Shelf Life - December 2025 (games covered in May 2025)

0:00 Hey everybody, welcome to the final episode of Shelf Life for December of 2025, where I look back at games I covered in May of this year and discuss which ones are still in my collection. So, let's get to it and see which of them had shelf life. So, first in the crowdfunding corner, we have Cinderella at Midnight. I only got to play a P&P of this, but it's a sort of mazebased game, kind of like a one card maze where you're trying to move around and get the things you need for the Cinderella myth. It was fine. Nothing too amazing for me. I enjoyed my time with it, but not one I would come back to. But if you enjoy these kind of quick little mini card maze games, you might like Cinderella at Midnight. Next is Super Pixel Tactics. Holy crap, I forgot about this one. This was so much fun. The new solo co-op like boss rush rogike battle mode they have. When is this game coming? I want to play this. But yeah, if you haven't seen Pixel Tactics before, it's a pretty intense game where you're laying out these cards and where you place them changes their powers drastically. Uh it's a little too intense for competitive. like my sons didn't want to play it because there's so much to keep track of, but in solo co-op it's not a problem. So yeah, I can't wait for this one to come. That's a Super Pixel Tactics with its upcoming solo co-op mode. But getting to release games, first up is the Chip Theory Kids Collection. Uh seven of them covered a lot of games all at once. And these were fine. Kind of the overriding feeling for them is that the solo ones wear out their welcome pretty quickly. My kids played through and beat most of the puzzles and enjoyed them fine, but then there wasn't much more to do with them.

1:22 And the competitive games were pretty fun of mixed quality, but they had certainly varied gameplay and certain like dexterity and other things and a lot of like speed modes. They were okay. Uh again, we did not uh keep them for very long. They didn't hold our attention for that long, but decent time overall. Those are the chip theory kid games. That was a call. Next is Okinawa, the last battle of World War II. This is a Gabe Barrett solo game of the month game. really cool game where you've got this rondelle system, moving yourself around these cards, then activating them to try to defeat the enemies in varied ways. Uh, it sometimes could be a little swingy with the dice luck. There was some strategy that seems stronger than others, some units that were better, but the core gameplay was pretty fun, but still it was a cull for me eventually. That's Okinawa, Last Battle of World War II. Okay, and this next one is very much not a call. Definitely keep that core of discovery. This is solo cooperative mind sweeper in a way where you're exploring these maps and trying to find different types of terrain based on logic rules you're following. Has really great survival, has amazing variety, especially if you buy the expansions that have uh different scenarios to play through. I also read through the entire graphic novel series it's based on and really enjoyed that after playing the game. So yeah, this is a top one of the year for me. Definitely keep that is core of discovery. Next is Fate Defenders of Grimheim, an adventure sort of town defense game. This is also a call. I did enjoy the core gameplay pretty well. The characters were varied well somewhat, not as much as they could have been, but the dice luck and swinginess got pretty frustrating. And apart from the characters, Addison Stonefield, there's enough variety to keep me coming back game after game. So again, Fate Defenders of Grimheim was another call. Next is sort of a sad one

2:53 to talk about because this is a game I called even though I love it. And that is Life of the Amazonia. This is a bag builder euro game with a solid solo mode. Really beautiful components, especially if you go for the upgrades. you're also like building out your own little area to get these animal combos. I adored this game, one of my favorites of the year. But I just don't play solo Euro games that often. And while my kids and family enjoyed it, they want to play other things more. And so when I did a giant call, like really intense call after uh packs unplugged cuz I had so many review copies that were just filling my shelves. I did get rid of this one, but I'm sad to see it go. That is Life of the Amazonia. Definitely worth a play, but that is a call. Oh, and gez. Take everything I just said about Life of the Amazonian. Repeat it. This is wondrous creatures. the same company. Another amazing game. Another Uritus won't get to the table with how my uh you know, playing life works. But this one is so good. It's got some sort of wing Spanish energy and building these combos of creatures, but you also got this really interesting board play.

3:45 Uh lots of variety in the goals you're going for. Lots of fun combos in your actions. Uh this one is pretty awesome. Definitely worth a try. I should have kept it, but I just got too aggressive with my culling. That is Wondrous Creatures. But hey, next is another one I kept. Sky Terror Horde campaigns, but that's only because it fits in the same box. If you didn't see my review, I think the campaign mode they added for this one is actively not that great. Like, it's worth playing once or twice and then never touching again. Uh, but this is still a great expansion just cuz it gives you a whole bunch of new enemy types and a whole bunch of new character player decks. And that's what keeps the game fresh and fun, especially since I do don't do much deck construction. Having like these precons to play is great. So yeah, Sky Tair campaigns, Horde campaigns is not that great for sort of the named thing in the game, but it's awesome for more Sky Terror content. So that's a keep for me. Next up is the second game in the backstory series, The Emerald Wedding. I enjoyed this one more than the first one, the Alone Under the Ice, I think it's called, or whatever. This was like a sort of uh James Bondi spy one, and it was a lot of fun. I did call it because I played through it twice and got all of the endings. Uh, but it's still a cool game. A lot of fun, and I recommend the series. It's great. Backstories, but that is a call. And hey, speaking of the campaign mode not being that great in Sky Tair Horde, here's another expansion that I only kept because it fits in the box, and that is the tunnel vision expansion for Heat. Uh, but whereas Sky Terror Horde adds a lot of great stuff to the game, even though the campaign mode isn't that great, this one's just more tracks that are okay and have a bit of a cool mechanic on one of them. But

5:16 yes, this is not a high recommend. I would not buy this myself. I would not keep it if they hadn't sent it to me. But it's kind of okay to have more heat tracks. So that is heat tunnel vision and it's a keep just because it well actually well I should say it doesn't really fit in my box anymore. It's making the box have tons of lid lift with all these thick uh player boards. But besides that still pretty fun. Uh heat still a good game. That's a keep. And for something different next is one of my competitive corner reviews which is Altered TCG. A one v one uh card game to explain it briefly. And this is what I really love the design of. It's a ton of fun and they have a really good implementation where you can play it on BGA, but uh I ended up not playing it that much after I actually got some extra cards and stuff for it just because uh it's kind of hard to play in person. My kids didn't want to build decks. And then like the online play is really well implemented, but it's also online play on BGA, which I don't do very often. I tend to play in person.

6:07 So, it's still a recommended game. I think it's a great design. Uh but I am getting rid of it just because I don't really play it much. So, that is Altered TCG, Akull. And finally, one more expansion, one more keep to end the video. This is the flood of moon cove, one of the boss expansions for Ashes Reborn before they switched to the Ashes ascendancy, like new release schedule. And I don't remember this one spec it had the drowning mechanic. I know that where it would actually attach to your Phoenix and it's kind of like extra damage on your character unless you can get rid of it. I thought that was pretty interesting. I remember the deck that came with it being okay. It didn't stand out as much as some of the other ones, but this is another solid expansion. I don't think you need to own all of them, but it's nice to have a variety of them. And this one was solid, too. So, yes, it is a keep, but that's just cuz I'm keeping all the cards for this in my, you know, janky cardboard boxes that they're all shoved into. So, yes, that is Ashes Reborn: The Flood of Moon Cove.

7:01 One last keep. So, overall, this was a tough tough month just cuz I got a little call crazy. I actually loved a lot of the games for this month, but I only kept one, not counting the expansions for existing games. Well, let's get to the contest and see who was able to predict my choices. All right, here we go. In group one, Core of Discovery, the correct answer was by far the most popular choice, 80%. Okinawa got 10% and neither got 10%. In group two, neither the correct response got 51%. Life of the Amizonia, which again I wish I could have kept or had kept if I wish I had more room, was 34% and Fate Defenders of Grimheim was only 15. For group three, Sky Terror Horde Campaign, the correct answer was 57%. wonders creatures which again I would have loved to have room for is 28 and neither was 15. For group four, heat tunnel vision was 61%. So I think for all of these the correct answer has gotten the most choices. Neither was 36 and backstories was only three but I guess it's because it was against heat and people knew that I would keep that one. Then finally in group five, Ashes Reborn a very confident 81%. Neither got 17. And again a tiny showing altered TCG again probably because it was against the game people knew I would keep. And here are all the people who got five out of five.

8:10 The yellow names are double entered because they're Patreon supporters. Alan Carahar chose not to be entered in the contest. They've gotten it right a bunch of times. Uh but let's roll a d8 and then a d6 and see who wins. All right. And here we go. We've got a six and a one, which means our winner, I think maybe repeat winner is Hunter Jorgensson. So Hunter, congrats on your win. I'll be in contact about your free game. Everybody else, thanks for entering and check the video description if you want to get a jump on next month's contest, the first one of 2026.