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Death to 2020 - How My Year Went

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

08 Jan 2021

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

Board Game: Win Immunity: Stop The Virus

2020 - A Review

What an absolutely dismal year 2020 has been. I’ve spent the better part of it unable to see my friends and family, the hospital that I work in has been chaotic, and I haven’t been to any gaming events. People have found innovative ways to carry on gaming using webcams or digital versions of board games, but I’ve struggled to get the same level of enjoyment without physically being in the room with other people. My pile of unplayed games is bigger than ever, waiting patiently for the lockdown restrictions to ease so that I can start enjoying them again.

But enough about that. I’m sure that you’re just as bored of the pandemic as I am. This post is my chance to reflect on my year of gaming, however fraught with obstacles it might have been. I’m not going to focus too heavily on 2020 releases because to be honest, most of the ones that have entered our collection are yet to be played.

Contents:

1 - Some Stand Out Games This Year
2 - My Favourite 2020 Release
3 - My Most Played Game of 2020
4 - My Bargain of the Year
5 - Surprise of the Year
6 - Best Kickstarter of 2020
7 - Top 3 Games to Play After the Lockdown
8 - Our 2020 Christmas Haul
9 - Some Highlights of the Year
10 - Favourite Picture of the Year
11 - My Favourite Blog Post This Year
12 - Some Statistics for the Year

1 - Some Stand Out Games This Year

Pictures

When I saw the nominations for this year’s Spiel des Jahres I did feel like Pictures probably wouldn’t win against Knizia and Rosenburg’s great looking shortlisted entrants, but the game won and despite being very difficult to find it eventually found its way into our collection. It’s a simple idea, players must attempt to recreate one of the sixteen images displayed on a grid of cards, chosen at random, using one of five different materials. Either a set of four sticks and sour stones, two shoelaces of different lengths, six different wooden shapes, a 3x3 grid of coloured cubes or with a series of picture cards. The game is always five rounds long so you always get to try each material once, it’s one of those games that is so easy to pick up and play yet it can be genuinely challenging at the same time should you get an unfortunate set of materials and pictures. The only downside is that it’s a three to five player game so the prospect of playing this one over the next few months is pretty slim, but I’m sure that I’ll be playing it again once the Summer returns.

The Isle of Cats

The Isle of Cats is a game that I played heavily at the start of the year and it’s the only title to be given a massive 10/10 on the BGG scale by me in 2020. Despite the cute feline artwork and the seemingly simple polyomino gameplay, Isle of Cats is a deeply strategic experience full of difficult decisions and convoluted scoring mechanisms. The game is also quite punishing to new players and can take a few plays to work out how to prevent yourself from receiving massive points penalties for incomplete spaces and uncovered rats. I grabbed the main game then later added both the Late Arrivals expansion and the Kickstarter Pack, all of which fit nicely into the massive base game box. I mostly played with two but did get a few chances to play with four, I’m excited to try it with a bigger player count in the new year, it also plays surprisingly well as a solo game. This is an instant top 10 game for me and probably the best use of polyominoes that I’ve encountered so far, which is saying something because they’re one of my favourite gaming mechanisms.

Terraforming Mars

I’m pretty late to the Terraforming Mars party, people have been raving about this game for a few years now. I grabbed my copy the weekend before the original UK lockdown so I’ve only had the chance to play with my wife so far, and thankfully she loves the game. The rules were surprisingly easy to learn, plus the engine building element and cardplay is incredibly satisfying. I love how simple the resource management and income mechanisms are to run thanks to the individual player boards, and the various paths available for players to maximise their points. I’ve heard that the game gets better with every expansion but Annabelle and I have had to wait patiently to try them because we backed the Terraforming Mars: Big Box on kickstarter along with every single expansion to date. I know that this one goes up to five players but I feel like it’s the kind of game that I’ll end up enjoying more as a two player game, because Mars always needs the same amount of actions to terraform with any number of players, you just get to play a bigger part in the process and play more cards with fewer opponents.

Codenames

In the early stages of the UK lockdown Codenames (and occasionally Codenames: Pictures) became my go-to game choice to play by webcam. I’d suspend my phone over my coffee table using stacks of board game boxes and two kitchen brushes, then run a group video chat through Facebook messenger. I’ve since been made aware that there are far simpler ways to play this game online but I quite enjoyed the experience of trying to botch together a gaming session using video feeds. Codenames has been a bit of a favourite of mine for a number of years now, I’ve racked up 75 plays counting the original, pictures, cooperative and innuendo versions of the game. The simple clues and answers mechanism makes it easy to learn, accessible to non-gamers and just as fun as the people you choose to play with. It’s one of the few party games that I can still see myself playing 30 years from now.

Brass: Lancashire

I’ve had my eye on the original Brass: Lancashire for a number of years now, despite its rather hideous board design and artwork. Roxley have since given the game a new lease of life giving the original release a complete visual overhaul, as well as throwing in the originally fan-made Brass: 2-player board as an extra variant on the back of the original board. The whole package looks incredible, especially if you forked out a little extra to get the Iron Clays poker chips. I also added Brass: Birmingham to my collection this year which at the time of writing has climbed to the dizzying heights of #3 on the overall BGG chart, while its predecessor still sits comfortably at #19. This second game is my top priority to play in 2021, I loved the original game but many fans are saying that the sequel is far superior removing some of the clunkier mechanisms and adding the world's finest resource: beer. I actually live in one of the locations on the Lancashire board and I grew up in Warrington, which is featured in both games. I actually don’t know of any other game that features the town so It’s quite the novelty for my friends and I to see.

Nova Luna

I played Habitats by Corné van Moorsel a few times and always found the game to be enjoyable but not quite good enough to add to our collection. In designing Nova Luna, Uwe Rosenberg took some of the better parts of Habitats, stripped away the theme and injected the great dynamic turn mechanism from one of his earlier designs Patchwork. The result is one of the best games that I’ve had the pleasure of playing in 2020. I tend to enjoy games with a spatial puzzle element, especially if they can be played with four people. In addition, as is often the case with Uwe’s games, Nova Luna has a great solo mode that is genuinely a challenge to beat.

The City

My wife had a chance to play The City at a gaming session before I did, and was eager to find a copy to add to our collection. It was a little bit tough to find the newer updated Eagle-Gryphon Games Kickstarter edition but we sourced one eventually (more about that later in this post). The new edition has some incredible artwork by João Tereso plus a couple of small expansions to add more variation to the game. This is a super simple engine building game that plays in around ten to fifteen minutes whilst maintaining a decent level of strategic choices and ways to score points, it’s the type of game that you end up playing several times in one sitting and I absolutely love it. My wife and I just kept coming back to this game in 2020 and I’m sure that we’ll continue to do the same in 2021.

Board Game: The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

One of the most annoying things about 2020 has been wanting to play games that require more players than currently live in your household, and the main game that I’ve wanted to play has been The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine. I know that the game has a two player variant but I feel that it would take the most important social elements away from The Crew. This is essentially a cooperative, trick taking game with imperfect information and a series of fifty levels to play through, each with its own win condition. The game is absolutely incredible once everyone has figured out the nuance of the communication cards, and the various ways the group can guarantee that one person wins the trick. I had three sessions with The Crew in 2020 getting through ten levels on the longest sitting. I’m looking forward to trying some of the harder ones in 2021 though I feel like I might never get through all fifty, I’ve taken a peek at a few of the final levels and they look impossible.

Everdell

We actually backed the original Kickstarter for Everdell while we were on our honeymoon in 2017 so the game has always had a special place for us. Although we missed the campaign for the first expansion we were able to add it to the next Kickstarter and now have the deluxe editions of all three add-ons in our collection. Usually when games have a big footprint and lots of expansions it’s usually best not to include them all to avoid overcomplicating things, however Everdell is really an exception to the rule. We figured out this year that the game plays well with all three expansions because they don’t really interfere with each other. Although it can take a little while to play through we played the full Everdell experience a bunch of times in 2020 and it’s become one of our favourite games to play together.

2 - My Favourite 2020 Release

The March of Progress

The March of Progress by Alan Paull is the third instalment of the Pocket Campaigns series by Surprised Stare Games and probably the one that differs most in what is so far a trilogy of games. Essentially players are fighting a very small war between either three or four cards with a few soldiers and dice on the table. The dice are never rolled and there is no randomness in the game, instead players select cards and play them simultaneously in each turn. Those cards then stay out of play until a score card is played, resulting in all played cards returning to your hand. The March of Progress is really more about trying to second guess the opponent’s next move because there is almost always a way to counter it. The set comes with five two player campaigns and one three player bonus chapter, and they’re all great fun but the World War II campaign is by far my favourite. This is such a strategic and psychological game with a minimal set of components and some great artwork by Klemens Franz too. I couldn’t recommend it more, I hope to see more Pocket Campaign games in the future.

3 - My Most Played Game of 2020

Spexxx - 31 Plays

Although I’ve been playing this game for five years now, Spexxx has become the go-to casual game for my wife and I. It’s compact enough to play on our coffee table but strategic enough to scratch that board gaming itch. I’ll be honest she usually wins, I’d love to attribute it to luck but I know that takes more risks with dice games while I tend to be quite conservative, which means that she either wins by a mile or loses narrowly. Adding the expansion in 2020 also encouraged us to play the game more often, especially the part that increases the point value of “full house” rolls. We find that it makes the board much more balanced and the bonus tiles encourage players to spread out a bit, rather than just trying to make a cluster of your own cubes. I know that this is not the easiest game to get hold of now but you can still play the digital edition on Yucata.de which actually works really well. Here’s to another 31 games in 2021, I love this game.

4 - My Bargain of the Year

Ascension: Eternal - £13

I’ve been a huge fan of the Ascension: Deckbuilding Game series since the first set, and I’ve enjoyed watching the game evolve over the years. At the time of writing there are currently 15 base sets and a miniatures game coming out in 2021, this can be quite daunting to people wanting to try the series for the first time. Ascension: Eternal is a new release for 2020 described as a two player starter set but really it’s much more than that. It takes some of the more popular cards from previous sets and adds a few new ones too, as well as adding new artwork and properly formatted cards to play with later sets. The game also comes with a compact version of the board which is much better if you want to play the game solo. In the solitaire version of Ascension you play against a dummy player who acquires or defeats the two cards to the right of the central board, Eternal’s board has two rows of three instead of one row of six so players need to manage the flow of two sets of cards instead of one. It’s a great set, super cheap and it enhances the solo game, I’d recommend it for any fan of the series or for anyone wanting to try the game for the first time.

5 - Surprise of the Year

Stupid Deaths

Stupid Deaths by University Games is a wonderfully simple game. Players simply take turns to read a card aloud about a hilarious death and everyone else secretly guesses whether the statement is true or false. Players advance around a circular track trying to get halfway around the board to win, while Death traverses the same track starting on the opposite side, moving one space for every incorrect answer that any player gives. Death may eventually start eliminating the players from behind and the winner might eventually be decided by the last person alive rather than the first player to get to the winning space. The game is limited to a certain number of plays with the same group, as you will eventually run out of cards, however I’ve played the game four times now and I’ve only opened one out of the three decks of cards. It’s simple enough to play with casual players, the cards give some laugh-out-loud moments and the game is relatively short so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. The result is an enjoyable and unique party game that I’ll certainly be playing again in 2021.

6 - Best Kickstarter of 2020

Surprised Stare Pocket Campaigns

I picked up a copy of The Cousins' War a few years ago and remembered enjoying the game. I’m not usually a fan of war games, finding them a little overbearing with massive convoluted rule sets, but this one was relatively simple and had a great dice bluffing mechanism similar to Liar’s Dice. Surprised Stare returned this year with two more games in what was now a series of pocket campaigns and they’re both outstanding titles. The Ming Voyages is a highly asymmetric game with some really clever card drafting, players swap hands every turn so you always have to think about not only the cards that you want to play but also the cards that you do not want to hand over. Then there’s The March of Progress which I’ve discussed earlier in this post, my absolute favourite of the year. All three titles in the Pocket Campaigns series so far are highly recommended by me and I’m sure that the series won’t finish at three games, more are almost certainly on the way hopefully in 2021.

7 - Top 3 Games to Play After the Lockdown

Brass: Birmingham

It was hard to avoid seeing pictures of Brass: Birmingham in 2020, the game’s popularity absolutely exploded this year. The game is currently ranked #3 overall on BGG and it’s the only game in the top 10 to have been released after 2017. I ended up buying the deluxe versions of both the Birmingham and Lancashire sets but I’ve only had the chance to play Lancashire so far. This sequel removes some of the trickier rules and expands the range of different goods that you can produce, as well as adding beer as a third resource. This is absolutely the game that I want to play most in 2020, hopefully if possible with a full complement of four players.

Charterstone

A few days before the first UK lockdown I added a copy of Charterstone to my collection. This is Jamey Stegmaier’s take on the legacy genre, a twelve chapter worker placement game complete with stickers, scratch off cards and sealed compartments in the box. I’d been told to avoid playing this as a two player game, to wait and play it with four or more if possible to get the most out of the experience. It’s been nearly a year and I’m still waiting, I know that when things start to settle I’ll be eager to play this with my regular group.

Mariposas

Elizabeth Hargrave blew me away with Wingspan a few years ago. It’s well balanced, looks fantastic, plays well with any number and it feels different every time that I play. Naturally I was always going to pick up her next title, Mariposas, but I never got a chance to play it after getting a copy late in the year. I have however already learned the rules so I’m sure that my wife and I will get a game in very soon. This game follows the migration patterns of Monarch Butterflies across North America, another great theme and another excellent presentation.

8 - Our 2020 Christmas Haul

7 Wonders Duel: Agora - The long awaited second expansion to my all time favourite game, which adds a new Senate mechanism and a fourth way to win the game outright.
Ascension: Alliances - A small box expansion that turns any Ascension game into a team game, adding a new set of cards called banners.
Ascension: Delirium - The thirteenth Ascension base game that brings the dreamborne mechanism back from an earlier set and adds a new dice based mechanism.
Ascension: Eternal - A two player introductory edition of Ascension featuring new cards and old. A superb set with a great new compact board.
Exit: The Game – The Cemetery of the Knight - Yet another Exit game, we’ve played 17 so far so we’re always looking forward to the next instalment.
Go5 - One of the NSV Middy games which unfortunately I can’t yet find the English rules for. I might have to figure this one out using Google translate.
GOLD - A tiny card game by Reiner Knizia which I believe is linked to an earlier release called Digging.
Hungry Hamsters - The first of four NSV Minis, a roll and write game that sees players closing off hamster burrows, collecting mushrooms and nuts? I’m sure it will make sense when I play it.
Heckmeck Deluxe - A bigger version of Knizia’s Heck Meck complete with a bunch of modular expansions, one of which is exclusive to this set.
Honey Moon - The second NSV mini, this time players will be mining sweets from the moon, which is apparently made out of sugar.
Minecraft: Builders & Biomes - My wife and I are huge fans of Minecraft, it’s one of our favourite video games to play together so naturally we wanted the board game too.
Play the Pub Quiz - Online Pub Quizzes have been a regular fixture in 2020, so hopefully we’ll get a few out of this set.
Q•bitz Extreme - Annabelle and I love the original Q•bitz, this sequel takes the difficulty up quite considerably.
Qwixx: Bonus - Two more score sheets to play Qwixx with, giving me eight to choose from when we play either the dice or card versions of the game.
Qwixx: Das Duell - A two player only edition that replaces the player sheet with a single board and sees players scoring on the same tracks.
Take That - A small NSV card game from a few years ago that is supposed to be quite tricky, I’ve had my eye on this one for a while now.
Tetris Speed -Tetris is another video game love of ours. We picked this one up on a bit of a whim while we were Christmas shopping.
The Tower of Trivia - This one was a gift from my friend from work and we ended up playing it on Christmas Day, great fun. I’ll have to add it to the BGG catalogue.
Träxx - Another NSV game, this time a slightly larger one. This was one of the first card driven flip-and-write games.
Village Green - This is a gorgeous little card game from Osprey Games, who rarely makes a bad looking game.
Volle Weide - The third NSV mini, this time players must attempt to build fences around as many of their 14 sheep as possible.
Wingspan: Oceania Expansion - The long awaited second expansion to one of the best games of recent years, adding new cards, resources and revised players boards.
Thread Count - The fourth and final NSV mini, This time players will be using their balls of yarn to control a cat, collect goods and avoid breaking things.

...and the stuff that didn’t arrive in time:

Glasgow - The next title in the Lookout Games two player games series. This one seems to have good reviews so far.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – The Charms and Potions Expansion - The second expansion to one of our favourite cooperative games, adding four more chapters and some new mechanisms.
Kivi - I’m a big fan of Maureen Hiron but I’m yet to play anything that she designed this century, this one is a 2016 release.
Modern Art Card Game - I already have an older copy of this game, but I’m getting the fancy new CMON Global Limited edition.
Tapestry: Plans and Ploys - Tapestry is such a beautifully simple game, this expansion adds more variation and a new Landmark mechanism.

9 - Some Highlights of the Year

An Unexpected Treat by Adam

The City by Thomas Lehmann has been one of the games that Annabelle and I have enjoyed playing most this year, however getting our hands on the newest fancy-pants edition wasn’t easy. There was a pretty ugly 2011 edition floating around but we had our eye on the revamped 2019 Eagle-Gryphon Games version. Unfortunately if you hadn’t kickstarted the game it wasn’t easily available in the UK without paying extortionate postage charges from the US. I ended up buying the game from the BGG marketplace without realising that I was buying from fellow blogger Adam Majewski, author of the Foam Bananas blog. I’ve been reading his stuff for years now and it’s a great blog, I know that Adam reads mine too. When my game arrived it came with some tasty Dutch treats and a Roald Dahl postcard with a thoughtful message on the back. I was going through a bit of a tough time in work and this act of kindness really put a smile on my face. Do yourself a favour and subscribe to his blog:

www.boardgamegeek.com/blog/6120/foam-bananas

A Gift From Waterfall Games

Back in 2015 I stumbled across a great little dice game called Spexxx and added a copy to my collection. It’s kind of like Yahtzee with area control for two to four players. It’s been one of my favourite dice games for a number of years now but I always wondered what the game would be like with the Spexxx: Extension, a one punch board expansion included in later copies of Spexxx. I contacted Waterfall Games to ask whether they still had any copies of the expansion left, they said that they did and that they would send me one free of charge in the post. It was a kind gesture not uncommon in the boardgaming world, small publishers will often send promos free of charge to their customers but what Waterfall Games did next absolutely blew me away. They sent the expansion along with six more copies of the game, each containing the expansion to give to my friends and family, along with a letter from Ruurd and Ruben who designed the game. It’s one of the nicest things to happen in 2020 and we couldn’t be more grateful. Those six copies were all passed on and have all seen a lot of play this year.

Remote Game Nights

I think that most people here on the Geek have had a least a few remote games nights. Early on in the lockdown my family and I tried to make it a weekly event though it did peter out over the course of the year. We started off by awkwardly playing board games using webcams and phone cameras balanced precariously over the table, but after a while we discovered that the traditional English Pub Quiz approach was better suited to playing by webcam. We’ve probably had a dozen or so quiz nights over the year, taking turns to compose the questions. It’s provided some of the funniest moments of the year and more importantly, it’s kept me in close contact with my family.

Eleven Player Gaming in 2020

It’s hard to believe that at some point last year I managed to get eleven players together for a games night. It's been illegal for me to play anything more than a two player game with my wife for the majority of the year. Back in February before the first UK lockdown started my Isle of Man family were over to visit some UK Universities for my cousin, and we squeezed in a games night while they were over. We managed to play Telestrations, Codenames: Pictures, Dixit: Odyssey and A Fake Artist Goes to New York in what was one of the best nights of the year. I know it’s going to be quite some time before we get a chance to do this again, but I’m sure that when we do the experience will only be enhanced by the amount of time that we’ve been apart. If the pandemic has done anything in 2020 we’ve all learned what and who is truly important to us.

Mr Week 22

In the latter part of 2020 I was contacted by the folks at boardgametables.com through Instagram to be featured in their week by week calendar for 2021 for my picture of Iwari. Each page has a contribution by a different Instagram user and I would be sent a free calendar and a small percentage of the profits. The calendar itself has some great features including a weekly game related challenge, a space to track the 10x10 challenge and a daily habit tracker, which I’m using to see how many days this year I ended up playing a board game. They’re available at the link below if you fancy buying one:

www.boardgametables.com

The Thirty Year Wait Comes to an End

I’ve been a fanatical Liverpool FC fan for as long as I can remember, coming from a family of Reds on both my Mother and my Father’s side. The last time that we won the Premier League (or just First Division Champions as it was known then) I was 3 years old, since then we’ve been incredibly close to winning including missing out by a single point the year before. Then the 2019/2020 season went incredibly well, Liverpool overperformed, Man City underperformed, the home crowd started to sing “we’re gonna win the league,” and suddenly all football was cancelled because of the pandemic. After several miserable months the season continued albeit without fans and we finally lifted the Premier League trophy. I know that there are more important things out there than sport right now but watching football has been one of the best ways for me to relax and be happy in 2020, hopefully Jurgen Klopp and the boys can do it again for me this year.

10 - Favourite Picture of the Year

Telestrations

I love playing board games with my family and Telestrations has always been a bit of a favorite of ours. I managed to catch the moment my Mum explained to my Nan that her picture was “Puss in Boots” and not her guess of “Cat Shoes.” For me this picture captures what I love most about Telestrations, the hilarity of seeing just how wrong your guess was. The picture also won the monthly photo challenge for January, which was a nice way to start the year. This is the Telestrations: 12 Player Party Pack which was sent to me by The Op Games after I wrote a blog post about hitting 100 plays of my standard edition, a kind act from a great publisher. I really must get my hands on a copy of Telestrations: Upside Drawn this year.

11 - My Favourite Blog Post This Year

Top Five Better Versions of Games That I Already Own

We all have a game somewhere in our collection that we love to play, but we would love it more if we had a better edition. I really enjoyed putting this list together, even if it made me feel even more bitter about not owning the best editions of some of my favourites. The picture above is my horrible Avalon Hill edition of Acquire, possibly the ugliest edition and unfortunately the only widely available version of recent years. I’d love to find an original 1964 3M copy or better still the 1999 Avalon Hill edition with chunky plastic hotels. When I wrote this blog post I made a top 5 list but looking back I probably could have stretched to a top 10, This one was a pleasure to write and I got some great responses in the comments too.

www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/108735/top-five-better-versio...

12 - Some Statistics for the Year

In 2020 I:

Recorded 760 plays
Played 272 different games
Tried 121 games for the first time
Posted 37 blog posts

Thank you for reading, here’s to a better 2021

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Fri Jan 8, 2021 4:11 pm

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2019 - A Review

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

02 Jan 2020

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

2019 - A Review

Another year comes to an end and what a great year for board gaming 2019 was. I thought that I would recap some of my favourite games and moments of the year, and talk about what’s happening in 2020. Although I didn’t actually play the majority of this year’s releases, I thought that I would start this end-of-years post off with my top 10 2019 games that I actually had the chance to play. I want you to know that I’ve had a great year and thanks in part to all of the love and support I get from the board gaming community from writing this blog, I can’t put into words how happy you all make me feel. Thanks for another great year!

Contents:
1 - Top 10 2019 Games
2 - Some Other Games That I’ve Enjoyed in 2019
3 - My Most Played Game of 2019
4 - The Biggest Surprise of 2019
5 - My Bargain of the Year
6 - Comeback of the Year
7 - Best Kickstarter of 2019
8 - Best Artwork of 2019
9 - Most Anticipated Games of 2020
10 - Our 2019 Christmas Haul
11 - Some Highlights of the Year
12 - Favourite Picture of the Year
13 - My Favourite Blog Post This Year
14 - Some Statistics for the Year

Board Game: Exit: The Game – The Catacombs of Horror

1 - Top 10 2019 Games

10 - Exit: The Game – The Catacombs of Horror (BGG Rank #2150)

Technically this is a 2018 release, but the English edition came out in 2019 so I’m counting it as a game for this year’s list. My family and I adore the Series: Exit: The Game series, we bought and played the first three games in the series and we’ve kept up ever since. These are essentially escape rooms in a box, however where they differ from what has become an oversaturated corner of the gaming market is that there is no time limit, time is only kept to give you a score at the end of the game; and players destroy the game in the process of playing it. Though that last point may sound terrifying to some, it allows for a much wider range of puzzles with the game’s minimal components. The Catacombs of Horror deviates from the rest of the series because in that it is meant to be played in two parts, with a larger box and significantly more components. We played the game in one extra long gaming session and had one of our best gaming sessions of the year. This is certainly my favourite game of the series so far.

9 - Silver & Gold (BGG Rank #1644)

This title was actually one of the last new games that I tried this year but it made such a positive impression that I had to include it in my top 10. I tend to enjoy the roll-and-write games put out by NSV, with many of the more popular games in this genre coming from this great German publisher. Silver & Gold retains some of the best elements of the roll-and-write genre while removing both the dice and the scoresheet from the design, opting instead for a deck of laminated cards and a smaller deck of cards featuring Tetris-style shapes. The whole game feels original, simple but with plenty of variation and depth, and it looks outstanding. Once you get over the horror of writing all over the game’s cards Silver & Gold is highly enjoyable. Yet another great design by Phil Walker-Harding, one of many that I’ve tried for the first time in 2019.

8 - Ohanami (BGG Rank #3344)

The next game on the list is another title by NSV who have become one of my favourite publishers over recent years thanks to their compact game series known as the Series: NSV Middys (Nürnberger Spielkartenverlag). Ohanami combines simple drafting with an interesting set collection mechanisms and a hint of push-your-luck thrown in too. The deck is made up of the numbers 1-120 spread across four coloured suits, players draft two cards per turn and add them to either the top or bottom of one of their three columns of cards. The columns are ordered sequentially so players must try to keep their options open and avoid making certain cards from being impossible to play. Steffen Benndorf has had some great releases with NSV including Qwixx and The Game, however they aren’t the best looking games in the world. Thankfully Ohanami features some beautiful artwork by Christian Opperer to give it both great form and function.

7 - Lux Aeterna (BGG Rank #7247)

Again this is a game that I didn’t end up trying until December, but it’s one that loved instantly and one that I can’t wait to play again. Like many people on BGG I’ve enjoyed Tony Boydell eurogames, as well as his hilarious daily blog. When I heard that Tony was designing a solo space survival game with a 2001-esque theme I have to say that I was quite surprised, it did seem like quite a big deviation from his other designs. Tony’s games often feature mechanisms that are complex and engaging, but so well tied to the theme that they feel intuitive and natural. I ended up playing the game three times on my first sitting and losing in three completely different ways and I loved every minute of it. The game plays to a soundtrack which acts as a kind of timer, after which your ship is sucked into a black hole. This gives Lux Aeterna a sense of urgency and atmosphere, which helps the player to immerse themselves in the theme. This one is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys solo games or the Sci-Fi genre.

Board Game: UNDO: Cherry Blossom Festival

6 - Undo Family (BGG Rank #7904, #11245 and #14586)

My regular gaming group have enjoyed narrative cooperative / escape room style games over recent years, they’re what brought us together originally and they’re a type of game that we still very much enjoy today. The Series: Undo (Pegasus Spiele) took some of those mystery solving elements that we enjoyed but applied them to a very different theme. Each Undo game starts with the death of a protagonist and a stream of cards showing a timeline of events either before or immediately after the death. As a team, players will travel to different moments in time and make minor changes to events while learning about the circumstances leading up to the person's death, the hope being to prevent it from happening. Solving the cause of death and doing enough to change events is quite tricky, but it’s led to some of my favourite gaming experiences of 2019. There were three Undo games released in 2019 and another three coming in 2020, hopefully this will be a series that will continue to get love and support for years to come.

5 - Ticket to Ride: London (BGG Rank #1999)

My wife and I adore the Game: Ticket to Ride (Official) series of games, we own quite a few of the expansions and map packs and find it easy to get to the table with almost any group. 2018 saw the release of the first ‘small box’ game in the series named Ticket to Ride: New York, which shrunk the game down to around 20 minutes while maintaining the enjoyment and feel of the larger games. Now in 2019 we have an even better small box game with Ticket to Ride: London which features a more rounded map, a new ‘districts’ mechanisms and tiny double-decker buses. I think that I’ve gotten to a point where I prefer the small box Game: Ticket to Ride (Official) games over the larger ones because I can play them more often, I’m hoping that they continue with their pattern of releasing one every year at the UK Games Expo and we see a third city-themed game in the Spring. Either way the London edition of this series is superb.

4 - Patchwork Doodle (BGG Rank #3171)

My wife and I are big fans of Uwe Rosenberg's two player abstract masterpiece Patchwork, but when we saw the roll-and-write spin off we both thought that it looked like a cash-grab. We like the roll-and-write genre, but there’s been no shortage of mediocre spin-offs from popular franchises over the last year or two. However both being fans of Rosenberg we decided to give it a chance, and my word this is a well designed game. It uses simple but original mechanisms, encourages players to take their time and make their score sheet look beautiful, all while maintaining the puzzly tetromino elements of it’s parent game. Patchwork Doodle was quickly elevated to being our favourite game in the roll-and-write genre helped in part by the Patchwork Doodle: Plus expansion, which makes the game infinitely more challenging / rewarding to play. This game is certainly going to get a lot of play in the coming years.

3 - MegaCity: Oceania (BGG Rank #5329)

I had a brief chance to play the a not-quite-final edition of Megacity: Oceania at this year’s UK Games expo and instantly fell in love with the game. I later managed to try the full game at Tony Boydell’s Gathering of Chums 3, and added a copy to our collection in December. I love eurogames and I love dexterity games, but previous attempts to marry the two genres have always felt a bit lacking, or have felt like dexterity games with some minor euro-style mechanisms thrown in. This is the first game that I’ve played that feels like an equal balance of the two styles, with players collecting materials and taking contracts during their turns, then using the materials to carefully build their towers when it’s other people’s turns. This means that the game has almost no down-time and gives players a sense of urgency in putting their structures together before their turn comes around again. Players must be mindful of the restrictions to their current contracts, while keeping an eye on what other players are doing and which contracts are still available. The game has a ton of ways to score points and has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing games that I’ve ever played. This is an outstanding and original gaming experience, one that I hope to play often in 2020.

2 - Foothills (BGG Rank #3302)

I feel like I’ve seen Foothills at pretty much every stage of its development, being featured at the Surprised Stare Games Ltd stand at various conventions as well as Tony Boydell's marvelous daily blog. The game is described as a two-player, advanced level spin off game set in the Series: Snowdonia Game System universe, this time being co-designed by Tony’s friend Ben Bateson. While the game does retain some of the mechanisms of Snowdonia which is one of my all time favourite games, the game’s strongest feature lies with an entirely new mechanism. I adore the action selection cards in this game and I can’t say that I’ve ever seen the mechanism being used anywhere else. It gives each player a sort of puzzle to solve in the order in which they use their actions, made all the more complicated by the actions taken by your opponent. This is strategically a much heavier game than it looks on first glance, and possibly my favourite two player only eurogame. I’m just hoping that this isn’t the last Boydell / Bateson game to hit our table.

1 - Wingspan (BGG Rank #30)

There’s no denying the impact that Stonemaier Games have had with some of their recent releases, games like Scythe and Viticulture are amongst the most universally loved games of recent years. Then in January Wingspan was released by a fairly unknown designer called Elizabeth Hargrave and experienced pretty much instant success, being near impossible to buy in the first few months. The game experience huge popularity and acclaim, eventually winning the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres before being expanded with the Wingspan: European Expansion at this year’s Essen. This isn’t just my favourite game of the year, it’s also a top ten of all time game and probably a top five solo game too. Wingspan feels unlike anything that I’ve played before, using tableau building elements, innovative engine building mechanisms and some of the best artwork that I’ve seen this year. It works well with any number of players including as a solo game, and it’s simple and intuitive enough to be easy to teach to new players. I’m yet to speak to anyone who hasn’t enjoyed the game, I know that I’ve had some of my most enjoyable experiences of the year with Wingspan and I managed to try the expansion just before the new year, which somehow makes the game even more enjoyable.

2 - Some Other Games That I’ve Enjoyed in 2019

2019 was a great year for new games, but they only make up a fraction of what we actually got to the table over the course of the year. Here’s a few of the other games that we enjoyed playing the most over the last year:

Overbooked - Specifically the newer Jumbo edition. Overbooked sees players trying to pack their aircraft with passengers while catering to their needs to score points. This is a great original, family weight eurogame with a hilarious theme.
Chronicles of Crime - My wife and I have been playing this as a two player game, which works really well. This mystery solving, app-assisted game was made all the better in 2019 with the addition of Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview, making the game feel like an episode of Stranger Things.
Scythe - My wife and I have enjoyed a few two player games of Scythe over the course of the year and now have the first two expansions. For me it has the perfect balance between heavy euro-style and thematic type game, with some of the best artworks and settings in our collection.
Oh My Goods! - I feel like I’m a little bit late to the Oh My Goods party after missing out on the original edition at 2015’s Essen Spiele. We finally grabbed a copy and we absolutely love the game, probably the best use of push-your-luck that I’ve seen in a eurogame.
T.I.M.E Stories - This has probably been my regular gaming group’s favourite game of the year. Over the course of 2019 we’ve managed to play Under the Mask, Expedition Endurance, Lumen Fidei, Estrella Drive, Santo Tomás de Aquino and Brotherhood of the Coast, the last of which was by far our favourite.
Sprawlopolis - This is one of those games that I kept seeing pop up on people’s blogs and on other people’s Instagram channels. Eventually I found a copy and it’s very quickly become my favourite game to play solo. There so much depth here for a game with so few components.
Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr - This probably wins the award for best narrative to a story that I’ve played this year. Players act as medical professionals providing palliative care to a man who is slowly revealing his troubled past. I’m excited to play this one through and find out all of Billy’s back-story.
Everdell - This gorgeously overproduced game is not a case of style over substance, it’s also an excellent tableau building worker placement game. Plus we backed the recent Kickstarter (for a small fortune), so we should be receiving three expansions in 2020 too.
Illusion - The simplicity and originality of this game means that it can be played in almost any setting, from casuals right through to hardcore gamers. Consequently this game kept hitting the table again and again over the course of the year.
Santorini - Annabelle got quite into Santorini this year, so this one got a fair amount of play. I quite enjoy abstract games so it’s great to see a publisher putting so much effort into the production of an abstract game, though I still think that it’s only worth playing as a two player game.
7 Wonders - 2019 is the year that my regular gaming group got into 7 Wonders, my previous gaming group used to play this every week back in 2013. We also tried the newest expansion 7 Wonders: Armada which adds some great mechanisms to an already superb game.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle - Annabelle and I managed to play through the whole base game and the first part of the expansion in 2019. The system works so well, and the theme really comes through thanks to the use of imagery from the Harry Potter movie franchise.

Board Game: KeyForge: Call of the Archons

3 - My Most Played Game of 2019

KeyForge - 29 Plays

It doesn’t surprise me that KeyForge ended up being my most played game of 2019. My friends and I migrated to the board gaming hobby from previously playing Magic: The Gathering, which is a great game but costs far too much to play competitively. KeyForge has replaced Magic for me for reasons that I talk about In this blog post, I’ve really enjoyed introducing the game to my friends and opening new decks to see what’s inside. It has to be one of the most streamlined, easy-to-teach two player card games out there with one of the most unusual distribution models. Players buy a sealed deck with a randomly generated name and a balanced set of cards that is unique to your deck. There were a few dodgy deck names when the game first came out, but this was soon rectified with a slight change to the name generating algorithm, She Who Longs For Carpentry is the best one that I got ahold of. Fantasy Flight Games reported that they have sold over 1,000,000 decks so far, which pretty much guarantees that the game will continue to see support and further expansions for at least the next few years.

4 - The Biggest Surprise of 2019

Cubo

This is one of those games that I added to my shopping basket for what I think was £3 at the time, then it sat neglected on my shelf for a year or two and I pretty much forgot that it existed. This year I’ve been trying to play through my unplayed games to see whether or not I should keep them in my collection and I played my first game of Cubo. I loved it, Cubo ended up giving my gaming group some of the best gaming moments from the year. A speed game that includes dice rolling, making patterns and shouting ‘Cubo’ at each other shouldn’t be this fun, but it just works so well. I’m just gutted that I left it so long before trying the game, it meant that I missed out on backing backing the Kickstarter for a bunch of small expansions to the game that appear to have disappeared off the face of the earth. You can still pick this game up for next to nothing, I’d highly recommend buying a copy if you get the chance.

5 - My Bargain of the Year

Patchwork Express - £5.05

My wife and I love all things Game: Patchwork, but when we first saw that an express version of the original Patchwork game was to be released we were both skeptical. We felt that the game was already rather short and there didn’t seem to be any obvious changes from the original game. Then we played Patchwork Express at a board game cafe and we really enjoyed it. Essentially the only changes are that the board is 7x7 instead of 9x9, there is no 7x7 bonus, and small tiles are only introduced at the end of the game. This allows players to fill those awkward gaps with their final moves rather than being left with a bunch of unplayable tiles at the end. I’ve played both games quite a lot and I have to admit the Express is a much more enjoyable game. Shortly after trying the game we picked up a copy from Chaos Cards during a sale for £5.05, which felt like an absolute bargain. A couple of my friends ended up buying a copy in the same sale too after some gentle convincing from myself.

6 - Comeback of the Year

Qwixx

I’ve always been a fan of Qwixx along with it's two pseudo-sequels Qwinto and Qwantum. But this year the game keeps hitting the table and I find myself enjoying it more and more. I’ve added all of the alternative score pads to my collection this year, Qwixx Mixx, Qwixx: Connected and Qwixx: Big Points, as well as the card driven spin off Qwixx Card Game; however the majority of my plays use only the components found in the base game. We even found a way to turn Qwixx into a drinking game, the rules of which can be found In this blog post. I’ve become somewhat addicted to this minimal roll-and-write game and I don’t know how to stop, not that I want to stop. My prediction is that I play this game more in 2020 than I did in 2019.

Board Game: Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set

7 - Best Kickstarter of 2019

Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set

There has been a trend in recent years of publishers releasing fancy premium editions of their already existing games, often with a better looking pieces and a few expansions thrown in to sweeten the deal. But nobody has come close to NSKN Games’s Deluxe Master Set of Tony Boydell’s much loved Snowdonia. There’s a massive component upgrade, extra double-sided large board and not only every expansion ever made, but a few more designed for the crowdfunding campaign; along with hundreds of hilarious promo cards and a box big enough to be buried in. There were also some wonderful custom component holders made by Game Trayz, along with custom meeple for every campaign. Receiving my copy of this game was one of the highlights of the year, now I just need to go about playing through all of the game’s expansions.

8 - Best Artwork of 2019

Alex Lee in Lux Aeterna

The production value and artwork seems to be improving across all games in the industry, so choosing my favourite was pretty tough. Having grown up with a love of all things Sci-Fi and previously collecting comics I couldn’t help but love Alex Lee’s artwork to Lux Aeterna. It has the same minimal colour palette found in some of my favourite comics, a gorgeous retrofuturism style and scenes that really reflect the loneliness and terror behind the Lux Aeterna plot. If there was ever a perfect set of artwork to a game, this would be it. If you wish to see more of Alex Lee’s work then please follow the link below.

https://www.instagram.com/storyofalex/

9 - Most Anticipated Games of 2020

Zombicide: 2nd Edition

I played the first edition of Zombicide shortly after it was released and found the game to be fun albeit a little clunky with rules. Since then I’ve watched CMON Global Limited run a bunch of ever more ridiculous Kickstarter campaigns with hundreds of miniatures, dozens of stretch goals and millions of dollars raised. With the new streamlined edition of Zombicide being launched this year and with me starting a new job in the summer I decided to back the game with a bunch of extras for a grand total of around $300 with postage. My game will arrive in November in eight boxes and I’m hoping that it lives up to its high cost.

Iwari

ThunderGryph Games have taken Michael Schacht’s Han, given it a new theme and artstyle, then augmented the game with additional modes, beautiful components and eight different boards to play on. The game even comes with its own soundtrack, not that I own a CD player anymore in which to play it. This was another rather expensive Kickstarter project that we backed, one that is due to reach our home in January so hopefully you should see it on our blog very soon.

Fossilis

Although it’s a habit that I’ve been trying to get out of, our third most anticipated game this year is yet another Kickstarter game, albeit a much cheaper one. Fossilis is a game about digging for dinosaur bones that has a really cool feature. At the start of the game the 5x5 3D board is sealed and shaken up so that the dinosaur bones are randomly distributed, before being covered in tiles. Then players move their pieces around the board slowly uncovering spaces in the hope of finding the bones. Having grown up in the era of Jurassic Park I went through a phase of wanting to be a paleontologist, so the theme is one that I piqued my interest. This one is due to arrive in August.

10 - Our 2019 Christmas Haul

My wife and I went a little nuts this Christmas, taking advantage of Black Friday deals and filling the space under the Christmas tree, then next to the Christmas tree. Our family and friends added to this haul, knowing that we are both board game fanatics. The result was a rather ridiculous 39 game / expansion festive haul. Here’s what we added to our collection this Christmas:

A Fake Artist Goes to New York - A hilarious party game by Oink Games that includes drawing pictures, only one person doesn’t know what they should be drawing.
Bedpans & Broomsticks - A game about pensioners trying to escape from a care home. As a Nurse myself I can’t help but love the theme.
Brikks - A small Tetris inspired roll-and-write game by the amazing Wolfgang Warsch.
CuBirds - We were drawn in to this small card game by it’s gorgeous artwork that features blocky cube-like birds.
Disney Villainous: Wicked to the Core - Expansion for Disney Villainous: The Worst Takes it All that adds the Evil Queen (Snow White), Hades (Hercules) and Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog).
Disney Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared - Another expansion that adds Scar (The Lion King), Yzma (The Emperor's New Groove) and Ratigen (The Great Mouse Detective).
Expedition to Newdale - The board game follow up to Alexander Pfister's Oh My Goods! series of games. This is probably the game that I’m most excited to play.
Rival Realms - A small box spin off of fantastiqa, part of Series: The E•G•G of games.
Flip Over Frog - A beautiful small box game by the wonderful Hub Games that we first saw at this year’s UK Games Expo.
Fluxx - A new edition of a game with evolving rules that I’ve been meaning to add to my collection for a few years.
Funkoverse Strategy Game: Harry Potter 100 - I don’t like Funko Pops but I do love the Harry Potter franchise and Prospero Hall, and this game has some excellent reviews. This edition includes Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Lord Voldemort.
Funkoverse Strategy Game: Harry Potter 101 - Two more maps and two more characters for the above game, including Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy.
The Gin Game - A trivia game about one of our other passions in life: Gin.
HexRoller - An innovative roll-and-write game with a little more meat than most. This one caught my eye a few months ago.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – Defence Against the Dark Arts - A follow up to the Hogwarts Battle Deckbuilding game that is competitive rather than cooperative.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion - An expansion to Hogwarts Battle that adds more chapters and more complexity.
Just One - This year’s Spiel des Jahres winner, an innovative cooperative hidden word game that we ended up playing on Christmas day.
KeyForge: Worlds Collide – Premium Box - Containing two decks from the new set, premium tokens, and a really well produced card storage box.
Kingdomino Duel - The roll-and-write spin off of Kingdomino that we saw originally at the UK Games Expo this year.
Knaster - An NSV Middy roll-and-write sequel to Knister. One of the few that I’ve actually played since Christmas.
The Little Prince: Make Me a Planet - Designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala and tied to the beautiful book of the same name.
Marks & Spencer Food and Drink Trivia Game - It’s exactly what it sounds like.
Mad City - I saw this frantic little game a few years ago, picked up in a Black Friday sale.
MegaCity: Oceania - A beautiful Euro-dexterity crossover that I named as the third best release of 2019 in the section at the top of this post.
The Mind Extreme - The super difficult follow up Wolfgang Warsch's Spiel des Jahres Nominee The Mind. Now players have to make two piles of cards simultaneously, one ascending, one descending.
Nanofictionary - A storytelling game designed by the wonderfully mad Andrew Looney.
Pot de Vin - A small card game with some excellent artwork by ThunderGryph Games.
Princess Jing - A charming two player game by Matagot with a box full of 3D pieces, some of which are holding little mirrors.
Qwixx Card Game - A spin off of Qwixx that replaces the game’s dice with a card drafting mechanism.
Scythe: Invaders from Afar - The first expansion to Scythe that adds a sixth and seventh faction, to either add more variety to the game or more players if you’re feeling brave.
Scythe: The Wind Gambit - The second expansion that adds airships to all factions and alternative game ending conditions.
Sherlock: The Tomb of the Archaeologist - We played the Last Call game from the same series and loved it. We grabbed this one for next-to-nothing recently.
Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails - A large boxed instalment of Game: Ticket to Ride (Official) that includes boats, trains and a map that features the entire world on one side and the Great Lakes on the other.
T.I.M.E Stories: Madame - The final instalment of the Game: T.I.M.E Stories – White Cycle.
Twice as Clever! - The slightly more difficult follow up to That's Pretty Clever!.
Tybor the Builder - Another small card game set in the Oh My Goods! universe. This time with card drafting mechanisms as well as tableau building.
Vadoran Gardens - A beautiful tile laying game that first had the chance to play at this year’s UK Games Expo.
Wingspan - More bird cards for Wingspan, this time birds that can be found in the european region. Also with a few new mechanisms and end of round bonus tiles.
Zocken - My wife loves push-your-luck games, so I bought her this dice-rolling gambling game from German Amazon.

11 - Some Highlights of the Year

Board Beans Cafe Opening

In 2019 a friend of mine opened a board game cafe in Northwich by the name of Board Beans Cafe. They have a huge library of games, great food and even local beers. We were sad not to be able to make it to the opening night, but we were on holiday at the time. But every time that we’ve visited there has been a great atmosphere and not an empty table in sight. Frazer and Betsy have made a great space for gaming, one that we’ll be sure to visit more often in 2020.

http://www.boardbeans.co.uk/

The UK Games Expo

Every year the UK Games Expo gets just a little bit bigger and better, and 2019 was no exception. This was my sixth year at the event and probably my favourite so far. The UK Games Expo is the UK’s largest board gaming convention held in Birmingham every spring. As the years go by I find that I know more and more people in the industry and have more people to catch up with at the event. We saw old friends, made a few new ones and came home with a car full of games. If you live in the UK and you haven’t attended the event then I highly recommend clicking the link below and learning more.

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

Tony Boydell’s Gathering of Chums 3

Annabelle and I attended Tony Boydell’s annual birthday / gaming meet up down in Newent. We met plenty of like minded people and played games with other BGG bloggers and contributors. We attended for one out of the three days but managed to play a lot of different games. I’m really grateful for the invite by Tony, he’s not just a great game designer but also a really nice bloke too. I’m looking forward to attending the Gathering of Chums 4 in 2020.

12 - Favourite Picture of the Year

Marrakech

This year my wife and I visited Marrakech in Morocco, in August too because we’re English and short-sighted. Who would have thought that the Sahara Desert was swelteringly hot in the Summer? We took a bunch of games with us including Dominique Ehrhard's superb rug-laying abstract game Marrakech. The picture above was taken from our hotel balcony, half-drunk in the baking sun, having the time of our lives.

13 - My Favourite Blog Post This Year

UK Games Expo 2019 - Convention Report

This year I wrote two preview posts (Part 1 and Part 2) and then a longer post for the convention itself. I ran a flag counter on the post which picked up a little over 9000 views and received 184 thumbs, beating my previous record of 166. What I didn’t mention in the post is that I took the press list from the UK Games Expo press pass, emailed over 100 publishers and sent geek mails to a bunch of designers asking for more information about their games. I really made an effort to research with this year’s UKGE post and devoted a lot of time to writing it. I’m hoping to do the same again in 2020, hopefully with more extensive coverage and maybe several smaller posts rather than one monstrosity of a post. It’s the highlight of the board gaming calendar for those living in the UK and I love doing what I can to be a part of it.

14 - Some Statistics for the Year

Number of blog posts made in 2019: 63
Total games played in 2019: 508
Number of different games played in 2019: 226
H-Index: 26

It’s been another great year for Annabelle and I. Thank you as always for Reading!

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2018 - A Review

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

01 Jan 2019

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

2018 - A Review

To quote the cringey Will Smith from this year’s YouTube Rewind “yaaaaaall, it’s rewind time.” This was another great year of gaming for me, though I’m probably a little bit behind on recent releases. I’m trying to move away from the whole cult-of-the-new thing and just playing the games that I want to play. My partner and I managed to get to both the UK Games Expo and to Airecon in Harrogate this year, as well as a brief visit to Gloucestershire for Tony Boydell’s gathering of chums (during his short ban from Boardgamegeek). My Mother and Step Father became my regular gaming group along with my wife, and we played though the entire Series: Exit: The Game family (or at least the parts of the series that are available in English language). I bit the bullet and started T.I.M.E Stories again with a new group after playing two and a half stories with a group that I have since lost contact with. It was a great move, I was surprised at how little I remembered from my first experience of the game. I still love playing abstract games but I’ve certainly played fewer heavy euro games this year, opting for lighter or midweight games. My collection has grown a lot but I am planning a bit of a clear-out in the new year, it’s important to keep refining the collection and getting rid of games that I’m never going to play again. In the past when I’ve made a yearly review I’ve made a list of my all time favourite games; I know that it’s a popular thing to do here to constantly rank one game against another but to be honest I can’t do it anymore. I don’t know if I’m becoming a little bit sensible as I approach middle age but I think that I’m done ranking games, here’s nine of the games that I’ve enjoyed playing this year and nine from my wife (in no particular order).

Nine of the Best - Allen

Tatsu - I’ve enjoyed a lot of John Yianni’s designs over the years but this year I finally got around to trying Tatsu. The game heavily takes influence from Backgammon and gives it a modern abstract twist.
Ticket to Ride: Europe - I love this series of games and luckily for me so does everyone that I play with. I’d say that Ticket to Ride: Europe is probably my favourite of the series, especially when combined with the 1912 expansion, but I love them all.
Glass Road - I’ve only played this game solo this year but rather selfishly that is my favourite way to play Glass Road. The game is simple to set up, relatively quick to play, and is a great strategic experience every time.
T.I.M.E Stories - Time Stories has given me some of my favourite gaming experiences of 2018, with my regular gaming group playing through the first three campaigns over the course of the year. I can’t wait to get it back on the table and play our fourth.
YINSH - I’ve played most of the Series: GIPF Project games this year, but YINSH has probably been the one that I enjoyed most. This is also the highest ranking game from the series here on the Geek.
EXIT: The Game - This year my family and I have played every English language edition of Exit and the series has quickly become one of my all time favourites. I just want the rest of the German editions to be translated sooner.
Pyramid Arcade - I feel like I’m cheating by putting Pyramid Arcade on the list. At the time of writing there are 446 games that can be played using Icehouse Pyramids so the set is probably the most cost effective way of adding more games to your collection. Colour Wheel and Martian Chess are my favourites in the set.
Azul - Azul has been one of the most played and most talked about games of 2018, and managed to win the Spiel des Jahres. It has a great balance of simplicity and strategy that is hard not to love.
Honshū - This year Honshu joined my collection of 10/10 games, this simple card drafting city building game is so satisfying to play, especially when played with four or five players at the same time.

Nine of the Best - Annabelle

Ticket to Ride: France - Annabelle has always been very good at the Ticket to Ride series and we bought this one during our holiday in Paris, so the France map has a special place for us both.
Takenoko - She loves how fluid the game’s mechanisms are once everyone at the table has an understanding of the game. Plus the game looks fantastic, especially the little panda miniature.
EXIT: The Game - We’ve played the whole series this year as a family, and we’ve all been able to take the lead on different types of puzzles throughout the series.
T.I.M.E Stories - This year we’ve played through three different TIME Stories campaigns, Annabelle enjoyed T.I.M.E Stories: A Prophecy of Dragons the most so far. This was the campaign in which she solved the most puzzles and felt the most immersed in the theme.
Century: Eastern Wonders - Annabelle enjoyed Century: Spice Road the previous year and loved the fact that the two can be played together. She like the innovative way in which resources are gathered, plus the look of the game.
Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala - This year Annabelle played Five Tribes for the first time. She loved both the gameplay and the great presentation of the game.
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 - My wife and I are around halfway through a campaign taking two characters each, it’s been great fun opening the sealed boxes and seeing how the game is going to change next.
Azul - You can’t help but love the beauty of this simple tile drafting game, plus we now have the sequel to get our teeth into in 2019.
The Mind - Annabelle loves how in-tune our gaming group got with this one even beating the game, the fact that it is easy to learn and teach, and that the game is small enough to take anywhere.

My Most Played Game of 2018

KLASK - 15 plays

It comes as no surprise that my most played game of the year is a shorter game. Klask is a big wooden two player game in which players each control their pawn by holding a magnet under the board. They must then try to get the ball into the goal on the other side of the table while avoiding the little white magnets in the centre of the table and avoiding sinking your own pawn into their own goal. This is a very fun game and simple enough to teach to new players without much fuss. Also it’s the kind of game that you can play over and over again, I’m surprised that I only managed 15 games over the course of the year.

My Favourite New Game of 2018

KeyForge: Call of the Archons

Before I had even played KeyForge this game had a lot going for it from the original previews. Richard Garfield is an excellent designer and Fantasy Flight Games are great at making card games that don’t rely on booster packs and collectability. Instead players buy a unique preconstructed deck that is to some degree balanced against the rest of the available decks. Aside from the distribution model the game itself is excellent too, being a slightly less aggressive two player card game than I’m used to playing. The mechanism whereby each player can play as much as they want from one of their three factions is genius too, choosing wisely is where a lot of the game’s strategy comes from as simply playing as many cards as possible isn’t always the best way to win. This one is going to get a lot of play in 2019 (and will probably end up costing me a lot of money).

Biggest Surprises of 2018

When in Rome and Wibbell++

There are two games that really surprised me this year. The first is When in Rome which sells itself as the first Amazon Alexa enabled board game and seems a bit gimmicky when you first hear about it. Players split up into two teams and go travelling around the world making new friends and answering questions about the cities that you visit along the way. This is essentially a quiz game which would usually put me off, but the game works so well and really gets people engaged. It’s fast becoming one of my all time favourite party games. The second is Wibbell++, a word game system by the the superbly creative Bez. Although this game wasn’t new to me in 2018 this is the year that I’ve really engaged with it, with a growing community on Facebook discussing the game system and designing new games for Wibbell++ the game is only going to get better with time. Bez has a habit of designing the most simple and engaging games, I’m excited to get my copy of their new game Kitty Cataclysm in 2019.

Bargain of the Year 2018

Tumblin-Dice Medium

I’ve been after a Tumblin Dice set for years and although I can’t remember the exact price of the bargain my wife found a copy in the bring-and-buy at Airecon 2018. She knew that I wanted a copy so she grabbed it from the shelf as soon as she spotted it. Also there were a bunch of extra dice in the box including d10s and d20s enhancing the gameplay even more. This is a big wooden dexterity game which is great to play with more casual gamers, so much so that it ended up featuring in our Christmas Day gaming. There is a larger version available but I’m happy with my medium sized set, I think that I’d struggle to get the larger set on my table.

Most Anticipated Game of 2019

Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set

I’ve been a big Snowdonia fan for years and I’ve managed to get my hands on a lot of the expansions and promo cards. Each expansion represents a different famous railway (or bridge) that needs to be built, the flavour of each expansion relates to the various engineering difficulties and environmental barriers associated with the project. This is a great Eurogame with a great theme, when I found out that NSKN Games were releasing a super ridiculous mega set of everything ever made for Snowdonia plus a bunch of other new stuff I was sold instantly. The game is due to be released in May 2019, so hopefully there won’t be any hold ups and I’ll be playing by the summer.

Big Gaming Hauls of 2018

Airecon 2018: Celestia, Celestia: A Little Help, Cockroach Salad, Codinca, Evolution: The Beginning, Fleet, Highland Clans, Jin Li, Kreus, Mammut, Meeple Circus, Ominoes, Polarity, Robber Knights, Those Pesky Garden Gnomes, Tumblin-Dice Medium.

UK Games Expo 2018: Central Market, Exit: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express, Exit: The Game – The Sunken Treasure, Exit: The Game – The Secret of the Premiere, Hidden Hoard, Lightseekers, Loony Quest, Nimble, Niña & Pinta, Orc-lympics, Pyramid of Pengqueen, Pikoko, Pylos, Quads, Quarto, Samarkand: Routes to Riches, Sandcastles, Scare It!, Sticky Chameleons, Tri 3D, TRIUMPH, World Monuments, Wrecking Cube.

Christmas 2018: 7 Wonders: Armada, AVES, Bella Blümchen, Carpe Diem, Chow Crown, Cottage Garden, That's Pretty Clever!, Here Comes the Dog, Hound, Indian Summer, Kamisado, Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile, Ophir: The Divine Eldorado, Scythe, Sheep Dog, Spring Meadow, Super Ski Jump, Tokyo Highway, Viticulture: Tuscany Essential Edition, Valhalla Scout, Viticulture Essential Edition.

Picture of the Year

Meeple Circus

Matagot have a habit of making great looking games and Meeple Circus is no exception. The game consists of three rounds where players will first recruit circus performers then will frantically pose their performers in an effort to gain points. By the end of the third round players will have to place a bunch of performers in their circus and this is where the game shines for photography. This is a very fun game as well as being great to look at. My wife and I got some great pictures this year but I think that this is my favourite.

My Favourite Post

Fanboy 3 in Manchester, A Tale of Two Shops

My favourite of my own blog posts this year was about how an FLGS in Manchester by the name of Fanboy 3 had moved to a new location and had gone from being unfit for purpose to being an excellent place to buy and play games. This was a particularly important post for me because I had been quite critical of Fanboy 3 in the past here on the Geek, and they did listen to the criticism and they fixed the problem. I have a lot of respect for what Dave Salisbury and his team have achieved in Manchester, my wife and I have become regulars at the shop now.

10x10 Challenge

My original plan was to avoid things like the 10x10 challenge, joining the Cult of the Sensible in 2019. Then I realised that I’m anything but sensible and decided to do the damn challenge anyway. For those who don’t know the 10x10 challenge is where someone plans to play 10 of their games 10 times over the course of a year. This is to make sure that they don’t forget about their old games as new ones are added to their shelves, I like the principle of the challenge. Anyway, here is my ten:

1) Azul or Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra
2) Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 or Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
3) Any of the Ticket to Ride franchise
4) 7 Wonders
5) Viticulture Essential Edition
6) That's Pretty Clever!
7) Glass Road
8) Tokyo Highway
9) New Bedford
10) Snowdonia

Some 2018 Statistics

Number of blog posts made in 2018: 28
Total games played in 2018: 323
Number of different games played in 2018: 159
H-Index: 26

I had a great year made all the better by all of you lovely people. Thank you for all of the love and support that you’ve given me and thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far. Have a great 2019!

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Tue Jan 1, 2019 11:39 pm

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2016 - A Review / My Top 20 Games

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

01 Jan 2017

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

2016 - A Review

Contents

1) My top 20 games of all time
2) My most played game of 2016
3) My favourite new game of 2016
4) Biggest surprise of 2016
5) Biggest let down of 2016
6) Worst game that I have played in 2016
7) Thrift of the year
8) Games that I will be buying in 2017
9) Some of the best moments of the year
10) Picture of the year
11) Some 2016 statistics

Note: I made the decision only to include games that were played at least once during 2016 in my top 20 games this year, which does unfortunately mean that Android will not be included. I ranked Android as my #1 last year, and had managed to play the game fairly often in 2015. As my tastes in board games and my social group has changed, those long drawn out thematic games have fallen off my radar. It’s not to say that I don’t like them, only that I don’t want to play them as often.

1) My Top 20 Games of All Time

Board Game: Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary

20 - Ticket to Ride (BGG Rank #80+)

This is one of the best gateway games in my opinion. The game has a simple card driven system, with limited choices, and short player turns, keeping everyone engaged in the game. I tend to use the Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary to introduce people to the series, which has some of the most amazing looking components in my collection; then I tend to move on to Ticket to Ride: Europe, which adds a few more mechanisms, and is the superior game in my opinion. This series has a ton of expansions and spin offs, including this year's release Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails, which adds boats as well as trains to be placed on the board. Ticket to Ride is a superb series, and one that hasn't lost its appeal to me.

19 - Dixit (BGG Rank #128+)

Dixit is one of those games that is as fun as the people that you play with, and one of the best party games in my collection. Adding Dixit: Odyssey to the mix takes the game from 6 to 12 players, making it one of the most versatile in relation to player count too. Gameplay essentially surrounds a deck of cards containing abstract, bizarre pictures for the group to assign meaning to. You tend to get a lot of ‘in-jokes’ relative to the group, and the game tends to descend into hilarity very quickly. A lot of party games tend to get old very quickly, but Dixit has always been an exception to this rule; an excellent game with the right group of people.

18 - Continuo (BGG Rank #12590)

A first game design by Maureen Hiron back in 1982. The rules are simple enough to teach to non-gamers, and the gameplay interesting enough to engage more committed gamers. Continuo is a simple tile laying game, in which players are attempting to extend sequences of colours across a central tableau of tiles. The game flows quickly, and is probably one of the lightest games in this list. Continuo spawned a further three games in Triangulo Continuo, Rhombo Continuo and Hexago Continuo; all of which are in my collection. I love this little game.

17 - Yavalath (BGG Rank #3483)

One of my favourite publishers in the industry is Nestorgames, which is a print on demand publisher, mostly for abstract games. Yavalath is my favourite from this publisher; you can teach the game in 10 seconds, but it has a phenomenal amount of depth, especially when played with three players. Players must make a row of four pieces without first making a row of three pieces; which sounds simple, but once you play a few rounds, you see just how interesting this game can be. You can play a bunch of other games with the same set too if you add Yavalath & Co.; a book that can be bought from the publisher, or viewed for free on the Nestorgames website.

16 - Kingdom Builder (BGG Rank #390)

I was fortunate enough to find a copy of Kingdom Builder: Big Box at the Essen Spiele last year, albeit a German copy; which contains the base game as well as several expansions. What I like about Kingdom Builder is that the way in which scoring works in the game. Three random scoring mechanisms are drawn from a deck of cards to dictate the way that the game will be played, each combination offering a very different gaming experience. The board itself is made up of four randomly draw parts, each with different abilities for players to gain control of. All in all, Kingdom Builder is one of the most variable games in my collection; and it plays well with any player count. Even with so many ways to play, Kingdom Builder is a light Euro, one that is easy to bring out with any group of players.

15 - TAMSK (BGG Rank #1277)

So I finally got ahold of the last part of the Series: GIPF Project this year, or rather the lost part of the series. TAMSK was originally considered to be the second game of the GIPF project, but was later removed and replaced by the designer; consequently the game is rare and unlikely to ever be reprinted. TAMSK is unlike any other abstract game that I’ve played before; players use sand timers as their player pieces which need to kept active, and must be flipped on each movement. Strategy is very interesting, with some unusual dynamics which really need to be played to be understood. I love this game, partly because it's so fun, but also because of how it came to be part of my collection; more about that a little later.

14 - Carrom (BGG Rank #1019)

By far the largest board game in my collection, as the board itself is basically a table without legs. Carrom is essentially a Pool-like game, whereby players take turns in flicking a ‘striker’ from their quadrant of the table; in an effort to pot their pieces in the corners of the board. Where this game really shines is in the four player game; which is played in pairs. Players sit opposite their partner and must work to position pieces for their partner, as well as trying to pot their own; kind of like the player interaction in a game of Tichu. Carrom is a very laid back, enjoyable experience; and can be enjoyed at any level of skill.

13 - ...and then, we held hands. (BGG Rank #2009)

This is one of the most unique games in my collection, certainly the only two player cooperative abstract game that I’m aware of. In ‘...and then we held hands,’ players take turns in playing cards, manipulating their token around a board to complete a cooperative goal. What makes this game interesting is that players can play cards from either person’s hand, but are not allowed to discuss the game itself, much like in Hanabi. So there is a level of intuition, and understanding the mindset of the other player. The theme of the game is about relationships, overcoming the different obstacles and hurdles that come with being in a relationship. Not a theme that you see everyday, but certainly an original one.

12 - Alhambra (BGG Rank #357)

Alhambra probably has the best compilation set in my collection, in the Alhambra: Big Box; which contains the base game and the first five expansions. Each expansion has four ‘modules’ which can be chopped and changed to create the kind of game that you want to play. For me, Alhambra is the best gateway game, as the base set is simple enough to play with none-gamers, and can be built up using modules to be as complex as you want it to be. Plus the tableau building element is very satisfying at the end game. The image above is probably the most ridiculous that I have built to date.

11 - Codenames (BGG Rank #20)

This was really the game of Essen Spiele 2015 for me, and the best party game in my collection. In addition, Codenames won the Spiel des Jahres and two Golden Geeks, which really says something about it’s popularity. This is a simple party game that looks at the associations between words; which sounds dull until you play it. This year I also added Codenames: Pictures and Codenames: Deep Undercover to my collection, offering new ways to play the game. This is likely to be a timeless classic for me, as the humour in the game comes from the creativity and personality of the people playing.

10 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers (BGG Rank #7)

It took me a while to come around to the idea that Caverna is a better game than Agricola, because I enjoyed the card drafting element and the scarcity of resources found in the original game. But the more I play Caverna, the more I see the variety of different ways in which players can win the game. Yes there is almost no scarcity in the game, and Caverna does hold your hand somewhat compared to Agricola, but the game just flows exceptionally well; and looking at the end result of your player board is very satisfying. I love the fact that Caverna accommodates seven players too.

9 - The Castles of Burgundy (BGG Rank #10)

This is in my opinion, Stefan Feld’s best game, and probably the most balanced way of using dice in a Euro in my collection; though Macao is a close second. Castles of Burgundy is a relatively simple tableau building game, in which players roll two dice each turn and take an action for the associated number on the dice; the numbers are not better or worse than each other, they just add variation as to which action can be taken. Mostly, actions will revolve are buying hexes, and placing them on their estate on their player boards. The game is point salad, and experienced players will almost always beat inexperienced players; nevertheless it always provides an interesting and satisfying game.

8 - Snowdonia (BGG Rank #309)

One of the greatest Eurogames, and certainly the best worker placement game in my collection. Snowdonia sees players collectively building the famous railway up the side of mount Snowdon, using a very interesting worker placement mechanism where timing is everything. Learning the intricacies of where to place your workers in order to trigger actions at such a time as to score maximum points is so satisfying in this game. In addition, there are a ton of different expansions to the game which change up a lot of the mechanisms in the game; sometimes using one of the sets of player pieces to act as different resources such as water or dynamite. This is also one of those games that works well with any player count.

7 - YINSH (BGG Rank #125)

For a long time, YINSH was ranked as the number one abstract game here on the geek; that was until Patchwork knocked it off the top spot. Yinsh is the most popular game from the GIPF project, and was one of the most expensive. Players take turn in placing their five rings on the board, then moving them to different positions. Every time a piece is moved, it leaves a marker behind, which can be flipped from one player's colour to the other. Players are aiming to make a sequence of five markers of their colour in a row, removing one of their player pieces and using it to show that a sequence has been scored. The first player to make three sequences wins the game; the fact that one of the five player pieces is taken away each time that a sequence is scored creates a kind of catch up mechanism, as the opponent now has one more piece to play with. YINSH is an interesting game experience which really needs to be played to be appreciated.

6 - Among the Stars (BGG Rank #328)

This might be an unpopular opinion here on the geek, but Among the Stars is a much better game than 7 Wonders, albeit very similar. It takes the drafting system from 7 Wonders and overlays sci-fi theme, and adds a tableau building system that is very engaging. Players are essentially building a space station using a set of square cards. The game has a ton of modular expansions, meaning that you can make the game as interactive, as complex, or as simple as you want. It takes a fair amount of table space, but always delivers an enjoyable experience. I’m eager to try Fields of Green over the next year, which is a reimplementation of Among the Stars in an agricultural setting; I’m aware that some of the core rules have been changed for the new release, so it will be interesting to see what they have done with the series.

5 - Guilds of London (BGG Rank #1272)

I was lucky enough to be given a prototype copy of this game from Tony Boydell back in Essen 2015, then I later got my hands on the official release at the UK Games Expo this year. Guilds of London is a card driven eurogame with an element of area control and hand management. My taste in euros usually leans towards low interaction games, but Guilds of London is an exception to the rule; this game can be pretty brutal when it wants to be. The game sees players managing multi use cards to place their meeple around the board, which itself is made up of randomly tiles and is expanded throughout the game. This is a really satisfying game, and the final production looks superb; highly recommended for any euro fan.

4 - Glass Road (BGG Rank #176)

My favourite game from Uwe Rosenberg, Glass Road doesn’t feel like any other game from Mr Rosenberg, and actually feels completely different to play at every player count. This is one of the few games in my collection that I prefer to play solo over playing with other people. In Glass Road, players are managing a set of different resources using two resource rondels, similar to those found in Ora et Labora. These resources are used to build tiles onto a player board in order to score points. Although this sounds like many other Rosenberg games, there is one big difference. The actions in the game are card driven, and the card element is very interactive; taking the same action mechanism as that found in Witch's Brew and Broom Service. Consequently the game is very interactive, and requires an element of bluffing. This is an unusual game, but one that is very satisfying to play.

3 - GIPF (BGG Rank #637)

GIPF is my favourite abstract game, and the game that started the GIPF project. Each player has a finite amount of player pieces, some of which star on the board in piles of two, representing ‘GIPF’ pieces on the board. Players take turns in placing their pieces on the edge of the board on the black spots and pushing them and any pieces in front of them on to the board. Once a player makes a row of four or more, any opponent's pieces extending from the row are captured. The player making the row also gets to place their pieces back into their reserve, which is important, as a new piece must be played at the start of each turn, otherwise the player loses the game. They also lost the game if lose the three Gipf pieces that were placed at the start of the game. This is such a simple game, but one that is full of depth and strategy. Love this game.

2 - Terra Mystica (BGG Rank #4)

Terra Mystica is still one of the best euros in my collection, and one of the hardest to play with new players due to the amount of rules and mechanisms in the game. When played with the Terra Mystica: Fire & Ice expansion, there are twenty different races to play as; all of which provide a different experience, requiring a different strategy to play. Players must balance four different resources in an effort to terraform as much of the board to your colour as possible; giving the game an element of area control as well as resource management. Terra Mystica has so much going on that it tends to suck you in, trying to pull off ridiculous sequences of moves to achieve the most points. People tend to love or hate this one, I think that it’s excellent.

1 - 7 Wonders Duel (BGG Rank #8)

When I made my list last year, 7 Wonders Duel was fairly new to me, but still made it to number four on my top 20 list. This year I’ve played the hell out of it, and have expanded the game with 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon; I can safely say now that this is now my favourite game. 7 Wonders: Duel is the two player spin off of the card drafting game 7 Wonders, though it is more than just a two player version of the original game. It adds a new innovative way of drafting, and has three win conditions, which is really where the appeal of the game comes from for me. I’m not alone with my admiration for this game, this is the favourite for two of my close friends also, and has clawed its way into the BGG overall top 10. With the late addition of Pantheon this year, I can see 7 Wonders: Duel getting a lot of play in 2017.

2) My Most Played Game of 2016

Flix - 28 Plays

An early game from Kris Burm, designer of the GIPF Project games, Flix is one of those unknown little gems that really deserves more credit here on the Geek. It is a dexterity game that sees players flicking their pieces around a board in turn to try and make a solid triangle using four pieces; very daft and very simple. I like to play this one with people who are new to the hobby; and as I’ve played with lots of new people this year, Flix has hit the table a lot in 2016.

3) My Favourite New Game of 2016

Guilds of London

I played a hand made prototype version of this after Essen in 2015 (Thanks again Tony!), and loved the flow of the game immediately. Then the game got it’s official release at the UK Games Expo this year thanks to Tasty Minstrel Games, and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the components and the excellent presentation of the game. To be honest, there hasn’t been a 2016 release that has gotten close to Guilds of London for me.

4) Biggest Surprise of 2016

TAMSK

So my amazing future wife looked at a blog post that I wrote a while ago, about my grail games; meaning the rare, hard to find games that I want in my collection. Then she tracked down the one that I wanted most, which is TAMSK, from a seller in Germany who didn’t speak English, and somehow managed to obtain it for me. I was nearly in tears when I found out that she had bought me this; it made me a very happy future husband.

5) Biggest Let Down of 2016

Board Game: T.I.M.E Stories: A Prophecy of Dragons

T.I.M.E Stories: A Prophecy of Dragons

I thoroughly enjoyed the fairly short campaign in the T.I.M.E Stories core game; the theme, the story and the artwork really drew me in. We followed this up by playing the first expansion, T.I.M.E Stories: The Marcy Case; which despite its unappealing zombie theme, added a few more mechanisms, and was on the whole an enjoyable experience. When we came to play the third story, Prophecy of Dragons, I just lost interest in the whole thing. Nothing about the expansion drew me in; I couldn’t find anything in there to engage with, and it just seemed really dry. After three runs at this story, we didn’t achieve much; and we were yet to open the secret sealed deck of cards. I don’t know if the later expansions got better, but this one absolutely flopped for me.

6) Worst Game that I Played in 2016

Mythos Tales

I had the chance to try this game out at my local board game board game group not long before it’s full release. Essentially the game takes the core mechanism from Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases and shits Lovecraft at it. The group that I played with won the game because they had prior knowledge of Lovecraft lore, and solved a puzzle based on very little in game information. By far the dullest gaming experience of the year, I would recommend avoiding this one; unless you are a Lovecraft connoisseur, then it might be up your street.

7) Thrift of the Year 2016

Gobblet

Whilst I was away with my partner this year at the Lakes, we managed to find an excellent edition of Gobblet for £2.50 at a charity shop. The game was basically unplayed, and came with big chunky wooden pieces. Always nice to find a wooden abstract game like this for such a cheap price.

9) Games That I will be Buying in 2017

Fields of Green

Being such a fan of Among the Stars, you can only imagine my delight at finding out that the game was to be reimplemented, though with slight changes to the rules, as an agricultural game. I missed the Kickstarter, but am planning on buying the game in the new year. I’m a big fan of Artipia Games as a publisher; they have a habit of putting out some very interesting titles.

A Feast for Odin

This years big Rosenberg release got a lot of praise from some of my favourite people here on the Geek. I know that the game takes some influence from Patchwork, and that the box is bigger than my car; other than that I don’t know too much about a Feast for Odin, only that I want it as soon as possible.

Habitats

I loved seeing pictures of this game on a few blogs here, it has the look of an abstract euro that I tend to gravitate to. Once the game becomes a little bit more available, I’ll be picking up a copy I think. Cwali tend to put out some really unusual games, with some rather unorthodox components; definately a publisher that I would like to expand upon next year.

10) Some of the best moments of the year

UK Games Expo

The UK Games Expo is our big board games convention here in Blighty. This year the event moved over to a bigger venue at the NEC in Birmingham in response to the growing popularity of the event. I met with Tony and Stuart from here on the Geek, which was a great laugh; and I got to meet one of my favourite game designers, John Yianni, with his new title Tatsu. All together a great weekend with some great people.

Making a new best friend

At the start of the year, I suffered with a bout of depression, which led me to take a short hiatus from writing my blog. Late in March I met my Annabelle, and before I knew it I had fallen in love, proposed, and invited her to come and share my life with me. I went from my lowest to my highest over the course of a few months, and am now planning a wedding with my new best friend in 2017. She is so thoughtful, loving and caring; I honestly didn’t know that my life could be as happy as it is right now, and I know that the best is yet to come.

11) Picture of the year

Axiom

This is my favourite picture of the year. It has zero thumbs and comes from an abstract game that very few people have heard of. As I seem to be one of only a few people here on the Geek that loves abstract games more than any other genre, you can expect to see a lot more abstracts here in 2017.

12) Some 2016 Statistics

Games owned: 458
Previously owned: 83
Ratings: 320
Average rating: 6.76
Total games played in 2016: 363
Number of different games played in 2016: 142
H-Index: 24

My Review of 2013: Click here
My Review of 2014: Click here
My Review of 2015: Click here

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Mon Jan 2, 2017 12:47 am

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2015 - A Review

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

31 Dec 2015

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

2015 - A Review

Contents

1) My top 20 games of all time
2) My most played game of 2015
3) My favourite new game of 2015
4) Biggest surprise of 2015
5) Biggest let down of 2015
6) Worst game that I have played in 2015
7) Thrift of the year
8) Kickstarter of the year
9) Games that I will be buying in 2016
10) Some of the best moments of the year
11) Picture of the year
12) Some 2015 statistics

1) My Top 20 Games of All Time

20 - Carrom (BGG Rank #905)

Carrom is probably on the fringes of what one would consider to be a board game. The board itself is actually bigger than a lot of gaming tables. That being said, I absolutely love this game. The game plays a lot like Pool, only with a square playing area and four pockets instead of six. Players take turn to hit a ‘Striker’ (like the white ball in pool) into the wooden Carrom Men, in an attempt to sink them in the pockets. The real charm of this game for me is how the four player game plays. Players are split into teams of two, and sit opposite each other. The flow of the game reminds me a little bit Tichu, in the way that sometimes you will be making moves that help you, and sometimes you will be making moves to help your partner. Carrom is a game that I can pull out with almost any group, and one that I am always happy to play. I have played Crokinole, which is a similar game that is ranked higher here on the geek, but I much prefer Carrom; Crokinole is way too confrontational.

19 - Telestrations (BGG Rank #188)

My Telestrations set is absolutely falling to pieces, a sign that it is doing something right. Telestrations is a kind of hybrid of games like Pictionary and Chinese Whispers (or Telephone, depending on where you’re from). Telestrations is almost always hilarious to play with any kind of group; family, friends, gamers, non-gamers. The majority of times that I have played this has been with close friends, and will inevitably deteriorate into obscenities, sexism and racism. It’s hard to get through a game without penises popping into the game. You just need to be mindful to erase the pages when switching from family games to games with friends, as I found out the hard way; the look on my mother’s face when she flipped the page to an incredibly detailed picture of somebody being ‘teabagged’ was priceless. If you are a fan of Telestrations, I would highly recommend investing in some coloured whiteboard markers; they make the game much more enjoyable.

18 - Dadaocheng (BGG Rank #6192)

One of the newest games on the list, and currently one of the more unknown titles; though I am sure that this will change should this game ever get a wider distribution in 2016. Dadaocheng sees players manipulating a series of super-thick chits in order to generate resources; these can be exchanges for contracts (points) or buildings to give you discounts on future moves in the game. Dadaocheng has nice pace to it, and great artwork. There is a lot of choice, and a few different paths to victory. Everyone that I’ve played this with has wanted to play it again. I suppose that if I had to be critical, I would say that there is a bit of downtime in the four player game.That being said, this is definitely one of the best games that I grabbed from Essen this year; I’m just glad that Tony Boydell recommended this to me, cheers Tony!

17 - Ora et Labora (BGG Rank #51)

I picked this up from my friend at my local board game club this year (thanks Frazer), and the game really impressed me the first time that I played it. I was already a big fan of Agricola, and was aware that Uwe Rosenberg had designed a number of different heavy eurogames; I was eager to try a few more of them, still am actually. Ora et Labora has an interesting resource mechanism with a kind or rondel / clock; players actually draw from a single resource pool. This is really one of the more interesting things about Ora et Labora, and really does make timing your moves a key part of the strategy.The game is a cross between building a tableau of cards, and worker placement. The more cards that you have in front of you, the more options that you have for your worker to be placed on. When a worker is placed, players get to take actions; they can use their own for free, or can pay the other players for the privilege of using their workers on their buildings. The game flows really well, and has an overwhelming sense of balance and variety. Players can build up sequences of actions to get the most points for their work. This is one of those games that has a great visual representation of exactly how you played your game by the end.

16 - Jet Set (BGG Rank #1368)

Jet Set is an outstanding economics game about running air routes through europe. At first glance, the game looks a bit like Ticket to Ride: Europe, but the game actually plays very differently. Players set up flight paths on the board in order to win contracts, which are the only way of scoring points in this game. Contracts each give players an income, ranging from short paths, to long haul flights across the map. Players are given an extraordinarily long route at the start of the game called their ‘final flight,’ which they can attempt to achieve towards the end of the game. This forces players to start working towards the route right from the first turn. Jet Set is a great game, especially with five or six players. Player’s turns are very quick, so there isn’t much downtime. The game can feel pretty cut-throat, but never too unbalanced. I have the expansion now, Jet Set: Distant Lands – Expansion Set 1, but I am still yet to try it. I know that Kris Gould is looking at releasing a second expansion for it next year, so it may be higher on next year's list; depending on how good the expansions are.

15 - TZAAR (BGG Rank #276)

TZAAR is a two player abstract game from a famous series of games known as Series: GIPF Project. It’s the best game in the series, though I do also love GIPF and YINSH. You can teach this game in about two minutes, but spend a lifetime learning the intricacies of the game. Players each have three types of stackable pieces, and take turns either attacking pieces, or stacking pieces. You take two actions per turn, and the first must be an attacking action. Pieces can only be taken by a stack of equal or higher value. If a player does not have at least one of each of the three piece types, or can not take a legal turn, they lose. The game sounds fairly straightforward, but after playing this one for a few years now the game has shown itself to be full of strategy and depth. I’d highly recommend it if you have played other Project GIPF games, or if you enjoy two player abstract games in general.

14 - Ascension: Deckbuilding Game (BGG Rank #337+)

Magic: The Gathering was really the first game that got me into the hobby; but I started feeling disillusioned by the exploitative distribution model, and went looking for other games to play. Ascension was really the game that bridged the gap for me into modern board and card games. We played the original set, known as Chronicles of the Godslayer, over and over again; I’ve been hooked since. With every expansion, new mechanism are added, but the game never feels too complicated. Stone Blade release blocks of two sets, each with it’s own feel and nuances. I was one of the lucky few to pick up a pre-release of Ascension: Dreamscape at Essen this year, which has quickly become one of my favourite sets in the series. I’m planning to do an in-depth write up of that game in the near future, so watch this space. The fact that there has now been nine different Ascension games, and I’m still buying them says a lot. It isn’t one of those games that has slipped off my radar as I have learned about other new games. This is probably the game that gets the most requests from members of my gaming group.

13 - Yavalath (BGG Rank #3330)

Just to be specific, I am referring to the three player game of Yavalath when I place it this high on my list, not the two player game. With two the game is good, but with three, it is an absolute masterpiece. The game sounds very simple, make four in a row without first making three in a row. If you make three in a row, you lose. If there is a position on the board in which a player can place a piece and win, it must be blocked on your turn, even if blocking would make you lose. What this equates to in a three play game, is a situation where players will need to eliminate the player to their left before they have a chance to win. This dynamic is what makes the game for me, attack the player on the left while defending from the player on the right. A Yavalath set can be used to play a ton of other games too, the best two player game from this set is probably Yavalanchor. I should definitely get some more nestorgames in 2016!

12 - Ticket to Ride (BGG Rank #70)

This game is often heralded by the BGG community as the best gateway game for new players (I would give that title to Alhambra personally). My friend and I went halves on a copy of Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary last year, which has some outstanding components. We played a few games and we were hooked. I ended up picking up Ticket to Ride: Europe this year, which is a much better map than the original North America map. Players tend to focus on just getting the long routes in the original game, but are forced to adopt other strategies in the Europe game. I regret not picking up Ticket to Ride Map Collection 5: United Kingdom & Pennsylvania at Essen this year, but I suppose that you can’t buy everything that you want. This is still a popular game, when playing with groups of more casual gamers; though the more hardcore members of my group tend to avoid it more often than not.

11 - Bora Bora (BGG Rank #101)

If I was to take all of Stefan Feld’s games that I have played, this one would probably be the most difficult to describe to a new player. The theme is kind of building a village I think? Recruiting villagers? Pleasing the gods? I have no idea, and frankly I couldn’t care less. Theme-shmeme, Bora Bora is mechanically brilliant, one of the most satisfying eurogames in my collection. The game is driven by a unique, dice placement mechanism, seeing players taking and blocking a set of actions. The part that I enjoy the most is the objectives that players must complete each turn; they force people to have to play the game in a different way each turn, meaning that you never really play the same game twice. Trying to get the most out of your villager’s can be pretty tough, as certain types tend to get snapped up pretty quickly. This game is rather heavy, even by Feld’s standards. Not quite as heavy as Trajan, but not far off. Hopefully this colourful little gem of a game will see more play in 2016.

10 - Agricola (BGG Rank #7)

I’ve banged on about this quite a bit on my blog recently, but Agricola is only really worth playing to me with the Agricola: Farmers of the Moor expansion. I love the base game, but there are a few little points that bring the game down for me. I feel like the expansion really negates those issues, and makes the game much more exciting to play. Agricola has hit the table a lot this year, I think that I managed to play it with every number of players (1-5) over the course of the year. I really should invest in some of the alternative decks 2016, I’ve heard that there are some great expansions out there. I did get my hands on a copy of Caverna: The Cave Farmers this year, which a lot of people are telling me is a replacement for Agricola. I’m Skeptical, I’ve played a solo game of Caverna and it doesn’t seem to have the same sense of urgency and struggle that it’s older brother has. I like the struggle, I’m a raging masochist on the inside. Let’s see how they compare in 2016.

9 - Flix (BGG Unranked)

This is probably the most obscure title in my top 20, and is probably one of the most underrated games in my collection. Flix is one of Kris Burm’s early designs (guy who made the Project GIPF games), and has the same kind of triangular movement associated with his later games; however at it’s heart, Flix is a dexterity game. Players place little paddles on the board to flick their player pieces around the board. The aim is to make a larger triangle out of four player pieces on the board before the other player does the same. Flix is outstanding, really one of the funniest games in my collection. Whenever I show the game to new players, they always ask to play the game again. I actually had a copy of this game back when I was very young; my sister used to beat me at it all the time. I never would have guessed that the game would weave its way back into my life once I got older. I played against my sister again this year, and she battered me again.

8 - 7 Wonders (BGG Rank #20)

One of the most played games in my collection, partially due to the ability to accommodate seven players; or eight with an expansion. 7 Wonders is outstanding, and would probably be higher on my list if not for another card drafting game. This game has clean, simple feel; and basically no downtime. It’s probably at it’s best with three or four players, as you have more influence over the other players, and can get a better idea of what other people are doing. The Leaders and Cities expansions add so much to the game; the newest addition Babel less so. It’s a shame that this one doesn’t see as much play as a few other games on this list; it still has a special place in my collection for me.

7 - The Castles of Burgundy (BGG Rank #8)

This is probably my favourite game from Stefan Feld. Though I may be a little bias, as this was one of the first games in my collection. Burgundy is a dice driven eurogame, in which players build up a tableau of hex tiles on an individual player board to score points. The game never feels unfair, as there is always options availible, despite being dice driven. The game is much improved with the The Castles of Burgundy: 4th Expansion – Monastery Boards player boards; they have a much better sense of balance, and the Monastery mechanism adds a lot to the game. I didn’t play this as much as I would have liked in 2015; it isn’t the easiest to hit the table, and can be quite unforgiving towards new players. Still, it is one of my favourite eurogames.

6 - Among the Stars (BGG Rank #287)

This is the drafting game that I’d want to play most. It has most of the mechanisms from 7 Wonders, wrapped up with the tile laying aspects and interchangeability of Alhambra. I have every expansion, so can tailor a game to have only the elements I like best; I literally never play with the conflict decks, but usually try to include as much of everything else as possible. The theme is fun, the artwork is outstanding, and they just keep releasing more and more of it. The only issue that I have with the game is the phenomenal amount of space that it takes up on a table; I am still yet to play a five or six player game purely because of table limitations. The game has a ‘Special’ deck of cards, that gets added to with every expansion. in a any given game, a fraction of the special cards that you have in your collection will be added to the pool of cards available in the game; meaning that there is a ton of variation as to what can be included in a given game of Among the Stars. Love this game; hopefully we will see some more expansions in 2016,

5 - Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition) (BGG Rank #44)

Probably one of the swingiest games in my top 20, but I just love the experience of being the Overlord, and facilitating a Descent night. We started a campaign on New Year’s eve, which ended up going on for a few months, building up to an epic final boss fight. I played the music from the Sephiroth fight from Final Fantasy VII during the last mission; it went right down to one of my characters and my partner Amie’s character duking it out. I won in the end, but we have since started a new campaign in which Amie is seeking revenge. Descent is a bit like Dungeons and Dragons, only predetermined, prewritten and without the roleplaying mechanisms. Granted, the game is difficult to organise, but worth the effort if you can get a gaming group together.

4 - 7 Wonders Duel (BGG Rank #38)

I picked this up at Essen and it blew me away. It isn’t really comparable to 7 Wonders, the game plays very differently. 7 Wonder Duel is intense, and confrontational right from the first turn. It replaces the traditional card drafting system, with a pyramid of cards; which is still a kind of draft in a sense. The game also has two alternative win conditions that can be met at any time, cutting the game short. I’ve played this with my friends, leading to a few of them going out and buying copies for themselves. We even ended up playing a tournament with our multiple copies. I really hope that they build on this game, having something similar to what we seen in the Cities and Leaders expansions for 7 Wonders would improve this game significantly.

3 - Terra Mystica (BGG Rank #3)

Terra Mystica such an amazing experience, once you have gotten your head around the rules. I grabbed a copy of this for my birthday, along with the Terra Mystica: Fire & Ice expansion. What I like about this is that there are 20 different races to play as, each with their own rules and strategies. Scoring will be different each time that you play too, as will the bonus tiles. This means that you play a different game of Terra Mystica every time. There are four different currencies to balance, with each race requiring a different balance. This game is a masterpiece, I haven’t met a eurogamer who dislikes this game yet. I did spot a space version of this game at Essen this year, I was told that it was still in it’s playtesting phase. Hopefully we will be seeing a bit more of that in 2016.

2 - Snowdonia (BGG Rank #280)

Snowdonia is in my opinion the best eurogame around at the moment. Players compete to build the famous railway line up the Snowden mountain in Wales, using worker placement and resource management. The game has a very clean, methodical way of resolving actions; Once you get your head around the nuances of timing your actions to get the most out of each worker, the game becomes very rewarding. Players compete for contract cards, which each have a ‘one-shot’ ability, and a prerequisite for end game scoring. What I love about Snowdonia is that points aren’t tallied up as you go along, but rather are calculated at game end. The whole thing feels simple, logical and always tight. Plus there are a ton of different campaign to play with the expansions. each presenting with a new set of challenges and obstacles. It is for me the perfect Eurogame, one that I will be playing to death for many years to come.

1 - Android (BGG Rank #753)

Despite my leanings towards eurogames, the number one spot is reserved for a big sprawling thematic game; albeit one that has no dice, and one that is point driven. Everytime I play this game, it blows me away. Players play as a detective of one kind or another, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and personal battle. You must find a balance between figuring out who the murderer is, dealing with your own plot, and uncovering the grand conspiracy behind the murder. The setting is a kind of Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner Noir feel; the characters are rich, and the narrative is outstanding. Pair that with some very interesting mechanisms, and little point building engines and some hidden information; and the game always entertains. It does take a long time to play, we played a game yesterday that took eight hours to set up, teach and play. The game always ends with a big reveal as everyone finds out who the killer is. It makes Android a kind of special occasion, something to play two or three times a year. My favourite game for the second year running; it’s going to take a lot to knock this off the the top spot next year.

2) My Most Played Game of 2015

Telestrations - 28 Plays

Although this is my most played game of the year, it pales in insignificance to previous holders of this title. Coup got 65 plays last year, and 50 games of Love Letter the year before. Maybe this is the result of having a much bigger collection now, and generally my taste in game moving more towards heavier, longer games.

3) My Favourite New Game of 2015

7 Wonders Duel

I grabbed this one at Essen, along with pretty much everyone who attended the convention. I’m a big fan of the original game, and had my reservations about Duel. My original thought was that it would be simply a shitty two player variant. I was so very wrong. The game turned out to be, in my opinion, better than the original. Not only was it my favourite game from Essen, but also my favourite new game of the year.

4) Biggest Surprise of 2015

Dadaocheng

I’ve seen this game slowly develop on SUSO's awesome blog, though I didn’t recognise it when I first seen it at Essen. Dadaocheng really surprised me, with it’s simple clean design, and engaging gameplay. The game is practically unheard of here on the geek, but I think that with the right marketing and exposure, I can see this game getting huge in 2016.

5) Biggest Let Down of 2015

Star Trek: Attack Wing

I knew that this used the same basic system as Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game and Wings of Glory, and I knew that the gameplay was held in high regard. What I actually found with the game was that the flight mechanics felt very interesting, but when players get within range of each other, you just roll a bunch of dice to see who wins. Really not my cup of tea. It took me back to the days of playing Warhammer 40,000 (Third Edition), rolling copious amounts of dice, huge luck swings. I’m really more interested in balance; the game was a bit of a let down. I didn’t hate it, I just went in with high expectations and felt quite let down.

6) Worst Game that I Played in 2015

Code of Nine

Code of Nine is terrible! Anthony and I sat down to play this one at Essen, after finding out that the game was designed by BakaFire, designer of the awesome Tragedy Looper, we thought that we were on to a decent game. Players have cards that dictate the value of certain items in the game, they place workers to pick up a variety of mysterious items, after a certain amount of time the game ends, cards are revealed and we can see how many points everyone ended up scoring. Some cards will say something to the effect of ‘if anyone is holding item X at the end of the game, they instantly lose.’ Those same cards can be hidden from players for the entirety of the game. It’s fucking stupid, I hated it. Chutes and Ladders has considerably more strategy.

7) Thrift of the Year 2015

Twixt

I was on my dinner break, wandering around the shopping centre next to work, and I had one of those moments you see in a love story. I seen it through the window, an original 1963 3M bookshelf edition of Twixt. For just a moment, there was only the two of us staring at each other in the shopping centre. £2 at the NSPCC shop, I almost felt guilty finding the game so cheap. Poor thing.

8) Kickstarter of the year

Epic Card Game

As an ex Magic: the Gathering player, I still get the itch sometimes to play the game. Epic has finally given me the opportunity to do that without going bankrupt. The game follows the Star Realms method of distribution: keep everything to a minimum with packaging, and give players value for their money. I ended up backing the project for three sets, one for myself and two for my friends. The game has an interesting feature, where three sets can be combined to form an eight player cube (drafting format, popular to MTG players). The cards and the artwork look great; the game plays like a quicker, more balanced version of MTG.

9) Games That I will be Buying in 2016

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Everyone seems to be raving about this game, it’s ranked #2 at the time of writing this blog, and I was a big fan of Pandemic. It seems inevitable that I will end up buying this game in 2016. I found the idea of Risk Legacy to be quite interest, but would never play it because of it’s association with Risk.

Brass: Lancashire

I live in the North-West of England, and have an interest in the industrial revolution. This game is all about the industrial revolution in the North-West of England. Seems like a no brainer. Plus, I’m eager to add a Martin Wallace game to my collection, even if he did neglect to include Widnes to his game board.

La Granja

This one caught my eye recently, mostly due to the unusual game board, and the multi-use cards. I seen something similar in La Isla earlier this year, which was great fun. I’ve heard quite a few positive endorsements for this game recenty.

10) Some of the best moments of the year

UK Games Expo

Back in May I attended the UK Games Expo for the second year running. I was fortunate enough to be given a press pass for the event for my blog, which was great because I got to meet quite a few game designers on the first day of the event. The convention is huge, and has a great atmosphere. I played a ton of new games, ending up spending far too much money. I think that next year, I will be staying in the hotel to get the most out the convention; I’ve heard that a lot of games are played after hours.

Essen

Later in the year, my good friend Anthony and I took a road trip, through Belgium and Holland to the Mecca of the board game world. Again I was blessed with a press pass, this time meeting almost everyone in the board game industry. I also got to play games with my BGG friends and fellow bloggers, Steph (All the Meeples of the Rainbow) and Paulo (Gaming Days) on two of the evenings while I was there, probably two of the most enjoyable evenings of the year. Met Tony Boydell and Ignacy Trzewiczek for the second time that year; both really nice guys. If you haven’t had the Essen experience, I would highly recommend giving it a shot. One of the best experiences of my life.

11) Picture of the year

Board Game: Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala

I snapped this picture of my cat Merkel looking over a game of Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala earlier in the year. This is not the most cat friendly game, and she has such an evil look on her face; I was convinced that she was going to jump up and destroy my game. This ended up winning me the picture of the month at one point, hopefully I’ll pick that up again at some point in 2016.

12) Some 2015 Statistics

Games owned: 417
Previously owned: 80
Ratings: 283
Average rating: 6.81
Total games played in 2015: 811
Number of different games played in 2015: 259

25 Comments

Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:54 pm

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2014 - A Review

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

31 Dec 2014

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

2014 - A Review

Contents
1) My top 20 games of all time
2) My most played game of 2014
3) My favourite new game for 2014
4) Biggest surprise of 2014
5) Biggest let down of 2014
6) Worst game that I have played in 2014
7) Thrift of the year 2014
8) Kickstarter of the year
9) Games that I will be buying in 2015
10) Some 2014 Statistics

1) My Top 20 Games of All Time

20 - Dixit (BGG rank #108)

This game just squeezed into the list right at the end of the year. I grabbed this in mid December and haven’t stopped playing it since. Dixit is a very simple party game where players must describe abstract artwork in such a fashion that some but not all of the players correctly guess it from a selection of cards. Considering how simple the rules are, and how family friendly the game is; Dixit is pretty deep, especially if you play with the right group. I think that I may end up with a few more from the series by the end of next year; I feel that the game would benefit from having a few more cards.

19 - Tichu (BGG rank #56)

Next up is Tichu, which was a real surprise this year. When I first opened the box and saw that the game was basically a set of standard playing cards, I felt a bit let down, however when I gotten around to actually playing the game, I was glad that I picked it up. For a four player card game it is among the best around; I love the fact that this is a game that is played in pairs, and that much of the strategy to the game really isn't apparent the first few times that you play Tichu. I feel that I still have a lot to learn about this game, I look forward to developing my strategy next year.

18 - Pandemic (BGG rank #44)

Pandemic is a really popular game on the Geek, and I can really see why. The game is medium weighted, well balanced, has a great theme, and pulls off cooperative gameplay better than any other game that I can think of. some of my favourite gaming experiences of 2014 have revolved around this game; which can create genuine nail biting moments where the game can be won or lost with a few key decisions late in the game. I added the Pandemic: On the Brink expansion to my game this year, which revitalized it for me; we were starting to find the base game to be a bit too easy. With another expansion to buy and another expansion on the way, I don’t think that I will be bored with Pandemic in 2015.

17 - Agricola (BGG rank #4)

This one has dropped down the list a little since last year; I still enjoy Agricola, but so many other games have blown me away this year, and this one hasn't hit the table as often as it did in 2013. Agricola is a superb game, and probably one of the most satisfying eurogames that I have played. The satisfaction comes from seeing the farm that you have just built at the end of the game; or when everything just goes your way in the last few turns and you end up scoring big. I definitely think that the game is only worth playing with four or five; any less and the game just doesn't quite work for me. I did tell myself that I would buy Caverna: The Cave Farmers this year, hopefully I will grab a copy in 2015.

16 - Flix (BGG Unranked)

Flix is an old unknown game from a well known designer; Kris Burm (of Series: GIPF Project fame) released this game in 1994, and I had a copy of this when I was a kid, this is probably the only game that I still regularly play from my childhood. In Flix, players take turns flicking their pieces around the board in an attempt to make a solid triangular pattern. The game mixes dexterity with abstract strategy in a simple but effective way. Flix is a classic, and one that really doesn't get the credit that it deserves.

15 - Carrom (BGG rank #810)

I have wanted a Carrom board since the first time that I seen the game on this website. I was lucky enough to get one from my mother and my step father for my birthday this year. Carrom is a superb dexterity game, and one that I feel can be played with anyone; the rules are fairly simple, and the game is very satisfying. I've played it with my friends, my family, and some of my patients in work; it’s surprising just how quickly people can engage with the game. I think that playing one on one is probably the more tactical game; but two on two creates some interesting Tichu like dynamics. If you haven’t invested in one of these yet, I highly recommend it.

14 - Alhambra (BGG rank #298)

Alhambra is a fine game, but once you start adding expansions it becomes a superb game. I got the Alhambra: Big Box in 2013, and have loved the game ever since. with the Big Box and the other expansions that I have, there are 25 modules to play with, so you can really make the game whatever you want it to be. You can make the game more complex, add as much player interaction as you want, or you can just play with the more convoluted modules, and make the game incredibly difficult. Another thing that I like is that the game accommodates six players, but keeps downtime between turn to a minimum.

13 - The Resistance / The Resistance: Avalon (Bgg rank #78 / #28)

I can't really separate these two games, especially since getting The Resistance: Hidden Agenda & Hostile Intent in the post. The Resistance was the first social deduction game that I played; and we played the shit out of this game. We discovered that the game can bring a dark side out of almost anyone. Though I must add that I don’t really feel like Avalon works well with anything other than seven players, and the original game with seven and above players. Although I haven’t played this much in the latter half of the year, it is a much better game than Werewolf; and once I get my head around the expansions, I’m sure that it will hit the table again.

12 - Ticket to Ride (BGG rank #76)

Another latecomer to the list, but one that I have wanted for quite some time. My friend Bobby and I went halves on the Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary for Christmas this year, and we went into it with high expectations. The game really blew us away, and the components are superb. I have played a few of the other maps and the expansions through the ios app, and I love it. This game probably would be higher on the list if I would have started playing it earlier in the year; but I can guarantee that by next year, I will have most of the other maps. I have already picked up Ticket to Ride: Europe.

11 - TZAAR (BGG rank #233)

My favourite game from the Series: GIPF Project series so far, though I haven’t played many; also my favourite abstract game. TZAAR is such a simple, elegantly designed game with a huge amount of depth. One lapse of concentration will lose the game for you, even very early on in the game. the fact that players make two moves on each turn makes the game very unpredictable, and you really need to be able to innovate from a new board position on every turn. TZAAR is an outstanding game, it will be interesting to see how the game does next year when I have all of the GIPF games.

10 - Ascension (BGG rank #274 / #293 / #321 / #512 / #714 / #1319 / #1643)

Along with Magic: The Gathering, Ascension: Deckbuilding Game was the game that brought me into the board gaming world. I have since bought every Ascension set, and I love that each ‘cycle’ has a different flavour, and a different set of mechanisms. In 2014, the new base set Ascension: Realms Unraveled was released, which really stripped the game down to a much more basic level, and removed construct destruction from the game entirely. Early on I used to enjoy the game with five or six players, now I only play with three or four. Also I stick to the ‘thirty points per player’ rule now, to stop people from taking forever on their turn. This is still a really strong series for me, I’m interested to see what comes out next in 2015.

9 - Telestrations (BGG rank #190)

Telestrations is about as much fun as you can have with a large group of people, when you don’t want to play anything too heavy. It’s easy to teach to new players because everyone has played Pictionary at some point in their life. With the right group of players, this game is hilarious, obscene, and just downright offencive. I don’t think that I have ever played a game with my friends that hasn’t contained a very detailed picture of a dick on one of the pages. This got a lot of plays this year, and it will probably get the same amount next year too, superb game.

8 - 7 Wonders (BGG rank #18)

There is a lot to like about seven wonders; it accommodates eight players, you never have to wait for people to take their turn, the game is strategic and deep, and it can be played in less than an hour. This really hit the spot for my gaming group, which is often made up of six to eight players; 7 Wonders is still my go to game for that kind of group. I love the card drafting mechanism, though there is now a game that I feel handles it better (further down the list). The expansions added an awful lot to the game, to the point where I can’t imagine playing the game without them. I managed to get a copy of 7 Wonders: Babel for christmas, I’m quite looking forward to seeing what it adds to the game.

7 - Coup (BGG rank #203)

I got the Kickstarter edition of Coup this year, along with Coup: Reformation; and it got by far the most number of plays for my gaming group this year. I much prefer the game to the Resistance, though it doesn't replace the game entirely for me. I love the fact that you have to lie from the start of the game, and that everyone has a duke for the first round. The expansion adds some interesting dynamics, I much prefer the inquisitor over the ambassador; and the team variant stops players from picking on one person too much. I’m far from bored with this game, I wouldn't be surprised if I play it just as much in 2015 as I did in 2014.

6 - Android Netrunner Android: Netrunner (BGG rank #7)

Android Netrunner is in my opinion the best two player card game around; I love the Android universe, the hacking theme, the factions, the artwork, but most of all the asymmetrical play. Netrunner handles the two roles so well, and there isn't just one tactic or one deck archetype that is dominating the game at the moment, there are several ways to win. This game was actually my number one last year, however I couldn’t justify putting it that high this year because I haven’t played it as much as I did in 2013, and some genuinely better games entered my collection this year. Still, I love the game, and I love the LCG model of distribution; as a former MTG player, the Fantasy Flight Games LCG model is a breath of fresh air.

5 - Cosmic Encounter (BGG rank #74)

My number five, Tom Vasel's number one. Cosmic Encounter has a great mix of strategy, humour, and player interaction. I grabbed the Fantasy Flight Games edition of the game this year, which comes with some fantastic components, and an absolute ton of alien races; hopefully I will be expanding the game this year, so I will be able to play with a bigger player count. Cosmic Encounter is a gem of a game, there really isn't any other game that I have that is similar to it; I love the space theme too.

4 - Good Cop Bad Cop (BGG rank #2939)

This one came quite late in the year for me, and quickly became my favourite social deduction game. Players have three integrity cards in front of them, which between them will decide which team you are on; the honest cops or the crooked cops. Players have to figure out which team they are on and try to shoot the leader of the other team. This game just works very well with a big group; I feel like it has the best parts of Coup and the Resistance, but adds another element in the form of the equipment cards. I suppose my only gripe with the game is that there isn’t enough equipment cards, but that should be rectified with this year’s Good Cop Bad Cop: Bombers and Traitors release.

3 - The Castles of Burgundy (BGG rank #11)

My favourite eurogame, by a long way. Castles of Burgundy is such a well balanced game, when you play with a full compliment of four players who know the game well, the game flows very well, and can be quite satisfying. I like the inclusion of dice in such a methodical, mechanical game; it just adds enough chaos to make players have to think and innovate on their turns. The game is simple, but has the depth to be able to play over and over again without getting bored. I’m hoping to expand my Stefan Feld collection this year; hopefully his other games will be as good as this one.

2 - Among the Stars (BGG rank #312)

This very nearly made the number one spot, it took a while for me to choose between the two games. Among the stars has many of the same mechanisms as 7 Wonders, but adds an Alhambra style placement to the game. I also prefer the theme, and the fact that you are never really certain which parts of the special deck will be in your game. I’m not keen on the conflict decks, but luckily the game is designed in such a fashion that you don’t have to include them. I got a Kickstarter set with everything, probably the best thing that I have ever bought from Kickstarter. The Ambassadors adds a lot to the game, though I do think that some of them are a bit unbalanced.

1 - Android (BGG rank #657)

The number one spot goes to an outstanding game. I love the theme, two of my favourite films are Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell; Android is set in a similar world, but adds a gritty noir feel to the theme. Players each act out their own plot; often plagued by their past, and often with a score to settle. The game revolves around a murder, and players must balance their time trying to solve the murder, resolving their own stories and plots, and trying to solve a wider conspiracy. Every character plays out in a different way, and the game comes with several different plots, each with a deck of cards to supply a plot twist mid game; players are unlikely to play two games that are alike. Android creates a rich narrative, character development, and mechanism that make sense for theme. It is by far the most immersive game that I have played; granted it is long, and does require a certain kind of gamer to play it. Certainly my favourite game so far, it's going to take a mammoth of a game to knock this off the number one spot.

2) My Most Played Game of 2014

- Coup with 65 games

So Coup was my most played game of the year, clocking 65 plays over the course of the game. What makes this even more impressive is that I didn't even get the game until October of this year. Granted the game is very short, and my edition plays up to ten players; so the game is very versatile in regards to accessibility. I feel like I could use Coup as a warm up game in any given gaming group. I wouldn't be surprised if the game was my most played next year too. Love Letter was my most played game in 2013, clocking 50 plays.

3) My Favourite New Game for 2014

- Good Cop Bad Cop

This game was a bit of a suprised this year; Tom Vasel gave it a shining review and I grabbed the game not really expecting too much. The game turned out to be one of my favourite games, certainly my favourite game that was released this year. The game has elements of The Resistance and Coup in just the right amount; and offered so much more. Granted the game could desperately use some extra equipment cards, but that is a minor point. The game is superb, the only release of the year that I awarded a 10/10 mark for.

4) Biggest Surprise of 2014

- Carrom

I knew from watching a few videos online that Carrom was going to be fun, what I didn't image was just how fun the game would be, and how accessible it would be to new players. Carrom is probably one of the most satisfying games in my collection; and it can suit so many different moods it can be a tense strategic two player game, or it can be a light hearted family game for four. One of my favourite gaming experiences of the year was playing Carrom with a bunch of my patients in work; I work in a psychiatric rehabilitation hospital, and many of the individuals that I work with have a hard time being confident, and have a hard time mixing with others. I brought my Carrom board to work, and my patients loved the game; they were cheering each other on, getting competitive, and just having a lot of fun. I'm really glad I got one of these this year.

5) Biggest Let Down of 2014

Board Game: Ca$h 'n Guns: Second Edition

- Ca$h 'n Guns: Second Edition

I had pretty high expectations for this game, it looked like an interesting social game with a ‘Mexican standoff’ mechanism. When I heard that a second edition was coming out with an increased player count and streamlined rules, I thought that I would pick up a copy and add it to my collection. When I did get the game, I found that there really wasn’t much of a game in here to play; pointing guns at people was fun, at first, but it got old, fast. I just found the game to be incredibly dull, and probably longer than it needed to be. I know that a lot of people in my gaming group like this game, and I don’t hate the game; I just won’t be going out of my way to play it. Covert Action gives me the same feel as this game, but it's much better.

6) Worst Game that I Played in 2014

- Tri-Ominos

There isn't much to be said for triominoes, it is utter shite. You can look at every players hand at the start of the game, and work out who will win. Maybe it isn't fair to compare a 50 year old game to modern games, but then I finally got around to playing Sid Sackson's Acquire this year, which blew me away; love that game. The only use for a Tri-Ominos set now is to turn it over and play Spangles with it.

7) Thrift of the Year 2014

- Ingenious

I managed to grab this Reiner Knizia game for £2 at a local charity shop, which was a real bargain. I love the game, it really handles four players very well, and it is accessible enough for me to bring it out with any group. This was a good find, but not quite as good as my best thrift last year, which was a copy of TZAAR for £2.

8) Kickstarter of the year

- Among the Stars

I grabbed a copy of this game, along with a ton of expansion, and enough premium sleeves to sleeve the whole gamer. Among the Stars made it all the way to number 2 in my top 20 this year. the pledge cost me $136, but it was worth every penny.

9) Games That I will be Buying in 2015

- YINSH

I have the other five games from project GIPF, YINSH is the last one that I need, and apparently the best in the collection. This is one that I definitely need in my collection.

- Dixit: Odyssey

After playing Dixit a few times, I thought that the game was good, but that it needed a bigger player count and more cards, Dixit Odyssey solves both of those problems.

- Machi Koro

Last month this game was the most played game on the Geek, for me that is usually a sign that it is worth picking up. It does look quite intriguing.

10) Some 2014 Statistics

Games owned: 279
Previously owned: 38
Ratings: 196
Average rating: 6.44
Total games played in 2014: 801

Read my review of 2013

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Wed Dec 31, 2014 2:06 pm

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2013 - A Review

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Annual Review

31 Dec 2013

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

2013 - A Review

Contents
1) My top 10 games of all time
2) My most played game of 2013
3) My favourite game new to me in 2013
4) Biggest surprise of 2013
5) Biggest let down of 2013
6) Worst game that I have played in 2013
7) Thrift of the year 2013
8) Kickstarter of the year
9) Games that I will be buying in 2014
10) Some 2013 Statistics

1) My Top 10 Games of All Time

10 - The Castles of Burgundy

I have managed to play a few games of this with every number of players, and the game scales really well; I personally think that the game works best with four players, as it creates more competition in being first, and every yellow science tile will be available at some point in the game. I have really quite enjoyed playing this game this year, and I may pick up an expansion or two this year.

9 - King of Tokyo

I received this game for my birthday this year from a few of my friends, great game. I think that it works best with 5 or 6 players, to get the extra space in Tokyo, but the game works well with 4 also. I like the theme, King is my favourite character; as I am looking forward to picking up the King of Tokyo: Power Up! expansion. I think that Iello did a great job with the components and the artwork, which appears to keep consistency between the different cards.

8 - Agricola

Although I have played a fair few games of Agricola, I feel that I still have much to learn about the game. I like the scalability of this game, and the way that at the end of the game, you can see exactly what you have done in your farm. I have the Agricola: Farmers of the Moor expansion, but I am yet to play it; that's one that I'll probably try in early 2014. I'm also planning on looking at the sequel, Caverna: The Cave Farmers next year, as it seems to have addressed some of the negatives in Agricola, like the scarcity of food, or the inability to specialise.

Board Game: Ascension: Deckbuilding Game

7 - Game: Ascension Deck Building

Ascension was one of the first games that I bought when I first started to collect board games, and it remains one of my favourite games. I personally like to play Storm of Souls with Immortal Heroes the best, as there are not too many card drawing heroes, and the constructs are not too powerful; I also like the randomness of the soul gem deck. I am planning on buying Ascension: Rise of Vigil in 2014.

6 - Pandemic

My favourite cooperative game this year. I love the theme in this game, and I love the planning and teamwork that goes in to solving the game. Pandemic has definitely been a favourite of my gaming group over the last year; though over time the game has become a little to easy to beat. I am yet to try the Pandemic: On the Brink expansion, though I hear nothing but good things about it; I'll probably pick that up early 2014.

5 - TZAAR

Tzaar is the only game that I own from the Series: GIPF Project series of games, and is most certainly my favourite abstract game. I would love to own other games from this series, but they are just so expensive. Tzaar is easy to teach, but has a level of depth beyond any other game if it's style that I have played. I like the fact that the game is so aggressive from the first tun, and I am yet to work out many of the strategies to this game. I'm really looking forward to getting better at this game.

4 - Alhambra

This year, I got the Alhambra Big Box as a gift for my birthday, containing the first five expansions, each expansion contains four modules; meaning that the Big Box contains a great game with 20 modules. I've had great fun playing this game, and mixing the modules up. It's nice to get a game that accommodates six players too. I'm yet to try all of the modules, but I am hoping to make some Dominion style themed combinations of modules in 2014.

3 - The Resistance / The Resistance: Avalon

I've included both of these games as my number three game as the games are very similar, and cross over very well. I have really enjoyed playing the Resistance this year; I think that it is easy to teach, and with the right group, it is the best game to play with large numbers. I'm fairly new to Avalon and am yet to try all of the roles, but I can almost guarantee that the Resistance will see my table a lot in 2014; I just need to somehow get the kickstarter promos for the game.

2 - Magic: The Gathering

Although I have placed M:TG in the number two spot, I do not play the game in the traditional 1v1 format. I'm a big fan of the Commander releases, which were preconstructed 100 card decks, designed with the EDH format in mind. There were five decks released in 2011 and a further five this year. My gaming group and I try to get this on the table at least once a week, and aim for 5-7 players. I have played a lot of different M:TG formats over the years, this one has to be my favourite.

1 - Android: Netrunner

It was a close call between this and M:TG for the number one spot. The reason that Netrunner edged ahead is largely due to the distribution method. It is fairly inexpensive to have three copies of every card, and to have the ability to create any deck that you come across.
Netrunner is a great game, I love the asymmetry, and the fact that they have managed to keep balance between runners and corporations so well. The theme is excellent, the quality of the components is superb, and the game is new enough for me to be able to buy everything. I can see myself playing this a lot in 2014.

2) My Most Played Game of 2013

- Love Letter

Somehow, my gaming group and I managed to play 50 games of love letter this year; really fun game. I feel that the game works best with four, as there is more room for combinations of cards to occur. I feel like I have played this game almost everywhere that I went this year, and I am looking forwards to picking up the sequel: Lost Legacy this year, which accommodates 6 players.

3) My Favourite Game, New to me in 2013

- Netrunner

Again, Netrunner was a new game to me in 2013, and was a real surprise. This will definitely play a big part in my gaming group in 2014.

4) Biggest Surprise of 2013

Board Game: The Difference Between Women & Men

- The Difference Between Women & Men

I picked up what I thought was going to be a basic couples game for £2 at a local charity shop. What I actually got was a very clever party game that could be play either in a group of couples, or in a single sex group. The game was designed by Uwe Rosenberg, who some of you may know from Agricola fame; and it remains one of my favourite party games to bring out in a large group.

5) Biggest Let Down of 2013

- The Red Dragon Inn

I was told good things about this game and tried it, probably with high expectations. Upon looking at the game, I thought that it looked like a drinking game, I don't drink. I was told that it can be a drinking game, but that primarily it was a gambling game. We played a three player game, and I was bored shitless. The characters that you play have different decks, which are incredibly unbalanced, the components are cheap, and the game lacks any excitement whatsoever. I never want to play that game again.

6) Worst Game that I Played in 2013

Board Game: CSI: The Board Game – Encore Edition

- CSI: The Board Game – Encore Edition

I don't know how I ended up thriving this game, but it was absolutely terrible. I played a four player game, which consisted of rolling dice, moving pawns, reading a bit of story on a card. It transpired that the game has a misprint on the first case, making it impossible to solve within the parameters of the game. We played for nearly three hours without even getting to the stage where the misprinted card would have become available. This was probably the worst game that I have ever played.

7) Thrift of the Year 2013

- TZAAR

I managed to find a copy of TZAAR in a local British Red Cross charity shop for £2, at the time of writing, the game is unavailable through Amazon.co.uk, and is £47 on Ebay. It is not just the price that made this game my thrift of the year, but the amount that I have enjoyed playing the game over the last year.

8) Kickstarter of the year

- Berserk: War of the Realms

I Kickstarted this back in June and have really enjoyed watching the development and manufacturing process. The game itself is very strong, playing like a tactical RPG. The artwork looks superb, and the designers have been answering questions on the geek for the last six months. The game was originally released as a collectible cards game in Russia under the name Berserk: Trading Card Game, the Kickstarter campaign was centered around bringing this game to an English speaking market.

9) Games That I will be Buying in 2014

- Cosmic Encounter

This is a game that has interested me a lot over the last year, and has been recommended to me by a lot of people. Tom Vasel named this as his favourite game ever for the third year running. It looks like it has some really interesting group mechanics.

- Lost Legacy

The follow up to Love Letter. I'm really looking forward to picking this up. I am going to wait for an English language version to be released first.

- Caverna: The Cave Farmers

I love Agricola, but I feel that the game forces player to play in a certain way, and I feel the supply of food can be a little bit scarce. From what I have read about Caverna, these issues have been addressed, and the game accommodates six players.

10) Some 2013 Statistics

Games owned: 187
Previously owned: 23
Ratings: 157
Average rating:6.04
Total games played in 2013: 1069

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Wed Jan 1, 2014 2:41 am

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