Hey everyone!
We’re back for my “What I Played In…” series and this time we will take
a look at the games I played in December of 2015.
I was actually surprised with how many games
we were able to get to the table this month.
It actually ended up with the most plays of any month we’ve ever had!
With some of the holiday time off and some
family in town we were really able to have a great month gaming.
Enough preamble, let’s begin!
Statistics:
Total plays in December 2015 – 75
Total unique games played in December 2015 – 24
New games played in December 2015 – 9
New games acquired in December 2015 – 10
Most plays of a single game – 12
Designer – Rikki Tahta
Publisher – Indie Boards & Cards
Last play before December 2015 – 9/13/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 12
Sadly it had been a couple of months since we got this
lovely little game to the table. Due to
having a few game nights and multiple people over we were able to break this
out and play it a total of twelve times this month! It is always a popular game when we break it
out and we have yet to find anyone who doesn’t enjoy the experience.
Designer – Carl Chudyk/Chris Cieslik
Publisher – Asmadi Games
New to me
First play – 12/24/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 11
This was a new acquisition this month and we only got it
at the very end. In the final six days
of the month we ended up playing this one eleven times! Had we gotten this game earlier in the month
I’m pretty sure we’d have passed the twenty mark in plays. We are loving this game and I can’t wait to
get it to the table even more!
Designer – Scott Frisco/Steven Strumpf
Publisher – HABA
Last play before December 2015 – 11/1/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 11
This wonderful family/children’s game has hit the table
eleven times this month and never seems to get old. Everyone who plays this has a ton of
fun. Due to the holidays we ended up
playing this one with both my parents and my wife’s parents and they all had a
ton of fun playing! Never a dull time
playing Rhino Hero!
Designer – Darrell Louder/Mike Mullins
Publisher – Dice Hate Me/Greater Than Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/24/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 8
We got in a bunch more plays of this wonderful little
two-player game this month. We find
ourselves unable to play this game one time when we break it out. We always play once and then switch roles and
play again. I love this experience that
we get with this game as it really feels like playing in the bottom of the 9th
inning of a close baseball game!
Designer – Klaus Miltenberger
Publisher – HABA
New to me
First play – 12/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 4
We bought this game for our three-year-old daughter and
we have already gotten four plays out of it!
My wife and I are totally enjoying this quick and easy children’s
game. It has actually been one of the
most fun games we’ve played this month!
I can’t wait till my little girl really starts to get the game…although
she does really enjoy playing with the little ani-meeples!
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/29/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 4
Another month, another handful of plays of this fantastic
abstract game! This is really making its
case for breaking into my top 10 list!
My wife and I completely fell in love with this game and I’d be
surprised if we didn’t get in at least one play of it every month!
Designer – Violetta Kijowska/Marcin Senior Ropka
Publisher – Bomba Games
New to me
First play – 12/9/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 4
This is a new game that we got just this month. It is a card drafting, set collection game
with a speed element. Em and I have
played it just the two of us and also with a couple of friends. It is a fun, quick little game that is pretty
decent with two players but is definitely better with more. If you have a couple of bucks left and need to
fill a cart to get free shipping then this game is a good way to go.
Designer – Vital Lacerda
Publisher – Eagle-Gryphon Games
New to me
First play – 12/12/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 3
Oh wow, this is one heavy game, both literally and
figuratively! This is a “heavy” style
Euro game where you control a gallerist in an attempt to become the most
successful gallery in the area. This is
decided at the end of the game by the player who has the most money. This is a brilliantly designed game by the
creator of Vinhos, CO2, and Kanban: Automotive Revolution. These are all considered weightier Euro games
and are all widely popular with both the Euro crowd and the critic crowd. I love this one so far and can’t wait to keep
digging into the strategies of it!
Designer – Vlaada Chvátil
Publisher – Czech Games Edition
Last play before December 2015 – 11/1/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 2
We got two games of Codenames in this month with a couple
of friends and as usual this one goes over really well! To be honest, I’m not sure why we didn’t get
more plays of this one in with more people around as it goes over so well. This is always a fun time even though I still
don’t really consider it a “party game.”
Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – Funforge
Last play before December 2015 – 9/20/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 2
Em and I realized that this is the perfect sized game to
take with us to our weekly coffee dates!
We got in two games where we won one and lost one. We still haven’t taught anyone else this one
and I’m not sure why not. We’re going to
have to remedy that soon!
Designer – Ryan Laukat
Publisher – Red Raven Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/25/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
Due to the high amount of games we’ve gotten in December
we were sadly only able to get this game to the table once. Don’t let that dissuade you however, this
game is fantastic! It is a fun Euro
style game with a story telling element that is weaved into the gameplay. This is an absolutely beautiful game and fun
to boot!
Designer – Maxime Rambourg
Publisher – IELLO
New to me
First play – 12/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
Finally! We
finally got this game! Em and I have had
this one on pre-order since Gen Con and it has been pushed back this long. Now, it is in our hands and we played our
first game of it in December. And let me
just say, wow! I have a ton of fun with
this game. It is quite difficult (which
I enjoy in a co-operative game) and has some very cool deck building mechanics
weaved in the experience. Along with the
fun gameplay is a very cool theme with amazing art by Naïade. It was a cheap game and I think it will go
over really well with other players.
Can’t wait to get a ton of plays of this game during this year.
Designer – Frédéric Henry
Publisher – Bombyx/Asmodee
Last play before December 2015 – 10/31/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
We got a single play of this game in December during our
coffee date. This is a quick and fun
game that doesn’t take long to set up and doesn’t take much to play. Not much else to say about this fun little
game.
Designer – Mike Fitzgerald
Publisher – Stronghold Games
Last play before December 2015 – 9/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
This was a Christmas game for us this year. We broke it out and played it with Em’s
parents and with my parents. This is a
beautifully designed, modern trick-taking game by the fantastic Mike
Fitzgerald. This game went over great
and my dad actually eked out a win.
Designer – Matthew Inman/Elan Lee/Shame Small
Publisher – (Self-Published)
New to me
First play – 12/28/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
Oh what to say about this one? I sat down and played this with my nephew
during our Christmas with Em’s side of the family. They got this game for Christmas and my
nephew wanted to play it with me. I
agreed and we sat down and played a round.
This is only a game I’d play with people who aren’t interested in the
hobby at all. It is not a difficult game
and it quite a bit of take-that gameplay.
Not my style of game but I could see it being popular with the
mainstream and I can understand why it did well during its Kickstarter run.
Designer – Kevin Lanzing
Publisher – Indie Boards & Cards
First play – 12/28/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
We bought this game for my nephew for Christmas and he
wanted to break it out and play it. We
did so and after a short rules reading we played the basic game. It was a fun game with a Pandemic feel to
it. I could see having fun with this
with Em and with Fiona as she gets older.
Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – R&R Games
Last play before December 2015 – 10/9/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
Em and I broke this game out at a game night with a bunch
of friends and played a five-player game.
We did fairly well. I love that
Em seems to be enjoying this game much more than she used to! Everyone did well and we ended up with a
respectable 16 point score.
Designer – Jerry Hawthorne
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
Last play before December 2015 – 9/16/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
Em and I continued our campaign through the campaign
mode. This is always a fun game and I
think it would really go over well with any kids and families. I look forward to when Fiona is a little
older and she could handle this game.
Designer – Tim Fowers
Publisher – (Self-Published)
Last play before December 2015 – 10/3/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
We broke this game out when our friends came over from
England and hung out with us for a couple days.
This is a great deck builder that uses that mechanic with a word game in
a wonderfully fun game.
Designer – Samuel Strick
Publisher – Laboratory Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/11/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
We got one play of this “micro-Euro” game during one of
our coffee dates. I love that I can just
throw this is a bag and it takes up next to no room. This is a quick and fun little Euro that is
going to be getting a deluxe, Kickstarted version sometime this year.
Designer – Samuel Strick
Publisher – Laboratory Games
New to me
First play – 12/16/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
This is a small game by the same designer (Samuel Strick)
as Province. Their company (Laboratory
Games) has become a group that takes a game genre (CCG, Euro, Ameri-trash,
deck-building) and makes a “micro” game that is styled after these games. I love what they’re doing. So far their games I’ve played are quick and
fun. Hopefully they are able to continue
making good stuff!
Designer – Gordon Lamont/Fraser Lamont
Publisher – Renegade Game Studios/Fragor Games
New to me
First play – 12/28/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
My wife’s parents got me this game for Christmas. It has been one I’ve had my eyes on for some
time and I was super-pumped to get it!
This is the first racing game that we have in our collection and from
all of the research I’ve done it seems to be the one that is best for us. The art is good; the components are great and
fit perfectly in the theme. We’ve only
gotten the game to the table once so far but I foresee that it will be a
mainstay in the collection and get many plays in the future!
Designer – Helmut Ohley
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/24/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
This is another game (like Patchwork) that I think my
wife and I will get at least one play in of it every month. We love the card play in this one and while
it is thin, I like the theme (at least the card art) as well. It is an absolutely wonderful two player
game!
Designer – Adam West/Dan Schnake/Abe Schnake
Publisher – CrossCut Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1
This game is one of our successful Kickstarter
acquisitions and it has been a fun one to play.
Em and I really enjoy a good dice-chucker and this one does a good job
with a Yahtzee style mechanism and wonderful art. I look forward to what Adam and crew do next.
And there you have it.
That was a look back at our extremely busy (but fun and game-heavy)
December. We acquired ten games this
month and were able to get six of them to the table at least once. Most of these were gifts for Christmas so I
just go them too late to be able to start.
Hopefully they will all be played at least once before the new crop
comes in for our Christmas celebration with my side of the family. Below are the ten games we got in December.
New acquisitions in December 2015:
Animal Upon Animal
The Big Book of Madness
The Gallerist
Mysterium
Nyet!
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Red7
Snow Tails
Tail Feathers
Taste of Poland
So what games did you get for Christmas?
Anything I should take a look at?
As always, thanks so much for reading and
feel free to leave any questions or comments in bottom and feel free to message
and/or friend me on
BoardGameGeek.
You
can find me under the name
LateToTheTable.
Until next time, game on!
