ghoti_mhic_uait

I feel like I should put a proviso on this. Apparently there's a whole board game culture out there which I don't know about, people who mostly play with other gamers who play with designers and publishers and other gamers and talk to each other about what's coming out and buy new games because they're new and exciting and play from each other's collections and thus know what's new and what's hot and so on.

I am not part of that culture, because before last year I didn't know about it! And now I don't really have time to get into new friendships or new things (see also yesterday where you all found places I can dance if only I had more time, thank you!) I get new games by presents or occasionally recommendations or TableTop - which I didn't manage to find the time to watch all of season 3 yet - but they're new to me, not new to the world, most of the time. So if you already know about all these, sorry! Also, we don't get a lot of new games through the year, but mostly at birthdays and Christmas, partly because if we don't make sure there's room on the shelf we lost pieces and end up needing replacements. And maybe we just need an extra games shelf, but there's room for one or two on there atm, we'll see.

That having been said, this is what I wrote on the subject of what tabletop games I like last year and this is where I talked about last year's Christmas present games.


The big game of the year - the one all over the bits of the internet I read (and not just among people who now alextfish) is Steam Works. I've only played it a couple of times - we acquired it as a birthday present for Colin - but it's easy to get the hang of and really, really well balanced. Each player plays the part of an inventor, who has special abilities and characteristics which help them to build machines. The machines can be accessed by everyone, and they help to build more and more complex machines. At the end of the game, the winner is the person with the most point cards in their machines or given out from machines.
We haven't yet played it with Judith, but I think that she will enjoy it, so I'm going to go ahead and call this a family game.

Tokaido is a travel game with an interesting mechanic. You play a traveler crossing Japan, and along the way meet interesting people and monkeys, eat delicious dinners, buy stuff and paint pictures. It's got an interesting mechanic in that the person who is at the back goes next, and each character is slightly different and has different strengths so you're probably not exactly trying for the same things as your opponents. It's pretty, it's different and it's fun, and we like it a lot. Again, at the moment we play adults only, but it just hasn't grabbed Judith's attention and another child in her age/game playing range would probably love it.

7 wonders. This is a game where each player has to build one of the seven wonders of the world. It's decided in advance which one, by means of a card which tells you your special characteristics. The interesting mechanic in this one is that you take a hand of cards, play one, then pass the hand on, so each time you know what you're passing to another player, and can't really plan ahead. This makes it really well balanced between small children - and Judith has been playing it since Christmas, when she was just 6 - and strong adult logical thinkers. It's another fun family game.

Tsuro of the Seas. A tile laying game, which we all play. You place a tile, sail your ship, and the last ship in the game is the winner. For further levels of complexity, you can add random sea monsters, which have the benefit of levelling the playing field somewhat and it's hilarious when a sea monster eats daddy. All of us play it, including Andreas, and it's quite fun and, although I tend to prefer games without eliminiation, it tends to all end quite quickly rather than have the first players eliminated sitting around waiting.

Lastly in this category, The Hobbit. We've played the cooperative Lord of the Rings game lots and I mentioned it last year, but this year we got the Hobbit game from the same designer. Well, this is completely different. It's a competitive game in which the person with the most treasure after defeating Smaug wins. And it's lots of fun, playing cards to move along a track and get bonuses which help to win treasure. Simple to play, fits with the theme, big thumbs up here.



Lemminge. It's a racing game, in which you get to change the terrain on the way round. I don't know why my children love racing games so, I just know that I did when I was wee too. And they do love them, so this is perfect for playing with the children. It's also more interesting than Formula 1 or the lego racing game or any of those, with the ability to change terrain and having to choose carefully when and what to change. So I know adults who do play by themselves, but having two enthusiastic littles who will want to play it, I'm more likely to choose something they won't play when we're by ourselves.

Princess. The princess has been put under a sleeping curse, and you as a group have to make it around the track to save her before night fall. Basically, it's a story telling game, which is all about using what you've got in plausible ways to save the princess, and it's very popular here. It's also a great way to introduce role playing and story telling, so while the game play sn't my thing I'm happy to play it with the children. Oh, and it's cooperative.

Winter. I kind of love this game. It's another cooperative, you have to get everyone in the gfamily to a set of places and back home before they're snowed or iced in elsewhere. It's a lot of fun, placing snow storms such that you can sweep them away with your snow plough, and driving around and I just like the artwork.

Actually, I've never met a Myriad game I didn't like, they're well tested and fun to play. I haven't tried the one with the lit candle yet, though.

As for the children, they are all about word games at the moment. Their favourite is Scrabble Junior, but Zingos Sight Words, a reading bingo game, is also a big hit. I assume I don't have to talk about them more than that, but if I'm wrong, say and I will. A game Judith got for her birthday and they're enthusiastic about, Don't Panic I'm not sure how long they'll enthuse about, but it's one where you have to name things in a category (name 3 sticky things, name 5 evergreen trees) and progress around the track. We've played it once so far and I'm reserving judgment, but they are enthusiastic so I thought it worth mentioning. Also, Munchkin Junior and Disney Apples to Apples still popular with everyone.


The one category of games I'd like more of, both in terms of play and in terms of actual games in our house, is micro games. I mostly carry a silly beggar my neighbour game and Aquarius in my handbag for spare moments, but it would be nice to have something a bit more interesting that doesn't take a lot of space, and to be able to switch them up. We've played a reasonable amount of Letters to Santa, the Christmas version of Love Letters, and that's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. It's fun, quick, and can be played anywhere, on a train, in a car, at a restaurant table between courses, in the foyer while we wait for Judith to finish drama, anywhere. Judith's had her eye on Coup for a while in this category, and I think I'd like that too, and I've a couple of other ideas, but if you have any recs I'd love to hear them, and also if you're looking for present ideas, that's a good place to aim :)