Bah humbug.

Unfortunately I must report that I am a Christmas Grinch. However, the prospect of getting more board games does make me quite jolly. 2018 has been a prosperous year for my collection with the additions of Azul, Sagrada, Fog of love, and Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr. In addition to its aesthetic beauty, Azul has an incredible amount of strategic depth for different playstyles whilst still remaining accessible. Fog of Love plays with objectives in such an important way that it advances our understanding of what board games can do and what topics they can tackle. And, of course, Holding On is perhaps my board game of the year for the tough subject matter and emotional way it deals with it. (Sagrada has all the gorgeous colours so I had to have it)

If I was forced to partake in Christmas celebrations I suppose I wouldn’t mind at all if I got games that stretch the grand strategy element of my collection. As a fan of endlessly replayable ancient board games like Go and Hnefatafl, I would very much like a strategic December.

War of the Ring

There’s a review copy sitting in the office, so when Ben comes over we’ll be throwing down our greatest Lord of the Rings memes and jumping into that sweet sweet asymmetric play on Twitch. The second edition of War of the Ring came out in 2012 but I’ve never been able to justify getting it. But there’s something so deviously alluring about a rulebook jam packed with asymmetric objectives and opposing affordances. Now if you’re listening Ares Games, I would sell my firstborn if you made an asymmetric game on the first age of middle earth in Beleriand where the forces of Morgoth spill forth from Angband!

Brass Lancashire/Birmingham

I’m not too picky about which one but I am keen to play the original Brass (Lancashire is a shiny new edition after they brought out the sequel Brass: Birmingham). The original Brass was designed by Martin Wallace, with Brass: Birmingham being made in collaboration with Gavin Brown and Matt Tolman. At an interview at Essen this year, I found out that the design of Birmingham fixed some meta issues with the original, so I’m very keen to get my designer hands on it.

Rising Sun

I’m missing a grand strategy game. Something like Risk but without the decade of memories dredging up my suffering of friends ruining my well laid plans. I need a new game to start making those memories with. It’s so fascinatingly balanced. I want to discover and develop those personal metas with a close group of friends. Is there an ‘Australia’ equivalent in 16th century Japan? Most likely not, but Rising Sun holds that promise for me: of a tea ceremony often featuring the delightful screams of broken friendships over the Christmas Holidays.

Bah humbug everybody!