by Dustin Crenshaw
Sadly no game meetups this week. I did meet with jason and brett 2 days in a row to game a little bit. Today corey joined us for another game of seafall.
To clarify, game of the week, doesn't mean the best game. It means the best play of a game in a week.
Similarly, dud doesn't mean worse game I played, just one that fell the most flat.
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[BGCOLOR=#FF0000] ~NEW TO ME~ [/BGCOLOR]Upon a Fable3 Players
I thought I was looking good for the win. However Jason had a ton of bonus point cards. He'd pull it out.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:
It took us a bit to get going, as we read the rulebook on the spot (which was printed out of order). It was a little tough learning the names, but once we got a two turns in it all was making sense. The game is alright. I wish we played on the tighter board, as resources were a dime a dozen. I think this is an excellent gateway. It teaches light drafting, light tableau building and worker placement. I'd certainly play again. Tighter board and/or expansion would likely improve my rating.
:) Very good gateway
:) Blends worker placement, tableau building and drafting well
:soblue: Abstract theme
:soblue: Way too easy to get what you want in the standard game
:soblue: Terminology takes a bit to get use to________________________________________________________________________
Tides of MadnessI lost the first round badly. So my strategy the next round was too only think about what Jason would pass me, based on what he thought I'd think he'd go for (good luck following that!). I just went the opposite. It worked out well. I had big 2nd and 3rd rounds and won the game.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:
Solid 2p filler. My huge complaint about Tides of Time was the tie breaker card. I felt it was crazy broken. I was basically told I didn't know how to play the game when complaining on bgg about it. I feel completed justified it was broken, since it's been removed from the game.
:) Removal of broken "win ties" card from Tides of Time
:) I think I am thinking what you think I think I'm thinking
:) Madness gives you a little more to think about
:soblue: However, losing to madness seems really unlikely
:soblue: Not gonna change your mind if you didn't like the first________________________________________________________________________
[BGCOLOR=#FF0000]~NOT NEW TO ME~[/BGCOLOR]Tiny Epic WesternAnother game I thought I had won. But Jason won by 1 point thanks to the wanted card.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::halfstar::nostar:
What a time difference with a group that knows poker well makes. First play was 2.5 hours, this one was right at an hour. And that was with some AP too. As for the game itself. Still really enjoy the poker parts, the dueling and the worker placement. I dislike the set collection and the resource difference meaning so little. So not a keeper, but I'd play it if requested.________________________________________________________________________
[BGCOLOR=#0099FF]~DUD OF THE WEEK~[/BGCOLOR]
SeaFallI won my 2nd game out of 3, by chasing milestones.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::halfstar::nostar:
Not a fun play. Downtime really hit me bad this game. My turns were about 30 seconds each time, while waiting 5-10 minutes to come back around to take another 30 second turn. I did change my mind on a turn, that made it a little more fun. Even though I won, the play felt like 1/2 a play and cheap. However I am hopeful for the next game. Because we've knocked out all the easy milestones. I'm not looking forward to being first player again. I still think the catch up mechanic in the game is way too strong.________________________________________________________________________
Rush & Bash3 Players.
I came in 2nd, after lagging behind all race. A big assist from Jason right at the end, who won the race.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:
I quick filler to get our brains working before Through the Ages. Good thing to, because mine clearly wasn't. This is a decent racer, but end of the day I like Hot Rod Creeps better even though the set up time is worse.________________________________________________________________________
[BGCOLOR=#FFCC00] ~GAME OF THE WEEK~ [/BGCOLOR]
7 Wonders: Duel2 Games
First game I felt I was doing so so terrible (because I was). So I just started going heavy blue. I would loose by military on the last card of the game. However we still checked scores, I would have lost 65-59 if not.
Second game I started off doing something I seemingly never get to, have resources. This would be a nice feeling all game, as I didn't feel I was struggling the entire time. I took a gamble on a card flip that could have let Jason get a science victory. He didn't get it. I would win 62-55, my first win of this in sometime, maybe ever.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::star::star:
Cannot wait for the expansion. Honestly I need to pick this game up for myself. One of my all time favorites for sure.________________________________________________________________________
Codex: Card-Time StrategyA teaching game to my brother, then a full 3 hero game. He won, though I was taking it easy on him while he was still learning. I fooled around with some odd combos. Some worked, some didn't.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::star::star:
I have a rant, and it's not a minor one. I got the expansion in yesterday. I could not believe, for $40, it doesn't come with the fracking binders needed to play the game. $40, for 180 poor quality cards. Worse, it also didn't come with the couple of little cards needed for 3+ players. Unbelievable. If the game wasn't so amazing, I would have sold the game and never looked back. I've always heard Sirlin Games are overpriced. I didn't know they cut corners as well. Pisses me off I now how to pay even more to get binders. They don't even sell them, so now I have to spend a bunch of time learning about binders to figure out which ones to get. #nothappy
The game itself is still one of the best games I've ever played.________________________________________________________________________
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization3 Players
I had 1 goal, get extra culture production early. I failed to do that. I misread a wonder, and it sort of thre my whole beginning off. In the end game, I had way too much culture production and not enough resources. I would finish about 80 points behind Brett the winner. Who had no military, who we attacked plenty, but didn't seen to care. He won with ease.
VERDICT - :star::star::star::star::star:
Fantastic game. I know I'm improving, but damn it sucks finishing last every play. I'm really happy Jason likes the game. Once again didn't take overly long to play. At this length, should continue to hit the table at least once a month.________________________________________________________________________
FINAL THOUGHTSI sadly let my life aggravations carry into the gaming weekend. So I probably wasn't the must fun guy to game with this weekend. Hopefully this week is better. It should feature 2 solid days of gaming.
JUST ARRIVED/ARRIVING SOONRunebound (Third Edition) expansions
Picked these up this week. Pretty good stuff. Not happy that they didn't give you an even number of each skill type. Set up is gonna be annoying as you have to remove certain ones. Another expansion should allow us to draft skill card sets, which will be really fun. There is enough to do it with 2p, so I will try that out now.
Islebound: Kickstarter EditionAnother good review, I decided to pull the trigger. I like ancient world a lot, but his other games have all been disappointments lately. Everything I see about this one I like, seems like an improvement upon Empires of the Void.
Game of Thrones: The Iron ThroneThis should be in my hands this week. Very excited. Like the idea of Cosmic, but it's way unbalanced and chaotic. This grounds it.
Archon: Glory & MachinationGrabbed this during the MM sale. I have truly mixed experience with artipia. I love worker placement, this looks great. I've always held off though due to it being crazy high a year or two ago.
Apocalypse ChaosI enjoyed my 1 play of this. George got rid of the game, so I picked it up in the cardhaus sale.
7 Wonders: Metal CoinsI actually didn't get 7 wonders metal coins, but a Magic set from Fantasy Coins LLC. I've seen some of their coins in person, they are top of the line. With runebound and codex using coins, I decided it was finally time to get some. I'll also use them for Gloomhaven when it comes it, and 7 Wonders Duel.
LEAVING ON A JET PLANECry HavocCrazy I know. But every time I play this game, it feels exactly the same with only very minor differences. Some people love that in games, I'm not one of them. I am hopeful the expansion will fix this issue. So I will certainly check that out when it comes out in a year.
Street KingsGood, not great. Just a bit more stuff, it would have been a keeper I think. Doubt it'll ever get an expansion though.
Tiny Epic WesternAnother like, didn't love game.
WildernessI got this to game with my dad. After months of trying I give up.
GrimslingersMay be one I revisit. Being mainly a 2p game, it just wasn't gonna see much play over my favorites.
Wiz-War (eighth edition)I gave this game a 3rd chance because my brother claimed he loved it. Well turns out he was wrong. He completely agrees, the theme is better than the game. At times it's amazingly fun, most of the time it's just ok.
:meeple:
