Top 10 Under the Radar @Essen 2017
Ok, I realize this post is greatly overdue, but I wanted to list a handful of boardgames that I think flew under the radar by other reviewers leading up to Essen 2017. For the record, I’ve only played one of the games on this list. All my opinions are based on information I found on www.boardgamegeek.com (aka BGG).
10. MS Batory 9. Unreal Estate 8. Pandemonium 7. Heldentaufe 6. Teotihuacan: City of the Gods 5. MourneQuest 4. Wendake 3. InBetween 2. 21 Days 1. Rescue Polar Bears: Data & Temperature
Find out more about these games after the jump.
MS Batory - This looks like a 3-D version of Clue to me. How cool is that? Published by Granna and designed by Filip Miłuński, who previously brought us CV and Capital, I suspect this will be a family-weight game that will be good to play with kids.
Unreal Estate - This simple card game sounded interesting to me. From the publisher:
“Thieves' Guild or Elven Treehouse? Magic Shop or Dwarven Tavern? Build your fantasy cityscape by matching houses and racking up the points before your opponents have a chance to score.“
Now, post-Essen I actually managed to trade for this game, and I would say that it’s a solid filler game. I was probably expecting a little bit more from it than what it actually is. I’ve never played the game, For Sale, before, but I wonder if this filler would take its place, even though the mechanisms aren’t the same. Unreal Estate is about set collection, whereas For Sale is an auction/bidding game.
Pandemonium - I’m not typically a horror fan, although you’d never guess it based on this list. I think the horror themed games unveiled at Essen displayed more interesting mechanisms compared to other new releases. This is a co-op game, which automatically grabs my attention. From the BGG description:
“Collaborate with your partners in order to survive, but trust no one because all of them hide a dark past and a deadly secret.“
It sounds a little bit like the Arkham Horror series of games to me. Based on the description, it sounds like each character might have a special tick that can harm the group, even though this is a cooperative game. From unknown designer Marc Ripoll, this game is supposed to play in 90-120 minutes, so it could be a good alternative to Arkham/Eldritch Horror fans who are looking for a quicker game.
Heldentaufe - I think this game sounds unique because you can play this game across two realms, the Upper World and the Netherworld. The Upper World is described as mostly peaceful, but the Netherworld is where the treasures lie! I wonder if it plays similarly to Tiny Epic Quest, where your hero can take different actions depending on whether it’s day or night. In this game, I wonder if there are different actions you can take based on location--are you above ground gathering supplies for a big Netherworld expedition? I have to say, I really like Mathieu Leyssenne‘s artwork here. Mathieu’s artwork can be found in other games such as Jamaica, Tales & Games: The Hare & the Tortoise, and 2017′s party game hit (from my observation of popular boardgame reviewers), Meeple Circus.
Teotihuacan: City of the Gods - From one-half of the duo who brought us The Voyages of Marco Polo and Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar, designer Daniele Tascini takes another stab at dice worker placement. I do wonder how different this will be compared to Tzolk’in. It could be Tascini’s attempt to refine an already good game (basically my opinion of Carl Chudyk’s games). Despite the scant information found on BGG and no artwork available other than the box. I’m still interested to learn more!
MourneQuest - Finally, another co-op game on this list! Although the backdrop of this story sounds rather sad, I’m interested in it because it’s fantasy/adventure co-op game. It’s apparently based on a novel of the same name by author Garry McElherron. The designers of this game previously worked on pocket-sized game, Codinca. I’ve never played Codinca, but I know The Dice Tower’s Sam Healey is a fan. I think for anyone who is a fan of Mice & Mystics or is interested in Stuffed Fables, this title deserves a look.
Wendake - This comes to us from first-time designer, Danilo Sabia. Taken from BGG:
“In the game Wendake, you are placed in the shoes of a chief of a Native American tribe. You have to manage all of the most important aspects of their lives, earning points on the economic, military, ritual, and mask tracks.“
It sounds like an Uwe Rosenberg type of game. The game plays over 7 rounds, and each round, the actions from which you can choose get better and better. Every player gets a 3x3 action board comprised of 9 tiles. For your first action, you can select any tile, but then in the next turn, the action must come from the same row, column, or diagonal space as the previous action. The scoring mechanism reminds me of Tigris & Euphrates because apparently you only count your lower score on each pair of tracks (4 tracks total, only score on 2).
InBetween - This 2 player only game caught my eye because its description sounds like something straight from the popular Netflix tv series, Stranger Things. One person plays the Creature, who is trying to lure humans into their dimension and devour them. The other person is trying to protect the humans of Upsideville. Doesn’t that sound just like the tv show? The game plays in 20-40 minutes, so it sounds like a quick filler type of game to me. The circular layout of the cards reminds me of Tiny Epic Defenders.
21 Days - New designer Erik Winkelman brings us this survival boardgame which includes my favorite mechanism, co-op! In this game, your ship has suffered a terrible disaster at sea, claiming hundreds of passengers’ lives. Your goal is to relive the events described in the logbook of the last 21 days and end with at least one survivor who will be picked up by a rescue ship. Hopefully, this one isn’t as hard to play as Robinson Crusoe. I’ve never played that co-op game, but I’ve heard it’s very tough to win.
Rescue Polar Bears: Data & Temperature - Are you still with me? Good! You’ve made it to my #1 under the radar game from Essen 2017! This game gets points for being co-op and for attempting to bring greater social awareness to climate change. In this game, the consumption of fossil fuels and release of greenhouse gases is causing the polar ice caps to melt. As scientists, you must collect data to help better understand climate change. Also, you must try to rescue any polar bears who get stranded on broken bits of iceberg. Can you gather enough temperature data before rising temps completely destroy the polar bears’ habitat? Rescue those cute bears!
