As foretold in a post a few weeks ago we have bucked the trend of small number of games, with some social gatherings this month leading to…well more games than usual. What it ends up looking like is a very standard set of games where everything is well represented. No excessively large number of heavy games, yet at least one or two longer games. Definitely some kid games in there but it’s not every game. This preamble has already gone too long through so lets get to it!
Everything I played!
If I have to be honest this is probably the most reasonable distribution of games I have had in quite a while. So lets get to the actual analysis.
The Good
- Slay the Spire: Still magnificent, this session finished up act 2 and 3 of our game. It was a particularly funny set up where we went through all 3 elites in Act 2 which ended up making us completely overpowered for the rest of the session. We were able to run through both the Act 2 and Act 3 boss with myself as the defect and the player playing the silent providing defense and chip damage while the ironclad and the watcher threw out big hits after we protected them. This was done at ascension level 1 so now we have level 2 open. As well as unlocking most of the cards available for each of the classes though we still have colourless and act 4 unlocks to go.
- Cthulhu: Death May Die: This game is such a joy. After a bout of sicknesses cancelled an RPG session, this wonderful game instead. Played one of the base game scenarios this time and I definitely felt that it was quite a bit less complex and a bit more luck based than the scenarios I have tried from Season 3. Either way a great time was had by all and we managed to smack down the great old one. Interestingly enough this was one of the times when I picked up a brawling character that didn’t end up getting to brawling 4 but was still quite effective at his job.
- Knarr: This is definitely a fun little race game where you just build up to 40 points. It has simple but interesting choices of when to pivot to spending your cards from hoarding them. It’s never going to be my favourite game but I can see it coming out once in a while when we need a quick game with some good decision space.
- Northern Pacific: OK so this is where we have to define “good”. This was definitely a game I enjoy and was good for me. However, we discovered upon this play my wife absolutely hates this game. I think its the zero luck adversarial actions that you can play that particularly chaffed her the wrong way. Ultimately I think this game is great but require a group that won’t take things personally and is fine with other players ganging up on them to ensure a win. Also play with the random seat rules that aren’t in the newer edition, they make everything so much better because they change who you have to work along side in different rounds.
The Bad
- There are no bad games in my collection Kaiba! But, I swear every play I have with my kids of Go Nuts for Donuts I get absolutely destroyed. Its like everyone clashes with me at some point at the expense of everyone else getting a ton more points. I never even come close to winning even with nearing about a dozen plays. Maybe I just need to pick like the worst doughnut for myself every round and try to make something out of that…..I have no idea.
The Rest
- Spooky Stairs, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Here to Slay: All remain good kids games. I still have my head break at some point during spooky stairs where I lose the plot completely and things go sideways. Definitely worth staying in my collection
- Hot Streak: There is no bad hot streak session, they are all silly. This one had some particularly huge shenanigans which were enjoyed by all! Maybe at some point I’ll stop writing about it…when it stops being silly fun.
- Scout: This game is phenomenal, I will never not praise this game. It is a joy to play and I will continue to love it forever. You really can go many different places with this game and it is a quite different experience at 3/4/5 players so I am never too worried about taking it out and playing it with a group.
The rest are just party games and the usual fare that I don’t have much to add for compared to what I have said in previous months. They work as games they keep getting played because they fill their niche and they aren’t too complex to introduce people to things quickly.
Hopes for next month
I didn’t think we were gonna go strong for this month but November is looking busy. Lots of birthdays and things to keep me away from playing games. Though I hope to get something in of substance. I did just get the new Caledonia expansion which might be a good excuse to get that game back to the table. I did enjoy it as it was before. Maybe it is also time to try to get Anhk to the table. Also BGG Secret Santa is starting which means that I will definitely be getting something new in the main…soon. Now unfortunately I have had a bad track record of playing previous years games, so maybe my dreams for games a bit bigger than my groups actual appetite for those games.
Till next month!