For the third year in a row, I participated in Board Game Barrage's Secret Santa (which they call Ghost Turkey). Board Game Barrage is a podcast that I enjoy listening to on my hour commute to work each day. They have an active Discord as well, and that's where they host the Ghost Turkey exchange.
This year, my secret Ghost Turkey sent me three used card games to try out. First up, from my want list was the game Biblios.
This year, my secret Ghost Turkey sent me three used card games to try out. First up, from my want list was the game Biblios.
Biblios is one of Mark's favorite games (Mark is one of the three main hosts of the podcast). I tend to enjoy a lot of the same type of games that Mark does, so I have high hopes that I'll love Biblios! The game itself is a card game about monks in a monastery, not exactly the most exciting-sounding premise, but I won't judge a game based on its monks (or lack thereof).
The second game that I got was Innovation.
Innovation is a card game with heavy player interaction. In Innovation, you advance through the ages of mankind's ideas and achievements, with each age having more and more powerful (and game-breaking) cards. Innovation is Kellen's favorite game (Kellen is the one who started the Board Game Barrage podcast). I'll admit that the cards in the box look pretty terrible in terms of their graphical design, but I do believe that the game itself is a solid game, and it's one that I'm excited to try!
Finally, in keeping with the Board Game Barrage podcast theme, my Ghost Turkey set me a Reiner Knizia game that I've never tried: Dragon Master.
Knizia is the favorite board game designer of the Board Game Barrage podcast crew. I can't say that I remember them talking much about Dragon Master (I'm sure they have), but the game does look like a fun 2-player game that I'll be able to play with my son over the holidays.
Many, many thanks to my Ghost Turkey for the small box card games. I am excited to give each a spin, and I'm also excited that all three will fit on my board game shelves without issue!
While I'm on the topic of Ghost Turkey, I thought it might be fun to look back in time and see how previous years turned out for me.
In 2023, I participated in Ghost Turkey for the first time and ended up receiving a pair of games. Those two games were Unmatched: Dr. Sattler vs. T-Rex and Undaunted: Normandy. When I received the package, I think I was more excited about Undaunted as that was a game with a lot of hype and love and it's a deck-builder which is a genre I love. However, the real star of the gift ended up being the Unmatched game, so much so that I slowly acquired most of the other Unmatched games on the market! Overall, I have no complaints about my 2023 gifts - other than maybe the amount of money I ended up spending on Unmatched sets after the fact!
Last year, I joined in Ghost Turkey for the second time and, once again, received a pair of games. This time around, both games were of the bigger box variety: Camel Up and Earth. Camel Up is a fun party game about racing camels, my family definitely enjoyed that one over the holidays. Earth is a heavier game with a strong tableau-building component. I still own both games, but for me, Earth is the better of the two games! In fact, I recently backed the expansion to Earth (which still hasn't arrived), but that's how much I enjoyed the game.
As you can see, I've had good luck with the previous two years' worth of games. Hopefully, the three games that I got this year will continue that run of success! Even if they don't, it's still fun to receive board games in the mail!
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