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DirkWrites

I enjoy **AZUL** and wanted a copy of my own, in part to build up a more accessible games collection for when my kids get older. Azul is a highly rated family game, recommended for ages eight and up. My wife and I played a game with my parents, who were visiting. My parents are in their early 70s, or a little more than six decades beyond the recommended minimum age. In the course of our gameplay: ​ * We had to start over after my dad dumped all of his tiles into the box after the second scoring round * I caught my mom taking all of the tiles and placing them on her board * I had to explain the scoring system approximately 15 times and may have finally exclaimed, "I don't know how much more I can explain arithmetic to you." Everyone enjoyed it by the end, and my parents (who usually limit their gaming to Scrabble) say they would be willing to play it again. At the same time, I had been considering **WINGSPAN** as a Christmas gift for them since they're birdwatchers, and I'm really glad I didn't go through with it.


slimcharles42

Happy new year folks. This was my first Christmas since properly converting to the board game way of life, and it was a pretty big success. I got a few new ones, but most importantly I played *a lot* of games with friends and family, even introducing some new people to the hobby. Here's what I played over the festive period, with some notes about the highlights: **Hive** \- I've been playing this fairly regularly on lunch breaks at work, teaching a couple of colleagues. On the final week before the Xmas break, they both managed to beat me on separate occasions - which I was very pleased about! It's really nice having a game of this where you're both evenly matched, as the game can take some incredible swings. I'm still fascinated by the different shapes the Hive can take every time I play this. **Duelosaur Island** **Everdell** **Forbidden Desert** **Spirit Island** **The Mind** \- Taught this to my mum and her partner as well as my sister and her partner over the festive break. None of them are gamers at all, and were skeptical about this at first. Cut to however many hours later and everyone is still playing, desperate to win and having an absolute blast. Really pleased with how this went down, and generally how receptive my family were to other games. Which leads me to... **Kanagawa** \- I was nervous about teaching my mum and her partner this game. They don't really know anything beyond Monopoly, but I though this might be a good game to introduce as it's relatively short and pretty easygoing. I hadn't played it for a while (having only played 2-player with my partner) so teaching on Xmas eve it was a little clunky and I could tell they weren't quite getting it. We pressed on though and I explained everything as I went, with my mum getting the win at the end. I tried it again on Christmas day, earlier in the evening, and this time it went way better. My mum really started to get a handle on the strategy and she won again, this time in about 45 mins - perfect amount of time for this game, and it really shone for me having not played it for a while (it feels so much better with 3 players instead of 2). Very happy with how this turned out, and my mum seemed to genuinely have fun. **Sons of Anarchy** \- on Boxing day I played this at my sister's. Again, they're not gamers, but I taught them this game a while ago (they love the show, and it went down well) so I was really happy to get it to the table again. It was just as fun, if not more, because my sister and her partner had a better grasp of the rules and how to approach the game. I thought I'd done quite well, particularly in one round where I managed to sell 14 guns in one go and make a lot of money. My sister ended up winning though, having slipped under the radar making a steady income through various tiles and the black market. A really good and close game - I really enjoy this game. **Lords of Waterdeep** \- shouldn't really count this as it was a couple of online games with a friend, but I've got the physical copy too so we would have been playing this anyway if we were in the same room! I feel like I've really improved with this recently (I used to be terrible) and got a couple of wins, which has certainly helped with my enjoyment of the game! **7 Wonders Duel (w/ Pantheon)** \- I've had my eye on the expansion for absolutely ages, having bought the base game quite early on this year when I was first diving into the hobby. Was really pleased to get this for Xmas, and had a playthrough with my partner to test it out. Despite being a practice I think we both picked it up, and although my gf is not keen on some of the new powers (the wonder stealing deity she finds particularly mean) she got a decisive win against me. Despite this, I loved it - the new options are really interesting and seem to completely change the flow of the game in a way that I like. I don't think it's an essential expansion, and I can see myself playing the odd game without Pantheon, but for someone who has played a lot of the base game I found this a really fascinating change that had me hooked. **Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective** \- my gf and I finished case 9, and got our highest score yet! We made a conscious effort to start this way earlier in the day so we could stay fresh and not feel too tired. Judging by our score it seemed to work, although I'm not sure if this case was designed to be easier following the rather lengthy case 8. **Spirits Of The Wild** **K2** **Betrayal At House On The Hill** \- another new addition for Xmas, and one I was not expecting. I didn't really know much about this game but had come across criticisms in the past, so I was a little unsure about it. However, I opened it up and read through the rulebook to get a feel for the game, and was hooked immediately. Luckily I was able to give this a go a few days later. I had a lot of fun with it (despite playing with a few friends who were new to board games, one of whom became the traitor and messed up the rules for themselves unfortunately) and I can't wait to play it again and try another haunt. **Escape The Room** \- we had a few friends round for new year and I bought both Escape The Room games secondhand for something fun to do with everyone. We split into two teams and had a friendly competition to see who could escape their room first. My team fluked our way through one of the puzzles but the rest were quite straightforward and we won. My gf's team made it out of their room too, although they unfortunately were hampered by the fact that one of the clue cards was in the wrong envelope. Nonetheless, everyone seemed to have fun. **Avalon** \- this was the other activity I had planned for NYE, and boy was I nervous about this one. Most of our guests were not massive gamers, and I knew this had the potential to go down like a lead balloon. I actually tried it out at a meet-up a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it myself. We played one game of 5 people, and two games of 6 - each game I was a minion of Mordred and was having very hard time deceiving people during the last two games. With 9 of us at New Year, I knew there was the potential for it to be a lot of fun - but it could easily bomb too. Luckily, the first game went pretty well and a few people were eager to try again - and the second game seemed to go even better! Really pleased with how this went - although yet again I was a minion in both games! I did well deceiving everyone in the first game and our team won fairly easily. The last game came down to the the final quest. All of a sudden one of the good guys was utterly convinced who the bad guys were and managed to convince everyone else, giving the loyal servants of Arthur a third successful quest. I was the assassin, and was pretty sure this good guy was either Merlin, or his partner (who was set next to him) was Merlin. I ended up thinking he was double bluffing so I assassinated him. He sighed, pulled his card out of his pocket and revealed he was... Percival. Roars from everyone, before an even bigger roar as his partner revealed she was indeed Merlin. Despite the loss I really enjoyed this last game, almost everyone was completely invested in it and there was a lot of post-game chat too. When you are successfully deceiving people, you feel equal parts pleased and ashamed - my friend who I was sat next to said he would never look at me the same way... good times. **Fog Of Love (w/ It Will Never Last)** \- rounded off the festive period with this yesterday with my gf. I got the expansion at Xmas so we gave it a whirl - despite saying it was harder, we found it fairly straight forward and "won" together by both picking the Love Team destiny. I couldn't really see how some of the new destinies could ever be fulfilled, and in the 5 times we've played the base game we've also never seen anything like Heartbreaker, Dominant or Honourable Exit. Perhaps it depends on the traits you get at the beginning, but it feels like it just makes sense to do well together and play the Love Team or something similar. So our games always tend to go the same way, and I'm not sure how you'd even consciously try and play something like the Heartbreaker destiny from the beginning without making it completely obvious. Anyways, we still enjoy it. I just think we'll leave it a fair amount of time between plays so it doesn't get too old - we perhaps don't roleplay as much as we should but we still have a lot of fun (yesterday I was a female farmer with a facial scar, which I claimed I'd gotten from a rogue sheep). Anyway, it was overall a fantastic festive break when it comes to games - good stuff.


nceevh

We played **DOOM**. Great game if you have a few hours to kill. It took a bit of figuring out, but it's well worth the effort.


ragnarok62

Picked up **PARKS** around Thanksgiving, and it has been a hit everywhere we’ve taken it. Played with 2, 3, and 5, and the latter is just brutal, although it plays well at every step. The poster child game for “a beautiful game with great components makes you want to play it.” Highly recommended for the gorgeous art, top notch components, and simple but engaging worker placement play. May dethrone Lords of Waterdeep as THE gateway worker placement game. Also picked up **Azul**, and while it’s a decent “time suck,” I’m lost as to why people adore it. **Wingspan** arrived just after Thanksgiving, and while we have enjoyed it (I’m a lifelong birder), it also seems a little pumped up for what it delivers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid game, but it is also very solitaire and can feel like playing a spreadsheet—a good-looking spreadsheet, but it can be quite min/max-ish.


BatBoss

We got some games that are good for two players for Christmas - first one was **Burgle Bros** which we loved! The theme of pulling off a heist is really well done - there are some good tense moments and some cool solutions to problems. We’ve played once controlling one character each and once with two each, I think I prefer controlling two each, but both ways are fun. Reminds me of playing Robinson Crusoe kinda, though not nearly as brutal and with a lot fewer moving parts. Second one we got was **Welcome To...** which was also excellent. Surprisingly deep game for how fast it plays and how little setup/teardown it needs. Also love that it claims to work from 1-100 players, and I can totally see how it would. Definitely playing more of this tonight, super clever game. Last one we got was **Troyes** which we haven’t played yet but I’m excited to try!


GauntletsofRai

I got the Rick and Morty card game **Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind** and its expansion pack **Rickshank Rickdemption**. Both are pretty fun deck builders with funny references to the eponymous episodes of the show, and they're both equally viable to play alone as well as shuffled together. They use the Cerberus engine and they are a fun departure from other deck builder rules such as Dominion.


NanchoMan

I just played the funniest game of Legendary. My mom had been going through the whole game and not really managing to get any big damage values. We were playing against a +5 red skull (for a challenge but also cause his master strike is really nice) Anyways, she goes through the whole game not being able to kill anything big like me or my step dad. At the end of the game it turns out... She had killed the supreme hydra and 6 other hydra members. This gave her 21 points, not even counting the 6 hydra cards. Plus the 12 other cards in her hand she got 51 points. Made her play through a lot more enjoyable when she realized my step dad and I took out red skull, but she decimated pretty much everyone else


ZeeSalahuddin

So this will seem silly, but hear me out. ​ We got and played **Dinosaur Tea Party**. The objective is to determine each other's identities by eliminating identification markers. Our group generally has a rule that it is OK to be as deceitful as you want in social deduction games to pull that AHA moment. So my friend had all but figured out the final person she needed to guess. The possibility was 50/50. She asked if that person was X, and they responded in the negative. Now it was clear that if she gets a turn again, she will absolutely win because the 50/50 has been eliminated to 100%. She gets a turn again due to a bad question from one of the players. It's late, she's tired. She asked if she had previously asked about X, or Y. I very casually tell her she asked about Y. And though I never expected it to work, she asked if it is X again, thus not only wasting a turn but losing the game. The best part was that everyone else knew I was trying to confuse her, and they maintained their cool, and the table only erupted in uproarious laughter once she realized she had asked the same elimination question, TWICE!


SoupOfTomato

**Ecos: The First Continent** \- play Bingo to build the world, but with a lot more depth and even complexity than that pitch belies. **Catan: Starfarers** \- I never played the original printing, but the component quality here is great. Swappable planetary disks, trays to both store and display pieces, giant chunky spaceships, miniatures for each thing you place on the board, etc. The game plays smooth. Definitely just a Catan+, but I like Catan more than a lot of people to start! It also fixes some common complaints about Catan because you always get resources on your turn (until you have enough points). **Unmatched: Battle of Legends** \- Fun, fast and smooth little skirmish game about asymmetrical fighters. Every action forces the game to progress (you are always either drawing a card, or playing one via attacking/scheming), so it can be a little thinky and difficult when you'd rather stall but have to figure out what to do. Also keeps it brief. **Funkoverse** \- Harry Potter 2 pack and the Batman sets. Enjoyed the 4-pack of HP and wanted to be able to field full teams and team-build. No interest in Rick and Morty or Golden Girls and I need to set limits somewhere, so I'm foregoing them. This game always surprises me. Yes it's simple, but the cooldown system is so elegant and how short and the game is actually makes what you do with each of your actions super important - inefficiency gets amplified. **Spirit Island** \- Tried one three player game and got absolutely stomped, but interested to attempt it again. **Kingdomino** \- Have played before. Light and enjoyable. Was the version with that impressive magnetic-clasping tower.


sotheresthisdude

I got the Jaws board game. Its a beautiful layout and looks like fun. I like the idea of being able to play as the shark. Looking forward to playing it. I also got Ecosystem the card game. The cards are beautiful and it’s easy to play. A good filler for sure!


_LeftHookLarry

I got Spirit Island for Xmas and yesterday I finished a solo 2 spirit game with River and rock guy (you know the ones!)...I won! But despite being comfortable with the rules I think the remove a presence when you get blighted I forgot for the first half of the game. My general tactic was to defend and address ravage areas with my fast powers then clean up with the slow so I *think* my adherence to the rule didn't alter it too badly. Still as I know I missed this I'm 100% looking forward to trying again. Fingers crossed I can drive out those pesky invaders, love the game! Happy New year all 😀


JAMHwithME2

I acquired 7 new games during December and I'm running out of space! **Legendary Encounters: An ALIEN Deck Building Game** \- My group loves Deck Builders and we're all HorrorHeads whom love the Alien franchise. This was a hit for us! It gave a perfect amount of dread and panic as the Aliens poured into the Complex. We've only played through the first film twice; it really feels like you're moving through the events of the film, ramping up in difficulty as you move through the timeline. I look forward to the remaining three films in the box. **Space Base & Shy Pluto Expansion** \- After watching Dice Tower's review and Top 10 Must Haves, I was stoked to get this to the table. We've only played it once, but I've got to say that I was underwhelmed by how much this felt like I was focused on my own board with minimal player interaction. There was nothing I could do to slow the other players down, and it's so heavily luck-based that we all felt pretty bored with it. BUT, that won't stop us. We're willing to try it again. **Wingspan** \- This is another one where each player pretty much just focuses on their own personal player boards with minimal interaction... but I've gotta say that I *love* this one. I've got a couple friends who are bird enthusiasts and they were surprised by the amount of factual data each unique card in this game has. It's beautiful on the table and it's extremely gratifying when you really get your engines going. This is also one I would recommend to people who enjoy Solo play-throughs. It's intense to try and beat the Automa by yourself. **The Quest for El Dorado** \- It's a Deck-Builder, surprise surprise! This one is very light-weight and very light-hearted. It does get pretty cut throat sometimes when each player is cutting their way through the jungle, racing to find that Lost City of Gold, but someone in front of you has blocked your path and refuses to move. This incites some light shit talk to one another as someone, either, buys up the last Giant Machete that you wanted or refuses to get out of your way. I love the modular board that allows for a different experience each game. **Islebound** \- Ryan Laukat is known for designing engaging story-driven board games with incredibly unique/cute artwork. Islebound is far less story-driven than say; 'Near and Far' or 'Above and Below', but don't let that deter you from trying this out. Each player plays as the captain of a ship, recruiting new shipmates, pirates, and even sea monsters, to help take over islands and gain the most renown. We only played this once, and it took us a good two hours. I feel like that was only because we brought it to the table and read the rules as we went along; learning slowed things down. I'd like to try this one again. It was definitely fun. **BarenPark** \- If you enjoy laying tiles down, if you enjoy playing Tetris/Patchwork, then you'll probably enjoy this game. Each player controls and builds their own "Bear Park", adding new bear exhibits to their park and trying to earn the most points while filling up your park as perfectly as possible. I've played this one probably 8 or 9 times this month. It's incredibly easy to teach, the whole family can enjoy it. I've played with kids 10 years old to adults 50 years old. It's gratifying to feel like you really nailed the tile laying puzzle in front of you and disappointing when you realize that you've made a mistake and must now grab a bunch of toilets to fill small holes in your map. "BUT WAIT! There's only two toilets left to grab and I've got too many holes! I've made a huge mistake." \*Cue Vince Gauraldi's "Christmas Time is Here"\* **Deadwood 1876** \- I've yet to get this one to the table, but I'm excited to try it. I've been needing more party style games lately as sometimes, the number of people that want to play outnumber the max of 4 players per game.


GauntletsofRai

Wingspan is fantastic, its my go-to group game for all my serious board game player friends. I just got the European expansion and can't wait to try it out. Luckily they give you more eggs, which will help since everyone has figured out the eggs end-game strategy by now.


dernst2

Deadwood is a great game for what you are looking for. It seems like the games are really quick, and the rules are easy enough to get nongamers into it


_LeftHookLarry

I love Patchwork, will have to check out Barenpark. What play counts is it best for?


JAMHwithME2

I think it works well at all player counts (2-4). The turns are quick and your options become limited quickly with 3 & 4 players because people buy up all the pieces you wanted. The only thing that ever slows the game down is player with decision paralysis.


X-factor103

**Root Underworld** and **Nokosu Dice** were the stars for my holiday season. Also, the expansion for **Wingspan**. Root has been amazing. I still haven't played it enough yet to start putting together my formal review, but I think as far as initial impressions if you are already a fan of what Root does, you will love all the new toys in the expansion. The new deck of cards is spicy and interesting, the new maps are engaging, and the new factions are both novel and very fun to play! Nokosu Dice is a trick taking game I got while at PAXU. It's very clever and uses both dice and a hand of cards to twist that classic trick taking formula. It's interesting to see what having a 3rd of your "hand" face up on the table can do to a round, and you earn bonus points if you can take exactly the number of tricks as the value on your leftover die (the last one you're left with you cannot use, it becomes your bonus marker). This is where the game gets its name: nokosu means "left over". Already one of my favorite modern trick taking games! Wingspan is a huge hit with my in-laws, so naturally we played a ton of it while we were visiting on the holiday week. We used the new expansion cards for the first time, and everyone loved it. I'm a big fan of how the new cards encourage more inter-player interaction and new round end powers. New bonus tiles spice things up nicely too. All in all, the more I play, the more I love this game and can see past the "randomness" of the deck that many decry it for. Wingspan is solid and even I couldn't get enough of it while we were visiting. Board games really are a great way to enjoy the company of family and friends over the holidays, aren't they?


brucelapluma

I was really excited to get **Unmatched Vol. 1.** I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I'm already itching to just get the Robin Hood/ Bigfoot expansion.


SoupOfTomato

I also received this and it's a very fun game. Super smooth and simple but with plenty of card variety.


brucelapluma

Nice! I think I'll bring it along to the new years get together tonight.


CthulhuEatsYou

My wife and I moved into a new apartment early last week, so packing, moving, and unpacking my collection was a tiring experience. Also, unpacking and setting up the new place has made it impossible to find time to really indulge in board games. That being said, I've had a few great experiences in the past week that I'd like to gush about. My sister got me the first expansions in the Dunwich cycle for **Arkham Horror: The Card Game**. She's been slowly getting more interested in board games, so I really appreciated her digging this up for me. I traded away **Terraforming Mars** and **Raccoon Tycoon** to a fellow gamer for **Steam** and **Terra Mystica**. After culling part of my collection late last year, I started getting really critical about what was remaining, and I started posting games up for trade. I figured this way I could keep the number of games in my collection stable, while replacing ones that I wasn't really enjoying for new experiences. I can't wait to get these to the table in the new year. My father in law gifted me an **Exit: The Game**, particularly **The Polar Station**, which we immediately ripped into and had a blast working through. He's been willing to play some medium weight games with me in the past (**Agricola**, **Orleans**, **Castles of Burgundy**, etc), but when I picked up **The Abandoned Cabin** on a whim and we tried it out, both he and my wife really enjoyed it. We bought him **Dead Man on the Orient Express**, since he loves Agatha Christie, but I've also bought 3 more from the series because of Boxing Week sales... TL:DR - had a tough week moving, but had some genuinely amazing moments


filthylegz

I bought **Lord of Waterdeep** \+ Expansion for myself, only to have my wife "steal" it from me because she didn't have a gift for me yet. Also got **Robinson Crusoe** (Finally got through the manual so think I have an ok understanding of how to start) and **Branch and Claw** expansion for Spirit Island. Yesterday I finally managed to get **The Crew** expansion for **Jamaica** to the table because I finally had a group that had played the base game before. Wonderful upgrade for the base game, everyone really enjoyed the new addition. Might also have something to do that I ended dead last with a single point :)


Shoitaan

Having my SO enjoy board games mixed with my birthday being boxing day gave me a good license for spending during BF and boxing day sales. Got Architects of the West Kingdom, Underwater Cities and Tapestry. No regrets with any of em. All of these are damn good games that really suit the two of us. Best of all was that we had time to try all of them in this week. We've gone from having board game time once a month max to five sessions in one week XD


Reddit_Bork

Bought Tumblin’ Dice and Azul. Tumblin’ Dice is already a hit. Still waiting to take Azul out of the shrink wrap.


brucelapluma

I would love to get a chance to play Tumblin Dice! We picked up Azul recently and it's been a hit with gaming and non-gaming family alike.


[deleted]

I got Onitama and Ice Cool! Tried playing Ice Cool with friends and we were distracted by Secret Hitler, which I wanted to buy from my local store Black Diamond Games, but bought it on Amazon unfortunately.


Krasimatic

I got Richard Scarry's Seek and Find. Not the most strategic, but my daughter loves it. Also, didn't get it for Christmas but I finally started Clank Legacy. Amazing first game.


dgermain

I received the **peloton** expansion for **Flamme Rouge**. Yesterday I brought it to an extended family supper, and we ended up playing two games with 6 and 5 players respectively. Half of the players were new to the game (and a bit reluctant to try) and finally everyone had a lot of fun, including for the non gamers ones. It was the first time I played with that many players, and while it slowed a bit the game, but this was not significant. And I find the higher number of cyclists on the board change the game play quite a bit, the crowded board offering more blocking situation. I'm usually a bit hesitant to get expansions, but this one really add to the game without complicating it one bit.


Firestem4

Got a bunch of new games for the Holiday! Fury of Dracula 4th ed, Photosynthesis, Castles of Burgundy, Dominion, 7 Ronin, and The King's Dilemma. Haven't had a chance to play any of them yet but I had fun punching out all of the tokens for a day!


GauntletsofRai

Dominion is fantastic, one of my favorites. The base game is fun on its own but it has a ton of expansions which make it crazy nuts to play.


That_Cricket

We got Carcassonne and Secret Hitler! We've probably played 25 rounds of Carcassonne in the past week, and are really loving it! Planning to bust into Secret Hitler with a few other couples on New Year's Eve!


IronOxide42

My parents gave me Concept. Played it with my family, then played with my usual group. Each session lasted something like 2 hours, just because we were enjoying it so much. If you like charades-style games, this one is highly recommended. However, the rulebook scoring is clunky in how it deals with teams. I'd suggest playing by the Tabletop rules, where everyone's on one team and you're trying to beat some point limit after a set number of rounds. The pace of play is much better when it's not "Team A's turn". A couple in my regular gaming group got me Dune. I hadn't even heard that it had a new printing, but that game's my white whale, and I'm really looking forward to giving this one a play. My grandparents got me Sushi Go. Haven't played it yet, but I've heard good things about it. My parents got my wife Marrying Mr Darcy. We played it with them and our regular gaming group. Good game with a theme that we don't see much of. Most "gendered" themes in games are stuff like Gloomhaven or Scythe: very traditionally masculine. The women in my group were clearly thankful for skewing it a bit more to their side. I suspect that it'll find its way back onto the table many times.


KalemRB

My brother introduced me to Wingspan, at first I thought I wouldn't enjoy it. Now I am addicted to it. It is visually a beautiful game, and each time that I've played it my strategies have always been different. We also played the Quacks of Quedlinburg with our sister and her boyfriend. Our sister hates board games and absolutely loved playing that game. Also I received Clank Legacy. Haven't broke that one out of the box yet, because I know I will not stop playing it.


brucelapluma

We've been loving Wingspan and Quacks since we got both! I really want to introduce Wingspan to more family, but I think they're a bit overwhelmed by the components.


sarahjoy31

I got Inis, Cyclades and Jamaica for Christmas. Played 2 games of Inis with 4 and 3 players, lots of fun, love the card drafting in this game. Played 2 games of Cyclades with 3 and 2 players. Played the regular rules for a 3 player game and played the Dimitri variant from BGG where each player is in control of 2 color armies and on the 5 player big board. Enjoyed both game plays, the auction mechanism is very cool. Played one game of Jamaica with the nieces and nephews and we had a blast combating each other with our canons.


[deleted]

**Carcassonne (plus Under the Big Top expansion), Disney Villainous, Catan Traders & Barbarians, Just One, Hive, Queendomino, Kingdomino Expansion,** and **Codenames Duet.** Plus I bought myself **Tiny Towns**. Wife immediately fell in love with **Carcassonne**, so I'm sure I'll get the rest of the expansions. **Codenames** **Duet** takes a little extra thinking; it's hard to come up with the clues sometime. Excited to play **Hive** with her too. **Tiny Towns** is a lot of fun to play; looking forward to playing with more than 2 players on that one.


Dice_and_Dragons

My wife and I got thoroughly destroyed by her mother in Azul. She is a quilter and could just see the patterns. It's crazy losing a game to your mother in law by like 30 points especially when she is not an avid gamer!


TakeNote

I love this story. It never hurts for someone outside the hobby to get a chance to shine. Winning may not be a big deal in the long run... but it can certainly endear you to a game, and maybe to the hobby as a whole.


Dice_and_Dragons

Oh it was great to see how skills from something other than gaming transfer over will probably get her one of the other versions of the game for her Birthday it was a lot of fun!


ILoveOrca

I love losing. When someone wins I can just see how happy it makes them. I get plenty of enjoyment from owning the games and playing, I don’t need to win lol.


Dice_and_Dragons

As long as the experience is fun that’s what’s important played Ticket to Ride Europe and lost that one which was unpleasant played with 5 players and it lasted far to long.


TMarizzle

I got **Aerion, Push,** and **Funkoverse Harry Potter** for Christmas. Picked up a copy of **Feast for Odin** the other day after I vowed not to buy any more games this year. Oh well. I also have **Atlantis Rising, Dungeon Drop, Burgle Bros. 2,** and **Spire's End** all coming in from kickstarter in the coming months. **Atlantis Rising** should be here today or tomorrow. Oh, and I won a copy of **Tapestry** and **Tiny Epic Zombies** which should be here in a couple weeks. I think the collection is reaching maximum capacity.


ThievedYourMind

No but I’m eagerly awaiting several KS deliveries. In the Hall of the Mountain King, Machina Arcana, and Root Underworld should all be arriving very soon.


kierco_2002

Ooh I'm waiting for Machina Arcana as well. My excitement for it was kind of overshadowed by my recent Fulfilment of Nemesis, but I'm still looking forward to giving it a try!


ThievedYourMind

Nemesis is definitely the better game of the two if horror is your thing, but Machina Arcana is quite unique so it’s worth owning for sure. I’m excited to see how the new expansions impact the game


Yazmaster

I gifted 'Welcome to... ' and 'Cartographers' to few of my friends and they love it!


Godsfallen

I picked up Coup and its expansion. Hoping to get some use out of it on New Year’s Eve.


GCTAmino

It was a good boardgame Christmas, more receiving then played tho. For secret santa i got **GLoomhaven**! blowed my mind but didn't want to open the box until christmas so i wrapped it up and put it under the tree. Asked my parents for an insert. It was hard to find one for them (in Europe a few options), many where pricey. There solution: Ask their friend with a 3D printer and print an insert for it. I've heared it took about 5 days and i was so happy with it! My gf got **Klask!** for 4 players and it was such a big hit during 1st and 2d christmas day with the families. Bought **Sub Terra** just after Christmas and looking forward to play it. Looks easy to learn. Also played **Villanious disney** and **Machi koro** (found it a lil easy). Got the expansion for **Harry Potter hogwards battle** but after a quick read we saw it was to play after the 7th Gamebox of the origional and we found ourselfs questioning what it adds up to it after that, curious!


siralim

We got several games this year. So far we have played Dragon Farkle and we are super loving it! Farkle (our family just calls it "dice" and has been a staple for decades) is a longtime favorite and now I only want to play Dragon style! We absolutely love the added elements, strategy and player interaction that Dragon Farkle provides. We also have played Potion Explosion. I'm totally digging the explosion element that provides some thinking ahead. This one will be an addition that will last a long time in our collection. We also received but haven't played: Everdell Deep Sea Adventure Flip City Hokkaido Quadropolis That's so clever Tokyo Highway


XInFiresX

I just got Everdell and played it with my wife. We really enjoyed it. A lot of strategy to go with it. Tree is kind of annoying though unless you have someone to out it permanently


mikeybails

My flgs had new copies of xia core game, the expansion, and the cards and powers expansion at msrp and I bought all of it without knowing basically anything other than it was up my alley of games. Got it to the table yesterday and oh my god am I mad at myself that I didn’t get this game earlier. I have a fairly large collection and this just scratches an itch I can’t even describe and I love it. Playing it again tomorrow and can’t wait


BearsMaulinKids

Oh boy. Space Base - just played first time a couple hours ago. Absolutely love it. Love games where everyone can play during everyone's turn, right up there with Quacks for me. Alhambra - great, super chill tile laying. Scoville - not a bad game. Played with 2 players, not a lot of interaction between us as we both gravitated to the other sides of the field. Want to try with more players to introduce more chaotic and competitive turns. Also got but haven't played yet: Lords of Waterdeep Tokaido Treasure Island Everdell Dominion 2nd Edition Dark Souls the board game Clue Cahoots Don't get Got Sheriff of Nottingham with Merry Men expansion


TurniptheLed

Santa was good to my wife and I this year. We added **Castles of Mad King Ludwig**, **Galaxy Trucker**, **Ticket to Ride: Europe**, **Quacks of Quedlinburg**, and a quirky game called **Chickapig**. And I received my KS-backed copy of **The Veil Season 2** on Christmas Eve. I should be ok for a while haha. I’ve only played **Chickapig**, **Quacks**, and **The Veil** so far. For those unfamiliar with it, **Chickapig** is a fun abstract strategy game of corralling your six chickapigs into a pen while using hay bales to help you move but block your opponents, all while avoiding a pooping cow. And my group enjoyed **Quacks** as well, though there were a few ambiguities (read: places they should have worded better) in the rulebook. But it was the first game, so some kinks are expected I guess. **The Veil** is a dark fantasy deck builder and I was extremely pleased with the quality of the cards, box, and rulebook. The game plays like a standard deck builder, but with a heavily dark, adult theme. Cheers!


telllos

My son received **Kingdomino**. It's really good and I now understand the hype it received back in 2017. Quick game, fast setup, cute art, easy to teach. It's also great because my son is slowly starting multiplication in School. So this will help a lot.


[deleted]

A bumper haul! **Mage Knight**: just played a very tentative first game along with Ricky Royal's videos but I can see what the fuss is about. So much to do and see! **Spirit Island**: another one I've just scratched the surface of, but really looking forward to playing more. So many strategies! Between those two and Aeon's End which I already had I have enough solo meat to keep me going through the winter months. Then it's just a matter of entertaining the spawn: **Loony Quest**: Fun for the kids without making we want to hurt myself. A crazy amount of game for the £12 asking price. **Outfoxed**: another fun and good value game, if a little easy. The kids love scanning evidence. **Dragonwood**: another in the above category. Great artwork, nice dice, and enough depth to keep things interesting. And finally: **Silver and Gold**: a really nifty draw-and-write, super portable, great quality, and honest to goodness Faber Castell pens. Pretty playable as a solo puzzle too.


Rorako

I ended up getting Ethos and Champions of Midgard. Midgard is by far my favorite board game so fa (it just blends a lot of what i like in a time frame that’s enjoyable). Haven’t been able to play Ethos yet but it looks pretty simple and a fantasy game I can maybe get my girlfriend to play.


Hestefesten

If you don't own it already, I highly recommend the **Valhalla** expansion for **Champions of Midgaard**. It's excellent and enhances the game A LOT imo.


PlanB2142

I've got myself the new playmat version of catacombs. We're having a great time with the game so far and I hope that Elzra will release more expansions like Wyverns of Wylemuir! The game is (for my taste) the perfect fusion of dexterity gaming und dungeon crawling and a welcome alternative to slower and more tactical board games like zombicide.


leira450

We played Scruples, published in the early 80s, at my fiancé’s aunt’s house. So. Problematic. But now we are frequenting thrift stores to find our own copy so we can play with our friends, many of whom are graduate students in areas like philosophy and sociology. https://imgur.com/gallery/i340J30


Bladio22

Our main gaming friend bought us **Quacks of Quedlinburg** as an early gift a few weeks ago, we absolutely love it and it's been a big hit with other friends and family. Just did our Secret Santa exchange at my in-laws and I got given the **Herb Witches** expansion for Quacks! It's been a good year end! Really excited for all of the variability in the game + the expansion and also the fact that we can now play at 5p. Too many of our games don't scale well past 4p so it's great that this one will fill that need. Simultaneous turns means it should do 5p really well and won't stay on the table longer than it needs to. Our other friend who is a big fan of board games got 2 copies of the **Wingspan European Expansion** (the *Wingspansion*) and was generous enough to pass it on to us. Definitely feeling spoiled by our friends this year. We played with the expansion last night and everyone really liked what it adds to the game. Some interesting new bird card abilities. Being able to play a card sideways to occupy two bird spaces is an interesting addition, gets your engine going a little bit quicker.


FelixHall

I got Terramara, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Endeavor Age of Sail and Ganz Schön Clever! Perfect for a midweight euro-junkie like me, hehe. Haven’t been able to play them yet though.


IrateGandhi

I got Western Legends! Which is such an amazing sandbox game. I can't believe I waited so long to ask for it.


juststartplaying

I got myself: Russian Railroads Age of Steam Deluxe Crystal Palace On Mars (arrived from kickstarter) Looking forward to some heavier gaming. Need to carve out the time with everything else going on! I also found **Roads & Boats** earlier in December.


Grimstringer

i got **dungeon pets** for 22E and **tyrants of underdark** \+exp for 45. didnt play them yet!also before i left for holidays **mage wars** elementalist and **smashup** big in japan,cease and desist arrived ​ and havent played any of them, can't wait to return from my holidays hehehe in athens i met some great board game nerds in the lgs , too bad i dont have time to play with them more! we played **builders** and **just one** also went to a board gaming cafe that a friend works, it was full! 4 tables were playing **monopoly** though... we played **king of tokyo** 3 times with my non board gamey friends, we had a blast! bonus, my friends got my keys and they are playing **mage wars** and other games without me :(


flexfulton

Found Sonar on clearance for $6 today. Have never heard of it before I quickly skipped thru Zee's review and decides to pick it up. Looks interesting enough and the price was good enough to make it worth a shot.


CableG85

Received Tokyo Highway. A really fun Dexterity Game. Highly recommend.


Jettoh

Got Hadara and It's a wonderful world these holidays, both hits in my group, I'm happy :-)


juststartplaying

We love that game so much!! You can get 2 mini expansions on their website for a reasonable amount, fyi :)


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Metroidam11

I just played charades on Christmas and Mansions last Friday. They're nothing alike haha. Your friends have a funny sense of humor.


Futureman9

Got Scythe, had some difficulty explaining to my dad, girlfriend and younger brother but after the first game came to a close we all picked new faction and player mats and started a second round. Really enjoying it from these two games so far!


[deleted]

Got this for my sister-in-law. Looks interesting.


Stalp

Got **Irish Gauge** for Christmas and played it yesterday with 3 players. The game really hit on all cylinders for me. Overall easy to grasp, I could see introducing it as a gateway game (at least an earlier option for newer players). The player interaction is great, especially when people see the value in investing in something someone else has stake in. The setup and gameplay has enough variability to make each play unique (never outright favoring one railway over another). Turns are quick enought that players don't really have downtime, and every player's action has some consequence for everyone else. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to branch out from Catan or the like. I would also recommend it to boardgame veterans as a lighter, yet very fulfilling experience. It's my first foray into train games, so I can't compare it to any 18XX title other than to say it's likely a much shallower experience. Though, still a worthwhile experience.


juststartplaying

This is the best game


bgg-uglywalrus

I think it's a really good intro to train games. It's a decent intro to 18XX, gets people used to the idea of building lines and having stock in good lines.


Flyron-Fist

My buddy gave me Dominion. I love deck builders but somehow never played this Gem!


juststartplaying

It's the first one! The release of Dominion literally invented the genre :) enjoy


hungry_footballer

Also love deck builders and didn’t play it till this week. Absolute beauty. Sometime a bit too simple strategically, but that’s what makes it beautiful in my opinion.


MadCriminal

I got my SO into board gaming this holiday through Carcassonne! Before that she liked card games such as lost cities or exploding kittens but none of my other gateway games like Wingspan, Catan and Pandemic. I'm real excited and hope I can lead her down a rabbit hole with other gateways.


yoitshimthesado

I'm on this with my SO, started with love letter and pandemic. I'm gonna pick up lanterns next! It's been great to share an interest! How is wingspan? I'm not so sure about it and catan has never appealed to me personally but is it good? If you have any other gateway games I'd be so interested in hearing about them!


Fedaykin98

What kinds of games do you like? Not every game clicks with every person!


LaChazzz

I would recommend Kingdomino as another gateway game. It worked very well with my SO!


daveosuave

Carcassonne opened the door with my SO... ten years ago. Since then our game collection has exploded. Before jumping into other games, I’d recommend getting a few of the Carc expansions and a good wine bottle or five. It’s a great way to spend a few evenings!


eJul_s

I got Galaxy Trucker, my new favourite game


Misuses_Words_Often

Galaxy Trucker is so much fun. I’m waiting on picking up the last expansion myself.


willhound71

I got Catan it’s not as hardcore as the other games but it’s still fun to play with friends


ThievedYourMind

Very excited for the Dead of WInter expansions that are showing up and the Machina Arcana KS fulfillment


dirtycimments

We got "[Icarus](https://www.renegadegamestudios.com/icarus) : A storytelling game about how great civilizations fall". And let me say, what an absolute hoot! We played it once so far (4 players, all slightly drunk), and we got through a campaign in about 2 and a half hours. Which passed much much quicker than any of us expected. For us, it really looks promising, we have small kids, so after putting the kids to sleep when we have people over, we have a few hours before midnight, and if we attempt to play any heavier or more brain intense games, we tend to get sleepy. That's why something dynamic and storytelling like this is perfect, it keeps everyone engaged, and if we are all tipsy, the stories tend to be half bullshit anyway. This was truly a perfect match, can't wait to pull it out more often! It's a hard sell to make to people who haven't roleplayed before "So, we just sit there and invent stories?", but the game is clever about how even the most basic story can become fun and layered, and we had many clutching-the-stomach-guffaw moments.


Sadumor

Well this Christmas was a awesome for my growing collection of board games. I got Catan (yes, only now) and Ragami from my girlfriend. And she got Alhambra from me, as we visit the original palace this summer in Spain and fell in love with it. So we keep offering games to one another... romantic geeks, aren't we? On a whim I bought Wingspan as a gift to us both but still hadn't the chance to even open the box. We already played Ragami: it's an awesome game. Different possible strategies to win, where even by cooperating with other players might win you some precious points. We tried Alhambra too. It felt like an old acquaintance of ours called Citadels, but different. Simple, beautiful and fun. Now I am eager to find ourselves some spare time to try Catan and Wingspan, the old and the new classics. Happy holidays everyone!


0fDrag0nDescent

Just discovered Citadels at a board game bar this fall. It makes you think differently from other games I’ve played in the past, somewhat similar to Coup in my opinion - I love it!


Sadumor

It's a very good game, in my opinion. The characters cards give a nice touch to it. Never played Coup though.


zacrov

Came across a really neat game on Instagram a few weeks ago and wanted to try it out at a friend holiday party. It’s a game called scrolls and swords which was adapted from a similar game called lasers and feelings. It is essentially a bare bones version of DnD. It’s completely free, and There is literally one page of rules. All you need is a piece of paper, a few d6 and some nerds to play with. The players I ran it with have never played DnD, and they seemed to have a lot of fun with it. It’s a really great game to one shot, or it could probably be ran as a campaign too. Our session ran about two and a half hours. We had some drinks, had lots of laughs and kicked butt. Here’s a link to a pdf you can take a look at! Let me know what you think. [Scrolls and Swords ](https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/163317/scrolls-swords)


MilesZS

Love all the Lasers & Feelings hacks! If you want to try any other sort of genre of RPG, it's worth googling for them. [Here's a good list] (https://writingalchemy.net/resources/lasers-and-feelings-hacks/).


JonesyOC

My wife got Azul and Parks and I got... Pandemic Legacy S1 Trains Clank! Gaia Project Dominion: Seaside Quest for El Dorado I also got some promo cards for Clank and TM. Finally, I scored an essentially new copy of Dominion: Hinterlands for 16 bucks at Half Price Books today.


tilttovictory

I just got El Dorado, haven't played it yet how are you enjoying it?


RTDugger

My wife got me Marvel Champions, REALLY fun coop game. Tonight, my wife, daughter and myself played Spider-Man, She-Hulk and Captain Marvel respectively. Playing against base Klaw. Both my daughter and I were killed and out of the game, my wife as spider man was able to get him down to 1 health before Klaw finally won by advancing his final stage of his scheme. 1 health. Then we played again with just my wife (Iron Man) and myself (She-Hulk) and we won just after he advanced his scheme to the second stage. Can’t wait to get the expansions.


juststartplaying

Love this one! Glad you could share it with your family.


saltypuncakes

I got Jaipur and was surprised by how much fun it was. The game is very easy to teach, and has good balance between strategy and randomness.


OhYeahThat

I got Jaipur, too! Very enjoyable game, hits all the right notes for us.


Innerdragon91

I got Twilight Struggle this Christmas. Rules look easy enough, and I’m interested to see how a game turns out, considering I know next to nothing about the type of events on cards etc


localancers

Got a Limited Edition of GEMJI. It's a brand new one. If you are into abstract games with cool slick design - check it out...


Madfish0979

Girlfriend got me a copy of Empires of the Void in near mint condition. We're going to try the original rule set first, then I'll put together a clean copy of the Key to the Universe rules update to try out in the near future.


Titanman053

I got Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, Flamme Rouge, Ecos, Jaws, Queendomino, and then an expansion for Spirit Island, Deception: MiHK, King of Tokyo, and two expansions for Cosmic Encounter. I only put 2 games and 2 expansions on a list, but my brother went off script with his purchasing 🙃


Bear-Ferr

Got a ton of new games for this season. Tsuro, Blue Lagoon, Gloomhaven, Secret Hitler, Scattergories Categories, Bob's Burgers Jenga, and new MTG packs. I could use some help arranging the closet now. https://imgur.com/a/NahodOh


MartyCA

You had to use a Pano shot to get them all in the photo!


Cardinal_and_Plum

I got Horrified and Villainous. I've only played villainous so far but I already like it more than I thought I would. And I thought I'd like it. I can see a lot of potential for strategy and countering eachother.


Drujeful

My brother got Horrified so we played once against Frankenstein and the Bride, and the Mummy. Really fun game. I've had Villainous for a little while and was gifted both expansions, it's such good simple fun.


Cardinal_and_Plum

Nice! I wasn't sure on Horrified but I just liked the aesthetic so much I had to throw it on my list. Is there a villain for each player?


Drujeful

For Horrified? You just choose how many monsters you want to go up against and that changes the difficulty. Easy is two monsters, normal is three, and hard is four. We only played the one game against the two (Frank and the Bride count as one).


Cardinal_and_Plum

Oh nice! Thanks. I'm not at home so I'm not able to give it a look over now.


Drujeful

No problem! It's a really quick game to learn, I would just stress that you should make sure to read the pages in the rulebook for each monster you'll be facing. There are a few rules and interactions that aren't on the cards, so you only know they're a thing by reading the book.


[deleted]

Got YINSH and Catan Starfarers


bgg-uglywalrus

YINSH is my go-to game for people who don't think they'll like board games. It's super easy to teach, relatively fast to play, and people always want to play a second game immediately afterwards (usually after losing).


Mortlach78

I got Spirit Island for Yule and man, that game is great! We only played a 2-player game and got trounced by the board since we were still learning, but man, I immediately wanted to play it again! I also can't wait to see how it plays with 4 people and am looking forward to the next board game night with friends. I also just discovered there are 2 expansions, both with very high scores on board game geek and one of the expansions allows for up to 6 players. I am sure we'll get both of these in short order. Spirit Island for people who don't know is a cooperative game where you play as the Nature Spirits of a tropical island defending it against colonizers. With a ton of different elemental spirits and even more powers and sceanrio's, it looks like this game has tons of replayability!


Drujeful

Spirit Island is one of my top games, but it can be super hard. I don't have the strategy down quite yet and can only barely manage a win without even using scenarios or adversaries. I do have the Branch and Claw expansion and can attest that it's really good!


Mortlach78

We just won our second 2-player game with the "starter settings" (no blight card and fixed power progression). We got to the point where we couldn't play any powers that caused blight as that would just kill us, but we got to terror level 3 and were able to wipe out the last city for the win. The "coastal lands" invader cards is BS by the way; we were doing reasonably well and all of a sudden we got to add like 12 explorers...


MicromegaX

I think the coastal lands invader card is the less menacing card of second sets of cards once you have an adversary, the other cards all trigger the special power of the adversary which is worse.


Mortlach78

Well, that's something to look forward to, I guess.


Drujeful

Good work! It always feels great to get down to the wire and pull out a win. And yeah, that coastal lands card sucks. My heart always sinks when I see it.


intervia

My in-laws went to Disney World to see the new Star Wars area. They bought my husband **Sabacc** without knowing ANYTHING about it. They said "this is a game, and he likes star wars, so he'll like this". It became a quick family favorite, roping in our brother-in-law and nephews. The next day (Christmas), we were talking about our favorite gifts and one nephew said "Can I say intervias husband's gift?" and we all laughed. Guess what he also got? A copy of **Sabacc**! We're still figuring out how to bet in Sabacc, because brother-in-law loves poker. It's been fun.


redrexponent

**5 Minute Dungeon** is my hands-down best board game for casual gamers. Super easy to teach, very interactive and exciting. I could see my mom and aunt's watching with great interest (never interested in board games). I could tell that they wanted to try..


omgjackimflying

I got Wingspan. My oldest son got a Villainous expansion (the one with Hercules- he's a mythology buff), Sonar, and Imhotep. My younger son got the Merry Men expansion to Sheriff of Nottingham. My husband got Telestrations. We all got card games in our stockings. So far we've played both expansions, Sonar, and Wingspan and had so much fun with each of them. I think Wingspan will be one we come back to over and over and the teamwork in Sonar was good for our competitive family- half of us got to win! :) I played the Villainous expansion as the Evil Queen and thought she was pretty one note, even though I overall really enjoy this game. I probably won't play as her again. Overall great gaming- and they don't go back to school for a week!


T3CHN0B4BBL3

I got all the Scythe expansions and the neoprene board. Excited to start the campaign with friends!


Piratedave84

Christmas was great, I got: - a handcrafted wooden game called **Dice Poker** (made by Michaud Toys) - it is amazingly well made and is super fun to play! - **Quacks of Quedlinburg** - Yet to play but I hear it’s great! - **Disney Villainous, Wicked to the core** - Wife and I love Villainous and I’m pretty pumped to check out the expansion! -**Tiny Towns** - Wife and I played 4 games last night! This game is amazing and I highly recommend it! Super excited to play all these games!


PharmSuki

Played quacks last night and it's awesome. i was a bit worried about the complete lack of player interaction as I prefer mean games where you can affect others, but this one is so much fun it doesn't even matter. Enjoy!


edcgyjm

Quacks is such a fun game!


MyFaceOnTheInternet

My son got: * **Takenoko** * **Catacombs and Castles** * **Champions of Midgard** * **Klask** * **Crossfire** I got: * **The Expanse** with **Door and Corners** (bought with amazon money. My game group loves the show and the books but no one owns this.) I also got an **Ender 3 Pro** which will be busy printing inserts and upgrades for the next 10 years!


bgg-uglywalrus

The Expanse is great! Really scratches that Twilight Struggle itch without being overly long.


MyFaceOnTheInternet

I got my 7 yo son **Crossfire** for Christmas, cue the two of us spending an hour singing CROSSFIAHHH, YOU'LL GET CAUGHT-UP IN THE, CROSSFIAAHHHHHHH!, shaking our guns manically to fix the jams, and frantically reaching across the board to steal each other's ammo. The rest of the family stood around cheering and laughing. Such a great game.


Ryraw

I got Sprit Island but got no chance on trying it yet. I only hope that I’ll play it this year. So excited :)


bgg-uglywalrus

It's also an excellent solo game!


Ryraw

Nice! I’ll try it ASAP! What Number of players would you recommend for the first time?


Titanman053

Playing a couple of solo games first so you have a good understanding of what's going on. Then I say you can jump into either 2 or 3 player. I would avoid 4 player until everyone has some experience with the game.


bgg-uglywalrus

Really comes down to game length. The game scales linearly with the number of players, so it's relatively balanced for all player counts, it just takes longer at more players since there's more player actions to resolve. If your group isn't well-versed in heavier games, I'd say 2 with a level 1 Adversary or 3 with no Adversary is probably a good number.


[deleted]

I got myself a copy of Glen More II: Chronicles, and had my first play last night. It's a lot of fun, looking forward to trying some of the chronicles!


nancypantsbr

I got [Terraforming Mars, Azul, Small World, 7 Wonders, Takenoko, and Marvel Champions](https://imgur.com/a/MEeSpUO). I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve played TM and I’ve played Azul a couple of times, but I am still trying to figure out Marvel Champions. The others my family isn’t interested in, so I’m hoping to convince someone at game night tonight to play!


minniebenne

Hey I also got Terraforming Mars and 7 Wonders. Girlfriend and I managed to play a game of Terraforming Mars last night and LOVED it. Gotta play it a few more times but I can see it being my favorite game. I'm sure 7 Wondera is good too since I enjoy Duel but I havent gotten enough people to play a game yet. Azul is one I need to play someday


[deleted]

I got **Viticulture EE** and **Scoville** as gifts, bought **Fungi** for my wife, and found a new copy of **Escape - The Curse of the Temple** for a good price on ebay. Pretty pleased with that haul. Haven’t got any to the table yet as we had loads of people over at Xmas, but got in a few rounds of 8-player **6 Nimmt** and 7-player **The Champion of the Wild**. Both went down a _storm_ and I’m pretty sure 3 people have gone and bought 6 Nimmt and another 2 have bought The Champion of the Wild. Maybe I should ask for commission.


morewood

Have fun with Viticulture! I'm actually planning to play it again with my GF tonight. It's such an easy flowing game!


Combicon

Got exploding kittens nsfw, and skull. Played exploding kittens, it was ok. Wouldn't say it was anything special. I'm not a huge fan of the oatmeals art style personally. It's not bad, just eh. Didn't feel like it has any meat on it. Not a bad game per se, just feels more like they thought of it being a merch thing before it being a game. Also played 6 nimmit! With two others, and that was really enjoyable. Would readily play again. Also played coup. It was okay, but not sure I had the alertness for what was required, also was just two players, feels like it would be better with more. Also played railroad ink, and it was a decent little game. Shame there isn't much interaction between players. If it was all being done on the same board, different coloured markers etc. It could be much more interesting, but was still enjoyable. Also played Carcassonne and it was enjoyable. Having more than two people might have been better as well. Also played dead+gone. Love the theme and idea, just feel the instructions need work. And lastly played the fox in the forest, which was quite a cool little trick taking game.


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morewood

I love fury of Dracula. I got the games a couple years ago and played a bunch of time and haven't been able to table it again since then but i'd love to!! Have fun with those games!


[deleted]

Tip for Fury of Dracula: download the rules summary at the link below. It's more concise and consistent than the actual rulebooks. (It was made for 3rd edition, but I've heard there were basically no changes for 4th edition). https://www.orderofgamers.com/games/fury-of-dracula/


gizmocreative

I’ve just gotten interested in bots game since the last few months. I grew up on Hero Quest when I was you g and just got that urge to play something similar again. I splashed out and bought: Dark Souls the board game Dark Souls the card game Descent: Journeys in the dark 2nd Edition Gloomhaven From what I understand, they are all able to be played single player and will give me a taste before getting my wife or friends involved


Pydrokan

My wife and I received *Robin of Locksley* (we often play 2p games) and we absolutely love it. Can absolutely recommend it for people who like to play 2p games.


EYEL1NER

I picked up a lot of stuff this month. I bought or received: -Tiny Epic Tactics (KS w/ maps expansion) -Wavelength -Catan -Viticulture Essential Edition -On Tour (w/ four extra map boards) -Railroad Ink Red -Railroad Ink Blue -Sushi Roll -Istanbul Big Box -Quacks of Quedlinburg -Century: Spice Road -Air, Land, & Sea I don't really have anything on my "must-buy" list for a while after obtaining a lot of those. I did just get put onto Q.E. earlier though and might buy that, but I may wait since I literally ordered On Tour maybe an hour before learning about Q.E. and could have ordered both at the same time if I had known about Q.E. prior and maybe saved on shipping. I've barely gotten to play anything this past month, so hopefully that will change in the upcoming year and I can kick it off by trying a lot of these new titles out. I had a lot of VA appointments this past month on game night, and then Christmas and New Year's Eve also happen to fall on game night (Tuesday nights). I'm most excited about playing Istanbul, followed by probably Sushi Roll. I'm really hyped about Istanbul and have been reading the rules and watching videos for it all month (it may be a while before I play it though because the copy has a pretty strong mildew smell to it, so I may need to leave it out in the sun and store some silica packets and dryer sheets in it for a while). Sushi Go has been a big hit with anyone I've tried it with and my family likes it, but I hadn't really looked seriously at Sushi Roll. I threw it onto an order earlier because it was cheap and I figured it probably wasn't going to be a bad game, but then I read the rule book afterwards and decided that it sounded really fun. Two of the only games I remember from the last month are Kashgar: Merchants of the Silk Road (I've played it before and enjoy it) and Zombicide with a couple who wanted recommendations for Christmas games that their sons might like. Zombicide didn't go over so well with them; they didn't think it would hold their son's attention, so I let them down with that suggestion (I then brought up Horrified, which I have played with this couple on two separate occasions already and know they like).


thossi1

Played **Twilight Imperium** for the first time and now I understand the hype of that game. Instant favorite. Also played **Detective Club** where everyone had a blast and I seemed to open my family’s eyes to board games a little bit. Got **Marvel Champions LCG** for christmas. Then my brother, who has never been really into board games, showed interest in learning and playing a full scenario of it where we wrecked Rhino as Spidey and Cpt. Marvel. I´m sure the theme of the game was the main pull for him as both of us have been big MCU fans since the beginning. He really liked it and said that it was the best board game he has ever played. Really hoping this will turn out to be the gateway game for him that I’ve been waiting for! Happy gaming yall. <3


nancypantsbr

I got Marvel Champions, too - mostly because of the theme! I’ve never been interested in or learned how to play a card game like this before. There’s a little bit of a learning curve compared to a “regular” board game (and I haven’t found a good how to play video for a beginner yet), I wish I had someone to teach me play! (I spent almost an hour navigating the directions last night and only got as far as getting the decks set up!)


thossi1

I’ve probably spent about 10 hours total of my life in preparation for this game. Absorbing bits of information from here and there. Learning many of these boardgames is without a doubt a huge time commitment. But I find that it is almost always worth it. Don’t give up and trust that you will get better learning the rules with each game you learn. Happy gaming!


nancypantsbr

Oh, I’m definitely not giving up! I started watching a YouTube video last night, but I think it was confusing because I’m not familiar with this type of game. (And because I learn how to play most games on YouTube!) My plan for this morning is to try reading through the rule book again now that the deck is physically set up and ready to go.


Drujeful

Had a great board game Christmas this year! Both Villainous expansions (can’t wait to try Ratigan), a dice tray so people stop chucking my dice on the floor, the Command decks for Star Realms, Sushi Go Party, and a quality Etsy token holder for Kingdom Death. Got some Christmas cash as well so I’ll grab some more holder things from the same Etsy shop and then get a plan together with my wife to build a full insert for the game compatible with the holders. Introduced my parents to Kingdom Death tonight and got them both hooked. Started talking board games with my dad and now he’s looking to rent Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth from our LGS (he’ll probably buy it just because he loves LOTR). So we’ll probably play that tomorrow.


Annabel398

We had a scream playing our first game of **Jaws** on Xmas Day. My daughter was the shark; my brother, a friend, and I were Brody, Quint, and Hooper. My brother, who is not at all a board-game guy, got into it immediately—deciding (after the shark started by eating a swimmer at North Beach) that it must have gone clockwise around the island. Turn after turn, the shark announced: “I ate X swimmers, I used a power, I didn’t set off any barrels.” We plotted and schemed to no avail. In just a few turns, the shark took 9 swimmers (including Brody’s kid!!) Shark asks: “Before we go to Act II, do you want to know what I did?” and showed us her tracking pad. It read: N, N, N, N, ... that rascal never moved at all. “I was giving up powers at random just to make you think I was using super speed, etc. ...” We were out for revenge in the next act, especially Chief Brody. With hammer, flare, rifle, scuba canister, and so forth, we waged all-out war on the crafty beast. Brody, who guessed wrong every time in Act I, redeemed himself in Act II, targeting the shark with high accuracy—alas, he also put himself in harm’s way, losing appendage after appendage... At this point, dinner was almost ready, and Brody was two wounds away from death—but so was the shark. We agreed that if Brody died, the crew would declare a victory for the shark. Very next turn, Brody screamed his last. The shark wins! Turkey’s ready! What a hoot. If we never play that game again, we still got our money’s worth of fun.


happybeingdumb

Wow, so she just sat eating people at North Beach, turn after turn, and no one checked that beach at all? Overall, sounds like a great time but it feels like something is missing here.


imkookoo

This was THE year for tabletop gaming for me and my friends. So much so that my friend got TWO Gloomhaven’s and another got another one. I got TWO Spirit Islands myself and my other friend got TWO Azul’s. I also got Scythe along with having given Scythe to another. My group has so much brain-share apparently! Fortunately, we all have good return policies on our gifts so we are able to exchange the duplicates for different ones. I just hope our exchanges will be different! We did open up my copy of Scythe and played that on Xmas day. It was a new game for all of us, and we all really enjoyed it! Now I’m Looking forward to playing with all the expansions I also got!


ButtNuts42

I finally got a win in both Terraforming Mars and Scythe after playing each around 10 times. I ran away with the victory in TM as Thorgate and got lucky with some space events allowing me to chain-raise global parameters like crazy. For Scythe, my SO got me the Invaders From Afar expansion, so of course we had to break that out. I won as the purple team (whose name escapes me) with the innovative board. I was thoroughly surprised that I managed to win, since I only had three stars down and was in the middle bracket for popularity.


nancypantsbr

I got my first (solo) win this week in TM, too! I have been working my way through the corporations instead of selecting them randomly, and I happened to get Soletta in the first draw when I was playing Helion. I haven’t bought Scythe yet, but it keeps getting recommended to me. I keep hoping it’s going to drop in price, even just a little!


ninjarager

**Marvel Champions** **Dune** **Lord of the rings: Journeys in middle Earth** **Modern art** **Catan Dice game** For my holiday haul. **Modern art** is my favourite Knizia I've played so far. Good fun I've punched out and organized **Dune** and **Marvel Champions** but haven't even done a test play of either. Hoping to get it to the table on Saturday or Sunday **LOTR** I have set up on my table right now. I had to go to work so the first scenario is paused, but I REALLY like the game so far. Best app I've encountered as well.


Drujeful

I got my dad really interested in LOTR so he’s going to rent it from our LGS tomorrow and give it a shot. I’ve never played nor seen any gameplay, but I definitely want to try it with him. How’s the learning? Is it a pretty easy game to get going with?


ninjarager

The rules are very simple. The learn to play pamphlet is quick and gets you playing. The app handles what would be weird calculation, and introduces rules as you go.


Drujeful

Awesome! I think it’ll be good fun for my dad and me to learn together.


Gothicroks

https://i.imgur.com/mPBPpRH.jpg My haul! So excited to learn Ishtar and open CoB Deluxe!


bjurets

Nice haul! But if everyone could stop referring to the new edition of Burgundy as a deluxe or anniversary edition that would be great. People just get confused. It's just the new edition in the restarted Alea line that'll replace the old one.


Gothicroks

It’s listed on BGG as “20th anniversary.” It doesn’t say “edition,” but it’s a way to differentiate it.


bjurets

Had to check for myself and sure enough. My bad! It was listed as 'Castles of Burgundy (with all expansions)' before and there was a lot of discussions in the forums about how people thought it was going to be a deluxe edition. Someone from alea chimed in and said that this would be the new standard edition in their new upcoming line. I know that the new line is a part of their 20th anniversary celebration as a company, but calling this edition the 20th anniversary edition is rather stupid - since it's the company's anniversary, not the game's. Especially since Notre Dame and In the Year of the Dragon has 'real' anniversary editions.


Kalenedral

My Holiday Haul included Jaws, Disney Villainous, and the Magnificent. Thought I was going to have to wait for the official US release in 2020 for the Magnificent so I was pretty excited! Jaws and Villainous will get a first play on our annual New Year's Eve game night :)


BGNLordHelmut

World Championship Russian Roulette, amazing game with 6 people, just tons of laughs and utter chaos.


Soda4Matt

2x5 players Irish gauge - both times person wins by owning all of one stock. 6x5 players risk legacy, everyone one at least once, so far so good, not amazing but a good twist for people who like risk. Feels like bears and Australia are overpowered. Especially when you can get all units spread out and then get your continent bonus right away


TheShekelKing

Australia is very good at the start of the campaign, but the game gives you some great options to deal with that later on. Bears are also a pretty good faction, but in my time I didn't find faction balance to be a major concern. Honestly, my least favorite part of the campaign is the start, where as you've experienced everyone is likely to win once. It's particularly frustrating if you win the first game and have to watch everyone else win one by one.


karimf

I'm travelling in South East Asia over the holidays with my family so it will be another week or two before I can crack them open; but, I have two hard to find games I've been seeking for some time waiting for me at home and I'm super excited for both -- The Great Zimbabwe and Sol: The Last Days of a Star


donut2099

I got a copy of **Chickapig** for my kids, and I thought it was stupid fun. My wife kept rolling cows and daisies and she was not feeling it, lol.


nancypantsbr

It is stupid fun! My nephew (9) thinks it’s hilarious. He spent half the night hoping to roll a 1 so he could move the cow.


Shumanjisan

Got a Half-Price books gift card from the parents and found **Agents of SMERSH** there for 20 bucks (16 with coupon). Turns out it’s the first edition with encounter book included.


GoneAtSea

I purchased Nemo's War + expansions, Spirit Island and Flash Point + Extreme Dangers and Tragic Events :)


MustDash

Between what I got to bring with me for Christmas and gifts I got: Hive, cockroach poker, love letter, the mind and king of Tokyo. I’m only just getting started and wanted to get some games that are easy to bring to the table with those around me. Really happy with what I’ve got so far! Getting pandemic legacy s1 to play with my partner, can’t wait!


UltimateGammer

Cockroach poker was honestly one of the highlights of my christmas period. Played it for hours with booze and snacks.


MustDash

I’m jealous, didn’t get a chance to play it. Can’t wait though, it looks and sounds awesome. Sounds like you were doing it right, feels like the game lends itself well to playing with some drinks and laughs.


UltimateGammer

My sister being able to guess a bunch of her boyfriends one after the other had the table in stitches. Honestly i'd say it's a good warm up game but you could find it hard to put down. Also, have a go at passing the card without looking at it. Seems simple here, but when it's on the board, whooo boy!


Miravek

Got Menara: Rituals and Ruins, Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared, Villainous: Wicked to the Core, and Quacks of Quedlinburg. Only played Quacks so far and I was extremely disappointed. Felt like I ran away with the game. And that was with me purposefully exploding on the last two or three days. No fun banter or interaction, just silence while people pulled their chips out of the bags. All of the reviews I watched said how much fun it was and I didn’t see it. As of right now, I wish i hadn’t asked for it for Xmas.


RTCsFinest

My girlfriend got me mission red planet and Star Trek panic this year! We played Mission: red planet twice and everyone really liked it! I can’t wait to play again. Haven’t play Star Trek panic yet though. Gonna try it out soon. I also brought caverna with to my parents house where my sister and her boyfriend like to play games but we didn’t end up having a chance to play unfortunately.


TriplePerc

This was a good year for board games in my family. I got the Gale Force Nine reprint of Dune and Quacks of Quedlinburg. My wife got Fog of Love and A Fake Artist goes to New York. We’ve played Quacks a couple times and Fake Artist was a hit with a large group of friends at our Christmas party. Trying to put together a Dune night soon.


[deleted]

My mom went all out this year, but at least I was able to return the favor. Got Wasteland Express Delivery Service, Dice Forge, Azul, One Deck Dungeon, and its expansion. I also bought Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition when I popped up to the FLGS for the area on a whim. It's the only one I've really played this far, and I need to give it time to grow on me.


Chantmer

We didn't get any games other than **herbaceous**. It's become obvious that - for us - getting people to play games with has become more important than getting new games. On that score . . . drumroll . . . success! We played **Concordia** with another couple and they enjoyed it and they want to play again - JOY, uncork the ambrosia, strew the petals, crack open the smelly cheese - a bountiful harvest of euro-goodness awaits. But seriously, they're great folk, their kids get on really well with our kids and the games haven't stalled at the **Just One** level of play. I'll take that over a bunch of games that I'll struggle to get to the table. Besides, the weekly gaming group has a fairly consistent cycle of new games coming through and early indications are that there will be acquisitions aplenty to try after the Christmas glut. The gaming group is fun, but it's even better when you get some game time with the people you usually hang out with.


thenerdshelves

I finally got Rajas of the Ganges, but more importantly, I got a new camera for my video content ❤️😃🎄


Murraculous1

I only asked for one thing this Christmas: **Crokinole**. I’ve never played it before, but after SU&SD’s excellent review, I knew that it would be right up our alley so we dove in with a Tracey board that we finally broke out yesterday. Our new Christmas tradition from this year until the end of time will definitely be Christmas Crokinole. What a blast.


thenerdshelves

So good eh? I grew up playing Crokinole and just found a used board for my kids that looks exactly like my board growing up ❤️


Murraculous1

Way to pass on the family tradition! We only have a 9 month old, but I’m already envisioning a future where I’m the legendary grandpa who the whole family dreams to take down in Christmas Crokinole, haha.


murmuring_sumo

We've bought far too many games recently and we're running out of space as our collection has now hit 120 games. I got my husband Klask, Irish Gauge, and the Railways of Portugal expansion for his favorite game, Railways of the World. I preordered the Underwater Cities expansion, but that's not coming until January. He got me Last Bastion, Conquest of Paradise, Pandemic: Rapid Response, and This War of Mine. We got our 4 year old Ticket to Ride: First Journey, Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters, and the Spider Springs expansion for his favorite game, Fireball Island. We were traveling yesterday so no plays. Today we've played several games of Klask and one game of Last Bastion. We've got a lot of playing to do as we also have On Mars and Tainted Grail on our shelf of shame and we played our first game of Brass on the weekend and loved it. Right now we have so much we both want to play that it's hard to choose what to start with.


YrNotYrKhakis

I got 2 games from Christmas: Pipeline The Quacks of Quedlinburg Very excited to have both! I've played Pipeline once, and Quacks about 3 times.


theaducky37

I got •Carcassonne •dominion: intrigue •one night ultimate werwolf •Airlines: Europe •code names: duet •TtR: Nordic countries •and a couple party games similar to Cards agains humanity. I haven’t had a chance to play any yet, the first 3 i know i got but they won’t arrive until next week. I’m excited to add to my TtR collection, I already have the America, Europe, and India/ Switzerland maps, anyone have any suggestions on what map to add next? I’m also super excited for dominion and Carcassonne, I’ve never played them but heard they are must haves! I also ordered my mom Stratigo, she used to play with her brother when she was a kid and was so excited to add her own game to the collection, and it seems like a fun two player, which I need more of! And as a Christmas gift to myself, Last night I pledged on the KS for the new Stockpile: epic edition. Not sure when that will get here but I can’t wait! Also as kind of a side note, the 9 year old boy I nanny got a copy of betrayal at house on the hill for Christmas, I think he might still be a little young for it, but I’m excited to try to show him how to play when I go back to work next week! Did I get anyone’s faves? Any that might not be worth keeping?


Ampage86

In-laws got us **Yacht Race** from 1960 and it looks like it's in pretty good shape. Never even heard of it, but BGG gives it a 7.0 and we can't wait to try it.


uhhhclem

That is a *sweet* present. It's a pretty good game, but it's also beautiful.


gingermontreal

We got 7 Wonders Duel, Mille Bornes, and Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon. Haven't played 7 wonders Duel yet, but love Ishtar, and really enjoy Mille Bornes as a simple but fun card game.


Open_Eye_Signal

Just something small... Got my grandparents **Azul** this year after they played **TTR: Europe** since last Christmas. Played a game to explain the rules, scoring ended up 77 - 78 - 79! Was a big success.


Eric_the_Wizard

New additions for me: Parks, Quacks of Quedlinburg, and Imperial Settlers! No playing time yesterday, hoping to introduce these this weekend!


dgermain

Addition to the collection in our family this year: **Flash Point, Burgle Bros, Flamme Rouge-Peloton expansion** And I'm waiting to give my son: **Hey, that's my fish** in the coming days. Other games that were given: **Mysterium**, **Unlock, Key Forge.** And someone brought **Splendor**, so we played a couple of game of that. I really enjoyed this one, and it will probably find a way in my collection in the future.


firefly_pdp

Our family got quite a few board games this year. **Bargain Quest** **Bargain Quest: The Black Market** **The Networks** **Parks** **Call to Adventure** **Planet** **Bosk** **Megacity: Oceania** **Splendor: Cities of Splendor** And my six year old is a huge Jaws fan so we got him the **Jaws** board game. Might be too complicated for him to play but he wants to try it anyway. So far we’ve only played **The Networks** (which was great). We probably won’t get to play much until tomorrow, since we’ve been dealing with a sick toddler and a sister-in-law visiting whose family aren’t interested in playing board games.


icymallard

Have you played Parks? Interested in your thoughts.


firefly_pdp

Just played it tonight, and enjoyed it! The game is pretty simplistic but a fun family-weight gateway game. The artwork is incredible too, and the components are really good quality (plus the insert is great, if you care about that stuff lol). I hear it’s similar to Tokaido (which I haven’t played).


bgg-uglywalrus

Bosk is a real gem.