The boardgame world has changed pretty dramatically in the years since I started blogging. At one point there were maybe a half dozen well produced euro or indy games and a big pile of rubbish. You owned a
Catan game,
Ticket to Ride, and filled out your collection with some random Knizia game and
Munchkin. Now there are new titles coming out monthly and while some rubbish continues to accumulate there are many more excellent games that get lost in the crowd. At this moment I'm looking at my gaming shelf and for each
7 Wonders that I've actually played a good number of times there's
Camelot Legends, Okko, Yggdrasil, and
Lord of the Rings Card Game, all sadly underplayed and deserving better. My first resolution for the year may be to actually try Fewer games, and instead get more play from the ones I own.
Having said that, there are a few things coming down the pike that I'm looking forward to trying.
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| Old School Fun |
Moongha Invaders: Ever since I played
Crush, Crumble, and Chomp in my friend Alexis' basement I've been keeping an eye out for good giant monster games. Sadly, none have really delivered the thrills the way
Crush did. Lacking a computer that can load games from cassette tape I've been forced to keep searching for alternatives. I ordered
Moongha through Kickstarter and we shall see how things pan out. It's designed by Martin Wallace which can mean either very good or very lame.
Sake and Samurai: I'm a sucker for theme, which has not always been the best guide for a game (cough cough
Dungeon Lords...), and this one has plenty. Samurai sit around and alternate drinking with swordplay. The winner is the best drinker or the best fighter I believe. If you're defeated you return to the game as a thirsty ghost. Or a ghost of thirst. How could this Not be a great game?
Relic: There's an old game called
Talisman that is entertaining, old school, and kind of silly. You go on fantasy quests, you can be turned into a toad, and you cart around vast amounts of treasure and helpful sidekicks. It's completely inelegant in design. Still: toad, treasure, sidekicks. And it requires about 90% less concentration than just about every other modern boardgame. Now
Relic promises to do
Talisman but in the loopy Warhammer 40K universe. Are there space toads in
Relic? Assuming they retain the "like
Munchkin if
Munchkin was actually fun" quality of
Talisman this could be a big hit.
Sake and Samurai: I'm a sucker for theme, which has not always been the best guide for a game (cough cough Dungeon Lords...), and this one has plenty. Samurai sit around and alternate drinking with swordplay. The winner is the best drinker or the best fighter I believe. If you're defeated you return to the game as a thirsty ghost. Or a ghost of thirst. How could this Not be a great game?
Relic: There's an old game called Talisman that is entertaining, old school, and kind of silly. You go on fantasy quests, you can be turned into a toad, and you cart around vast amounts of treasure and helpful sidekicks. It's completely inelegant in design. Still: toad, treasure, sidekicks. And it requires about 90% less concentration than just about every other modern boardgame. Now Relic promises to do Talisman but in the loopy Warhammer 40K universe. Are there space toads in Relic? Assuming they retain the "like Munchkin if Munchkin was actually fun" quality of Talisman this could be a big hit.
I'm looking forward to giving Relic a go. I think I'm even less likely to have local people with whom to play it than Talisman, but Carnage or other game days seem probable venues for such fun.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Carnage will be perfect and there'll probably be a lot of people who want to give it a try. I know I would!
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