Well it seems like I’m shifting to writing these monthly… Not intended but there you have it:
Point City x4, four plays of this one this month - all very enjoyable. There’s a good chunk of luck but I guess time will tell how much strategy it has vs just reacting. It’s interesting to see the Splendor discount accrual, in a game that is not a race, as players always have the same number of turns, it’s just what you do with them that matters. It’s been well received amongst numerous gaming buddies so I’m sure it’ll see more play this month.
Arboretum, yeah not sure if this was my teach being rusty from not playing in awhile but the reception to this one was a little frosty. It is a game that doesn’t reveal itself right away, so that makes sense. Hopefully I can talk them into another play as I really do enjoy the game.
No Thanks, still great.
Cafe, a replay of this with the same group as last month at the colour blind players request. I still like it alot but he concluded it might just be too tricky for him with the colours. Which is a shame.
HUE, a great filler or wind down game - only five or so decisions each game, but they’re interesting as the same cards you play to build colour groups, you are throwing away for scoring purposes. Still might be my favourite of the series (though NUT is close!)
Tyrants of the Underdark, an imperfect teach from me but we got there. I think it’s the first time we’ve played with four but it was super fun. Lots of spiteful plays which fits the theme rather well 
Trajan, oh man - what a surprise this one was! I was totally prepared to hate it but gosh, I rather liked it! I expected the core mancala mechanic to melt my brain, but instead I just felt super engaged. Again, not a lot of interaction, but folks definitely stole stuff I wanted and the way your plays can lengthen or shorten the game was delightful. I may have to keep an eye out for a reprint of this one, cause with a more modern look and sharper art it’d be one I definitely want to own. As it is, I may ask its owner to bring it again before too long…
Perudo, taught this to a mostly new table after an easter afternoon tea and went over really well. My mum won - I was quite proud of her actually - she did really well!
Incan Gold, the second game we busted out after the arvo tea and it also went really well. I lost by one point (and if I’d bailed on the final run one turn earlier I would’ve had it!) We were discussing the different versions of this one afterwards and there’s quite a few and most of them sound better than the version I have! Also I’d never considered it before but I think we’ve been playing wrong (I’m gonna blame an ambiguous rulebook) - when multiple players leave at the same time and there’s gems on the cards, I had been splitting per card, but someone said their version describes players splitting the whole lot. I’m curious what others think but as soon as they said it I was like ‘huh that kind of makes more sense’.
Jekyll vs. Hyde, got this new acquisition to the table with a buddy before the rest of our gaming group arrived and we both enjoyed it a lot. I’d played it before at a con a few times. Those potion powers can be super frustrating though! But I’ve already established I’m not great at trick taking games despite enjoying them. I think it’s definitely more challenging as Hyde than Jekyll but I’ve certainly lost as both… I’m hoping this will go over well with my wife (who’s having chronic back issues making gaming tricky right now…) As we really enjoyed The Fox in the Forest, so we’ll see.
Sea Salt and Paper kind of a half game of this before our 4th arrived. Still one I super enjoy as a filler.
Mexica, big game of the night, new to most of the table and first time with a full 4 players. Very vicious for a euro - lots of in your face and denial plays. I came in a fairly distant second - our leader kind of stomped the second half of the game fairly impressively!
Harmonies, got this to the table with a buddy and it was very enjoyable. He’s generally more of an interactive gamer (he’s a big fan of 18xx games and wargames) rather than the puzzle it out euros that seem in vogue right now. Still enjoyed it despite that.
Suburbia, busted out my big collectors edition - setting up is fine but gosh these big boxes can be hard to put away! Still glad I got it though. I did amazingly well and scored all the goals in the end (and he didn’t get his)! Which I’ve not seen happen before.
Blitzkrieg x2, won the first by bombing and won the second as second player thanks to him not getting to take his final planned turn. Not always the most satisfying ways to win but fun.
Castles of Burgundy, requested a friend bring his super deluxe copy over for game night. Some of it is awesome (especially impressed by the recessed board with overlays and the bags for the tiles (not sure why there isn’t one for the goods though…) but it’d want to be at the price tag! The game is still mostly the same (we did play with one little expansion, the vineyards, which I liked though probably didn’t pay close enough attention to). I did pretty badly in the end. Just shy of 200 points, while our winner managed to win with 230 or so. Still super pleased to get an in person play of this plus checking out the deluxe version was cool.
She won because she had more purple cards… duh. I did a lot of optimizing shenanigans and was once again reminded that it’s quality of cards that counts not quantity. Oh well.