Top 15 Campaign Games I Still Need to Play

15. Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West

I know that I’m going to like this game. So why is Ticket to Ride Legacy lower on the list? Some of it is because it is a legacy game. The two “legacy” games that I have on the list are the bottom two. But also because while I like Ticket to Ride a lot, it’s not a game that I play all that often. I think that the legacy version will likely breath new life into the game for me. But it’s more of a comfort food pick than a really exciting new bite to try. And for that reason it’s lower on the list.

14. Clank Legacy 1 & 2

The other legacy game is actually two legacy games. So did I cheat, I’ll let you decide. But this one is lower on the list because I know that I love Clank! already. And I really like the Acquisitions Inc guys as well, so that is a great theme for me. But it’s like I said for Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West, this is more comfort food. I already know that I will like both of the games. But it’s higher on the list because I like Clank better than I like Ticket to Ride, and because I think the writing is just going to be a great time that’s a ton of fun.

13. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Speaking of fun writing, I expect that Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is going to be another game with fun writing. This one is supposed to be a simpler, or less in depth dungeon crawler game and there are some good playthroughs of it. I’d recommend checking otu the playthrough that was done done on Meet me at the Table. They’re one of my favorite channels, and it shows how fast it is to get the game to the table and get playing.

12. Kinfire Chronicles

Speaking of another campaign game that I’ve heard a lot of good things about, we have Kinfire Chronicles. This is again supposed to be a friendlier and easier to get into campaign game than some. I like the look of the aesthetic of the game. And it’s not a mini heavy experience which might make it easier to get to the table. But it’s probably easier to see what it’s like at the table. I really do like how the cast of characters looks like a ton of fun and familiar fantasy but not the completely normal fantasy.

11. Tidal Blades 2

For this one I’ll add a video from Man vs Meeples. But I know more about this one. Some of the previous ones I just went on theme. This one is a dungeon crawler or adventure style game with scenarios where you are in this beautiful world dealing with monsters who attacked a festival and more in the story.

But the mechanisms got me to pick up this game. I like how you add in cards to a grid and then you activate a row or a column. But once every spot in a row or column is filled and you activate it, it wipes. And you have basic actions on spots without cards, but it’s a rising and falling action as you try and play through the scenario and defeat the monsters.

10. Etherfields

Now we’re onto Etherfields. The only campaign game from Awaken Realms that I haven’t gotten to the table. And this one actually left my collection for a very short time. But as I said, I love campaign games so I got it back. I put this one where because I love the theme of it. I have heard that it is rough around the edges but the theme gets me.

You are exploring dreams and each dream is going to be a little bit different. Some of them might be more dream like, but the fun of dreams, at least in a board game is that they can be nightmares as well. And that means that the game is going to have twisted and crazy and surreal scenarios and that sounds amazing to me. I know one element was a bit of a grind, but I believe that there are rules out there now that help fix that.

9. Kingdom: Death Monster

Then we get to one that maybe should be higher on the list. Kingdom: Death Monster is not the grand daddy of all campaign games, that’s Gloomhaven in a lot of ways. But this one is one of the games that really showed what you could do and create a massive game with a ton of expansions and a ton of minis in it. I only have the core box and there is a ton in there.

In this game it’s a boss battler campaign. You start at no one, really you don’t even have language yet. But as you play, you grow you tribe, figure out new things, like ways to make weapons and armor, develop language and more. All that while sending out your hunters to try and defeat boss monsters who are sometimes going to take out your hunters. And that’s why you need to keep growing your village. But Meet Me At The Table has great videos on this as well.

8. Divinity Original Sin

This is a game that I need to play through both as a video game but also as the board game. I had fun watching Felicia Day an Ryan Day play through it on their streams back in the day. So it is a game that I have played some, in the video game. But the board game sounds great for it as well. The theme definitely helps with that as does the fact that this isn’t a grid movement map but more of an area movement game. And I really like how there’s that campaign element and adventure element to it without purely being a dungeon crawler game.

7. Dragon Eclipse

Alright, I kind of lied about having played all of the Awaken Realms campaign games. This is one that might actually get to the table sooner because I think it might be easier to get to the table. I didn’t think of it though, because it just got in. In this game you are collecting dragons and battling dragons. Does that sound a bit like Pokemon, that makes sense. But it’s a game with a fun theme and compared to some campaign games, it’s a campaign game that you can play true solo which is great for me.

6. Nova Aetas Renaissance

You’ll notice and probably already have noticed a trend of the videos that I share here. A ton of them are from Meet Me At the Table. A lot of these games I had already backed before they played them. But this is one that I tracked down because of the channel. I love the 3D nature of the experience for this game. And how, in one of the scenarios a house that is 3D can be taken apart and flattened. But there is more than that as well.

The story of the game is fun. It feels like it mixes up a few things from historical to make fantastical. And then it uses a fun mechanism for whose turn it is. You spend you action points and move around a time track. Whomever is at the end of the track is going to be who activates next. There are some other rules for it as well. So you can’t just stack up turn after turn after turn before the bad guys go, but it’s a fun element to the game.

5. Agemonia

Then we have Agemonia. This is a rare campaign game that I didn’t back right off the bat on crowdfunding. Or I should say a rare one that I looked into a lot and didn’t end up backing. This game seems to have a fun world and setting to play in and that’s some of what drew me in right away for it. But there were other elements that kept me coming back for it as well.

I liked how the maps were in books and that felt different. But also beyond that, as more places are doing that now, the world would change. You draw out a card after interacting with a point and cover it up. That might create a different point of interaction or it might be nothing to do there anymore. And the game play just seems simple enough to be easy to learn and play, but offer some solid choices in combat as well.

4. The Elder Scrolls

Next is another new one to come in. But it’s a fun theme that a lot of people are going to be drawn to. For me it’s less the theme and more that it’s a shorter campaign based off of the Too Many Bones system that I really am excited for.

If you’re not familiar with the system, you level up after missions. Or you can anyways. And as you spend your points to try and level up you get better or unlock new abilities. You can add to base stats, which can be good, or you can add to the specialty dice that you roll. And while this streamlines it a bit from what it was with Too Many Bones, I’m excited for it and the world that the game is set in certainly helps.

3. Middara

Now the top 4 are going to be ones that I really would love to play. Yes, you read that correctly, we’re on #3 and we have four games to go including this one. How is that, I couldn’t pick between my top two. But Middara is very safely into that group. And soon I’m going to be having more Middara come in. I say soon, I expect maybe this time next year.

But Middara is going to be a classic dungeon crawler with a ton of story and a ton of dice chucking. But I really like the theme and look of the game. You go to another world, chosen to go there kind of it’s weird to explain. But you are chucking dice to defeat monsters, level up and become awesome. But the whole aesthetic of the game gives me a really strong anime feel. I’ve heard that sometimes trips up the writing, but overall people really enjoy it. And to me that sounds exciting.

1c. Oathsworn

Next we have Oathsworn. And this, this is the three way tie for first place. Why did I not just remove the last game from the list, because I wanted to mention it too. Oathsworn is another boss battler game. But it is a game that is split into two parts. And that excites me about the game. You get a mystery or exploration phase where you experience a lot of story. And then you go beat up that boss. But if you do well on the story the boss maybe is easier.

And I really like the mechanisms in the game. I kept games that I’d really played off of the list. I did a short demo of this one two years ago at Gen Con and I adored it. There is this great card system where cards have to cool down before you can use them again. And then you decide how many dice you are going to roll, some are required, but the more you roll the more chances you to bust and miss, but the greater a hit could be. Or you could play it safer and draw cards, but eventually that deck of cards will run cold and do you switch to dice then?

1b. Primal: The Awakening

Next tied at the top is Primal: The Awakening. This one is another boss battler game. And this one I should probably get to the table sooner than some. A nice thing about Primal is that it doesn’t need to be a campaign, you can also play it as a one off. And that would definitely make it easier for me to get it to the table.

But this is a game that is all about the boss battle. There is a little story between scenarios and a chance to upgrade, but it’s not going to be nearly as much other stuff as just a pure battle. And the battle is different as well. You play on a tiny board with just four sides of the monster that you can be on. And depending the stance the monster is in, you need to be in specific spots to do damage. Add in card play for this which you can pull of powerful combos, that’s great. Of course, depending on what cards you play, you might trigger a lot of monster reactions.

1a. Arydia

And finally the most recent game to the campaign game collection. This one barely beat out Elder Scrolls for that title, we have Arydia. Arydia is another game that I passed on originally when it was on crowdfunding but then I went back and late pledged it. I just kept on being drawn into one part of the game.

The game is at three different levels. Now I don’t mean that you build stuff up on the table. I mean that you explore the world at three different levels. You explore at a high level where you get general encounters and interactions. Then you can dive down deeper and start to interact with specific characters or explore a location in more detail. Finally, you might then drop into combat which is tactical movement on a map. And that massiveness of the world really drew me to the game.

Final Thoughts

You might think that is enough. But there is going to be another list, probably tomorrow for games that I want to come back to or that are new editions or versions of games that I’ve already played as campaign games. I expect that is only going to make it to ten, but that’s a lot. And this list even didn’t include everything. The campaign in Solomon Kane could have made the list. And I know that I just didn’t see some games on the shelf that would have made sense for the list as well. And there are games that I likely missed too because I don’t think of them as campaign games.

What campaign games do you want to get played? And how do you find time to play them all? Or are you like me where you have more campaign games than you can play?

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Top 5 Anime Board Games

5. Sword Art Online: Fellowship of Swords

This is one where it is based on an anime, and one that I really like, Sword Art Online. Let me just say, if this game wasn’t based on SAO, I wouldn’t own it. It’s a pretty simple Yahtzee like game where you collect dice to use for attacks. There isn’t much you can do to manipulate the dice, so you roll, keep and hope you hit. And then, if you hit, you deal out damage and if you hit well, you “switch” with another character.

The concept is fun, but this is where I struggle with games based on anime. The concept of the game is actually interesting, but when it comes to execution, it’s only partly done. The choices are limited and don’t leave me feeling like I made too many decisions. I think I make more decision in Yahtzee than in Sword Art Online: Fellowship of Swords.

4. Krosmaster Arena/Quest

I thought about a couple of battle games on this list. Through, I put both Krosmaster Arena and Quest on here. They both use the same IP which is again anime or animated anyways. The characters feel like they belong in an anime.

In Krosmaster Arena, you beat up other characters, knock them out, and collect gold to be the first one to a number of points. Or you play where you just knock them out. In Quest, well, it is going to add in quests. This game is fun because you build your team and can tailor the game play to what you want to do. Similar in nature to Super Fantasy Brawl, though it came out first, I prefer Super Fantasy Brawl, Krosmaster just gives the anime feel.

3. Middara: Unintentional Malum Act 1

I said there would be one I haven’t played on the list. Here it is. Middara is one I’ve messed around with and watched played. But this is clearly an anime inspired game. The whole setting and lots of story lean into that. In fact if you watch the videos around the game and how it works, it even doubles down on feeling like that.

This is the only one of these games that is a campaign game. So good for me with with. As most of the other campaign games fall into the space or fantasy category. I say that, but also that is the character I want more anime games. Good anime builds rich story. The ones above, they don’t as much.

2. Bullet *Star*

The other one I need to play still is Bullet. You pick if you want Bullet Star or Orange or whatever it might be. In Bullet from Level 99 Games you play as an anime character using your powers to deal with bullets that are coming down and putting them onto a bad guy or your opponents.

From what I remember about this game, it is a fast one. The game itself goes quickly as you use your powers to play out cards and get those bullets where they need to go. But the game itself is pattern manipulation. You play out cards to clear off your board. It’s one that I need to learn so I can play it solo some Monday night on Malts and Meeples.

1. Aeon’s End/Astro Knights

Finally, we have Aeon’s End or Astro Knights. These two games are the same game, generally. Using a system of readying attacks and then attacking in a deck building game. Also no shuffling of that deck you build, you just build, flip the deck and continue when everything hits the discard pile. Theoretically you can set yourself up some with how cards hit the discard. And it does work, sometimes.

But why that theme of anime? I think that Aeon’s End borrows some story elements from anime. When I went through the legacy version, I got some feeling of an anime like Gurren Lagann. And I think that Astro Knights leans more into that anime style artwork. So it’s nice to see a board game, like Middara, take inspiration from anime to build it’s own world.

Final Thoughts

I will continue to harp on this for a long time until there are good games based on anime. I do want to try the Cowboy Bebop Deck building game. But so many anime driven games are focused on basic mechanisms with a few cards that give you the theme while otherwise being a generic game. Anime is rich and full of tons of different stories.

Maybe the trick is that an anime game works if it is themed to feel like anime, not based on an actual one. It is possible that the IP’s are held too tightly to allow for good game creation around them. If that is the case, it’s sad, and I hope that changes.

What’s your favorite game with an anime theme or feel?

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I bring this up now because I am getting near the point, in a few weeks, where Lands of Galzyr will come off the table. It’s a great gaming, sandbox, type of story driven game. Not a campaign, but campaign adjacent. So on my shelf, which game do I play next?

ISS Vanguard

ISS Vanguard is an epic space game. But different than some where it’s flying about and blowing things up. So for example, different than Stars of Akarios (also an option to revisit). That is tactical space combat. In ISS Vanguard, humanity has uncovered a string in our DNA that leads to coordinates in space. Those coordinates, well, we don’t know what we are going to find out there, but, with humanity coming together, we find a way to make it out there.

The game is basically split into two parts. The first generally is planetary exploration. You go down to a planet, interact with things, complete tests, try and research, whatever the objectives on the planet might be. You take down crew and explore with them. The other part is back on the ISS Vanguard where you are maintaining and improving your ship. You also deal with issues that arise. A fun spin on things.

Oathsworn

Another option is going to be Oathsworn. Like ISS Vanguard it is going to have two parts in what you are doing. The first part is an investigative phase as you spend time around town or some location interacting with story and characters on a map. Trying to figure out things that will help you out in the next phase.

The second phase is doing to be boss combat. Characters are taken into combat with an interesting card mechanic that you play with. Each card has a cooldown on it, and they don’t cycle down until you play other cards that push them down on the cooldown track. And another thing that I like, you pick if you want to roll die or draw cards to see if you succeed.

Middara

Middara is a game that has been on my shelf for a while. Part of me is waiting until the next two parts come in as well. But Middara is going to be a dungeon crawl style game set on an alien planet that has an almost anime feel to it. So big crazy monsters and adventure as you go and a ton of story. It’s kind of from the peak of dungeon crawlers on Kickstarter where everything is huge.

My concern about streaming this one is that the map changes or grows over time. So like Chronicles of Drunagor, a game that I enjoyed playing, it is not going to be the best for streaming. But it’s an option and there is a lot of content for it just in Act 1, and I have Acts 2 & 3 coming eventually as well.

SHEOL

SHEOL is an interesting game, darkness has taken over the lands. And now as humanity you are pushing back against the darkness and monsters with the little Lux, light, that you have. Can you complete your missions and survive through the darkness?

I think that this one is easier to see on the table than to really explain. But it’s one that I didn’t back on Kickstarter and then I needed to track down after seeing Meet Me At the Table play it. It’s definitely one that is harder to find.

Skyrim

One of the newer ones to come out is Skyrim. Skyrim is a campaign game, like the video game. But how much time you spend in a game on a main quest or when you stop, I think is a little bit more up to you. And this is less of a dudes on a map sort of minis and dungeon crawl game. There is a ton of adventure to it, versus just trying to kick down a door and fight the next thing. So in some ways a little bit like Lands of Galzyr, though, there is still combat, or more combat in Skyrim.

Etherfields

Etherfields is an Awaken Realms that I backed and did single wave shipping, so for me it took a long time to come in. Now, I am still interested in the game, just a little bit less than I originally was. Etherfields is a world of dreams where you are exploring different dreams or nightmares and completing objectives. I believe it is a game that has progression and story to it, but it’s less of a campaign game than some.

Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

I’ve already played regular Aeon’s End Legacy. Legacy of Gravehold is the newer bigger box and I won’t lie, it is tempting me. I love Aeon’s End solo. And to play a giant box, I want to know what legacy content is in there. There is something fun about a campaign where you are opening up and exploring new things.

On the flip side, I already have showcased Aeon’s End Legacy and I think played Aeon’s End: War Eternal before on Malts and Meeples. So that makes it a bit lower on the list for me. But I also know already that I really like the game. So that is what keeps it on the list.

Relics of Rajavihara

This one very well might end up being a Monday streaming game. It’s a pretty simple, from what I’ve seen, experience that is meant to be played quickly. It is basically puzzles that you are trying to complete to get the treasure and it’s done on different levels. It reminds me of, I think it was called, Chip’s Challenge. A game about sliding around blocks to open up areas and, well, complete challenges. So a smaller game, but one I want to try.

Yggdrasil Chronicles

A friend taught me this game recently and I loved it. Yggdrasil Chronicles is a tough game of trying to stop various Norse gods, like Loki or Hel from messing with the world tree Yggdrasil. You play as one of the good Norse gods, but you are trying to do so much to make it work. And the more the frost giants, or other things get out of control, the harder it is to win the game. So it’s about remediating, but seeing if you actually can make it through.

I’m not sure what the campaign element brings. It does have some story to it. And I think it could be one that is fun to play, though trickier to film. Mainly because you are playing on a 3D tree that rotates. I would likely need to film it from the side to make it work.

Hoplomachus Victorum

Finally, and I do have more, Hoplomachus Victorum. This one actually isn’t quite here yet. But it is on the way and should be here soon. From Chip Theory Games, Hoplomachus Victorum is a solo and campaign version of an earlier game of theirs, Hoplomachus.

In this game you take your hero, build up troops, and fight in contests to become a hero. So that you can be standing tall as you go through the different areas and face off against different bosses. The story is light on this game, it is more a campaign of just gaining things and making your own story, versus a narrative adventure. But it’s also one that might work well on a Monday, though, that depends on how much setup there is.

Which Game to Play?

Let me know which one you think I should get to the table. I think that I am probably the most excited to play ISS Vanguard. But ISS Vanguard is one that I might want to play with a bigger group. So that would put it lower to the list.

SHEOL is probably the most different theme, in my opinion. The rest feel like themes you see in more board games. Maybe Middara is different, but it is more of a dungeon crawl with a lot of familiar things, just a less familiar setting.

And of course, this doesn’t include more Pathfinder Adventure Card Game or Arkham Horror The Card Game. And I can see games like Shadowrun Crossfire, Solomon Kane, Folklore: The Affliction and more that would certainly be options to play as well. Let me know which game you think I should stream after Lands of Galzyr.

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The Issue With Big Epic Games

There are a few things that stand out to me. The big issues around big epic games are how long it takes to setup and tear down. How long playing through a scenario or piece of the story can take. Or how complex the rules are, and how much space it takes up on the table.

Each of these things can be valid. If it takes too long to setup that limits your playing time. And limited playing time in general for either setup, tear down, or playing is a real issue. I am lucky in that I have a game table I can leave games setup on. But for a lot of people that isn’t an option. And then the complexity of the game, for people who want that big experience, they might not be that deep into gaming. I know games well, but even I get bogged down with rules as I’m learning a game.

What Are the Replacements?

Setup and Tear Down are Too Long

Lands of Galzyr, a game that I just started is the one that I’d recommend. It does a great job of giving you a really short time to the table with a lot of story. It is a deck of cards, characters are cards, so you just slot everything into the save sections, and then pull them out when you are ready to get to the table. Now, I leave it setup on my game table all the time, but setting out a board and then a deck of cards is very simple to get going. And teardown, you slot your cards into your characters save spot and you are good to go with little else to pack up.

And Lands of Galzyr still is going to give you a ton of story. So it isn’t like you are missing out on that. Now, some of that is to be more split up, separate quests than a massive overall story, but it is good for that. And the whole point is a big game, still feels epic, but doesn’t take up all of your time.

Game Play Is Too Long

Now, Lands of Galzyr could fit into that. But I’m going with one that has a longer setup, but Sleeping Gods is going to be in this spot. The game play is long, for the whole, but you can save easily whenever you want and pick it up where you left it off. The reason it works so well is that Sleeping Gods is an open world game where you can do anything you want, sail anywhere you want, and explore the story you want.

That means that you can play as long as you want. If you stop you still keep the quest lines available for next time. And you can take notes on what you were doing. But if you have 45 minutes to play, you can play that quickly. Granted, you still need time for setup and tear down. But if you can leave it setup and you have 15 to 20 minutes to play each evening, you can play that little bit of time.

The Game is Too Complex

For this, if you want a very easy game to play, Legacy of Dragonholt. This is a box of basically choose your own adventure with small game play elements. You create a character and you then go on adventures. But the game play is simple, you reach a story choice point, make a choice, and go with it. But because you made your own character you might skills that open up different paths. Or you pick up certain things or certain keywords that allow you to go down a specific path.

The Game is Too Big For The Table

Now Legacy of Dragonholt can be played without a table. So that is an option, but wanting to present another game, I think that something like Betrayal at House on the Hill would work well. Each game is going to take up the space to build up the house and not that much for characters. It’s not going to be a campaign game, but you will still have that story.

But if you want something that is more of a story overall, Arkham Horror The Card Game is a great option as well. There is no board in the game. The locations are just cards and not big cards. You have your player area but that is also not all that large. So it’d give you that bit of story, bit of campaign in a small area on your table.

Final Thoughts on Small Epic Games

It is fun to see companies who are putting out these smaller games and the options out there. There is always the desire to play that big and story driven game, that is great to have options. I can come up with more as well, like the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game or the Marvel Champions Campaign Boxes as well for those smaller sizes. Will I get rid of games like Gloomhaven, Middara, or Tainted Grail, highly unlikely. But smaller campaigns might start to show up on Monday nights with stuff like Paper Dungeons, Bargain Basement Bathysphere, and Welcome to the Moon.

That said, smaller games will generally lack some of the feel. You give up something when it is a smaller game or faster to set-up game, or shorter to play. Often times it’s that table presence that makes the game feel grand just when you get it to the table. But not every game needs to be produced that much, so what I gave are some very solid smaller ones and some ones that I’d recommend for people who want to play an epic campaign.

What is your favorite campaign game? And which thing is the hardest thing to get the game to the table?

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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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To Be Played Board Games I Own Ranked

1 ISS Vanguard

This is one that I really want to play. It’s Awaken Realms and they make giant and amazing games, I really like all of theirs I’ve tried. And this one is a massive space adventure sandbox game. You can pick where you go as you try and figure out the mystery of why humanity was signaled about this information and what is going on. It sounds amazing. It sounds highly impressive and ambitious so I want to give it go. It might be one I stream, but I kind of want to do this in a group.

2 Lands of Galzyr (Already Played Since Writing The List)

Lands of Galzyr is one that I will be playing soon, I might even have played it by the time this article comes out. January 4^th is going to be the first day on Malts and Meeples. So if you are reading this after that, you can checkout some game play. I’m planning on doing a few sessions of what feels like a nice relaxing board game. And one that has a story that you can play through without being as much of a campaign game. It’s more bits of story that happen over time versus a massive overall story .

3 Middara: Unintentional Malum – Act 1

But speaking of massive overall stories, we have another campaign game in Middara: Unintentional Malum. Just Act 1 is out now, but I have the other two pre-ordered. This like I said is a campaign and it’s set on another planet but is more fantasy. It’s a mix of both fantasy and sci-fi and real world which is interesting and probably best described as an anime setting. The game play looks fun, and it’s so big that I’m not sure it’s a candidate for Malts and Meeples. But I can’t want to get it to the table.

4 Clank!: Catacombs

A new game, just about arriving, or should be in the next week. Clank! Catacombs is just another version of Clank! But this time it has a map you build out as you go. I think that’s a cool twist, so I want to get it into my collection, give it a try and see if I keep all of the versions. But I love Clank and this isn’t the only time you’ll see it on the list.

5 Cthulhu: Death May Die

Another bigger game, this one is a cooperative adventure to defeat a great old one. But it isn’t a campaign game, this is a one off scenario game which is interesting and I want to get it to the table. This one might not be too hard to table because of that. But I need to learn the rules still. Plus I want to do the push for madness so I grow stronger, but not too mad so the character is eliminated.

6 Deep Madness

To add to that, another one that’s been in my collection for a bit, and I think this is kind of a campaign and kind of not. You’re exploring an under water base where everyone has gone missing. A distress signal came through but what is going on. Of course there are monsters coming from a rift and now you’re fighting Lovecraftian monsters hoping to complete your mission and get out of there. There are a number of scenarios which is fun as each gives you slightly different things to do.

7 burncycle

Another one off game, kind of like the previous two. burncycle is a Chip Theory game that looks really interesting. You are robots trying to into a corporation, hack the network, complete objectives and do all of that without being seen. The story of the world is great too, robots took over, then humans made a comeback, and now you’re the robots trying to survive which I think is just fun.

8 My Father’s Work

Yet another big game, there are some smaller ones for sure on the list and some coming up, but you know me. My Father’s Work is a worker placement game where you are ty ring to complete your father’s work in some experiment that is suspect at best. Think like making Frankenstein’s monster. It’s played over three generations which is cool because you can take some stuff forward but not everything. And there is a ton of story in the game as well.

9 Clank!: Legacy – Acquisitions Incorporated

The other Clank! Game on the list, this one is the Legacy version. It maybe should be higher, but I don’t know when I’ll get to it. I love Clank! In general so I want to get it to the table. But because it’s a legacy game, I need to find a group and time to play it with. I will get it played eventually.

10 Etherfields

Another big Awaken Realms game. I didn’t go all in on it, but I still have a lot to play. You are in a dream world, diving into different dreams to complete objectives. And from what I’ve heard the dreams are nice and different so the game gives you a good variety of what you are doing. Which I mean, they should be, because some dreams are nightmares and others are fluffy bunnies, so you want a good mix.

The Rest of the List

And I’m stopping writing up on them, but you can see the rest down below. There is a wide variety of games. And some of them are more kids games which I’m going to be most apt to play as my kid gets older. So stuff like Rhino Hero Super Battle, though that might get played with adults. Or Coconuts and Hey That’s My Fish are all examples of ones I’ll get to eventually.

11 Hadrian’s Wall

12 Solomon Kane

13 Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition

14 Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor

15 Welcome to the Moon

16 Aquatica

17 Sea of Legends

18 Terraforming Mars

19 Nemesis

20 Bullet

21 Riverside

22 Get on Board: New York & London

23 Betrayal Legacy

24 Tiny Turbo Cars

25 Forgotten Waters

26 Descent: Legends of the Dark

27 Astra

28 Everdell

29 Maximum Apocalypse: Legendary Edition

30 The Ratcatcher: The Solo Adventure Game

31 Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

32 Bargain Basement Bathysphere (Played)

33 Ghosts of Christmas

34 Set a Watch: Swords of the Coin

35 Spirit Island

36 Folklore: The Affliction

37 Call To Adventure: Epic Origins

38 Imperium: Legends

39 Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape

40 New York Zoo

41 Chronicles of Crime

42 HEXplore It: The Forests of Adrimon

43 Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef

44 GROVE: A 9 card solitaire game (Played)

45 Abyss

46 Western Legends

47 Mechs vs. Minions

48 Heroes of Land  Air & Sea

49 Radlands

50 Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game

51 18 Holes: Course Architect (Played)

52 Cascadia

53 Bloodborne: The Board Game

54 Fantastic Factories

55 Escape the Dark Sector

56 Valor & Villainy: Minions of Mordak

57 Dungeon Party: Starter Pack

58 Escape the Dark Castle

59 Zombicide: Undead or Alive

60 QE

61 Furnace

62 Space Base

63 Doodle Dungeon

64 Vengeance: Roll & Fight – Episode 2

65 Three Sisters

66 Formula D

67 Menara

68 Splitter (Played)

69 Welcome to Dino World

70 Marvel: Remix

71 The Bloody Inn

72 Zoo-ography

73 Via Magica (Played)

74 Arcadia Quest

75 Flick of Faith

76 Adventure Land

77 Alien Frontiers

78 Time of Legends: Joan of Arc

79 Mythic Battles: Pantheon

80 Black Rose Wars

81 Catacombs & Castles

82 Kabuto Sumo

83 Shakespeare

84 The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged

85 Champions of Hara

86 Loup Garou

87 Boomerang

88 Wingspan

89 Chronicles of Avel

90 Camel Up (Second Edition)

91 Thornwatch

92 Pioneer Days

93 Cowboy Bebop: Boardgame Boogie

94 Tannhäuser

95 Crash Octopus

96 Mariposas

97 Dragonscales

98 Paper Tales

99 TAGS

100 The Faceless

101 Jamaica

102 Reichbusters: Projekt Vril

103 6 nimmt!

104 Heaven & Ale

105 Periodic: A Game of The Elements

106 Silver & Gold

107 Star Realms

108 Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

109 Blueprints

110 Codinca

111 Can’t Stop

112 Rhino Hero: Super Battle

113 Longboard

114 Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time

115 Vault Wars

116 Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)

117 Cockroach Poker

118 Danger Park

119 Summer Camp

120 WWE Legends Royal Rumble Card Game

121 Papillon

122 Palm Island

123 Starship Samurai

124 KeyForge: Call of the Archons

125 Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor

126 Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar

127 Journey: Wrath of Demons

128 Coconuts

129 Hey  That’s My Fish!

130 My Hero Academia: Plus Ultra! Board Game

131 Boy Band Builder: The Card Game

132 Dinosaur Tea Party

133 In a Flash Firefighters

134 What Do you Meme?: Family Edition

How Many Will I Get To This Year?

That’s a great question. My hope is to get my unplayed games below 100, that was my goal last year. And this is where I was at the end of 2022. So clearly I didn’t do that. Some of it is that I buy games as well. Some might leave never having been played. But I really do want to play most if not all of them. And some of them lower on the list will get played before ones higher on the list.

Do you have a favorite from this list that you think I should get to? Or which one of your to be played games do you want to get to first?

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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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Campaign Game Expectations

Branching Narrative

Let’s start out with story. I want a good narrative and I want a branching narrative in a game. Now, this doesn’t mean I need 10 different endings. Though I appreciate what Tainted Grail does, giving a lot of different end game moments. But I’m fine with just a story that gives me choices in what I do. The illusion of branching narrative.

What I mean by the illusion is that I can make a choice and that’ll change how something goes. It might make a few scenarios different. But the main story beats, I’m going to end up there no matter what. So do the decisions I make matter? Yes, for how the story is shaped and told to me, but where I’m going to end up not really. But there needs to be real, meaningful feeling decisions.

Tainted Grail does a good job of this, Stars of Akarios, you end up on a planet and can choose to go many ways. Gloomhaven, the story is much more linear throughout. In a few spots, it does branch but only changes stuff in a minor way. Sword and Sorcery, about once per box would you have a decision to make. Clearly there are other stuff that determine how much I like a game than just story. But now, I expect more from story because companies are doing more.

Storage Solution

I didn’t put these in any order, but this might be number one. I want a campaign game to come with a storage solution. And not just any storage solution. Sleeping Gods gives you baggies to save your game. That is not a storage solution that I’m talking about. Though, it’s better than not having the baggies.

What I am talking about is something that makes it easier to play and faster to the table. Gloomhaven I had to buy an insert for that. Sword and Sorcery it doesn’t have that at all. But Tainted Grail allows you to save characters and locations in an okay system. But when I look at good, I look at my Gloomhaven insert or Stars of Akarios.

I want to be able to pull out a whole tray of tokens and that that on the table. I don’t need to worry about getting them to the right spot or within reach. There is just a tray for that, and for the cards. And, ideally, you can have all your character stuff in a single spot. Make it easy as possible on me to get it back to the table. Yes, it is still a big game, but you can make it easier.

Scaling – Player Count and Difficulty

This one might not be the most obvious, but at times some games require you to play with four characters. Sleeping Gods you play with 9 characters plus the Captain, I believe. Now, you activate as the whole crew, but for a lot of people that is a lot. I always saw it just as a turn and knowing my abilities. But I totally get why it would be a lot.

And it isn’t just how many characters you control, it is how many monsters you control and how hard they are. Gloomhaven is a great example of this. The fewer players that you have, the fewer monsters there are on the board. But if a scenario is too easy or too hard, you can lower or raise the difficulty. That is great.

Now, sometimes games do need or expect four characters. So some games handle that in different ways. Oathsworn they are allies who activate on a simpler system in combat. That way you only need to think about a character or two. For Middara, they kind of slot in with another character. So think of lending health or stuff like that. Bad guys don’t change, but your heroes get stronger with fewer.

Interesting Mechanics

Interesting is a relative term. I think I mean that I want a mechanic that feels different or feels unique to the game. Stars of Akarios gave me unique tactical space dog fights. Gloomhaven has the dual use cards with the top and bottom. Tainted Grail leans into the exploration and survival, but also has the chaining combat system. Each of those feels different.

What I don’t really want is to only grab a handful of dice with an ability card and roll to see if I activate it. Now, something like Oathsworn has an element of that, you just grab dice and roll them. But it offers more than that, the card play and the battle flow system are unique. And the grabbing of dice is a push your luck element.

I hope it doesn’t come across that I don’t like rolling dice, rolling a handful of dice is satisfying. But if that is your mechanic, or main mechanic, that is old at this point. Sword and Sorcery, for example, mainly has your activating a card which tells you what dice to roll, and you can take actions to add dice. It’s why over time Sword and Sorcery has slipped so much for me.

Good Character Progression

Finally, I want good character progression. And this is also in two ways. Kind of like the scaling can be done in two ways. But I want good character progression where I get to know more about the character. This isn’t a must, but it is appreciated. Awaken Realms often has this as an add-on to their games. Echoes of the Past is that for Tainted Grail. You complete objectives, you get to read story about the horrible past your character has had.

It doesn’t need to be as blatantly obvious as that. But also in Tainted Grail, you find certain things that only a given character can do. Generally there are other ways to do them, but it’s easier for that character. And you find out more details about that characters past that way, or story, and it feels good to have something unique for that character.

But I also want to level up my characters fairly often. And leveling up can slow down as time goes on. But within the first few sessions I should get something new. I want to feel like my character is doing better and is stronger in the game. Generally this is more mechanical. For Gloomhaven, it’s less XP to level up early levels. For Tainted Grail, it’s chapters early on giving you things you’d normally spend XP for.

Final Thoughts

Now, this list probably isn’t everything that I want. Personally, I would love voice narration and app assistance for most any game. This goes back to the ease of play I talk about with an insert. That makes it easier to play and get to the table. But not flipping through a book also makes it easier and simpler to play.

So I want that for more games, but I don’t know that it is needed for every game. At least narration so I don’t have to read large swathes of text. But it’s also important that it’s done well. Don’t just have the designer of the game, or a random friend, read it, it needs to be well done. And same with the app, the app needs to be well designed as well, because a bad app can hurt ease of play if not careful.

What, to you are the important things to get you interested in a campaign game? What is often the biggest barrier for you to getting a campaign game to the table?

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But that’s enough of that, let’s see how this mission of space exploration and combat went.

The Game – Stars of Akarios

So I want to talk about one thing that I don’t know if it’s a bad thing but is something to note. And that is going to be with space combat, the AI intelligence. Mainly because, I don’t find the AI to be all that intelligent. And that is a bit of a negative to the game.

There are elements of it that are thematic, I think. If you look at it as a dogfight, the spacecraft are all moving about shooting at each other. And the goal is to take out everyone that you can, but with multiple ships on the board you get out of position. But in terms of game mechanics, while it might match that, it means that it can put the enemy in a really bad position. They can’t shoot, so they rotate and move and if they stopped sooner they could shoot, but they do their full move.

So sometimes because I don’t have those constraints as much, I can plan my movement more, they end up in a spot I can just blast them. Or their movement just takes them out of the way of being able to get a shot. That means that some combats are a bit too easy, I think. So I might look, in the long run, to adjust the difficulty.

I also wonder if because there are different amounts of ships depending on the player count, if it might not balance better or be harder with more. Mainly because I can avoid three ships for a while. Or Gi’ardain can handle two ships shooting at him. But make that four in a turn, now there is a whole lot more tactical play.

Upcoming Streams

So the next stream is going to be on Monday at 8:30 PM Central. I’ll be going through the next part of my Top 100 Games. This time it’ll be games 80 through 71. You can catch up on the other videos over here. And click on the video below, and notification bell, to know when the video is live on Monday.

And then next Wednesday there is not going to be a stream. I’ll be out of town on vacation. But as I talk about in the video, and in the opening. I plan on wrapping up this assassin mission that I’m on. After that, I’m not sure I’ll continue. I want to, but I also want to show off other games. I’m looking at games like Oathsworn, ISS Vanguard – coming soon, Middara possibly, Folklore: The Affliction, and more that all need to get played.

Do you want more Stars of Akarios or to see a new game hit the table? And which game would you like to see played?

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Top 10 Campaign Games

10 – Marvel Champions: The Mad Titan’s Shadow

I had to put one of the campaign boxes onto this list for Marvel Champions. There are a number of them, a Spider-Man one, a Red Skull one, Guardians of the Galaxy, soon to be Mutants as well. But I went with The Mad Titan’s Shadow just because that box feels the most epic. And I can take anyone into that one and it makes sense thematically.

I’ve heard that these are lighter campaigns which is not a bad thing. It means that I could and maybe will, set it up sometime and just play it over a few evenings. And you know I’m going to be running Thor up against them, or maybe Doctor Strange. There are enough characters know that it might actually be a tricky decision.

9 – Massive Darkness 2

I picked this one up because it did have a campaign. And I want to get it to the table, at least for scenarios fairly soon. I like that you level up a lot in this game, and the minis are cool, the classes are cool, the weapons are cool.

Plus, this is also a lighter game. You don’t need to know nearly as much how to play it as some of the other games on the list. That means that even if I don’t play it as a campaign soon, it’s probably one I can sit down and knock out a scenario with some friends easily in an evening.

8 – Reichbusters: Projekt Vril

One that I also need to sort some more, which is why I haven’t played it yet. Reichbusters came out with an errata pack for improved card wording and rules. But because that was coming, I waited on playing it. Now I own it and, well, I need to sort the cards in.

This is going to be a game of sneaking into enemy base and trying to stop their experiments. Think kind of Howling Commandos vs Hydra, if I were to take it over to Marvel. There are crazy experiments going on, and monsters you need to fight. But every mission has an objective and if you’re too noisy, well, things are going to go sideways for you fast and you’ll get swarmed. So it’s not a guns blazing game, which I think sounds interesting.

7 – Betrayal Legacy

I did put a few legacy games on the list. Legacy games are campaign games too, and it surprised me a little bit, but the one at the bottom of that is Betrayal Legacy. I love Betrayal at House on the Hill, even with it’s wonky scenarios and problems with sometimes the traitor being too strong, sometimes the other characters. And I want to see what the legacy one has to offer.

I am really curious about the legacy aspect of it. You play as a family versus a character coming back generation after generation. I want to know how that plays out in the game. I think it could offer some cool game options and ways to progress and tell a bit story.

6 – Descent: Legends of the Dark

Moving back to just a campaign game, we have Descent: Legends of the Dark from Fantasy Flight Games. This is going to be their Descent, but not third edition, game, of exploring tiles, fighting monsters, and interacting on the map.

Like a lot of bigger Fantasy Flight games in recent history, Mansions of Madness, Journeys in Middle-Earth, and Star Wars: Imperial Assault, there is an app piece. I like it for this game, it was a bit much in Journeys in Middle-Earth, but in Descent it offers some fog of war. It is in that category of games like Massive Darkness 2 for me. It looks like a blast to play as a fun dice chucking game.

5 – Folklore: The Affliction

Now moving into another bigger game, and I think the top 5, with the exception of the legacy ones, are the heaviest of the campaign games that I own, at least right now. Of course there are more coming in. But Folklore: The Affliction is going to be a game that borrows a lot from pen and paper RPG’s. You roll more than a standard six sided die. And that is intriguing to me.

Plus, I like that it’s a darker setting. I don’t need all my fantasy to be grim and dark, but sometimes that is what I want. And since I always am the Dungeon Master for D&D, I believe that it’ll give me that RPG feel without me needing to be in charge of everything. Though, if I paly it solo, I will be, but I’ll be doing the same thing as the players.

4 – Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

Another Legacy game and this one just came in from Indie Boards & Cards. I played through the first Aeon’s End Legacy on stream. And I had a blast with that game. Plus, just in general I really like Aeon’s End, so much so that I keep on backing and tracking down everything for it.

Legacy of Gravehold is going to be another legacy campaign. Where I knew a little bit of the campaign for the original Aeon’s End Legacy, I know nothing about the story this time. I just know that the box is bigger and heavier. That probably means more cards, but I’m hoping for more story as well.

3 – Clank! Legacy

And the other legacy game is Clank! Legacy. This one is higher for me just because I want to play it with some friends. I love the Acquisitions Inc theme on it as their game play is hilarious. And I suspect that the humor in the game will be great as well. Plus, I like the system that it is built upon. I prefer Clank! In! Space! to Clank I think, but the legacy version with the fantasy theme, I’m still there for it.

This is a deck building push your luck game. You are going into it trying to complete missions and get treasures. And it’s competitive in that you are trying to be the best so that you can end up with the franchise within Acquisitions Inc. I have to imagine that the whole of the story is going to be goofy, and it sounds like there is a lot to unlock so that is exciting as well.

2 -Middara: Unintentional Malum

A huge box with two more huge boxes on the way. I give that as my excuse for not getting it to the table sooner, I want Acts II and III to show up as well. But really, it’s just such a table hog and such a big game, I am not sure that I want to play it solo, but I really do want to play it.

Middara has more of an anime style to it’s game look. The artwork, and from what I can tell, the world building and story look fairly anime. It is going to be a leveling up, dice chunking, monster fighting, dungeon crawling game. And I think it’s going to be one that I find to be a lot of fun to get to the table and play. But like I said, I suspect the game would work best with four players, or two players controlling two characters each.

1 – Stars of Akarios

Call me cult of the new if you want, and it’d be fair in this case. But I am excited to plays Stars of Akarios. This is a big space exploration and adventure game. What really intrigues me is how it is split into two parts. There is that space exploration and then you can be down on an planet as well. That is intriguing.

It also looks like it uses a combination of cards for modifying your attacks and things but also uses dice. And just the production quality on the game is great. While it is a big game, compared to some of the others, it looks like it should be easier to play solo. And I want to get it to the table and play it on Malts and Meeples.

Final Thoughts

I say this almost any time I talk about a campaign game. And I feel like I can redo this list in different ways pretty often. But I have a lot of them coming in. 15 more campaign games in fact, which is a lot. Now some can be played as more of a one off situation such as Primal: The Awakening. Otherwise might be smaller sit down and play a campaign of it in a sitting, Spire’s End: Hildegard. But most of them are going to be much much bigger than that.

Just to show everything that is coming, and there is a lot, in alphabetical order, we have:

1. The 7th Citadel
2. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread
3. Chronicles of Drunagor
4. Divinus
5. Ehterfields
6. Frosthaven
7. HEL: The Last Saga
8. ISS Vanguard
9. Mythwind
10. Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood
11. Primal: The Awakening
12. Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies
13. Spire’s End: Hildegard
14. Valor & Villainy: Lludwik’s Labyrinth
15. Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters

What campaign games do you own, if any, that you want to get played?

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