What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

We played a few things this weekend including Maglev Metro, which I bought on a hunch.

That game is the gold standard in "overproduced". The board is dual-layer, except that there's a map on each side...quad-layered??? Player boards a dual layered. The track tiles are clear plastic so when you build track on top of existing track it makes a nice subway map looking path. The tiles that go in the board as station are crazy thick. The player tokens are metal-and-plastic subway trains. The first player token is a bit metal subway token. And the bad for the wooden passenger tokens (which can ride in the trains) is velvet.

I assumed this was a KS that blew through a bunch of stretch goals but nope, they just dialed this thing up for the hell of it.

(Naturally, on BGG, people are nevertheless bitching about components. "the colors of the tokens are too similar." someone suggested drawing a dot on the tokens of one of the similar colors and nope: "I don't want to mark up my game". They're wanting Bezier games to replace shit for them. I swear, these people.)

Anyway the game is interesting. It's very standard PUAD, bring the pink passenger to the pink station, build track, blah blah. But the neat thing is, when you deliver a passenger it goes into a space on your player board, which can open up more options or enable you to score more. What's more, some of the passengers are robots. Delivering them lets you power up your options to build more track, move further, carry more passengers, etc. But there aren't a ton of robots, and one action lets you move them around, so you can rejigger your player board to do whatever you need to do at the moment, and then readjust it to do something else. It's a real interesting system.

I have a copy of Maglev Metro I’m looking to move on if someone is interested.

Legomancer wrote: (Naturally, on BGG, people are nevertheless bitching about components. "the colors of the tokens are too similar." someone suggested drawing a dot on the tokens of one of the similar colors and nope: "I don't want to mark up my game". They're wanting Bezier games to replace shit for them. I swear, these people.)

My favorites are the ones complaining about components that they feel are "unnecessary", like the battle cards in Ankh. They decided to print 7 cards for each god with the god pictured on the backs of the cards. I thought it was just a nice touch, so they were easier to keep track of (e.g. you don't have to count out Plague of Locusts for 5 decks; just look at the backs of the cards) and just another immersion point (You're playing Amun, so you have Amun's cards.) But more than once there have been people on BGG screeching about how it's overkill and suggesting that something else could have been done to the game for that money or how it would have been drastically cheaper if they only had 5 decks of generic cards, rather than one for each god. I keep trying to point out that the printing cost for those cards is basically negligible to the total cost of the game, especially at the scale of the original order, but they don't want to talk numbers. They just want to engage in performative outrage for the attention.

Speaking of Ankh, we just played one of the best games I've had with it so far. We were 4, with Amun vs Hathor vs Set vs Bast (me.) It was the first time I'd played the cat goddess, but everyone was a veteran of the game. We played the Old Kingdom scenario and I have to say that I enjoy it much more than the base Middle Kingdom, since your god begins in a different region from your starting warrior and monument and there are no pyramids on the map at all, so the start is much more dynamic. We were using Nekhbet (can move to any point on the map), Pharaoh Mummy (if it dies, you get all your cards back), and Taweret (gets +2 for each god in the region) as Guardians, which was also a nice mix, as both of the latter were crucial in the third and fourth conflicts. All four of us were neck-and-neck all the way up the Devotion track until Set jumped out to a two or three point lead and Hathor had gotten ahead of Amun and I, so we ended up merging. Newsflash for those who still fight against the merge mechanic: if you plan for it, it's not a problem. I planned for it in the third conflict and Amun lost a grand total of 1 Devotion when we merged.

With a ton of monuments in play, all of us were swimming in followers and, thus, Plague of Locusts was used frequently. Hathor took advantage of her resummoning power whenever she lost Taweret to a Plague, though, putting her right back in the region she'd just been removed from. The Pharaoh Mummy meant that all of us could play cards with abandon, which is really useful when playing Amun (can play two cards in one fight each conflict.) In the fourth conflict, Hathor was one point away from winning, Set was two points, and Amun-Bast was three points away. In the sixth region of the conflict, Amun-Bast hadn't been able to get any figures into it, so it came down Hathor and Set, who both played Build Monument, trying to get a majority, but Set had two majorities, which are resolved in reverse Devotion order, and won. An incredibly tight game.

I like Bast's ability and it did come in handy in a couple spots, but it was easy to lose her cats in the proliferation of figures on the board (I have the plastic monuments, so they can disappear behind temples and pyramids pretty easily.) It was also Hathor who kept checking my cats and I did get her with the * cat a couple times, but since she can summon whenever she sacs followers, it wasn't really an issue for her. So, not sure how I feel about Bast just yet. There are certainly gods that I would rank ahead of her, at the moment.

In preparation for my upcoming Game Day, I'm playing a few games to familiarize myself with them.

I did end up playing Helionox. It's a deck builder that doesn't overstay its welcome, but also gives you the inclination that you wished it was longer to do more stuff. Pretty straightforward, but it won't be on the pile, as it's a 4 player game and with the number of people coming over (at least 5), it's a nonstarter.

Next, I finally broke down, and sprained many muscles, with Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Rise & Fall of Anvalor. The frikkin box was heavy, and after punching out 23 separate slats of counters, it was ready to play. Again, it's a 4 player game, so this was more for me to get a feel of it. It's... okay. Not great, not bad. Your turn consists of doing one thing out of a short set of options. The bad guys don't come out until A) you buy a non-faction building or you completely fill in the board, in which an Onslaught occurs. The board changes multiple times, due to the attacks from Chaos. Don't become emotionally attached to anything in the game, for it will be mangled, stomped, spindled, and pissed upon.

Lastly, I feel that I am becoming addicted to Ogre. I've finally gotten around and cracked open several of the Pocket Games of the 80s reprints. One of which was Ogre and several expansions. This game is a lovely past-time during lunch. Simple, straightforward. I'm not a fanboy, per se, but it may go in that direction when I actually start playing GEV and the others.

One thing's for certain. The next Game Day, I'm pulling out CAR WARS. We'll play that and The Hunt (though I suspect the Hunt will be quicker).

ICECOOL is the boys' latest gaming fascination. It's absolutely pleasant. The penguins balancing on hemispheres are great and allow for a lot of shots and jumps more traditional figures don't allow, the detailed illustrations of the penguin school are delightful, and I enjoy the shifting roles of racing to pick up fish and catching the other players. Like all the best dexterity games, tremendous success is just as fun as abysmal failure.

It's an apropos game, as the publishers just yesterday launched their Kickstarter for Iron Forest. You're not running penguins around a school anymore but battling mechs. The big innovation appears to be a two-level board but also some rules bulk for all the mech battling. I'm not terribly interested as it looks to fit in the middle ground between the simplicity of ICECOOL and the extensive grit of SEAL Team Flix, but maybe it'll interest someone else here.

we really enjoy ICECOOL. ICECOOL2 is an okay add on, in that more options are nice. but inevitably, someone wants to combine everything together to make a massive map/tons of people. and since I usually play this with kids, when it slows down too much they get distracted easily. Still, doing a race can be a nice change of pace.

just unboxed and played the first game of Aeon's End Legacy of Gravehold. its cool! lots of writing on stuff etc etc at the beginning, but presumably that will calm down a little after the first game. im curious about where the narrative goes, and there is truly a ton of text here to read through. mainly its just more Aeon's End... im excited to see what bonkers Nameless are in here because ive heard theres some crazy stuff.

Also played a regular game of Aeons End jade night with some friends. We played vs the Magus of Cloaks, who reduces incoming damage by the number of Nemesis turns in his player mat (and has a minimum of two tokens). The market and mages we rolled were severely lacking in large damage numbers, and it was a STRUGGLE. We largely failed to damage the boss at any point. We almost won by making it through the whole Nemesis deck, but Gravehold died with a single card left. I think it was the most pear shaped game of AE I've had in recent memory.

Got a package from Gale Force 9 the other day with their two new titles designed with Lynnvander. Level 20 (a Pathfinder title) and Don’t Blonk (a Doctor Who title). I opened the box and was instantly delighted because these are very much in the vein of FFG’s Silver Line games. Small boxes, small scope, no plastics, 20-30 minute playtimes, low price points.

Both games are fun. They will not set your world on fire but they are enjoyable and easy to play. Level 20 had a great concept- a 19th level fighter is slumming around in a Kobold Warren to get the last few XP needed to hit 20. The Kobolds have to run from the fighter (which is automated) and try to embarrass them enough to make them leave. They slip on moss, get clobbered by stalactites, or eat spoiled food you leave It is not co op. It’s a last Kobold standing thing.

Don’t Blink is actually kind of similar but it usues a modular board and a kind of double bluff, secret card play. The 11th Doctor and, uh, all of his companions run around a spaceship infested with Weeping Angels looking for parts to fix the Tardis. It’s an all versus one thing. The angel player has 8 angels but only 4 a turn are active, secretly chosen by cards. So there’s some solid tension running around them and trying to, yes, avoid looking at them. But- the Doctor and co. Have Blink or Don’t Blink cards they assign to each so like with the angels, you may actually be OK if you wind up facing a real angel. It’s pretty near.

Both are squarely in the 20-30 minute frame which is just right.. I think both are due in April.

In other news, hitting Talisman hard these days. It’s kind of all I want to play. Although I did make some time with Rise of Ix, it’s great. I really like the new planet and the changes to the shipping. There’s just a little more to do and more cards to do it with, and it feels like the deck building is slightly stronger overall. The dreadnoughts are game changer- they let you bring big guns to the conflicts and you use them to take over key spots so you earn the money when someone places there. New houses are good. All in all a great expansion to a great game.

Got in a few rounds of Mini Rogue with a couple of expansions- that game is just amazing. Every time I play it Income away delighted and excited about it.

Really out here gaming the last week.

Satuday 3p tts John Company
Sunday and Monday solo Arkham
Wednesday 2p tts Imperial Struggle
Thursday Set up Core Space: The Game In and Of Itself
Today 2p tts Arkham (NEW CAMPAIGN!)
Tonight solo Core Space (first play)

Online asynch:
Food Chain Magnate
Gaia Project
Oath

Even though the heavy ones have really taxed me and left me wondering about my capabilities it has been a blast. Still an extremely good hobby imo.

Michael Barnes wrote: and Don’t Blonk (a Doctor Who title).

Don't Blonk sounds more interesting than what you described.

But I gotta blonk!!!!!

I played 4 games of Aeons End today. It's just a really great game. 1 Legacy, 3 regular. We played vs the Burning Kor nemesis, who adds a little map that you play a tower defense game on and move your mages and minions around on. Really fun.

I've been having a blast lately. Let me share some thoughts.

First, I played Tresham's Civilization again. I really believe this is one of the best games ever made, it's just brillant. It has that extremely rare quality where all the mechanics are great. There's no filler "well, this is just decent", no. Everything's great and fun. What's more impressive is that it's super accessible, too. Sure, it's long, but it's not difficult to play, not overly nasty and you won't get knocked out for a silly gotcha. It's a game I would be happy to play with anybody.

Suspects is fun and very well-crafted. We have completed two of the three scenarios and it's quite close to being a light version of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. It takes half the time (90 minutes instead of 3 hours), requires no extensive note-keeping and it's not as hard. So far I like it though the mysteries aren't very mysterious. I think that's what's missing. I hope to write about this one soon.

Cosmic Encounter. This is still amazing. Last game we had two new players and we all moved to four colonies. It was my turn as the Sorcerer and I could guarantee a win. However, winning with just another player is better than winning with four so I told my new opponent to play a negotiation so we would both win. He tried to "get" me with an attack card, I switched them and beat him. I'm sorry, I gave you the chance! If you had only trusted on Mr Backstabby man...

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Jack the Ripper: I love the SHCD series but I must admit this box is iffy. I don't think we've gotten a positive score in any of its cases. And while it was our fault in at least two, I think some of them are just woefully underwritten. You have amazing setups but some details are just handwaved away instead of expounded on. Quite a shame.