December 2023

Welcome board game fans!  This month we ask what’s under your tree this christmas and look at some fun-with-association board games that are certain to bring some cheer to a festive family get together!  We review an Stefan Feld game Merlin as well as take a look at whether Agricola is still worth it sixteen years after its first release.  We’re also happy to announce that newsletter and blog readers can enjoy free postage to the end of the year on a range of games from our online shop and we bring you the solution to last month’s Puzzle Time! quiz.

Board games under the Christmas tree

The mince pies have been on sale since September and the festive tunes have been playing on repeat on the radio stations since early November.  Now that December is here we think it’s time for some board game festive cheer.  

While wrapping an order of board game Advent Calanders this week we thought back to childhood days when the festive season was less about getting consumers to spend as much as possible and more about time spent with family and friends.  Our team started chatting about our December memories as children to a time of Trivial Pursuit with the older generation inevitably beating us on history questions and us youngsters laughing when they were stumped by “obvious” pop culture questions.  Days when a standard deck of playing cards would provide hours of enternatinment from Poker and Rummy to seeing who could build the highest house of cards.  Then there was always  the aunt who would play scrabble 24x7 and that one friend who would bring out the Monopoly board and insist on a “quick” game.  The festive season brought traditional games like Tombola (Italian Bingo) which would always have small money prizes or little mystery gifts to be won.  Happy days charecterised by eating, laughter, and the enjoyment of each other’s company.

Although the push to spend time and money on buying gifts, putting up decorations, making preparations for guests and slaving away in the kitchen  can have you feeling “Grinchy” come Christmas day,  we invite you to reflect on why we put ourselves though that each year and what that gift will mean once the pigs in blankets are finished and tinsel is all packed away.  At the end of the day its the experiences we share and the memories we make that are cherished.  

Selecting a board game for a Christmas gift is an excellent idea as playing games together provides an opportunity for social bonding, lasting memories, shared experiences, and quality time during the holiday season.  Not to mention an inclusive, versatile and screen-free entertainment activity for all ages.

‘Tis the season to be playing...

The dark, cold, wintry days when family and friends gather around provide perfect conditions for enjoying a board game together.  Here are three association-themed  games that we belivee are worthy of a spot under the tree this year and are guaranteed to bring some festive cheer for larger gatherings.

Just One is a new party game which is quick and easy to learn and play and a great choice for when you have relatives and friends of all ages around for a festive occasion. Players try to score as many points by guessing a word given just one word hints from each of their team mates but the hints can cancel each other out if duplicate words are chosen so the trick is to chose not too obvious words to hint at the answer.  Every right answer advances the team’s score by one point while wrong answers cost the team two points resulting ina one-step-forward-two-steps-back race get the most answers from 13 available points.   Inevitably the word associations,  guesses and strokes of luck (good and bad) will result in much laughter and have people wanting to go again as soon as there’s a winner.

Telestrations blends classic Pictionary with the broken-telephone game we used to play at school as kids.  Players attempt to draw a word they have been given then when time is up pass the drawing pad to the player on their left, everyonoe now writes down what word they believe the drawing in front of them represents before passing their guess on to the left where it becomes the new “clue” for the next drawing round and so on.  Players alternate drawing and guessing words until their original board comes back to them.  Ideally all drawings match the clues (this hasn’t happened yet to us) otherwise hilarity ensues as players flip back to the orgininal word to see how on earth “Doggy Bag” ended up as “Purse Snatcher”…

Codenames Pictures is a twist on the original Codenames classic which sees teams of players trying to decode “one word and one number” clues to reveal the location of each team’s secret agents.  Players need to be careful not to inadvertently give away the loction of the opposing teams agents and avoid at all costs giving a clue that would reveal the assassin and lose the game.  Codenames Pictures replaces the original word cards with, you guessed it,  picture cards and this greatly improves the fun factor as the pictures can be interpreted in many different ways adding to the number of possible clues that can be given and interpretations of those clues.   It also makes the game easier to play for all ages and across cultural and language divides.  Codenames Pictures plays quicker than the original due to the smaller grid size and is a great choice for a dose of merriment and healthy competition (and yes,  this is another one you will be asked to play again, repeatedly!)

December Special Offer

Newsletter readers can get free postage on all the above games and many more from our online store until 31/12/2023.    Simply use coupon code BFG2023 at checkout.

Review:

Merlin

Stefan Feld and Michael Rieneck

2-4 Players

90 minutes

Journey to the legendary world of King Arthur in Merlin, a light to medium strategy game where players spend dice to move their knight tokens clockwise (or the shared Merlin token in either direction) on a rondel to take actions that help them complete quests, expand their influence in the kingdom, and carrying out other noble feats  that award victory points during each round of the game.  The player with the highest score at the end of the sixth round wins.

As with other Stefan Feld games, the game offers multiple ways to score points such as defeating barbarians, completing secret mission cards, building manors in the surrounding area and increasing one's influence in the six regions of the board.  Players will be working out how to make the best use of their dice each round while trying not to give away advantage to their opponents.

Due to the dice rolls and card shuffles Merlin inevitably involves a fair deal of luck (though the game offers some mitigation for unfortunate rolls through the use of apple tokens which can be spent to change the value of a dice).  It is possible to have a spectacularly unfortunate series of rolls combined with relatively weak mission cards, and this may deter more serious strategy gamers, but in our play sessions this scenario was rare and usually laughed off while we set up the re-match.  In general, play is balanced and success will follow the players who can carefully plan their actions, efficiently manage their resources and, importantly,  adapt their strategy to changing circumstances !  

If you’re after a euro-style board game with a medieval theme that offers a rich and engaging gameplay experience and a blend of push your luck and strategic elements  Merlin is well worth trying out.

(Merlin is available to rent from our rental library.)

Is Agricola still worth it?

Agricola,the iconic farming game designed by Uwe Rosenberg in 2007 and re-released withupdated and revised rules in 2016, has been a staple in the board gamecommunity for years and has won many awards and much acclaim througout theboard gaming community. But as we near the end of 2023 is this game still worthlearning? We take a look at Agricola (Revised Edition) and it’s less cut-throatsibling Agricola Family Edition to see if Agricola has stood the test of time.

AgricolaRevised Edition

Probablyone of the the “purest” and arguably the most well executed Worker Placementgame, Agricola has players competing to establish and a succesful farmstead.The game involves deep strategy, challenging players to make critical decisionsabout resource management, expansion, and long-term planning. Play can becut-throat as oppents may take that crucial resource you were hoping to get andon top of that the game can be unforgiving of players that focus too much onharvesting resources at the expence of keeping the family fed. Most reviews sumup the game in three words “farming is hard” - as one fan on reddit said: “Nothingelse quite puts me on the edge of my seat like Agricola does. It stresses meout from the very first turn to the last. I say this as a good thing! :-)”.Having said that, even if you lose you will feel pride in the pastures, crops,improvements and household you have built over the game. Many more modern gamesshy away from the more punishing mechanics found in Argicola, but few gamessucceed in delivering such an engaging and immersive experience that will bringyou to triumphant highs and stressful lows as you struggle to make your farmprosper. For this reason, Argicola remains, deservedly, one of the top boardgames to try out that continues to captivate both new and experienced gamers.

Agricola Family Edition

AgricolaFamily Edition is designed with a more casual audience in mind. This versionoffers simplified gameplay with the removal of the occupation and minorimprovement cards, making it more approachable for families and newcomers.Feeding your family is also less punishing in the family edition. The absenceof the more complex cards improves the decision-making and allows players tofocus on the core mechanics of resource management and expansion. The lack ofsevere penalties for letting your family starve eliminates a source of stressfor new players unfamiliar with the intricacies of the original game. Overallthis version is quicker to set up and play while retaining the essence ofAgricola while offering a more relaxed atmosphere for casual play.

Choosingbetween Agricola Revised Edition and Agricola Family Edition ultimately dependson the preferences and experience level of the gaming group. Agricola RevisedEdition caters to those seeking a more strategic and immersive experience. Onthe other hand, Agricola Family Edition excels in accessibility withstreamlined mechanics and forgiving approach to feeding your family that makeit an ideal entry point for those new to the game or the board gaming hobby.Whether you prefer the challenging complexity of the revised edition or theelegant simplicity of the family edition, Agricola remains a timeless classicthat continues to sow the seeds of enjoyment for players of all backgrounds.

(Both Agricola Revised Edition and Agricola Family Edition are currently available to buy from our online shop or rent from our rental library.)