My All Aboard XL Experience

International Tabletop Day is coming up, and in pre-celebration of that, I went to Shangrila Plaza to attend All Aboard XL by Gaming Library last May 18, 2019. It featured some tournaments, but mostly featured giant-sized versions of board games like Forbidden Island, Kingdomino, Gobblet Gobblers, Slide Quest, and Sagrada. There were also some normal-sized games if that isn’t your thing. The biggest thing though was Eric Lang, designer of games such as Dice Master, Bloodborne, Rising Sun, and Blood Rage.

Me with Legendary Board Game Designers Eric Lang

I was able to attend the second day and had one goal in mind, To try out games I have never played before, and that’s what I did. The first one I tried was Incan Gold, a push your luck card game where players take on the role of explorers looking for treasure in cursed temples. I didn’t win, I barely got to bring back 5 gold to my tent, because of my “cursed” draws.

Kingdomino XL

I also got to finally try out Kingdomino for the first time, which was a lot of fun. Kingdomino is a tile drafting game, where players are rulers of their own respective kingdoms and must choose the tiles and lay them in a 5×5 grid. There was a certain trend that day, which was me not winning. I guess I was absent when beginner’s luck was given out. Nonetheless, I enjoyed learning and playing Kingdomino, and have added this game to my wishlist.

Marrakech comes really close to my favorite game that day. Marrakech is a game where players lay down carpets. If Sam(as we called the meeple who goes around the board) lands on your opponent’s carpet, you must pay them an amount equal to the amount of carpet visible in the 3×3 grid around you.

Though If I had to choose a game I really really loved, it would have to be Stick Stack. In the middle sits a platform with a soft spring as its base with 3 different colors on top. Players must draw a random stick from the bag and place it on top, following the rule of the colors must touch the same color. If a stick falls off, you keep it. The player with the least sticks once the bag is empty wins.

With all that happened even though I only got to attend one day, I think it was a great way to spend the afternoon, and am looking forward to what they’ll have in store for us next year.