Summer 2020 Update

Wowza! Has it really been so long since I posted last? Time flies when you're playing the same game over and over and over and over... Well, before I get to that, I'm going to start at the most recent news and work my way backward, because it's the most recent news that I'm most excited about!

Cut and Play (Cloud Dungeon)

I was looking for a storytelling or RPG-ish game to play with my seven year old daughter, and so where did I look? That's right, I went to the best source: BoardGameGeek. Whenever I'm having difficulty finding something to play next, I just asked the wonderful BGGers and I always get amazing responses!

One of the games that really stood out to me from their suggestions was one called The Cloud Dungeon. Not only is it a light-RPG for kids, but you also get to cut everything out and colour it! My daughter is very crafty and so I knew that she would love it. I picked up the print and play version for $7 USD and we spent the last three days prepping and playing. I leave for vacation today and so I'd like to gather my thoughts a little bit more before I do a full review, but here are some pictures of the experience!

Starting out on our adventure - my daughter is on fire and I can shapeshift.

Left Him in the Dust (Review of Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

While there is a lot of buzz around legacy games these day, there aren't actually that many true legacy games around. A legacy game is one that is a campaign style (multiple sessions connect to each other), but your choices and actions leave a lasting "legacy" on the game. This usually comes about through adding stickers, tearing up cards, and/or writing on boards. I could be wrong, but I believe the first, or at least most well known, of these games is Risk: Legacy. That is not one I've played, but I have played three more-or-less legacy games now: Charterstone, Gloomhaven (see that review here) and now Clank! Legacy. I've spent the last nine months playing through the game with my friends Stirling and Brennan and this past Saturday night we played our last game (read about that here). 

What a Finish! (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

Last night we finished our Clank! Legacy campaign and wow, what a finish! About half or our games were spent socially distanced - two through video chat and three in my garage - with me moving all of the pieces. Talking about Clank! Legacy without spoiling anything is SO HARD but I'm going to do my best because I really do want you to play this game on your own.

This last game added some new twists that we hadn't experienced before nor expected. We had to completely change our strategy, but we still wanted to work together to get the best outcome possible for the end of our campaign as a franchise of Acquisitions Incorporated. It was a wild game, but we had a solid plan and we were happy with our outcome. Brennan won again with a ridiculous score. That means (without giving away the exact number of games in the campaign) that he won about 60-70% of the games, I won 25-35% of the games, and Stirling had won 5-15% (are those ranges big enough that you can't tell how many games we played?). So, a not uncommon occurrence in our campaign - Brennan either thoroughly tramples us or we leave his deceased body in the depths of the dungeon (three of his losses were 0 point losses - neither Stirling or I had any of these).

BUT THEN!

END OF CAMPAIGN SCORING!

Wow, this did not go how I expected. I had an idea of what sorts of things would be added up or counted towards the final score and I was sure that Brennan would win the campaign but that I had a slight chance to catch him. Well, obviously, I don't want to give any specifics away, but I was stunned by the scoring categories and results! Who won our campaign? STIRLING DID! Wow! Yes, of course, winning games was important and was counted, by there were a lot of other factors that I didn't think about that ended up giving Stirling the victory. Wowza!

A wild finish to a wild game! Take a look at my final review, coming soon!