Sky Kingdom Games | Nerdologists https://nerdologists.com Where to jump in on board games, anime, books, and movies as a Nerd Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:18:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://nerdologists.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nerdologists-favicon.png Sky Kingdom Games | Nerdologists https://nerdologists.com 32 32 Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 40 through 31 https://nerdologists.com/2025/10/top-100-games-of-all-time-2025-edition-40-through-31/ https://nerdologists.com/2025/10/top-100-games-of-all-time-2025-edition-40-through-31/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:15:07 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=9873 What games make it into the Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition? We're onto games 40 through 31 with three new games to the list.

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It’s time for the next 10. The articles will likely catch-up next week to where the videos are. But you can always checkout the videos for the Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition over on the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel. But the lists keep on going, and on this part of the Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition there are three new to me games. Let’s see which ones those are.

Catch Up on the Top 100 Games

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 40 through 31

40. Sushi Go Party!

Sushi Go Party
Image Source: Gamewright

Published By: Gamewright
Designer: Phil Walker-Harding

Buy Sushi Go Party!

Sushi Go and Sushi Go Party! are classic drafting games at this point. And I think with the fun theme and artwork more welcoming than other bigger group drafting games like 7 Wonders. In this game you draft a meal over three hands of cards. You score points for the sets of cards you get, depending on how those cards score. So an example is for each pair of tempura shrimp you score five points. Some might not score you points, though, if you get too many or too few of them. So it’s a fun changing strategy with lots of cards drafting game.

39. Ninjan

Ninjan
Image Source: Helvetiq

Published By: Helvetiq
Designer: 6jizo

Buy Ninjan

This little game I thought wasn’t going to be that interesting, but I really enjoy it. It’s rock paper scissors. But you don’t play against the other players, you play against a central set of cards. And if you beat a card you take that one and those are the points you get. The trick is that some points are negative. So if all the cards are negative in that middle display, you don’t want to beat them and take a card. It makes some some interesting choices and a lot of fun moments of trying not to get points.

38. First Rat

First Rat
Image Source: Pegasus Spiele

Published By: Pegasus Spiele
Designers: Gabriele Ausiello and Virginio Gigli

Buy First Rat

The moon is made a cheese, you’re rats so of course you know that to be true. And you want to get there. You do that by collecting resources to build up rocket parts and get your ratstronauts ready to go to space. This game is all about figuring out how you want to score and then optimizing that as you move your rats up tracks gaining resources and other things. I like how there is a variety of ways you can go about it in the game, and the theme is just great.

37. Let’s Go! To Japan

Let's Go! To Japan
Image Source: AEG

Published By: Alderac Entertainment Group
Designer: Josh Wood

Buy Let’s Go! To Japan

Second new game on the list Let’s Go! To Japan is one that I backed on Kickstarter but played first on BGA. This is another drafting game, I really enjoying drafting. In this game you want to create your best trip to Japan. And each day you have a certain goal you go for. So it might be food one day or cultural events. As you draft cards and plan your days you try and line that up. As well as you try and get the best scoring for each day that you can. There are a lot of fun things with how this drafting work. And it’s just fun to see your trip when you are done.

36. Guild of Merchant Explorers

The Guild of Merchant Explorers
Image Source: AEG

Published By: Alderac Entertainment Group
Designers: Matthew Dunstan and Brett J Gilbert

Buy Guild of Merchant Explorers

The last new game on the list is Guild of Merchant Explorers. This is a game with a roll and write feel but uses cubes for that. You are creating routes across your map and filling in areas to get points and create trading posts. I love how simple this game is, everyone has the same map and you flip a card and you place a cube or cubes on that type of terrain. But then you get special cards that make you different in each era and games start to go in very different ways. Plus the treasures which always feel like they should be better than they are, but I always want them.

35. The Isle of Cats: Explore and Draw

Isle of Cats Explore and Draw
Image Source: City of Games

Published By: The City of Games
Designer: Frank West

Buy Isle of Cats: Explore and Draw

This is one of the highest roll and write games on the list. The Isle of Cats: Explore and Draw is a really fun game where you are rescuing cats from an island before the bad guy gets there. And to do that you pick a column of cards to activate. Some of those columns are just cats and you add them to your ship trying to create groups of cats. Others might have scoring objectives, so it’s this fun balance of determining how you want to score or maybe you need more cats to make your scoring work. All this while having a polyomino puzzle on your board.

34. The Isofarian Guard

Isofarian Guard
Image Source: Sky Kingdom Games

Published By: Sky Kingdom Games
Designers: Eric Bittermann, Sean Craten, David Yanchick

Buy The Isofarian Guard

The Isofarian Guard is one of two bigger story games on the list. And I think you’ll find that a lot of the bigger story games are towards the top half of my list. I love this type of game. And The Isofarian Guard has a lot of fun bag building as you level up characters. Then you explore and enjoy a big story while hopping into combats and using that bag building to battle the bad guys. It’s interesting how there are multiple campaigns with different guard members that all happen during the same time period. That is unique to the game.

33. Forest Shuffle

Forest Shuffle
Image Source: Lookout Games

Published By: Lookout Games
Designer: Kosch

Buy Forest Shuffle

Some games give you a ton of points and Forest Shuffle is for sure one of those. In this game you build out a tableau that is your forest and surround the trees with flora and fauna. Every tree, every animal and every plant give you some benefit in some way. And your goal is to optimize is the best you can. Maybe you go all in on butterflies, or you get a bird card that scores more for other birds. You need to figure out your best scoring.

I need another paragraph to talk about the game because the card play and end game are so good. In the card play you spend cards from your hand to play cards, and that is always a tough decision as to which cards you might not get to play. And the end game is great with three winter cards in the bottom third of the deck. When you hit one or the second one, you know the end game is coming soon and you need to get cards played.

32. The 7th Citadel

7th Citadel
Image Source: Serious Pulp

Published By: Serious Poulp
Designer: Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter

Buy The 7th Citadel

Another story and campaign game, The 7th Citadel creates a really unique world of necrodruids and monsters that you avoid, fight, and challenges to complete. With a map that you build out each time you play, you explore new areas and directions to get through the scenarios of the story.

And how you do your combat or challenges is really enjoyable. Each character has a deck of cards. And you draw from that deck trying to get the right stars to line-up. You can draw a lot of cards, but if you do, you’ll run out of cards sooner. So maybe you draw fewer, or maybe you really need to pass, so you draw a lot but then spend health to get more back. But of course, when you spend health that is putting you closer to death that way.

31. Star Wars: Unlimited

Star Wars Unlimited Twilight of the Replubic
Image Source: Fantasy Flight

Published By: Fantasy Flight Games
Designers: Jim Cartwright, Tyler Parrott, Daniel Schaefer, Jeremy Zwirn

Buy Star Wars: Unlimited

The only TCG on the list is Star Wars: Unlimited. Though I’ve been loving Magic the Gathering again as well. But Star Wars: Unlimited is just an easier game to play. The actions being so simple and a back and forth one action and then one from your opponent is great. I also like the two theaters that you fight over, ground and space. Granted you can also just direct that damage at the base as well to try and take that down because that is how you win. And there are a lot of good synergies for building if you want to be a force user, a Mandalorian, or a Rebel, etc.

Join Next Week

Just as a reminder, I am streaming my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition every Wednesday night at 9 PM Central Time. The next few videos have their links up, so you can click notify on them to know when I go live. Or you can subscribe to the channel and click notify to know whenever a new video comes out. Currently I am playing through Legendary Kingdoms on Monday and then my wife and I are playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on Fridays. So join us for those videos.

And thank you for checking out the video and articles. Let me know what your favorite game from this chunk of 10 is and which one you would love to get played.

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Gamefound Spring Feast – Board Game Announcement https://nerdologists.com/2025/04/gamefound-spring-feast-board-game-announcement/ https://nerdologists.com/2025/04/gamefound-spring-feast-board-game-announcement/#respond Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:51:04 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=9541 The next Gamefound Feast has happened. What are the big games that are being announced coming up? And which will you back?

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It’s that time again. Though I feel kind of bad writing this up. I do want to just place out a word of warning to everyone right now. It’s not going to be a fun time for some board game companies. As I write this today Final Frontier Games, a company who worked through crowdfunding, has folded due to mismanagement of funds, tariffs and expectations on partnerships. You can read that on your own time and that’s all I’ll say about it. But right now be smart when it comes to backing. Look at how much a company has outstanding. But let’s get onto the Gamefound Feast.

Gamefound Spring Feast

Andromeda’s Edge: Genesis

It’s back with an expansion and reprint. If you want to get the game and you missed it the first time, this is going to be more. This is going to add in three more factions and new ways of scoring. This is really going to be one of those games where you feel like you missed out the first time, you can get all the stuff plus the new here.

Follow Andromeda’s Edge: Genesis here.

Puppet Masters: Return to Bodega Bay Inn

This is based off of the movies. And you want to survive against some puppets. This is going to be a cooperative game which is great. I love the horror theme. And it won’t be the last horror game on the list. But this one doesn’t have a ton of information. For me it’s one that I’d love to see more about it before I decide if it’s for me or not.

Follow Puppet Masters here.

Terrorscape 2

This is a hidden movement game with great 3D elements. The location is different and the killers are different. There are going to be some mechanical updates. You can fight back as one of the options for winning the game. I like the idea of Terrorscape, but hidden movement is often harder to get to the table. And if you are the person who knows the game, you are often the one who is doing the hiding. But if you want more of the game, this is going to be a standalone and add more for you to play.

Follow Terroscape 2.

Dawn of Madness Complete Collection

I want to back this one. But what I need to do is play Deep Madness first. But Dawn of Madness sounds amazing as well with a lot of narrative. I hope maybe by the time this comes to Gamefound I’ll be ready to back for it. It should be quick to production as well. But this is going to be a cooperative horror survival game which is a style and setting that I like.

Follow Dawn of Madness.

Borderlands: Mister Torgue’s Arena of Badassery 2

This is still going to be an arena boss battler sort of thing. I know it was on crowdfunding before. I’m not super interested in this one. I did love the video games, but this to me feels a bit more like just a big fighting system. And while conflict isn’t bad in a game, it’s not something that I just gravitate towards. The new boss battler element does make the game interesting for sure though.

Follow Borderlands 2 here.

S.H.E.O.L. Midnight Odyssey

Another game that I already own, though this is the 2.0 version. I need to get my copy played. This is a campaign style game where there is a ton of darkness and you need to keep connected. And the game is a puzzle for how you play everything out to create paths through the darkness to your objectives. I won’t be backing this one, but it’ll be tempting. Really, what it makes me want to play the game.

Follow S.H.E.O.L. Midnight Odyssey.

The Dark Carnival

This is a D&D campaign. I like the sounds of it, but it’s an RPG campaign so it’s going to be a pass for me. But this is supposed to be a mid-level story that you can drop into your campaign which is great. I think there is more need for that and it’s something that can help Dungeon Masters.

Follow The Dark Carnival here.

Vampire The Masquerade – Palermo Conspiracies

This is another game on the Teberu system. I really like the sound of this and the Milan Uprising one that has already been backed and might be out already or coming out. I wish that it was out already if they are doing a new one. But this is going to give you that RPG feeling with the game maintaining a living world for you.

Follow Vampire the Masquerade – Palermo Conspiracies here.

Sniper Elite – Operation Kraken

This is another hidden movement. I know that people love the first printing. They are adding in expansions as well for it. I think it’s a game that sounds like a lot of fun, but again a hidden role game and that’s harder to get to the table. It doesn’t seem like it’s a super hard for the game to get played.

Sniper Elite – Operation Kraken on Gamefound here.

Neuroshima Hex

This is a board game, but this is going to be a video game of the board game. I believe that an app version has existed for a while, but this is going to bring it to more systems and possibly bring it back. I’m assuming that it’ll be updated to a more modern look as well. I thought that Neuroshima Hex is an interesting game but I didn’t love it.

Follow Neuroshima Hex here.

Trismegistus 2nd Edition

I never played the original. This is a complex game. It is suppose to be slightly more accessible. But there is a ton going on for it. It’s not one that still really interests me that much. But if someone were to have it I’d love to play it, either the new or old version of it.

Follow Trismegistus on Gamefound.

HiveMind Modular Hex Trays

These are modular movement trays. This is for miniature games which is not something that I do. So it’s going to be interesting to me. But if you like miniatures games, this might be something that is nice for you.

Follow HiveMind here.

The Isofarian Guard – Veilward

I knew about this one a week or so ago. This is going to give you a new campaign set in the world of The Isofarian Guard. What happens after you finish the base game, that’s the question. And it’s going to provide some new mechanisms for it as well. I like the sounds of it and it’s one that I hope I’ll be able to back as I enjoyed what I played of The Isofarian Guard.

Follow Veilward here on Gamefound.

Dale of Merchants: 10th Anniversary

This is going to be a preprint of Snowdale Design competitive deck-building game. It is going to be new content, it’ll be old content, and a new solo mode. If you like this game, this version might be an update to get it back to the table. Or if you haven’t gotten into the game, this might be a chance to jump into the game.

Follow Dale of Merchants 10th Anniversary here.

Ronin’s Revenge

This is from Dragori Games who made Taneres Adventures. This is going to be a boss battler game with no dice or luck. They say that it’s going to be Souls-like game, which I think means expect to die often. This could be a cool change. I won’t lie, this is a game that I’d love to back but also a company that I might worry about based off of tariffs and how big their games are. It’s going to be more than just a boss battler though, there is going to be elements as well that campaign feeling as well.

Follow Ronin’s Revenge here.

Punica: Rome vs Carthage

This is a two player strategy game. I don’t love the looks of this game, not in terms of the art, that looks great, but it doesn’t look too exciting to me. It’s going to be that war game feel but it should play very quickly in that it’s a twenty minute game.

Follow Punica on Gamefound here.

Conquest of Paradise

Like the last game this one is from Phalanx Games. This again is going to be a war type of game, though this one is going to be more than that. This one gives you a fight over the seas to see how can reign supreme in the end. I don’t feel like this is the type of game that I’m going to jump into, but it is more interesting than Punica.

Follow Conquest of Paradise here.

Hood

Play as different factions in England with Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. This is going to be a very asymmetric game. It sounds fun, but it is asymmetric and that means it might be harder to teach. I hope that it’s not to the point of Root, but I’m worried that it might be. And it’s a 90 to 120 minute game, so with a teach, does that means that it’s three hours?

Follow Hood from Phalanx games here.

Mesopotamia

This seems like a civilization game. And that sounds cool, kind of back in the history of the world. It’s going to be a 4x game as well. And it’s going to have a lot of different events that happen in the world and it’s going to change the landscape as well. This sounds fun, but as a 4x game, it’s going to be one that I pass on as I can’t see getting it played.

Follow Mesopotamia on Gamefound.

Black Rose Wars – Revised Edition

This is a game that needs a 2nd edition. And I hope that it’s one that sounds interesting to me again. I think the theme has always worked for me. But as a game it was always just a lot to understand what was going on. So if they cleaned up the rule book this might be a chance to jump back into it. As I like the sound of being a mage and slinging spells to be the last one standing or the head of the lodge. If it is better, I’ll be looking at this one after the campaign.

Follow Black Rose Wars Revised Edition here.

Paperback Adventures Vol 2

This is going to be more for Paperback Adventures. I own the original stuff and I need to play it. But I haven’t played it yet, so I am not going to do it. This is going to be a solo game but now adding in multiplayer. Should this be one that I play on Malts and Meeples, yes it should be, so time to start learning another game. And I think it being a word game is really interesting as well. Multiplayer is fully cooperative as well.

Follow Paperback Adventures Vol 2 on Gamefound.

Final Thoughts

There are a ton of things. Though right now, like I said, I’m going to be a bit more hesitant to back some of these. The ones that excite me the most are Dawn of Madness. This is gone that I really believe that I’d love and I’ve been keeping an eye on it on eBay as well. But now this might be a smarter way to pick it up at hopefully a better price point.

Other than that one, I think that Paperback Adventures is going to be a game that I enjoy And if I enjoy this as well as one that I could play and enjoy with my wife. And the final one that I want to back is Veilward. I think that one is obvious. I played some of The Isofarian Guard and I really enjoyed it. So coming back and getting more makes sense for me. Especially because it’s more that doesn’t make the base game harder to get to the table.

Which one interests you the most?

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The Isofarian Guard – Game Play 7 https://nerdologists.com/2023/09/the-isofarian-guard-game-play-7/ https://nerdologists.com/2023/09/the-isofarian-guard-game-play-7/#respond Thu, 07 Sep 2023 11:35:06 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=8339 I push forward on the main quest. What adventure does that present for Grigory and Alek in The Isofarian Guard board game on Malts And Meeples.

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It’s time to continue on our main quest, at least for now, in The Isofarian Guard. What choices will Grigory and Alek make? And do I make the optimal one for them? The answer is probably not, but that means my playthrough of The Isofarian Guard first campaign might be different than others. So join me was I play over on Malts and Meeples on YouTube.

The Isofarian Guard – Second Crowdfunding Campaign

Now that the Isofarian Guard has been out for a little bit, it is getting a second campaign. First time it went to Kickstarter and this time it is on Gamefound. If you own the game, do you need to pay attention to this campaign?

Returning Backers

The answer is, yes, you should. There is an upgrade pack and it is going to provide a fair number of upgrades to your game. Mainly, every book, campaign book, quest book, indexes, has been redone. Plus new cards as well, and anything else that is new and unlocked in this campaign. So there is a lot of new stuff to add to your game that hopefully will all be an improvement.

And it’ll be worth seeing what all the unlocks are. Right now it is that the quests are now on Foreteller, or will be. And that is going to be nice, that means that the whole experience, storywise, will be able to be played and narrated. The other things is that there is a new water location, I’m assuming a tile or sticker for the board. And there are more events, which, I haven’t gone through them all yet.

But events are used across all the campaigns. So I will repeat as I do different characters and their campaigns. That is nice, then, because it’ll slow that down. And I feel like I might see them all in a single campaign, or a lot of them. But now, I don’t think that I will.

New Backers

How about if you are new. Unfortunately and expectedly the price has gone up. The original crowdfunding campaign was an amazing and unsustainable price point. So it does cost more. If this is a game you should back or not, I want to just leave you with my game plays. Does the game look fun for you?

That is what I like so much about game play video. It might not be for everyone, a review might make more sense for you. But for me, game play helps me the most. It shows me how the game is played and while in campaign games there are spoilers, hopefully not too many. And hopefully not to the point where that might be lacking in the game. Plus, you can pick the option that I didn’t.

So if the game looks fun, then back it. If it doesn’t, skip it. There is a ton of content out there for it, or at least enough, including my own. So there is enough information to make an informed decision.

Upcoming Streams

Let’s start with next Wednesday at 8 PM Central. The plan is more of The Isofarian Guard. I want to know what adventures Alek and Grigory get up to. But, it is getting close to when I start my Top 100 Games (Of All Time) 2023 Edition. I plan to do the rankings on that very soon. So I likely will play The Isofarian Guard 3 more weeks and then do my Top 100 Games (Of All Time) 2023 Edition. So be aware that switch will happen soon.

And then on Monday. The Wilds of Eldraine are coming out from Magic The Gathering. So I might open up packs of that. If I don’t, a solo board game is going to be the plan. And I don’t foresee that podcasting will get in the way. So I plan to stream and join me then to see what the game I get to the table is, or what fun cards I might open. Monday I stream at 9 PM Central.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

Send an Email
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The Isofarian Guard – Game Play 6 https://nerdologists.com/2023/08/the-isofarian-guard-game-play-6/ https://nerdologists.com/2023/08/the-isofarian-guard-game-play-6/#respond Thu, 31 Aug 2023 11:43:07 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=8326 What adventures await in The Isofarian Guard by Sky Kingdom Games? Join me as I explore the world on Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel.

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More adventure and combat await for Alek and Grigory in The Isofarian Guard. I explore new parts of the game that we just unlocked at the end of last session and maybe don’t get as far as I would have liked because of an early decision. So join me with as I tackle the next combats, story, and adventure in The Isofarian Guard on Malts and Meeples YouTube.

The Isofarian Guard

The road events are an element of The Isofarian Guard I haven’t talked about too much. I want to talk about Fort Istra and the quests, but right now I need to go and do more with that so I learn their benefits more so. It is a bit premature to talk about them otherwise.

But I did several more road events this time, and I think that they are interesting. It is random when you get road events, which I’m calling that, probably more just events. And sometimes they are good, sometimes not so good. But it is based on the choices that you make. And I knew that the odds were, then I got the really bad result, I chose wrong. But I wanted to see what that story was.

The events add to the story of the world. It is supposed to make the world feel more alive and I think that it does. Much like Gloomhaven with town and road events, they offer you a choice or two or three. And you need to guess from the description given which is the better option. And I think compared to Gloomhaven these are better. Gloomhaven’s were often guess work, at least the first time out.

With The Isofarian Guard, I am fairly confident I know what the safe option is each time. The question is, is the safe option the best option, or is the other option better. Often with Gloomhaven, it is a coin flip. The information to go on is too limited. So, The Isofarian Guard knocks it out of the park when it comes to events.

Upcoming Streams

Let’s start with next Monday, it is Labor Day, so I may or may not stream. The question is mainly around if I need to record a podcast that night or not. I hope to record on Sunday, and if I record then, I likely will stream. But I also plan to go to the Minnesota State Fair that day, which means that I might be too tired from greasy food on a stick and walking around the fair for hours. I’ll know closer to streaming time at 9 PM Central.

If I stream on Monday, there is a chance it’ll be opening up some Magic the Gathering packs and chatting. Or reviewing and talking about Rogue Angels which is launching on Kickstarter that day.

Wednesday is going to be The Isofarian Guard again. My hope is to make it to the next story moment and then up to the first questing location. I want to see what a quest looks like and how it works. My Wednesday stream is at 8 PM Central. And there is no reason that stream will not happen.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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Now Presenting: The Isofarian Guard https://nerdologists.com/2023/04/now-presenting-the-isofarian-guard/ https://nerdologists.com/2023/04/now-presenting-the-isofarian-guard/#comments Mon, 24 Apr 2023 11:45:03 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7957 A crowdfunding game is coming in. The Isofarian Guard is bigger, box wise, then Frosthaven, so what drew me into this monster of a game?

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Let’s face it, some board games, when they show up, are big. They will dominate your YouTube reviews and game plays. Of course, that is if they are what the crowdfunding or prereleases promised. One of those games which is coming for me tomorrow, I believe, is The Isofarian Guard by Sky Kingdom Games. So before it gets here, let’s revisit the hype and why it was worth picking up.

Crowfunding Isofarian Guard

Let’s first off start by talking about the Kickstarter campaign, which I actually didn’t back. Back around when it came to Kickstarter I had just backed a handful of campaign games, and when I say a handful, I mean a small moving truck full. And Isofarian Guard promised another small moving truck full of game. Though, in reality a lot smaller than a lot of those.

But the game itself was one that I was interested in. Rolling Solo had a game play of it to show off how it worked at least in prototype form. And the mechanics looked interesting to me, but I wasn’t blown away by it. The story, however, I knew that I loved the idea of it. So Isofarian Guard stayed on my radar.

The Prototype

Now, this is where it got interesting. I saw the prototype for Isofarian Guard on a video(s) that Quackalope and BoardGameCo did. And man, is there a lot in the game. In fact, there is so much in the game that I went back and looked at it again. Why, because I thought it might be worth it for the price point. And well, I was right.

Size to Cost Ratio

Let’s just talk about the size of this game, because it is huge. It is bigger than Frosthaven, a very big box and game. And it is cheaper. Now, there are elements in which it has less. But weight wise and size wise it is larger than Frosthaven, so Isofarian Guard is huge. In fact, it’s too large to fit in a Kallax cubby which means I’m heaving it to the top of a Kallax or a need to find another solution.

But that doesn’t cover the cost. The game is cheaper than Frosthaven as well. So larger box but cheaper overall. And it is a lot cheaper than more recent campaign games on crowdfunding. Even when I late pledged it after watching the BoardGameCo video, it was cheaper than the campaign games showing up at that time.

So for me, and where I was with what I had backed recently, I got the late pledge. Even if it is not a game that I love, I think mechanically more than story wise, it is a worthwhile investment.

The Mechanisms of Isofarian Guard

So let’s finish up by talking about the mechanisms in the game and then the story. But the mechanisms need to sell me on themselves for the game. Isofarian Guard is a story adventure game that has two parts. The first part is traveling through the lands. Then you go and have story phases, or more story focused phases in settlements. This might sound like another game, Oathsworn.

But the main mechanism that I want to talk about is bag building and pulling out chips for attack, defense, and other abilities. I think that looks interesting, but it didn’t sell me on it. Mainly, it seems simpler to me than a lot of other games. Let’s compare it again to Oathsworn. That has hand management with a cool down track, and a push your luck element. This is build your bag and assign the chips you pull. But I suspect that there is more than that from the taste I got.

The Story

And the story is something that sells me on the game. Again, this is what I remember, because the game has been in production for a while. The world is one where there really isn’t magic, or not much magic. Magic is something of the legends and when a group of the kings finest guard or at least trusted soldiers, become imbued with magic that might end a war, they think that is weird but great.

The king, when they return, he is not a fan. And if I remember again, he is listening to a character that I can best describe as a Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings. Someone who is poisoning the mind of the ruler and leading them into decisions that are not good for their kingdom.

That is a story that I am sold on. It is interesting, offers depth. And does a few things that are unique. In the box is a number of campaigns. But it isn’t like you pick one and play it and then the next one follows along after. I believe that they all happen at the same time as I you play different groups of the guard who split off to complete different objectives from the start of the story. That is a very interesting idea.

Final Thoughts on The Isofarian Guard

Let’s be fair, I late-pledged this game because I love campaign games. But there is another reason as well. While, Isofarian Guard looks like a table hog. It is a solo campaign game. If I couldn’t have played it solo, I wouldn’t have backed it. It is a game that I plan on playing on Malts and Meeples.

Of course, I need to play play other campaign games first. But most likely, not today, but next week I will unbox the game. Show off all the components because, it is a lot and there are some interesting things to look at in the game. I love a campaign game for that. And I want to play it as soon as a can. In fact, it might be the game that I play after ISS Vanguard, we will have to see. I own others like Oathsworn that are high on my list to play as well.

Did you back The Isofarian Guard?

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Back or Brick: Dungeons of Infinity https://nerdologists.com/2021/09/back-or-brick-dungeons-of-infinity/ https://nerdologists.com/2021/09/back-or-brick-dungeons-of-infinity/#respond Wed, 08 Sep 2021 12:43:39 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=6118 Delve into the dungeon and world in Dungeons of Infinity a Solo, Cooperative, and Competitive dungeon crawl from Sky Kingdom Games.

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Delve into the dungeon and level up your hero as you fight monsters and try and complete scenarios. Dungeons of Infinity by Sky Kingdom Games is a 1-5 player solo, cooperative, and competitive dungeon crawl game.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skykingdomgames/dungeons-of-infinity-kingdom-cost?ref=discovery_category_newest

Pros

  • Proven design
  • Cooperative/Solo
  • Campaign and scenarios
  • Character Progression
  • GameTrayz
  • Price
  • No Minis Version

Cons

  • Shipping
  • No Minis
  • 20 Sided Dice

The Page

This is a pretty solid page. I like that they lay out all the characters that you can play and that all the characters while being a bit generic in what they are, don’t look as generic as a lot of fantasy games. A good variety of fantasy characters is always fun to play around with.

I also like that they are addressing what I’m guessing were some of their bigger issues. They used to have sliders on their board(s) for the characters, or separate boards, not sure, but now they are doing dual layer boards. And it looks like a lot of pieces, so they are adding in GameTrayz as well. While I don’t need every game to have a fancy insert, a dungeon crawler game with lots of pieces, it’s nice to have a good way to get it to the table quickly.

The Game

The game itself has some things I like and some things that I don’t. One thing that I do like about the game is that you can quickly set-up the dungeon/scenario, from the looks of it. From what I can tell you just place out tiles, you don’t need specific tiles in specific spots, that means that you don’t need to dig through everything. Just shuffle up the tiles and lay them out as shown. There are enough other pieces to this game that I can imagine it’d take a bit to set-up without picking out specific tiles.

On the flip side, I don’t love the fact that this is a D20 based game. I really like Dungeons and Dragons and I have a lot for it. But that’s because as the DM, I can mitigate how bad things get if the players roll poorly. Now, I am just guessing that’s how it works because there doesn’t seem to be any other combat method. I hope that there are ways to mitigate bad rolls to some extent though. My guess is what would be with the equipment that you can get early in the game.

Back or Brick

Right now, I think that this is Brick for me. But, I also don’t think I’d regret getting it. I am worried about the combat and I’d probably want to watch a playthrough. But Dungeons of Infinity is one that I’m going to keep checking on. What’s keeping me from backing right now is the D20’s and the fact I have a number of other dungeon crawlers.

That said, if this game looks good to you, it does have the first edition already out in the hands of people. You can see real ratings and reviews for it over on Board Game Geek. For me, I think the fact I have more dungeon crawlers means I’m not sure that one will get played and with Descent: Legends of the Dark that I just got and other games like Oathsworn and Chronicles of Drunagor coming in, I don’t have room for this one.

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