donio

Been traveling so it's been mostly online plays but I enjoyed my first plays of Faraway on BGA. It's a drafting game, reminds me of a small streamlined version of It's a Wonderful World (without the cubes). I will probably get a copy once it's available.

I also learned Carpe Diem on Yucata and looking forward to trying it on the table too. This one is a Feld, some hints of CoB but with more stressful placement and scoring conditions.

• Clever 4Ever is the first newer Clever game that I actually prefer over the original. Don't see any exceptional deals on it but I thought I'd mention
• Spirit Island on Amazon for $44 is a decent price. Or Horizons of Spirit Island at $14.99 for a less expensive entry point.
• Tabletop Merchant has a bunch games on sale including Ark Nova which you might enjoy based on the Terraforming Mars like. The free-shipping threshold is pretty high but lots of good stuff to choose from and even their base prices tend to be decent
• Buttonshy has everything 25% off with the coupon code on that page
• Some other Amazon deals that are still live: Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game $15, Cat in the Box $17, Carpe Diem $16, Beyond the Sun $44, Jekyll vs Hyde $12

I am very happy to see For Northwood doing so well. #36 is an amazing debut especially for such a small and unique little game.

No change in the top 3 but some interesting moves after that. Gloomhaven is out of the top 10 despite being bundled together with JotL and Frosthaven. Both Dune Imperium and Arnak have made big jumps. The LotR LCG has climbed a few spots. Ark Nova overtook Terraforming Mars. Cascadia continues its steady climb while Wingspan continues to slide.

Dice Tower is running their 12 Games of Christmas 2023 series too. 9 videos so far with 12 games each for various categories.

Is this a hit board game? The number of BGG ratings and rank (13648) don't reflect that. Does it stand out in some way from the multitude of similar games?

How is the Bitoku expansion in terms of extra rules and table space? Are you planning to leave it in permanently? And the most important question, does it fit in the base box?

Darwin's Journey - A nice combo-tastic euro with an interesting theme. Looks great on the table. Many familiar elements from other Italian-style euros and also a hint of Maracaibo. Left it on the table for a couple more plays and I might try the solo too later on. Minor regrets about not having the double-layered boards from the collector's edition.

Sky Team - This is a really good 2p-only co-op. I first tried it on BGA and had to immediately order it and we played it on the table a few times since. Easy to learn rules and the box contains a lot of content to allow you to ramp up the difficulty. Highly recommended if you enjoy limited-communication co-ops (Hanabi etc) and dice placement.

Castellion - got in a few solo plays, it was nice coming back to it after a long break I enjoyed it a lot more this time and I finally gave the advanced mode a try.

Best: play games with them

Might be pricey and difficult but will almost certainly make them happy: find out what game they've been wanting to get but it's hard to find or too pricey. But it will be hard to find and pricey for you too. Maybe they have "Wishlist" or "Want to trade" items on boardgamegeek.

If they also play online: annual Boardgamearena subscription. They have a way to gift a subscription but you have to make a (free) account for yourself and you have to know their username.

More practical, lower budget: If they play on a regular table (not a special boardgame table) then they might like a neoprene mat. Ideally it should be close to the dimensions of the table. Deckboxes and the accessories others are mentioning are always nice too. Upgrade bits for their favorite game (etsy has a ton of stuff too) or trays/card holders etc.

Istanbul: The Dice Game - A simple but solid dice based take on the original Istanbul. Like in the original you are racing to get 5 or 6 rubies and the rolled dice faces, saved up resources, upgrade tiles and card draws give you various ways to get there. Nice chunky dice.

Maul Peak - a new version of Skulk Hollow. Only one play so far but looking forward to exploring this further. Very nice production.

First play of Maracaibo. It's a medium-heavy euro with lots going on. You can definitely see the GWT lineage, it's fun to try to map the various concepts between them. Gameplay feels very different though, I don't think that either is a replacement for the other. Maracaibo has a bit more of that Pfister wackiness (in a good way). And so much content in the box!

How do you play Maracaibo? Very carefully! Lots of moving parts that are easy to accidentally knock around. GWT-style double-layered player boards would have made a big difference. I hear that the expansion actually comes with those but I want to give the base game a few more plays before deciding on that. BTW, Amazon US currently has Maracaibo at a decent price in case anybody is looking to get it.

Back to back Clank and Clank! In! Space! - Happy to play any Clank any time! We haven't yet played CiS as much as the original so I really enjoyed jumping back into that. We don't have Catacombs yet, waiting for the price to drop.

Fit to Print - this came in just today and we gave it a quick whirl. Imagine if Phil Walker-Harding designed a more family-friendly version of Galaxy Trucker, that's what it feels like. The actual designer is Peter McPherson who is known for Tiny Towns. At first glance the game might seems light (and it kinda is) but the twist of having to collect your components onto a small table first (without trying them on the board) and then build your newspaper in a separate phase (so you can't take or discard anymore) makes it work. The game comes with a bunch of variants: player powers, event cards, solo, a turn-based mode, some puzzles and Cascadia-style challenges.

I never look at the Type and Category fields, my eyes are just not drawn there.

What I do look at all the time is the Mechanism field. That's one of the first things I check when finding out about a game for the first time. I also use that field extensively in searches. It's fun to do an advanced search for combinations of different mechanisms. For example what are some co-op trick-taking games besides Crew and Fox in the Forest Duet?