Top Ten of the Two Hundred

Last month I completed the 200 different games challenge, it was intense but so much fun. It was great to go through all of the unplayed games in my home and explore new ones. August seemed to be the longest month, which was good because we had a lot of ground to cover. Here is my round-up of the top ten games from this challenge.

1. Imperial Settlers

A Fantastic civilisation building card game for 1 - 4 players. Players are settling in to a new world, erecting buildings, gathering resources and maybe even trading with other factions. Imperial Settlers is totally addictive and hugely enjoyable, every different faction has unique abilities and with the added bonus of the expansion pack Why Can't We Be Friends things get even crazier. Everyone must play this game!

2. Five Tribes

This is a very unique game for 2 - 4 players that blends elements of worker placement, area control, bidding, set collecting and strategy; all wrapped up in a beautifully designed package that is Arabian themed. There are so many different ways to score points in this game that you cannot judge who the winner will be until the scoring sheet comes out at the end.

3. Splendor

A card drafting and set collecting game for 2 - 4 players that is so shiny! You take on the role of a merchant trying to acquire gem mines, transportation and shops in order to boost your prestige and attract attention from wealthy nobles. I do love this kind of genre, collecting and saving up my gems in order to purchase pricier items; a buyer's paradise!

4. Waggle Dance

A worker placement and dice rolling game for 2 - 4 players, with different stages involved in each round, and it is all about making the most honey in your hive. You may build up your hive, lay eggs to be hatched into more worker bees, collect various kinds of nectar, then return the nectar to the hive and make the honey. I have never had so many dice to roll in a game before, my little hands were bulging with them! A great game, one I need for my collection. Oh, Santa...

5. Arcadia Quest

This is a miniatures fantasy campaign-based game. Players control a guild of three heroes throughout each scenario, battling against Monsters and each other, whilst completing quests. It is so much fun and probably my favourite game of this genre that I have played so far, those damn cute heroes and their special abilities make it extra cool. The added bonus is that when a hero dies they can return to the game after resting and pick up a Death Curse for the next Scenario. This is good for me to have heroes that resurrect as mine die constantly! 

6. Machi Koro

A city building and dice rolling game that is completely addictive and very simple to learn. Players take on the role of Mayor and take it in turns to develop their small cities, choosing which landmark to build carefully, what will help you reap profits and what will hinder your opponents? This game is a good one to introduce to people who are new to table top games.

7. Tokaido

I consider this game to be my relaxing and soothing hour, it is great to play after a tough day as I find it very calming. Players are travelling across the 'East Sea Road' and taking in the sights, the smells and the entire experience of the journey. Each character has unique qualities and you can use these to your advantage to gain extra points. Whether it is meeting new people, visiting a spa, earning money at the farm or purchasing lavish souvenirs; you can leisurely stroll across the road or pick up the pace. This game plays really smoothly and is rather serene.

8. Cartagena 2: The Pirate's Nest

This is very similar to my beloved Cartagena, players are racing their escaped pirates to the safe haven of a Pirate's Nest in Tortuga, but who will get there first? This time there are two islands to get through and instead of moving pieces backwards to gain extra cards, you must move your opponents pieces forwards. Oh dear, this is tricksy! But it is jolly good, me hearty.

9. Bohnanza

A fantastic card trading and set collecting game for 3 - 5 players. Players earn coins by planting fields of beans and harvesting them, whilst trading with others. You may plant a maximum of three fields and cannot rearrange the order of cards in your hand. Trading comes in useful when you have to lay a bean and your fields are full of beans that do not match the one in your hand! This game has been widely recommended to me and I can see why, it is very absorbing and engaging.

10. Mai-Star

This is a strategic card game with a Japanese Geisha theme. Players are competing to be the most powerful and popular Geisha by attracting guests, preferably wealthy ones, and by increasing their stature and skills through the means of advertisements. This impresses the guests and slowly you can build a higher rank of clientèle, whilst sneakily sabotaging your opponent's chances. This attractive and exciting game is unpredictable and brutal at times, you never know what is coming your way. Play it, and see what I mean!

So, those games were my absolute top picks of the challenge. I did enjoy many more but I fear listing every one of them would send you all to sleep. Perhaps one day I shall do it, one cold autumnal evening I will wrap up in a blanket and plough through the long list in intricate detail. Perhaps.

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

                  

Dungeon Roll

In my last blog post I wrote that I would talk about the other game I played by Tasty Minstrel Games; Dungeon Roll. I was rather distracted last night from writing as we had a full-on gaming session with new friends, and it was quite epic! We ended up playing Burgoo, Machi Koro, Broom Service, Imperial Settlers (twice), Button Men, Star Wars: Imperial Assault, Hannibal Island and One Night Ultimate Werewolf. I was proud of my performance in the last round of One Night Ultimate Werewolf, as I was the werewolf but pretended to be the troublemaker in a way that finally fooled everyone, I lied for the first time without going bright red or quavering!

But, back to the main event, Dungeon Roll is a dungeon delving dice game designed by Chris Darden, where you push your luck as the adventurous Hero, creeping into dark dungeons to seek fortune and glory with numerous companions to assist you. The game components are plentiful and very attractive; gorgeous custom dice, illustrated cards and counters all rest in the treasure chest. The cards depict the Hero characters, the counters are the treasure and the XP, the white dice are the companions for the adventurer to roll, the black d6 dice are the encounters in the dungeon and the d10 die is to record what level your Hero is at.

The white die faces are the Champion, Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Thief and a scroll that can be used to re-roll dice. Each companion has different abilities that could allow you to defeat a foe, defeat multiple foes or open chests. The black die faces consist of the perils of the dungeon and the spoils; a treasure chest and a potion for quaffing that can be used to revive companions, and perils are goblins, skeletons, oozey creatures and the dreaded dragon.

Before the game begins you choose a Hero card from the stash. The cards are double sided, you start with the novice and you can turn over your card to reveal the master when you level up at 5XP. 

The game starts by the adventurer rolling the white dice to determine who will be accompanying them to the dungeon, whilst the opposing player acts as the Dungeon Lord, setting the ten-sided die to level one then rolling one black die to see what the first encounter will be. For each time you push your luck delving into the dungeon, ascending a new level, the Dungeon Lord will roll that many die for you to tackle. You use your companions to kill the monsters, quaff the potions and open the chests, then the companions are retired for that turn. 

If you roll three dragons on the black dice this means you must fight it with three different types of companions, so knowing when to stop pushing your luck can be a good strategy! You do not want to be facing a dragon with only two or less companions, unless you have a special ability on your card that aids you. Opening the chest allows you to pick up a piece of treasure at random, I like to pour all the counters in the chest and fumble around inside with my eyes closed. The treasure you gain presents the adventurer with abilities that can be used once then returned to the chest, and some count as XP if you still possess them at the end of the game.

After defeating monsters, unlocking chests, looting treasure and possibly evading or slaying a dragon, the Hero flees the dungeon and regroups at a tavern with any leftover survivors. Here, they toast their victory if they have uncovered a fortune, or drown their sorrows if they lost their comrades and return empty handed.   

This is another enjoyable game from TMG, that can be set up quickly and has more to it than some of the other push your luck dice games out there. The Hero cards give you options with their abilities and the treasure you pick up can help you when you are in a jam. The game could be brief or more lengthy, depending on how many players you have. An additional advantage is that it can be played solo, as well as with up to four players. and I think that is handy as I know a few people I would like to keep occupied while I am in the bath! 

Thanks for reading :)

Marisa xx 

  

      

A Trip to Draughts

This week I ventured up to London to visit the board games cafe, Draughts, to see how many games I could rip through from opening to closing. The cafe is situated in Hackey, a short walk from Haggerston station, so locating it was fairly easy. On weekdays it opens at 5pm, so we made sure we were there early, loitering around outside - even though I had a table booked in advance, because I am silly like that.

Draughts is a really unique place, it was a very fun experience and reasonably priced at £5 each to play as many games as you can handle. The food and drink were quite affordable too for a London venue, and amid the mass rounds of pear juice and Jalapeno pretzels we got quite a few games in. At the back of the cafe there is a library of games to browse through, over 500 games of all genres under one roof like a treasure trove. The staff were friendly and keen to recommend games, then demonstrate how to play them. We started off with something light to warm up; Elk Fest. This is a simple little dexterity game where you and your opponent flick counters from either end of the table. The counters act as stepping stones for the wooden elks who balance upon them, and you must move them across to the other side without the elks falling off.

After settling in with the elks, we moved onto Machi Koro, which I have wanted to play for a while now and was happy to finally crack open the box. It is a city building and dice rolling game, and it is very addictive. You build up your city by collecting various cards through dice rolls and coin counters. Some cards give you extra benefits and hinder your opponents, I had a cheese factory stolen by my opponent! As soon as it was over I was ready to go again, but other games were calling so I relented and moved on to Imperial Settlers.   

       

Imperial Settlers is a civilisation building game, where you are playing as early settlers from major continents, collecting resources to build and trade with. The concepts and mechanics of this game were not ones I was too familiar with so I found the first round rather daunting but I soon adapted and was racking in the apples and meeples. This game is fantastic, and I ended up going home and ordering it for next day delivery.

The next game up was Agricolam as it was highly recommended by the staff at the cafe. This echoed some of the themes in Imperial Settlers, but is more of a worker placement game. You collect resources to build upon your farm and land. and take a number of actions depending on how many people live in your farm. I was so focused upon growing obscene amounts of carrots that I forgot to reproduce, so I had less people in my farm and less actions to take!

We managed to squeeze in three versions of Timeline towards the end. Timeline is an educational card game where players must use their knowledge (or guess, as I do a lot) to pinpoint when certain events occurred throughout history, and place their cards in chronological order in a row. As the hours flew by, it was so tempting to stay until closing at 11pm but the thought of missing the last train and having to wait for the night bus was too traumatic, so leaving at 10,30pm was preferable. But I must admit, on the way home we played a few games on the I-Phone...and perhaps more games upon arriving home. We have problems!  

Thanks for reading :) 

Please feel free to recommend games to me or just talk about games to me at

kookycherry@hotmail.co.uk

Marisa xx