You would think after the big superboard gaming weekend we had earlier in the month I would have run out of games to talk about, but I’m on summer holiday and the gaming continues.
Root (Digital Board Game Adaptation)
During our big gaming weekend earlier this month, I was exposed to a very curious little game called Root which piqued my interest both as a board game fan and as an amateur board game designer.
This highly asymmetrical war game about cute little woodland creatures fighting in a forest has some incredible dynamics which results in tremendous replayability and diversity. It seems like it’s one of those games where you really need to do many repeated plays to really explore it and fully understand it, not something that typically happens with any board game in my gaming group. We really rarely go back to the same game over and over again, generally being a lot more diverse in particular given the sizeable gaming collections some of us have.
Luckily there is a digital adaptation of Root available on steam and other apps which is perfect for some great solo gaming.
I played the digital version of root about 20 times already, doing so obsessively in succession as I tried to really delve into the games unique nuances and Root did not disappoint. As I suspected the more you play, the more unique elements and strategies you discover in this quirky little game.
The game has great tutorials that really walk you through the rules, so if you have no knowledge of the board game at all, the digital adaptation will not only teach you how to play this digital version, but how to play the board game version as well. It’s a great aid for a game that is a bit of a chore to learn to play.
The digital version of the game is a direct translation, has AI bots of various skills, and comes with a few expansions allowing you to explore it even deeper with more factions. The developers have done a great job replicating the cartoon art of the board game and the interface is really easy to use, allowing you to really focus on the nitty-gritty details of gameplay.
Highly recommend this adaptation if you are curious about Root but don’t have the group available that wants to repeatedly play this one with you. There is a small online community as well so there are plenty of opportunities to play with other players too.
War Room
Getting an opportunity to play War Room, my all-time favorite game is a real treat. I did a preview and review of War Room if you want more details on this epic, global-scale event game. This week we got it to the table and as always this game blew me away!
In short, what I can say about every game of War Room is that despite having a grotesque playing time, on average exceeding 12 hours, this is a highly interactive, deeply strategic, mechanically easy to learn but impossible to master game that to me is not only an achievement in game design but one of the ultimate board gaming experiences.
It is everything I love about big epic board gaming in a box as it addresses every issue I usually find with long, event-style games. Most of the activities in the game are done simultaneously and or in groups as the game is not only team-based but features hidden order movement. The combat is engaging and very dramatic so even if the nation you are running is not involved you’re drawn to it as it’s no less exciting to watch it unfold. Every move and round in the game, has far reaching and big impact on the results of the game that creates dynamic outcomes and narratives you are unlikely ever going to see repeated.
This is a game that tells stories that you will remember long after the game is put away with everyone expertly pointing out what “they should have done” or what strategy they will try next time. You’re going to be thinking about this one long after the game is over.
There are countless possible strategies as well, this is a World War II game that gives you the opportunity to re-imagine the history of the war and approach it with your own revision of this pivotal and tragic moment story without burying you in unnecessarily detailed and overly complex historical realities typically found in historical war games. It certainly will have a lot of familiarity for Axis and Allies players, but this game has an elegance that far surpasses its predecessor. It is simply put, just an amazing gaming experience.
I adore this game but I would caution anyone considering picking it up that you really do have to understand what your getting yourself into and the information on the box is a bit inaccurate in this regard. For one it suggests that the game is for 2 to 6 players and this is true, but while there are 2 and 3 player scenarios, what you are certain to want to do with the game is play the global war scenario which cannot be played by 2 or 3 players reasonably. There is just too much going on in this game for one player to run multiple major nations. Then again while the global scenario can be played by up to 6 players, if you do, one player is going to get stuck playing Italy which while an important nation in the war, plays in a fairly isolated part of the map and is really part of the German strategy.
The game also says that it plays 1 hour for each player which is complete nonsense. If you can finish a game of War Room in under 12 hours with any amount of players you are playing a very fast-moving game of War Room.
The ideal conditions for the game is 5 players (Japan, Germany, US, Britain and Soviets with the US player running China and German player running Italy). You also want to make sure you have a full day, or even better is to have two half days to play the game. You are going to need a ton of space and you want to setup timers where each team can have time alone with the gameboard to play, typically 10-15 minutes per planning phase is enough.
The point here is that this is an expensive game that requires real event planning and a good-sized group of 5, players preferably but no less than 4. That is what it takes to play War Room and I would avoid it if you don’t think you will have the gaming group and conditions to meet those requirements. You don’t want a 250-dollar game collecting dust on your shelf, especially one that will torture you as this one will because this game begs to be played.
My friends and I manage about 1 game a year and while I would love to play it more often, I consider it a big win to be able to pull that off. It was an amazing day!
Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory is a classic in the historical war gaming communities and is the foundation game for card-driven mechanics.
I have an online buddy that comes out of the woods periodically and challenges me to a game of Paths of Glory, which I always graciously accept because I absolutely adore this game. In stark contrast to War Room however, this is an intimate and very historically accurate war game that endeavors to not only teach, but gives you an incredible sense of a global conflict.
Paths of Glory is about the whole of World War I and I did a review on it last year. It’s an incredible but very long and very detailed game that is not particularly easy to learn and certainly impossible to master. It requires tremendous patience and dedication to learn to play it well, but it has made a believer out of me.
This is a card-driven game so it’s a nice fit for me personally as I love all things card-driven, in fact, looking at my top 20 board games of all time no less than 7 games use similar mechanics. Paths of Glory is unique however in a number of ways in terms of historical war games. For one, it’s a point-to-point rather than a hex and counter game, which creates a unique dynamic as you have this really strong sense of supply lines and complications of the terrain. It sort of forces you to deal with the real historical issues of the day without forcing it on you via mechanics, so it has this great “re-write World War I” feel, but you still get a lot of historical outcomes anyway.
More than that this is a game with so much diversity and dynamics that no two games ever turn out the same and it’s amazing to see how wildly different the outcomes can be even the same strategies are deployed.
I have always been a huge fan of this one, but I caution my readers that this is firmly in the historical, chit game category and Paths of Glory does not apologize for that. The rules are complex, full of exceptions and there are a lot of moving parts. It’s for seasoned historical gamers only and I would not recommend this as an entry point if this is your first go at the genre. It’s best to have someone teach you this one if possible but veteran historical war gamers will be on comfortable footing here, Paths of Glory is an established classic that’s based on some of the historical war gaming most foundational mechanics.
Every year in early March my extended family and I take a trip up to the Swedish ski slopes for a week of fun in the snow. Naturally, there’s a lot of downtime in the evenings so we play a lot of board games, in fact, I pack up as much as I can carry and despite bringing a considerable selection we manage to play through everything every year, this year was no different.
Texas Hold’em
Texas Hold’Em is the modern and most popular poker variant in the world, yet it is generally not considered part of the board gaming sphere which I find rather odd as it’s an awesome card game.
Some might not count Texas Hold’em as a game belonging to the world of board gaming but I beg to differ. If Texas Hold’em didn’t exist as a game for gamblers today and was packaged up as a family card game I predict it would be a smash hit.
It certainly is with my family, playing poker is a long-standing tradition and while we never play for money, the games are no less competitive and intense.
For those that have never played, Texas Hold’em is a unique member of the poker family mainly because the game is as much about the cards as it is about the betting and psychology of the game. Most hands of Hold’em are won and lost without cards ever shown. We have 4 kids between the ages of 10 to 17 in the family and they take their poker pretty seriously creating what is without a doubt the most competitive game of the week. This year the kids really showed us some serious skill taking the old dogs down with ease, clearly, we need to step up our game.
Hero Realms
Hero Realms takes the very basic premise of dynamic deck building and turns it into a dueling game with a fantasy twist, in my eyes a perfect combination.
Hero Realms is typically played two-player and it’s a fine game for that purpose but in our family, a free for all 4-6 player mega game is the way we do it and while it can go a bit long and there’s player elimination, this cut-throat competition brings with it various negotiations, alliances and betrayal which the kids love!
Hero Realms is a deck-building card game based loosely on the Dominion concept. The twist here is that each player gets a fantasy character (Thief, Wizard, Fighter etc..) represented by cards in a 10 card deck. In the center of the table are an additional 5 cards always available for purchase into your deck. As players take their turn they play cards from their hand, which include gold cards allowing them to purchase more cards for their deck. As play goes on players build up their decks with bigger and bigger plays possible. Anyone can attack anyone on their turn and so the game is as much about surviving as it is about looking threatening and negotiating to keep people from attacking you.
In the end it’s complete chaos, eventually, someone makes a big attack, that triggers rivalries and the game devolves into an all-out war until there is one hero left standing to proclaim victory.
This is a really fun game, it’s actually a variant on a science-fiction version of the game called Star Realms. It’s easy to teach and learn, while there is some reading required, there is really good iconography for the game that the younger kids pick up on really quickly so no major trouble getting the younger crowd into this one. I would not call it a deeply strategic game, but there is a lot to the deck-building concept, so which card you buy is a key decision point and how you build your deck will ultimately determine how well you combo when it’s your turn to play cards. Like Dominion, it’s all about keeping your deck lean and effective.
Twilight Struggle
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Twilight Struggle is THE finest representative in board gaming that creates a bridge between historical wargaming and the rest of the board gaming market. It’s a bonafide cross-over hit.
This classic cold war card game was for a time a major obsession for me, but it’s really difficult for experienced players like me to bring a new player up to speed to a point where they can be a challenging opponent because of how card knowledge in the game is such a huge advantage.
Thankfully over the last couple of years, I have been slowly but surely training my brother in law and whenever we do family trips like this, TS comes with us and we play a few rounds. He is not quite far along enough yet to beat me, but I offer him a fairly sizable handicap, and it’s starting to click for him. I think a few more games and he is going to be ready to play without the training wheels. My hope is that this will be one of those games the two of us can play together into our retirement years.
Unless you have been living under a board gaming rock, you know what Twilight Struggle is at least by name, but what I think most boardgames miss is that while this game is a historical board game, some might even call it a war game, it does not really fall into the standard historical war game formula. It really is just a great two-player strategy game and I would definitely recommend it for people who are not into historical wars. TS definitely transcends beyond its roots as the designers intended and while I will still argue that Imperial Struggle, the designers follow up to Twilight Struggle is a much better game, it does not cross over as easily as TS does.
One of the best games ever made in my opinion, an unquestionable classic and a fantastic gateway game into the larger world of historical card-driven games from which there are many fantastic titles to choose from.
Endeavor: Age of Sail
The more I play it the more I like it. This game is quickly becoming one of my favorite Euro-style games thanks in big part to its big board game feel in a very reasonable time frame.
This game comes in a big box and has a lot of pieces so I was quite hesitant to bring it with me, but my daughter insisted as she loves this game so I hauled this beast with me despite protests from the wife.
In the end, it turned out to be well worth it. The thing about Endeavor is that it has this great “big board game” feel and table presence but is actually a relatively short and simple game. It looks kind of intimidating and complex but once you understand the basic flow of a turn, it’s very easy to connect the rules to the strategy and players are typically off and running after a round or two. We had an age range between 12-50 and everyone picked it up very easily.
There are many deep and meaningful choices in the game, it’s a bit of a race to victory points, with resource management and much of the strategy is about well-timed execution of the five different actions you can take in a turn. What I find really interesting about this game is that it plays really well at all player counts including 2 player games, but the strategies that work in the game change wildly depending on how many players you have at the table. It’s a very dynamic setup for the game as well so you end up having to “re-think” your approach each time you play.
The version of the game I have is the new deluxe version which comes with a bunch of expansions we are yet to try, so far the base game has been more than enough for us.
This is a great family game having as many if not fewer rules than RISK or Monopoly, but a far more robust and interesting execution. I think my favorite aspect of Endeavor is how it works with a wide range of gaming groups, casual to veterans, it always finds its audience.
King of Tokyo
This silly dice chucker never stops impressing me with its uncanny ability to turn anyone into a fan.
Between the cartoon art style, the giant monster theme and the Yahtzee style gameplay, to me this is the perfect family game. The rules fit on a napkin and while there is some strategy this is a game of pushing your luck with dice which works really well with the casual crowd, yet makes for a great filler for more seasoned gamers.
It’s a pretty simple concept, you select one classic Japanese-themed monster like King Kong or Godzilla for example and you try to proclaim control over Tokyo in what is essentially a king of the hill game, as you fight all of the other big monsters in the game. You roll dice to do damage, build up energy to purchase special ability cards and simply try to last on the hill as long as you can to score points.
I always say that for every classic old-school game there is a modern replacement that is much better. In the case of King of Tokyo, it totally replaces Yahtzee for that light-hearted simple dice chucker.
A really fun game that produces a lot of big moments that had everyone cheering.
Sheriff of Nottingham
A party game for gamers that will have you in stitches, it has never let me down.
We played this one multiple times during our vacation, it was without question the big hit of the week.
Sheriff of Nottingham is closer to an “activity” than a game as the premise is quite simple. Each player draws six commodity cards (Chickens, Cheese, Bread etc..) at the start of each round and slips any amount of cards into a hidden baggy. One player is the Sherrif each round and that player must decide to either open (inspect) the baggy or allow it to pass through. The trick is that players can lie about what they are trying to get past the Sherrif and there are various “illegal” goods that are worth more than the legal ones. Things like Crossbows and Alchemic potions.
Players can bribe, make promises and deals, pretty much anything goes, but if the Sherrif catches you on a lie and inspects the bag, you have to pay a penalty. If the Sherrif opens the bag and you were telling the truth, the Sherrif must pay you a fee in addition to you getting to pass through with your goods for additional scoring at the end of the game.
Each player gets a turn at being Sherrif and whoever manages to get the most goods through (legal and illegal) wins the game. Typically games are won by the player that manages to get the most illegal goods past the Sherrif so there is a lot of motivation to lie, but if you get caught too often you aren’t likely to win, nor will you win if you inspect too many legal commodities.
The entire premise of the game is about social interaction and while there might be some strategy here, the game is rarely played with that approach. Most players naturally take to the psychology of the game and try to trick each other into opening or not opening the baggies as the case may be.
This game produces a lot of silly moments and when we play it, most of the game is spent hysterically laughing the entire time. It’s an absolute blast and works really well with pretty much any group, cocktails are recommended while playing this one!
We play this one at our summer gaming weekend retreat as well which is made up of many serious veteran gamers and this is usually a major hit there as well so this is one of those games that just always hits well with any sort of group which is why it comes so highly recommended by me.
Seven Wonders
I actually think it’s a great game and tend to agree with the general consensus about that, but personally, every table I introduce this to seems to shrug its soldiers with an audible “meh”.
Seven Wonders is a game about card selection and has been a highly rated game for years. This one didn’t hit that well with our little family gaming group and I have had trouble with it in the past as well with other groups.
I think it’s a great game and highly rated for good reason but it’s one of those games that doesn’t make a great first impression for some reason. You have to play it a few times before things click and that can be a hard sell if after a first try if you are unimpressed.
Seven Wonders is a bit like a professional golfer playing golf left-handed for the first time. Everything is familiar and logical, but there is just something off about it and some might see that as a challenge worth pursuing, others just feel like it should work differently than it does.
I have personally always really liked it, but to quote my daughter “It’s like a crappy Seven Wonders Duel”, which I think is a fair assessment. Seven Wonders Duel is a kind of two-player version of Seven Wonders that came a few years after the release of this one and I agree with her of the two games Duel is a much more interesting and less “odd” version of the game. It’s for two players only, so there is that drawback and unlike Seven Wonders there are no expansions for Seven Wonders Duel which notably are rumored to improve Seven Wonders a great deal (I have never tried them). For me personally, I have never had much luck getting anyone excited, it has always landed a bit flat, but I actually do think it’s a pretty fun game.
There were a few other microgames we played including Albion: The Resistance, Coupe, For Rent and The Hand of the King, all great games in their own right but I have talked so many times about these staple games in my collection I will just leave it here as a list.
It was a great week for gaming and skiing, now I need a nap!
This year I’m kicking off a new article series and what you are reading right now is the inaugural article for that series. On the Table will be a monthly column where I will discuss various gaming topics based on what I have been involved in, in the previous month.
This will include impressions about games I played, new arrivals that I have unboxed, games on the horizon that sound exciting, conversations and discussions I’ve had with the community, designers, and publishers as well as hot topics in gaming. It’s going to be a smorgasbord of gaming-related topics covering all genres, styles, and types of games.
I think that is enough of an introduction, let’s get into it.
New Aquisitions
This month I picked up four new games.
Western Empires
The first acquisition of the month was Western Empires by 999 games. This was a gift of sorts. I received a Christmas present from my work (100 bucks to Amazon) and I took the opportunity to pick up something I probably would not have bought for myself under normal circumstances (aka my own money).
I have always been really curious about the cult following that surrounds Francis Tresham’s Civilization franchise, but I passed on the very expensive Mega Civilization that came out a few years ago and while Western Empires effectively represents half of Mega Civilization (Mediterranean Half), it’s still a very expensive game and one that I think is going to be extraordinarily difficult to get to the table with my gaming group in particular.
This is a 12+ hour-long game for 5 to 9 players and while I will say that my gaming group is incredibly flexible and generous with their time, this one pushes some boundaries that even my very tolerant gaming group will probably not want to cross. Even if they did, this one would be in competition for the rare opportunity for an all-day slot, games like Twilight Imperium, Through The Ages and War Room. It would not be easy to justify it myself, let alone talk the rest of the group into Western Empires.
I did set the game up on my hobby table, read through the rules and took the time to test drive some of the mechanics, kind of standard operating procedure for me to determine if and how I would like to pursue the game (or not). In the case of Western Empires, while I don’t want to rush to judgment and I did find plenty to enjoy with some head nods of understanding why this game has such a following, I have determined that the likelihood of this one qualifying for that rare all-day event slot is pretty slim.
I just wasn’t blown away by it, it was an interesting game and I really can understand why it has a following, but the game despite its scale and scope really felt to me like something that might be interesting as a 2-3 hour game but not as 12+ hour event game.
The biggest interaction in the game is trading commodity cards reminiscent of Settlers of Catan where you are trying to complete sets to get enough resources to purchase Civilization advances, with this rather nasty setback mechanic driving the hostility in those trades via the Calamity cards. It’s a civilization game where you’re constantly getting knocked back by these calamity events, undoing your efforts, but because you really have minimal control over what calamities you get (sometimes non at all with non-tradeable calamities), the game felt a bit dated to me, a sort of throwback to the games from the past where stuff just happened to you, often determining for you wether you win or lose. I supposed that is because it is a game engine designed in the 80’s, so I’m not sure what I expected, but I think it suffices to say that I can think of at least 5 better civilization games out there that are much better and take considerably less time to play than this one.
It’s a curiosity buy, not every game on my shelf ultimately makes my table and I’m certainly not discounting the possibility of making it happen sometime in the future, but for now, I think this is a pass for me, I have bigger fish to fry!
Endeavor: Age of Sail
Next up is Endeavor: Age of Sail by Burnt Island Games, I picked this one up from a recommendation by a friend of mine. It was a very pretty-looking game that was actually quite cheap but it was a bit of an impulse buy, I did zero research relying on the recommendation entirely.
We got this one to the table (see below), so I will cover the gameplay there but the one thing that struck me about this game was the production value. Just an amazing game visually, with sturdy components, well organized in the box with inserts. All I have to say is that as a gamer with high expectations, for a 65 dollar game to give you this much value in the box, it really put a smile on my face.
Caesar: Rome vs. Gaul
Caesar: Rome vs. Gaul by GMT games, designed by Mark Simonitch of Hannibal and the 44′ series fame was a game I knew I would acquire at some point, it actually sneaks in just in time in January as I got word it was coming at the tail end of the month, it hasn’t even arrived yet.
This game has won a few awards and nominations as do most of Mr. Simonitch’s games, but it comes highly recommended by a few of my favorite board game reviewers and I think it will be a perfect follow up to Imperial Struggle for me and my buddy who have been exploring 2 player historical games. I love the subject matter, it is a real steal at 50 bucks and seeing as so far in the world of historical war games CDG’s have been my bread and butter, I’m excited.
Peloponnesian War
Another GMT title for my shelf, Peloponnesian War by famed designer Mark Herman is a game I was never really expecting to play, but when it arrived at my doorstep, I honestly found myself quite excited at the prospect of yelling awesome shit like “This is Sparta!”
Thus far every single Mark Herman game I have tried has become an obsession for me (especially Empire of the Sun), the guy can do no wrong so I feel quite comfortable walking into this one. I will say, I know nothing about the Peloponnesian War that wasn’t included in the clearly factual documentaries the 300 and Troy, so I’m hoping that Mark provides me with a much-needed history lesson on the subject through this game.
This is a solo game and I have been slowly acquiring solo games over the last couple of years in no small part because of the Pandemic and so far my experience though isolated to DVG leader and field commander series have been very good. This game has a very unique mechanic from what I understand where you actually play both sides of the conflict, switching sides when you play too well with one of the sides of the war. Intriguing concept, really looking forward to giving this one a go.
On The Table This Month
With the pandemic getting worse and worse in Sweden by the day, restrictions have remained quite light nonetheless, and because pretty much everyone is vaccinated in Sweden, my gaming buddies and I have forged forward throughout January fearlessly and continued to game in person.
Endeavor: Age of Sail
I don’t want to say too much about this one as I’m writing a review for it, but spoiler alert, I really liked it. This is a very quick-playing, thinky euro that has you taking on the roles of managing a symmetrical European nation in the age of sail as you attempt to explore and ultimately conquer the newly discovered world. That is thematically, like most Eurogames, this is a point salad and the theme, while certainly fun and well layered, is not exactly poised to make this one feel historical.
I would not fault anyone for thinking this is a long, complex Euro game, it certainly looks the part, but this is a fast and very tight game.
It is a very tight game about scoring points as you would expect from a Euro, but unlike a lot of really heavy and excessively long Euro games that typically overstay their welcome with me, this game takes about an hour, hour and a half max with setup and teaching. It’s engaging, very pretty, has a lot of quality-of-life mechanics that make it easy to learn and play. My first impression is really good and the deluxe version I got comes with a bunch of expansion content so there is plenty to explore beyond the base game. For a 60 dollar game, this was one that impressed the hell out of me. If you got your eye on it and you are looking for a shorter Euro game that is really engaging and full-bodied giving up nothing with its short playtime, this is the game for you.
Be warned however it touches on the topic of slavery and I know some are rightfully a bit sensitive about that, but it handles the subject matter respectfully without getting PC about it. I appreciated that, slavery happened, it’s part of human history and I don’t t think games in a historical context should pretend otherwise, to exclude it from the game would mean we are pretending it didn’t happen which I think is worse. I played this one with my 13-year-old daughter as well as my gaming group, it brought up the subject and triggered a conversation about history, exactly what you want it to do, even lightly themed games like this one.
Smartphone Inc
Smartphone Inc by Russian designer Ivan Lashin did not impress me coming out of the box. A game about managing cell phone companies was already a rather odd topic for me that did not register. The very plain and milky-looking gameboard did little to sell itself and the bearded hipster on the box did not score any points either. I went into this one unexcited expecting a long boring Euro.
I love being wrong!
It looks like a prototype, but this game actually has a very sleek design that facilitates gameplay that you will come to appreciate.
Not only was this a very fast-moving, very cerebral game with mechanics the likes of which I have never seen, but it instantly gripped me and justified every design decision that had me initially questioning this one. The game space I thought was so boring looking quickly turned into one of the most functional and well-thought-out gameboards I have seen in a long time, facilitating not only gameplay but teaching and learning. The topic (cell phones) also immediately grew on me, in particular in the context of an economic game where you research technology, set competitive pricing for phones, manufacture them and try to sell them while competing against other players. Coming off 1830 Railways and Robber Barons, this one had that same sort of cut-throat economic competition feel that made me fall in love with the 18xx series.
Really fantastic game that made a real impression on me, can’t wait to get this one to the table again soon.
Corvus Belli Infinity
Infinity is a miniature game by Corvus Belli and I have a buddy of mine who is a big miniature gaming fan and he has a tendency to talk my gaming group and I into new mini-games all the time using a variety of unscrupulous tactics. In the case of Infinity I got an army starter from said friend for my birthday… well played sir.. well played.
It took some time to get this one to the table as is the case with most miniature games, but I finally managed. I have to admit I was not terribly excited about the event which is a bit odd really. I do like miniature games, I love science-fiction, the mini’s are actually really awesome (I shit you not I have werewolves with machine guns in my army) so really I’m not sure why I wasn’t more excited about it.
You had me at werewolves with machine guns!
In any case it turned out to be a really fun, very easy to learn game with a metric-fuck-ton of options and choices. This mini-game had one of the things I really like about mini-games, lots of options, but simple gameplay. In that way it reminded me a bit of what I loved about Star Wars X-Wing where each time you played it, you could really change up your army list and do something wildly different with the same units you already have.
This is a really fast game, its a bit of a dice chucker, stuff dies fast and furious and it just makes for a really entertaining evening. Now I will admit I’m super spoiled, my friends are miniature game fanatics so when you show up to their house to play these games they have massive, elaborately decorated tables with tons of very fancy terrain and all the fixings. All I have to do is show up, hell they even glue and prime my mini’s for me so they really make it easy on the guy.
I had a lot of fun, miniature games go hot and cold for me, sometimes I love them and get really into them (Looking at you Songs of Ice and Fire) but often they disappoint me and make me feel indifferent towards the hobby (again I’m looking at you Songs of Ice and Fire) because of how poorly managed most of the mini-companies are. I’m sure we will be running this one more in the future and I think I’m genuinely looking forward to it. I don’t see me expanding my collection, but the army box I have is plenty to keep me entertained with this one for a while.
I will say this about Mini Games in general. Do your research, this is an expensive hobby and you don’t want to step into it willy-nilly.
Circadians: First Light
Circadians: First Light from Garphil Games by designer S J MacDonald more widely known for his “Of West The Kingdom” series of games that include Paladins, Architects and Viscounts of The West Kingdom is yet another twist on the resource management Euro-centric games. We have a fan of these games in the group, so now again one shows up and we give it a whirl.
I have played quite a few of these at this point and I think it’s fair to describe them as very busy, thinky and generally heavy euro games that always come with a lot of really smart and unique mechanics. From a design perspective, I have to hand it to Mr. MacDonald, he creates a lot of really cool stuff. Circadians First Light follows in that tradition, but to be frank, of all the games from this style and designer I have tried, this is my least favorite so far.
Some gamers will look at this and get excited, I look at this and question my life choices.
That is not to say that it was bad, it actually wasn’t, it was just fine, but it’s just not my personal style of gameplay to begin with, so these games never really wow me, even the really good ones. This game, like all of the games in this series, are just a bit too long for what they are (Euro-Centric Resource Management Games), generally, there is a lot of complexity so it takes quite a bit of effort to learn and I find in my gaming group we typically play these games one time, then never hear from them again, a fate I think Circadians: First Light is destined for.
These games just don’t make a lasting impression, but I have to say I don’t think it’s because they are bad games, I do find them quite clever, but they are just complex enough that if you play them once, the next time you play you pretty much have to learn the rules again. For a game like that to come back, it needs to build up more excitement on the first run and I just find that these games don’t do that, at least for me. The games just don’t sink in and I have felt that way about every one of the “Of the West Kingdom” games I have tried and this one falls into that same pit.
It does use a clever dice chucking worker placement mechanic reminiscent of Kingsburg which I think is actually kind of fun, but there is a lot of very busy, paralysis analysis inducing “stuff” going on in the game that left the experience a bit flat. It was ok, but I doubt we’ll see this one again anytime soon.
B-17 Flying Fortress Leader
B-17 Flying Fortress Leader designed by Dean Brown of DVG games is without question one of my favorite solo games. Now that said, I have to admit I don’t own that many solo games, so my list for comparisons is very small.
For me B-17 is just a blast to play, it’s super thematic, it has a very scalable difficulty level, has lots of depth and really tells a story which I think is fundamentally the most important part of a solo gaming experience. A good solo game unlike other types of games does not live and die by its mechanics, it does so by its ability to give you a narrative and trigger your imagination and B-17 Flying Fortress Leader really does that for me.
B-17 is a fairly complex game definitely not for the faint of heart, but in my eyes it’s brilliant and the narrative it brings to life is unmatched. The fact that it’s a solo game that you can play whenever you feel like it, especially in times like these is a gamers prayer being answered.
It had me reading books, watching documentaries and exploring the fascinating world of World War II aviation triggering an interest I never even knew I had.
This is a wonderful game, I play it all the time, in fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if it appeared in the On The Table articles pretty frequently as Its setup on my hobby table quite often second only perhaps to Lord of the Rings LCG.
Paths of Glory
I realize as I’m writing the first On The Table article that I own a lot of GMT games! The classic Paths of Glory by GMT Games graces my hobby room once again as I take on an online opponent using vassal in a PBEM game.
It took nearly the whole month of January to finish, me and my online counterpart both use the same method to play online. We use vassal to maintain the game state and deliver our moves, but both of us have the real game setup on our hobby tables so we don’t need to do everything digitally and we get to play with the real components.
I’ve run out of ways to praise Paths of Glory so instead just look at this pretty map!
I have praised Paths of Glory so many times it seems unnecessary to do so again, it’s an amazing historical war game that deserves every accolade anyone has ever given to it. I can’t get my local gaming buddies to try it as it is quite complex and it has “chits” which most of the members of my local gaming group have an aversion to, but I adore this game, it’s THE definitive historical war game on World War I, accept no substitute!
Other games that hit the table
Just a quick hit list of other games that hit the table this month.
Talisman 4th edition. I play this one with my daughter quite frequently, she loves it and it keeps her gaming so I don’t mind playing it. It’s a bit of a long game but with two players you can get it done in an hour and a half, so not too bad. Fun little adventure game, nothing I would play with my gaming group but it’s a perfect family game and it beats the hell out of playing fucking Monopoly!
Condottiere is a common filler in my gaming group and it hits the table this month. I won, but it was a tight, down-to-the-last card kind of ending. This is a trick-taking game with a twist that I think belongs in any gamers collection, if you don’t own it, you should!
Game of Thrones: Hand of the King Another one I play with my daughter often. I actually like this one as a filler, but It hasn’t made it to my regular gaming group yet. It’s kind of an abstract game with a slapped-on theme, but it’s clever, easy to learn and fast, great filler.
On The Horizon
Of course, there are four new games that have been added to my collection so I see at least a couple of those hitting the table in February. I have also kick-started my gaming groups ongoing Vampire The Masquerade campaign, my group and I will have our first session after the last Pandemic hiatus, very excited about that one.
I’m keeping tabs on another Dean Brown solo game from DVG that is currently on kick starter called Spruance Leader which is going to be another game along the lines of B-17 Flying Fortress Leader except for this time you are a commander of a naval task force during the cold war. Very excited about this one.
This is the player board from Spruance Leader. I suppose it’s fair to say that this either does it for you or it doesn’t, for me personally this has got me hoping up and down in excitement.
In February I’m hoping to kick off a big all-day event to play War Room, the amazing super game by Larry Harris in which we will be trying some of the 2nd edition (reprint) rules that update the game and aim to address some minor issues.
I plan to do two reviews this month, though I’m concurrently writing about 5 reviews right now, so we will see which of those shapes up. I will leave it at that, no spoilers!
Side Note: I get asked this a lot so I thought I would slip it in here and answer the question. Some of my readers want to know if I accept review copies or make money on the site. The short answer is yes on review copies, no on making money. I don’t typically note which games I review that are review copies as I’m indifferent to that, I don’t ask people to send me review copies, but when they do I happily review them. I do not make any promises or guarantee’s about how the review will come out, in fact I typically communicate very little with publishers in general, I like to keep my distance from the business end of gaming. Generally, however, I don’t like doing negative reviews so if I really hate a game that was sent to me as a review copy, I would send it back and I don’t review it at all out of respect for the designer. I personally only want to have a positive influence on game sales, not a negative one. I will occasionally make an exception when I’m trying to make a bigger point about something, but those are rare. I do not however accept patron or payments of any kind, gaming and this blog are hobbies for me and I have no ambition of turning it into a business. It’s something I do for fun.
Ok that is it for this month, hope you found the article informative and entertaining! If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to email me at gamersdungeon.net@gmail.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.