Out of that great pile of games I took to play with Nath over Christmas how many did we get to play? Two! We played Marvel Legendary and Tokaido. There was a perfectly good reason for this. Nath had to work, and on his day off got called in to do cover. It's the one variable before Christmas we didn't know, what shifts he would be required to do. We did get to see two movies, Exodus: Gods and Kings and The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. Nath enjoyed both games. However he did prefer the collaborative deck building of Marvel Legendary where Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Punisher and Spider-Man defeated Magnetos evil scheme to turn the world leaders into killbots. And from the questions Nath was asking me I think he was interested in buying his own copy of the game. If he hasn't got it by Easter who knows what the Easter Bunny will get him instead of chocolate eggs.

While there Kate and I had a chat as you do. After discussing how Nath needs to work on his house keeping skills, the conversation got round to what sort of things a mother and son could do. So obviously I suggested playing board games. Kate doesn't do video games. I recommended the obvious ones that would appeal to her and Nath, and that could be played in under an hour (mainly), and were playable as two player games as well as with more players. So the recommendations some would describe as “gateway” games but they are games that meet the criteria I've just listed. So here is the list I suggested:

• Carcassonne
• Machi Koro
• Tsuro
• Settlers of Catan
• Pandemic/Pandemic the Cure
• Tokaido
• Fluxx
• Flash Point
• Ticket to Ride

Are there any you would recommend that I have missed? If so leave your suggestions in the comments below!

Now I know in a post at the end of last year I wrote about games I was planning to buy at the start of this year (oh yeah, Happy New Year dear reader). Well I thought it might be an idea to share what my current wish list is for games in 2015. What am I looking forward to, what's on my radar, what do I like the look of. Now this list is in no particular order.

• Star Wars X-Wing miniatures – it's a given really Scum and Villany is coming out. A new Imperial big ship has been announced. But that like the previous two rebel ships I won't be getting as I don't play Epic games (don't have the play space for it) and I don't play enough of this as it is. However Scum and Villany will be added to my fleet.
• Star Wars Imperial Assault expansions – another given really. A no brainer.
• Star Wars Armarda – I was undecided over this. When announced I was like “oh yes – just take my money Fantasy Flight Games”. Then I saw the cost of the starter set and expansions and was kind of put off. However Amazon put up a great pre-order price, so I've caved and pre-ordered the starter set. I don't see myself at the moment getting into this as much as I have X-Wing, but we will see.
• Dice Masters – there are several new sets coming out this year. Main ones I'm interested in are the DC set and the next Marvel one. I might get the D&D set I do like D&D. But not a chance on the Yu-Gi-Ho set. I've never been a fan. I may buy the odd card and dice from ebay if they become important to the meta game to be competitive. But otherwise not for me. I'm just dreaming of building teams with the Joker in.
• Run, Fight, Die! – a zombie dice game. Dice, miniatures, can be played solo, ticks all the boxes for me.
• Machi Koro Harbour expansion – love the original game, so a no brainer.
• Orleans – saw this today in a review on Dice Towers by Tom Vassell. Looked really really good. Described as a bag builder! Which is like a deck building game but using tiles and a bag. Not available yet in the US or on Amazon in UK. But when it does come out I'm there.
• Zombicide Season 3 – well I've got this already (Kickstarter backer) just waiting for the late February/March delivery.
• Zombicide Season 2 Prison Outbreak – the only main expansion I don't have. I need to get so I can use the Games Night 2 kit I have, but also I love this game, so definitely need this.
• Zombicide Dog Companions and Zombie Dogs – really? And yes I will name my dogs appropriately. Nico and Strider for companions, Bud, Barney for the zombies. What? I love Bud and Barney they were loyal companions and deserve to be immortalised as zombie hell hounds.
• D-Day Dice – Recreate the D-Day landings with dice!!!! Can be played as a solo game, and that's this main attraction for me on this one.
• Battlelore second edition – fantasy war game that just looks amazing. Love the way setup has been incorporated into the gameplay.
• Descent 2 – this is close to dropping off the list now I have Imperial Assault. But still it's fantasy.
• Tiny Epic Kingdoms – looked like a cool game on The Dice Tower just waiting for it to finally hit retail!
• Krosmaster Arena – final fantasy tactics on the table enuff said. Besides I don't have enough collectible miniature games! Yes sarcasm!
• Star Realms expansions – when I can get my hands on them.
• Cash 'n Guns second edition – just a fun party game – mainly want to use with my students
• Formula D – which is odd as I'm not a formula 1 fan! But when I saw it on Tabletop thought that looked fun.
• Room 25 – came across this as a suggestion on BGG forums for games that can be played solo. Looked interesting so here it is.

Expansions that are hovering on the wishlist

• Ticket to Ride 1910
• Memoir 44 expansions
• Ghost Stories expansions
• Run, Fight, Die! Expansions if I get the game
• Pandemic On The Brink
• Battlelore expansions if I get the game

So that's the current wish list I have. How many will I get? Who knows? It's always in flux. Like Orleans I saw that reviewed today, there will be new releases through out the year, and one or two will be must haves I'm sure and push one or two of the above further down the queue. It's nice having a list though, it doesn't mean I'm going to buy them all, it just means these games are ones I like the look of at the moment, and if I had the spare cash would consider spending on one of the above.

As I was discussing with my friend Alan over Christmas (and I must of bored him with my boardgame talk), well it was more explaining/justifying, that I spend a lot of time researching the games I'm interested in. I watch/read reviews, watch game plays (if available), read the forums on BGG. Money is not in endless supply, and some of these games can be an expensive investment. So time spent researching before hand in my opinion is time well spent. It doesn't guarantee that the game once played will be to my liking but it greatly helps to reduce that risk. So you can be sure that I've already clocked a bit of time in researching the games/expansions on the wish list above.

So what do you think of my wish list? Has it given you any ideas for your own list? Do you have any recommendations that you think I'd enjoy? Why not let me know in the comments below?

Posted by me using my iPad and the Blogsy app