We Made a Game! (Dungeon Bounty)

It's been hard to hold off on posting this one until it was absolutely ready, but the coolest thing about the last few weeks has been that Aaron (my co-designer) and I made a game! We, like many people out there, have been spending a lot of time at home lately. We've both been missing game night and while I've been working hard to make Clank! Legacy still work with my game group, I was aching for an easier way to do it.

So, Dungeon Bounty was born! Using a standard deck of cards and our PDF, you can delve through the dungeons alone or with one other player. In the co-op or versus mode, each player needs their own deck of cards and you can play it in person, sitting side by side or six feet apart, or via your favourite video conferencing program.

Kickstarter Update

We're now three months into 2020 and what a year it has been. I wanted to do a little update about my Kickstarter activity thus far as it relates to my most anticipated games.

The Heroes of Tenefyr Kickstarter has come and gone and they have fully funded. I really enjoyed the print'n'play version I made of this from the last Kickstarter and was excited to get my hands on the full version and the expansion. I would love to have a published copy of this game, but I just can't justify the shipping costs, so I went in for the full PnP copy. I'm glad they were funded again and I'm excited for more adventures in Tenefyr!

First Time SGOYT Host

If you're an avid visitor to the 1 Player Guild on BoardGameGeek, then you're probably aware of SGOYT. If not, it's an acronym for Solitare Games on Your Table. It's a monthly podcast on the guild where people can post about their solo gaming adventures. It's a great place to see what's hot and to find some hidden gems as well. 

For April, my birthday month, I am hosting SGOYT for the first time! Basically, that means I write a little bit about myself and give away some geekgold if you include a comment related to my them (rebirth) in your post. Or, you can totally ignore me and I'll still like your comment and give you some geekgold if you make me giggle. Check it out here.

Most Anticipated Non-Kickstarter Games of 2020

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth - Hunt for the Ember Crown - Ok, seriously people, is there anyway that we can abbreviate this a little bit? The base game has nine words in the title already and this bumps us up to fourteen. Isn't that like a marketing no-no? Whatever, it still won't stop me from picking this up. Journeys in Middle-earth (check out my review here) was almost the game I've always been waiting for. There were a few things about it that I would have liked to see differently, but I'm still excited to get more content for this one. The miniatures look amazing and, come on, who doesn't want to play as Gandalf?!? Also hat new dwarf looks pretty cool (and you know I'm going to run a purely dwarf team, obviously). Mirkwood is a really interesting and iconic location in Middle-earth so I'm excited to see what kind of trouble we can get up to in there. This one is a must-buy for me.

Most Anticipated Kickstarter Games Launching in 2020

Alright, I'm definitely a little behind on this one because at least one of these games I'm anticipating is live right now. So, I'll start with that one and go from there.

Heroes of Tenefyr - the base game was Kickstarted last year, I believe, and while I didn't get my hands on the whole game, they did have a free print'n'play that I thoroughly enjoyed. You start with a deck of awful cards (as per every deckbuilder ever made) with a special card based on the hero you've chosen. You progress through increasingly difficult dungeons and as you defeat enemies, you rotate the card and add it to your deck (similar to Friday and Goblivion). There's a push you luck element to this game that's different from most deckbuilders, though. During a fight you draw three cards (possibly more based on card powers). Between you and your other heroes (controlled by you or other players), you need to surpass the fight strength of that enemy. Well, if you don't draw a good enough attack with your three cards, you can draw again. And again. As many times as you like. Beware, however, because once you've drawn all the cards in your deck, you become exhausted and must exit the dungeon. Doing this uses up precious time because the big, bad boss is approaching (check out my full review of the print and play here). 

Most Anticipated Kickstarter Games Being Delivered in 2020

I guess we're already a little bit into 2020 now and so this is a little late in coming, but it seems like everyone is thinking about the top games for this year. There's a giant (and I mean giant) poll you can take on BoardGameGeek for your most anticipated games (I tried filling it in twice and both times got overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices and gave up). To be honest, I've been spending so much time working on my own board game that I haven't spent as much time looking ahead to new games as I usually would at this time. That being said, there are still some games I cannot wait for!

Dinoblivion - this comes to us from the same designer as Goblivion and is a sequel of sorts. It is a 1v1 or solo deckbuilder, but with some newly added elements. I'll be honest, I haven't looked really closely at the differences, but this was an instant back for me. Goblivion was my surprise game of 2019 (it rose to be my second favourite solo game). You can find my full review here and two playthroughs here and here. Jean-Francois, the wonderful mind behind Goblivion Games, is also a stand-up guy. I actually had a video conference call with him last week to get some advice on Kickstarting a game in Canada. He gave me a lot of great ideas and if my game funds later this year, he deserves credit for his insights. This game is due in June and according to Jean-Francois, everything is running smoothly. It'll be here just in time for some summer gaming!

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive, just in hiding! The last two weeks have been packed with teaching (my student teacher has left me!), tutoring, parenting, and political activism. There has been been much time for board games lately, but I'm hoping to get a review of Clank! up pretty soon.

Leave a Lasting Legacy (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

If you haven't gathered by now, I am a major Clank! fanboy. So, when I heard about a Clank! legacy game, I was beyond ecstatic. I'll admit, my excitement wavered when I realized that it would be not be solo playable. This is not a must for every game, but it's definitely an important perk for me. This has turned into a blessing in disguise, however, because I've now partnered up with two of my long time friends (since kindergarten - almost 30 years ago) to play through the campaign together. Not only do I get to experience this game with them, but they pitched in to pay for it! Win-win!

Last week we played the opening scenario (mission? quest?). This is a tough game to write about because I don't want to spoil anything! So I won't. I'll post a few pictures that don't give anything away and reflect on the game in a general way without giving away any details. I guess I could just not talk about this game, but it was so much fun, that I have to!

I'll start with a shout out to Apt To Game, my FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store) here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada! They have a zillion games for great prices and a whole whack of events and competitions throughout the week (none that I've been able to be a part of, yet, but hopefully sometime!). Crystal was nice enough to pose with the gigantic box that I picked up. Bigger is always better, right?

Took the box to my friend's house and we worked together to open it up and begin opening things. I'm the resident Clank! expert so that task fell mostly on my shoulders.

Conquer the Land of the Dinosaurs (Dinoblivion)

I've sort of decided lately that I'm not going to back any more Kickstarter games for a while. I'm trying to be more careful with my money and only buy games I know I will love. Well, today, one of those games came out.

Dinoblivion went live on Kickstarter today and this was a must-back for me. I LOVED the company's first game, Goblivion. It was my surprise game of 2018 and quickly moved into the number four spot for top solo games (sitting only behind Clank!, Spirit Island, and Gloomhaven). I know that Jean-Francois will not only put together another great game, but will also improve upon his last one.

I would never recommend a Kickstarter to someone withing feeling assured it's going to be a smart idea. Goblivion was not only a great game but it was delivered in a timely fashion and we were always kept up to date with regular communications. It was the most stress-free Kickstarter I've been a part of. Plus, it always feels good to a small, Canadian company.

It's only been a couple of hours since they went live and they're already halfway to their goal of $26,000.

If you're thinking about backing Dinoblivion, do it! I have!

Coming Out of the Shadows (Shadows of Malice)

We all have upcoming games that we're particularly excited about. I can't wait for Clank! Legacy to drop next and to get it to the table with my gaming group. At some point I'll also need to pick up the Temple of the Ape Lords expansion for the regular Clank! game as it's the only expansion I don't have yet. Sleeping Gods, which was recently on Kickstarter, looks really amazing and I want to look more into that when it hits retail.

Today, though, I became extra excited about a game because it was unexpected! When I first got into the hobby in 2013 and I was looking for games to play solo, there was one game that I always really wanted to try but it was out of print: Shadows of Malice. Whenever someone posted about the game on the BoardGameGeek 1-player guild (please join!), I would read it with a fierce jealousy! I had resigned myself to the fact that it was a game that I just wouldn't be able to play, it was just too expensive and rare to pick up used.

My Board Game Apps

I've begun tutoring a student in grade twelve English and so I have been trying to motor through Hamlet this past weekend. Deciphering Shakespeare has taken up all of my solo gaming time, so there's not much new to post about here. As I threw down a quick game of Onirim on my iPhone this morning, however, I thought it might be interesting and helpful to share with you the board game apps that I use. I know that using the words "board game" and "apps" in the same sentence could be considered heresy in some board game circles, but that is not a camp that I reside in. 

Top Ten Solo Games of 2019

In response to the most recent podcast by SoloSaurus where they shared their top 10 of 2019, I jumped over to Pub Meeple's ranking system to sort out my personal top ten. They show you two games at a time and you simply choose one or the other. In the end, they rank them from 1 to whatever. I used Pub Meeple last year, but I didn't realize that you can just upload your BoardGameGeek collection and start sorting those! I sorted through 52 games in about 10 minutes with this program. Very nice.

When making my decisions on Pub Meeple, I basically thought about two criteria:

• Do I love this game?
• Do I love to set this game up?

I didn't want to make this crazy intensive or based on my reviews, but more just on my gut feelings! I think this year the feasibility of playing the game had more impact, which may show why certain games dropped a spot or two while others moved up the list.

So, without further ado, my Top Ten Solo Games 2019

Sucktember? Sweetember?

"They have a cave troll!"

This September has been, unfortunately, the hardest school year start up to date. I’ve got twenty-nine wonderful grade fours to teach, but quite a few are below grade level in math and English. Our new provincial government is also out to get teachers, so there’s a lot of extra tension around the school. And to top things off, my poor baby girl is in grade one now and has dealt with two bullying issues and a week of ear infections. There has not been much time for board gaming.

New School Year Update

A new school year and I've got 29 eager 9 and 10 year-olds to guide and teach each day. They seem like a pretty nice bunch so far! Right now is the first real break I've had between teaching, planning, and working with my student teacher. I wanted to update you on a few things that I had mentioned during and before the summer.

You know I've been working on my board game? Well, I pitched the game to a board game company and they want to give it a try! my co-designer and I have been working on uploading everything to Tabletop Simulator (let's be honest, it's been all Aaron - I've just playtested it). It's up and working but we're trying to smooth it out a little bit still. Hopefully in the next week or two we'll show them the game. Even if nothing comes from it, we'll get some great feedback from an experienced and successful designer and producer. Very exciting! I'll keep you posted.

Living Like We're Renegades

This will be a short post, but I got very lucky today! I recently sold a few board games and with the new money I was looking to buy some expansions for games I already had. I called my local game store and asked if they had the Upper Management Pack expansion for Clank! Sure enough, they did. AND it was 10% off today. I didn't ask why, I just drove there was fast as I could!

A Midsummer Night's Recap

You might guess that the summer is a great time to get ahead/caught up on gaming and blogging, but it is turning in to quite the opposite. At work, I have a computer in front of me all the time and the government mandates that I get breaks. Breaks, that I can use to type and write (so long as I'm caught up on all my marking). Even though I have all of this spare time in the summer, I'm rarely around a computer and usually playing with/colouring with/feeding/breaking up fights with my two kids. So what, if any, gaming have I been involved in?

Landscaping: The Real Time Dexterity Game has continued to take up most of my free time. I'll be happy when this game is done and then I WILL NEVER PLAY IT AGAIN.

Still haven't managed to play Renegade. Maybe I'm a dummy, but I just can't get started. The rules are tough and there are a lot of words/pieces to remember and manage. Liz at Beyond Solitaire mentioned in a recent blog post (click here for that) that she loved the game but it does have a high entry cost. That's what's keeping me from playing it still. Any suggestions?

Unbroken finally arrived this week. I believe it was due in December or January? I'm kind of a "Kickstart it and leave it" kind of a guy. I don't really follow the comments or threads that much, but I couldn't help keep a little bit of an eye on the controversy surrounding this project. If you wanted to learn more about that, you can check out my thread on BoardGameGeek here. I personally haven't had any negative experiences, I've only interacted with Artem, the creator, and he seems just lovely. I'll keep you posted though as I haven't received any official "asking for more money" emails. 

Top Ten Non-Fantasy Games

Sometime today Altar Quest by the Sadler brothers will hit Kickstarter. I didn't know much about it until I listened to an Every Night is Game Night podcast on the weekend where Jason, Brady, Adam, and Mike (another solo gaming guest?) were discussing it as well as coming up with their top ten tabletop fantasy adventures. I'm looking forward to the Kickstarter, but it got me thinking about my top ten fantasy games. That'd be pretty easy to hit because I'm a fantasy nerd. But, what if I made a reverse list? Tried to figure out my favourite games that were NOT fantasy? That posed a greater challenge. Let's up the ante - no Science Fiction games either (sorry Gears of War, I love you so much). So, without further ado, here's the list.

I want to begin with an honorable mention for a game that would probably had made this list if I had played it more. History is not really my thing and my short time owning Black Orchestra did not help. The game was very thematic in a boring sort of way - wait, wait, wait, attempt assassination, fail. Wait, wait, wait, try again, get captured. Or something like that. But my friend brought over Freedom: Underground Railroad and wow, was it good! It's very sobering and thought-provoking to think about the theme of the game, but the game was full of exciting and important choices. I want to get that one back to the table. Also, if you're teaching Canadian or American history at all, this is a great game to give students a taste of the experience.

Theme in Board Games

One of the ways I try stay stay in shape and also save money is bike to work. It's not a bad trek, only about a 15 minute ride. I try to make the most use of that time and usually listen to podcasts from my favourite authors and pastors. The last few weeks, however, when I've needed a break from something deep and introspective, I've found a few board game podcasts that I really enjoy. Being a solo gamer, my favourite two are Solosaurus and ENGN (Every Night is Game Night). You can easily find them on any podcast app.

On April 12, the host of ENGN (Jason) was joined by Paul Grogan (Gaming Rules on YouTube) and Marc Davis (Thoughful Gamer blog) for a very interesting discussion about theme in games. This was one of the most informative and thought-provoking podcasts I've ever listened to. Sure, board games may not be life changing (although they might be...), but this was a really good podcast, especially for someone who is a player, reviewer, and designer.

Good Reef

You may get some deja vu reading this, because yet again I played a game of Kingdomino with my friend Brennan while hanging out with his whole family. It's only because we really like each other and the game is colourful enough that it distracts the children from ruining it for us while we try and play. I won again, but this time it was much closer. Maybe I should stop playing with him so he doesn't beat me.

In the evening, my ex-student teacher (not because I didn't pass him, but because he DID pass and is now a real teacher) came over to play games. At the end of his practicum with me, after my marks were already in, he bought me a copy of Clank! Now, a year and a half later, I have all the expansions and we finally got a chance to play! We tackled the Dwarven Mine together and he beat me good. I'm not sure what went wrong. Maybe he stole some artifacts while I was taking the dog out? That would make the most sense.

What I enjoyed about playing this multiplayer as opposed to solo was the race to get the most gold deposits mined. This is one area that I succeeded at, and so I got a bonus 20 points to Shane's 10. That kept the game a little bit closer. I can see how in a 3 or 4 player game this can really turn into a race to get to the gold deposits before others do.

After Clank!, Shane introduced me to Reef. I'm not a big Euro-gamer (who would've guessed?) but I'm always up to try something new. In Reef, you are building a coral reef. It's sort of a spacial awareness game where you make stacks of different coloured coral and try to match patterns on cards to get the most points. On your turn you either play a card or take a card. Each card has two parts to it. The top part gives you two new coral pieces that you place on your board. The bottom part gives you points for the layout of your reef. For example, you might get 5 points for every 3 blue coral pieces in a row. Or maybe 5 points for every red piece of coral that is at the 4th level of a stack. I found it really hard to balance getting new cards with building my board properly, but I think I did alright. Shane crushed me, but, I had 50 points still. I would definitely give it another go as it only took us about 15 minutes to play. I can commit to 15 minutes of Euro.

Custom Gloomhaven Insert

I finally finished my Gloomhaven insert! I spent about $3 at Dollar Tree buying foam board and hot glue refills. It probably took me about 10 hours over the course of a week to cut and glue everything together. So, depending how much my time is worth, this might have cost more then to buy a $100 insert online. But, now I can take pride in knowing I did it myself! 

Below is a video walkthrough of the insert. I tried to keep any spoilers out (i.e. I took out the cardboard standees I have for all of the heroes), but you will see all of the pieces (minus inside the hero boxes). Enjoy!