Saturdays are the best

We had a long 4p gaming session on the weekend. 🥳 The games we played were mostly all games that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten for ourselves, so it was fun getting to experience them all at least once. Well, actually one of these games has actually really captured our hearts, and now we really want to own it too! 😁

These are the 5 games that were on the 'menu':  

🏢 Skyrise

Even if you don’t know much about Skyrise, you probably know it’s one of those super-overproduced games. It does look amazing, but gameplay itself is just a simple gateway-type experience. You bid higher and higher numbers with your buildings, trying to claim building spots. A twist is that bidding has a spatial aspect to it, as each bid goes adjacent to the previous bid on the board, which adds a layer of strategy to it all. Still for us the enjoyment isn't proportional to the size of the box and the price tag.

🐯 Zoo Vadis

Knizia designs are often a miss for us, and with Zoo Vadis it was pretty much guaranteed to be the case. There are barely any rules, it’s all about getting your meeple to the end of a track while gathering the most points possible. However, to move forward you often have to haggle with your friends for votes, so it becomes this social game of politicking and negotiation. So I'd say it is less of a game and more of a framework to have fun with your friends - so if you like this kind of negotiation, this will be a blast.

🛩️ Fractured Sky

This is another quite-overproduced game. Magnets, 3D pieces, trays, everything. The core of it is a kind of hidden-information and bluffing area-control game, as you try to grab the Starfall that falls in the different territories. The biggest constraint is having to divide 10 troop power between your 3 ships, so misdirection is key. Pretty interesting, but again a bit too big for what it is, and it seems to need 4-5 players to shine.

🛸 Unmatched: Tales to Amaze

I love the concept of Unmatched and really really want to love, but it still hasn’t convinced us. I was thinking maybe co-op can make it click better, but it felt a bit underwhelming. The enemies just rush you and you keep attacking and defending with your cards until the game is over. There wasn’t much strategy and tactics unfortunately. 

⚖️ Veiled Fate

This is the game from this list that is really amazing. 🥰 Players have shared control over 9 demigods that will gain or lose renown as they go on quests and players secretly vote about the outcomes. You want your demigod to win, but don’t want others to find out the identity, so everything you do has to be very covert. It's funny as you try to guess identities, and seeing who drew which demigod can be a real surprise at the end. The expansions make Veiled Fate even better!