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Asking a gamer to concoct a wish list feature is dangerous. I feel like we all have the same problem when it comes to games that we want. There are just so, so many of them. Have you ever seen an old cartoon where a character pulls out a scroll and it rolls onto the ground, across the floor, out the door and keeps unfurling for what seems like forever? Yeah, that is what I imagine all of our wish lists look like. You know, if we wrote them out on parchment instead of having convenient wish list features on our favourite sites.
That being said, here are a few selections plucked from my own wish list.
Fromage
I bet you were not expecting my first entry to be a game loaded with so much lactose. This game first caught my eye during its funding stretch on Kickstarter. At the time I didn’t quite have the funds to back it, and I regret that so much. It caught my eye straight away just from having such a great visual appeal. But then looking at the game itself made me want it too as it looked like such a fun, quirky and interesting game.
With the tri-layered boards and the way in which the game is set up, there are over 5000 possible set up scenarios. Whilst many of these will inevitably feel the same, it is still something that appeals to me greatly. This is because replayability is something I value a lot in a game.
Fromage is a euro-style game that sees you take the role of a French cheesemaker. You will be making, ageing, and selling cheese with asymmetric play styles. Whilst this is a unique theme in of itself, it also features some unique mechanics. The game is played on a circular, modular board of 4 pieces that can be arranged in any order. Each turn you can only play your workers out on the section that is opposite you. This makes where you sit in relation to the board important. Every turn the whole board rotates so that a new section is in front of you.
This is such an interesting looking game and honestly, I can’t wait for this game to come to retail. So that I can get my greasy mitts on it. There aren’t many pics out there for this one, as it still has a few weeks before it is released (at time of writing). So, I have included a pic of its incredible box art. I encourage you to go and check out it’s kickstarter page to see more on this one.
Piratenbillard
This next entry I will keep short. This is because it is the stark opposite of my last entry. I was under the impression that this is a new game that I was just waiting to make its way over here to the UK. But after checking its BGG page it turns out that it is even older than I am! So that means it falls under the dreaded category: not in print. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting it!
I love dexterity games, and if you see this game in action, you will agree with me that it is essentially the king of dexterity games. The damn thing is the size of a table! And it has hammers! It imitates pirate ships firing canons at each other! I just want it so much. If anyone has a spare copy, hit me up!
Yinsh
My issue is that I enjoy most types of games. I have already included a euro-style game and a dexterity game. Yinsh falls into a separate genre too as it is an abstract strategy game. It is part of the GIPF series of games and all of them are very traditional abstract games. They are played on variations of a grid and see two players duking it out over diverse types of battles of the wits. Yinsh is the most well known of the series and seems to be the one that comes back into print the most often.
There are several things that appeal to me about Yinsh. The first is simply its aesthetics. It simply just looks ornate. Its marbled effect makes it look like a piece of art. The second reason is that I have played DVONN and enjoyed it quite a bit. The third reason is I have a bit of a collection addiction. Which I am sure a lot of you reading this also have. And I don’t actually own a series of games. And seeing the whole GIPF Project games taking up a kallax shelf would just make my OCD riddled brain melt into comfortable bliss.
Oh, and of course, the game looks fun! It takes the simple concept of ‘get so many in a row’ but puts its own unique twist on the format.
Ierusalem
Ierusalem is a game that constantly catches my eye. And yes it is spelt with an I and not a J, much to my word processor’s dismay. The theme is one that is incredibly unique in the world of gaming: Jesus. That is right ladies and gentlemen, we have gone from cheese to pirate ships, ornateness to Jesus. In this game we will be working our resources and making tactical decisions in order to achieve our ultimate goal: sitting next to Jesus at the last supper. Now, I am not religious, nor am I familiar enough with the bible to say one way or another how accurately this period has been depicted. But what I am familiar with is games and storytelling. And from what I have seen of Ierusalem is that it is not disrespectful to the source material, and it also looks like an incredibly well-designed game.
This looks to be a big, chunky, expressive game that offers you lots of decisions, ways to earn influence and appears to be greatly replayable. From card play to worker placement, this game seems to have a sprinkling of everything you could want from a game. On top of the gameplay looking meaty, the production quality and artwork of the game and its components also look top notch. I am really excited to get hold of this game at some point.
The best thing about this game is that it has received great feedback, reviews, and lots of positive reception as a whole. And (especially considering its size) coming from a first-time game designer, this makes me excited to see what biblical masterpieces Carmen García Jiménez comes out with in the years to come.
Last Light
As much as I could write wish list entries forever, I should probably round this list off at some point. And what better than a game that touches yet another theme and gameplay loop. Last Light is a very interesting looking game that sees everyone playing as different alien races in order to harvest the last scraps of light, from the last star in existence, before the inevitable heat death of the universe. Pretty damn heavy theme I must admit. On the flip side, Last Light looks like a snappy, fun, sci-fi centric game.
The main appeal here for me is the asymmetric play of each player. There is something about asymmetric player powers that always piques my interest. Last Light is in essence a 4X style game, condensed down into a simple, fast paced game. And that alone sells it to me. I don’t have the time, table space or mental capacity to be playing 12-hour slogs of Twilight Imperium. I also hated (and I mean truly despised) Cosmic Encounter. I loved the idea of the asymmetrical alien races, but the gameplay in Cosmic Encounter left me disappointed. Last Light seems to bring all the parts that I love about those two games and condenses it into a style of game that I haven’t delved into before. That makes everything about this game something that I am so excited to experience.
On top of all of that, it also has fantastic table presence. With a glorious production value that includes actual little 3D planets, who wouldn’t want to give this game a try?
Credit Roll
And there you are folks. That was 5 games that I have in my wish list that I want now. Like, right now. If only I had the disposable income that allowed me to purchase all the games I want. But alas, even if I earned the mega money, there would still be even more games out there for me to track down and play.
Whatever games you end up with this Christmas, no matter which ones end up in your growing wish list, no matter which ones end up hitting the table: happy gaming!