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We talked about older games last week like checkers and chess. This week we’re moving on to modern abstract games (within the last 20 years). We recommend three that grow in complexity – and add a few of our other favorites.

0:00:00 Fact for 399

www.399film.com

Sponsor Message

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0:04:30 What We’ve Been Playing

The Castles of Burgundy
Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men (Rogue and Gambit this time)
Jekyll vs. Hyde – one of our favorites (our review)
Compile – we also love this one (our review)
Ultimatch – hardest at two players! (our review)
Cabanga
Belratti (review below)
Grove (our preview/review from its Kickstarter) – we’re working on a review for Hutan which feels similar but more involved.
Mojo (our review)

0:13:45 Community

Welcome to our newest Facebook community members!

#Backtalk

Last time, we asked about your favorite classic abstract games. People answered on Facebook and on Discord.

Giveaway

We’re almost at episode 400! Enter the giveaway for Avant Carde & Avatar The Last Airbender: Aang’s Destiny.

0:17:55 SNAP Review – Belratti

Can you pick cards that will fit one of two themes? Can you figure out the cards that your teammates picked, and avoid the “forgeries” (random cards) put in by Belratti?

Watch the video or read the transcript of our Belratti review.

0:25:30 FOR SCIENCE!

Reese’s PB&J Big Cup

We try both the Grape and Strawberry versions (pictured).

If you like fruity candy and also like Reeses, you might like this combination.

0:30:20 Room to Grow: Modern Abstract Games

Our goal with Room to Grow is to bring your kids – or your family – through a series of games that grow in complexity. Normally, we take a beginner game, an intermediate game, and an advanced game (and some honorable mentions). They offer a plan for growth for players to get comfortable with this style, and all are family-friendly.

This is part two – in part one we talked about classic abstract strategy games (Tic Tac Toe, Checkers, and Chess). This time, we’re recommending modern games, which are less well-known.

We discuss again what makes an “abstract strategy game” and decide that some luck is fine but “player choices matter more than luck”.

Beginner: Drop It

This has been a favorite since we first saw it in 2018 (our review then).

There is definitely NO theme – just shapes and colors. It’s a sort of dexterity game, but not exactly.

We like this because the idea of how it works is really simple: you only get points if your shape, when it lands, is not touching the same shape and not touching the same color. Even if they struggle with adding the scores, most 4 & 5 year olds can understand the binary of “did I get points this turn, or not?”

There’s not a deep strategy here and no story or other baggage. Pick a shape from your pile, drop it, and hope it lands where you want it to. But that’s what makes it fun for anyone to play!

Intermediate: Azul

Is there a story here? Maybe. If you want one.

Azul is bright and colorful, based on the Portuguese tiling called “azulejo” (Andrew was right).

The strategy CAN get complex as players get used to the game.

Draft tiles from a central area, and put them on your board. Different parts of your board require different numbers of identical tiles to “fill them up” and move a single tile to your scoring area.

The choices are simple: pick your tile group, and decide where to put them on your board.

This game introduces several modern elements: set collection, open drafting, and sacrificing to become first player.

And the beauty of the game will draw more people to want to play it.

Advanced: Shobu

We think this game is gorgeous: four wooden boards and polished stones in two colors.

Every turn, you move a piece on one of your two “home” boards. And then you have to move one of your pieces the same way on an opposite-color board. Try to knock off all your opponent’s pieces from any one of the four boards.

This is a nakedly aggressive game and the large decision space (looking at up to 16 different pieces and setting up the second half of your move) leads to brain-burning tactics, like you sometimes see in Go or Chess. This game has no luck at all, and the only hidden information is what’s in your opponent’s head.

And as beautiful as this game is, the simplicity of presentation is like the classic abstract games we talked about – you could put this together yourself with any pieces you have on hand. (But we recommend buying this lovely game from Smirk & Dagger!)

We gave Shobu a nearly-perfect score when we reviewed it.

0:46:30 Other Highly Recommended Abstracts

Cinco Linko (which we reviewed as OK Play)
boop
Onitama
Deblockle
Quoridor (now in a Pac-Man theme)

0:51:45 New Backtalk Question

Is there a Room to Grow series you’d like us to tackle? What kinds of games are you looking to grow through?

And… anything special about episode 400?

Tell us on Facebook or on Discord!

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