How To Play Jump Drive

In Jump Drive you are racing to a point total, generally 50 points, in your empire. Each round you are gaining cards and then playing out cards to build out your space empire. These cards are split into two categories, planets and technologies. Both of them are going to give you more income, cards, and points possibly from playing them. And all of this is done simultaneously.

Turns

On your turn you pick up to two cards to play from your hand. You play either a technology or planet card or you play both. But to play a card you need to have enough other cards in your hand to discard to play them. If you play one card, either a technology or a planet and not two, you draw a card to add to your hand.

If you don’t have enough cards in hand to play a card you can choose instead of explore. When you explore you draw a number of cards to your hand and then discard so you add two new cards to your hand. The number of cards you draw varies depending on how many eye symbols, explore symbols, you have on your cards already in play.

One last thing about the rounds is military. There are military planets that you can conqueror with your military force in the game. Unlike planets where you gain them peacefully, you don’t need to discard cards are for gaining a military planet. Instead, you need to have enough strength in military in play to conqueror them.

Between Turns

Once you play out your planet and technology two things happen. Firstly, you gain points. You gain points for the total number of points that your empire is generating. That means points that you gained from this round and previous rounds.

The other thing is that you gain cards. Like I said, each planet and technology has two main stats. One being your victory points mentioned above. The other is your card draw. Like victory points, you look at your total card draw and draw that many cards into hand. Now, you only are allowed to have 10 cards in your hand at the start of your turn. So if you draw a greater number than that, you discard down to 10 cards.

You continue with this loop of turn and between turn until someone reaches or surpasses the point goal for the game. If multiple players pass on the same turn, which can happen with the simultaneous play, the player with the most points is the winner of the game.

What Doesn’t Work

There is a decent chunk of luck in the game. Now I say that, I think there are some ways that you can work around it and you always have something to do. But if you don’t draw planets and technology that work with the engine that you started, you might need to pivot hard and fast. And even if you do that, it might be too late in the game as the game normally lasts between 6-8 rounds.

The amount of satisfaction from building up your engine is sometimes cut short as well. You might be looking at building out a great engine, but because of the point total is not that high, your engine might just start really working and then the game ends. I think if you want you can play higher, but it still is going to go by very quickly.

What Works

The speed of the game is impressive. Each turn and decision is meaningful. But because of how it limits the number of cards you have in hand, it is limited in what you can do. So I like that the game is very fast. Now that is a negative if you want to build up a great engine. But I like that you play once and it is very easy to shuffle up and play again.

I like set-up for the game. It is just cards and some tokens for points. So it is super fast to the table. And that is going to make it easier to keep around. Now it is even faster on BGA with your turns and figuring everything out. But it is not a game where BGA is doing a ton of heavy lifting getting it to the table, like some others. But instead, this is a very easy and fast game to table in person.

Engine Building

The engine building element is solid in Jump Drive as well. Now, that is the whole game, you build up your engine. And you decide how quickly you pivot from cards/income to points in the game. And you need to do so quite quickly. But if you want to play a game that is just engine building, this is going to work really well for you.

I also like the early game in this a lot. That is where the biggest strength and decision space for the engine building comes in. You need to figure out how to get your engine up and running extremely quickly. If you need to explore a round, it should be in the first two rounds. If you explore after the first two rounds, you might find that you fall too far behind.

Solo Campaign

Finally, I like the solo campaign. Mainly because it is giving you different goals to shoot for in each version of the campaign. It is not super complex, everything you do is pretty easy to keep track of, but it is different each game. Is it much of a campaign, no. But it is a good way to make it into a solo game versus just see how high a score you end up with in seven rounds. It is fun to add just a little bit of extra to what you are doing.

Who Is Jump Drive For?

This is a good filler engine building game. I don’t think it is going to be a game to build your game night around. But I think it is a solid game for when you want a filler game that does a bit more. Often times with a filler game the decision space is very limited. Here is it is pretty limited but not completely limited and what you decide matters. And because it is so fast, it fits in as a filler or a game you play two times in a night. So if you want a filler game with a bit more to it, I think that is a game that can work well.

Final Thoughts and Grade on Jump Drive

Now, I say it in the video, I might sell my physical copy. That is not because I don’t like the game, I think it is fun. But it is so fast solo and asynchronously on BGA, that I might just play it there. But I also think I have a few people I game with who might enjoy the game. So that might keep it around. And I like that even with the expansion is fits in a small box so that means that it takes up less shelf space.

Now, the downside to the game is that sometimes you just end up with a bad game. I mentioned it in what doesn’t work. And it is generally the combination of two things. It is that you have a bad game. But it is also then that someone has a great game. So while you end up with 10 points after six rounds, someone else is past 50 because they got what they needed. This is sometimes frustrating, in a BGA tournament for example, but generally I find it okay because it is so fast to play that I just play again. So for that reason, that luck is a not a big deal to me.

My Grade: B-
Gamer Grade: C+
Casual Grade: B+
Strategy (out of 10): 5
Luck (out of 10): 6

Now, just a note on luck. I mention twice how it can bite you. Once in my thoughts and once in what doesn’t work. But I only give it a 6 out of 10 for luck. The reason is you need to pivot and sometimes it won’t work. But the option to pivot helps negate some of that luck.

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How To Play Push

Push is a simple game where you get two actions that you can do. The first is the most common that you’re going to do in the game. It’s going to be flipping cards, and pushing your luck, where the name comes from, to build out three columns of cards. It might be less, but generally you’ll build three. When you stop you pick one of the columns to take and add to your points. The other thing you can do is bank points you have, because there are ways that you can lose points.

Let’s talk about what happens to the other two columns. Depending on if a reverse was flipped or not, the next two players, either direction get to pick a column. So why not put everything in one column? Because there are rules for how you have to place cards. You can’t have the same number, or color in a column. If you ever do that, you bust, and you get no cards. Plus there is an additional penalty.

What’s this penalty, well, you get it for busting, or if a die card is in a column that you take. You need to roll the die. The die has the five colors on it and a blank side that is safe. But if you roll a color, you get rid of all the cards of that color you have. But you don’t get rid of cards of that color if they have been banked.

When the deck has been gone through, the player with the most points in their banked, and collected areas is the winner of the game.

What Doesn’t Work

This is a lucky game. You draw cards blindly and just have to guess when you want to stop. You might roll the die a turn before you would have banked a lot of points and you lose them all. So for some people that is going to be something that doesn’t work at all. Why, because it’s going to be that random nature that some people don’t like in the game.

What Works

But let’s talk about that luck in terms of what works as well. Because it is lucky and a die roll and go against you at the wrong time, or you might just draw three red cards in a row and bust drawing a fourth, but it’s fast. And everyone is down for the same lucky time that you are. You know if you’re a push your luck fan, this game is going to work for you.

I also like how you can bust. Because, I tend to notice most combinations of what might bust you. But there are times because you might be safe from a red, you only have two, and a four, you only have two. But the right combination comes out, a red four, and now you can’t place that into the columns and you bust. And I don’t notice those all the time.

Plus, with this being a fast game it plays like a party game. And when it’s going well, everyone at the table is encouraging others to push their luck one more time. Yes, you might bust, but imagine how good the points will be if you go further. And that is how a good push your luck game should work. And sometimes, as the person who is creating the columns, you stop because you know the last person is just going to get that die to mess with them.

Who Is Push For

Push is for people who want to play a light, silly game that is almost a party game in a lot of ways. If you are risk adverse, this game won’t work for you. If you don’t like randomness, this game won’t work for you. But is the premise sounds silly and fun, then you’ll probably like it quite well.

My Final Thoughts on Push

I do like Push quite well. I like the randomness of the game. And I think that is really a party game. I find it to be more of a party game than a game like Codenames is, the difference is, you can’t play with as many people, though still a good number. Push is just loud fun, something that I don’t really say about Codenames and some other party adjacent games that are really big group games.

And I like the mechanisms in the game. They are just simple enough to be a fast teach, but it’s a fun decision space to see when you want to keep pushing your luck. You get a four in all the columns you’ll probably stop. But can you spot those sneaky situations that can bust you. Or, can you flip a few more cards and get that one column super juicy for you to take.

Have you played Push, and do you like it?

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

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Catch up on previous videos here

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41
40 through 31

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 30 through 21

30 – Hanamikoji

• Published by EmperorS4 in 2013
• Give gifts to win the favor of Geisha through tricky card play

This is one of my favorite if not my favorite two player only game. There are others on the list that I like at two a lot, but this probably my favorite pure two player game. In this one you want to win the favor of Geisha and you do that by giving them gifts. But it’s how you give them gifts that is so much fun. The four actions you take per round, and each them offers a good decision. Mainly because you don’t know what your opponent has, you don’t know what’s yet to be drawn, and of course you sometimes have to give the ultimate decision to your opponent.

Buy Hanamikoji

29 – For Northwood!

• Published by Side Room Games in 2021
• Try and win the favor of the woodlands rulers by taking the exact right number of tricks

This is a weird game. For Northwood! is a solo trick taking game. And that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it really does. Mainly because of the powers and abilities and how all of those work. You play out eight hands and you need to win 0 to 7 tricks each time. But you need to decide how many tricks you’ll win before hand. So it’s using your powers and abilities to mitigate or push for winning those tricks and not getting too high or too low. If you can pull off all eight, that is going to be perfect win.

Currently Not Available But Could be through Gigamic.

28 – Arkham Horror: The Card Game

• Published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2016
• Investigate, fight, and solve the mysteries around Arkham in a Lovecraftian story

This is a fun game in Fantasy Flight Games Arkham Files line, in fact it’s my favorite of them. I really like how they use deck building and just cads to create an immersive narrative and experience for a game. It’s fun to play through the story, use your deck, and try the best you can to not fail the checks that you’re given. And it’s also nice because it is a campaign, you play through multiple scenarios, but it’s not a long campaign, so you can pick and choose which short campaigns that they’ve put out for the game that you want to play through.

Buy Arkham Horror: The Card Game

27 – Star Wars: Unlimited

• Published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2024
• Battle to beat your enemy by destroying their base with your dominance in space and on the ground

This is the only Trading Card Game to make the list. And you know I have some beef with Fantasy Flight and Asmodee around how they are handling sending out destroyed cards and basically saying it’s not their fault. But this isn’t for that.

Because, I love the game. The game is a ton of fun to play and I like the deck building for it too. It’s fun to always have a “commander” basically that helps determine what colors you should build it. And I like how the game play is simpler than that of Magic the Gathering. You never worry about running out of lands because your ability to play cards is just cards. Of course, it gives you a great decision as to which cards you put into play as resources or keep in your hand to play.

Buy Star Wars Unlimited

26 – PitchCar

• Published by Ferti in 1995
• Race around the track and be the first to cross the finish line in this flicking dexterity game

PitchCar is just a fun game. I love how simple it is to teach and play and of course how fun it is to set-up a track and build something crazy, if you want. You want a loop, you can build that. You can add in a jump or you can go up a level and have more track go beneath. Of course you need a buy a bunch of it to do that, but it’s worth it to build more and crazier tracks. At the same time, it’s also fun just to have the basic track as well to play with. And it is a good game for all ages.

Currently Not Available

25 – Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

• Published by Stronghold Games in 2021
• Build up your card engine to be the most influential corporation in the terraforming of mars

This is fun card engine building game. You build out a tableau of cards that provide you resources, take actions, help you terraform. But there is more to the game than that. You need to pick what action you want to do, as do your opponents. You may pick the same one but whatever action you pick, you get a bonus doing that. But it isn’t just your action you take, you take your opponents action as well. So I love the strategy in what action do I take based off of what action I think my opponents will take. I might not get a discount or a bonus for doing it, but I do for the one I pick.

Buy Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

24 – Forest Shuffle

• Published by Lookout Games in 2023
• Build up your forest and surround them with the nature that gives you the most points

This is such a pretty game. That is not the spot you’d thought I’d start most likely, but it is. And I like the game a lot for that, but also because it’s a really fun game. In Forest Shuffle you place out trees and then surround those trees with creatures and other plants to build out your forest. Each tree only is able to support a card per side, with a few exceptions. Every card you play is going to give you points in some way. I love it when a game is able to let you score points while still keeping the game simple, which Forest Shuffle does amazingly well.

Buy Forest Shuffle

23 – First Rat

• Published by Pegasus Spiele in 2022
• The moon is made of cheese, so as rats you want to collect items, build space ships, and get to space

The game has a great theme, let’s start there. I enjoy the theme of First Rat and I’m sure that it does help push it higher. But I also like the diversity in what you can do in the game. You might rush to get pieces and shoot one of your rats way up the board. Or you may collect points in other ways, unlock more rats and get them onto the board or push the lights further so when you start to collect resources you get more. And each way is going to give you a good way to win the game. So fun theme, not too complex, but lots of good decisions.

Buy First Rat

22 – Ready Set Bet

• Published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) in 2022
• Bid on a horse race in real time, can you make the right calls and win all the money?

This is a party game, kind of. I say kind of because it isn’t a party game in the traditional sense. Or what you think of a party game when you think of the mass market ones you find at Target or Wal-Mart. But Ready Set Bet is a fun, light betting game that is done in real time. I love this game for it’s stand-up moments. All the bets are down and all of a sudden the #2/3 horse is coming out of nowhere because you rolled it’s number twice and the race changes.

Buy Ready Set Bet

21 – Paper Dungeons

• Published by Alley Cat Games in 2020
• Roll the dice, level up your heroes, and explore the dungeon in this roll and write game

I suspect that this is my highest rated roll and write game on the list. I don’t know of one that I’d have put higher. But I like this one because it gives you a lot to do but not too much. You need to balance leveling up characters, getting health potions, moving around the dungeon, crafting items, and being able to fight the various bosses to score points. That is a lot, but it really comes down to rolling some dice and deciding how to use two of the dice rolled. And then, if you figure out what to do well you combo into a whole lot more.

Buy Paper Dungeons

Upcoming Streams

Just a reminder on my streaming schedule. It’s not just all my Top 100 Games (of all time).

• Monday night, time varies, I play different small solo games, though I might be looking to start up a campaign again. And generally the streams do start between 8 and 8:30 PM central time.
• Wednesday at 9 PM central is going to continue my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition for another six weeks. After that expect this to be when I play my small games. Only 5 more weeks left of my Top 100 Games, then likely this will switch to smaller solo games and video games.
• Friday at 9 PM central my wife and I are streaming a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. Join us for the adventure of Nina and Kaerok and see what choices we make.

The best way to know when we go live, though is to subscribe and click that notification bell. I can’t promise, and in fact it’s pretty unlikely, that I’ll have events to click on ahead of time. Though I do want to get better at it. I hope that you can join a stream and hop into the chat. And let me know what games in this list are your favorite or that you want to try.

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How To Play Mind Up!

Mind Up! is a game of few actions, you don’t make that many decisions in the game. And it is a game where you are trying to collect colors of cards to score the most points possible. How this is done has a nice little twist or process on it.

Each player has a hand of cards, starts with 7 will be 9 by the end of the game. Players pick one of those cards to use to get another card. As there are “x” number of cards in the middle of the table where “x” is the number of players. Those cards are sorted low to high, and depending on what number you played, you get where you fall into order of the played cards low to high. Then you keep the played cards in the middle and now those are the cards you are trying to get when you play out your next card.

Simple thus far. Like I said, it’s a color set collection game and you want to collect the most of the highest scoring color. Which color is that? Well, five colors are in play and the color that you play on your five scoring spot is your highest scoring. But you need to add colors left to right. So if the five is in the second spot, that is where you want to put cards. And colors always match where you already played that color.

The Big Twist

Mind Up! does have one big twist that I didn’t mention in the how to play. You play Mind Up! over three rounds. At the end of each round, after you score, you collect your cards and draw one new one. Those cards you just scored, those are your new hand of cards. It is possible that you’ll want to take a less than ideal card because it is good for you in the next round.

It’s a little twist on the game, maybe more than a big twist. And remembering what numbers are out there, it’s somewhat useful. But the big thing is that you know what colors are out there after the first round. If there is a higher number of purples than oranges, you know you don’t want to have your oranges on your five scoring spot.

Scoring

And I want to talk about how scoring works for Mind Up! as well. I said, it is set collection of the colors and that is true. But once you get a card, it is worth noting, the number on the card doesn’t matter. That only matters for where it is in the line-up of cards to pick.

Scoring is instead multiplying the number of that color of cards that you got with the scoring position it is in. If you snag three blue cards on the three scoring spot, those are worth 9 points. If you get two oranges on the five, that is worth 10 points. Easy enough math to keep the game nice and simple as you play.

There is a minor twist on scoring. And that is that you also have +1 or +2 on some cards or -1 on some cards. This does not impact the multiplication. So with my two oranges on the five, they are still worth five. But then added and subtracted numbers get factored in.

And finally with scoring, the order of the scoring cards changes every time. You play with 1 through 5 as your multiplier. But between every round one person randomizes their cards and everyone else matches that order. So the five might be in the first spot or it might be in the last spot. So strategy on where you get a color changes every round.

Who Is This For?

I think that Mind Up! is kind of that mass market card game. And I mean that in a good way. There is an action in the game that you take. You don’t need to think about a lot of things, it’s simply play out a card to hope to get the card that you want. And then you add that card you get to your collection. But compared to something like Uno there is no take that or thing that can artificially lengthen the game. It is always fast.

So for that, I think people should look at Mind Up! as a filler game. And it does play like a filler. Everyone plays out their card at the same time. Everyone gets a card at the same time. And scoring, you guessed it, everyone scores at the same time. The game is made to play quickly no matter the player count. And I think that it does a good job of that.

Final Thoughts on Mind Up!

I enjoy games like Mind Up! And as it is small game, it is going to stick in my collection. I think that Mind Up! is a fun game though. Even with it being a small box, that is not the element that is keeping the game around. It is that I sit down and can play a game of trying to guess what your opponents are going to do that is always going to be fast.

It is going to be a bit random as to what cards you are able to get. At least through the first hand, after that you have more control and more knowledge. But again, it is a fast filler game, it can have a bit more of that as you figure out your strategy and how you want to play it.

And I like the element of figuring out how or if you want to go for getting cards on the five spot. If the five is in the fifth spot, you need to spend four turns hopefully getting cards out to there. If the four is a whole lot sooner can you load that up more than someone who is pushing out to the five. It’s an interesting puzzle to figure out each time.

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

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One Piece Trading Card Game – Pricing

It’s a topic that everyone talks about but no one really wants to talk about with trading card games, and that’s the collectability of the game. Mainly that it’s probably better to buy cards separately than it is to buy them all at once. Why, because buying a pack probably won’t get you your value back, buy a box, much more likely not to get you your value back.

The One Piece Trading Card game is the same as all of those. Now, there is multiple reasons for this, and even with something like Lorcana it’s generally true, because you can’t find it at retail prices. But with all of these, the market prices are placed at a tipping point. That tipping point is based on the likelihood that you pull a card that is worth more than the box.

And that is where the trick of it comes in with pricing boxes. It is that you pull a card, not multiple cards to reach that point. Why, because most of the other cards that are worth anything are worth $1-6. So for a $60 box, you’d need 10 of them at least. But there is a card or three that are worth more than the box. But they are the rarest cards. So you’re looking for the big pulls to make your money back.

Now, there are more cards in One Piece and in most trading card games that can help get you there. I got a $30 alternate artwork card. But it requires pulling multiple cards to make it and it’s a risk. I think I was just off on making my money back on this box, and easily did on the other. So it’s that balancing point of pricing that makes buy boxes and packs a risk.

Upcoming Streams

Let’s run through the stream structure like I normally do. You might already know the schedule but in case you don’t. Wednesday at 8 PM Central I stream either a campaign game, or with this time of year it’s my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. And join me Wednesday for games 20 through 11, almost to the Top 10. It goes so fast, and now I have so many games that I want to play.

Then on Monday I stream at 9 PM Central time. It’s generally a solo game. Though I’ll also do pack openings for things But normally it’s a solo game and a one off for the game like a roll and write, or sometimes a game like Under Falling Skies or For Northwood, which was on the list today.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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How to Play Gap

Gap is a simple game where you play down a number and take the matching numbers. With those numbers you create groupings of colors, as each card will have it’s own color. Your goal, and score, is to create the biggest gap between the color you have the most of and the least of.

Like I said, you take the cards of the matching number. But if there are no cards that match your number, you select a card of the adjacent number. And if you don’t have an adjacent number or a matching number, you add a card to the row.

You play Gap over a number of rounds. At the end of each round everyone tallies the biggest gap between a color you have the most of and the least of. And that score is added to the previous score until a point threshold is hit. In the round the point total is met, the player with the most points wins the game.

What Doesn’t Work

This is an interesting game because after several plays, I think there are some elements that don’t work super well. Firstly, at higher player counts, Gap is a game of luck. And I like some luck in a game, but Gap becomes a game purely about luck of what is out there for you to take. There is no strategy to what you are taking, or minimal at best. You might try and set yourself up to get as much blue as possible, but if someone else is taking blue, you might be unlucky when it flips out.

I also think at higher player counts, the game is too long. A short game, I believe, is to 15 points. 15 points is too long at higher player counts because of that randomness. It is common in a lower player count game to score one or two points as the top scorer in a round. And that, shockingly, can make for a long game. I think at five or six players, I would play to a round total, say four rounds, and whoever has the most points then wins. That is an alternative rule that they call out, but I think, generally, that is a better rule

What Works

Turn Speed

Now, I talked about game length being too long at higher player counts. I do think that turn speed is in the favor of this game. Gap is a game where it keeps moving quickly. Your choices are limited to what cards are available to pick up. It’s a group of four cards, or sometimes at the end of the game more, to create that gap from. So even at higher player counts, it is a very quick moving game around the table.

Scoring

Another area where I think it could have gotten bogged down in rules or slowed the game up is that the scoring is simple. You look at the color you have the most of and the color you have the least of, but that you do have. And you must have a color in play in front of you to score it. So that is very simple. And it is set up to keep the game moving. I see worlds where it is the color you have the most and second most of where that would slow the game down more.

In fact, this is a great piece of strategy to the game. You collect as much of all the colors you want, except for one, so you get the biggest gap possible. I like that twist on the game. It reminds me, in some ways, of Parade. The mechanisms are very different but collecting colors and a scoring puzzle or strategy to improve your scoring is clever in Gap as well.

Lower Player Count

Finally, I like Gap probably best at lower player counts. To bring up another game, Ohanami is like this where strategy greatly changes depending on player count. Gap is the same way because at higher player counts it is random, mainly. But at lower player counts, you can interfere with what your opponent is doing. Or you play a more strategic game overall for when you grab colors, and how you play around what is or isn’t on the board. I wish that were the case at higher player counts but understand that a lot of card games are this way with more players, or at lot of games really.

Matching Number of Adjacent Number

With the strategy, I like that you do have a choice as you play down. You either can play down a matching number to take all the matching numbers. Or for an adjacent number. And you don’t need to play down a matching number if you don’t want. So you decide the speed, potentially, that you add cards in front of you for scoring. But, if you can add a card for scoring via a match or adjacency, you must.

Who Is This For?

Gap is one of those games where I feel like it’s a holiday game. It’s the game you take to your grandparents and play with your cousins at Christmas time or whatever holiday. It’s what you take on summer vacation because you want a game but not a big game.

But, because of it’s length, it isn’t a filler game. Maybe at two players it is, but it’s a sit down and play a simple game while you chat over an hour. That is what Gap is to me, and I think that really describes the group and setting that Gap makes the most sense.

Final Thoughts on Gap

This is one that I find interesting. I both enjoy the game and find it to just be okay. I like Gap for what it is. When I describe the situation to play it above, I know exactly who I might play it with. And, actually, I am going to see my parents in under a week, this is a game that I likely will take up with me. It is simple but there is just enough.

It is also a game I wonder about with games like Ohanami and Parade in that same group. Is there room to play Gap over those games? Right now the answer is yes, there is room. It is a new game, but over time, is that going to be the case. I wonder this about a lot of games. For me, it is a bigger question with Gap because, I think I’d want it to be a game that plays well at all player counts. And I think it likely just hits a limited range for players.

Still, the game is fun, and the game knows what it is. It comes in a flashy box that doesn’t pretend to be a big strategic game to play. For that reason, I enjoy Gap quite well.

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

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What Is A Trading Card Game

Let’s start out with the basics of what a TCG is. Because it’s important to understand some elements of it. A TCG is a game where you build a deck to face off against opponent or opponents. In standard Magic the Gathering and Pokemon, you will face off against a single opponent. There are formats where it might be team vs team or a free for all with multiple players, at least for Magic the Gathering.

But that’s only part of it. The other part is the blind buy system that these games employ. To create a market for trading cards, there are certain rarities for cards. In Magic the Gathering you see common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare. Pokemon has a similar system. When you buy a pack, most of the cards you get fall into the category of common. Then uncommon being, well, less common. And you get a rare, but you might not get a mythic rare.

This is done to drive up the value and scarcity of some of the better cards. Hence making the game a trading, or it used to be called collectible card game.

Getting Cards

For getting cards, there are two main ways to do so. And I mentioned one above, or really both. But the biggest way is that you can buy packs. The downside to buying packs is that you don’t know what you will get. TCG’s use blind pack buys which means that it’s a random set of cards, the commons, uncommon, and rare or mythic rare, in that pack.

If you open enough packs you can find most of the commons pretty easily. Again, those make up most of the pack. But the mythic rare cards are much harder to find and would require a lot of hunting for them. That means that you, most likely, won’t pull the cards you want, or the number of them you want, without opening a substantial number of packs.

The other way is to buy singles. There are plenty of card shops, and often board game shops or comic shops will also have cards, which sell single cards. That way you can search down the specific card that you want. This method likely will cost more to get that card or playset of cards than buying a pack. But it is going to be cheaper than buying the number of packs needed to complete getting those cards.

Deck Construction

The final big element of the TCG’s is building your deck to play against someone. I don’t plan on going into all the details here. But each system has specific rules about how to build your deck and utilize cards. You use the cards you buy, either from packs or single cards, to complete decks.

You look for synergies between cards when creating a deck. What card will benefit from another card being in there to create an interesting combination. There is a lot that you can do in a good TCG to create many unique deck types and strategies. Some will be better than others, but building your deck, sometimes, is as interesting as playing a game.

Final Thoughts on Trading Card Game

Trading Card Games can be great. There are a lot of cool elements to them. Also trading card games can cost a lot of money. The decks that win tournaments are not cheap and actually a situation where you might be better off buying packs versus the individual cards, at least sometimes.

And one element I didn’t talk about yet is the addictive quality of TCG’s. The idea being that you buy a pack, you pull a great card. Now that $5-8 pack gave you back value of $15-100. Or, in the case of the Lord of the Rings set, I want to get certain artwork or certain character cards. So I might not get the value, but I am still chasing certain characters or cards. It is something that pulls people in to keep buying packs for that dopamine hit.

But the game, themselves, is a lot of fun. I don’t have experience playing Pokemon, but I played a lot of Magic the Gathering. And it’s a great system, sometimes rules heavy, but with a good flow. And I want to play more, it’s a matter of finding time and people to play it with. But Elves vs Hobbits, yes please, or maybe Hobbits vs Warhammer 40k? With the Universe Beyond sets, you play anything you want. And that is the fun of getting into these games. And what is keeping me from getting away from them completely.

Have you gotten into any TCGs? Which is your favorite?

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How To Play Vegetable Stock

Vegetable Stock is a simple game of drafting and vegetable market manipulation. It is played over six rounds, and the veggies you draft, you want them to be worth the most at the end of the game. Each round a number of the player plus one. In turn order players draft a card with three vegetable symbols on it.

The last card, the one not drafted, is what determines the market. It pushes the vegetables on it higher in price. But if you push too high, the market crashes and resets. But don’t worry, it can climb up again. After the six rounds, players multiple their number of veggies by the current value of those veggies and the person with the most valuable vegetables wins.

What Doesn’t Work

Just minor nitpicks here. Firstly, this is a game that is nearly impossible to find. I ordered it from Taiwan Boardgame Design and had it shipped from Taiwan. That is the only way that I could find it. So if this game looks fun, know that it’s a bit of work to get it. The price isn’t too bad, though a bit higher than if you could get it locally, for what is basically a deck of cards.

The other thing is that I wish it came with a score pad. Yes, it would add to the box size, possible. But there is room for more in the box, though the box is small. Give me a score pad and let me do the scoring on that. My math skills are good from playing board games and just decent in general. It is a lot of numbers to hold in your head to multiply one veggies times three then count up another group of veggies to multiply by four and then add those two numbers together. A score sheet would make it simpler.

What Works

As for what works, I think the core of the game is solid. The drafting is very nice because it is a choice, but the choices are limited. On your turn you do one thing, you draft a card. So turns are quick that way. But as the game progresses you start to think about what card you are leaving behind. The decision space is small, but there are decisions to make in the game.

The stock market works as well. This goes into that decision that you make. When it’s your turn to pick, you think about what you are leaving behind and how it will influence the stock market. Because sometimes you might have a lot of a single card and if it crashes that would ruin your score. So drafting more of that is good, but you other times need to let it crash, maybe early, so you can push it back up again.

And the time frame of the game is great. A two player game takes 10 minutes. More players, sure it takes longer, but the turns are snappy. And if people know how to play, a lot of the judgments on what to take and leave can be done more quickly, especially early in the game.

Who Is It For

This is a filler game through and through. I think for more casual gamers it might fit into that category with games like Skip Bo or Uno. Where the idea is play a short game and enjoy that experience. But for gamers, I think it is also a good filler game. There is more going on than a lot of fillers. You manipulate that stock market. It is a decision versus some fillers which are just actions for the sake of filling up time. So I think that Vegetable Stock can work for a lot of people.

Final Thoughts – Vegetable Stock

This is a fun filler game. It is one that plays well with a wide range, 2-6, of players. Now, there is more randomness with more players because at six you only control the final card one time. But it’s such a fast filler that I think it’s a moot point for the most part. You hope that how you manipulate and how cards come out that it’ll end like you want. And at lower player counts there is more control and thought put into it.

And it is a game that I’ve found I shuffle up and play again when I play it. The game is so fast that it’d work for a lunch time game with co-workers, between classes, or at a restaurant waiting for your food to come. And once a game is done, I play again because I have more time. Which to me is a sign of a good filler. You want it to fill the time, but not to over fill the time. And some filler games might give you 30 minutes of light game or a random amount of time. Vegetable Stock doesn’t do that. It is a set time that works well.

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

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Checkout 100 through 91 first here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition 90-81

90 – The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

I really enjoy trick taking games, though not a ton of them make the top of my list. The Crew: Mission Deep Sea makes the list for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is a cooperative trick taking game. So everyone works together to complete certain objectives. That is fun, but it is also fun because I can play the same scenario over again and I’ll have different objectives. That’s something that made me like it better than The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine which was fixed.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

89 – Too Many Bones: Undertow

Too Many Bones, a bit game from Chip Theory Games, is one that I think will move up higher as I get more characters and get it to the table more. I like it every time I play, but it’s a beast and I need to relearn the rules. But Too Many Bones is generally a tactical fighting game where you level up characters as you go. Eventually you face off against a big boss. What you level up are stats but then also unlock new dice and abilities to use. And then I like that fact that the characters aren’t normal. The Gearlocs aren’t cute, but what they do is different than a lot of standard fantasy games.

Buy on Chip Theory Games

88 – Downforce

Downforce is an interesting light and quick betting game. In this game you buy a car, race that car, and then get your points, or money, for who you place a bet on, where they finish, and where you vehicle finishes. There is one thing, there are more, but one in particular, that is so clever though. As the cars race along, that is done by people playing down cards. The cards have a list of car colors and how far they move. If you plan it well you can get a car trapped and slow it down, which offers more strategy than you’d expect from the game.

Buy on Miniature Market

87 – Fruit Picking

Another one that has been on the list before and another lighter game like Downforce that way. But otherwise it is more like Mancala with set collection. You move seeds around, figuring out how to land on spots where you can either get a lot more seeds or you can buy different fruit. All you are trying to do is figure out that puzzle as quickly as possible. And of course, to land in the right spot to get those fruit and collect your sets.

Buy on Amazon

86 – Atlantis Rising

Atlantis Rising is new to the list, and a very good cooperative game. As I say in the video, it’s almost an introductory or welcoming cooperative game. In this game you are trying not to keep Atlantis afloat, but as it sinks, get off the island by making technology and end up in another realm. What I like is how the board shrinks as you play, parts sink and you lose some of the better options for going out. Of course, if you want to more likely get what you need, you go out to the end of an peninsula, but there is also a great chance it’ll sink and you get nothing.

Buy on Miniature Market

85 – Flamecraft

Flamecraft is one of the prettiest games out there with all the cute dragons. But it’s a fun light game to play as well. It is a very good welcoming game because of the artwork, but because there isn’t too much going on as well. You are either adding dragons to shops to get resources on your turn, and use powers of the dragons or shop. Or you are completing goals and gaining points. It’s such a friendly game that is a lot of fun to play and look at.

Pre-Order on Miniature Market

84 – Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Arkham Horror: The Card Game has fallen for me a lot. Mainly because I just don’t play it or have someone to play it with consistently. For me, it is a fine solo game, but I like it better multiplayer. In this game you are an investigator looking into some strange mystery, probably dealing with an elder god or some great old one. Of course, that means weird things can happen, and Fantasy Flight Games has done a great job of putting something together that uses the cards to create really unique experiences.

Buy on Miniature Market

83 – Village Rails

Village Rails replaces Village Green for me on the list. So another new game. It is still laying out things in a 3×3 grid, but now you’re trying to connect routes and score points that way. Plus playing out train engines to get even more scoring opportunities. What I like about it though is that the route building is a bit simpler to grasp than how the greens work. It’s a solid filler style game, I’d say, where it offers good decisions but not that long a game play time.

Not Out Yet

82 – Isle of Cats

The Isle of Cats from City of Games, is a great big polyomino game where you are rescuing cats. The same for the Explore and Draw which I’d maybe rate higher but hadn’t rated yet by the time I did my list. In both you are filling up a boat with cats, trying to get families – colors of cats- next to each other on the boat. And then there are objective cards as well that you can draft and give you more end of the game scoring. There is a lot to the game but it’s a fun one to play both versions of it.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

81 – The Lost Expedition

The Lost Expedition is another one that has been on my list for a long time and has dropped some lately. Mainly because it got played a lot and there is less to see. But I still enjoy The Lost Expedition a lot. Mainly because it’s a cooperative game that is hard or even impossible for one player to really run for everyone. You’re trying to find the lost city of Z and explore along different paths every day. When making that path, each person needs to make the decision themselves and can’t discuss with other players. Eventually you make it, or often times you run out of food and your guides all perish.

Buy on Miniature Market

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday the Top 100 Games 2022 Edition continues. You can find the video below for that one. If you want to join live, it’ll be at 8:30 PM Central on Monday. Only week where it might not happen at that time is October 31st as it’s Halloween.

Then on Wednesday, it is time for more Stars of Akarios. This is assuming my internet is back by then. If not, I’ll tweet it out. But you can find that link here. The following week I will be out of town so no Stars of Akarios. But hopefully you are still having fun, and most likely there is a fair amount to catch up on after seven games.

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How To Play Ramen! Ramen!

Ramen! Ramen! is a pretty simple game with how it plays. On your turn you will add ingredients to two of the three ramen bowls. Your goal is to collect bowls to score which is done by either getting the total of the cards to be 14 or higher. Or to get all seven ingredients into one bowl.

The trick to the game is that you can only place one ingredient per bowl. So if I put down the 6th ingredient into a bowl, I am doing that off of the assumption that you don’t have that 7th ingredient type. If you do, you can score that bowl. Much of the game is trying to set it up so that your opponent will give you an bowl with a number of ingredients in it.

The game ends when all of the cards have been played out. Players then score each bowl separately based off of the number of different ingredients in it. The more ingredients the higher the scores, and the total of all the bowls that is highest is the winner of the game.

What I Don’t Like?

Firstly, I should say, I have only played this game at two. I am not sure that I would want to play it at the full four. Part of the fun of the game at two is that I can really try and set you up to give me something. At a higher player count, it is going to be more random than that. Maybe at three players I can keep stuff far enough from being scored that it could come back to me, but that’s questionable. And at four players, I’d just be worried about not setting up the person after me. So I think this is probably best at a two player game.

That’s not a major complaint, though it does fight against other two player games. And not a major complaint either is that the rules are a bit odd for the game. The game is very easy to play and understand. But when you end your turn, you replenish your hand. That is normal. To do so, you take one card from a face up group of cards, flip out another card to that group so it’s back to four. And then you draw blindly from the top. They turn that end part into three steps. You could just pick a card and draw off the top then flip out a card. It’d be the same thing and easier to remember.

What I Like?

Ramen! Ramen! plays fast, and I like that. The turn angst isn’t there that much. You have three bowls and four cards. And you will only use two of the cards. So there is some decision space, but it’s not too overwhelming. Once we learned the game better, it slowed down slightly, but generally that was not much and just on a few pivotal turns where we were trying to give your opponent as few points as possible.

I also find it interesting how defensive this game is. And I kind of enjoy it. I don’t like playing other games, Magic The Gathering, for example, defensively. But since Ramen! Ramen! is so fast and simple to play, I like it better here. When I pull off a play that makes my opponent get way less points than they were hoping that’s fun. Or when I can set it up so that my opponent can’t help but give me bowls, that is fun. It’s a much simpler version of Hanamikoji that way.

Who Is This Game For?

I could also put it this way. What niche might it fill for a gaming collection. Because this is very much a filler game. If you want something that has pretty simple decisions, but interesting decisions this is not a bad game. Especially if you are playing with more casual gamers.

This is definitely a game that leans more towards a casual gamer. I think that heavier gamers will find it way to light. It is also a game that is going to work well for someone getting into gaming. If they like board game and have played simpler card games, this won’t be a hard one to pick up. In fact, it is possibly a decent alternative to some of the more classic card games you find in Target and such.

Final Thoughts on Ramen! Ramen!

This is a fun game, one that I wouldn’t recommend to everyone, though. It depends on the type of gamer you are and more so on the types of people that you game with. I think that there are a going to be a number of people who find it too light.

But for me, that lightness works. I do think it’s a game that might end up getting moved on from after a bit, though. The game doesn’t change massively from play to play. But then again, either does Hanamikoji. If I wanted to keep something simpler for two players, or maybe for more, on h and, I could see Ramen! Ramen! sticking around. Or as I play it enough times it might leave like Tsuro did.

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

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