I know that I connect better with reviewers and commentators that I have something in common with. So, of course, Scott and I figured it would be a good idea to go ahead and take the time to let people know where we are coming from with some of our favorites. So, first up – The Fluffy Meeple’s favorites!

What are your favorite game mechanisms? I’m definitely an omnigamer! I like all sorts of gaming mechanisms, but I definitely have a few that I gravitate toward as time goes on. Yeah, I’m listing four here, because I can’t choose.

• Worker Placement. I love collecting things and making sure that I have enough to make an engine work. It’s really exciting to have something that ends up feeding itself, thus making more workers and making it so that I can produce a whole bunch of things.
• Deck Building. Like worker placement games, I love to put together an engine that really gets going and makes things exciting as time goes on. A good deck building game is going to keep me engaged. I love figuring out how different cards interact and can make huge combinations that blow my opponent out of the water.
• Dice Chucking. Is this a mechanism? I call it one. When I was a kid, I loved playing Yahtzee with my family. It was the thing to do. And that bit of luck is definitely something that I love adding to almost any game. There’s just something about randomness that appeals to me, and I like that it can help people to catch up or get an advantage that you may not have had access to otherwise.
• Tile Laying. As you will find out below, some of my favorite board games have a tile-laying element involved with it. I love building things and getting to the end of the game and being really excited about the thing that I’ve made.

What game are you most excited for in 2017? This is a really hard question. If I was talking expansions, I’m pumped for the Champions of Midgard Expansions (worker placement with dice), which is currently being funded on Kickstarter.  When it comes to full games, I am excited about Delve (dungeon crawler with tile laying), which funded on Kickstarter in February, and Charterstone, which is a village-building legacy game from Stonemaier Games.

What are your top five favorite games? As of February 2017, I think these are my favorites. This is subject to change depending on how much I play them.

1. Carcassonne. The quintessential tile laying game. I always play with the Inns and Cathedrals and the Traders and Builders expansions. I love how relaxing that it is and that, even though it’s competitive, it’s not entirely cutthroat (unless you add some of the other expansions that are out there).

2. Lords of Waterdeep/Champions of Midgard. I am aware that these are different games, but these are so similar that I couldn’t decide between the two. I love the theme of Midgard (and rolling the dice), but I like finishing quests like you do in Lords of Waterdeep. Midgard used to beat out Waterdeep, but we started using the expansions for Waterdeep recently and it propelled it to the same level. This may change again when I get the Midgard expansions this summer.

3. Hero Realms/Star Realms. Once again, I know these aren’t the same game, but they are so close that I definitely put them at the same rank. I actually don’t own the physical version of Star Realms, but I play the heck out of the app. I backed Hero Realms and love the variety the character packs. This is my “deck builder” in my top 5, and may change to Clank! if I can ever get my hands on it.

4. 7 Wonders Duel. Card Drafting is a big deal and will likely become a favorite mechanism of mine as time goes on. I played the original 7 Wonders with friends in November, and really enjoyed it. I like having 2 player games (since I play most games with my partner) and heard that Duel was so much better than the 2 player version of the original. We added it at Christmas and I have fallen in love with it quite quickly.

5. Quadropolis. I just got this for Valentine’s Day from my partner, and we had played it at the Game Table Cafe in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania right before Christmas. I loved it then, wanted it in the collection, and love playing it. It’s definitely a different twist on a tile laying game – I love the strategy and the fact that you have some restrictions as to where you put your tiles on your game board.

What are your favorite podcasts or video reviewers? I love listening to podcasts and reviews. Some of my favorites include The Dice Tower, Rahdo Runs Through, The Secret Cabal, The Dukes of Dice, Blue Peg; Pink Peg, The Family Showdown, Rolling Dice and Taking Names, Our Turn, and a variety of other reviewers that are out there.

Game on!

Marti – The Fluffy Meeple