For the final time until the end of the month here is the last “look at what I played” post.
And as usual this is just a bare bones, no frills post.
Here you go…
December 2022 Gaming Stats
All posts by Darren
Flashback to December 2016
Before I bore you with the December 2022 stats post it’s time to bore you with yet another post looking back to 2016.
As per usual for this post we start off with the top 9 games played that month.
Love Letter Batman, sadly no longer available for folks to buy. But it is my favourite version of Love Letter still. I love the theme, and the extra point for guessing what another player has in their hand when playing a Batman card, a nice rule change. Probably my favourite introduced by any version.
Ah yes Pandemic Iberia. The game ZMan was a limited printing. Yet somehow gets reprinted! It’s not a bad version of Pandemic. Don’t think I’ve played it since. However it is the version I’ve kept in the collection.
Braggart was a fun card game. But not one that held up to repeated plays over a short period of time. I gave this away in the end iirc.
We all know how I feel about Scythe. Nuff said.
Viticulture and Alien Frontiers both great worker placement games. Which I’m looking forward to getting back to the table as part of one of this year’s challenges.
I do need to get The Others (a great one vs many game, which soured how I feel about CMoN and will never back a project of theirs again), and Cry Havoc back to the table. I do really like both these games and they deserve more love.
Robinson Crusoe possibly the most brutal co-op game on the market. Also probably the most fiddly to setup also. Still a fun game with the right people.
Ok let’s wrap this post up with the raw stats for December 2016.
Naturally the next post in these look backs will move into 2017. See you then.
2023 A New Year, New Challenges!
It’s that time of year where folks make resolutions to improve themselves. I don’t do that. Let’s face it I’m a deeply flawed person who is so long in the tooth now that I’m comfortable with that flawed entity I have become.
But what I have started doing in the last year or so is using the challenge functionality of the bgstat app to set gaming challenges.
Out of the four challenges I had running last year I only completed one of them. That being the Play 40 New-to-me Games challenge.
One of the four challenges carried over into 2023 (see further down) so technically is ongoing.
I don’t see not completing the remaining two a failure. Both had over 50% completion. They encouraged me to get certain games to the table. And that’s the point. The challenges are there to get me to play games that are just sitting there on the shelf.
So to get over half of my big games to the table was a great achievement. As was playing so many of the purchases I made during the pandemic.
Ok with the rolling over 2022 challenge of trying to play as many of my unplayed games I’m only doing one other challenge in 2023.
Hopefully it will allow me to focus on getting those unplayed games played. I still have a lot to get to the table. Plus play those games that have one of my favourite game mechanics.
Well that’s it for my 2023 challenges. See you in my next post.
Happy New Year 2023 Edition!
I’d just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
Obviously over the next week there will be the usual stats posts for the previous month and the seasonal bonus post of yearly stats. Throw in a post about the new years gaming challenges and the year won’t have started off that well for readers of this blog.
Also this starts today…
I’ve already bored you with the prologue posts in the past couple of weeks.
But today we start to take that boredom to new depths.
So along with all the stuff I’ve already threatened you now also have regular posts on here to look forward to about #dungeon23, along with daily Instagram photos (if you follow me there) to suffer.
Have a great day recovering from the nights excesses see you in the next post.
Oops forgot the title!
Last night was the first and only session of the Christmas gaming program for Fenland Gamers that I could attend this year.
Traditionally there are three gaming sessions organised. However work rotas meant I had shifts during two of them. It was just luck that I was on an early yesterday and thus able to attend.
It was really great to be seeing friends again and playing games with them.
After some catching up, Katie, Jeff, and myself played Dune Imperium ALL IN!
By that I mean not only was it the core game and the first expansion Rise of Ix. But also the second and latest expansion Immortality.
Wow is this a table hog now.
For me Dune Imperium is like Istanbul. A great core game, that gets better with the expansions.
Granted when teaching to new players things might look daunting. But after a couple of turns, or just the first round, everything clicks into place.
I love what Immortality brings to the game. More decisions to make, more options.
In our game it was looking like Jeff might trigger the end of the game on the ninth round. I had decided not to go for one of my intrigue cards end game scoring conditions as I just didn’t think I would get a chance to complete it.
I had decided instead to try and get as close as I could to ten points and hope that my end game intrigue cards would be enough to snatch victory away from Jeff.
In the end after some beautiful minding it, I managed to grab three victory points to trigger the end of the game, and get two more from end game intrigue cards.
But that moment was all down to stealing an alliance token from Katie, and grabbing a couple of others by winning the combat, and doing research that enabled me to progress up faction alliance tracks.
It was not an outcome I had planned on that turn. But as I got closer to triggering the end of the game, one false move and we’d have gone to another round. Which would have given Jeff a window of opportunity to grab the victory instead. Everything had to be done in the correct order. Luckily I didn’t slip up.
There is still plenty to explore with the Immortality expansion before I talk more about it. But so far after this initial game I love it.
It was great to be gaming again. Tomorrow I’ve spending New Years Eve with Nathan so there will be a game or two there (even though it’s a whistle stop visit).
Now to start putting dates up for the next regular Friday evening gaming sessions.
My GOTY 2022
It’s that time of year once again when content creators of all types throw top 10 lists of this and that at you.
I’m not one to avoid jumping on a bandwagon.
This post is all about me choosing my game of the year for 2022 from the 54 new to me games that I played.
Now the caveat is that this is new to me. Which means that the games may or may not have been published in 2022. In fact one of them is approximately 40 years old! But until this year I had not played them.
But first here are some stats from that really great app, bgstats.
First my top 9 new to me games based on the number of game plays.
Next up the bgstats insights for those 54 new to me games.
Roll & Writes
I’ve played a few roll and writes this year. That side of the collection has grown considerably also. So I think it’s safe to say it’s a genre I enjoy playing.
There is one shown above, it’s not only my least favourite roll and write, but probably my turkey of the year also. That game is Super-skill Pinball: 4 Cade. The least said about this game the better.
Out of the remaining 8 roll and writes if I had to choose one to be the roll and write for 2022 it’d have to be…
the combotastic Three Sisters.
I really like all the others. They are great, fun roll and writes. But wow Three Sisters just blows the mind, especially when the combos kick off. The use of the rondel and die selection introduce a bit of decision making whether to take a die to deny an opponent that die and action, or go for one you really need.
A great roll and write that really does stand out.
Expansion of 2022
My expansion of the year is the Rise of Fenris expansion for Scythe.
I had a blast playing the 8 game campaign. Which can be reset and played again. However you can also add it as modules to the main game. Adding more options, variability, replay ability to the game.
But that first play through. The twists and turns. The big reveals. Epic.
Also this was the last game I played with my friend Ben before he left us. Ben will be missed. But it’s the fond gaming memories that remain behind. Rise of Fenris will be one of those memories.
Honourable mentions: Dune Imperium: Rise of Ix (I won’t play without this expansion), Tapestry: Arts and Architecture
Ok onto the main event.
54 games to choose from.
Some incredible games played.
A very very hard choice. However I did come to a decision.
My GOTY 2022 is…
Drawn to the game by comparisons to Scythe, but apart from a mechanic or two it’s not really like Scythe.
I loved this game. From the variable board setup, to the era cards, power ups via paintings, variable leader powers and player boards, being able to tailor the maps to encourage or discourage combat.
It’s a really great game.
Honourable Mentions: Survive Escape from Atlantis, Libertalia Winds of Galecrest, Portal: the uncooperative cake acquisition game, The Thing boardgame.
Obviously I’ll be returning at the start of 2023 with the monthly round up plus the stats for for 2022.
Merry Christmas 2022
When this post goes live I’ll be asleep.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas/Seasonal Greetings.
I hope everyone has a great few days R&R from work.
Please be kind to those of us working over this holiday period.
Darren and the Attack Chihuahuas
Life, the universe, and not a dungeon23 post!
It’s been a day or two since I last posted. Several days since I posted something not #dungeon23 related.
Believe it or not I have other stuff going on in my life.
Sadly that seems to be work.
This year I’m not able to make the majority of the Fenland Gamers holiday gaming sessions.
Currently the only one I can make is the night before I do a whistle stop trip to see Nathan.
The lack of getting round a table with friends and playing games is a drawback of the new job role I took on in the later part of this year.
Don’t get me wrong I love what I’m doing. I’m working with some great people.
But there is a price all this comes at.
I do have some new arrivals though.
First up is the second expansion for Dune Imperium, Immortality.
I don’t think anyone will be surprised at this one considering I love playing Dune Imperium (especially with the first expansion Rise of Ix).
Just like Istanbul, Dune Imperium just gets better with each expansion added in. So I’m pretty excited to get this back to the table
The next two arrivals just show you how much I liked these games after playing them recently.
First up is Splendor Duel. Yeah I know two player games hardly get to the table, and attempts to get a two player game evening arranged have fallen flat. Add in the fact I’ve not won a game of Splendor in a long time. But despite this I still enjoyed the game and wanted it in the collection. Splendor Duel will be making the journey with me for that whistle stop trip to see Nathan.
Next up is Trekking Through History. I played this recently with Ben and Diego and had a good time playing it. I loved the stories of your time travels you could make up with the card titles. I also think this might play well as a two player game with Nathan.
Finally the latest Vampire the Masquerade Rivals expansion The Dragon and The Rogue arrived.
It’s been out for a while in the US, and only now starting to get in the hands on UK and maybe EU folks.
I love the game. But like many before (Ashes, Star Wars Destiny, Dice Masters etc) supply issues are just killing the game for me.
Well that’s it for now. I’ve a busy few days ahead of me. As they say no rest for the wicked and those that work in retail.
#dungeon23 prologue part 5!
With little gaming going on at the moment. It’s the nature of this time of year and working in retail. All I seem to be writing about is this impending #dungeon23 thing.
I suppose thinking about it I should be doing my usual spoiler alert for my adventurers because for sure ideas from this prep and what I produce will most likely surface in the campaign. But I’m not.
This morning I got to a version of the dungeon hook and the d6 table I’m happy with and commit to ink on paper.
The final adventure hook I came up with for a DM to use is a straight rip off from the Bioshock video games. I like the idea of giving the DM a hook that allows them to explore or play with the same issues, plot hooks raised by the phrase in Bioshock.
You can read more about the use of the “would you kindly” phrase here. It’s in that linked article that I came across the following little factoid:
“Before the phrase “Would You Kindly” was chosen, the developers also considered the word “Excelsior”, a Latin phrase for “Over God”, [3] and the Latin phrase “Cedo Maiori” (I yield to a greater person).”
I like these Latin phrases a lot. I think these can be worked into the megadungeon somehow. They will add to the story and history of the place.
You also might find me breaching song copyright on some of the entries. Specifically on the first few with Guns ‘n Roses Welcome to the Jungle. Although you may spot the odd Status Quo or AC/DC lyric as well down the line.
Before I’ve even really started there is a bit of imposter syndrome kicking in, along side an inferiority complex about my poor artistic skills.
While I’m fighting those feelings I think I’m there ready to jump in creating my magnum opus megadungeon for #dungeon23.
#dungeon23 prologue part 4!
This prologue thing is becoming more of a diary thing. But it’s doing it’s thing showing my prep progress, and capturing ideas.
Ideas such as I want a bag of holding as an item that any party in the dungeon can get. But it wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t a twist. This time the twist would be the same one as I wrote about in my campaign prep. Yep this bag of holding would be a gateway for the Bagman.
Another item I’m going to add for the party to stumble upon is a deck of many things.
I also want to use the idea of dreadful incursions as thought up by and used by Mike Shea (aka Sly Flourish). I’ll most likely use a dreadful incursion as one of the options in an encounter table for the level. I have his Uncovered Secrets Volume 2 that has a page of tables that can be used to create them.
I own the Galeforce Nine Tarokka cards. I’d like to use these somehow in this hashtag but I’m not sure how at the moment. I need to sleep on this one.
As the embedded Instagram image shows a new deck of cards arrived that can be used for this hashtag project and also during a regular session.
I’m pretty sure I ordered the fumbled searches deck too. But I’m not entirely sure about that as I can’t find an email confirming I did.
I have been working on the hook for the megadungeon plus a d6 table that can be used to give adventurers a reason to visit the megadungeon.
I’ll be ready to share this bit of work tomorrow.