Greg hadn’t played Deus in a while and thought it should be a quick enough game to teach and play on a Friday night with his group. “It’s a medium weight game with some engine-building and some territory control. The turns are quite simple, either building a building onto the board and triggering it’s ability, and the ability of all buildings of the same type that you have previously built, or you discard cards to gain a bonus and draw back up to your hand limit. How and what you build will depend somewhat on what you’re dealt, and what direction you start to go, strategy-wise. I mostly clumped my buildings together as I had cards that gave me bonuses and points for doing that. Other cards encourage you to spread out more. There are also points to be had by surrounding the barbarian villages on the board, so there are a few ways to get points.Overall I enjoy it for quite a lot and it’s a good choice for if you don’t have time for something meatier.”
Renee picked up Let’s Waltz!, the long awaited expansion for Grand Austra Hotel. “The box contains 5 different modules that you can add independently plus a rule book for solo play for the base game and all the modules. We were pressed for time so we decided to start out with just the celebrity expansion, which replaces 3 of the dice with coloured dice, each representing a celebrity. On your turn, if you select a coloured die, you get the associated celebrity and its bonus is active for the rest of the round. In addition to making some actions cheaper or more powerful, the celebrities also provide points, however you must pay to select the die, so timing when the reward is worth the price is key. We hadn’t played the base game it a while so it was fun to get it back to the table and we both enjoyed this first module!”
Since Renee picked it up, Boop has been a great choice for quick 2 player plays for her family. “Jenn taught it to Christopher who took to it very quickly and it’s something I’ve really enjoyed playing with him. It does require you to take the time to plan your moves, making sure you take into account how all the pieces on the board will move once you place your kitten or cat. If you like simple but thinky abstract games, I definitely recommend checking this out.”
Greg finished reading Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. “Book Four of Sanderson’s epic Stormlight Archive was another great read. It’s full of interesting characters, intrigue and this time tells part of the story from a bunch of different perspectives. It keeps you on your toes wondering who is on whose side, what people’s real intentions are, and has me wondering about tie-ins to the rest of the Cosmere. I’m looking forward to the next book, which is the last book in this phase of the story!”
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