Miniature Market Orders

Yes, it is plural. Though two of them are closely tied together. And the latest one was because they had a very nice sale for the 4th of July week, or the week leading into it.

Massive Darkness and Expansions

This one you’ve already seen on the website because I did an unboxing of it on Malts and Meeples. You can checkout that video below. I didn’t get this one on Kickstarter but I was very interested in it. Any game with a campaign mode is going to interest me. Plus this is generally a pretty well rated game, even the original version. So it is one that has been on my radar for a little while. And I want everything for it, but I know I don’t need it. So I got two character expansions and then the core box and the campaign box because of course I want a campaign game.

Fireball Island: Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees

This is part of the sale. I want to say that they were 33-50% off so a good amount. And this is just going to add in more content for Fireball Island. The Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass actually adds to the board this ship wreck area that is cool. And the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees is an expansion that adds a tiger that you launch as well as then a lot of bee marbles.

Once it is in, I am going to make it a priority to table Fireball Island. I think it’s going to be a fun one for a number of groups. Plus it looks great on the table and is a simple enough game for almost any group. That combination is always a good way to get a game played.

The Quacks of Quedlinburg: Herb Witches

I enjoy The Quacks of Quedlinburg a good amount, I think that the game play is simple and fun. And while you can plan, you are really just pushing your luck, which is fun. I do think that out of the box, since they want you to play specific combinations, it might end up being a bit limited. That is where the Herb Witches expansion comes in.

The Herb Witches is going to be an expansion that adds in two more ingredients, I believe, that you can use, plus more scoring combinations. And while the new ingredients will change up the game play. I don’t know how much I really need more of those. But more ways to score is interesting to me.

All Systems Go

All Systems Go, as a reminder, is my preferred FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) though not the only one that I go to, as you’ll see. But I currently have had a bunch of store credit there, so it is a good spot to get some games.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

You know that I am playing the 2nd edition over on Malts and Meeples. But while I am getting into that, I bought up the first edition stuff. Someone had traded in the Mummy core box and the Wrath core box, including the Wrath with all the story expansions for it. So I grabbed that to go along with my Skulls and Shackles core box. Now I have basically all of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game that is out there. There is a 2nd Edition expansion that I kind of want to get.

Ra

Ra is a game that flirts with my Top 100 often. Why, because it’s such a simple game but with a good auctioning mechanic. I really like how there is a closed market and a loop to it. I bid, I win the bid, I get the bid token in the middle, mine goes into the middle. So if I bid with the 16, I think that’s the highest, now the next person to win a big will end up with a 16 to use the next round. It’s clever and it works well.

Zoo-ography

This is one that I don’t know too much about. It plays from 1-4 players and 15 minutes per player. So the game is going to be on the lighter end of things. But it looks like it comes with a lot of cool animal meeples, always a good thing. And it is a drafting game. I really enjoy drafting, see games like Draftosaurus, Sushi Go! Party, or drafting in Blood Rage. So this one with a lot of cute components really interested me.

New York Zoo

And sticking to the zoo theme and animal meeples, we have New York Zoo. This is a polyominal game where you are getting tiles to put into your zoo. Then getting animals and breeding more animals until you get enough to put in attractions. It seems like a pretty straightforward game like Zoo-ography, but one that will also get played. Plus much like drafting, I enjoy tile placement, and New York Zoo seems like a fun theme for that mechanic.

Target

So, every July, at some point in the month, Target rolls out some Target exclusive games. Most notably in that was Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion a few years ago and then Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition last year. I don’t know when that is happening this year or what the games are. But I do know that they often do clearance on games right before. So I picked up one new, and one clearance.

My Hero Academia: Plus Ultra!

I don’t actually know anything about this game. My Hero Academia is an anime that I enjoy but I struggle to watch consistently. Mainly the main character gets way to emotional way to often. But when they have action sequences it is good. Plus there is a really good story with it. I don’t know if this board game is going to be good. It looks like it just came out, but I figured I’d give it a whirl just for the theme.

Summer Camp

And from the clearance side of things there is Summer Camp. This is a deck building game about Summer Camp, oddly enough. You are trying to go up on three different tracks. From what I know of this game, it is a pretty light game but I figured I’d give it a go. Plus it was 50% off, so the price wasn’t bad at all.

The Source

This is the other local game store. But really it’s games, comics, manga, nerdy things store. And I mainly go there to pick up manga, which I’ll be writing sometime soon about the ones that I’m reading.

Dungeon Party: Starter Pack

This is a dungeon questing, monster fighting board game where you are bouncing a quarter onto a coaster. It is purely silly but I am down for that. I might even work it into my Thursday D&D game. Make that be part of what we are doing for fighting a monster this week. Bring the characters to another dimension or something like that. I haven’t worked it all out.

But this is a game that I want to own just for the goofy nature. You probably know by now that I like my dexterity games. And I’d love to find an evening to just have some beers and play this game coming up here. I think it’ll provide a lot of laughs and a good time.

Half Priced Books

HPB is a book store mainly for used books. I’ve picked up some fun series there. And they have a game section. That is where I’ve gotten games like Tannhauser before. This time only one game caught my eye.

Periodic

This is going to be a game about the Periodic table. I know of someone who might like the game better, they have Genotype as well from Genius Games. I’ve heard good things about Periodic, so when was used there, I figured that I’d grab it. I’m not sure it’s a game for me, but we’ll see. And like I said, I think I know someone who would like the game if it isn’t for me.

eBay

Stars of Akarios

I blame the GloryHoundd discord server for this. You can join me on that discord server here. But one of their members found it on eBay with a listing that had a number of the game as a slightly better price than going through the store.

But Stars of Akarios is going to be a game of fighting and exploring on the fringes of space. But it hits so many of the words that I look for in a game. This is a narrative-driven, cooperative, campaign game that can be plays solo. I don’t know why I missed this one on Kickstarter, but I’m glad to have grabbed it now.

Amazon

Yup, Amazon has gotten a little love too. Mainly I’ll toss on a cheap game from time to time. Or sometimes Amazon is the only spot I can find something.

Skull and Shackles Expansions

This is again more Pathfinder Adventure Card game stuff. The story expansions and I think two character expansions for Skulls and Shackles. The name might not imply it, but this is the pirate base game for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. And that is a theme that I really like. So I am curious to see how they will make that game and story work. I always want to run a pirate D&D campaign, maybe this will inspire me.

Crowdfunding

Marvel Dice Throne

This is one that came in. And it’s already gotten to the table 3 times. The downside of it being 3 times is that I still have two characters I need to play. Black Panther and Captain Marvel are waiting for their shot in the sun. I’ll have a whole lot more on this probably around the end of the week.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

This is one that I just late pledged. My curiosity for the game got the better of me. I again, am a sucker for a cooperative, solo playable, narrative-driven campaign game. And Arydia promises that for me, plus some cool minis that you can customize.

Overall, this is just one of those big box games that I’m going to have to start playing as a campaign. I really want to figure out some game to play as a campaign on my own, not stream. Or maybe one that my wife is interested in, and do that once a week just for a little time. I have half of the gaming table that should be free to play on a lot of the time.

Aeon’s End: Past and Future

More Aeon’s End, I am of course going to back this. It is an interesting project though, and it is available for late pledge. But Aeon’s End Past and Future is not a big box expansion like they normally do. Normally it is the next part of the story that they are going through. This actually goes back to the past and looks to the future and you need specific sets already to be able to play it. Of course it’s mainly just more content, so I am down for that.

Deathly Thrones

Deathly Thrones is the only print and play game on the list. This one is interesting, though because it’s not a roll and write game. It’s a solo print and play roguelike game where you use a deck of cards. I didn’t look into it too much, again it is one that was shared to me via the GloryHoundd Discord server. But I think it looks really interesting and unique. If it can pull off a fun game, I could see having this a smaller sized game to pull out and play.

GameNerdz

I said it was a big list and a lot of it is that it has been a while since I’ve done one of these. I don’t believe that I’ve written about this one.

Vampire the Masquerade – Chapters

This is another one of those games where I wish that I’d backed it on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter hasn’t even fulfilled yet and the regret got me, especially since I found it too late to late pledge. Or found it again too late to late pledge. This is going to be another one of those big story driven cooperative solo campaign games set in the world of Vampire the Masquerade.

What intrigues me so much about this one is that it has story and the story from Vampire the Masquerade where it isn’t just vampires chomping necks and sucking blood. But there’s this whole code of what you do. And then you get down to a tactical level map where you can interactions with people and battles that happen which is really interesting. I like that variety in what it does.

GameZenter

Another LGS (local game store) to go along with All Systems Go and The Source. All of them are very nice, I am lucky to have so many around me. And I like to buy something every time I go somewhere and play. And the GameZenter is my favorite spot to play out of the two that you can play at, GameZenter and The Source.

Spirit Island

Spirit Island is a game that I should have played sooner. And in all fairness I have yet to play it now. But it is a cooperative or solo game that has great puzzle elements to it. And it’s complex enough in what your spirit is doing to fight off the colonizers that are coming to the island. So I really want to give it a go and see how it plays. I suspect it’s going to be a game that is bigger that I really like to play solo or at two players.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, I think, that I haven’t talked about. It’s been a busy time getting in games, or getting them in soon. I need to start playing them. But I am close, still to that 100 game total which I wanted to get under for unplayed games. Granted, that number will go up a bit again soon with a few more big box games coming in. I know that Oathsworn is getting close, so I’m sure I’ll write about that in the next Point of Order.

And then other Kickstarters and Gamefound games are starting to get produced. There is a production copy that was unboxed for ISS Vanguard, so I expect that to show up October or November. And Grove is getting close as well as Tiny Turbo Cars. And I think even Spire’s End Hildegard just locked in it’s shipping addresses, though I might be off on that one. Oh, and Chronicles of Drunagor. So expect another big one coming, likely post GenCon.

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How To Play Qwixx

Qwixx is a simple roll and write where on your turn you roll six dice. There are two white dice and four dice of different colors. The goal of the game is to fill in as many numbers as you can on the four colored tracks. The red and yellow go from 2 to 12 and the green and blue from 12 to 2. As you fill in numbers, you can not go back on a track, so if you skip from 2 to 5, you can’t fill in the 3 or 4.

Firstly, all players can use the combined total of the two white dice to fill in on a track. That is optional for everyone. Then, the player who rolled the dice, they can use one white die and one of the colored dice to fill cross of a spot on that color row. Then the turn passes and the next player rolls.

The twists for this are that the game can end two ways. Firstly, if you can’t place a combined total, you cross off a -5 point spot. If you get four of them, the game is automatically over. The other way is that once you have five numbers filled in for a color, you can lock the row. To do that you need to get a 12 in yellow or red, or a 2 in blue or green. And when a row is locked, no one can add to that row and it removes that color die from the game. Once two are locked, the game ends.

What Doesn’t Work?

This is a very luck dependent game. You might end up, just so you don’t take a -5 penalty, skipping over a number of numbers. Now, the fact that you don’t need to use the white dice not on your turn, or that you don’t need to use both the white dice and a white and color on your turn gives you some flexibility. But sometimes you just roll all high numbers or all low numbers and end up skipping a lot.

I also think that a lot of gamers are going to find this game too simple. It is very much a filler game. I played it twice last night in under thirty minutes while refreshing myself on the few rules. But it is meant as a family game, and I’ll talk about that more in who it is for.

What Works?

I think that the push your luck element of the game is actually pretty nice. You only roll once, but when do you fill in two things versus one. The more you fill in on a row the more points you get. So do you risk it that your opponent won’t lock things, so you can fill more slowly but with less gaps. Or do push to fill in as fast as you can so you can hopefully roll correct combinations and lock the dice?

I also like that it is a very simple roll and write. I love my more complicated roll and writes, but sometimes I want something that is purely a filler. My shelves aren’t short of filler games, but a lot of them are that twenty minutes or thirty for a single game. Qwixx is going to be a pull out, teach, and play in 15 minutes one for me. It fills a spot in my collection that I don’t need many games in. But Qwixx works quite well.

Who Is It For?

So, I already have talked about this as a filler a lot. But that is really what it is. I think it also is one of those games that you can take home and play with almost anyone. I can take this to play with my family. Or it’s one that’d easily fit into a a pocket for gaming at a brewery.

But this is for having at the non-gamers place so that you have a game to play. Or to have in your collection as a gamer so that you can play something simple with non-gamers. If you only play with gamers who are used to stuff more complex than Ganz Schon Clever, there probably isn’t a need for this, unless you want a really fast and small filler.

Qwixx Final Thoughts

I like Qwixx for what it is. Qwixx, as I keep on coming back to, is a light filler or a roll and write game. It isn’t going to be a game I play a ton of. But it is also going to be a game that I keep in my collection. Why, if it isn’t a favorite roll and write? Because I can pull it out and teach it so fast.

And I think often we get a lot of board games into our collections that are big. But there is generally space in most gamers collections for a few fillers. And Qwixx is going to be one of those for me if I want something really fast. I won’t replace some games, like Hanamikoji at two players. But for a higher player count, it is good.

My Grade: B-
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: A

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The Game – Sleeping Gods

Let’s talk a bit about the crew today, because my knowledge of my crew is what led me to making a choice that I might not have. The crew are a key part of the game because they are who you activate for several different things. Skill checks, which add fatigue, combat, and their abilities.

Now, there are nine crew members in the game counting the Captain. And each of them has at least two abilities that they are good at. A few have more than that. I like how you utilize them, putting fatigue on the character to activate the skills that they are good at.

Mechanically, it definitely works well. I like that you can only activate up to two people. So sometimes you can get to the goal just by putting fatigue on the characters, but is it worth it. Since there is also the element where you flip over a card as well. That card might be a six, so you only need two from characters. Or it might be a one. It’s a nice little decision of how much you want to push your luck in the game.

Plus, as you get more fate cards that you can equip, you can either diversify a characters skills or make them focused on something. I generally have specialized my characters to help get to those higher numbers. I think that’s the route that most people will go, but certain abilities, at times, make more sense with certain characters.

The Drink

So last nights drink was a Negroni again. So not much to talk about with it. So let’s touch on a complaint a little bit. Target in general is getting worse at carrying things that I want. And this does come back to booze, but also is with food. Target has moved away, might be because of supply chain, but even before they pandemic they were in process of moving away from major brands. Everything was being replaced with Target brands.

The downside of this is that some items in Target brand are fine. Pasta, that’s fine. But Target cheese is much worse than Crystal Farms, Kraft or Tillamook. Now, they still carry Tillamook with it’s limited variety. So to get a shredded cheese, I either get Target brand, or hope it’s in Tillamook, or go somewhere else. Back to alcohol and Target. They are now getting rid of the local brands of gin. That means that I bought a bottle at a great price. But now, going into the Target liquor is not going to be worth it. Everything is standard at this point. And I want to get local when I can because it’s often better in my opinion.

Anyways, off my soap box. I bought a bottle of gin at a great price, but now I won’t be able to get that gin again at Target, because they closed it out.

Upcoming Streams

As always, next stream will be on next Wednesday. Join me for part 8 of the adventures of the Manticore. And thanks to everyone who has joined live over the streams. If you want to know when I go live, subscribe to the channel and click that notification bell. You can do that here.

And to let you know, there will be additional video content coming out sometime soon. I’m still working on the formats for what that will be. But don’t be surprised to see more game play. And game play of different types on the channel, so not only just solo. Plus the additional content that I want to start filming.

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124-101

100 – 76

Unplayed Board Games 75 -51

75: HEXplore It: The Forest of Adrimon

Yes, this moved up slightly. Mainly because I missed it and I didn’t want to go back and adjust it a few spots. But I do think it could be higher. HEXplore It is an adventure style game, so one that I think I’ll like. And the Forest of Adrimon is supposed to be one of the easier to get into. It has some feel like another game that will be on another list in that it’s an RPG but a board game.

74: Formula D

Racing games, I’ve really been digging them lately. And in general I’ve liked them. I have TItans Race which I enjoy as a silly racing game. And Downforce which is amazing for racing and betting. But Formula D is the most involved and I really want to give it a whirl. I think doing something that simulates racing a bit more might be cool, though possibly slower in terms of game play.

73: Arkham Horror 3rd Edition

I am surprised how far down Arkham Horror 3rd Edition is. I like Arkham Horror 2nd Edition but I got rid of it because it is too long. So I suspect I’m going to like this version of it as well, and a shorter play time. So I need to get it to the table. But I think because it is familiar and because I have games like Arkham Horror The Card Game and Mansions of Madness, I feel like I might not need to play this as soon,

72: Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar

I bought this one when it was cheap at Target. Well, the price hasn’t changed, but the version of the game now at Target is a cheaper one, and I think smaller. This is when shipping was backed up so Target bought a bunch of Restoration Games’ stock. This is going to be a good and silly time. But I just need to find the time to play it. I don’t think game play will last too long for it.

71: Everdell

Everdell for a lot of people, I’d guess, is higher on the list. I know this is a well loved game, and the tableau and engine building it looks to offer seems great. Plus then the artwork is amazing on the game. I definitely notice that I’m a big fan of engine building games, and ones where they have some of those more euro mechanics to them as well. It’s lower for me just because it is a bit less thematic.

70: The Table Is Lava

This is a silly game. The Table Is Lava has you throwing cards onto the table, placing down meeples to get points. But when you throw you try and knock down other peoples meeples which is hilarious to me. I’m going to turn off the fan in the game room when I play this one because that might interfere with throwing cards. Should just bust this one and have a good time with it some game night.

69: Star Wars: Unlock!

The last of the escape room style games that I own. It’s higher than the Lovecraftian themed one just because of theme and being three games in one box. My wife and I need to play these because we both like Star Wars. And after the Olympics and before Moon Knight comes out, it’d give us something to do for a few weeks. I’ve heard they aren’t too challenging, but it’s still Star Wars, so I’m sure it’ll be fun.

68: Cockroach Poker

And a small game in Cockroach Poker, this is almost a classic filler game, if not one, at this point. You either tell the truth about the card you pass or you lie. And you don’t want to get sets. If you call the persons bluff and they were telling the truth, you get the card. If you can call and they were lying, they get the card. Or you can peek at it and pass telling the next person who you think it is. Clever idea, seems like it should be fun with the right groups.

67: Drawn to Adventure

By the name Drawn to Adventure might sound like a roll and write, and it is a roll and write. It’s about adventuring the best that you can. And you do it over several maps. The production is great, but one thing keeps it down the list a bit. The several maps makes me wonder how long the game will take. If it’s interesting enough, it being a bit longer won’t be bad, but we’ll have to see.

66: Matcha

This is a little card game that I don’t know a ton about. But I like the tea theme and I like the aesthetic. So why so high on the list? It seems to do some things that I like, and it’s a two player game. That makes it easier to get to the table. I like set collection and hand management. It’ll be interesting to see how the bluffing works.

65: Mariposas

A couple games about butterflies on the list, but only one on this section. Mariposas is about generations of butterflies flying up north and then returning back to the south for the winter. I like the idea and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes over. The pieces are solid and the mechanics seems simple enough. It’s more about the puzzle of getting as far north as you can but then being able to go fast south again.

64: Tannhauser

A grail game for me, Tannhauser is lower on the list, just because I think it might take me a bit to learn. But I love the World War II theme of it, plus a bit of a weird world setting as well. Plus, it’s another game that Sam Healey was a big fan of, and like I said, his and my tastes generally match pretty well. It’s hard to find, though, because it’s out of print, so I’m glad to just own it.

63: Air, Land, and Sea

A little lane battling two player card game. I actually have this one sitting at work waiting to get played. Probably will happen next week. It’s a short little game where you deploy out troops to try and win three different theaters of war, air, land, and sea. I don’t know that it’ll be my go to two player game, but it’d be nice to have on in the mix.

62: Shakespeare

A Euro game at the middle of the list, Shakespeare is about putting on a play. You do different rehearsals, build sets, get actors, and get costumes to do the best performance possible. It’s been in my collection for a while, but I don’t want to get rid of it. Even with the fact it’s a euro, I like the theme a lot. And I( think that it’ll be a puzzle that works for me.

61: Foodies

Foodies is one of three games that I own where you roll dice and everyone can do something. Space Base, higher on this list, and My Farm Shop, already played, are the other two. I previously have owned Machi Koro, and I want to buy Machi Koro Legacy when I have a group for it. It’s a mechanic that I like, but will Foodies beat out My Farm Shop? And could Space Base beat out both of them?

60: Papillon

Another butterfly game, and this one is higher, slightly because the aesthetic is cooler. Plus, I like some of how the game works. You build out different patches of flowers, trying to close them off then place butterflies on locations And those locations are an area control/majority battle. So the game seems really cool and offers different areas to focus on for strategy. Diversify across all flowers to get some points in a lot of spot. Or go for a lot of points in a few spots.

59: Valor & Villainy: Minions of Mordak

This is another one versus all game like Descent. But this one is newer and I’m getting the campaign or legacy version of this via Kickstarter with Lludwick’s Labyrinth. I do want to try this version as well as both the villain and the heroes and see how it plays. Mechanically I think it is interesting and I like the leveling up that you do in just a single scenario.

58: Flick of Faith

Two dexterity games now in a row. Flick of Faith reminds me a bit of Sonora, but just with flicking being the focus of it versus the roll and write aspect. You flick discs trying to get control of certain spots. And you have bigger discs that are harder to knock out of the way. And then there are god powers that change up how you play the game each round.

57: Rhino Hero Super Battle

The other dexterity game is about stacking. Three on this section of the list with The Table Is Lava. And this one definitely needs the fan off as you try and be at the top of the tower, or at least the highest up when it topples over. Unless, you knock it over, and then everyone else wins. Simple game, but I like simple and fun dexterity games.

56: Doodle Dungeon

Doodle Dungeon is a roll and write game, but the biggest box I have, well, up there with Sonora, and I own the Railroad Ink big box. But this is a dungeon crawling or creating game, which I think leans into the Boss Monster side of things. We aren’t the heroes, we’re the monsters in the dungeon trying to stop heroes. I need to look into this one more, but I think it’s going to feel like a much bigger game than a normal roll and write.

55: The Bloody Inn

A game with a morbid theme but one that seems like a lot of fun. In The Bloody Inn, you run an inn. But you find out that it’s more lucrative to kill off the people staying there, hide their bodies, and take their money. Who can do that the best, and will the police crack down on you? Card game but one that the theme while morbid is also funny.

54: Wingspan

Wingspan is not a game that I thought I’d own. But a friend got an extra copy, so we traded games. And I do think that I’ll like Wingspan. It’s a tableau building game about bird watching. That theme isn’t that interesting to me, but everyone seems to love the game. Family weight plus game, it might work well for a lot of groups. I am excited to try it for that reason.

53: Welcome To New Las Vegas

Another roll and write, we have four on this chunk of the list, one more to come. And Welcome To New Leas Vegas is a harder. That’s kept it on my shelf. One thing that I like about it’s predecessor Welcome To, is that it’s easy to play. I can teach that game to basically anyone. But will this one be too hard for my group. I need to try it and see.

52: Welcome to Dino World

The other roll and write is Welcome to Dino World. I like the idea of a dinosaur park. I didn’t grow up watching Jurassic Park and the sequels, but the concept is still fun. This one looks like a good time and you can have dinosaurs escape which every good dinosaur park should have happen. Because I’ll never ask if it should be done, just if it can be.

51: Camel Up

Final game is another racing game. Camel Up is kind of a classic at this point in time. Mainly because the game is goofy. You bet on who wins and the earlier you bet on it, the more you can win. But it’s hard to know who can win. The camels, as they race, stack. And the camel on top is in the lead. But if a camel on the bottom moves, they move the stack. So a camel can get lucky, move up to land on someone and then bound ahead again when that came moves.

Final Thoughts

We definitely had a few bigger games this time. And four roll and writes. But we’re still not to the big ones yet. The top 25, for sure, will be a lot of big games. And I do think that the roll and writes will be played on this section of the list. Plus some of the games like Matcha and Air, Land and Sea should be easy to get to the table.

Which game would you want to play on this section of the list? Which one should I play first?

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Fae

Fae was a game that I picked up out in San Diego, I believe. It was one that I played at a game store out there and I enjoyed it quite well. Since getting it, I’ve played twice maybe three times. The game is good and interesting. In it you are getting circles of druids together to complete rituals. The color of the druid relates to a specific spirit or fae. Each player has a fae but it’s secret, so each ritual pushes scores higher for every color. You want to push yours high but without it being too obvious so other players try and tank it.

The game was a lot of fun when I played it. For me, though, the game play was just a little bit less than I’d have wanted and the set-up time was a little bit more than what the game was. I think for a High School group, though, it offers something different in terms of game play. The hidden aspect is going to be a twist that they might not have seen before.

Dead Men Tell No Tales

Dead Men Tell No Tales is another game that I have enjoyed a lot. The game play is pretty straight forward and it is a completely cooperative game. You are pirates boarding a ghost ship. You have guardians to fight, treasures to get, and skeletal deck hands to keep in check. All while the ship is on fire and rooms are burning up. It seems like a lot going on, but it really isn’t and it works well.

This is a gateway plus game, I’d say. It’s kind of like Pandemic but just some more going on. I’d say that it’s more thematic than Pandemic as well. However, I find that I’d pull them both out in the same situation most of the time and Pandemic is faster for me to get to the table. Dead Men Tell No Tales will be more thematically interesting than Pandemic and probably better right now.

Munchkin Zombie

This one I was surprised that I kept in my collection as long as I did. Munchkin is an amazing gateway game. It’s something that very familiar with because it is a bit of a take that game. In it you are kicking down doors and fighting monsters. If you beat them you get rewards and possibly level up. You play down armor and weapons to be able to defeat them as well as boosts, but other players can play cards to make you weaker or the monster stronger.

It’s a game that helped me get into the hobby in some ways. Catan and Ticket to Ride are the biggest reasons I started board gaming, but Munchkin Zombie is more in your face. So it’ll be one that a lot of people will get it because it is simple and it’s goofy. I don’t want to play that many take that games anymore, especially Munchkin Zombie, but a good one for new gamers.

Lanterns

This is the only that I haven’t played. It was part of a Target Buy 2 get 1 Free sale, or something along those lines. I’ve see the game played, I forget if it was on Wil Wheaton’s TableTop or some other show. And the concept is interesting, you are completing a firework display by laying down tiles into a big communal grid. Depending on what color is pointed at you, that gives you a card and you are building out sets that give you points. Game play seems nice and easy and colorful.

I’ve just never gotten it to the table. is there a good reason as to why I haven’t, not really. I think it is a situation where I have other gateway style games that I like a lot, so when I consider pulling it off the shelf, I just go with one of those instead. I’d probably like it if I played it. It’s just one of those games that I can look on my shelf and know I can get it again pretty cheap if I really want to play it. So might as well let it go somewhere to get played more.

So I’m sad to see these games leave, but I love that I can help someone else out with getting some games played. I want more and younger generation of gamers. I think there are lots of younger gamers, but the more the better because that means in the long run the hobby stays strong and more interesting games are made.

What games would you give to a High School for gaming?

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Marvel Champions Drax

Now, this is a bit of a standard first one and generally why I write these articles. Monthly Marvel Champions comes out with something new and in this case, they are continuing to build off of the Galaxy’s Most Wanted expansion to add in more of the Guardians of the Galaxy. We now are able to play as Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, and Drax. And Nebula is coming. More characters is always fun and always reminds me to pull the game out and play more.

Doodle Dungeon

The other game I picked up at my FLGS was Doodle Dungeon. This is a new game from Pegasus Spiele, and looks like a lot of fun. This game reminds me of Boss Monster and a Roll and Write smashed together. In Doodle Dungeon you are making a dungeon. But unlike Deadly Doodles where you an adventurer delving into the dungeon, here you want the dungeon to win. The hero must die, they shouldn’t kill your monsters and of course not steal your treasure.

Now, do I need another game like this when I already have Boss Monster? Oddly enough, I had pulled Boss Monster off the shelf to sell recently because, while I think the game is a lot of fun it is a bit clutchy. The rules aren’t as smooth as they should be, and the game takes a bit to get going. I am hoping that Doodle Dungeon will work better for me.

Kohaku

This is a game that I’ve been eyeing for a little bit, mainly since GloryHoundd played it.

But what is drawing me to the game? Firstly, I like the aesthetic of the game. The tiles look amazing and different than a lot of other games. It also seems like a simple game. You draft tiles and do set collection around points, basically, and that’s it. I think this is a game that my wife will like but also one that I could take to play with my parents, or a heavier gaming group as something different. I like games to seem to offer a variety for a lot of people.

Fireball Island

Finally, we have Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar. This is a kids game, basically. Or more so now a family game. There was an original Fireball Island from the 80’s that was fine from what I’ve heard. It just had an awesome marble chute and cool 3D board. This version keeps all of that but adds in more game to it. It isn’t a roll or spin and move anymore, instead you are play cards to move.

This is one that I got to see and kind of demo at GenCon in 2019 and while I don’t know it’s a game that I will play all the time, it is fun. The game play is very simple and should work to play with the toddler in a few years, but can be played with friends now. I haven’t bought it until now because it’s a $75 game.

However, at Target, I happened to spot it on the shelf with no price. So I took it to one of the scanners and it was listed at $30. SO I definitely had to buy this game I’ve been looking at. My guess to what happened, and I’ve seen this happen before with Magic: The Gathering cards is something got entered into the system wrong. Fireball Island should be retailing at $75, like I said, but the expansions, $30. So someone, somewhere, priced it as if it were an expansion when it was the base game. This will likely get fixed soon, but if you really want to try and get it cheap, right now might work.

Which Do You Want To Play?

For me, I think the one that I want to play most is Kohaku. That one is just pretty and it’s been on my radar, like I said, for a little bit. Though Doodle Dungeon does look really cool and I already know I love Marvel Champions. I should just play some more games coming up here soon. Marvel Champions for sure because I can play it solo.

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This game is going to be another or a new version of Battlestar Galactica. Now, I am curious to see how well the theme works in this game. I will likely get Unfathomable because it’s about 50% of the price of a used copy of Battlestar Galactica. However, Fantasy Flight doesn’t have access to the IP anymore, so they are going the Arkham route with it. I think that that the theme will work well enough, but it might not be as immersive.

Personally, I think this game could have worked well with a Marvel IP on it. The Secret Invasion storyline, in the comics and coming to Disney+ as a show as well, has you wondering who is a Skrull. In fact there are characters who are Skrulls who might not remember they are actually Skrull the whole time. Obviously I’m partial to the Marvel IP, but that was always my thought.

The OP Brings Onward To The Table

Disney/Pixar’s Onward is one of their movies that might get less love than some, but one that I really like. It hits on that nerdy adventure stuff that I dig as a role playing fan, in particular, Dungeons and Dragons. The OP is taking that IP to the tabletop with Quests of Yore: Barley’s Edition.

This is going to be purely a role playing game versus more of a board game. What I like about this is that it has a theme that is nerdy but less nerdy. Pixar has such a name for itself that people will be interested just based off of that. Dungeons and Dragons has already bridged the masses some with things like Critical Role and then Stranger Things. This is another thing that can go onto the shelves at Target and get people to buy it.

Portal Games Puts out Information On Dune: House of Secrets

Announced at the digital PortalCon this spring, Dune: House of Cards now has a pre-order and release date. July 12th for pre-orders and October 15th for a release date. This game, from the sounds of it, leverages some of what they have already done with Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. In at least that it is going to be a story and different chapters that you play through.

I could do a “Let There Be Hype” on this one. I am really excited for it. It seems to be based off of Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game system, which I love, and I am interested in the Dune games. The original Dune is a massive all day event. And the Dune Imperium looks interesting but also looks dull aesthetically. So I want to try it but not so sure about owning it. Dune: House of Secrets, I am very interested in playing it and owning it. This seems like a game that will immerse me in the world of Dune and that just is cool.

Three big pieces of news and all that I’m pretty interested in. I will likely be picking up two of them, Dune: House of Secrets and Unfathomable. Which of these looks the most interesting to you?

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What do I mean by this? Well, a warrior tribe might fight to the death but an owlbear might only fight until it’s gotten some food or until it knows it’s been out numbered. What is the motivation of your monsters?

Fight Or Flight

When things go poorly for a monster, what are they going to do? I gave two examples above, but think about it before you get into combat. Every monster will have a motivation for what they are doing. A group of bandits might want to intimidate and rob, a mama dragon will want to protect her young, a zombie wants to eat your brains.

So when you plan a session, and combats, think about what they want. Will a bandit surrender if the rest of their party is killed. Will they run away? Or maybe a bandit leaves the party for dead and steals their stuff if they beat them. What makes sense for your story and for the monster you bring into battle?

On the flip side, a monster that is dumber, like an owlbear, what do they do? Most wild animals don’t want to fight. They will run if put in a situation that is dangerous to them, or until provoked. But back them into a corner and they fight. Maybe the owlbear spots your gnome and is hungry, do they continue to fight the party if they knock over the gnome, or do they pick up the gnome and run? I would say that the owlbear probably plans to run and separate the gnome from the party.

How Long A Fight?

Like I talk about above, this is another question to ask when planning. How long will something fight. Let’s go back to that mama dragon protecting her young. She won’t stop fighting. On the flip side, bandits will most certainly run if things go south.

This becomes an assessment of how long a creature will fight. Think about it before the session but also during the combat. An owlbear won’t fight for three rounds and run. If it is getting hurt, it’ll run. A bandit won’t fight until it’s at 1 hit point. If half the bandits die, the other half will run. So it’s less about the timing of how many rounds of combat versus what is happening in combat that makes that determinations.

And like I said with that mama dragon, she won’t ever run. A zombie, they won’t run. But the big bad of your campaign, they might run before combat even starts. A smart bad guy tries to avoid getting killed. And if they have a plan in place they want to enact, why wouldn’t they run immediately. Now, the players might not be a threat. In that case, the BBEG would not run but would they fight?

Target Priority

Finally, I want to talk about target priority. I think this is where DM’s, including myself, trip up often. We like to go after the tank or spellcaster, but I don’t think that is how it should always go. Some monster target based on other things.

I want to go to my game. The last session, you can read about it here, I put an arcane stalker in the parties way. The arcane stalker prioritized spellcasters. Why, because that is the arcane stalkers job. They kill spellcasters for the Winter Court of the Fey. And with a teleport ability, they didn’t care so much about the fighter. It made sense for them to ignore the tank to get the casters.

On the flip side, an owlbear, they will go after who they think is the biggest threat. And an owlbear threat isn’t going to be how humans maybe perceive a threat. The larger the character, the bigger the threat. Or, on the flip side, if the owlbear just wants to grab a snack and get out, they might go for the smallest. Either way they do not prioritize based on abilities, but on a simpler system of size.

Going back to our bandit example. Think about the composition of the party and of the bandits. If the bandits have a spellcaster or ranged fighters of their own. They might send two or three members to engage the tank. Then the ranged attackers will go after the healer or a spellcaster. Basically trying to keep the tank occupied so they can’t get to their own weaker members. Target priority is really something fun you can play with in Dungeons and Dragons.

How Do You Handle This In Your Games?

I want to know what you do in your games. Leave a comment below. Or let me know over on Twitter or Facebook, information down below.

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What is it?

Marvel United is a cooperative game from Spinmaster Games and CMON. You take Marvel superheroes and face them off against villains. The game itself plays the villain so everyone gets to be a hero. The players each get a hero and you play down cards chaining off of what the other characters have done before. Can you defeat the villain prior to them getting to their ultimate scheme is the question. This was a massive Kickstarter in 2020 that I got basically everything for. The figures are cute at chibi and the game play for the base game is super simple, in fact maybe a little bit too simple. It’s fun, but it is meant to be sold at Target or Wal-Mart. The expansions are supposed to add more.

But now we are getting a second season for Marvel United for lack of a better term. We are getting the X-Men. There were basically no X-Men in the first game. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were there, and technically they are X-Men, but they are also Avengers as we’ve seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And a lot of people are going to think of that prior to thinking of them as X-Men if they are just casual fans not comic fans.

This version of the game, it sounds like, is going to add some more twists and possibly more challenge to the game. I expect that the base box will be much like the original game where it will be a very family friendly easy game. But, like the original, the expectation will be that the expansions add in more complexity to the game play and more challenge.

Why Am I Hyped?

Well, it is Marvel and I love Marvel. While I am more invested in the Avengers side of things because that’s been that is in the MCU, in the comics, the X-Men are often better. Plus the X-Men have a ton of exciting characters. In particular they have one of my favorite superheroes, Gambit. Now they haven’t officially said Gambit is going to be there, but I fully expect that he will. Plus there are a lot of other cool characters. I’m going to be interested to see what they do with the likes of Professor X and Magneto. It seems like Magneto will be a villain, but could we get a hero version as well?

Also, they have teased that there is going to be a difference in the games, that this one will add in something. I have no idea what that might be which is really exciting. If I were to guess, I would think it’ll give someone the option of playing a villain in the game. So if you are going up against Magneto, that person would have a hand of cards and pick what Magneto is playing. Which would be cool and would add challenge to the game because that player could optimize the villain versus the flipping of a card and random that we got in the original. Also, did I mention Gambit?

When And Where Do I Find It?

Like the first game, this one is coming to Kickstarter. CMON has just announced that it is coming “soon” but I’m guessing quite soon because they sent a copy of the game for the Dice Tower crew to play during their Spring Spectacular. CMON did just wrap up another Kickstarter, Zombicide: Undead or Alive, so I’m thinking at at the end of this month or beginning of April for this one.

Hype Level

Let me explain the hype level which I am making up. It is a scale of 1 to 5. 1 being that I am hyped, 5 being that I am super hyped for it. I’m not going to hype something up that I’m not interested in, which is why it doesn’t go lower than hyped.

4 out of 5

I know some about this game so there is less mystery about it. Plus, it is a lighter game, but I am still really hyped for it. Have I mentioned that it will likely have Gambit?

Does this game register for you on the hype meter? What character hero or villain do you want to see?

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Game Play

In this game, you are trying to defeat some villain, in our case it was Red Skull. They have their plan, Red Skull is trying to create havoc and get Hydra to take over, and they have placed threats all around the city. As the heroes you are going around, fighting his minions and thugs, doing heroic actions to thwart his plans and rescue bystanders all so you can get to the point where you can punch Red Skull and take him out.

To do this, you are playing cards out on your turn that do one to two actions. These cards either have you moving, punching, a heroic action, or maybe a combination of some of those. There are also cards with wilds on them. Now that doesn’t seem like much, but you also get to use the symbols on the cards of the person before you. So in our game, if Ant-Man did two heroic actions, and the Wasp played a wild, she’d get to do two heroic actions and then an action of her choice.

Every third player turn, the villain goes. The villain actually starts off the game as well, they will move, possibly, around the board and then do several different things. There are bam effects that they do, this might be doing damage, or advancing their threat. If they ever complete their goal, they win, if they don’t have any more scheme cards to draw, they win, if a hero has no cards in their hand or to draw, they win.

Initial Thoughts

This is a very light weight cooperative game, and that’s not really a negative, it’s just a fact. Marvel United is meant to be a game that’s played by families or with people who aren’t as much gamers, but the Marvel theme appeals to them. This is what I was expecting from the base game, and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed. I already can tell that I’d definitely recommend this game to families with younger children as well, because most of the cards don’t have text on them, and the board even has a limited amount of text that kids will probably learn after a few plays of it.

There is also a good amount in the box. You get 3 villains and 7 heroes in the base box, so you have a lot of different combinations that you can play. We picked Ant-Man and Wasp because they are a team-up group, obviously, and also because their minis are great with Wasp taking off from or alighting upon a die, and Ant-Man getting ready to leap off of a quarter. But all of the minis are great in the game, Red Skull is a little boring, but in all fairness, he isn’t the most dynamic looking character. And in the base box, you have a lot of great heroes, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and Black Widow round out the rest of them, so you have a great variety to play from.

I also like that each hero has a normal selection of cards ranging from heroic actions to punches, to maybe a move and a punch, but they also have three unique cards to them. These cards do have a bit of text on them, but are really the cards that give them flavor. Ant-Man, for example had a card that is called Quantum Realm that has no symbols on it, but it allows him to go back through the cards that he’s played and swap that card with any of them. Or he has a card where he shrinks which means that he can’t take damage for a turn, or grows so he can punch one villain really really hard.

As a negative, I think base box only, it has enough game play for a family game, but for hobby gamers, you’ll miss not having at least an expansion for the game. This is meant to really be that retail version that you can pull off of the shelf at Wal-Mart or Target because you see it there, and it won’t be too much to play. The expansions, according to what I’ve heard, are supposed to add in more interesting game play and challenges that might be a bit tougher and more gamer.

Final Thoughts

This is a fun game that for me is going to need more. However, I have more of this game coming. And even without more, I had a fun time playing it, and I think it’ll be a game that’s good for a ton of people. If you have kids who are interested in Marvel movies, cartoons, comics, whatever it might be, this is a great option of a game to get them, I should have said that pre-Christmas. If you know someone who isn’t a gamer who likes Marvel, they might like this game as well. It really should be an evergreen recommendation for a family weight game, and then the expansions, when they come to retail, people can pick and choose if they want more. Overall, though, a good experience playing Marvel United and a game that I want to play again and play with more.

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