These are the top 10 beer themed games that I want to play.  Some of the games I've actually played before, but many I haven’t.

  10.  Brewin’ USA     9.  Red Dragon Inn     8.  Dice Brewing      7.  Braggart     6.  Bang! The Dice Game     5.  Tavern Masters     4.  Dragon Brew     3.  Village Inn*     2.  Brew Crafters     1.  Heaven & Ale

Village Inn gets an asterisk because it’s actually an expansion to the main board game, Village.  Village Inn allows players to send their meeples to brew beer, as well as spend time at the inn.  It’s the only game on the list that is an expansion instead of being a standalone game.

The games I’ve played before are Red Dragon Inn and Bang! The Dice Game (I’ve also played the original, Bang!).  Bang! is very loosely related to beer, in that drinking beer refills your health points. 

This probably won’t come as a big surprise to anyone who read my last blog post, but this month’s spotlight goes to... <drum roll, please> Meeple Circus!  I can’t give this game enough praise.  I’m not even a dexterity games fan normally!  I feel clumsy, uncoordinated, and ill-suited to win a game that requires hand-eye coordination.  However, the gameplay here is compelling.  It’s just so much fun trying to balance your meeples with animal meeples (animeeples?) and other random shaped objects, like balls and balance beams.  

As for the beer pairing, Hi-Wire Brewing located in Asheville, NC have several appropriately themed offerings.  Death Defying Spring Ale is currently in season and its balancing act is perfect for this theme.  For more information on their beers, go to their website: https://hiwirebrewing.com/seasonals/. The artwork for their labels is excellent. I look forward to touring this brewery in person sometime soon.  

Another pick is Chocolate Sombrero from Clown Shoes.  As a Massachusetts beer company, they’re a little harder to find down here in the south, but good local brewpubs have some Clown Shoes offerings available.  Check out their fun label below.  Head over to Beer Advocate for topline stats and reviews on this beer. 

 There are two new board games coming out this year with a detective theme that I’m excited to talk about.  Both games made my “Most Anticipated” list for the year.  Both attempt to blend cardboard with modern technology, although they go about it in different ways.  Both are cooperative play.  Both are rated for ages 14+ according to boardgamegeek.com (BGG), but that’s where the similarities end.

Of the two, right now I’m more interested in Chronicles of Crime.  This is reflected in where the two games landed on my initial “Most Anticipated” list (spoilers: #3 vs. #7).  Unlike the other game I’m going to discuss, this one doesn’t come from a veteran board game designer, nor from a well-known publisher, as far as I can tell.  Designer David Cicurel has primarily worked with video games in the past.  Although board games and video games are different, both require solid mechanisms to be enjoyable, so I have high expectations for this game.  The publisher is Lucky Duck Games, which previously released Vikings Gone Wildand a card game version of the digital app, Fruit Ninja (Fruit Ninja card game was also co-designed by David Cicurel).  This game supports 1-4 players with an estimated play time of 1 hour to an hour and a half.  In this game, players are investigators trying to catch the criminal in the shortest time possible.  The game involves using an app and virtual reality glasses.  The game doesn’t require you to use VR, but I think it’s the most exciting part!  Players will look at scenes in the app looking for clues.  It reminds me of a hidden objects game mashed up with an escape room.  Finding the right objects to further investigate in each scene in the app reminds me of Mask of Anubis or Mask of Moai; if you haven’t heard of these games, don’t worry about it.  They’re virtually impossible to get in the U.S. (pun intended).  The time pressure reminds me of real-time escape games, such as the Unlock series.  I don’t know why this one intrigues me more than the other crime themed game.  Maybe it’s because there’s more information out on it already, including a Rahdo Runs Through YouTube video.  The VR just looks so cool!  I also like the shorter playing time.  It’s difficult to get longer games to the table, even if they’re fun to play.          

Now let’s take a look at Detective: A Modern Crime Boardgame.  This game has pedigree behind it.  Ignacy Trzewiczek (known for Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Imperial Settlers, and First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet) has teamed up with an unfamiliar designer, Przemyslaw Rymer.  The game publisher is Portal Games.  The game supports 1-5 players and the estimated playing time ranges from 90 minutes to 3 hours.  This game blends traditional board game elements with an online component.  Players act as investigators working for government agency, ANTERES, and are given login credentials to access an online database that holds case file information.  Data includes a list of suspects, witness details, and documentation pertaining to arrests and trials linked to the current crime being investigated.  To me, the game’s description hints that some of the clues may point to other websites, or at least information that can be looked up online.  I might be reading too much into it, but my suspicions come from this line, “Players are free to use the investigation manual, ANTERES database, and any other online resources they may find to help them solve the case.”  This game currently has a price advantage over Chronicles of Crime, costing only $35 for pre-order via Miniature Market vs. $49 for CoC with the VR glasses (and if you’re going to buy the game, surely you’ll want the VR glasses).

Today I’d like to highlight escape room board games this month.  This lumps the Exit/Unlock/Deckscape series together.  However, I’d particularly like to highlight one of the games from Unlock’s second round of releases, The Tonipal’s Treasure.  This particular escape game had everything you could hope for based on the title and cover artwork: swashbuckling buccaneers, a talking parrot, secret maps promising hidden treasure, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!  I hope anyone reading this won’t feel like I’ve given too much away.  I’m not going to specify any of the puzzles, but I will say that I particularly enjoyed one of them.

In the Dice Tower’s podcast with Tom Vasel and Eric Summerer, Tom described The Tonipal’s Treasure as being his favorite of the Unlock series so far, as well as being the most similar in feel to a T.I.M.E. Stories adventure.  I’m not really sure why he made the comparison.  When I think of T.I.M.E. Stories, I think of the way that game forces you to repeat a loop over and over until you find the right path.  I’d say it’s nearly impossible to make all the right moves on your first trip through, unless you get incredibly lucky at guessing.  There’s simply not enough time to explore every avenue in T.I.M.E. Stories, and I feel like the game is structured so that you pick up necessary information in the first round that you can apply to a repeat round.  I don’t feel like that was the case in Unlock: The Tonipal’s Treasure.

I suspect Tom’s comparison might be due to the ability of players to make different choices, leading them down divergent paths that ultimately lead back to one correct path forward.  If this is the situation, then making the “right” decisions all along would lead to a more efficient route to the end goal, while other roads may meander before getting to the end.  However, since I didn’t look at all the cards after I finished playing, I can’t say if this is the case.  Ultimately, though, I was pleased with how the game drew me in, allowing me to become immersed in the pirate theme and have fun hunting down the clues.

As for pairings, there’s more than one good option, especially for The Tonipal’s Treasure.  Here’s someone else’s list of pirate beers: http://bit.ly/2G1TCFx.  From beer aged in rum barrels to beers with pirate-themed names, the choices range from IPAs to Porters.  However, I like to drink local craft beers when I can, so my recommendations reflect that regional bias.  Specifically, I’d like to highlight Burnt Hickory Cannon Dragger, an IPA having 8% ABV, and Monday Night Blind Pirate, another IPA at 7.4% ABV.

According to other reviewers on beeradvocate.com, Cannon Dragger has a “dank” or “earthy” flavor along with mild hops and a bit of spice on the back end.  To me, Cannon Dragger’s flavor profile is that of a typical IPA, so I wouldn’t necessarily agree with other reviewers.  As an IPA fan, this is a solid choice.  I will note that I don’t typically like mild-flavored IPAs and tend to go for ones with bigger flavor, including ones that--as my friends would say, “punch you in the mouth”.  Cannon Dragger isn’t a “punch you in the mouth” type of beer, but its combination of flavors keeps me happy.

Blind Pirate has a bold citrus flavor, which should come as no surprise, since Monday Night has tinkered with this recipe to create what is currently known as Blind Pirate Blood Orange.  I think using blood oranges was just to increase the foodie/cool factor, or perhaps to evoke mental imagery with “blood” and “pirate” in the same title.  I enjoyed Blind Pirate’s citric tanginess even before they added blood oranges.  Although blood orange fruit has a pretty color that is even richer than a ruby red grapefruit, I’m not convinced anyone would be able to taste the difference between a blood orange and a regular orange.  At any rate, this beer’s clear, copper/amber color evokes feelings of home for me.  I grew up in Florida near citrus groves and have always loved the bite of citrus fruit—the best ones are sweet with a bit of bitter bite.

I don’t have a good suggestion for non-IPA fans, but let’s face it, a piratey game like The Tonipal’s Treasure really should be paired with a citrus beer, so you don’t get scurrrvy, mate!

Finally, a good beer to pair with any escape room game is Wild Heaven Emergency Drinking beer.  This Pilsener style beer has a low 4% ABV, which makes it perfect for drinking when you want to keep your head in the game.