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Creaky Table Games, Atlanta, GA (2024)

11/01/2022

Don't Look Back by makes for great Halloween fun... but, don't expect to survive. This one is a toughie. 🎃

10/29/2022

Played my first one-shot of ' Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Ed. as Bob the Brujah. My "team" and DM had a good bit of fun!

10/08/2022

Made it out to and have met many gamers and enjoyed several games to include Chris Anderson's In Vino Morte, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, It Was This Big, and many more!

09/22/2022

Calder the Inebriated Berserker pranced merrily through the cavern halls with a tankard in hand and humming a tune, as Geric the Wandering Bard bellowed the lyrics and found an accompaniment in the echoes of the hall.

Calder and Geric had worked together on a few occasions, but never had they been without the guidance of Aylen the Unforgiving Templar or Delyth the Learned Sorceress. As you might have guessed from their entrance, it was for the best that Calder and Geric had the likes of Aylen or Delyth to temper their... eagerness.

Calder, a fierce, but reckless swordsman, noticed the step stones that were likely traps. So, without hesitation, he bounded forward and lept as high as he might and came to land on the first step stone with a great clang of his greaves, then deftly spun out of the way of oncoming arrows. Laughing, he swilled his ale and lept to the next step stone. Before the tree trunk could swing him down, Calder's battle axe met it at speed. The two forces collided, but the trunk just wasn't sturdy enough to fend off the well-wielded axe. Calder guffawed, swigged, and lept wondering what the next trap might be, but nothing came. Nothing. Not even Geric's singing.

As it would happen the trap was not meant for the triggerer, but the followers for which Geric hastily shared with Calder through a string of shouts and curses, but Calder only heard the last of it as his laughter muddled the earlier insults.
"Calder!!! You courter of mogbogs! Help me!" Geric's purchase on the smooth stone was little and less with each moment and his countenance, usually adorned with a smile, was frightful. "CALDER!"

Calder could not retain his laughs as he rushed to pull Geric from the spiky embrace of a concealed pit. Needless to say, this was the first and last adventure Geric went on with Calder alone.

Deck Box Dungeons by
Players: 1 - 2
Type: Dungeon Crawl (Print Out or App-Driven), Dice-Rolling Combat

09/20/2022

The antacid gurgled within the glass of water; its mass sinking, as the gases rushed upward and into the air. Private Detective Howard Lovecraft grimaced and feigned massaging his temples, but he knew no remedy would sate his worries at this point.

There were hundreds of cases in Arkham - all with their own kinda stink, but he had to pick the most pungent of 'em all. The one that not only caused him to think about hitching the next bus outta town, but one so damn troubling the scent may as well have been trying to force him away with a few slaps to his senses. Sadly for Howard, he had a thick skull.

At the end of the day, he was a gumshoe in all senses of the word. He didn't just muck it and make a mess for those involved, he did it right and made sure to screw himself over good and proper. Find an invention for which there was only one of and that was said to be destroyed. Then find an object said to be from a light-filled void, which cannot... or "should not" be touched or looked at and put it in said destroyed invention.

Howard gulped the barely fizzing water down, found and swigged his flask in a practiced manner, then thought, Whaddya do? Money talks, right? With nothing more to consider, he donned his hat and coat, then slipped out of the office door.

Arkham Noir: Infinite Gulfs of Darkness by
Players: 1
Type: Card Drafting, Spatial Puzzle

09/19/2022

Martha knew her thoughts were mischievous, but her actions were downright devilish. As a matter of a fact, she was surprised at herself.

Competitions like the Village Green always brought with them an intense rivalry that seemed out of place for the joy and tranquility that the gardens brought their curators and visitors.

Still, Martha fought down a sense of pride at the ingenuity of her transgressions. Before meeting with each competitor, she bore a hole into the bottom of her wheelbarrow and fitted the hole with tubing that slithered along the belly of the barrow and hid behind the wheel. From this hose, Martha pumped herbicides throughout the gardens as she chatted casually under the guise of well wishes and gestured misdirection.

Needless to say, she couldn't have hoodwinked each of them, so she only applied the latent liquid to the best of the greenthumbs, then closed each time with the words, "Best of luck!"

For good measure and to top off her devilish deeds, she even dashed a bit in the less interesting areas of her own garden. Afterall, she was one of the best, wasn't she?

Village Green by
Players: 1 - 4
Type: Card Drafting, Spatial Puzzle

07/18/2022

A concept I was kicking around for the and Flip and Write design contest. 🏕️

05/21/2022

40th Sunset after the 14th Equinox

Mim,

I hope ye and Pip are fed and able. There was word of hard soils and low reapings on the last harvest. Mi brow furrows over yer wellness and shall not ease until I have returned to our village and seen ye both safe. Find solace in this though, mi Sire - Knight Plagiar - has bestowed upon mi a jewel extra for work that he has deemed the finest of any squire before. He said, solemnly, that if I keep packing satchels and packs as I have, that I may become Squire Third Class before the next equinox. With it would be more wages and with that our well could be fixed. Hold tight, Mim and Pip; I will be sending a jewel back with the next of the injured.

Yer pup,

Fran

Squire for Hire by is a spatial puzzle wallet game that plays 1 to 2 players using just 18 cards. I have to admit that I was excited to pick up another small game that tried something different by incorporating the rulebook into the tuckbox - a tuckbox that took an extra measure to add theme by making the tuck portion look like a clasp.

However, I will also admit that I was a little worried about maintaining cards that might be easily disrupted or finding it to be too similar to Sprawlopolis. Fortunately, SFH, does what it sets out to do well. So, I have room for them both.

Squire for Hire does rewards you for adjacency, does have you overlapping cards, and allows for scoring bonuses, but they also have some differences when comparing base games. Squire for Hire uses character cards that provide bonuses for focusing on certain item groups, those characters also lessen requirements in the card draft, and there is an element of being on an adventure with the short passages. So... not drastically different, BUT the characters are cute, the drafting is pleasant, the theme comes through, and the puzzle does take some thought, especially if you want to win.

05/07/2022

The crier called out as the trumpets sounded from the rampart, "The emperor is dead! The emperor is dead! Mourn who was for the emperor, but seek shelter for there were those who were not! A war is upon us - one of many sides. One that includes the Hill Tribes, the Imperial Army, dark seeds which you do not see, and those who wish to be left quiet at sea.

The following days were anything but quiet, as bows were strung and arrows were slung to and fro, while swords found enemies of shields and helms, but all alike met their end when sorcery joined the fray. All the while hidden leaders sat behind awaiting the message for which alliances would shine, so that they may call out for their place in time.

Hidden Leaders is the comeback story for BFF games who put out their first Kickstarter with varying results only to blow their funding goals out of the water on their second attempt. Needless to say one of the highlights of this game is 's art. Following the art, is the opportunity to play Royal Visit at higher player counts. We are absolute fans of Royal Visit, but understand its limit as two players only. Hidden Leaders allows for 2 to 6 players, which is great for larger groups, but that means the sweet spot is probably higher than lower. So, I would recommend it at the 4 to 6 player count, rather than the 2 to 3 player count. Otherwise, feast your eyes on this gorgeous, fairly quick, tug of war game.

.leaders

05/01/2022

Update on prototype. Working on this by hand gives me such an appreciation for all the work that goes into each part. Next up: rulebook.📒

04/24/2022

My Games prototype has made it to a place I'm happy with. An area control tug of war for 2 players. Time to hand draw the art and icons. 😬

04/16/2022

The market bustled as criers called out over the raucous of booms and bangs! The experience and competence shown for those who called out in such a way that the noise heightened their efforts. The best would reel in a passerby and direct attention to wares strewn out on tables in colors of green, yellow, red, purple, and orange; metals that glinted and glimmered under the sunlight's rays; or, handmade accessories that listed and jittered with each lift of the wind. So deftly was this done that no one seemed to notice the quacks as they failed in their efforts in Quedlinburg.

Quacks of Quedlinburg is a bag building push your luck game with variable powers assigned to each token type.

Highlights: Varied powers based on token type which gives a sense of surprise and freshness as you pull and play, bag building with the varied tokens allowing players to work towards a strategy, simultaneous play, rewards for not pushing your luck to the point of exploding your potion, a buying phase to keep players engaged in between rounds and mitigate the luck of the pull, a catch up mechanic to lessen runaway leaders and extra baggies which is always a nice addition.

Lowlights: The bags aren't so great when using the cardboard punchouts as they tend to get trapped in the corners and don't feel like they're being mixed well (we opted for coffee mugs, which felt better), no reference card or page in the book for gameplay phases and resolution, and though there were baggies, which is always appreciated, there weren't enough for separating tokens by colors.

As for a quick idea of how it plays, see my additional comment. I think it'll help you decide if it's a game for you. 🙂

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04/11/2022

Gran had told me of the dungeon. Told me how it called to people - weak people, greedy people, people "focused on the wrong part of living." I never knew why she failed to acknowledge the famous people or the rich people, until I grew older. It's then that I realized that many didn't acknowledge the dead people, the forgotten people. What I always knew though was to never go into the dungeon. So, now that I'm here, I don't know how it came to be. I... I... was just looking. I didn't mean to enter. The pack that I wear and the weapons that I brought were... just in case something happened along the way! But, now... I'm here and I can't turn back.

Tin Helm by is a solo dungeon crawling game that has a player attempting to locate the three Shards (crystals) of Brahm while traversing the five levels of a dungeon.

Tin Helm does a few cool things beyond fitting a polished game into a small tin. The manner in which you cycle the dungeon deck to traverse the rooms of each dungeon level is neat. For each room, two cards are pulled from the dungeon deck. One is placed face up and the second is placed face down. The face up card tells you where you are and what encounters you will face, while the second card tells you the specifics of those encounters, like which monster to fight or the results of a trap, or the contents of a treasure chest.

I also enjoy the choice for resolving damage. Players roll two dice and subtract the lowest from the highest to see the result. Then add or subtract any shields or weapon bonuses. This allows for more variation to the results and a kind of freshness to handling dice rolls. I know what you're thinking. What about rolling doubles? Well, you're good because I hadn't considered what that would mean except for MEGA ULTRA DAMAGE! Whoo! Cept, that would make me completely incorrect. Doubles are fails and the only way around it is to mitigate it with character abilities or items. Pretty neat!

04/10/2022

There have been doubts shared by the people of the town through furtive glances and in hushed conversation. Criers call out for recruits to defend The Gate. It's said that miners have dug too deep and freed darkness from its depths, but few townspeople trust in these words. An omen from the depths? Blather. The crown has been forsaken and the stars no longer shine upon us for our unknown folly. Still, what can they do? The carnage comes and the time for escape is long gone.

Gate by is a solo tower defense game that has a player making an effort to survive with the few supporters they start with and the recruits that they may gain along the way. I'll say outright that I like this game, but that likely will not come as a surprise considering my general enjoyment of polished micro games. The Gate not only does well with little, but - contrary to my assumption - it keeps the player active. I imagined a tower defense game would be similar to a tower defense app where you more or less sit and wait, then click. Fortunately, Gate keeps the player engaged in a puzzle of resource management.

For those curious about how it plays, it's simple. After setup of an enemy row, a recruit row, your town's row, and your draw pile and discard pile's row, players will start with three characters and build their draw pile while making decisions revolving around attacking enemies, repairing your town, lessening the town's fear, and recruiting additional characters or paying for services (commands). These decisions will come in between enemy attacks on the town and the raising of the town's fear. Do your best to keep your town from destruction and your townspeople from being overrun with fear.

04/05/2022

The metal of the ventilation shaft creaked and groaned under the weight of the Lab Rat as she, exhausted, fell asleep. Her body unable to continue without rest went slack and her head whipped speedily down smacking the cold of the metal. The noise echoed dully throughout the shaft, while the cool against her cheek momentarily shocked her senses. Her eyes flitted open, but quickly shut again, as she was too tired to keep her senses. Drifting into slumber, her ears heard the echo wriggle and writhe through each nook and cranny, as if calling, beckoning for someone... something to hear. Her mind briefly acknowledged the detriment of the event as it unfolded. Still, she could not force her body any further. Sleep wrestled her consciousness away with ease as the echo died, then reborn anew as screeches and scratches grew.

Phew! Well, I have to say my excitement for returning to Nemesis: Lockdown by maintains. There is something about the art and theme that pulls me into it so. Of course, it does not go without areas that I still struggle with, but I can't help but be drawn into its presentation and the manner in which it grabs my imagination.

😀:Theme, Art, Introductory Story, Game Box, Game Tiles, and Player Boards
🤔: Miniatures, Card Quality, and Rulebook

03/19/2022

Beyond having other board game fans to share thoughts with, a few of my favorite things about being a part of the board game community here is seeing games that excite others, are new to me, or might not be for me but still allows me the opportunity to see some of the art and learn about the gameplay.

One person that does that especially well and allows me live vicariously through his major hauls is . So well, in fact, that I may have bit of more than I can chew with Massive Darkness 2. I'm definitely going to have fun finding out if I did or not. 😁

03/13/2022

It is said, it takes a village to raise a child, but after playing Townsfolk Tussle by it would seem it also takes a village to replace a sheriff. As it stands, the sheriff of Eureka Springs was murdered and the townsfolk are divided. Some, the ruffians, wish to do things their way now that the law of the land has been dealt with; while, there are some who are still concerned with the community and good order, the townsfolk.

As I mentioned in my last post, Townsfolk Tussle was one of the Kickstarters we were most excited about and has actually slipped right by other purchases on hitting the table.

Townsfolk Tussle is good in so many ways:
- The miniatures are detailed, but not overly done.
- The graphic design and art, a major attention grabber of Townsfolk Tussle, is well done.
- The implementation of notes on the different boards are helpful and appreciated for quick reminders, especially when maintaining the beating order, town phase, fight phase, and peddler rotation.
- Little creature comforts like, opening strips on the card decks, a number and letter grid for terrain and miniature placement on the battle area, or player aid cards go a long way.
- The rulebook was pretty good. I will go over it more, but there are so many established designers/publishers that still struggle with rulebooks, while Panic Roll has done well from what I've seen so far.
- I've always enjoyed loot systems (shopping with the peddler, critical hits, and defeating bosses), varied scenarios (ruffian levels, terrain cards, and final fight variations), split movement, and attack bonuses (critical bonuses), so it was a pleasure to have these things included.

Our only gripe is with attack resolution, but dice can be cruel and we do side with cardplay. Kudos to the team for a great job!

03/05/2022

So, we've had a handful of Kickstarters roll in during the last few weeks, but Nemesis Lockdown and Townsfolk Tussle are easily on the most anticipated list. The shrink is off! Now, for the rulebooks. Wish me luck!

02/26/2022

Do you enjoy a warm cup of tea on a chilly day? How about the allure of fine art aptly placed on the perfect backdrop? Might you also enjoy the dramatics of a show called Downton Abbey? Would you happen to be a player of board games? Well, you're a pretty cool person, BUT... today, we're talking about a cute little game that only hints at some of those things and does a great job of being a competitive little puzzle game: Elevenses by .

So, this one has been around for a while, but flew under our radar for some time until the middle of last year. Of course, it sold out at the con we noticed it at and required some effort to track down. Eventually we got it and put it on the shelf to be played, which we finally did. Have to say, it's pretty good.

From a design standpoint, I always adore when designers do a lot with a little. Each player has the exact same cards and only eleven of them. Three of those cards provide great bonuses, but lessen your hand count. While the other eight are usually working towards gaining you points or helping you to slow your opponents progress. A lot of those eight allow for the exchange of cards, which heightens the strategy by gaining additional cards to use or lessens your opponents opportunity to gain points or use abilities. Very cool. I would say that it will likely improve at three and four players, but we had a good time with two and still need to play at the higher player counts before deciding.

02/20/2022

CRASH Octopus by is a flicking game about a cute meeple octopus...
..named Oscar. You see, Oscar the Octopus was on his way to work like any other workday when he was abruptly struck time and time again by debris. Of course, like any other octopus caught unaware by falling objects, he was beside himself. Before he could snap out of it and take in the situation, he was surrounded by boats with brightly colored racing stripes and matching flags. Then the boaters began to speed about kicking up the objects and pelting Oscar over and over. Some even screamed at him, "TREASURE!" Oscar was confounded. He had never met these boaters, he saw no treasure, and was not enjoying the way he was being treated. So, Oscar decided the best way to deal with bullies is to wait until the boaters were loaded up with their precious "treasure," then do his best to headbutt this magical ink die towards the boaters. (Sound plan, Oscar. Sound plan.)

So... I might have made up the narrative about Oscar, BUT there is a super cute Octopus meeple along with many other cool meeples to build the scene AND you do flick things wildly about in hopes of gaining treasure to load onto your ship. All and all, it's a pretty good time. Definitely a game specific to a certain time, place, and player, but if you like cute meeples and aren't afraid of launching a few meeples about the room, then you're in luck!

Ooh! I almost forgot, there are also variants for solo play, cooperative play, and other minigames, like bowling.

02/19/2022

*light sounds of cloth being ruffled*

Dwarf Cleric - Gurmund: This is it lads. Over the crest the big beasty awaits along with our victory.

Centaur Druid - Oryk: Aye. We would fare better near the forest, but we only need push the dragon to the coast.

*clattering of items muted by a pack*

Dwarf Cleric - Gurmund: *A hushed laugh* No need to be nervous, Randal. I doubted you at first, but wee folk can handle our own.

*a muffled thud as the pack hits the dirt path*

Halfling Bard - Randal: *nervous titter* Aahh. Thanks, Gurmund. Mmm... you-- ah. Oryk? You wouldn't be able to-- you know-- druid up a lute, would you? *Oryk and Gurmund turn to see Randal standing empty-handed* Maybe some vines for strings, a quick "whoosh" with that staff, and some of that mumbly tongue thing you do.

So, that's Tiny Epic Defenders by in a nutshell. Ok, not really, but I definitely didn't get as many cool artifacts/items as my teammates leaving me feeling empty-handed.

I absolutely love the Tiny Epic Series and it is a pretty great way to alleviate the time crunch of the work week. As for Defenders, I'm not usually a tower defense kind of gamer, but I've enjoyed my time with this one. Cooperative is more often than not a plus for me, varied player powers is nearly a must, ITEMeeples are never a bad thing, and puzzling out how to best defend the realm is interesting and made more tense with player turns being decided by shuffling turn order cards with the enemy cards. This makes it feel like when your turn comes around it really matters what you do and where you do it.

I wouldn't say Tiny Epic Defenders is the only game you need in your collection, but then again I wouldn't say that of any game. What I would say though is that with the price point, amount of game for the size, and reasonable play time, it's an easy game to recommend people try out.

02/12/2022

Of late, I've been pretty playful with my board game commentary, but I have to admit that Tainted Grail - The Fall of Avalon by is no joking matter. This becomes especially apparent when you open the Book of Doom! Book of Doom? *checks box* I mean the Exploration Journal. Hmm... should totally have been called the Book of Doom, because it can be pretty punishing. BUT, the journey is worth it if you're into storytelling and adventure games. The enjoyment doubles if you're into Arthurian Legends and dark fantasy / grimdark.

Of our original party, I'm the biggest fan of the game. Though it may not be my most played game, I do have a good amount of time invested in it and commonly list it as my favorite game. The narrative, the choices allowed in the adventure, the varied characters, the art, the combat system, and the challenge are all factors in this game ranking so highly.

I will admit that the combat system takes some getting used to and it won't rank in the top ten of best combat systems, but I'm a fan of board game design and enjoy when board games offer something different, so I'm glad it was included. (If I recall correctly, the Witcher board game will be using a similar combat system.) As well, with all choose your own adventures there will be some backtracking, but I think it's all worth it!

01/29/2022

Trash Pandas by Games is a competitive push your luck card game with good player interaction throughout. It's easy to say that I'm a big fan of this small box game. *pst* Hey. See what I did there with the juxtaposition of big and small. Huh? Not bad, right? Oh board games what have you done to me? 😁

So, Trash Pandas has two to four players attempting to collect from their trash (draw pile), stash (store cards), and thrash (play cards against) their opponents before the trash pile is empty (the game ends).

Hmm. I didn't think much of the jargon before, but it's pretty catchy. I'll take full credit for the addition of thrash which heightens the rhyme.😎 Gamewright Games totally missed out on the opportunity. Though, in their defense, they did subtitle the game, A Raucous Racoon Card Game. Afterall, alliteration absolutely rocks, right?

So, back to the game. The goal of each player turn is to roll your custom dice with symbols that represent different tokens with each token allowing a different ability, like pull cards from your trash or stow cards in your stash. As long as you don't roll doubles you may roll to earn all six tokens. Of course, the odds of that are slim, but there's a reward of an additional turn if you pull off the risky feat. You may at any time stop rolling and activate any tokens you've earned. If you choose to push your luck and roll the dice for a token that you've already earned then you lose your turn and all tokens with the only consolation being to draw one card from the trash.

All and all, it's a very well-priced game with fairly good components that allows for quick fun.