Top 10 Campaign Games I Want to Continue (Or Restart)

Let’s talk about why I stop campaigns sometimes. A lot of the time I do them for the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel. And with that, I like to have a mix of a few games that I’m playing throughout the year. But also, I’ve started some off camera, or I played through a first campaign and I’d love to come back again. But let’s look at what the list looks like. And too often, too, as I play solo, I really wish I had someone in the room with me to share the story.

10. Destinies

Let’s start out Destinies, this is one that I’ve just played the introductory game to it. And I really enjoyed the system. It’s a game that I could play solo, but you don’t get all the story that you’d get multiplayer. So for me, it feels like it should be a multiplayer game. BGG says it’s best at two, but I’d love to try it at three as well and see what player count I like it best at.

But the game is a really simple game when it comes to the system that it uses. And the narrative elements driven by the app work really well. It’s that type of app that supports the game well and doesn’t take away from playing at the table. I do think that Destinies is more of a beer and pretzels campaign than a lot of the other games on the list.

9. Isofarian Guard

Next up we have the Isofarian Guard. This one is meant to be played solo mainly or kind of two player. And I really enjoyed my time playing this game. There is an element of the game that didn’t keep me coming back is the grind. I think that it’s one with the upgrade/update pack for it, it’s going to make it better to play.

That said I like the systems and I like that it’s one big campaign but played with different characters doing different things at the same time. So as I play with one pair of characters the story is going to be continuing elsewhere. And the chip drawing mechanism for combat is a lot of fun as well and makes you think on your feet as you play.

8. Chronicles of Drunagor

I played one session of this one before I packed it up. And I regret that I only played one session. Part of the reason I did is because there is so much to put onto the table. And trying to stream it was a lot of work to set things up in the middle of the game and search for new bad guys and things like that. I know that I need to spend more time sorting it, and once I do that, it would be easier. And I want to play until I reach a door and not set stuff up on stream.

But that said, I really liked the mechanisms in the game. Especially how you activate abilities. You need a cube of the right color to activate an ability, and if you activated it, you block it off with that cube. That means that you lose actions as you go. Then you pull the cubes back, but you block off one of the actions, so the available actions become tighter and I think that makes for a great system.

7. Arkham Horror LCG

This one I could say I kind of have going right now. I am playing through the Scarlet Keys sporadically with a friend. And I really am enjoying this one. I did a play of some of the base campaign on the Malts and Meeples channel. As you can see from the videos that I did with a lot of these. But I find that I like the Arkham Horror LCG a whole lot better at two or more. There feels like more strategy to it and I like planning with other people.

That said, now that I am playing with two, I am loving the game. And the more I play it, the more it flies as I play because I know what I’m doing. It helps to spend some time with this game to get into the rhythm of how turns work and to learn what keywords on the cards mean, especially for monsters.

6. Roll Player Adventures

This is one where I’ve played the whole campaign. So do I want to go back and play it again, kind of. But what I really want to do is play the Gulpax’s Secret expansion that came out of it. It’s just more story and adventure for the game and I am really excited to get it to the table. The story in the first game does a great job of balancing adventure and plot elements in a fun way, not in a way that beats you down with a darker story, like some will coming up.

And I really like the systems in the game. Especially the dice manipulation and spending resources to get dice of various colors. It puts pressure on people playing the game in multiple ways. And it’s fun to be able to sit there and talk about how many resources you should spend, since it’s character life points, versus how many dice you can draw blind. And then once you roll those dice, how do you get them to the right face for either completing a challenge or stopping a threat.

5. Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin

Another one that I’ve kind of completed the campaign for. I know that the new version of Tainted Grail does change up some things, so it’s a similar setting for the game, but not the same game. And I’m cool with that, though for me, playing the three campaigns of Tainted Grail has been so much fun. I love the story in the game and it’s just a great experience, in my opinion. I think the original campaign is one that I’ll revisit as well. But I want to spend more time in the world, so that’s the biggest reason it’s on the list.

4. ISS Vanguard

Back to back Awaken Realms campaign games with ISS Vanguard. ISS Vanguard is a blast when I played it. And I like the combination of planetary exploration and ship management in the game. Each element felt like it mattered, the reason I stopped this one when I did is that I want to share the story and decision making with more people, in person. Sure I do it online, but unless someone is in the chat and ready to chat, I kind of just make decisions myself.

This game also feels so huge that I really want to share that element with other people as well. Granted, I have two more large sci-fi themed games. This one does give me some other elements to that sci-fi that I like a lot though. Mainly that it’s a crew from Earth. So while it is the best and brightest out there who were sent on this mission, they are still people.

3. 7th Citadel

Not one of the sci-fi campaigns, we have The 7th Citadel. And this game I was having a lot of fun playing. I just needed to keep it set-up to keep up with it. So it’s one that I might revisit anyways at a later time. But it’s also one where I was enjoying the story and experience of the game a lot that I wanted to share it with others, in person.

I really like the challenge system in the game. Whether it’s combat or it’s searching or anything else that you need to do a check for, you are flipping cards. And you need to create stars from those cards. But flipping a lot of cards also means that your deck is running out faster and the only way that you can get cards back is to spend health. It is really just a great balancing act of spending health, but not too much health and spending cards, but not too many cards.

2. Rogue Angels

Now a game that I’ve talked about a long time and that I’ve played with others as well. I have loved this campaign game even though it’s not out. I’ve gotten to play the TTS (TableTop Simulator) module a few times and I have a chapter one prototype that I showed off on the channel. This game just works for me from a fun story that feels epic to great characters and legacy elements to it.

But if it was just that without great mechanisms it’d not be that great. I really like how you play out cards and they go onto a cool down track for actions. Sure, you can always do a basic action, but those aren’t as good. And then, if you get wounded, you start to fill up that track with wound cards, and now you need to rest, or you’re giving cards a bigger cooldown than they should have. It’s just a great puzzle of a system that is easy to play.

1. Stars of Akarios

Finally for my campaign games is a game that I want to share this story and experience with someone in person so badly. It’s just a blast of a game and does so many things in amazing ways that I love. One of the coolest elements is that you get three different experiences throughout the game. There is space exploration, and that is fine. But then you get tactical space combat that is amazing. And you get planetary exploration which is a ton of fun as well. They pack a lot into the game and it works for me.

I could go on about this one a lot. The tactical space combat definitely seems to be the largest part of the game and it’s my favorite. I love how you spend dice to activate abilities. And you need to balance that with repairing your shields, possibly, or dealing with hull damage. Plus you need to line up your big abilities and you need to figure out if you can get into a flanking position to help do more damage. Plus the missions feel different, from fighting two factions to an escort mission and more.

Final Thoughts

Needless to say, between this list and the 15 campaign games that I still need to play, it’s going to keep me busy. I’m also going to go through and probably start of next week do a Top 10 List of Campaign Games that I have Backed that I need to get still. I think I can do a list like that, and yes, that’s too many campaigns to reasonably play. But my hope is to get to most of the campaign games eventually. Does this mean I should stop backing and buying more campaign games, yes. Does it probably mean that I should make more time for them as well, definitely.

Which of these campaign games between the two lists should I play next on stream? I know that I’m doing Gloomhaven right now as a digital campaign. But once I’m done with my Button Shy Solo Games (still a few more weeks of that). I want to get a game set-up on the recessed part of the gaming table and start playing through it. So which one do you think that I should play? I might do a video and ask for people’s opinions on which one I should do.

And do you have a problem with campaign games, mainly buying them, like I do?

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Top 5 Horror Board Games

Again, no particular order, but let’s see the ones that made the list.

5. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Almost didn’t put this one on here. I own other games that are maybe more horror and less fantasy. But Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon created a world of both. It’s very grim dark in terms of fantasy with monsters, wyrdness, and more popping up around every corner. It definitely dabbles into the horror elements with the creatures that the wyrdness has twisted.

4. Spire’s End

Spire’s End, or Spire’s End Hildegard make the list as well. Both really are similar in what the world does. Greg Favro creates a world of unknown and horrific monsters. While also giving you a nice, simple game to challenge yourself with. Things don’t come easily for your characters, but the rules generally let you get into the game quickly and start playing and seeing what is happening.

Probably the truest horror in terms of how the story is written. It’s impressive how it develops the horror throughout the game as you don’t know what is going on. And I still have a lot of game and story to explore in both of them. Plus the artwork is amazing.

3. Betrayal at House on the Hill

A classic horror themed game at this point. Yes, it does have it’s problems where either the person who is haunting or the other players will have a massive advantage in the haunt. But when it works well, which it does, it’s an amazingly fun time.

In Betrayal the game is split into two parts. First part everyone is exploring the house, together, but not together. You want to find good items, increase your stats and well, search until you trigger the haunt. But, you don’t know when that is going to happen. And when it does, one of you at the table is going to be the betrayer. So now what’s the new condition for the betrayer to win the haunt or the other poor characters to defeat the betrayer?

2. The Night Cage

This one sounds like an abstract game, and The Night Cage really is. But it’s an abstract game with horror at the heart. Players wake up in a labyrinth that they can’t stand up in. With only a candle they need to explore, find keys, and all get to an exit portal together. But no two players can share a spot, and monsters are lurking.

Plus, the game is counting down. As you explore and your candle no longer shows off where you’ve been, now those locations go away and the labyrinth will be different. So the pile of tiles is dwindling as you search. And you never know when that monster will pop up and steal your wax and light, leaving you fumbling in the dark.

1. Arkham Horror LCG

This one is on that horrors edge as well. Is it a detective fantasy story? Kind of. Are there elements of Lovecraftian horror through everything that you do, absolutely. And that’s where it makes it onto the list. The game offers you adventure as you explore Arkham or other locations. And you need to be setup to defeat monsters and cultists, and progress the story with finding clues. All of this to stop something, a ritual in the base box, from happening.

Mainly this game is just a really well balanced experience. There are some characters you can get to make you better or that have better cards. But that doesn’t ever make the game feel too easy. And Arkham Horror gives you ways to make it harder and really level it not to the story you want, but how hard a challenge you want.

Final Thoughts

I want more good horror games. I own a few more that I’d put into that range and a few that I need to try. Deep Madness would be the big one. Or Solomon Kane and Darkest Dungeon might also fall into that category as well.

But as I said a couple of days ago. Horror is a genre that I want to find more games. And when one comes out I’m interested in. And I will check it out, and a lot of the time I’ll be disappointed. Why, because a lot of them go with the gross and gore side of horror. Because elements like jump scares, or good psychological twists are hard to build into a board game.

What’s your favorite horror themed board game?

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Arcane Wonders

Senshi

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

Four Gardens

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

Picture Perfect

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

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

Smartphone Inc

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

Noble Knight

Arkham Horror LCG Characters

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

Aventuria

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

Medieval Academy

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

Beyond the Sun

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

Boardlandia

The Legacy of Yu

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

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

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

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

Amazon

Inside Job

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

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

Clever 4Ever

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

Set

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

Dorf Romantik

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

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

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New Board Game Quick Hits

18 Holes: Course Architect

A fun roll and write game where you are building out a golf course to get as many points as possible. It’s not too complex though there is a bunch going on with it. I wish there was a bit more way to mitigate luck, but I don’t always expect that from a roll and write.

Score: 7.5/10

Arkham Horror: The Card Game (Revised Edition)

One that’s kind of a cheat to be on the list, but the game has change slightly. Not in game play but in some of the cards and what comes in the core set. Arkham Horror: The Card Game is one that’s a lot of fun as you explore different scenarios and story just through cards, really. And I like the investigative nature, granted, we weren’t good at fighting, so we needed to do that.

Score: 8.5/10

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

The weirdest named game on the list, this is a solo campaign roll and write game. Really, it is a roll and write that has different objectives and instructions to win the scenarios. Calling it a campaign is a bit much. But I like the dice picking puzzle as you delve deep under the ocean. A simple roll and write game but one that changes it up enough as you play.

Score: 8/10

Birds of a Feather: Western North America

Another small game, Birds of a Feather, which I played recently on Malts and Meeples, is a bird watching game. You see all the birds from the habitats you go to, but be wary of predators who might swoop in and scare off some of those birds you can see. A really simple game, but fast play and fun, okay solo, but better with more.

Score: 8/10

Crokinole

Crokinole was a new one to the collection this year and I’m glad it has been. I’ve gotten in a number of fun games over an evening with it. It’s a disc flicking game with just enough rules to make it challenging, but not soo many that you can’t play quickly and have a lot of fun with it.

Score: 9/10

Dice Kingdoms of Valeria

Another roll and write on the list, I forget how many there are. And another one that I played on Malts and Meeples. Dice Kingdoms of Valeria is all about getting citizens to get bonuses and really filling in everywhere and anywhere to get bonuses. A lot to look at, but not that much to keep track of.

Score: 7.5/10

Dice Monsters Missing Mythics

I wrote up a review on this one earlier this week, it’s a dice collecting, dice chucking, monster fighting game with a little bit of take that in it. There are some flaws with the game, mainly around player count. That said, it’s a fun light family style game that reminds me of Munchkin with way less take that and at a 3-4 player count way faster time. One I’d gladly play but probably never own.

Score: 6/10

Featherlight

Featherlight is an interesting game. I think it plays around with a concept that some other games do, but basically creating your best scoring hand of cards and whomever does that can win the game. However, part of what you are doing is drawing a card and then playing a card to a discard nest. And those cards in the next can determine how you score as well. So it’s a good puzzle to get the right cards on top in the next.

Score: 8/10

Gasha

Gasha is up there as one of my most played new games of the year. And it’s impressively high since there isn’t a solo mode, but that’s because it’s so fast to play. Gasha is a set collection game where you are collecting vending machine toys and then trading in sets for tickets and points all in an attempt to get the most points. It’s light and fast but still good fun.

Score: 8/10

The Great Split

Now a heavier game, though still one that does a big thing I like. The game has quick snappy turns or if they aren’t quick, it’s because everyone is agonizing over what to do at the same time. The game is really about going up on tracks to get points, but the decision making space, splitting cards and giving your opponent the choice makes the game a great brain burner.

Score: 9.5/10

Grove: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

My most played game and that’s because it’s a light fast solo game. But I really am enjoying Grove and the puzzle that it gives me each time I play. How do I maximize layering cards to grow trees so that I can complete objectives and score points. I really like the objectives int he game.

Score: 9/10

Lands of Galzyr

Another one you watched on Malts and Meeples. This is a story driven adventure game as you take a character around and see what you can find, complete quests, and run into random animals, you all are animals, looking for adventure. A really light system but one that is a lot of fun to play. It’ll be up there for favorite new games of the year, I’m guessing.

Score: 9.5/10

One Card Dungeon

An interesting game, One Card Dungeon is a leveled dungeon crawler just using a single card. You use dice for stats, you roll to see what you activate, and you go around and fight monsters. They do a smart thing by making the card from four different orientations be different levels of the dungeon. And a smart thing of giving you player powers. The game does hit some action loops though.

Score: 7.5/10

Planet Unknown

Newest one to the list I played Planet Unknown twice last night. This is a terraforming game as you try and get your best terraformed planet and go up on tracks, place down tiles, and collect meteors and pods across the planet. The turns are simple but filled with a lot of strategy. And it offers a basic mode and a more complex mode, plus modules out of the box for a lot of fun.

Score: 8.5/10

Quest Calendar: The Voidspark Chronicles

I need to get back to this one. I have done a week or two of this daily calendar or so I’m a long ways behind. My goal needs to be sit down, catch up, and then play once a week to stay on top of it. But it’s a directed solo RPG in a daily calendar form where you make a decision or two that leads you on the story. A fun idea, one that I knew I might have trouble getting through.

Score: 8/10

Relics of Rajavihara

My second most played new game, Relics of Rajavihara is a block pushing sliding puzzle game as you setup scenarios, get everything in place and see if you can figure out the puzzle. The downside is that when you know a solution you’re done with that scenario. Upside is, there are a lot of scenarios and a lot of fun in the game. And the components are amazing.

Score: 8.5/10

Sprawlopolis

One of the most popular Button Shy Games, Sprawlopolis reminds me of games like Grove and Orchard which puts it up against stiff competition. Smaller and more portable but the game play is the same so I think it’s whichever you came across first.

Score: 8/10

Via Magica

Another new game that I’ve played a lot, Via Magica is a gamers bingo. You complete cards to get powers which you then activate to let you complete more cards faster. The game play again is simultaneous so the game moves well and the mechanics are simple. But I really like looking at how you pick which cards you go for, and how you can combo bonuses together.

Score: 8.5/10

Witchbound

Finally one that I only played via Discord and having pictures of locations sent to me. Witchbound is a choose your own adventure point and click style of game in a board game. The mechanics are simple, the story is good, and there is enough adventure in the game that you feel like there is a lot to checkout. I really enjoyed the artwork and what this one does.

Score: 9.5/10

Final Thoughts

I think I said twenty at the top, if you counted, it is 19. The reason for that being that one is the first time that I played since I started keeping stats. So Century Golem Edition, it’s the first time in a few years I’ve played you, but I have before.

Overall I’m please, my goal is to hit 50, and so far I’ve done a good job of finding fun games. Even my lowest rated, I enjoyed it, I just won’t seek it out. There are a ton of good games out there, and it’s fun to find new ones. That said, I do keep on playing games again and again or games I’ve experienced before. There are a lot of great games out there to play, they don’t need to all be new.

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I bring this up now because I am getting near the point, in a few weeks, where Lands of Galzyr will come off the table. It’s a great gaming, sandbox, type of story driven game. Not a campaign, but campaign adjacent. So on my shelf, which game do I play next?

ISS Vanguard

ISS Vanguard is an epic space game. But different than some where it’s flying about and blowing things up. So for example, different than Stars of Akarios (also an option to revisit). That is tactical space combat. In ISS Vanguard, humanity has uncovered a string in our DNA that leads to coordinates in space. Those coordinates, well, we don’t know what we are going to find out there, but, with humanity coming together, we find a way to make it out there.

The game is basically split into two parts. The first generally is planetary exploration. You go down to a planet, interact with things, complete tests, try and research, whatever the objectives on the planet might be. You take down crew and explore with them. The other part is back on the ISS Vanguard where you are maintaining and improving your ship. You also deal with issues that arise. A fun spin on things.

Oathsworn

Another option is going to be Oathsworn. Like ISS Vanguard it is going to have two parts in what you are doing. The first part is an investigative phase as you spend time around town or some location interacting with story and characters on a map. Trying to figure out things that will help you out in the next phase.

The second phase is doing to be boss combat. Characters are taken into combat with an interesting card mechanic that you play with. Each card has a cooldown on it, and they don’t cycle down until you play other cards that push them down on the cooldown track. And another thing that I like, you pick if you want to roll die or draw cards to see if you succeed.

Middara

Middara is a game that has been on my shelf for a while. Part of me is waiting until the next two parts come in as well. But Middara is going to be a dungeon crawl style game set on an alien planet that has an almost anime feel to it. So big crazy monsters and adventure as you go and a ton of story. It’s kind of from the peak of dungeon crawlers on Kickstarter where everything is huge.

My concern about streaming this one is that the map changes or grows over time. So like Chronicles of Drunagor, a game that I enjoyed playing, it is not going to be the best for streaming. But it’s an option and there is a lot of content for it just in Act 1, and I have Acts 2 & 3 coming eventually as well.

SHEOL

SHEOL is an interesting game, darkness has taken over the lands. And now as humanity you are pushing back against the darkness and monsters with the little Lux, light, that you have. Can you complete your missions and survive through the darkness?

I think that this one is easier to see on the table than to really explain. But it’s one that I didn’t back on Kickstarter and then I needed to track down after seeing Meet Me At the Table play it. It’s definitely one that is harder to find.

Skyrim

One of the newer ones to come out is Skyrim. Skyrim is a campaign game, like the video game. But how much time you spend in a game on a main quest or when you stop, I think is a little bit more up to you. And this is less of a dudes on a map sort of minis and dungeon crawl game. There is a ton of adventure to it, versus just trying to kick down a door and fight the next thing. So in some ways a little bit like Lands of Galzyr, though, there is still combat, or more combat in Skyrim.

Etherfields

Etherfields is an Awaken Realms that I backed and did single wave shipping, so for me it took a long time to come in. Now, I am still interested in the game, just a little bit less than I originally was. Etherfields is a world of dreams where you are exploring different dreams or nightmares and completing objectives. I believe it is a game that has progression and story to it, but it’s less of a campaign game than some.

Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

I’ve already played regular Aeon’s End Legacy. Legacy of Gravehold is the newer bigger box and I won’t lie, it is tempting me. I love Aeon’s End solo. And to play a giant box, I want to know what legacy content is in there. There is something fun about a campaign where you are opening up and exploring new things.

On the flip side, I already have showcased Aeon’s End Legacy and I think played Aeon’s End: War Eternal before on Malts and Meeples. So that makes it a bit lower on the list for me. But I also know already that I really like the game. So that is what keeps it on the list.

Relics of Rajavihara

This one very well might end up being a Monday streaming game. It’s a pretty simple, from what I’ve seen, experience that is meant to be played quickly. It is basically puzzles that you are trying to complete to get the treasure and it’s done on different levels. It reminds me of, I think it was called, Chip’s Challenge. A game about sliding around blocks to open up areas and, well, complete challenges. So a smaller game, but one I want to try.

Yggdrasil Chronicles

A friend taught me this game recently and I loved it. Yggdrasil Chronicles is a tough game of trying to stop various Norse gods, like Loki or Hel from messing with the world tree Yggdrasil. You play as one of the good Norse gods, but you are trying to do so much to make it work. And the more the frost giants, or other things get out of control, the harder it is to win the game. So it’s about remediating, but seeing if you actually can make it through.

I’m not sure what the campaign element brings. It does have some story to it. And I think it could be one that is fun to play, though trickier to film. Mainly because you are playing on a 3D tree that rotates. I would likely need to film it from the side to make it work.

Hoplomachus Victorum

Finally, and I do have more, Hoplomachus Victorum. This one actually isn’t quite here yet. But it is on the way and should be here soon. From Chip Theory Games, Hoplomachus Victorum is a solo and campaign version of an earlier game of theirs, Hoplomachus.

In this game you take your hero, build up troops, and fight in contests to become a hero. So that you can be standing tall as you go through the different areas and face off against different bosses. The story is light on this game, it is more a campaign of just gaining things and making your own story, versus a narrative adventure. But it’s also one that might work well on a Monday, though, that depends on how much setup there is.

Which Game to Play?

Let me know which one you think I should get to the table. I think that I am probably the most excited to play ISS Vanguard. But ISS Vanguard is one that I might want to play with a bigger group. So that would put it lower to the list.

SHEOL is probably the most different theme, in my opinion. The rest feel like themes you see in more board games. Maybe Middara is different, but it is more of a dungeon crawl with a lot of familiar things, just a less familiar setting.

And of course, this doesn’t include more Pathfinder Adventure Card Game or Arkham Horror The Card Game. And I can see games like Shadowrun Crossfire, Solomon Kane, Folklore: The Affliction and more that would certainly be options to play as well. Let me know which game you think I should stream after Lands of Galzyr.

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The Issue With Big Epic Games

There are a few things that stand out to me. The big issues around big epic games are how long it takes to setup and tear down. How long playing through a scenario or piece of the story can take. Or how complex the rules are, and how much space it takes up on the table.

Each of these things can be valid. If it takes too long to setup that limits your playing time. And limited playing time in general for either setup, tear down, or playing is a real issue. I am lucky in that I have a game table I can leave games setup on. But for a lot of people that isn’t an option. And then the complexity of the game, for people who want that big experience, they might not be that deep into gaming. I know games well, but even I get bogged down with rules as I’m learning a game.

What Are the Replacements?

Setup and Tear Down are Too Long

Lands of Galzyr, a game that I just started is the one that I’d recommend. It does a great job of giving you a really short time to the table with a lot of story. It is a deck of cards, characters are cards, so you just slot everything into the save sections, and then pull them out when you are ready to get to the table. Now, I leave it setup on my game table all the time, but setting out a board and then a deck of cards is very simple to get going. And teardown, you slot your cards into your characters save spot and you are good to go with little else to pack up.

And Lands of Galzyr still is going to give you a ton of story. So it isn’t like you are missing out on that. Now, some of that is to be more split up, separate quests than a massive overall story, but it is good for that. And the whole point is a big game, still feels epic, but doesn’t take up all of your time.

Game Play Is Too Long

Now, Lands of Galzyr could fit into that. But I’m going with one that has a longer setup, but Sleeping Gods is going to be in this spot. The game play is long, for the whole, but you can save easily whenever you want and pick it up where you left it off. The reason it works so well is that Sleeping Gods is an open world game where you can do anything you want, sail anywhere you want, and explore the story you want.

That means that you can play as long as you want. If you stop you still keep the quest lines available for next time. And you can take notes on what you were doing. But if you have 45 minutes to play, you can play that quickly. Granted, you still need time for setup and tear down. But if you can leave it setup and you have 15 to 20 minutes to play each evening, you can play that little bit of time.

The Game is Too Complex

For this, if you want a very easy game to play, Legacy of Dragonholt. This is a box of basically choose your own adventure with small game play elements. You create a character and you then go on adventures. But the game play is simple, you reach a story choice point, make a choice, and go with it. But because you made your own character you might skills that open up different paths. Or you pick up certain things or certain keywords that allow you to go down a specific path.

The Game is Too Big For The Table

Now Legacy of Dragonholt can be played without a table. So that is an option, but wanting to present another game, I think that something like Betrayal at House on the Hill would work well. Each game is going to take up the space to build up the house and not that much for characters. It’s not going to be a campaign game, but you will still have that story.

But if you want something that is more of a story overall, Arkham Horror The Card Game is a great option as well. There is no board in the game. The locations are just cards and not big cards. You have your player area but that is also not all that large. So it’d give you that bit of story, bit of campaign in a small area on your table.

Final Thoughts on Small Epic Games

It is fun to see companies who are putting out these smaller games and the options out there. There is always the desire to play that big and story driven game, that is great to have options. I can come up with more as well, like the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game or the Marvel Champions Campaign Boxes as well for those smaller sizes. Will I get rid of games like Gloomhaven, Middara, or Tainted Grail, highly unlikely. But smaller campaigns might start to show up on Monday nights with stuff like Paper Dungeons, Bargain Basement Bathysphere, and Welcome to the Moon.

That said, smaller games will generally lack some of the feel. You give up something when it is a smaller game or faster to set-up game, or shorter to play. Often times it’s that table presence that makes the game feel grand just when you get it to the table. But not every game needs to be produced that much, so what I gave are some very solid smaller ones and some ones that I’d recommend for people who want to play an epic campaign.

What is your favorite campaign game? And which thing is the hardest thing to get the game to the table?

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I started this process last week, so you can catch up here.

Which Board Games Are Leaving?

So this is going to be a bit of a Point of Sale as well, now in these articles. Mainly because I think that those leaving are the most interesting to talk about. Mainly because I don’t consider a lot of the games to be bad games that are leaving my collection.

I am also going to catch up this time on the ones from last time as well that are leaving. Mainly because I decided to talk about culling games last time.

Arkham Horror 3rd Edition

This is one that I am mainly getting rid of because I have other Lovecraftian games. And Arkham Horror has been sitting on my shelf for a while. If I have a bigger group to play with, I’m likely going to pull out Mansions of Madness, or Cthulhu: Death May Die. If I’m playing solo, I want to play Arkham Horror LCG (Living Card Game). Arkham Horror 3rd Edition just kind of falls into the category of a game I should play but it’s leaving.

Arkham Horror LCG Packs

Now, I just said that I am keeping Arkham Horror LCG, so then why is it here? These are just the plastic packs, basically little bits of story to add onto the main big boxes. I have several of those big boxes and I can play through those without the extra story. And I do need to do that. Plus Fantasy Flight just changed their model from monthly plastic packs to releasing all the extra content in a big box. It’s a one time hit, so when I’m ready for one, I can grab that.

First Martian

First Martian is a game that I actually enjoy quite well. But it falls into the category of a game I enjoy, but one that isn’t hard to get back. And one that I believe a friend still has, so I can play their copy. But this is a space Robinson Crusoe style game, tied in with the book the Martian for a lot of the feel. So a hard survival game. It is fun, there is a campaign that I want to play. But I can get it back when I’m actually ready to do that.

Heroes of Terrinoth

This one, you got to see me pick between it and the game it is based on, Warhammer Quest. And I went with Warhammer Quest. Mainly, the setting is more interesting for me, and I definitely don’t need both in my collection. This does look like a solid solo game, but also can be gotten back for not that much.

Lord of the Rings: Sauron Expansion

Yup, I’m getting rid of an expansion. Though, now I’m wondering if I could fit it all into the base box. If I can, then maybe I won’t get rid of it. The reason that I am planning on getting rid of it isn’t that it’s not a good expansion, it is, but it takes a cooperative game and turns it into a one versus all. And the one is playing a different game in some ways. I want or generally like one versus all games that are easy to pass around who is the one. I feel like this expansion it wouldn’t be as easy, especially considering I haven’t played it in a long time.

The Drink

So last night I tried Orange Jameson for the first time. It is a very orange forward whiskey, so at least the name doesn’t lie. But it’s only okay as a sipping drink. I think compared to normal Jameson, which is also only okay for sipping, so much of the whiskey flavor is lost. Some of that is how strong the orange flavor is, but I’m not sure, it seems like they tweaked it so that the whiskey flavor is lost.

I do want to try it again tonight, and to mix it with cream soda. Basically creating an orange creamsicle because that sounds amazing and a better use for the whiskey. What other cocktails or mixed drinks do you think would work well with Orange Jameson?

Upcoming Streams

So my original plan for these “Should It Stay or Should It Go” streams was every other Monday. I think that might be changing to every Monday now, or shooting for that a bit more. I do think it’ll be determine week by week if I stream on Mondays but I’m having a lot of fun with these streams and it gives me good things to think about with my collection.

But Wednesdays are going to be consistent for sure. So this week and next week I will be playing some one off games. I might try and learn a new game to stream on Wednesday, though, I do want to try out the solo mode for a few games, and I have a few roll and write games that I can show off. Let me know what you’d like to see, some smaller card games, or some roll and writes.

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

Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth

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

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

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

Legacy of Dragonholt

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

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

Legends of Andor (and Expansion)

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

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

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

Bring Your Own Book

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

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

Boss Monster

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

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

Sentinels Tactics: The Flame of Freedom

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

Small World Underground

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

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

Which Would You Keep?

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

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

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But beyond that, I got 34 plays in during the month of May, so I was able to cut down on that deficit a little bit for gaming. On my challenge, I am now 9 games behind pace with plans for gaming tomorrow evening and hopefully cutting into that some more. And that’s with a few days already this month without me playing games, though a few days with me playing games. Let’s get to the games.

Dice Throne – 5 Plays

Dice Throne, one I talk about all the time, but one that I know will never leave my collection. Really love all the characters and all the variety in it.

Tainted Grail – 4 Plays

Massive exploration story game. Getting close to the mid point of the game. Still loving it so much and there is so much story that we definitely haven’t gone to. We’ve branched down certain story paths, and I’m excited for that because that means I can play it again if I want.

PitchCar – 4 Plays

I have so much stuff for PitchCar now. And I am so excited to play this for game night in July. It is a silly fun time and one that I think will be even better with a bigger group. And now I have a loop to add to it which will be awesome.

Floor Plan – 3 Plays

A roll and write I’ve been wanting to try for a while. This one has you building a house, or a floor plan, and scoring points based off of certain criteria. It is pretty straight forward, but play is a lot of fun. Not that you could live in any of the places when they are done, but it’s still a good roll and write game.

A Gentle Rain – 3 Plays

Tiny solo game. I just played this on Malts and Meeples on Wednesday. You can find that posted over here. Simple game but it’s very chill and relaxing. It’s a good one to just kind of clear your mind with.

Tokyo Highway – 2 Plays

Another dexterity game, this one I always call a work of art. You are balancing things, but with the colors it just works so well. You can see one of the pictures I’ve taken here, it only kind of does it justice.

Potion Explosion – 2 Plays

I always say this game is like an app game. It really is true, you remove something, get colors to hit, remove those colors and get that whole cascade that makes some app games so fun. The game is simple and the gimmick is great for it.

Ascension – 2 Plays

A lot of people like Dominion, but Ascension is my preferred pure deckbuilder. It has you adding in cards, fighting monsters, but what I like about it is the variable market. The game just feels like it has more robust choices than Dominion, and better art.

Welcome To.. – 2 Plays

Another roll and write, Welcome To… is one of my favorites in the genre. The game play is a ton of fun, and the choices are definitely deeper than a lot of roll and writes. It also works so well in large groups.

Point Salad – 2 Plays

Point Salad is a wonderful light filler game. I like how variable it can be as the cards come out and you pick how you are going to be scoring. Works well at low player counts and is solid at higher player counts. I think with two or three people it’s a great one to pull off the shelf.

Arkham Horror LCG – 1 Play

Another one that I played on Malts and Meeples.

Super fun game and one that I need to get back to playing more often. The game play is interesting and I actually just talked about a change that I really like for it in the news today. I like the deck construction aspect of it as well.

The Isle of Cats – 1 Play

The last of the four first time played games on the list to go along with A Gentle Rain, PitchCar and Floor Plan. The Isle of Cats is the most complex of all of them. This is a polyomino playing game which has your rescuing cats from an island. But you only have a limited amount of time and fish to lure the cats with. Game play is fun, I want to try it with more than two, but even at two was cool. Has a lot of cards and things I haven’t seen that I want to play around with. And currently an expansion is on Kickstarter for it.

Silver Amulet – 1 Play

One that I haven’t played this year, but really fun game. It basically is a hidden information game where you are trying to score the fewest points possible. It’s like a game that I grew up playing with a deck of cards, but adds in a whole lot more and a whole lot of fun. The expansions (all stand alone) are great as well.

Just One – 1 Play

A favorite party game of mine. This one works well because of it’s simplicity and the fact it’s cooperative. You are trying to get the person who is it to guess one word by giving them one word clues. But you write down the clues in secret and any duplicate clues cancel and aren’t show. Really fun and works with a large number of players.

Sushi Go Party – 1 Play

Probably my favorite drafting game. I like how simple and fun Sushi Go Party! is. The game works well with non-gamers and gamers alike because of how cute it looks. Definitely the one I reach for to teach people have to draft.

Which of these games do you want to play?

Yearly Stats

So let’s check out the stats and see where I am at. I have 146 different plays of games this year. So that’s a lot, especially considering how hard it has been to do in person gaming. I have five games that I’ve played 10 or more times, and Tainted Grail is almost to 20. 10 games that I’ve played five or more times. And out of those 146 plays, I’ve played 38 different games.

As far as being on track, right now I need 219 plays in 210 days left. So I am slowly making up ground, and I hope that trend continues so that I’m nearly caught up by the end of the month.

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Fantasy Flight Changed Up Arkham Horror LCG

Fantasy Flight has made a ton of money by doing living card games (LCG’s). starting early with things like Lord of the Rings LCG and Android Netrunner. This has then led into a lot of other successful games like Arkham Horror The Card Game and most recently Marvel Champions. But Fantasy Flight is changing up it’s distribution model for Arkham Horror LCG.

The old model went something like this. A big box and then six mythos packs that rounded out the story. So you’d be in on the big box for about $30-40 and each Mythos Pack for $15. A whole cycle of Arkham Horror LCG would then run around $120. Now they are changing up that release cycle to just be two boxes. The first will still be the same $30-40 box, the next will be a $60 for all of the mythos pack content. If you’ve done the math, that comes out to be about $100, so saves you a bit of money.

So why is Fantasy Flight doing this? Honestly, my guess is because of logistics. Trying to get things printed and shipped at a reasonable cost is really hard right now for gaming companies. And shipping a bunch of small/cheaper products doesn’t make as much sense. I know that they have delayed stuff and moved stuff around for Marvel Champions LCG already because of this. Why did they do it the pack way in the first place, more consistent income most likely, but currently, the box method is likely to work better for them.

Lucky Duck Announces Divinus

Lucky Duck is getting into the legacy game world. They already are known for doing story driven games with the likes of Chronicles of Crime and Destinies. As well as a lot more games such as Kingdom Rush and Jetpack Joyride. But Divinus is going to be a big project for them.

We don’t know a ton about it yet, but it’s a tile-laying, dice-manipulation legacy game with an app. So I guess we do no some about it and it’s going to be the gods fighting each other from different pantheons, but how it all comes together, we don’t know.

Now, I like apps in my games. Probably more so than the average person. But I always wonder a little bit about an ambitious type of game like this. How will the app work, will it hold up to other legacy games that don’t need it. How much more work will it add. There are a few companies, actually talking about two of the three, that I like it when they do apps. I think that Lucky Duck, Awaken Realms, and Fantasy Flight do apps well.

In particular, I think that Lucky Duck Games has really changed how apps are used in a very good way. They have created games that need the app but also really need that physical component as well. I think that apps give more story telling possibilities. And the fact that this is a shorter legacy game, I think 12 sessions, makes me think that they can develop something really good.

Which Piece of News is More Interesting To You?

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