My 2016 Christmas List

December 13, 2016

Ah, what is Christmas if not a time for traditions? This season gives me the chance to ruminate on the games published in the last year or so and decide on which I would like to own. By now, I've iterated many times how I don't buy board games. The newest board game in my collection, I believe, is Arkwright, which I traded Capstone Games for at Gen Con with a copy of Forge War. I also got a free demo copy of Scythe at Gen Con in conjunction with me helping Stonemaier sell 1000 copies from my booth. Before that, I think I got the T.I.M.E. Stories expansion A Prophesy of Dragons as a gift for my birthday back in April. I don't think I've spent actual money on acquiring a board game since Pandemic Legacy last Christmas. I'm not trying to brag or anything. I am just trying to illustrate that I am a very strange board gamer and the opportunity to circumvent my various neuroses and actually add a new game to my collection is kind of a big deal. So now I present to you my Christmas wish list for 2016, in no particular order: My first experience with Vital Lacerda was with CO2, and, well, it was a little lackluster. The game play was nice but the whole "semi-cooperative" aspect really rubbed me the wrong way. I played half a game of Kanban at the last Origins and really liked it, though. Then Lisboa ended up being my favorite game coming out of BGG Con, so I have decided that I should officially join the Vital Lacerda bandwagon and pick up one of his games. The Gallerist seems like a good choice, as it has been favorably compared to Lisboa and I like the theme more than Kanban. I honestly think Vinhos might be my top pick, but the reprinted edition is way too expensive. My other pick coming off experiences at BGG Con is Railroad Revolution. I only got to play half a game of it, and I desperately want to play more. The planning of which colored workers to gain in order to keep your engine going and get the right bonuses when you take your actions is so brilliant and satisfying. I think specialized workers in worker placement games (we're also seeing it in Chimera Station and other games) is going to be the next big thing in board games, and Railroad Revolution does it really well, though I think I'd call it more of an action selection mechanism than worker placement, since there's no blocking. Either way, I can't wait to play this again. And then we come back to Seasons. I know it's old. I know I mention it every year, but every year I don't get. Every year I hope the desire to play it will subside, but it never does. Do you see how crazy I am now? I have been wanting to buy this game for at least three years, and I still haven't done it. Maybe this will be the year I can add it to my shelf... maybe... Honorable Mention: Terraforming Mars Before BGG Con, this would have been at the top of my list, because I had so desperately been wanting to play it. I've played it three times now, and it is a very enjoyable game, but the fervor has subsided considerably, and also one of my friends bought it, so now I don't have to. This is how my life works. I just leech off of other people's collections. So there you have it. Another embarrassing confessional about my extreme thriftiness, thinly disguised as a list of games that I want. Let us now wait and see what Christmas brings!

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