While we didn't originally have Saturday gaming plans, I'm glad that a good friend asked to come over and help us make our weekend more interesting. And since it was just the three of us, this opened the doors to us focusing on learning new games that had yet to hit the table. And we tackled a number of big games throughout the evening.
We started with Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein, a rather macabre worker placement game that Tobie has been eager to play. It seemed more complicated than it actually was, but it was very thematic, and thus quite gory. You're all scientists tasked by The Creature (Frankenstein's monster) to create a companion for him. The game has you juggling stats in Humanity, Reputation, and Expertise as you try to gather the needed "parts" to build a creature of your own. And you're not forced to stick to the monster route. It's technically viable to focus on your humanity and try to stop the other scientists instead.
Our palate cleanse game after all that monstrous work was Magical Athlete, which is a very simple game but one that appeals to me so much for some reason. It's often brought up alongside CMYK's other racing-related party game Hot Streak. but it has been more of a priority for me to get this game before the other one. It's probably why Malaysian-created Trishaw Frenzy also appeals to me so much. They're both roll-and-move games but with added twists to elevate them to more fulfilling game experiences.
The second big game for the night was the very expansive Speakeasy by Vital Lacerda. We've played most of his big board games, but this one took up the most space even with just 3 players. I'm not sure how we'll manage a full 4-player game, unless we pull in another table to host some of the components. Logistics aside, the game is quite fulfilling and not as complicated as some of his other releases like Inventions of Weather Machine. It took us a long time to go through all the rules for the first time and the actual game took a few hours. But on the whole. it's a really good game and a nice evolution of various mechanics he has used in other games. And I think I can get the rules explanation streamlined for future games.
We ended the night with another round of Magical Athlete and a last round of Bus & Stop. We ended rather late (or early for a Sunday), and I had to squeeze in some sleep before the family book club meeting later in the morning. Tobie handled post-gaming wrap-up and even made a quick Kadiwa Market run to pick some some roughage for the week. We were supposed to have a nearby friend come over again for gaming today, but his weekend activities tired him out, so we're just relaxing instead, which is fine.
I hope you had a fulfilling weekend as well.
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