Game of the Month

October was a fun month for games - I got to play a number of games with my son, who is sprouting into a little gamer. I played 33 games, 17 of which were with him. There were two games I was trying to decide on for October Game of the Month, but I think I have to go with Galaxy Trucker. Galaxy trucker is a "puzzle" game. There are three progressively harder rounds in two parts. The first part has you compete with the other players to place ship tiles onto your mat, thus making a ship with cargo holds, energy plants, weapons, engines, etc. After that phase is completed, there is a second phase where you run your newly built ship through a gauntlet of events that can fill your ship with valuable cargo or (more likely) blast your beautiful creation to pieces. The second part is pretty random, but its also fun and good for a couple laughs. I'm terrible at this, as are a couple of the guys I game with, but we all love this game.
The reason I picked this over my other choices is that it got me seriously in the mood for and thinking about other puzzle games. I've been looking at and thinking about getting Ubongo and Ubongo Extreme. Playing Master Labyrinth at the end of the month solidified in my mind that I truly enjoy puzzle games. Galaxy Trucker delivers that along with some goofy fun as you watch your creation fall apart.
So what missed the cut? Micro Mutants: Evolution was a close second. This lighter game (or heavy game of Tiddley Winks) is a lot of fun as far as I'm concerned and my son really enjoys it. It take a little skill and throws in some random (and unique per team) "powers". Its simple fun and it amazes me each time I play how quickly my son picked it up both from getting the rules to being able to jump the pieces around.