I went to PAX Unplugged for the first time at the beginning of the month and intended on sharing a review and highlights of my convention experience right when I got back. But then I was immediately overwhelmed with everything that entails working in retail around the holidays, plus the added duties and work hours involved with being the new assistant manager at the shop. Thanks, Dan, for trusting me with the new role!
I am exhausted, BUT I'm having a blast! This was my third December working at the store, and I'd forgotten just how much fun it is to talk about board games all the time. Yes, we're a store that sells board games and people come in to buy them often. But the holiday season is when everyone really wants recommendations for their family and friends and when everyone wants board games more than anything else. As Dan likes to say, I'm the "resident board game guru," and besides the community, board games are what made me want to work at the store to begin with. It's always refreshing to get to talk about what I love this much and to help people find games they'll love.
So what have I been playing this month?
Unfortunately, not as many games at PAX or at home as I would like, for all of the above reasons. But I have had some really nice highlights:
Starting at PAX, I think I'm currently in my cozy game era. I keep being drawn to pretty games with not too many rules, but that still have some emergent complexity. They're games that, because of their aesthetic, actually keep me feeling relaxed without wanting to get hyper competitive or stress about winning. These were games like Islet (a pretty tile laying game), Creature Caravan (that I got signed by the designer!), and Altered (a newer TCG--never thought a TCG could be cozy!). I can tell a lot of other people are wanting cozy games right now too so I'm excited to figure out what I want to stock in the store.
In the same vein, 2024 has been the year of 2-player games for me. It's so nice to just come back from work and decompress with a board game with my partner rather than to try to coordinate a whole group. And there's been some really good releases:
I, along with apparently a lot of other people, can't get enough of Sky Team, a cooperative game where you play as a pilot and co-pilot. We can't keep that one on the shelves. I keep going back to Compile, a brand new game I found at Gen Con back in August. It's so different from any other card battle game I've played! My partner introduced me to Heroscape, I think my first real miniature wargame. I got my hands on Lord of the Rings Duel, and I think I like it better than 7 Wonders Duel. And finally, Boop the Halls has just been the best cozy 2-player game to wrap up the year. I'm going to be playing this one on repeat through to the new year!
You know... looking back through my photos and writing this out, maybe I did get to try a lot of games after all. Here's to even more great games in 2025!
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