Garrett's Games and Geekiness

Shelley and I get heavy as we wander downriver in Boonlake by Alexander Pfister from Capstone Games and dlp Games then we get dicey as we attempt to raise our levels and take over lands in First Empires by Eric B. Vogel from Sand Castle Games

Shelley and I delve once again into Dr. Knizia's legacy game, talking about the latter chapters of  My City by Reiner Knizia from Kosmos after we spend some time with the little brother of Isle of Cats - this week it's  Isle of Cats: Explore & Draw by Frank West from City of Games

Shelley and I discuss the first 1/2 of My City by Reiner Knizia from KOSMOS (with a few spoilers), but first we tackle the FOURTH in the Azul series Azul: Queen's Garden by Michael Kiesling from Next Move Games

Shelley and I return to Victorian England this week for a look at the Upstair/Downstairs and Wessex expansions for Obsession by Dan Hallagan from Kayenta Games then we head out into the garden and work with corn, beans and pumplins in the new roll & write Three Sisters by Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle from Motor City Gameworks and 25th Century Games

Shelley and I put on our "Where's Waldo?" hats to solve some crimes in Micro Macro - Crime City by Johannes Sich from Edition Spielwiese and Pegasus Spiele the head back to Victorian England and become landed gentry courting the Fairchilds in Obsession by Dan Hallagan from Kayenta Games (KG)

Shelley and I enjoy a 2-player-only game of competing groups of thieves stealing precious artifacts in Caper: Europe by Unai Rubio from Keymaster Games then we head back to The Isle of Cats by Frank West from City of Games  to explore some of the recent expansions, including the Boat Pack, Kittens & Beasts, and Kickstart Expansion 2

Shelley and I get another BIG game to the table this week, delving into zoo building and animal acquisition in Ark Nova by Mathias Wigge from Capstone and Feuerland Spiele  then we check back into Paris: La Cité de la Lumière by Jose Antonio Abascal Acebo from Devir to see how the Paris: Eiffel expansion works with the base game

Shelley and I take on the BIG, colorful new Devir game Bitoku by Germán P. Millán from Devir and then finish up our discussion of  Welcome to the Moon by Alexis Allard and Benoit Turpin from Blue Cocker and Pegasus Spiele  with a discussion of how the campaign mode works

Shelley and I continue our in-depth exploration of  Welcome to the Moon by Alexis Allard & Benoit Turpin from Blue Cocker Games and Pegasus Spiele (boards 5-8) and then head back into the Middle Ages in Italy with Citta-Stato by Simone Cerruti Sola from Giochix.it

Shelley and I take our first journey to the moon this week in Welcome to The Moon by Alexis Allard and Benoit Turpin from Blue Cocker, Dude Games, and Pegasus Spiele then we look back on an alternative reality when otherworldly helpers lent a hand to establish humanity's biggest projects in  Origins: First Builders by Adam Kwapinski from Board&Dice and CMON Global

This week Shelley and I duel by making llama deliveries in P'achakuna by Stefan Kraft and Moreno Vogel from Treecer then make more elaborate deliveries from our farms to town in a re-review of La Granja by Adreas 'ode' Odendahl and Michael Keller originally from Spielworxx and recently Kickstarted from Board&Dice    

Shelley and I reflect on our plays of 'new to us' games in 2021 and choose our favorites (though we forgot one that both of us would have added to our lists!). Honorable Mentions (Shelley): Nidavellir by Serge Laget from GRRRE Games Ten by Johnson, Melvin & Stankewich from AEG Juicy Fruits by Christian Stöhr from Deep Print Games Meadow by Klemens Kalicki by Rebel Nanga Parbat by Steve Finn from D...

Shelley and I get the expansion to Dune: Imperium to the table Dune: Imperium The Rise of Ix expansion by Paul Dennen from Dire Wolf and Legendary and then get our potions going in  Brew by Stevo Torres from Pandasaurus Games

Shelley and I enjoy two games set in the future Cryo by Tom Jolly Luke Laurie from Z-Man Games and  Dune: Imperium by Paul Dennen from Dire Wolf and Asmodee

Shelley and I spend time playing games set in the past with 2-word titles. First, we head to New Jersey to design one USA's first vacation spots in Cape May by Eric Mosso from Thunderworks Games then we head over to southern Germany to become craftspeople in Glass Road by Uwe Rosenberg originally from Z-Man Games and now re-released by Capstone Games

Shelley and I place tiles in a beautiful square in Lisbon in Rossio by Orlando Sa from Pythagoras then harvest crops, play the markets, and develop apprentices in Key Market by David Brain from R&D Games  

Shelley and I move animals around the savannah in  Savannah Park by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling from Capstone Games and Deep Print Games then we attempt to strategically draft tiles to build our fields in Key Harvest by Richard Breese from R&D Games and Rio Grande Games in 2007

Shelley and I try out the latest Dr. Reiner Knizia title as we wander the jungle doing research in Sumatra from Ludo Nova then check out the revamped game of inner and outer struggles - but now with hexes and set in ancient China Yellow and Yangtze from Grail Games

Shelley and I hurt our brains trying to finagle good investments in  Tokyo Metro by Jordan Draper from Jordan Draper Games then we head into the garden to grow flowers and build follies in Flourish by James & Clarissa Wilson from Starling Games and Matagot

Shelley and I compete to build the most profitable museum in Curators by Tove & Pablo Jomer and Jacob Westerlund from Worldshapers and Little Rocket Games then we head under the sea to explore the deep from a research facility and with submarines in 2002's  Nautilus by Brigitte and Wolfgang Ditt from KOSMOS and Mayfair Games

Shelley and I spend time building individual tableaus this week in this delayed episode (sorry for the Thursday release everyone!): Village Green by Peer Sylvester from Osprey Games and Meadow by Klemens Kalicki from Rebel Studio

Shelley and I enjoy some bon bons and create poker-esque sets in  Truffle Shuffle by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich from AEG then we head back to 2003 and ancient Greece to race to build structures in  Attika by Marcel-André Casasola Merkle from Hans im Gluck and Rio Grande Games which has been re-published with a western theme as US Telegraph from Super Meeple

Shelley and I enjoy collecting vegetables in the fun new card game Point Salad by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich then we dust off a Spiel des Jahres winner from 1999 which has just been republished  Tikal by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling from Super Meeple, Rio Grande, and Ravensburger

Shelley and I get our 19th Century industrialist hats on, building factories and funning them to the best of our ability in Furnace by Ivan Lashin from Arcane Wonders and Hobby World then we head to ancient Egypt to try our hands at building some of the world's wonders in Egizia by Acchittocca (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, and Antonio Tinto) originally from Rio Grande and Han...

Shelley and I build our lands out and UP as we herd llamas and try to claim points in  Llamaland by Phil Walker-Harding from Lookout Spiele then we get abstract and push our luck, drawing cards and bidding in TEN by Molly Johnson, Shawn Stankewich and Robert Melvin from AEG