Hexagonal Happiness

 Pregame Jitters

The box certainly looks good on my table.

The time has come, the geek has said,

to play this many times.

To lay it out on the table, and see the cards,

And array the dragons of many kind.

Wyrmspan arrived on Saturday and I was beyond excited to open the package as soon as I got home. I had spent most of the morning and early afternoon assisting a friend moving to a new home so I wasn't present for the delivery of the game, but I was able to come back to a rather large box sitting in my living room waiting for me to open.

As a side note, my friend whom I helped to move had a rather large board game collection that I joked "don't be surprised if several boxes go missing at the end of the move." He unfortunately moved further away from us and we'll have to take extra steps to connect to play games together. It's disappointing, but hopefully we'll be a bit more intentional about meeting up and potentially play more together.

Getting back to Wyrmspan, part of my favorite things about getting a new game is being able to open the shrinkwrap and see how everything is packaged in games. Some are really well designed and come with excellent inserts and fit very well (Apiary and Cat in the Box are two such examples of a really great insert) in the included packaging. You can tell that there was time and effort that was made to include specific setup for the game to make it easy to set up and tear down.

This insert is a work of art.

PARKS has to be the the epitome of perfect inserts. There was so much time and effort that was made so that each and every one of the pieces and parts fits extremely well into the small box that the game comes in. It's very obvious that some significant expense went into designing the insert for the game, but also shows the care and effort that went into bringing the game to the public. I especially love the design for the tokens, having two tree trunks store the game pieces with covers to ensure that they don't spread everywhere.

Others games, like The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth or Dinosaur World leave much to be desired with their storage solutions. The former game comes with only a giant cardboard "U" insert in the game that all pieces and tiles sit in, without any additional way to organize or store components in the box. Multiple enterprising BGG users and even several companies have made organizers for the game, but it's disappointing to have the game rely on third-party organizers to even be relatively easy to set up and put away. The latter game is disappointingly common with board games nowadays: the box is completely devoid of any organizational aspects, relying on the player to keep all pieces in plastic ziploc bags. While understandable, especially with the cost of the game increasing with an insert, it again is disappointing, especially with how many pieces are contained within Dinosaur World. I know that personally, it limits how often I want to bring out the game because setup is such a bear without any kind of insert.

I opened Wyrmspan and found that to my dismay, there wasn't much of an insert or organizational component to the game. Fortunately, it looks as if the game itself doesn't have too many moving components outside of the cards, coins and food chits, but it's still sad to see that there wasn't anything that could be added to make it fit better, especially with Stonemeier's previously beautiful work on Apiary. There were a few included trays for the dragon eggs, which I will absolutely be using, but I have yet to unwrap and punch everything out to see how it will all fit.

My hope is to get the game to the table at least once this week (either for a solo play or to play with my wife, Sarah) and to potentially play with my buddy David who is obsessed with Wingspan(his copy of Wingspan has over 100 plays logged in it). I might wait until he's able to join me for the initial punching and setup, but we'll see.

Romantik-ally Involved

It's Tetris, but a board game!

I've spent the better part of this last year and this year updating, changing, retooling, and updating (again) my wishlist here on BGG. There are so many games that come out year to year that I want to play and add to my collection, but I know that with my limited space, there's only so much that I can bring into my house before I run out of room. I have really had to change and adjust my thought process on getting games and adding them to my personal collection, especially now that I have a more regular set of people that I play games with. I've moved away from "That game looks cool, I want it!" mentality to a mentality of "Do any of my friends have the game, and if so, is it worth spending the money and energy to purchase a copy myself if I could borrow it from them?"

I've also started attempting to play games before I purchase them, versus buying them completely unplayed on the recommendations of other people. As I dive further into the wide world of board games, I have found that while there are some games that rate highly here on BGG, I often don't find them as my cup of tea so to speak. I purchased One Deck Dungeon on some recommendations that I found for a solo dungeon crawler and while the game itself is decent, I don't know if it's worth keeping in my collection long-term as I'm not really that into it. I will buy a game or two unplayed, but for the most part, I am now finding that it's best to play a game first to see if I like it before purchasing the game.

Obviously, there are going to be some games that see some crossover with my friend's collections since there are so many mass-market games that have come out in the last decade or so. Also, there are games that I love that are cheap enough for me to get for my own collection that it's worth it to add it myself. I personally love Cartographers and added it to my wishlist after playing it initially with my friend, Anthony, after he had pulled it from his collection. I'm also planning on picking up a copy of Heat: Pedal to the Metal if/when I can find a reasonably priced copy of the game despite another friend owning the game because it's an excellent solo game that plays well with others too.

Hexes are bestes!

One game that has been on my radar for some time now, but I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy yet, is Dorfromantik: The Board Game. While I haven't played the game personally, I do have a very good friend who has played the videogame that it's based off of (Dorfromantik) and she has excellent things to say about the game. She noted that the game itself is super relaxed and enjoyable to play as it allows the player to just turn off their brain and lay down hex after hex after hex on the screen. There's no conflict or war in this game and it even has an unlock system that allows players to obtain new hex tiles that they are able to add in future games.

The video game is highly rated, garnering an 84 on Metacritic, and scoring a "generally favorable" overall status on the website. With 22.3K reviews on Steam, the game sits at an "Overwhelmingly Positive" status on the online storefront, further solidifying my friend's praise of the game. It's been one game that I've been wanting to check out for some time, especially since it was announced to be releasing for the Switch, which would allow me to bring it with me on the go.

When they announced that there would be a board game by the same name, I knew that I would need to purchase a copy of the game myself, especially with how highly praised it's video game counterpart was. From what I have been able to garner based on the reviews of the board game variation, it seems that the developers poured all of the same love and effort into the board game as the original video game. It retains the relaxed, chill vibe of the original game and even incorporates the achievement system into the game that allows players to unlock new tiles for subsequent plays of the game.

Unlock Goblin Mode, ACTIVATE!

What is extremely clever is the game utilizes the point system contained within the original game to it's own advantage as well. Players are provided with a set of boxes that can be opened once a specific level of points is achieved within the game. How do you get more points? Unlock additional hexes by getting points previously that then add additional points. It's a really clever system that I know for me taps into the lizard "Unlock Goblin" mode that I tend to go into when there are things that can be opened up.

The game itself is also cooperative and allows players to build their beautiful countryside together without the stress that many cooperative games come with to complete an objective before an in-game set of rules or conditions ends the game (sometimes too quickly). Players are working together to get the highest score possible utilizing the associated hexes and tasks included in the game. Once players run out of hexes, they then tally up their total points, receiving the ability to unlock new tiles, secrets and other items that are tucked away in the numbered boxes. The game includes a built-in campaign mode that also allows players to have multiple campaigns going at one time as well as the ability to reset campaigns as needed.

Overall, the game has an extremely relaxed and cozy feel to it, which after a long day of working and then having to spend lots of mental energy keeping up with my daughter, feels right up my alley. I also love the idea of a campaign that doesn't necessarily require players to have the same group to continue playing the campaign. It's able to be completed, reset, and completed again, all without additional purchases, which I know for me is very important because the likelihood of completing a campaign game with anyone is slim to none at best right now.

WITNESS ME!

At the time of writing, Restoration Games just launched their Kickstarter for their Carnival of Chaos expansion for Thunder Road: Vendetta. I would like to admit that part of me is very frustrated that I will have to wait until November in order to get a copy of the Maximum Chrome Edition, but there's another part of me that is very grateful that I waited on getting the expansions for the base game. I had even gone to the Restoration Games website and had two of the three expansions in my cart for purchase, but I just never pulled the trigger on them because I couldn't justify the cost (or pay for them).

Now with the release of the Kickstarter, I'm glad that I held off on purchasing any expansions, especially since I only have the base game of Thunder Road: Vendetta. I'm still short on purchasing power for the game, so I'll be backing at the minimum tier of $5 to allow myself to save up my schmeckles to get the big box version with all the shiny additions. While buying all of the expansions might be something that I would tell newbies to this community to hold off on, I know that I personally love the expansions after having played the game with them. I'm also really excited about the new expansion that adds an arena mode to the game, which really plays into the car combat love that I have from growing up.

I am extremely excited about the prospect of getting my hands on a copy of the Maximum Chrome edition of the game since I had missed the original kickstarter and was disappointed that I wasn't able to find a copy of that edition to add to my collection. As I've noted in past blog posts, I like to have the all-in, expensive version of games (and really all other things). With games that I know I love and I'll enjoy especially, I'll happily fork out the money in order to pay for a nicer edition that has a collectable box and materials. I'll probably add on the card sleeves and box organizer too since those are both important to me, but I will say that it's for that specific reason that I would caution newbies to this hobby to be careful of going "all in" on things like Kickstarter.

As someone who has really dived into the deep end this year and last year with board games, I know that I personally appreciate higher-quality components like metal coins/tokens, box organizers, and card sleeves. I'm not sleeving every single game that I own because that can get very expensive very quickly, but I do make an exception for specific games that I know that I want to protect. Additionally, if there's a game that I know is going to be played a bunch, I'll pay some extra cost to add sleeves to the cards to ensure that the game is able to be used longer, but that's a personal preference.

With board gaming, there's absolutely a consumer-based mindset of "buy it all because it's shiny!" that needs to be overcome, especially in the initial few months (or years) of collecting games. Find games that you like and genres that you enjoy before you decide to go all-in on a Kickstarter that has been specifically marketed to draw in as much money as possible. Don't be fooled by the promises of "deluxe components," especially if it's for a game that you might not even be playing in a year when the game finally ships to you. Take time to think about what you're wanting with your collection and take a quick breath before you come across that next shiny Kickstarter game that promises to "revolutionize board gaming."

With Thunder Road: Vendetta, it's a game that I have personally played and loved even after multiple plays, so I'm able to back the campaign without having to give it a second thought. I've learned from my mistakes and hope that I can pass on some of that wisdom to everyone here, so you don't have to make the same mistakes that I have in the past.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This has been an absolute blast writing this Wednesday blog post about games that I'm excited about for everyone here. That being said, I'm getting close to the end of the games that I've backed on Kickstarter and I am planning on limiting the number of additional games that I'm adding into my collection, so I'll have fewer games that I'll be discussing here on Wednesdays. I'm expecting at least one more post about the final game that I've backed on Kickstarter for this year as well as a post or two about games that I have on my wishlist, but after that, I'm not certain what games I might discuss here.

That doesn't mean that this blog post will be going away, merely that it might shift to another format as I get through those next few postings. If you all have any ideas about what I should write about, I'd be happy to take suggestions. I love writing about board games and this blog has received such an incredible amount of support from everyone here that I want to keep it running for a long time.

What mistakes have you made in the past with games that you've picked up unplayed? Are there any games that you backed on Kickstarter (or other crowdfunding sites) that you received, played, and then realized that they weren't for you? What advice would you have for other collectors regarding building and maintaining a collection?

As always, thank you so much for checking out this blog. Your continued support and recommendations mean so much to me and I take time to read each and every comment here on this blog (few as there are, for now!). It's so much fun writing this blog and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Have a great week and keep on playing everyone!

*originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 28/2/2024*