Just returned from North Carolina, visiting friends for the holiday. We played several enjoyable games.  One that I wanted to shout out was Beacon Patrol, with expansions.  It was a light cooperative game that was delightful after several hours of Frost Punk and Slay the Spire.  In Beacon Patrol, you are laying tiles in a singular orientation to traverse your boat onto the latest laid tile.  If you are not immediately next to the latest tile you place, you can use up to to propellers as movement points to get there.  As the map grows in multiple directions, you might find your boat too far to discover new tiles and you will need to forfeit them as part of the overall game timer.  Surround area features to score them such as bouys, windmills, landmarks, ect.  This is a small game that we enjoyed between heavy plays of other titles.

my codenames killer was So Clover

Love love love First Rat!!

Another game that we got to the table recently was Skyrise, published by Roxley. I understand that this is a reimplementation of Metropolys. I have no history with the previous title, so this was a totally new experience with this game. I happened to purchase a copy of the deluxe edition with the extra promo bits.  I admit that I like all of the extra flair of the building sculpts, floating island platforms, wooden markers and metal key/coin to the city.  However, with all of this bling in play, it appears that this edition is a statement of over production.  The game was simple in concept and we enjoyed our two plays of it.  It did look pleasing to gaze at the built citiscape after the game sessions were finished. This would have been just as fun with the standard edition.  If you like games with light auction, area control, and both public/public goals this might be a game for your collection.

It’s fun for sure.

I picked up Wavelength last weekend and I think it's flipped Codenames for me as the go-to party game

Agreed on both of those. Faraway does a nice amount with very little. But man, the thematic touches on the Let's Go To Japan cards are great.

I played two games this weekend that had a similar trip theme, one scored in reverse the other as you travel. Faraway was a journey in a strange land, seeking items for your trip homeward. Let’s Go to Japan was more planning the trip, then taking it with set collection and scoring. Both were fun, Faraway was quicker but more of a thought process, hoping you explored enough for your return journey. Let’s Go to Japan was pleasantly rewarding and has me thinking about our next trip.

Ha. Maybe indeed you do know me good sir.  Come on over and you can play it in person.

Also hey don’t I know you 🤣lol! I replied before I read the name.

How long is the play? It sounds interesting

Thanks for the suggestion! I enjoy tile placement and co-op, and love the art style reminiscent of the Saashi & Saashi games

One game I picked up on a whim is Beacon Patrol by Pandasaurus Games as I was looking for a nice tile placement game I could play solo or co-op. This game has a nice immersion of theme to the mechanics and while it looks light in whimsical it really pushes me to think about strategies of where to place island tiles or I'll lock myself out of a that valuable lighthouse I was trying to complete.   Normally I am not as big into beat your own score, but this one fits into a niche I have of games I want to pull out at 8:00 at night to decompress, with or without a specific type of beverage.   The expansion comes out this month which will add some additional ships for scoring options.  Great game for the price so check it out!

Thanks to BGA I’ve learned that Dog Park is incredibly boring but Dog Lover is a great little card game with a lot of options for strategies and points!

We played Wyrmspan last night at 4 players. Got a bit long at the end as what you can do on the explore action can become more involved over time. Still, we felt like it was a sort of a more advanced Wingspan. Not going to fix Wingspan for you if you don't enjoy the main loop, but a very cool game where you have to make your own engine.

I'll have to look into that! Thanks for the suggestion.

You should aspire to be on Dice Tower, there's another Yi over there, she does excellent reviews!

Played First Rat this past weekend and it was FANTASTIC! Can't wait to play it again!

My best advice is to try it with a whole group that’s never played. It’s definitely unforgiving with mistakes, and someone who’s played before with always have an unfair advantage. There’s nothing you can do about it. I think that’s the reason Tom hates it so much lol. He played with veterans.
Definitely worth trying!

I own Hollywood 1947. Love the theme but haven’t played it yet as I rarely play anything at more than 2 players

Not enough love for Facade Games especially Tortuga 1667 and Hollywood 1947. Great social deduction/party games.

My last few weeks of play: -Bacon: fun little hand-shedding game. Did the 3 player individual game. Really enjoyed it.

-Dice Hunters of Therion: fun dice chucker from Richard Garfield, only my first play. Liked it!

-7 Wonders Architects: really had great fun with this, love that this goes to 7

-Tiny Towns with Fortune, Architects, and Trees: really fun and tight game! Love the new cards and flexibility. Makes Tiny Towns nicer.

-Sea Salt and Paper: played one round, I liked it; the other two I played with seemed confused.

-Switchbacks: fun, quick, delightfully mean

-Nova Luna: revisited one that we’ve always enjoyed. Personally I like this same idea in Habitats.

-two solo plays of Trailblazers: lost both but had fun with the puzzle.

Grant, I bought some mountains 3D printed by a company. I bought my set from Board Game Bliss in Ontario where I live, but I’ve seen the same company selling the set on Etsy. I believe they also have ramps in a separate pack compatible with the expansions!

I’ve heard that’s a pretty divisive game, you either love it or hate it. Not played it myself

Wow that sounds awesome. Was that in the KS, STLs or something you made yourself?

Speaking of great without expansion content, I just got to play Food Chain Magnate again, recently. Everyone was thirsty this time around, following my radio campaign for Coca Cola.

I just played the base game yesterday too! Sooo much fun! Although I do have the 3D terrain too . . .

Yeah just the base as I got it at retail but I’ve backed the 2nd KS for the expansions :) which I’m looking forward to

Just base game both times? I think people overstate the expansions. There's plenty of fun to be had without worrying about extra stuff.

Played my first 2 games of Thunder Road Vendetta yesterday, soooo much fun

Don't be ridiculous. Who would want to listen to me?

Have you thought about recording them on video?

Oh yes! I finally get the opportunity to review games!

@channel Basically let us know what you want think about games you’ve been playing lately!