New game purchases: AquaSphere, Grand Austria Hotel, Royals
My lovely friends got me some gift cards for my birthday, and naturally, I spent a chunk of them on new board games. The conversations mostly went like this — friend tells me that he/she wants to get me a board game but didn’t know which one I already had, so he/she opted for gift cards. Yay!
The first board game I purchased was AquaSphere. There are OCTOPOD MEEPLES in this game!! Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system … I’ve heard great things about this game, and it’s Stefan Feld, who also created Trajan. I watched a few videos on game play, and even though I haven’t actually gotten this on table, I like how there are a variety of ways to set up the game and score as well. Plus, OCTOPODS! And if I can be even more random, this game totally reminds me of the awesome cartoon SeaLab 2021 that used to run on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
The next game I picked up is Grand Austria Hotel. This had been forever sold out on amazon, but I found a copy of it at my FLGS Game Depot and got a great deal after cashing in a gift certificate. (Thanks @idontknowrules!) It’s a Euro-style game where you’re collecting guests, fulfilling their orders and making up rooms for them to stay in. It’s a tight game, played over 7 rounds. I’ve only played this once before, and I remember how there just weren’t enough rounds to do everything. Ha! I totally love that feeling when it comes to games. I also like how each game has different end-game goals so there’s a lot of replay value.
The last game I purchased is Royals. I’ve been wanting to get a copy of this game since BGG Con last year. I had also played it at a recent game night, further pushing this game up to the top of my wishlist as soon as a reprint occurred. And that it did this September! Another reason I’ve been wanting to grab this game is because it plays well with 5 players. More often than not, there are 5 people looking to jump into a game during game day, and having another solid 5-player game helps speed along the process of getting started.
In other news, Team Geek is getting ready for BGG Con! We’ve just about picked our volunteer shifts, and the excitement through the email threads is uber palpable. I can’t wait to see old friends and meet new ones (especially folks I only know from online!). And it’s looking like the entire gang of one of my gaming groups will all be there. It’s gonna be the best week ever!