Games I Want To Play Again – TableTop Edition

With International TableTop Day roughly a week away, there are a ton of gamers who are building their lists of games they want to play.  Naturally, I am one of those people.  I’ve already posts a short list of some of the games in my collection I have not played but would love to play on International TableTop Day (April 11).  I say short list because the list has grown slightly since I posted it… to fifteen, well sixteen if you count one of the games I picked up today.  And, as I said, that’s just the list of games I have not played yet that I want to try out that day.

On top of that, there are a few games that I have played in the past that I would love to get to the table again.  Okay, that list is also fifteen as well.  Naturally, I know I will have to pare down this list, along with the other one as well.  In the meantime, here are five of the games I’ve played before that I want to get to the table again.

1) Sentinels of the Multiverse

Courtesy: playunplugged.com

Sure, there are other card based superhero games like DC Deckbuilding Game and Legendary.  But, neither one really gives you the feel of being a superhero pitted against a super villain like Sentinels of the Multiverse.  And, with all the  heroes and villains (and environments) that have been added over the years, Sentinels has a ton of replayability.  I can see myself playing a couple of games on TableTop Day just like I did last year.

2) Eldritch Horror

Courtesy: Fantasyflightgames.com

One of the many Cthulhu based games that have come from Fantasy Flight.  Eldritch Horror has players traveling the globe trying to stop the elder ones from destroying the world.  Like it’s sister game, Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror can be played solo.  But, I would love to give it a go with other players.  And, an event like TableTop Day allows for this game with its two hour play time to hit the table easier than on other days.  I picked this one of the two because Eldritch Horror is more streamlined than Arkham Horror, and I like the globe spanning play a bit better.

3) Stone Age

Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

TableTop Day would not be complete unless there was one worker placement game on the list.  For me, that game is Stone Age.  This game scales well for two to four players, and a lot of fun to play.

4) Mice & Mystics

Couresty: Amazon.com

The best thing about an event like TableTop Day is that gamers are usually in it for the long haul.  So, longer games hit the tables more.  Mice & Mystics is one of those longer games.  This fairy tale like game has the players enter a fantasy world of heroic mice and vicious rats.

5) Arctic Scavengers

Courtesy: riograndegames.com

I really like deck builders.  And I’ve played quite a few of them.  Some deck builders, like DC Deck Building Game, barely hold together a theme, even if they are fun to play.  Others, like Legendary, just take too long to set up.  Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy them, but for an event like TableTop Day, I want something a bit more… well, more.  Arctic Scavengers has the players assume the roles of leaders of survivors in a post apocalyptic frozen wasteland fighting for what little resources are left in the world.  Eventually, players must face each other to get the good stuff.

5 Games I Wish I Could Play More

Naturally, with any collection of games, there are a few that just do not seem to make it to the table enough.  More are five from my collection that seem to have suffered that fate.

Top 5 Games That Should Be On TableTop

As followers of my blog know, I have been into board and card games a lot lately.  This resurgence of interest falls squarely on Wil Wheaton’s YouTube show, TableTop.  The show showed me a number of games that looked interesting.  And seeing them played made me want to play them.  And since I’ve been watching the show, I have played many of the games they have featured, and plan to play many more of them.

Recently, Wheaton approached the masses, choosing to crowdfund the third season of TableTop.  The response has been phenomenal.  The campaign not only met its goals, amassing enough money to fund not only a 20 episode season but a spin off RPG show, they have broken records doing it.

Now, with season three a given, there comes the moment where the games for the next season need to be picked.  Naturally, I have a few suggestions as to what should make it onto the show.

Now, this is a dream list.  I know that some of these games probably would not make it on the show, either because they play too short or too long, or other logistical reasons.  But, these are the games that I would love to see on the show.  And, just for fun, I’m including my dream players for the list as well.

Courtesy: cravengames.com

1) Nightfall

Nightfall is a deck building game featuring vampires and werewolves.  Players build their decks from a central pool, though each player also has a reserve of two types of cards that only they can draw from.  Each round pits the players against each other, attacking their opponents while trying to buy better cards.  When all the wounds are exhausted, the winner is the one that has the least wounds.

Having watched TableTop from the first episode, I do not remember an official deck builder (they did a deck builder on the International TableTop Day feed, though that was not an official episode).

Dream Gamers

For this show, Wil would have to gather gamers who should have a connection to either werewolves or vampires.  Returning guests Sam Witmer and Seth Green would be joined by Nina Dobrev.

Courtesy: playunplugged.com

2) Sentinels of the Multiverse

It surprises me that this one has not been on the show yet?  Sentinels of the Multiverse is a card game where the players assume the roles of super heroes teaming up against a super villain.  To make things more difficult for the heroes, there is an environment deck that can either help or hurt (usually hurt).  Each hero has their own deck with powers and abilities to battle the villain, just as each villain has their own deck to wage battle against the heroes.

Sentinels of the Multiverse has spawned numerous expansions, the latest, Vengeance, having been released just this past year.  Because of the number of characters that the players can use, and the villains and environments, the game has tons of replayability.

Dream Gamers

Returning for this game would be Ed Brubaker, writer for such comics as Fatale and Captain America.  He would be joined by Brandon Routh (from Superman Returns) and Laura Vandervoort (Smallville)

Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

3) Stone Age

Stone Age is a worker placement game where the players try to build up their tribes through acquisition of resources.  With these resources, they can buy huts that bestow victory points, or buy ships that provide resources and other scoring elements.  Remember that you need to feed your people, and you can always grow your tribe and research agriculture and tools.

I have to admit that Stone Age is one of the first worker placement games that I have played, so it is the one that I would like Wil to play on the show the most.

Dream Gamers

I did not really go all thematic with my picks for gamers.  But, it would be fun to see Jim Parsons, Felicia Day, and Ryon Day play this one, mostly to see Felicia and her brother fight one one blocks the other out of resources they needed.

Courtesy: Fantasyflightgames.com

4) Eldritch Horror

In the first season, TableTop tackled Elder Sign, the dice rolling game based on the H.P. Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos.  I think that TableTop should take on one of Elder Sign‘s big brothers during season 3.  In Eldritch Horror, players travel the globe to gather clues to try and defeat the Elder God before it awakes and destroys the world.

Now, I had my choice between this and Arkham Horror, which plays similarly to Eldritch Horror.  However, Eldritch Horror is a bit more streamlines in play while taking the adventure to a global scale, while Arkham Horror is can be a bit sprawly  in set up and a bit more isolated with it’s Arkham locale.

I do know that this is a long game, probably a bit longer than TableTop would want to tackle.  However, the show has run two part episodes in the past, along with an hour long episode that could accommodate a large scale game like this.

Dream Gamers

For a game steeped in the pulp horror of H.P Lovecraft, it would he cool to see players who have some connection to the genre.  Author Jim Butcher, famous for the Dresden Files series, along with Claire Coffee (Adalind Schade on the TV series, Grimm) and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural)

Couresty: Amazon.com

5) Mice and Mystics

Mice and Mystics is an adventure/role playing board game.  Players assume the roles of fantasy characters who have been transformed into mice.  The players must complete missions which will lead them to a resolution to their mousy dilemma.  But beware, they will come up against centipedes, rats, and the dreaded cat of the castle.

Like Eldritch Horror above, Mice and Mystics is a long game, especially if players try to complete all the scenarios the base game provides.  But, Wil and his guests can easily complete the first scenario (with side missions) for one show, which should give viewers a good idea how the game is played, and how fun it is.

Dream Gamers

I would love to see Tara Strong return to play this game, if only to see what voices she gives the characters.  Along for the ride would be Billy West (who provided voices for Ren & Stimpy and Futurama) and Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman on Batman: The Animated Series)

Gaming Weekend

I already mentioned a part of this weekend’s gaming, but here is the rest.

Courtesy: Amazon.com

This weekend started with a little Geek Out Saturday.  Geek Out is a party game that can be played by as little as 2 people, or, well, a party.  The game is pretty simple when it comes to the rules.  Roll a die and a question will be asked that corresponds to the color rolled (with white as a wild card).  The questions come from a number of “geek” subjects, like comics, fantasy, games, sci-fi, and miscellaneous (example: Name 4 Batman enemies).  Once the task is given, players have a chance to outbid each other.  Once the highest bid is reached, the bidder will have to answer.  If he succeeds, he/she gets the card, which acts as a point.  If not (and the bid is higher than the card given minimum), he/she takes a -2 point token.  The person who reached 5 points is the winner.

It is actually not as easy as you would think.  They do have stipulation rules which make sure the game isn’t too easy.  For example, if the task is, “Name 6 fantasy movies,”  Only one of the answers can be Lord of the Rings, as the game treats franchises as one movie.  We had a Hell of a time racking our brains trying to remember the answers to some of these questions.

Courtesy: Fantasyflightgames.com

That night, I also got in a game of Eldtrich Horror.  Eldritch Horror is similar to Arkham Horror, both pulling their inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos.  Eldritch Horror, however, takes the battle against the elder gods to a global scale.  There are also a new cast of characters in this game, so you are not playing with the same ones that are present in Arkham Horror and Elder Sign.  In addition, some of the components have been pared down to a more manageable level, but it is still a huge set up and run.  Unfortunately, I lost when the mythos deck ran out just as I was working on solving the last mystery.  I still want to tackle it again.

I mentioned Sunday’s X-Wing in another post, mostly because it really needed to be discussed separately.  A lot of good work as done on the game scape and it needed to be showcased.

Couresty: Amazon.com

Sunday night (post X-Wing) I took a stab at two other games.  The first is Mice and Mystics, a fantasy role playing board game.  Players assume the roles of mice (well, there’s more to it than that) in this story based adventure.  Scenarios are laid out as individual parts of a story (even the game timer is based on chapters of a book) which pit the player against various minions in a race against the clock to complete the goal.

And the first time I played, I made a major blunder and did not move the mice characters correctly.  And, by incorrectly, I forgot the die roll which adds to their base movement.

I tried again Monday/Tuesday night with the correct movement mechanism and did better, but I still think I’m missing something in the game and I will tackle it again soon.

Courtesy: board-games.findthebest.com

The other game I played was Ghost Stories.  In Ghost Stories, players assume the role of monks defending a village from invading ghosts.  Each monk has their own special ability that they can use to defeat the ghosts before they haunt 3 parts of the village.  I played on solo level and did not fare well.  Monday brought three more solo matches, only one of which was a win.  I have to admit that I was not sure about how I would feel about this game, but I really do like the challenge.  I will definitely play this one again.