Board Game Journal – February 13 2023

Being a journal leaning more toward session feeling rather than game reviews, I always find it hard to start these. Do I stick with a quick board game blurb? Do I write how I have been? It’s a fine line, but if I don’t say where my mind is, it’s hard for you to know anything that may bias my opinions on a game session.

I know I have said the same thing for a few weeks, but I am tired. Rabbit and I have been run down and sick for a while. Unfortunately, it hasn’t improved as much as I would have liked this week. I ended up taking days off work – a rarity for me.

With Rabbit and I still feeling this tired, putting thought into what to play wasn’t high on our minds. So what better time to jump into a couple of old favourites? Normally, this would probably be 7 Wonders Architects or Isle of Cats, but we wanted to play something different. So some other favourites came off the virtual shelf this week!

Century: Golem Edition

It was a hard call what to start playing this week. A favourite we all knew, but one that we hadn’t played in a while for that ‘new game’ feeling. A couple of suggestions were thrown out, but we quickly decided on Century Golem!

Well, we would have started with Century Golem. I messed up a little bit and forgot to switch to Golem. So we played the original Century Spice Road!

20230213 - Century Spice Road - I started the wrong game
I started up the original Spice Road. Mechanically great, but I have never loved the theme.

This threw Rabbit a little bit. The gameplay between Spice Road and Golem is identical, but the art and general feeling is very different. Not having the same visuals to jog their memory, it took Rabbit a couple of rounds to remember what was happening.

We happily played out Spice Road, then played again switching to Golem. I prefer Golem for the art, the crystals (rather than the spice cubes) and the friendlier colour scheme for colour-blind players.

20230213 - Century Golem - Ahhh thats better
The colours and artwork of Century Golem definitely make more people ask what we are playing more than Spice Road

Switching up gems to make the right patterns, collecting Golems and teasing each other about getting ‘their’ Golem. One day, I hope to open Century: Eastern Mountains, the Golem version of Century: Eastern Wonders, and play with Rabbit.

Hopefully, then I can start combining the games into mega games. You can combine the entire trilogy into something huge, which is an amazing way to grow your gaming experience! This is something that Board Game Arena doesn’t yet allow, as you can only play the first in the series. Maybe one day…

Incan Gold / Diamant

Sometimes, you want a game where you only have a small number of choices. For me, this usually means the group wants to talk during the game and not be distracted by the board. Other times, like last week, we wanted to play with minimal repercussions for not planning ahead. So Incan Gold it was!

It’s been a while since we played Incan Gold, but it’s a game that I still recommend for most gamers’ shelves. Sure, you won’t play it all the time.

But if you want to get a new player in, presenting Incan Gold with the rules explanation of “Keep going, or Head back to camp?” presents an easy intro to gaming.

20230208 - Incan Gold - Fun pushing your luck card game
Playing physically, it’s nice to play with your gems as well

That’s all you have to do – keep going, and explore the temple for more gems and possibly artifacts, or head back and ‘bank’ your haul. Incan Gold is push your luck, pure and simple. Fast to play, with five ‘runs’ to maximise your score and mitigate a bad call.

Or, put the pressure on you because you know you are only 5 gems behind, and the leader just went back to camp on the fifth run.

Often overlooked, Incan Gold is a great little game that can be played in many situations with all levels of players. I am glad it’s back on the table after a few months!

20230208 - Incan Gold - I managed a good haul this turn
I managed a good haul, so does Alpal try and catch up or play it safe but ‘lose’ the game?

What about you?  I hope you got some great games in.  Or are you looking forward to a new one?  Let me know! 

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Until next time,

JohnHQLD