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Defenders of the Wild - Lorna F
Open for late pledges until the 12th of July, Defenders of the Wild is at the top of my wish list this month. Despite coming from a small publisher, this game is from the designer of the much loved Parks, and has accumulated a lot of hype. The well pitched crowdfunder campaign has demanded the attention from us board game critics, landed the game on BGGs hotness list, and received 328% backing on Kickstarter.
As animal activists, 1-4 players will be undertaking forceful rewilding projects against the machines polluting their habitats. The previews have shown a very thematic midweight strategy game, and plays in approximately 90 minutes. There are two big features alongside this theme that have me excited. Firstly, It’s a co-op, with players working together to best combine their factions' unique strengths. Secondly, the game has a modular hex board that changes the playing field each time. I really love a board game hex. My take from the Kickstarter is that this is a light-hearted war game of wildlife against the machines that put up walls and build polluting factories.
Animal faction games have spiked in popularity recently with the likes of Everdell and Root. Defenders of the Wild, with its cute artwork and wooden animeeples definitely places itself in this category. Time and plays will tell if this very promising game lives up to the board game giants it will no doubt be compared with.
HeroQuest Jungles of Delthrak - Sean Franks
Last year Avalon Hill released the first brand new retail expansion in over 30 years for this beloved classic, Rise Of The Dread Moon.
And it went down a storm with the new miniatures, settings, enemies and quests, as well as bringing a fresh hero into the fold. Now, following a grand unveiling at the UK Games Expo, it looks like they're on course to do it again!
Jungles of Delthrak expands the game with even more mechanics and variations on gameplay. Not only will the heroes face an onslaught of various jungle themed enemies, I've seen miniatures for a spider and ape among others, but there's also the new tiles to help us with the setting as it takes us out of the dungeon. This quest pack breaks the mould featuring a branching storyline where the results of one quest decide what happens in the next, meaning the quest pack doesn't have to be just one and done with your usual group as you could playthrough a completely different series of missions. Plus it introduces not just one, but two new heroes, spiritual upgrades to the original base game heroes for those who feel like the Barbarian and Dwarf need to catch up with the rest of the new recruits.
But the real reason I put it straight on my wish list? Those Jungle raptor looking minis!
Slay the Spire - Seb Hawden
Slay the Spire, one of my favourite rogue-likes in recent memory has recently been made into a board game. Yes, so that’s a card game video game made into a card-based board game. Weird, I know. Anyway, as much as I thought, why would I want to play a slower version of Slay the Spire with more upkeep? I have heard and seen quite positive things about this juicy box of goodness.
The main reason I would play this over it's digital counterpart is the fact you can play it co-op. You and three friends can play through a whole run up the spire! For anyone who has not played this addictive game, firstly, drop everything and pick up a copy, it's cheap as chips now and secondly, it's pure brilliance. Basically, it's a deck-building, card-based roguelike. You pick one of the four characters, who all function completely differently and over the course of battles, shops and events, strengthen your deck and try to bend the rues of the game to your whims.
What the board game brings to the well, table, is that the cards you play, the upgrades and trinkets you pick up now not only affect your character but your ability to work as a team. Someone getting hit hard? Another player can use their block, someone about to die, concentrate all attacks on the enemy focusing on them. The whole thing makes my brain fizz and I cannot wait to try it.
WIth all that comes, what looks like fro what I have seen anyway, a lovely, lavish production. UPgradeable cards, minis and art that really reflects the game I love. I am literally counting the days until I can ascend the spire with my closest friends and build an unstoppable character on the way. Let’s Slay the Spire!
Herbaceous - Hannah blacknell
I've had a hiatus from game buying lately, a lot of that is because life has got in the way with needing to reallocate money to home improvements and family. Which means my wishlist is pretty long which is exciting and also worrying for the credit card! There are a few smaller box games that I've been eyeing though this month and I'm hopeful the summer will bring a few my way!
First up is Herbaceous, I've been looking at this one for ages, I love the art style and theming of this simple card game about potting herbs into your private and public gardens for set collection and scoring. I keep dropping hints and hopefully this will wing it's way to me soon enough.
Another one I've been looking at since march is cards Vs gravity which is a fun dexterity pub game about balancing credit card sized cards in an ever expanding tower. I like dexterity games and enjoy them when my brain is a little bit tired or when playing with non gaming friends. They invoke giggles and who doesn't love to laugh?!
There's one pre order that has really caught my eye too which is hero realms dungeons. Hero realms is one of my favourite games, we often play this fun little deck building game together in the evening. I'm intrigued and excited to see what this new big box version of that classic from wise wizard games is going to bring us.
There are a bunch of other things I have my eye on, but I don't want to have groaning shelves that are busting at the seams or have games sitting unplayed for a long time either...
Catan New Energies - David Ireland
When I heard about this game's release I was so excited. I’m a huge fan of all things Catan and love the board created from hexagons. To see the announcement of New Energies and the updating of Catan into a fully modern 21st century game is just awesome. I want it!
Those five core primary resources of ore, brick, wheat, wood and pasture (sheep!) are still very much at the heart of the game. It would however appear that this is no longer enough for game play. Taking too much of the fossil fuel resources and primary product is damaging the environment of Catan and the pollution created is just too much. Players now need to find alternative fuels in the form of green energy and adapt to the challenges that we as a society now face in the present day. I hope the player interaction with regards to trade and negotiations is also reflected in this.
It is very clever how the designers have adapted the classic game and brought it right up to date, considering the challenges that we all face in the real world and put it on this board game. We all need to decide how we consume resources in this contemporary period and it would appear we are being asked the same questions in this board game. I think that is brilliant and I want to play.
This is an absolute must play for me at some point and so an obvious choice for me to pitch as my Wishlist game for this month. If Catan holds a soft spot within your boardgaming heart than I hope this is on your wishlist as well.
