Often times, though board games find trouble when it comes to doing racing games. Part of a good racing experience often times is the tension at the end. Did I do enough to win? Can I get that last second pass in? I want to get that feeling from a board game. So let’s talk about what games give that experience for me the best.

Top 5 Racing Games

5. Tiny Turbo Cars

Let’s start with one of the more unique games on the list. Tiny Turbo Cars is an RC racing game. You play with a controller and everything. Except this is a crazy racing time as you race across a house and try to be the first one to launch across the finish line. I enjoy the house theme for this game. I find that it makes the game feel different.

But the biggest element that makes the game feel different is the real time element. And I appreciate that you get a burst of real time and then it’s not. So, like a Galaxy Trucker, it isn’t just doing things in real time all the time. But for the real time you are programming how your car and move. It’s a slide puzzle and it’s great and challenging because you activate the eight symbols in the middle two rows. Mess it up and you might find yourself crashing, a lot. But that’s some of the hectic fun of the game.

4. Pitchcar

Next up is Pitchcar. This one is a dexterity game. You flick your car along as track as far as you can. But you need to stay on the track so you can’t go purely with power. It’s balancing launching forward all the time while hitting turns. There is skill to this game and the more you play the better you’ll get. But it also has a great element of, sometimes you just get lucky with an amazing shot. And when you are a few cars back half way through the race and you hit that shot to catch up, or you got stuck somewhere and you blast through, people get excited.

I like that about the game because I want you to do well. Not better than me, but I want you to do well. And there is an excitement about the game that is heightened by the fact everyone is standing up. The experience is just a little bit different in this game when it comes to racing.

3. Dungeon Kart

Now, maybe you want a Mario Kart style of game. Dungeon Kart from Brotherwise Games is going to give you some of that feel. It’s a bit like Tiny Turbo Cars in that there are certainly a good amount of chaotic elements to the game. But this one makes the game simpler than that one is.

In this one you get a car and a driver with a power and what you are better at. You want to race around the track, collecting spells and using them to keep yourself in the front. You blast someone, well, that might be good, but there is no guarantee that will stop them from catching up and blasting you next turn. But it isn’t just pure chaos. You also need to plan out your movement because some lines are shorter, but is it worth it for hitting the brakes and going across grass?

2. Ready Set Bet

I only put one mainly betting game on the list. Others like Long Shot: The Dice Game and Downforce could hit the list as well. But I went with Ready Set Bet because it is a racing game that has stand-up moments in the game.

In Ready Set Bet one player is calling the game each race. And that is just done by rolling dice. Everyone else is betting in real time. You want to end up with the winning horse paying out well for you. But so does everyone else. So if the seven horse gets out to an early lead is that enough for you to go all in there? Or do you want to risk it for bigger odds on a less likely horse? I’ve seen horses in from every lane, so it’s crazy chaos.

And at the end of the game after all the bets are done, the players stand around and a pulling for certain dice rolls. There is actual tension to the game as it wraps up which I find amazing. How can just rolling some dice create so much excitement?

1. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Finally I want to add Heat: Pedal to the Metal, probably the most popular racing game as of late. This one takes hand management and push your luck in a really fun way. The coolest element to me is how you need to manage the heat on your engine. As you push to go fast on the straightaways and then need to slam on the brakes going into a corner, everything can heat up your engine.

So you need to know when to push it and build up that heat. When is it worth it to push around a corner faster than you should? It might cost some heat, but if you save a turn, is that a good enough reason to do it? That element of the game is just a ton of fun and a great puzzle to try and figure out.

Plus it makes sense, you push your engine too hard you risk running into issues. Or at least it is going to force you to cool down your engine. But if you can kind of hang out just by the leaders you can potentially draft past them at key times without exerting your engine as much.

Final Thoughts

I really like racing games. There are more racing games that didn’t make the list that I have really enjoyed or do really enjoy. The Quest for Eldorado might look like a deck builder, but it is a racing game where you are trying to build up that deck that let’s you race to the end faster than others. Titan Race has that Mario Kart feel to it and then the two that I mentioned with Ready Set Bet offer great betting and racing.

One that might make the list if I do it again in the future is Rallyman Dirt. This is a time trial race like rally racing is. And I really enjoyed my play, though it wasn’t a full game play at Gen Con. I think there are a ton of cool elements to it and the fact that you can do a series of races is also great. That one and Heat: Pedal to the Metal are ones that I’d love to do a race circuit of with friends to see who is the best racer out of all of them.

What are your favorite racing games?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Part of what I do at Gen Con every evening, though, is go through a list of everything that I played. I log those plays and see how many games I played. This year, over Gen Con, I believe it was 42 or 43 different games. So let’s look at the games played, ranked, but we’re starting out only with day 1’s recap of gaming so far because 42 is too many for a single article.

Day 1 Gaming at Gen Con

13. Invincible: The Dice Game

I know that Tom Vasel of the Dice Tower did not like this game. I’m with him a bit on it. I think it’s a perfectly fine beer and pretzels type of game. But I already have a game, Zombie Dice, that does the same thing, and I think it does it better.

It’s a dice chucker where you allocate dice and push your luck to try and beat bad guys. The bad guys give you damage and they can knock down your “health” to take you out of a round if you push your luck too far. One of those, there isn’t too much to the game sort of games. It’s one I’d play again, but I don’t need two games like that in my collection.

12. Beacon Patrol

This one I accidentally slept through the event for the following day, but Beacon Patrol with the demo I got was simply fine. It has that Carcassonne style placement of tiles. It turns it into a cooperative game, but without that much game to it. I also think that it bogs down because if you get bad tiles, as a group, you might not be able to place them. They give you minor ways to deal with it, but it’s not that exciting.

And the scoring is pretty simple, surround a tile on all four sides. It gives points depending on what’s on it, but there’s just not that much going on, which is why it’s lower on my list. I feel like over a longer game it wouldn’t be any more interesting than a few round demo, it might make it worse.

11. Scram!

This is team Silver. I like Silver, but I sold my stuff. It’s a game that I played a number of times, so I don’t feel the need to come back to it again. Scram! Is simpler, but it’s for teams. I think I like it better than Silver just because of that simplicity, the weird animal theme, and the teamwork. The change is that you can play and get rid of a card of your teammates as well when you get rid of cards of the same number. Very much the same thing, but still enjoyable. Not one that I’m going to get back in this form, most likely, as it’d be harder to play.

10. GAP

I did buy this one and it’s fairly low on my list. I got it because it’s a small game and one that is pretty simple and fun. You just play out card and take cards of the matching numbers or an adjacent number. And you are trying to collect a lot of one color and a little of another color so that you get the biggest gap, hence the name. I like a little card game like this one, and it reminds me of some other ones, a bit like Hats a bit like Parade. I’m not sure it’s better than either of those, but it’s easier to teach, which I like as well.

9. Secrets of the Lost Tomb: Epic Edition

This demo was pretty light, which is a shame. I think sitting down with this game for 30 minutes or so would have been great. But this is basically a cooperative Betrayal at House on the Hill. It is a remake and reworking of an older game. I like that in theory, it’s more of an adventure and it’s one shot adventures. So it is a bit more text than Betrayal and a bit more story because of that. However, it feels a bit old in what it’s doing, do I need a second game like Betrayal?

8. Cytosis: A Cell Biology Board Game

A game that’s been out for a bit, this is one of those games that I just sat down to randomly play. And I think it’s a solid worker placement game. You need to plan out what you do well, but it doesn’t feel that exciting compared to other games.

I think I mainly compare it to Asking for Trobils, that weight of game, and Asking for Trobils is more fun. Cytosis is a great game, though, if you want an interesting way to teach Cytosis and that science because it does a great job of that. There is great value in that, in my opinion, because it’s a fun game that teaches you.

7. Age of Wonders: Planetfall

I have two things that I think are interesting about this game. Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a game about building out your factions powers to get the most points as you spend resources, get resources, fight battles, get cards.

I think that it’s a very cool game, I have it low on the list because I don’t think there is enough. It’s 7 planets you go to per game, but it’s the same seven planets. And it needs to be because cards build like they do in 7 Wonders where you have a card that is easy to get if you own a previous card. But the variability I feel like is pretty light. So I think I want it, but I’d play it 5-6 times and then be done with it.

6. The Fox Experiment

A game that’s been out for a few years. I don’t think I realized fully how it worked, now that I do, I really want the game. This is a game about Russian experiments for breeding foxes, kind of that actually happened.

You breed foxes and get new trait based off of roll and write mechanisms. And then those new foxes are placed into the breeding pool so you build out the ones that you already did. It’s a fun system, it’s not a heavy game, but I want it. I like the roll and write random element to it. I like the upgrades and things you can do to improve your fox, so very fun.

5. Ecosystem

This is one that was a surprise hit for me. The game is a pretty simple tableau building drafting game. You draft animals that score in different ways. The bear wants to be near rabbits and trout. The trout the streams and dragonflies, the foxes don’t want to be near other predators. All of those things give you points and you draft over two rounds. The upside is it can play a pretty solid number of players and it plays fast. I picked it up because it’s going to be one of those games, I can tell, that is going to be consistently played with my group, that easy to play but offers some good fun.

4. SpellBook

SpellBook is one of the bigger releases, I think, at Gen Con because of the designer. Phil Walker-Harding is known for creating lighter, easy to play games that are very popular. And I think that SpellBook hits that as well. You are trying to cast spells and give energy to your familiar. All of those things give you points and the spells give you power.

But you can only cast spells once per games of the various colors. So as you cast them, you need to decide to what level you want to push them to. The higher the go, they better they are, but the game ends when you’ve cast them all, or when your familiar is maxed out, so someone can rush those ends if they want, it’s a fun balancing act.

3. Dungeon Karts

This one is great, it’s a multiplayer racing game that is very much a Mario Kart style of game. The game play is fast and pretty straight forward in what you are doing. There are special powers, and you get spells that you cast against your opponents. This reminds me a bit of Tiny Turbo Cars but without the real time, more just that fun that you have in a game where you can blow someone else up. It definitely leans into the goofy and will be coming to Kickstarter soon which I’ll want to checkout.

2. Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West

This one is hard to rank, but it ranked high. Mainly, what I saw I liked a lot. But what I saw was mainly Ticket to Ride. When you start this legacy game you only play on the East Coast and the density of locations is a whole lot higher. There are elements that give you a bonus in the game. And what I saw that is mainly new is that you get events. Those events might give you  more victory points or potentially bad things. I’m really excited for this legacy game to come out.

1. Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition

I already like Arnak a lot already. The Missing Expedition expansion adds in a few things. There are two new research boards, we didn’t play with those. Two new characters I thought that both of them were very interesting. The big thing is I got to play the campaign in the box. This is a solo or two player campaign where you unlock new cards as you go along. And there is a story with it, more than I thought, which is cool. I wasn’t sure if it would work cooperatively, but it does. And there are good challenges in it and twists in the first chapter. I bought it, so I will play through the whole campaign, probably solo.

Busy with Gaming

I play a lot of games at Gen Con. And Thursday is often the busiest day for me, like I said. And I think that it might have been the best day for gaming for me. Even my least favorite game in the group, I think was fun enough to play again. It’s a good “beer and pretzels” game.

If you’re not familiar with that term, think of a game that you can sit around playing at a bar or brewery. Or at your place when you want something to play, but it’s mainly about chatting, sitting around, and drinking. Actually a very good option for a place like Gen Con.

Then the list goes all the way up to bigger more complex games that are great. I’m not sure that The Missing Expedition is as good as Expedition Leaders for Lost Ruins of Arnak. But it adds in more cards and more expedition leaders even if you don’t want the cooperative campaign. So even if you do end up playing without the campaign you get good stuff in the box.

It’s been just over a week and I miss the gaming all the time already. Gen Con is great for that, and thankfully, I get a game night tomorrow night where we’ll play some of the these games that I bought at Gen Con. Often some that I did demo as well.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How To Play Tiny Turbo Cars

Tiny Turbo Cars is a bit of a tougher game to explain because you are doing a lot and need to pay attention to a lot in the game. The goal of the game is to win the race. That doesn’t mean, completely, be the first person over the line, it means on the round where the first person goes over the line, go the furthest over it. But how are you driving in this game?

The theme is that you are driving little RC cars around the house. You jump over some obstacles, crash into others, and shoot rockets at your opponents. All of this is done through a real time sliding puzzle where you create two rows of actions that you’ll do. These actions are mainly move forward, though you can back up and move left and right.

The first person who completes their puzzle gets to go first. And the last person loses a battery. Batteries are your life that you use up as you crash into things or are the slowest on completing your puzzle. You navigate what you programmed and see what happens. If you run out of batteries you skip steps to charge them back up and continue on in the race.

What Doesn’t Work

The first thing that stood out to me is that I’ve played with two players and I’ve played with more, not up to six yet, but up to five. And the game is much better at higher player counts. It does make the game take longer, but the game benefits from the havoc that more people offer on the track. So this is not a two player game. I think three is okay, but four to six is really where the game is best at. And to get up to six, you need an expansion.

Tiny Turbo Cars has a lot to teach as well. This is a weird knock on the game because it has too much to teach without player aids. If you know the game, you know what spots do. But learning the game the first time, what’s the rule for carpet, fire, what can you jump or what will you just run into? You need to know all of those things. And that’s a lot to hold in your head as well as the sliding puzzle. I wish that it had player aids and I hope someone has made them on BGG.

What Works

Toy Factor

The toy factor for the game is great. This one is a bit of a positive and a negative. The RC controllers that hold the sliding puzzle look amazing. It is going to make it stand out on the table. Most of the time they slide just fine. And I don’t know that there is a way to make a sliding puzzle like that work all the time. But sometimes it sticks, generally if you don’t have it quite flat enough. So there is that element of the game which is mostly awesome but it’s such a unique piece.

The game does feel crazy like just trying to get an RC car to go as fast as you can through a house littered with stuff. Probably not fire in your actual house, but in this game, it’s an option. The real time element feels like that and the chaotic layout and planning attempts do as well.

Real Time

The real time element also works for this game. Yes, your controller might stick for a second, but it works well. And the real time element itself is not a timed element. I generally realize that is where I dislike real time. When you tell me that I have one minute or 45 seconds and it’s basically all the game to get that one element right. This is more like Galaxy Trucker in that yes, you go for speed, but it’s not only speed because it won’t end until someone pushes for it.

Game Speed

Finally, this is not too long a game. Even at five players, which is definitely longer, it’s not too long a game. Once one player has locked in their board other players follow quickly to make sure you aren’t the last person. And then the actual going through the programmed actions is fast because that is following commands versus making decisions.

Who Is It For

I do think that there is an element where you need to be fine with things like sliding puzzles and real time in this game. It is a key part of the game and if you can’t half look at your sliding puzzle and half at the board to plan what you’re doing, you’ll lag behind. But not too far behind because everyone is crashing.

I also think that this is for people who want a chaotic game with a higher player count. To me this is a 4-6 player game. Yes, the board is fuller and you might spend a turn crashing into someone else, but that’s part of the fun of the game. But you need to know that this won’t be a strategic two player racing game.

Final Thoughts on Tiny Turbo Cars

This one I think is a fun game. But I have some reservations about it. Mainly, it plays best with that higher player count so how often will it get played. And with the rules or interactions a bit more complex, does that mean it will get played that often. There is variability in the game and that can be used to fine tune that complexity level. So that isn’t an issue, it is just player count concerns.

I also need to compare this to other racing games. Ready Set Bet, Downforce, Long Shot: The Dice Game, PitchCar all offer different things. And I want to play and pick up other racing games. Mainly I want to play Formula D and Rallman GT, and pick-up Thunder Road Vendetta. Because I wonder if I have room for Tiny Turbo Cars. Does the chaotic and randomness that can come into the game make it one that sticks. Or do I want that bit more control, unless I’m playing PitchCar which is dexterity?

It’s a tough question that I’m not completely sure of the answer on right now. But I think that the randomness, while fun in a fast game, might be a bit more than I really want. Tiny Turbo Cars might be one of those games that I’d always play, but not sure I need to own it. Which is disappointing because I backed it on KS with expansions. But also not, because I have played it and had fun with it and would play it again. It isn’t leaving my collection yet, but I wonder.

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

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Top 5 Board Game Pet Peeves

5. Standees

What, you don’t want grey minis in your game? Standees are better than minis because you get color, let’s go through the hierarchy here.

• Painted Minis
• Acrylic Standees
• Unpainted Minis
• Meeples
• Belly Button Lint
• Pawns
• Standees

I’m talking about those cheap cardboard standees that get jammed into a plastic stand. To store them, you probably need to take them out. Then after you’ve played the game five times the bases are ruins on the cardboard so you need to start putting them in sideways. Then you try figure out if you can play the game with Monopoly pieces, realized you got rid of your copy, and just go straight to belly button lint.

But seriously, they suck, it shows off your artwork in a bad way that looks weird because the the machine can’t cut too closely just in case it’s off slightly. So you got a bulky bit of some color around the outside edge. And yes, they do start to breakdown pretty quickly over time. So stop putting standees in your game.

What, they are the cheapest option, tells me your game is cheap. Why do I want to buy a cheap game that a company won’t put the effort into the pieces. I got no faith that you’ll put the effort into making a good game. And don’t worry, standees aren’t the only thing that tells me your game might not be good. Skip ahead to #1 and see that one as well.

4. Enough Room For Card Sleeves

Yes, I’m going to catch heat for this one. And I’m saying this a bit tongue in cheek. I don’t mind if you put room for sleeves into your box and into your storage solution. In fact, if you want to do that for the sleevers because you’re a deck building game and the cards are the game and get handled a lot, do it. But understand that not everyone sleeves.

So how do you work that balance, give me foam. You aren’t shipping the game sleeved. So all your cards are in one little part of the box. Then if you don’t sleeve the cards are rattle around in the box. That space in the box when you ship it is open, so give me foam in that space. I can cut it down to size, or better yet you’ve planned it out well and it’s about the right amount with just a little wiggle room for the cards.

If you sleeve, you throw it away. If you don’t, you keep it in. It’s the best of both worlds. And while my next one is about not wasting space, this is not a waste of space to account for that.

3. Valley of the Shadow of Death

I’m coming after you with this one Fantasy Flight Games. I love a lot of your games, but your inserts suck. So much so that I generally throw them away. And I get it, this is one I overlap with and I new the reason for this before watching the Quackalope video, you do this to make the game look bigger.

Why does a game need to look bigger? Multiple reasons. Firstly, a larger box means you can maybe sell it for me. You might still sell it cheaply, but a Ticket to Ride size box says $40, even if you don’t get as many components. Also, it stands out on a shelf. When it is a in a bigger box you won’t be as apt to gloss over it.

But make good use of that space if you need to have the larger size. Give me a workable insert, not just some cardboard padding out the side. A spot for the five minis in the game to go and the dice. A well for the tokens once I’ve punched them out. A nice spot for the card. Not some random valley in the middle of the box created by cheap cardboard.

2. No Player Aids

I can’t remember which game this came up in recently for me. I opened it up, I started looking at it, and all I could think was, why isn’t there a player aid. Planet Unknown possibly. And Planet Unknown is a pretty simple game. But it would not be hard to put out a turn order for it. And then the game has 5-10 symbols in it. That’s not a big card, give players a player aid, it won’t take up that much more space on the table.

And your player aid doesn’t need to be the greatest detail. But if you use a symbol and I need to flip to back of the rulebook to look at find that symbol, or heaven forbid in the rulebook, then get a page number and flip to that in the rulebook to get the details, that is player aid thing. And really, if your turns take more than three steps or you have more than three options on a turn, give me a player aid.

Finally, give me enough for the player count. (I remembered the game, Tiny Turbo Cars) But back on topic, if a game plays four players, four player aids. No two player aids. Yes, it might make the production a bit trickier, maybe an extra sheet per game for the cards. If that’s an issue, add more to the player aids. But with Tiny Turbo Cars and Planet Unknown, I might go see if there are player aids on Board Game Geek. That’s not the communities job to make them.

1. NSFW Expansion

If you create one of these for your game it tells me one thing in particular. You don’t have a game. Your goal is to get as close to Cards Against Humanity or whatever party game and make a million dollars. Which, let me just put this out there, you won’t. Cards Against Humanity did and more because it was the first. You are the millionth, you get $1.

But really what it tells me is that you don’t have a good design for a game. The selling point of your game isn’t the game, it’s that you have a not safe for work expansion. It’s that your game is edgy and maybe your base version you can play with grandma, but when you want to get a little edgy and spicy, let’s insult people groups we don’t like. Or make sex jokes because we’re in college. Or make fart jokes because we’re four years old.

Final Thoughts

This is a bit tongue in cheek throughout. Each of them is something that I want to see improved upon, and each of them has exceptions to the rule. Some of them are more annoying than others but easier to overlook than others because it doesn’t inform me as much about how much effort was put into the game.

At the same time, I see a ton of game companies out there creating amazing games that skip or miss all of my pet peeves. So if they can do it, why can’t more. And really, if they can do it as a retail company, it means you’re being cheap.

Yes, there is a desire to keep board games at a good price point. Yes, it can make your game more expensive or cut into your profit margin. But if you can create an experience that doesn’t have frustrations, that will grow the hobby more. A good experience is better for your bottom line and will get your more sales than you game being cheap on a shelf.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How to Play Tiny Turbo Cars

Like I said, this is a racing game, and one with a real time element as you use a sliding puzzle to create two rows that you activate. Those rows will have directions like move forward or backward, left or right, or maybe even launch a missile at the car in front of you.

The first person to complete theirs goes first that round. And subsequent players go in completion order of their own. If you’re last, you lose a batter, which means that you might need to skip actions to get that battery back. And if you knock into a stack of books or a couch, you’re going to lose batteries as well. So it tries to give you a balance between going fast and going first, but maybe being a bit more erratic when you drive.

Who ever crosses the finish line and goes furthest in a round in a round ends up in first place. So it isn’t enough to just get there first, you need to make sure you are ahead of everyone else.

Player Count

I’m not doing what I did and didn’t like, I want to highlight a few things with the game. The first is player count, I have the expansion that makes it go up to 6. I am excited to play with that expansion. But thus far, my only play is at 2. And this game says it goes from 2-4 or 6 with the expansion. Some is lost in the game at two.

There are two issues with it at two. Firstly, you can lose that frenetic pace of everyone trying to complete their sliding puzzle. If I complete mine, you lose a battery or vice-a-versa. So yes, there is a lot of reason to go fast which just means more randomness as you move. But also, you lose some ability to plan. If you don’t go fast, lose your last battery, you know you skip your first three, so you can plan. But if you’re worried about batteries, then you just hope that you planned it correctly.

There’s also less excitement with the race itself. If a player gets out front, you need to try and tank them with batteries. But there’s no major negative to being out front. There isn’t much jockeying for position. So as you go, things like the missiles aren’t that useful. And trying to block someone isn’t much of a thing. You lose out on the major racing feel of the game.

Components

This is a mixed bag for me. There is one main component to the game that you need to talk about, the sliding puzzle. But let’s talk about the rest really quickly first. I think that the cars, tokens, and tiles are all good. The quality is strong on them, and I like that the cars aren’t minis, they are just little wooden cars. It keeps the game smaller. If they had been minis, it would have made the game a whole lot bigger.

But the sliding puzzles, they are a mixed bag for me. The component itself is cool. But the game requires speed as you use them. For my hands, they are a bit small, not a big deal. But they stick a little bit, so sometimes you want to go fast, but can’t. Other times they don’t stick, so if you tilt it at all they slide. It’s a really fun component, it just isn’t quite as slick as I’d have hoped.

Initial Impressions of Tiny Turbo Cars

I think Tiny Turbo Cars is a fun game. I like the concept and the execution in the game. My concern is the need for a higher player count. Though, I think that is generally true with racing games. When you control a car or a horse or whatever is racing, you want a bunch of players.

Is the balance of complexity of the game in a good spot with the need for a higher player count. Once you start shifting stuff around on your sliding puzzle you won’t be able to stop and answer questions. And teaching in smaller groups, sure it worked, but it’s less fun. This is a game that is meant to be played with a lot of people.

I think as I learn to teach the game, it is going to be one that moves up for me. I hope that people I play with like the game as well. But it is going to have that learning curve for teaching. And, this is a big thing, I wish it had a player aid.

Double sided one, first side is symbols on your sliding puzzle that you can see for that part of the game. Most just need two words of explanation. The other side being the different types of terrain on the map. That’d make teaching the game so much easier, and easier for new players to keep in their head. I wonder if someone has created some to download and laminate on Board Game Geek.

So final impression, it’s fun, needs the right player count, and then it’ll be a good filler racing game.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

To Be Played Board Games I Own Ranked

1 ISS Vanguard

This is one that I really want to play. It’s Awaken Realms and they make giant and amazing games, I really like all of theirs I’ve tried. And this one is a massive space adventure sandbox game. You can pick where you go as you try and figure out the mystery of why humanity was signaled about this information and what is going on. It sounds amazing. It sounds highly impressive and ambitious so I want to give it go. It might be one I stream, but I kind of want to do this in a group.

2 Lands of Galzyr (Already Played Since Writing The List)

Lands of Galzyr is one that I will be playing soon, I might even have played it by the time this article comes out. January 4^th is going to be the first day on Malts and Meeples. So if you are reading this after that, you can checkout some game play. I’m planning on doing a few sessions of what feels like a nice relaxing board game. And one that has a story that you can play through without being as much of a campaign game. It’s more bits of story that happen over time versus a massive overall story .

3 Middara: Unintentional Malum – Act 1

But speaking of massive overall stories, we have another campaign game in Middara: Unintentional Malum. Just Act 1 is out now, but I have the other two pre-ordered. This like I said is a campaign and it’s set on another planet but is more fantasy. It’s a mix of both fantasy and sci-fi and real world which is interesting and probably best described as an anime setting. The game play looks fun, and it’s so big that I’m not sure it’s a candidate for Malts and Meeples. But I can’t want to get it to the table.

4 Clank!: Catacombs

A new game, just about arriving, or should be in the next week. Clank! Catacombs is just another version of Clank! But this time it has a map you build out as you go. I think that’s a cool twist, so I want to get it into my collection, give it a try and see if I keep all of the versions. But I love Clank and this isn’t the only time you’ll see it on the list.

5 Cthulhu: Death May Die

Another bigger game, this one is a cooperative adventure to defeat a great old one. But it isn’t a campaign game, this is a one off scenario game which is interesting and I want to get it to the table. This one might not be too hard to table because of that. But I need to learn the rules still. Plus I want to do the push for madness so I grow stronger, but not too mad so the character is eliminated.

6 Deep Madness

To add to that, another one that’s been in my collection for a bit, and I think this is kind of a campaign and kind of not. You’re exploring an under water base where everyone has gone missing. A distress signal came through but what is going on. Of course there are monsters coming from a rift and now you’re fighting Lovecraftian monsters hoping to complete your mission and get out of there. There are a number of scenarios which is fun as each gives you slightly different things to do.

7 burncycle

Another one off game, kind of like the previous two. burncycle is a Chip Theory game that looks really interesting. You are robots trying to into a corporation, hack the network, complete objectives and do all of that without being seen. The story of the world is great too, robots took over, then humans made a comeback, and now you’re the robots trying to survive which I think is just fun.

8 My Father’s Work

Yet another big game, there are some smaller ones for sure on the list and some coming up, but you know me. My Father’s Work is a worker placement game where you are ty ring to complete your father’s work in some experiment that is suspect at best. Think like making Frankenstein’s monster. It’s played over three generations which is cool because you can take some stuff forward but not everything. And there is a ton of story in the game as well.

9 Clank!: Legacy – Acquisitions Incorporated

The other Clank! Game on the list, this one is the Legacy version. It maybe should be higher, but I don’t know when I’ll get to it. I love Clank! In general so I want to get it to the table. But because it’s a legacy game, I need to find a group and time to play it with. I will get it played eventually.

10 Etherfields

Another big Awaken Realms game. I didn’t go all in on it, but I still have a lot to play. You are in a dream world, diving into different dreams to complete objectives. And from what I’ve heard the dreams are nice and different so the game gives you a good variety of what you are doing. Which I mean, they should be, because some dreams are nightmares and others are fluffy bunnies, so you want a good mix.

The Rest of the List

And I’m stopping writing up on them, but you can see the rest down below. There is a wide variety of games. And some of them are more kids games which I’m going to be most apt to play as my kid gets older. So stuff like Rhino Hero Super Battle, though that might get played with adults. Or Coconuts and Hey That’s My Fish are all examples of ones I’ll get to eventually.

11 Hadrian’s Wall

12 Solomon Kane

13 Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition

14 Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor

15 Welcome to the Moon

16 Aquatica

17 Sea of Legends

18 Terraforming Mars

19 Nemesis

20 Bullet

21 Riverside

22 Get on Board: New York & London

23 Betrayal Legacy

24 Tiny Turbo Cars

25 Forgotten Waters

26 Descent: Legends of the Dark

27 Astra

28 Everdell

29 Maximum Apocalypse: Legendary Edition

30 The Ratcatcher: The Solo Adventure Game

31 Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

32 Bargain Basement Bathysphere (Played)

33 Ghosts of Christmas

34 Set a Watch: Swords of the Coin

35 Spirit Island

36 Folklore: The Affliction

37 Call To Adventure: Epic Origins

38 Imperium: Legends

39 Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape

40 New York Zoo

41 Chronicles of Crime

42 HEXplore It: The Forests of Adrimon

43 Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef

44 GROVE: A 9 card solitaire game (Played)

45 Abyss

46 Western Legends

47 Mechs vs. Minions

48 Heroes of Land  Air & Sea

49 Radlands

50 Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game

51 18 Holes: Course Architect (Played)

52 Cascadia

53 Bloodborne: The Board Game

54 Fantastic Factories

55 Escape the Dark Sector

56 Valor & Villainy: Minions of Mordak

57 Dungeon Party: Starter Pack

58 Escape the Dark Castle

59 Zombicide: Undead or Alive

60 QE

61 Furnace

62 Space Base

63 Doodle Dungeon

64 Vengeance: Roll & Fight – Episode 2

65 Three Sisters

66 Formula D

67 Menara

68 Splitter (Played)

69 Welcome to Dino World

70 Marvel: Remix

71 The Bloody Inn

72 Zoo-ography

73 Via Magica (Played)

74 Arcadia Quest

75 Flick of Faith

76 Adventure Land

77 Alien Frontiers

78 Time of Legends: Joan of Arc

79 Mythic Battles: Pantheon

80 Black Rose Wars

81 Catacombs & Castles

82 Kabuto Sumo

83 Shakespeare

84 The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged

85 Champions of Hara

86 Loup Garou

87 Boomerang

88 Wingspan

89 Chronicles of Avel

90 Camel Up (Second Edition)

91 Thornwatch

92 Pioneer Days

93 Cowboy Bebop: Boardgame Boogie

94 Tannhäuser

95 Crash Octopus

96 Mariposas

97 Dragonscales

98 Paper Tales

99 TAGS

100 The Faceless

101 Jamaica

102 Reichbusters: Projekt Vril

103 6 nimmt!

104 Heaven & Ale

105 Periodic: A Game of The Elements

106 Silver & Gold

107 Star Realms

108 Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

109 Blueprints

110 Codinca

111 Can’t Stop

112 Rhino Hero: Super Battle

113 Longboard

114 Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time

115 Vault Wars

116 Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)

117 Cockroach Poker

118 Danger Park

119 Summer Camp

120 WWE Legends Royal Rumble Card Game

121 Papillon

122 Palm Island

123 Starship Samurai

124 KeyForge: Call of the Archons

125 Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor

126 Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar

127 Journey: Wrath of Demons

128 Coconuts

129 Hey  That’s My Fish!

130 My Hero Academia: Plus Ultra! Board Game

131 Boy Band Builder: The Card Game

132 Dinosaur Tea Party

133 In a Flash Firefighters

134 What Do you Meme?: Family Edition

How Many Will I Get To This Year?

That’s a great question. My hope is to get my unplayed games below 100, that was my goal last year. And this is where I was at the end of 2022. So clearly I didn’t do that. Some of it is that I buy games as well. Some might leave never having been played. But I really do want to play most if not all of them. And some of them lower on the list will get played before ones higher on the list.

Do you have a favorite from this list that you think I should get to? Or which one of your to be played games do you want to get to first?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

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.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

The Board Games

All three of these games are roll and write games in a series, connected by some basic mechanics, designed by Wolfgang Warsch. The base mechanics of the games, like I said, are similar across the board, but the games each offer their own twist.

The basic mechanic in the game is that you roll your dice, pick one to use, get rid, to a common pool, all the numbers lower than it, and repeat the process until you’ve used three dice, or fewer. Then the other players use a die from the common pool. Then the next player rolls and you repeat that process. Your goal, get as many points as you can.

There are two other things that are always true. The white die is a wild. And if you use the blue die or the white die in the blue section, it’s always the combined total of the white and blue dice. But the white ie you can use anywhere that you want. I guess a third thing, which is could be an afterthought when teaching is the foxes. If you get a fox, at the end of the game, multiply the number of foxes times your lowest scoring section.

Ganz Schon Clever – Doppelt So Clever – Clever Hoch Drei

Let’s talk real quick about each of them. Mainly compare how they work and actually maybe a slight change in my opinion after last nights play.

Ganz Schon Clever

Ganz Schon Clever is maybe the most basic of the games. Which makes sense being the original one that came out. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t have combos, it has a lot of them. But Ganz Schon Clever, doesn’t have the more complex sections like some others do. It is basically always simple on how to use the dice. It’s the one that I started with and it’s the one I’d use to teach, even if you like others better in the series.

Doppelt So Clever

Doppelt So Clever has always been the toughest for me and been the lowest of the three for me. Now, I’m not sure that’s the case anymore. Mainly, I think I’m seeing the puzzle better now, and I have some ideas of how I want to handle the game as I play. It definitely ramps up the complexity in the game with basically every section. While some, pink and blue might not be too complex, they offer more to think about.

Clever Hoch Drei

Finally we have Clever Hoch Drei, probably the one that clicked with my fastest and the one that I get the highest score on. A lot of the things just make sense to me as I play them. I didn’t do a great job comboing as I could have last night in the game. Mainly not using the yellow section as effectively as sometimes. But you fill in a whole lot more and get many more combos, it feels like in Clever Hoch Drei.

I think that Doppelt So Clever went up in my estimation last night and Clever Hoch Drei went down. Mainly you can do so much in Clever Hoch Drei that decisions matter a little less. Where as Doppelt So Clever being a tighter game, what you do matters more.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I am streaming my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition – 50 through 41. The video down below. So join me on that journey, then the following Monday, the 31st, I might take off for Halloween. I suspect it’d be cutting it close with podcast, Trick or Treating, and getting a kid into bed.

As for my Wednesday stream, next week my hope is to get Chronicles of Drunagor to the table at least for an unboxing. And I know a I have a few other boxes coming in as well. So I might play Final Girl, or we’ll see what my mystery package coming in might be. But soon I will get Chronicles of Drunagor to the table. And next week might be an unboxing of the game and picking out of characters, actually.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

I have a few companies like that where I generally will pay attention. And for me, that doesn’t mean back or buy everything. But it does mean that I will always check it out in detail. Rarely, if ever, will I just gloss over a game from these companies. So here are my Top 10 companies I’m always interested in

Top 10 Board Game Companies

10. Fantasy Flight Games

Fantasy Flight Games is probably a company that’d have dropped off for a lot of people. They used to come out with a whole lot more games and a whole lot bigger announcements. But I still am interested. When I saw a Twilight Imperium Roll and Write, I was interested, even with a long play time. And Marvel Champions I still buy everything for that.

I wish they would come out with something more. A new version of Star Wars Imperial Assault? I would love to see that. Or something more original from them. Maybe a smaller version of a Descent 3.0 to go along with Descent: Legends of the Dark.

9. Thunderworks Games

Thunderworks is also just on that edge if I check everything out. I will look at any announcement because I am curious about anything set in their Roll Player World of Ulos. However, anything, like Tenpenny Park, those I’ll look at, but generally aren’t what I’m interested in. But I see them because I am curious if it is more stuff for Roll Player, Roll Player Adventures, or Cartographers.

8. CMON

CMON is either on your list or not. There is no in between I feel. Some people wait anticipating what CMON is going to announce next. Other people pledge $1 so that they can complain. That is basically how it goes on everything that CMON does. And I understand some of the complaints, I also don’t care on some of the complaints. They end up being complaining for the sake of complaining. But that isn’t the point of this article.

I wait to see what CMON comes out with next. And there is no company where they can announce a game and I will always back it or buy it. But when CMON announces a Stranger Things Game, see here, I get really excited. On the flip side, I like the idea of a big Dune battling over the planet game, but it is not one that I will back.

7. Chip Theory Games

Chip Theory Games is moving up the list for me. The more I see and mess around with their games, the more interested I am in their games. I enjoy Too Many Bones, and I think the more I dive into it the more I will like it. Then I almost backed Hoplomacus Victorum because it was a solo version of a game that I thought looked cool. And Burncycle, after watching a Brother’s Murph play through, see below, I really want to get it. Their games aren’t cheap though, so I need to pace myself.

6. Horrible Guild

Probably the biggest break or one of them, from the big games on the list is Horrible Guild. Horrible Guild does some campaign or legacy games with King’s Dilemma and then Queen’s Dilemma coming to Kickstarter. But I like their small games. Stuff like Potion Explosion, Railroad Ink, I’m so excited to be getting Tiny Turbo Cars, stuff like that.

They make games with amazing toy factor to them. And I just really enjoy sitting down and playing them. They also make games that are accessible. Railroad Ink is a bit challenging for a roll and write with Railroad Ink Challenge, but it’s not hard to teach. Same with Potion Explosion or Similo. Plus with so much fun in their games, I always want to see what they make.

5. Mythic Games

Getting back to big games, we have Mythic Games. Mythic Games has made such games as Reichbusters and Solomon Kane, but the one of theirs I play the most is Super Fantasy Brawl. I really love that game, but I mainly pay attention to their big games. Now, with that said, I don’t back a ton of their games on crowdfunding. I have backed Super Fantasy Brawl and HEL: The Last Saga, but that is it.

One of the reasons is that their rule books first time around tend to be poor. You need to get, and they do send out, a new rule book. But also because their games are big and epic and tend to have a lot with them. They are like CMON in some ways, I might want to back all of them, but I certainly don’t have room to back and store all of their games. Just between Super Fantasy Brawl and Solomon Kane that takes up a lot of space on top of a Kallax shelf.

4. Roxley Games

Last game on the list that makes that many smaller games. Though, when you get everything for Dice Throne, it certainly isn’t that small. And Dice Throne is the reason Roxley is so high on the list. They have some heavy euro games, I am not interested in those. But I want more Dice Throne. And their lighter games, I am interested in.

I really only own two games from Roxley, Dice Throne and Radlands and I need to play Radlands still. But when Santa vs Krampus came out, I backed immediately. When Marvel Dice Throne was announced, I knew I’d be all in. That is going to be case whenever they come out with anything new.

3. OOMM

OOMM is a very new company to the list. And honestly, I should likely keep them lower on the list, but we’re not talking about backing everything, we’re talking about being interested. I bought Stars of Akarios because of what it looked like after the fact. I backed Mythwind because the game looked so different.

OOMM really does something that I love in creating games that feel unique. Mythwind seems really different than anything else out there. Stars of Akarios is a big space campaign game. Do I need more space campaign games, not really but I want them. And the new legacy game they announced looks very cool as well.

2. Awaken Realms

Awaken Realms maybe could be #1, but it’s at #2 because there is Awaken Realms Lite, technically it’s own company I believe, but a lot of the same people and process. But the last two on the list, I will always look and almost always back whatever they do.

There are two exceptions for Awaken Realms. I didn’t back The Great Wall as it is a massive euro game. It looks cool, I’d love to try it, but I wouldn’t buy it. And I didn’t back Lords of Ragnarok from them. Why, because I already own and love Lords of Hellas. Lords of Ragnarok might be better, but I don’t need to own both.

1. Cephalofair Games

I doubt that this is a shock. I went all in on Frosthaven. And I love Gloomhaven. I never looked at Founders of Gloomhaven once I realized it was a euro. But Cephalofair announces something, I am interested. I hope it is more for Frosthaven, after that has been out for a bit. Or another big box game, but really, anything at this point. Even with my #1 company that I will be intrigued to hear whatever they announce, not every game will be for me.

Still, I can’t wait until Frosthaven gets here. And I even started a campaign of Gloomhaven Digital recently. It is just a fun experience to play that game and it is fun to dive back into it. And I will for sure dive heavily into Frosthaven almost right away when it shows up. I suspect we’ll be done with the final Tainted Grail expansion by then, but we’ll see.

Final Thoughts

Firstly, I’d love to know what companies you are generally interested. Which ones make games that seem fun to checkout or different. I want to know what gets you excited. And as I said, I don’t like every game from all of these companies. In fact, there are some that just miss completely for me, even though I love the company.

And that is very fair to not like everything. I talk about how CMON is polarizing, the people who love CMON don’t like everything from CMON. The people who dislike CMON will never know what they are missing out on. I think it’s more important to remember that some games are going to be for you and some won’t no matter the company. And even if you enjoy all of them, some will be better than others.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Oathsworn

This is for sure coming this year. Mainly, it is almost here. Some content creators, Quackalope and BoardGameCo to name a few are already doing some content on it. And I am excited. Now, I didn’t get everything like they did, I just got the core box. But that looks like more than enough content.

This is one of my most anticipated crowdfunding games for a while, though. Mainly because it’s something different than what I own. I own a lot of dungeon crawl games and story driven games. This is a game that has that story, but it is about that one boss monster fight. It gets compared to something like Kingdom: Death Monster (KDM) in that boss battler type of thing. But I don’t need to put together minis and it didn’t cost me $500+.

Spire’s End: Hildegard

This is one that I’m surprised how fast it is coming. Granted, it is just cards and a few dice. But still, it is a lot of story and a lot of cards. Spire’s End: Hildegard is going to be a story driven game for one or two players. Spire’s End is a weird dark world that you go through. I don’t know if Hildegard will be as dark, but I’m curious. Plus I just adore the artwork in this game. I would love to see this artwork and art style used in other games as well.

Tiny Turbo Cars

This is another one that I believe it is getting close. Tiny Turbo Cars just locked it’s shipping addresses. To me, that says that the game is getting ready to leave China and they want to know their numbers. I’ve been anticipating this one for a while, I believe it is a game that I backed in early 2020 and I am still really excited for it from Horrible Guild.

Tiny Turbo Cars is basically an RC car racing game. To move your car there is a sliding puzzle game that you do as fast as you can. But it’s not really a time element. The first person to finish theirs ends up moving first, so you are less likely to have another car blocking you. But if you go later, you might be able to shoot another car as well. It really looks like a silly fun game.

ISS Vanguard

I do think that it will show up this year, but I fully expect it to be close. ISS Vanguard is in production now and it isn’t a small game to get produced. So I wonder if it might take a bit for it to find it’s way onto boats and come around Christmas. Not that I would complain about getting ISS Vanguard for Christmas.

This is a big sci-fi adventure game. You are the crew of the ISS Vanguard who follow the clues of a signal from space to a mysterious location. As players you are trying to unravel that mystery. As well as maintain your ship, research and keep crew happy. And then there are the missions down to the planet as well. Another game that is long in production but I have extremely high hopes for it.

Grove

A small box game, follow-up to a solo game that I really like in Orchard. Grove, I believe, is shipping now, which has me excited. It has been a bit since I played Orchard but it is always fun when I do. Grove promises to add in a bit more. Yes, you still layer cards. But you now can layer with blank spaces that clear a spot for you but also potentially clear dice which are points. It’s an interesting twist.

And then on the back of the cards I believe that there are scoring objectives. So it isn’t just like Orchard where you layer the cards to get as many points as you can. I don’t know how that piece will go, but I’m curious to get my hands on this one. The only downside is with two kittens I can’t play this while watching TV like I did with Orchard.

Chronicles of Drunagor

I got in on the second crowdfunding campaign of the Chronicles of Drunagor, Age of Darkness Apocalypse expansion or stand alone base game. Now, that part is not coming yet. But Chronicles of Drunagor, I believe, from the last update, is getting close. Or at least to do the two wave shipping that is locked in place now.

This is going to be a dungeon crawl game with narrative elements as well. From what I understand, even for the base game, they beefed up the narrative elements. But what really caught my eye for this game is how you activate. Each character is limited to certain abilities that they have. And to activate them you use a colored cube that corresponds to the ability. But you only have a few cubes of a color. So it limits you as you play. Then you can pull back cubes, but at the cost of covering up an ability that you need to heal to get access to again.

Dice Throne: Santa vs Krampus

I won’t talk too much about Dice Throne. I wrote two articles on it yesterday including a Back or Brick for Santa vs Krampus. Dice Throne is my number 2 game of all time, as of 2021. And I want more content. I like how easy it is to add more to this game without making it harder to play. Their goal is Christmas for this, but again, shipping around then could be tricky.

Alba

This is a bit different than a lot of them. Alba is a game but it’s a game in a book. So almost a puzzle book of sorts. I backed it because the story sounded cool. Right now I believe they are trying to nail down a printer for it. The one that they were contracted with is either in lockdown or was in lockdown to delayed this. But it is a book, I expect it won’t take as much time to print as a lot of board games will. I’m very intrigued to get this one in my hands.

Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

This is another one that might not be too far out. I know that shipping is an issue for this game. It is at times cheaper for them to fly some of it over than to get containers for all of it. That is a bit crazy to me, but it is the state that we live in right now.

Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road is going to be a new version of the two player game Hanamikoji or a spin on it. Now there is an area control sort of element to it as well. You want to win favor of Geisha but also get them to certain establishments to gain people. It is interesting, I am a bit worried it might take a simple and thinky game and add too much, but we will see.

Etherfields

Another one that is coming soon. I believe that the wave 2 shipping should be happening soon. What I am getting with Eitherfields, I don’t remember anymore. I didn’t go all in on it like I did with ISS Vanguard or all in game play like I did with Tainted Grail. So it’ll be a fun surprise for me.

Ehterfields is going to be a dungeon crawl loose story driven game in a world of dreams. What I like about it or what I’ve heard about it, is that the dreams you go through are so different. They mess around with the mechanics of the game to make the different dreams feel unique. And the one thing I don’t mind about getting it in wave 2 is that they fixed the rule book, or improved it. And they added a mode to the game, now in the rules that people seem to like better.

Frosthaven

Finally, Frosthaven. This is one that should be here this year. Right now it is printing, and I expect it will take a while for the whole thing to print. Still, if it is printing now, then assembling it. I’d guess that it’ll get on a boat late August or maybe early September.

I am so excited for Frosthaven to come in. We are reaching the end of the Tainted Grail stuff that is out so far. And Frosthaven maybe can line up to be our campaign game after that. Plus it is just more Gloomhaven, but Gloomhaven with more going on. The loot makes more sense, you get stuff not money, and the whole town building piece is so cool. I can not wait to get this in my hands.

Final Thoughts

It is going to be a busy year for Kickstarters and Gamefound campaigns coming in. And I would not be surprised if a game or two more snuck into the latter part of the year. I also expect that one or two of these will show up in 2023. And that is okay, right now it’s more just anticipation of games to come.

There are some that I am very confident won’t show up this year. Middara Acts 2 & 3, though the pledge manager is closing soon. I suspect that’ll be Q1 of 2023, though they are pushing for this year. 7th Citadel and Primal, both with updates make me think 2023, at least for sure for Primal. And maybe 2024 for 7th Citadel. it is annoying to wait on games, but I’d prefer a great game than a rushed okay game. And Village Attacks, I got no clue, no updates and no concrete plans in the last one. I hope it isn’t just a loss at this point. Though they did just deliver, or are delivering their other game.

What crowdfunding game do you anticipate showing up at your door this year?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here