El Grande – I’ve yet to play El Grande, however I’m really looking forward to the new/big box edition that’s coming out in the near future. Mostly, I’m curious what the tower thing does; I’m pretty sure cubes go in it, but beyond that I’m clueless.
Deus – I’m most interested in the player boards which start of thin and small, but then over the course of the game build up via using different cards to look quite formidable, if slightly garish.
Glass Road – One of my favourite games that I rarely get to play. I’ve rambled on about the mindgames when playing Glass Road, trying to guess what cards the other players will and won’t take, how to try and make sure you’ll be getting to use 2 of them for free and how you’ll also get to half-block someone else…it just all flows together so nicely and with a short playtime as well.
The Voyages of Marco Polo – I’ve watched MiWi do a runthrough of this game, but didn’t pick up too much about it. Aside from the really nice, vibrant colours used on the components, I have to wonder at the practicality of stacking dice like this. At my regular game night, it would almost certainly get knocked down if it were ever this high, what happens in the game if something like that occurs?
La Granja – While I know this is one of the more anticipated games (in North America at least) for the next few months, I’m particularly impressed by the multi-use cards and the different ways they slot into the player boards. On one hand it looks like it could get pretty awkward come game-end managing all those cards and the various components on your board, but I have lots of respect for the card design where each card can be used in 4 different ways for completely different effects – very cool.
Board Game Strategies 