My stepdaughter is 14 and would almost certainly take great pleasure in crushing both me and her dad with an army of cute animals.
4 Likes
Nothing wrong with that! What a sweet imageā¦
2 Likes
Another afternoon of two-player games with my regular opponent.
Royal Visit - Iād tried this once before with my partner, but she didnāt get on with it at all (and I think I got the Jesterās power restriction wrong), so it was nice to try it properly. Lots of back and forth. I think the crucial mistake was my opponent using a card to move the guards to either side of the king, thus pulling a guard out of my chateau, but it put the whole court on my side of the board.
Bullet 
- This is definitely in the category of āgames I really like, but Iām bad at them and will never winā.
Judge Dredd: Helter Skelter - My friend is a big Judge Dredd fan, so he grabbed this not long after it came out, but this is the first chance weāve had to play it. Very fun, simple system. Think we need a few more plays to get the hang of how to play a bit more tactically.
The Red Cathedral - We accidentally both bought this when it came out. First chance Iāve had to play it and I liked it (despite some shakiness at the start as we got the hang of all the specific rules). Need a few more plays to decide whether itās worth us both having a copy (but at least it doesnāt take up much space).
A couple of slight annoyances: itās really easy to forget to reroll the dice at the end of gathering resources. Also, gathering resources involves way more steps than the other two possible actions, so you either feel like youāre not playing optimally when you take them, or you feel like youāve forgotten to do something.
Fort - I liked it, but again I need to play it more before Iāll know how much. Definitely interested in trying it with more players, as I like the interactive elements (I won thanks to being able to upgrade my fort on my opponentās last turn, otherwise the game would have been over with no final turn for me as I was first player).
11 Likes
Had an excellent evening of games. For the first time in ages played 18Lilliput. Firstly we messed up by missing the export rule on trains which seriously skewed things. So my push the trains strat fell over before it started. That being said, what a hoot! Itās fast, fun and for getting an 18xx flavour it does the job. Next game I could see being ~90 minutes. The worker placement bits are cool with 2 worker a round in snake draft so thereās a cool balance of timings around turn order which cycles nicely. Keen to play again soon!
Then finished with a quick round of The Legend of the Cherry Tree that blossoms every 10 years It might take longer to say than play. For a push your luck game itās quite restrained but thereās usually much mirth around the table. Plus the tension of a group of men in their 30s and 40s sat around a table with a wash bag haranguing each other about drawing 1 more plastic flower is both fun in the moment and entertainingly ludicrous in concept. Highly recommended game their.
6 Likes
We played our 4th session of Sleeping Gods, and finally finished the first campaign run.
Iām throwing down a spoiler tag for the image, but honestly youād have to be knee-deep in the game already for any of it to make sense to yaā¦ but better safe and all that.
It was fun! We were basically an unstoppable force of nature by the end, chopping through enemies. Iāmā¦ unsatisfied with the abruptness that the story ends, but it was pretty good. I have incorporated both of the expansions into the base box pretty seamlessly, and I look forward to giving it another whirl in a few months.
Next is either Descent 3rd Edition or one of the two Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth expansions that have come out since last we played. Trouble is that my partner isnāt super excited about playing either with just the two of usā¦ we played through LotR JiME with another couple last time. Actually, the same couple that we played through all 50 games of Gloomhaven, a full Imperial Assault campaign, and the entirety of Wander: The Cult of Barnacle Bay, so I understand her wanting to wait until we can see them at some pointā¦ but on the other hand, who knows when that will beā¦
Anyway. I can start painting the minis for one of 'em at least, and weāll see if sheās willing to revisit playing them in a few weeks.
Oh, and we played the first 4 missions of MicroMacro Crime City Full House, and it continues to be a joy.
10 Likes
Three more rounds of Space Cadets: Away Missions, all of them on scenario 2, for which I can finally now log a win!
Victory pose as the elevator moves away, maybe a little too slowly.
Quite honestly I probably should have just given up on this one today, as my attempt in the morning and afternoon both suffered bum roll after bum rollāeven for the aliens. In both cases I basically just let the map flood with enemies until they eventually whittled me down, although not without at least some drama.
My third game wasnāt looking like it was going to be much better at first, but I lucked out by finding the elevator (escape!) early on, and eventually my rolls started to ānormalizeā. Things were tight as we were about to hit Red Alert mode by the time we saved enough humans. We needed to make a pretty insane, concerted effort in order to reach the elevator, and then weād still need to survive a bug swarm that became VERY LETHAL out of nowhere on the prior turn. Thankfully the Chief was subject to the attack and he had enough charges in his shield belt to shrug off their two hits (suffering multiple hits in one attack is rare in this game). Perhaps I should have mentioned we were both at 1HP. 
Anyway, having survived the bug attack, I was left with a full seven actions (assuming a little OĀ² expense) to clear them out and then activate the elevator. Their overkill option let me squash multiple at a time, so we were free and clear before I even needed to activate the First Mate.
Playing the same scenario multiple times really helped showcase just how much variety is on offer here. I didnāt even refresh certain elements upon resetting, so the same tile and item elements were used throughout and still each attempt played out in surprising ways. On the first of my two (catastrophic) attempts, I was stuck in an arena with melee weaponry, while a trapped Sentinel squatted in the elevator like a caged animal just waiting for us to open that door; in the second attempt, I was winding through claustrophobic hallways as two sentinels stalked us freely and a brain-in-a-jar sapped our action points.
Lots of fun here, great toy box game.
7 Likes
I really enjoyed 18Lilliput that I put it on my wishlist. Will look for 2nd hand market
2 Likes
Iām still jonesing to get this to the table. But in my ābuy?ā research the most favorable reviews claimed it took about 5 games to get it. Iām not sure itās the scenario, itās just that the variable paths to victory also come with variable levels of nuance. First game or two, a few of the paths are easy to see and pursue. The others are there but not immediately executable. The best way, they claimed, was to lose a game or two to a veteran.
Weāll see.
2 Likes
Yeah, I can see that. chimes with what I was complaining about with the intro scenario. The end game bonuses, and the tech is all linear towards exploration and gyrodines. My hope is that the HQ boards and the random combination of techs helps open it up for more game space exploration. I also hope that the dead ends with bonus tiles tilt everyone off a bit so the dice stop being strictly better or worse in any given turn.
I find with this kind of euro I get bored after the space for trying things out dries up and the puzzle has been pushed to itās limits. I recently moved on Santa Maria after nearly 20 plays and Iām hopeful this one will get over 10 plays in. Next 2-3 games will probably reveal if itās got legs or will get shuffled on in short order.
4 Likes
Pulsar has my worst game experience ever.
Playing a āwe just punched copyā with a guy who canāt teach teaching and an extremely angry guy who turned out to be a convicted paedophile (not relevant, but still a bit of a shock when I found out due to other circumstances around it)
To bring it back to the topic, we did play with the asymmetric boards and I won by zooming round the galaxy.
6 Likes
Another play of Lost Cities. This one did not go well for me. After the first round, my wife was up 166 - 60, having managed 3 wagers in white and a lot of points, in addition to blue and yellow.
I managed to outscore her in the next two rounds, but not by nearly enough to make up that difference. She won, 284 - 218.
2 Likes
Three more games of Under Falling Skies tonight. Iām really enjoying it. I havenāt touched the campaign yet, as Iām heeding the note the you should acquire a feel for the difficulty level you enjoy first. The āthreat levelā is the difficulty, from zero (easy) to four (hard), and after my obliteration on level 4 last time I started out by losing kinda badly at level 1(!) by playing terribly; then got my act together and had two resounding victories at level 2, firstly using the easier side of the city, and then again with the regular side. My final turn of the last game saw me allowing the alien ships to batter Roswell to within 1 point of destruction, but in exchange for a massive 21 research points and the win (Iād rolled a ton of high numbers, and was able to play a 5 on a single research station, and 6,6,4 on the triple research!).
6 Likes
Played Ruins of Arnak last night with the husband with the Expedition Leaders expansion for the first time. Iāve won most of our previous games of Arnak (not all), usually by maxing out the research track and dabbling in exploring / overcoming guardians. I wanted to force myself to try something new so I picked a leader who specialized in guardians. My husband was determined to beat me on the research track this time and we didnāt immediately spot a leader focused on that so he played the card buying focused one, hoping to get good cards. He was able to get good cards and maxed out the research. I was able to use my leader well as well to explore and overcome 4 or 5 guardians while still making ok research track progress. In the end, it was a pretty close game with him just beating me at his 80 to my 71. I blame it on the one round mid game when three out of my five drawn cards were useless fear cards.
6 Likes
Roll for the Galaxy has finally been getting some mileage. My sister-in-law and I are springing it on my wife in a bid to get her into the broader Galaxy. The open information and comparatively less complex tile bonuses make it easier than Race, while the slow dole of information makes you less likely to choke than New Frontiersās development board.
So far itās a success. She was pretty angry by the end of the teach but by about mid-game, she just wanted to win (and she did). Weāve gotten in two full games and a half game that was cut short by the clock.
I really like it! Itās growing in my esteem. Race is still clearly the superior game, in the way that a perfectly salted steak is superior to a hamburger. But thatās not going to stop me from relishing that hamburger.
In particular, the two little puzzles of:
a) How to keep your cup full of dice
b) How to allocate and reassign your dice
each round add this light but engaging spice on top of the tableau synergy thing.
4 Likes
I played the third scenario (Orbital Platform) in Space Cadets Away Missions this morning, using the Captain and First Officer this time. I won by the skin of my teeth on my first attempt. We caught some pretty amazing luck exploring, starting with finding the Thrall Control room and neutralizing that added threat immediately.
The mission objective was to collect a sample of blood from each (non-thrall) enemy, and our luck continued as we unveiled a unique enemy on each new scan phase. This allowed us to collect samples systematically, and we had everything we needed before things got too out of control.
We did have two sentinels to contend with at one point, but another lucky draw meant my captain was face-to-face with one of them while equipped with a light saberāthe perfect tool against this enemy, and collects blood as well! We used a repulsor ray to knock the other one way back down a corridor and, with all the required samples in hand, made our escape. We had some misfortune on the way out with a power failure, crippling our items, but things came back online just as we hit a choke point where we could use our heat ray to seal the hatch and breathe.
Of course there was the matter of the swarm of bugs trapped in our shuttle, but we made quick work of them and were off.
Lots of chills and spills, more than a couple near-death moments and a TON of hero interaction in this one. Iāll probably pack it up for a little while to avoid any possible burnout but Iām excited to see where these next scenarios lead.
3 Likes
Would you say Ruins of Arnak is decent with two players? BGG thinks 3 is best, but the game is on my Shelf of Opportunity as a āsolo at minimum, but hoping my partner might enjoy it tooā game-in-waiting.
2 Likes
Iāve played once at 3, once at 4, and maybe 4 times at 2 player now. Iāve enjoyed it at all counts. The only real change is artificially blocking some action spaces at the lower player counts. You definitely see more stuff (cards, explored locations, etc.) each game at the higher player counts so have a slightly higher chance of something coming out that really fits your strategy perfectly, but I donāt think thatās a significant enough element that it has a major effect on the game.
5 Likes
Sometimes fate appears to favor the foolhardy.
I got Arkham Horror TCG to the table again today, bringing Nathaniel Cho and Daisy Walker to the climax of the Night of the Zealot campaign, The Devourer Below.
Things seemed to be going okay to start. Started getting some clues with Daisy, Nathaniel was exploring the woods and knocked out a Wizard of the Order. Unfortunately, the cultists advanced their agenda which brought the undefeated Cultists from the previous scenario out to play. The investigators took a couple of turns stocking up so that they were able to parley with the cultists to make them go away with no need for combat. However, before going on to the Ritual Site, they both had newly acquired Weaknesses to deal with, which let the agenda advance even further, bringing forth the Devourer, Umordhoth!
Nathaniel bravely moved to engage the Ancient One, while Daisy was forced to deal with some newly arrived Acolytes to prevent the accumulation of Doom. Due to an unfortunately loss of all his resources, Nathaniel was unable to avoid a strike from either a Ravenous Ghoul or Umordhoth, bringing him to 5 horror (out of 6 sanity).
On the next turn, Nathaniel defeated the Ghoul and hit Umordhoth with a couple of attacks, and Daisy defeated another Acolyte. In a deft maneuver, Nathaniel was able to Counterattack Umordhoth, and then Dodge away from the strike, surviving another round, and having brought the creature to 7 damage (out of 14).
After the Mythos phase, there was 4 Doom in play, just 1 away from advancing the Agenda. Nathaniel again did all the attacking he could, managing to do 6 more damage, 1 away from defeating Umordhoth, but that would still leave all the clue gathering and turning in to end the ritual. Daisy, sensing the end of the ritual, fled.
Nathaniel was attacked by Umordhoth, which would have been the end of him, but he once again had a Counterattack up his sleeve, and it was the final strike needed to defeat the Ancient One, leaving Nathaniel injured and on the brink of insanity. The agenda advanced, the ritual was completed, but the Ancient One had already been driven back to its own dimension. Confused, the cultists went home and the investigators won the day!
Truly was an exciting scenario with how things went. I think I would have been able to get the clues turned in if I hadnāt got hit with having to draw new Madness weaknesses for both of my investigators, which required me to basically take a full turn to get rid of them as they were too harsh to try to go on with.
4 Likes
I 've only played it at two players so far, itās worked super well. Great game.
1 Like
Last night I played a quick game of Chronicles of Avel, which I picked up on a whim almost two weeks ago. Iām always curious about new offerings for kids in this space, so I really couldnāt resist. It offers a one-hero solo mode via a simple tweak: set up for 2P and take 4 actions per turn (instead of 2). More often than not I buy these games as an academic exercise and flip them after a bit of a reviewāI think somewhere deep down I must really want to design a kidās game. If my nephews were just a bit younger, or my daughter were a couple years older, this one would be sticking around.
Itās basically a two-act game, beginning with an adventure phase and then moving on to a tower defense phase once āThe Dark Moonā rises. In the first act, players need to reveal the map to prepare for the defense of the city. This involves fighting monsters for loot and better gear but just as importantly, youāre gaining information about the upcoming onslaught so you may best prepare your defenses. Once the second phase begins the monsters no longer respawn, but they do begin a steady march towards the castle, with the ominous threat of THE BEAST corralling them forward.
Thereās a ton to like here. Right off the bat you have the option to create your own character sheet from scratch (an entirely cosmetic but vital inclusion), complete with a gigantic star chart to help with making up a silly name. The equipment is drawn randomly from a bag, but each category (helm, weapon, shield, boots, potions) is uniquely shaped, so players can usually grab what they want. Your backpacks also use this physicality and if you ever find an item or coin that just wonāt fit, sorry kid, youāre overburdened and need to dump something. There are myriad ways to work the board into a winnable state and, in spite of the gleeful inclusion of combat dice and random item/enemy draws, mitigation is the name of the game and thereās a visual language being used to steer young players toward savvy play.
Anyway, itās not long for the world in terms of my personal shelf space, but I think this is a pretty great example of a game thatās explicitly trying to be a gateway and succeeding.
3 Likes