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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Eagle-Gryphon Games

Tumbling Dice

This is one that has been on my radar for a long time and I wasn’t sure where to buy it. But it’s a cool looking, pretty big game, that is really simple. You take turns rolling a die down a track. And once everyone has rolled their dice, whatever dice are on there and the face they it is on determine how many points you get. Is it a serious game, not at all, but it looks fun.

And the further that you can roll it down the higher a multiplier you get. So if you have a 4 at the top it’s worth 4 times 1. If it’s at the bottom it’s 4 times 4. Of course, you might roll a one as well.

I went with the Tom Vasel method from the Dice Tower, too, I bought some roll playing dice sets. And I’ll probably make up some more as well. That way you aren’t just rolling 4 four sided dice. You can roll the full set of seven dice and get crazy numbers if a 20 lands on the times 4.

Miniature Market

This was over a couple of orders. Miniature Market did sales throughout the month of November, plus then Black Friday sales.

Imperium Legends

This was the one from the first order. It’s a solo game, or multiplayer that I’ve heard good things about. I mainly grabbed it because it was solo and I wanted to try it. I’m not sure it’ll be a solo game for me, because I’ve also heard okay things about Imperium Legends from some reviewers who I tend to match up with taste wise. But on a sale it was worth a try.

Dragonscales

Dragonscales is another one that I’ve heard some about and I’m not sold that it’s for me. But it was on a good sale and in this case it was the last piece to get to free shipping. It’s a push your luck game, and I am hoping to find one that works well for my group I do have Can’t Stop that I need to try as well. But Incan Gold worked okay, we just have some people that really like to push their luck.

Chronicles of Avel

Chronicles of Avel I’ve seen on shelves for a while, not like a super long time the game is pretty new, but every time that I see it, I want to buy it. It’s a lighter more family focused adventure game. And the artwork on the game looks amazing. And it’s supposed to be a lighter game, really good Board Game Geek rating, that gives you the same upgrading and creating characters to play, but for the whole family.

Paw Patrol Spot It

This actually was the main reason that the Black Friday order from Miniature Market happened. I have a kid who loves Paw Patrol, and Spot It is a game that he might not quite be ready for, but I would guess in the next six months we could start playing it. I think Spot It is fine, but to get a version that he’ll love and we can play together as a family, I’m all for that.

Ascension Gift of Elements

I’ve been eying this one for a long time as well, Gift of the Elements has been on sale a lot. I don’t think that I need to get all of Ascension, but I have two other expansions and I want to add this one into the mix. Why, because I think the stuff it can add in looks cool. Really what I’m noticing about Ascension right now is that I need to get it back to the table again. I really love it as a basic deck building game.

Journey Through the Radiant Citadel

And this is D&D adventure book. I don’t tend to buy those, but part of me is wanting to pick them up and grab story elements from my own campaign. Plus it was the alt art book cover. If this one doesn’t work for me, I can trade it in, or I can glean what I want from it and then trade it in. But in terms of adventures, the book seems more interesting than some.

Lone Shark Games

Thornwatch

I know Lone Shark Games for one game, Apocrypha. I actually forgot that they had made more. And this one is with Jerry Hawkins from Penny Arcade. It has solid ratings but again, it was really cheap, cheap to the point with very cheap shipping that it felt bad not to give it a go. I want to know if it has that Penny Arcade humor in the game and if it’s going to be a fit for me, because the cover and description make it look like something I should enjoy.

Snowdale Design

Lands of Galzyr

I blame, directly, Meet Me At the Table, YouTube channel for this one. He had a really good playthrough of one game, and this looks like a choose your own adventure big game, with fun tests and characters, that I love. And it doesn’t just look like that, but it also looks relaxing. A lot of the big games like it tend to offer big decisions and big consequences, whereas Lands of Galzyr offers you good choices but the stakes, at least early on, don’t seem as high.

Brotherwise Games

Call to Adventure: Epic Origins

I almost backed this one on the Kickstarter. And yes, ordering it later means that I missed out on some of the exclusives, but it was also cheaper. And I don’t care too much about the exclusives I missed out on. But I do want to get the game to the table, and I want to see what it adds in, as a standalone game.

Chip Theory Games

Too Many Bones + Tink Bundle

Too Many Bones and Chip Theory got me on this one. It is a good way to start building up the collection. I have Undertow. And I backed the last one that Gamefound that they had about a year ago for two new characters. Now I’ll have a ton of characters to play with and explore the weird world of Too Many Bones.

Amazon

Get on Board

I almost picked this one up at GenCon this year. iello brought it over to the US. But it’s a roll and write, sort of game. There is a main board where everyone is creating bus routes to pick up and drop off people. But you don’t want to overlap with other people and other routes because then you are creating traffic and slowing things down.

That is on a joint main board but then you each have your own board that you are filling in things on that are tracking who you pick up, points that you are getting and possibly other abilities. I like that it has roll and write elements but overlaps more.

Abyss

Abyss is one that I wanted to demo at GenCon, though maybe was a good thing I didn’t or I’d have been tempted to buy it then. Plus Abyss has great artwork, and I think I’d have been disappointed if I bought it when it came out because it looks so epic. The game itself is a smaller game in what you are doing and now knowing that, I think it’s the type of game that I’d enjoy.

Mansions of Madness Expansion

In this case, I finally decided to grab an expansion for a game that I love and is in my Top 10 Games of all time. This is just going to add in a little bit more that I can play, give some new tiles new characters things like that. Definitely makes me want to get Mansions of Madness to the table again though.

Dice Conquest

I thought, when I first looked at it that Dice Conquestjust looked like an okay game. And I suspect I don’t find it amazing but will find it fun, and for a game that I can play solo, I’m excited for that. I always want to find small footprint solo games, and Dice Conquest, while it can be multiplayer, is also small footprint for solo.

In this game you are rolling dice, you standard D&D combination of dice, and fighting off monsters, taking damage and trying to make it through the dungeon. Or at least I think of it was a dungeon, where you will then face off against the big bad guy. Each monster is a bit different, and the characters have unique powers, so it should offer fun repeated plays.

All Systems Go

Cascadia

Cascadia is one that I’ve known that I want to try. I actually went into my local game store not to get this game, but the used game I was interested in was already bought. And I have been wanting to try this one. I like Calico, from the same company, which has simpler game play but more punishing.

I am hoping that Cascadia is still easy enough and with the expanding board will work well for a nice relaxing and fun game to play. To me, I think I’ll enjoy that it has a good amount of variety as well. It might lack the tension that I’ll get from Calico but be more relaxing to play.

Thousand Year Old Vampire

I also grabbed this solo RPG book, Thousand Year Old Vampire. I’ve heard about a handful of times and a solo RPG just sounds interesting to me. You are a vampire and it is basically giving you prompts and things like that which you can answer. It might not be for me, it is mature in theme as you’d expect from a vampire, but I want to give it a try.

OOMM Games

Stars of Akarios Minis

Final item on the list is minis for Stars of Akarios. I love Stars of Akarios, and the standee ships are cool. But to have minis for them, for the enemies since your characters have minis already, is going to be awesome. It’s just going to make the board look more epic, and I’m not going to lie, I kind of want to get it back tot he table when it comes in.

Final Thouhts

It’s a lot of games coming in for sure. And some of them are already here. Plus some Kickstarter and Crowdfunding games that I’ve ordered are starting to come in. Mainly I had Tiny Turbo Cars show up a couple of weeks ago. And I just got confirmation that Zombicide Undead or Alive is on it’s way as well. Plus I know Frosthaven is shipping so there are a ton of games.

In fact, there are enough that I’m actually going through and rearranging my game shelf, sorting things again, and possibly finding some to trade away because I need to get more room on the shelf for everything. I’m disappointed though, I have some time off, and Ikea doesn’t have a 4×4 Kallax available, otherwise I’d run and get one of those to get even more shelf space to use.

Which game out of these would you try and get to the table first? I suspect the first might either be Get on Board or Tumbling Dice.

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