Christmas Quiz - The Answers
Here are the answers with a few personal notes about each game, these are just my opinions. Games like art or books is a matter of taste some may appeal to you - some may not. Hope you had fun anyway. :).
1 Incan Gold – The original version was Diamant but in either version it is a highly recommended 3-8 player warm-up, push-your-luck game, lots of fun.
2 Ingenious Travel Edition (aka Einfach Genial: Reiseedition) – The 2 player version of Genial, simple fun in a light portable form, one of several games that go with us on every holiday.
3 Kraken Attack! – Came up before as picture 15 in quiz 21 – A co-op game for youngsters but also has an advanced form which has appeal for adults. Good for some light fun.
4 Clank! – An excellent Deck-builder (a genre I normally avoid) with a lot of theme, I was introduced to this when I went to a STAG meet and I am very glad I was, this gets regular play from us at home.
5 Ducks in Tow – This was number 5 in my Through the Door series, I really like this game from Stephanie Kwok and First Fish Games, the production quality is excellent and it’s nice to see a game come through Kickstarter that has been thoroughly play-tested, a rarity these days. It is a lovely set collecting game with a fun theme.
6 Niki Lauda's Formel 1 – One of my favourite racing games by Wolfgang Kramer which has various editions (Nurburing, Top Race, Detroit Cleveland Grand Prix, Daytona 500) but this is my favourite edition which bears the name of a much revered racing driver who passed away earlier this year.
7 Amazonas – I did not expect anyone to get this but I could not have a big quiz without a Haba game in it and this was the one that came to hand.
8 Crusaders : Thy Will Be Done – This appeared in Quiz 20 this year, it is balanced, works well has some interesting mechanisms which have you thinking but it leaves me wanting something else from the game possibly because the title screams interesting invasion game but the theme is thinly layered on, I am not sure.
9 TAMSK – is one of two games in this quiz by Kris Burm possibly the top designer of 2-player abstract strategy games and the designer of the “Gipf Project”, originally part of that project it was later replaced by Punct as being more in keeping with the overall feel of the project. Tamsk I love and for me is the only game I have played that successfully incorporates egg timers into its design.
10 Mariposas – One of the best releases of 2020. Players lead their Monarch butterflies through their migration to North America and back again to Mexico, played in 3 rounds players try to achieve various goals dependent on the round. The fascinating fact is that the generation of butterflies that make the migrations North & South are always different generations no single butterfly ever makes the round trip.
11 Wingspan :Oceania Expansion – A bit of a give-away with this one as I missed the game name at the bottom of the box. This is really the “Australian” expansion as all birds are Australian, none the less an interesting addition to the base game with a new food source – nectar.
12 Coffee Roaster – In my mind one of top five single player games out there, an interesting bag builder game all about blending coffee beans to get the perfect roast, it has lots of replay value.
13 Sushi Go Dice – Nice simple dice drafting game following in the footsteps of Sushi-Go, it is excellent as a filler and with very easy rules.
14 Panamax – One of the heavier games in this quiz, it mixes resource management with a dice drafting element, reflecting the lines of cargo ships that pass through the Panama Canal this can be quite a tight and thoughtful game.
15 Patchwork – From Uwe Rosenberg is the best of his tile tessellation games and is an excellent 2-player game which has you thinking throughout but has very little downtime.
16 Endeavor: Age of Expansion – This is the expansion for Endeavor Age of Sail, another of the heavier games in the list though this one is about area control and what is tantamount to micro-management of your resources.
17 Unicorn Fever – This is probably the most colourful release of the year and the version I have is sinfully overproduced with large plastic Unicorns that race along a track printed on a 60cm x 120cm (2’ x 4’ for the oldies) cloth sheet. It is a revamp of Horse Fever.
18 Neolithibum – Proof that you can sell board games with rocks in, there were I believe 3 games in the series each totally different but all were weighed down with stones and all fairly good games. Best with 4+ players this one has you telling others how to place rocks on an altar whist also completing a bear skull puzzle and collecting food. It is a good fun game not to be taken too seriously.
19 ZÈRTZ – The second of Kris Burm’s Gipf games, a puzzle of collecting marbles from a diminishing play area, very addictive to those who love 2 player abstract puzzle games.
20 Duel in the Dark - The first of a couple of war games, this is a 2 player duel where one player sets up the German defences whilst the other player plans a raid to one of several targets, the bombers must fly a set course, because of its nature the game is unbalanced so it is at its best when the players are au fait with the rules and can get through a series of scenarios in quick succession then this becomes a very interesting game.
21 Le Havre : The Inland Port – Another 2-player game that works quite well and is pure resource management however do not be misled by the title it plays nothing like Le Havre.
22 Fast Flowing Forest Fellers – From Friedemann Friese (Power grid fame) this game is a lot of fun as you try to outmanoeuvre the other players whilst racing your log down a river and trying to create a log-jam in front of the others, it is a well thought out race game but needs 3+ players to be at its best.
23 D-Day Dice : War Stories – An expansion for D-Day dice a solo game where you used dice to overcome obstacles whilst trying to reach an enemy bunker, various decks of cards are there to help from commanders to specialists to vehicles to help you. As with a lot of dice games bad rolls will go against you although some cards will help mitigate the damage. Margins are tight and success hard to come by.
24 Imperial - By Mac Gerdts this was well thought of when it appeared back in 2006 an Investment game where the countries also look to control large areas of Europe. The board layout will look familiar to diplomacy players although there are differences, it is a good game but can drag with slow players.
25 Man-Eater! – From 1976 this brilliant fun game I first came across when playing games by post in many of the zines I subscribed to in the 1980’s. It plays from 2-5 players and all you are trying to do is get your swimmers from their lilo’s which are out at sea to the beach whilst avoiding the (player controlled) shark. For a full game players swap roles until everyone has played the shark then tot up your scores.
26 Trambahn – From the designer of Russian Railroads and First class this is a 2 player card game trying to collect sets and manipulate scoring in your favour. Nice simple mechanism and plays quite quickly.
27 Takenoko – I expected this to get the most hits but it was beaten by Sushi Go Dice, perhaps being upside down caused some difficulties.
28 New York Zoo – Another tessellating game from Uwe Rosenberg, this is not as good as some of his others but it is different and if you get bored there are loads of wooden animeeples to play tier auf tier with.
29 The Hunters: German U-Boats at War, 1939-43 ‐ A full on solo war game from GMT, I must admit to being put off by the rule book but sits at 64 on the War-game list on BGG.
30 Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island – I thought a few more would get this, highly thematic game and is 53rd on BGG games list. I have enjoyed the solo and 2 player games we have played, a co-op game where you are continually fighting th elements (game system). Excellent all round game.