Another late submission but I definitely wanted to note this. The summer continues to be busy but we are finding times for board games none the less. I managed to get some games in as usual but nothing that I would call crazy. Though the number of games may increase next month, but you can read more about that further below.
Everything I played
The New
Still no new things. This isn’t great considering that I wanted to try to get more of my stuff played through this year. Multiple months in the year of no new games is not great for the stats of it.
The Good
Tigris and Euphrates: I managed to get one of the greatest games that exists out there played! Only had three players rather than the ideal four but the game is still amazing. The building and destruction of the different empires is very interesting. I thought I was holding second for the majority of the game but came out first. I think this was actually due to me not explaining the rules as well as I could for scoring (particularly for the treasure tokens which someone considered as 1vp rather them just being a wildcard for the colour). I think everyone enjoyed the play as we smashed each other in war.
Downfall of Pompeii: This game has been in my collection for quite some time and I love the little thing. It isn’t something that I think can get reprinted today due to the theme (the fact that you are actively killing the other players people in a “family” weight kind of game. That being said the game is so satisfying and is one of the few games where I legitimately don’t explain the second half of the game until it starts. I just sort of gesture towards the exits and tell people you both want to be with other people in the same square and you want to be close to some exits. This makes it a fast teach and a fast play.
Decrypto: Introduced this to the lunch time group at work and I think it ended up going over quite well. It is always hard to describe this game without fully experiencing it but once you get into it I think the game is not too difficult to follow or play. The challenge between giving clues that are obvious to your team while are confusing to the opponents team is always a tricky thing to balance and sometimes you have words that are easier or harder to actually achieve this.
The Meh
Blood On the Clocktower: Oh man I am going to upset some people with this already. I earlier kind of hinted how I am not really an enjoyer of the social deduction genre as a whole and I think that a lot of the games are over long without giving you something to show for it of value. My favourite social deduction game is One Night Ultimate Werewolf because it allows people to have the same experience that I had in this months game of BOtC but it takes 15 minutes, instead of 1.5 hours. If I am going to believe that all information is pointless (since the most likely piece of information gained is by someone who is poisoned/drunk and therefore wrong without telling me) or if I am going to get multiple people lying and effectively us being in a position where we don’t know anything at the end and we have to make a 50/50 call of which story to believe I rather it take a few minutes. I am still willing to give this game a few more tries with a group but what I have seen from the more “advanced” set ups is that it leans more into the wacky which I think is great, if you can run a game in 15 minutes rather than 60-90.
The Rest
Not too many kids games but some fillers with LAMA, Paku Paku, and So clover. All games that are great and were well received and enjoyed by all.
What I am looking forward to next month.
Wow I am even later with this one than usual. July is going to be a big write up though. I am attending (or have already attended) SVWAG con II and I imagine that there will be a lot of interesting games that I don’t own to play that I will need to talk about so expect the “new” sections to be bustling next month (or in a week I guess).