Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Obligatory “What I Played In…” Post Part XXII: April 2017

Well, this one is a bit late this month due to finishing up my “End of 2016” series but now we’ll move on to the games I played in April.  We nearly hit 50 plays this past month and 29 different games played.  Also, we did quite well in our 10x10 challenge and it has been a ton of fun getting more plays in.  Here are the stats for our 10x10 after April’s plays.

10x10 Challenge:
Arkham Horror: The Card Game (0 plays in April, 1 total play for 2017)
Cottage Garden (0 plays in April, 3 total plays for 2017)
Five Tribes (0 plays in April, 2 total plays for 2017)
Gloomhaven (2 plays in April, 2 total plays for 2017)
Great Western Trail (1 play in April, 4 total plays for 2017)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (0 plays in April, 9 total plays for 2017)
Ticket to Ride (1 play in April, 9 total plays for 2017)
Tokaido (2 plays in April, 2 total plays for 2017)
Too Many Bones (2 plays in April, 2 total plays for 2017)
Unfair (1 plays in April, 5 total plays for 2017)

Alright, now that we’ve gone over my 10x10 challenge stats we can move on to the main part of my post, this past month’s plays.  Just sit back, relax and enjoy the read and thanks so much for taking a look!

Statistics:
Total plays in April 2017 – 47
Total unique games played in April 2017 – 29
New games played in April 2017 – 8
New games acquired in April 2017 – 4
New expansions acquired in April 2017 – N/A
Most plays of a single game in April 2017 – 10


Designer – Christopher Badell/Paul Bender/Adam Rebottaro
Publisher – Greater Than Games/Sentinel Comics
Last play before April 2017 – 3/31/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 10

After picking up more of the expansions of this game on the app I was able to get a whole bunch more plays in for the month.  I love this game and love that I’m able to take it with me on my phone and able to pull it out whenever I’m able to and get some plays in.  This is still in my top 10 and I love the game!


Designer – Bruno Cathala/Charles Chevallier
Publisher – IELLO
Last play before April 2017 – 3/11/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 4

Em and I pulled this game out 4 more times in April and we are continuing to love the plays that we get in.  This is a very simple and very fun card drafting and set collection game with some of the more beautiful art that I’ve seen in a game.  I’d recommend this to anyone.


Designer – Friedemann Friese
Publisher – Stronghold Games/2F-Spiele
Last play before April 2017 – 3/19/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 2

We pulled this game out with Molly and Dustin and got in a couple more plays with them.  They are enjoying this game as much as we did our first time through and we are really enjoying playing it with four players as it feels like a totally different game!  I wish this one would have gotten a Spiel des Jahres nomination as I think it is a great starter/family style game.


Designer – Isaac Childres
Publisher – Cephalofair Games
New to me
First play – 4/13/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 2

Wow, we finally pulled out Gloomhaven and were able to get in a couple plays in April.  It is amazing!  This was my number one anticipated game for quite a while and I am happy to say that it didn’t let me down at all!  The card-play in this co-operative game really make it an awesome experience.  Em, Dustin and Josh are all loving it as well and we get together for “Gloomhaven Night” once a week to continue the campaign.


Designer – Jeffrey D. Allers
Publisher – Bézier Games, Inc.
New to me
First play – 4/27/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 2

Josh picked this game up this past month and we were able to get a couple of plays in.  This is a quick, clever little “I split, you choose” game where we are taking and scoring pieces of pizza.  I would recommend this to anyone as it is super simple and a lot of fun.  Plus, as a bonus, the game looks absolutely delicious!


Designer – Isaias Vallejo
Publisher – Daily Magic Games
Last play before April 2017 – 3/4/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 2

Em and I got in a couple plays of this game in April and had a blast.  I am consistently impressed by Daily Magic Games and their releases.  These games don’t reinvent the wheel, but they do a great job of improving upon it!  I am at the point where I’ll take a look at anything that they and Vallejo are doing and will often pick it up!


Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – Funforge
Last play before April 2017 – 12/31/16
Total plays in April 2017 – 2

Em and I got in a couple plays of this fun, almost rondel-like game with some of the best graphic design I’ve seen.  This game is on our 10x10 challenge and it is one of our favorites.  It is such a simple idea and I think the Crossroads expansion makes this game much deeper.  We may bring this game on vacation in June and break it out with our family.


Designer – Adam Carlson/Josh Carlson
Publisher – Chip Theory Games
New to me
First play – 4/27/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 2

Okay, this is the second game that we tried this past month that is absolutely amazing and will definitely be making an appearance on my top 10 list when it is revisited later this year.  This is a dice and chip game that creates and almost RPG experience with dice building and rolling as its primary game mechanism.  Everyone I’ve played it with has loved it and I think it will get a ton of plays, especially with the big plans the designers have for this game in the future!


Designer – Michael Kiesling/Wolfgang Kramer
Publisher – HABA
New to me
First play – 4/21/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

This is one of the games that I was able to pick up in a trade in April and we played our first game of it.  I really enjoyed how simple this game was to pick up and teach and it is just such an elegant design from the two seasoned design veterans.  This is another game we may bring to the beach as I think it will go over well with the family.


Designer – Mike Fitzgerald
Publisher – Eagle-Gryphon Games
Last play before April 2017 – 10/12/16
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Okay, it had been way to long between plays of this incredible deck-building style, take-that game.  We absolutely love this game and consider it one of our favorites and this game solidified that.  This game is great and is such a perfect two-player card game that has a theme that my wife and I adore.


Designer – Ted Alspach/Toryo Hojo/N2
Publisher – Bézier Games, Inc.
New to me
First play – 4/24/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Another game that we were able to pick up in a trade this past month was Colony.  I was excited to try this game out since it was announced a couple years back.  This is a solid dice drafting game with some pool-building and engine building elements.


Designer – Jonathan Gilmour/Isaac Vega
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
New to me
First play – 4/29/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

At International Tabletop Day this year we broke out Dead of Winter and Josh taught a bunch of us how to play.  It was a fun game and I’d play it again anytime it was pulled out but I’m not sure I’d get it myself.  It is nice that it’s on Josh’s shelf!  This game definitely reaffirms my belief that Fernanda Suarez is one of the best game artists out there as her work just pops!


Designer – Kane Klenko
Publisher – Renegade Game Studios
Last play before April 2017 – 12/18/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I decided to pull out FUSE and take it for a spin this past month and man did we ever get our butts handed to us!  This was one of the worst rounds of the game that we’ve ever played.  That being said, this is such a quick and fun game that we don’t care if we lose!


Designer – Vital Lacerda
Publisher – Eagle-Gryphon Games
Last play before April 2017 – 1/29/16
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

I looked at when our last play of this amazing Euro game was and it made me sad!  This game is such an incredible experience and I wish I was able to get it to the table more often.  Em and I finally broke it out and played it this past month and it is just as amazing as I remember it being.  The production and gameplay of this beauty is off the charts and I hope we get it to the table more often this year.


Designer – Shane Willis
Publisher – Mayday Games
New to me
First play – 4/29/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

This is the second game we played at International Tabletop Day this past month.  It is a card/dexterity game where you are lining up the cards on a little plastic trashcan which doubles as the game’s packaging.  The game was a simple and fairly fun dexterity game although I think it ended up being just a bit too long for what the game is.


Designer – Alexander Pfister
Publisher – Stronghold/eggertspiele
Last play before April 2017 – 4/1/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I played this absolutely incredible game once in April and it was a great game.  Em is quite good at this game and she loves to go heavy into the cowboys and really build up her cows.  I love this game and always look forward to more plays of it.


Designer – Ignacy Trzewiczek
Publsiher – Portal Games
Last play before April 2017 – 1/30/16
Total plays before April 2017 – 1

Wow, here is another game that we broke out that had sadly been way too long since we’d played it!  Em pulled out her favorite Egyptians and I pulled out the Atlanteans.  She was able to just barely take me out as neither one of us could really get our engines going.


Designer – Andreas “ode.” Odendahl
Publisher – Stronghold Games
Last play before April 2017 – 2/13/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em wanted to play a dice game while we were out on a breakfast date so we brought this excellent little dice drafting game along with us.  This is a great reimplementation of the dice drafting portion of La Granja and makes it just a simple, fun and quick dice drafting game.


Designer – Chris Cieslik
Publisher – Asmadi Games
Last play before April 2017 – 3/4/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I pulled out the Mage and the Warrior in this dice placement game and faced off against the Yeti in his cavern.  We were able to get the upper hand against some of the minions in the dungeon and were able to build up our characters really well as we defeated the Yeti.  This is a fun rogue-like, dice-rolling adventure!


Designer – Jesús Torres Castro/Matt Leacock
Publisher – Z-Man Games
Last play before April 2017 – 2/28/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I picked up this game and played a round of it in April and got our butts handed to us!  Actually, that’s not quite fair; we were able to research three of the diseases but ran out of cards to draw before we were able to research the fourth and final one.  We were just one turn away from the win!


Designer – Alexander Pfister
Publisher – Pegasus Spiele
Last play before April 2017 – 3/5/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

This is another one of our International Tabletop Day games.  I pulled it out while we were waiting for more people to come and taught it to Josh.  I love how quick and easy this game is to teach and play.  As I’ve said before, I find Pfister to be an amazing designer and this is just another win from him!


Designer – Stefano Castelli/Andrea Crespi/Lorenzo Silva
Publisher – CMON Limited/Horrible Games
Last play before April 2017 – 12/10/16
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I pulled this game out and played a good round of it.  Em is quite good at this game and tends to win but I was able to pull out a one point victory this time around…I think it may have annoyed her that it was that close!


Designer – Rob Daviau
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
Last play before April 2017 – 2/26/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

We got in one play of this game this past month and it was a solid play.  We are definitely slowing down on this one as it is a bit of a slog right now.  I’m sure we’ll come back to finish it at some point but right now we have a few other games that are keeping our interest.


Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – Matagot/Bombyx/Asmodee
Last play before April 2017 – 2/22/16
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I pulled out this neo-classic game this past month for the first time in a while and really enjoyed our play of it.  This game is such a simple idea and it is pulled off extremely well.  I give props to the graphic design team and those who decide on components because this game does an amazing job of having a high “toy factor”.


Designer – Alan R. Moon
Publisher – Days of Wonder
Last play before April 2017 – 3/12/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

Em and I pulled out the United Kingdom map and played a round of Ticket to Ride.  It was a great game as usual.  This game will be one that is always on our shelves and we will pull it out with anyone because we know they’ll end up liking it!


Designer – Joel Finch
Publisher – Good Games Publishing/CMON Limited
Last play before April 2017 – 3/17/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

We pulled out the robot and the pirate decks and built ourselves some amusement parks.  Em was able to finish up a blueprint that netted her a bunch of points which allowed her to just barely edge me out by 2 points!  This is a fun drafting game with some awesome art!


Designer – Isaias Vallejo
Publisher – Daily Magic Games
Last play before April 2017 – 3/18/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

We pulled this game out this past month with Molly and Dustin and they really enjoyed it!  This is such a great game to break out and teach others as it is just a blast to play.  I didn’t back the expansion but I’ll be sure to pick it up when it is available.


Designer – Yuri Zhuravlev
Publisher – Mayday Games/Hobby World
Last play before April 2017 – 3/30/16
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

It had been a while since we played Viceroy so we decided to pull out this great little card drafting/auction/set collection game and had a blast.  We really enjoyed the play but realized we were out of practice as our scores were far lower than some of our best ones!  I’m glad we could get in a play of it!


Designer – Hisashi Hayashi
Publisher – Tasty Minstrel Games
New to me
First play – 4/23/17
Total plays in April 2017 – 1

We just got the deluxe version of Yokohama from a Kickstarter we backed last year and it just delivered this past month!  This was one of my most anticipated games and I’m glad to say that it didn’t let down at all!  In fact the game is quite amazing and I could see it climbing up my favorites list!  And as a bonus, the deluxe version is absolutely amazing!

New game acquisitions in April 2017:
Adventure Land
Colony
Too Many Bones
Yokohama

New expansion acquisitions in April 2017:
N/A

Alright!  There is another month of gaming in the books and wow was it ever a great one!  Three of the games I acquired this past month have a legitimate chance of making it into my top 10 ten list.  Those three are Too Many Bones, Gloomhaven and Yokohama and they are all great games that I’d highly recommend!  Well, there are my plays for the month.  Come on back soon as I’ll be doing my gameplays for May (since we’re basically there already!) and then I’ll be doing a post on Origins Game Fair 2017.  Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.  Until next time, game on!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Obligatory End of 2016 Post Part VIII: Top Interests of 2017: Top 10 List (Games 1-5)

Alright!  I’ve finally made it to the end of my “End of 2016” posts with the top 5 games that I’m interested in that are coming out (or have come out) in 2017!  These are all games that I haven’t had a chance to play or try out yet but they are the games that I’m incredibly curious about.  Before I go on to the next five games feel free to check out the provided links to see the previous posts in the series.








Okay, with that out of the way let’s move on to the main event!  These are games 1-5 on my top 10 post thus placing them at a place where there is a good chance that I’ll pick them up at some point during the year!  I am very excited for these games!  I hope you enjoy the read!



Charterstone is a Legacy-esque game where players will be building up the kingdom of Greengully by colonizing a new area.  The game is designed by Jamey Stegmaier and released by Stonemaier Games.  The game uses worker placement, action selection and Legacy-styled ideas as its primary mechanisms in the colony building game.


Each player takes the role of a citizen who is chosen by the Forever King of the kingdom of Greengully to help colonize a new area beyond their borders.  The players will mainly use actions that are on the board and during the game will be creating new ones by placing stickers on the board which will open up new and different actions.  In the beginning there won’t be much to choose from but as the game continues more and more actions are opened up thus creating new and different choices throughout the experience.  The players will go through 12 games building up their charter and by the end will have a one-of-a-kind charter that they created.  I’m really looking forward to this game as I think Stegmaier does a great job with his games in both scope and execution.



Dinosaur Island is a worker placement game where players will be building up their dinosaur park much like the movie Jurassic Park.  The game is designed by Jonathan Gilmour and Brian Lewis and is published by Pandasaurus Games.  The game uses worker placement, set collection, tile placement and dice rolling as its primary mechanisms as the players work on their parks.


Each player will get a board where they will be creating their dinosaur park by gaining new DNA strains in order to combine them and bring the extinct creatures back to life.  The players will be able to place their workers to create new rides, enclosures and vendors.  They will also be able to gain different strains of DNA in order to create different dinosaurs.  You can create friendly herbivores or move even further in the DNA strains and create the hungry carnivores.  Bringing on a pack of velocirapors can bring a lot of excitement in the park but it could prove disastrous if they break out and eat the park visitors!  I love the theme of this game and think the art by Kwanchai Moriya is perfectly suited for the game.



Alien Artifacts is a multi-use card game where players will be using their cards to explore, expand, exploit and exterminate.  The game is designed by Marcin Senior Ropka and Viola Kijowska and published by Portal Games.  The game uses multi-use cards, card drafting and exploration as its primary mechanisms as the players will be creating their corporation and exploring the galaxy.


Each player takes on the role of an interplanetary corporation who is trying to its power in the galaxy by building their ship, researching new technologies, and exploring the galaxy for things/beings to exploit.  Every turn the players will get to draw some cards and then use them in different ways.  This game is a multi-use card game so there are many options and decisions to make for every card the player takes.  These cards will let the players do a variety of actions including discovering planets, buy technologies, increasing military might, and increasing your holdings just to name some of the decisions.  The art is starting to look very good and with Portal Games driving the ship I think this will be an excellent game that I can’t wait to get my hands on!



Victorian Masterminds is a worker placement game where players will take on the role of villains after the death of Sherlock Holmes as they vie for their chance to take over the world and wreak havoc.  The game is designed by prolific greats, Antoine Bauza and Eric M. Lang and is published by Space Cowboys.  The game uses worker placement and action selection as its primary mechanisms as the players will be attempting to cause as many problems and terror in the world as possible.


Each player will take on the role of a villain mastermind as they are attempting to create the most devastation after the death of the great Sherlock Holmes.  They will take their worker agents and place them in different spaces, face down, and then will flip them over and take the action of the space as well as the action of the agent they chose.  These agents are sent in to destroy buildings, kidnap scientists, complete missions and collect resources which they will use to create a death dealing machine.  I am very excited about this release as it is by two fantastic designers, published by a fantastic company, and has worker placement!



Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 is a Legacy-style game where players take on the role of survivors attempting to find out what is going on out in the world after tragedy strikes.  This game is designed by Rob Daviau and Matt Leacock and is published by Z-Man Games.  This game uses co-operative play, set collection, point-to-point movement and variable player powers as its primary mechanisms as the players attempt to stay alive and hopefully save humanity.


Each player takes on the role of a different survivor of a horrible, world-spanning plague which destroyed most of humanity in its wake.  This game is the second of the series and will feature Legacy elements as the players will fight to survive.  There isn’t a ton known about this game yet as they are trying to keep a tight lid on things so it is a surprise when it is released and gives the players a sense of discovery as the first one did.  This one finds the players on floating cites called “havens” just before they go out into the world to scout the areas and see what has happened during humanities absence.  This game is one of the most exciting game releases in a while and I can’t wait to get my hands on it and play it with my wife and friends.

Well, there you have it, games 1-5 of my top 10 interests from 2017 that I haven’t played or tried yet.  Thanks so much for reading throughout the “End of 2016” series and come on back for my next series which will take a look at the games coming out at Origins 2017.  Until next time, game on!

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Obligatory End of 2016 Post Part VII: Top Interests of 2017: Top 10 List (Games 6-10)

Okay, with the Honorable Mentions out of the way let’s move on to the top 10 games of my 2017 interests.  These are all games that I’m very interested in and think that they are all going to be good games.  I’m looking forward to being able to check many of these out and I’m sure at least some of them will make it into my collection at some point.  Before I move on feel free to check out my previous posts in my “End of 2016” series (which I know is going pretty far into 2017!) at the links provided below.







Alright, now we can move on to the meat of the post.  These are games 6-10 on my top 10 list of games from my 2017 interests.  The next post will be the top 5 games of my 2017 interests but until then enjoy the read!



Dice Forge is a dice rolling, dice-crafting card and dice game where each player is vying for a seat in heaven by defeating their rivals in battle.  The game is designed by Régis Bonnessèe and is published by Libellud with Asmodee.  The game uses simultaneous dice rolling and resource gathering along with a dice crafting mechanism in the 2-4 player dice chucker.


This is a game where each player will take and roll their dice during each player’s turn and gather the resources.  Then, the active player is able to take their actions to do different things during the turn.  The players will be able to buy different dice faces which will give them the ability to craft their dice and make them fit their strategy.  Upgrading the dice will make each action more powerful and give more resources which the players will be using to complete ordeals and gain glory points.  I am very excited about this game as I’m a huge fan of Seasons which is this designer's best game.



Spirit Island is a co-operative game where each player is a god on an island where they will need to fend off invading explorers in order to win.  This game is designed by R. Eric Reuss and is published by Greater Than Games division, Fabled Nexus.  This game uses hand management, card drafting and variable player powers as its primary game mechanisms in the co-operative experience.


In this game each player will take on the role of a god on an unnamed island that is being overtaken by a group of settlers who want to spread their blight of existence across the flawless island.  The players will have to co-operate and use their fast and slow powers in order to spread fear into the hearts of the colonists and force them off of your island paradise.  The game will progressively get more difficult as the islanders continue to ravage the land in order to create their towns and cities and spread themselves over the terrain.  I caught this game on Kickstarter last year but didn’t back it.  After doing more research I realized that this is a game that I’ll really like so I very well may pick it up at retail.



First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet is a co-operative game where the players will attempt to survive the harshness of Mars.  This game is designed by Ignacy Trzewiczek and published by Portal Games.  It uses worker placement, storytelling and variable player powers as its primary mechanisms while the players co-operatively work to survive the harshness of the planet.


This game is actually a re-imagining of Ignacy’s previous work, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island.  This game will take the ideas of the original and push the boundaries a bit with the usage of an app.  The app will drive the card decks that were used in Robinson Crusoe and will allow the game to grow and change as the players make different choices during the game.  This game will have different difficulty levels (which the original did not) to allow for an easier or more difficult experience as tailored to the player’s wants.  The game also can be played as a one off, a campaign, or as an open world where they roam and explore for as long as they are able to survive.  I am quite excited about this game as Robinson Crusoe is one of the best co-operative games out there and I think this one will top or equal its predecessor.



Anachrony is a worker placement game where players have to balance the present day with the past as they will time travel in order to prepare their people for a coming apocalypse.  The game is designed by Richard Amann, Viktor Peter and Dávid Turczi and is published by Mindclash Games.  The game uses worker placement and variable player powers with the time travel theme as the players attempt to either escape or find a way to avert the apocalypse.


This game came out on Kickstarter last year and had a very good run.  The game is a very clever theme where each player will take control of a faction leader who is trying to make his/her faction the greatest of the four all the while trying to avoid the coming calamity.  The players will use different workers and place them in different action spots in order to take different resources and the like.  The workers can also be placed in mech suits and go out into the wastelands in order to complete missions and gain resources.  I love the look and scope of this game and would like to try it out!



Lisboa is a hand management game that takes place in during the mid-18th century while Lisboa was rebuilding after multiple tragedies and natural disasters that occurred.  The game is designed by Euro-master Vital Lacerda and published by Eagle-Gryphon games.  The games uses hand management, tile placement and area control as its primary mechanisms during the heavy, Euro-influenced gameplay.


This is another Eagle-Gryphon Kickstarter that had a very good run.  They have really been working with Vital Lacerda and I think they are completely doing justice to his amazing games.  I absolutely adore The Gallerist and think that I’d love this game as well.  The game finds each player taking on the role of a member of nobility as they are attempting to gain political influence in order to rebuild the city and take control of commerce, construction and other means of gain in this brilliant game.  The hand management is especially clever and I really love the use of tile placement as well.  Lacerda’s games are well oiled machines and I think this game is going to be no different than his others in that way.  On top of the amazing looking gameplay, the art and graphic design are wonderful as wellI can’t wait to try this one out!

Alright, there are games 6-10 of my top 10 interests from the games coming out (or already come out) in 2017 that I haven’t yet been able to try.  This is shaping up to be a pretty good year and I’m excited for what incredible games are on the horizon!  Check in next time and I’ll complete my “End of 2016” series (finally) and move on to my Origins 2017 posts.  Thanks so much for reading!  Until next time, game on!

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Obligatory End of 2016 Post Part VI: Top Interests of 2017: Honorable Mentions

Alright, finally the last part of my “End of 2016” series.  This one has taken me a bit but I’m glad I took some good time to find some ideas of the games that I’m interested in hopefully coming out this year.  These are all games that have (or hopefully will have…) a 2017 release date.  There are some games (usually Kickstarters) coming out that I’ve left off the list because I think they will likely be 2018 releases and just want to stick to this year’s games.  This will be the first in the three posts.  This one will focus on some honorable mentions and some others that look interesting, the next will focus on games 6-10 and the final post will focus on games 1-5.  Before reading, feel free to check out the links below to check out the first 5 posts in my “End of 2016” series.






Alright, everyone back?  Now it’s time to move on to the main part of the post.  These are 5 games that just missed my top 10 interests of 2017 and thus get some honorable mentions.  Any one of these 5 games I’d love to try out and see how they are.  Thanks so much for checking this post and enjoy the read!

The first game that will be mentioned on the list is Sagrada, designed by Adrian Adamescu and Daryl Andrews and published by Floodgate Games.  This is a dice drafting and dice placement game that has you building a stained glass window.


You play a crafter who is making a stained glass window using your tools and colors in order to create the most beautiful work-of-art possible.  Each player will take turns rolling dice and then taking turns drafting said dice in order to place them on their boards in the best way to gain points.  Each player wants to be able to completely fill their board (if possible) so as not to get any negative points while trying to gain other points through different cards and objectives.  This game is absolutely beautiful and seems to have a really good, simple rule set that would be easy to teach new players and experienced alike.  I look forward to trying this one out as I love a good dice drafting game!

The next game to make my honorable mentions list is Vengeance, designed by Gordon Calleja and published by Mighty Boards.  This is a dice rolling and miniatures game with some card drafting that basically takes place in a revenge movie.


It finds player taking on the role of a hero who has been tortured by a gang (or gangs) that are in the game.  Your goal is to build up your character and level them up in order to go and enact your vengeance upon the gang during the game.  Each player will take part in two different phases, the montage phase and the fight phase.  The montage phase is much like a movie where the characters will heal up, upgrade themselves and their items and then scout ahead to see what each of the gang’s hideouts look like.  After the montage phase comes the fight phase.  This is the real meat of the game.  The players will pick one of the scouted gang areas and will end up rolling into the hideout and rolling dice in order to defeat the minions in order to make it to the boss.  When they make it there they will attempt to enact their bloody vengeance much in the style of a Tarantino movie!  This game’s theme really interests me as does the apparent dice-based puzzle that each fight ends up being.

The third game to hit the honorable mentions list is Yamataï, designed by Bruno Cathala and Marc Paquien and published by Days of Wonder.  This is a route building game with some amazing art and beautiful components as Days of Wonder is really known for.


Each player is competing with the other players in order to build palaces, torii, and other buildings in the land of Yamataï.  The players start by drafting tiles which will give them immediate actions and also their place in the turn order for the next round.  This is a very cool mechanism which gives the players more choices and decision points to make during their turn.  After they get their goods, each player will be able to put out ships which will build their routes along the islands.  They will then get the opportunity to take tiles, hire specialists, and build buildings which will gain points in different ways.  I am at a point where I’ll at least take a look at every Days of Wonder and Bruno Cathala game and this one looks like it will be another winner in their catalogue!

The next game (just one away from my top honorable mention) to hit the list is Flatline: A FUSE Aftershock Game, designed by Kane Klenko and published by Renegade Game Studios.  This is a co-operative, dice rolling, real time game that finds players helping those wounded after the bombs go off in the game, FUSE.


Each player will roll their dice and try to place them on the board co-operatively with the other players during 1 minute, timed intervals.  There will be wounded people and other ER emergencies which the players will have to deal with during the game.  I love that Klenko has designed another game in his FUSE universe and I’m sure this one will be just as good as its predecessor.

The final game, and thus my top honorable mention, to make the list is Founders of Gloomhaven, designed by Isaac Childres and published by Cephalofair Games.  This is a worker placement, city building and tile placement game which takes place in the Gloomhaven universe hundreds of years before the setting of the original.


Each player will take control of one of the races of the universe in their attempt to ban together (while gaining the most influence) to build the expansive city.  Each race will have their own strengths and weaknesses and thus will have to work closely with the other races in order to build the city.  I love the idea of a partial co-operative worker placement where the one who works the system the best will win.  I love Gloomhaven and can’t wait to try this one when it gets a release!

These are the five games that just barely missed my top 10 game interests that are coming out in 2017.  These games all deserve a mention as they are pretty high up on my list of interests that I haven’t played yet.  Below are twelve more games that I feel should get some sort of mention even though they didn’t “technically” make my list.



Alright, there we go!  These are my honorable mentions (along with some extras!) from the 2017 games that I haven’t yet played.  I’m sure there are many games I’ve missed and there are many more games that I probably don’t even know about!  Let me know if there is something you think I’d like because I’d love to check it out.  Plus, my next post will be games 6-10 and after that will be games 1-5 so they could possibly be on that list.  Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!  Until next time, game on!