Shelley and I go lighter this week, having some fun exploring the streets of the lower half of Manhattan in

Ticket to Ride New York by Alan Moon from Days of Wonder

and

Splendor: Cities of Splendor by Marc Andre from Space Cowboys

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Shelley and I have fun seeing which bird type comes out on top in

Birdie Fight/Songbirds by Yuo from Kocchiya

and finish off the campaign of

Charterstone by Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games

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Shelley and I have a great time cooperatively building with blocks and cardboard, then tackle the first 6 games of a legacy title:

Menara by Oliver Richtberg from Zoch

and

Charterstone by Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games

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Shelley and I struggle to enjoy two otherwise beautiful games:

Photosynthesis by Hjalmar Hach from Blue Orange Games

and

The Island of El Dorado, a Kickstarter game by Daniel Aronson

Before that discussion, though, we talk about a few of the games we enjoyed playing with visiting friends:

StreamRollers (previously discussed) from Stronghold Games

Han (also known as China & Web of Power) from Michael Schacht and Abacusspiele

Viva Pamplona by Wolfgang Kramer

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This week Shelley and I try out a game of face comparisons with her entire family, then spend time building our separate Queendoms

FaceCards by Leo Colovini from Ravensburger

and

Queendomino by Bruno Cathala from Blue Orange Games

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Shelley and I roll and write our train routes to set up deliveries, then go head to head in the sequel to The Game.

Steamrollers by Mark Gerrits from Stronghold Games

and

The Game: Face to Face by Steffen Benndorf and Reinhard Staupe from White Goblin (and others)

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Shelley and I work to help characters of fables and legends fulfill their quests, then become citizens of the ancient city of Palmyra and work to build monuments, get rare goods, and fulfill the ruler's missions.

Woodlands by Daniel Fehr from Ravensburger

and

Tadmor by Gianluca Piacentini from Gotha Games

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Shelley and I hire then raid villages, then get respect for spending money and somehow keeping what we spend!

Raiders of the North Sea by Shem Phillips from Renegade Games

and

Mercado by Rudiger Dorn from Kosmos

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Shelley and I enjoy building our wineries with new possible visitors, then take the role of different countries as we gather goods, settle, and explore new parts of the world

Viticulture: Visit from the Rhine Valley Expansion by Tido Lorenz and Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games

and

Race to the New Found Land by Martin Kallenborn and Jochen Scherer from Hans im Gluck

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It's time for our annual discussion of our thoughts on the Nominees and Recommended titles for German Game of the Year! The Spiel des Jahres (lighter, family games) and Kennerspiel des Jahres (still fairly light, but more involved games) are on the docket!

SdJ Nominees: Azul by Michael Kiesling from Next Move The Mind by Wolfgang Warsch from NSV Luxor by Rudiger Dorn from Queen Games

KedJ Nominees: Ganz Schon Clever by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele Heaven and Ale by Michael Kiesling from eggertspiele Quacksalber von Quedlinburg by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele

SdJ Recommended Games: 5-Minute Dungeon by Connor Reid from Kosmos Facecards by Leo Colovini from Ravensburger Majesty: For The Realm by Marc Andre from Hans im Gluck Memoarrr! by Carlo Bortolini from Pegasus/Stronghold Games Santorini by Gord! from Roxley Woodlands by Daniel Fehr from Ravensburger

KedJ Recommended Games: Clank! by Paul Dennen from Renegade Game Studios Pioneers by Emanuele Ornella from Queen Games

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Shelley and I try to sync our minds and then make potions with random ingredients in two of Wolfgang Warsch's latest games:

The Mind from NSV

and

Quacksalber von Quedlinburg from Schmidt Spiele

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Shelley jumps out of her comfort zone to check out the fun little new memory game from Stronghold Games, then I can't roll to save my life in the new Schmidt Spiele dice drafting game.

Memoarr! by Carlo Bortolini from Stronghold Games

and

Ganz Schön Clever by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele

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Shelley and I head out west, hoping to avoid major difficulties in the dice drafting game

Pioneer Days by Matthew Dunstan and Chris Marling from Tasty Minstrel

and then get all abstract like Mondrian in

De Stijl by Lucas Gerlach from Quick Simple Fun Games

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A few weeks after Tony Boydell and I sat down over Skype, Shelley gets her chance to tell the world her favorites of 2017. Here's the list:

Honorable Mentions:

Codenames Duet

Palace of Mad King Ludwig

Santa Maria

Noria

Pulsar 2849

Transatlantic

Majesty of the Realm

Concordia Expansions

Top Games:

Rattaneer

Altiplano

Terraforming Mars - Hellas & Elysium

Ethnos

Azul

Riverboat

Heaven and Ale

Gentes

Rajas of the Ganges

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Shelley and I delve into two smaller-box card-based games from different areas of the world this week.

Riga by Stefan Risthaus from Ostia Spiele finds the players gaining commodities in the Baltic and then building structures in other Baltic area cities.

Rataneer by Hisashi Hayashi from Okayzu Brand has the players steering competing boats of rat pirates through various actions to gain money and assistance, then plunder the oceans and trade in stolen goods!

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Shelley and I have a great time with Scythe and its expansions, then do some action selection as we attempt to gain commodities in Carthago.

Scythe

Scythe: Invaders From Afar

Scythe: The Wind Gambit*

From Stonemaier Games and designed by Jamey Stegmaier and *Kai Starck

Carthago: Merchants and Guilds by Bernd Eisenstein and Ralph Bienert

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Tony Boydell's on board this week from across the pond for a discussion of some of 2017's best (and worst) games. Here are some of the games we touch on Tony's Lists:

Top 10 of 2017

Nusfjord

Azul

Calimala

The Cousins War

Mini Rails

Gentes

Fox in the Forest

John Company

Seasons (revisited)

kingdomino

Bottom feeders

Gier

Fast Forward games

Doug's Lists:

Top 11:

Azul

Altiplano

Biosphere

Codenames Duets

Gentes

Heaven & Ale

Iquazu

Majesty: For The Realm

Pulsar 2849

Riverboat

Santa Maria

Honorable Mention for various reasons:

Palace of Mad King Ludwig

Rescue Polar Bears

Cousins' War

Destination X

Calimala

Really Don't Like:

Agra

Feuville

Merlin

Montana

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Shelley and I finally get back to Nusfjord to do it proper justice, then head over to Dr. Finn and design Flower Shop windows. We also get previously reviewed titles to the table in Rococo and Azul!

Nusfjord by Uwe Rosenberg from Mayfair Games

The Little Flower Shop by Steve Finn from Dr. Finn's Games

as well as

Rococo by Matthias Cramer and Louis & Stefan Malz from Eggertspiele

and

Azul by Michael Kiesling from Next Move/Plan B Games

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Shelley and I meander around the country in frustration, then head into the forest where I enjoy taking tricks and Shelley continues to be frustrated.

Keyper by Richard Breese from R&D Games

and

Fox in the Forest by Joshua Buergel from Renegade Games

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Shelley and I enjoy a couple of fantasy-themed games this week, collecting sets of tribes to gain majorities in Ethnos, then developing resources through ring manipulation of actions in Noria!

Ethnos by Paolo Mori from Cool Mini or Not

and

Noria by Sophia Wagner from Stronghold Games, Pegasus Spiele and Edition Spielwiese

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