#36: 2016, a Year in Review

We made it! Welcome to the new year, 2017! As is the tradition, for our first episode of the year we’re going to look back at the year that was with our superlative categories, favorite beers, and favorite games of 2016. Nope, that’s it - no more fluff in the intro paragraph. We’re really excited to do this one! Let’s get to the festivities!!!!

Upcoming: SuperHot Card Game [BGG] [Website]

2016 Superlatives:

Best Artwork:
Scythe (Stonemaier Games)
Paradox (Split Second Games)
Islebound (Red Raven Games)
The Blood of an Englishman (Renegade Game Studios)

Best Non-mini Components:
Santorini (Roxley Games)
Junk Art (Pretzel Games)

Biggest Disappointment:
Danielle: SeaFall (IronWall Games/Plaid Hat Games)
Jake: Knit Wit (Z-Man Games)

Game I Wish I'd Played from 2016:
Danielle: Roll Player (Thunderworks Games)
Jake: Millennium Blades (Level 99 Games)

Game I Wish I'd Played More from 2016:
Danielle: Star Trek Ascendancy (Gale Force Nine)
Jake: Star Trek Frontiers (WizKids)

Best Older Game I Played for the First Time in 2016:
Danielle: Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
Jake: Lost Cities (Kosmos)

Best Party Game:
Insider (Oink Games)
Brick Party (Renegade Games)
Fuji Flush (Stronghold Games)

Best Card Game:
51st State: Master Set (Portal Games)
Fabled Fruit (Stronghold Games)

Most Innovative Game:
Vast: The Crystal Caverns (Leder Games)
World of Yo-Ho (IELLO)
Captain Sonar (Matagot)

Best Dexterity Game:
Ice Cool (Brain Games)
Junk Art (Pretzel Games)
Brick Party (Renegade Games)

Favorite Beers of 2016 Six-Packs:

Jake:

• Burial Beer Co. “Gang of Blades” Double IPA. Asheville, NC. 8.3% ABV, 80 IBU.
• Marz Community Brewing “Jungle Boogie” Pale Wheat Ale. Chicago, IL. 5.4% ABV, 44 IBU.
• Hubbard's Cave “Vanilla Imperial Stout” Imperial Stout. Chicago, IL. 9.7% ABV, 78 IBU.
• Legion Brewing “Juicy Jay” IPA. Charlotte, NC. 6.3% ABV, 68 IBU.
• Destihl Brewery “Synchopathic” Dry-hopped Sour. Bloomington, IL. 6.0% ABV, 8 IBU.
• Holy Mountain Brewing “Witchfinder” Brett Saison. Seattle, WA. 6.1% ABV.

Danielle:

• Omnipolla/Tired Hands Brewing “Shilkmake/Milkshake IPA” IPA. Stockholm, Sweden/Ardmore, PA. 7.0% ABV.
• Wooden Robot Brewery “A Sour Darkly” Sour Brown. Charlotte, NC. 6.4% ABV.
• Hardywood Park Craft Brewery “Kentucky Christmas Morning” Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Milk Stout. Richmond, VA. 10.6% ABV, 55 IBU.
• Noble Cider “Spice Merchant” Spiced Cider. Asheville, NC. 6.0% ABV.
• Free Range Brewing “Don't Dill-E-Dally” Gruit. Charlotte, NC. 5.8% ABV.
• Wild Heaven Craft Beers “Funkenrauch” Smoked Wild Ale. Decatur, GA. 7.0% ABV, 7 IBU.

Favorite Games of 2016 Six-Packs:

Jake's Picks:

Santorini
Roxley Games
Designer: Dr. Gordon Hamilton

Star Trek Ascendancy
Gale Force Nine
Designer: Aaron Dill, Sean Sweigart, John Kovaleski

Junk Art
Pretzel Games
Designer: Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim

Danielle's Picks:

A Feast for Odin
Z-Man Games
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg

Insider
Oink Games
Designer: Jun Sasaki

The Networks
Formal Ferret Games
Designer: Gil Hova

We Both Picked:

Paradox
Split Second Games
Designer: Brian Suhre

Terraforming Mars
Stronghold Games/Fryxgames
Designer: Jacob Fryxelius

Scythe
Stonemaier Games
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier

Section Timestamps:

Intro
01:00 Show Housekeeping
02:28 Advance warning: SuperHot Card Game
05:10 2016 in review for Draft Mechanic
09:33 The 2016 Superlative Categories
10:09 Top News Stories
15:40 Best Artwork
18:51 Best Components
23:34 Biggest Disappointment
27:15 2016 Game I Wish I’d Played
29:12 Game I Wish I’d Played More in 2016
31:04 Best “New to Me in 2016” Older Game
33:36 Best Party Game
39:25 Best Card Game
41:58 Most Innovative
46:28 Best Dexterity Game
48:36 2016 Six-pack: Our Favorite Beer of 2016
68:00 2016 Six-pack: Our Favorite Games of 2016
101:35 Outro

#35: Fabled Fruit

Draft Mechanic Episode #35: A Six-pack of Games to Play with Family over the Holidays, Fabled Fruit On-Tap, Raiders of the North Sea, Imhotep, and proper beer serving temperatures (maybe even some served warm).

Recent Plays:

Fabled Fruit
2016, Stronghold Games.
Designers: Friedemann Friese

Raiders of the North Sea
2015, Garphill Games.
Designers: Shem Phillips
   
Imhotep
2016, Kosmos.
Designers:  Phil Walker-Harding

Family Fun! A Six-Pack of Games to Play with your Family this Holiday:

Fuji Flush
2016, Stronghold Games.
Designers: Friedemann Friese

Wits & Wagers Party
2012, North Star Games.
Designers: Dominic Crapuchettes
   
Qwixx
2012, Gamewright.
Designers:  Steffen Benndorf

Bohnanza
1997, Rio Grande Games.
Designers: Uwe Rosenberg

Codenames: Pictures
2016, Czech Games Edition.
Designers: Vlaada Chvatil
   
Letter Tycoon
2015, Breaking Games.
Designers:  Brad Brooks

On-Tap:

Fabled Fruit
2016, Stronghold Games.
Designers: Friedemann Friese

• Pineapple:
  Evil Genius Beer Company. “I Love Lamp” Philadelphia, PA, USA
  5.5% ABV, 12 IBU.
  Hefeweisen brewed with pineapple.
• Strawberry:
  Short's Brewing Company. “Strawberry Short's Cake” Bellaire , MI , USA
  6.3% ABV, 10 IBU.
  Golden ale with strawberries and milk sugar.
• Banana:
  Charles Wells Brewery. “Wells Banana Bread Beer” Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
  5.2% ABV, 18 IBU.
  It says it's an amber ale but I think it's just a bottle full of banana bread.
• Grape:
  Dogfish Head Brewing. “Red & White” Milton, DE, USA
  10% ABV, 35 IBU.
  Belgian witbier with coriander, orange peel, and fermented with Pinot Noir juice.
• Coconut:
  Oskar Blues Brewery. “Death by Coconut” Longmont, CO, USA
  6.5% ABV, 45 IBU.
  Irish porter with chocolate and coconut.

Proper Serving Temperature:

-Aim for between 38°-55°F
-Lagers (including pilsners), lighter beers, creamy/blonde ales, and those lower in alcohol should be served towards the colder end of that range.
-Stonger, darker beers (including stouts, porters, bengian dubbles and strong ales) should be served towards the warmer end of that range.
-IPA should be served right in the middle of the range (45-50°).
-Is there such a thing as a hot beer? Well, sort of...check out these beer Flip Cocktails.

Section Timestamps:

Intro
01:00 Show Housekeeping
03:03 iOS Gaming update
05:55 Kickstarter: Quodd Heroes
10:40 Recent Plays: Fabled Fruit
20:00 Recent Plays: Raiders of the North Sea
26:23 Recent Plays: Imhotep
34:25 Six Pack: Games to play this holiday season
60:44 On Tap: Fabled Fruit
66:54 Proper beer serving temperatures
73:41 Outro