Creaky Table Games

Played my first one-shot of ' Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Ed. as Bob the Brujah. My "team" and DM had a good bit of fun!

Made it out to and have met many gamers and enjoyed several games to include Chris Anderson's In Vino Morte, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, It Was This Big, and many more!

The antacid gurgled within the glass of water; its mass sinking, as the gases rushed upward and into the air. Private Detective Howard Lovecraft grimaced and feigned massaging his temples, but he knew no remedy would sate his worries at this point.

There were hundreds of cases in Arkham - all with their own kinda stink, but he had to pick the most pungent of 'em all. The one that not only caused him to think about hitching the next bus outta town, but one so damn troubling the scent may as well have been trying to force him away with a few slaps to his senses. Sadly for Howard, he had a thick skull.

At the end of the day, he was a gumshoe in all senses of the word. He didn't just muck it and make a mess for those involved, he did it right and made sure to screw himself over good and proper. Find an invention for which there was only one of and that was said to be destroyed. Then find an object said to be from a light-filled void, which cannot... or "should not" be touched or looked at and put it in said destroyed invention.

Howard gulped the barely fizzing water down, found and swigged his flask in a practiced manner, then thought, Whaddya do? Money talks, right? With nothing more to consider, he donned his hat and coat, then slipped out of the office door.  

Arkham Noir: Infinite Gulfs of Darkness by
Players: 1
Type: Card Drafting, Spatial Puzzle

40th Sunset after the 14th Equinox

Mim,

I hope ye and Pip are fed and able. There was word of hard soils and low reapings on the last harvest. Mi brow furrows over yer wellness and shall not ease until I have returned to our village and seen ye both safe. Find solace in this though, mi Sire - Knight Plagiar - has bestowed upon mi a jewel extra for work that he has deemed the finest of any squire before. He said, solemnly, that if I keep packing satchels and packs as I have, that I may become Squire Third Class before the next equinox. With it would be more wages and with that our well could be fixed. Hold tight, Mim and Pip; I will be sending a jewel back with the next of the injured.

Yer pup,

Fran

Squire for Hire by is a spatial puzzle wallet game that plays 1 to 2 players using just 18 cards. I have to admit that I was excited to pick up another small game that tried something different by incorporating the rulebook into the tuckbox - a tuckbox that took an extra measure to add theme by making the tuck portion look like a clasp.

However, I will also admit that I was a little worried about maintaining cards that might be easily disrupted or finding it to be too similar to Sprawlopolis. Fortunately, SFH, does what it sets out to do well. So, I have room for them both.

Squire for Hire does rewards you for adjacency, does have you overlapping cards, and allows for scoring bonuses, but they also have some differences when comparing base games. Squire for Hire uses character cards that provide bonuses for focusing on certain item groups, those characters also lessen requirements in the card draft, and there is an element of being on an adventure with the short passages. So... not drastically different, BUT the characters are cute, the drafting is pleasant, the theme comes through, and the puzzle does take some thought, especially if you want to win.

The market bustled as criers called out over the raucous of booms and bangs! The experience and competence shown for those who called out in such a way that the noise heightened their efforts. The best would reel in a passerby and direct attention to wares strewn out on tables in colors of green, yellow, red, purple, and orange; metals that glinted and glimmered under the sunlight's rays; or, handmade accessories that listed and jittered with each lift of the wind. So deftly was this done that no one seemed to notice the quacks as they failed in their efforts in Quedlinburg.

Quacks of Quedlinburg is a bag building push your luck game with variable powers assigned to each token type. 

Highlights: Varied powers based on token type which gives a sense of surprise and freshness as you pull and play, bag building with the varied tokens allowing players to work towards a strategy, simultaneous play, rewards for not pushing your luck to the point of exploding your potion, a buying phase to keep players engaged in between rounds and mitigate the luck of the pull, a catch up mechanic to lessen runaway leaders and extra baggies which is always a nice addition. 

Lowlights: The bags aren't so great when using the cardboard punchouts as they tend to get trapped in the corners and don't feel like they're being mixed well (we opted for coffee mugs, which felt better), no reference card or page in the book for gameplay phases and resolution, and though there were baggies, which is always appreciated, there weren't enough for separating tokens by colors. 

As for a quick idea of how it plays, see my additional comment. I think it'll help you decide if it's a game for you. 🙂

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