Ten Games After 2015

In late 2014 I was prompted by a good friend's article to determine which ten games I would keep if I were forced to get rid of the rest of my collection. It sparked one of the longest episodes of The Nerd Nighters in our show's 130+ episode history (and one of my favorites), and has provided a new lens through which I consider new game acquisitions.

My original list was as follows (click here to read the 2014 article):

Betrayal at House on the Hill
Race for the Galaxy 
Medici 
Lords of Waterdeep
Coup 
Ticket to Ride
Summoner Wars
7 Wonders
Disc Duelers
BattleLore (2nd Edition)

This list assumes that each game comes with all its expansions (past and future), and that have enough friends in this apocalyptic scenario to play each game at whatever player count I want. It also assumes that my MtG cube makes the cut as game #11, so it's not considered here.

This year will see some big changes to this list, so let's begin!

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

This is a guest post from Jacob Valdez, a regular at Nerd Night and a lifelong tabletop gamer.

Okay, I've got six wires running vertically, and some have lit LEDs and stars.
Huh? Oh, found it....great, a Venn diagram. I'm terrible at those.

Your confidence makes me fear for my life. So what do I do?
Um...okay, it looks like we have to go one wire at a time, and you tell me what color it is, and whether the LED is lit, and also if there's a star there.

Wow. All right, first wire is red and blue striped, unlit LED, with a star.
Sounds good....red coloring...uh, blue coloring...has star. Um...

Come on, 30 seconds left!
Uh...okay, P...Got it -- cut the wire if the bomb has a parallel port!

A what? Lemme rotate this thing. What's a parallel port look li--- BOOM!!
Oops.

You killed me again!
Sorry, man, I guess I have to work on my Venn diagrams.

No time like the present. I just clicked Retry - 5 minutes on the clock.

Unboxing Tokaido Collector's Edition

Delivered today, one of the biggest things I've ever backed on Kickstarter. A few delays in delivery, but by the looks of it the minis are beautiful and detailed and well worth the wait!

Mega Civilization: 18 Players, 12 Hours, Infinite Fun

This isn't a review, per se, so much as my recalling of a play session. Mega Civilization is a re-imagining of Advanced Civilization, developed for the last 15 years and released in a $200 box. Learn more about Mega Civilization on BoardGameGeek.com.

After purchasing Mega Civ at BGG.Con in November, I arranged an 18-player game for December 20th, 2015. We had 18 players join, and 17 players finish the game (one player had to leave early). We stopped two turns short of the end of the game because of time constraints, but I feel like we had a near-complete experience. 

Here's the Mega Civilization map (click for larger image): 

I won with 92 points, Ace got 2nd place with 88 points playing Dravidia, and Clancy got third playing Indus. The game took about 11 hours, and would have taken about 13 had we not finished early. I ran the game, and had help from my friends Mark and John, who were captains for their sides of the board (East/West). 

Facebook Poll: Your Three Favorite Games This Year

Click this link to view the poll in DFW Nerd Night - tell us what your three favorite games are this year!

I'll consolidate the votes and use them in our Nerd Nighters year-end recap episode later this month, then post those results back here at The Nerds' Table.

Thanks for your help! :D

JR

Fantasy Fantasy Baseball, by Daryl Andrews & JR Honeycutt

I don't normally post about my own games here, because it feels like shameless self-promotion. That said, Fantasy Fantasy Baseball is the product of a year's worth of work with one of my best friends, Daryl Andrews, and I want to share it with you.

Fantasy Fantasy Baseball is a game about managing a roster of ridiculous monsters with magic powers, and using those powers to win more games than your wizard manager opponents. We feel like we've nailed the middle ground between "fun for sports fans" and "fun for fantasy fans" and turned it into "fun for everyone". Also, we're really proud to be huge fans of both sports and fantasy - something that many people share with us! This game is about celebrating what we love in both genres, and bringing it together in one AMAZING package, thanks to CSE Games and art by Rob Lundy.

Watch the video below, and if you're interested in the game, please click this link to visit the Kickstarter page, which will be live until December 23rd.

Thanks for your support! Please comment or tweet if you have any questions!

Metatopia 2015 - Writing a Rulebook for your Board Game

Interesting and useful recording of a panel from Metatopia - Gil Hova, designer of Bad Medicine and the Networks, and Geoff Englestein, host of the Ludology podcast and designer of Space Cadets: Dice Duels, pair up to talk about how to write rulebooks, a subject near and dear to my heart.