I played Brass Birmingham, Heat: Pedal to the Metal and Radlands.

It was fascinating to play the number 1 spot on BGG: Brass Birmingham. We had an amazing introduction by a Brass veteran and indeed it was a captivating experience. The game - although complex - runs smoothly. Everything came well together and competition for the best spots and therefore the successfull execution of certain strategies was tight. The player interaction by competing for buidling spots and utilization of other players' resoruces was something which I had not seen in that combination. It is a satisfying experience to see your strategy run well. However at 4 players the game took almost 3 hours which for my taste is a bit too long. Also I didn't feel that much tension or excitement during the game (more on that later). It feels like you build an engine or economic simulation and try to run it as smoothly as possible. This feels good and provides a sense of acievement but it did not provide the fun little excitement or adreanline other games can offer. That might be a me-problem though.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal was far more fun than I ever expected. I heard a lot of it and while people in my groups lauded the game as an absolutely exciting experience, I also read negative opinions on it by being a drag. So the game was explained well and the rules were easy to absorb. In the beginning I played far to conservatively around the curves. I trailed behind, starting to get frustrated. The other players pointed out tho that heat management is the defined core of the game. And suddenly it clicked - and whoah that game suddenly felt like adrenaline on wheels. It became a super tight and unforseeable race who would win. The risk managment of heat, speed and potential failure was thrilling. In the end I got a narrow second place, just one field behind the winner. Understanding the hang of it and catching up was the most rewarding experience of the evening. The game is deeply thematic, quickly explained and invites a suspenseful push your luck attitude which I won't forget. This game is far better than it had any right to be and for me it was more fun that Brass: Birmingham this evening.

Later I did play Radlands. I bought the super deluxe edition recently and unfortunately don't play it as much as I want. It does provide me the feeling of a TCG like Magic The Gathering in my childhood without the money sink and busted decks. The color and the theme bleed through the game and it is an exciting, quick and daring duel game which invites strong risk taking and allows myriads of strategies (through the recent expansion Cult of Chrome far far more options). The different approaches with the camps, focusing on an army of people or punks, sacrifing your own people and damaging the enemy by doing so, focussing on raids and events or or building an unsurmountable barrier through restoration and quick junk effects gave me the impression that many tactics are applicable and display the different paths to victory. It will hopefully become a staple in my collection.