December 16th. 247 years ago, today, American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest taxes. In memory of that historical moment, I would love to say that today’s group of 4 games features one related to that story. But…I do not. There’s a Space game, though — does that count?!?
Links to prior posts:
#40 – Space Base (Alderac Entertainment Group, John D. Clair) [#3 in 2019]
Space Base comes in as my #2 John D. Clair game (we’ve recently seen Mystic Vale and Ecos: First Continent). Now, you may notice it has taken a sharp dive from #3 last year. After being a super-hit for me out of the gate, I’ve cooled a bit…but the game is still a favorite in my household.
As I’ve played Space Base more and more, I’ve been able to enjoy trying different strategies each game — which keeps me entertained from play-to-play. I do HIGHLY suggest the Emergence of Shy Pluto expansion — not only is it a fun mini-campaign to play through, but it then leaves you with a new expanded version that is a nice upgrade from the base game.
#39 – Call to Adventure (Brotherwise Games, designed by Johnny O’Neal and Christopher O’Neal) [#27 in 2019]
Back at #78, I spoke about this game system with the Stormlight Archive standalone expansion. Up here at #39, though, sits the base game. This is the one I started with and for now it is still my favorite version of the game, because the character / trait / event / enemy cards are generic enough to allow you to tell your own story, but also specific enough (with wonderful artwork) to remind you of beloved fantasy stories.
I also really enjoy the rune-tossing that occurs in this game. For a math guy, I love the ease of calculating the odds of success — but again, those are just odds — so when the odds are 50:50, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to pay to add one more rune to up the odds into your favor. Even when you fail, though, you gain experience and you don’t necessarily go backwards…that part of your story just didn’t work out. Next turn, you will get to take your character on a different path or journey.
Not everyone will do this, but my son and I look forward to the “epilogue” of the game when, after scoring, we tell the tale of our character’s journey. If you enjoy story-telling, this is a superb title that actually includes enjoyable gameplay. More about my thoughts can be found in my review.
#38 – Reavers of Midgard (Grey Fox Games, designed by J.B. Howell) [new to the list]
First off, I love the color palette for Reavers of Midgard — but I also love the gameplay. Being able to follow actions, point salad scoring, multi-use cards, and just a wee bit of Champions of Midgard with the Sea Battles.
Reavers relies way less on dice-chucking than Champions, though, because you have pre-rolled your dice –> thus, you can go into a round / battle / action knowing your options. While that may seem less exciting to some, I enjoy the puzzly aspect this provides to the game.
Anytime someone suggests Reavers of Midgard, my ears perk up for a chance to play!
#37 – It’s a Wonderful World (La Boite de Jeu, designed by Frederic Guerard) [new to the list]
It’s a Wonderful World — a great new title from La Boite de Jeu — is a card-drafting game in which you are then deciding to use each card as an item to build OR for its recycled resource. While card-drafting is the main mechanism, the gameplay focuses on building a resource-engine that will allow you to actually build the cards you have put “under construction.”
I really enjoy the card artwork and the theme of this game, but be aware –> this game can get crunchy! (watch out for Analysis Paralysis, which is actually a card in the game). But if you love the puzzle of resource/engine timing, this is an outstanding title. My wife and I have played through one of the heritage campaigns and started the second –> they add some fun, unique twists to the gameplay which we’ve enjoyed.
That’s numbers 40 through 37. Let me know what your thoughts and/or feedback are for these titles. Furthermore, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @boardgamecrock1 and Retweet the Top 100 posts to earn entries into the Fantastic Factories giveaway.
See you tomorrow for the next 4.
Board Game CrockPot 