First of all I’d like to welcome all the new readers! Thanks for checking out the site and for your interest in my “How to (Speed) Pitch Your Game” article. Feel free to look through my archives and find more interesting articles about game design.

Second, Monday on Boards & Barley is the day I recap what beer and board games I enjoyed over the previous week. It’s a fun way to learn about new beers and interesting board games. If you have any questions about what I’ve been enjoying, feel free to ask me via Twitter (@EdPMarriott).

And without further adieu let’s check out the Boards & Barley:

The Barley:

BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Summit Great Northern Porter

I had this tasty Minnesotan brew while camping over the weekend. It hit the spot as I was relaxing around the fire enjoying a S’more. I wouldn’t say it was the best porter, but it certainly was tasty at that moment. Special shout out to my friend Scott for bringing the brews! Thanks Scott!

• Summit Extra Pale Ale
• Weyerbacher Merry Monks Tripel

The Boards:

BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Concordia

I had the chance to play Concordia at BGG.Con last November and I didn’t take it. After playing it last night for the first time I am regretting not playing it at BGG.Con. Summary: it was really good and I liked it a lot.

The game was filled with interesting decisions, moments of regret, and moments of awesomeness. There are a lot of things you could do, but the timing of playing your cards made for a great gaming experience. If you like Euros but haven’t played Concordia don’t wait any longer.

• Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game
• Go Away Monster
• Disney Eye Found It
• Skyline
• Tapple

Designer’s Corner:

Last week I worked on Armada Galactica, The Grand Illusion, and an abstract theme-less game that I think has a lot of potential.

For The Grand Illusion I started putting together a deck of magic tricks and resources (skills). I’m getting close to the point of playtesting. I plan to blog about it on Thursday.

For Armada Galactica I worked on creating different ship layouts to add some variety with how goods and resources are stored on your ship. I also started laying the foundation of what happens on a turn.

I also was thinking a lot about two different structures in game design. Some games have turn-based gameplay while other games have phase-based gameplay. In turn-based each player will individually perform whatever action they are going to do. In phase-based all players will perform some phase-appropriate action before the game moves on to the next phase. I may end up writing about these but I have some more thinking to do about it first.

That’s it for this week’s Monday Brews. What Boards & Barley have you been enjoying? Play any new and exciting games lately? Thanks for reading!