So with no further ado, here's my choices; and little about why I chose them.
a lot more to offer however, and that I've only scraped the surface; having only played with The Red Dragon's Dungeon. For this entry, I am including that deck, The Blue Mammoth's Dungeon, and the four original Dungeon Builder Sets (The Glowing Plasmapede, The Magic Computer, The Chroma Dragon, and The Darkness).
Asgard' Chosen - Honestly, I know very little about this game. When I decided to buy it, the decision was based purely upon the theme; as I am rather fond of games set in the dark ages. That said, it didn't fair massively well during its Dice Tower review; so I get the feeling that Asgard's Chosen may very well prove to be a Marmite kind of game.
Dark Dealings - This is another game that I don't know a lot about, but I have watched a couple of demo games on YouTube; and at it's core it seems like several smaller games in one, that you play back to back.
Initially there is a round of drafting, where you determine just how difficult the game will be by bidding on the heroes that you plan to vanquish, with tougher heroes giving you more buying power in the second phase. The second phase then has you use those heroes to draft your defenses, which come in the form of various traps and monsters.
Lastly you use those defenses to overcome the heroes as they attack your keep. I'm sure there is more to it than that, but I believe that is the gist of it.
Eight Epics - A simple light dice game, which there isn't really a lot to say about. Roll the dice and use the special abilities of your heroes to manipulate those dice, in order to meet the requirements on the card of the current big bad. Pretty straight forward stuff, nicely packaged by AEG.
Harbour - It may come in a small package, but don't all good things? Despite being a small box game, Harbour has a real big box feel about it, and a great deal of depth. For those of you not familiar with the game, it's all about controlling the demand of the goods on the market; whilst meeting that demand. This is done by using the abilities of the properties in play, via a worker placement mechanic; with the goal of ultimately buying those properties with the gold you earn from the sale of goods.
Another element that really sells this game to me, and makes it pop is the art (I really love the art in this game).
In summary, a lovely little game that I'm quite taken with.
Port Royal - This is another game where I don't really know what to expect. I've watched a couple of videos on YouTube demonstrating how to play, and showing a game in action; but as I'll be playing this one with the Erweiterung expansion in order to make it solo capable, I suspect that game play could be somewhat different from the group games that I have watched.
Progress: Evolution of Technology - I really like civ builder games, so I couldn't put this list together without including at least one. Initially it was going to be Imperial Settlers, which I am a big fan of, but as I've played many games of it and none of this; combined with being pressed for space on this list given the limitations of the challenge, Progress: Evolution of Technology won out.
Side Quest - Boy howdy! Do me and this game have history! Initially I came across this game a few years back at the UK Games Expo, just prior to it hitting Kickstarter; where it was being demoed. I had a game, during which I made the journey from intrigued to want.. However, as I mentioned, this was going on Kickstarter, so wasn't actually for sale at that point (although I will say there was a PnP version available pretty soon after that).
The thing is, I have never, and will never, back anything on Kickstarter. This is simply because don't like the way the site is used by the larger companies. So, it was no reflection on Side Quest that I didn't back it at the time, as had I been given a straight up opportunity to snap it up outside of Kickstarter, I would have.
Said opportunity was not to come for another year however, at the next expo; as neither my friendly local games store or my online supplier took stock of it!
So, one year later I finally got my copy.. And nearly 8 months on from that I still haven't got round to playing it.. *sigh*.
Suffice to say, there was no way that this game wasn't going to make the cut!
Thunderstone - Way back when, when deck-builders were still in their infancy; one would stand out amongst the crowd, and that one was Thunderstone. In fact, it was the first deck-building game that I ever played. But what made it different?
Well, where other deck-builders of the time; like Dominion; where largely straight forward engine building games, Thunderstone had a few more bells and whistles. For example, in Dominion you could draft any card you could afford from the market; but in Thunderstone, some cards were only available if you had drafted other cards prior. Some cards could also only be utilised if you drew other specific cards alongside them. So there was a lot more going on; and a lot more skill required than with other comparable games, that led to a more immersive experience.
Tiny Epic Kingdoms - The Tiny Epic range of games tick a lot of boxes for me, so one of them was always going to make the list. Picking which one however was no easy task, and ultimately came down to "which ones haven't I played yet?".
That left me with either Tiny Epic Kingdoms (combined with the Heroes Call expansion in order to allow it to be played solo) or Tiny Epic Western. With nothing to really choose between the two games (given that I've never played either of them), I went to my default setting; which is fantasy.
Zombies Keep Out - When making the final cut for this list, it was a toss up between this and Castle Panic; but ultimately I went with Zombies Keep Out as I've played far fewer games of it. From what I remember, it's also a more challenging game; and if I've proved only one thing so far with this, and my previous posts, it's that I'm always up for a challenge.
So there we have it. My 10 x 10 challenge, and I've done sterling job with keeping to the criteria I set out in my previous post, even if I do say so myself! Each of my selections can be played solo, and seven of my eleven choices are games that I am yet to play.
That should put a dent in The Cult of the New!
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