Guess who’s back, back again? Yes, it’s your favourite DWP writers with their most memorable game plays from the previous week! But first, as is now tradition, let’s look at some broader trends.

Keeping in line with yesterday’s article on our favourite Halloween Games, we wanted to dig into BoardGameGeek’s rich database of statistics, and find out what spooky games were played most in October of 2019:

1. Arkham Horror: The Card Game (3096 plays)
2. Horrified (1944 plays)
3. One Night Ultimate Werewolf (1354 plays)
4. Mysterium (999 plays)
5. Eldritch Horror (766 plays)
6. Carnival of Monsters (708 plays)
7. Betrayal Legacy (700 plays)
8. Betrayal at House on the Hill (688 plays)
9. Zombie Kidz Evolution (649 plays)
10. Arkham Horror (619 plays)

Looking back one month to September 2019, these ten games were played 2308 fewer times, so the Halloween effect was definitely at play. Speaking of being at play, let’s check in with our intrepid writing team for their own games played!

NICOLE H:

Heck yeah I’ve played so many good things. But I think my favourite gaming experience from last week was playing MonsDRAWsity with a great group of friends, and meeting the designer Eric Slauson who is a terrific human and basically facilitated for us. One round of a game consists of a witness seeing a monster (secretly viewing a card) and trying to remember as much as they can — then the witness has 2 minutes to describe this to the sketch artists (other players) for them to create their representation. After that, the witness views the sketches and decides secretly who they think got closest. Then the artists get to see the monster card and vote on who they think got closest! Anyone who won a sketch artist or witness vote gets points. It’s so very silly and fun and seeing the sketches everyone came up with was amazing. My face hurt from laughing so much after a couple of rounds. If you’re in the US, you can pre-order this from Deepwater Games, but I have mine pre-ordered through 401 Games here in Toronto!

BILLY C:

To celebrate my birthday this year, we brought everyone in my social distance bubble together for one big game of New Angeles (That‘s only five people, because social responsibility and safety!). New Angeles is a collaborative game in the spirit of Battlestar Galactica, set in the Android universe. It is a big commitment game, a multi-hour negotiation experience, but the twist on win conditions is unique and rewarding. At the beginning of the game, you are secretly given a player’s character card. All you need to do to win is have more points than that player. This leads to all these wonderful and subtle moments of sabotage. I cant recommend this game enough.

MATTHEW R:

I’ve been playing Ultimate Werewolf Legacy, which as its title would indicate is a legacy-version of Werewolf. I had been part of a group that began a campaign of this game a couple years ago, but as often happens it never quite completed. Ultimate Werewolf Legacy plays out over 1 prologue and 12 games, broken up into four three-game sessions. We are currently half-way through. Each game has different set ups, with new roles, rules and powers introduced throughout the campaign. Like its predecessor, Ultimate Werewolf Legacy depends greatly on the players and moderator, and so far it has been a fun and interesting experience.

KIMBERLY T:

I’ve been playing Calico! It’s a seemingly straightforward tile laying game with only three ways to earn victory points, but the combinations and complexity of the choices can be paralyzing. I particularly appreciate how each player board is unique (a different set up of design and color) and that each player places their own three of six objectives onto their personal board. There is also a wide array of cats in play, which changes the sought-for tile configuration for each game. One of my favorite things when playing games is to see my friends moan and groan as another player snatches a tile they need or hem and haw as they analyze the placement of their latest tile. Calico provides those AP moments but it’s not frustrating. The game requires clever planning and placement and ultimately, it’s satisfying. Sometimes you just gotta get that blue button! Maybe in my third game I’ll actually make the most delightful quilt, thus gaining the attention of the cats in play.

DAVID W:

I introduced my 81-year-old mother to one of the Timeline games and she loved it so much that she bugged me to bring my other sets over so we could combine them into a mega-Timeline! We don’t really play it competitively–it’s more of a memory and discussion stimulator. She keeps saying, “This is a really clever game.” We’re going to try Mage Knight next (just kidding).

JON-PAUL D:

Through some bizarre circumstance of fate, I’ve managed to play almost every Halloween game in my collection this month. My favourite, however, has been Monster Slaughter, which is a bloody battle royal of monstrous proportions as players each control a trio of beasties trying to gobble up the guests of a run-down shack. The fact that players are all predicting the order in which the people will perish, and then doing their best to make that prediction reality is amazing and incredibly fun. It’s very much an imperfect game with far more dice chucking than is probably necessary, but it somehow manages to maintain an adorably goofy spirit amidst all of the murderous machinations of the players!

That wraps up another week of play reports from the Daily Worker Placement. Follow us on your favourite social media channels to read more diverse content from this same team of nerdy niblets!