I played a lot early in the month, but an unexpected trip left me mostly gameless for the last half. In the end, I played 16 titles a total of 72 times. Of those, half were solo plays of Empire Express.
Two new-to-me games have already earned ratings of "9". Both are overlooked gems, and each shines in a very different way. Empire Express is meatier, and has stood up to a lot of plays already. Roll to the South Pole is also an outstanding game that does what it intends to do extremely well.
For more details about every game I have rated (mini-reviews), look at my game comments. I also record mini session reports for most of my plays.
Within each category below, the games are listed roughly in order from favorite to least favorite.
GAMES I PLAYED FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS MONTH:
![]()
Empire Express (8 plays, plus 36 solo plays) Rating: 9
Despite complaints from hardcore crayon rails fans that EE is too dumbed down, it is really a great game. It offers "basic" rules that allow casual gamers and newbies to ease into the system in a very forgiving way. Plus you can finish a 4p game with newbies in under 90 minutes. Once you know the game, play it with the full rules, and enjoy a crayon rails experience, but shorter. My plays.
![]()
Roll to the South Pole (8 plays) Rating: 9
This is a race game with leeching and minor blocking, but no screwage. It has a strong push-your-luck aspect, but also requires resource management. The theme works really well, and it is quick (45-60 minutes) but satisfying at all player counts (2 to 5). It is simple to teach to non-gamers, but keeps medium gamers interested. This deserves to win some awards. My plays.
![]()
Russian Rails (1 solo play) Rating: 8
My third crayon rail game, which gives me confidence rating it after just one solo play. RR won't hit the table as much as Empire Express, due to its length, but it might compete with EuroRails. I'll need more plays to know whether I enjoy the "Fall of Communism" event, and to see how balanced the contracts and destinations are.
![]()
Forge (1 play) Rating: 8 (tentative)
I bought the "beta" prototype from The Game Crafter, based on reading the rules and on glowing reviews from the "elephants". Our first game confirmed that there are many interesting decisions, especially between scoring now or building up for later. You can "steal" newly-obtained items, but it doesn't feel at all nasty. It's definitely much better than Quarriors as a "dice-building" game.
![]()
Infiltration (2 plays) Rating: 7 (tentative)
Normally I'm not a fan of simultaneous action selection, but I think it works here. The varied cards should offer a lot of replayability, and it works well with 5p (and hopefully with 6p). It can get a bit nasty, which could be an issue for me. So my rating is more likely to go down than up, but I am looking forward to at least a few more plays to figure out what I really think. My plays.
![]()
20th Century (1 play, plus 1 solo 2p walkthrough) Rating: 7 (tentative)
Somewhat disappointing. I enjoyed the auctions, although they felt awkward at times. I have some concerns about dominant strategies and runaway leaders, although obviously it's too early to know. My biggest in-game frustration was the shortage of available workers. I would prefer if you didn't get a free worker with each tile, but instead could buy more workers. It just feels wrong for so many towns to go unused. I feel like I should try it a few more times, but honestly am not eager to do so.
![]()
Sentinels of the Multiverse (1 play) Rating: 6 (tentative)
Sentinels requires you to track several types of special abilities from several sources that kick in at different times, which I don't like. I also don't like controlling multiple identities in a game, and our 2p game had us each running 2 heroes. The villain we chose was annoying, and made the game drag way too long (over 2 hours). I'll try it again with a better setup, but my 6 rating already assumes that will produce a much better experience. My rating for the game we actually played would be a 4, and if it weren't a co-op it would also be about a 4 even without the problems specific to the game we played.
OTHER GAMES PLAYED THIS MONTH
![]()
Africana (4 plays this month; 9 total) Rating: 9
Africana continues to impress me. It works great with casual gamers and with serious gamers as a light-medium option. We continue to discover new tricks, and strategies (although it is clearly more tactical than strategic). There is no question in my mind that this should have at least been an SdJ finalist. My plays.
![]()
Flash Point: Fire Rescue (1 play this month; 12 total) Rating: 9
Still a great co-op for casual and light-medium gamers. My plays.
![]()
Eurorails (1 play this month; 2 total) Rating: 8
Very enjoyable as a longer route-building and pickup-and-deliver game. My plays.
![]()
Bombay (1 play this month; 19 total) Rating: 8
I have always enjoyed this game, and it looks like it is gaining in popularity with my local group. It continues to impress me that it can finish in an hour even with 5 players and even with new players in the game. Africana will probably mostly replace Bombay in this niche, but when there are 5 of us, it's Bombay. My plays.
![]()
Atlantis Rising (1 play this month; 4 total, but all solo) Rating: 7 (tentative)
I still love the idea of a worker placement co-op. Unfortunately, it seems like with 2p or 3p, you really need to add a dummy player to act as the navy, which is clunky and annoying. I need to try it with other players (not just solo) to really have a sense of the game.
![]()
Stone Age (1 play this month; 4 total) Rating: 7
Adequate but not great. I'm not fond of the memory aspects and necessary denial blocking required to do well. The early moves seen almost programmed. It runs longer than it should (45-60 minutes would be ideal). I'll play it, but not with great eagerness.
![]()
Martian Fluxx (2 plays this month; 5 total) Rating: 6
Silly filler. Can run long. Less cutthroat than most fillers, which I appreciate.
![]()
Space Hulk: Death Angel - The Card Game (1 play this month; 6 total) Rating: 6
Until now, I had only played SHDA solo, and in that form it's a brutally random but fairly entertaining game. This month, we played 4p, and it was a mess. We won, but the game took 95 minutes not counting rules and setup. So I don't want to play with 3+ players again due to length, but I also don't like it solo or with 2p because you have to control multiple teams. This one might be headed for the trade pile.
![]()
Zombie Dice(1 play this month; 3 total) Rating: 6
This remains a decent dice filler. I like that it's not cutthroat, and that it is easy to explain. However, the actual drawing of dice is counter-intuitive (and physically difficult using the included can). We played with Santa and the Hunk/Hottie, which added just a bit of variability that was nice.
Two new-to-me games have already earned ratings of "9". Both are overlooked gems, and each shines in a very different way. Empire Express is meatier, and has stood up to a lot of plays already. Roll to the South Pole is also an outstanding game that does what it intends to do extremely well.
For more details about every game I have rated (mini-reviews), look at my game comments. I also record mini session reports for most of my plays.
Within each category below, the games are listed roughly in order from favorite to least favorite.
GAMES I PLAYED FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS MONTH:
Despite complaints from hardcore crayon rails fans that EE is too dumbed down, it is really a great game. It offers "basic" rules that allow casual gamers and newbies to ease into the system in a very forgiving way. Plus you can finish a 4p game with newbies in under 90 minutes. Once you know the game, play it with the full rules, and enjoy a crayon rails experience, but shorter. My plays.
This is a race game with leeching and minor blocking, but no screwage. It has a strong push-your-luck aspect, but also requires resource management. The theme works really well, and it is quick (45-60 minutes) but satisfying at all player counts (2 to 5). It is simple to teach to non-gamers, but keeps medium gamers interested. This deserves to win some awards. My plays.
My third crayon rail game, which gives me confidence rating it after just one solo play. RR won't hit the table as much as Empire Express, due to its length, but it might compete with EuroRails. I'll need more plays to know whether I enjoy the "Fall of Communism" event, and to see how balanced the contracts and destinations are.
I bought the "beta" prototype from The Game Crafter, based on reading the rules and on glowing reviews from the "elephants". Our first game confirmed that there are many interesting decisions, especially between scoring now or building up for later. You can "steal" newly-obtained items, but it doesn't feel at all nasty. It's definitely much better than Quarriors as a "dice-building" game.
Normally I'm not a fan of simultaneous action selection, but I think it works here. The varied cards should offer a lot of replayability, and it works well with 5p (and hopefully with 6p). It can get a bit nasty, which could be an issue for me. So my rating is more likely to go down than up, but I am looking forward to at least a few more plays to figure out what I really think. My plays.
Somewhat disappointing. I enjoyed the auctions, although they felt awkward at times. I have some concerns about dominant strategies and runaway leaders, although obviously it's too early to know. My biggest in-game frustration was the shortage of available workers. I would prefer if you didn't get a free worker with each tile, but instead could buy more workers. It just feels wrong for so many towns to go unused. I feel like I should try it a few more times, but honestly am not eager to do so.
Sentinels requires you to track several types of special abilities from several sources that kick in at different times, which I don't like. I also don't like controlling multiple identities in a game, and our 2p game had us each running 2 heroes. The villain we chose was annoying, and made the game drag way too long (over 2 hours). I'll try it again with a better setup, but my 6 rating already assumes that will produce a much better experience. My rating for the game we actually played would be a 4, and if it weren't a co-op it would also be about a 4 even without the problems specific to the game we played.
OTHER GAMES PLAYED THIS MONTH
Africana continues to impress me. It works great with casual gamers and with serious gamers as a light-medium option. We continue to discover new tricks, and strategies (although it is clearly more tactical than strategic). There is no question in my mind that this should have at least been an SdJ finalist. My plays.
Still a great co-op for casual and light-medium gamers. My plays.
Very enjoyable as a longer route-building and pickup-and-deliver game. My plays.
I have always enjoyed this game, and it looks like it is gaining in popularity with my local group. It continues to impress me that it can finish in an hour even with 5 players and even with new players in the game. Africana will probably mostly replace Bombay in this niche, but when there are 5 of us, it's Bombay. My plays.
I still love the idea of a worker placement co-op. Unfortunately, it seems like with 2p or 3p, you really need to add a dummy player to act as the navy, which is clunky and annoying. I need to try it with other players (not just solo) to really have a sense of the game.
Adequate but not great. I'm not fond of the memory aspects and necessary denial blocking required to do well. The early moves seen almost programmed. It runs longer than it should (45-60 minutes would be ideal). I'll play it, but not with great eagerness.
Silly filler. Can run long. Less cutthroat than most fillers, which I appreciate.
Until now, I had only played SHDA solo, and in that form it's a brutally random but fairly entertaining game. This month, we played 4p, and it was a mess. We won, but the game took 95 minutes not counting rules and setup. So I don't want to play with 3+ players again due to length, but I also don't like it solo or with 2p because you have to control multiple teams. This one might be headed for the trade pile.
This remains a decent dice filler. I like that it's not cutthroat, and that it is easy to explain. However, the actual drawing of dice is counter-intuitive (and physically difficult using the included can). We played with Santa and the Hunk/Hottie, which added just a bit of variability that was nice.