And if you want to know the criteria that I’m using, or the conversation starting point, you can read that article here.

What Roll and Write Games Do I Own?

Two lists like every time. We’re talking of course, played and unplayed. It’s less likely that an unplayed game is going to be leaving the collection without having been tried first.

Played

• Welcome To…
• Cartographers
• Ganz Schon Clever
• Yahtzee
• Long Shot: The Dice Game
• Twilight Inscription
• Welcome to the Moon
• Railroad Ink
• Fleet: The Dice Game
• Doppelt So Clever
• Three Sisters
• On Tour
• Paper Dungeons
• Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade
• Bargain Basement Bathysphere
• Clever Hoch Drei
• Metro X
• Trek 12: Himalaya
• Sonora
• Super Mega Luck Box
• My City: Roll & Build
• Clever 4Ever
• The Isle of Cats Explore and Draw
• Patchwork Doodle
• Criss Cross
• Knister
• Delicious
• First Class Letters
• Mind Space
• Doodle Dungeon

Unplayed

• Hadrian’s Wall
• Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write
• Silver & Gold
• Get on Board
• Sagrada Artisans
• Welcome to Dino World
• Riverside
• Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama
• Motor City
• Cascadia Rolling Rivers & Rolling Hills
• Pioneer Rails
• Fliptown
• Arabella
• Merchants of Magick: A Set A Watch Tale
• French Quarter
• Zombicide: Gear Up
• Boomerang
• Number Drop
• Vengeance: Roll & Fight
• Lantern Dice
• Astra

Unplayed Games

This list is massive for both played and unplayed. I’m not 100% sure that I own all the ones still that I have yet to play. In particular I think Arabella might have left the collection as might have Number Drop and Kokoro. But looking at that list, is there anything where I think it should just leave? The only one that jumps out at me is that I don’t think I need both Rolling Rivers and Rolling Hills. From what I know they are basically the same game.

There are a few others that I’d want to get played on the list to see if they stay. Those are the ones that I mentioned that I might not have still. Also Boomerang is another one that I need to see about. It looks like a simple little game so that begs the question of if I need to keep it. Getting all these little roll and writes is easy, but often times they need a more limited player count, which means that for game nights even though they are easier to learn games they are hard to get played.

Played Games

So what on that massive list is at the danger of going away. And I think there are a number of them that fall into that category of maybe are similar to other games.

Easy Leaving

In particular I think of games like Metro X, while it’s not too similar, it’s not a game that feels that different any time that you play it. And while I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been in my Top 100 Games in the past, it’s also something that is a less appealing on future plays. Bargain Basement Bathysphere is another one that is going to be going because it’s fine but I have played it.

Another one that might be a surprise is Welcome to the Moon. I thought it is a fun game when I played it and streamed it. But as a campaign game, I now feel like there is only so much interest in going back to it. I haven’t even gone back to it recently on Board Game Arena. And Welcome To… is more fun with the same main mechanism.

I also think that Twilight Inscription is leaving the collection as well. This is one where it could stick around because it is really different. But honestly I don’t want to teach it to someone. And I don’t want to learn it again. I really had a lot of fun with it at Gen Con and if someone is up for teaching me again I gladly will play. But at the same time, it’s that category of I don’t want to do that.

Easy Staying

There are a handful that are staying for sure, games like Railroad Ink, Cartographers, Sonora, Fleet, Three sisters, and Paper Dungeon are all games that I love. And with them also all of the “Clever” games. Yes, they are similar in some ways but they are different in other ways. So that is going to keep them around, plus I like them for that combotastic nature.

Isle of Cats: Explore & Draw is another one where it make it easy to keep. In fact it might be so easy to keep that it spells the end for Isle of Cats. But I want to play that one again at a higher player count. Because I like a lot of elements of the game. I think at two it is possible for it to just get out of balance score wise pretty quickly.

Questioning

So that leaves a handful that are in that questioning range. Some of them like Trek 12, Knister, and Criss Cross I know I like and are going to be kept as well. It is just less of an emphatic keep. Same can be said for at least some of Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade, though I might have sold expansions already and Super Mega Lucky Box.

The ones that I’m really thinking about right now are Delicious, Mind Space, On Tour and My City: Roll & Build. With all of them I enjoy the games. I think that Delicious is leaving because it is just simpler. Mind Space and On Tour are good, but in particular with On Tour it is not the best the score and I can always play it on my phone. So I think both of them are going to leave as well. And that leave My City: Roll & Build. I was through a campaign and half way through another. I think it goes because it is fun but I’ve played it.

What Roll and Write Games Do You Love?

Let me know your thoughts. Do you think that there are any of them that I should give another chance from what I’m talking about getting rid of. Just to recap that list:

• On Tour
• Mind Space
• My City: Roll & Build
• Delicious
• Metro X
• Welcome to the Moon
• Twilight Inscription
• Bargain Basement Bathysphere
• Cascadia Rolling Rivers or Rolling Hills

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Plus with both Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (oh yes it is) filming right now there are a lot of rumors around each. And we are getting closer to D23 so new rumors are starting to pop-up for that. We try and go through as many as we can and see which ones we think are real.

Thanks for Listening

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Comments or Questions: What Character, Group or Story Do You Want to See Get Reset in the MCU?

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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?

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124-101

Unplayed Board Games – 100 through 76

100: KeyForge: Call of the Archons

KeyForge has been on my radar for a little bit, mainly because the concept sounded interesting. It’s almost a TCG (trading card game) but you can’t build decks. All of them are prebuilt but also are different. And it’s a two player head to head game, take out monsters, get keys, and first to a number wins. They were on sale around Christmas, so I figured it was time to pick up a few decks to give it a try.

99. Vault Wars

This is one that I backed on Kickstarter because I find the concept funny. And I suspect that the game play is going to be easy enough to get it to the table with my gaming group. Vault Wars is basically fantasy Storage Wars. You bid to get the best vaults to get you the most points or money by the end of the game. I hope it’s a goofy good time.

98. Mage Knight

Probably should be higher on the list, but I’m intimidated by the rules for this game. It is notoriously hard to get to the table and learn. But it’s also supposed to be one of the best solo games out there. And while big solo games can be tricky to get tabled for me. I feel like I need to give it a try.

97: Shadows of Kilforth

This one I bought because Rolling Solo did a play-through of the predecessor to this game, Gloom of Kilforth. It’s a fantasy game and one that kind of has a story emerge as you go. But you play as a hero going out into this dark fantasy world, fighting monsters, getting cards of companions and equipment to see if you can defeat the boss in the end. I like the ideas of the game, I just need to play it.

96. Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse is on the list for an odd reason, or this low on the list for an odd reason. In 2020 at the Holidays Greater Than Games had a crazy good sale for Sentinels stuff. So I got all of it, or most of it. And I think I paid $75 for all of it. So very cheap. But now I have all the stuff, and it’s a bit intimidating to pull off the shelf. I just need to do it and play it. Because super heroes and super villains are my jam for board games.

95. Narabi

This is a little card game that is hard to explain. You are trying to get all the cards into ascending numerical order. But with that, each card is only allowed to move in a certain way, or has a movement rule on it. So it becomes a puzzle where you can share limited information to swap cards around to see what they can do, until you get it into order. A cool puzzle of a game idea where you see how fast you can do it.

94: Quadropolis

This is an older game that I just got. But Quadropolis is one I’ve had my eye on. It’s a city building game that looks simple but intriguing. I really like the mechanics of how you determine what tiles you can get to add to your city. And Days of Wonder, while not everything is a smash hit for them, has made some of my favorite accessible games like Ticket to Ride, Small World, and Five Tribes.

93: Jamaica

Jamaica, when I heard about it, I knew I wanted to try. But it is not a game that has always been easy to get. When Fantasy Flight Game Center, now GameZenter, was clearing off their demo wall to rebuild it better, it isn’t better, they sold the games. So, I need to do a piece count and then play this, but it’s a pirate racing game, that sounds like a fun time, assuming the pieces are there.

92: Heaven & Ale

Normally I don’t get Euro Games, but again, a sale. Also, one of the reviewers I follow, Ryan from Man vs Meeple, is a big fan of this game. So that recommendation and a euro game about brewing beer, I was interested. And I say that I normally don’t get euro games, I don’t, but I don’t dislike them. So I need to do my best monk brewing beer impression sometime soon.

91. Silver & Gold

Silver & Gold is a roll and write game, another one that I need to try. And one that I think will be a lot of fun, because you get to fill out cards throughout the game. So like Super Mega Lucky Box, you get to use dry erase markers on the cards. And it has this treasure hunting theme, but is more of a shape filling in game. I think it looks like one that is easy enough to learn but still interesting to play.

90: This War Of Mine

I’m intimidated by this game, much like Mage Knight. I’ve heard it it hard to learn. But more than that, this is a game about a fictional war and trying to survive in it. The concept is cool, but also a dark concept. And it’s tough to want to sit down and play a game with story that you know you probably won’t survive. Especially if it’s a harder game to learn and get to the table. But the concept sounds very intriguing and different to try.

89: Boomerang

Not the last time you’ll see a Boomerang on the list. A roll and write game. Won’t say too much about it, looks like a good puzzle of a game, like the one you’ll see coming up. This version just doesn’t look at nice as the other.

88: Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Descent is an interesting one, and this isn’t the big box version of the game that just came out. This one has been out for a little while. But it’s interesting as I do want to play the game, but I mainly got the game so I could practice painting minis. That is something I that I need to get back to doing, and we’re getting close to the point where I might be able to prime them outside. But I do want to try the game, because fantasy dungeon crawl, I like those.

87: MonsDRAWsity

We go from a big fantasy game to a small fantasy game, a party fantasy game. MonsDRAWsity, has one person a monster that they look at and then describe. Everyone else draws the monster. And I believe, the person with the closest drawing wins. It’s a drawing party game, but one that looks silly and fun.

86: WWE Legends Royal Rumble Card Game

Speaking of silly and fun, I’m a professional wrestling fan. It’s true, I mainly just watch the pay-per-views with a group of friends. And the Royal Rumble is the best one. This one is a take that style game where you try and be the winner of the Royal Rumble. Your guy gets tossed out, you get a new one, and the last one standing wins. Clearly I already know the group I want to play this with.

85: Shadowrun: Sprawl Ops

I really like the world of Shadworun. This cyber-punk future where corporations run everything. And you go on runs, hacking into systems, and exposing dirty secrets, great idea. And I’d love to play in a Shadowrun RPG campaign. This is a board game version, and it’s about setting up for a run. I have a massive box of stuff, but how the runners of the Kickstarter handled distribution, there were lots of problems, I’m less excited to play it.

That’s probably not a great reason not to play it. I think that it looks like a fun game. I still love the theme. It’s just harder to get into wanting to play it. Though, I did get the cooperative expansion, so maybe that’d be an easier way to get it to the table.

84: Boomerang: USA

I told you Boomerang would be back. The first, more logically, it set in Australia, but using the system, the designer made more versions. This version just looks nicer than the version I own of Boomerang. Either way, I need to play one or both. And then decide which one I want to keep, if I keep one, because I doubt I’ll want both of them.

83: Palm Island

I don’t know why this one is still on the list. Mainly I think because I play Orchard most of the time when I want a small solo game. Palm Island is a solo game that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s a resource management style game, if I remember correctly. You are trying to build up your engine to get more cards flipped around to flip more cards. I need to give it a whirl.

82: Blueprints

Blueprints is one that my FLGS recommended to me. It’s an abstract game about getting dice to build buildings. This falls into that category of a game that looks like it’ll be an interesting puzzle every time you play it. And I like those games where there is a good puzzle to it. Will the puzzle last a long time for me, we’ll have to see.

81: Specter Ops

Specter Ops is a hidden movement board game. One player is infiltrating a base to get to different objectives and then get out. The other player(s) are trying to figure out where they are and take them down. I like the concept and the theme of the game. This one is just the matter of learning both sides so I can teach it.

79: Crash Octopus

From the company that made Tokyo Highway, a dexterity game that I love, Crash Octopus is another one. This one is about flicking treasure to your ships and balancing the treasure on them. It seems like a silly game and one that will, like Tokyo Highway, look cool on the table. I want to see if it works as well as Tokyo Highway does for my gaming group.

78: 6 nimmt!

I don’t think the first time I heard about 6 nimmt! was from an anime, Afterschool Dice Club, but that is where I learned the most about it. This is a card game about trying to avoid taking points. I picked it up on sale when I got No Thanks! and both of the games kind of fit into that same mindset of figuring out clever play. I hope that this one works as well for my group as No Thanks! did.

77: InBetween

Two of the last three I got because of Sam Healey liking them on the Dice Tower. His and my tastes in game often overlap because we both go towards bigger, Amerithrash style games. The two on this part of the list are not that. InBetween is a two player game that feels, from what I can tell, like Stranger Things. One player is trying to get everyone to one side, while the other player is trying to flip them into the “upsidedown”.

It’s not actually a Stranger Things game. But the theme definitely has that vibe to it, and I think it came out about the same time. So theme wise, I like it. And as a two player game, I should be able to get it to the table.

76: Heroes of Terrinoth

This is another game that I saw on Rolling Solo’s YouTube channel. And it also looks good, card play game from Fantasy Flight, I liked how you level up in the game. And I like that you can pick from a variety of heroes. It isn’t a dungeon crawl game, but it almost has that feel. You pick a scenario, you can move between places, and you fight monsters. Plus you level up to improve how you can do things, which was cool.

75: Codinca

The final Sam Healey recommended game on this part of the list is also small, and it’s abstract. So that’s probably why it hasn’t gotten played. I’m bad about playing my abstract games, even though I normally like them. Codinca is a game where you want to create a pattern.

Final Thoughts

We’re still not into a ton of the big board games. But I do think this will be a section where I can get a lot of games off of the list. Stuff like Boomerang USA and Boomerang, Silver & Gold, Codinca, and Blueprints, all of those shouldn’t be hard to table.

On the flip side, I’m also going to be a bit surprised if I do get This War of Mine or Mage Knight to the table as part of clearing off games. I am very intimidated by both of those rule books. And I’m generally the one learning how to play the games so I know I can. But those two look like beasts to learn and with not great rule books, probably tough to get rules right.

Which one should I play first?

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This is going to be a list article, with all my unplayed games ranked. But before I dive into that, I want to talk about some of the terms that I just used. Mainly shelf of shame and shelf of opportunity. They are the same term phrased in different ways. Let’s dive into them and then the big list of games to play.

Shelf of Shame vs Shelf of Opportunity

This is a term that I’ve heard thrown around for a few years now. The idea that games on your shelf have this title. First off, I think this is kind of silly. Games that you haven’t played don’t have a special spot in existence. Now, maybe they do have a special spot on your shelf, but they aren’t held in any sort of light. They are just a board game.

But the first term I heard is Shelf of Shame. The idea behind this is that you feel bad since you haven’t played all your games. This is silly. I go back to my talk about collection versus a hobby. Know what you have on your shelf. For me, board games are a collection and a hobby. That means it’s fine to not get to every game quickly. They are part of my collection. But I play them, as they are part of my hobby as well, and hobbies get used or worked on.

Then came the term Shelf of Opportunity. Shelf of Shame is very negative, and opportunity sounds much better. But I, again, find this not much better. Yes, they are games that you play eventually. And yes, it spins it in a positive light. But both terms keep a focus on the fact the games aren’t played.

What Do I Call Them?

I call them what they are. Board games to be played. A board game is just an object. In labeling them either way, it places power on that object. Yes, one puts it in the light of a game being an opportunity for something new, and new exciting opportunities are good. But it leaves the pressure on actually playing the game.

Like I said, I play games. I buy games. Board Games are a collection and a hobby for me. I own games that might take a long time to get played. Campaign games where I play one at a time or two, and I am already playing two. Those wait for when I have time, and that is okay. I feel like the label places a cloud, no matter what label, over the games, and in the end of the day, games are just games.

If I never play a game in my collection and it collects dust for five years. I shouldn’t feel bad about leaving that opportunity out there. I most definitely shouldn’t feel shame. It is a game and I play games. So I play other games and not the game that is sitting there. I am still enjoying the hobby without playing every game I own.

So Why Write This Out?

I gave myself a challenge at the beginning of the year. Not because I feel guilt about games that I haven’t played. But because it is fun to play games. And I want to play games, I want to experience new games, and I want to cover new games.

For me, my challenge isn’t to get all the games off the shelf. It isn’t because I feel like I miss out on an opportunity. And I care not about shame from it. For me it’s about trying new things and almost making a game out of it. If I don’t make it by the end of the year, I don’t care. I play these for fun.

Unplayed Board Game List

Let’s Talk About the List

124 Games on it, and my goal is to get it down below 100 by the end of the year. You add in a bunch of Kickstarter games coming in, and you can see why it is a big list and also a challenge. And of course, then, there are campaign games on the list. If we look at campaign style games, I think we’re sitting at 14 on the list. And that is a lot of games to play through a campaign of, so that isn’t going to happen. Though, with Sleeping Gods coming off the list to start the year, it will some over on Malts and Meeples.

There are also some kids games on the list. Right now, I don’t think I will play those this year. Monza looks fun, but the toddler isn’t quite ready for it. But the toddler is also three, so who knows, maybe by the end of the year, we can play those games a bit more. But right now I’m not expecting to.

I also think it’s important to note that a lot of big games are at the top. Those are the ones that I’m most excited to play and cover. And some of them should be getting played soon. Probably after this weekend I’ll be lining up a time to get started playing Roll Player Adventures.

To go along with that, there are a lot of solo games as well. I could play, in the top 20, around 75% of them solo and some of them are solo only games. So I need to start knocking those out first, because they are high on my list. That won’t be how I get under 100, though.

Final Thoughts

I think that it is fine to challenge yourself to play your unplayed games. I think it is fine to limit how many unplayed games you own. When that becomes the focus or the obsession, I think that is when we start to lose the focus on what we are doing. Or when tie to it other emotions, like shame.

When I see people post about clearing their shelf of shame, I am sure it feels good for them. But on the flip side, in the comments, you see people feeling guilty about their unplayed games. I am not that way. I don’t feel guilt over that. And you shouldn’t either.

This is an odd article, I wanted to talk more about the games, and I will soon. But before I could do that, I think it is import to talk about the shame or guilt that can be thrown around in the hobby. Not always intentionally malicious but always harmful.

Also, let me know what game you think I need to try first. What is your favorite on the list that I have too low, or that you know I would like or should try?

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This is going to be a shorter Point of Order, but I wanted to write about it while it was fresh in my mind. And because the one game is quite unique on the list. And because I don’t really think I’ll get many new board games for a little bit because I know that Joan of Arc is arriving this week. I think that Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor, Project L, and Aeon’s End Legacy of Gravehold are all getting ready to ship as well. So I need to play more games.

Boomerang: USA

A little roll and write game, I’m sure that no one is shocked that I’m picking up a roll and write. And don’t worry, there is a Boomerang: Australia that was out first. This looks like a fairly simple game where it has you flling in different locations on the map to complete sections of the USA. When you complete them you get points but then there are also other bonuses that you can go after as well. I’ve heard good things about this one and I hope that it’s a roll and write that I can get to the table pretty easily.

XenoShyft: Dreadmire – Kickstarter Card Pack

Needless to say, I really like XenoShyft, and I need to get Dreadmire to the table. I think, when I ordered this, I was thinking it was Onslaught, but it was $2, so I’m fine either way. If it isn’t for me, I can add it to the box and trade it in, if I only need one version of the game, which seems unlikely.

This looks like it’s just going to add in another role or two that you can play with and some more cards. And I like that about it, because it adds in a little bit, but not too much to make the game that much more complex. For me, I often want an expansion that just adds a bit more into the game, but more of what is already there, so it doesn’t make it harder to get to the table.

Floriferous

I almost backed this game on Kickstarter. It’s from the same company that did Planet Liftoff! and Skulk Hollow. And this game looked like it’d be a good fit for myself and for my game group. It’s a drafting, set collection game. Nothing too complex with really nice flower artwork.

If that was it for the game, I’d be not that interested in it. I have Truffle Shuffle, 7 Wonders Duel, Sushi Go Party!, and others that are drafting games I can play. But this one does two interesting things. Firstly, you have to draft scoring cards. So kind of like Point Salad in that way, and I enjoy Point Salad as a nice filler. The second thing is what you draft cards in turn order, from a display, again like Point Salad. But where you draft on the next row will determine the order for the next round. So a good card towards the bottom means that you’ll be drafting later next time.

That is just enough of a twist to make this game really interesting to me. It’s going to be an easy enough set collection game for my wife and others in the group. And it’s going to look good on the table. But like Ohanami, if you really want to try and math it all out or figure out your ideal strategy, Floriferous looks like it should offer some of that as well.

Catapult Feud & Siege Expansion

You’ve probably noticed that none of the other games are a dexterity game. So I left it for the very end, just to keep you waiting. This is a game, yes, a game, where you are shooting projectiles at another person’s castle. You are trying to knock down their castle and their guys and the first to do so wins the game. There are some cards, I believe, and that adds to the game side of things. But it’s all about the toy factor.

My reasoning for getting this one, I wanted it for the toy factor. The public facing reasoning for this is that it’s something my toddler son and I will be able to play sooner rather than later. At least with the toy element of it, can we can eventually start to play it as a game. He’s going to love seeing the whole thing knocked over, but I will also enjoy that a lot.

Which of these games would you want to play first? I’m really curious about Floriferous out of all of these, though, with the toy factor of Catapult Feud/Kingdom that one might need to get played first.

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10 – Criss Cross

This was one of the first roll and write games that I picked up. I saw it on the Brothers Murph YouTube channel, found here. I really like the simplicity of this game, and how it plays so incredibly fast. All you are trying to do is get like symbols in columns and rows, which is easy enough to do in one of them, but in both can be a bit tricky. And the more you get the more points it is. The main thing you have to pay attention to is that you aren’t blocking yourself into a single spot in two places on the board because you have to place the rolled symbols adjacent to each other. This one also works really well over Zoom or some other meeting software. You can find my full review here.

9 – Metro X

The newest game to the list is Metro X, this one I just wrote my review about yesterday, you can find it here. I like how this game makes you think for something that is pretty straight forward in what you are doing. I think that it works well solo as the game is really a multi-player solitaire as a lot of these games are. Some of the excitement that comes from the game is seeing what cards are going to be flipped over, especially when you really need a skip or maybe that free space card to show up way more often than they do, or they show up at the wrong time where it really doesn’t help you that much. And the components are really nice for the game.

8 – Second Chance

Another one of the first roll and write, or really a flip and write, that I got. Second Chance is a lot of fun and a very peaceful game. I don’t think there are that many board games that I would consider to be really peaceful. Now that isn’t to say that I don’t fine most games to be pretty relaxing or destressing anyways, because I just love games, but Second Chance is really peaceful, which is great. You flip two shapes, and everyone places them on their board, and then repeat that. It is peaceful as you doodle on your board, filling in the shapes that you’ve placed, and while you can plan ahead a little, most people don’t too much. Just a good game overall that you can find my review of here.

7 – Twice as Clever!

There are going to be a number of games from this series by Wolfgang Warsch. While there are older roll and writes out there, Yahtzee missed my list but an obvious forefather, this line of roll and writes definitely brought them into the board gaming spotlight. You are rolling dice in all of them, picking one, setting aside anything lower, repeating the process until you don’t have any dice to roll or you’ve used three dice. Then the other players pick a die to use from those that you didn’t. This version is my least favorite just because I feel like it’s a bit more complex, but mainly for complexities sake. This one has combos but it doesn’t feel like the combos do as much.

6 – Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade

A newer game to me, though not as new as Metro X, this one has a theme that I was really excited for. I like playing pinball machines, though in 2020 it hasn’t happened as often. So when there was a roll and write pinball game coming out I thought it’d be interesting. I’ve written some opening thoughts on it here, but I want to play it more to give it a full review. What works so well for me is the flow of how you fill in spaces. There are the bumpers in the upper section that you can just ping around on for a while, but once the ball drops out of that, it will start falling, so you need to figure out, best you can, how to control that fall, hitting the sides along the way, before you flip it back up. Point scoring is nice and easy, for the most part, and the components are really good.

5 – Clever Hoch Drei

The next of the series by Wolfgang Warsch , and actually the most recent of the roll and writes, Clever Hoch Drei, which I’m getting from Germany, has been a blast to play. This one returns you to a ton of combos in the game, something I feel like is missing slightly in Twice As Clever. But it actually has some really interesting choices in it with how you fill in the sections. I like that this and Twice as Clever also incentivize going for specific things, like rerolls or plus ones, to get even more bonuses. The main mechanics stay the same as well, so it makes teaching it easy if someone already knows either That’s Pretty Clever or Twice as Clever.

4 – Cartographers

I almost missed this one when I was ranking my roll and writes because I have it on another shelf. This one is set in the Roll Player world, which really doesn’t matter. It’s about making a map, but that’s fairly weird how that works or doesn’t work, because there are monsters on the board. But it’s still a lot of fun. There are two things that stand out to me, the first being the scoring system where you play through four seasons and in the first season you are scoring objectives A and B, then in summer, B and C, but when you get to Winter, you are scoring D and A. So each thing gets scored twice, and you have to balance how much you go for scoring, because if you push hard for B in rounds one and two, you might not score as many points later. I also find the monsters interesting. It makes the game less multi-player solitaire because your opponents place the monsters (unless you’re playing solo) and they are going to try and place it in the worst spot possible for you. You can find my full thoughts on Cartographers here.

3 – That’s Pretty Clever

The first and my favorite for the roll and writes that are part of what currently sits at a trilogy of games. I fully expect that there could be more because they are certainly popular enough. I like this one for a couple of reasons better than the others. Firstly, it was the first that I really played of them, which there is a nostalgia factor. But I also like it because it is the simplest. It makes it the easiest to teach in a lot of ways, and playing it over Zoom works well because while it takes a minute to draw out the board, it can be done easier than the others. The dice mechanics are the same, and overall, just a game design that I really like. You can find my full review here for more information on the game.

2 – Sonora

Now, for something completely different. Flipping cards or rolling dice to fill in stuff on the boards is common and normal, Sonora, by Pandasaurus Games, is a flicking game and then you fill stuff in. I think it might be possible to get good at the flicking aspect of it, but you don’t need to be great. No matter where you end up with flicking, you will score points, and that’s fun, and you can generally land it into the large area that you want, you might not get double the area if you can’t flick as well. This game is all about the combos when it comes to filling things in, and there are four areas to do it in. If you wanted, you can really focus on one area, or you can diversify to some extent, and the scoring seems really balanced in all of them. Definitely a really fun game to checkout, and you can find more about it here.

1 – Welcome To

Finally, my number one, still, though, I think that all of the top 4 could be my number one on any given day, is Welcome To. I really like this game, and I’m not even always that great at it. I like building my perfect Stepford neighborhood, with it’s white picket fences and most definitely not anything crazy that will go wrong there, but that’s for someone else to deal with, I’m just building Helmouth on a Hell Mouth, a pet cemetery and probably more cursed things, and that’s just the flavor I add to the game. This game has a lot of different ways to score points and you can push your luck as well, but there’s also strategy as you consider how many of each number have passed by, I always seem to find something else that I want to think about or try in the game each time that I play it. I’ve had this one in my Top 100 games since I’ve played it and it’s stayed strong, you can see why I love it so much here.

Now, I have a few more roll and writes on my shelf to try. I have the Red Box for Railroad Ink, Booomerang, Floor Plan, Welcome to New Las Vegas, and Patchwork Doodle all to try as well. And I had two, Cat Café and Yahtzee that just missed the list. Yes, I still do enjoy the original, Yahtzee, as well, though that game mainly plays itself now.

What is your favorite roll and write game?

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Numbers

A’s

B’s

Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate

So the next one will be another game in the same family, but I wanted to keep them separate because while I like Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate and feel like it gets some things better, I prefer the other one. This one is a semi-cooperative (or fully cooperative) exploration game where you are taking Dungeons and Dragons type characters through Baldur’s Gate, a town, and exploring, finding items, omens, and events. Eventually there’ll be enough omens and a poor roll will happen and a haunt will begin. This will either be fully cooperative, 20% chance, or one person will be the traitor. The game changes to trying to stop whatever bad thing is happening to Baldur’s Gate.

Status: Played

Betrayal at House on the Hill and Legacy

This is the original, plus the newest all lumped into one section. I really need Covid to be over enough to get Betrayal Legacy to the table. But I’ve played the regular game a lot, and I really like it. It’s a janky, sometimes broken game, but I love it, because it’s a wonderful horror game that feels sometimes like a real horror film as you explore the creepy house and wait for the haunt to happen, and sometimes it feels like you’re the Scooby Gang in a bad horror movie because of how weird things are. There have been some scenarios that haven’t worked well, but most of the time people end up having fun with it, and I’m really excited to try Betrayal Legacy.

Betrayal at House on the Hill: Played
Betrayal Legacy: To Be Played

Blood Rage

This game was one of the earlier area control games that I played, Risk was the first, but most other games I had played up to that point from more modern board games weren’t area control. I love Blood Rage because it has area control, but that’s less of a thing for it. Instead, it’s all about figuring out that combo of upgrades, fighting, and quests that are going to get you the most action points and the most points overall so you can win the game. It feels like it should be a very confrontational game, but it always plays less like that and is really interesting as to what strategy you end up picking. This game also sells itself well too on the table because it just looks interesting and it looks as epic as it is. I like that it’s a game that is epic in a reasonable play time without being a campaign as well. I have the Gods of Asgard expansion that I need to play with sometime.

Status: Played

Blossoms

This is a primarily two player push your luck flower game. I picked it up because it looked simple and cute, and it definitely is that. The game you are basically pushing your luck to see how much you can grow your flowers before you cut them. The taller they are, the more points they are worth, but if you draw one of the flower types that you don’t have planted and can’t plant, then you bust and it’s the other person’s turn. So do you cut a decently tall flower or risk pushing just a bit further but also risk not cutting a flower on your turn. It’s an interesting choice that I think works well, it would work less well if the game took longer, it says 30 minutes, but I think it should go even faster than that.

Status: Played

Boomerang

This one you might have seen recently in a Point of Order. This is a draft and write game where you are drafting cards to fill in spots on your map of Australia to score points. It’s pretty standard roll and write in what it does on the sheet, but the drafting of cards means that you can be strategic, taking a card that might score someone else more points if there’s nothing that great for you. But because I just got this in, I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, of course, but it’s a roll and write style, and I tend to enjoy those a lot.

Status: To Be Played

Boss Monster: The Dungeon Building Card Game

This was a game that I originally played someone else’s copy while I was getting into the board game hobby. I liked it because it has some interesting strategy and I liked old computer games like this one portrays where you are going through a dungeon, fighting/dealing with whatever is in that room and going onto the next one. This is a twist on that in board game form, and one where you aren’t the heroes, but you’re the boss monster at the end of the row trying to create a dungeon that can do enough damage to take out heroes. My one knock on this game and that keeps it from being played that often is that it has “take that” elements to it. By that I mean that you might have something planned that’ll work out well for you and I can with a card just be like, “nope, not happening” and I might get more cards like that than you do or I might play them all on you so it doesn’t seem as fun. But one thing I really do like is that you are attracting different types of heroes, and the person who has the most of a symbol in their dungeon gets that type of hero, and you know which heroes are coming. But you might not be able to defeat that hero and too many wounds, you die and are out of the game. So you kind of have to get into the head of your opponents at times and create ties so that you don’t take damage.

Status: Played

Brew Crafters; Travel Card Game

I honestly don’t know a ton about this one, but I do want to play it. It was given to me as a gift, and it just hasn’t gotten to the table yet. But it’s about brewing beer and as a fan of both brewing and drinking beer, I am interested in the theme. It looks like it should be a fun little game, but I need to get it to the table.

Status: To Be Played

Bring Your Own Book

This was a game that Kickstartered pretty early on, I think it might have been game 3-4 that I backed. It is a party game where there’s a person who is “it” like in most party games who is going to pick their favorite. Everyone else brings (picks) a book to use. The person who is it reads a prompt and then everyone else has some time to dig through their book and try and find a sentence or part of a sentence for the response. There’s a limited amount of time, and who knows what book you decided to bring, so sometimes you can find the perfect thing, or thematic thing, and sometimes it is a dry bit of technical reading that is hilarious. This game suffers like the Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity types that you need to know your audience. How do I tailor my response for the person who is it. But like Stipulations, which I enjoy, this game changes, you might will eventually see the same prompts, but a line from a fantasy book versus a biography, versus a D&D adventure book versus a technical manual, those are all going to be really different.

As always, the two questions, which is your favorite from the B’s, and what, based off of this and my previous part of the list, should I look at getting or playing for the letter B?

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Heaven and Ale

This is a game that normally wouldn’t be the type of game that I gravitate towards. It’s a Rondel (I’ll explain) and more of a puzzle euro game all about getting your timing right, but the theme is beer. And I like beer, and I play games while drinking beer, so beer making while drinking beer seems right to me. So what’s a rondel. a rondel is basically an action path that you can go on that is circular. Depending on the game, you can go as far ahead as you want, but most of them limit how far you can go. When you go ahead, that means that you can’t go back, so say I can skip over two actions, that means, if I can move ahead three and there are ten spaces, it’d take several rounds before I could get back to one of those actions that I’ve skipped, 3 or 4. So you have to think how much it’s worth moving head and how much it makes sense to hold back. It’s a different direction than my normal theme forward games, but I like the puzzle aspect that it brings to it.

Papillon

A game about butterflies, because I only have Mariposas so I clearly need more games about butterflies, but this one is very different. In this one you are drafting rows of flower plots, and placing it so you have matching sides together. You then are trying to create large areas to score as well as set it up so that you can get butterflies, and place them on beautiful looking 3D flowers for an area control aspect of the game. This game has an amazing look on the table, and I think the complexity of the game is right for a large variety of gamers. The theme is also very friendlier than a lot, people will like butterflies more so than sci-fi or fantasy. Now obviously butterflies won’t be a theme that draws everyone in, but it won’t push them away as well.

Boomerang

Have I said recently that I like roll and writes, in fact, there’ll be a bonus roll and write at the end. But Boomerang is one that I had heard about a while ago and just don’t know a ton about. This one is a bit more a flip and write than a roll and write, but you have a bunch of different cards you use to fill in things on your board. The game looks pretty simple, pretty fast, and like it should hit the table. It is also different because compared to a roll and write, or flip and write, this game has card drafting in it. Card drafting, or drafting in general, is a great mechanic. I like that I now have several games that are flip and write, some that are unique rolling and writing and others more classic rolling and writing, plus games that have big boards, flicking, and now I’ll have a drafting and writing game as well.

Foodies

Another game that I’ve had my eye on for a long time. Foodies looks like a fun fast engine building game that is going to be on a weight similar to something like Homebrewers, where there is a bit more going on than the likes of Splendor, but easy enough to learn. In Foodies you are buying foods to build up your menu, and you place them into a grid, then you’re rolling dice and depending on what is rolled you can activate different spots and get different things, like money, or victory points, whatever it might be. What I like about this one is that it keeps you engaged even not on your turn. If someone else is rolling, you still get to activate on your menu board what was rolled. And the dice adds in some variability, but they didn’t want you to get nothing for an empty spot, so you might get a coin if it’s rolled as compared to more if you have a menu item there. The art is nice and the theme is great for this one.

Xenoshyft: Onslaught – Game Night Kit #1

Don’t ask me what’s in this, but it was $4 and more content for Xenoshyft: Onslaught, a game that I really like. I’ve almost pulled the trigger on this several times, but I was debaging if I needed a mini expansion, turns out when it’s $4 I do. It basically adds in a few new equipment cards and things like that to add even more variety to the game and a way to set-up some special things. I think it’ll be a fun edition to a game that I really need to get to the table again.

Finally, the bonus one.

This one came because I had some games to sell, in fact, we’re going to have a new post also coming today called Point of Sale which is what I am selling back to my FLGS because I don’t need it on my shelf anymore, and why.

Twice as Clever!

I’ve recently been on a kick playing the Ganz Schon Clever app a lot, and I’ve actually gotten in five games of Ganz Schon Clever as well. But Twice as Clever! is the follow up to Ganz Schon Clever and there’s actually a third out now as well. While Ganz Schon Clever is fun and simple, Twice as Clever adds in a whole lot more challenge to the game while keeping the mechanics very similar. The new additions are a lot of fun and create a really good time playing in the app. I need to get this one to the table soon as well.

Which is your favorite of these games that I ordered?

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