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!

Slow Motion Tetris (Blokus)

Most of my gaming is pretty thematic. I like games with stories, characters, choices, things that really make you feel invested and engaged in the game. On Valentine's Day I had the chance to fall back in a love with a very theme-less game: Blokus. I took my daughter to a local cafe and they had a copy for us to play. It was a good reminder that if you're not playing a solo board game, the theme might not matter as much if you have someone great to play it with. This inspired me to do a little review for Blokus and hopefully expose new gamers to the game or help some of you veterans to fall in love again as well.

What is Blokus? Basically, it's a block laying game. You have a variety of different sized blocks (very Tetris-like) that you are trying to play on the board. Your opponents are attempting the same thing. The catch - there isn't enough room on the board for everyone. Also, you cannot play one of your pieces in a way that any edges touch the edge of another of your pieces. However, you must play it so it is touching at least on diagonal of another of your pieces. So you need to try and find ways to fit your pieces in close to yours and between your opponents.

Brownies and Blokus (Blokus)

My 6 year old daughter and I were able to sneak away for a little daddy-daughter date on Valentine's Day while my wife took our almost four year old to a party with some friends. We went to a local coffee shop that had some surprisingly amazing brownies.

"But It Is Not This Day!" (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

I'm not sure what happened, but somewhere along the line I missed writing about a game. I thought I was 0-3 going into last night's game, but I was actually 0-4. Yay me! I did write about the last game and it was my least favourite one. Not only because I got destroyed (although that didn't help), but also because as a group we couldn't figure out what to focus on and what our goals were. Since that was the case, Brennan raced ahead (as he does no matter what iteration of Clank! we're playing).

Well, we came up with a team strategy for game number five. I'm trying really hard not to give away any spoilers, but game five was VERY different from the first four. That's all I'll say about that. So, in order to fully explore this newness, we decided on the following strategies.

This Just Got Real (Donisi)

Well, this board game thing just got real. March 20-22 is GobFest in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (North America, Earth...too much?), our local board game convention. I haven't attended in the past, but I have been to their sister convention in Calgary, FallCon. It was a blast! One of my favourite parts was playing the prototype games. It was even cooler to see a few of the game I played there roll their way to a successful Kickstarter.

Well, it's our turn! We're bringing a prototype (not 100% done, mind you) to GobFest. We're hoping to get a lot of great feedback and some people excited about our upcoming game, Donisi (haven't heard anything about it? Check out my posts about designing the game here). What we learn there we'll take with us into putting together our complete prototype for EPOC, Edmonton's Prototype Convention (May 22-24). This will be our most polished prototype and hopefully the last big kick at the can before we get it ready for publishing.

Wow. Exciting times! If you're in Edmonton during March or May, we hope to see you there!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Review of Baseball Highlights: 2045)

I'm not anything close to a baseball fan. It's a fun enough sport to play, although I'd rather play basketball, hockey, soccer, football, etc. Watching baseball sounds about as enjoyable to me as watching golf or paint dry. Not to diminish the skills of baseball players (or golfers), it just doesn't make for an entertaining spectator sport (in my opinion). So I entered my Baseball Highlights: 2045 adventure with very little experience or interest about the sport. In fact, I probably never would have picked up the game except that I received it in a trade. I had read good things about it on BoardGameGeek (specifically in the 1 Player Guild's Solitaire Games on Your Table geeklist) and thought, "Hey! Why not?" How did I enjoy my time with America's national pastime? Let's find out together.

The Losing Streak Continues (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

I've never really been one to look up strategies for board games before, but after starting out 0 for 2 in my Clank! Legacy adventure, I was feeling desperate. I scoured forums, asking my own questions as well, and got a few ideas for how I could tweak my strategy. Heading into game three, here were the changes I made:

• Go for skill. I was going to gun for high skill cards right away so that I would be able to buy up the best cards. This would lead to slower attack off the top, but I would build up to that once I'd built my skill machine.
• Go for trash. Along with buying high-skill cards, I was going to try and trash my crappy cards as well. I don't want to give anything away, but something happened before this third game started that allowed me to make this strategy a focus (very lucky for me).

That was my strategy heading into game three. So, how did it go?

Five Minutes of Frantic Fun (Review of 5-Minute Dungeon)

I've always been good at games that have a solid mixture of speed and shouting. My brain thinks pretty quickly and I like yelling at people. Growing up we would play the Cranium games as a family and I always succeeded at guessing the charades, scribbles, and sculptures. There's that app game as well (Heads Up? I think it's Ellen's game) that was a pretty cool fad for a while that everyone played and I enjoyed as well. I missed the 5-Minute Dungeon original kickstarter - I looked at it, but I decided not to the pull the trigger. Later on, though, I had a gift card to Toys R Us and picked it up from there. Wow, am I glad I did! I have since backed the Curses! Foiled Again! expansion (which I received and love) and the just-ended 5-Minute Mystery campaign (which also has a solo mode, woohoo for me!). I even picked up a second copy of the game for my board game club at school.

The remains of battle.

All Hail the King! (Review of Kingdomino)

Kingdomino is my most played, most recommended game. When a new gamer is looking for a game to start their collection, this is the one I tell them to get. When a veteran gamer is looking for something to play with their friends and family, this is the one I tell them to get. With games getting increasingly expensive, it is a joy to find such a beautiful and full game for under $20. There is an unofficial solo mode (I did a playthrough here), but I wouldn't buy this game for just the solo mode - there are much better games to spend your money on if that's what you're looking for. That being said, if you do not have this game and you play games with others, buy it now!

But why? Here's why.

TOTAL PLAYS: 40+ competitive, 1 solo

COMPONENTS

So pretty!

Christmas Board Game Fun

Ahhh Christmas, when a young teacher's fancy turns to board games. At least mine does. It's a great time to play games and be introduced to new games. I got two games for Christmas (expansions, actually): Clank! Expeditions: Temple of the Ape Lords and Dragonfire Adventures: Chaos in the Trollclaws. I now have every Clank! expansion (not including the space side of things). I haven't been able to play these yet, hoping to get to that more in the new year, but I did play a bunch of really fun quicker and lighter games with my family over the break.