It’s so hot that all of our board games are melting!
Just kidding. But damn, is it hot. And with the way sun hits our house in the afternoon and evening, we quite often feel like gaming but have to skip. So definitely less plays this July.
New games continue to be thin on the ground too as we don’t have much room still (despite selling a bunch more) and Kickstarters are getting delayed and delayed.
But, just because gaming slowed doesn’t mean it stopped. Let’s look at the last month.
KICKSTARTER ARRIVALS
FANTASYFORM is the latest arrival from Button Shy Games. It’s a fantasy themed reworking of SPACE SHIPPED and see’s the player taking on a rival Sorcerer. With not being able to back the bigger Kickstarter games like I used to, these small 18 card games are great, especially the solo ones.
The NANGA PARBAT expansions were a surprise back. While it’s not a game we play loads, it’s one we do enjoy, and at the low price the extra expansions for asking, it seemed silly to not add them to the game.
FORAGE is the final game of the trilogy that started with ORCHARD and then GROVE. This version looks a little more complex and I’m a sucker for completing sets. The downside is that my copy turned up with a single card missing, so now I need to wait a little longer to play.
NEW GAMES OF THE MONTH
FANTASYFORM is an 18 card game from BUtton Shy Games, and is a sort of remake of the designers earlier game, SPACESHIPPED. It sees you trying to defeat a rival elemental Scorcerer using the flutuating market of potions so that you can afford to power up. It’s a tough little game but I do like how you move the multi use cards though the different markets.
MERV: THE HEART OF THE SILK ROAD is a game that I tried to buy at a UKGE a few years back but it sold out pretty quick. However, a discounted copy turned up online a few weeks later so I grabbed it immediatly. Of course, as is the way, it then sat on our Shelf Of Shame for a good while. For some reason this month saw me go a bit crazy and select Merv as a new game to teach on the fly. And we’re so glad we did. Heavy, but no where near as complicated as I’d expected, it works really well at 2. I love the building of resource collection (as long as you protect the buildings) and our final score was pretty close despite different strategies.
While at a games afternoon with @boardgamemeeple we’d just finished an epic 3 hour play of MOSAIC. Gareth thought a small palete cleanser would be good and so he taught us SLIDE. It’s a game that sees players offering numbers and then choosing one to take back and put into their tablaeu. But this grid of 16 cards can only be manipulated like on of those sliding square puzzles you used to play as a kid. So it’s not only about getting the number you need (which effects scoring) but also how you’re able to place it.
The next game we played at Gareth’s really came out of left field. While perusing the shelves and wanting to pick out about 30 games to play, Gareth mentioned PAX PAMIR: SECOND EDITION to which I replied that I’d always wanted to try that. And that is how the four of us suddenly found ourselves learning a pretty complex game straight out of the manual. And, despite a few rules errors found after an RTFM video watch the next day, we mostly did alright. Overall I really enjoyed even our slightly broken playthrough and would be really keen to play again.
The gaming afternoon had turned into a gaming evening with a couple of epic plays, so we finished the visit with two short games. THAT’S NOT A HAT is one I’ve seen played but never tried. And while it looks like fun and has a COCKROACH POKER vibe of passing and bluffing, I struggle too much with the memory part that I’d never get very far. I can see the fun, and it’s a hoot watching others, but it’s not one for me.
TIGER & DRAGON is a game I’d never heard of but I’m very interested in after our play. Placing tiles and hoping no one cancels them out on a go round the table in a bid to be the first to get ride of all their tiles. It’s a pretty hard game to discuss and explain, but once we got going it actually plays very smoothly. I also liked the art and design of the game. It did feel a little luck based on what you were dealt (my first round saw me able to place two tiles, and I only scored in one of the six rounds) but it’s a pretty relaxed play, great to end the evening.
After a play of AGE OF COMICS, I decided on the fly to MINT CONDITION COMICS and learn it. It’s one of my first Kickstarters, so it’s been sat gathering dust for over four years now. I’d watched a few videos before and it seemed a little messy, but once we got going it all fell into place. I genuinly thought it would be a one play and out the door game, but we both really enjoyed the set collection aspect as you trade comics from originally created series and try to complete sets. It’s a nice small box with really cool comic art acorss the different inspired genres.
HIGHLIGHTS
- A bit of an epic games day with @boardgamemeeple
- Hitting 150 #alwaysplaybluereviews
- Stumbling across an Arkham Horror campaign for more than half price
- Having an epic solo fight in our Numenera campaign
Always Play Blue 