VariablePlay’s first annual lookback at boardgaming highlights

This year was a good start for VariablePlay, but an even better year for the board gaming scene. Here’s the recap of all the coolest and most memorable moments for 2014.

January – Board Game Replay Youtube Channel Debuts

Board Game Replay is a video channel where Matt and his friends produce high quality episodes about board games they play. Their unique format starts with a rules explanation which you can skip, and then fast forward to an end game discussion. When they feel it is relevant for the viewer to see that specific portion of their game, they cut back to a replay. Absolutely brilliant. It reflects the fact that half the fun of board gaming is the colorful recollection/debate/banter afterwards.

February – Dice Tower Season 10 Funded

My favorite board game channel of all time is The Dice Tower. I admire the consistency and the dedication of Tom Vasel and his team to crank out content, week after week. He, alongside Zee Garcia, Sam Healey and many of their contributors, churn out 5 to 10 clips regularly. They have reviews, board game news, event coverages, top 10 lists and many more. I am a fan of their show Board Game Breakfast. A 30 minute show of various board game anchors talking about everything board gaming.

March – Splendor Released

Splendor is my favorite game of the year. Released by Space Cowboys, a new French company that is already setting a name on quality. In this game, you build up your engine of development cards by acquiring various colored gems. They could easily have used board tokens for these gems, or token crystals, but instead they used weighted poker chips. The feel of the chips alone entices people to want to learn the game. On top of that it is a simple, elegant game that is quick to learn but difficult to master.

April – International Tabletop Day

My second favorite board game channel is Tabletop by Will Wheaton – a minor Star Trek character turned geek celebrity. His show and the quality of their Geek and Sundry production team is a major factor in board gaming becoming more mainstream this year. This year they hosted the 2nd annual International Tabletop day, where gamers, local gaming stores and publishers all over the world spend a whole day of gaming.

May –Pandemic Legacy news comes out

Pandemic is a fantastic cooperative board game designed by Matt Leacock. In Pandemic, players race around the world fighting diseases and finding cures for the worlds worst viruses. Rob Daviau in 2011 designed the Risk Legacy System. In Risk Legacy, Rob builds upon the Risk game and adds the concept of permanent effects in the game play. The game comes with a set of sealed packets that are only opened if a certain condition is met, forever changing the game experience of your copy. This mind blowing idea is set to come out 2015.

June – King of New York Released

King of New York is a sequel to the game King of Tokyo. King of Tokyo is very popular, however, I am personally not fond of it. With King of Tokyo, I felt the game slightly lacked strategic elements. In contrast, King of New York had all rolling dice fun of King of Tokyo, with added bits of interesting decisions and strategic moments.

July – Essen Spiel Des Jares (Game of the Year)

This was a bit of a disappointment as Splendor did not win as Game of the year. Camel’s Up won, which was a decent game, but I felt has less meat and strategy than Splendor. A criteria for Spiel Des Jares might be a wider acceptance, in that case the game Tales & Games: The Hare and the Tortoise have more to offer than Camel’s Up. What was cool though was the general reaction of the community where they seem to prefer Splendor as well.

August – XCOM the Board Game announced.

This game makes me drool in anticipation. The great PC game XCOM UFO Unkown is implemented in this game. The game is not the tactical squad elements, but rather the globalscape research, planning, allocation and operations. Another new innovation of this cooperative board game is the Artificial Intelligence that manages the events in the game via free digital app. The software manages aggregating the repercussions of every decision players make and scales the game experience accordingly.

September – Asmodee buys Days of Wonder

News comes out that Asmodee acquires Days of Wonder. Both companies are well-known for the superb quality of production. The actual acquisition was done late August. The purpose of the acquisition is so that Asmodee gains a global reach in board game publishing and distribution. Days of Wonder’s claim to fame is the smash hit game Ticket to Ride. It also released their 10th year anniversary edition this year.

October – Sheriff of Nottingham Released, VariablePlay launched.

Sheriff of Nottingham was released under the Dice Tower Essentials line, it is a game where players play as medieval customs sheriffs and importation merchants. I am anticipating this bluffing and deduction game to generate multitudes of hilarious moments for many a board game drinking night.

My unveiling article explained much of the reason why I started this website. I felt the need for non-gamers to learn more about this hobby. I see the negative impact of mobile digital gaming, how it is affecting kids today and how board games can help avert a force-fed, imagination-less future.

November – Tabletop Season 3 airs, Asmodee merges with Fantasy Flight games

Another merger! Asmodee is conquering the world… of board games at least. Fantasy Flight Games is another US board game firm that exemplifies top-notch craftsmanship and game design. Joining Asmodee, the company now covers the full spectrum of game genres: from beautiful Euros to epic American Style games. While some were not happy about the merger, I am quite excited. The board game business is booming, which will hopefully will lead to even better the games in the future.

December – This month we launched the first ever The Gift of Gaming Day with our first partner He Cares Foundation.

This is my happiest month so far in board gaming. My son and I spent an afternoon teaching the kids in their shelter the games we donated.

Brother Joe Dean messaged me a few weeks after the event: “They are always playing. They are enjoying it. Thanks.”

It just warms my heart, I have found the reason why I am in this hobby. That while the hobby gives me joy with the moments I play with friends and family, I now know we can also give back. Have a blessed Holiday and a great New year ahead!

Written by: Ronald Villaver
Edited by: Reg Tolentino