Follow the Chronofiends!! Campaign.

Chronofiends!! Highlights

My plan is not to go into game play in depth here. This is not like my normal reviews where I’m going to give my grade an opinion at the end. The company sent me a prototype of the game to cover. So it is unfair for me to give a review on it. Instead, I want to highlight elements of Chronofiends!! that will help you make your decision on knowing if this is the right game for you to back.

Ease of System

This one is a mixed bag. Mainly, it is a mixed bag because it is not the fastest set-up in the world. It is not like the system or scenarios are that complex, but there are a number of pieces to get out of the box. But when you get to the game play itself the system is slick and easy to play.

In particular, I like the turn order. This is not unique to Chronofiends!! where the player highest on the turn order goes next, but it is easy to keep track of. And the turn itself is easy to keep track of, you move and then you complete some task in a room. The trickiest bit of the system is when the chronofiends go and you need to pay attention to which way they move.

Leveling/Powering Up

The leveling up skills system is really fun as well. The more time you spend doing something the more knowledgeable you become at it. That is easy to keep track of as you play as well. And then to have something that you are good at improve over and over so as the loops get shorter and shorter you can still have a chance, it’s a smart system.

It is a system that I didn’t utilize to the best of my ability in my streamed playthrough. But I want to talk about that more in the next section.

Keeping on this, I mentioned how the system is smart. It is smart for two reasons. Firstly, the shorter time period keeps the pressure on you. But you also feel more powerful as you go. So it is this race condition as you play, can your power out pace the reduction in time that is happening?

Strategy/Looping

So now let’s dive into this looping and strategy that it forces (and that I didn’t use that well). What do I mean by that? In Chronofiends!!, kind of like in TIME Stories, you loop back. And as a player and character you keep the knowledge that you have of the space ship. So it is easier to go through because you know what you are coming up against.

There is also, then, gaining experience. So not only do you know that you are coming up against, you also know how to deal with it better. But there are elements that are different. While the work that you’ve done does reset, the chronofiends do not. Each time you play or each time you loop that is going to make the game different.

Now, in my play I think I took a less than ideal strategy. I think the first loop or two can be avoiding, finding, and leveling up. I went after the big objective the second time. It does help with leveling up, but not so much avoiding and finding. When you play, that is going to help you out, I think. But it means that there is strategy and planning you need to do as a player.

The Be Aware

I only want to call out one thing in the be aware section. So no sub headers for it. But this is not a small game. I think the box size, and this is not the final box size, kind of hides how large this game can be. I definitely had to adjust my normal streaming set-up because of the size. This is not a negative or positive for the game. But know what you play on. This is not going to be a coffee table game, nor does it need to be that.

Final Thoughts

So, I won’t give a grade or anything like that. I think that Chronofiends!! has a lot of positives to it and gives you an interesting time travel game. And I like that compared to TIME Stories where a loop can be ruined by bad luck of a die roll, you are in control here. Sure the chronofiends might get you, but there is strategy around where you go and how they go with that.

And as I mentioned, depending on your strategy that is going to affect how you want to play solo. I think I played more as I laid out in my section on strategy, I might have won. That said, it is easy to play two handed solo. There is not a ton to keep track of per character, so that is going to make it dealers choice for that. And information is not hidden, so no advantage playing two handed that way.

What do you think of Chronofiends!!? Is it a game that you are going to be checking out when it comes to crowdfunding? Again, follow the campaign here.

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How To Play Astro Knights

Astro Knights is a deck building and boss battling game. Your end goal is to defeat the boss. You need to do that before the boss runs out of level cards, we’ll talk about those, knocks out both characters, or destroys the home world that you are defending.

Player Turns

Turns consist of players firing weapons that they have in play. Playing out weapons and spending the currency to buy more cards. The weapons you fire go into your discard pile. Then any cards you buy go into your discard. Finally, you set the order of the cards going into your discard pile that you play out. While most of them are just currency, there are tech cards as well that might be in the mix.

When you spend your currency there are three things that you spend it on. The first is buying more cards. These are weapons, more currency, or tech cards. You also can unlock more slots to hold more weapons. And finally, you can power up your character. Each character has their own special ability that needs varying number of power-ups charged to make it work. Each power up costs two currency, and each slot coats three. Cards depend on that card.

Then you draw up to your hand size of five cards. If you run out of cards to draw, you flip the discard pile. You don’t shuffle the discard pile, you just flip it, and you draw from there. So if you plan things out, you can set-up combos for yourself or keep a good distribution of purchase power and weapons.

Boss Turns

The boss also gets a turn. Each boss is going to play differently and have some unique rules. But there are some elements that are always the same. First, you activate anything, either on the boss or minions, that says activate. Then you draw a new card. It is either going to be a minion, which goes into play, or an action card. If it is an action card, do what it says and discard it.

If the boss is out of cards you shuffle up the boss cards. And you play out the next level of card for that boss. Generally bosses have a few levels that you play through. The levels generally add a new condition, like the boss powering up, and additional health to the minions. And as I said, if the boss needs to shuffle to draw a card and there are no level cards, you lose the game.

The final thing here, with one thing for the differences between Astro Knight and Aeon’s End coming later, is that turn order is random. In a two player game there are two cards for player one, two for player two and two for the boss. You shuffle those up and randomly flip them out. It is possible to get the boss going four turns in a row. Or it’s possible for the players to go eight turns in a row.

What’s Different from Aeon’s End

The Boss Cards

There are are a few differences between Aeon’s End and Astro Knights. The first being what I talked about with the boss. In Aeon’s End, the boss never reshuffles their cards. I like this element of the game because it gives the boss an interesting timing mechanism and a chance to beef up in power as they level up. Now it isn’t the cards that level up but the boss and that makes it easier to table.

In Aeon’s End, you would need to pull out boss cards and other cards to mix together to make the boss deck. Here, each boss has their own deck. And you only need to sort the cards in there a little bit to create the starting deck. Because the starting deck is determined by the player count. So fewer players, the faster the boss is going to shuffle up their cards.

The Card Market

One element that I glossed over in the how to play is purchasing cards. I think if you are familiar with a deck builder you know how that works. But the market is a bit different. In Aeon’s End you have nine cards. There are three piles of currency, two of artifacts (or tech in Astro Knights terms) and four for your spells (weapons in Astro Knights). All the cards in each pile are going to be the same.

In Astro Knights the market is a bit different. You still have piles of cards that are specific types of things. Two are going to be piles for currency, cheap and more expensive, one for tech, and then three for weapons. The big thing is that the piles are not all the same card. Instead, they are cards in a range. The first weapon pile, for example, is weapons that cost two or three. Then the next one is four through six. And the last one is even or higher.

So, you won’t know what is going to be flipped. But if one weapon or tech doesn’t synergize well with a character, you don’t have a whole stack of only that weapon like you do in Aeon’s End with spells.

But these are the two big differences for the game. Now back to the normal review. I just wanted to call these out so if you’re like me and love Aeon’s End, you’ll know if the differences are enough for you.

What Doesn’t Work

I think the one thing that I’d say here is that the market can sometimes not be great. If you end up with cards either that don’t work with your character that well, or are on the upper price of their pile, you might have a turn where there isn’t much to buy. Now, that is when you power up or buy a new slot. But you can’t assume or plan that a card is going to be there to buy.

The game is also like Aeon’s End where I think that it is probably better as a solo or two player game. The reason for that is that at higher player counts the turn order deck is going to change. You always have four player cards and two boss cards. So at a four player game it is possible that someone could be first one shuffle and last the next shuffle. That means that they have ten turns between their turns.

What Works

Now as a two player game, I want to say, or solo, this is great. Because it is an even number of turns you never way too long. Plus, there is an element of excitement that can come going back to back. Or even having three or four player turns in a row. Because it means you can do a lot of damage to the boss.

I really like how the bosses work. This is one area where I definitely see it as a step above from Aeon’s End. But I think this is one area where it is nicer. I like how each boss has it’s own deck of cards. That means it is easier to play any given boss. But it’s also fun with the level up. You feel like the game is escalating in difficulty. And while I get that feeling in Aeon’s End as well, Astro Knights is a bit smoother.

I like the ease of set-up of the game as well. I just said that the boss is easier to get out and play, it is very true. But it is also easier for the market as well. For me the changes to the market are kind of “meh”. I like having the fixed market in Aeon’s End because you can create some interesting strategies around it. But at the same time, this is faster to set-up. I don’t need to look for specific piles or cards, are just shuffle up and go with them.

Who Is Astro Knights For?

I think this is a game for people who like Aeon’s End but want a game to get to the table easier. Or people who like Sci-Fi and deck building and maybe don’t like fantasy as well. It isn’t enough of a change from Aeon’s End that Astro Knights would be a game you like if you don’t like Aeon’s End. But if you like deck building, I think that you’ll enjoy it. And it is probably great, like I said, for that ease of getting it to the table compared to Aeon’s End.

Final Thoughts on Astro Knights

I enjoy this game a lot. I’m not sure that I like it better than Aeons’ End though. Some of that is that Aeon’s End has had a legacy version, and I enjoy a good legacy game. Plus I own so much for Aeon’s End that I have an insane amount of variety.

But I do think there is a difference between the two that are going to keep both in my collection. Mainly, Aeon’s End is a game that I need to plan out when I’m going to play it. For that reason, it is more likely that I will play it solo. But Astro Knights, on the other hand, with the ease of set-up and ease of getting the boss ready, that is going to be a game where I can see playing it randomly and just pulling it off the shelf. Both, though, still have the limitation that I would probably only play them as solo or at two.

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

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Catch up on my Top 100 Games (of all Time) 2023 Edition:

100 through 91

90 through 81

80 through 71

70 through 61

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition – 60 through 51

60. Five Tribes

Five Tribes is a classic game at this point. One of the Days of Wonder games that put them on the map and is my favorite of them. This has a mancala style mechanic of picking up meeples and dropping one on each tile you move to. Then you gather the ones that match the color of the last one you place out and that determines what you’re doing, which is basically always getting points.

That’s another feature of the game that is great. You are always getting money, or points (same thing) in this game. No matter what action you do, it is likely to help you. To add to that, the money that you get is also what you use to pay for your turn order. So if you see an amazing move, it be worth paying to go first, but will what you pay offset the points that you get? And that’s part of the puzzle of the game.

Buy Five Tribes

59. Mesozooic

I doubt that Mesozooic will make many or possibly any other Top 100 Lists. Why, this is a light and silly little drafting real time game of making your own Jurassic Park. But it is one that I really like. And I like it because it is fast and silly but still a good time with a little bit of strategy as you draft cards.

You get parts to your monorail system or zoo pens for the dinosaurs as you draft. Then you put them in a four by three grid and because you have one empty spot, you draft 11 cards, it’s basically a sliding puzzle. You then get 45 seconds, I believe, to slide everything around and get it in the order that gives you the most points. Where ever you are at when that time runs out is the zoo you have. So it’s possible to get it perfect, but it’s not that much time, so when to call it good enough is a big part of the game.

Buy Mesozooic

58. Res Arcana

Next up is Res Arcana. Res Arcana is a much thinkier game than the last one, but still not extremely complex. In Res Arcana you are taking your hand of cards, I believe it’s 8 cards, and building a points engine out of them. And the game is basically as simple as that. You do actions each round and when you are done with them all or all you want to do, going turn to turn, you take a special power that will help you the next round of turns.

This game is just a fun puzzle. You can play with the starter decks. I like drafting the cards I get better so that I can try and build up a synergy and get an engine going faster. But either way is fun to play. And Res Arcana is not that long a game which is great as well, so you get your engine going quickly in the game. I like that because it’s like there is a little to no downtime of the engine.

Buy Res Arcana

57. Tesseract

One of the new games, I played this one for the first time at Gen Con and I had an absolute blast with it. It’s a Pandemic like cooperative game in some ways. There is more going on with it, though. The structure of do your turn and then a bad thing happens is very Pandemic like.

The basic “story” of the game is that this Tesseract, a cube of dice has come to Earth. And we’re scientists of different types trying to solve the puzzle of it before it explodes, or implodes I should say, and kills everyone. Our actions are to collect and manipulate dice to get runs and sets and be able to put dice onto tracks matching their color and number. That is how we win, the game wins if the cube is gone, if too many overflows happen (Pandemic outbreaks), and possibly another way, I forget. So it’s a race against time and using your abilities the best you can.

And the dice cube, really is a five by five, I believe, cube. I said four by four yesterday, but think about it, I think it’s five by five. And that dice cube/tower is on a rotating board so that everyone can just turn it to see the other sides. It’s a clever system.

Buy Tesseract

56. Potion Explosion

Another game with a gimmick is Potion Explosion. Potion Explosion reminds me of an app game where you pop a bubble and it causes the column to drop down. If two (or more) like colors hit again, they pop and so on. That’s what Potion Explosion is, and it’s great with that toy factor. It has a nice dispenser for marbles, and then you’re doing what I said, removing one and letting matching colors hit.

But it adds to that by giving you potions that you can craft. Those potions are then special powers that you can use one time. That’s help you get more marble, ingredients for your potion, and let you brew even more potions. It’s a fun game of optimizing which marble you take out of the dispenser with the powers that you have. Great toy factor, again, but also just a great game.

Buy Potion Explosion

55. Forest Shuffle

Another new one to the list, Forest Shuffle is another game that I got to play for the first time at Gen Con. It’s a nature tableau building game, which, that theme or idea is very popular right now. I like how this one works a lot, though because it’s simple. You play from a handful of cards and are using cards in your hand to pay for the cards you want to play. So each card is dual purpose that way.

But they are also mainly dual purpose (besides trees) in that they have two things on them. It’s part of your forests habitat and ecosystem on the cards. So you put those cards around the trees you have in your forest. And you will show one or the other side. But which one you pick means you miss out on the other for scoring.

The end game trigger is fun as well. Three winter cards are shuffled in to the bottom of the deck. When the third one comes out the game is done. So you might find one and have a bit of time, or it might be ending really quickly after that. So you need to determine when you just need to play out cards versus go digging or picking up cards that might just get stuck in your hand and give you no points.

Preorder Forest Shuffle

54. Grove: A 9 card solitaire game

My most played solitaire (solo) game of the year. Grove is a great game that is a ton of fun as you are building up your grove or orange, lemon, and lime trees. You do this by layering cards and matching the fruit that you are overlapping. And you can’t just overlap any trees, you get one overlap that doesn’t match, and that gives you negative points.

This probably sounds a lot like Orchard another game in that series. And what I’ve described is pretty similar. Where Grove is different is that each game you are playing against a challenge. Or you can choose to do that, but I always choose to do it. You get two challenge cards, they give you bonus points. But they also provide a point total between the two cards that you need to win. So it’s not just beat your high score, it gives you a target, for that game, to beat it.

Buy Grove

53. Century: Golem Edition

Century: Golem Edition is one that has stuck on my list for a long time. It’s not one that I play often, but when I get it played, it’s always a good time. Century: Golem Edition is a game of hand management where you are playing out cards to get gems and transform/trade gems into better gems. Then you use those to get Golems, most golem points wins.

But what I like so much about this game are the quick and snappy turns. My turn is basically one of four things. I play a card to manipulate the gems that I have, whether that’s get more or transform them, get a card from the market, pick back up my played cards into my hand, or get a golem. It’s one thing per turn and the game just flies along because of that, plus it has good decisions.

Buy Century: Golem Edition

52. Arboretum

Arboretum is one of those nature themed games where it looks pretty, and it’s pretty mean. But that’s what makes the game one of my favorites. In Arboretum you are building an ascending order of trees. And you score routes of trees that start and end with the same type of tree, always ascending numerically. Plus if you start with a one and end on an eight, both of those give you bonus points.

The tricky, and where the mean comes in, is that you don’t get to score all of your trees. At least not automatically. You need to have the most, card value wise, of that type of tree to be able to score it. So you might have built up a beautifully high scoring line of maples, but if you have a greater value of maples in my hand than you have, they are worth no points to you. And that is mean, but so much fun and adds in a layer of strategy and depth.

Buy Arboretum

51. Cthulhu: Death May Die

Finally, the last new one for this part of the list, Cthulhu: Death May Die. This is one that I got to play for the first time at CMON Expo, and I just fell in love with it. It’s such a fun game of investigating, trying to stop the ritual, or whatever is going on, but knowing eventually you’ll need to fight a great old one. And when you start, you are not in a position where that is going to be possible.

It only becomes possible as you become more insane. The more insane you are, the most powers you can unlock. There are points on the sanity track where it lets you unlock a new power. So you get to decide which of your three tracks you want to go up on. One is unique to each character, and the others are a combination of generic ones. Like the brawler ability, it might let you hit a whole room with an attack, if you level it up, but it’s always a choice of what to level.

Then, of course, you can still die from insanity. So if you die from what, because you leveled up too fast, you’re out of the game and that messes up things as well. So it’s a ton of fun how it lets you push your luck but not too much with that insanity. And it’s also fun to get more powerful as the game goes on the closer to death you are.

Buy Cthulhu: Death May Die

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 next Wednesday for games 50 through 41, so hitting the half way point. 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, like I should have a Lord of the Rings Collectors box coming for the new cards. 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 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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5 Small Box Board Games

Say Bye to the Villains

I think that I’m about the only champion for this game. Alright, that’s an exaggeration, the person who taught me the game really likes it too. Say Bye to the Villains is a small box card game where you play as Samurai who are trying to take down villains. I talked about it in my Top 100 2022 Edition recently.

Some people will find this a frustrating game. It is not an easy game to win. If I were to guess, I’ve played the game 15 times and I have yet to win. But it’s a lot of fun. Each Samurai plays differently, so they train differently. You spend time researching the villains and trying to get everyone set-up. But the game is just tight enough that you always feel like you just need a tiny it more information or time. One of these days I will win.

Mesozooic

Mesozooic is really cheap to find right now. I don’t remember when it came out, but there are copies floating around out there at a good price, and I see it on sale often. But I like this drafting and timed game, it just feels different.

In this game you draft cards to build a dinosaur zoo. This is not that unique. But then you put out the cards you drafted and create a sliding puzzle with them. You have 45 seconds, I believe, to get them shifted around, like a sliding puzzle, to score the most points possible. And the player with the most points after three rounds wins.

I don’t like real time games. But Mesozooic works for me. You get your points from drafting and the real time puzzle aspect is important, but also just light and fun. The real time works because it doesn’t feel like a pressure on the game.

Patchwork Doodle

Out of all of them on the list, this is the most likely to be heard of. Board Game Geek even did a video play through of it on their Game Night show. But I really enjoy Patchwork Doodle as a roll and write game. Mainly it is a very simple game. You are making a quilt in it by filling in Tetris polyomino style shapes.

I think that makes this one better for them than something like Second Chance, which I believe came out first, is this one offers you a few more choices. You use up to 4 powers throughout the game. And those can really save you from having to pass on a shape or to get that big square of your quilt. Fun and family friendly small box game.

Floriferous

This is a newer game on the list, but from a smaller publisher. And I want more people to know about it and play it because it does some cool things. Plus it’s a very pretty looking game with all the plants in it. But let’s talk about the two things that I like.

Firstly, I like that it’s drafting and drafting where you draft your scoring cards. So you can decide to get more flowers which might score you points for their symbols or other scoring cards you’ve drafted. Or you can draft another scoring card that might give you more points. It’s a fun puzzle.

I also like deciding when to draft something that’s less ideal. Why would you do that? Because there is an order that gets set by how far down the column you go for the next round of drafting. If I’m below you on the column you go before me next time. And maybe that scoring card or a planet is perfect for me in that next column. So do I hold out and take a worse card to make sure I get that really good one.

Age of War

And the last of the five games we have Age of War. This one is different from all of the others. It’s basically a Yahtzee style die rolling game where you are trying to collect different castles of fortresses. The ones you collect give you points.

This also has two different things that I really like. Firstly, you can steal buildings from others, it makes it a very in your face game. But it’s light and turns go fast, so it doesn’t feel as bad as a big game. I also like that you can try and collection castles of the same color. If you do, you flip them, they are worth a few more points. But the big thing is once you flip a full set, they can’t be stolen anymore. It’s simple but fast and fun.

Final Thoughts

There are always going to be small box games that are overlooked. There are a lot of reasons for that. Sometimes it’s just because you don’t notice them on a shelf. Put Age of War next to Wingspan and Wingspan is immediately going to catch people’s attention. That’s just because of the size of the box, so it’s naturally going to happen.

Other times and this is more just on some gamers, they ignore small games. The idea is that a small box can’t pack a big punch. Well, some of these games do pack a good challenge and a punch. So don’t just assume that a small box game is bad or simple because it’s in a small box. Give them a try too.

What are you favorite small box games? Which ones would you say are often overlooked?

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What Is Alpha Gaming?

Alpha Gaming is when one player at the table, and generally in cooperative games, is taking over the game. By that I mean, it is your turn, and this player is telling you what to do. It is your turn and they are playing it. This can be as little as telling you what the optimal play is, to as much as telling and then moving your pieces and playing your cards for you.

More simply put is alpha gaming is stepping on the agency of another player to play the game.

Is Alpha Gaming A Cooperative Game Problem?

So this is where it gets to be a little bit trickier. There are games out there that help so that alpha gaming isn’t a problem. The Lost Expedition, you can’t discuss the cards in your hand. Say Bye To the Villains and Gloomhaven don’t let you give specifics. So cooperative games are looking to solve the problem, but alpha gaming isn’t a problem of the game.

Alpha gaming is a problem of the player(s) at the table. When you play a cooperative game, one person might know it better. And that person might take over the game, but that is a choice that player makes. The game isn’t making them tell people what the optimal play is.in their eyes. The game isn’t making them try and play the game by themselves. That is on the player.

So Why Does Alpha Gaming Happen?

It can happen for a few different reasons in my opinion. And I don’t think my list here is every reason that it might be. I also think for a lot of alpha gamers, it is going to be a combination of these.

• The Need To Win
• They Need To Be Heard
• The Need To Go Fast
• They Know The Game The Best

The Need To Win

This one is probably the most simple and obvious. Some players, playing a game is about winning. They don’t care as much about the time at the table with friends. They don’t care as much about the experience. A game is meant to be defeated. And if they believe they have an optimal strategy, they are going to say it.

How To Change:

This one is tricky, because inherently most games have a win condition. I say most because I know of one game where it’s more like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley. But many gamers don’t realize they have this drive to win or that it’s taking over the table. So a conversation after a game night, or before, with an alpha gamer, and just let them know. If they are there for the experience as well, they should be receptive.

They Need To Be Heard

This alpha gamer doesn’t need to win, they just like to hear themselves talk. It’s a trickier one because this is probably something that is in every part of their life. And it could come from a lot of different places. Some people are just loud and don’t realize that they talk over people. Other people haven’t been heard before and are not compensating for that.

How To Change:

I’m dipping into my Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master experience here. In D&D, I keep and eye on who is talking and who isn’t talking. Some of that is some people like the spotlight more. But when there is a question, a decision to be made, if two people are doing all the talking, and one person isn’t. I’ll ask that person what their thought is, or what their character will do.

This might meant that I interrupt someone else. But the same works at the gaming table. Before the decision is made, if someone is walking over someone’s turn, ask that quiet player what they want to do on their turn. And don’t be rude about it to the person who was talking or dismiss them, but ask what the active player wants to do.

The Need To Go Fast

It might come from the fact that they want to get through the game quickly. They can see a strategy and once they’ve seen it, it’s time to get moving. This might be because of a legitimate time constraint, or it might be that they just want to go fast. So when they see something, some strategy, they expect everyone to see it at the same time. And when things don’t move that fast, they start taking over the game.

How To Change:

This is similar to needing to talk, or my thoughts on that. Shift the focus back away form the person who needs to go fast. Ask the active player what they’ve been thinking about for the turn. Because maybe they have a strategy or idea that the other player hasn’t seen.

And the player who goes fast is probably the one most apt to touch and move pieces. Simply because if they help move stuff, it’ll go faster. In that case, ask them to stop. In the game ask them to stop, point out that it’s the active players turn not theirs and let them do their move. This can be a little bit rude with how you say it, not mean, but make it clear.

They Know The Game The Best

This often happens when the alpha gamer is teaching new players. The idea most of the time behind this isn’t because they feel like they’re smarter than everyone or anything malicious. Instead, they want people to like the game as much as they do. And they taught it, so they’ll point out strategy and the optimal move. Often times this comes also from the idea that winning the game will give the other players a better experience.

How To Change:

This also comes back to asking the active player what they want to do. What moves they are thinking of. But I think this is the one that is easiest for someone to notice when they are alpha gaming. So I have some advice for when you notice yourself doing that.

If someone is taking a while, if someone maybe needs a little prompting, don’t tell someone what to do. Give them options or suggestions. Let’s use Pandemic as an example, if there are four cities with three cubes on and an optimal play you can see is to go to one and clear cubes, don’t point to the one and say, clear cubes here. Say, “Hmmm… we have four cities that we might want to clear cubes off of because they have three.” You just gave them four options of things they can do.

Or give multiple options. “You could clear cubes on one of these four cities, or you could try and meet up with this player to trade a card, or you could go to Lagos and build a research center because you have that card.” There might be an optimal play in there, or even two things that they can do out of that group. But they get to decide. This is something I do in D&D as well, give players a few options if they seem stuck.

Can Everyone Stop Alpha Gaming?

Some people can’t. And for some people that is because cooperative games might not be for them. Not playing a cooperative game isn’t a bad thing. If that is how you avoid alpha gaming, that is perfectly acceptable.

Yes, there are a lot of good cooperative games out there. But there are more good competitive games out there. Why, because more competitive games come out every year than cooperative. So it isn’t like you need to force yourself to stop alpha gaming. You might just need to stop playing cooperative games.

I know I talked about a lot of ways to stop. And maybe there are some ways that you hadn’t thought about before. Or maybe those different reasons, it might help you understand why you do it, or why someone does. But it is something hard to change. And it might not be worth the effort to change, that is on a personal level and a gaming group level.

What Games Help With Alpha Gaming?

There are some times when maybe your group really likes cooperative games. And either you or one person in the group are an alpha gamer. It doesn’t change over night, so there are some games that help with the alpha gaming. What are some that you could maybe try and help curb the alpha gaming with?

The Lost Expedition

In The Lost Expedition you as a group are adventuring to the lost city of Z. You trek in the morning and evening and you do that by playing down cards in a row and then going through those cards. How this helps with the alpha gaming problem is you can’t discuss the cards in your hand. So no one can tell you what card is the right one to play when.

And I think this one is good because when going through those cards, it’s a chance to practice not being an alpha gamer. Everyone leans in and looks at the cards, and discuss as a whole who to get through them. So if you find you have a tendency to alpha game, this game stops you from doing it for part of it, and gives you a chance to practice not in the other half.

Say Bye To The Villains

Like The Lost Expedition, you are limited with how much you can tell people in Say Bye To The Villains. You can trade cards, so I might say that I can help someone a lot with their speed, but I can’t say specifics of how I can do that. It might be that it’s the infinite speed card or a +4 speed. But the game rules prevent that from happening.

This one I think it’s a little easier to slip up on. But the game is also more punishing than The Lost Expedition. So Say Bye to the Villains can work better with that little bit of table talk. But it’d be a nice one where a single person can’t do everything, because some of the information just isn’t available to them. And everyone else following the rule can stop alpha gaming.

Spirit Island

This is one that I haven’t played. But I always hear about this one as a very good one for alpha gamers. Why, because each spirit that you can play is so differently. That means that unless the alpha gamer has played the game so much they know every spirit that they won’t know how they play. And the puzzle for each spirit is fairly complex, so to optimize their own strategy will require effort on their behalf.

This one isn’t as easy for a more casual group. But if you’re heavier into gaming, it’s one that makes a lot of sense. And there are so many spirits, and expansions. So if you ever feel like it’s getting close, just get new spirits and mix them in.

Final Thoughts

Alpha gaming or any negative thing impacts enjoyment are hard to talk about when it comes to gaming. And a lot of the times people don’t realize that they are actively doing it or how to stop. I hope that this is something that helps some people know how to deal with it better.

I think, in the end, most of us want to play games and play games with more people. Alpha gaming can hurt in the development of new gamers. And it’s something that can come from a good place. So, especially with new gamers, if you know you have that tendency, try and hold back. It’s worth taking a loss or two, making less than ideal moves, and setting aside a little bit of your enjoyment for a moment, to find new gamers.

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Before we get to the list, let’s start by talking a little bit about how the list is made. You can see some of the process that I go through in this article earlier this week. But as to the games on the list, these are all games I’ve rated on Board Game Geek.

To go along with that, the games that are in my Top 100, I’ll have links to where you can buy them. I tend to do most of my board game shopping online through Miniature Market and Coolstuff Inc. I’m going to try and use their links over something like Amazon, but I do want you to be able to find these games if they look cool. Let’s get to the list.

Board Games 100-91

100. Skull

This is a great little bluffing game. Normally bluffing games aren’t my thing. I am not the best at bluffing in them, but this one works for me. It is small and it’s simple. When it comes down to it, I think the simplicity of what you are doing in the game is really what works for me. And I like the twist on it that when you bid to flip you have to flip your own stuff first. That means sometimes when you bluff you don’t have a skull in your like you’ll end up flipping our own and beat yourself.

Buy on Miniature Market

99. Takenoko

This game is just a really cute one. Takenoko has you trying to complete objectives to get the most points. The game is just maybe over a gateway game level but really good. The cute factor really sells this game for a lot of people. I like that you have three different ways that you can score points in the game. The fact you can go for panda, gardener or tile points is nice, allows for different players to have different strategies.

Buy on Miniature Market

98. Shadowrun Crossfire: Prime Runner Edition

This is one that I really need to play again. It’s a fun game where you are building out a deck of cards while trying to defeat different threats. You each also start out a different way, so like the RPG it’s based on, Shadowrun, you are building up special skills that only you have. A challenging game for sure, but I like it when my cooperative games challenge me.

Buy on Amazon

97. Photosynthesis

This is a game about trees. It looks like it should be a nice and friendly game, it is not. Photosynthesis is an abstract game where you are planting your trees, figuring out how to maximize your sun points, and blocking your opponent from getting their own sun points. It’s a good puzzle of a game though because the sun rotates around the board. That means you can set yourself up for some really good turns, but on the flip side you might end up with some turns with no points, if you aren’t careful. Fun game, but very mean.

Buy on Coolstuff Inc

96. Mysterium

Another game I haven’t played in a while, Mysterium. This one really is because of the pandemic because I think it works better at a higher count, and I don’t own the game. But in this game one person is a ghost trying to give everyone else clues so that they try and figure a murder, weapon, and location. We don’t play it quite right but we play it in a way that I think is more fun, and it keeps the base of the game the same.

Buy on Amazon

95. First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet

This one I think would be lower on the list for a lot of people because of a bad taste from the app for the start. But the game itself is a good time and you can get it cheap now. The app is definitely better than it was, but you’re trying to survive on Mars. You station might be breaking down, the :44supply ship might have crashed, or something like that and now you are trying to survive the scenario. It’s a challenging game but it feels good when you win. Think of this as The Martian the board game.

Buy on Coolstuff Inc

94. Pandemic Legacy: Season 2

I like my legacy games, and Pandemic Legacy Season 2 is a very good one. The Pandemic games really do a great job of giving you tons of new stuff to unlock during the game. And the story in this one is good. I will say you do need to play the first season of Pandemic Legacy first. Also that while the mechanics are similar to Pandemic they feel different and the game feels unique as you play it and explore the world.

Buy on Miniature Market

93. The Lord of the Rings

Another very challenging cooperative game. The Lord of the Rings is a good book themed Lord of the Rings game that is pretty abstracted. But the artwork is great, the challenge level is great, and you feel the pressure of trying to get the one ring delivered. There was a new edition that came out not too long ago, but I prefer the older version without the extra plastic in it. And I like that you play only as the Hobbits because that’s fun as well.

Buy on Miniature Market

92. Wits & Wagers

The first party game to hit the list. This is my preferred trivia game to play because you don’t need to be great at trivia. Every answer is number based and that means that you are just trying to bet on the right number without going over. So if it’s something about a movie and you know the most about movies, maybe bet on your own, but if you know nothing about sports, bet the other person who knows sports answer. Being close is just as good as being right and knowing who might know best.

Buy on Amazon

91. Criss Cross

This one has dropped a long ways. A lot of that is that I’ve played a lot of roll and write games since I did the list last. There are games that I’ve played which has pushed this one down. That said, Criss Cross is still a really good game. It’s pretty lucky as to what comes up on the dice, but how you put in that combination of two really matters, since everyone is using the same dice. It’s a good quick game and one I wouldn’t say no to playing, but I might not pull off my self as much anymore.

Not on Amazon, Miniature Market, or Coolstuff Inc

There we have the first 10 games on the list. I really like all of these. I think on my list as a whole that 7 or 7.5 is about the lowest that can make my list in terms of rankings and most will be 8’s or higher. Let me know which of these games you like best or which one you want to try.

The Next Ten

And if you want to catch it live, you can do so over on YouTube. Checkout the Malts and Meeples like at the top of the article. I have the next four videos scheduled. So you can subscribe and click that notification bell to know when I’m going live. But if you’re catching this later, 8 PM Central Time every Wednesday from now until the week before Thanksgiving, November 17th to see what games make the list.

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What is A Deck Building Game?

So I’ve written about deck building games a lot before. I won’t point you to those articles right now, but you can search them and see my Top 10 in that genre and a breakdown of the mechanic and more. Simply put, deck building games are games where you start with a deck of cards and you add to that as you go. Generally you are doing that to create combos that allow you to get more and better cards into your deck.

These cards can be used for a lot of different things depending on the game. But generally they are going to push you towards the end of the game objective. This can be to get points, slay monsters, complete quests, or plenty of other things. But the main focus of the game is going to be on getting cards into your deck that help you complete those objectives.

What Do I Look For In A Deck Building Game?

1. More than Just Deck Building
2. Ease of Play
3. Variance
4. Variable Market

More Than Just Deck Building

This one might seem wrong, and it isn’t always needed, but I don’t want my deck building games right now to be only deck building. When the mechanic first came to board games with the likes of Dominion, the concept was interesting. However, now I have played Dominion a fair amount, and the artwork and theme weren’t for me. I have played Ascension a lot, and I still like it. But I don’t want to get a new game that is only deck building, unless it does something really different.

I prefer stuff like Aeon’s End, Xenoshyft, and Clank! In! Space! where they have more going on. A simple deck building game has it’s place, but for me, I’ve progressed beyond just wanting that. That said, if you haven’t played a deck builder, both Ascension and Dominion are great first picks.

Ease of Play

Now I am going to go back a little bit on what I just said. Yes, I want more than just deck building, but I don’t want too much. I want a game that you can see what is happening pretty easily. There are some deck building games where they try and cram too much information onto the cards. So while I want my deck building game to do more than just deck building, I want the deck building aspect of the game to not to be too complicated.

With ease of play, I also want it to be pretty easy to set-up. Dominion, is not that easy a game to set-up. You generally want a certain mix of cards, so you are searching through the box for specific ones. Xenoshyft has the same problem. And while Aeon’s End might have the same issue, they actually don’t separate the cards enough for it to be an issue. What I mean is that Dominion and Xenoshyft have little decks for each card type. Aeon’s End says put all those little decks into one clump which I have sorted alphabetically. That makes it easier for me to find the cards than with Dominions and Xenoshyft’s nice slots for cards.

Variance

This could also be called variability. But I saved that term for the next point. What I mean in this is that I want the games to have something that change it up between games. It might be a changing market, it might be that you have unique powers to start, but I want my deck of cards to feel different than yours by the end.

It is a knock on Dominion for me. Even though the market of cards can be changed up every game, I don’t feel like my deck of cards and strategy feel different. I’ll dive into that more on in the next point though. Compare that to Xenoshyft though, I start out with some unique cards in my deck, and I get bonuses on buying specific cards or doing specific actions, so I am different from everyone else at the table. It is easy to change it up then as I just pick a different starting deck and powers next game.

Variable Market

So this one is less important to me. If the other things are going strong, that it has more than deck building, there’s an ease of play, and I feel like I’m playing a unique deck or character, I don’t need this variable market. However, if this is just a deck building game I want this.

So what do I mean by a variable market? In something like Dominion or Xenoshyft the items out to buy are the same for everyone. They get set out at the start of the game and those are the cards you have access to throughout the game. Ascension, on the other hand, has a variable market. When I buy a card a new card is flipped into it’s place. I don’t know what that new card is going to be. Basically think of it that I prefer to adapt on the fly versus having a starting strategy.

The reason I don’t like it for Dominion, and I touched on it above, is that Dominion can become a race of players doing the same thing, buying the same card, and hoping that they shuffle better. The card engine that I’m creating and you are creating should be the same, because there is an optimal engine. I don’t mind it it in Xenoshyft, though, because our optimal engines will be different. I can get a 1 cost discount on medical each turn, you can get a 1 cost discount on weapons, we will buy different things. Plus it is cooperative, which does make a difference.

Are All Criteria Equally As Important

Nope, I am going to say they aren’t. In fact, for me, my most important the wanting more going on, might not be important for you. If you aren’t familiar with deck building something like Dominion or Ascension would be great. I need more to the puzzle, generally, than just deck building though.

And you also might prefer that long term strategic planning to that more tactical reactionary planning in the market. Obviously that variable market isn’t always important to me because I do own Xenoshyft: Onslaught and Aeon’s End. But I think I like that fixed market better in a cooperative game. It gives more leeway in what you are buying when you are working together as a group.

Let’s Do An Example

I always want to give you an example of what I mean. Sometimes, with games I already know, the example won’t be as useful. Or with an anime I already know, because I have hindsight, so I want to try and look forward to something that might be coming out. This is, however, going to be a case where I look at something I already have, Xenoshyft: Onslaught. I will try and write it mainly remembering why I got it after watching the Dice Tower play this game.

More Than Deck Building

This game definitely hit that more than deck building style of game. In fact, even within the deck building, there were things that I hadn’t seen before. But let’s talk about the non-deck building piece. You place out troops to defeat waves of monsters that are coming in. That is not something normal for deck building. You might use cards to defeat monsters, but to have a wave you face, then you deck build more, than another wave, that was unique to Xenoshyft.

Also that the deck building itself wasn’t too punishing. In a lot of deck building games if you don’t get any money, you can’t deck build. In Xenoshyft: Onslaught, ever turn you are getting more money guaranteed. With that money you can buy more troops or gear. And that stuff goes into your hand, not into your discard, so you can use it right away.

Ease of Play

Once the game is set-up, I don’t feel like the game play is difficult. The main thing that can make it interesting or a bit more challenging to teach is that when I set-up my row of troops, I can actually give you some troops. So there is almost a trading or sharing piece to the game, which is fun. Especially since it’s a cooperative game, but since it is cooperative it’s an easy thing to teach and talk through as you are playing the actual game.

Variance

Clearly this game has variance since I used it as my example. But I like that each group/area has a different thing to do. If I am the barracks I can get a free troop each turn. If I am the med bay, I can get a discount on medical cards, or armory on weapons. And those are just your base level stuff. You unlock more things the further you go along. So as the game progresses not only is my deck becoming different from yours, my abilities become more unique as well.

Variable Market

Finally, a variable market is not something that Xenoshyft has. When you start out you get the player number of specific cards put out, the med bay has a med card, the armory has a weapon card, and then the other cards are randomized. But, because the cards aren’t a point generation engine, I don’t mind it here. And the card supply is fairly limited for each type of card, so you do need to diversify because you won’t just be able to buy only the “best” card available.

Overall, Xenoshyft is more of a hit than it is a miss. I think that even without the variable market and the bit longer set-up, it does a lot of interesting things. And really it’s that first thing, the fact that it’s more than just deck building that has made me really love the game. It is a bit like playing Starship Troopers the board game, just with scarier looking bugs.

Will This Work For You?

I’m going to say it one more time, if you haven’t played deck building games, I’d recommend Ascension or Dominion, a pure deck building game first. But you might find you start looking for more quickly. So yes, I think that it does work pretty well. Though, live I’ve also said, that last one, the variable market, might not be for some people. It works for me because I am more of a reactionary gamer where I can adjust to changes in states of games or the card market really well. I am less of a strategic long term planning gamer.

What is your favorite deck building game?

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The Game

I won’t go through too much on the game because I’ve done that a lot already. You can see a review for Aeon’s End War Eternal which is going to give you an idea as to how this game works – here.

Just the quick basics of the game. I am playing as a mage who is defending the town of Gravehold from nameless, nemesis who are coming through a breach. To do this I am building up a deck of cards that contain spells, gems and artifacts. As the game goes along, through the different chapters, it unlocks new abilities, stickers, and rules to make the game more challenging.

Aeon’s End Legacy is actually a pretty solid way to learn Aeon’s End. Not everything that is in Aeon’s End is part of the game at the start of Aeon’s End Legacy. So it gives you some rules and then you learn more and more as you go along. If you are someone whom think cooperative deck building sounds fun, Aeon’s End Legacy is a good spot to jump into the game.

The Drink

Last night I made myself a gin and tonic. I am a big fan of gin and tonics but last nights was different than normal. I picked up a barrel aged gin from the liquor store over the weekend. And while the barrel aged gin is solid, I don’t know that I like it as well as I do for a gin and tonic as a standard gin. The flavor works but just doesn’t quite balance the same as I want from a gin and tonic during the summer. It loses a bit of that crisp edge to it and makes a more full bodied drink. Still good, just not quite the same.

Upcoming Streams

So next weeks streaming is going to be a bit different. Mainly I have a fantasy football draft on Wednesday. So Wednesday’s stream of Aeon’s End Legacy will be on Thursday. Monday I will have a stream as well. The topic for Monday is going to be Kickstarter games, or crowdfunding. It will range from what is good value, how I pick games, what to look for, and more. Come with you Kickstarter questions and let’s discuss them.

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The Game

Aeon’s End, like I said, it a cooperative deck building game. Aeon’s End Legacy adds in a Legacy element to that game. There are five different big boxes out for the game, including Legacy, as well as 10 small box expansions. Each of the big boxes can be combines with the others to give you a massive amount of combinations to play with.

The game itself is a deck builder, but one that is pretty unique. The main unique element is that you don’t shuffle your deck. If you run out of cards and need to draw more, you simply flip over your discard pile. It is also a deck builder that has more going on. And that is something that I look for in deck building games.

You are deck building, but like most cooperative games, you have a number of ways to lose. If the nemesis kills all your mages, game over, if the nemesis destroy Gravehold, game over. It also gives you multiple ways to win, sometimes. If you kill off the nemesis you win. If you can survive long enough and deal with all the nemesis cards, you also win. It is a game that is challenging, but also one where you really feel like the you level up and get more powerful as the game goes.

You can see my full review of Aeon’s End: War Eternal here.

The Drink

Last nights drink was an Old Fashioned. Now, you might see some bar old fashioned where you have maraschino cherries, orange peels, and more in them. If you want to do a simple orange peel garnish, that’s okay. But to me, an Old Fashioned should have three things: whiskey, bitters, simple syrup (or sugar and water mixed together). That highlights both the bitters and the whiskey well. The other garnishes or ingredients that people will put in muddies up the flavor for me.

Upcoming Streams

So next week I don’t plan on streaming at all. I have family in town so most likely will be busy entertaining and hanging out on Wednesday.

On the following Monday, the 26th, I will be doing a Top 10 List, TBD on the topic. But it’s down between Gateway Games and Roll and Writes, let me know your thoughts below.

And then the 28th, Wednesday, I’ll be streaming Chapter 3 of Aeon’s End Legacy. Pushing towards that half way point and seeing how many more/cool things will be unlocked.

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Pros

• Cooperative
• Horror Themed
• Tense
• Great price point
• Known company
• Tough to beat
• Looks like Nic Cage on the cover instead of Night Cage

Cons

• Fairly abstract
• Horror Themed
• Tough to beat

Thoughts on the Page

This is a well laid out page that gives you a solid idea of what the game is like. It does a good job with that primarily black, white, grey and sepia tone to give it that horror vibe to it. And it does a good job of laying out the game play as well.

They’ve done a good job with the price point, not too high for what you’re getting and seems extremely reasonable where the cost plus shipping will be what you’d find it for at retail. And I like that they have a premium level that is just upgrades to components or a creepy soundtrack, not game play related.

And I think that they’ve done a good job with the stretch goals. There is a good balance of game play additions, like new types of monsters, pits, etc. but nothing that massively changes the game and nothing that makes it feel like they are just adding stuff, so no bloat in the game. Plus there are also some nice component upgrades as well to it.

Bonus Video

Bonus video content from GloryHoundd on YouTube, she and DrGloryHogg did a playthrough of the game via TableTop Simulator that they got from Smirk & Dagger

Back or Brick

So when I first saw this game, it was going to be a brick for me. The concept seemed interesting enough, but I wasn’t sure about the game play and the cover, I make Nic Cage jokes about it because it looks a bit like that to me. But as I dug more into it and they talked about it on GloryHoundd YouTube channel and did the play through, I saw the intensity of the game. This is one of those stressful cooperative games where, because the labyrinth is always changing and the candle is burning down, you are going to feel a version of the pressure that the theme is trying to promote. So while I don’t feel like I should back for the soundtrack as well, I did end up up backing it, so it’s a Back for me.

How about for you, is this game a Back or a Brick?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

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