A Wyrm and a Prayer

Wyrmsplaining

Unless you have been living under a rock (or don't frequent BGG religiously like I do) you probably have seen advertisement, information, news posts, and quite a bit of discussion about Wyrmspan. It's sat on the BGG Hot List since it's been announced and has remained pretty close to #1 for the entire time (I think that this week it finally was dethroned). It's the new hot game here on BGG, and darn it if I wasn't just as excited about everyone else about the potential of playing Wingspan with dragons!

Part of what makes me so excited about this game was that I've had Wingspan on my wishlist for several years now after initially playing half a game in 2021 with a good friend of mine (shoutout to David if you read this blog). I had only played half a game of Wingspan and I already wanted to add it to my collection; that's how good it was.

My only caveat with the game was that it was all about collecting various types of birds and playing them on various locations on your own personal board. Sure, the artwork was incredible and the gameplay was so tight, but there was something that just didn't strike me enough with the theme of birds.

I love watching birds outside my windows and we even set up a rather large birdfeeder on our back porch to entertain our cats (we call it "Kitty TV"). I might even say that I've dabbled in ornithology and the various types of birds and classifications have always been interesting to me, albiet in a "pub trivia" way rather than a "I want to watch birds in my free time" way.

Hence, when they announced Wyrmspan I was more than just simply excited. I am a huge fan of fantasy worlds and love science fiction and fantasy. I have shelves of books and comic books that are within that genre and most of my games have a fantastical twist to them. So when Wyrmspan was announced, I knew that I had to get it. The incredible gameplay of the original Wingspan with a fantasy twist? Sign me up immediately!

It's currently awaiting shipping directly from Stonemeier games, and I've been avoiding all spoilers if possible. I want to experience the game with fresh eyes and although I've looked at a few pictures of the game to get an idea of what the dragons look like, I don't want to know how it plays or read any reviews of the game. I know that the game is going to play extremely similarly to Wingspan, so I don't need minutae on how it differs from game to game. Let me figure that out on my own because that's part of the joy of learning a new game.

Deliverance from Evil

Deliverance has been a game that has really been fun to play this last year and currently this year. I'm going through the main campaign with my buddy Anthony and we're about halfway through. It's taken us some time to get through it due to us meeting only weekly and usally playing a single game of it, but we're making slow but steady progress.

This was such a great game not only because it was a "dungeon crawler"-esque game (I really hesitate to call it a dungeon crawler because there's no active discovering of new tiles during the game, but that's my opinion on the matter), but also because it really was well designed and thoroughly tested. It also is an excellently designed game that fits well within the Christian subgenre of games; something that is a rare sight.

Anthony and I have been playing through the campaign, which has led us through various twists and turns in the town of Fallbrook where the game is set. We've experienced a couple of losses here and there, but ultimately have been making our way through the game at a fair clip. Even with the losses, it's felt forgivable as there are boons that are granted to help you with a second attempt.

The reason why this game is on this list right now is that there is going to be an expansion announced soon that will add several new angel player characters and potentially some additional content for the game. At this point, Andrew Lowen, the designer of the game has hinted of a release date some time later this year for another Kickstarter campaign, but we're waiting with baited breath for more information.

I'm on the fence about purchasing Deliverance, especially since I have fairly easy access to the game at this time and have so much else throughout the week that I'm playing. I probably will pick it up at a later date, but for now, I'll have to be content with having access rather than owning it myself. At least that's what I'm trying to convince myself of.

Thundering Down the Pikeway

In what seems to be a significant level of coincidence, but knowing that it probably is just really good timing, a new kickstarter and expansion for Thunder Road: Vendetta was announced and the marketing is being pushed hard.

I had a long blog post on Monday about my love of this game and how much fun it's been playing it. It took the original Thunder Road and added some additional modularity and more fun. I played two fisted on Monday and still had so much fun with the carnage and chaos of playing the game that I don't think it's ever going to get old.

My only complaint was that the game was built on a straightaway and while it was cool to have an end goal, sometimes I felt like there needed to be a "fight to the death mechanic." An arena battle if you will. Really mix in the old car combat video game feel (can we seriously bring those back? I loved playing them as a kid but feel like we haven't really gotten a good game since the 90's) to the game so it becomes a fight to the death.

It's almost as if the guys over at Restoration Games have ESPN or something because lo and behold, they announced that the new expansion of the game is called Carnival of Chaos: an arena style map that will have cars competing in a deathmatch that allows for three separate entrances to the arena.

I'm so excited about this because that arena, paired with the Carnage at Devil's Run and the wonderful new hazards included, will make the game perfect in my eyes. No longer would the game be a "if you make it to the end of the road, you win," experience. This will be a full on, fight to the death, the last car standing wins expansion. I cannot wait.

Thoughts on What's to Come

I've really enjoyed putting together this post this week. while I don't think that there will be as many games that I'll be able to talk about next week, I'll definitely have some thoughts on upcoming Kickstarter Projects that are yet to be delivered and are getting updates regularly.

What games/expansions are you excited for in the next coming months? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Keep an eye on this space for more thoughts to come and keep on playing everyone!

*Originally posted 7/2/2024 on BGG*

Nostalgia: Worth a Re-Look?

The Chaos of the Road

So this idea came up to me as I was playing Thunder Road: Vendetta this weekend (see photos below for a glimpse of the chaos). I absolutely was floored with how incredible the game felt and how much fun I had while playing the game. After initially watching a "How to Play" video on the game (shout outs to Watch It Played for the awesome video) and reading some reviews of the game here on BGG, I was tentatively excited about the game.

I absolutely loved playing Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense as a kid on the N64 in my friend's basement. Long hours were spent going through the various campaigns for each character to unlock secrets and cause chaos. There was definitely a significant level of nostalgia associated with the Car Battle genre of games.

Add in a dash of Mad Max and the current zeitgeist in the public forums that is surrounding not only the franchise, but also the new movie that is supposed to come out soon(we've been promised Mad Max: Furiosa for some time, but I'm waiting to see it before I believe it). There was an amazing game Mad Max (2015) that really captured the feel of the franchise, but I was really unsure of whether or not a board game could capture that feeling as well.

Cue this weekend. I had a chance to play Thunder Road: Vendetta with several expansions included at 2D-Con Unplugged and I'm glad that I went in expecting a train wreck (or car wreck in this case). I had an absolutely amazing time playing the game and it was just as frenetic and chaotic as I expected from a car combat game. The expansions added a few additional options for play (such as being ON FIRE) and while they didn't add too much, I can definitely say that the gameplay was enhanced with them. I was so glad that I went into the game with low expectations because I was completely astounded with how much fun the game was.

When I was introduced to my initial game (picture on the right), I was told by the owner of the game that it would be absolute chaos and to lean into the chaos of the game. I was told that it was far more fun to really just lean into the absolute destruction of the game and to not worry about winning because it was probably not going to happen.

With that mindset, I launched into my first play of Thunder Road: Vendetta and ended up having an incredible time of playing it. I did exactly what was recommended and just launched myself into the chaos, ultimately resulting in a loss. While I did lose the game, I had a really fun time which got me thinking about the core nature of playing games: fun.

A second game with my buddy Anthony (whom I expect will pop up quite a bit in these blog posts) saw the same chaos and fun occur during our game. While it was a little less chaotic than a four-person game, we still had quite a bit of bumping and destruction occur, with the game ending unexpectedly with me crashing into an impassible road hazard. His final car had been disabled and I was on my way to victory when I chose poorly on my hazard to drive through, resulting in an unavoidable crash and burning of my final vehicle, giving Anthony a completely unexpected win.

Are Games Fueled by Nostalgia Actually Good?

These two games launched me into a series of thoughts about games that were fueled by nostalgia and led me to wonder if games that were fueled by our nostalgia were actually good, or if it was just our rose-colored glasses that we looked at games through? I knew that Thunder Road: Vendetta was based on the previously released game, Thunder Road, but had been updated to reflect more modern sensibilities and offer better gameplay.

A deep dive into the original game revealed that the rules were fairly basic, with only simplistic ways to defeat an opponent and there was not really and endpoint aside from destroying all of your opponent's vehicles. The new update to the game had taken the basic premise of the game, made it look prettier, added in some road hazards, different board layouts and even improved the rules significantly from the initial edition of the game, all in an effort to make the game fun.

But the question I wanted to ask with this blog post is this: "Does taking an old game and updating the rules for it make the older game fun? Or is it still the same game with a new coat of paint?"

I personally liked the updates that Thunder Road: Vendetta added in the update and after perusing the old rule book, feel like the changes were a positive thing. It definitely made the game more fun (in my opinion) and really added some replayability to the game, especially with the changing boards. No longer was the only way to defeat an opponent by ramming them, shooting them, or driving off the end of the board. Now there were road hazards, bumping rules, changes to the way the chopper worked, and even an addition of a damage system. All upgrades to the original game that made it far more enjoyable to play.

The Other Side of the Board

But then we run into the opposite with Monopoly. The original Parker Brothers game has the premise that one person gains enough money to the point where they buy out everything until everyone else is gone. Sure, there have been updates to the game in the last 90 years or so, but universally, the gameplay has remained relatively the same.

Monopoly: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition added in an optional ring (the titular One Ring from the movies) that would move around the board when a special 1 was rolled and the game would end once it had proceeded from Bag End (Starting Purple tile) to Mt. Doom (final Blue Tile), but the gameplay was the same. Get property, add houses, bankrupt your friends. Rinse, repeat.

Sure, they tried to change up the formula slightly with games like Monopoly: Cheaters Edition or Monopoly: Electronic Banking, but ultimately the gameplay and final goal remained the same. You win by bankrupting your friends.

I'm sure that Monopoly is one of the highest selling games of all time, all because there's so much nostalgia surrounding the idea of playing it with family when we were kids. There are collectors who go out and pick up special editions of Monopoly to add to their collection and build it out, all fueled by that same nostalgia.

But here's where the problem arises: nostalgia for Monopoly does not a good game make. There are too many horror stories from people who said that they don't play board games because all they played as a kid was Monopoly. Monopoly is a horrible game to base your enjoyment of board games on and there are numerous videos, blog posts, discussions, etc. that say why, so I won't go into that here on this blog. Monopoly has become so ingrained as a "nostalgia game" in the public perception that everyone automatically thinks of Monopoly when talking about board games.

And that's bad because it turns off potential board gamers to the wonderful hobby that is board games.

Making It New

There are absolutely excellent remakes of old board games. Look at Return to Dark Tower or Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar. Both take the original concept and add on to it, updating them for the modern board game era. The original games were updated from their original version and modern sensibilities were added to them to make them more fun. No longer is there a "you're out once you lose", but rather a "you have more opportunities to win" added to each of these games.

I'm all for nostalgia. I love playing games that are related to the ones that I grew up with. But there are absolutely ways to make them better and more fun to play.

What are some games that you feel deserve a remake treatment or have flopped with their reimplementation?

*Originally published on 5/2/2024 on BoardGameGeek*

Games and Those Who Teach Them

Where We're Going, We Probably Need Rules!

I'm going to be open and honest here as I have a dirty little secret that is probably an open secret at this point to those who play with me: I am awful at teaching games. I love to play them, can pick up games in a heartbeat after reading the rules and watching a "How To Play" video, and even develop a strategy real-time as I'm playing the game. I think it's my ADHD that allows me to do that since I've always felt like my brain is overclocked at all times and games have enough going on with them that I'm able to process fairly quickly.

Unfortunately for me, that means that I absolutely suck at teaching how to play games. I'm so caught up in what strategies can be played while playing the game that I lose some of the minutiae when teaching how to play the game. My ADHD brain takes over and rushes through everything in the rulebook and I end up teaching about half the rules because they are the ones that my brain deems as important. It's usually not until we're halfway through the introductory portion of the game where everyone starts taking their turns that I realize that I've failed to mention half of the rules and I have to scramble to check the rulebook in order to fill in everyone on what was missed. Inevitably, there's some small rule or piece of information that I miss and it's not until halfway through the game that it becomes relevant and I have to sheepishly apologize for missing an important rule or regulation regarding the game.

It's because of this that I find teaching new games to be very stressful and I appreciate when games include some sort of quick-start reference guide or have a built-in way to introduce mechanics to the game. Often times, I'll tend to direct new players towards a "how to play" video rather than attempting to teach the game myself, but I do like games that have built-in ways that allow players to teach it themselves. I thought I would take some time today to discuss some of those mechanics and open up a discussion about how you prefer to teach others how to play games, either using the game itself, or via alternative means.

Mission to Teach by Campaigning

Some games offer a gentle easing into the game to teach new players how to play the game. They know that learning a new game can be difficult for some players and take time to help new players learn the mechanics of the game before adding additional rules upon subsequent playthroughs.

An example of the cards used.

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine is an excellent example of how the game introduces mechanics initially and then adds more as the game is played. The game itself is a trick-taking game akin to Hearts or Poker, but instead of having only one winner for the round, the game is played with everyone winning or losing the game together. The players are tasked with completing an initial mission cooperatively with the cards such as one person not taking any tricks, or winning two tricks with a blue card, with the caveat that the only discussion about cards in hand can be done by using an astronaut communication token placed on a card to provide information about that suit color.

After the players successfully complete the initial mission, there are 49 separate missions that are included in a log book that the players then proceed through with the chosen group. Each mission adds in additional wrinkles and changes some of the mechanics that the players have learned in their initial games, but do so in a manner that allows players to learn how to play with the new changes to the rules in a slow, but controlled manner. The missions increase in difficulty each time, but each one allows players to adjust to how the game is played and learn the various mechanics without throwing everything at the player all at once. It plays very nicely by having players go through a "pseudo-campaign" with the same people to complete each of the missions included in the game.

Credit: IG @emplumeeple

There are several more games that come to mind that have implemented a clever scenario structure to introduce players to the mechanics of the game. Cascadia and Calico both have various scenarios that can be played with the game at any time that introduce the basic mechanics of how the game is played. Cascadia has four separate initial scenarios that can be played with one to four players that teach each objective in regards to the various animals that are played in the game. Calico also has scenarios that it introduces that add additional mechanics and objectives to complete, but also has an introductory game that is noted in the rulebook that allows players to get used to the rules by using a set grouping of objectives and tiles that are placed on player boards. Both games also include an achievement tracker that allows players to track which scenarios and objectives have been completed, creating a pseudo-campaign as well for players to come back to and track as each game is played.

Another game that does an excellent job of introducing new mechanics is Welcome to the Moon by integrating them into the campaign of the game. Welcome To the Moon is a flip and write that tasks players with using a set pair of actions and numbers (three are available for players to use until the next set is flipped) and writing them on their dry erase board. Once players complete a set of objectives, fill all available areas with numbers, or have a certain number of times that they are unable to place numbers occur, the game ends and the final scoring is totaled. What separates Welcome to the Moon from it's predecessor, Welcome To..., is that each board that's played across the campaign is different and each action has a different mechanic associated with it. Many of the mechanics remain the same from Welcome To such as using three cards and actions paired, filling in numbers in ascending order, as well as simultaneous actions, but Welcome to the Moon feels and plays wildly different than the original game.

While the players initially start off by filling in a rocket to take into space and each action is associated with an area of the rocket, subsequent boards task players with flying through space, setting up a colony, drilling mines for resources, containing an outbreak, and even going to war with other players. Each map utilizes the same set of cards, but each map has very specific actions that are associated with the cards and something that might be detrimental on one map (such as the planning action) might have great benefits on another map. The initial campaign included in the game allows players to play through each of the eight included maps and learn how each map is played. Once players have finished the base campaign, they can return with a repeatable second and third campaign that uses the same maps, but adds in various changes and secret objectives as well as additional cards that might change how the map is played. It is a very clever way of building on the base version of the game and allows players to experience each map before adding in additional changes.

Several other games use this "teach introductory game, add more complexity later" fairly well, teaching players as the game progresses in the campaign, such as MicroMacro: Crime City which adds in additional complexity the more the players play through the game. While MicroMacro: Crime City isn't technically a "campaign," it does take place all on one giant fold-out page that is included with the game to play on, and there is often times where players will find clues for missions later that will help them in the future.

Scenario: How Do You Teach a Game?

Everything fits so nicely!

Scenarios that teach players how to play the game is another way that I have found games introduce new mechanics to the base game. Magic Maze and it's counterpart Magic Maze on Mars are an excellent example of this effect. I wrote about the former at length in my previous post about games that I played last Friday (Friday Frolics: The Bee's Knees) but the latter also incorporates the same structure of teaching players the base actions included in the game with the initial scenario and then introduces more and more mechanics as the scenarios progress.

Interestingly enough, each game has a very distinct feel to it and despite having the same basic overall structure of mechanics (move items/pawns across a board to respective locations all without talking), the two games have very different feels to them. Magic Maze tasks players with moving pawns around the board to get them to their respective weapons and exits, all while additional complications such as guards (in the expansion), escalators and security cameras are added in later scenarios (and expansions). Each player has one or two actions they can take and it generally is a direction paired with discovering a new room, using an escalator, or using a portal. Magic Maze on Mars retains the mechanic of each player having an action or two, but changes the directions to colors, allowing each player to move the pieces along a specific color or spawn resources of that color. It's a small change, but adds in some significant difference in playing the game as compared to the original Magic Maze. Both games do a great job of introducing mechanics slowly, allowing the players to learn how the game is played over the course of several scenarios until all mechanics are included and the only increase in complexity is the additional tiles that are added to the game.

Sky Team is another such example of a game that introduces the basic way to play the game and then adds additional mechanics in later scenarios as you play. The initial game of Sky Team has players flying into the Montreal/Trudeau airport which has them perform all of the basic actions that will be included in later missions. Players then proceed through a set of various scenarios that add in additional mechanics to the game such as training in an intern, managing fuel reserves, and even dealing with wind speed, each being added based on the specific airport that players choose to land at. The airports are color-coded to show the difficulty of the landing which allows more seasoned players to take on additional challenges, and allows newer players to the game to choose potential objectives that might be better suited to their abilities. It's a clever way of adding in additional replayability, all while including additional difficulty levels that are adjustable as players prefer.

Games like Horrified also do a great job of introducing new mechanics to the game without feeling too overwhelming. While there are six separate monsters included in the base game of Horrified, the game starts the players off with Dracula and The Thing from the Black Lagoon as the initial monsters that are faced. Subsequent games can be played with different combinations of monsters and increasing numbers up to four monsters to fight against (for the "hard" difficulty) for variability. Interestingly, the game notes that to learn a new monster, it is recommended to play against two monsters only: one that the players are familiar with and the new monster being added to the mix so that players don't get overwhelmed with the number of new objectives to complete. It's a clever solution to introduce new monster mechanics and to teach players how this new monster will be defeated.

Rule-ing Parties

Playing with Bosses active is one variant included in the game.

One interesting mechanic that I found in a game was optional rules while playing the game. I was introduced to Dungeonology: The Expedition earlier last year and received a copy of the game from a generous BGG user, along with most of the expansions for the game that had been included in the Kickstarter. The game itself is considered to be a medium-weight game here on BGG and while I agree with that sentiment, I think that there will need to be an asterisk with that weight.

The game itself has quite a few rules that are associated with the various actions that the players can take. Movement, obtaining information, stealing information from other players and stealth are all noted in the rulebook (updated once the Kickstarter campaign happened to make them more streamlined). The game itself doesn't do an amazing job of teaching players how to play the base game, but there's quite a few more rules that are able to be added while playing the game, including card effects, playing with bosses in the dungeon, and panic level. The rulebook lists these as "optional rules" that can be added at any time to the base rules of the game. Players can pick and choose which optional rules get added to their game to make it more or less complicated based on the level of players or time that they have while playing the game. It's a clever implementation of adding in new rulesets that I've found rarely in other base games as optional rules are often added in with expansions to a game rather than being contained in the base game.

Another recent game that has the same mechanic (and is probably better known) is Heat: Pedal to the Metal. The basic game teaches players how to play on the initial included courses by giving each player the exact same deck of cards to pull from. Each player has to manage their own deck of cards, but all pull from exactly the same set of cards, allowing newer players to get used to the game and preventing one person from having any distinct advantage aside from experience. However, there are alternative modules that are included in the game that allow for variable rules to be added, including weather effects, car building mechanics that allow players to draft upgrades, and even an included tournament system. All are optional rules that can be played with the base game mechanics, but included in every copy of Heat.

Guide-ing Light

Teaching guide included!

One extremely recent game, Apiary, includes a "Teaching Guide" in the main box for players to reference when teaching the game. It does an excellent job of breaking down the rules of the game and acting as a simple one-page (front and back) reference guide to players looking to teach newbies the basics of the game. While it doesn't include examples on the guide or provide in-depth explanations about how each action is used, the Teaching Guide does act as an effective resource that allows veterans to teach the game themselves.

I have already mentioned Horrified earlier in this post, but it too has a built-in teaching guide included in the base game. However, rather than having the guide in the box itself, the game directs players to the developer website to watch a "How To Play" video on the game. It's a clever way of saving space and time, but it also begs the question of what happens to that guide if the developer goes out of business and no longer maintains their website? Several other games have online tutorials noted in their rulebook and while it is an effective way to teach players, I personally have my own content creators I like to watch to learn how to play games.

Teach At Your Own Peril

Those are just a few of the major ways that I have found that games teach players how to play. Many games often just have a rulebook included in the game with general rules on setup and how to play and leave it up to the players to learn how to play based on what is written in the rulebook. While sometimes effective, many rulebooks can often feel obtuse and players are often left with no way to answer their questions without going to online forums for clarification on rules.

Teaching a game can be difficult, especially if you're like me and have trouble focusing on anything that you don't deem as important. Games that take some of that problem out of my hands by excellent included guides, clever scenario use, or even online guides tend to be ones that I find easier to teach. I feel like I often give myself an unfair (and accidental) advantage when I teach games as I find that I forget to read a rule inevitably, so having a guide to help teach is always important to me.

What games have you found that are easier to teach because of the included resources or guides or setup? What games have you played where you've found the rulebook too obtuse to attempt to teach the game to someone else? What are your thoughts on teaching a game yourself versus having a video or included guide to teach the game?

As always, have an excellent rest of your week, and keep on enjoying those games everyone!

*Originally posted on BGG - 26/2/2024*