[{"content":"Tabletop gamer, RPG referee, and miniature painter based in Fredericksburg, VA. I play board games obsessively, referee tabletop RPGs for anyone willing to sit at my table, paint miniatures with varying degrees of success, and read more books than I probably have time for. This is where I write about all of it.\n","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/","section":"","summary":"\u003cp\u003eTabletop gamer, RPG referee, and miniature painter based in Fredericksburg, VA. I play board games obsessively, referee tabletop RPGs for anyone willing to sit at my table, paint miniatures with varying degrees of success, and read more books than I probably have time for. This is where I write about all of it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":""},{"content":"","date":"10 April 2026","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/about/","section":"","summary":"","title":"About"},{"content":"Ultimately the reason that I GM and play RPGs is because of the experience of playing in them and the stories they create. I was initially drawn to RPGs because I had been playing a lot of board games and noticed two things:\nI really loved games that produced stories we could laugh about later. Cosmic Encounter in particular does this for me (and is my favorite board game as a result). I kept trying different dungeon crawling board games hoping they\u0026rsquo;d give me everything that an RPG could and every single one failed in some way or another. RPGs offer character progression, flexibility, a tactical game if you want it or not, a game about emotions or not, a chance to use funny voices, a way to tell a funny/serious/terrifying story, and a chance to be with friends. They offer a lot and that\u0026rsquo;s why I\u0026rsquo;ll keep playing them and keep reading about every single one I can get my hands on.\n","date":"31 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-experience/","section":"Posts","summary":"What keeps drawing me back to RPGs is the experience they create with other people. They combine story, flexibility, and shared play in a way that board games never quite managed for me.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 31: Experience"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/rpgaday/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"rpgaday"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/rpgs/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"rpgs"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"tags"},{"content":"The most common form of a portal that your players will experience is a door. A door by itself is boring, it has a knob and it divides rooms from other rooms and hallways. However, that door breaks up the dungeon into individual segments that can be processed one at a time by the players. The GM may not be so lucky if the players are making a lot of noise, they\u0026rsquo;ll need to keep track if whatever is on the other side is aware of the players.\nWhen interacting with doors you have to think about a few things. First, material:\nWooden doors are the typical kind of door. They can swell in a dank dungeon and can be chopped down given enough time. Also, they can be used as a shield or a raft in a pinch. Stone doors are uncommon, but show up in dungeons here or there, usually with a carving that fits the motif of the dungeon. They can\u0026rsquo;t be easily chopped down, but can be broken up with the right tools. Metal doors are rare and usually protect something like the dungeon\u0026rsquo;s main treasures. When you find a metal door, you\u0026rsquo;ve likely found something good, but good luck breaking it down. Then, there\u0026rsquo;s how you interact with the door:\nIt\u0026rsquo;s unlocked, just open it up. It\u0026rsquo;s stuck. This is largely used in old-school D\u0026amp;D as a chance to surprise whatever is on the other side if they can bust it down on the first attempt. If they can\u0026rsquo;t open it on the first attempt, they\u0026rsquo;ll get it open, but whatever is on the other side is now aware of them. It\u0026rsquo;s locked, the players need to either find the key, pick the lock, or chop the door down (if they can). It\u0026rsquo;s hidden, maybe as a bookshelf door or a door carved to look like part of the wall. I typically give my players some hint that there\u0026rsquo;s a door here, scrapes on the floor usually. It\u0026rsquo;s trapped, and either damages them directly or triggers a trap or an alarm nearby. I usually telegraph the trap with some visual evidence (e.g. scorch marks, damage on the door). I tend to find that we tend toward basic unlocked wooden doors, but there are so many more options, use them!\n","date":"30 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-portal/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe most common form of a \u003cem\u003eportal\u003c/em\u003e that your players will experience is a door. A door by itself is boring, it has a knob and it divides rooms from other rooms and hallways. However, that door breaks up the dungeon into individual segments that can be processed one at a time by the players. The GM may not be so lucky if the players are making a lot of noise, they\u0026rsquo;ll need to keep track if whatever is on the other side is aware of the players.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 30: Portal"},{"content":"I often handwave over long travel, especially when running games like Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons. There can be interesting encounters along the way\u0026ndash;bandits, ruins, an injured person\u0026ndash;but often the point is what happens at the destination. That\u0026rsquo;s fine. However, that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean you can\u0026rsquo;t have something that\u0026rsquo;s a fun ride and the best example I can think of is the dinosaur race in Tomb of Annihilation.\nThis was clearly added purely for fun. The players can earn some benefits and maybe some favor with some wealthy patron, or perhaps they get connected with the right (or wrong) people. However, this is one of those things that can stand entirely on it\u0026rsquo;s own for most people. This is just pure fun as you race a dinosaur through the streets of Port Nyanzaru, potentially having your dinosaur bite the other dinosaurs in an attempt to win first place.\nAdditionally, I can highly recommend the Tomb of Annihilation Companion\u0026rsquo;s added content for the dinosaur race, in particular the course itself. It\u0026rsquo;s a good\u0026ndash;though quick\u0026ndash;way to introduce the differences between the various parts of the city while also adding some obstacles and benefits along the way.\n","date":"29 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-ride/","section":"Posts","summary":"I usually handwave long travel, but the ride itself can still be worth focusing on when it\u0026rsquo;s fun enough. The dinosaur race in Tomb of Annihilation is a great example of travel that stands on its own.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 29: Ride"},{"content":"I find some of the best experiences in roleplaying games to be close scrapes. You just barely beat the villain and his goons, some of you either badly injured or on the cusp of death. You just make it to the train station in time to catch your quarry as they\u0026rsquo;re about to board the departing train. You get the clue in the nick of time. Those are moments folks tend to remember and I try to provide those experiences.\nHowever, don\u0026rsquo;t force it because the opposite experience can be just as good if the players made it happen. Maybe they stop the villain in the first round with an absolutely crushing blow. Possibly they figure out who they\u0026rsquo;re trying to pursue before that person even leaves their house and they just get them on the way out. Maybe the very first clue is enough to figure out the case. Those situations are okay too. If your players are clever, let them have that not-even-close win.\n","date":"28 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-close/","section":"Posts","summary":"Some of the best RPG moments come from close calls: fights barely won, clues found in time, or villains stopped at the last second. Those scenes are memorable, but it\u0026rsquo;s just as fun to let players completely outplay a situation when they\u0026rsquo;ve earned it.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 28: Close"},{"content":"Someone always needs a favor. If you\u0026rsquo;re ever looking for your next adventure, there\u0026rsquo;s an NPC somewhere\u0026ndash;that the players have already talked to\u0026ndash;that likely needs something. It could be a simple fetch quest that they can\u0026rsquo;t do. Maybe the location is really far away, hard to traverse, or dangerous for them. Could be that they are just too busy. Perhaps what they need isn\u0026rsquo;t theirs for the taking and you\u0026rsquo;ll need to liberate it from someone.\nAnother possibility is that they need you to take them somewhere. They need to get to the town of Brook\u0026rsquo;s Shoal by the end of the week and they\u0026rsquo;re carrying something that someone wants enough to kill them. Well, now you have to go fast, but you\u0026rsquo;re being harried and you don\u0026rsquo;t know the terrain, sounds like a surefire way to get in some fun trouble.\nOne more: your mentor\u0026rsquo;s dying wish as they died in front of your eyes was for you to reclaim their ancestral armor that was stolen many years ago by a lowly sergeant in the same army. Well, turns out that sergeant kept busy and is now the a general of an opposing army and she always wears that armor into battle. Good luck getting that back.\n","date":"27 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-favor/","section":"Posts","summary":"If you\u0026rsquo;re looking for an adventure hook, somebody always needs a favor. A small request can turn into travel, danger, betrayal, or a larger obligation with very little effort.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 27: Favor"},{"content":"I love a good vanilla fantasy dungeon, with enemies you expect and an ending you can hope for. However, I also appreciate when things get strange, though typically not with horror elements, they don\u0026rsquo;t do much for me. What I do like is gonzo. As defined by Merriam-Webster:\noutlandishly unconventional, outrageous, or extreme\nSo instead of finding the Jade Scimitar of Vyalna, you find a laser rifle that may or may not work, who knows? Instead of fighting goblins, you\u0026rsquo;re fighting cavemen or something in a space suit, or maybe aliens or dinosaurs. All of those are possible when it comes to gonzo. The best part as far as I\u0026rsquo;m concerned is there is no real limit when it comes to gonzo. If you want to mix in laser swords, dinosaur mounts, and space ships that can totally work! Or maybe you prefer your dinosaurs in the Wild West?\n","date":"26 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-strange/","section":"Posts","summary":"I like fantasy that goes a little gonzo without tipping fully into horror. Mixing in aliens, lasers, dinosaurs, or other outlandish elements can make a dungeon feel strange in the best possible way.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 26: Strange"},{"content":"Levers make me think of simple machines: pulleys, wheel and axle, wedges, levers, and so forth. Some very complex problems can be solved with these very tools. Recently in one of my games, players had to remove the bar from a barred door, kinda like this:\nNow, there were some exceptions: the door had intricate carvings of snakes, the bar was made of stone (and quite large), and it was trapped. When the player characters picked it up, they heard a clicking noise and quickly put the bar down. After studying it a bit, they noticed that the metal hooks holding the bar were trapped. There are many ways to get past this, but they choose to create a rough pulley by tying a rope to the bar and running it over the top of a casket which held a clay snake-man statue. They pulled and the bar came up and a hammer came out of the ceiling smashing the casket, but not the players.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s a roundabout story to basically say: allow and encourage your players to solve problems using something like a lever, something simple and something that you can reason about easily. Create problems that can be solved with those tools.\n","date":"25 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-lever/","section":"Posts","summary":"Players can solve a surprising number of problems with simple tools if you give them space to think through the situation. A trapped barred door in my game turned into a good reminder to build problems that reward practical solutions like levers, ropes, and pulleys.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 25: Lever"},{"content":"In your session zero you should talk about the level of humor you want in a game. For me, RPGs sing when there\u0026rsquo;s humor, it\u0026rsquo;s the spice that makes everything else fun and I\u0026rsquo;ll almost certainly try to add it as both a GM and a player. There are times where it doesn\u0026rsquo;t make sense, but I\u0026rsquo;ll always prefer times where it does. I think that\u0026rsquo;s why I enjoy Dungeon Crawl Classics so much. It\u0026rsquo;s a game that doesn\u0026rsquo;t take itself too seriously and generates humorous situations. For instance, I was playing in a game of Mutant Crawl Classics\u0026ndash;it\u0026rsquo;s post-apocalyptic spinoff\u0026ndash;and we were told to look for the \u0026ldquo;Cou spital\u0026rdquo;. We wandered around a bit and found a \u0026ldquo;black lake\u0026rdquo; in front of a building. We touched our toes to the black lake and it wasn\u0026rsquo;t water or even wet, it was solid. My character gingerly took a step on it and it held him, but this sorcery was not of this world! I ran at full sprint across this black sea to get to the building on the other side, jumping on these regularly spaced white stripes to make it to the \u0026ldquo;Cou spital\u0026rdquo; safely!\nTurns out I was jumping through a parking lot, going from line to line to make it to the \u0026ldquo;County Hospital\u0026rdquo;.\n","date":"24 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-humor/","section":"Posts","summary":"Humor is something I want at the table, even if the game isn\u0026rsquo;t a comedy. It\u0026rsquo;s worth talking about up front, and when it lands well it can make a session far more memorable.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 24: Humor"},{"content":"There are a number of RPG systems and playstyles out there, but I want to focus on two today:\nModern Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons (aka D\u0026amp;D 5e) Old Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons (aka OSR) Yes, these are systems, but they also work as stand-ins for play styles. In more modern Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons you play as incredibly capable heroes that\u0026ndash;once past the squishy level 1 phase\u0026ndash;are very rarely in danger of dying. In some communities, this is know as combat-as-sport: you\u0026rsquo;re fighting because of fun of the game. Whereas older Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons editions such as Basic/Expert and Original Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons made combat more deadly and therefore it\u0026rsquo;s combat-as-war: you don\u0026rsquo;t necessarily want to engage in a fair fight because you might die in any fight.\nThe difference between these two is where the \u0026ldquo;edge\u0026rdquo; is. Do the player characters have the edge and can do well against almost any foe? Then you\u0026rsquo;re probably playing Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons 5th Edition. On the other hand, if your players are trying to find almost any edge they can before they enter combat, then they\u0026rsquo;re almost certainly playing an older version of Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons.\n","date":"23 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-edge/","section":"Posts","summary":"Modern D\u0026amp;D and old-school D\u0026amp;D make a useful contrast because they put the edge in different places. In one, player characters usually have the advantage; in the other, they\u0026rsquo;re constantly looking for any advantage they can get.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 23: Edge"},{"content":"Magic items, ones that really change the game up and make things easier, should be rare. Now, that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean that the party only sees one for the entire campaign, but if they\u0026rsquo;re drowning in loot like it\u0026rsquo;s a game of Diablo III, you\u0026rsquo;re probalby missing the point. Additionaly, boring magic items should be rare, but interesting magic items\u0026ndash;the kind that have upsides and downsides\u0026ndash;should be less rare. Getting a Sword, +2 shouldn\u0026rsquo;t happen that often, but maybe in their first outing they find a sword that sings when the person holding it lies. Maybe they get a shield that can never get wet. Or is it a rope that can be rejoined after being cut. Weird magic items where the players have to think about how to use them are usually more fun than a sword that just makes it easier to hit and does a smidge more damage. Make boring items rare.\n","date":"22 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-rare/","section":"Posts","summary":"Game-changing magic items should feel rare, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean every magic item has to be dull. Strange items with unusual limits or side effects are usually more fun than another clean numerical upgrade.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 22: Rare"},{"content":"One of my favorite mechanisms in roleplaying games is the Year Zero Engine\u0026rsquo;s push mechanism. Some preamble: in all Year Zero Engine games you roll a number of d6s to see if you succeed. You get a number of d6s equal to your attribute (strength, agility, intelligence, empathy) plus a relevant skill. Only 6s count as successes. With some of your weaker skills that means you may not see a single 6 and therefore fail the check. However, you can always push your roll. Pushing means you get to re-roll any dice that aren\u0026rsquo;t locked. Locked dice are usually other successes (in the event you need or want more than 1 success) or failures (more on that later).\nHowever, there\u0026rsquo;s always a cost and it depends on the system you\u0026rsquo;re playing:\nAlien: You reroll everything that\u0026rsquo;s not a 6, but you increase your stress level. This adds another die to your pool, but rolling 1s on your stress dice leads to panic. Coriolis: You reroll everything that\u0026rsquo;s not a 6 and give the GM one Darkness Point which they can use to twist some rules later. Forbidden Lands: You reroll everything that\u0026rsquo;s not a 6 or a 1 on your attribute or gear dice. Every attribute die that comes up a 1 damages that attribute, which decreases the number of dice you roll later. Every gear die that comes up a 1 damages that weapon, which can completely destroy the weapon until you get it repaired. For every 1 on your attribute dice, you gain 1 willpower point which powers the various talents and spells characters have. Mutant Year Zero: Works much the same as Forbidden Lands, the only difference is you gain Mutation Points, which power your mutations. Tales from the Loop: You reroll everything that\u0026rsquo;s not a 6 and check off one of four conditions on your sheet, each condition is -1 die on all subsequent rolls until removed. Vaesen: Works much the same as Tales from the Loop, except there are 8 conditions: 4 physical conditions and 4 mental conditions. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot of nuance from system to system, but the idea is the same: you failed a roll, want to try again, but pay a price to do so?\n","date":"21 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-push/","section":"Posts","summary":"The Year Zero Engine\u0026rsquo;s push mechanic is one of my favorite rules because it makes failure a choice instead of a dead end. You can try again, but every version of the rule makes you pay for it in some way.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 21: Push"},{"content":"Investigation is tough in a roleplaying game. First off, your players are bound to miss a clue that you think is so plainly obvious. In fact, there\u0026rsquo;s a \u0026ldquo;rule\u0026rdquo; about that: the three clue rule.\nFor any conclusion you want the PCs to make, include at least three clues.\nWhenever I run an investigation, I try to keep this in mind and have at least three clues spread out for the players and maybe a few more in my back pocket in case they miss those, but generally that\u0026rsquo;s enough to get them on the trail to find the ones they may have missed. From there, it\u0026rsquo;s up to them to finish the investigation, but much like yesterday, it\u0026rsquo;s worth adding some time pressure to their investigation. Maybe someone\u0026rsquo;s life is on the line or there\u0026rsquo;s a bonus payout for finishing sooner.\nAs a side note, I want to mention my general dislike for Dungeon \u0026amp; Dragon\u0026rsquo;s 5th edition Investigate skill (along with Perception). I don\u0026rsquo;t love that players assume they can just roll the dice and not ask interesting questions. I probably need to twist it around so that there are grades of success where an utter failure finds nothing and a huge success means they find exactly what they want, but there are shades of gray in the middle. I need to think more about that.\n","date":"20 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-investigate/","section":"Posts","summary":"Investigation is hard to run because players will miss clues you think are obvious. That\u0026rsquo;s why I keep coming back to the three clue rule and try to build in enough redundancy to keep the game moving.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 20: Investigate"},{"content":"Spoiler warning: I\u0026rsquo;m going to talk about Tower of the Black Pearl, an adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics. If you\u0026rsquo;re part of my group, play DCC with me, and haven\u0026rsquo;t gone into a tower that has risen from the seas, then you should turn away now.\nI love running Dungeon Crawl Classics. It\u0026rsquo;s an absolute joy to run. As a judge, there is a lot of flexibility in the system and you can mix and mash rules from other OSR games or other Goodman Games properties (like DCC Lankhmar\u0026rsquo;s fleeting luck rule). There\u0026rsquo;s also a ton of additional content from fans and publishers like\u0026ndash;the Gongfarmer\u0026rsquo;s Almanac has 3,220 pages spread across it\u0026rsquo;s volumes from the past 6 years, all for free!\nHowever, it\u0026rsquo;s the adventures that tend to pull people into Dungeon Crawl Classics in the first place. I\u0026rsquo;m reminded of a number of towers from the various adventures, but one that I fondly remember is the Tower of the Black Pearl. In my particular game of this, the players had just set sail from a sinking ziggurat created by the death of a chaos lord and the sinking caused an enormous wave to send the players west.\nOnce they found a suitable town to dock in and find an inn to stay at, a merchant approaches them and tells them of a tower that rises once every decade from the sea. Within that tower is a black pearl he wants and he\u0026rsquo;s willing to pay 25GP per player (keep in mind that treasure amounts in DCC are far lower than in B/X). It turns out the the tower was built by a wizard of incredible power and the black pearl is pretty much going to bring doom to anyone who possesses it, but you can\u0026rsquo;t blame a guy for trying.\nAll of that is fun and flavorful, but the best part is that the tower will submerge in 8 hours or\u0026ndash;more likely\u0026ndash;whenever you say it will. This creates a fantastic escape sequence as players swim up the tower trying not to get caught while grabbing as much loot as they can. I love the tension created by a lack of time and the agony over risking it or just getting out. It creates immediacy and verisimilitude, and those things make an adventure fun.\n","date":"19 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-tower/","section":"Posts","summary":"Tower of the Black Pearl is exactly the kind of Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure I love: flavorful setup, dangerous treasure, and a built-in time limit that forces hard choices. A tower that sinks back into the sea is a great way to create pressure and turn the escape into the best part of the scenario.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 19: Tower"},{"content":"A lot of campaigns start with the same few words:\nYou all meet in a tavern\u0026hellip;\nThis is a perfectly acceptable way to start a session, one-shot, or campaign. There\u0026rsquo;s nothing wrong with it. It works precisely because it\u0026rsquo;s such a trope and it lets everyone get started with as little baggage as possible. However, what if they met on the battlefield, scrabbled together from the remainder of several companies that have otherwise been wiped out? What if they meet in an escape pod hurtling from a ship being attacked? There\u0026rsquo;s nothing saying meeting has to be calm.\nThey don\u0026rsquo;t even have to be on the same side initially (if your players are up for that). What if they meet doing the opposite job (e.g. one is stealing something and another is protecting that same thing)?\nWhat if all the players meet after dying and make a deal with death? That\u0026rsquo;d be a fun game trying to earn your life back, or maybe just becoming an assistant to death\u0026hellip;\n","date":"18 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-meet/","section":"Posts","summary":"Meeting in a tavern works just fine, but a campaign opening can do more than that. Bringing the party together in a battlefield, escape pod, or some other tense situation gives the game an immediate spark.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 18: Meet"},{"content":"Comfort is something most RPGs discourage because it\u0026rsquo;s not the focus. Most games are focused on exploration, combat, discovery, and plunder. That being said, all games should have a bit of comfort in them. Your players need that down beat to recover from the boss fight. They might need a momentary reprieve to collect themselves (and refresh their spells).\nThey want some comfort from obligations too. Maybe they\u0026rsquo;re tired of always scrimping and saving to pay off their debt, maybe a windfall will let them put a big dent on their ship\u0026rsquo;s mortgage and outfit themselves too. There\u0026rsquo;s nothing to say you can\u0026rsquo;t have the next mission put a big dent into their supplies and bring back the tension of supplies versus paying down their debts.\nComfort is a tool we have as GMs and we need to use it from time to time so players aren\u0026rsquo;t in a constant state of worry because while that might be fun for a bit, it eventually gets old if it\u0026rsquo;s the only thing they know.\n","date":"17 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-comfort/","section":"Posts","summary":"Most RPGs focus on danger, discovery, and struggle, but they still need moments of comfort. A little safety, relief, or breathing room gives players a chance to recover and makes the harder parts of a campaign hit better.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 17: Comfort"},{"content":"For me, dramatic means getting into my NPCs and really thinking about how they sound and their mannerisms. I want the players to see at least a part of what\u0026rsquo;s in my head regarding this character. I\u0026rsquo;m currently running The Lost Mine of Phandelver for my sons and their friend and having a blast. I\u0026rsquo;ve run this adventure before and really enjoy how it holds the players\u0026rsquo; hands for a bit and then lets them loose once they hit Phandalin, while at the same time giving the GM some tools to lead the players along.\nAs for the characters, you have a lot of options to introduce drama here and they\u0026rsquo;re great. The most obvious and inevitable one in Phandalin would be the Redbrands. They\u0026rsquo;re the local scum and villainy and they inevitably start a fight with the players, telling the player characters to leave their town and give up their stuff as well. I used this as a time to call the players names, poke fun at them, and introduce the idea that sometimes NPCs just aren\u0026rsquo;t nice. My sons\u0026rsquo; friend pointed out that the ruffians were talking back and I had to explain that yes, they\u0026rsquo;re talking back and you can \u0026ldquo;talk back\u0026rdquo; to them as we\u0026rsquo;re just acting (drama if you wil) and then she got it\u0026ndash;I just hope I don\u0026rsquo;t hear from her mother later.\nIn my mind, being dramatic doesn\u0026rsquo;t need to mean being out of control with the drama, but it should be plainly obvious what this person wants or doesn\u0026rsquo;t want. Players should quickly get the hint that they\u0026rsquo;re spoiling for a fight, fearful of something, itching to go somewhere, or desirous of something.\nThe flip side of all of this is to encourage your players to do the same thing! Let them be dramatic, let them tell you what they want and how they want to get it. Permit weird and odd approaches if you can, but try to be on the same page about what you\u0026rsquo;ll permit.\n","date":"16 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-dramatic/","section":"Posts","summary":"Drama at the table often comes from NPCs who feel vivid and obvious in what they want. If players can hear that in the way a character talks and acts, the scene has a much better chance of landing.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 16: Dramatic"},{"content":"For Frame, I want to take a play out of Top Gear/The Grand Tour\u0026rsquo;s playbook: having large framed art as loot in the dungeon. Now, a large framed piece of art (or a sculpture if you\u0026rsquo;re feeling really mean) has some obvious problems with it:\nIt\u0026rsquo;s large You may not know it\u0026rsquo;s value It\u0026rsquo;s awkward and can\u0026rsquo;t be tossed in a bag It loses value if it\u0026rsquo;s damaged Not all buyers are created equal Imagine you\u0026rsquo;re looting a dungeon and come across a room with several pieces of art and you\u0026rsquo;re trying to figure out which one to keep. Someone in the group may have an idea of value, so we\u0026rsquo;ll give them a vague idea that one of the paintings is more valuable because it looks like it was done by an adult. The party then decides to take that one and not the other. As a game master, I\u0026rsquo;m usually pretty open with this information as I don\u0026rsquo;t see the fun in hiding this.\nYou now have this piece of art and have to get it out of the dungeon undamaged (or at least minimally so). If you\u0026rsquo;re still sneaking around and will possibly encounter enemies, you\u0026rsquo;ll may want to keep whoever is holding the painting in the back so they can keep it safe. That character will likely be out of the combat at least for the first round of combat. Another option is to hide it somewhere until you know it\u0026rsquo;s safe, but there\u0026rsquo;s always a chance that a random enemy will come along and abscond with it.\nThe framed art is now out of the dungeon! It\u0026rsquo;s time to get paid! Well, the player characters are adventurers, not art appraisers and someone else is always willing to make a quick buck on your ignorance. Finding a buyer might take some time (in-game, this shouldn\u0026rsquo;t be an entire session, it should probably be a series of roles along with some loss of time and money), but could be worth it. However, there should be a chance that the first buyer is honest and worth dealing with. Once the players have found a buyer, should that buyer have bottomless pockets? Should they be interested in all art? I\u0026rsquo;d argue that they can\u0026rsquo;t buy every piece due to budget and interest, so players will have to find additional honest buyers and not everyone will be honest.\n","date":"15 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-frame/","section":"Posts","summary":"Large framed art makes for excellent loot because it\u0026rsquo;s valuable, fragile, and awkward to move. Treasure like that forces players to think about transport, risk, and who they can actually sell it to.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 15: Frame"},{"content":"The first thing I think of when I hear banner is something like this:\nHowever, I don\u0026rsquo;t think I\u0026rsquo;ve ever thought of it\u0026rsquo;s utility in a roleplaying game before. Banners, standards, and flags were used to mark the position of various groups of troops on the battlefield and allowed the general officers in the back to get a glimpse at what was happening. I\u0026rsquo;ve not run a full-scale battle like this in an RPG and generally shy away from it, but I could see it\u0026rsquo;s use in a smaller game where there were a number of hirelings and one could carry a standard. But what would it do? I imagine it would be good for morale of the group, but wouldn\u0026rsquo;t negatively affect the other group\u0026rsquo;s morale. It could also be used as an improvised weapon, but isn\u0026rsquo;t really made for that and probably breaks easily enough. Also, if it is good for morale, it would draw certain enemies to destroy it. That feels like enough of a start for an item (for B/X Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons and maybe more specifically Old-School Essentials)\u0026hellip;\nBattle Standard #Rallies the rest of the group to battle.\nMorale Boost: Once per day each player can re-roll a failed roll if they\u0026rsquo;re within 30\u0026rsquo; of the standard and can see it. They must accept the second roll. Improvised Weapon: The standard can be used as a Blunt, Melee, Slow, Two-handed weapon and does d8 damage. However, every strike there\u0026rsquo;s a 10% chance of the standard breaking. Sitting Duck: Intelligent enemies know the value of a battle standard and will attempt to attack the person holding the standard. Unintelligent enemies do not treat the standard bearer any differently than any other character. Side note: the Old-School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy Kickstarter is happening right now and if you have any interest in OSR or Basic/Expert Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons, you should go back it today.\n","date":"14 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-banner/","section":"Posts","summary":"I hadn\u0026rsquo;t really thought about how a battle standard could work in an RPG, but it feels like a fun item with obvious uses and obvious drawbacks. Here\u0026rsquo;s a quick take on a standard that helps morale, works as a makeshift weapon, and makes its bearer an immediate target.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 14: Banner"},{"content":"Rest is one of those things I typically handwave away in most of my games, but I\u0026rsquo;ve started to think more about how resting affects everything outside of the party. When they rested, what was everything else in the dungeon, town, or wilderness doing? This is where random tables come in handy: roll to see if anything disturbs them. I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of how Chris McDowell\u0026rsquo;s Electric Bastionland does it. Roll a d6 and consult the following table:\nRoll Result 1 Encounter: Roll a random encounter. It\u0026rsquo;s there right away. 2-3 Clue: Roll a random encounter. Give a sign that it’s nearby or has passed through. 4+ Clear: No sign of anybody nearby. My favorite part is the clue result as it can ratchet up tension and show the risk of rest while letting them get that much needed rest in. It\u0026rsquo;s yet another way to ratchet up the tension.\nBesides random encounters, the other thing I\u0026rsquo;ve been thinking about lately is how long a rest may take when they\u0026rsquo;re in town. I generally ignore stays of 3 days or less, but if you\u0026rsquo;re over that then I start to charge you for the costs. This is just an abstraction because, sure, staying for 3 days does cost something, but it\u0026rsquo;s ultimately a pittance compared to what an average player character earns in a dungeon in B/X Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons. However, recovering hit points takes a while (1d3 hit points per day) and some downtime activities\u0026ndash;like spell research and training\u0026ndash;can take a long time, months even. At that point I start to add up how much this will cost you. It still won\u0026rsquo;t be much, but it will make a dent.\n","date":"13 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-rest/","section":"Posts","summary":"Rest gets more interesting once you stop treating it as empty time and start asking what the rest of the world is doing. Random encounters, clues, and downtime costs can all make that pause matter.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 13: Rest"},{"content":"There are two kinds of messages I want to talk about: private messages and between game messages.\nFirst private messages: I love the tension created by sending a private message to a player who just looted a treasure chest in a room by themselves. Now, I could run that room with just the two of us and skip the messages, but that\u0026rsquo;s a lot of work, so I run it with all the players at the table, but keep quiet about the loot. This means there will always be some doubt that the player is telling the truth about what was in that chest and I find that to be a lot of fun.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll also use private messages to send information about an infection, disease, or some kind of hidden condition that may or may not be contagious or problematic. For example, in Mothership\u0026rsquo;s The Haunting of Ypsilon 14 there\u0026rsquo;s a disease that gives the infected player advantage on Strength checks and fully restores their health, however they also have an aversion to water. I tell the player that so they know how to act from here on out, but I don\u0026rsquo;t tell the other players because of the tension it may create. (There are some other negative effects of this particular substance, but I do not tell the player what it is because they wouldn\u0026rsquo;t know about it.)\nThe other kind of messages I like are between-game messages, mostly because I\u0026rsquo;d rather reserve our time together for playing the game instead of going shopping or doing bookkeeping like leveling up characters. I\u0026rsquo;d rather spend a few minutes here and there sketching out the available shops and reminding players to level up before the next session.\n","date":"12 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-message/","section":"Posts","summary":"I like messages that create tension, whether that\u0026rsquo;s a private note about hidden information or an out-of-game message that keeps bookkeeping away from session time. Both kinds can make a campaign run better.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 12: Message"},{"content":"Initiative has been done in different ways in many games:\nIndividual initiative: everyone rolls a d20 and adds a bonus Side-based initiative: roll a d6 for your side and whoever rolled highest goes first Save-based initiative: make your dexterity save and go first Action-based initiative: pick a fast action and go before the enemies, slow goes after Card-based initiative: draw a card and whoever has the highest/lowest number goes first Popcorn initiative: you\u0026rsquo;re first, pick who goes after you (PC or NPC) And so forth and so on. There are so many ways to do it and they all have their merits. I\u0026rsquo;m currently enamored with side-based as I like seeing what a party can do to make the best of their situation. However, I find Troika\u0026rsquo;s Stack initiative very interesting, if not a little unwieldy. Here\u0026rsquo;s how it works:\nGet a container (bag) and a bunch of tokens (dice, poker chips, M\u0026amp;Ms, whatever) of different colors Assign each character in combat 2 tokens and add them to the bag (e.g. each player will have two tokens, but those 5 automatons they\u0026rsquo;re fighting will contribute 10 tokens) Add one token of a different color Now, when combat starts, draw one token and that character acts. When you draw the unique token the round ends and all of the drawn tokens go back in the bag. With this, no one knows how many actions they\u0026rsquo;ll get or when they\u0026rsquo;ll get them. A round can end after one swipe or everyone could go and the round-end token could be drawn last. It\u0026rsquo;s not ideal for everything, but it can add some fun chaos.\n","date":"11 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-stack/","section":"Posts","summary":"Initiative can be handled in all kinds of ways, and each one changes the feel of combat a little. I\u0026rsquo;ve been especially interested in systems like Troika\u0026rsquo;s Stack that make turn order more uncertain and dynamic.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 11: Stack"},{"content":"I want to find the right game for me. I really want it to be one game and I want there to be a ton of material and support for it. In order to so do, I need to play many different kinds of games, so I find myself looking into other games and wanting those. From there, my collection grows and I want to read what I have. Once I\u0026rsquo;ve read them, I want to play them. However, there\u0026rsquo;s a parallel path here where I find myself looking at a mountain of books and I want to get rid of some of them.\nSo it\u0026rsquo;s a cycle: want to find the right game ➡ want to buy ➡ want to read ➡ want to play ➡ want to downsize ➡ want to find the right game.\nUltimately though, the drive that keeps this up is that I want to have fun with my friends and family and tell a good story.\n","date":"10 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-want/","section":"Posts","summary":"I keep wanting to find the one game that does everything I need, but that search keeps leading me to more books, more systems, and more decisions about what to keep. The whole cycle is really driven by wanting to have fun with the people I play with.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 10: Want"},{"content":"Now, unlike shade, light is a force for good. No thieves or assassins to be found there. Instead, there\u0026rsquo;s only the sunny road before you and the pack slung over your back and maybe a few fellows at your side. Honest people work in the light (and in most cases have seen the metaphorical light, maybe literally). There\u0026rsquo;s almost always someone who is righting the wrongs and making the world a better place, so long as you believe in what is right and true, I suppose.\nLight is also a sign of hope where there is only shade. A sputtering torch, or a hooded lantern casting light in a cavern of unknown evils, lighting the way for a party who only wants to make things better for everyone else by removing the world\u0026rsquo;s blights. They plunge to the depths and excise that which preys upon the innocent and only thinks for itself. That kind of light is a force for good both in and out of the game.\n","date":"9 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-light/","section":"Posts","summary":"Light feels like an easy shorthand for goodness, hope, and people trying to set things right. Whether it\u0026rsquo;s sunlight on the road or a torch in the dark, it works as both a literal and symbolic force in a game.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 9: Light"},{"content":"You know what has a lot of shade? A dungeon, right where you should be. Why? High adventure! Treasure! Discoveries untold! Camaraderie! It\u0026rsquo;s here where you\u0026rsquo;ll run into new problems and new people, things that will make you ponder possible solutions and alternatives. You\u0026rsquo;ll try to find that solution that crosses all of the t\u0026rsquo;s and dots all of the i\u0026rsquo;s, but not everyone can walk away happy all the time. Sometimes, you\u0026rsquo;ll need to break a few eggs\u0026ndash;or burn a few bridges\u0026ndash;in order to get what you (think you) want.\nBut back to shade! Do you know who likes shade? Thieves, rogues, assassins, ne\u0026rsquo;er-do-wells, and cads of all fashions. These folk keep to those shadows, those places of eternal shade, and they ply their trade from there. They\u0026rsquo;ll take those treasures, they\u0026rsquo;ll kill their enemies unseen, and they\u0026rsquo;ll go right back from whence they came. Right back into the shade.\n","date":"8 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-shade/","section":"Posts","summary":"Shade makes me think of dungeons and the people who thrive in them. They\u0026rsquo;re places of danger, treasure, hard choices, and the sort of hidden movement that lets thieves and assassins do their work.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 8: Shade"},{"content":"A couple of supplies and a couple of books. That\u0026rsquo;s the dream. I\u0026rsquo;d love to have one book and one set of dice that I keep with me at all times, wherever I go that I know back and forth that I can pull out whenever I want to run a game. However, I have the attention span of a goldfish and the willpower of a mosquito. Which means I have every Free League game out there, I buy most of the Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons 5th Edition books, I dive into whatever new OSR book is out there. I jump between Science Fiction, Fantasy, then Post-Apocalyptic, now Investigative Horror, how about Cyberpunk? Wait, what happened to just having a couple of games?\nSo, yes. I admit that I have a lot of RPGs and I like having all of them, but some days I wish I had just a couple of slim books that I knew like the back of my hand that I could run at a moment\u0026rsquo;s notice. But I heard there\u0026rsquo;s a new Kickstarter coming out and it looks pretty sweet\u0026hellip;\n","date":"7 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-couple/","section":"Posts","summary":"I like the idea of being able to carry just a couple of books and a couple of supplies and be ready to run a game anywhere. In practice I keep chasing new systems and genres, so that simple ideal never quite wins.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 7: Couple"},{"content":"A forest makes for an excellent first stop on your adventure. Forests are close enough to home, but can have many unexplored paths and places. There could be a ruined church or a pastoral glade that is intersected by a ley line. They could encounter bandits or a fellow adventuring party. Maybe they\u0026rsquo;re been sent into the forest to bring the local witch back for healing or for crimes committed against the church. Maybe this forest has a group of elves that make their home in the boughs and protect those who enter the forest as long as they mind their manners.\nBetter yet, when the party is done they have options. They\u0026rsquo;re not so far from home that they can\u0026rsquo;t go right back and recover\u0026ndash;they can even do so in the middle of the adventure if supplies (or hirelings) are needed. Then again, maybe they want to see more of the world and this was the first step away from home. They\u0026rsquo;ve made it this far and proven to themselves that they can do this. Well, the world\u0026rsquo;s your oyster, where do you want to head?\n","date":"6 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-forest/","section":"Posts","summary":"A forest is a great first adventure site because it feels close to home while still leaving room for mystery. It can hold ruins, witches, bandits, or stranger things, and it still leaves the party with options once they\u0026rsquo;re done.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 6: Forest"},{"content":"A lot of the games I enjoy reading and playing are tributes to prior games. A huge swath of RPGs are clones or heartbreakers of some edition of Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons. In particular, I\u0026rsquo;m drawn to tributes to Basic/Expert Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons due to it\u0026rsquo;s simplicity and emphasis on problem solving over combat. In fact the combat isn\u0026rsquo;t that great unless the players and GM make it so. What makes the game interesting is finding interesting ways to avoid combat, to go around the fight, to weigh the scales in your favor. There are many great games paying tribute to old school Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons: you can go light weight with The Black Hack. Maybe you want some science-fiction with your Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons, in that case look into Stars Without Number. Or perhaps you want to retell a coming-of-age story as a group of friends goes out to defeat some local villain and realizes theres a bigger world out there and maybe they can make their dent in the world, in which case you should play Beyond the Wall.\nNow we\u0026rsquo;re starting to see more tributes to other games. Troika is a tribute to Advanced Fighting Fantasy (a game I\u0026rsquo;ve never played, but Troika is great!). Warlock! is a tribute to both Advanced Fighting Fantasy and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.\nIn some cases, things have moved beyond tribute and become their own game. In particular, Electric Bastionland and Into the Odd come to mind here. They\u0026rsquo;re sorta about going into dungeons and if you squint they sorta look like Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons, but they\u0026rsquo;re mechanically different and push beyond the expectations.\n","date":"5 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-tribute/","section":"Posts","summary":"A lot of the RPGs I enjoy are tributes to earlier games, especially Basic/Expert Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons. What I keep coming back to is the focus on problem solving and finding ways around a fight instead of charging into it.","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 5: Tribute"},{"content":"I run a mixture of theatre of the mind combat (where there\u0026rsquo;s no map) and and combat with maps and minis (or virtual tokens as the case has been lately). I like both and would generally prefer theater of the mind, but my players often prefer the latter and I think that\u0026rsquo;s because I forget about vision during combat.\nWhat do the player characters see? What is blocking their vision? What\u0026rsquo;s impairing their vision? Maybe it\u0026rsquo;s very dark, or smoky, or foggy. Maybe there\u0026rsquo;s something very bright in the room that makes them look away. Maybe they\u0026rsquo;re fighting a medusa or basilisk and need to look away. If the players don\u0026rsquo;t know that they\u0026rsquo;re looking at, they\u0026rsquo;re generally going to ask what\u0026rsquo;s in front of them and hit it with whatever they\u0026rsquo;ve got. For some combats, that\u0026rsquo;s going to be okay. However, try to keep that a rare occurrence and think about what they would be seeing in the situation:\nDust swirls around in the antechamber as you push aside the slab door. It\u0026rsquo;s hard to see more than 10 feet, but you catch a glint off of something every few seconds. It goes from the left to right with an unnatural and unerring cadence.\nOr maybe\u0026hellip;\nThe airlock swishes open and you\u0026rsquo;re looking into a well-lit, tidy interior devoid of life. You\u0026rsquo;re scanning the scene when a small canister lands in front of you and the flash bang ignites right in front of you, blinding (and deafening) you for a few moments as you\u0026rsquo;re roughly handled by someone who wasn\u0026rsquo;t there moments ago.\nRemember to use their vision, but purposefully take it away sometimes too.\n","date":"4 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-vision/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI run a mixture of theatre of the mind combat (where there\u0026rsquo;s no map) and and combat with maps and minis (or virtual tokens as the case has been lately). I like both and would generally prefer theater of the mind, but my players often prefer the latter and I think that\u0026rsquo;s because I forget about vision during combat.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 4: Vision"},{"content":"When preparing a game I try to think about the various plot threads. They\u0026rsquo;ll vary from ones I\u0026rsquo;ve introduced to something in the player\u0026rsquo;s backstory or even something they\u0026rsquo;ve found along the way that I never thought would be part of the story. The important part here is to work on the threads that the players feel are important and develop those if possible.\nNow there\u0026rsquo;s always a chance that they\u0026rsquo;re following the \u0026ldquo;wrong\u0026rdquo; thread or ignoring the \u0026ldquo;right\u0026rdquo; thread, but as long as you\u0026rsquo;re not running a one-shot, let them wander around. This is everyone\u0026rsquo;s game, not yours. That being said, if there\u0026rsquo;s nothing in that cave, tell them that. We\u0026rsquo;re all busy people and no one wants to spend an hour following a shadow that turns out to be a squirrel.\nLast\u0026ndash;and hardest\u0026ndash;is if you have a thread that you particularly love, but your players aren\u0026rsquo;t following then you should revise it or let it go. Maybe they have no interest in the plight of the gnomish shopkeeper until they see them get evicted from their shop and become homeless. Maybe there\u0026rsquo;s no interest in saving the elves of the forest until they become bandits on the road. Or maybe picking up converters from Tosche station just isn\u0026rsquo;t that interesting. That\u0026rsquo;s cool. Just let it go.\n","date":"3 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-thread/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWhen preparing a game I try to think about the various plot threads. They\u0026rsquo;ll vary from ones I\u0026rsquo;ve introduced to something in the player\u0026rsquo;s backstory or even something they\u0026rsquo;ve found along the way that I never thought would be part of the story. The important part here is to work on the threads that the players feel are important and develop those if possible.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 3: Thread"},{"content":"Today is day 2 of #RPGaDAY2020 and today the prompt is Change.\nIt feels like we\u0026rsquo;ve seen a lot of change to RPGs in the past couple of years. Where once D\u0026amp;D dominated the entire industry, now it\u0026rsquo;s still the major player, but things like Kickstarter mean that there are a huge number of smaller publishers filling niches that we never knew existed. We\u0026rsquo;re also seeing more safety tools and just general consideration for how people feel while playing the game. The idea of an adversarial GM is now more of a horror story than a reality for most players (though I\u0026rsquo;m sure it still exists in some isolated groups). We\u0026rsquo;re also seeing simpler systems that challenge old ideas: in Electric Bastionland (and Into the Odd) you don\u0026rsquo;t roll to see if you hit in combat, you just automatically hit and roll damage. If you think there\u0026rsquo;s some rule sacred to good RPGs, I can guarantee that someone somewhere has thought about stripping it out and seeing what the game is like without it.\nThe other kind of change that I think about is what happens as player characters gain more experience and here there\u0026rsquo;s a huge spectrum of options. You could play in a traditionally leveled RPG where you gain experience and move up in level as you gain experience. You get new abilities, hit harder and easier, get new spells, and so forth. Or you could play a game where there are no levels, but experience does mean you get better at doing things. Games like Call of Cthulhu and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay come to mind here, you raise your skill scores and therefore have an easier time of rolling under that number (e.g. rolling a d100 under a 30 is harder than a 35). Then there\u0026rsquo;s a completely different school where change is all about what your character acquires or even the knowledge that the player acquires during play. All of these can work very well, depending on the group and the game.\n","date":"2 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-change/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eToday is day 2 of \u003ca href=\"https://www.autocratik.com/2020/06/announcing-rpgaday2020.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003e#RPGaDAY2020\u003c/a\u003e and today the prompt is Change.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 2: Change"},{"content":"Every year for the past seven years, David Chapman has run something called RPGaDAY. It\u0026rsquo;s a series of prompts about RPGs for an entire month with the goal being to drive some discussion around them. I had a blast with it last year and I\u0026rsquo;m hoping to be as consistent this year with it.\nBeginning a Campaign #My favorite and least favorite part of an RPG campaign is the beginning. I love all of the potential there, the new adventures, the new characters, and seeing where things go. I find low-level play more interesting as a player and a GM. Once you get to those rarified high levels you typically have all of the tools to get past everything, but at low levels you must be creative to get what you want.\nHowever, beginnings often mean the most preparation as you don\u0026rsquo;t know what the players will pursue. Are they going to head down the river into the jungle, or are they going to set sail and check the coasts? Which guide will they pick, what threads will the pursue? I want to portray something that\u0026rsquo;s somewhat realistic and I don\u0026rsquo;t want to force their hand, but I also don\u0026rsquo;t want to prepare for everything they could do. Often, the solution is to over-prepare, but only by a little bit: maybe consider three of the most likely options and prepare those and hope they pick that. If they don\u0026rsquo;t, then you\u0026rsquo;ll be improvising for that session, but then you\u0026rsquo;ll have a better idea of where they\u0026rsquo;re going next.\nBeginning the Hobby #I also want to cover just beginning to play games in the hobby that is RPGs. As a hobby, Roleplaying Games can be incredibly rich. You can delve deep into a dungeon playing Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons (what most people think of when they hear RPGs) or they could be playing as bears stealing honey in Honey Heist. There are RPGs about Spanish-language soap operas, being dragons, kids investigating weird things in town, and much more. In essence, if there\u0026rsquo;s some world you want to play in, someone else likely already thought of it and made it, and if not, there are many systems that would easily work with what you want.\nMy advice to new players is to jump in and try things out, but don\u0026rsquo;t worry about system mastery for right now. Most GMs/Judges/MCs/Referees are all-to-happy to help out with rules and your character\u0026ndash;I personally love having new players in my games. Don\u0026rsquo;t stop with one system simply because it\u0026rsquo;s what you learned first and learning it was hard, with every subsequent system it\u0026rsquo;ll almost certainly get faster (though there are some exceptions there with games that have more rules and subsystems).\n","date":"1 August 2020","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/rpgaday-beginning/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eEvery year for the past seven years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.autocratik.com/2020/06/announcing-rpgaday2020.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eDavid Chapman has run something called RPGaDAY\u003c/a\u003e. It\u0026rsquo;s a series of prompts about RPGs for an entire month with the goal being to drive some discussion around them. I had a blast with it last year and I\u0026rsquo;m hoping to be as consistent this year with it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"#RPGaDAY2020 Day 1: Beginning"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/dungeon-crawl-classics/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"dungeon-crawl-classics"},{"content":" I really enjoyed half of this book, namely the Pigs from the Pit (a transitional adventure for level 0 characters going to level 1) and the Adventuring Ties.\nAdventuring Ties #The Adventuring Ties are a series of reasonable excuses for why your freshly rolled characters show up after another character dies. In old school games there\u0026rsquo;s an emphasis on the world being tough and death visits regularly. In addition, there\u0026rsquo;s the idea of \u0026ldquo;open tables\u0026rdquo; where players come and go, so characters will need to be generated regularly. As such, you\u0026rsquo;ll be generating new characters regularly enough, but how did the party come to know this newcomer? That\u0026rsquo;s the point of these various ties and they do a good job of explaining why your group seems to attract them, also it may add some advantages and disadvantages to the newcomers.\nPigs from the Pit #Pigs from the Pit has a hilarious series of sentient, magical pigs who gained their powers after eating a sorcerer and his belongings. There\u0026rsquo;s more to it, but if that doesn\u0026rsquo;t get you interested, I don\u0026rsquo;t know what will.\nThe Stone Heir #The eponymous adventure seemed alright. The general idea is you’re sent off to recover the petrified form of the local baron’s son who was paralyzed by a basilisk he was hunting. Along the way, you stay at his hunting cabin and find one of his lovers who was stuck underground for weeks and has sustained herself by eating the bodies of her maidservants, and is now turning into a ghoul. Grisly.\nAfter that you make your way to the basilisk’s cave and after some quick exploration you figure out that the whole thing is a money making operation for a gray dwarf (Duergar) who sells the “statues”. There is a fun encounter earlier in the cave where the party comes across an old and somewhat feeble ooze who’s just too old for this shit.\nThis adventure didn’t have nearly as many fun elements as the previous one and felt like it was on rails. I’m not sure of the point of the hunting cabin other than being a convenient place to sleep and therefore have an encounter? I guess that’s it. The cave is a good example of a five-room dungeon and could be solved by roleplaying, which I always appreciate.\nEverything Else #There are three other sections:\na series of tables describing your level 0 character’s background a series of tables for bartering your initial set of trade goods for something else three classes that turn the demihuman classes (dwarf, elf, and halfling) into human sword and sorcery classes that feel just different enough while reusing most of the rules for those classes The classes are probably my favorite part and the other two are just okay. I like seeing what the players concoct for a backstory during play and I’m always curious to see what the players do with the goods from their original profession. Make them use their heads.\nFinal Thoughts #I bought this one in print, but I’m not sure I’d recommend that. For a PDF, it’s probably worth picking up (that recommendation gets stronger if its on sale from its normal ~$5).\n","date":"19 November 2018","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-stone-heir/","section":"Posts","summary":"Half of this DCC supplement shines — particularly the transitional funnel adventure and the clever Adventuring Ties system.","title":"Review: The Stone Heir (The Phlogiston Books, #2)"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/reviews/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"reviews"},{"content":" This adventure offers three things: a nicely fleshed out town with a serious problem that needs to be dealt with soon and a lingering sense of paranoia, a small dungeon filled with traps, tricks, and a fight or two filled with surprises, and a “boss” monster that must be researched before taking it on.\nEverything in that list is exciting to me. As a judge I’m happy with the maps and descriptions, but I felt that the connection between the burial mound and the town could be more obvious. Make sure you feed your players plenty of rumors as they ask around and make sure those rumors should include the tomb. Make sure they get heard and make sure the players hear about the spear and shield.\nBeyond that, I dig it and I feel like I could easily reuse all of these elements in different games. The town is a great example of a town that has a timely problem and doesn’t just open the doors for adventurers. The tomb is a great little dungeon, a good example of something that requires more thought than just kicking down the door and barging in. The hound makes your players think and penalizes them for (again) just rushing in. I can’t wait to try this one.\n","date":"19 November 2018","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/doom-of-the-savage-kings/","section":"Posts","summary":"A tight DCC adventure with a well-realized town, a paranoid atmosphere, and a boss monster that punishes players who charge in without thinking.","title":"Review: Doom of the Savage Kings"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/pbta/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"pbta"},{"content":" To date, I\u0026rsquo;ve played in exactly one Powered by the Apocalypse RPG and only one session: The Sprawl. I thoroughly enjoyed myself with that, but I preface this review with that so you understand that I haven\u0026rsquo;t played this game and I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen many other PbtA games.\nSpire is a game about being oppressed, downtrodden, and treated as less than human. It\u0026rsquo;s about rising up from those oppressors\u0026mdash;the Aelfir\u0026mdash;and figuring out a way to fight back. It\u0026rsquo;s about being a revolutionary, a firebrand, a subtle manipulator, and about sacrifices. Do you level a city block of innocents to really stick it to the Aelfir?\nYou are a drow elf in your native city, but it has been conquered by the high elves, the Aelfir. You are a member of the Ministry, a group of like-minded, but independent, members in different cells. Your job is to do what you can to overthrow the Aelfir.\nThe Mechanics #Spire is definitely related to Powered by the Apocalypse games. However, instead of the typical roll 2D6 where 6- is a miss, 7-9 is a weak hit, and 10+ is a strong hit, you\u0026rsquo;ll be rolling a pool of D10s. The number you roll depends on your skills, the domain (your knowledge and expertise of location within the spire), and mastery of a skill. So at most, you\u0026rsquo;ll be rolling 4D10. In addition, a situation could be difficult, in that case you may be rolling with 1-2 fewer dice (if you lose more dice than you have you still roll at least one die, your success is a notch or two lower depending on the number of dice you couldn\u0026rsquo;t lose).\nThe results are similar to PbtA games, but a D10 offers more granularity:\n1: Critical failure (double stress) 2-5: Failure (stress) 6-7: Success at a cost (stress) 8-9: Success 10: Critical success (inflict stress per 10 you roll) Stress is Spire\u0026rsquo;s way of indicating that hit points aren\u0026rsquo;t the only way to take damage. You have five resistances: Blood, Mind, Silver (money), Shadow, and Reputation. When you take stress, you take either a fixed amount (e.g. 1, 3) or a dice roll (e.g. D3, D4, D6, D8) to a given resistance track minus filling your character\u0026rsquo;s resistance slots first. When you take that stress the GM will roll a D10 and if it\u0026rsquo;s lower than your current stress total (ignoring your resistance slots), you\u0026rsquo;ll take fallout. So if you took 7 Blood damage and had 2 Blood resistance slots, you\u0026rsquo;d check off your Blood resistance slots and have a total of 5 stress.\nFallouts are a way of taking \u0026ldquo;damage\u0026rdquo; in the game, though the damage might be to your Reputation or your Shadow instead of just your health. Fallout ranges from minor to severe. When you take a fallout, you\u0026rsquo;ll lower your overall fallout by an amount and then deal with the fallout. Some examples:\nMinor: Compromised [Shadow]: A friendly NPC asks you to justify your strange behavior. Moderate: Broken Arm [Blood]: Your arm breaks under the strain, and splintered bone juts up through your skin. You can\u0026rsquo;t use the arm until it heals (which will take a month or so, or require powerful healing magic). Severe: Renegade [Mind]: Your mind shattered by the stress of your actions, you turn against the Ministry and all it stands for (the precise reasons why are up to you and the GM). This is not immediate; the fallout represents the first crack in the dam of your mind. Over the next few sessions, play out your descent. Should you survive, you join a rival faction, or become one unto yourself, set against the cell. Beyond that, there are some mechanics for Bonds between different player characters, there\u0026rsquo;s a list of suggested equipment and tags for newly made equipment, rules for combat, and rules for advancement. I particularly like the advancement rules: you ask yourselves if you\u0026rsquo;ve made a small, moderate, or large change inSpire. Then you get an advance matching that.\nPlaybooks # Like most PbtA games, each character will pick a playbook. However, there aren\u0026rsquo;t the typical stats in most PbtA games, instead you have skills, domains, and resistances (and resistance slots). Skills and domains are binary: you either have them or you don\u0026rsquo;t. Resistance slots are numerical and function as \u0026ldquo;armor\u0026rdquo; to a given resistance.\nThere are 10 playbooks players can pick from:\nAzurite: A merchant with connections everywhere Bound: A vigilante with gods in their equipment Carrion-Priest: A priest of a heretical sect who has a holy hyena Firebrand: A revolutionary, a rabble-rouser, you bring the people Idol: An artist and revolutionary, you create things that sway people Knight: A likely-corrupt, sword-carrying gangster Lajhan: A priest of the Aelfir deity, a healer Masked: A master of subterfuge and going unnoticed Midwife: A keeper of the drow race, blessed with an arachnid bloodline Vermissian Sage: A historian of the Vermissian, a non-euclidian transport network Every playbook feels unique and decidedly non-traditional. If you\u0026rsquo;re bored of your typical fantasy RPG, these will feel different.\nDistricts and Factions # The meat of Spire is its ~90 pages of district and faction information. I remember reading somewhere that the designers wanted to create a Powered by the Apocalypse game that had an established setting and between the playbooks and these pages, they pretty much nailed it. Sure, you could move these things to a different game, but they\u0026rsquo;re so consistent here that it\u0026rsquo;d be strange to.\nI think my favorite district is Perch. I love the flavor that it\u0026rsquo;s this collection of buildings \u0026ldquo;strapped, nailed, or bolted to the outer wall of Spire\u0026rdquo;. Between that mental image and the Bound that patrol the district, it hit the right notes for me. For factions, The Sect of Our Crimson Vigil brings in the right amount of righteous indignation for me and I\u0026rsquo;d love roleplaying as a member.\nRunning the Game and Appendixes #The Running the Game section is filled with largely useful, but well-trodden, suggestions. I appreciated that they included the Lines (don\u0026rsquo;t cross this line) and Veils (we can talk about it, but don\u0026rsquo;t detail it) that they use for their games as it helps better understand it\u0026rsquo;s purpose as a safety rule.\nThe one part that caught my eye was the section on brutal violence:\nCombat is not glorious, even if it\u0026rsquo;s undeniably effective, and that person you killed has a name and loved ones waiting at home and was probably just doing their job. Let players engage in violence, and then pull no punches as to the descriptions. Make them regret their decisions. Make their opponents pathetic and scared and shuddering and humanised in their final moments. (And if you can, give every single person a name, and maybe have their friends shout it out when they die.)\nI think there\u0026rsquo;s a time and place for \u0026ldquo;I kill the goblin and loot it\u0026rsquo;s body\u0026rdquo; and I enjoy that kind of play, but I also think there\u0026rsquo;s a time and place for the kind of roleplaying where your players keenly feel the deaths of NPCs.\nThe Appendixes are the last up and there\u0026rsquo;s some useful stuff in there: new gods, a glossary, a table of goats, arcologies (though why are you leaving Spire?), and suggested media (an Appendix N if you will). However, I love random tables and find them the most useful and there are two appendixes of random tables: Random Items and Events, and Antagonists. With these two, you can answer questions about why things are they way they are, create a unique situation in your Spire, and setup a campaign with some small-time and big-time antagonists.\nFinal Thoughts #I haven’t played Spire yet, but I want to. This is a unique setting and an interesting take on a fantasy world. You could easily treat this as a sourcebook and use different systems or you could try out their take on Powered by the Apocalypse and be just as satisfied.\nFor me, I’ll probably put this on my list of games-to-play-online as I’m trying to run a regular RPG group online with some of my friends where we can try out different systems and games.\nFor you, if you’re into Powered by the Apocalypse games—in particular Blades in the Dark—then I think you’d enjoy this one and should play it close to rules-as-written. If Powered by the Apocalypse isn’t your jam, then I think you owe it to yourself to pick this one up as a PDF and use the districts and factions along with the random charts in the appendixes and use it in your system of choice. (I could also see resigning the playbooks as OSR classes, though you’d need to figure out a way to bring over the resistances.)\n","date":"13 November 2018","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/spire/","section":"Posts","summary":"A PbtA game about being an oppressed drow elf revolutionary in your conquered city — with mechanics built around sacrifice and consequence.","title":"Review: Spire"},{"content":"As part of my review for Sky ov Crimson Flame, I mentioned that I wanted to make a rumor table and roll up some loot for the Blights ov the Eastern Forest hex crawl. Here\u0026rsquo;s what I\u0026rsquo;ve come up with.\nWarning: If I\u0026rsquo;m your GM, stop reading now.\nRumor Table # 1d20 Rumor 1 Deep in the woods lives a creature older than the forest itself, capable of bestowing great strength upon those that defeat it. 2 A creature from times unknown guards a king\u0026rsquo;s ransom of treasure, but beware its cunning, it\u0026rsquo;s been fooled before. 3 Blood runs deep within the forest, spreading death and destruction by corrupting the flora into fauna. 4 A Chaos Lord lives and breathes under wrathful trees, cleanse the forest to appease the gods. 5 A corrupted sorceress commands her domain of the western part of the forest, any who enter are never seen again. 6 Children are being stolen from their beds at night, never to be seen again. 7 At night, travelers have seen translucent bears of many colors in the glen near the river\u0026rsquo;s fork. 8 A merchant saw bones floating on their own accord while a haunting march was sung all around him. 9 A king\u0026rsquo;s betrothed healed all of those who would lay down their arms and sacrifice that which enabled their crimes. 10 Twelve spheres were set aside for the greater good. 11 A knight and his squire live through eternal torment, chained to that which they protected to their death. 12 Many shields were forsaken at this sacred site, but only one heals as if it were its former keepers. 13 The Wrook sees all that happens in the woods, beware of the creature with the golden orbs for eyes. 14 Some say all treasure lost in the woods is taken by the Wrook, but beware his murder. 15 Black birds beware, an uneasy alliance has been formed and the pact kept. 16 A golden stag wanders the forest, surveying his domain, bow to him and his protection is yours. 17 The woods will not suffer a bladed weapon, bear only those that fell no trees. 18 A flying pig?! I\u0026rsquo;ll believe it when I see it. 19 Fires have a strange way of pulling you in and seeing something that isn\u0026rsquo;t there, dontcha think? 20 Fae creatures roam the river\u0026rsquo;s edge at night, drowning children and young lovers. Magic Shield at the Sanctuary of the Sightless Sisters #I didn\u0026rsquo;t love the idea that the golden shield wasn\u0026rsquo;t slightly magical, so I used the Weapon and Armor enchantment generator from Last Gasp Grimoire and rolled that it\u0026rsquo;s a \u0026ldquo;Shield of Triumph\u0026rdquo; which heals 1hp per HD slain which sorta kinda fits in with the whole healing sanctuary thing. It probably needs a downside though\u0026hellip;\nMagic Axe in The Wrook\u0026rsquo;s Hut #The Wrook\u0026rsquo;s Hut is supposed to have some magic items, but the party should already have a sword from Sky ov Crimson Flame, so I wanted a different weapon. I decided on an axe and used the sentient sword generator from Dungeon Crawl Classics and mostly rolled low, but I like what I came up with.\nSatyrsprawl Battleaxe, two hands, 1d10 damage +1 to attacks and damage Wielder can cast Detect Magic twice a day Fey Bane, causes painful wounds to fey creatures, inflicts an additional 1d4 damage ","date":"24 October 2018","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/blights-of-the-eastern-forest-rumor-table-and-loot/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs part of \u003ca href=\"/posts/sky-ov-crimson-flame/\"\u003emy review for \u003cem\u003eSky ov Crimson Flame\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, I mentioned that I wanted to make a rumor table and roll up some loot for the \u003cem\u003eBlights ov the Eastern Forest\u003c/em\u003e hex crawl. Here\u0026rsquo;s what I\u0026rsquo;ve come up with.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Blights ov the Eastern Forest Rumor Table and Loot"},{"content":" Some preamble: I buy a lot of RPG material. Rulebooks, modules, random tables, settings, zines, and so forth. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to my hobbies, especially when I first dive in. I go for breadth and worry about depth later. This leads to a collection that’s stupidly big. Worse, I’m not actively reading these things because I’m still in discovery mode trying to find all of the great stuff. But, at some point, I have to dig in and start actually reading—and hopefully using—the stuff that I buy.\nA while back, Ray Otus had a great series called RPG Tax where he reviewed items in his collection that he had purchased, but hadn’t read for one reason or another. Looking around Google+, I also saw Sophia Brandt has at least one post with a #rpgtax tag, and I think I recall Ray saying she may have started the trend. I’m not sure. Either way, I’d like to do something similar. My pace will be largely based on my reading pace and the size of what I’m reading.\nWith that out of the way, lets talk about Sky ov Crimson Flame. The book itself contains two things: a level 0 funnel—the eponymous Sky ov Crimson Flame—and Blights ov the Eastern Forest, a level 1 hex crawl. The book is 60 pages and half is dedicated to the funnel and half is dedicated to the hex crawl.\nWarning: If I\u0026rsquo;m your GM, stop reading now.\nSky ov Crimson Flame # It began with the disappearance of Belesa—the raven-haired beauty with jade colored eyes. Then others began to vanish! One by one, friends, loved ones and finally the children screamed out in the night and were lost\u0026hellip; In vain you helped in the search, but no trace nor track could be found.\nNow as the Horned Moon rises a thunderous sound ripples across the night sky and in its wake a Crimson Star ignites in the East! Remembering the legends of screaming witchlights that blazed and dance across the sky the village elders have determined those stolen must have been taken to the Ancient Keep—a place of dread that lies hidden within the dark boughs of the Eastern Forest.\nYou here are the only brave souls the village of Reed could muster. It is up to you to save those who have been taken and stop whatever evil now dwells within that accursed structure of yore. Together you steel yourselves as you enter the Eastern Forest.\nYour players represent villagers from the town of Reed that have entered the Eastern Forest in an attempt to rescue Belesa and the others from the village. During a midnight stroll, Belesa was drawn into the ruins of the Ancient Keep by the dagger Atma-khanjr. That dagger is a shard of a necromancer named Balrothhariid who lived at the Ancient Keep. When Belesa picked up the dagger, it possessed her and enticed her to flay herself using the dagger and she now believes she’s the next incarnation of Balrothhariid. Since then she’s been the one who’s abducted the villagers and later the one who flayed them. Our heroes need to go to the keep and either stop Belesa from bringing Balrothhariid back or defeat Balrothhariid if he’s brought back to our world!\nI enjoyed reading through this one, but if you haven’t guessed by now, this adventure is pretty gruesome. If you’re a bit squeamish, you may want to skip this one. We have:\nFlayed bodies that are wracked by pain Cherub Head-Bats, which are severed baby heads with wings constructed from stretched skin stitched to the side of their heads Adult Head-Bats which also have spinal cords attached that are used as weapons A suit of flayed flesh that shambles about the castle’s dungeon who attempts to liquify a victim by encasing them in their acidic skin, and A creature that’s a fusion of children that’s “one ghastly ball of rolling eyes and mouths that each squeal and cry and whine at once” If you’re past that and still interested, you’ll find it hits a lot of what makes a great funnel:\nhigh risk, high reward choices more than one path to get where you need to go a race against time, and interesting monsters to fight. The various paths and choices you make work really well. You can either scale the walls of the Keep or find the lower entrance via a narrow ledge under the bridge to the Keep. Additionally, you can skip the fight with Belesa if you manage to find her flayed face in the dungeon. I love that kind of stuff.\nThat race against time is pretty great. It’s near the end of the adventure, but Belesa is holding a ritual that will bring back Balrothhariid. Every round is details as the ritual gets further along and latter rounds make things more difficult as oppressive winds start whipping around the tower.\nThe monsters all felt unique. The Cherub Head-Bats want to chew you and will continue to do so until they’re dead or shaken off. The Adult Head-Bats want to impale you with their spinal cords. The Cherub Head-Bombs are suicide bomber versions of the Cherub Head-Bats. The Butcher Cultist will attempt to flay your skin, causing permanent Stamina damage, or break your bones, causing permanent Strength or Agility damage. There’s a Shambling Flesh Mass that feels like a land based kraken that has eight regenerating entrails that each attack. Even the monsters that don’t feel unique—Belesa and Balrothhariid—manage to ratchet up the tension in other ways (the race against time and a random table, respectively).\nThe handouts are great and the maps are generally good. My players love handouts, especially when it gives a visual to a hard to describe scene. I felt like the interior isometric map could have done a better job indicating where various stairs lead to instead of just mentioning the level and room it leads to (e.g. “to 3-1”).\nThere’s some additional variety with the random tables. When your players get to the library within the keep, the shelves of ancient tomes and shiny baubles will likely catch their eye, but what’s on there? Roll a d6 to find out. Later, during what’s likely to be the final encounter of the module, what happens when they’re transported to the Nexus between their Realm and the Other Worlds? Roll a d20 each round to find out. I like that. In addition, there are other times when as a GM you’ll be rolling dice to see how a sentient weapon affects a player or where that suit of flayed flesh happens to be. Maybe the players will run into it as it changes rooms?\nThe other weaknesses worth mentioning are pretty minor. I think the biggest weakness is there’s little chance for actual roleplaying, instead most of the time the monsters are going to attack you. This feels in line with other DCC adventures, but it’s always a nice change of pace to talk it out, even if the monster is just trying to manipulate or stall you.\nWhile the cover is a fantastic piece by Stefan Poag and he has some contributions to the interior art as well, there are some pieces that feel out of place and not up to the quality elsewhere.\nWorse, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen bits and pieces of this adventure before, especially in Sailors on the Starless Sea. You’re villagers in a town with a mysterious keep where something strange is going on. A few brave souls muster up the courage and go off to deal with the problem. I’m not sure it’s a big problem, but just something that was in the back of my head.\nClearly, I think this funnel is pretty good, almost great. It has a few things holding it back, namely that it feels so similar to other adventures, but it has a lot going for it as well. I’m planning on running this as a Halloween adventure for my ongoing DCC campaign and I’ll have a mixed party of level 1 and level 0 adventurers. I’ll report back later.\nBlights of the Eastern Forest # The second half of the book is dedicated to Blights of the Eastern Forest “a 1-level Mini-Campaign” in the form of a hex crawl. This was a stretch goal as part of the Kickstarter campaign for the book and it feels like a stretch goal. The various sites are inconsistent with some being deeply haunting places, another feeling something like a Grimm’s fairy tale, and then another having demonic gummy bears.\nThat being said, I’m definitely going to have this map waiting somewhere in the Ancient Keep and I’ve also made a table of rumors to draw the adventurers to the various sites. Additionally, there are wandering monsters (of course there are!), some of which you can only find by wandering around the forest and others you’ll run into at some of the adventure sites. In particular, I really like the Hound O’ the Wood—who could be an ally—and the Whisperer in the Flame—a spirit that manipulates a party member with particularly low Willpower.\nBut then there are the other sites, what do they hold and how do they rank?\nLair of the Yss’sak #The Yss’sak feels like a fairy tale creature from Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It offers to leave the forest if you get its medallion back, but it turns out that the medallion will rejuvenate the beast and it’s going to mess you up.\nI like that this site is here because it’s a rare chance to talk with an NPC in this book. I also like that the Yss’sak has a scar from the sword and wielder who laid entombed in the Ancient Keep from the funnel, nice continuity. On the other hand, this is a very short encounter.\nHellspring Hollow #This one feels like a proper DCC adventure in miniature. There are flesh-eating trees that will attempt to swallow adventurers whole. There’s an underground canal of blood leading from the beating heart of a Chaos Lord that’s encased in a metal rib cage. There’s also a whirlpool that will have the adventurers questioning their sanity and possibly diving into the oblivion.\nAbout the only thing missing from this site is a reason to be here other than cleansing the land of filth. Players can earn some serious bonus experience if they roll well, but otherwise there’s no loot.\nTower of the Coo’ng #After trudging through the woods our players find a clearing with a tower in the middle of it. If the players are here at night, they’re likely to be attacked by the Coo’ng, a former sorceress corrupted by the effects of magic. The book describes her better than I ever could:\nHer appearance is that of humanoid shaped creature with a hide of thick pale skin and mottled patches of fur that be- comes luminescent in the moonlight. Long black claws protrude from her hands and with nimble, powerful muscles, she strikes down prey with one swift attack from behind. The Coo’ng flies with dual sets of wings that grow from its back, resembling an unholy union between the moth and the bat. Below an antennae brow, saucer-shaped eyes shim- mer an iridescent blue; two sharp fangs protrude from human lips.\nOutside of the Coo’ng the rest of this site feels pretty boring. There’s a tower. It has a few levels. There’s some read-aloud text and maybe the players will find some spell components, a spell of the judge’s discretion, and possibly a potion of invisibility. And then you find where the Coo’ng sleeps and either get ambushed if you’ve been noisy or have a normal fight if you haven’t.\nAgain, needs more loot and a more interesting reason to be here.\nJhumbii-Beyr Glen #Okay, so here’s the one with the demonic gummy bears, also known as Jhumbii-Beyrs. Now, I love gonzo adventures, but this is the site that singlehandedly makes me realize that this hex crawl is a stretch goal simply because of how different it is from the other sites.\nThat being said, I really enjoy that the Jhumbi-Beyrs come in different colors and that each color has some wrinkle in how it fights or what it attacks with. I also love the gonzo nature of the creatures being turned into future Jhumbi-Beyrs in the chambers below.\nAs for why you’re here, well, the best you can do is cleanse the land and maybe find a level-0 party member if you’re lucky.\nSanctuary of the Sightless Sisters #This is my favorite site of the lot. First, there’s the continuity with the history of the Ancient Keep and the sister of King Roulreed. Second, there is loot, but you’ll be taking some serious risks in order to get it, but oooh it’s sooo shiny.\nYou’ll be able to talk with a long-deceased knight and squire who live in eternal pain. You can have a player sacrifice their eyes in order to see the body of St. Margaret and either take the offerings or praying piously (not likely with these adventurers…). If those adventurers take the offerings they’re likely to spring the steam trap that will likely kill them unless they move fast. And I forgot to mention, if the adventurers force a character to sacrifice their eyes, the six sisters who worked here will raise as wights and attack the party!\nThis one has some great situations, fun traps, tough decisions, and it has loot!\nThe Wrook’s Hut # From where the Wrook originally hailed or what exactly he is none with any certainty can say. Many surmise he is an exiled demon trapped within the forests perimeter. Others say he was once a hermit and turned vile by the sickness of the forest. In any case, this demonic creature with mid- night black skin and two golden orbs for eyes claims the entirety of Eastern Forest as his domain.\nYou may never run into the Wrook in The Eastern Forest, but if you did, there’s a chance one of your characters has lost its soul. You can get that soul back if you manage to get past the near infinite number of crows outside of his hut.\nThis is a small site, just the hut’s two rooms and the area surrounding it, but this place has some treasure, in fact it probably has some of the best treasure in the woods as the Wrook demands treasure from “trespassers” of his forest. And if they don’t pay up, he’ll take their soul and lay them as Soul Eggs—2 foot tall, 3 foot wide with a dark transparent shell, weighing up to 150 pounds. If one of your characters lost their soul earlier, you’ll find it here.\nI like this one because it ties into the encounters, but it’s pretty small.\nThe Whole #I generally like this hex crawl and will almost certainly run it for my players, but I feel like my standards are pretty low as I haven’t read other crawls and I haven’t run a single one. Still, the adventure sites are generally interesting and having your players chase down rumors in the forest should be a fun enterprise.\nI felt like this hex crawl would be better if it had more loot and a good rumor table to get the party interested in the various sites. I’ve created a rumor table and rolled up some fun magic loot for two of sites and I’ll be posting that later.\nOnce my party has going through the woods, I’ll report back and see if my expectations were in line with reality, but I think this looks like a good introduction to a hex crawl for a group of new players.\n","date":"24 October 2018","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/sky-ov-crimson-flame/","section":"Posts","summary":"A DCC RPG level 0 funnel and hex crawl in one slim book — my first foray into reading the RPG pile of shame.","title":"Review: Sky ov Crimson Flame"},{"content":"Recently Google announced that they\u0026rsquo;re shutting down Google+ in 10 months. Before I really got into RPGs, Google+ was merely the butt of a few jokes, but largely ignored. However, the RPG community at large heavily used Google+ to share new blog posts, talk about ideas, and market new products.\nRight now there\u0026rsquo;s a bit of a vaccum as folks scatter and attempt to find it\u0026rsquo;s replacement. It looks like MeWe will likely be the winner, though there\u0026rsquo;s a contingent of OSR bloggers that\u0026rsquo;d love to see things go back to blogs and comments. I\u0026rsquo;m not wild about comments, but I love the idea of getting back to longer, more thought out content, rather than small bits and bites.\nOne of those bloggers\u0026mdash;Zak Smith\u0026mdash;created a questionnaire to keep OSR bloggers talking with one another. I\u0026rsquo;m not much of a blogger, but these are my answers.\nOne article or blog entry that exemplifies the best of the Old School Renaissance for me:\nThe Magical Three by B/X Blackrazor. I don’t think there’s anything wholly unique there, though maybe there is, but it’s the idea that if the rules don’t work for you, just change them. You can always tweak everything to get it how you want and then reap the rewards (or suffer the punishment). Then share the results with the community.\nMy favorite piece of OSR wisdom/advice/snark:\nDon’t look at your character sheet, the solution isn’t there.\nBest OSR module/supplement:\nMy experience is pretty limited, but I loved running Sailors on the Starless Sea. It was incredibly freeing after mostly running 5th Edition D\u0026amp;D games. It was more gonzo, had more paths, put the players in more terrifying situations, and made the players think a lot more.\nMy favorite house rule (by someone else):\nI already mentioned The Magical Three, beyond that I really enjoy Jeff Rient’s carousing rules (though I’m nervous to use them with my 5e group) and Trollsmyth’s Shields Shall be Splintered rule as it’s quintessentially OSR.\nHow I found out about the OSR:\nBen Milton’s Questing Beast YouTube Channel and his suggested reading.\nMy favorite OSR online resource/toy:\nI enjoy almost any character generator:\nChris P Wolf’s Knave character generator Purple Sorcerer’s various generators (0 level and upper level) All of Ramanan Sivaranjan’s generators Best place to talk to other OSR gamers:\nGoogle+ was a great location because everyone into OSR had tacitly agreed to be there. With that gone, people are mostly going their separate ways, but MeWe seems to be gaining the most traction.\nPersonally, I’m alright with MeWe, but part of me was looking for a reason to stop checking yet another social network and this may be the spark I needed. I’m following more blogs now and I’m back on Twitter after a short hiatus.\nI think if you actually want to talk you’re probably better off at Discord, but that’s a total fire hose.\nOther places I might be found hanging out talking games:\nTwitter, Reddit, MeWe\nMy awesome, pithy OSR take nobody appreciates enough:\nI’m not sure I have one. Rolling in front of the screen is as close as it comes, but I think most folks in the OSR appreciate that.\nMy favorite non-OSR RPG:\nCoriolis. I’ve been running a game for some co-workers on and off over the past year or so. It uses a dice pool mechanic, so the change is always good to shake things up, and I love the combination of Firefly with Tales of the Arabian Nights. I also really appreciate how much the rules leave up to the game master—there’s a lot of loose ends in the fiction.\nWhy I like OSR stuff:\nI don’t get to play much, but I love the DIY attitude and the sheer creativity of it all. And it’s not as if other RPGs aren’t creative, but the creativity in the OSR is more focused on the adventures and encounters than on rules or new spells.\nTwo other cool OSR things you should know about that I haven’t named yet:\nThere’s something about Anomalous Subsurface Environment that makes me really want to run it. I love how gonzo it is.\nThere are various takes on brainstorming in the OSR, but Jeff Rient’s take on three steps to memorable villains is great. Take that boring Gnoll, and turn it into a Winged Gnoll into a Myconid Winged Gnoll, with every flap of it’s wings poisonous spores are sent downward.\nIf I could read but one other RPG blog but my own it would be:\nPlease don’t make me read my own writing. There are so many good blogs out there and picking one is tough, I think I’d have to pick Knights in the North because my current preferences lean toward Dungeon Crawl Classics.\nA game thing I made that I like quite a lot is:\nMy current campaign for Coriolis, though it’s not a thing I’ve published. Maybe I should after the group gets through more of it.\nI\u0026rsquo;m currently running/playing:\nDMing a Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign that runs every 1-2 months DMing a Coriolis campaign that I run for co-workers at lunch every few weeks DMing a Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons 5e campaign that just finished up Lost Mine of Phandelver and is turning toward Waterdeep for some homebrew fun. I don\u0026rsquo;t care whether you use ascending or descending AC because:\nIt’s your game (but I’d pick ascending AC because it fits my players’ sensibilities).\nThe OSRest picture I could post on short notice:\n","date":"15 October 2018","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/osr-guide-for-the-perplexed/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eRecently Google announced that they\u0026rsquo;re shutting down Google+ in 10 months. Before I really got into RPGs, Google+ was merely the butt of a few jokes, but largely ignored. However, the RPG community at large heavily used Google+ to share new blog posts, talk about ideas, and market new products.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRight now there\u0026rsquo;s a bit of a vaccum as folks scatter and attempt to find it\u0026rsquo;s replacement. It looks like \u003ca href=\"https://mewe.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eMeWe\u003c/a\u003e will likely be the winner, though there\u0026rsquo;s a contingent of OSR bloggers that\u0026rsquo;d love to see things go back to blogs and comments. I\u0026rsquo;m not wild about comments, but I love the idea of getting back to longer, more thought out content, rather than small bits and bites.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"OSR Guide for the Perplexed"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/tags/board-games/","section":"tags","summary":"","title":"board-games"},{"content":"Thursday, August 24th #You\u0026rsquo;d be surprised how much exercise is involved in a convention about board games. I walked about 28 miles in the course of four days, mostly retracing my steps over and over again as I wandered Gen Con\u0026rsquo;s exhibit hall, tournament hall, and ancillary rooms. I spent (too much) money, cancelled two pre-orders, ate delicious food that\u0026rsquo;s bad for me, slept at a truck stop hotel (not recommended), and laughed a lot.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s hard to classify any day of Gen Con as being more or less crazy than any other, they all have something crazy going on, but Thursday might be the most urgent. Many publishers release their new games at Gen Con and they can only bring so much due to shipping costs and booth space. That leads to games selling out very quickly, usually less than an hour after the exhibit hall opens to the general admission crowd. There\u0026rsquo;s a small group of VIGs (Very Important Gamers) that pay about six times as much as a normal pass and get access one hour earlier to the exhibit hall, among other perks. So with that knowledge, you have to rush to your favorite booth and hope what you want is there.\nMe? I rushed to the Steamforged Games booth to try and get the new Blacksmiths team for Guild Ball. However, I figured it\u0026rsquo;d be no problem and went through a door further from their booth. When I arrived at the booth, there was an enormous line which I hopped in. After forty five minutes an employee came to tell us that they were sold out of Blacksmiths.\nHABA # With that out of the way, I began to wander the show floor. I checked out some of the close booths, but made my way over to the HABA booth with my sons in mind. I was interested in picking up Rhino Hero Super Battle, but they had sold out of every copy they brought, so I was out of luck. However, I did pick up copies of Lumina and Tiny Park.\nLumina is a game about chasing fireflies and your goal is to catch five of them. You have a board with different paths and different backgrounds and around the board are face-down tiles. On your turn, you flip over a tile and can move to a matching spot on the board and can then flip over another tile to try and move again. You keep moving until you flip over a tile you can\u0026rsquo;t move to. When you move onto a spot with a firefly, you pick it up and then reveal a new firefly. My son enjoys memory games and adding routes to them certainly makes things interesting. However, the art is what sucked me in here, it\u0026rsquo;s gorgeous. I had been looking for Monza and saw it at the show, but ended up going for Lumina instead and I think we\u0026rsquo;ll be happier for it.\nTiny Park was on my watch list for Gen Con and given its $12 price point, it was a very easy purchase. It\u0026rsquo;s one of HABA\u0026rsquo;s smaller games, easy to take to restaurants. Your goal is to fill your individual gridded board with amusement park rides. On your turn you roll five dice up to three times and choose differently shaped tiles that have those rides and place them on your board. The pieces will remind you of Tetris pieces, but you can place them anywhere on your board. The first one to fill up their board wins. This was another game that sucked me in with art and theme as I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of theme parks.\nTrue Dungeon # When my group of friends decided to go to Gen Con, one of the things we wanted to do was True Dungeon as a group. The event lottery had other ideas so we ended up with a total of four tickets for the puzzle-oriented Moongate Maze.\nIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t done True Dungeon before, it\u0026rsquo;s a mashup of live action roleplaying, an escape room, and shuffle board. It\u0026rsquo;s good fun. However, I have a tip for anyone wanting to do True Dungeon: show up early. We showed up about 15 minutes before our session was supposed to start and we were the last folks in the room, which means we had last pick for classes and what was left were the memorization-heavy classes. These are fine, but they may not be what you want.\nThis year\u0026rsquo;s True Dungeon was disappointing compared to the one I did in 2014:\nThere were fewer rooms this year. There was one GM that was having a bad day (which I didn\u0026rsquo;t help when I accidentally broke a plate due to part of the puzzle not working quite right) I was stuck being the Bard which didn\u0026rsquo;t really jive with what I wanted Most of this is due to us being late and having fewer class options and some of it is due to there being fewer puzzles and me breaking a plate. I\u0026rsquo;d chalk it up to it being a bad year and would do it again in a heartbeat. Just show up early, seriously.\nFlamme Rouge Rollout Party # I\u0026rsquo;ve played Flamme Rouge once before and really enjoyed it, so when I saw the release party available, I decided to go and play a round of Flamme Rouge. We sat down and then had the rules read to us and then started playing.\nIn previous plays, I was out ahead far too early and took too much exhaustion and this was often the result of getting higher cards than I wanted (or not realizing how low other people were playing). This time, I started out low and kept with the pack. I was at the head a few times and took my fair share of exhaustion cards, but not as many as last time. I managed to get both of my cyclists across the finish line for the win (though you only need one).\nThen, it turned out, that if you won the game, you got to pack up the copy you played with and bring it home!\nDing \u0026amp; Dent Meetup #After winning a copy of Flamme Rouge, I set out to find the Ding \u0026amp; Dent Meetup. This is much harder than it sounds, as evidenced by my tweets that night. I eventually found them with a good amount of assistance from Raf and sat down for a few games of The Chameleon and Tiefe Taschen. Both were good games, but I decided to buy The Chameleon.\nReally the highlight was getting to meet Raf and Charlie\u0026mdash;they\u0026rsquo;re super nice guys. They\u0026rsquo;re really approachable. Have a question about a review or part of their podcast? Ask them and they\u0026rsquo;re happy to respond. Seriously, you should check out their podcast and follow them on Twitter.\nFriday, August 25th #Friday started with another rush to the Steamforged Games booth, but this time I had success! I managed to pick up the Blacksmiths, along with a set of tokens, and an adorable Chibi version of Salt.\nFFG In-Flight Report #One of the highlights of going to Gen Con is Fantasy Flight Games\u0026rsquo;s In-Flight Report. This is where they talk about their various games, how well they\u0026rsquo;re doing roughly, and any new releases they haven\u0026rsquo;t announced yet.\nThis year, we were left wondering what would be new given how much they had announced before the show. We got the usual Star Wars X-Wing ships everyone expects and a little talk about the new Runewars Miniature Game factions. Nothing special. And then\u0026hellip;\nStar Wars: Legion was the big news this year. A miniature game of ground combat skirmishes set in the Star Wars universe. My friend\u0026rsquo;s wallet cried out in terror and was suddenly silenced. The game looked fantastic and looks like a culmination of what they\u0026rsquo;ve learned about Star Wars fans, miniature games, and rules systems. I didn\u0026rsquo;t get the chance to watch a play of it until Sunday, I\u0026rsquo;ll talk more about it then.\nAlien Artifacts # Image by Keith Leonard\nI was signed up for a play of Alien Artifacts and wandered the event hall until I found my table. First, this wasn\u0026rsquo;t a demo put on by Portal Games which meant we were playing a print-and-play copy instead of an early production copy. That was fine, but less than ideal.\nAnyways, the game. I don\u0026rsquo;t remember a ton about it. It was utterly forgettable. You have ships, technologies, and planets. You get resources. You use those resources to build ships, research technologies, and explore planets. Those ships, technologies, and planets do things once you\u0026rsquo;ve researched them. Earn points and win!\nSeriously, skip this one.\nMoonQuake Escape # Walking around, we got suckered into playing MoonQuake Escape a game about getting off of a planet first. The game has a lot of visual appeal with a four tiered board of spinning disks and a moon that rotates around the planet that you spin in order to determine the number of actions. The art is well done and cartoony and my sons would likely love it when they\u0026rsquo;re old enough.\nHowever, at the moment I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t bother picking it up because it would never get played with my group of adults. Definitely worth checking out if you have 6-10 year olds.\nDungeons \u0026amp; Dragons Introduction to Adventure #One of the things I was looking forward to when I was setting up events was a D\u0026amp;D session. I don\u0026rsquo;t get to play RPGs often, basically never, so when I had a chance, I jumped on it.\nOur party was comprised of seven adventurers: an herbalist, three wizards, one cleric, one paladin, and\u0026mdash;myself\u0026mdash;one rogue. Our DM asked us if we wanted anything in particular and when we said \u0026ldquo;something fun\u0026rdquo; she offered us a \u0026ldquo;dinosaur race\u0026rdquo;. Now, I haven\u0026rsquo;t played D\u0026amp;D a lot, but I don\u0026rsquo;t really remember seeing many \u0026ldquo;dinosaur races\u0026rdquo; in other fantasy worlds, so as a group we decided this sounded perfect.\nIt was a blast as we raced dinosaurs, cast spells that we weren\u0026rsquo;t really allowed to cast, and attempted to trip up the competing team.\nMy character\u0026mdash;Simeon\u0026mdash;was a mouthy little halfling who didn\u0026rsquo;t really plan and I believe I played my part quite well, waltzing in and out of places like I owned the joint without much concern for my well-being.\nI\u0026rsquo;d like to play RPGs more, D\u0026amp;D among them, but given how much time I have to play games, I\u0026rsquo;m not sure it\u0026rsquo;ll happen often.\nDice Forge #My friend Tim brought Dice Forge from home and would toss it in the car in the morning in case we had time to play. On Friday we hung around the convention center and I got to play it twice.\nDice Forge is all about scoring points by buying cards that give you abilities and points, or cards that were just straight up points. You spend gold to buy new dice faces that you swap out on your dice.\nThis is an incredibly neat mechanic and one I hope to see later, however there wasn\u0026rsquo;t much else to the game. It feels like the first game of it\u0026rsquo;s type and it\u0026rsquo;s introducing the mechanic without making a compelling game. In some ways it\u0026rsquo;s like the Dominion of it\u0026rsquo;s mechanic. I enjoyed it and would buy something like it once my kids are older, but right now it wouldn\u0026rsquo;t see much play.\nKingdomino # Image by Jakub Niedźwiedź\nSimilar to Dice Forge, I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t buy Kingdomino unless my kids were the right age. It\u0026rsquo;s a pretty simple little game about building a kingdom using domino-like tiles with a very neat bidding mechanic. You draw as many tiles as there are players and leave them face down. Each tile has a number and you order the tiles from least to greatest and then you flip them face up. In random order for the first pick, each player chooses one. Then the next set of tiles is laid out in the same way, but this time you bid in order from lowest to highest from the previous set of tiles. Higher numbered tiles are usually worth more points, so you have a choice between getting high-scoring tiles and getting the first choice next round.\nMy friend Tim brings this one out to restaurants and I can see why. It\u0026rsquo;s a cheap, compact game that\u0026rsquo;s easy to teach and fast to play. What\u0026rsquo;s not to love?\nSaturday August 26th #On Saturday, I had a few events scheduled: a quick session of Shadowrun, a tournament for The Godfather, and a game of Downforce. I skipped out on everything but Downforce and I\u0026rsquo;m glad I did.\nSpirit Island # I had heard a few things about Spirit Island and was interested in trying it. My interest had waned when I realized it was cooperative, but I decided to try it out all the same.\nIn the game, you\u0026rsquo;re island spirits with asymmetric powers trying to scare away colonialist powers from taking over your island. You have a beginning of turn action that lets you place your influence on different spaces of the board (some of which are better for some spirits versus others), get your played cards back into your hand, or gain some extra energy. Then you pick cards which cost varying amounts of energy and work with your teammate to figure out some synergy. You then reveal your cards and any fast cards occur. Then the game takes it\u0026rsquo;s turn by adding more explorers, towns, and cities, and attacking the natives. Following that, your slow cards occur.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s a lot to balance here and given the number of spirits, there are a lot of different combinations and options to see. When I first played, and even up to writing this, I was lukewarm on it, likely due to it being cooperative and some of the components being a little odd in my mind, but the more I think about it the more I\u0026rsquo;m interested in picking this one up.\nEx Libris # Ex Libris was typically near the top of the hot games list and it had fantastic art that just drew you in. However, after demoing it, I\u0026rsquo;m not so keen on it any more. The goal in Ex Libris is to build and organize your library. That means collecting cards and playing them to your library in alphabetic order while having more cards that earn you more points and fewer that subtract points. That description is pretty reductionist, but that\u0026rsquo;s the gist. You use your workers to pick up and/or play cards to your library and that\u0026rsquo;s all I saw in the demo. Maybe there are more, but they wouldn\u0026rsquo;t rescue an otherwise boring game for me. This one is a pass.\nWhistle Stop # Image by Phoebe Wild\nThis was the game that sat perched atop the hotness list for the whole con. It sold out day one I think, and the demos were full. I watched part of the beginning of a game and got the gist of how it plays, but you\u0026rsquo;re better off reading the rules or watching a review to get the handle on it. In summary, it\u0026rsquo;s a tile placement game with some light pick-up-and-deliver elements to it. You pick things up and deliver them for points and occasionally resources to help you move. There are also some ways to convert things to earn you points, resources, or goods.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s definitely a neat looking game and one I\u0026rsquo;ll add to my wishlist, but I also realize that almost ever Bezier Games product I\u0026rsquo;ve owned leaves my collection at some point. I\u0026rsquo;m planning on giving this one a fair shake, but for now it\u0026rsquo;s a wishlist item, not a buy.\nDownforce #I bought Downforce on the first day of the con, but I had a demo scheduled for Saturday and went over to try it out. I already had a gist on how to play after watching and reading several reviews, but there were bits and pieces I didn\u0026rsquo;t know (and for what it\u0026rsquo;s worth, my teacher got a few things wrong, but most of it right).\nIn Downforce, you\u0026rsquo;re trying to win by having the most winnings at the end of the game. You earn winnings by having your race car(s) finish sooner than the others, by bidding on what car you think will win the race, and by not bidding too much on the car you end up owning before the race. That\u0026rsquo;s the twist, you get at least one car, but you are paying for it. That cost is subtracted at the end of the game, so you want to bid as little as possible. Also, if you have more than one car, you now have almost double the expense as the other players and will have to figure out how to make up for that.\nAfter that, it\u0026rsquo;s a matter of playing the various speed cards that have one or more car colors on it.\nImage by JR Honeycutt\nYou go from top to bottom, moving the top car that many spaces, then the next, and so on. If there\u0026rsquo;s a wild, you can move any other car that many spaces. From there, it\u0026rsquo;s a matter of bidding on who you think will win, finishing the race, and totaling the amount you win.\nThis is a great game, it\u0026rsquo;s easily taught, and you can play it in roughly 30 minutes with a group that has played it once before. There is a lot more strategy than it sounds like because you can block other cars in the chokepoints and take the long way through the turns. Definitely worth playing or picking up.\nSummit # Image by Conor McGoey (the designer)\nI had gotten a demo of Summit earlier in the day and it had been on my list since Man vs Meeple mentioned it in their Origins preview. In my initial demo, I was impressed by the art, the choice to play cooperatively or competitively, and how much you can be a jerk in the competitive game. Another quick summary: you\u0026rsquo;re climbing a mountain and dealing with the difficulties that come with it. You decide how much food and oxygen to bring with you and then start climbing. You place tiles on the board that are easier or harder or consume resources and the mountain throws everything it can at you. Meanwhile, if you\u0026rsquo;re playing competitively your friends are either helping you out and earning karma or screwing you over and losing a few points. You need to get to the top and back down to win.\nIt looked interesting and I enjoyed my demo, but walked away. I then went and played everything above. After my Downforce event, my friend came over and asked me if I had seen anything interesting today, and I just started rambling about Summit, how interested I was, how it played, and what it looked like. I realized then that I was going to buy it. I took my friend over, showed him the game, and asked a few questions about the Yeti expansion and purchased it all right there, I even got my box signed, much to the designer\u0026rsquo;s chagrin.\nSunday, August 27th #Photosynthesis #I watched a demo of this one on Saturday, and dismissed it as being an abstract and I already have enough abstracts for my collection. However, friends of mine were catching a demo and I had nothing else to do since the exhibit hall wasn\u0026rsquo;t open, so I tagged along hoping to get a spot. Well, I didn\u0026rsquo;t get to play, but I did get to watch most of the two rounds they played (three rounds is the normal length).\nIt is abstract, but the idea is unique and I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen many games with the theme of growing trees. Nor are most abstract games this beautiful.\nThe sun rotates around the board and provides energy to the tree\u0026rsquo;s owner depending on whether it\u0026rsquo;s in another trees shadow or not. You turn take turns playing an action at a time and then the sun rotates.\nOn your turn you take an action by either taking a seed or tree from your board to your playable area (making them available for subsequent actions), growing something on the board, spreading seeds, or removing the tallest trees to earn points (the only way to earn points).\nThe player with the most points from sacrificing their tall trees wins.\nStar Wars: Legion # We had heard a rumor that Fantasy Flight Games was planning on releasing a ground-based miniatures combat game for Star Wars at Gen Con and that rumor was spot on. We got to see a glimpse earlier during the In-Flight Report, but this was the first game I truly got to watch. My friend Tim and his son played this one and I watched and asked the demonstrator questions, trying to understand the game a bit better.\nReally all you need to know is there is less measuring in this game than most miniatures games; all of your units will activate once per turn, but depending on the card you started the round with, you will not know the order of some of the units; they\u0026rsquo;ve made combat very simple compared to other miniatures games; and the miniatures looked absolutely fantastic.\nI will almost certainly buy this one.\nCrystal Clans #The last demo of the con goes to Crystal Clans, a game I wrote off as an also-ran of Summoner Wars, but there are some major changes between the two. The first change you\u0026rsquo;ll notice is that there are no dice in Crystal Clans. Combat is based on the group\u0026rsquo;s total combat plus whatever the top card has versus the defending unit\u0026rsquo;s defense. If you have enough attack that it\u0026rsquo;s greater than the defense, you destroy all of their units. I think the defender then attacks back, but I\u0026rsquo;m fuzzy on that part to be honest (give me a break, it was the last day of the con!).\nThe second thing I noticed was more clever: the turn structure is determined by how much you bring out on to the board and what you do. Instead of I-go-you-go, each action you do has a cost associated with it and the board has a track on the side where zero is in the middle and it counts up going in both directions.\nImage by Jerrod Warr\nWhen you take an action you move the crystal that many spaces toward your opponent\u0026rsquo;s side. If the crystal is still on your side or in the middle blue spaces, you can take another action. So the game is all about taking efficient actions and not allowing your opponent to take big actions if possible.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t have a ton of room for two player games, but this one may make it into my collection at some point.\nPurchases #My goal going into this Con was to not spend too much. I\u0026rsquo;m pretty sure I failed, but on the bright side, I crossed a few games off my list saving me money in the future (at least that\u0026rsquo;s what I keep telling myself). Here\u0026rsquo;s the list of what I bought at the convention and afterwards:\nGen Con Purchases # Secrets Downforce Codenames Duet Guild Ball Blacksmiths Guild and Tokens Chibi Salt New $10 coins for Scythe Summit and it\u0026rsquo;s Yeti expansion I also won a copy of Flame Rouge, so it\u0026rsquo;s not a purchase.\nOutside Con Purchases #So these are any purchase or pre-orders I made outside of the convention due to seeing the game or news about a game:\nGuild Ball Farmers Guild Lazer Ryderz Photosynthesis Spirit Island and Branch \u0026amp; Claw Expansion Star Wars: Rebellion - Rise of the Empire Wrap Up #Gen Con is always exhausting, expensive, and a whole lot of fun. You get to see the new games, meet new people, hang out with people you only know online, and spend time with the friends that came with you. You wait in a lot of lines, sometimes with nothing to show for it, but sometimes you walk out of an event with a new game or with the realization that you don\u0026rsquo;t like a game that you just knew you would.\nFor me, the biggest question I ask myself after trips like this is: was it worth it? And I can say it absolutely was. I had a blast and I look forward to going again.\nSome recommendations:\nWear good shoes, walking 28 miles in four days is more than most people usually walk. Get a good hotel room, seriously, don\u0026rsquo;t stay at the Motel 6 by the truck stop. Try out as many demos as you can get away with, test everything out. Schedule events, but realize that 1-3 a day is probably enough, especially if they\u0026rsquo;re multi-hour events. Talk with the folks in line with you, we\u0026rsquo;re all nerds here. Enjoy the food trucks, but walk a block or two away and have a nice sit down meal with little to no wait. And use OpenTable to reserve tables. Save some time for playing games with your friends. If I have any regrets about this year\u0026rsquo;s Gen Con, it\u0026rsquo;s not playing enough games with my friends when we had the time. Here\u0026rsquo;s hoping that I\u0026rsquo;ll be back for Gen Con 2018!\n","date":"24 August 2017","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/gen-con-2017/","section":"Posts","summary":"Four days, 28 miles of walking, too much money spent, and a lot of great games at Gen Con 50.","title":"Gen Con 2017"},{"content":"Mombasa # 2 plays with 2 people New to me I\u0026rsquo;m not sure what I was expecting with this game. It languished on the shelf for a while, largely forgotten about due to its bland cover and four player maximum (my game group nights have been growing). It was about to go up for auction when I walked my wife to try it out with me.\nI had read the rules a month or so back and generally understood the game, but upon opening the box, I did not feel confident explaining it. I did my best, but still committed the ultimate sin a board game explainer can commit: reading directly from the rule book while teaching. My wife took this very well and in two rounds we both understood the game well enough, with some rule mistakes here and there.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s not like pat games I\u0026rsquo;ve played before. It has some elements of those games and some that I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen and it combines those in interesting ways for a game that\u0026rsquo;s innovative while feeling similar. The card play is pretty unique to me, where you have slots you play cards to, and those correspond to separate discard piles. Before you discard at the end of your turn, you can pick up one of the discard piles and now you have those cards. Picking the correct column to play to is an interesting decision.\nThe other wrinkle is the stock system that rewards both diversification and specialization. I\u0026rsquo;ve played both ways and can say that both strategies seem valid.\nAbout my only concern now is longevity. I can look at this game and say that it has a shelf life and it\u0026rsquo;s in the 10-20 play region. However, I so rarely play games that much, so this is barely even a downside.\nIf you have any interest in euro games and stocks didn\u0026rsquo;t already chase you off, give this one a shot.\nRecommended.\nCarson City # 1 play with 4 people Played before It\u0026rsquo;s been a long time since I\u0026rsquo;ve played Carson City. It\u0026rsquo;s a game I had and sold a while back and alway regretted. When the Kickstarter went up I was all over it. So, do my memories match the reality?\nYes, generally. I remember the game being surprisingly short, but not negatively so. It\u0026rsquo;s best for groups that don\u0026rsquo;t get too butt hurt since you\u0026rsquo;ll be fighting over all sorts of stuff. It fares best with people that don\u0026rsquo;t mind rolling dice for some resolutions (though this is typically a mitigated die roll). In our game, there was a huge land grab and everyone crowded Carson City and the southern mountain range. I fared pretty well with my centrally located General Store, but some bandits held up one of my fine emporiums and prevented me from pulling out the win. Our game ended with a single point between first and second and then another post between second and third. Exciting!\nRecommended.\n","date":"19 September 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-after-the-auction/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"mombasa\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172386/mombasa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eMombasa\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#mombasa\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/mombasa.jpg\" alt=\"Mombasa\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 plays with 2 people\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew to me\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m not sure what I was expecting with this game. It languished on the shelf for a while, largely forgotten about due to its bland cover and four player maximum (my game group nights have been growing). It was about to go up for auction when I walked my wife to try it out with me.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: After the Auction"},{"content":"Scythe # 1 play with 5 people Played before This was the third time I’ve played the game and the first time where it wasn’t truly a blowout for the winner. I’m happy to see that the scores can be a bit more balanced than previously thought and I’m still enjoying the game quite a bit. It’s smooth, easy to teach, and absolutely beautiful. There’s some interaction, but not too much for those that want to build up their territory and earn points more peacefully.\nRecommended.\nChaos in the Old World # 1 play with 5 people Played before Back when Blood Rage hit the scene I had a hard time determining which game I liked more, but playing both again, Chaos in the Old World is still my favorite of the two. It feels more balanced and even-keeled and has asymmetry baked right in.\nDon’t get me wrong, I enjoy Blood Rage, but I’ve seen enough blowouts now that I have serious concerns about how well the game balances. I think most of Blood Rage’s problem stem from the draft and a new player’s lack of knowledge of the cards. When you don’t know what to draft for, your draft is undoubtedly going to be awful and not account for later round cards.\nGetting back on track, this game was an incredibly close one with two players at 53 and one at 51 points and it never felt like the game was artificially keeping our scores close, it was just a great game.\nHighly recommended.\nGuild Ball # 1 play with 2 people New to me This was an online game between myself and a friend and something of a testing grounds to see if this is a game I want to play in real life. After our 3v3 game on a 2’x3’ pitch, I can say that I can’t wait to play. It’s a ton of fun and has a lot of interesting ideas that I haven’t seen much before. In addition it has that slice of life sort of style that makes it seem like a totally legitimate sport that might have been played in a fantasy world. I’m very much looking forward to playing this in person.\nRecommended, but it’s a miniatures game, know what you’re getting yourself into.\nCastles of Mad King Ludwig # 1 play with 2 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge This was the first and last time that we’ll ever play with the expansion, Secrets. What a horrible piece of design that is. It takes a game that takes roughly five minutes to setup and multiplies that by three so you’re now taking 15 minutes to setup the game. That could be forgiven if it made the game considerably better, but it doesn’t\u0026mdash;it adds almost nothing.\nExcluding Secrets, I really do like Castles. You end up with a really neat castle that tells a crazy story. Why is your bedroom off of the palatial gardens? Why not, I guess.\nRecommended, but skip the expansion, it\u0026rsquo;s garbage.\nPandemic Legacy # 2 plays with 4 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge We\u0026rsquo;re now into April and there was quite a big change. We lost our first game in March, but managed to pull out the second and then lost our first game in April. I\u0026rsquo;m still fascinated to see how the game changes over time and how our team gets better, but it\u0026rsquo;s worrying to see different cities slowly fall into ruin. I enjoy it, but how will that affect our later games? We\u0026rsquo;ll see I guess.\nRecommended for a consistent group.\nViticulture # 1 play with 6 people Played before My game group is almost consistently six people these days. That\u0026rsquo;s a pain. Most games are for four people, sometimes five, but as soon as you hit six, it becomes tough. You don\u0026rsquo;t want to split up, because three is an odd number, but you don\u0026rsquo;t want to play a party game because you want something to actually chew on. Then there\u0026rsquo;s the concern about length: adding players generally leads to a longer game and our Mondays only have time for about two and a half hours.\nViticulture actually fits the bill pretty well. It plays six in about two hours and has a lot of interesting decisions. We had a lot of back and forth in this game as people managed to shoot forward past each other in the last few rounds. Personally, I enjoyed myself, but was really frustrated by my cards. I kept getting wine orders (how you score points) for red wines and I could only seem to draw white vine cards (how you grow grapes which can then be turned into wines). No matter how much I dug through the deck, I was stuck.\nI still enjoy the game, but being locked by my cards was incredibly frustrating, especially considering how many additional wine order and vine cards I drew.\nRecommended, but beware of the cards.\nCosmic Encounter # 1 play with 6 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge It\u0026rsquo;s my favorite game. We had a three way tie. I almost never used my alien\u0026rsquo;s power (Sapient). One of the new players was almost constantly drawing cards and getting ships back from the warp (Remora). One player disliked his alien power so much, he kept dying and resurrecting as another alien.\nThis game tells stories and this story was a bit more disjointed then most, but it was still a blast and a game that is almost pure player interaction.\nHighly recommended. My favorite game.\nCaptain Sonar # 3 play with 6 people New to me Speaking of pure player interaction, Captain Sonar is in the same category. In this game, you have two teams of submariners and each player has a role to fill. If you have all eight players then each player has a role, otherwise some players get more than one. You have:\nThe Captain who decides where the ship is going and when to use the different equipment. The First Mate who readies the various equipment and tracks the ship\u0026rsquo;s damage. The Engineer who tracks the ship\u0026rsquo;s damage and delicately balances that damage. The Radio Operator who is listening to the enemy captain\u0026rsquo;s every direction and attempting to track where they are. Now the crazy part: you can play this game turn-based like a normal board game, or you can play in real time. Yes, you can play as fast as your team can move through your various commands. This is a high-stress situation, but absolutely a blast for the right players. It\u0026rsquo;s also a game that\u0026rsquo;s over relatively quick and suffers a bit from the Baker Rule (you should play a game n-1 times where n is the number of times you think you want to play it). However, it\u0026rsquo;s absolutely fantastic and will undoubtedly remain in my collection.\nHighly recommended.\nEl Grande # 1 play with 4 people Played before El Grande is known as the grandfather of area control games and after playing it that\u0026rsquo;s abundantly clear. The basics of your modern European area control game are laid bare in this game, almost devoid of any ornamentation. You\u0026rsquo;re presented with a beige and brown board with some illustrations to jazz it up a bit, along with some meeples and cards.\nNow, those cards keep things interesting. You have a hand of 13 cards numbered 1 through 13 and then there\u0026rsquo;s five communal piles of cards (well, not really, one pile is just one card). The communal piles are your options for the turn and the card you play from your hand dictates the order in which you pick cards.\nI have a big issue with El Grande: I\u0026rsquo;m not sure it warrants a spot in my collection with the myriad other area control games I own. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure why I\u0026rsquo;d pull out El Grande over Mission: Red Planet, Scythe, 1775, Chaos in the Old World, or Eclipse. Some of those games are easier to teach, there are longer and shorter options, one is team based, another supports more players, a few add dice, and most add combat. Maybe that\u0026rsquo;s it then? El Grande plays smoothly in 90 minutes, is quick to teach, has no dice, and is palatable for those who don\u0026rsquo;t want to play something \u0026ldquo;nerdy\u0026rdquo;.\nI think for now, it\u0026rsquo;s staying in my collection, but I have misgivings over keeping it just due to the overlap with other games.\nRecommended for those who want an area control game for those who don\u0026rsquo;t like area control games.\nKeyflower # 1 play with 6 people Played before This is the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played with six and I think the game shines with four after this play. It was a lot of fun and my strategy of dominating all of the shipping/upgrading tiles really panned out once I nabbed the Keyflower boat (1 point per movement point) and the boat that gives you 2x movement points.\nThis game is an odd bird. It looks like a pretty basic eurogame, one where everyone will remain friends and everything is just all hunky-dory. However, this game can be downright mean as someone just ever so slightly edges you out on a tile you wanted to bid on or use. Or maybe someone else is doing a better job of pursuing the strategy you had planned for your winter tiles. It also has an absolutely awesome auction mechanic as lost bids are returned and can be moved around and you must use the same color as any other meeples already bid or used on that tile. So fun.\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"30 August 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-birth-of-a-child/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"scythe\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169786/scythe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eScythe\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#scythe\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/scythe.jpg\" alt=\"Scythe\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 5 people\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was the third time I’ve played the game and the first time where it wasn’t truly a blowout for the winner. I’m happy to see that the scores can be a bit more balanced than previously thought and I’m still enjoying the game quite a bit. It’s smooth, easy to teach, and absolutely beautiful. There’s some interaction, but not too much for those that want to build up their territory and earn points more peacefully.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Birth of a Child!"},{"content":"The Voyages of Marco Polo # 1 plays with 2 people Played before This is a game that seems to get forgotten about in our house for no good reason. Both my wife and I really enjoy the variety offered in this game along with the decisions you have to make. Rolling poorly isn’t a death knell, and you can typically come back from poor decisions. That being said, the game is rather quick and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.\nRecommended.\nCoconuts # 3 plays with 4 people New to me I bought this game intending to play it when we went on our family vacation to the beach this summer and it worked great while there. I played it a few times with my wife, nephew, his cousin, my sister, and even my two and a half year old son. It’s nothing serious and that’s fine, it’s a fun little activity as you shoot coconuts into the cups in a game that looks like it belongs at a carnival. Give it a shot, just don’t expect a ton.\nRecommended.\n6 Nimmt! # 2 plays with 5 people Played before I taught this to my family while on vacation as well and about midway through our first play, the game started to click a bit more. That’s something you need to be aware of: this game is mechanically easy to teach, but you’ll probably need a game or two of experimentation before the strategy starts to click. Still, for the cost of the game, it’s one worth picking up.\nRecommended\nMission: Red Planet # 1 play with 6 people Played before My first play of this game with six players was as chaotic as promised and likely too chaotic for even my tastes, but it did play in about 75 minutes, which is pretty fantastic for a non-filler game with six players. It’ll probably get brought out again at that player count if only for that reason.\nHighly recommended.\nFlick ‘em Up! # 1 play with 6 people and 1 play with 8 people Played before After playing Mission: Red Planet we had some time left over and wanted to play another game, but nothing too long, nor something too heavy. Flick ‘em Up! fits that bill quite nicely since it’s a team-based dexterity game. I keep seeing the outlaws lose (maybe going first is a bad thing…), but I keep enjoying the silly fun this game provides.\nI do wonder if it’ll stick around after I get my copy of Catacombs, but I’ll be happy to make that decision later.\nRecommended.\nScythe # 1 play with 2 people and 1 play with 5 people New to me Choo-choo, time to ride the hype train. Scythe is about all anyone can talk about lately, and it’s not hard to see why: beautiful art, detailed rules, a simple flow of play, asymmetry, and mechs, who doesn’t love mechs? Still, after two plays I have a concern: the first place player has typically blown the second place player out of the water by roughly 33%. Now, I’ve only played twice, so I’m not holding that against it quite yet, but the game ending as abruptly as it does causes problems. I will keep playing and I’d love to see that problem go away with experience.\nTentatively recommended.\nStar Wars: Rebellion # 1 play with 2 people New to me First, let me get my butthurt out of the way: don’t play as the Rebels in your first game against an experienced player. Thematically, the Rebels are supposed to feel against the ropes and hopeless, but someone who has played the game before will know that’s more of a feeling than the reality as they figure out ways to punch holes in the Empire’s armor. A new player, however, will feel doubly hopeless and they’re unsure of how to play and the game is sending them signals that they’re not doing well.\nOkay, with that out of the way, the game is really interesting. It’s not at all what I expected when I first saw it. Leaders are really workers and missions are basically the work they’re doing. It’s a worker placement game. At the same time, the Rebellion is trying to hide long enough to achieve their goals while the Empire stomps around the galaxy trying to find and destroy their base. The feel of the game is just right.\nI’m looking forward to playing again and hope my frustrations from the first play go away.\nTentatively recommended.\nDead of Winter # 1 play with 3 people Played before I don’t get to play Dead of Winter much as my group doesn’t seem to request it much, however I do enjoy the game. I like that it does the hidden traitor thing in a reasonable amount of time and has some fun flavor and RPG elements sprinkled in. I don’t really care for (or about) the zombie theme, and would be happier with something else, but the threat is reasonable enough and works for the setting. I have my concerns about balance (having one survivor when other players have four isn’t the most fun part of the game), but I still enjoy it.\nTentatively recommended.\nRa # 1 play with 4 people New to me Man, this is a game that doesn’t look like much from the outside and is certainly over priced, but I had a really good time with my first game. I think the whole table came away surprised with how good it was. It’s a pretty simple game: on your turn you can draw a tile, invoke Ra (start an auction), or use a god tile to exchange another for another tile. If you ever draw a Ra tile, Ra is invoked. Auctions are quick because you can only win so many auctions on a turn and you know exactly what everyone can bid, so how much is this set of tiles worth to you? After drawing enough Ra tiles, the epoch ends, most of the tiles are scored, and the ones without a scarab are removed from your tableau. You play three epochs this way, do a final scoring, and count up your points.\nI think my wife said it best: she was able to play, keep a handle on it, and do pretty well, even with our son distracting her. There’s lots of room for strategic play and the art is really nicely done.\nHighly recommended.\nCodenames # 2 plays with 9 people Played before The 2016 Spiel des Jahres winner! It always gets played at our larger gatherings of friends. It’s a great game that everyone can play and at this point requires no rule explanation. Such a fun game.\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"18 July 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-wescon-summer-2016/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"the-voyages-of-marco-polo\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/171623/voyages-marco-polo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eThe Voyages of Marco Polo\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#the-voyages-of-marco-polo\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/the-voyages-of-marco-polo.jpg\" alt=\"The Voyages of Marco Polo\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 plays with 2 people\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a game that seems to get forgotten about in our house for no good reason. Both my wife and I really enjoy the variety offered in this game along with the decisions you have to make. Rolling poorly isn’t a death knell, and you can typically come back from poor decisions. That being said, the game is rather quick and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: WesCon Summer 2016"},{"content":"Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem # 1 play with 3 people Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve only played Sons of Anarchy a few times, but I\u0026rsquo;ve enjoyed it those times. It\u0026rsquo;s an interesting combination of dice, worker placement, and area control that I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen in this combination elsewhere. Also, the complete lack of victory points and desire for cold hard cash makes for an interesting difference from most games on the market.\nYet, I do wonder if this game is worth keeping. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure what it is about it that makes me question getting rid of it, but there\u0026rsquo;s a nagging feeling in the back of my head.\nTentatively recommended.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 1 play with 2 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge This was the tenth play for my 10x10 challenge and it\u0026rsquo;s starting to feel samey at this point. I enjoy it, but not as much as I once did. Still, the game does a great job of creating tension and forcing hard decisions as you plan out your turns. This is a game that will benefit from its inevitable expansion.\nRecommended.\nRaptor # 2 plays with 2 people Played before With 7 Wonders: Duel starting to feel somewhat repetitive, I was on the lookout for a two player game that would supplement it and found Raptor. I’m not sure I like one better than the other, but I definitely enjoy Raptor’s asymmetry and it’s simple card play mechanic. You have a hand of three cards from a possible nine that are numbered 1-9. Cards 1 through 8 also have a special action on them. You and your opponent both pick and reveal cards simultaneously. The lower card acts first and it’s special action takes place. The higher card gets actions equal to the difference in cards (e.g. your opponent played a 4 and you played a 7, you get 3 actions).\nThis makes for hard decisions as sometimes you want those special actions, but your opponent may know that and play to stifle that exact action, so do you go with doublethink or stick with the simplest play? Tough, tough decisions.\nHighly recommended.\nKemet # 1 play with 5 people Played before The more I play Kemet the more I realize it’s one of my favorite games. It plays a large number of people in a relatively short amount of time, it feels balanced, it allows for creativity, it has great components, and it has a beautifully realized theme. I tend to specialize in white tiles (economy) with a side of red tiles (aggression), but in this particular game I went heavier with aggression than economy and reaped the rewards.\nHighly recommended. Top 5\nMare Nostrum: Empires # 1 play with 6 people Played before This is a partial game, but I’ve played before anyways. Mare Nostrum: Empires replaces Settlers of Catan for me. That sounds weird if you’ve played both games, but let me explain. The only part of Catan that I truly enjoyed was the trading, however anyone who’s played it knows that you don’t always want to trade, whether you’re being a jerk on purpose or just trying to stifle others. It sounds realistic, but it’s not fun.\nMare Nostrum forces players to trade. At the beginning of each round, the trade leader will announce how many goods players will trade, then each player must put forth that many goods. One at a time, players will take a good from someone else, then that person takes a good, and so on. In this way, your highly specialized Egyptian culture can diversify it’s possible trade goods.\nWhy do you need trade goods? Well, in order to build anything you need different trade goods or all money. Want to buy a soldier? You’ll need three different goods. How about a market? That’ll be six goods. Want to build the pyramids? That’s 12 different kinds of goods (in a game that only had 13 types of goods). Better get to trading.\nThis doesn’t even begin to cover building armies and ships and conquering others, but you don’t even have to go that route if you don’t want to.\nRecommended.\nRoll for the Galaxy # 1 play with 2 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge After a series of lackluster plays, this one felt pretty good. Neither my wife nor I felt overwhelmed by the other and neither of us could get engines going. With that, there’s a chance that we’ll complete the ten plays for our challenge, but I still worry about this one staying in the collection.\nTentatively recommended.\nSurvive # 1 play with 5 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I think I’m the only person in my group that enjoys this one, but there’s some childish joy in sending one of your friend’s people into the water only to see them be eaten by the shark that was created by removing the tile you just sank. I rarely win this game, but that’s not really the point here, the point is a little bit of almost manageable chaos.\nHighly recommended.\nThe Grizzled # 1 play with 5 people Played before Want to play a cooperative game that’s not afraid of bringing the pain without dice? The Grizzled is for you. Instead of relying on random die rolls to see whether you succeed at a check or not, it’s entirely up to your team to do it’s best and play the correct cards, and sometimes you don’t have much of a choice because of an earlier decision.\nI like this one quite a bit and it’s probably my top, short cooperative game.\nRecommended.\n6 Nimmt # 1 play with 5 people New to me I’ve only played this one once, but I like the general flow of the game and the decisions you have to make. There’s some luck here, but it’s short enough to not matter much and the tension of flipping cards to see who played close enough without being the sixth in line is pretty fun. I feel like this one will be great to bring on family trips.\nRecommended.\nBlood Rage # 1 play with 5 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge My last few plays of Blood Rage have been disappointing. One player in particular has done exceedingly well and the other players couldn’t do much to combat that. We’ve called one of the plays and in the others it felt all but decided by the second age. However, last night we realized that someone will likely feel that way in each game of Blood Rage, but they aren’t knocked out of it.\nIt may take a good draft or two, but it’s likely that you’ll find the right combination to earn you a bunch of points and bring you out of your decline. But it’s up to you and the luck of the draw to find and play the correct cards.\nRecommended.\n","date":"28 June 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-summer-doldrums/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"sons-of-anarchy-men-of-mayhem\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/156091/sons-anarchy-men-mayhem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eSons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#sons-of-anarchy-men-of-mayhem\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 people\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/sons-of-anarchy.jpg\" alt=\"Sons of Anarchy\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve only played \u003cstrong\u003eSons of Anarchy\u003c/strong\u003e a few times, but I\u0026rsquo;ve enjoyed it those times. It\u0026rsquo;s an interesting combination of dice, worker placement, and area control that I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen in this combination elsewhere. Also, the complete lack of victory points and desire for cold hard cash makes for an interesting difference from most games on the market.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Summer Doldrums"},{"content":"Through the Ages # 1 play with 2 people Played before As we figure out how to play with wars and aggressions, our scores are slowly working their way up to peaceful-game-level scores. This game is so odd to me, that I\u0026rsquo;ve played it as much as I have in such a short time and the game takes hours to play. Most of my games have been online and that obviously helps, but even still, there\u0026rsquo;s a good number of face-to-face plays as well.\nHighly recommended.\nMagic: The Gathering # 5 plays with 2 people Played before I\u0026rsquo;m not wild about collectible card games, and Magic is a big reason for it. It\u0026rsquo;s a fine game, but I purposefully avoid any game that has a collectible aspect. Beyond that, the game feels very mechanical, like every card is a set of numbers and not much else. That\u0026rsquo;s okay I guess, but I\u0026rsquo;d rather play something else.\nNot recommended.\nDale of Merchants # 1 play with 2 people Played before The last time I played this, I messed up a major rule, so this time I made sure to play that correctly to see if I liked the game or not, and my general feelings are: meh. Now, part of that is colored by the fact that I\u0026rsquo;m not sure of the strategy, but the rest of it is it\u0026rsquo;s just an okay game. I love the variety, but it\u0026rsquo;s just a set collection game.\nNot recommended.\nFive Tribes # 1 play with 2 people Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge We hadn\u0026rsquo;t played Five Tribes in a while and my wife suggested it. Every time I play, I\u0026rsquo;m reminded of why I like the game so much. It\u0026rsquo;s a relatively rules-light game with a ton of choices, so many that it\u0026rsquo;s likely going to bring out the analysis paralysis in most players. Still, the games don\u0026rsquo;t take that long and the game play is excellent.\nThis is the second time I\u0026rsquo;ve played with the expansion, and I love the variety that the new meeples and tiles add. Well worth the purchase.\nHighly recommended.\nBurgle Bros # 1 play with 4 people Played before If you\u0026rsquo;re tired of Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert, you should look into Burgle Bros. It feels very similar to those two games, but it brings a sense of style and an additional dimension. The moving guards also make decisions tough as you don\u0026rsquo;t have perfect information, just a hunch about where they\u0026rsquo;re going.\nI do think that this game is easier with fewer players, but if you have too few, I suspect the guard deck resets too soon. Two players is probably the easiest number I think.\nIn this particular game, we lost before getting to the third floor and I think that\u0026rsquo;s due to having too many players on a given floor. I think with that number you need to get folks moving up while you\u0026rsquo;re still working on cracking the safe on the bottom floors.\nRecommended.\nHomeland: The Game # 1 play with 5 people Played before I really want to like this game. I like that it\u0026rsquo;s a social deduction game with many sides and only one winner. It\u0026rsquo;s not what you\u0026rsquo;re expecting from these kinds of games where there are only two sides and teams win or lose together. Instead you have loyal agents, political opportunists, and maybe a terrorist mole. Each of those roles earns points in different ways and there are no teams, you win or lose alone.\nHowever, both times we\u0026rsquo;ve played, the terrorist has had a very easy time winning the game. The rest of the players can try as hard as they\u0026rsquo;d like, but ultimately, they\u0026rsquo;re going to lose just due to poor planning or bad card draws. I\u0026rsquo;d like to figure out how to properly play this game, but it might be a while.\nNot recommended (for now).\n","date":"23 May 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-stalled/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"through-the-ages\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/182028/through-ages-new-story-civilization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eThrough the Ages\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#through-the-ages\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/through-the-ages.jpg\" alt=\"Through the Ages\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 people\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we figure out how to play with wars and aggressions, our scores are slowly working their way up to peaceful-game-level scores. This game is so odd to me, that I\u0026rsquo;ve played it as much as I have in such a short time and the game takes hours to play. Most of my games have been online and that obviously helps, but even still, there\u0026rsquo;s a good number of face-to-face plays as well.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Stalled"},{"content":"Food Chain Magnate # 1 play with 2 players Played before I haven\u0026rsquo;t played a \u0026ldquo;full\u0026rdquo; game of this yet, but the more I play it, the more I like it. In the game, you\u0026rsquo;re building org charts, producing marketing campaigns (to drive demand of goods), and then satisfying demand (to make money).\nThis was the first game where we paid salaries and used reserve cards, before I had only played short games. However, we still didn\u0026rsquo;t play with milestones yet and I\u0026rsquo;m glad we left them out for now. In this game, it felt a bit one sided as I managed to get a lot of the good one-of cards and used them to really push into the lead.\nTentatively recommended, and even if I had a few games under my belt, this isn\u0026rsquo;t for everyone.\nSpookies # 3 plays with 2 players New to me This was a gift for my nephew, so it\u0026rsquo;ll be a while before I play again, but Spookies is a simple push-your-luck dice roller where being older and knowing more strategy won\u0026rsquo;t necessarily help you do better than the kids you\u0026rsquo;re playing with. In fact, I lost twice to my eight-year-old nephew!\nIt\u0026rsquo;s a simple design: roll a die to see what character you\u0026rsquo;ll move, then roll 2-4 dice to see if your character can get further into the neighborhood haunted house. The fewer dice you use, the more tokens (reward) you pick up. Once the pile of tokens is depleted, the game is over. The winner has the most points.\nThis is a game that I\u0026rsquo;ll likely pick up once my son gets a bit older, it\u0026rsquo;s just a nice simple design that requires some strategy and risk, while leveling the playing field.\nRecommended.\nMerchants \u0026amp; Marauders # 1 play with 3 players Played before I don\u0026rsquo;t get to play Merchants \u0026amp; Marauders often due to its length, but I absolutely love the feeling I get when playing this game. You get to pick what you want to do: be an honest merchant or turn pirate and plunder the high seas for all they\u0026rsquo;re worth. You have your ship and your captain and you go around the Caribbean in the age of sail. It\u0026rsquo;s glorious. It\u0026rsquo;s a game that I love playing regardless of how well I do.\nNot everything is roses though, you\u0026rsquo;re at the whim of the dice and tonight the dice were decidedly not in my favor, but so be it, I still got to attack merchant ships and ply my trade across the sea.\nRecommended, know what you\u0026rsquo;re getting yourself into.\n","date":"2 May 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-open-worlds-and-dice/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"food-chain-magnate\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175914/food-chain-magnate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eFood Chain Magnate\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#food-chain-magnate\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/food-chain-magnate.jpg\" alt=\"Food Chain Magnate\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI haven\u0026rsquo;t played a \u0026ldquo;full\u0026rdquo; game of this yet, but the more I play it, the more I like it. In the game, you\u0026rsquo;re building org charts, producing marketing campaigns (to drive demand of goods), and then satisfying demand (to make money).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Open Worlds and Dice"},{"content":"Raptor # 2 plays with 2 players Played before The more I play Raptor the more I appreciate how clever it is. Your choices are limited, but difficult and picking the right card is never as easy as looking only at your hand of three cards. Once you have a few plays under your belt, you\u0026rsquo;ll start to look at what your opponent has played and know what they need, with that in mind, you can play cards that directly counter those needs: know your scientist opponent needs more scientists on the board and he\u0026rsquo;s played his 6? Play your 2 so it\u0026rsquo;s a wasted card. I feel like this one has more depth the more I play it and I really appreciate owning it.\nHighly recommended.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 2 plays with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge My wife and I continue to really appreciate 7 Wonders: Duel as a great game for relatively new parent-gamers. If you want to play something, anything and you only have 30 minutes, you can easily knock out a game of 7 Wonders: Duel in that time with setup and cleanup. The tug-of-war between the different win conditions keeps you on your toes. While you can see what your opponent is trying for and the direction they are pursuing so you can put the kibosh on their potential science victory.\nHighly recommended.\nViticulture # 1 play with 2 players Played before Our two player games of Viticulture have been fun. I\u0026rsquo;ve enjoyed building up my winery, using the different visitors to further my goals, and then beginning to ship orders. In this particular game, we introduced the Mamas \u0026amp; the Papas, an expansion from Tuscany. They add a wrinkle to the setup so you start with something different from the other players, which I very much enjoyed.\nHowever, this is the second two player game in a row we\u0026rsquo;ve played that\u0026rsquo;s ended kinda flat. When one player has won the game, there\u0026rsquo;s usually very little the other player can do to catch up. Now, it\u0026rsquo;s unfair to toss the game out for this since that\u0026rsquo;s only happened in two games, but it\u0026rsquo;s something I\u0026rsquo;m a bit more aware of now. I\u0026rsquo;m still interested in playing it, but two players might not be the best way to play, we\u0026rsquo;ll have to try again to see.\nRecommended (still).\nEl Grande Big Box # 1 play with 4 players Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve only played this online before, but after seeing so much positive press about it, I wanted to play the physical version. Well, it was out of print and pricy, so I waited for the inevitable Big Box edition and here it is.\nI have a lot of positives about El Grande:\nIt\u0026rsquo;s super easy to teach It plays quickly (about an hour for the four of us) It changes nicely from round to round There\u0026rsquo;s a great cadence with a scoring round every three rounds The Castillo adds a memory challenge to the game The King forces hard decisions And really, I don\u0026rsquo;t have any negatives, it is a great game. However, I\u0026rsquo;m wondering if there\u0026rsquo;s room in my collection for both this and Mission: Red Planet. Both are excellent, play quickly, look great, and have plenty of variation. I like Mission: Red Planet\u0026rsquo;s role cards, but I also like El Grande\u0026rsquo;s power cards and how they\u0026rsquo;re permanent. There\u0026rsquo;s really no buts here, so I\u0026rsquo;m not sure what to do for the moment.\nRecommended.\nRisk: Star Wars Edition # 1 play with 4 players Played before This was the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve played Risk: Star Wars Edition as a four player game, and man it was a blast. I was one of the Empire players and we had an excellent start, with the Death Star just destroying entire sectors with almost every roll. The Rebels, however, were making progress on Endor to destroy the shield generator. The Millenium Falcon went down relatively early, but we never lost the Executor and just kept depositing TIE fighter son the board. In the end though, the Rebels managed to bring down the shields and promptly destroyed the Death Star! It was quick, fun, and full of tense die rolls.\nI think the team game is the way to play this game, it was an absolute riot and trash talking just came naturally.\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"26 April 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-dueling-caballeros/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"raptor\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/177639/raptor\" title=\"Raptor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eRaptor\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#raptor\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/raptor.jpg\" alt=\"Raptor\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 plays with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe more I play \u003cstrong\u003eRaptor\u003c/strong\u003e the more I appreciate how clever it is. Your choices are limited, but difficult and picking the right card is never as easy as looking \u003cem\u003eonly\u003c/em\u003e at your hand of three cards. Once you have a few plays under your belt, you\u0026rsquo;ll start to look at what your opponent has played and know what they need, with that in mind, you can play cards that directly counter those needs: know your scientist opponent needs more scientists on the board and he\u0026rsquo;s played his 6? Play your 2 so it\u0026rsquo;s a wasted card. I feel like this one has more depth the more I play it and I really appreciate owning it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Dueling Caballeros"},{"content":"Russian Railroads # 1 play with 3 players Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve played Russian Railroads before, but I hadn\u0026rsquo;t played the German Railroads expansion before, so I suggested playing a game online this week with my co-workers. I like the few changes made to the base game, but I realized that the game doesn\u0026rsquo;t do enough for me to bother keeping it. It\u0026rsquo;s a straight efficiency puzzle and I\u0026rsquo;m realizing over time that those kinds of games are interesting at first blush, but become old quickly for me.\nNot recommended unless you\u0026rsquo;re a fan of low-conflict efficiency puzzles.\nKeyflower # 1 play with 3 players Played before Now, comparing Russian Railroads to Keyflower, you\u0026rsquo;d think that I would just dismiss Keyflower as well, but I\u0026rsquo;m glad we got to play because there\u0026rsquo;s a lot more interaction going on here. Yes, the game is about efficiency, but between the bidding and using other people\u0026rsquo;s tiles you\u0026rsquo;re interacting with everyone quite a bit. I also feel like there are lots of different strategies that you can try out.\nRecommended.\nThrough the Ages # 1 play with 2 players Played before This was the first game I\u0026rsquo;ve played with aggressions and wars and it was a far lower scoring game than any of the previous games we\u0026rsquo;ve played. I was aggressive very early and had forgotten how the aggressions worked and lost most of them, but eventually turned the tide. I found it interesting that there were clear inflection points where my civilization went from the military power, to pacifist, and back to military power again. This game (which was online) also showed me a few rules I had been getting wrong and indicated to me that I need to go back to the rulebook to learn how aggressions and wars work.\nHighly recommended.\nFood Chain Magnate # 1 play with 3 players, 1 play with 2 players New to me It\u0026rsquo;s hard to judge this one since I\u0026rsquo;ve only played two \u0026ldquo;short\u0026rdquo; games without milestones, but I think I\u0026rsquo;ll enjoy this one once I manage to play a longer game. The building of your business and your employees is really interesting, and how you build out your org chart to represent what you can do in a turn is unique (at least to me it is). I have concerns about how new players will likely lose when playing for the first time, but I do think there\u0026rsquo;s an audience for a cutthroat economic game like this one.\nNot sure yet. Come back later.\n","date":"19 April 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-online-only/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"russian-railroads\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/144733/russian-railroads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eRussian Railroads\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#russian-railroads\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/russian-railroads.jpg\" alt=\"Russian Railroads\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve played \u003cstrong\u003eRussian Railroads\u003c/strong\u003e before, but I hadn\u0026rsquo;t played the \u003cstrong\u003eGerman Railroads\u003c/strong\u003e expansion before, so I suggested playing a game online this week with my co-workers. I like the few changes made to the base game, but I realized that the game doesn\u0026rsquo;t do enough for me to bother keeping it. It\u0026rsquo;s a straight efficiency puzzle and I\u0026rsquo;m realizing over time that those kinds of games are interesting at first blush, but become old quickly for me.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Online Only"},{"content":"Istanbul # 2 plays with 2 players Played before This was a game that my wife asked me to buy and taught me to play. That\u0026rsquo;s reason enough in my book to keep it and play it from time to time, but I do enjoy the choices I have in Istanbul: the path to take, the actions to use, how to reclaim your assistants and what to do with your wisecracking family member who always seems to end up at the police station for one reason or another.\nWe played twice and both plays took about 20-30 minutes a piece\u0026mdash;pretty snappy. The first game was a little lopsided as I attempted to remember how to play the game well. The second game was much more what I remember: close games where the decisions feel like they matter. In both games though, I can look back and recognize a few errors, namely going for the wrong goods at the start.\nI\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to trying out the expansion at some point, but for now the base game is pretty good.\nTentatively recommended.\nThrough the Ages # 2 plays with 2 players Played before Funny enough, these two plays were with the same player, but one was an in-person game that we played in the middle of another ongoing online game. That\u0026rsquo;s not what we intended, but playing in-person really helped explain the game to my opponent.\nI\u0026rsquo;m not sure what there is to say any more about this game. It\u0026rsquo;s excellent, one of the very best games I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played. Clearly, it\u0026rsquo;s not for everyone, but for those who want something rich, with lots of meaningful decisions, and an incredible feeling of progression, you really owe it to yourself to try this.\nHighly recommended. One of the best games.\nKemet # 1 play with 3 players Played before Wow, it had been so long since I had last played Kemet, more than a year and after playing it, I\u0026rsquo;m not sure I can let that happen again. Kemet is a very aggressive game that encourages getting in each other\u0026rsquo;s faces while building out your abilities. Want to play a highly defensive game? Go for it, that\u0026rsquo;s an option. Want to be incredibly aggressive? Another excellent choice. In this particular game, I loved the tension created when I started to do well and earned the ire of my opponents. Self-balancing games tend to do pretty well for me, as long as my opponents are into it, and this is no different. It certainly helps that you call attention to yourself as you earn points.\nHighly recommended. I want to play more of this.\n","date":"11 April 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-istanbul-and-constantinople/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"istanbul\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148949/istanbul\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eIstanbul\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#istanbul\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/istanbul.jpg\" alt=\"Istanbul\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 plays with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was a game that my wife asked me to buy and taught me to play. That\u0026rsquo;s reason enough in my book to keep it and play it from time to time, but I do enjoy the choices I have in Istanbul: the path to take, the actions to use, how to reclaim your assistants and what to do with your wisecracking family member who always seems to end up at the police station for one reason or another.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Istanbul and Constantinople"},{"content":"Alchemists # 1 play with 4 players Played before In a previous week, I played a two player game of Alchemists and didn\u0026rsquo;t have a great time with it mostly due to my own poor record keeping, but the game permits it and does nothing to help you out (an in-app history would be lovely). A friend of mine wanted to try it out and I agreed. I figured it would be a good reason to get the game back out to see if my dislike was founded.\nWell, it was and it wasn\u0026rsquo;t. When reading out the rules, I kept harping on one very important point:\nDouble and triple check your results and ensure you\u0026rsquo;re putting the right result in the right space.\nAs long as you do this, the game is fine. It slows down a bit, but I\u0026rsquo;ve never had an issue with the length of Alchemists anyways. In my eyes, the game is redeemed, so long as you never go in with the mindset of playing a quick game.\nRecommended.\nArcadia Quest # 1 play with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge This was the sixth and final game of our campaign. As we went into this one, there were a few ties for medals, with Dane and myself in the lead. The last game of the campaign is different from the previous five: dying results in you getting a death curse immediately, monsters do not respawn, and there\u0026rsquo;s only one quest: kill the boss. The vast simplification of the game combined with our increased knowledge of the rules lead to a much faster playing game that was more fun that previous matches. The whole thing was tense, with kill stealing left and right, but with no PVP kills\u0026mdash;there was no point. The winner of this game was Scott, but I ended up winning the campaign due to tying on several of the medals. In the end, it wasn\u0026rsquo;t the winning that mattered at all here, it was the dice chucking and the trash talking. Sign me up for the next campaign.\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"5 April 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-the-as-have-it/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"alchemists\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161970/alchemists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eAlchemists\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#alchemists\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/alchemists.png\" alt=\"Alchemists\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 4 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ca href=\"https://wesbaker.com/posts/view/the-re-review-ketchup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003ea previous week\u003c/a\u003e, I played a two player game of \u003cstrong\u003eAlchemists\u003c/strong\u003e and didn\u0026rsquo;t have a great time with it mostly due to my own poor record keeping, but the game permits it and does nothing to help you out (an in-app history would be lovely). A friend of mine wanted to try it out and I agreed. I figured it would be a good reason to get the game back out to see if my dislike was founded.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: The A's Have It"},{"content":"Arcadia Quest # 1 play with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge This was the fifth game of our six game campaign and the end is near. This particular play was bittersweet as it was the last one where got to buy new loot. One thing to keep in mind with these campaigns is that the games seem to get longer and longer as the game goes one. We could once play two rounds in one evening and getting in one is tight. I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to the last game in the campaign and starting another campaign later this year.\nRecommended.\nThrough the Ages # 1 play with 2 players Played before This was an online play with a friend of mine and my trajectory continues to be the same: weak at the beginning with a strong finish for the win, typically powered by science combined with excellent wonders to earn me vast amounts of points.\nHighly recommended. Top 5\nViticulture # 1 play with 2 players Played before I somehow snuck in a new game with my wife and I figured she\u0026rsquo;d be interested in learning Viticulture. This game fits really nicely in the same spot as something like Stone Age, but it has it\u0026rsquo;s own unique spin on the genre as well. In addition, there\u0026rsquo;s plenty of additional content thanks to Tuscany having the different modular expansions. I\u0026rsquo;ve added the \u0026ldquo;Advanced\u0026rdquo; visitor cards to smooth things out, but we haven\u0026rsquo;t tried anything else. Next game, we\u0026rsquo;re definitely trying the Mamas and the Papas.\nRecommended.\nMonikers # 1 play with 10 people Played before Ever since I actually read the rules to Monikers and played it as a team game, I like it even better than when I had been taught the game as an individual player game. In this particular game we started out as boys vs girls, but it ended up being boys vs all-of-the-girls-and-then-one-guy. As always, the game is the best when people get silly and the charades are always the best round as people struggle with the different clues they have to act out. This is the first game where I\u0026rsquo;ve happily had people make cards for the game because I love inserting my friends\u0026rsquo; personality into the game we play together.\nHighly recommended.\nMission: Red Planet # 1 play with 5 players Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve had a lot of luck with this game lately and decided to bring it to my friend\u0026rsquo;s birthday party. This is also the largest game of Mission: Red Planet that I\u0026rsquo;ve played and I hear it\u0026rsquo;s a bit too chaotic at 6. However, I have a hard time believing that given how much fun it was with 5 people versus 4. The board wasn\u0026rsquo;t too crowded, we weren\u0026rsquo;t killing each other off every round, and the points were relatively close. My gut says the game isn\u0026rsquo;t super balanced (sometimes it\u0026rsquo;s a struggle to get additional missions), but it\u0026rsquo;s still a lot of fun to play and the components are top notch.\nRecommended.\nSpecter Ops # 1 play with 4 players Played before I had played Specter Ops once a while back with two players and I wasn\u0026rsquo;t super impressed with it, but I ended up picking it up anyway at some point. It languished on my shelf and I finally got it to the table. I played as the agent and managed to accomplish three of my objectives while my friends couldn\u0026rsquo;t find me for much of that, but when I went to make my escape they found me and chased me down.\nAt the beginning of this particular game, it seemed hopeless for my friends, and once discovered it seemed hopeless for me. One of the hunters put it this way:\nIt felt like a chore.\nWhile I did have some fun with it, I agree with him, a lot of the game felt like a chore and felt somewhat prescribed. This one\u0026rsquo;s going to the sell pile.\nNot recommended.\nCosmic Encounter # 1 play with 6 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge This was the single strangest game of Cosmic Encounter that I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played. Here\u0026rsquo;s the setup:\nDane: Extortionist - Can take half of your cards or force you to lose a ship Stacey: Bulwark - Can only lose one ship at most JP: Lunatic - Can ally with both sides Scott: Relic - Gets bonuses whenever someone has to draw new cards Brian: Tourist - Can get foreign colonies using his cruise ship Wes: Masochist - Wins if loses every ship So the key part\u0026ndash;in my mind\u0026ndash;is that my goal was to lose every ship I had. This totally flipped the game on it\u0026rsquo;s head for me and turned it into a Brewster\u0026rsquo;s Millions sort of situation and I was all for that. I steadily lost ships, though never hurting my allies and always pushing them away if I knew I was going down. At the same time, I made sure to always take advantage of losing ships in whatever way I could muster. There were weird situations were my friends would figure out ways to get me to win so I had to lose my ships, but I still managed to get rid of them. Then, I was down to three ships and I had two negotiate cards in my hand. I played the negotiate card and my opponent did as well meaning we had a minute to make a deal, otherwise we lose three ships. At that point, I just said no thanks to any deal he could give me and won the game.\nIt was a touch anticlimactic, but man the game itself really made me think compared to other plays of Cosmic Encounter that I\u0026rsquo;ve played in the past.\nHighly recommended. Top 1\nStockpile # 1 play with 5 players Played before Stockpile is a Ticket to Ride weight stock management game with fairly simple mechanics and a fun supply-and-demand system that encourages quick selling and smart buying. This was the first time that I played with the role cards that give you special player powers and it was a fun twist on the game, though I think there are some duds in the deck.\nRecommended.\n","date":"29 March 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-back-to-cosmic/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"arcadia-quest\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155068/arcadia-quest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eArcadia Quest\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#arcadia-quest\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/arcadia-quest.jpg\" alt=\"Arcadia Quest\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 4 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"#\"\u003emy 2016 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was the fifth game of our six game campaign and the end is near. This particular play was bittersweet as it was the last one where got to buy new loot. One thing to keep in mind with these campaigns is that the games seem to get longer and longer as the game goes one. We could once play two rounds in one evening and getting in one is tight. I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to the last game in the campaign and starting another campaign later this year.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Back to Cosmic"},{"content":"Blood Rage # 1 play with 3 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I only recorded one play here, but really there were one and a half. We called off the first game midway through the second age after myself and another player realized we\u0026rsquo;d never catch up to the other player. Frustrated, we reset and had a much more balanced game (that I ended up winning after trailing for much of the game).\nThe first play, the aborted one, makes me worry a bit about this game. I love the play style of going around and destroying everyone, but there seems to be an ability for one player to develop an almost unstoppable machine. On the other hand, there are cards that can directly counter these strategies (combat cards that destroy all but one unit) and I suspect a four player game would have fewer of these issues. It\u0026rsquo;s not going anywhere, but I\u0026rsquo;m a little less enchanted with it at the moment.\nTentatively recommended.\nConcordia # 1 play with 2 players Played before I have a list of games that I\u0026rsquo;m trying to teach my wife so I can further whittle down my game collection. Concordia was a game I had been seeing plenty of, in particular Shut Up \u0026amp; Sit Down had a very positive review recently and it made me want to bring it back out and try it again.\nWe sat down and I taught her the rules and in what felt like less than an hour, we were done. The game was a very close one and I feel like all of my decisions matter. There\u0026rsquo;s never a time where I\u0026rsquo;m just doing something because I have a turn and I\u0026rsquo;m waiting on something else. There\u0026rsquo;s a bit of an efficiency puzzle here, but it\u0026rsquo;s more about dealing with the cards you have and the spread of cities.\nRecommended.\nTwilight Struggle # 1 play with 2 players Played before And so begins the games that were played at the two player game day I just held at my house. A friend of mine asked to play Twilight Struggle so I set it up before he came over figuring this was the most complicated game to setup. We sat down, me as the USSR and him as the US and went over the rules real quick (he had already read the rulebook).\nEurope was a bit of a battleground for the first turn or so, with me losing my hold over it in the beginning and pulling back ahead once De Gaulle took France. Nassar showed up in Egypt early, but never amounted to enough, as the US scored points in the Middle East. I think it was around turn 4 or 5 when I managed to get a very good hold on Africa and managed to score 6 points winning me the game.\nNow, this isn\u0026rsquo;t fair. I\u0026rsquo;ve played the game before and had a handle on what cards were coming out, so I knew what to expect and how to best handle the cards coming my way. Still, I\u0026rsquo;m pretty sure my opponent enjoyed himself and would play again.\nRecommended, but understand it\u0026rsquo;s a three hour game about The Cold War and, thematically, it has very little conversation.\nThe Duke # 1 play with 2 players Played before I\u0026rsquo;m not big on chess. I understand the mechanics, but I don\u0026rsquo;t enjoy the static setup or the lifestyle game nature of it. I\u0026rsquo;m also not big on abstract games, most of the games in my collection have some sort of theme, no matter how pasted-on it might be. The Duke on the other hand, feels like an abstract game made for me:\nVariable setup dependent on the players Random draw to determine the pieces each player gets (besides their starting pieces) Changing movement for each piece, clearly printed on the piece In this game, my opponent did a great job of boxing me in and making sure my Duke (sorta like the king from chess) couldn\u0026rsquo;t get away from his pieces. A great little game.\nRecommended.\nClaustrophobia # 1 play with 2 players Played before Alright, now for something completely different. We\u0026rsquo;re out of the Cold War and the medieval battlefields and down under the city in the catacombs fighting troglodytes and demons. Oh and there are a lot more dice involved.\nClaustrophobia is asymmetric, two-player, dungeon crawler where one person is the good guys and the other player is the bad guys. The human side has to be wary of taking damage because it severely limits his ability to move (to get out of the dungeon and complete quests) and attack. The demon side on the other hand, has to figure out how to best spend his resources in order to stop the human side, and how to best deploy his troops to get them to the human characters as fast as possible.\nThis is a game that rewards repeated play because given a solid understanding, the game shouldn\u0026rsquo;t take more than 45 minutes to an hour, and at that length it\u0026rsquo;s a great little game.\nRecommended.\nRaptor # 2 plays with 2 players New to me Raptor completely surprised me. It\u0026rsquo;s a two player, asymmetric, card game with a board where one player represents the scientists and the other side is a momma raptor with her five baby raptors. The scientists are trying to either capture three baby raptors or tranquilize the momma raptor five times (all for science of course). While that\u0026rsquo;s happening, momma raptor is trying to help her babies escape (maybe eating a scientist or two along the way). Each turn you have a hand of three cards from a deck of nine cards number 1-9. Each card has a number and an action. Both cards are revealed simultaneously and the low card\u0026rsquo;s action happen while the person who played the high card gets a number of actions equal to the difference between their card and their opponent\u0026rsquo;s card.\nThe game had a lot of tough decisions with a real economy of rules, choices, and pieces. The fact that it\u0026rsquo;s a 30 minute (or less) game doesn\u0026rsquo;t hurt matters either. In my mind, this game is nearly as good as 7 Wonders: Duel and Battle Line for short two player games (good for the new parent crowd).\nHighly recommended.\nBattle Line # 1 play with 2 players Played before One of the folks who came to the game day was interested in learning Battle Line so we sat down to play while waiting on dinner to arrive. I decided that for teaching, we\u0026rsquo;d remove the tactics cards and play with the rule where you can claim flags right away instead of at the beginning of your next turn (which is mostly irrelevant if you don\u0026rsquo;t have tactics cards anyways). I felt like those rules made it a lot easier to teach and grok the rules, but the strategy of it is still a hard nut to crack. When do you play which cards and on what flag? Do you spread out your strength or go for the three-flag push?\nRecommended.\nBattleLore # 1 play with 2 players Played before Oh man, I don\u0026rsquo;t play nearly enough BattleLore. It\u0026rsquo;s such a great two player game and I had forgotten how quick it is. When you\u0026rsquo;re earning 1-2 points per turn and you play to 16 points, the game is over in 8-12 rounds.\nIn this particular game I played as Uthuk Y’llan and my opponent was the Daqan Lords. My army was strong, but few as I went for one of the setups that had fewer, but stronger troops, while my opponent went for a more balanced force of cavalry, archers, infantry, and the big flying unit. I started off and immediately went for the victory point marker close to me and also went for the victory point condition that my scenario card dictated: one point per turn where I occupy and forest, hill, and clear hex. From there on out, I was earning at least two points a turn and sometimes three when I pushed into my opponent\u0026rsquo;s side of the board.\nWith some lucky rolls here and there and some good lore cards, I managed to win. I really do like the changes they\u0026rsquo;ve made to BattleLore, it\u0026rsquo;s just a quicker game, with a reasonable end goal in mind, and a much smoother system for handling lore (yay for no more council!).\nRecommended.\nRisk: Star Wars Edition # 1 play with 2 players New to me This was the last game of the night and it was perfect for that. Risk: Star Wars Edition is basically a dice-fest, but it\u0026rsquo;s not quite what you\u0026rsquo;re expecting when you hear Risk. Instead of just tromping over a map of Earth, you\u0026rsquo;re looking at a three sectioned board:\nOn your left you have the Battle of Endor, where the Imperials will be defending their shield generator and the Rebels will be pushing further and further in, in order to destroy the generator. On your right you have the battle between Darth Vader and Luke, as you both struggle to destroy (or redeem) the other. In the center, you have a map of space with the Death Star in the middle surrounded by sectors containing TIE fighters, X-Wings, Y-Wings, and B-Wings. At the beginning of each round you\u0026rsquo;re going to pick three of six cards in hand and play them into a stack. These cards show 2-3 symbols: ships (move and then attack), a lightsaber for the fight between Vader and Luke, a symbol representing the fight for Endor, a Death Star (which can destroy entire sectors containing ships), force lightning (which just damages Luke), and Darth Vader (which can be used to redeem Vader if he\u0026rsquo;s hurt enough). From there, players will alternate and reveal cards, playing one of the available actions.\nThe Rebels want to take down the shield generator and attack the Death Star, destroying it on a roll of 6. The Imperials want to destroy every ship the Rebels have available to them.\nI think this is a solid game, nothing heavy, just a simple dice-chucking game that\u0026rsquo;s over in 45 minutes or less. It\u0026rsquo;s almost filler weight in it\u0026rsquo;s mechanics, but you do feel some meaning in your decisions.\nRecommend.\n","date":"20 March 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-two-player-game-day-edition/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"blood-rage\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170216/blood-rage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eBlood Rage\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#blood-rage\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/blood-rage.jpg\" alt=\"Blood Rage\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/202712/wesbakers-2016-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 2016 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI only recorded one play here, but really there were one and a half. We called off the first game midway through the second age after myself and another player realized we\u0026rsquo;d never catch up to the other player. Frustrated, we reset and had a much more balanced game (that I ended up winning after trailing for much of the game).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Two Player Game Day Edition"},{"content":"Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization # 1 play with 2 players Played before This was the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve played the game online at boardgaming-online.com and while the interface there leaves a lot to be desired, it has the updated rules and it\u0026rsquo;s still the same great game I know and love. I seem to have a knack for doing poorly at the beginning and really pulling ahead in the end. Also, most of my games have me largely ignoring military and floundering a bit in the beginning as a result. Still, the power of fast food and Bill Gates let me pull from behind in this game.\nHighly recommended.\nCash \u0026rsquo;n Guns # 1 play with 8 players Played before There\u0026rsquo;s nothing quite like an eight player game of Cash \u0026rsquo;n Guns. Everyone is getting shot and taking risks and grabbing all the loot. Add in the unique player powers and you\u0026rsquo;re having a great time, really. I have to remember how good of a game this is and bring it out more.\nRecommended.\nCodenames # 2 plays with 10 players Played before I still really enjoy Codenames with it\u0026rsquo;s endless replayability and teachability. It handled 10 players with aplomb and I really have no qualms about playing with that number, even with new gamers.\nHighly recommended.\nDale of Merchants # 1 play with 4 players New to me I picked this game up based on Tom Vasel\u0026rsquo;s review. It looked like a nice simple deck builder of sorts, but one with player interaction, a progression curve, and some variability in the setup leading to different games. I\u0026rsquo;d say it has that, but it\u0026rsquo;s not entirely fair for me to judge the game quite yet because I botched a rule when teaching that really threw off the game: we didn\u0026rsquo;t take bonus actions with the bonus action cards, making them kinda worthless. Still, the game seemed interesting and I liked the building of stalls and the ebb and flow of your deck.\nTentatively recommended.\nBattle Line # 2 plays with 2 players Played before For some reason, this game doesn\u0026rsquo;t get play that much and when it does it\u0026rsquo;s several games all at once. It is a good game, a great one even. I love how well the game depicts a line clashing soldiers and the back-and-forth between them. I would say that this game feels more thematic then it looks though. Yes, you get the feeling of being in battle when you\u0026rsquo;re trying to figure out how your line can push through in one place or poke a bunch of holes in the enemy line, but creating sets gets away from the theme pretty fast. Still, it\u0026rsquo;s a great game.\nRecommended.\n","date":"14 March 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-quick-ones/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilization\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/182028/through-ages-new-story-civilization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eThrough the Ages: A New Story of Civilization\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilization\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/through-the-ages.jpg\" alt=\"Through the Ages\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve played the game online at \u003ca href=\"http://boardgaming-online.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eboardgaming-online.com\u003c/a\u003e and while the interface there leaves a lot to be desired, it has the updated rules and it\u0026rsquo;s still the same great game I know and love. I seem to have a knack for doing poorly at the beginning and really pulling ahead in the end. Also, most of my games have me largely ignoring military and floundering a bit in the beginning as a result. Still, the power of fast food and Bill Gates let me pull from behind in this game.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Quick Ones"},{"content":"Roll for the Galaxy # 2 plays with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge The shine is starting to wear off to some degree. Most of our plays have ended with a landslide victory, or at least it feels that way to the loser. We still enjoy the buildup of the game and the engine building, but losing feels worse than it used to. We\u0026rsquo;ll likely try to finish up our 10 plays to see if it is as bad as we think, but we won\u0026rsquo;t force ourselves to finish if it\u0026rsquo;s truly wearing thin on us. On the other hand, we\u0026rsquo;re at 14 total plays, so I feel like I\u0026rsquo;ve gotten my money\u0026rsquo;s worth.\nTentatively recommended.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 2 plays with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge This game on the other hand is getting closer and closer. In our most recent game, Shannon and I both came close to alternative victories (science for myself and military for her), but we ended up scoring points and I barely managed a win at 79-75. I love what this game has done with so few components and such a clean experience. It\u0026rsquo;s fast and easy to teach.\nHighly recommended.\nCodenames # 2 plays with 6 players Played before Codenames is one of those games that will come out time and time again when we have large groups. It\u0026rsquo;s hard to play just once and it rewards creativity and taking risks.\nHighly recommended.\nWits \u0026amp; Wagers # 1 play with 8 players Played before The second of three party games we played in one night, Wits \u0026amp; Wagers is a trivia game for people who hate trivia games. Instead of having to know the answer yourself, you just need to have either a ballpark figure or an idea of who actually knows the answer. Bet on the right answers and you\u0026rsquo;ll win. Pretty simple stuff.\nRecommended for a crowd.\nMonikers # 1 play with 7 players Played before This was the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played Monikers as described in the rules. However, this is based off an older folk game, so it\u0026rsquo;s fitting that you can mold and shape it to be what you want it to be. However, we played the rules as written, divided up into teams and scored points. I liked the team play, the only problem was holding back answers when the other team was playing, but that\u0026rsquo;s a good problem to have. I keep letting the winners make cards and it should be interesting to see the game after we\u0026rsquo;ve plowed through those.\nRecommended.\nThrough the Ages: A New Story of Civilization # 1 play with 2 players Played before Listen, I talked about this game recently and I mentioned that it\u0026rsquo;s easily in my Top 10. It\u0026rsquo;s a fantastic game with smooth mechanics and a sense of progression as you build up from an ancient society to modern day life. This is likely a Top 5 game for me, I just don\u0026rsquo;t know what it would oust. If you haven\u0026rsquo;t played this because it\u0026rsquo;s missing a map or because it looks too complicated or would take too long, then do yourself a favor and try it out online. It\u0026rsquo;s free to sign up and can be played out over the course of several weeks. Then, once you\u0026rsquo;re hooked, pick up a copy.\nHighly recommended. One of the best games I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played.\nAlchemists # 1 play with 2 players Played before Hmm, this particular play of Alchemists worries me a bit. I really love what Alchemists did when it introduced an app into game play, and how it made a deduction game without having a cat-and-mouse sort of chase. However, if you make one small mistake in your cauldron (by putting the wrong result in the right place, or the right result in the wrong place) you\u0026rsquo;re done. The earlier that happens, the worse an experience you\u0026rsquo;re going to have when you realize that everything is all wrong. That being said, I\u0026rsquo;m not selling this one yet as I want to try it again playing a bit slower and more deliberately to see if it\u0026rsquo;s as good as I recall.\nRecommendation on hold.\nPort Royal # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Port Royal is a cute push-your-luck game, ostensibly about being a pirate or something, I\u0026rsquo;m not sure. Either way, it\u0026rsquo;s fun to try and see how much you can get away with. This was the first time Shannon had played the game and I think she liked it for what it is, a filler.\nRecommended.\nArcadia Quest # 1 play with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge The campaign continues and I managed to squeak out a victory here by taking advantage of Scott being in the wrong place at the right time. We\u0026rsquo;re still finding rules that I managed to botch, but for the most part things are starting to go pretty smoothly. The games are getting a bit longer as we progress through the more difficult and larger levels, but I think the play length should remain under two hours per game (nothing like the hour per game at the beginning of the campaign).\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"9 March 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-ketchup/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"roll-for-the-galaxy\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/132531/roll-galaxy\" title=\"Roll for the Galaxy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eRoll for the Galaxy\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#roll-for-the-galaxy\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/roll-for-the-galaxy.jpg\" alt=\"Roll for the Galaxy\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 plays with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/202712/wesbakers-2016-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 2016 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shine is starting to wear off to some degree. Most of our plays have ended with a landslide victory, or at least it feels that way to the loser. We still enjoy the buildup of the game and the engine building, but losing feels worse than it used to. We\u0026rsquo;ll likely try to finish up our 10 plays to see if it is as bad as we think, but we won\u0026rsquo;t force ourselves to finish if it\u0026rsquo;s truly wearing thin on us. On the other hand, we\u0026rsquo;re at 14 total plays, so I feel like I\u0026rsquo;ve gotten my money\u0026rsquo;s worth.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Ketchup"},{"content":"Arcadia Quest # 1 play with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Continuing our ongoing campaign, I took my loot from the last game and soundly won this particular game. I managed to win by scooting around the board quite a bit and using a take another turn potion to finish the match. I also had a lot of money after this particular game, so it\u0026rsquo;ll be interesting to see how things play out in the 4th game of the series.\nHighly recommended, especially if you can swing campaign play.\nBetween Two Cities # 1 play with 4 players Played before I like Between Two Cities quite a bit, it\u0026rsquo;s easily taught and plays fast and is a great closer for a night. However, I\u0026rsquo;m still having a hard time figuring out exactly how to win. That\u0026rsquo;s not a bad thing, but my concern is how much control do I have over the situation? Arguably a lot, but when you\u0026rsquo;re working with two other players, you\u0026rsquo;re admittedly at the mercy of others. Still, I happily play this one, but I have some minor doubts.\nTentatively recommended.\n","date":"1 March 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-light-edition/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"arcadia-quest\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155068/arcadia-quest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eArcadia Quest\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#arcadia-quest\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/arcadia-quest.jpg\" alt=\"Arcadia Quest\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 4 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/202712/wesbakers-2016-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 2016 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContinuing our ongoing campaign, I took my loot from the last game and soundly won this particular game. I managed to win by scooting around the board quite a bit and using a take another turn potion to finish the match. I also had a lot of money after this particular game, so it\u0026rsquo;ll be interesting to see how things play out in the 4th game of the series.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Light Edition"},{"content":"For Sale # 1 play with 6 players Played before I had only played this once before and didn\u0026rsquo;t really get to see its hook because I was preoccupied with starting a board game group. I\u0026rsquo;m glad I played it again because it certainly seems to pack in a bunch of interesting decisions: do I pass now and keep my money? Do I use my best property on this turn to get the largest money card or go low because everyone else is going high? Is keeping money a viable strategy? Lots of interesting questions and it\u0026rsquo;s easily played in 15 minutes or so. My biggest concern is teaching the game because the two parts of the game lead to confusion for new players. I\u0026rsquo;ll definitely bring this out again and hopefully I can refine my ability to teach it.\nRecommended.\nSurvive: Escape from Atlantis! # 1 play with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Man, I got picked on in this game and managed to only get one guy off the island and he was a measly 1 pointer! Still, this is always a fun game where you gleefully destroy someone else\u0026rsquo;s boat full of delicious, juicy meeples. That and it plays fast and is easily taught.\nHighly recommended, just be wary of butthurt.\nTelestrations # 2 plays with 8 players Played before Telestrations is always good for a laugh at the end of the night. My highlight of the night is when someone passed me a guess of \u0026ldquo;Religious Intolerance\u0026rdquo; and I proceeded to draw the Spanish Inquisition in alarming detail.\nRecommended with large groups.\nPandemic Legacy: Season 1 # 2 plays with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Our campaign continues! We managed to lose both games in February, but then won our first game in March, so onwards to April! The change that came in for March was a little underwhelming so far, but maybe something else shows up later that makes it better? I\u0026rsquo;m not sure yet.\nRecommended.\n","date":"22 February 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-money-meeples-mocked-art-and-managed-diseases/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"for-sale\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172/sale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eFor Sale\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#for-sale\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/for-sale.jpg\" alt=\"For Sale\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 6 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI had only played this once before and didn\u0026rsquo;t really get to see its hook because I was preoccupied with starting a board game group. I\u0026rsquo;m glad I played it again because it certainly seems to pack in a bunch of interesting decisions: do I pass now and keep my money? Do I use my best property on this turn to get the largest money card or go low because everyone else is going high? Is keeping money a viable strategy? Lots of interesting questions and it\u0026rsquo;s easily played in 15 minutes or so. My biggest concern is teaching the game because the two parts of the game lead to confusion for new players. I\u0026rsquo;ll definitely bring this out again and hopefully I can refine my ability to teach it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Money, Meeples, Mocked Art, and Managed Diseases"},{"content":"Arcadia Quest # 2 plays with 4 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Arcadia Quest is on my 10x10 because it\u0026rsquo;s one of those punchy, fun games that lets you just bash your friends on your way to victory, collect loot along the way, and be awarded superlatives and titles for your hard work. We just started a campaign and two games in I have no victories, but a lot of goodies because of all of the money I acquired. Even still, the loot won\u0026rsquo;t unbalance the game for long as each game leads to better and better stuff.\nRecommended for the right crowd.\nAndroid # 1 play with 3 players Played before I played Android once before and thought it did some interesting things. Namely, it provides a lot of story in an interesting and tight framework. That being said, there\u0026rsquo;s an overwhelming number of rules at first blush. After you play for a few rounds, it\u0026rsquo;s not too bad though and it starts to flow. Still, it\u0026rsquo;s a long game and a lot of turns you\u0026rsquo;re left staring at the board wondering what to do. I found myself asking my friends if I could undo my turn because I noticed a problem here or there with what I did. That definitely drew the game out a bit, but it would go away with time.\nAndroid isn\u0026rsquo;t a bad game by any means. It has an interesting theme and setting, and some mechanics I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen in many places. Yet, I\u0026rsquo;m not dying to play it again (even if I think there\u0026rsquo;s a good amount of replayability). I guess, I feel that the game isn\u0026rsquo;t worth the amount of time it takes to play.\nRecommended to play at least once, but I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t recommend buying it.\n","date":"15 February 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-rolling-dice-and-making-a-case/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"arcadia-quest\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155068/arcadia-quest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eArcadia Quest\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#arcadia-quest\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/arcadia-quest.jpg\" alt=\"Arcadia Quest\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 plays with 4 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/202712/wesbakers-2016-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 2016 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArcadia Quest\u003c/strong\u003e is on my 10x10 because it\u0026rsquo;s one of those punchy, fun games that lets you just bash your friends on your way to victory, collect loot along the way, and be awarded superlatives and titles for your hard work. We just started a campaign and two games in I have no victories, but a lot of goodies because of all of the money I acquired. Even still, the loot won\u0026rsquo;t unbalance the game for long as each game leads to better and better stuff.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Rolling Dice and Making a Case"},{"content":"Blood Rage # 1 play with 3 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Blood Rage continues to be a really fun game. In this particular game, the winner ended up with an insurmountable force in the second age and myself and the other player never managed to get around that, though I did come within 10 points of the winner. I know there are cards that help the loser gain points, but I don\u0026rsquo;t recall seeing much of them. Ah well, next time.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I really do enjoy 7 Wonders: Duel, even if it made me realize that any game with small cards needs to be sleeved just for ease of shuffling. In this particular game, I managed to win via Science with my very last card draft. If I hadn\u0026rsquo;t managed to claim that 6th symbol, I\u0026rsquo;m fairly certain my opponent would have won. Always a bit of a gamble to go for military or science victories.\nRoll for the Galaxy # 2 plays with 2 players Played before First time with Roll for the Galaxy: Ambition Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge My wife and I played two games of Roll for the Galaxy in a row, namely because she did so well and I did so poorly in our first game that I had to have a rematch. In that particular game, she managed to create a money generating engine that allowed her to not really have any dips where she wasn\u0026rsquo;t rolling gobs of dice, whereas I had turns of rolling one die. It\u0026rsquo;s no fun to lose, but it was even less fun to have one tiny decision while your opponent is trying to decide what to do with their ten dice.\nIn our second game, it felt like we traded places to some degree. She had that same dip where she had very few dice to roll due to a shortage of cash while I had a tiny engine that kept me at least rolling three dice a turn.\nI\u0026rsquo;m still happy playing this game, but this was the first time where we both saw a less-than-fun side of this game.\nClash of Cultures # 1 play with 4 players Played before There\u0026rsquo;s nothing quite like taking a tiny little civilization and seeing it grow and expand. I have many 4x games, but I really do like the technology tree of Clash of Cultures, I like how you can strategize your advances to fit your strategy or the strategy of your civilization (oddly enough, Rome became known for their seafaring). The end scores were pretty close in our game, though I felt like I could have done better if I had been more aggressive with my military.\nHomeland # 1 play with 3 players New to me Homeland promised to take some of what makes Battlestar Galactica interesting and pare it down to a 90 minute length. I\u0026rsquo;m not a huge fan of the Battlestar license and I\u0026rsquo;ve only played the base game once, but I do think Homeland does an admirable job of taking the suspense and double-guessing of Battlestar and greatly reduce the play length. In our particular game, I was a (bumbling) agent and between me and the other agent, we managed to succeed at two plots, both worth no points. While the terrorist player managed to win by scoring out multiple plots worth quite a bit. Definitely a game I want to play again, though I\u0026rsquo;d suggest playing with more than 3.\nWarhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game # 1 play with 3 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I\u0026rsquo;m getting closer to understand how to play Warhammer Quest: ACG, though I\u0026rsquo;m not quite there yet. I think I\u0026rsquo;m still making misplays as I haven\u0026rsquo;t managed to win the first quest yet (I\u0026rsquo;m replaying it until I feel comfortable starting the campaign). Still, I like the mechanisms in this game and the simplicity of play, although there are plenty of little rules and things to remember after not playing the game for a month or so.\n","date":"2 February 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-foiled-again/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"blood-rage\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170216/blood-rage\" title=\"Blood Rage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eBlood Rage\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#blood-rage\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/blood-rage.jpg\" alt=\"Blood Rage\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/202712/wesbakers-2016-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 2016 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlood Rage\u003c/strong\u003e continues to be a really fun game. In this particular game, the winner ended up with an insurmountable force in the second age and myself and the other player never managed to get around that, though I did come within 10 points of the winner. I know there are cards that help the loser gain points, but I don\u0026rsquo;t recall seeing much of them. Ah well, next time.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Foiled Again"},{"content":"Every now and again I see the same thought experiment pop up: if you had to reduce your board game collection down to ten games, what would you keep? Most recently, I saw Nate Owen\u0026rsquo;s take on the idea and it spurred me on to write up my own list. I fully expect this to have a lot of overlap with my top 10 games, but I also don\u0026rsquo;t expect them to perfectly overlap. Just because those games are my favorite games does not mean they are the only 10 I\u0026rsquo;d own. Without further ado, let\u0026rsquo;s get this started.\nCosmic Encounter #Well, this is my favorite game, so this makes sense, but why is it my favorite game? Variety. This game has five expansions as I write this post which includes 165 total alien powers, components for eight players, and 6 additional variants/decks. I\u0026rsquo;ve played this game almost 30 times and it\u0026rsquo;s never felt quite the same. You can take it seriously with a group of gamers who have played it multiple times or you can play easy and carefree with a group of new gamers. I typically don\u0026rsquo;t play with more than 6 and I\u0026rsquo;d warn you have players not getting a turn once you have 7 players, but it\u0026rsquo;s still a fun time.\nEclipse #Eclipse would be my long 4x game of choice. There\u0026rsquo;s just something about the combination of euro elements and dice rolling. Yeah, I know it sides more on the euro side, and I\u0026rsquo;m perfectly okay with that. It\u0026rsquo;s a game that can handle 2-6 and supports up to 9 (though I can\u0026rsquo;t speak for 7-9 players).\nWar of the Ring #I\u0026rsquo;m a bigger fan of fantasy than I am of science fiction, the problem is I haven\u0026rsquo;t really enjoyed many of the fantasy games I\u0026rsquo;ve played, at least not long term. However, War of the Ring takes one of my favorite books and gives me the ups and downs, the trials, the struggle, and the incredible odds and provides a balanced game with fantastic mechanics. I don\u0026rsquo;t get to play this one often, but when I do I really enjoy myself.\nMerchants \u0026amp; Marauders #Here\u0026rsquo;s another game I don\u0026rsquo;t get to play often, but I absolutely love the feel of it. You\u0026rsquo;re not rolling dice, shuffling cards, and handling chits, no you\u0026rsquo;re a captain with a weak ship who\u0026rsquo;s trying to make a name for yourself. Do you stay legit and trade goods between ports and accomplish legal missions? Or do you go full pirate and plunder fat merchant ships? Or maybe something in between, something mostly legal with a bit of piracy? That\u0026rsquo;s up to you, fully. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure I\u0026rsquo;ve played many other games where I\u0026rsquo;ve been so engrossed in the feel, the theme, the narrative, that I\u0026rsquo;ve lost track of how to win. This game does it to me nearly every time.\nSurvive: Escape from Atlantis #Survive is one of those games that plays on an intuitive level. I can teach you the rules in about five minutes and then we\u0026rsquo;re off. You\u0026rsquo;re no longer thinking too much about the rules, just how to get your guys off the island and to safety. However, not everyone is going to make it. In fact, if you\u0026rsquo;re playing with 5 or 6 players, it\u0026rsquo;s going to be something of a blood bath. With that in mind, what\u0026rsquo;s your strategy? Do you get everyone onto a boat and get them out of dodge? Or do you diversify and put a few people on different boats and hope some of them make it to safety? That\u0026rsquo;s up to you, but you best beware of the creatures in the water.\nCaverna #One of my favorite video games from my youth was Harvest Moon, a game about owning a farm and starting from nothing to make a life for yourself on a few acres. I loved the idea of owning animals, planting crops, reaping the rewards, and selling those to better your farm and make living. When I first got into board gaming, Agricola met those needs heartily, but when I saw Caverna announced, I decided to move on and I haven\u0026rsquo;t looked back. Caverna gives me the feel of building my farm and it really gives me the feel of building my house as well, something that always felt lacking in Agricola. I like the various tacks you can take, whether you go all out on adventuring, animals, crops, mining, or some combination thereof, you have options, lots of them.\nChaos in the Old World/Blood Rage #Alright, this is my cheat, and I feel bad about it. Chaos in the Old World is the known entity here, a game I\u0026rsquo;ve been playing for years and enjoyed since the first play. There\u0026rsquo;s just something about the combination of euro elements, area control, and combat that works for me. Combine that with balancing the game\u0026rsquo;s four game end conditions and you have to keep the big picture in mind as you play. It\u0026rsquo;s an enjoyable one and a game I thought would never be challenged until Blood Rage.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve only played 2 and a half games of Blood Rage, but I love what I\u0026rsquo;ve seen so far. It brings in the action point allowance system of Chaos in the Old World, with the combat resolution of cards from Cosmic Encounter, and on top of that is a card draft at the beginning of each age a la 7 Wonders. That and it\u0026rsquo;s most likely going to be over in an hour and a half. So good. My only reason for having both games here, is I\u0026rsquo;m unsure of Blood Rage\u0026rsquo;s long term propositions. It\u0026rsquo;s great, but will it burn bright and fade away? I\u0026rsquo;m not sure, but it at least deserved a mention here.\nTicket to Ride #This is the game that showed me that there\u0026rsquo;s more than Catan out there, my actual gateway game if you will. I still play it and I still really enjoy it. There\u0026rsquo;s something relaxing about setting up the board and playing a low-tension two player game. There\u0026rsquo;s a nice push to get your routes out faster than the other player, but not so much that your goals are unachievable. Then bring in the many expansions it has and you have tons of options. Also, much like Survive I can teach this game in about five minutes.\nRoll for the Galaxy #Race for the Galaxy was a favorite game of my wife and I for a long time, but along came Roll for the Galaxy. I said I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t give up Race, it\u0026rsquo;s too good and there are too many memories, but Roll for the Galaxy is the game we go to more often, the one we want to play more regularly. It has a lot of the same fun racing elements of getting planets and developments into your tableau as fast as possible, but some of your choices have been smoothed away and replaced with the variability of dice. Still, the race is there and it\u0026rsquo;s fun.\nFive Tribes #Five Tribes feels like a much older game, something you expect from the golden years of board gaming, and yet at the same time it feels fresh and well thought out, something an experienced hand would make. You have a variable setup comprised of meeples, tiles, djinns, and goods. Each game will feel different due to the setup and sometimes there are crazy point scoring opportunities and sometimes every point is a struggle. My only concern with Five Tribes is how slow it can play due to the analysis it draws from it\u0026rsquo;s players, but it\u0026rsquo;s worth the wait.\n","date":"24 January 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-group-of-ten-2015-edition/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eEvery now and again I see the same thought experiment pop up: if you had to reduce your board game collection down to ten games, what would you keep? Most recently, I saw \u003ca href=\"https://sanildefanso.wordpress.com/2016/01/03/the-group-of-ten-2015-2016-edition/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eNate Owen\u0026rsquo;s take\u003c/a\u003e on the idea and it spurred me on to write up my own list. I fully expect this to have a lot of overlap with my top 10 games, but I also don\u0026rsquo;t expect them to perfectly overlap. Just because those games are my favorite games does not mean they are the only 10 I\u0026rsquo;d own. Without further ado, let\u0026rsquo;s get this started.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Group of Ten, 2015 Edition"},{"content":"Baseball Highlights 2045 # 1 play with 2 players New to me I had high hopes for Baseball Highlights 2045, I had seen such good reviews of it over the past few months and while baseball isn\u0026rsquo;t something I watch often now, there was a bit of nostalgia from my childhood of playing and watching baseball. In addition to the theme, the game looked generally good, with an interesting play structure and a relatively short game.\nHowever, it felt very one sided for my wife who could never get the cards she needed from the shuffle. She always felt like she never had the answers to my cards and looking at the game we played, I easily saw her point. In addition to that, the game is just okay, there\u0026rsquo;s nothing here that would keep me coming back for more.\nNot recommended.\nPairs # 4 plays with 6 players Played before I still think Pairs is a fun little filler game and it was a fantastic one to bring along on my recent vacation. Easy to pack, teach, and play. At some point, it\u0026rsquo;s more of an activity than a game, but it has minimal decisions and it\u0026rsquo;s something most people can understand pretty quickly.\nRecommended.\nSpot It! # 5 plays with 6 players Played before I also brought Spot It! on my cruise and it slightly edged out Pairs as the preferred game. It\u0026rsquo;s another one that\u0026rsquo;s pretty each to teach and understand and age is not a determining factor in whether you\u0026rsquo;ll win or not.\nRecommended.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 3 plays with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I continue to enjoy my plays of 7 Wonders: Duel as I work my way towards 10 plays for my 2016 10x10 Challenge. In these three plays, I got to see three different endings: a science victory, a military victory, and a points victory. I love the pressure created by the different game end conditions.\nHighly recommended.\nClaustrophobia # 1 play with 2 players Played before I brought this out with Scott in an effort to play older games and try to see if it\u0026rsquo;s one I wanted to keep in my collection. After our play, I\u0026rsquo;m not so sure. There were a number of rules lookups which likely doubled the length of the game and given it\u0026rsquo;s rather light and dice-heavy gameplay, extending the length can really hurt this kind of game.\nI\u0026rsquo;m not planning on selling it right now, but it\u0026rsquo;s certainly on the short list.\nNot recommended at the moment.\nForbidden Desert # 1 play with 4 players Played before I think this particular play was my very first win of Forbidden Desert which is a little embarrassing considering how many times I\u0026rsquo;ve played this game. I was the Climber which let me bring someone with me when moving and climb blocked tiles, so we combined that with the role that could move other players to move the two of us around quickly and efficiently. In the end, I brought everyone onto the end game tile for the win.\nRecommended.\nMission: Red Planet # 1 play with 4 players Played before (sorta) The second edition of Mission: Red Planet is new to me, but I\u0026rsquo;ve played the previous edition before. However, I had only ever played it two players and it was pretty abysmal at that player count. With four players, the game really shined and was a good combination of chaos and control. I went for a Phobos heavy strategy where I used the Soldier to eliminate other astronauts and land on Mars, but in the end it wasn\u0026rsquo;t quite enough to wrest control from another player who had holed up in the center locations.\nHighly recommended (at the higher player counts).\nOrléans # 1 play with 2 players Played before I continue to really enjoy Orléans, especially it\u0026rsquo;s bag-building mechanic. There\u0026rsquo;s no theme here and typically that\u0026rsquo;s a deal-breaker for me, but the various mechanics lead to an interesting and balanced game where victory is not prescribed and there are multiple, different paths to victory. In this last game, I managed to win by going whole hog on goods and traveling across the board. I also had the ability to sneak in up to four tokens into the Beneficial Deeds board, snatching away some of the citizen tiles from my wife.\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"23 January 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-a-new-year/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"baseball-highlights-2045\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/186567/baseball-highlights-2045-super-deluxe-edition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eBaseball Highlights 2045\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#baseball-highlights-2045\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/baseball-highlights-2045.jpg\" alt=\"Baseball Highlights 2045\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew to me\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI had high hopes for \u003cstrong\u003eBaseball Highlights 2045\u003c/strong\u003e, I had seen such good reviews of it over the past few months and while baseball isn\u0026rsquo;t something I watch often now, there was a bit of nostalgia from my childhood of playing and watching baseball. In addition to the theme, the game looked generally good, with an interesting play structure and a relatively short game.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: A New Year"},{"content":"For the past few years, I\u0026rsquo;ve played a increasingly larger number of new games each year as I grow more and more infatuated with board games as a hobby. With 58 new-to-me games, 2015 was no different.\nWhat is different is that I feel like I should be slowing down. I\u0026rsquo;m to the point where I roughly know my tastes and I\u0026rsquo;m playing new games just to get them played when I\u0026rsquo;d rather play games I already own. Put another way, I\u0026rsquo;m buying games faster than I can reasonably play and evaluate them. Mind you, I\u0026rsquo;m not judging others here, this is for me and me only.\nBack to the fun stuff though, I played a number of excellent games, a very few crappy games, and mostly average to good games. I\u0026rsquo;m still working on separating the wheat from the chaff, but I feel like I\u0026rsquo;ve come up with a list of 10 games that I really do enjoy and think will remain in my collection for a while. I gnashed my teeth over ranking these 10 games as a top 10 and came to the conclusion that I can\u0026rsquo;t. I want to play each of them for different reasons and at different times, however, one did stand above all others, and that would be\u0026hellip;\nBlood Rage # I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of Eric Lang, I think he makes some wonderful games, so when I saw that he was coming out with a Kickstarter game that looked like it was riffing on Chaos in the Old World, 7 Wonders, and Cosmic Encounter, I had to back it. Add in (what was at the time) a fresh theme and beautiful components and I was one of the few lucky early bird backers who eagerly refreshed the browser until the Kickstarter page was live.\nFor those who haven\u0026rsquo;t played it, Blood Rage feels like the marriage of the card drafting of 7 Wonders, with the action point allowance system of Chaos in the Old World, and the combat resolution of Cosmic Encounter. Even better than all of that is how it feels to play. One of my biggest complaints is when a board game overstays it\u0026rsquo;s welcome. Therefore, the biggest compliment I can give a game is when it feels like I\u0026rsquo;ve gotten far more play out of the time I spent with it, and in that sense, Blood Rage is a winner. I\u0026rsquo;ve not played a game of it that went longer than 90 minutes and yet the decisions are tense, interesting, and impactful.\nI haven\u0026rsquo;t played it enough yet, but I really feel like this game will end up on my Top 10 at some point, probably soon.\nAnd now the rest in alphabetical order:\n7 Wonders: Duel # Take what\u0026rsquo;s fun about 7 Wonders and make the two player game not suck. They pretty much hit the nail on the head here. I love the fact that there are three different ways to win and you have to pay attention to all three in order to be successful. I enjoy the variety that comes from the changing wonders and progress tokens. Oh, and back to my obsession with game length: it\u0026rsquo;s over in 30 minutes. Awesome game.\nAlchemists # I\u0026rsquo;m not intimidated by many games, but for some reason Alchemists languished on my shelf because I was nervous about learning the rules for some reason. I was really interested in the game because of its app integration and its theme, and after a little prodding from some friends, I sat down to learn the not-as-bad-as-I-thought rules. Excited by the game, I asked my wife to play that night and we both really enjoyed it.\nAlchemists is a game of deduction and action selection. You\u0026rsquo;re trying to figure out what ingredients lead to which potions and why. You\u0026rsquo;re testing potions, selling those potions, collecting ingredients, publishing and debunking theories, and buying artifacts to help. You do all of this in a setting filled with whimsy and humor. CGE continues to impress me with their games.\nCastles of Mad King Ludwig # I was late to the party on this one. I looked at it and dismissed it as an also-ran of Suburbia and I thought I enjoyed the theme of that versus Castles. Yet, like a sucker, I decided I\u0026rsquo;d try it out and ended up trading for it.\nWell, I was wrong, very wrong. This game strips away a lot of the game state management of Suburbia (income, reputation, other cities affecting yours) and distills it to earning points and making money from other players. I have a much easier time teaching Castles and I always enjoy myself quite a bit more. Also, I think everyone can enjoy looking at their castles after the game and admiring the quirky configurations and eccentric room combinations. Want a dungeon, a train room, and an extravagant garden? Go for it, it\u0026rsquo;s your home.\nCodenames # There\u0026rsquo;s no surprise that Codenames is on this list. It\u0026rsquo;s my second most played game this year only behind Android: Netrunner and that\u0026rsquo;s because it works just so well and you\u0026rsquo;re almost always going to play two games of it per sitting. I love the feeling of having to give clues tying words with no shared meaning together and trying to guess what the clue giver was trying to tell you. It\u0026rsquo;s a tough game at times, and occasionally the random shuffle puts you in a tough spot, but it makes those wins just that much better.\nForbidden Stars # My first game of Forbidden Stars was pretty rough and I ended up quitting the game because I was so far out of competition and having a miserable time. I almost decided to sell it on the spot, but we ended up playing it again two days later and I realized just how much I was doing wrong. I was turtling in a game where turtling is highly discouraged and I lost as a result of that.\nForbidden Stars takes a standard enough area control game and the combines it with a very interesting order mechanic and combat mini-game. Placing your orders facedown in different sectors where the latter orders are executed first makes for interesting decisions as someone else can come along and hold your order hostage. The combat mini-game rewards playing to your factions strengths, but then building in the direction you want to go. It\u0026rsquo;s a longer game, but we\u0026rsquo;ve had a good time playing it and I look forward to future games.\nThe Grizzled # I\u0026rsquo;m really surprised to see The Grizzled on this list to be honest. The game is pretty simple, but it just works. It\u0026rsquo;s a great cooperative game where the alpha player problem has been handled and the artwork is superb. I\u0026rsquo;ve played this game 7 times now and I\u0026rsquo;ve only won once and that was tenuous at best. It\u0026rsquo;s a hard game and you\u0026rsquo;ll struggle through it at times, but I love how some very basic components end up telling a pretty deep story.\nOrléans # I had owned and played Hyperborea before and while I liked the bag-building mechanic in that game, the rest of the game fell flat for me. When I saw Orléans on Kickstarter around the same time, I decided to spring for the deluxe version since I liked the look of the game.\nIn Orléans you\u0026rsquo;re building a bag full of tokens that you draw at the beginning of your turn. These tokens are somewhat like workers in a worker-placement game, but there are several different kinds of workers. You\u0026rsquo;ll place these tokens on different spots on your board and reap the rewards. The rest of the game is a pretty standard point-salad kind of game, but the bag-building mechanic works so well here, that I\u0026rsquo;m happy to play it.\nRoll for the Galaxy # I almost didn\u0026rsquo;t include this on the list since my first play of this game was in prototype form at GenCon 2014, but realistically I played my first game of the published version in January 2015, so I\u0026rsquo;m including it in this list. Roll for the Galaxy takes what I loved about Race for the Galaxy and turns it into a slightly longer game with the same interesting decisions. It adds dice to the mix (of course) and it simplifies and clarifies the various symbols used from Race for the Galaxy. This game is a series of interesting decisions and balancing the number of dice rolled with the amount of money earned.\nWarhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game # I was a huge fan of Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and I\u0026rsquo;ve played it over 100 times, but it was starting to take up more and more time and space. I ended up selling it because I just never looked forward to building another deck or shuffling my deck for a mulligan. When Warhammer Quest: Adventure Card Game was announced I was pretty uninterested with it, but when it came out I started to connect the dots and saw that it was a combination of Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and Space Hulk: Death Angel, two excellent, solitaire-friendly games. I ordered it and decided to give it a shot.\nWell, if I hadn\u0026rsquo;t already sold Lord of the Rings: The Card Game this would have me selling it immediately. I no longer have to build decks, let alone build a deck specifically for the encounter, and there\u0026rsquo;s no more shuffling my deck. You get straight to the action and there\u0026rsquo;s a campaign system built right in. It\u0026rsquo;s also clear that they\u0026rsquo;ll be expanding this one, but the draw to buy new expansions feels lower because I\u0026rsquo;m not demanding new player cards, just new quests, and I haven\u0026rsquo;t played through all of the ones in the base set yet anyway.\nThis really is a fantastic game and I can\u0026rsquo;t wait to see where they take it.\n","date":"3 January 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/best-games-of-the-year-2015/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFor the past few years, I\u0026rsquo;ve played a increasingly larger number of new games each year as I grow more and more infatuated with board games as a hobby. With 58 new-to-me games, 2015 was no different.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is different is that I feel like I should be slowing down. I\u0026rsquo;m to the point where I roughly know my tastes and I\u0026rsquo;m playing new games just to get them played when I\u0026rsquo;d rather play games I already own. Put another way, I\u0026rsquo;m buying games faster than I can reasonably play and evaluate them. Mind you, I\u0026rsquo;m not judging others here, this is for me and me only.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Best Games of the Year 2015"},{"content":"Abyss # 1 play with 3 players Played before Abyss is one of those games that plays really well, but unremarkably and that makes it hard to get to the table. It\u0026rsquo;s mechanics aren\u0026rsquo;t terribly new and there\u0026rsquo;s no big hook to pull people in, but it is smooth and easy to teach. Then there\u0026rsquo;s the art: beautifully illustrated underwater scenes and sea creatures. I just received Abyss: Kraken for Christmas and I can\u0026rsquo;t wait to see how it changes the game.\nRecommended.\nBest Treehouse Ever # 1 play with 2 players New to me A friend of mine brought this to our weekly meetup and we tried out a two player game. With two players it felt like a matter of figuring out how to get one more point than the other player and then just cruise to victory, and in order to do that, you just need to diversify. That\u0026rsquo;s it. I\u0026rsquo;ll likely avoid this, maybe trying it at a higher player count.\nNot recommended.\nThe Grizzled # 2 plays with 2 players, 3 plays with 4 players, 2 plays with 5 players New to me You\u0026rsquo;re probably going to lose the first few games of The Grizzled, it\u0026rsquo;s a tough game. It\u0026rsquo;s going to let you think you\u0026rsquo;re doing well, getting very close to the end just before victory is snatched away from you. You\u0026rsquo;ll grimace as you place the card with all six threats on it and hope your comrades can remove it or handle it without withdrawing early. You\u0026rsquo;ll wince as you become mute, develop a phobia of whistles, and selfishly support yourself. You\u0026rsquo;ll cheer when it\u0026rsquo;s Christmas and one of your comrades gets just a little respite from the war. And you\u0026rsquo;ll know defeat as the war memorial becomes visible at the end of that last round. Yet, you too might get to feel that surprise as you look around at your nearly dead friends with no cards in their hand while the dove of peace is visible and question this very tenuous win. It\u0026rsquo;s a tough game, a fun game, and one worth trying.\nClash of Cultures # 1 (half) play with 4 players Played before Clash of Cultures is a game that begs for a regular group that can internalize the rules and get down to business. It\u0026rsquo;s a long game that could likely become shorter once everyone knows what they\u0026rsquo;re doing, but in our case it was a learning game and we made it about half way in two and a half hours. Not too shabby, but it also means it\u0026rsquo;ll be a while before we can really play it. Which is a shame, it\u0026rsquo;s a great civilization game with a focus on your technology tree, allowing you to shape your culture as you see fit. Combat is simple, and player elimination means the game is over. I\u0026rsquo;d like to play this again, but it\u0026rsquo;ll be a while.\nRecommended for fans of long games.\nRoom 25 # 1 play with 6 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;m a fan of hidden traitor games, but I\u0026rsquo;ve avoided playing Room 25 for a while now because it looked like Panic Station which caught a lot of flak. When I sat down to play it, I did have a good time, but there was nothing that grabbed me (like Abyss to some degree). It\u0026rsquo;s a perfectly average game and one I\u0026rsquo;ll play, but never suggest.\nNot recommended.\nWarhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game # 2 plays with 1 player New to me Lord of the Rings: The Card Game used to be one of my favorite games. I loved the theme, the deck building, and the game play of it, but once I got into Netrunner the idea of spending time playing-but-not-really-playing two games didn\u0026rsquo;t appeal to me. I sold my very large collection and moved on, only occasionally looking back at LoTR: LCG with rose-tinted glasses and a hint of regret.\nWell, I can get rid of the regret (and I can\u0026rsquo;t quite pull off rose-tinted glasses) because Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game keeps the best parts of LoTR: LCG\u0026rsquo;s mechanics while ditching the giant, constantly changing card pool and deck building. It can be played with anywhere from 1-4 players out of the box (LoTR: LCG needed a second core set to play any more than two players) and each character feels unique and useful.\nThe addition of dice had me excited from the start. Instead of swingy shadow cards affecting the enemy, you now have dice to contend with and some of those dice benefit you and very occasionally those dice can really benefit you as they explode over and over again.\nBasically, this kills any desire I had to play Lord of the Rings: The Card Game every again. It removes my chief complaints about the system (deck building, too-big card pool) while adding something fun and exciting (dice!).\nHighly recommended for solo gamers.\nBlood Rage # 1 play with 3 players Played before This game keeps getting better and each play only cements my happiness that this is on my 10x10 list for 2016. The best thing I can say about this game is it feels like you\u0026rsquo;re getting way more out of this game than it deserves to have. It takes about 90 minutes to play a game and you feel like you\u0026rsquo;ve gotten way more than that out of it. So good.\nHighly recommended. Top 10\nPairs # 1 play with 6 players, 1 play with 5 players„ New to me Again with the fillers! Yeah, I\u0026rsquo;m always on the hunt and I quite liked Pairs. My advice is to sit down with a group of friends and start dealing out cards, don\u0026rsquo;t explain the rules. Once everyone has a card, point to the person with the lowest card and explain their options: pass or hit. Explain what passing does, then explain why they want to hit and the risks they\u0026rsquo;re taking. Explain how there\u0026rsquo;s no winner, just one loser, and then go to town. The more you try to explain the game play of this one, the more you\u0026rsquo;re going to lose the group, so just dive in.\nRecommended.\nCodenames # 4 plays with 7 players, 2 plays with 5 players Played before After Netrunner, Codenames is my most played game of the year and deservedly so. It plays a ridiculous number of people well, and is a lot of fun as you work out the clues and what they could mean. It\u0026rsquo;s easily taught and works for all sorts of people. If this isn\u0026rsquo;t in your colleciton, you ought to have a good reason for that.\nHighly recommended.\nPort Royal # 1 play with 3 players Played before Port Royal is in a tough spot in terms of games. It\u0026rsquo;s a small box with a deck of cards, but it\u0026rsquo;s a 30-45 minute game. It\u0026rsquo;s not quite a filler and it\u0026rsquo;s not a main event. It\u0026rsquo;s something in between, something you use when a filler would be too short, but you don\u0026rsquo;t have time for much else. Because of that, I\u0026rsquo;m hesistant that it\u0026rsquo;s on my 10x10 list. Yet, I\u0026rsquo;m optimistic that I can get 10 plays out of it, if only because the expansion adds some solo and cooperative play.\nRecommended, but try it first.\nCastles of Mad King Ludwig # 1 play with 4 players Played before Hey, another 10x10 game for 2016! This one is one of those euro games where I don\u0026rsquo;t care about winning, though I am trying. I love how your castle comes out at the end and the story it tells of it\u0026rsquo;s crazy architect (hey, that\u0026rsquo;s you!). You may end up having a lot of basement rooms, a train room, and an audience chamber\u0026mdash;I call this one the evil genius. Or maybe you have a lot of kitchens, a stable, a grand banquet, a larder, pantry, and servants quarters\u0026mdash;\u0026ldquo;The Entertainer\u0026rdquo;. One way or another you\u0026rsquo;re probably going to have a fun time playing this one.\nHighly recommended.\nBetween Two Cities # 1 play with 3 players Played before Between Two Cities continues to be a hit with my friends. It delightfully combines 7 Wonders, Suburbia, and an odd cooperation mechanic to create a beautiful filler that doesn\u0026rsquo;t feel like a filler. Just like 7 Wonders, it plays up to 7 players and does so without taking any longer than it does with 3 players.\nHighly recommended.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 2 plays with 2 players New to me I had watched lots of reviews and play throughs of 7 Wonders: Duel before playing it, but I had a very strong feeling that I\u0026rsquo;d like it, and I can report back that I was right. Go me.\nTake all of the tension of playing 7 Wonders and ratchet it up a bit as it\u0026rsquo;s a lot clearer how the other player is doing. Then add in a few additional ways to win (or lose) and now you\u0026rsquo;re balancing a few things in an attempt to stay afloat. Do you go for the military win and crush your opponent? Or do you go enlightened and go for the science victory? Then again, maybe you stick it out and go for points. All of those are viable, you just have to decide what you\u0026rsquo;re going to do.\nHighly recommended.\nTicket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 5 - United Kingdom \u0026amp; Pennsylvania # 2 plays with 2 players New to me With two plays, Shannon and I got to try both sides of this map collection. First, Pennsylvania. I wasn\u0026rsquo;t sure adding a stock mechanic to Ticket to Ride would work, it just didn\u0026rsquo;t seem to be a great idea, but after playing it, it\u0026rsquo;s probably my favorite, or maybe second favorite map for Ticket to Ride. It adds just enough of a wrinkle as you have to pay attention to the stocks other players are taking and diversify enough to earn points on multiple stocks instead of putting all of your eggs in one basket. Fantastic map, and worth the purchase alone.\nThen we flipped the board over and played UK. This side features technologies that you have to build in order to create anything other than 1-2 length routes in England. You have to buy concessions for Wales, Scotland, and Ireland/France. You have to buy technologies that allow you to build 3 and 4/5/6 length routes. You want ferries? Get the technology. All of this is really great. But. But. There is a problem. There\u0026rsquo;s a route from Southampton to New York (yea, that New York) that earns a player 40 points. It requires 3 ferries and something like 10 total train cars. And no technologies. So, all that hard work you\u0026rsquo;ve been doing to earn a tiny amount of points all over Great Britain? Chump change compared to just drawing a ton of cards and building a 40 point route. Oh, and to boot you\u0026rsquo;ll probably end the game with that one play. I\u0026rsquo;m not bitter. I need to play it again, but I\u0026rsquo;m thinking that the Southampton-New York route doesn\u0026rsquo;t quite work with two players. I\u0026rsquo;m interested to try it with more players, but it makes me nervous, especially considering how you can just sit back, draw cards, and ignore the whole point of the map!\nRecommended for fans of Ticket to Ride.\nColt Express # 1 play with 5 players Played before I used to own and enjoy RoboRally, but eventually sold it because it always overstayed it\u0026rsquo;s welcome. I enjoyed the silliness of the programming and how everyone\u0026rsquo;s plans went off the rails as soon as someone got pushed one tiny bit. However, playing for two or more hours was always a drag.\nColt Express offers a lot of what I enjoyed about RoboRally, but in less than an hour. You still get those funny situations where your plans are completely thrown off, but the game has a clearly defined length.\nRecommended.\nRhino Hero # 3 plays with 5 players Played before This game is a always a fun one to bring out to end the night. Something both simple and silly and easily played in about five minutes with rules. Really, it\u0026rsquo;s an activity as winning or losing feels pretty arbitrary at times and at the whims of whoever started and the luck of the draw, but given the length and the laughs, I\u0026rsquo;m okay with that.\nRecommended.\n","date":"1 January 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-year-end-sale/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"abyss\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155987/abyss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eAbyss\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#abyss\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/abyss.jpg\" alt=\"Abyss\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbyss\u003c/strong\u003e is one of those games that plays really well, but unremarkably and that makes it hard to get to the table. It\u0026rsquo;s mechanics aren\u0026rsquo;t terribly new and there\u0026rsquo;s no big hook to pull people in, but it is smooth and easy to teach. Then there\u0026rsquo;s the art: beautifully illustrated underwater scenes and sea creatures. I just received \u003cstrong\u003eAbyss: Kraken\u003c/strong\u003e for Christmas and I can\u0026rsquo;t wait to see how it changes the game.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Year End Sale!"},{"content":"Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization # 1 play with 2 players New to me A while back a few, I played a game of the original Through the Ages online with my co-workers. It was a memorable experience to say the least, with a back and forth swing of power as we would all ebb and flow with power through the ages. I wanted the game, but avoided it due to its length and age.\nWhen I saw that Czech Games was printing a new edition with greatly improved art and some rules tweaks, I was interested. However, I saw that Eagle Games would be publishing and I wanted to figure out a way to avoid them if possible. At the time of my purchase, the only way to get Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization was through Eagle Games and it was running $70. Weirdly, it was cheaper to buy the Czech Games version from France than it was to buy it from Eagle Games. Crisis averted!\nWhen the game arrived I knew I wanted to play it soon and I knew I\u0026rsquo;d have to employ some aggressive tactics to get my wife to try it out, but I also had a strong suspicion that she\u0026rsquo;d love the game. So, one night I setup the game and started briefly explaining the game, just bits and pieces and the overall flow of things and I told her that I wanted to play it tomorrow and that since it\u0026rsquo;s long we can just break it up over two nights.\nWe sat down to play it the next night and you could hear how overwhelmed she was as she took in the rules and mechanics. Different kinds of cards; cubes that are, but aren\u0026rsquo;t workers; consumption, corruption, production, happiness, culture, science, and so on. Yet, about mid-way through Age I, I heard a night-and-day change in her voice, the sign that she understood what she was doing and had internalized the rules! Awesome news! With that, we were off to the races and the game picked up speed and we finished a bit past our normal bedtime, but not too late. She liked it, she liked it a lot, and that made me a happy teacher.\nThis game is a classic, one of those games people talk about fondly through out the hobby and I can see why. I love how the game moves and how you feel a sense of growth and grandness of scope. I suspect this game will be an easy sell to my game group, but either way, it\u0026rsquo;s sticking around.\nHighly recommended. Top 10.\nPandemic Legacy: Season 1 # 2 plays with 4 players New to me Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I\u0026rsquo;ve been itching to break out Pandemic Legacy since I\u0026rsquo;ve been hearing so many good things from many reviewers. I can say that they weren\u0026rsquo;t wrong. You\u0026rsquo;re still playing vanilla Pandemic to some degree, but pretty quickly your objective changes and the situation is not what you\u0026rsquo;re expecting. The game does a good job of taking a pretty boring game system and making each game of it novel and different. It\u0026rsquo;s the difference between reading a book that you\u0026rsquo;re having a hard time finishing (Pandemic) and a book where you want to read just one more chapter (Pandemic Legacy).\nHowever, should this game be the number one game on BoardGameGeek? Well, it\u0026rsquo;s not mine, but I am happy that Twilight Struggle isn\u0026rsquo;t number one anymore. It\u0026rsquo;s a fantastic game, that\u0026rsquo;s for sure, but it\u0026rsquo;s also a three hour, two-player, political, card driven war game, not something I\u0026rsquo;d want someone new to the hobby jumping into.\nHighly recommended if you can swing a consistent group.\nSpaceteam # 1 play with 4 players New to me I backed this one entirely on the strength of the graphic design and the fun I\u0026rsquo;ve had playing the mobile game. Is it good? After one play I\u0026rsquo;m not sure. It felt kinda boring to be honest, but we were attempting to be quiet because my son was sleeping, but it didn\u0026rsquo;t feel difficult at all. We all figured out what we needed to do pretty quickly and none of the anomaly cards hurt us too much, though they were pretty funny and novel. I could see this game quickly getting boring and the expansions don\u0026rsquo;t really add anything new, just more of the same.\nNot recommended.\nCastles of Mad King Ludwig # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge I still really enjoy how this game plays out, though I think I prefer it with more than two players, though only by a little bit. My castle ended up being pretty mechanical in this game as I invested more money and time into getting rooms that achieved my bonus cards rather than building something fun. I think that\u0026rsquo;s more my fault than the game\u0026rsquo;s though.\nRecommended.\n7 Wonders: Duel # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge Still a local favorite with my wife. This particular game saw her against the ropes and out of money for the first age and after that she was off to the races. She forced my hand much of the game and I had to take military cards because she had the Strategy progress token that gave you an additional military each time you took any card with military on it. We ended up scoring on points rather then ending it on military or science and she won by two points. Good game.\nHighly recommended.\n","date":"1 January 2016","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-creating-and-saving-the-world/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilization\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/182028/through-ages-new-story-civilization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eThrough the Ages: A New Story of Civilization\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilization\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/through-the-ages.jpg\" alt=\"Through the Ages\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew to me\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA while back a few, I played a game of the original \u003cstrong\u003eThrough the Ages\u003c/strong\u003e online with my co-workers. It was a memorable experience to say the least, with a back and forth swing of power as we would all ebb and flow with power through the ages. I wanted the game, but avoided it due to its length and age.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Creating and Saving the World"},{"content":"Castles of Mad King Ludwig # 1 play with 4 players Played before Castles of Mad King Ludwig replaced Suburbia in my collection a while back and looking at it now, it was certainly the correct decision. It\u0026rsquo;s a little faster, especially if the players have played Suburbia before, and it has a lot less bookkeeping. Also, a city of regular hexagons doesn\u0026rsquo;t have a ton of variety or story, but a fully built castle with different rooms always tells a funny story (my castle\u0026rsquo;s owner was clearly an evil villain with his torture chamber, underground grotto, and train room.\nHighly recommended.\nCodenames # 1 play with 9 players, 2 plays with 5 players Played before I keep playing this game and I continue to enjoy it. I\u0026rsquo;m giving at least one copy as a gift for Christmas and look forward to future plays. Codenames really put a hamper on my One Night Ultimate Werewolf games.\nHighly recommended.\nSuper Rhino! # 2 plays with 5 players Played before This is a good filler for when you have a bit of time left, but don\u0026rsquo;t want anything too heavy. It\u0026rsquo;s clearly a kids game to some degree, but the skills required aren\u0026rsquo;t really age specific.\nRecommended.\nMare Nostrum # 1 play with 5 players New to me This was not what I was expecting at all. In our game of Mare Nostrum I was the Atlanteans and was very isolated from the rest of the cultures. The gist of the game is winning by building the pyramids or by building four heroes/wonders. You\u0026rsquo;ll also be building caravans, markets, temples, cities, legionaries, triremes, and mythical creatures. And you build all of these things by turning in sets of goods. Each set of good must consist of unique goods, so if you needed to turn in a set of six goods, you must have six different goods. The complication is that you don\u0026rsquo;t have access to all of the goods, so at the beginning of the round there\u0026rsquo;s a trade phase where you must trade a certain number of goods (as determined by the Director of Commerce). After that you\u0026rsquo;ll optionally make offerings to the gods in an order dictated by the High Priest, then build buildings in the order the Political Leader says, then finally move units in the order the Military Leader decrees.\nI was doing pretty well as the Atlanteans, and would have won the next round, but my neighbor managed to pull out the Pyramids win on our final round. I was very surprised at how little combat there was in our particular game as the rules talked quite a bit about how combat was resolved. Still, I really enjoyed my one play of the game and look forward to trying it out again.\nTentatively recommended. Try before you buy.\n","date":"8 December 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-building-an-empire/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"castles-of-mad-king-ludwig\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155426/castles-mad-king-ludwig\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eCastles of Mad King Ludwig\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#castles-of-mad-king-ludwig\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/castles-of-mad-king-ludwig.jpg\" alt=\"Castles of Mad King Ludwig\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 4 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCastles of Mad King Ludwig\u003c/strong\u003e replaced \u003cstrong\u003eSuburbia\u003c/strong\u003e in my collection a while back and looking at it now, it was certainly the correct decision. It\u0026rsquo;s a little faster, especially if the players have played \u003cstrong\u003eSuburbia\u003c/strong\u003e before, and it has a lot less bookkeeping. Also, a city of regular hexagons doesn\u0026rsquo;t have a ton of variety or story, but a fully built castle with different rooms always tells a funny story (my castle\u0026rsquo;s owner was clearly an evil villain with his torture chamber, underground grotto, and train room.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Building an Empire"},{"content":"Lords of Waterdeep # 1 play with 3 players Played before I enjoy worker placement games and I have a good number of them. In general, none of them are revolutionary or groundbreaking. Instead they just have slight changes from one to another. Lords of Waterdeep is definitely an iterative design and nothing here is mind blowing, but it is very smooth and well designed. The rules make sense and the game is easy to teach. In fact, you\u0026rsquo;d be able to teach this to almost anyone who\u0026rsquo;s willing to pay attention to you for a few minutes\nIn this game, we played with the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion and I ended up with quite a few corruption, but ended up with a large enough score to out do the other players.\nWaterdeep is one of those games that I never really think about when deciding to play a game, but I almost always enjoy my play of it.\nRecommended.\nBetween Two Cities # 1 play with 6 players, and 1 play with 4 players Played before This game keeps showing up at the weekly meetup and I\u0026rsquo;m cool with that. I enjoy the balance of having to work with your two neighbors on your cities and trying to score well in both, but equally as well. Additionally, I love having another filler game that plays in under 20 minutes and can play 7 players.\nRecommended.\nRoll for the Galaxy # 1 play with 2 players Played before In this particular game of Roll, I managed to find a synergy with using and getting red (military) dice that gave me a win. There\u0026rsquo;s something about this game that makes me want to play again and again, and that\u0026rsquo;s the combination of rolling lots of dice and then having to make meaningful decisions using those dice.\nI\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to trying the expansion, but I\u0026rsquo;m also a little worried about the component issues I\u0026rsquo;ve heard about. I\u0026rsquo;ll end up getting it anyways.\nHighly recommended.\nPandemic: The Cure # 2 plays with 2 players Played before After playing one dice game (Roll for the Galaxy) my wife and I decided to play another, cooperative, dice game, so we played Pandemic: The Cure. And lost. Twice. However, both times it felt like we were a few rolls away from doing really well and that\u0026rsquo;s what Pandemic is all about. If you\u0026rsquo;re looking for the feel of Pandemic without all the shuffling (and you\u0026rsquo;re not playing Pandemic Legacy like we all should be) then I\u0026rsquo;d give Pandemic: The Cure a shot.\nRecommended for fans of dice and cooperative games.\nBlood Rage # 1 play with 3 players New to me I had tried to play Blood Rage once before, but called it because of some botched rules after the first age. So, I was pretty excited when a friend of mine was coming in from out of town to play some games, so another friend of mine came over and I setup Blood Rage.\nI\u0026rsquo;d love to give a play-by-play, but my memory is terrible, however I\u0026rsquo;ll try to give a general gist of how I played. I managed to draft the clan upgrade that allows you to play a warrior for free whenever you place another figure in a region. Later, I got the warrior upgrade that makes a pair of them worth 3 strength, so I had that synergy. In addition, I also had the clan upgrade that gave me points for figures released from Valhalla, so dying was no longer a big concern. I combined that with the quest to have a certain number of figures in Valhalla to pull out the win.\nI love games with asymmetry, whether that\u0026rsquo;s built-in from the start with games like Chaos in the Old World or whether it\u0026rsquo;s earned over the course of the game like in Kemet or Blood Rage. The added wrinkle of drafting those differences and trying to create interesting combinations was a lot of fun, and I\u0026rsquo;m surprised no one had tried it before.\nI\u0026rsquo;m happy I backed this one on Kickstarter and I look forward to playing it a lot more in the future.\nHighly recommended if you enjoy confrontational games.\nA Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition) # 1 play with 3 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;m a fan of card games, and I\u0026rsquo;ve played a lot of Netrunner, but I\u0026rsquo;m always willing to try a new one. When my friend came to play Blood Rage, he also brought A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition) so we tried out a three player game. I really like that the game even supports multiplayer (unlike Netrunner), but three players might not be the best count as the best play in some rounds was to do nothing. In other words, it was really easy to overextend yourself in the three player game. My other issue is likely one of inexperience: it feels really swingy. I\u0026rsquo;m sure with more plays it wouldn\u0026rsquo;t feel that way.\nI guess I\u0026rsquo;d be happy to play more of this game, but it would be third on the list after 1) Netrunner and 2) Warhammer 40,000: Conquest.\nRecommended to fans of LCGs looking to get in on the ground floor.\nKingdom Builder # 1 play with 4 players Played before Kingdom Builder is a fine game. Really, it is, but I never want to play again immediately and it\u0026rsquo;s never that memorable. It\u0026rsquo;s a lot more about internal satisfaction with being really efficient rather than having fun. I guess that is fun for some people, and I do enjoy some efficiency puzzles, but less and less with time.\nStill, it\u0026rsquo;s a game I\u0026rsquo;ll play from time-to-time and I won\u0026rsquo;t make a big stink over it. It\u0026rsquo;s just not a game I\u0026rsquo;ll ever request.\nNot recommended.\nDiscoveries # 1 play with 3 players New to me Man, this game felt like it\u0026rsquo;s big brother Lewis \u0026amp; Clark, and for me that\u0026rsquo;s not good. Instead of a fun game spent moving quickly across the vast wilderness of the Louisiana Purchase, you are constantly going over your surprisingly limited options in your head, making a decision, and then realizing why that decision is a bad one.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s mechanics and the amount of fun I had while playing make me think this game should last an hour or so. However, the game lasted almost two hours for three players (we started with four and one left mid-game), and that\u0026rsquo;s just far too long for what it is.\nThis one quickly ended up in my recent auction.\nNot recommended.\nBurgle Bros # 2 plays with 2 players New to me I really enjoy stories, movies, and books about heists and figured a game would be interesting as well, and a cooperative one that channels Ocean\u0026rsquo;s Eleven really started checking all of the boxes. I was originally a backer on the Kickstarter project for Burgle Bros, but pulled out for some reason. Later I decided to buy it and got it directly from Fowler Games.\nIn Burgle Bros you start on the ground floor of a three level building and your goal is to find and crack the three safes, one per floor, and then escape to the roof. You\u0026rsquo;ll do this by spending actions to peak at neighboring tiles, move around (potentially blindly), and crack the safe. Every player has some special ability or talent that helps them do something better than the other players.\nMeanwhile, each floor has a guard and they get progressively faster from floor to floor. If any one player is caught four times, game over. The guards move around according to a shuffled deck of cards, so their patterns are somewhat predictable, but if you trip an alarm, they make a bee line for that tile.\nMy favorite part of the game are the loot cards. After you crack a safe you receive one tool and one loot card. You must have three loot cards to win, otherwise it\u0026rsquo;s a loss. However, each loot card has a minor negative effect that\u0026rsquo;s usually pretty funny. Pick up the bust and you can\u0026rsquo;t use tools since you\u0026rsquo;re carrying this large statue. Steal the Persian kitty and it starts wandering close to the rooms that have alarms. Acquire the tiara and guards can see you from neighboring tiles.\nMost cooperative games have a shelf life due to the nature of the games. You start winning enough and you\u0026rsquo;ve mastered it, time to move on. I have no doubts that Burgle Bros suffers from that exact problem, but in the meanwhile I have a beautifully produced game about a heist, something I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen before.\nRecommended.\nOrléans # 1 play with 2 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;m going to have a hard time not comparing this to Hyperborea. Both games feature a bag-building mechanic where you\u0026rsquo;re acquiring cubes or discs and putting them into a bag, \u0026ldquo;shuffling\u0026rdquo; the bag, and then drawing a certain number of cubes or discs. Using those cubes or discs, you then take actions depending on the color. In both games, you can leave those cubes or discs on the board between rounds in order to leave them out of the bag and as a way of making it easier to take an action later. The biggest difference is that you have to purposefully reset in Hyperborea and you just take the discs from used actions in Orléans.\nSo, what\u0026rsquo;s my take on Orléans? Well, I think it\u0026rsquo;s the better game. Here\u0026rsquo;s why it\u0026rsquo;s better:\nMore fluid, faster game Better art, though I prefer Hyperborea\u0026rsquo;s theme. Fantastic components Faster setup (though, not by a ton) Really though, after playing a very long \u0026ldquo;short game\u0026rdquo; of Hyperborea last night, the play length is probably the thing that most appeals to me. Now, I do enjoy long games, but my patience for overly long games is running very thin lately. I don\u0026rsquo;t get to play games as much as I\u0026rsquo;d like and wasting time on a game that feels like it should be over faster is a cardinal sin in my book. Orléans really does feel like it moves quicker and with more interesting decisions and less analysis paralysis.\nThis makes it sound like play length is everything, but it\u0026rsquo;s not. Orléans is a fantastic game in it\u0026rsquo;s own right. It takes what made deck building games interesting and removed the cards without adding too many more mechanics. The theme\u0026mdash;medieval life\u0026mdash;is overdone, but I\u0026rsquo;m okay with it considering how well it\u0026rsquo;s drawn thanks to Klemens Franz.\nOut of all of the new euro games I\u0026rsquo;ve played recently, this has been one of the best.\nHighly recommended.\nCthulhu Wars # 1 play with 4 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;m always on the lookout for hybrid euro-ameritrash games. I\u0026rsquo;ve generally found that they scratch my particular itch of wanting theme married with good mechanics. On the other hand, the Cthulhu Mythos does absolutely nothing for me. I\u0026rsquo;ve tried Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, and Elder Sign before and the mechanics were never enough for me to keep playing. When Cthulhu Wars came around people kept talking about Chaos in the Old World whenever they\u0026rsquo;d mention it, and the designer\u0026mdash;Sandy Petersen\u0026mdash;claimed that Chaos was influential in it\u0026rsquo;s design. Well, Chaos in the Old World is one of my favorite games, so I was interested and decided to pick it up.\nIn my first (and only game so far), we had four players. I was The Black Goat, the fertility cult that reproduces very quickly. My game was different than everyone else\u0026rsquo;s: turtling at first, getting more power gradually, and using my Great Old One to provide discounts later in order to get points through elder signs and rituals of annihilation.\nOn the one hand, I had a good game and won. On the other hand, I was expecting a game with a lot of combat and dice rolling, but I managed to stay almost entirely out of combat and did very well as a result of it. I enjoy games that promote various strategies, but I would have liked to see combat bring more advantages to the winner.\nOh, and the miniatures are nuts and the board is beautiful, but most of the other components feel junky for a $200 MSRP game.\nTentatively recommended. Needs more plays.\nHyperborea # 1 play with 4 players Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve only played Hyperborea once before, but I think I\u0026rsquo;ve seen everything the game has to offer at this point. Like Orléans, you\u0026rsquo;re drawing something from a bag that allows you to take certain actions. You use those actions to develop your civilization, obtain more cubes of certain colors, move around the map, and attack others. All of this sounds great, but the game simply felt too long for what it is, especially when you compare it to Orléans which did not overstay it\u0026rsquo;s welcome.\nThis one is going to the trade pile for good.\nNot recommended.\nNo Thanks! # 1 play with 5 players, 1 play with 4 players New to me Oh fillers, I really just need to find a few and stick with them instead of always looking for the best filler that gives me the same feeling as playing an 1+ hour game. No Thanks! does what it\u0026rsquo;s supposed to very well. Your goal is to have the fewest points at the end of the game. You have a deck of 33 cards numbered 3 through 33 and each player is given 11 chips (all worth -1 point). One card is dealt at a time and you can either take it (getting points, bad) or you can put a chip on it (losing a negative point). When you take a card, you also take all of the chips and there are points where you may have to take a card you otherwise might not want to. However, if you have a straight (e.g. 34 and 35) then you only count the lowest of the cards for points.\nWe played twice and I lost both times, coming somewhere near last place, but I really enjoyed the decisions you have to make and the risk you run in letting a card you want go around the table to gain more chips.\nRecommended.\n","date":"25 November 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-dice-and-cubes/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"lords-of-waterdeep\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/110327/lords-waterdeep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eLords of Waterdeep\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#lords-of-waterdeep\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/lords-of-waterdeep.jpg\" alt=\"Lords of Waterdeep\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI enjoy worker placement games and I have a good number of them. In general, none of them are revolutionary or groundbreaking. Instead they just have slight changes from one to another. \u003cstrong\u003eLords of Waterdeep\u003c/strong\u003e is definitely an iterative design and nothing here is mind blowing, but it is very smooth and well designed. The rules make sense and the game is easy to teach. In fact, you\u0026rsquo;d be able to teach this to almost anyone who\u0026rsquo;s willing to pay attention to you for a few minutes\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Dice and Cubes"},{"content":"Flick \u0026rsquo;em Up! # 1 play with 3 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;ve always wanted to enjoy a dexterity game, but both of the previous games that I tried I really didn\u0026rsquo;t enjoy: Catacombs and Ascending Empires. Both were too long and fiddly with lots of little rule problems caused by the odd flick here or there. However, I didn\u0026rsquo;t like the idea of playing what I felt should have been a light game for over an hour, it just felt dragged out.\nFlick \u0026rsquo;em Up on the other hand plays in a about a half hour (not including setup) and that feels about spot on. In addition, team play works perfectly for two reasons:\nYou can balance a poor player with a good player You can commiserate and celebrate with your teammates instead of plotting by yourself or working against the overlord (as in Catacombs) Now, I\u0026rsquo;ve only played once and it was only the first scenario, but I really enjoyed how this game played and I\u0026rsquo;d love to try it again.\nCodenames # 2 plays with 9 players and 8 plays with 4 players Played before Ten more plays. I think that really says a lot right there, this game is probably one of my most played games of the year right behind Android: Netrunner. Those eight games with four players was a multi-hour batch of games with my in-laws in one night during a recent weekend trip. They loved the game and were asking where they could buy it.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s something really smart about Codenames and how elegantly it\u0026rsquo;s designed and how it gets people thinking and talking. Playing eight times in one night might be a bit much, but I don\u0026rsquo;t see this leaving my collection.\nMedieval Academy # 1 play with 4 players Played before Some of my fears started to show in my second play of Medieval Academy, namely that there aren\u0026rsquo;t a ton of decisions to be made. When drafting you want to go for the bigger cards, that\u0026rsquo;s pretty clear from the start, but when playing your choices feel artificial: do I play this card here for a point or over here to avoid a negative point? Who cares? It\u0026rsquo;s the same thing in the end.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s what it\u0026rsquo;s like to play Medieval Academy: your choices largely don\u0026rsquo;t matter unless you are playing sub-optimally. I really liked the drafting first and playing later, I\u0026rsquo;d love to see a 7 Wonders variant that plays this way, but the rest of the game I have no interest in.\nMonikers # 2 plays with 4 players Played before I bought this with the intent of playing it in cases where Cards Against Humanity would normally be played. I\u0026rsquo;m okay with CAH, but there are some times where I actually feel horrible afterwards and I don\u0026rsquo;t want that feeling after playing a game. Monikers gives me the same number of laughs in a game with a clear ending and clear conscience afterwards.\nOh, and it\u0026rsquo;s back and print, so go buy it.\nEclipse # 1 play with 4 players Played before I wish I could play more Eclipse so I could continue to explore everything it has to offer. So many different races and combinations to play out and different strategies to try. In this particular game I was the Rho Indi Syndicate and I did not do my research. I totally missed that I didn\u0026rsquo;t get a Dreadnought and I let that hobble me for the entire game. Instead, I should have been far more aggressive early on and played into my faction\u0026rsquo;s strengths.\nOh well, I\u0026rsquo;ll just have to play again.\nChaos in the Old World # 1 play with 4 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge I\u0026rsquo;m pretty good with Slanesh in this game and I managed to win by dials in this particular match, though the game would have ended with a victory point ending in the same round due to the number of ruined regions in that round. What\u0026rsquo;s stranger still is this was a short game due to one fewer Chaos card.\nThis game really does get better over time and I\u0026rsquo;ve only ever enjoyed my plays of this game.\nBetween Two Cities # 1 play with 7 players New to me Here\u0026rsquo;s how I\u0026rsquo;ve been describing this game: 7 Wonders + Suburbia with a bit of cooperation, all in under 20 minutes. My description is by no means unique, but people have been excited to play this one due to it\u0026rsquo;s unique game play.\nI\u0026rsquo;m always on the lookout for a good filler, and for my group our fillers tend to come at the end of the night and play as many people as possible, so a 7 player filler is the sweet spot. Combine that with mechanics we know and love, but done in a new way, and you have a game that my group really took to (several players were figuring out how they could buy the game).\nIn case you haven\u0026rsquo;t played, your goal is to build a city with the neighbors to your left and right. Your score is the lower score of your two cities and the person with the highest score wins (ties are broken using the other city\u0026rsquo;s score). Your city will be composed of a 4x4 grid of single square tiles and duplex (2x1 rectangle) tiles. In the first round you\u0026rsquo;ll draft 3 tiles per city (so each city will have 6 tiles at the end of the round. In the second round you\u0026rsquo;ll draft 1 duplex tile per city (so each city will have 6 tiles and 2 duplex tiles). In the third round, you\u0026rsquo;ll draft another 3 tiles per city, which finishes things up. You\u0026rsquo;ll then score each city based upon the sets you created using the different buildings.\nThis is one of those games that you could teach to any gamer and most non-gamers. It\u0026rsquo;s easy enough and different enough to draw in new gamers while keeping people who have seen everything entertained. I really enjoyed this one.\nRoll for the Galaxy # 1 play with 4 players Played before My rules explanation was a bit shakier than normal, but I still had a good time with this play. Our winner managed to score almost twice as many points as the next player and then I was in third with half as many points as the winner. My strategy never quite panned out, so it was mostly an exercise in getting planets and developments out as fast as possible.\nHanabi # 2 plays with 4 players Played before Hanabi is another one of those great filler-ish games that play nicely with new and old gamers alike. My only tip is make sure the players in the group always draw with the card away from them as old habits die hard! These two games were my highest scoring games ever at 20 points.\n","date":"2 November 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-build-em-up-and-tear-em-down/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"flick\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169124/flick-em\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eFlick \u0026rsquo;em Up!\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#flick\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/flick-em-up.png\" alt=\"Flick ‘em Up!\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew to me\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve always wanted to enjoy a dexterity game, but both of the previous games that I tried I really didn\u0026rsquo;t enjoy: \u003cstrong\u003eCatacombs\u003c/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eAscending Empires\u003c/strong\u003e. Both were too long and fiddly with lots of little rule problems caused by the odd flick here or there. However, I didn\u0026rsquo;t like the idea of playing what I felt should have been a light game for over an hour, it just felt dragged out.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Build 'em Up and Tear 'em Down"},{"content":"Cosmic Encounter # 1 play with 5 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge I seem to only be able to win this game jointly, which is probably a factor of teaching the game to new folks most of the time, but I still love the stories this game produces. In this particular game I had surged to a pretty early lead with three points versus some folks with two, one, or zero points. However, that\u0026rsquo;s never a good sign in this game and everyone started ganging up against me as the destiny deck dealt my color or wilds repeatedly. Sitting firmly with three points and everyone else but one person has four points, I\u0026rsquo;m now in last with one other person. Well, as I said before, we ended up winning due to a 40 point encounter card while allied with the other person in last and then I drew one more encounter card and it was his card. I said, \u0026ldquo;want to negotiate?\u0026rdquo; and, we both had the right card and that was a win!\nIn this particular game, I was the Parasite which meant that no one could refuse me as an ally. I\u0026rsquo;ve had this power before and I remember it being incredibly strong and perfect for my playstyle and I was happy to get it again.\nSpyfall # 2 plays with 5 players Played before I still really enjoy playing Spyfall, but the more I play it, the more I realize that some people have a really bad time playing it. If you\u0026rsquo;re new to the game and get dealt the spy card, you\u0026rsquo;re likely going to have a bad time. If you\u0026rsquo;re the spy and have the first question, it\u0026rsquo;s probably going to be a short round. If you\u0026rsquo;re new, the spy, and have the first question, well it\u0026rsquo;s going to be over fast and suck.\nHowever, with a group of experienced players who know each other and enjoy this style of game, it can really sing. It works best with multiple players and especially if they get into their role. Sure, you\u0026rsquo;re at an Airport, but why are you at that airport? What are you doing there? What kinds of questions would you ask of those around you? The more you treat this like a roleplaying game, the more fun it is.\n7 Wonders # 1 play with 4 players Played before I very rarely suggest a game of 7 Wonders, yet I don\u0026rsquo;t think it\u0026rsquo;ll leave my collection for a long time. It\u0026rsquo;s in this weird zone where I really enjoy it and never reach for it, so I appreciate it when others request it. It reminds me of how good of a game it is, especially when you start to mix in different expansions\u0026mdash;my favorite being 7 Wonders: Cities closely followed by 7 Wonders: Babel with 7 Wonders: Leaders firmly in last.\nIn this particular game I heavily went for resources and largely ignored blue cards, which is essentially the opposite of my normal plan. In addition, I went for science points, another avenue I typically ignore. In the end, I didn\u0026rsquo;t do well, but I enjoyed trying a different strategy, though I should probably be playing a bit more tactically.\nStockpile # 1 play with 4 players New to me This game got a lot of dirty looks at my weekly meetup. I started to set it up to drum up interest and no one came over to even take a look. I guess the words \u0026ldquo;stock game\u0026rdquo; are anathema to fun. I decided to try it out with my in-laws since I had heard the game was a light-weight hour long affair and the goal of acquiring the most money is pretty easy to get behind. Well, an hour later, my wife had the most dough and everyone else around the table had a good time.\nAs I said before, your job is to acquire the most money. You\u0026rsquo;ll do this through acquiring and selling stocks while having a little bit of insider information about what the stocks are going to do this round: they may go up or down, or pay out dividends. If a stock goes up high enough, it splits, doubling the number of stocks you own. If a stock goes low enough, it goes bankrupt and the stock is now worthless.\nIn order to acquire the stocks, you\u0026rsquo;ll be bidding on \u0026ldquo;stockpiles\u0026rdquo; which are piles of three cards of stocks, action cards to raise and lower the value of certain stocks, and trading fees which just take more of your money. These stockpiles are empty at first and you deal one card face up to each and then the rest of the players are dealt two cards each and play one card face up and one card face down to any of the piles, possibly the same pile and possibly not.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s a lot to like here: easy rules, quick playing time, real world theme and goal. This is the Ticket to Ride of stock games and would be what I\u0026rsquo;d introduce to someone who said they like Monopoly and were trying to get into hobby board games.\nMonikers # 1 play with 8 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;ve played Cards Against Humanity a few times and while I enjoyed myself while playing, I always feel bad about it afterwards. I\u0026rsquo;ll typically play it as long as the group knows each other, but even then I\u0026rsquo;m not the biggest fan. I\u0026rsquo;ve tried to find similar games that produce as many laughs without the guilt, but I\u0026rsquo;ve never been really satisfied with any of them. Monikers on the other hand, does a great job of providing laughter while also having a fun game that doesn\u0026rsquo;t make you feel like a bad person.\nMonikers is essentially Times Up! with updated cards. You create a card pool by dealing 8 cards to each player and having them discard 3. You shuffle those together and you\u0026rsquo;re ready to play. During a game of Monikers your goal is to end up with as many points as possible by correctly guessing clues. The game is played over three rounds and each round has one turn per player. In the first round you can use as many words as you want, in the second you can only use one word, and in the third you\u0026rsquo;re playing charades. During your turn, you\u0026rsquo;ll have one minute to provide clues in an attempt to get rid of as many cards as possible by having the other players correctly guess. At the end of the round, you\u0026rsquo;ll shuffle all of the cards you just played with and start a new round.\nIn our game we didn\u0026rsquo;t keep score, we treated it mostly as an activity which is exactly how I like to play these games. I\u0026rsquo;m here to have fun, not win. Still, you had a sense of how well you were doing, so it kept you competitive. This game is a perfect example of something short, simple, and rules light that\u0026rsquo;ll work great with a group of friends or strangers. I highly recommend you pick it up when it comes back into print.\nOne Night Ultimate Werewolf # 2 plays with 8 players Played before This is another one of those party games which works well with groups of friends, less so with strangers. I like that it encourages the right kinds of discussions without overstaying it\u0026rsquo;s welcome.\nI was a werewolf during both play and lost both times. During one of the plays we had a player who bent the rules a bit by flashing hand signals \u0026ldquo;at night\u0026rdquo; and then asked them what they saw to confirm or deny their roles. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure what the rules say about this, but it was definitely against the spirit of the game and one of the werewolves who was with me was new to these games and answered truthfully giving him someone to vote for. He talked about it afterwards and I flat out said don\u0026rsquo;t do that, it\u0026rsquo;s unfair.\nI do enjoy this game, but be wary of players like this and discourage that kind of play if it comes up. It ruins the game.\nIsle of Skye # 1 play with 3 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;ve seen lots of folks saying Isle of Skye fires Carcassonne for them, and after playing it, I\u0026rsquo;ll have to respectfully disagree. Yes, this game involves tile laying, but I think the meat of the game is in the buying and selling of the tiles you drew from the bag. Once you have the tiles, you then place them in your kingdom or lands or whatever it\u0026rsquo;s called and mostly try to line everything up neatly. I say mostly because you can ignore roads if you need to, though it\u0026rsquo;s better to connect them.\nThe gist of the game is you\u0026rsquo;re building your kingdom by placing these tiles. At the end of each round you\u0026rsquo;ll collect points based upon tiles that are randomly chosen at the beginning of the game. You might get points for having lakes, farms, sheep, money, boats, squares of tiles, and other things. In a given round you\u0026rsquo;ll get three tiles, secretly price out two of them by placing their money next to them, and select a third to be discarded. Everyone then reveals their tiles and in player order you can buy one tile from another player by paying them the amount of money next to the tile (that player keeps their money and collects yours). If no one buys your tile(s), you get to keep them but lose the money. Whoever has the most points after six rounds wins.\nI enjoyed my play of this quite a bit, the meat of it being the pricing which reminded me a lot of Castles of Mad King Ludwig, but with a less interesting theme. On the other hand, it plays quite a bit faster and is quicker to setup. I\u0026rsquo;ll likely keep it, but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure for how long.\nAlchemists # 1 play with 2 players, 1 play with 4 players New to me Woooo boy, this was one heck of a game. I knew going into it that this would be meatier than most games I play and that analysis (paralysis) was part of the game. I had traded for it and it just sat on my shelf for weeks and months before I even decided to try it, but when I did I\u0026rsquo;m glad I spent the time learning it.\nI\u0026rsquo;m not going to go too deep into this one because it\u0026rsquo;s pretty hefty, but you\u0026rsquo;re an alchemist and your job is to figure out what ingredients do what so you can publish theories, sell potions, and show off at the exhibition. You\u0026rsquo;ll do this by trying out your potion on customers, students, and yourself by combining two ingredients using an app on your phone or tablet.\nIn two games my wife and I have each won once, both times within one point of the other and both times we\u0026rsquo;ve really enjoyed it. It\u0026rsquo;s one of those games that captivated her after our initial play and she\u0026rsquo;s now looking for chances to get it to the table. I\u0026rsquo;d recommend trying this game first, but it\u0026rsquo;s definitely worth that try.\nStar Wars: Imperial Assault # 2 plays with 3 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This covers the first two games of a new campaign with my Netrunner friends and so far we\u0026rsquo;re tied at a game a piece. Each game has been tense and close with smart plays and lucky die rolls barely deciding each game. That is why this game is worlds better than Descent, a game that, as the overlord, I continuously won even after giving out rewards for winning to the heroes.\nThankfully, I prevented the Rebels from gaining Chewbacca as an ally, but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure how much longer I\u0026rsquo;ll be able to hold out.\nRhino Hero # 2 plays with 2 players New to me This is a silly little game that I\u0026rsquo;ve been describing as a combination of Uno and \u0026ldquo;reverse\u0026rdquo;-Jenga. You\u0026rsquo;re building a tower out of cards (fun) and those cards tell you what happens next: play another card, skip the next player\u0026rsquo;s turn, switch the direction of play, or (the best) move the rhino hero to that card.\nThe winner is the person who gets rid of their cards first, alternatively the loser is the person who makes the tower fall over. This is a nice little filler that\u0026rsquo;s great to start or finish up a game night.\nAshes: Rise of the Phoenixborn # 1 play with 2 players Played before In this particular game of Ashes I played with Noah Redmoon\u0026rsquo;s base deck and did okay against Saria Guideman, even though I ended up losing. I like Ashes well enough, but I worry about whether or not I\u0026rsquo;ll end up playing it much since it scratches a similar itch to Netrunner which I enjoy much more due to my experience with it. Sure, I could play Ashes enough and get to the same point, but that\u0026rsquo;ll require another 247 plays and I\u0026rsquo;m just not sure I\u0026rsquo;m that interested.\nCodenames # 3 plays with 6 players, 2 plays with 11 players New to me Everyone was talking very highly of Codenames during Gen Con and every time I saw it I was underwhelmed. I didn\u0026rsquo;t quite understand the point of the game and never read too much into it and ignored it for a while, but eventually I just decided to buy it and make up my mind for myself and I am very glad I did.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve played this with my meetup group five times now and two of those plays included the entire group and it was a blast. I enjoy playing as both the spymaster and their team and would be happy to play either. Crafting the clues is incredibly difficulty, but also a rush when you get one just perfect for your team.\nThe biggest problem is remaining straight faced as the spymaster and giving no clues about how accurate any guess is. No reaching for a card, no nodding or shaking of your head, no noises, no smiles, nothing. You have to sit there and be straight-faced, it\u0026rsquo;s a little exhausting. Still, the game is excellent and will be a go-to party game for a while.\nTerra Mystica # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge Alright, we\u0026rsquo;re done with the party games for now and on to meatier fare. Terra Mystica is pretty fantastic and I always enjoy trying a new race. This game my wife played as the Dwarves and I played as the Alchemists. It was a somewhat close game, but it never felt like I could pull ahead and achieve a win, though I likely ignored the round bonuses and could have earned enough points there for a win.\nNations: The Dice Game # 1 play with 3 players New to me I liked my play of Nations: The Dice Game enough to (briefly) add it to my want-in-trade list, but it didn\u0026rsquo;t last long enough for me to leave it there. It\u0026rsquo;s alright, but in the end it\u0026rsquo;s nothing special: roll dice, get new tiles that let you gain dice or recurring resources, get more tiles, accrue some points, rinse and repeat. I\u0026rsquo;ll play it again because it\u0026rsquo;s nice and short, but I don\u0026rsquo;t need to own it.\nRace for the Galaxy # 1 play with 3 players Played before Race for the Galaxy was a staple in my house for the longest time. My wife and I can still play it in under 15 minutes a game and it has great decisions for a game that short. This does not feel like a filler at all. My beef with the game is I really don\u0026rsquo;t want to teach it to new players, there\u0026rsquo;s too many symbols and not enough explanation for new players, so they have to play multiple games before it starts to click. Once it does click, it\u0026rsquo;s an excellent game, but it takes a few games.\nViceroy # 1 play with 3 players New to me I backed this game on Kickstarter due to Tom Vasel\u0026rsquo;s review and while I enjoyed the game, I feel like it\u0026rsquo;s a bit too long for what it was. It took us two hours for for players and all I could think about were the better games that I could have been playing. Not recommended.\nCaverna # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge My wife agreed to start using the larger set of furnishings which allowed us to try very different strategies. I went in whole hog on having as many dwarves as possible and managed to get all six of them netting me 16 points (with the furnishing that gave me 10 points for six dwarves). In addition, I was a complete pacifist which netted me another 8 points. I stuck mostly to farming and used the cooking cave to keep us fed, while using rubies to plow and sow my fields. In the end, my score was pretty similar to my other high scores, but I had fun trying a different strategy.\nTicket to Ride # 2 plays with 2 players Played before We don\u0026rsquo;t play Ticket to Ride much, but it\u0026rsquo;s definitely a nice and relaxing game that my wife and I can play multiple times in a night. It reminded me that I should probably play it more often than I do.\nEvolution # 1 play with 3 players New to me Evolution is a tough game to talk about because our first play of it was so soured by what turned out to be a botched rule. However, that excites me because I love the idea of the game: you have your species and you help them evolve over time while starting new species and helping them as well. You can be an herbivore and mind your own business or you can become a carnivore and start eating everyone else.\nThe carnivores are were we started going wrong in our game. Each species consists of a body size, a population, and up to three traits. Whether you\u0026rsquo;re an herbivore or carnivore, you need to eat food up to your population size: you have four population, you need four food. However, an herbivore eats plant food from the watering hole and a carnivore eats the other species. When they eat another species, that species loses a population and the carnivore gains food from the food bank (not watering hole) equal to the attacked species body size. That\u0026rsquo;s what we got wrong, instead we just assumed one attack equaled one food and that led to a lot of species getting needlessly wiped out. In addition, it led to some interesting attempts at preventing the carnivore from winning the game by maxing out body size to make it harder for the carnivore, but in that case the carnivore would only need to eat once.\nI\u0026rsquo;m withholding judgment on this game, but I look forward to trying it out again with the correct rules.\n","date":"1 October 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-woefully-behind-again/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"cosmic-encounter\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39463/cosmic-encounter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eCosmic Encounter\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#cosmic-encounter\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/cosmic-encounter.jpg\" alt=\"Cosmic Encounter\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 5 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/183527/wesbakers-2015-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI seem to only be able to win this game jointly, which is probably a factor of teaching the game to new folks most of the time, but I still love the stories this game produces. In this particular game I had surged to a pretty early lead with three points versus some folks with two, one, or zero points. However, that\u0026rsquo;s never a good sign in this game and everyone started ganging up against me as the destiny deck dealt my color or wilds repeatedly. Sitting firmly with three points and everyone else but one person has four points, I\u0026rsquo;m now in last with one other person. Well, as I said before, we ended up winning due to a 40 point encounter card while allied with the other person in last and then I drew one more encounter card and it was his card. I said, \u0026ldquo;want to negotiate?\u0026rdquo; and, we both had the right card and that was a win!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Woefully Behind Again"},{"content":"Forbidden Stars # 1 play with 3 players Played before My first play of Forbidden Stars was pretty abysmal, resulting in something of a rage quit. However, my second game went much better\u0026mdash;thankfully.\nThe general gist of the game is you\u0026rsquo;re one of four Warhammer 40k factions attempting to recover enough objectives to win within eight rounds. You\u0026rsquo;ll do that by conquering certain planets which will require some movement (and combat), upgrades, building/recruiting, and domination (extracting resources). Most of these actions are straightforward\u0026mdash;with combat being an exception\u0026mdash;but the way you plan your turn is very interesting: you have eight order tiles (two of each action) and you play the tiles face down on the sector tiles and resolve them from the top down. If there are other tiles already there, you play on top, so you can now prevent that person from using that action for a bit. The game ends in eight rounds, and the person with the most objectives wins, in case of a tie you use planets, if that ties, you use units.\nLike the first game, I played the Ultramarines, figuring I\u0026rsquo;d like to try the faction I failed so spectacularly with the first time. After thinking about it for a bit, I realized that the Ultramarines are all about morale\u0026mdash;they want to just outlast the other guy and win by surviving. My strategy revolved around upgrading a lot of cards and focusing on defense, rallying units, and throwing wrenches in my opponent\u0026rsquo;s combat plans.\nThe final score in the fifth round was 3-3-2. The first tie breaker was the number of planets and we were tied at 7. The second tie breaker was units on the board and my opponent had 14 and I had 9.\nI\u0026rsquo;m glad I gave this game another shot as it\u0026rsquo;s a lot of fun, but I\u0026rsquo;d recommend taking some time to look over your faction\u0026rsquo;s cards before starting the game, just so you can figure out their strengths and weaknesses, and an overall game plan of how they should play.\nColt Express # 1 play with 4 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;ve enjoyed RoboRally in the past, but had soured on it because of it\u0026rsquo;s length. I didn\u0026rsquo;t mind the frustration of the game because it was so silly, but taking 2+ hours to play a game of this weight was far too long. Colt Express came along promising a game with similar game play, but a defined game length and fewer options to get tangled in.\nIn Colt Express you\u0026rsquo;re a train robber moving from car to car (these are 3D train cars) and stealing purses, jewels, and the strong box in order to have the most money at the end of five rounds. You start each round with a hand of 6 cards that let you move between train cards, move into or on top of a train car, move the marshall, pick up treasure, punch another player (making them drop a purse), or shoot another player (putting a dead card into their deck). You\u0026rsquo;ll put anywhere from 4-6 cards, typically face up, into a pile one at a time and then that pile is turned over and each card is played one at a time. Sometimes you\u0026rsquo;ll play the cards face down, sometimes you\u0026rsquo;ll play two cards at once, and sometimes you\u0026rsquo;ll play in reverse player order. At the end of your five rounds, whoever has the most money wins.\nI think this largely replaces RoboRally for me, and that\u0026rsquo;s a tough realization. I really like what RoboRally does and how funny it is, but it\u0026rsquo;s just too long for what it is and ends up becoming frustrating as a result. Colt Express on the other hand, lives up to it\u0026rsquo;s name, playing in about 45 minutes to an hour while giving roughly the same feeling.\nSpyfall # 5 plays with 5 players, 5 plays with 6 players Played before This was quite the hit on vacation as we ended up playing it 10 times in one night. However, the more I play it, the less I enjoy it. Instead of enjoying being the spy, most people come to loathe it and that means someone is usually having a bad time. I do love the questions that come out of the game, but unless I can figure out a way of relaxing that anxiety, I\u0026rsquo;m not sure this one will stick around in my collection.\nCosmic Encounter # 1 play with 5 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This is my favorite game and I managed to play it with my favorite group and I managed to (jointly) win! In this particular game, I was the Extortionist which meant I could take half of all defender rewards and compensation. It didn\u0026rsquo;t come up much, but it was still handy to get cards when I shouldn\u0026rsquo;t otherwise have. I think my favorite part of this game was that we had a Changeling who kept moving around the table as that player kept claiming someone else\u0026rsquo;s alien power. I really should play this more, it\u0026rsquo;s an excellent game.\nStar Wars: Imperial Assault # 1 play with 3 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This was the game that made me realize that I have never fully read the Imperial Assault rulebook and my friends ended up paying the price as I read and re-read the rulebook while we were playing. Still, we had a very good game.\nI was playing the Imperial player and my opponents were playing a character each and sharing a third. Having played Descent in the past, one of the players was very nervous about the balance of it and for the majority of the game, it felt almost predetermined that I would win. However, about two thirds in, they figured out the plan that would win them the game, keeping my units busy and drawing the one they needed to kill out.\nThis game is still quite a bit of fun, but I need to properly read the rulebook before our next play.\nRace for the Galaxy # 1 play with 3 players Played before This was a fast game as I was going for broke with a very development heavy strategy, but I ended the game far too soon as a lot of my developments and planets were worth 0 or 1 points. I always enjoy my plays of Race for the Galaxy and I should bring it out more often, but the idea of teaching it keeps me away.\nTsuro # 1 play with 7 players Played before Tsuro is an okay game. I\u0026rsquo;ll almost always play it when offered as a filler, but would never ask to play the game. It\u0026rsquo;s great to play while talking at the end of the night, but don\u0026rsquo;t expect too much more than that.\nWits \u0026amp; Wagers # 1 play with 7 players Played before I have a lot of random trivia in my head, but it\u0026rsquo;s typically not the kind of stuff in trivia games. However, Wits \u0026amp; Wagers is a trivia game that I really enjoy because every answer is a number and you end up betting on the number you think is the closest without going over. You don\u0026rsquo;t need to know the answer, you just need to either have an idea of who does or a ballpark estimate. For example, how many Earths could you fit into Jupiter? Would you bet on 50 or 1000? The answer is somewhere near 1300, so 1000 would have been the correct bet.\nI enjoy Wits \u0026amp; Wagers for what it is, a light trivia game where you don\u0026rsquo;t need to know the answer to the question, just have a general hunch or follow those that seem in the know.\nMedieval Academy # 1 play with 3 players New to me I like drafting games to some degree. 7 Wonders has been in my collection for a long time and will likely stay for a while. I enjoy the simplicity of a drafting game and really enjoy seeing the progression of ages and specializations of different players. Sushi Go is okay, but I probably won\u0026rsquo;t buy it, it\u0026rsquo;s just a little too light for my tastes.\nWith that in mind, I approached Medieval Academy with some trepidation: would it fall more on the 7 Wonders side of things where there\u0026rsquo;s enough meat for me, or on the Sushi Go side where there\u0026rsquo;s not quite enough. It\u0026rsquo;s definitely on the 7 Wonders side and I hope to play it a bunch more.\nMuch like the aforementioned games there is a series of rounds where you are dealt a number of cards. You take a card and pass the remaining cards to your left or right. However, unlike 7 Wonders or Sushi Go you don\u0026rsquo;t play the cards until you have a full hand of five cards. At that point, in turn order you play cards in whatever order you want. That little bit of flexibility makes this different enough from 7 Wonders to warrant keeping and I think I enjoy it just a bit more.\nOn the other hand, the game is thematically weak when compared to 7 Wonders, which is also considered thematically weak in the board gaming community. In other words, the theme is pasted on. However, considering the quality (good) and length (roughly 30 minutes for 3 players) of the game, I\u0026rsquo;m okay with that.\nThe Voyages of Marco Polo # 1 play with 2 players Played before Dice are kinda my jam these days, but it wasn\u0026rsquo;t always that way. There was a time where dice were the bane of my gaming existence and I focused on individual die rolls and how they ruined my plans, and therefore ruined my fun. Well, I\u0026rsquo;ve moved on and I\u0026rsquo;m glad I have because The Voyages of Marco Polo is an excellent game that involves dice.\nI continued my winning streak (two games, woo) with a 75-50 win mostly due to large contracts. I didn\u0026rsquo;t move much on the board, but I did start in Beijing, allowing me to move to Sumatra and take advantage of the cards in that city.\nThe more I play this game, the more I enjoy some of what it offers: tough choices, mild interaction with other players, and route planning. I enjoy the artwork and the nice graphical touches that keep everything really cohesive.\n","date":"22 September 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-the-summer-doldrums/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"forbidden-stars\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175155/forbidden-stars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eForbidden Stars\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#forbidden-stars\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/forbidden-stars.jpg\" alt=\"Forbidden Stars\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy first play of \u003cstrong\u003eForbidden Stars\u003c/strong\u003e was pretty abysmal, resulting in something of a rage quit. However, my second game went much better\u0026mdash;thankfully.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe general gist of the game is you\u0026rsquo;re one of four Warhammer 40k factions attempting to recover enough objectives to win within eight rounds. You\u0026rsquo;ll do that by conquering certain planets which will require some movement (and combat), upgrades, building/recruiting, and domination (extracting resources). Most of these actions are straightforward\u0026mdash;with combat being an exception\u0026mdash;but the way you plan your turn is very interesting: you have eight order tiles (two of each action) and you play the tiles face down on the sector tiles and resolve them from the top down. If there are other tiles already there, you play on top, so you can now prevent that person from using that action for a bit. The game ends in eight rounds, and the person with the most objectives wins, in case of a tie you use planets, if that ties, you use units.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: The Summer Doldrums"},{"content":"Quantum # 1 play with 3 players Played before Every time I play Quantum, I\u0026rsquo;m reminded of why I\u0026rsquo;ve purchased this one twice and I sold myself for having sold it at any point. Quantum takes a normally long and unwieldy genre\u0026mdash;4x (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate)\u0026mdash;and compresses it down into a simple to teach, simple to learn, and hard to master game. I love a lot of the clever bits:\nYour dice are your ships The lower the number of pips on the ship, the slower and more damaging it is, because The lower roll in combat wins, and Aggression is rewarded because losses with attacks don\u0026rsquo;t harm you This combines to make a great game of attacking each other while simultaneously figuring out how to surround a planet with the right ships in order to place one of your Quantum cubes (placing all of your cubes is the victory condition).\nIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t tried this game, I recommend giving it a shot on Board Game Arena, it\u0026rsquo;s definitely a sleeper hit from recent years.\nCastles of Mad King Ludwig # 1 play with 3 players Played before Suburbia has ended up on my trade/sell pile due to Castles of Mad King Ludwig and I\u0026rsquo;m not even the littlest bit upset about it (I managed to cancel my Suburbia 5★ pre-order in time). It removes a lot of what made Suburbia slow and tedious\u0026mdash;managing your income and reputation, reconciling your tiles with other boroughs\u0026mdash;and added in one of my favorite mechanics: \u0026ldquo;I cut, you choose\u0026rdquo; when you\u0026rsquo;re determining how much different rooms cost as the master builder.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s also a lot more fun to look back on your castle at the end of the game than it ever was to look at your washed out city of conformity. There\u0026rsquo;s just a lot more flavor here and I think I\u0026rsquo;d rather play this over Suburbia just about every time.\nRed7 # 1 play with 3 players Played before This play was the straw that broke the camel\u0026rsquo;s back, and I won. The dealer\u0026mdash;my friend who owns the game\u0026mdash;dealt us all our cards and we started with the person to his right. Play comes to him and he has no cards that he can play, so he\u0026rsquo;s out immediately. The rest of the game played out with the person who could play the fewest cards winning and that was largely determined by the shuffle. In essence, it feels like the game plays itself. If I wanted that, I\u0026rsquo;d just watch a computer run a simulation.\nStraight to the sell pile.\nPort Royal # 1 play with 2 players Played before I had high hopes when I bought Port Royal. I didn\u0026rsquo;t have many (if any?) push-your-luck games and I adore pirate themes. Yet, the first time I brought this out, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t enamored. With five players, this filler took 45 minutes or so, and that was about 15-20 minutes too long.\nI was glad that I got the opportunity to try it out again, and this time with fewer players. It was a surprisingly good game with two. There was the knowledge that you could only earn 1 coin off of your opponent on your turn, so you weren\u0026rsquo;t too worried about drawing enough cards to get cash from them. In addition, taxes had a far greater chance of providing you with a coin since there\u0026rsquo;s only two players to compare. Last, you have a lot more options for expeditions since the same number seem to come out and, again, there\u0026rsquo;s not a ton of competition over them.\nI doubt that two players is the sweet spot here, but I\u0026rsquo;m happy to see that I enjoyed this game despite my early misgivings. This is a keeper for now.\nAshes: Rise of the Phoenixborn # 2 plays with 2 players New to me Oh good, another two player semi-collectable card game. I didn\u0026rsquo;t have enough of these. I enjoy this genre, I truly do, but I worry about the amount of time I have to play these games since I play two player games with my wife (who\u0026rsquo;s not a huge fan of confrontation) or with my Netrunner buddies (who\u0026rsquo;d rather be playing Netrunner). Still, I had been hearing a lot of good things about Ashes and I\u0026rsquo;m a sucker for good production values, so I pre-ordered it and it showed up before Gen Con (kudos to Plaid Hat Games!).\nI\u0026rsquo;ve only played two games so far, but what I\u0026rsquo;ve seen I really like. I\u0026rsquo;ve seen all six base decks played and I\u0026rsquo;ve personally played two of them: Saria Guideman and Coal Roarkwin. Both played so drastically different, that after playing Saria\u0026rsquo;s deck pretty well, I fell flat on my face with Coal. That\u0026rsquo;s a huge compliment in my book: that two decks in the same game play that differently in the core set is excellent design and good indication of what\u0026rsquo;s to come: variety.\nIf there\u0026rsquo;s anything that I don\u0026rsquo;t like it\u0026rsquo;s the graphic design. Now, I love the art, and the graphic design is clear, but every card is mostly white and after a while they all seem so similar. Coming from Netrunner where there are factions who have their own colors it felt so strange to see every card be the same color. Now, Ashes does not have factions, so I get it, but still some color would have been nice.\nStill, I enjoyed my plays and I\u0026rsquo;m keeping the game for the time being.\nFive Tribes # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This is a game I still really enjoy and it keeps getting better and better. I really enjoy being able to try different tactics and strategies from game to game and that they all work to some degree, there\u0026rsquo;s no one winning strategy.\nIn this game I went for djinn, a few sets of good cards, and viziers, and also managed to get quite a few palaces on my tiles. Utug let me claim a few tiles with meeples on them and I managed to claim a lot of tiles that get palm trees or palaces, making it hard for my wife to move around without also giving me points.\nForbidden Stars # 1 play with 4 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;m not going to rate this game for now, because I had a terrible first experience with it, losing most combats, turtling in a game where I shouldn\u0026rsquo;t turtle, getting rules wrong. Pretty much if it could have gone wrong, it did.\nHowever, I see a lot to like here for me: asymmetric player powers, upgradable powers in and out of combat, a fun theme, and spaceships. I\u0026rsquo;m going to play this game and I\u0026rsquo;m cautiously optimistic, but if my second experience doesn\u0026rsquo;t play out much better, this game will be traded or sold.\nSheriff of Nottingham # 1 play with 5 players Played before There\u0026rsquo;s nothing quite like lying to your friends and while I wasn\u0026rsquo;t the biggest liar, I may have been the best in this one. Normally I tend for a very conservative strategy and rely on making money through truth, but in this game I did a lot of straight faced lying as I asked the sheriff to pay me before they opened the bag, even though I had a few contraband in there.\nI wish I got this game to the table more, but you can have a pretty terrible experience if you have the wrong group. Don\u0026rsquo;t have the wrong group and pick this one up.\nCaverna # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge When playing Caverna I often go for a Beer Parlor strategy that enables me to turn wheat into a lot of food in the early parts of the game, and points later. This time I tried to do something different, going for a heavy sheep strategy and while it worked, I didn\u0026rsquo;t win, nor was this my highest scoring game (63-62 was the final score, and I have a previous recorded high score of 81).\nI really do appreciate that I can sit down to a game of Caverna and pick a new strategy. I get to see how it works and how it compares to my previous strategy. In addition, Shannon and I play fast enough to knock out a game in 45 minutes to an hour.\n","date":"23 August 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-with-a-bias-towards-dice/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"quantum\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/143519/quantum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eQuantum\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#quantum\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/quantum.jpg\" alt=\"Quantum\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery time I play \u003cstrong\u003eQuantum\u003c/strong\u003e, I\u0026rsquo;m reminded of why I\u0026rsquo;ve purchased this one twice and I sold myself for having sold it at any point. \u003cstrong\u003eQuantum\u003c/strong\u003e takes a normally long and unwieldy genre\u0026mdash;4x (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate)\u0026mdash;and compresses it down into a simple to teach, simple to learn, and hard to master game. I love a lot of the clever bits:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: With a Bias Towards Dice"},{"content":"Elysium # 1 play with 3 players and 1 play with 2 players in the past two weeks Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve mostly played Elysium with 3 or 4 players, so it was nice to finally be able to try the game with only 2 players. With 2 players, it\u0026rsquo;s definitely a much faster game since the number of cards drafted stays the same. Also, I feel like your choices open up quite a bit as each player can develop an individual strategy.\nI\u0026rsquo;m not sure if it plays best at any particular player count though, it\u0026rsquo;s just different. If you\u0026rsquo;re looking for a tighter game, play with more players. If you want something a bit more relaxed, try it with 2 players.\nThe Voyages of Marco Polo # 1 play with 2 players in the past two weeks New to me I held off on this one as no one seemed to be covering it and that\u0026rsquo;s typically a clue that it\u0026rsquo;s not worth playing. However, Tom Vasel reviewed it and my co-worker was telling me about it as well, so I gave it a shot.\nIn The Voyages of Marco Polo you\u0026rsquo;re tasked with earning victory points by acquiring goods and money and fulfilling contracts. In that way, it\u0026rsquo;s almost like playing Lords of Waterdeep. However, you also need to move across Asia in order to go to different towns to setup your trade routes and acquire goods.\nThe way you\u0026rsquo;ll be doing all of this is by rolling dice and then placing them on the available actions: gain money, gain trade goods, travel, take contracts, take a good and some camels. You\u0026rsquo;ll be placing one or more dice on these actions and then taking what you\u0026rsquo;re owed. These dice determine the \u0026ldquo;strength\u0026rdquo; of your selected action, typically allowing you to gain more or do more of something, with the lowest die determining how much. In addition, most spaces can be used by multiple players if they pay money equal to the lowest die being placed, so you\u0026rsquo;re never completely shut off from the various actions you may need.\nFinally, each player has a role card that \u0026ldquo;breaks\u0026rdquo; the game in some interesting way. I say \u0026ldquo;breaks\u0026rdquo; because they all seem broken in their own unique way: not having to roll dice, getting another die and contract each turn, starting at the end position on the map, traveling easier, and so on. Without these, the game would be fine, but with these it really kicks it up a notch. Asymmetry always makes me appreciate a game just that much more.\nThis is definitely a game I recommend playing and picking up if any of the above sounds interesting to you. If you\u0026rsquo;re interested in theme, I feel like this game does a pretty good job of giving you a theme, even if it\u0026rsquo;s a little thin when looking at the actions.\nArcadia Quest # 1 play with 4 players in the past two weeks Played before There are a few games I wish I had made part of my 10x10 list and this is one of them. Arcadia Quest is all about getting a few friends together and chucking some dice in less than an hour (without rules explanation). It has campaign play and begs to be played that way, though one-offs aren\u0026rsquo;t too bad either.\nThe general gist is you have three heroes and so does everyone else. There are always four PvP (Player versus Player) quests available which are about killing the other players\u0026rsquo; heroes and there are also PvE (Player versus Enemy) quests that are about killing monsters, picking up a token, or something else involving just the board. You earn gold for completing these quests and for killing monsters and other players\u0026rsquo; heroes. The game ends when someone has completed three quests (as long as one is a PvE quest) and that player \u0026ldquo;wins\u0026rdquo;. I put \u0026ldquo;wins\u0026rdquo; in quotes because for a campaign, you\u0026rsquo;ll need to do that a few more times to find the winner. And besides, this game never quite feels like it\u0026rsquo;s about winning or losing, just playing a game and messing with the other players and I love that unabashed honesty and simplicity.\nIf you don\u0026rsquo;t like dice, steer clear, and there\u0026rsquo;s not much optimization to be done, so understand you\u0026rsquo;re playing a pretty light game.\nViticulture # 1 play with 5-6 players in the past two weeks Played before This is the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve played Viticulture that wasn\u0026rsquo;t solo and there\u0026rsquo;s quite a bit more game here than I expected. The shifting availability of different actions combined with the grande worker\u0026rsquo;s ability to ignore those slots—but just once a year—made for a lot of difficult decisions and hard cuts.\nI do think the game went a bit long with six, but so long as the players know the game, I\u0026rsquo;d expect this one to play in under two hours with 5 or 6. I\u0026rsquo;ll agree with the majority of whiners out there and say the cards are a bit too random, though it\u0026rsquo;s not so bad to ruin the game.\nEscape: The Curse of the Temple # 1 play with 5 players in the past two weeks New to me I had backed this on Kickstarter, but ended up selling it with the expectation that I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t play it much, and after playing it once that was a good decision. However, it is a pretty great game, one I would never turn down.\nThe basic premise is you (and 2 to 4 of your friends) are stuck in a temple and need to get out in 10 minutes. You\u0026rsquo;ll discover new rooms, move between rooms, place gems in rooms to appease the temple, and eventually escape. And you\u0026rsquo;ll do all of this by rolling dice as fast as possible because Escape is played in real-time. You can roll your dice as much as you want, but you\u0026rsquo;ll eventually roll dice that can\u0026rsquo;t be re-rolled unless you get another die face to \u0026ldquo;unlock\u0026rdquo; them. It\u0026rsquo;s possible to be completely locked, in which case you\u0026rsquo;ll need a friend to come over and help you out, so it\u0026rsquo;s best to not completely split the party (but you knew that already).\nIn my one play, we had a full compliment of 5 players and the game hummed along. The soundtrack did it\u0026rsquo;s job of making us even more tense than we otherwise were and the 10 minute timer is absolutely perfect, this game can\u0026rsquo;t overstay it\u0026rsquo;s welcome.\nSo why am I glad I didn\u0026rsquo;t buy it? It\u0026rsquo;s a fun game, but it\u0026rsquo;s one I would only get played in groups and I have so many other games to play with larger groups. Such as\u0026hellip;\nSpyfall # 3 plays with 6-8 players in the past two weeks Played before People are always confused about how Spyfall works: everyone is given a card. All but one of those cards tells you where you are and what your role is in that location. The remaining card tells that player that they\u0026rsquo;re the spy. Then there\u0026rsquo;s eight minutes of players asking each other questions one at a time in order to determine who knows enough about the location that they aren\u0026rsquo;t a spy.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s my favorite example: you\u0026rsquo;re on a space station and you have a pretty good hunch that Scott is the spy, so you turn to him and ask:\nHey Scott, how often do you open the windows around here?\nHe looks at you for a few seconds, thinks, and responds:\nEvery now and again.\nWell, you now know who the spy is.\nThe more I play this game, the more I love it. It fits perfectly next to One Night Ultimate Werewolf as a party game that doesn\u0026rsquo;t over stay it\u0026rsquo;s welcome, doesn\u0026rsquo;t have player elimination and is more about the play than winning.\nImperial Settlers # 1 play with 3 players in the past two weeks Played before I quite like Imperial Settlers, but the more I play it, the more I wonder how long it\u0026rsquo;ll stay in my collection. The game rewards repeated play, while at the same time forcing players to deal with a random draw of cards. That being said, I do enjoy my plays of Imperial Settlers.\nDuring this game, Scott was the Egyptians, Dane was the Japanese, and I was the Romans. Scott got off to a hell of a start and was raking in all sorts of resources using a card from the expansion Why Can\u0026rsquo;t We Be Friends?. Meanwhile, Dane was attempting to build some sort of production, but was having a hard time of it. I was also struggling to get a good start, but my engine started humming along in round three. I was building Roman builds which earned me points just for having them, and I was stealing deals, destroying buildings, and generally finding all of the ways I could earn points.\nFinal scoring had me winning with 50, Dane with 47, and Scott with 42. A nice close game.\nStar Wars: Imperial Assault # 1 play with 2 players in the past two weeks Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge I don\u0026rsquo;t get to play Star Wars: Imperial Assault as much as I would like to. There must be some kind of curse on Fantasy Flight Games and my gaming group. However, I was lucky enough to con a friend into trying out a skirmish match. He was the Imperials and I was the Rebels, we were on a moisture farm trying to accumulate enough moisture and destroy enough units to win and get out of there.\nThere was quite a bit of back and forth as he cleverly moved his units around the board and dispatched two of my units pretty quickly. However, I managed to eek out a win by collecting more moisture and killing just enough units to win 40-34.\nI\u0026rsquo;d like to play this more and potentially get a campaign going, but I think I\u0026rsquo;ll have to wait until the fall.\nTerra Mystica # 1 play with 2 players in the past two weeks Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge I always forget how quickly my wife and I can play Terra Mystica because when teaching this to new players it can easily be a three hour game, but if playing with experienced players you can be done in two hours or less. In fact, my wife and I finished in under an hour.\nFor this particular game, my wife played as the Riverwalkers and I was the Giants. I had seen the Giants played before, but managed to always play something else and the Riverwalkers are new from the expansion, Fire \u0026amp; Ice. I was off to a good start and thought I was doing well, even if I never bothered to improve my spade efficiency, but Shannon managed to pull off one heck of a win by combining all of her disparate towns into one mega town giving her enough points to win.\nI think the Riverwalkers might be the strongest race in the game, but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure I can call that after one play. There are statistics that back up my hunch, but I still would like to reserve judgement.\nIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t played Terra Mystica before, go ahead and do yourself a favor: read the rules, and then find someone who owns it to play with. If you like euros of any kind, I suspect you\u0026rsquo;ll like it.\n","date":"19 July 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-rolling-dice-and-taking-actions/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"elysium\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163968/elysium\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eElysium\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#elysium\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/elysium.jpg\" alt=\"Elysium\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players and 1 play with 2 players in the past two weeks\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve mostly played \u003cstrong\u003eElysium\u003c/strong\u003e with 3 or 4 players, so it was nice to finally be able to try the game with only 2 players. With 2 players, it\u0026rsquo;s definitely a much faster game since the number of cards drafted stays the same. Also, I feel like your choices open up quite a bit as each player can develop an individual strategy.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Rolling Dice and Taking Actions"},{"content":"The Duke # 1 play with 2 players this week Played before This is one of those games that just doesn\u0026rsquo;t get to the table nearly as much as I\u0026rsquo;d like since it\u0026rsquo;s two players only. It takes what I like about chess (its strategy and different movements) and removes what I don\u0026rsquo;t like (its static setup). I like that a piece\u0026rsquo;s movement changes after moving and that each piece does something slightly different. I do find myself looking up the very short rules since I don\u0026rsquo;t play it often, but if you played quite a bit, this would be a 10-20 minute game each time.\nHighly recommended if you can get it to the table.\nTransAmerica # 1 play with 6 players this week New to me I\u0026rsquo;ve never played TransAmerica before mostly because it looks like a small abstract filler, yet it was a six player game that everyone else was interested in so I happily went along with it and was pleasantly surprised by the game here.\nThe gist is you have five American cities you need to connect and you start with twelve points. All of the cities are connected by a triangular grid and you have a starting point somewhere on the board. On your turn you place two rail road pieces along the triangular grid. The first person to connect their cities ends the round and everyone else loses points based on how far they are from their goals. You play multiple rounds until someone hits zero points.\nI\u0026rsquo;m pretty sure this is out of print and while I did enjoy it, I definitely wouldn\u0026rsquo;t recommend going out of your way to find it. However, if you can try it out, I do recommend giving it a shot.\nElysium # 1 play with 3 players this week New to me This one went back and forth for me: should I buy this or should I ignore it? In the end, I bought it and I\u0026rsquo;m happy I did. Elysium is a fast game and one full of difficult decisions and not nearly enough time to do everything you want. Combine that with a variable setup and I\u0026rsquo;m a happy camper.\nThe goal of the game is to have the most points at the end of five rounds. You do so by drafting cards from the Agora. You have four colored columns\u0026mdash;red, green, blue, yellow\u0026mdash;and when you draft a card you must have the columns represented on the card and then you must remove one of your columns, though not necessarily a column you used to draft the card. Each card has some benefit or disadvantage for your opponents. At the end of the round you\u0026rsquo;ll have an opportunity to move cards to your Elysium, where you\u0026rsquo;ll form sets based upon the suit and number at the top left of the card. You\u0026rsquo;ll be forming level legends which are all the same number, but different suits; and family legends which are all the same suit, but different numbers.\nI can see how that description probably wouldn\u0026rsquo;t sell most people. It didn\u0026rsquo;t really sell me, but the promise of a game with tough decisions in under an hour hooked me, and it delivers. While the cards are typically thematic with the god they represent, I would never call this a thematic game, so understand that part is mostly window dressing. Still, it\u0026rsquo;s a great game and one worth trying and, maybe, buying.\nFive Tribes # 1 play with 3 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge My love for this game continues, though I don\u0026rsquo;t remember a ton about this play other than I had a hunch I wasn\u0026rsquo;t playing optimally from the start. The winner managed to snag some obvious stuff that I missed. Still, it was a good reminder that I have plenty more to learn about this game.\nThrough the Desert # 1 play with 3 players this week New to me Abstracts are not my favorite. Through the Desert is very clearly an abstract, however, it was somewhat interesting to play and pretty snappy after I was taught the rules. The teacher of this game said that detractors of this game always point to the necessity of a good starting position and how the rest of the game really just plays out from there. I\u0026rsquo;ve only played once, but I think I see where they\u0026rsquo;re coming from.\nI\u0026rsquo;d play this again, but I\u0026rsquo;d prefer playing most other games.\nSpecter Ops # 1 play with 2 players this week New to me My only play of Specter Ops was probably not at an optimal player count: 2. It was a game of cat-and-mouse as my friend traipsed around while my hunters tried to find him. It ended up being mostly me learning how to find him and what to do at that point, but I could see this game having an alpha gamer problem as the hunters try to find the agent. I\u0026rsquo;d like to try this one again, but I was a little disappointed by it.\nSushi Go # 3 plays with 5 players this week Played before Sushi Go is a simpler take on drafting games like 7 Wonders where you take a card from a hand of cards and pass them to your neighbor and repeat until there are no cards left. Different combinations of cards score points differently.\nThe biggest benefit of this game is its simplicity and its art. It takes all of five minutes to teach and it looks absolutely adorable which makes it really easy to hook new gamers. Beyond that, if you\u0026rsquo;re comfortable playing 7 Wonders I\u0026rsquo;d skip this one, but if you\u0026rsquo;re looking for a great game to play with family members, I\u0026rsquo;d try this one out.\n","date":"4 July 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-woefully-behind/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"the-duke\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36235/duke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eThe Duke\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#the-duke\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/the-duke.jpg\" alt=\"The Duke\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players this week\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of those games that just doesn\u0026rsquo;t get to the table nearly as much as I\u0026rsquo;d like since it\u0026rsquo;s two players only. It takes what I like about chess (its strategy and different movements) and removes what I don\u0026rsquo;t like (its static setup). I like that a piece\u0026rsquo;s movement changes after moving and that each piece does something slightly different. I do find myself looking up the very short rules since I don\u0026rsquo;t play it often, but if you played quite a bit, this would be a 10-20 minute game each time.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Woefully Behind"},{"content":"1775: Rebellion # 1 play with 4 players this week Played before This is a game that just doesn\u0026rsquo;t get played nearly enough for my preferences. It\u0026rsquo;s one of the few team games I own and it\u0026rsquo;s about the only way I can play a war game. If you haven\u0026rsquo;t played it before, it\u0026rsquo;s a very light area control board game where you have four players that represent the colonial militia, the Continental Army, the loyalist militia, and the British regulars. Each faction has a certain birthdays. Those guys have a number of hit symbols, flee symbols, and blanks. The British regulars are the strongest and they have the most hit symbols and no flee symbols. On the other hand, the militias are pretty weak with there two hit symbols and to flee symbols. However, to make up for the weakness of the militias they get three dice whereas the armies get two dice. In addition, you get to replace those fled armies later.\nThis game really works for one reason: the game gets out of your way and lets the two teams duke it out. You look at the map and think about the strategy of gaining colonies and forcing the other team to lose control of theirs. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t matter so much if you win or lose an individual battle, it matters if you can take control of the colonies.\nI\u0026rsquo;m a little sad that I don\u0026rsquo;t get the play this game more often. It really is the best team game I own and the best team game I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played. It\u0026rsquo;ll stay in my collection and I look forward to playing again.\nFunemployed! # 1 play with 4 players this week New to me I bought Funemplyed hoping it would be a good replacement for Cards Against Humanity. I enjoy Cards Against Humanity, but you\u0026rsquo;re pretty limited in the groups you can play with and there are times where I\u0026rsquo;m just tired of its humor.\nFunemployed it\u0026rsquo;s pretty similar to cards against Matt: you\u0026rsquo;re giving a hand up for cards that represent different traits, one person represents the employer and they draw a job card and pick the person that offers the best resume. The difference between Funemployed and for the Cards Against Humanity is that you must use all of your cards and there are 10 additional cards in the middle of the table that you can swap out the cards from your hand. Once everyone is happy with the four cards in their hand, they apply to the job one person at a time. This requires a lot more creativity than Cards Against Humanity: you have to take your four traits and convince the employer that you\u0026rsquo;re the best qualified.\nHowever what makes this game unique also makes it difficult. Taking those for traits and concocting a resume on your feet is pretty difficult. That\u0026rsquo;s not to say it isn\u0026rsquo;t fun, it\u0026rsquo;s just harder and requires more brainpower than other games of it\u0026rsquo;s type. I\u0026rsquo;m interested to play it again, but I\u0026rsquo;m a little lukewarm on it right now.\nChaos in the Old World # 1 play with 5 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge Chaos in the old World is one of my absolute favorite games, in fact it\u0026rsquo;s probably number two on my top 10 list. I love almost everything about it: asymmetric player powers, dudes on a map, multiple paths to victory, upgrades, and a solid theme. It plays well from 3 to 5 players, no matter what anyone else might say. Better yet, the expansion that adds the fifth player adds a whole new wrinkle to the game, playing very differently from the other four factions.\nIn this particular game I played as the Skaven, the ratmen who play best by sneaking in near the end and being there as a particular area is ruined. I did much better than I thought I would, almost winning the game, but one of my friends managed a victory by another condition that is recognized first.\nI\u0026rsquo;m happy this game is on my 10x10 list, since it\u0026rsquo;ll push me to get it played more this year, it deserves it.\nWelcome to the Dungeon # 1 play with 4 players this week New to me I have a weird relationship with filler games: I want to love them and I\u0026rsquo;m typically indifferent towards them. This game falls in the indifferent boat for the moment, but I could see it going up once I better understand how to play.\nThe basic premise is someone is going into the dungeon and attempting to come out alive after defeating all of the monsters. It\u0026rsquo;s a bit abstract because the players all represent that same person, but only one person is going into the dungeon. Each round a hero is selected and then the players, one at a time, look at a card from the monster deck and either put it in the dungeon deck (meaning the hero will encounter it) or it is set aside along with one of the hero\u0026rsquo;s six magic items (where the hero cannot use the item, but won\u0026rsquo;t encounter the monster either). So if you know you don\u0026rsquo;t want to go on this particular trip, you might draw a weak card, set it aside, and bring a very strong item with it. However, if everyone else passes, you\u0026rsquo;re stuck going to the dungeon. You\u0026rsquo;re playing a low stakes game of chicken, essentially.\nIn that regard, the game is very good. That tension is definitely there and the game is over way before it\u0026rsquo;s worn out it\u0026rsquo;s welcome. It has player elimination, but I never have a problem with player elimination with fillers. I\u0026rsquo;m happy I purchased this game, but I\u0026rsquo;ll need a few more plays before I actually understand the strategy.\n","date":"22 June 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-two-kinds-of-war-a-job-application-and-crawling/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"1775-rebellion\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/128996/1775-rebellion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003e1775: Rebellion\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#1775-rebellion\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/1775-rebellion.jpg\" alt=\"1775: Rebellion\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 4 players this week\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a game that just doesn\u0026rsquo;t get played nearly enough for my preferences. It\u0026rsquo;s one of the few team games I own and it\u0026rsquo;s about the only way I can play a war game. If you haven\u0026rsquo;t played it before, it\u0026rsquo;s a very light area control board game where you have four players that represent the colonial militia, the Continental Army, the loyalist militia, and the British regulars. Each faction has a certain birthdays. Those guys have a number of hit symbols, flee symbols, and blanks. The British regulars are the strongest and they have the most hit symbols and no flee symbols. On the other hand, the militias are pretty weak with there two hit symbols and to flee symbols. However, to make up for the weakness of the militias they get three dice whereas the armies get two dice. In addition, you get to replace those fled armies later.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: The Re-Review: Two Kinds of War, a Job Application, and Crawling"},{"content":"Star Realms # 5 plays with 2 players Played before If you\u0026rsquo;ve played Ascension then you\u0026rsquo;ve also played Star Realms for the most part. They\u0026rsquo;re both simple deck builders with two different kinds of currency: one used for buying new cards and one used for attacking. Both have a center card row with five cards face up and both have cards on the side that are always available. The biggest difference between the two is that in Ascension you only attack monsters in the middle row and one monster that\u0026rsquo;s always available and in Star Realms you\u0026rsquo;re attacking the other player(s).\nMechanics aside, I think Star Realms is the better game. It keeps things simple, the art is superior (totally a preference), it has a lower starting price ($15 vs $40 retail), and it takes a genre that was known for making only multiplayer solitaire games and created a game of pure interaction. Also, you\u0026rsquo;ll typically know what you did wrong when you lose. You can go back and look at where you went wrong.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s also a negative though. You\u0026rsquo;ll know what you did wrong, but it may have been the best situation given the cards. You\u0026rsquo;re dealing with the luck of the draw here and that\u0026rsquo;s all fine and good, just know it can stick you with some crappy cards. This can be dealt with by playing a few rounds, it\u0026rsquo;s certainly fast enough.\nReally, it\u0026rsquo;s hard not to recommend a $15 game that plays in 20 minutes and is incredibly portable. Next time you need to fill out an order you should certainly add this in, otherwise pick it up at your local store or on Amazon.\nImperial Settlers # 1 play with 1 player Played before Imperial Settlers was one of my favorite games from 2014. I pre-ordered it and picked it up from GenCon from the Portal booth. It ticked a lot of boxes for my preferences:\nCivilization theme Cards with multiple uses Asymmetric factions Player interaction Fancy wooden pieces Fun art Here are the basics in case you haven\u0026rsquo;t played it. Your goal is to score points, you do so by placing cards, using those cards, and taking other actions that work with those cards. At the beginning of the game, you select one of four factions that all have a different bent: Egyptians are all about money, Romans are all about building, Barbarians are all about razing, and Japanese are all about guarding their fragile buildings. There are two sets of cards: one that is generic and one that is specific to your faction. You then use those cards to build production buildings, features (which are typically passive benefits), and actions (which require resources to use). After five rounds of play, you count up all of the points (including those earned by your buildings) and the person with the highest total wins.\nEverything from my preferences list above is part of the pros of this game. It does so many things right for me. In addition, it always feels like you\u0026rsquo;re lacking something, whether that\u0026rsquo;s resources or cards (it can be somewhat hard to get cards in this game). The more I look at this game, the more I realize it really is one of the best games to come out last year.\nIn addition, the solo play is interesting and challenging as well, but understand that if solo games aren\u0026rsquo;t your bag, this isn\u0026rsquo;t going to change your mind. I haven\u0026rsquo;t tried the campaign mode yet though, that might be next.\nThere are some cons, as always, mostly in the form of analysis paralysis. You only have so many cards and so many resources, so it\u0026rsquo;s a puzzle to figure out the order of cards and resources to build most efficiently. If you play with AP prone players, this will be a problem. Beyond that, I\u0026rsquo;m remarkably happy with the game, it\u0026rsquo;s excellent and one that I\u0026rsquo;ll be happy to play any time.\n","date":"19 May 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-asencion-in-space-and-civilization-building-by-razing/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"star-realms\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147020/star-realms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eStar Realms\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#star-realms\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/star-realms.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e5 plays with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you\u0026rsquo;ve played \u003cstrong\u003eAscension\u003c/strong\u003e then you\u0026rsquo;ve also played \u003cstrong\u003eStar Realms\u003c/strong\u003e for the most part. They\u0026rsquo;re both simple deck builders with two different kinds of currency: one used for buying new cards and one used for attacking. Both have a center card row with five cards face up and both have cards on the side that are always available. The biggest difference between the two is that in \u003cstrong\u003eAscension\u003c/strong\u003e you only attack monsters in the middle row and one monster that\u0026rsquo;s always available and in \u003cstrong\u003eStar Realms\u003c/strong\u003e you\u0026rsquo;re attacking the other player(s).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Ascension in Spaaaaaaaace and Civilization Building by Razing"},{"content":"Star Wars: Armada # 1 play with 2 players Not played before This game was underwhelming and I’m happy about that. I purchased Star Wars: X-Wing near when it came out. I bought the extra ships and expanded it to the point where I needed a big Plano box in order to store all of the ships and even that didn’t fully contain it. I also bought the fancy acrylic templates. I later realized that I never played the game and it was just collecting dust, taking up space, and it represented an expense that I wasn’t happy with. I was much happier when I sold it.\nWhen I saw Star Wars: Armada I knew it would be a similar story. I’d end up collecting more ships while never playing the game and I’d eventually get to the point of expansion fatigue and sell it.\nWith all of this baggage in tow, I tried a quick learning game thanks to my friend Tim. I think this game does have a lot going for it. I love the movement of the capital ships and how the bigger the ship, the more planning you have to do. Fantasy Flight most definitely achieved a very different feel from X-Wing and they should be commended for it.\nHowever, there’s a lot I don’t like. Let’s start with the squadrons. These squadrons are your X-Wings and TIE Fighters and have different movement and shooting rules from your ships. They move in straight lines through the capital ships and they can only shoot at a very short range (which admittedly makes sense). The problem is there are so many of them and they’re in the way of your capital ships. Additionally, they have these little dials to mark their health and these sliding tabs that mark whether they’ve been activated. Both are great ideas, but the execution means you’re frequently going to accidentally move or knock over squadrons.\nI think there’s a lot to like here for the serious player, the person who can invest a lot of time (and money). However, for a casual player, especially one who doesn’t have a lot of tolerance for the fiddliness of miniature games, I’d say this is a pass.\nConcordia # 1 play with 3 players Played before I’m glad I got to try Condordia with three players as it was shorter than my previous five player game. However, it still felt a little too long (I think we clocked in around an hour and 45 minutes). I’d like to get this game to somewhere near 25 minutes per player. However, the game is still good enough that I want to try and get it to that point.\nThis time around I tried a different strategy versus my five player game. My opening involved rushing to get some basic building blocks: bricks and food. Once I had those I started to expand out to get more of those along with some money. I managed to snag a card that gave me points for each wheat city, so I had a goal in mind that also synergized with Saturnus (which gives you 1 point per province where you have a house) since the wheat cities where somewhat spread out.\nLater in the game, once I had all of the wheat cities, I started focusing on producing a good of each type while placing those houses in completely different provinces to give me points for both Mercurius and Saturnus.\nOverall I felt like my strategy didn’t focus on any one thing, it just did a lot of things really well. It felt slow to build things at times due to my spread out brick houses, but it did win me the game.\nThe more I play this game, the more I enjoy it and while it still feels long, I can get over that.\nGlory to Rome # 2 plays with 2 players Played before Part of 10x10 Challenge Glory to Rome is one of my wife and I\u0026rsquo;s favorite games. It\u0026rsquo;s something that we both know well enough that we can play it in about 20 minutes and typically play it multiple times due to the randomness of the cards.\nIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t played Glory to Rome before, it\u0026rsquo;s a card game where the cards function as buildings, as clientele, and resources (used for building buildings or scoring points in your vault). In addition, each card has a role (same as the clientele) and that\u0026rsquo;s how the round\u0026rsquo;s leader decides what the rest of the group will be doing for this round whether it\u0026rsquo;s building buildings (Craftsman/Architect), acquiring more clientele (Patron), putting resources into your stockpile (Laborer), moving resources from your stockpile to your vault (Merchant), or demanding resources from the other players (Legionary). The game ends either when all building sites have been used up (there are two per player) or when someone has built a building that otherwise ends the game.\nLike I said before, this is a perennial favorite around my house. I love the different card combinations and figuring out what approach will work best. Do you spread yourself thin very early and start as many buildings as you can or do you focus on one building at the expense of all others. Then there are the various ways to win: building buildings earns you points, moving resources to your vault earns you points, having the most of a type of card in your vault earns you points, and then there are buildings that will just win you the game with certain conditions.\nThere are some negatives though. For one, it\u0026rsquo;s tough to teach. Easier than Race for the Galaxy, but new players should expect to lose their first few games while they grok how to play by the rules and then how to apply strategy later. Second, it\u0026rsquo;s a big deck and it\u0026rsquo;s shuffled, so there\u0026rsquo;s randomness as to what comes out. Some games you might have a wonderful (and obvious) strategy come out in your first few draws and some games might have you stuck with cards that are on the weaker side.\nOverall, this is a fantastic game and if they ever decide to reprint it, you should pick it up.\n","date":"11 May 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-rome-rome-and-a-victory-class-star-destroyer/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"star-wars-armada\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163745/star-wars-armada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eStar Wars: Armada\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#star-wars-armada\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/star-wars-armada.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNot played before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis game was underwhelming and I’m happy about that. I purchased \u003cstrong\u003eStar Wars: X-Wing\u003c/strong\u003e near when it came out. I bought the extra ships and expanded it to the point where I needed a big Plano box in order to store all of the ships and even that didn’t fully contain it. I also bought the fancy acrylic templates. I later realized that I never played the game and it was just collecting dust, taking up space, and it represented an expense that I wasn’t happy with. I was much happier when I sold it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Rome, Rome, and a Victory-class Star Destroyer"},{"content":"Warhammer 40,000: Conquest # 1 play with 2 players Played before There’s a lot to like about Warhammer 40,000: Conquest. It’s a customizable game done by Fantasy Flight so you know that it’ll be well supported, have fantastic art, and likely enjoy a long life. It’s a Games Workshop property so you know there’s lore behind everything and if you’re a fan of that universe it’s likely all here. It’s an Eric Ltang designed game and he’s been hitting it out of the park lately with well designed games coupled with a relatively simple ruleset. Yet, I have my reservations.\nConquest is essentially an area control game, or, better yet, a lane control game. At the beginning of the game there are five planets (these form the lanes) where you can place armies. If you have more command icons on your units than the other player, you win the command struggle and get cards and resources. Then you do battle at the first planet and all planets with warlords. Whoever wins the first planet claims it as a reward. The next round starts and a new planet is revealed. The first person to claim three planets that have common colors (each planet has one to three red, green, and blue icons) wins. Alternatively, if you can kill the other player’s warlord you win.\nI love the simplicity of this game: play cards, win planets, kill the other guys. Yet, there’s a lot of strategy here and there are plenty of options to keep your inner strategist busy. The deckbuilding is a bit different from my favorite LCG Netrunner: you pick a warlord and they come with 8 cards, you can then pick one of two factions to pull other cards from, but you can’t pull in any loyal cards from the other factions. So you can borrow cards, but you don’t get the best cards that faction has to offer.\nI have two problems and if either was “fixed” I could ignore the other. I’m not a huge fan of the theme. Sure, far-future science fiction is very cool, but the Warhammer 40,000 universe is a bit over the top for me. The other problem is the game is expandable and if it wasn’t I could see this being a game my wife would enjoy (I’m thinking along the lines of Blue Moon Legends). If the game was expandable with a different theme or if the game was self contained I could ignore the other problem. Still, this is a great game and if you’re interested in getting in near the ground floor of an LCG, this is a great one.\nCyclades with Cyclades: Titans # 1 play with 3 players Played base game before, but Titans is new That does it. I’m not going to try Cyclades again. This is the third time I’ve purchased this game and the third time I’ve been let down by it.\nThe game is beautiful, it has wonderful components, gorgeous art, and a wonderfully simple ruleset. You auction for the favor of the gods, take actions based on that, and attempt to build (or conquer) two metropolises in order to win the game.\nYet every single time I’ve played this game I end up disappointed because it just ends so suddenly with the losers being a little shocked that the winner won and that the game is over. I was hoping that Titans might fix that problem, removing some of the sea spaces and adding much needed army mobility for the players who didn’t win Ares. However, those changes didn’t change the end game: it’s still sudden and surprising.\nThis will be the last time I buy this game, I’m officially done with it.\nWiz-War # 1 play with 3 players Played before Here’s another game I sold at one point and reacquired, but this one\u0026mdash;played the same night as Cyclades\u0026mdash;went much differently. Instead of being frustrated with how quickly things ended or the loser’s acquiescence to just take the pity prize that is Apollo, we were having fun setting traps, teleporting, casting fireballs, and generally causing mayhem.\nWiz-War is a game that’s all about the group you’re playing with. If you have a staid and stodgy group then I’d avoid this one, but if you have a group that’s willing to goof off and screw with each other, this can be a blast.\nIf there’s anything I don’t like about the game it is the randomness of the card draw and all the damn tokens. You can deal with both by removing cards from the deck. Simple! This is an eminently house-rulable game and the game even comes with a handful of variant rules that are based on some of the game’s previous seven editions. Don’t let that scare you though, this isn’t a sandbox game where you have to make up your own rules. The base ruleset is solid and works well enough and once you start pushing against the confines you’ll find exactly the rules you want to change (“maintaining” cards is what we decided to ditch).\nI’m hoping to keep this one around now and start to shuffle in the expansions soon.\nBattle Line # 3 plays with 2 players Played before I seemed to have a knack for this one, but my wife figured it out with our most recent three plays, beating me 2 games to my 1. I still really enjoy it though, it does a great job recreating that feeling of a battle with feints, pushes, and a little bit of luck.\nThis game is likely to push out some other smaller two player games that we keep around and it might make the trip to Cape Cod later this year.\nOne weakness I\u0026rsquo;m seeing with the game is the luck of card draws, sometimes your cards have no synergy. However, I think a good player can overcome this, and I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to figuring out how.\nOne piece of advice with this game: don\u0026rsquo;t take too many tactics cards. Since you can only play one more tactics card than your opponent, they can force you to keep those tactics cards in hand keeping the number of troop cards in your hand low.\nBeasty Bar # 1 play with 2 players Played before I don\u0026rsquo;t like it when a publisher releases a game and claims a player count that\u0026rsquo;s actually terrible to play with. Beasty Bar with two is pretty abysmal.\nThe game itself is about manipulating the line of animals trying to get into the club, but with two players it just ends up being a race to remove the other player\u0026rsquo;s animals, which is pretty boring.\nWe ended in a tie and I suspect most two player games of Beasty Bar would end that way. Not recommended for two players.\nRoll for the Galaxy # 1 play with 2 players Played before This has to be my wife\u0026rsquo;s favorite game in recent memory. She really enjoyed Race for the Galaxy before this one, it was a game we could easily play in 15-20 minutes with a lot of strategic depth. Roll for the Galaxy is headed in that direction, with the added benefit of being much easier to teach.\nFor those who haven\u0026rsquo;t played either game, the goal is to have the most points at the end of the game. You do so by building developments, settling planets, and shipping goods. The game ends when you have 12 planets and/or developments in front of you. In Race you do so by playing cards and paying other cards to build them. In Roll you do that by rolling dice and using the correct side to advance your developments and planets.\nRoll for the Galaxy is easier to teach because, while they both have a lot of symbology, it explains all of the symbols on the development and planet tiles instead of assuming you know what the symbols mean. Race for the Galaxy assumes you know what all of the symbols mean and there are a lot of them.\nOne weakness that Roll for the Galaxy has is the size of the dice. I understand they had to be made small for the optic point and for the dice cup, but you can easily knock them over accidentally when organizing them behind your player shield.\n","date":"5 May 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-the-41st-millenium-some-greek-isles-homicidal-wizards/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"warhammer-40000-conquest\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/156776/warhammer-40000-conquest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eWarhammer 40,000: Conquest\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#warhammer-40000-conquest\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/wh40kconquest.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere’s a lot to like about \u003cstrong\u003eWarhammer 40,000: Conquest\u003c/strong\u003e. It’s a customizable game done by Fantasy Flight so you know that it’ll be well supported, have fantastic art, and likely enjoy a long life. It’s a Games Workshop property so you know there’s lore behind everything and if you’re a fan of that universe it’s likely all here. It’s an Eric Ltang designed game and he’s been hitting it out of the park lately with well designed games coupled with a relatively simple ruleset. Yet, I have my reservations.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: the 41st millennium, some Greek isles, homicidal wizards, and more"},{"content":"Mage Knight # 1 play with 2 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge Mage Knight is a tough game to get to the table with other players. It has a lot of rules and weird conditions that you have have to account for (I\u0026rsquo;m thinking of you combat). The other conundrum with other players is the time between turns. Planning out your turn is often a matter of a single card here or there and miscalculations can be a problem as players have to pick up their whole hand of cards after making a mistake.\nYet, there\u0026rsquo;s some form of brilliance in this game, an economy of actions while still letting you do anything you want to do. If you want to burn that monastery to the ground, go for it. If you want to hold all of the keeps, that can be done. Want to be the first one to conquer a city? Good luck, but you can probably do it.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s that ability to do what you want without the game getting in the way that makes this a great game. That combined with building up your repertoire of cards through leveling up, training at monasteries, conquering mage towers, hiring units, and conquering dungeons. You feel like your actions matter. What\u0026rsquo;s crazy is that all of that applies to solo games as well.\nCaverna # 1 play with 2 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge The more I play this game the more I enjoy it, though I am in a rut of always going for the Brewing Parlor. However, I still manage to do something different each time, whether it\u0026rsquo;s going for a large family, a lot of animals, multiple ruby mines, adventuring, or furnished rooms, I feel like I have a slew of options.\nThat being said, we haven\u0026rsquo;t even flipped the boards over to the more complicated side with all of the buildings yet. So when I get tired of the combinations that I haven\u0026rsquo;t even fully explored yet, there are more on the other side.\nGlory to Rome # 2 plays with 2 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This still sits pretty high up on my list of games that I want to play more and more. I love the various combinations of cards and the buildings as well. In both of these two games the game ended due to a specific building instead of the building sites running out, which is unusual for us.\nThe first of those games was pretty abrupt and I had no clue it was coming. The second game–\u0026ndash;which I won\u0026mdash;felt less abrupt to me, but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure if my wife knew it was a possibility. It makes me wonder about those cards in general, they can be kinda nasty and unfun compared to the rest of the game since the game just ends and they win, no matter what you were doing. On the other hand, I love that cards like that are in the game to give players other opportunities to win if they\u0026rsquo;re pretty far behind. It might just be a matter of letting people know what you\u0026rsquo;re building, especially if it could end the game early.\n","date":"27 April 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-a-10x10-challenge-sweep/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"mage-knight\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/96848/mage-knight-board-game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eMage Knight\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#mage-knight\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/mage-knight.jpg\" alt=\"Mage Knight\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players this week\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/183527/wesbakers-2015-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMage Knight\u003c/strong\u003e is a tough game to get to the table with other players. It has a lot of rules and weird conditions that you have have to account for (I\u0026rsquo;m thinking of you combat). The other conundrum with other players is the time between turns. Planning out your turn is often a matter of a single card here or there and miscalculations can be a problem as players have to pick up their whole hand of cards after making a mistake.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: A 10x10 Challenge Sweep"},{"content":"Arcadia Quest # 1 play with 3 players this week Played before Arcadia Quest is a game that the middle schooler in me wants to play. You find a few friends, lay out a map, select your heroes, load em up with some weapons, and start killing each other while taking out a monster or two. Chuck some dice, find some weapons, and take each other out. Then respawn. That\u0026rsquo;s right, death is not permanent in this game, though it can be a big setback.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s because Arcadia Quest is supposed to be played as a campaign. In each scenario as your solving quests and killing each other and the monsters, you earn gold. That gold is then used to buy weapons, armor, trinkets, and spells at the end of the scenario. So while you start out a rusty blade, a sling shot, and a few token spells, you end up with much more.\nThe basics of the game amounts to a lot of other games you\u0026rsquo;ve played: your character can move three spaces and can make one attack. You have three characters and, at the beginning of a campaign, five attack cards. Each time you use your attack card it\u0026rsquo;s exhausted and can\u0026rsquo;t be used until you rest. That\u0026rsquo;s right, you have to do nothing for your turn in order to refresh your weapons and respawn your dead characters. Normally, I hate these mechanics, but in a game where everyone else\u0026rsquo;s turn takes well under a minute, it\u0026rsquo;s not a big deal.\nNow, let\u0026rsquo;s talk about death. Yeah, your characters respawn, so you\u0026rsquo;re just going to come back with full health and weapons fully refreshed, but there is a penalty. Each time you die you earn a death token. At the end of the scenario you draw a certain number of death curse cards and have to take the worst one (the have numbers on them to determine that). They range from doing absolutely nothing, to nullifying your hero\u0026rsquo;s power, to taking up a weapon slot. They tend not to be horrible, but they\u0026rsquo;re going to put a wrinkle into things.\nThere are lots of great things about this game, mostly that it\u0026rsquo;s quick playing game where you get to bash on your friends in an almost gleeful way while staying friendly. The quests are pretty simple and light, but that\u0026rsquo;s about what I want from a game like this, just a tiny bit of structure to keep things moving forward.\nThe biggest weakness this game has is it\u0026rsquo;s weak rulebook with numerous ambiguities, but given the nature of the game, it\u0026rsquo;s pretty easy to agree on what seems best. Additionally, the game takes quite a bit of time to setup so you\u0026rsquo;ll want to play a few games in a row to get the most bang for your buck in terms of time.\nI\u0026rsquo;m happy I own this game and I have the first expansion, but I\u0026rsquo;ll probably stop paying in until it sees more play.\nViticulture # 2 plays with 1 player this week Played before I was a backer of the first edition of Viticulture when it was originally on Kickstarter. I loved the idea of a worker placement game with the approachable theme of a vineyard, something I thought would appeal to my wife. However, I didn\u0026rsquo;t even make it that far, I was so disappointed with all of the changes that Stonemaier games seemed to make after releasing Viticulture to the public. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t finished. In addition, the game was selling for far more than I bought it for, so away it went.\nThen came along the Tuscany Kickstarter and I considered backing that one too, but I avoided it remembering how much I disliked the weird rule changes from the first edition.\nSo, how did I end up playing this game? Well, Miniature Market was having a sale on Tuscany: Prima Edition and I had just seen Tom and Zee\u0026rsquo;s review of both Viticutlure and Tuscany, so I decided I\u0026rsquo;d give it another shot.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve only played the solo variant\u0026mdash;Automata\u0026mdash;so far, but I really enjoyed it. The grande worker change works far better than I ever thought it would back with the first edition changes. I love the tension of only being able to use some of the actions, yet being able to override that with the grande worker when absolutely necessary. I enjoy planting the grapes in the field, harvesting them, and turning them into while, all the while watching them age between rounds.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s a lot of interesting decisions to be made, yet I think the structure is simple enough to be a next-step game, something for people who have played a few gateway games. In addition, the amount of game you get in Tuscany seems crazy to me. I love the idea of having multiple modules for the expansion. That being said, I haven\u0026rsquo;t played with anything but the Automata variant and the shiny metal coins.\nThe only weaknesses come from the nature of the game. It\u0026rsquo;s a simple game with a few choices and there\u0026rsquo;s some randomness to the cards. Those cards provide you with your grapes, your wine orders, and any visitors that might help you out, so if someone finds a great synergy and you don\u0026rsquo;t, you\u0026rsquo;re going to have to work that much harder to get over it. They\u0026rsquo;re not deal breakers for a game of this weight.\nI\u0026rsquo;m happy I bought both Viticulture and Tuscany, but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure I would have if Tuscany hadn\u0026rsquo;t been on sale. On one hand that makes me a little sad, it\u0026rsquo;s a great game. On the other hand, I\u0026rsquo;m not sure what this game does that others don\u0026rsquo;t. Right now I recommend this game if you like games like Stone Age and want variety and something close to the same weight.\nInnovation # 3 plays with 3 players this week Played before I have a love/hate relationship with Innovation. It\u0026rsquo;s a game that rewards repeated play and an understanding of the cards that come out with each age of play. At the same time, it\u0026rsquo;s a game about controlled chaos, dealing with what is dealt to you and trying to make the best of the situation. In other words, it\u0026rsquo;s very tactical. Oddly enough, those are the things I love about it.\nWhat I hate about it is it\u0026rsquo;s swingy nature. Almost every time I\u0026rsquo;ve played the game\u0026mdash;12 times now\u0026mdash;the winner has won by a landslide, often with the other players scoring nothing. Once the winner gets going, there\u0026rsquo;s not much that can be done to stop them and that feeling is what kills this game for me.\nI want to love the game for all of it\u0026rsquo;s strengths: the great card combinations, the unique mechanics (splaying and melding anyone?), the portability, and the flavor of the cards. Yet, it\u0026rsquo;s depressing to be one of the players that\u0026rsquo;s losing and can\u0026rsquo;t do a thing about it.\nI recommend trying this game, probably online, but I\u0026rsquo;d steer clear of buying it unless you know what you\u0026rsquo;re getting yourself into.\nFive Tribes # 1 play with 4 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This play of Five Tribes made me realize that I typically lose a game when I\u0026rsquo;m teaching it (unless there\u0026rsquo;s a huge skill-gap between me and the other players). However, it also made me realize that I usually enjoy myself while playing Five Tribes no matter how poorly I\u0026rsquo;m doing.\nThis game rewards paying close attention to the board and reaping the different setups and situations. In this particular game, I was so dead set on getting the Utuk djinn (the one that lets you place your camel on a tile that has only meeples on it) that I completely missed the cluster of builder meeples and blue tiles that earned another player 18 points in one swift move. I completely missed it as I was (and usually am) so focused on the djinns, and while I earned a ton of points off of that djinn, it ended up losing me the game by 10 points or so.\nThis is a fantastic game and I\u0026rsquo;m very happy to own it.\nMarvel Legendary # 1 play with 5 players this week Played before I previously played Marvel Legendary at a point where I was really jaded about deckbuilders. I had bought Dominion and was enamored with the concept and bought every other available deckbuilder at the time. I would buy a new one as soon as it came out and was just fascinated with the subgenre.\nAs I started to play more and more games, I realized that this subgenre isn\u0026rsquo;t my favorite and sold most of them. It was at that time that I first played Marvel Legendary and dismissed it as an Ascension clone that wasn\u0026rsquo;t nearly as good. I think that still stands too.\nDon\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong, I had a good time playing the game, and I enjoy the game as part of a group, but I think Ascension does exactly the same things in a simpler setup without all of the additional cards and decks, and the contrived semi-cooperative nature where you\u0026rsquo;re all working together and win together, but there\u0026rsquo;s a more winning winner.\nThat being said, I\u0026rsquo;d love to try out the Guardians of the Galaxy expansion, but that\u0026rsquo;s because I love that movie and the heroes in it more than the other characters in the Marvel universe.\nNeuroshima Hex # 1 play with 2 players this week Not played before This is totally a cheat. I\u0026rsquo;ve played this before, but this is the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve ever played against someone. Also, we played using the iOS version of this game, mostly because my opponent lives all the way across the continent. Still, I think it qualifies as \u0026ldquo;not played before\u0026rdquo; and I log all of my online and iOS games when I\u0026rsquo;m playing against someone I know.\nNow, about the game. It\u0026rsquo;s a thematic abstract game where you place tiles and try to destroy your opponent\u0026rsquo;s base. The tiles you place (I\u0026rsquo;ll call them army tiles since they look like soldiers) typically have damage on them that either damages tiles that are right next to it or in the same row depending on the attack type. The army tiles sometimes have other abilities like shields (to prevent ranged damage), nets (to prevent other tiles from attacking), extra life, the ability to move later, or other abilities (depending on the army). There are also tiles that let you move your tiles, your opponents tiles, attack a specific unit, a few few units, and start battles.\nBattles are where everything goes down. Each of those army tiles has an initiative between 3 and 0. Starting at initiative 3 and all the way down to 0 (usually just the bases), every tile will attack. Any tiles destroyed are removed from the game. Those battles are started either with a battle tile or when the board is completely full.\nIn addition, there are multiple armies that all work roughly the same but have different wrinkles. One army might be more mobile, or have more armor, or use more nets than the other.\nSo we have a thematic game that functions a lot like an abstract game. There are lots of interesting mechanics and asymmetric factions. It can play anywhere from two to four, but most call it a two player game. There are additional factions available for purchase and the game is on it\u0026rsquo;s 3rd (or 4th) incarnation. You can play it cheaply on iOS or Android. That\u0026rsquo;s a lot of strengths.\nYet, I\u0026rsquo;m a little lukewarm on all of the factions. Some of them are just downright confusing and while the interface has a way to look up the different powers of each tile, it\u0026rsquo;s not as slick as other games. That being said, you can ignore most of the factions and happily stick to the four the game comes with, buying the additional ones later. That would be my recommendation.\nThis game is at least worth a purchase if you own an iPad, iPhone, or Android device. It\u0026rsquo;s a quick game that has some pretty interesting decisions to be made. I\u0026rsquo;m considering buying the physical edition because I like this one so much.\nCastles of Mad King Ludwig # 2 plays with 1 player, and 1 play with 2 players this week Not played before For the longest time, I wrote off Castles of Mad King Ludwig as an also-ran of Suburbia. It looked more fiddly with the cards and multiple tiles, and I knew my anal retentiveness would flare up with the various little rooms being disturbed from their perfect right angles. However, I\u0026rsquo;ve been doing a lot of trading lately and decided to get rid of a game I realized I wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to play and traded for this one and one other.\nWhen it showed up, I did my normal \u0026ldquo;new\u0026rdquo; game routine of breaking everything out and organizing it as best I can given the tackle boxes I own and the plastic baggies I have on hand. After that, I brought it downstairs and it sat for a few days until my toddler was cooperative enough for me to try a solo game of it.\nI was blown away. Castles is not an also-ran of Suburbia, though it\u0026rsquo;s clearly an iteration of it. The real differences come in the form of only worrying about points (and not income, reputation, and population) and paying money to the other players (when that player is the first player) instead of the bank.\nAdditionally, at the end of Suburbia you would have quite the city\u0026hellip;of hexagons. It was impressive to look at from a mechanical level, but it was pretty bland looking. With Castles you have this unique castle built to your specifications with odd bits and bobs here and there. I mean, who knew you needed four gardens and no bedrooms?\nMoney is very interesting in Castles. In Suburbia, you always paid the bank when you bought a tile, but in Castles you only pay the bank when you\u0026rsquo;re the master builder (first player). The other players end up paying the master builder the cost of the room and it\u0026rsquo;s up to the master builder to correctly price the buildings in order to get the most money from the other players. This is done in a I-cut-you-choose mechanism where the master builder places the buildings and the other players buy and when everyone else has taken their turn, the master builder gets to buy something. I absolutely love this mechanic.\nThe last trace of Suburbia in Castles would be the King\u0026rsquo;s Favors. Instead of having goals where only the person who had the most gets points, now everyone gets some amount of points, just decreasing with your rank. In addition, the secret goals in Suburbia have been replaced with bonus cards which only affect you and not the other players and are typically more of a bonus for each of something or for having a certain condition, not for having the most or least of something.\nAll of that aside, I think Castles has some disadvantages to it. First, there\u0026rsquo;s a good deal of shuffling at the beginning, though since you\u0026rsquo;re shuffling fewer tiles, I think it\u0026rsquo;s better than Suburbia. Second, the castle rooms move around and you find yourself reorganizing more often then you like and it takes a bit more time than it did in Suburbia.\nHowever, I just spent several paragraphs telling you that I really liked Castles and only one telling you about it\u0026rsquo;s disadvantages. I quite like this game and I\u0026rsquo;m happy I finally picked it up because this is one that\u0026rsquo;ll be in my collection for a while.\n","date":"27 April 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-nomadic-lifestyles-making-wine-building-castles-and-saving-the-world/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"arcadia-quest\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155068/arcadia-quest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eArcadia Quest\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#arcadia-quest\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/arcadia-quest.jpg\" alt=\"Arcadia Quest\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 3 players this week\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArcadia Quest\u003c/strong\u003e is a game that the middle schooler in me wants to play. You find a few friends, lay out a map, select your heroes, load em up with some weapons, and start killing each other while taking out a monster or two. Chuck some dice, find some weapons, and take each other out. Then respawn. That\u0026rsquo;s right, death is not permanent in this game, though it can be a big setback.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Nomadic Lifestyles, Making Wine, Building Castles, and Saving the World"},{"content":"Five Tribes # 1 play with 2 players Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge Five Tribes is a perennial favorite around the Baker household and for good reason: there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of interesting decisions to be made for a relatively short game. My wife and I are pretty competitive with it and scores are always relatively close.\nWith this game, we decided to try out the new expansion The Artisans of Naqala and really liked the few changes made. I\u0026rsquo;ll talk about my two favorites.\nFirst is the big change, the artisans and their items. This is the big draw of the expansion and it doesn\u0026rsquo;t disappoint. What you can expect is an interesting and balanced new route to both earn points and cause some serious disruption in the normal flow of the game. I put a bit of time into the Artisans, but attempted to ignore them since I\u0026rsquo;m typically distracted by the new shiny of an expansion. My wife on the other hand, went all in and ended up using a lot of the action tiles in order to score some very big tiles. All of my draws resulted in mostly points, though I did get both of the 9 point tiles which gave me the edge.\nThe other change I really liked are the obstructions: the chasm and mountains. These two small changes restrict the map just enough to make interesting nooks and crannies in the map and throw off your calculations by just a tiny bit.\nIf you already own Five Tribes (which you should) then you owe it to yourself to pick up The Artisans of Naqala.\nMottainai # 1 play with 2 players New to me I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of Carl Chudyk\u0026rsquo;s Glory to Rome. I enjoy how the cards do different things and that the whole game is just one big attempt at finding that perfect combo. When I saw that Chudyk was coming out with a new game on Kickstarter that was supposed to be the spiritual successor to Glory to Rome, I jumped on it very quickly.\nMottainai is structured pretty similarly to Glory to Rome: you have multiple use cards, you pick tasks and (sorta) follow your opponents\u0026rsquo; tasks, you build things using resources, you can score points by moving resources into your sales (vault), you can get bonus actions by having assistants (clientele). However, you don\u0026rsquo;t ever spend cards to build things, you just show them from your hand (when using the Smith) or from your craft bench. The game is over once someone has completed five works and those works are built on either side of your player mat and either function as training for your assistants (doubling the number of actions they provide) or they cover your sales (which means you actually get points for your sales).\nFirst, let\u0026rsquo;s talk about the good. It feels pretty similar to Glory to Rome, which I consider a strength. It feels like it\u0026rsquo;d play quicker once you knew it well enough. I love the art. It\u0026rsquo;s available for less than $100. You don\u0026rsquo;t have to spend resources to build works. It\u0026rsquo;s a lot clearer as to what\u0026rsquo;s going on: you don\u0026rsquo;t have to play a card to follow, you just take your opponent\u0026rsquo;s task on your turn before your task. In addition, it feels like the folks at Asmadi took a look at more complicated games that have sequences and sub-sequences and discretely listed the steps of your actions so there\u0026rsquo;s never any confusion as to what happens when (huge kudos here).\nHowever, it never quite feels like you can get enough cards, and I suspect that\u0026rsquo;s intentional. It always feels like you\u0026rsquo;re just a few cards away from doing something awesome, instead you just have to wait a bit longer (and so does your opponent). Those awesome combos you would get in Glory to Rome are long gone (good luck building two things in one turn!). The training assistants and covering sales is a very clunky mechanic and was the hardest part to explain to my wife, a veteran Glory to Rome player. Last, Mottainai is just not different enough from Glory to Rome to warrant owning both.\nIf you already have Glory to Rome, I\u0026rsquo;d skip this one. If you don\u0026rsquo;t have Glory to Rome and can\u0026rsquo;t get a copy at a reasonable price, I\u0026rsquo;d look into Mottainai. However, as soon as they reprint Glory to Rome, toss Mottainai onto the trade pile.\nTiny Epic Galaxies # 1 play with 1 player New to me I\u0026rsquo;m not sure why I keep doing it, but I\u0026rsquo;m always on the look out for good fillers, so I decided to pick up Tiny Epic Galaxies after hearing good reviews of it. I\u0026rsquo;ve only played it once solo, but I think I like what I see. It has dice that allow you to do certain actions and you get to re-roll them once for free. From there, it\u0026rsquo;s a matter of using those dice to launch ships, colonize planets, upgrade, use your new planet actions, and acquire resources.\nThis is not epic in any way, but from what I can tell, it looks like it\u0026rsquo;ll be fun with a few folks before everyone else shows up to the game night. It\u0026rsquo;s just a quick few die rolls and I\u0026rsquo;d guess you\u0026rsquo;re done in about 30-45 minutes. I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to trying it with my group.\n","date":"27 April 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-back-in-the-swing-of-things/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"five-tribes\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157354/five-tribes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eFive Tribes\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#five-tribes\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/five-tribes.jpg\" alt=\"Five Tribes\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/183527/wesbakers-2015-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFive Tribes\u003c/strong\u003e is a perennial favorite around the Baker household and for good reason: there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of interesting decisions to be made for a relatively short game. My wife and I are pretty competitive with it and scores are always relatively close.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Back in the Swing of Things"},{"content":"Beasty Bar # 1 play with 4 players Not played before Beasty Bar came recommended from the folks over at Fortress Ameritrash as a nice little filler with some take-that action in it and I can say it delivers.\nThe basic premise if you have animals and you want to get them into a nightclub. Each animal will manipulate the line in their own way. Once there are five animals, the two in front get in and the one all the way at the end gets kicked out. You\u0026rsquo;ll end up playing all twelve of your cards, though the last few cards may not matter.\nThis game reminds me quite a bit of Guillotine in that it\u0026rsquo;s about manipulating a line of cards. However, you\u0026rsquo;re creating the line, and the cards used to create the line also manipulate it (instead of cards that only manipulate the line). I think it\u0026rsquo;s a bit better than Guillotine and would probably bring this out more often.\nIf I have any cons is that you probably shouldn\u0026rsquo;t play this game with people who are easily offended by someone taking an action that hurts your position. I also feel like there\u0026rsquo;s a good bit of luck here depending on the cards that you draw and your position, but you should be able to mitigate this luck.\n","date":"27 April 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-bar-hopping/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"beasty-bar\" class=\"relative group\"\u003eBeasty Bar \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#beasty-bar\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/beasty-bar.jpg\" alt=\"Beasty Bar\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 4 players\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNot played before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/165950/beasty-bar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eBeasty Bar\u003c/a\u003e came recommended from the folks over at \u003ca href=\"http://fortressat.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eFortress Ameritrash\u003c/a\u003e as a nice little filler with some take-that action in it and I can say it delivers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe basic premise if you have animals and you want to get them into a nightclub. Each animal will manipulate the line in their own way. Once there are five animals, the two in front get in and the one all the way at the end gets kicked out. You\u0026rsquo;ll end up playing all twelve of your cards, though the last few cards may not matter.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Bar Hopping"},{"content":"Five Tribes # 1 play with 2 players this week Played before Part of my 10x10 Challenge This was probably my strangest play of Five Tribes yet, Shannon and I ended up tying 217 to 217 and there are no tiebreakers in Five Tribes so we shared our communal victory.\nI find it fascinating that two people can take very different strategies in a game like this and that they\u0026rsquo;re both viable. Shannon went the route of getting djinn and I went heavy with the goods and somehow we ended up with the exact same score. If either of us had managed the same results with one less coin paid for turn order, we would have won.\nI\u0026rsquo;m happy that this is in my 10x10 challenge and I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to even more plays.\nLoony Quest # 1 play with 3 players this week Not played before This one was something of an impulse buy when I realized it was hard to get ahold of and was pretty cheap on Amazon.co.uk. The basic premise of the game is you have a level that you need to get through and to do it you\u0026rsquo;re going to use a dry erase marker to draw on a transparency and then place that overtop the level. For every correct thing you do (collecting coins, hitting characters in those levels, drawing lines to the correct place), you earn points, but for every incorrect thing you do (hitting blocks, not dodging certain characters), you lose points.\nI had fun with it, but I\u0026rsquo;m not wild about it. It felt like more of an activity with a score and it wasn\u0026rsquo;t nearly as funny as I had hoped. Then again, we didn\u0026rsquo;t use the timer, nor did we ever earn any penalties. I do want to try it again, and this time we\u0026rsquo;ll probably play arcade mode which forces a penalty on everyone and we might use the timer, even on levels that don\u0026rsquo;t call for it.\nRoll for the Galaxy # 1 play with 3 players this week Played before I really wish this was on my 10x10 challenge since I enjoy it so much and since it\u0026rsquo;s seeing so much time on the table. In this particular game, I managed to build up a great synergy with rare element planets and the six point development that gives you 2 points for each of those planets. That combination ended up winning the game by about 20 points, so it worked out well.\nThe more I play this game, the less I play Race for the Galaxy which does bum me out a bit. Race is an excellent game and far more portable than Roll, however the addition of explanations for the symbology and the way exploration is done by drawing a tile and picking a side make it a better game.\nIstanbul # 1 play with 2 players this week Not played before It\u0026rsquo;s not often that my wife asks me to pick up a game and it\u0026rsquo;s even rarer when she teaches it, so I was pretty delighted when both happened with Istanbul. Better yet, I really enjoyed the game!\nA quick summary: you have a stack of discs with the top one representing your merchant and the small ones underneath being your assistants. You move around a 4x4 board and you can move 1 to 2 spaces from where you are now. When you move somewhere you take the action of that tile and leave an assistant there. Alternatively, if an assistant is already there you can pick them up and take the action. If you\u0026rsquo;re out of assistants, you must either go to the fountain or go back to where you\u0026rsquo;ve placed a previous assistant. The whole while you\u0026rsquo;re gaining money, goods, and \u0026ldquo;upgrades\u0026rdquo; which help you directly and indirectly gain rubies which ultimately decide who wins.\nFirst off, this game does a great job of combatting analysis paralysis. You must move, and you can only go so far. Additionally, if you\u0026rsquo;ve taken too many actions you must either take an action that\u0026rsquo;s close enough that has an assistant on it, or you must go to the fountain. In spite of that, your moves and decisions are not pre-determined nor telegraphed, so there\u0026rsquo;s plenty of strategy to apply here.\nI\u0026rsquo;m happy I own this one now and I\u0026rsquo;m even happier that it\u0026rsquo;s a game my wife wanted and taught.\nSpyfall # 3 plays with 6 players this week Played before I\u0026rsquo;ve only played this once before and it was mostly a practice run with three of my co-workers and every play has been through a web implementation. These plays were with my co-workers as well, but they were in person and with seven players (though two people were sharing a phone in order to play, hence why I have it listed as six players).\nI love deduction games and I love games that require lying, and this does both. In addition it\u0026rsquo;s short enough to play a few times and doesn\u0026rsquo;t overstay it\u0026rsquo;s welcome. What Spyfall does differently is it\u0026rsquo;s roles. Instead of just being at the corporate party, you\u0026rsquo;re the boss, the entertainment, or maybe the unwelcome guest. Those different roles will throw off the other players just enough to keep everyone guessing.\nI\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to this one showing up so I can play the physical version, but the online implementation is fantastic for traveling and the meanwhile.\n","date":"27 April 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-playing-catch-up/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"five-tribes\" class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157354/five-tribes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003eFive Tribes\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\" style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#five-tribes\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/covers/five-tribes.jpg\" alt=\"Five Tribes\" class=\"mx-auto my-0 rounded-md\" /\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1 play with 2 players this week\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlayed before\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart of \u003ca href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/183527/wesbakers-2015-10x10-hardcore-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"\u003emy 10x10 Challenge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was probably my strangest play of \u003cstrong\u003eFive Tribes\u003c/strong\u003e yet, Shannon and I ended up tying 217 to 217 and there are no tiebreakers in \u003cstrong\u003eFive Tribes\u003c/strong\u003e so we shared our communal victory.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI find it fascinating that two people can take very different strategies in a game like this and that they\u0026rsquo;re both viable. Shannon went the route of getting djinn and I went heavy with the goods and somehow we ended up with the exact same score. If either of us had managed the same results with one less coin paid for turn order, we would have won.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Playing Catch-up"},{"content":"The general idea behind these posts is to constantly re-review my games and talk about the things I like and dislike in individual games and maybe particular plays. One thing I’d like to accommodate for is that I play Netrunner weekly and there’s going to be a good number of folks who don’t care for it, so I’d like to break that out separately. I’d like to list the game and the number of plays for each game and the player counts along with a picture or two and explain whether I’ve played the game before or not.\nFor this first post, I’ll start with TableTop Day, but normally it’ll be a weekly report. That might change if my posts end up being too frequent for my game consumption. Essentially I’d like this to be a “text podcast”.\nI wanted to write about games for a while now. I read a lot of board game reviews and prefer the written reviews to video reviews. I routinely read reviews from people like Michael Barnes, Robert Florence, Charlie Theel, Jason Myers (The Purge Reviews), GeekInsight (of Giant Fire Breathing Dragon), Hockey Mask (20 Questions About…), Dan Thurot, and more. Needless to say there’s a lot of good reviewers out there worth paying attention to, so why bother reading what I have to say?\nWell, part of my schtick is I’m going to be re-reviewing games as I play them. You’ll get my first impressions, what I think after a few plays, and, rarely, what I think after 200 plays and more. This too is not original and I’m merely following in the footsteps of nāt’s “Wrong At Least Once: Wherein I Play Games \u0026amp; Profess Hyperbolic Opinions” blog which is excellent and something you should already be subscribed to.\nMy aim at the moment is to write these posts on a weekly basis, I think I’ll have enough material for that. If, however, it turns out I don’t play games as often as I wish, this will turn into a bimonthly or monthly post. I am aiming for consistency though.\nAlso, you should expect negative reviews and comments. I don’t love every game I play, nor should you. I only have so much time between a wife, a kid, two dogs, two cats, and a job; I have to spend what time I have wisely and I’m not going to waste my time on a game I don’t enjoy.\nOne Night Ultimate Werewolf # 3 plays with 6 players Played before One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a perennial favorite with my group. We cut our teeth on social deduction games with The Resistance, but a few of us soured on it, including myself. I missed the original Kickstarter for One Night Ultimate Werewolf, but managed to get in on the Ultimate Werewolf Deluxe Edition Kickstarter and the Daybreak Kickstarter and since then it’s replaced The Resistance and every other social deduction game we have.\nThis game never fails to make my group laugh and think all within about 10 minutes with setup and explanation. I’m pretty sure I’ve always had fun and there are so few games that I can say that about. It’s all due to roles like the Troublemaker and Village Idiot shaking things up, the Masons confirming that at least two people aren’t werewolves, the Paranormal Investigator possibly becoming a werewolf, the Seer telling you who someone is or possibly what two roles aren’t in use, or the Drunk just grabbing a random role from the center without knowing what it is. It’s easy to teach, quick to play, and great to open or close a game night.\nBut it’s not a perfect game and there are some weird flaws that can come up with certain player counts or important, missing roles. For instance, a lone werewolf is going to have a hard time if there are no villagers in the role cards. Yes, I’d say it’s more fun for the villagers if everyone has a role, but you need at least one villager to be a scapegoat for the werewolf. I can imagine that lower player count games wouldn’t be much fun either, I’ve only ever played with six or more people.\nYet, this is a game that keeps coming out and is fantastic without the expansion. In fact, if you don’t own it, I’d recommend picking up the base set and playing with that for a while before buying Daybreak.\nConcordia # 1 play with 5 players Not played before The guys on The Secret Cabal had a lot of great things to say about Concordia. A lot. Jumping out of their pants a lot. I love their podcast, but I also know that they can get really excited about new games and they all have a lot of “favorites”. Yet, their review of Concordia drew me buying it, closing out yet another CoolStuffInc order.\nCut forward to TableTop Day and a lot of my friends were requesting this one which I had described as “literally trading in the Mediterranean”. Somehow I managed to wrangle up four other players who thought that sounded good. Well, I have to agree with The Secret Cabal that it is a good game. Like other Mac Gerdts games it has short turns with simple actions which should decrease the amount of analysis paralysis. It has a variable setup and a double sided board (along with another double-sided expansion board) to give you some variability.\nThen there’s what makes the game different from Mac Gerdts’s other games: the card play. Instead of using a rondel for action selection like Mac’s other games, you have a hand of cards all with different actions on them: move and build, produce resources in a province, buy new cards, trade goods with the bank, and a reset that allows you to pick up all of your cards. Moving from a rondel to the cards does slow things down a bit, especially when you have a hand full of juicy cards. Yet, as you play you start to understand exactly what it is you’re trying to do and there’s not going to be much that other players can do to stop you from your plans (with the exception of producing goods in the province you were about to use or buying that card you wanted).\nI overall really liked this game, the trading works well, the building of a network is fun to watch as it expands across the map, more colonists mean you can expand faster and further, and specialization and diversification are both valid strategies.\nMy only concern with this game is play time and I’ve only played the game at it’s fullest player count. With five people I think it took us two and a half hours which is about an hour longer than I want it to be. I’ll have to try the game with fewer people and see if I like it nearly as much at the lower player counts.\nCosmic Encounter # 1 play with 5 players Played before Alright, you’re starting fresh with me, so I’ll let you in on a little secret: Cosmic Encounter is my favorite game ever. If my house was on fire and I could only save one game, I’d save Cosmic Encounter. It does so many things so right. There’s a simple game of numbers and math at the core, then add in temporary alliances that allow everyone at the table to be engaged for everybody’s turn, bring in some chaos with alien flares that no one is expecting, and top it all of with variable alien powers that are unique and many (over 120 now).\nLast, but certainly not least, the game is self-balancing. This is where I typically lose people, and that’s okay. This game is not perfectly balanced: your alien power could really suck compared to mine. I could numerically wipe the floor with your puny alien guts. However, I’m now a huge target. No one wants to help me and everyone wants to attack me. I’m one point away from winning and everyone is doing everything in their power to stop me from getting that fifth and final point. In most games, I hate this kind of mechanic, yet in Cosmic Encounter it works astoundingly well. This game was way before its time and I’m so happy that we have a recent reprint done by a company that clearly loves the game.\nDuring this play through we had some fun alien powers that made for some great combinations. I was the Wormhole and could pull my ships from the warp whenever I was allying or attacking. If you haven’t played before this power essentially means my ships are only really stuck in the warp if I’m defending, which is a huge advantage. Unless one of the players is the Fungus, which of course happened. The Fungus allows that player, when winning, to take all ships destroyed and place them under their ships and use the total number of ships when attacking or defending. She was holding my ships hostage! My power was neutered! Then there was my other friend who had Guerrilla: when losing, the winning side loses all but one ship. This lead to most of us trying to win an attack by sending one ship and only one ship against him.\nThis game gets better and better every time I play it and I love the different decks that are available to play with and I wish I had tried out the Hazard deck sooner. This isn’t a game for everyone, but it’s a game worth trying and probably buying for most.\nXCOM: The Board Game # 1 play with 4 players Played before Cooperative games are not my favorite. There was a point when I had a good number of them because I was not what you might call a gracious loser. Over time I’ve largely gotten over that (I hope) and prefer competitive games because I realized that I can be an alpha gamer in cooperative games I don’t like that. However, XCOM: The Board Game seems to have found a great way around that: time pressure.\nYou sit down to play a game of XCOM with three of your other friends and you find yourself sitting in the position of the Squad Leader. You get to move the troops around and attack the bad guys. Sweet job, right? Alright, well go ahead and pick a mission, you have 30 seconds. Okay, we’ve got some aliens in the base, add a card there. Oh, another alien, go ahead and add that. Okay, time to pick your troops for the mission, you’ve got 30 seconds. Oh and add the troops to the base, 15 seconds. How much are you spending? Do we have the budget for that Commander? 5 seconds left!\nWhat I’m getting at here is you don’t have the time for an alpha gamer. Everyone has to make good decisions given their knowledge of the position and while cooperating with everyone else. You have to do the best job possible and get on with it, otherwise you’re out of time. This alone makes it one of the best cooperative games I’ve played, but that doesn’t even account for the fantastic theme, the push your luck dice rolling, the variability in setup, and the simplicity of having an iPad manage the game state for you.\nLet’s take a break to talk about the app and spout my stance on it. I love it, but I was always going to, I’m a programmer and I think technology can have a place in everything. Yet, a cooperative board game really seems like the perfect place for it. First, you only need one device since there’s someone who’s in charge of managing it. Second, updating the “rules” of the game is incredibly easy since it’s all managed by the app. Third, think of the possibility for expanding this game with in-app purchases! All of this sounds great to me and I look forward to seeing more of this.\nGetting back to the game, let’s talk about what I didn’t like. Well, you’re rolling dice and these are cursed Fantasy Flight dice that never quite roll enough successes. In addition you’re rolling a d8 that was clearly made in the same factory and it must have more 1s and 2s on it than any other number. I also didn’t like that the owner of the game is most likely to be the Communications Officer, though that’s my own fault.\nUltimately, XCOM is a game of luck and luck mitigation (mostly thanks to the Science Officer), and there are going to be people who just won’t like the dice and should avoid it. However, if you’re up for a challenge and don’t mind some dice, grab three of your friends, someone’s iPad, and try this out.\nStone Age # 1 play with 4 players Played before I gave Stone Age the short shrift. I played it years ago when I started playing board games and quickly dismissed it as not good, earning a 5/10 rating. Yet, it came out for iOS and I bought it, you know, just in case. Or something. Don’t judge me.\nAnyways, I had been playing it a bunch on my iPad and iPhone lately and really enjoying the dice and worker placement options. Well, when it came time to pick a game to play with my co-workers online it was one of my many suggestions, and in our indecision I just started up a game on Yucata and invited everyone in.\nThere’s far more to this game than I remembered. There are dice and I suspect that’s what caused me to ignore this game after my first play. However, there’s always something you can do that plays into your strategy and it’s a matter of finding that and doing it, even with four players. I think my favorite part of the game is how simple it is. There’s nothing convoluted about it: send workers, get supplies, build huts and/or buy civilization cards. You can pretty easily teach this to folks that are new to the hobby.\nEverything has downsides and this one has a few. There are the dice. Now, my name is Wes and I’m a reformed dice hater, but if you have friends who really don’t like dice, you should probably skip this. Other than that, I wish there was a bit more too the huts. Turning one wood, one stone, and one gold into a hut that’s worth slightly more points than that hut made of wood and clay feels a little lazy. The civilization cards feel similarly lazy.\nThat being said, it’s still a great game and one I’m looking to buy when Z-Man reprints it.\nBattle Line # 3 plays with 2 players Played before (on iOS) The caveat with this one is I have played it before, but it was against the AI in the iOS version. I had a $15 coupon from the Twilight Struggle Kickstarter and decided I’d like a copy of Battle Line as I suspected my wife would love a game like this.\nHere are the basics if you haven’t played before: you have nine flags that represent lanes or columns of troops. You have a hand of seven cards. There are sixty cards of six colors/suits that are numbered 1 to 10. You’re attempting to build three card combinations that resemble poker hands: suited straights, three-of-a-kinds, straights, flushes, then “hosts” which is just a sum. At the end of your turn (or beginning if you’re playing the advanced rules) you can claim one flag. The first person to claim three adjacent flags or five non-adjacent flags wins.\nThis feels like a superior version of Lost Cities, a game my wife and I used to play a good bit, but I’m not sure why that is. It’s still a game of numbers, but Battle Line feels like it somewhat mimics the feel of a battle. You need to be careful about overcommitting and misinterpreting your opponent’s actions.\nIf there’s any cons about the game is that it is ultimately a deck of cards and some pawns. There’s not much here, but frankly the rules get out of the way of the game and it’s just more portable for being what it is. If this was Kickstarted today you could expect plastic molded flags, a playmat, and foil cards with full-bleed art.\nDefinitely worth the purchase.\nXenoShyft Onslaught # 2 plays, one solo and one with 2 players Not played before I was a late Kickstarter backer for XenoShyft and had been following it along from time to time eagerly awaiting its arrival, but Cool Mini or Not doesn’t quite have the kinks worked out of the late backer system yet. While everyone who backed on Kickstarter is getting email updates you’re mostly in the dark. Imagine my surprise when I went to look at the page randomly one day and see it has shipped for a good number of people. I take a look at the pledge manager and see that I need to pay for shipping. I don’t care too much about the cost, but let a guy know, right?\nWell, it shows up and I sleeve all of the cards because it’s a deckbuilder and these cards don’t look great, and I’m already thinking of selling it. I setup my first play and start in on it. I draw my six cards and look eagerly at my currency cards and my troops. I buy some more troops and a gun and lay it all down and manage to get through the first wave with no base damage. Then the second wave with no base damage either. Then the third, the fourth, the fifth, etc. The only time the base took damage was the ninth round and it just felt too easy. I posted on the BoardGameGeek forums asking if it was always this easy and everyone said no, it’s typically not. Then I wrangle my wife into trying it out, she looks at the cards and gives it the old college try while trying to suppress her I’d-rather-not look as best as she can (thanks hon!). We lost in the 7th round. Okay, that’s good my first game was a fluke.\nHowever, sitting there after playing it neither of us were all that interested in giving it another shot. There weren’t a ton of decisions and lot of the game is just comparing numbers on your soldiers to the enemies and then deciding when to use your abilities and remaining cards. Admittedly there is a game here and for some folks, they’ll really love it. For us though, it’s mostly an experience of just comparing numbers and removing cards when the number is big enough or too small.\nThere are some strengths here: a lot of the stuff you want in other deckbuilders is here! You get one more currency card every single round and they get better as you move on. In later rounds you can scrap the cheaper currencies and upgrade to the better currencies at an even trade (e.g. three 1s turn into one 3, and two 3s turn into one 6). You can turn in weak soldiers to get a discount on later soldiers. If you run out of an item card in the offer, just draw a new one! All of these things feel better and they’re things you wanted, but ultimately it’s not what I needed. What I needed was a game that was more than just comparing numbers and hoping the draw didn’t screw me over.\nThankfully there are other folks who want to play and buy this game, I’ve already sold my copy!\nThat’s all for this week. I have it in my head to occasionally write some opinion pieces as well, so watch out for those, but my plan is to keep these posts consistent so I can see how my opinion on games changes over time. Hopefully, that’s of some use to everyone here as well.\n","date":"19 April 2015","permalink":"https://3bd6c0ec.wanderingreferee.pages.dev/posts/the-re-review-aliens-trading-the-love-hut-and-more/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe general idea behind these posts is to constantly re-review my games and talk about the things I like and dislike in individual games and maybe particular plays. One thing I’d like to accommodate for is that I play Netrunner weekly and there’s going to be a good number of folks who don’t care for it, so I’d like to break that out separately. I’d like to list the game and the number of plays for each game and the player counts along with a picture or two and explain whether I’ve played the game before or not.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Re-Review: Aliens, Trading, The Love Hut, and more"}]