The FallCon Game Library consists of a significant portion of the Head Librarian's personal collection, as well as a large number of acquired games and those donated directly to the convention.
Only a couple of games were added to the librarian's personal collection this month. However, a generous attendee donated a few games to the Library itself - thanks ever so much!!!
The Librarian added yet another 18xx to their collection. Is there no end in sight??? Probably not. The wrinkle in 18Ireland is that there are hostile takeovers, which sounded ‘fun’.
Another design by Vladimir Suchy - designer of Underwater cities, a fave of the librarian. This game deals with the rebuilding of Messina after the Black Plague. Looked crunchy :)
2-Player Codenames looked like a great idea to add to the library.
Set in the dystopian future of Android: Netrunner, Infiltration is a tense card game of futuristic larceny in which two to six players take the roles of thieves, competing to steal valuable secrets from a highly secured corporate facility.
Based on the classic abstract Bauhaus, but now set in the world of Android: Netrunner - this game is all about balancing your progress against preventing your opponents from winning.
A cooperative quest/adventure card game in the world of Descent. With eight quests in the box, there should be something for everyone to enjoy.
Librarian's note: I may refuse to make any comments on the theme of this game. In teams of two – one playing a man, the other a woman – the players try to pull together the best-looking and most famous couple who will attend the big ball. The gentleman's duty is to make as much money as possible, which the lady will then spend on jewelry, clothes, and exclusive accessories
Try to figure out who the spy is by asking vague questions. Harder than it looks, and fun for the right group!
Sequel to the Classic Tsuro - with the addition of waves and sea monsters to make it more of a challenge.
One of the best ‘Flip’n’Write’ games, this led the way for a wave of these types of games to hit the market. Few, if any, were as good though :)
A dexterity game using Sumo Wrestling Bugs.
A very fun multiplayer abstract with fantastic bits, that hides a fair bit of replayability and silly fun.
A heavier euro around the invention of the Printing Press - the librarian was very interested in this when it came out last Essen, and snagged one of the Portal English Editions.
The Librarian is always excited when they find some ‘decent’ games for the collection. This month''s finds were:
A pretty slow month of acquisitions, all Kickstarter fulfillments.
A Canadian-themed 18xx sounded like a great idea to the librarian even if it is hard to get people to play with him. Of course, it is a 6+ hour game…
A Heavier-weight Euro game using a unique Action selection mechanic, you get to recruit and manage employees, expand your business, invest in real estate, produce and sell goods, and create transport chains across the United States.
An Alice in Wonderland-themed game utilizing Area-Majority and drafting across three eras, the leaders of the factions of Wonderland vie for control of the land.
A pretty good month of acquisitions for the Librarian with a couple of pre-orders finally showing up, and some serendipitous 3rd party snags.
The librarian continues on the quest to see how many 18xx games they can acquire, forgetting that the real challenge is to actually play them!!!
The current 'hotness' on BoardGameGeek, which had been on pre-order for what seemed like an eternity, finally showed up. This tableau-building game borrows mechanics from a number of games, and does it wrapped up in a very approachable theme.
This classic grail recently got reprinted, so the librarian wanted to tryi this action-selection, area-majority game with an eco-friendly theme. The production values are quite nice and should be a convention staple.
A quick and friendly trick-taking game that was recommended by friends, magically appeared in my cart. The librarian felt obligated to try it out.
This game is reputed to have a very unique tile-sliding mechanic. That, accompanied by an engaging component set, should give it great table presence.
The librarian has been on a Heavy-train-themed game kick lately, and this came up on the marketplace for a steal of a price. It is a quick trick taking game with a thin 18xx-like theme.
The librarian is pretty sure that the FallCon Founder that persuaded him to acquire this game used hypnosis, but there is a rumour that this might be a very fun game, currently available in Italy
A coffee themed game. Full stop.
Not a lot of acquisitions in the past month, but there was a lot of activity in the library.
Kramer & Keisling have done some of the librarians' favorite games, so when this Area-Majority game came across their radar, they snapped it up to try.
A Dice Drafting game, done by the designer of Underwater cities? In Space? Sounds like enough reason to give it a shot!
Stonemaier has a history of putting some great games out to the community. So a re-imagining of a popular, out of print game, was very interesting. (A note of thanks to StoneMaier Games, who generously donated a copy)
This round of games really seems to have a couple of themes. Deck-building and "X-and-Write" games were the lion's share of the additions. We think you will love them :)
This is a neat auction game where you are assembling your band of dwarves. It has a really cool bidding chip (and upgrade) mechanism that we think is a lot of fun.
A massive train game that takes up the whole table, with a stock market to boot? The head librarian is a big fan of train games, and this helped round out their collection.
A Print and Play Kickstarter was very intriguing. The fact that it resulted in a really neat "Roll-and-Write" game is just the cherry on top.
A "Draw-and-Write" with an over-the-top graphic design. Super quick and easy to teach and play, will "draw" people to the table.
A very thematic Deck Builder around one of the 80's Saturday Morning Cartoons, this game tries to give the player the feel "Roll Out!" against the evil Decepticons.
Knowing is really half the battle in this other 80's thematic Deck Builder. A great implementation, with the Joes banding together against the forces of C.O.B.R.A!
An update to the 2020 classic Cartographers, this "Draw-and-Write" adds in a lot of new options to explore in the land of Roll Player.
A quick and fun futuristic baseball game with Humans, cyborgs and robots competing in this summer pastime.
A push-your-luck, Set-Collection game, by the same team that brought us Point Salad was enough for the librarian to want to add this to the library. The fact that it is a lot of fun in 20 minutes is just the cherry on top.
Honestly, the librarian bought this because it was half-off at one of their favourite online game stores. Rumour has it that it is a pretty good game too, so we are curious as to why there was a fire-sale on it.
The head librarian Kickstarted this little train game because this is the type of game that Kickstarter was built for. Small press, niche-type games.
Friedemann Friese made a train game? We were in without any other information. Power Grid is one of our favourite games, so we will definitely give this game the benefit of the doubt.
'Tis the season to add games to the library! Here are some of the games that have come into the library since Christmas 2021, and why we are excited to have them:
The head librarian was fortunate to acquire a number of 18xx games on the secondary market, allowing them to satisfy the most ardent train enthusiast.
Splotter Games are famous for deep, crunchy decision space, sparse graphic design, and limited print-runs. The librarian was able to acquire a bundle of older, hard to find games by this boutique publisher, allowing even more people to try them out.
This is a streamlined, family-weighted cousin to the smash hit, 7 Wonders. We thought this would be a great game for the convention crowd; it plays 7 people in 20-30 minutes with a 5 minutes rules teach.
A card game version of one of the heaviest games on BoardGameGeek. This one could be played in an evening.
A Trick-Taking game combined with Area-Control which sounded like a lot of fun.
The librarian received this as his YYC Secret Santa Gift and we think it could be one of those hidden gems, just waiting for an opportunity.
A new edition of an entertaining civilization game; this will have a great table presence.
An expansion to a popular civilization game, offering new leaders and events. Reputed to make a good game, great.
An interesting Euro-style game with some dark themes. Asbestos Mining – where you can sacrifice your miners in the name of profits however, there may be consequences.
An app-driven adventure game that plays up to three people. Campaign or one-shot options are available and we had heard good things.
From the designer of Power Grid, which has been a mainstay of the convention and the library for many years. It seemed like an obvious choice to get.
A beautiful game with an interesting theme is always in demand at the convention and at the game table.
A cooperative Movie-Monster theme which looked like a lot of fun.
It adds even more theme and options to one of the most thematic games released in the past few years.
A deep, heavy Euro/Wargame mix with over-the-top components which was an awesome gift to the librarian for Christmas.
A classic euro picked up on the secondary market, with some very cutthroat mechanics in the amoeba world.
An economic game with wealthy anthropomorphic robber barons? That was enough for us to pull the trigger.
Put on your own broadway show, auctioning to hire the best (or in some cases, cheapest) stars for your show.