Garrett's Games And Geekiness

Shelley and I build our lands out and UP as we herd llamas and try to claim points in  Llamaland by Phil Walker-Harding from Lookout Spiele then we get abstract and push our luck, drawing cards and bidding in TEN by Molly Johnson, Shawn Stankewich and Robert Melvin from AEG

Shelley and I roll and draw our way through the four seasons using arrays in  Blätterrauschen by Paolo Mori from KOSMOS then we plan our actions by building in our cauldrons to develop energy, move crystals, enlist our witch clan, and gather potions, etc. in Witchstone by Dr. Reiner Knizia and Martino Chiacchiera from R&R Games and HUCH!

Shelley and I head below the depths to buy and conquer land in Aquatica by Ivan Tuzavsky from Cosmodrome Games and Arcane Wonders then return to the farm for a re-review of a game from 2012, working hard on rival farms to raise our crops and animals (sound familiar?) in Farmerama by Uwe Rosenberg from Ravensburger

Shelley and I check out the third game in the Clever series of roll & writes: Clever Cubed or Clever Hoch Drei by Wolfgang Warsch from Stronghold Games and Schmidt Spiele and then we try out a new draw & draw exploration game  Explorers by Phil Walker-Harding from Ravensburger

Shelley and I have fun making beautiful koi ponds in Kohaku by Danny Devine from 25th Century Games and then we ply our trade on the grand Mississippi in Riverboat by Michael Kiesling from Mayfair Games and Lookout Games

Shelley and I get a new title to the table that's set in post-Gold Rush San Francisco, Embarcadero by Adam Buckingham and Ed Marriott from Renegade Game Studios then get a classic out of the closet to make sure it remains as vital as it has been in the past Qwirkle by Susan McKinley Ross from Mindware and Schmidt Spiele  

Shelley and I spend this week going through the second half of my curated list of games arriving at Essen 2021 in less than 2 weeks. Here's a rundown of the games discussed (organized alphabetically by publisher): The Game Master King of the Valley Geek Attitude Games Magellan: Elcano Pessoa Giant Roc Origins: First Builders Tabannusi: Builders of Ur Grail Games Hibachi Granna Gutenberg GRRRE Games Nidavellir: Thingvellir Hall Games Bonfire: Trees & Creatures Helvetiq Save Patient Zero IGAMES Settlement Jolly Dutch Productions Polders: Flip & Write Kobold Spieleverlag Village Green Kolossal Games Almanac: The Crystal Peaks KOSMOS High Score Kingsbridge: Das Spiel La Boite de Jeu It's a Wonderful Kingdom Looping Games 1923 Cotton Club Journey to the Center of the Earth Ludonova Shinkansen: Zero Kei MEBO Games Lisbon Tram 28 Next Move Games Azul: Queen's Garden Oink Games Hey Yo Moon Adventure Plan B Games Equinox Portal Games Dune: House Secrets PSC Games Caes

This is Part 1 as Shelley and I go through BGG's Essen Preview after I spent some time curating the list. Here are this week's titles: The following are listed by Publisher, as that's the best way to find them if you are actually going to the fair. AEG Cascadia All or None Games Betwixt and Between AMIGO Tulpenfieber Aporta Games Bad Company Trails of Tucana: Ferry Expansion Arcane Wonders Furnace Picture Perfect BLAM! Caraventura: Oklahoma, Lhassa, & Vinland Blue Cocker Games Welcome to The Moon Blue Orange Games Neoville Board Game Circus Four Gardens Bombyx Garden Nation Nicodemus Bright Eye Games Termite Towers Waggle Dance BYR Games The Belgian Beers Race Capstone Games Glass Road Imperial Steam Catch Up Games Sobek: 2 Players Chilifox Games Riverside Cranio Creations Eriantys Golem Delicious Games Messina 1347 Demonic Games Goetia: Nine Kings of Solomon Devir Bitoku LUNA Capital Paris: Eiffel dlp Games Boonlake Dragon Dawn Productions Factory 42 dV Giochi W

Shelley and I head out on the hiking paths in TRAILS by Henry Audubon from Keymaster Games then head back to the 19th century and a rather dirty industry in Coal Baron: The Great Card Game by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer 

Shelley and I set out to explore parts of the world this week in Lost Explorers by Cédrick Chaboussit from Ludonaute and then focus on the African continent in Africana by Michael Schacht from ABACUSSPIELE and Z-Man Games

Shelley and I head to ancient Babylon to build the hanging gardens in 2007's Amyitis by Cyril Demaegd from Rio Grande and Ystari then we head north to the Pacific Northwest to build lands and populate them with animals in Cascadia by Randy Flynn from AEG and Flatout Games

Shelley and I go to taverns and draft the help of dwarves in  Nidavellir by Serge Laget from GRRE Games then get abstract with polyominoes with Project L by Michal Mikes, Jan Soukal, and Adam Spanel from Boardcubator

Shelley and I check out new iterations of some of our favorites this week, trying out the new version of Let's Make A Bus Route Let's Make A Bus Route: The Dice Game by Saashi and from Saashi and Saashi and then we were happy to receive a copy of the excellent re-issue of On The Underground On The Underground: London & Berlin by Sebastian Bleasdale from LudiCreations

Shelley and I check out the 'card-game' version of Terraforming Mars (one of our favorite heavier titles of the past few years): Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition by Sydney Engelstein, Jacob Fryxelius, and Nick Little from Stronghold Games and FryxGames then go back to one our first heavier titles when we were just getting into boardgames La Città by Gerd Fenchel from Rio Grande Games, KOSMOS, and ABACUSSPIELE

Shelley and I enjoy some fruity goodness this week, looking at Juicy Fruits by Christian Stöhr from Deep Print Games and Capstone Games' new family line and then check out  Finca by Wolfgang Sentker and Ralf zur Linde by Rio Grande Games

Shelley and I were fortunate enough to travel to Portugal this summer and returned with an awesome card game that's well worth hunting for Café by Rôla and Costa from Pythagoras Games and then we pull a favorite HEAVY game off the shelf designed by two Portuguese friends whom we had the great fortune of spending time with Nippon by Nuno Bizarro Sentieiro and Paulo Soledade from What's Your Game along with its small expansion Nippon: Keiretsu

Shelley and I get a chance to play a cool new forthcoming game from Mebo Games Lisbon Tram 28 by Pedro Santos Silva then we pull a classic of camel caravan building to which we have referred often Through The Desert by Reiner Knizia from Kosmos, Fantasy Flight Games, and Z-Man Games

Shelley and I compete to build our zoos the fastest in New York Zoo by Uwe Rosenberg from Feuerland Spiele and Capstone Games then we head Down Under to check out new birds and interesting modifications to rules in Wingspan: Oceania Expansion by Elizabeth Hargrave from Stonemaier Games

Shelley and I check out a "new to us" game from BGG's store: Legacy - The Testament of Duke de Crecy by Michiel Justin Elliott Hendriks from Portal Games, IELLO and Pegasus Spiele then we do a re-review of another Feldian classic In The Year of the Dragon by Stefan Feld from alea, Ravensburger, and Rio Grande Games

Shelley and I head to Mars to mine for riches in  Mining Colony by Steve Finn from Dr. Finn's Games and then head to Medieval France to make our fortunes and deal with rats as we re-review  Notre Dame by Stefan Feld from alea, Ravensburger and Rio Grande