So this is a list of 10 games, in no particular order. Also worth noting, it’s a list of 10, I’m unlikely to buy most of them as a lot will be big, but I’ll likely buy a few.

10 Board Games in 2023

10. Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game

I almost considered backing this one, but it just didn’t quite draw me in. But I love the material that it’s based on, I think I mainly played Heroes of Might and Magic IV. And it’s a world exploring adventure, fighting game which has some interesting systems. So I want to get my hands on this one and try it, because of that. And because it’s a big game but isn’t one that is all about the minis or all about an epic campaign which is different. And it’s not cooperative, which is also different for me.

9. Earth

Another one that was on Kickstarter, and Earth is a much smaller game than a lot on the list. But for that reason, I didn’t back it, I thought it was an interesting one to pick-up later. It’s an engine building game, which I generally like. And with a smaller package I’ll enjoy that as well. Plus it’s an engine building game about creating your own ecosystem which is fun, and the game looks very pretty. So that’s enough for a reason for me to be interested, it’s a pretty game.

8. Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game

I didn’t consider backing this one because the Terraforming Mars games, generally no need to back them. And the Dice Game looks interesting and like more Terraforming Mars. I already own Ares Expedition and I like that one. Plus I own Terraforming Mars that I need to play. But like Earth, this is going to be another engine building game which I’m certainly interested in. And it’s based off of a system at least with Ares Expedition that I like and a theme that I like.

7. Arkeis

People are complaining a lot about this one because it’s taken a long time to deliver. I believe it was crowdfunded in 2019 or very early 2020 and it’s got a 2023 date. But it’s one that I am very interested in grabbing at retail when it comes out.

It’s a legacy game, but a legacy game set in Egypt and delving into tombs and temples to get treasures. I’m not sure how it’ll all work, but I’m excited for it for the legacy campaign aspect but also for the setting and the potential for story. I really like Lost Ruins of Arnak which generally has that theme, so I’m hoping that Arkeis will be more immersive game play.

6. Soul Raiders

This one says it was on Kickstarter or Crowdfunding and it looks vaguely familiar, but I’m surprised I didn’t look into it more. The designer did Splendor before, a game that I don’t love, I think this one sounds very interesting. A high fantasy setting will get me interested.

Plus then it had deck building in it as well, which I enjoy. I’ve wanted to find a good campaign game that uses deck building heavily in it as I think it’s a mechanic that makes sense. And the artwork looks nice, so it’s one that I want to try and play, maybe not own, but play.

5. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders

Have I mentioned that I like big campaign games? Well, I do. And Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders is a follow-up, in setting to Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef, which I just got. So I do want to get this one as well, it’s a dungeon crawling campaign game set in that world. And that world, while it might not come through too much in Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef, is gorgeous to look at.

So if I can start to get story and explore characters in that world, I’m interested. Plus when it was on crowdfunding, I thought it looked intriguing. Mainly it looks like the action system is going to be very different with ebbs and flows of it building from lighter turns to bigger turns.

4. My Island

This one I doubt that I’ll get in 2023 but I wouldn’t be surprised if I get it later. It’s a legacy game, follow-up to My City, this time with an Island. I haven’t beat My City yet, or completed it I should say. But I’m really liking it when we do get it played. It is an accessible, easy to pick-up and easy to put down legacy game.

My hope is that My Island is the same thing just some new twists on it. And it’s a legacy game, so I like that element as well. And that’s the reason that I’ll get to it when I get to it. I have enough other legacy games that I really need to get played.

3. Sagrada Artisans

Another one that was on Kickstarter, Sagrada Artisans takes Sagrada and turns it into a legacy game. From what it looked like, it kept a lot of the game the same with drafting dice and creating stained glass windows. But it also added in a coloring element.

So that they could mess around with the windows more, you aren’t placing the dice on the windows but instead coloring in the color you picked, and I’m assuming putting the number down. That sounds like an interesting twist, not the coloring but the non-square windows, and how that’ll work. I hope it’s a light, fun, legacy game, like My City has been and like I hope My Island will be.

2. First in Flight

At this point in time you should know that most of these have been on crowdfunding. Some of that is because it’s hard for publishers to know when a game will come out so far in advance unless it is on crowdfunding. And First in Flight is one that is different, though, it’s a smaller, lighter game where you are trying to collect cards to be able to pull of the longest flight possible.

It’s historically based, so you’re competing with others trying to do the first flight of some length, I believe. And the helpers you can get are actual people. That element also makes it more interesting because it’s a lighter game that is going to give you history. When it was on crowdfunding, I was definitely interested. But it’s in that range of buying it later is probably the smarter plan.

1. Tales from Red Dragon Inn

I’m not going to buy this one, but I do want to play it. I think that Red Dragon Inn is an okay game, and I fully know that I’d like it better if I played it with fewer. I’ve always  played it over the player count, and it just takes a silly game and makes it too long. Tales from Red Dragon Inn is the dungeon crawl adventure that you all go on. I don’t really know how it’s going to work, but they’ve created very interesting characters for the world. So I think it’s something or a world that would be fun to play around in.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of good games out there. I said that there were 16 pages of 2023 games on BGG, I didn’t go through all of them to get my list of 10. Am I missing something huge that I’ll end up loving, most likely. But that’s the fun of gaming and new board games coming out. It’s finding that new board game that you want to play over and over again. Last year, for example, Stars of Akarios wasn’t even on my radar, and now it’s in my Top 10. So we’ll have to see what game comes out of nowhere and just surprises me.

What game are you anticipating coming out in 2023?

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The Games

Mask of the Pharaoh

Mask of the Pharaoh is an outlier compared to the other games that I have on the list for unboxing. It isn’t a big and epic game. In fact, the box is quite small. But there is one thing that made me want to buy it. And that is that it uses an app. But it isn’t just that it uses an app, but how it uses the app.

Originally a game called Mask of Anubis coming out in 2016, it was picked up by Hasbro as Mask of the Pharaoh. The game uses an app, not as something to assist the game but as a core piece to the game. One person is navigating and looking around a tomb via the app. They give directions to the other players how to set it up. This is just novel for a board game, so I wanted to try it. Chronicles of Crime uses an app in a similar way, and I want to try it as well.

ISS Vanguard

Now onto the bigger games. ISS Vanguard is certainly that. I didn’t get everything you could in wave one, and I’m okay with that. Everything I didn’t get is not as important for game play. I received the core box, the miniatures, which look cool but also not important and the Personnel Files.

ISS Vanguard is an epic space adventure game. That premise is a signal was sent to Eartha and hidden within the DNA of humanity. It is discovered and uncoded. That leads humanity on a mission using and alien ship to find these coordinates. There, well, that is where the game begins.

There is a lot going on in the game. From exploring planets, flying to different solar systems, and unraveling the mystery. I like that you don’t play as a specific character, but as a specific part of the crew. You might be recon or engineering or security, but you get to pick. I also enjoy that you encounter a planet, but you also encounter things as you maintain your ship or upgrade your landing vessels.

Chronicles of Drunagor

Final game getting unboxed is Chronicles of Drunagor. Chronicles of Drunagor didn’t show up as recently, it has been on my shelf for a little bit. But it is one that I’m going to be playing soon for Malts and Meeples. In fact, it should get started next week. I just need your help figuring out who to play. See the section below to vote.

But Chronicles of Drunagor is an epic fantasy game where you build out 3D maps, unlock doors, fight monsters, and level up the characters. Two things stand out to me as really interesting in this game. The first being darkness. The idea of the darkness is that it pushes you forward in the dungeon. As you explore and fight, darkness is filling in behind you. So you can’t take too long, because if you do, it catches you and bad things happen.

And then the character game play. The game uses a cube system for what you are doing. You play with certain powers, which certain color of cubes needed to activate those various powers. For example, I might have a healing power that needs a yellow cube. I can only activate that if there isn’t already a yellow cube on there and I have a yellow cube. So it is a puzzle of when to activate things, when to not, or when to spend a turn to pull back cubes. But when I do that, I lose access to an ability and I pick which. Seems like an amazing puzzle to me.

Picking a Chronicles of Drunagor Character

Like I said, this is the game I’m playing next on Malts and Meeples. There are 12 different classes and 23 different characters. Help me pick two classes.

Upcoming Streams

So, next week, I will not be streaming on Monday. A week off from my Top 100 games because, well, next Monday is Halloween. So I am going to be busy with that. And then probably relaxing or editing podcast after that. But the following Monday, November 7th, at 8:30 PM, join me for a stream of 40 through 31 in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition.

And then of course, on Wednesday, it is diving into the dungeons of the Chronicles of Drunagor. I likely will play the tutorial scenario first to learn the game. So that might be on camera, or I might try and play that myself so I can delve into the bigger campaign with you all. To be determined with that. But 8 PM on Wednesday for that stream.

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Comments or Questions?

What are your thoughts on Moon Knight? Did you like the first episode or were you hoping that it would be darker? What do you think of Oscar Isaac’s and Ethan Hawke’s performances thus far? And what are you hoping to see from a Thor: Love and Thunder trailer?

You answer those questions or let me know other thoughts or comments you have over on Twitter. Tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel. You can also leave a comment in the comments section below. We have five more weeks of talking about Moon Knight coming up, and then Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness.

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Beyond that, we have the Moon Knight television spot to talk about. And then some casting news from Sony with a big name joining the Kraven the Hunter movies in an unknown role.

Thanks For Listening

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that you can help support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, share the podcast with your friends. Word of mouth really helps the podcast grow. Also leaving a rating and review and subscribing make the podcast easier to find on your favorite podcast site. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Nerdologists.com and 10 Minute Marvel Podcast also have a Patreon. You can find that here. The funds raised there go to help improve the quality of the podcast as well as the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel and Nerdologists.com website. We’re always looking to make our quality better so you have the best quality product possible.

Comments or Questions

So I had a number of questions sprinkled throughout the episode, but the biggest one is, what did you think of that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer?

But beyond that, who do you think that Russell Crowe will be playing in the Kraven the Hunter movie. And with Moon Knight is Arthur Harrow just a crazy cult leader or is he something more? Obviously he’s important to the plot, but will he be doing more going forward.

Let me know your thoughts on the comments below. Or you can leave them over on Twitter. Tweet them to me @TheScando or with #10Minmarvel.

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Thank You For Listening

There are a few ways that you can help support the podcast. Firstly, I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. But you can help support by sharing the podcast with your friends. Or you can leave a rating and review or subscribe. All of those things help more people find the podcast and join into the 10 Minute Marvel community. You can find the podcast over on iTunes, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify.

I also have a Patreon. You can find that here to see the different support levels. The money raised goes to help support the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel as well as this website. I want to make the product that I can give you the best possible, and this is one of the ways that I can do that. While I also give additional content for you to enjoy.

Comments or Questions?

Firstly, what did you think of the Moon Knight trailer? Was it enjoyable, was it what you thought it was going to be? How violent and dark do you think the show is going to be?

Let me know your thoughts over on Twitter. You can tweet them to me @TheScando or with #10MinMarvel. Or leave them in the comments below. I won’t say too much about it here, but next week I’ll be talking about the trailer. And let me know what characters you might want me to take a deep dive on. Or maybe comic runs that I should be checking out.

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Nefertiti Overdrive is a story driven game where the more  you describe, the better chance you have. The game was advertised as kung-fu in ancient Egypt, and after having played, I think it could certainly be described that way. It could really be anything and be described any way, and that makes it an interesting game to play. The characters are set-up to be in ancient Egypt and as the title suggests the source material is set-up that way as well, but it is something that could be played across any setting from high fantasy to over the top sci-fi.

The game is driven off of four core skills.These skills have specifics under them, so I had a character who was an assassin and a child of the streets, so as I described things, I would have to include on of those things. So I’d describe how I’d attack and I had hit each of the four categories. Depending on how well I did, that would determine what sort of dice I would get to roll. Some of the categories would start with a d6 (six sided die) and would go up to either a d8 or a d10. So the better you did, the better your results could be. My theory was generally to keep talking until I couldn’t come up with more, and I generally got the higher dice. These skills are really only used for combat and there can be social rolls that you can do, but they didn’t come up all that often in the game we played, except for when we interrogated some assassins that tried to kill the princess. It would be interesting to see if in a longer game more of those social rolls would happen.

Combat had another interesting feature. From the pool of dice that you’d roll, you’d use some of the dice to see if you’d act or be acted upon by the bad guy, then you’d see how many times you got hit, and finally you’d see how well you could defend yourself. It meant that you had to really keep track of your dice. When we started playing, it was kind of slow, we didn’t know exactly what we were doing, but as it went on longer and we figured out the math faster, it ended up being a good way to keep the stress in a combat. It definitely did take some time, so it wasn’t until the last combat or two that the nice stress of the system actually really set in.

Finally, the coolest feature was kind of a bonus system that as players you could give to the other players. The GM (Jim Dagg) had a stack of poker chips that we used. So when we described something extra cool, a fellow player would give you a poker chip. With that chip you could invoke one of your other abilities to roll another die or to reroll a die. Once you’ve used it, it goes to the GM. The GM is keeping track of whenever you roll a 1 and it creates a pool of dice that they an use to make the bad guys even stronger. So the GM would then spend a poker chip, giving the players access to it again. It made a really fun and fluid way to help yourself as a player make really awesome moments and then would make it a bit harder again.

I would definitely consider this game again. There is something that is really fun about rolling a handful of six or more dice. It makes the game go all over the place and makes some really epic stories. You really feel like you are a hero and it makes for a fun time. I wonder what it would be like to play the system in another setting. I think that it could make some really cool and zero gravity would allow a ton of kung-fu style action, and I think beyond the GM, it would be easy for anyone to pick up quickly.

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