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Games from Miniature Market

Bonfire

This is a game about gnomes building a bonfire, well, maybe that’s some of it. But it’s a Pegasus Spiele game, like the next one. And Miniature Market had a sale on them. Pegasus Spiele got on my radar because they put out First Rat, a game I wasn’t sure I’d like, but then I really did. Bonfire looks more complex, so I was interested in trying it.

Raccoon Robbers

This one I bought because it looked like a fun, more simple game from Pegasus Spiele. So I wanted to give it a go and see if it would work for me. Plus it’s about raccoons, a fun theme and comes with 3D (ish) houses that they climb up on, so fun components.

Via Magica

This is a light game that I wanted to try because I thought when I heard about it on the Dice Tower a while ago, Camilla is a fan of it there, it sounded fun. You can read my whole review here.

Mesozooic: Jurassic Mini Expansion and Triassic Mini Expansion

I’ve written a review on some of the games. Mesozooic I actually bought the base game a while ago. The two expansions were unlikely to be around much longer, on closeout, so I bought them. You can read my review on Mesozooic here.

Abyss: Kraken Expansion

This is an expansion, I own both, for a game that I need to play. It is probably not the smartest plan, but I have them now, so I need to get Abyss to the table soon. Abyss looks like a massive epic game, one you’d expect a lot of minis for. Well, it’s a much smaller simpler game than that type of game. More of an engine building from what I know. So I hope it’s one I really enjoying.

Escape the Dark Castle

This is one that just came back into stock recently. It and Escape the Dark Sector or games with fun dark looking artwork and, well, a dark theme. I want to play them and see how they stack up against something like Spire’s End. I know both can be played solo, so I’ll be getting to this one soon to really know.

18 Holes: Course Architect

18 Holes: Course Artchitect actually needs to get a review written about it. Same with the next one though that one I need to play more. But 18 Holes is about building out a golf course in a roll and write game and seeing how well that you can do. It’s a bit rules heavy for how simple the game is, but the more I play, the easier it is to pick up each time and faster games go. So it’s one that might just stick around as a solo game for me.

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

Bargain Basement Bathysphere is a solo game. And you can watch me play it on Malts and Meeples. It’s a roll and write game that is a campaign. So I want to see how it is over the long run before I write a review. It’s definitely very loosely a campaign. But the two games I played of it were a lot of fun, with really simple mechanics.

Clank! Catacombs

Clank! Catacombs I knew was a game I would buy. I waited until after Christmas, and then when I was told about Bargain Basement Bathysphere, I used Catacombs to get it to a level where I could get free shipping. It’s just another version of Clank! but one with a modular board which is build every time. Clank! In! Space! has a modular board, but that one is set to start the game. This could come out differently every time.

Three Sisters

A roll and write game from the people who did Fleet and now Motor City. I am curious about this one. I like Fleet, but it is a lot of mechanics, especially solo. Though I wonder if I will feel the same with Three Sisters. But it is one that I want to get to solo.

Star Realms Deck Building Game

Star Realms is the space version of Hero Realms, kind of. They are different games and Star Realms came first. But it’s a two player deck building game. I wanted to try it and see which one I like better. I think I’ll enjoy both, but will both stay in my collection?

Thornwatch: The Dark of the Wood Expansion

Thornwatch is a game that I picked up on a sale, probably hasn’t been in a Point of Order yet. I got it around Black Friday from the publisher. It looks like an adventure dungeon crawl sort of gaming experience. And it has some work done on it from Penny Arcade guys who I like their stuff. So I am curious about it and if it’ll be a dungeon crawler for me.

Planet Unknown

This one got an order all by itself. And I still need to play it. But Planet Unknown is a game about terraforming a planet. Yes, I own two games like that already. But it uses polyominoes and a lazy Susan. Though mine doesn’t come with it. But as you select pieces for your planet, you rotate a this central piece. And where I decide to stop rotating it, that determines what you get. So there is a bit of a puzzle where I might take a slightly worse for me piece to stop you from getting the perfect piece.

Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

I own two, no three, versions of Super-Skill Pinball. It is a roll and write game that I really enjoy and one I should play more. It is playing pinball and this one has a, you guessed it, Star Trek theme. There is a Christmas one as well with Christmas movies that I’m less interested in. But I do like Star Trek so I wanted to play this one.

Featherlight

Featherlight, another one that I played on Malts and Meeples with Bargain Basement Bathysphere. So you can find that in the video above. I like it as a way to optimize how you are scoring. It’s kind of a puzzle with some randomness. And I think that works really well for the length and weight of the game. It is very light, but offers you good choices as you play.

Unmatched: Marvel – Redemption Row & Hell’s Kitchen

I hadn’t planned on getting into Unmatched. But Marvel is what drew me in. And I have made a promise to myself that I won’t buy other sets, unless they are Marvel. So I am trying to get my hands on Deadpool, just waiting for someone from a Discord to ship it. But their lives are busy, so I understand. And there are upcoming Marvel sets, but I will talk about those later.

The Librarians

This is one that I got to try in 2020 when I did the digital GenCon. But it is a game around the Librarians TV show. The game is good, and I didn’t back it because I was backing too many things. So when it hit retail and hit a sale, I wanted to get it into my collection. It is a cooperative game and a fun theme that I want to play.

Ascension X: War of Shadows

Ascension, I’ve talked about it, this is my favorite introductory deck building game. I have two expansions, this one and a nature themed one, that I need to play still. But more is good because they are standalone or can be all mixed together. Well, maybe not all, but somewhat mixed together.

18 Holes: Second Edition & Expansion

You saw the roll and write, this is the tabletop version. It is still building a golf course. But you do that as a group. And then you play that course to see how well you do. I’m excited to try it. Sports games often aren’t the right match for board games. But I think that a golf theme works better than a faster spaced sport like Soccer or Football.

Starship Captains

Starship Captains is one that I played at GenCon in 2022. And I enjoyed it, but it is one that I want to spend more time with. It is a fast game, and I think that end snuck up on me in my one play. Is it one for me, or will it always feel too short? We will have to see, but I want to give it more of a try.

Relics of Rajavihara & Expansion

I just wrote a review on Relics of Rajavihara and you can read that here. But it is a fun puzzle game and I hope that this week or in the next two, I can fully wrap up the game. It’s fast and fun and a great puzzle.

Solomon Kane Expansions

Mythic Games is getting rid of their extra stock as they try and raise funds to complete and ship out other games. I could explain it more, but basically the pandemic hit them harder than a lot of companies. So this is a chance to grab the last of the stuff I don’t have. I think I own basically all of it now.

Enchanters

Another Mythic Games, another one that they sold the rights to. So it is discounted as they move their stock. A deck building game, but one I wasn’t super interested in. But when it is on sale and I can get the all in Kickstarter, or near that, it is worth buying and trying.

D&D Books

Just some more setting books and different books for more D&D content. I am there for that, and I want to mix it into my game.

Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama

This is one that Zee mentioned in his Top 100 Games. It is a rework of an existing game, with a theme that Indie Boards & Cards has used before. So I want to try it with that theme. The rest of the Kodama games are less interesting for me. But this one because it’s an existing theme is interesting.

Exit: Lord of the Rings

It’s an Exit escape room board game. And this one my wife wants to try because of the theme. And in all fairness I’m excited for the theme as well. Exit games are not my favorite of the escape room style games because they are destructive. So it’s a one time use thing. But the theme in this case pulled me in.

Skyrim: The Adventure Game

Another one where the theme pulled me in. I avoided backing it on Gamefound. The game play looked fun, but I can only back so many games so often. Then as more came out about the game, the more interesting it became to me. And I hope that it’s a pretty narrative driven game that feels like Skyrim.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

And to wrap it up, another video game one. And one that I wouldn’t have looked at too much. But it turned into one that I was very interested in because it has that big campaign feel to it, and cooperative play. And we know that is what I like in games.

Pre-orders

Plus there are a few pre-orders to talk about.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery & Crisis Expansions

This one I should have added to my other set of pre-orders, but both of these are expansions to a game I really like a lot. Ares Expedition. One gives you ways to upgrade your action selection which will make you different and unique in the long run. The other one is going to offer a cooperative or solo play opportunity. So two things that I’m very interested in. There is a third one as well, but when it was on Kickstarter, it just didn’t interest me as much.

Earth

Another one coming from Kickstarter that I am picking up now. It’s an engine building game that looks like it should be pretty on the table. I find that I really like engine building games. And this one looks like it is in that framework of being light, but not too light. I’m hoping, mainly, that the rules are in a place where it is easy to teach and get to the table.

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom

See what I said about Lord of the Rings before. This one is going to be an adventure book style game where you play through different scenes. Besides it being Lord of the Rings and based off of the same or similar system to the one used in the Princess Bride game I don’t know a ton more. But I’m more excited for this one than the escape room game.

Final Thoughts

Some of this has just been catching up on games that I’ve had an eye on and have been on my wishlist. The Librarians, Skyrim, and Assassin’s Creed were all on that list. And you can see a number of expansions as well.

But if it were you, which of these games would you play first? Of course, I’ve played some already, but I tried to call those out.

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Wish List Board Games

41: Pyramid of the Pengqueen

Low on the list, but let’s be fair, I do still want all of these games. This one just seems like an interesting idea, and it’s penguins. But the basic concept is what one person is playing as the Pengqueen who is going around her Pyramid, but no one can see where she is going. Everyone else is trying to get treasures. It’s kind of a hidden movement with a board that is vertical and magnets on both sides. So if you get to close, the magnets attract. Cool simple looking game for the holidays and with the toddler eventually. That’s why I want it.

40: Stella: Dixit Universe

A twist on Dixit where it keeps the great artwork. But players are trying to associate words with pictures and match up those words. And to me that sounds more interesting, and overall just a good looking party game. It also doesn’t have the thing that I don’t love of find the right answer in a bunch of them or tailor your answer to whomever is picking the best that so many also have. This one there isn’t a “right” answer, but you’re playing everyone.

39: Thunderstone Quest!

Thunderstone Quest! is a deck building game, so you might think it’d be higher on my list. For me, I think that I’d like the game a lot, but I’m not sure how much I’d play it over the other deck building games that I love. Thunderstone Quest with it’s fantasy theme and dungeon delving looks cool. But compared to something like Xenoshyft: Onslaught, Aeon’s End, or Clank!, I’m not sure that it’ll do enough for me. It looks like it’s basically just a deck building game.

38: Mice and Mystics

Mice and Mystics is one of the older games on the list. And one of the first storybook games from Plaid Hat Games. These are the ones where there is a book with maps and those are the boards that you play on. I like the feel of this where you play as the mice fighting other things. It’s lower because I really wanted to like Stuffed Fables and I thought it was a bit much for what it did. And that was building off of the Mice and Mystics system, slightly. So I’m worried this will feel like there are too many extra rules with the different pages as well.

37: Coconuts

Now for something very silly. Coconuts is a game where you are tossing coconuts with a monkey trying to get them to land in cups. As they land in cups, you get them and you are trying to complete a collection up to a certain number. But people can steal your cups. A fast paced dexterity game that is meant for that fifteen minute palette cleansing game.

36: Blank Slate

Another party game, in Blank Slate. Blank Slate is a matching game, where you put own a word to complete a phrase, [blank] Run for example. And they are trying to match with another player’s word. If they match up with one person, you get two points each. If you match up with more, well, you still get points but not as many. Simple concept of a game, but one that I could see working in almost any situation.

35: Qwirkle

One that I’ve played before. Qwirkle is an abstract game where you try and complete rows of six either of the same color or of the same symbol to get a lot of points. It’s kind of a cross between Scrabble and Rummikub. Both of them are classic games which I still enjoy. This one is definitely in that classic vein, but very easy to learn and play. So good one to pull out and have some fun with.

34: MicroMacro: Crime City

A combination of Where is Waldo and a who done it, MicroMacro: Crime City gives you a big map that you’re looking to follow a crime that has happened. The artwork is pretty cute and done all in black and white. What is cool about this one is that while it’s just a single map for all the cases, the cases are still dynamic. You can follow a blood trail and still see the same character as if they are moving. So the world is in motion which is really clever.

33: SET

Another classic game, and one that I mainly want to have in my collection because I’m good at it, or I was. It would kind of be one of those party trick games where I could dominate and impress. Kind of like Mastermind and always getting it in five rounds. So it’s more nostalgia than I think this is a great game. But I am curious to see if I’d still be as good at it.

32: Unmatched

Unmatched, and in particular I want the Marvel stuff that was announced a while ago and still isn’t out yet. But I do want to play this game system. It’s pretty clever how you spend cards to do actions, including to draw cards, and you’re looking to keep that balance of attack, move, and defend cards to play around with. Plus, when can you fight Bruce Lee vs some Raptors? Or Buffy the Vampire Hunter against Little Red Riding Hood?

31: Ramen! Ramen!

This one I mainly want because I think it’s going to be a small and cute set collection game. And because the artwork really makes me want ramen. So maybe that’s what I really need is to order or make some ramen soon. But the game looks like simple fun in that weight of something like Sushi Go. And with cute artwork like Sushi Go, that generally means that it’ll get played fairly often.

30: Risk: Shadow Forces

This is a new version of Risk Legacy. Now, there does seem to be fewer legacy elements to it than Risk Legacy, but you’ll see a number of legacy games on this list. I really like legacy games, and Risk is a fine game. I thought that Risk Legacy really improved upon it. So I’m hoping that this will just be another fun version of Risk.

29: Transhumanity

This isn’t a legacy game but more of a campaign game. Earth has leapt to somewhere else gone is the sun, next to us now, a scarlet dwarf star. Or maybe Earth stayed and they switched the other way. But the theme is cool and it’s a cooperative campaign where you are trying to influence what happens on Earth or the other Earths that have shown up as well as improve your deck of cards through card drafting. I’m mainly digging this one for the story, but I suspect it’s going to be right up my alley.

28: Gloom of Killforth

I own Shadows of Killforth that I need to play. But this is going to be a fantasy survival game where the world is very shrinking as the gloom takes it over. And you as a hero are building up your cards so that by the end of the game you’ll be able to defeat the big bad. And you can go to spots where gloom has taken over, but it’ll be harder to do anything there. Good concept and good artwork. I mainly want this because of completionist tendencies and I should just play Shadows of Killforth

27: Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories is supposed to be a very hard cooperative game. Players are trying to drive back ghosts and take them out in this game. And I like the horror them. Plus I really like the very hard cooperative nature. I know that sometimes cooperative games can be too hard, and I don’t want them all to be too hard, but this one, I want to bang my head against it’s difficulty and see if I can win.

26: Aqualin

Aqualin is a two player game from Kosmos. It doesn’t seem like too difficult a game but looks fun. One player is trying to group sea creatures by color. The other is trying to do it by fish type. It almost reminds me a bit of Qwirkle, but each player has a specific goal. I like little simple games like this that shouldn’t take too long to play but offer lots of very good choices.

25: Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawler – Heroes of the Undermountains

There are a few roll and write games on this list, I don’t own all of them. But this one is on the list for two reasons. Firstly, I like the Dungeons and Dragons theme. And I know it isn’t the first and hasn’t been the last, but I like the idea of a dungeon crawler roll and write. I’m worried that it might be a cash grab of a game, considering the IP and popularity of roll and write games, but I still want to give it a try.

24: Machi Koro Legacy

Another legacy game, this is basically just Machi Koro, a game that I like. But it’s a short legacy campaign and then you can play Machi Koro. So, I want to get the game to just be able to play through the campaign and then have a copy of the game back in my collection. This is a legacy game that I can sit down and play with anyone, or probably even play over a weekend if I really wanted.

23: Menara

Menara is a dexterity stacking game. But a cooperative one, so no one is pulling for someone else to knock over the tower. To me that’s more interesting than something like Jenga. It changes the game from “haha, you knocked down to the tower” to “oh no, the tower fell down”. And that just feels better as a game when something game ending happens and it’s not about it being one person who is losing.

22: The Librarians: Adventure Card Game

This is another one that I’ve played. Granted, it was in prototype form on TableTop Simulator. The game was a good time and I really like the show. And the game has you playing through season one of the show. It’s a good cooperative game with solid mechanics. And I’d be more excited for this if I could play a real copy of it. And even with that less than ideal play, I am still ready to pick it up if I get a chance.

21: Star Wars: Rebellion

And another game that I’ve played. Star Wars: Rebellion is the original trilogy in a box, but your version of the original trilogy. It’s a lot of fun and a great two player game with one side being the Rebels and the other being the Empire. It has been on sale a few times, the only reason I haven’t picked it up is I know someone who owns it.

20: Adventure Ink: Five Factions of Filigree

I don’t know when this one will be hitting Kickstarter or published, I’m not sure which it’ll do, I’m guessing Kickstarter. And for that reason it is pretty low on this list because I am very excited for it. It’s a big story game but also a roll and write type game where things that you roll will get drawn onto things, I believe dry erase. The whole concept sounds very ambitious and very different. So like most games and projects that I enjoy.

19: Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

So, I was talking about roll and writes, here’s another one. And one that I know that I like. Super-Skill Pinball is maybe the most thematic roll and write game that I’ve played. And this basically slaps a Star Trek theme onto it, I’m curious I want to know what the tables will do. Because if it’s basically just taking existing tables and making them Star Trek, then this would drop off the list. But I’m guessing it’ll be all new tables.

18: Floor Plan: The Winchester Mystery Mansion

I got rid of Floor Plan, but I’m excited for this. My issue with Floor Plan, while fun, was that I didn’t feel too much like I was making a floor plan. The houses that were made were just too crazy. You could build a room with zero doors, and as long as it met criteria, it would give you points. But the Winchester Mystery Mansion is crazy in real life, so a crazy floor plan will make more sense.

17: Dungeon Party

This could also be called Dungeon Quarters. And that’s why I want the game, it looks like one of those games that would be simple enough to pull out almost anywhere. But also be a silly good time when you play it. It’s, like I said, basically quarters, bouncing a coin onto a monster to deal them damage. Plus then with the dungeon crawl theme on it and powers for your characters. I’d bring this one out to a brewery and have a great time.

16: The King’s Dilemma

More legacy with The King’s Dilemma. This is one that’s kind of a story telling game as you all are making decisions about what to do and opening lots of envelopes with story and more choices. And the choices, you might not agree in real life with what you decide, but it’s to get points, so it gives a chance to role play your character hoping to get your way on this thing that’ll help you. I’m really intrigued by it and another one I want to play but I won’t buy until I know who I’m playing it with.

15: Divinus

Yet more legacy with Divinus. Divinus, from Lucky Duck Games, pits the Greek Pantheon against the Norse Pantheon. And you are working to become a demi-god as you support one of the two sides, or both, throughout the game. It’s intriguing because you are placing dice to get tiles to build out lands in front of you. And then it uses Lucky Duck Games technology to scan locations and tell story. I feel like it might be a bit mechanical from watching some game play, but how will the story develop, I want to know.

14: Hadrian’s Wall

I think this is the final roll and write on the list. Hadrian’s Wall is a hefty roll and write. Two big sheets of stuff as you build up defenses along the wall to keep the invaders from being able to get through. I don’t know a ton about the game, but it’s a heavy roll and write, so I’m interested. And everyone who I’ve talked to about the game who has played it really likes it.

13: Die of the Dead

I wish that I had backed this one on Kickstarter. Then I wish that I had picked up the copy someone traded in at my FLGS. From what I know about this game, you are trying to manipulate dice to get them rolled and played onto this 3D stairs and make it to the top. The concept seems interesting and the game is just amazing to look at.

12: Strike

Now to a much simpler dice game. In Strike, you are rolling dice into a bowl and trying to get matches to build up your die pool and avoid getting a strike which will end your turn. It’s a last person standing with dice sort of game. This is one that just seems like a silly good time and one that would be great to pull out to end a board game night with some good laughs.

11: Tsukuyumi: Full Moon Down

Now we’re into mainly big games, there are a couple of smaller ones left, but Tsukujumi: Full Moon Down is not one of them. This is an area control sort of game where different factions are battling over areas. And what drew me to this game is that Sam Healey, formerly of the Dice Tower liked it, and I tend to like games that he likes. It is one that I think I’ll really dig, but also one with the price tag that I might want to try before I would buy it.

10: Maximum Apocalypse

Survive the zombie apocalypse, or alien, or dinosaur, or kaiju, or well, you get the picture. What is cool about this game is that it’s very much a survival game but feels like on the lighter ends of things. I maybe even want the latest version more so that offers a campaign to the game, but also, without a campaign it might be easier to play. Because who doesn’t want to play a scenario were a kaiju is stomping across the land to get you? And I like that the map is set-up as well.

9: Doodle Dash

Now one of the few smaller games left. This is basically just racing to draw something as fast as possible so that your clue is given first. Though, if you go too fast and draw too poorly, they might not get it. So it’s a balance of how fast you doodle, probably very fast though. Seems like a good party game that is similar to some, but I don’t have many drawing party games.

8: Townsfolk Tussle

This is one that I looked at on Kickstarter as a boss battler game but I didn’t back. I know it’s coming back to Kickstarter, but I’m not sure I’ll back it that time either, even though I definitely want it. But Townsfolk Tussle is a lighter game where you fight against different mustache twirling villains. I like the artwork on the game, which is Cuphead or old cartoon/comic like. And it is kind of a campaign, but not a massive campaign game. I just have Oathsworn and Primal coming as boss battlers.

7: Monumental

Monumental is a game that I wish wasn’t available only on Kickstarter and probably one that had standees. This is a deck building game where you fight, get more cards, and move and explore on a big map. What draws me to this game is how you activate. It isn’t a normal deck builder in that you don’t play a hand of cards. Instead you have a 3×3 grid and you activate a row or a column for the cards. That feels very unique in what it does.

6: Kingdom Death: Monster

Now the grandfather or all boss battlers? Well, maybe it isn’t that, but it’s the biggest one that really put them on the map. I’d love to get my hands on Kingdom Death: Monster. But I really don’t want to spend an arm and a leg like it costs. And I really don’t want to but together all the minis. This is one that I’d love to have, but I’d need to find it for the right price, which I doubt I ever well.

5: Iron Forest

Iron Forest is another one that I could get right now on Kickstarter. But I am not backing it, mainly because $80 for a flicking game, plus shipping, is more than I want to pay. I can probably find it cheaper used later. But I love Icecool from this company, and Iron Forest is two layer Icecool with some extra rules. If there was a game where I wanted to have it in front of me and play it tonight, this might be the one.

4: Arkeis

Arkeis is another legacy style game. I’m not sure if it is truly legacy, it’s been a while since it was on Kickstarter. But this is a game where you are exploring tombs in Egypt, I believe. And that theme is really cool. Plus it’s a campaign game, so I always like those. Just the Egypt theme has me really excited for this one. And it is a game where the box creates rooms for you to go into. It just feels like it’s going to be epic.

3: So Clover!

Now a small game again, So Clover! is a party game from the makers of Just One. In this game you have a clover leaf that you has four cards on it with four words on each card, one per side. So each leaf has two words on it. You put down a word that connects those two for all the leaves you have. And then you shuffle in a fifth card. Everyone else is doing the same thing. Then one player at a time, everyone who didn’t write on the board tries to unscramble it. It seems like it will work with almost anyone and be just a bit harder than Just One.

2: Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters

Now a really big game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters is going to be playing a story driven dungeon crawl maybe boss battler game. And of course it’s a campaign as well. So really it is everything that I love. I didn’t back it when it was on Kickstarter because I thought it was too expensive, and do I really need another campaign game? I probably don’t, but I love the mystery and intrigue that Vampire: The Masquerade Chapters promises. So I really want to try and track this one down when it finally delivers.

1: Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

Finally Rogue Angels. I don’t need to say much about this one. You can watch me play it here. It’s not even on Kickstarter yet, or back on Kickstarter anyways. And from what I know about the changes coming to the game, all cosmetic, it’s going to be amazing. Plus, the game play itself is great. I can’t wait for this to come back to Kickstarter and then sometime in the future to be delivered.

Final Thoughts

Rogue Angels is easily my top game on my wish list. Though, there are others, So Clover! for sure, that I’ll be getting before it. I’m waiting for that one to come back into stock because when it does, it’ll get played right away. It’s going to be a great game night and holiday option for me. And some of the other ones, they might never get picked up. I mean, Kingdom Death: Monster, I’m never going to buy that. But some others, Vampire The Masquerade – Chapters, I definitely want to track down.

What game is #1 on your wish list?

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Ranking My Solo Games

So, one thing that I haven’t talked about when ranking is how I rank them in each category. And that’s somewhat because this is the category that needs this explanation. In a lot of them, I can just pick my favorite game, which game is my favorite roll and write. Here, I am trying to factor in a combination of what my favorite is, but also what my favorites for solo are. So if something is harder to get to the table, I might rank it lower.

I think that is important because solo gaming is a different beast. I think that some very complex games might be high on the list, if I could leave them set-up all the time. So I could go and play them for thirty minutes to an hour in an evening every evening. But when it takes twenty minutes to set-up, that isn’t an option.

28. Sword Art Online Board Game: Sword of Fellows

This might be the worst game in the group, and I still own it. I have played it solo a few times and it’s a fun push your luck sort of game. But when you’re controlling three characters, or two, it isn’t as fun. And the theme of the game, Sword Art Online doesn’t come through.

27. Legacy of Dragonholt

I think I I had streamed Legacy of Dragonholt, which I had thought about doing, I might put this higher on the list. The game is fine, the mechanics are solid, but the writing on the story was just fine. And when the game play is solid and the story is fine, it wasn’t going to stick. I’d love to see Fantasy Flight use some of their IP’s and create a story in this vein. Or even an Arkham game that uses the same mechanic.

26. Second Chance

Second Chance is easy to get to the table, but the game plays out the same every time. And with roll and write games, when I play them solo, I prefer that I can then compare a score, or something like that. Second Chance you just see how well you do. Sure, you can use the empty spaces as a score, but it’s not that interesting solo.

25. Criss Cross

This one is also one where you can just see how well you can score. I have it lower on the list, even though it is easy to play, because I have played it a lot. I don’t think I’d pull out Criss Cross to play solo again. Other roll and write games, yeah, those are higher on the list, but Criss Cross I’ve played a lot.

24. Marvel Battleworld

This one is easy to play and has high toy factor. But it is barely a game, the rules allow you to play some sort of game, but they aren’t that clear. You really play Marvel Battleworld to open up the little “Thanos Stones” to get new heroes and do the blind buy. It’s not a great game, but fun toy value.

23. Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension

Gravwell is a game that generally would be higher in my Top 100 games but drops so solo, not because of set-up, but because the game is much more random solo. It feels like mechanically the game isn’t as good. So I don’t want to play it solo all that often. I’d play it with people, but solo is just okay.

22. Floor Plan

Floor Plan is another one where the solo seems added on and not fully planned. You get a certain number of rolls for solo play and see how well you do. But it lacks the tension of racing to complete different features that people want.

21. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

This one I played through solo on Malts and Meeples, and it is a blast to play that way. Technically, it doesn’t have a solo mode, but no information is hidden, so you can easily play solo. But I wouldn’t play it solo again after doing that once. I would play it for the third time because the story and game are fun.

20. Marvel United

I was a little bit surprised that this one was lower on the list. But I prefer to play it with others. It again comes down to a solo mode that is okay. And you can play it solo like you’re playing multiple people, and it’s good. But the game is more fun with more players and working together cooperatively and discussing how you can set up the next player.

19. Tainted Grail

This is fun solo, and I’d love to have it higher on the list, but even three player, the game is a beast to get to the table. I’d maybe come back to it solo if I could leave it set-up. And I’d love to explore it again that way, which maybe I eventually will. But right now, three player play is great.

18. Onirim

Actually just got rid of this game, but I really enjoy Onirim and I still own the app. Onirim is a nice little puzzle of a game with a lot of shuffling. And I feel like the decision space is good. But as I get more solo only games, that are higher on the list, I know that I’m going to play it less and less. So the app is good enough for me, for now. I can always pick it up again.

17. A Gentle Rain

The first solo only game on the list. I think technically you can do two player, but it just means you split up half of the stuff, which means it’s less fun. The game is simple, but it is very relaxing to play. And for me, that’s nice. It comes in a small box, but plays large, in area, on the table. I wish it played a little bit smaller, so it was more portable.

16. The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

Now back to a bigger game, The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, I like to play that one at two best. But three is good as well. And the game while having a lot of cards, is pretty fast to set-up and get to the table. I think it works best as a game in general, if you know the books. The theme is there, but it’s hidden behind mechanics.

15. Arkham Horror: The Card Game

One that I’d love to play solo more. And I think the game works really well solo for keeping the game moving. But Arkham Horror: The Card Game, it takes effort to get to the table. There are a lot of cards, and setting up each scenario takes time. I’d love for a faster way to get it to the table so I could play it more often because the story is good.

14. Doppelt So Clever

We’re going to see a lot of roll and writes now. Which makes sense because they are easy to get to the table. Doppelt So Clever is on the lower end because while it is easy to play, it is less satisfying than some. Mainly because I feel like I’m not doing as well as I should be. That is a function of the game and scoring sections, but still, it’s less fun.

13. Deadly Doodles

Deadly Doodles is a dungeon crawler roll and write, kind of. I’d say it is a more like D&D where you go diving into a dungeon, get some treasure and be done. Maybe more of a classic thing, here you find treasure, get weapons and fight monsters. Very simple game, but a fun one to play solo.

12. Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Now back to a living card game that is easier to get to the table. Marvel Champions works very well as a solo game. I prefer it two player, but either works. You play as a hero trying to stop a villain and thwart their evil scheme. Deck construction is fine, but I just like that this is a mechanically fun game, simpler than Arkham Horror, but still thematic game.

11. Welcome To…

Back to roll and writes, Welcome To is a game that works as a solo game. Though, I will say that it is better with more players. And I’m not 100% sure, they might have improved the solo mode in a small pack. But base solo mode is go through the deck and eventually hit a point where it ends and see how well you did. It works, and the game play is still a lot of fun, just the overall experience doesn’t feel as robust.

10. Aeon’s End

Some people might disagree with me. You need to control multiple characters, I recommend only two. But I think this is fairly fast to get to the table. Use the randomizer, pick the market, grab two breach mages and a nemesis and get going. There is more than that, and there are tokens, but Aeon’s End is easy to control two at once. I think that’s a thing for a lot of bigger games, they might be better controlling two characters, but is that easy.

9. Clever Hoch Drei

The third of the Clever roll and writes, and the middle one on my list. It’s a good solo game and this one lets you feel like you can do everything. It is more rewarding than Doppelt So Clever, but almost too rewarding. You can do everything, like every track will be filled in a lot at the end. You can optimize it still, which is what I love about the game. But huge points.

8. Ganz Schon Clever

Last of the Clever trilogy or first if you read top down, Ganz Schon Clever is just fun. I still play it on the app. And I love the game two player. I think that it helps improve the game play and is less lucky than solo while still getting all the rolls and all the rounds. But at any player count, I always want to know what is going on during your turn. And the combos, it feels like the right amount.

7. Metro X

Metro X is a roll and write that has a great puzzle. It isn’t one that has many combos, but the game play feels so tight and restrictive. You try and complete routes, and as you fill in one route, it might help another route. But since you are filling in 4 spots, if you now only can do three before you hit a filled in spot, is that optimizing what you do. The game’s puzzle feels tense from the start.

6. Spire’s End

New to the list and new to me. When I did my cooperative games, I couldn’t put this one on the list. Since it technically is cooperative, though, it just splits it up so that a person controls each of the characters. I’ve even heard of three player with one person being the dungeon master. But Spire’s End, and I’ll talk about it more in the future, is a story driven game where you take characters into a spire for some reason. And you fight monsters in there, but game play is simple and smart.

5. Sleeping Gods

Hey, this is the one that I’m playing right now. You can what last nights stream here. For some people this might seem like a lot because there are nine crew you are in charge of. But you always control them as a group and I think makes it easier. Plus this game is so story focused that if you miss a mechanic, I don’t feel bad about it.

4. Super Mega Lucky Box

One that when I played it the first two times I thought might leave my collection quickly. But no, I really like this game. It’s basically binge, you draw a card, cross of a number. So roll and write mechanics with bonuses when you fill in rows and columns on your card. The game is very fast and so much fun. And there is depth to how you try and get combos working in the game.

3. Railroad Ink & Challenge

Another one that works well solo because you are just trying to beat your previous score. I like either version, so I think that Challenge adds some good stuff to the game. It’s mainly about connecting routes of rail and road. This one also has a strong puzzle to it and the right amount of luck, I feel. The app is a lot of fun too.

2. Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

Another true solo game, Orchard is amazing. Orchard is all about laying cards on top of each other and growing fruit. It hits that great spot of simple but interesting. The combination of layering cards, creating a few dead spots to try and score more, it’s interesting. And I can knock out games so fast while watching something from sports to cooking shows. If I don’t need to pay complete attention, Orchard is great.

1. Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade

Finally, Pinball. I love Super-Skill Pinball, I haven’t played multiplayer yet. But the roll and write works as a pinball game. It is maybe the most thematic roll and write game that I own. And there are a lot of boards, pinball machines, you can play on. The production quality is high and game play is so much fun, and I’ll 100% be getting the Star Trek version when it comes out.

Final Thoughts

Solo gaming is something I want to do more of. And I know it’s goin to be a way to help me get through my goal of getting under 100 unplayed games in 2022. Right now, the number sits around 130, and when I can learn and play it solo, it helps. I’m curious to see how two, Village Green and Floriforous play solo. Mainly because it’d let me learn the game to make it easier to teach to others, if I’ve played it.

What are your favorite games to play solo?

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In Not Alone one person plays as the planet and the monster on it where a space ship has crash landed, stranding it’s crew. The crew needs to explore the planet and survive until they can get off of it, but the monster doesn’t want that. On each turn, all plays can discuss where they want to go and will play cards face down for the location that they are going to go, they can split up however they want. However, all discussions need to be able to be heard by the person playing the monster. Then the monster will pick a location as to where they are going to go, blocking off and hurting the people who went to that location, but everyone else gets to take the actions of their locations. However, the monster, when they select has ways to manipulate where they are, where people are actually going, or to cause more places to be bad spots for the players to go. As the monsters get crew members, they progress on their track, while the players are trying out last and do a few things to speed up how fast their rescue ship is coming.

This game is a clever cat and mouse game where the players don’t want to accidentally all end up going to the same place and getting caught by the monster, but talking about it and planning can mean that the monster will better understand the strategy. So how much information do you talk around the table is an interesting piece to the game. Plus, cards being discarded and the monster being able to see what starting cards might be left for the crew, it means that sometimes it’s fairly obvious where someone is going to go. The best example of this is the beach as to why you want to discuss. At the beach, you can either light a beacon or use the lit beacon to help speed up the ship, but only one of those actions can be taken on a given turn. So if three crew members go to the beach, you’re wasting two peoples actions there.

Another piece of this game that I like is that the monster can get the crew, but when a crew member dies, that doesn’t mean the person is out of the game. Think of it as Star Trek with their seemingly unlimited number of red shirts. They are getting sent out of the crashed ship every time another crew member dies, so there is no player elimination in the game. However, dying is still bad, not surprisingly, because that means that the monster is getting closer to their goal which is based off of hurting crew members and killing crew members. So, if you aren’t careful, even though you won’t be out of the game, you can be speeding the monster on their way to victory.

Final piece that I want to talk about is the monster cards and ability cards. The game gives everyone a chance to feel unique. There is technology and things that can be scavenged from ship, so that means that as a crew member you’ll be able to be unique. But the monster definitely has more fun cards. There are a number of different things, where a monster can force people to discard cards, or maybe the monster can go to two locations or do something to make the planet block off a spot for players for a round. But the players might not know where that’s going to be, as the monster gets to place after everyone has picked their locations. The cards do interesting things, and you won’t ever go through all the monster cards in a single game, so even if you have played a lot before, the monster is going to feel different depending on the cards drawn, when they are drawn and the strategy of the person playing the monster.

This is a really enjoyable game for me. I like the cat and mouse nature from both sides of the game. I think I’ve played it six or seven times at this point, and about half of them I’ve been the monster, and generally, since I’ll be teaching it as well, once we’ve played once with myself as the monster, someone else will want to play again and try being the monster themselves. I also have the expansion for this, but I haven’t played that yet, but I’m excited to try it soon. When a one versus all game can make it fun to play both sides, I think that’s a good thing for the game, and because Not Alone is a pretty straight forward game as to how it works, after a play, people can figure out how to play the monster, and I think, if someone wanted to be the monster on their first play, it wouldn’t be hard to teach them that as well.

Now, if there were a downside for the game, and I do know people who don’t like it nearly as much as I do, it’s that the game is stressful, and that’s intentional for the game. As the crew, you are worried about the monster catching you and dying, and even though you come back, if the monster is on the same wavelength that you are, you can feel like your letting down the team. I think for some people that is going to turn them off from the game, and the fact that it is only a card game, so it might feel like it’s heavier than the components suggest, though, I would not call it a heavy game.

Finally, let’s quickly mention the theme. I think that the theme is a lot of fun. People know the concept of being stranded on a planet or an island, so there is something for them to grasp onto. If someone has seen Predator, they can get even more into the theme, because that’s a lot what the game feels like, someone has crashed on the Predator planet, because there isn’t much that the crew can do to the monster. Is it a massively thematic game, I think that it’s more thematic than not, and while you can definitely get into the strategy and count cards, the game works best when people are enjoying the theme.

Overall, I really do enjoy this game. I like how much it packs in, in terms of tension , for the small package that the game has. I like the them, those survival on an alien world movies and shows are fun for me. I also like that it’s a larger group game without it being a party game or social deduction game. The cat and mouse feel of the game definitely sets it a part and definitely makes it seem heavier than most games of that it’s size.

Overall Grade: A
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: B

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So besides the cute title, what am I getting at in an article about spoilers?

Part of me wants to try and define a set of rules for when something is still a spoiler or not. When has it been around long enough that it’s fair game and when should you talk in hushed tones about something.

This comes up with Avengers: Endgame coming out in a week basically and people, for good reason, not wanting to be spoiled on what happens. It also comes up right now because there have been massive spoilers posted on Twitter, including leaked footage at this point time, and it’s still just over a week away.

I’ve defined a little bit of what a spoiler is, but let’s nail down a definition.

A spoiler is an element of a disseminated summary or description of any piece of fiction that reveals any plot elements which threaten to give away important details. Typically, the details of the conclusion of the plot, including the climax and ending, are especially regarded as spoiler material. It can also be used to refer to any piece of information regarding any part of a given media that a potential consumer was not intended to know beforehand. Because enjoyment of fiction depends a great deal upon the suspense of revealing plot details through standard narrative progression, the prior revelation of how things will turn out can “spoil” the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrative would otherwise have experienced.

Wikipedia

That’s a pretty long definition from Wikipedia there, but I think it covers it really well. To cut that down, it is spoiling anything related to the plot that is shared with the consumer of the plot by an outside point prior to the consumer getting to that point of the plot. Generally, I think that does spoil the anticipation for something knowing information about it head of time.

By that definition, technically any time someone is consuming that plot for the first time, no matter when the plot was created, you can spoil it for the person. However, in order for people to be able to converse and discuss the book, movie, show, audio drama, whatever it might be, you can’t worry indefinitely about spoiling the plot for people. I think that is where the tricky point in setting up rules around spoilers is, because, the joke of Bruce Willis seeing dead people in The Sixth Sense is actually a spoiler for me, but I don’t care, and probably a spoiler for some others, but because of how long ago that movie came out, that has to be fair game at some point in time to discuss.

Let’s talk about two upcoming/ongoing things and what sort of time frame they have on spoilers. The two things are Avengers: Endgame and then Game of Thrones. Both of these have a massive focus in the public eye, and because of that there will be spoilers but more so, there will be a ton of people wanting to talk about them. So how do you handle talking about things like that?

Firstly, I would always ask if everyone is caught up on Game of Thrones (or any sort of show) or has seen the movie before diving into the discussion. And this is talking about the immediate time frame. Especially close to when the episode or movie has come out, because some people aren’t able to see it immediately, even if they do really care about the story. And then respect that if people haven’t seen it or read it yet.

Next, I would set aside space and time when you can talk about it. You won’t be able to talk about it with everyone, but create a time, with people who have seen it at a mainly private location to talk about it. There’s always the temptation to go out after watching a movie and grab drinks and talk about it, you will spoil something for someone one. It is important to discuss and talk about pieces of media, but be considerate of where you do that, even if everyone in your group is up for talking about it, those around you might not be, and in that short time frame, it’s very possible that you will spoil something for someone else.

This one is especially true in movie theaters. I haven’t had it happen, but I have heard of it happening. Someone coming in for the next showing has the end of the movie spoiled by someone leaving. Wait until you are in your car before talking about it. If you can’t contain your excitement with the movie, talk about it generally. “That was amazing.” or “That was underwhelming” are fine, but saying that Captain America kissed Wonder Woman as they flew the Millennium Falcon into at the Reaver ship and just escaped the explosion by hopping into the TARDIS and going to Vulcan, just a bit too detailed. However, if I heard someone saying that when leaving Avengers: Endgame, that would be hilarious.

Finally, do give it some time before talking about it freely. Something like Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame, I would say when the DVD/Blu-Ray’s come out for each of them respectively, then they are fair game to talk about. At that point in time, someone who couldn’t make it to the theater, for whatever reason, is going to have more options to watch it and less excuses for having not watched it. Even then, I would still be respectful and keep an eye out for people who might not have seen it yet, because there are plenty of reasons why someone might not have seen a movie yet.

What I didn’t talk about in here was social media and online. How do you deal with spoilers then? For social media, I’d say it’s simple, don’t post spoilers publicly for the movie/show until it’s after the DVD/Blu-Ray is out. There isn’t a good way to really tag them as spoilers so that people can avoid them. On forums, I know one that I’m on will have two threads. One for general thoughts on the movie, and another for spoiler filled thoughts. I even, in my review of Avengers: Infinity War, did a non-spoiler and spoiler review, and I’ll be doing the same for Avengers: Endgame. And one important thing will be for me to remember to put enough header section at the top so that in article blurbs, spoilers aren’t shown.

So how do you deal with spoilers? Do you have any additional rules that I haven’t talked about? Do you think you should always ask before spoiling something no matter how long ago it was?

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Clank! In! Space! is a deck building game at it’s core, but beyond that, you’re doing something more with your cards to just purchase more cards. In the game, you are on Lord Eradikus’s ship as a bunch of different adventurers. You’re trying to break through his security, steal some artifacts that he’s stolen and get back out without bungling around too much and making too much noise. This is easier said than done, because some of the good cards that would allow you to fight more or move more are going to give you clank as you make noise. If you’re too noisy, there’s a better chance of Lord Eradikus’s henchmen finding you and punching in the face.

That seems like a bit more going on in Clank! In! Space! than in Dominion. The various resources on your cards all make sense as you are getting money/recruitment power, movement, and fighting abilities versus the more generic money, action, and buy. Your movement, the equivalent to Dominion’s actions, actually moves you around a board, and you have to plot out how you’re going to go and how you might be able to get through the space ship quickly and gain access to the treasure vault on one end of the ship. The buying of cards does still have the thematic disconnect, though, if the argument is that Lord Eradikus has a giant ship, and why wouldn’t he, these are people working or prisoners on his ship, or could even be people you’ve hired to show up to help you, some of them are just showing up later rather than at the beginning. Definitely not the strongest ties for the people you recruit, but the items make a lot of sense to be there, lying around the ship. And the bad guys are definitely out there patrolling the corridors.

While the deck building part is the biggest part of the game, it isn’t the most fun. The most fun part of the game is the Clank! (Just feels like it should always have the exclamation point). The noise that you make is denoted by cubes, and when a card with Lord Eradikus shows up in the adventure area, all the cubes you’ve added to a pool get put into a bag, and depending on how mad Lord Eradikus, a number of cubes are drawn from the deck. If you’re color of cube is drawn, you take damage, and if your damage track ever fills up, you are knocked out. So you’re trying to make as little noise as possible, but it’s still possible, even if you are the noisiest one on the ship that your color won’t be drawn. And there are things that make Lord Eradikus madder and drawing more cubes. Once you’ve breached his security system, he gets madder, once you steal and artifact, he get’s madder, and if you find one of his personal diaries, he gets madder.

So, in case you haven’t picked up on it, another good part of Clank! In! Space! is how seriously it takes itself. There are nods on basically every card to some Sci-Fi TV Show, Movie, or Book, or if not that, some pun being made.  Star Wars, Star Trek, Tron, Chronicles of Riddick, Enders Game, The Fifth Element, and more show up and they are really well done. I didn’t get a chance to read all of the extra text on cards that I got in the game or that were out there, but each of them has a little line at the bottom so if it wasn’t already obvious what Sci-Fi thing it was spoofing, it would be clear. Even the adventurers you are playing, their meeples (wooden figures) are nods to sci-fi characters. That keeps this game from becoming too intense while playing it, but you still do feel the pressure of trying to gather points on the ship and trying to get off as quickly as possible so that you can score the most points and hopefully stop the other players from escaping the ship.

This is a well designed game and has a few differences, so I’ve heard, from the original game of Clank! which was a dungeon delve where you were trying to avoid a black dragon who was after you. To me, the theme of space and sci-fi makes more sense than a dungeon delve would as there are more things to Clank! about with on a space ship. And once you’ve played a few hands of this game, you start to know what you are doing right away, the biggest question is always what you’re going to buy or recruit and if you can fight someone. But everything is limited by the cards so that makes it simple. Even the card combo powers, where having a tech guy might cause another tech character to be better, those are easy to spot. The fact that there are only three different factions of cards means that you don’t have to think about the combos as much.

Finally, one fun thing about the game is the board. The board is set-up so that it slightly looks like a spaceship, but that’s not really the fun part of the board. The fun part of the board is the fact that three parts of it are modular. That means you can adjust the configuration of the board, and not just that, t hose three parts are double sided, so you have six potential modules to throw in the board. That means that you can change up the board from game to game, even by just moving the same modules into different positions. We played with the recommended starting game, but by just moving things around slightly, the game could be quite different.

Clank! In! Space! is a very fun game. It does run a little bit longer than some games. With three players, I think it took us an hour and a half, however, that was with us learning the game as well. I think once everyone knows the game, it would probably take an hour or less because the hands play out quickly once you know what cards you have. I do wonder a little bit about the long term replayability of the game, but there’s an expansion out there that I’ve heard adds some more interesting parts to the game, and with the modular board and a large deck of cards to recruit and fighting bad guys from, I think it’ll stick around for a while. I also like it because it has more of a game to it than Dominion does so while the hands play themselves, it’s way less auto-pilot than Dominion is.

Overall Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: B
Casual Grade: B+

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So let’s start out with, what is CONvergence?

CONvergence is a nerdy convention based out of Minneapolis. It is around the fourth of July weekend every year. They have different themes every year, and this year it is about the nerdy means of travel. This is by far the weakest theme that I’ve gone to, the British Invasion and Dystopian. However, besides the theme, there are a lot of other interesting things about the con. It isn’t that large a con, only gathering around 6,000 people, but that means that it isn’t nearly as crazy as larger cons. In the evening the party suites/rooms open up and you can walk around the cabana getting drinks and going into different themed rooms. There have been some that are Zelda themed, the Eolian from the Kingkiller Chronicles, Star Trek, and many other different rooms. A lot of them have booze, some of them have tea, and there is the House of Toast which has something like 100 different ingredients that they put on the toast.

Why CONvergence?

Now that Wizard World Comic Con is coming to Minneapolis for the past few years, why do I still go to the small CONvergence? It’s because it is small and it attracts and older crowd. Because the drinking/party rooms are a fun part of it, it tends to have an older crowd. Along with that, you tend to have a crowd that handles themselves better. I’m sure there are incidents that happen every year there, but it tends to be less crazy. That said, the big reason I went in the first place was because James Moran was going to be there one year. He is a screenwriter who wrote “The Fires of Pompeii” episode of Doctor Who and the screenplays for the movies Severance and Cockneys vs Zombies. If you haven’t seen either of those films, do yourself and watch at least Cockneys vs Zombies. My wife doesn’t like zombies all that well, and she enjoyed Cockneys vs Zombies. It’s in the vein of Shaun of the Dead.

What Keeps Me Coming Back?

Probably the biggest thing is the panels. There are often a lot of interesting panels on different nerdy topics. The first time there were a lot of British themed panels and I got to learn a whole bunch more British slang which I’ve probably lost most of now. But the panels are probably one of my favorite parts. I’m sure that other people are really tied into the gaming aspect, or the party aspect (which is fun), or just the social aspect of cosplay and the other random events that they have going on. But when I go to a con, like CONvergence, I always hope to learn something new, and generally I do. I lost of list when I got a new phone, but I had a list of something over 50+ lousy dystopian movies that I could watch, and I maybe got through one or two during the year, but it’s fun stuff like that which keeps me coming back.

Should You Go To CONvergence?

I would recommend it. I think it is a CON that most people would have fun going to. It is one that is fairly family friendly during the day, and is a blast for the 20 and 30 year-olds who want to party in the evening. People are respectful and generally the themes are very interesting. And if you like the Cosplay, it is a great spot to do it.

If you are going to be there, look for Raven and Beast Boy on the Friday as Kristen and I will be there, and say hi. We’ll have some Nerdologists.com badge ribbons on us.

Check out CONvergence here!

And as always find us on twitter @NerdologistCast and search for us on Facebook under Nerdologists. You can find me on twitter @TheScando. Hope to see you at the CON!

Where even to begin with sci-fi shows? What makes sci-fi shows that have been successful interesting and long-lasting?

The biggest reason for me, as to why I watch sci-fi and fantasy shows, even though I’ll just be touching on sci-fi right now, is that they are good escapism. I like the idea of escaping and exploring something that is different from what my normal life is. Sci-Fi shows are about high adventure and something that is very foreign to what I know.

But another big reason is the way sci-fi shows are able to touch on situations and real-life scenarios. They can delve into an issue that would otherwise be too fraught, as it would hit too close to home if it was set in the world as we know it. They can touch on many different areas of politics and human interactions that we see as part of our normal life. It helps to separate an issue from what we know and what we already feel about it. And sci-fi does a great job of slipping it into shows, especially long lasting ones, so it maintains an enjoyable quality throughout while still raising topics that we don’t normally want to think about, or that we think about in only one given way.

So, that is is why I enjoy sci-fi shows, along with more reasons that are generally on a show-by-show basis.

What would you recommend to watch?

Why, thank you for asking!

Doctor Who: The Classic series, not so much. It is kind of entertaining, but doesn’t hold up well to time, so it is better to start with the newer Doctor Who series. We have an article up on the site already giving more detail into what Doctor Who is, and some suggestions of episodes to watch to get a feel for the show. The new Doctor Who series does start off fairly rough with episodes that aren’t as well-written and that have poor special effects, but it gets greatly better over time.

Star Trek The Next Generation: I haven’t seen all of the show, but the episodes that I’ve watched I’ve greatly enjoyed. It hits on one of the big things that I like about Ssci-fi shows (actually, both), but anything where they are traveling to distant worlds, meeting aliens, and having adventures in space, and sometimes taking themselves very seriously for deep episodes, is a show that I enjoy a lot.

Stargate SG1: My guess is this will be one of the more controversial on the list, but I really enjoy it. It blends a lot of action with a rich mythology of the universe, and it generally doesn’t take itself too seriously. The big hook to me was the fact that it delves a lot into Egyptian Mythology while playing off of alien worlds. This one has the least amount of non-human aliens of any of the shows, but it is still enjoyable as they tie history into the different civilizations that are visited. And the mechanic for travel is very unique.

Eureka: This one definitely doesn’t take itself seriously either. A show about a town of super geniuses who don’t have that much common sense and are regularly getting into trouble? That sounds interesting. Throw in an average-Joe sheriff who finds himself accidentally in this town, and it’s great. There’s good humor throughout the show and some nice character development as well. If you are looking for something to challenge you and really force you to think, this isn’t the show, but it’s rare that Eureka misses on an episode, and throughout its run, it was always enjoyable. Colin Ferguson is amazing in the role as the sheriff and does a great job with the physical nature of much of the comedy.

Killjoys: This one is going onto its second season, but it is one of a few rare sci-fi shows that is coming out right now. It is about a group of bounty hunters who live out on a far part of the universe. Earth to them isn’t a thing, and they have their own galaxy and group of planets that have their sets of problems. The galaxy they are in has a lot of depth and a lot of intrigue. What I like about it, though, is that while it is serious and the worlds and political problems are serious, the show also has many lighter moments as well. This allowed me to watch it without feeling dragged down or like nothing was really happening, like some shows out there.

Firefly: This one I put down at the end along with Killjoys for one reason: if you get really sucked into these sci-fi shows, there isn’t that much of either. Thankfully, Killjoys is continuing, but Firefly, a short-lived sci-fi western ran for all of 14 episodes. It is a fun romp that starts to get into the depth of the political governments and could have built from there, but mainly it was a lot of fun, with very unique characters and well-played roles. I’d highly recommend it, and if you enjoy it, you will be left wanting a whole lot more.

Now that you have a point to start bingeing on sci-fi shows, what are some that you’ve watched an really enjoyed? I wanted to say more, but that might have gotten a bit overwhelming.

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