We played Terraforming Mars, as was foretold. We decided to play the coop variant, which is always a good time too. Completely different vibe and strategy to the regular game, too.
We won fairly comfortably, always nice. 
Tomorrow, big day! Brass Birmingham and I need to learn Spirecrest for Sunday!
Wyverncon, I like it, maybe next time we do something similar weâll reuse the name.
Yeah, 1817 irl was immense. I enjoyed getting tons of free cash at the start then did a silly beginner misreading the map and situation error. Got a respectable second, only $80 behind the winner on $13,000 plus a bit. With me and another newb some levers werenât pulled enough but it was still an interesting experience. This might be feasible for a Sunday play now some rules are better understood, might have to start a bit before 2pm though.
1837 I might be more pleased about the playing as finding out it was good was more of a surprise. This is a big, heavy beast of an operational game. So many tiles, so many companies, so much cash, so many timing considerations. You all get interleaved with each other in the same way the national rails interleave their founding. The board is stunning as is the whole production which I think really helps the whole atmosphere. Also my 4 foot square table was struggling to hold the whole game and extra space was used to give a clue of how epic it is. Felt a bit like wrestling a gorilla, but in a good way.
Had a Mars week with my husband. Played On Mars with one of the co-op modules from the Alien Invasion expansion for the first time midweek. The expansion required us to achieve a set number of objectives before an alien saboteur destroyed too much stuff. It ended up a bit anticlimactic. Beginning was rough as it has been quite awhile since we played basic On Mars and were forgetting to do things we could do as it is quite a complex game. Once we remembered everything (maybe?), it was tense for a little as we ramped up while the saboteur meddled with our plans. Then we only needed one last objective and my husband realized one of the remaining ones was one he could meet stupid easily.
Last night it was Terraforming Mars with all the expansions. Iâm of the opinion that this game is merely ok but my husband absolutely loves it. His titanium engine to play all the space cards beat my money and animals/microbes engine 79-102. I won the first maybe 4 or 5 games of this we ever played then it clicked in his head and Iâve rarely won since.
Today is monthly big gaming group meetup. I need to walk the dog then head over for probably 10 hours or so of board game madness. Yay!
So inspired by recent discussions and constant pestering of can we play the game with the skeletons and the tower spent the afternoon on a two player game of dark tower.
Still stand by my assessment. Fun wee family game.
The littlest monster got to take down the adversary with about 3 turns to spare. We were one attack from the growing, roaming pack of wolves away from defeat.
Looked like we were onto an easy win until we lost 2 of the treasures we needed to collect back into the bottom of the deck due to a corruption. Fun to find some tricks to cycle through the deck. The pairing of companions and adversaries that the app does really is clever.
Brass Birmingham in the books! Man, what a game. Amazingly crunchy puzzle, got me some serious AP at times⌠But so satisfying when a plan forms and then comes togetherâŚ
Finicky to set up, though, and I still loathe that manual. And since we hadnât played in a long time (I think this may have been our first game of 2022), there was a lot of looking up stuff and mistakes made. Love it anyway.
Lost 115-110. I donât think Iâve ever won a game, much like Space Base. UNLIKE Space Base, though, Brass games are always super competitive.
Now I gotta learn Spirecrest for tomorrow. Thatâs gonna be an adventure! 
We played two games of Everdell with Spirecrest. Holy crap, you guys, no wonder itâs got such a stellar reputation. Itâs amazing. It adds a whole new phase to the game, adding a whole new layer of decisions. If you can only buy one expansion for Everdell, definitely make it this one. It also has large critters with little saddles for your regular critters, which is just delightful.
Got beat pretty bad in both games (76-59 and 91-68), but that was no surprise. Iâm still me. 
Tomorrow, we go back to an oldie but a goodie: Bang! The Duel.
Bang! The Duel done! Hadnât played that one in ages, but itâs really good. Weâve certainly come a long way, there was a time when that was the pinnacle of board game complexity for us. Those were the daysâŚ
Tomorrowâs meant to be Flashpoint: Fire Rescue, though since my wife has an appointment outside the city and the last time we played was when sheâd JUST gotten out of the hospital, which taints her perceptions quite a bit, we may swap it out for something lighter, like Kero, currently scheduled for Thursday.
To be continued.
Had a birthday party for our younger kiddo this weekend. After getting back to the house, our usual gaming couple joined us for Lords of Vegas using Up expansion. My wife had an early advantage in getting two lots next to each other at setup, and then rolling a 6 on her first reorganization of the casino she built, making it very rough for anyone else to build in that block, knowing she could just remodel to take over.
While the rest of us caught up a bit, it was not enough to overtake her, so she won with 49 points, with me in second place with 32, one friend at 26 and the other at 23. It was really fun, though, with how many roll offs for casino boss happened due to ties. The reorg of a casino which had three tiles all owned by a different player which resulted in three 1âs was hilarious, to then have my wife win the reroll with a 3 was even funnier!
Then, yesterday, my wife and I got in a few games. First up was Lost Cities, which I won 131 - 53, though the gap in scoring mostly appeared in the third round.
We followed that up with Ethnos, which I also won, 99 - 73, using Merfolk, Trolls, Dwarves, Elves, and Skeletons. While I had the most Troll tokens in both ages, it only benefited me in the first age. Second age, my wife won most of the regions, but I got a lot more points from bands.
Finally, we played Everdell that evening, using nothing but the base game and the Extra, Extra expansion, which I am just leaving in the deck permanently. This was a really close game. While my wife had to prepare for season first going from winter to spring, I was the one preparing and then passing well before she did for the rest of the game. If I had had just one more worker to use to get one more event, I would have won. As it was, my wife took the game, 55 - 54. I thought I had it at first, then noticed her worker on the 5 Journey space. Really close and tense as I was scoring us.
Good weekend of gaming.
You always make this game sound soooo enticing. I really hope that after the KS it will somehow magically be available at one OLGS or other over here. Or possibly next yearâs (or 2024 as things are going) SPIEL.
So am I. Those are some fun cards.
Some friends were meant to come over on Sunday for games, but they couldnât make it, so I took the chance to play a few games with my partner instead.
Started off with Marvel Remix, which Iâd been itching to play since it came. Really liked it and I hope Iâll get a chance to try it with more people soon (and particularly more players). I havenât played Fantasy Realms to compare, so I canât say if itâs better or worse, but the Villain deck adds an interesting dimension.
Played Odinâs Ravens on a whim for the first time in a while. She managed an early lead, but I pulled off a win with judicious use of some Loki cards. Not the best game, but fun every now and then.
Finished it off with some Trivial Pursuit and I won! A rare occurrence, as sheâs great at trivia (and it never happens with the LotR version), but I managed to win while she only had two wedges 
Some games over the last week:
Cascadia, great warm up to a game night. I did awfully - didnât have enough focus in my animals and spent too much effort growing one habitat type rather than diversifying and competing for more of those bonus points.
Nusfjord, first game of this one with other humans. Itâs quite good - feels very tight and the vibe of the table will make a big difference even without the variation in buildings available. Not quite top tier Rosenberg but definitely a keeper.
A Feast for Odin, Nusfjord clearly got me in the mood for a solo game of this beast. I did alright, failed both to emigrate as much as Iâd hoped and grabbed an island which was probably not ideal. But itâs an excellent solo game, even if thereâs a lot to manage, though I do prefer it with one or two others in general.
Azul: Summer Pavilion x2, two games back to back with a friend whoâs a big Azul fan. I won both - a testament to me âgettingâ this game way more than the original. Having a strategy makes a difference even if tactical concerns can cause it to veer slightly from round to round.
Splendor: Duel, great to get this one to the table - itâs excellent. If it played more than 2 players itâd definitely replace the original, but for two itâs brilliant. Won by hitting 20 points this game, despite setting out to go for crowns - it just wasnât happening so pivoted to raw points.
Calico x2, had a couple of friends who are new to gaming over for a few games on Sunday arvo, and we kicked off with this one - one of them was super psyched for the cozy theme. They may not have been expecting how tough the game is though!
Silver and Gold x2, a great little simple roll and write - kinda wish it had a hair more depth but itâs super easy to teach even if it rewards smart puzzling consistently.
Cockroach Poker Royal, this is a fave for one of those friends new to gaming - they love it - and predictably I lost this one, which was deserved after doing pretty well at all the other games we played.
It really is! Excellent starter game for just about any audience.
Honestly, Lords of Vegas should replace Monopoly as the game of which everybody owns a copy. It still has an element of luck, in what lot you get on your turn, do your casinos pay out, do you win when you gamble at another playerâs casino, do you roll high when you reorganize, etc.? But unlike Monopoly, there are actually interesting decisions to make as far as which casino type to build, do you risk sprawling, do you build that casino next to your opponents one in an attempt to move in on it, etc.?
Itâs just a nice bit of design, plays in about an hour (depending on number of players), really easy to teach or learn, and even if you arenât winning, it is still fun to build up your casino empire and wait for it to pay out. And you canât help but laugh when the dice screw you over, say when you are rolling three dice to your opponentâs one to see who controls the casino, and all your dice come up short, making your opponent the boss. Typically just before that casino pays out.
So yeah, I really hope you can grab a copy.
Ha. Youâre ahead of me with this one. It remains a solo-only for me. And I am thinking thatâsadlyâit will stay that way. Everytime I tried to show this to someone⌠they went âoof that looks like too muchâ except it is not. But Uwe games tend to sprawl and that scares people. (I mean it is totally the reason I avoided the new Suchy âWoodcraftâ because I already have several of Uweâs sprawly gamesâyep apparently I am on a first name basis with Uwe Rosenberg but not so much with Vladimir Suchy. But considering how many of eitherâs designs I have played⌠I am being consistent.)
As expected, we swapped out Flashpoint for Kero today. My wife was rather tired and, as I mentioned, she only played just as she was getting out of the hospital abd before she started her treatment, so itâs not associated with the best memories. Tainted, you might say. Itâs still on the schedule, but it may be irredeemable for now.
But anyway, Kero! Another older game, one of our first in fact and itâs another reminder that weâve come a long way. Like Full House, thereâs a LOT of randomness in this, but unlike Full House, there are actual decisions to be made here. Itâs good fun, itâs quick to set-up and play and itâs simple enough that I could see our young nephew playing this once his fine-motor skills improve (throwing 5-8 dice, especially as a timer counts down, might be a bit much).
I lost this one 33-19, but Iâd won our game of Bang! The Duel yesterday, so Iâm batting .500 this week! Weeeeee!
Tomorrow should be 7 Wonders Duel, our FIRST modern board game!
Last night my wife and I played Ghost Stories, because what says Christmas better than horrific, Chinese inspired ghosts and monsters ripping us to pieces? I was the green monk with the bonus gray die, while my wife was the yellow monk that gets a Tao token every turn.
We played on Normal difficulty (start with 3 Qi and only 1 Tao token), and we started out pretty good. A couple of black ghosts which locked dice came out, but they were weak and were taken out easily. Eventually got in a situation where we had two Haunters, but could only stop one from haunting a tile, so we lost the Cemetery. Then we lost the Buddha Temple when a black ghost had an insta-haunt reveal ability, so my wife brought back the Cemetery with her Yin-Yang token.
Boards were filling up and another haunt happened on the Circle of Protection, meaning one more haunt would finish us. There were just two open slots on the red board and one on greenâs and one on yellowâs when the Vampire Lord incarnation of Wu-Feng appeared, which needs 4 yellow to exorcise. We were both down to 1 Qi, and there was a Haunter on yellowâs board.
My wife used her ability to get a yellow Tao token, and then moved to the space by Wu-Feng and interacted with the tile to get another yellow token and rearrange the top four cards of the ghost deck.
On my turn, I drew a green haunter, filling my board, and moved to the tile with Wu-Feng. I used a neutral power token to use the blue boardâs ability to exorcise twice. This would be the last turn, as the haunter on yellowâs board would end the game if we did not win here. Only needed to roll two yellows on four dice, and I had two attempts.
First roll, not a single yellow. Rolled again and got one white (wild) and three yellows, defeating Wu-Feng without even needing to use one of my wifeâs Tao tokens. With the Vampire Lord defeated, the village was safe and we won!
7 Wonders Duel got played! Just the base game, no expansions. No wonder we got hooked on board games with this, itâs super tight. Very straightforward, but still interesting.
Itâs super quick, too, so we banged out two games. I won the first 70-58, she won the second 70-69! Ah, so close!
Tomorrow should be Flashpoint, but weâll see. I have a feeling itâs gonna be off for a while. Ah well, we have SOME other games⌠
Tonight we played a quick game of Unmatched. My wife used her usual Medusa, while I tried out my newly arrived Houdini!
It was a really good match. For once, I was able to mostly ignore her Harpies, as Houdiniâs special ability letâs him be placed in any space when he uses a Boost when Maneuvering, so I was able to bypass her Harpy walls and go straight to attacking Medusa.
Houdini also has a new mechanic, Boost Tricks, on some of his cards. When those cards are used to Boost for whatever reason, the ability goes off. So this can be things like draw a card, get another action, damage an opposing fighter, etc. Another card has the automatic effect that if it is discarded by an enemy effect, I get to draw a card, which offsets a lot of Medusaâs annoying aspects. I even got to turn the tables with one of my Boost Tricks to look at her hand and discard a card, which set me up to hit her for 6 damage.
She was down to 1 HP and I was at 5 when she surrounded herself with Harpies so I could not get next to Medusa to attack her. However, I was able to attack and kill a Harpy with a card that let me move 1 space, draw 1 card, and take 1 more action, which I used to attack and finish off Medusa.
I did get lucky, as at one point I only had 1 card in hand, and it was an attack card, while surrounded by all of her fighters. But it was right after I had seen her hand and knew she only had scheme cards, though a lucky draw of Stone Gaze after she maneuvered would have let her kill me.
Played Isle of Cats the other day. I spent too much effort on rescuing cats and not enough on learning lessons, apparentlyâŚ
Hansa Toot taught it to two players who have vague recollections. So the teach went fast. The keys upgrade were crucial in this game. Very good.
Indian Summer - man, this is so pretty and yet so pedestrianâŚ
Mindbug: First Contact - this is a rare thing nowadays and I was rather pleased when I realised it. Someone from Brighton came along to come home for Christmas, and decided to check us out. He showed me this 2 player game that I have never heard of, and it is brilliant! I immediately bought it the next day. I usually donât buy games by playing others because 1.) I knew what games I want to get e.g. trains, Knizia, etc 2.) I prefer trading for them or grab it 2nd hand.
Itâs a very simplified version of CCG/LCGs, but what makes it different to Keyforge is that you start with a 10 card deck from the same pool of cards. And in the game, you have this one action turn where you either play a card or attack with a card. There are only 6 keywords I think. Combat is easy. Turns are snappy. No resource management. Sounds like a good game, but not a game that stands out.
And then thereâs the Mindbugs. Each player starts with 2. Every time the opposing player plays a creature, you have this one chance to steal that card. Oh damn. Do you want to steal their card now, or do you want to skip and wait for a better card to steal in the future? You only have 2 Mindbugs the entire game!
I got the base game now with the small expansion. Small con: I need to find a 3 to 4 player variant. But that should be easy considering how light this game is.
Innovation - what else is there to say?
Itâs a Wonderful World - further plays show that most decisions are being made in R1 and perhaps could extend to some of R2. The game then becomes an accounting min-maxing game after that. At least itâs a quick game. Other contemporaries had the gall to bore for an additional hour or so after all the decisions are made in the first hour.
So Clover
Troyes - Just like other games from Xavier, Dujardin, and Orban (with the notable exception of Carnegie) the interaction is fun in this game. The rest is rather meh.
Norenberc - had a high expectations as it was designed by Andreas Steding. The changing market prices of goods (with 3 rounds look ahead) is fun. Iâm doubtful that I would keep this, but will try it one more time.
Europa: 1945-2030 - the idea of making alliances sounds cool, but the decisions seems a bit wonky. Need more plays to confirm
