Board Game Journal – January 30 2023

I was hoping for a bigger gaming weekend this week. I have had a huge week, and my body decided on Friday to tell me ‘Nope’. So it’s a small journal entry this week. Quick to read at least?

Not sure if I am sick, or overworked and my body telling me to stop. I suspect both. We even had some visitors over, and I watched a game of Quacks of Quedlinburg. I willingly stayed out of games of Quacks!

It’s not like I didn’t get any games in, but my head was definitely not in a place to learn Destinies for example. So what did I get to play?

Cartographers Heroes

Normally I don’t mention Cartographers as I I don’t record the little gaming rounds on my mobile. But with feeling very bleah this week, It’s good to remind everyone that I play Cartogprahers Digital at least 10 times a week. Wouldn’t take long to burn through my 200 plays challenge at that rate!

I have Cartographers Heroes physically, and playing on the phone is a great way to play solo. If I was going to play multiplayer at all, I would definitely set up a game over playing on the internet. Rabbit even got me some coloured markers that I plan to use next time we play to help with this!

20221121 - Cartogrpahers Heroes - And we found out the blue whiteboard marker is hard to wash off
The laminated boards worked pretty well. The blue marker, not so much.

So a little bit of a reminder that Cartographers Digital and Cartographers Heroes still exist and are truly in my normal gaming routine. Not even needing a nap every couple of hours could stop me!

Isle of Cats

This week, Alpal, Rabbit, and I got together on Board Game Arena for our weekly gaming session. Nothing was planned, so we decided to play one of our favourite games, Isle of Cats.

As always, we had a great time rescuing cats and discussing the luck of the draw. I was particularly excited because I finally got to pick up some Oshax, which are special cats that can be used as wild cards for building families. Usually, Alpal or Rabbit would get these cards, but I was lucky enough to snag some this time!

20230130 - Isle of Cats - Finally scored some Oshax
Finally scored some Oshax!

I did run into a bit of confusion when it came to the rules for Oshax. Alpal and Rabbit have been nabbing Oshax for a while, so they knew that Oshax were placed with Treasure. I had forgotten this part. Once we clarified the rules, the game was smooth sailing.

One thing I’ve learned from playing Isle of Cats is that the individual rules aren’t hard, but there are a lot of them.

It’s important to teach the game in a way that makes learning easier for new players. My advice would be to play the first game with an open hand and explain the differences as they come up.

This way, everything will be fresh for players and it will make the process of learning the game much easier. Despite my small hiccup with the rules, we had a great time and I can’t wait for our next gaming session. I even managed to nab the new highest score!

20230130 - Isle of Cats - Its a relaxing time saving cats
It’s a relaxing time saving cats. If there was any doubt, Ilse of Cats is highly recommended!

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

Shout out on Facebook or @JohnHQLD me on Twitter, Hive and Instagram! And don't forget you can get random gaming and pet pics on Instagram as well. 🙂

Until next time,

JohnHQLD