Good to hear! I just bought it a day or so ago.
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Yokohama & Yokohama Duel Deluxe arrived today. Frustratingly, they are SO CLOSE to fitting in the same box, but no. It’s slightly too much stuff.
It might work by throwing out some duplicate components, but think I’ll wait a few years to resort to such extremes.
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Well, Miniature Market already replied and refunded me for Guilds of Cadwallon. Thanks again to @bruitist for the heads up on that one!
In other news, not a recent purchase but after getting a delivery notification but no actual date or movement beyond “pending” I walked out of the house this morning to see a surprise box sitting on my steps.
Opened the box to see my Altar Quest pledge had arrived! 
Eager to get to the game, maybe next weekend when my son is over. I think I’ll be checking the fact because while early feedback is mostly positive (except some finding the core box enemies too easy), apparently the rule book is…rough. Fortunately there is a very active user on BGG that keeps up to date FAQ for the BlackList games (his Street Masters page is fantastic and very helpful).
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Really like Yokohama, picked up the KS deluxe copy while traveling for work a couple of years back. Was Sooooo close to backing the Duel KS but didn’t in the end. Have fun!
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Now it’s in my hands, there really isn’t much need for both deluxe versions. A majority of the deluxe components are duplicated, albeit in slightly different quantities. If the components from Yokohama Deluxe were used in Duel, the only thing you’d be short on would be the yellow crates, and a few buildings. Annoyingly close, but not worth the deluxe upgrade in itself.
The only reason Duel has so many crates is because they sit in front of you for the whole game for scoring purposes. You could either (a) use the cardboard tokens from the standard Duel once they’re fulfilled, or (b) use the Yokohama track board for scores so you could return the crates after fulfillment.
The buildings… just use the building cardboard tokens in the standard game. It’s the wooden resources and little meeples that make the big difference.
Other than that, the only missing piece from the Deluxe Duel is the one-piece board, which is a bit of pros and cons situation to me. The board does look nice and it is more convenient, but there is something quintessentially Yokohama in all those board tiles, even if they don’t serve a purpose in Duel. And at least you can arrange tiles however you like on the table, though it does look a bit messy with so much stuff dotted around. The board also means Duel Deluxe is in a box almost as large as standard Yokohama. Ugh!
If there was huge demand for Duel Deluxe, I would happily sell it and buy the standard version whenever that comes out. As it is, that doesn’t really seem worthwhile!
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The nice version of No Thanks that I ordered turned up today. The cards are larger than I’d realised when I’d decided to get myself a copy, but that’s fine by me. (The box doesn’t waste any space, and is actually smaller than than of some of the ugly versions with normal-sized cards.) I’m very happy with this little acquisition.
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The best part about ordering something that won’t ship immediately, is that you sometimes forget about it, and are pleasantly surprised when it finally arrives!
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I’ve never heard of the publisher or the game but what a great production! It appears to be a shelf-respecting size and that map is quite colorful; it gives a strong impression of the lay of the land which, based on that alone, must effect tactical decisions?
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The box is admirably tiny. The game has a chit-pull mechanism and has some interesting reviews on BGG. I like the fact that it’s focused on the 2nd day of Gettysburg, which is when the really interesting stuff happened. I guess it’s part of a series. I think the first day is covered by The Devil To Pay!, which is by the same designer, but a different publisher.
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I think this is a huge part of the success of boardgame Kickstarters.
And I agree, a fine map: I particularly like the distinction between “up one level” and “up one level, but it’s difficult”.
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This week on “pillbox Bought A Bunch Of Stuff And A Lot Of It Arrived While He Was Moving And Organizing His Collection” sees a number of online game store orders that arrived after waiting for the customary pre-order or back-order title to finally be available.
- Clinic: Deluxe Edition -
I thoroughly enjoyed Alban Viard’s Tramway Engineer’s Workbook as a game, as a conceit for a puzzle, and as a way of turning some classic game design patterns on their heads and producing a lovely solitaire experience you can fiddle with on the sofa or in bed. So when I finally caught up on SU&SD’s podcast where Matt discussed his impression of Clinic, it struck me as something I should at least check out.
- Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula -
This one appealed to me because of the “heavy” and puzzle-y description that featured dice drafting as a core mechanism. I honestly don’t think my partner will partake in this, but should COVID-19 ever subside, I know my former neighbor would be estatic to check this out as well. Having a solo mode, in the mean time, doesn’t hurt.
- Kingsburg (Second Edition) -
Classic euro-games that I never had a chance to check out? Yes, there are a lot of them. It seems the community is somewhat split on whether this is “an evergreen classic” or “outdated and a relic of history”. Honestly I don’t know. Z-Man productions are usually quite nice and this is no exception. It says it plays at 2 so it may have a chance of getting table time soon.
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong w/ Undercover Allies -
I’m not usually excited about hidden role games, especially those that require lying to your friends. This seems unique enough that it was on my want list, but it very rarely comes up on the secondary market; seemingly only doing so when it’s between print-runs and the seller thinks (quite rightly) that they can likely sell it for new-or-better prices. So I opted to pick it up retail when it hit a daily deal. The following week I found the expansion on sale as well and grabbed that while I was at it.
- Fort -
The day that this arrived from my pre-order finally fulfilling, my partner texted me and asked if I had heard about a game called “Fort”; she said she saw it when our FLGS posted about it on Facebook and thought it sounded fun. I grabbed it out of the shipping box and stashed it away as a Christmas gift. Why? I mean, clearly I pre-ordered it for myself, it seems disingenuous to then gift it to my partner… well, she just likes opening presents and I try to find as many different things to wrap as I can. So, I’ve had it in my house for about 2 months now, but I won’t get to play it until at least Christmas.
- Horrified -
Oddly, this was the game in that OGS order that was supposed to be the Christmas gift for my partner… so… it will be, even though I wished this past Halloween that I could have gotten it out to play with my partner (we ended up not playing anything thematic leading up to Halloween, sadly). Soon, this too will be wrapped and under a Christmas tree.
- Crazy Eggz -
A reimplementation of Dancing Eggs, a game I’ve heard discussed a number of times exclusively by Eric Summerer of the Dice Tower podcast. It probably won’t be around very long (I’ve already seen it hit some bargain bins), so I grabbed it up to have the chance to play it with my kids when they’re a bit older (in a few year’s time).
- Pocket Landship -
Ugh. This well-loved print-and-play game caught my eye when the published version went up for preorder. I had been intending to PnP my own copy but thought, “ooh, a lovely production quality game instead!” so I put it in my cart. I really shouldn’t have. The cardstock is awful; I literally could have made better cards myself. <sigh> I have played it once solo and… well, it’s quite nice if you can get past the high degree of input randomness (output randomness is extremely low, which is what makes it worthwhile in my book)
- Firefly Flux Upgrade Pack -
Flux… it’s not great. But Star Flux and Firefly Flux are two of our favorite; they’re not grand strategy games, but it’s a great lark for when your brain is fried from a long day and you just want something to do with your hands while having a quiet evening. This was a couple of bucks and got added into a larger order that already was on the free shipping threshold.
- Letter Tycoon -
Shortly after this arrived, I heard that BoardGameArena added this to their arsenal. Well… I guess I should have waited to try it there before shelling out money on a used copy. It wasn’t expensive and this has been on my want list for a long time. I still haven’t played it (either physically or via BGA), so I hope it lives up to my expectations of being an interesting layer of strategy atop a run-of-the-mill word game.
- Powergrid: The Robots -
My partner and I rather enjoy Power Grid, but it’s never been great as a 2-player game. I grabbed this hoping to make that viable, especially considering COVID. I’ve seen pretty mixed reception about the Robots, so it may have been a waste the ~$8 I spent on it… but it seemed worth the gamble.
- Carcassonne: Over Hill and Dale -
I like Carcassonne. I don’t love it, but I do like it. My neighbor has played a simplified version of Carcassonne with his ~7yo son, but I kept seeing a few Carc-variants that are well-regarded. Most of those variants are hard to come by, but Over Hill and Dale looks charming and has an interesting twist on the classic Carc ruleset
- Guilds of London -
I think I might be in danger of becoming a Tony Boydell fan. I think Snowdonia is equal parts genius and masterwork, so I decided to grab this on a deal-of-the-day offer to check it out.
- Sagrada: The Great Facades – Life -
This’ll be another small package for my partner to open on Christmas morning. We both enjoy Sagrada and she spent 15 or 20 seconds checking this out when we walked by it on the shelf at a Target (during COVID-19, a 20 second diversion in our shopping trip is dramatically divergent, especially with small children in tow)
- Mage Wars: (Arena) -
Like many others that I’ve seen comment on this game, I adore the idea of flipping through a “spellbook” looking for just the right Spell (card) for the situation at hand. And like many others, I’m really surprised this hasn’t been done more. I heard a rumor that Arcane Wonders may be looking to issue a slew of new products to “finish” the current Mage Wars Arena and Mage Wars Academy product lines and, potentially, judge the viability of a new line of Mage Wars products. So, in order to do some research into how much that might appeal to me, I grabbed a copy of Arena on the cheap from a BGG auction. I just wish the “spellbook” wasn’t cheap vinyl
- Blue Moon -
A small box with some big ideas and some grand fandom. It’s not a lot of content compared to everything that’s available, but it’s enough for my needs, unless it becomes an obsession (at which point I would feel compelled to buy all the things; I very much doubt it in this case)
- Noria -
After seeing some good things said about this both on this site and in some other places, I put a reasonable bid on a BGG auction and walked away with this (in same auction as Blue Moon, which brings the average shipping cost per game down considerably too). What a beautiful production with some really interesting ideas.
And that brings us up current through the end of September! We are quickly catching up on my backlog.
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I am super interested in the theme of this, but it looks muuuuch too heavy for me! Let us know how it goes 
(I am also considering Horrified as a present for my partner).
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Dancing eggs was the first game I played with my daughter. It’s essentially a kids party game, but a good laugh. Enjoy.
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In this week’s episode of “I just pulled a pillbox”
Polynesia - let’s see if Peer delivers on this one.
Agricola: Dulcinaria deck - just more Agricola cards.
Roads & Boats 20th Anniversary Edition - I bought it from a retailer, but will count the components… just to be sure.
Modern Art: the Card Game - will it retire my old edition of Masters Gallery? Depends if the CMON edition is more prettiful
No thanks! - Fantastic filler. How come I don’t own it until now? IDK!
Madeira - another off my wishlist
Little Town - love this game. So I’m grabbing it
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Component count is extremely high and it’s not thoroughly explained many places. Let me know if you have questions!
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I’m still waiting on the Madeira Kickstarter. 8 months late and counting. And boy, is the community a treat!
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Haven’t played it with the expansion, but I have played at base level it a couple of times and it was all right. Don’t know if I would buy it, but if on offer, I’d give it a go, it is quick enough for a night gathering with friends…
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That is not possible. All copies of Roads & Boats are owned by pillbox. You must have a counterfeit copy.
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Oh boy. I bought an overpriced OOP Grail…and I’ll let you know what it is when it arrives! 
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