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Gaming Year 2021
Covid-19. The pandemic got better, and I got the vaccine shots. I returned to the board game cafe meetings in June. Things have become much better. The number of games I played dropped significantly from 2020: from 753 to 481. In hours, I went from 339 to 266. The main reason for this is Nooa, […]
A Feast for Odin, Abandon All Artichokes, Altiplano, Anno 1800, Attika, Beyond the Sun, Blue Skies, Coconuts, De Vulgari Eloquentia, Decrypto, Europa Tour, Everdell, Fields of Arle, Fort, Hallertau, Hansa Teutonica, Innovation, Just One, Krass Kariert, L.L.A.M.A., Lands of Galzyr, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Love Letter, Machi Koro, Magic: The Gathering, Maglev Metro, Mahjong, Merchant of Venus, Monikers, Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile, Pax Pamir, Pictures, Res Arcana, Second Chance, Similo, Smartphone Inc., So Clover!, Spirit Island, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, The City, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, The Great Zimbabwe, The Mind, Twin It!, Underwater Cities, UNO, Westphalia -
First impressions: Lost Ruins of Arnak
I’ve been aware of Lost Ruins of Arnak being popular. A friend even offered his copy on loan at one point. I said no, because I wasn’t keen on learning new games, and we were busy playing Anno 1800 and Hallertau anyway. Now, another long-time gaming buddy showered praise on Arnak on an online forum, […]
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Great Western Trail, expanded
Alexander Pfister’s masterpiece Great Western Trail is still a rather good game. Last Wednesday, we played it with four players, which was a rare treat for me – I usually only play it as a two-player game. The four-player game is a good experience; the game flows so fast with experienced players, there’s hardly any […]
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Uwe Rosenberg farming games
Uwe Rosenberg is a German board game designer with several highly respected titles in his ludography. If there’s a designer whose work I adore, Rosenberg is that. He has designed many games, but I’m particularly interested in his work around the farming theme and worker placement mechanism, starting from Agricola in 2007. This ignores his […]
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The best teas to drink with Fields of Arle: Tea & Trade
Fields of Arle Fields of Arle is one of the best titles in the Uwe Rosenberg ludography. I’ve found Rosenberg’s games are often best with two players; in many cases, extra players just lengthen the game without offering much. Here, the player count is capped at two. Fields of Arle isn’t a tricky game. It […]
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Monikers and Oath
I’d call yesterday’s game night a success. After a couple of hands of The Crew: Mission Deep Sea – a failure, and then success at the same mission – we played a six-player game of Monikers. This is the best party game, in my opinion: a perfect mixture of roaring laughter and quick thinking. The […]
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Mono White Mythic
I made it to the Mythic rank, the best rank in Magic: The Gathering Arena. I’ve reached Mythic twice before: two months in a row last year when I started playing Magic online, and again last May. Earlier I’ve always made it to Mythic with a Mono Green Aggro deck (2021 variant, 2020 variant), but […]
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So Clover!
So Clover! by François Romain, published Repos Production in 2021. I received a review copy from Asmodee Nordics. Elevator pitch: Come up with clues for four two-word pairs and hope your friends can figure out your clues in this cooperative word puzzling game. What’s in the box? This game sure has eye-catching components. Each player […]
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Altiplano and The City
While my daughter is cheerleading, I’ve spent the time walking. Now that it’s cold and dark outside, walking isn’t as much fun, so I ended up spending the time in the local library, reading books or doing crossword puzzles. Then we realized my son could join me and we could spend the time playing games! […]
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First impressions: Similo
As the last game last night, a friend introduced me to Similo. It’s a quick five-minute filler where you try to guess what someone else is thinking. Twelve character cards are laid down on the table, face up. One of the players tries to get the other players to guess which of those twelve characters […]