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A Gaming Life
BGG Top Games – 2101 – 2200
It’s been a short hiatus for these posts since I’ve had end of month stuff to do, but after a couple of weeks, we are back!
Once again we are going through a century of games rated on Boardgame Geek, from 2101 to 2200.
This week there are a few decent games in here, though not a huge number that I’m that interested in.
As I said last time, though, sometimes taking a look at these rankings that are further down from the Top 1000, you find some up and comers that you know won’t be here for long, but it’s nice to see where they started before they meteor to near the top.
(Meteor is a verb…look it up! I have a new dictionary right here you can do it in…ignore the fact that there’s handwriting in it)
There is one game like that this week, though I’m not sure how far it will meteor. I would definitely guess the Top 1000, but we’ll have to see.
But for now, we can talk about it!
Here’s the list I’m taking these from, of course, though obviously things will change over time and, depending on when you are reading this, it may have changed a lot.
Read MoreNew to Me – February 2026
February was a slow month for new to me games, even with two days of a three-day convention.
Of course, fighting illness off and then actually not playing anything new for the February days of that convention would have something to do with that.
That should change next month.
But for this month, we have a couple of lunch time card games that actually are pretty good, if I do say so myself.
The Cult of the New to Me was pretty happy with me this month.
Not only was one of the games from 2019, but the other one is a revamp/reissue of a game from 2011!
I got the Nod of Appreciation from them.
That made me feel good.
Just wait until next month where all 13 games are from 2024 or 2025.
They’ll be furious!
So, without further ado (all of my ado was destroyed by some hamburger with a machine gun anyway), let’s get started!
Read MoreCombat Commander After Action Report – Scenario 89 – Beneath a Steel Sky
Fresh off of finally playing Combat Commander on the table last Saturday, it was still nice to play an online game with one of my friends from the Combat Commander ladder.
It felt like a warm glove, familiar and practical, even though I was still feeling the thrill of having my hand out in fresh air as well.
Or something like that.
Wow, that was garbled. Sorry.
Anyway, welcome to another tale from the Combat Commander ladder, that monthly tournament where snipers abound and men come back from the dead at the drop of a hat.
Run by the staunch Patrick Pence, he of Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials fame, the ladder lets you play one of the best games out there, at least once a month.
Maybe once a day if you’re up for it!
March’s scenario is from the “what if?” department, the Sea Lion battle pack with scenarios about the hypothetical German invasion of England. The German are attacking the British naval base at Porstmouth. A small force of stalwart British units is trying to hold back the German onslaught to give the British bombers time to destroy the facility and sink the remaining cruisers so they don’t fall into German hands.
I actually played this scenario with Eric Y back in February 2024, trying to guess what the next month’s scenario would be, and I really enjoy this one.
This month’s opponent was the esteemed Noel K, a friend who I have played a few pickup games with but this was our first time meeting “officially” on the ladder.
(Don’t forget that you can click on a picture to blow it up)
The British (tan – me) set up first, 10 hexes from the left side of the board.
The Germans (grey – Noel) set up last, 3 hexes from the right side.
After I see the German setup, I can then place the three Wire markers, which for some reason aren’t showing on the above picture, but will be there in the next one.
There are a few related special rules in this one.
First, after Time Track 3, all Snipers become bombing raid hits instead.
You don’t draw a random hex and choose whether or not to break a unit in or adjacent to that hex.
Instead, you draw a random hex and all units in that hex face a 10 FP attack, friendly or not.
Then, if it was a building hex, you place a Wire marker in it (removing all other fortifications). If it was an open ground hex, you place foxholes (removing all other fortifications).
After Time 5, the “All Exit Points Are Doubled” objective comes out.
Finally, the British molotov cocktails are plentiful, so when I use one, I immediately place it on the Time Track somewhere to come back out.
I enjoyed that one.
With that, let’s get started and see what happened!
Read MoreBottoscon Winter 2026 Retrospective
Rob Bottos is a great guy.
Not only is he kind and really interesting to talk to, but he also looks after his fellow gamers.
He’s run the regular Bottoscon in New Westminster since 2007 (with one year’s break due to COVID) and it’s been a smashing success. (This year it’s moving to Burnaby, but that’s another story)
However, after all of the insanity down south beginning in January 2025, with many Canadians either not wanting to risk the border crossing or not wanting to spend their money down there, he offered a new convention last June, Bottoscon Spring at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.
This year, he’s gone even further.
Yes, last weekend, we had Bottoscon Winter 2026 at the Royal Canadian Legion in Coquitlam.
Three conventions! Just to help out gamers who really like going to cons.
The Winter and Spring cons are smaller, more intimate affairs, and there’s something to be said for that.
It was a cozy weekend of just gaming, a smaller group of attendees, and some really great games.
A couple of things before I go into the weekend, however.
First, there are many people helping Rob, and they deserve a lot of thanks as well.
Between Rob and them, the cons have gone off without a public-facing hitch (I know there have been hitches behind the scenes, but it’s rarely made obvious to those attending).
So hats off to them as well!
Secondly, I have to say that the Royal Canadian Legion was a great place to hold this smaller con.
The space was great, and the staff at the bar and the owner of the restaurant there were top notch.
It was nice being able to have a beer with my games, and a huge shoutout has to go to the the guy who runs the Cranky Old Fork restaurant in the Legion (I’m sorry, Rob, I can’t remember his name!).
He opened in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday for us so we could have lunch, when he normally opens at 6:00 pm.
The food was very good and reasonably priced.
The Mac & Cheese with garlic bread was so tasty!
Anyway, the Legion is a great place to play wargames (it fits, don’t it?) but of course the con is about more than wargames.
I love cons, partially because of the people I meet (more below on that), but also because it gives me a chance to play games with friends that I don’t see all the time.
What can be better than that?
Of course, still recovering from a cold that I had been suffering from previously didn’t help, but I still had a ton of fun.
So let’s take a look at what I played this weekend.
Read MoreClank! The Mummy’s Curse Coming Soon to Digital
Two posts in one day, but I just saw this amazing news and had to pass it along (so this will be short).
The wonderful Clank! app published by Dire Wolf Digital is going to be getting the second expansion soon.
The Mummy’s Curse has just been announced to be coming soon to all digital platforms.
Sunken Treasures came last Summer.
So maybe this Summer?
Or sooner, even?
Yes, please!
This expansion takes the game to the desert, with new treasures, new rooms, pyramids, and a new dragon!
Not to mention a wandering mummy who might just end your adventure sooner than planned.
You can check out the BGG link for everything the boardgame expansion comes with, since I’m sure it will also be in the digital expansion.
You can bet a review of this will be coming when I’m finally able to get my hands on it.
It’s amazing how much the app revitalized this game for me, when I wasn’t quite as impressed with it on the table compared to Clank in Space.
This announcement has me salivating.
You?
Let me know in the comments.
February 2026 Gaming
I thought February was going to be a big month for games, with two days of a convention at the end of the month of on top of our normal gaming.
Sadly, me getting sick for over a week eliminated one Sunday along with a number of lunch-time gaming opportunities, which meant it was pretty much the same as last month.
Which isn’t bad!
Even better is that while there were only two new to me games played (so that post will be short), there were a number of games I haven’t played for a long while on the list.
So I’ll talk about them a little bit here!
Here’s what I played last month.
And here it is in grid format.
Many thanks to the wonderful BG Stats app for this valuable data!
I played 19 games (20 last month) a total of 33 times (29 last time).
Of course, the reason for more plays is because of a 5-game marathon of The Gang at Bottoscon Winter, which I’ll talk about in that post.
Still, not too bad!
Here are some highlights.
Read MoreFriday Night Shots – Updates
It’s been a while since a Friday Night Shots post, but I’m also going to do away with the ongoing “welcome to the bar” jokes for it.
However, I am actually at a place with a bar, and I may be actually drinking a beer as this posts.
That’s because I wanted to update you on how things are going with me, with my gaming, and with my blogging especially.
I’m proud of myself because I am allowing myself a little grace, which I don’t always do.
I’m proud also because, for the entirety of 2026 (and also probably since the beginning of December), I have done at least 3 posts a week.
Typically they were Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with the occasional Saturday instead of Friday.
Those of you who have followed me, and have read my annual Blog in Review posts, know that one of my major issues is imposter syndrome and actually working up the energy to write posts (or to write anything).
I get into these posting funks where I start to doubt myself and whether I am writing anything that other people even care about at all, and then I end up going 3 weeks without posting anything.
That streak of posting consistently on those three days is most likely going to end on Monday.
Read MoreSo Many Birds! – Final Girl – Terror From Above Review
I’ve never seen the classic Hitchcock thriller, The Birds, but I’m very familiar with the trope!
Some birds are just creepy.
They sit and watch you. Crows can recognize you, which can be good or bad depending on whether you’re a good person or an asshole to them.
I think it’s the eyes.
Terror From Above is the first vignette for the now-classic (in my opinion, anyway) solo game franchise, Final Girl, and it has to do with sinister clowns.
No, you dolt, I mean birds! That’s why I’ve been talking about birds so much already!
Yes, this vignette is full of birds.
It was designed by series creator A.J. Porfirio with artwork by Vladyslava Ladkova and published by Van Ryder Games in 2021.
Vignettes are designed around a new killer, using a location from a feature film that you already have.
So you can’t just have the Core Box and be ready.
Thus, this review will be shorter than the rest!
Don’t all clap at once.
Read MoreBGG Top Games – 2001 Through 2100
We’re into a new millennium!
Not year-wise, of course.
We are sadly still in 2026.
But in looking at the Boardgame Geek game rankings, we are now over 2000.
Some might say we’re getting into the dregs, where I haven’t played, or even thought about, most of the games.
Surprisingly enough, there are still some decent options here!
That’s the thing about the BGG rankings.
Depending on when you get there, sometimes you’ll see games that are on their way up.
And sometimes you’ll see them having settled around where they’re going to be.
Like I mentioned last week, Pendragon is still falling a bit, having dipped even further to #2005 (it was #2001 last week, but when I had started last week’s post, it was in the 1901-2000 range so I talked about it).
There is always so much movement in these ranges, it’s interesting to see!
In this century, I own (or have owned) four games, and have played six of them.
But in looking at the list, there are some games I wouldn’t mind trying out.
The list I’m talking about is here, though keep in mind that things can change over time.
Let’s begin with the ones that I’ve played and whether I want to keep playing them or not.
Read MoreKids’ Play Time Can Be Weird – Fort Review
Boardgames have had many themes, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game where the theme is the rise and fall of friendships when you were a kid.
Not to mention playing around the neighbourhood, building a tree fort, and just passing the hours running around outside.
Now I have!
Fort is a game that encompasses all of that, using deckbuilding mechanics but where you can actually lose cards if you don’t use them.
Designed by Grant Rodiek with artwork by the great Kyle Ferrin, the game was published by Leder Games in 2020.
It plays 2-4 players, and you’re all kids trying to navigate life, attracting more kids to your entourage, and maybe just losing them if you don’t play with them.
Kids have feelings too.
Read More