New in 2024

How many boxes of mine can a game tick: drafting, set collection, Japanese theme (and thematic gameplay), player-driven scoring opportunities, and plays in just the right length for its complexity. This is another one I’ve been considering getting my own copy of. I just need to make more space for all these games!

New in 2024

Somehow, my friend bought Red Cathedral, but when everyone was going crazy over The White Castle, he didn’t look into it. And he loves Japanese themes like I do. Well, I ended up getting it instead, and all three of us really enjoyed it. This is a game that does variability right. So many things change from game to game and from turn to turn, but it all has a drastic impact on your decisions and what opportunities are out there. It’s a great puzzle to try and solve that’s always shifting. And it packs a ridiculous amount of crunchy gameplay into such a short playtime! Matcha adds a bit to the playtime, but I really like the new scoring options; it adds just the right amount to the game for me.

New in 2024

Despite being very lukewarm on it when we first tried on BGA (in my defense, the starter decks are very uneven), I’ve enjoyed this more and more with each play. The starter decks could have been better; there are some bad match-ups, and some of them like Ordis are so simple, that they could play themselves. But it’s a very smooth system with neat ideas like the reserve and timing every action (you can’t just pass; you take an action or fully pass the rest of your actions for the round). I’m still not sure how heavily I’ll be getting into it, but I’ve also been slowly getting into the setting. The digital part still seems like a dumb gimmick, but the marketplace still hasn’t opened.

2023 #3

My favorite Martin Wallace (designed by him alone). A very unique take on worker placement with a huge tech tree of buildings and goods. If only the expansion hadn’t been German-exclusive. I have to assume there’s some weird licensing issue.

New in 2024

I was mixed on the art when the game was announced, and very unsure about the gameplay. Not only has the art (most of it, anyway) grown on me, but the gameplay has some really fun ideas added to well-known mechanics. And Shadows of the Galaxy added smuggling which adds exactly what I wanted to how resources work, and the upcoming Jump to Lightspeed is bringing in pilots! I can’t afford to go too crazy with this game, so I’m not buying a box for every set, but I did buy a box of SotG, and we’ve started some sealed games. This is a great game for sealed!

New in 2024

While the expansion has been delayed until next year for most of us (large amounts of it seem to have up and vanished?), the base game and the solo/co-op mode are still fantastic. It’s amazing how thematic the game can be with such straightforward gameplay. And I love the cycling cards to pay for cards system of it. So many tough decisions to make. It’s a lot of game for a pretty small package.

2022 #23
2023 #4

Previously, this listing was for the LCG, but this year, I bought some of the old CCG and we tried that out. We really enjoyed it and might prefer the CCG a little bit more, but we still enjoy both versions. The CCG has more direct interaction and the battles are much more tense. The rules are tougher to learn, but the cards feel much clearer and more straightforward. It’s a classic that was around for 20 years for a reason.

2022 #2
2023 #2

Still a great Euro adventure game. We’ve played more of the expansions this year with the Villages & Hamlets and more tile modules. So much variety! I’m actually quite excited for the upcoming Vestige, the sequel to Vindication. It looks like it adds in the best modules and dumps some of the bloat (goodbye monuments!).

Every previous year since getting into board games #1

What could move this! Anyway, Runebound 2nd edition is a great, old-school adventure game. Great character customization, letting you level up however you want and gear up in all kinds of ways, and I love how much tactical decisions allies add to combat. And the expansions are some of the best any adventure game could have, expanding the world and introducing fun new mechanics. It’s a classic.

Note: This is also technically half a Martin Wallace game.

A classic from 1995, new to me in 2024

Just how many boxes can one game tick! Adventure game, card game, sandbox, Middle-earth, great depth to the game, easy-to-operate solo mode, really fun deck construction, and a unique blend of old-school wargaming-inspired RPG concepts baked into a card game. And you can go wherever you want in Middle-earth. Go on high seas adventures, wander the far north, go hunt for dragons in the mountains, bum around the shire with hobbits, recover all kinds of famous artifacts, visit every faction imaginable, go dunk the ring into Mount Doom, or take the ring for yourself! Granted, you’ll have to have a pretty large collection for all that (and that’s going to cost a fair amount of money), and I don’t think this game benefited from being collectible. But I’ve had so much fun diving into it this year. We even played it 3-player and everyone enjoyed it. I will definitely be expanding my collection.