The sun is shinning, and we are just a day or two away from UKGE.
My friends and I are extremely excited to be heading back for our second time. We made it to last years expo, the smaller, quieter version, but I have a feeling that this year there will be a lot more going on.
But enough about what’s coming up. I’ll be doing a seperate post upon my return. For now, lets look back at the month of May, check out how the 10×10 is going, see what’s new to the shelves and the table, and gloss over how the 1vs1 battle is going.
10×10 UPDATE
Being so far ahead in our challenge has led us to neglect our other games. And while it wasn’t a conscious agreement, we appear to have just taken our foot off the gas for a bit this month and slowed our progress.
Only seven games got played in May from the challenge. I managed to just squeeze a win in LEGENDARY FORESTS, and smashed it out of the park with QWIRKLE (being just 3pts off my personal best).
However, I was definitely found wanting in 7 WONDERS DUEL and WINGSPAN, and I’ve requested my recent play of PALANDINS OF THE WEST KINGDOM be striken from the records, it was so bad.
Like, really, really bad.
But, we’re at 72% with months still stretching out before us, so it’s not a problem. Only 28 more plays to go.
NEW GAMES OF THE MONTH
I’m going to mix new arrivals and new plays into one group going forward. Mainly this is because we seem to be doing a good job of getting new games to the table within a few days.
We received HNEFATAFL as an anniversery gift from my girlfriends mum a couple of months ago. It’s a chess like game from hundreds of years ago. What makes it different from a lot of the other ‘classic’ games like DRAUGHTS and CHESS is that it’s asymetric. It’s a good game, and our first play went fast as we got to grips with the tactics. The Defenders definitely have it easier when players are new to the game, so will be interesting to see which of us gets the first Attacker win as we both improve.
On a recent trip to Southampton with my son, I popped in to Forbidden Planet and failed to walk out without a purchase. I was close to turning away from their decent selection when PAPER DUNGEONS caught my eye. With our obsession for Roll ‘n’ Writes still blooming, and with it having a fantasy theme too, I just couldn’t resist. And it’s really good. It has variable set up with Dungeon lay out, bosses, and cards. It’s not too long, but it also isn’t a quick game like a majority of Roll ‘n’ Writes we play.
Kickstarter arrivals have been thin on the ground these last couple of months, so I was quite excited when PIXEL CLASH turned up. It’s a small box card game from UK designers Pixel8 Games. Players pick a generic fantasy character and then get on with the job of playing cards to battle a dragon. Different dragons offer different challenges. There is a variety of weapons to find in the deck, and the art is pixel and very cool looking.
I’ve enjoyed the original HORRIFIED since my first play, but as a game I would most likely only get to the table with the two friends who own it, I didn’t see the point in me getting my own copy. And then they announced HORRIFIED: AMERICAN MONSTERS, and I called dibs on our group chat immediately. I’m glad I waited, as I’ve always been more interested in American mythology, and I much prefer this version over the original. We had a close first game and it looked like we might fail, but suddenly luck was on our side and we took the monsters out with cold presicion to take victory with two cards left in the draw pile.
DUNGEON MAYHEM was one of the first games I got after getting into the hobby. I once had a two hour session of it at a Costa with my friend. I bought the expansions as soon as they came out. And as a Marvel fan, I didn’t hesitate as soon as I heard that MARVEL MAYHEM was being released. It plays pretty much the same as the D&D version, with character specific special moves and players picking on each other. I look forward to seeing which other characters get released.
In the early days of dating my girlfriend, we leaned heavily into 2-player only games. And one of the first we got was THE FOX IN THE FOREST. Since we tried it a couple of years ago, I’ve been wondering whether to add the cooperative version to our collection, and a few weeks ago it’s proce piint left me with no choice. THE FOX IN THE FOREST DUET is still trick taking, but now you’re working together to control a tug-of-war on the path through the forest. It’s one of those mechanisms that seems thin and unchallenging on paper, but the second you try it, and get forced into certain moves, you begin to see the difficulty. We managed to win our first game, but it was close.
Our new found addiction to Roll ‘n’ Writes continues. In the same sale basket as the previous game, I grabbed RUSTLING LEAVES because it was also less than £10. It’s a simple game that looks easy as you start to play, with lots of room to spread out into. But then you start rolling high numbers together, and suddenly all that real estate gets gobbled up. Then you’re forced to make difficult decisions about what you think is the best scoring with what you have left. We’ve only played Spring so far, so I’m interested in trying the other seasons.
While Ryan Luckett games are more known as being narrative driven, we’ve only got ROAM and MEGALAND, which don’t really fit that bill. But a little while ago I splashed out on SLEEPING GODS because it looked like just the type of big coop we’d enjoy. Of course finding the time to learn it and play it was tough, so I made the decision that we’d make it our 1000th game we played as just the two of us (thanks to the BGStats app tracking). And what a game. With the table covered, we got to work exploring the islands, finding our limits. It stayed on the table for three sessions over five days. Nine and a half hours later, we’d gotten to our first ending. I don’t think it’ll be long before we make time to head back again.
We have a few ButtonShy Wallet games now, and so far they’ve all been from backing various campaigns on Kickstarter. But when the team announced that a small expansion for AGROPOLIS was available to order online, I headed to the website to get it . . . and somehow the entire collection of UGLY GRYPHON INN fell into my cart as well. I’ve managed to play once so far. I’ll admit that I relaxed a little too much at the start thinking the game was easier than expected. But the second half taught me the balancing act of the patrons, and I ended up losing two turns from the end. Very clever puzzle, this one. Currently hangs out in my bag for sessions at work.
A fellow gamer on Instagram was sent a prototype of a game they thought I might enjoy more than them. The game in question is ARLUKKACHASE. While it’s art couldn’t be more different, it definitely has EXPLODING KITTENS vibes, as players are hoping to avoid a ‘bomb’ type card. As well as ‘shield’ cards, there are a few other cards that have an equivalent in the Kittens game. I’ve only played once so far, at 4-player. But I’ll be posting my thoughts on the game once I get more plays under my belt.
And the final new game of May was EUPHORIA. I picked this up at UKGE last year. As we closed in on the 2022 convention, I realised it was still sat on my Shelf Of Shame. So I asked my girlfriend if we could get it played before then. While the busy board and trays full of components made the learn and the teach look complicated, once the game got flowing it was smooth sailing. We both really enjoyed it. It was a tight race to the end game. Maybe two or three turns difference in who won. It’s a great addition to our Worker Placement games
1vs1 CHALLENGE 2022
While I allouded to the challenge not going well for me at the start of this post, it’s not that bad. I’m still massively down on wins, despite have some flashes of victories. But we’re still about the same in terms of points.
I’ve not really clawed back, but I’ve slowed the demise a fair bit.
Current score: (Me) 111 vs 135 (Girlfriend)
(Clarification: co-op wins count as a point to both)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Finally getting a campaign of SLEEPING GODS played. What a game.
- Winning a game of NEMESIS without my friends leaving me to die on the ship.
- Managing to have three games days/evenings with three different groups this month.
Always Play Blue 