Garrett's Games And Geekiness

Shelley and I enjoy building our wineries with new possible visitors, then take the role of different countries as we gather goods, settle, and explore new parts of the world Viticulture: Visit from the Rhine Valley Expansion by Tido Lorenz and Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games and Race to the New Found Land by Martin Kallenborn and Jochen Scherer from Hans im Gluck

It's time for our annual discussion of our thoughts on the Nominees and Recommended titles for German Game of the Year!  The Spiel des Jahres (lighter, family games) and Kennerspiel des Jahres (still fairly light, but more involved games) are on the docket!   SdJ Nominees: Azul by Michael Kiesling from Next Move The Mind by Wolfgang Warsch from NSV Luxor by Rudiger Dorn from Queen Games KedJ Nominees: Ganz Schon Clever by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele Heaven and Ale by Michael Kiesling from eggertspiele Quacksalber von Quedlinburg by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele SdJ Recommended Games: 5-Minute Dungeon by Connor Reid from Kosmos Facecards by Leo Colovini from Ravensburger Majesty: For The Realm by Marc Andre from Hans im Gluck Memoarrr! by Carlo Bortolini from Pegasus/Stronghold Games Santorini by Gord! from Roxley Woodlands by Daniel Fehr from Ravensburger KedJ Recommended Games: Clank! by Paul Dennen from Renegade Game Studios Pioneers by Emanuele Ornella from Queen Games

Shelley and I try to sync our minds and then make potions with random ingredients in two of Wolfgang Warsch's latest games: The Mind from NSV and  Quacksalber von Quedlinburg from Schmidt Spiele

Shelley jumps out of her comfort zone to check out the fun little new memory game from Stronghold Games, then I can't roll to save my life in the new Schmidt Spiele dice drafting game. Memoarr! by Carlo Bortolini from Stronghold Games and Ganz Schön Clever by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele

Shelley and I head out west, hoping to avoid major difficulties in the dice drafting game Pioneer Days by Matthew Dunstan and Chris Marling from Tasty Minstrel and then get all abstract like Mondrian in De Stijl by Lucas Gerlach from Quick Simple Fun Games

A few weeks after Tony Boydell and I sat down over Skype, Shelley gets her chance to tell the world her favorites of 2017.  Here's the list: Honorable Mentions: Codenames Duet Palace of Mad King Ludwig Santa Maria Noria Pulsar 2849 Transatlantic Majesty of the Realm Concordia Expansions Top Games: Rattaneer Altiplano Terraforming Mars - Hellas & Elysium Ethnos Azul Riverboat Heaven and Ale Gentes Rajas of the Ganges

Shelley and I delve into two smaller-box card-based games from different areas of the world this week. Riga by Stefan Risthaus from Ostia Spiele finds the players gaining commodities in the Baltic and then building structures in other Baltic area cities. Rataneer by Hisashi Hayashi from Okayzu Brand has the players steering competing boats of rat pirates through various actions to gain money and assistance, then plunder the oceans and trade in stolen goods!

Shelley and I have a great time with Scythe and its expansions, then do some action selection as we attempt to gain commodities in Carthago. Scythe  Scythe: Invaders From Afar Scythe: The Wind Gambit* From Stonemaier Games and designed by Jamey Stegmaier and *Kai Starck Carthago: Merchants and Guilds by Bernd Eisenstein and Ralph Bienert

Tony Boydell's on board this week from across the pond for a discussion of some of 2017's best (and worst) games.  Here are some of the games we touch on Tony's Lists: Top 10 of 2017 Nusfjord Azul Calimala The Cousins War Mini Rails Gentes Fox in the Forest John Company Seasons (revisited) kingdomino Bottom feeders  Gier Fast Forward games   Doug's Lists: Top 11: Azul Altiplano Biosphere Codenames Duets Gentes Heaven & Ale Iquazu Majesty: For The Realm Pulsar 2849 Riverboat Santa Maria Honorable Mention for various reasons: Palace of Mad King Ludwig Rescue Polar Bears Cousins’ War Destination X Calimala Really Don’t Like: Agra Feuville Merlin Montana

Shelley and I finally get back to Nusfjord to do it proper justice, then head over to Dr. Finn and design Flower Shop windows.  We also get previously reviewed titles to the table in Rococo and Azul! Nusfjord by Uwe Rosenberg from Mayfair Games The Little Flower Shop by Steve Finn from Dr. Finn's Games as well as Rococo by Matthias Cramer and Louis & Stefan Malz from Eggertspiele and Azul by Michael Kiesling from Next Move/Plan B Games

Shelley and I meander around the country in frustration, then head into the forest where I enjoy taking tricks and Shelley continues to be frustrated. Keyper by Richard Breese from R&D Games and Fox in the Forest by Joshua Buergel from Renegade Games

Shelley and I enjoy a couple of fantasy-themed games this week, collecting sets of tribes to gain majorities in Ethnos, then developing resources through ring manipulation of actions in Noria! Ethnos by Paolo Mori from Cool Mini or Not and Noria by Sophia Wagner from Stronghold Games, Pegasus Spiele and Edition Spielwiese

Shelley and I look back to Mac Gerdts' older title Concordia, then take on his Essen 2017 release Transatlantic Concordia Gallia/Corsica by Mac Gerdts from PD Verlag and Transatlantic by Mac Gerdts from PD Verlag

Shelley and I move in circles around the Round Table, then head south for some fun with alpacas! Merlin by Stefan Feld and Michael Rieneck from Queen Games and  Altiplano by Reiner Stockhausen from dlp Games

Shelley and I check out the innovations in Friedemann Friese's other "Fast Forward" games, and I finally win Finished! Games on tap: Fast Forward Fortress Fast Forward Flee and Finished! all from Stronghold Games and designed by Friedemann Friese

Shelley and I had a fantastic time getting  Fast Forward FEAR by Friedemann Friese from Stronghold Games and Rajas of the Ganges by Inka and Markus Brand from R&R Games to the table

Shelley and I get two excellent Stronghold Games to the table! Pit Crew from Geoff Engelstein and Terraforming Mars, both the Hellas & Elysium board expansion and Venus Next expansion by Jacob Fryxelius

Shelley and I enjoy a co-op, then grit our teeth to get through a game so you won't have to! Rescue Polar Bears: Data & Temperature by Jog Kung and Huang Yi Ming from TWOPLUS Games and Feuville by Udo Peise from Huch!

Shelley and I take on one HUGE game, as well as one excellent game this week: Agra by Michael Keller from Quined Games and Riverboat by Michael Kiesling from Mayfair/Lookout

Shelley and I get all Tetris-y again with the second nature-themed tile-laying game from Uwe Rosenberg, then plan out our estates in preparation for the King's visit. Indian Summer by Uwe Rosenberg from Stronghold Games, Edition Spielwiese, and Pegasus and King's Will by Hans-Peter Stoll from ADC Blackfire and with development by Spielworxx