But that is for May, we are going to be looking back now on April. So we have a lot of games to checkout and to see what has gotten played in the past month. And I got really close to my target, 29 plays in 30 days, so lost ground slightly but did better than other months.

Ohanami – 5 Plays

This game I got played at Easter and then at work. I got to try it with some different people and player counts. Ohanami is a set collection game where you are collecting different types of plants to get points. The trick comes in that you can only put the card on a line of cards if it is higher or lower than any other. The concept is simple but there is strategy to it. Especially in a two player game you can really plan out what you want to take as the cards you draft from, you know you’ll get some of them back. If you are looking for a small box game that is a lot of fun, this one is a good one.

Tainted Grail – 4 Plays

So this was going to be two different games of Tainted Grail but might have dropped down to one now. I still have my main group and this upcoming Tuesday we’ll be playing in person, which is going to be awesome. Everyone is vaccinated in all of the households. We are really excited to be playing in person again and for me, it’ll be so nice not to have to do a ton of set-up for streaming it. It wasn’t bad to stream but we’ll be able to all see everything and worth together more. Tainted Grail is a big story exploration game. Checkout my review for more.

Tiny Towns – 3 Plays

Tiny Towns, I do like this game a lot. I will say, having played it 6 times with two players, I think that it can be a bit lacking. Or I think there can be a leader position where the one person can lead how things get called. Playing it two player again, I think I’d go with the deck flip to determine the colors and that would make it more interesting. I do want to play a higher player count game with the master builder to see how that changes things up. Overall, a really fun game with a ton of diversity in what you can do.

Dice Throne – 3 Plays

I love Dice Throne, what more can I say. I already have played it twice this month. How can I play it so much? The answer is simple, there are so many different characters. Now, favorite characters, I got those. But I gladly play any of the characters in the game. And with dice chucking, it seems like the game could get old. I find that isn’t the case. Each character really does seem different. Now I need to get Dice Throne Adventures to the table.

Metro X – 3 Plays

I’ll let that video do most of the talking. Metro X is a fun route creation roll and write game. The game play is simple, but man, can it be challenging at times. Like all roll and writes, definitely luck to it, but I won’t complain. It works well to stream, also, which is a lot of fun.

Super Fantasy Brawl – 2 Plays

A game from Mythic Games that has shot up my favorite games list. You need to wait until October to find out where it is for sure. But Super Fantasy Brawl is what I like in a skirmish style game. It isn’t just about going in and punching until you’ve killed the other side. There are objectives, characters can come back, and the game play just works. If you want a simple to learn but takes a bit to lock down the strategy sort of game, Super Fantasy Brawl is great. And it’s only two player, so just know that. More thoughts over here.

Ganz Schon Clever – 2 Plays

At this point in time I feel like I could just always put this down. I am at 9 plays on the year, so averaging two per month. It is just such a good roll and write game. I got to play it for a game night and then introduce it to a co-worker later. Definitely a roll and write for someone who is looking to start playing them. Love the combos, I have a strategy, but can I pull it off is always the question.

Claim & Claim 2 – 2 & 2 Plays

Trick taking, not always a genre that I get to the table. When I do, I like it a lot though. And this one gives the game a nice twist. Basically you play two hands, but the first hand you are trying to win – or lose – tricks in order to build up the best possible second hand. And each suit has a power for the most part. The games are super fast and it’s a nice little twist on standard trick taking. And of course, I have a review for it as well.

Marvel United: Enter the Spiderverse – 1 Play

The expansions for Marvel United came in and there is a ton of content that I have unboxing it and two playthroughs over on the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel. I will say, Green Goblin is an awesome villain to go up against and he definitely took me down. I like how slick and simple the Marvel United game play is and there is definitely a good amount of challenge to it as well. The Marvel United X-Men Kickstarter just wrapped up, but CMON allows you to lake back it if the game seems intereting.

Twice as Clever! – 1 Play

Like Ganz Schon Clever, this can always be on the list. I feel like I play it about once a month. It is a really fun roll and write, and it’s taken me a long time, but I am getting better at it. This wouldn’t be the first roll and write I’d grab to teach with, but it’s definitely a fun one.

Clever Hoch Drei – 1 Play

So the third Clever game, not real shock that it’s there. Like the other two, I play it pretty often, so expect to see it showing up a lot throughout the year. This one might be my favorite, but that also might be because I figured it out the quickest. This also has the most combos by far, I’d say.

A ton of games played last month, which would you like to play most?

Yearly Stats

So, time to check in on the challenge and see where we are at for the year. This is going to include the plays from the start of this month, but let’s see where we are.

In 2021, I have played games 111 times thus far. The game I have played the most is Tainted Grail but I do have three games I’ve played over 10 times. Oddly enough, Ganz Schon Clever is not one of them, it’s at 9 plays. Instead, Tainted Grail, Deadly Doodles, and Metro X are the three.

From last month, I am now at 28 different games played, up from 24. So I am playing the same games a number of times, but I’m okay with that. 22 of the games have been played multiple times, so that leaves only 8 played once. Now, a lot of them only get played in one gaming session but I’ll get two or three plays in.

But I need to get in 254 plays in the remaining 239 days. So I am 15 behind where I need to be, can I catch up in May?

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The Game

As I said, the game I played was Marvel United. In particular I broke out the Enter the Spider-Verse expansion. I thought about doing the Tales of Asgard expansion instead, but when the choice was between Spider-Ham and Beta Ray Bill, I think I made a solid choice. I played the game as if it was a two handed cooperative experience versus a purely solo game, though I talk about how the solo mode works for the game.

Marvel United is a cooperative game where you take 2-4 heroes up against a villain. You are trying to stop their evil plan. You fight thugs, thwart plans, and rescue civilians until you can track down the villain and attack them. What that means, is basically you have three things to try and complete. After the first one is done the villain becomes more active, after the second one you can start beating up the villain, and you need to take out the villain, at least in the case of the Green Goblin.

The Beer

Yesterday was National Beer Day, and while I was a bit distracted in my description, I had a brew from Outstate Brewing in Fergus Falls, MN, my home town. I picked it up when I went up for Easter. A New England style Hazy IPA, it is pretty solid. I like IPA’s a lot, but I don’t always love hazy IPA’s. Too often they taste like someone dumped fruit juice into an IPA, which is how a lot of them actually are made. That is too sweet for me and too fruity, I want a bit of bitter or tart when I drink a fruity beer. The beer name was Edge Catcher, and unfortunately it’ll be hard to find unless you are in that area of Minnesota as Outstate Brewing was founded right before the pandemic and has very limited distribution.

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
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