It's time for another #ReducingThePile update. This is a look at the games I played for the first time between February 15th to the end of the month. One of my goals this year is to get all of the games in my pile(s) of shame played.
To see how I've been doing so far check out my previous posts:
Checking my stats on Boardgamegeek.com I see I played 52 games in February. not bad, not bad at all. Of course 15 of these plays were kids games and very quick, but hey, they are still game plays.
I didn't get a lot of new (to me) games played since the last update on February 15th but here's a look at what did.
Last Mouse Lost - 10 plays - okay technically I don't even own this game. My wife had to do some banking and the kids and I went to a nearby toy store to kill some time and this was in their demo area. My kids loved it. We will be getting this game at some point, the kids didn't have their allowance on them at the time or we would have bought it right then.
This is a ridiculously simple game, but somehow, actually fun. Each turn you 'pop' any number of mice in one row. By pop I mean push them so they pop out the other side. The person that pops the last mouse loses. That's it. When the game is done you flip it over and you can play again. It's surprisingly more tactical than you would expect and quite fun for something so simple. The game is that rubber circle thing you see in the picture, that's it. You can bring it anywhere. The box even suggests using it as a coaster. If I owned a bar, I would have these at all the tables.
SeaFall - 2 plays - This is a big one. A huge one. The big Legacy game. I would be surprised if you haven't heard about this game. Designed by the inventor of Legacy games Rob Daviau, SeaFall was very hotly anticipated and much delayed. Then it came out and reviews were very mixed, and I can see why.
We've only played through the prologue and game one. The entire campaign will last approximately 15 games and it's meant to be played with the same players each time. This is why this game was on my pile of shame for so long. As of now, I've got a group committed to playing through these games on Friday evenings when we can. I have a feeling it will take some time to finish but I do expect to finish it.
This is not a light game. This is a heavy pick up and deliver euro with some very interesting adventure mechanics. Those mechanics are similar to Tales of the Arabian Knights or Above and Below and even have you reading through a which-way book. The Legacy aspect starts right away in the Prologue which has a very shocking twist at the end of it.
If you are interested in learning more about the game check for my posts on google plus using hashtag #SeaFall
Logic Labyrinth - 5 plays - This one I picked up as a gift for my youngest's birthday and we played 5 times at her birthday party. It came strongly recommended by The Dice Tower and for good reason. This is a tile laying game that looks a bit like Carcassonne. All that maters here though is making the roads match up.
The game is a pattern recognition game. You roll a die, everyone takes that many tiles and then they all, simultaneously, try to get all their tiles to match up. The first player to match up all their tiles gets the most points. If you can't possibly line up your tiles you can discard and draw, but that takes time. In addition there is a genie on the die, when he's rolled you draw a card from the genie deck. This deck shows a set number of tiles in a specific pattern. All players draw that many tiles and again have to line all their tiles up, the difference here is that they have to match the pattern on the genie card.
I found this game to be the perfect next step from Kids of Carcassonne. The now 7 year old, loves it and even her 9 year old sister enjoys it.
Stronghold 2nd Edition - 1 play - Finally! This one has been in my pile of shame far too long. Technically my wife and I did get it to the table once a couple years ago but only got through 1 of 7 turns before we had to call the game and we needed the gaming table so couldn't leave it set up.
That's my one lesson about this game: most 2 player games are quick, this is not. Give yourself at least 3 hours for the first play and potentially that long every time due to AP (analysis paralysis). There is a lot to think about in this game.
Stronghold has to be the most asymmetric game out there. The two sides in this battle are completely different. Heck they don't even get to follow a normal turn order of one player going then the other player going. The attacker has a set of actions, of which they only need to do two. For each one they do the defender gets time tokens. After any action the defender must spend those time tokens to prepare their defense. It's all very thematic. The attacker does things like build siege engines, train troops, cast spells and move their armies of Goblins, Orcs and Trolls, while the defender is busy building walls, cauldrons, cannons, preying to the gods, using heroes and a whole lot more.
There's a lot going on here and expect your first few rounds to be very slow. Stronghold is worth the fairly steep learning curve. This is one of the best 2 player only games I've played. I love the theme and it really comes out in the mechanics. Plus it's beautiful. I strongly recommend this one.
So that's where I stand at the end of February. I used to have three piles of shame. I now have two. So far so good. How are your efforts at #ReducingThePile going?
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