1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,440 Welcome to Pick Up and Deliver, the podcast where I pick up my audio recorder as I step out 2 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,240 the door and deliver an episode to you while I walk around. 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,440 I'm Brendan Riley. 4 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:22,680 Well, good morning listeners. 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,240 It's a lovely, if little noisy day here in suburban Chicago. 6 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:30,720 I'm happy to be talking to you about all things board games. 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:31,920 The sun is out. 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,160 Some people are watering their lawns if you can believe watering your lawn. 9 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:36,160 What are you doing? 10 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:37,160 Well, that's fine. 11 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:38,960 People can water their lawns, I suppose. 12 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,240 Not really my bag, but that's okay. 13 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:46,720 It is May 1st, and that means it's time for us to review how we did in April and talk 14 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:48,440 about what's going on. 15 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,200 That's right, it's time for Top of the Stack! 16 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,960 Top of the Stack is a monthly segment, in which I talk about what I played in the last month 17 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,360 and plan some plays for the next month. 18 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:57,360 Let's jump right into it. 19 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:02,200 So to start off, I like to start with a few stats, let you know how my game 20 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:03,520 playing went in April. 21 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:11,440 I played 83 plays of 52 different games, making my year total 304 plays of 124 games. 22 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:12,440 Pretty good. 23 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,600 It means I'm on pace for 1200 plays this year, I think. 24 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:17,600 Is that right? 25 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,240 I've done four months and 300 plays. 26 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,240 So I guess, well, 900. 27 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:24,240 I'm on track for 900. 28 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:29,680 I usually hit 1000, so 900 is a little behind pace, but April was very busy. 29 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,400 I suspect May will be very busy as well. 30 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,320 We'll probably see a pickup in gameplay in the summer. 31 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:38,440 But for now, 83 plays of 52 different games. 32 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,960 My shelf of opportunity saw a big swell. 33 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:46,520 I'm always trying to reduce it, trying to bring it down, but I had a jackpot at Goodwill, 34 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:51,080 where I picked up like, something like, 11 games for $31. 35 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:55,160 Some of them I got as games for my board game club at my school. 36 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,400 Some of them I got for other things, but for the most part, the idea is to get as much as 37 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,880 I can when I find new games for cheap, especially if they look kind of cool. 38 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,120 I'm going to try them. 39 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,600 But that means that my collection size boosted. 40 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,840 At a time when I normally am, or my shelf of opportunity boosted at a time when I'm normally 41 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,760 trying to reduce it, but that's why we saw the increase. 42 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:21,400 We also saw the collection size boost up from 579 to 588 games. 43 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,720 That includes the games that I got at Goodwill, which went into my collection. 44 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,720 But also then I picked up two more games last night, April 30th. 45 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:35,480 The [toggle Gaming] club had a used game sale, and I like to support my fellow used game merchants. 46 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,320 So I bought a couple things. 47 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:38,720 And thus we saw the boost. 48 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,240 My most played game in real life last year, or last month, was Frosthaven. 49 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:48,000 I played three games of it in real life, and my most played game online was Daybreak with 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,000 five plays. 51 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,840 I feel like I'm getting the hang of that game now, although I'm still pretty bad at it. 52 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,480 It feels like the people I've been playing with are much better at it than I am. 53 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,680 The penalties in particular, I need to spend a little time with the rulebook to really understand 54 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:02,680 how they work. 55 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,520 They just kind of happen. 56 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,080 And I would probably be better at the game if I understood it better. 57 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,760 The biggest part of my Top of the Stack each month is deciding on which games I'm going 58 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:15,160 to try to play for the next month. 59 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,560 I always pick out four games, and the goal is to play three of them in the month. 60 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:24,040 Generally not all of them are brand new, but they're either new or I haven't played 61 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:25,600 them in a long time. 62 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:31,080 This month, the four that I picked were Porta Nigra, Raised the Titanic!, Hunted Wood Ridge 63 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,080 and Alien Artifacts. 64 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,760 And I'm sad to say, I only got one of those played. 65 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:39,920 We played Alien Artifacts, and it was a little longer than I'd like, but actually pretty fun. 66 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:40,920 I really like it. 67 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:46,680 I think it probably has a lower popularity because the rulebook isn't great, and it's a little 68 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,960 more complicated than it needs to be. 69 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,080 But the game itself is pretty fun. 70 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,880 I'll talk about that in a future board game espresso. 71 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,640 But I liked it a lot, staying in the collection for a while at least. 72 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,400 I read the rules for Porta Nigra, got ready to play, and then didn't play it. 73 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,680 I was a bummer, but I think there's a lot of potential there. 74 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,160 So I'm looking forward to trying that maybe next week at Game Club. 75 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,400 Raise the Titanic!, we just didn't get around to it. 76 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,000 And Hunted Wood Ridge, I don't know, I haven't made time for solo gaming. 77 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:14,240 It's been pretty busy. 78 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,040 This next month, I'm going to switch back to another game I've been trying to play forever. 79 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:19,720 We'll see if I do better on that. 80 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,600 Next up is First Plays. 81 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,960 Each month I like to talk about games that I played for the first time in a given month. 82 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,920 I had six new games that I tried this month that I hadn't played before. 83 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:37,200 They are Habitat, Ted Lasso the Party game, Alien Artifacts, Really Loud Librarians. 84 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,120 That's Not a Hat, and Wild Serengeti. 85 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:46,080 All of these were pretty fun. 86 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,640 I really like Wild Serengeti in particular and That's Not a Hat; and Alien Artifacts is 87 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:52,640 pretty good. 88 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,640 I'll talk about all of these in upcoming board game espresso episodes. 89 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:03,000 Now, six new games is a relatively minor amount for the number of games I normally play in 90 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:04,800 a month. 91 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,760 But again, it was a busy month. 92 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,680 So next up, we've got Expansion Plays. 93 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,520 We have two expansion plays that I got played this month. 94 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,520 You remember this is a new category I'm trying, which is where I'm trying out different 95 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,320 expansions, trying to get those off the shelf. 96 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:26,600 And the two that I tried were more monikers and expansion for monikers. 97 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,760 And fantasy Realms, cursed Horde. 98 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:35,880 I thought I was also getting a new expansion played by playing the life expansion, the 99 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,680 great Facades - Life in Sagrada, but turns out I had played that a while ago, so it's not a new 100 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:41,680 expansion. 101 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,920 Oops, or not a new expansion anyway. 102 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,360 Oops, we did get three games out of the dust. 103 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:52,840 This was dude, and I guess technically more dude, but I consider more dude an expansion 104 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:56,680 for dude, not a game in itself, even though they're sold in separate boxes. 105 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,680 I keep them in one box myself, so that's how I see it. 106 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:03,000 So I got dude played. 107 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,120 It'd been three years, five months, or 25 days since I played that. 108 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,360 Call of the Wild, two years, one month, and three days. 109 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,240 And Strike, three years, five months, 26 games. 110 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,720 Just six games dusted off so far this year. 111 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:21,240 So I need to up my revisiting game if I want to do better on those numbers. 112 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,080 My 10 for 10, the progress is going pretty well. 113 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,480 Legacy and campaign games, we've already locked down. 114 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,520 I did get a number of nature and animal games played this month. 115 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,320 I got Habitats, Trails of Tucana, and Wild Serengeti, which puts me up to five, that's halfway 116 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:37,480 to the goal. 117 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,320 We did play Frosthaven once for three hours. 118 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:45,400 The other two plays were not three hours this month or the other place, so we're on pace 119 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:50,600 because that's up to eight games that have been taking more than three hours to play. 120 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,680 No cute animal games this month. 121 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:58,480 We played an unlock game, W-A-F-Fs Odyssey, Wafs Odyssey, which gets us two, so we're a little 122 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,400 behind on Escape Room games, but we'll get there. 123 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,480 One novelty game, that's Ted Lasso, the party game. 124 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:10,040 Four expanded game, we got one expanded game, I said. 125 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,600 Although that's obviously wrong because we also played Fantasy Realms and Monikers. 126 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,000 So I guess I got three expanded games there. 127 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,560 I'm going to go back and fix that, which means we're up to seven expanded games. 128 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:21,560 Nice. 129 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,120 Oh no, no, I have Sagrada and Fantasy Realms there. 130 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:31,760 Maybe I didn't consider Monikers interesting enough to be expanded in the context of the 131 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:34,040 board. 132 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:40,600 I played one game starting with every letter from A to J. We're up to 8 games from K to 133 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:45,240 T, and we've only played 2 games from U to Z, and then starting with numbers. 134 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,440 So making good progress on my 10 for 10. 135 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:49,440 This one's really enjoyable. 136 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,320 It's fun to make progress, it's fun to see where we have to go. 137 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:54,920 It's fun to start planning a little bit. 138 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,840 I should, for next month, I should do a survey of how many plays we have left to do and 139 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:03,280 kind of make a plan to make sure we're going to hit our target. 140 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,600 So yeah, that works really well. 141 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,560 I did no painting this month for like the, I don't know if I've done any painting this 142 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:10,560 year. 143 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,200 It's been really hard to find time to do it, and when I do have time to myself, I've 144 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:16,480 just been doing other things. 145 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:21,520 So painting has been slow, but I really do want to get back to it, and my family was given 146 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,320 me grief about the fact that I still have Gloomhaven or Frosthaven characters that haven't 147 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:26,320 been painted. 148 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,520 "So get on that, Brendan," they say. 149 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:33,840 So my shelf of opportunity, I've checked off a number of games this month, one, two, three, 150 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,480 four, five, so that's good, but I added more than I checked off. 151 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:43,760 I added one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12. 152 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,600 I added 12, and I only checked off five. 153 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:52,880 So falling behind, 68, unplayed as of the last update. 154 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,600 I haven't really talked about my H index much for this year. 155 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:01,720 The H index is of course the number of games that you've played that many times. 156 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,960 So like if you've played one game one time, you have an H index of one. 157 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:10,000 If you have two different games that you've played two times each, that's an index of two, 158 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:11,160 and so on. 159 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,080 My current H index for this year is eight. 160 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,840 I have many games that I've played. 161 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:19,000 Why is it only eight? 162 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,720 Oh, I have eight games that I've played at least eight times. 163 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:23,720 In fact, I've played them all nine times. 164 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:29,360 The ninth game I've only played eight times, so that's where I'm stuck on that list. 165 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,320 But my games are daybreak with 19 plays. 166 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,080 Oh, and I see... shoot. 167 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,560 I log "unpublished prototype" when my design partner and I play a game that we haven't 168 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:40,280 published yet. 169 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:50,480 I log that as unpublished prototype and then the board variant area on the board variant 170 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,960 area on board on the board game stats. 171 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:59,320 I will mark that as which variant we're playing in other words, which game we're testing. 172 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:03,560 That's part of how I keep track of scores, but also who tested our game so that we're going 173 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:06,520 to get to the point where we're putting people in the rulebook. 174 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,600 We've got the names of our testers. 175 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,800 So I guess my H Index still is eight. 176 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:17,120 If you take out unpublished prototype, then that means Daybreak with 19 plays, That Time 177 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,400 You Killed me with 16 plays, almost entirely with Gabriel Edge. 178 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:21,800 Hey, Gabriel, nice job. 179 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,360 We're having fun with that. 180 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,720 We may take a break a little bit and play Cairn for a while. 181 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,840 That's another game that's similar in nature and I haven't played that one as much and 182 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:32,960 we don't want to burn ourselves out. 183 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,640 I think Gaia Project. 184 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:37,640 I'm at 13 plays of session. 185 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:38,640 I'm at 11. 186 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:39,640 Frosthaven. 187 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:40,640 I'm at 10. 188 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:41,640 Res Arccana 189 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:42,640 I'm at 9. 190 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:43,640 Mottainai. 191 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:44,640 I'm at 9. 192 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:45,640 And Through the Ages, I'm at 8. 193 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:47,640 So that's my H Index at 8. 194 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:52,960 I'll set up a bunch of plays of a couple other games that are quickly climbing the ranks. 195 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,360 I'm having a lot of fun on board game arena lately. 196 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,520 So if you aren't on there, you should definitely head over. 197 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:03,840 I've got a bunch of plays of Gaia Project under my belt, obviously, as I said. 198 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:08,000 That one's really interesting because for a long time, I really liked Terra Mystica better. 199 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,640 I think I've probably been swayed that Gaia Project is the better game, but I have never 200 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:14,160 played it on the table. 201 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:19,200 So it's in this weird space where I've played a lot, but I've also never played it, sort 202 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:20,200 of. 203 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,240 And I'm not sure I would have been able to grasp what's going on in Gaia Project without 204 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:25,720 having played Terra Mystica first. 205 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,840 And even so, I still feel like I've got a lot to learn. 206 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,600 I don't really understand some of the systems. 207 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,240 And then again, I don't think I was ever all that good at Terra Mystica either. 208 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:40,720 Although I did come to grasp how the cult tracks worked in that game. 209 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:45,480 And I think Gaia Project, the technology, they run just a different way. 210 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,520 And it makes it harder to... 211 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,520 There's more choices to make, so it takes a bit more struggle. 212 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:53,520 That said, I'm having a good time with that. 213 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,600 I've been playing that regularly with Eric Gee and Chris Henjy. 214 00:11:58,600 --> 00:11:59,600 Hey, Chris. 215 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,040 Those are my two Gaia Project pals. 216 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,920 I continue playing through the ages, mostly with Chris. 217 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,040 I've not played it with Ray very much. 218 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:12,600 Mostly with Ray, I've switched into playing games with Ray and Rich. 219 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:17,320 And I think a guy named Kyle Matt, his name is Matt. 220 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,520 So we're playing mostly four player games now with that group, which has been fun. 221 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:25,520 I do sort of miss the two player games with Ray, but I guess I could always start one if 222 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,160 I missed it that badly. 223 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:32,960 One other category in my board game plays that I include on my page, but haven't really 224 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:38,720 talked about much on here, are what I'm calling notable plays. 225 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:46,000 These are plays of games that just are interesting, because I haven't played them a lot. 226 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,640 One game that's become a recurring pleasure for the whole family. 227 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,880 Everybody likes it, and we often are able to play it with one of our grandmas is Illiterati. 228 00:12:54,880 --> 00:13:01,560 Illiterati is a word creation, a real-time word creation game where each player gets a stack 229 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,040 of letters. 230 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:08,880 And then we flip a timer and you have, I think, two minutes or three minutes to, for everybody 231 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:13,680 to use all the letters they have, makes with all the letters everybody else has, to make 232 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:14,680 words. 233 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:17,520 And your first priority is every round to make complete words. 234 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:22,160 The thing is, if you just make complete words, all you're doing is staving off the inevitable. 235 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,920 Instead, what you have to start doing is you start, you have these cards that give you challenges. 236 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,800 So instead of just three complete words, or instead of just use all the letters to make 237 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:36,360 words, you might have a thing that says, "Use the letters to make names of fast food restaurants, 238 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,800 and you have to have three different fast food restaurants." 239 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,280 And so if you complete your challenge, then you move on to the next challenge, but you 240 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,080 also still have to make letters with everybody else to make sure all the letters get used. 241 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:47,960 So now you have these competing goals. 242 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,800 On top of that, each of the letters has one of five colors on it. 243 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,920 There's a neutral color that doesn't count as a color at all, black. 244 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:58,400 But then there's teal, red, purple, and orange. 245 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,760 And they have a little symbol that goes with them, so it's colorblind friendly. 246 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,920 But you have to use on a lot of the challenges, you also have to have a certain number of 247 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,040 cards, tiles with those symbols. 248 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:09,360 And so you're also distracted by that. 249 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,760 And the big thing is, defeating the challenges distracts you, and then sometimes you don't 250 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,120 get all the words made by the time the timer runs out. 251 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,280 And if you don't have all the words made, then you take these penalties. 252 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,160 And the penalties just get brutal. 253 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,120 And when you're playing normal, you can take three rounds where you get penalties. 254 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,720 If you're playing on hard, you only get two rounds. 255 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,840 Two other games that I'd like to offer as notable plays. 256 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,560 Praga Kaput Regney has now become available on board game arena. 257 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:36,800 And the play of it's very smooth. 258 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:37,800 I really like it. 259 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:42,880 I'm a little sad to move away from Yukata for that game, but the interface is nicer on board 260 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:43,880 game arena. 261 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,120 And I just like the overall play better there. 262 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,920 So we've been playing that a couple times. 263 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,200 It's making me realize how much I like that game again. 264 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:52,440 It's bringing me back to it. 265 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:54,640 I need to get it on the table again. 266 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,760 And then I've really been enjoying getting to know Spirit Island better. 267 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,960 I have a copy I borrowed and my son and I have been playing it once a week or so. 268 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:09,320 And it's really great to get to feel, get to learn the system better, to start anticipating 269 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:14,680 what the enemies do, to work together to block what they're doing or manipulate the 270 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,000 boards so that they don't overwhelm us too quick. 271 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,000 We've got like a 50% win ratio. 272 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,000 Sometimes we lose. 273 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,480 And we're trying harder games as we go along and try to get a different spirit. 274 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,120 It's been really fun. 275 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,600 And I can see this being a game that will play a lot as time goes by. 276 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,640 That leaves me to my next month's plan. 277 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,960 Next month I will be playing some new games. 278 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:46,120 In particular, I'll be looking at Ryu is on my top of my stack. 279 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,680 We've got the Colombo Detective game. 280 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,440 And I'm returning to Hadrian's Wall. 281 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:58,280 Hadrian's Wall is of course a solo game that was on my to play list several times last 282 00:15:58,280 --> 00:15:59,760 year and I never got played. 283 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:05,440 I did finally play it one time or two times on board game arena enough that I kind of 284 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,280 marked it played. 285 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:12,280 I still don't feel like I really got a good grasp of it so I want to give it another go on 286 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:13,440 paper. 287 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,440 And I haven't I still haven't removed it from myself of opportunity yet because I feel 288 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:20,440 like I have to play the game on paper in order to remove it. 289 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,360 I haven't done that yet. 290 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,080 And then finally I put Porta Nigra on there again. 291 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,320 I know it's a new one and just repeating it another month isn't super exciting from 292 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,200 the listener perspective but I did put a bunch of work into learning it and I'm ready 293 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,400 to play it so I really want to get it to the table. 294 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:39,560 I think I'm going to try it post about it and bring it next week and hopefully some 295 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:40,560 people will join me. 296 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:41,560 I'll talk them. 297 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,280 Well that's about it for me. 298 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,800 I hope that you'll head over to board game geek guild 3269 and share your games that 299 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:53,280 you've been playing this month so we can know a little bit more about what games excited 300 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,120 you in April and what games you're playing to play in May. 301 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,280 If you want to send me a direct message, wombat929 on board game geek it's probably the easiest 302 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:02,280 way. 303 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,280 I also have an email address at brendan@rattleboxgames.com. 304 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,160 Just for joining me on my walk today I hope your next walk is as pleasant as mine was. 305 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:33,400 Bye bye. 306 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:43,400 [MUSIC]