board-games

Alchemists #

• 1 play with 4 players
• Played before

In a previous week, I played a two player game of Alchemists and didn’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.

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’m looking forward to the last game in the campaign and starting another campaign later this year.

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’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).

Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization #

• 1 play with 2 players
• Played before

This was the first time I’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’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.

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’ll likely try to finish up our 10 plays to see if it is as bad as we think, but we won’t force ourselves to finish if it’s truly wearing thin on us. On the other hand, we’re at 14 total plays, so I feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth.

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’ll be interesting to see how things play out in the 4th game of the series.

For Sale #

• 1 play with 6 players
• Played before

I had only played this once before and didn’t really get to see its hook because I was preoccupied with starting a board game group. I’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’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’ll definitely bring this out again and hopefully I can refine my ability to teach it.

Arcadia Quest #

• 2 plays with 4 players
• Played before
• Part of my 2016 10x10 Challenge

Arcadia Quest is on my 10x10 because it’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’t unbalance the game for long as each game leads to better and better stuff.

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’t recall seeing much of them. Ah well, next time.

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’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’t expect them to perfectly overlap. Just because those games are my favorite games does not mean they are the only 10 I’d own. Without further ado, let’s get this started.