What did you play is a fun look at the games we have encountered over the weekend.
Saturday 11/13
Gloom In Space
Plays 2 - 5 players | 60 minute playtime
Our first game was Saturday. We got to play is Gloom in Space.
In Gloom In Space the goal of the game is to have all of your deceased crewmembers with the most misery. The game starts by players can choose or are randomly dealt their misfit sci-fi inspired crew. Each crew member has their own fun title, and unique story text to bring a creative element to the game. Players set out the crew in front of them and then are dealt gloom playing cards. Each of these cards is transparent. Most are enhancement cards that improve or diminish the misery of the crew they are played upon. Some of these cards have symbols on them that trigger with different abilities. Abilities are in the text box below that have triggering elements. Some are play immediately, some are persistent, Others trigger at specific times in the game.
When a transparent card is placed on top it may cover up symbols, positive or negative misery tokens, or may kill off the character completely. A death card has a skull in a space helmet displayed on the card. These cards can only be played on characters with a negative total misery of the misery showing. The game also features event cards that have a planet exploding displayed on it that are typically play and discard encounters on them.
Once a player has 4 dead crew it triggers end game. Total the misery of all the dead characters of each player. The person with the most misery, that is the most negative score on their dead characters is the winner.
The game plays 2-5 players, and about 60 minutes.
The game can be played by just playing the cards down and saying what the title of the card is. If you have creative folks in your group it is fun to tell a story of what is happening to the crew as you play the cards. "The doctor found himself sucked through a wormhole."
This is definitely a fun game to pick up. It is a stand alone game in the Gloom franchise. Other Gloom games are available from Atlas Games. Each of these offer different themes and play very similar to each other. Cthulhu Gloom is one of my favorites and features the Elder Gods of the Cthulhu Mythos. There is Gloom of Thrones, Munchkin Gloom, and Fairy Tale Gloom. Of course there is the game that started it all, Gloom, with several expansions available to bring more fun to your games.
In Gloom In Space the goal of the game is to have all of your deceased crewmembers with the most misery. The game starts by players can choose or are randomly dealt their misfit sci-fi inspired crew. Each crew member has their own fun title, and unique story text to bring a creative element to the game. Players set out the crew in front of them and then are dealt gloom playing cards. Each of these cards is transparent. Most are enhancement cards that improve or diminish the misery of the crew they are played upon. Some of these cards have symbols on them that trigger with different abilities. Abilities are in the text box below that have triggering elements. Some are play immediately, some are persistent, Others trigger at specific times in the game.
When a transparent card is placed on top it may cover up symbols, positive or negative misery tokens, or may kill off the character completely. A death card has a skull in a space helmet displayed on the card. These cards can only be played on characters with a negative total misery of the misery showing. The game also features event cards that have a planet exploding displayed on it that are typically play and discard encounters on them.
Once a player has 4 dead crew it triggers end game. Total the misery of all the dead characters of each player. The person with the most misery, that is the most negative score on their dead characters is the winner.
The game plays 2-5 players, and about 60 minutes.
The game can be played by just playing the cards down and saying what the title of the card is. If you have creative folks in your group it is fun to tell a story of what is happening to the crew as you play the cards. "The doctor found himself sucked through a wormhole."
This is definitely a fun game to pick up. It is a stand alone game in the Gloom franchise. Other Gloom games are available from Atlas Games. Each of these offer different themes and play very similar to each other. Cthulhu Gloom is one of my favorites and features the Elder Gods of the Cthulhu Mythos. There is Gloom of Thrones, Munchkin Gloom, and Fairy Tale Gloom. Of course there is the game that started it all, Gloom, with several expansions available to bring more fun to your games.
Munchkin: Critical Role
Plays 3-6 players | Plays about 60 minutes.
The next game we played was Munchkin: Critical Role.
Munchkin is a classic game where players are racing to get to level 10. Players start the game with a hand full of cards. They play items, allies, and equipment to their character. On a players turn they will go exploring. In most munchkin games this is "Kicking down the door!" If the player encounters a monster they have to fight it. This may require them to ask for help or run away which may trigger bad stuff to happen. A defeated monster gains the active player a level, and treasure drawn from a treasure deck. If the card drawn is a curse the player does what the curse says. If it is any other card the active player puts this in their hand of cards, or equips it to their player. A player may sell 1000 gold of items to go up levels, or defeat monsters to also go up levels. A player can only defeat a monster to get to level 10. The first person to level 10 wins.
The Critical Role version brings the Mighty Nein to the table. It uses charcters like Fjord, Yasha, Clay, Caleb, Beauregard, jester, and Nott as playable characters.
Muchkin: Critical Role plays 3-6 players, and about 60 minutes.
While this is a stand alone game, it can be combined with other munchkin sets for very strange combinations.
Munchkin is a classic game where players are racing to get to level 10. Players start the game with a hand full of cards. They play items, allies, and equipment to their character. On a players turn they will go exploring. In most munchkin games this is "Kicking down the door!" If the player encounters a monster they have to fight it. This may require them to ask for help or run away which may trigger bad stuff to happen. A defeated monster gains the active player a level, and treasure drawn from a treasure deck. If the card drawn is a curse the player does what the curse says. If it is any other card the active player puts this in their hand of cards, or equips it to their player. A player may sell 1000 gold of items to go up levels, or defeat monsters to also go up levels. A player can only defeat a monster to get to level 10. The first person to level 10 wins.
The Critical Role version brings the Mighty Nein to the table. It uses charcters like Fjord, Yasha, Clay, Caleb, Beauregard, jester, and Nott as playable characters.
Muchkin: Critical Role plays 3-6 players, and about 60 minutes.
While this is a stand alone game, it can be combined with other munchkin sets for very strange combinations.
Starfinder
Plays with 1 Game Master and 6 Pregenerated characters
Playtime can vary depending on experience with the system, role playing experience, and GM experience.
The group we had playing with us got itchy to role play. So I snagged a copy of the Starfinder Beginner Box. it has pregenerated characters, dice, a map, and a short adventure. The players were familiar with Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons so this was easy to pick up. I actually had a copy of the beginner box at home already. I had read through the rules and adventure a while back so it wasn't that difficult for me to pick up and run. That game ran us a few hours before we decided to call it a night.
Sunday 11/14
Tiny Epic Pirates
Plays 1-4 Players | Playtime 45-60 minutes
Tiny Epic Pirates is from Gamelyn Games, the fine folks who brings us a wide range of Tiny Epic games. Small boxes, with big gameplay. In Tiny Epic Pirates players race to gather gold and bury 3 treasure chests. During setup a map is generated with ocean tiles in the center of the table. Players select a ship color and starting pirate. Following placing rules players put their pieces, two merchant ships, and the imperial navy ship on the board.
During a players turn players will choose a captains action. Once selected they will choose to move their ship based on the number of movement they have available. Then they will complete the captains actions. During the course of the game players will gather trade items, sell trade items for gold. Players can recruit new crew members to their ship, and attack trade vessels. Attacking trade ships, and other players ships may cause a player to improve the quality of their ship. Allowing access to faster movement, more guns, and one time use items. The imperial navy will wreak havoc on the players should they encounter them.
Once a player is on the right area of the map, has gained enough gold and has a dig treasure action available a player may bury treasure. Losing the required gold, and placing the treasure chest on the location. Once a player has done this 3 times, all the other players get one more turn to play.
The game plays about 45-60 minutes, though while we were learning the game it did take us several hours for a 2 players.
t has a solo mode, and plays up to 4 players.
During a players turn players will choose a captains action. Once selected they will choose to move their ship based on the number of movement they have available. Then they will complete the captains actions. During the course of the game players will gather trade items, sell trade items for gold. Players can recruit new crew members to their ship, and attack trade vessels. Attacking trade ships, and other players ships may cause a player to improve the quality of their ship. Allowing access to faster movement, more guns, and one time use items. The imperial navy will wreak havoc on the players should they encounter them.
Once a player is on the right area of the map, has gained enough gold and has a dig treasure action available a player may bury treasure. Losing the required gold, and placing the treasure chest on the location. Once a player has done this 3 times, all the other players get one more turn to play.
The game plays about 45-60 minutes, though while we were learning the game it did take us several hours for a 2 players.
t has a solo mode, and plays up to 4 players.
FLGS Shout Out
This weekend we got to play a few games at our friendly local game store Gauntlet Games.
Gauntlet Games is located in Lincoln Nebraska and is a very fun store to visit. They have quite the selection of miniatures, board games, and paints for your gaming needs. They also have a nice sized gaming space, with a library of games for demo. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are usually pretty good days to find new people to play with. Sundays are typically board game days. Saturday evenings has Pathfinder and Starfinder society play. Over the week many different games can be seen played on the gaming tables.
Gauntlet Games is located in Lincoln Nebraska and is a very fun store to visit. They have quite the selection of miniatures, board games, and paints for your gaming needs. They also have a nice sized gaming space, with a library of games for demo. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are usually pretty good days to find new people to play with. Sundays are typically board game days. Saturday evenings has Pathfinder and Starfinder society play. Over the week many different games can be seen played on the gaming tables.
What did you play this weekend?
Author: Joe DeMarco (Shad0fx)