Vacation is not always vacation. Sometimes it feels as if it is a little bit of a chore that you go off in order to gain more experiences in this thing called life. Because of this, you can run off to exotic locations around the world to try to see what there is to see there, and enjoy all the things that the place has to offer only to find out that when you return from it, you are more tired than when you left for vacation. It is not a bad thing because those memories are what we hold on to while we work our way through employment. But every once in a while, it is nice to go off to some place with no other plan than to sit by a pool, have a couple of drinks, and let those tight muscles unwind as you let go of the worries of the world you left behind.
Of course, Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to do exactly just this, especially if you live far enough away from the United States where you cannot enjoy the American traditions. I am lucky enough to work for an American company in Peru, so I still got the holiday off, and it makes it even better when the rest of the country does not. This allowed me to run off to a relaxing weekend without the holiday crowds that might be attracted there by those who also have the time off. I took off down south from Lima to a resort that was situated on the grounds of a winery, and enjoyed myself by sitting back and finding out what this out-of-the-way place had to offer.
This was to be a different kind of vacation, one where I did not go hunting for the great touristy thing to do; instead, I just looked at what the place around me had to offer and enjoyed that. There was no reason for me to leave the resort because there were a lot of fun things to do, and it was always accompanied by a glass of wine straight from the vineyard.
What fun and games that the place did not have available were accompanied by a couple boardgames that I brought with me, as well as the other games that the people I went out there with as well. If I am being honest, the weekend turned into me playing board games, and reading books by the pool. I know that does not sound very exciting, but as a teacher approaching the end of the semester, this was the type of vacation that I needed.
And if I ever felt like I was going to be bored, I could always take a stroll out in the fields. The weather was perfect for this, and at dusk, it was fun to wander through the vines, looking at the grapes, and trying to find what creatures were out there waiting for their chance to dine. I did find many birds flying about, but it was better at dusk because this was when the surprises would start to wander around.
We went out into the fields for the main purpose of finding owls that we could take pictures of. We had heard that they were out there, and it did not take us long to find a few of them. Getting a good picture of them was a little more difficult because when I got to close to them, they would screech at me and fly away. Still, I was not to be deterred, and I was able to finally get a picture that I am happy to share with you now.
There were a lot of other surprises that could be found on the grounds of the resort. Not just the views, but the old relics that they collected to add a little character to the place. There were the women placed on the front of ships to guide the sailors through their long ocean voyages, old carts that were used to carry the wine into town, and old clay pots that used to be buried under the ground used to let the wine ferment.
I was also fortunate enough to be able to make this trip with a great group of friends. It made this holiday weekend away from the United States feel like I had found a family that I could celebrate with. There was plenty of downtime, but there was also a person there ready to pick me up when I felt like having something to do. It made this little getaway resort feel like a bigger vacation than it actually was, and will be part of the reason that it will stick with me for years to come.
It is the reason that many people reserve the place for large gatherings. They create a destination event where a lot of friends can gather together to enjoy their time together. The place will organize the food, the wine, and the entertainment with you, and then after the event, all you have to do is stumble your way to your room and crash for the evening. There are also enough places on the ground where various parties can go on at the same time without having to disturb another one some place else.
It was a great way to spend the long weekend, and I look forward to finding other little places like this one in Peru where I can get away from the big city and recharge again. It will make my time out here even more enjoyable.
In an old strip mall that has a bunch of dying shops that I have driven by numerous times during my fifty years of stomping around Littleton, there is a shop that has opened in the last ten years called Enchanted Grounds. I have known about it, but its non-descript sign and the closed blinds made me think that it was a dump that was biding its time until it would close down and another business would take its place. This was until I needed to find a place to finish up my Dungeons and Dragons campaign and somebody suggested that I check out this place. So I took a walk down the street to see if it would be a great place to finish up the campaign.
What I found there was one of those places that I had been looking for ever since I have gotten back into the board game hobby. It was a cozy little cafe with large tables where you could set up games for up to ten people if needed. There were plenty of tables too and when I asked if I would need a reservation for a table, they chuckled and said that this was not usually necessary. They also sold a fair amount of good games, books for various role playing games, miniatures for these games as well as the paint to make them your own.
What made it perfect was the coffee and small bites served by a delightful staff. I wouldn’t want to indulge in these during the nighttime, but during the day, it was the perfect way to jumpstart me on my way. There were many people there that were enjoying a coffee drink while playing a game, browsing for a new one, or just hanging out with their friends. It just showed me that I shouldn’t judge a place by its outside because when I walked inside, I instantly fell in love with the place. It will be a long time before I am able to make my way back there, but it is nice to know that it is there and has a big enough clientele that they will still be in business by the time I make my way back to the United States to enjoy it again.
Welcome to your nightmare. There is nothing worse than the dark shadows that lurk in the corners of our consciousness while we are unable to do anything about them. At least there are hidden doors that will lead us to safety. If we can only find them within our imagination filled with sunny days, watery depths, deep forests, and tall bookshelves. It goes deeper than the dreams we have at night; it is an introduction to the world created by Shadi Torbey, the Oniverse, a series of games produced by Z-Man games designed for solo players to immerse themselves into the various corners of his imagination.
If you have had the opportunity to play one of the Oniverse games, you know about the solo game design that scratches that itch to play a complex game when nobody else is around. Even though the box claims that the games are designed for one to two players, they are basically solo board games that are wonderful to experience time and time again. Onirim is the one that started is all off, and is the perfect one to look at when introducing oneself to the wonderful world of the Oniverse.
THEME
This is a story that is birthed in our greatest fears, hidden deep within our minds. We are the only ones that can find the doors to help us escape from this fear, and we have to duck and dodge the terrors that could easily find us. The theme of this game really comes to life as you sort through the cards and look for the combination that will allow you to escape from the terrors. Sometimes doors will appear when you do not have what you need in order to open that door, just like it happens in a dream. At other times, the key you have been holding for a long time will come into use to open up another door that you had been looking for a long time. Throughout all of this, there is the creature lurking in the darkness that is the greatest fear that we hold in our hearts. It will come out unexpectedly, and send us to another corner quickly just to escape the horror that it brings with it. All of these ideas present themselves brilliantly in this game, and it sometimes feels as if you are a part of that dreamscape in your waking hours.
Rating – 10
GAMEPLAY
At the heart of this game is solitaire card play. There is a stack of cards that you will draw one card from into a hand of five. Within that deck, there are four different suits with moon cards, sun cards, key cards, and door cards. After you have drawn a card, you have to either play it to a matrix that will give you the combination that will open the doors so you can escape your nightmare. You do this by playing three cards from the same suit in a row where you do not repeat the symbol on the card. If you cannot play to the matrix, you must discard a card. While all this is happening, you have to beware the Oniverse monsters that are lurking in the deck. If you draw one of these, you have the potential to lose all the cards in your hand to the discard pile, a key card which are more powerful than other symbols, or lose five cards you have not even seen yet. You win if you open all the doors. You lose if you make through the whole deck without opening up all the doors.
There are a couple of rules, but this is basically what is at the heart of the gameplay. It is a fun little puzzle, and after a couple of games, you can fall easily into its rhythm much like you do with any game of solitaire. The problem with the game comes when you come across a door or a Oniverse monster. You resolve the conflict that comes with one of these cards, and then you have to reshuffle the deck. During one game of Onirim you can end up shuffling the deck up to fifteen times that will pull you out of that rhythm that you are looking for in a solitaire game.
If you are looking for a more streamlined version of the game, there is an app version of the game that can include two of the expansions that come with the game. It is a little wonky when trying to discard a card, but for the most part it solves the problem of always having to reshuffle the cards anytime one of the special cards shows up. It does not have the feel of a solitaire card game, but it is a great way to experience the game especially if you find yourself waiting around and have nothing to do.
Rating – 8
ARTWORK
The unboxing experience is always a fun one, but never have I ever been more enthralled than when opening the box for Onirim for the first time. Elise Plessis, the artist for the game went beyond just supplying with pretty pictures, and cute little plastic pieces. The box unfolds all of the goodies hidden inside through various layers just like you are entering the nightmare that you will eventually try to escape. This then opens up to the two large decks of cards that includes not only the base game but all of the expansions that come with the game. There is a little plastic monster that comes with the game tat serves no real purpose but adds to the mystique of the game. I like to place it just outside of my gameplay to remind me that the monster is lurking anywhere within the confines of my adventure through the cards. The cards themselves have a surreal artwork that belongs nowhere else but the dreamland that you are about to enter. It all combines to immerse a person into the dramatic theme that goes along with this game.
Rating – 10
SOLO PLAY
Like a lot of games out there, Onirim markets itself as a game that is able to be played by two people but in reality, it is nothing more than a solo game. It is a great puzzle to work out, but my one complaint with it is the constant reshuffling that occurs during the game. The base game is a little easy as well, and after you figure out what to do in each situation, it presents a game very similar to regular solitaire that does not offer a lot of options in its design. The complication starts to occur when you start to add the expansions that come with the game, and it allows you to amp up the options that are available to you.
Rating – 7
EXPANSIONS/ OTHER GAMES in the ONIVERSE
Just like the box says, Onirim comes with seven different expansions. If you get the app, two of the options are available to you, and the nice thing about all of these expansions, you can mix and match them until you create the deck that you like to play the most. It also adds enough variety to the game that it will have you opening the box on numerous occasions to see if you can escape from the nightmare presented to you. This makes the game extremely fun with an great amount of replay-ability that allows it to live on long after you have bought it.
Onirim is also the introduction to the Oniverse, a series of solitaire games that Shadi Torbey claims that you can play with two people. At the writing of this blog there are eight games in total with what appears to be a new additional coming soon. Each game is another box with a great solo experience with additional expansions to the game that you can mix and match to create your own version of the game that you like best. The games do not work with each other except thematically, and they are more there own games than they are an extension of Onirim. Like any other sequels there are some better than others. I have not played all of them, but out of the ones I have played I enjoy Sylvion the best though there are some other fun ones out there.
Rating – 9
OVERALL
Onirim and its universe is a great introduction to solo board gaming. The games possess a zen-like quality to them that help you relax while presenting you with an engaging puzzle. Each box in the Oniverse has enough variety and challenge that you can build your own deck to find the complexity of the puzzle that you are most comfortable with. Though I do enjoy the app more than the actual box for the game Onirim because of the amount of shuffling involved to play the game right, the other games do not have this problem, and at the time of writing this review, also do not have apps available. It is always nice to have a box or two in the Oniverse in your collection so you can have a great solo experience that you are looking for.
Some may only see plastic and cardboard Bound by a thick, complicated rulebook. They can’t comprehend why it’s so adored, But then again they do not really look. They do not see the shared story unfold, Brought on by an agreed set of guidelines As the colorful meeples fight for gold While evading the engine’s greatest fines. It brings our laughter from all who attend, And they do not care if they lose or win For the only care they have in the end Was that the tale was able to begin. So do not bring to us your hate and shame; Instead, join us for our little board game.
It was another great year of traveling the world, and reading excellent pieces of literature. Combine this with a full time job, and you would think that I would not have enough time for another hobby, but I enjoy nothing more than sitting down with a group of friends to play a game. I have been extremely lucky in this capacity for I was able to play 72 different games over the course of the year. I have taken that list of games, ran them through the Pub Meeple engine in order to put together this list of what I consider the 20 best games I have played this year. Here is what I think those games to be, and how their position has changed from the list last year:
20. Scythe (Down 2)
This is an amazing area control, economic game set in a post-World War I landscape in Eastern Europe. The mechanics of this game are phenomenal, and it is one of the more complicated games to be found on this list. Because of its complication, it makes it hard to get to the table, and to find people who are willing to play it. It also takes at least a couple of hours to play a game. I enjoy the time that I get to play the game, but because of the limited times that I get to play it, it ranks lower on the list.
19. Smash Up (New)
This is a game that has been introduced to me a few time over the years. I usually play it once with the person that introduced it to me, and then I instantly forget about it. Well, I ended up purchasing the app this year, and I find myself drifting to it often. It can be frustrating at time with the powers that come with some of the factions that you can mash up together, but it also fun being that frustrating player that makes everybody’s life a nightmare during a game. I can see myself playing this more of the course of the next year.
18. Stone Age (New)
I don’t play many worker placement games, but this one has become one of my favorites. There are many ways that you can find those victory points to make it a fun puzzle to engage with. It also has just enough luck thrown in to make any game interesting enough to not now what will happen in the end. My favorite part is that you need to use two workers in the hut in order to make another worker. Thematically it works, and overall, it is just a fun game to play.
17. Unmatched (Down 13)
I know that this game markets itself that it can be played by up to four players, but it really sings when played by only two. The game has great asymmetric characters that are balanced well, and they keep on adding new characters are environments to bring new battles to life. It is my favorite chess match, and I am always excited to see what new characters they will bring out. I usually play it on the app, and I would love for them to add more characters through that medium, but I am still enjoying the twelve that can be found there.
16. Cascadia (New)
This was an impulse buy I picked up over the summer while hanging out in Oregon. Since I have gotten it, it has made it to the table on numerous occasions. It is relatively easy to teach, and it looks like it would be an easy game to master, but in fact, it has a great puzzle within its simple design. I also love the fact that it comes with different levels of the puzzle, so you can always challenge yourself with something a little more difficult. I can see this one moving up on the list in following years.
15. Pandemic (Down 1)
Easily one of the best cooperative games ever made, but it has one flaw with it. In order to play at the level that it is designed at, you need to have a group of people who understand the game enough and are willing to have those discussions that the game is designed to have. If you do not, what happens is that one person starts to quarterback, and it becomes just one person playing the game. I will admit it that I tend to become the quarterback, and my goal is to have fun not tell people what to do. Because of this, I usually play this game by myself, and it still brings me a lot of enjoyment as I try to save the world from various threats.
14. Dungeons and Dragons (Down 9)
Just like last year, I have to say that I know that this is not a board game, and some people will believe that it should not be on this list. To those people, I would say that any time I can get a group of friends together to laugh and enjoy the story that we unfold, it is considered a game. I am on the third year of this campaign, and it is starting to wind up. We have played together for so long together that we know each others’ characters and quirks so well that the role-playing aspect has taken over the general game play. It has been a fun group, and I will be sorry when we wrap up the story. I hope that I can find another group to play with next year that is as tight as this group. It is because of this that this game will always find a place on this list.
13. Raiders of the North Sea
I know that there are a lot of other Garphill Games out there that people are always talking about, and I start every new year vowing that I will try another one of them, but then the year passes and the only one I have played is Raiders of the North Sea. I have not even played any of the numerous expansions that can make this game a more complicated one. Despite this, I still love playing this game. I got the digital version of it to play while traveling through Iceland, and now every time I play it, I am reminded of that trip. It is a great worker placement game, and I can only see the playing of a different Garphill Game getting me to move it off of this list.
12. Castles of Burgundy (New)
I know many people have this game as their top spot on their favorite games of all time, so I made the effort to try it out this year. I can see why this gets that distinction from so many people; it is a great game with mechanics that I have never seen anywhere else. It is having a little bit of a revival at this time because of a new edition that has come out which makes the game look spectacular, but the original game is just as good. The long game play makes it hard to get to the table at times, but it is always a joy when it happens.
11. Arkham Horror: The Card Game (Up 4)
I had heard that it was a great game to play with people but most people liked to play it solo. There was going to be a lot of times when I would be by myself, and I wanted a good solo experience for those lonely nights, so I picked this game up. I am glad I did. It has many different scenarios that you can play through and each of them have their own little challenge with the same rule set. The scenarios are even fun to play through more than once as the outcomes change as you go through them. This is one that will always be on my shelf, and I can’t wait to play through more stories as they come out.
10. Long Shot (New)
I bought this game for a trip that I was going to take with a group of friends, and then we didn’t go on that trip. I had this game that was supposed to be great for bigger groups of people, and now I could only play it with my wife at my house, so I needed to find a bigger group of people to play it with. This is when I brought it to the pub, and I found that group quickly. This became the game that I would always bring to the pub, and it really started to shine when we played it with eight people. I love this game, and I love how the final race becomes a crazy race that nobody knows who is going to win. It is always a hit, and I have found very few people who have not enjoyed it.
9. The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine (Up 1)
I will lump both of the Crew games together because they work off of the same mechanic, and I am still surprised how collaborative a trick taking game can be. Last year I included the Deep Sea Nine edition of the game which I do believe is slightly better. This year I hopped back to the original, The Quest for Planet Nine, because I have been playing it more often with the groupI have played with for four years, and we are at the 43rd mission. We hope to finish it in the next couple of months, and I have no idea what type of feeling that will give me. This is a great game, and it is easy to bring to the table because once people get into its addictive nature, it ends up getting played all night long.
8. Everdell (Down 1)
Everdell will always hold a special place in my heart. It was 2020, and we were stuck in our house. We needed something to do or we were going to go crazy. I had done some research on modern board games, and I had discovered this one. It was a new way of thinking about games for me, so I picked up a copy of it. Instantly, it became the thing that we did during the long evenings to help us make it through the pandemic. We might have overplayed it, and it sat on the shelf more lately than it has in the past. Still, we bring it out, and I am quickly reminded of it brilliance, especially when you add an expansion or two. It is the game that got me back into the board game hobby, and I will always appreciate the way it helped me through a difficult time of my life.
7. Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile (Down 4)
This is not a game for everybody. The rules are expansive, and it is hard to teach people how to play the game because of it. There is also the problem of the game evolving after each play as the cards change, thereby, changing the way the game is played. But I have been lucky to find a group of people to play with that is enjoying the history that we are creating with the board. When the moment of that history is dramatic, and the group is adding to creating that history, this game really sings. It is hard to get the group together to play, but it is fun every time I am able to make it happen.
6. Clank! In! Space! (New)
I know that this list does not reflect the fact that I have been getting into deck-building lately, but one deck-building game stood head and shoulders above all the others that I played this year, Clank! In! Space! I loved the way the game combines this famous mechanic with a push your luck element. I was lucky enough to play this version of the game as well as the original Clank! Both are great games, but I do like the space version better. The deck of cards is more diverse, and allows for more fun combinations. Still, if you only have the opportunity to play the original, it will still be a lot of fun.
5. Eldritch Horror (Up 3)
This game is Pandemic on steroids with a better story it tells. It is a lot more complicated than Pandemic, and a game of Eldritch Horror is an epic adventure with twists and turns as you try to save the world from a Lovecraftian apocalypse. I have been able to move beyond the base game to play a couple of the expansions to this game, and it makes the game a lot tougher, but also a greater story. I do not mind if I lose against the game because it turns the story into this amazing tragedy that would be worthy of the big screen. It is not a game for everybody, but I will happy join in whenever it is being offered up to play.
4. Imperial Assault (Up 2)
I have always enjoyed this game, but I have always had a hard time finding people to complete the campaign with me. That changed this year. I now have a group, and we are halfway through the campaign. It is fun to see how the characters get more powerful as you move you way through it, and the scenarios are nicely balanced. It also creates a nice story in a light RPG setting that does not rely to heavily on the rules. I am excited to see how it will all end as a couple of the main baddies have already popped up, and there are a couple more exciting adventures planned. The goal is to finish on May the 4th, and I know that it will not disappoint.
3. Root (Up 6)
This is an amazing game and I am starting to feel comfortable playing two of the factions, the Eyrie, and the Marquis. I still struggle how to make the other two work in the base game, and I know that there are other factions out there just waiting to be learned. I love how well researched each faction is, and how well they balance each other out. Any game of Root is up for grabs just as long as the people playing know how to play. That is the biggest problem with this game. The learning curve is so high that getting it to the table with people who know how to play is almost impossible. But it is such a good game that when you find those people who know how to play, it becomes one of the best games you will ever play. As I learn more about this game, I can see it taking over the number one spot eventually, but for now, it will reside happily right here.
2. Isle of Sky
This is still one of my favorite games to get to the table. I always keep a bottle of scotch on hand so when it does get to the table we can play it the way that it is meant to play. I still have not gotten bored of the base game even though I have the big box version of it with all of the expansions available to me, but still the variance that happens with the base game makes me happy. It also moves at a nice pace, so there is always something to do as the game progresses. And if it ever slows down, there is always the scotch to take a sip off of.
1 Chinatown
I know that there are a lot of board game enthusiasts out there who will be surprised by this pick with all of the problems that come along with this game. It has been repackaged three times, and they still have not taken away the obvious prejudice on the board, and it would take a quick reskinning of the game to solve this problem. From my understanding, this has happened with the game, Waterfall Park, but I have not been able to play this version of the game. Until I do, I will still play this game. I never laugh so hard when playing this game, and I never end up winning. The rules are so simple, but the game play is so intense that it makes it easy to get to the table, and most people who love the act of negotiation love to play this game. I will have to hunt down that new version of the game to see if I can get over the problems that come with this game so I can continue to enjoy it guilt free. Otherwise, I still think it is too good of a game to ignore completely.
Ever since I got the game Log Shot, there have been times where I am sitting around with my friends, and someone now asks if we can race horses. I know exactly what they mean even though they never seem to be able to remember the name of the game in which we race horses. It is a forgivable mistake because once we start playing the game, we get so lost in what is going on that we never bother to look back at the box where the name of the game is, and get more excited about which horse is going to win. It has gotten so fun that it has now become a frequent companion of mine when I go to the pub because the more people that come and play the game, the more exciting the game becomes. It has become a game that gets to the table often and I have not complaints with ever buying it.
So what makes this game so great? Why is a it a hit with so many people? Why should you consider getting this game to add to your collection? Well, here is my review of Long Shot to answer all of these questions and maybe a few others you might have concerning this roll and write pub game designed by Chris Handy that has brought me so much pleasure.
THEME
You find yourself at the horse track with twelve bucks in your hand and two tickets for two of the horses before the races begin. This is when the race begins, and while it is going on there are a lot of choices that can be made along the way that will manipulate the end result of the race. What appears to be a simple horse racing game really starts to shine because Chris Handy made the focus of the game on the gamblers and not the horse racers. The atmosphere really starts to shine the bigger the group gets when playing the game, and I really start to take on the role of the gambler as I get excited with each roll of the dice. It is so much fun that I find myself drawn to watching the game even when I am not playing the game.
Rating – 10
GAMEPLAY
Long Shot can trace its heritage back to Yahtzee, but this is more exciting than the game that sits on the back shelf of your childhood home. It is one of many roll and writes that can be found now-a-days in game shops, but this one is unique in its game play that it stands out among the others. Each person on their turn rolls two dice, one eight-sided and one special six-sided. The eight-sided die decides which horse moves forward on the track, and the six-sided decides how far that horse moves, but the numbers only go up to three on that die with more ones than twos or threes. It sounds pretty simple and it becomes a race game that you would play when you were just learning how to play games to learn your numbers, but then the choice comes in and it complicates the race.
Every player has a wipe board in front of them, and based on the eight-sided die’s roll, they have five choices of what to do with that number. The first thing they can do is buy a horse. If that horse gets first, second, or third place, the owner makes money. They can also take a jersey action. They can mark one of the other numbers on the horse whose number was rolled. By doing this, every time that number is rolled, the numbers with the marks move forward one as well. There is also the option of placing up to a three dollars bet on the horse’s number who was rolled. This needs to happen before the horse crosses the red line on the track because after that no more bets can be placed on the horse. This is unless someone takes the helmet action which allows them to bet on the horse at any time before it crosses the finish line. The last action that a person can perform involves a matrix that opens up many new tricks that manipulates the race. Each of these decisions leads to a path that might make any player the most successful gambler in the game, but depending on which horse crosses the line, first, second, and third, it could also bring about their demise. It is these choices that keep this game fun and exciting until the final moments of the race.
Rating – 9
ARTWORK
After the horses are allowed out of the gate, there is an absurdity to every race that is run in this game. If Clau Souza came in and designed the art around a realistic approach to a racetrack, I do not think that this game would have the same appeal. The cartoony jockeys and horses add to the absurdity of the race as it takes place.
Each of the cards that are given to each of the players also adds to the fun. It does make you feel like you are standing in the crowded bleachers looking down at the horses as they race around the track. Also the laminated card was a nice addition because it allowed for the fun of erasing marks and adding them to the matrix that is in front of you. There is something satisfying about this approach to a roll and write game, and it cuts down on the waste that can sometimes be found with these games.
When I first saw the race track, I was a little disappointed. I couldn’t wrap my head around how to keep all of the horses on the track and make them fit. It looked too bare and something that was rushed just so there could be a track that the horses could run on. This quickly changed after the first race. As soon as the horses spread out over the track, the race came to life, and what was bare and uninteresting instantly became exciting to watch. It add to the flavor of the excitement of the race, and it just showed how all the pieces came together in harmony to create a fun game.
Rating – 10
INTERACTIVITY
I first got the game because I was going to be traveling with a group of six, and I thought this would be the perfect travel game. I was a little worried about the higher player count because of having to wait for your turn. Unfortunately, the travel that I was hoping to get out of the game did not happen, but I did get to play it at two and four player count. Oddly, I found that when more people played the game the more exciting it got, and the more people cheered for the individual horses. This is when I decided to bring it to the pub with me one night, and we ended up playing with eight people. This was when the game really sang. Everybody was excited about their turn, and were so engaged in what was happening on the tiny board that I was surprised that a game that was not a party game could work so well on a higher player count. It didn’t hurt that we had a waiter constantly bringing us more beer, but despite this fact, it has become my favorite pub game, and accompanies me a lot when we go out for a beer or two.
Rating – 10
EXPANSIONS
I am a sucker for expansions. It allows a game to find new life if I start to get bored with it. Most of the time they add new rules to add to the complexity of the game, and Long Shot is no exception. There are four more sets of horse cards to mix up what can happen in any given game, and then there is also a Track Events expansion. The horse sets do add a little change to the game, but I am completely satisfied with the three sets that come with the game, and I have not even come close to becoming bored with them after multiple game plays. The Track Events expansion adds one more choice that players can take per die role, and there are eight different ones. I will be honest that I have not come to play any of these as well. I have not found a reason to play them. The base game works so well that I do not feel the need to add to the complexity of the game. It would also make teaching the game, which I find I do a lot, also a little more difficult. There is already enough choice in the game that I do not think that I would need to add more. In other words, I am sure that the expansions are fine, but the base game is so great that I do not think that it is necessary to buy more to enhance an already perfect game.
They do allow you to buy all of the expansions together in one large pack, or if you just one of the various horse sets or the Track Events expansion, you can get them separately for a reasonable price. It is nice to know that these expansions are out there, and I might get around to purchasing them someday. I just am not there yet. I am enjoying the game too much in its original inception.
Rating – 6
OVERALL
I absolutely love, Long Shot: The Dice Game. I am excited every time that I get to bring it out to the table, and I have yet to meet someone who has not enjoyed it as well. It is an easy game to learn how to play, and easy game to teach. The learning curve is so simple that anybody can win the first time they play, but it is thinky enough that you do not feel as if you are being cheated if you lose. It encapsulates what it would be like to go to the horse races as each running of the horses brings to life the excitement of that moment without having to lose real money when you lose. The more people you bring into the game, the more exciting it gets, and it will always have a place on my shelf. This could be the most fun I have ever had playing a roll and write game with a group of people.
Rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars.
(This rating reflects my feelings about the expansions being unnecessary. I will come back a revisit this some day as I am planning to add the expansions to my collection in December. The game is great. Go get it today.)
The ancient gods have laid dormant for thousands of years, and have almost fallen away to mythology. This has not stopped cultists, and depraved individuals from finding ways to bring them back. Because of this blind ambition, strange things have been happening around the small New England town of Arkham, and it is your job as an investigator to get to the bottom of the mystery. During your journey, you will be subjected to terrors long regulated to the darkest nightmares while battling ghouls, ghosts, and acolytes. It is a story that can only be told by the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, and Fantasy Flight’s living card game, Arkham Horror, The Card Game.
Fantasy Flight has made a few living card games, but this has been one of the more popular ones since its release in 2016. You will need to core set to play the game, and it does come with a campaign of three scenarios, but there are plenty of other scenarios available to play with the most recent one scheduled to drop in May of 2024. Does this marketing tool allow for the game to never get old? Does the Lovecraftian theme shine through? Is it a great game to play with a group of people? Does it tell a great story?
These questions are the same ones that I asked myself before I took the dive into this game, and I am here to tell you what I found out when I took that plunge.
THEME
This game drips with atmosphere. When you play, you feel completely immersed into the world of H.P. Lovecraft. It tells an amazing story full of twists and turns that will have you guessing the whole time, and overcoming the strangest encounter that only the genius of horror could have concocted. It will leave you on the edge of the mythos, not giving you all of the details, but just enough to make you wonder more about what is going on. The stories are pretty linear, especially in the core set, that only allow you one path through. Still, like all great stories, they are ones that you want to revisit to see if you can be more successful the second or third time around. Also, if you find it a little too easy, there are ways to make the experience more difficult, thereby making the story just a little darker. When I play I like to turn the lights down low and add a couple of candles to add a little extra punch to the experience. It absolutely the strength of the game, and it is the reason I keep coming back to it.
Rating – 10
GAMEPLAY
I should have been worried when I opened up the box, and saw two rule books and a campaign book. Based on other Fantasy Flight games that I have played, I should have known that there would be an intricate dance to be played with the rules of this game. Considering it is a card game, I thought that the rules would be intuitive and I would be able to easily pick them up by reading what was on the cards. This was not the case. The first game I played was spent a lot of the time combing through both of the game books to figure out what I was supposed to do. It took away from the experience of the story that I was playing through, and made the game a little frustrating to play.
With that in mind, I am glad I stuck with it. Though the rules can be a little fiddly, once I was able to figure them out, it added even more to the experience of playing this game. There is a little bit of a deck building aspect to the game, and each character that you can chose to go through the story has different attributes to help you either go through it. Some of the cards are really powerful, and each player has weaknesses that add the problems that are encountered throughout the story. Dice are also not used, but there is a bag with a variety of chips in it that can change the difficulty of the game, depending on how much of a horror experience you would like to have. I also love the make-shift game board that is created by cards, and the little book that is created by the story cards. It makes for the perfect Lovecraft experience.
However, like a good Lovecraft story, do not expect things to go well for your characters. This game is hard to win any of the scenarios that come in the core box. There is an easy challenge to the game if you need to win, but even on the regular setting, it is a challenge. This just adds to the atmosphere of the game, and there are rules presented by the game that takes into account that you characters will either die or go insane. Still, it is set up to make for a great gameplay when you eventually get into the flow of the game.
Rating – 8
ARTWORK
Like all Fantasy Flight games, great care has been taken to create atmosphere through the artwork. There is an overall consistency that comes with the artwork that is presented on the cards. It allows you to immerse yourself into the 1920s and the fictional town of Arkham. Granted, none of these pieces that you find on the various cards and books would be something that I would like to frame and hang on a wall, but I can still see that time and thought went into each painting. It comes from a place of love not just for the game, but for the source material as well.Though I do not appreciate that the beasts, and monsters that are encountered during a session of the game are drawn out, not leaving much to the imagination, it still adds a lot to the game. This would not have been the way that H.P. Lovecraft would have presented these creatures of ancient lore. Instead, he would have hinted at their presence and would have let you come up with the idea that would terrify you the most. As soon as you see the creature, it is no longer frightening. I know that does not work the same for a game as it does for literature, still the creators of this game left just enough mystery in the story to allow the feeling of reading one of his stories to seep through the experience that you get to have with the game.
Rating – 9
INTERACTIVITY
Most of the time, I like to play games because it is a way to connect with people and create a shared experience. That is not why I bought this game. I knew that there was going to be a time when I would be by myself at my home, and I was looking for something that would scratch that board game itch while also still allowing me to play myself. After doing a lot of research, I found out that this was always mentioned as one of the best solo board games out there. I thought that this would be the perfect one to pick up for myself. After playing it a few times by myself, I was starting to understand why people thought this way. It is like nestling up with a good horror story and watching it unfold in front of you while still having some choice in the overall ending of the story.
Still, the game is marketed as a game of one to four players. I was able to pull it out a couple of times to see how it plays with these higher player counts, and the problems with the rules start to surface even though I tried to explain all of the rules before we got started. There is a lot of different rules in this game, and the struggle I had during my first couple of plays was also there when I played with friends. We spent more time combing through the rule book rather than enjoying the story that was playing out in front of us. Still, after we got a hang of the game, the fun I was having while playing solo was able to be achieved with a group. It add a little bit more mystery to the game because I did not know what the other players were going to do when it was their turn, and the surprise of seeing cards being played that I had never seen before. The small decks that each player makes for the perfect environment for cooperative play. We were really able to talk through things to come up with the best course of action, and nobody ever ended up quarterbacking the game.
Still, like most cooperative games, I do think this game plays better solo even though this is one of the better cooperative games that I have come across.
Rating – 8
EXPANSIONS
As of the writing of this article, there are nine campaigns out there to expand this game as well as many stand alone scenarios. Each campaign opens up a new story with dark twists and turns, and new game mechanics designed for each terrifying tale. Some of the campaigns come with new investigators that you can add to the mix with older campaigns to add some twists to stories you might already be familiar with. They can cost just as much as the base set, and it is required to have the base set in order to play these other campaigns. At first, you had to be each scenario separately, but Fantasy Flight has since gathered up the stories that work together and put them in a single box, making it easier to collect a complete campaign.
Even with the ease that Fantasy Flight has made to experience another story in the realm of H.P. Lovecraft, there are two complaints that I believe I need to address at this time. The first being the cost. Each expansion is like going out and repurchasing the game. Though some of the expansions have great re-playability, it is sometimes hard to justify buying another expansion just so I can play the game again.
The other problem I have with the expansions is the packaging. I do believe that Fantasy Flight is in the process of fixing this problem by putting the expansions in smaller boxes, but there are some boxes out there that only a third of the space is used for the expansion. This seems like a little bit of overkill.
Despite these two flaws, the expansions are still a lot of fun to play. They always breathe new life into the game, and make it worth playing again.
Rating – 9
OVERALL
Arkham Horror, the Card Game is a great atmospheric game especially for those who enjoy the stories created by H.P. Lovecraft. It places you right in the middle of his universe, and you get to feel all of the horror and confusion that his tales created. The artwork helps to add to the atmosphere, and each scenario is fun to return to. I prefer playing by myself, but it is still fun with a group of people. Despite the rules being hard to understand the first time around, once you are able to figure them out, it makes for an enjoyable game experience. This is easily one of my favorite games, and I hope they continue to add content to it so I can find new ways to enjoy it.
The year 2023 was the first year that I kept track of the games I played throughout the year. I took on this challenge because I have always loved to see what other people who enjoy the hobby have considered their favorite games at the end of the year. I had played a total of 55 different games that ranged from simple card games like Mississippi and Hearts, to digital games I have found as apps that I can play while I travel around the world, to table top games that I have enjoyed with my friends and family. I used the ranking system on the website Meeple Pub to come up with this list and made minor adjustments after I saw the results. It is a subjective list of games that I have enjoyed, and I understand that my tastes in games might not be the same as other people. I would still love to hear what you think about the list, and if you have any recommendations for me to hunt down and try next year as I start the list all over again please tell me those games in the comments below.
In the meantime, please enjoy the list of my top twenty games I played in 2023:
20. Lords of Waterdeep
This is one of the older games that appears on this list. It first came out in 2013, and is a simple worker placement game that takes place on the Sword Coast in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. Though there have been many other worker placement games that have come out since its arrival, this game’s simple design is still fun to play today. The stories it tells are definitely in the Dungeons and Dragons universe, but they do not tell the stories like other games will. The challenges are more there for fan service than anything else, but it is still does not take away from the overall game play.
19. Sushi Go Party
This is the perfect filler game. It only takes a couple of minutes to explain how to play, and once you get started playing, the fun is endless. I prefer the party version of this game to the regular card game because there is enough variety in the box to allow the game to change to make it more challenging for people who have played it a few times, or just basic for beginners. The artwork is a lot of fun, and I love the pass mechanic. It helps to feed into the theme, and it makes me feel like I am at a sushi restaurant in Japan where you sit there and watch the sushi go by, taking only what you want to eat. Its quick game play makes it a must own for anyone who likes to play board games.
18. Scythe
Most of the time when I get to play this game, I play it through the app on my tablet. It is fun, but it is a lot more fun when I get to play it with a physical copy of the game and a group of people. This game actually plays better at a higher player count which makes it hard to get to the table. The complication of the game also does not fare well for those that do not like more difficult games. A lot of these thing play against me ever getting to play the actual game, hence the app. Still, it is a great game that combines area control, and resource management wrapped up in a theme that you will never find anywhere else. The artwork for this game is also outstanding, and it makes me want to try out the new game from Stonemaier Games that is set in the same universe, Expiditions. It will definitely be one that I will be on look out for in the new year because of the way I enjoy playing Scythe.
17. Sagrada
Who would have known that dice could be this fun? This puzzle is a great one to play and it looks absolutely beautiful when it is all finished. This is another one that I play as an app more than with live people, but it works really well on the app. Either way it is a challenge to make a stain glass window for the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. The drafting process works really well, and it is fun to try and complete the puzzle while collecting points. I never tire of its mechanics and it will probably stay this high on my list for years to come.
16. Wingspan
For many of the people I play games with, this would be in their top three. This is a beautiful tableau builder whose collection of cards can create an amazing engine that is fun to watch in action when everything gets triggered. It is also fun to read about all the birds and learn more about the ones who can be found in the Western hemisphere of the world. The problem comes for me, when people come over to play games at my house, they always want to play Wingspan, and that does not allow me to play other game I have as much. They play it once in a while; whereas, I play it all the time. It seems to be the only game I get to play. It would probably rank higher on my list if I didn’t play it as much.
15. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
I bought this game because a lot of reviewers claim that it is one of the best solo board games out there. I knew that there was going to be a period this year where I would be on my own for awhile, and this would scratch that board game itch when I couldn’t get people over to my house to play a game. The rules are a little bit fiddly, and take a couple play throughs to figure out. Because of this, I have not played it much, but the last time I played, I figured out those rules, and I started to see why people love it so much. I expect this to land much higher next year. It is atmospheric, and probably one of the best story telling games I have experienced.
14. Pandemic
This is the first game I will open up as an app when I am traveling, and I have wasted a lot of time trying to save the world from the deadly diseases out there. Not only will I play the app, but I also have a physical copy of the game that I will pull out from time to time to try my hand at saving the world. Even though this is a cooperative game designed to play up to four people, I find playing it by myself more fun. I do enjoy playing when I have somebody to play with that knows how to play, but that is hard to do. Most of the time when I play with other people, I find myself quarterbacking, and taking over the game. I love the game, and it’s an amazing cooperative game, but the quarterbacking aspect of the game is its biggest flaw, and the reason that it falls down here on the list.
13. Raiders of the North Sea
I have only played the base version of this game. I know that there are some expansions to this game that makes it more complicated to play, but I have not taken the leap yet to try these out. That aside, it is still one of my favorite worker placement games out there. I love the way that you take a worker and place a worker in the village. It means that some times certain actions are not available to you. I also love the dual aspect of the cards, and though you might have a lame fighter, they can be used in other ways to achieve victory. It creates one of the most thematic worker placement games out there, and the tension in this game works well to tell a great story.
12. Carcassonne
This is easily one of the oldest games to appear on this list. It has become a modern classic in the board game hobby. Its premise is pretty simple as players work together to create the landscape of the French region of Carcassonne during the medieval period complete with roads, towns, plains, and abbeys. It creates the perfect puzzle on your table top, and there is something satisfying placing that perfect piece that completes one of the features that you are working on. It is pretty easy to teach as well, and is one of the perfect gateway games to get more people into the hobby.
11. Fort
This is the first game to appear from one of my favorite publishers, Leder Games, and easily the least complicated. I first got this game to take with me on my travels so I could play more complicated games with my wife, and the first couple of plays were not as satisfying as I had hoped it would be. I enjoy the mechanics of building a deck by pulling kids from other people’s yards, and how this makes the cards move around the table, but in the end, it is a race to see who can build their fort the fastest. This was until I added the Cats and Dogs expansion. Now, I will not play the game without either cats or dogs or both of them. It changes the game quite a bit, and allows winning conditions to happen that don’t necessarily have to do with building the fort the fastest. If you are ever considering getting this game, make sure you have that expansion because it turns the game into one of my favorites out there.
10. The Crew: Deep Sea Mission
Just everybody who adds the Crew to their list, there is a little bit of cheating going on. When I created this list using Pub Meeple, I had put both versions of this game on this list because their game play is a little different. Both of them appeared on the top twenty games of the year, so I did not think that it was fair to include both. I combined them under one entry, and included the Mission Deep Sea as my favorite between the two. This could be the best cooperative game ever created. It combines the trick taking mechanic with limited communication to get rid of the quarterbacking problem that occurs with other cooperative games. I love playing both versions of this game, and you cannot go wrong with either one. When I do start playing, the group I play with is always saying one more round, and we keep on saying that until late in the evening. It is completely addictive, and I have not met a person who does not enjoy playing this game.
9. Root
This is the second game from Leder Games to appear on this list, and the first one that is designed by my favorite designer, Cole Wehrle. He is doing things with board games that no other designer is doing, and he creates new experiences with each game that makes the rumor of a new game from him an exciting prospect. The only problem is that his games are complicated, and there is a high learning curve needed in order to understand how to play his games. Root probably has the highest learning curve. The asymmetric design of this area control game creates amazing game play (I enjoy playing the Eyrie the most), but makes it really hard to teach others how to play the game. Still, if you can find a group to play this games with, it will easily become one of your all-time favorite games. I just wish I could get it to the table more often because I really like to play it.
8. Eldritch Horror
This is the last of the cooperative games that made the list, and though I do not believe it is the best cooperative game ever made, it is the one I enjoy playing the most. It is a little complicated, and the rules are a little fiddly. However, the engine that is used to run this game is amazing, and it creates a great storytelling adventure every time I have played it. Because of the complication of the game, there is no one who can run the whole game, so it takes away the quarterbacking problem encountered in other cooperative board games. The rolling of the dice that the players have to do for each encounter makes it feel like you are a part of the game every time. I think it plays best at three or four people, but I did enjoy the time I played it with eight people this year. It is a long game though, and because of this extensive game play, it does not get to the table as much as I would like it to. Still, it is an unforgettable experience every time that it does.
7. Everdell
Everdell will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first modern board game that I got during the Covid pandemic that got me back into the hobby. It is also the first worker placer game I ever played even though I was familiar with the resource management aspect due to other games such as Catan and Warcraft 2. Still, this was the perfect game to take me through the pandemic. The artwork is beautiful. The game play is challenging enough, but also relaxing enough so it does not cause stress while playing it. My favorite aspect of the game has been its expansions. At this time, there are a total of five expansions, and I own two of them, Spirecrest, and New Leaf. Both of them have added new mechanics to the game, and have given a breath a fresh air to Everdell any time I feel like the game is getting stale. It is not just nostalgia that keeps this game this high on my list, but also the fact that it knows how to reinvent itself.
6. Imperial Assault
I love this game, but at this time, I have not found that group to play it on a regular basis. It is a great dungeon crawler with a fun campaign mode that tells a great story in the Star Wars universe. The rules are really simple, and it comes with a tutorial scenario that makes learning the game easy. I wish I could get it on the table more often because when I have played through the campaign I have had a lot of fun. Just like other games on this list, I will continue to push it on my friends in the hopes that one day I will be able to play through it again, and maybe even experience some of the other campaigns that are available for it. There is also a solo mode that can be played through an app that I might try this year if I cannot get others to join me in its experience.
5. Dungeons and Dragons
Some people might call this game to be a cheat because it is a role playing game and not a board game. I would argue that at any time you get around a table with a group of friends and follow a set of rules that allow you to enjoy each others’ company that you are experiencing exactly what makes this hobby great. This is easily the game I have played the most this year, and always with the same group of people. It is a weekly session that I always look forward to, and as of right now we are half way through the Out of the Abyss campaign. It also adds one of my favorite aspects of table top gaming, storytelling. I could not recommend this game enough for anybody that loves the act of storytelling. It is a great form of escapism, and there have been so many times over the course of this campaign I have laughed so hard. The character I am currently playing might be one of my favorites of all time, and it is for this reason that this game ranks so highly on this year’s list.
4. Unmatched
I had always been interested in playing this game just because of its premise, bring together great characters from many different IPs, and have them fight each other in one on one combat. There are so many different versions of this game, and each character has it own unique system that makes the possibilities endless. I have only played the Legends, and Cobble and Fog versions of this game, and I have already thought of great ways to bring them together to create a competitive season where they fight each other to create a final outcome between the best two that would determine who is the most powerful of the collection. It states that you can play up to four people with this game, but it really shines when playing two player. They also have released an app that allows you to connect with people from around the world so you can scratch that itch at any time and get in a game. I can’t wait to explore this game more this year, and see what the other available characters have to offer.
3. Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
Leder Games and Cole Wehrle pop up on this list again. This is easily the most complicated game of theirs that I have played, and also the one that is the best at telling stories. It combines a unique game play with a way to tell the history of the board contained in the box. I got this game two years ago, and I have had a few games here and there along the way. It has created a fun history of the board so far, but I had been struggling to get it on the table to continue to create that history. But I persisted in trying to get a group of people together to play this game more often and at the end of the year, I was rewarded for my efforts. I finally found the group, and we have played on a more consistent basis. The complication of the rules do not seem a bother me anymore because we are playing it more regularly, and the history we are telling is becoming richer because we are able to remember what has happened in-between each session. The games can be as short as an hour, or as long as three, but we get faster each time we play. I am glad that I have stuck with it, and it has become a favorite of mine to play that I hope to continue to play for many years to come. I would love to see where that history takes me.
2. Isle of Skye
I recently took a trip to Scotland and I wanted to bring with me a game that I would enjoy that would highlight the place I was traveling to. I found the app for the island I would spending a lot of my time at, and I tried it out. It quickly became a game I returned to again and again. I played it so much that I ended up buying a physical copy of the game with all of the various expansions. I have not played any of the expansions yet because I continuously teach people how to play the base game. Everybody who has played has thoroughly enjoyed the game, and it is one of those games that works better with a higher player count. At the same time it has simultaneous game play that you never feel like it drags when it is not your turn. I can’t wait to introduce enough people to this game so I can start introducing the expansions and see how much they change the game. It might be the newness of this game to me, but I love playing this game, and will always jump on the chance to bring it to the table.
2023’s Best Game: Chinatown
I love this game. The teach only takes five minutes, and the rules are really simple. However the gameplay is deep, and the pure negotiation aspect of this game cannot be rivaled. I have introduced it to many people, and I will say that this game is not for everybody. It is competitive, and at times, it can get loud as people negotiate for spots on the map, but every time I have played it, people have laughed, pushed to be the best business person on the board, and have generally had fun. It does have some concerns about its design, and it makes me wonder what they were thinking with some of the artwork. With that in mind, there is a re-skinning of the game that is supposed to happen this year which should solve some of these concerns. Despite that, the gameplay of this game is a blast, and it is easily the one I have had the most fun with when it is brought to the table. It is for this reason that Chinatown is my favorite game of 2023.
It is the classic Halloween story, a group of misfits find themselves outside of a haunted house, and for some odd reason they want to investigate. Like all great Halloween stories, there is a twist in this one. While they are investigating, one of them turns on all of the others, and it turns into a crazy attempt to escape from the clutches of the haunted house. Will this band of misfits make it to safety, or will the betrayer have his or her way with the group and bring them into the lonely confines of the house on the hill?
This is the premise that players will find themselves in when they pull Avalon Hill’s Betrayal at House on the Hill from the shelf and play a round of the game designed by Bruce Glassco with help in development by Rob Daviau, Bill McQuillan, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn Woodruff.
THEME
Betrayal at House on the Hill is the perfect game to play during the month of October. One session that lasts anywhere between one and two hours will tell a horror story that will make you one of the characters of that tale. It has a little bit of a Scooby Doo feel during the first part of the game where you explore the haunted house. Each tile flipped over adds more to the house, and creates more of a mystery. It also forces the players to make the biggest mistake that a group of explorers can make in any horror movie, go off on their own to discover what they can find. The game also comes with set of cards that have flavor text to them that when added to the various characters creates a great horror story full of all of the tropes that you would hope that a game like this would have. After a few game plays, the flavor text becomes predicable and it is hard to make a different story with it. On the other hand, if there is enough time between game sessions, the flavor text gets forgotten and you are able to create your own story.
The real adventure begins with the second part of the game when the betrayer is revealed. This is when the real horror story starts. There are fifty different scenarios that comes with the base game, and each one introduces different game play as the players try to solve the mystery of escape the house. It is also a mystery as to which scenario will be played as there is a great system in place to make sure that the mystery is unknown until a certain thing happens and unlocks the game play from that moment on. Some of the scenarios are more fun than other ones, but if you hit on one of the fun ones, the theme really shines and you feel like you are a part of a horror movie. All of the flavor text that you discovered before combined with the final events play out in a way that tells a complete story that will have you wrapping yourself in the moment of the game.
On the other hand, when it does not work, the story becomes a slog to work through, and you are trying to figure out a way to make it end. I have had this happen a couple of times, and I no longer cared about winning the game. I only cared about the way to make the story end as fast as I possibly could.
Rating – 7
GAMEPLAY
The game is broken up into two phases. The first phase is the exploration stage. During this phase, the characters start in the entry way of a haunted house. Each character is unique in their abilities. Some are faster and stronger; whereas, others are smarter and have a stronger resolve. Each of these abilities can grow stronger as the characters explore the house. On each of their turns, they flip over a tile to add to the map and then follow whatever is triggered by the room they enter. Sometimes this is a trap that will have them fall down to another level, or a mysterious room that will transport them to another part of the house. Most of the time involves finding an item, encountering an event, or experiencing an omen. The omen and event cards cause the character to try out their luck against the situation by looking at their abilities on their cards and rolling the amount of six sided dice that is indicated by their number. The dice only have zeroes, ones, and twos on them. After they roll, they add up the points, reference the card with the amount they rolled, and see what happens.
If an omen is revealed, the character has to roll again with six dice, and based on how many omens have been revealed, if they roll lower than that, the second part of the game is set in motion, the betrayal. They players look at which room and which omen triggered the betrayal. Then, they look in a book that came with the game, and based on the matrix, it will describe which scenario they will play, and who will be the betrayer. The betrayer takes control of the real threat of the haunted house, whether that is zombies, vampires, or deadly clown, and the two opposing sides have certain win conditions that they have to meet in order for the story to be complete.
The game is surprisingly easy to teach. There are intricacies to the game which can be brought up while the game is being played, but for the most part, I usually just go over the key rules, and hop into the game. When one of the rules needs to be discussed, I will bring it up, but that is a rare occurrence, and most of the time, I go right to having fun.
The game also works better with larger numbers as it fun to put all the individual stories together to create one overall narrative, but a lot hinges on the ability of the betrayer to guide everybody through the story. Considering that nobody knows who the betrayer is going to be at the start of the game, it means that anybody will have to be willing to take on this role and do it justice. Inevitably what happens is someone who is not great at running a game is the one who becomes the betrayer, and the second part of the game does not work the way that it is supposed to. This game works best with people who play role-playing games and are capable of taking on the Game Master role which means that this game is not for everybody. When everybody invests into the absurdity of the situation and helps tell the story, it becomes a blast to play. When more people who are not willing to help the story plays the game, the whole matrix falls apart and the game is not as fun. This makes it hard to get this game to the table. In other words, it is a hit or miss kind of game. When it is on, there is no game that is better. When it is off, it is painful trying to get through a whole game.
Rating – 6
ARTWORK
The artwork in essential to bringing to life any role-playing game. It helps to immerse players into the story. A real good game will consider not only the characters that are being used while playing, as well as the environment. The team of Justine Mara Anderson, Christopher Moeller, and Peter Whitley put all of this into consideration when putting together the feel of the third edition of the game.
The house that is created throughout the course of a game is created by tiles that give the perfect bird’s eye view of what each room would look like. It helps to feel like you are in a haunted house while you play the game.
The minis that are created are great if you are one of the characters. They look pretty good, but with the intricacies that are found with minis today, they are not as detailed compared with other games coming out today. They did a good job of giving them different solid colors so that can easily be found on the board and associated with character boards. Each character board is double sided with two different characters giving the game twelve different characters that you can play. Each character is given their own little quirks that helps players find a way to become a part of the role.
After the betrayal, there are a series of monsters than appear on the board. There are a lot of different creatures that can come into the story, and the designers understood that if they made a mini for each one, it would make the box massive, and the price of the game would have gone up. To combat this, they made little cardboard tokens. It does help with the space and what they can keep in the box, but the monsters are tiny pictures and do not help with the immersion of the game.
Some of the components do not work the way that they are intended. There are little tabs to keep track of the different stats of each character. They are hard to attach to the character boards, and they do not move once they are on there even though that is what they are designed to do. Considering this is an important part of the gameplay, it is annoying that they do not work well. They do sell other character cards that have dials for each of the stats that would work better, but why not put them in the game in the first place instead of supplying the game with a poor design. The game is not that expensive to begin with, and raising the price just a little bit to have better components would not take away from people buying the game.
Rating – 6
INTERACTIVITY
The first phase of the game has the potential for being a great moment for people to interact with each other, but once again, it depends on the people playing the game. It all comes down to how much the group wants to tell a story together. The flavor text that comes with each card that is flipped over, combined with the different characters, the rooms, and the imagination of all present, it can create an original story every time you play. The horror tropes might be the same, but the way that they are tweaked for each retelling will allow the story to unfold in fun ways. It requires the players to add those missing holes to make the story really come alive when you play the game.
On the other hand, if the players just flip over the cards, read the flavor text, and expect the story to be told through just that alone, the story will never come together. It requires that extra interactivity to make the game work on all cylinders, but it also takes players who feel comfortable with this kind of storytelling experience.
The second phase works better forcing people to interact with each other, and the story unfolds more naturally. Both the betrayer, and the party that is left behind are given clear goals to achieve. The party is actually given some time to discuss what they want to do with that goal, and can look over the map that they have created in order to make a plan of attack. The betrayer will not have an opportunity to interact with the group during this planning stage, but they will be the one in charge of the game and will have plenty of opportunity to interact as the game continues. However, the same problem occurs in the second phase of the game that exists in the first phase, the people playing the game have to feel comfortable playing this kind of game to really have it work the way it is supposed to. This becomes more important when the decision of who is the betrayer comes into play. If the person who is the betrayer is not comfortable in this role, then the whole game falls apart. They need to be that extrovert that will help the game come alive, allowing everybody else to find that extroverted side of themselves, and allow the story to play out with all of the little details that were collected in the first phase of the game.
Overall, the game allows for many opportunities for interactivity, and can create a memorable night for those willing to stretch themselves to make the game really come alive.
Rating – 6
EXPANSIONS
There are a couple of different versions of the game that are basically a re-skinning of the original version that is designed for different audiences. One, Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate, is designed for people who would like a Dungeons and Dragons experience with the same kind of mechanics. It would be the perfect edition for a group of role players that find a night of adventuring falling apart, but they still have enough of the group together to still play a game. The other is Betrayal at Mystery Mansion that plays the game with the Scooby Doo characters. This is the perfect setting for this game because even in the original version of the game, it feels as if you are a part of a Scooby Doo story.
There is also a legacy version of the game that takes place over decades. Players don’t just play one character, but they play families instead depending on whether a certain character survived or not. I have not played this legacy version of this game, but it appears to play with the same mechanics as the base game, and extend the story. I would consider it like your favorite horror franchise with each game being a new installment.
All of these are stand alone games, and there is really only one expansion out at this time, The Widow’s Walk. The base game is needed in order to add this expansion, and it adds another floor to the adventure, the roof. It also comes with fifty more encounters, new monsters, and new items. Though it does add more elements to an already full game, it is mainly for those that have played the game so many times that they are starting to repeat some of the scenarios. It helps to breathe life into a game that some love so much that they need that little extra.
Rating – 7
OVERALL
I will start this overview by saying that the best experience I have had playing board games over the last couple of years has come from playing this game. We were so immersed in the story and all the pieces fit together so well that I still talk about it with the people I played it with. On the other hand, one of the worst experiences I have had playing games has been playing this game. The people I was playing with were not into the story, and we even had to switch the betrayer because they were struggling with running the game. It through these experiences that I realized that this is not a game for everyone. If you like your Euro games, and puzzles that have a theme but that is not central to the game play, then this is not a game for you. If you like your storytelling games and love the opportunity to help guide the storytelling, then you will love this game. You will just need to make sure that the people you play it with feel the same way; otherwise, it will not play out the way that you would hope everytime.
For those of you who follow this blog, you know that my wife and I travel a lot. Usually, I like to bring a smaller game with me, so during those down periods, we will have something to play. Usually this means a card game, and because my wife love the game so much, it usually means that we will be bringing Phase 10 with us. As far as card games go, I really do enjoy playing this one, but I have played it so many times, that I need to put aside for awhile. So when I started to prepare for a three week long Iceland trip, I started to look for a new game that I could take with me that would be refreshing, and a little more complicated. That is when I found one that might work from Leder Games, the king of board games with only four letters in their titles. I thought the theme, and the use of a simple resource management mechanic combined with deck building might make for the perfect game to bring on this trip.
THEME
You are a kid who likes to hang out with his friends, eat pizza, play with toys, and most importantly, build a fort in your backyard with this group of companions. Like any group of friends, there is a rival group of friends who want to outdo you by eating more pizza, playing with more toys, and making a better fort in their backyards. Of course, the friends that are collected are fickle. If you don’t play with them, they will run off and join some other group to help them build their fort, so it is important to make sure that they get some use. You can always make sure that they remain your friends forever by giving them a prestigious position in the lookout, but if you do that then they loose their special abilities, and can only help out by helping with which resources they bring to the mix. Of course, your best friends will never run off, and will always be by your side, and they will also help you come up with your own special rules to help you make the best fort possible.
I absolutely love this theme, and it works so well with the gameplay. The amount of characters that are represented in this game are numerous, and there are only a few repeats of cards. The fact that you bribe these kids with pizza and toys just adds to the overall theme, and there are moments when you want certain kids to play with you, so you are always looking at the ones that did not get used by your rivals. Certain kids get passed around all over the place, making the most popular kids in the game. Despite this, it is not as immersive as some of the other games I have played, though it does work well with the story that it is telling.
Rating – 8
GAMEPLAY
Leder Games is known for its complicated games that take multiple plays to become comfortable with the system that they have built. This has been a turn off with my wife who like medium level games where she can wrap her mind around the system rather quickly. Out of all of the Leder Games that I have played, this is the one that is the least complicated, and can be learned in fifteen minutes. Even though this is the case, it does take a couple of games before you can start to develop of strategy with the game.
At its heart, Fort is a deck building game. Each player has a player mat where they will pay attention to the resources they collect, and the level of their fort. They will also have a collection of ten cards to start off with, five of which will always be in their hand. Each card will have two actions that a player can take if they play that card. The top action is a shared action that if the other players meet the requirements of that action, they can do the same thing. The bottom action is a private action, and can only be used by the person playing the card. These actions allow you to do certain things like gain resources such as pizza and toys, build up your fort, or move a friend of yours into the lookout. A combination of these things set allow each player to reach a winning condition that will being about the end of the game.
Each card also has a suit with it that can trigger certain things from taking place if enough of the same suit is played. This means that if a player plays his or her cards right, they can use all of the cards in their hand at their turn. This is important because any cards that are not played go into the player’s yard unless it is one of their best friends which instantly go into their discard pile.
The last action that a player takes on their turn is to add a new friend to their deck. This is where the game can get a little brutal, and shows you what kind of friend you really are. The selection comes from three cards that are always shown from the unused deck of cards, or the cards that are out in other players’ yards. This means that the card that you did not use and were hoping to use at a later date could be stolen by another person and end up helping them instead.
The gameplay is not that complicated, even though there are a lot of actions that a person can perform. The design of the game was smart enough to give every person a cheat sheet that explains what each of these actions are and how you can use them. It does take one play-through to start to formulate a strategy that might work for you, but a game does not take long enough that you feel like you can’t collect everything up again and play another round after you have figured out how everything works together. Of course, the first play takes a little longer than following games, but when you get into the groove, a game plays around thirty minutes.
The gameplay also represents the theme well, and it creates a fun experience. Like most Leder Games, it has a learning curve that might discourage certain players, but if they can get over that hump, I believe they will eventually come to enjoy the game.
Rating – 8
ARTWORK
I may be a little biased, but I love Kyle Ferrin’s artwork. It is one of the things that always draws me to Leder Games. His cartoony figures add as much to the game as does the gameplay. Fort may be the game where his artwork fits in with the theme the best. Playing the game, and seeing all of these children sketched as cartoon characters, it makes me feel as if I am a part of some Saturday morning cartoon that never actually got produced. Each of the characters are completely different, and there personality seems to jump off of each card.
The design is not only based upon the drawings either. The resources that you gather are nice chunks that have a toy box or pizza painted on one end. They fit in nicely into each player board. The player boards themselves are these chunky pieces of cardboard that has indents in them that allows for fun manipulation of all the piece that you collect throughout the course of a game. And on the back of each board is the background of each player’s best friends which though not necessary, is a still a nice detail that adds to the overall enjoyment of the game.
Basically, I don’t think that there is any game that Kyle Ferrin could not do the artwork for that I would not be drawn to, and is one of the main reasons that I like to bring this game to the table. It is a little deceiving though. These characters that look like they could have been drawn by Charles Schultz make the game appear like it could be enjoyed by a much younger age. But this just adds to the nostalgic feeling that I get when playing this game.
Rating – 10
INTERACTIVITY
The game is fun to play because of your always changing deck. This deck changes not always because of the cards that you pick up from the big deck, but because of the cards that you take from other players’ yards. It makes this fun interaction take place during the game. This gives you the ability to manipulate other people’s hands, and at times, it hurts when a friend that used to be yours shows up in somebody else’s hand, especially if that kid has a power that you desperately need.
This interaction does add a little bit of fun to a two player game, but because only one kid from your yard can be taken each turn, your hand does not change that much throughout the course of a game. In a game with more players, this interaction becomes more important. Players can gang up on another player if they see that this person is getting closer to one of the win conditions. One player could lose a lot of their cards making their hands less powerful and they would need to build up their group of friends again. It adds for some fun moments and the kids that get traded around start to get their own personalities that add to the overall story you are creating as well.
Players are also interested in what other people are doing during their turn. The shared action on the cards allow the other players to do something even when it is not their turn. It also forces you to think about which card you are going to play because there are times when other players cannot do something with that shared action, and you will want to think about whether or not this is a good time to play that kid. It just means that you are constantly thinking about what other people are doing while planning out your strategy as well.
The design of the game was put together so the various players around the table are interacting with each other, but that interaction works better on higher player counts than it does with only two players. It is still fun with two players, but I find myself wanting to play with at least three.
Rating – 9
EXPANSIONS
Leder Games is known for their expansions to their games. They know that some games can lose their edge if you play them over and over again because it feels as if you are playing a round that you have already experienced. When they design their expansions, they do it in such a way that does not just add new cards to the game, but also adds new rule sets, so the game feels just as fresh as it did the first time that you played it. I have the feeling that Leder Games has these expansions already in mind when they release their games because the original boxes seem to have spots for these expansion already in them. The game, Fort, is no exception. They have just recently released the Cats and Dogs expansion that is packaged in a nice card box that slides in nicely next to the original deck of cards.
The cards add three new ways to enjoy the game. You can play with the dogs who will always be loyal to the player who can lure them into their doghouse, or the cats who are fickle and will jump around the table to different players sometimes granting them special things, sometimes hinderances, or both at the same time. They do add some victory points for the players at the end of the game, so it is important to pay attention to them while playing the game, but the dogs have the potential of becoming a distraction for the players; whereas, the cats can sometimes be forgotten if you get to involved with what you are doing with your fort.
Still they are both fun, but if you decide to add them to your game of Fort you will want to make sure that you are first very comfortable with the game. They do throw a big enough monkey wrench into the gameplay that it can make the game unbearable if you play with them before you are ready. When you do start to add them, I would recommend playing one at a time before adding them together. I would suggest starting off with the dogs because they are more apart of the gameplay; whereas, the cats can become an afterthought, and you might forget to hand off one to another player. But once you become comfortable with them, they become the only way to play the game.
Rating – 8
OVERALL
I love playing this game, and always look for a way to bring it to the table. The theme is great enough that it will attract others to it, and the explanation of how to play is not that hard that you can teach it relatively quickly. But this is not a game for everybody. Like most of Leder Games, the learning curve of this game to make it feel like you know what you are doing takes a little time, and it might discourage some people from playing again. Still, it is the most accessible of all the games I’ve played from Leder Games, and a great gateway game to get those other games of theirs to the table more often. If you are a fan of Oath or Root, you will love this game as well. It also plays a lot quicker than those other games, making it more of a casual game to play.
John Collings 