Refering, of course, to the irregularity of these blog posts. By the way – if you haven’t seen the new Sherlock tv series yet, go and watch. It’s excellent.

Here’s some highlights since Ropecon:

• Dominant Species: The Card Game. This game wasn’t helped a bit by the fact that we had six players. The game took 80 minutes and was fun for maybe 15 minutes. Ugh. Not my kind of game, not the least. Avoid.
• Elder Sign. When I first played this one, also with six players, I wasn’t terribly interested. I did get the iPhone version and played it for couple of times and found it quite enjoyable, so I asked Tuomo for another go – but this time we had only three players. This is clearly a fixed fun game and with three players, there was quite enough fun. I’d certainly play again. Suggest, but only with two or three.
• Mord in Arosa. Again, I wasn’t impressed after the first play with six players (I sense a theme here). Further two-player games with my son, who was rather enthusiastic about this game, shone more favourable light on this one. Not a bad game at all, from a family game perspective. Probably better to avoid this with six, at least when playing with more serious folks. The two-player game is surprisingly decent. Suggest.
• Takenoko. I’m seriously fond of this one, particularly when played with my son. It’s a clever game, with a good mix of luck and strategy. What’s most important, it’s really fun to play with my son. Suggest.
• Can’t Stop. I’ve never played this one before. Can you believe that? (Actually it’s really easy, as the game, old as it is, hasn’t been available in Finland until couple of years ago.) I needed more games to win at Yucata.de to advance in the ranks, so I gave this one a go. It’s actually rather good for what it is. Suggest.
• Schnäppchen Jagd. Some folks complain there’s not enough control in this one. I tend to disagree – at least in the three games I’ve played, I’ve felt I’ve had more control over things in every game. For the fans of quirky trick-taking games, this one’s a prime example. Lovely, lovely game. Suggest.
• Da ist der Wurm drin. This Kinderspiel des Jahres winner from 2011 is a rather simple dicefest, with almost zero decisions, but it’s cutely produced and colourful and entertaining. Very non-offensive. Kinderspiel des Jahres material? Hmhm. I suppose this is a good kindergarten game, as kids can play this without adult supervision easily. It’s also very charming. I’d rather play something else with my kids, but the kids seem to like this and my three-year-old daughter can play this. Indifferent.
• Geistesblitz. The winner of the Finnish Game of the Year this year. Nothing really special, but a fun  little reaction test of a game. The extra rules about the book really make your head spin. Delightful, but I’m a wee bit surprised this won (other winners: Paris Connection in the adult games, Halli Klack! in kids games). Suggest.

Jamey Stegmaier promised me a review copy of Viticulture, which is currently collecting funding on Kickstarter. Seems like it has a good chance of success. The game looks interesting enough that I wanted a review copy: I think the wine theme with a worker placement mechanic that reminds of Stone Age sounds like something that would go down well with my mother. Jamey is also very serious about being able to meet the May publishing schedule. Good luck for him and the rest of the Stonemaier crew.