Hi everyone!
You may have noticed that if our sessions continued on the scheduled dates, we'd run into a few conflicts. First, the fourth Friday of November is the day after Thanksgiving and I suspect many people (myself included) will be travelling. Second, the fourth Friday of December is Christmas Day - obviously we aren't having it on Christmas. So, to alleviate these conflicts, I have changed the dates of game nights in November and December.
We will be meeting on the following nights:
November 13th (this is the normal first meeting of November)
November 20th
December 4th
December 18th
These will all be at the normal 6:30 PM time and go to roughly 11:00 PM. I will be getting a key from the church soon which means that 11:00 PM will become a bit softer of a cap if we want to go later.
For this upcoming session on November 13th, we will be featuring a very unique kind of game: ASYMMETRICAL games! Most games are symmetrical, meaning that all of the players have the same options available to them (mostly) and are all trying to achieve the same things. For example, in Monopoly all players are trying to earn the most dolla billz. In Settlers of Catan (or Catan as the cool kids call it now) everyone is trying to earn victory points. In the games I will list here, players not only have unique abilities, but in most cases also are trying to achieve victory in different ways.
So, here are my top 5 favorite asymmetric games!
5. Eclipse
Eclipse is a very fun space exploration game (4x). Each players takes control of a unique alien power, each of which has very different special abilities. While in this game players ultimately have the same victory conditions, the way these different aliens play out is vastly different, particularly when adding in any of the expansion aliens. It's a great combination of both economic and conflict gaming and can play as many as 9 players with the expansion, which actually isn't as tedious as it initially sounds! This is a great game and while the buzz has died off a bit it is still excellent.
4. Letters from Whitechapel
This game is one of the most played games for my wife and I the year we got it - she loves deduction games and I love any game she wants to play. We played this a lot with a variety of player counts and generally had a great time. Our only problem is it can definitely get long, particularly if the investigators are methodical and slow, which the game requires to an extent. In this game one players plays as Jack the Ripper, slowly terrorizing London, and the rest are the police investigators. Each round Jack commits a murder and must return back to his hideout before the police are able to either surround him or accurately guess which space he is currently on. It is a very tense game, particularly for Jack, as he races home and tries to avoid the police. Each round he must return to the same location so the cops can slowly triangulate where exactly he's going. Great game!
3. Specter Ops
Since receiving Specter Ops, our fam
challenging for the agent and we have a losing win ratio as such. Very fun game and very easy to learn and play.
ily has barely played Letters from Whitechapel. That's because Specter Ops has all but replaced it for us. The primary reason for this is it can be played in half the time. Now, despite a similar sounding game, it really feels pretty different as this is much more fast paced. In this, one players is an agent sneaking around some facility, trying to complete objectives. The rest of the players are hunters trying to find and kill the agent before he can escape - think Metal Gear Solid the boardgame. It's fast paced and tense as the hunter ducks around corners, uses special weapons and abilities, and does his best to outsmart his opponents.
2. Terra Mystica
Generally I tried to keep games on this list that had variable win conditions, but honestly there's only so many that I own and are reasonably lengthed for this game session (hence Here I Stand not being on this list, nor any of the COIN games). This is the quinitissential 'special powers' Euro-game. Players each take on a different (very different) fantasy race, each with very unique powers and player boards, and try to gain the most points by expanding their civilization in this ever changing world. Throughout the game players will shape and change the terrain features of the world, making it so their race can flourish
. There is a lot of strategic and tactical thinking and next to no luck present in this game. This is a heavy game and with four players can run a bit long, but it is a very deep and rewarding experience nonetheless.
1. Fury of Dracula
Okay so I'm cheating by putting this as number 1 as I actually haven't played it yet, but I expect to before next Friday and I'm 99% sure this will become my favorite asymmetric game (aside from Here I Stand). It has everything I want - one vs. all mechanics, deduction, a cool creepy theme, a really cool sounding name, lots of powers and narrative events, and plus it looks awesome. The new third edition by Fantasy Flight just released and it looks amazing. One player is Dracula, the others are vampire hunters trying to track him down and kill him before he can take over all of Europe with his evil, brooding ways. These are sparkly vampires with skinny jeans, they're cool, traditional vampires ready to do all sorts of bad things, but be super cool doing them.
Of course any games are welcome, particularly if they match theme! Bring some games, bring some friends, and be ready to game on November 13th!
As mentioned last time, we will be having game night tomorrow, November 20th, at 6:30 PM rather than our regularly scheduled meeting on the fourth Friday of the month. In December, again due to the Christmas holiday occurring on the fourth Friday, we will be meeting the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month.
Carcassonne