Still waiting for Ginkopolis preorders to go up on any of the OGS I use… hopefully soon!
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The publisher (Pearl Games) says Ginkgopolis should be getting to US retailers in February (and I assume Canada around the same time). It’s possible they haven’t nailed the MSRP yet which is why my FLGS is listing the game but $0/sold out for now.
This makes me think they’re just finishing production and final assembly now and shipping will be end of December from the factory.
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Today’s haul:
I’ve punched and sorted Arnak, and it is going to take home a bunch of BG art awards this year, of that I have no doubt. The game is absolutely lavish with its treatment of the artwork, with dozens of gorgeous illustrations front and center. The handful of custom components is the icing on the cake. The fact that it’s got my preferred storage solution (read: none) is the cherry on top. What was I eating again?
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Picked up a few games recently. Part of my Christmas present to myself:
Raiders of Scythia, I’ve not played any of Shem Phillips’ other games but this one appealed to me. I’m a sucker for Scythians (which was no doubt part of it) but it looked interesting, building up a crew to raid various nations and settlements. I’ve already run through a solo game, which was decent. I’m not sure the solo mode in it is amazing, but I think it’ll be a winner based just on that, so good sign.
Anomia, Quinn’s review of this one convinced me I need it in my life and it was pretty cheap. Can’t wait to get it to the table.
Babylonia, I’ve been really appreciating some of Reiner Knizia’s games lately, so I was thrilled to pick this one up - seems to have a bit in common with Samurai, which I enjoyed a lot, but different enough to stand as its own game. There are certainly a few more Knizia games I need to track down/try (Ra is the one I’m surest would be a hit, but seems to be between printings atm 
)
A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians, this may not have been the most responsible purchase - I’ve only played the base game a handful of times. But I do love it and the temptation of a tighter board and some more islands tipped me over the edge. Some slightly misaligned printing on my copy but not so bad that I can be bothered returning it (thanks Asmodee ). I played through a solo game the other day to re-familiarize myself with the game, and it was a lot of fun. My least favourite part of the design is definitely the occupation cards though - they’re a cool idea (and vintage Rosenberg) but a lot of them are quite unclear and inevitably require looking up, which is a pain. Also - wow this game takes up a lot of space to play and the expansion only makes it worse!
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I picked up Anomia on account of that review as well. Back when Paul reviewed it I didn’t have a group who would really have appreciated it, but watching the recent video I realised that it might be a lovely fit with some of the friends I have now. It says up to six players (six!) so we played it firstly with eight and then (I think) nine : ) I don’t think we were quite at the point where you’re guaranteed to get a match every card, but we must have been close, and it was still great fun. We played without the wild cards, which I think may be a good idea with larger numbers.
That “baseball team” card definitely needs to go, though – the full extent of our collective baseball knowledge was that it’s a game which exists. I’ll have to get a marker pen and change that to something more familiar!
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Oh I haven’t even thought to make sure the cards are answerable by Aussies! Hmm I may need to examine the decks.
Yeah, the only baseball team I know is the Cubs, and that’s only because of Back to the Future…
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I recently bought Anomia too as the few friends that have shown interest in playing games would need something light this Christmas. They coped with Love Letter and Carcassonne but Pandemic was a step too far. A 90s family classic from my youth - Outburst - is in the post to me as one of them remembered that fondly. If they work I will consider other lighter party/family titles next year: perhaps Monikers, Skull, Sheriff of Nottingham among others.
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Today it was my birthday, and in my work we always make presents to each other within the office staff on our birthdays. They often tend to be alcohol, but they know I am teetotal, so I always present them a bit of a challenge.
They knew a bit about my love for board games, and bless them, they got me a funny card and three games: UNO, Monopoly Deal the card game and Articulate!. If quite off the target, I thought it was lovely,. Especially because they also included a gift exchange token with the card in case I had them. Now, if I remember well, Paper Plus sells Codenames… 
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I have been told that Monopoly Deal is actually quite good, and doesn’t deserve to be tarred with that name.
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Haven’t tried it yet, but I will read the instructions shortly. The Monopoly label really puts me a bit off, but if you say it’s quite good, I am willing to give it a try…
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I’m not allowed to buy myself Christmas presents after I bought Disney+ for myself and then my wife bought a subscription as a present! (It was so I could watch the Mandalorian, although I’m sure Disney and Pixar films for the kids also helped!)
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Don’t take my word for it – I haven’t played it myself. I was told this by some fairly serious gamers I was hanging around with one Expo. 
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I’ve played it once, better than Uno and Fluxx, worse than 6Nimmt.
It’s a pretty brutal take that card game in 10-15 minutes
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Printing numbers of Norwegians are so poor that I would never recommend waiting to purchase it. The few printings there have been have always sold out to preorders, it’s a wonder you found it! 
I love Norwegians, it adds so much with so few extra rules. Curious what they’re going to do with The Danes.
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I would say it is quite good, but it is very much a take-that game, which isn’t for everyone. Some people find it to be really annoying. It’s nothing like the merciless purgatory that the name suggests, however!
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I snapped up the Mausritter boxed set and Acid Death Fantasy for Troika! this afternoon, which were very unexpected purchases. These were some of the last copies available in North America though, so it was a good chance to own some really nice physical copies at a (relative. So very, very relative) bargain.
[EDIT] It doesn’t look like there’s an equivalent thread in the RP forums, hope you guys don’t mind I keep posting this stuff. Been a bit of a “Black Friday month” blitz at the ol’ indie press.
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Feel free to start one if you like.
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Alright, maybe next mail call I’ll do just that!
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Finally got some of my stuff from Americania: Blitz Bowl Season 2 and Search for Planet X: New Horizon Upgrade Pack
EDIT: Added the link for those curious: https://www.renegadegamestudios.com/products/search-for-planet-x-deluxe-upgrade-pack
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Upgrade set?!? Ooooh