List Day - 3 Games That Hurt My Brain
This is the day you don’t skip at the tabletop gym because you don’t want your lists to look all scrawny and weak. It’s so unattractive when lists are neglected while everything else is robust and muscular…
That’s why we’re going to pump our lists full of Kickstarter convos, board game paraphernalia, and all of the other tabletop-adjacent talk that gets the Internet into a tizzy. Enjoy.
Some games hurt my brain. It’s a good pain—like when a massage therapist digs deep and hits that one spot that you didn’t realize was in your body—but it’s a pain nonetheless.
You might ask, “Why would you play a game that hurts your brain?”
That’s a valid question. Totally know where you’re coming from. Maybe it’s a little bit of tabletop masochism. Maybe it’s the challenge of getting it to hurt my brain a little less each time it hits the table. I’m not entirely sure.
At the end of the day, though, I have some of these games in my collection. And they will stay there for a long time. Because I want to get better at them and because they are really good, too. Which is a bonus. No one likes games that hurt your brain while also being bad… do they?
Anachrony
Yeah, I know. That’s Jesse up there, not me. It’s hard to tell the difference between us because we’re both so… voluble, but he’s got a lot of facial hair and I still look like I’m 12.
Back to Anachrony. It’s a time-traveling marvel from Dávid Turczi, Viktor Peter, and Richard Amann. Published by Mindclash Games, it’s a mind-melter of worker-placement, resource management, and tableau-building mechanisms, all wrapped up in a science fiction setting that asks you to help your past self with your future self while your present self wonders if they’re in over their heads.
I like Anachrony a lot. I’ve only played it once. I’ve got first impressions of it, but I sense that this is like the epitome of mechanics that I adore. It’s a strong blend of design with a thematic background that I always enjoy. Science fiction is an enthralling genre full of delicious contradiction—optimistic exploration coupled with the threat of annihilation, human achievement harried by the species’ self-destructive habits, and marvelous invention marred by the danger of corruptive intent.
In Anachrony, there is a little of all of that. Players must prepare for a cataclysmic event, armed with knowledge and resources from the future. But that debt must be paid back or else the time continuum is disrupted. Very real problems will ripple across the thread of time and each obstacle must be circumvented or overcome with the intent of surviving and withstanding the pressures of rival factions and impending disaster.
I really really want the Infinity Box. And it’s not just because the idea of punching cardboard pieces out and organizing them for two hours sounds like zen.
Pipeline
Try to imagine a sexy way of describing privatized oil.
Are you there?
If not, it’s okay because that’s a hard ask. But, with the art of Ian O’Toole and the design savvy of Ryan Courtney, it’s possible.
Pipeline is a 2019 release from Capstone Games that promises players a personal stake in the refinement of oil. That’s right. If you watched There Will Be Blood and thought “How can I get involved with that?!” then you’re in luck. The oil industry is going private and there has never been a better chance to profit off the transition.
Each player controls a company in the oil business and… business is good. Except… it may not be. It may be disastrous. It may be full of loans. It may be an eye-squinty, puzzle-laying nightmare. And the whole time you’ll be unable to accept the abject failure that is your entrepreneurial dive into oil because you’ll be drooling over the soft oranges, slick blues, and chrome-y silvers of the components. Does it matter if your production and distribution network is garbage? Not if it’s also dazzling!
Pipeline is about channeling an efficient system of oil refinement, order fulfillment, and profit. You want to manage the logistics. It’s hard but doable. I ended my game with like $360. And then I discovered that fans of the game were aiming for $2000 as personal targets. And that made me acknowledge the sad reality of my first game—I’m not the oil baron that I hoped to be.
American poet Carl Sandburg once said, “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.” That pretty much sums up my Pipeline experience…
Chamber of Wonders
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena? That doesn’t scratch the surface!
Tower Defense? You can’t reduce this game to something so linear!
Fantasy-driven, poker chip-ridden, big box-laden, strategy-saturated, keyword-killer Cloudspire? Yes, that’s more like it. Come to the Dark Side.
Chip Theory Games is best known for Too Many Bones, but it’s Cloudspire that intimidates me. The trio of Josh Carlson, Adam Carlson, and Josh Wielgus created a massive fantasy experience. The realm of Ankar calls its tabletop victims like the Sirens of old, chanting mesmeric hymns like “Asymmetric factions with nuanced strategy” or “Luxury production quality matched by captivating gameplay. It whispers to me in the night, begging to be pulled off of the shelf.
And, invariably, when I do, I’m confronted by the sheer breadth of what’s in this box. It’s truly enormous. Yes, it’s a MOBA. Yes, it’s a tower-defense game. But it’s a goliath of a game that makes my heart happy… and my brain a bowl of mush. Each race in the warring Ankar features unique heroes, complex units, and an intricate, layered approach to gameplay. It’s a lot to keep in your mind all at one time.
I like it. That pain. That spot in my body that itches, burns, and aches. Maybe I should go see a doctor. Or… I guess I could just set up Cloudspire on the table.
What games hurt your brain? Which ones should I have definitely mentioned?
Let me know in the comments!