Spieleblog

Waggle Dance . oldie, but goldie. Always fun how this rather simple game can captivate people, even over 10 years after its release.

Schotten Totten 2 is becoming one of our favorite two-player games. A remake of the old Schotten Totten (which unfortunately is no longer available under that name, only as Battle Line, but that only in English). Unlike the first game, now asymmetric with just enough difference in gameplay that the two sides definitely feel different, but still mostly doing the same things. Quick to set up, quick to play, and quick to put away with enough tactics to keep you hooked for a few games. And the graphic style is just nice.

Tak is quite an interesting game: inspired by a fantasy novel by Patrick Rothfuss, brought to life as a fictional "classic" strategy game. The beauty of it: you can easily make it yourself if you want and are skilled. The rules are super simple and easy to learn, but the game is tricky with many opportunities to set traps for the opponent. It will probably be taken for our next vacation because it's practical to play outdoors.

Rurik: Dawn of Kiev is a Kickstarter game that arrived at my place a few weeks ago and has since been on the table a few times. Interesting aspects of the game are the action selection with differently rated advisors in a separate auction phase, in which you select the action possibilities and a bit the order in which you execute them, but how strong the action will be depends on the fellow players. The actions are only evaluated in the second phase, where you then have to see how to cope with what you get. The target scores are very close to each other, every point counts. Also very nice game material and a practical sorting insert.

Wingspan is my new addition from Essen this year (not the only one, but the one I've played so far) and I'm very happy to have bought the game. A tableau builder with cards, where the cards improve the action possibilities - that's already perfect for me. Variable setup, secret objectives and high combo potential in the cards make it even better. And the first games with 2 and 5 players were super exciting. The game offers a nice escalation curve in the game - the rounds have fewer and fewer actions, but the actions themselves get better and better. And when you hit a productive combo, it just feels good. Add to that good quality materials and appealing graphics, this is a slam-dunk for me.

The Ninth World: A Skillbuilding Game for Numenera is a very strange game, essentially implementing the construction of an RPG character as a game. The character is guided in different directions by different cards, improves basic skills, finds special abilities, and experiences adventures. But everything is very strongly abstracted. For me, the game is carried mainly by the consistent graphics and the fact that setup and gameplay are relatively quick. Solid upper midfield, I would say. But quite usable for 30-60 minutes of time. But definitely not a must-have. And for me already symptomatic of Loneshark Games: the manual leaves much to be desired. It is not as incomplete as that of Apocrypha, but some things you really only see after multiple readings. More care and blind testing could have really helped.

Too Many Bones: Undertow has almost reached the top of my game list after just one playthrough. Essentially, it's an RPG in a box - choose a character, level up various stats, and each character has their own skill tree. Then there's the fact that each character plays completely differently. These characters are then tested in several scenarios with battles against a variety of opponents using a variation of the Hoplomachus combat system. Opponents and your own figures are represented by stacks of poker chips, abilities and actions by dice. Mountains of dice. But due to the many manipulation options, you're not hopelessly at the mercy of dice luck, but always retain a certain degree of control. And all of this is pure gaming fun, especially for me in solo play.

Ever wanted to try something really new and interesting? Petrichor might be just what you're looking for. Where else do players represent competing weather systems vying against each other to provide the best irrigation for crops? Very nice components, a very friendly designed game and an absolutely brutal feel. The cloud systems fight for dominance on the "map", argue about who determines the next weather and stop attacks from opposing cloud systems, all in the fight for points. It almost feels like a wargame. At first, it seems quite complex, as the effects of your own actions always influence several areas at the same time and you practically have to keep all the paths to victory points in mind to avoid falling behind. But after a few actions, you've got it and the game runs smoothly. Replay value is provided by the high variability of the setup.

Architects of the West Kingdom is my souvenir (one of several) from the Spiel 2018 in Essen. I like the graphic style of The Mico very much and the fact that Shem Phillips worked as a developer on it gave me hope. And the game delivers a very good picture. A very idiosyncratic look at worker placement combined with a dual goal path (virtuous cathedral building or thievish withholding and black market trading) provides a lot of fun, at least in our first game. Will definitely come to the table more often, it is not too complex in the actual game, the actions are not huge chains like in Viticulture, but usually directly connected to what you want to do next. Plus the missing blocking and the successive improvement of one's own actions, the capturing of the opponent's workers when they become too efficient, all very interesting action possibilities.

Recently, Iron Curtain has been played a lot at our place. It's almost like a Twilight Struggle as a microgame. 18 cards, a few wooden dice and off you go. Each card can be used for 1-4 (depending on the card) influence dice or for their event, generally it's about influence in countries and regions of the world. And it's impressive how much game depth has been packed into this small box and the little material. Definitely a lot of fun to play. The game is by the same creators as 13 Days, which we also really enjoyed.

Ethnos had been on my wishlist for a while, and I eventually bought it because I wanted a relatively easy-to-explain game for up to 6 players that I can play with any group. Not a long explanation, catchy gameplay (it reminds me a bit of Ticket to Ride, but here influence markers are placed in a country instead of trains on a map) and quick to play. Even with 6 players, we usually finish in one to one and a half hours. And it's really fun. Of course, due to the game concept, you are - just like in Ticket to Ride - strongly dependent on what you draw. But with tactical skill and attention, you can still wrestle a rough direction from chance. The different factions that appear in the game can be freely assembled from 6 out of 12, which can drastically change the game - having Halflings in the game feels completely different (suddenly everyone plays very large combat groups) than, for example, Centaurs (everyone wants some because you can play two or more combat groups). Elves and wizards keep your hands full, dwarves reduce the combat group sizes for points. Very fun and despite the variability, easy to explain.

Renegade is a game by Ricky Royal, one of my favorite board game YouTubers. He particularly enjoys showcasing solo games, and Renegade is an excellent solo game, naturally also playable as a cooperative game with multiple players. Cyberpunk theme, deck-building à la Mage Knight, but with a permanently size-limited deck (always 15 cards). The cards have a dual function (at least the cards you buy into the deck), either commands or events. And actually, buying is always worth it, as you buy directly to your hand, so you usually improve your hand. Additionally, a multi-stage game with intermediate goals that you can achieve for a bonus or ignore against a penalty. All this with a very lean area-control aspect. I really like it.

One Deck Dungeon: Forest of Shadows is another solo game. Okay, you can also play it cooperatively with two players, but somehow it still feels more solo-focused to me. A classic rogue-like, but as a card and dice game. As in the old computer games, you are a single (or two) fighter of different classes who must fight their way through a dungeon, three levels deep, to then face the final boss. Along the way, you defeat monsters and trials and receive abilities, items, or potions in return. In the end, these are of course just more dice and dice manipulations, but thematically it all works surprisingly well and is - despite the manageable number of cards - surprisingly varied.

In my constant search for interesting solitaire games, I recently stumbled upon Wars of Marcus Aurelius: Rome 170-180CE. Hollandspiele is a small but fine wargame publisher that has released a whole series of challenging solitaire games. And with the Wars of Marcus Aurelius, they have, in my opinion, hit a real jackpot: a mix of State of Siege and CDG. State of Siege is characterized by the different fronts that push towards a center and constantly threaten to overwhelm the player. This element is also present here. But while in State of Siege the dice dominate and cards only provide a historical framework, here the cards are absolutely central. The classic CDG mechanism allows cards to be used for ordinary actions or for the printed event. Generally, there are several uses for cards and the player can manage their hand of cards over the seasons of the current year, always considering whether to use or save the cards. Add to this the opponent driven by card effects. Dice are only used to determine conflict victories and there are many ways to influence the dice result. Overall, a really good mix, which, however, comes across as quite challenging, as one quickly loses in the spring of the second year ...

Fields of Green is essentially a reworking of Among the Stars - the same card drafting, the same tableau building, and again the dependencies of the card arrangement for victory points (and there are the same three types of cards with immediate effect, round effect, and end-of-game scoring). But instead of space stations in outer space, here it's all about the fields and the dear livestock. A game vacation on the farm, so to speak. All in a nice package with very clear rules and round sequences and a few new tricks compared to the predecessor game. Unfortunately, just like the predecessor game, it's only for 4 players, but a 5-player expansion is already on the way. For larger groups, however, 7 Wonders remains unbeaten as a drafting game.

I finally got Innovation on the table at the weekly game meetup and must say, I like it. I had only played with a fan-made solo rule before, but with multiple players, a highly interactive game like this is simply better. Exploiting card combos doesn't work as well in solo play, so many interactions fall by the wayside. The game offers a lot of combos and an interesting flow through participating in other players' cooperative dogmas (card effects) and the way affected players are chosen in imperative dogmas. Definitely fun for more, although the game is really very text-heavy and probably only truly great when the games have been played multiple times and know what cards are in play.

After we had already played the picture version a lot, Codenames Duet came into our collection - a two-person version of Codenames. And it's really fun, though for us only in a picture version. We both found it extremely stressful and unsatisfying with the words, but with the pictures from Codename Pictures it really brings joy. And since it's cooperative, you can quickly take it out when we don't feel like fighting.

Juliana's new favorite game: Battle Line. A classic, in our case with a new graphic design featuring knights instead of hoplites. 9 columns where you play a small "poker" game, the higher combo wins. The goal is to win 3 adjacent territories or a total of 5 territories. Easy to learn, easy to play (we don't play the expansion with tactic cards as it's only available in English). Within a very short time, the game has been played over 100 times and even more by Juliana, because it's the first game she voluntarily unpacks and plays by herself (left hand against right hand). Something that has never happened before. So definitely a quality statement for the game.

Another new addition is Viticulture Essential Edition - purchased on the occasion of a 10-euro voucher from the local game store, chosen because of the number of players (1-6). So far, I have only played it solo, but it works excellently for that. And from what I've seen, I'm already looking forward to playing it in the player round - a well-intermeshed worker placement, where the theme fits quite well with the actions in the game (ok, some details are a bit "creative", but overall the interplay of the actions makes sense). The whole thing then with quite challenging decisions in the game, but not as far as, for example, in Gallerist or similar highly complex games. So really something for the weekly round and not immediately a time investment for the weekend.

Recently, Godforsaken Scavengers arrived from Kickstarter and I tried it out right away. Originally, I only grabbed it because the unusual theme (or rather the style) appealed to me. It's basically a dungeon crawl with character attributes, events, locations, and everything that goes with it, packed into a super compact playtime and wrapped in appealing graphics. So, absolutely great for a quick game, as it hardly consumes any setup and the game itself is quick to finish. It has exactly the right length for the high proportion of luck it takes to survive - if things go wrong, not much time is invested, just shuffle and go again.

Another trade show souvenir is Azul, a nice tile-laying game with a super-friendly (and super-painted) theme: tile laying. The game itself is quite competitive and a lot of fun (at least for me) and has been well received in the board game group so far. I particularly like the short playing time, many games in our collection go beyond the hour and this one can be easily finished in 40 minutes, even with 4 players. In addition, it is super easy to teach to the players and the material is simply great. This will certainly find its way onto the table more often.

Triplock is a new addition that surprised me - I only picked it up because the manufacturer often delivers very interesting games in superb quality and the theme appealed to me (Steampunk world and lock picking). What surprised me, however, was how much I enjoyed it. Essentially, it's a classic memory game - uncovering combinations, remembering the same, swapping and twisting, and at the same time keeping an overview of what is where. A bit like the typical shell game, only as a board game with a story. And it works damn well, also (or perhaps even especially) solo. You happily play several rounds in a row until you've cracked the current scenario.

Nemo's War (second edition) I have now played twice, and it is becoming one of my favorite solo games. It captures the atmosphere of Jules Verne's books well into an entertaining game. Even if, of course, the theme is only carried by the cards and the graphics of the game. The game system is based on a lot of chance, which can be surprisingly well managed. The result is quite a bit of strategy in a yet relatively classic roll-for-success system. The playtime, however, prevents me from getting it on the table more often. Nevertheless, it ranks high on my list.

A few days ago, The 7th Continent finally arrived after almost 2 years of waiting. Wow, it was worth the wait! The game has turned out fantastic and has made it into my top list. If the fun continues, it's a clear favorite for the 10th place. The only thing that could have been left out are the fiddly tiny miniatures, I prefer the cardboard standees ten times more. But the game itself - simply grand. Very beautifully drawn cards, clear symbolism and simple game system - all together form a graphical choose-your-own-adventure game. Looks simply great on the table. In addition, a clever save/restore mechanism makes it trivial to pack away to free up the table (you have to eat sometimes). When continuing to play, there is a bit of sorting work, but it is also clear. And the story you experience is really worth the time you invest. In addition, a series of curses that you can expose yourself to and many adventurers that you can send on the journey, that offers a lot of replay value. Even if you naturally get to know the continent over time, it probably won't get boring. This will bring a lot of gaming fun and for the autumn the next Kickstarter with more curses is already announced. I think I'll be there again.

The Godfather: Corleone's Empire has risen to the top of my list lately - I was immediately interested when it was announced (Worker Placement where you shoot annoying opponent workers?), and when it became available early, I grabbed it. Since then, I've played it with 2, 3, and 4 players and I am absolutely thrilled. Unlike many other Worker Placement games, it is not a multiplayer solitaire, but highly interactive and extremely mean, in parts. Yesterday, I was practically destroyed by theft, extortion, and murder of my people. And that's extremely fun - even if you think you're completely out of it at times, there's surprisingly much potential for a comeback. All in all, definitely a game way up there in my top list.

Comanchería: The Rise and Fall of the Comanche Empire recently found its way to my table. Wow. Simply wow. It is a solo game about the history of the Comanche, from their rise as a dominant tribe in the North American plains to their decline in the Battle of the Red River. Interspersed with historical notes, the game offers a very interesting system in which the author also takes the trouble to trace the various mechanics back to historical conditions or cultural peculiarities. And all of this with very solid game elements of extremely good quality (definitely in the premium range for a GMT game). And the game itself? What impresses me most is the very well-developed "AI" for the opponents for a solo game. Usually, the opponents in solo games are relatively simple, more driven by chance, possibly controlled a bit by rule systems. Not in this game, here the opponents are assigned strategy markers that give a rough overview of what this opponent might have in mind next - if he is activated. But even then, a random element is added, in which these strategies can still change in the short term - and you never know exactly how active he will be. The peace plans visible so far can quickly turn into attacks. But what is guaranteed: the more you do yourself, the higher the chances that the opponent will also carry out many actions. So always think about whether the next action will bring you further, or whether the risk of even more opponent activations might be too great. The success check for your own actions is also interestingly structured: it is not simply always just a die that is rolled, many checks go against a chit-pull system, in which successes and failures are taken out of the pool of possible chits (in the case of successes even for a longer time), so that your own successes automatically show in stronger resistance from the opponents (recognizable by the more likely failures due to the change in the composition of the chits). All in all, this gives a very rounded picture of the opponents in the game, who do not simply sit passively around to then strike randomly and arbitrarily, but instead react quite a bit to your own actions. And this without a lot of administrative effort for the opponents. It will definitely come to the table more often, especially since it contains a lot of other game elements that I love, foremost the "technology tree", in which you can equip your tribes with additional techniques and abilities and culturally strengthen them, which allows you to better support your own strategies. Then there are 4 historical scenarios that can all be played standalone (each 1-2 hours) or as a large campaign one after the other (6-8 hours). Then there is a relatively moderate setup, which is not always the case with conflict simulations.

For our weekly game group, I'm always looking for interesting games for 7 or even more players. Between Two Cities only goes up to 7, but offers a very nice game from the beginner class. Not as complex as 7 Wonders or similar, but definitely interesting for a large round. The special point of this game: you play together with your two neighbors. Together with each neighbor, you build a city, but you are evaluated afterwards according to your weakest city. The player whose weakest city has the most points wins. A very interesting idea and brings fresh wind into the round, because the players have to plan together to have a chance, but still compete. And the evaluation of the cities is much easier than, for example, in Suburbia - overall it seems more like a variant of Quadropolis, only with drafting and support for many players.

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! (second edition) is a tactical conflict simulation of Germany's attack on Russia in World War II. Generally not my favorite topic, but Conflict of Heroes is simply a standout in the genre for mechanical reasons: it has one of the most refined systems for solo play in the area of tactical games. The opponents (depending on the scenario, you can control the Russians or the Germans and let the other side be controlled by an "AI") are controlled via a card system that is situationally built. The cards check various conditions and prescribe actions that the opponent performs - and all of this is placed in the context of the current game situation and the game scenario. This results in surprisingly "intelligent" reactions from the opponents, which make the game absolutely challenging, even when you're playing solo. Additionally, there's the option to use the Firefight Generator to create your own scenarios in a kind of pre-game. The interesting part here: the scenario is set up neutrally, you assemble both sides, but which side you play is only decided at the end. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to set up the scenario one-sidedly, as you would then have to play the weaker side. As a result, the game offers a very high replay value simply because the situations constantly change. And in this regard, it is clearly superior to Night of Man - another tactical skirmish game with a card-driven "AI" for the opponents - where there are only pre-made solo scenarios.

Pentaquark can best be described as "Patience for science enthusiasts." A card laying game with a reference to quantum physics and some interesting included variants. Nothing big or special, just a nice game to kill time in between. Interesting mainly because it is extremely compact and can therefore always be with you.

The Duke is a game that I had lying in the cupboard for quite some time because there was simply no opportunity for it - and I had practically given up on it. Then I planned it for our Mauritius vacation and played it several times with Juliana. It is definitely not Juliana's favorite game, but I had a damn good time with it. Basically, it's a much more variable chess with a certain element of chance. You start with the same - few - pieces on the board and can either move a piece with each move or bring a new piece into the game. To do this, pieces (square tiles with printed movement patterns) are turned over when activated, thus constantly changing their movement pattern. The result is a surprisingly interesting concept with very interesting strategic situations. I don't know if I'll ever get Juliana to play it again outside of beach vacations (for which it is ideal because of its very robust components), but it will definitely stay in my collection.

Yesterday, Mound Builders finally made it to the table. Very exciting. Mound Builders deals with an Indian culture of North America, of which only the burial mounds and a huge city (i.e., the traces of it) remain, but otherwise not much is known - except that they probably dominated North America culturally for about 1500 years. The game belongs to the State of Siege series, games that usually simulate a kind of stalemate. Situations in which enemies penetrate from the outside and must be repelled. In Mound Builders, however, you first build your empire in the first epoch of the game, which is then attacked in two further epochs. And the epochs all play quite differently (for example, the Spaniards are added as a catastrophe in the third). The game is set up quickly and is relatively quick to play once you have the phases down. However, this can take some time because the rulebook is rather unusual. But the effort is worth it if you want an exciting solo game with an interesting theme far removed from the usual. Of course, it is relatively strongly random, because almost every situation is resolved with dice. But this should not deter experienced solo players, as this is rather typical there - especially in conflict simulations.

Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game I've had for a while, but only today had the chance to play it. The game is very similar to Space Hulk: Death Angel, but much more expanded. Even in the tutorial, there is much more decision space and you have much more of a feeling of control. It's fun and the different scenarios promise even more of it. Specifically, the upgrading of action cards looks interesting, but unfortunately is not part of the tutorial. But it definitely makes you want more. Setup is much more than in SH:DA. So let's see how often it actually lands on the table, especially since Arkham Horror LCG is also announced, which goes in a similar direction.

Recently, the German version of Scythe finally arrived at my place, and today it hit the table as a solo game. The material is fantastic and impressive visually. The game itself is also great - essentially a mix of a Eurogame with action selection and a 4X game. The exploration aspect was not very pronounced, the military aspect only moderate, both of which I like. It's about the typical Euro efficiency of one's own actions, but embedded in a stylish frame theme. What excites me is the good design of the player boards, which show possible actions at a glance. And the very fast game sequence during the game with manageable decision-making scope. Great.

51st State: Master Set is one of the newest games from Portal Games and a remake of the old 51st State with all expansions and revised rules. It practically brings Imperial Settlers back to the post-apocalyptic world of 51st State. I really like it. The asymmetry of the factions is not as pronounced as in Imperial Settlers (there by the own card stacks), but the game is much smoother and feels faster and more interactive. And the solo game is easier to play. Overall, I really like it, especially for the solo game even better than Imperial Settlers (although I still have to try the nation-specific AI and the campaign there).

Codenames: Pictures is the sister game of the Game of the Year - only with pictures instead of words. Tried it with Juliana using the two-player rules, and it works surprisingly well. Of course, nothing you would constantly play with two people, but it was just a practice round for the next game night anyway. It will definitely be tried out in the group there.

Red7 is a small and fast game for in between. Ideal for waiting for the food or even on the plane, as it only needs minimal space. And despite simple rules and fast gameplay, it does provide something to think about. Additionally, the game is modular in the rules and can be adjusted in complexity. All in all, a really nice game that will certainly come to our table more often.

Mare Nostrum: Empires finally arrived on Friday after almost a year of extra time. It was one of the more complicated Kickstarters. But the wait was worth it for the game. The components are - as typical for Academy Games - fantastic. The game itself is surprisingly straightforward for a game with this theme (cultures in the Mediterranean region with trade and war) and also plays very quickly. My first solo game (two cultures plus barbarians) had an even for me surprising turn - at the beginning Carthage was ahead, reached 4 wonders (the fifth would have brought victory), but Rome could switch to military to put pressure on trade and secure victory through dominance in the areas of trade, culture and military. Great system and I hope to bring it to the table more often.

7 Wonders Juliana and I usually play in the Duell version. But since our Thursday round is growing, we also got the big game - with the Cities expansion you can play with up to 8 players. Today was the first training session with the 2-player variant included in the box. Definitely more cumbersome than the small duel, but equally definitely noticeable how the game can run with larger rounds - and it's fun for more. Just enough interactivity not to turn into a multiplayer solitaire, but enough strategy not to become a pure random number. I like it very much.

Yesterday I played Deckmaster: A MTG Variant Format by Jim Bowie again - and this time, as often recently, against the Horde (the solo variant for MTG). Pretty cool, slowly my Main Stack is becoming quite usable for this. Still some fine-tuning needed, but it's getting there. The special thing this time: out of the three games I played, I basically played three different archetypes. In the first game, a classic lifegain deck, where I almost didn't care how many Minotaurs attacked me, as I kept coming back up through lifegain and could block with smaller creatures and attack with a few boosted creatures. In the second game, one of the funniest deck variants: Voltron. But not just any creature, but a 0/4 Ox from Theros. With the Vows of Wildness on it, a 3/7 for power-blocking large Minotaurs from the Horde and with the Firewhips then double strike after Titan's Strength as a 6/8. It went through the Horde like butter. But the coolest round was the third one: no creatures appeared, only removal and board wipes. The result was a classic control deck with which I could clear the Minotaurs right at the start. My deck still went down to only 4 points, but then it stabilized and in the meantime a finisher appeared with the Stalker from the sixth district. The Stalker gets a boost for every creature in the opponent's graveyard - and the Minotaurs have a lot there after a while. Which led to the Stalker, thanks to removals, simply clearing the Horde deck with 20-point hits. Cool.

Without Fear and Nobility is practically an oldie, but it was new for Juliana and me. I mainly got it to have something small for larger rounds, as our weekly board game evening is slowly growing. We have only played it in pairs so far, but even then the game is very nice. It reminds a bit of San Juan, with the buildings primarily serving as a source of money (and points), the violet buildings with special functions and the role selection. Very interactive and at least with two players even with strategic elements, which, however, in larger rounds are probably displaced in favor of purely tactical play. But it's definitely fun.

Yomi Starter Set: Grave versus Jaina is a very unusual and interesting game for me, which brings some problems in solo play. Yomi simulates the old 2D Fighter Games - classic Punch/Throw/Block actions in a Rock/Paper/Scissors configuration. But all of this as a card game with simultaneous playing of action cards. Which basically comes down to guessing the opponent's actions. Which doesn't work so well in solo play - due to the lack of a guessable opponent. So it's only the evaluation of your own hand of cards, a bit of statistics and card counting. Which is surprisingly interesting against an automaton that blindly draws from the deck. You wouldn't expect it, but the cards offer enough interesting combination possibilities that it remains interesting anyway. At least for learning the different characters, it is usable, whether it can also offer long-term fun remains to be seen. As I said, this only refers to solo play, with a real opponent it will certainly be different.

Leaving Earth is a game in which players manage a space agency and must carry out missions. The solo version presents some exciting challenges, as you need to win at least half of the mission points available. This is already quite difficult - in my first game, to even have a chance of winning solo, I first had to examine Venus to find out that you can't land there (which allowed me to discard the Venus missions and thus reduce the point load) and then carry out a manned Mars mission. The latter failed due to lack of time and propulsion equipment. But ideas are already circulating on how to make the whole thing run better next time. And that's a good sign for a hard optimization game - here you don't shoot or send old men with atomic bombs to asteroids, here you plan your budget, your multi-year missions, and the risk you want to take. Cool. For Science!

1775: Rebellion hit the table for the second time today and was another great success: a draw, both sides controlled 5 colonies, and North America became a southern province of French Canada. The best of all possible outcomes when you look at today's presidential candidates. I really like the game - the strategies must really be balanced, if you want to hold the southern colonies, you also have to defend them, at the same time you don't want to lose the northern ones, because there are many colonies there. England is vulnerable because two hard-to-defend colonies lie far in the north, which the Americans can invade. I was two colonies ahead when I started the last round, but then I lost two colonies - and possibly Juliana could have even attacked three. Juliana also likes it, so it will definitely hit the table again.

Night of Man is a tactical combat game, Aliens vs Humans (or other Aliens). So far, my favorite game in the niche has been Hoplomachus, as it captures gladiatorial combat, which is its theme, quite well. And because it has solid solo rules. Night of Man complements my collection with more extended combat, also with solo rules. However, the rules themselves are also the biggest drawback - they are quite well written, but during the game, gaps and weaknesses become apparent, symbols without explanation, or situations that are not clarified. More careful development of the game would certainly have helped here. But if you use common sense, you can solve most things yourself. The game itself is very entertaining. The impulses go quickly, the game does not stall for long, as you usually only activate a few units (often only one). This way, both sides have something to do, and the reaction cards provide even more interaction. Definitely makes you want more, especially with the solo rules (so far it was left hand against right hand). And the components are well made, and especially the counters are very old-man-eye-friendly.

Dawn of the Zeds (Third edition) is one of the Kickstarter deliveries I've been eagerly anticipating this year, which finally arrived a few days ago. The anticipation came from the fact that it's from one of my favorite publishers - Victory Point Games - who have ventured into mass-market production with this one. No more print-on-demand with laser-cut components, but professional production in high quality was the goal. Add to that the fact that Dawn of the Zeds is the pinnacle of the States of Siege series. Essentially tower defense with control of events and enemy attacks through a configurable deck of cards. The result? Wow. Simply wow. The components are absolutely top-notch, the entire material looks fantastic. The modular game system allows for different difficulty levels, both for cooperative play and for one-against-many. Plus, there's a No-Brains mode, which essentially offers an extremely simplified system for beer-and-chips evenings. The game is most comparable to a zombie movie, the story is built up excitingly and the prepared decks of cards keep the tension high. Absolutely fantastic gaming experience. The setup is a bit cumbersome, as all the elements need to be prepared, but it's within the acceptable range for such a game. This will definitely hit the table more often, as even in solo play, the whole thing is extremely fun.

I am particularly fascinated by games with a scientific background. That's why Greenland was an obvious choice for me. The author Phil Eklund is known for his very intensive study of the themes of his games. This is also the case here - the struggle for survival of the Thule, Tunit and Norwegians in Greenland around the year 1000 is thematically addressed, especially the changes brought about by the Little Ice Age and the resulting changes in life and migrations. The result is a remarkably dense game with a lot of strategy and tactics. The rules are somewhat very compactly structured, but can be mastered with a bit of reading - or simply watch a few of the videos on the game page at BGG. In principle, not really much new in terms of techniques and mechanics - worker placement with dice decisions about success, resource management and an event engine that builds up the necessary pressure. The solo variant is solid and can be well adapted to your own requirements. Multiplayer I unfortunately haven't been able to try out yet, as the game is only available in English. But for solo, a clear recommendation.

1775: Rebellion is a game about the American Revolutionary War. Solidly situated in the War-Euro area with surprisingly compact rules. But not just Risk-with-theme, but quite strategic. I particularly like the very compact game situation with only 12 cards per faction - in the 4-player mode, it's played 2 vs. 2, with two players each playing two factions. Due to the small number of rules and cards, even the first game plays relatively quickly and you quickly recognize the strategic and tactical possibilities. And despite its compactness, the theme comes across well in my opinion. Definitely fun for more!

W1815 really surprised me on the first play: I expected a dice fest with wild randomness and little control in a historical setting. But I found a quite tricky dice puzzle. Of course, everything is left to chance, but the actions of the corps with reactions from opponents (even in chains) make the whole thing interesting - I constantly have to assess which risks and opportunities arise. In addition, the corps change depending on the situation and thus change the planning situation. This quickly brings surprisingly much deliberation and planning. Which is then of course rendered useless by the dice. And the whole thing works surprisingly well solo, simply let the dice tell the story of the battle (or a possible alternative story) and influence it by selecting the corps. Very relaxing and plays in 15-30 minutes.

Got the chance to demo Trickerion: Legends of Illusion and took advantage of it. Nice event, even though we were only there for the first half. I really like the game itself - I've only played the base variant though. But I generally like games with multiple play levels. The game is a very interesting implementation of Worker Placement. With a really well-implemented theme, the actions and components all make thematic sense (ok, the action-promoting crystals only remind me of amphetamines, but the rest was consistent). Many good decision-making situations in the game, very compact gameplay with only 5/7 rounds, but still a lot to do and want to do per round. And you always have to keep an eye on the opponents to benefit from their actions (for example in the theater or with quick orders). It was a lot of fun and I'm already looking forward to October when I get the German version.

New addition to the collection: The Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game. A nicely made Eurogame with only mini-cards. A brain-buster to take along. But really not a mini-game or filler - this is the full Euro program. Plus an surprisingly solid solo variant. The rulebook is a disaster, though. Various card types are mentioned during setup, but it's often not clearly stated how to recognize them. The setup is rather confusingly written - a clearly recognizable image would have been much more understandable. The images in general: way too small. The building explanations thus become a puzzle game. Really no fun during the first play. Still, it's worth it, you are rewarded with a very exciting game in which really many different strategies can run, depending on the cards that are out. Great design, somewhat weakly implemented as far as the rulebook is concerned.