Eric Martin has published his Gen Con 2023 preview, and the convention opens Thursday. I sorted the list to identify the trick-taking games, noticing four that will be for sale at Gen Con 2023 (Aurum, Inside Job, Sail, and Seas of Strife). I’ve played each of the four, so I decided to do a quick write-ups of them in advance of the show.
Up first is Aurum, designed by Shreesh Bhat, and published by Pandasaurus Games. I’ll cut to the chase: Aurum is my favorite of the four games, and the one I most enthusiastically recommend. I intended to just do a short write-up of each game, but I had so much to say about Aurum, I had to give it its own post.
I know what you are thinking – didn’t I already read a Gulf Games Convention Report from Mark Jackson? Well yes, you did. However, the good news for you (and the bad news for me) is that I didn’t get to play any games with Mark during the course of the con, save the 160 player game of Take it Easy, so there will be very little repetition. I did get to see him and one of his sons, though, so that’s still a win.
Unlike Mark, I haven’t been a Gulf Games attendee from the start. In fact, I didn’t start attending until 2015. At first I wasn’t sure about it – while I knew some of the attendees there were many I didn’t know, and I thought maybe having small children in the game room might be disruptive. However, it didn’t take long for my concerns to vanish. The attendees as a whole are a great group of welcoming, kind people who follow the rules to make sure the children are not in fact disruptive, and it is always nice to see kids who love to play games. Now I’ve been to my 7th summer and maybe 14th overall (math is hard and the pandemic hasn’t helped me count any better), and this is an event I look forward to every 6 months. This was a full circle event for me, since our very first Gulf Games was in Greenville.
You can see everything I played in the graphic above. One of the things I like about Gulf Games is that it isn’t all about the new games; sure, people are playing plenty of the new and shiny stuff, but there are a whole lot of classic and older games being played, too. Here are some of my highlights.
Magic Trick
Magic Trick is a trick-taking game designed by our very own OGer Chris Wray. It’s a standard trick-taking game with a couple of twists. Each player gets dealt a hand of cards – but it’s not their hand. You sort the cards in order of number from lowest to highest and then pass those cards to the player on your left, and receive cards from the player on your right. Each player splays their hand out from lowest to highest, as in the photo, without looking at it – you know what suits you have and where your highest and lowest cards are, but not what the numbers are, and you know this information for every other player. You also know the numbers of the player to your left, since you sorted their cards. The leading player can play any card they like; other players must follow suit if they can or can slough off if not; red is always trump. As you play cards you start to get an idea of what your cards may be and can make more informed decisions. At some point after you play a card you are going to choose one of your face-down cards and flip it face up as your bid. If it is a 3, that means you want to take 3 tricks. Play continues until the last trick; you get 3 points if you make your bid exactly and lose a point for every number that you were off. In addition you can earn two bonus points if the number of tricks you took was also equal to the number of suits (colors) that you took – so if I took 3 tricks and they were yellow, blue and red with no other colors I would get 5 points.
I love this game. I am a big fan of trick-taking, and this adds in elements of deduction as well as finesse – if your bid isn’t quite what you thought it might be you have to find a way to add or lose a trick. It is a lot of fun. There were a few copies of the game present and it was not unusual to see at least two games in play at a time. It had a very limited print run, but if you like trick-taking and/or deduction I highly recommend giving it a try if you have the chance.
Scram!
Scram! is a new game being released shortly from Bezier Games. I noticed it getting a lot of play, so decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. It’s similar to the game Cabo, but it adds some twists, including making it a partnership game. It’s theme is campsites; you and your partner are aiming to have the cleanest camp site by removing as much debris and trash cards) as you can. You are dealt three face up and two face down cards in front of you; on your turn you either draw a card from the deck or from the top of the discard pile. If it is from the deck you can either discard it, play it face down in front of you, or play it for its special ability printed on the bottom – special abilities let you look at face down cards, swap cards etc. If it was from the discard pile, your only option is to play it face up in front of you. If you placed a card in front of you, you also may discard one or more cards. These cards can be face up or face down, and can also be from your partners’ hands. If you chose correctly and all cards match, they are all discarded. If you were wrong, they stay in front of you.
Once a player has two or fewer cards they can declare Scram. All other players get one more turn, and then each team scores for the face value of the cards left in front of them. There is a very handy app that does the math and keeps track of who deals and starts next. After 3 rounds the team with the lowest score wins.
I really enjoyed the game. The decisions to be made are interesting, and it is well-balanced – just because you lose a round doesn’t mean you won’t be able to come back and win if you do well another round. I would have ordered a copy, but my spouse conveniently won a copy thanks to Bezier Games very generous play-to-win options that they do for every Gulf Games G, where if you play a copy of one of their games you can enter your name to win a copy.
Planet Unknown
I first got to play Planet Unknown back in February at the previous Gulf Games. I immediately loved it, and was disheartened when I was informed that it was not available, I played it again in April and still loved it, but still not available, at least not at a price I was willing to play. I did hear rumors that the game would have another round of funding, and was very excited to see the campaign on Gamefound. There are options for the original game as well as the Supermoon expansion.
We don’t seem to have done a review of this one yet, and perhaps I will do something more in-depth when I get my copy. In the meantime, this is a tile placement game. Each player has an individual map ; one can choose to have a standard map or one that has a different configuration and related bonus/requirement. Each player also has a resource track that can either be standard or specialized. On your turn you rotate the tile storage bin to put the tile you want to use in front of you. All players then can choose from the two tiles in the sector that is in front of them. Each set of tiles is the same shape, but each tile is different. You place the tile on your map, following the placement rules, adjust your player resource tracker accordingly and gain resources/benefits/actions/abilities as you reach them on that resource track. The game ends when one or more players cannot place a tile; that turn continues and then you head to final scoring.
I really like the game. Yes, it is multi-player solitaire-ish, but I never mind that and you have something to do on everyone’ s turn anyway. I like the puzzle of placing tiles to maximize your score as well as your options for resources or actions. I like that the planets and resource boards are interchangeable, so there are many different combinations. The game is well-produced with clear rules as well.
Turing Machine
I had not heard anything about this game until a colleague asked me if I had played it, so I made a point to play it while at Gulf Games. It is a deduction game based on . . . . Turing Machines (try to contain your surprise). Players are asking the analog computer (cards) particular questions, trying to determine the three digit number.
To start, you choose a problem to solve; there are problems at a beginner level as well as more advanced problems, and apparently many more on line. You place the criteria cards (questions you are asking) next to a verification card. Each player chooses three numbered cards from the “analog computer”. You put those cards together, and then ask three questions by picking up a verification card next to the criteria card, which, when put behind your cards, will give you a piece of information by either confirming (green checkmark) or denying (red x) the information – are two numbers the same, do two numbers equal 4 etc. After each round you ask if anyone thinks they know the code; if someone does they check and if they are wrong the other players continue and if they are right the game is over.
I did not understand this for the first couple of rounds, but that is not the fault of the game; I just needed a couple of rounds of actually playing it to see how it worked. Once I figured it out I really enjoyed it, and I am fascinated with the design and how it actually works. I am definitely looking forward to trying this again soon.
Everdell
Everdell isn’t new, but playing the big box version with 6 players was. In the end we stuck with the base game, since we had two new players. I still love this game, but this will be the one and only time I play with with more than 4. For whatever reason those two extra players really dragged out the play time, and no one was being particularly slow. It also hurt to have one fewer worker available in spring, since that made it all the harder to get resources. The big box is beautiful, though.
Classic Games
I do love the chance to sit down with some older titles, and I got to play a few classics.
Viva Pamplona is an older race game where players are trying to run with the bull to the arena. You don’t want to be too far ahead or behind the bull, but the dice and the cards that move the bull are not always in your favor, and sometimes the other players step on you along the way. It works very well with six players, and the take that factor is pretty mild, so it’s always a fun experience.
Ausgebremst is one of my favorite racing games of all times. Choose a track and then choose a set of cards; do you want more cards with lower numbers or fewer cards but higher numbers. Play a card and move that far along the track – unless someone is sitting in front of you on one of the bottlenecks and you can’ t move. Or maybe you can move, but you have to take the long way. Do that one too many times and you will be forced to pit or run out of cards. Another game that works well for 6 and, while it is the cause of several long time grudges, they are good-natured grudges.
Hare and Tortoise is another classic racing game. Your ultimate goal is to get to the end of the race track after pausing three times to eat lettuce. Your movement is based on the number of carrots that you play. Sounds simple, right? Well, sure – except that you can only have 10 leftover carrots, so you have to find the right balance of gaining and losing carrots to make it to the finish line precisely. If you don’t, you have to drop back and gain and spend carrots to try to make it back. I am terrible at this game, but I always enjoy it.
Ticket to Ride the original edition hit the table when my spouse announced he had a hankering to play the original edition. It has been a looong time since I played the OG, so I was willing to give it a try. With 5 players the board was tight, with everyone focusing on the eastern seaboard, making it hard to complete tickets. Well, making it hard for some of us to complete tickets; Susan somehow kept drawing tickets and managing to make them, enough that she scored 92 points in tickets and managed to lap some of us.
Opinionated Eaters, Drinkers and Disc Golfers
Gulf Games is not just about the games. In addition to the tourist activities before the gaming officially starts there are countless meals and drinks as well.
From a food and beer perspective, I highly recommend the Trappe Door in downtown Greenville, an amazing Belgian restaurant. In fact, I ate here three times over the course of the week. An excellent beer list paired with excellent food and I am all in.
From a drink perspective, if you like speakeasies check out Vault and Vador in downtown Greenville. You can choose from the menu or you can give them three adjectives and they’ll make you a drink. Bonus points to them for their awesome 80’s alternative rock playlist.
There seems to be some sort of correlation between being a board gamer and liking disc golf; I learned disc golf way back at my first Gulf Games and habe played at just about everyone since. This time we did Reedy Creek in Charlotte, Tyger River near Spartanburg and Timmons Park in Greenville. It is always great to play with fellow gamers and get to know them better.
It’s always a a bit of a letdown to be back at home after a fun week with friends; I am eating breakfast alone, I have to go back to work and somehow magically get myself back on a normal schedule. Good thing I have a game day to go to on Saturday!
Yeah, ok, you go bragging about how well you’re doing in Pandemic Season 0 and then October comes along and smacks you left, right and centre, knocking you down and dragging you into the marsh with concrete boots on. One lousy side-trip distraction and suddenly the whole board goes to pot. *sigh*
This is going on right now in Australia and New Zealand. It’s not as exciting as boardgames, but maybe a close second
I had a little moment with a friend after playing Dice Realms this week. The game is continuous rounds of rolling dice and upgrading the detachable faces with better faces. Lego has been doing it for years. See Race 3000. For $20. But … having watched gaming grow for over 20 years, it’s nice that the market is big enough that enough people with enough money are interested and will get their money’s worth out of that $200 investment. That’s very cool compared to where we started, when I could actually play every interesting game released every year. Nowadays I don’t even pretend to keep up or keep track of all the new releases. Life is too short! I’m happy playing what falls in my lap because … the other cool thing about our hobby now is that most everything is well designed, playable and enjoyable. I know I rate a lot of games as 7s but honestly, back in the day they’d have been 8’s. An 8 these days has to be just a little bit special and interestingly different in some way to stand up and say hey, I’m worth buying, let’s go.
From the publisher: “2083. Humankind died out decades ago, leaving behind mere vestiges of its time on Earth. As time went by, nature reclaimed land all over. In this resurgent world, apes have kept evolving. They’ve been gathering in tribes, growing, mastering human items, and advancing in their quest for knowledge. As the leader of such a tribe, you need to guide it towards collective intelligence. After Us is a deck-building and resource management game featuring an original and intuitive combo system in which players are each leading a tribe of apes. Starting only with tamarins, they combine their cards each turn to collect resources and gather victory points, attracting new apes into their tribe along the way: powerful gorillas, resourceful orangutans, versatile chimpanzees, and wise mandrills. The first player to obtain 80 points prevails in the race to collective intelligence — and wins the game.“
I was there at the (nearly) beginning… my wife & I were one of nine families who made up the attendees of Gulf Games 2. For the next 4 years, I was a pretty regular fixture – then we moved across the country and I only managed to make two Gulf Games events between 2004 and 2014. Beginning in 2015, I began bringing my sons (first the oldest, then both of them) to enjoy one of my favorite family-friendly gaming events.
This last week was the fiftieth Gulf Games… and my younger son & I attended for 5 days (Wednesday – Sunday). What follows is my quick recap of my weekend of gaming (and a bit of his) – and it doesn’t begin to cover the entire event and the joy of gaming with folks I’ve known for years.
Wednesday
Greeneville, SC, is a fair piece down the road from Nashville, TN – so we took off early in the morning and arrived mid-afternoon… in time to both play some games and be able to attend the Welcome Party (a tradition that started after I headed west… and that I managed to miss multiple times due to schedule vagaries and missed flights).
Heat: Pedal to the Metal
I taught and/or played Heat five different times (with 22 different players) during the convention… which isn’t really a sacrifice as I enjoy the game immensely. It may well be my favorite auto racing game. (That’s not to downgrade Downforce… which is still splendid – but it doesn’t actually put you in the driver’s seat like Heat.)
I won one game outright… and another game I managed to finish 2nd to the Legend car (bot). But the best game we played was Sunday morning, when we added in the weather and car customization “advanced” rules – they take a solid game and make it even more enjoyable.
I’ve now played Heat: Pedal to the Metal 26 times … it holds up to repeated play very well and is easy to grasp for most (but not all) players. I’m waiting somewhat patiently for the good folks at Days of Wonder to announce the expansion (since there’s already room for two more cars in the game insert!).
Ready Set Bet
This was a fast-moving and delightful betting game… made even better by the use of the app to run the races for us. It’s real-time – something I try to avoid as my brain and reflexes slow down with age – but it works really well here. I don’t own a copy, but I’d be happy to have it in my collection.
Splendor Duel
Here’s the deal… I play Splendor (the original game or the Marvel re-theme) because other people like it. There’s nothing wrong with it… but it’s just not something I love.
So I was pleasantly surprised by how well Splendor Duel works – the addition of multiple victory paths and the tricky decisions about which line of pieces to grab and/or whether to hand over an advantage to the other player raise the level of the game system nicely. (I won – but just barely.)
KuZOOka
I’m on the record as having a miserable first playing experience with this the first time I played it… but was coaxed by David Sidore into trying it again. And, with his suggestion of certain conventions for bidding and a couple of strategy hints, I can see what other see in the game. Our experience was tense but enjoyable… and we lost (but it was close).
I’m still not convinced, though – I think the game is fragile and really needs a gamer crew plus some discussion of conventions to work… which just isn’t enough for me.
Wild Tiled West
Another game I was looking forward to – I’m a big fan of Paul Dennen’s designs for Dune: Imperium and the Clank! family of games. The production is top-notch: multi-layered game board that holds all the tiles that you draft and clear art design & iconography.
I appreciate Kevin & Rhonda Bender teaching us the game… but I think it runs a bit long with four players. Despite the whimsical art style, there are some real decisions to be made and the playing time of 90 minutes felt too much. I’d like to try it again with two or three players.
Thursday
Crokinole
Mark Smith is an able partner, but I am not a particularly skilled OR lucky Crokinole player. Ted & Toni Alspach let us hang in for a couple of rounds then put us out of our misery.
Imperium: Classics
I wrote an extensive review of my love for Imperium: Classics and Legends… so it was a joy to get it to the table with two folks (Mark & Toni) who wanted to play a second time to make sure they grokked it. It was a tight game, with Mark’s Romans edging out Toni’s Macedonians & my Persians (64-61-61).
I’ll say it again – this is an amazing card game that works well with 1-4 players. Please give it a try!
Archeos Society
This is a re-imagining of Ethnos… but since I’ve never played Ethnos, I’m unable to compare the two. On its own merits, this is a relatively straightforward drafting/hand management, where scoring depends on working the tracks as well as collecting larger sets. The wise use of the various special powers is key.
Again, the Benders welcomed me to the table and taught me the game (along with their friend Lee, who you can see in the picture at the top of this post.
Mosaic: A Story of Civilization
One of my top ten new (to me) games from last year… and this play with George, Greg Hoch, and Floyd was no exception. Clocking in at just over 2 hours for four players (two of them new to the game), it’s quickly becoming my favorite “civilization” game. (And, yes, part of that is the cool bits of the Colossal Edition.)
I managed second place in spite of avoiding building any military – while Greg’s belligerent empire took the win.
Gnadenlos!
After a game of Heat (see comments above), four of us jumped into a long-time Klaus Teuber favorite of mine – Gnadenlos! This bidding game of provisioning Old West characters doesn’t overstay its welcome – and offers enough randomness to encourage unwise usage of promissory notes. In the end, Ed defeated us. (It’s OOP – but worth tracking down a copy if you like 3-4 player games that play in 35-45 minutes.)
Thunder Road: Vendetta
The first of three plays of what will surely be on my top ten list for 2023… this re-imagining and chroming of the late 80s mass market classic is a joy to play. Kim – who’s not normally a love of chaotic shoot-em-up’s, noted later that she enjoyed it a lot more than she thought she would.
My son, Collin, took the win… this time.
Kalimambo
We finished the night out with an oldie (10 years?!) but a goodie – the very random but ridiculously fun Kalimambo. Best as a late night closer with 5+ players, this game of “I don’t have to outrun the rhino, I just have to outrun you” generated a lot of laughs as Sharon Madden emerged with the victory – while Warren Madden managed to win the award for “Most Likely to Be a Hood Ornament for Mambo the Rhinoceros”.
Friday
In the Footsteps of Darwin
The first of three plays of what Ted Alspach declared was “an incredibly pleasant game” – he’s not wrong. This is a beautifully produced tile-drafting game with a variety of scoring options… and a pretty consistent playing time of 5-8 minutes per player. Ted edged me out in a two player game… but I’d do better at it later in the day with a larger group.
Gipsy King
Weird little placement game from Cwali that uses a random board to force players into tricky decisions… I’ve enjoyed it both times I’ve played it… but I don’t think I’ve ever really been in contention of winning. (Congrats to Bob Trezise, mi compadre, for the win.)
Scram!
In my convention report from Gulf Games 49, I mentioned loving a prototype from Bezier Games, but not being able to talk about it. Well, it’s here! (It lands at GenCon next month.) Scram! is my favorite of the Silver/Cabo family – probably because the partnership element allows for some really clever “bump-set-spike” kind of plays. Thomas & I beat Ted and Bob… I’m 2-0 at this game… another reason to like it! :-)
We followed that with another playtest of an unpublished prototype. My lips are sealed.
Team Play
It was a morning of card games as Bob & I joined our esteemed founder (Greg Schloesser) and Gail for another partnership game I enjoy – Team Play! (Note: I like the original German edition much better than the U.S. edition – easier to read across the table.) Either way, Bob & Gail beat Greg and I.
Cape May
Anye & George joined John & I for a game of Cape May – and while I had enjoyed my first try of it solo, my first four player game was even better. Not only does it look nice on the table as the city grows, there’s a really solid game under there about balancing income and development of points. I’m glad I own a copy!
George managed the win – even if it delayed his brew pub tour by a few minutes!
Kabuto Sumo
Following another game of Heat (at the request of Chip, who won!), Collin & I talked Anye & Dallas into Kabuto Sumo… which Collin describes as a “coin-pushing” wrestling game. He’s not wrong… and went on to prove his prowess by beating all three of us. (It’s not really a dexterity game – I’d call it a physics game with a wry sense of humor.)
Thunder Road: Vendetta
Two games back to back – including Tyler rolling 6 on 4d6 two rounds in a in a row and a Dan Calhoun win, followed by my large vehicle being chased by a plethora of choppers as I sped ahead to leave everyone else in the dust. The final game was played with the Choppe Shoppe expansion in – which I highly recommend for gamer-y types.
Ed & finished up the night with the excellent Minigolf Designer… it was close – my slightly more difficult property card was the main difference. (Short description: imaginge crossing Kingdomino and Carcassonne to build a minigolf course.)
Saturday
Anno 1701: Das Brettspiel
Another sadly under-appreciated Klaus Teuber design – Earl & Michelle joined Bob & I as we tried to please the Queen and explore the islands of, well, Catan (or something Catan-like). I think this is the best mixture of Catan resourcing and Entdecker-ish exploration in the Teuber catalog.
Bob had feelings about the Happy Colonist icon (see the picture here) – I will admit that the happy colonists do bear a striking resemblance to someone being electrocuted while wearing a tri-corner hat.
While Michelle got left behind, it was a tight finish between Earl, Bob, and I – and Bob took the win.
Liar’s Dice
The Liar’s Dice tournament is a Gulf Games tradition… as is me getting knocked out in the first round. I do take pride in the fact that I was the last person knocked out at my table (and by the eventual tournament winner, Ken Girton!)
Skylanders
While there are couple of odd graphic choices (why not put the bonus for the player each action on the VERY large action spaces?), this re-think of The King of Frontier was fun to play… even if the Soylent Green/Logan’s Run-ish nature of some of the thematic elements was strange. It was also really good to play with Frank Branham for the first time in a a number of years…. and I won!
Memoir ’44: Overlord
Since 2016, I’ve been hosting an Overlord game at the winter Gulf Games event… this summer, I hosted two!
The first battle was Encirclement at Khalkin-Gol… with Soviet and Japanese forces (including cavalry units on both sides!) engaging in a pitched battle in 1939. The Japanese side (commanded by Sheldon Smith) began to collapse the middle of the Soviet forces (commanded by me)… but Field General Rozmiarek fought back valiantly. The battle see-sawed back and forth as we fought over two ridges on the left and center sections… with the Japanese finally prevailing 18-16. (Eight player Overlord is so much fun – even when I lose.)
The second battle was Operation Lightfoot – with British tanks trying to plow through German minefields in North Africa in 1942. This time, I was the British commander (ably assisted by Ian Moore) while Charlie Davis (and TJ Bailey) led the German forces… Despite our best attempts, the Germans held us back and captured the win 15-12.
Take It Easy
160 people (or more) all playing one game of Take It Easy – yet another Gulf Games tradition. My score was decent but not spectacular. (If you’ve never played Take It Easy, it’s math-y gamer Bingo. For less math-y gamer Bingo, try Rise of Augustus.)
Rolling Heights
I’m really conflicted about Rolling Heights – I tend to like John D. Clair’s designs (Dead Reckoning and Ready Set Bet, for example) and the underlying game system here is solid. But the graphic and component choices for this game are, well, not solid.
Bob played with Kevin & Ed & I – and Bob’s colorblindness was challenged by the meeple colors. All of us struggled with the tiny print… and the fact that building structures often obscure the information you need to read.
In addition, the buildings are made with stacks of pieces – which, granted, looks very cool. Unfortunately, they are not Lego pieces that click together – instead, they are simply stacked and can be knocked over by, well, me. At least five times I brushed the top of a tall building and sent it crashing to the table. (In discussing the game online the next day, I described myself at the Destructor – and Bob published the following picture.)
As is, it’s not a game I’ll purchase, even though I love the theme and the way it looks on the table. I’d love to see an online version on BGA.
Sunday
Jump Drive
I talked Bob into a quick game using the new Terminal Velocity expansion cards… and my experience carried the day.
Trails of Tucana
Another quick flip’n’write game against Bob in which my experience proved worthless.
After a final game of Heat with the advanced content (weather/car mods – the best way to play, btw!), we headed home.
Final Thoughts
Gulf Games is always wonderful – both due to the gaming AND (more importantly) the people who make up the GGs family. Thank you again to Greg & Ted & Ty for starting this thing so many years ago.
The picture below is from a wall display in the game room… and yes, I’m thinner and without gray hair.
I’ve played a lot of great games so far this summer, so it’s time for another mini-review roundup.
My favorite of all the games over the past couple months has been Cartographers with the various “map pack” expansions. Cartographers is not new to me, having played it 35 times over the past three years, but the map packs are a brilliant way to enjoy the game. Recently, I’ve enjoyed the Plane of Knowledge, Frozen Expanse, and Kethra’s Steppe map packs. Each of these brought something new to the game, while keeping it largely familiar. If you don’t like the base game, then the map packs won’t turn it around for you, but if you enjoy fitting Tetris shapes into patterns to score points, then Cartographers seems like the pinnacle of that style game to me. And each of the expansions adds an impressive new twist of the core concept. I particularly liked the rules of Kethra’s Steppe, which involved determining when to completely surround the new “beacon” spaces, which lit them up for a large number of bonus points, but with negative points for any spaces still empty in the vicinity.
Solo Fun
I’ve enjoyed two games solitaire so far this summer: Lost Ruins of Arnak (with the Search for Professor Kutil campaign) and Spirit Island (with the Horizons of Spirit Island characters). The Lost Ruins of Arnak solitaire campaign is particularly fantastic! I loved how the rules for the solitaire campaign mixed up the gameplay enough to make each of the four scenarios distinct, interesting, and challenging. I’m just so impressed with how the designers turned a fundamentally interactive worker placement game into a solitaire experience that really works so well. For anyone that enjoys Lost Ruins of Arnak, I heartily encourage you to try out the Professor Kutil solo campaign, even if you’re skeptical about solo gaming generally like me. I also had the pleasure of playing a couple two-player games of Arnak with the Expedition Leaders expansion, which is such a phenomenal expansion. The various leaders make the game asymmetric, which I tend to love, but in a way that still feels balanced and fair. As someone who has long been skeptical of deck-building games (for over a decade), I’m so surprisingly enamored of all things Arnak.
