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As the leaves begin to fall, we look back on September and all of it's games. From Lord of the Rings to Sub Terra, take a peek into the gaming cupboards of our bloggers and find out what they couldn't put down.
Rob Wright
I’ll give 2020 this, at least it’s not hanging around. Here we are in the season of mist, merry fruitfulness and lockdown. And board games, of course – none of that summery outdoors nonsense.
First up, the mass transit cum bingo game, Metro X. Between one players each have a board with trains to fill and metro routes to complete. A stack of fifteen cards are revealed, one at a time. Players choose a train window to fill and cross out up to that number of vacant stations on that route. Skip cards allow you to jump over filled stations. Transfer cards get you a score based on the number of routes going into that station. Completed lines get points; empty stations lose points. Easy to pick up but a real puzzler when you’re trying to complete those lines.
I haven’t played it in a while, but I’ve also been reintroduced to Hive. This two-player game sees you move or place tiles with various mini-beasts on them. The idea is to surround your opponent’s queen bee. Each creepy-crawly moves in a different way, so there’s a real invertebrate-chess feel to it. Sort of like if Franz Kafka had decided to become a grandmaster.
Described to me as Cthulhu poop-head (you know), Lost in R’lyeh has been getting an airing too. This is a game where no-one wins. Someone has to lose. he idea of the game is not to be the last one with any cards. Players take it in turns to play cards sequentially. If you play more than one of the same value card, special abilities activate (clear the stack, give you extra turns etc.). Horror cards, which can be played any-who, also have nasty n nice effects. Cthulhu light with not too much Lovecraft hate…
Gavin Hudson
It’s hard not to feel a little crushed this month. It seemed like the door might have opened a crack on getting back to more regular group gaming only for it to slam shut again. It’s more important that we keep our friends and loved ones safe by being sensible, though.
In my family bubble this month, we did continue our run through the chapters of My City. After falling behind in chapter one, the glorious city of Dump (my city) stormed to victories in chapter two to cement it’s standing at the top of the leader board. My City is perfect for a chilled out light session and introduces its rules with a nice gradual learning curve.
I also returned to some classics this month and played High Society. A card game that has not been out for the drawer for some time, but will definitely be reached for more often. The artwork on the cards is stunning and this clever little auction game has more strategic depth than its short play time initially suggests.
My solo plays focussed on games I’ve not played for a while too. There was tense underground horror exploration with Sub Terra and its expansions, Annihilation, Investigation and Extraction. This horror theme spilled over into the camp and kitsch Horrified, where the town mayor took on such creatures of the night as Dracula, The Mummy and Wolf Man.
But my big purchase and play of the month has been Matt Leacock’s unique roll and build, Era: Medieval Age. Combining the joy of chucking dice, city building and lego, I have loved watching my medieval hovel towns rise up out of the sand. Though I’ve yet to rise above the rank of lowly merchant #SadEmoji
Hannah Blacknell
This month I made my first trip to a board game cafe. Here I discovered the joy of playing lots of games I don’t own (yet in some cases), and I also discovered that I do not like sleeved cards. I get why people do it, I would rather not.
Whilst I was there I got to play Isle of Cats for the first time. I know I’m a touch late to the party here, but Frank West’s cat rescue game really is the bomb. In Isle of Cats, you are trying to fill up as much of your boat as possible with cats in “families” of three or more felines of the same colour. Scoring is based on how full your boat is with cats and treasure, how many rats are visible, and the size of your families as well as personal and public objective cards that change game-to-game.
I generally am not a big polyominal tile fan, they tend to leave me a bit cold, which is probably why I hadn’t played it before. But there is so much choice going on with Isle of Cats, you can never achieve everything, and the scoring is really close. Absolute banger of a game, it's on my birthday list, and if I don’t get it then I will simply be forced to buy it for myself. An absolute must have game in my opinion. Buy it, but please don’t sell it out too quickly!
Scott Binnie
It's been a Tolkien party for me this month and it has been a blast! Not only did we make our way through the extended editions of all six movies, we've played a TON of the wonderful Lord of the Rings LCG and started to get to grips with the sublime War of the Ring.
My wife and I playing the LOTR LCG somewhat progression style. We're going quest by quest from the beginning, but we're not limiting ourselves to only using player cards up to those adventure packs. It's not true progression style but it's how we enjoy the game. We're in the midst of the Dwarrowdelf cycle, which begins with the amazing Khazad-Dum expansion as your band of adventurers try to escape from Moria. It oozes theme, and dwarves are the coolest race in Tolkien. What's not to love?
War of the Ring has been something of a Holy Grail purchase for me so I was delighted beyond words to finally acquire it three weeks ago. As well as the Lords of Middle-Earth expansion, because Elrond - duh. It's a giant map, with horses of miniatures and a weighty tome stuffed with rules. After four plays, we're still learning new aspects to this incredible 2-4 player game. And the other expansion is on its way! Bring on the brood of Shelob and those deus-ex-machina-with-wings eagles.
We were fortunate enough to be gifted a copy of Hive by a friend and I'm loving what I'm now calling spider chess. It's a fantastic game that takes about five minutes to play for your first playthrough. 90 minutes for your 30th. The tactical decisions, the mental (non-spider) chess with your opponent - it's so gripping. And in these days of social distancing and not letting people into your home, it's a wonderful game to play outdoors. The chunky pieces are weighty enough to handle a strong breeze and there's no board to worry about.
Carl Yaxley
September was a great month for gaming. A few friends and I have managed to re-start our regular (distanced) MtG matches, which have been great. The release of Zendikar Rising has given us a bunch of cool new cards to play with. It's also provided the impetus to build some new decks and experiment with different game mechanics and strategies. We're already eager for the expansions teased for next year. A double return to Innistrad is particularly appealing to me!
I also managed to get a number of my all time favourite board games back to the table. Puerto Rico, Grand Austria Hotel, Great Western Trail, and Lords of Waterdeep all saw play. As did two of the best titles (in my opinion) from acclaimed designer Stefan Feld: Bruges and The Castles of Burgundy.
We completed an unplanned Feld hat-trick with a first (and second) play of Carpe Diem. A tile placement game released in 2018, in which players take on the roles of Roman patricians. Each player is responsible for a district within Rome, the aim is to develop your district to earn prestige points.
At the time of writing I've played Carpe Diem twice more, at both two and three player counts. The game plays just a well at both counts. I'm confident that it's going to see a lot of play within my gaming groups. Setup is quick, the rules are easy to learn, and when you're going, gameplay is smooth, fast-paced, and surprisingly tactical. The mechanics that govern how you obtain tiles, and how can score them give you plenty to think about. I've been impressed by it. If you're a fan of other Stefan Feld games, I would highly recommend you check out Carpe Diem. Seize the game!
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