All the Meeples of the Rainbow.

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The Dice Manor in Tír na nÓg was full of Nimalia animals

Posted by Steph

Weekly Update

29 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

New Vids!

Joan of Arc: Orléans Draw & Write

Wordsy

At Tantrum Con I got a sneak peek at Tír na nÓg, and I was pleased that I was able to take home the prototype to try out and talk about before the game showed up on Gamefound! New to me!

Just yesterday, this game launched on Gamefound, so if you were looking to help bring the game to life you should go check it out over there and back today.

Tír na nÓg is a card drafting and set collection game with a rich theme and fabulous artwork. Over 5 rounds you will place workers and draft cards from the display and add them to your tableau. If you have the highest score at the end then you will win!

Each round, the start player will place a meeple between two cards in the display. Everyone after will follow placing one at a time until everyone has played all 3 meeples. Then starting with the last player and going around backward, players will remove a meeple and claim one of the adjacent cards. Some cards have abilities that might be triggered at this time too.

The cards drafted will get added to the player's hand. Then that player must select a card to play from their hand into their tableau.

The tableau is going to be 3 rows of 5 cards. There are some abilities to possibly change that, but most tableaus will end up as a 3x5 grid of cards.

Each row will score differently depending on the scoring cards that were set at the beginning of the game. Each player has the same scoring objectives for each row. There is also an end-game score that will always trigger for the biggest group of each color that players will compete to have.

It is a rather simple game to teach and play. Michael and I found it very easy to get into. We also were able to Livestream the game (video below) with the full rules taught.

Since I have only played it twice and with only 2p, I haven't had all that much experience, but I do anticipate that it will feel different with more players. You will have more cards in the display to try and fight over. It seems like it will have more pressure to get the cards you want. There is still pressure with 2 players, but the turns are fast and you can play off of what your opponent does quickly. With more players, there is room for uncertainty.

The game is smooth and fun. I really enjoy the puzzle aspect of trying to make all the conditions work and block your opponents at the same time. beautiful game and I can't wait to see the final product. I think there are going to be even more scoring options and just being able to mix and match all the possibilities will be a lot of fun. I also very much look forward to trying this with more players! This is a really nice game.

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At a recent game night, I was looking forward to trying out Dice Manor. New to me!

In Dice Manor, you will use dice and take control of areas to gain rooms for your manor. Ultimately you will want to gain a bunch of rooms and host tours to gain points. If you have the most points at the end you will win!

Each round, on your turn, you will roll all of the dice you have. Then you select one of the numbers to use. If you select the value four then you have to use all of the dice with the value of four. They don't have to be used in the same location, but they will have to be used.

There are 6 locations to bid on the room tiles and there is a space to advertise and possibly gain points and new dice added to your pool of dice. The final thing you can use dice for is giving home tours which are going to give you points.

You want to collect as many rooms as possible since each room type will score for majorities. You are also looking for rooms of different types.

The game is pretty straightforward. If you are familiar with Las Vegas, you will find a lot of similarities here with how the dice work.

I have only played the game once, and I think we will end up playing it on stream too. Because you can unlock new dice, it seems like the strong get stronger. I knew pretty early on that I was going to lose the game horribly because I couldn't win a room tile. I was only gaining at most one room a round until the final round when I was able to win the majority on 3 rooms, thankfully. There were some poor dice rolls on the other player's part so I snuck away with 3. That was my only chance at scoring anything decent in the game. I still ended up losing.

You really have to pick one or two rooms that you are shooting for and just go hard for them so you can claim them. Having rooms at the end of the game is so huge that your game will be ruined if you don't have them. The tours you do are for so little points it hardly matters and is really just a pity action if you have nothing else to do.

It was a rough first play for me. I know the game isn't that complicated, but I was just rolling so badly and choosing rooms that would ultimately get won over by another player. It felt like I was getting picked on and there was nothing I could do. It was a bit frustrating.

I can see a good game in here somewhere, I just wish it played out a little differently. If I were given the choice I would choose to play Las Vegas over this. I even love tile placement games, but this one is a bit punishing for my taste. That said, I will give it another chance with an online play and at 2 players and see if it works out better for my tastes.

If you have played this I would be curious to know what you think.

I was excited to get Nimalia to the table! New to me!

Nimalia is such a cute game in a small box. I looked at the back cover and saw card placement and tableau building so I knew I would automatically enjoy this.

During the game, players will be drafting animal cards and playing them in the tableau. At least one square on the card has to overlap another card in your display. The tricky part is the tableau can't be bigger than a 6x6 grid. Each card is 2x2 so the space is limited!

The best part about this game is how it scores. Each round will score based on 2-3 conditions. Each early round will have 2 conditions and the later rounds will have 3 conditions that are checked out of 4 possible conditions. Sort of like in Cartographers.

I love love love how the scoring happens. You will want to focus on all of the conditions, but you know you won't be scoring some each round and it is hard to do everything!

There are so many scoring possibilities that aren't used and you will mix them up and change it each game to make for a lot of variety.

For a quick little drafting game, I really enjoy this one. It is such a small box and I know will be a big hit with everyone I teach. This is going to be a long-term keeper and one that I hope gets frequent plays. Easily one of the best games I have played this month. I look forward to bringing it to future game nights! Definitely worth checking it out.

Michael and I will be sure to play this on stream in the near future if you want to see a full playthrough.

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:
Tapestry Fantasies and Futures

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

7 Comments

Wed Mar 29, 2023 11:00 am

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Joan of Arc was able to Deep Dive into Orléans which was the Point City

Posted by Steph

Weekly Update

27 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

New Vid!
Splendor Duel

I have enjoyed my plays of Point Salad and I know others really enjoy it so I wasn't surprised to find a follow-up game called Point City. I was excited to check it out when I was given the chance! New to me!

Point City is currently on Kickstarter along with Deep Dive (see below). These two games are both easy to learn and play so will be a perfect addition to any collection.

One great thing about Point Salad is how clean and bold the look of the game is. I was really happy they were able to keep the bright colors and clean look with Point City. The games are different though.

In Point City, players will draft 2 cards from the display. The cards drafted might be resources or buildings. If a building is drafted then the player must have the appropriate resources available in order to take the card. You can use the resource card you are also drafting in this same turn. When you take the two cards they must be orthogonally adjacent.

Some building cards will have a resource at the top. That resource will be a permanent resource you can use on future purchases! Sort of like Splendor if you have played that before. Other cards will have a civic bonus that you can grab one of the civic tiles that will score for different buildings you have built at the end of the game.

An interesting aspect of this game is the way the board refills. When you replace the cards in the display you will replace them with the type that wasn't taken. If you take two resource cards they will be replaced with two buildings. I really like how this works.

You just keep drafting cards until the deck runs out and then you will add up all the points from the buildings you build and the civic tokens you have collected. If you have the most points you win!

Super quick and easy to explain. I really like the presentation of the game and building up your tableau of resources. While I enjoy this game, I think others have been enjoying it slightly more than I have. I think the game is good and solid and I would happily play anytime, but I often find I am taking the only actions that make sense. Meaning there is always the best move, and the game is sometimes like it is playing me, and I am just there. I will have to play it some more to see how it holds up.

For now, I am just enjoying it and I hope others will enjoy it too. I actually liked Deep Dive more than this one, so read on!

Since they are basically together, once we learned Point City, we immediately learned Deep Dive. New to me!

Deep Dive is on Kickstarter with Point City so we were happy to play and get a video out there!

Deep Dive is a push-your-luck game where you are trying to collect sets of colors. The deeper you dive the more valuable the food items are, but the bigger risk of running into predators.

Each turn you will start at level one and either take a food item already revealed, or reveal a new food token. You might find food, rocks, bubbles, or a predator. If you reveal a food item you can choose to take it or continue down to the next level and do the same thing as you just did with this first level.

If you find a rock you can take it to help on a future turn. The rocks will help you sick down faster and you can start from a lower level than the first level.

If you reveal a bubble you must continue down to the next level.

The predator is the tile you aren't looking for. If you find one then your penguin is trapped at that level and your turn ends. The way you get your penguins back is if all of them are trapped.

Having a penguin trapped isn't so bad, you can skip over the levels where your penguins are trapped. If I get trapped on level 1 then when I start my turn I can start from level 2 instead.

Once your third penguin is trapped you take them all back and you can collect one food item or rock from one of the trapped levels.

The game ends once one level has been fully revealed.

I have played a few times so far and have really enjoyed it!! I am totally one to push my luck and go for the gold. I find it reminds me of Deep Sea Adventure, but with no dice. It is easier to get into and play Deep Dive. The concept is easy to understand and it is just simply fun.

I find this game to be a perfect family game and I love it. There is more to this game than meets the eye because of how the predators and rocks work. Some fun choices to be made and a clever game. For example, I love finding the predator on level one so I don't have to even bother with that level. It is really good for collecting better food items.

This is a game I think a lot of people will be enjoying. One of the best games I have learned this month!

During a recent game night we were able to pull out Joan of Arc: Orléans Draw & Write to play! New to me!

I have been itching to play this because I have really enjoyed Orleans over the years and was curious to see how they made it into a draw-and-write game.

You are drawing tokens from the bag which is why it is "draw and write" which is clever.

I do think that if you are familiar with Orleans you will take to the game easier than those who aren't.

The game is played over 4 rounds in a 4 player game, and in each round, the bag of tokens will be emptied. 2 tokens are pulled from the bag before the round begins.

If you are the active player you will draw tokens from the bag equal to the number of players plus one. You will get the first pick of tokens and the leftover token once everyone has drafted one.

When you draft a worker, you will use the ability of that worker or an ability from your building cards that you have previously built. Each worker has a basic action, but you can utilize a worker for a special action at the top of your player board that is different from their normal action.

As you can imagine, there are many different strategies to try in this game like there is in Orleans. You will want to build routes and posts. You will collect goods along the routes and the different posts you get will be a multiplier at the end of the game with the development track.

The major difference is the gaining and using of coins. You will gain bonuses when you complete rows of coins and when you use columns of coins.

I made it my strategy to go for spending money and gaining a bunch of bonuses that way. It resulted in me also filling up my goods track since I got a cool building that allowed my farmer to gain any two goods (instead of 1). Farmers are often the leftover actions and I wanted to make sure I could get better than one good for them.

In each game, you will have different buildings available to build so that will change up your strategy a little bit.

Michael went hard for the development track (like many would in Orleans) and I was almost sure he would win. I didn't have many points from the development track and posts, so I was relying on the bonuses on my player board. I did end up winning by a few points, so my strategy worked.

I do worry a little that the games will feel samey, even with the special buildings changing. I was able to collect all of the goods and spend all my money, and it just seemed like a lot. Maybe the game needed to be a round shorter in order to really make you press for the actions you want.

In any case, I really liked the game and I will definitely want to play it again. I don't know how much everyone else at the table liked the game, but I think I liked it the most. For now, it is a keeper!

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

11 Comments

Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:00 am

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The Damage Control was managed by the Cartographer in Agueda

Posted by Steph

Weekly Update

22 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

New Vids!

5 Minuten Puzzle

Thread Count

A few weeks ago Michael and I were able to host a 25th Century Game night on Twitch and we showed off all the cool games that were on KS at the time.

I was so excited to share Águeda: City of Umbrellas with everyone since it is so beautiful. New to me!

While the Kickstarter has officially ended, you will be able to late pledge for the games.

In Águeda, players are collecting umbrellas for their player board. If you can collect the most points from your umbrellas then you will win the game.

Each turn, you will select one row of umbrellas. If you want a row of 3 then you will have to pay a coin. If you only want a row of 2, you pay nothing; if you take a row of 1 you will gain $1. When you collect umbrellas you will add them all to one street you have.

Then you can choose to place tourists on a street to score points. The catch is the streets will fill up, so you will have to take them back in order to clear the streets. When you clear the streets the scoring conditions will rotate on the streets. Maybe you will score for red and green umbrellas so you stock the street with those colors. But as soon as you clear the streets the red and green scoring conditions will move to the next street. They revolve and you have to decide how to best score the points.

In each game, you will have common goals to work towards as well. They change each game and will only use 2 cards. Each umbrella color will have a way to score points.

Águeda is a quick-playing game that is easy to teach and play. You will create a wonderful mural as you play the game as well. I was told the murals are actually real. How cool!

I have only played the game a few times but have really enjoyed my few plays. It is bright and bold. I love drafting umbrellas to form my own little Águeda.

Check out the video below to see the full playthrough and for a rules explanation!

Michael and I wanted to check out the new Marvel: Damage Control. New to me!

Wizkids has been coming out with a lot of Maarvel-themed games which is totally cool. I didn't know much about Damage Control but figured it was worth a shot!

In Damage Control, players are building up their deck of cards and abilities to have the best score at the end of the game. This game is not cooperative.

Each turn you will have a hand of cards that you will get to play for their ability or for their symbols. Symbols played will allow players to take certain actions like revealing a card in the display or gaining a card from the display. Sometimes you will have to spend credits to gain characters or use character abilities.

Some cards are awesome and you won't want to put them in your vault so you can use the special abilities. If cards aren't in your vault at the end of the game you won't gain points for them. You can also only have 3 heroes in your display at a time. They are often 1-time use as well but will give you some sort of points at the end of the game if you still have them.

The game is a basic deck-building game with a few twists. The cards you are drafting are in this random display. It is more like a mess of cards. There is a mechanic that will add more cards to this display, but if the display is empty the game will end. it is more likely that the hero deck will run out which is another way for the game to end.

I think this is a neat game that will draw in the fans of Marvel and the fans of deck-building games. I worry that some turns will be so combo-lific that the downtime between turns can be a lot. I only played with 2-players so far and I think I might like to keep it at that player count, but would be curious how a 3 or 4 player game changes up the dynamic.

For now, I would like to give it another go to see how it plays since we now know what to expect. This game will work for a lot of people. The theme is what is holding the game together and I think it is just a fun theme. Gotta collect those precious items!

I have been playing a bunch of Cartographers recently and trying out a few new map packs! I have to say I have been LOVING these map packs! This time around I got to try Cartographers: Map Pack 4 – Frozen Expanse: Realm of Frost Giants & Cartographers: Map Pack 6 – Hornhelm: Wasteland Market. New to me Expansion!

Hornhelm is probably my favorite of the map packs that I have played so far. There is a chance to buy items that will help you gain additional points during the game and collect journal points. There is so much to think about. I love that you have to spend the coins you collect on the items you acquire.

With Frozen Expanse, there are new maps and a few new monsters to deal with. There actually wasn't that much of a change from the original game. It is certainly nice to have the extra maps, but this was not my favorite pack so far. In any case, I still love it!

The more I play Cartographers the more I want to play Cartographers. I have 3 more packs to try out and I am wicked excited to try them! I hope everyone gets to play these maps and expansions.

Also, if you weren't familiar with the Cartographers site, you can download your own special maps. They are created randomly and it will be endless fun! I love that!

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:
Motor City
Joan of Arc Draw and Write
Jiangnan
Autobahn
Castronauts
Star Fighter
Adventures of Robin Hood Expansioin
Animal Poker
Tails on Fire
Hungry Monkey
Spicy
Nimalia
Loften
Stack'n Stuff
Wildtails
The Librarians
Splendor Duel
Carcassonne Under the Big Top
Carcassonne Hills and Sheep
Dune Imperium Immortality
Grizzled Armistice
Caverna Frantic Fiends
Keydoms Dragons
Rallyman Dirt
Magna Roma Deluxe
Magna Roma Dominus

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

1 Comment

Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:00 am

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Granite Game Summit 2023!! AKA STEPH'S BIRTHDAY CON!

Posted by Steph

Conventions

20 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

YAY! I love going to Granite Game Summit since it falls on my birthday! I always choose to play my favorite games. I didn't want to learn new games but play games I was fond of. Super happy I got to share time with friends and of course, get to visit family for my trip up north. Here is the rundown of the games I got to play!

I was pleased to get in 2 games of Mosaic: A Story of Civilization.

I was teaching two groups the game and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. The first game I managed to grab an achievement on the first turn. The second game was much different and no one picked up an achievement until like 4 or 5 rounds in. Just depends on what you can collect. I like how you have to change up the strategies depending on those goals.

Such a great game and I am glad I got to play it twice!

I got to teach a game of Woodcraft. Soooo happy to get this to the table again. It is a game that you will have to judge your next move based on your options. I like being tactical and planning on your feet that this game provides. It is satisfying.

Since it was my goal to play games I already knew I chose The Castles of Burgundy to play next.

Dan proceeded to kick my butt, but that was expected, I had the hardest board and didn't close nearly enough regions in the first few rounds. #mistakesweremade.

I got in a game of Gaia Project and basically played on hard mode.

Since I was playing grey I read both powers. I had it in my mind that when I reduced my structures I had to advance on the lowest track, but I could have advanced on any track. It meant that I could have had a lot of cooler abilities throughout the game.

I still managed to win though, so it worked out, even on hard mode.

A game I don't nearly get to play enough was Seasons.

I love that is is on BGA since the upkeep is pretty crazy when playing IRL. So, it takes a lot longer to play in person. I still love it and will play whenever someone wants to.

Dan wanted me to bring along Velonimo to play. It was pretty successful. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I am still liking it. I think I have played it 3 weeks in a row. It just seems easy to get to the table and it has been fun.

Since we had so many people, we chose to play The Great Split.

I figured Kim would enjoy it and she did. I definitely have been enjoying this I-Split-You-Choose game! I like the hard choices.

Dan wanted to try a game called Gadget Trick. New to me!

It was only one hand and Kim and Joel went to get lunch so we played. It felt chaotic and had too many different goals to meet. You are at the mercy of your hand. It was only one hand so I guess it was harmless.

Kim came back so we played our annual game of 7 Wonders.

Kim told me she hated Rhodes and I concur. That is one of the hardest wonders to play as. If I am that wonder then I usually don't even try to use the board or I would end up losing. It is tough. I did well with Giza and won.

Since we had a full boat of people we ended up playing Ready Set Bet.

The first time I played this I scored 0 points. I had no money at the end. First round this time I had no money.

I picked up a few bucks in the 2nd round and lost most of that in the 3rd round. The final round I went all in on one horse and one bet that it would be a close finish. I ended dup winning over $80 in the final round and blew everyone away.

So turns out I either lose big or win big in this game.

I definitely recommend getting the app and an iPad to run the app. Fun game.

We played a couple party games next Green Team Wins & Fun Facts.

I knew they were games Kim would enjoy playing and that held a bunch of players. We just used the Green Team Wins boards to play Fun Facts.

I had a great time and really enjoy spending my time playing.

Also tradition to play a few of my fav 5/6 player games so we played Medici.

It was a weird game since a lot of the time we were just sending 1 card around for the bid and it often meant people were getting what they wanted. Always an interesting game.

The next one we got to the table was Show Manager. I seemed to be ahead of the pack for most of the game so I was grabbing the cards that others wanted and it was going well for me. I think I scored my best score ever. This is not usually a game that I win, so it was a nice change.

Recently, I got to try the new Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Collector's Edition and saw it was available to play again. I made a point to get it to the table.

We played with the towers too. Gees I played so poorly. I just didn't get the tiles I needed or wanted. I wasn't focused on the things I needed to be. I super lost this game but it just give me the drive to get it to the table more. Such a great game!

We finished the night with a game of Hadara.

I also just learned that it showed up in Alpha on BGA! So happy it is more accessible. I know it is also on Yucata, but I like the sync playing, it is just so much smoother and faster. Always happy to get this to the table.

Played 5 Minuten Puzzle a few times and it is always a nice filler game. I got a pretty terrible score but still enjoy the challenge.

Dan suggested we play a 2-player game of Ark Nova. I won't turn down the chance to play Ark Nova! Dan usually beats me in the past when we have played.

It started out really well for him since I was going for larger animals that were harder to get into play. I had the better end-game strategy since he petered out and managed to win. We were both positive though, so it was a close race.

A quick game of Savannah Park was in order.

Everyone is excited to try the new Caldera Park to see what the differences are. I am sure I will like that one as much as Savannah park. I also think I might have scored my best score ever in Savannah Park with 167! I wonder if anyone has scored better than that!?

Got to play another favorite. Carnegie. Each time I play it I am reminded how much I love it. I was sad to hear my normal Tuesday night group got it to the table last week when I was away so I missed out on another chance to play it. It is a game I just want to keep playing. It is a brilliant design and I love it so much.

Dan made me learn アメノキリフダ (Heavenly Trump). New to me!

While it is very pretty, it is a chaotic mess that wasn't for me.

Always great to get in a game of Ohanami.

I am thinking this should be the other game I just travel with at all times. I keep Tichu with me wherever I go, but I think Ohanami should be with me at all times. It is a game I would never turn down. It is fantastic.

Always happy to play games on my birthday and get to hang with Kim. The flea market was great too since I was able to pick up way too many games, as expected. This was a super fun con and I hope to keep coming back to it when I get the chance.

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

35 Comments

Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:00 pm

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Mayor Steph Reporting for Duty from TGD 2023!

Posted by Steph

Conventions

15 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

TGD has come and gone! It was so much fun though and so many great games were played!

Steph for Mayor! I even got a cool sash!! Thanks TN Game Days for this honor! Oh, I wore that sash the whole weekend! It was a special way to celebrate the convention. Thanks to all those who helped support Extra Life which gave me this special title!

On Saturday there was a special event next to the gaming hall... I think it was a military ball and everyone was dressed up. I definitely felt out of place when I had to walk through the halls! It was cool though.

First game of the con was a quick game of Qawale.

I somehow won this game. I won because I had more experience so it was sort of cheating.

The game almost ended in a draw though since we were nearly out of pebbles.

So easy to pull out the short abstracts from Gigamic so I was glad to get this back to the table again.

Since Michael was around we learned a bunch of games once we set up the for-sale booth.

The first game that we learned was Darwinauts. New to me!

I bought several games that I knew I wanted to play before deciding on selling them or not and this was one of them.

This is definitely a game with flaws. Weak get weaker and strong get stronger. It doesn't work because you can gather resources and then claim the location you just left. I was behind the whole game so it wasn't a surprise when I lost by over half the amount of points.

Yeah, the game is interesting in concept but I didn't have fun playing it.

Next up was a HUGE BOX called Push a Monster. New to me!

Why does it have to be a huge box. So many people have heard of (and LOVE) a game called Kabuto Sumo, but Push a Monster came first and it is SO MUCH BETTER.

I saw the box and said oh this looks like Kabuto Sumo and said to myself it might be good.

Yeah since there is an actual game and an actual ending here, it was great. It is a perfect game for kids and works so much better with the rules it has. If you are a fan of kabuto Sumo I would definitely look into this one.

I am just shocked I hadn't heard of this one, but I would recommend it.

Next up wa another kids game called Glücks-Piraten. New to me!

Roll n move your way to victory. It was fine for kids but really not for gamers.

Michael and I tried Empire Engine. New to me!

This came out when Microgames were big, but micro it is. Not many interesting choices and a lot of take-that. I just didn't feel like I had a lot of control.

Eh, it was a game and I was glad when it was over.

Jason was around and was interested in playing Fjords. New to me!

I mean it is interesting how you have to play out the tiles in a certain way to then later gain control over the lands. I like that the game is played in 2 phases, kind of like Blue Lagoon.

The game was fine, but I ultimately traded it to Jason for his copy of Vinyl: Jukebox which I hope to try in the coming months.

Because I was able to raise the most money for Extra Life, I was the Mayor and I was given a sweet prize. I was gifted a game! I choose Woodcraft.

I ended up teaching a few people how to play and get in a game. Super love this one so I am happy to play it when I am given the chance.

Chase hadn't ever played Caverna: The Cave Farmers so I felt it was time he learned.

I am always happy to get this game played since I never rarely get to play it except for BGA. Of course, Chase really loved it as I expected.

A few quick games of Vegetable Stock to play while waiting on some food to show up. Jonathan and Wendy really liked it.

I know this will be a big hit. Someone needs to pick it up for US distribution if they haven't already.

Jonathan was wanting to learn Blazon so I ended up teaching it. I could see the eyes of Wendy and Mike glaze over when I was teaching it, but we managed to make it through.

Yeah the theme is super dry, but it is also interesting. I do think there is too much restriction with card placement and everything. Everyone at the table felt the same way.

It was cool to get to the table, but I am also not sure that it will be a frequent game.

Since there is always time for a 2-minute game we played Walkie Talkie.

I keep this in my Quiver and it is just simple and tense for the whole game. It is amazing how it is all so easy when you aren't playing the game. Not sure anyone else enjoyed playing this one. But it is still fun to play and see who does.

Early one morning I got in a game of Glass Road. Oh, how I love this game!! This certainly doesn't get the love it deserves. Maybe this will show up on some gaming platform as I would love to play it more.

The card play is so interesting and I wish more games had that sort of card system. Everyone has to play this game!

During the weekend I played 3 games of KuZOOkA.

I taught Charlotte who immediately wanted to play again! That is a sign of a fun game! She told me after the con that she went out and bought it so I really did a good job!

This is such a fun game no matter how many people are playing. Everyone has been enjoying it. I am just so pleased to get it played so frequently. I just want to keep playing it!

Jonathan said he had never played Thebes which I think everyone should play at least once.

A lot of the time people have some bad luck so don't like it as much. That may or may not have happened here...

Okay so, the game didn't go over so well, but I still had fun!

I brought along Second Chance because I felt like coloring. Since Jonathan was interested in learning a quick new game we played it a few times. He really liked it and I am sure he will add to his collection.

It is such a great game and one I am always happy to play.

Since it was on my sale pile, we decided to play Subdivision. I still have the original copy that I plan to play, but I had an extra copy. It was quick and filled the time we needed. Jonathan liked it enough to take it off my hands in a trade, so I would say it is successful.

I am glad to finally get it back to the table after so many years. It was the first play in my BG Stats app, so at least 5 years since my last play. Crazy!

Michael came around and we had a full 5-player game of Velonimo.

This game is so interesting with 5 players so I was happy we could get the full count. I was losing the whole game. In the 4th round, I had only a few points and there was still a chance for me to win if I went out and then everyone in the right order went out. It all came to be and I was tied for the win but I had the tiebreaker for the absolute win.

Perhaps it was a perfect storm, I have no idea how that even happened. Still super fun.

There is always time for one more game, right? So, late Saturday night we finished with a game of Go Nuts for Donuts.

It is just an easy game that holds a lot of people. Seemed like a decent choice so we played. Not sure I won anyone over with this game, but I still like it well enough.

Final day of the con I got in some pretty cool games. More small card games to introduce to Jonathan, starting with Illusion.

Obviously, this game should be played by everyone just because it is so cool. Many of us still think the scoring could be updated, but it is still a fun challenge to evaluate weird shapes on a card. Always fun.

Jonathan hadn't ever played The Mind. Michael and I had to teach it! I really miss all the games of the Mind we used to play.

The more Mind I get to play the better, and I don't think Jonathan hated it so maybe I will get more chances at game night to play this wonderful game.

Thanks to Michael for teaching First Rat while I taught Art Decko on the other table.

Michael didn't want to play First Rat, but Jonathan and I knocked out the game in like 30-45 minutes or something really quick.

I have played it several times recently and I really enjoy it. Glad to get this one back to the table. This is a great game that I am happy to get played more.

I then played a few games with Jonathan and David starting with Capital.

This is another game I haven't played in over 5 years. I still find it super interesting and puzzly. I was happy to play it again! It has been on my shelf since it came out and I have played it on and off. I love the drafting of the tiles and the tableau building. It's a great change-up from 7 Wonders, but I also don't play 7 Wonders enough.

The final game of the convention was Space Station Phoenix.

This is a game Jonathan has been trying to get played again since the first time we played. I don't blame him, I quite enjoy it myself and play it whenever possible. I love that it is available on BGA, it does mean that I get to play it more than not. I think I am over 10 plays now, which is unusual for a new release. It means I like it!

This was a totally epic con and so much fun!!! Great games played and great friends. I was sad to see it come to an end. They should make it 4 days next year! I loved being Mayor!

Until next time.

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

31 Comments

Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:00 pm

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All the FUN at Tantrum Con 2023!!

Posted by Steph

Conventions

13 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

A few weeks ago was Tantrum Con!! Michael and I drove to Charlotte NC to play some games with some awesome friends!

Here I will talk about some of the cool games I played. I few reviews and then a lot of quick thoughts.

So happy to see some friends and hang out. We had a great time as always.

I didn't bring many games to play, but since I knew we would be a big group of players I brought along some games that handle higher player counts. One that I thought most people would enjoy was Your Best Life. New to me!

This is a flip-n-write game where there is player interaction. I didn't think it would be as much interaction as there actually was. You can play with up to 8 players and the game wants you to play in teams of 2, but you can also choose to play as individuals.

Since we didn't want to team up, everyone played individually.

Each turn, several cards are flipped out and everyone has to select the card they wish to use for the round. On the cards are different symbols for the types of actions they can mark off on their sheet. The better the actions, the more stress it might cost. Yes, you have to manage your stress levels or you could end up losing more points than gaining.

Like everything in life, you have to manage the good and the bad to get what you want. Go to work to gain money to go on the vacations you want to go on, etc. It all has to balance out.

If you are working with another player you will share bonuses you will claim from your boards, if you are working as individuals then you will gain the bonuses for yourself.

Everyone starts with goals to try and work towards to gain additional points.

Once we got into the game, it was easier to see what was going on. There are a bunch of combos to try and unlock. Everything seemed to go pretty well. The scoring was probably the most complicated part of the game. I do wish they worked out an easier solution for how to tally up your scores. I get that you want balance, but there was like a 10-step process for figuring out your final score. It was a lot.

Having played the game once, I know that the second play will go smoother. I will recommend that when you play the game you shouldn't go in with 6+ new players. There is a lot to keep track of so you have to make sure everyone is on the same page and doing the right things. We were playing with 6 and it was slow and messy, but we managed to finish it up.

For now, I am definitely happy to play this again. I know it will be much better the next time we play. It will be fun. I liked this. I am glad we were able to try it.

A game I knew I wanted to play and brought along with me was Shark. New to me!

This is a new edition from Korea BoardGames. Shark has been around a long time, I haven't played any of the older versions so I don't know if it has changed at all since its original debut.

I brought this game along since it requires more players, and I thought playing with 4 would be cool.

During the game, players will add buildings to different regions. if the building they are adding is connected to the same colored building then the stock of the color goes up. Each time a stock goes up players who have shares will get paid dividends.

The interesting part of the game is knowing when to buy shares and sells shares. Maybe you sell all your shares and then tank the company.

It isn't always so easy to do that, but it is possible. You are at the mercy of the dice rolls, however. If you want to tank yellow you will have to roll a different color and hope to place it adjacent to yellow to help plummet the market. You will often not roll what you want to roll and thus it won't be a game for everyone.

It is heavily luck based. You may never roll the color you want or the region you want. So yeah, it is fairly chaotic.

I wasn't bothered by the chaos. I know other people were because it seemed like all we were rolling was green and green and more green.

After a while, it started to be other colors. The game could have ended sooner had we only rolled green though. That is where the game can break since not everyone was invested in green at the beginning, and it makes it hard for some people to get out of the $0 hole they were in. Others were rolling in cash and it just seemed like it was complete luck at that point.

Once we started seeing other colors show up, it sort of turned the game around, but it wasn't enough for the players who were behind to catch up.

I like a lot of what the game is doing, but there has to be a better system than rolling dice. Perhaps if you could choose the color but have to roll for the region or vice versa. I duno, but I think that something could have been updated to have slightly better control.

For now, it is a game I would play again, but I wouldn't request it. After the first few rounds, I was convinced I would hate it, but it turned around for a better experience than I was expecting so that was good.

I picked up The Towers of Arkhanos in the VFM so I figured it was a good time to try it. New to me!

My thought was that if we tried it and didn't like it then I could sell it at the Flea Market the next day.

Well, it was a good thing that we tried it out since It was a whole lot of luck depending on the dice that were rolled and the abilities were the same thing over and over. I didn't find any good choices in this game and it just didn't work out for me.

Glad to have tried it since it looks cool, but I ended up selling it the next day.

Mysterium Park was up next. New to me!

I figured I would definitely enjoy this one, but I wasn't sure if it would be a keeper or not. I love Mysterium and I had seem Dfube and Colorfly play a lot. It is a more streamlined version of Mysterium in a smaller box. I think it is done well, but the theme is always going to be circus, which is fine.

I did end up keeping it because I did really enjoy it.

We had to play Spicy Dice since it was in the Play to Win section. New to me!

New take on Yahtzee with an added D6. I like rolling lots of dice and I like the added push-your-luck element where you can roll as much as you want at the cost of 5 points per turn. It was interesting. I didn't end up winning the play to win.

Since I was still so tired from the long drive early in the morning, I only had brain powers for Joking Hazard. New to me!

Such a silly party game. We played with a bunch of people and it was entertaining for a few plays. Just not the sort of thing I want to play all the time.

Michael won a copy of HerStory over on Charity Boardgamers channel a few months ago and Chris delivered a few games to us during the con. It was a great time to try this one out. New to me!

Herstory has a really cool theme and interesting history woven in. The gameplay is seriously lacking. Maybe it is meant to be in schools as a teaching game, but as far as an actual strategy game, it is just not fun.

Take tokens and complete sets for your collection. I mean YAWN. I didn't care for this at all.

I was excited to play KuZOOkA. We were going to play with 4 players but it ended up being 5 players and it was cool.

We totally lost, but it was my first time playing with 5 and it is quite a challenge. You really have to take baby steps with that many people since you have so little information.

Always happy to get this to the table.

I picked up a used copy of Cloud Control so we decided to play it. New to me!

This is a cute party-type game where you need to convey images using cloud cards.

The game really falls apart in the second part of the game where it is free for all. I would have removed that if I were developing the game. This was fun to try and a good setting for it.

Art had never played Sagrada before so we had to make it happen.

Sagrada is always fun and I was actually surprised how many people hadn't played this game whenever I asked tables if they had played it.

Gotta share my love for Sagrada whenever I can! So happy to get it to the table again. I think I have gotten really good at the game because I play the daily app challenge.

Art had a card game for us to try called ルイス (luz). New to me!

This is a card game for serious card players. It might otherwise seem random and frustrating. I quite liked what the game was doing, but It won't be for everyone.

I thought Drew and Art would enjoy Deal with the Devil so we gave that a go.

It is quite a long teach, but once we got going it was all good. Drew ended up being the Devil and was definitely not offering a lot of good things for souls. I was offering amazing things as the cultist, but Michael and Art were playing hardball and not accepting my offers.

I didn't even come close to winning this game.

We had a HUGE group of players for Fun Facts and it was a bunch of people who didn't really know each other. It was fun to see what happened.

I do think I like the game better when I have a general idea about who I am playing with. But still provides the laughs.

Michael and I hosted a sweet Green Team Wins event. We taught and played a few games using some cool promos and our own invented questions.

Everyone had a blast and it was definitely a successful event! I love that we learned it last year at Tantrum and then we were able to share the love this year.

Another game I picked up in the Flea Market was La Glace et le Ciel. New to me!

This is a really interesting cooperative card game. You know the cards in play you just have to solve the puzzle of how you can best get them laid down to gain the most points. It is clever and challenging.

We got to try out Cardline: Animals. New to me!

This is hands down my favorite in the series. I love that you don't need to know dates.

I had a great time playing this. I learned so much! Ended up being a keeper.

There are a bunch of new-ish small pack games from NSV that I picked up called 5 Minuten Puzzle, Thread Count, Volle Weide. all were New to me!

5 Minuten Puzzle was my favorite of the bunch. I really liked all the tiny roll-n-write games. I think it is a nice series they created. Weird paper packaging that won't close so you need a storage solution once you open the pack.

All of them are worth checking out. Very glad to play them and now own them!

So many people hadn't played Mamma Mia! before so I just had to teach this quick card game to everyone.

I mean it is a classic and people have to play cool things like this one. I am glad I could sneak in a game with Tyler and Aaron. Next time we will make it a bigger game for sure.

Drew and Art hadn't played Marvel: Remix so we HAD to give that a whirl. It is so simple and fun.

This is why I keep it in my Quiver. It just works so well and fits any sort of free time. Love it!

Art was trying to leave so I convinced him to play 2 more games instead. Starting with Vegetable Stock. This is becoming my go-to filler game that just plays so quickly. Everyone is loving this game because of how easy and fast it is.

So happy it is going to show up on BGA.

Last game for Art was Illusion. This is another game everyone needs to play. It is a hit with everyone I know.

Always fun times.

Our final game of the convention was Birds of a Feather. It was the new edition, but plays the same as the old edition so I didn't count it as new.

I find the new edition to be terrible, by the way. The writing sheet is in black and white and it makes it VERY hard to read. the original edition is far superior and didn't give me any problems. I get why they made the change but I don't approve and I sold the game immediately. Buy the original one.

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

17 Comments

Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:00 am

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Just Checking in... Local Con Season is Hereeeee

Posted by Steph

06 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Please thumb deserving posts

Hia Everyone!

Don't forget to pick up my Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023! https://stephsshop.ecwid.com/

Just wanted to give an update!

I went to Tantrum Con last week and then TN Game Days This week. Coming up is Granite Game Summit for my birthday! It is quite a busy time. I still expect to write a blog for these cons, but it might take a bit. Sorry for my absence.

There is so much to cover in the coming weeks and so many kickstarters happening now and very soon.

Expect to see full reviews for Tir na Nog, Agueda, and soon to see Point City (all on or going to KS soon)

There are tons of games to talk about and I will get to it as soon as I am able.

For now, here are a few videos that I have from our special 25th Century Twitch night! There is a very cool 25th Century KS going on now! Be sure to check it out.

Águeda: City of Umbrellas

Donut Shop

Color Field

Velonimo

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://itsyourroll.games/collections/all-the-meeples-of-the...

New to the Collection:
Motor City
Joan of Arc Draw and Write
Jiangnan
Votes For Women
Coffee Rush
Nimalia

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

All images in this post are copyrighted, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Disclaimer: I am a contract Employee of BGG. I review games that are provided by the publisher. I am not compensated for my blog content.
Thank you.

3 Comments

Mon Mar 6, 2023 5:38 pm

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Steph's New to Me List for February 2023

Posted by Steph

New To Me List

02 Mar 2023

Steph Hodge

(punkin312)

United States
Tennessee

Well, it's no Ginkgopolis...

Welcome to Steph's "New to Me" List 2023!

This year I have made the goal of learning 500 (600?) games!

Now Available! Steph's Awesome Gaming Calendar 2023!
https://stephsshop.ecwid.com

Thanks to Dfube, I now have a chance to sell some cool All the Meeples of the Rainbow shirts!
If you enjoy the blog and want to support me and my good friend Dfube you can check them out here: https://bit.ly/3lzvtcV

Steph's Awesome Spectrum Rating System!

Steph's Sad Cloud Rating 1-2.5/10
Steph's Bland Rainbow Rating 3-4.5/10
Steph's Primary Rainbow Rating 5-7/10 (Solid Play)
Steph's Super Rainbow Rating 7.5-8.5 (Keepers)
Steph's Double Rainbow Rating 9-10/10 (Top Favorites)

February List
from Worst to Best

Prototype - Race to 31:

Super cool trick-taking card game that Dale is working on. We had a lot of fun, so I look forward to seeing where it ends up.

-/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

No Pic

Prototype - Halls of Fame (25th Century):

An early prototype for a party game. Definitely excited about this one. Not sure how much I can share at the moment.

-/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

No Pic

Donut Shop:

Super cute tile-placement game with delicious donuts. Still in prototype form and on Kickstarter so things may change. Interested in playing some more to get see how it holds up over time.

-/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Reflecto:

Interesting idea that was poorly executed. The fact you can just eliminate your letters by getting to the other side basically breaks the game of trying to find the words created. It didn't work for me at all.

3/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Fake Art Inc.:

I suppose this game works as far as gameplay goes, but it is not fun and right-out mean and backstabbing. "Hey, let me negotiate this color with you... Hey, let me change out your paintings so now it is worthless to you." It didn't leave me with a happy experience and it was just not fun.

3/10 After 1 play (Owned)

STACKS:

Simple card game with weird card play that just doesn't work well. The rules are bad and the game is bad. Just play Uno.

3/10 After 1 play (Owned)

くくまる (Kukumaru):

Perhaps if you love numbers and luck of the draw you will enjoy this one. I just didn't care for it. Might be good for a classroom though.

3/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Serial Killer: Second Edition:

Honestly, this just isn't my kind of game. I am not into the hidden traitor/social deduction games and this is a take on Werewolf. If you enjoy that kind of game then this is probably worth checking out.

3.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Instant Saga:

For a small card game, I didn't enjoy the area control. There was too much weight on the draft that there ends up being no control once you start playing. Very forgettable.

4/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Chicago Express:

Found on BGA - it was a game I played and I just didn't care for it at all. I am just not into shared tracks and stocks and just trains in general. I don't think this game was any fun and it is definitely not a game I would want to play again.

4/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

HerStory:

So wanted to enjoy this one more. The theme is cool but that is about it. Perhaps this game is better for a classroom setting. All you do is grab tokens to fulfill the needs of the females. No real interesting choices and nothing to make the game feel interesting over time. I just don't have many good things to say about this one.

4/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Conejos en el Huerto:

Cute game, but if you can get a sweet combo, then you will win. There was basically no competition in my play and it wasn't much fun. Meant to be a family game so it will be better in that setting. I tried it but won't need to play again.

4/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Formosa Flowers:

The game is fun except for how the game ends. Because of reason it ends so abruptly it doesn't work for me at all. At least with 2 players, it doesn't. Maybe with more players, it will work better. it is a game of chicken though. This game is pretty but was ruined by the endgame.

4/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Go Goa:

Found on BGA - This roll-n-write game is way too restrictive. You are forced to draw in certain ways which don't leave a lot of room for choices. There are just so many better games out there that I would rather play. this was frustrating and not fun.

4.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

The Towers of Arkhanos:

During the first few rounds, we had nothing to do so we all had to take basic action. For most of the game, we had to use the basic action, actually, which felt weird to me. So many design choices that I find questionable. I wanted to like this, but I didn't.

4.5/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Can Can Coming!:

A simple card game where you try to have the best set of cards when it ends. The catch is 2/3 of cards are shared between your neighbors. There is a little take-that, but overall the game is fine.

5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

ドロンビー (Dronbee):

A weird drafting game where you try to collect the right amount of cards, and sometimes you will collect the wrong cards to make you discard many you have collected. It is an interesting balance but doesn't stand out.

5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Conquest:

Very abstract 2-player game. Since there is a specific setup, I am sure there is a "best way" to play the game. I thought it was interesting enough, but still not something I would ever request to play again. If abstracts are your jam then I would suggest checking it out.

5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Dogfight!: Rule The Skies in 20 Minutes!:

Found on Tabletopia, this game felt very luck-dependent. There is no real room to react to the board and what is happening. You have to pre-determine what you are doing with simultaneous action selection. This just wasn't my kind of game.

5/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Charon's POKER:

Small card game with 90% luck. The game would be better if you had more control over what you were passing, but as it is, it barely works. Just feels too random.

5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Joking Hazard:

Another Apples to Apples-type of game, but with Cyanide & Happiness characters. The cards are crude and silly. If you enjoy the comic then this is a cute game. I had fun for a while but I wouldn't ever pick to play it.

5/10 After 2 play (Owned)

ギシンアンキノトウ (Towers of Conspiracy):

Quick little deduction game for 2 players. The rules aren't entirely clear so it is hard to know if we were even playing correctly. It was fine to try.

5/10 After 3 plays (Owned)

The Quest Kids:

This is a kid's first dungeon crawl game. There is a lot of luck involved with the cards you reveal, but you can gain help from other players so it teaches kids to work together, while not being a cooperative game. It is good for the family. I didn't really care much for it as a strategy gamer with no kids.

5/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Lots:

Random bits in the box which is interesting. You have to use those bits to figure out how to gain points by the conditions of the locations. Didn't seem like you could do enough on your turn to really make a difference, but it has some interesting ideas.

5/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

All Roads:

Such a basic game. It feels like this game was released in the 90s. Definitely not enough to be interesting for more than a few plays. Just play Carcassonne.

5/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

D!C!ASSETTE:

Reminded me of 27 Metres. Manage your hand of cards so you aren't the person to bust the line. This game has added luck because some cards are placed facedown. Seemed chaotic and random. It wasn't terrible though.

5/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Turtles, Frogs, and Escargot:

Tile placement with limiting options. Several ways to gain points here and there, but everyone had hidden goals they were working on. I wish there was a drafting system in place instead of a random tile draw. It was fine, but, just play Caracassonne.

5.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Schützenfest:

Arguably more fun than it first appears. Everything seemed obvious at first and it wasn't interesting, but as you play through the different rounds and saw different cards, there is more management with your hand of cards that are needed. It did provide some laughs, but still not a game I would choose off the shelf to play.

5.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Flapjack Flipout:

Dexterity, real-time, and memory game. Can you remember the pancakes you have seen? It was cute but there are just so many dexterity games, this doesn't really stand out.

5.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

TransAmerica & Japan:

This is a pure race to complete your network to the different cities. You will end up connecting with other players' networks to make it happen. It is almost a game of chicken. I like how simple the game is, but I am not into the race to completion. It outstays its welcome since you have to play so many rounds.

5.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Shark:

Area Control stock game. I like a lot of what this game is doing, but it just feels like there is too much luck involved with the dice. If you don't start with a green stock and every turn green is rolled, you simply can't do anything. Maybe there needs to be an alternate setup to help balance that issue. That said, I think I enjoyed it the most in the game I played. I like how the market changes. Worth trying.

5.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Echt Spitze:

Just feels like they are trying too hard to be clever with the newest roll n write games. I don't like the poking holes in the paper and I don't like the constant back and forth with the paper. I suppose the game is fine but seems like players will be confused really fast.

5.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Monster Busters:

Simultaneous card selection to see if everyone will join forces to take out the monster, or to see if others will backstab you. We have seen this done before and this didn't feel any different. It works and was fine. I could see playing it again, but with a name like Monster Busters, I am sure to forget about it in time.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Long Long Line in HELL:

Interesting use of dice. Some dice are locked which you have to unlock in order to try and gain control at the different locations. You are trying to collect tokens for a set collection. I think if there was a different scoring system, this game would work better. Playing with 4-players I felt I didn't have any control. It was still interesting though.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Ten Calls!:

Beauitful cards. An easy climbing game where you want to go out first. It was fine and pretty simple. Not many interesting choices when it becomes your turn.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Thread Count:

A tiny roll-n-write game where you have to connect the dot to collect sets of objects without knocking over the cups. Plays out super quickly and was cute.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Cloud Control:

Silly party game to create shapes with the cloud pieces in the middle of the table. Can you convey the image you are trying to complete well enough? It is a fun challenge. Didn't care for the final free-for-all round as it detracted from the rest of the game.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Papyrus:

I really like the look and theme of this game. The card play was fine, but it was super easy to fulfill my goals. Not that many interesting choices so it sort of fell flat by the end. I could try again though.

6/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Push Fish:

A little bit of dexterity with your set collection. We had fun and laughed. You can't take games like this too seriously since you just might be bad at flicking. It was cute enough. Glad to have tried it.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Disc Cover:

A Dixit-like game that involves music. You need to have a playlist ready to go with random songs. The songs you will use to draw inspiration for the covers you want to present. It was an interesting exercise and I would play again.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Tiny Turbo Cars:

Super cute game and has a unique puzzle programming mechanic. I enjoy the sliding puzzle to try and figure out how you want to move. It has the cool toy factor. This will be fun for so many gamers out there, I just don't love the race aspect of the game.

6/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Wandering Towers:

A pure abstract game where you want to get all your guys into the tower first, but you need to make potions. It's a cute game and harmless.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Vampire Queen:

My group didn't really care for this one. I like the challenge of trying to get rid of the hunters and your cards at the same time. It was interesting but also very punishing for those who get stuck each round.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Marvel: Age of Heroes:

I actually liked this game fairly well. It is interesting to add actions to the board for everyone to use and to line up and fight the bad guys. The game gets really repetitive and it overstays its welcome which brings the rating down a bit.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Ovo:

Those egg pieces are amazing. This is a really interesting abstract game mixed with some memory. It is quite a challenge and fun. If you like the abstracts this is one to play for sure.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Spicy Dice:

Dice! This is a take on Yahtzee but there is a 6th die and special red sides to the dice that change up the rules. I enjoy the push-your-luck aspect and just rolling a bunch of dice.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Volle Weide:

Another small packaged roll-n-write game. Just gotta enclose the sheep! For the portable size, I think it works great. I enjoy it.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Savernake Forest:

Oh em geeeee the cute animals and artwork. I was hooked by the artwork alone. Family-friendly 20-minute game with drafting and tableau building. I have enjoyed my few plays so far.

6.5/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Ice and the Sky:

I haven't seen the movie, but this game was a challenging cooperative game. It is fairly abstract since you know the cards that are in play, but there might not be a perfect solution. The card play is fun.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Olé Guacamole:

New party game where you have to say words that don't use the letters on the table. Of course, as you see letters you will want to say words with those letters. Very simple, but funny and loud. Definitely a good one to keep in your travel bag.

6.5/10 After 3 plays (Owned)

Time of Empires:

This game is so unique. using sand timers for an area control game with a light civ game feel. Definitely and experience game and I would try again.

6.5/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Qawale:

Amazing quality coffee table abstract game. Uses a mancala style mechanic to drop stones. You just need 4 in a row to win. I am terrible at the game, but I enjoy it.

6.5/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Armadillo:

Unique dice that you need to roll to make certain combos to get rid of your cards. Not much to it, but you can get better at the game the more you play since you know the dice better and know which to select. It is neat. Good if you just want to roll some dice.

7/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Caesar's Empire:

It is better than I thought it would be. Looked too simple and it was definitely easy, but there is a bit more than meets the eye. Knowing where to place roads to help gain you more points. Not sure it will have a lot of staying power but it is enjoyable so far.

7/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Wicked & Wise:

A new take on trick-taking partnership game. One player will have to claim tricks and the other partner will have to be a helping hand. I think it works really well.

7/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Monster Inn:

A bidding game to gather monsters into your inn. You don't want the heroes to show up, but if they do you will generally gain better treasures, but they will scare away the monsters who will actually give you points. A tricky balance and it was neat.

7/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Your Best Life:

New flip and write a game where there is a lot of player interaction. We tried to play with 6 players and it was rather confusing. After that initial play, I feel like I have a better grasp on what to do and how to play so I know the next plays will go well. There are many strategies to try so that is nice.

7/10 After 1 play (Owned)

Cardline: Animals:

This is a great edition in the Cardline series. I like that you don't need to know the dates. You can play with lifespan, weight, and length. I really like those different topics. Probably my fav edition.

7/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

dungeon in memory:

I love this little memory game. You have to remember the pattern of tiles played in the stack and it is a big reveal once someone calls that it isn't correct. It is just fun to see what happens.

7/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Teeter Tower:

Cooperative dexterity game! This is easier to teach and play than Menara but still offers a similar excitement when the structure doesn't fall. I am a fan of cooperative dexterity games!

7/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Word on the Street:

I am always up for learning word games. You have to really think on the spot and grab letters in a tug-of-war fashion. It is pretty good and definitely a game I would play again.

7/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Alles im Eimer:

A push-you-luck card game to knock over your opponent's cups. It is silly and fun. It is a game that will make you laugh at least a few times so it is a feel-good experience.

7/10 After 3 plays (Owned)

Luz:

A trick-taking game where you know all of your opponent's cards, but not your own. It was super weird and challenging. I actually liked this a lot. I would like to give it another go.

7/10 After 1 play (Not Owned)

Not That Movie!:

This game is a bit misleading. Yeah, there are movie titles in the game, but you don't need to know anything about movies to play this. It is super fast and easy to play with silly creations. I love that the game is cooperative. I have had a super fun time with this one.

7/10 After 2 plays (Owned)

Flashback: Zombie Kidz:

For those fans of Zombie Kidz Evolution, this is the same universe but it is more of a search-and-find story game. This is perfect for kids and families to play together. So much to uncover and solve that will be super accessible for kids. It works so well.

7/10 After 1 play (Owned)

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