My Games Played for 2021

My opportunities to game took a big hit with our weekly game night at the college being shut down by the pandemic.  Once we did get back rolling, I got a bunch of games played, but still had nearly 200 less plays than 2019, the last year unaffected by Covid.  Looking over these games, the thing I notice most is a real lack of heavy games.  I have a smaller subset of gamers that enjoy longer, heavier games, so that is part of the reason.  Game nights have grown quite a bit shorter over the last year with a bunch of us having family responsibilities that make taking a six hour chunk out of one week day harder than it used to be.  Still, I'm very much an omnivore when it comes to board games and I have nearly as much fun with lighter and middleweight games.  Hopefully, I'll find a way to get more of my favorite style games to the table in 2022, but if that doesn't happen, I'll be happy hanging out with my awesome game groups and enjoying whatever we get to the table.  

A look at my board game bug out box

Before the current crisis, I hosted a board game night at my college, ran numerous monthly game days, organized board game marathons for charity (Extra Life shoutout!), and had a regular Sunday game day with my family (the only gaming that I've done since the outbreak).   Besides that, I'm the type of person that always likes to have games with him in case the opportunity to play materializes.  To that end, the trunk of my car was (is) always a mess of board game boxes and carrying bags.  At some point, I decided to neaten things up somewhat and took those games from the trunk (and back seat, and front seat, and under the seats) and returned them to my shelves at home and the college.  The clutter was gone, but I still wanted to have some games at my fingertips for when the occassions arose that I could get people around a table.  I decided to see how much gaming I could get in a box portable enough to keep around without my car looking like it was inhabited by a nerdy hobo.  To that end, I picked up a photo storage box from my local Walmart (seen below).  The box contained 16 4x6 plastic boxes with hinged lids that latched.  To mazimize the use of space and amount of fun, I made the criteria for inclusion 1) games that I played regularly and loved and 2) games that would take up no more than one of the 4 x 6 boxes.  My only other criteria as I built the box originally and tweaked it these last few months was variety.  I tried to cover as many genres and gaming situations as I could without violating the first two rules.  Here is my current list with a bit of commentary on why I chose to put them in the box.

My bug out box  

1. Hanabi

Hanabi is one of my favorite co-ops.  It doesn't feel like any other game.  It works equally well from 2 to 5 players, and it is popular with both my game group and my family.  It was a no-brainer.

Hanabi by Antoine Bauza

2. A Fake Artist Goes to New York

Fake Artist is a wonderful party game from Oink games that plays like Spyfall crossed with Pictionary.  Players are given a category and an object to draw--except for the fake artist who is only given the category.  Each player takes turns adding one line to the drawing.  This happens twice and then players attempt to determine who the fake artist is.  Very simple. Very funny.  

3. Rhino Hero

Rhino Hero fills two roles in the box--it is a kid's game and a dexterity game.  It shares a box with Fake Artist, so its portability is also a huge factor.  To be fair, this game has not been played since I built the box and it is on the cutting block at the moment.  Still, it is a fun game that has given us lots of joy over the years.

Rhino Hero and A Fake Artist Goes to New York share a box

4. Star Realms: Frontiers

Star Realms is an excellent multi-player deck builder (my favorite deck builder that is also ultra portable), but it is also an excellent solo game.  I often pull out a solo game when staying at a hotel after the wife and kids have gone to bed.  

Star Realms: Frontiers is a lot of game in a small box 

5. The Crew

The Crew is another co-op game, and it is my favorite new card game since The Mind.  Unlike The Mind, players of The Crew have a lot of control over whether they win or lose and success is usually possible no matter how bad the card draw.  I come from a family of trick-taking sharks and it has been a blast to test our skills against The Crew's systems.  This is high on the list of games I want to play more when our game group can resume playing.

How has no one done a cooperative trick-taking game before this?

6. Guillotine

Guillotine is the most-played filler in my collection.  I'm on my third copy.  The game is random as it could be, has take-that elements that turn some people off in other games, and has a particularly non-family-friendly theme.  Still, it is a game that always makes us laugh.  In this box, it serves as one of the "beer and pretzels" games--games that we can play and still have conversations and enjoy ourselves without having to think too much about what is going on.  

Guillotine features art from M:TG artist Quentin Hoover

I love the game so much I had to paint up a guillotine
7. Werewords

Werewords is a mashup between 20 Questions and One Night Ultimate Werewolf that works very well.  The game has a app for mobile devices, but it can be played without it.  Werewords often works in situations where other social deductions games do not.  The 20 Question elements are familiar enough to draw in non gamers while providing plenty of game play for gamers.  Of all the games in the box, this is probably the one that the most people have ordered from Amazon on the phone during games.

Werewords was beat by Just One in the 2018 SDJ, but Just One won't fit in the box!

8. Combo Fighter

Alrighty, here's my first rule-breaker.  I'm a little obsessed with the card-game-that-simulates-fighting-games genre.  Currently, Combo Fighter is my favorite of those and I'm trying to get at least one of my kids to fall in love with it.  It is a rule breaker because even though I could put two decks in one box and be ready to roll, I actually have four decks spread over two boxes (the humanity!).

 The Arcade Fighting Game card game market is flooded with great games.

9. Don't Mess With Cthulhu

Don't Mess With Cthulhu is my favorite social deduction game and there isn't a close second.  In the game, players try to either play all of the Elder Signs (the investigators) or reveal Cthulhu (the cultists).  This is done by revealing cards in front of other players who have revealed something about their hands going into the round.  This game forces everyone to lie at one point or another, and it is a beautiful thing to watch unfold.

I have played over 200 hands of Don't Mess with Cthulhu since I discovered it

10. Mamma Mia

Mamma Mia is a overlooked Uwe Rosenberg game with a bit of a memory element and a brutal level of interaction.  It is downright infuriating when another player slips a pizza order on top of the pile that is going to use just enough of the ingredients you need to fulfill your order.  

UWe was making great games long before Agricola--they were just a lot smaller

11. What the Heck

What the Heck is the current release of the classic Alex Randolph game that I've mostly played under the name Raj and is probably best known as Beat the Buzzard.  This is a simple, fast auction game with each player having exactly the same hand of cards to bid with and the game coming down to how you use them to bid for the items that are flipped up randomly.  For Sale takes this basic gameplay and improves it with a follow-up round that makes use of the cards one in the first round, but What the Heck is a bit faster and, for this project, more portable.

Raj is a better looking edition and I'll likely switch them out soon

12. Silver and Gold

Silver and Gold is a relatively new "flip and write" that has player filling cards in using Tetris-shaped patterns revealed on cards.  It is just the right level of simplicity that anyone can learn and complexity that rewards smart play.  

I wish this was a better solo game

13. Bandido 

Bandido is a simple tile-laying game from Helvetiq that comes in a box roughly the size of those used by Oink games.  In Bandido, players attempt to lay cards in a way that will close off all of the exits for the titular bandido.  This is the co-operative beer and pretzels companion to Guillotine--another game that allows for catching up with friends while playing but still has enough game play to be rewarding. 

Note: Helvetiq released a Covid19-themed pnp of Bandido for free!

14. The Mind

The Mind is certainly divisive-with a number of accusations online that it isn't even a game or that it is fundementally broken.  I think that both groups are insane.  The Mind is an amazing and unique co-op that is incredibly rewarding when played well.  Is it fragile? Yes.  Do a lot of people cheat when they play it? Also, yes.  Does that make it any less fun for my group? Nope.  I'll play The Mind any time it is put on the table.  I imported a copy when it was first released in Germany and it is one of the best purchases I've ever made.

People who cheat at co-ops are monsters

15. Lord of the Fries

This is one of two Cheapass Games in my box.  I love James Ernest designs and think he is among the most underrated designers in the industry.  Lord of the Fries isn't, however, one of his best designs.  It is a silly, extremely random card game with a goofy theme (zombies running restaurants).  Still, I have fun every time I play it, and it has been a hit almost every time I have introduced it to new groups.  This one is on the chopping block, but I'm holding out for another goofy, thematic game that will work for as many situations as Lord of the Fries does.

16. Pairs/Deadfall

The deck I have says Deadfall, but it is a Pairs deck like any other and can be used to play dozens of games from the Deluxe Pairs book, which I keep in the same box.  For the record, Deadfall is the best of the half-dozen "Liar's Dice but with cards" games that I've played (Knizia's Icarus is a close second).  

I've been a fan of Cheapass games since my broke-ass college days

17. Frank's Zoo

I love climbing games.  Frank's Zoo is one of the best and is criminally unknown.  This Doris Matthäus, Frank Nestel design features amazing art by Matthaus.  Each card has an adorable animal and the "climbing" involves working your way up the food chain to bigger and bigger animals.  The game has a clever emerging partnership and it is a great introduction to climbing games.  Would I rather be playing Tichu? Yes, but Tichu might as well be Bridge it is so dependent on regular partners and opponents of equal skill.  Frank's Zoo gives me some of the joy of Tichu in a more user-friendly package.  

18-24. My Pack O Game collection

I love Chris Handy's Pack O Game designs and they are perfect for a project like this as they are the size of a pack of gum and "pack" plenty of game play into that small box.  I especially like this final box because I can remove it from the bigger box and take it into nearly any environment (and have seven games in my coat pocket).  At some point I'll likely have more of these in the box, but for now I have seven of my favorites: Nut, Spy, Orc, SHH, Hue, Dig, and Lie.  It occurs to me now that BUS should also be in the box but appears to be missing :(.  Anyway, of these DIG feels the most like a full board game experience.  SHH is a great co-op word game (a category otherwise missing from my bug out box).  Lie is another Liar's Dice variant and could probably be left out, but there isn't really any reason to given its tiny size.  SPY is a cool deduction game that involves some hand management and memory.  Hue is a tile-laying game reminiscent of Knizia's Ingenious but in a much smaller package.  It is the one game in the Pack O Game series that I'd prefer to have in a less protable deluxe edition.  

8 Games, 1 Box--the Internet sensation

And, that is it.  Twenty-four games in 16 little boxes (and all in one bigger box). My question for you is this--do you have a gaming bug out bag, and, if so, what is in it?

My Votes for 14th Annual Golden Geek Awards

This week Boardgamegeek posted its nomination form for the 14th Annual Golden Geek Awards for the best games of 2019.  I have an active game group with multiple members who buy and bring new games each week, so I'd had a chance to play enough games this year that I felt pretty confident about my votes.  

Here were my votes:

No, these games aren't clickable, sorry--just captured a screenshot of my voting page

It was a pretty good year for games.  I enjoyed a lot more than the ten that I voted for.  Of these ten, I expect Res Arcana is the game I will still be playing years from now, but The Crew, Unmatched, Call to Adventure, and Horrified all provided some great experiences this year.  I'm also a bit obsessed with The Crew right now, but that is a 2020 game for me--having just imported from Germany a month ago.  I couldn't not nominate it, but it has the unfair advantage of not having been fully explored like some of the other games.

Most of the remaining categories include a mix of these games, so I'll just point out the exceptions in each of the other categories.

The two games here that weren't on my overall Game of the Year list are Combo Fighter and Funkoverse Strategy Game.  Funkoverse, along with Unmatched, is a tactical miniatures game featuring a variety of anachronistic gladiators.  Of the two games, I prefer Unmatched for its interesting card play.  Funkoverse, however, is much better than it has any right to be, and if I ever get a chance to game with my group again, I look forward to getting Kool Aid Man to the table--I could do it at home, but my daughter is resistant to having Kool Aid Man enter into the Potterverse.

Combo Fighter is a wonderful, quick 2-player card game that attempts to simulate fighting videogames.  Fighting-game card games are a weird subgenre of board games that I really love--having Yomi, Exceed, Combo Fighter and Battlecon all in my collection (and also Knizia's fencing game En Garde which I rethemed as a homebrew back in the day).  Combo Fighter is my favorite currently because of the speed of play and the easy teach.  Yomi and Battlecon are deeper games that I appreciate, but I'm never going to get them to the table with my family or as quick filler on board game nights with my group.

Unmatched would be my vote here.  Mondo did an amazing job with art and graphic design and the minis are gorgeous.  

Corinth (Family Game), Medium, Obscurio, and Wavelength (Party Games) are the new ones here.  Corinth is a roll and write reimagining of Yspahan, one of my favorite games of all time.  I love the Caravan element of Yspahan, which is removed here, but Corinth is still a joy--and Days of Wonder has been nice enough to release free print and play files for people to play in their isolation tanks.

I really feel like party games get short shrift among "hardcore" board gamers (on Reddit and BGG certainly), but here I am not putting either of the three really good party games in my overall top 10 games of the year.  Of these three, Wavelength is the one that was closest to making it.  Unfortunately, as much as I love it, neither my family or my primary game group likes it as much.

 

I'll probably go back and expand my nominations in these two categories.  I just think Strategy Game is poorly definined--nearly every game could be a strategy game and this list would end up just being the same as my Game of the Year list, so I only nominated the three games that I choose a long-term strategy at the beginning and pursue for the length of the game.  Res Arcana, however, is the one that stands out.  I love getting that opening hand, looking at what sides of the boards are available, and deciding how I'm going to get to ten points before anyone else.

These are my games that either had mechanics that tied directly to their theme or had themes that appealed to me--another pretty loose category.  Outer Rim, Jaws and Detective are new here.  All are very thematic, have themes that appeal to me, and are pretty solid games.  Of the three, I only own Jaws and it is likely just a Halloween game going forward, but it was fun for a few plays.

All these expansion are good--only Lux et Tenebrae and Wingspan: European are essential.  I will be hitting Name of the Wind hard as Call to Adventure is one of the solo games I plan on playing when my work schedule eases up.  Left off from the possible nominations were all of the 7th Continent curses because I just mixed everything in and can't think of them as separate things.

All in all, 2019 was a good year for games and a great year for me as a gamer.  Having a regular game night with gamers that will attempt anything (well, nearly--I really need a second group for 18xx, Age of Steam, and Winsome Games) is a real blessing and this Safe at Home isolation is really killing me.  Still, I hate to complain when so many people have either lost their jobs or have to continue to do jobs in the face of danger.  My board game woes are minor in the long run--and I know we will marathon like mad men (and women) when we can get back together.  

Body Count Podcast--Midsommar

This episode features Philip, Danny, and Scott spend 90 minutes discussing the 2019 Ari Aster film “Midsommar.” Lots of interesting conversation here, we hope you enjoy. Be sure to leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.

International Tabletop Game Day Plays and more

I hosted our annual Tabletop Day game day at our college and managed to get a few games I have been champing at the bit to play.  That included Spirit Island, The Reckoners, and Root.  All of them ended up to be worth the wait, but Root has left me completely obsessed.  I'm going to try to get it to the table ASAP.  We followed our game day up with more games than usual at our regular Sunday dinner and hangout.   That left me with 26 plays in two days--those are Con weekend numbers!  I've been playing tons of games this year, but June might turn out to feature the most plays I've ever had in a month.  To be continued...I suppose.