The Jay Bell is back in town! Mitchell from SoBo and I got together for a small meetup at our new local game store. This was a chance for some friends from the Southern Board Game Fest to say hello to Jay and play some games.

Jay had visited the Gumbo Pot earlier in the week. We played his newest game idea, which uses the river mechanic from Poker. He also streamed Kaiser Cucumber and the Gangs of McChanicle Corners, and ESP: Experiment in Supersensory Perspicacity on our Twitch channel. I’ll be putting those videos on YouTube soon.

But at the game store, we had a stack of games ready to go. Three of them really caught my attention. I’ve been seeing pictures and reading about Hot Streak for a long time, and I just knew it would be the kind of game I’d enjoy.

In Hot Streak, players are placing bets on a fast-paced race between four mascots. It’s a bit like a straight-ahead Camel Up race. The mascots are big plastic figures of funny characters, each with silly names. They each have a deck of cards that can move them, turn them around, or even make them stand up. Players have their own set of cards. Using what little they know and the cards available this round, they make bets on how well the mascots will do. You can even make side bets about who will finish where.

The first part of the game is simple: make two bets and add a card to the deck that controls the race. Then, it’s time for the race itself. That’s when the fun really starts. You cheer for your favorite mascot, groan when it falls over, turns around, or even runs off the track. It all makes for a great little game that takes about thirty minutes. My family always asks for new game ideas at Christmas, and Hot Streak is definitely a top contender.

Next, we played a three-player game of Silver Eye, from Bezier Games. This is the fifth game in their Silver series, and it feels quite different from the others. This game has many cards that let you look at other cards, flip them over, and some that even change how scoring works in a big way.

We all really enjoyed Silver Eye. The card abilities feel very strategic. You can change the deck, turn cards over, and even remove cards from another player’s village. I had a good lead early on, but Jay made a strong comeback in the last two rounds to win the game. Silver still feels like it could be one round shorter, but even as I say that, I’m already thinking about trying Silver Fang and its cards.

Finally, we took turns playing Logic & Lore against each other. This is a very thoughtful deduction game from Weird Giraffe Games, created by The Durdles. If you’re looking for a strong theme, this game might not be for you. But if you want a top-notch deduction game, Logic & Lore is definitely it.

Players have a set of cards numbered one to nine, arranged side-by-side. Your goal is to get the cards into the correct order. You do this by asking the other player questions about the position, strength, or other features of the cards. Using the answers you receive, you figure out where to move the cards until they are all in the right place. The first player to get all nine cards correctly arranged wins.

That’s the basic game. After Mitchell completely outplayed me – imagine a young child playing chess against a master – Jay took things to the next level. He introduced the next part of the game, which added dragon pieces. You use these dragons to pay for the questions you need to make your deductions. I saw Mitchell’s brain starting to work overtime. Again, Jay was behind in the game, but he made an amazing final turn that secured his victory. This is a very, very good two-player deduction game, and an expansion is coming soon to Kickstarter. I’ll share more details later, as our friends Carla & Nick from Weird Giraffe sent us a preview copy.

These three games made for a wonderful Sunday afternoon of playing. Until next time, let the good times roll!

— BJ from Board Game Gumbo