Games played in July

Sorry for the VERY late post but this is my 2nd attempt after loosing my original text by accidently hitting the browser back button after 2 hours. Never write blog posts directly in the browser.

So July was going to be a regular solo month when in the last week of June I received a trade proposal via BGG. A few days later, I'm owning 17 new games and parting with 16.

I'm still kind of baffles by this trade. It also means reading lot of rule books and at some point I got overwhelmed and had to take a step back. And this coming from someone who plays almost a new game, and thus new rules, every Thursday in my multiplayer group.

So on to some short impressions of the games I managed to play:

- Destinies (3 plays): The game I was excited for the most and which turned out to be for me the biggest letdown. On my 2nd play I was already thinking on why I needed the cardboard tiles, tokens and even minis. The cards and app are effectively enough. I understand what it tries to do but I fear it can't compete with Mansions of Madness that is a superior cardboard/app combo.

- Set a Watch (1 play): Only 1 play but want to play it more. I do got a bit overwhelmed by having to manage 4 heroes each having their own set of cards. But it's neat and really got into the game.

- Aerion (3 plays): Finally having a new copy after loosing it as I lended it right before the 1st covid lock down and not able to get it back. At this point, my favorite Oniverse game.

- Squire for Hire (5 plays): This is similar to Sprawlopolis but for me more manageable as I tend to get overwhelmed by the spatial aspect in Sprawlopolis. It also plays max 10 minutes which is nice. Still did not manage the target score of 25.

- The Red Cathedral (2 plays): A game that I already enjoyed multiplayer. The solo bot is very manageable. I do miss a bit of tension though. I'll be getting the expansion at Spiel, so we'll see how it evolves. If you get a chance to play this, do try it.

- Hadrian's Wall (3 plays): Let's be honest, the multiplayer game is already true solitaire. Will continue to enjoy this one.

- Lux Aeterna (5 plays): My first few plays was without a timer but now I'm doing the timer for the challenge. Great art and the hand management is a lot of fun. Wonderful 15 minute tension arc.

- Hit Z Road (2 plays): I heard a lot of good things on the solo mode of this game. Indeed a nice and fast push your luck game with wonderful art. Not as addictive as Lux Aeterna but see myself enjoying this from time to time.

- The City of Kings (2 plays): I missed this Kickstarter completely but read it was compared to Gloomhaven and Mage Knight. Having played it, I understand why. I find it the better version of both. Yes complete solo blasphemy! It has a much more manageable setup/teardown compared to Gloomhaven and the rulebook is one of the better I've read (looking at you Mage Knight :-( ). I find this game just more approachable for solo play.

- Wasteland Express Delivery Service (1 play): Traded to be played multiplayer but there is a fan based solo bot. And it's a good one. This is Mad Max: The Pick Up And Deliver Game implementing the Mad Max artwork to the max. And the euro game mechanisms are interesting. Nice surprise.

- Dune: Imperium (3 plays): This is a though one. The worker placement part is tight and the combat resolution tense. But the deck building is outright lackluster and feels unbalanced. It gets compared to Ruins of Arnak and while Arnak is mechanically the better game Dune has more drama. Not sure what I'll do with it.

Other solo games played:

- Switch & Signal (2 plays): This is Marklin but in a board game. A coop train game about managing switches and signals so that trains pass and ride firther at the right time and place. I encourage you to check this out as I feel it went under a lot of radars. This game is from designer David Thompson who we of course all know for Pavlov's House and Undaunted. Apparently he designed this for his family who are avid train fans.

- The Dwarves: Big Box (2 plays): Started with book 2 which ramps up the difficulty. I continue to enjoy this one.

- Fliptown: I backed the PnP and for me a disappointment. The artwork is nice. I printed the board on A3 paper and the text is still hard to read at places because black text on a brown background is not a good idea. They also provided a black and white version of the board but really :-( The actual game play didn't do anything for me. I just found it boring. On paper, drawing three regular playing cards and combining them to choose your action sounds great. But when playing it, you still have little control. And the poker hand, even with the Texas hold'em variant, is just too random.

August will be a month of reading less rule books and switching to things I know.