My July Gaming

 July was my month for learning games this year. Work and life will probably keep me busy for the rest of the year but I knew July would be a little more open. And I took advantage of that.

I learned:

16 lueurs d’hiver

Framework

Boat

Bonsai

Packing Party

66 fluers de printemps

Rome Must Fall

Around South America in 15 Minutes

Boxcars (Roll and Write Design Contest)

Glass Garden

Lunchbox Lair

Trial By Fire

Raft

Chutes and Levers

Sink the Bismarck 

Squeaky Clean

While a number of these games are on the light and fluffy side of the spectrum (and ain’t none of these games Twilight Imperium), I did learn some games that were a little heavier.

I have largely stopped buying physical copies of games but I did pick up a discount copy of Bonsai and took the opportunity to try it out. While it doesn’t do anything new, it ticks a lot of boxes for casual gaming, including being pretty and chill.

I also have been meaning to try out Solo War Games games. Martin Melbardis designs Roll and Write war games that are actual war games. Rome Must Fall looked like the most newbie friendly and I felt it lived up to the mission statement. I plan on looking at more Solo War Games games.

I’ve also been working my way through the season games designed for the Accessijeux charity. I had thought about trying to space them out to one a month, but I’m too eager to try them for that. Instead, I have just tried to get at least 10 plays with the one I’m on before I move to the next. They are another good example of solid casual games.

Beyond that, I learned a number of games that I had been meaning to get around to. Heck, I first looked at Sink the Bismarck over fifteen years ago lol

Near the end of July, I made copies of Chutes and Levers and Squeaky Clean from Emily Fagerstrom’s Kickstarter. I found Chutes and Levers to be weak compared to Flipuzzles or One-Card Mazes but Squeaky Clean really hooked me.

While I know that I won’t be learning nearly as many games in August, I do know I will be replaying many of the games that I learned in July.