Gaming Sessions Pages on my blog are all about time spent with friends and family at the gaming table. As always, feel free to browse through, the latest session will always be at the end of the page.
Mission Control, We’re Learning! "The Crew" lands on our Gaming Table
(7th February 2026)
Our first gathering of the year opened with The Crew: The Quest for Planet 9, a compact cooperative trick taking game that hides surprising depth in its small box. The premise is simple, complete a series of missions by playing cards in the right order, all while communicating as little as possible. It is a clever design that rewards thoughtful coordination and shared intuition rather than the usual table talk.
We were pleasantly surprised by how convenient it was to set up and get going. It allowed us to pause for some food and drinks without that much bother and that itself is usually a big deal. The main hurdle we found was the trick taking element, which none of us usually play. It took a mission or two before the rhythm settled, yet once it did we all found our stride and the game became genuinely enjoyable.
As for the greatest challenge presented by the game, that was most certainly the imposed limitation on in-game communication. That single communication token each round forces you to think carefully about what you reveal and what you leave unsaid. It gave each mission played an intriguing layer of complexity to the puzzles posed.
By the end of the evening we had completed seven missions, a respectable start for a group entirely new to the system. With fifty missions in the full game, and given how much we all enjoyed ourselves, we agreed that, throughout the year, we would include a couple of missions before each board game session to keep the campaign moving. It felt like the right way to begin this year’s series of gaming nights, with something relatively light, cooperative, and yet quietly satisfying.
Slaying the Spire, one encounter at a time!
We held another gaming night this year on Saturday 21st March, during which we played Slay the Spire, the board game adaptation of the popular rogue-like video game by Mega Crit Games. For this session, we welcomed a new player to the table, Julian, who joined the fray and fitted seamlessly into proceedings, playing with the confidence of a seasoned pro.
The board game captures the core spirit of its digital counterpart through deck building, character synergy and challenging encounters, while placing a much stronger emphasis on discussion and shared decision-making. Unlike the video game, upkeep between turns can slow the pace of play, though this is offset to some extent by the encouragement of simultaneous actions. Cooperation is fundamental to success, yet an underlying element of luck adds a notable level of difficulty.
In the end, we did not manage to complete Act 1, but everyone was enthusiastic about the strong table presence and the decisions made throughout the session. While it is unlikely that we will return to this game in the near future, all present are looking forward to playing it again when the opportunity arises.
As a final note, I also had the chance to play this game at the club, where conditions were more favourable. On that occasion, we completed Act 1, progressed halfway through Act 2, and stopped only because it was getting late. It was a memorable experience and certainly worth another outing.
(Session Round up April to August 2026)
I realise I haven't updated this page since our games night back in March, when we played Slay the Spire. I thought it was about time to catch up with a summary of everything played since, along with my thoughts on game reception and replay prospects.
This will be a two-part blog covering not only my home board gaming group's sessions to date, but also those I've shared with my youngest son Neil, so I can keep track of what he can now play, and in some cases play exceptionally well.
Following the session held on the 21st of March, where Julian joined us for a round of Slay the Spire, the group next met on Saturday the 2nd of May, starting with a few missions of The Crew before moving on to Cascadia. The Crew keeps fascinating me with how well it justifies the appeal of cooperative trick-taking games, though the mechanism isn't popular locally. Basically whenever we get down to playing it, we need a rules refresher. Yet, I think we all agree that it is worth it all the same. Cascadia's tile laying, ecosystem-based play remains effortless to bring to the table and never disappoints.
The group met again on Saturday the 23rd of May for a brilliant session with "Heat: Pedal to the metal", our third outing with the game, this time using the "Heavy Rain" expansion's Japan track. It remains a superb racing simulation that keeps everyone engaged to the end; even five handed, the simultaneous play kept things brisk, like cars flashing past the finish line. A great game, and a fine chance to try it five handed.
We didn't meet in June, though two sessions in May more than made up for it. Neil's end-of-year exams and the general winding down of the scholastic year made for a quieter month. A couple of visits to the gaming club, plus some digital board gaming (Ascension, Dominion, Love Letter, Slay the Spire II, among others) kept the itch scratched.
On the 4th of July we met again, starting with more missions from "The Crew" before playing Harmonies. As an aside, The Crew is a missions-based campaign of around 50 missions of rising difficulty, which is why it keeps appearing here; if we ever complete the lot, I think we'll deserve a proper celebration. Harmonies, reminiscent of Cascadia, distinguishes itself through scoring that rewards repeating the same patterns, making for an intriguing spatial puzzle. I did rather well on this one.
Which brings me to the latest session, last Saturday, 1st August 2026. It felt like two sessions in one, and a good one at that. First up was Bruno Faidutti's Citadels, a 26-year-old design that still plays beautifully, blending social deduction with tableau building. We had four invested players, and everyone seemed to enjoy it, which is what matters in the end.
The second game of the evening was "Forest Shuffle", a card-based tableau builder in which cards double as currency, so you can always afford to grow your "forest". Its many flora and fauna interactions are what make it compelling: tree placement alone can score well, but combining in animal interactions yields more. For this game we were joined by my son Neil who went for an all-trees strategy. Increasing the player count from two to three burns through the deck faster, which tends to favour synergy play over a straightforward tree focused strategy.
That covers all sessions to date. I'm looking forward to the last quarter of 2026, with another session likely in September. Now I'd like to go over the games I played, over the same period, with Neil.
This year I've also tried to raise the complexity of what I play with my son. I firmly believe board gaming teaches a great deal about social interaction, logic, planning, and handling wins and losses with poise.
I haven't been as diligent recording these sessions as I have the group's. I know we've played Iliad twice, and Art Society twice though. On Art Society, one anecdote is worth sharing: the first time, Neil took naturally to the game's auctions but narrowly lost. To tempt him back, I bought an actual mini gavel to replace the cardboard one supplied with the game. It raised the game's standing in his eyes, and he hammered away happily before each auction the second time round, ending up winning, and playing brilliantly. A small gimmick went a long way.
Turning to the sessions I did keep a record of, I'd like to start with "Tag Team" which we played back in March. This is a heavily asymmetrical game in which each player controls two combatants. The ideas behind it are commendable, but it didn't quite land for me. You need to understand your own team's synergies from the outset, then your opponent's, and there are 12 characters in the box, each behaving differently. Without time to study them all, you're relying on luck as countermoves emerge on-the-fly, and I prefer being informed.
Cascadia has made it to the table on several occasions this year with Neil. I like this game a lot, ironically enough, despite having been soundly beaten the first time I ever played it at the club back in 2025. I've since bought the base game as well as the "Landmarks" expansion, with another expansion already on my Wishlist once it becomes available locally.
Iliad was another highlight in my gaming sessions with Neil, a two-player abstract game designed by the godfather of modern board games, Reiner Knizia. Nominally Spartans versus Greeks with god powers thrown in, it's really an interesting abstract contest to complete lanes and capture points. Neil is particularly strong here, and sparring with him is intensely satisfying, even when he gets the upper hand.
I think Neil's game sense has matured enough now to tackle more complex titles, and I hope he'll soon join us at the table on games nights regularly. My hope, eventually, is to hand the running of these nights over to him and watch him enjoy my growing collection.
That's all for now, until next time!
Card Flipping and Point Scoring with Captain Flip!
(22nd August 2026)
Captain Flip, designed by Remo Conzadori and Paolo Mori, is a light and breezy pirate-themed board game, and quite enjoyable at that. Having purchased the title based on a fond experience with Mori’s previous work, Ethnos, it was immediately evident that there is a substantial difference between the two. Where Ethnos offers a weightier tactical challenge, Captain Flip is lighter in scope. Nevertheless, it remains sufficiently interesting to serve as a wonderful filler game, one that younger players can effortlessly join and enjoy.
The visual presentation further enhances this accessible nature, as the artwork by Jonathan Aucomte is especially cartoon-like and whimsical, making the entire aesthetic even more appealing to a family audience. Having played a few rounds with Neil, I realised that while the game offers a genuine degree of agency and decision-making regarding whether to keep or flip a drawn character, it remains rather dependent on the randomness of the tile draws. However, this element of luck does not detract whatsoever from the overall experience. In my opinion, Captain Flip is a solid, highly accessible family title that you can comfortably bring to the table whenever you require an engaging game that is quick to explain and effortless to enjoy.
*** LATEST SESSION HERE ***
A Night of Dragons, Shops and Branching Decisions...with Flamecraft!
Flamecraft is a cosy-looking engine of a game for one to five players. You are a Flamekeeper, helping the shops of a small fantasy town by placing specialised artisan dragons (bread, meat, iron, crystal, plant and potion) in the shops that suit them best. On your turn you visit a shop, which must be different from the one you visited last turn, and then choose between two things. You can gather goods, coins and dragons, and perhaps place a dragon to earn its reward and fire up the shop's abilities. Or you can enchant the shop by spending goods on one of the face-up enchantments. Enchanting earns reputation and permanently improves what that shop yields for everyone who gathers there.
Woven through all this are the Fancy Dragons, which are the game's real scoring engine. Sun dragons pay out during play once their goals are met. Moon dragons are scored only at the end. The game closes when either the artisan dragon deck or the enchantment deck runs dry, everyone gets one last turn, and leftover coins count toward the final tally. Whoever holds the most reputation is crowned best Flamekeeper.
I did some serious preparation for Saturday's session, mainly because I did not want to get the initial teach wrong or leave out anything important. With four at the table (David, Daniel, Steph and myself), a muddled explanation would have cost us the first few turns and the evening's momentum.
On a personal note, the turn structure looks simple on paper: go to a shop, then gather or enchant. But the way the mechanics interlock creates what I can only describe as a very dense decision network, and it deepens the further you go. The final few turns felt more decisive still. On a couple of occasions I nearly stepped on my own toes while trying to chain together the actions needed to squeeze the maximum value from a single turn.
We kept, roughly, to the 90 minutes printed on the box, and everyone was fully dialled in, especially towards the end.
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| The Board Gaming "Frenemies"...but it's all friendly competition! |
David took the win. He made excellent use of the Fancy Dragons deck, and his Moon-type dragons carried him across the finish line in first place. I finished second, and I'll admit I had a little help from a Fancy Dragon of my own, also a Moon type. It rewarded me for starting shops that still showed a dragon matching their original resource type, which handed me six final and rather crucial points.
All told, it was a great games night, with good food and plenty of banter, and the preparation, thankfully, paid off.
