What’s On Our Wishlist January 2024

Rachael Duchovny - Wyrmspan 

With Christmas bringing so many new games into the house it’s hard to imagine saying… but I still want this game. However, with the recent announcement of Wyrmspan from Stonemaier Games I’m pretty much as excited as that kid opening presents under the Christmas tree!

Whilst I’m a huge fan of Wingspan I have found it to be very much a marmite when speaking to friends and fellow gamers. People seem to either love it or loathe it. And whilst marmite may have me reaching for the sick bucket the promise of dragons has me racing to the Zatu website for more information and that teaser trailer. Because what’s better than dragons? “Building a cavernous sanctuary of dragons” and popping some speckled eggs on top of beautifully illustrated dragon cards!

Whilst inspired by the mechanisms of Wingspan this game promises to bring something new to the table and I’m super excited to see the sheer beauty of the dragon cards. If the teaser trailer is anything to go by the components look just as top quality as those in my Wingspan games and I’m excited to add this to the collection.

So whatever your span meme will dragons make your wishlist? I know I’m eagerly awaiting its release and getting those dragons to the table!

Andy Broomhead - Cape May

I’ve tried to cut back on the number of games I’m making eyes at as storage becomes more of a problem, so my wish list feels more manageable, shorter and (for the games on it at least) a bit more exclusive.

I’ve been really enjoying the offerings from Thunderworks Games at the moment, thanks largely to Tenpenny Parks (a lovely Christmas present) and Cartographers (a wonderful Secret Santa gift). I’m also expecting Roll Player soon, but the thing that’s made it to the top of my list is Cape May from the same publisher.

I like the look of the chunky components for one, and the neat approach to area control that unfolds as you develop property spaces along the New Jersey coastline feels innovative. On the surface it can look like a roll-and-move game, but I think underneath there’s more to it, as you’re choosing cards to move through the town and using action points to try and maximise the benefit from each of your turns. As you only get income once per season, there’s a certain amount of planning and strategy needed to do all this as efficiently as possible.

I also like the randomness that exists with events being uncovered each round that can really restrict your ability to get things done (like property fires in certain zones) and are well put together like pages from the local newspaper. There’s also an element of set collection thrown in as you can collect bird tokens of the different species inhabiting the area for points at the end.

Given how impressed I’ve been with other Thunderworks Games releases so far, I’m really excited for this one too.

Dan Street Phillips - Wyrmspan (again)

Earlier this month Stonemaier Games announced a follow up to their mega-hit Wingspan and I couldn’t be more excited. I have always enjoyed the mechanics of Wingspan but the theme had never grabbed my imagination like it had so many other people. I even built a print-and-play version based on Pokenmon just to make it more engaging for my game group.

But the announcement of Wyrmspan, a new game inspired by the core mechanisms of its birdy predecessor but instead, the world of dragons got me hooked straight away. Designed by Connie Vogelmann (designer of recent ‘Bees in Space’ game Apiary) with development from Wingspan’s Elizabeth Hargrave this new game sees you attracting dragons to a series of caves whilst creating a powerful tableau to trigger whenever you explore said caverns. I love the watercolour look of the artwork and just the amount of unique dragons that have been designed. I also love that in this game you get to actually hatch your eggs into cute little dragon babies that grow in power throughout the game as you feed them!

Perhaps the most intriguing element is that Wyrmspan is said to be a heavier design offering more challenging decision making and without having to exist in the real world like it’s mother game, it opens up a whole realm of possibility when it comes to future expansions. Perhaps it’s the Welsh blood running in my veins, but I am a sucker for dragons and so with the notification registration already on Zatu’s website, I am signed up and sitting patiently for that purchase button to appear!

Arnaldo Amaral - Modern Art

Happy new year everyone! The time of the year to look forward, be hopeful and aim higher is now and there’s no better time than this to look into our wishlists!

I have a few games on my radar that I must get my hands on. Last month I spoke about Fit To Print, this month I’ll talk about another of my top 5 most wanted games at the moment: Modern Art!

Modern Art is a fantastic auction game with a hint of hand management with a simple premise: Each player controls a world class museum and their objective is having the most amount of money at the end of the game by buying and selling paintings.

The game is played over 4 rounds and in each round a number of auctions will occur, with players taking turns at being the auctioneer, auctioning paintings from their hand of cards. There are 5 different types of auction: Open Auction, One-Offer Auction, Hidden Auction, Fixed Price Auction and Double Auction. Each type has their own rules that must be followed by all players, making the gameplay much more varied and interesting.

A round ends once the fifth painting of a particular painter is revealed. At this point, you determine the worth of each different painter’s work based on the number of paintings in play for each, which will in turn affect how much money players receive at the end of the round for selling their paintings. The amount of money each player has is kept hidden at all times until the end of the game.

The game is a cutthroat experience that brings serious player interaction to the table and is undoubtedly bound to create great memories for the players to forever cherish (or grudge….). An absolute classic by Dr. Reiner Knizia, published originally in 1992, that has recently been reedited and reprinted into a great looking game with amazing gameplay. Must have it!!

Stu West - Marvel Zombies: X-Men Resistance

There are lots of things still living on my wish list despite Christmas having come and gone. However, top of the tree is definitely Marvel Zombies, X-Men Resistance. My son was lucky enough to get a copy of Marvel Zombies this year for Christmas. we have been enjoying playing through the 10 included scenarios, while keeping one eye on all of the tasty expansions that have already been released for the game.

Marvel Zombies is a great game in itself that gives a new spin to the established Zombicide franchise. The game allows you to take control of superheroes that have contracted a zombie virus to work cooperatively to achieve success or failure. These former superheroes stalk the streets of New York fighting-off agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and healthy superheroes while looking to devour innocent bystanders and people they once knew. X-Men Resistance allows players to flip roles and take control of the healthy superheroes to fight off the zombie hordes and defeat their fallen comrades - hero mode sounds epic doesn’t it?

Using a similar system to that in Marvel Zombies, our heroes develop additional powers as their experience increases, as they pick up new traits, and as they rescue bystanders to obtain permanent enhancements. The great thing about X-Men Resistance is that, not only do you get 10 new scenarios to play, all of the heroes, bystanders and zombie characters contained within the box can be used in ‘zombie mode’ for the core Marvel Zombies game.

I am normally a purist, only taking painted miniatures to the table. I have made an exception with Marvel Zombies however. The sculpts are crisp and highly detailed. Whilst I would love to paint them, the coloured plastic allows you to play straight from the box with no assembly and no paint required - much to the relief of my son!

I’ll be sure to write a review of X-Men resistance as soon as it makes its way to our door (along with the other add-ons if we’re lucky enough to get them).

Favouritefoe - DorfRomantik The Duel & Faraway

A new year always brings a fluffy of new game announcements and twelve months of wish list additions. And this year has been no different!

Two particular games have shot straight to the top of mine: Dorformantik the Duel and Faraway. Dorfromantik was one of my sleeper hits of 2023. I came to it late, but I am glad I did. It’s a co-operative game all about creating the best village possible by reference to a whole host of scoring objectives that get revealed over time. Puzzly placement optimisation. The trouble is, my husband alpha-games me as even when we play together he likes to win! So knowing there is a competitive, head to head version of the tile laying game I love sounds perfect to play with the man I love (….to beat! Haha)

Faraway is an absolutely brilliant card game. It consists of just 8 rounds and each time it is your turn you play a single card face down into your Exploration Area from left to right. At the end of the drafting and placing, your 8 cards get turned over and you score from right to left. Each card will only score if there are sufficient colours/icons already showing in your Exploration Area at the time it is flipped over. Timing is everything as you can increase your scoring capability by gaining Sanctuary cards – but only if you play a card with a number which is higher than your previous one. But of course, higher numbers are harder to score, so it’s a brilliant balancing exercise. At the moment Faraway is only available in Europe and the USA, but hopefully UK distribution will be locked down soon!