Focus on What's Your Game

Several of my favourite games come from this company, yet they seem to be largely under the radar – most of my sales of them come from personal recommendation to people in the shop, or as a result of a game being played in one of our regular sessions. Oddville is one I always suggest, and our copy sees frequent service; reliably about an hour long, using several familiar systems which make it easy to pick up, with the feel of a full game while being in a small box and costing less than £20.

WYG also do several heavyweight games, worker placements with individual twists. Nippon and Railroad Revolution are the ones that I own and play most. Disgracefully, I have yet to play Madeira, which comes highly recommended by fellow Nippon enthusiasts, but I am so easily tempted by the other WYG games. Asgard is perhaps, by reputation, the hardest to get into but worth the effort; I really should make that effort soon, but arriving around the end of the month is their latest offering, Loot Island, so trying that will take priority. A lighter weight game with a puzzle aspect to it, it looks as though it should not be too hard to learn, but whether it will lure me away from their other games remains to be seen.

Other Favourites

I continue to have an inability to turn down a game of Concordia, with or without the Salsa expansion, and have recently introduced several new people to another fine game from PD Verlag: Navegador. Last year a small expansion was released, half for one and half for the other, so clearly designed for me but overlooked by Father Christmas in 2016. It will easily fit on the tree...

Both these games come in at under £50 at a time when the weak Pound has been putting popular games well above that level. There is good news on prices for some other games too, I am always up for a game of Evolution but it was held back initially by being relatively pricey, albeit beautifully produced. Now there are the options of the Climate version, with extra bits that make it more hard core, at £55, the original version now down to £37, and The Beginning, a card game version that still gives a very good game at only £23. Power Grid is another enduring favourite, currently still just £40; I am always up for a Vikings Gone Wild which is only £35, and Imhotep is good fun at £30. But mention of fun inevitably brings us to Clank, a little over £50 but worth every penny – we often have two games on the go at the same time when there is gaming in the shop, it only takes an hour or so and is a lovely mixture of skill and luck that always builds to a dramatic climax.

For lovers of overtly fighty games, Barony is another favourite of mine that the virtue of fitting into an hour; 2 – 4 players and is only £35. For two players, Raptor has just returned to print, with a neat and unusual card-driven turn/move system for £23. And on the subject of returning to print, Torres is back with us after a long absence. In essence a nicely details abstract game, building towers and moving knights, it is also partly card-driven, and has a lot of character that takes away the abstract feel. Another good buy at £37, it is equally good with 2, 3 or 4 players and I must dig my old copy out again.

More thoughts next week.

Spirit Games (Est. 1984, Lefglow Ltd) - Supplying role playing games (RPG), wargames rules, miniatures and scenery, new and traditional board and card games for the last 41 years

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