. And when cards don’t quite fit perfectly, well that might work for a scoring objective that you have.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure that I’m missing games that I played in 2024. Some because maybe they didn’t get rated from a quick play at Gen Con. Or maybe I just missed that date, but 2024 was a year where I got in a lot of fun games. And I also know that there are games from 2024 that I haven’t gotten to that I really want to play. In fact, I see one from where I’m sitting with Stamp Swap, and I know there are more as well.

What are some of your favorite games from 2024? But not you #1 game, bring that to Malts and Meeples tomorrow night as I stream at 9 PM Central my 10 through 1.

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How To Play Adulthood

Your goal in Adulthood is the score the most points you can through the happiness you get in your life and the impact that you have on the world. You spend time, energy and money to do things like get married, get promoted, and all sorts of other life events. I would go into this more, but Brotherwise Games put out a good video on how to play Adulthood, so check that out below.

What Doesn’t Work

Adulthood isn’t a perfect game for me. There are a bunch of things I like but I want to talk about the one thing that feels a bit off to me. The game has kind of a weird starting speed to it. Depending on the adulthood cards that are in play for drafting/purchase you might find that a lot of rounds early in the game are just resource gathering.

Once you get the up arrow you will find that yes, you resource gather, but not you can play a whole lot more things. But by that point in time you likely now have a ton of resources as well with money and energy. So you can’t spend them fast enough. It’s the speed that you get cards into your hand, you add one per round, but some of them might not be worth it for you or you won’t be able to play for a bit. And then at the end of the game, you have more than you need.

I wish there were a spot to draw more life events, just blindly, maybe by paying a buck. That feels like it would work well. Something that costs you a bit and gives you something random. But it’ll give you more to do with your resources at the end of the game.

What Works

The simplicity of the game works well. Your actions are simple and easy to follow. And as you gain more cards you find a few more actions, mainly you get another one from marriage but it never is overwhelming. So turns go fast and while this isn’t the fastest game in the world, it never feels like it drags. In fact, because you don’t do anything on an opponents turn, you can even start allocating your resources while they finish up a turn.

I like the life event cards, that bit of randomness to the game. That and the hidden values are your main points of randomness. And you can even prepare some and look at what your values are. So it’s light that way as well in randomness, but the little bit from the life events is fun. Sometimes the life events are hard though, so be aware that you might need to adjust plans based off of them for your next turn.

The components are great as well. They didn’t need to do wooden time pieces, but they are nice. And their cardboard pieces are really good as well. Plus the artwork on the game is very nice, silly, and fun.

I also like that the game gives you an experience. You play out events, traits, partner, jobs, and values. All of those things give your person a real arc from the start of their life to where they end up. And how things connect, like to join the PTA you need a family card already in play, that is a nice thematic touch.

Who Is Adulthood For?

So who is the game for? I think this is for people who like lighter games with a fun theme. This is not a heavy game. It is a game which offers interesting choices though. So for people who want that lighter gaming experience it is going to work well. And the theme is a nice addition to it as well. It is worth noting the game is longer than a filler.

Final Thoughts on Adulthood

I enjoy this game. I don’t know that it is a game that I love. Mainly because the flow is just a little bit off to me. I like the thematic nature of it being slow at the start. I graduated college in 2007 and let me tell you, not a great time to job hunt. So my adult life did start off slow. But for Adulthood, it’s more in the later game that it feels like it’s lacking. I want more to do on the later turns.

Sure I now have upgraded leisure, wellness, and community things that I can do, as well as my better job, but the core action loop is the same. I wish that you could add in maybe one or two more spaces as the game goes on. If you have an open relationship I guess you can with multiple partners, but even that isn’t that much. Maybe just a bit more with cards, getting them, playing them, and them impacting each other. But that’s a minor thing for a fun light game.

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

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Gen Con Games I’m Most Excited To Play

I’m not going to go through them all. Mainly because that would take a long time. But let’s talk about some that I haven’t played yet that I’m excited to get to the table. And I’m going to limit myself to five because otherwise I might just put them all on the list.

5. Fateforge

Fateforge is almost a cheat. I pre-ordered it, actually, for Gen Con pick-up. So I did pick it up there, I had just bought it ahead of time. But I couldn’t have played it ahead of time, so I’m counting it. This is going to be a campaign style game and honestly, that is enough to draw me in. But as I looked at it when Meet Me At the Table did an unboxing, the game felt like one that I’d like a lot. And really, a fantasy campaign style game with fighting, that is right my alley.

4. Adulthood

Adulthood is probably one that’s a bit different than my normal game. Though, the theme is again what drew me to the game. Adulthood is a game about being an adult and living your best life as an adult. So you need to work to make money, but not work too much so that it sucks all the fun out of life. And the more fun you can have during your life, the better, I believe. The theme of game just sounds like it should be fun. Now, I need it to be different enough from my actual life, but otherwise, I’m all in.

3. Cities

This was not Devir’s biggest game at the con. That one, spoiler, is coming up on the list. But I knew that I wanted Cities as well as that one. Mainly because I like city building games. And the design team of Phil Walker-Harding and Steve Finn, I like that one a lot. They tend to make lighter and more accessible games, and one that is city building, I’m definitely interested in that. My hope is that like others of their games it’ll be easy to play but offer interesting decisions.

2. Video Game Champion

Next up is Video Game Champion. I don’t know a ton about how this one plays. But the theme is what got me. I like video games. I don’t always find the time to play them, but I like them a lot. But I do always find the time to play board games. Now I can play a board game about being great at playing video games. But it’s more than just that, it’s from the era where people regularly would rent them and you’d need to do chores, get allowance, and maybe as Grandma for some money to buy them so you could get to be the best. That is a fun take on the theme of video games.

1. Rock Hard 1977

Finally, from Devir again, is the game of the con. Sure there were other games that people were excited about. A lot of booths had lines formed to start the day. But Devir with Rock Hard 1977 generally had the longest lines. Add in Jackie Fox the designer and original bassist of the Runaways being there, it added to the hype.

This is a game of garage band to stadium tours. The game wants you to write songs, record a demo tape, get an album and go onto bigger and better shows to score more points. But you need to balance that with your day job, at leas at the start. And eventually you’ll be rocking the hardest of everyone. This is a worker placement game, which isn’t always my style, but one with a theme that I really love.

Final Gen Con Game Thoughts

Now, I have plenty more that I want to play as well. Earth, Terminus, and Draft And Write Records all make that list. Plus so many more as I look over at games like Wandering Towers, Maple Valley, Creature Comforts and more. Plus I got games that I just need to play anyways because I have them and I haven’t gotten them to the table. So as I find out which ones have solod rules, those will be the ones that I’m targeting to play and stream on Malts and Meeples. Look for those videos coming up.

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