Le Havre | BoardGameGeek

Hia Everyone!

Red Eye from Seattle to Orlando...

My gang of amazing pre-con friends! I love Dice Tower Con so much!
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I took a red-eye to Orlando and when I got there Evan was amazing and picked me up. He was hosting a game day that day. Fortunately, I was able to get a few hours sleep before it started!

The first game of the day was Gold Fever. I ended up playing this game a few times this week since it was one of my games I was carrying around. It really makes for a good start or finish type game.

I was happy to be teaching folk how to play and we all had some laughs. I still am always super last place when I play though. Good times!

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Over the course of the week, I ended up playing The Mind about 30 times. I simply can't get enough.

I taught the game a lot but there is one special time that I just have to talk about. One late night during the con we were playing a 5 player game. Collin, Anthony, Alex and I believe Mike we were all playing. We won this freaking game almost with flying colors. I let them know about the dark mode and we started in.

We ended up passing levels 1 then 2 then 3 with flying colors. We get to level 4 and with a shuriken, we succeeded no lives lost. We were all elated and filled with joy we couldn't help but shout out. We were apparently very loud because everyone around us was pleased too and the whole damn room started cheering. I was crying because I was laughing so much. It was freaking amazing. The amount of joy this community brings me is insane. We ended up losing in round 5 but it was a story for the books.

Seriously spread the love for this game and found a lot more fans. Great times and amazing people.

Photo thanks to Alex G!

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Got to playKribbeln a few times and this still continues to impress and entertain. I have to say I just love rolling dice best. I never seem to win this one either.

More dice games please, and I will continue to spread joy for the roll n writes. I am pretty sure everyone I taught this to also enjoyed it.

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At Evan's game day we ended up playing a 4 player game of Drop It. From now on I will try not to play with 4 players since I just don't like it as much. I much prefer 2p.

I kind this it is a disadvantage of going last in a 4 player game. I am pretty sure 1st or 2nd player won this game anyway. Haha still enjoy trying my hand at dropping pieces.

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Perhaps the highlight of Evan's game day was my play of Mombasa. I was teaching 3 new players so it ended up going a bit longer than I might have liked.

Still worked out though I think by the end everyone was understanding the game and mechanics. Ray really enjoyed it but u am not convinced Eric liked it much. It won't be a game for everyone. I was working my way up a few tracks and got a whole lot of tracks points. I miss directed some book focus and got lost there for a while. I never managed to line it up how I wanted or needed to so that was wasted efforts. Evan needs the book promo for sure.

I ended up winning though, which kinda was expected. I know I converted one fan though! Great game and one I wish to play more of.

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Tzar had a few games to show me and I should learn not to play them. First on the table was Lowlands. New to me!

I will start by saying this game just isn't for me. Ron didn't hate it but I liked it less. I really hate coop mechanics in a competitive game. You are working to build a Dike to keep the waters from flooding your lands. But you are using cards from your hand to do so. You want these cards for building buildings.

Ugh, I won't get into it but I won with flying colors by not helping to build the Dike. There was a kingmaker moment though where they could have chosen to not finish the dike and I would have been a far last place.

It all just left a very sour taste in my mouth and I won't return to this one at all.

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Next from Tzars pile was Rise of Tribes. New to me!

Beautiful art in this game. I really hate this type of area control and I really dislike asymmetric player powers. The dice mechanic was fine but didn't grab me. All in all, I just wasn't a fan of this game. It also took far too long when it really shouldn't have.

I am hoping all of the KS backers enjoy it though since I know Tzar really did. He played it 3 times or something that day.

It ended up being pretty close race though and I was probably 1 or 2 turns away from the win. Not for me though. The add-on but were amazing though.

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There were 5 players for a fav trick taker of mine called Sluff Off!. I hadn't played this version before but you could be the chicken. Which was rather amusing.

Trump was also Blue! Wtf is that about? BS.

Great game and I think I was tied for the win in the end. I am always happy to play this one since you really have to be clever. Ont of the best 5 player games out there.

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Another favorite 5 player game is Turn the Tide and this I got to play a few times during the week.

Since we were still 5 players after sluff off I suggested this one. Evan was not convinced with one play but he did like it more after the second game later in the week.

This game I like a little bit more and Sluff Off I think. It is more interesting in how people play the same hands of cards. Love it.

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The final game of the night was Skull King. New to Me!

This is a trick-taking game in the realm of Wizard. You play 10 rounds and each round you bid for the number of tricks you will take. There are special cards and circumstances that will cause one value to win other another so you have to know what trumps what in specific situations. It was quite interesting and I would happily play it again.

I did terribly at this game. I really thought I would be better at it but nope! I was terrible! I am happy to play again but it won't be my first choice for trick-taking.

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Ron was supposed to fly in for 11 pm that night but his flight was delayed 3 hours and only made it in at like 3 am. It was horrible. But, the next day we managed to play some games with Evan. We were able to teach him Pulsar 2849. It was sitting on his unplayed shelf we were able to help him cross it off his list.

I quite like this game and am happy I own it. I am not sure I could teach it well enough though, but possibly.

Ron ended up taking the win this time with all the techs. I usually go for techs but I was too late. I was spinning my pulsars as quickly as possible to generate points. It worked out and I wasn't too far behind Ron in the end. Evan was much further back but he enjoyed it and was looking forward to another play.

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The only other game that day was Ladder 29. New to me!

This is a ladder climbing game and Evan was planning on getting rid of. We gave it a try though to see how it played out. It was trying much too hard to be tichu and it was not fun.

There are drafting scoring cards each round once you see your hand of cards. It was just too luck driven for me. I hardly felt like I had control and I'm not sure I got any points at all. Ugh, Ron absolutely destroyed us by a million. Each round getting max points. Leads me to believe it might not be all luck, but it seemed it at the time.

I love my partner in tichu and will always always always play that over this. Even if only for a few rounds.

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Precon gaming started Monday and tons of friends were already around and playing games. During the con, I ended up teaching Ginkgopolis a couple of times as expected.

This is my #1 anyway and I was carrying it around with me. Collin hadn't played and Geoffrey hadn't played so in 2 games I was able to teach some good friends my fav.

I am nearly certain I won both games handily. But I am sure I will be corrected if not! Haha so glad to spread some love for this game any chance I can. I have my teaching skills down and they are getting good use.

Fav!!

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Several games of Illusion happened over the week too. This is just a great game. So easy to take out and play at any time.

So many people hadn't heard of it but by the end of the games, they were all quite enjoying it. It is similar yet different and will hold a spot in anyone's collection I find.

I am also nearly sure I didn't win any of the games. I know Ron won at least one of them. Who knows how but someone other than me allowed for that to happen. Lol always happy to play this quick card game.

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I felt bad since Collin had a bunch of games he brought to show me and I was just not feeling it. We did end up playing one of them called Easy Breezy Travel Agency. New to me!

This was a light card game. You are drafting passenger cards to try and collect destinations. You need so many passengers to take the destination. It was super light and I hardly felt like I had any turns at all.

For me, this is probably best with 2 players since you are playing until the deck runs out of cards anyway. With 2 players you have more chances to collect the sets you need and want to score extra bonus points. We were playing 4 players and the game was over before it really began. It was interesting. All in all, if I played again it would be with 2 players but as it stands I don't think I will end up playing it again.

I am a big fan of J. Alex Kevern in general though and think he is a clever designer. I still want to play all of his designs.

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Since I had it and was looking for a challenge I pulled out Paint the Roses to play with 4 players.

I have to say this time around it almost seemed too easy. We worked really well together and we just succeeded with flying colors. Maybe we started out with too easy of cards that we maintained a stable and steady distance from the queen. So maybe normal games we ramp up too quickly making it more difficult on ourselves.

I still haven't lost this game, but I have had pretty great groups playing it so we aren't making wild guesses and losing. Maybe we play too conservatively- and win!

So far still loving this game, I am actively thinking each time I play it and really enjoy that.

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Managed to get in a game of TichuIf it was up to me I would have played this game a whole lot more. I probably should have searched for more opportunities.

Nathan and Brandon apparently played 7 times? This game Nathan taught Collin and Cindy how to play so I was paired up with Collin and Nathan with Cindy.

I think they sort of knew the rules at least enough to grasp the concept of what cards they should be playing.

Collin was having a more difficult time than Cindy since I think Cindy had played a lot of card games in her day. But, I am awesome and we totally kicked butt as a team.

There were a few errors he made but he learned from that and it was awesome. I want everyone to love Tichu so I don't mind playing with newbies, but playing with people who already know the game is a definite benefit.

Love this game so much!

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Next up was a fast filler of Avenue.

I am honestly shocked I only played this once during DTC but here it is! So glad I added it to my box of Roll n writes. Always happy to play this one.

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Since I was on a roll n write kick we ended up playing Noch mal!. No one had played it before but they were really good. I was having terrible luck this time.

There was one crazy roll, pictured below. Only available... 2 options! How is that possible. Incredible! Please, someone, do that math for me. Mathman get on it!

Anyway, I totally lost this game but I think I got Sarah and Matt to buy another game since she really enjoyed it. :P

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Hey hey a popular one at the con was メトロックス (MetroX). Now I am not sure if this was popular or if it was just a mess since I would teach it and it would be so confusing we would have to play again.

This is not intuitive at all. It is some weird rules and you really need an example to flow off of that is clear. People just don't understand it. That's okay.

I still have yet to win this game. I am just terrible at it, even when teaching new players. I am duel focused though trying to help them, and work on my own board. There is almost always one player half way through saying screw it I am done I messed up too many times. gah!

Still loving this game, just need to figure out how to teach it better.

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Hey Hey! Day one of the con! Wednesday! Started out playing a couple games of NMBR 9 with a few fans of the blog. She wanted to check out this game because of my praise. I believe her name was Kathy, m apologies it has been 2 weeks! Wow, I am behind on this. haha

It was great and we had to play 2 times since the first game was just a mess and we all thought we can do better! Sure enough, the second game went a lot better for people. I think Ron won the first game and Kathy's husband won the second one.

Always happy to play NMBR 9! Simple and fun. Multiplayer solitaire a fav of mine.

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Next, we found Nathan and Brandon and got in several games with them. These guys are my fav! I love them and wish they lived in the area! Not only are they hilarious but they love the same games as me and play at the speed of light!

Brandon actually didn't want to play our first game Le Havre.

Ron, Nathan and I played 3 players. I was feeling pretty good about this game as we were playing, but the problem was everyone else was too. I was buying a lot of cheaper buildings, and mostly with money, which was the problem. I was spending too much and getting not much return.

It was all in all a very low scoring game where Nathan won with like 160 points or something. It was pretty terrible on all sides. We were just off our game it seemed. I had a couple cool combo I was working, but it wasn't enough and my HUGE loan pile was not helping me win this. Too many loans. Love this game, I just need to play it more.

I blame the fact that Nathan played the week before. He had a leg up on us. :P

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We decided it was best to play a 4 player game of Nations next. This game was about 2 hours and it was an amazing time. I actually played well!

This was the first game in a long long while that I have played super well. We were playing at a fantastic speed and I am able to focus at such a speed. Because of that, I was able to maintain a steady lead. Ron tried to break me early with a double loss in an early round.

I was able to swim through that disaster and collect my wonders and build them up. I was making so many early books and stones. So good! I don't think I have played such a great game. I was in the final scores with 50s and everyone else was in the 30s. It was great!

Probably the best play I had in the whole con.

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I ran into Stefan B and he was showing off 7 Wonders: Armada. I have played this several times now and I just can't get enough. The artwork is more finalized and it is looking amazing.

We played 4 players Stefan, Ron, Nathan and I and it was amazing. I think it is clear that the more you play this game the better you get. It was a pretty huge disaster for everyone except Stefan who absolutely destroyed us. I mean, he annihilated us. It was totally embarrassing. He was over 100 points! I think I was 2nd place with the 70s. Oh man, it was rough going. I don't even know how he did it. This was just base game and a new expansion, not even leaders or anything. So crazy!

LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Easily a fan of the year so far. So freaking good.

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He was showing off some prototypes we got to play and the first one was Concept Kids: Animals. New to me!

This is good. I like Concept but I am not clever enough. This is easy enough for me to totally understand. :P It is definitely for kids and all of the clues are animals to help narrow it down.

I think they do a good job of making it all fairly simple to understand and explain. I think kids would have a great time with this game and I would totally recommend it for families.

I would definitely play again, I think I ended up winning! Woohoo! I would never win Concept. I like abstract thinking like this and the kid's version is the easier one so I guess I will stick with that. :P It was a good time.

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He had one more prototype we got to try out called Just One. New to me!

This is a co-op game to try and get the players to guess the word on the card. There are 5 numbers on the card and the guesser picks a number. Each other player has to write a word down and if there are duplicate words among players they can not reveal the clues. If they aren't the same then they are revealed and the guesser can try and guess the clue.

It was a cute party game and I could totally play it anytime. I would often match another player so we were not the best teammates. There were a few rounds where it worked out for us though. I had fun learning it.

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Next up we found Sonja and we played a 4 player game of The Voyages of Marco Polo. She hadn't ever played before! She was an amazingly fast learner and it was awesome.

I think the game was over in 50 minutes! It was super fast. Ron was, of course, collecting all the goods with his favorite broken character. He was going last so he got first to pick a character. How super lame is that!

Sonja didn't have to pay to place on top of people, which I think is always a good first choice for new players. I was teleporting around I think. It was good for me since I could freely move to where I wanted to.

I ended up with a ton of end game points but it was still nowhere near the number of points Ron was able to rack in.

It was awesome and I am glad we could show the game to Sonja! I think she quite enjoyed it as well.

I don't know how, but I managed to forget to take a photograph! What is this BS. I had to pull an image from the past.

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Nathan took off and Sonja, Ron and I played a 3 player game of A Feast for Odin.

I honestly have been loving playing this game weekly and I hope it continues. I seriously love it. It might end up moving up the ranking in time. Currently, it holds its spot at #8 in my top 10. It is tricky since I love it so much. It is easier to get played than Civ, but Civ has that special place in my heart. Tricky business this top 10 of mine.

I was handed the wrong side of the board and I didn't notice until around 3 started. It meant I had a huge advantage. It was an honest mistake. I ended up with 2 fewer guys for that round, but I am not sure I made up for it. I actually don't remember if I won this game or not, but I did do pretty well. I still Think Ron was the big winner.

Sonja doesn't play this one as frequently as we do, but she still had a great time and was happy to have played with us. I was glad I got to play it too. She loves Uwe titles as much as we do. Seriously great stuff, did I hear an expansion is coming. Yes, Sign me up!

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Kris was looking for a game and I think we played with Derek too and they were interested in learning Coimbra. All the rage right now!

I got to learn this back in April and just loved it, so when I saw it available in the library I took the opportunity to check it out and teach some folks.

Derek later took it out and taught others how to play, so my job there was done! The game is super easy to teach and I have been doing well with that. I am all ready for an expansion. :P

It was great though and this time I was all over the map. I worked my way up the best tracks for the big end of game scoring there. There was one potential screw up I made when I was a $1 short and I had to take the pity action. It was sad but I still scored the same I have in the past games and ended up winning. The other guys were doing well in the game, but I had collected so many end of game cards and big scoring bonuses to really push me ahead into the lead.

Worked out, and I can't wait to get this game into the collection to play more of it.

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Also in the library, I was able to check out Ticket to Ride: New York. This is also all the rage at the moment. Has this hit Target yet? It will be HUGE when it does. I honestly believe this is a game for every collection.

I can't get enough and for it being so fast, well deserving of being in everyone's collection.

This game I was royally screwed over by Derek who didn't mean to destroy me but ended up costing me 17 points and even then it would have been a second place finish. I was down around 14 points to end the game since Derek took my final spot that I needed.

Thankfully the game is only 10 minutes or faster! Worked out majorly for Ron anyway! Jerkface!

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Ron and I were wondering the hall and ran into some folks setting up Pioneer Days. New to me!

This was great since I really wanted to learn this one and I had just gotten a copy! I didn't know much about the game other than there were dice, so I was super happy they could teach us.

In the game, you are playing 4 weeks and each week is 5 days. If you are pulling from the bag you pull # of players +1 Dice and roll them. Players then take turns drafting a die and taking the action which might be to collect a token like medicine or wood, it could be to grab $ or finally it might be to draft a townsfolk. You can always pay $3 to change the face of the die to your choice so you are never fully shut out of an action, there are ways.

The remainder die at the end will cause a disaster track to boost in the corresponding color. If it bumps to the end then you will have to figure out how to protect your stuff at that time. Caravans in trouble, you need wood to keep them safe. People in trouble you need medicine etc.

It wasn't so bad once you were playing, but I can see how some hate drafting might get the table into some trouble. If a black die remains then all tracks bounce 1 step. Ouch!

You are playing all of these dice and collecting gold nuggets and equipment. All trying to get the most points at the end. The townsfolk really hone into your strategy and will help you score end game points if you draft the right ones. They might have some cool bonuses too.

Lots of things to look out for.

I really love drafting games and this one works for me. There is no real hatred happening in this game, but it still has a bite. The length is a bit long but could be really great with 2 players. I will have to check it out at that number.

This game I didn't win but I did do alright. Ron got away with murder and collected all of the Townsfolk and just got an insane amount of points at the end of the game. I think he was like 30 points over us all. It was horrible he absolutely crushed it.

I look forward to trying my hand at this one again soon!

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I got to hang out and play some games with friends, Collin, Cindy, and Spencer and I picked out Abyss.

I am nearly certain this game didn't go over too well. I was hoping it would, but I am not sure I explained it properly, or if gamers were just bored with it. It is really hard to tell. I quite enjoy it, but I ended up winning. I got a lot of lords into play so that really helped me out.

I think they were all missing the concept of really focusing on getting those lords. Some have cool powers etc.

It was fun to play it again. I am not sure it is one for the ages, but I am always happy when it gets to the table. I will continue to keep my copy though. Good times! Amazing artwork.

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Cindy really wanted to learn one from her long list of games to play. I was not too excited to play a lot of those titles, but I found one we could try called Ex Libris.

I certainly know this game very well. It was a super fast game though because the location tiles that came out and the characters we were using allowed for us to really play lots of cards down.

It was over in like 3 or 4 rounds and everyone had full bookshelves.

I was doing terribly with my hidden scoring card and majorities. Ron totally killed it, I am not sure how he got so many books down but he was able to with ease. WTH, it was crazy.

Still a great game to bring out and play. I am not sure Cindy loved it like she wanted to, but I think she was happy to play it in the end. I love it!

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I scheduled Teotihuacan: City of Gods because this was a game I had to play! New to me!

This has been on the must-try list since I saw it being played at GAMA. New game from Designers Daniele Tascini & Dávid Turczi and MAN DO I LOVE their other games. I will tell you (spoiler) this is MY FAVORITE design by either of them. I really love T'zolkin but this game is even better.

The game itself is not hard to teach and play, it is how you manage everything throughout the gameplay which makes it so very interesting. In the game, you are using dice to move around the board and take actions. It is one big rondel where you gain better actions if you have more of your dice in one location and if the dice are of higher value. Whenever you land in a location with a pre-existing die you have to play coco. This is a main currency in the game and you really need coco to get by.

This is a resource management game where you are collecting the wood/stone/gold to use to build up the temple and build the houses to move up different tracks. Yes, there are lots of glorious tracks, but not as punishing as the god tracks in T'zolkin.

Each space you go to will advance your dice by one pip, usually just one of your dice. If you were to ever go from 5 to 6 you will then Ascend and the dice rotates to a 1. You get to move up a track and get a cool bonus, which is greatly needed. You have options of many bonuses, but one can be a new die to use in the game. Of course, that means more feeding. There are 3 rounds in the game and you will have a scoring and feeding after each round which you need to prepare for. Once each player takes a turn then the round marker advances, but it will also advance whenever a player ascends as well. Timing is critical and it can make or break a players game for sure. You will be scoring for your help with building the temple and houses and how far along you have made it up the track of the dead.

There are a lot of cool scorings to be aware of and plan for with so many different strategies and even the spaces on the board will move around from game to game. There is so much replay value in this box it is unreal. I believe it will even be a $50 MSRP which is INSANE- I predict this will be the game of the year for most people. It is at or near the top of my list already only after a few plays.

I got to play the first game with Jess, Ed and Derek and Jess was the only one who had played before but Rainer was amazing and such a joy to be around and talk with. So pleased we got to play this. It was pretty long with teaching and playing but still completed in under 3 hours. I was honed in for a long haul strategy and I wasn't getting a lot of early game points but the end game points were insane and I managed to get over 200 points. It would have been about 20 more had I planned slightly better, but I learned and played better in the second game. I still ended up winning that first game by a landslide, and I am pretty sure Ed was confident he would be winning that game. Totally owned it though. It was great.

In the second game I was teaching Ron and Nathan how to play since they were interested and I really wanted to play again, while I had the chance. It was awesome. Rainer was there while I explained and he gave me some praise for my explanation which was awesome. I did well! I forgot some minor details since I hadn't used those details in the first play at all.

This time I did great though, and did about 10 points better that game than the first game. I think Ron was having a frustrating game and was figuring it out by what I was doing. I think Nathan was enjoying it somewhat, at least more than he enjoys T'zolkin. Ron might have been frustrated but he quite enjoyed it and he was definitely turning gears for how to play the next game better. He fell into his strategy too late, but could see all of the possibilities for future plays.

This was such an awesome experience and I simply can not wait until I can get this game into my hands. NSKN has a surefire hit on their hands and I am psyched to see it all explode.

Photos thanks to Ed!

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Rick had a new game in prototype form he wanted to show me so how could I deny him! He showed us Dark Side of the Mine. New to me!

This was an interesting card game with a hand management element, but really you were trying to collect point by mining the different planets. The cards were interesting since you were getting actions with your cubes, but each turn there is a dark card that gets added but also one that is revealed. It is like a shadow zone that is moving around the circle.

It was an interesting prototype and I am interested to see where it ends up. Again, Ron was much better at this game than the rest of us. I wasn't using my cards wisely and they were hard to come by so I should have been more careful. It was a fast game though so I wasn't too invested in what I was doing. I will definitely play better next time now that I know.

Pretty cool.

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Later that night I ran into Rob Daviau and he was super awesome. I met him back in April and he is a super cool guy. He remembered that I liked to play tons of games and I offered to teach him and his wife a game. In the game library, it was pretty sparse but settled on Coal Baron.

I love this game, I think it has some cool mechanics and plays in a quick time. Always good times and good choices. You really have to plan accordingly. Collin ended up joining in as the 4th player and everyone was learning. Pretty easy game to teach and play. Rob ended up going to pick up his prototype for Cthulhu Death May Die, and man, he was getting a lot of googly eyes over that one. He later offered to teach me, but I wasn't sure it would be my cup of tea. I would try it when it is completed though!

Coal Baron was a nail-biter until the end. I managed to nudge everyone out by only a few points. It was so tight though. I got some major end game scoring with majorities in the types of transport and empty carts. It was pretty great. I am not sure I won them over with this game, but they all said they enjoyed it and I am happy to get this game played again. It was great!

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The next morning I scheduled a game of Caverna: The Cave Farmers with Sonja and Derek joined in. Amanda stopped by the table and we played a 4 player game.

This game I was stressed out since we had scheduled a game right after and I knew we would be late with this 4 player game going. Most people weren't as familiar with the game as I was.

I went for a totally different strategy this time and picked up 5 workers. It was costly, but I was getting a ton of actions. Poor Amanda, I thought she knew the game better but she said she learned it when it first came out from Essen all those years ago.

So, this ended up not being the best game we all played, but I think everyone still had a good time remembering how to play.

We got through it though an I ended up winning by a fair deal. I think Derek and Amanda were closely tied in 3rd and 4th place and Sonja was a distance 2nd. Whoops! I do have a lot more experience with this one though. Amazing game I still love it so much!

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

The game we had scheduled was Dice Settlers. New to me!

This was exciting to me since I backed the kickstarter and I really wanted to try it out since it seemed awesome. 4x dice game, sign me up. You are bag building a collection of dice.

You always get to pull some number of dice and that number might grow larger as the game goes on. When you roll your dice you can take up to 2 actions in the round. One at a time going around the table taking these actions. You might explore, or research tech, or collect resources. So many things you can do with these dice, and there are plenty of opportunities to revise your dice by spending resources or other dice to change or reroll some dice. Lots of control, it is all in how you use the dice you get.

This game was simply wonderful. It was still in prototype form, but I got a good feeling for the game and I can't wait for the kickstarter to deliver! I can see this game getting played a bunch of times. I was happy that Derek got to play with me and Sonja. It was a great time.

There is an area control type mechanic with the tiles you are exploring in the game. There are a lot of points to be had if you have some majorities.

Sonja absolutely killed it this game and just destroyed since she got her houses down and there were lots of points to be had there. It was a fun challenge to figure out.

I enjoy that there are so many different ways for the game to end, and it is the perfect length! NSKN is on a roll!! Loving what they are bringing to the table. Simply great! I can't wait to play again.

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

We had some time to kill and we found Bethany and Aaron so we played Sagrada.

This was my BEST GAME EVER. Everything went incredibly right this time around. I haven't ever scored so high in this game. I believe I was around 90 points at the end of it. I got max points for all of the bonus cards and a TON of points for my hidden bonus. Covered my board completely. Everything was just n'sync. :P

I smoked everyone hardcore this time. It was just all amazing. I think Bethany managed to get over 50 points but everyone else was under. I dunno what happened but I doubt it will ever happen again. :P

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

Next up Mike Hinson was so kind and taught us his game End of the Trail. New to me!

This was a recently delivered Kickstarter with amazing production. I mean the art and the quality is top! I was grateful for the rules explanation because the rulebook is like a textbook. For a pretty easy and quick game, there are certainly a lot of rules happening. I ended up teaching this game this (past) weekend and it was more difficult than I was expecting.

The game is played in 3 rounds and you are doing a number of things. You have an auction for cards you might want to use, then you select cards you will use from your hand in the round. These cards might play into your final poker hand you want to be thinking about too. During the round, the cards you have pre-selected will be used to scout for gold from the tiles on display. Mountains might find you higher gold than the foothills. You can try to push your luck int he round if you think you can find a higher location but you might bust and have to take a lower value if you don't.

You are doing this for end game points but also you get to select a couple card you played int eh round to add to a final end of the game poker hand. This poker hand will claim an additional location at the end of the game and get you some major bonus points. I do wonder if this is too strong for the games I have played the person who claimed the end tile also won the game. But, I want to play some more times to find out.

The gameplay was quick and albeit we should have played more than once to really get a better sense of the game. I really liked how quickly it does play out. I do think there are a bit too many mechanics at work here and something probably should have been edited out to make it a simpler teach and play. Is the bidding phase really needed or can luck of the draw be enough.

Definitely, one to play again. I will be returning to this game in the near future for sure.

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

That night we decided to try and wait for Teotihuacan to be free and to kill some time we played several rounds of Linko!. This is a great filler because you can simply stop after a round or keep playing. Rounds don't last that long and you can just play another round if you have the time.

Totally a great game. I was super last this time. It was neck and neck with Nathan and Ron, but of course, Ron is better at this game I was not Abluxxing him before his turn so he got away with going out nearly every round. I went out one round but still managed to score the least amount of points. How is that fair. It is not!

It is always a great game to play and even lose at.

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

The final day of the con and I was just hanging out with Brandon and some guys showed up with a NIS game of The Flow of History.

I was happy to play this one. I didn't get the chance to play the new TMG version of the game. It is all pimped out and very beautiful. The colors are vivid and the metal coins are wonderful. Great production.

This game is just great. There are a lot of interesting choices to be made. It plays out in a quick time too. Each game will be the same length since you are working your way through the deck of cards each time. It reminds me a bit of TTA, but not because of the auction mechanic. All of the cards are there so if you know what to expect you will have a better understanding. It still might not mean you get the cards you want or need though since the auction mechanic is so critical.

Fun game and this time I was the epic loser. It was a close race though and I know Ron was in it. I don't recall the winner though, I feel like it was Joe K because of something I did. But, I might have miscalculated the final round where Ron was still able to get a final power card, so I am not sure.

So glad I could play this game. I would happily play this game more if it is ever requested.

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

I promised Evan I would teach him Haspelknecht to get it off his unplayed pile. I ended up not teaching it, which was fine, but we did play!

I forget who was teaching it but he was not a big fan of the game. I think that totally hinders an experience of the game. So, of course, Evan was less than impressed at the end of the game. For me, it was a so-so experience. I dunno, I should be used to playing with jaded gamers. Oh well.

I still love this game, I was trying a different strategy this time. I didn't clear any coal from my board. I was working strictly from the houses I was collecting to get coal from the sticks I was selling. It was totally working too.

I was way in the lead for most of the game, but I didn't have a whole lot of end game scoring for the coal or anything. I didn't end up the winner though.

Always happy to play this game. I want to try it again soon with the expansion. It has been far too long since I tried that out!

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

Final game of DTC was Qwinto. To my surprise Collin, Cindy and Evan all hadn't played this game before. We were already kicked out of the main hall by this point and playing in the lobby of the main hotel.

I made one critical error this game which ended up costing me lots of points. I needed to rearrange my final placement of a number to score a pentagon for lots of points and I think I might have won in that case.

Oh well, by that time in the con it was nearly all over for me and I was totally useless. 2 weeks of non-stop gaming and amazingness can really put a toll on you.

It was all in all they were amazing trips!

:star::nostar::star::nostar::star::nostar::star:

Amazing friends and time this week and on the Alaskan cruise! Maybe one day I will catch up to real time! But GenCon is around the corner and I still have so much to plan for and play between now and then! :heart:

Hey The new BGG TV Show was posted if you missed it you can check it out here:

Youtube Video

New to the Collection:
Galaxy Wrestling Federation
Dice Fishing: Roll and Catch
CVlizations x2
Bubblee Pop x2
OddVille
Star Realms: Frontiers
Oaxaca: Crafts of a Culture
VivaJava: The Coffee Game
VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game
Cahoots
Shifting Realms

Thanks for following along!

Happy Gaming!!!

-Steph

I made a FB group for the blog if you are on there and want to chat up some games! Check it out!
https://www.facebook.com/AlltheMeeplesoftheRainbow

All images in this post are copyright, owned, and controlled by Steph Hodge Photography Unless otherwise noted.
Please contact me if you would like to purchase or use my images in any way.
Thank you.

by Mark Hengst II

So I have spoken at length, on more than one occasion, about my obsessive collective tendencies when it comes to the hobby of tabletop gaming. My collection has gone from 8-10 at the start of 2017, to over 100 today in 2018. Initially, much of my gaming money was spent either buying up Eldritch and Arkham Horror and their expansions, or buying a bunch of sets of LCG booster packs and expansions. Then I have my numerous miscellaneous purchases, such as Cave Troll, Jamaica and Android Mainframe, which I picked up for very little money during last year's Asmodee clearance sale. I can recall picking up all of the Cosmic Encounter expansions, one at a time, simply to have the whole set, despite not having played the game at that point in time. At first there was a mostly logical progression to my purchases, as I bought Cthulhu-themed games that I thought my wife would enjoy, as well as other games, such as Ex Libris, which I assumed she would also like, having been an actual librarian at one time.

As last year and then this year progressed, my collection started to increase at quite the clip. This time, it was me finding an purchasing games that I had missed out on. In the last 8 months alone, I picked up Merkator, Le Havre, At the Gates of Loyang and A Feast for Odin, and Nusfjord , because I determined that I would enjoy playing Uwe Rosenberg's games. Fortunately I was correct and that part, and even more fortunately, the games all support solo play. This also started me into trying to find and purchase copies of out of print games that I felt I "needed" to add to my collection. This included:

Thunderstone Advance Numenera - purchased brand new

At The Gates of Loyang - purchased brand new
Chaos in the Old World - purchased an open, but never played copy
Forbidden Stars - purchased brand new
Battlestar Galactica - purchased brand new

I purchased these either on Ebay, or thorugh BGG auctions, which I have found to be another dangerous means of acquiring games.

Still, prior to this, I had only Kickstarted one game, the Ninth World: a Skillbuilding Game for Numenera. Sadly, this was not to be the end for my Kickstarter obsession. First, my wife and I purchased a Table of Ultimate Gaming. It is a 4x6 gaming table, that has a recessed gaming surface, but can be used as a dinner table by using the cover. We are excited about receiving it and expect it at any point in the next few weeks. Secondly, I backed the KS campaign for Kill the Unicorns, as it looked like something my wife and I would enjoy and we didn't have a lot of lighter games at that point. The thrid campaign I backed this year was the Dinosaur Island Campaign. I went all in on this campaign and expect to receive the base game in the next 2 weeks and hopefully the expansion and Duelosaur Island by the end of the year. After that......well things started to go downhill for me.

I backed Unbroken, because its premise and game mechanisms appeal to me and I like the idea of solo games designed from the ground up for solo play. I next back Imperious, which seems like a fun card based game that will present an interesting challenge and be good for starter games on game night. Then CMON launched the campaign for Zombicide Invader, the "zombies?" in space game that seemed to be a slight evolution on what I had experienced in Black Plague. However, they had me at the $150 soldier pledge which was the base game and some extra content, and then they dropped the Dark Side add-on. This was a $90 standalone set that was a little different. They billed it as a "limited print run" which made the collector in my scream. Annoyed, I dropped down to $1 and went on with my life.

Gugong the Forbidden City and Cosmic Run: Regeneration, scratched different, but equally compelling itches for me. Gugong looks beautiful and the game itself, from what I have read and seen, should be a lot of fun and sort of hit that mid-weight euro game feel. Cosmic Run: Regeneration, is a much smaller game, but it has a solid cooperative mode and after watching the Ant Lab games play through, I decided to give it a backing. Plus after Biblios, I will tend to give Dr. Finn games a chance. Hellboy was the next big campaign, and being a fan of Mike Mingola's work, coupled with the great movie versions, I decided to back this. Much like Zombicide Invaders, the campaign creep started to come in, with numerous add-ons raising the price to close to or over (with shipping) $200. Yet again, I dropped to a dollar and moved on.

Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea was a game I had been circling for a while, so when it came back to Kickstarter with a new expansion, I went all in on it. When I say all-in, I mean everything that you could get for it, to include the pre-painted minis. I don't really have anything like it in my collection and so I jumped on it. Shortly after this, I got an email informing me that the 7th Continent pledge manager was re-opening and I now had a chance to go all-in on it and its expansions. Realizing that this was likely to be my last chance to get the game at a lower price, I once again took the plunge. Meanwhile, Snowdownia hit Kickstarter and had me pretty interested. I was at $1, thinking of getting the game, when I saw a BGG post for a DC area group buy. I ended up getting the game for around $52 due to having either 30 or 36 people in on the buy.

At this point, I knew I had at least one major campaign remaining on Kickstarter, that being Cthulhu: Death May Die. Which if you have read this blog you know I also went all-in, even purchasing the huge 2ft tall Cthulhu statue for the game. While this campaign was going on, I backed two much smaller games in the form of Wreck Raiders and New Corp Order. One is a family weight game and the other a card based game that looked fun. I actually canceled New Corp Order and the designer started messaging me via Kickstarter messages and after chatting a little I decided to re-back the campaign. Sometimes persistence can pay off and customer engagement, especially for one lone customer, is an impressive feat.

One would think by the point, that I would be exhausted by all of this stuff. One would be mostly right....up to a point. I am currently backing AEG's Thunderstone Quest at all-in, having missed last year's campaign. I am backing at a level that will have the base game delivered to me 6-8 weeks after the campaign ends, as they have about 1k copies on hand still. Additionally I am backing the Call to Adventure game, based largely on it's ties to Patrick Rothfus' Name of the Wind series, and the Terror of London deckbuilding game. I am feeling like at least one of these 3 games is going to be dropped, possibly two of them. I have also been trying not to look at Vital Lacerda's Escape Plan, as it also might be worth a play.

As a side note, or perhaps a sad note? I went into the pledge manager for Zombicide Invader and went all-in. I don't have a zombicide game and the nature of the game its game play appealed to me. It is like a far less involved crawl and I think there is a place for it in my collection. Or perhaps I am just trying to rationalize my spending habits. Either way, I think I just need to finally stop. While I will be getting a slew of interesting games in 2019, I have shelves full of games that I am not playing right now. My recently found love of Legendary Marvel Superheroes, has led me to join my first BGG league and I only have one expansion for the game. If it kills, me, I am going to quit the Kickstarter obsession and get back to playing games. At least that is my plan.....

Thanks for reading my Meeple Life Crisis.

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