My Nerdz Day Wishlist 2024

Welcome to this week’s gaming post! With Nerdz Day only one week away, I figured I’d talk about a few of the games on my wish list for this upcoming (unofficial) holiday. If you’ve never heard of Nerdz Day, it’s a large board game sale put on by Game Nerdz. This year, there will be 50 different items during the sale, including board games, trading card games, and RPGs, with the majority likely priced at all-time lows. What makes the sale unique is that starting at noon central time, Game Nerdz releases ten items each hour at five minute intervals. They even put out clues leading up to the sale to build the anticipation, and there’s a BGG list where people try to guess the game based on the clue. As someone who enjoys hunting for hot board game deals, Nerdz Day has become one of my favorite days of the year. And even if I don’t end up picking up that many games, it’s still fun to participate in the excitement. So without further ado, let’s kick off with my most highly-anticipated game.

I’ve talked about how Great Western Trail is one of my favorite games of all time here, so it almost feels like a given that I’d be excited about getting my hands on the third (and final?) game in the series – Great Western Trail: New Zealand. I honestly don’t know that much about the New Zealand entry other than it looks like more Great Western Trail, but with sheep instead of cows. The game also has a separate map board that reminds me a bit of the Rails to the North expansion for the original game. This one is currently in stock at Game Nerdz, but considering Great Western Trail: Second Edition was a Nerdz Day 2022 sale item and Great Western Trail: Argentina was a 2023 Nerdz Day sale item, here’s to hoping this one can continue the trend for this year’s sale. 

Carrying the excitement on with Heat: Pedal to the Metal, the immensely popular racing game from 2022. I don’t own any other car racing games, and the fact that this game is relatively light, plays relatively quickly, and works well at five and six players has me excited that this game could fit well into my rotation of lighter games. This one is also out of stock at Game Nerdz and is projected to be one of the sale items during Nerdz Day.

Moving onto the only game on the list that I’ve actually played – Carnegie. The game is inspired by the life of Andrew Carnegie, and in the game, players are tasked with recruiting and managing employees, building industries, connecting routes, and donating to score victory points. Carnegie is certainly a heavy euro, but the gameplay feels smooth and the rules by themselves aren’t particularly complex. I also really love the mechanism that has you managing employees throughout your departments, which allow you to trigger actions. If you’re curious to read more about my initial thoughts on the game, then I’d recommend checking out my recent post here. I’m still kicking myself for not picking it up during a recent Pegasus Spiele sale, and I’m hoping this will be included in Nerdz Day. However, the fact that it was a recent Deal of the Day over at Game Nerdz makes me believe I’ll be waiting a little while longer for this to go on sale again.

World Wonders is a very popular game that was released last year. Players compete to build the most impressive city, including wonders from around the world. What interests me about this one is the mechanism for claiming wonders. Rounds consist of claiming building tiles and wonders. However, once a player claims a wonder, they then lose out on claiming any more buildings that round. This sounds like it will create interesting player tension with players having to decide when to take the wonders. It also sounds like it fits nicely into the light to medium weight category, with games not taking too long to finish. With World Wonders currently out of stock at Game Nerdz, fingers crossed that it’s because they are saving stock for Nerdz Day.

Devir has been on a tear recently. I was able to pick up the excellent Lacrimosa during last year’s Nerdz Day, and this year I’m hoping to do the same with The White Castle (no not the food chain). Other than the fact that the White Castle has received plenty of praise since its release last year, the dice worker placement mechanism also seems interesting to me. Another selling point is that I hear the game provides plenty of crunchy decision making without a long run time for a mid-weight euro. Based on the currently released clues, this one is projected to be available on Nerdz Day, and it’s also out of stock at Game Nerdz, which I think bodes well for its chances. 

Next up is another hot game from 2023 – Darwin’s Journey. The art and aesthetic alone was enough for this game to grab my attention, but I’m also intrigued by the mechanism that has you leveling up your workers in order to take certain actions. This one still has stock at Game Nerdz, but here’s to hoping it could still show up during the sale.

Nucleum was one of my most anticipated games from last year. Hearing that it borrows elements from Brass, one of my favorite games of all time, made me excited when I first heard about the game. I have to say though, the artwork on the front of the box does seem better than the images I’ve seen of the board. It also looks to be solidly in the heavy weight category, which has me a bit concerned on how often I’ll be able to get this one played. Regardless of those slight issues, I’m still quite excited about picking up the game, and it is currently projected to be a Nerdz Day sale item.

I honestly don’t know that much about alcohol, but Distilled’s theme about running a distillery had me excited about the game when I first heard about it. The push-your-luck elements also have me intrigued. I usually prefer push-your-luck mechanisms in lighter games though, so I’m a bit nervous about how those feelings will translate to this more medium weight design. This one is also out of stock at Game Nerdz and is projected to be a sale item.

With that, I’ll wrap up this week’s post! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the games I’ve mentioned, future content, or format in the comments section below, and let me know what games you’re hoping to pick up during Nerdz Day 2024. Happy gaming!

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