Top 10 Most Anticipated at Essen Spiel 2017
I know this post is a little late, since Essen is over now, but I still wanted to share my top 10 list with you. It was hard to pick only ten game. I gladly would’ve made the list longer, but ten is a conventional number for lists, so I decided to stick with it. I also plan to put out a top 10 “under the radar” list, so be on the lookout for that later this week. It’s hard to stand out in a field of over a thousand games (shout out to W. Eric Martin for putting out the Essen Preview 2017 list on BGG), but after careful consideration, I managed to put together the following list.
10. Fast Forward: Flee 9. Dragon Castle 8. Nusfjord 7. Dinosaur Island 6. Otys 5. Noria 4. Coaster Park 3. Rajas of the Ganges 2. Charterstone 1. Pandemic Legacy: S2
If you’re interested in why these games made my Top 10 List, you can keep reading below.
Fast Forward: Flee - gets my attention for 2 reasons: it’s a cooperative game AND it’s learn-as-you go. Designer Friedemann Friese has been experimenting with a different way of introducing rules. Starting with Fabled Fruit and continuing in the Flash Forward series, these games are built around the concept that you can start playing a game right away and pick up the rules as you play through the game. In Fabled Fruit, there were a few basic rules at the start of the game, but as new cards were revealed, more rules were introduced during gameplay. I wasn’t crazy about Fabled Fruit, but my better half liked it. The artwork was cute and had a family-friendly feel. I guess it just felt a bit too simple to me. Still, as a big fan of co-op, I’m looking forward to eventually playing Flee.
Dragon Castle - I wasn’t really familiar with the designers or publisher on this one, but the concept was interesting to me and the components were pretty! Did I mention I’m a sucker for eye-catching design? The concept of this game is inspired by the Chinese classic, Mahjong. Pairs of tiles are pulled from a central pyramid (looks like Mahjong) and are placed on your personal building board. I’m not exactly sure how you play, but I think the goal is to chain same tiles together on your board. When you do, you score and flip the tiles face down. You can also build shrines on top of your flipped over tiles. With appealing aesthetics and quick gameplay (30-45 min. according to BGG), I expect to see a lot of people playing this game at local boardgaming conventions.
Nusfjord - Published by Lookout Games and Mayfair--two respectable board game publishers--this one admittedly made my list because of the game’s designer, Uwe Rosenberg. Rumor has it this game is around the same weight as his earlier hit, Glass Road. That is to say, this game is a little lighter than Uwe’s epic games, like Agricola, Caverna: The Cave Farmers, and A Feast for Odin, but presumably heavier than his tetris-inspired games like Patchwork, Cottage Garden, and (another new entry at Essen) Indian Summer. By the way, I’m also interested in Indian Summer, but there are so many interesting games, it didn’t make my Top 10. Back to Nusfjord--the twist in this game is that there’s a bit of a stockholder simulation here. You can put shares of your fishing company up for sale, but if you don’t buy them back in time, your competitors can snatch them up and potentially profit from your hard work!
Dinosaur Island - is one of two games published by Pandasaurus Games on my Top 10 Essen list. One of the designers, Jonathan Gilmour, is also half the brainpower behind Dead of Winter (which happens to be in my personal Top 10 played games). Additionally, artist Kwanchai Moriya previously contributed to Kodama: The Tree Spirits, which is a beautifully illustrated game. The theme behind Dinosaur Island is ripped from the cover of Jurassic Park. All of these factors combined add up to a buzzworthy game. In it, you’re trying to run the best dinosaur theme park ever, but you have to balance public safety with carnivorous dinosaurs. After all, you can’t have those velociraptors eating all your visitors, right?
Otys - is another title that makes my list because of a splashy art cover. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have known about this game if it weren’t for Tom Vasel. Although my tastes are normally more in line with Rahdo, this worker placement game is too pretty to ignore!
Noria - The steampunk look of this game drew me in right away. Created by Spiel des Jahres fellowship winner, Sophia Wagner, this is a strong showing from a new board game designer. The unique mechanism here appears to be a twist on a rondel. I’ve seen this game being compared to Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar because of the rotating wheels. Here, you can optimize your rondel by choosing which actions to add to your action selection wheel. It reminds me of the next evolution of component creation, starting with card building in Mystic Vale, then dice building in Dice Forge. Now we’ve got wheel building.
Coaster Park - is my second game of interest from Pandasaurus Games. Scott Almes (known for his Tiny Epic line of games) is the mastermind behind this coaster-building board game. Kwanchai Moriya (Kodama) is back again for the artwork here, and he’s teamed up with Peter Wocken (previous works include Dead of Winter and Sagrada). As for gameplay, first you build roller coasters out of various cardboard pieces. Then, you send a marble down your coaster to see how far it goes. Can it make it up and down the bumps and loops in your coaster? Were you born to be an engineer and didn’t know it? The physicality reminds me of Potion Explosion, even though the execution is vastly different.
Rajas of the Ganges - This one made my list because it’s designed by Inka and Markus Brand, the same duo who brought us games such as Village, Exit: The Game series, Murano, and Touria (among other titles). It looks like it might be another dice worker placement game, and I’m fond of that mechanic. Also, the 3-D elephant player marker is ridiculously cute!
Charterstone - Brought to us by Jamey Stegmaier, I’ve been looking forward to this game for two years. I actually already decided to preorder the game through coolstuffinc.com and will be getting the special promo coin that comes with it if you order from them. I’m not intentionally plugging for CSI; I’m sure everyone who’s been in the gaming hobby knows they have good discounts online. Anyway, back to gameplay--this one is a legacy style game that can be played even after the campaign is finished, so don’t throw away that game board! Jamey has proven himself as a seasoned designer (credits include Scythe, Viticulture, and Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia). I can’t wait to play this one!
Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 - Tom Vasel says this one is better than Season 1, and I can’t even believe it. I loved the first one. I wanted to play another campaign with a different gaming group after I finished playing through the first one. I wanted to pump up my score. Regular Pandemic was more or less my gateway into the hobby. Before that, I owned Bang (the original card game) and Shadows Over Camelot, but that was it. After Pandemic, I was bitten by the board game collecting bug. Anyway, I’m expecting a one of a kind experience from Season 2, even though I won’t be among the first to own a copy.
That’s it for this Top 10. Stay tuned for my list of Top 10 under-the-radar games that debuted at Essen.
