WHAT HAVE WE BEEN PLAYING – October 1st, 2020

It’s a new month, yes it is! We have five Thursdays in October, giving us plenty of time to dig through September statistics regarding BoardGameGeek’s logged game play. In honour of Steve T’s Cult of the Old, let’s look at the ten most played games last month that are at least 10 years old!

1. 7 Wonders (Published: 2010, Plays: 4101)
2. Race for the Galaxy (Published: 2007, Plays: 3712)
3. Dominion (Published 2008, Plays: 3656)
4. Carcassonne (Published: 2000, Plays: 3500)
5. Magic: The Gathering (Published: 1993, Plays: 3489)
6. Can’t Stop (Published: 1980, Plays: 2700)
7. Lost Cities (Published: 1999, Plays: 2427)
8. Jaipur (Published: 2007, Plays: 1978)
9. 6 Nimmt! (Published: 1994, Plays: 1849)
10. Hanabi (Published: 2010, Plays: 1768)

What a great list of classic games! Do you think are listed here because of successful digital implementations? Or enduring popularity on the physical tables of players around the world?

Speaking of digital implementations, let’s start our DWP play reports with…

MATTHEW R:

So, this might not exactly count as a “boardgame” but it was recommended to be my many fellow boardgamers who compared it to social deduction games, especially Dark Moon, and that is the game Among Us. I played Among Us on my phone, but it can be played on a computer. Essentially it is a multiplayer social deduction game where you are on a ship that is in need of some repairs. All the crewmates are given tasks to complete and you run around the ship trying to do them. The tasks are little minigames, some of them super easy, some frustratingly hard and some super fun. While you are doing these tasks one or more players are imposters given fake tasks to appear as crewmates but the imposters are trying to kill the crewmates and/or sabotage the ship. During the game meetings are called (say if a dead body was found) and the players can vote to send someone into the airlock. The crewmates win if the imposters are airlocked or all tasks are complete. The imposters win if the crewmates die or the ship falls apart. It is super fun and quick and fills a social deduction void, I’d describe it as One Night Ultimate Dark Moon.

DANIEL L:

I am thankful that amidst all the chaos and uncertainty I managed to play some Unmatched with Scott Emerson Moyle in meat space. To which his Alice performed a Simpsonsesque wacking day (27 year old cartoon references are still relevant, right?) on my Medusa. This was then followed up with a FURTHER blow to my self esteem involving the Invisible Jerk performing ugly invasive surgery on a certain well mannered medical professional. Looking forward to seeing what the next non licensed box brings!

JON-PAUL D:

Three years have passed since my first play of Mechs vs Minions, a delightfully overproduced tactical programming game. Fortunately, that drought was ended recently, with a full evening of missions played back to back. As much as I have loved RoboRally in the past, I would now prefer to play Mechs vs Minions 9.5 times out of 10!

STEVE T:

I took Board Game Arena’s new implementation of Marrakech out for a spin on Saturday evening. It’s a great, light game that is an excellent introductory game for people who haven’t played anything but Trouble or Monopoly.

BILLY C:

Ever since my Kickstarter copy shipped I have been playing Calico! It’s adorable! It’s quick! It’s interesting! It has the same exciting feel that a lot of my favourite Roll & Writes have, where you make wonderful ambitious plans and then watch the luck of the draw destroy your dreams! And did I mention just how cute it is?!

And that brings us to the end of another week of play reports from the DWP crew. Let us know what you’ve been playing on your favourite social media platform!