Thursday report
First thing this morning, went to the asmodee store, as some of my friends wanted to get a copy of splendor duel. This is reportedly in short supply, so this was very high on the initial to-do list. While they were standing in line to buy the game, I noticed that both Carcassonne and Splendor have new cover artwork.
Just a quick report on the day before the convention opens. We managed to pick up “Challengers” from Z-man games – an absolutely excellent game which we played last night.
Firstly let’s talk about value for money. In the days where publishers are charging 60 Euros for a game, Challengers contains not only an enormous number of cards but also 4 player colourful mats in neoprene – all for 40 Euros.
And then the gameplay is as good as I remembered from the prototype. Played over 7 rounds, you swap players each game (you can play up to 12) and play a 5 minute game. Winner takes a trophy and then all players select cards from one of three piles as dictated by a tournament card; taking 5 cards and choosing 2. The idea here is to try to specialise in cards of the same time and to get combos which work together well. Then you can throw away as many cards as you want to whittle down your deck and improve your chances of getting combos.
The game is simple. I start and turn over a card. You turn over cards until their accumulated value equals or exceeds mine. I ”bench” the cards that lost ie I put them in 6 bench slots, putting identical cards in the same slot. Then I turn over a new card and try to beat the last card you played.
There are two things to look out for: if you have too few cards and run out during a game you lose.
If you have too many different types of cards, then once 7 different cards have been benched you lose.
The real twist is in the cards you choose to add and how they work with cards you already took. Some cards once benched increase the value of some of your cards. Some cards are just very powerful but penalise you. Some cards erode the opponents deck. Some cards have a higher value when first played only.
The design of the cards is super and the building of the deck very engaging.
We all loved the game!
For me it’s definitely a contender for SdJ.
-Simon W
We’ve already looked at a bunch of games – so many games you might expect to be on this list – they may have already been reviewed prior to the show! We posted a list yesterday of games that we’ve already reviewed…
There are plenty of games that people are anticipating from the larger publishers; and while I’m looking forward to those games too – I wanted to focus on a few games from smaller publishers that I’m pretty interested in learning more about too. Some of these may not actually be games that I’ll end up bringing back with me; in part because I need to learn more about them! This is a list of games I want to see that may be a bit off the beaten path… There are so many different countries represented at SPIEL, that I’m sure that I’ll also find other wonders during the fair; but these are some of the stands I’m sure to seek out…
Wednesday is the usual setup day here in Essen, and it was quite busy today. Unlike in years past, many of the booths were not quite ready this morning when we walked in. In fact when we walked out of the halls around 6 p.m., many more boots than usual seem to still be in states of construction.
As with most years, the start of the fair for me is the press conference in the morning followed by the new releases exhibition room. This room offers a great chance to see many of the new games of the fair in a room dedicated for the display of these new games. During the first few hours, there is someone from most of the companies there to explain the games to you. However, this room can also be a resource later in the fair, as the games are left out for quiet observation and picture taking.
Well, the SPIEL fair is about to start – while it officially doesn’t open until tomorrow morning; there is much to do here on Wednesday. The organizers have a nice reception to welcome the press, and there is a special display room where publishers can show off their newest releases. (More on this event in a later post…)
We’ve certainly been busy ourselves researching games and trying to get them played. While the BGG preview by fellow OG writer Eric Martin is not exhaustive nor definitive; it is one of the best known resources for games coming out at the show. When I last checked it, it had nearly 1200 games listed for SPIEL 2022… (This year’s list seems a little wonky though because of the COVID pandemic; there are a lot of games that are making their “SPIEL debut” this year, but the game is actually older…)
Going back through our files here, it appears that we’ve played/reviewed about 5% of the games so far – below is a chart of the 60ish games which we have previously featured here on the blog. You cal click on the game name to see the full review – and if you want to see more about the game, the booth location is listed to the right.
| Game | Publisher | SPIEL Booth |
| Abyss | Grimspire | 2-B138 |
| Akropolis | Gigamic | 3-B105 |
| Aves | Play with us design | 5-L103 |
| Barrakuda | Helvetiq | 3-Q122 |
| Capital Lux 2: Generations | Aporta / Giant Roc | 2-B146 |
| Cat in the Box | bezier | 1-E137 |
| Catherine: Cities of the Tsarina | dlp | 1-D100 |
| Coffee Traders | Skellig | 2-C110 |
| Cryptid Urban Legends | Osprey | 1-E125 |
| Decorum | Floodgate Games | 4-B103 |
| Dulce | Stronghold | 2-E106 |
| Evergreen | horrible guild | 3-F111 |
| Fantasy Realms | Wizkids | 2-E124 |
| Findorff | 2F | 3-L104 |
| Fjords | Grail | 3-E102 |
| Founders of Teotihuacan | Board&Dice | 2-C130 |
| Gang of Dice | Mandoo | 4-A107 |
| Guild of Merchant Explorers | AEG | 3-K107 |
| Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road | EmperorS4 | 4-F100 |
| Hibachi | Grail | 3-E102 |
| Imperial Steam | Frosted | 1-D116 |
| Inis | Giant Roc | 2-B146 |
| Joraku | Moaideas | 4-D103 |
| Kingdomino Origins | Pegasus | 3-M110 |
| Kites | Floodgate Games | 4-B103 |
| Living Forest | Ludonaute | 3-O120 |
| Marvel Dice Throne | Roxley | 4-B104 |
| Marvel: Remix | Wizkids | 2-E124 |
| Neoville | HCM Kinzel | 3-J111 |
| Next Station London | HCM Kinzel | 3-J111 |
| Nirvana | Korea Boardgames | 4-D119 |
| No Mercy | Mandoo | 4-A107 |
| Origins | Board&Dice | 2-C130 |
| Ready Set Bet | AEG | 3-K107 |
| Rise & Fall | Ludically | 3-G107 |
| Riverside | Kobold | 2-A142 |
| San Francisco | Rebel | 1-B103 |
| Sleeping Gods | Keep Exploring | 5-A109 |
| Soulmates | Chili Island | 3-J100 |
| Spaceship Unity | Pegasus | 3-M110 |
| Super Mega Lucky Box | Ravensburger | 3-H110 |
| Tekhenu | Giant Roc | 2-B146 |
| Terracotta Army | Board&Dice | 2-C130 |
| That Old Wallpaper | AEG | 3-K107 |
| The Book of Rituals | Grimspire | 2-B138 |
| The Dead Eye | Pleasant Company | 5-K122 |
| Three Little Wolves | POKI | 4-G112 |
| Top Ten Quiz | Chili Island | 3-J100 |
| Trek 12 | Lumberjacks | 3-O106 |
| Tulip Bubble | Moaideas | 4-D103 |
| Twilight Inscription | Fantasy Flight | 1-B103 |
| Unmatched | Restoration | 3-O110 |
| Welcome to… | Pegasus | 3-M110 |
| World exchangers | EmperorS4 | 4-F100 |
| Wormholes | AEG | 3-K107 |
| Zapotec | Kobold | 2-A142 |
Once upon a time (well, in 2010), there was a post-apocalyptic tableau building game from Poland that garnered a good bit of attention. And some expansions.
This review is not about that game.
Over the years, the designer/publisher decided to take a fresh look at the design and reimagine it for a new generation of gamers. I own that version (and a number of the expansions).
This review is not about that game, either.
In the interregnum between the two post-apocalyptic games, the same Polish company released a fluffier-looking take on the original game that added individual player decks/civilizations and opened up the game space a good bit. And, no surprise, it had expansions.
This review is not about game #3… but we’re getting closer.
A couple of years after the release of the new & improved version of the “dark future” game, the civilization game spawned a new offspring… taking the civilizations north, reducing the destructive interactions, and actually increasing the strategic game space. Once again, I own that game (and pretty much all of the expansions.)
This review is not about that game… until it is – because Wrath of the Lighthouse (the subject of this game review) is a solo campaign for the Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North.
And I like it.
A lot.
Note: the original game was 51st State… later updated and improved by the 51st State Master Set. (Not mentioned: there’s a new big box version with more content about to deliver in the next few months.) The “fluffier-looking” game is Imperial Settlers… and the company that made all of this possible is Portal Games.
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