PAXU Micro Reviews
Bite sized reviews of games I played at PAXU.
A quick review of every single game I played over the weekend of PAX Unplugged, presented in the order we played them.
These are not necessarily new games (although most are new to me) and they’re not even necessarily games that were available to buy at PAXU.
Many thanks to brstf who is responsible for the action shots of some of the games (and to all the people documenting boardgames on BGG for the others).
Decrypto
Image via Julian Schwarzenberg on BGG
A pre-PAXU play, and always a good time. Although for this particular play it was a team of people playing very straightforward clues versus a team operating 4 levels deep, meaning it was more of a race to see if the latter team completed their interception before they self destructed due to obtuse clue giving.
Verdict: We were playing the copy already in my collection!
Color Cats
An unplanned play from the First Look Area: we were drawn in by the cat theme. The actual gameplay is pretty interesting: combative tile laying, with abilities that intersect in interesting enough ways to let you pull off tricky plays. The theme didn’t seem to gel with the actual gameplay whatsoever, and I didn’t love it enough to want to dig too much deeper.
Verdict: Didn’t quite grab me, and a disappointing lack of cat vibes.
Amazing Robot
Image via Tomohiro Imanaka on BGG
In Amazing Robot one player takes the role of a (blind) claw machine, and their partner controls them via a joystick they hold in their off hand. Extremely funny and fun!
Verdict: I’d be difficult to buy this, but worry not! You can assemble it from things you’ve already got lying around the house. And I plan to do so!
Krakel Orakel
A drawing game for people who can’t draw! Draw a card, then draw it on a little whiteboard. Mix up all the cards with some random ones, then the table has to figure out which cards weren’t drawn. The twist (or really, the whole game) is that you are only allowed to trace the mess of dotted lines already present on your whiteboard. It’s less a test of drawing skill, and more a test of trying to find the thing you’re meant to be drawing in the tangle. Extremely fun.
Verdict: I would buy this in a heartbeat if I could import it at a reasonable cost, even without translated cards.
I’m Stuck In The Lift
Image via Sisada Ransibrahmanakul on BGG
Another unplanned play in the First Look Area. You’re all stuck on an elevator trying to guess what floors you’ll stop on, while all players have some degree of influence over how far the lift travels. Unfortunately the huge variance in travel distance at our number of players, and the lack of any complicating mechanics, meant this fell pretty flat for us. I believe there is something here, and a way to make the game work, this just wasn’t it.
Verdict: Promising core concept, disappointing execution.
Power Vacuum
Extremely twisty game about collecting power (which is both literal and metaphorical) for different factions of appliances. Both winning and losing tricks gives (different) benefits, and you’re often in a position of trying to assist another player in order to make your own prediction about how the round will turn out become true. Similar to Arcs this is trick taking to power a more complex game, but unlike Arcs you’re still very much playing a trick taker first and foremost here. I’d like to give this one some more plays to see how it feels after digging in more.
Verdict: I want to play more of this, but not enough so to run out and try and buy it immediately.
Trickarus
Delightful little trick taking game with gorgeous art and a “twist” that is immediately understandable, plays well, and doesn’t melt your brain with too much memorization. Each card rotates to swap numbers (and rarely, suit) as the game cycles between Day and Night anytime someone plays a 5. Winning tricks brings you closer to the sun, and the winner is the person closest to the sun at the end of the hand after at least one of you flies too close and crashes back to the ground.
Verdict: I actually ordered a copy halfway through my first game.
Corvids
We were at DVC Games’s booth to look at Type Set, a game that had caught our attention prior to the con, and then happened to hear someone mention the word “corvids” which made us go take a closer look.
You play a group of thieving birds squabbling over picking out the best bits of treasure from a pile of trash (and each others nests). It feels like it should just be a gimmick game, but somehow all of the parts come together to become something way better than the sum. Each bit reinforces the other bits, and there’s some genuine tactics and strategy involved in how you plan your approach and in your pecking at the pile of cards.
The cherry on top is that the rule for what to do if someone bumps cards they shouldn’t while picking one up is that the other players should, “caw disapprovingly”.
Verdict: Caw Caw Caw! (approvingly)
Ito
Wavelength meets The Gang. Line up cards in order by only giving clues about where your number falls on a randomly drawn scale. Half the fun of this game is getting into arguments about where clues fall onto the scale, and the other half is dunking on your friends for giving the worst clue you can imagine once the cards are all revealed (and you’ve failed again).
Verdict: You’re telling me you went with ‘bionicles’ when you had the 73 for ‘popular collectibles’?
Nendorite
Image via Michael Korologos on BGG
A trick taking game, but with clay instead of cards? What an incredible concept. Unfortunately the most fun you’ll have here is when you first hear about this concept, as it falls down pretty much immediately when you try and play it. The clay balls that you’re supposed to tear up to make the “cards” in your hands started drying out almost immediately upon us opening up the cases, and the rules were a little obtuse (not helped by us translating them from Japanese via app). The inclusion of a little scale to break ties when the weight of two played bits of clay are close is delightful, but it actually really doesn’t help at all giving how fiddly it is to use accurately.
Verdict: I still feel like there’s promise here, but it needs more work shopping (and better clay).
Quiet House
An asymmetric, hidden information, coop puzzle game about uncommunicative ghosts trying to arrange furniture to your collective liking. Very fun! And angrily or happily holding up your little signs to communicate (the only way you’re allowed to) adds a ton of hilarious punctuation to the play. Our first game was very easy, so we cranked the difficulty all the way to max which immediately felt impossible. Probably if you scale up the difficulty more slowly things are more manageable, but in any case the central puzzle here is very satisfying one.
Verdict: Not a purchase, but something I’d absolutely be happy to play anytime it’s available.
Seas of Strife
Image via Henk Rolleman on BGG
A very small, very quick to learn, very quick to play trick taker. Exactly in my wheelhouse. It’s barely got a twist to it: it’s must follow but you can follow any previously played suit and the majority suit is the one that wins the trick. With lots of suits, and varying numbers of cards within each suit, it becomes sufficiently tricky to make it fun and interesting to play. The graphic design on each card that quickly shows you where each card falls within its respective suit is fantastic.
This game also provides a very niche joy that might only be applicable to me: there is a correct way to sort your whole hand because the entire deck is ascending numbers. Very pleasing!
Verdict: I am a sucker for small box trick takers, and this one has impact way out of scale with it’s size. I haven’t gotten a copy yet, but I likely will.
Fruit Fight
Aside from the existential crisis caused by us thinking we’d find a game from an alternate reality, this game is so much more fun than it has any right to be.
It’s like if you distilled blackjack down to just the moment of hitting and getting the emotional high or low of success or failure. It feels like barely a game when you read the rulebook, and then 3 minutes later you’re all screaming about blueberries. A+, do recommend playing it when it exists within our physical reality.
Verdict: I extremely want to own this, and if it doesn’t release soon I may end up printing my own version of it.
The Gang
Image via Henk Rolleman on BGG
I don’t think I could present this any more usefully than the recent SU&SD video about it, but I’ll say that I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would based on their review. The other thing I’ll say is that despite assurances that the base game is very easy, it took us a few tries for a win. Which likely says more about our collective poker skills than the game itself.
Verdict: SU&SD was right, I do think I could get my dad to play this.
DaDaDa
Image via Alexander Varela on BGG
Invent a language from scratch to communicate with your friends! Once the game starts, you may only speak in the nonsense words and sounds the game provides, so you’d better get started fast on figuring out what they mean.
The game is actually about creating an efficient sorting method for the random objects and ideas you need to distinguish between using only a handful of sounds.
But the game is actually about making sure your understanding of those sounds matches up with everyone else’s.
But the game is actually actually about getting into fights when your understandings do not match up.
Verdict: I didn’t love it, but everyone else in my group did.
Souvenirs From Venice
Image via W. Eric Martin on BGG
This shares a lot of DNA (and designers) with Deep Sea Adventure, but you’re pushing your luck with trying to find sets of souvenirs to bring back to your friends during your vacation to Venice, rather than trying to collect treasure from the watery depths.
We played it at the highest player count, where it felt more like a mad scramble to stuff whatever you could into your pockets before you missed your flight. I imagine at lower player counts it’s more thoughtful, with more tactical decisions about buying and returning gifts.
Tricking your friends into missing their flight isn’t quite a spicy as tricking them into drowning in the deeps, but it’s still pretty satisfying!
Verdict: I bought the fancy felt box copy that also includes Deep Sea Adventure, then a second copy to gift to my parents.
Chubby Bear Salmon Gobble
This is my own game! It’s a push your luck game about bears trying to catch and gobble as many salmon as possible during Fat Bear Week. The reason it’s here (aside from the joy of forcing my friends to playtest my own games with me) is that a buddy went through the effort of 3D printing a huge number of fish dice! They’re so good!
If you’re inclined you can grab the print & play version, although you’re on your own for getting fish dice (until I figure out how to make more in a less laborious way, at least).
Verdict: It’s my own game! How can I not say it’s great!
Gachapon Trick
A tiny trick taking game from the Indie Games Night Market by Daniel Newman about collecting sets of fun toys. Extremely fun art by Sai Beppu that does make you immediately want to collect all these little guys. A mix of managing your hand to win tricks, and managing your money to be able to buy the toys out of the tricks you’ve won. Plus the opportunity to spend some yen gambling on a random draw from the gachapon machine (top of the deck)! The tiny box is slightly offset by the need for coins as a non-included component, but you can literally just use whatever loose change you have around so it’s a very minor complaint.
Verdict: I was gifted this by a friend, and I’m delighted to own it.
The Vale of Eternity
Image via Wouter Debisschop on BGG
A tableau building game that we somewhat inexplicably refer to as the “hatsune miku and dinosaurs game”. We had played this a handful of times on BGA, and a friend picked it up physically when given the opportunity. The physical version lacks a few amenities I’d have liked to see (like a player board or something to hold your crystals) but honestly that’s pretty minor, the game is still a lot of fun, and building little engines and combos remains joyful.
Verdict: This is on the “maybe buy” list, but for now I’ll be happy with BGA and a friend owning a copy.
Fairy
Image via Scott Darrington on BGG
The tiniest gambling game you’ll ever see. You’re simply gambling about what the next card flipped off the deck will be by throwing Rock Paper Scissors-esque hand signs. My only real hesitancy is that it doesn’t seem impossible that people will end up with identical scores, especially at higher player count.
Verdict: I’m unlikely to buy a copy, but I’ll always be happy to play it when it comes out.
1 A.M. Jailbreak
Image via Jakub Niedźwiedź on BGG
A shedding game similar to Scout, themed around a group of prisoners digging a tunnel to escape from jail. I really like how you get a nice thematic tunnel of cards forming on the table as play goes on. For me this felt way too similar to Scout, and not as good, but maybe I’m just saying that because Scout is the only other game in this subgenre I’ve played.
Verdict: Fun, but I’d rather play Scout.
My Favorite Things
Image via Florent Roussel on BGG
A combination trick taker and party game (of sorts). Each round you pick a category and one of your neighbors creates a hand of 6 cards by ranking their top 5 favorite things in that category, plus their least favorite. The “trick” is that the actual ranks are hidden, so when you play hands it’s based on your best guess for how they’d rank them (all while playing around that neighbor knowing exactly what ranks you played, even when you yourself don’t).
The actual trick taking is very light, and the game is far more about trying to discern how the other players have ranked things in their category. It falls into the classic category of party game which revolves around “how well do you know your friends?” but the quick rounds and trick taking mechanics frame it in a really fun way.
Verdict: I had played this at a prior PAXU, and picked up a copy for myself at this one!
Typeset
Image via Jasper Beatrix on BGG
Rounding out the weekend with yet another push your luck game. This time it’s a “roll” & write where you’re trying to make words out of randomly drawn letters. After each batch of letters is drawn, you can choose to tap out or keep going for another round if you believe you can make it work. This game is pure hubris
Verdict: We picked up a copy prior to playing it, and I’m glad we did.
☕ Pudhina theme by Knhash 🛠️