Category: Hard (2.5-5 complexity)

Vantage

=> BoardGameGeek
=> Annotated Rulebook v20
=> Official Player Aid Reference Card
=> Lens 1 page Rules Summary Vantage v2
=> Errata (mistakes on the cards) – see end of this article)

=> RulePop (includes the errata and easy to use storybook entries)

=> Vantage Locations Checklist (v2 with room for journal notes)
=> Log Your Journey (location by location) Thin Columns
=> Vantage Travel Journal (lots of room for journaling along with location number space plus print single sided so spiral bound has alternating blank pages)

=> Video playlist
=> Several videos about things we may be playing wrong (officially recommended)
=> Background Music for Vantage

From the designer: Vantage is primarily designed to reward curiosity, observation, and shared knowledge (either with other players or with yourself from previous plays). It is a rewarding, abundant game, not a punishing game; if you pay attention, use your eyes, and discuss what you see and have seen, the game will reward you. [ie, you ALWAYS succeed when you try something … it’s just that the COST to have done it can be minor or MAJOR:) ]

Tip: Games may be harder with fewer players. However, with 4, 5 or 6 players there is quite a bit of lag before you get your turn again!

It is possible to add in or drop players to a game in progress. To add in . . . just like another escape pod landed on the planet, treat them like additional player in start up, and have them land on the planet and add 2 more black dice to the game.

Overview (queued to summing up the game – if you like it, go back to the beginning for his overview of playing the game)

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Rolling Realms (Redux)

This is a game that is a collection of MANY mini roll and write games! Rolling Realms comes with 12 mini games. Then the Redux edition adds 12 more. Plus there are many mini game packs that you can add to the game. There already are over 100 mini games in the Rolling Realms universe!

IMPORTANT NOTE!

I now have a full 70 page website for this game!
=> MyRollingRealms.wordpress.com

BoardGameGeek => Rolling Realms // Rolling Realms Redux
Official Website => Rolling Realms Packs
Rules, Realms, FAQ => RollingRealms-promo-rulebook

=> Rolling Realms Info Cards (base game-ALL) [Len’s cards]

=> Over 200 Video Play throughs

=> Video playlist

Overview:

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Rules are in ALIEN (all symbols) – City of Six Moons

I ordered this game December 17, 2024. It might take up to two months to receive it as each game is individually packaged.

It’s like someone discovered this alien board game and now we want to play it … but the rules aren’t in English … they are in ALIEN!

It would seem that most of the fun of the game will be just figuring out HOW to play the game. The game designer and publisher have stated that they will NOT answer any rules questions!

Here are some articles (reviews?) of the game(?)

  1. Designer Diary (background on the game written by the designer)
  2. Three Phases of Six Moons (written by someone who actually IS a translator of dead languages (ie Biblical))
  3. The Alien board game people are spending months translating (Polygon) first article I read about this game
  4. “People have spent 20 hours solving” City of Six Moons, the board game you must learn an alien language to play (Games Radar)
  5. BGG – Forum – Possible Errata (nope, it was correct – but the thread is interesting)

SIdenote: one of the “blue” cards looked a tad bit purple … the game designer has confirmed that this was a printing issue, and the card really should be the regular blue color!

A fairly short look at the “game” (or whatever you might call it):

Back of the box:

Promotional photos provided on the game designers / game publishers website:

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Spirit Island (2017) (Coop & Solo)

Many articles and reviews have been mentioning Spirit Island as a great game, including these from Polygon: 5 Best Coop Games and 5 Best Solo Games

=> BoardGameGeek (8.4 rating – but also a quite hard rating (over 4.0) for difficulty)

=> Video Playlist

IMPORTANT searchable FAQ system => Home Page => Commonly Misplayed Rules

Tips from Kim Tolson:
Just take your time and play with the basic spirits (easy ones) and you’ll be able to handle the game just fine! Then you can move on to playing with those more complex, challenging spirits:)
I think it’s easier with two players. Louis agrees. There’s a lot of coordination needed and when you have just two people, it’s easier to plan and communicate.

Many of my favorite reviewers have videos on Spirit Island including Kim Tolson, Rahdo, Meeple University, Jon Gets Games, Gaming Rules (Paul Grogan), Before You Play (Monique & Naveen) and One Stop Co-op Shop. So you can pick which of their video’s you’d like to watch!

Actually … Monique says it is her favorite Coop Game! Here is the video for that (queued up to the right spot):

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Pandemic Legacy

The Legacy games are a narrative story version of Pandemic that currently (July 2021) are the second most popular game of all time per Board Game Geek! It is relatively important to play through the 12 or more games in one Legacy Season with the same team of people, since the game can draw you in as a team! It seems you play 12 games in sequence, but if you fail in a game you need to play it over again (with two extra bonuses).  So in the end your team may play about 18 games (more or less).

Board Game Geek:

=> Rules

=> Video Playlist

Watch Kim Tolson talk about the three Legacy Seasons to get a feel for what the game(s) are like:

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Ares Expedition (Terraforming Mars Card Game)

Comments from BGG: Buy Race for the Galaxy instead of its cheap imitation Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (which had an outsourced design team). Ares Expedition is what happens when you get the idea of mixing two great games, Terraforming Mars and Race for the Galaxy, and somehow leave out the good bits and are left wishing you were playing either of the parent games instead.

=> BoardGameGeek

=> Video Playlist

Overview:

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