This month we got to enjoy our new favourite gaming event, the 24 Board Game Marathon, which you can read about in more detail here. We also popped a little way north to enjoy our second annual MollyCon, an Instagram gamer meetup organised by Craig of @getintogames which was, once again, a lot of fun. Following that with a day with family (all gamers), and we’ve ended up with a lot of games played this last 31 days.
KICKSTARTER ARRIVALS
Due to that mix of me backing less crowdfunded games and outstanding campaigns being repeatedly delayed, the arrival of any Kickstarter or Gamefound games has mostly dried up.
Yet I have so many gems on the horizon, with UNCONSIOUS MIND, ANDROMEDAS EDGE, THE ELDER SCROLLS: BOTSE, PLANET UNKNOWN, and STAR REALMS: RISE OF THE EMPIRE all being pushed closer and closer towards Christmas. The silver lining to this is that it’s giving me more time to sell unwanted games and make the necessary space. And having less new arrivals means we’ve been able to attend our Shelf Of Shame a little better. Of course, the downside of this is that it will be a very packed time right at the end of 2024. Fun?
NEW GAMES OF THE MONTH
Due to the mix of family visits, the 24 Hour Board Game Marathon, and an Instagram gamer meetup, we ended up playing quite a few new games during August, a big chunk of them being party games. So buckle up for a longer than usual list of games we learnt during August 2024.
SO CLOVER! is a game where you’re linking clue words and then hoping your teammates can guess what you mean. Which always goes well, right. It’s one of those word games, a little like CODENAMES, where links between words seem obvious to you, but the other players just don’t think the same way. It’s quite interesting, but there can be some downtime while you’re all coming up with your words, and we messed up our first attempt with the set up, but it’s fun enough that I’d play again.
WITS & WAGERS is one I’ve wanted to try since seeing an actual play. Players secretly write down an answer to a question (always number based) and then they are all revealed and placed in assending order. Now you all have to bet (using your winnings) on what is the correct answer. I do love games like this because they are very inclusive. You don’t have to know certain facts; you just have to have a pretty good idea who else does. And the part of using your previous winnings to bet means that it’s not even the right answers that’ll win you the game, but how well you risk each turn. I won this game by splitting almost everything I had and got the best return on the final question.
KILL DOCTOR LUCKY looked like a game from the 90’s and I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it at first. Essentially it’s Cluedo, but the more aggresive prequel. Players are moving around a mansion trying to kill their host (the afore mentioned Doctor Lucky), but you need to avoid anyone seeing you. So line of sight between rooms is important. Then there’s the leveling up of your attack strength mixed with weapons. So holding back isn’t an option, because there is a very slim chance that you’re first couple of attacks will be good enough. Actually turned out to be quite fun
ECOSYSTEM gave me FOREST SHUFFLE vibes when I first saw it, but it’s actually a pass and draft game akin to something like SUSHI GO! While a learning game comes with little in the way of strategy, I think that once you know the different scoring rules for the flora and fauna, you can get quite thinky with your drafting.
WEREWORDS is a sort of spin on ONE NIGHT WEREWOLF, but instead of trying to kill villagers, you’re guessing a word. I was the Sear for this game which meant I knew the word, but had to be careful not to alert the Werefolf to that fact or I’d become a target. The three of us asked simple yes/no and true/false type questions to the Major in the hope of guessing the word. Of course this was scuppered by our mayor being the Werewolf. It’s pretty good, but loses the infighting and trust issues of ONE NIGHT WEREWOLF and BLOOD ON THE CLOCKTOWER type hidden role games.
SUBASTRAL looked like a card drafting game that I’m not normally a fan of, but I’m glad we tried it as I really enjoyed it. Each turn you have a choice of taking cards to your hand or playing them in front of you, but the choice is based on where you place you card in the row. It’s quite clever, and worked well at four because you’d not always be able to get what you wanted with three other player between your turns.
GLEN MORE II: CHRONICLES is a game I know little about, wouldn’t have immediately jumped at the chance to play, and probably would never own. But after this play, it’s absolutely one I’d play if anyone was setting up a game. A rondel action mechanic with drafting tiles to your tableau is the basics, but it has many more layers to it than that. It definitely ended up being one of my favourite plays of the marathon.
NUNATAK: TEMPLE OF ICE was the last game I played at the Marathion, and it was another surprise. On the surface it looks like a lightweight family game. But the placement of your ice blocks based on the limited card selection means it gets quite thinky. And your placement choice gives you cards towards end game scoring which is something I love in games. Really enjoyed it and would happily play again
LACUNA was my one and only purchase at the marathon. It’s a game I’ve had a slight interest in for a while, and seeing the last copy left on the shelf at 6am after being awake for over 24 hours meant I have almost no memory of the actual transaction, so it’s not my fault. The game is beautiful and simple in it’s rules with two stages to the actual gameplay. Place your pieces to claim flowers is part one. After all the pieces are down, it’s all about who’s pieces are closest to the remaining flowers. With seven of each of the seven flowers, you just need four to win which is where the light tactics come in. It’s a nice filler game.
SMITTEN was a small 18 card game released by Stonemaier games in 2022. It’s solo or co-op and has the player(s) building two idenetical pictures (3×3 grid of cards). But each card has an instruction on it, and when placing a card you have to follow these rules. This can lead to a loss. It has a BANDIDO feel of being a game that can last a few minuutes with a win, or be over in two turns with a loss. It’s alright, but not one of my favourite 18 card games.
A visit to my Friday game group sdaw me try the latest in the Next Station series; NEXT STATION: PARIS. I really enjoy London, and thought the small changes in Tokyo made it interesting enough. Paris is the same, with a few rules tweaks with the large central station, some bridge sopaces allowing lines to cross ocver, and a card that allows you to add an extra line on that turn. It’s pretty good, and I’d be happy to play any of thew three, though I do find that gameplay and scoring are just a lot easier on BGA as apposed to on paper.
TINDERBLOX SUNSET is sequal-ish game to the original TINDERBLOX, which is the only dexterity game I really enjy. There isn’t much different in this one except that thge card requirements are a little tougher.
After a 5-player game of PLANET UNKNOWN to open our day at MollyCon, we wandered over and saw RETURN TO DARK TOWER set up on a table with players needed. Joined by the event organise @getintogames, we sat down and learnt the game. It’s kind of like Pandemic on steroids in that it’s a cooip game with skulls being the equivelent of virus cubes. But it adds missions and monsters. And it’s just one of the best looking games I’ve ever playd, oth from art and production. Sure, the tower and the app make it feel a little gimiky, but iot all works for the game and is something that actually helps keep players engaged. There wasn’t a tower turn where we weren’t all watching the centrepiece with nervous eyes.
Due to a challenge on my baord game calander, I was on the lookout to have a 7+ player game of something, and MollyCon seemed like the place to acciomplish it. The second attempt (after trying to drum up a 7-player game of SCYTHE that ended at just 4) was UM, ACTUALLY . . . a party ganme based on the Dropout gamshow. I was immediatly drawn to it’s premise (geeky statements are made but there is a factual inacuracy in it. first player to call it out gets the point) but the gameplay itself was a bit of a mess. This mostyl came down to someplayers stepping away as they felt they couldn’t answer a single one, and the questions themselves are very much ‘you know it or you don’t’ and it mostly ended up with players just calling out variations until someone got close. Proabbly not one I’d play again.
Our third, and only successful, attempt at a 7-player game was QUICK STOP. This is a party game that can, and did, fall into hilarious chaos. Players have a hand of cards with letters on them. A statement is read out and you have to play a letter down that is the first letter of a word you call out that can go with that statement. First three cards down clear the statemnt and it’s onto the next. It has an ANOMIA feel to it, especially as cards go flying around the tale and quiet ‘clean’ words slowly evolve into shouted ‘post watershed’ words. And while the final few rounds where mostly just shouts of the filthiest words, everyone at the table was laughing, and that’s what games are good for.
The day after MollyCon we visited family. Our first game was THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY from the Exploding Kittens collection of party games. They are a real yay or nay company, but this one falls fully into yay. Players are given a number between 1-10. a player reads a statement and then the players have to come up with something that fits that statement, but in line with their number. So if the statement is “a bad start to the day”, 1 could be “I wake up 2 minutes late”, while 10 is that “aliens turned up, abduct everyone you love, and the blow up half the world”. The activer player then has to call out each player in assending order. It was a lot of fun, with the extremes of 1 and 10 bringing the most laughs. The challenge comes from the centtrral numbers of 4-6 with players idea of a 5 being wildly different.
SOUNDS FISHY was the next party game we played and i didn’t find it as good. PLayers are handed out a cardbaord fish that is either red or blue. An active player reaqds a statemnt but on the back of the card is the answer. The red players must come up with a convincing lie while the blue player uses the statement on the card. Players then say thier answer to the question and the active player must guess who is lying and who is telling the truth. It was . . . alright. But I think that playing it after THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY didn’t help as that does a similar thing but better.
We’ve had TINY EPIC PIRATES for about 3 years and I decided it was about time we learnt it. Of course, being a Tiny Epic game meant that the manual would be a challenge, so our first play was a little messy. But there’s potential as players race around the map, do anything they can to make gold which they then bury. All the while a Navy ship skulks around and battles them. It has issues (combat is a little meh, the sails on the minuture ships are a pain, and the random map tile layout can make or break the game) but it’s standard Tiny Epic fare and turns are pretty quick once you have the icons and action down. Definitly want to try again and with more than two.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Our second 24hr Board Game Marathon
- Appearing on episode 55 of the ‘I’m Having My One’ podcast
- Our second MollyCon hang out with a bunch of awesome Instagram gamers
- Two of the best D&D sessions of our campaign so far
- Finally teaching a friend her copy of JAWS after agreeing to it over a year ago.
Always Play Blue 