Over the next few months, instead of going with my Three Games articles, I am going to take a look at my collection and try to discuss why certain titles survived the great purge of 2019. During this process I may take a look at some games that didn’t survive, but only as a measuring stick for what did survive. Since I am silly, like a lot of gamers, I use Ikea Kallax shelves to display the games that we own. This makes it pretty easy to break things down cube by cube, so that’s what we’re going to do, twenty-four cubes, plus a top shelf for games that don’t fit in the cubes, over the course of a few months. I hope you enjoy!

If you are a BoardGameGeek user, you can also follow along on the Geeklist I created.

Ginkgopolis

You may have noticed in my review yesterday of Ginkgopolis I didn’t mention the expansion, The Experts. That’s because in those 49 plays I still haven’t used the expansion. It’s in the box, just not used yet. The Experts adds six different modules that can be used in the game individually or all together. There are nine new buildings in the expansion that can be added to the game. The cards for these buildings have new end game bonuses for players if they are in their tableau at the end of the game. There are six new “Prestige” buildings that have no cards associated with them and thus cannot be built on later in the game. There are Green Spaces that can be added using the Urbanization action, which at the end of the game will count towards the surrounding districts and will also score you points when Urbanized around during the game. There are some Event cards that can be played on your turn to gain tiles, resources, success points or cause everyone else to lose those things. The Experts are new starting cards, and are drafted like the other starting cards so you start with three starting character cards and an Expert. The Expert also controls your Event cards if you are playing with the Events. Honestly, now I know more about The Experts than I did when I bought it. I’m a sucker for expansions, I’m just not a sucker for playing them. It’s a weird thing for me, I love having more options in games, but I rarely use them. After doing this though, I think I will next time we play Ginkgopolis. 0 plays of expansion in 49 plays of the base game since 2013.

Expedition Northwest Passage

Yves Tourigny has designed a wonderful Action Point Race game that just oozes with theme and thematic choices throughout. Expedition Northwest Passage tells the story of Franklin’s 1845 doomed expedition. In the game the players are racing to find the Northwest Passage and then attempting to race back before both the other players and the before the board becomes blocked off with ice and unnavigable routes. Some of the time you will be in the boats, while other times you will be mushing along on a sled, each choice allows for different workers allowing more or less action points. Each round the sun moves freezing some areas of the board and leaving others navigable by boats. Truly a remarkable title for me and one I wish more people had the pleasure of enjoying. 3 plays since 2014. 

Entdecker

Alright, so this probably should not have survived the purge. It was a knee jerk acquisition based on some well known reviewers who love it and a friend telling me that it would be the portion of the original Catan trilogy that I would like. After picking it up though, it just never has hit the table. Hopefully soon though. 0 plays since 2018.

Echidna Shuffle

This is a big, overproduced children’s pick up and deliver game using adorable Echidnas around the board picking up bugs of the player’s chosen color. My youngest daughter picked this up last Geekway to the West and it was one of her choices that stuck around. As she gets older, I’m sure she’ll pass this one on to her cousins who enjoy playing games, as it is an absolutely adorable game, with some fun moments. 1 play since 2019.

Zombie Kidz Evolution

We really need to get back into this one as it is a wonderfully done Legacy styled family game. The school is being overrun by zombies and you and your friends are the only hope to stop them. Each game plays in about five minutes and the games increase in difficulty after each round. As you go there are envelopes to open that introduce new twists to the game increasing the difficulty and variability as you progress. Zombie Kidz Evolution has a wonderful way of keeping you interested, using a “trophy” system much like video games use. Each time you win you will check and see if you fulfilled one of the tasks, if you do, gain an extra trophy sticker for your path, as you progress down that path, that’s how the envelopes will open. Trophy Hunters beware, you could spend an evening and finish this in its entirety. We’ve chosen the slow and steady path, much like any Legacy styled game in our collection. I do worry that we don’t return to it, but I have faith. 8 plays since 2019.