Christmas Games Reviews

Adjusted the sizes of the layout. Not sure if it's too noticeable, but I think it looks slightly better and doesn't feel as crammed. It being so small wasn't much of a problem back when my posts were smaller, but they've gotten larger as of late, so I increased the size a little bit.

We got tons of games for Christmas. If you want to see the full list look at my mom's post here.

Had a similar idea to Andrew, but after he posted his post (which you can find here), I've decided to basically convert to the style of that blog post. Go give his a read real quick and come back here so you can compare his opinions of the games we played to mine (the games we talk about slightly differ, although most of them are the same). It's kinda interesting, I think. Ordering them on my favorite board/card games list will come later, for now you only get my brief thoughts on them.

SeaFall: Playing through the campaign of SeaFall was amazing. It rose higher than my bar of expectations. After hearing the mixed opinions about the game I was kind of scared it wasn’t going to be that enjoyable. But, man, it was a blast. However, is it a good game? Sure I loved it as a Legacy Game, but I don’t see myself pulling it out and playing one of the two ways you can after the campaign. I would rather play other games. So there it sits at the top of the closet where it is hard-ish to reach, along with Pandemic: Legacy.

Viticulture: Viticulture is absolutely fantastic. Will it become my new number one? Don’t know yet. But when I look in the closet and seriously consider playing the solo variant, I know it’s a good game.

My Village: My Village is very enjoyable. Is it better than Village? Hmmm… maybe. One thing Village has over My Village though is killing off my people. In Village, it felt strategic and was one of my favorite parts of the game. In My Village killing off my people doesn’t feel rewarding enough. It is often, if not always, better to try and not kill your people off. It barely rewards you and getting your person back is just annoying. I miss the powerfulness (not a word, apparently) of having your people remembered in the book of remembrance that was present in Village.

Mystic Vale: Mystic Vale is really nice and feels clean. I love the system and it has the quickness of Dominion, which is a really nice bonus.

Codenames/Codenames: Pictures: Codenames is and isn’t what I was expecting. The game played out fantastically. But before getting a chance to play, I heard about how it was the top party game on boardgamegeek, and it surprised me. Maybe it wasn’t quite what I thought. Well, it was exactly what I originally thought it was going to be. Which was strange. In a party game setting pulling out Codenames feels strange to me, I just wouldn’t do it. It feels too thinky for a party. I would play it with four, five or six (six being the sweet spot, I think), but anything above that I would instantly pull out Avalon or Telestrations instead. Granted, I haven’t played it will a larger group than 6, so I don’t really know how it would go. Anyways, still a great game.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Castles of Mad King Ludwig is in a strange place right now. I love the gameplay, there is nothing wrong there. But when I saw that the box said it lasts 90 minutes I was surprised. The gameplay makes me feel as though it shouldn’t be that long, but the thing is the gameplay doesn’t feel dragged out at all. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it is a weird combination. Feeling as though it shouldn't take that long, but, when playing, it doesn't feel long (even though it actually does take that long). Still quite fun to play, regardless.

Imhotep: Imhotep is quite amazing, and certainly went higher than my expectations. I was kind of hesitant to get it, but I’m glad it’s in our closet. The actions are simple, which really aids this game. It doesn’t limit the fun, it makes it quick, plus the actions are simple enough that I’m not afraid to pull it out and explain it to people.

Caverna: Caverna is incredible. But, to me at least, it doesn’t completely replace Agricola. In Agricola, I really enjoy the personalization you get at the beginning of each game through the occupation and minor improvement cards. Asymmetrical powers is one of my favorite game mechanics. It also has a nice tight feel to the game where I feel every choice matters. Also, I, along with Joseph, feel as though we haven’t explored Agricola completely. There are still some things we haven’t done and things we feel are a good idea, we just don't really do. And that’s with no expansions (of which we have, and plan to, own none). However, that being said, Caverna will probably end up higher on my favorite games list due to the fact that it will hit the table more often. Since it doesn’t feel as tight I’ll be more likely to pull it out if I just want to play a fun game and not stress (not sure if that’s the right word) about each of my moves. However (I really do use that word a lot), if I am in the mood for a tighter game I will definitely pull out Agricola over Caverna any day of the week.

Shakespeare: Andrew says my thoughts exactly.

Alhambra: Alhambra's gameplay is very nice. I especially enjoy the quickness of it. I grab some money, you grab some money, I buy a tile, you place a tile, I grab some money etc. It gets around to your turn rather fast at some points. Getting to go again after paying for a building exactly is really cool. Sometimes it feels like it adds a little push-your-luck element to the game. My thought process sometimes: "Should I grab that money so I can buy it for exact next turn, or should I get it now? Cause if I don't get it now someone else might grab it before me, which is no bueno since the walls fit perfectly into my Alhambra." And since you can see what money your opponents are picking up, if you're looking closely enough you can pull off these cool triple turn moves and stuff.

Fresco: I really do love the hidden worker placement in this game. The wake-up chart is awesome also (although I do prefer Viticulture’s). The game itself is also really enjoyable. But, the two-player variant is, in my opinion, not the best. Not as bad as 7 Wonder’s variant though, that’s for certain. And it’s not bad by any means, the core is the same, something just didn’t feel right. If I have three or four players, however (seriously, I use ‘however’ sooooo often), putting this on the table will be on my mind.

Treasure Hunter: A fun, quick game. The drafting mechanic flows great. Only annoying thing is you have to shuffle all the cards you used this round for the next round, making short pauses in the otherwise quick gameplay. Small annoyance in an overall fun game.

Kingdom Builder: Kingdom Builder is a nice semi-lighter game. Since we got two expansions right in a row I haven't played with everything in the base game, yet alone the expansions. We have 16 different boards and tons of goal cards, which is great for variety. Still undecided if/how we would play with more than one card in hand. I was thinking something like instead of drawing one card and placing settlements there, you would draw two cards and pick one to put settlements in (you would then discard the other card and draw back up to two).

Avalon: Believe it or not, this Christmas break is the first time my copy of Avalon has been used. Got it last Christmas and never got the chance to play it. Glad I got it though. To be honest, it’s a lot more fun and balanced than I thought it was. I went in with the intention that bad guys were slightly overpowered and that it was kinda hard to figure stuff out. Turns out good guys stand a far better chance than I thought. They, in fact, won most of the games. This is due to the fact that there is a lot more info going around than I thought possible. Whenever I played I was genuinely surprised how the good guys could track down the bad guys. Lots of fun.

Board Game List Major Revamp (additions, changes etc.)

Well, my upgraded list (which should go live within the next minute or two (so if you got here before it has, big props to you)) now has 13 more games added onto it. These include random games that I enjoy that have been in our closet, but haven't gotten around to adding them, and some new games that we got recently (well maybe recently isn't the best word to use here, but you know). The new additions are: Istanbul, Chess, Oltre Mare, Telestrations, Oddly Obvious, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Timeline, Citadels, Zooloretto, Steampunk Rally, Love Letter and Dixit.

There are also some shifts in the games that were originally there (both due to new games and actual normal shifts)
Istanbul is a new game that has been lent to us until Christmas. My mom got a copy for it for her birthday. It's a really good game, like really really good.
Chess is chess. It's a great game which has no luck (other than first player).
Oltre Mare has been in our closet for almost as long as I can remember. I've always enjoyed playing it, but I'm just getting to ranking it against the other games now. It's a nice game, I should play it more often.
Telestrations is a really fun party game. I know a few non-gamers who have played this game and also really enjoy it. I have quite a few fond and hilarious memories about this game. Like, seriously, what was it? Hitler rhinoceros with a broken leg? Something like that anyway. Eric will know what I'm referring to.
Oddly Obvious is a new party game that my parents have gotten recently. It's pretty fun, but I happen to be really bad at it. At least compared to my parents, I am. Want to play it with my siblings to see how I do against them.
Ticket to Ride: Europe is, well, Ticket to Ride. In my opinion not the best game of all time by any means, but it's not not fun. In fact, it is pretty fun.

Timeline is a nice, short, fun game. It's not over complex which means it’s good at breaking up bigger, heavier games. Got it last Christmas and is now being added to my list.
Citadels is a game I got a while back. Added it.
Zooloretto is a game I mentioned in a previous post. It's fun, and if someone asks me to play it then I'll almost never turn them down. (although I might suggest a different game, but if they insist I wouldn’t say no)
Steampunk Rally is a game that Andrew gave us a print and play version of (which was really well done, BTW). It's fun (I seem to be saying that a lot), but rarely hits the table. Might be because we just look over it due to its box. (currently resides in a ‘password’ box)
Love Letter has a weird place in my heart. As you can see it's on the bottom of the list. I don't love it anymore. I like it, but I don’t love it. However, I have played sooo many games of it. Most of them in one sitting. Also a different story for a different time. That experience was so fun that it should be on the list (and, you know, because I enjoy playing it).
Dixit is pretty chill.

Game shift:

Ashes has gone down since I haven’t got to play a game in like, forever. (I swear the meta has changed soooo much since the last time I played) (like, new expansions got released, Enchanted Violinist got nerfed, and people finding new deck archetypes all shook up the competitive scene).

Also, games I want to play during Christmas break:

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, Dominion, 7 Wonders, The Castles of Burgundy, Summoner Wars, 7 Wonders: Duel, Dead Of Winter/Dead of Winter: The Long Night, Agricola, Tzolk'in The Mayan Calendar, Village, Terra Mystica, Five Tribes, Small World,  Magic: The Gathering, Eldritch Horror, Pandemic, Oltre Mare, Seafall, Istanbul, Oddly Obvious, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Timeline, Citadels, Zooloretto, Steampunk Rally, Love Letter, Somerset, Elysium, Avalon, any games I/We/Jamieson’s get for Christmas

I think I got all of them, but I may be missing a couple.

Cat Ninja and other

I’ll talk about some other stuff before the main event: Cat Ninja

Pumped for Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. With Joseph going on his mission as of the 16th, there will be even less board gaming to go around. That is of the limited quantity of it anyway. We’ve been getting into Super Smash 4, improving our skills and what not. I’ve been doing pretty good for myself, and would go as far as to say that I’m the best out of the four of us (Thomas, Ben, Joseph and I). My main right now being Ness, although I do play with Corrin and Mega Man just as frequently.

Anyway, back to the board gaming thing. I’m excited to get back to playing some. Haven’t really played much of anything as of late. A couple of Dominion games here and there, but that’s basically the extent of it. Want to play any game that deals with resources, not sure why. Top of my list being Terra Mystica and Agricola. Want to play Somerset at Christmas too, since that deals with resources.

Anyway, Cat Ninja continues to be the best game in the world. My friend Comptyn and I kinda started a trend. I swear everywhere I look there’s someone playing Cat Ninja. At one point in my dad’s class (sorry dad) there were up to 7 people playing it at once.

To my left, right now four people are playing it (I’m in A.P. English right now, it’s a work day but I’m writing parts of this instead).

Anyway (I feel as if I use the word anyway a lot, guess I’m not one much for variety), the point of me bringing up Cat Ninja is to bring up the fact that I hold one of the World Records now (specifically the one where glitches aren’t allowed).

You can watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIhLN5vhZOE&t=0

Finished it in 5 minutes and 43 seconds. The previous record being 6 minutes and 20 seconds (it might have been more than that, I don’t remember). (Note: speedrun.com has not approved this record yet, but has approved the one I'm about to talk about)
I also now have the World Record for the game with glitches, getting 5 minutes and 34 seconds with the previous record being 5 minutes and 39 seconds. The previous World Record holder, however, said he would get back into playing the game so he can get it back.
You can watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiTQzqhHY9A&t=0s
Him, myself, and the guy who started speed-running Cat Ninja originally, now have a discord group chat where we talk about the game. We talk about glitches, how we got into the game and other random stuff. It seems like we'll all be fighting for the World Record in coming months.
Exciting times.

Election Picture New Hampshire

Saw this when looking at the votes for the election. Took a snip-shot of it before the vote number changed.

And they say your vote doesn't count :P

Chromebooks

We got Chromebooks for school the other week. I think they’ve been useful/nice to have thus far, but I don’t think the general consensus of the students is positive.

In classes when the teacher asks us to use paper/pencil for the notes or sponge or whatever, people aren’t happy. Why have chromebooks if we’re barely going to use them?

“Well it is only the second day since we got them.” I say in my head, “The teachers aren’t fully adjusted to them and are still testing the waters and seeing how they can cooperate them into each of their classes.”

Well, anyway, I’ve been using mine a lot. It’s really nice to have, basically, a working laptop around. The other laptop that I use, as I have mentioned in previous posts, has distorted colors and buttons that don’t do what they’re supposed to.

But, it isn’t quite like a fully functioning laptop. There are many things blocked by the school, so I still have to use other devices to get the entirety of the internets. Can’t go on Facebook (because “Website contains prohibited Friendship content.” (cause friends aren’t allowed anymore, apparently)) or any social media for that matter. Also can’t get onto brandonsanderson.com or boardgamegeek.com. I also can’t sign into any email that isn’t @fallongreeenwave.com, which means I can’t sign into my regular email or into my mom’s email (which means I can’t make new blog posts). I’m actually typing this on a google docs on my chromebook, and then I’m going to transfer it to my blog from a different computer. However, I can get onto nedroid.com, xkcd.com and iwastesomuchtime.com, which is a plus.

You can also get onto youtube, so I watch videos from my chromebook now. Some anime websites are up too, so I can watch anime also.

You can also play games from unblocked sources. Right now I’ve been playing a lot of cat ninja, getting better and faster at beating the game.

Also, I’m 16 now. Guess dating’s a thing? Got a phone also.