Obligatory End of 2014 Post Part IV: Top Interests of 2015: Honorable Mentions

Now we move on to my greatest interests of 2015. These are the games that I am so very interested in for some reason or another, whether it be theme, mechanic, or even designer. If you haven’t seen them yet, check out my previous three posts from my “Obligatory End of 2014” series. These handle my top interests from 2014 that I haven’t yet been able to play. Check out the links below if you’re interested, and if not just skip on ahead and check out my honorable mentions for my interests of 2015.

Honorable mentions of 2014: http://www.alittlelatetothetable.blogspot.com/2015/01/obligatory-end-of-2014-post-part-i-top.html
 
Games 6-10 of 2014: http://www.alittlelatetothetable.blogspot.com/2015/01/obligatory-end-of-2014-post-part-i-top_13.html

Games 1-5 of 2014: http://www.alittlelatetothetable.blogspot.com/2015/01/obligatory-end-of-2014-post-part-iii.html

Before I go through my honorable mentions I think it begs repeating how I chose to label games either from 2014 or from 2015. Even if a game had a 2014 release date I didn’t put it in that category if it wasn’t readily available in the United States. Most of these games technically have an official 2014 release date but haven’t been distributed in the United States as of yet. That being said, on to my honorable mentions list of 2015!

The first game to make its way onto the list is Scythe, designed by Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone and published by Stonemaier Games. Technically this game already has a 2016 release date because it is going to be a Kickstarter a little later this year. Even though it has a later release date, I’m still putting it on my list because it sounds that amazing! This game has been explained as a mixture of Agricola (i.e. farming elements) and Kemet (i.e. area control) by the way of asymmetrical factions. If this doesn’t hook you on a game idea I don’t know what does! Plus, it has a card driven mechanic that keeps the action moving along smoothly. I can’t wait to see how this game rolls along as Stonemaier Games arguably puts on the best Kickstarters of any publisher. If their previous games like Euphoria and Viticulture are any idea of the future of this game and it’s Kickstarter, then I think we’re in for a treat! This is why I’ve “broken” my own rules and put a 2016 game on my list. 
 

The next game on this list is Between Two Cites, designed by Matthew O’Malley and Ben Rosset and published by Stonemaier Games. Another Stonemaier Games release! This is another game that will soon be making its run on Kickstarter and knowing their pedigree, it will be perfectly managed. This game is a city-building game where you partner with other players to create two cities and manage them between both players. You have to work together in order to make the cities the most livable and in the end it is the player with the most points that wins overall. This game has elements of co-op, card drafting, and tile-laying, all of which I love! This game is looking more and more interesting as it gets closer to its February 25th Kickstarter. 

The next game on my list is one of the few games I have pledged to on Kickstarter. The game is Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King and it is designed and published by Soda Pop Miniatures. This is the follow up to the popular game Super Dungeon Explore. Now, this stand-alone expansion will add more mechanics to the base game and well as a ton more models! I jumped on this one because of the stretch goals that were reached. I’m not sure that I would have pledged had the Kickstarter not hit the levels that it did. That being said, I’m very pleased with the way the company has handled the project. While the original due date was in December, they have been keeping those who pledged updated with weekly posts on the Kickstarter site. As of now they have received their first full copy of the game and seem to be pleased with the way it looks! We are now looking at a March due date and I am excited for the Arcade mode (fully co-operative!) that has been created to go along with the release. Can’t wait for my copy to come in the mail…and expect a full unboxing when it happens!

The fourth game to make the list, and just miss the top honorable mention spot, is La Granja. This game was designed by the team of Andreas Odendahl and Michael Keller and published by Spielworxx. Thankfully, Stronghold Games has picked the game up for United States distribution as this game really looks like a winner! This game has often been described as the lovechild of an Uwe Rosenberg game and a Stefan Feld game. To be honest, I’ve never played either of those designer’s creations before (although you may see one on the top ten of2015 list!) but I understand the pedigree is impressive! This game looks awesome because you are able to take the cards you are dealt and use them in many different ways. I love games where the cards can be played more than just one way, it is just one of the reasons I love Imperial Settlers. La Granja lets you use these cards in order to gain points in order to beat your opponents. This is a very good looking, mechanically-sound game that will see its release in the United States in 2015.

The final (thus my most interesting) game to make the honorable mentions list of 2015 is Elysium, designed by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert and published by Space Cowboys. This game has been picked up for distribution in the United States by Asmodee and should see its stateside release in the next month or so. This game is set in mythic Greece and uses card-drafting (easily one of my favorite game mechanics) and set-collection as its main mechanics. I love how each of the gods has their own cards that act and react differently than each other. Your goal is to please the gods by transferring their cards into Elysium and thereby gaining enough points for victory. Card games are probably my favorite and thus this one has just enough to get me very excited about its release.

There you go, my honorable mentions of 2015. These are just five of the games that I am excited to play, but there are ten more to come. Check back here soon for games 6-10 of my top 10 list. As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here or at the posting on BoardGameGeek at my handle name, LateToTheTable. Thanks for reading. Until next time, game on!