Obligatory “What I Played In…” Post Part X: April 2016

Coming shortly on the toes of my last post we have plays from April of 2016.  This was an interesting month of plays because we really got a bunch of new stuff and thus had some new stuff to try out!  As well as the new stuff we bought I was also able to make some trades that I was very pleased with.  While we didn’t get nearly as much as last month, we were still able to get in 59 plays for the month.  Enough of the intro stuff, let’s move on to the post!

Statistics:

Total plays in Aprils 2016 – 59

Total unique games played in April 2016 – 21

New games played in April 2016 – 7

New games acquired in April 2016 – 9

New expansions acquired in April 2016 – 6

Most plays of a single game – 9

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Designer – Matt Leacock/Rob Daviau

Publisher – Z-Man Games

Last play before April 2016 – 1/20/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 9

Wow.  I’m not sure what else to really say about our plays of this game.  Em, Sean, Lainey, and I have now made it through nine months of the game and we are on an awesome roll!  We have crushed the diseases and laid them bare in our wake of viral destruction.  All the while we are having an amazing time and loving everything about the game while getting completely immersed in the story that has been crafted by the designers.  I would highly recommend this to everyone…and that is all I have to say.

Red7

Designer – Carl Chudyk/Chris Cieslik

Publisher – Asmadi Games

Last play before April 2016 – 3/19/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 9

Well here is a surprise…a whole bunch of plays of this game in a month!  Okay, if you’ve read my blog at all you know that Red7 is one of our favorite, super-quick fillers.  We love just taking this game everywhere and pulling it out whenever we have 5-10 minutes to kill.  Always a simple, fun time!

Coup

Designer – Rikki Tahta

Publisher – Indie Boards & Cards

Last play before April 2016 – 3/19/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 6

Em and I have made no secrets that we are big fans of Coup.  This is such a quick and small game that is easy to teach and even easier to play.  We’ve been able to teach many different friends this game and we are able to break it out at many different game nights and we just have a ball playing it every time.

Codenames

Designer – Vlaada Chvátil

Publisher – Czech Games Edition

Last plays before April 2016 – 3/20/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 5

April brought out a bunch more plays of Codenames at a game night and as always it went over great.  This is one of those games that should just be a staple in most game collections as it really goes over well with all types of people and never leaves the gamers wanting.  Go and buy it!  Plus, it’s cheap!  And we, as gamers, have to love that!

Baseball Highlights: 2045 (Super Deluxe Edition)

 

Designer – Mike Fitzgerald

Publisher – Eagle-Gryphon Games

New to me

First play – 4/11/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 4

This is a game that I had really been dragging my feet on for quite a while due to its relatively high price point.  Finally, I broke down as I had a very good idea that not only I’d love it, but so would my wife, Em.  I was completely correct!  This game is totally awesome and we are absolutely loving the back and forth, tactical card play.

Mottainai

Designer – Carl Chudyk

Publisher – Asmadi Games

Last play before April 2016 – 3/30/16

Totally plays in April 2016 – 4

Oh do I ever love this game.  I am such a sucker for games that have multi-use cards and Carl Chudyk is a designer that loves that mechanic!  He does such a wonderful job with card games and to be honest I really want to get more by him!  I think I may try to pick up Innovations next and see what my wife thinks about that one!

Oh My Goods!

Designer – Alexander Pfister

Publisher – Lookout Games

Last play before April 2016 – 3/31/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 3

This is another game that has become a huge hit in our household as we are such big fans of card games with a little meat on their bones.  I enjoy every single play of this game and I don’t see that sentiment changing anywhere in the near future.

Artifacts, Inc.

Designer – Ryan Laukat

Publisher – Red Raven Games

New to me

First play – 4/4/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 2

We got this game early in the month a pulled it out.  We’ve become huge fans of Above & Below and wanted to see what Laukat’s other games were like.  This is a very fun dice-placement game that is pretty quick and easy to teach.  And of course, being that it’s from Ryan Laukat, the artwork is amazing!  I really like this one.  If you want a quick and portable dice-placement style game then this may be for you.

Bottom of the 9^th

Designer – Darrell Louder/Mike Mullins

Publisher – Dice Hate Me/Greater Than Games

Last play before April 2016 – 3/23/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 2

Em and I pulled out and played this game a couple of times this month.  This is one of the games that we pull out on average once a month at the least.  It is just a completely fun filler game that really feels like the bottom of a 9^th inning with the game on the line.

Coal Baron

Designer – Michael Kiesling/Wolfgang Kramer

Publisher – R&R Games

New to me

First play – 4/2/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 2

We got Coal Baron in a trade and it is our first Kiesling and Kramer game.  After playing this a couple of times I can totally see why they are some people’s favorite designers!  The easiest way to explain this game is that it is beautifully elegant.  The mechanics are beautifully designed and the game is amazing.  This is exactly what I feel a good Euro-style game should be.  My wife and I have greatly enjoyed this game and want to try others by the designers.

POOP: The Game

Designer – Blaise Sewell

Publisher – Feels Right Design

Last play before April 2016 – 4/19/15

Total plays in April 2016 – 2

I realized that it had been almost exactly a year since we had played this little, silly ice-breaker.  Thus, we pulled it out and had a ball.  Okay, not a great game, but it is a lot of fun with the right crowd, just light, silly fun.  On a related note, Feels Right Design got the go ahead and will be selling the game in Target.  I thought that was pretty cool for them!

Valeria: Card Kingdoms

Designer – Isaias Vallejo

Publisher – Daily Magic Games

New to me

First play – 4/9/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 2

Another one of the games that we acquired this month was Valeria: Card Kingdoms.  I saw this played and was interested in it from the get go.  I’ve been somewhat interested in Machi Koro (which this game seems to be modeled after) but I know it has its detractors.  This game seemed to get rid of some of the problems that kept me away from Machi Koro.  Thankfully, we really enjoyed our plays of this game!  It does ramp up a lot at the end as you are just getting piles and piles of goods in order to buy other cards in some fashion.  It is a very fun game with incredible art by Mihajlo Dimitrievski (The Mico) which really gives this game an awesome look.  If you want a good, light dice rolling and engine building type game then you may enjoy this!

7 Wonders: Duel

Designer – Antoine Bauza/Bruno Cathala

Publisher – Repos Production/Asmodee

Last play before April 2016 – 3/23/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

What else is there to say about this game?  If you are looking for an amazing two-player game then you can’t do too much worse than this.  Also, it definitely has a place in a collection even if you have its big brother, 7 Wonders, as it is a very different game with a very similar feeling.  Love it!

Above and Below

Designer – Ryan Laukat

Publisher – Red Raven Games

Last play before April 2016 – 2/20/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

We got a good play of Above and Below in this past month.  This is easily one of the most beautiful games that we own.  Ryan Laukat has an amazing eye for art and so far we really enjoy his games.  I’m really looking forward to his sequel to this game, Near and Far, which will hit Kickstarter sometime this summer.

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn

Designer – Isaac Vega

Publisher – Plaid Hat Games

Last play before April 2016 – 3/2/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

Woot!  This single play in April was our first with the new expansion decks, The Frostdale Giants featuring Rin Northfell, and The Children of Blackcloud featuring Brennen Blackcloud.  These decks are completely awesome and amazingly and thematically flavorful!  I love these decks and can’t wait to see what is coming up next!

Dice City

Designer – Vangelis Bagiartakis

Publisher – Alderac Entertainment Group/Artipia Games

New to me

First play – 4/9/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

This is a newer dice-placement game that came out this past Essen Spiel and has done pretty well for AEG.  We got it out to the table (it was in our new shipment) and really enjoyed it.  I like small, Euro-style cards as buildings that you are able to change on your personal board.  I also love rolling dice so, yeah, there’s that in spades!  This is a fun game, but beware, it is a table hog!

Mistfall

Designer - Blażej Kubacki

Publisher – NSKN Games/Passport Game Studios

New to me

First play – 4/9/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

I received this game in a trade this month and got it to the table very quickly.  I will say this right off the bat, I loved it!  This is truly what an adventure card game should feel like.  That being said I will state a word of warning; it is a very long, very involved game that doesn’t have the best rulebook I’ve ever read.  But, if you are into the theme and like a good adventure card game that don’t pass over this one without a second look!

Patchwork

Designer – Uwe Rosenberg

Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games

Last play before April 2016 – 3/23/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

What’s that you say?  We played a game of Patchwork during the month?  That’s crazy!  Oh wait, no, that’s expected!  We got this game in October 2015 and haven’t missed a month yet.  This is easily one of our favorite two-player only games.  It is what I consider to be basically a perfect abstract game, easy to learn, hard to master.  Love it!

Space Hulk: Death Angel: The Card Game

Designer – Corey Konieczka

Publisher – Fantasy Flight Games

Last play before April 2016 – 7/31/15

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

During a game night this past month, we were playing Pandemic: Legacy but had to put the game on pause while my wife fielded a call.  So, I decided to break this mean, little co-operative card/dice game out with my buddy Sean.  I will just say that my two squads died in the first hallway!  My dice rolling was definitely off.  Sean was able to step in and got us to the final hallway but that is when he got overrun.  I love this game and this play just made me want to break it out more often.

Tail Feathers

Designer – Jerry Hawthorne

Publisher – Plaid Hat Games

New to me

First play – 4/23/26

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

We’ve had this game since Christmas…and for some reason it has sat on the shelf since then!  I’m not one who has many games that go unplayed, as a matter of fact; every game on my shelf has seen at least one play and most multiple plays…except poor Tail Feathers.  I think I was slightly intimidated by this game (even though I’ve got The Gallerist pretty well down!) and that made me wait until I felt confident enough to teach it to my wife.  We loved it!  It was a great game that literally came down to a bad die roll by Em which enabled me to win on the next roll!  Great fun!

Taste of Poland

Designer – Violetta Kijowska/Marcin Senior Ropka

Publisher – Bomba Games

Last play before April 2016 – 2/22/16

Total plays in April 2016 – 1

We came, we played, and we cooked Polish cuisine…in an abstract sort of way!  We got a play of this fun little card game that has a cool speed element.  Em completely kicked my butt in this play!  This one is always a simple but fun time.

New game acquisitions in April 2016: 
Artifacts, Inc.

Baseball Highlights: 2045 (Super Deluxe Edition)
Coal Baron
Dice City
FUSE
The Grizzled
Mistfall
Quadropolis
Valeria: Card Kingdoms

New expansion acquisitions in April 2016: 
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (The Children of Blackcloud)
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (The Frostdale Giants)
Sentinels of the Multiverse (The Scholar Hero Character)
Sentinels of the Multiverse (Wager Master Villain Character)
Valeria: Card Kingdoms (Expansion Pack #01: King’s Guard)
Valeria: Card Kingdoms (Expansion Pack #02: Undead Samurai)

Oh man, what a month!  So many new games played and acquired and not a dud in sight.  In fairness, I am hardcore about researching games that my wife and I would like as we don’t have much disposable income.  I was incredibly pleased with these purchases/trades and look forward to future plays of them!  I’ll see you all soon as Em and I ramp up our posts for our Top 10 lists.  Keep your eyes peeled for them as they will hopefully start sometime this month.  Until next time, game on!