5-player Expeditions with the Gears of Corruption expansion and the heavy-ass metal mechs. The new double-layer player mats are great. I forgot to bring my sweet neoprene mat with the tile spaces all marked out though, and I felt vaguely embarrassed. That’s how much of a geek I am.

Hi, Gail. I used to write comics, and now I design board games.

The first time we faced Act IV in Slay the Spire, we managed to win - and all four of us survived (barely). Poison and lots of block for the win.

We won our third run in a row at the Spire, but we had to invoke the Last Stand rule on the Act III boss. Still technically undefeated.

There are cool things about Vangrantsong, especially the charming artwork and the acrylic standees for each haint. It’s also 20+ scenario campaign game that fits into a regular-size box. But the scenarios are uneven, the gameplay is very random and fiddly, and you have to refer to the rules often.

Or if I want to game *like* Cascadia that plays with more players, that type of thing.

What I want, ultimately, is a multidimensional web of games. I would like to see a view where if you look at Cascadia, for example, it would show you other games you might like (if you like Cascadia). To get there, you need plasticity.

I think you can create levers to correct for a factor that is obfuscating what you want to see though. There is a cult around the baseline BGG ratings that influences how people think about what makes a game “good.”

We slayed the Spire on our first time though (and unlocked a bunch of cards for our next play) - but it was a near thing at the end. The game is an excellent campaign-style deck builder with a lot of replayability.

Approaching the final boss of Act II in Slay the Spire. I haven’t played the computer game, but it’s is solid. Reminds me a lot of Too Many Bones, particularly since we got the deluxe version.