The Opinionated Gamers

As someone who usually wants to play board games that are 10-20 years old, like Stephensons Rocket or War of the Ring, I don’t tend to get excited about many new games these days.  But recently, I’ve found myself looking forward to a number of games, rather than back to longtime tried and true favorites, like Hansa Teutonica or Notre Dame.  Here’s the abundance of games that I’ve got on the way and why:

Just Arrived

Three games have just arrived and I’m excited to try all three of them:

• Forbidden Jungle: As a fan of the Forbidden series, I really wasn’t sure if I needed another Forbidden game.  Forbidden Island is a perfect intro cooperative game, and Forbidden Desert is a nice step up.  I ended up selling Forbidden Sky after a few plays because it never quite clicked for me, and I figured I was done adding to the series, but then the design diary came out for Jungle, and that changed everything.  I’m a sucker for a good design diary, and this one was particularly intriguing and enticing.  So now the game sits next to me waiting to hit the table hopefully soon.
• Next Station Tokyo: I enjoy a good roll-and-write (like Railroad Ink or Penny Papers) or a good flip-and-write (like Cartographers or Silver & Gold), so Next Station London was an obvious fit for me.  I’ve enjoyed several plays of London, and I love new maps for games generally, so Tokyo was an obvious pick up (not to mention that really thoughtful designer diary).
• Sea Salt & Paper: Everyone that I follow seems to be raving about this little card game, and it’s gorgeous, so I’ve got to try it out, and thankfully it just arrived.

In the Mail

Four more games are on their way to me now…

• Apiary: I just ordered this one yesterday, after learning the game from the local DC designer last weekend, and I’m really looking forward to playing it more later this month.  I learned it as a four-player game, which was a blast, but as someone who usually prefers my worker placement games with minimal player counts, I’m excited to try this two-player when it arrives.  The mechanisms fit together so well, the decisions are difficult and meaningful, the variability is remarkable, the theme is well integrated, and the components are top notch.  I’m here for it.
• Lacuna: As with Sea Salt & Paper, everyone I follow seems to be really buzzing about this game.  The video on the publisher’s website makes it seem like a nice, novel addition to the collection, but we’ll have to see if it has any staying power.
• Fit to Print: Yet another game that I ordered because of the designer diary.  Galaxy Trucker is one of my all-time favorites, and I love Extrablatt as well, so an absurdly adorable game that combines the two is right up my alley.
• For Northwood: Shut Up & Sit Down made me order it, I swear.