End of May update. Was hoping to get one more thing played tonight, but opted to spend time with my wife instead.
First time to the table (goal is 1 per month):
Jan - Thunder Road: Vendetta
Feb - Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Dark Souls: the Card Game
Mar - Castle Panic
Apr - Unmatched Adventures: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
May - Moon Colony Bloodbath
Games to replay (twice) from 2025 challenge: The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Hot Streak Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Jack the Ripper and West End Adventures
Fortune and Glory
Courtisans
DC Super Heroes United: Batman Hush
Legacy of Yu Metal Gear Solid: the Board Game
Unmatched: The Witcher - Realms Fall
Unmatched: The Witcher - Steel and Silver
Fall of Rome
So that is another new game and three plays of last year’s new games. Doing pretty good!
May felt like a particularly busy month, but I guess I did manage to get a fair number of games in… the two games of Dune Imperium were back to back, but I need to play it again sometime soon so I can compare Uprising to the Original more thoroughly. Regardless, neat game.
And of course the Twilight Imperium game was a joy. Just a pleasure every time I get it on the table.
Also managed to restart the Battletech campaign, with another game scheduled for June already!
In other news, managed to play a Brass Birmingham and a classic Dune game, both exceptional board games that I’m happy any time they hit the table.
No new games into the collection, and no playing of the games I haven’t played yet from the collection this month. I know I have a few new games on the way (Container is probably the one I’m most excited about), but finances have been tight so not spending nearly as much on recreation these days.
Have a fantastic June of gaming, everyone! I believe in all of you!
Half way through this year’s challenge - a different board game played every weekend - and still going strong with plenty of options left for the next six months.
2026 Q1 Games
Jan 2nd - 4th: Brass: Birmingham
Jan 9th - 11th: 7 Wonders Duel
Jan 16th - 18th: Glass Road
Jan 23rd - 25th: Railroad Ink
Jan 30th - Feb 1st: Horrified
Feb 6th - 8th: Hispania
Feb 13th - 15th: Eleven: Football Manager Board Game
I usually get something big and unplayed to the table on my birthday, and I’m thinking I’m going to go with Cthulhu Wars this year. Looks like ridiculous fun.
First time to the table (goal is 1 per month):
Jan - Thunder Road: Vendetta
Feb - Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Dark Souls: the Card Game
Mar - Castle Panic
Apr - Unmatched Adventures: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
May - Moon Colony Bloodbath
Jun - Dracula vs Van Helsing, Jekyll & Hyde vs Scotland Yard
Games to replay (twice) from 2025 challenge: The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Hot Streak Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Jack the Ripper and West End Adventures
Fortune and Glory
Courtisans
DC Super Heroes United: Batman Hush
Legacy of Yu Metal Gear Solid: the Board Game
Unmatched: The Witcher - Realms Fall
Unmatched: The Witcher - Steel and Silver
Fall of Rome
No replays for the month, but two new games played! That’s 8 for the year going into month 7, which gives me a buffer zone. If I get to play more Unmatched with my new friend, then I should be able to get the Witcher sets replayed.
I almost managed to get Dune War for Arrakis on the table, but my noble opponent decided he wanted to play War for the Ring instead. Curses!.. actually, no curses, it was great, and represents the first time I’ve ever won (although the final step to Mount Doom… literally the last step… was a 50/50 bag pull that happened to come out in my favour… which is thematically perfect. I think it’s actually canonically what happens… Frodo does succumb to the Ring at the final hurdle, and Gollum was there. So kinda a win for the Forces of Light, really).
ANYway. A lot of plays of Innovation and of Race for the Galaxy on BGA, but not a lot of in-house playing of games. A few… I managed to get a game of Destinies on the table for the first time in yonks, and a bunch of games of The Gang, which continues to be truly marvellous.
I’ve also had to rotate a few games out of my collection (the one I am most sad about is Zombie '15, which is a banger of a zombie horde game that’s so much better than Zombicide in every possible way… but I still can’t ever get to the table. Farewell, sweet prince…) so I could adopt a few strays from a buddy who is shrinking his collection. They go in the following list, though…
Two gamers traded in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not adopt them all
But being one gamer, long I stood
And stared at his shelf for as long as I could
From Le Havre through to Perdition’s Mouth…
Seriously, he has a great collection. I wanted to adopt both of the COINs he was getting ride of (Cuba Libre and the one set in Chile… or Venezula?..), but much like him, I have nobody to play them against except him, and we usually play other fare when we gather.
Ah well.
Happy Canada Day, everyone! May your July be full of friends, games, and comfortable weather!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game
6
[13/10]
It’s a Wonderful World
1
[12/10]
Shred of Redemption
1
[11/10]
Turing Machine
1
[7/10]
20 Strong: Too Many Bones
1
[5/10]
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
-
[5/10]
PBF games
Beacon Patrol
-
[4/10]
Motor City
2
[4/10]
Race to the Raft
1
[4/10]
Small Fjords
4
[4/10]
Tag Team
-
[4/10]
Going along nicely. Still not loving 20 Strong: Too Many Bones, I may send it on its way at the August flea market. In contrast, Small Fjords was an instant success and has jumped into the list. It’s rather good for a quick lunchtime session.
Monthly Mini Challenge
June Mini Challenge: Replay the 18 mini challenge games
July Mini Challenge: Forum Fun
By my count, there are ten forum members undertaking a challenge in this topic (plus me). This month, I’m aiming to play a game from everyone else’s list.
Seven months into this year’s challenge - a different board game played every weekend - and all still going well despite a busier workload as usual in the summer.
2026 Q1 Games
Jan 2nd - 4th: Brass: Birmingham
Jan 9th - 11th: 7 Wonders Duel
Jan 16th - 18th: Glass Road
Jan 23rd - 25th: Railroad Ink
Jan 30th - Feb 1st: Horrified
Feb 6th - 8th: Hispania
Feb 13th - 15th: Eleven: Football Manager Board Game
First time to the table (goal is 1 per month):
Jan - Thunder Road: Vendetta
Feb - Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Dark Souls: the Card Game
Mar - Castle Panic
Apr - Unmatched Adventures: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
May - Moon Colony Bloodbath
Jun - Dracula vs Van Helsing, Jekyll & Hyde vs Scotland Yard
Jul - Agent Avenue
Games to replay (twice) from 2025 challenge: The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Hot Streak Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Jack the Ripper and West End Adventures
Fortune and Glory
Courtisans
DC Super Heroes United: Batman Hush
Legacy of Yu - 1/2 Metal Gear Solid: the Board Game
Unmatched: The Witcher - Realms Fall
Unmatched: The Witcher - Steel and Silver
Fall of Rome
Just three more games and I have met my goal for getting unplayed games to the table. Only managed one replay. Was hoping to finish it off with a second play last night, but sleep was the better option.
Well, another game of TI4 under my belt. Did better than last time, which was kinda nice, but the game was great. 4 new-ish players, 1 with a medium amount of experience, and me. And one of the new players won! Very satisfying.
The Battletech: Scouring Sands continues to be exceptional. I met the designer (Josh Derksen) by sheer coincidence: he happened to be in a game store Nick (my BT buddy) and I were visiting. He’s a really nice guy, we had a brief chat about the game he designed, and I mentioned that I hate the company he works for but I love his designs so much I had to start reassessing my dislike of his parent company.
“Oh, I quit them a little while ago.”
This made me very happy. I have met the owner and lead designer of his old company, a man that I would describe as “Such a refreshing change to meet a man who has already reached their full potential.”
That made Josh laugh. But seriously, Josh’s designs are great, and it was lovely to meet him. I wish him every success.
Other than that, a relatively slow month for in-person games. I’ve played about a dozen more games of Innovation and Race for the Galaxy, but as for actually on the tabletop… a couple games of Star Wars Armada which continues to be great (despite its cancellation), but that’s about it. Hopefully August will be better!
Bought and played Magical Athletes and… okay, fine, I get it. It’s not Hot Streak, but it’s not bad at all. I would even say it’s pretty good? It’s pretty good.
Almost got Green Team Wins on the table at the Goodbye Party for my partner at her old accounting firm. She’s now fully self-employed, and we are both hopeful that this will make her happier and healthier because the office (where I still work) is a bit on the toxic side. Just the owner. She’s extremely knowledgeable and capable as an accountant, but as a manager and people-person? Yeah, very, very bad. Hopefully I won’t have to be there too much longer… but the way book sales are going… anyway! Rambling. New games!
Flip 7 and Flip 7 waV both come in awful boxes. Gotta figure out a better solution to that. Oh! I also picked up the new 8 player expansion for The Gang, which I thought came with the Jokers expansion, but does not. I ordered the Deluxe Edition, which does. Which is good, because I don’t think I have 8 people over for games very often these days… I’m not even positive I own 8 gaming chairs any more.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game
-
[13/10]
It’s a Wonderful World
-
[12/10]
Shred of Redemption
-
[11/10]
Turing Machine
-
[7/10]
Race to the Raft
2
[6/10]
20 Strong: Too Many Bones
-
[5/10]
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
-
[5/10]
PBF games
Illiterati
2
[5/10]
Beacon Patrol
-
[4/10]
Motor City
-
[4/10]
Small Fjords
-
[4/10]
Tag Team
-
[4/10]
Gentle progress. 20 Strong: Too Many Bones will remain stuck on 5 plays for eternity sent on it’s way at the flea market.
Monthly Mini Challenge
July Mini Challenge: Play a game from everyone’s challenge lists
Successfully completed, most enjoyable, and reminded me how good some old favourites are
Off the shelf of opportunity . Lost quite badly as in the first round I forget you don’t need to follow suit
Haven’t played since 2023
Claiming bonus points, as I played with Cole Wehrle
First time with two players; unsurprisingly much better at two than solo
Off the shelf of opportunity . Looking forward to the campaign now the first learning game is out of the way.
Need to play this more frequently
Discovered the solo mode is fantastic! Really makes for a different experience, as some of the people I’ve played with have such AP that by the time my turn comes around I’ve forgotten what I was doing.
El Paso off the shelf of opportunity . (Technically played in August, but hopefully no one will quibble.)
Architects of the West Kingdom, good to have it back in action after somehow not playing since 2022.
Always a fun experience.
August Mini Challenge: Learn Mahjong and play at least 5 games
Not much happened since my previous report
Except that I built my own challenge tracker into my collection tracking application.
(As can be seen with Mistborn I have yet to add a feature that distinguishes solo plays from others so I have to track the plays that qualify manually)
sent on it’s way at the flea market.
. Lost quite badly as in the first round I forget you don’t need to follow suit 
