Break the Code is Iello’s new re-implementation of Tagiron, a deduction game that I’ve long loved. The game was recently released in the United States, and for fans of deduction games, I think this is a “must have.” Kudos to Iello for bringing such a great game to a wider audience!
Continue reading
Azul has been on a hot streak since its 2017 release, winning the 2018 Spiel des Jahres and inspiring two sequel games (Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra and Azul: Summer Pavilion). But, surprisingly, there wasn’t an expansion for Azul itself, unless you count the oh-so-amazing Joker Tiles.
But the Crystal Mosaic expansion was released a few weeks ago, and my family and I have been playing it over and over. The expansion comes with acrylic player board overlays, plus two new boards with different ways to play. We’ve fallen in love with Azul all over again!
Continue readingThings will be a little different this time. The Spring Tokyo Game Market was supposed to start tomorrow, but has, in the course of things, been cancelled. The Osaka Game Market which was to have taken place in March was cancelled too. Japan Post shipments out of Japan are cancelled for many countries.
For the purposes of this post, that means rather than tracking down booth numbers and which days certain publishers will be present, I’ll try to provide a link to order from (though assume that the interface will be in Japanese and shipping will only be to a Japanese address.)
For the purposes of, well, me, that means not much anticipation. Let me explain. I haven’t played games with my weekly group since February, and a convention I was looking forward to in April was cancelled. Recently, several things have arrived in the mail, and I had several things already that I was eager to play further. In this context, the specter hanging over things is: when will I play with my group again? (And how many things will they have picked up that they’re eager to play?). For me, the sort of forced hiatus from playing games has caused my enthusiasm to damper a bit. Not so much my enthusiasm for learning about what is coming out, or spreading the love of it, but, from a purchasing stand point…to be blunt: what’s the point?
As I write this, I have 5 titles in my spreadsheet marked as “to buy”, but normally at this point that number is…more than 20.
The links I’ll provide below will mostly be to what is referred to as the Arclight EC shop. Through what is normally their wholesale interface, Arclight has set up retail webshops for the Osaka and Spring Tokyo Game Markets that were cancelled for virus reasons. As I understand it, the Arclight shop is not charging the publishers any fees to list or transaction fees. (There’s certainly a chance I order more than 5, and even among those 5, my impetus may partially be the economic support of the designers and publishers.)
Anyway, let’s look at a bit of what’s being released, and let’s start with something fun.
バックトゥージアース (Back to Earth)
Publisher: S.T.E.L.L.A.B.
Designer: [unknown]
English Rules: Seems unlikely
Shop: Arclight EC
There are a few trends in games being released tomorrow (which, while the convention is cancelled, is still what I’ll say. While a few titles have released early here and there, most sites have coordinated to release the titles on the scheduled opening today of the Game Market), and this is the first: games about returning from outer space.
Continue reading
Well, I am on week 5 of working from home. I work for a hospital, so I am still really busy; I am just busy from my den. My favorite boardgaming event that I look forward to all year was cancelled, and my other boardgaming vacations for later in the year are looking more and more unlikely. However, I am trying hard to stay positive and look for the good things still happening in my life. For example, I am married to a gamer, so I have a built-in game group, and we had recently received a case of beer from an excellent local brewery, thanks to a friend. We can’t go anywhere, so why not stay home, drink some beer and play some games? Normally I specifically look for beers that will match a game we are going to play, but now we’re getting a little bit more creative.
This bottle has been sitting in our wine rack for a few months now; it was purchased by my husband, and I just assumed it was a bottle of wine. He pulled it while we were thinking about what we could pair with a game, and we both immediately thought of Blackout Hong Kong, a game I had been wanting to get back to the table. (You can read our full review of the game here.)
I didn’t get a chance to try this one until several months after it had been out. I am a Pfister fan in general, but it didn’t have a great reception with my usual group and copies had been traded away before I got a chance to try it. I seized my opportunity at a game con and was immediately intrigued. I liked the first play enough to buy it. This was play number 4. I still like the game quite a but; the card mechanics combined with the other unique elements is still an interesting puzzle, and I clearly have not yet solved that puzzle, since I once again lost. I think I am still trying to do everything there is to do in the game, rather than pick a path and focus on that strategy alone. It wasn’t a complete crushing this time, though, so progress!
Black Ops Stout is a delicious, roasty stout that is aged in bourbon barrels. It is chocolatey, with a little bit of vanilla bourbon at the finish. At 12.4% I am very glad we were sharing it; it was definitely boozy.
For a while, Las Vegas got played as the last game of the night at our game group. It’s been a while since I’ve played it, and I’d never tried it with just 2. I was a little sceptical that it would work, but with a beer called Chance, I definitely need a luck-based game so we pulled it out. (Check out our review here for a full description of the game).
It turns out it works just fine; the game plays in much the same way, but each player gets 4 neutral, white dice that they place in the same manner they place the dice of their color, which adds to the competition of winning each number. I had forgotten the amount of strategy involved in trying to maximize your placement, balanced with the luck of rolling the dice. It held up well, and I will add it back into the rotation when our full game group gets back to meeting.
It’s also a rare game in which the oldest player goes first, so that was pretty exciting.
Chance the DIPA is a New England-style double IPA made with Mosaic and Azacca hops. It was on the sweet side, but with a nice balance of citrus and piney notes. It was delicious.
I bought this beer because I have yet to have beer from Honest Weight that wasn’t delicious, and I figured I would find a game I could pair it with. While perusing the shelves I came across this old gem, dusty and tucked away on a bottom shelf. We played it a bunch when it first came out in 2012, but then it got pushed aside in favor of newer and shinier things. (You can read our review of it here.)
I am happy to report that it has held up quite well. Is it a drafting game? A hand management game? A resource management game? Why yes, it is. At the start of the game you receive a hand of cards; you pick one and pass the cards to the next player, continuing to do this until all cards are distributed. You are looking for cards that work well together, but you are dividing those cards into 3 piles, so you don’t have them all available to you. What resources you get to choose are dependent on the die rolls, so you need to plan for that and to have some flexibility so that you can trade for what you need while remembering that you want to score points along the way. It didn’t feel dated at all, and I am keeping it in the current rotation to be played again soon.
The beer was very interesting and was a good pairing on two fronts. The name is an obvious match, but it also paired well as it is also a mix of styles. It looks more like an IPA with a pale copper color . It has a hint of belgian funk, but then it turns more lemon-y, which balances it out. It was quite refreshing, and would make a good summer beer, although it worked well on a chilly spring afternoon as well.
I hope you are all well and safe during this crazy time, and enjoying some board games with the people you live with or online.
Series Note: This is the first in a series of interviews I’m doing with publishers and designers. With many game conventions cancelled, and the number of new releases already declining, I’m asking questions about what is coming out in the next few months — the type of information we’d normally get around convention time — plus I’m asking about the impact of recent events. Basically, these are part designer diary, part publisher diary, and part reflections on the industry/hobby. The first interview is with Chad DeShon, owner of BoardGameTables.com.
About Today’s Interviewee: Chad DeShon, owner of BoardGameTables.com, has added game design and game publishing to his product lines. His first project, On Tour, is a well-respected roll ‘n write. His next two games — a reprint of Q.E. and then Bites — have also been a big success. Releasing this summer is deduction game Loot of Lima, designed by OG-er Larry Levy. Plus he’s got three games on a Kickstarter ending tomorrow, one of which he designed. Chad puts a lot of thought into this games, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers. And not only is he great at his job, I can also vouch that he’s an incredibly nice guy.
I was curious about his decision to launch a Kickstarter despite recent world events, and I was even more curious about how he’s picking his games, so I asked him if he’d answer a few interview questions. His responses are below!
Continue reading
Ten 2020 Titles I’m Eagerly Anticipating (Article by Chris Wray)
There’s a bit of a down feeling about the hobby these days: everybody is understandably worried about Gen Con and Essen being cancelled, and a few games are being delayed. But I’m feeling pretty confident that this is going to be a good year for game releases regardless of the convention scene!
Normally the Gathering of Friends offers a bit of a preview of what is to come, and with that being cancelled this year, I’ve been skimming through BGG and publisher newsletters to find what games I’m looking forward to. And though it is only April, I quickly realized that there are several titles that I’m itching to play.
So here’s a list. Ten 2020 titles that I’m eagerly anticipating. I haven’t played most of these — although I’m offering impressions on a couple of them that I have played — and I hope I’ll be back in coming months with more thoughts.
Continue reading →Share this:
Like this: