Actualol Newsletter - June 2021 (Patreon)

‘Allo Actual Heroes,

I hope you enjoyed this month’s videos - the 5 Card Games and The Problem With Board Game Sequels, starring “Ricky” - thank you to patron Ricky Rodriguez for backing at character level so that I could have another chance at butchering an American accent!

It’s been a busy month - I celebrated my birthday, went on a little trip away, and I’ve been continuing to enjoy the opportunity to play games.

In this newsletter, I give my thoughts on the big new games Destinies and Equinox.

And in other news, football is coming home! I always revive my dormant interest in football for international tournaments and it’s been fun watching England be “not terrible” for once in my lifetime. As an adult, Germany has always been THE team, so it was amazing to beat them. Ok, Germany still makes better board games than us, but for a short time we are better at football.

Actual Life

We took a trip back to Bristol, the city where we met each other at university, for a few days. It was nice to escape London for the first time this year, and see what’s changed in our old haunts. We did a lot of walking, and a lot of enjoying good food.

We happened to stay on the same street as my old halls of residence (student dorms), it still looks the same as it did 19 years ago!

One of the best things about Bristol is the impressive street art adorning many buildings. 

This sunset was my favourite, on the side of someone’s house. It turns out it was painted by an artist called Xenz, who I made a documentary about for my uni course.

On the last day, we made an obligatory trip to the local board game cafe - Chance and Counters, which is one of the only acceptable board game puns in existence. We enjoyed a game of Alhambra, which is a game that I can’t quite decide if I should own or not.

Actual Games

I was excited to play Equinox, a remake of an old Reiner Knizia game that I’d never played. Especially because the gameplay stands out from his other games. Ten mythical creatures are fighting it out in a tournament, and every round one of them will be eliminated. You will place bets on them that only score if that creature survives until the end of the game.

The earlier you place a bet, the more points it will be worth if you’re right. And each turn you play a card under a creature, giving it a strength for that round. Once all the creatures have a card in front of them, the creature with the lowest strength is eliminated. So you have to time when to weaken the creatures that other players have bet on, and when to protect your own.

I enjoy the betting aspect and trying to keep your bets alive, but I found this game gave me a weird type of AP, where rather than being overwhelmed with possibilities, I just had no idea what to do a lot of the time, because I had nothing to go on.

The most disappointing thing about Equinox, is the production of the game. The cards are way too big, hard to handle, and take up too much table space - but worse, they don’t explain the card powers with text, so you have to constantly check the rulebook to translate the iconography. It makes what should be a simple game, slow and frustrating. If those problems were fixed, in a smaller box, I might have kept Equinox, but if I’m being honest, I think the game is not up there with the serious Knizia classics.

Destinies is a narrative-driven adventure game, from the publisher behind Chronicles of Crime, and it uses the same QR code scanning and mobile app to tell the story. You play as a hero in a fantasy medieval world, with two quests to complete, and you explore the world by revealing new parts of the map, á la 7th Continent.

You encounter characters, who you can talk to, story elements to interact with, and beasts to attack. With many interactions, you will complete a skill check by rolling dice, which feels a lot like a role-playing game. The app takes care of so much that it is a breeze to learn and play.

Destinies is by far the best attempt at this type of game. It’s a much better system than 7th Continent or Mansions of Madness. BUT, I still find myself unenthused by it. For many complicated reasons:

• The app is slick, but you rely on it so much that it feels like you’re passing around a mobile game to take turns.
• I wish the game was co-operative because I don’t care what is happening when it isn’t my turn.
• The stories aren’t badly written, but they are so generic, they could have been written by an AI. If Destinies was set in a less tired universe it might hook me so much that I ignore my other issues.
• After a few hours, the game starts to feel very repetitive. Skill check after skill check. And the scenarios feel samey - your quests are all some mix of “find some stuff” or “help some people”.

It may sound like I hated the game, but I didn’t. I think I must come to terms with the reality that I’m not suited to these sorts of games. The stories can’t compete with a good book or film. And there isn’t enough of a game beyond the story to distract me from that.

New arrivals:

• Lost Cities: Roll and Write
• Wind The Film
• Vienna Connection

Games I’ve been enjoying lately:

Ummm.... there's not been any hits this month! 😬

Song of the Month: Lose You To Love Me by Bombay Bicycle Club ft Rae Morris

Video of the Month: Welcome To The Internet by Bo Burnham

Currently watching: Mare of Easttown, The Morning Show

Currently reading: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Actually yours,

Jon