My most played games of 2014

It's that time of year again: the time of the 'looking back' blog post. This is going to be a post like my holiday wish list post or my best 15 new games of 2014 post, it's going to be another list of great games.

This time I'm going to list the 10 games that I played the most in 2014. These don't include any expansions and also don't include iOS games, just physical board games. If I did include iOS plays Star Realms and Ascension would top the list by far.

Starting with number 10, the least of the most:

Hive - My wife and I love Hive. To me it's one of the best designs out there. It also helps that I have a rediculously good win/loss ratio in the game. For me Hive just clicks and I don't loose often.

Besides being a great game, Hive is very compact which means you can bring it anywhere. My wife tosses our copy in her purse and we play at coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, parks, wherever.

The CG Realm CGame Night - January 10th

The first CG Realm event of 2015

Saturday January 10th the CG Realm is hosting their first game night of 2015. The event runs from 5pm until 11pm.

This game night will be a recurring event hitting the 2nd Saturday every month. 

The CG Realm is located at 3147 Tecumseh Road East, right here in Windsor.

The CG Realm used to be focused on retro video games and collectible card games, but have recently expanded into carrying a lot more Board Games and RPGs. In addition to a growing collection of games they also have a great gaming area with lots of tables, lots of room and great lighting.

We had a great time at the CG Realm for the WYC'd game night where people played games of Star Realms, Space Hulk, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Settlers of Catan and lots more. We encourage you to bring some games out, whether an old favourite or something new you want to try out. If you don't have anything to bring, that's cool too. There's always lots of variety and people are always happy to teach you the games they have brought.

10 games off of my 2014 holiday wishlist

My last post listed the 15 best new games of 2014. These were the best games I tried for the first time last year. Today I thought it would be worth looking at some of the games on my 2014 holiday wishlist.

These aren't in any particular order and include a mix of brand new games and older stuff I've been wanting to pick up for some time.

Star Trek: Fleet Captains - I've never really gotten into the Wizkids Heroclix games. I tried out the first Marvel game when it came out and decided it's not for me. That alone kept me away from this Trek game for a long time.

Over the years though I've been hearing really good things about this game. A variety of podcasts from reviewers I respect have said enough good things that this one got added to my wishlist this year. Added to that my wife is a big Trek fan and I think I won't have to twist her arm to play it with me.

Brimstone Game Night - January 3rd - Featuring: Pandemic

The first Brimstone Game night of 2015!

The Windsor Gaming Resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday January 3rd as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Featured Game: Pandemic

One of the most popular co-operative board game ever made is Pandemic. This game really hit the market big when it came out back in 2007. At the time there wasn't really anything quite like it out there.

Pandemic is the only game I own that I think is actually more fun to loose. That whole "we were only one cube away!" feeling when you almost win is what keeps you coming back for more.

We will be giving away a copy of the latest printing of Pandemic from Z-Man games at the event. 

The 15 best new games (to me) of 2014

It's that time of year again, time for all the look back posts and all the wishlists. All the holidays, feasts and parties. All the gaming!

This is one of those look back posts. Here I'm going to list the best new games I played this year. Note these are games that are new to me. They may not have been released this year but I played them for the first time this year.

Lastly: these are in the order I discovered them through the year, not ranked by how good I think the games are.

Trajan - I'm cheating just a bit with this one. Technically I played it on New Years Eve 2013 as part of my annual Gaming In The New Year party. That's close enough for me and if I remember correctly the game may not have ended until after the ball dropped.

2014 was the year I discovered how much I love Stefan Feld. I picked up no fewer than four other games by him this year. Of them all though Trajan remains my favourite.

Like most Feld games it's a point salad. This one has a cool Roman theme and uses a very unique mancala based action selection system that I really dig. There are so many paths to victory and so far I've yet to find 'one true way'