Category Archives: tabletop

Coffee and Microgaming

love letter, tabletop

Yesterday I put the call out on social media to see if anyone wanted to meet up today at the local Costa to play Tiny Epic Galaxies. Luckily this time I wasn't Billy no mates, and Jo and Debbie said they would meet up with me to play the game.

I had managed to grab a table at the busy Costa ready for Debbie and Jo to arrive. I had my usual Costa tipple a Chai Latte. When the girls arrived I got them a hot chocolate. So technically the title of this blog isn't entirely accurate.

With our beverages sorted we set up Tiny Epic Galaxies. I explained the basics of the game and we started playing.

As we played we discussed options on each other's go. I think this helped with the learning curve.

Despite efforts to try and slow her down using one of the powers of a planet I had colonised, which was paying two power to move two enemy ships minus one position each, Jo still managed to get to the required 21 points to trigger the end of the game.

For a first play I think we all did really well. None of us achived our secret missions so not extra points there at the end. But Jo was the clear winner with twenty six points. Debbie and I came joint last with sixteen points.
We then moved on to a couple of quick games of Batman Love Letter. The first game was very quick with Debbie romping home with a victory before Jo or I could even score a point.
Our second game saw Jo and I score a point each before Debbie swept in and scooped up three points. But the tides turned again with Jo scored a couple of points pulling even with Debbie. Then Jo scored that final point for the win.

Thanks to Debbie and Jo for being great gaming companions. I had a great time playing the games in Costa , even with me not winning a single game!

 

Small box games

tabletop

This morning while I was taking a leisurely start to the day I came across a tweet by Bebo for her new vlog post. In this vlog Bebo talked about taking a small box game with you when visiting friends. Bebo saw this as away to expand the fan base for the hobby.

It may have come to your notice, possibly, that I like playing board games. It may have also come to your attention that I have a board game collection (that is growing). Well I do have the odd small box game in my collection.

Which brings me to the main point of this post. In Bebo's vlog she mentioned one or two of her favourite small box games. So I thought I would follow her lead and mention one or two of the ones that are in my collection.

However I didn't want to just list games in this post. Instead I've used a photo (above), and we all know a picture is worth a thousand words.

In the photo above I think I have a good mix of styles of game. Although it might be a tad biased towards card games. There are definite two player only games (Cypher, Pixel Taxtics and Star Realms), there are definite games that need to be played as a group only (Coup, Resistance, Bang the dice game).

Plus regular readers all know my love affair with Star Realms and Love Letter. So not much time will be spent pushing those games to you.

The great thing about these small box games is that they are not terribly expensive with the majority coming in under twenty pounds. Then there is the advantage that they are small enough to carry around with you, ready for that impromptu gaming session.

There are some great gaming experiences in the small box games above, I'd love to hear which are you favourites.

 

You can watch the vlog here –> Bebo Vlog about small box games

 

Induction Day – Student Gaming

love letter, tabletop

Today and yesterday were the first day of the new academic year for some of our students. For the first couple of days our students are on a special timetable from the rest of the academic year while they go through induction activities.

For my part of the induction process I like to use boards games.The games I usually use are Love Letter (Hobbit, Batman and Loot Letter) and also Resistance.

My first session with some level two students. For this I had the students play Love Letter with the winner on each table getting a prize (a McD Luigi toy from their current promotion, a Lego Minifig Mirkwood Elf, or a Lego Minifig TMNT).

The next session I had was a double session with some level three students. I started off with a Love Letter “tournament” for the first half, using more of the same prizes from the morning.

Then for the second session one group played Resistance while the other group played Bang! the Dice Game.

This morning for another level three double session (different group), they had the same Love Letter “tournament” followed by Resistance (I had managed to borrow a second copy for today).

About two or three of the two level three groups play a CCG of some type (yes Magic was the most popular). While the rest weren't really gamers.

However from all the groups it was evident that they had a good time playing the games. In fact one in his lunch break today went to the LGS and bought a copy of Loot Letter. Wow! he went with that version because he liked the none gloss cards better.

The nice thing was the last session today I was able to play a game of Loot Letter myself with the students. Which was great fun. I also quickly taught the ones I played Loot Letter how to play Sushi Go. Although we didn't have time to play a full game.

The students were interacting with each other, which is why I had chosen these games. The games broke the ice and gave them an enjoyable break from the other induction activities. Win, win in my book.

Plus I think we have some gamers (both video and board) so we might be able to get a gaming society going for the students.

 

Tag You Are It

netrunner, tabletop

Today saw me head on over to darkest deepest Peterborough to play some Netrunner with Jamie at an undisclosed location. The location had to remain secret we didn't want the dirty corps crashing in and ruining our runs!

Netrunner

We played two games of Netrunner. The first time was my Noise deck (changed that morning) taking on Jamie's Jenteki deck. Jamie was playing the Jenteki corp id that requires me to do a run on a central server before I can do a run on a remote server. I had a good start, had installed a Hades Shard on turn one on archives, milled a couple of cards, done a run and next turn or maybe it was the first I scored a three point agenda.
My milling was working, I pulled the trigger on the Hades Shard and scored nothing. Jamie was scoring agendas at will. I wasn't doing any runs, so not really applying any pressure on Jamie's servers. I needed my Parasite or Crypsis but was not drawing either. Too late I remember the ability of the Djinn I had installed that allowed me to search the stack for viruses! Bugger that may have cost me the game, or been a contributing factor. Needless to say it was a comfortable win for Jamie.
The next game I played a core set NBN deck against Jamie's Kate deck. I'm still trying to find the corp faction that is me, so until I find that corp, I'm playing the core set decks.
Jamie got an early victory of a couple of agendas that were sitting in my HQ, while I was waiting to get the funds together to protect and advance the one I had in a remote server.
After that I was able to start tagging Jamie, setting a couple of ambushes that Jamie fell into, and start scoring agendas in my scoring remote. I started scoring agendas and eventually got the win.
I really enjoyed playing NBN. I like the theme of NBN, they are the media corp. I can pretend to be bigger then Murdock! So I think I've found my corp. plus in the next big box expansion NBN will be getting some card love too.

Thunderstone Advance: Numenera

Next up was a new game to me, and one that Jamie had only played solo, the deckbuilding game Thunderstone Advance: Numenera.

There was a few times when Jamie seemed to be walking away with the win because he was managing to kill more monsters than me, especially as I was struggling to get enough attack together to take out the monsters. Often falling short by one or two points, and having to settle with making a purchase in the village. After two and a half hours I was narrowly defeated (four points in it).

For me the game lacked immediacy. In the Legendary system (Marvel and Encounters) there is a constant pressure as the villains move through the city and you have to stop them escaping, otherwise something bad happens, plus you have the master strikes and scheme twists, that add to the pressure. Which is a shame because Jamie said this is present in the solo variant of the game, using a similar mechanic as Legendary.

Plus you can only do one thing each turn attack or buy a card, which slows the game down.

Overall I wasn't bowled over with Thunderstone, very meh I think.

Welcome to the Dungeon

Time for a micro game so Jamie introduced me to the bluffing game Welcome to the Dungeon. As Jamie suspected this game isn't really suited for two players and that it is better (I would imagine) with more players. I won the game we played, but would like to play this with the larger number of players (I think max is four) before making a final decision on this game. If I was only going to be able to play this as a two player game I'd avoid this, there are better two player micro experiences out there.

Coin Age

Our final game was another micro game, this time Coin Age. Now I won both games we played. It's a very simple game, a very quick and light experience.

I liked the game, I'd certainly play it again, but I don't think it will make my collection.

So another great day of gaming. I found my corp scum faction! Tried some new games.

 

Father and Son Saturday

Cthulhu Realms, star realms, tabletop

After suffering the car park that is the M25, forty minutes to do three junctions, I managed to get to the M40 turn off and cut across to Naths avoiding the rest of the worlds largest carpark, and the congestion on the M3 also. Arriving a good hour and a half later than planned. Once we had eaten lunch of pizza washed down with coke it was on to some games.

The only game Nath wanted to know if I had bought was Star Realms. I told you he likes the game. And it warms my heart that he does, and that we are able to share playing it together.

Below our game of Star Realms in full flow. In this game I introduced Nath to the Gambit cards.

Nath finished me off with a really good combo score of 33 damage, easily wiping out my remaining 19 authority.

So after suffering a defeat at the hands of Nath, it was time to try Cthulhu Realms.

Nath didn't enjoy Cthulhu Realms. I think it was because it was learning the symbols and having to decode them etc. The game did seem to drag and not flow like a Star Realms game. However I put that down to this being our first game and learning the symbols on the cards and decoding them, and also trying to work out what good cards were.

Castle Panic was fun, we both enjoyed it. For a good three quarters of the game it was like “Oh this is easy”. We were controlling the monsters, keeping them down to one or two. Then it all went to pot. We drew a Troll Lord or something that required drawing another three tiles, one of those three was draw five more tiles, Nathan was rolling fours, fives and sixes. All these new monsters were accumulating on one side of the board. Before we knew it our castle was over run, and we were holding on to survival by a thread. We were praying for a miracle to help us out. Sadly none appeared. The inevitable happened the monsters destroyed our castle and we were defeated.

It was amazing how the game went from coasting to being under such intense pressure in a single turn. That was fun.

Even though we lost, Nath was happy because he had a higher monster head count than me.

Tomorrow it's more Star Realms I think and an attempt to get Star Wars Imperial Assault to the table!

 

Madhouse Minicon 2015

tabletop

“The highlight of the year for Wisbech True Gamers, Madhouse Minicon is three days of board games, card games, role playing games and other tomfoolery.“

“Originally founded for the players of the online game DungeonWorld it also welcomes local game fans to join the friendly get-together and take part in all manner of amusing games.”

So the above quotes from the private Facebook event page tell you basically what Madhouse Minicon is. It started this Friday evening and finishes later today.

This is the first Minicon I've attended. So let's look at my gaming experience for the two days I attended.

Day 1 – Friday Night

The first game of the evening for me was taking part in a four player game of the DC Deck-building game.

This was my first time playing the DC Deck-building game. So what were my impressions of the game? I wasn't really impressed. There was some interaction between players when you forced players to discard cards or take wounds (cards that waters down the players deck and gives negative points at the end). But it was weak for a competitive deck builder. This seemed more about buying cards that gave you more power to buy higher valued cards than your opponents for the end game add up of points. For me this was such a weak superhero game. The DC Deck-building game doesn't come close to Marvel Legendary. The only reason I can see people buying this game is because they are DC fans, and boy if they do they will be disappointed.

I'm glad I played the game, because I would have remained curious about it. So curious I might have spent good money on the game. Boy would I have regretted that.

After the game I asked the poor owner of the DC Deck-builder if he had heard of or played Star Realms. To which he responded he had a copy. “Cool, did you want to play a game?” I asked. Within minutes we were setup and duelling in space. Now you know I love Star Realms, I think that has been established well and truly on this blog. So I was in hog heaven playing a couple of physical games. I narrowly lost the first game, and comfortably won the second.

While playing Star Realms a game of Sheriff of Nottingham was going on. Which while observing it, re-affirmed my believe that the game isn't for me. You really do need people prepared to ham it up and get into the roles in the game (which one or two weren't in this game) for it to really work. Otherwise the game kind of falls flat.

Next up continuing the playing new games to me experience was a four player game of Lords of Waterdeep.

I liked this game a lot. The game has you playing a secret Lord of the city Waterdeep. It has a worker placement mechanic with some take that interaction with other players. I liked that there was a limited number of turns, stopping the game going on forever. It was quick to pick up the basics of the game. Overall a very nice game. Plus I came joint second in the game. This will definitely be added to my wishlist.

The final game of the evening was Qwirkle, the third game of the evening I hadn't played before. I suppose you could as the owner described it call it a game similar or in the style of dominos.

Another game that I enjoyed playing. Simple rules to learn, so quick to pick up. Did I enjoy it enough to add to the wishlist. Not at the moment. But I'd gladly play a game or two if some-one whipped out a copy and said who would like a game?

Day 2 – Saturday

The con started back up at 10am. On my way in I stopped off at The Luxe and made use of their August promotion of all cinema tickets are £4 during August to buy a ticket to see The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Once one or two others turned up it was time for the first game of the day. I was going to be starting the day of with another game I hadn't played before Sentinels of the Multiverse.

With free coffees and teas fuelling us, our four chosen heroes battled it out with a super villain. Often when it comes to superhero card games the majority of players are either Sentinels or Marvel Legendary fans, with the DC Deck-building game a poor third (and having played it now, I know why).

So to have this opportunity to play the game was ideal for me. In a way I feel that it is wrong to compare Marvel Legendary with Sentinels. Marvel Legendary is a co-op deck building game, while Sentinels is a co-op hand management game. You play a pre-constructed deck in Sentinels. Although the Ironman/Hulk type character I was playing did seem very thematic. And it is at this level that I feel that the two games can be compared. Which of the two really carries off the superhero theme? For me I think Sentinels may edge it.

However I feel that Marvel Legendary is the better game, and more fun to play. I kind of felt that Sentinels was an ok game, maybe a bit biased towards the villains. Would I play the game again? I think I'd be ok with playing it again but wouldn't go out of my way to. I don't think it's good enough to go on my wishlist.

The second new game of the day, Antimatter Matters. This is an educational game!!!! It tries to teach you through game play like physics stuff! The game has three ways to be played, the default competitive, a team mode and co-op. The flavour text on cards is all science like and educational. It was hard but I managed to block out that side of the game, I was determined not to learn. The game is basically role and move, do the action at the location, possibly mitigate the role with a move card. There is a bit of planning, working out routes that get you the symbol required to get the elements required to build your electron and proton. Plus the game can also be made more challenging by adding a side board for the player that also needs completing.
Even though I won the game (victory is always sweet) I felt the game was ok. An enjoyable experience, I'd play again.mbut another not good enough for the wishlist.
Below a couple of misguided Magic players. Everyone knows Android:Netrunner is by far the superior game. I even trolled them about it ^_^
My last game of the day was Five Tribes.
Three of us played this game of mine. It was my first play of Five Tribes since buying the game. I enjoyed playing the game, despite one player having a little hissy fit because he was losing, didn't really understand the game. They even stormed off at the start of the scoring. Another first for me, an adult behaving like a little kid because of a game. They apologised later for their behaviour.

Day 3 – Sunday

Decided not to do the last day.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the games I played, but the question is would I go again?

For me despite that I knew one or two of the people there. This event came across as cliquey. At the Top of this post I quote that this event was for gamers and welcomes local gamers. However the event page itself on Facebook was private, and the event wasn't promoted (to my knowledge) to the general public.

The majority attending also were players of the online game DungeonWorld. For which they had a little “icebreaker” game for those people specifically. Not only did it exclude those of us not players (admittedly most likely just myself) it took out a table for a good twenty minutes and paused play while a large number decided to do the trades that the “icebreaker” encouraged.

Adding to the feeling of the clique was that the local players attending all seemed to be from the same gaming group. Apart from myself and one other I think everyone else was either a player of the online game or this gaming group or both.

The experience of the little temper tantrum on the Saturday kinda ruined the experience for me too. A couple of families attended, with their kids then taking up one of the larger gaming tables for their junk and playing on their Nintendo DS/3DS consoles.

On a whole I enjoyed playing the games. It's just everything else around it I didn't.

I think this would have been a great opportunity to promote gaming in the local area. However I think this was missed with the limited visibility of the event.

To answer my initial question for these final thoughts I don't think so. That's assuming that after reading this they invite me again!!!

 

My Awesome Weekend

imperial assault, netrunner, new arrivals, tabletop
Saturday saw me driving up North to the shadow of Kinder Scout to visit friends. As the photo below shows I took the odd game with me. I had ordered some new games that I was hoping would make it before I set off. Unusual for the Royal Mail they actually attempted to deliver my parcels, and they did it at half eight. Which meant I got them on time for once.
But I still had no idea what time DPD would be arriving with the one game I actually did want to take with me specifically for the weekend. Then a text message arrived letting me know they would be delivering the game Castle Panic before ten fifteen. Score I'd have everything before my planned leave time. For once the stars aligned for me.

Once at my destination for the weekend it was Netrunner time with my guru Todd. Todd was using his newly constructed HB Cybernetics Division deck against my Noise deck. Two games, two loses. But I did score some agendas so it wasn't a white wash. Then we swapped I played Todd's HB corp deck, while he played my Noise deck. I think this was maybe my third time playing corp. I haven't really looked at trying to construct a corp deck yet. I'm not really sure which corp is me yet.

I won this role reversal game, and then had feedback from Todd on where he thought my short comings were for my deck. I basically need to look at my economy (there wasn't really enough being generated), while there was also not much synergy going on in my deck either.

After a break, Todd constructed a runner deck that he wanted to test. So I played his corp deck again (well I don't currently have one) it was a tense game. But in the end Todd ended up winning.

While we were playing the last game it was getting near to the bedtime for his boys, and they wanted to play a game with me. So before they went to bed we had a couple of quick games of Batman Love Letter.

Tea for us grown ups had been an awesome homemade chilli made by Todd. It was just right, not over hot, but not bland like the chilli at work. There was a really nice heat to it. Perfect.

Sunday morning after breakfast was a quick game of Batman Love Letter with the boys. Then with the table in the middle of the room it was time for a game of Zombies! a favourite of the boys.

I hadn't played Zombies! before, so this was a new experience for me. My initial impression of the game was it was a lot of fun. Building the map as you go along was a nice mechanic. The game has a lot of opportunities for player interaction, well a take that interaction. It was very easy to screw over another player, forcing them to skip a go, stop them moving, surround them with zombies etc. One of the boys was really getting into this side of the game. That did add to the enjoyment of the game.

Run,Fight or Die! Fails

I tried to teach the youngest age seven Run,Fight or Die! However it didn't really grab his attention, especially with Cartoon Network on the TV.

How unfit I am?

After lunch we all went for a walk. The weather was hot, and the route took us over a hill to a conviently placed pub that used to be a mill. The hill was hard work, I'm so out of shape. Well more than usual. Luckily the return journey didn't have as much up, which was welcomed. The boys were amazing, not a single word of complaint, they really enjoyed themselves. It warms my heart to see kids enjoying the outdoors.

But boy was I knackered and sore afterwards. I really must get back into shape for the outdoors.

With the car packed it was time to say my good byes. I'd had a really great weekend. Great hosts, a great time. 'Nuff said.

Chris Shaner GenCon Star Realms Champion

Well the subheading says it all. A really big congratulations to Chris on becoming the champ. I don't think I'd be wrong in saying this competition is the nearest the Star Realms has at the moment to a world championship.
For an amazingly long time Chris was the top Star Realms player online however due to his alterism (he is no longer actively trying to push up his ranking since hitting level 40) he has been over taken and currently sits at number 4 on the all time league table. So really when you are that good at the game is it a surprise that Chris did so well in the GenCon competition?
Chris regularly thrashes me at Star Realms online. Sometimes I even make him work hard for his victory. Even more rare is the below photo, a victory for me. It just happened I managed to score this ultra rare win yesterday on the day I find out about Chris's well deserved title win.

Imperial Assault Wave 4 Announced

At GenCon this years big Imperial Assault announcement from Fantasy Flight Games was details of the wave four expansions. Wave four will have another big expansion which will return us fanboys back to Hoth.

Above photo taken from The Dice Tower stream from GenCon iirc ^_^

My favourite GenCon coverage from the week has been from Team Covenent and their unboxing and looks at the Wave Two expansions for Imperial Assault and the next big expansion for Android:Netrunner Data and Destiny. The videos give a great look with initial thoughts on the expansions, the enthusiasm for the contents, and the games really does come across in the videos. It's infectious and makes the videos a delight to watch.

The other coverage I have enjoyed is the MeepleWorship Instagram feed. This has been a great personal view of the show. Some great photos from the show floor, including loads of selfies with industry figures, celebs from the bloggersphere and of purchases.

New Arrival To The Pile Of Shame

The Recon expansion for Arctic Scavengers arrived this morning. It comes in a pretty big box. But there is a reason for that. The box is designed to hold not just the Recon expansion but also the base game and the HQ expansion (the right half of the photo above shows this). Apart from adding 140 new cards for the game, it also comes with the rules for using the Recon expansion, plus an updated rule book for the base game and HQ expansion. Now to just get the game to the table! Which is easier said than done.

 

Overrun

new arrivals, tabletop

Last night had an unexpected gaming session. A friend was working behind the bar at a local establishment, and it was a bit empty. So I was invited up to help pass the time with some boardgames.

Being such a Star Realms fanatic I took that with me, and also I thought I would introduce Run Fight or Die!

We played a couple of games of Star Realms first. Fun games, my friend enjoyed learning and playing but I don't think it was as big a hit as it had been with Nath (side note Nath is playing the app but not forked out for the full version yet, so no online games together. But so looking forward to my next visit and seeing how much he has grown in his game play.)

Next up was a couple of games of Run Fight or Die! I lost the first game we played when I got over run by zombies. The second game ended up with my friend being over run by zombies. Both games the mutant boss appeared. In the first game I did manage to hit him once. But the second game our card draw just kept adding more life to the mutant boss. There wasn't much chance of us getting rid of the mutant boss. Plus we were both having to concentrate on trying to hold back the zombie horde. I was having a modicum of success. However my friend was mounting up wounds fast, zombies knocking on the door, but it was a mutant card dealing two wounds that finished them off.

The great thing about Run Fight or Die! is it's portable (easily more so than Zombicide), doesn't take up loads of space to play (ideal for last night), quick to setup, and quick to teach. The game captures that constant threat, overwhelming odds feeling so well. I get the same feeling while playing Zombicide (which I love playing) and it's a part of playing the games I love. That feeling of impending doom, attempting heroic moves that if successful keep you alive another turn, or if you are lucky a bit longer until the next wave of zombies hits. Then after that intense feeling of impending doom comes a wave of serenity when you accept your bloody fate. Pure gaming delight.

The plus side is that at our next game night if we play Run Fight or Die! there is someone else to help teach the game to the others.

New Additions to the Pile of Shame

So the first expansion for Five Tribes called The Artisans of Naqala has arrived. Yes an expansion for a game that I haven't got to the table yet and is sitting proudly in my pile of shame. But I know that if I don't get it now after it just came out, when I do want to use it I won't be able to get it. Or I would be able to get it but it will be mega expensive on eBay.

This expansion adds a new tribe to the game, with the supporting tiles, tokens, meeples, cards etc for that tribe to added to the game.

Next on to the pile of shame is the game Biblios Dice. I haven't played the original card game Biblios or the earlier versions Scripts and Scribes (card and dice), so why the interest in the dice game? It looked cool in the YouTube video I saw of it being played! I had heard it was good before seeing the video, had a look for it on YouTube. Liked what I saw, thought I can see others I play with liking it. And it wasn't mega expensive.

In Biblios Dice you play a monk (no jokes about my love life please) who has been tasked with increasing the prestige of the abbey's collection of historical and sacred texts. Doesn't sound an exciting theme to be honest. But the video of it being played really sold me on it, the mechanics, DICE, and it looked fun.

Finally

The button was pressed on the Amazon cart this morning, about five-ish. A couple of items will arrive sometime next week, but I knew that before hand. It's now a race against time hoping that the courier Amazon have used (DPD according to the text I received) will arrive before eleven tomorrow morning so I can take Castle Panic with me. Here's hoping.

 

’twas the night before payday

tabletop

When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even an attack chihuahua;
The Amazon cart was filled with care
In hopes that Prime would have them there next day;

So if you haven't guessed already by that rather lame parody intro its payday tomorrow and my Amazon cart is all loaded up and ready to fire off first thing in the morning.

Are you wondering what is in the cart? What made the cut for this months hard earned cash?

For starters there is nothing Android: Netrunner related, the last data pack of the SanSan cycle seems to still be on the boat! Still no sign of the second wave Imperial Assault expansions, but they are on pre-order.

So now let's look at what is sitting in the cart.

  • Castle Panic
  • Recon – Arctic Scavengers expansion
  • Spectre Ops
  • Discoveries the journals of Lewis and Clarke

How did I arrive at this list?

This weekend I'm visiting Todd, Zoe and their boys up in the shadow of Kinder Scout. Todd is my Netrunner guru! So there will be one or two games of Netrunner over the weekend. However we will be playing other stuff also. I met up with them all at the con in May, sadly the boys at the con didn't get to play the giant sized Castle Panic. They are at an age where they would really have enjoyed play the game. So I thought I'd get the regular size game (well it's the only option available because they don't sell a giant sized version – although that would be cool to get for induction days at work) for the boys to play this weekend. I think they will have a lot of fun playing this co-op game.

Even though I haven't got Arctic Scavengers to the table yet I want this just released expansion for it. What I do like is that those that want to get the game can also buy a version of the game now that has the base game and all the expansions. I'm taking my copy of the game with me this weekend on the off chance we get to play it.

I'm a cyberpunk fan, I have been since the mid eighties. Since being introduced to Android: Netrunner earlier in the year, my love for the genre has been rekindled. Spectre Ops has been described as Metal Gear Solid the boardgame. Which basically means it's a stealth game on a board. How they achieve that I'll cover when the game arrives. But it has a cyberpunk theme which tickets the box for me, plus the way it implements the stealth is cool (ok if you want to know more just go and watch the Watch It Played how to play video). So this edged it above Dark Moon this month, although that will most likely be top of the list next month.

Ok I haven't played the Lewis and Clarke game that Discoveries is a spin off of. But having seen a run through of the game, this dice game looked good fun. Besides if it isn't obvious I love dice games, as does my friend James. So this is something that should appeal to him as well to play.

So there you have the planned new arrivals for this month. If decide to get or even have any of the above please let me know what you think of the games.

 

Two New Pages

tabletop

For the observant amongst you, you may have noticed that I've added two new pages to the blog. The first one has a link to my Boardgame Geek page that lists my game collection (but not all the expansions). While the second page is my Wishlist of games. Which is basically games that have made my radar that I'm interested in getting. Once again I've not added expansions to this list. But in future I will be adding them also.

So hopefully you will find the lists interesting. Maybe they might give you an idea for a game you might like. If you know me, and we are meeting up, feel free to look at the list of games and hit me up to bring along games you are interested in playing.