State of the Collection Part 2

To make things easy, ratings will be out of 6.

1 - Ready to trade/sell

2 - Considering trading/selling, willing to give another chance

3 - Might trade/sell, not my favorite, but has a time and place to play. Perhaps is around more for others than myself.

4 - I like the game but there's something that stops me from liking it more.  Maybe I don't get to play it often enough, maybe there's a minor irritation with some rules or the way something works.  

5 - I enjoy the game. It works well in most situations. I would be hard pressed to let it go, but it could happen in the distant future.

6 - Love the game, keeping it, never letting it go.

Today we look at the top shelf which has 15 games.

• Angry Birds: Knock on Wood - NP.
• Ground Floor - NP.
• The Hunger Games District 12 - NP. I haven't played this yet.  I picked it up on clearance, so it's not really an issue right now.  I don't know how long it will stay, but that's why we play the game.

• Qwirkle - 2.  I haven't played it in over a year and a half.  The game is interesting, but it always seems like I'd rather be playing something else.  I think the game is good, but I don't think it's for me.

• Order Up - 3.  This is a silly kids game about getting pizza toppings and fulfilling orders.  The game has a ton of luck, and you can easily be messed over, but it's a fun theme that my family enjoys, and worth playing for the 20 or so minutes it takes.

• Scary Tales - 3.  This is really around for my gaming family.  I do have fun with the game, but it's a little long for what it is, and a little too lucky for my tastes.  I do enjoy dice games, and this one works.  It has an immersive theme with all the fairy tales.  The game just tends to drag a little with the typical 4-6 people we play with.

• Kings of Air and Steam - 4. I need to play it more, and actually play with the full character rules. So far, I've only played the learning game, and I enjoy the challenge in the game.  There's a lot of planning ahead, a very tight system where you don't want to make a mistake.  Still, the production quality is fantastic, the game should be played more, but it's tricky due to the length.

• Eminent Domain - 4.  Simply put, I need an expansion for this game.  The base game is fine by itself, but I want it to do something more.  I need added variety in technologies, and I think that's coming with the expansion.

• Say Anything - 4. Simply, I don't get to play it enough.  I like the game, it's an excellent design, a party game that actually results in you knowing the other people better, and it makes you think in a creative manner.

• Space Cadets - 4.  I've only played it once, so I need to play it more before really judging it.  I like that it is a co-op where you plan together, but it's up to each person to make the decisions that they think are best for their station.  It skillfully avoids the leader takeover and do everything problem.  I think Helm is the hardest part, and I may try to make that part a little easier in hopes of everyone having more fun.

• Survive: Escape from Atlantis - 4.  I really want to like this game, but the sheer amount of luck seems to be holding me back.  I've done some research, and found that one of the expansions is supposed to minimize one aspect that I find irritating.  Who knows if it will fix it, but it's worth a shot.  Even though the game is mean at times, it's fun to try to fight the uphill battle.

• Flash Point: FIre Rescue (w/ every published expansion so far) - 5.  This is another fun co-op game where I really enjoy the theme.  The game makes sense, except for how points of interest appear, but I'm willing to look past that.  The expansions offer a lot of added challenge, and this game does feel different every time.

• Pandemic (w/ On the Brink exp) - 5.  Pandemic used to be a 6, but I haven't played it in awhile, and it seems to be losing steam to newer co-ops.  Maybe the newest expansion will change things.  The game is challenging, but it has started to feel the same each time I play it.

• Rattus - 5.  Rattus is a blend of special powers and area control which I really enjoy.  The theme(black plague) is unique, and the game feels lighthearted enough that I don't get upset if I lose miserably which is 9 times out of 10.

• Catacombs - 6.  Even though I don't play it enough, hardly at all in fact, this game is staying in my collection forever.  It's such a unique blend of mechanics, dungeon crawl and flicking, that I can't get anywhere else.  The game system is solid and I want to try my hand at a labyrinth for players to explore.  I think there's a lot that can be done here without drastically changing the way the game works.