I wanted to post some pictures and thoughts of games I have played, so I am bringing back my 'monthly summary' posts, but with a lot less filler than my previous version.
Games Played
- Star Wars Unlimited - seventeen plays. Five games against Matt (going 4-1), two games against Elias (going 2-0), five games against Braden (going 2-3), three games against CJ (going 1-2), one game against Mark (going 0-1), and one game against Peggy (going 1-0). Tried out a variety of leaders: Palpatine, Cassian Andor, Chewbacca, and Grand Inquisitor. This remains a very enjoyable game... but I admit the fact the game is so aggro/rush focused is something that I think will hurt it, long-term. The games are fast, which is great, but it means that any other style of deck just does not work, flattening the meta quite a lot. I am hoping this improves with the upcoming release of the second set, but this is a serious concern I have with the game.
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Blue Moon Legends - two plays. Rob agreed to give this is a shot with me, since I have owned it for about ten years. We played the first game using the first two decks (Hoax and Vulca), with me winning as he runs out of cards. The second game I take the Mimix deck, and he takes the Flit deck. I spent the entire game thinking I am crushing him, but he stalls me out enough to win. Blue Moon Legends strikes me as an interesting game- a former German CCG repackaged by FFG into this self-contained game. I feel like I would need to play this a lot for the games to evolve past our experience here, where the individual battles lasted nearly the entire game (the dragons did not move all that much). Maybe someday.
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Stranger Things: Upside Down - two plays. I play this with Peggy and Braden, after all of us learn the game. The first game we struggle to do much, bouncing off several tasks, until I make my first attempt to rescue Will, fail miserably, and get terrified, which causes a game loss. Oops. We set up and try again, this time making an effort to reduce the number of demogorgon stacks (which reduces the difficulty of some of the checks). We play for quite a while, getting good equipment, taking the fight to the demogorgon once or twice, and finally winning the game. The game itself seems fine- it does a good job capturing the show, I think, with decisions and progression roughly reflecting the events of the show. There is a second scenario that seems to cover the second season, but it feels like the replay value of the game would be somewhat limited- you have your two scenarios, but the play of each of them is going to unfold the same way. Not a bad game though, not at all.
- Disney Lorcana - one play against my wife, re-teaching her the game, and then losing to her. I am sure there is some depth to this game that justifies it being popular, I just don't see it yet. We will see if she keeps playing it with me enough to get there.
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Fallout - one play against Bob. We both learn the game and sit down to play it. I take the Brotherhood guy, he takes the... survivor? I think that's right. Anyway, we play the first scenario, explore the map, chase down a bunch of random quests. We get a few agenda cards (whichever cards give you victory points). The problem is that all the agenda cards we draw are related to the difference in standing between the two non-player factions... which are neck and neck. So each card is worth one point. And we do not get many of them as we play through the game. Anyway, after two hours of this, we call it (with Bob up three points to two). The game was fun, the storytelling using the cards was great, the combat system was different than I had seen before, and really, we will probably play this again in a cooperative mode, but as a two-player competitive game, it seemed pretty rough.
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Judge Dredd: Helter Skelter - one play against Bob. I play the Slaine against Bob's Judges. With the 1995 Judge Dredd movie playing in the background, I use an early interrupt to reveal Slaine, who kills one of his judges, at the cost of nearly my entire hand. He manages to claw back in, grabbing some shards, killing one of my guys, but my aggression puts me in position to win, and I end up with the 5-3 victory. This is a system I found to be really cool, and one I spent some days after the game thinking about, although Judge Dredd is not a particular draw for me (not a negative, just not a draw). There is apparently a fantasy version of this game, and I 100% plan to check that out. Really, a lot of potential here.
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Space Hulk - one play with Bob. We play the third scenario, using a set of rules allowing the Genestealers to be played automatically. The third scenario is a good candidate for co-op play, with two squads separated by location. We go through the early part of the game without too much issue. However, things go downhill fast, when some Genestealers contact his squad, beginning to chew through them. We keep escorting the little bot off the map as we battle Genestealers all over the place, and at the end, all but a single one of our marines, carrying the bot, has been killed, and we barely manage to get the objective off the board, giving us the win. What is there to even say about Space Hulk? It is a great game. Constantly a fantastic, tight experience. This cooperative mode worked better than expected and will likely see the table again.
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Tiny Epic Zombies: Deluxe Edition - one play with Bob. We play the cooperative mode against the AI zombie, pulling the quarantine, virus cure, and army escort objectives. We end up losing, running out of search cards. This was a lot of fun, and a game that I have owned for quite a while, so was happy to finally play. Bob had ordered the Tiny Epic Game of Thrones game on Gamefound and asked about the Tiny Epic series in general. I mentioned owning this, and he agreed to play it, so I brought it up, set it up, and we went to town (well, we went to the mall). It is incredible how much gameplay they pack into this little box, and how many different choices they give you. I have had a lot of fun with the other Tiny Epic games I have played (like Tiny Epic Tactics? That was an absolute blast), and this is no different.
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Vampire: The Masquerade – Rivals Expandable Card Game - one play with Rob and Joey. I took the Brujah deck again, which is the only one I have played, Rob took the Ventrue again, and Joey took the Tremere, which is apparently his favorite clan. This was my first three player experience of the game, and it scaled pretty well from two players. There is a bit more interplay, a bit more going on, and just feels like a more complete game. Also, it felt like I agonized a lot more over discarding cards to pay for effects/overcoming secrecy, etc. Anyway, after this game, I went home, opened and sleeved another expansion (The Wolf and the Rat), and disassembled the Brujah starter, which will force me to play something different next time.
And that is all my gaming for June. Next month's post will not be so delayed (hopefully I do not spend a bit over a week fighting illness next month, as well, bluh).