Alrightgames: Eiyo

The Matchbox Collection: Eiyo

2020 / Card game / 1-2 players

****

How do you encapsulate the struggle of a lone samurai fending off an enemy horde in card game form? By making it overwhelmingly hard, that's how! The theme comes through nicely with the directional attacks and metal shield tokens (it's not humanly possible to play this without vocalising sound effects), which was encouragement to keep honing my skills to the point where I can almost succeed, when luck's on my side and I don't include the sadistic mini expansions. I won't use the little samurai figures for the two-player mode, but they've found honourable employment in Carcassonne.

Alrightgames: Sprawlopolis expansions

Sprawlopolis expansions

Sprawlopolis is a delicately-balanced game in just 18 cards, so naturally they had to release a bunch of expansions to ruin that. I don't love all of them, but it's nice to have the variety. Combining them all into a 32-card metropolis somehow maintains the balance (meaning I still narrowly lose on average), but unusually for me, I prefer to play with the basic cards most of the time. Being small and fast is sort of the point.

Wrecktar **

The first one I tried out, because silly. Its devastation is relative to how early or late it emerges from the deck, but having the fire-breathing colossus rampaging through your commercial districts is generally less trouble than it should be.

Points of Interest **

Mildly handy as half of an extra starting card and potential bonuses at the end, but in practice it tends to get buried and forgotten about.

Construction Zones ***

Describing itself as an "irritation" wasn't the best first impression, but they aren't too hard to deal with, and it's a nice dynamic element to bring you back to the theme if you've started seeing abstract colours and lines.

Beaches ****

Hard edges that punish and reward in the customary delicate balance while also just looking nice, this is easily my favourite of the expansions. They could have taken it further and made some kind of Seafarers of Sprawlopolis.

Interstate ***

Mainly designed to make the turn-taking puzzle a more viable two-player activity, the solo mode of taking turns on alternating sides also makes for an interesting change-up, though I don't use it very often, preferring not to hasten the inevitable mental breakdown.

48 Alternate Sprawlopolis Scoring Conditions (Fan Variant) *****

The permutations may be vast, but the 18 standard scoring conditions get familiar before long. BoardGameGeek user parchmentEngineer devised additional tasks, including putting the Points of Interest to use. Handy, clever and free, what's not to like?

Alrightgames: Sprawlopolis

Sprawlopolis

2018 / Card game / 1-4 players

*****

Ever since an X-Files knock-off of Circle the Wagons introduced me to the microscopic realm of Button Shy wallet games, I'd been particularly intrigued by this erratic urban planning puzzle, and I finally saw it for a bargain price (along with the expansions and sequel), so I didn't have to settle for a buggered-up print and play. The hype I'd built up for this 18-card microtropolis was deserved, as randomised goals and ongoing obligations merge and clash to create an ever-changing solo challenge that I even win occasionally. It may be less enchanting than solo classic Onirim, but it's a lot less hassle.

Alrightgames: 7 Wonders Duel – Pantheon

7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon

2016 / Card drafting game expansion / 2 players

****

Adding gods to an already convoluted game makes things more complicated, as in life. While the base game didn't need any fixing, this expansion adds variety, atmosphere and more interpersonal drama that at the very least makes it a worthy variant. I miss the guild cards, but the temples add tension in the final stretch, and adding extra wonders and tokens to the mix probably tips it into essential. Besides, the board would look naked now without the add-on. Hey, what are all those notches on the other side for...?

Alrightgames: Monopoly Expansion – Free Parking Jackpot

Monopoly Expansion: Free Parking Jackpot

2025 / Board game expansion pack / 2-6 players

**

Another one of these, but only after the young Monopoly fan agreed I could try to sell one of her outgrown Junior versions (it went to a charity shop in the end) and one of her disappointing Christmas games as an exchange. It's not as fun or crazy as Buy Everything, being closer to the normal game with loads of freebies and blowout jackpots to swing things (with more end conditions imposed), but you can combine the two to drive out even further from the centre and any sense of monetary value. Technically, you can't combine them, but you can.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – The Flier

Carcassonne: The Flier

2012 / Tile placement board game mini expansion / 2-6 players

****

The most fun looking and borderline essential of the old mini expansions has always flown a bit higher in price than I could reasonably pay for 9 bits of cardboard and a dice, but after a satisfying auction win, it's finally landed in my overloaded Big Box, complete with its own diddy box. The only failing is it doesn't come with its own spring-loaded launchpad, so you have to do the action and noises yourself.

Alrightgames: Lex Go! – Jungle Animals

Lex Go!: Jungle Animals

2021 / Spelling card game / 2-4 players

**

She recently wanted a marathon of all her ex-Happy Meal animal card games (took about 10 minutes), so I checked which others were going for a sub-postage price on eBay to add to the multicoloured collection.

There might be some educational benefit in this minimalist spelling game, but there weren't any Jungle Animals to be seen, outside of that panda on the card backs. Weak and totally irrelevant, but still not as bad as  Dos.

Alrightgames: Atmosfear IV – Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Vampire

Atmosfear IV: Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Vampire

1993 / Video board game expansion / 3-6 players

***

Growing up with The Harbingers, I hadn't considered bothering with the original, presumably inferior Atmosfear, until I found scans of all the cards from the expansions on BoardGameGeek and realised that – with printing and YouTube VHS rips – a cheap base game was all we needed to open a whole world of Nightmares (up to 4 hours, anyway. Not that we ever get very far into the tapes).

My daughter wanted to play the vampire one first, which was as punishing as its reputation suggested. By seven minutes in, she'd already been randomly gifted all of her keys while I moped in a black hole and was headed for the finish line when she rolled an unfortunate 1 and was banished from the board to join the legion of the damned. We were then reminded why you need more than two players as further random punishments made what was supposed to be the exciting pursuit of my flesh and soul drag on until we switched off out of boredom. She was getting a bit creeped out by the Countess' transformation anyway.

Suffer!

Alrightgames: Pocket Mars

Pocket Mars

2017 / Worker placement card game / 1-4 players

***

I'd been intrigued by this budget colonisation simulator for a while, but lukewarm reviews put my space program on hold until I saw an irresistible price and could get my ass to Mars. Ultimately, it is just about moving coloured cubes between cards, but I think it's a neat little game. The solo mode feels justified as the feature attraction rather than an afterthought, and you can increase the difficulty when you quickly work it out.

Alrightgames: Boss Monster

Boss Monster

2013 / Card game / 2-4 players

****

I don't need card games to look like they're video games to get me to play them, and was sceptical that this wouldn't have much more than nostalgia bait going for it when trying out a cheap eBay listing. But it hits that sweet spot of lightweight games that involve a bit of tactical thinking, but are so dependent on the luck of the draw that things are mostly out of my hands (see also: Star Realms), so I can just relax and enjoy it. More than I'd enjoy playing a lightweight video game nowadays, plus I'll still be able to play this after the great EMP destroys all computers to save us from the AI revolution, so it's got that going for it.