Friday I was feeling I needed some game time. So on the clubs discord server I put out the call to see who was free for some gaming Saturday afternoon.

Luckily with a slight adjustment to the initial suggested start time two others could make it.

The initial games I had suggested playing were Lost Ruins of Arnak, Tapestry or Funkoverse (if there were only 2 of us). But during Saturday morning I had been tempted to take Dune Imperium. Even Wingspan for a fleeting moment was considered. It was a close call because which ever of the games I took I’d have to teach it because the game would be new to at least one person.

In the end I went with putting Lost Ruins of Arnak and Love Letter 2nd edition in the bag.

As usual I went a little early to start getting set up. I like to maximise the game time for the others playing.

I was still setting up when Jeff arrived, and almost finished when Julie turned up. Which meant I could start teaching the game to our noob to the game Julie.

I like Lost Ruins but I think this second play cements my preference for Imperium. Well for the time being. The expansion may change that. After all the expansion does add one of the things I like better about Imperium the asynchronous player boards.

There is also a nagging feeling that in both plays we are not discovering enough new dig sites and focusing too much on the research track. It seems the game is more about racing up the research track than anything else. Although the margin between Jeff’s final score and mine was the two sites he discovered and defeating their guardians.

I did like how the blocking of some of the second spaces on the base camp spots in the three player game is random.

I did get some cool extra card draw going on, and at times despite there being fewer rounds than Imperium felt that I was doing more on my turns.

Jeff asked if the deck building side was more important in Imperium than Lost Ruins. And I think it is. Or more like it has a bigger emphasis. Although I do like how new cards in Lost Ruins are added to the bottom of your deck, so they come into play quicker.

The scores were much closer this time with Jeff still winning and starting his undefeated run with the game. Sadly I still managed to come last with a slightly better score than the first play.

We finished off the afternoon with a game of Love Letter 2nd edition. Which was another new game to Julie. But this is soooo much quicker to teach.

The second edition is an update by Asmodee after taking over Love Letter from AEG. It increases the max player count from 4 to 6 players. The tokens have been upgraded from wooden cubes to plastic disks, and new art. Plus to accommodate the extra player count there are more cards, from 16 to 21. Which also sees some new characters/cards.

Firstly the number of guards has increased from 5 copies to 6. Two copies of new card The Spy (value 0) wins you a point if you were the only player to play or discard a spy during the round. Which is a pretty cool additional way to win that extra point each round. Finally there are two copies of the Chancellor (value 6) allows you to draw two new cards, add those to your hand, then place two cards of your choice on the bottom of the deck. It’s an interesting card. Great for burying a card and finding one you want.

At the end of the day it’s still Love Letter and still great fun. Although this version will replace the first edition, especially when we want to make use of the higher player count. It doesn’t come close to knocking Love Letter: Batman off its perch as my favourite version of Love Letter.

As you can see Julie won, and once again I came last.

Despite coming last in both games I had a good time. It was exactly what I needed. However the heavy rain as we were leaving wasn’t! A big thank you to Jeff and Julie for taking the time out of busy weekend schedules to play some board games.