Garrett's Games And Geekiness

Shelley and I get a chance to learn some Japanese painting techniques with the beautiful and fun Kanagawa, then try to make the most from our herds of cattle in Great Western Trail! Kanagawa by Bruno Cathala and Charles Chevallier from Iello and Great Western Trail by Alexander Pfister from Stronghold Games and eggertspiele Enjoy!

Shelley and I go heavier, then lighter this week with Lorenzo il Magnifico by flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, and Simone Luciani from Cranio and Kingdomino by Bruno Cathala from Blue Orange Enjoy!

Shelley and I head out to the Tetris-style gardens of Cottage Garden by Uwe Rosenberg, then head north to get a taste of Viking culture with Jorvik by Stefan Feld. Cottage Garden by Uwe Rosenberg from Edition Spielwiese and Jorvik by Stefan Feld from Stronghold Games  

Shelley and I spend some time playing three VERY different games at a Post-Essen Weekend. Flamme Rouge by Asger Harding Granerud from Lautapelit a quick and interesting card game Dodelido by Jacques Zeimet from Drei Magier Spiele a small-box card game that requires quick thinking and pattern recognition and Capital by Filip Milunski from Granna A Cities/7Wonders mash up about the re-building of Warsaw

Shelley and I have some fun with the brand new DICE VERSION of the fantastic La Granja - La Granja No Siesta!  Then, after a quick wander around the game room at our weekend Post-Essen festivities, we build a 3-D rendering of the Colosseum in Die Baumeister des Colosseum. La Granja No Siesta! by Andreas Odendahl from Stronghold Games and Die Baumeister des Colosseum by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede from Schmidt Spiele Other games mentioned as I wandered the room: Fabled Fruit Great Western Trail Dodelido Terraforming Mars Mi Tierra: New Era Power Grid Card Game Flamme Rouge Key to the City: London Cottage Garden Oracle of Delphi Chariot Race Capital

Shelley and I get a chance to review our first Essen 2016 release - Fabled Fruit from Friedemann Friese and Stronghold Games - then we have three 'At The Fair' recordings with Shelley and me, Scott 'Aldie' Alden of BGG, and Mark Johnson of Boardgames To Go! Fabled Fruit by Friedemann Friese from Stronghold Games Feast for Odin Skibe Schwupps and others!

Shelley and I take on two games that fell flat for both of us. Blood Rage by Eric Lang from Cool Mini or Not and My Fair Princess by Kuro from Manifest Destiny

Shelley and I get a chance to try out two possible entries in NEXT year's SdJ competition, and you'll be able to find them throughout Essen THIS WEEK! Costa Rica by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert from Mayfair/Lookout and Dream Islands by Lorenz Kutschke from Schmidt Spiele Enjoy!

Shelley and I get a chance to discuss one of the newer titles from Stronghold Games that will be available in Germany in less than 2 weeks, then we tackle the Essen Spiel 2016 Preview on BGG and I go through the ones I must track down! Review: City of Spies by Gil d'Orey and Antonio Sousa Lara from Stronghold Games The games discussed from the Preview: Amigo/Small Card Games/2-Player Games (under E20) Bohnanza Das Duel Freaky Naova Schwupps X Nimmt! Capital Lux - drafting/own tableau or common… Clown Standoff - trick taking with some push your luck Zany Penguins - cute cards/interesting tactics & drafting Legendary Inventors Noxford Grand Bazaar (Small card game that takes up to 7 players!) Fruit Spy (cute artwork/rethemed Knizia) Tallinn plays quickly, expansions available (Blindes Huhn & Visby last year) What’s Up - cute card game/video Hanamikoji (2-player, gorgeous cards!) Jolly & Roger (2-player) - comment on blog that it’s been tested with couples a lot. Rival Kings (2-player) Agamemnon (2-

Shelley and I check out two great games we had a fantastic time playing for the past couple of weeks: Scythe by Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games and The Pursuit of Happiness by David Chircop and Adrian Abela

Ted Alspach, Doug Richardson, Ric Bretschneider, Shelley, and a host of others join in on the mics for a conversation about the good, the bad, and possible future titles too!

Ted Alspach, Scott Caputo, Joe Huber, Matt Leacock, and Susan McKinley Ross join the gamers at the table in the conference room once again for Meeplefest Night 1, Part 2!

Shelley and I get Rome: Rise to Power with its trademarked 'Rise to Power' dice placement system, as well as the cute mice/cat/dog cheese-getting game that is Go Da Cheese. Rome: Rise to Power by Elad Goldsteen from Golden Egg Games and Go Da Cheese by Hisashi Hayashi from OKAZU Brand Enjoy!

Shelley and I finally get a chance to play the 3rd nominee for the 2016 Spiel des Jahres, then try out a Michael Schacht card game with cool mechanisms but bad graphic design. Imhotep by Phil Walker-Harding from Kosmos and Crimson Crush by Michael Schacht from White Goblin

Ted Alspach, Scott Caputo, Joe Huber, Matt Leacock, and Susan McKinley Ross join the gamers around the table for a discussion of the SdJ and KdJ winners, then we delve into where the sparks and ideas for designs come from. It's Meeplefest time once again!

Shelley and I spend time playing through the new version of Medici from Grail Games (which includes a great 2-player game), as well as two of the new Target-exclusive releases - Ticket to Ride: First Journey and Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City. Medici by Reiner Knizia and from Grail Games Ticket to Ride: First Journey by Alan Moon and from Days of Wonder and Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City by Masao Suganuma from IDW and Pandasaurus

Shelley and I tackle the BIG new game from Okazu (and forthcoming from TMG), then race through the woods while avoiding bears and hopefully heading in the right direction! Yokohama by Hisashi Hayashi from Okazu Brand and Tasty Minstrel Games and Bear Valley by Carl Chudyk from Stronghold Games

Shelley and I head back to the 2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner Istanbul to play its Mocha and Baksheesh expansion, then we try out the new and, yes innovative deck builder Mystic Vale and its 'card building' mechanism. Istanbul Mocha and Baksheesh by Rudiger Dorn from AEG and Pegasus and Mystic Vale by John D. Clair from AEG

Shelley and I finally got our hands on a pre-release copy of America and talk about it more extensively, then we try out another Deinko game with quasi-cooperation as thieves. America by Ted Alspach and Friedemann Friese from Bezier Games and Double Mission: Beyond the Object by Evan Song from Deinko Games

Shelley and I try out the new Star Wars version of Carcassonne, then add the expansion to The Golden Ages, called Cults and Culture. Carcassonne Star Wars by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede from Hans im Gluck The Golden Ages by Luigi Ferrini and  The Golden Ages: Cults and Culture Expansion by Luigi Ferrini, both from Stronghold Games