Our Board Game Picks of the Month - On Our Radar

0:00 Join us as we cover several board games that recently captured the attention of the Watch It Played team and discuss why each one caught our eye. These are games on our radar. Welcome to the show. I'm excited to kick things off with my first game pick, which is Conserv. In Conserv, you begin each season with a single boat and a little money, just like Forest Gump. But unlike Forest Gump, in Conserv, the sea is represented by a bag full of fish and water tokens. In each round, you fish from the bag, taking some tokens on your boat to sell while leaving others at sea to breed. In order to win, you must maintain a delicate balance between fishing to make money and allowing populations to grow so that you know you have more you can fish in the future cuz otherwise it's just not sustainable. BGG describes this as a challenging bag building game and boy do I think that's accurate.

1:09 Genuinely, I thought I would knock the first scenario out of the park and then move on to more challenging scenarios cuz you know it's the first one. It's the tutorial. It's teaching you how to play. It's going to be so easy. But I tell you what, I have played this scenario twice now and have lost miserably both times. But I want to figure out how to be good at this. I like the resource management of it, the bag building of it, the theme, the way it looks. It just it seems like a neat one and I want to know how to not lose and it's solo only and I do like that. Fortunately, this episode of On the Radar isn't a solo endeavor. And now we're joined by Chaz with the first game that helped make this episode possible. Wear Tigers from Sordane Publishing is a fast-paced cooperative dice defense game that's infused with Southeast Asian aesthetics and a vibrant papier-mâché art style. As mystical were wear tigers defend their village from escalating chaos under the light of a shifting moon. Each round players roll dice and assign them strategically to combat threats that are triggered by the unpredictable moon deck. Teamwork, careful planning, and a bit of luck will all be needed to adapt to the everchanging events that are going to be thrown at you. So, use your characters unique powers to survive the lunar onslaught and make your way to the final moon card where you and your companions will face the game's ultimate challenge

2:40 together. Quick to learn and packed with dynamic action, Where Tigers blends light strategy with exciting cooperative gameplay. So, follow the link in this video's description to find more information about Where Tigers crowdfunding campaign and start your night off right. Matthew's first priceless pick is Gold Oblivion. In Gold Oblivion, you are legally required to pronounce the name of the game like that, just based on how the text is written. Gold Oblivion, you have two decks in this game of cards to manage. One for combat and one for development. Just like in Forest Gump, every turn starts by removing a card from your hand, which is placed under a chosen section of your player board and provides a precious resource. Not just for that turn or even that round, but all game long. We're talking income, baby. Using the everchanging cards in the market, develop a long-term strategy and maximize your gold to be crowned the ruler of gold oblivion. Let's see if Matthew says it that way. I've been enjoying this one so much since I found it online. It's got this certain charm to it that's difficult to pinpoint, but the game play sharp and combo filled, and I love combos. There are the trappings of a quote unquote normal deck builder, but there's also a bunch of wacky stuff going on, which I love. An extra deck that's built to fight monsters, the buildings that you can be be bought and used for their effects, and there's different avenues to victory, and that's what's kept me

4:10 coming back to it again and again. Also, Gold Bolivian, great name. Also back again is Chaz with his first pick, Shards of Infinity Saga Collection, which is a great entry point into the everexpanding universe of Shards of Infinity because this edition contains the base game, its expansions, and all the promo cards from its original edition along with new and upgraded components. I mean, what more could you want? A bucket of discount crawfish in the box? Well, maybe in an upcoming expansion, but for now, in addition to including the PvP, solo, and co-op modes, the Saga Collection introduces a new legacy mode that allows players to master gameplay from every set while delving into the game's lore.

4:57 Additionally, the inclusion of a new shard master enables epic showdowns with up to six players. I'd like to see your soggy crawfish expansion do that. Now, the original release of Shards of Infinity completely passed me by. Totally missed it. But just a few days ago, I came across this guy. See, blue plastic bucket on my shelf. Why is there a blue plastic bucket on my shelf? Who's putting things from around the house on the game shelf? Because that's not where things like this go. This blue plastic bucket goes somewhere else, which I was should know where that is, but I don't. So maybe I will just put you here for now. Just for now. This though does belong on the shelf. This is the Saga Collection compilation which I found at my local game store. There it was. There I was.

6:04 And now here it is along with a blue plastic bucket. And since this box includes everything for the game, plus a few rebalanced cards, I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to go all in on it. And this I then did. The game is from the same company that makes Ascension. And interestingly enough, in a recent interview, the game's designer mentioned that if he were able to go all back in time stuff and do it all over again from scratch and remake Ascension today, well, then that game would be Shards of Infinity. At least I I think that's what he said in the interview. To be honest, I'm a little distracted at the moment. But regardless, all the good stuff that this box contains, plus the fact that it plays up to six people, means I was absolutely all in. You know who we haven't heard from yet? One Dr. Rodney von Rarbuckle Smitherson Smith. But Rodney joins us now with his first game pick, which is Beyond the Horizon, a civilization game in which players compete to become the most influential society in history through exploration and expansion, development and production, research, and technological advancement.

7:23 Civilizations grow over a variable number of rounds until enough goals have been achieved to signal the end of the game. Along the way, players will earn points for exploring new lands, settling and building new cities, advancing technologically, overinvesting in strip malls because those will always be popular, and increasing their cultural and economic development. At the end of the game, the player with the most points becomes someone who has won the game. You know, sometimes you see a game and you hear good reviews about it, but then every time you look at it, it just doesn't draw you in. Now, that was my experience with Beyond the Sun. I would look at that game in pictures online and feel a kind of internal resistance. Some portions of the game to me looked like old finance word documents I print out in my past job which I'm not really interested in revisiting again. But then I saw Beyond the Horizon, which I understand is based on a similar system.

8:18 But looking at the board setup, the box itself, and even the setting, I have to say that removed the resistance I had been feeling about the other title, which might also have been a great game in its own right, despite my finance data report flashbacks, but this one is now on my radar, and it's one I'd also like to get to my table. Good point, Dr. Smith. And another great game is my second pick, Raw. An auction and set collection game with an ancient Egyptian theme. Each turn, players purchase properties using their sun tiles to bid. Does anyone else feel like Chaz missed out on an opportunity to make me do like a horrible alliteration there? Each turn, players purchase properties with propensities to maybe maybe the alliteration just wasn't actually there. Anyway, tension builds because the round may end before all players have had a chance to win their three lots for the epoch. The various tiles either give immediate points, prevent negative points for not having certain types at the end of the round or give points after the final round. So many options and opportunities to ratchet up the tension. I don't know why I made that face, but I did. And I'm not going to redo it. So now it has to go in the video. You're welcome. I have had a copy of the latest edition of RAW for a good while now, but it just keeps sitting on my shelf over there looking nice. I don't get a chance

9:50 to play a lot of games with more than two players. And though the count on the box, the player count does say two to five. It just seemed like it would probably be best with at least three. But just recently, I finally got a chance to play for the first time. We played with four and I have been thinking about it since. I am really looking forward to playing it more, maybe even trying it at two. Who knows? And just like getting better at knowing when to bluff my bids, when to pass, when to sacrifice a really good sundisk for a less good sundisk in the name of really great tiles. The theme for my game picks this episode is games I want to figure out how to get better at. Modern Art is one of my all-time favorite games. And while it's it's not exactly the same as Raw, it does share some DNA. Auctions and Canitzia. So maybe it makes sense that I like this and want to play it more. Sound like fun? If so, Chaz is here to sound off with another game that sounds fun. That sound game, which also helped make this episode possible. What's that I hear?

10:57 Why, it's that sound game. A fast-paced, interactive, and quite noisy party game that supports two to 30 players. How does it work? Well, I'm glad you asked, small blue plastic bucket. The goal of that sound game is to get you and your team to guess as many answers on your category cards as possible within one single minute. Sound simple? Well, no, it is not. Because when the pressure is on, the time tick tick ticks away. To convey your clues, you can use any combination of sounds and movements, but your hands must stay behind your back the entire time. Still think it's going to be easy to get your teammate to correctly guess the clue blowing your nose. Lifelines are also available, so be sure to use them strategically. And then follow the link in this video's description to find more information about the sound game and get ready to make some noise on game night.

12:00 And now, a moment more of mandatory Matthew. There's the alliteration I was looking for as we explore his second pick, Northwest, a two to four player tableau building game with unique point salad scoring and shared movement mechanics. The game's marketing material states that it can be taught in 3 minutes or less while delivering a balance of luck and strategy, making it a game that's accessible to anyone. In Northwest, your journey is represented by a 4x4 tableau in which you will track momento cubes drafted from the exploration board. Each momento cube scores victory points in a unique way. The game ends when all players have filled their personal tableau or when a player cannot make a legal move in the exploration board. That player is then indicted for illegal move making and the player with the most victory points wins. Unlike any of the clothes that I own, this game looks tailorade for me.

12:57 An abstract tableau builder that looks like you should be wearing a final shirt just to play it. And you get to hunt for Bigfoot, who I fundamentally believe in. Honestly, legitimately, this has shot up the top of the games I want to hunt down. Like, it's Bigfoot. It really looks like it does what I specifically like. Me specifically. Hello, I'm Matthew. This one's really got me fired up. Chaz is also fired up about his second pick of the month, Rocket Fire, a competitive dice and card game that includes resource cards, fuel cards, power cards, and chips. Stop texting your life coach and do this instead. Use resource strategy management to maximize dice roll chances to score points. Gain enough rocket fuel to be the first to launch six rockets into outer space to win the game. With a great plan and skillful resource management, each roll of the die can be used with maximum efficiency. Lack a great plan and you'll find yourself at 3:00 a.m. texting the discount life coach you met at an unlicensed potato farm. Awkward. No matter how many board games you find, you know how it goes. It always seems like there's one that you've missed or 10 or more, especially with self-published titles, which is the case with the game Rocket Fire. Now, I became aware of this little self-published diddy when its designer actually reached out to me, which was cool. And then after it was brought to my attention, I was stunned at the quality of this

14:28 little self-published labor of love. As a result, my enthusiasm to play Rocketfire has blasted off into the stratosphere, and I am really looking forward to it landing on my game table. In the meantime, though, you, Rocketfire, can land in a special place of honor here on the game shelf, and I will just go and put this little plastic bucket right over there. Back to you, next person. We wrap up with Rodney's remaining ringer, Living Forest Duel, where two players face off as the spirits of summer and winter. Each striving to save the sacred forest and be recognized as its ultimate protector. Because what better way to protect the forest than to have a massive destructive duel within it. Although the player's goals are similar, only one season will claim the honors. Your goal to like this video and subscribe. But then to be the first to achieve one of the four victory conditions, planting a 3x3 grid of guardian trees, collecting eight fire tokens, collecting the right cards, or moving the Onid creature into the right position at the right time, just like in Forest Gump. I have been thoroughly impressed with so many of the two-player only versions of games that have been releasing for popular games that were originally designed for more players. And admittedly, I'm looking more closely at these games these days as more of my gaming has been happening at two players. Now, Living Forest is a game I enjoy and did a tutorial video for, and I'm very curious to see how it

15:59 adjusts itself for the two-player experience. One thing I think it has going for it is exactly what I think made Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle Earth so good, multiple victory conditions. Well, you'll want to focus on one of them. You'll have to keep your opponent in check from snagging a different one you might be ignoring. So, this forces both players to interact with all the elements of the game. And I think that solves some of the problems in a two-player game where there isn't another opponent at the table to keep the leader from running away with things. It looks like you'll both be spinning enough plates here that the tension will be felt more consistently throughout. So, this is one I'll be picking up. An Our People's Choice video puts a unique spin on things by taking a look into games that our viewers have recently reported playing. Some are new, some are old, and always some are unexpected. You can check out that video next. We'll see you over there, and thanks for watching.