Issue 33: đ Six great Halloween games, TEN first look đ
Six games to consider for this year's Halloween party, plus my first look at AEG's TEN
Hello there! I hope youâre having a grand October, and if youâre in the northern Hemisphere, I hope youâre enjoying the start of fall, wherever you may be.
We recently had our first snow of the season, forcing me to rescue my basil from freezing. Iâm optimistic that it will make excellent pesto through the winter, but time will tell there. I also finished up my two batches of hot sauce from the garden, and I can happily report that theyâre quite spicy, too.
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Pushing your luck: TEN
TEN is a push-your-luck, auction, run-building card game from Flat Out Games and AEG. In TEN, youâre trying to form runs of cards, earning one point per card in your longest run in each color. If you manage to make a run of 1 to 9, youâll get an extra point.
Gaining cards is where the push-your-luck element comes in. Youâll draw one card at a time, placing them face up on the table. If the total summed value of the cards youâve drawn exceeds ten, you bust, and you just get a little currency for your trouble.
The element making this not just a simple do-the-math game? Among the cards are âcurrency cards,â which subtract from the summed value. And if the summed value of just the currency cards exceeds ten â you guessed it. Bust. You can either take the currency cards, gaining that much money to use in the auction phase or the buy phase (weâre getting there,) or you can take the numbered cards, letting you build your runs to score points at the end of the game. If you take the numbered cards, you get to buy one card from the cards not taken (either because a player busted while drawing cards, or because a player took currency.)
Finally, the auction phase â the piece taking this from a dead-simple game to something with a little bit more heft to it. As you draw cards, you might run across wild cards. Those are immediately put up for auction, interrupting your turn. Theyâre on the rare side, but they can absolutely change the dynamic of the game.
The art in TEN is lovely and bright, the concept is novel, and it left me wanting more. Thatâs good stuff from a game, right there.
Finally, Flat Out Games is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting groups in games right now. Cascadia, Calico, Dollars to Donuts, Point Salad â and there's even more. They're absolutely one to watch over the next few years.
TEN retails for $19.99 and is published by AEG. It was designed by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin and Shawn Stankewich. [AEG Shop]
Five things in board games this week
I really like Danâs review of Whirling Witchcraft. Heâs a great reviewer, and he captured what I enjoyed about the game so well. Itâs no coincidence that Iâve included links to his works multiple times. While youâre there, check out Danâs review of Sheepy Time, a game with a very strange name. [Space-Biff!]
The latest issue of quarterly board games magazine Senet arrived in my mailbox this week, and it remains a highlight every time it arrives. From Matt Throwerâs piece on dexterity games, to Alexandra Sonechkinaâs interview with Alan R. Moon, to the Shelf of Shame column (this time, featuring Rodney Smith of Watch it Played,) the issue is a delight. I especially appreciate the research and journalism that goes into making this magazine a bit different than so many others â this doesnât feel like a collection of paid previews. It feels like â well â a premium magazine that I want to keep on my shelves. [Senet Magazine]
The crew over at Meeple Mountain (where Iâve occasionally contributed â and really should do more) has a great list of 29 of their most anticipated games of Essen Spiel 2021. There are plenty I didnât know much about, and Iâm particularly curious about Terra Futura, Squaring Circleville and Bequest. [âThe Most 29 Anticipated Games of Essen Spiel 2021,â Meeple Mountain]
The latest edition of the No Pun Included podcast was a great listen, with Efka and Elaine consistently a great podcasting duo. They talk about Sheepy Time, Beast and The Great Wall in this one. Highly recommended! [Episode 27, No Pun Included]
I really appreciated this list over at BGG from Anthony Faber of Two Wood For a Wheat, and I think itâs worth doing something similar â games from last year that I just havenât played yet, some of which I remain excited about giving a try. Especially as I start thinking about my end-of-year list, including making lists of games to play, itâs a great reminder that a year ending is not the end of games released that year. I suspect thatâll especially be the case in 2022, as ripples in the supply chain are felt even more strongly than they have been over the last two years. [âThe best games of 2021 are the games of 2020 you haven't played yet,â The Secrets of Great Games at BoardGameGeek]
Spooky, Scary: Six games to play this Halloween
Broom Service
Broom Service fits the Halloween bill thematically, and itâs a really nice game to boot. Thereâs a bit of bluffing, a bit of pick up and deliver and a bit of resource management, all wrapped neatly together. Iâm still not sure why everything works together as well as it does, but Iâm here for it.
Cryptid
Cryptid is a great deduction game wherein players try to discover an animal thatâs gone undetected for centuries, even if the board is mostly some nice colors and shapes. If players can obfuscate the clues they have in-hand, while simultaneously sniffing out what their opponents have, all by placing nice wooden tokens on the board, theyâll win. If they canât obfuscate it â well, they just might end up handing their opponents victory. The deduction here is quite fun, I love the theme, and it creates some interesting cooperative moments despite being a competitive game.
Exit The Game
Iâm a big fan of the Exit series, with their fun, thought-provoking, and sometimes very difficult puzzles. Why should you play one of these on Halloween? For me, itâs all about the feeling of mystery that unfolds in front of you. The best part? You can eat whatever snack you want, because youâre going to be discarding the game components after you play. (Please recycle them if you are able.)
I havenât played a bad Exit game. Consider The Abandoned Cabin.
Monikers
Thereâs nothing like a great party game for a party (except a game where you read a bunch; see below), and Monikers is probably the best Halloween party game that comes to mind. Itâs basically the game Celebrity, in which you try to get your teammates to guess a card over three rounds. In the first round, you can say anything but the name on the card; in the second, you get just one word; in the third round, you get no words at all â it basically becomes charades. Itâs a real delight.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
All of the best parties involve reading, right? I think thatâs something Iâve heard people say before, and I wonât argue. This is a game thatâs all about reading. If youâve got the right group for it, gathering for a Halloween party with dramatic readings about murder and whatnot â thatâs just the makings for a good party. Put on some candles, dim the lights (while making sure everyone has enough room to read) and youâre in for a treat.
Whirling Witchcraft
I wrote about Whirling Witchcraft in Issue 32, but in short, this is a neat little engine-building game in which youâre trying to overwhelm your opponent with what you produce. That slight twist on the engine-building conceit is an excellent transformation, and I really enjoy this one as a result.
Some other classics youâll see on othersâ lists that you should also consider
Betrayal at House on the Hill â One of the first games on many of these lists, Betrayal is a semi-cooperative game with a hidden traitor â but not even the trait knows who they are until late in the game. Or maybe there wonât be a traitor. Lots of variability in how this one plays out. Personally, I like the tile laying and exploring part the best.
Dead of Winter â Semi-cooperative play with a hidden traitor and hidden objectives â will players risk survival to go for a win? Itâs a fun social puzzle rife with zombies and risk.
Fury of Dracula â A hidden movement game where one player is Dracula, and the other players are hunting the famous vampire.
Horrified â A cooperative game about fighting famous monsters. Still very much on my to-play list.
Letters from Whitechapel â Another hidden movement game, where one player is Jack the Ripper, and the other players are police detectives trying to catch Mr. The Ripper before heâs killed too much.
Mansions of Madness â Cooperative play (app-driven, if youâre playing the second edition) of adventure, exploration, and horror. Lots of miniatures, too.
Mysterium â Cooperative play in which one ghost communicates via a seance to help players solve a mystery, complete with dreamlike cards that are basically straight out of Dixit.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf â itâs Werewolf, but with basically no down time, a great companion app, and an incredible slew of expansions. If youâre looking for a social deduction game, this is a classic.
Thanks for reading Don't Eat the Meeples. You can find me on Instagram and on Twitter. I even started a podcast this year, Vintage Sci-Fi Shorts, in which I read old science fiction short stories from the pages of old pulp and digest magazines. If you like this newsletter, consider sharing it with a friend or an enemy.