Last summer I got pretty hooked on board games. I didn’t realize how interesting / awesome modern board games could be.

This summer is shaping up to be board game heavy as well, aided in part by my brother staying with me and always being up to play. So far we’ve played 7 Wonders, Munchkins, Arkham Horror, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, and the new Game of Thrones expansion: A Feast For Crows. The last two are new games for me and I’m very excited about them.

Descent: Journeys in the Dark is an asymmetric game where 1-4 players are heroes and one player is the evil overlord. Each side has very different goals and there’s a great mix of strategy and tactics. So far we’ve only played one-off ‘quests’ but the quests can be strung together into campaigns with travelling, shops, and experience in between.

The Game of Thrones expansion, A Feast for Crows changes a few things. It’s geared for four players (the original is best with six), it includes House Arryn, and it changes the game from expansion-based to objective-based. Playing with fewer players moved the game a lot faster; we finished under three hours as opposed to the usual six. It did limit the negotiations which was my favorite part of the original. The objectives were a great twist and I really enjoyed pursing them rather than just going for as much land as possible. Overall, I think I prefer the original.

I’m excited to see what else we play soon - I’m sure we’ll stumble across some more excellent games!