Games played: Week 14

Another week into the corona-pandemic and things are proceeding fairly quiet here in Norway. Still no time for game nights, but a solid mix of board games played over the internet and with my family means I “filled my quota” of board games this week as well.

Can’t Stop

# of plays (online): 4

This week I played a fair amount over at boardgamearena.com. They’ve introduced limits due to the amount of players using the site so its’ easy to get a game going. I prefer to play very simple and fast games, and the interface doesn’t really inspire me to really get into a more complex game. Can’t Stop is a simple push-your-luck dice game.

Red7

# of plays (online): 4

Red7 is a pretty fast card game that I’ve played a few times over the table. These games were logged over at boardgamearena. Again a pretty fast game that works OK online. However, the gaming experience differ quite a bit from what I’ve seen when playing live. You can change the settings for how the game is played, but most games are over when 1 player just wins 2 rounds, which does make the game faster but also less interesting when played online.

Colorpop

# of plays (online): 4

Another game played online I hadn’t previously played. Colorpop is an simple abstract game that’s proving to be surprisngly challenging (I haven’t won yet in 4 attempts). Again it’s fast and simple and easy to find opponents to play against.

Thermopyles

# of plays (online): 12

Yet another game I found and played for the first time online (all of my online plays have been over at boardgamearena.com). Online it is played as a solo game, but it was originally designed for up to 4 players (but is recommended for max 2 players on boardgamegeek). This card and dice game is very fast and very luck based. Online there are some tips to strategy and that makes the game a bit easier. But for most part it is challenging (as it should be as a solo game). Not especially fun or clever but something you could waste an hour trying out at least.

Takenoko

# of plays (online): 1

Takenoko is a popular family game. Not something I have played loads of times, but still fun and challenging enough for both families and more “hardcore” gamers. I tried it online, and while it worked well enough this is about the cut-off point for me when just playing board games online. Note however that online I play silent against random people (not using webcam/chat) or just solo. These game, while good games, probably need more interaction among family and friends. Maybe during this week and the Easter holidays I can get some friends to join me online to check if it does indeed make a difference when playing board games online.

Duelosaur Island

# of plays: 2

The week wasn’t only spent playing online. The Norwegian prime minister encourage people to stay at home and get some new games to play this Easter and as dutiful citizen I followed up on that recommendation (not that I need a excuse to get more games!). One of my new games is Duelosaur Island. A stand-alone game that can mix it’s components with Dinosaur Island. Designed for 1-2 players, I played it both solo and against my brother (winning both times). While the colours are a bit garish for my taste the game is surprisingly decent and fun.

Indian Summer

# of plays: 4

Indian Summer is another game I bought this last week. The “sequel” to Cottage Garden, Indian Summer is a bit more complex and a bit more “fiddly”. I played it twice solo and twice against my family (the game is designed for 1-4 players). I haven’t tried nearly enough but it is a bit dull and I fear it might lack replay value compared to its more simple predecessor. While I haven’t played Cottage Garden in a while, I still have logged 25 plays over at boardgamegeek and I feel Indian Summer might turn boring pretty fast. Luckily the solo mode is a lot more fun.