Welcome back to Tabletop Tastes: My favorite flavors in board games! This is a series where we spend each episode diving deep into an essential element of game design. For hobbyist gamers, this series will help you to explore your own tastes in the hobby and perhaps discover your next favorite game that fits those tastes. For game designers, this series will offer you more tools to add to your utility belt and metrics to measure your projects by. 

If you missed the previous episode, then go on and check out Tabletop Tastes #13: Purposefully Potent Meanness.

If board games are like a tall glass of ice water, then replayability is the thirst that keeps me coming back for more gulps.  Without that thirst, forcing yourself to drink more water (or replay a board game) can be tough to do.  It’s important for a game to introduce unique wrinkles, dynamics, or challenges to keep the experience refreshing.

Lack of replayability is one of the most common causes of death in my collection.  It’s like the heart disease of board gaming.  It can go easily undetected through the marketing, reviews, and initial plays all the way until play two or five or ten comes around, and suddenly the game just keels over dies right on the table.  Usually, the symptoms suddenly come on mid-game when you find yourself far less engaged than before, experiencing deja vu from previous plays.  Let’s explore some of the ways that games have succeeded and failed at fighting this disease.

One of my first board game conventions was at Origins in Columbus, Ohio.  During this convention, I had the chance to sit down and play a full game of Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done.  I was quickly swept up in the fancy production and novel mechanism of using a Mancala-style rondel to build up and execute actions.  This cyclical puzzle is combined with a more standard player-board engine builder that allows players to travel across the map and claim territories and bonuses with increasingly more powerful actions.  The novel experience was further enhanced by simple rules, brisk pacing, and a surprisingly succinct playtime.  From that one play, I was eager to enjoy Crusaders more, so I brought home my own copy.

We proceeded to play it only 3 more times over the course of a year, and despite the huge stretches of time between plays, I couldn’t quite find the refreshment I was looking for.  The problem was that every game felt like it played out in basically the same way.  Anything you do earns you points, and the map is too wide open for opponents to get in each other’s ways.  By the time I logged my fourth play, I was already tired of retreading the same path.

Another engine builder that is still going strong after even more plays is Roll for the Galaxy (and Race for the Galaxy).  This game is packed with a wide variety of paths and challenges thanks to the emerging planets and technologies that come from a huge draw pile.  This game also provides several core strategies you can select to build up a point generator.  Race & Roll for the Galaxy force their players to develop their strategies and adapt on the fly as cards come out or tiles emerge and dice are rolled.  You’re constantly weighing the relative value of your options against each other, deciding where to commit your resources and actions, and developing a unique tableau of benefits.  Thus, one play has never felt like another.

These refreshing sessions are what keep me coming back for more, while the lack of refreshment can quickly get a game booted from my collection.  Pendulum and Calico are two such games that quickly lost their luster for me, despite having strong starts.  Both games initially presented interesting and engaging challenges, the problem was that these challenges remained static from one play to the next.

Pendulum’s test is all about finding the most efficient route through the unchanging game board.  While unique player mats may start at different strategic locations, their optimal paths seem to always merge very early in the game to make for a samey experience.  Being a low interaction and low variance game, with enough practice the puzzle begins to feel solvable.  

Calico likewise had us quickly finding our strategic niche.  It doesn’t provide enough reasons for one to budge from an optimal strategy, and thus began to feel stale over time.  Plays one and two were fresh, interesting, and thinky.  Play three felt no different from the first two.  The problem is that I felt I had maximized my skill potential in this solitaire game, and any future plays will simply be retreading the same ground.

You’ll notice that all three games that lacked replayability at my table share a common thread: they provide minimal player interaction.  All three games see players living in their own little world, with heads down and brains steaming as they strive to calculate and execute the most efficient plays.  Rarely do you have a reason to care what other players are up to.  Opponents merely serve as occasional inconveniences to your own plans—bumps in in the unchanging road—rather than major factors that cause massive detours or major shifts in one’s strategy and tactics.

When the challenge boils down to player vs. game, the design carries all of the burden of keeping things interesting and fresh from one play to the next.  Without plenty of variable tricks up its sleeve or dynamic effects within mechanisms, it’s all too easy for a solitaire game to quickly feel solvable.

Speaking of solitaire solvability, I’ve seen one saucy game solve this problem far better any other… That game is My City.  Indeed, one of my Top Games of 2020, and my all-time favorite Polyomino Game.  THIS is how you do multiplayer solitaire.  Simultaneous play.  Evolving, legacy-style sessions.  Interesting new challenges layered on to each successive play.  Providing catch-up mechanisms for those who fall behind in the overall objective while ramping up the difficulty for those who pull ahead.  Not once during my TWENTY-FOUR plays did I think to myself, “Well, this is getting a little old.”  Let us, once again, take notes from the legendary Dr. Knizia’s work!  

Of course, I’ve found far more games solve the issue of replayability by simply baking the infinitely dynamic factor of player interaction into the core design.  Cutthroat and meaningful player interaction are the reasons why Caylus 1303 and Azul remain on my shelf while, the lack thereof is why Pendulum and Calico quickly left them.  I can introduce the former games to different people and instantly have a new challenge of adapting to their unique play style.  And with experienced players, I have to constantly up my game as we surf the meta of play from one session to the next.  As I mentioned in my tabletop tastes episode on salty player interaction: a game with high player interaction is a game with high replayability and balance built right into its core system.

One final interesting example to explore is between two games from the same designer, Andreas Steding.  These games are Gugong and Hansa Teutonica.

The interesting gift mechanism is where Gugong really shines.  In order to take an action at what is essentially a worker placement spot, one must exchange the card at that location with a higher value card in their hand.  The numbers go from 1-9, and a 9 can only be replaced with a 1.  

Players must decide the best order and location to play out these cards, and the limitations surrounding how and when you can play them are the beating heart of this clever worker placement game.  Gugong entices you with a constant stream of good reasons to exchange one gift for another…. the action locations, the card actions, the destiny dice, the cards available to claim, the cheap action opportunities, barring other players from an action, etc.  It’s an exquisite flow of sneaky cultural corruption across a well-balanced expanse of interesting options.

After hearing my enthusiasm for this concept, it may surprise you to also hear that I quickly got rid of Gugong from my collection.  My main issue with Gugong is that after three plays, it already started to feel samey to me.  By session three, I had dabbled in every strategy that the game offers and determined my personal optimal way to play the game.  While my approach to the game is tactical and fluid, I had no reason to change my approach.  This considerably dampened my interest in exploring the game further.

The second biggest issue is that several of the “worker placement” action spaces are considerably less interesting than others.  These different spaces are essentially multiple mini games globbed together into one larger worker placement game, but some of these mini games don’t compare favorably to others.  The travel action lacks tension and interaction (simply go forward or backward for your next bonus), the jade action lacks heart (pay cubes for some points), the intrigue action feels dull (move your marker up a tiebreaker track).  Basically, the ship action and wall action are more dynamic and engaging… making the others look flat in comparison.  Contrast this with something like A Feast for Odin, which has dozens more action spaces that are nearly all enticing and rewarding, and Gugong’s disguised issue becomes more apparent.

So if I want to have the most fun with Gugong, I’m stuck with my increasingly stale go-to strategy.  And then mixing it up with other strategies results in a less engaging affair.  When a game traps me between these two options, I’d much rather just pick a more replayable game like Mr. Steding’s Hansa Teutonica.

With Hansa Teutonica, strategic options are less like the mixed results buffet of Gugong and more like the opportunistic Hunger Games.  If many of my opponents are tangled up in the chaotic Cornucopia of upgrades, that may be the perfect time for me to stealthily snake my trade network across the board or lie in wait to pounce on their plans when their backs are turned.  Depending on the group dynamics, I can be a trading post point leech, a meddlesome route-infesting merchant, an all-powerful ability glutton, or a combination of those things.  Yet these options are not equally weighted; their effectiveness depends on how long players allow the game to go.  It’s much better to gun for the upgrades when you expect to have enough late-game turns for your meaty engine to pay off.  

With each new play of Hansa Teutonica, I find myself better able to read the game state and adapt accordingly.  Yet my regular gaming group improves their abilities as well, thus the punches and counter-punches are ever evolving.  Far more than Gugong, Hansa is a game whose depth increases with its players’ experience.  

The thrill of new challenges, the engagement of evolving narratives, the joy of unexpected discoveries….  These are the elements that keep a tabletop game refreshingly replayable.  Yet there are still plenty of games worth trying even when they have a very obvious and limited lifespan, especially when they are the best in their genre.

Tune in next time for Tabletop Tastes #15: Savage Spoilers.

More refreshingly replayable games:

• Highly variable setups/game states: Sidereal Confluence, Root, Pax Pamir (Second Edition), The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, Sprawlopolis, Curious Cargo.
• Drastically different depending on your group: Chinatown, The Estates, Men at Work, Scape Goat, Wavelength, Cosmic Encounter.

What games are the most replayable in your collection?

Article written by Nick Murray. To follow his designs as they come to fruition, subscribe to our newsletter and follow Bitewing Games on social media!

The post Tabletop Tastes #14: Refreshing Replayability appeared first on Bitewing Games.

Appetizing Agony

I’m not all that into playing contact sports.  After breaking a big toenail in half, taking a few shots to the groin, and witnessing plenty of other people’s injuries (from broken bones to haunting concussions), I prefer to stick with sports and competitions that keep the bodily wear and tear to a minimum.  I’m not sure why someone would want to submit themselves to being wrecked by a lacrosse stick or rocked by a sprinting tackle, but it sure is fun to watch!

Oddly enough, I have much different preferences when the game is played on a tabletop rather than a field.  Board games where players get curb-stomped by opponents or the puzzly challenge itself are right up my alley.  In previous blog posts, I’ve given loads of examples of games that hurt so good, they’re fun to lose.  I’ve explored why Salty Player Interaction is usually an essential ingredient for a game to keep a spot in my collection.  And I’ve observed how things can quickly become boring without a Spicy Tension to reel me in.  Indeed, when it comes to board games, I’m a glutton for punishment!

The reason I bring this topic up again is because I’ve observed an interesting polarization of opinions around the recent release, Curious Cargo.  Board game critic, Dan Thurot (Space-Biff), describes it as “entirely unpleasant,” while the British folks of Shut Up & Sit Down labeled it “Dinky and Devilish Perfection for Two.”  Meanwhile, SU&SD’s friends over at No Pun Included shared that they “didn’t like Curious Cargo at all” before I praised it as “living up to high expectations” and being “a gorgeous game, a top-notch production, and a frighteningly deep puzzle.”  The comments on Board Game Geek show a similar contrast of opinions.  

So what’s the deal with Curious Cargo?  Why is it fueling such passionate reactions in both directions?  I’ve thought about this quite a bit as I’ve listened to both sides of the spectrum.  If I had to boil down my answer to one word, I would select ADVERSITY.

Against the Current

Curious Cargo fits into the widely popular and ever-expanding board game genre of spatial puzzles.  These games require an ability to visualize objects in different arrangements and orientations as players seek the optimal placement of tiles.  Classic examples of this include the evergreen Carcassonne, where players are connecting square tiles together in a central area by aligning matching borders, or Blokus, an abstract strategy game of placing Tetris-like polyomino pieces on a board to cut off opponents and hog more space for yourself.  More recent examples of spatial puzzles include the colorful, quilt building Calico that sees players arranging hexagonal tiles on their personal board in a quest for maximum points, or the various versions of Railroad Ink that challenge participants to connect exits and spaces via bending railroads and highways.

For most popular spatial puzzles on the market, the interesting challenge of these designs is determining which tile you should place next and/or where you should place it.  Furthermore, many games of this type set players up to wait for the perfect tile or card or roll to emerge that they’ve built their entire strategy around.  Usually, these games give you those singular needs quite readily and swiftly.  Curious Cargo flies in the face of this style of design, and this is the element that seemingly makes the game so polarizing.

Curious Cargo hands players a few conveyer tiles randomly drawn from a bag and truck cards drawn from a deck and says, “Now go figure it out!”  It challenges two rivals to visualize a path along their individual player boards from the loading docks to the machine ports and then buries this path deep within a tangled web of spatial combinations and essential exchanges.  While drawing the convenient tile to complete your connection of focus is certainly possible in Curious Cargo, obtaining such a tile is far more rare than your average route builder.  

Adaptation Sensation

Some people apparently hate the amount of adaptation and thinking outside the box that Curious Cargo frequently requires when the easiest option doesn’t come out of the bag or deck.  I’m on the other end of the spectrum, where with more experience and a willingness to step outside my comfort zone, I’m finding this punishing style of puzzle to be much more rewarding.  I’ve found that the design provides plenty of flexibility for me to work around luck-of-the-draw, though I can see where players may quickly become frustrated if they neglect or forget their privileges.  

Every deceptively minor rule in this design is essential to success.  At first glance, some conveyor tiles that land in your lap may seem entirely worthless.  It can be easy to burn your turns away digging into the bag for that perfect tile while even better options pile up under your very nose.  You see, most board games have lulled our brains into this sense of permanence that punishes an inefficient arrangement and immortalizes a perfect placement.  The challenge of optimization has embedded itself into nearly every game on the market.  So when a game like Curious Cargo comes around, one that prioritizes adaptation over optimization, it seems that players can sometimes struggle to thrive.

Despite making its players victim to “luck of draw,” Curious Cargo follows the mantra of “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”  Participants have all the tools they need to succeed in this spatial puzzle, most notably the freedom to cover the segments of previously placed tiles.  Covering up a perfect connection may seem like a bad idea until you consider that such a move might allow for the establishment of a more important connection or prevent your opponent from piggy backing off your success. And frequently, when short-term objectives feel just out of reach, a spent construction token or shipping token provides that extra slack needed to succeed.

In addition to asking which tile should be placed next and where it should go, Curious Cargo adds an extra layer to its spatial puzzle by asking its players how its pieces and cards should be used.  Cards and tiles can be spent toward a wide variety of benefits.  2 discarded conveyor tiles can become 1 truck card.  1 discarded truck card can become 1-3 new conveyor tiles.  In the standard game, tiles can be put to use as routes to ship blue goods, ship red goods, receive blue goods, receive red goods, or a combination of these things.  Trucks can be used to push your opponent’s goods to your receiving docks or deliver your own goods from your shipping docks.  But it can be difficult to remember all of those great uses for 1 tile or 1 card when you desperately just want to establish a red connection to shipping dock 4 in order to deliver red cargo onto the empty space of your truck.

A Game That Bites

I do wonder if some players could have avoided their unpleasant collisions with Curious Cargo with the help of player aids or tutorial modes.  Perhaps more obvious reminders of the possible uses and exchanges between tiles, cards, and especially bonus tokens would do the trick.  And maybe some sort of introductory scenarios that lead players by the hand through building, overbuilding, routing, and rerouting their connections would help them to be more flexible with the main game.  But even with just a great teacher, a bit of patience, and a couple eagerly adaptable players, you’re bound to find the good stuff within Curious Cargo.

One would be wise to follow the council within its rulebook and quick tip guide.  While I eventually found myself ready to take on the expert 3-color mode, I was mistaken in assuming that my opponent was also ready to take the leap.  Our first play of this “Night Shift” variant was deliciously challenging for me and excruciatingly difficult for my opponent.  As the rulebook cautions, this mode is only for those who are “thoroughly proficient” in the 2-color version.

Mesmerizing Depth

Yet the adaptability required by Curious Cargo might be an acquired taste in addition to being a developed skill.  I’ve observed how many designers, publishers, and gamers prefer designs that maximize the feel-goods and minimize the feel-bads.  I understand how some people prefer games that soothe their stresses and stimulate dopamine release rather tangle their brains and trip up their steps. But against the backdrop of adversity, one’s successes shine all the brighter. And I can’t help but feel that Curious Cargo pummels its competition in the category of replayability.

Ryan Courtney’s design is a game where the setbacks feel bad, but clearing those obstacles feels amazing.  The skill ceiling is breathlessly high, and the puzzly challenge is tantalizingly deep.  This ever-present difficulty is why the thought of playing Curious Cargo again still thrills me even after several recent plays.  In comparison to this, the game Calico quickly lost steam as its challenge diminished over our first few plays.  By our third session, I had found my optimal play style and had no reason to budge from it.  Meanwhile, Curious Cargo is still forcing me outside of my comfort zone and into exciting new depths.

Despite the emotional cuts, bruises, and occasional broken bones that this design doles out, I’ve found Curious Cargo to be one heck of a satisfying game.

This concludes my Curious Cargo review! Have you tried this challenging game yet? Does the allure of delicious pain entice you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Curious Cargo Review: Gluttoning for Punishment appeared first on Bitewing Games.

I’ve had the chance to play each of these new releases at least twice so far. Here are my current thoughts on them:

Pendulum

Pendulum’s novel idea of using sand timers as a resource/obstacle make for an interesting and exciting puzzle. The crux of the game is using your workers and cards to their fullest potential within the boundaries of constantly flipping timers with varying times and actions.

The theme and artwork of Pendulum are tragically and swiftly gagged, tied up, and thrown in the back room by the attention-seeking mechanisms of the game. Fortunately, the mechanisms can perform a heck of a solo.

The smooth and engaging pace of the game are an impressive feat accomplished by the designer, Travis Jones, and publisher, Stonemaier Games. There is something truly special about being able to blaze a path through an engine-building Euro completely uninterrupted by other player’s turns.

Despite the rulebook’s constant insistence of the contrary, this is a game where quick and efficient thinkers will absolutely thrive. While the sand timers do raise the stress level of play, I find this type of stress to be more interesting than obnoxious.

The game provides plenty of variable, asymmetric setups for each player, but I’m still most concerned about the longevity of Pendulum. In order to achieve a turnless worker placement time management game, it dangles by a thread above the chasm of multiplayer solitaire. The only challenge within Pendulum is in finding the most efficient route through the unchanging game board. While unique player mats may start at different strategic locations, it seems that their optimal paths will always merge very early in the game to make for a samey experience. It remains to be seen whether the opposite, advanced sides of the player mats help to stave off any repetitive blandness.

But until that bland sameyness starts to set in, if at all, we’ll certainly enjoy our TIME with Pendulum….

Current Rating: 7/10, but trending downward

Calico

Calico is not quite the next Azul, but it competes in the same arena and certainly holds its own. This one feels most similar to Sagrada where players are hoping to get lucky with their drafting options, adapting their tactics accordingly, and seeking to fulfill multiple different scoring objectives with minimal player interaction.

I suspect I’ll end up preferring Calico over Sagrada. Although the drafting options feel more luck dependent, the placement flexibility and thinkiness are even higher. There are so many point carrots dangling across your board that if you aren’t focused and careful you can end up tangling yourself up in all of your pursuits.

Current Rating: 7.5/10

Fort

Fort is a home run of a small box project from the ever peculiar Leder Games. This deck builder feels as fresh as an armful of warm, laundered bed sheets. I love how each new hand of cards is a juicy opportunity for combos, a crafty shot at bumming off of other player’s public actions, and a painful decision of which friends to neglect and possibly lose forever.

It’s a marvel that the development team took an existing game (SPQF) and concocted a completely different theme that somehow fits the game like a glove. Where the heaping of symbology and sprinkling of unique mechanisms would normally give most people whiplash, it instead smooths itself over into a cohesive experience based on something we are all familiar with: childhood.

The theme is charming, the artwork is gorgeous, the gameplay is unique, the experience is compact, and the conclusion leaves you hungry for another go. Well done, Grant Rodiek and Leder Games!

Current Rating: 9/10

Spicy

The art and presentation of Spicy are phenomenal. Truly a barn burner of a production, and this is exactly what made it catch my attention enough to buy it.

The gameplay so far is fun, funny, but a little too loose for my tastes. It is extremely difficult to try to call someone’s bluff based on any amount of logic. The pacing of the game is so fast that you’ll neither feel too annoyed by it’s shortcomings nor clever enough by what little strategic space it gives you.

But that big cat art…. it’s just too good to dislike this game. At the end of the day, Spicy is just light, simple fun.

Current Rating: 6.5/10

Ride the Rails

I dig Ride the Rails. The game is all about leeching off of other people’s plans; this happens best as they transport passengers along essential colors that you own stock in. The most interesting aspect might be the turn order mechanism, where the player in last place gets to go last in phase 1 (taking a share) and first in phases 2 & 3 (building track & riding the rails), giving them a bigger advantage in each of the phases. I’m certainly looking forward to the next play.

Compared to Irish Gauge, Ride the Rails keeps the same basic framework (gaining stocks, placing railroads on hexes, earning the most money to win) and gives it an entirely different feel by throwing out auctions, mixing up the limits of placing out railroads, and changing how rails pay out (by transporting passengers instead of triggering specific cities). Due to these significant differences, I think both Iron Rail games are worthy additions to my collection.

That said, I’m not optimistic that I’ll end up liking Ride the Rails more than Irish Gauge. I love the auction mechanism of Irish Gauge; it also feels more dynamic and interactive as you are always free to choose from 4 different actions on your turn. Meanwhile, RtR has more on-the-rails gameplay (ha ha) as its 3 actions must be performed by everyone each round; it also has significantly more math and bookkeeping to it, which is not terrible but not as smooth as Irish Gauge. 

 Sidenote: Check out the Heavy Cardboard scoring method for what looks like a faster/easier way to do scoring each round (we haven’t tried this yet, but I think it will drastically improve the pacing).

Another aspect I’ve been less fond of is that the game seems to bottleneck players into specific strategies if they want to win. It’s too hard to venture off into new colors and stocks if other players are still going hard on 1 color. It feels like you either have to follow suit or fall behind.

Finally, our 4-player game was significantly less fun and competitive compared to our 3-player game. It remains to be seen whether that is a consistent & correlative issue or not.

Current Rating: 7/10

That wraps up my first impressions of recent releases! I write similar structured thoughts about every game I play on my BGG account. Feel free to add me as a Geekbuddy if you find my comments helpful.

Have you tried any of the above games? What are your thoughts on them?

The post Candid Cardboard: New Release 1st Impressions (September 2020) appeared first on Bitewing Games.

Curious about my most anticipated board games of 2020? Read on to find out more.

I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time researching a wishlist of existing and upcoming games. 2020 will be an exciting year for gamers, with so great options hitting the market. Amidst all the hype of many new games, there are a handful of already published gems that I am itching to experience for the first time. After discovering my personal tabletop tastes and preferences, I’ve begun to recognize the familiar scents of a surefire hit from the games listed below. Here you will find my current cream of the hype crop…

All Aboard the Hype Train!

Caylus 1303 Released 2019

If you only told me that Caylus was one of the very first worker placement games ever published, I would likely be scared away from trying it… surely worker placement games have evolved from Caylus! What’s the point in going back to something so aged and basic? But this is no simple reprint of an old game; rather, it is a careful reimagining and modernizing of a beloved classic.

The positive buzz from Tom Vasel and So Very Wrong About Games have put this one on my radar. I’m hungry for a tight worker placement game, and this one appears to fire on all cylinders. It’s an added bonus that this one seems to be streamlined down to a widely accessible level. Present to me a juicy hour-long Euro with tense interaction and I’ll gobble that up.

Lowlands Released 2018

I can’t resist a Shut Up & Sit Down approved Euro for forever. Their taste has been impeccable so far. I dig the look of the sheep farming and the supposed interdependence between the three core strategies (recruiting sheep to establish a delightful farm, building the dike to prevent catastrophe, gaining buildings to improve your engine). I believe Z-man is doing another reprint of this soon, but it seems as though they’ve now removed their information page about upcoming reprints (crosses fingers for reasonably priced copy). Though this game isn’t new this year, it is still one of my most anticipated board games of 2020

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion 2020 Release Date

As much as I want to try the #1 game of all time (as ranked on BoardGameGeek), I think this more accessible version will suit my group MUCH better. Hopefully this can retain the fun and trim the fat when it releases to retail this year.

Root: The Riverfolk Expansion Released 2018

Root: The Underworld Expansion 2020 Release Date

You can never have too much Root. I still haven’t managed to try two of the base Root factions (the Cats and Vagabond), but that likely won’t stop me from swooping down on these expansions when they become available. A Root expansion feels much different from any other board game expansion, as the core game itself is all about how players are traveling wildly different paths to arrive at the same destination… and the prospect of entirely new paths is beyond exciting.

Fort 2020 Release Date

A deck builder from Leder Games? Please and thank you. I trust that these guys can take the deck building genre and put their own charmingly unique spin on it. If you appreciate the art style or quirkiness of Root, then this is certainly one to keep an eye on. It is supposedly releasing directly to retail later this year. Fort is definitely one of my most anticipated board games of 2020

Container: 10th Anniversary Jumbo Edition! Released 2018

I may never get the chance to play this… But in my wildest dreams this publisher will suddenly realize that good artists exist in this world and they will have the sense to hire one to redo their game before republishing it for me. My interest in this game is entirely thanks to Shut Up & Sit Down’s video review; they always know how to communicate the scrumptious taste of a good game.

Undaunted: North Africa 2020 Release Date

A deck-builder where each card represents an individual soldier in your army, one which must be removed completely upon its death at your opponent’s hand. Shut Up and Sit Down gave Undaunted: Normandy a raving review. You have my attention, Mister Quinns. I’ll wait it out and opt for version 2.0 (North Africa) which will hopefully refine and improve the formula. This publisher also made the excellent Cryptid, so I’m already a fan of their work!

Ra Released 1999

The legendary designer, Reiner Knizia, is 3 for 3 in my collection! Of course, I only stick to his best ranked games out of the millions that have been published… but his cream of the crop is on a whole different level. I’m so hungry to try his famous auction game, Ra, it hurts. We’ll see if I can survive until it is back in stock. At least we are loving Modern Art in the meantime.

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine Released 2019

If there is any game that I wouldn’t hesitate to tell any human to get hyped for, it would be this one.  

The cooperative trick-taking that this game presents sounds like a blast. I’ve preordered it already, as it is supposed to release Q1 of 2020! That’s what you do when your trusted Geekbuddies sing its highest praises. Check out Tom Vasel’s review if you want to know more.

I’m most excited to see how the game uses trick-taking to force unique and tense cooperation between players. If I could successfully integrate cooperative modes into my hot air balloon trick taking design, it would likely be thanks to The Crew paving the way for me.

Kemet: Blood and Sand 2020 Release Date

The majestic Inis (my favorite game) has put Kemet (a similar style of game from the same publisher) on my radar, and a new version of Kemet is all I need to hear to start throwing my money at Matagot. They plan to put this area control game up on Kickstarter later this year, which means I’m in for a long wait.

Treasure Island: Captain Silver – Revenge Island 2020 Release Date

The very existence of this expansion has me all aboard the hype train. Treasure Island is the most delightfully unique game in our collection, and I can’t wait to see how this adds to the fun of treasure hunting and pirate bluffing.

Calico 2020 Release Date

I was skeptical at first, but I’ve since seen enough gameplay to change my mind… I’m optimistically convinced that Calico will sit perfectly next to Azul and Sagrada on our shelf. This casual, puzzly style of game is right up my wife’s alley, so I’m betting it will be a hit at our house. Keep an eye out for this one at retailers when the Kickstarter fulfills later this year.

Sleeping Gods 2020 Release Date

Never tried a Red Raven game, but I’m pumped to see this epic kickstarter reach our doorstep. I did a lot of research into the game before deciding to back, and I think it will make a great cooperative game replacement after our Pandemic Legacy Season 1 quest is over. The theme and artwork are carefully crafted, and the combat system looks especially fun.

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile 2021 Release Date

Cole Wehrle’s other designs, Pax Pamir 2e and Root, are both in my top 10. This one is a no-brainer for me to join the most anticipated board games of 2020 list. It combines the art style of Root with the Wehrle-style tableau gameplay of Pax Pamir into a game with a built-in meta. Can’t wait!

Spirit Island Released 2017

Early on when I researched potential board games to try, I was incredibly tempted by the mega-hit game, Spirit Island. It’s unique cooperative theme of playing as island spirits to repel relentless colonists was instantly attractive to me. Ultimately, the heavy complexity scared me off a year ago, but now I’m ready to dive into this one.

 The Estates Released 2018

As I’m still surfing the wave of fun provided by our stellar auction games including Modern Art and QE, I couldn’t resist putting this game on my wishlist. I read through the rulebook and I’m now salivating to dive into its cutthroat nastiness.

What games (existing or upcoming) are you hyped to try? If you need some suggestions, check out my current top 50 games or our 10 recommendations that everyone should try!

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