Upcoming Purchases. Jan 2016

I recently went through some new games I was looking forward to in October.  Yesterday I got my hands of the first game off that list and played it, Vault Wars.  I only played one game of it, so wanted to get a few more games of it under my belt before I review it.  It did get me thinking about what games I am thinking about getting next.

Some are the same mentioned in that post, others are older games I have got or haven't played but want to.  I only buy one game a month average, so I am unlikely to get all of these in the next few months, but they are all games I am thinking about getting soon.

I have a long wishlist of games but I have a few, which change from time to time, that make it to my shortlist.  When it comes to buying games I pick one of this smaller list.  This post is that short list as it stands now.
The first few games are off the list I posted in October.  Trove is not available yet and I have Kickstarted it already so wouldn't be choosing between getting that and another game anyway.  Rum and Bones is still a game I'd like to get, but the high price of the game and hearing it works best with two players means it isn't on my shortlist any more.  I rarely play just two players and when I do it is most likely to be Dice Masters, so that price for a game I don't think will hit the table too often is a bit of a con for me.

Blood Rage

I have talked about this already, I really like the theme of this game and it has received a lot of positive reviews.  They are starting to bring out expansions now and it is still getting positive buzz.

I really like the idea of being able to score for your own troops deaths as well as killing other players and the mix of Euro and American gaming mechanics does appeal to me.

The miniatures in this game are stunning and that does help my interest in the game.

I put off buying this so far because it is an expensive game and slightly heavier than some of the other games on this list.  But with Christmas over it might be something I look into maybe around February (everyone is broke in January so I'm looking at cheaper games this month).

Mission Red Planet

This is another game I talked about before and is still one I really want to get.  I heard a lot of good things about the original Mission:Red Planet and that Fantasy Flight have done a good job is the reprint.

Area control is a game mechanic I find interesting and one I don't play many games that use.  The card play is interesting, judging taking the action you want against taking your action first intrigues me.

I really like the Steampunk theme and artwork in this game and I think it fills a nice gap in my collection. 

Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition

Another game I spoke about in October and another Fantasy Flight reprint.  This game is one that I knew I wanted as soon as I heard about it and is one that when mentioned to other members of my group they seem interested in.

I had Letters From Whitechapel on my wishlist for a while because the idea of hidden movement games is something I am really interested in.  Then I heard Fantasy Flight were reprinting this and Fury of Dracula took it's place on my wishlist.  I think it has more depth that Letters but still has the part that I am interested in, the hidden movement.  

I have heard it is slightly longer than some other hidden movement games and the time is one reason that I have been putting it off in favour of shorter games that are easier to get to the table, but positive reactions from my friends does give me confidence that if I get it soon it will get played.

Descent 2.0

The idea of a dungeon crawl game appeals to me and Descent's mix of that and a sort of "D&D light" pushes it right up my list.  I enjoy the idea of a story told over multiple games and that is something this offers.

I did toss up between getting this and Star Wars Imperial Assault but for me the fantasy theme is more appealing.  Don't get me wrong I am a big Star Wars fan, but I think a fantasy theme is more versatile and you are not as constrained by the canon of Star Wars.  

There are plenty of addition monsters and heros out now as expansions.  There are also a lot of new campaigns to play through which adds a lot of replay value to the game.

So far I have been put of slightly because it does need more than one session to play through those campaigns and with peoples work and social schedules over the last few months being busy it might have been hard to fit regular games with the same group of people.  It is still something I plan on getting and really look forward to.

Ticket to Ride: Europe

It is confession time, I have never played a Ticket to Ride game.  When I started to get into games I came from a Games Workshop background and was drawn to games with lots of interesting themes.  Ticket to Ride isn't one of them so I never picked it up.  I have friends that have played and enjoyed it but none who own it,

More recently I've been looking for games that would fit in my collection between the light filler/party games and the longer games that I have.  Something that isn't very rules heavy or long to play so it can get on the table regularly but isn't so fast or so light that it gets over looked for all the other shorter faster games I already own.  Ticket to Ride covers that and is included in most list of "essential games" I see so I looked into more than I had done in the past.

I do think it might be a little light for me but recently some of the expansion maps I have seen, especially the latest UK map have interested me.  They add some new mechanics that I think make the standard game more interesting, like the tech tree in the UK and I like the idea of playing on a map of my own country.

I've picked Europe because I think it is a better starter map, I was tempted to get Nordic Countries as the base set but that is a smaller player count.  It is expandable so depending how much play it gets I can add maps to my collection as I want which is a really plus.

Smash Up

I have always liked the idea of Smash Up, mixing together Aliens and Pirates or Dinosaurs and Robots is a fun mechanic.  Like Ticket to Ride this helps fill a gap in my collection of lighter games that aren't just quick fillers.

There are tons of expansions and literally 100s of combinations of decks to use.  Infact there are so many decks now they brought out the Big Geeky Box to store them all, so again like ticket to ride more the game is played the more I can expand it.

I've been looking at this game for a while but it always seems to get bumped out the shopping cart by something newer, maybe soon I will actually pick it up.

Formula D

Formula D is a roll and move racing game.  Normally roll and move isn't something I like in a game, it feels like the game is playing you not the other way round if you don't have choice over your decisions.  Formula D is different, you are rolling to move but your choice of gear and when to change affects your outcome.

So this is a fun game that isn't too serious. You are racing your friends on different race tracks and rolling dice to move but what dice depends on which gear your car is in.  You can damage your car, block players and all that good stuff.

With plenty of different tracks to race on it should have plenty of replayability and is another game on this list I think is worth getting just because of how easy it should be to get on the table and the value for money from that.


So I might not end up getting all the games on this list, my plans might change, I could hear about other games that scratch the same itch in a better way or see something new and shiney but at the moment these are what I plan on buying next in some order or another.