Sci-Fi | Nerdologists https://nerdologists.com Where to jump in on board games, anime, books, and movies as a Nerd Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:54:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://nerdologists.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nerdologists-favicon.png Sci-Fi | Nerdologists https://nerdologists.com 32 32 Top 10 Crowdfunding Games Backed in 2024 https://nerdologists.com/2025/01/top-10-crowdfunding-games-backed-in-2024/ https://nerdologists.com/2025/01/top-10-crowdfunding-games-backed-in-2024/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:50:46 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=9376 What did I back in 2024 on crowdfunding that I'm really excited for? Here's a list of my Top 10 anticipated.

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This is basically a hype list. But instead of it being from all of those crowdfunding games that I’ve backed over the years and I’m still waiting on (soon Arydia soon, and hopefully this year for Rogue Angels), it’s about the ones that I backed last year. I don’t expect any of them to be here yet, but I do want to talk about them because I want to keep the hype going for them. I want to be excited about games that are coming in. And while I know I’ll play a lot of games before I get these to be excited for too, here’s my list of Top 10 Crowdfunding Games I backed in 2024.

Top 10 Crowdfunding Games I Backed In 2024

10. Luthier

This one I knew I was going to be backing. I’m pretty sure I met the designer who is friends with a good friend of mine years ago at this point. But the theme is fun as well, and from Paverson Games the company that made the hit game Distilled, I’m already intrigued. Luthier is about crafting instruments which is a unique theme as well. And the production, at least the renderings of it, look gorgeous and the whole aesthetic is great. It’s not my normal type of game, but with a cool theme and a great look, I’m very excited for it.

9. Floe

This game intrigued me for a lot of reasons. Mainly, the Brothers Murph had a great playthrough of the prototype. While the game has changed some, from the sounds of it, I’m still definitely excited for it. This is a travel the map, collect goods, fulfill contracts and do it again sort of game. And that is a fun type of experience to play. This is also a game with great artwork, so I’m excited to get something to the table that isn’t just a giant adventure of a game, but still has that sense of discovery with it as well.

8. Storyfold: Wildwoods

This is lower on the list than I thought it might be. Some of that is because it is a solo story adventure game. That should be higher, but it’s one that I know I won’t get for a while. I’m still waiting on Stonesaga from Open Owl Studios. And this one just wrapped up it’s crowdfunding in December. So my expectation for a timeline for the game is that I’ll get it in May or later of 2026. But the artwork, the card play, and just the overall aesthetic of the game is one that I’m really excited to get to the table and play and see what it’s all about.

7. One Hit Heroes

This is the first of a couple of superhero games that are on the list. This one Meet Me At the Table had a great playthrough showing how the game worked. I am excited for this one because it looked great on the table, but also easy to learn and play with a good amount of strategy. The strategy comes from how you make everything interact versus a lot of rules, and I love it when a game can pull of that. Plus it’s a boss battler game but one without a lot of minis to set-up, though it is a progression of games, and I have a boss battler on the list that isn’t coming up soon.

6. Super Squad High

This is one that I doubt is on many peoples lists of one that they anticipate from 2024. But I am excited for this game. It is about being a superhero, so that is fun. But it’s not just being a superhero. You are a superhero at a high school and you need to balance your real life of school, dating and more with dealing with a villain and figuring out who that villain is because it might be a classmate of yours. The whole theme sounds like a show that I’d watch and to get to play that game also sounds like a lot of fun.

5. Grimcoven

An Awaken Realms game, this isn’t the only one on the list. But I am very excited to get Grimcoven in, whenever it comes in. I don’t expect it for a little bit, I just got Dragon Eclipse which was a 2023 game. But Grimcoven is a boss battler game. But unlike a lot which are campaigns this one is only for that one shot game. The gothic horror look to it is awesome as well. So I suspect this is going to be one of those games I’ll stream from time to time and pull out for the game group when we want to just fight a monster.

4. Flash Point: Legacy of Flame

I love legacy games, and this is one that feels cool to be getting one. Flash Point is a game about stopping fires. Well, now they are making a legacy game about that. And I’ve held off on getting the base game because it’s kind of Pandemic like. And I find that I want more in that sort of game now, though I’ll gladly play them, so when they announced a legacy game, I was super excited. I hope that it’s going to be an awesome game with great story going through it and some fun twists along the way. But mainly, it needs to keep that game play that makes the regular game good.

3. Rove

Rove is another one of those big campaign games. There are certainly going to be a few of them on the list. And Rove is one that I’ve known about for a while and that it was coming to crowdfunding. This game is from the person who designed the fan expansion for Gloomhaven, which I still want to get my hands on. So when they branched out into something new and something they had designed I was curious. And the game looks like it’s going to be a cool campaign game. I hope that it’s a good design since the previous work was based off of something else.

2. Enormity

It’s a big campaign game, another shocker there, I’m sure. But Enormity is one that I had kind of glossed over until the Dice Tower crew was talking about it on Crowdsurfing. This one looks fun because it isn’t the normal. It is more sci-fi and horror, two things that I like. And it is supposed to be more modular as well as you play. I assume kind of like Shadows of Brimstone. You know your objective, that stays the same, but as you explore out the map could be different every time. And I like that for a game, though it does add to some set-up in the middle of the game.

1. Lands of Evershade

This one is at the top of my list for two reasons. Firstly it is an epic campaign game, and I love epic campaign game. But it is also an epic campaign game from Awaken Realms. I love games from Awaken realms like Lords of Hellas and Tainted Grail which is sitting as my #2 game of all time right now. So when they offer me a game like Lands of Evershade, a big campaign style of game, I know I will back it. And it is one of the more recent ones that I backed. I plan to add more on in the pledge manager, but even just the core stuff is going to be a lot to play.

What Else to Say

It was a great year for games on crowdfunding. I suspect that creators might have found it to be down slightly, but if you wanted a project, there is a project, just in my list, probably for everyone. Though a lot of them are going to skew more towards those heavily thematic games out there that I really love. And I know that there are more I could be talking about. I backed and got already some Button Shy solo games, some solo only games that come in basically a VHS case, and more. And I need to get those played as well.

Plus it is a great year for more content on crowdfunding for games you might already have. I have Agemonia, I got more for it. Mythwind, I got more for that game as well. Same for Stars of Akarios, and really there are even more that I could mention on that list. Now I just need to find even more time to play games because playing games is probably my favorite thing to do, that are eat great food with great friends, but who says that after you eat you can’t play games as well?

What games did you back on crowdfunding in 2024?

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Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – Top 10 https://nerdologists.com/2024/12/top-100-games-of-all-time-2024-edition-top-10/ https://nerdologists.com/2024/12/top-100-games-of-all-time-2024-edition-top-10/#respond Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:02:38 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=9306 What games make it to the Top 10? Join me for the finale of my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition.

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The list has come to an end. Join me for my final part, the Top 10, the best of the best of the Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition. Which game is going to stand on top, and which ones make it onto this section of the list for the first time. Join me, watch the video, and then pick up some of the games if they interest you. Let’s get to the Top 10 of the Top 100 Games.

Catch up on previous videos here

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41
40 through 31
30 through 21
20 through 10

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – Top 10

10. Aeon’s End

Aeon's End
Image Source: Indie Boards and Cards
  • Published by Indie Boards & Cards in 2016
  • Defend the town of Gravehold against a Nemesis and their minions by slinging spells around

To kick off the Top 10, let’s talk about one that has been in my Top 10 for a while and one that I have basically everything for. I’m guessing I’m missing a few promo cards, but Aeon’s End is one of my favorite deck building games.

This is a deck building game, tower defense, and boss battler all wrapped into one. The name of the game in this one is variety. There are other elements I like too, but variety is huge. Each mage is unique, each nemesis is unique and the market of cards that you create is unique. Everything about the game can be mixed and matched and give endless replayability. I also like that this is a cooperative game.

And, finally, I like this game best as a solo or two player. I know that it can play more, but with the turn system, it works better at lower counts. You draw to see whose turn it is. In the deck there are two nemesis cards, and one per player at four players, or two at two players. So you get these fun moments where it swings from the players getting four turns in a row to the nemesis getting three and now things look dangerous. It makes the game feel more exciting, it just works best at two players though because of that.

Buy Aeon’s End

9. Roll Player Adventures

Roll Player Adventure
Image Source: Thunderworks Games
  • Published by Thunderworks Games in 2021
  • Explore the lands, beat monsters and complete skill challenges in a world that remembers what you did

Now to a really big game we have Roll Player Adventures. They took the Roll Player system, tweaked it and gave us a story and adventure game. And I think that it works really well as a game, clearly, as it’s my #9. Though, like Aeon’s End, I’ll give a caveat that difficulty changes based on player count, which, isn’t a bad thing, but it something worth noting.

In this game you play through chapters of an adventure. To do that you are fighting monsters, doing skill checks, and reading story. Whenever it’s a right or a skill check you are spending cards and resources, your health, in different stats to try and complete a dice puzzle. You need to get dice of certain colors and certain numbers into specific locations. But, the game is smart and it limits you in how much you can do that, and it is what they try and use to scale, but like I said, I think that it’s easier with more.

The story is also a lot of fun. There are games on my list that have a bigger and darker story. And I like dark stories, dark fantasy can be a lot of fun, but it’s also fun to have stories that are maybe a bit sillier at times. And, I will say, they manage to create a story where it feels like it matters and continues along with the choices that you make.

Buy Roll Player Adventures

8. Dice Throne

Marvel Dice Throne
Image Source: Roxley Games
  • Published by Dice Throne Inc. in 2018
  • Fight in a Mortal Combat style tournament by chucking dice and leveling up attacks

My #8 is “Battle Yahtzee”. By that, I mean that it is Dice Throne. This is a game that is played either as a head to head battle or as king of the hill. You get a hero, or character, that you play as. And they have specific abilities that you can activate by rolling dice Yahtzee style. By that I mean you get three roles, you keep some dice each time, and you see what you get at the end.

But Dice Throne is more than just a lucky game. Yes, there is an element of luck with rolling the dice. But the game often comes down to how well you can mitigate that luck. If you manage to get off your ultimate attack, well there isn’t much your opponent can do, of course that does mean that you roll all sixes. That’s very unlikely to just happen. But with cards and your combat points you spend to play them, you are able to manipulate dice, turn them to different sides, or get rerolls to try and land those attacks.

Plus the game offers a ton of variety. The first set is more standard fantasy. But then you get into other characters like a Tactician or an Artificer who do different things. And I own the Marvel set and am waiting on the Marvel X-Men set to come as well. You pick your favorites to get, or if you’re like me, you get them all.

Buy Dice Throne

7. Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

Rogue Angels
Image Source: Sun Tzu Games
  • Published by SunTzuGames in 2025
  • Change the galaxy with a unlikely group of heroes in an epic sci-fi adventure

Now for a game that isn’t even out yet. Why do I have it on the list, because I have in my collection a prototype of the game. And I’ve even played it on Malts and Meeples. The game is basically set, through there are elements of the game that will change, but that’s mainly around components not around actual game play.

I love Rogue Angels. You know that by now because it’s on every list of Crowdfunding game that I’m waiting for. And yes, it will be again at the end of this year, most likely. This is another story, adventure, and combat game. And I really enjoy the story in it. I like having some campaign games that aren’t just another fantasy setting, and Rogue Angels gives you a good sci-fi setting. And I love how the combat, or mission element of the game works.

I want to say that this isn’t a game where every scenario is a go and beat someone up. No, this is a game where you might want to dive into combat. Or you might want to sneak through, and it all depends on the scenario. I love that for a game because I don’t always want to beat up the bad guys. And with how the game activates the bad guys, well, getting rid of the wrong bad guys at the wrong time just means you’ll be dealing with the other ones all the time.

Late Pledge Rogue Angels

6. Floriferous

Floriferous
Image Source: Pencil First Games
  • Published by Pencil First Games in 2021
  • Create the best scoring group of flowers in this drafting game

Now we have the smallest game in my Top 10 list. But Floriferous was there last year and it is staying there again this year because I love what the game does. I enjoy a good drafting game, and I think that drafting makes sense in a lot of different games. But how Floriferous does it works for me because it combines drafting with building out your own scoring.

And the drafting itself is clever. You either draft a flower or you draft a scoring card from a column. The scoring cards are always at the bottom of the column, though, which matters for drafting the next column. Because the turn order for that next column is determined by the previous column you drafted from, aka, the higher you are up in the column the sooner you draft again. So yes, you need scoring cards, but that means you draft later next time.

I also want to call out drafting the scoring. I like it when a game does that because it offers a great decision point. When I draft, I might want that scoring card, but if you don’t have enough flowers, it won’t do much for me. And on the flip side, if I draft too many flowers I’m not going to be scoring anything.

Buy Floriferous

5. Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire Board Game
Image Source: Contention Games
  • Published by Contention Games in 2024
  • Climb the spire, fight monsters and can you defeat them all in this cooperative deck building game

Next up is a new one to the list and it’s debuting all the way up at #5. Now it’s not the last new one to the list, there is one higher, though just barely higher. Slay the Spire is a video game that I love to play. In fact I’ve been on a kick of playing it recently. It’s a rogue like deck building game where you climb a tower.

The board game is the exact same thing. But it takes a solo video game experience and makes it multiplayer. In fact, while the solo is fun, I think that it’s even better two player or two handed. And I want to play it with more. Because you figure out a strategy of who wants to attack which enemies. Because each player has their own enemies that will attack them, but you can attack the other person’s enemies. So you might have more defense and handle it as well.

With all of that said, the game does change one thing. How some things activate is changed, so you’re not needing to keep track of “every seven turns” or “every three times you shuffle” but it makes it easy to keep track of. And they scale down everything. I like that because I don’t want to be keeping track of six enemies with 50 health each. So while the math is very much the same, the numbers are just lower.

Buy Slay the Spire

4. The 7th Citadel

The 7th Citadel
Image Source: Serious Poulp Games
  • Published by Serious Poulp Games in 2024
  • The Citadels are in ruins. How can you rebuild society and deal with the threats?

The other new to the list game and debuting at #4 is The 7th Citadel. I should have put it at #7 just to make it a bit more fitting. But I love this game and you can see me playing it for some sessions on Malts and Meeples YouTube.

This is an adventure game. These Citadels have fallen and now in a dangerous and post apocalyptic feeling world, though uniquely so, you need to survive. You play as leaders of a settlement has has formed out of the 7th Citadel. And now you need to deal with some threat that is coming.

The main mechanism is the same as The 7th Continent. You spend cards to try and complete checks, fight monsters, and deal with challenges. And the cards are going to be your life. Plus you are flipping over cards and exploring areas of the map and dealing with encounters that happen. But the game gives you more direction than the 7th Continent does as the threat gives you missions to go on as you build up your settlement for whatever that coming threat might be.

Late Pledge The 7th Citadel

3. Stars of Akarios

Stars of Akarios
Image Source: OOMM Board Games
  • Published by OOMM/Open Owl Studios in 2022
  • Explore space, fight battles, and unravel the story of why you were attacked

This is the one that launched into the Top 10 last year and it’s sticking around. I love this game, clearly, but it’s another one of those big campaign games, and it’s one that’s set in space. But this game feels different than so many others. I don’t know why, but it gives me the feeling of stories like Ender’s Game and Space Dandy all wrapped into one with obvious nods to other sci-fi stories as well.

I really enjoy how they created a game that is split into three different element. The one, space exploration, is a bit weaker. There is some randomness to it, and I feel like I never found anything major on it. But I love the other two element. You get to have a 7th Citadel/7th Continent style exploration on planets. But instead of playing cards for checks you roll dice. And it’s a really fun time, but the biggest part of the game is space combat.

And I wasn’t sure how much I’d love the space combat. But I really enjoy it, it’s this great tactical puzzle as you use special abilities that you can only use so much. And then you spend dice to maneuver and you need to figure out how to even get into range to shoot the enemy and ideally in a flanking position. I love sitting there looking at the dice and trying to figure out how to make it work.

Late Pledge Stars of Akarios

2. Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon

Tainted Grail
Image Source: Board Game Geek/Awaken Realms
  • Published by Awaken Realms in 2019
  • The lands are returning to Wyrdness, you’ve been sent out to help Avalon survive, if you can

Now or one of a few campaign games that I’ve completed, at #2 we have Tainted Grail. And this is the base game and the two expansion campaigns. I love them all. I need to play Kings of Ruin as well, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to that because of, well, my #1 on the list.

But this game, let’s start off with the highest praise, has the best writing of any board game I’ve ever played. The story that it tells is amazing and for that reason we did play in story mode to be able to experience as much of that story as possible. I’ll talk about why in a little bit. This is a grim dark game, but it manages not to dwell on the darkness to the point where it’s overbearing but creates this amazing fantastical and dangerous world to deal with.

And let’s talk about that story mode and why we played that way. One of the criticisms of the game is that it’s too hard. There is too much grind and too much survival. That is what the game was advertised as, so why people thought it was bad, and not just not for me, when they got what they knew they were going to get, I don’t know. But story mode makes it easier, but not too easy. So you do need to engage with that survival aspect of the game, but you can delve into the story more so. If you find the game, get it, and I do recommend playing on story mode.

Buy Tainted Grail

1. Gloomhaven/Frosthaven

Frosthaven
Image Source: Board Game Geek
  • Published by Cephalofair Games in 2022
  • Battle monsters, explore lands, and build up the town in this epic campaign

Finally the number one stays the same. The #1 on the list is really Frosthaven, Gloomhaven and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. I don’t think it’s fair for them to be separate on the list. While Frosthaven does build on Gloomhaven and add in some elements like the town management, the core loop of the game is the same. I do think the added element of the town management would push it even a little bit higher than Gloomhaven for me though.

But the main part of the game is going into scenarios and trying to complete their objectives. This almost always includes killing some bad guys, and often times the win condition is kill all the enemies. Though in Frosthaven that is less often, though still the most common scenario goal.

The element that is the best about the game is the characters though. I love how every character is unique. And from the cards that you get to play, it feels that way. Sometimes you want to be that tanking character, or a fast damage dealer, or a support or healer character. And the games offer all of those.

And then the card play where you might want to go fast, so you can get in and out dealing damage quickly, or maybe you want to go slow to draw the enemies towards you, there is a lot of great strategy. I love picking cards, too, where I might plan to use the bottom and top halves in one way but then give myself the flexibility to change it. Needless to say, I love my #1 game.

Buy Frosthaven

Upcoming Streams

Just a reminder on my streaming schedule. It’s not just all my Top 100 Games (of all time).

  • Monday night, time varies, I play different small solo games, though I might be looking to start up a campaign again. And generally the streams do start between 8 and 8:30 PM central time.
  • Wednesday at 9 PM central is going to be my 200 through 101 next week. After that I’m going to do some videos looking back on 2024. So expect to see my Top 10 Games of 2024 and probably Top 10 crowdfunding games I backed in 2024 as well.
  • Friday at 9 PM central my wife and I are streaming a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. Join us for the adventure of Nina and Kaerok and see what choices we make.

The best way to know when we go live, though is to subscribe and click that notification bell. I can’t promise, and in fact it’s pretty unlikely, that I’ll have events to click on ahead of time. Though I do want to get better at it. I hope that you can join a stream and hop into the chat. And let me know what games in this list are your favorite or that you want to try.

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Top 5 Epic Sci-Fi Board Games https://nerdologists.com/2023/06/top-5-epic-sci-fi-board-games/ https://nerdologists.com/2023/06/top-5-epic-sci-fi-board-games/#respond Fri, 16 Jun 2023 11:45:08 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=8076 From Star Wars to BSG, what are some of the most epic sci-fi board games that you can play? I come up with my Top 5 for you to checkout.

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We’re reaching the end of my favorite themes. So let’s jump into the sci-fi board games. I own fewer sci-fi board games than I do, say, fantasy, so that’ll be easier in terms of a list. But Sci-Fi is a genre where I feel like there are plenty of epic games and a lot of great ones that are epic in different ways. Fantasy might have more Lord of the Rings or Hobbit style going on an adventure, whereas Sci-Fi might do things a bit differently.

Top 5 Epic Sci-Fi Board Games

5. Battlestar Galactica

Let’s start out with a different type of one. Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is a hidden traitor game. But it is built into an epic package where the humans are trying to evade the Cylons (robots) who have attacked. They leap from place to place and take actions around the ship to drive off the Cylons that seem to be one step ahead, in that they can always catch back up.

But throughout the game, it happens twice, players are given hidden roles. You might start out thinking you are a human and then half way through become a Cylon. And you are guaranteed that half way through the game, players might become Cylons, but at the start you might have none. And you still won’t trust the other players because they might be a Cylon.

Battlestar Glactica
Image Source: Fantasy Flight

4. Star Wars Rebellion

Star Wars Rebellion is called Star Wars in a box and rightfully so. This is a cat and mouse game of the rebellion trying to gain enough support and take enough subversive actions to take down the empire. The empire is playing a game of hide and seek with the rebel base so they can destroy it taking care of those pesky rebels once and for all.

It’s truly a galaxy big game that feels like Star Wars. Your story might be a little different but it takes from the original trilogy and lets you play it out your own way. Does the empire capture Han Solo instead of Leia? Will Kashyyyk get blown up by the Death Star? You control that story as you play through the game.

3. ISS Vanguard

This one is more of that space grand adventure. And you can watch some of the game over on Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel. I’ll have the first video down below. But ISS Vanguard is about what’s out there in deep space.

Humanity has decoded a secret message buried deep in our DNA. It was coordinates for a galaxy that was cloaked. Hidden far away from Earth, humanity works together to find those coordinates. When you get there, it’s a dying galaxy, and you need to figure out what happened and why you were sent there. You do that by exploring planets. But at the same time you need to maintain and improve your ship so that you can properly deal with the challenges to come and explore everywhere.

2. Clank! In! Space!

Now back to a smaller game, Clank! In! Space! is a deck building game and push your luck. You are thieves breaking into the ship of Lord Eradikus. He has a lot of treasures, but he certainly doesn’t want you stealing them. So while you are racing in to steal them you make noise that will tip him off. And when you tip him off and he activates, he draws cubes from a bag. Those cubes might be his color, which nothing happens, or it might be dealing damage to you.

This game offers that epic feel as you try and figure out how noisy you want to be, noisy cards are better but the more likely Eradikus will draw your cubes and knock you out. But also with being how noisy, how far do you want to push into his chambers to get the best treasure. A close treasure is worth fewer points. But the longer you are in the ship, the more chance for clank and noise to happen.

1. Stars of Akarios

Finally, we have Stars of Akarios. This is another one that I played in Malts and Meeples. And you can watch the first mission of that below. But this is another big box space game. And it’s an interesting one because it is split into three parts. There is tactical ship combat, there is space exploration, and there is planetary exploration.

The big thing you do most of the time is the tactical space combat. That is a a puzzle of using dice to position your ship so that you can flank the enemy and hit for more damage or are more likely to hit. While trying to keep them from being able to do that to you so that you can survive. And how and when to best utilize some things that don’t have unlimited uses for their best effect.

Space exploration is simply moving from space location card to location card. You come across points of interest, and you maybe can interact with them. It’s not a major part of the game. But the planetary exploration is an interesting puzzle as your characters are spending energy to find new missions and new bits of story to interact with on a growing planetary board as you explore around.

Final Thoughts on Epic Sci-Fi

I know that I’m missing one game that would likely make the list. I need to play Nemesis still because I think that could be another amazing experience for this list. It offers the Alien movies in a box, which is great sounding. Or SHEOL I think is sci-fi in nature as well.

But there are a lot of good epic space games out there. Games that I’ve owned that I didn’t mention would be things like Star Wars: Imperial Assault. It offers a good Star Wars story adjacent to the original trilogy, at least out of the box. It’s down on the map versus bigger space picture like Rebellion. Or I thought of a silly game like Galaxy Trucker. It’s space trucking and hoping your ship doesn’t blow up. But it’s a fun time that can lead to great stories as your ship will blow up.

What are your favorite epic sci-fi board games?

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Best Campaign Games For… https://nerdologists.com/2022/09/best-campaign-games-for/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/09/best-campaign-games-for/#respond Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:27:44 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7339 There are so many campaign games out there, I've played 13 different ones, who are they probably best for? And which might you avoid?

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It’s no secret that I love campaign games. I’ve played a number of them, so I think it’s going to be interesting to talk about who different campaign games are going to be for. Not all campaign games are going to work as well for everyone. Some campaign games are too long, some are too silly, some are too dark or too easy. So who are different campaign games for?

Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven, and I’ll include Jaws of the Lion, is going to be a campaign game for the person who wants a lot of control over what they are doing. The card play in Gloomhaven is great and really smart. I love picking two cards, one to use the top of and the other to use the bottom. But if I’m slower than other players or the enemies, now I need to put flexibility into what I’m doing. Gloomhaven also provides great character progression. It isn’t too fast so you learn and can use and enjoy the new cards but then be gaining XP for the next new card.

I also think that Gloomhaven, the big box, works well for players who like the change it up. You retire a character after some time. You’ll hit your secret goal and it’ll be time to retire them and move on. If you get really attached to a character or a way to play the game, Gloomhaven won’t be for you. It is better for a game that changes everything up as you get new characters with how you play them.

Sword & Sorcery

As compared to Gloomhaven, Sword and Sorcery is light and small. Now it’s still a big box with a lot of minis in the box. But Sword and Sorcery is all about the dice chucking. The story is pretty light, the decision making space in where the story goes really doesn’t exist. But when it comes to optimizing how many dice you can have and roll, Sword & Sorcery does that.

Stars of Akarios
Image Source: OOMM Board Games

Stars of Akarios

Stars of Akarios is an interesting hybrid. I would say that this game is for people who want something like Gloomhaven, though the game is very different, but set in space. You can watch game play here. But this is going to be your big space epic game, and probably the biggest space campaign game, at least until ISS Vanguard comes out soon.

But this is also the game for the person who wants a little bit of everything. There is some choose your own adventure. Tactical space combat and then space and planet exploration. So really a little bit of everything that you could do. And they manage to make all of them work, though you need to be in for the space combat because that is the biggest piece.

Pandemic Legacy

This is one I’d say three introductory campaign games. And Pandemic Legacy is a legacy game on top of that. This one, though, might be the best, because in Pandemic Legacy Season 1, if you’ve played Pandemic, you can basically jump in and play the game. If not, it’s an easy teach and a cooperative game.

This is really just a story driven version of Pandemic. It does introduce rules as you go along. But it ramps up players slowly. So if you know someone who is interested at all in gaming, this is a great option to start.

Tainted Grail

Moving to the other extreme, this is not introductory friendly. There are rules you kind of need to look up to figure out what is going on. And there will be situations where the rules maybe don’t explain everything. But Tainted Grail offers some of the best story experience I’ve had in a game.

The story is dark, the story is adult. And the game has a strong survival element as well. I really recommend this one on story mode. The game is still very hard at times. There are going to be combats where you just look at it and run away. But when you dive into the story, it is just so good. So much depth to the world and every expansion gives even more story that is just amazing.

Charterstone

Charterstone is a euro campaign game. It’s one that I think euro players will like, it is a campaign game, and it adds in things. I also think that Charterstone is also a good one for a budding euro player. It’s pretty simple to start and definitely adds in a lot as you go along.

The story for me on Charterstone is very weak, and I honestly thing it pretends too much with it. But the game play is solid. It is a good euro game. And for a legacy game, you can still it after. They even offer a recharge pack, as does the next one on the list as well. But I don’t know what I’d want it.

Aeon’s End Legacy

Aeon’s End Legacy is another one with a weaker story to it. But a story that I sound fun. You can watch the whole of the game over on Malts and Meeples, I’ll put the first part down below. But if you like deck building or are interested, this is a great spot to start.

I also think that this is a great game for players who want to make their own character. As a legacy game it allows you to build up your breach mage with the cards you want the way you want. Other games allow you to customize somewhat, here you really get so much choice over that. Deck building helps provide some of that, but also with the powers you get, it works nicely as well.

My City

Another legacy game on the list and another one that is really easy to get to the table. It is a tile laying game where everyone has their own set of tiles and a card if flipped over to determine which one to put down. There are additional rules that are added as you play further into the game, but it is never too much.

This is also a great campaign or legacy game for people who don’t have that much time. Or don’t have a big block of time. It’s easy to pull out and play a game that takes maybe 30 minutes. Then you do that again two nights later, and so on and it’ll never take you that long to be back up and running.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Another one that I played on Malts and Meeples. This one is kind of like Aeon’s End Legacy, but instead of deck building through game play, this offers deck construction. So if you like optimizing your character to be good at some things, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is good for that.

I also think that this works well for maybe the person who doesn’t have time to play Pathfinder. If you’ve played Pathfinder and done the adventures, you’ll get more into the story, recognize characters and places. But it’s less of a commitment than jumping into another campaign and planning out 3 hours every week or two to play, at least.

Paper Dungeons

Paper Dungeons is an odd one on the list. It is technically a campaign game, you play through cards with monsters to fight. But it doesn’t need to be, it can be a one off. Nor do I think the campaign is all that great. But if you really like roll and write games, and Paper Dungeons is a very good roll and write game, this is going to give you a heftier roll and write to play. And also one that I played on Malts and Meeples.

Sleeping Gods

Alright, one more that is on Malts and Meeples. Sleeping Gods is for the player who wants a weird fantasy world but also wants to be able to do whatever they want. All the other campaigns on the list give you a general order of doing things. Some might have side missions but generally they’re about the main story that is going through.

Sleeping Gods gives you fun card play and a lot of interesting powers and decisions. Now, I’d recommend that you get the sequel one, it’s coming out sometime probably next year. It’ll make a few things cleaner, like not having to control as many characters. But the one you can get now is great as well and the story tends to be one of the lighter ones and more fun. And the story works as well which is impressive with no real direction.

Risk Legacy

Another legacy game on the list and only one more after this one before the list is finished off. But Risk Legacy is going to be for the person who likes that in your face game. But whereas Risk can be annoying and take forever. In Risk Legacy the games are much faster, so it’s also for the person who likes that in your face but finds Risk way to long. I’m one of those people, so this one is a lot of fun when you want something very competitive.

Seafall

Finally, I had to put it on the list because I technically did play probably half of it or a bit more. This one I don’t really recommend. I think that there are elements of the game that work but most don’t. If you go back to Sleeping Gods where I talk about open world, that one tells a great story in spite of that. Seafall is also open world but it doesn’t tell a good story.

Also the games are just too long, so I really don’t recommend it for that. The longer you play the higher the points get, plus you unlock things so that means there is even more to think about. I want this to be so much better than it is, it had potential and it just falls flat.

Final Thoughts

13 campaign games on the list. And I thought about adding in Arkham Horror the Card Game, and when I get around to a campaign box for Marvel Champions. So clearly I love campaign games, but like I said, not all of them are for everyone.

If you are looking to dive into a campaign game, I really recommend probably three games as my top choices. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a great small box version of Gloomhaven. And it’ll give you the exact same game just with less stuff and less cost. Pandemic Legacy is a good one to jump into as well because a lot of people know Pandemic. Start with Season 1 and it’ll be an easy way to see how much you like legacy games and campaign games. And finally, I think that if you want something bigger and maybe a bit more challenging, I recommend Sleeping Gods. I like it solo, but I think most people will like it at three players.

But let me know what your favorite campaign games are? And how do you play them?

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Stars of Akarios – Game 3 https://nerdologists.com/2022/08/stars-of-akarios-game-3/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/08/stars-of-akarios-game-3/#respond Thu, 25 Aug 2022 13:30:42 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7300 Things go sideways in Stars of Akarios. And how will my two cadets do on their latest mission? Join me at the table on Malts and Meeples.

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It’s back into the world created by OOMM Games with Stars of Akarios. Things have been kicking off in this prologue, but what is going to happen next. I’ll give you a hint, it is something big, and not just a little bit big, but huge. But that’s all I’m going to say about it. It is another space combat, but we also go through a scenario that has none of that, so time to get down to the table for some more Stars of Akarios.

Stars of Akarios – The Story

So I know a little bit further into the story than where I am at. And I won’t spoil any of that. I think that it’s worth it for me to show it. But let’s talk about how good, or not good, and how unique or not unique the story is.

Thus far, I would say that the story in Stars of Akarios kind of falls into that pretty standard but well done category. I get little bits where it feels like other things we’ve seen. The planet getting blown up by a giant spaceship, that’s Star Wars. The whole cadets things reminds me of Ender’s Game. I know what is coming up and that reminds me of things as well.

But the story is being done in a way where it pays homage to those things. There are situations where writers just redo a story and it’s so heavily drawing upon other things, it feels like stealing. You want to walk that line, if you want to pull from previous Sci-Fi or Fantasy works, where there are nods, but it is that homage versus whole sale stealing. And so far, I think this walks the line.

I also think because I get the feel from a number of different Sci-Fi stories, it works better. When it is too much of a single thing, then that feels more like stealing. And it isn’t to say that there aren’t unique things in here as well. I think the combination of tactical game play with the story allows for different ways to tell story.

Upcoming Streams

So, there was no stream on Monday. I want to apologize for that. Life stuff came up and got in the way of me having motivation or energy to stream. Whenever that happens it means that I really should stream because it improves my mood to play board games and to hang out with everyone. But stuff like that will happen from time to time.

Next Monday, I keep on promising it, Trek12 will get to the table. My plan is to learn and play that over the next few days so that I’m ready. I might even learn another roll and write so we can get a couple to the table. Though, I believe with Trek12 there is a bit of a progression, so I might go through the different mountains.

And of course, on Wednesday, more Stars of Akarios. I can give you a little sneak preview as to what is coming up. We will be in space, but then going down to the planet for a mission. And the mission phase of the game is definitely different than the ship combat phase. Think more 7th Continent than tactical combat.

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Stars of Akarios – Game 2 https://nerdologists.com/2022/08/stars-of-akarios-game-2/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/08/stars-of-akarios-game-2/#respond Thu, 18 Aug 2022 13:51:35 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7279 Join me back down at the table as I play the second scenario of the prologue for Stars of Akarios from OOMM Games on Malts and Meeples.

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It was a bit of an odd stream last night. It started late because of a toddler, but still went under an hour. Join me at the table for the second game play of Stars of Akarios. The cadets, Violet Ray and G’iardian, went back to the Sparrow to await further instructions. Of course, things did not go well in the space battle and as we looked to leave the system, we had to go out and fight enemy ships that were showing up. But this time we were a bit better prepared for the battle. Catch up on Stars of Akarios here.

Stars of Akarios Tactical Combat

Thus far we haven’t experienced some of the game, mainly the space exploration has been limited and we haven’t gone down to a planet yet. What we’ve really learned is how space combat works and how to blow up the enemy ships, so let’s talk a little bit about the space combat.

Mainly because the space combat offers a lot of interesting tactical choices. Both with how you activate everything, when you use stress and supplies for that bigger hit. And so much of it is about how you fly around. The hardest part of the puzzle is to get your ships positioned correctly. I want to just rush up and get in their face and blast them. That is what you do in a lot of games.

But for Stars of Akarios you really want to get behind your opponent. That allows you to flip two cards and really decreases the chances you will miss. And at the same time, you want to position yourself so you won’t have ships flying up behind you. The enemy also gets advantage if they get behind you, so you can just fly into an area and not think about what could happen.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday, my plan is going to be streaming a roll and write game. I picked up Trek 12, so my hope is to get that one to the table. Though, Long Shot the Dice Game, Super Skill Pinball 4-Cade, Isle of Cats: Explore and Draw, and Cartographers are all on the short list as well. Same with Sagrada if I don’t want to do a roll and write game.

Then on Wednesday, at 8 PM this time, I will be streaming more Stars of Akarios. I believe that I have one more space mission to get through and then it’ll be to a planet. One question I have for people watching, do you want to see the whole campaign? From what I can tell this is a huge game, you don’t play every scenario but there are a lot. I’d like to get through the prologue at least, but ideally further into the story than that. Let me know how far you’d like to see?

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Anticipated Crowdfunding For the 2nd Half of 2022 https://nerdologists.com/2022/06/anticipated-crowdfunding-for-the-2nd-half-of-2022/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/06/anticipated-crowdfunding-for-the-2nd-half-of-2022/#respond Mon, 13 Jun 2022 14:22:12 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7079 We're half way, or nearly, through 2022. What crowdfunding board games am I going to keep on eye on in the 2nd half of the year?

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I’m not going to stop doing my monthly ones, assuming there are good options that I see monthly. But I do want to look ahead for the 2nd half of the year. We are in a slower time, right now for Kickstarter and Gamefound. A lot of that is unstable costs and unstable inflation going on. So companies are putting a pause on their crowdfunding, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that are upcoming. So let’s see what crowdfunding has caught my eye thus far.

Anticipated Crowdfunding Games

10. Quantum Shock

The one that I consider least likely to come out. The latest that they have said about it, this was in 2021 mind you, that they were going to be launching in 2022. The game is still in that get notified at launch stage. And when asked in January and June about a timeline, there is no response/information.

But Quantum Shock very much falls into that category of a game that I’d be interested in. It is cooperative, sci-fi, and horror. Three things that I really love. And the aesthetic, at least of the box artwork is interesting to me. I’m poking about to find more information on the game because I’d love to see what the whole look and play of the game is.

9. Moon

From the company that brought us Villagers and Streets, they now have a new game coming, Moon. I don’t know much about the game or about their games in general. But I know the look of the games, and Moon looks amazing in terms of the artwork and graphic design. That is what has me interested. Generally, I feel like my thoughts have been with Villagers and Streets, try before I buy, but Moon, if it looks interesting enough, might be a spot to jump into Sinister Fish Games.

Drop Bears
Image Source: Platypus Industries

8. Sea of Legends: Vengeance of the Empires

An expansion for a game that I own, Sea of Legends. This is going to be a big pirate adventure game. I love the idea of a big sprawling pirate game. And while I haven’t played this one yet, because I’ve heard the app was getting improved upon, I do really want to play my copy. That is likely going to determine if I back this game.

Sea of Legends, like I said, is a big pirate game. You pick a Captain, Lover, and Nemesis, and that drives your story in the game. It is a competitive game, but I like that the story of each character weaves together which intrigues me. I hope that when I play it, I’ll love it. I thought that Merchants and Marauders might be the big pirate game for me, but that one fell flat. And Seafall didn’t seem like pirates.

7. Drop Bears

You heard about this one last week. Drop Bears, based off of the Australian legends for tourists, are basically bears that look like koalas. But instead of being all cute, they drop out of trees and attack with big pointy teeth and claws, if you aren’t careful. I’m very curious about this one. Again, a horror them, which I like and I really like the legend. I’m hoping to get my hands on some press release content if I can to cover it before it launches.

Globetrotting
Image Source: R2i Games

6. Globetrotting

Globetrotting is on here because of the toy factor. But from the same company that makes Canvas, Globetrotting seems to be a roll and write where you are connecting things on a 3D globe. Just that toy factor is great, so I want to see it, play it because of that. A game with good toy factor might not be a great game, but it does make me interested. And Canvas has very good toy factor as well with it’s artwork and is a good game. So I want to see what this one is.

5. Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City

Again, another one that I’ve mentioned before. CMON is doing a game set in the Cyberpunk world. I don’t know a ton more about it than that. I’d guess this game will have a lot of minis, a lot of expansions, but probably be a fun beer and pretzels type of game.

For me, I wish that it sounded like it had more story. But the theme of cyberpunk is cool. I like games like Shadowrun, or that setting, for that reason. So I’ll be curious to know what this one looks like. Area control is also a mechanism that I like quite well. However, I want more going on in a game than that, so one that I’ll be keeping an eye on.

4. Trick Shot

This one is a reprint of a game that is already out. Trick Shot is a hockey game, very hard to find right now, that comes with minis. I don’t know a ton about how it plays, but generally reviews seem pretty favorable. And the idea of a game where you play hockey seems like a good amount of fun to me.

I would love to watch a video of this being played. My main concern about the game is that it’ll be too slow. Hockey, as a sport, is a fast moving game. Baseball works okay for board games because it is a slower moving sport. But Hockey, Basketball, Soccer, and Football are all harder for me to get behind because they move fast. But we’ll see with Trick Shot, because it looks fun.

3. Stonesaga

OOMM games is putting out a lot of things that interest me. I backed Mytwind. I want Stars of Akarios eventually but it is spendy to get right now. It isn’t that I expect it to get cheaper, but it hopefully will be available for a bit. But Stonesaga is a cooperative legacy game. That right there makes it interesting to me.

Stonesaga
Image Source OOMM

Plus it has a story that unfolds over time, also interesting to me. And it can be played solo. It seems to be about building up a society and your world over generations. But of course, as a legacy game, the world remembers what you do and changes and grows the story as you go.

2. Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin

Top two were easy to pick. Firstly, an expansion, though I believe a standalone expansion, for Tainted Grail. I love Tainted Grail. I am playing through the third of the stories in the original crowdfunding campaign right now. And I love each story.

Kings of Ruin is something I didn’t know I wanted. And I do not need Kings of Ruin. But I absolutely want it because I love Tainted Grail. This is a story driven game in a grim dark fantasy world around Arthurian legend. It just works well for me and more story in that world isn’t a bad thing, there is just so much content.

1. Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

Rogue Angels is my easy #1 game coming to crowdfunding hopefully in the next few months. And I should soon have some more content coming out on it. I just need to split up some video that I did with a couple other content creators and the designer playing a scenario of the game. You can already see Rogue Angels game play on Malts and Meeples (or below).

But I adore my plays thus far of Rogue Angels. The characters are great. The story is fun, and it is a challenging game. The best way I can describe it and this is a very high compliment is that it is a game that isn’t too complex to play. But, every decision that you make has a ton of depth. You can’t just walk into a room full of bad guys and expect it to work perfectly for you. So how do you plan what is best and work together as a team?

Final Thoughts

I am sure that I missed some big Kickstarter or Gamefound campaigns coming up. I looked for what I could. And I didn’t do anything that you can still late pledge or is out on Kickstarter currently. There are some strong games coming up, and I know there will be a lot more that I don’t know about. That is what them monthly content is for. Plus then the videos that Tantrum House and BoardGameCo put out twice a month or monthly on upcoming Kickstarters.

One that I really would love to put on the list is Slay the Spire by Contention Games. I know they want to get it right before it launches. But Slay the Spire is another game that was supposed to be in 2021, like Quantum Shock, and I haven’t heard anything recently about it. Looking on Board Game Geek it appears they still plan for this year. But it’s not on the list because it was Spring of 2021 and then on and on delayed and reworks. But if they get it right that’ll be awesome.

Is there a Gamefound or Kickstarter you are looking forward to?

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Top 5 Television Shows I Want More Of https://nerdologists.com/2022/05/top-5-television-shows-i-want-more-of/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/05/top-5-television-shows-i-want-more-of/#respond Thu, 26 May 2022 14:23:53 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7033 What television shows would I want more of? Whether it's a reboot, a season when there won't be, or just a spin off, I want more.

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So, at work we had a bit of a chat about some older television shows. And then some chatting about movies as well, but it brought this question to my mind. What show, movie, book, board game, would I just want more of. It could be a reboot if it’s been done for a long time, it could be a spin off, or it could be just another season even though there aren’t more coming. But we’re starting off with television shows.

5. Firefly

I think that this one could end up a lot of people’s lists. I’m not sure that you could get back the whole cast which made the show so good. But I think there is a chance to come back with a fun series set in that universe, because there are lots of parts of the universe that need to be looked into still. And the aesthetic of that show is strong enough to set a whole lot more than just the stories around the crew of the Firefly.

So I wouldn’t want a straight reboot for this one. Mainly because I’m happy with what we got from it. But I’d like to see another show set in the same universe. A story tied into a group trying to overthrow the Alliance from within the Alliance would probably be the direction that I go. Focus less on those in the rebellion who were fighting, but now those who are trying to subvert and stop what is happening.

4. Ghost Hunt

An anime that I’m not sure if it did everything there were books for or not. But I’d love to see a reboot of this, and a straight up reboot. Something that tells the stories I saw before in Ghost Hunt, but just redone. It’s an older anime coming out in 2006, at least for one that was dubbed. And I’d like to see it redrawn and come out again, tell the same stories and then tell more.

I really like the supernatural stories that it does tell. And where the series ends, it feels like there should be more stories being told. I doubt that this would ever happen though because there are always a plethora of new anime coming out.

Ghost Hunt
Image Source: My Anime List

3. Grimm

Grimm is a good supernatural show as well about all the crazy creatures living in our world and kind of this hidden away world. I could also put The Lost Girl on the list as well. But The Lost Girl has more iconic performances from side characters and I don’t know what I’d want those changed up. In Grimm, I think you could almost reboot it.

But I would probably go with telling a similar story, just tweak it as you go. Change up the location, story beats, and everything, you could rehash some of it. But it’d easy enough to just add in and build more stories into Grimm. I don’t need the same characters back, but I’d love to dive back into that world.

2. Farscape

Farscape is such a fun show. It is most definitely crazy and creative, but in a very good way for me. I like the puppets as well in it. I think that there is just more story, again, to tell with that show. It’s been too long so I don’t think you could come back and finish off the story that easily, but I’d like to see a straight up reboot for this.

With that reboot, I don’t want it to become all fancy. I love that there is a bit of high quality special effects, but also practical as well. It makes the show more charming. And with the depth of story, it is fairly surface through a lot of it, I think it lends itself well to that more comforting blend versus the highly polished sci-fi shows that can come out now. So I wouldn’t want the aesthetic to change, but I’d love the story to be retold and finished.

1. Stargate

This is one which might actually be happening. Or at least has a better chance of happening because of how successful the franchise was with SG-1 and Atlantis. And I don’t need a reboot. I don’t even need returning actors, though a cameo or two could be fun. Instead I’d want it to just build on the world(s) that it has created.

Stargate is such an amazing show, and with how it is set-up, it’s certainly possible to explore so many more worlds. I know that they have done a ton of different things. And I wouldn’t mind bringing back in some more of the classic bad guys of the show. But also, introducing a whole new threat would be cool as well.

Final Thoughts on Television Shows

There are a lot of shows that I’d be interested in seeing come back. I mentioned Lost Girl, I’d be fine with a reboot on that. I just want some of the actors back, even though they are older. That one also needs that reboot but tweaks to improve the writing. Veronica Mars is another one that could work to have a new version, same premise but all new cases. Or more recently The Librarians, I really loved that show, or Warehouse 13 and Eureka.

But let me know what shows you maybe wanted more of? Or maybe some that are older and you’d love to see them take another stab at it.

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Design Diaries: Campaign Roll and Write https://nerdologists.com/2022/05/design-diaries-campaign-roll-and-write/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/05/design-diaries-campaign-roll-and-write/#respond Thu, 05 May 2022 19:44:15 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=6982 I want to design a campaign roll and write game where you progress. So what theme am I picking, odd spot to start, but where I did.

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So, this came from yesterdays Malts and Meeples stream. I am playing through the campaign of Paper Dungeons by Alley Cat Games. The question came up about where I ranked the game, and the answer is very highly. But I wish that the campaign was just a little bit more interesting. That the monsters were more unique and that the campaign element were more than just a bit of flavor text.

I want to design one now, so let’s get started.

The Campaign Roll and Write Theme

So now I want to design a roll and write campaign game. I thought about just doing another fantasy/dungeon crawler roll and write. But there are several of them out there, Deadly Doodles, Paper Dungeons, Doodle Dungeon, and Drawn to Adventure all fit that fantasy theme. Instead, I thought of two options. I could go Sci-Fi, likely a direction that we’ll start seeing more and more roll and write games go. Or, I could do wyrd west. Think Wild Wild West with Will Smith.

Why that theme, one it is kind of fantasy adjacent. You end up with crazy monsters or creatures that you can play as. But it isn’t going to be your standard fantasy. Pull out your pistol, load up your pack mule, and get ready to adventure in the Wyrd West.

Why Theme First?

Honestly, theme can be where you start, but I doubt it is standard for most designers. Or if it is, it is something that is held onto loosely. In this case, since I thought about it in the context of what Paper Dungeons is doing, I wondered what else might work theme wise for a campaign. It is more specific at a campaign level.

It is also important for me, while I own roll and writes and other games where the theme isn’t there, for me theme is important. If you hook me with a theme from the beginning, I am more likely to buy a game. And Wyrd West, Fantasy, or Sci-Fi all hook me when I think about.

So when I design or start to design an idea, theme is going to be important for me. And I want what I design in the game to make sense in the theme. If I put something into the game that doesn’t make sense, it firstly makes the game harder to teach. But it also breaks the immersion in the theme and in the game.

Why Wyrd West?

So any setting is going to give some level of ability to create a story. Wyrd West is just not one that I see used all that often. To go along with that, it lends itself to a fair number of the fantasy story tropes, but giving you a different setting for them.

Plus, then you are still able to create some of those leveling and story progression items. What character do you pick to start, are you the crafty outlaw, the robot sheriff, the damsel working at the bar with a dead eye shot? There is a lot of story there, and ways that you can build upon those characters.

Wyrd West also allows you to explore a lot of different things for monsters. Zombies, Vampires, Lizardfolk, other dimensions, all of them are fair game. I can even lean into Steampunk if I want, again harkening back to Wild Wild West and their giant mechanical spider.

Campaign Roll and Write Next Steps?

So what is the next thing I need to think through. The mechanics of the game, really, though some of those, being a roll and write, are going to be somewhat in place. But I want to think about missions, what do they look like, how the campaign progresses, and how characters level up or gain new abilities.

That is the one thing I really miss from the Paper Dungeons campaign is progression. I want to take something I got last game, or in between games to make what I do grow. Your standard campaign has character progression, so I want to figure out what that’ll look like in my game.

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Ranking My Sci-Fi Games https://nerdologists.com/2022/03/ranking-my-sci-fi-games/ https://nerdologists.com/2022/03/ranking-my-sci-fi-games/#respond Mon, 21 Mar 2022 15:02:29 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=6816 What Sci-Fi board games have I played, and how do I rank them? It's fewer than fantasy but also a theme I really love, so what more should I play?

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Not too long ago I ranked all of my fantasy games and there were a lot of them. A theme that I also love is Sci-Fi, but I have way less of them. You can see how many fantasy games I have here. But I still love Sci-Fi games because they, like fantasy, can tell great stories. It’s just a theme that I am getting more games in it, but haven’t played as many. Fantasy, for a long time dominated what would sell. But let’s see how I rank all the 15 Sci-Fi games on my list.

Ranking My Sci-Fi Games

16. Star Wars: Destiny

I don’t dislike Star Wars: Destiny, I just find that I have room for one collectible game in my life. And right now that is Magic: The Gathering. Destiny is fun, though, because it is cheaper to play. And I know someone who has a bunch of cards (they bought all of mine) so I can play it if I want that way. But it’s a good head to head game.

15: Firefly: The Game

This is a game that I really need to give another chance. Again, I don’t dislike this game, it’s just that I kind of played it once. Everyone was learning and nothing was going that well for us in it. And it just got longer and longer without making progress. But I see how the game works and I think there are some cool elements there. And I know there are people who really like the game. So I want to try it again and set aside the time and group to really play it.

14: Legendary Encounters: Firefly

Much like Firefly: The Game, Legendary Encounters Firefly is one that I’ve had fun with, but I want to play more. I really like the show, and I think that the Encounters version of Legendary works better than the Marvel version. And it also falls into the category of I know someone who owns the game, so I could pretty easily play it again if I wanted.

Cosmic Encounter
Image Source: Fantasy Flight

13: Cosmic Encounter

Cosmic Encounter is one that I had in my collection, I really enjoyed, and I traded away. Mainly because I don’t think I can get it to the table all that often. Cosmic Encounter is a really silly negotiation game that works when people lean into that negotiation. There is strategy to the game, but you need to lean into that negotiation to make it work. So it just limits who I can play it with, but I’d never turn down a chance to play Cosmic Encounter.

12: Cry Havoc

Cry Havoc was high on my Top 100 a few years ago, and it dropped down and I sold it. Again, a game that I really enjoy and I would play any chance I could. But it’s an asymmetric game so it is a bit harder to teach and play. With that, I prefer Root to it which is in the same family of asymmetric games. But this is a fun area control game with a cool combat mechanic that is simple but different.

11: Star Wars: Imperial Assault

More Star Wars on the list. Imperial Assault also left the collection only because it is a campaign game. Campaign games are harder to get to the table for sure and Imperial Assault is not exception. I want to get it back sometime and play it. I liked the app that you can use with it to play fully cooperatively. And I like that it feels like a Star Wars adventure.

10: Shadowrun Crossfire

I almost didn’t add this to the list, I don’t know where I want to put Cyber-Punk. But Cyber-Punk is Sci-fi. Shadowrun Crossfire is a game of deck building and defeating challenges, getting XP, and leveling up your characters slowly. That’s the big knock on the game that you don’t level up fast enough, but people house rule around that. It is one I need to dive more into the game, I think you can play it solo, even if it is multi-handed solo gaming.

Gravwell Board
Image Source: Renegade Games

9: Gravwell

Gravwell is an abstract game with a space theme put on top of it. In particular Gravwell has you getting passed through a wormhole that is closing and now you use different elements to try and escape back. But the different element either pull you towards the nearest object, push you from it, or pull them towards you. It’s a fun little puzzle that keeps it close until someone can get the right cards to make it to the end.

8: Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars in a box, as people like to call it. Star Wars: Rebellion has the Rebels trying to undermine the Empire and complete missions. The Empire is trying to figure out where the Rebels secret base is. All while building up troops and skirmishing as you go. It’s a massive two player game, but an amazing one. If you have the time it is worth sitting down with an getting that original trilogy Star Wars feel.

7: Under Falling Skies

Under Falling Skies is Space Invaders meets Independence Day. This is a solo game about fighting off waves of alien ships and researching the mother ship in order to beat the game. I have yet to beat the game, but it is a lot of fun. But I always feel like I’m getting close. I also really like that high numbers make some ships descend faster but are more useful to research or blow up ships. It’s a clever system and a pretty big little game.

6: Galaxy Trucker

I normally don’t like real time games but Galaxy Trucker is an exception. In Galaxy Trucker you build out your cargo ship as fast as you can. Then you sit back an watch it get blown up. Well, ideally not blown up, and ideally you pick up cargo along the way. You deal with asteroids, space pirates, and come across planets full of goods along the way. It might be too chaotic for some, but I really like it.

5: Battlestar Galactica

BSG (Battlestar Galactica) is a massive game of survival when you might have hidden traitors among you. The Cylons are aboard the ship and you might not even know you are one. This is a massive three hours deduction, survival, even a bit of social deduction game. You try and figure out who is a Cylon and if you can get them off the ship in time before they mess everything up. But that’s way easier said than done.

4: T.I.M.E Stories

TIME Stories is almost any setting. There is Ancient Egypt, a land of dragons, pirates, zombies taking over a town, an asylum, you name it. But the core conceit of the game is that you are launching out, sending your mind back in time from the future, to deal with these problems, where time is changing. The concept is amazing, and I have liked each adventure I’ve gone on. I wish it had more of a story running throughout, but the different missions all feel unique.

3: Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

Rogue Angels isn’t even out yet, I have only played it on TableTop Simulator (TTS) but it is amazing. You can watch my play through of it here with the designer, Emil Larson. The game just works, it is a dungeon crawl style game in space. But it isn’t a dungeon crawl game where you just go in fight the monsters and leave. You make important decisions. And you upgrade your character as you go. There is so much I like about this game. When I get a physical copy, I suspect it’ll move up higher.

2: Clank! In! Space!

Clank! In! Space! is a deck building adventure game where you are breaking into a spaceship, trying to be as quiet as possible so you don’t Clank about. But to move faster, defeat more bad guys, and generally win the game, you will need to Clank. Plus there is a push your luck element where you want to get as far in as you can to get the best treasure. But the longer you are in the ship, the more clank and damage you can accrue.

1: XenoShyft: Onslaught

Xenoshyft Onslaught
Image Source: CMON

XenoShyft is a tower defense deck building game with some amazing cooperative elements to it. Mainly, I can buy a card and then give you that card if you need help. You only have two troops to defend your side of the base in your hand, I can help you get more. I can even drop in a paratrooper in the middle of fighting a wave of bugs. Add in that you always get money, that’s even better. I rarely defeat the waves of bugs, but it’s so much fun to try.

Final Thoughts

I own a fair number more Sci-Fi themed games that I need to try. Middara blends Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Nemesis is basically Aliens the board game. And I just realized that I missed Not Alone on the list, probably top 6-7. But I still think there are more fantasy games out there that look interesting.

Some that I don’t own that I really should try are the different Dune games. I own the one based on the Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game system which I need to carve out a weekend chunk of time to play.

What are your favorite board games with a Sci-Fi theme?

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