Mystery of the Abbey –

Dan

Deduction games hold a soft spot in my heart. So, naturally, when I saw Mystery of the Abbey on sale for $13 (?!), I didn’t hesitate to grab it. I would describe the game as “Clue+” for those who haven’t played it. The basic premise is similar to that of The Name of the Rose – a monk is dead and you must find out who has committed this treacherous crime. Players will move around the Abbey interrogating their fellow brothers (or sisters) at the table to try and deduce the criminal. Unlike Clue, the person to correctly discover the culprit may not be the person to actually win the game (though it certainly helps a great deal). Each monk has six traits that define him and using the data you’ve accumulated you can make revelations and earn points at the end game if you are the first to correctly deduce a specific trait(s) of the murderous monk. I enjoyed the game, especially for the bargain that I received.

Exodus: Proxima Centauri –

Matt

Top of the Stack complete! I finally got to play Exodus and it…was just okay. While I was more than happy with the game, it proved to be as fiddly as expected, requiring a lot of maintenance of tokens and tiny ships turn-to-turn. I think the expansion is going to make a huge difference and turn this very simple 4X-style game into full fledged battle for galactic supremacy!

Iki –

Steve

How did I miss this kickstarter!? Dan invited me to help him finish off his top of the stack (podcast spoilers!). I have been seeing things about Iki on the interwebs, but didn’t know much about it. The artwork and theme was very intriguing to me, and luckily the gameplay is just as intriguing to match. Iki feels so much like a Feld title; so many possible ways to score points and bonuses and you’re constrained to only a limited number of actions. The choices to make each round are always interesting and really fun. Placing your peddlers in the market allows you to entice other players to visit them, so they may gain experience and retire for end game points, while the center rondel offers a nice movement mechanic and offers many strategic options. Oh, and all of your stalls have the potential to catch on fire and burn down! I loved every minute of this and hope that someday I can get my hands on a copy. Easily another title that should end up on my year end best of list.

Bottom of the 9th –

Kelly

I didn’t love this game. I know Biff will be mad at me for saying that, but I found it confusing trying to decipher the dice and their implications for what I needed to roll. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace for it.

Siggil –

Steve

I enjoy Siggil as a two player game. The head-to-head element works perfectly for this game. We have played with four players, and it was just not the same. It went way too quick and was hard to develop a working strategy. The game ended abruptly and we all just looked at the cards we had left in our hand, shrugged and moved on. Stick with two players with this one.

Matt

This wonderful little set collection game continues to be a crowd-pleaser at two players and a head-scratcher at more. The pace of the game with three and four is a bit too rapid which leaves players unenthused when the game comes to an inevitably abrupt end. I still enjoy it all around, but agree that two players is definitely the ideal count.

Check out our Siggil Review!

Mombasa –

Matt

I’ve given this hand management, investment game two tries so far and have had a lot of fun both times. There are a number of moving parts that needs balancing and, while the individual pieces are easy to understand, getting them all to work efficiently is a tall order. Definitely one of the better Euro games I’ve played of late; I’m glad Dan has it in his collection.

Brew Crafters –

Steve

A game where you manage your own brewery? Sign me up! This was my first play so I was a little overwhelmed as we set up and went over the rules. It was pretty easy to understand how to play and the objective to win, but there were so many options and it was tough to determine what I should be going for. I ended up kind of doing everything equally, which ended up not to be the way to go. Everything was very tight and felt like I could never do what I wanted to do with my brewery. This is one that you need to play multiple times to really grasp. I wouldn’t mind playing again, but I’m honestly not seeking it out.

Grand Austria Hotel –

Kelly

The snaking player order of this game was really bizarre. It left A LOT of downtime between turns for everyone except for the 4th/5th turns. I actually read a chapter of a book on my phone while we played this game. The amount of time between turns is made worse by the fact that you can’t even really plan your next turn while you wait because your options for actions change as your opponents take their turns. Despite all the wasted time, I enjoyed this game way more than I thought I would.