I’ve been working through my small game PNP backlog and most of the games are ones I have casual to medium interest in. I definitely want to try these games but I haven’t been particularly motivated to learn all the rules yet so I’ve accumulated a small stack of unplayed games. It occurred to me since I’m good on supplies I ought to take this opportunity to work on a big project I have a higher level of interest in rather than continuing to add to this pile. That way I can work on it a little each day over time and have an ongoing project. One thing I particularly like about PNP is it’s something I can work on whenever I have the will and a few extra minutes, while a lot of my other hobbies require a dedicated block, sitting at the computer, etc. I can sit down and cut a sheet of cards in a minute and that’s progress.
So, what big games are candidates?
The biggest one is Tierra y Libertad second edition, which has a large board, about 50 tokens, and over 100 cards. It has the advantage of an allegedly short solo play time, 20 minutes, and the theme is of great interest, but I need to watch some play videos first.
Iron Helm recently caught my attention, it has about 120 cards and 75 tokens. It’s by the same developer as Desolate, so I have a general idea what I’m in for. I have been thinking I need to play Desolate a bit more before I build this one, just to avoid cannibalizing mileage. Normally I would wait until the expansion PNPs were released, but the laminate method is so straightforward I don’t think it’s necessary in this case.
Going Ashore is 100 cards, which isn’t the problem. The problem is the theme! So retheming this game would be a good chunk of the work. I have been throwing around a few ideas for a pacifist makeover, including an Animal Crossing one where you entice animals to live in your town, but the deploy/combat mechanics don’t quite mesh. I’ve also been thinking about an X-Files theme. There is already a Legendary X-Files deckbuilder, but I would like something much smaller I can make myself and the mechanics seem to fit better for TXF. Good news, lots of Nandeck practice. Bad news, probably a lot of work at my computer before I even get to the printing.
There’s the Helionox: Mercury Protocol expansion, which is about 75 cards. Not as big as the others, but it’s for a game that I like but haven’t played enough to really warrant building the expansion. Also, this is a game where the PNP may require a little fiddling and I’ll need to make sure I match up the expansion to the existing base game, so those are complications to consider.
Another expansion of interest is Donning the Purple: Votes and Virtue. This is a fantastic game, however I spent a lot of time building the base game and haven’t played it enough, IMO. The other issue is I used a card coating method that will time-consuming to replicate. I think I have enough coating left for the expansion but it is a lot more work than my current laminate method and much less of a work-on-it-whenever type project, even if it’s only 30 cards.
Of these, I’m the most interested in playing Going Ashore, and if it weren’t for the theme it would be a no-brainer. I may mess around with Nandeck tomorrow.