Ooh, I didn't even consider Train games.  I do like that theme from an historic standpoint but have never found one that looked that interesting to me. 

I don't care for #Ticket To Ride

I have one good two player game but two player games aren't generally something that I look at because I almost never play games two players.

See above! What games would you pick for your missing pieces?

I’m missing several games. I don’t have any tile placement games and I don’t have a lot of the truly epic two player games. I also don’t have any train games or war games. 

Some of those holes I plan on fixing while others will be intentionally left missing. 

What a wonderful hobby to be hooked into. 

I really want a true worker placement game for my collection. I have #Dinosaur Island island but it has other elements besides worker placement. I've played #Lords of Waterdeep, #Champions of Midgard, #Raiders of the North Sea, #Agricola, #Stone Age, and #Village. I liked most of those games but not enough to make room in my collection. I'm interested in #Architects of the West Kingdom and #Viticulture: Essential Edition. 

Oh yeah for sure.  I haven't really looked into much recently which has helped.  I really want to be intentional with what I have (which you already know).  But that has helped.  I'm trying to not look at the new shiny toy but play with what I've got already.  I have a lot of games I really really like.  And some I've only played once this year (of course that's due in part to Covid).  But I'm starting to get more plays in.

I don't think I've played enough different mixes to see that happen.  I think once online we played (by accident) Duchy, Woodland Alliance, and Vagabond.  I didn't love it.

Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of playing with a Vagabond.  However, I've not played them so perhaps they are fun.

Deck Building, and a SciFi Themed game.

I'd also like another Story Driven game.

What about you?

I would likewise recommend giving it a shot. As @philryuh said, it is a game that you can play 'badly' and still have a good time as it is a game that rewards you for everything and just rewards you more if you play 'better'. So hopefully your family will still enjoy getting to create their own little goods empire even if they don't immediately excel at it. I do agree though that even though you couldn't go crazy intense on the artwork as the board is pretty busy and contains a lot of information, they could have made it a bit prettier 

I also just started using Board game Arena... look for me as Marinated meeple if you want to play anything... I'm just learning some new games on there too. 

We only played Wingspan, twice.... too much other stuff going on, and trying to enjoy the outdoors more... summer generally bring less games to the table. 

I recommend #Pret-a-Porter 3rd Edition as an excellent economic game.  #Gunkimono and #Takenoko are light games with some strategic depth.

Yes, there is def a puzzly piece to it that is fun to work out.  I am not a solo player in general so I'm not sure I'm the best one to judge how good a solo experience it was but I enjoyed it.  I also played 2 2 player games and 3 3 player games and it's a much better game, for me, that way...and quite different with 2 and 3 and I would imagine with 4 as well.  It's just the nature of the way the pieces move and with more players a bit harder to plan ahead.  It still has the tile placement puzzle but with a bit more uncertainty that you are going to get the tiles you want.

Correct. 

Absolutely agree that wooden tokens are more enjoyable to play with (for me at least). I have played with realistic resources before and they are nice but I'd never pay extra for them in a game

Ah ok, so the "tiny" aspect holds no special appeal to you?

Games that find more engaging than the tiny epic games but that still fall into the 30-45 min range...

#Jaipur

#Star Realms

#QE

#Camel Up

#World's Fair 1893

#King of Tokyo

#The Estates

I do enjoy that game, love the multi-use cards

Well that is definitely a healthy attitude to have! Good job. I am not at all a fan of Kickstarter. 

Exactly. I worry about wasting those dollars when I could have invested in something with more depth. 

I guess not just in portability but shorter games with probably quite simple mechanics but that feel deeper to you than the tiny epic ones do?

Love letter is a fun game, definitely a good one for portability

Thanks for the insight! The game is inching further back up the shortlist. 

Oh cool, that is a handy looking table!

Is there a mix that doesn't intuitively seem like it would work but you had a surprisingly good time with?

Haha, I did tend to do the min/maxing. It's not so much that I feel any need to win, more just that I get lost in the puzzle of it. But I am working on cutting down my thinking time to be more considerate 😄

I am glad it was a hard decision, hopefully means you had a good time all round.

By the sound of it you and your spouse tend to prefer heavier games so I will err on that end of the scale. 

I have had a lot of fun with #Mistfall, it has a lot going on rules wise but once you learn it it plays pretty smoothly. It is a coop deckbuilder combat type game, a lot of fun and some very clever mechanics for both how each character plays and how the enemies target you.

Similarly the #Arkham Horror: The Card Game is dripping with theme but is also a really enjoyable legacy style deck builder that I can absolutely recommend.

Most of the dedicated 2P games I have explored tend to be on the lighter end as that is what my spouse enjoys but if you wanted a shorter game we love #13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis as a lighter game (about 45mins) that feels very similar to twilight struggle

As someone who has been going to the Essen Spiel since ~forever, I used to have really bad FOMO in regards to games that I could only realistically get there. I'd get super worried I might not be able to snag up a copy, and would go to great lengths to import them if I missed them.

Curiously, modern Kickstarter board games have utterly destroyed this part for me, and in the process have killed any FOMO I sometimes I had entirely. Since I no longer look forward to "picking up" games at Essen (since half the booths just tell you "Oh we're not selling you anything, but you can back our Kickstarter in 2 months by which you'll have long forgotten about us though"), I also no longer "look forward to" board games in general. I enjoy what I get, I enjoy what I have, I enjoy playing, but I no longer feel any anticipation. At all. For any board game.

Yes, I am from the UK, how about yourself? I am assuming the US/Canada?

Archipelago is one of my favourite games, once it clicks for players the negotiation and scheming is just wonderful. And the fact that each player has a secret objective but anyone can score points off of it is such a wonderful system as it means you never know exactly who is going to win as it's as much about working out how to actually score points as it is controling the islands/getting resources.

Yes, the rules are relatively simple but you have so many options for how to try and score points that it can be intimidating for new players. I have had it where I explain the rules and someone will say words to the effect of 'I understand but what exactly do I do?' 

Are there any games you have had surprise successes with?

Even considering the fact that it's a $20-$25 game in a tiny box? Games like that generally don't have a ton of depth.

Lol, it does seem fairly frequent

Haha, not for my wife

I like the art of Concordia, it is discretely colorful and simple :) I usually prefer wood tokens over the realistic ones, to me only the cloth token is odd from the set:)
Which metal coin set did you get for the game?

After playing for the first time, my friend said "I had almost suggested that we play something else instead because it looked so bland", but he absolutely loved the experience of playing and wanted to play again at the following session.

Truly, give it a shot.  Though it may take some convincing to get people past how dull it looks, the actual gameplay experience is top notch; and I say that as someone who generally favors thematic games.

Interesting. I’ve considered a couple of Tiny Epic Games a number of times but never pulled the trigger. The lack of potential depth was always a concern for me. 

Wow fantastic selections. A week well-spent!

Dude your games are always decided by one point!

Still sounds fun though!

Was the Game fun?

Been playing a lot of #Star Wars Imperial Assault. Just can’t stop playing it actually. 

My game group met on TTS for our second Heart of the Empire campaign session. I’ve still yet to win a mission against them. 

Dang, nice variety of games there!

This looks like a no-brainer for them to make and also potentially quite fun. 

This game used to be so high on my wish list. I still think it would be absolutely incredible but I’ve moved it down several pegs because I don’t think I could convince my family to play it and I don’t know if my game group would find it all that exciting.

The theme is at least Roman! That counts for something. 

I think my board game research increases my FOMO, because every game I read about makes me excited. Well. Almost every game. 

#Oh My Goods! is a neat engine builder in a tiny box

Amen.  I think my resolution has helped me back off on the Board game "research" and has helped stem any FOMO I may have.

Oh man.  I will have to check this out.  When I was in High School there was a Pokemon Deck Building game that was kind of like Magic lite.  I remember my buddy and I played it all the time.  If I went back to the the root (pun intended) of getting into the hobby I'm sure it started there.  But that was many moons ago.

I don’t know...I don’t normally worry too much about portability of games. I guess games that come in smaller boxes that I like would Love Letter, Eight-Minute Empire: Legends, not sure what else. 

There are a few factors, but I find this to be extremely helpful.

Obviously you haven't played a ton, but how did you find the 2-player gameplay? Do you feel like it would be better at 3 or 4, or do you think it's just as strong at 2? What map did you use?

I love my standing desk for work but a board game evening at a desk...hmmmm.  Maybe stand up for one game, sit down for the next? ;)

Yeah, we added Board Game Arena to get access to some new options we really wanted to try.  Tabletopia is good as well of course.  More selection isn't a bad thing.  :)

I've heard mixed things from Caylus players about the new version but I've never played it.  I quite like the old version!

It depends who we have with us in our group.  Both sessions this week we had the faster group who don't absolutely have to min/max every move, especially in our first play of a game!

Best experience is a good question but hard to answer.  I am pretty easy going for most games.  I'm just happy to be playing.  I think if I had to answer I think I enjoyed playing Tzol'kin the most but Troyes and Caylus were close seconds.  For pure laughs per minute of play 6 Nimmit! was the best. :)

sigh

I must play this game. I have high hopes for it in terms of the "will my wife like this" criteria, aside from the boring theme and art.

That is an impressive amount of game to fit into one day and one night! You must take turns much quicker than I do 😅

Which play was the best experience for you (even if not your favourite game)?

Yeah, I can definitely see that, I have played a couple of them, Quest and Zombies, and while I love the little equip-able meeples the games do seem to tend towards the shallower side. But I can imagine as a travel game some of them could work out okay. Is there another game or other games that fill the Tiny Epic niche better for you?

I am always open to suggestions! The two games that have gripped me so far with a heavier theme with interesting mechanics are any of the Aeon's End games and Too many Bones (super expensive and hard to find). Anything you recommend me diving into?

First thought, are you from Europe? A lot of the terms you used gave me that vibe!

Second thought, I just heard about Archipelago from Board Game Barrage and had never heard of it! I will need to look into it, semi-coop is an odd space to live in!

Third thought, GWT seems to a game that has simple mechanics that is amplified by the options given to you. I would play it if given the opportunity but it is in an odd place for me as well with my desire to own it! I am glad you found people that like it! You also have to call it the Cow game lol. 

It is my first Kickstarter game (threw myself in at the deep end) but it is worth a try on TTS if you can find 3 people and an evening (it is quite a long game)

Good luck on the search, let me know if you would like help with some suggestions.

I think for me it's when the theme and mechanics compliment and as such enhance each other is when a game really pops

I wonder if this is just a gateway into the CCG. If that's the case, it's a pass for sure. If it's its own thing, then maybe.

I think #Archipelago ended up being too much for some of the people at my local games club, some of them aren't too keen on negotiation and didn't real go in for the semi-coop aspect. Fortunately, it was a big hit with a group of friends from university I still meet up with semi-regularly.

At a different point in time, I got #Great Western Trail, and it proved a little too complex for my family (who I had bought it as something to play at Christmas) but worked out great with the same uni group (it is now designated 'the cow game') and my then board game club.

I didn't realize #Caylus was on Board Game Arena. I've had my eye on #Caylus 1303 but it would be nice to try the original first.

We don't know it's not true....

I can respect that, I have not played tooooo many theme driven games, and the ones I have played I did not love (See #Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game), but I can see myself loving a game like #Aeon's End. I think I put mechanics over theme but I see the value and my wife loves story/theme driven games so I am trying to find games with a good combo of both. 

Not gonna lie, I actually had made a standing desk out of board games....

Played #Takenoko with friends online in boardgamearena.com.  The game implementation in this site is excellent although the graphics could be better.  I wish there is a way in tabletopia.com to implement the rules and scoring because their 3D implementation is much nicer to look at.

I think for me there is a base level of mechanical cleverness/elegance that a game has to achieve to ever be 'good' in my head. But after that point improved mechanics become less and less significant (diminishing returns) without a strong theme to tie them together into something intuitive and narrative and 'fun'. For me the joy in games has always been about the interactions (both as part of the game and in response to it) that happen around the table, and whereas mechanics make for a good puzzle and interesting competition. The laughter and jokes etc. tend to come more from the theme and how it makes those mechanics 'meaningful'.

None of this is in anyway to put down a love of mechanic focused games (or those that love them) and I do enjoy a good puzzler to smash my brain against!

Lizards offer such a fun challenge to me.  You can always do something but you have to adjust to the other players frequently.

I’ve yet to try the Riverfolk or Corvid but they also look like a lot of fun.

@trentellingsen awesome to see the banner on top supporting the movement.

I think the level 3 ingredients all seem pretty weak. Like I do not get excited about what any of them do I think. 

okay, I'm glad then. I want it to be possible to take over the lead at least. 

Can you pin point why that set though? I feel the blue one is too unlikely to happen (land in a ruby space with that chip) but maybe the yellow one somewhat undermines the risk factor (exploding) too much which is part of the fun. Not sure really. 

I think 3 is my least favorite as well. 

For the catch up, I have played games where no lead is safe...I have also played games where what you experienced is true. Each game plays out differently and each person pushes their luck differently!

Watch the video lol

Had my usual one night and one day of gaming this week.  We got a broad set of games in, some classics which I was dying to play:

• #Tzol'kin: The Mayan Calendar: Board game arena, multiplayer.  First time playing this and I really enjoyed it!  I could definitely see the seeds of #Teotihuacan: City of Gods in it.  However, I think I would consider owning both as the gears are a cool feature and this is a faster playing game.  (Although I do prefer Teotihuacan overall.)
  
• #6 Nimmit!: Board Game Arena, multiplayer (x2): Fun game I've played before.  Always good for some chuckles.  Great filler game.
• #Troyes: Board Game Arena multiplayer: First time playing for me.  Played quite fast.  I enjoyed the dice/worker combination and the player interaction of buying other players dice.  Really added a nice interactive element to the game.  The game was close overall.
• #Race for the Galaxy: Board Game Arena, multiplayer: I've played this one a couple of times before.  It actually felt a bit easier to play on Board Game Arena as it managed the cards for you but the teach was harder as you couldn't flip over cards to show as examples for the explanations.  
  
• #Libertalia Board Game: Board Game Arena, multiplayer: I've seen it on tabletop but never played it.  It was a fun little game with some cool mechanisms and interactions.  I like games where everyone picks their card and shows them at the same time and then you see what the fallout is.  (See 6 Nimmit! above for another example.)  It just leads to some funny occurrences and good natured ribbing.  The game is short enough that getting screwed by bad luck isn't a huge deal.  With the reset after every campaign you are never really fully out of it anyway.
• #Caylus: Board Game Arena: Multiplayer.  This is another classic which I had never played.  I really enjoyed this one!  I like the Provus interaction and making sure you take that in to account.  You definitely have to be more cuthroat with the provost, trying to go first in the various spots etc.  Another player and I started jockeying over the lawyer as he was creating all the residences and I was trying to get some myself.  The third player went a completely different strategy and won quite handily.  Fun game!  It's one I'd own for sure.
  
  
  
  

Interesting. I stand all day at work and would love it if my countertop was adjustable but standing to play board games? Hmm. 

"which has definitely convinced me that she watched it" - LOL

I've wanted to buy it since release but always hold out cause its on the heavier side and i'd primarily play it at 2. I love it though. I'd definitely prefer it at higher player counts but I  liked it. I was teaching the game though so I'd hold out on the verdict until at least one more play. 

I've  played with the first 3  sets. So far my least favorite combination is the level  3 ones, but I love the variability. Also has your experience been that its very hard to catch up to the leader? Not that many plays in, but i did notice neither of us could catch up when the other was ahead. 

Played the solo version of #Nova Luna last night.  Was pretty straight forward, I scored a 75 which is under a 100 and the game calls "great:...Honestly it didn't seem that hard to me...perhaps I just got lucky with the tiles that came out...Have any of you played solo and what was your score?  It could also be that I am scoring the game incorrectly and not adding the 2 phases together even though the rule book doesn't explicitly say to do so...

Quacks is a ton of fun but Scythe is one of my favourites of all time.  I haven't played it at 2 but I know people that have played hundreds of two player games and love it.  How did you find it at 2?

Now here's a punny game @Crazybirdman :D

Love a good dice game, I'm looking forward to seeing your review Ben! Always enjoy seeing games with this twist in the typical genre/theme.

I played quite a few of my Magic the Gathering decks against one another including play testing a vintage deck with at least a couple of turn one win conditions.  I also managed to play two solo Viscounts of the West Kingdom games on Tabletopia and another 2 player game with a friend.  Other games this past week include Love Letter, Authors, Wingspan, Volcano Island the Curse of..., Pictures 2x, and Trismeggistus which I convinced my wife to play and she semi-enjoyed but it's hard to say if she will play it again.

And, no sooner did I make this post live than the delivery man dropped off a review copy of DIE in the Dungeon! on my doorstep! My hype is even more now haha

Oh for sure, it looks like a blast with all sorts of ages!

Ohhh gotcha, thanks! That's another family/party game that I'd love to try out with the high schoolers some day. That and #Men At Work

Haze Islands has interested me since the designer released the pnp, but I have yet to print it out and play it. I should really get on that, as it seems like it's something I'd really like. 

Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that one. Still hope to try it out some day, maybe I'll give it a go on TTS

Now that would be amazing, "u/Courageous Bob causes yet another game to sell out with just a comment in the forums" xD

Not much this weekend. #Codenames and #Codenames: Duet and a game of #The Mind but nothing outside of that really!

Quacks is sooo good! Did you play with just the first level ingredients?

Wavelength had a playthrough on GameNight recently too, that might have pushed it a bit. 

Hopefully they do not pull back on the production quality. I feel like that is what defines them!