This article is the compilation of my play session reports #13. Starting with previous one, this is no longer a weekly or monthly entry. I’m just going to enjoy playing the game more and less about writing this report.
Usually, I do short reports per week on my BGG blog. or for the Daily Session here. For pictures of each play session, check out my TikTok account in slideshow form. Maybe I’ll add more social media accounts to share in the future and the best way to find out is to check my LinkTree account.
By writing the session reports, it helps me to write the review for the game later. So, it is part of the review process even though I may not even write the review.
Sometimes, I also write a longer session report for one game where I describe what happened turn by turn with more pictures. There are links at the bottom of each entry to BGG post of that long report.
Some new games get more play until it reaches the target minimum of play. They might appear in multiple months. I also revisit some older ones from time to time. These are just games in my collection.
Click or tab on any sections from the table of contents to jump right to that part. Use the red arrow button on the bottom right corner of the screen to head back to the top.
Table of Contents
List of Games
Here are the links to the Weekly Session Reports for shorter version.
January 2025: #58 Entry, #59, #60, #61.
Compilation of links to reports of individual games can be found in this article. Those are just for newer games and my initial impression for each. This is the list for all games with a Full Review.
Here are links to previous entries.
#1. November to December 2023
#2. 2024 Week 1 to Week 4 (January)
#3 2024 Week 5 to Week 8 (February)
#4 2024 Week 9 to Week 12 (March)
#5 2024 Week 13 to Week 16 (April)
#6 2024 Week 17 to Week 20 (May)
#7 2024 Week 21 to Week 24 (June)
#8 2024 Week 25 to Week 28 (June – July)
#9 2024 Week 29 to Week 32 (July – August)
#10 2024 Week 33 to Week 36 (August – September)
#11 2024 Week 37 to Week 40 (September)
#12 2025 1st Entry (October to December 2024)
Obsession
More pictures of this Obsession game session on TikTok and on Instagram.
Host social events to get more connections with other Victorian gentry in Obsession.
Another solo session with just the base game of Obsession. Still playing against Simpson family but this time as the Cavendish. I understood the rule better but apparently it still took a while. There were still a lot of checking the rulebook and the glossary about something.
I guess I was still discovering things here. Especially this time, I did some hiring for the first time and using the Footman for something else. My problem is still I am not sure which is which. The Butler, Footman, Valet and their roles? I have to make sure that one color can replace the other.
Also, this time, I still forgot about the VP cards. Even though I won during the Courtship. I probably could have use any of them during the game for the resources instead.
I have to say, I enjoy this play much more than the previous 2. Maybe having more servants and flexibility of the Footman helped? So those Services type were crucial, especially early in the game.
Hopefully I didn’t make other mistakes. Here is how it went.
1st ROUND.
The Cavendish starts with the reputation 1 position 4. Other than the 4 in family, got Mr. Trotwood and Charlotte Woods as the starting guests. Both of them required a servant to play so for this time, I hosted Bowling Event for those 2 gentries with my Footman running it.
Got 300 from the event, extra 3 reputation from both of my guests. Mr. Trotwood introduced Sir Richard Beeston who loves music to me.
Then for the improvement tile, I bought Brushing Room for 100, allowing my Footman to stand in as Valet. The Simpson rolled a 5 and took out the Tennis Court.
2nd ROUND.
I wanted to take advantage of the Village Fair bonus next round so this time, I hosted the PRIVATE STUDY with my Butler running it. Invited Earl Paul and Stephen from the family. From both I chose to take money, with a total of 300.
This time, I bought BUTLER’S PANTRY giving me the Underbutler for 400, 100 pounds left. Simpson family rolled a 13 and removed NORTH DINING ROOM.
3rd ROUND: VILLAGE FAIR.
Got 300 money and 2 reputation, currently at Reputation 2 position 4. This time I hosted the MAIN GAZEBO with my Footman running it, inviting 2 Gentries. One was Sir Richard who required a Valet and the other was lady Tara from the family.
Apparently I was supposed to get a Prestige Guest from that event which I forgot. The Lady introduced Colonel Stephen as Casual Guest.
I bought HILLSIDE KENNELS for 500 because one of the objectives asked for it. The Simpson rolled a 4 and took out Breakfast room.
4th ROUND. COURTSHIP: SERVICE.
First closed Courtship was a Blue. The Simpson was at 0 while I had 3 tile with a total value of 2. So, I won and Charles Fairchild joined my events. As mentioned above, I forgot to take VP card.
I think I discarded the LITERATURE GROUP objective card. It required 2 ESSENTIALS but the Simpson doesn’t even try to compete on that.
5th ROUND.
This time, I didn’t host any event but let the Butler worked on Butler’s Room to hire 2 more servants. I took a Footman and a Maid.
I only had 100. The only thing I could afford was from the position 1 for 300. Had to lose 4 reputations to cover the 200. Back at Reputation Level 1, position 5. The Simpson rolled 15 and took out the NORTH LIBRARY.
6th ROUND. OBJECTIVE CARDS.
First card was 3 VP for every Monument. Not very likely to get. The 2nd card was ANIMAL LOVER’S GROUP. This one shared one tile with the existing objective and I already had it.
Hosted another BOWLING GREEN with my Footman running it. Invited Mr. Fairchild and with Lady Evelyn Cavendish. Got 200 from the Event, 3 reputation from Mr. Fairchild and the Lady brought in Lady Elizabeth Seaforth as Casual Guest to the family.
There was FENCED PADDOCK for 300 that worked with the recent objective. I only had 200 so I had to spend 2 reputation points for 100. Still at Level 2 position 1. The Simpson rolled a 7 and took the same tile.
7th ROUND.
Hosted that FENCED PADDOCK with another Footman running it. Invited both Colonel Stephen and Lady Elizabeth. I think I got something that might be wrong here. Had a Maid and Underbutler to serve them both.
For Colonel, I had to spend 100 but I had no money. Spending 2 reputation means losing my Reputation level and I couldn’t afford to invite Lady Elizabeth instead. However, the Colonel itself generated 2 reputation as part of the favor along with the penalty. What I did was I assumed I could spend those 2 reputation and did the special action to get the 100 for him back.
I checked the rule again at this moment but it was not clear as I still assumed I could. The rule only says to use the other Favour, not exactly have to be from other characters.
Anyway, Lady Elizabeth apparently had connection with Alistair, Marquess of Kent. She was willing to introduce this family to him. Unfortunately, he only attends event with reputation level of 5.
This time, I bought RIDING STABLES for 200 after spending a lot of reputation. The Simpson rolled a 4 and removed Flower Room.
8th ROUND. COURTSHIP: ESTATE.
For this 2nd one, the Simpson only had a value of 2 for Estate while I had value of 4 from 2 tiles so I won and Mr. Fairchild stayed with me. Forgot about the VP card still.
9th ROUND. VILLAGE FAIR.
Got 2 reputation points and 300. I was still at Reputation level 1 position 4, back to the starting point.
While I still had 2 Gentry, I couldn’t afford to invite them. So, I didn’t host anything this turn and just took back all of the cards. Got 200 from it.
With that 500, I could afford to buy CABINET OF CURIOSITIES that worked for the Gentleman’s Group objective. I only needed Billiard Room. The Simpson rolled a 5 and removed NORTH DINING ROOM.
10th ROUND.
Hosted RIDING STABLES again, run by my Footman. Invited Mr. Fairchild and Lady Tara, served with just a Valet. Got 200 from the event, 3 reputation points plus 2 since Lady Tara was accompanied by Sir Fairchild. The Lady also knew Sir Richard Brannaugh and introduced him to the family.
Bought Croquet Lawn for 200. The Simpson took out Tennis Court.
11th ROUND. BUILDER’S HOLIDAY.
So, I needed a lot of money. With Reputation Level 2, I had to host another Sporting event, the CROQUET LAWN. The Footman run it, inviting Sir Richard Beeston and Earl Paul Cavendish, with the Valet serving them. Got a total of 600 from event and those 2 Gentries.
Even with 600 I could only afford 1 tile. Bought the Music Room for 400. The Simpson took out English Garden.
12th ROUND. COURTSHIP: SPORTING.
For Sporting, the Simpson only had a value of 5, while I had 6 from 4 tiles. So, I won again with Sir Fairchild staying with the family and I still forgot the VP card.
13th ROUND.
I hosted FRONT PARLOUR with the Red Maid running it. Invited 2 Ladies, Charlotte Woods and Lady Elizabeth both needed a Maid each. Got 2 reputation points from Charlotte Woods and Lady Elizabeth invited Lady Elinor Palmer. This Prestige guest is only interested with event with reputation level of 3.
I bought no tile this time since I had no money. The Simpson rolled 20 and refreshed the Market.
14th ROUND. NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Hosted the Cabinet of Curiosities with one Footman running it. Invited 2 Gentry, one was Sir Fairchild and the other was Alistair, the Marquess of Kent. Both need a Valet each so my other Footman took the job. From this got a total of 13 reputation points. I was at Level 3 position 4 and it got to Level 6 position 2.
I wanted the Billiard Room but I had to pay 400 with no money. So I lost 8 reputation points, bringing it down to level 4, position 4 to pay for this. The Simpson took out the Drawing Room.
15th ROUND.
For this last one, I hosted Hillside Kennels with my Underbutler running it. Invited 3 Gentry, Lady Elinor Palmer, the Viscount Stephen Cavendish and Sir Richard Brannaugh. Only the Lady needed a Maid.
Got 300 from the event plus 100 from Stephen. Sir Richard introduced Mrs. Katherine and a reputation point while the Lady brought in Sir William Hawke and Madeline, Countess of Knollwood.
With all money left and a bit from the Reputation level, I bought WEST TERRACE. The opponent took out English Garden.
16th ROUND. COURTSHIP: ESSENTIIALS.
The Simpson had 0 for this while I had 1 from 2 tiles. However, with the previous Theme, their total was 22. I had 1 from Essential, 5 from Service, 7 from Estate, 10 from Sporting so I got 23 and won.
FINAL SCORING.
Got 12 more from the PRESTIGE TILE so 35 total from Improvement Tile. 18 from the 4 VP Cards, 12 VP from Animal Lover Objective, 17 VP from Gentleman Group objective and 3 from Estate Bonus. 10 points from Reputation Level 4, 16 from 8 servants, 28 from the Gentry Cards.
Total score was 139 against Simpson’s 78.
Playing time was about 110 minutes.
Sensu
More pictures of this Sensu game session on TikTok and on Instagram.
Craft folding fans in 3 colors as fast as possible in Sensu.
I was planning to try the multiplayer variant of this game since I already tried the solo previously. Unfortunately, I was not ready to learn more things so I ended up playing the solo again. Got 4 sessions.
First one only scored 29 so I became Apprentice with only 1 closed fan. 2nd play got me 30 with 2 closed fans. 3rd one only scored 24 with just 1 closed fan. Then the last one I thought I got the best score of completing 3 fans. Apparently after writing this entry, I realized, I made a mistake.
First card was Blue 7 so I put it to the 1st column. Then Blue 6 to 2nd. Green 3 to the 3rd and Blue 5 to the 4th. After that I got Green 2. 7, 6, 5 and then this 2 were perfect for 20. So, I placed the card in 3rd column and scored. I picked the biggest one which was the Green 2 and the smallest one, the Blue 7. I put the Blue 6 at the top of discard pile.
Still with Green 3 in 3rd column and I got Red 3 next to the 1st column. Or more like 3rd. After that Blue 3 to the 2nd and Green 9 to the first. Then I got Red 7. I needed a 4. Placed the card to the 1st column covering the Green 9.
Then I got Green 4. So I could get 20 but not good to score multiple. So, I covered the Red 3 in 3rd column with this so maybe I got better color next. It was Blue 1. I could use Blue 1, 3, 6 and Green 3 plus Red 7 to score 20. Took Blue 1 as the biggest and one smallest which was the Red 7.
Currently Green fan: 3 sticks, Blue: 7 sticks, Red: 1.
There were 2 green cards left from 2 columns so I put the Green 3 at the top of discard pile. Next card was Green 1, which made the total was 17. After that Red 2 to the 4th column and Blue 8. Even if I couldn’t score multiple this time, I took the 9, 8, 1 and 2 for 20. Only took Green 1 with 4 sticks and added to my green fan.
Currently Green fan: 7 sticks, Blue: 7 sticks, Red: 1.
I put the Green 9 on top of discard pile. Red 9 showed up to 4th column. Then Blue 2. I had 2 9s and a 2 so I could score 20. The blue 2 had 3 sticks perfect to complete the Blue fan and I got to pick a bonus for playing 2 9s. Picked the Green one from that so the Red 9 went to the discard pile.
Currently Green fan: 8 sticks, Blue: 10 + 1 sticks, Red: 1.
Green 5 next and went to 4th column. Red 1 after that to the 2nd and the total possible one was still 19. Blue 9 showed up to the 1st column. Then a Red 6 showed up. With a 9, 6 and 5 I could score 20. But instead of 5 I could also use the Red 1 and Green 4 and got 3 reds. So first I placed the Red 6 to 1st column covering the Blue 9.
I took the Red 1 with 4 sticks and as bonus, I had to pick Red 9 with one stick. Apparently, I got it wrong here. Instead of the Red 9, I ended up picking the Green 4 with 2 sticks.
Currently Green fan: 8 sticks, Blue: 10 + 1 sticks, Red: 6.
Got Red 4 next and it went to 2nd column. Green 6 next covering Green 5 in 4th. Then a Red 5 to 1st column covering Blue 9. After that was Green 8. I had a 5, 4, 3 plus this 8 to score 20. The first 3 were red so I got to pick one bonus. Took the Red 3 with 3 sticks and the Green 8 with 1. With red 5 at the top of discard pile.
Currently Green fan: 9 sticks, Blue: 10 + 1 sticks, Red: 9.
Red 8 next to 2nd column. Blue 4 after that to 3rd. I could still score the Blue 9 Green 6 and Red 5 but I had to pick 2 sticks from either green or red which didn’t fit for my current fan.
The last card was Green 7. I could score a 7, 8 and 5 but I still couldn’t take any of them. So my score was only 29. I thought I managed to complete these 3 with 1 card left which would have made my score 34.
Playing time was about 15 minutes per session.
Beacon Patrol
More pictures of this Beacon Patrol game session on TikTok and on Instagram.
Explore the North Sea and check the buoys and lighthouses to ensure its safety in Beacon Patrol.
Another solo session of Beacon Patrol without using additional module from the base game. The 3 starting tiles were: island on top and left with a Lighthouse for one, and island on the right for 2 and the 3rd had island on top with buoy.
The ship moved up first finding that first lighthouse and the only possible movement was to the right. Then I placed the empty land on the right and the size was 2 x 2.
Next I got 2 tiles without any lighthouse or buoy. One had island on the left and bottom and the other had island on left and right. I placed the one with buoy from previous round on top of the current position. Now the ship could move to either right or left or back down.
To the left, I needed a tile with a land part at the bottom. I got one but the land extended to the left. At least I placed 2 tiles. Overall size became 2 x 3.
Now, I got open and empty water and a land at the bottom with a buoy. Maybe I should have used this chance to move down a bit. Instead I went to the right. Placed the empty water first and then moved down with the tile that had lands on both sides.
Next, I had all 3 similar tiles. A land on one side with a buoy. One at the bottom, one at the top and one on the right. The one with land at the top was perfect for me to explore northwest but then the other 2 were not great to extend to the left farther.
So, before moving northwest, I placed the tile with land on the right at the bottom of the current position. That tile was now in the same row as the starting Lighthouse. Then I moved the ship 4 spaces right to the current top left. Then I placed that tile with land at the top.
Got 2 more similar tiles, a land on one side with a buoy. Now with 2 tiles that had land at the bottom and the other on the left. The last one was perfect to extend to the top left. But the other 2 were not great for that direction. So, I moved to the right first since the land was perfect there. Then I moved back left, down and to the right twice before placing another land at the bottom of the tile. The overall size was 4 x 4 at this point.
Now I got that previous land on the right, a dead end at the top and open water with a buoy. These last 2 were perfect for that top left. I moved the ship five spaces so I reached the top left. Placed that open water to move the ship to the left and then moved down using the one with land on the right. The size became 5 x 4.
I still got that Dead end at the top with lighthouse. Got similar one but the dead end on the left and a tile with just land at the bottom. The last was good for moving farther to the left. But the other 2 were not great. So I placed that land at the bottom to the left first, extending the size to the left. From there, just so I didn’t waste the tile I used the dead end at the top to set the top limit.
I moved 4 spaces back and placed that dead end at the top. Still had that dead end to the left and now with open empty water and land at the bottom to the right. That last one was great to finish the island right above the starting Lighthouse.
So I moved back to that position and place the tile there. I guess I could have just use the dead end on the left right there but it created even bigger land. Not sure I could afford to close it. Then again I still had 2 tiles that I couldn’t use and had to discard one just for movement. Somehow I ended up discarding the open water, keeping the dead end.
2 new tiles which were another open water and lands on top and bottom along with the previous dead end. At this point, I started thinking about closing the big land to the right from the Starting Lighthouse. From that current position, moved up then 2 spaces to the right. Then I placed the open water. I guess my plan was to use that dead end for this big island on the right. Moved again down one space but I had to discard the other tile to continue moving to the right.
The 2 new tiles were similar, a land on one side. One was above and the other at the bottom. I placed the 3 tiles before moving back to the middle area. Got 3 new tiles. Another land only at the top, open water and a land extending from top to the right.
I moved 4 spaces back to the starting Lighthouse. Then placed the one with land on top to the right, finishing this first big island. I kept moving to the left using the open water. Now there was a gap above it that requires a land at the top. It seems I have already played all tiles with that exact criteria. Current size was 5 x 7.
2 new tiles. One had a lighthouse with a land from the right to bottom and the other just land on the left. From that bottom left position, I moved down using the tile with lighthouse and land from right to bottom. Then I kept moving the ship to the left using the one with land on the left. This tile was 3 columns from the starting Lighthouse and I already extended 4 columns to the right from the starting one.
With one tile left, I moved back to the Starting Lighthouse, for easier placement. Another lighthouse with land on the left and an open water. Moved back one space to the left then moved down using that lighthouse land and then the open water. The size was 8 x 7.
Got another dead end at the bottom and a tile with 2 left and right lands. Decided not to go farther than 3 rows below the starting lighthouse. So, from 2 rows down, I placed the one with 2 lands. Then moved back up and placed the lighthouse on land at the top to the right. After that, moved down using the dead end. This was exactly below the Starting point, 3 rows below. Spent the last 3 movements jut to get closer to the starting point.
3 new tiles. One was open water. 2nd had land on the left and the other had lands at the top and bottom. Moved back down one space and then to the left using the one with 2 lands. This enclosed the island with 2 Lighthouse. Then kept moving to the left with the land on the left. Spent the last 3 movement to the middle, ended at the same row as starting position.
3 new tiles again with 2 open water tiles and a dead end to the right. I had to start working on the bottom right area from starting position. Moved 2 spaces to reach the starting point and then to the right with one of the open water. One movement without tile to the right and then placed the other open water at the bottom.
Another open water and this time land from left to the top. The latter was perfect for closing the big island on the right. So I moved to the right first with open water and then placed that land to close the big island on the right. Then I moved back to that position.
Still with Dead end to the right. The other 2 tiles were just a land on either right or bottom. I placed the land on the right below the current position first. Then moved 4 spaces to the starting point and placed a Lighthouse on bottom land right below that starting point and that point was finally completely enclosed.
Then I got the exact two tiles that I needed to close this gap on the right of current position. So, that was what I did. I still had that dead end to the right and I wanted to get rid of it. So, I moved up one space and then 2 to the right before placing that tile. Using the last movement, I moved back one space.
Got 3 new tiles. Open water, a lighthouse on a land just at the top and lands above and below. With these, somehow, I decided to keep exploring to the right. That last dead end created a gap which was perfect for the tile above and below. So I moved up first, and then placed that tile to the right. Continued with the open water to the right.
3 new tiles. Open water again, a left and right land and lighthouse at the top. So, I could completely enclose that previous dead end. Moved down using the left and right tile, followed by open water. Then to the left using the lighthouse.
2 more lighthouses. One on land to the right and the other on land from left to bottom. 3rd one was dead end to the top. Used both lighthouses to completely surround this current position which also had a lighthouse.
I tried to move back up and to the center. Apparently, the last 5 were better to extend this area. Got 2 more dead ends with Lighthouses which enclosed another Lighthouse from left and bottom. On the right was just a land with buoy. I had to discard a tile or two for movement and the last was just to enclose whatever left.
Total size was 10 columns and 9 rows. The Starting Lighthouse was a bit to the left but exactly in the middle row. Enclosed 10 lighthouses, 7 buoys and 11 empty tiles. Final score was 55.
Playing time was about 46 minutes.
The White Castle
More pictures of this The White Castle game session on TikTok and on Instagram.
Impress the Daimyo and gain influence by sending workers of your clan to every level of life in The White Castle.
Played 2 solo sessions, still with the easy variant. First one I scored 30 while the opponent got 58. Well, the 2nd one I did better with 47 but so did the opponent with 63.
This is how the 2nd session went. Started with Warrior action on player board with 2 Food, 4 Steel, 2 Pearl, 4 coins, 1 Seal and Food for lantern bonus.
ROUND 1
I started with White 4, the lowest one. Placed it on the Well action to get 3 coins, the Seal, 1 more coin and a Pearl. Also got a Food from the lantern.
The opponent took RED 4, the highest and placed it on left action outside the wall. No coin bonus for them. Then they did Warrior action to the lowest space and no Courtier to social climb 2 spots above.
Then I took another white from the left which was a 5 plus food for lantern bonus. I placed it on 1st floor of the Castle. The right room activated 2 actions. One was to do Courtier action by spending a Seal and also got 2 Steel. Paid 2 coins to send first Courtier to the Gate.
Not sure which die the opponent tried to take first but it was not available. After the 2nd card, they got the last White which was a 6 and sent it to the other outside wall action. So, they got 2 cards to resolve. First one was to send their first Courtier to the gate and advancing 2 spaces in the influence track plus a coin. So, they got first player.
2nd card, they sent Warrior again to the middle space. After that, the earlier Courtier managed to social climb one level from the gate. They went to the left. Maybe I played poorly at this point since that was the only Garden action available on that floor. It was replaced by another card with Courtier action.
My last draft was Red 3 from the right. Placed it on the middle room of 1st floor to activate 2 actions. One was Lantern bonus which was just Food. The other was to pay a Seal to do Warrior Action. Sent one to the middle space by spending 3 Steel, 1 left. This space allowed me to do Courtier action.
Paid 2 more coins to send 2nd Courtier to the gate. Then I let my first Courtier to enter and social climb to the 1st level by spending 2 Pearl. I sent them to the left room so my personal domain got Courtier action in the middle.
As bonus for taking that card, I got 1 coin plus a Well action, so 1 Seal, 1 coin and 1 Pearl.
The opponent’s last draft was the Black 5 from the right. They couldn’t place it in the Castle so they got to the Well, taking 4 coins. Then they sent another Courtier to the gate which they immediately sent them up one level to the middle room.
The end of first round and the opponent won on Influence track. Traded 3 coins for 1 Clan point. None of us had any Gardener.
ROUND 2
The opponent went first and took Red 3 from the left which they sent to the outer Wall again, the left one. After that they sent the first Gardener ever in this session to the left, lowest value one. The 2nd part of this allowed them to social climb again one level. No one at the gate so one from Level 1 got to Level 2 on the right.
For my first die I took the Red 5 from the left so I got my 5th food and first time moving in the influence track. I sent the die to the Well for 1 Seal, 4 coins plus 1 and 1 Pearl.
The opponent’s 2nd turn was taking White 4 from the middle, sending it to the 2nd floor, right room. Then they did Warrior action to the most valuable space, advancing on influence track again 2 spaces plus 1 Clan point.
I took White 3 for my 2nd draft from the left again. 6th food and 3rd space of Influence track as my lantern bonus. I placed the die on the right room, first floor to activate 2 actions. One was 2 Steel so I had 3 and the other was Courtier action again by spending 1 of my 2 Seal.
Paid 2 coins to send my 3rd Courtier to the Gate. With 2 Pearls, I let the one already in the Castle to climb to 2nd floor, right room. Got 2 Clan points and Well action as bonus for taking the card and I got extra coin from the subsequent lantern bonus.
Last die for the opponent was Black 6 which was meant to the first floor right room that I already occupied. So, they got 5 coins from the Well. They sent 2nd Gardener to the right, lowest space plus 1 space of influence track and 2 clan points.
For my last turn, I took the last White so their 2 Gardener would not trigger any bonus for them. I placed this White 5 to my personal domain and paid 1 coin. Got 2 Pearl and the card gave me 2 CP and Well bonus.
That was the end of 2nd round. The opponent was still the first player, traded 6 coins for 4 points. No Garden bonus for them and I had no Gardener.
ROUND 3
The opponent still went first and took the Black 2 from the left and occupied one of the Outer Wall. They also sent 3rd Courtier to the gate while gaining 2 spaces again in the influence track plus 1 coin.
I took Black 4 from the left. The lantern bonus got me food which already at 7, 4th space of Influence track, and a coin. Placed the die in the left room first floor for 2 actions. One was to get 4th steel and food. The other was to activate Courtier action again after spending 1 Seal. I should have gotten 1 coin from it.
Sent out my 4th to the gate with 2 coins. I had 5 Pearls but spent 2 to increase one of 3 Courtiers at the gate to right room first floor. The bonus from the new card got me advancing the influence track. I had to pay 1 Seal for it.
The opponent tried to take Black but not available. So, the 2nd card allowed them to take a White 2 from the left. They had to send it to Well for 1 coin. After that, they sent out 4th Warrior to the lowest ground and their Courtier at the gate went up 2 spaces to the right room. From the last card, they sent their 4th Courtier to the gate while advancing on influence track and gained 3 coins.
I went with Red 2 from the left. Got already max food, influence track, 1 coin and 1 CP from the lantern bonus. Placed this on first floor middle room by paying 1 coin to activate 2 actions.
One was to get Steel, 5th one and Lantern bonus again. Then I paid the Seal to do Warrior action. Spent 3 steel for my 2nd Warrior to activate another Courtier action.
I kind of lost track here. It seems I forgot that I was able to send my last Courtier to the gate. Somehow I decided to move one Courtier already in the Castle to the top floor and gained Lantern bonus twice.
However I could have only done that by spending 2 Pearls and moved the one already at 2nd floor. That got me 1 Pearl left but advancing on Influence track twice. 2 coins and 2 CP.
Last die for the opponent was White 4 from the right to the Outer Wall but went to the Well for 3 coins. Then they sent out their last Warrior to the middle ground and moved up 1 Courtier from the gate to the 1st floor.
My last action since I had enough food was to do Gardener action. Took the last White from the left with Lantern bonus. I already maxed out that influence tack and I couldn’t afford to pay the seal.
Placed the die to the 2nd floor with 2 coins. Spent 5 food for 9 CP at the end.
That was the end. So far, 9 CP for me and 7 for the opponent. The opponent went 2nd place in that influence track and traded 5 coins for 3 CP. I had 9 coins left and no Seal so 1 CP only. I think I only got 1 CP from the leftover resources.
9 CP for me from Gardener and 8 for the opponent. 16 from the Courtier for me and 18 for the opponent. Only 4 points from the Warrior for me and the opponent got 24. Both got 3 CP from influence track.
63 points for the opponent and I got 43 points. So, I got my score wrong earlier, not 47. Well still closer than my 1st play, only 20 points away compared to the first with 28.
Playing time was about 44 minutes per session.
Gizmos
More pictures of this Gizmos game session on TikTok and on Instagram.
Build the best engine to win the Great Science Fair in Gizmos.
Usually I play the fan made solo variant for Gizmos but this time, I tried playing 2-handed.
First player started by doing File action for Upgrade Gizmos that increases their research and energy capacity. As bonus, they also got randomly Blue energy.
2nd player did the same but for Blue BUILD Gizmos that allows them to pick 2 energy when building from their Folder. They got a Black Energy as the bonus for doing File action.
1st player then had no choice but to just pick a Black Energy necessary to build their reserved Gizmos. 2nd player did the same but with Blue energy.
1st player then spent that Black to build their 2nd Gizmos, 1 VP so far. Apparently I did error with the 2nd player. They couldn’t have afforded that 2nd Gizmos because it was level 2 that required 3 Blue Energy and not one. Well, I built it anyway. What a cheater.
1st player then did research to Level 2 deck and found another upgrade that required 3 Blue. They put it in file and got a Red. 2nd Player just took from the face up Gizmos level 3. Additional bonus for doing File Action.
1st player picked 1 Blue energy so they had 2. 2nd took Red. There was no more Blue so 1st player had to take Red Energy. 2nd Player with 2 Red, built from Level 2, a Pick Gizmo that allowed them to get extra Energy when picking a Red or a Blue. 2 VP for them.
1st player finally got their 3rd Blue Energy. 2nd player then took the Black and with their previous Gizmos, they took, randomly, another Blue.
1st player spent their 3 Blue to build that Upgrade. 4 VP total, 3 Gizmos. 2nd player picked blue again with another blue as bonus. So they had 3 Blue.
1st player took Level 3 face up that requires 5 Yellow and put it on File. Got a Black randomly. 2nd player spent their only black to build Level 1 from face up card, a Convert Gizmo. This allows them to convert a yellow to any color.
1st player did Research again for 6 from Level 2. They found another yellow and put it in their File. This allows them to gain VP for building a red or Blue. Got 2nd Black energy as bonus. 2nd player just took the only Blue available from dispenser.
1st player took the only Black left from the dispenser, leaving all 6 yellow. 2nd player finally spent 4 Blue to build that Level 3 Gizmos, 4 VP for them. Thanks to that invalid Gizmos, they took 2 Yellow.
Another research action from 1st player to Level 2. They couldn’t file again so they spent 2 Black to build Black Build Gizmos, 2 VP for them, 6 so far. 2nd player did the same also to Level 2 but only 3. From those 3, they found a Blue gizmo that required 3 and put it in reserve. As bonus, they got a Blue, a Red and a Black.
1st Player did research again to Level 1. Found a Red that gives them 1 VP everytime they build a Yellow. So, they spent one of their 2 Reds. As bonus they picked a Yellow energy in return. 2nd player finally found an Upgrade after researching to Level 1 deck. They spent 1 yellow immediately.
1st player was still researching to Level 1. They found upgrade that they built right away by spending a Black. Now they could reserve 3rd Gizmo. 2nd player followed and found a Black Gizmos that they built right away. From this point every blue they build they get to take energy.
Another Research from 1st player but this time to Level 2. They reserved a Red and got a Black randomly as bonus. 2nd player did the same but stayed at Level 1. They found Upgrade for more reserve capacity so they spent a Yellow.
1st player just took a 2nd Red from the dispenser. 2nd player researched and reserved a Black from Level 2. Got 2 Red, a black and Yellow randomly as bonus.
1st player spent the 2 red and built that Red Gizmo. As bonus they took 2nd Yellow energy. Research again from 2nd player to level 2. Spent 3 Red energy to build a Red that allows them to score VP everytime they build a Black or a Yellow.
1st player decided to just pick Yellow Energy this turn. Same with 2nd player and they took a 2nd Black with a Red as bonus.
Back to research with 1st player to Level 2 and they got a PICK type that they built for 2 Yellow. Now everytime they picked red and blue they got a random bonus. 2nd player spent 2 Black to build the Gizmos in reserve. They also got 1 VP and 2 energy plus 2 random ones. So they had 3 red, 2 yellow and 1 black.
Research again but to Level 3. 1st Player got wild color Gizmos that double the VP tokens value. They put it in reserve and got a Black randomly. 2nd player followed and took a Red to the reserve. Their Energy ring was already full to take more bonus.
1st player just took 3rd Black energy. Another research from 2nd player to level 2. They spent 2 Yellow to build a Convert Gizmo. Now they could convert a red into other color twice. 11 Gizmos so far for 2nd player.
1st player still just took energy. This time a blue with a random red. Now their ring was full. 2nd player built Blue Gizmos from reserve. Spent 1 Blue and converted 2 Red into blue. They got back 2 Yellow, 1 red and 1 black.
1st player spent 7 energy to build that Level 3 from reserve. They got 1 VP and 2 Energy. 2nd Player researched the 3rd deck and found something similar. Put it in reserve and they got only 1 black randomly.
Back to researching Level 2, 1st player took Blue one. Got a red energy as bonus. 2nd player followed with the same deck and found an Upgrade for 3 Energy of red. They spent 2 and convert a yellow. Got a VP from it.
1st player just took 2 Blue. 2nd player dived to 1st deck and put a blue one to their reserve. Got 2 yellow a red and a Black.
1st player took 2 reds and the ring was full. 2nd player built their black gizmos from reserve. Got 1 VP and the ring was full again.
1st player built blue Pick Gizmos which was their 10th. 2nd player spent 7 Energy to build that Level 3 to double value of VP tokens. They also got 3 VP and 5 energy back. That was their 15th.
1st player finally built their Level 2 yellow gizmo from reserve with 3 energy. Got 1 VP and 2 more energy. 2nd player did research to level 3 and found the one to score the remaining Energy. They put it in reserve with ring already full of energy.
1st player found the same after research and immediately built it by paying 7. Got 3 Energy back and 2 VP. 2nd player built the same from reserve. Got 3 VP and 5 energy back. That was the 16th so the game ended.
1st player only scored 31 with 12 Gizmos while 2nd player, cheatingly scored 54. The game should have continued and maybe the 1st player had a chance to win had the 2nd player played correctly.
Oh, well. Maybe I should just go back playing the solo fan made variant.
Playing time was about 54 minutes.
Under Falling Skies
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Defend the Earth from Alien invasion in Under Falling Skies.
This was my first time playing with the New York variant. I didn’t notice that there is extra rule right below the name of the city. For this one, I can only have one Robot but the value of the room is increased by 1. The good thing is that I didn’t play 2nd robot at all in this one.
I think the Washington D.C. has more interesting rule where you always start with White 6. Not sure how different the experience with the correct rule.
Apparently I got another rule wrong. In this one, I moved the Excavator twice within a round which apparently not a valid action. I can only place at most 1 die in the unexcavated location. No wonder this one was rather easy. Oh, well. Anyway here is how it went.
ROUND 1. White 5 and 1, Gray 6, 2, 1.
With the Gray 6, I immediately built a Robot in the first column. Then using the White 5, I placed it in 4th so the enemy would be in shooting point. The Reroll got me White 3, Gray 5 and 3.
The White 3 for the middle so the enemy was in shooting point and the reroll got me Gray 5 and 6. 5 went to 2nd column and the enemy moved to middle column. The last 6 to the 5th.
5 in the 2nd column was to advance the excavator. 3 and 5 in 3rd and 4th to generate energy. Unfortunately the 6 was just to push back the enemy ship.
Spent 1 energy for Excavator, down to 1. Got full energy with the double room. Spent 1 again to install the Robot in the 4th column. 7 ENERGY left.
Mothership was ready to launch the white ship.
ROUND 2. White 2 and 3, Gray 1, 2, 6.
The 6 went to the rightmost, hoping to move the Excavator. Red ship was in target zone. Then the 3 in the middle just to keep generating energy. One red ship was in target zone.
After reroll, got White 1, Gray 3 and 6. First 6 at 4th to advance the Research track. Then the 1 was for excavator as well, placed at 1st column. The reroll got me another 6 for 2nd column, the Shooting Room with the white ship in target zone.
Spent 2 energy to move excavator twice, which was illegal. 1 Energy to advance the Research track 3 spaces up. 3 Energy to destroy 3 Red and 1 White enemies. 1 Energy left and generated back up to 8.
Mothership pushed back the excavator two spaces. 3 red ships were ready to deploy.
ROUND 3. White 3 and 4, Gray 1, 1, 3.
First the Gray 3 to 2nd column and the ship slid to 3rd column. Well the die was for cheating, moving the excavator 2nd time again. Then using White 3 in 3rd column, moved 2 spaces down. The one from column 2 was in target zone. Planning for the research with this.
The reroll got me white 2, gray 4 and 6. Placed the 2 first in 5th and the enemy entered target zone. This was actually to move the excavator first time. Got 2 5s for 1st and 4th column. Both ships ended in target zone. The one in 1st was to shooting room and the other was for research.
With 8 energy, spent 2 for Excavator, incorrectly. Spent 2 more for moving on the research track 3 spaces. Then the shooting room destroyed 4 red ships. 4 Energy left.
Mothership was ready to deploy those 4 reds plus 1 white.
ROUND 4. White 1 and 1, Gray 2, 2, 3.
Played the White 1 first in 1st column just so the enemy was in target zone. The reroll got me White 2, Gray 2, 2, and 5. The 5 was for 3rd column and the 2 ships entered target zone. Then with White 2 in 4th, also moving the ship to target zone rerolled the rest. Got gray 2 still and 3. The former for 2nd column and the ship entered 3rd column while the last one for the 5th.
I guess I still did place 2 dice in unexcavated spaces using the die in column 1 and 2. Then the 3rd and 4th was for research while the last one to generate energy. Moved up 4 spaces in research track. No ship was destroyed and 1 energy left.
Mothership did nothing special this time other than redeploying one ship.
ROUND 5. White 2 and 3, Gray 2, 3, 4.
Gray 3 to 1st column and the 4 in 3rd. Got 1st hit from one of the Red. 2 ships were in target zone. Then the white 3 was to 5th. The reroll got me White 6 and 3. Played the white first in 4th. Then the reroll got me a 6 as well for the 2nd column.
First die generate energy by 3 to 4. Last die to move the Excavator after spending 1 energy, so 3 left. Spent 3 to shoot down 2 red ships. Generated 8 back using the double room with Robot. Then spent 1 for the research 1 space up. 6 more.
Mothership was ready to deploy 3 red and 1 white.
ROUND 6. White 2 and 5, Gray 2, 4, 5.
First, the 4 to 1st column and gray 5 to 5th. Only ship in 5th entered target zone. Then the White 5 for 4th so the ship was also in target zone. The reroll got me a White 4 and a 1. White 4 first to 2nd column and rerolled again to get a 3 for 3rd. This ship was also in target zone.
First 2 dice on the left were to increase the Research track. Last 2 dice on the right were for shooting. Then the one in the middle was for Energy. I had 7 energy. Spent 1 for the shooting and 4 for Research. This moved up 4 spaces in research track with 2 more to win that required a total of 14. 3 ships were destroyed and the Energy was full again.
Mothership only pushed back the Excavator one space, ready to deploy the 3 red ships again.
ROUND 7. White 1, 3, Gray 2, 2, 6.
The 6 went to 4th for research track. Then I played the White 3 to 1st column also for research track. Got another White 6 and Gray 1 and 2 from reroll.
The white went to 2nd column so this was already enough to reach the top of research track. Got a 3 and 4 from reroll. 3 went to 3rd for research but I switched the die in 4 for attacking, combined with 4 in 5th column.
Still had 7 energy and I only had to spend 6. Destroyed 2 ships and I reached the top of research track. I won.
Well, not really since I cheated multiple times by moving the Excavator twice. I guess I have to try again in my next session.
Playing time was about 44 minutes.
Goblin Vaults
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or
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Win a card game against inmates of Kulbak Prison in Goblin Vaults.
This was a solo play against Glavrun. I got the Red Faction while Glavrun got Purple and Yellow. The 3 Goal cards were COLLECTION (no suit), SECRETS OF KULBAK (Black) and ANCIENT VOLUMES (Green).
To score with the first one, I needed to have cards with the same value in a chamber. 4 points for 2 cards and 9 for 3 with maximum score of 26.
For the 2nd one, score 4 points if the lowest card in each tier is the Black suit. This can score up to 12. While for the last one, I need to have a green in both leftmost and rightmost of the tier. One tier got me 6, 15 for 2 and 24 for 3.
I misunderstood the last one early in the game as I thought I needed to have only one end. Not only that, I also thought that I need 4 cards for the tier. It seems I can have just 2 cards as long as both cards have green suit in that tier.
I got 3 Gray, 4 Yellow, 1 Black and 1 Green. Starting card in the chamber was Green 4. The trump suit was Yellow and the 3 cards to bid was Gray 3, Yellow 5 and Gray 8.
ROUND 1. Glavrun first bid was to the 3rd card. I decided to lose to Glavrun using Green 2 so I could place that Green 2 to the 2nd tier first chamber. Glavrun’s 2nd bid was to 1st card with Black 1.
ROUND 2. Glavrun bid using Green 5 to the middle card which was Yellow 5. I chose to bid on that Black 1 since it works well for the scoring. Luckily, 2nd bid was to the 3rd card. I placed this card initially in 3rd tier 1st chamber but I moved to 2nd chamber, 1st tier.
ROUND 3. Glavrun bid first to my previous Yellow 2. I bid on black 2 on 3rd, left by Glavrun’s 2nd using Yellow 1. Glavrun’s 2nd went to the middle so each bid won. I placed this Black 2 on 2nd chamber, 2nd tier.
ROUND 4. Glavrun bid again to the left, their own previous card, now with using Green 7. I went with Black 9 to bid the middle for Green 8. 2nd bid was to the right with Yellow 9. I placed this Green 8 to the left, 3rd tier, first chamber.
ROUND 5. Glavrun continued to first bid the left, still another Green 10. I bid on the right this time for Yellow 9 using Gray 9. 2nd bid from Glavrun was to the middle. I placed this Yellow 9 to 3rd Chamber 1st tier.
ROUND 7. Now Glavrun bid the 3rd, using Black 3. I needed that but I decided to go with the Green 10 on the left using Yellow 7. 2nd bid was underbid to me with yellow 6 so I was lucky to win the gear as well. I placed the Green 10 to 4th chamber, 1st tier, securing 6 points from the 3rd Goal card.
ROUND 8. Glavrun to the left again bidding on my previous card with Black 7. I bid on Black 3 on 3rd using Yellow 8. Got another gear as 2nd Glavrun underbid mine again. But they got Black 6. I placed the Black 3 on 2nd chamber 3rd tier.
This time I used the Warden phase to swap the trump card with the Red faction and grey suit.
ROUND 9. Glavrun bid the 3rd card, Yellow 8 using gray 6. I bid the middle card of Yellow 10 using my Grey 4. Luckily, Glavrun went to the left using Yellow 3. I got the card and 2 tokens. This Yellow 10 was placed at 3rd chamber, 2nd tier.
*** The game is supposed to end after 9 rounds. I guess I made an error during setup and now I got both 10.
ROUND 10. Glavrun went with the middle. My last card was trump but 1 and no other good card so I went with the right. Glavrun’s 2nd went to the left. Placed this Grey 6 to 3rd chamber, 3rd tier.
That was the end of the game.
I got 6 points from 6 gear tokens, 13 points from cards based on correct tier. 4 points from only 2 cards with matching faction. 0 from the first Goal card. 12 from the Black Goal and 15 from the 3rd. So my total score was 50 points.
Glavrun got 12 from gear tokens, 7 from 7 cards with matching suits. Based on difficulty, 16 from 8 cards with matching faction for easy, 24 for Medium or 32 for Hard. That means the score was either 35, 43 or 51. Which means I lost if I was playing Hard mode by 1 point. Unfortunately I didn’t score anything from the neutral Goal.
Playing time was about 33 minutes.
Siege of Valeria
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Defeat all Siege Engines before they take down Valeria’s Southern Border in Siege of Valeria.
Another play using just the base game but includes events. My 2 starting hand were the Archer and the Red Witch.
ROUND 1. Red: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and Blue 3 and 1.
Only one Engine was in range and I had to reroll one 5 which got me a 4. The event was RISEN FROM THE DEAD. I was supposed to return a random troop from the discard but there was none, yet at that point.
Played the Red 4 and Blue 3 to Red Witch at Vanguard 1, 2 reds with a value of 7 for the Troll Brute at 2nd Vanguard. Red 2 and Blue 1 were sent to defeat Goblin Warrior at Vanguard 3. Then the Red 6 was to defeat the Archer at Vanguard 4.
I played the 2 Red Witch cards and 2 Archer cards which got me 2 Red 5 and Blue 3 and 1. Also got Sir Filko which I placed at 1st Turret and Spymaster Tey at 5th.
Played 1 Red 5 to defeat the Gargoyle at 5th Vanguard. The remaining 3 dice were to defeat the Efreet, 2nd at 4th column. So, no one in Vanguard row, no damage to the wall.
ROUND 2. Red: 6, 5, 4, 3, 3 and Blue 6, 6 and 2.
It seems I forgot one Blue die here. First damage to Turret 3 from the Siege Engine. The other 2 engines forced me to reroll my Blue 6 which became a 5 and a Red 5 which became a 1.
The Event was ACCIDENTS HAPPEN. I had to flip both of my Champions.
Red 6 to Archer at Vanguard 1. Then Red 3 plus Blue 2 to defeat Rune Witch at 2nd. Red 1 was turned into 6 by Troll Brute card and with another Red 1 defeat another Troll Brute at 4th Vanguard. Dragonkin Warlord at 5th was defeated by Red 3 and Blue 5.
Played that Archer and got another Red 6 and I still had 3 dice left. That Red 6 and Red 1 defeated another Troll Brute at 3rd Vanguard. BLue 6 and Red 4 defeated Lycan Mage at 2nd of 4th column.
No one in Vanguard row so no damage to the wall.
ROUND 3. Red 6, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 and Blue 5, 1, 5, 1.
2nd damage to Turret 3 from Engine. I had to reroll a 6 again and got a Red 2. The 5 I had to reroll still got me Blue 5. The Event was TRAINED WARRIORS. Adding a red token to every Red Troop in Vanguard row.
First I used my RUNE WITCH to reroll every die with a value of 1 and 2. got Blue 6 and 5 and Red 3, 3, 4, 5, 5. Then I sent Red 4 and Blue 5 to defeat the Dragonkin Warlord at 1st Vanguard. Another Dragonkin at 2nd was defeated by my Blue 6 and Red 3.
The Catapult engine at 4th vanguard was defeated by Red 5, doubled by Dragonkin card. Got Sister Althea which I placed at 3rd. Using the card from Gargoyle and Red 5, I defeated the Gnoll, 2nd row of 3rd. Behind that one was Engine so I also played the Efreet card plus Blue 2 to overkill it. Got Wizard Denthal from it.
I still had 4 red and 1 Blue. With one Red 3 plus 2 tokens and Sir Filko, defeated the Gnoll at 3rd Vanguard. Using Gnoll card, turned a Red 3 to Red 4, increased it with Goblin Warrior and plus the token defeated another Archer, 2nd of 4th.
Played the Blue 5 and Red 3 to take down Gorgon at 5th. Also did overkill they Lycan behind it using another Lycan power card. This way the Engine at 5th would have ended their movement in vanguard.
No one in Vanguard so no damage.
ROUND 4. Red 6, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 and Bue 6, 6, 5, 4.
I had to play Red 2 and with the help from Spymaster, cancelled the Engine in first turret. The one in 5th still forced me to reroll a 5 and my Blue 5 stayed the same. FORESIGHT was the event so I got to see which Event card in the next 3 rounds.
No Rune Witch to reroll and no one in the current battlefield. First Red 3 and Blue 6 to defeat Efreet at 2nd Vanguard.
Red 6 was to defeat Archer at Vanguard 1. With Efreet card and Sir Denthal, overkilled the Engine behind it. After Lady Althea removed an impact token, Doktor Hilter took her spot.
Red 2 plus Sir Filko beat the Warrior at 3rd. Also Red 5 plus Dragonkin destroyed an engine at 5th Vanguard. The Champion took Sir Filko spot at 1st. Still had 4 dice. Doubled the Blue 6 and Red 1 plus Warrior to defeat Engine at 2nd, the Battering Ram. Wardsmith Sajin entered 2nd turret.
Last two dice, a Red 1 and Blue 5 were to defeat another Gorgon at 5th. I also played the Undead Samurai so the Engine at 3rd would have been in vanguard next round.
No vanguard so no damage.
ROUND 5. Red 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2 and Blue 6, 6, 4, 3.
Only the engine in 5th was in range. Lost my Red 2 and the Red 4 was rerolled into a 6. The event was AQUILA PROVIDES. Got 2 random troop cards from the discard pile and I got a Brute and Gargoyle.
One engine at 3rd vanguard was destroyed by Red 6, Blue 6 and Wizard Denthal. Adept Immogin entered the spot from Doktor Hilter. Red 4 to defeat Gargoyle at 1st Vanguard and Red 5 to Gnoll at 4th. Then Red 2 and Blue 6 to defeat the Undead Samurai at 2nd Vanguard with Red 5 and Blue 3 to defeat Dragonkin at 5th. Behind that was Red Witch which got overkilled using Lycan card and red 3.
So Vanguard was clear, 2 dice left. Defeated the Lycan at 2nd of 2nd using Red 4 and Blue 4. No damage from Vanguard.
ROUND 6. Red 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2 and Blue 6, 5, 5, 1.
Only 2 engines were in range. The one that just entered at 3rd rerolled my Red 5 into Red 5. Then the Breach Tower was loaded with Gargoyle behind it. The event was LUCKY SHOT and I had to activate an engine that was out of range. I played my Red 2 and Spymaster to cancel it.
The Engine at 5th vanguard was defeated by Wizard Denthal plus Red and Blue 6. Red 5, doubled plus Red 2 defeated the Breach Tower plus Gargoyle.
Sir Chun’nan led the attack to Troll Brute in front of him and with the help from Blue 1, turned into a 6 with Gnoll. With Red 4 and Lycan, defeated the Rune Witch behind it. 5 dice left and all were 5s.
3 of them to defeat Engine at 1st. The last two were to defeat Undead Samurai from 3rd Vanguard so I could move Engine next round.
This time, Rune Witch was about to damage 2nd Turret but the Wardsmith prevented it.
ROUND 7. Red 6, 6 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1 and Blue 5, 5, 4, 3.
Last Round, 4 Engines left. Using 2 Gorgon Priest cards, Spymaster and Red 2, prevented any action from 3 engines. The last one just forced me to reroll a 5 and got my Blue 6 instead. So apparently I forgot to resolve and Event this round. I was supposed to add 2 blue tokens to the farthest Engine.
First with Red 3 and Blue 6 I defeated Efreet at 1st Vanguard. Then with Red and Blue 3 took down Gorgon behind it. Played 2 Red 6s to defeat that Engine. 3 left. Got Lady Ozwin at 2nd turret.
Using Gargoyle, I aimed for Siege at 3rd. Destroyed it using 2 Red 6s. With the help from Efreet, overkilled the other engine next to it with Sir Denthal. So, even if I added 2 Blue tokens there, it would have been destroyed along. 1 more engine and still had 5 dice.
With Gnoll turned a Red 1 into a 6 and plus Blue 4, destroyed the last engine. Last 3 dice and Adept Immogin took out Troll Brute and Dragonkin from 3rd and 4th Vanguard. Gnoll did first damage to 5th turret but that was the end of the Siege of Valeria.
Playing time was about 59 minutes.
Isle of Trains: All Aboard
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Build trains and secure contracts to deliver goods and passengers to various cities in Isle of Trains: All Aboard.
This was another solo play, continuing with the Scenario 2, which was also my first time with this scenario. In this one, I don’t need to deliver any goods or completing contracts, but I have to build 4 buildings. Of course, as special rule, there is no limit of number of buildings you can build.
Somehow, I made an error here. I got confused between the White character which was supposed to go to Alpine Lodge with the Blue one from Billington’s. I ended up just switching the ticket tile. Maybe I ruined somethings as it happened in the middle of the game.
Here is how it went.
ROUND 1.
I started with 5 cards and Black and Purple passengers. My first action was to load the Black passenger. Delivering any of them to their own destination would have given me cards anyway. I got 2 cards from that Load action.
One of these 7 cards I had was the Level 2 Engine. So, I discarded 2 cards, the Level 1 and Caboose 10 to upgrade that Engine with still 4 cards left. It seems I forgot to take free passenger for this upgrade?
ROUND 2.
I did BUILD, adding a new Coach, Level 1 to my train. The cost was just one card and I discarded another Caboose. Got a Yellow character as bonus.
Loaded the Purple passenger to this Coach and got 1 VP plus 3 cards, another Caboose, Level 3 Engine and Level 1 Hopper. So I had 5 cards back.
ROUND 3.
So, I delivered the first Black passenger to Devon City for 5 cards. Got 2 Hopper 1, 2 Engines and a Tanker. As 2nd action, to use at least 5 cards, I had to build the Tanker 2 with a cost of 5. Not very useful if I remembered my play.
ROUND 4.
Hopefully I didn’t forget to remove a card for last turn. First action this round was to deliver the Purple guy to their Cactus mine destination. Got 5 cards again and now with 9 in hand.
2nd action this round was BUILD or Upgrade, upgrading the Coach to Level 2 with the cost of 3. Got a White and Yellow characters as bonus.
ROUND 5.
So, I did LOAD the White passenger to the Coach. Got 3 cards and 2 VP, 1st building card and 2 engines.
This is where I got it wrong. I initially delivered this to Billington’s where the ticket tile gave me 2 cards and Build action. But this character was supposed to go to Alpine Lodge. Didn’t realize it at this point but I swapped the ticket tile of both.
With 10 cards, I decided to use the bonus Build action for my 1st building, the Coal Factory. Discarded 6 cards as the cost.
ROUND 6.
Loaded the Yellow passenger to Coach. Got 3 cards and 2 VP. Then I spent 3 cards of 6 to Upgrade the Engine to Level 3. Got another White passenger.
ROUND 7.
Another Load of that new White passenger to the Coach for 3 cards and 2 VP.
As 2nd action, I delivered both passengers to Alpine Lodge. The White character gave me 1 card plus Build action while the Yellow was special delivery for 2 cards. With 8 cards, I built HOPPER 2 with the cost of 4, 3 cards left in hand. 3 buildings left for the objective.
ROUND 8.
I still had my Yellow character so I loaded this person to my Coach. Got 3 cards and 2 VP. As 2nd action, I decided to upgrade my Hopper to Level 3 so it could start giving me free action.
However, I did it by Loading a Coal to my Hopper 2. This gave me 2 cards so I had 8. Then it also gave me bonus Build action which I used to upgrade the Hopper by discarding 3 cards.
ROUND 9.
First action this round was Deliver. I did special delivery with 1 passenger and 1 Coal for 4 cards. With 7 cards, I loaded another Coal to the Hopper just to get 2 more cards and bonus action which I used to do Build action. This was to build the 2nd building by spending 6. The building was NORTHERN STATION.
ROUND 10.
I only had 1 card so I did special delivery again with that one coal to get 2 cards. Luckily, one of them had another Coal so I loaded it back to the Hopper and got 2 cards plus bonus action.
This allowed me to upgrade the Coach to level 3. I had no cards left in hand but I got 3 passengers, a White, Black and Purple.
ROUND 11.
I loaded the Black passenger first to the Coach. Got 3 cards and 3 VP. Then I delivered him to Devon city for 2 VP and 2 cards. Now I had 5 cards in hand.
ROUND 12.
The deck almost run out of cards. Spent 12 VP to return 4 cards back. Then I loaded the White passenger to the Coach for 3 VP and 3 cards. Delivered that passenger to Alpine Lodge that gave me extra build action. I used it to build 3rd building, the Bank for 6 cards. I had 3 cards left.
ROUND 13.
Spent 3 VP I just got to return 1 card to the deck. 1 card left in the deck with 3 face up cards.
First, I loaded the Purple to Coach for 3 VP and 3 cards. Spent that VP right away.
Then I loaded one card with coal to Hopper and got 2 cards plus bonus action. Got exactly 7 cards in hand with 1 being a Building so I built that 4th one and completed the objective.
Technically the deck run out between resolving this action. So, I guess I didn’t really win? Maybe I could have done better if I didn’t forget to take 1 passenger. I could have load that passenger and got 3 VP to return just one more card. Oh, well.
Playing time was about 50 minutes.
Tumble Town
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Develop the best main street with interesting buildings for your American West City in Tumble Town.
Instead the usual solo mode, I played this 2-handed this time, using the Surplus Variant. Use all of the dice and the end game is triggered if 2 decks run out of cards. Both players were playing with the HARD variant player board.
ROUND 1.
1st player started with Brown 5 and 6. Took a card from level 1 that gives power to change the value of dice by 2. Rolled 2 Brown, got Brown 1 and 2 and 1 Black which was a 6. The building itself can be any of the 3 resources in ascending value with 2 dice. First player then used the Brown 1 and Brown 2, placing it in 2nd row, leftmost spot.
2nd player started with Brown 3 and 5 plus Gold 5. They went with Gold or Level 3, a Sherrif’s Office. If they build it they score 1 point per barrel. This required 4 Gold with total value of exactly 19. They rolled 3 Gold and got 1, 4 and 5. Even after changing the 1 into 2, they didn’t have enough to build this one.
ROUND 2.
1st player this time took level 2 building, a Train Station. Building this allowed them to flip a die and reroll. The building requires 3 black and 1 brown with the value of each between 2 to 4. They rolled 3 Black and got 2, 2 and 4 in addition to their previous Brown 5, 6 and Black 6. So they changed the Brown 5 into 4 and built it, placing it on 2nd row, rightmost, scoring from 2 spots.
2nd player went with another Gold, a Hotel that also requires 4 Gold but total value of 9. After the roll they got Gold 3, 5 and 6. With previous dice in storage, they used the 2 5s and a 3 a 6. to build the previous building, placing it at 2nd row, leftmost.
ROUND 3.
1st player then went to build Land Office from level 3, that required 3 Gold and a Brown with total value at least 20 or higher. Rolled 3 Gold and got a 2, 4, and 6. Flipped the 2 into 5 and with the Brown 6 in storage they had enough. Placed the building in 2nd row right next to the previous Barbershop.
2nd player stayed with another Gold, a COURTHOUSE. This required 3 Gold and 2 Gray with total value 11 or lower. They rolled 3 Gold and got 2 2s and a 3. From previous round they got a Gold 3 so after changing one of the 3s into a 2 they managed to build the HOTEL, placing it at the top right corner. Scored from those 2 spots.
ROUND 4.
1st player took Bakery from level 1 with Brown 2 and 4 plus Grey 4. They definitely had enough to build this one after some modification. The building was placed on 1st row, top left.
2nd player took another Gold, a Bath house. This required 3 Gold and 2 Brown with total value of 24. Rolled 3 gold and got a 3, 4 and 6. They had Brown 3 and and Gold 5. After changing the 4 into 4, they had everything to build this. This was placed on 2nd row, 1 space away from the Sherrif office. Scoring from 2 spots and the gap.
ROUND 5.
1st player took MERCHANTILE from Level 2 along with Black 3, 4, 4. They already had Black 6 from before and the building required 2 pairs of different value. So, they changed the 6 into a 3 and got what they needed. The building was placed on 1st row, 1 space away from the Bakery, scoring just from one spot and the gap.
2nd player took an Outhouse from Level 1 along with Brown 5, 6 and Gray 3. This required 2 dice with a value of each between 3 to 5. Changed the 6 into a 5 and they got it. The building was placed on 2nd row, 1 space away from the Bath house, scoring from the gap and the one single spot. As one-time bonus, they got another gray, a 4.
ROUND 6.
1st player took HOTEL from Level 3 along with Gold 1, 2 and 6. This required 4 Gold with total value of 9 so they were missing 1 die.
2nd player finally took another dice mitigation with the Barbershop from Level 1 along with 2 Brown 5 and Grey 6. Used the Brown 4 and 5 to build and it was placed at the bottom right corner, scoring from that single spot.
ROUND 7.
Another Gold for 1st player and this time a Bath house along with Gold 3 and 2 5s. After changing Gold 1 into a 3, they got exactly 9 from 4 gold and built the Hotel. This was placed at the top right corner, scoring from 2 spots.
2nd player took another Sherrif Office but there were only 2 Gold. So they took Grey and got a 1 with Gold 1 and 4. Plus the Gold 3 and the Grey 3 from previous round they had everything after changing the last one into a 2 to build Courthouse. This was placed 1 space away from the Hotel at top right, scoring from the gap and 2 spots.
ROUND 8.
1st player went with Printing House from level 2, aling with Black 2, 4 and Grey 6. This required 5 dice of the 3 colors so it was not enough. However, they decided to trade the 2 Gold for Brown 4 and 6. The building itself required Even value from all dice and with enough manipulation, they could afford it. They placed it exactly 1 space from Land Office and Train Station, scoring from 2 spots and the 2 gaps.
2nd player picked TRADING POST from level 2 with Grey 2, 3 and Brown 3. They had Gray 4 and 6 in storage. The building required 5 dice all of any of the 3 colors with value between 1 to 3 each. Even with the 2 dice manipulation, it was not enough.
ROUND 9.
1st player picked same building with Gray 6, 6 and 3. But this one required a value between 4 to 6 each of those 5 dice with any of 3 colors. Not enough for them to build.
2nd player took Tannery from Level 1 along with Brown 2, 6 and Black 4. Those 3 were enough to build this new building while the manipulation helped changed the 5 dice for the Trading Post. Both were placed at the top left corner, 1 space away from each other. The Tannery ended up right adjacent to Courthouse.
After refilling the market, that was the last card from the Level 1 deck. Two decks finally run out of cards and both players already got the same number of turns so the game ended.
SCORING
1st player scored 29 from 7 buildings, 2 from 2 hat icons, 1 point from post Office and 6 points from Land Office plus 16 from the Street. Total score was 54.
2nd player scored 33 from 8 buildings, 1 point from 1 icon, 2 from Courthouse, 5 from Sherrif Office and 17 from the Street. Total Score was 58.
So, 2nd player won but very close.
Playing time was about 51 minutes.
Learn more about the game from Tumble Town Review.
Wingspan Asia
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Explore the Asia continent to attract birds to your wildlife preserves and make sure to claim the best location for them in Wingspan Asia.
This was another solo session. I just noticed a mistake with how I resolved the Automa in previous play. Apparently if the Automa plays a Bird card, how they place the Duet Token is a bit different instead of just taking a card face down. With the latter, you have to follow that navigation from the starting corner, target space and the area. While the former, you only look at the starting position and then aim to work with the Goal of the round.
Up until like their last play a bird action, I assumed to resolve the same way. But in that last play, they couldn’t find a matching space using that navigation system so I looked for clarification. That was when I noticed, it had to be played differently.
Honestly, I thought it didn’t matter since I don’t always win the goal anyway. However, this can still change with the scoring from largest contiguous group of the duet tokens.
For my starting resources, I picked 2 Food, a red and green. So I got 3 cards, Little Egret, Violet Cuckoo, Gray Wagtail. I couldn’t decide which bonus card to keep but I ended up with the Forest Population Monitor.
ROUND 1.
For my first action, I played a bird card, the Violet Cuckoo in the Forest row. Spent both foods and I claimed the 2nd row spot, 2nd to the left with a food bonus with requirement that the bird must face left. Took another Green.
Automa’s first action was to remove the 2 Fishes. This means, only one type food left in the Bird Feeder.
Then with my 2nd action, I played another bird card. This time, it was the Little Egret which has to be in the water row. Spent 1 green food and I claimed the 4th row from the top, 3rd from the left of duet board space.
2nd action from Automa was Egg. I could have gotten one since I had that Violet Cuckoo but I can only lay egg on bird with small wingspan.
For my 3rd, I did Draw Bird Cards. Took 1 but no eggs to discard yet for additional card. The Little Egret gave me another one while I had to let the opponent took a token. The 2 bird cards for me were Trumpeter Finch and Little Grebe.
3rd action from Automa was taking Bird card action, removing all 3 cards from the market. So this was still using the complete navigation. They claimed the 2nd row, rightmost spot, next to my previous one.
My 4th action was Gain Food. Only got 1 food which was Green and didn’t discard any card to gain more. The Violet Cuckoo didn’t trigger anything.
4th action from Automa was Play a Bird Card. Since I used the Rare Species Lister, they got a bird with a value of 6, while removing the other with the same value from the market.
So, this is where I got it wrong. According to the rule, the placement of duet token should be towards the goal. In that case, the Automa should have claimed the bottom left corner space which was the Water as the goal was to have the most in water space. Instead I followed the Navigation and they claimed the top row, 3rd space from the left.
My 5th action was still taking just 1 food and it was another green.
Automa played another Bird Card for their 5th. They got one with a value of 6. Another error when placing the duet token. This time, it should have been Water space still, 2nd row from bottom, rightmost space. Instead, with complete navigation, it got the space adjacent from it.
My 6th action was Lay Eggs, 2 which only my Little Egret could store. I needed one for the playing a bird in 2nd column.
Automa got an Egg again for their 6th. I still couldn’t claim the bonus.
My 7th action was play another bird card. This time it was GRAY WAGTAIL, to 1st row, 2nd column. Spent 1 egg and 2 Green Foods. Claimed the 2nd row space, 3rd from the right, next to my previous one.
Automa’s 7th was draw a card, removing the 3 from the market. This time, using the Navigation system, they took space in 4th row from the top, 2nd from the left which was another Water. They were already winning the Goal for the round even with my error way to resolve.
My last action was drawing bird card as well. Got 2 more while giving a token to automa. Got Sri Lanka Blue Magpipe and Himalayan Monal.
Last of this round for Automa was another face down card. With the correct navigation, they claimed 3rd row from the top, 2nd space from the right. That was their 3rd water space while I only had 1.
So, they won the current goal for 1 point. I got my Wagtail to give me 2 foods for activating all 4 types of action. It was a Yellow and a Green.
That was the end of 1st Round.
ROUND 2.
This time, the goal was just to have the most tokens on map of Duet Board. They already got 5 while I only had 3 so not really looking good for me.
My 1st action was Gain Food. I got 2 now, a red and a grey but the 2 birds didn’t give me anything.
Automa took face down again, removing all cards from the market. This time, they claimed 2nd row from the top and 3rd spaces from the left.
2nd action from me was Play a Bird card. Played my Himalayan Monal in 1st row, 3rd column so I needed to spent an egg plus green, yellow and red food. Claimed the space in 2nd row with dice bonus. Got another Red. Either they could connect their 5 tokens or I got mine to 3rd in a group.
Their 2nd action was to play a bird card. However, none from the face up matched with the criteria. So they took a face down. If they still had to aim for the goal. They could have just taken the bottom right corner with the food. Actually this would have lowered their points. Instead they picked the bottom left corner which should have been taken by them.
3rd action from me was to Draw Cards again. I got 2, giving another token to the opponent. No eggs for additional card. I got White Throated Kingfisher and White Crested Laughing Thrush.
Automa’s 3rd got them 2 Eggs and I got 1 from my Cuckoo.
4th action from me was Gain Food again. Got a Red and Grey and I discarded a card for Blue. The Himalayan Monal got me a Yellow food plus an egg while a token for the Automa.
Automa’s 4th was to Play a Bird again. They got one with a value of 4. With the correct navigation, they could have just occupied the top left space. This didn’t help them with the largest group but could have helped them with the last goal. Instead they increased their group in the water area, a space they should have taken already. They had a size 4 group.
5th action for me was to play a Bird card. The Little Grebe that required 2 Green and a Blue. This was for 2nd column of 3rd row so I had to spend an egg. I didn’t have any green food so I spent, wastefully 2 red and 2 grey for 2 green. Occupied the 3rd row, water space that gave me a card bonus. Now I also had a group of 4 tokens.
5th action for automa was to remove food, just a single red.
Then my 6th was to play another Bird card. This time was the RED AVADAVAT, 3rd of the water row. This required only 1 yellow and an egg. With the Wild nest, I occupied the 3rd row again but the middle nest. Now I had a group of 6, cutting their potential to make a size of 7.
6th action from Automa was 2 Eggs. So I got 1.
7th or last action for me was to Lay eggs, just to get bonus from the Wagtail by activating every type of action.
Automa’s last action was 2 more eggs, giving me 1.
I got 2 Foods, yellow and green from the Wagtail. The Automa had 8 tokens on the map while I only had 6 so they won 2 points.
ROUND 3.
This time, the goal was to have the most token in Forest Area. I already had 3, Automa had 2. I had to focus on the next round goal as well with having more tokens in spaces with nest type. There were 4 left in the Forest area.
My first action was to draw cards. The 2 birds got me 2 cards plus 2 from the rightmost space and I discarded an egg for one more. Got Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Rosy Starling, Small Minivet, Black Stork, Great Adjutant.
The Automa’s 1st was to take a face down card. They occupied top row, 3rd space from the right.
My 2nd action was to Gain Food. Got a Green and Gray. Rerolled all of the food. Discarded the Small Minivet card to gain a Green. Then the Monal gave both players a yellow while I got extra egg.
2nd action from Automa was also taking Food, removing just 1 red.
My 3rd was to play a bird, The Black Stork, 4th in 1st row. This was to occupy the 2nd nest space from top right corner 1st row. Spent 2 eggs and I needed a blue and a gray. No blue so I replaced it with a Yellow and a Green.
3rd Automa action got them 3 eggs and 1 for me.
My 4th action was to gain food again. From 3, got a green, blue and gray. The Monal gave us both one yellow plus an egg just for me.
Automa took 2 eggs again. I got 1.
5th action from me was to play a bird again. This time, the Rosy Starling for the last space of Forest row. I had to spend 2 eggs, a green, yellow and red. No Red so I discarded a gray and green. I occupied another Nest in the 1st row, 2nd from the left with dice bonus. Got a red from there.
5th Automa action was to take face down card. They claimed 2nd row from the bottom, leftmost space. This expanded their biggest group while also claiming a nest type spot.
6th or last action from me was Egg, for the Wagtail again. Just 2 eggs.
Automa’s last action was to play a bird. Got a value of 4. Had I followed the right navigation, they could have occupied the top right space, a nest type. But instead another nest type in yellow zone.
Either way, I had 5 tokens in forest area while the automa only had 3. So, I won this round bonus. Got 2 food from Wagtail and 2 eggs from Black stork as end of the round bonus.
ROUND 4.
To win the goal this round, I needed to have more tokens in nest spaces. Automa already had 5 and I only had 3.
My first action was to draw bird cards. I got 7 from 3 birds after discarding an egg, giving a card and token to Automa. Got Eurasian Kestrel, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Hoopoe, Spotted Dove, Stokred Billed Kingfisher, Green Bee Eater and Great Cormorant.
Automa started with playing a bird card. They got a value of 5. If they aimed for the goal, they could have occupied the top right forest space which could have been their 6th nest. Instead, they expanded their largest group in water space.
2nd action from me was to gain Food. Got a Blue and 2 Greens. Discarded a card for a Gray. Tucked 3 cards under Rosy for 1 Green and a Yellow from the Monal plus an egg.
Automa’s 2nd was to take a card, face down. They occupied a food space but expanding their largest group to size 7.
My 3rd action was to play TRUMPETER FINCH in 2nd row. Spent 2 Yellow. I occupied the nest space of yellow in the bottom row with egg bonus.
Playing this bird allowed me to play another bird in this row. Got Green Bee Eater. Discounted the egg requirement but spent 3 Green. Occupied the other nest type of the same row.
3rd action from Automa was 3 eggs so I got 1.
4th action from me was to play a bird again but this one in the water space. Played Great Cormorant. Spent 2 Blue and 2 eggs to occupy the nest type again with card bonus from 3rd row.
Automa’s 4th was to draw a card. They occupied another nest type at top left corner.
My last or 5th was to play a bird again. It was the Olive Backed Sunbird in 2nd row. Spent an egg and a yellow. This only occupied the food type space, 2nd row from the bottom but I expanded my largest group to size 10.
Automa last action was 3 eggs and I got 1.
That was the end of this round and the game. So, both of us got 6 tokens in spaces with nest, scored 5 each.
SCORING
I got 9 points from the Goals, 10 from tokens, 44 from birds, 5 from bonus cards, 12 from eggs and tucked cards. Final score was 90.
Automa got 10 from goals, 7 from tokens, 20 from eggs, 25 from face up bird cards, between 27, 36 or 45 from the face down cards. That means they got either 89, 98 or 107 depending on the difficulty.
Even if I won in easy, I resolved their navigation incorrectly.
Playing time was about 113 minutes.
Tranquility
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Fill the sea with islands so the sailing ship can still visit them but reach their destination in the world of Tranquility.
Finally got 2nd time trying this game. This time I got 2 solo sessions. One was using just the basic game mode just to refresh the rule for me. After winning that session I tried adding Jagged Rocks mini expansion module to the next solo session.
My first impression of that module is, I don’t feel like it changes the game or make it harder at all. Unless, I got the rule wrong but I don’t think so. You just place the rock in any row and that row become inaccessible in your next turn. After playing a card, then you have to move it to another row with at least one empty space.
Since you have 6 rows to work on, there is always a way to just place it somewhere to the point you kind of forget playing with it at all. Eventually once you get 4 rows completed and then you remove that rock card from the game. If anything I actually forgot to remove it since it didn’t matter.
Maybe it matters more when combine with the other module? We’ll see. The next one is Sea Monster cards where it will clog up your hand limit. In order to win, you need to play all the Sea Monster cards, each to an island card to remove both. They cannot be discarded. Depending on the difficulty you can add between 3 to 5 cards.
So, here is how the 2nd session went. I would just ignore the Rocks.
Started with 5, 14, 19, 42 and 54. Played a 5 first in bottommost row, 2nd space from the left. Got a 55. Then the 14 to 2nd row from below, 1st space from the left. Got 57 in return.
Then I went with 42 to 4th row, first space, replaced by 32. Above that, I played 54 and got 50 back. 19 next in 2nd row 4th space. Got 1st Finish card.
Played the 55 next to 54 by discarding that Finish Card. Got 1 and another Finish. Then played the 32 in 3rd row 3rd space with 63 in return. Immediately played that 63 in 5th row last space with 59 entered my hand.
Next, I played 50 4th row 5th space got 71. Played that 71 immediately to 3rd space of top row with 70 in return. Played that 70 before the 71 by discarding the 2nd Finish card. Got a 7 and 44.
I played 44 next after the 42 so I had to discard 2 cards. Discarded the 1 and 59. Got 49, 37, 9. Played the 49 before the 50 by discarding the 37. Got 77 and 40.
Played that 77 to top row 5th space. Got START and played it.
After drawing 8 and discarding back to 4, I kept 78, 62, 57 and 7, discarding the rest. I drew 16 next. Played that 78 as the last card by discarding that 16. Got Finish, 3rd one and 80.
Played 7 next to the 5 so I had to discard 2 cards, the 3rd Finish and the 80. Got 4th finish, 27 and 33. Played the 33 after 32, discarding the 4th finish, got 76 and 13. Then I played 62 before 63 so I discarded 57, with 8 and 4 as replacements.
Next was 76 right before 77 so I discarded the 27. Got 69 and the last Finish card. Played that 69 right before 70 by discarding the 8, completing the top row. Got 18 and 20.
Played the 20 after 19, discarding the 4. Got 45 and a 2. Then I played the 13 right before 14, discarding a 2. Got 67 and 79 which I could just discard.
After that, I played the 45 after 44 discarding the 67. Almost completed the 4th row. Got 11 and 43 back. Then I played 18 right before 19, discarding the 79. Got 28 and 47. Played that 28, 1 space from 32 and 20 with 24 back.
Played 11 before 13, discarding 43 and 47. Got 73, 58 and 36. Then I played that 36 right after 33 so I had to discard 3 cards, 24, 73, 58. Got 51, 3, 23, 68.
Played the 51 as the last of 4th row right after 50, discarding the 68. Got 29 and 30 back. Played the 29 after 28, discarding the 30 with 6 and 10 in return. One card left to complete the 3rd row.
Played the 10 before 11, discarding the 6. Got 21 and 72 back. Played the 21 after 20 discarding the 72. 5 cards left. Got 56 and 64.
Then the 3 as the first card of first row before the 5. So I had to discard 2, the 24 and 64. Got 65, 38 and 74. Played the 56 after 55, discarding the 65 with 41 and 75 in return.
Played that 41 right before 42 as the last of 3rd row, discarding the 38. Finished that 3rd row. At this point, the rock should have been removed. Got 26 and 53 in return, 2 cards left.
Played the 61 before 62 and the 17 before 18, discarding 75 and 74. Filled the grid completely and I played the FINISH CARD to end the game. I had 7 cards left.
Playing time was about 30 minutes for one session.
Point City
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Grab resources and construct buildings to get and grow permanent supply to create the best city in Point City.
This was my 2nd time playing Point City game and first time trying out the solo variant. The solo variant comes with 3 difficulty settings but they work the same. Just different way to score.
I actually got 2 sessions. But it seems I got some rule wrong in the 2nd one. The rule being that I cannot use the permanent resource from newly constructed buildings in the same turn. However, you can still use resources you draw this round to help build in the same turn.
Somehow, I don’t feel the 2nd time was as good as the first one. Is it because I was more aware of what the opponent was trying to do? It also felt like I was stuck with no available resource to help me take cards or build buildings, including cards from the deck. I ended up spending more Ingenuity or wild cards until I had none.
Apparently there is another issue with the scoring of this solo opponent. A lot of people disagree with how to interpret the scoring and unfortunately, none of the designers made a statement responding to that while doing for the other question.
The problematic part about the scoring is whether the opponent score per card of permanent resource or just one score for every type. I played with the latter and it felt close to mine while with the former, the score can double and almost impossible to beat. There are other unanswered question as well related to this solo variant.
Some people find the solo mode is too easy even with the hardest difficulty but some others find it challenging. I certainly did not win in my first game with hard mode and it was even worse if using the other interpretation.
While the scoring doesn’t change how the opponent plays but the different interpretation affects how the player plays against the opponent. With just one scoring per resource type, you might want to let the opponent takes the same permanent resources over and over again. However, with the score per card, then you might want to let them diverse their resource types.
I checked Rahdo’s playthrough since he did the solo mode and it seems he used the one score per resource type instead of per card. This way he let the opponent took a lot of buildings for one type.
Well, I guess I’m just going with this “easier” scoring first and see if I can actually beat that score. Then maybe I can try the other way of scoring if the easier one is not as challenging anymore.
It’s a shame that none of the designers addressed this issue. Oh, well.
Also, it seems like the optional flipping one card from a row or column of resources to a building side can be beneficial in the first turn. Maybe I should try using it.
So, this is how the session went.
1ST ROUND. I took the yellow and red from 4th column, 2nd and 3rd row. Not sure why but mostly because there were only 2 yellows and 2 reds. The opponent took a purple and orange. No Civic yet.
2nd ROUND. I drew 2nd red and purple from the deck. The opponent took 2 purple. 1st Civic building showed up and the opponent would take it later.
3rd ROUND. I took the Green first from 3rd column and 2nd row with the Newststand on its right that required a purple and a red. Got my first yellow permanent resources. Another Civic showed up but not where the opponent would take. Green and orange cards for the opponent this time.
4th ROUND. Since I wanted to prevent the opponent from taking the first Civic, I needed 3 orange. I took 2 cards from 2nd column, top most. No additional civic. The opponent took 2 Gold and a Civic showed up there.
5th ROUND. No more orange but the deck had it so 2 cards from it and I got an orange and 2nd yellow. The opponent went back to first space and got 2 buildings, first yellow and first orange.
6th ROUND. This was my only chance to take that first Civic before the opponent so I spent 3 orange to get the one from 4th row and 2nd column. I also paid 1 red and 1 green for the building above it, the Tiny Home so the opponent had no choice but to take resources. I took the leftmost civic token that gives me 3 points per orange and purple.
7th ROUND. Took 2 cards from the deck, double green and double red. The opponent got 2 buildings, 2nd orange and first green plus 2 points.
8th ROUND. So, the opponent was about to take 2 more buildings with one of them as Civic. I spent the double green plus my Wild to build that first, the Pocket Park. Got Civic for 3 points per purple. I also got double green back on the left from that building. The opponent got first purple and a Wild.
9th ROUND. I built Cottage with 2 red from 4th column, 3rd row, plus the wild above it. That was 2nd Purple permanent for me plus 1 point. The opponent took purple and orange resources.
10th ROUND. No Civic but the opponent was about to take 3rd orange and first red. I let them had that while I built Light Post with double green and purple from 1st row, 2nd column and the single green on its left. This gave me first orange permanent and points from the building and civic tokens.
11th ROUND. There was one Civic that required 3 Purple and I only got 2 from permanent. With one orange permanent and green card I built another Tiny Home from 2nd row, 2nd column with the Wild above it. The opponent took double Gold and 4th Orange. No additional Civic.
12th ROUND. Built that only Civic, School for free from 2nd row, 3rd column plus double green on its left. Took the Civic with 5 points per tokens. The opponent got 2 buildings, 2nd and 3rd red for them plus 4 points.
13th ROUND. I wanted to build more orange so I paid double green and 2 wilds to build Tech Startup from 3rd row 1st column with a Wild on its left. The opponent got 2nd Gold and double gold card. Now a Civic showed up.
14th ROUND. I had enough permanent to build HOTEL for 5 points from 2nd row and column plus a wild on its left. The opponent, however got a building worth 7, plus a wild.
15th ROUND. I took a Wild and double green from 4th column, 2nd and 3rd row. Somehow that gave the opponent opportunity to take Civic. The opponent got 2nd green and a Wild.
16th ROUND. I built RADIO STATION from the top left by spending double green and 2 orange from my buildings. The opponent took the Civic for 6 points for a set of complete resource plus double orange.
17th ROUND. I built MUSEUM, with 2 Gold, 1 from building and 2 Wild from 1st column, 3rd row plus a wild. The opponent last action was DATA CENTER and non wild resources.
That was the end of the game.
SCORING. I got 14 points from buildings, 6 from 1st Civic tokens, 6 from 2nd Civic token, 4 from 2nd Civic token and 20 from the last. My final Score was 50 points.
The opponent got 3 from wild, 7 from 1 token, 23 from buildings, 12 from 2 types, 6 from 2 types and 1 from last type of resources. Their Final Score was 52. So, I lost.
Playing time was about 37 minutes per session.
Grove: 9 card solitaire game
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Grow your lemon, lime and orange trees to fulfill your recipes in Grove: A 9 card solitaire game.
I got only 2 sessions this time, using the Recipes. In the first game, the 2 recipes were Orange Marmalade and Fruit Salad. With the first recipe, I had to play orange die in first turn while with the 2nd I needed to have 3 dice of the same color adjacent. Target score was 54.
The first card was 10 and the 2 cards in hand were 8 and 17. Played the 8 first since it had 2 orange in the same trees and exactly next to a yellow just like the #10. Rotated the card 90 counterclockwise and overlapped the 2 trees so I got Yellow 2 and Orange 4.
4th card was 11 with 17 from before. Played the 17 next. Rotated the card 180 so the yellow and green from this one could overlap the one end from #10 and swapping the position of the glade. Got Yellow 4 and Green 4.
5th card was 9 and I still had 11. Played the 11 without rotating the card, got almost perfect overlap of 4 trees including the existing first yellow and orange. Got 2 Green 2, turning the Yellow from 2 to 4 and the orange from 4 to 6.
6th card was 2 with 9 from before. Played the 2 at the bottom end after rotating the card 90 degrees, overlapping 4 trees again. Turning the yellow from 2 to 4, the Green from 3 to 4, created two Orange 2.
7th card was a 3 with the 9 still in hand. This new card had 2 yellow on one end. Using these, I connected the 2 Yellows with a 3rd one, completing the recipe. Got Yellow 10 and new Yellow 2.
8th card was 13, still with the 9. I had the chance to turn that Yellow 10 into Wheelbarrow and it still counts for the Fruit Salad, while overlapping 2 trees. Using the 9, rotated 90 degrees, turning that Yellow into Wheelbarrow, created new green 4 and turning the Orange 2 into 4.
9th card was 12 with 13. I turned the 12 180 degrees and just overlapped the green and orange at the top right while adding a yellow to a glade. Orange 6 became basket or 10, the Green 2 became 3.
Using this 13 as the last, the 4 below could overlap the top part of 12. Got new yellow 3, Orange basket stayed as basket, new orange 3 and the Green 3.
Score was 19 from Orange, 16 from Green, 24 from Yellow plus 1 and 6 from the 2 Recipes. Final Score was 66 from the target 54. Probably my best score.
For 2nd game, the 2 recipes were the Lime Cordial and Fruit Basket with target score of 57. With the first, I need to play all Green dice while the 2nd just requires a basket. First card was 18 and the 2 in hands were 4 and 7.
Played the 4 first overlapping the 2 at the top of 18. Got Orange 3 and Green 4.
4th card was a 6. Played the 7 first since the bottom half of it could overlap the bottom of #4 after rotating the card 90 degrees. Got new Green 2 and Yellow 3, turning the Orange 3 into 4 and the Green 4 into 5.
5th card was 16 with 6 from before. This time I played the 6 first. Rotated the card 90 so the bottom could overlap the 2 existing dice on the right while covering the orange with glade and filling the glade with new orange. Turned that Yellow 3 into 4 and I was supposed to turn that Green 5 into 6 but I accidentally turned it into a basket.
6th card was number 1. Played the 16 this time. Turned it 180 degrees so the 2 at the bottom could overlap a new Orange and green of number 6. Got Orange 2 and Green 4.
7th card was 14 still with 1. The top of existing grove got the yellow green yellow corner which matched up with 14 after rotating it 90 counterclockwise. Got new yellow 2, turning the green 2 into 3 and the Yellow from 5 to 6.
8th card was 15 and 1. Played the 1 this time without rotating it onto the top right of Grove. Got new Green 3, turned Orange 2 into 3 and the Green 4 into 5.
9th card was a 5. I still needed to play 1 more green and these 2 cards only had one tree each. So no more upgrading the existing. Played the 5 first at the bottom left of the Grove, increasing the Orange 4 to 6 and got two new yellow, a 3 and a 2.
With the last one, the 15, I turned it 90 counterclockwise and overlapped the 3 at the bottom left. Got 5th green a 4, turning the Yellow 2 into 3 and got Orange 2.
So, apparently I failed to get the basket for the 2nd recipe. Score only 5 points from Lime Cordial, 21 from Green, 11 from Orange and 14 from Yellow. Final score was 51, missed the 57 target because I got that basket wrong. Oh, well.
Playing time was about 18 minutes per session.
Final Girl: Frightmare on Maple Lane
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Sheila was back to the Maple Lane, the neighborhood of her boyfriend when Dr. Fright returned to kill more people in his dream world. As she approached the intersection from the west, she saw the northwest house near the exit had a party. There were about 5 people there. One of them knew about Sheila and invited her to join in.
While she was interested at first but she reminded herself that she had no time and was just here to pick up things from her boyfriend’s house. So, she politely declined and just kept going to the north exit. “Focus, Sheila!”
On the opposite side of the neighborhood, the house on the east got a visitor. The owner looked out through their door and he seemed like just a nice guy so they opened the door and greeted the visitor. “Can I help you, sir?”
The visitor just smiled, trying to reach the owner with one arm while the owner thought maybe he was just trying to shake hands. To his surprise, before the owner even lifted his arm, that visitor sliced off one of his fingers. The owner was shocked and fell on the floor, while slowly crawling back inside.
Back to Sheila. As she entered the intersection, she saw two citizens there. The 2 told Sheila that something bad was happening in the house near the east exit and they were about to check it out. Sheila had bad feeling about it and instead of following them, she dragged them both to the north.
Then they saw a Cop Car entering the neighborhood from the south. The Cop made announcement that everybody should hide and stay inside the house. A homicide had been reported and it happened somewhere near the east exit. With that worrying news, some of the citizens decided to get home early and stayed inside.
After hearing that, it was easier for Sheila to convince the two to stay away from the neighborhood and they went to the north exit. As planned, Sheila entered the boyfriend’s home on the right. Unfortunately nobody was home and the house was locked. Sheila forgot that she had to ask for key from the neighbor’s house across the street. She found his bicycle was outside and she could ride it there.
Well, she decided to just go faster by walk since it was very close. Sheila arrived in that home and of course, it was locked. After a bit of convincing and the owner knew about Sheila coming, they let her in.
Sheila was actually just going to ask for the key but somehow, she fell asleep in the porch.
When Sheila woke up, she realized that she was not in that neighbor’s house. She didn’t recognize this place. Sheila stood up right away and tried to look for exit. This looked like a boiler room with just a single pathway but not straight. After the 4th turn, she found a door. Before she opened it, she noticed there was someone behind her.
She turned around and finally saw the man, that visitor. That person didn’t say anything but smiling. Sheila noticed that this person was holding a garden fork and started to swing around, attacking her. Sheila managed to avoid it with minimum injury and while scared, she immediately reached the door and get away from it.
Entering that next and bright room got her to wake up. She was in that neighbor’s house. Sheila thought that was just a dream but then she noticed she got injury in the exact spot that the killer did to her. So, she started to feel it was all real and suspected that the killer in that dream was responsible for the death in that neighborhood.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t convince the owner with her story. After all, it happened in a dream. But she managed to convince both to get away from Maple Lane. Before going outside, Sheila picked up a Firework. Not sure how she was going to use it but she put it in her backpack. Then Sheila and the 2 stepped out of the house.
They saw the Cop car was still going in their direction. Knowing how dangerous that killer was, Sheila was determined to warn more people in the neighborhood. From their position, she saw the 3 in Smalley’s house. After telling the 2 to just stay where they were and wait for the police to pick them up, she sprinted to Smalley’s house.
After a bit of convincing, Sheila was let in to the house. Sheila told the 3 to follow the cops and move along to safety. Unfortunately, only 2 of them followed that advice. Sheila grabbed a Megaphone before going out to bring along those 2 to the cop car.
At the intersection before going to South road, Sheila noticed a guy near the East exit. In a BLURRED REALITY, she knew that was the guy in her dream who was trying to kill her before. Luckily, he didn’t see her. After handing the two to the police, she decided to convince more in that road.
Sheila went to the house on the right. After a bit more convincing, she entered the house and the 2 in the house followed her advice. Sheila was so scared with that killer. She had no idea what she was up against so she tried to find anything that she thought could help her before leaving the house. Something like… a cross? Who knows?
The cop car was already in the northern part so the 3 decided to just leave on their own from the south exit. Sheila noticed there was someone else in that other house on the right. She told the 2 to just go away without her while she continued to warn more.
Unfortunately, this one didn’t open the door for Sheila. She saw the house across had its door opened? So she entered it. No one was there and she decided to take some rest.
The Killer, witnessing movements from his dream world near the East exit got mad with what Sheila was doing. This awakened his minor dark power. He tried to make sure if Sheila fell asleep again, she couldn’t escape from the Boiler Room.
In that southern house, Sheila found a Machete. Somehow it had some leftover blood? She thought maybe the killer was here before even though she didn’t find any corpse. Even she was scared of holding this weapon so she just put it in her backpack for future use.
Sheila was still trying to save that one person across the street. This time, she did manage to convince her to let Sheila in and followed her advice to leave the neighborhood via that south exit.
This time Sheila found an Archery Bow from that house and asked the owner to let her use it. After sending the owner to safety, Sheila, wielding that Bow, moved to the intersection and looked to the east. She thought she could find this killer.
Luckily, she remembered to just take a rest to enter the dream. And that was what she did. Sheila woke up and saw that guy from the intersection. The killer didn’t notice that Sheila was in dream state. Sheila took this chance to shoot those 3 arrows from 2 spaces away.
The 2 shots took down his minor power while only one injured the Killer. Sheila thought that was enough but she was wrong. While being stabbed with that arrow, the killer approached her and dragged Sheila to the Boiler Room.
Sheila tried to escape the room again. On 2nd turn, the killer almost caught her, one injury to her. Eventually Sheila managed to escape and wake up.
While all of that was happening, the Cop car with 4 people managed to reach the north exit and got them to safety. Sheila while being very close to the killer tried to do whatever she could to get away. As improvisation, she threw the Archery Bow at the killer and started to find something else from her backpack. While in very hurry she grabbed the Megaphone.
Sheila managed to run to the North, exit. Luckily, with that megaphone, she used it to call out the one person in the house across her boyfriend’s. Sheila managed to send this person away. Unfortunately, that irritated the killer and he started to move closer to her instead of entering the house.
While all of that was happening, the Smalley guy who decided to stay in the house got 2 visitors, 2 of his family members. They also don’t trust the story about the killer as it was just a gossip for them. Meanwhile the Killer was getting closer to Sheila, just one space away from her.
Sheila remembered that she had this Machete in her backpack and decided maybe this was a good chance to take this killer down. So she put it in her hand and took a rest to enter the dream state once again.
Finally the 2 were face to face. Sheila walked up to the Killer and began to attack. With a bit of Improvisation and Furious Attack, she dealt 4 damage to him. That was not enough and the Killer was still standing.
The killer tried to hit Sheila but Sheila managed to avoid all of the attack. That made the killer angrier with more bloodlust. He dragged Sheila again to the Boiler Room again. Sheila had no choice to avoid and was about to get hit. However, she did RETALIATE, dealing 4 damage to the Killer.
The killer fell to the ground. When Sheila thought this was over, she and turned away from him, the killer stood up again. Even if he was still alive, the killer couldn’t do much. That gave Sheila a chance for more Planning. Even with just Weak Attack, she managed to finally put an end to this horror from Maple Lane.
Playing time was about 106 minutes.
Calico
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Sew the coziest quilt for your cats with their favorite patterns in Calico.
This was a solo session, 2nd attempt with the Solo Achievement Scenario #9. To win this one, I need at least 68 points, get one of every cat of Callie, Cira and Leo and scored both goals of 2 goal tiles.
Callie is one of the starting cat, very easy with just 3 of its preferred pattern but the shape has to be in triangle. Cira likes 6 or more of its preferred patterns while Leo wants 5 of its pattern but it has to be in straight line.
I’m not sure if every possible combination of patterns is possible with this one. While trying to figure out the layout to complete the objective, I ended up swapping position of either the Goal tiles and some patterns between cats. This time, I even drew my plan on paper before starting to play because of that.
Usually I put the AAAA-BB on the left and this time I put it on the right. Also, considering the result, maybe I should be more careful when trying to score the gold for this specific goal. Try to score the other one instead.
1st ROUND. Started with the Red Flower for Cira and the Green Palm for Callie. I placed the Green on the left of the left Goal tile, the AABBCC. Then I took the Red Plus for Cira removing the light blue flower.
2nd ROUND. My plan for Cira was to start with the Star at the bottom right border then slowly move up, two spaces adjacent to the right goal, 2 for the left and ended with the tile between the left and middle. I placed this Red Plus between the 2 goals on the left so each added a new color and pattern. Took a Red Palm for Callie, letting go the Purple Plus. So, I guess this was my failure, happened at very start of the game.
3rd ROUND. I placed that Red Palm, top left from the left goal tile, so now Callie had their favorite spot. I took Blue Polka Dot, removing the Red Flower.
4th ROUND. My plan for Leo was a straight line at the bottommost row, starting from the left with the Polka Dot. So, I placed this Blue at bottom right from left goal, adding 3rd color and pattern to this goal. Then I took Blue Plus, removing blue leaves.
5th ROUND. Placed this Blue Plus to the right from left goal, without adding new pattern and goal. I got 3rd for the group of Blue so first button. Then I took Green Polka Dot, removing Purple Palm.
6th ROUND. Placed that Green Polka Dot at the bottom left corner. This completed the group of 3 Green and perfectly scored the goal tile. Got 2nd button and took the Green Stripe, removing light Blue Leave.
7th ROUND. My starting red flower was actually no good use and keeping it just made things worse. So, I just placed it two spaces from the left of middle goal, creating a group of 3 red for the button. Took Purple Star, removing another Blue leave pattern.
8th ROUND. I placed the Purple Plus at the bottom right from right goal, hoping to get a purple button. Maybe I should have realized that it was not possible at that point since the other one was discarded already. I could have won had I abandoned this probably. Took Purple Stripe and removed the Red Leave.
9th ROUND. I placed this Stripe between the goal in the middle and the right, put it on the lower one. This added 2nd pattern to both and 2nd color to the middle. Took Light Blue Polka Dot while letting go Blue Leave.
10th ROUND. Placed that Green stripe to the right from right goal, starting another line for Leo. This added 2nd color to that goal. Took another Green Stripe, removing Yellow Palm.
11th ROUND. Placed the Light Blue Dot to continue the horizontal row for Leo. One more. Took Light Blue Stripe, removing a Purple Leave.
12th ROUND. Placed the Green Stripe in the 2nd line for Leo, still connected to the right goal. Got another Green button and one more stripe for Leo. Took a Yellow Plus, removing a Green leave.
13th ROUND. Placed the Yellow Plus at the bottom right corner. One more Plus for Cira, abandoning my plan to chase Purple button. Took Yellow Dot, removing 2nd Green Leave.
14th ROUND. Placed that Yellow Dot as the last for Leo. Also got a button for group of 3 Yellow. Took Red Stripe while removing Blue Plus.
15th ROUND. Placed the light blue stripe to complete the 2nd line for Leo. Took a light Blue plus removing Red Dot.
16th ROUND. Placed that light blue at the top right just for the button. Got Yellow Stripe, removing Blue Dot.
17th ROUND. I placed this Yellow Stripe at the top left from middle goal. This added 3rd color but no new pattern to that goal. Took Green Plus, removing 2nd Blue Palm.
18th ROUND. I placed that Green Plus to finally complete the pattern of 6 for Cira. Then I took Purple Stripe which I thought was perfect for the right goal. I was wrong but didn’t realized that at that time. Removing 2nd Green Leave.
19th ROUND. I placed that Purple stripe in the last space between the two goals on the right, completing the right goal. While the pattern was exactly 4 stripe and 2 plus but the color was 3 and 3. So I failed. And at this point, I already failed for the yellow goal in the middle as well. Took Blue Flower, removing Purple flower.
20th ROUND. I placed that Blue flower at the top right from middle goal just to add new pattern and color to that tile. Took Yellow dot, removing 2nd Red Leave.
21st ROUND. Placed that Yellow at the top left, completing a group of 3 yellow for the button. Then I took Purple Flower.
22nd ROUND. For the middle goal just for the color, I already had 4 colors with one of them had 2. So, either yellow, blue or red was perfect and I had the Red Stripe there.
So, I already failed the Scenario Achievement. Like in my previous attempt, failed one yellow goal. Score was 22 for 2 Leo, 9 for Cira, 3 for Callie, 21 for 7 buttons but missing the Purple, 11 from yellow left goal, 7 from the blue right goal and 5 for the middle.
FINAL SCORE: 78. Playing time was about 41 minutes, before the planning.
Tiny Epic Defenders: The Dark War
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Defend Edenmoore, rescue villagers from nearby regions and win the Great Battle of Tiny Epic Defenders: The Dark War.
This was my 2nd play using contents from the Dark War expansion. Still playing just the single Great Battle with the 2 Elves, Nyrra and Laishom. This time the Coast location was the friendly one while the Forest was Hostile, first time using the Forest as hostile.
I think I already noticed a mistake I made with this Forest rule. With this hostile part, if I want to secure it, I need to spend 1 AP first just to get into the Tree. However, if I want to defend, I have to get out from the tree. So it was a bit less efficient defending this place compared to the other. The part that I forgot was if I end my turn on the tree and start the next one on it, I will automatically get out. Not sure how easier it got with my incorrect play.
After finished writing this, I realized that I didn’t actually do much error regarding that location. None even probably. The idea that defending is better forced me to just got off the tree at the end of every turn.
Also, somehow, like in my previous play, the Friendly location got destroyed very early. I didn’t even have a chance to use their new power.
Anyway, here is how it went.
1ST ROUND. Caravan at Desert.
2 attacks to the Forest, one to the other locations except for the Ruins. Nyrra went first and decided to defend from Northeast, the Mountain since the Forest was in the opposite. From there, she secured the Coast.
Then Nyrra went again, securing the Plain and Mountain and the last AP was for getting XP. After that was Laishom’s turn, started by giving AP to Nyrra which she used to move to Coast. Laishom then moved to southeast, the Desert to secure. He continued by moving to the Forest at southwest, hopped on to the tree and secure the Forest one level.
2nd ROUND. Caravan at Coast.
Laishom started the round. 1 AP for Nyrra that she used to increase her XP. After gaining XP himself, Laishom went back to the desert to escort the Caravan to the Capital City. Well, that was not enough but he continued his action, exactly 3 AP to reach the City along with first Caravan.
After an attack to each Forest, Desert, Mountain and Plains, it was Nyrra’s turn. She also used this chance to escort the Caravan back to capital City. Nyrra continued by moving to Plains on the East. From there, she secured Mountain and Desert.
New attack and this time was to Ruins and Coast, followed by 2nd to Forest and Coast.
3rd ROUND. Caravan at Ruins.
The first 4 attacks managed to completely destroy the Coast and almost destroyed the Forest. Laishom went ahead to the Forest and only secured it 1 level. Nyrra was next. After securing the Plains, through the City she went to the Ruins on the west, securing it as well.
Laisom’s turn again letting Nyrra to finally reach the Coast. After securing the Forest twice, he got off the tree, generating XP, ready to defend.
2 more attacks hit on 4 different locations. Last of Defender’s turn was for Nyrra to escort the Caravan from the west to the city. Then she continued to defend in the Plains.
Apparently the next one was Dire Enemy where Nyrra was. The Giant Wasp dealt 2 damage to her but got her Celestial Idol.
4th ROUND. Caravan at the Forest.
Laishom started again this round by escorting the Caravan back to the City. He then stopped his movement in Ruins.
After 2 attacks, one to Mountain and the other to Plains, 2nd Dire Enemy showed up at where Laishom was. 2 damage to Laishom but he got Spear of Valor.
Another attack to the Forest and to Coast with no one to defend. So the Capital City’s threat level went up to 2. Nyrra;s turn next and she spent her turn securing Mountain and Plains plus gaining XP.
She stayed there and the Dire Enemy attacked her once again. This time she got Staff of Control but getting exhausted. Then more attacks to Forest and Desert before last 2 action cards for the Defenders.
First, Nyrra went back to the Capital to heal. Laishom moved to the forest, to the tree and secured the location. They then each moved back to east and west, ready to defend from dire enemies. Nyrra also secured the Capital city once.
5th ROUND. Caravan at Mountain.
First attack was from the Wraith. Laishom was at Ruins to defend and he got the TIMELESS HOURGLASS. From here on, he decided to move last and gained extra action.
Nyrra was next but she couldn’t move much waiting for the Dire enemy. Also nothing to secure from that location. So, she went back to Capital City to secure again and returned to the east while gaining XP.
After 4 attacks to different locations but nothing to Coast, Defenders’ turn again. Laishom moved to the Forest, secured it and gained XP.
Nyrra finally got to defend against the Wasp. She got Dragon Familiar to help her secure from any location. Defenders’ turn again and while injured, Nyrra rushed to the Coast, after securing the Plain and Mountain a bit.
2 more attacks to the Forest, one to Desert and the Coast. Each defender, defended once. Finally, Laishom’s turn. The bonus action for Nyrra got her to gain maximum XP and healed plus learning the Hunter Skill.
Laishom managed to Entomb the Wasp in the ruins so Nyrra could focus on defending the Coast. He spent the rest to gain XP.
6th ROUND. Caravan at Plains.
After an attack to Forest and Desert, in Defenders’ turn, Nyrra, using Dragon Familiar, secured the Desert 1 level. The rest was to gain XP for her.
Nyrra continued by moving to Mountain and secured the Plains from there before going back to Coast. Attack happened to Forest and Plains. Defenders’ turn again and Laishom from the west to Capital city, moved to the Plains to escort the Caravan. He then moved back to the west.
More attack to forest and Coast. Nyrra defended the destroyed location while Forest was almost done. The attack continued at mountain and desert followed by Wraith. Laishom defended and got the Automaton which helped him to heal.
More attack to Mountains and Plains before it was Laishom’s turn. In the Ruins, he entombed Wasp again. He then moved to the Forest to secure it but not completely.
7th ROUND. EPIC FOE: DRACOLITH.
Thie Epic Foe had the ability of Relic Shield. Unless the defender has any Artifact to bypass it, the Defender had to spend more in order to attack. Luckily, both my Elves already had something.
The Defenders got the first move. Nyrra, using the Staff of Control moved that Epic Foe to the Forest where Laishom was. Laishom then dealt 3 damage using the Spear of Valor and a couple more hit to that Epic Foe. 5 left to take it down.
First 2 enemy attacks managed to destroy the desert and some to Mountain. The 3rd almost destroyed the Mountain and Plains. Nyrra was next and she moved the Epic Foe again to her location. She then spent all of her actions dealing damage to the boss. Dracolith was not done yet.
Next attack destroyed the Plains. Wraith with no one to defend deal 2 damage to Nyrra. The attack continued to Forest and Coast which both defenders, took the damage.
Last turn for Defenders, Nyrra moved back the Epic Foe to the Forest where Laishom finished it. Even if it was not enough, Laishom was ready to deal even more damage. The Defenders have won.
Playing time was about 44 minutes.
Learn more about the game from Tiny Epic Defenders Review.
Bamboo
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Decorate your home while maintaining comfort balances between rooms by harvesting Bamboo and with the help from Spirits in Bamboo.
Back with 2-handed session between the human family and the Panda. The Panda with purple was the first player and the human was 2nd with ivory. Played using the advanced variant of the player board.
1st ROUND.
Panda got the first choice to do extra Decorate action. Paid just 1 coin, gained 1 HP and bought a garden tile and placed it in the middle, bottom row. The Human family had to take the food and they took the value 2 even though there was value 3.
Panda’s first action was to visit Green with 2 incense sticks. Gained 2 coins and the food with value 3. They needed one more to win the favor from the Spirit. So, they replaced their bamboo with one green and one blue, decorate and balance.
Human family went to the Red temple with also 2 sticks. One for Balance and one for Decorate. They spent 1 money for decoration tile worth 2 comfort points but 1 HP. It was placed also in the middle column, top row. Then they took 2 balance tiles both required just any Decoration tile. One for the middle with total value of 7 and the other was on the left of the house. The Human was winning the majority for this Red temple.
Panda’s next turn was to visit the Purple with just 1 action so they still had one left. No competition in majority. It was Balance action, one for the middle and the other for the right.
The Human also visited Purple with 1 stick so they were winning this time. It was also Balance tile. However, they only took a simple one for the left since the available ones for the right side didn’t work well for their home. They took a Red with money from the bamboo.
Then the Panda went to the Green temple with the last stick but they had 2 options for action. They were currently winning the Spirit. Either decorate action or money. It seems they chose money. Took Purple food as replacement for bamboo.
The Human visited the Blue with one stick and not enough to win. They got 2 options as well either Food or Decorate. Took the food for single value since they only had one tile.
Panda got only Tengu Spirit while the Human got Kitsune and Ookami.
After feeding, both happiness were at 6.
2nd ROUND.
Human got the first choice this time and since they needed money, they took 2 coins. Panda got food and they took the value 3 again.
Human went to red temple, praying to Bakeneko with 2 sticks, a wild and 2 coins. The Wild action was to Decorate, buying a garden tile for 1 with comfort value of 2. It was placed in the middle row, 4th column, trying to work on the starting Balance tile. They still needed 1 more to win. So, they replaced the bamboo with a red and a blue both for decorates.
Panda started with the Blue, 3 sticks, a wild, a food and Balance tile. They were winning the majority there at the moment. The food was another value 3 and they took 2 balance tiles, one for left and one for the right. Then the wild was for Decorate action, buying with 1 coin, gaining 1 HP for decoration tile with comfort value of 3. This was placed at top row 4th column, where it was required. As replacement, 1 green, 1 red and 1 purple with 2 balances and food action. They should have taken the only decorate action there.
Then the human visited the Green with 2, coin and balance. They were winning at this moment but they already had the Ookami spirit. This time the balance tiles for the right that were good for them were available so they took both. As replacement they took one green and one blue, a food and balance again.
Panda then visited Purple with exactly 2 last sticks, Balance and food again. No one competing there. Took another value 3 food and just one balance tile for the left home. Both were replaced by 2 green, a decorate and a balance.
Human’s last action this time was to visit red, to win the majority with just 1 stick but 2 options of action. Either food or decorate. They chose decorate, paying 2 coins for 2 HP to get a tool tile with comfort value of 2. The tile was placed at the bottom right corner. Then they took Blue food and Green Wild.
Human got only Bakeneko while the Panda also got Bakeneko plus Ookami. For feeding, human lost 1 HP for feeding only 2 while Panda overpaid again.
3rd ROUND.
Panda got first choice again and picked food, with a value of 3. Giving the human 3 coins.
Their first action was to visit Green for Kitsune. They brought 3 sticks, currently winning, with food, balance and decorate action. Only value 2 and 1 were available. Bought Faith tile from cheapest spot and placed it at the bottom right corner. With the Balance, they scored the right one for that Faith tile and took a replacement with decoration requirement. Then they took 2 blue and 1 green, 2 balance and 1 food.
Human’s first visit was to Blue with 2 sticks, currently winning. They got food with value 2 and then for the decorate paid 2 coins for 2 HP and a tool tile with a comfort value of 2 to be placed at the top left as required. Got back a green coin and blue wild.
Panda went to the Red for Tanuki. No competition but they had 3 sticks. With the help from Bakeneko, they sent 2 to Purple and paying 1 to stay in the Red temple, currently winning. Got 2 coins, paid those 2 coins for garden tile and 2 Hp which they placed on the left, middle row, 1st column. For the balance action they scored one from the left and replaced it. That was their last turn this round.
Human still had 4 sticks. They went to the purple with 3, spent 1 coin to send it to the red, winning in both against the Panda and got 2 coins. Scored one balance tile on the left and refilled it with another decoration based scoring tile. The wild action was for decorating, paying 2 coins for 2 HP and a Faith tile. They placed it at the bottom row 2nd column as required by the board. As bamboo replacement, they took 2 red and 1 purple.
Human went again for the last stick to the Blue. They already won there. The wild action was to purchase decoration tile from cheapest spot. This was placed in middle row, leftmost column as required. Got red coin back.
Human won Tanuki, Rokurokubi and Tanuki while Panda only won the Kitsune. For feeding, Human got helped from Ookami and 2 food of their own to pay for 6. Panda only used the help from Ookami.
Panda was at 15 while human was at 17 of Happiness track.
4th ROUND.
Human got first choice and took Decorate action, giving the Panda more food, the only value 3. Paid 1 coin for 1 HP and a garden tile that they placed at the center.
Human started by visiting green with 2 sticks, wild and money. No competition yet. The wild was to decorate again, paying 2 coins for 2 HP and another Garden tile with Comfort of 1. This was placed at the top right corner. Got green coin and red decorate back.
Panda also chose Green but this time they got help from Bakeneko to send both sticks to Purple, currently winning there. Paid 1 coin to buy tool tile value 2 which they placed at the bottom left corner. Then they scored one tile from the left and immediately replaced by simple scoring based on Faith. They took Purple wild and balance bamboo.
Human also went to Purple but only 1 stick so not winning yet. It was food so they took value 2. Got Blue wild as replacement. Apparently, I forgot to place a stick here so they ended up getting more action.
Panda to red next with 2 sticks, not winning yet. Got 2 coins and the wild was to buy Faith tile from cheapest spot to place at the top left corner. Got 2 green back, a balance and a decorate.
Human went to green again for 2 coins only. They were already winning there. Got Purple food in return.
Panda went with Purple, 2 sticks. Apparently Panda also cheated of forgetting to place the sticks. Both got too many actions. Wild for 2 coins, and the balanced scored 1 tile on the left and replaced it with a new one. Took 2 red, coin and wild.
Human went to Blue, 1 stick of wild action. They paid 2 coins for decoration tile and 2 happiness which they placed at the middle row, 2nd column. Got purple balance in return.
This was supposed to be Panda’s last 1 action but they got 2, coins and Wild by visiting red. Paid 2 coins for decoration tiles and 2 happiness. This was placed at the middle row, rightmost. Got green coin and purple balance.
Human was supposed to have 2 actions only instead of 3. They went to red with 4 actions. Before that, they activated all spirits to do more. One for 2 coins, one for Balance and one for Decorate. Paid 3 coins for 3 HP and decoration tiles which they placed at the rightmost middle row.
Then with the Balance, they scored the 2 middle tiles for 10 points. So for their real actions, they could have scored 2 more balance tiles for 4 points. Not sure which other actions they activated. They did move all sticks to purple instead of red. I think they took the 2 coins for Ookami later.
That should have been the end of players’ turns. But incorrectly Panda got 1 more action with Purple Balance that they converted using Kitsune into Decorate. They won the majority of purple incorrectly and added a tile to bottom row, 4th column for their middle goal.
Panda got Kappa and Tanuki while Human only got Tengu. For feeding, Human got 10 tiles with food only for 2. If they couldn’t afford the Ookami due to the incorrect action they lost 8 points. Panda had too much food.
Last score was 51 for human and Panda was 40. With correct play Human lost 8 points and got 43. Not sure how much score Panda would have lost with the correct rule. Regardless, Panda took too much food action and Human still won.
Playing time was about 105 minutes.
Hunted: North Pole
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Beat Jack Frost and his minions to rescue Santa before Christmas is canceled in Hunted: North Pole.
I was actually planning to try out the cooperative variant of this game where you play both Clarence and Becky. However, after reading the rules again apparently there are things that are not very clear to me. Also you need to use provide a new d6 for the 2nd character to track their health.
One of the problem is that they didn’t really specify how the health and skill check dice works. In regular game, you can roll 2 d20 when you have 7 or 8 health. While here, you start with 6, it doesn’t specify whether you can go up to 8 or not and how it affect the use of dice. I assume you can still go to 8 for one character but not the other that uses d6 for the health. At the same time, they both can trigger the movement.
Maybe that is the idea that these 2 characters are not equal? You want the main one with max health of 8 to deal with the movement part. Like I did, I think one can assume to interpret that both have different health and dice system compared to regular game. Not saying this is correct but more of criticism for unclear rule.
Anyway, I did setup the game but I ended like in the first couple of turns. Apparently in this cooperative mode, players will be taking turns making decision for every card draw. Draw one and the next player goes. Essentially, playing this solo multihanded means playing exactly two almost separate games. Sure, both players have shared row and some interaction like giving away items, but it is too much load for one player.
Also, it takes almost double the amount of table space. With all of that, I guess I was not prepared to deal with this mode so I immediately restarted the game and just play the true solo mode.
Played as Becky again. Got a path, an Ammo and then a Snowman showed up. One bell with the Ammo but it also had a walk which was enough for moving that path. Becky found a shortcut.
The Snowman was still around and the Maple syrup made too much noise. So Becky decided to just hide. 19 times and 14 spaces left.
A Reindeer, Gingerbread, a Path, a Magic Snowglobe and Suzie. The reindeer was the one making noise. Used it along with the Snowglobe to move on the path. A Paindeer showed up and Becky managed to jump on its back. It brought Becky closer to her destination before the Paindeer eventually threw her off its back. 19 times and 12 spaces left.
Becky decided to remove that Gingerbread with her special skill. Suzie was still there and now with Clarence also with 2 Reindeers, a Telescope and a Path. Used the Path and one reindeer to help Suzie join the party.
Becky continued and found more reindeers, a Christmas Spirit and a Bat. One of the Reindeer helped her got that Christmas Spirit. Then it came back but noisier. Now it helped Becky got the Bat.
Eventually Becky found a path. With the telescope and the Reindeer, Becky moved on. She was moving so quickly, she didn’t realize a warning about quick fudge. Becky fell on to it and unless she moved even faster, the fudge would consume her. Luckily, dexterity is one of her best feat so she got away. 19 times and 11 spaces left.
A Paindeer showed up next and Becky decided to hide. 18 times left. She found next, an ammo and a Gummy Bear then a path. She made too much noise and the Gummy Bear attacked her. 2 shots from Becky and 1 from Suzie were more than enough to take it down. 17 times left.
They found another path, a Candy Cane Sword and another Christmas Spirit. Used that Spirit to walk on the path, removing both bells. Becky was very happy to find that the path was frozen so she could just easily pass through it like ice skating. Her favorite things in the North Pole University. 10 spaces left.
Another path, a reindeer, a cookie and a Toy Soldier. The cookie and reindeer helped her pushed through that path. Becky met Mr. Squirrel who always have some useful items. But the Squirrel doesn’t want to give anything for free. Becky tricked him by giving him a lint, saying that the lint has some magical power. Mr. Squirrel gave her a box of Ammo. 9 spaces left.
After that, a Paindeer showed up. While Becky managed to run away from it, the Toy Soldier from before caught her. 3 shots from Becky plus one from Suzie and they beat the Toy. 16 times left.
Another Toy Soldier, a Cookie, a path and a Bomb. Used both item to help them moved on the path. Becky found Mr. Polar Bear this time. She asked him if he could help them moved faster. Even though Mr. Bear was grumpy all the time, Becky managed to convince him. 7 spaces left.
Toy Soldier again so Becky decided to hide and the Toy ended up chasing Wynonna. They continued and found an ammo, Gingerbread, Maple Syrup, a Bread, Terry. Eventually they found a path but it already made too much noise so the Gingerbread came to attack. Two shots from Becky to bring it down. 14 times left.
Another Gingerbread showed up along with bread again, a Bomb and a path. Still too much noise so they had to fight the bread again. 2 more shots from Becky.
Now a Snowman showed up. Becky decided to just hide. 12 times left. Then they found a telescope to help her find a Path. Becky found a giant tree fell and become a shortcut. She managed to cross it and moved closer. 6 spaces left.
Another Gingerbread, a Snowglobe, a path. Unfortunately the next one was Gummy Bear. Becky had to fight it. 3 shots from Becky to bring it down. 11 times left.
They saw a path next but also a Paindeer. She decided to hide. Then they got to the same circumstances as before. After running away from the Gingerbread, they had to fight a Gummy Bear. 3 more shots from Becky, 10 times left.
Now, a maple syrup, a reindeer and a path. Used both to walk on. Becky found an elf house. Inside she saw a lot of ingredients on the table. She was so smart that she could make up her own Christmas Spirit from whatever she found. She drank it. 5 spaces left.
Becky found a path again and had to use the Bomb to proceed. She found a lonely Jack in the Box blocking her way. She must answer a question for him to move away. “What Christmas Carole is the favorite of parents?” To that, Becky answered “Silent Night!” The jack in the box was disappointed and left her alone. 4 spaces left.
Clarence came back! He joined Suzie and Becky. A Snowman showed up but Becky used her skill again to remove it from the path. Then a reindeer showed up. Becky used the carrot on a Sword to feed the reindeer so the Reindeer moved them 2 spaces. Then they found berry bushes. They ate it give them more energy, after deducing which one was poisonous. 2 more spaces.
The path was clear. They moved on using the Snowglobe and the box of ammo until they encountered a giant crocodile. The crocodile was easily distracted and luckily Becky was smart enough to do so. 1 more space.
They were close enough but a gingerbread approached them. After drinking the Christmas Spirit again, Becky managed to get rid of it without any fight. A reindeer then showed up and help them reach where Jack Frost and Santa was.
Becky, Suzie and Clarence were ready to take down the Jack Frost. One shot from Suzie dealt 4 damage. Two swings with Bat from Becky dealt 9 damage along with 4 more thanks to the power from Christmas Spirits.
Jack Frost was not done yet and countered, injuring Becky. Clarence then finished the job with another swing of Bat. They saved Santa and the Christmas for 2025. For now.
Playing time was about 40 minutes.
Let’s Make a Bus Route: The Dice Game
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Pick up passengers for your bus line while expanding the route to meet their needs in Let’s Make a Bus Route: The Dice Game.
Back with playing the solo variant and the Mars map. Blue or the Line C started in the first column, 3rd row from the bottom with a Green Circle.
1st round. 2 Blue, Gray, Orange.
Filled the 2 Blue and the Gray so using the orange to move one space, turn and move again. From the starting position, I chose to move right, connecting to the first school and then moved up once to a traffic light. This moved extra space with only up as the only possible move, landed on Point B.
2nd round. Blue, Gray, Green, Orange.
Picked the Blue, Gray and filled the first green. So, the orange became the movement again, 2 spaces with a turn. From that Point B at the top left, moved 1 to the left and got 2nd Green Circle then moved up, 1 space away from Tourist spot and Warp space.
3rd Round. Blue, Green, Orange, Red.
My Blue was already full so I had to use it for moving 3 spaces with 2 turns. That means, I filled 2nd Green Circle, got first orange and the red was to start activating the 2nd power. From below the top left Warp, I moved one space to that warp point and then teleported to the top right. From there, I moved once to the left and down, picking up first triangle.
4th Round. 2 Purple, 2 Gray.
Filled the first 2 purple and the 2nd gray. So I had to move 2 spaces straight with gray. Unfortunately, in that corner, I had to take a turn to reach the Point C.
5th round. Purple, Blue, Gray, Red.
Still had not scored the Blue so I had to use it for moving 3 spaces with 2 turns. Filled the 3rd Purple, 4th Gray and 2nd red of 2nd power. Then from that Point C, I moved to the left first to score the Blue station. Got 8 points plus a Purple. Changed the direction, 2nd time, moved to the left and then went up to the first tourist spot. Scored 14 points.
6th round. 2 Purple, Blue, Red.
Filled the 2 Purple and this time, the first red of first power. So, the blue was to move 3 spaces with 2 turns. From that Tourist spot at the top right, moved up to pick first Green Star, then to the left and down to pick 3rd Circle.
7th round. Purple, gray, 2 Red.
I decided to use the Gray to move 2 spaces straight. So, I filled the 3rd purple and 2nd red of 1st power and 1st red of 3rd. Moving 2 spaces down stopped the bus at the traffic light. Used the extra move to the left to reach 2nd school.
8th round. 2 Blue, Orange, Red.
Took the 2 Blue to fill the bus and the 2nd orange. So, the red became movement just 1 space. I used it to move up, through a traffic jam and reached a traffic light. This pushed up one space to reach the 2nd Point C.
9th round. Gray, Blue, Orange, red.
Another use of red for moving 1 space as there was a nearby traffic light. Filled 3rd Green Circle, 5th gray and 3rd orange. Moved to the left to traffic light and it pushed up to a Station. Scored 4 plus 4th orange.
10th round. Purple, Green, Orange, Red.
Filled the 4th purple, 1st green star and the last red for powers. So, orange became movement of 2 spaces with a turn. From the Station at the top left, I moved 1 space to the left, picking up 2nd Star. Changed the direction and kept moving to the left for a traffic light. That pushed it down to a Tourist Spot, scoring another 14.
11th round. Purple, Blue, Gray, Green.
Filled the 2nd Green Star, and activated both powers with Purple and Blue. So the gray was to move 2 spaces straight. Unfortunately, I had to move down so after moving left 1 space, changed the direction, 4th time, to move down and picked up 2nd Triangle.
12th round. Blue, Gray, Green, Orange.
I wanted to reach the 3rd Point C so I needed to move 2 spaces straight down. Got the gray for that. So the rest was Blue, 1st of 3rd, filled the first Green Triangle and got the 5th orange.
SCORING.
10 points from the Line, 28 from Purple, 13 from Blue, 10 from Gray, 18 from Green, 8 from Orange, 8 from Red and -10 from both penalty groups.
Final Blue score was 85.
Pink Line got the Line B, with starting star parent. Chose the star at the bottom left area, next to the Point B. I also brought along the 1st Power only.
1st round. 3 Purple, Blue.
Filled 3 purples on the bus so Blue became movement of 3 spaces with 2 turns. From the starting position, moved down to Point B and then to the right through the first traffic jam. Then moved up.
2nd round. Purple, Blue, 2 Gray.
Filled the 4th Purple of 1st and 1st Blue plus 1st Gray. So the other Gray became moving 2 spaces straight. Moved to the right to Tourist spot and to the right again picking up 1st Green Circle.
3rd round. Blue, Gray, Green, Orange.
Filled 2nd Blue, 1st Green star and 1st orange. This way I could use the gray to move 2 spaces straight to the right and stopped at traffic light. This then pushed up one space to pick 1st triangle.
4th round. Gray, Green, 2 Orange.
Filled the green triangle, 2nd gray and 2nd Orange. The other orange to move 2 spaces with a turn, moved the bus to the left for 1st school and then up to 2nd Point B, through 2nd traffic jam.
5th ROUND. Purple, Green, Orange, Red.
Filled 1st of 2nd purple, 3rd orange and 1st red of 2nd power. The green became movement 2 spaces either way. I went up straight. Reachd the Station, scoring 4 points plus orange and up again to pick 2nd triangle.
6th round. 2 Blue, Green, Red.
I took 1st of 2nd blue, filled 2nd green triangle and the 2nd red of 2nd power. The blue was to move 3 spaces with 2 turns. I moved to the right first through traffic jam and then up to the Warp at top right. Continued with the top left and moved one space to the right to a traffic light. It pushed to the right to a star and through another jam.
7th round. Purple, 2 Blue, orange.
Picked both Blue for the bus with 2nd purple. With the orange, moved to the right to station, scoring 8 plus 3rd purple and then down to a traffic light. This pushed to the left to Point A.
8th round. Purple, 2 Blue, 1 Green.
4th Purple and the 2 Blue so the green was to move. Not a great idea but I chose to score the tourist by moving to the left. However, the next move was only to the left and this led to a lot of traffic jams. Scored 14.
9th round. 2 Green, Orange, Red.
Filled both green and the 1st of 3rd power red. The orange was to move down and right both in traffic jam. Reached the 3rd Point B.
10th round. Purple, 2 gray, Orange.
Filled first of 3rd purple, 3rd gray and 5th orange. With gray, moved 2 spaces straight to the right. Picked up 3rd triangle.
11th round. Blue, Gray, Orange, red.
Filled the 4th Gray. The blue was to activate 2nd power. Using the 1st power turned the red into 2nd Purple. So, the orange became movement. Moved 1 space down to a Tourist, scored 5 points and to the left.
12th round.
I think I rolled at least a green. Then using the 2nd power twice, I got a Blue and 2 orange. Filled the 3rd of 3rd Blue, 3rd triangle and 6th orange. Used the 2nd orange to reach 2nd school on the left, through one traffic jam.
SCORING.
10 points from Line B, 33 from Purple, 16 from Blue, 8 from Gray, 18 from Green, 10 from Orange, 4 from red and -15 only from traffic jam. Total was 84 and the Final Score of both was 169, THE EAGER BUS ROUTE, 4th from bottom.
Playing time was about 60 minutes.
Old Town Road
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Witness the lives of people becoming outlaws in the Wild West as you journey through Old Town Road.
It started with a 2, a 3, 3, 5, A and 2. One 2 and 3 were both Club so maybe I could get Straight Flush or just Flush or even Straight. the Diamond 2 on the right killed the 2 of Clubs on the leftmost. 7 of hearts entered the scene.
3 of hearts, 2nd to the left killed the 3 of clubs on his right. 4 of diamond entered. Nothing good could be done and I let the 5 of diamond left the scene. Now, the 4 of clubs, one of the sheriffs entered on the left.
The 4 of diamond next to that sheriff killed that sheriff and I completed the Straight Flush Set, double the points thanks to that sheriff. 5 of clubs took that position.
So, there was 7 and a 5, maybe good for straight. Or there was also 3 of hearts for flush. Either way I took out the building first especially, it was surrounded by a 4 and 3, perfectly. 5 of Spades entered.
I decided to go with Flush. So, the Ace of diamond next to the 3 killed that 3. Lucky for me, Ace of hearts entered so I got my Flush. The 5 of Spades next to that Ace was the hitman. Completed 2nd set of Flush with 10 points. Ace of clubs was next to enter the scene.
Not sure what to aim next. There were 2 pairs with 2 5s and 2 Ace. But one of the Ace, the diamond had a chance to be straight flush. So, I started killing the 5s. The 5 of clubs from position 3, killed the other 5 first so both became outlaws. Then the 4 of diamond took him out. Both were replaced by 7 of diamonds on the left and 3 of diamonds on the right.
So, no more 5 and I settled with just Paid by killing the 4, done by the Ace of Clubs next to him. 2 of Spades entered. Completed 3rd set with Pair, 4 points.
Now the A, 2 and 3 of diamonds were all on the rightmost position. The Ace of Clubs could easily took them out one by one. Starting with the one next to him the Ace of diamond. Another 7 was on sight. Then the 2 of diamond next. 6 of Spades entered. Finally the 3 of diamonds completed the set of Straight Flush with 12 points. 2 of hearts was the new one to enter.
There were 2 7s but not likely to score one of them. At least I let the 6 and 2 robbed one of them. 4 of spades entered. Then I let go the other 7. 6 of clubs then replaced it on the left.
I still needed 3 of a kind and just Straight to complete all sets. With some 4 were already in other sets not likely to score that so I took a chance to make pair with that previous 7. 2 of hearts took out the 4 of spades next to it. 4 of hearts then entered.
6 of spades was in range to take down the 4 of hearts and completed the Pair set with 4 points. 6 of diamonds then entered from the left.
There were 3 6s, so it was my chance to make 3 of a kind. 6 of clubs first took down 6 of spades. After 5 of hearts entered, 6 of diamonds killed the clubs. 3 of spades entered and 2 of hearts killed the last 6, completing the set with 11 points. 7 of spades entered.
There were a 5 and 7. I also knew that the last 2 cards were Ace and 6 so that was my chance to make a Straight set. 3 of Spades started by killing the 5 of hearts on their right. Now that 3 and the 6 that just entered surrounded the 7 and robbed it. Last card was the other sheriff. The sheriff finished the job, completing the Straight set with 9 points.
Apparently, there was a chance for a Straight flush set with A, 2 and 3 of Spades. The Sheriff took down the 3 of Spades, followed by the 2. Then, the 2 of hearts being next to the Sheriff killed the Ace of Spades, completing the last set with 9 points. Ace of Clubs and 2 of Hearts were the 2 last standing when they reached the Old Town.
Straight Flush Set: 10 points
Flush: 10 points
Pair: 4 points
Straight Flush: 12 points
Pair: 4 points
3 of a Kind: 11 points
Straight Flush: 9 points
All kind of sets: 10 points
TOTAL SCORE: 70 points
Playing time was about 27 minutes.
Cascadia
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Explore Pacific Northwest to find different wildlife and their habitats in Cascadia.
The next in solo scenario achievement of Cascadia for my play was the Scenario #4. In this one, you play with the variant D of each of 5 animals. You also need to score at least 85.
1st ROUND. Played with the starting tile that has just prairie for Fox at the top. The rightmost had a Fox, paired with half prairie and half wetlands which was perfect to expand to top left. I placed the fox to get the token. With this new tile, I was hoping to make the circle line of Elk around that hex for fox.
2nd ROUND. Now the rightmost had a fox again paired with Mountain and river, prefect to expand the bottom part of starting tile. It is very rare for me to play with the Fox but this one required a Pair so I guess I took these 2 and started working on the Fox. They need other animal pairs. Placed the habitat to expand the size of mountain to 2 and river to 2. The Fox was at the bottom left of starting tile, making it a pair with the one on top.
3rd ROUND. I took the pair 2nd from the right. An elk with half mountain and wetlands. Not really great as I only increased the size of wetlands to 3 on the left of starting tile with the mountain part facing top left. Placed the Elk on the first tile I took.
4th ROUND. I took the pair on rightmost. It had a Hawk with a tile of half mountain and river. Placed the hawk on a tile at the bottom middle of starting tile. I needed another hawk at the top left from this to score the 2 animals in between. The tile itself was placed to the left of that tile with the same halves. However, this only increased the water part but not the Mountain. I was hoping to connect the Mountain more later while the River part could continue expanding to the left.
5th ROUND. This time I went with the 2nd to the right pair with a Bear token and just River spot and only for Bear. Placed both on the left of previous tile, expanding the water to size 4 and got me 2nd token. The tile itself was also adjacent to 2 other tiles that worked for bear.
6th ROUND. Picked the leftmost this time. It had salmon and another half mountain and river. Using this, I tried to connect the separated Mountain while opening the chance to keep extending the water on the bottom side. It was not connected yet after placing the tile between the 2 previous with the same halves. Placed the Salmon on it. I needed two more for the Salmon run to start scoring something.
7th ROUND. First time using the token. I took the Bear from the rightmost pair and the tile, 2nd from the right which had only Wetlands and only for Hawk. The tile itself was placed at the top left so the next hawk there was inline with the one I already had to score the 2 animals in between. Placed the bear next to the existing one but I chose the top one first since the right one had a chance to be for Salmon.
8th ROUND. Used my last token to get different pairing. Took the tile, 2nd from the right with Elk, 2nd from the left. The Tile had prairie and forest, perfect to expand both at the top right from starting tile. Then the Elk was on it, scored 2 unless I could connect it with 2 more tiles and elks with the first Elk, surrounding the Fox.
9th ROUND. Picked the 2nd pair from the right with a Hawk and half prairie and half wetlands. This was placed at the top row, expanding the prairie and 2nd group of Wetlands and it could also accommodate the Elk. Then the Hawk went to the Wetlands and I scored 7 points plus a token.
10th ROUND. Spent the token again. This time I picked the Bear from rightmost and the tile, 2nd from the left. This one had the water to connect the 2 separated group while also provided a space for either Salmon or Bear. Sadly only increased the size of water to 6.
Somehow I decided to place the Bear to expand the existing group in triangle shape. I could have placed it on the new tile while the Salmon could have connected to the Fox. During the game I was not sure whether a group of more than two is considered a pair but somebody answered that it counts.
11th ROUND. Chose the 2nd pair from the right with Salmon and half mountain and half wetlands. This was to finally connected the 2 group of Mountains and made them size 5. Then the Salmon increased the size of its group to two. That tile itself also worked for Salmon so I just needed one Salmon to start scoring.
12th ROUND. I needed more Elk and a way to connect the Wetlands so I picked the leftmost pair for Elk and wetlands just for Fox. Not exactly a great idea since I probably needed one more Fox to score something from it. The size of Wetlands was now 6 while the Elk continued to surround the first group of Fox.
13th ROUND. Needed the last salmon so I took the leftmost pair again. The tile had half forest and water which works for bear and Elk again. I was not sure to have a group of 5 Elks in that circle but possible to make another group of Bear on the right. Forest size went up to 3. The Salmon completed the run with the size of 3.
14th ROUND. Picked 2nd pair from the left with a bear and water just for Hawk. Bear was placed on previous tile so still opening the possibility for size 5 group of Elk. This river for Hawk extended the river at the bottom right. I needed one more at the top left and a fox to have 3 animals between the 2 hawks.
15th ROUND. Rightmost had a Hawk and tile with half mountain and half forest which was perfect to expand both. Even better it works for Bear also. Placed the Hawk on previous river only tile to get a token.
16th ROUND. Spent my only token to pick a Fox from the rightmost and the tile with half wetlands and water from 2nd to the right. Placed the fox on the wetland just for fox to get the token back. Then the tile at the bottom left from it, expanding both habitats. Wetlands was size 7 and River was already 8.
17th ROUND. I needed one more Mountain to make it size 7 and there was only one and for Bear only. But the Salmon didn’t work so I spent my only token to get another Fox and placed it on previous tile. This way I got the 2nd group of Foxes, already with potential score of 7.
18th ROUND. I needed the other Hawk on the leftmost which was with another river tile only for Hawk. Placed it at the top left so I got the 2nd line of 2 hawks and 3 animals in between. Even though the River itself didn’t increase the habitat. Also got a token.
19th ROUND. I needed one more habitat for Elk and Elk or more bears. Only one Bear and the tile had half forest and half mountain. Mountain was already 7 but the forest became 5. Placed the bear not exactly on that tile but adjacent to it to increase the 2nd group to size 2.
20th ROUND. Last one and I got an Elk paired with tile for Elk on half prairie and half Forest. This completed the group of Elk in circular shape size 4.
That was the end of the game.
SCORING. Had size 3 and size 2 for Bear so I got 13 points. 12 points from Elk with size 4 in circular shape. Salmon size 3 surrounded by 5 animals so I got 8. 2 pairs of Hawks, one with 2 animals and the other had 3 different animals so I got 16. 2 group of pair of 2 Foxes, one surrounded by 3 different pairs of animals while the other had 2 so 16 points.
Got 8 +2 for Mountain, 5 for Forest, 5 for Prairie, 7+2 for Wetlands and 8+2 for water. One unused token for 1 point so I should have gotten 105 points, completed the Scenario Achievement #4.
Playing time was about 47 minutes.
Juicy Fruits
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Harvest different fruits from your tropical island and complete orders to grow your business in Juicy Fruits.
Back with solo mode against the Full Fruit Pineapple. Their first shipment was about to happen in 6 rounds. From the setup, to clear all boats I needed 11 Pomegranates, 9 bananas, 16 Oranges, 9 Mangosteens and 6 Limes. So I had to focus on red and oranges and both baskets were at the top.
1st round. I moved the Lime basket in the middle down 1 space for one lime. 5 turns before FF shipment.
2nd round. I moved the Pomegranate basket at the top right down 1 space for one fruit. 4 turns before FF shipment.
3rd round. Orange basket moved 2 spaces to the right. I fulfilled the boat at middle bottom with 2 Oranges and 1 Lime, 2 points. 3 turns before FF shipment.
4th round. Moved the Lime basket up 2 spaces so I had 2 Limes and 1 Pomegranate so far. 2 turns before FF shipment.
5th round. I moved that Lime basket down 3 spaces so I had 5 limes and 1 Pomegranate. 1 turn left before FF shipment.
6th round. I moved the Pomegranate again 2 spaces to the left. So the FF was supposed to ship this turn and I guess I skipped their turn. They were supposed to get 23 points and it was a Green boat. Their next one was 5 spaces away but the movement on the middle pulled it closer.
7th round. Moved the Orange basket to the left 2 spaces. With 2 oranges and 2 Pomegranates, I fulfilled the boat at bottom right, 4 points. 3 spaces left before FF next shipment.
8th round. I moved the Banana Basket from starting bottom right up 2 spaces. Those 2 and 1 Pomegranate were supplied to boat at the top side left for 2 points. 2 spaces left before FF next shipment.
9th round. I moved the Banana again down 3 spaces this time. Those 3 plus 2 limes were supplied to boat on right side middle for 6 points. 1 turn left before FF next shipment.
10th round. Now I moved the Pomegranate 3 spaces right. Somehow I only took 2 fruits. FF did shipment for 14 points and it was orange, removing business token from number 17. 6 business tokens left before the end of the game. Their next one was Green, 2 spaces farther while also getting free 3 points.
11th round. Moved the orange basket again two spaces to the right. 1 turn left before FF next shipment.
12th round. Moved the Mangosteen basket from starting bottom left up 3 spaces. With 2 of them and 2 Pomegranates I purchased business tokens for extra basket from 3rd row. This generates either lime or Mangosteen. I placed it at bottom left of middle area. Another 8 points from FF shipment and it was green. Their next one was also green 4 spaces away.
13th round. I moved back the Pomegranate 3 spaces to the left. One of them plus one mangosteen for the boat at the top side, right, 1 point only. 3 spaces left for FF next shipment.
14th round. I wanted to clear the last boat at the bottom. Already had 3 limes for it but I needed more oranges. So I moved it to the left 2 spaces. With 3 each of those 2, I fulfilled the boat for 8 points. 2 spaces left for FF.
15th round. I didn’t really need Banana at the moment but I moved it up 4 spaces just to clear the room at the bottom. 1 space left before FF shipment.
16th round. Then I moved the double basket right 2 spaces for 3 Mangosteen. These 3 plus 2 pomegranates supplied the boat at the right side, top one for 6 points. FF scored 14 plus 5 from the middle, currently at 67. Their next one was 5 spaces away.
17th round. I wanted the one of the Ice Cream carts from the 2nd row. So I needed 1 Orange and 2 Pomegranates. Already had the orange so I moved the Pomegranates 3 spaces to the right end. Spent 2 of them and the orange for the Ice cream. Placed the tile at the bottom right. 4 spaces away for FF shipment.
18th round. I wanted to clear the boat on the left, bottommost to get the most of double basket. Already had 3 bananas so I needed 3 more oranges. Moved the basket 3 spaces to the right and fulfilled it for 8 points. Currently at 42. 3 turns left before FF next shipment.
19th round. For the Green Ice cream, I needed a set of 1 orange and 1 limes. So I moved the orange again 3 spaces back to the left. 2 turns left before FF next one.
20th round. Then I moved the Lime basket from bottommost row up 3 spaces. 1 turn left for FF.
21st round. After that, I moved the double basket 3 spaces to the left for 2 Mangosteen and 2 Limes. FF scored another 13 plus 8 from the middle. This removed another business token, 3 tokens left. Their next one was supposed to be 6 spaces away but it got pushed farther, so 7 turns left for them.
22nd round. Before moving the Ice cream, I wanted to clear the last boat on the right that required 2 pomegranates and 1 Mangosteen. Already got the purple so I moved the Pomegranate 2 spaces to the left, not maximum. Fulfilled the boat for 2 points. 6 turns left before FF next one.
23rd round. Then I moved the orange basket down 3 spaces, ready to make a lot of Ice Cream. 5 turns left before FF next one.
24th round. I moved up the Ice Cream cart 4 spaces. Spent 4 sets of 1 Lime and 1 Orange and got 31 points, clearing one business token. 4 turns left before FF next one.
25th round. I moved the double basket only 3 spaces for 2 Limes and 2 Mangosteen. 3 turns left before FF next one.
26th round. Ice cream again, down 4 spaces. Spent one lime and one orange for 1 ice cream, 7 points, one double limes and one double Mangosteen for the smoothies, 6 points. 2 turns left before FF next one.
27th round. I moved the double basket again 3 spaces, for more Mangosteen and Limes. 1 turn left for them.
28th round. So this was supposed to be the last turn had I played correctly. The opponent would have gotten their 18 points maybe even plus 5 from the middle and their final score was 111 points.
My score was 88. I could have bought one more business token the big square one for 18 plus 4. That gives me 110 points with a couple of Orange, Banana and Pomegranate leftover that I could use for the Juice Factory probably 3 points. So, I could have won fairly still but didn’t reach 123 points as I thought.
Playing time was about 43 minutes.
Keep the Heroes Out!
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Defend your dungeon from invading heroes while dealing with other Monster friends in Keep the Heroes Out!
Another attempt of playing 2-handed solo with Scenario 5 the Librarian. I didn’t like the combination of the previous 2, the Lizard and the Ratkin so I tried a different combo. This time with the Ratkin again and the Poltergeist.
I have to say, I still struggled with this scenario. Probably the hardest one so far. Maybe I should just try the next one in my next play.
One Poltergeist in each Sword room and 2 Ratkins in each Hat Room.
1st ROUND, RATKIN. The Ratkin started first by throwing a Rogue to jail. They called 4 more of them to the closest Hat room from the Vault. Using two Swarm move cards, moved the 5 closest to Vault to enter that Vault.
In that Vault they spawned 2 more. Using two Swarmed move to move 5 back bringing along books to the Apothecary. Leaving one Ratkin in the Sewer while the 5 brought a book each. With the last move action, moved 1 Ratkin with a book to the Library, just in case the Librarian came.
I don’t remember when, but it seems they used one action to activate the Portal in that library.
Apparently, I already made a mistake here. I got mixed up between the Eye room and the Bone room. I thought both Eye rooms were adjacent to each other. So, the first Hero card was the Archers in eye room. One of them should have been able to open the chest in the Study but instead I placed her in the Beast training room. The one in the Graveyard killed the Ratkin in the Vault.
2nd card was also Archer but in the Hat rooms. Both killed one Ratkin in the next room and killed another in the same room before they ended their turns.
1st ROUND, POLTERGEIST. They threw Warrior to jail for 3 cards. The one in trap room moved to the Study and activated the Portal. Then the one in the Forge used their power to pass through wall and entered the Beast room. Still using the same card, Poltergeist in Study, teleported to the Library. Now both Poltergeist were in the same room as one Archer and both killed them.
Then the one in Beast moved to the Graveyard to get a Bone. While the other in Library moved to Apothecary and now the 2 Poltergeist killed 2 more Archers.
They drew a card plus generated one more bone. That last card allowed them to bring a bone to the Beast room and get the Medusa Head beast. The one in Apothecary kept moving to the Sewer.
Warriors showed up this time in Hat Rooms. Both killed one Ratkin in the room. Then Mages showed up in the Eye Room. This was also a mistake just like the Archer before that I ended up placing the 2nd Mage in the Beast Room. Although I fixed it later.
2nd ROUND, RATKIN. Ratkin started by throwing another Archer to the jail, 3rd hero there. They were still working on how to bring 4 books left from Apothecary to the Library. Only one Ratkin left there so they spawned 4 more. 4 of them moved the books to Library with one Swarm move.
With the Swarm move again, moved 3 of them from the Library, teleported to the study. From there, 1 moved again to the Trap room and spawned 2 more of their kin. The one in Apothecary killed the Warrior. While one of 3 in Trap room moved to the Forge.
Mages appeared in Hat Rooms. Both killed a Ratkin each. The one in Library inspired the Warrior to do the same but they had not opened the chest yet. The librarian showed up and removed all of the books and block from accessing the Library and Study room action.
2nd ROUND, POLTERGEIST. They threw another Rogue to jail. One in the Sewer moved to the Vault. With the help from the Beast, from the Vault, the Poltergeist killed one Rogue from the jail and One Mage from the graveyard. Got additional card to spawn more.
So, they spawned 2nd Ghost in the Trap room and moved it to the Study while generating a Coin in the Vault. The 2nd kept moving to the Library, via teleport, killed the 2 heroes there and generated one book.
More books and more coins were generated while Poltergeist got more cards. The 1st one in Vault moved to the Prison and killed 2 more, one left. Last action was to spawn 3rd one in Forge room.
2 Warriors appeared in Sword rooms. Both killed one Ratkin each. In that same rooms 2 Mages appeared. So, they inspired the Warriors before them to kill 2 more monsters. Luckily they themselves were not enough to open any treasure.
3rd ROUND, RATKIN. Another Rogue to jail for 3 cards. This was when I tried to fix the error with the Eye and Bone Room. I think I made invalid fix anyway. Oh, well.
Anyway the 2 Ratkins in Study killed the Mage there. Then both moved 2 spaces to the Forge. After that, one visited the Vault to take a coin and brought it back to the Forge. After spawning one more Ratkin in the Forge, they got a new Weapon. Their last action was to move 2 from Forge back to trap room.
Librarian showed up again. Followed by Archers in 2 Sword rooms inspiring 2 sets of mage and Warrior. Those in Trap room killed 2 Ratkins and failed to open the chest. While those in Forge, killed Ratkin and then opened the chest.
3rd ROUND, POLTERGEIST. They didn’t throw anybody to jail yet. One in the Jail move to Vault first and then killed the 2 heroes in Prison to avoid the Mage. With the help from the Beast, got a new card. Got more card and more book in Library.
Then the one in the Vault moved to the Forge and killed 2 while generating more book. Now they threw Warrior to jail for more actions. From Library one Ghost brought a book to Study and got a Scroll. The one in the beast moved to Graveyard again and got a new card. From Study the Ghost moved to the trap room and generated a trap.
Mages appeared in Bone rooms. Nothing to do for them and unable to open the chest. Last one before Phase 2 was the Rogues in Sword rooms. The one in Trap room disabled the trap and killed the Ghost. 3 heroes there were inspired to open the chest. One continued to the Forge and inspired 2 more. They killed the Ghost there. 2 moved into the Vault but failed to open that last one.
PHASE 2.
4th ROUND, RATKIN. Threw Warrior to the jail, 2nd in there. Spawned 4 of them in the Apothecary. Moved 3 of them to the Sewer and then 2 to the Vault. Both killed the 2 heroes. Their last action was to kill the Mage in Apothecary.
Warriors showed up in Bone Rooms. Both inspired the Mages there, opened the chest in beast room but nothing else and killed the ratkin in sewers but unable to open the treasure. Then the Librarian removed a book.
4th ROUND, POLTERGEIST. They threw Archer to jail, killing the Ratkin in the Vault. Spawned one on Trap room and killed 2 heroes. The one in Graveyard moved to the Beast along with a bone. Killed the 2 heroes and got a Treasure Beast.
Got 2 more cards and also generated 2 traps. Spawned a 3rd one in Forge, moved it to the Vault. From there, with the help from the Beast, killed 2 more heroes in Jail while getting a Scroll. Using the Scroll they opened a new portal in the Vault.
2 Rogues showed up in Eye Rooms. Nothing in Study so they entered the trap room and got killed by one of the trap. While the one in Graveyard unable to do anything.
2 more Rogues and this time in Hat Rooms. Nobody in the Library so they opened the chest and moved again. So 2 in Apothecary, killed one Ratkin and the other was unable to open the chest.
5th ROUND, RATKIN. Threw a Mage to jail. Only one hero was there so both were not able to open the chest. Spawned 2 in the Apothecary and both killed the Rogues using their new weapon. Then 2 more arrived in Library to generate 2 books.
The one in Vault called 2 more Rats while that one moved to Graveyard and then the Beast room.
2 Archers in the Hat rooms killed 3 ratkins total in both but did nothing further. 2 Mages in the Bone room. The one in Beast killed the Poltergeist while in the Sewer inspired the 2 heroes already there to open the chest. This led to throwing Librarian to jail.
5TH ROUND, POLTERGEIST. Threw another Archer to jail which killed the Ratkin in the Vault. Another help from the beast to kill 2 heroes in jail from the Vault while getting new card. Then the one in the Vault moved to the sewer to kill the 2 Heroes there. Spawned 3rd one in Forge and let it passed through the wall to Beast room while getting new card. Then 2 Poltergeist killed the recent 2 Mages in the same room as each.
After that, the 3rd one moved from the Beast to graveyard to get new Bone. Got a new card and the 2nd one in the trap generated more trap. Using the scroll card, moved 2 spaces from the graveyard to the prison and one in sewer to Apothecary. The 2nd one already in the Apothecary killed the 2 Archers there.
With help from Treasure Beast, got a new card, a trap and coin in the trap room. Moved to the forge with a coin to get a new weapon.
2 Mages entered the Sword rooms. One was killed by trap and the other eliminated the Ghost. 2 more appeared in the Eye rooms. One killed a Ratkin and the other failed to open the chest even with the help from Rogue.
6th ROUND, RATKIN. Threw Warrior again to jail. Spawned 2 in the Library, moved both to the Study to get a Scroll. While the one already in the Beast got a Mole friend. Spawned 2 more in Study and moved both to the Trap. Then spawned another one there plus 2nd trap and moved 2 to the Forge.
Warriors entered the Eye rooms. One inspired a Mage in Study to kill the ratkin. The Warrior itself moved to trap room and got killed by trap. The one in Graveyard killed the ratkin there. Luckily, the 2 inspired heroes failed to open the chest.
2 archers entered the sword rooms. One was killed by a trap and the other inspired the mage to kill both Ratkins.
6th ROUND, POLTERGEIST. Threw a Rogue to jail and there was one hero card left which should be the Rogue on Bone room.
The one in jail killed 2 heroes. Spawned a 3rd one in Forge. Using the scroll, moved 2 to Vault and one to Sewer. Killed 2 heroes with the help from Beast again with ranged attack, one from the graveyard and the other from Forge. The treasure Beast got them coins, trap and card.
After generating another coin, one from the Vault brought the coin to the Forge and got a weapon and a card. The 2nd in the Vault moved to Graveyard and killed 2 heroes. The last Bomb weapon killed Archer in Apothecary.
2 Rogues showed up in Bone rooms. Both killed one ratkin and one Poltergeist but nothing else to do. The heroes gave up and left the dungeon.
Playing time was about 2 hours.
Walking in Provence
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Explore and use Drone to take the best picture that captures all of the elements of Southeastern France in Walking in Provence.
Another 2-handed session between Red and Green player. 3 objectives required a group of Lavender, only one for Wheat, 3 for Forest, 3 for buildings, 2 for Chapel, 3 for sunflowers and 3 for Windmill. The 2 goals were one to have the biggest group of wheat while the other was to have the biggest group of Forest.
1st ROUND. Red player got a card with Chapel plus sunflower and 2nd card with sunflower and purple shop. They picked the latter and horizontally, placed it on the right of starting card without any overlapping. This increased the group of vertical lavender to size 3.
Green got one card that had also sunflower plus a brown shop and a 2nd card with purple and a chapel. They picked the brown shop first and placed it at the top of starting card without overlapping it, vertically. This increased their horizontal lavender group to size 2.
2nd ROUND. Red got that Purple shop again with chapel while the other card had Green shop and Windmill. Since they already had the purple, they went with the Green shop. Rotated the card horizontally and overlapped one space of the previous card. This way the green shop was next to their previous purple.
Green got 2 cards both with Chapel but one with sunflower and the other had Forest. Since Forest was more important this game so they picked that. In that vertical orientation, they overlapped 3 spaces of the existing landscape. This increased the size of horizontal Lavender t size 3 but now only had 1 space for wheat.
3rd ROUND. Red got the Chapel plus sunflower card back while the new one had 2 lavenders, 2 wheat and forest. They chose the new one because of the forest. Rotated the card counterclockwise and put it at the top without overlapping it. This way they increased the size of vertical lavender to size 5. They managed to complete 2 objectives using drone from one position, scoring 8 and 7 points.
Green got that chapel plus purple shop card back and the new one only had chapel with 2 lavenders and wheat. Finally picked the older card. Rotated it so horizontally the purple shop was on the right to the existing brown. Nothing to take picture at this moment.
4th ROUND. Red got the Chapel only with 2 lavenders plus wheat and a Windmill with double both lavenders and wheat. They picked the one with Chapel and placed it horizontally at the bottom of their landscape. This way they increased horizontal group of lavender to size 2 while making sure the Chapel was within range of drone to capture with 2 shops, windmill and a forest. They completed the 3rd Drone objective and scored 8.
Green got that Chapel with 2 lavender and sunflower back and a new card with blue shop and sunflowers. This new card was great to increase the size of unique shop in that vertical shape. While not increasing the size of horizontal lavenders, they were close. The photographer was moved in position ready to take picture.
5th ROUND. Red got that Chapel with sunflower back, and the new card had windmill and the brown shop. Obviously, they picked the brown. In that horizontal orientation, they just increased the size of unique shop group to 3 by placing below the existing purple shop. Their photographer then moved diagonally and managed to have 2 shops, 1 Chapel and sunflower all within the frame and scored it, 7 points.
Green got the windmill and the double of both lavenders and wheat. The new card had green shop, forest and sunflower. With this new one, they could have easily increased their shop size but they wanted to make the Forest group to size 2 first. So, in that horizontal orientation card, they covered 4 spaces, including the chapel on the left so the new forest was next to the previous one. This also created a new group of vertical lavender. The photographer moved, but they still needed size 4 lavender.
6th ROUND. Red got that Chapel and double feature card back. The new one had forest and blue plus sunflower. With the same idea as the green player previously, they wanted to focus on increasing the forest size to 2 with the new card. However, the also had the chance to increase the size of unique shop to maximum by covering size 6. They took the risk as it also decreased the size of vertical lavender from 5 to 3 but creating the horizontal group with size of 3 with penalty. By doing so, the photographer managed to score the 2nd goal. 7 points for having 2 forest, a windmill and a sunflower within frame.
Green got that chapel with 2 lavenders and sunflower back. The new card had windmill and sunflower with 2 lavenders. So they rotated the new card clockwise, covered up 6 spaces of wheat and lavenders to the right from 2 forests. This allowed them to complete 3 objectives, one for Photographer and 2 for Drones.
Photographer got 2 forest, 2 windmill and a sunflower all in one frame. This was done in the same round as the red so green got 7 points as well. With the drone on the empty space of the new card, 4 lavenders were within range with 2 shops, a windmill and more than one sunflower. Greem scored from 2, 6 and 5 points.
7th ROUND. That chapel and sunflower came back to red. Nobody wanted it. The new card also had chapel but with 2 wheat and 1 lavender. Their last objective and the goal required wheat so they picked the new card. Still doing suboptimal move and covered 6 spaces of lavenders and sunflower.
Rotated the card so the lavender of that new card increased the size of vertical lavender from 3 to 4 and the photographer got in frame 4 lavenders and 2 forest. They scored 8. With this suboptimal move, they avoided the penalty even though they decreased the size of horizontal group to just one.
Green got the Windmill and double of both terrains back plus a new card with forest, green shop and double lavenders. Doing similar suboptimal move, they covered 6 spaces removing all horizontal group of lavenders and decreasing the vertical to size 3 just so they got the group of 4 unique shops. Without moving the drone, they got 2 shops, a chapel, a windmill and a forest all in one frame and scored 6.
Green also moved the photographer to near the shops. Got 2 shops, a chapel and sunflower in one frame and scored 5.
8th ROUND. Red only had one objective left for photographer that required size 5 of wheat. They finally picked the card with windmill and double of 2 terrains. Rotated the card counterclockwise, covering 2 spots on the right to get a size 4 wheat.
Green got new card with blue shops, another forest and 2 lavenders. Rotated the card 180 and placed it at bottom right, covering 3 spaces and got size 5 lavenders. The photograph moved back to empty space on the left and got 4 lavenders and 2 forest all in one frame and scored 6.
So, both had one objective left each.
9th ROUND. Red got possibly the last card for Wheat. They could have scored right away by placing it a bit on the middle and took a shot from the top. Instead I placed it at the bottom right.
Green also got card with 2 Wheat. Unfortunately not enough to make a 5. They also didn’t have any horizontal lavender. The best way for them was to tuck one space of that new card to increase the size of wheat from 1 to 3 while creating a new group of 2 unique shops.
10th ROUND. Lucky for red that with suboptimal move last turn, using the last card, not only they manage to create a large group of wheat but also size 5 of horizontal lavender. They scored 7 from the last objective.
Unfortunately nothing to score from objective for green. The best they could do was to increase the size of horizontal lavender to size 3. This was the card that had been passing around. At least they got a Sunflower with the right orientation.
That was the end of the game.
SCORING. Red got 13 from Lavender, 10 from Wheat, 0 from Sunflower, 13 from two groups of shops, 6 from one Goal and 52 from all of the objectives. Total score was 93.
Green got 11 from Lavender, 3 from Wheat, 8 from all correct 4 sunflowers, 16 from 3 groups of shops, 3 from the Goal and only 35 from 6 objectives only. Total score was 81. Even if they manage to score the last objective, it was not enough.
Playing time was about 1 hour.
Carson City: The Card Game
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Win the bid to develop your city with the help from the most influential people in Carson City: The Card Game.
Another solo play. This time as the Horsehoe against Hat, Star and Bull.
Era 1
1st round.
2 empty cards, then 2 houses, the Cowboy and 2 houses plus a chapel. I had to play a big one so I chose my 7. Hat played their 5, Star 1 and Bull 9. So I got the 2nd chance and picked the Cowboy.
Hat: 3, Star: 1, Bull: 11
2nd round.
The editor, 2 cards with 3 mountains, a ranch and houses with a group of Outlaw. I wanted that Editor so I played my 9. 6 from Hat, 7 from Star and 2 from Bulls so I got first choice and picked the Editor.
Hat: 7, Star: 5, Bull: 14
3rd round.
The Chinese Worker, 3 mountains, 2 houses, single mountain and empty lot. Still looking for more characters so I played my 8. 7 from Hat, 9 from Star and 6 from Bulls. So I only got 2nd place and took the 2 houses.
Hat: 11, Star: 11, Bull: 16
4th round.
A mine with 2 mountains. Then a Mercenary after removing a Banker, a ranch and 2 empty lots. I had to play high but maybe not bad with just the ranch since I had cowboy so I played my 6. 3 from Hat, 2 from Star and 4 from Bull so I won. Picked the Mercenary for me.
Hat: 14, Star: 12, Bull: 23
5th round.
2 Mountains and a Prison, the Lawyer, a Mountain and Mine, 2 houses, 2 houses. I wanted the Lawyer so I played my 5. 8 from hat, 5 from star and also 5 from Bull. I was the top of tie breaker so I got 2nd place and took the Lawyer.
Hat: 21, Star: 15, Bull: 28
6th round.
2 drugstores and 2 houses, 2 mines with 2 mountains, the Captain, a mine and Mountain and empty lot. This time I let my Lawyer did the job and I just played my 1 to take the highest card. 2 from Hat, 6 from Star and 8 from Bulls.
Placed the card overlapping the previous card so the 2 houses before were adjacent to the top drugstore.
Hat: 26, Star: 20, Bull: 39
7th round.
2 mountains and a mine, The undertaker after removing the Settler, a Mountain and a mine, 3 mountains and single mountain.
No good card for me so I just played my 2. 9 from Hats, 8 from Star and 7 from Bulls. So I got the one with 3 mountains, placed it above the existing card.
Hat: 33, Star: 26, Bull: 43
8th round.
2 houses and Saloon, The Singer, 2 Ranches, a Mountain and empty lot.
Played my 3. 1 from Hat, 4 from Star and 3 from Bull. With the help from Mercenary, I won and took the Singer with me.
Hat: 35, Star: 36, Bull: 48
9th round.
2 houses with Outlaw and General Store, Mine and 2 mountains, The Prospector, Mine and Mountain, Empty Lot.
Played my 4. Also 4 from Hat, 3 from Star and 1 from Bull. I won the tie breaker and took the highest value card. Placed it on the left of existing cards, 3rd row without any overlapping so the general store was next to the 2 existing houses.
Hat: 42, Star: 42, Bull: 53. My current score was about 27.
ERA 2.
1st round.
A prison with Saloon and house, The Teacher, a Townhouse and 2 empty lots.
Played my 4. Also 4 from Hats, 2 from Star and 9 from Bulls. I asked the Mercenary to help to get the Prison. I placed it above the card on the left, overlapping the top card since no more Outlaw there.
Hat: 45, Star: 43, Bull: 60
2nd round.
A house with Chapel, The Governor, a Saloon with house and 2 empty lots.
Played my 9. 2 from Hats, 7 from Star and 4 from Bulls. I took the Governor with me.
Hat: 46, Star: 53, Bull: 67
3rd round.
A saloon with General store, Townhouse and Outlaw, similar to that but instead of General store, a Hotel, Mine with 3 Mountains, the Gunsmith and empty lot.
I let my Lawyer did the job again and played my 1. 6 from both hat and star, 8 from Bulls. I took the one with Hotel and Saloon and placed it at the top right between the Mountains and the city part, upgrading the house into Townhouse and Saloon in the empty spot.
Hat: 49, Star: 62, Bull: 83
4th round.
A house with a Bank, A house with Drugstore, The Sheriff after removing Auctioneer and 2 empty lots.
Played my 5. 5 from Hat, 4 from Star and 6 from Bulls. Lost the tie breaker to Hat so I took the Sheriff with me.
Hat: 56, Star: 63, Bull: 91
5th round.
A Townhouse with City Hall, a mine with 3 mountains, the Paperboy and 2 empty lots.
Played my 8. 7 from hats, 3 from both Star and Bulls. I took the City Hall and placed it at the bottom right corner of my city.
Hat: 65, Star: 64, Bull: 95
6th round.
The GROCER, a Drugstore and a house, a prison with a house, 2 houses and empty lot.
Played my 7. 3 from Hat, 1 from Star and 7 from Bull. I took the Grocer with me.
Hat: 71, Star: 67, Bull: 102
7th round.
A Townhouse with Bank and Drugstore, the Indian, 2 Townhouses with House and Outlaw, 2 empty lots.
Played my 6. 8 from Hats, 5 from Star and 1 from Bulls. I took the Indian with me.
Hat: 85, Star: 71, Bull: 103
8th round.
A bank with House, a Drugstore with House, The Heroes, 2 empty lots.
Played my 3 along with Governor to get extra Doctor. 1 from Hat, 9 from Star and 5 from Bull. I got the Heroes as well.
Hat: 86, Star: 79, Bull: 110
9th round.
Bank with House, another Bank with House, the Banker came back, 2 ranches and 2 ranches.
Played my 2 along with Heroes and Doctors. 9 from Hats, 8 from Star and 2 from Bulls. So I was still 3rd place and took the Banker.
Hat: 95, Star: 86, Bull: 115
My score:
Banker: 0
Sheriff: 3
Singer: 10
Editor: 27
Cowboy: 0
Indian: 21
Grocer: 8
Doctor: 5
Heroes: 6
1st Saloon: 10
2nd Saloon: 4
Hotel: 3
General Store: 15
1st Drugstore: 9
2nd Drugstore: 2
City Hall: 5
TOTAL SCORE: 128
I won. Somehow I got the scores all wrong with 125, 116, 95 and 87.
Playing time was about 45 minutes.
Ankh’or
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Manage Resources, manipulate the Market to get the Tiles, placing and stacking them in a group to get the most points in Ankh’or.
This was a 2-handed session. The Market required blue and green for cheapest spot, then two spots required red and white. Those that required 3 were 2 Black and Green, White Black Blue for the 2nd and Blue Red Green as the last.
Market Row had a Red, Blue, Green, Red, White and Black tile as the starting set.
1st player chose to draw 3 tokens, White, Red and Green. 2nd player followed but instead of green they took Ankh token.
1st player immediately bought the Green tile, 3rd space by paying a red and a white. This gave them extra action and they picked 3 tokens, White, Red and Blue. 2nd player still chose to pick token and they got a Blue, Green and Black.
1st player bought again, the Blue Tile with a value of 2 from 2nd space, paying 1 Red and 1 White. 2nd player spent the Ankh, removing the Red and filled the market. Now it had Red, White, Black, White, Black and Green. They bought the Black Falcon as their first one.
1st player picked 3 tokens, Ankh, Red and White. 2nd player followed with the same set.
After spending the Ankh to remove the Red Jackal, 1st player bought a White Storage from the 2nd spot, spending a Red and White but got the White back. They had green and a blue on its left and this white was above the blue. 3rd space had Black Beetle so 2nd player bought it with a Red and a White, placing it on the left from the Falcon.
1st player picked the same 3 tokens again. 2nd player spent the Ankh, removing the White empty tile. Now the leftmost had another Falcon and a Green. So they bought it by spending a blue and a green. This was placed to the right from their Black Falcon.
2nd space had Blue Jackal so 1st player bought it. This was placed at the bottom from their Value 2 Blue, 2nd of Blue group. 2nd player picked the same 3 tokens, Ankh, White and Red.
1st player followed. 2nd player spent the Ankh to remove another Red Jackal and they got access to Green Jackal from 2nd space and bought it. This was placed at the bottom of their Green Falcon, creating an L shape.
3rd space had Blue Falcon so 1st player bought it with a Red and White. This was placed to the right of their Blue Jackal instead of the Value 2, 3rd of their Blue group. 2nd player was back with getting the same 3 tokens.
1st player also picked tokens but this time 2 Reds and 1 White since they already had 2 Ankh. 2nd player played the Ankh, removing Black empty tile. Then they got access to another Falcon Black from 3rd space. This was placed below their previous Black Falcon, 3rd of Black and 3rd of Falcon group.
1st player finally played their Ankh, removing the extra action red. Then they bought Green Beetle from the 2nd space. This was placed at the top left of 3×3, making group of 2 Green. 2nd player picked the same 3 tokens.
There was White Jackal at 1st space so 1st player bought it. This was placed on the middle right of their 3×3, separated from their other White. 2nd player decided to keep drawing tokens and got 2nd Ankh, a Green and a Blue.
1st player followed by the same set of tokens. This forced 2nd player to also use the Ankh, removing empty Blue. Then they bought White Falcon from 2nd space. This was placed at middle top of their 3×3, 4th of Falcon group.
1st player spent the Ankh, removing the Red Value 2. Now there was Blue Beetle in 3rd space. Since they could placed it on 2nd level, they only needed to pay 1 and they spent red. This was placed at the top left of their 3×3, 2nd floor, 2nd beetle and 4th Blue. 2nd player bought the Black from 1st space and got extra action bonus which they used to pick the same 3 tokens. The tile was placed at the bottom left of their 3×3.
1st player picked 3 tokens, 2 Red and Ankh. 2nd player spent their Ankh, removing Green Empty. Then they bought another White Falcon. This was placed at their top right of 3×3 and it was their 5th Falcon, 2nd of White. Got the value 3 token.
1st player also spent the Ankh, removing Red Beetle. Then they bought Blue tile from 3rd space with extra action bonus, picking the same 3 again. The tile was placed at the bottom left of their 3×3, creating group of 5 blue so they got their bonus token. 2nd player picked 3 tokens, Green, Red and Blue.
1st player then bought Green Value 2 from 2nd space. This was placed on their 2nd level so they only needed to spend the Red and it was 3rd of their green Group. 2nd player spent the Ankh, removing the Black Storage. Then they bought a Red Falcon from the leftmost with Blue and Green. This was placed at the top left corner of their 3×3. They thought they had not had 5 Falcon yet.
1st player then bought a White Beetle from 3rd space. This was placed at the top right of their 3×3, connecting the two white so a group of 3. They were hoping to connect with the Beetle at the top, either Blue or White. 2nd player took 3 tokens, White, Blue, Green.
1st player followed but with Red, White and Black. 2nd player bought the Black Jackal from 3rd space. This was placed at the bottom right, 2nd level so with a discount of red. This was also their 5th Black and 2nd Jackal.
1st player spent the Ankh, removing Green Value 2. Then they bought double action tile White from 4th space. With the discount since it would be placed on 2nd level, they spent a Black and Green. The extra action got them to buy White value 2 from 3rd space by spending only red since it was on 2nd level.
This was their 13th and triggered the end of the game. 2nd player bought Red Beetle from 2nd space by paying just red and placed it at the top left of their 2nd level.
That was the end of the game.
SCORING. 1st player got 6 points from bonus tokens, 6 from the tiles of Value 2, 1 from 3 leftover tokens, 3 from Green tiles, 5 from Blue, 5 from White, 2 from Beetle. So their final score was 28. I forgot to calculate their 2nd group of 5.
2nd player got also 6 from bonus tokens, 1 from 3 leftover tokens, 2 from Red, 5 from Black, 2 from Green, 2 from White, 2 from Jackal, 2 from Beetle and 6 from Falcon. So they also got 28 points.
2nd player still won since they had fewer tiles. Apparently focusing on the same group of animals helped.
Playing time was about 33 minutes.
Learn more about the game from Ankh’or Review.
Roll Camera!: The Filmmaking Board Game
More pictures of this Roll Camera!: The Filmmaking Board Game session on TikTok and on Instagram.
Last chance to save your failing production company to make the best movie in Roll Camera!: The Filmmaking Board Game.
Another solo play and this time was the 2nd one to play using the Company card. The company was GOLD STANDARD CO. and the extra rule is that every cost is doubled but not the gain. However, if the scene has quality bonus, it doubled the bonuses. Also, you don’t lose time in a turn you don’t shoot a scene.
Played as the Cinematographer with the power to turn any dice into either camera or lighting. The 2nd power allows me to solve an issue using just 1 camera crew. Starting script was BLOODY BLOODY GRANDMA. Every 2 red scenes will increase the quality by 2 and every combination of purple and yellow scene, adjacent in any order gives you 2 quality.
Still playing with the easiest difficulty, 14 money and 11 turns.
1st ROUND. 3 VFX, Actor, Light, Art
Problem: The builders bolted the sets to the floor for some reason. Set pieces can no longer be moved and/or rotated except by other Problems.
Using 2 VFX, bought a set piece first, 2 blue spaces from the right stack. Spent 2 money for it. The other VFX resolved the problem with the help from Cinematographer. Then the Light crew initiated a meeting with the idea not to use electricity today to get 2 money but cannot shoot any scene this turn.
Kept the 2nd idea to give everyone an unpaid day off on to do list, scrapped the 3rd to use Crews’ bodies as microphone. The Actor and the Art was necessary for the yellow scene at the top of the deck so they were locked in the set.
14 money, 10 turns left and Quality at Start.
2nd ROUND. Actor, 2 Camera, Light.
Problem: The director wants to do over 100 takes of the same shot! Each time you shoot a scene, lose 1 schedule.
I needed the 2 Camera to build more set pieces. Spent 2 money, similar set as the previous one, also from the right stack. So, the other 2, actor and light solved the issue. The set pieces were ready for the scene but I needed 1 Actor and 1 Camera to finish.
12 money, 9 turns left and Quality at Start.
3rd ROUND. VFX, Camera, Sound, Actor
Problem: this night scene now needs to take place during the day! 1 additional light required for every scene! It can be placed on any blue space during shooting.
The Camera crew solved this issue, 3rd one and the VFX stood in for the Camera for shooting and I got the Actor so I shot the scene. Spent 8 money and gained 1 time.
So I had the Sound crew left and they initiated a meeting to execute the idea to bring on a night crew of film students to work for free. This allowed me to reroll and reassign up to 3 used dice of my choice. Scrapped the idea to use stock footage for that scene and kept the idea to have everyone take two more showers than usual to get more idea in hand in the left to do list.
I rerolled 3 dice from the set and got Light, Art and VFX. I wanted to shoot the next scene with the Purple at the bottom part. With VFX and Art, bought a new piece that can save money. Still needed to rearrange the set to accommodate the scene. The Light was locked in following the scene requirement.
6 money, 10 turns left and Quality at Start.
4th ROUND. 2 Actor, Light, Art, Camera
Problem: The Storyboard artist drew all the storyboards in invisible ink! At the end of each turn, discard all scenes in storyboard and draw new scenes to replace them.
The 2 actors rearranged the scene so they were ready for that purple scene. Then the Light crew executed the idea from right to do list. Lost 1 turn and got 3 money by losing a quality.
Art crew initiated meeting to execute the idea to work that problem into movie’s script. Scrapped the idea to shoot the actors without doing hair and make up today. This was actually very good but I was worried about losing too much quality. Instead I kept the idea to fire the crew that showed up late and hire someone else as the new to do list.
The Camera crew was ready on set with Light. Still needed a Sound, VFX and Actor to complete the next scene.
9 money, 8 turns left and Quality at Start.
5th ROUND. VFX, Camera, Art, Actor
Problem: The director cannot decide on the shot and wants to shoot with multiple cameras to figure it out later! 1 additional Camera required for every scene, can be placed on any blue space during shooting.
The Camera crew resolved that issue with the help from Cinematographer. I assigned the VFX and Actor to the set so I still needed a Sound. The last crew, the Art helped Cinematographer to brainstorm more ideas. Got new idea for sets and money.
5 problems were solved and got 2 money.
11 money, 7 turns left and Quality at Start.
6th ROUND. VFX, Camera
Problem: The Lead actor rented themselves a private diamond studded hot tub limousine! At the end of each turn, lose 1 money.
No Sound but the VFX could stand in for it. Got everything ready and shot that Purple scene. Paid 4 money, lost 1 quality, but from that scene got 4 quality back and 1 money.
Then the Camera crew fixed the issue. 3 scenes left.
7 money, 7 turns left and Quality was at 3+ from START.
7th ROUND. VFX, 3 Light, Sound, Art.
Problem: The Sound person needs complete silence so they can record room tone! At the end of each turn, clear all crew dice except sound from set.
There was already a Red scene at the bottom row that was good for the script. So, the 2 Light crews rearranged the set for that scene. Sound crew and the other Light crew solved the issue.
Art crew as the last one initiated the meeting trying to execute the idea to swap sets with other film shooting next door while they are asleep. However, a better idea came out to bet some of the budget at the horse races. Got lucky and 4 money from it. Scrapped the 3rd to solve any number of problems by spending either money or quality. The first idea was kept as the left to do list.
Still had the VFX and the scene required exactly 2 VFX. So, I locked one in.
11 money, 6 turns left and Quality was at 3+ from START.
8th ROUND. VFX, Sound, Actor, Light, Camera.
Problem: The Cinematographer insists on shooting on 120mm Film! Every scene now costs 1 money more to shoot.
Well, I needed the Camera, the Actor and VFX to shoot the scene. So, the Sound and Light resolved the issue and the scene was ready without extra cost. Spent 4 money, lost 1 quality, bonus 1 money and 4 quality for the scene itself.
8 money, 6 turns left and Quality was at 6+ from START.
9th ROUND. VFX, Art, 3 Actors, Camera.
Problem: The Actors practiced screaming too much and lost their voice! You can no longer assign actor to any action including on set.
For my 4th, another yellow scene was available in the last row so I aimed to shoot that scene. The 2 actors rearranged the set for that scene. I still needed to buy one more in next round.
Camera crew resolved the issue. The art started meeting to execute the idea to ignore problems but no problem at the moment. This was more for gathering ideas. Scrapped the idea to resolve problems by paying money. Actually, also scrapped the idea to gain quality for every VFX.
Last actor helped Cinematographer brainstorm better idea. With the VFX left, I locked that one in set to replace the sound crew of the scene.
8 money, 5 turns left and Quality was at 6+ from START.
10th ROUND. 2 VFX, Sound, Camera, Actor
Problem: There is a military parade band practicing next door. Each time you shoot a scene, lost 2 quality. If the marker is already below START, gain 1 instead.
VFX and Sound paid 2 money for additional set that had bonus for Quality. The Actor used the idea to resolve problem and not drawing one later during meeting. Kept the idea to crumple that storyboard and think of something cheaper or better.
So I still got VFX and Camera. The VFX was for one of the Actor and the Camera was ready to shoot. Just 2 more Actors for the scene.
6 money, 4 turns left and Quality was at 6+ from START.
11th ROUND. 3 VFX
Problem: none.
2 VFX filled the roles of 2 actors on set. The last one initiated the meeting to execute the idea to make the cost of shooting lower by 2. Scrapping the idea to give actors fake mustache. Kept the idea to pay money for more time but plus problem.
The scene was ready. Paid 4 money and lost 1 quality to shoot that 2nd yellow scene as 4th. Discount from the idea with 2 money, bonus 1 money and 1 quality from the set. Also 4 quality from the company.
1 scene left to finish the movie.
5 money, 4 turns left and Quality was at 7+ from START.
11th ROUND. VFX, Sound, Actor, Light, Camera, Art.
Problem: Somebody left the entire storyboard in the back of taxi cab. Put the blocked token in the scene deck and you cannot shoot that scene or draw from that deck.
I did want to shoot that Purple scene at the top of the deck. So, the Camera man alone resolved that issue. VFX with Sound crew rearranged the set for it.
The actor initiated a meeting and brought an idea to generate money with a problem. Luckily there was another idea to replace the top script to also gain money. This replaced the BLOODY BLOODY part into UH OH! INCOMING. This was better for red and purple scene.
Kept the initial idea while scrapping the idea to rearrange the scene in editing room.
The last scene required 4 of different crews so Light and Art crew were locked in.
6 money, 3 turns left and Quality was at 7+ from START.
12th ROUND. VFX, 2 Sound, Art.
Problem: The script fell into a paper shredder. At the end of each turn, shuffle both top and bottom script decks to create a new and randomized script.
The VFX alone resolved the issue. Two Sound crews remove the green scene card from storyboard for 1 money so I had enough to shoot that last scene. Art crew helped replace an idea.
7 money, 2 turns left and Quality was at 7+ from START.
13th ROUND. Sound, Light, Actor, VFX
Problem: The key to your trailer fell into an open sewer. Put a blocked token on active player’s board. All actions on it are unavailable for now.
I ignored that one. The actor and VFX for Camera completed the scene. But before shooting, the sound crew initiated the meeting. They had an idea to re-remember that idea that someone had that one time. The past idea was to double the caffeine content in the craft service coffee so the scene cost 2 money less to shoot.
So, I shot the scene. Paid instead of 6, 4 money, bonus 1 money and 1 quality from the set. The Light crew didn’t even need to do anything and the movie was complete.
4 money, 2 turns left and Quality was at 7+ from START.
I had 2 sets of yellow and purple scenes back to back so I got 4 more quality from the Grandma part of the script. From the top with 1 red and 1 purple, I got 2 quality more. That was more than enough to push the quality to become the MASTERPIECE. There you have it.
GOLD STANDARD CO. presents Uh Oh! Incoming GRANDMA!
It’s about a young couple recently had their baby and they started experiencing physical attack. Turn out it was the Grandma who got mad at them because they didn’t tell her about her grandchild. The couple apologized and invited the grandma to a dinner. Apparently, the Grandma ate too much and had stomach issue afterwards.
Playing time was about 64 minutes.
Final Words
So, those are all of the games I played. Hope that entertains or helps to give some idea what kind of tabletop games we can find on the market.
Some are new and some are older games. The complete list of the older games and my reviews about them can be found from this list and this one for the more recent games and if you are interested in previous reports of each game.
I keep saying that these tabletop games can be a good way to spend some time without looking at the screen of our gadget. If we do have someone close, that we can play with, there are other games where we can play cooperatively or competitively but with a lot of player interaction.
The game can be very fast or like a filler type or it can take hours to play. Some games can also be played in solitaire mode and they are still more engaging than other entertainment activity. Some may say, it’s like a workout for the gray matter of our brain.
Thanks for reading.
Mark M.