The 7th Citadel – The Story

Let’s start be talking about the New Beginnings part of the game gives you story. Because I expect this is how we’ll see it throughout the game, but need to confirm that. In The 7th Citadel it’s done through two different ways. And neither way to provide the person playing the game story is too long. I like that about the game in that no element breaks up the core mechanisms of the game too much.

Cards

Instead it gives it to you in quick hits. A bit bigger when you read from the dialog book, but it’s always a steady amount in the game. Every time you grab a new card, you get more story. When you get dialog, it develops the story. And they do it in two different ways.

When you get it off of the cards, it always directs you more around the world. Yes, you see what is happening in the context of the moment, but it is learning more about the world. I appreciate that besides a little bit at before you start the game there is no knowledge dump. It’s just showing you and reacting you to things you already know.

Dialog

Then in the dialog you direct it more so. Obviously my two interactions were really short yesterday. I think I did one thing each time, or maybe two. Either way it isn’t that much. But that I make my decisions around it. If I were to make different decisions it takes me to different text points. But it is more under my control.

One thing I do wonder about dialog is how often it influences my game of The 7th Citadel going forward. I don’t expect much in the New Beginnings. Though, there is a little bit in there that then tells me what to setup up for going forward. But as I play through my new threat, are there going to be dialog options that really change the world or influence and add or block off paths for me as I make them? We’ll have to see.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I play small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well. And I might do more deck construction with Star Wars Unlimited on Mondays as well or pack openings.

On Wednesdays, I play solo campaign games. I plan on playing a campaign game coming up. Right now I’m torn between two games. Well, more than that if you watched through the end of the video. The next game is the one that I just unboxed, 7th Citadel. So I plan to start playing it next week or at least do character building and then dive into the game.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Rogue Angels – The Characters

Let’s talk about the characters and how they differ in this game. It’s another area where I think the game can shine. You see me play with two characters in the game, but there are so many more. There are 16 different heroes that you can play as. And I like that variety in the game because right now I have two pretty different types of heroes.

Taria is my tank of a character. She is best at attacking and can hit from a long distance. Even her movement card that’s stronger is about her moving into range and doing damage. She also has an area affect damage that she can do which makes her better when she finds herself surrounded.

Gia on the other hand, they are more on the stealth and tactical side of the game. Yes, Gia can dish out some damage when need be, but their cloaking and their ability to interact with objects at range really sets them up to be the one who infiltrates areas.

Now, those show two of them like I said before. And right now I’m just playing with two because it makes it easier on me. In the prototype box there are a total of four characters to play. And you might see some or one of them later on. Why, because Rogue Angels is about getting attached and roll playing your characters. But survival is not guaranteed. When you die, you pick a new character. So the campaign continues just with someone new for you.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. That is going to be interspersed with learning to paint. I am not going to be teaching you how to paint, I’m going to be learning myself. So join me on Monday for solo gaming or painting.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least 10 games of Rogue Angels. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. My goal, play four different campaigns 10 times each. It’s tricky, but I think that I can do it. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games. The next part of Rogue Angels can be found coming up here.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Rogue Angels – Action System

Let’s next talk about the card play system. I think for me, that’s one of the areas that Rogue Angels really shines in. The card play is simple and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s not that the card actions or choices are simple, it’s that how you play with the cards is simple.

Cards fall into specific slots on your cooldown track. And at the end of your turn they cool down. So something that is very good, it might land on the track at a four. Or something that is a bit more basic, quick movement, or further movement I should say, might be a two. So you get to do that extra movement more often.

Filled Slots

But the game also doesn’t let you do actions if you can’t place them. Now, it’s probably rare that you’d do it to yourself, but wounds take up spots on the action track as well. The more wounds you take, the more that they fill in. So it’s possible to have all four action spots completely filled. As a player you need to decide if you just compete with your basic action cards or you rest, and cool down other actions faster, or cool the wounds off of the track faster. The sooner they come off the track, the sooner you can play more cards.

Though, if there is still room on the track, you can always play a card in a slot higher than it should be. So a card that cools down at a two you can place up to the four if you want. This can be forced, if there is already a card in the two and three slot. Or it can happen if you choose as well. And you might choose because some cards, stealth for example, stay persistent while it’s in the track.

Basic Cards

Now, sometimes you just don’t have a card that works, or the one you want to use is further up the track. So the game never locks you out of actions. You always are able to play a basic interact and a basic move card. They both do a base of one, so they are worse than your other cards. But if you need to move twice and you’re cooling down your good move card, it is always an option.

And, like I said, you can always do it twice. Even the same action. They go into the zero slot for cooldown. The zero slot doesn’t actually exist. When something gets to zero it goes back to your hand. So in this case you play it and immediately get it back, no waiting for the end of the turn. I appreciate this element of the system as well because it means that you always can do something, which is important for a game.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. That is going to be interspersed with learning to paint. I am not going to be teaching you how to paint, I’m going to be learning myself. So join me on Monday for solo gaming or painting.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least 10 games of Rogue Angels. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. We’ll see if I am able to get four different campaigns played at least 10 games this year. It’s tricky, but I think that I can do it. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games. The next part of Rogue Angels can be found coming up here.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Campaign Games

Honestly, a lot of what you see is going to stay the same. I want to do better with more campaign games. I think that I can get 4 campaigns played at 10 games per campaign in this year. Last year I think I got three in, so this year the goal is four. Theoretically I might get in five, but because of Holidays, Top 100 Games of all time, Gen Con and other things, four seems more reasonable and that is going to be tricky.

But let’s talk about the games that I want to play. Starting off with Rogue Angels. I plan on playing through as much of this as I can. It’s still available for late pledge. But then I want to revisit one that I already did a play of.

I want to play more Chronicles of Drunagor. I didn’t like how it was playing with opening doors and everything being a bit of a mess that way for setting up mid stream. But I think I know how I want to fix it. And the other two, well, we’ll have to see. I have Sleeping Gods – Distant Skies, there is Assassins Creed, and I recently got Kingdom: Death Monster. And more should be showing up as well.

Solo Games & Painting

Obviously all of them are solo, but the plan for Monday is to continue with the solo games, but I want to add in a twist or change to it. Solo games, one offs, will be every other week. And then I want to mix in something else other times. One of the things might be doing Mythwind the game from Open Owl Games (used to be OOMM) as it’s a solo/multiplayer game with no real win condition. So that is going to get mixed in as well as Slay the Spire once in a while.

But I also mentioned that I have a game like Kingdom Death Monster and other games with a lot of grey plastic. Well, I have paints and brushes and a goal this year to paint more. So I might start streaming some of that every other Monday as well. I think that is going to be part of the every other Monday routine or maybe once a month. I want to paint more than that, you need to practice to get good, but maybe once a month streaming would be fun. Basically I want to give myself a bit more of a schedule for Mondays.

Malts and Meeples Goal

My goal is to continue to grow the channel. And I want to thank the people who have joined in 2023 and who keep on watching it over all the years. I really appreciate everyone and I hope if you enjoy the content that you’ll continue to watch and join live as you can.

And let me know what you think about the content and changes. Are there videos that you’d like to see me do more of? Other things that you hope from the channel, let me know. I want to keep my focus on solo gaming, but how does that work the best for you? Do you like the campaign plays or do you like more one off plays? Do you like it when I do Top 10’s or not?

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Is Ganz Schon Clever Solvable?

I like Ganz Schon Clever a lot, but I think for some people it might have a bit of a shelf life. Why, because Ganz Schon Clever might be solvable. What do I mean by that, I think that Ganz Schon Clever likely has an ideal way to get an ideal score in the game. Or at least to score consistently well, there might be another strategy that is better, but there is one that is consistently good. I never got it on this stream, nor will I go over it here, you need to find it out.

But that is the concern about a game like this, I think, for some people. Once you’ve played it a number of times, it is going to be one that there is a right answer to. I think, that for some people, this is going to get the game on their shelf, to solve the puzzle, then off their shelf once they do that. But it hasn’t left mine yet, is there a reason for that?

Firstly, I think some of it is that I just like the simplicity and the combinations of this game. When I sit down and play it, I need to think about what I am doing. But because I know my strategy, I don’t need to spend a lot of brain power on it. So it’s that nice balance of a game where I can chat through it or use it to clear my head. So I believe that is some of why it hasn’t left my colleciton.

I also enjoy trying to solve the puzzle. It’s like putting together a puzzle versus having their very dynamic every changing game. I know the end results that I want to get in Ganz Schon Clever. But the question is, will I be able to get those results in time? Or is this going to be a game where I just miss what I want. And will the dice let me, and rerolls let me, fill in what I need?

But that is not going to be the right reasons for everyone. Do you feel like it is too solvable?

Upcoming Streams

Let’s run through the stream structure like I normally do. You might already know the schedule but in case you don’t. Wednesday at 8 PM Central I stream either a campaign game, or with this time of year it’s my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. This upcoming Wednesday I’m back to my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition the following week for 30 through 21.

Then on Monday I stream at 9 PM Central time. It’s generally a solo game. Though I’ll also do pack openings for things But normally it’s a solo game and a one off for the game like a roll and write, or sometimes a game like Under Falling Skies or For Northwood, which was on the list today.

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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Fishing Lessons

This was a fun and fast game to play yesterday, though you can see my break it down a bit at the end. The question I keep on having about the game is, what is it’s longevity? Because this is a small Button Shy Game, as all of them are, it is limited on the number of cards that you can have. You always have the same seven water cards, though their order changes. You also play with the same lessons, but their order changes.

The main thing that changes up the game, or isn’t as static, is the fact that you have a different person fishing. So one character might want to get two fish of one type and three of another. And your job is to solve the puzzle so only cards that are scoring are facing upright. This is also done from the lesson cards. And the game does give you varying levels of difficulty. Easy is, I’ll say, pretty easy. But I also was able to win, I believe, on medium one time without much issue.

For me the big question I have about the game is how engaging it’ll be long term? Is this a game where now that I’ve solved the puzzle three times that I’m going to be drawn to trying to solve it again? Or will it be a game where the puzzle feels similar each time? Though, now that I’m thinking about it, how much luck is there? I beat it easily and quickly twice. I’m not sure that is a great sign for the game, if it’s too lucky that way.

Upcoming Streams

Let’s run through the stream structure like I normally do. You might already know the schedule but in case you don’t. Wednesday at 8 PM Central I stream either a campaign game, or with this time of year it’s my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. And join me next Wednesday for games 60 through 51, so hitting the half way point. It goes so fast, and now I have so many games that I want to play.

Then on Monday I stream at 9 PM Central time. It’s generally a solo game. Though I’ll also do pack openings for things as well. But normally it’s a solo game and a one off for the game like a roll and write, or sometimes a game like Under Falling Skies which was on the list today.

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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ISS Vanguard Sessions

This isn’t a breakdown of all of the previous sessions, you can check those out over on Malts and Meeples. And I will try and organize things soon over there so that there are playlists that you can go through. But I want to talk about the two phases and what to expect in a gaming session of ISS Vanguard.

How I play it on stream is different than how most people will play it. Most people will probably do a ship phase and a planetary exploration in one evening. And I also think that the speed which I play at is something else to note. Your game sessions, are going to be longer.

Combined Phases

Firstly, the ship phase and planet phase likely will be together. You won’t want to sit down and just do the ship phase and spend an hour doing that but then end up with it being mainly the bookkeeping side of things. Maybe you’ll want to sit down and do a planet by itself, if it takes longer, but not a ship phase.

I also think that in some planet situations, take Brimstone for example, I went back there twice. Why, because it made sense. And I don’t know if I would want to leave and then come back in a whole new sit down session if I weren’t play it on stream the way that I am.

Decision Making

The other thing is that I make decisions quickly. This is generally true in my gaming but very true for ISS Vanguard. There are moments where I slow down, but mainly I make a decision and I complete the actions. Multiplayer is going to take longer. You will discuss what you want to try and do in a round.

What does this all mean? It is just fair warning that your sessions will be longer. And that is fine and expected. Just know that when it comes to ISS Vanguard there will be differences in how you experience the game.

Upcoming Streams

Like I said, ISS Vanguard will be wrapping up here pretty soon. I think. I still love what the game is doing. But the next two weeks for sure will be ISS Vanguard and we’ll see where the story and adventure takes us. 8 PM Central Time on Wednesdays. Though the easiest way to know is by subscribing and clicking that notification bell to know when I put up something new.

And then on Mondays I stream at 8:30 PM normally. I missed this past week because we had to adjust for podcast recording. But the plan is to be back and I want to play Skytear Horde. So expect to see that one getting to the table. And eventually after that a playthrough of My City – Roll and Build as an upcoming stream.

And, again, 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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Ascension X: War of Shadows – Game Play

So let’s talk a little bit about this version of the game versus others. I won’t bore you with the details of how the main mechanisms of the game work. I talk through deck building some at the start of the stream and why I like Ascension. But let’s talk about what War of Shadows brings to the game.

And honestly, it’s not that much, so this will be pretty quick. It brings two things to the game. The first being that it adds in dark and light. This is the biggest change to the game. With the dark and light, depending on which you have more of, you can activate abilities on your cards. Light cards might have a special power if there are more light cards or vice-a-versa. And this is true for the game state when you play that card.

It is an interesting decision that way. I might purchase a dark card so that I can hopefully add a light card to the row and get the added benefits of the light cards I haven’t played yet. It’s not a guaranteed strategy, I might flip another dark card. But it is something to think about as you plan out your turn.

The other new thing is that some cards cost damage. Normally damage is just for monsters. But some cards cost credits or money and then the damage. This creates some interesting situations. It wasn’t a major concern in solo play, but I can see how it’d be interesting in multiplayer. Do I kill a monster but that might lock me out of getting some of the better cards. It adds in another benefit versus cost to weigh.

Upcoming Streams

So let’s start out with the easy one, on Wednesday, tomorrow, I am going to be playing more ISS Vanguard. You can prep for that by clicking the notification bell here. It’s going to be another ship phase, so let’s see how that goes with what I’ve picked up from my discoveries the time before and what phases of the ship that I want to activate this time.

Then on Monday, my plan is to unbox The Isofarian Guard. If you want a preview you can read up on it here. But it is supposed to get delivered today and it’s a big game to unbox. I’m excited to see everything in this solo board game. One that I plan on streaming on Malts and Meeples sometime coming up here, likely after ISS Vanguard. So join me for that to see what the game looks like.

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Roll to the Top! by AllPlay

Let me start out by saying, sometimes it’s worth looking to see what Board Game Geek recommends for player count. I don’t know that I agree with their ratings, though it does ballpark how good a game is. But when it comes to player count, it’s generally pretty solid.

Roll to the Top! is recommended for 2-6 players through it plays 1-6. I went 0-5 with the solo version of the game. And I see why people don’t recommend it as a solo game. Now, is it because it is too hard, yes, but it’s also not that interesting.

There is luck and randomness in the game. You roll dice and are filling in spots on your board with numbers. The number above a previously placed number needs to either be higher than that one or equal to it. And the variety of dice go from a four sided die to a twenty sided die, or 1 to 4 compared to 1 to 20. You roll a 20 on the first turn in a multiplayer game, everyone skips it. You roll a 20 in a solo game, the game holds it against you.

So, my initial impressions are that the game is just okay. Why, because the solo mode is hard. But also because the solo mode isn’t interesting. It forces you to use everything. And I was trying to read through the solo rules again, but it feels like it misses something in what you are doing. It makes it too hard to beat, and maybe I need to review them again. But either way the solo mode just isn’t that interesting to play.

Upcoming Streams

So on Wednesday we’re back to ISS Vanguard where we are going to be tackling a new planet. Join me as I explore and probably crash and burn. I do need to make sure that I did one thing right as I get setup. And I’ll explain what that was on the stream. You can find that upcoming stream here. My Wednesday streams are at 8 PM Central time.

And on Monday, next week, I am not sure what game I will stream. I have a couple of solo roll and writes I’m considering. Motor City or Three Sisters. Plus I am tempted to get back to Planet Unknown again. I need to correct a rules mistake there as well. But it’s a big game that I really love and it’s a fun one to show off. Monday streams are at 8:30 PM Central time.

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ISS Vanguard Setup

Let’s talk about the setup for ISS Vanguard. You got to see the finishing touches as I start the stream. But that isn’t all of the setup for this game. In fact, there is a fair amount to go through and get ready. But, like something like Lands of Galzyr, I didn’t find it too bad.

Pregame Setup

The biggest thing you are doing is getting the cards in the right order. So that means that you sort the cards, really sort the chunks of cards, by their type into numerical order. You maybe saw how many “Point of Interest” cards there are, don’t worry, you don’t go through and get them in numerical order. They are already in that, just wrapped in four different packs of sleeves. That is what I mean by sort.

The one negative I will say about sorting everything or getting them to go where they should, is that you are told what order the dividers go in, that’s great. Then you are told what card goes with them, also great. Except, it’s just telling. Some of them are really obvious, unique discovery, I know what is. It says unique discovery on the back. Some of the others you need to flip back and forth from the setup page to this is everything in the box page.

Starting Setup

For the most part, though, it is a very slick setup. And you can make it even slicker by just playing the tutorial. It’s the same planet I start on, same bits of story, same events even. But the difference is certain things, like picking your crew, they don’t happen like I did it. So the game picks for you already, probably ideal really, but not what we are doing. There are more videos walking through the tutorial anyways.

And it’s worth noting that no matter how many times you play ISS Vanguard, the pregame setup still needs to happen. I still pick out the characters I want to play with. So there is always some setup but it’d be much faster subsequent times.

Exploration

And then, next week I expect it to be basically planet exploration. How do I balance my exploring of the planet with completing the objectives. Since we are on the outside of a giant sphere bigger than our solar system, we aren’t coming back tot he same spot. So I want to see what is here, but not at the cost of failing the mission.

Upcoming Streams

Next week I am back to my normal time. That means Wednesday stream will be at 8 PM Central time. You can find the link for that here. The plan is to wrap up exploration if possible. Though, while I suspect I’ll be able to this time. In future streams some of the planetary exploration might take longer to complete. But join me for that and for the ship phase as well as I stream.

And then next Monday, I keep on promising smaller games. I have a couple new roll and writes I could try or other smaller games to get to the table. So that’s going to be the plan, it might even be revisiting a roll and write which I’ve already enjoyed. But I think, and this is just a gut feeling a few days out, I’ll be playing Bargain Basement Bathysphere again.

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