Sunny's Side Up
CLANK: CATACOMBS (Paul Dennen)
Need to play this more.
Quando omni flunkus, moratati.
CASTING SHADOWS (Ramy Badie)
Need to play this more.
Quando omni flunkus, moratati.
SPLENDOR (Marc André)
Need to play this more.
Quando omni flunkus, moratati.
DOMINION (Donald X. Vaccarino)
Deck-building, distilled down into a single box. Or multiple, if you buy the expansions.
Dominion is simplest the purest deck-building experience you can have. Depending on your viewpoint, this can be either a boon or a bane. More modern deck-building games tend to add layers on top of the deck-building, but in Dominion, the deck-buidling is the entire game. Each player starts the game with three victory point cards and seven copper cards. The goal of the game is to craft a workable deck through the acquisition of new cards from the shop using the aforementioned money cards. Victory point cards are necessary to win the game, but if you purchase too many too early into the game, you may find your hands bricked with these unplayable cards. This simple dichotomy of decision making and timing creates an experience that is enjoyable time and time again. But what if you should tire of having the same ten cards availible in your shop each game? Well, should you ever find your games are becoming too similar, simply switch out one pile of cards in the shop for another, opening up new strategies and combos to potentially win the game with. And if you should ever grow bored of the cards that come with the base game, there are more than ten expansions for Dominion that each add new cards and mechanics, leaving Dominion as a franchise with some of the highest variety outside of a true trading card game like Magic: The Gathering. For a single (or multiple) box experience, it is hard to go wrong with Dominion. This game is fun with any number of players, any number of expansions, and any type of board game player.
COUP (Rikki Tahta)
An engaging social deduction game that loses steam over time or with fewer players.
In Coup, each player is dealt a hand of two influence cards which are kept hidden from the other players. On each turn, players may take the actions described on any of the five different role cards, even if they do not have the role they claim to have. At any point, any player may challenge an action if they suspect the person taking the action may be telling a bit of a fib. This is the main draw of Coup, this element of "a-ha!" when you have been paying careful attention throughout a game only to find your suspicions confirmed. While there are clearly better starting hands, this element of lying adds such a unique layer to such an otherwise simple game. But therein lies the problem. If players are too honest, the game is fixed from the start, as players will simply gain tokens until they have enough to eliminate a player's influence card. In my play group, almost every game of Coup begins with every player taking the action described on the Duke role card for the maximum posible benefit, as it is impossible to tell who may be lying so soon into a game. The more you play this game, the more "solved" it becomes, to the point where winning feels more up to chance than skill, and the fun of engaging with the deduction aspect of the game dissapears entirely. With less than four players, this issue can crop up even earlier on, as fixed patterns of one player taking out the other in systemitic fashion becomes boringly routine. Now, though these may be harsh words, this game has a special place in my heart. Coup is a game that is easy to pick up, quick to play, and refreshing for those who have maybe only played Monopoly or Uno before. While the novelty lasts, this game is fantastic. But once the curtain parts, the scaffolding holding it together is like raw spaghetti held together with glue. That is to say, the game tends to be too simple for its own good in the end.
MAGIC: THE GATHERING (Richard Garfield)
A legendary card game with a multitude of unique formats.
In Magic: The Gathering, players summon creatures and cast spells by drawing power from lands—the game's primary resource. Magic is a game that can be enojyed by all types of players across a variety of formats; I have had fun both constructing my own decks and playing pre-constructed ones alike. With a multitude of 1v1 formats sporting different card lists like Legacy or Pauper, and casual multiplayer formats like Commander, there's something here for everyone. Overall, the resource-driven nature of Magic can feel a bit finnicky at times, as you'll sometimes struggle to draw into the ever-important land cards to stay in the game turn after turn. But seeing as Magic is so limitlessly customizable, even a resource-starved deck can be improved with just a couple different cards or ratios. And with a community as large as that of Magic's, there are even plenty of resources to help you craft or simply find the right deck for you. My persona favorite formats are Legacy and Commander, and they are what I would reccomend to new players. Legacy is a 1v1 format that contains cards from every release in the game's extensive 20-year history—which I find allows me and my play group to tailor our experience exactly to how we like it. As for Commander, deck construction is at its most interesting, and due to the nature of said construction, every game is almost guaranteed to play out completely differently than the last. While in the Legacy format up to four copies of each non-basic land card are allowed, Commander allows only one of each non-basic land card, with a deck size totalling 100 cards rather than the usual 60. Commander is where Magic: The Gathering is at its board-gamiest, and I love it for it.
WRYNN (Carter Bennett)
Need to play this more.
Quando omni flunkus, moratati.
THE ROYAL GAME OF UR (Uncredited)
Need to play this more.
Quando omni flunkus, moratati.