Hot Streak

• Designer: Jon Parry
• Publisher: CMYK
• Players: 2-9
• Age:  6+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Think you can predict the winner? Good luck. In Hot Streak, the mascots don’t always run forward…or stay on the track…or even remain standing. One moment, you have a hot dog leading the pack. The next, he’s swerving into another lane, falling over, or getting body checked by a fish with legs. And if they go off the track or get knocked out? DQ’d. Done. Absolutely cooked.

Before each race, players draft betting tickets—not just for which mascot they think will win, but also nonsense side bets, like whether two racers will crash into each other, or if someone will yeet themselves off the track. Luckily you get some secret influence over the race, but once bets are locked in, all you have to do is WATCH. THE. CHAOS. UNFOLD.

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Dragons Down

By Scott DeMers

Players: 1-4

Time: 45-60 min per player

Played 6 times, 3 co-op, 2 competitive, and 1 solo

Review by Jonathan Franklin

I entered the land of Dragons Down as a Pip, the halfling archer. I came with a long bow and 26 gold. After trekking through the plains, I moved to the mountains, which took some extra time, and finally arrived at the Keep. Although knights were guarding the Keep, I was permitted to enter and therein found a crone. Fortunately, she had five treasures, four items, and three missions available.  I picked up a Potion of Energy at full price and some Leathers on a deep discount after haggling with the crone. She also gave me two missions to fulfill: to bring some materials to the Smith and to find all five sets of caves. After doing business with the crone at the Keep, leaving me broke, I left the knights, walked through a forest, and came to a fork in the road–I could go north to the Lonely Mountains or west to the Secret Dens. I chose to go west, as that offered the option to explore some caves.

The Crew: Family Adventure

• Designer:  Thomas Sing
• Publisher:  Kosmos
• Players: 3-5
• Age: 8+
• Time: 15 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link:  https://amzn.to/4k2kJj7
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

The Crew: Family Adventure crossed the gameplay of The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine with the setting of The Swiss Family Robinson. Players find themselves stranded on a deserted island and have to find their way around together. Eating, sleeping, making decisions — how will the adventure end?  Three to five players play cards one after the other — and without talking to each other — until each mission is completed. A gameboard, island marker, various tokens, and special cards help players keep track of the game and offer opportunities to influence the course of the missions. 

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BoardGameGeek’s Golden Geeks is the first of the significant annual awards that honor games from 2024.  The winners, as selected by Geek users, were announced last week.  The Golden Geeks give out three Game of the Year awards, for games of light, medium, and heavy weights.  There are also several additional categories awarded.  Here are the results, together with the designers for the games finishing on top:

Heavy Game of the Year

Winner – SETI (Tomas Holek)
2nd place – Arcs (Cole Wehrle)
3rd place – Civolution (Stefan Feld)
Nominated – Andromeda’s Edge; Black Forest; Ezra and Nehemiah; Inventions; Inventors of the South Tigris; Men-Nefer; Unconscious Mind

Medium Game of the Year

Winner – Harmonies (Johan Benvenuto)
2nd place – LotR: Duel for Middle-Earth (Antoine Bauza, Bruno Cathala)
3rd place – Endeavor: Deep Sea (Carl de Visser, Jarratt Gray)
Nominated – The Fellowship of the Ring; Fromage; Let’s Go! To Japan; River of Gold; Slay the Spire; Windmill Valley; Wyrmspan

Light Game of the Year

Winner – Castle Combo (Gregory Grard, Mathieu Roussel)
2nd place – Flip 7 (Eric Olsen)
3rd place – Captain Flip (Paolo Mori, Remo Conzadori)
Nominated – Bomb Busters; Cities; Fishing; MLEM; Rebirth; River Valley Glassworks; The Gang

Category Winners

2-Player Game – LotR: Duel for Middle-Earth
Artwork Presentation – Unconscious Mind
Cooperative Game – Fellowship of the Ring (Bryan Bornmueller)
Expansion – Arcs: The Blighted Reach (Cole Wehrle)
Innovative – Arcs
Party Game – Flip 7
Print Play – 52 Realms: Adventures (Matthew Dunstan, Rory Muldoon)
Solo Game – Slay the Spire (Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, Casey Yano)
Thematic Game – SETI
Wargame – Arcs
Best Podcast – Beyond Solitaire
Best Board Game App – Dune: Imperium

Congratulations to all the winners!