Board Games April/May 2023

 I have played sufficient new-to-me boardgames in the last couple of months to make it worth writing them up. Here they are, plus a few others of note that have been revisited. Before anyone asks, I still haven't had another go at Scythe.

Black Fleet: A card driven game with ships on a map, where everyone plays all three of pirates, merchantmen and the navy. Good game.

Blueprints: Enjoyable dice drafting and arranging game in which everything I did turned out to have been done earlier and better by someone else.

Cascadia: If I describe this as pleasant it isn't meant to anything other than praise. It's an attractive tile-laying game about wildlife in the Pacific Northwest.

First Empires: I'd never heard of this, but liked it quite a lot. It's a like a roll and write, but without any writing; also involves tech trees.

For Sale: This is one of those games that I had been aware of, but had never played for some reason. It's reminiscent in some ways of High Society and I really liked it.

Hadara: Once again, a game I'd never come across which turned out to be a goodun. Card drafting, set collection, minimal theme.

Hanamikoji: Geisha's Road: A newish two player game. I've never played the original, but this variant is very good. Both players try to attract geishas to their tea house by taking the same four actions as each other, but choose the order in which they do them. It's thinky, but in a manageable way.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal: Now this one I had heard of, because it's been a bit of a hot favourite, no pun intended. It's a card driven Formula 1 game reminiscent of both Flamme Rouge and the Waddington's Formula-1 game I used to play with my cousins in the 1960s. Tremendous fun and highly recommended.

Ice Flow: Another game not seen for years. I love this game, was really pleased to get it to the table and I won as well, so all is right with the world.

K2: Broad Peak: K2 is an excellent game. I had never played this expansion, but it turned out to be every bit as good.

Lost Ruins of Arnak: A game from a coupe of years ago that had a lot of buzz. I finally got round to playing it and thought it deserved the praise it got. Amongst other mechanisms, it's a deck building game in which, for once, you stand a fair chance of getting to play any good cards you buy.

Quartermaster General: Cold War: This one hadn't been played for years, but I had two games of it in the last few weeks. Both times I played the West and both times I came last. It's not quite as good as the WWII version, but still excellent.

Quantum: The third game that hadn't been out for a yonk. It went down well, and I was informed that it's out of print and much sought after on the second-hand market. I'm rich. The game features dice as spaceships and might well appeal to wargamers.

Revolver: Once again it had been several years since Colonel Ned McReady tried to stop the Colty gang escaping to Mexico with the loot from their raid on the bank in Repentance Springs. I'd don't think I'd like to play this all that frequently - it runs on rails a little bit - but it's well worth bringing out from time to time.

TransAmerica: A railway building game you could play with those for whom even Ticket to Ride is a bit challenging ruleswise. The rules might be simple, but there's still quite a lot of game there, especially with six players. Apparently it's out of print and much sought after on the second-hand market. Having said that, I was so taken with it I bought a copy on eBay for £25 without any trouble at all. Perhaps my copy of Quantum hasn't made me rich after all.

Trekking Through History: More to do with history than trekking: there are lots of 'interesting' facts on the cards, but the time-travel theme is very pasted on. It's a drafting, set collection, push your luck game, and a good one.

Twilight Struggle: I'd wanted to play this game for years, and then it seemed like I was playing for years. It is very, very long. There's no denying that it's a really good game, a remarkable design in fact. But did I mention how long it takes? I won as the US, thereby redeeming my failure to win the cold war on either of my attempts using Quartermaster General; my success was almost entirely due to being able to play John Paul II immediately followed by Solidarność.

Village Rails: A very small box which contains a lot of game. It's more trains, with tile laying being the route building mechanism. I'd happily play it again.

Wars of the Roses: Lancaster vs. York: No sooner had we got fed up with playing the period with miniatures than it turned up as a boardgame. Think Kingmaker, but with the mechanics occasionally not really matching the theme. I enjoyed it - I won by a distance both times we played it - but I'm not sure I'd recommend seeking it out specially.