2017 Board Game Goals
My board game collection is out of control. Specifically, the number of unplayed games is out of control. So I’ve got a few goal lists for 2017. Trying to cut down on the number of unplayed games meant going through and making a list of all the games I wanted to play this year. Some games have been in my collection for years without getting play. Some games have sat in my collection unplayed for so long that they’ve gone out of print, jumped in price, come back into print, dropped in price, and gone out of print again. Will 2017 be the year that I play my copy of Betrayal? No, it will not. But there are some games I will play in the coming year.
I’ve decided to do a few 10×10 challenges. A 10×10 challenge, by the way, means I have to play 10 games 10 times each. Basically 100 plays. So I had better pick good games, right? You can track the progress here.
Theoretically then after playing the game so many times, I would be able to have a fairly good understanding of how to review said games, but let’s not get carried away!
I have included brief writeups for some of the games, and even briefer writeups for others.
Hardcore 10×10 Challenge
This is going to be the hardest 10×10 of the three. The hardcore 10×10 does not allow substitutions, and you’ve basically committed to playing these games. There’s no going back from here. I’ve also made a geeklist on Board Game Geek to officially timestamp the games, locking them in. Only plays that are logged after that date count for a hardcore 10×10. You can view that here if you are interested.
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Pandemic
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I’ve gone on record as saying that Pandemic is my favorite game. I’ve actually played this so much that when the new edition was released, I immediately bought it to replace my falling apart first edition. The cards in my first edition copy are so bad that some of them are peeling from the backing. The cards are literally falling apart from so much play! So when the new version came out, I sleeved it immediately. Playing Pandemic (with a new expansion) shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve had play sessions where we’ve played multiple times, losing at first, but playing until we win.
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Scoville
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Scoville and I have an interesting history. I initially discovered the game’s print and play files on BGG at about 2am one day when I was getting ready for bed. The next morning I decided to do it. I went to a few craft stores looking for something to work as the peppers and found some puffballs. The money was easy, I’d just use poker chips. The board I would have to print, and here’s where the history begins. See, it had been snowing, and maybe a tad bit icy. I also do not own a color printer. Ah, but my parents do, so off to their house I would go! It should be mentioned that they live in a valley area, shaded from the sun by trees. So this is the only board game I have ever wrecked my car to do the print and play. I actually tweeted to Ed Marriott about it when it happened. #worthit
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Alien Frontiers
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Alien Frontiers is one of those strange games that I seem to be able to get anyone to play. Maybe it’s because I describe it as Yahtzee in space. Maybe it’s the fantastic art and the mechanics that seem to just make sense. I backed the kickstarter for the Rocket Dice to further enhance this already amazing game. With a bunch of new expansions, the game should have legs for a while. Expansions add more players and new mechanics, and the Rocket Dice…. Uhh…. well, they’re they’re shaped like rockets!
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Cosmic Encounter
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I have owned this game for years. Years! It’s so simple. On your turn, you flip a card. It tells you who to attack. You send your ships against their’s. You bolster your ships with an attack card. Highest total wins. If the attacker wins, he gets a colony. First one to five colonies wins. It’s simple! Oh, except that there are about 150 alien race cards that all break the game in one way or another, and the combination of powers makes the game different every time. Unless you get the Grudge or Hate every time like I seem to. Ugh!
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Legends of Andor
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I have tried a few times to play this game, but it seems like every time I want to get it to the table, a new player is joining in. So we usually start with the intro mission, which means I have played that one like 6 times but none of the others. The expansions have come out in English now, so this is the perfect time to move forward with that.
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Formula D
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Clearly there is interest here, since I have put together a Formula D league. If you want to read more about that, check the title bar. Moving on…
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Flash Point: Fire Rescue
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The mechanics and theme of this game are so well married that the only retheme I can even think of is Ghostbusters (but clearly I am wrong, since they used Zombicide instead). This game is really well put together, and the variety of maps (over 15 I think at this point?) will keep it fresh. It’s a good co-op game, so it’s a good candidate for family game nights. Not that I have those, but if I did, I would bring this. I’ve actually been playing this with my brother and his fiance, so that’s actually kind of on point.
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Police Precinct
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Another of those games where theme and mechanics work really well together. You’re a police officer investigating a murder, but you still have to deal with regular crime and traffic issues. There is supposed to be a season 2 expansion coming out hopefully soon, but there is enough in the base game to keep it interesting for quite a number of plays.
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Camel Up
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2014 Spiel des Jahres winner. Better than every other game that came out in 2014, this game about putting camels on top of each other is probably deserving of that title. Will the blue camel (who’s been in last place the entire race) suddenly cross the finish line against all odds by a perfect (and often jokingly predicted) roll of the dice? Probably yes. A few expansion modules have been released, but I have not fully embraced their use yet.
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Sheriff of Nottingham
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At its core, Sheriff of Nottingham is about lying. Or telling the complete truth and making people think that you are lying. You can make more money often times by simply importing all legal goods but having people check you bag each time. Or you can make money by smuggling in tons of crossbows and claiming they are apples. The game is enhanced if you role play, but a lot of groups might not want to get that involved. By the way, I have 5 apples. And almost certainly none of them are mead.
Standard 10×10 Challenge
Standard 10×10 is less strict from the hardcore one. This lists allows replacements.
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Pandemic: The Cure
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Not as simple as just Pandemic: The Dice Game, there is a bit more going on here. Card counting in regular Pandemic has brought me a lot of victories, but it’s much harder to count dice. You know, because you have to roll them. From a bag. Managing the board is a bit crazy sometimes, but it’s always a blast.
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SeaFall
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As a legacy game, this should be a no-brainer for a 10×10. The problem is getting a group that will 100% commit to playing this game 10 times. It’s not so easy.
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Dixit
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One of my favorite twists on the Apples to Apples genre. Pictures with imagination instead of just picking the shock value card. Fun for families as well.
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Ogre
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Futuristic hover tanks that have revolted against their programming and are all coming to kill us. Plastic miniatures are coming sometime and I have about 500 units for this game. It also weighs about 30lbs and has a team lift logo on the box.
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Mice and Mystics
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A game where mice have to murder a spider. This game is actually pretty good. It has a few story driven expansions and even a spin-off game. Collin and friends will be going on a few adventures this year hopefully.
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Grand Austria Hotel
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Less about a hotel and more about feeding people and putting them in bed. A dice drafting game about running a hotel and cafe.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past
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Another spin on the Zombicide style gaming, except this time with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We’re making our way through the campaign book currently. I’m playing as Donatello, clearly the best Turtle (ignoring what happens in issues #44-#50 in the IDW series, because that was really terrible), and I will fight you if you disagree. #fitemebro I WISH THAT WASN’T A REAL HASHTAG
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Secret Hitler
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Basically just the Resistance but not. Bluffing, hidden roles, and Historically Accurate Lizardmen.
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PitchCar
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Usually I play with a homebrew Mario Kart rule set (including powerup dice) that maybe one day I will post the rules to. One of my favorite dexterity games, mostly because of how insane it gets sometimes. My copy lives in a huge box with a ton of expansion tracks.
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Small World
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I often describe Small World as Risk, but with Elves, this intro to area control games is different every single time you play it thanks to the many many races and powers that are available through expansions. This was on my hardcore 10×10 last year, so I am trying it again.
Backup Games for Standard 10×10 Challenge
The standard 10×10 allows swapping so I’ve randomly selected a few games that I could swap out.
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Krosmaster: Arena
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Another from last year’s 10×10, Krosmaster is basically Final Fantasy Tactics as a board game. Don’t let the cute chibi anime style characters fool you, this game has quite a bit of depth. And I have quite a bit of the characters. Prepainted and preassembled.
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Keyflower
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From last year’s 10×10, Keyflower is a game about outbidding your friends on stuff they need and stealing their boats. I guess it’s supposed to be about Pilgrims or something. The seventh game in the “Key” series set in the “Key” land.
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Lords of Waterdeep
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A good entry level worker placement game. Mostly the theme is appealing to D&D nerds and I can trick them into playing it with me!
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Blood Bowl (2016 edition)
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What if Warhammer was Footballhammer instead? 50,000 Roaring Orks.
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Far Space Foundry
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This was originally a game about a chocolate plantation. But now it’s about space. The original theme is more original but less appealing.
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Ca$h ‘n Guns (Second Edition)
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Foam guns and mild threats. A game about splitting heist money.
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Eclipse
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A huge epic space game. Not quite as good as Twilight Imperium, but much more casual and easy to get others to play. It was on my 10×10 last year but that was a failure. So this year I have moved it off the hardcore 10×10. Here’s hoping.
Filler Game 10×10 Challenge
The point of a 10×10 challenge is to learn the true depth of a game and experience it more fully, not just quickly plow through 10 games for no reason. But I have a list that is just filler games that I could rush through in a single day. Oh well. I probably won’t really do writeups for these since that takes longer than just playing them.
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Loopin’ Louie
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A children’s game about a drunk pilot who, for some reason, wants to kill your chickens. I don’t know what the chickens have done to deserve this, but it must be something awful.
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Chopstick Dexterity MegaChallenge 3000
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A dexterity game where you have to use chopsticks to pick up wooden bits and put them in a soy sauce bowl.
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Love Letter
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I guess AEG forgot about the world of Tempest. But the characters still live on in this game that has 17 editions! Just don’t discard the Princess.
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Spyfall
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Is this game safe at night? Would you bring your children here? Is your job difficult? Is this game fun? (Yes to all)
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Codenames
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Words on a grid turning in to connected clues in my head. “I know this is a stretch, but…”
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Sushi Go Party!
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Honestly, I’ll probably just play this as Sushi Go more than any of the variants.
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Dr. Eureka
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A dexterity game about moving balls around in test tubes. Probably will play this 10 times at Geekway alone.
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Animal Upon Animal
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Possibly not a drinking game, but it seems like that’s all anyone wants it to be. It’s a game about stacking wooden animals.
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Hanabi
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A game about trying to make the best fireworks display. Has a unique mechanic where you cannot see the front of your cards and have to be given cryptic clues about what you have in your hand.
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Tsuro
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Last man standing tile laying game set in an ambiguous time and place. Possibly ancient China, possibly Squiggleland.