144) Bohnanza

This is set collection game that will hone your negotiation skills. At the beginning of each players turn they must plant (play) the first card and optionally the second card of their hand (card order is important). The the player flips up two cards from the draw pile and must either plant them or trade/give away these cards. Finally the player draws cards to add to the back of their hand and the next players turn begins. As you may start to notice there is a lot of player interaction through trading of cards to both get the beans you want and weed the ones you don't want out of your hand.

Our 7-player game 

One blurry coffee bean 

Quality art 

End game score

This game will always hold a special place in my heart. The people I've played with and fun times I've had playing make me partial to this game. Thus, in my biased opinion you should certainly play this game (although after playing space beans I might recommend that game over this one).

141) Morels

In this game you're collecting mushrooms as you travel through the forest. On your turn you can add cards to your hand or play cards for end game points or immediate 'money'. At the end of each players turn a card is removed from the line-up and one or two new cards are added. The goal of the game is to collect sets of the same mushroom and then cook them in a pan (playing cards from your hand). Of course there are all sorts of bonus cards that can change your hand size, give you more pans, or even count as double of a given mushroom. When you've gone through the deck once the game ends.

Ready to go mushroom hunting 

My hand 

End game scoring 

Cool artwork

I really enjoyed this game. It's very tight to the point where you're counting cards and trying to remember what is left in the deck. It's a great balance of collecting the cards that benefit you and trying to thwart the other players plans. For a two player game there is quite a bit going on and we both enjoyed this one.

140) Space Beans

This is a fairly simple drafting game that is very similar to bohnanza. The game starts with all but one person having cards in hand. The start player draws two cards then chooses as many cards in one color as they want to lay in front of them. The first color is face up, but a second color can be started face down on subsequent turns. Once the cards are played the remaining cards are passed to the player with no cards and play continues clockwise. Players can score their played cards by keeping the highest value card in their pile that does not exceed the total cards in that pile and discarding the rest.

Just as fun as it sounds 

4-player game 

Some planted space beans 

Fun artwork

I really enjoyed this game as a light starter game. It's easy to play, easy to teach and the drafting mechanic and set collection work really well together. I recommend giving this a try.

134) Valley of the Kings

This is a set collection game combined with the deck building mechanic. It plays very similar to dominion where each turn you have five cards in hand. Each card can be played for money or its special ability. You can buy cards from the bottom row of the pyramid (seen in picture two). The twist is that on each turn you can take a card from your hand and remove it from the game. This card will then be scored when the game ends. Some cards are worth a set amount of points, but most cards belong to a set of like colored cards and you get a lot more points for each additional card in the set that you collect.

Setting up the game 

Available cards for purchase 

My hand 

End game score

This game felt a lot like a deck management game rather then a deck builder, which was a unique twist. The built in ability to remove a card from your deck every turn made for some interesting choices, especially in the first few turns when money is fairly tight. It did feel like some cards were overly powerful and could break the game, but after only one play its very difficult to know this for certain. The one annoying thing is that you're constantly shuffling your cards. My deck size remained around 10 cards the entire game and I was able to draw my entire deck most turns so I was constantly shuffling. Apart from that it was very fun and I would happily play this again.

119) Sumeria

A fun game where you're changing the strength of different areas based on the movement of your pieces. The board is divided into 9 areas, but only the three highest areas will score at the end of each round. On your turn you can add one of your pieces to the board, remove one of your pieces, or move one of your pieces along roads to the next open city. When your piece enters a new region on the board that region will move one step higher in the race to score. Removing a piece bumps a region lower. Your goal is to have more of your pieces in the areas that score then the other players.

Set-up and ready to start

My feelings about this game: "Uruk"

Collecting victory tiles

Despite being a step behind every turn this game was enjoyable. One of the players stated somewhat accurately that the turn before the scoring round is a bit predictable as the optimal move is usually obvious. I feel like my major downfall was trying to plan too much in advance rather then being more flexible and reactive to what others were doing. All in all a fun game to bring out every once in a while.

116) Ticket to Ride

I can't believe it took this long to play this game. This is a classic game that everyone seems to know about. The game play is fairly straight forward. Initially each player starts with two or three route cards that give you bonus points for connecting two different cities (or negative points if you fail to do so).  Then players take turns choosing from one of three actions: Draw track cards, play track cards to build a train route, or draw additional route cards. Once someone has played all but a few of their trains onto the board the game will end.

Playing with my trains before starting

Getting clogged up in the middle

Finished most of my routes

This game is great for all ages and all skill levels. There are tons of expansions and different maps, but for the most part these are very similar to the base game. This game has great tension between wanting to collect more cards and thus have more flexibility in building larger routes and wanting to be the first person to play somewhere so you don't get blocked. Just in writing this review past games come to mind that had different strategies and opportunities to block and chances to do this and that... The fact that this game has left me with so many fun memories is a good sign.

115) Eight-Minute Empire

This was a great little game packed into a little box. After setting up the board the game play is quite straight forward. On your turn you purchase an available card, do the action listed on the bottom, and then add the card to your collection of cards. The goal of the game is to have the most points. You score points in two ways: On the map you get points for controlling different areas and regions and with the cards you collected you get points based on how many like symbols (listed on the top of the card) you have. The actions on the cards allow you to add pieces and move pieces around on the board.

Is this really going to take only 8 minutes? -no-

Initial set-up -check-

Set collection for maximum points

The end of our game

This game was great and the two of us playing came away really wanting to play again. It's so simple and yet so strategic. There's so much going on and so much to consider. The area control and set collection both play into the game really well. All around solid game that I highly recommend.

113) Jaipur

A fun card game where you're collecting and turning in groups of like cards to then gain points based on how many cards are in your set. The points in each colored set go down as cards are turned in, but you get bonus points for turning in larger groups of cards - thus there is a good push and pull of wanting to turn in cards first, but also wanting to have more of the card type.

Ready to start

First round point total

Resource cards

This has been on my 'want to play' list for a long time. It was definitely fun. The games I played were a bit swingy with the camel mechanic such that one player would be in complete control for a couple turns and then the other player would take control. Despite that I really enjoy games with the tension of wanting to do more being balanced with deciding when to cash in. Overall a good game. I don't think I would rush out and buy it, but would enjoy playing again.

94) The Golden City

In this game you're collecting terrain cards, which when played allow you to build houses on the board. When you build a house you'll get to perform the special action associated with that space. These special actions give immediate bonuses that help in game play or potentially allow for scoring.

Looks like a nice place to live

Bidding "wars"

End game scoring

End game board

This game may be amazing although we were all a bit baffled by it. We either played it wrong or didn't fully understand the strategy. Even in hindsight its hard to say how the game would be different on the next play. One player completely ran away with the game to the point that it wasn't even competitive. Additionally, most players didn't even build in the center (golden) city, which feels like it should be a major strategy. I'd be willing to try this again, but until then the jury is still out on this one.

93) Airlines Europe

This game has a special place in my heart as it was one of the first games that I actually spent time studying and getting good at. Oh how quickly that knowledge goes away as my most recent play will attest to. In this game you're increasing the value of different airlines by purchasing new flight routes (playing cool airplanes onto the board). Additionally, you're competing with other players to have the most stock in these airlines. There are three semi-random scoring times that pay out based on the value of each airline and who has the most stock in these airlines.

Just getting started

Cool bits

My stocks

Nearing the end

This game has great tension in trying to get one more action in before the scoring occurs. Of course if you're too greedy you'll get punished, but without a little risk you'll have trouble pulling ahead of everyone else. This game is incredibly easy to learn as there are only 4 actions to choose from on your turn, but mastering how to balance what you do when is a challenge. Great depth in strategy that comes from easy to understand rules makes for an all around great game.

92) Gonzaga

This game is a spatial challenge. Each turn you get to play a randomly selected piece on the board. You secretly choose an area of the board and the type (city or port) of hex you want to play on. Then everyone reveals what they selected, which also determines play order for that round. Very quickly the board starts to fill up and you'll need to make some tough decisions.

Individual player board

Area control

Four player game

This game was really fun and easy to pick up. It left me wanting to immediately play again as most games that require optimization and limit the amount you can accomplish do. There is great tension in whether or not you get blocked on each turn. Although if you do get blocked there so many other things to focus on and try and complete that you always have other options.

72) Guildhall

A fun card game that had me itching to make some epic combos. Each turn you get to play two cards and activate special abilities each time you play a card. The goal is to make sets of the same name, but in each of 5 colors. But beware as other people try and thwart your neatly laid plans.

Yup

Not sure what's happening here

Just getting started

My hand

With four people I thought there was a bit too much going on. Other players can steal cards and re-arrange cards enough where on my turn it felt best to optimize my play based on that turn as opposed to future goals. The other problem I had with this game is the inability to plan ahead. Often a players first action can be to draw new cards, which then makes everyone else wait while the player sorts through the new information. Additionally the board can change a lot even the turn before yours, thus players will spend time considering options while everyone else waits. I do think a lot of this wait time could go away if everyone had played a couple times. I would certainly give this one a try again despite the drawbacks.

53) Thurn and Taxis

Another solid game that creates tension as people vie to be the first to complete different goals for the most points. This game is quick to pick up and easy to teach. There's not much down time and its just fun to play.

All packed up 

Just getting going

Fast start leads to a slow finish

A good quality game. Its main limitation may be replayability as it may start to feel like you're playing identical games over and over. Regardless I still enjoy this and would recommend it.

39) Concordia

Another winner. I'm starting to learn that I always love games that make you want to do 3-4 different things on every turn and this game was no exception. This game is driven playing cards, which allows you to travel and settle new regions, produce and sell resources, and purchase new stronger cards. Additionally the cards act as different end-game scoring. Thus you're encouraged to focus on a few aspects of the game.

After the first turn 

Player board and I get a bonus!

Nearing the end

Final scoring

Tight race for victory

This game has a lot going on, but is quite easy to pick up and the game play is quick and fun. Coming up with the winning strategy is a bit more complex. This was a first play for all but one of us and I imagine on future plays we would be more successful at specializing and thus would score a few more points.