Top 15 Campaign Games I Still Need to Play

15. Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West

I know that I’m going to like this game. So why is Ticket to Ride Legacy lower on the list? Some of it is because it is a legacy game. The two “legacy” games that I have on the list are the bottom two. But also because while I like Ticket to Ride a lot, it’s not a game that I play all that often. I think that the legacy version will likely breath new life into the game for me. But it’s more of a comfort food pick than a really exciting new bite to try. And for that reason it’s lower on the list.

14. Clank Legacy 1 & 2

The other legacy game is actually two legacy games. So did I cheat, I’ll let you decide. But this one is lower on the list because I know that I love Clank! already. And I really like the Acquisitions Inc guys as well, so that is a great theme for me. But it’s like I said for Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West, this is more comfort food. I already know that I will like both of the games. But it’s higher on the list because I like Clank better than I like Ticket to Ride, and because I think the writing is just going to be a great time that’s a ton of fun.

13. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Speaking of fun writing, I expect that Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is going to be another game with fun writing. This one is supposed to be a simpler, or less in depth dungeon crawler game and there are some good playthroughs of it. I’d recommend checking otu the playthrough that was done done on Meet me at the Table. They’re one of my favorite channels, and it shows how fast it is to get the game to the table and get playing.

12. Kinfire Chronicles

Speaking of another campaign game that I’ve heard a lot of good things about, we have Kinfire Chronicles. This is again supposed to be a friendlier and easier to get into campaign game than some. I like the look of the aesthetic of the game. And it’s not a mini heavy experience which might make it easier to get to the table. But it’s probably easier to see what it’s like at the table. I really do like how the cast of characters looks like a ton of fun and familiar fantasy but not the completely normal fantasy.

11. Tidal Blades 2

For this one I’ll add a video from Man vs Meeples. But I know more about this one. Some of the previous ones I just went on theme. This one is a dungeon crawler or adventure style game with scenarios where you are in this beautiful world dealing with monsters who attacked a festival and more in the story.

But the mechanisms got me to pick up this game. I like how you add in cards to a grid and then you activate a row or a column. But once every spot in a row or column is filled and you activate it, it wipes. And you have basic actions on spots without cards, but it’s a rising and falling action as you try and play through the scenario and defeat the monsters.

10. Etherfields

Now we’re onto Etherfields. The only campaign game from Awaken Realms that I haven’t gotten to the table. And this one actually left my collection for a very short time. But as I said, I love campaign games so I got it back. I put this one where because I love the theme of it. I have heard that it is rough around the edges but the theme gets me.

You are exploring dreams and each dream is going to be a little bit different. Some of them might be more dream like, but the fun of dreams, at least in a board game is that they can be nightmares as well. And that means that the game is going to have twisted and crazy and surreal scenarios and that sounds amazing to me. I know one element was a bit of a grind, but I believe that there are rules out there now that help fix that.

9. Kingdom: Death Monster

Then we get to one that maybe should be higher on the list. Kingdom: Death Monster is not the grand daddy of all campaign games, that’s Gloomhaven in a lot of ways. But this one is one of the games that really showed what you could do and create a massive game with a ton of expansions and a ton of minis in it. I only have the core box and there is a ton in there.

In this game it’s a boss battler campaign. You start at no one, really you don’t even have language yet. But as you play, you grow you tribe, figure out new things, like ways to make weapons and armor, develop language and more. All that while sending out your hunters to try and defeat boss monsters who are sometimes going to take out your hunters. And that’s why you need to keep growing your village. But Meet Me At The Table has great videos on this as well.

8. Divinity Original Sin

This is a game that I need to play through both as a video game but also as the board game. I had fun watching Felicia Day an Ryan Day play through it on their streams back in the day. So it is a game that I have played some, in the video game. But the board game sounds great for it as well. The theme definitely helps with that as does the fact that this isn’t a grid movement map but more of an area movement game. And I really like how there’s that campaign element and adventure element to it without purely being a dungeon crawler game.

7. Dragon Eclipse

Alright, I kind of lied about having played all of the Awaken Realms campaign games. This is one that might actually get to the table sooner because I think it might be easier to get to the table. I didn’t think of it though, because it just got in. In this game you are collecting dragons and battling dragons. Does that sound a bit like Pokemon, that makes sense. But it’s a game with a fun theme and compared to some campaign games, it’s a campaign game that you can play true solo which is great for me.

6. Nova Aetas Renaissance

You’ll notice and probably already have noticed a trend of the videos that I share here. A ton of them are from Meet Me At the Table. A lot of these games I had already backed before they played them. But this is one that I tracked down because of the channel. I love the 3D nature of the experience for this game. And how, in one of the scenarios a house that is 3D can be taken apart and flattened. But there is more than that as well.

The story of the game is fun. It feels like it mixes up a few things from historical to make fantastical. And then it uses a fun mechanism for whose turn it is. You spend you action points and move around a time track. Whomever is at the end of the track is going to be who activates next. There are some other rules for it as well. So you can’t just stack up turn after turn after turn before the bad guys go, but it’s a fun element to the game.

5. Agemonia

Then we have Agemonia. This is a rare campaign game that I didn’t back right off the bat on crowdfunding. Or I should say a rare one that I looked into a lot and didn’t end up backing. This game seems to have a fun world and setting to play in and that’s some of what drew me in right away for it. But there were other elements that kept me coming back for it as well.

I liked how the maps were in books and that felt different. But also beyond that, as more places are doing that now, the world would change. You draw out a card after interacting with a point and cover it up. That might create a different point of interaction or it might be nothing to do there anymore. And the game play just seems simple enough to be easy to learn and play, but offer some solid choices in combat as well.

4. The Elder Scrolls

Next is another new one to come in. But it’s a fun theme that a lot of people are going to be drawn to. For me it’s less the theme and more that it’s a shorter campaign based off of the Too Many Bones system that I really am excited for.

If you’re not familiar with the system, you level up after missions. Or you can anyways. And as you spend your points to try and level up you get better or unlock new abilities. You can add to base stats, which can be good, or you can add to the specialty dice that you roll. And while this streamlines it a bit from what it was with Too Many Bones, I’m excited for it and the world that the game is set in certainly helps.

3. Middara

Now the top 4 are going to be ones that I really would love to play. Yes, you read that correctly, we’re on #3 and we have four games to go including this one. How is that, I couldn’t pick between my top two. But Middara is very safely into that group. And soon I’m going to be having more Middara come in. I say soon, I expect maybe this time next year.

But Middara is going to be a classic dungeon crawler with a ton of story and a ton of dice chucking. But I really like the theme and look of the game. You go to another world, chosen to go there kind of it’s weird to explain. But you are chucking dice to defeat monsters, level up and become awesome. But the whole aesthetic of the game gives me a really strong anime feel. I’ve heard that sometimes trips up the writing, but overall people really enjoy it. And to me that sounds exciting.

1c. Oathsworn

Next we have Oathsworn. And this, this is the three way tie for first place. Why did I not just remove the last game from the list, because I wanted to mention it too. Oathsworn is another boss battler game. But it is a game that is split into two parts. And that excites me about the game. You get a mystery or exploration phase where you experience a lot of story. And then you go beat up that boss. But if you do well on the story the boss maybe is easier.

And I really like the mechanisms in the game. I kept games that I’d really played off of the list. I did a short demo of this one two years ago at Gen Con and I adored it. There is this great card system where cards have to cool down before you can use them again. And then you decide how many dice you are going to roll, some are required, but the more you roll the more chances you to bust and miss, but the greater a hit could be. Or you could play it safer and draw cards, but eventually that deck of cards will run cold and do you switch to dice then?

1b. Primal: The Awakening

Next tied at the top is Primal: The Awakening. This one is another boss battler game. And this one I should probably get to the table sooner than some. A nice thing about Primal is that it doesn’t need to be a campaign, you can also play it as a one off. And that would definitely make it easier for me to get it to the table.

But this is a game that is all about the boss battle. There is a little story between scenarios and a chance to upgrade, but it’s not going to be nearly as much other stuff as just a pure battle. And the battle is different as well. You play on a tiny board with just four sides of the monster that you can be on. And depending the stance the monster is in, you need to be in specific spots to do damage. Add in card play for this which you can pull of powerful combos, that’s great. Of course, depending on what cards you play, you might trigger a lot of monster reactions.

1a. Arydia

And finally the most recent game to the campaign game collection. This one barely beat out Elder Scrolls for that title, we have Arydia. Arydia is another game that I passed on originally when it was on crowdfunding but then I went back and late pledged it. I just kept on being drawn into one part of the game.

The game is at three different levels. Now I don’t mean that you build stuff up on the table. I mean that you explore the world at three different levels. You explore at a high level where you get general encounters and interactions. Then you can dive down deeper and start to interact with specific characters or explore a location in more detail. Finally, you might then drop into combat which is tactical movement on a map. And that massiveness of the world really drew me to the game.

Final Thoughts

You might think that is enough. But there is going to be another list, probably tomorrow for games that I want to come back to or that are new editions or versions of games that I’ve already played as campaign games. I expect that is only going to make it to ten, but that’s a lot. And this list even didn’t include everything. The campaign in Solomon Kane could have made the list. And I know that I just didn’t see some games on the shelf that would have made sense for the list as well. And there are games that I likely missed too because I don’t think of them as campaign games.

What campaign games do you want to get played? And how do you find time to play them all? Or are you like me where you have more campaign games than you can play?

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And for other ideas check out the previous lists.

Two Player Games
Campaign Games
Solo Games
Party Games

Welcoming Games

Bonsai

Bonsai is a pretty game about growing Bonsai trees. That’s a theme that is going to be a lot of fun for a lot of people and less “nerdy” which a lot of the games that are welcoming games try to be. That is, they are attempting to be less nerdy to be more welcoming.

In Bonsai you grow you tree by collecting pieces for your tree and then placing them out onto your tree. You pick either of those actions to do. Now it’s a bit trickier than that because as you play there are card abilities that let you hold more or place more tree pieces. Or you grab scoring cards to add to your end game scoring. There is a good amount going on, but it’s not too much because your actions are either take a card or add to your tree, meditate or cultivate as it calls them. And in the end you have an interesting looking bonsai tree.

Draftosaurus

The next fun theme for welcoming games is Draftosaurus, a dinosaur drafting game. In this game you build out your best dinosaur zoo for points, but you do that by drafting dinosaurs and placing them into different pens that will score in different ways.

On a turn the person who is in charge of the die, that passes each turn, rolls it and that determines where the dinosaur you pick has to go. Except for the person who rolled the die and can place it anywhere. Then you pick a little wooden dinosaur from your hand and add it to one of the pens. Some pens will give you points for pairs of dinosaurs, or maybe it wants all different dinosaurs or all the same. Each one is going to give you points in a unique but simple way.

Cafe Baras

Another welcoming game is new this year and it’s Cafe Baras. You are capybara baristas making your best coffee shop. There is cute artwork and some in jokes in this game about the different board games that the company has made. But it’s a nice easy game.

You either are adding more food and drink to your menu, which costs you money, or you are getting customers which gives you money. And you want to get the customers that give you the most points too, at the end of the game, because if you give the customer exactly what they want you can get a customer for life. Plus there are some other ones who will give you points at the end of the game if you have your menu built out in the way that they like it or your coffee shop set-up like they like it.

Cafe Baras is another game that really keeps it clean and simple and easy to play. And these first few have basically no reading to them which makes them quite language independent.

Castle Combo

Castle Combo is the first of our welcoming games that does have more reading to it. In this game you build out a three by three grid of point scoring fun. And all you do on your turn is buy a card and add it to your grid.

I love how easy this game is for being one that offers some good challenge. But each card tells you everything you need to know about it. First you know the cost of the card, how many coins it’ll cost you to buy it, then there is a bonus. The bonus might be getting you more money or keys. Or it might be a permanent discount on buying cards. And finally, there is the end game scoring, how you need to play it to get points. That is it.

Now, there is one last element, the element of the keys. The keys just allow you to change what you can buy. You either wipe all the cards in one row. Or you move where you can buy to the next row. The game is so simple, fast and friendly that it’s a good welcoming game experience.

Mountain Goats

Finally the lightest game on the list, Mountain Goats. This one is very simple to teach and play but also a lot of fun. Mountain Goats is a dice chucking game as you climb up a mountain to grab points.

The game has six different spots where your mountain goats climb. Each column has a different number and different points that match the number. You roll four dice and then you combine them to move mountain goats up towards the top of the mountain. When you get there, you get a point token. And you stay up there and can get more points if you roll that number or combine dice for that number again. But if someone else gets there it bumps you all the way to the bottom and you need to climb again.

That is all there is to the game. This one is again language independent and one that is going to be the easiest for younger kids to play as well. You just need to be able to think about the different combinations of numbers you make. Once a kid figures that out, it is easy to play.

Final Thoughts

You also can’t go wrong with the classics. Games like Catan, Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, and Small World are still great options. But I want to let you know there are new fun options as well out there. And this isn’t even a complete list, I know I could find a whole lot more.

Which of these games do you think a non-gamer or rarely gamer friend or family member would play out of the welcoming games?

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Top 10 Games to Demo at Gen Con

Let’s start out by cheating with two honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention:

Kinfire Delve – Kinfire is a game that I might pick up, it’s a big campaign game. Delve looks like a smaller game set in the same universe. But if it builds on that world in a fun away, even without being a campaign game, it is one that’s on my radar. And it’s still cooperative, so it might be more of a bite sized game.

The A.R.T. Project – Another cooperative game and another one that looks beautiful. I obviously like cooperative games, and I’m hoping that this one won’t be too complex. The idea of trying to figure out certain scenarios to stop an art thief, but again not be a campaign game, that sounds like a lot of fun. And with the look of the game, not a company I’m always drawn towards, but this game is.

Onto the main list.

10. Super Squad High

Let’s start out with the most important thing. There is a narrative dating mechanism. This is a high school for super heroes, of course there is going to be that. Plus it’s cooperative and it’s super heroes, and honestly, I don’t know what’s in this game not to love. Maybe the fact that secretly one of your classmates if the villains. But it doesn’t sound like a hidden traitor game, it sounds like one of the people you interact with through the game will be. So I hope I don’t end up dating them.

9. Spellbook

Phil Walker-Harding puts out good balances of interesting games, but not too complex games. This is fun that they are advertising there are 2100 different spell combinations. That means that the game is going to be and feel unique. And those spells are going to be unique and changing as the game goes on. Plus the whole main concept, feeding your familiar with the “materia” from the spells, that is interesting. Finally, you decide when you spit out those spells. Get an affect now, or you hold onto your spell and launch it later with more power.

8. Reign of Hades

Exploration, fighting monsters, dealing with whatever adventure is thrown at you? The only question is, why is this one not higher on the list for me? Honestly, it probably should be. It’s of course cooperative and hand management. I hope that it’ll be one that stands out as  unique and not too big, but one that I’m curious about as it’s a style of game I love.

7. Charcuterie

Build the best charcuteries board, that sounds fun. I do love a good charcuterie board. The downside I will want to eat charcuterie while playing Charcuterie. From the game side of things, it uses one of my favorite mechanisms. That being I split you choose, so I might want olives, but how do I make it so I give you something good enough that you’ll take it and leave me my olives? But I don’t want it to be too good so I make it harder on myself later on.

6. Diced Veggies

While I prefer charcuterie, this game also looks interesting and it looks simple. Honestly, this is one I’d have over looked except that the YouTube channel Thinker Themer were in on it. And I like what it looks like, you are cutting dice off of a big block of dice. Always need to cut at the edge and no more than 10 pips worth. So can you setup some good cuts so you get great turns and don’t leave anything great. All the while using those dice to fulfill cards for points. Simple, but sounds like a fun time.

5. Defenders of the Dictionary

Cooperative word game, like I said, I like cooperative games. And this one sounds very interesting. You are working together against some force in the game that is trying to stop you. And you do that by building words and working with each other. They do a good job of making it sound really fun, and if it’s a strong word game then I’m very curious. It also talks about it being grid based, so I’m not sure if you’re building up words or not? I think that just sounds unique.

4. Weirdwood Manor

This game sounds really interesting because it’s a horror themed game. But not just a horror themed game, one with a haunted or weird house. And the house, from what I can tell, rotates, so how it’s setup at the start of the game might not be how it ends. Maybe should be lower on the list, but I like a cooperative game, and when you have a weird horror theme, that makes me quite interested.

3. Horror on the Orient Express

Have I said that I like horror. And then there is a whole lot more. It’s a cooperative game. There is story and adventure to it, you need to deal with cultists and really a lot of the standard Lovecraftian things. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to play it. I like the them, I like the setting. And if it can have story and depth to the game, not just a simple dice chucker, I am excited to see what it can offer.

2. Ticket to Ride: Legacy

A legacy game, I love legacy games. Ticket to Ride, my favorite gateway game. What do I think this is going to offer, I’m not even sure. And what can you demo on it, I’m definitely  not sure. But I love the idea of it and I like the idea of it for being that gateway plus game. Kind of like Pandemic Legacy let me play Pandemic again and feel like there was more without being too much. I hope that Ticket to Ride Legacy falls in line with those.

1. Star Wars: Unlimited

This one no shock that it’s on my list. It’s a competitive trading card game. But it’s Star Wars themed, I really like Star Wars. And there is a collectible aspect and deck construction. But I like how they are doing a few things. Firstly, “rare” cards are less rare than you’d think to keep the game accessible. But alt art cards, or foil, those are going to be the chase cards in the set. And I like the deck building because you are battling on different fronts. So you might build a deck that is very focused on attacking and defending on the ground in hopes to overwhelm your opponent. Of course, that means that you are weaker in space, so there is going to be a lot of interesting strategy and deck theory crafting that I hope to dive into.

What Is Your Must Demo Game?

Let me know what game or games that I might be missing on my list. There are so many games, even more than I put up on video, which you can find below. But which ones stand out to you as games that you’d like to get demoed when you go, or ones you think should be on my radar?

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Top 10 Games to Start A Board Game Collection

10. Super Mega Lucky Box

This is a roll and write game that is basically bingo. The reason that this is lower on the list is only because there are a good number roll and write games that can work. In this one you are filling in sheets of numbers and as you get in rows and columns you get bonuses. It’s light, it’s easy, and it’s a lot of fun. Plus, there is more strategy than you’d think as you pick more cards to fill in.

9. Ohanami

Ohanami, and a few on here, are because they can remind you of other games. Ohanami has a bit of a Rack-o feel to it, but with interesting scoring. You are drafting cards, first of three drafting games on the list, and then adding them to columns. It also needs to decrease or increase the number in a column which can be a bit tricky.

But what makes this one good for a game to start a collection with is the scoring. You only score some things certain rounds. So blue cards you score every round but they are worth fewer points. Green only the 2nd and 3rd rounds and grey only the last round. Plus then pink at the end of the game. So it’s interesting strategy as to when you want to draft cards.

8. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

This one might surprise some people, but I think a good campaign game is not a bad thing to have. And Jaws of the Lion teaches you how to play, slowly adding in rules over the first few scenarios. And it allows for deeper strategy as you go. I think that it’s on the heavier end that I’d look for if I were getting into board games. But it is pretty accessible and for someone who really wants to jump in that good big option.

7. Just One

This one you can swap out, though I’d say less easily than the roll and writes. But more so, some people just don’t want party games. Just One, I think, is different enough that it works really well. But I also get why someone might not want a party game in their collection. Or that people might already have party games. Just One is different as it’s a cooperative party game, though. So I think it works better because of that and because it’s just less random.

6. Sushi Go Party

Another drafting game with Sushi Go Party. This one is on the list as it offers simple set collection. It has great artwork, and for a drafting game, it has good variety. An issue that I have with some other drafting games no longer in my collection is the variety. I don’t think I’d recommend Sushi Go, but Sushi Go Party means that it can stick around for a really long time in a collection.

5. Sagrada

Sagrada is the last drafting game on the list. The reason I have this one here is that it’s a pretty game, there is some complexity that can be added in with which tools you use, but generally it’s not hard to table. And you can scale up in difficulty as you go. And it sells itself when you pull it out and put it on the table. The dice are great, the game is just fun and it even scales challenge level for players as well.

4. Small World

Small World is one that sticks in my collection because I play it still every couple of years. But it’s that game that is the Risk replacement for the collection. And one of two really in your face games on the list. The next one is coming up soon. Small World is all about battling over areas on a board, scoring points, but doing so with crazy class and power combinations. It’s also a game where if one person is beat up on, well, they go into decline and come back onto the board with a new combo and beat everyone else up. It’s a game of laughter and slaughter.

3. Dice Throne

I originally had King of Tokyo on the list. But I now think that Dice Throne is the better option. There is more going on but less going on in this head to head battler (or King of the Hill). It’s basically battle Yahtzee with powers and abilities for the characters you are battling with. And the fact there are so many characters out there, you can start by buying a box or two, or getting the Marvel 4 character box, and add on from there. And the game is so mix and match as well, it’s great.

2. Pandemic

Pandemic, a classic cooperative game, makes the list as well. I think that this one could also be Pandemic Legacy Season 1. It’s a good campaign option, but base Pandemic gives you more replayability and unlike my other campaign game, Pandemic Legacy can only be played once through per game purchased.

But Pandemic is a game about stopping disease outbreaks across the world and looking for cures. The cooperative nature of the game can mean that one person takes over and tries to run everyone’s turn, but push back on that. Pandemic is a great one in that most people can pretty quickly grasp it and be doing well and discussing and working together.

1. Ticket To Ride

Finally we have Ticket to Ride. Yes, I don’t have Catan on the list. I think that Catan is a solid game but Ticket to Ride has stayed on my shelf and is unlikely to leave. This set collection, route building game is just a classic at this point. And it’s a classic where there aren’t expansions. I don’t play it that often but it’s one that I won’t say no to playing and I think for a lot of people, Ticket to Ride stays around for that really accessible game to play.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of board games that could make up a great start to a collection. Like I said, there isn’t really a right or wrong way to start it and that’s part of the fun of it. I considered games like Century: Golem Edition, Potion Explosion, Kohaku, and others for some relaxing games. Or party games like So Clover or Medium. There are really a ton of great options. And who knows you might be so excited you just want to start with 10 campaign games (not recommended).

Which game would you want to start if you were building your collection for the first time?

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How To Play Call to Adventure: Stormlight Archive

This isn’t the full details, like I said, it’s a first impression. And along with that, I need to try competitive mode still. But the basics of the game generally remains the same. In this game you are building out your heroes grand adventure in three different acts. You cast runes to test your skills and complete challenges to get story elements.

To do this you cast three basic runes that can give you 1 or no points for a check. And you cast runes based off of skills on the card. Those are your standard Dungeons and Dragons stats. So you can cast up to three runes of each type which can give you more points and better points since it is a skill you are good at.

In the cooperative game you are trying to get your characters levelled up to cast runes against Odium at the end of the game. Odium has hit points and you remove them throughout the game in various ways. Mainly if you get cards with radiant symbols. But if you fail checks it can also add more onto him. So you all work together to make sure you pass checks and can take out Odium in the end by casting your best runes.

What Doesn’t Work

Right now I think the weakest thing is that the story, while there, could be there more. When I play, I want to really tell a story of what I am doing. And I think that is something the game can encourage. It is almost a backstory generation for an RPG campaign. Especially if you are starting higher than level 1. I also know know that for some people that won’t work, telling more story. But I’d probably implement some story time in my game as the cards really lead you.

The game is also very light. This might be more for whom it is for, but the combination of light game play and the casting of runes, epic fantasy artwork, it feels off slightly. You almost expect the game to be more strategic looking at it, but it is very casual in what it does. And in the competitive version, it will have some take that, which might turn some players off as it doesn’t match the theme that well.

What Works

I enjoyed the cooperative game play quite a lot. I thought that Odium was an interesting villain and while what he does is fairly simple. And you can change him up with one of several cards that you assign to him at the beginning. We played on one that I think is a harder one and managed to win. But that is because we leveraged our cooperation a lot we were able to win.

I also think the game played well as cooperative because had less downtime. This is a lighter game, as I said, so downtime isn’t a major issue. You have a limited number of choices so you pick one and go with it. But in cooperative you help other players. I play a card and it improves your chances of completing your challenge. Competitive it’d be more take that and playing cards on yourself.

The light game play is also nice. Again, it helps with downtime. But it also made it pretty easy to pick up. I think the rules are solid. And I think you could get down to it and get playing fast. More teaching would occur during the game but it is easy enough that you could do that. And because of the great artwork, I think it’s a nice game to draw people in.

Let’s finish with the artwork. It is amazing. It helps that I know the characters. But even if you don’t, the artwork is gorgeous. And it is likely going to make you want to reach the books to find out what everything means. But the qualify of the game is very solid overall. The player board is a bit thin, but cards are nice, runes are nice, and cardboard tokens are nice.

Who Is It For?

This is more of a gateway game than I was expecting. I think that people who are familiar with a few games or a few concepts would be able to pick up this game. I might not pull it out over something like Catan or Ticket to Ride, but it is close to that. And, in all fairness, I might pull it out over them because of how much I’ve played those two.

If you are looking for a highly strategic game, there are elements of strategy. But it is not going to wow you with the strategy in the game. This is more about the artwork and that lighter game play than heavy decision making.

Call to Adventure: Stormlight Archive – First Impressions

I had a good time with the game. I want to try it as a competitive game. But I suspect I will prefer it cooperative. A game like Call to Adventure could rely too much on take that, I think, in competitive mode. And to be trying to set yourself up for that one perfect card or toss and have someone mess with it is not that fun.

I also wonder about staying power for the game. The game is likely to stay in my collection because it’s Stormlight Archive versus it being a highly replayable game. There are elements that change it up, but is it enough. Granted, Brandon Sanderson is writing more books in the series, so it could be one that comes back and works out just fine with another expansion in two years. Overall, it is a fun game that I think is a bit lighter than I’d life if I didn’t love the theme.

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Story in Board Games

I believe that is one of the great things about modern board games, though. The fact that you can put story into the games. Or a game is very thematic that can tell a story itself. But when you look at most classic games, there might be a theme but not one that you could really engage with.

Going into really classic games, like Monopoly, Clue, Chess, and Scrabble only one of those games contains much theme. Clue gives you some of that through telling the story of a murder as you try and deduce who the killer is. But now games integrate that story and theme so much more into the games that you can play.

Two different types of story can be in board games. You likely know what they are because of the title. The first is that the game can contain narrative, your story driven games. The second is a game that has an emerging narrative to it. A lot of games can have this, something like Pandemic, which doesn’t have it’s own story, develops a story as you play along. But let’s dive deeper into those two.

Story Games

A story game is going to have an active narrative throughout the game. It can be as big as a game like Gloomhaven where you read story elements as you get into each dungeon. Or something like Spire’s End which has story on every card. But even these show examples of how different story games can be.

With Gloomhaven you end up with a fair amount of text. You read it as you go into every scenario. There might be text for the scenario as you open doors. There is text then at the end as well. Plus you have city events that add more flavor and story for the town of Gloomhaven and road events for when you travel to locations outside of the town walls. Everything adds in story.

Spire’s End, you have all of the story on the card. You flip a card and you read story. It might give you a choice, it might lead to a battle. But I think that a better example of a different type of story, in a vein similar to Spire’s End, is Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. That game has cards with story and a website (police database) that you use. But the story, while it is almost everything in that game, doesn’t get told in such a narrative, linear, structure.

Emergent Story Games

The basic idea of these story games is that as you play, the story itself becomes clear. This might be through text, but the choices you make develop the story for the game. It doesn’t give you the option to just read through everything, like a novel, and get the story. It is only through playing the game. And there might not even been story text to read, the game might just give you choices that create theme and story.

An example of this would be something like Western Legends. You play as a character in the wild west, and you can decide what you do. Do you become a lawman hunting down other characters who might be robbing a bank and gaining infamy. Or maybe you are running cattle up to the train and making your living that way. But when you come out of the game, you have a story of what your character did.

And then with Sleeping Gods, for example, that does have pieces of story that you can explore. But it is just pieces, little vignettes into the world. And you pick and choose the pieces of story that you go on. You can watch my game play and see the little bits of story that I messed around with, but together, all of that made a narrative of the adventures of my crew in that game. Next time I can explore in a new direction or try and complete stories I didn’t fully see.

Old Game to New Story Game

But I think that this is hard to talk about without giving some examples. Plus, I just like examples of a game that you might know to a game that has more story to it.

Clue to Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

An example for a game that I already gave here with Detective. But Detective that’s that who-done-it nature of Clue. You try and figure out these five interconnected cases, but each of them is it’s own story as well. But it takes it from Clue where it’s more purely deduction as you try and ask the right questions to eliminate information. To Detective where you want to deduce what is going on, but that is picking out elements of a story/narrative that you consider to be the best leads to go down.

I always describe Detective in a way that I think will be a turnoff for some people. But I mean it as a compliment. It’s a bit like a crime show. Yes, not the most fun thing and if you’ve watched CSI or NCIS that seems boring. But when you are the detective versus watching a detective it makes for a much more fun experience. It’s one of the better stories I’ve played in a game as well.

Munchkin to Betrayal at House on the Hill

I think you could make an argument that you end up with a bit of a narrative of what your character did and got in Munchkin, but it’s really more about everyone messing you over. And I think that is a style of game that a lot of people get into the hobby with. It’s taking Uno but instead of making it colors and numbers, you have monsters, weapons, armor, and fighting.

For a more thematic experience I’m going with Betrayal at House on the Hill (or Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate). It has a similar feeling of kicking open doors as you explore this haunted house. You find crazy bits of story or items, and omens that will eventually lead to one player betraying the rest. It gives you that sense of surprise that you get in Munchkin as you flip over a room. But has story and has tension as you know that betrayal is getting close.

Catan to My City

This one is maybe a bit of a stretch, but My City does have story to it. It is pretty light on the story, but as you play through different chapters, new things happen. And It gives you that feeling of building up your own city as you go or you own area. It’s similar to what Catan does that way, but it has those little bits of story as it adds in new mechanics.

Charterstone would also work for that, but I think My City is more accessible and for me more fun to just sit down and play. But they both offer that city element or building out your area in a way to help you the most. Charterstone maybe a bit more so because you have that resource gathering element like in Catan. But My City is just so accessible and easy to just sit down and play a few games in one sitting.

Ticket to Ride to AuZtralia

Finally, Ticket to Ride doesn’t have much theme. You could just be connecting random points together with blocks. But if you want a game that builds out routes and has some story that develops throughout the game, AuZtralia might be a solid option.

Now AuZtralia has no story on it’s own. But in a game where you face off against great old ones as you try and build up your tracks and hope that the monsters go after everyone else, that is story. Plus the game has solid and interesting mechanics as you spend time to do actions but that then means other people get to do more. But back to story, fighting a monster, having the old ones win the game potentially, all of that will create moments of story where you eek out a victory or have it snatched away from you. All while building out trains.

Final Thoughts on Story in Board Games

For me, if a game can promise and deliver upon story, I am always going to be interested. A lot of my favorite games have that story element. But not every game needs a story element to it. An abstract game like Quoridor doesn’t need to try and tack on a story, or a trick taking game like Matcha. But when there is a chance to add in theme and add in pretty artwork, I appreciate it when a game does that.

A good story for a game, even if it’s not a campaign, just intrigues me. It keeps me wanting to come back to the game over again. Even something like Homebrewers which really doesn’t have a story, I like to put one on there with the beers that I’m brewing with their odd ingredients and what that might look or taste like. So it is possible to add in your own story to a lot of games, it just depends on if you want to.

What is your favor game with story or best story you’ve come across in a game?

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124-101

Unplayed Board Games – 100 through 76

100: KeyForge: Call of the Archons

KeyForge has been on my radar for a little bit, mainly because the concept sounded interesting. It’s almost a TCG (trading card game) but you can’t build decks. All of them are prebuilt but also are different. And it’s a two player head to head game, take out monsters, get keys, and first to a number wins. They were on sale around Christmas, so I figured it was time to pick up a few decks to give it a try.

99. Vault Wars

This is one that I backed on Kickstarter because I find the concept funny. And I suspect that the game play is going to be easy enough to get it to the table with my gaming group. Vault Wars is basically fantasy Storage Wars. You bid to get the best vaults to get you the most points or money by the end of the game. I hope it’s a goofy good time.

98. Mage Knight

Probably should be higher on the list, but I’m intimidated by the rules for this game. It is notoriously hard to get to the table and learn. But it’s also supposed to be one of the best solo games out there. And while big solo games can be tricky to get tabled for me. I feel like I need to give it a try.

97: Shadows of Kilforth

This one I bought because Rolling Solo did a play-through of the predecessor to this game, Gloom of Kilforth. It’s a fantasy game and one that kind of has a story emerge as you go. But you play as a hero going out into this dark fantasy world, fighting monsters, getting cards of companions and equipment to see if you can defeat the boss in the end. I like the ideas of the game, I just need to play it.

96. Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse is on the list for an odd reason, or this low on the list for an odd reason. In 2020 at the Holidays Greater Than Games had a crazy good sale for Sentinels stuff. So I got all of it, or most of it. And I think I paid $75 for all of it. So very cheap. But now I have all the stuff, and it’s a bit intimidating to pull off the shelf. I just need to do it and play it. Because super heroes and super villains are my jam for board games.

95. Narabi

This is a little card game that is hard to explain. You are trying to get all the cards into ascending numerical order. But with that, each card is only allowed to move in a certain way, or has a movement rule on it. So it becomes a puzzle where you can share limited information to swap cards around to see what they can do, until you get it into order. A cool puzzle of a game idea where you see how fast you can do it.

94: Quadropolis

This is an older game that I just got. But Quadropolis is one I’ve had my eye on. It’s a city building game that looks simple but intriguing. I really like the mechanics of how you determine what tiles you can get to add to your city. And Days of Wonder, while not everything is a smash hit for them, has made some of my favorite accessible games like Ticket to Ride, Small World, and Five Tribes.

93: Jamaica

Jamaica, when I heard about it, I knew I wanted to try. But it is not a game that has always been easy to get. When Fantasy Flight Game Center, now GameZenter, was clearing off their demo wall to rebuild it better, it isn’t better, they sold the games. So, I need to do a piece count and then play this, but it’s a pirate racing game, that sounds like a fun time, assuming the pieces are there.

92: Heaven & Ale

Normally I don’t get Euro Games, but again, a sale. Also, one of the reviewers I follow, Ryan from Man vs Meeple, is a big fan of this game. So that recommendation and a euro game about brewing beer, I was interested. And I say that I normally don’t get euro games, I don’t, but I don’t dislike them. So I need to do my best monk brewing beer impression sometime soon.

91. Silver & Gold

Silver & Gold is a roll and write game, another one that I need to try. And one that I think will be a lot of fun, because you get to fill out cards throughout the game. So like Super Mega Lucky Box, you get to use dry erase markers on the cards. And it has this treasure hunting theme, but is more of a shape filling in game. I think it looks like one that is easy enough to learn but still interesting to play.

90: This War Of Mine

I’m intimidated by this game, much like Mage Knight. I’ve heard it it hard to learn. But more than that, this is a game about a fictional war and trying to survive in it. The concept is cool, but also a dark concept. And it’s tough to want to sit down and play a game with story that you know you probably won’t survive. Especially if it’s a harder game to learn and get to the table. But the concept sounds very intriguing and different to try.

89: Boomerang

Not the last time you’ll see a Boomerang on the list. A roll and write game. Won’t say too much about it, looks like a good puzzle of a game, like the one you’ll see coming up. This version just doesn’t look at nice as the other.

88: Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Descent is an interesting one, and this isn’t the big box version of the game that just came out. This one has been out for a little while. But it’s interesting as I do want to play the game, but I mainly got the game so I could practice painting minis. That is something I that I need to get back to doing, and we’re getting close to the point where I might be able to prime them outside. But I do want to try the game, because fantasy dungeon crawl, I like those.

87: MonsDRAWsity

We go from a big fantasy game to a small fantasy game, a party fantasy game. MonsDRAWsity, has one person a monster that they look at and then describe. Everyone else draws the monster. And I believe, the person with the closest drawing wins. It’s a drawing party game, but one that looks silly and fun.

86: WWE Legends Royal Rumble Card Game

Speaking of silly and fun, I’m a professional wrestling fan. It’s true, I mainly just watch the pay-per-views with a group of friends. And the Royal Rumble is the best one. This one is a take that style game where you try and be the winner of the Royal Rumble. Your guy gets tossed out, you get a new one, and the last one standing wins. Clearly I already know the group I want to play this with.

85: Shadowrun: Sprawl Ops

I really like the world of Shadworun. This cyber-punk future where corporations run everything. And you go on runs, hacking into systems, and exposing dirty secrets, great idea. And I’d love to play in a Shadowrun RPG campaign. This is a board game version, and it’s about setting up for a run. I have a massive box of stuff, but how the runners of the Kickstarter handled distribution, there were lots of problems, I’m less excited to play it.

That’s probably not a great reason not to play it. I think that it looks like a fun game. I still love the theme. It’s just harder to get into wanting to play it. Though, I did get the cooperative expansion, so maybe that’d be an easier way to get it to the table.

84: Boomerang: USA

I told you Boomerang would be back. The first, more logically, it set in Australia, but using the system, the designer made more versions. This version just looks nicer than the version I own of Boomerang. Either way, I need to play one or both. And then decide which one I want to keep, if I keep one, because I doubt I’ll want both of them.

83: Palm Island

I don’t know why this one is still on the list. Mainly I think because I play Orchard most of the time when I want a small solo game. Palm Island is a solo game that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s a resource management style game, if I remember correctly. You are trying to build up your engine to get more cards flipped around to flip more cards. I need to give it a whirl.

82: Blueprints

Blueprints is one that my FLGS recommended to me. It’s an abstract game about getting dice to build buildings. This falls into that category of a game that looks like it’ll be an interesting puzzle every time you play it. And I like those games where there is a good puzzle to it. Will the puzzle last a long time for me, we’ll have to see.

81: Specter Ops

Specter Ops is a hidden movement board game. One player is infiltrating a base to get to different objectives and then get out. The other player(s) are trying to figure out where they are and take them down. I like the concept and the theme of the game. This one is just the matter of learning both sides so I can teach it.

79: Crash Octopus

From the company that made Tokyo Highway, a dexterity game that I love, Crash Octopus is another one. This one is about flicking treasure to your ships and balancing the treasure on them. It seems like a silly game and one that will, like Tokyo Highway, look cool on the table. I want to see if it works as well as Tokyo Highway does for my gaming group.

78: 6 nimmt!

I don’t think the first time I heard about 6 nimmt! was from an anime, Afterschool Dice Club, but that is where I learned the most about it. This is a card game about trying to avoid taking points. I picked it up on sale when I got No Thanks! and both of the games kind of fit into that same mindset of figuring out clever play. I hope that this one works as well for my group as No Thanks! did.

77: InBetween

Two of the last three I got because of Sam Healey liking them on the Dice Tower. His and my tastes in game often overlap because we both go towards bigger, Amerithrash style games. The two on this part of the list are not that. InBetween is a two player game that feels, from what I can tell, like Stranger Things. One player is trying to get everyone to one side, while the other player is trying to flip them into the “upsidedown”.

It’s not actually a Stranger Things game. But the theme definitely has that vibe to it, and I think it came out about the same time. So theme wise, I like it. And as a two player game, I should be able to get it to the table.

76: Heroes of Terrinoth

This is another game that I saw on Rolling Solo’s YouTube channel. And it also looks good, card play game from Fantasy Flight, I liked how you level up in the game. And I like that you can pick from a variety of heroes. It isn’t a dungeon crawl game, but it almost has that feel. You pick a scenario, you can move between places, and you fight monsters. Plus you level up to improve how you can do things, which was cool.

75: Codinca

The final Sam Healey recommended game on this part of the list is also small, and it’s abstract. So that’s probably why it hasn’t gotten played. I’m bad about playing my abstract games, even though I normally like them. Codinca is a game where you want to create a pattern.

Final Thoughts

We’re still not into a ton of the big board games. But I do think this will be a section where I can get a lot of games off of the list. Stuff like Boomerang USA and Boomerang, Silver & Gold, Codinca, and Blueprints, all of those shouldn’t be hard to table.

On the flip side, I’m also going to be a bit surprised if I do get This War of Mine or Mage Knight to the table as part of clearing off games. I am very intimidated by both of those rule books. And I’m generally the one learning how to play the games so I know I can. But those two look like beasts to learn and with not great rule books, probably tough to get rules right.

Which one should I play first?

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How To Play Project L

Project L is a game about basically playing Tetris, or with Tetris pieces. You are trying to complete shapes by filling in pieces to it. At the start of the game, you have two pieces a single square and two squares, but you get more as the game goes along.

On your turn you have a number of actions that you can do. And you get to take three of them per round. You can pick up one of the shape cards that you need to fill in and put it in front of you. Next you can upgrade a piece, and they have different levels which determine how you can upgrade. Or you can take a basic piece. You can clear a row, or one important one is you can master. Master you can do once per turn, but allows you to put a piece in every shape that you have.

The game continues until you get down to none of the harder tiles left. After that you finish out the round plus one more. That way each person gets a similar number of turns. Then you count up points on your shapes, and most points wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

The base game is a lot of fun, and I have more positives than negatives. However, I am concerned about how the base game will play over a lot of plays. I expect it to stick in my collection because the game is very accessible, more on that later. But for me, without the Finesse expansion or Ghost expansion which I want to get, will it be interesting enough.

The game play itself is simple, and after a handful of plays. I feel like it doesn’t change up too massively. Now, I think it can change up with different players because if I go for the higher scoring cards and push the end game faster, that will make it feel different. But if I build up a really strong set of pieces and go from there, it’s going to feel like what I’ve done before.

What Works?

The ease and time of play are great on this game. In a two player game, turns are snappy. And while there is decision space with what shapes you take, how you allocate your pieces, things like that, it isn’t daunting. I felt like I could sit down and play this game with anyone.

The game also looks great on the table. The bright colored pieces that you are fitting into the black and white cards makes the game pop. It makes it feel easy to get to the table and play. And the pieces are a lot of fun, very high quality game.

Who Is This For?

I think that this is a great game for gamers to teach people getting into the hobby. Or to teach players who gravitate towards that Splendor, Ticket to Ride, and Smallworld weight of game. I don’t know that this will work for a group of heavier gamers. It might work a few times but it won’t be one that sticks around because the decision space and strategy for the base game is a bit limited.

But more casual gamers, I highly recommend this game. Project L is a game that should be in Target and sell a million copies or at least one hundred thousand, because it is fun, it is easy to learn, and it looks great. Put this on a shelf next to a lot of games and it’ll stand out.

Project L- Final Thoughts

I think that this is going to be one that sticks around in my collection. And I think that even though it won’t be one that I always want to play. Because while the game play is fun and easy, I’m not sure the base game has the level of strategy that I want.

I am hopeful, with looking at the expansion, that will improve the game for me. This is a game that should have staying power on my shelf for a lot of people I game with. And I don’t think it is going to be a game where I will turn down playing it. I also think that the expansion is going to make that even less likely that I’ll turn down playing it. Mainly because it looks to add to the puzzle of the game.

Finally, this isn’t part of the review, but there is a insert or Game Trayz for Project L. I’m not sure if it’ll be something you can buy later, but man, is it nice. Takes what could have been a bit of a messy table and a slower set-up and makes an easy game easy to get to the table.

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

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Quick Recap

The basic premise comes from how we interact with new people coming into the hobby. I might not own a game like Catan anymore, but that is a game that still brings hundreds if not thousands of people into board gaming. So when someone finds out about Board Game Geek, for example, or the Dice Tower, and they want a board game recommendation, they might ask on the Facebook groups. And I’ve talked about this idea before. If they say they own Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and Catan, what is a good recommendation.

Too often I see games like Scythe, Gloomhaven, Brass: Birmingham, something that is way too big. But people are recommending their favorite games. Why is that? Because they want more people to love them like they do. And honestly, so do I, but those games aren’t accessible to new gamers.

All of us have a pathway that leads through a lot of different games to where we end up. And some people that might stop at the likes of Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and Catan. For others that means that we end up playing through all of Gloomhaven. But what were the steps that got you there? I challenge all of you, myself included to write down or think about your board gaming journey to remember what were your steps.

Then, the next time someone asks for a board game recommendation, you can give them the name of the game that isn’t your favorite game, but was your next step. And I can do that as well.

Orchard: 9 Card Solitaire Game

This is a little solitaire game about stacking cards. The game play is simple enough, you are laying cards down so they overlap. Where they overlap colored trees, apple, pear, and plum, you put down a die. One overlap gives you 1 point per tree, two gives you three, and so on the more layers that you get. The goal is to get as high as score as you can. You got to see my high score last night as I got up to 56.

It’s a really good solo game. One it’s small so easy to take place. But when you pull it out, it’s still small in that it doesn’t take up too much space. Finally, it plays fast, but gives you good choices. There are some solo games that give you some choices and play fast. Orchard is a great puzzle that gives you great choices.

Next Weeks Board Game Stream

So next week’s stream will be a little bit different. It’s going to be the last stream for the year. And I’m going to ask for your help in figuring out what board game(s) I should stream at least to start the year. I have a number of campaign games that I’d love to have hit the table, and I’d love your help figuring out which one is the one that I should play next. So expect to see a poll going up with that, probably in the chat, to help me decide.

Then I’ll be taking off for the holidays. I think it’s just two weeks where I won’t be streaming. But it’s partially because I might not be around, and partially as a little bit of a break for me. So join me next week to see what games I’m considering.

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Now, if you are in the market for board games, I will say that there are a lot of sales going on. A lot of board game companies or online board game retailers have been running longer sales versus a massive “Black Friday” sale. So there are still deals to be found, but let’s talk about what I found.

All Systems Go

I think I talked about how last time I was there, I got enough in store credit to get a free $100 game, but I wasn’t sure what game I wanted to buy. Ankh interested me, but I want to try it before I buy it. Well, it’s no longer the case that I don’t know what game I want. It’s also no longer the case that I have the credit or points to get a $100 game.

Mythic Battles Pantheon + Pandora’s Box

I think it was early in this year that Mythic Battles Pantheon: Ragnarok came on Kickstarter. I backed it, but only at one dollar. And then I never upped my pledge in the pledge manager. I don’t regret that too much. I like the Viking and Norse theme a lot, but it is an expensive game. And there was a copy, I think all in on the Kickstarter, for Mythic Battles Pantheon that had been sitting in All Systems Go for a while.

Now, the base box was over $100, so I didn’t consider it for my free game. But on Small business Saturday, it was discounted by 20% off (as was Pandora’s Box), and that took the base game right to $100. So, it was time. I know I want to try this game. The concept is a lot of fun. You take gods or titans up against each other and see who wins in a fight. It comes with big minis and terrain or some sort, because you can pick up a tree and smash someone with it.

It just seems like a great big game that won’t get played too often, most likely. But when I do play it, it is going to be a lot of fun.

Marvel Champions: Hood Scenario Pack

It’s more Marvel Champions, but also a character that I don’t know a ton about when it comes to the comics. I know he’s a villain, scenario packs are for villains, and I think I’ve read a comic or two with him in it. But more Marvel Champions, what can I say, eventually I’ll have a full Kallax cube full of only Marvel Champions, but not quite yet. If I sleeved all my cards, I’d probably be there already.

Haba

Haba is running, or maybe was running, a by one get one sale on select games. And a few weeks before the toddler, who has been enjoying his first board game, Animal Upon Animal, we talked about a car game. He really likes anything with cars, or trucks, or construction vehicles. I asked on Facebook for recommendations in a board game group, the most common answer came from Haba, and was on sale.

Monza

One of two games for the toddler to play with on a theme that he loves. Monza looks like a simple racing game. And while he might just enjoy the cars right now, I want the idea of games and gaming to be common to him. He gets some of the ideas of Animal Upon Animal. This one looks like a game where you roll dice and move cars around the board.

But it is from Haba, so I expect there is a tiny bit more than that. But it will be simple and good for him eventually. I’m not sure when he’ll get the game, we already have a Christmas gift for him, or two, or three, but when something he’ll like is on sale, especially a board game.

In A Flash Firefighters

I know even less about this game than Monza. But he likes firefighters and there is one on the box. it looks like it’s maybe a speed based game, and a little bit more complex. Or at least smaller pieces, though, this is Haba, so will be good for kids I’m sure.

Now, it’s not rated as well as a lot of Haba games, so I’m guessing a bit more complex so doesn’t work as well with kids, but it is really just guessing. And, like I said above, Haba is doing a buy one get one sale. So that means, it is a free game.

Biffleys

You’ve never heard of Biffleys. That is okay. Biffleys is a use book, video game, DVD, and a board game shop. It is going out of business in my home town. Now, I don’t know if that’s because it didn’t have enough business, but I suspect because it was a lot of work. It isn’t a new business, so it’s lasted 20 years, or so. But 30% off games meant when I was in town for Thanksgiving, time to check it out.

Quadropolis

This is a Days of Wonder game that I wanted to try for a long time. Days of Wonder makes Ticket to Ride, Five Tribes, and games like that which are very accessible. Quadropolis is their take on town building. In typical Days of Wonder fashion, though, it isn’t too complex, but offers a challenge.

What I find really interesting, in theory, about this game is how you get city tiles. You place down markers and that limits rows and columns you can use in the future. At least, that’s how I think it works. It also doesn’t have some of the financial stuff that bigger games in the genre do, I’m excited to play it.

6 nimmt!

This game showed up the first time on After School Dice Club, an anime that I watched because, I like anime and board games. It isn’t super fresh in my mind, but I think it is basically a game of trapping your opponent into cards or points. It is only a card game, and I like that it’s in a small box.

I want to try this one because it was on the anime. I also want to see how tricky a game this is. If a game is very accessible, I can play it with my groups. And card games, especially those that feel a bit more familiar, are good options. I think 6 nimmt might be a game like that.

No Thanks!

No Thank! is a game that I don’t remember where I heard about it. But I like the concept for it. And I know they talk about it on the Dice Tower sometimes. You want as few points as possible in the game. To do that you are saying no thanks to cards with points. To do that, you put a marker on the card, but you only have a limited number of markers. Eventually you need to take something.

But the card you take, you get the markers on it. At what point in time is a 75 worth it to take? If you get 10 markers is it worth it, if you get 20 is it worth it? That is the question you are asking yourself. You get the 75 with 20 markers, now you can make people take lower cards and several of them. Or is it worth it to just take a 10 without any markers on it because it is a lower number?

I don’t know what strategy for this game. But the concept is extremely simple, so I’m excited to find out. This is one of those games that I think will work well in larger groups And I think it will work well with gamers and non-gamers.

Horrible Guild

Now, the most dangerous thing that happened was Horrible Guild opening a web store. I love their games. And in particular, Potion Explosion and Railroad Ink Challenge, anything for those I want. So now, because they opened a store, I own more for Railroad Ink Challenge at least.

Railroad Ink Challenge

I’m going to list everything I got here. They had a nice discount, not for Black Friday or anything, well, kind of, but for the web store launch.

• Arcade Expansion
• Eldritch Expansion
• Electricity Expansion
• Futuristic Expansion
• Sky Expansion
• Underground Expansion
• Additional Card Pack
• Collectors Storage Box
• Solo Board

That is a lot. All of the expansion ones are just small expansions that have 4 dice and some rules, maybe some challenges. I am curious and I really want to start diving into the expansions, probably will start doing that on stream. The additional cards I believe are additional challenges that can be added in. And the Collectors Storage Box just takes all my Railroad Ink and puts it into on box. Solo board is a board for solo game play, not sure what is different, but I want to see.

BGG Promos

This is kind of like Horrible Guild, Board Game Geek is doing a buy 4 get the 5th free for some of the promos they have. So I decided to grab a bunch of them, well, a few. I didn’t want to go too overboard, and I did find ones for games that I like, or that are just cool for games I have coming.

Aeon’s End: Thieving Spirits

I love Aeon’s End, we’ve been through that. This just adds in a new set of cards that you can play with. I need to, now that I’ve played through Aeon’s End Legacy, to get all my games into a single box, and then I’ll have a massive Aeon’s End experience to play around with, which is pretty exciting.

Deep Madness – Magnetic Saw Gun

It’s a magnetic saw gun, I’m not even sure what that means. But it sounds dangerous and Deep Madness is on the list of games that I am going to play this year, well, maybe not this year but soon.

Downforce: Civilized

Downforce is a game that really became interesting for me as a racing/betting game. I want to play it more because I think there’s still strategy to be tapped into. And the different powers, like Civilized is, changes up the game. This one will add in more variety to the game. I think that the powers really do make an interesting difference, and could be leveraged more in my game play.

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game: Ra

Ra is not a character in the Dresden Files, but it is more for the game. And characters are really easy to slot in. So while I normally play characters from the current book I’m playing in the game, I could slot Ra into the game. And this one might be a little bit of me being a completionist, I won’t like.

Icecool : Blocked Doors

This is what it says it is, it is a way to block doors. And I like blocking off doors, it’s just a fun thing to add to the game. It’s also one of those things that doesn’t change up the game too much or make the rules more complicated. Some expansions add more depth to a game, but for a simple game, I want it to stay simple. Just a few more cards, and that’s really it, doesn’t change up the game much.

Silver: Marauders

Like the Aeon’s End Expansion, Downforce, and Ice Cool, this doesn’t change up the game much, it is something that is easy to slot into what you are doing. With Silver you just play with any combination of 0 through 13. This just another set of cards to drop in at a number. I don’t know that I need more combinations of cards, but also, more combinations aren’t going to hurt. I think with 4 different combinations at each numbers, that’s probably enough for life.

Time of Legends: Joan of Arc: Sam the Blacksmith

This one is because I like the Dice Tower, and I like Sam Healey. He was a lot of fun when he was on the Dice Tower. And he loves Time of Legends and in fact now works for Mythic Games. This is just him in the game, as a Blacksmith. The card looks cool and it’s more content that I’m hoping can just easily be slotted into what I already have.

That is a lot that I picked up but a lot of it was quite cheap. Even Mythic Battles Pantheon and stuff from All Systems go, which would have been over $200 was just over $50, so a massive game with a ton of stuff, but pretty reasonable for me to pick it up. Did you get anything on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or now Cyber Monday deals?

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