OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:57 am

Hey now, Myth at least exists with cool minis and tiny coins and a playable game (though opinion differs on how playable). That's miles ahead of a number of other kickstarters.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:09 am

Myth: Yeah, You're Mostly Buying A Ton of Plastic Dudes.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:21 am

IMO, the poster child for Kickstarter Cautionary Tales is Up Front.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:42 am

Two cautionary tales! 1. You might get nothing. 2. You might get something, but then you wind up feeling bad about selling it to people you know.

The Up Front situation is pretty horrible, at least the last time I checked.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:42 am

"You're Getting A Ton of Plastic Dudes" is the whole reason behind the Reaper Bones and Zombicide kickstarters.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:49 am

Zarathud wrote:"You're Getting A Ton of Plastic Dudes" is the whole reason behind the Reaper Bones and Zombicide kickstarters.

Bones, definitely, cuz that's billed as a pile o' minis. I've never been sold on the Zombicide argument. That was initially sold as a game that happened to have a ton of minis. I think at this point, yeah, they've basically admitted that they're mostly selling a ton of minis that happens to have a game attached to it.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:08 am

Chaz wrote:Two cautionary tales! 1. You might get nothing. 2. You might get something, but then you wind up feeling bad about selling it to people you know.

The Up Front situation is pretty horrible, at least the last time I checked.

Yep. Still pretty horrible. And the folks backing Airborne In Your Pocket and the lifetime backers of D-Day Dice are caught in the fragment spray of it.

Me? I fit the use case of all 3.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:31 pm

I mean, it's a Kickstarter with the words "Up Front" right there in the title. What else would you expect?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:44 pm

hentzau wrote:Me? I fit the use case of all 3.

FWIW, I have a buddy that is in a similar position and he talked me into backing UpFront with him so we could play together. That being said, last month he took it upon himself to investigate a free community solution to the problem and long story short, he now owns a full set of UpFront cards, created by fans of the original.

I can get more information for you if you want, but AFAIK it was less than $40 shipped (the fee was from the printer, not the game or art).

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:51 pm

Smoove_B wrote:
hentzau wrote:Me? I fit the use case of all 3.
FWIW, I have a buddy that is in a similar position and he talked me into backing UpFront with him so we could play together. That being said, last month he took it upon himself to investigate a free community solution to the problem and long story short, he now owns a full set of UpFront cards, created by fans of the original.

I can get more information for you if you want, but AFAIK it was less than $40 shipped (the fee was from the printer, not the game or art).

I actually have an old copy of Up Front sitting in my basement, unplayed. I mostly wanted it for the updated art and cards, plus all of the extra troops.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:59 pm

That's what this is (at least as far as he's communicated). Updated art, card edits related to FAQs and game fixes. I don't know how many armies were done, but I think he has Americans, German and British forces printed and sleeved. I think there is more available, but he just printed up the basics. From what I understand, this was a project started right before the UpFront KS was announced and then quickly abandoned. Now that it's unlikely this game will ever see the light of day, the free fan-project was resumed.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:53 pm

Study in Emerald comes with a bunch of baggies for the pieces. I love when games do that. It already wins.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Fri Sep 05, 2014 11:50 pm

Smoove_B wrote:That's what this is (at least as far as he's communicated). Updated art, card edits related to FAQs and game fixes. I don't know how many armies were done, but I think he has Americans, German and British forces printed and sleeved. I think there is more available, but he just printed up the basics. From what I understand, this was a project started right before the UpFront KS was announced and then quickly abandoned. Now that it's unlikely this game will ever see the light of day, the free fan-project was resumed.

Link?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:14 pm

MonkeyFinger wrote:Link?

I just asked him for the details, I'll get them to you when he shares.

Played two quick rounds of Hunters of Arcfall and I'm still of the opinion it's a solid casual dice-tosser. Didn't see the Kickstarter, but I'm happy to support the designer through Amazon.

We played an EPIC game of Love Letter last night - first time I've ever seen it go the full 12 rounds with four players. For a game with such simple and fast game play, it continues to deliver.

We also managed to pull off a full game of Spartacus (starting at 1 influence) in about 2.5 hours -- which is amazing. Congratulations are in order for Trent Steel as it was the first time he's won in the 8 or so games we've played. It was a long time coming and he won with authority. I'm still marveling over the 2.5 hour play time as usually it takes us closer to 4. It was all business last night and blood was flowing deep into the sand. Another awesome game that continues to deliver a good time. I'm excited to see what all these new expansions add to the game. Hopefully more gear that always lets you win initiative...

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:47 pm

Smoove_B wrote:
MonkeyFinger wrote:Link?
I just asked him for the details, I'll get them to you when he shares.

Sweet, thanks.

(burnt Up Front Kickstarter)

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 9:05 pm

Check your PM -- it was ~$27 total, shipped.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 9:32 pm

Just played an interesting solo game of Conquest of Planet Earth.

I was the Santarri guys (the little multiplying yellow guys from a small expansion). I had 5 terror, needed 3 more...but the Human Tech Track was at 9. I had to win this next turn, or I lose the game. Not to mention that the previous turn, 1 resistance counter ended up on a conquered area (during the resistance turn, they would liberate that space). I sent all that I could into an unexplored space...figuring it would not be enough...and it is the Atomic Power Plant...if I can win this battle, I win the game (the terror level for that location is 3, which would have given me the 8 terror points I needed to win). The first fight...I win vs. paratroopers (but, they dropped another paratrooper token on another conquered location. Next fight...a War Veteran (hero) joins forces with the National Guard...I win...but it is a Crushing Victory...which demolishes the Atomic Power Plant...goodbye 3 terror points...as the space and all that is in it is wiped out. The Resistance turn starts...Freedom Fighters show up and kill off my last remaining alien saucer on the board, then he two resistance tokens liberate two of the locations, then their tech track reaches 10...

Game. Over.

I basically lost because my little yellow guys decided to be bad asses when I really needed them to be the weaklings that they usually were.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:35 am

Z(4) became Z(5) today and his 98 year old great grandmother is giving him Robot Turtles for his birthday. Yay for GG (and dad)!

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 pm

Great night of gaming. Not my normal games but I had a good time.

Introduced someone to Carcassonne winter edition, haven't played that game in a very long time. We played just the base game (winter edition) and it was nice to play with simplicity. I usually put in a few expansions (there was a time we played it a lot so we own almost all of them) but the base game is simple and enjoyable. Glad we tried it out. The winter art is especially fun.

Then we tried out This Town aint big enough for the 2-4 of us which I recently received from a KS. Fun little tile placing game. Well worth the $3 or whatever it was going for on KS. I think I gave $5? It's a simple tile placing game where lay tiles to fence off areas with your brand and it has an interesting scoring mechanism that makes you really think with each tile placed. It fits in a small sandwhich baggie and is a great size for taking with you places. I don't think it will get much play around the house or gaming nights (though it is a great filler at 10 minutes a pop or less and zero set up time) but it will get used on trips because it can easily fit in any bag and it is a bit more of a substantial game than most games of the same size. Glad I backed it, nice fun game.

Lastly we played a fantastic game of Jamaica. Jamaica is quickly becoming my favorite game to introduce people to. Everyone loves it. Everyone. It has simple mechanics, is fun and competitive, is easy to learn, and looks beautiful. It gets taught in about 2 minutes and is very simple. The game works (for those of you who haven't played it) by racing around an island with your boat. You play cards that dictate if you will move forward, backwards, or pick up supplies. Spaces you land on dictate what supplies you need to go there (food or gold). You also can collect treasures on the way. And of course you can get gunpowder and fight your neighboring boats. The game is just plain fun. It's a racing game with a great twist with the fighting and supplies. This game was particularly fun as 4 of us were playing and we ended up in a furball at the end and couldn't get past each other as we continued to steal supplies from each other so nobody could move far. Just a great ending. Plus the game just looks great, the artwork is very fun.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:03 pm

Chrisoc13 wrote:Lastly we played a fantastic game of Jamaica. Jamaica is quickly becoming my favorite game to introduce people to. Everyone loves it. Everyone. It has simple mechanics, is fun and competitive, is easy to learn, and looks beautiful. It gets taught in about 2 minutes and is very simple. The game works for those of you who haven't played it by racing around an island with your boat. You play cards that dictate if you will move forward, backwards, or pick up supplies. Spaces you land on dictate what supplies you need to go there (food or gold). You also can collect treasures on the way. And of course you can get gunpowder and fight your neighboring boats. The game is just plain fun. It's a racing game with a great twist with the fighting and supplies. This game was particularly fun as 4 of us were playing and we ended up in a furball at the end and couldn't get past each other as we continued to steal supplies from each other so nobody could move far. Just a great ending. Plus the game just looks great, the artwork is very fun.

Thanks for describing the game. That sounds very cool. I have heard the name mentioned before, but I pretty much ignore games where the name is a foreign country or has words in a foreign language by default. I can't say it makes sense, but any way to NOT buy more games is good, but this sounds right up my alley.

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:08 pm

coopasonic wrote:
Chrisoc13 wrote:Lastly we played a fantastic game of Jamaica. Jamaica is quickly becoming my favorite game to introduce people to. Everyone loves it. Everyone. It has simple mechanics, is fun and competitive, is easy to learn, and looks beautiful. It gets taught in about 2 minutes and is very simple. The game works for those of you who haven't played it by racing around an island with your boat. You play cards that dictate if you will move forward, backwards, or pick up supplies. Spaces you land on dictate what supplies you need to go there (food or gold). You also can collect treasures on the way. And of course you can get gunpowder and fight your neighboring boats. The game is just plain fun. It's a racing game with a great twist with the fighting and supplies. This game was particularly fun as 4 of us were playing and we ended up in a furball at the end and couldn't get past each other as we continued to steal supplies from each other so nobody could move far. Just a great ending. Plus the game just looks great, the artwork is very fun.
Thanks for describing the game. That sounds very cool. I have heard the name mentioned before, but I pretty much ignore games where the name is a foreign country or has words in a foreign language by default. I can't say it makes sense, but any way to NOT buy more games is good, but this sounds right up my alley.

Hey I do the same thing, I've never tried plenty of games as a result of the name. Jamaica was very hard to find for a long while but it looks like it has been reprinted and is on Amazon etc now.

One note is it works with 2 players, but the game really becomes fun with 4-6 players. That being said my wife likes it enough we play it 2 players every now and then still. There is just less interaction between the boats. I picked it up because Zee kept talking about it on the dice tower for every top ten list, glad I did. I took it home over Christmas and taught my family and even family members with no interest in gaming tried to buy it afterwards. Then of course they were shocked by how much new board games costs these days and instead asked me to bring it home over holidays

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:13 pm

Yeah if my wife ever really understood how much these games cost... well, if I ever stop posting you will know why.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:18 pm

I played about a half game of Relic with my wife yesterday. We'd played it once before, but haven't touched it in several months, so it took a little while to get up to speed. Because of that, and some ridiculous luck, we were both progressing really slowly, and wound up calling it early.

Basically, we were either drawing really high-strength enemy cards to fight, or were rolling impossible strings of numbers for the enemies in fights. As an example:

My first enemy was a 1-strength red dude who steals a dollar from you if you lose to him. My wife rolls a 6. 6s explode, and you roll another die. She rolls two more 6s, and then a 5, for a total of 24. I roll a 2, for a total of 5. Two turns later, I land on this dude again, ans my wife rolls four 6s in a row, then a 3. I roll a 1.

A while later, I manage to do the same ridiculous string of 6s when rolling for an enemy she's fighting. Weirdly, neither of us can manage to roll well in our own favor. I also kept drawing the biggest enemies out of the deck. I think I got killed three times in a row. It was the craziest string of terrible luck I've seen that game dish out, ever. It was hilarious.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:14 pm

Voting for the Dice Tower people choice Top 100 is going on. I am very sad to announce I had difficulty coming up with a top 20. I need to play more games.

Mage Wars
Letters from Whitechapel
Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
Powerboats
Galaxy Defenders
Level 7 [Omega Protocol]
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game
Forbidden Desert
Chess
Hanabi
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Mr. Jack
YINSH
Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery
Zombicide
Android: Netrunner
Hive
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords – Base Set

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:13 pm

Tonight, I play my first game of Dead Man's Hand.

Which is good. Because after today, I need to shoot someone.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:49 pm

coopasonic wrote:Voting for the Dice Tower people choice Top 100 is going on. I am very sad to announce I had difficulty coming up with a top 20. I need to play more games.

Top 10 was pretty easy but I was really grasping near the end.

1. Eclipse
2. Chaos in the Old World
3. Mansions of Madness
4. Terra Mystica
5. Dominion
6. King of Tokyo
7. The Settlers of Catan
8. Lords of Waterdeep
9. Diplomacy
10. Puerto Rico
11. Betrayal at House on the Hill
12. Horus Heresy
13. Space Hulk
14. Flash Point
15. Ticket to Ride
16. Tsuro of the Seas
17. Carcassonne
18. A Game of Thrones: The Board Game
19. Chess
20. Castle Panic

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:39 am

Czech Games Edition to self-publish English versions

Handling our own distribution will enable us to be more responsive to English-speaking gamers. Our new edition of Tash-Kalar will have higher-quality cardboard, new graphic design, and a lower price. We are also preparing an upgrade pack for those who already bought Tash-Kalar. And there's an expansion deck coming out this fall!

Yay.

Expansion Announcement

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Tue Sep 09, 2014 9:09 pm

Ready for another Kickstarter to follow? This one has my interest even though I'm not fond of how Queen is using KS for preorders, and like other Queen games seems a little pricey...

Orcs Orcs Orcs

At first glance, this looks like a shameless copy of Castle Panic (a game I love) but it seems this isn't a cooperative game at all, but a competitive deck-builder that still features a castle surrounded by enemies.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:54 pm

I think my top ten would be:

1. Caverna
2. Lords of Waterdeep
3. Twilight Imperium
4. Eldritch Horror
5. Mansions of Madness
6. Galaxy Defenders
7. Agricola: All Creatures Great and Small
8. Merchants of Venus (FFG ed)
9. Cosmic Encounters
10. Descent: 2nd Edition

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 12:00 pm

Daveman wrote:Ready for another Kickstarter to follow? This one has my interest even though I'm not fond of how Queen is using KS for preorders, and like other Queen games seems a little pricey...

Orcs Orcs Orcs

At first glance, this looks like a shameless copy of Castle Panic (a game I love) but it seems this isn't a cooperative game at all, but a competitive deck-builder that still features a castle surrounded by enemies.

Looks interesting. I'm out though, I don't support queen games kickstarters. But it does look intersting, if not castle panic at first look (a game I couldn't get into and finally sold).

My top ten would be hard.... hmmm I'll take a stab at it. All time, not games I am currently playing (although some I am currently playing quite a bit):

1. X-wing
2. Smallworld
3. Ticket to Ride (all versions)
4. Caverna
5. Clash of Cultures
6. Lords of Waterdeep
7. Galaxy Defenders
8. Zombicide
9. Carcassonne
10. Jamaica

Not solid on that order, but these are some of my favorite games that have brought lots of fun. Also considered: Memoir '44, Love Letter, Railways of the world, Robinson Crusoe, and Settlers of Catan (played this game to death about a decade ago, but I still love it just never play it).

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:19 pm

Here's my top 10, without a lot of thought, and in no particular order. Really, the driving factor behind these is that I will never turn down a game of any of these if offered.

1. Crokinole
2. Defenders of the Realm
3. Empire Builder/North American Rails
4. Railways of the World
5. Memoir '44
6. Risk Express
7. Love Letter
8. Lords of Waterdeep (plus expansion)
9. Ticket to Ride (all versions)
10. Legendary

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:17 am

Got in a game of Twilight Struggle last night. I played the US and pretty much dominated from the get-go. The scoring track stayed firmly in my side of the board except for a brief period in the Mid War where the USSR managed to score some big points in Central America and SE Asia in one turn. I actually came within like 1 point of winning for the US in both the Early and Mid Wars but couldn't quite close the deal, and I absolutely could have won during the first round of the Late War when I pulled Wargames. But I made the mistake of not playing that for my headline, and his headline card allowed him to look at my hand and remove one card. Pretty much just delayed the inevitable...had to play through that round and halfway into the next before I could score South America again to win handily.

I really do like this game, but damn if it isn't a brain burner on a Monday night after work. And I need to make a rule to not start the game at 8...we didn't finish until 12:15. I'm gonna be a zombie today. But a zombie that successfully defended the free world from the Godless Commies.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:39 pm

Twilight Struggle is work, but it's so worthwhile.

Played King's Forge, Heroes Wanted, and Stronghold with hepcat this past weekend. King's Forge looks like a simple dice roller, but there are interesting tactical choices. Each turn, you use dice to collect additional resources or to roll for crafting. A better roll is a higher craft quality, which lets later players steal from the players who go first -- if they have a better craft quality. The last round came down to 2 other players coordinating an effort to stop me from building my last item (you build 4 to win). I had a decent shot at two items, and spent only a few resources to boost my craft quality rolls. Hepcat had a good chance at stopping me from only one item, so I built the other one instead. The other player had insisted on also being able to craft the "best item" in that game so he could win instead, which only gave him a narrow opportunity to stop me even after some tactical maneuvering. He couldn't, and agonized over the lost opportunity.

Heroes Wanted is a gem. We played the initial "stop the littering villain" scenario, where each hero had to fight the bad guys and/or bring the trash to a designated location to gain VP and get bonus VP for scoring objectives. Each player created a hero by combining a Head (with superpowers) and a Body (with abilities). Each turn when you defend, you have to discard cards with a point value equal to the damage you would take. If you can't, you get knocked out, and injuries reduce your VP. Hepcat had a really cool ranged attack, but the other player had a movement superpower and a special circumstance where he blocked 100% of attacks (by keeping a certain number of cards in hand). My hero had a pretty straightforward combo that gave a small boost to damage, but an automatic +2 block. I was able to keep more cards, and that let me charge right into the thick of things without resting as often. The best part about Heroes Wanted is that each Hero has a silly quirk that must be acted out. Hepcat had to compliment others who damaged the super-villain. I had to do a "poorly choreographed" victory dance every time I scored an objective. The other player had to offer to high five the other players. The quirks kept everything from getting too serious.

Stronghold was pretty interesting. Hepcat had the harder job as the invaders, while I was able to hang back as the defenders. The sides are very asymmetrical with the balancing mechanism that when the invader spends a unit to accomplish something (harvest wood, build siege engines, build defenses, get bonuses and move), the defender gets units of time to react. The trick seems to be that the invader needs to be efficient so that the defender can't respond in time. Hepcat used quite a lot of units for bonuses before moving up to assault the walls and, by then, I had a pretty decent defense in play. The key is to build quick, then reach a critical mass for waves to hit the walls consistently to wear down the invaders. And at the right moment, trigger the bonuses after watching the initial waves die. I would like to try again, and expect that the game comes down to a few key decisions in the 4-6th turn if the invader can keep up the pressure.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:08 am

Top Games List:

1. Eclipse
2. Seasons
3. King of Tokyo
4. Lords of Waterdeep (with expansion)
5. X-Wing
6. Race for the Galaxy
7. Mage Wars
8. Smallworld
9. Wiz-War
10. Cosmic Encounters
11. Zombicide
12. Battlestar Galactica
13. Arkham Horror
14. Carcassone

Eclipse is easily my favorite, with Race for the Galaxy falling behind due to a lot of great newer games that made picking my Top 6 easy. Other than Eclipse, Race for the Galaxy and Mage Wars, I can play any of those games with new people and still have plenty of depth for old die-hard gamers. I just may not use all of the expansions. I have a blast every time I play Mage Wars, so it has to be included. Wiz-War and Cosmic Encounters are classics that are easy to start, but with a lot of surprises that make them very hard to master. Carcassone is the all-ages contender. Battlestar Galactica and Arkham Horror gave so much enjoyment that they demand to be included. Zombicide has some fiddly rules that limit it as a game, but the quantity of miniatures and theme just makes killing zombie hordes fun.

Star Realms is now my go-to deck builder, but still doesn't make the list. I need to play Terra Mystica more to consider it a contender, and Alien Frontiers drops off the list because of my frustration with the last (and long overdue) Kickstarter. Twilight Struggle is great, but requires attention and the right players. 20 years ago, I would have Talisman on the list. I would have placed Wealth of Nations on the list 8 years ago. After a particularly bad game with Analysis Paralysis, no one in Chicago wants to play economic trading games anymore even if they're a board game translation of the classic M.U.L.E. and the expansion fixes a lot of the complaints.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 5:50 pm

I have 9 games rated as 10's on BGG.
They are in alphabetical order;

1. Blokus
2. Chicago Express
3. Dune
4. El Grande
5. Hammer of the Scots
6. King of Siam
7. Napoleon's Triumph
8. Princes of the Renaissance
9. Twilight Struggle

10. RA (rated as a 9 on BGG)

Of the 12 games that are rated as 9's I'd probably should promote RA to a 10, though there are several others in there that I'd like to include too.
I may also have some 10s in the games I've never gotten a chance to play that I know I'll love.

Ænima · Post by **Ænima** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:21 pm

Zarathud wrote:I would have placed Wealth of Nations on the list 8 years ago. After a particularly bad game with Analysis Paralysis, no one in Chicago wants to play economic trading games anymore even if they're a board game translation of the classic M.U.L.E. and the expansion fixes a lot of the complaints.

If you're interested in board game translations of M.U.L.E., you should check out Planet Steam. Great game.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:23 pm

Played a 2.5 player game of Letters from Whitechapel. Jack lives!

Followed that up with a 6-player game of Talisman. That game is an epic marathon. I don't know that I want to play it again with more than 3-4 people.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:30 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Played a 2.5 player game of Letters from Whitechapel. Jack lives!

Followed that up with a 6-player game of Talisman. That game is an epic marathon. I don't know that I want to play it again with more than 3-4 people.

Watched Isg school the kids on night 4, then played Smash Up, Mush! Mush! (Snow Tails 2), Arctic Scavengers and Tash-Kalar.

It was a close thing, but I still have yet to lose at Tash-Kalar.

Mush! Mush! is a game I was checking out as a replacement for Formula D. I like the game, the movement mechanic is pretty interesting, but I think it might be a little tough for the kids. Randomness is in the kids favor.

Arctic Scavengers is a game I bought excitedly after a glowing SU&SD review. They said it was a deck-builder where the theme really comes through. I'll agree that it's a deck-builder.

paulbaxter · Post by **paulbaxter** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 9:26 pm

We opened Castle Panic and Smash Up for my son's birthday today. Castle Panic is pretty easy to play, but seems hard to win with the default rules. We may need to make the rules easier for future play throughs.

Smash Up is easy in theory, but you end up with lots of options and way too much going on on the table. Fortunately most of the various actions and minion powers are one time things. It would get tough to keep track of a whole bunch of ongoing powers. It would make for a really nice computer game, though, since the computer could handle all of the organizational stuff easily.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 9:33 pm

paulbaxter wrote:We opened Castle Panic and Smash Up for my son's birthday today. Castle Panic is pretty easy to play, but seems hard to win with the default rules. We may need to make the rules easier for future play throughs.

Give Castle Panic a few more tries before you start houseruling. It absolutely is possible to beat, and it will be all the more sweet when you finally do beat it. Unless, of course, your son isn't having fun with it, then have at it!