Continuing the quick reviews of 9 games per month series. These will be smaller or children games that don't need a big review or games that I only played once and I cannot give a final review yet, but I would still like to share my initial thoughts on.

 

Beer & Bread

Published: 2022
Players: 2
Playing Time: 30-45 Mins
Publisher: Deep Print Games
Mechanisms: Closed Drafting, Highest-Lowest Scoring, Multi-Use Cards,
Sleeves: 56x87mm

Gameplay & Replayability: 6/10

The game has a few rough edges (small rules that stop the flow of the game) that you can iron out with multiple plays. Once you are familiar with the game, there are many good choices to make each round.. and not just for this round, but also you should plan for the next rounds etc.. which is part of the reason this game isn't on top of my list. The game gives just too many things to think about. Beer & Bread is a good game that I will play if I'm in the right set of mind.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

The presentation of the game is great. Tokens and cards are clearly designed and caue no issues while playing.
Farming/collecting ingredients for baking breed and brewing beer is an interesting twist on the old farming theme.

 

boop.

Published: 2022
Players: 2
Playing Time: 20-30 Mins
Publisher: Smirk & Dagger Games
Mechanisms: Grid Movement, Pattern Building, Slide/Push

Gameplay & Replayability: 7/10

It's an abstract duel game that offers infinite replayability as long as you enjoy the game itself. This game offers a chess like experience on a much smaller (and less stressful) level which is why I like it will play it a few times a year, when we have 30 mins to spend.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

This game is soooooo cute. The pillow as game board is the cherry on the cake.
Cats pushing things off the board is one of the »why didn't I think about making a game with this theme« situations.

 

Friday

Published: 2011
Players: 1
Playing Time: 25 Mins
Publisher: 2F-Spiele
Mechanisms: Deck Building, Hand Management, Push Your Luck, Solo Game
Sleeves: 57,5x100mm

Gameplay & Replayability: 8/10

This game is a great solo game. I had a lot of fun playing it and I will try to play it at least 5 times each year (you know.. for the challenges). My vote is reflecting that I'm not a serious solo gamer and I prefer playing multiplayer games over this one.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

Theme is perfect for a solo game… while the art is what it is. It's an older game and the graphic design shows it's age.

 

Mycelia

Published: 2023
Players: 1-4
Playing Time: 45 Mins
Publisher: Ravensburger
Mechanisms: Deck Building, Grid Movement, Solo Game
Sleeves: 59x92mm

Gameplay & Replayability: 7/10

This game is a bit too simple for my taste. I love deck building and I like how it's implemented in this game.. but I do think that this game offers a limited replayability. I don't think I will play this game many more times as I've seen most of the cards and the combos are not that spectacular. But I would suggest it to new gamers as it offers a great entry level experience into deck building.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

The presentation of this game is fantastic…ok the thingy to collect dewdrops is a bit of an overkill, but it does add to the attractivness of the game.
Cards, board and dewdrops are so well done that you have the feeling that you are trying to collect water in nature.

 

Pulsar 2849

Published: 2017
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 60-90 Mins
Publisher: Czech Games Edition
Mechanisms: Dice Rolling, Open Drafting, Worker Placement

Gameplay & Replayability: 7/10

I love the dice rolling and worker placement mechanism. It is of course subject to lady luck whims and this caused the games score to drop for me. I had a good play but my friends didn't and if one player suffers because of luck in such a long game, that leaves a bad taste for the whole group. (As a reminder games reviewed in this blog are also games that I didn't (yet) had the chance to play enough, so it could have been just a bad game).
With all the different start set-ups, there is plenty of replayability here.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

The board is buuuuuusy and yet, somehow everything is visible. There are a bit too many tokens that make the game fiddly. So all in all the game has a good presentation of a futuristic galaxy spaning empire.

 

Spellbook

Published: 2023
Players: 1-4
Playing Time: 45 Mins
Publisher: Space Cowboys
Mechanisms: Hand Management, Set Collection, Solo Game
Sleeves: 70x120mm

Gameplay & Replayability: 5/10

I loved the presentation of the game and had high hopes for it as our new filler game/family fun game. But this game is based too much on luck. If you get a good start and activate »a rune providing« spell, you should snowball the opponents that just didn't manage to get the right combination of runes.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

The box, cards and tokens are all screaming »play me!«.
I don't know how magic works exactly, but I doubt that wizards pull stuff from the other side and then decide what they can cast according to what energy they managed to pull 😊 So the theme and mechanisms are not really connected.

 

Stamp Swap

Published: 2024
Players: 1-5
Playing Time: 20-60 Mins
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Mechanisms: I Cut, You Choose, Open Drafting, Set Collection, Tile Placement
Sleeves: 63,5x88mm

 

Gameplay & Replayability: 8/10

I cut, you choose as a main mechanism is not on my top list… I prefer it on shorter games. That said, this game does it well and gives you plenty of good choices between expensive, rare, special type of stamps. With many different end of round goals and tens of different stamps in different colors and shapes… there is plenty of replayability.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

The game has a modern and an old look at the same time which is perfect for stamp collecting theme. We had a complaint or two at the beginning to distinguish the different stamp types .. but you get used to it fast.

 

Via Magica

Published: 2020
Players: 2-6
Playing Time: 30 Mins
Publisher: Hurrican
Mechanisms: Bingo, Open Drafting, Push Your Luck, Set Collection
Sleeves: 80x100mm

Gameplay & Replayability: 8/10

Another game based on luck.. but this is Bingo.. and bingo is all about luck and screaming out »daddy needs another green« and then hearing the WOOOs and AHHHHs from your opponents. It's a fun game for all ages and a great filler or family game. We plan to play it a few times a year when we need a no-brainer game to have some laughs.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

Nature is throwing elements at you and you try to catch them and use them to open portals.. maybe that's the theme? Who knows.. but the game is beautiful and has a great table presence.

 

Welcome To…

Players: 1-100
Playing Time: 25 Mins
Publisher: Blue Cocker Games
Mechanisms: Bingo, Contracts, Pattern Building, Roll and Write, Simultaneous Action Selection, Solo Game
Sleeves: 57,5x89mm

 

Gameplay & Replayability: 6/10

A Roll and Write game that has some meat on the bones. It a geometry/mathy type of game where you try to draw different shapes and play the odds to get ahead of your opponents. With many objectives and random draws from the deck, each game should be different enough. My vote is lower because I'm not a big fan of R&W games because they don't really give me a sense of accoplisment. If I'm in the mood for a mathy experience, then this game is fun but I'm not requesting to play it that often.

Art & Graphic Design & Theme:

I'm not a big fan of the art style, but it does represent the theme well. The graphic design is well done for such a busy game. You will have some nice neighbourhoods by the end of game and you should be able to read your points.