Another month, another post of the month’s plays! This one will tackle our gameplays from the
month of August 2016. This was a pretty
good month for game acquisitions and new plays as we were able to pick up a
couple of games from Gen Con as a buddy of mine grabbed them for us. We also have a couple of a pre-orders that
are pending and some other games that I’m looking forward to for the upcoming
month…but that is for future Aaron to talk about. Present Aaron will talk about our games played
this past month. Thanks for your time
and enjoy the read!
Statistics:
Total plays in August 2016 – 71
Total unique games played in August 2016 – 33
New games played in August 2016 – 6
New games acquired in August 2016 – 6
New expansions acquired in August 2016 – 3
Most plays of a single game in August 2016 – 13
Würfel Bohnanza
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – AMIGO Spiele
Last play before August 2016 – 7/31/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 13
This game is quickly becoming a favorite filler,
dice-roller for Em and I as we continue to get a bunch of plays in of it. It is quick.
It is light. It is simple. It is small.
These all make for a perfect game to throw in a bag and take wherever
you go so you can pull it out whenever you have a few minutes to roll some dice
and harvest some beans. We love this
game and I wish it were more readily available so people could know how good it
is!
Ticket to Ride (w/ Map Collection Volume 2 & Volume
5)
Designer – Alan R. Moon
Publisher – Days of Wonder
Last play before August 2016 – 7/17/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 9
Wow…we are really enjoying Ticket to Ride with the
different Map Collection packs! We were
able to pick up Volume 2 (India & Switzerland) and Volume 5 (United Kingdom
& Pennsylvania) and these are giving this game a ton of replayability for
us! I have a feeling that this game is
going to make my top 10 list when we (hopefully) get them done in the next
month or two!
FUSE
Designer – Kane Klenko
Publisher – Renegade Game Studios
Last play before August 2016 – 7/25/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 7
Is there any doubt at this point that FUSE is our
favorite 10-minute filler game? I’m not
sure you’d want to vote against it at this point! We have actually hit 76 logged plays of the
game which puts it at our second-most played game in our collection, only
behind the 84 logged plays of Red7. We
love FUSE and can’t wait to get Klenko’s new game, Covert, and try it out!
Bear Valley
Designer – Carl Chudyk
Publisher – Stronghold Games
New to me
First play – 8/27/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 3
This is my first boardgame contest win! During Gen Con, there is a yearly “movement”
called Gen Can’t where a bunch of people simply play games and post about them
on the different social media outlets.
There are contests during this “un-convention” and I actually won this
game during it! I’ve been wanting to try
this game and was now able to. I’m happy
to say that my wife and I enjoyed it! It
is a quick, push-your-luck game where you are laying cards down on the table in
order to find your way back to your home base before being attacked by
bears. It is a pretty simple game and
quite a bit of fun.
Onirim
Designer – Shadi Torbey
Publisher – Z-Man Games
Last play before August 2016 – 1/31/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 3
I got in a few plays of Onirim this past month for
GenCantSoloCon. This is always a great
solitaire gaming experience as it is quick and fun. I lost my first two plays and had to keep playing
until I won at least once! Thankfully I
was able to win on my third try. I’d
highly recommend this one to solitaire boardgame fans.
Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu
Designer – Chuck Yager (inspired by Matt Leacock)
Publisher – Z-Man Games
New to me
First play – 8/10/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 3
My buddy, Morgan, was at Gen Con this year and was able
to pick up this game for us. I unabashedly
love the Cthulhu theme and was excited when I saw this game announced earlier
this year. At first I thought it was a
joke but was glad to see that it wasn’t and was coming out at Gen Con. Three games in already and we love the
game! It is based on Pandemic but has
enough differences that I think that they can live in the same space with no
problems. It is a fun game with amazing
board art!
The Grizzled (w/ At Your Orders!)
Designer – Fabien Riffaud/Juan Rodriguez
Publisher – Cool Mini Or Not
Last play before August 2016 – 7/27/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 2
I played a couple of solo rounds of The Grizzled this
past month for GenCantSoloCon and found it to be quite an enjoyable
experience. It has a similar feel to the
game but has pretty good mechanisms set up for the solitaire game. I enjoyed the plays and would do it again.
New Bedford
Designer – Nathaniel Levan
Publisher – Dice Hate Me/Greater Than Games
Last play before August 2016 – 7/30/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 2
Here is another game that I played this month for
GenCantSoloCon. It has a pretty sweet
solo variant that Levan has created. He
used the backs of the player boards to create four different “bot” captains which
all play very differently. It is
slightly fiddly but the short play time more than makes up for that
ever-so-slight drawback. I really like
this game and look forward to future plays!
This was definitely a Kickstarter win!
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 August 2016 – 1/16/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 2
Em and I finished up the fourth adventure deck this past
month, Fortress of the Stone Giants. We
were able to pick up the last two decks in the adventure path and will probably
finish them up sometime in the next few months as we are really enjoying our
plays again! I’m glad we came back to
this game as it is always fun! Go
Merisiel and Kyra!
Potion Explosion
Designer – Stefano Castelli/Andrea Crespi/Lorenzo Silva
Publisher – Cool Mini Or Not/Horrible Games
New to me
First play – 8/10/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 2
This is another game that Morgan picked up for us at Gen
Con 2016 while he was there for the festivities. This is a super fun, pattern recognition game
that plays like an analog version of Candy Crush or Bejeweled. Em is very good at pattern recognition so I
have yet to win…but I will eventually. I
think this was a very good pickup for us and for Cool Mini Or Not.
Red7
Designer – Carl Chudyk/Chris Cieslik
Publisher – Asmadi Games
Last play before August 2016 – 6/30/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 2
We got in a couple of plays of this wonderful card game
this past month and Em kicked my butt!
We’ve hit over 80 total plays of this game and I fully expect we’ll be
over 100 by the end of the year. This is
just one of those great games that we can throw in a bag and pull out anywhere.
Rhino Hero
Designer – Scott Frisco/Steven Strumpf
Publisher – HABA
Last play before August 2016 – 6/12/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 2
It had been a couple months since we’d played this
wonderful dexterity game so we broke it out at a game night with our buddies
Anna and Ross. This is one of my
favorite dexterity games. I always like
to say that this is Jenga if Jenga was good!
I’m glad we got to teach some new friends this fun game.
7 Wonders: Duel
Designer – Antoine Bauza/Bruno Cathala
Publisher – Repos Production/Asmodee
Last play before August 2016 – 7/2/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Em and I got a play of this beautiful two-player card
game and she took me out! I thought I
had her at one point but she ended up getting all the guilds (my fault) as I
was trying to prevent her from getting a military victory. This game is amazing and we can’t wait for
the Pantheon expansion!
Artifacts, Inc.
Designer – Ryan Laukat
Publisher – Red Raven Games
Last play before August 2016 – 4/27/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Em and I got a good play of this dice placement game and
I was able to win. I love Ryan’s
artwork, it really helps to make this game’s theme a little better than just
placing dice on cards. This is a simple,
fun game that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Designer – Isaac Vega
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
Last play before August 2016 – 6/8/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Oh boy…I lost again!
Em took her pre-con deck, Aradel Summergaard and kicked the butt of my
Brennen Blackcloud. I know I could have
done better with the cards I had, but I just wasn’t able to gain any board
presence and she was easily able to sweep my board with Aradel’s great action
spells. I love this game and still can’t
wait to get the new Leo and Victoria decks!
Baseball Highlights: 2045
Designer – Mike Fitzgerald
Publisher – Eagle-Gryphon Games
Last play before August 2016 – 6/5/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
This is another game that I picked to play for
GenCantSoloCon and it was a great play!
I couldn’t get my deck started early so I was down 3 games to 1. I was able to get some good free agents
though and pulled of the victory with 3 straight wins! I love this game and it is a fun solitaire
experience as well!
The Big Book of Madness
Designer – Maxime Rambourg
Publisher – IELLO
Last play before August 2016 – 5/25/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
In a familiar turn of events, this is another
GenCantSoloCon play. I played with two
characters and just wasn’t able to build the decks as well as I had hoped. I actually did pretty well and made it to the
final page of the book with a pretty good couple of decks but couldn’t finish
off the final curse before the monster made it free to wreck havoc upon the
academy! I love this game…it is a great
co-operative deck-builder.
Deep Space D-6
Designer – Tony Go
Publisher – Tau Leader Games
New to me
First play – 8/7/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
I printed this game for GenCantSoloCon’s print-and-play
event and wasn’t disappointed at all by the decision! This is a very simple dice rolling game where
you are using the dice as crew members in order to defeat ships and other
events that are happening to destroy your ship.
It was a very fun (and difficult!) gameplay and I actually want to look
for the published version after my play.
Fields of Arle
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Z-Man Games
Last play before August 2016 – 5/14/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
What this you say?
Another game played for GenCantSoloCon?
Yeah, I love this game! This is
an absolutely amazing game and it is just as good playing solo or with another
player. I just want to get more plays
of it in!
Forbidden Island
Designer – Matt Leacock
Publisher – Gamewright
Last play in August 2016 – 3/12/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
I pulled out this game for GenCantSoloCon and tried it on
nightmare level. I was behind from the
beginning and the island started sinking and it was only a matter of time until
I lost. It is a fun game that is pretty
mean on the highest level.
Guilds of London
Designer – Tony Boydell
Publisher – Tasty Minstrel Games
New to me
First play – 8/14/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
We picked this game up and were able to play it once this
past month. I quite enjoyed the single
play we had and I can’t wait to try it again!
The multi-use cards are amazing.
The only drawback of the game I can find is the icons but that is just
something that will be easier with more plays.
Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft
Designer – Diego Ibanez
Publisher – Devir/Devir Americas
Last play before August 2016 – 7/23/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
This game is a very fun two-player, worker-placement and
set-collection game. Imagine throwing
the worker placement of Stone Age along with the set collection of a Trambahn
or Lost Cities and you’ll have a basic idea of what this game is like. My wife and I are really enjoying it and I
look forward to more plays of it.
Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King
Designer – Alexander Pfister/Andreas Pelikan
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before August 2016 – 7/16/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Oh yeah…another play of this year’s Kennerspiel des
Jahres winner! I think that this game
was a well deserved winner this year and am glad I have a copy. It is a smooth, well designed game that
includes so many different ways of scoring that every game really feels
different! My wife and I dig this game
and I don’t see it leaving my collection…ever!
Medieval Academy
Designer – Nicolas Poncin
Publisher – IELLO/Blue Cocker Games
New to me
First play – 8/20/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Em and I got this game in a trade this past month and
tried it out. I can’t say that I was
overly impressed by this one. It is a
nice, fairly simple card-drafting game with some interesting scoring
involved. It is a good game but at least
at this point if I want a simple card-drafting game I would rather play Sushi
Go Party! and if I want something heavier I’d rather play 7 Wonders. It is solid but I’m not sure it will be
staying in the collection.
Millennium Blades
Designer – D. Brad Talton, Jr.
Publisher – Level 99 Games
Last play before August 2016 – 6/28/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Any time I get to play this game is a good time! While I only have four plays of it so far it
is rapidly rising up my list of top games as I think it is an absolutely
amazing game of collectable card simulation.
This game is just a great time every single time Em and I break it out.
The Networks
Designer – Gil Hova
Publisher – Formal Ferret Games
Last play before August 2016 – 7/26/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
This is one of our newer games that we received from a highly
successful Kickstarter campaign. This
game is a great card-drafting game where you are taking a crappy, cable-access,
television studio and trying to gain the most viewers during the play. The shows are parodies of
current/nearly-current shows and they just add to the thematic experience. I can’t wait to break this out with a larger
group.
Oh My Goods!
Designer – Alexander Pfister
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before August 2016 – 6/15/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
We got this one to the table this past week and yeah…I
lost to Em again! She just seems to have
this game down pat as she usually beats me in this one. I got behind early this particular play and
just wasn’t able to catch up. It is a
good thing that I really like this game because Em really tends to rail on me
most of the time!
Patchwork
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before August 2016 – 7/3/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Yay! I won against
my beautiful wife in our monthly play of this two-player gem! I don’t have much to say about Patchwork as
it is a great game that we adore and it will never leave our collection. Is there anything more awesome to say about a
game?
Province
Designer – Samuel Strick
Publisher – Laboratory Games
Last play before August 2016 – 12/2/15
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
We took a break and had some pancakes at IHOP this past
month and brought this super small worker placement/movement game with us. We’ve definitely gotten our $5 worth out of
this game and this time I was able to defeat Em!
The Ravens of Thri Sahashri
Designer – Kuro
Publisher – Osprey Games/Japon Brand
Last play before August 2016 – 7/22/16
Total plays in
August 2016 – 1
This is a difficult game to explain and an absolute joy
to play. This is about as asymmetrical
of an experience as you can get. One
player plays a puzzle while the other plays a bit of a deduction style and they
meld into a game that I don’t think could be duplicated. This is a great two-player game and I’d
highly recommend it to those who play with that count often!
Roll for the Galaxy (w/ Ambition)
Designer – Thomas Lehmann/Wei-Hwa Huang
Publisher – Rio Grande Games
Last play before August 2016 – 6/22/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
To nobody’s surprise Em beat me up in our single play of
this gem this past month. I was looking
back at the plays and much like Oh My Goods! this is one of those games that
she really has down and tends to whip me in most of our plays. Regardless of this, I love this game and
always want to play more!
Samurai Spirit
Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – Funforge
Last play before August 2016 – 12/16/15
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
I played a solitaire play of this great little
co-operative game during GenCantSoloCon and was able to win my single
play. I’ve always really liked this game
and think that it is a bit underrated or underappreciated. That doesn’t matter though, I really like it!
Trambahn
Designer – Helmut Ohley
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before August 2016 – 5/11/16
Total plays in August 2016 – 1
Whew, we got in one play of this rummy-style game and wow
did I ever do well! I played a fairly
quick style game but was still able to pull out 200 points even. This is a great and highly recommended
two-player game. Understand though, it
does rely on card draws thus giving it a bit of luck. We love it and will always give people this
recommendation if they want good two-player games.
Well, there are our gameplays for this past month. Just below you’ll find the different game
acquisitions that we obtained this past month.
We picked up some great ones!
New game acquisitions in August 2016:
Bear Valley
Guilds of London
Medieval Academy
Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles Base
Set
Potion Explosion
New expansion acquisitions in August 2016:
Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot: Angry Ocean
Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 2: India &
Switzerland
Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 5: United Kingdom
& Pennsylvania
Well there you have it, another month of gaming in the
books and so many wonderful games played.
Thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you back during the next
post. My goal is to get up our (mine and
Em’s) top 10 lists either this month or in October. I’ll also be working on my Essen Spiel lists
and my Kickstarter list for the year.
Stay tuned for some more gaming goodness! Until next time, game on!
