The Story Behind the Takenoko Collector Edition

Takenoko aka The Panda Game
Takenoko aka The Panda Game

Recently on Board Game Geek someone asked about the collector edition of one of my favorite games: Takenoko. Someone from the game company provide an official answer, which was fun to read.

Actually the original idea was just to make a limited series hand made and assembled for conventions (Tiles were produced internally and we just got the wooden pieces made in a factory, the Panda and Gardener were plastic toys). We used it and people were asking for a chance to buy the game. We then produced a few hundred thanks to Asmodee North America who offered them to their best retaillers [sic] (as far as I understand that right), the leftover couple hundred were meant to be sold at Essen and they did. When we thought about reprinting we could not see the market and after months of considerations going nowhere, we finally got help via Collector’s shelf crowdfunding.

Read the original question (and subsequent discussion) on BoardGameGeek.com.

I participated in the recent KickStarter campaign where they reissued the collector edition once again. I did not buy it (I thought about it!) simply because it would take so much shelf space, and it would not be very portable. I did buy the lower tier option which came with a wooden insert for the regular game and a beautiful play mat.

Board Game Geek Top 100 Checklist, Part 1

One of my favorite resources for getting exposed to, learning how to play, and discussing board games is Board Game Geek affectionately known as BGG. They have been around for a long time, especially counting in Internet Years. One of the things they do is provide an interesting mechanism for ranking games. Some people like it, some people don’t, but for the sake of this post I will leave that behind and just talk about a different topic.

Suppose I had a goal of owning all of the games in the BGG top 100 list, what would that look like? What’s on the list, what do I have, and if I don’t have something, will I eventually? If I owned a game and then sold it, does that count? Is this the questions only game? Continue reading “Board Game Geek Top 100 Checklist, Part 1”

Sagrada: A Dicey Challenge

Sagrada
Sagrada
Title: Sagrada
Players: 1-4 (5-6 with expansion)
Play Time: 30-45 minutes
Designer: Adrian Adamescu, Daryl Andrews
Publisher: Floodgate Games
Year: 2017

Overview
Sagrada uses brightly colored dice to fill a grid. The game concept was inspired by the stained glass windows of the famous church in Spain. There is a drafting mechanism (picking dice) and there are placement rules (details below) and both hidden and public goals. In this review I’m going to talk about both the base game and the expansion, since we have played with both. The expansion adds support for a fifth and/or sixth player, in addition to providing additional cards, dice, and a dice tray that they might as well have left out. I had previously written up my first impression of Sagrada; this review will provide more details about the components, the rules, and the game play experience. Continue reading “Sagrada: A Dicey Challenge”

Zoom For Games

Covid sucks. I have barely been able to get out of the house. On the plus side, my car insurance company gave me a rebate, so there’s that…

But what do we do about social events like board games? How does that work? I have played games with my sister (remote in Colorado) as well as local friends (local meaning each in our own houses, they just happen to be our normal board game partner family). As we have played I have slowly figured out some things that help (or hurt) the board game experience, so I thought I would share. Continue reading “Zoom For Games”

Session Report: Defenders of the Realm, How Many Ways To Lose?

Defenders of the Realm
Defenders of the Realm
I was introduced to this game a few weeks ago by a gaming friend at a local game store. That was when we were able to gather in public and all that. (Future readers are going to wonder what that means…) After playing it once, I bought it. All of it. 😛 A few nights after the game arrived, I played solo for the first time. I wasn’t sure if in playing solo I should pick multiple characters or a single character. I decided to go with just one.

Disclaimer: This was my first solo game, so I missed some rules. Doesn’t matter, still had a blast! Continue reading “Session Report: Defenders of the Realm, How Many Ways To Lose?”

First Impression: Defenders of the Realm

Defenders of the Realm
Defenders of the Realm

Our Liege is in desperate hour! From what grievous cause have these accursed races arisen? Orcs, Dragons, Demons and the Dead make haste towards Monarch City. The King and Countryside of Monarch City is in need of valiant Heroes!

Will you answer the King’s call?

Defenders of the Realm is a 1-4 player game that definitely feels like it was inspired by Pandemic. Cooperative game? Check. Collecting card sets of the same color? Check. Special / unique player abilities? Check. Escalating threat levels as the game progresses? Check. Multiple ways to lose, with only one way to win? Check.

Dragons? No, dragons are not in Pandemic, and of course they are super-way cool. 😎

Side note: I wanted to write this entire post using the Comic Sans font, but WordPress would not let me. Something about the ’90s called and took their font back… Continue reading “First Impression: Defenders of the Realm”

2020 10×10 Challenge Progress

Last year I learned about something called at “10×10” or “ten-by-ten” challenge. The premise is simple. At the beginning of the year, pick ten games. Play each at least ten times each over the coming 12 months. I initially set up only nine games because I wanted to leave one spot open for a “yet to be determined” game (more on that below).

It’s the end of March, how am I doing so far? Continue reading “2020 10×10 Challenge Progress”

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster (Part II)

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster User Manual Cover
Heroes of the Aturi Cluster
Wow, I completely forgot about this. A long time ago (in a galaxy right here) I wrote a post about “Heroes of the Aturi Cluster” which is a fan-made campaign expansion for X-Wing Miniatures Game. I talked about my Y-Wing pilot “Rover” and the abilities he had by the end of the campaign. What I didn’t talk about was how the Imperial side worked, and I’ll address that now, as well as talk about the overview of how the campaign works. Continue reading “Heroes of the Aturi Cluster (Part II)”

Game Review: Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island
Forbidden Island
Title: Forbidden Island
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 30 Minutes
Designer: Matt Leacock
Publisher: Gamewright (et al)
Year: 2010

Overview
Forbidden Island was one of many games that I learned about by watching the TableTop channel on YouTube. It is a cooperative game where 1-4 players try to move around an island attempting to retrieve four special relics, each representing one of the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Technically it’s sold as a 2-4 player game, but you could easily play this by yourself. There are six roles that are randomly assigned to start the game. Each role has one special ability that I’ll cover a bit later.

If you don’t read any further, here’s the important part: I definitely enjoy this game, and find that it’s a fantastic way to introduce the idea of cooperative gaming to those who haven’t played that style before. (It’s much easier to explain and faster to play than Pandemic, for example, another cooperative game from the same designer.) Adding in the alternate island layouts (details later) has kept this game in my rotation for quite some time.

I don’t like the metal tin. But I can get over that. 😉 Continue reading “Game Review: Forbidden Island”