Life definitely got in the way of gaming this later half of the month.

However the day before greeting Diogo in the family I got to have a game day with a Ra theme. Charlene, Ben, and myself met at hers to play the three Ra games plus we had time to sneak in another game.

Ra: played with the new Traders expansion. Some new tiles that add another way to score points each round. Adds no overhead to the game.

Ra and Write: a light roll and write version of Ra. Quite enjoyable.

Ratzia: the card version of Ra themed around anamorphic characters and crime. Relatively quick to play that captures the feel of the original.

Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor: I’m glad I got this. It’s a great way to get into Forest Shuffle without buying the original and trying to get the expansions. Plus I love the Dartmoor theming. I love the actual Dartmoor and have fond memories walking and camping on it.

Netrunner: still a classic. We played using the original FFG core set default decks.

Marvel Skirmish in New York: I liked this two player game. The asymmetry of each player having their own decks is nice. It joins the growing list of great two player games in my collection that will sadly not get the love they deserve.

A Study in Emerald: a fun game nearly spoilt by a subpar rule book. Definitely a game I’d play again. But the rule book requires work.

Discworld Ankh-Morpork: this was a big hit with Ben and Charlene despite them not being familiar with the books. They took delight in card names and the art work. They enjoyed it so much we had to reset and play a second game straight away.

Furnace: I picked this up after seeing a video for the impending two player version. Boy am I glad I did. Quick to teach and play. The auction mechanic is simple, fun and very strategic. Then running your engine which can be made more gamer like by a variant. A very nice quick auction engine builder.

Fate of Witches: This was not a great experience. I found the game initially very frustrating. Reflecting on it over night I think this was due to a combination of things. Firstly the teach wasn’t very clear and didn’t explain a couple of key points properly. Some of the scoring hadn’t been explained clearly. Terms used to describe actions did not accurately describe what you did. For example one action you can take is called upkeep. What it actually is, is play a card into your tableau. Very confusing. I also felt that opportunities to get cards into your graveyard were very limited. This needed to be easier. There seemed too much downtime between turns, and the game felt overly long for what it is.

And that was the later half of November.

New arrivals to the collection

• Qwirkle Flex
• Marvel: Skirmish! In New York
• Battletech: Gothic
• BattleTech: Inner Sphere Fire Lance
• Stone Age Anniversary Edition
• Furnace
• Both Star Wars Unlimited Secrets of Power Spotlight decks