Legendary Kingdoms – Part 1

Legendary Kingdoms – Part 2

More Parts to Come

What Is Legendary Kingdoms

Legendary Kingdoms is a solo, though you could do it cooperatively, RPG system. In this system you are using a choose your own adventure type of game play with skill checks. And there are multiple books in the Legendary Kingdoms. The choices you make progress the story in different ways. And while sometimes you are limited, you also hit very open world points. But that’s the basics of the system.

How To Play

Legendary Kingdoms is a game where there isn’t really a “winner” so to speak. It is an open world story driven solo or multiplayer choose your own adventure RPG, in case you skipped the section above.

Characters

To start off you start with a group of four characters in your party. I am not sure if it is possible to add more characters as you go. But it is possible to have your characters die if you are reckless in battles.

Characters use several different stats. There is fighting, stealth, lore, survival and charisma as well as hit points. These stats generally range from 1 to 5 when you start the game. It is possible during the game that they might increase. But it is not a common thing and it is driven by story. It is not an RPG system where you gain experience and level up.

Checks

The main crux of the game play is split into two parts. Story, which I’ll talk about next, and checks. When you do anything in the game you complete checks. This is even the case when you are in combat, though combat checks do behave slightly differently at times.

The basics of a check are fairly simple. They are either group checks, so a check for everyone, or an individual check. A group check you will use the stats of two of the four characters versus just one for the individual. The game often doesn’t tell you what a check might be before you make it, so you need to pick your character(s) somewhat blindly based on context.

Then you roll dice. You roll dice equal to the stat being checked against. In combat you check to see how many succeed and you get that many hits and damage dealt to an enemy which is determined by the enemy’s defense. In a skill check there is a set target number you want to match or beat like in combat. But in a skill check you want to get a certain number of success to pass.

There is a bit more for combat, but I won’t go into it here.

Story

The other large element is the story in the game. Like I said, this is a choose your own adventure style of game. By that I mean, you start with a passage, read that, make a decision and go to another passage to read from. It is interrupted by combats or skill checks, but generally it is reading one part of the story or another.

What I Don’t Like

So what is it about the game that might not work for me? I think the biggest thing I note in the game is the luck factor. Yes, the better a skill is the more dice you roll. That is a nice thing int he game, it is less swinging than maybe rolling a D20 and adding a modifier. Especially because it is the value on every individual die that matters. But it is still a luck game. In Legendary Kingdoms there is not much if any die mitigation so it is just a roll.

What I Like

Firstly, I like how simple the system is to play. When I want to get the game out, I grab some dice and start playing. Yes, you need a game sheet to use, but it is not overly complex to track that. And the checks are simple to follow as well.

Speaking of checks, I like how combat is just a bit more complex, but not too complex. If combat were as simple as it is for a skill check, it might feel way to lucky. But I like how you have armor and that armor might block attacks. And I like that as characters you get to go first and then the enemies go. There is no initiative system it is just nice and simple that way.

Another thing that stands out to me is that the writing is solid or slightly better than that. With a choose your own adventure it is very possible that it could be too generic because you don’t know how someone is getting to a situation. This one is just enough on rails that they can create a bigger story. Now it is at the point where I am in an open world point, so I want to know how the story is going to go. But I like the story a lot thus far, and I think there is some good interesting writing and plot happening.

Who Is Legendary Kingdoms For?

This is tough one to say. I think people who like a good RPG might enjoy this game. In particular maybe a video game RPG player who is looking for a way to spend less screen time. It is going to give you that RPG itch but not be too much. And it is something for an RPG fan who maybe wants to play more but can’t work it into their schedule. This is a game that is easily playable in an evening for thirty minutes and then putting it down and picking it up again.

Thoughts and Grades on Legendary Kingdoms

This game is a blast to play. Is it perfect, no, I wish there was maybe a way to add a bonus to a roll from time to time, just for those really important ones. And maybe it is the case where there might be a spell that’ll do that eventually. So there is a bunch of luck when it comes to rolling. And combat, like most RPG’s, is always a bit more time than the story. But those both are minor negatives to me.

The positives far outweigh both of those parts to me. I think that the game play is fast and fun. And I love the story elements to it. The decision of do you go further into the water or out, it is interesting. Do you spend more time pushing for treasures but potentially risking something? That is what you want from a good choose your own adventure style of game. And unlike the choose your own adventure books you might have read growing up, this one is logical. You can guess what might come next.

My Grade: A
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: A
Strategy (out of 10): 5
Luck (out of 10): 7

Oh, and if you made it down here, leave a comment as to what direction I should go in the story.

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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
30 through 21

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 20 through 11

20. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

• Published by Days of Wonder in 2022
• Fly around the track and manage your engine so it doesn’t over heat to win the race

This is a great racing game. It is a nice blend of simplicity. You play cards equal to the gear that you are in for your movement. But also some complexity as you need to be smart with how you handle the curves, straightaways, how much you push your engine and when you cool it down. That cooling down part of the game is great as it really makes a difference in how you play and when you push it. Plus there are modules you use, like drafting some cards for your deck, that make the game even more fun, or you can do a series of races which is also great.

Buy Heat: Pedal to the Metal

19. Planet Unknown

• Published by Adam’s Apple Games in 2022
• Terraform your planet and increase your technology better than your opponents can

Planet Unknown is a polyomino game where you are terraforming a planet. You can play it in the basic mode where everyone is doing the same planet and same tech track, or you can do unique planets and tech tracks. I love the unique ones and I think that’s the way to go after the first game. But Planet Unknown has more than just laying out tiles, how you decide which tile is picked for you is amazing. Whomever is the leader that round turns a lazy susan full of tiles and whatever one is pointing to where you pick from, those are your options. So you can stick someone with something or sometimes get the perfect thing.

Buy Planet Unknown

18. Clank! In! Space!

• Published by Dire Wolf in 2017
• Race through a spaceship but don’t try and make too much noise as you grab a treasure and get out

This is a push your luck deckbuilding game, and I enjoy both of those elements to the game. I find that pure push your luck doesn’t always work for me, but add in deckbuilding a mechanism I love, it’s great. You build up your deck to move and grab a treasure, fight monsters, and buy more cards that are worth points. But you also need to be aware of how noisy you are. If you’re too noisy the villain, Lord Eradikus will start drawing out your cubes, if you clank, and dealing damage to you. And you might not make it out before you die.

Buy Clank! In! Space!

17. ISS Vanguard

• Published by Awaken Realms in 2022
• Explore a new solar system while you manage your crew and your ship

ISS Vanguard is a big campaign game and one that I’ve played on Malts and Meeples. Not the whole way through, but far enough to give you an idea of how it plays. The game is interesting because it plays over two parts. Part of the game is exploring planets and discovering why humanity was called out to this location in the stars. The other part is managing your ship. I was worried that managing your ship wouldn’t feel important, but it’s a great element to the game and makes it feel even more thematic.

Buy ISS Vanguard

16. Vampire the Masquerade: CHAPTERS

• Published by Flyos Games in 2023
• Enter a world of vampires and darkness as you play across missions and try and figure out what is happening in Montreal

Chapters is choose your own adventure RPG in a box. I love how it gives you this great story filled with depth and grit. And it also gives you tactical combat and dice chucking. It feels like a great blend of things that I love in board games and in RPG’s. The story is well written and while there are definitely issues with it there is an app that should be helping fix that and an upgrade pack for it. But even without that, the game is fun, and the app is free so the few spots it’s really busted should be fixed. Plus, I want to play a dark vampire game, and this gives me that in spades.

Buy Vampire: the Masquerade – CHAPTERS

15. Metal Gear Solid

• Published by CMON in 2024/2025
• Sneak around the base and battle only when you need to complete missions

Yes, there is a game on my list that isn’t out yet. Spoilers, there might be another one as well coming up in my Top 10. But that is because I’ve gotten to play the final version of the game and I feel like I’ve had enough time with it. I love this game as it’s a tactical minis game where you can fight. But fighting generally is going to be noisy and messy and you’ll be swarmed. When that happens, well, it’s probably game over for you. So instead you need to be smart, sneak around, and try and avoid the guards the best you can or lose them. All while being a pretty simple game to play.

Coming Soon

14. Lost Ruins of Arnak

• Published by Czech Games Edition in 2020
• Explore the lands, find treasure, fight monsters and discover what adventure awaits you

Lost Ruins of Arnak is a deckbuilding game. It is a worker placement game, and it’s a exploring adventure game. For me all of those elements come through. And I love the puzzle of trying to manage your two workers you get place, knowing when and where to place them, buying cards, and risking fighting monsters. Because you need to do it all, and the game isn’t that long in terms of how many rounds it is. But if you’re smart, you can stretch it out for a lot of points and a lot of chaining actions. The Expedition Leaders even adds more fun to the game and more variability as well which I love.

Buy Lost Ruins of Arnak

13. XenoShyft Onslaught

• Published by CMON in 2015
• The base is under attack by bugs, you need to build up your defenses and work together to defeat them

I think I’m the champion of XenoShyft, but I really like the game. It’s another deckbuilding game, but it’s a cooperative one. And I think that cooperative element and how incredibly interactive the cooperation is, that is what makes the game stand out to me. Plus it does a clever thing where you’re never drawing dead with money, so you can always buy cards and bolster up your defenses. Because everyone needs to be able to defend their side of the base so the bugs don’t overrun it.

Out of Print, but you can find it on eBay

12. Marvel Champions

• Published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2019
• Heroes battle villains in this Marvel Superhero game

I love Marvel, we all know that. And Marvel Champions is one of my favorite, if not my favorite Marvel themed game. What I love about this one is that you feel like you are the hero. And not only that, you need to think about being the hero but balancing that with the alter ego. If you stay in hero form the bad guy will beat you up and probably take you out. But if you are in the alter ego side, they don’t know who you are, so they’ll go back to completing their scheme. And that’s not great as well because you can’t blow your cover in alter ego form.

Buy Marvel Champions

11. Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

• Published by Portal Games in 2018
• Take on the role of detectives and work together, take the notes, and try and solve the cases

Detective for me is my favorite deduction game. I like deduction a lot, but Detective just makes it really immersive. In the box I’m showing it has five cases that all connect into something big and impressive. And you use information that you took notes on from one case and use it in another. I think by the end of all five cases I had between 12 and 15 pages of notes that we’d look back at. And it uses a computer system as well to let you do things like compare DNA, interview witnesses, and more. The game is just this great thematic detective game for me.

Buy Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

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. There is one week left, which is going to be two Wednesdays out. After that I’m planning on doing some look back and look ahead videos and smaller solo games or things like Balatro and Slay the Spire.
• 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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Checkout the campaign over on Gamefound.

How to Play Witchbound

I already covered most of it here in the preview that I did. But I want to cover it a little bit more as to how your average action goes.

The game mechanics are pretty simple. You collect items, spells, actions, and prompts as you play the game. Each of those can be used with interacting with things are people. To do that, you take the number from the prompt of “Hello” for example and combine it with the character you are speaking to and their number. So “Hello” might be 2 and the character might be 40 for 240. And you read some story and make some choices or track a quest.

There are challenges you do as well. To succeed at those you either can spend focus or you can roll a die. Your results there will determine how well you did, in RPG fashion. Though, you do have a limited number of auto-succeeds for things that are really important.

Why You Don’t Need This Game?

Firstly, it is solo only. Now, I’ll immediately disagree with that premise here. This is a solo only game, but like most solo only games, you can split the decision making and make it a multiplayer game. Whether that’s making the decisions jointly or taking turns, you can turn a solo game into not being solo easily enough. But for some, it being solo and having to work at it will make it not the game for you.

It is a mechanically light. I’ll talk about this in what I like about the game as well, or why you need it. But the actions you do and interactions are simple. There are elements to the game that are very choose your own adventure. And getting that story from the choose your own adventure is the experience. But like something like a Legacy of Dragonholt, or Roll Player Adventures, there are good decision making points and challenges.

Why Do You Need It?

It is a solo game that is fast to the table. I didn’t mention this in the other part about solo games. That was more for people who didn’t want a solo only game. But if you like solo only games, like I do, then Witchbound should be interesting because it’s a bit story driven game. Not to the size of a box like Gloomhaven or Middara, but big in that there is a lot of story. But it takes a minute or two to get it to the table.

To go along with that ease of getting it to the table. It is also easy to play. This is a game where you don’t need to know a ton of rules, again making it easier to table. But also making it more accessible than Gloomhaven or Middara because you don’t need to dive heavily into rules before starting play. So it is a game that can work for anyone.

Next is the story and artwork. I lump both of them together because they really do create the interesting elements of the story. The artwork is great, very cute, very anime, and delivers an aesthetic where you can tell what type of world it is. The writing supports that.

Price point is the final reason you should back this. If you want a story driven game, this is $40 plus shipping for 30 hours of game play. The fancy version is 80. Yes, it doesn’t come with all the minis, because it doesn’t need them, and that also makes it much easier on a wallet.

Back or Brick – Witchbound

This was an easy back for me. When I went through all the crowdfunding games I knew of, this one made it to my Top 5 for 2023. And the price point, having demoed it, all of that made it extremely easy to back. I really like the story and artwork. And Witchbound is the perfect type of game to play on Malts and Meeples.

I also look at this and see a game that I can hand off to my wife, someone who likes games and either play jointly, or she can pick it up for herself. Or as my 4 year old gets older to play with him. I don’t think it is so juvenile that it’s a kids only game. But it does seem to offer a whole family experience in terms of adventure. I think I mentioned games like Zelda or movies like Kiki’s Delivery Service and a show Little Witch Academia. Those aren’t adult, but they work well for adults to enjoy, and I think this also hits that.

So how about for you, is this a Back or Brick?

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So, how I normally structure these previews, I want to give you a good idea of the game, how it works, what stands out, and then I’ll finish up with if it worked well for me and my thoughts on it. Because, I know, that my opinion on a game is just that, my opinion, so I want to highlight how the game works so you know if it’ll work for you.

Witchbound Preview

The Story

Witchbound is a game all about becoming a witch. There hasn’t been one on the island of Coven Cove in over a century. But you, well, as you can guess, you might be the first one in ages. Are you able to complete your storyline to become that first witch and help out the island?

I won’t give away the specifics of the story in the prologue, just instead give you the depth of the story. Whereas there are games like Middara, Tainted Grail, and Stars of Akarios that give you pages of story between everything, or for interactions, Witchbound limits it. It is Zelda or early computer RPG in that sort of way. You get prompts, interact with those, and then get a little story. I’ll talk more about prompts next with story mechanics.

Just know that this isn’t a solo game where you’ll be reading a ton of text. There is a lot of story to the game, but it isn’t long story. And that is something that sets it apart, for better or worse, from other adventure solo games.

Game Mechanics

Mechanics really fall into story mechanics in this game. As this is a game with very light game mechanics. You interact with objects, or points of interest is probably a better way to describe. And then you can have conversations with NPC’s of the world. And that is it really for your actions. There are mini games that I didn’t get to see the details of, but the main game is very simple.

But how does it work, let’s say you use your basic action, inspect, on a birds next. The basic action of inspect has a number of “1”. The birds nest has a number of “59”. You combine those two numbers to get “159” which you look up in a book. And there you get a little story. Or you could use your slingshot on it which might be “7” on “59” so “759” is the story you look up.

It is the same with interacting with PC’s. But instead of using a slingshot on them, you might use a prompt like “Hello” to start a conversation. Then you get a little blurb of conversation, some story, and maybe a quest. And you can get more prompts as you go along, so you might go back and talk to people again with those new prompts.

And there are also encounters you can come across. These are challenges that you can sometimes bypass and other times need to deal with. The mechanics, though, are the same. Use something on that encounter, and mash up those two numbers and see what happens.

Game Weight/Ease of Play

You probably can tell at this point in time that this is a light game. There are mini games that I didn’t get a chance to experience. And those will likely change up game experience from the core mechanic of combining two numbers. But Witchbound really is a light accessible game with what you are doing.

Once you know the core mechanic loop, combine the two numbers and read the text, you know the game. With that loop it means that this a game that is easy to pick up and put down. You won’t forget the core of the rules. And as you get quests you’ll have that knowledge of where you were and what you were going to do.

Solo Game

Finally, I think it should be highlighted that this is a solo game. Now, like most solo games, you can play multiplayer just be sharing the responsibility of making choices. But the game is meant for one person to make those choices and do the reading. There is only one character to control.

Who is this Game For?

This came up in the game play that I did, and talking with the designer, who is Witchbound for. I can give a lot of things it reminds me of. Zelda, point and click adventures, Little Witch Academia anime, and Roll Player Adventures. All with light mechanics and a bunch of story. Another game that I didn’t mention that I could compare it to is Legacy of Dragonholt.

So, who is this game for? If I were to hazard a guess, I think this is RPG’ers who want a solo RPG experience when they can’t get together with their group. There is that element, and if they don’t want to pull out a video game, this will give them an option.

But more so, I think this is for solo board gamers who want to get that narrative game to the table. They want to experience something that gives them a lot of story without too much setup. Witchbound is fast to get to the table, like I’ve said. So for the board gamer who wants to play something like Stars of Akarios, Middara, or Oathsworn, but doesn’t have the table to leave it setup, Witchbound will fill in that niche of story and ease to table.

Witchbound Mini Review

So, my experience with the prologue of Witchbound was a lot of fun. I definitely enjoy the simple mechanics of the game and experience. It made it easy for me to play with the designer via Discord. They would send over images like the one of the inn, black and white, and I’d pick what to interact with.

For me, this often times is what I’m looking for in a solo game. I look at Witchbound as a game that would be easy for me to play on Malts and Meeples. There is minimal setup and minimal information to show off in what I am doing. So it fits into that niche of gaming experience I really like.

My one concern, and even in the prologue which is short I did this, is I skipped around a lot. Following it move by move, you’d flip from one scene to another scene to another scene to connect where you are going. Or you’d read through dialog again to get a muffin. But because it is a solo game, I kind of sped through that at times. When I needed another muffin for a quest, for example, I skipped the dialog, just got my muffin and moved on.

That doesn’t bother me, but I feel like that will become more common in the game as you play. You’ll either flip from map to map to map to map to end up where you left off a quest. Or you keep track of that path or that map you were on and “fast travel”.

Crowdfunding Details

So just to wrap up, yes, this is a game that I like. But if it is one you’re interested in, I’d recommend checking out the page and seeing what more people think about it. Witchbound is coming to Gamefound on January 24th. And there is already a preview page up for it to checkout.

The timeline for delivery on the game, and it’s ambitious but with a one person company and components light game might be doable, is for delivery at the end of 2023 or early part of 2024. So, it might even be a game you could get for Christmas to give to someone, or maybe for Valentine’s Day.

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The Game – Lands of Galzyr

I referred to Lands of Galzyr as a choose your own adventure, so let’s talk about that element of the game. Because it is very much that in many ways. In Lands of Galzyr you travel around and you interact with an exploration journal. And that exploration journal is the main part of the game.

Now, I know some people won’t like that there is an app or website for this. It does limit how long the game might potentially be playable. Granted, it doesn’t likely limit it for a long enough time that you can enjoy and experience it. But also the website makes the interactions in the game that much smoother. The benefit of the website is that it can naturally load and branch the story without having to take you to a different passage or page. So I appreciate it, I do prefer when games have both options, physical book and website or app, but that’d be a lot for Lands of Galzyr.

The Story

But back tot he choose your own adventure part. The story is not too high stakes, so the choices you make feel like you get to make choices. What do I mean by that? Often times in dungeon crawlers or campaign games, you want to make the right choice. If you make the wrong choice it’s going to make the game go poorly. Well, in this, you make the choice that you want to make because the stakes aren’t as high.

Overall, to start, the story is a ton of fun. And I feel like I am only going to scratch the surface of the game. Now, if I were playing it again, there are elements like Bumir’s story that might only change so much. But the rest of the quests that I’m doing so poorly at, those might change up even more because of how many different ones you can start with.

The Mechanics

And then there are the mechanics of the game. It is very simple. Now, this is going to be a negative for some people. So much of the game simply comes down to picking the skill that is best for you and rolling the dice. Even when you are good at it, you have maybe 3 dice that give you a 1/3 chance of rolling the symbol and 2 that give you a 1/6. So the odds are never amazing.

But it matches the rest of the game. If it were more mechanically complex, it would feel like it takes away from the story. When I first looked into this game, after the crowdfunding campaign, and saw it played, I realized that it is meant to be a very relaxing game. And the mechanics match up with that. You roll your dice and if it goes wrong, you just lose your quest or thread you’re following, you don’t have massively bad things happen to you.

Upcoming Streams

So, upcoming streams, next Wednesday, and I’ll probably play around 6 games of Lands of Galzyr, I’ll be streaming again. 8 PM Central. If you want to see what else happens with Bumir, you can join me then. I’ll try and get the video links up this week but no guarantee that’ll happen.

And on Monday, 8:30 PM Central, I’m going to be gaming again. Though there is a chance that I’m going to start going through my shelves, looking at my collection and maybe see about getting rid of a few games again. What games have been on my shelf for a long time. Though, I don’t know that I’ll stream it all, so gaming of some sort, a smaller solo game. And eventually a video on games leaving my collection.

And as always, if you want to know when I go live, you can subscribe and click the notification bell.

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And catch up on any you’ve missed before:

100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

70 through 61 here.

60 through 51 here.

50 through 41 here.

40 through 31 here.

30 through 21 here.

20 through 11 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 10-1

10. Roll Player Adventures

We know that I like my big box adventure games, and the more that I play Roll Player Adventures the more that I like the game. It might even be higher now after having played it a couple more times since making the list. But Roll Player Adventures is a choose your own adventure style of adventure game tied in with dice manipulation.

The game takes a world that didn’t exist too much in Roll Player and creates a greater and more interesting story around it. And the story is just fun, some of the backstories are a bit heavier, but the main story is a great and lighter fantasy experience. And beyond the story, I really like the dice manipulation that can go on. It can be a bit easy, sometimes, at 4 players, but that doesn’t make it less puzzly to figure it out, it’s just that we can make it so we rarely miss a challenge.

Buy from Thunderworks Games

9. Mansions of Madness

Mansions of Madness has consistently been in the Top 10, and it’s going to stick around, I’d guess, in my Top 20 at least for a long time. I really like that it’s a story driven game, but one without a campaign to it. Though, I do want a campaign from time to time with the game. But each scenario is something completely different as you try and solve a mystery, stop a ritual, or maybe just get out of a town.

Mansions of Madness also offers such good game play. It is more of a die chucker, but it implements puzzles and monsters, and so much through an app system that doesn’t take over the game, but supports it in the play. It takes something that’d need to be one versus all and turns it into a cooperative experience.

Buy on Miniature Market

8. Xenoshyft Onslaught

Xenoshyft is the next game in the Top 10. This is a deck building game of tower defense as you fight off waves and waves of bugs. I really like it because it does a couple of things that make it feel different for a cooperative game and for a deck building game.

Firstly, it handles the currency really well. Every round you need to have troops and money to buy more, so you get money at the start of each round. You draw your hand and you take a money so that you always can buy something. Plus, you can then trade in money, in future rounds to go from having 3 1’s in the deck to 1 3 in your deck of cards. So you keep the deck lean.

The other thing is how much interaction there is. You don’t have enough troops to defend your side, not a big deal, I can give you an extra I have in hand. Or you can pass a weapon over to me if you have extras. And I can use a stim pack on your guy or you can toss a grenade on my side to take out my bugs. It is very cooperative in what you do, which I really like.

Buy on Amazon

7. Stars of Akarios

Stars of Akarios, you can watch game play of that on Malts and Meeples but it’s one of my top gaming experiences for 2022. I love this game so much which is how it can make it so high. The story is just fun, and the different game modes for the most part work really well.

The game really shines with it’s tactical space combat. It is such a good puzzle as you roll dice and then need to figure out how to use those dice to activate abilities, get in position for attacks and blow the enemy ships out of the sky. That is a puzzle every turn as you activate and then the enemies go so by the time you come around, they might be flanking you and you need to scramble to be able to target them again.

Plus the planetary exploration works well. And it’s a lot of fun with a 7th Continent type of vibe to it as you explore and open up a map and a whole world as you discover new things. It’s a bit more fiddly, but there is a lot of story to discover there. And they do a good job of giving you different things that you can play around with, different story elements or mechanics on the various planets.

Buy from OOMM Games

6. Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

Detective made the list last year in a big way and some of that was because it was one of the gaming experiences that worked really well during COVID. But also because it is legitimately a really fun game of deduction as you try and figure out which paths to go down to solve cases. I’ve liked all the different versions that I’ve played and I have a lot more of Detective to play.

In the original box, and the Batman box, I like how the cases are tied together as well. Each case might be solving it’s own thing, but there is an overall story that runs together. And I don’t mind at all the addition of technology into the game. The database to update with what you’ve found, and looking up information or finding matching information from previous cases is just a lot of fun and would be hard without the website.

Buy on Miniature Market

5. Aeon’s End

The last deck building game on the list is Aeon’s End. And I really enjoy this one as well because of a few different things starting with the turn order. Now that turn order might make it into a two player game only for me. Because it’d be too long between turns otherwise, but it being a random card draw from a deck of two cards for players one and two and two for the nemesis is great.

I think Aeon’s End also does a great job of giving you unique nemesis to fight against and unique mages to play as. And as the game has gone along further, the legacy version offers an amazing point to jump into the game. Plus just enough legacy goodness, the story is just okay, that you want to see what you unlock next for your character.

Buy on Game Nerdz

4. Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Marvel Champions is a deck construction game, so slightly different than deck building. You are taking a Marvel hero into battle against a villain where you need to try and thwart the scheme and defeat the bad guy. All before the bad guy can either complete their scheme or knock you out.

The game does a good job of giving you that superhero feel to it. And I really appreciate how the cards flip. So you can go from Peter Parker to Spider-Man and back and that’s part of the strategy of the game because if you just stay as Spider-Man, the bad guys will beat you down. If you just stay as Peter Parker you can’t fight or thwart their schemes. So it’s a fun balancing act.

I wish that there were more campaigns or a more in-depth campaign like Arkham Horror LCG, but what they have works well. And, theoretically, it makes it easier to get to the table because you don’t need to worry about getting it back tot he table repeatedly.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

3. Tainted Grail

Next is another big campaign game that I’m nearing the mid point of the third Tainted Grail campaign, and I have Ruin of Kings ordered as well for more game play. But this is a survival adventure game where you really aren’t a hero. You are close a hero, but you all have weaknesses and rough pasts. In fact, in the base campaign there are heroes who have gone out to see what is happening and they haven’t come back. So you are the B-team sent out to see what is going on.

But that’s not what makes the game so much fun. I do like the combat and diplomacy checks. But it’s all about the story for this game. I’d read the story of our adventures as a novel because the writing is so good in what is going on. And for that reason we play in story mode, it makes it a bit less grinding, but it also means that we can explore more which means we get more of that story.

You Can Maybe Find on Ebay or Board Game Geek Market

2. Dice Throne

My number two is still Dice Throne. This is a game that doesn’t feel like it should work, it looks like Yahtzee and combat all rolled into one, but it works really well. There is someone much smarter than me who has figured out how to balance abilities and make abilities feel unique for so many characters from classic fantasy to Marvel heroes and anti-heroes to Santa vs Krampus.

I know that most people like this game only as a two player head to head battle. But I think as a game where it’s king of the hill, which incentivizes hitting the player with the most health it works well as well. Overall, this is just a nice filler game while waiting for more people to come to a game night. Or one that I’ll pull out when I do have two players and we can try all sorts of combinations.

Buy on Miniature Market

1. Gloomhaven

Finally, no change with my number one. And I don’t think with Frosthaven coming soon, it’ll get dethroned. Mainly because Frosthaven is more of that same Gloomhaven goodness from what I can tell and I’m so excited to get it to the table.

But Gloomhaven is a massive dungeon crawler that doesn’t have you chucking dice. In fact, there are no dice at all to be chucked it is all done through card play. Card play that determines your attacks, your moves, and how fast you even act in initiative order. It also is a game where with just cards, each character really feels different in what they are doing, maybe that is one of the things that I really appreciate about a game, unique characters.

Looks at Top 10, yeah, seems reasonable to say that I enjoy unique characters.

Buy on Miniature Market

Upcoming Streams

So on Wednesday I am going to be streaming Spire’s End Hildegard, the follow-up, prequel, similar but different game to Spire’s End. In fact, over the next few weeks I’ll probably stream both of them. Just so that I can play them enough and be able to review both and compare and contrast both. So look for Spire’s End and Spider’s End: Hildegard on upcoming Wednesdays.

Monday is no longer going to be the Top 100 games, the list is done. Instead, I want to stream some of the more casual solo games that I have, maybe play some of them I’ve already played before. And just use that time to get in some gaming but also be able to just hang out and chat with people as we get closer to the new year. Then starting in 2023, it’ll be time for a new campaign game.

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Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Retaliation

Compared to some of the games I talk about, I know less about this game. There are a few reasons, though, why I’m looking at this one on crowdfunding, but we’ll get to them later. Let’s talk about what I know of the game play.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Retaliation, hence forth called Werewolf, is going to be an adventure game, an RPG in a box type of game. You take on the role of a werewolf who can either be in werewolf form, human form, or chrinos form – think standing up werewolf versus fully wolfed out. And you will change between those as the story and the moon leads you.

So you will be adventuring, exploring locations, interacting with people and then fighting monsters or whomever is standing in your way. If it is like Vampire: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS, also by Flyos Games, there is going to be a lot of story to go through. And while Vampire: The Masquerade is about intrigue and keeping the masquerade up, Werewolf is going to be more in your face and violent.

What I’m Worried About?

There is one thing I am concerned about with this. It bills itself as a dark game. Now, I can totally see why it would do that. And I expect that it will be a fairly dark game because werewolves basically being beasts. I wonder how that translates into the story though. Because while I am fine with dark, if it is a dark for the sake of being dark versus for the sake of the story, that is a concern. It should be dark as the story requires.

What I’m Excited About?

Speaking of the story though, I am excited for that. Vampires: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS has around 750,000 words. If Werewolf is even close to that, that is a ton of story. And just in the base box, it promises 30+ booklets of story, between 40 to 60 pages. What I saw from CHAPTERS, some were over that, so that is a ton of story for the game. And if they pull the story off well, it has elements that I love in a game.

It is going to have that story to the game with choose your own adventure. But at the same time, you get tactical combat. And you are going to be leveling up and building out your character, which I like as well. I like that you can pick those three different forms, wolf, chrinos, and human. It isn’t that you grab a human and get the other two forms. You can mix and match however you like to get your character which I think is awesome. It means less presets and more playing how you want to play.

Who Is It For?

Well, I think there are two things to consider before you buy it. Firstly, it is going to be a darker story. I haven’t experienced it, but that is what they are billing it as. Without knowing details, I am guessing that is the case mainly from a violence perspective. But it could mean a lot of things. So ask yourself, do you want to play a very dark campaign?

The other thing is that this is a campaign game. 30+ scenarios, and if a scenario takes 3 hours, I don’t know how long they will take, but even 2 hours, that is a lot of content to get through. So ask yourself do you want or need another campaign game. And if this is your first campaign game, what is drawing you in. I don’t think it looks like the most complex campaign game I have seen, but also not the easiest.

Why Back Now?

Firstly, Flyos Games is a small indie publisher. So supporting them to help them get a dream project off the ground is a valid reason. Now that has already happened. The game has funded and it’ll be happening. So another reason can be to help unlock stretch goals.

But, the main reason is that it’s unlikely to get a retail release. I know that more campaign games are getting some sort of retail release. But often those come from bigger companies will more connections. But they are hard for retailers to carry for multiple reasons. Mainly, though, it eats up a ton of shelf space so they can have less product out. And it costs a lot, so it tends to sit longer. So I wouldn’t expect to see too many copies of this in the wild.

Back or Brick – Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Retaliation

I look at this two ways. Firstly, I think that this is probably going to be your main way to get the game. Yes, it might show up in some retail locations but it won’t be there consistently. The other thing, though, is that Vampire: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS is being boxed and getting ready to ship now. While I didn’t pledge it, I am getting a copy through a retailer who pledged it. But I don’t know what I think of that game yet, other than watching some game play.

So part of me thinks this should be a Brick until I can get my hands on CHAPTERS. But right now, it is a Back for me. Why, because I’ve watched game play of CHAPTERS and it looks great. This is also the chance to get it now and werewolves are very underdone compared to vampires. Plus, I could do what I did with CHAPTERS, get it from a retailer who pledge it, but it is definitely cheaper to back it on the campaign than likely what I’ll pay later for it.

How about for you, is Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Retaliation a Back or a Brick?

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Roll Player Adventures: Gulpax’s Secret

I can talk a bit more about this game because this is a game that I’ve played. Roll Player Adventures is a big choose your own adventure, exploration, and fighting game. In the base game you try and explore to figure out what is happening with a conflict between three parties, the King, the Dragul, and the Starlight Door. Much of what you do is in a choose your own adventure style where you reach decision points and decide what to do as a group. But it is very open in that you can come back and probably do some of the options again.

But then there is the combat or skill tests as well in the game. Those are where the mechanical part of the game really starts to take hold. Roll Player Adventures is a dice management and hand management game. You expend points in stats to use them to get the color dice you need, and you expend cards to manipulate those dice to the right sides.

What Doesn’t Work?

So, I have one main knock on the game. I think that Roll Player Adventures doesn’t do one of the things that I expect campaign games to do well. That is, I don’t think that Roll Player Adventures scales super well. From what I know, two players can be very challenging, but four players, what I am playing at, is very easy. Well, not very easy, but almost always able to be solved.

We get into combat and we can generally win in two rounds. We’ve gotten enough cards and enough XP to push us to be able to win. Same with skill challenges which are I think easier. You only have one round, so they need to be. But, we can basically always solve them.

Now, some of this is how we built out our characters and what has come up. And it is not a fast process at times where we figure it out as a group off the bad. It often takes a lot of thinking and planning. So the game is still challenging to come up with a solution, but a solution can basically always be found. I’d like to feel a bit more crunch and pressure to get things right.

What Works?

On the flip side, the story in the game is fun. And I think that Roll Player Adventures has a lighter story with it as well. So game play where you are doing well, I think that makes sense. It is a campaign game that I can have fun with, who have played heavy campaign games, and I know of families who are playing it together. If Roll Player Adventures were harder, and it could be, I think that it’d push it further into the hobby side of the game.

And, I also very much enjoy the characters in the game. Nefras’s Judgement is to me a needed expansion to the game. Now, the downside is that it adds to the cost of the game and all it’s doing is adding in some backstory. But that backstory really helps you flesh out a character. And it does set your alignment. Which I think is important because often players feel like they don’t know what to pick for an action. But when you have a backstory that says you’re “chaotic good” or “lawful evil” that can help direct that decision making process.

Finally, I think the core mechanics of the game are fun. I called them easy because we win our encounters. We haven’t lost one or we haven’t had a player go exhausted during the game. But I like the puzzle of the dice manipulation. And I think it’s one that people can get into because it’s not too complex.

Who Is It For?

Now, who is Roll Player Adventures for, I think it’s an accessible campaign game. Now, not in the way that Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is, a game in a small package. But more a game that has a massive box, but once you get into the box and you see the story books and maps, it isn’t nearly as component heavy as a lot of campaign games. So if you can get past the box size, it is an easier one to pick-up and play with any group.

What Is New?

So, why back it now? Firstly, it’s a big box, it won’t hit retail much because it doesn’t work well on a retail shelf. But also there is now Gulpax’s Secret. This is another story that you can play through, and it’s cheaper because it doesn’t need to give you all the dice and everything if you already have the base game.

On the flip side, if you haven’t played the game, I don’t think there is anything in the new stuff that you need to get. The base game offers a lot of options and I fully expect Gulpax’s Secret to be available again on a future crowdfunding campaign. Probably with another story that they come out with eventually.

Back or Brick: Roll Player Adventures + Gulpax’s Secret

I really like this game. I backed, or late pledged, the original. And I got to play it at Gen Con 2019 as a prototype. So I have a good connection to the game. I am also having a ton of fun playing through the adventure with friends. So for that reason it is a Back for me. Even if it shows up well after we are done, I can see coming back to it. If I were just looking at it now and with the reviews out there, I think that the base game is worth backing as well. But I’m just in for Gulpax’s Secret.

Is this game a Back or Brick for you?

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Top 5 Board Games I Want More Of

5. Blood Rage

Blood Rage is at the bottom of the list, even though I love the game. Mainly, because I have heard rumors that there is going to be more Blood Rage coming, and that is exciting. Blood Rage is an area control game that is really more about the drafting of cards and action point management versus the area control.

From what I’ve heard, this is going to be a 2nd Edition of Blood Rage. I’d love to see the game come with a bit more variety in it. While I do think that the drafting changes up each time, the number of cards is a bit limited. Maybe make the pool you draft from modular or something like that. Just something to make it a bit more replayable, even though I still generally want to play it. So even unique clan powers to start, something like that.

4. Roll Player Adventures

This is also lower on the list because I need to finish the whole game first. But I want more and I already know that I want more for this big box choose your own adventure style game. I’d love something that maybe even offers a bit more of that in the game. But I don’t want a whole new version of the game.

While I do not know how the story ends, I can imagine that it’d be somewhat easy to add in another campaign. Even if you wanted to add in more items, titles, secrets, bad guys, things like that, it’d be less than sending out a whole big box again. So an expansion with even more story would be great.

3. Dead of Winter

This, I think, might make a lot of gamers lists who have been in the hobby for a little bit. Dead of Winter is a game that really helped me get into the hobby. And I really like the crossroads system and the zombie survival nature of the game. However, no matter the length of scenario or which one you pick, the game is long and what you do isn’t that different.

So I would love to get a second edition of Dead of Winter. Streamline it a little bit, maybe even make it fully cooperative like they did with Forgotten Waters. And keep each game shorter. They’ve done more story driven crossroads systems games now, so it feels like Dead of Winter should be great to go again. But I doubt it will happen, or if it does, don’t know how it will as Plaid Hat left it behind at Asmodee.

2. Paper Dungeons

Probably one that makes a lot of sense if you’ve watched me play on Malts and Meeples. I really enjoy Paper Dungeons, but I just want more. I want a way to play more of a campaign. And I want my changes in the campaign to actually matter. Like, I want to keep some things that I leveled up or built, but the monsters to get harder.

I’ve talked about this one a lot. But the game feels like they took it down to just a little bit too little. Some extra piece of variability, especially for the solo game, would be fun. Or, even, with those personal goals that you go for, make them worth more. Maybe it could use a second edition, as well, but a bigger better campaign and expansion is what I want for Paper Dungeons.

1. The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

Another one that I really like, but it bounces around a lot for me. I understand why this is not a game that more people like, because it is highly mechanical. So while the theme is there, if you know the books, it makes it harder for a game for casual fans. You can tell that there should be theme there, but it isn’t that obvious.

What I want is another Dresden Files board game. It doesn’t need to use the same system, there is just a need for another game. One that really dives into the theme and world that is the Dresden Files. It doesn’t even need to be about Harry Dresden or the main characters from the Dresden File books. But a game set in that world of magic, crime, and monsters, that’d be awesome.

Final Thoughts

I probably could come up with a few more games as well. But these are the five that really jumped out at me that I wanted more of, or a newer version of. I think for the odd numbered ones, more, at least in their world, would help me get them to the table a lot more. And newer editions for games that might be modern classic, but could use a refresher. Then, there are some games that I just want more of.

But let me know what game you’d like to see get a 2nd Edition, or maybe a new game but in a world that you already know?

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How to Play Spire’s End

A spire has come up from the ground and many villagers have been taken. For some reason you, and some others were left behind. And now, you need to go into the spire and find out what is going on. What is happening to those taken.

In Spire’s End you are flipping cards off a deck and then using the seven characters you have, two at a time, to fight monsters, unlock doors, and make decisions. The main pieces of the game are flipping over cards and reading the story on them which generally gives you a decision. You then remove cards down to where it tells you to flip, so keeping part of the story hidden from you.

The other piece is combat. Combat is centered around dice rolls, but uses an interesting mechanic. The dice are not that exciting, it’s roll high enough and do damage. But how you determine your attack is interesting. You spend health to determine your attack, or stamina, the bigger the attack the more it spends. Then at the end your activation you recoup health, if you roll well.

Eventually you reach the end, either when all seven of your characters die. Or one of the various ends in the deck of cards. I’ve done that once and died a couple other times.

What Doesn’t Work?

It’s tricky for me to say that much doesn’t work in this game. I think that it’s a solid and different feeling game. For some people the luck of the dice might be a little bit high. There is little to no mitigation that I’ve come across thus far. So, while the story is good, someone might just end up with bad rolls in a few games and not see much story.

I also think that some people might not like the story. Spire’s End has a dark story to it. The game doesn’t look like a light and fluffy game, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. But I see how the story might be darker than expected.

What Works

I like the mechanics of how you go through the deck of cards. Mainly that you skip over cards. When you make a choice it might be between going to card sixty or card sixty-three. If you go to card sixty-three, you will for sure not see cards sixty through sixty-two. It’s a clever branching mechanic that makes the story more replayable. I hit chapter three and found and end this last time I played. And I skipped probably twenty cards out of seventy, if not more.

The combat is interesting for me as well. Yes, the dice are lucky. There were times where I just couldn’t finish off someone fast enough. But the decision space around how much health to spend on an attack, that’s interesting. Plus, later in the game I got better at resting to get back more health during combat. So you can play around with when you push for that big hit and when you might try and get a lot of health back.

I personally like the story as well. I think that the story is dark but not too dark. Plus the whole of the story is a mystery and I enjoy a good mystery. This feels crazy in a good way, it also feels like an awesome D&D setting. I could see using the cards to just play through a one shot scenario sometime. They determine the story the players interact with, and can they survive. But I want to see what else is happening in this world, that’s for sure.

Who is Spire’s End For?

I think that it works at one and two players. In fact, I think I might prefer it at two players. The game is easy enough to play solo but I like the idea of sharing the story. When I stream it, though, and read the text out lout I suspect that will make solo better for me.

But this is going to be for people who want a simpler story driven game. A lot of story driven games are very big, or they might be too goofy when they are lighter, like Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger. Spire’s End doesn’t pull back from the darkness of the world that you’re going through.

I also think with the story, it is for a more mature audience. I don’t believe it’s 18+, but 16+ is where I would put it. A younger person might be fine with it, but it’ll depend on the person.

Final Thoughts

Spire’s End is a game that feels unique in what it does. But at the same time it feels familiar in that it is a story driven game with dice combat. The world building and accompanying artwork are what set it apart. And I really like it for that reason. The story has some depth but not too much. And the story doesn’t feel like it only gives you obvious choices.

And I like how fast this game plays. I think to reach a point in chapter three where my story ended last night, that was about an hour. That is nice, it’s something that I can pull out when I want to spend a good chunk of an evening playing a solo game. But the set-up is minimal and I can dive right into it.

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

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