We’re now heading in the second half of 2022, and with our 10×10 behind us, it’s opened us up to playing a whole mix of games, old and new.
Our main focus will be completing the 52×1 challenge. We use this one to make sure we average at least one new game a week from our Shelf Of Shame.
NEW GAMES OF THE MONTH
We were lucky enought to have three decenct sized Kickstarters arrive this month, and we’re getting much better at playing these immediatly, so as they don’t even get a chance to gather dust on the shelves.
First up is SO, YOU’VE BEEN EATEN. This was backed when we were jumping on 2-player only games. It seems like a lot of fun (the humour is threaded through the manual, as well as the Kickstarter campaign itself). And it was designed by Scott Almes of Tiny Epic fame, so that was a big part of the draw too. We’ve only played once so far, and I’m a bit lukewarm to it. The manual itself, while not decipherable, wasn’t done well enough to fill me with confidence that I knew what I was doing. From what I’ve read, the game takes a few plays to find the best tactics for either side. It’s one of the symptoms from asymmetrical games; you have to learn two games at once.
The next new game was the next Kickstarter arrival. This time it was TRANSMISSIONS, a family friendly gateway game with absolutely beautiful art. Using cards from their hands, players move one of four super cute robots around a board and carry out the action in the area they land in. There are a few ways to score point in this rondel game, so it’s all about picking what works best for you. My only critisim after one play is that I felt the end game condition came round too soon. I was enjoying my time and then an item pile ran out and that was pretty much it. But really fun and look forward to playing again.
The final Kickstarter game on this list that arrived in July is slowly becoming an addiction. While we make sure to play new games quickly now, whether crowdfunded or retail, it’s not often we play a new game several times in a row out of shrink. I think LOST RUINS OF ARNAK was the last time that happened. But MARVEL DICE THRONE has hit the table six times in two weeks. And two of those plays were back-to-back. It has the double whammy of being a great dice battling game and wrapped up in a Marvel theme. We both really, really like this. And if you put a gun to my head for a critisim? It would only be that I want more Marvel characters. Please.
We also finally got VOYAGES played. This was a print and play Kickstarter that we got access to at the end of 2021, but hadn’t gotten round to playing yet. Despite our 2022 addiction to Roll ‘n’ Writes. And what a brilliant game it is. Using two dice to move your ship around the map, and the third to carry out duties, it’s all about working towards Stars that are given as rewards. The stars are mainly used to trigger end game, then points are counted up. We’ve only played map 1 so far, and it’s great as is. But the Kickstarter has given us four more maps to try. For £4, it was a great deal, and I didn’t hesitate to back AQUAMARINE, their followup whose campaign ended yesterday.
Later in the month we got a few UKGE purchases learnt. NANGA PARBAT is a 2-player only game that I’ve heard a lot about, and it doesn’t disappoint. Players take an animal, replace it with a hiker, and try to control areas with tent and collect the most animails for scroring. It’s one of those games that has a simple, quick turn, but benifits from knowing what you’ll need and watching what your opponent is doing so that you don’t gift anything to them. And it has a nice small footprint.
I missed out on playing BANG! THE DICE GAME at UKGE as I’d wandered off for an hour to browse the stalls. So when we had a family gettogether, I got to give it a spin. I’ve played twice so far. I much more enjoyed the six player session. You need to be over five as a player count to give the Sherriff back up, and I think these makes a good difference. My plays at four felt a little one sided as the one good player is alone and an immediate target. But, like other dice rollers ZOMBIE DICE and KING OF TOKYO, it has that great tension from what the person rolls, and what they finally decide to stick with.
And finally, we got ZOMBIE KITTENS to the table this weekend. I’ve always been a fan of the original game, and will openly admit that it sits in my top 10 thanks to the fun my various groups have had with it. But after some lackluster expansions, and a little product milking (the recent 2-player only and the all in boxes didn’t seem necessary) I’m finding it hard to stick up for the now almost classic card game. And this Zombie twist on the gameplay doesn’t do much to help me out. Like the expansions before, there are some nice cards in there, but over all the ‘returning from the dead gimmick’ is a bit dead on arrival. I did like that dead players can still play certain cards and interfere with the game, and perhaps that’s all it should have been. But I’m strongly becoming a base game purist now. This probably will only be kept on the shelf as part of the collection now.
And that’s all that is new for July. We have four more games to play now to complete the challange, and plenty to chose from. In fact, maybe we have too many to choose from. Oh, dear God!
1vs1 CHALLENGE 2022
Well, after a downward spiral of defeat, something weird has happened. Maybe its the crossing of the halfway point. Maybe it’s because we’ve cleared those pesky 10×10 games. Who knows. But I’m beginning a fight back. MARVEL DICE THRONE seems to be helping as I haven’t lost a game (yet).
It probably won’t last, but I managed to cut the lead from 27 to 18 in these last two weeks. Maybe I’m not out of the fight yet. Stay tuned.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Starting a new D&D campaign, this time as a player.
- Falling off the Kickstarter wagon. Again.
- Relearning GREAT WESTERN TRAIL and loving it.
- MARVEL DICE THRONE coming into my life. Seriously, it’s top 10 contender.
- Getting a personal best 53 in a game of ORCHARD.
- Finally constructing my girlfriend’s THE ISLE OF CATS wooden insert.
Always Play Blue 