the casual board game enthusiast’s blog

Feel free to call me Pal! I’m starting this blog because I’ve been into board gaming the last few months, and I wanted a place to talk about some of the games I’ve been playing.

Right now I play mostly on Boardgamearena and about every other week in person. I like light to medium weight games like Forest Shuffle, Martian Chess, Martian Dice, Space Park, the Fluxx series, Star Trek Catan, etc etc and am interested in getting into heavier games, though I’m not sure when that will happen.

Games I got to play a few rounds of last game night (a few weeks ago, I forgot to update the blog rip)!! Not pictured: Tapple!!

Still a little late, but not as late as last time!! Have my monthly games played retrospective for last month :]

November 2023 I played 15 unique games, many only a handful of times, and many more only once. Here’s my top three by plays for November!

Orion Duel (4 Plays)

I played this one online a handful of times before I got into my solo game phase of the month. It’s still a fun one, I just need to readjust my strategies and thought processes if I want to actually see myself getting any wins again LOL. It has been a hot minute since I’ve been able to pull off a win haha.

Retrograde (4 Plays)

Probably the one I’ve had the most fun with these last few days. It’s an easy solo game to play, though I do find myself craving to play it multiplayer again soon. I’m a sucker for how easy it is to roll those dice and cross off aliens I think. Definitely going to keep playing this one however I’m able to <3

Under Falling Skies (4 Plays)

I think I’ve got the easy basic set up for this game down—I’m able to win in a decent amount of time, so I figured I’d challenge myself with tougher difficulties. Golly, is it a challenge indeed! I have yet to win on any higher difficulties with this game, but it’s engaging enough that I don’t mind trying over and over again.

Other Honorable Mentions and Going Forward

Other honorable mentions include Backgammon (3 plays), Chomp (3 plays), and The Oregon Trail Card Game (3 plays). Games I played once include Martian Dice, Qawale, Quantik, Quarto, Quibbles, and Yoxii.

Last month I played sporadically more than anything, and by the end of the month wanted to get a few plays in for some solo games I physically owned (I had played a few throughout the month as well). In November, I played Retrograde (4 plays), Under Falling Skies (4 plays), Chomp (3 plays) and Cosmoctopus (2 plays).

For December, I have a fair sized list of games I’d like to get and try out physically, including games like Spicy, Control, and Cat in the Box.

I’m also curious about some traditional playing card card games as well actually, like Hearts and Spades and Euchre and Rummy. I’m hoping to try them out online and physically if I’m able!!

Some games I’ve been playing over the month!! From left to right, top to bottom in the first photo: Cosmoctopus, Retrograde, Under Falling Skies, The Oregon Trail Card Game, and Chomp.