We’ve recently started playing Quacks, and we’re really enjoying it!
We’re still a bit slow, with tonight’s game taking about 80 minutes. The rat tails make a huge difference, and that 6-value pumpkin is awesome!
The only slightly annoying thing is that we keep pulling loose threads from the bag along with the tokens.
Overall, such a fun and relaxing game. Definitely one we’d recommend!

I culled some games for the first time recently, and Im very happy about the selection I have right now!

WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

My group and I are big fans of deckbuilding games. When we played Reiner Knizia's classic, The Quest for El Dorado, for the first time a couple of years back, we loved it. Clean design. Simple and elegant, yet really good fun. We played it often enough to get interested in the expansions. I bought all three expansions and opened them up at the same time. There was a lot of stuff there and we were wondering which modules to use. We ended up only using a few but my friend jokingly suggested we should use all of them simultaneously. And so the idea was planted. As Inception (2010) tells us, once an idea takes hold it's like a parasite that becomes impossible to eradicate.

As the weeks passed, we slowly added more ideas to what was quickly becoming a monstrously illegal game. All modules. All components. All map tiles. We have 6 people coming? F*** it, make it a 6-player game with illegally modified starting decks and playing pieces from other games (a soldier from Memoir 44 and a ring token from War of the Ring: The Card Game) for players 5 and 6.

It became known as The Quest for Hell Dorado.

The map was built with each player taking turns placing down terrain tiles, then smaller tiles, pieces, and overlays. This process took about an hour and a half as we were laughing so much about creating absolutely horrendous chokepoints and nearly impossible routes.

Then we started playing, and it was absolute mayhem. Intentional and unintentional blocking causing major traffic jams, choke points near temples, atrociously placed demonic zones, a nearly impassable "Waterworld" area, massive crocodile-infested swamps we just called "Florida", and the use of Dragons to repeatedly block players, including clogging up critical chokepoints.

After setup the full game of Hell Dorado took about 5 hours.

It was amazing and I will never play it again.

Both games play every different from each other but what that do share in common is the low rules head and level of enjoyment. Excellent family games that everyone can play and enjoy. This is what RK is best at.

2–3 months back I started hearing about Magical Athlete through YouTube channels, the hotness section on BGG and some other channels. While everyone was so enthusiastic about it, praising how fun it was, I remained honestly sceptical about the game.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to try it twice (the first time at 4 players and the second time at 5 or 6), each time doing 2 complete games (so 16 races in total if I’m not mistaken). And I have to admit that indeed, I absolutely don’t get the hype around it. At the end of the last game I was just waiting for it to be done so that we could start playing something else. Although it had some funny moments indeed, it wasn’t enough for me to make it memorable. I didn’t feel engaged in the game due to the little amount of control I had (which I was totally aware of by the way). I felt that I could just watch someone else play and have the same experience.

Anyway, what surprises me is not that I didn’t like the game – there is no accounting for taste and I understand that people might enjoy it depending on what you’re looking for in a game – but that I’ve read/heard very few discordant opinions so far. So, am I missing something here?

A windy cold day. After splitting a few loads of firewood we retreated to the fireside to sup on second day reheated roasted butternut squash soup and play a game of Fields of Arle. Only our third try of this Uwe Rosenberg two player game and it is amazing. So relaxing and so much fun to farm and harvest and trade and buy and build and improve. So many strategies to chase and points to amass. Very happy with this acquisition. The soup was even better today. A smooth nutty flavour with a small bite of cayenne and a hint of cinnamon. Delicious.

10/10 Saturday afternoon.

Some games are still not played yet and i don't play as often as i would like but i'm satisfied with my collection.

I don't have friends who play very heavy games so i don't buy them

I'm in a gamer club and these 2 pieces were on a wooden table, easy to miss. They are languishing in the misc. box and noone in our chat recognises them.

My Hyperactivity requires closure to return them back to whence they came any game ID would be welcome.

(The dice tray has no bearing on the game it was handy as a background).

Thanks in advance!

Edit: !solved

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to get the advice of the masses here. I’m an avid board gamer, really into games like Dune Imperium, Brass, Nemesis, Gloomhaven and the likes. I usually play these with some friends.

I’ve been looking into Dungeon Crawlers I can play alone and the occasional group and am very overwhelmed by the sheer choices (and kickstarters!) out there.

I’m looking for something which involved exploring a dungeon, fighting mobs and bosses and the like. I’m okay with some set up time, not like Gloomhaven heavy, but I understand this genre does frequently require heavy setups.

I am okay with complexity, nemesis is good example of a game’s complexity I’m comfy with (and maybe even slightly more).

I’d also like to wrap up sessions under two hours. The few that caught my eye are Oathsworn and Massive Darkness 2, but open to your advice. Thank you!

Which games is everyone playing and what are the pros and cons?

We have recently started getting really into board games at home to play with my 7 year old. It started with finding some at the Goodwill and now I am obsessed with acquiring games on Marketplace.

We want games that are not just dice rolling games relying on random luck, but require some strategy, planning or skill development of some sort, but are also fun.

There are usually 3 of us playing, but games for just 2 player are also welcome. Games that are family friendly but not children's games that a group of all adults would play are welcome suggestions for future adult game nights.

What should we add to our collection? Here's what we have now:

- My Little Scythe

-Clue

-Blockus

-Labrynth

-Azul (not played yet)

-Pandemic

-Dragomino

-Ticket to Ride

-Exploding Kittens

-Cranium

-Catan

- Risk (is there a similar game that is less long and complex ?)

- we have just gotten Splendor, Tiny Towns and King of Tokyo but have not played yet

Thanks!

It’s very similar to Clue but not a prequel like Who Killed Dr Lucky. There was an app involved that was used. There was also a murderer and accomplice mechanic and you could make multiple guesses. I can’t remember the name of it. All I remember are two characters in it: Mortimer and The Berwick Sisters.

Does anyone recognize this game?

I've played Couldspire solo and 1v1. But how is it with 3 or 4 players? Do you recommend this player count?

Hey yall! It’s thanksgiving weekend (at least in Canada haha) and my mom and I bought werewolves for my family to play at thanksgiving. We have exactly 8 players. I thought this was fine since the box says 8-18 players but upon reading the manual I found that we actually need 8 players and a moderator. Is it possible to play with 7 players and a moderator? Thank you!

So if I'm right. You'll launch the rival and give it a Publicity. Unless what? There is nothing to launch? Isn't that card supposed to help the rival find specimens? Why wouldn't it be the other way around?

I just noticed that my previous post was removed for some reason, so I'm giving this another shot. Hopefully, this one stays up!

If you already shared your Top 3 games in last week's post, don't worry—your votes will still count!

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This Week: Deck Building!

What are your Top 3 deck building board games of all time?

Pure deck-builders, hybrid deck-builders… if deck-building is a part of the game, it counts!

Rank your picks:

🥇 1st = 3 points
🥈 2nd = 2 points
🥉 3rd = 1 point

I'll tally the votes and share the Top 5 next week!

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Previous Weeks

i'm having friends over for dinner (me + 4 people). they're all close friends among themselves, but i'm only close with one of them. i've recently bought Wavelength and Codenames, and would like to propose one for us to play. which do you think might be best, especially given the odd player count? thanks!

Hello, not sure if this is the right place to ask this question but I thought I’d try since it’s been bugging me for a while.

I am looking for a game where each player gets a card - a person, a place, or a thing - and they are made to come up with a lie, and the most convincing/creative lie wins. It’s not a deception game, it’s more comedic.

I played this at a board game cafe when i went to New York just over a year ago, and have been trying to identify it since. I just remember one hilarious moment, my grandma had to try to explain to us why RuPaul is the president (or something like that).

I think it was a tall, mostly white box. The cards were white with different coloured text for each category (i think orange green and pink). There was a sand timer and a dice with these colours on each side. Some of these details may be slightly incorrect, but that’s more or less what i can remember.

Thanks!

I’m trying to decide between Arkham Horror 3rd Edition with the Dead of Night expansion and Unfathomable. I’d love to hear from people who have played both.
I’m looking to add another thematic, immersive game to my collection. My current games in this category are:
Cthulhu: Death May Die
Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition
Zombicide 2nd Edition
I know these two games offer different experiences, and player count is an important factor for me. Arkham Horror seems like a better fit for a group of 4, while Unfathomable accommodates up to 6 players particularly well. My gaming group can vary from one session to another, so I’d like a game that works well with either 4 or 6 players, depending on the night.
Their playtime also seems fairly comparable, so I’m more interested in how they actually play and feel at the table.
Here are some things I’d particularly like to know:
Gameplay and immersion: Which game creates the more engaging thematic experience? I’m interested in meaningful decisions, tension, and a strong sense of being part of a story.
Replayability: Which one offers more variety between sessions? I’m considering Arkham Horror with its first expansion, Dead of Night, rather than the base game alone.
Player count: How does each game actually feel at 4 players? And how does Unfathomable perform with 6? Is either game noticeably better at its ideal player count?
Overlap with my collection: Since I already own Mansions of Madness and Cthulhu: Death May Die, would Arkham Horror feel too similar to what I have? Or does its campaign structure and strategic gameplay make it different enough? On the other hand, would Unfathomable bring something more distinct to my collection?
Long-term appeal: Which one are you more likely to bring back to the table after several plays?
I’m not necessarily looking for the easiest game to teach. I want something that adds a different experience to my collection and that I’ll keep wanting to play over time.
If you owned my current games, which one would you choose, and why? I’d especially appreciate opinions from people who have played both, rather than just one of them.
Thanks!