Let’s get this show started

So here we are again, it has been some days since we last post, but let’s say life got in the away again! We did not waste it, but it just went by in all the ways you can imagine. Just, life I guess…..

We will try to get back to more regular blog posting, more review and previews and expect a lot more photo showcases soon!

Some thoughts and new games from last week

We haven’t acquired many new games recently, mainly because we are restricted in storage at the moment at our temporary home and we are set to play the games still unplayed from Essen Spiel 2017! We just have too many unplayed ones which deserve attention and we also have some Kickstarter games we eagerly want to try out. We received The Walking Dead No Sanctuary and Empires of the Void II, call us excited!

One game we did buy second-hand is Merlin by Queen Games, we passed on it at Essen, but it stayed in the back of our mind.  When it came up cheap, we couldn’t resist….

This new Stefan Feld game, co-designed with Michael Rieneck, is one which has huge fans, but also a lot of “traitors” which deem Stefan Feld lost from his former more restrictive way of designing games. We have played some of the Feld games, but far from everyone, but we liked Oracle of Delphi and also appreciate Castles of Burgundy as one of the classic board games out there. Both aren’t as hard as Year of the Dragon, which is such an unforgiving game. In which camp are you? Has Stefan lost his touch or are you liking this more forgiving style of games he is putting out?

Another game recently played again, which we did gladly pick up at Essen, was Tybor the Builder (Der Baumeister). Alexander Pfister‘s continuation in the Longsdale serie. It’s again a lot of game in a tiny package and this one takes you back in time to tell you the story how the city was built. A clever engine builder card game including a narrative story arc is something more euro games should include. It adds to the involvement and experience when playing euro games. The golden age of board games brings out the best hybrids, we surely love it.

We also played the wonderful looking game Tesla vs. Edison: Duel by Artana Games. Gifted to us by one of the coolest and funniest people in the industry, and we can say just an awesome human-being and friend, Jess (follow her if you want a lot of great board game content!) from Artana Games. It was her personal copy she gifted and let’s say, it was a thanks for punching around 7000 games she had to bring back from Essen last year to the States. All was fine….eventually….

The game sets the legendary inventors Edison and Tesla of in to a duel of buying stocks, putting the lights on in the different cities and out think each other to win by fulfilling a personal goal or end game control of two out of three of the regions.

The art, the components and the graphical design choices are stellar. Accompanied with a well-balanced gameplay, this one looks very promising. All the while it keeps a nice a synchronized way to both sides. Each side comes with 4 different famous inventors and all of those have their own endgame goal to achieve victory. Before the games starts, you will pick one of them and take their stocks. These stocks will give you extra actions during the game, but spent them wisely! With only 4 rounds and 3 cards to play, every decision counts and you will have to try to combo those cards as smart as possible. You will have to time your actions well and have to make sure your opponent isn’t blocking you out of the regions you want to influence, keep their goal in your mind and if you cannot win now, block them.

The game has a sense of Battleline to it and that is a positive thing. Especially because the theme shows of a little more here, then it does with for example Schotten Totten, which we do like a lot by the way, but it’s very abstract.

Kickstarter projects we backed

• Western Legends & Kami-Sama (still live!) by Kolossal Games
• TOKYO SERIES: JIDOHANBAIKI, METRO, & JUTAKU by Dark Flight Games
• CO2: Second Chance (still live!) by Giochix.it
• Gentes Deluxe by TMG
• Stalingrad Inferno by VentoNuovo Games

Kickstarter projects we are contemplating and which are live now!

• Edge of Darkness by AEG
• Donning Purple by Petter Schanke Olsen
• Robin Hood and the Merry Men by Final Frontier Games
• Aeon’s End: Legacy by Indie Boards & Cards
• City of Gears by Grey Fox Games
• Pandorum by Cosmodrome Games
• Endeavor: Age of Sail by Burnt Island Games
• Normandy, the Beginning of the End by Draco Ideas
• Pulp Detective by AV Studio Games and LudiBooster

So a short post to kick of the new week and get us back on track again. Anything grabbed your fancy? Have you played any of these games yet? Let us know in the comments below or join the fun on Instagram. and Facebook!

Love your board game life and share all your favorite board game moments with us! We would love to see them.