Obligatory “What I Played In…” Post Part XXI: March 2017

So we are on to another month and that means another post with my previous month’s gameplays!  This past month we did pretty good nearly hitting 60 plays and had 25 different games played.  We are trucking along in our 10x10 challenge and look forward to see how it will look in the next couple of months as we will be getting in Too Many Bones.  Here’s what our 10x10 looks like after March’s plays.

10x10 Challenge:

Arkham Horror: The Card Game (0 plays in March, 1 total play for 2017)

Cottage Garden (2 plays in March, 3 total plays for 2017)

Five Tribes (0 plays in March, 2 total plays for 2017)

Gloomhaven (0 plays in March, 0 total plays for 2017)

Great Western Trail (0 plays in March, 3 total plays for 2017)

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (2 plays in March, 9 total plays for 2017)

Ticket to Ride (2 plays in March, 8 total plays for 2017)

Tokaido (0 plays in March, 0 total plays for 2017)

Too Many Bones (0 plays in March, 0 total plays for 2017)

Unfair (4 plays in March, 4 total plays for 2017)

There we go…we’re realy starting to truck along in our plays for the 10x10 challenge and I fully expect us to hit the mark by the end of the year!  Well then, let’s move on to our statistics for the month of March and see how they look.

Statistics:

Total plays in March 2017 – 59

Total unique games played in March 2017 – 26

New games played in March 2017 – 6

New games acquired in March 2017 – 2

New expansions acquired in March 2017 – N/A

Most plays of a single game in March 2017 – 8

Pandemic

Designer – Matt Leacock

Publisher – Z-Man Games

New to me

First play – 3/21/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 8

Okay, so technically I had never played the original base game of Pandemic until this past month.  I’ve played Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Pandemic Iberia and Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu but not the original.  Now I have the game on my tablet and have played it a bunch and it is just a wonderful co-operative, set-collection game that will also be a classic in my opinion.

Animal Upon Animal

Designer – Klaus Miltenberger

Publisher – HABA

Last play before March 2017 – 1/31/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 5

Our daughter had lost the die to this game over a year ago thus making it difficult to play.  I suppose we could have used another die but it wouldn’t have been the same.  We contacted HABA and they sent us a replacement which was awesome!  Thus, Em and I were able to get in a bunch of this game this month and it is just a great stacking game!

Kanagawa

Designer – Bruno Cathala/Charles Chevallier

Publisher – IELLO

New to me

First play – 3/7/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 5

We picked this game up when we went to Fort Wayne to play games for my birthday.  I had been eyeing it for some time and think the art is absolutely beautiful.  On the plus side the game is also a really good card drafting and set collection game!  Em and I have had a bunch of fun with this one.

Sentinels of the Multiverse

Designer – Christopher Badell/Paul Bender/Adam Rebottaro

Publisher – Greater Than Games/Sentinel Comics

Last play before March 2017 – 5/5/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 5

It had been WAY too long since I had played a round of this fantastic card game.  This is actually one of my favorite games but it can be a bit of a pain to pull out and play.  I finally picked up the app version of the game and got a bunch of expansions for it and it has been awesome!  This just reaffirms my love of the game and I can’t wait for the OblivAeon expansion!

Unfair

Designer – Joel Finch

Publisher – Good Games Publishing/CMON Limited

New to me

First play – 3/9/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 4

We just received this game from a Kickstarter campaign that ran last year right around Gen Con.  This is a wonderful set-collection, card-drafting, and somewhat take-that card game that includes an awesome theme and wonderful art!  I look forward to even more plays of this one and really want to get some more players involved.

Bear Valley

Designer – Carl Chudyk

Publisher – Stronghold Games

Last play before March 2017 – 12/31/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 3

Em and I pulled out this short and fun push-your-luck and “tile-laying” card game by the wonderful Chudyk and played a few rounds this past weekend.  This is one of those great games to just play a bunch of times in a row in between larger games.

Red7

Designer – Carl Chudyk/Chris Cieslik

Publisher – Asmadi Games

Last play before March 2017 – 2/13/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 3

We got to break out this fabulous little card game for a couple of rounds in between games this past month and as usual had a great time.  This is one of the best small deck card games I’ve ever played.  It is such a simple premise but the game itself is simple and great.  This will always be one of our most played games.

The Big Book of Madness

Designer – Maxime Rambourg

Publisher – IELLO

Last play before March 2017 – 8/6/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

We broke this out with Molly and Dustin this past month and proceeded to get our butts handed to us twice!  I love this game and consider it to be one of my favorite co-operative deck building games.  It is thematic, the art is great, and the game it hard but entertaining.  I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of a magical theme, co-operative games, and deck building games.

Cottage Garden

Designer – Uwe Rosenberg

Publisher – Edition Spielwiese

Last play before March 2017 – 2/21/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

We pulled this fun tile-laying/tile-drafting game out in March and played a couple of rounds of it.  This is a fun game that we really enjoying pulling out and playing a couple of times in a row.  We always find ourselves playing multiple rounds of this game when we break it out because it is so quick and fun!

A Feast for Odin

Designer – Uwe Rosenberg

Publisher – Z-Man Games

Last play before March 2017 – 2/5/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

I was able to play two games of this fantastic worker placement and tile laying/pattern building game by the amazing Rosenberg.  I played the first game with Em and she schooled me hard.  The second game was against my buddy Josh as I was teaching him the game.  This game is definitely one of my favorite releases from 2016.

MBL Pocket Pro Tour

Designer – Jessey Wright

Publisher – Level 99 Games

New to me

First play – 3/1/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

This little micro-game came along with the Kickstarter to Millennium Blades: Set Rotation so Em and I pulled it out and played it a couple of times.  It is a decent game for being such a small amount of cards but I don’t think either of us would search it out or it would be our filler of choice.

One Deck Dungeon

Designer – Chris Cieslik

Publisher – Asmadi Games

Last play before March 2017 – 2/25/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

Em and I got in a play of this fun little rogue-like card game and I also did a solo playthrough.  My solo play didn’t go well but Em and I were able to push through the dragon’s cave and defeat him in the end with her warrior and my mage.  I really dig the design of this game and am really looking forward to the Kickstarter for the expansion when it goes live.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords

Designer – Mike Selinker/Chad Brown/Tanis O’Connor/Paul Peterson/Gaby Weidling

Publisher – Paizo Publishing

Last play before March 2017 – 2/21/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

We broke out this game in March and played the first couple of scenarios in the final (Spires of Xin-Shalast) adventure deck and were able to win although barely.  We are almost done with this base set which means we can move on to the Skull & Shackles base set.

Ticket to Ride

Designer – Alan R. Moon

Publisher – Days of Wonder

Last play before March 2017 – 2/2/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 2

Em and I took a day and played a couple of our maps this past month as we like to do on occasion.  We played the Heart of Africa map and the Nederland map.  I won the first and Em won the second.  This is still one of our favorite games and I don’t really see that changing anytime soon with the awesome amount of variety in the different maps that we have.

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn

Designer – Isaac Vega

Publisher – Plaid Hat Games

Last play before March 2017 – 2/7/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

Josh and I pulled out Ashes this past month and played a round.  I grabbed Jessa and he took Brennen and we had a pretty awesome match.  I had him down to just a couple health left but wasn’t quite able to finish the job as I really had no more direct damage left with Jessa.  Man do I love this game and can’t wait to see the new expansions with the new dice!

Bohnanza

Designer – Uwe Rosenberg

Publisher – Rio Grande Games/Amigo Spiele

Last play before March 2017 – 1/22/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

The guys (Josh, Tim and Dustin) and I went out to Fort Wayne and had some dinner and played some games for my birthday this past month and we found ourselves at Steak ‘n Shake and playing a hand of this incredible card game.  I love everything about this game and don’t think anything would ever make me tired of it!  Plus, I won…bonus!

Dice City

Designer – Vangelis Bagiartakis

Publisher – Alderac Entertainment Group

Last play before March 2017 – 9/16/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

Em and I felt like playing a dice rolling game so we came up with this wonderful game.  I love the dice rolling and placement of this game as you buy up new buildings and make your city even cooler.  I ended up getting a really sweet combo going on with one of the expansion buildings and took that to the win…although barely!

Fabled Fruit

Designer – Friedemann Friese

Publisher – Stronghold Games/2F-Spiele

Last play before March 2017 – 2/4/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

Em and I have already played through this fun game once together and decided to break it out with Molly and Dustin.  So, now we’ve started our second playthrough and both of them really enjoyed the first game of it!  I have found it to feel completely different with four players as opposed to two and think that it is great that it does!

New Bedford

Designer – Nathaniel Levan

Publisher – Greater Than Games/Dice Hate Me

Last play before March 2017 – 9/7/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

I really felt like a good, quick worker placement game one day so we pulled out New Bedford and set it up.  I really like this game, especially when you add in the expansion and get the added variety from it.  I really want to break this game out a little more and enjoy the simple but fun gameplay and really good art/components!

Port Royal

Designer – Alexander Pfister

Publisher – Pegasus Spiele

Last play before March 2017 – 2/25/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

This is a game that I really think I could break out anytime and have a great time!  We have only played it a couple of times but I really enjoy it!  This is just another awesome game by the fantastic Pfister and has just proven to me that I need to try everything he puts out there.  I really want to get the expansion which just adds more variety and ways to play the game!  Plus, there is a new expansion coming out that will add some campaign play to the mix!  Alexander is a genius…the end!

Quests of Valeria

Designer – Isaias Vallejo

Publisher – Daily Magic Games

Last play before March 2017 – 2/23/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

This game was shipped to us in February and this was our second play of it.  These Valeria games by Vallejo and crew have really made me notice Daily Magic Games and I am at a point now that I’ll at least look at everything that they do seriously as they are doing some awesome things there.  I look forward to whatever his next Valeria game will be as I think it will be another hit!

Roll Player

Designer – Keith Matejka

Publisher – Thunderworks Games

Last play before March 2017 – 11/24/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

This game is just an amazing dice-drafting and dice-placement game that only gets better with each plays.  I broke this out with the guys during our “outing” this past month and they all loved it!  I am really looking forward to the expansion that Keith states he’s planning on doing sometime this year.  Bring on more Roll Player!

Scythe

Designer – Jamey Stegmaier

Publisher – Stonemaier Games

New to me

First play – 3/18/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

I went over to Josh’s house one night this past month and he taught me this uber-popular game.  Area control isn’t really my favorite game mechanism but this game was very good.  I can see why people really like it although it isn’t going to break into my favorite game’s list any time soon.  That being said I’d play this pretty much anytime and enjoy it!

Valeria: Card Kingdoms

Designer – Isaias Vallejo

Publisher – Daily Magic Games

Last play before March 2017 – 7/27/16

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

Em and I decided to teach this to Josh one day when we were looking for good games to play.  I figured that he’d really like it.  I was right!  He ended up going out and picking up a copy right after playing with us as he liked it that much.  This is such a great card and dice game that I’d pull out with anyone as it is that simple and fun!

Vast: The Crystal Caverns

Designer – Patrick Leder/David Somerville

Publisher – Leder Games

New to me

First play – 3/18/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

Okay, now this game was an eye opener.  The previous night we had played Scythe and then I got to try this one out the very next day!  This game is right up my alley.  I enjoyed every single moment of the asymmetrical gameplay as the game came down to the very last turn and each one of us could have won on that turn…I just happened to be first up!  I can’t wait to try it again and maybe as a different character.

Würfel Bohnanza

Designer – Uwe Rosenberg

Publisher – Amigo Spiele

Last play before March 2017 – 2/13/17

Total plays in March 2017 – 1

Oh yeah!  We not only got to play the card game, Bohnanza, this month, but also the dice game, Würfel Bohnanza!  This dice rolling game is one of the best fillers that I can think of out there.  I still don’t understand how it doesn’t have an English printing because I think that so many people are missing out on the simple and super-fun, dice-rolling game!

New game acquisitions in March 2017:

Kanagawa

Unfair

New expansion acquisitions in March 2017:

N/A

Well, there you have it, I’ve made it through another month of gaming and it was awesome!  I look forward to a couple of games that we should be getting pretty soon which will hopefully make their way onto this list in the next month.  Keep an eye out as I’ll be finishing up my “End of 2016” series with the games that I’m most interested in from 2017 that I haven’t yet played.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory End of 2016 Post Part V: Top Interests of 2016: Top 10 List (Games 1-5)

Phew…now we’re nearing the end of the games that I’m interested in from this past year that I haven’t gotten a chance to try yet.  This post will take a look at the top 5 games on the list.  If you haven’t had a chance yet feel free to click on the links below and check out the previous four posts in my “End of 2016” series.

Obligatory End of 2016 Part I: Final Statistics from2016

Obligatory End of 2016 Part II: The “Late-ies” Awards (Best of 2016)

Obligatory End of 2016 Part III: Top Interests of 2016: Honorable Mentions

Obligatory End of 2016 Part IV: Top Interests of 2016: Top 10 List (Games 6-10)

Okay, now it’s time to move on to the top 5 games!  These are all games that I’m very interested in and wouldn’t be surprised to see a few in my collection at some point.  Keep on reading to see what they are and enjoy!

#5 – Adrenaline (Czech Games Edition)

Adrenaline is an area control, hybrid game that looks to mimic the classic first person shooter video games.  This game is designed by Filip Neduk and published by Czech Games Edition.  The game uses area control, an action point allowance system, and area movement as its primary gaming mechanisms in the 3-5 player battles that ensue.

This is an area control game where each player takes on the role of a character from a first person shooter game and run around the board attempting to kill all of the other players.  The scoring in this game is really clever as the area control doesn’t really happen on the gameboard itself but rather on the player’s personal boards.  These are the areas that the other players are trying to gain control of so that they can score more points by the end.  I am really itching to try this game and hope to sometime in the near-ish future!

#4 – Aeon’s End (Action Phase Games/Indie Boards &Cards)

Aeon’s End is a deck-building game that is set in a fantasy world where survivors of a long-ago invasion have taken refuge in an underground city called Gravehold.  This game is designed by Kevin Riley and published by Action Phase Games and Indie Boards & Cards.  It uses deck building, card drafting, and hand management as its primary gaming mechanisms in the co-operative  game.

This co-op finds each player taking on the role of a breach mage who is attempting to use breaches against the very creatures which coming through.  They are able to form spells and weapons from these breaches with gems and thus are able to give Gravehold hope.  This deck builder is clever as you never actually shuffle the deck so you have a good idea of what is coming up and how you can somewhat prepare.  I am looking forward to trying this one out as I think it looks very good!

#3 – Dawn of the Zeds: 3^rd Edition (Victory Point Games)

Dawn of the Zeds: 3^rd Edition is a co-operative, dice rolling game where a group of people are fighting against a horde of zombies in order to stay alive.  This game is designed by Hermann Luttmann and published by Victory Point Games.  It uses dice rolling, a chit pull system and an action point allowance system as its primary game mechanisms in this co-operative survival game.

This co-op finds the players taking on the role of survivors as they attempt to keep their town safe for the violent hordes of zombies.  Each player takes some of the survivors and uses their powers to attempt to stem the tides of zombies that are heading towards the small town where all of the survivors have gathered.  The players each of their survivor’s powers and will roll dice and check a chart to see how they do.  This game has been on my radar for some time and I’d love to pick up this edition at some point!

#2 – Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure (Renegade Game Studios)

Clank! is a deck building game where the players are delving into a cavern and attempting to loot the different treasures that are lying in wait.  This game is designed by Paul Dennen and is published by Renegade Game Studios.  It uses deck-building, adventuring, and point-to-point movement as its primary game mechanisms in this 1-4 player free-for-all.

This game finds players taking on the role of a treasure hunter as they are hunting different treasures in a series of caverns.  However, there is a dragon in this cave and everything the players do may be causing the dragon to wake up.  The players will use common deck-building mechanisms to create their deck and make it more efficient as they are getting deeper into the dungeon.  I love how this game simply adds in a board and it makes the deck-building functional instead of just a game mechanism.  I am really looking forward to getting my hands on this game and its expansion.

#1 – Covert (Renegade Game Studios)

Covert is a dice game where the players are spies who are looking to gain the most information and get points in the meantime.  This game is designed by Kane Klenko and is published by Renegade Game Studios.  The game uses worker placement, hand management, dice rolling/placement, and set collection and its primary mechanisms during the espionage fun.

Covert has the players controlling their network of spies during the Cold War in an effort to gain intelligence, gain equipment, and break codes.  Their goal is to be the best of the rival agencies by gaining the most intel which in this game translates to point.  I love Klenko’s use of dice in his games and really want to try this one out as I think it would be the type of dice rolling and dice placement that I really enjoy.

And there you have it, my top game interests from 2016 that I haven’t yet had the opportunity to play.  These are all high on my list and I expect to have a few in my collection within the year.  Let me know what games you think I missed (I may have already played them!) and which ones you are most interested in.  I’m gonna take a break from my “End of 2016” series and do a post on last month’s plays next.  Then I’ll move on to the games in 2017 that I’m most interested in and haven’t had the opportunity to try yet.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory End of 2016 Post Part IV: Top Interests of 2016: Top 10 List (Games 6-10)

Alright, now we move on to my top 10 game interests from 2016 that I haven’t yet had the opportunity to play.  These are all games that I’d love to check out at some point and many of them may end up on my shelf at some point.  Before I continue with the post feel free to check out the links below to catch up on parts 1-3 of my “End of 2016” posts.  The first is my play statistics from 2016, the second is my “Late-ies” Awards for 2016, and the third is my honorable mentions of 2016 games that I have yet to play.

Obligatory End of 2016 Part I: Final Statistics from 2016

Obligatory End of 2016 Part II: The “Late-ies” Awards (Best of 2016)

Obligatory End of 2016 Part III: Top Interests of 2016: Honorable Mentions

Alright, now that everyone is back, let’s move on to the main event!  These are games 6-10 of my top 10 game interests from 2016.  My next post will be the top 5 games that I’m interested in but until them, enjoy the bottom 5…which all look great!

#10 - Star Wars: Destiny (Fantasy Flight Games)

Star Wars: Destiny is a dice-rolling, two-player, battle card and dice game that takes place in the Star Wars universe.  This game is designed by Corey Konieczka and Lucas Litzsinger and is published by Fantasy Flight Games.  The game uses hand management, dice rolling, and variable player powers as its primary mechanisms in the 2-player battle card and dice game.

This is a collectible card/dice game where each player will build their deck of cards and take the dice that go with them.  They are given a certain amount of points which they will use to “buy” the cards with which they’ll build their deck.  The players are given different colors which are equal to force users, military, and rogue agents.  Each player will then battle with their dice to defeat the other’s characters.  This game has been a huge hit for Fantasy Flight Games and they have apparently done the license proud.  I am quite excited to try this game out and think it looks like a really fun head-to-head battle game.

#9 - Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails (Days of Wonder)

Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails is a train game where you are trying to make the most efficient routes and score the most points throughout the play.  The game is designed by Alan R. Moon and is published by Days of wonder.  This game uses set collection, route building, and card drafting as its primary mechanisms in this reimagining of the classic original, Ticket to Ride.

In this game the players have to draw cards which they will in turn play in order to lay down train routes and score points.  They want to complete their ticket cards which gives them specific routes and points that they can score is they are able to finish the card.  This game adds in boats and harbors to the mix.  I’ve heard that the game is a little more luck driven than the original Ticket to Ride but we don’t really care.  In the last year it has become one of our most played games and we’d love to get this version at some point and I figure it is just a matter of time till we do.

#8 - Islebound (Red Raven Games)

Islebound is a pick-up-and-deliver, nautical themed game in the world of Arzium where you are building up your harbor and sailing the oceans.  This game is designed by the triple-threat, Ryan Laukat and is published by his company, Red Raven Games.  This game uses pick-up-and-deliver, area control, tableau building, and exploration as its primary game mechanisms and does it all in a beautiful world.

This game finds players exploring the oceans in their ship along with a small (at least to start) crew who will help them along the way.  Throughout the game you will be able to gain more crewmembers, build up your harbor, use the power of sea serpents, trade at will, and conquer and raid towns.  When you conquer towns you get their action for free while the other players would have to pay you to complete the same action.  The game allows you to either go the way of the trader/merchant or the way of the conqueror/pirate.  I really like Ryan Laukat’s games and honestly don’t think this will be any different.  I am looking forward to trying out this beautifully crafted game.

#7 - The Colonists (Lookout Games/Mayfair Games)

The Colonists is a Euro-style game where you are building up your colony and gaining points in the process.  The game is designed by Tim Puls and published by Lookout Games and Mayfair Games.  This game uses worker placement, variable power, tile placement, hand management and card drafting as its primary mechanisms as you are attempting to create the best colony.

This game finds each player taking on the role of the mayor of their particular colony as they are developing it into a bustling town.  The main goal for the mayor is to have full employment in his little colony thus making it more efficient as he moves around the board to create new jobs, educate people, and build homes in order to raise the population of the town.  This is primarily done with worker placement and action selection.  This is truly an epic game as it can last over four hours if you’re playing with four people!  It is separated into four different eras which can take up to an hour to play and get longer as the game goes on.  I really want to try this game out and love that it attempts a save mechanism so you don’t have to play an entire four hour plus game in one sitting.

#6 - First Class: All Aboard the Orient Express (Z-ManGames/Hans im Glück)

First Class: All Aboard the Orient Express is a card-drafting game where the players are creating trains and rails with their cards.  This game is designed by Helmut Ohley (designer of Russian Railroads) and published by Z-Man Games and Hans im Glück.  This game uses card drafting, route building and set collection as its primary game mechanisms as you building your trains and train network.

This game has each player taking on a vague role as a train company (I think?) and building up your network of rails and trains.  The goal is for the players to get the most points while thdcey are building up their personal tableau.  I’ve heard that this is basically the card version of his previous game, Russian Railroads.  The biggest difference between the two games would have to be that First Class really uses card drafting to pick cards and build your tableau.  Considering the fact that card drafting and tableau building are two of my favorite mechanisms, I guess it was just waiting to go up high on this list!

Well, there you go, games 6-10 off of my top 10 interests from the games in 2016 that I haven’t played yet.  These games all look really good and I’d love to try them out!  Well, come on back soon and I’ll have up my final 5 games from 2016.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory End of 2016 Post Part III: Top Interests of 2016: Honorable Mentions

Well, this series of posts has been a little later than I prefer, but I still think they are a fun exercise of looking back at the previous year of gaming and see what I’ve missed.  We did quite well in finding the games that we really wanted in 2016 and either getting to play them or pick up a copy of them for ourselves.  Even though we have most of the games we were really looking at in 2016 there are always others out there that we’ve missed that are interesting for some reason or another.  The next three posts in my “End of 2016” series will be my top interests from 2016 that I haven’t had a chance to play as of yet.  Some of these games we may end up getting at some point and some we probably won’t even get to try, but that is the nature of new games coming out all the time!  Before I move on to my list feel free to read the previous two posts in my series which are the “Late-ie” awards and my final gaming statistics from 2016.

Obligatory End of 2016 Part I: Final Statistics from 2016

Obligatory End of 2016 Part II: The “Late-ies” Awards(Best of 2016)

Alright, now let’s move on to the meat of the post!  These are five games that just missed my top 10 interests but I still feel that they deserve a mention and thus get a billing here in my honorable mentions post.  These are all some interesting games and I’d love to try out any of them!  Enjoy the read!

The first game I’ll make mention of on this list is Round House, designed by Eros Lin and Zong-Hua Yang and published by EmperorS4.  This is a worker placement game that takes place in a round house.  

These round houses were Chinese dwellings back in the 17th century which were extremely large and multi-leveled and generally held an entire clan and/or village.  In this game you play the head of a family who is trying to gain glory for their particular clan.  The players take turns moving their pawns around the circular board sending off members of the family to do business, hire experts, trade goods for money and gaining goods.  The goal is to maximize their efforts and create a round house with the most glory.  I love the theme of this game; it is a very interesting one!  I would love to try this game out and see if it is as interesting as it appears to be.

The next game to make it on my honorable mentions list is The Golden Sails, designed by Yuri Zhuravlev and published by Hobby World.  This is a card drafting and set collection game that is designed by the creator of the wonderful Viceroy and takes place in the same world.  

You play traders from this world that are stopping at twelve different ports with the hopes of acquiring different goods from this land such as phoenixes, unicorns, spices, weapons and gems.  Then you’ll take them back to your land and sell them for a huge profit!  The game uses a clever card drafting mechanism in order to acquire these different goods.  You will go through three rounds where you will use your experts in order to grab these items.  However, you can only use an expert once per round so you have to be clever the way you use them in order to get the most points available.  We love Viceroy so this designer is one we keeps our eyes on and between that and the world/art that it takes place in, it makes me really interested to try it out.

Next up on my honorable mentions list is Solarius Mission, designed by Michael Keller and Andreas “ode” Odendahl and published by Spielworxx.  This is a dice drafting, economic, exploration style game by the creators of the farming simulation, La Granja.  

In this game you take on the role of someone in the Solarius Mission which is a group looking throughout the outer planets in order to find and settle these and create interstellar trade.  Due to their home planet being overpopulated they are forced into this situation and the planetary exploration is the way to conquer this problem.  The game uses dice manipulation, drafting and resource management mechanisms to simulate these different tasks.  I haven’t yet played La Granja but really respect the design and this game’s theme is more up my alley.  I think between the theme and the mechanisms this game is something that I would really like and look forward to trying it out.

And next up on the honorable mentions list for my interests in 2016 is Lorenzo il Magnifico, designed by Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, and Simone Luciani and published by Cranio Creations and CMON Limited.  This is a dice drafting, worker placement, and card drafting game that takes place during the Italian Renaissance.  

In this game each player takes on the role of the head of a noble family during the renaissance who is attempting to gain as much prestige for his/her family in order to make them the most influential in the city.  This prestige is gain through a dice drafting and card drafting mechanism.  Each player will roll the dice and use them as workers to get resources, develop, influence characters, and activate effects on their gained cards.  I love dice drafting.  That is the reason I was originally drawn to this game and seeing some playthroughs since have really made me interested in this dice rolling, strategy game.

The final game, and thus the one that just missed my top 10 interests from 2016, is Railroad Revolution, designed by Marco Canetta and Stefania Niccolini and published by What’s Your Game?.  This is a pool building, route building, and action selection game that takes place in America during the 19^th century as large railway corporations were competing to build the quickest and best routes across the country.  

This game has a very interesting worker placement/action selection mechanism where you have general workers and then can upgrade to more specific workers.  When you use a specific type of worker on a specific type of action you can get bonuses.  Stringing these together can create some very cool moves throughout the game.  It appears to be a very fast and very interesting game with some very cool gameplay throughout.  I am very much looking forward to trying this game out one of these days!

These are the five games that just missed my top 10 interests from the games released in 2016 that I haven’t yet played.  They didn’t make the top 10 but they are still worthy of a billing.  Below I have twelve more games that I feel deserve a look and I’d be interested in trying although not as much as the games above.

Capital

Codex: Card-Time Strategy

Defenders of the Last Stand

Honshu

Imhotep

Mistfall: Heart of the Mists

Order of the Gilded Compass

Tramways

Star Wars: Rebellion

Ulm

Via Nebula

World of Yo-Ho

And there you have it, my honorable mentions for my top interests of 2016 that I have yet to play.  I’m sure that I’ve left some great games off this list but that may be because they are coming up in the actual top 10 list!  Come back for my next post where I’ll go over games 6-10 on the list and the one after will be games 1-5.  Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  Until next time, game on!