Gameology Blog - Gamer's Hub Online
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟰 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀.
We’ve all been there. You hype up a board game to your non-gamer friends and family, only for them to get super intrigued and relent to playing with you…and hate it, vowing to never play another. Don’t worry, it’s an often-reported bi-product of our passionate [read: obsessive] community, and we can help you combat it! As seasoned board-gamers and gamer-converts, we here at Gameology have developed an almost fool-proof formula for getting anyone interested in board games. And we mean it. Tried and tested, here are our current strategies to encourage your loved ones of any age to play your awesome board games with you! 1) Keep it simple. First up, pick your timing and eliminate any distractions – i.e., don’t beg your parents to play a game of light strategy when they’re busy cooking dinner and on the phone to your sibling with the news going in the background. You’ll need a solid 1-2 hours for our method depending on the game you’ve chosen to tackle, so best to pick a weeknight after dinner with the dishes done or a lazy afternoon on a weekend. Pick a game that is easy to digest and introduces the fundamentals of basic board game play. People are much more likely to cotton to a game that is easy to understand and master with a couple of plays, because let’s face it, we’re wired to crave a win with minimal effort, to stay interested. Aspects to consider when choosing a game include your target’s age (yes, target, because some days this sure feels like a mission), thought process (can they keep up with a bit of light strategy or will they get super bored by it?), time available (do we have 30mins to kill or do we have half an afternoon?) and interests (do they love or hate Lord of the Rings? Do they like pretty components or artwork?). You know your targets best so these answers will be subjective, but generally we’ve found that complete newbies enjoy quick-play abstract and family games such as; Kingdomino, Azul, Santorini, Love Letter or the classic, Ticket To Ride. 2) Bribe them. Look, we don’t like it either but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for the sake of the game. Tell your parents you’ll wash up after dinner tonight. Tell your friends you’ll supply the beers if they indulge you for a game. Tell your significant other – well, you know where we’re going with that one… Aaaanyway, unfortunately our community is big but not entirely mainstream, so the average person will struggle to place value on their time spent learning something new and often time-consuming and it’s your responsibility to make it worth their while. That is of course, until they realise how awesome board gaming is and slowly descend into obsessive madness like the rest of us. 3) Play it through and explain as you go. Give players a brief overview of the game background and objective and go over some basic rules. After that, you’ll essentially play the game “open-handed”. That is, take your turn first and explain your steps and thought process as you go, allowing the other players to pause and ask questions where necessary. Then, let them have their turn and coach them through the process. Continue until they are confident in progressing on their own, with play remaining “open-handed”. Games with simple, concise steps taken each turn and then repeated each turn by every player are perfect for teaching as the repetition increases familiarity and confidence as play progresses. Games such as The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Splendor and Carcassonne are the perfect examples of this. The key to this step is patience. Your sense of excited frustration is dangerously infectious in these situations and could not only lead to the abandonment of your gaming sesh, but a heated exchange if you let it bubble over. So ensure you always keep your cool, even if your parents ask the same question for the hundredth time. Remember, they hold the trump cards in this situation as they could pull the plug at any point and leave you opponent-less, so it’s best to keep calm and carry on. 4) Play it a second time. Immediately. That’s right. Even if it seems tedious. Even if they don’t want to! In fact, especially if they don’t want to! This is our single-most important step in the whole process. The first game is always an ice-breaker, a get-to-know you if you will. The second game cements all the fresh information firmly in your brain by allowing you to play “for real” and put your acquired knowledge and skills to the test. You’ll usually find that your opponent starts out begrudgingly and finishes ecstatic, having ignited their competitive streak in knowing that they were able to give you a real run for your money! So here’s our strategy, but we want to know if we missed anything! Let us know in the comments what you do or have done to entice people to play with you so we can encourage others to try it out and grow our amazing community!
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𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘁? 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗗𝗠
For D&D and its players, there always lives a Dungeon Master (DM), hunched over a table late at night with only a dim desk lamp to illuminate their works. On pen, on paper, with rulers and grids, the DM stays awake. They place enemies in arenas, traps in the floors, and treasure in secret rooms no one will ever find. They tell their tales and craft their characters, making sure each has a different personality, trait and opinion. So the next day their players will fall down the rabbit hole of adventure. One that begins with meeting a mysterious strider in a tavern and somehow eventually leads into a final confrontation with Grolantor, The Hill Giant God of War. The stories DMs create are fascinating. Running your own homebrew story is an adventure that is purely yours, where you can showcase aspects of your personality and wit. Or if you’re running an official campaign, you can take the moment to surprise your party with your showmanship. Maybe captivate them with twists and turns in the narrative that you learned the night before. Even if the twist is the death of a beloved character. It is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. These twists won't be just new and exciting for your players but also for you, you will see how players react and what their characters do in the game. Sometimes they will do what is expected but sometimes it will be unpredictable and the room will roar with awe or anger. If this sounds fun, if being a god of an imaginary world appeals to you, if being able to equally raise or ruin your players, or if you just like being the showman who brings characters and worlds alive, maybe try to be a DM. Being the DM of your party is a lot of effort, there is plenty of work but an equal amount of reward. You do have to spend the day or night before knowing the story and the Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) in it. You will have to know how to properly provide them with a voice that suits their personality and traits. And know how they would make decisions in response to your players. For the story aspects, you will need to know it all very well, as you will need to keep the story flowing based on your players unpredictable actions. Finally DMs work as mediators and judges, so you must know the rules and when to bend or break them. Unlike Players who need no preparation before a session (aside from levelling up their characters), some DMs do not have the luxury of being able to “wing it” and improvise story arcs without preparation. T here is work in being a DM, but with the right players it will not go unappreciated. The stories you weave and the world you build will leave your players, even the most passive player, engaged. Tell us about your best Dungeon Master Stories below we always love to hear your tales of wonder!
𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆!
Stuck on what to get Dad this Father’s Day that he’ll be able to use and enjoy at home? Well look no further than the gift that keeps on giving – board games! A fantastic way for the whole family to celebrate Father’s Day, board games require interaction and engagement between all players, which is all Dad really want’s on his special day isn’t it? So without further ado, here are our Top 5 Picks for Father’s Day! 1) Paperback A concise 2-5 player game for word-wizards and bookworms, Paperback is the perfect game for those that love a good Scrabble session. As a struggling author, players are trying to finish novels for their editor so they can live the dream and perhaps pay the bills in this beautiful and brain-testing deck builder. Beginning with a starting hand of letter cards, players try to form words to gain money to purchase more powerful and useful letters and accumulate victory points to win the game. Cards have abilities that activate once played, with certain genres providing different advantages over the others – introducing an exciting element of strategy. The longer the played word with more face up letters (face-down cards are wild whose abilities do not activate that turn) the more advantages players obtain and the further along they race towards victory. A fantastic small game that backs a big punch, Paperback includes 4 mini expansions and a cooperative variant as well, meaning that your word-smith Dad can enjoy it over and over again. If that wasn’t enough play time, there’s also the Paperback Unabridged Expansion that introduces 100 new cards and more ability mechanics. Additionally, if Dad’s more of a hardback fan, he’ll love the equally compelling and beautifully presented, sequel Hardback, of similar vein. 2) Catan The OG board game that started it all, Catan is the classic family game that is a wonderful introduction for anyone wanting to step up from your generic Monopoly into the wonderful world of board games! A 3-4 player resource-management game that incorporates elements of deep strategy, Catan sees players compete to become the dominant force on an island by developing settlements, cities and roads. By collecting resource and development cards used to build their civilisations and accumulate military power, players strive to gain the 10 victory points to win. But beware, there is trouble afoot as robbers seek to steal your resources and dismantle your plans with each turn. An award winning, popular game, Catan appeals to the masses and has thus spawned multiple spin off’s and expansions that keep the base game fresh and constantly changing. The ideal way to get Dad and the whole family involved and addicted to board games! 3) Koi A lover of Japanese art and majestic koi fish? As well as being a purveyor of fine taste and quality, your Dad will love this exciting (and frustrating) 1-4 player masterpiece. Beautifully thematic right down to the excellent components, Koi invites you into the interconnected world of the koi pond. As koi, players compete over seven days (rounds) to become the most well-fed fish in the pond, gobbling up as many frogs and dragonflies as they can. Drawn cards each round dictate the moves your fish are able to take for that day – some optional, others mandatory. Players will need to think about their path to gain more food and ensure they have enough movement and provisions spare to overcome any attempts by other fish to thwart their plans. A light strategy game that is easy to introduce and play through, Koi is a visually appealing masterpiece that is sure to please Dad and family alike! 4) Power Grid This is one for those Dad’s that are board-game aficionado’s and perhaps well-acquainted with the energy sector… Power Grid is an excellent 2-6 player resource-management game, incorporating elements of worker placement and deep strategy. Players complete to build the largest energy network and successfully power it by travelling to various cities in their region, purchasing power plants and buying resources to power those plants. You will acquire power plants and resources through player auctions and must compete with others to gain access to superior equipment or less-expensive resources; thus granting your fellow energy monarchs the opportunity to engage in insidious business practices. Players must ensure they monitor each other’s progress, expand their network and manage their money in order to power their grid! A fun game that may require a couple of play-throughs to get the hang of, Power Grid is well-worth the time and plays smoothly and quickly once you have the rules down pat. Check out Power Grid and its many expansions here! 5) Ticket to Ride: Europe Edition Another board game classic, Ticket to Ride: Europe Edition, builds on the award winning, fast-paced original game. A completely separate board game adventure (this edition is not an expansion and therefore does not require the original base game), employs the same rules as Ticket to Ride, with a few extra additions to keep play fresh. A 2-5 player family game that is very quick to learn, the Europe Edition sees players traverse the continent in an effort to gain the highest number of total points by placing train carriages between cities to claim routes, fulfilling destination cards and trying to accrue the longest continuous path across the board! A light and easy game perfect for young and older families alike, Ticket to Ride: Europe Edition adds another layer of strategy and incorporates exceptional artwork to delight engage. A worthy addition to the family board game shelf, you can check out our other Ticket to Ride products here! And that’s your Father’s Day gift sorted! Wishing all those Fathers and Father-Figures in your life a wonderful day from us here at Gameology! Have an excellent day spending quality-time with your family over one of our board games.
𝗔𝗻 𝗢𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻𝘀: 𝗔 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 - 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 #𝟭: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗗&𝗗
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a wonderful game of fun, story, and situations. It is the blank canvas of tabletop gaming, where rich and beautiful adventures are made from nothing but made together. In D&D you will have entire worlds to conquer but where do you start? This new blog entry for the 10 people who actually read these blogs, especially the 2 who don’t work at Gameology and read these anyway (I appreciate you), is part 1 of 3 on What is D&D? How do you play as a Dungeon Master? and How do you play as a Player? D&D is a role-playing game where a single player will be a Dungeon Master (DM) who will run the game, and the rest of the group will be players who create characters in the game. The DM, runs the game by narrating the adventure, playing the roles of characters that players will meet, and managing what happens in the game’s world in response to the player’s decisions and actions. The DM is not included in the game, DM’s work behind-the-scenes directing the players will story hooks and scenarios to progress the players through the adventure. Players in the game create characters in the story. The characters will be fictional avatars that the players will role-play, as if they themselves were in the story. These characters can be as complex as you like, by providing a backstory, personal goals and traits, or even giving them flaws and unique personal opinions. Whatever character you create, they will be deeply involved in the adventure the DM creates. I know this seems to be a bit over-the-top, especially when you consider that the majority of this game takes place in your collective imagination. But truthfully, anything that isn't strictly: The DM tells a story and guides players’ characters on an adventure is an optional rule. D&D provides unbridled freedom. The freedom to play however you want is an amazing aspect of the game. There are not many rulebooks for games that basically say “if you don’t know what to do, just make it up.” The rules in Dungeons and Dragons are more like guidelines. Very loose guidelines. Which (for me) makes up for everything that could possibly be wrong with D&D. Unless you have an issue with the fundamental aspects, any other problem can be changed to suit your group’s preferences. If you don’t like combat rules and mechanics, just throw it out. If you don't like levelling up in a certain way just change levelling up to growing a few inches. Eventually you'll end up with a whole new adventure about how your players can’t stop growing and turning into giants. In D&D you can traverse incredible landscapes and delve deeply into intricate stories that can be experienced with Wizards of Coasts’ official campaigns or unofficially in community made homebrewed adventures. The content is never ending as campaigns can last actual years and there is always another story to dig into. Or maybe the idea of a long campaign exhausts you and you’d rather play something shorter and contained. Then you can always play the multitude of one-shot adventures that are concise enough to reach that satisfying conclusion in a single session. D&D is not some power nerd hobby, although I say that as a nerd working in a hobby store. This is a game for anybody, there is always something to like. If you like hitting someone with Thor’s Hammer with over exaggerated awesomeness, there's a scenario for that. If you like wacky social interactions, like trying to charm the dragon from eating you with your incredible charisma, there's a story for that. Or even if you just like role-playing a strange character like an acrobat master thief who's only fear is the dark, you can do that too. The options, quests, and scenarios in D&D are only limited by your imagination. If the idea of absurd social situations, and imaginative adventures with your friends sounds fun or even fun-ish. I strongly recommend looking more into the game. To be honest, at first it is easy to feel lost and overwhelmed, you may think there are too many options. As a DM, you will wonder where to start, what worlds to bring your players into, or what worlds to build. As a player, you will be overwhelmed by options of characters to play. Within each character you must pick a race and a class from a great variety just to begin and as you play you will be constantly bombarded with choosing a weapon, a skill, a trait, a path, there will always be options and choices to make. So I understand if D&D starts to throw you off here as there are a lot of things to consider. You have all these options that tell you, be whatever you want, do anything, but simultaneously, you have rules that tell you, you can’t do this, you can’t do that, the rules seem to cruelly limit you. But I implore you to just start playing, make your mistakes with your friends, make godly creatures purely by accident, miscalculate damage amounts or bonuses that cause enemies to implode at the sight of you, or say dumb things to non-playable characters just to see what will happen because I promise you, it will be memorable. If you are now looking to jump right into D&D the best starting place is the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit which you can check out right here: https://www.gameology.com.au/products/d-d-essentials-kit
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗡𝗼𝘄.
‘Tis the season to be bombarded with pre-orders! If you’re like us and hate waiting for the next amazing game to become available, pre-ordering is for you, friend. What better way to ensure you’ll 100% receive your game on release day?! FOMO be gone. Now that we’ve established you’ll be going on a pre-order spree to quell the monotony of lockdown (here’s looking at you VIC friends), we’ve taken the liberty of compiling a list of the must-have games coming soon to our shelves! 1) Frosthaven After a very successful Kickstarter campaign - we’re talking almost $13M pledged of a $500K goal here - you’ll definitely want to pre-order this one. The formidable sequel to the epic campaign game that spawned its own phenomenon (Gloomhaven), Frosthaven follows a similar narrative but offers much, much more than its predecessor. While employing the same fundamental objective and theme of expansion through combat, Frosthaven now allows players to explore outside of battle, including solving mysteries, living through seasonal events and even controlling exactly how their villages expand to offer new avenues for progression. With the ability to integrate with the Gloomhaven game board, both old and new Gloom-fanatics will be enticed by this mammoth adventure. 2) Tainted Grail: the Fall of Avalon Another wildly-successful Kickstarter, Tainted Grail is a cooperative campaign game based on the equally successful video game of the same name. Now, we know what you’re all thinking. Video game to board game can be hit-and-miss. Well, we’re here to tell you that this one is definitely a hit. With an opportunity for a solo mode, this 1-4player adventure experience uses all the strengths of deck-building, character development and a dice-less encounter system that moulds it into the perfect medieval puzzle. Players must navigate the deep storyline where at every turn, something conspires to end their journey within a world of Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend. With even the smallest of decisions key to gameplay advancement, Tainted Grail has ensured character development is as meaningful and deep as the world in which the game is contained. This also ensures no game is exactly alike, which makes it absolutely worth the price. The hype on this one is real, people. Get on it. 3) Nemesis We’re sure you’ve all heard the hype on this one, and rightly so. This semi-cooperative game of sci-fi survival horror is sure to leave you wanting more, especially if you’ve been betrayed… Navigating their way across a decimated spaceship filled with hostile organisms, players must complete a set of objectives and board an escape pod back to Earth in one piece. But all is not as it seems. Player objectives are both cooperative and individual in nature; so who do you follow? Who can you trust? You’ll never know, right until the very end. A fantastic game that builds and settles climactic moments across play, Nemesis is an immersive experience that is both enjoyable and enjoyably frustrating at times. Absolutely one to include on your shelf. 4) Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 A game very current to our circumstances, however much-loved by many. 12 years of the Pandemic franchise and Z-Man Games has delivered us another excellent legacy game to round off the story at the very beginning. Just as its predecessors, Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 is a fully-cooperative experience steeped in Cold War history. Tasked with investigating and preventing the development of a deadly Soviet bio-weapon, players are members of the CIA and must undertake missions that allow them to travel the world and combat their enemies. It won’t be easy, as enemies become more and more cunning, but over the course of 12 months, each completed mission will bring players closer and closer to the truth. Don’t worry, you won’t need to have played Season One or Two in order to attack this Cold War thriller as it’s stand-alone, however it is a legacy game so bear in mind that each play brings new rules and conditions that can permanently affect future gameplay. Definitely a must-have for any avid Pandemic fan. 5) Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion Possibly the most talked-about game due out this year and definitely one for the pre-order list - these won’t last long in store! Designed as a casual introduction to the realm of Gloomhaven, this game is perfect both for die-hard fans (the new components can be used in the base game) and for those interested but not committed to the big box just yet. Set in the events before Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion includes 25 new scenarios inviting heroes to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances across the city. Players will play directly on a scenario book featuring new artwork unique to each scenario and the rules have been simplified and illustrated with a five-step tutorial to ease new players into the experience. If you’ve been eyeing off the game, but one of your hang-ups is that you’ve got no one keen to play along, this is the game for you. Its pedigree speaks for itself. 6) Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! Armed with great componentry and artwork, Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! is a cooperative survival game and one not to miss out on! Players assume aliases of specialist marines who work together to find other survivors and answers as to how their base has been destroyed and by who - or what. But what lurks in the shadows? Players are equipped with serious firepower; needed to fight off relentless foreign ambushes and get out of there alive. Able to play up to six different missions all with different objectives and outcomes, Aliens also caters to the campaign-masters out there, with four of the missions able to be played in this mode. An exhilarating and at times, heart-stopping game, it’s one to definitely add to the collection. Aaaaand that’s our list - get on them while they’re hot people! Don’t be that guy that sits there refreshing the page until the game goes live, only to realise it’s already sold out when you try to “add to cart”. Just, don’t. Check out our other awesome pre-orders here!
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗔 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 🎲
We have all had those moments as board gamers where we get a new magnificent game in all its pristine shrink-wrapped goodness. We’re so excited to share this 8th wonder with our friends, but ‘Oh no’ it's a complicated card drafting, worker-placing, resource-managing nightmare or maybe it isn’t that complicated but your friends are new to the hobby. How do you teach them the rules? How do you keep them engaged especially if the art on the box isn’t exactly spectacular? How do you avoid the dreaded statements like “This seems a bit too complicated,” “Do you have anything easier?”, “Let’s just play Cards Against Humanity.” If you’ve had to ask yourself these questions, worry no longer, your friendly Gameology retail store staff with the cute glasses is here to help. To begin, and this may seem a bit dramatic, teach the game with a narrative. Engage the other players by providing the context, tell them who they are and how they fit into the game. For example, if you’re playing Brass Birmingham, do not dive into the economics and numbers of the game, begin with explaining how the players are entrepreneurs in the 1800s striving to be the grandest titan of industry. This may not be as necessary in smaller games but it is still a joy to do and will guarantee that your players won’t be staring at their phones or prematurely say “Let’s just play, I’m sure we can learn as we go.” The next step is to jump to the end, define a goal for the players so they know what they are aiming for. You can continue your narrative but sprinkle in mentions of the core mechanics of the game. But only the core mechanics. Beware of getting caught on tangents about minor mechanics of the game or soon you will have explained the entire games at an awkward order and players will have to try and piece together your instructions. Continuing with the Brass Birmingham example, explain that to become the grandest titan of industry you must get the most victory points and that is primarily done by selling resources at your many factories that you build up. By providing the win condition, you have provided direction to your players so that no matter what overly-complex mechanic you explain next, they will always be able to connect it to how they can achieve the win condition. The final step is the longest, this is where your players are now engaged and are prepared to learn the nitty-gritty of the game. This step will be different for different games and different groups. So there is no clear cut way to do this that will work for everyone. But here are some tips: try and link the mechanic to the win condition. This is especially important for big games as most games have very precise intricate mechanics that don’t seem like they matter in the grand scheme of the game. Try and explain mechanics in a chronological order, the order in which they might appear to players as the game progressed. Maybe have a practice round, a false start whereby you play as you normally would but without hidden information and allow constant questions. That way players don’t have to ask midway through an actual game that could compromise their strategy. Finally, if it seems your friends still are not engaging or are disinterested, you have to accept that. Not all games are for everyone. Not everyone wants to play a 6 hour game of Dune, and you just have to accept that you have to throw away your friends and get new ones because Dune is amazing and you don’t need food or sleep if you’ve got Dune. AVAILABLE NOW AT GAMEOLOGY https://www.gameology.com.au/products/dune-board-game. And let us know your best tips and tricks for helping teach others a new board game down below, Im sure everyone would love the chance to learn from each other so we can all make our board game nights the best they can be
𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀🐁
Biggest isn't always better especially when it comes to these powerhouses of fun games that just so happen to come in small packages. Check out our top 6 picks for the best ᵀᶦⁿʸ ᴳᵃᵐᵉˢ below! This list is most definitely incomplete so let us know what the smallest game you own is that you are still always ready to pull out on games night. 1) Mint Delivery A cross between Ticket to Ride and The Travelling Salesman Problem, in Mint Delivery players will be mint delivery drivers in the city of MINTOPIA the greatest mint-manufacturing city in the world. As competing drivers, you’ll all be competing for the coveted “Employee of the Month” badge. To get it, you must be the best driver, fulfilling the most orders around the region as fast as you can. To play this fresh, pocket-sized marvel, move your little meeple truck around a modular map of the region to specific factories and provide them with mints they have ordered. Throughout the game you may take 2 actions on your turn, these include: moving your truck to a space, picking up new orders, fulfilling an order, restocking on mints and finally converting your mints into mintier mints. That's all, this small tiny pocket game is perfect for a travel game as it consists completely of a handful of cards and meeples. Check out Mint Delivery Here 2) A Fake Artist Goes to New York Do you like to draw but can’t draw? Would you like to pretend to be able to? To pretend you are among the elite artists among your friends? In A Fake Artist Goes To New York, you must hide among the so-called elite of the art world and fake pretentiousness and distinction to be accepted. To play, all players will be dealt a role, either a real artist or a fake pretender. The artists are also given a secret word, a topic to draw, the fake artist is not provided this word but must pretend they were. Starting with any player, each person will draw a single line or shape and pass the canvas along. In a series of 2 rounds, players will continuously add to the art piece in a way that shows the others they know the secret word. But beware if the image becomes too obvious, the fake artist will be able to determine the secret word and will be able to blend in easier. After the 2 rounds are over players must determine who among them is a fake artist. A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a wonderful little drawing game where you will give sly looks at everyone who draws anything because no one is above suspicion. You must draw abstract enough as to not inadvertently help the fake artist but not too abstract where the other artists will suspect you. This combination makes this seemingly quaint game full of tension and suspicion. Where accusations will fly rampantly because someone put a single 2cm line in a suspicious place, or maybe a fake artist will be wrongly assumed to be real because they accidentally added a whisker to a cat’s face, which they thought was a leg. Check out A Fake Artist Goes to New York Here 3) Star Realms Build your space empire, unite the alien races, and assimilate their technology with your own to increase your intergalactic renown in this tiny deckbuilding game. In Star Realms 2-4 players will slowly build upon their meager fleet of Star Vipers and Scouts into an empire by purchasing new space vessels from the many factions in the Star Realms universe. Each faction will have a speciality mechanic for you to specialise in or maybe diversify and synergise different factions. Regardless of how you build your fleet, the goal is always the same, reduce your enemies health to 0 before they can reduce yours. To protect against yourself, build large space bases to act as a blockade and eat any damage your opponent throws at you on their turns. On your turns, switch it around and go on the offensive by strategically chaining you action cards. This is done by playing cards with a secondary ability that is activated by playing another card of a specific faction. So race to build your armada, your defenses, your economy and your realm. Check out Star Realms Here 4) Hive Pocket A pocket sized version of the wonderful abstract game “Hive”, the pocket edition provides players with a smaller bag, a smaller price tag and 2 free expansions. What’s not to love?! Hive itself is a wonderful two player, abstract game where players will control two competing Hives. The aim of the game is to encircle the opponent’s Queen Bee in pieces. To do so, players must move their many different insects around the table. In Hive, there is no board, the pieces players move and use, act as the structure of their hives and must move around already placed pieces. This is an incredibly interesting concept as the landscape of the game will constantly change as players try to entrap their opponent’s queen and protect their own. Hive utilises many different insects for players to use and so, different insects will move around completely differently to other pieces. For example, the beetle is able to climb on top of other pieces to completely immobilize them and grasshoppers can jump over sections of the hive. There are many more insects to play and master in this head-to-head fight for survival. Check out Hive Pocket Here 5) Spot It We could not talk about pocket games without talking abou SPOT IT, the family game for 2-8 players. If you haven’t heard of Spot It before it is an incredibly easy, fun, and versatile game with many different ways to play. The core basis of this card game is each card depicts a wild array of individual pictures, almost always any 2 cards will share a specific image on them, and most ways to play will revolve around “spotting” the matching images. As there are many different game modes to play, it would be incredibly difficult to fit them all in this small blog but a common and (in my opinion) the most fun way to play is the following: deal 10 cards to all players, who will hold them in a stack with the images face up. Play one card from the remaining cards in the centre. Players must now look to see if the card on top of their stack has any matching images with the centre card, if so, they play their card in the centre. If not, the players will cycle their top card to the bottom on their stack and continue. The first player to empty their stack wins the game. This game mode is fast paced with players shouting the names of the matching images in a chaotic mess of excitement and laughter, perfect for any family. Check out Spot It Here 6) One Night Ultimate Werewolf A game of both figurative and literal witch hunting where players will band together to find the figurative and literal wolf hiding amongst them. One Night Ultimate Werewolf (ONUW) is a dastardly game of villainy and deceit as players will try to all convince each other they are on the same team, each with their own secret motive and equally questionable credibility. To play, players will all be dealt a secret role, which will provide them their ability, their team, and thus their motive. The Villager team seeks to find the Werewolves and the werewolves seek to remain hidden, usually this will end with the villagers accusing one of their own by mistake. One Night Ultimate Werewolf plays in a single round, making it one of the quickest games to play, but don't worry with its super simple,and satisfying gameplay, the small game time only supports the game's wonderful replayability. In the round, players will close their eyes while the assisting phone app, names different roles one at a time, when a role is called out the player will open their eyes and perform the ability. The fun in ONUW is in the way these abilities interact with each other. A Seer may look at someone's hidden role and accidentally find the werewolf but a Troublemaker could throw a wrench into their strategy by switching roles with them. Maybe a specific player is suspicious so you all accuse them of being a werewolf but in reality they’re a Minion of the werewolves and seeks to be a scapegoat for them. The many roles in this game greatly alter how the round will play out. And with a dozen unique roles in the best game alone, makes this game you won’t be able to get tired of too quickly. Check out One Night Ultimate Werewolf Here
𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗕𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 💪
Nothing beats the feeling of opening a new BIG board game. So many components, maps, pieces, and boards to discover and is one of our favorite things about board games. We created a list of our favorite Chonky games that you can check out right here Did we miss any? (Although these games are so massive it is hard to miss them) Let us know in a comment down below. 1) Gloomhaven The game that spawned a phenomenon, Gloomhaven is a Euro-inspired combat campaign game that requires a cooperative approach to achieve shifting goals. players assume the role of a wandering adventurer with their own set of specific skills and advantages as well as their own player objectives. In order to expand their story, explore and plunder new lands and enhance existing abilities, players must work together out of necessity to loot and clear out dungeons and forgotten ruins. A game that has cemented itself as a cult favourite amongst the gaming community, Gloomhaven is a must-play for any serious board-gamer. Check out Gloomhaven here! 2) Twilight Imperium The best game to enjoy post-lockdown! Grab a bunch of mates together and settle in for an afternoon of campaigning with this monster of an adventure. Entering into a competition for galactic domination, players take on the role of one of seventeen factions. It is only through developing a strong military strategy, implementing scathing political manipulation and employing cunning economic bargaining that one faction will emerge victorious. Objectives change throughout play taking the overall aim to achieve 10 victory points from simple, to delightfully complex. Check out Twilight Imperium here! 3) Lisboa Another Lacerda masterpiece, Lisboa centres on the reconstruction of the city of Lisbon, Portugal after the great earthquake of 1755. Players will navigate across the extensive player board in order to engage with the policial and construction sectors of public life in Lisboa. The interconnected nature of gameplay is a classic Lacerda, but don’t let the strategy and set-up deter you! Give it a few plays and you’ll see that movement is built on simple and sequential, fundamental gaming principles, making it easy to build up your confidence and develop a strategy in later plays. Check out Lisboa here! 4) Kingdom Builder the Big Box A large scale Settlers of Catan where you and your friends will draw cards and place tiny meeple villages in certain terrains. Slowly but surely building a grand dominion to ultimately hinder and curve your opponents’ expansion. Check out Kingdom Builder The Big Box here! 5) Suburbia Collectors Edition The premier city building game Suburbia has players upgrading their small suburb into a grand metropolis through playing tiles and scoring bonuses. Suburbia Collector’s Edition is essentially a reprinted version of its first iteration with the added bonus of completely new art and A LOT more tiles, so much so that they couldn't even fit all the punch boards in the box (don’t worry, all the tiles fit once you’ve punched them all out). If the other entries in this list seemed a bit too complex and daunting but you still want to get into something immense, this may be the one for you. Despite its grandeur, Suburbia Collectors Edition is relatively simple, on your turn players will draft a tile, these tiles will depict a type of building to add to your growing estate, ranging from mega factories to small parks. Once drafted, these tiles must be placed on your suburb, depending on your placement you will reap benefits or detriments. For example a glue factory next to the town stables, doesn’t exactly scream “please live here!” to prospective residents but it will make you money. Throughout the game, players must find a balance to do what is best for your Suburb. Money will allow you to construct bigger and better buildings but a population is needed to score victory points. Will you build a quaint and comfy village or a factory empire? Check out Suburbia Collectors Edition here!
𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝟔 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬👆
Whether you are unfortunate stuck at home right now or not one of the most common questions we get is what the best single player games are for killing time with some healthy distraction therapy away from the real world. There's hundreds to choose from, but we think we've narrowed down our recommendations to our top 6. 1) Nemos War Play as Captain Nemo upon his electric submarine in the mid-1800s, exploring the world’s oceans and fighting imperialism! Based on the Novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Nemo’s war successfully captures feelings and themes of adventure as you voyage upon the Nautilus, exploring, fighting, usurping, and inciting revolutions across the globe but be careful as you grow bolder with each successful expedition, or insurrection, the powers that be will take notice and will seek to thwart your heroic endeavour by sending a their fleets to stop you. Whether your motive be exploration, science, anti-imperialism or even war, players will travel the seas completing different objectives, making new allies and even experiencing events at different times depending solely on the chosen motive. Other factors are also randomised between playthroughs, thus pairing that with the lack of a sole narrative, makes Nemo’s War one of the best thematic but also replayable solo games. 2) Pandemic Not exactly the ideal form of escapism given the current state of the world. If you don’t mind the theme, then you’ll find plenty to enjoy while playing Pandemic. A co-operative game for 1-4 players, you need to find the cure for multiple diseases spreading across the world.A clever card mechanic intensifies the action by creating outbreaks of disease in 48 cities across the world. In solo play you will need to control 4 randomly selected characters with their own unique set of skills to help find a cure. You can tailor the games difficulty to your experience level. This is achieved through adjusting the number of epidemic cards in the infection deck; you can make this a walk in the park or difficult enough to have you testing the aerodynamics of the board as you launch it across the room.This is a game that all of our team has played and enjoyed. With some brilliant expansions and the flexibility to play solo or with up to 4 players you’ll get sick of my puns before you get sick of this game. Check out Pandemic Here 3) Friday This is my favourite game for a quick solo game experience, it may not offer the depth of that other great Robinson Crusoe solo /cooperative experience but it still provides it’s own challenge. You play as Friday, trying to help the shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe to escape your island. A deck builder at it’s core, you will play cards against various hazards to defeat them and subsequently incorporate those defeated cards into your deck. Your starting hand includes many cards with negative values it becomes important to decide which hazards or fights are worth the risk; as Robinson ages though reshuffling the draw pile you will see more negative cards added to your deck.Another very clever game with a variable difficulty. I highly recommend Friday for those looking for a challenging game not a challenging setup. It’s a safe bet to keep you entertained while we are all feeling marooned in our homes. Check out Friday Here 4) Mage Knight Play as one of the legendary Mage Knights as you defend the realm from evil in a variety of scenarios. Mage Knight is a complex deck building adventure game, where you will build your small quaint deck of Deed Cards (actions & ability cards) into a full fledged compendium of almighty awesomeness. Throughout the game, you can strengthen your powers and actions by finding new followers, acquiring strange artifacts or recruiting other powerful Mage Knights to fight for you! Just promise them glory and danger, and they’ll be yours. Beginning with a tutorial mission, Mage Knight introduces the mechanics of this relatively complex game through a surprisingly uncomplicated tutorial mission. This is important to highlight as it teaches the mechanics of the game in a natural order without inundating players with information at unimportant times making a heavy but also accessible game for those looking to go into the heavier board games. Do yourself a favour and pick up this gem of an adventure game, build up your Deeds and protect the realm. Check out Mage Knight Here 5) Nusfjord Expand your small fishing company into one of the greatest fleets in Norway and dominate the competition in Nusfjord. In Nusfjord players will begin as a small but up and coming fishing company, desperate to control the fishing pools of Nusfjord. To do this players must clear the trees surrounding the fjords to make room for their buildings, your harbour must be expanded to fit more vessels and finally you must be successful enough in your fishing to pay for all this. But it may not be enough, if you are too eager to expand you may find yourself low in funds, unable to pay for your extravagance. BUT FEAR NOT, you can sell shares in your company, and quickly buy them back when you are able but FEAR AGAIN because if a competitor buys enough of your shares, and you owe the Nusfjord Elders you may not have a company left. In the solo mode, players will control 2 companies, trading shares amongst themselves in a campaign setting hoping to accumulate 100 victory points in different and increasingly difficult rounds. 6) Fallout See the sights, find some enemies, and be in awe of the ridiculous combination of retro-futurism and dieselpunk in FALLOUT: THE BOARD GAME! Fallout: The Board Game is based off the incredible video game series of the same name. Just like the video games, Fallout: The Board Game accomplishes the themes and fun of a single player experience (Let’s be honest Fallout 76’s multiplayer just didn’t work). Fans of the series will feel right at home in this toxic, nuclear nightmare as they explore the wasteland, reveal tiles, complete their objectives and use their V.A.T.S to shoot enemies with almost too much precision. For those new to the series, Fallout: The Board Game is a wonderful game if you’re just looking for a single player board game with exploration, and lots of enemies. In this game, these too mechanics go hand in hand, so as you explore, you will uncover new enemy spawns and if you explore too greedily you may find yourself outnumbered and overwhelmed. Check out Fallout Here
⏰𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟲 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀⏰
Everyone needs those small games for when you're looking for a game to get your mind started before a marathon game night, or maybe a game for a small breather in between heavy games, or even a game to introduce people into the hobby. Whatever the reason, this list of great filler games are perfect for those moments when you just need to relax with a small, uncomplicated, 20 minute game. 1) Dont Get Got A game of getting got, gaming guests and going too far with alliteration. Don’t Get Got may be one of the best filler games there are purely due to the fact that you are always playing. No, you don't understand, there is no escape. Once you start, you don’t stop, there's no getting off this train of social trickery and deviance. It is a wonderful game to play in the background of your other games, by itself, or really anytime you want to live in complete distrust of those around you. In Don’t Get Got, players are given 5 unique objectives, all of which are attempts to make your opponents do a certain action, speak a certain phrase or react to something you initiate. If you can successfully manipulate another player, you NAILED IT. Two more and you win. BUT if they get suspicious of your interactions they may ask “Is this part of the game?”, a question that will make your spine shiver and spontaneously develop scoliosis. When asked this dreaded, unforgiving, malevolent question, you must sigh, groan, cry, hang your head in shame as you answer a meek “...yes…” At that point you’ve failed it. You can no longer attempt to complete that objective, you can no longer attain that point and you can never return home. The utter shame in failing an objective especially when you’ve created a master plan of subtle nudges, and small insignificant hints that build to that moment of victory only to be dashed by that one horrible question is soul-crushing. BUT conversely asking that question and seeing the face of defeat, seeing their eyes gloss over with regret, it's one of the purest joys on this earth. Full of distrust and shame, Don’t Get Got is an evil and beautiful game. Check Out Dont Get Got Here! 2) Unstable Unicorns WANT UNICOrNS!? OF COURSE YOU DO?! EVERYONE DOES! WHAT KIND? FIRE ONE? STABBY ONE? THE GOOD OL’ BARFING RAINBOW ONE? DOESN’T MATTER WE HAVE IT ALL HERE AT UNSTABLE UNICORNS! WHERE PLAYERS MUST BRING 7 UNSTABLE UNICORNS INTO YOUR STABLE-I just now understood that joke, that's clever, stable the unstabled unicorns haha. Unstable Unicorns is an adorable but also secretly, an incredibly aggressive game. The game works as a simple pick-up and play where players will draw a card from the central deck and then play a card from their hand. Sounds easy enough? Draw unicorn cards and place them down right? WRONG! At any given moment another player can play a “NOPE” card which completely invalidates your turn, or maybe they may play an upgrade card to make all their turns immune to attack cards, or maybe they may play a downgrade card against you that magically turns all your unicorns into PANDAS, INVALIDATING THE LAST 20 TURNS! As turns pass, you can feel the game corrupting you, filling your soul with malice. Eventually you want to win out of spite for the other players, not for the game. So if you like hiding your rage behind undeniably cute and wacky unicorns, this coincidentally might be a game for you. It is rage inducing but annoyingly fun. Check Out Unstable Unicorns Here! 3) Dungeon Mayhem Like most wonderful, amazing, beautiful, and super intelligent people, I love Dungeons and Dragons but it’s a little cumbersome when you’re deep into the hobby. There’s battle maps, grid boards, books, shields, and dice. If only there was a way to hold it in my pocket, and were just cards, and didn’t revolve around a campaign, and was completely competitive, and wasn’t like Dungeons and Dragons at all and was more like a super simple filler card game with a very transparent D&D theme. But wait THERE IS! This terrible infomercial-ey setup is brought to you by DUNGEON MAYHEM! Dungeon mayhem is probably the filler-iest game there is in the known universe. It’s small, portable, and uncomplicated. It literally takes 2 poorly made sentences to explain the entire game. Draw a card, the play cards ranging from attack, defend, heal or cards that allow more cards to be played, then discard all played cards. Last player with health points remaining wins. That is all. There isn't much more to say. The fun is nice and polite, the game is so quick it's hard to be too heartbroken about being eliminated. There’s not much to say. Pick it up, it's pretty good. Check Out Dungeon Mayhem Here! 4) Welcome To... As a perfectly normal Gameology Collaborator, sequestered in my “definitely-not-a-supply-closet” office with a small mail slot where I slide these game posts out of in exchange for Catan pieces, I one day dream of being a small to mid-range real-estate developer. And as I do not currently have a means of “leaving”, I must live out my wildest fantasies of building reasonably priced, suspiciously similar, beige houses through the game “Welcome to…” In this not-stop-adventure of adding minor amenities to a small upper-middle class estate players will duke it out to see who can be the undefeated champion of property development. To play, players will reveal 3 cards from the decks, each portraying a particular house number with a corresponding amenity. Players will then choose one combination to add to their neighbourhood, each amenity added increases the point value of all of that particular luxury you've placed in your neighbourhood. Thus players will compete to see who’s luxuries will be worth the most points at the end of the game by either specialising to gain the maximum point value of a luxury, or by diversifying and getting small points over many different luxuries. It’s almost too exciting, that description alone is enough to cause a surge of adrenaline running through a small, 3 year old child. Will you add a pool to house number three and completely challenge your opponent in a one-on-one fight for dominance on the pool track? Maybe you’ll put trees on a street and increase the value of an entire street of houses! There is never enough action in “Welcome to..”!! Check Out Welcome To.. Here! 5) Anomia Do you have great hand-eye coordination? No? How about just eye coordination? If so, then boy is this game for you. Anomia is a game of shouting the most random trivia at all your other friends. The best description of this game is that it’s essentially the mental version of SNAP! You look for matching symbols and instead slapping down with force, you flex your cognitive capabilities but yelling a word related to the topic depicted on the matching cards faster than your opponent. Anomia truly shows who is a quick thinker, and who doesn’t know what an invertebrate is. There isn’t much to this wonderful filler game, players will draw and reveal a card in front of them an artful flourish if they're any fun and everyone will compare the depicted symbol on the revealed card. If it matches the symbol of their previously drawn card, both the active revealing player and the matching player create a clash of cognitive capabilities. Each must look at the topic written on their opponents card and say a related word to the topic: (Body Part = nose, Genre of Music = Rap, Type of Fish = Nemo). The first to say an acceptable word wins and scores a point. The game ends when the deck is exhausted. The game is fun but it does tend to reveal who are the quicker thinkers with an obvious advantage. BUT THATS OKAY, just ostracize them AND KEEP THE GOOD TIMES GOING. Check Out Anomia Here! 6) Lost Cities ADVENTURE TO UNCOVER UNKNOWN RICHES AND ANCIENT RELICS IN LOST CITIES! That’s actually a bit too dramatic, it’s a counting game with a bit of push-your-luck but it's simple and fun, making it a wonderful filler game for 2 players. In Lost Cities, players will assume the role of competing archaeologists looking to uncover digs across the world (simultaneously somehow). As omnipresent beings, players will slowly uncover relics of varying qualities, each with its own numerical value...that can only be scored in ascending order. Which means, thematically, if you find a full, intact fossil of an ancient paleolithic Dragon-bird early in the game and score it, you're now too snobby for any of those smaller fossils and unceremoniously throw them in the trash for your opponent to scavenge with glee. Mechanically, Lost Cities is a simple card drafting and card placement game similar to Arboretum. On a given turn, you are either taking cards from the deck or community supply piles, or playing cards into your dig sites. But here's the thing. Each dig site you open will cost you 20 points at the end of the game--unless you manage to play enough cards, meaning find enough fossils, in that dig site to turn a profit. If that wasn't enough, there are also wager cards scattered throughout the deck that multiply your dig site scores--whether they are positive or negative. Do you place that wager on your red dig site, only to find your opponent is holding all the red cards you need in their hand? Do you open all the dig sites or just stick to one? How do you balance risk and reward? Become a weirdly specific omnipresent being of archeology and find out! Check Out Lost Cities Here!
