There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
1. Scythe A competitive game for up to 5 players. It's basically area control with some heavy Euro influences, which means combat is not particularly strong in the game.
2. Kingdom Death: Monster Honestly this is the most impressive game I own, but it better be damned impressive for having a MSRP of $400. It's a combination of settlement building, survival horror and a dungeon crawler. A very heavy game that's hard to get to the table, but when you do it's one of the best board game experiences you'll ever have.
3. Above and Below The lightest of my top 3, A&B is a competitive settlement builder with strong storytelling aspects. Very Euro.
4. Blood Rage Pretty much the exact opposite of A&B, but almost as good. Beat the crap out of people as you try to accumulate the most honor before Ragnarok.
5. Celestia The lightest game on my top 10, but very, very good. For the price I recommend everyone to have it in your collection. It's a simple, fun push your luck game with bluffing and deception.
6. Eldritch Horror A very heavy and thematic cooperative game where you are trying to prevent an Old One from crossing over into the world. Set aside at least 2 hours for this one, though, especially if you're playing with 4 or more, which I suggest.
7. Lords of Waterdeep One of the iconic Euro games, but still a good one. Play as a masked lord of waterdeep, hiring adventurers to complete quests and outsmart your competition.
8. The Others A one versus all game where one player is one of the seven deadly sins and everyone else is against them. Really it's the best one versus all game I've ever played, so if you like that style of game (not everyone does) then it's a good one to pick up.
9. Paperback Just slightly heavier than Celestia, but still super light. Basically a better version of scrabble.
10. Bloodborne It's strange just how much strategy you can get out of what is basically a card game. Part cooperative and part competitive, but very fun.