And if you want to know the criteria that I’m using, or the conversation starting point, you can read that article here.

What Roll and Write Games Do I Own?

Two lists like every time. We’re talking of course, played and unplayed. It’s less likely that an unplayed game is going to be leaving the collection without having been tried first.

Played

• Welcome To…
• Cartographers
• Ganz Schon Clever
• Yahtzee
• Long Shot: The Dice Game
• Twilight Inscription
• Welcome to the Moon
• Railroad Ink
• Fleet: The Dice Game
• Doppelt So Clever
• Three Sisters
• On Tour
• Paper Dungeons
• Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade
• Bargain Basement Bathysphere
• Clever Hoch Drei
• Metro X
• Trek 12: Himalaya
• Sonora
• Super Mega Luck Box
• My City: Roll & Build
• Clever 4Ever
• The Isle of Cats Explore and Draw
• Patchwork Doodle
• Criss Cross
• Knister
• Delicious
• First Class Letters
• Mind Space
• Doodle Dungeon

Unplayed

• Hadrian’s Wall
• Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write
• Silver & Gold
• Get on Board
• Sagrada Artisans
• Welcome to Dino World
• Riverside
• Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama
• Motor City
• Cascadia Rolling Rivers & Rolling Hills
• Pioneer Rails
• Fliptown
• Arabella
• Merchants of Magick: A Set A Watch Tale
• French Quarter
• Zombicide: Gear Up
• Boomerang
• Number Drop
• Vengeance: Roll & Fight
• Lantern Dice
• Astra

Unplayed Games

This list is massive for both played and unplayed. I’m not 100% sure that I own all the ones still that I have yet to play. In particular I think Arabella might have left the collection as might have Number Drop and Kokoro. But looking at that list, is there anything where I think it should just leave? The only one that jumps out at me is that I don’t think I need both Rolling Rivers and Rolling Hills. From what I know they are basically the same game.

There are a few others that I’d want to get played on the list to see if they stay. Those are the ones that I mentioned that I might not have still. Also Boomerang is another one that I need to see about. It looks like a simple little game so that begs the question of if I need to keep it. Getting all these little roll and writes is easy, but often times they need a more limited player count, which means that for game nights even though they are easier to learn games they are hard to get played.

Played Games

So what on that massive list is at the danger of going away. And I think there are a number of them that fall into that category of maybe are similar to other games.

Easy Leaving

In particular I think of games like Metro X, while it’s not too similar, it’s not a game that feels that different any time that you play it. And while I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been in my Top 100 Games in the past, it’s also something that is a less appealing on future plays. Bargain Basement Bathysphere is another one that is going to be going because it’s fine but I have played it.

Another one that might be a surprise is Welcome to the Moon. I thought it is a fun game when I played it and streamed it. But as a campaign game, I now feel like there is only so much interest in going back to it. I haven’t even gone back to it recently on Board Game Arena. And Welcome To… is more fun with the same main mechanism.

I also think that Twilight Inscription is leaving the collection as well. This is one where it could stick around because it is really different. But honestly I don’t want to teach it to someone. And I don’t want to learn it again. I really had a lot of fun with it at Gen Con and if someone is up for teaching me again I gladly will play. But at the same time, it’s that category of I don’t want to do that.

Easy Staying

There are a handful that are staying for sure, games like Railroad Ink, Cartographers, Sonora, Fleet, Three sisters, and Paper Dungeon are all games that I love. And with them also all of the “Clever” games. Yes, they are similar in some ways but they are different in other ways. So that is going to keep them around, plus I like them for that combotastic nature.

Isle of Cats: Explore & Draw is another one where it make it easy to keep. In fact it might be so easy to keep that it spells the end for Isle of Cats. But I want to play that one again at a higher player count. Because I like a lot of elements of the game. I think at two it is possible for it to just get out of balance score wise pretty quickly.

Questioning

So that leaves a handful that are in that questioning range. Some of them like Trek 12, Knister, and Criss Cross I know I like and are going to be kept as well. It is just less of an emphatic keep. Same can be said for at least some of Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade, though I might have sold expansions already and Super Mega Lucky Box.

The ones that I’m really thinking about right now are Delicious, Mind Space, On Tour and My City: Roll & Build. With all of them I enjoy the games. I think that Delicious is leaving because it is just simpler. Mind Space and On Tour are good, but in particular with On Tour it is not the best the score and I can always play it on my phone. So I think both of them are going to leave as well. And that leave My City: Roll & Build. I was through a campaign and half way through another. I think it goes because it is fun but I’ve played it.

What Roll and Write Games Do You Love?

Let me know your thoughts. Do you think that there are any of them that I should give another chance from what I’m talking about getting rid of. Just to recap that list:

• On Tour
• Mind Space
• My City: Roll & Build
• Delicious
• Metro X
• Welcome to the Moon
• Twilight Inscription
• Bargain Basement Bathysphere
• Cascadia Rolling Rivers or Rolling Hills

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Impressions of Welcome To The Moon Adventure One

So let’s talk about the first important thing. I made a mistake in my game play. I play where I use the ‘x’ to cover up one of the negatives that you get. That isn’t right, instead, what you should be doing is spending ships, once you reach the top of the ship track, to cover those up. I possibly made it easier for myself, or I possibly made it harder for myself.

Simplicity

Let’s talk about this first adventure, though. This is a simple adventure. Everything that you do is clearly printed on the board and even with the solo mode added, it’s easy to run. And I like it for that. It is a solid way to gain an understanding of the game. And this map still provides a lot of combos for players to link together. I love a good roll and write game where I fill in something and get a bonus that chains to another part of the board, and that even can still chain more. And this first adventure does that.

On the flip side, this is a simple adventure. That means that the choices are pretty limited, even more so than I’d say Welcome To… So for a first adventure, I think it might be something that turns people away from the game. Now, I still like it a lot and I want to play it more and I am going to be play it more. But if you expect to play Welcome To Your Perfect Neighborhood with all the different elements of scoring, this first map is not going to give you that.

Campaign

But that is one of the fun things about the game. I know that the next chapter is going to be different. I haven’t looked into how it is played yet, but the map is completely different. The first chapter is about getting the rocket ready to launch. And there is a little bit of different flavor text depending on what you pick. But then the next map, from what I can tell the rockets have launched for the moon and now we need to navigate safely there.

I don’t know what the game is going to do differently. Even the Astra Corporation is going to behave differently. So I understand and appreciate that the first adventure is the first step to that. Also, there is a lot of text in the campaign. How much can the campaign vary as you go? I doubt a ton, but it’s already a better campaign for a roll and write game than Paper Dungeons had.

Upcoming Streams

So let’s just run through a reminder of the streaming schedule every week.

• Monday – Welcome to the Moon around 8 PM Central
• Wednesday – Welcome to the Moon around 9 PM Central
• Friday – Baldur’s Gate 3 Streaming around 9 PM Central

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10 Small Board Games I Want To Play

10. Tasso Banana

This looks like a silly little game, and I like silly little games. In Tasso Banana you stack bananas onto cards. You can’t stack it on a banana leaf. And if you stack your banana balancing it on two other bananas you take an extra turn. First to get rid of all your bananas and you win the game. That just sounds like a silly good time. And I am always here for a silly good time. It’s also one that I think I my kid might like too, so it could be a family game afternoon sometime and make it easier than some to get played.

9. Circus Flohcati

Who doesn’t love a game with the theme of a flea circus? Firstly, it is a great silly theme and the new 25th Century/Playte version of the game doesn’t look horrifying like some of the older versions do. In this game you are trying to collect cards. You score points for collecting sets of three and then the highest value cad you have of each color. It sounds like a nice simple game but one that could be a very fun puzzle to play.

8. Sequoia

I like a lot of Allplay’s little box games. And I hope the same will be true with Sequoia. This one is supposed to be a very fast game where you are trying to grow the tallest trees in a few different areas. But you roll dice to determine which forests you are going to place on. And you need to determine when to stop fighting over a forest and pivot to another because only first and second get the points for that forest. And if you tie, you are going to need to be fighting some more to end the game. The tie rules are the only part where I wonder if I’m going to enjoy this game.

7. Vampire Queen

This is a card shedding game. By that I mean that you want to empty your hand or deck of cards faster than other people. To do that, you are trying to beat the cards that were played before you. So if someone plays two threes you might play two fours, for example. Plus there are Vampire Slayers in the mix and Vampire Queens. The Vampire Queen is the number of whatever cards you play. So once someone gets rid of all their cards, you tally up the points for the other players and play five times. It sounds again simple, which I expect from a small game and easy to teach and play.

6. Pioneer Rails

A roll and write game, and not the last on the list. Though all of them on the list are technically flip and write games. This one is about building our a railway system in the old west. You are trying to build out poker hands and then using the poker cards flipped to build out your train routes and connect different locations. The more you can connect the more bonusses you get and end game scoring that you get. This is one that can be played solo so it is one that I should probably play on stream. I like the sound of it a lot and I enjoy a good roll and write style game.

5. Schadenfreude

Do you expect to see trick taking games on the list, you should. This one I got intrigued by when someone on the Dice Tower talked about it. It sounds like a pretty straightforward trick taking game. You want to win as many tricks as you can. But the twist is that might not be quite true. You want to win as many as you can without going over a point total. So it is a closest without going over that is going to be the challenge. How close can you get to that total and take home the win, or will you fly to close to the sun and get burned?

4. The Gang

This one I know has gotten some mixed reviews but it sounds unique. This is a cooperative poker hand building game. The first of two games about poker coming in a row here. For it to be a cooperative game is very cool and that is part of why I picked it up. I like the poker theme as well for the game. And I think the idea of poker hands is something that people in my game group are going to catch onto pretty quickly. So I want to get this one played and see if it’s a game for me or not.

3. Fliptown

This is an old west themed roll and write game. Though, it’s done using a deck of cards versus rolling some dice. So I’m very intrigued by it. You flip three cards and each card gets used for something different. With one card you determine which part of the board to activate, based on the suit of that card. Then for another one you keep it and are creating a poker hand. And the final one is the one that you use to fill in a spot in that part of the board you chose to activate. That just sounds like a very interesting thing.

2. Welcome to the Moon

I think that I need to play this one on stream. This is a roll and write game that kind of uses the Welcome To… system for it. But it’s its own unique game which is fun. And it’s a campaign game as well. For that reason alone I should play it on stream and see how well I can do. You play over a number of maps and see how well you can do. I’m not sure if you need to hit a certain target to advance, or how it works kind of as you advance. Though, as I write this, I suspect it is going to be a campaign game like Paper Dungeons is a campaign game.

1. Cat in the Box

This is a trick taking game and it’s one that I really should get played because it sounds so unique. In Cat in a Box there is a twist on your standard trick taking. Your cards don’t have a suit on them. You pick the suit of the card when you play it. And you decide when you are going to be short suited. Of course, this might mean that you have a four in your hand and have declared you are out of a suit and now can’t play that four, and thus you create a paradox.

Plus there is another element to the game. You get points for tricks, but you also get points for creating areas on the board. Basically, there is a board to track what cards have been played. And if you can get your cards played in the right way you will score additional points as well. Another element that is really unique about the game.

Final Thoughts

I know I could have made a list of twenty or thirty small games. It is so easy to pick them up and just add them to a collection. Do I want a game that I can get for cheap and see if I like it? Why yes, I always want to find more games like that because I don’t know when I’ll find a game. Plus it is easy for me to take these games to play with family or friends wherever because they don’t take up much room.

Obviously I put these in an order. But kind of like I did with that list of five games, I think it was, that I wanted to play, which is most likely to get played? As much as I want to play Cat in the Box, I think the some others, like Circus Flohcati, Sequoia, and the roll and writes Welcome to the Moon, Pioneer Rails and Fliptown are more likely to be played. And I want to play all of them, so it’s not like it’s a bad thing. What is a small game you want to play?

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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?

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So let’s talk about the different options that I am considering. I think that there are a few interesting ways that you can improve or change as a game goes on.

Possible Campaign Elements

Character Progression

The first one is character progression. I think that is fairly important if you have characters in your game. I don’t find it a major knock against Paper Dungeons because it’s so loosely a campaign. But you start with your heroes as level one in every game and level them up as you go.

For my idea, I want to have a separate character sheet, much like in an RPG, that you level up your stats. You get bonuses based off of how many bubbles you fill in, in a row. And you fill in a certain number, always, at the end of the a scenario.

If this is a competitive game, the person who wins gets a bonus. But if it is cooperative, there might be a bonus if you do the best in a scenario, like first pick of gear. For cooperative, though, you’d not see as much character development and splitting off.

Skill Tree

Building off of that character progression, skill progression is a great way to cause differences to happen. But the idea of a tree is that you can split off what you are doing. If you are a Gunslinger class, or something like that, you might unlock your first ability at level 1, but then at level two, you have three options. The one that you pick will limit what you can do further down.

Now, while I like this idea, it really causes things to become different and gives progression, I am worried that it’d make the game a bit more complex. I think a lot of the abilities would just need to be things that bump up health or statistics.

Items and Gear

Items and Gear would likely be one time use things, or maybe something like a pack mule to eventually being able to get up to a wagon. Something that can carry more items. Maybe skills are going to be more abilities that’d be used in every game since you are unlocked.

So things like health potions (or alcohol), magic scrolls, dynamite, things that you’d use once. Or maybe some gear like “armor” whatever that might look like. Basically wearable items or weapons. I don’t think I would ever add in ammo because I don’t want to track that type of thing. Plus I like giving more things versus losing things in a campaign game.

Story Progression

Finally, story is going to be an important element to the game. Right now that is what makes Paper Dungeons a campaign game. A tiny bit of story that you read in between games. And while I do enjoy that, I wish there was more. Or more so, I wish the story felt like it mattered a bit more.

I can pull out any card, read the story and play, and it doesn’t matter. I’d love to add in more story to the game. Maybe even give it some choices. Like, make a decision and that unlocks certain items, gives a stats bump, or maybe causes you to lose some money. But all based off of choices that players make. I even, at least once, maybe twice, would want to change up what the players interact with on a map because of a decision that they make.

That makes it feel more like a fun experience to me. The decisions that we make, for example, in Roll Player Adventures or Tainted Grail, change up what can happen in the game later. And that is very cool to have as part of the experience. It takes it from being told a story to character story.

How Much Should Their Be?

That is the question that I’m asking myself, because with enough campaign elements and campaign progression elements, the game can get large. Part of the fun of a roll and write, even Paper Dungeons which has a lot to look at on the sheet, is that it is a sheet.

I want there to be enough decisions that it makes the game feel cool. On the flip side, I don’t want there to be so many decisions that it makes the game hard to play. Looking, again, at Paper Dungeons, now that I’ve played it a few times, I know what to do every time I come back to it. I looked up one rule last time, but I mainly know what I need to do.

A campaign is going to be bigger. It is going to offer more challenges of remembering how to play. But with a nice little sheet of what to do on the turn, or even printing on the sheet the round actions, I hope to make it simple enough that it’s a fast refresher. Which means, things like skills, those are a bit harder to implement, potentially. But that comes down to being clever with how I design the game and work with that idea.

What campaign element would you want most?

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The Game – Paper Dungeons

This is a roll and write dungeon crawling game by Alley Cat Games. As you play, you level up your heroes, explore the dungeon, fight the boss monsters, and take out minions. Plus even more with getting potions, crafting items, and trying to complete objectives all to get the highest score possible.

Let’s talk a bit about the campaign and a bit of discussion that happened in the chat, and then on the GlroyHoundd Discord server after the stream. If you want to continue chatting with me after the stream that’s basically always the spot.

But with Paper Dungeons, it bills itself as a campaign. But it is only kind of a campaign. Nothing you do in a previous game carries over, there is only a little bit of flavor text between. Now, that is nice, in some ways, because I might not want to play a campaign. I probably have played 4 to 6 other times without the campaign, just grabbing a set-up and playing. That is a nice feature, but I wish the campaign was more in depth. So time to come up with something that does that for me.

The Drink

Last night it was a beer from Pryes in Minneapolis. Their Pragmatic Pilsner is just fine. Though, the beer revelation from last night was that even if it’s a good beer, I’d prefer to have that foam up than just an okay beer. When it’s just an okay beer, now I have the annoyance of it foaming over with drinking an okay beer. If it’s a good beer, I still, at least, get the experience of drinking a good beer.

Upcoming Streaming

I think I’m going to continue with more Paper Dungeons, but with how easy it is to set-up and play, that might move to Monday nights. Then on Wednesdays, I keep on saying that I’m going to play a bigger campaign. So I need to pull one off the shelf and learn it. Though, I do have Hadrian’s Wall which I might show off for a solo play as well.

But I do promise, eventually I’ll get to a campaign again and it’ll be fun when it happens. I might even do Welcome to the Moon as a shorter campaign game that is easy to get to the table Maybe I’ll knock out two roll and write games because they are also good to chat through. Let me know your thoughts down in the comment section below.

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What Board Games Are Leaving?

There are four games that are kind of leaving, or potentially doing so, let’s go through those first. Mainly, I remember those off the top of my head. One for sure is leaving, but also staying. One might come to live at work. And two I need to check on to see if they will leave.

Boomerang USA

Boomerang USA is kind of leaving. I got it on a good sale and then realized I had Boomerang already for a roll and write game. I don’t need two copies of what are basically the same game. Just Boomerang USA is a US map and regular Boomerang is Australia, which makes more sense.

Quarto

This is the one that is going to work to see about. It is a solid abstract game. I like the concept of it when I played it. You pick the piece your opponent places down. What keeps me from loving it is that after two plays, the game didn’t feel like it’d be that different. I want to try it at work because it is a fast game. So might work better in that setting. I just know I won’t play it at home more.

Quoridor

This is a game that I have enjoyed. And I think Quoridor is one that is great for a lot of people. It’s a simple abstract game that gives you some real clever plays. The issue is my group has “solved” it. By that I mean we always make the last possible person block. And honestly, it is not that much fun when you stick the block with the last person. I could see it being better now at two than four, but not one that is going to stick around, I don’t think.

Second Chance

This is a game that has had a dramatic fall for me from my original top 100’s to being outside of it this past year. Second Chance isn’t a bad game. I suspect that it is one my wife is likely to save. My issue with it is that I’ve played it a lot. I’ve gotten my phone with it and I am ready to move on from it. Patchwork Doodle does something similar and offers more choices.

Deadly Doodles (1 & 2)

Deadly Doodles is a solid little roll and write game. It takes a dungeon crawl idea and makes it extremely simple. And that’s why it is leaving. I think the expansion adds in more, but it has a lot of expansion boards. And with those boards, you need to learn more and it is harder to get to the table. I would say, there are probably too many extra boards. Plus, Paper Dungeons has knocked this one down for me. Similar concept, but Paper Dungeons is a more interesting game.

Photosynthesis

This one was tough to say that it was leaving. I like it as a good abstract game, but I knew I was starting with that cube, and I knew it just wouldn’t make the cut. The game is gorgeous. 3D cardboard trees look amazing. And I like how mean the game can be. I am trying to get my trees to grow better and faster than yours and block your trees from getting light points to spend as action points. The game looks less mean than it actually is, and I am keeping another game like that.

Ascension: Immortal Heroes

I have three versions of Ascension. I thought that I’d maybe play them all more often than I do. And I guess, that is three versions of Ascension that I am keeping. But I can get them all into one box, so they are sticking around. Immortal Heroes, it seems fun, but higher player count doesn’t add much to me. And I don’t know that I need any more Ascension than what I already have.

Welcome To New Las Vegas

I own Welcome To, which I love. I own Welcome To The Moon that I want to try. But Welcome To New Las Vegas, I was really excited for. I am not so excited anymore. The game looks good, but it looks like too much to me. It’s a two sheet roll and write game, which I don’t mind. But it feels like a lot of busywork without the fun theme of Welcome To. So I don’t think I need all three of the games in the line. And Welcome To The Moon with it’s campaign, that is more interesting.

The Drink

Just an Old Fashioned again. This time, though, I made it with rhubarb bitters. Now, I am out of rhubarb bitters. I really like the flavor of rhubarb, it grapefruit, and lemon are probably the bitters that I always want to have on hand.

Upcoming Stream

So, next Monday, I plan on streaming. I will not be streaming next Wednesday. I have family in town so I won’t be around on Wednesday. Monday, I am planning on doing more of the Should It Stay Or Should It Go series.

And I have to say, I am pleased with the amount I found again for the chopping block. Granted, a few might be going back. I think there is a decent chance that Second Chance is saved because it is so accessible. And it is a fun game. For me, I won’t complain if it is, because I don’t mind it. It is just one that I like to play now versus one that I want to pull off the shelf myself and play.

Which one would you save? Which one would you get rid of?

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I’m not going to go through all of them. There are just too many, 503 would be a lot to talk about, even ignoring expansions it’d still be a lot. Instead, I want to pull out and highlight some games or expansion that I want to pick up.

Essen Spiel Games

Paper Dungeons

This is one that I actually own, it’s a roll and write, hack and slash dungeon crawling game. I need to play it still. But it’s my type of game with the roll and write aspect to it. I’m going to be curious to see how complex this game is because I like my roll and writes to be somewhat complex but not too complex. Alley Cat Games, the production company, also made Cat Cafe which was a nice balance of stuff, but not one that I consistently go back to.

Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect looks very intriguing. From Arcane Wonders, you set-up the perfect group picture. This is not one that I’ve bought, and not one that I’m sure I will buy. You are trying to figure out how everyone wants to be framed in your picture. And each character wants to be in a certain spot in a certain way, will you get the picture set-up correctly? The concept sounds really good, but I wonder how much I’d actually play the game, once I’ve played it a few times.

Welcome to the Moon

This is another game in the Welcome To system of games. I have Welcome To… and Welcome To New Las Vegas. From Blue Crocker Games, this one sounds interesting because it is a campaign game as well. I’m not sure what that means, but a short campaign of 8 different sheets sounds cool. I’m guessing that we’re still building up a city, but beyond that I’m not sure. You might even be launching off to the moon, which would be cool. And I really like the aesthetic of these games.

CoraQuest

This was a demo only for a kid focused dungeon crawl game. I talked about this one before when it was on Kickstarter. The game was developed by Dan and Cora Hughes as what started as a school project for Cora. The game looks like it’s pretty fun but simple dungeon crawler, which is a cool concept. I didn’t back it on Kickstarter because I’m a few years away from wanting a game like that. I am really glad that Bright Eye Games picked it up though because the concept is fun. It makes dungeon crawlers more accessible to more people.

Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders

I still need to play Lost Ruins of Arnak, but this expansion definitely is on my radar. From Czech Games Edition, the game is a combination of deck building and worker placement. And I really like the theme of the game where you are exploring some lost ruins, I like that Indiana Jones style feel to the game. This adds in some unique leaders which means that you start with a unique starting point, which I always like it when games do that.

Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

I’m a very big fan of the original, Hanamikoji from EmperorS4, and I really want to know about this one. It still has area control or majority in it which I like. I also like that it’s still only two players because that is one that works really well in the original game. It means that it should hopefully play fast still. Instead of trying to win the favor of Geisha, you want your favored Geisha to progress the fastest at tea houses on Geisha’s Road.

Hibachi

Another game that I almost backed on Kickstarter, this is a game from Grail Games. In it you flip out disks to get ingredients and that determines what ones you can use. Of course it also determines how much they might cost and there is strategy to what you are doing. I ended up not backing this one because I want to try the game before I would buy it. It’s a fun sounding concept but it’s one that I question if I’d play long term.

Similo: Spookies

I’ve talked about Similo before, it’s one that wasn’t on my radar for a long time. It’s from Horrible Guild and I like their games. But Similo is just a simple party style game, except that it’s not. It’s a clever little game of getting the players to eliminate the right characters or creatures. The Spookies version can be used with everything else, but it has a nice “spooky” theme to it. Or at least uses spooky monsters. It’s a great little game and this makes it great for Halloween season as well.

Ramen! Ramen!

Japanime Games are hit or miss for me. They unfortunately use a lot of anime IP’s (intellectual properties) that I like but often the games are okay or disappointing. This one isn’t like that, but it looks like a simple little game. The artwork looks very cute and the theme is fun. It is about building out the best bowl of ramen by getting the most points possible. There does seem to be some take that in the game with people being able to steal ingredients. But I’m hoping it’s light, fast, and fun.

Detective: Signature Series – Petty Officers

So, you might read the name of this game in the Detective line and assume that it’s going to be about military police, and it might be. But it’s more than that, it’s animal assistants, you know the types that you pet. I got know clue how it’ll work, but I have everything for the Detective system of games, including Dune: House Secrets, and I have loved everything I’ve played thus far. So I will get this at some point because animal offers is just cute.

Plus Many More

So, obviously, that’s not that many games. Those are the ones that I know some about or that jumped out at me. And there are a lot that I’d love to try but maybe less interested in buying. What games showing up at Essen Spiel looked interesting to you?

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Fantasy Flight

Fantasy Flight has been teasing something new. Normally I would think they’d tease this about GenCon time. But they are announcing some new things now just because GenCon has been pushed back to September.

Firstly, we have the Mad Titan coming to Marvel Champions. This is going to be a campaign expansion coming like the Rise of the Red Skull and Galaxy’s Most Wanted. This one is giving you Thanos and a bunch of his minions like Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, and more to face off against. Definitely interested to get this one and cool to have an announcement for.

But that’s not the only thing that Fantasy Flight is teasing at this point. They are also teasing some announcement coming next week. Now there is a lot of speculation what this might be. From what we can see, I think there are two likely ways that we can go. Firstly this might be the solo/story driven stuff they have been hinting at for Keyforge. In fact, that’s the most likely thing, I believe. But people are also speculating this might be a reword of Battlestar Galactica. There was a “leak” of an Arkham Files game using the BSG traitor set-up on BGG at one point in time. I won’t be holding my breath for that, but I can hope.

Welcome To

Now, this one, I am having trouble finding a ton on. I’ve seen artwork posted on Facebook but no links yet for it, but a new version of Welcome To. This time Welcome To … The Moon. I am not going to be surprised if there are more versions of this roll and write coming out. Welcome To… is a very successful game that has a ton of expansions. And Welcome To New Vegas is one that I own but I need to play still. It makes it more complex but keeps some of the basics of the game.

I am definitely interested in this one as the artwork gives you a nice look at a rocket ship that it looks like you are filling out. It has some of that retro look that you get from the other games as well. So I hope it succeeds because I want more roll and writes and more Welcome To.

That’s it for the news today. What do you think that Fantasy Flight is teasing?

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