Obligatory “What I Played In…” Post Part IV: October 2015

We’re back! This is my “What I Played In…” series where I take a look at the games I played the previous month. Since we’ve moved on into November I’m going to take a look at the games that I’ve played in October. We didn’t beat the raw numbers of September (our highest amount of plays in a month so far) but we did pretty well. We do however have quite a few new games that we played/obtained. That being said let’s take a look at the games that were played in October of 2015.

Statistics:
Total plays in October 2015 – 49
Total unique games played in October 2015 – 16
New games played in October 2015 – 6
New game acquired in October 2015 – 5
Most plays of a single game – 9

Patchwork
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Mayfair Games/Lookout Games
New to me
First play – 10/11/15
Total plays in October 2015 - 9 

This was one of our new acquisitions for the month of October. My wife and I were able to take an anniversary get-a-way to Annapolis, Maryland where we stopped off at a great game shop (Games & Stuff). At this shop we bought some games and Patchwork was one of them. This is actually the first Uwe Rosenberg game that we’ve played and it is an amazing 2-player experience! We have loved every play of this game and I don’t think it will ever get old. This beautifully simple, tile placement game could be top 10 territory for both of our lists. I want to play it right now!

Rhino Hero
Designer – Scott Frisco/Steven Strumpf
Publisher – Haba
New to me
First play – 10/9/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 8

This is another of our 4 games we picked up at Games and Stuff. It is a simple building game that I’ve lovingly stated is “Jenga if Jenga were fun”. In truth it is somewhat opposite as you are building a tower of cards and placing a little wooden rhino superhero meeple on different levels all while trying not to knock the building over. It is such a simple game but we have found ourselves having a ton of fun with it and with other people who have played it with us. I highly recommend this game for families and children and gamers alike for a light filler game.

Welcome to the Dungeon
Designer – Masato Uesugi
Publisher – IELLO
New to me
First play – 10/3/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 7

We picked this game up just before we left on our vacation so we were able to play it a few times while we were away. This is a fun, beautiful (as most of IELLO’s stuff is!), and quick push-your-luck game where you are placing monsters in a dungeon and essentially betting if you can take the character through successfully. I like the simple gameplay and push-your-luck nature of the game. As a bonus it is also very easy to teach to new gamers!

The Builders: Antiquity
Designer - Frédéric Henry
Publisher – Asmodee
New to me
First play – 10/9/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 5

This game was an impulse purchase (although I had already researched the game) at Games and Stuff while we were looking around. I knew that this game would be another simple one that my wife and I would dig. Sure enough, this is a fun little building game that is very portable so we are easily able to take it to coffee shops and set it up and play a few rounds with no problem. Fun art and gameplay make this a winner. We are looking forward to trying the game with more people and see how it goes.

Trambahn
Designer – Helmut Ohley
Publisher – Mayfair Games/Lookout Games
New to me
First play – 10/9/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 5

This game was the last one that we purchased at Games and Stuff and it has been an instant hit with me and Em. This game is a beautiful set-collection and hand management card game where all of the cards have multiple uses. If you’ve read any of my blogs up to this point you are probably aware that cards with multiple uses is one of my very favorite mechanisms, and this game does it beautifully. We are quickly become large fans of these Lookout Games 2-player series and will probably look for more!

Roll for the Galaxy
Designer – Thomas Lehmann/Wei-Hwa Huang
Publisher – Rio Grande Games
Last play before October 2015 – 9/3/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 3

What more is there to say about this game? It has become one of our favorite games and there hasn’t been a play of it that we haven’t greatly enjoyed! We are still looking forward to getting the expansion, Ambition, so there is even more replayability!

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Designer – Isaac Vega
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
Last play before October 2015 – 9/11/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 2

Ah Ashes, how fun you have been! Em and I are still enjoying this game greatly! I think that this is one of the top games that have come out in 2015 and it has a definite chance to crack my top 10 list! I look forward to the inevitable expansions that should start releasing this spring!

Tides of Time
Designer - Kristian Čurla
Publisher – Portal Games
Last play before October 2015 – 9/23/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 2 

This game hit the table twice in October and it is still a great card-drafting game. We quite enjoy it as a good quick game that has very high replayability and fun. Plus, it’s gorgeous!

Dungeon Petz
Designer – Vlaada Chvátil
Publisher – Czech Games Edition
Last play before October 2015 – 8/1/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

We got in a good play of Dungeon Petz in October and that is always fun. This is one of our favorite worker placement style games and it is one of the most thematic that we’ve ever played. Vlaada is an amazing designer and this is just more proof of that. I highly recommend this one!

Elder Sign
Designer – Richard Launius/Kevin Wilson
Publisher – Fantasy Flight Games
Last play before October 2015 – 4/11/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

We brought this game out with a friend of ours who hasn’t really played many modern boardgames and he really enjoyed the experience! We always have fun pulling this game out as it is just simple, dice-chucking fun.

Firefly: The Game
Designer – Aaron Dill/John Kovaleski/Sean Sweigart
Publisher – Gale Force Nine, LLC
New to me
First play – 10/10/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

This is a game that we’ve wanted to try for some time and never had the opportunity. During our anniversary trip we visited some good friends and they actually had the game and hadn’t tried it yet! We pulled it out and after some laborious rulebook reading dove headfirst into the game. This isn’t the way I really like to play games as I’m the one that teaches them. Because of this I like to have read the rulebook a few times and really have a decent grasp of the games mechanisms. Thankfully we found the game to be fairly easy to learn and we had a really good time with it! We don’t have any pick-up-and-deliver games so this may be one we pick up in the future.

Ghost Stories
Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – Repos Production/Asmodee
Last play before October 2015 – 8/20/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

We decided that Halloween night we would play some Ghost Stories by the fantastic Antoine Bauza! We pushed the level up to normal and we were able to just barely defeat Wu-Feng before we became completely overrun! We don’t play this one enough as we really enjoy it every time we pull it out to play. I would love to acquire the White Moon expansion and some of the cool looking promo packs one of these days to give even more variability to the game!

Hanabi
Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – R&R Games
Last play before October 2015 – 9/8/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

Em and I brought this game with us on our anniversary trip and pulled it out at Panera Bread. I always love my plays of this and Em seems to really be warming up to it more and more as we break it out. This is a great game and a fun one to pull out with people who haven’t really played many modern boardgames.

Paperback
Designer – Tim Fowers
Publisher – (Self-published)
Last play before October 2015 – 8/16/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

We pulled this game out and as usual had a great time with it. It still remains one of our favorite implementations of a deck-builder. We just recently bought this game for a friend of ours who loves a good word game and it went over great.
 
Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot
Designer – Ignacy Trzewiczek
Publisher – Portal Games
Last play before October 2015 – 8/31/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

Another play of Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot in the books! I suppose I can understand some of the critique that this game gets, but I just think that they don’t understand what it is all about. This is meant to be a fun game where you are building your pirate ship/crew/loot and just have a fun time doing it. It isn’t meant as a heavy strategic game, but rather as a fun “family-style” game. If you aren’t into these types of games then don’t get it. If you just want a fun time, then this is a fantastic game!

Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Designer – Justin Kemppainen/Corey Konieczka/Jonathan Ying
Publisher – Fantasy Flight Games
Last play before October 2015 –8/14/15
Total plays in October 2015 – 1

Sean, Em and I were able to pull out and play another mission in our ongoing campaign. Always an enjoyable time although I got a bit annoyed with the particular mission I played as it felt very impossible to win as the Imperials. No matter though, always love a good play of this one! We are about three missions away from the final scene!

There we have it. Another month’s plays down. What beauties will we behold in November? I suppose that only time will tell! Before I sign out, below are my new acquisitions in October. Hopefully I will be able to pick up a few new ones in November that we really enjoy.

New acquisitions in October 2015:

• The Builders: Antiquity
• Patchwork
• Rhino Hero
• Trambahn
• Welcome to the Dungeon

As always, thanks so much for reading and please feel free to comment or ask any questions if you have them. Until next time, game on!