The Isofarian Guard – Foreteller app vs Reading

So let’s talk about the app with this game. And I’m just going to say if you don’t want a phone/tablet at your table, they got you covered. But for me, this is a game that I’m grateful there is an app for it. I read a good chunk of the time because that is what the story demanded this time. And I don’t know if I want to do that every time.

The thought process might be that it is because it’s a lot of reading. And the amount of reading is certainly a factor. But with a solo game, versus a cooperative or competitive story game, I prefer to do the story via an app. There are a few reasons for that.

It allows me to more greatly experience the narrative. If I want, I follow along in the book with the app. Or some apps show you the words as well as play the audio. So it allows for that more immersive experience that it’s harder for me to provide. I read with voices, but it is not the same as a full cast narration in this case.

The other thing is it allows me to not read out loud. Do I need to, if I stream, yes. But it is more if and when I play this not on stream. For a good level of comprehension reading out loud can be needed. But that means you read out loud to yourself. Which, I find, dilutes the end product of playing the game.

Upcoming Streams

Streaming is back this week. Not in full force though because I missed Monday. The 4th of July made it impossible to stream, or at least not stream on a phone with spotty internet. I plan to play a game next Monday. To be determined what the game is. I think Welcome tot he Moon. But I need to learn the rules with that before I commit. I play at 8:30 PM Central time on Mondays.

Then on Wednesday, it is back to the table to play more of The Isofarian Guard. How will Alek and Grigory do this time? Wednesday it is 8 PM Central time, though that can shift slightly. But the goal is to play then. Now, this upcoming Wednesday I might miss the session. We plan on being out of town and coming back in that evening. So it might be different. It might be Gen Con preview time next Wednesday.

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Plus, I unboxed some more board games. I talked about a lot of them in the Point of Order from this week. But I got to bust them open on stream and take a look at the pieces. There are a number of fun games in there, let’s take a quick look at which ones they were.

Formula D – Tracks

I got two new tracks for the game Formula D. This is a car racing game where you are in charge of a car and taking it around a track, rolling dice to see how well you do. If you go too fast around the curve, bad things can happen, but you need to know when to push your luck, and when the throttle down. These tracks just give more configurations to race in than compared to the base box. Also might be turned into a legacy game or a tournament by myself.

Deep Madness: Devourer of Worlds

Another epic monster, mainly because I swung my my FLGS to drop off a few things to sell. You can find out about that in the Point of Sale article that also went out on Monday. Just another monster to fight against in this cooperative scenario based survival game. As a refresher on the theme, there is a deep sea base, for mining or exploration and research, I forget which, but things start to go wrong. Monsters start to come in from another dimension and the base goes coms silent. You are part of a team sent to checkout what has happened and stop anymore more bad from happening. Needless to say, bad things will happen. Because the epic monster Devourer of Worlds isn’t a nice guy, even with a name like that.

Dice Throne: Season 1 & 2 Painted Minis

Really a highlight for me. These minis are awesome and 100% not needed. The base game comes with standees and the standees just move around the board in Dice Throne Adventures. But the painted minis look so cool on the table and I’m really excited to play with them.

Cthulhu: Death May Die

I love my Lovecraftian games. Mainly because I like Lovecrafts writing in theory, but in all fairness, most of it isn’t that interesting to read. When put into a larger narrative like you get in a game like Arkham Horror (3rd Edition or LCG) or Mansions of Madness you get a better and more interesting story. While this game also has story similar to the mythos that has been created in those games, it’s from a different company, CMON. And this one has a whole lot more dice chucking in it. I kind of like that it is scenario based and it’s going to be easy to get to the table, though there is a fair amount of set-up it seems, and get into the game throwing a lot of dice.

Lost Ruins of Arnak

Last one that I opened up on stream. Lost Ruins of Arnak is one of the hot games coming out of 2020. In fact, it’s really hard to find. I grabbed a copy from Barnes and Noble online when it basically was impossible to find anywhere else. This game is a Euro style game with worker placement, but it also has deck building. I like the theme with it being a adventure type of theme with Indiana Jones vibes. That isn’t a theme that shows up too often in board games, and I wish it would show up more. I get that adventure can be hard to do well, so I’m curious to play this one that makes it more about the mechanics than possible some story.

The Beer

New Holland Brewing Company was the creator of last nights beer, Dragon’s Milk Solera. Dragon’s Milk is a line of beers from New Holland that are all strong ales. They sit around 10-12% depending on the one. Solera refers to how it was barrel aged. The taste is solid, while regular Dragon’s Milk has more of a caramel flavor to it, this definitely leaned more towards stone fruits like plums or dark cherries. I don’t love that flavor as much, but it is still a solid beer. It definitely makes it a slower sipper with the flavor profile.

That’s everything that I unboxed and played last night on Malts and Meeples. Marvel United was a lot of fun to get to the table. And I’m hoping that maybe at the end of the month or the start of next month I’ll be able to do a bit unboxing for all the expansions when they are delivered.

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Join me in the lands of Avalon again, I’m still on Chapter 2 for a little bit longer of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. How do I fair this time, do you I keep on getting myself stuff in combats that I shouldn’t? Should I run away more often (I should). Will Arev make it? He won’t.

I’m debating, though I did talk that I was going to, if I should stream again from the beginning. I’ve been playing generally for about an hour at a time, and that’s been getting me through slowly. And while I’ve been loving the game, I don’t want to show the same thing over and over again. So I might play through chapter 1 and hopefully chapter 2 this weekend and start at the beginning of chapter 3 when I play.

Last nights malt was Orange Dream State from Tinwhiskers out of St. Paul MN. Not my normal type of beer, and not my favorite beer. With the orange and vanilla it’s definitely a novelty beer, and for something like that, it wasn’t horrible, but I wouldn’t call it great either. I’d probably skip it if you’re ever in the Twin Cities, t here are better options out there, including from Tinwhiskers.

Bottoms up!

Arev travels further into the world of Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon. I continue my journey into the grim dark fantasy setting that is the land of Avalon and the Wyrdness that is pushing humans off of the land. Can Arev figure out where to go next now that he’s found the secrets of driving back the Wyrdness, with Menhir, if only for a short time?

Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon is a giant story driven game by Awaken Realms where you are struggling as an almost hero against the lands, the monsters, and the wary people who make up the land of Avalon. To do this you must hunt for food, but more importantly explore many a location in search for answers to the problems that are facing you. In exploring you delve into an Exploration Journal and make choices that will affect your story going forward.

I, also, always have a beer on hand. So last nights beer was Size 7, and IPA from Steel Toe Brewing in St. Louis Park, MN. I like it a lot because it’s a bigger IPA checking in at 7% ABV and 77 IBU. With it having a slightly higher ABV than some IPA’s, it isn’t too malty though, but unless you’re in MN, probably not an easy beer to get your hands on.

Finally, if you are enjoying the content that I’m putting out with my solo game plays, please consider giving me a follow and a subscribe. The first is for Twitch and the second on YouTube. For YouTube views, comments, and subscribers can all help more people find my videos and hopefully help more people learn about new games.

Bottoms up!

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