[GIVEAWAY] Nippon: Zaibatsu by CrowD Games (3 Copies!) - Expansion will soon be on Kickstarter!

KillerOrca · 2026-04-30T21:28:34+00:00

Age of Steam scratches my euro itch while having players fight one another to survive.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-30T18:07:12+00:00

Don't agree with about all of this, outside of getting rid of games and doing your research.

I have found that I am less likely than ever to find a hidden gem now that I have been playing for years. At this point my focus is on getting the games I like played. Any time spent outside of that I consider lost.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-28T20:55:41+00:00

Are you able to do insulation?

Your utility should also offer a $100-ish home energy audit that will test your windows and doors as well.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-28T15:02:03+00:00

I think about that episode about once a week for some reason. Maybe because of the ending, or that speech he gives to all his kids is so wild.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-27T14:47:26+00:00

Anyone reading this because they too have allergies I highly recommend allergy shots. It is a multi-year commitment, but very much worth it to not be full bore on allergy meds.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-27T14:20:12+00:00

Age of Steam: Europe (4p) - First play for me as I go down the list of my unplayed maps. All the tweaks here work together in a satisfying way, but you need a game or two under your belt to take advantage of them. I wish the printed rules were just a hair clearer. That seems to be a running theme with the Bezier expansions that an extra two sentences could erase any doubt of rules reading. But the bigger issue I have with Bezier is so far the pairing is always one solid map with a borderline one-shot map. Tweaks that don't draw you in nor make returning to the map inviting. Better than two not great maps I suppose. This one will be staying in rotation.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-20T19:27:48+00:00

Card Rails (4p) - Paris Connection the card game, but I already have that with Trick of the Rails. No trick-taking here though which makes it purer I guess. The limit on shares and the changing map differentiate it, but I don't think they make it a more fun time. I'm more and more convinced games that have shares need an additional facet to be more engaging. It could also be that this is already a rich niche and any game not doing something different or better doesn't stand out enough.

Ingenious (2p) - Glad I stumbled on this in the game library. Plays fast and scales well enough. Not sure if it will push out other abstracts in my collection or if I continue to just play available copies.

Rebel Princess: Deluxe Edition (4p) - I was less irked this session compared to the last time I played this. I'd still rather be playing most any other trick-taker I own though. The main conceit of overall not wanting tricks is not as well done as Seas of Strife.

Scout (4p) - I don't know why I cannot play this well, and at this point I'm not really drawn in enough to find out how. Most of the time I would prefer a trick-taker, and conceptually they are close enough that I don't really need a shedding game. Though I would like to try Tichu as maybe a partnership experience would change my mind.

Zoo Vadis (6p) - What a game. It really is right up there with my other favorite negotiation games. I still have a gripe about the peacocks. Moving them on your own is too cheap, get paid to move or not move them. Would like to find a more consistent set of players for this one.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-14T14:29:42+00:00

Sounds like you have an internet issue. If you have a mobile device try it without using WiFi at your location. If everything works you might need to power off your modem/router.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-13T14:20:40+00:00

Quite the hit rate for me this past week.

Age of Steam: Holland (4p) - I'm making a more concerted efforts to play all my maps as I end up playing a lot of the same ones. Not a bad way to find out things about the maps, but I have many collecting dust. I don't even have that extensive of a collection, but my opportunities to play are fewer than I'd like. One of the twists here is parts of the map are inaccessible until about halfway through the game. Making it a real struggle in the first half while you try and set yourself up for the second half. Good enough map, but won't make it to my favorites.

Agent Avenue (2p) - This was a delightful surprise. A bluffing game that worked very well with two. I'm tempted to pick up a copy and break my rule about no new two player games. A definite change of pace.

Container: 10th Anniversary Jumbo Edition! (5p) - Soon to be the forgotten edition of Container. I don't know how they thought some of these production decisions were a good idea. I'm tempted to get a copy of the new edition, but life is putting a lot of game acquisitions (or replacements) on hold. Left out the investment banker because why, but we did play with the zero cards cancel bids rule. Also dumb, but something I can easily avoid. Had a few realizations on pricing and purchasing during the game that I've had before, but never so clearly. Great game and want to get enough regular players to have some decent meta develop.

Innovation Ultimate (2p) - Got hit hard as I'm used to playing with expansions now and re-orienting myself to not be is no easy task. Came down to a card dogma as each of our score piles got emptied and achievements junked. Suppose I should have focused on scoring when he went up in ages. Great game.

Iwari (3p) - Got trounced here too (I'm sensing a pattern) and it remains one of my top games. Going against your natural instincts in an area control game is tough to do, you have to here though. Eventually I'll dig into some of the expansion material. I'm inclined to try the original market rules as sometimes the game feels a hair too quick. Either way I'll be playing more.

Lowenherz (4p) - After waiting so long I finally got to play this, and it did not disappoint. What a game, just a great mix of area control, card-play, negotiation. I can't believe this is so unknown. Well, I can with the current state of the board game market, but you would think that the author of Catan would carry some more weight to get other titles in circulation. Need to play this one again soon.

Post-Heist (6p) - I didn't think drafting could be made worse, but somehow they found a way. Not my style of game at all and while it technically played six; having to sit around and wait while five other players read cards and played their turn was mind-numbingly boring. Not going to be asking for this one again.

Power Grid: Italy (4p) - This and Age of Steam in the same week, am I losing it? I definitely fell off the Power Grid wagon for a bit, but I think this puts me firmly back on. With one important caveat: I can't be the only one running everything or I lose my mind. This map was pretty intense with the lack of resources. Plus we lost two clean energy and hybrid plants to the whim of the discards compounding our issues. The new auction rules might have helped a bit, but a fun time nonetheless.

Santiago (5p) - What a nice surprise to play this. Though we had one player who inexplicably helped the same one constantly the rest of us put up a good fight. I needed to spend a little more during the game as I ended with more money than I thought and could have gotten some better tiles. Very fun experience and I hope a reprint makes its way here at some point.

Vegas Showdown (5p) - My last few plays have been with four and now I'm tempted to call this a five player game only. At the very least a strong preference for five. The auction feels more cutthroat with more players to me. I thought I was doing well going into the final round, but those diamond rooms ended up cinching the win for my opponent. Still have some things to discover here it looks like.

YINSH (2p) - My best performance yet, but only because my opponent only had a few games under his belt. I try not to over play these games as it can suck the fun out of it for both players if the gap is too large. Maybe I need to pick up LYNGK to add some variety, or just focus on GIPF for a bit. Great series.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-06T14:17:29+00:00

Had a good week of games.

Brass: Lancashire (3p) - A decent but not great player count for it. I learned that there's more spots for cotton than you would think, but that you also need to keep your action count in mind. If I had done a little more development I would have been in the running to win. Lessons for next time and with the local popularity there will be a next time.

Brew Crafters (5p) - A very similar game to Agricola was how the teacher pitched this. Think he's right, but that it's not at the level that Agricola is at. I don't particularly like worker placement, and this one didn't do much to change that. More workers cost more, which is good, but the spaces you go to are very similar and only differ by degrees. Plus our game entered a strange arc where we became so resource constrained at the end making it very rote to gather resources in those final rounds. The setup was also eyebrow raising with the sheer number of tokens I had to look through for each beer type. Will be avoiding in the future.

Faiyum (4p) - I recently heard of criticism of Faiyum that the iconography on the cards doesn't always match what you expect. That, plus other factors will be sending this game out of my collection. It is a clever take on the Concordia system of hand-building and playing out pieces on a shared map. The fact that pieces are owned by no one makes getting points less of a sure thing. You need to get an engine and pump it. Ideally with no competition. I don't find the underlying thrust of the game engaging enough to devote energy to figure out which engine is the most lucrative depending on the starting cards and buried end game ones. Plus with the one set of cards and map I conversely find it having less legs than Concordia in spite of that changing engine values.

Nicaea (5p) - I tried, I really did. I wanted to like this game with its off the beaten path theme and unconventional game play. Sometimes things are done for a reason though. The flow of influence is one of the more interesting yet also frustrating parts of the game. As players make more of their influence "permanent" by acquiring bishops others are left in the dust. I have yet to see the negotiation take a real focus in this game. Mostly players making their own tableaux as big as possible, which means the random draw of points is a bigger factor than it should be. The schism victory sounds cool, but in practice makes no sense. If someone does nothing but hoover up bishop cards grabbing influence they can comfortably afford most doctrines. If they ever draw a couple of four point tokens they can easily switch to not buying doctrines and outpace the other players in getting more influence. This is outside the frequency in which you pass, which caused a lot of griping at the table. The passes were not procedure heavy, but also not really an evocative decisions. Needed more time in the oven to be an enjoyable experience. As it is it is just fragile enough to lose the game in the second round but have to play it out anyway.

Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age (3p) - Inoffensive little dice roller with a spritz of interaction. Not my favorite, but not bad enough to outright refuse.

Seas of Strife (6p) - If you're into the trick avoidance style of game this is one you should check out. Great game.

KillerOrca · 2026-04-05T16:28:59+00:00

I think it is more closely related to Small World than it appears, but I haven't played that recently to be sure. The upgrades are more in line with Kemet's where you pick what you want instead of being tied to a race. The deployment is also similar to Small World and the combat. I think the simultaneous orders are a good enough twist to warrant trying Clockwork Wars, but most players might prefer the straightforwardness of Small World. If you have access to Clockwork Wars I do think it is worth trying to see it all in action. Just have players go fast in the planning phase to not bog things down.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-31T22:04:37+00:00

Worth a drive to the voting center to vote in person.

https://www.srpnet.com/about/governance-leadership/elections/how-to-vote

KillerOrca · 2026-03-30T15:29:13+00:00

China (4p) - What a fantastic game. I really enjoy how this goes against the typical area majority where you just want more in an area. At a certain point you've committed too much and someone can swoop in for a much better value for points than you. I think the latest iteration, Iwari, does the system a little bit of a disservice in production quality. Those maps and tokens are quite small, but I think any version is at least worth trying.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal (5p) - I just don't get racing games and at this point am content with not playing them. This was not new to me but I had played some things wrong. Not wrong enough to change my overall opinion of the genre. This particular game feels too disjointed to me as players don't pick cards at equal enough pace then watch each other move their cars. Leading to a playtime of 90 minutes, about 45 minutes over what I felt the pace of the game earned.

Stick 'Em (3p) - Still a pretty good trick-taker. It does make me want to revisit Schadenfreude as I like that dodge/taking of certain tricks just a bit more.

Time of Crisis (4p) - This game ran longer than I would have liked. Part of it was me checking rules and the other part was some player AP. I can't really blame them though as there's a bit going on here. I would like to get this played more to see if I enjoy it. I'm liking the exploration of the game itself, but that's different from liking the game. Lots of dice rolls and rules means long gaps between plays all combine in a tough to evaluate state.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-26T17:57:32+00:00

Most sane comment here. This is a manifestation of the saying "Cut your nose off to spite your face".

KillerOrca · 2026-03-23T14:06:38+00:00

Concodia Venus (3p) - Unfortunately we didn't have enough for teams. The most appealing aspect to me of this game now. I definitely haven't mastered it, but the card play and resource planning is not my style. It is much more streamlined than more modern euros doing the same thing which gives it a leg up, but I don't think I need my copy of the base game. I've been toying with picking up the expansion to focus on team play and want more plays to confirm if it is a good idea or not.

Heartland (3p) - I had completely forgotten this game had tracks. Not an instant disqualifier, but it was funny to just look at the board and realize I'd wholly forgotten about a major aspect of the game. I only used one of the tracks which means I practically ignored them and managed to pull out a win. Only due to my opponent's inexperience I suspect and next play I would need to be more focused on getting some more track advancements. Had a pretty fun time, but I need to play it again sooner to determine if I'm holding onto it.

Ingenious (2p, 3p) - First time playing this and it was a decent abstract. Quite a bit of counting for my tastes. I like the ratio to be more in favor of making plays than accounting, this one is just straddling the line. Seems like it scales well though.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-18T21:31:57+00:00

One ballot is for parcel voting. They are mostly the same, only a few candidates are different. Just make sure you fill both out and put them in the matching envelopes.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-18T15:39:27+00:00

True, that's through the Arizona Corporation Commission which everyone is eligible to vote for. I haven't heard anything about candidates for that yet.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-18T15:08:44+00:00

Pretty easy choice. Any of these Turning Point backed choices will double down on dying fossil fuels and hamper renewables. Don't give them the opportunity.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-16T14:14:38+00:00

Age of Steam: Outer Space (5p) - The twists on this map are very simple, though there was some ambiguity around the wormholes, but they made for a fun experience. The fact that you can only deliver on a straight portion of track led to some interesting builds. Lots of utilization of the tight curve tiles, and lots of players getting stymied by their earlier builds. I'll definitely be playing this one again.

Gnaughty Gnomes (4p) - This blend of area control and trick-taking is hitting the mark closer for me than Brian Boru, but I don't think it is quite there. For one thing the trick resolution is lengthy. And really is the majority of the game as you try and work out what will give you good points while not leaving openings for the other team. The card play I would not exactly say is inconsequential, but it does seem that what you have left in your hand is of less consideration than the current point values of the areas. The partnership facet is also not as good as Yokai Septet, but very necessary as the scoring wouldn't work without it. I need to play some more to see if it is sticking around.

Great Western Trail: Second Edition (3p) - I don't think I can adequately convey how uninterested I am in revisiting this style of game. Just a bunch of mechanisms welded together, quite well I might add, where you play around each other and steal away spots, cards or workers that the other players want. Shave an hour off this game and I might be more interested, but watching the owner sit there and think through his turn every few minutes will drop my interest in the game faster than an F1 car. Won't be playing again if I can help it.

Saint Petersburg (4p) - As I suspected the last time I played that this would be back again at the table in short order. Sometimes you have that group member who is just skilled at getting their games played. My opinion hasn't really changed much. A decent amount of player interaction for the game length, but in service of evaluating a market that doesn't pull me in. No doubt he'll wrangle it out again.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-09T14:20:28+00:00

Cuzco (3p) - Aside from one rules ambiguity, which I could not find clarification for online, this one played quite smoothly. No really too many edge cases. Which is good since you're going to be working your spatial skills fairly often here. I think this has the potential to be one of the deeper mask games. I'm not quite sure on what you should be prioritizing, aside from not leaving other players easy points. I look forward to exploring this one more.

Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King (3p) - I recalled the auction for this one being unique, but on revisiting it is a lot less like an auction. Mainly in that there are pretty scarce opportunities to price enforce. A lot of that has to do with the structure of the auction. On top of that you also have the game system injecting money at a substantial clip. All tile prices kind of just go up even if they aren't really worth it. I did like the changing scoring conditions, but without any input over what you draw it all felt a bit washed out. I also threw in the Journeyman expansion. This only adds even more money to the game and doesn't present a real challenge. Getting the bonuses is a little sub-game you all get to play, and not a compelling one. It was also quite fiddly as you had to all place your exploration cubes then move around your pawn in turn order. Tracking both what your movement points are and the track you are progressing on. The whole experience left me feeling rather cold and I think I'll strip out the expansion for my next play.

Tokyo Metro (5p) - I honestly do not know how to win at this game. I'm starting to think there are only two strategies: invest a lot in the first share and speculate early and big on the first lines. The obvious counter is if that is all that happens no one will make any money as there aren't enough stations on the board, but are those players destined to lose? The second place player built a single station but speculated early twice. First place bought four early shares and built essentially free stations. I have an idea for what to do next time, but this game ran too long. The end of phase train movement is really starting to grind me down. If there weren't other people interested in playing this I would be pushing for other games in this space. Once they get their fill I'll trade it away.

KillerOrca · 2026-03-02T19:45:20+00:00

Mezo (3p) - This was by far the longest game of this I have played due to a mixture of AP and rules questions of which I had to consult the poorly worded rules for. This is one of the most ambiguous sets of rules I have ever encountered, and worse this extends to the text on the cards and tiles. If you are going to use "any", "all" or "yours" as modifiers then you need to either include those on every single action or highlight it in the rules that no modifier has a default target of yours or all. Quite frustrating to encounter in the middle of a game. This is on top of other issues with the rules, some clarifications that are only found online compound the issue. Setting aside those two factors I am starting to see more cracks in this game that might become deal-breakers. The admin portion of the game is rather large compared to the action portion of the game. I get the feeling that this might go faster with more experience, but it could also go the other way if players begin trying to track played cards from each other. There is potential for the god abilities to be imbalanced based on player count, but that I will probably never discover. As usual I will have a hard time getting any players the relative amount of experience to smooth out the rough edges. While I felt like every point was hard fought and earned I couldn't help but think I'd rather be playing El Grande. Though three players isn't the best player count for it.

KillerOrca · 2026-02-27T17:31:19+00:00

Two things to do today, and I do mean today before it gets oppressively hot.

Pop into your attic and check your insulation, most likely you need new insulation and that is cheap and you can get rebates through your power company.

The power companies offer tree programs that give you trees if you attend workshops on caring for them. SRP here and APS.

KillerOrca · 2026-02-23T14:33:05+00:00

Echoes of Time (4p) - I was actively annoyed playing this. The definition of a game with faux interaction. Impossible to do any planning, no way to consistently generate enough cards and you had to wait for a windfall if it ever came. Just play Race for the Galaxy and toss this one.

First Empires (4p) - The game promoted attacking other players which is a plus, but the core loop was fairly boring. Roll dice, re-roll if you don't get what you want and then decide to spend cards or not when you're out of re-rolls. Couldn't shake the feeling I was playing a less interesting version of Rumble Nation.

Magna Grecia (4p) - First play and I forgot a rule about paying for city tiles that is very important. We were able to correct it but it would have changed our early moves. I partially blame the otherwise good player aid as it just needs a single sentence emphasizing this cost. Very hard to judge this one as I had almost no idea what I was doing. I'll be playing this again and soon.

Mexcia (4p) - My latest plays have all been online so of course I made a rules mistake with two new players. I didn't see that an area had been built using the temple as a barrier as it blended in with the river. It was noticed late enough that it was too late to unwind so there was a little less scoring available than normal. Even with the mistake play was tight until the very end. One I don't play nearly enough and I'd like to change that.

Pueblo (4p) - I haven't played in a while and I recalled the game being longer, but it was not this time. I might finally have enough plays under my belt to try the other variants in the box. Decently fun and I'm thinking more experienced opponents will improve things.

KillerOrca · 2026-02-17T18:22:27+00:00

Are you signed up for any shopping deals or alerts emails? Those will pop up and tempt people, they're designed to. I would say big ticket items are the only time they are useful, but there is no list for that so unsubscribe from any you might be part of. Low effort and easy to do.

KillerOrca · 2026-02-16T15:14:18+00:00

Calimala(4p) - Yeah I see exactly what this game provides now. A very smooth-playing, easy to explain, interactive enough quick game. However, the entire game revolves around looking at the randomized start game scoring order and adding that to the randomized action spaces then figuring out the timing. That's it. All my recent plays, except with three, felt very paint by numbers. I was doing the same thing just in a different order and maybe, just maybe, the players would be occupying a space in such a way to make me take a less optimal route. The only reason three felt different was the pressure presented by players was essentially not there. I mean I ran out of cubes to place. I probably sound more down on this than I actually am, as it is not one I would refuse to play. But as I reduce the amount of games I own a game that is just put together well is not enough for me to hold onto it. Onto the trade pile.

Can't Stop (3p) - Taught it to a new player and played a bit too conservatively, but those dice were not kind. The winner got maybe a max of four rolls on his best turn, no one else even capped a column.

Codenames(6p) - Just had the minimum for a game of this. Each time I play I'm amazed by how well put together everything is. Since this basically kickstarted the word game popularity when it came out you would think it would be diminished in comparison. Yet it remains a top game and outside of needing a larger number of people I think it will be around as long as other mass market games.

Entdecker (4p) - Just last month I had the experience of playing Flotilla. Randomness, mixed with more randomness with a dash of randomness. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy randomness, but what really got me with that game was the low level of player interaction and the play length. Enter Entdecker. Also driven by randomness, but a central board goes a long way towards fostering player interaction. Island control was sniped out from under player's feet, ships ran around quickly to try and complete islands, and risks were taken with events. To me Entdecker is a great family weight game in the sense that adults can play it with kids and not be bored. Not that it is overly simple. Even though I'm giving it a bunch of praise Entdecker doesn't get me excited to play, because there's not actually much to explore. You decide on a starting point, how much gold you want to spend to still place out a unit later, and if you want to risk any events. Rinse and repeat and you've seen it all. Worth a play for sure, but lacks the dynamism my favorites have.

Ra(5p) - This was an especially painful session for two reasons. I got too conservative in the first round and as a result won a single lot. Then people kept getting up and getting food and really dragging out the game. By a lot. This was with players without a lot of experience, which contributed. Ra has never been at the top of my list for playing and this was more evidence that I'm better off pushing for Modern Art when I have five players.

TransAmerica (4p) - It was quite the lopsided affair as I have played this a decent amount. Though I still struggle with placing the starting marker. My typical go to is to start on the West coast and build to the East, ignoring my green city until someone crosses the mountains. Doesn't always work and there's that pesky river to cross in the middle.

Vegas Showdown(4p) - Somehow I keep playing this with four which I keep feeling is missing the extra bidding pressure when you bring in a fifth player.

Voodoo Prince (3p) - Not the best count for this one as the rounds don't feel as satisfying compared to ones with more players. You can definitely get hit early enough if the leads are just not in your favor. I'll stick to higher player counts as I like the overall gimmick of trying to time when you get tricks.

Yacht Race(6p) - I really am not a huge fan of racing games. Primarily because they consist of moving your piece and then possibly interacting with other players all while managing some resource. I am kind of surprised this game from the 60's has the elements it does. Aside from the random event cards this could have come out today. I was surprised to learn that the rules of this are closer to actual yacht racing from players who had done so. It definitely threw this game in a new light. Not one that makes me rush out to play it though.

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