Board Game - State of Play - June 2023

As a board game enthusiast, hobbyist, and modest collector, I am always on the lookout for new trends as they come to the fore. The reason is simple, I know just how expensive some of these titles are, and making a bad choice could mean getting lumped with a game you will never get to the table. Over the years, I must admit, that I have fallen victim to a few flukes that I just could not bring to the table. While in hindsight I know my decision to purchase certain titles was misguided at best, at the time of purchase I was enthusiastic and positive that the purchase was a good one.

Having said that, having indeed bought a few titles I later discovered that weren’t to my liking or playable within my social context, I learnt to look harder for any information that might help me decide on my next purchase. The internet does help in this situation, but you need to listen to competing reviews and opinions. Over time, maybe out of laziness or simply because sifting through sources can be time-consuming, I have settled on a few key sources of information. Admittedly I could do worse than refer to reviews offered by the guys at “The Dice Tower”, “Watch it Played” and “Shut Up & Sit Down”, but the truth is that their reviews can be polarising and not always in line with my own personal tastes.

To be fair the reviews and opinions I get from “The Dice Tower” feel balanced and offer a spread of opinions, which is healthy. While my own gaming tastes tend to align themselves (to some degree) with those of Tom Vasel, I find Zee Garcia’s abstract game bias and Mike Delisio’s focus on solo gaming very refreshing and eye-opening. The truth is that you need to see the same topic from different perspectives, it helps you grow.

“And why is this important to you?” you may ask me. I believe in the importance of mental health and retaining a certain degree of mental “agility” as it were, games can help achieve this goal. This is the fundamental principle behind my involvement with gaming. This and the enjoyment and socialisation derived from engaging others during face-to-face play. I am a firm believer that for a game to be worth my time, it must give me or teach me something. A good cooperative game should teach me the importance of being a team player, a legacy game should allow me to appreciate the importance of forward planning and decision-making, and solo gaming should help me develop self-motivation and consistency.

From my journey into modern board gaming, I have experienced several changes in both my unique perspective and what the market offers. My board gaming journey began a long time ago, well before the current renaissance that can be traced back to the mid-to-late 90s. Still, for the purposes of this narrative, I will focus on precisely the last fifteen to twenty years.

Back when I bought my first modern game, which was Marc Andre’s “Splendor”, I was still new to the whole Eurogame scene. The games I knew were those like Risk, Talisman, Hero Quest (the 80’s version of the game), Monopoly, Scrabble, Othello, Cluedo, Mastermind, Hasbro’s Battleships, Draughts, and the obligatory Chess. None of these has any of the elements that were to later define Eurogames, a style of gaming heralded by trailblazing titles such as Settlers of Catan, among others. It was in this scenario that I encountered the highly polished and iconic web series “Tabletop” hosted by Will Wheaton.

Being a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fan, I knew who Will was thanks to his appearance on that beloved series. His delivery and showmanship made for a very entertaining web series; one I would look forward to watching whenever the next episode aired. It was thanks to him that I discovered several iconic games like “Lords of Waterdeep” (which I fell in love with), Sheriff of Nottingham, Tsuro, Mice & Mystics, Dixit, Tiny Epic Galaxies, Qwirkle and others. Most of the games he presented had the unique quality of being relatively easy to teach, had great table presence and almost never overstood their welcome. Most of these titles ended up in my collection by the way.

As my passion for board games gradually fanned into a roaring fire, I began to look around for other sources of inspiration for my next purchase. I found this in the Dice Tower and Watch it Played guys. As a side note, I must also include Chaz Marler’s “Pair of Dice Paradise” (which would later join forces and become part of "Watch it Played") which brought a witty brand of humour to game news and reviews that I still love to this day.

Personally, I felt that things did change a bit once Will Wheaton’s webisodes came to an end. By then the market had matured somewhat and there were more voices airing their opinions and unboxing the latest games on video. This could be both a bad and a good thing. Good in the sense that you could see what was in the box and how the rules worked, bad in that often, these reviews came with obvious biases. Furthermore, these reviews were themselves the result of the reviewers sifting through titles that interested them specifically, resulting in a somewhat blinkered perspective on what was available.

To correct this, there was and still is one thing a hobbyist like me can resort to, you need to seek out further opinions, further reviews. You need to expect that these additional reviews will at times be conflicting, or contradictory but ultimately you will have a better understanding of whether a game is for you or not. You will also discover that different reviewers will tend to focus on different board game types or characteristics, increasing your overall exposure to what is on the market.

Going back to the changing landscape in board gaming, in recent years we have seen an increase in some specific categories of board games. One such category which has grown in popularity is cooperative board games. In these games, players will often work together to achieve a common goal. These games encourage teamwork and communication and are often seen as a more inclusive and less cutthroat alternative to traditional board games. Indeed, they are also ideal in situations where you have a mixed table of experienced and casual players, with the latter finding these types of games less intimidating.

Another category of games which has gained traction over the past few years is legacy games. Legacy games are board games that evolve over time as players make decisions and progress through a campaign or story. These games often have a finite number of plays and are meant to be played over multiple sessions with the same group of people. Legacy games can create a unique and immersive gaming experience that is different from traditional board games.

While I am not particularly fond of them, Solo games have also become increasingly popular. The recent COVID-19 pandemic helped in this genre's growing popularity on account of the lockdown and social-distancing experienced in most of the Western world. In fact, many board game publishers are now releasing games that are specifically designed to be played alone. These games often feature puzzles or challenges that can be tackled independently and can be a great way for people to enjoy board gaming even when they don't have a group of players available.

Almost an extension of the above, the last few years have also seen a rise in the number of Board Game Apps. Many modern board games have been adapted into mobile apps, allowing players to enjoy the game on their phones or tablets. This trend has made board games more accessible and convenient and has also introduced the hobby to a new generation of players. I have personally acquired a significant number of these adaptations including titles like Everdell, Wingspan, Raiders of the North Sea, Lords of Waterdeep, Sagrada, Mysterium, Hive, Ascension, Star Realms, and others.

Yet nothing has had a more accentuated impact on game design and development than the onset of crowdfunding. While there does not appear to be an established link between a boardgames popularity over time, or commercial success, several of the most popular game of the last decade have been crowdfunded (e.g., Cards Against Humanity and Gloomhaven). Through crowdfunding, game designers could pitch their ideas directly to the end consumer, board game enthusiasts and hobbyists. What this meant was that now designers could be ambitious, gamifying their proposal to the market in line with the uptake of funders. The more funders committed their cash to the project the more features are unlocked as part of the final product. As a result, some of the projects become substantial, multi-box offerings, replete with an assortment of premium components and extras. Obviously, this also means the final box set will cost a pretty penny, but that comes with the territory, I guess. 

In addition, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have allowed independent game designers to bring their ideas to market without the backing of a traditional publisher. Understandably this has led to an explosion of new board games being produced. Crowdfunding effectively allows game designers to take more risks and produce games that might not have been viable through traditional publishing channels.

Overall, the impact of crowdfunded games on the board gaming industry and its popularity depends on various factors such as the quality and appeal of the games being produced, the success of the crowdfunding campaigns, and the ability of game designers to effectively market and distribute their products. Some games produced through crowdfunding will be duds and, in some instances, some crowdfunded projects do not see it through to development and delivery. One area which appears to suffer consequences to the rather accelerated development cycle of some gaming titles is game expansions.

In the past, board game expansions were never guaranteed. If a game was successful, then the company and game designers would dig in and see if they could come up with a valid expansion idea. Expansions usually came out much after the original game was published. To an extent, this allowed for a better-quality expansion with fewer errors once published. Contrary to this, some crowdfunded games have seen expansions being rushed into production while the campaign itself was barely over. Let us say that some of these expansions are of questionable quality. 

Yet despite all the pros and cons I have listed, crowdfunded board game projects still constitute a respectable proportion of all crowdfunded projects. This appears to indicate that going forward we will see more crowdfunded board game projects not less.

Not everything is peachy however, there are aspects of the boardgame production cycle that can suffer if the network they rest upon is disrupted in some way or another. For instance, logistics play a significant role in the manufacturing and distribution of board games. The board gaming industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, with more and more games being produced and sold worldwide. This growth has led to increased pressure on manufacturers and distributors to efficiently manage the supply chain and deliver games to customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on logistics in the board gaming industry, with disruptions to global supply chains and shipping delays.

Manufacturers face logistical challenges in sourcing raw materials, producing games in large quantities, and ensuring quality control. Many manufacturers are in China, which can present logistical challenges due to transportation and customs issues. Distributors on the other hand also face logistical challenges in getting games from manufacturers to retailers and consumers. This can include issues such as warehousing, shipping, and managing inventory levels. Additionally, board games come in various sizes and shapes, which can make shipping and storage more complicated. Tying back to the crowdfunding board games, one can now see why the larger games with unconventional package formats can give distributors nightmares when it comes to getting them from source to destination.

Yet what I have listed here are all aspects of the gaming industry that are somehow affecting what we find available in the stores. Not only that, but also what price points we should expect and how this will, in turn, affect what we purchase, and how frequently we purchase new titles. This is because not all board game enthusiasts have deep pockets, the contrary is more often true. At the same time, many of these same hobbyists have become increasingly discerning when it comes to the quality of the products they purchase. What this means is that unless buyers purchase titles blindly, they will expect decent quality in whatever they ultimately purchase.

For instance, through personal experience, I have come to notice that KOSMOS tends to use very average materials for its products. For example, last year I bought a Reiner Knizia title I had been intrigued by called “Lost Cities”. This title was carried by KOSMOS and happened to be available at a local hobby store. I obviously went for it as the price was not prohibitive. Yet when I played a few games, I realised the card quality was poor. The cards are, in my opinion, too susceptible to being damaged while handling them. The point is that the whole game revolves around a deck of cards, so the cards are rather important. Instead of focusing on the box art, I felt they could have spent a bit more on card quality and less on the box itself which serves no purpose other than to hold the deck and a small board used to help player organise their play area.

While quality is something modern board game hobbyists expect these days, it’s not the only aspect which they look at when purchasing their new titles. There is another, equally important aspect, game mechanics. Euro-style games have evolved considerably over the first two decades of the new millennium. While player elimination games are still part of any publishing house’s portfolio, euro-style games have garnered an ever more commanding proportion of these same companies’ portfolios.

What Euro-style games brought is a focus on point scoring and doing away with player elimination altogether. Yet how this is achieved has increased and diversified substantially, leading to the creation of many new mechanisms which have gained popularity over time. Others enjoyed popularity for a time only to be absorbed into newer and perhaps more sophisticated mechanisms. So, we get gaming mechanisms such as: -

• ·         Worker placement
• ·         Action Selection
• ·         Card Drafting
• ·         Deck Building
• ·         Area Control
• ·         Action rondelles
• ·         Auctions
• ·         Leapfrogging
• ·         Set Collection
• ·         Cooperation mechanisms
• ·         Asymmetric mechanics / Variable player powers
• ·         Action programming
• ·         Story Telling
• ·         Dice rolling
• ·         Take That
• ·         Push your luck
• ·         Tile placement
• ·         Trading
• ·         Hand Management
• ·         Pickup and Deliver
• ·         Route Building

The above list is anything other than exhaustive, but it allows me to illustrate the diversity of the mechanisms that can now be found in board games. Furthermore, some of the latest titles to hit the market tend to combine two or more mechanisms to create an innovative synergy. These create more compelling and rich experiences for players. Players who have evolved to playing these latter games will find it increasingly more difficult to go back to blander, simpler titles. I’d dare say that exposure to this growing list of game mechanics has created a new type of jaded board gamers that are way harder to please, or at least surprise, and therefore equally harder to draw in.

I personally blame this emerging scenario as the main reason for the rise in complex, campaign-driven, legacy-type games. I am here referring to the heavyweights of modern board gaming like Gloomhaven and Descent, the newer Frosthaven and other similar titles. It’s almost as if, to attract this growing niche of players, designers have decided to engage in increasing the duration and complexity of the titles they come up with.

On a personal level, this amalgam of factors and the ensuing issue posed by increased costs when it comes to purchasing goods online, have further accentuated the issues I face when sourcing new titles. On the one hand, purchasing new titles from abroad has become prohibitive with final price tags twice the cost (if not more) of the board game’s retail price. On the other hand, I am faced with a stronger reliance on local shops willing to import board gaming titles. This limits my selections squarely to what they have on offer. Few of these local retailers are then willing to risk importing new titles that are nothing but sure bets, no one wants to lose money.

I feel that it is high time that something is done to address the elephant in the room. Shipping costs need to be brought down again, either through direct legislation aimed at mitigating the negative impact on the final price of products delivered, or else an increase in 3^rd party consolidated shipping agencies who can, in turn, spread the shipping costs making deliverables more affordable. While there are some local operators trying to address this, I feel that the efforts are notably disjointed and rather difficult to use effectively.

In conclusion, board gamers like me will still be purchasing new titles for their collection, while staying on the lookout for upcoming trends and new gaming mechanics. The only limitation we will continue to face is sourcing these titles at an affordable price. I feel that the first company or companies capable of achieving this will dominate the local market for such games. Let’s hope someone out there will succeed in hitting on the right strategy as I am sure it will be a godsend for the hobby and local hobbyists alike.

In the meantime, signing off from BG Haven, have a great week! 

2022, a year of new games, old favourites and things to come.

As the year fast approaches its end, I wanted to but a blog together that summarises my experiences in 2022. What I am proposing here for your attention is a retrospective, a look back at a complex year with a few highs and lows. I figure that if you live long enough such average years will tend to occur with some disconcerting frequency.

When it comes to board games, this year saw a few good titles become part of my collection. Whenever possible, I have chosen games that add something, an innovative mechanism, some unique artwork or just perhaps a theme I did not have yet included.

Warcraft: Curse of the Lich King – Pandemic System – I have played my fair share of the original Pandemic and won several games with my board gaming group. However, this Warcraft skinning of the game felt a bit simplified and limited. The quests are fixed, so once you play three to four games, I feel there would be a replay issue. On the plus side, this was my first Pandemic game that came with some great miniatures. The use of these minis does improve the gaming experience, especially for long-time Warcraft fans such as me.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion – This is the smaller sibling of the monumental Gloomhaven. It also costs a fraction of Gloomhaven. “Jaws of the Lion” comes with four playable characters, minis, character specific decks, several standees, and sports the same dice-less system that has made Gloomhaven so popular. The Scenarios book that comes with the game also doubles as the actual map areas to be explored by the adventurers. Each scenario is just a matter of opening the book to the right page, placing the scenario specific standees and obstacles in their starting locations directly onto the book, and you are good to go. Overall, this game feels more manageable and easier to get to the table, while still offering some of that legacy feel that has made the Gloomhaven system so popular.

Terraforming Mars: Aries Expedition is a scaled down version of Terraforming Mars which plays in a fraction of the time of its bigger sibling. Aries Expedition still has enough of that substance you would expect but translates into a quicker, equally thematic gaming experience. Personally, I found it remarkably interesting that the designers were conscious that not all board game players can, or will, indulge in lengthy gameplay.

Lost Cities is a small two-player game I added to my collection, designed by Rainer Knizia. Though the theme is not particularly strong when it comes right down to it, it still makes the game pleasant and intuitive while also allowing you to keep track of cards played and which cards should go where. I played a few games with my son Neil, and he enjoyed it. As I said earlier, the artwork is gorgeous but what is truly striking is the mechanism that it carries elegantly. Players will contend for points in up to 6 columns or zones, seeking to ramp up their scores sufficiently to come out on top. Paying attention to what your opponent plays is key, as is a well-timed play or discard. Overall, a great little game.

While on holiday in Manchester, earlier this year, I got my hands on three games, one of which an expansion. The First one, Land & Sea reminds me visually of Carcassonne, but play could not be any more different. Players take turns to add hexagonal tiles to a growing tableau, all the while furthering the objective of their faction be it land or sea.

Undaunted: North Africa, is a two-player, World War 2, skirmish style game which uses cards and deck building as part of a combat simulation. Diverse maps can be set up from the campaign-style scenarios booklet. Each mission comes with specific objectives that must be engaged differently by either faction to win.

 

Wingspan: European Birds Expansion is the last game and sole expansion I bought from Manchester and it also happens to be the first published expansion to the game Wingspan. The European birds expansion adds a good few cards to the mix and also introduces a number of bird cards which do not carry any effects on them. There are also more automata cards and some additional objective cards which make point scoring that much more interesting.

Root: A Woodland game of right and might, which many are calling a modern “Risk” contender, is highly asymmetric game which pits four unique factions in a woodland brawl for ultimate dominance. No two factions play the same and this is what makes Root, highly replayable and challenging. One of my goals in 2023 will most definitely be to get to know this title a bit better.

The Crew: The Quest for Planet 9 is a small card game which uses trick-taking as its main focus of play. Furthermore, it successfully manages to turn the mechanism into a cooperative one. It fits into a smallish box but then packs in 50 variations, weaving them all together into a substantial campaign. You most definitely can play a few variations and stop for the day but progressing through the campaign offers an increasingly intricate experience with a gradual ramping up of difficulty.

Imhotep: Builder of Egypt is a game which made it into my collection, just in time for the holidays. Imhotep focuses on build queues; well-times moves and quick thinking to achieve point-scoring objectives. It is a very tactile game and comes with several coloured, wooden blocks serving the purpose of goods to be shipped up and down on river barges. The game's theme is extraordinarily strong and makes for a visually striking experience. It is easy to imagine yourself guiding boats up and down the river Nile, during pharaonic times, to construct magnificent buildings and majestic monuments. I have not had the chance to play this title quite yet, so I will share my experiences as soon as I do.

Now I would like to share with you some other games I upgraded or just played in 2022.

In 2022, I bought a metal coins upgrade for “Lords of Waterdeep”. The coins add an extra layer of tactile authenticity, if possible. They are beautifully crafted, and I bought them from an American online shop called “The Broken Token.” I already had everything in terms of expansions for this title, so this upgrade was the only way to truly bump up the gameplay for this favourite of mine.

This year I got to play Lords of Waterdeep with my gaming group over 2-sessions. While breaking up and following through with the game was not what I had originally intended, it was well worth the wait to finish off. I feel confident that another session or two with this gaming group will allow us all to better appreciate the intricacies of this worker placement classic. Who knows, I might eventually feel that we are good enough to add the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion into the mix.

Carcassonne also made it to the table for a couple of matches which were both challenging and rewarding. I was particularly glad that Neil joined in and played a full game netting a very respectable score in one instance.

One of my other favourites, Wingspan, also made it to the table this year. I must admit that teaching the game to first-time players felt challenging as I could not really focus on my game. Yet it was still an extremely rewarding experience to watch friends play the game for the first time and doing so successfully following the tutorial I delivered. They also enjoyed the overall experience and were particularly captivated by the theme and sleek design of this exceptional modern board game.

2022 also allowed me to test the abridged ruleset for another board game classic, Talisman. Played following the original rules, Talisman can be an authentic time hog. As anyone who knows the game will testify, Talisman is not restricted to a finite number of rounds, so the game will often last for as long as the players continue their back and forth around the board and between regions. The traditional ruleset is also highly confrontational, so players normally contend both with monsters encountered through the event deck, as well as with other players vying to be the first to reach the crown of command. On the contrary, the adapted ruleset I obtained and played, turns the game into a cooperative experience with the board itself as the sole enemy. It also reduces the time necessary to complete the first part of the game, by randomly depositing key sites around the outer region. In this way, players can speed up the levelling of their selected characters and then proceed quicker into the middle and inner regions. Having said that, the adapted game still took the better part of an hour and a half to complete.

As was to be expected, in 2022 digital board game playtime still took the lions’ share. I played lots of Wingspan, Raiders of the North Sea, Ascension (still a favourite), Lords of Waterdeep, Backgammon, Cribbage, Fox in the Forest as well as a few games of Root. I also managed to play my fair share of Hero Realms matches, exclusively versus AI bots, but it was still a lot of fun to get my hands dirty with this fantasy deck builder.

As far as new software games are concerned, I bought two digital adaptations of popular board games in 2022. The first as noted earlier is “Fox in the Forest” and the other “Root.” Root was a necessity just to get down to playing the game right away. However, while the game adaptation is visually appealing, it tends to lessen the importance of card texts and their visibility to the player. Also, the selected factions' basic objectives are not accurately represented, or easily accessible, during play. For these reasons, the digital adaptation fails to offer a viable teaching experience to players. Going forward, I still think that to get better at playing Root, I will need a good dose of live play and more familiarity with the cards and core rules.

As an aside, though not strictly a board game adaptation, I also bought “Dune: Spice Wars.” This game turned out to be a Civilisation-like game, based on the fictional planet Arrakis, with interminable play times. The graphics are brilliant, but it is just that I can no longer put in the hours of play this one demands. Furthermore, game play feels incremental, and actions taken earlier on during a session come together, or fall apart, much later during play. At times, playing this game feels like watching two trains about to collide in slow motion. You know you are heading for disaster, but at some point, you realise that there is nothing you can do about it.

Another digital game of note I purchased in 2022 is the RPG-like “Hand of Fate 2”. This is a follow-up to the original Hand of Fate which I had bought during a Steam Sale some years back. Although this is a sequel, I still found the fighting system to be dodgy, which I felt to be irritating in certain situations, since it brings too much console-style combat to what would otherwise be a tactical D&D clone with cards.

As Monty Python’s John Cleese was fond of saying,” ...and now for something completely different.”

Shipping costs to Malta became something of a nightmare in 2022. This was the reason I ended up giving AliExpress a decent try out. I bought the trick-taking card game “The Crew” from AliExpress and it arrived within an acceptable timeframe, which was encouraging. Overall, delivered product costs through AliExpress are marginally more contained, though I cannot understand how they manage it, when Amazon and eBay are doubling the cost of almost any board game shown in their catalogues. Regardless, any board games from abroad must, at least where I am concerned, come through AliExpress. I cannot seriously consider Amazon or eBay’s offers for the near future. I would like to offer a practical example of just how much shipping is inflating costs when it comes to board games.

 

Having said that, this year I was delighted to discover that an increasing number of local shops are catching up when it comes to stocking modern board games. My copies of Lost Cities, Root and even Imhotep were all purchased locally. Prices in all three cases were very fair and reasonable when compared with online shops. In all three instances, the purchase was sensibly cheaper when you factor in shipping costs. Obviously, these local shops (The Model Shop, Warmongers, Games plus and others) avail themselves of consolidated shipping which brings down the prices of the materials they import. Something I obviously cannot do.

As a further note, this time linked to AliExpress, I would like to point out that it is not that the shipping is lower when compared to shipping costs listed by Amazon or eBay, but that the games themselves are listed with significantly lower prices. The result is that once you slap the shipping cost to the game itself, the overall cost of that boardgame is comparable to what you would expect to pay locally. The only real issue with AliExpress is that they do not specialise in board games, so finding titles to purchase from them can proved tricky or impossible.

As a practical example to my argument, I would like to share a price comparison of purchasing the board game Azul from Amazon and AliExpress. From Amazon the game has a catalogue price of €31.99 and a shipping cost of €34.24, for a total cost of €66.23. From AliExpress Azul has an eye wateringly low price of €12.77 and a slightly steeper shipping cost of €40.67, for a total cost of €53.44. While AliExpress comes with a slightly higher shipping fee, I can still obtain the same identical title (Azul) for €12.79 less than what it would cost me from Amazon.

At the end of the day however, I still feel that currently there are substantial savings to be made by buying through a local agent. Doing so, allows me to purchase more titles than what I would be able to afford should I have to source all my games from abroad. While I am not keeping my hopes up, I have heard encouraging news that shipping costs and related organisation are expected to normalise over the coming months and hopefully that will translate to more acceptable price tags when it comes to purchasing new boardgames directly from abroad.

As 2022 slowly ends, I have some additional games in the pipeline which I am interested in obtaining for my collection. I have nominally booked/pre-ordered the third expansion of Wingspan (Wingspan: Asia) which should arrive by the end of January to mid-February. I have also signalled my interest in obtaining “Splendor Duel” though it will most likely arrive by the second quarter of 2023.

Before signing off on this last blog for 2022, I wanted to spare a few minutes on ComiCon Malta 2022, held at the end of October. The event was indeed very well attended, and I was quite frankly surprised at the crowds I found there. However, the event was not effectively managed. Areas were not properly segregated, and cut-off rooms for specific discussion panels were poorly insulated from the constant brouhaha that epitomised the main hall. I tried attending one D&D panel and all attendees struggled to understand what the speakers were saying. Likewise, areas dedicated to live boardgame play-throughs were not properly segregated from the flow of patrons and they felt crammed in corners as afterthoughts.

The real shame however was the space allocated to some established comic artists who were exhibiting their works on site. The event was about Comic Culture and these artists should have been afforded better focus. One thing I found deplorable was that there was no proper signage highlighting the works of these same artists. I would have expected at least a display of sorts running a PowerPoint or a brief video highlighting their work and achievements. As set up, these professionals were difficult to approach by patrons, who may not recognise them, or even mentally associate them with some of the most iconic comic book creations of the past several decades.

I do sure hope that these shortcomings in Malta ComiCon 2022 will be properly addressed going forward, as there is a strong local community of enthusiastic and avid comic book fans, who would appreciate the effort put into organising such events. Furthermore, I also think it is about time to start considering specific conventions focused on board games, war gaming and roleplaying games. These could take the shape of live play throughs of the latest games, gaming tutorials as well as discussion panels with perhaps a few gaming tournaments thrown in.

That is all for 2022! I am hoping that next year will bring interesting developments when it comes to board gaming, as well as more opportunities for live play. I also hope to be able to meet up more frequently with my gaming groups and to share more experiences around the table. To all those who have read my blogs this year, I wish you all a good year end and may the new year ahead treat you all kindly.

A prosperous New Year 2023 to all.

 

Board game News Q4 2022

Hi fellow Board Games & Co. Members! This blog is going to take the form of a news brief concerning an upcoming local event, board games and board game expansions I’m looking forward to. So here we go!

Before diving in into all things related to board games, I would like to begin with a quick note on Comicon Malta 2022, which will be held on Saturday the 29th and Sunday 30th of October 2022 at the MFCC in Ta Qali. This will be the first convention of its kind, post pandemic. For most of us the last two years were some of the weirdest we have experienced in our lifetimes! Yet it was during these past two years that I think my appreciation for boardgames grew stronger. Forced periods of quarantine and serious social limitations, highlighted the flexibility and enjoyment you can derive from sharing a physical boardgame experience with those closest to you. As we gradually returned to what has been defined as the “new normal”, the memory of this board gaming epiphany remains relatively strong. For this reason, I believe that Comicon 2022 will be a celebration not only of comic culture but of all subcultures that have fantasy (in all its expressions) and more generally play at their core. 

As has been the case in previous editions, I expect Comicon this year to bring us a lot of comic-related fun but also showcase local suppliers offering all things related to comics, fan collectables and... boardgames. Several local importers and distributors are expected to attend this year, including Agenda, Forbidden Power, Malta Comics, Games Plus, Gamebreaker, “MC Toys and collectables”.  These retailers will be showcasing their goods during the two-day event and attendees will be able to purchase merchandise straight from their stalls. A few comic book artists will also be making an appearance as well as some interesting guests including actors and actresses. 

I will be attending on Saturday the 29th of October, and I will be taking my son along for the ride, fingers crossed he will enjoy it! Initially I was hoping to take part in a short, D&D style roleplaying session, with a cyberpunk theme. However, due to forces beyond the organizer's control this will have to be cancelled. There are, however, plans to hold this session at the W.A.R.S. club in Floriana, later this year.

Speaking of “Games Plus”, I was very much surprised and delighted when I actually paid this little shop a visit a little over a week ago. The shop, situated in San Gwann is chock full of all manner of items fans might desire and when I say chock full, I mean really packed, floor to ceiling. You will find everything from Marvel merchandise to Dragon Ball, Minecraft and even a corner full of all things related to Harry Potter. On the downside, their in-store board game selection is smallish for my tastes, but the available titles are noteworthy. I saw five or six versions of Ticket to Ride among others, as well as the modern asymmetric masterpiece “Root” including several expansions. 

Speaking of “Root”, this is officially the newest game in my collection. It is a game that marries well-honed game aesthetics with some witty gameplay. In this woodland-themed battler, you play as one of four possible factions, all vying to achieve their specific goals before the rest. There is combat and there are clashes with some randomness thrown in (there is some dice rolling). All in all, Root is a very thought-provoking, highly enjoyable game. What’s more, the factions themselves are anthropomorphic animal clans, from birds, to cats, to mice, rabbits and foxes. Visually the graphics are very appealing, allowing the game to serve as an excellent, friendly springboard to other combat-related board games. Yet I don’t want to mislead you here, this board game is not all about combat. You will need to make tactical decisions based on your chosen faction, and your faction-specific game objectives will lead you to make equally specific choices, which may not always involve direct conflict. Being asymmetric also means that you can look forward to experiencing this game from very different points of view, making each game unique with its own set of challenges.

Another game I am looking forward to adding to my collection when it becomes available is “Splendor Duel”. This is a two-player-only variation of Splendor, the original game designed by Marc Andre back in 2014. In this two-player version, co-designed with renowned designer Bruno Cathala, game play is fine-tuned to specifically leverage the two-payer dynamic. I would like to invite you to have a look at the game review published by Dice Tower to get a better feel for what this game brings to the table. 

Another game I am particularly keen on bringing into my collection when it becomes available is both an expansion and a stand-alone game, Wingspan Asia. This third expansion to the Wingspan series from designer Elisabeth Hargrave, focuses on birds from the Asian continent.  Yet what this expansion also adds is a new two-player gaming variant called “Duet”, as well as a further option to play the game with up to 6 or 7 players in what is called “flock mode”. “Duet” introduces some interesting twists to the game including additional ying-yang style game pieces, player boards and duet specific game objectives. Flock mode on the other hand allows you to scale up a standard game of Wingspan to six or seven players without increasing game time significantly. This ingenious, time reducing trick is achieved through simultaneous play.  On a specific turn, two players will play their actions and cards simultaneously thus reducing playtime overall. A special turn-taking dial helps facilitate this process by indicating which two players are next during any given turn. As with the base game and previous expansions, this expansion also comes with all the necessary cards to play the solo version called “Automata”. Also, in line with previous expansions, Wingspan Asia will allow players to mix its cards with both the base game as well as the other published expansions for a richer gaming experience. With regards to Duet mode, all you will need to play is just a copy of Wingspan Asia, previous expansions or the base game are not required. 

As an aside, the publishers of Wingspan are also releasing what they have called the “Wingspan Nesting Box”. This special box is beautifully designed with some great artwork and is aimed at housing all Wingspan components once all expansions are published. What is more, the “Nesting Box” also comes with a full copy of Wingspan Asia inside, so you won't need to buy this expansion separately. While the idea may sound attractive, the box itself is quite big, so you would need to think seriously about where you will be storing it. Also, once fully loaded with all the planned Wingspan material, I can almost guarantee the Wingspan Nesting box will end up weighing in at around 3.5 to 4 kilograms.

As a last-minute board game related news item, “Dune Imperium” is also getting a second expansion later this year called “Dune Imperium – Immortality”. This expansion will feature the “Bene Tleilax”, an insidious faction within the Dune universe with expertise on genetic manipulation and the production of clones.  I am not sure whether I will be getting this expansion. Currently I still have very little information regarding what one should expect from this add-on. The previous expansion “Rise of Ix” received a lot of praise from the board gaming community, some venturing to remark that they cannot envisage playing the base game without it. For now, I will have to take their word for it as I have yet to get my hands dirty with a few runs of the base game. 

So that is all the news I have for you today, but I do plan to get back to you with some Comic-Con Malta 2022 news later in November. As always should you have any queries related to board games, your next game purchase or perhaps parts of this or other videos present on our Facebook group, just drop me a line, WhatsApp me or otherwise get in touch. I’ll gladly oblige!