Great Lakes Games 16 – GLG 2018

Great Lakes Games 16 – 2018 has come and gone and, as usual, it went too fast. I, unfortunately, had to leave around 12:30am Sat night to get back into Columbus to go straight into work for an enterprise software release and even though that really didn’t cut out much gaming time, it just felt off. During the convention I kept remembering I had to leave early for work and had to monitor how long I stayed up and how exhausted I would be by the time I would need to drive in the middle of the night. Subconsciously I think I cheated myself out of some of the fun of the experience. I blinked and it was over.

I had no real goals for games to play but I did get to tick off a few from my want list despite my best efforts to just sit and catch up with the great people of GLG that I only get to see once a year 🙂


I kickstarted the new Brass Lancashire and Birmingham versions but haven’t had a chance to play my copies yet so I was very glad to get in a play of Birmingham.


I brought a copy of Coimbra for the prize table but I have never played. Luckily I got the chance. Nice game and I’ll probably be picking up a copy.


Downforce was a big hit. What a great reprint of a reprint of an oldie.


I got another chance to play my copy of Endeavor: Age of Sail and that’s always fun in my book.


I was glad to get a chance to play Everdell and, although I can definitely see a game there, the artwork was a real let down given the ultra-small iconography and the impossibility of being able to see, from across the table, what others are doing. In my book, the art design, although beautiful, doesn’t enable enhanced gameplay.


Kanagawa is always welcome to the table. What a beautiful game with engaging play. Surprising for such a small box.


I never do well at Kraftwagen but I’m always up for a game. I always choose poorly on the Glen More-style track and cut undercut on selling cars. Great game though.


Pulsar is one of my favorite games. I love teaching it and I got a chance to teach to three new players. A couple of them complained that I managed to get another game on their “must buy” list so I must have done something right.


Railroad Ink is a enjoyable little “roll and write” game where you roll dice and everyone must do their best to, in secret, draw the faces of the dice on their personal tableau to score points. You need to build up a network of roads and rails in ways that you don’t paint yourself in a corner incurring negative points. Nice concept an exceptional job in bringing those mechanics together in a simple and enjoyable game.


We managed to get in our yearly GLG traditional play of Ruhrschifffahrt. It’s a really great game but with some really opaque rules. The fact that the copy I own is in German and the fact we only play it once a year doesn’t help but I’m going to take some time out to create a simple cheat sheet of esoteric things that always seem to trip us up. It’s a bit long for what itch is scratches but I like the theme and enjoy every play.


Ah, Spirit Island. How I hate you 🙂 Three hours and a loss. Ugh!


Teotihuacan was the one game I really wanted to play and I got in two plays of it. Wow…love it! After one play (three newbies and one teacher) I was able to teach it to three other newbies so although it’s a big game, the rules are really straight forward and easy to remember. Great game play in my opinion with some really tough decisions to make. Being able to plan moves in advance and predict where your and your opponent’s workers will be on future turns is key.


I picked up a copy of Petrichor and an expansion off the prize table this year. The game looks visually beautiful even if the game doesn’t necessarily break any new ground, mechanically. The theme of trying to be the best damn rain cloud in the land is just so darned unique I had to grab it.

Well, I played several other games I didn’t mention and just hit the highlights but I love attending GLG every year and wouldn’t miss it for the world.

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