10x10 Challenge:
Arkham Horror: The Card Game (1 play)
Cottage Garden (0 plays)
Five Tribes (1 play)
Gloomhaven (0 plays)
Great Western Trail (3 plays)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (0 plays)
Ticket to Ride (1 play)
Tokaido (0 plays)
Too Many Bones (0 plays)
Unfair (0 plays)
Well, there you have it. Those are the 10 games that we chose. As you may be able to see, a few of them haven’t even been released yet, but we’re confident that we can still get a good amount of plays of them in. Alright, let’s move into the meat of the post, here are the statistics. Enjoy your read!
Statistics:
Total plays in January 2017 – 60
Total unique games played in January 2017 – 23
New games played in January 2017 – 4
New games acquired in January 2017 – N/A
New expansions acquired in January 2017 – 1
Most plays of a single game in January 2017 – 16
Fabled Fruit
Designer – Friedemann Friese
Publisher – Stronghold Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/29/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 16
We got in a bunch more plays of Fabled Fruit this month as we are working through the deck. This is a wonderful little card game with some worker placement mechanisms in it. I’d highly recommend this game to any family as it is easy to learn and fun to play!
Game of Trains
Designer – Alexey Konnov/Alexey Paltsev/Anatoliy Shklyarov
Publisher – Brain Games
New to meFirst play – 1/12/17
Total plays in January 2017 – 10
Em and I have really taken to this game as a super light, super quick filler game. This has become our Red7 of 2017 so far. This game is very easy to learn/play and takes only about 10 minutes or so thus making it a quick game we can take pretty much anywhere and break out when we have time.
Designer – Isaias Vallejo/Rick Holzgrafe
Publisher – Daily Magic Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/31/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 4
I love this game! This game has a bit of a feel of Race for the Galaxy but is somewhat lighter and has much better artwork! Em and I played it a few times and I was also able to teach Josh how to play during one of our game nights.
Publisher – Daily Magic Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/31/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 4
I love this game! This game has a bit of a feel of Race for the Galaxy but is somewhat lighter and has much better artwork! Em and I played it a few times and I was also able to teach Josh how to play during one of our game nights.
Great Western Trail
Designer – Alexander Pfister
Publisher – Stronghold Games
New to me
First play – 1/1/17
Total plays in January 2017 - 3
Okay…wow! This game is absolutely amazing! My wife and I got to play this game three times this past month and it was completely awesome every time! This game has a very real possibility of moving up into not only my top 10 favorite games, but maybe even into the top 5! If you want a medium-to-heavy weight game with some many awesome mechanisms then check this one out!
SeaFall
Designer – Rob Daviau
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/18/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 3
Em, Josh and I got in a few plays of SeaFall again this month. We’ve now finished ten games and we’re still enjoying the ride. We’re trying to finish this one up in the next month or two as I have Gloomhaven on pre-order and that will probably be our next campaign-style game. I look forward to seeing how this one ends.
Bohnanza
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Rio Grande Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/31/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 2
We were able to teach this absolutely wonderful card game to our buddy Josh this past month and he loved it just as much as we did! This is one of those card games that absolutely amazes me as it is a fairly brilliant design. This is definitely a game that we will be playing for a long, long time.
Bottom of the 9th
Designer – Darrell Louder/Mike Mullins
Publisher – Dice Hate Me/Greater Than Games
Last play before January 2017 – 7/26/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 2
Em and I played a couple of rounds of this wonderful two-player baseball game and split the wins. I’m still looking forward to the expansion that we Kickstarted last year but has been pushed back. I can’t wait to add more cards to this wonderful card and dice game.
Escape: The Curse of the Temple
Designer – Kristian Amundsen Østby
Publisher – Queen Games
New to me
First play – 1/7/17
Total plays in January 2017 – 2
Josh taught us this fun, quick, real-time dice and tile-laying game at a game night and we got two quick rounds in. This is a fun game but it is also a surprisingly stressful game! Thankfully each round is only 10 minutes so it was still an enjoyable experience.
A Feast for Odin
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Z-Man Games
New to me
First play – 1/1/17
Total plays in January 2017 – 2
I got two solo plays of this new Uwe game before I tried to teach Em and man did I ever enjoy it! The worker placement is great as it always is in his games, but this one adds a great pattern recognition/special element where you are placing tiles on your board in order to get income and cover up negative points. I love this element and is really what makes this a must own for us!
La Granja: No Siesta
Designer – Andreas Odendahl
Publisher – Stronghold Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/22/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 2
This is another one I taught Em this past month. She and I both really enjoy the dice drafting in this fun dice chucking and resource management game. We haven’t played this games “big brother” La Granja, but this makes us want to try it out!
Sushi Go Party!
Designer – Phil Walker-Harding
Publisher – Gamewright
Last play before January 2017 – 10/5/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 2
We got in a couple of plays of this light, fun card-drafting and set collection game this past month. This game is in my wife’s top 10 as she really loves the simple card-drafting and the very cute and fun theme. I would highly recommend this as a first step card-drafting game!
51st State: Master Set
Designer – Ignacy Trzewiczek
Publisher – Portal Games
Last play before January 2017 – 7/16/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
Em and I broke out this fantastic game and have a go of it. This is actually the first time I beat her as she seems to really have a good grasp on the timing of this game. This is one that could jump up higher in my top games list with more plays although I still prefer Imperial Settlers.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Designer – Nate French/Matthew Newman
Publisher – Fantasy Flight Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/17/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
We broke out this fantastic co-operative card game this past month and played the new side quest adventure deck that we got, Curse of the Rougarou, and just barely won! Em’s character was one hit point away from dying but we were able to keep her safe while we solved the mystery.
Eldritch Horror
Designer – Corey Konieczka/Nikki Valens
Publisher – Fantasy Flight Games
Last play before January 2017 – 11/4/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
We broke this game out at a game night with Josh, Adam, Tyler and Mike this past month and man did it ever go long! We played against Yog-Sothoth and the game ended up going on for about 4 ½ hours. For the most part the game was awesome but I’d say that it ended up going on for about 45 minutes too long, by that time we were done. That being said, this is still a great game and I’d play it most of the time it was pulled out!
Five Tribes
Designer – Bruno Cathala
Publisher – Days of Wonder
Last play before January 2017 – 12/31/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
Em and I pulled out this great Mancala-style game this past month and got in a play of it. I do have to say that this game is quickly moving up my list. I love the tactical feel of the 3-4 player games while the 2 player games really has a strategic as well as tactical feel. This is a great game by a fabulous designer!
The Grizzled
Designer – Fabien Riffaud/Juan Rodriguez
Publisher – Cool Mini Or Not
Last play before January 2017 – 8/5/17
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
Em and I broke out this fabulous co-operative card game with the expansion and took it on easy. We were able to just barely pull out the win this time! Besides being a wonderful game, the artwork is completely great! If you want a tough but rewarding co-op game then try this one out!
Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King
Designer – Alexander Pfister/Andreas Pelikan
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before January 2017 – 11/3/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
Anytime I get in a play of a Pfister game I’m happy! We decided to pull this one out and I was able to edge Em out and defeat her to take the title of king! Pfister is now at a point that I’ll look at absolutely anything he’s putting out and it will almost always be an insta-buy!
Mechs Vs. Minions
Designer – Chris Cantrell/Rick Ernst/Stone Librande/Prashant Saraswat/Nathan Tiras
Publisher – Riot Games
Last play before January 2017 – 11/23/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
We played and completed another mission in this great co-operative card drafting and programming game! This game’s production never ceases to amaze me. Spoiler alert…when I complete my “Late-ies” awards for 2016 in the next month or so you’ll definitely see this game make an appearance or two!
Oh My Goods!
Designer – Alexander Pfister
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before January 2017 – 12/20/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
We finally picked up the Longsdale in Revolt expansion for this incredible card game and it makes the game even more replayable and awesome! I am constantly impressed by Pfister and the way his mind thinks. If you have and enjoy Oh My Goods! then I would highly recommend hunting this expansion down.
The Ravens of Thri Sahashri
Designer – Kuro
Publisher – Osprey Games/Japon Brand
Last play before January 2017 – 12/20/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
Em and I decided to pull out this co-operative, asymmetrical card game this past month during a breakfast date and we won! This was the first time we beat the game with the rules out of the first envelope. Now we’ll be adding in the rules for the second envelope so let’s see how long it takes us to beat those!
Roll for the Galaxy
Designer – Thomas Lehmann/Wei-Hwa Huang
Publisher – Rio Grande Games
Last play before January 2017 – 8/22/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
We pulled out this incredible dice rolling, tableau building game for the first time in about 4 months and played it along with the Ambition expansion. This game still remains as one of our favorite and just feels great as your rolling your dice and creating your little empire.
Ticket to Ride
Designer – Alan R. Moon
Publisher – Days of Wonder
Last play before January 2017 – 11/19/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
We pulled out this game along with the Nederland expansion map and Em beat me up! This is one of the maps that she is really good at and I still haven’t won. While this particular map is my kryptonite, I always seem to win the India map…so next time I should pull that one out!
Würfel Bohnanza
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – AMIGO Spiele
Last play before January 2017 – 12/20/16
Total plays in January 2017 – 1
What month is complete without a play of this great little dice rolling game? We taught our buddy Josh this fun game and he really enjoyed it. I was able to pull out the win this time!
New game acquisitions in January 2017:
N/A
New expansion acquisitions in January 2017:
Oh My Goods!: Longsdale in Revolt
Well, there you have it my friends, another wonderful month of gaming in the books. We had some great plays and even got a couple new games to the table. February actually marks my birthday month so there is a pretty good chance that I’ll be getting some games for that. As usual, check out next month and I’ll have my stats up then! Until next time, game on!
