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Kevin Klemme
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Mycelia Board Game Review

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River Wild Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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28 Dec 2015 10:21 #218370 by edulis
Received Trains:Rising Sun as a gift and played 4 games with my Wife, Sister-in-law and her boyfriend. My wife and I have played a fair amount of the base game and enjoyed the new cards that increase the player interaction. My sister-in-law, managed to beat us 3/4 games despite not fully understanding the rules. She also won the game of Ticket to Ride she asked to play. She had picked it up as a gift for her kids and wanted me to show her how to play. So next year we are going to buy her a engineer cap and one of those train whistles.

Also played Biblios, sleeping queens, Coloretto and half a game of innovation as it was too hard for the in-laws. Finished the weekend off with a 400 point epic game of X-wing.

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28 Dec 2015 10:24 #218371 by Msample
I played WHQ card game for the first time last week. We fucked up a few rules, but overall liked it and will play again. It does blow away Pathfinder IMO, not a high bar really. It shares a lot of mechanics with the LotR game, but one crucial and welcome difference is that there is no deck building element.

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28 Dec 2015 12:13 #218385 by RobertB
My brother and sister-in-law were over for Christmas, so we did the lighter side of gaming. We first played a few rounds of Codenames. It was fun as usual, but I want to try it with a few more players.

Then we played Funemployed, which was one I lobbied for for Christmas. It was okay, but not as good as I had hoped.

We then wrapped it up with a few games of Hanabi. It took a bit for everyone to get it, but once they got it everyone liked it.

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28 Dec 2015 12:18 - 28 Dec 2015 12:47 #218386 by hotseatgames
Introduced Elder Sign to someone not really used to playing games. We did the standard museum game instead of Streets of Arkham since I felt that it would be easier to grasp. It went pretty well, and we managed to win, barely, as usual. Good fun.

Also, we got Ultimate Warriorz, and I got to play a 3 player game with my kids. The game is easy to pick up, and fun to play. I think my group will like it as a filler.
Last edit: 28 Dec 2015 12:47 by hotseatgames.

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28 Dec 2015 12:50 #218391 by VonTush
Working on my 10x10 challenge I played Blood Rage and Arcadia Quest.
Right now, for my money, CMoN is producing the most enjoyable games for what I look for.

Production is their selling point, but their designs don't try to be clever for clever's sake and are retro in that late 80's/early 90's sort of way.

Blood Rage - Purple is a guy that I game with who has never been competitive in any games we've played, he just happens to be there at the shop when I'm there for better or worse (mainly worse). Blue started off to an early lead but she ran out of steam and closed out weak. Purple ended 5th with points in the 50's, Blue ended in the 60's. Red followed his typical strategy of throwing units to Ragnarok and did better than his previous attempts ending in the 70's, but once again he skipped quests and going for clan upgrades which caused him to lose out on cheap points at the end.

The battle was between Brown and myself. Brown was new to the game so we skipped the draft during the first age and the hand I received was very bad. That caused me to fall behind at the end of the first age and Brown was in the middle. The second age I was able to gain some ground and and the end everyone except purple was all clumped together. The third age I was able to lock down a province with my units so I was able to control the pillaging there and subsequently when the age ended which provided me with the time to pull off all that I needed to accomplish as far as preparing quests and making sure they were met.

Brown closed out the third age with Odin's Throne netted 44 pts from two successful Valhalla quests and 40 pts off of clan upgrades. Myself was able to lose an upgraded ship to Ragnarok netting 12 pts, complete two quests for 24 pts and end with 50 pts in clan upgrades maintaining my slight lead over brown.

Arcadia Quest - Finally, I think I have cobbled together a group to play this as a campaign, though I'll admit this group teeters and it might be months before all four are together again for the next game in the campaign. I forgot just how streamlined and clean the game is. It's a game that doesn't do anything exceptional but captures enough of the traits of the skirmish adventure campaign genres that comes together into a package that's more than the sum of their parts.
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28 Dec 2015 22:16 #218452 by Columbob
I usually play lots during the holidays with my brothers and nephews, I got them SW: Risk and would have played it and Cosmic.

Last night my nephew (nearly 10) wasn't feeling so great after dinner, he complained about stomach pains that came and went in waves, then confessed to what actually happened. My mom had recorded a bunch of magic shows and the kids watched many of them. It turned out he tried some trick where he makes a quarter disappear, seemingly in his mouth. Problem is he actually swallowed it whole and my brother had to rush him to the ER, my SIL was worrying herself to death. At the ER they learned that it's a fairly frequent occurrence and the coin usually just passes through the digestive system, however this time it got stuck in the oesophagus before reaching the stomach (hence the stomach pain) and had to be pumped out. They were gone from 8pm to 4am.

This morning though we did play Bohnanza and the kid pulled a win. Only game I've played all week!

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29 Dec 2015 10:36 #218492 by hotseatgames
Last night was the big premier of my Christmas acquisition, Fury of Dracula. I had read the rules numerous times and went through a couple of sample turns by myself just so I could properly teach the game, since this game is particularly fragile when it comes to mistakes, and there are a LOT of rules to go through. It was decided that I would be Dracula, which I expected. There were 3 hunter players, so one of them took two hunters. I explained how to play the game from both sides, going over all the dirty tricks Dracula can pull, etc... this took an hour, probably.

My original plan was to start off in England, away from the mainland. But during setup, the hunters discussed one of them traveling to England early to check it out. So after they placed their figures, I decided to start at the southern tip of Spain, well away from any of them. They spent too many turns (in my opinion) taking supply actions instead of moving about, and it wasn't until Mina played a card forcing me to tell them my region that they even got a hint of my location.

I quickly hit the seas and headed to England. This further perplexed them but they did eventually discern I was up there and started closing in. They foiled my intended return to the mainland by placing the consecrated ground token. I headed back to Spain.

This went on for a LONG time.... the game ran at least 3 hours and even then we stopped when one player had to go and it was clear that they were not going to catch me before hitting the fourth week. The consensus was mixed. I really liked it. Two other players really liked it, and the third hunter didn't care for it, saying it took too long for what it was. I'm not sure he'll give it another chance.

The one thing that the hunters agreed on was that any time I went to sea, they felt hopeless since it meant they almost had to start all over again in their search.

So my questions to you are... is that a common sentiment among hunter players? And do you have any tips for getting people to try this one again?

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29 Dec 2015 11:43 #218508 by Not Sure
You're going to have to remind them that they can count sea spaces as well. There are a limited number of ports you can reach from any particular departure point.

It's a diversion, but not a reset. Honestly, it sounds like your hunters didn't grasp the notion of a "hunt" very clearly. They've got to get on it, start closing down paths, and get an idea of where you might be quickly. The clock works against them.

If you do get them to play again, give up the Drac seat and go play as a hunter. You don't have to run the game, but be there (on that side) to remind the group to get a move on, and constantly be discussing where Drac might be.

My suggestion is to have the bored hunter play Dracula. The inversion might be just enough "new game" to give it a chance, and then he (or she) can see it from the other side.
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29 Dec 2015 12:08 - 29 Dec 2015 13:51 #218510 by Grudunza

hotseatgames wrote: Last night was the big premier of my Christmas acquisition, Fury of Dracula.

The one thing that the hunters agreed on was that any time I went to sea, they felt hopeless since it meant they almost had to start all over again in their search.

So my questions to you are... is that a common sentiment among hunter players? And do you have any tips for getting people to try this one again?


Played this again with my daughter last night. She wanted to be the hunters, but I think she's better suited to handling Drac. That being said, she found me almost immediately and did a good job chasing after me early on. But I did manage to knock out Godalming in a fight for 2 points and matured a couple vamps for more, and at a later point she committed to going one direction while I heading back towards Castle Drac, and that's exactly where I finished for the win, which seemed fitting. Home again, home again.

As to your question, the sea zones are very limited in terms of direction. Yes, up in the Northwest there are a few different places to go, but that is very dangerous for Drac, because he's taking wounds every turn on sea and is farthest away from the Castle to heal up, and England/Ireland is such a small place to move around. There is a tricky point where you know he's in the Ionian Sea but aren't sure which way he'll go, but you really need to emphasize splitting up and trying to cover the ports best you can. At some point, he has to go to shore, and you can hopefully pinpoint him somewhere before long.

EDIT: Good suggestion by Not Sure to have the bored hunter play Dracula. That being said, playing Drac last night made me remember that there's not a whole lot you do. The hunters take quite a while figuring out their turns, and then you've already chosen a location and encounter and boom, you're done. But still, it is a really fun position to be in, as the one hiding, and I think that might stimulate more interest for someone who didn't love their first play.
Last edit: 29 Dec 2015 13:51 by Grudunza.
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30 Dec 2015 08:34 #218570 by Legomancer
I brought Codenames down for the family visit, and it was a huge hit. Played about 20 games of it. That was pretty much it, except for some Rummikib and Skip-Bo, both of which are my mother-in-law's favorites and both of which I enjoy. She got LCR as a gift from one of her friends and mercifully I was not around when they gave it a try and discovered it's not actually any kind of game.

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30 Dec 2015 10:57 - 30 Dec 2015 10:58 #218591 by SuperflyPete
LCR is great if you're a little buzzed and replace the tokens with four quarters, laid in front of you. The last player to have any quarters wins the entire pot.
Last edit: 30 Dec 2015 10:58 by SuperflyPete.

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30 Dec 2015 12:10 #218604 by charlest
Like always, tons of stuff. This is over the past 3 weeks or so.

More Blood Rage which will likely not sit on my shelf for longer than 2 months the entire year.

The Warhammer Quest Adventure Card Game is definitely a quality release. Fun and very enjoyable solo. It definitely has similarities to SH:DA but it feels a little more robust and full realized. At the same time I think it's a little more reliant on content discovery and the included scenarios will get stale after awhile. I think the amount of content delivered is great though for the price.

6 nimmt! is not the type of game I'd normally play but I put it on my Christmas list and have enjoyed a couple of plays. I don't have any trick takers or climbing card games in my collection so this definitely fills a void.

The new version of Fire and Axe: A Viking Saga is great. Really enjoy this game as a streamlined simulation with some chaos. All of the Viking games this year (BR, Fire and Axe, and Champions of Midgard) feel very different.

I'm finally done with 504. Got in 7 or 8 games before writing up my review and am ready to part with it as I expected. Fascinating but nothing I need to return to long term. My copy is on BGG if you want it.

My review for this was very fun to write. I emulated the format of the included Book of Worlds.

I'm kind of done with Ghostbusters. Not bad, but just boring. Finished the Slimer and played a one off scenario with Stay Puft. It's an ok game that is way off in its marketing and approach IMO.

Rhino Hero is awesome.

The Flick 'Em Up: Stallion Canyon expansion is great. Shooting up a ramp to knock someone off a colt is just extremely fun. I really like the new scenery as well.

I like Matagot's newest, Raptor. It's a small box game designed by Bruno Faidutti and Bruno Cathala. It won't blow your socks off but it has a unique simultaneous card system that's pretty great. I also really like how it feels like a hidden movement game without actually being one. It has that tension of being caught. Balance seems to tip towards the Scientists over the Raptors though.

Digging into the new Eclipse: Shadow of the Rift expansion tonight. This is one of my top two or three games so I'm very stoked.
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30 Dec 2015 12:25 #218611 by Gary Sax
Can I have your gaming life, Charles?
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30 Dec 2015 12:35 #218614 by charlest

Gary Sax wrote: Can I have your gaming life, Charles?


I definitely can't complain. Not sure how my wife doesn't kill me but it being a sort of part time job with Miniature Market now certainly helps.

Ghostbusters was all solo except for one play. WHQACQ has been all solo so far. Two of my 504 plays were solo as well. Getting those 5 group plays of 504 in was...difficult, to say the least.

Christmas certainly helped, made my brother sit down and play Flick 'Em Up, 6 nimmt!, Rhino Hero with me.

Eclipse tonight should be great. We're all experienced so it should make for a quick and tense game. The new races are crazy though, I think I'll be taking the time traveler dudes.
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30 Dec 2015 12:37 #218615 by Gary Sax
Though to be fair I wouldn't want to have to play so many new games constantly, sounds stressful.

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