Is it just us, or was  January colder, darker and wetter than normal. Luckily we were able to hide away and huddle around our dining room table, playing board games and writing for the blog . Let’s take a look at what we got up to this month. 

What hit the table?

• Total plays: 77 games
• DIfferent games played: 33 
• H-Index: 4
• Number of different players: 9 
• Matt percentage wins: 36
• Lauren percentage wins: 60

Looking at the stats for our real world plays, we actually played a good number of games this month. This surprised me because it felt like our gaming time, and our sleep, took a hit with our toddler having some sleeping struggles. There were many days where we didn’t have the energy to play anything. But I guess there were more times than I thought.  

We played a really good mix of games. Some highlights include scritching our deduction itch by completing Kronologic Paris 1920 and then moving straight on to its successor, Cuzco 1450 (gifted by Hachette Board Games UK) . So far we’ve completed the first couple of scenarios, and we were pretty surprised at how much of a step up in difficulty they are compared to the first Paris scenarios.

We also played a number of loaned review games from the UK Board Game Review Circle: Ducks in a Row, Crowns and Cutthroats, One for Sorrow, Moon, Guildands, Solstis, Canal Houses and the Curator. Keep an eye out for our reviews on all these soon. 

We also played a lot of Tinderblox (and published our review), Barbecubes, and Timber Town all by Alley Cat Games, the last two  gifted by ACG for review purposes

Games of the month

I’ve chosen Heat by Days of Wonder as my favourite game this month. I only played it once but I was really impressed by how it makes quite simple mechanics (push your luck, hand management, and programmed movement) into such an exciting and tense game. And I won. which helps! Most importantly, being a F1 fan I’ve been missing the action on the tracks over winter (the season ended in early December), so playing Heat and watching the F1 livery reveals has been a nice pitstop to tide me over till the new season starts.  

This month Lauren had no need for speed, but loved the slow and cozy vibes of Cozy Stickerville from Unexpected Games (gifted for review by Asmodee UK). We stickered our way through a decade of life in the country, developing our own town and building relationships with our neighbours. Lauren was drawn in by the stickers like a moth to flame (who doesn’t love a sticker) but she stayed for the funny, and intriguing narratives and storylines you explore along the way. Spoiler alert: we loved it. If you want to know more about Cozy Stickerville check out our full First Impressions Review.

10 x 10 board game challenge 

As Lauren outlined in our newish year, newish board game goals post one thing we’re doing this year is a 10×10 board game challenge – where you pick 10 board games to play 10 times each. And look I’ll be honest, we only finalised our 10 x 10 picks on the last day of January, so we are starting on a bit of a back foot as with a month already gone and none of them played yet. BUT we can reveal our choices. As you can see from our chart below, we’ve picked a good mix of lighter, shorter games with larger and heavier games. Our only rule is we both have to be at the table for it to count but we can play with others.

1×100 challenge

We’ve also set ourselves a challenge to play one game 100 times this year. We asked you on our Instagram stories to pick between Barbecubes (Alley Cat Games) or A Gentle Rain (Incredible Dream Studios) and we can now reveal the winner is….*drumroll please*. 

It wasn’t a gentle competition either A Gentle Rain smashed the competition with X of the votes. So between us we WILL be playing 100 games of A Gentle Rain this year (unlike the 10 x 10 challenge, separate games will count!). 

Reflections on the month 

One of the main things that we wanted to do this year (again mentioned in the new year blog post) was to get out there and play more games with friends, especially me. This has taken the backseat over recent years as we balanced board gaming with raising our toddler. But in January, I assembled the ‘Dad-vengers’: me, a fellow toddler dad, and my favourite friendly local caffeine-enabler (who is also a dad, so the group name is still valid!). Our first gaming session was at Bran Board Game Bar in Cardiff and we had a blast scraping through Horrified D&D, screeching round corners in Heat, and (in my case) being butchered in Psycho Killer. 

Lauren also met up with Amy (@itsyourturn.bg on instagram) for some Deluxe Harvest and Super Special Deluxe Castles of Burgundy. And Lauren wouldn’t want me to tell you, but she lost both games. 

On the board game writing front,  it’s been a busy month. With my dad passing last year, and intentionally taking a review break over Christmas to give us space, we have some catching up to do and we’re typing away at any opportunity. Which is good because it means more reviews coming your way!

So that’s what January looked like for us. I’m excited to see what we get to the table this month!