by Aaron Rohrer
This post was originally written on my blog "Late To The Table..." on April 7th, 2018 and can be found in it's original (including the original pictures) at the following link:http://alittlelatetothetable.blogspot.com/2018/04/obligatory...
What follows is the text of the post:
Alright! We’ve made it through the first quarter of 2018 and it’s been a solid start to the year. This past month was very good and we were able to get some great plays and some new games to the table. We were able to get over 50 plays for the month and 28 different games! We also got some new games to the table that we’ve really enjoyed! My March edition of my 25x5 challenge went live recently so feel free to check out how we’re doing!
2018 25x5 Challenge Post (March 2018):http://alittlelatetothetable.blogspot.com/2018/04/obligatory...
Woot! I feel like we’re really starting to truck along in our different challenges and are looking forward to how we continue to do. Now let’s move on to the main part of the post. Thanks so much for reading and enjoy!
Statistics:
Total plays in March 2018 – 53
Total unique games played in March 2018 – 28
New games played in March 2018 – 6
New games acquired in March 2018 – 4
New expansions acquired in March 2018 – N/A
Most plays of a single game in March 2018 – 5
Azul
Designer – Michael Kiesling
Publisher – Plan B Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/21/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 5
We got 5 total plays of this game this past month and it was awesome! I love how very simple this game is to teach and play but still has such strategic/tactical depth. This is an absolutely amazing abstract game that has been lovingly and beautifully produced.
Munchkin Loot Letter
Designer – Seiji Kanai
Publisher – Alderac Entertainment Group
Last play before March 2018 – 12/13/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 5
Steph and I have taken to pulling this game out when we have some downtime and playing a few rounds. This is the perfect game for just playing quickly when we have a small amount of time and area to play on.
Bunny Kingdom
Designer – Richard Garfield
Publisher – IELLO
New to me
First play – 3/3/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 4
Okay, this game is surprisingly good! It is so much more fun than I’d have thought and everyone I’ve played with/taught the game to has absolutely loved it! This is such a solid card-drafting game with a board element and I am glad we ended up buying it!
Gaia Project
Designer – Jens Drögemüller/Helge Ostertag
Publisher – Z-Man Games
New to me
First play – 3/10/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 4
This is a game that I got for my birthday and I’ve played it solo 4 times already! I can’t wait be able to teach this game to other people but to be honest it has been an absolutely amazing experience just with the solo play thus far! I love what the Automa Factory does with their solo variants and will at least check out every game that they do work for in the future.
Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
Designer – Rob Daviau/Matt Leacock
Publisher – Z-Man Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/4/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 4
We got in 4 more plays of this game this past month and they were awesome! As much as I loved Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 I think I may actually enjoy this one even more! I love how much change there is on the board and the exploration that really opens up during the game. I am looking forward to our next session!
Gloomhaven
Designer – Isaac Childres
Publisher – Cephalofair Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/1/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 3
Woo hoo! We were actually able to get in 3 plays of our campaign this month. We have a Gloomhaven night on Thursdays and February was a busy month and we weren’t able to meet but 1 time. This past month was great and we were really able to cruise through some missions and have a blast doing them.
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Designer – Christopher Badell/Paul Bender/Adam Rebottaro
Publisher – Greater Than Games/Sentinel Comics
Last play before March 2018 – 2/27/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 3
I got in 3 more plays of this fantastic card game this past week and it was awesome. This is one of those games that I’ll pick up and play anytime I have some time to play solo. It is a game that I’ve played a ton solo but not a whole lot with others. I really need to try to get it to the table with other players as well so they can see how good it is!
Aeon’s End: War Eternal
Designer – Kevin Riley
Publisher – Action Phase Games/Indie Boards & Cards
New to me
First play – 3/6/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 2
This was one of the games that I got for my birthday in February and I have really enjoyed it! I played it once solo and once with Em and she really enjoyed it as well. I really like how it is a deck-builder, co-op game where you never shuffle the deck. Instead, you flip the deck directly over when you’re out of cards and continue on. This gives players more control of what is where in their deck.
Kanagawa
Designer – Bruno Cathala/Charles Chevallier
Publisher – IELLO
Last play before March 2018 – 9/7/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 2
One night this past month Josh and I got together and played a bunch of smaller games a couple of times and had a blast! This is one of the games we played and he learned it really quickly. We split wins and had a blast playing it.
Kingdomino
Designer – Bruno Cathala
Publisher – Blue Orange Games
New to me
First play – 3/23/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 2
During the evening where Josh and I played a bunch of different games we pulled this one out for the first time for either of us. Josh picked this up and we really wanted to try it out. I can totally understand why this game won the Spiel des Jahres as it is a wonderful and simple game. I love games where you can teach them quickly but they really feel like you’re making important decisions during the play.
Scythe
Designer – Jamey Stegmaier
Publisher – Stonemaier Games
Last play before March 2018 – 3/18/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 2
I borrowed this game from Josh this past month because I was really interested in trying the solo game. I love Automa Factory which is a group who creates solitaire variants for different games and really started by working on Stonemaier Games’ projects. This was a blast and I’m glad to say I loved this variant as well!
Bohnanza
Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – AMIGO/Rio Grande Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/13/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
They guys and I pulled out this game during a gamenight this past month and played a round of it. I absolutely adore this game; it is one of my favorite card-only games. I think this is a brilliant design and enjoy every play of it!
Century: Golem Edition
Designer – Emerson Matsuucchi
Publisher – Plan B Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/24/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
We pulled this out one night during a gamenight with Josh, Jeff, Dean and Steph. This was a great round (as are all of this game’s rounds!) of the game and in the end the game was actually ended in a tie with Steph winning the tiebreaker! Man do I ever love this game!
Charterstone
Designer – Jamey Stegmaier
Publisher – Stonemaier Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/13/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
We got in another round of this game this past month and we are now half-way through. This has been such a fun game and I always look forward to the next time that we are all able to get together to play again.
The City of Kings
Designer – Frank West
Publisher – The City of Games
New to me
First play – 3/8/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
Josh got this game from a Kickstarter project this past month and we made sure to pull it out and play a round of it. This game is seriously awesome and I can’t wait to play it again. I may end up pulling out some money and throwing it at the upcoming reprint Kickstarter which should being going live very soon.
Dinosaur Island
Designer – Jonathan Gilmour/Brian Lewis
Publisher – Pandasaurus Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/2/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
I pulled this game out with Em and Steph this past month. It was the first time Steph had played and the second time Em had played. I love this game! The girls did great and Em was able to pull out the win with her Herbivore heavy build with Steph doing really well and barely missing first. I pulled up in last place but was very few points behind as well. This is an awesome game that I can’t wait to play again!
Harvest
Designer – Trey Chambers
Publisher – Tasty Minstrel Games
Last play before March 2018 – 12/22/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
Em and I pulled out and played this great little worker placement game this past month. I ended up drafting a character I had never tried before as did she. I was able to take this round relatively easily with the Troll, Plowdor. I love how different the characters are in this game and find every play to be fresh and fun.
Imperial Settlers
Designer – Ignacy Trzewiczek
Publisher – Portal Games
Last play before March 2018 – 4/26/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
This is one of our 25x5 games for the year so we decided to pull it out and play through it. This is still one of my favorite games and this round solidified that. I love every play of this game and find it to be quite a gorgeous design. I ended up winning the round with the Japanese as Em just wasn’t able to get her Roman engine going as efficiently. I look forward to our next play!
Mechs vs. Minions
Designer – Chris Cantrell/Rick Ernst/Stone Librande/Prashant Saraswat/Nathan Tiras
Publisher – Riot Games
Last play before March 2018 – 5/6/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
Josh, Jeff, Dean and I pulled this game out at a gamenight this past month and played through Operation: Burning Vengeance. This is such a good co-operative experience and a legitimately good programming game and I’m happy with every play I get of it. This is another 25x5 game for us so, bonus!
Pulsar 2849
Designer – Vladimír Suchý
Publisher – Czech Games Edition
Last play before March 2018 – 2/24/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
This is still a pretty new game for us. We decided to pull it out once this past month at a gamenight and play through an advanced round. This game is quickly moving up my favorite’s list and is definitely one of my favorite dice-drafting games. I love how “thinky” and deep this game can get with the myriad of decisions that are presented to the players. I look forward to my next play of this brilliant design!
Roll for the Galaxy
Designer – Thomas Lehmann/Wei-Hwa Huang
Publisher – Rio Grande Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/19/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
Em and I pulled this game out and taught Zach how to play one night when he came over for games. This is such an incredible game and I really hope they decide to make ever more expansions to make the game even more replayable!
Sushi Go Party!
Designer – Phil Walker-Harding
Publisher – Gamewright
Last play before March 2018 – 12/13/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
We pulled this game out at a gamenight where we had 5 players and needed some good games that played at this player count. We decided to teach this and had a blast. This is just a solid card-drafting game that I can pretty much teach to anyone and they all enjoy it!
Ticket to Ride
Designer – Alan R. Moon
Publisher – Days of Wonder
Last play before March 2018 – 2/27/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
As I know I’ve said on occasion, anytime I get to play this game in a month makes me happy. This is one of those games that I just enjoy every play of even though it isn’t the deepest or most strategic game I have. I just think that the game is simple and it is fun and anyone can compete for the win no matter their level of play.
Too Many Bones
Designer – Adam Carlson/Josh Carlson
Publisher – Chip Theory Games
Last play before March 2018 – 2/20/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
Josh and I pulled out this wonderful game this past month and played with Boomer and Nugget and took on The Goblin King. We were able to make it through and get to him fairly quickly and then held back a little as we leveled up. The first round we played him we were too low in initiative and were crushed. However, we manipulated the baddie queue a little and were able to defeat him the second time around. I love this game so much and can’t wait to get my hands on Undertow.
Via Nebula
Designer – Martin Wallace
Publisher – Space Cowboys
Last play before March 2018 – 2/2/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
We were deciding what to play one night when Em said she wanted to play this one. We pulled it out and proceeded to play a round and she ended up getting some really good buildings and doing a great job exploiting with her workers. This is such a good game. I love that he was able to distill the essence of an 18xx game into a family-style game.
Viceroy
Designer – Yuri Zhuravljov
Publisher – Hobby World/Mayday Games
Last play before March 2018 – 4/11/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
This game is another that is on our 25x5 this year so we decided to play a round. I was able to get a pretty decent engine rolling and ended up getting some pretty good points by the end of the game. I love this game and look forward to the expansion that should go back to Kickstarter sometime this year.
Whistle Stop
Designer – Scott Caputo
Publisher – Bézier Games
New to me
First play – 3/10/18
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
This is another game that I got for my birthday and we pulled it out to try it for the first time this past month. This is a super fun tile-laying and pick-up-and-deliver game where the players are taking their trains across the country and getting as many points as possible. I look forward to playing this one more!
Yokohama
Designer – Hisashi Hayashi
Publisher – Tasty Minstrel Games/OKAZU Brand
Last play before March 2018 – 7/16/17
Total plays in March 2018 – 1
Here is another of our 25x5 games that we got to the table this past month. I love this game and was really glad to be able to get it to the table. This is such an elegant design and I really want to play it with the full complement of 4 players eventually!
New game acquisitions in March 2018:
Aeon’s End: War Eternal
Bunny Kingdom
Gaia Project
Whistle Stop
New expansion acquisitions in March 2018:
N/A
And there we go! It was a really solid month of gaming this past month and we got in some great plays of new games and old games alike. We are really starting to truck along in our challenges for the year so I’m excited to see where that goes. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Until next time, game on!