Canterbury Gaming Convention - Day 2

 

Day 2 of Canterbury Gaming Convention was just as fun-packed as the first. We got to play so many awesome games and one of us even got some light strangulation from Agent 47 (check out our Instagram to find out who).

After such an eventful weekend, it's safe to say we at Hand Limit are suffering from the post-convention blue, but we're already looking forward to next year. Plus details will be announced soon but Hand Limit will be hosting our own event this coming October! Keep an eye on our socials, the blog, and our next zine issue for more details as they become available.

So what did we get up to on the final day of the convention? Well see our roundup below of the games we played!

Last Week of Summer, Shawn Holt - Allies or Enemies

Last Week of Summer was by far the standout game of the whole convention for us. So much so that I will be writing a separate full preview of it on the blog so for now you'll have to make the most of checking out their Kickstarter page, which is due to go live on 19th August.

Ages of War: Battle for the Bronze Age, Mike James - Thiad Games Ltd.

Ages of War was part of the prize bundle Hand Limit won at the Friday night Gaming Quiz so we absolutely had to check it our at the convention and we are so glad that we did.

Two players take on the roles of generals of Bronze Age armies going head to head in a game reminiscent of Summoner Wars and the Civilisation series of video games. The gameplay is incredibly smooth with minimal downtime and the rules are much quicker to learn than you would expect from an asymmetric skirmish game. We were lucky enough to be taught how to play by the game's creator, Mike James.

The units on the board are represented by cards that double as dry-wipe boards for tracking damage, which is a fun and effective design decision. On each players turn they have three actions to move units, attack, and activate the special power that comes with the faction they are playing as. 

The game very effectively provides the feeling of managing an army rather than just a mass of individual units. One of the ways it achieves this is through a mechanic that allows adjacent units to be moved or attack together as one. This effectively creates the feeling of managing a large army on the battle field and helps keep up the pace of the gameplay. 

Mike has really put the work in on making the game feel as though there is a depth to the skill required while keeping the game complexity as low as possible. Additionally, there is a great sense of rubber banding, in that as armies reduce in size it becomes easier to move them around the board. This means that the tables can easily turn multiple times throughout the game, and players always feel they have a chance to come out on top.

As a player that perpetually plays games in a way that I describe as "vibes over strategy" this is a perfect skirmish game. While there is definitely scope to implement long-game strategies, there is a lot to be said for keeping flexible and responding to the ebb and flow of the battle as needed.

Ages of War also gives a lot of flexibility as to the scale of the battle through an adjustable play space, marked out with a grid of cards, and the option to play with more or fewer units depending on what type of game the players want to play.

This game was definitely a highlight for us and we have already played the copy we won and had just as much fun. I think there is a good level of replayability with this and it will become a firm favourite in the group.

Slide, Claude Clement - Gigamic

The aim of Slide is to be the player with the lowest score at the end of the game - you do this by revealing one card at a time, swapping with other players and sliding cards back into your play area (like those picture puzzles you get in party bags as a child!) aiming to put the same numbers next to each other in order to cancel each other out (see the two pink five cards in the image). This is a quick game and probably great if you have good spatial problem solving skills!

Solstis, Bruno Cathala & Corentin Lebrat - Lumberjacks Studio

In Solstis you take it in turns to place tiles to fill a board in front of you, creating paths up a mountain and finding spirits along the way, you score points with your largest connected area of tiles, and through some of the bonuses given by spirits, as well as by finishing paths from the base of the mountain to lit torches at the top. While the card placement was unclear, and some of the rules were not clearly explained, it was a fun and quick game to play. The art style is very pleasing and the spirits are incredibly cute.

Trickerion: Legends of Illusion, Richard Amann & Victor Peter - Mindclash Games

Trickerion by Mindclash Games is an in-depth worker placement game that we were drawn to following the fun we had playing another Mindclash title, Septima, on Day 1 of the convention.

Players play as Magicians looking to raise their own fame on stage by creating and performing the most impressive magic tricks. It was compared to The Prestige by the team demo-ing the game, but sadly this comparison was lost on me as I've never read the book nor seen the film. I understand the premise though and the game provides a very crunchy experience for fans of worker placement mechanics.

Sadly I was not won over by the game, which at times felt cumbersome and long-winded. The ultimate goal was to get on stage to perform tricks, but in order to do that you must first prepare the trick backstage, but in order to do that you must first develop the trick in your workshop, but before you can do that you must learn the trick in the downtown area of the board and acquire the necessary resources from the market. And in order to do any of these things you must have been able to place your workers in the best possible locations in any of the areas. While some of the Hand Limit collective were really warming to the experience by the end of our demonstration, I felt that the game was too far removed from the pizzazz of stage magic. 

Fans of meatier worker placement games would probably get on very well with this but I found that I was left wanting more from the experience. Something with a bit of Wow to tie the mechanics into the theme. It was high strategy and low luck, which in the past has been a turn off for me. 

As with Septima (our favourite game on day 1), Trickerion is heavily stylised and has a fun, almost steam-punk aesthetic, which definitely attracted us to the game.

All in all, this game disappointed me but it clearly showed that a lot of thought has gone into its creation and I have no doubt that there are players out there who would love it for what it is.

Flamecraft: Duals, Manny Vega - Cardboard Alchemy

We are big fans of Flamecraft by Manny Vega so jumped at the opportunity to play Flamecraft: Duals, which has just ended its run of late pledges on Kickstarter.

Players take turns in drawing and placing hexagonal dragon tiles (the dragons are all familiar faces from the main game) and activating their special abilities. The aim of the game is to win the most victory points by laying tiles in the configurations specified on the town cards.

This is an incredibly simple game that is very pleasing to play. The tiles are wonderfully tactile and generally speaking the whole game speaks to a high production value. We are very much looking forward to picking this up from our FLGS on general release.

Three Kobolds in a Trench Coat, James Cooper & Harriet Rogers - FanCrafted Ltd.

With a concept as wonderful as Three Kobolds in a Trench Coat we would have never forgiven ourselves if we hadn't jumped on the opportunity to play this charming little bluffing game. 

Each player has a collection of 3 kobolds that are kept hidden from other players and must take it in turns to reveal event cards and fulfill the requirements on each card. These will sometimes be bribes paid in coin to city guards to keep your identity under wraps, or sometimes minor quests that require a kobold with sufficient skills to complete. The skills follow the same rough template as your average D&D character (strength, dexterity, wisdom, etc). The twist? You don't have to reveal the kobold that you're putting forward for the meeting, so you are well within your right to bluff when it comes to their abilities. It's up to the other players whether they believe you have what it takes, or to call you out. 

Failing these event cards usually results in losing a kobold and the ultimate goal of the game is to knock out all other players through them losing their kobolds.

While the overall production value was fairly standard, this was a fun little game and provided a lot of material for story-telling around the table while playing. If you're looking for something silly to play with friends between heavier titles, this is a good game to go with.

Final Roundup

With that Canterbury Gaming Convention drew to a close. We had an absolutely incredible time and had great fun connecting with people over our shared love of games. We also came away with quite a haul of games that we can't wait to get to the table. Including, would you believe it, a copy of Tribes of the Wind. I felt like it needed a second chance after our failed attempt to learn it on Day 1. It looks like a beautiful game with some wonderful artwork by Vincent Dutrait that definitely deserves a proper go.

Overall we played some really great games and although we didn't gel with some of them, they were all objectively good games. As with all our recommendations, your mileage may vary!

We can't wait for CGC next year and offer our hugest thanks to Darius Twyman for pulling it all together. We love the gaming community and events like this are such a wholesome environment where everyone can have such a joyous time.

If you didn't manage to attend, keep an eye on the Canterbury Gaming Convention website for news on next year's event.