Best And Worst Games Of 2022.
On my boardgames club's (Isleworth Boardgamers) forum on Boardgame Geek (possibly the most exhaustive resource about boardgames on the 'net), at the end of every year, our members sum up their thoughts on gaming over the past 12 months, with a focus on new or new to us, games.
Here are my somewhat rambling thoughts on the subject.
All the links in this post will take you to the appropriate page on Boardgame Geek.
Top Games That I Had My First Play Of In 2022.
I bought the core set of this this in 2020 and have been slowly adding to it with some of the expansion boxes. I didn't get to play it until last year though. It is absolutely brilliant. The representations of the characters are bang on. (I was a huge fan of Heroclix some years ago but somewhat frustrated with the generic powers and abilities that the characters in that game possessed. MCP doesn't suffer that problem in the least.) The game-play is simple to learn but with each character, comes more complexity with their individual abilities and the way in which they synergise with each-other. 10/10
Red Alert - Space Fleet Warfare.
A game that I'd been looking at for years. I was only put off by the rather high price tag and less than great models. I finally got to play it last year though. It's great! It is part of the Commands And Colours series by Richard Borg which include Memoir '44 and Battlelore. The only downside to it are its rather homogeneous looking starship models. These do not detract from the game-play however, as each unit (when deployed on the table) also will have a token with it that gives the players, at a glance, the details of that unit. 9.5/10 (the point five off of a full score is only due to the models.)
A lovely little game from Oink. The theme is totally irrelevant as it's a game about numbers which tickles my sweet spot. (I want to point out that not all games about numbers tickle my sweet spot but this one is really satisfying.) 8/10
A mix of war game and deck-builder. It shouldn't really work but does, really rather well. I've only played the first two scenarios so far but am looking forward to trying them all. You can play as either the U.S. or German forces and the game's asymmetry allows for even more longevity from a scenario based game than might otherwise be so if the forces and objectives involved for both players were identical. 8/10
Top Game That Was Released In 2022.
This game was touted to me as the board game version of Fortnite. I've never played Fortnight but it did look somewhat interesting so I thought I'd give Reload a go. I played in a three-player game and enjoyed it very much. You play as an enhanced human (each of the different characters have a different special ability), competing in a televised death-match on an island that gets more and more dangerous as you advance through the game. Reload has a very innovative scoring mechanism, whereby you add different sized chits to a score-track depending on what achievements you complete during the game. The first payer to fill their track wins. 8/10
Best Expansions.
Marvel Crisis Protocol. - Punisher And Taskmaster.
This was released in 2020 but I had my first play with The Punisher in 2022. I've not used Taskmaster yet but The Punisher is incredibly fun. You can gain “Vengeance Tokens” when an allied character's card is flipped or they are taken out of action, which can then be used to boost your attack. Also, You can blow up pieces of scenery, with pre-planted booby traps, which can damage enemy characters who have wandered too close. Or just coldly gun down your enemies. All very Frank Castle. 10/10
Star Wars: Outer Rim - Unfinished Buisiness.
This gives you more content for an already awesome game. I played as Jyn Erso from the brilliant movie, Rogue One. 10/10
Biggest Disappointments.
I Backed the Kickstarter for this (twice (the first time funding failed)) and was so happy when it went into production. I got around to playing it last year. All the mechanics, on paper, seemed solid, but they just didn't come together to form a great (much anticipated by me) game. 2/10
The premise is that, whilst out walking your beloved dog, the eponymous Lucky, he chases a character called Pumpkin Jack through a portal into a realm know as Oddtopia. Players attempt to achieve one of three instant win conditions or amass more points than their opponents by the time the “Fate Deck” has been played through twice. Another game where the game-play seems like it will be a lot of fun after reading the rules but that fails to deliver on that assumption. 1/10
Best Convention/Show.
I went to three games conventions/shows this year SELWG and Warfare (both wargames based) and Dragonmeet (which combined role-playing, board gaming and a small amount of miniatures-based gaming.). All were good. Warfare, in Farnborough maybe due to the novelty value (as it was my first time going), plus the fact that I was able to pick up loads of boosters for the now discontinued game TANKS, for just £3 a piece tops this list. Not to say that SELWG wasn't great fun too. I was able to find all the paints I needed for various gaming projects, plus the correct water-slide transfers for my TANKS tanks. Dragonmeet continued to get bigger (as it has been doing almost yearly since it was taken over by games company Modiphius) and I got to play the new Terminator role-playing game from Nightfall Games.
Best Miniatures That I've Painted This Year.
This isn't about my best paint-jobs of the year, but rather about the nicest models out of all the ones I've painted in the last 365 days (which isn't actually that many). This award goes to Otherworld Miniatures' Hob Goblin Warriors. They are metal, which for a start is good in my book, as I much prefer painting metal models over plastic or resin ones, and are just great sculpts. Otherworld Miniatures' models are inspired by early roleplaying games and, just this week, I used my hobgoblins to ambush my players' characters in Port Blacksand in my Advanced Fighting fantasy campaign.
