Top 10 Games I’m Playing During the Extra Life Marathon
Getting ready for the Extra-Life charity marathon I’m thinking of games I’m going to play.
A Helping Hand
Every year I take part in the Extra Life gaming marathon to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network of hospitals; I specifically raise money for Dayton Children’s. I’ll be taking part from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday. I’ll have some friends over and we’ll set up a long day of playing multiple games, eating tons of snacks, and enjoying each-others company. I love this day; it’s one of my favorites of the entire year. I’ve seen people do tons of things over this weekend from video game streamers, table top streamer, war gamers, poker tournaments, and even sports. What you play isn’t important, but helping the kids is.
One of the challenges of the day is planning what to play over the course of twenty five hours; daylight savings time is this weekend. I’ll have between 3 and 6 guests at any one time and I have enough tables that we can split up if necessary. However, it’s fun to have a couple of games set aside to play that we’re all ready to jump in on. Here are the games I’m looking at playing this weekend.
By the way if you want more information on Extra Life and how to join yourself you can go here. If you’d like to support me for this year then you can go here.
10: Return to Dark Tower
Designers: Tim Burrell-Saward, Isaac Childres, Noah Cohen, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, and Brian Neff.
Publisher: Restoration Games
I love Restoration Games and when I saw they were doing Dark Tower I was extremely excited. It’s a game of exploration, adventure, and a bit of narrative. I got a copy for my birthday this year and was very excited to get this to the table. While I’ve only played it solo thus far I’d love to get a chance to play it this weekend. However, it is only four player and I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to play this one if there are a lot of people.
9: Risk Legacy
Designer: Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis
Publisher: Hasbro
Back when I did my first Extra Life marathon 10 years ago I ran out and grabbed a copy of this new type of game called a Legacy. We went in unsure of what it would be like, tearing up cards, putting stickers on the board, and throwing things away; it sounded insane. That said, we took a swing and loved it. The game is the Risk as you know it but with tons of extra bits, rules, and ways to mitigate luck in the game making more dynamic and fair. I only bring this out during Extra Life. We play a game almost every year, based on how many people are there and if we are awake enough. We’ve only got a few missions left before we finish the campaign and I’m hoping to be a bit closer once we finish the weekend.
8: Mission Red Planet
Designer: Bruno Cathala and Bruno Faidutti
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Mission Red Planet is a fun game with a real swing in how it plays. It’s also a bit mean. You’re attempting to colonize Mars and are sending your astronauts to the planet in order to claim territory. You’ll play one of ten cards from your hand giving you a specific action on your turn; one of them allows you to pick up everything you’ve played. There’s tons of interaction, sabotage, and bargaining. I love this game and at a max of six players it can handle the groups I might have pretty easily.
7: Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth
Designer: Nathan I. Hajek and Grace Holdinghaus
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Journeys in Middle-Earth hits a lot of sweet spots for me. It’s a narrative, campaign, dungeon crawling, adventure game with tons of personality. The game follows your fellowship as they travel around, follow clues, solve mysteries, and defeat the forces of evil. Tons of random encounters that cycle around so no game ever has the same set give you a fun feeling of newness even if you’re replaying a scenario. Last year we started a campaign and named our party Extra-Life. I’m looking forward to picking up with that group and seeing what happens next.
6: Sleeping Gods
Designer: Ryan Laukat
Publisher: Red Raven Games
I’m a big fan of Red Raven Games and I love narrative gaming. Sleeping Gods hits a lot of those spots for me. This is a long form campaign game where you are the crew of a steamer ship that has found itself on a strange world. You’ll travel around a massive world and discover tons of clues to different things all over the planet in an attempt to find your way home before the gods wake. It only goes to four players so this might be a later in the weekend game where some folks have dropped off, but I’m hoping we’ll get this to the table for a little bit.
5: Scythe
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Another birthday present I’m looking forward to getting to the table. Scythe is a beautiful game of industrial mechs and area control. A very euro style game where you’ll be trying to score a number of victory points in hopes to bring your clan to prominence. The game is streamlined, tons of fun, and very thinky. It goes up to 5 players, so I’ve got a decent chance of seeing this one on the table. Finger crossed.
4; Betrayal Legacy
Designer: Rob Daviau, Noah Cohen, JR Honeycutt, Ryan Miller, Brian Neff, and Andrew Veen
Publisher: Avalon Hill
Sweet god I love this game. I’ve always enjoyed the storytelling of Betrayal at the House on the Hill but Legacy took it to a whole new level. I’ve got several articles about how much I love this game. Betrayal is a game where you’ll be working together to explore an old haunted house until the mid-point when one of you turns on the rest. Who will it be? That depends on the Omen you find, where you find it, and when it turns up. I’ve already finished the campaign and had an absolute blast with it. Now, I’ve got my own custom game of Betrayal and I love bringing it to the table. If for no other reason than I get to tell the [SPOILERS] story again. Plus its five players so I’ll have a good chance of getting it to the table.
3: Wonderland’s War
Designer: Tim Eisner, Bill Eisner, and Ian Moss
Publisher: Druid City Games
What an amazing game that blew my expectations out of the water. Half area control, half drafting, half bag building, and all madness. You’ll be attending the Hatters tea party to draft chips for your bag, playing troops into different battlefields, and then fighting out each region by drawing the chips and pushing your luck. The game is tons of fun, goes to five players, and I have a purple velvet top hat I am going to WEAR. I will fight someone for Hatter over this. I’m really hoping we play this one.
2: Forgotten Waters
Designer: Mr. Bistro, J. Arthur Ellis, and Isaac Vega.
Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
Forgotten Waters is an amazing game that uses the Crossroads system. In the game you’ll play the crew of a pirate ship following your captain on an adventure. There are five captains that come with the base game and run through a wonderfully designed app. You’ll jockey for places on a large book that lets that gives you actions to take each turn, move your ship around the sea, and encounter all manner of opponents, ships, and easy pickings. The writing is amazing, and I’m looking forward to seeing it this weekend. Plus it goes to seven players and I’ve always wanted to see how that works.
1: 7th Seas RPG
Designer: Michael Curry, Mike Curry, Jess Heinig, Rob Justice, and John Wick.
Publisher: Pegasus Spiele
The one game I know that I’m playing this weekend. 7th Seas is a pen and paper rpg where you are pirates. The game was designed around player agency and I like how the rules push that forward. The D10 system involves rolling enough successes that give you actions that happen and I like how it makes the players feel like heroes. I’m going to be running this for my niece and her friends this weekend. It’s how I’m kicking off the weekend. It’s their first RPG and I’m hoping they all have a blast. In fact, a resource that the players get are hero points.
*Edit* due to unforeseen circumstances we will no longer be playing this game. There was a fundraising offer attached to the games session that has been removed.
Resting Up
There are the games I’m hoping to get to the table. I know from experience that some of them won’t end up there, someone will bring a game we play, and we may hit a mood for something else. I had some fun games that fell just past the top of my list. I’d love to get Last Night on Earth to the table, the X Com game for getting your blood pumping and waking you up, and Vagrantsong is a fun narrative game with tons of great theme. I’m certain we’ll play some of the games here.
Still, I’m looking forward to the weekend. Extra Life is an amazing charity and does tons of great work. If you want to help out but would rather find a hospital in your area then go to their site and I’m certain you’ll find somebody in your area to sponsor. This is worth doing, I’ve seen the good this charity does, and I’m humbled every year by all of the people who donate.
If you’re interested in seeing how we’re doing I’ll be sharing photos to twitter @stevemayne2 and Instagram under stormshriek. Check back and see how it’s going.
Until next time, stay safe, be well, and help kids.
