Guide to Gaming: When is it time to cull my collection?

We are living in the golden age of board gaming. More and more games are being released. More and more games are being purchased.

More and more games are sitting on players' shelves, left unplayed.

When is it time to cull your collection?

The Quest for Atlantis (a review of Olympos)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house thematic-loving @futurewolfie and his ferocious opponent, the stodgy euro-loving @Farmerlenny.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

In ancient times, tribes of people spread across ancient Greece—conquering regions for the resources they provided and developing technologies and techniques for battle (and more research)—searched for Atlantis, and sought out the favor of the gods.

At least, that's what they do in Philip Kayaerts' Olympos. Olympos is a fairly recent entry into the Euro sphere of games from the creator of Small World. So how does Olympos stack up against other games in the genre, and against Small World itself?  (You know every game a designer creates has to get compared to every other game made by the same person.)

Of Tracts, Sheep, and Strong Drink (a review of Glen More)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

I received Glen More for my birthday last year. Glen More seems like it should have everything that I value in a game: interesting decisions, exciting and novel mechanics, and lots and lots of meeples. It even has tiles a la Carcassonne and takes place in the British Isles. So what did I think of it? Read on, good gamer, and find out!

FDQ: What Is Your "Vegetables" Game?

"Eat your vegetables," your mother used to say (or might still say if you are still at home). And while she knew what was best for you, dang it, vegetables were (are?) gross! Like eating brussels sprouts or reading Ulysses, some gaming experiences have the feel of drudgery even if you recognize their genius. Which brings us to today's question: what board game for you is like eating vegetables? Answer in the comments!

@FarmerLenny answers:
Ha! You probably thought from the title of this post that I was going to ask what your favorite game involving vegetables is (if that's the case, mine is probably At the Gates of Loyang, unless beans count, in which case it's Bohnanza). But that is not the question!

The game to me that is most like eating vegetables is Glen More. I recognize that the game has some excellent mechanics, especially the warehouse buying/selling system, but each experience with the game feels dry (maybe like the whiskey in it?). It feels in many ways like the kind of game I should enjoy: it's got a very Euro feel, a novel turn-order system, multiple scoring options, and an interesting spin on tile laying, but the game just hasn't connected yet for me. Maybe I need to turn on some Monarch of the Glen and drink Irn-Bru to get the full effect of it. (Then again, both of these feel like vegetables-eating experiences, too, so...)

@Futurewolfie answers:
Well I actually liked most vegetables I was fed growing up... so there you have it.  But I'd hate to ruin @FarmerLenny's metaphor, so the game that I don't really like that other people seem to rate highly is, you guessed it, RA.  Apparently it's a cleverly implemented bidding game with a unique scoring system that offers strategy and replayability... but it just doesn't do it for me.  Doesn't click.  Does not cause me to have fun.

Incidentally, it seems that I don't actually own any games with vege-meeples.  Sad day.  Gotta work on that collection.

Gaming Weekends and First Impressions

Living as I do on the edge of civilization (or at least far away from the rest of my kin), I try to spend my birthday among family, and this year was no exception. I traveled to the exotic land of Nebraska to spend the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, and true to Nebraska's landscape, there wasn't much to do except game. All told we fit in eleven plays of eight unique games (three of them mine, two already reviewed—El Grande and Eminent Domain—and our 7 Wonders review coming this week), four of which were first-time plays for me. I also got to try a new game I got for my birthday and attended open gaming at my local gamestore this past Saturday (I went with friends, so I didn't chicken out this time). Needless to say, this would be considered gaming overload for most, but I took it in stride, and now I'll give you my first impressions of all the new games I played.

(First plays of Midgard, Glen More, Puerto Rico, Resident Evil Deck-Building Game, Ra, and Stone Age)