Ok, I'll give my tuppensworth:

Firstly, I feel a little guilty that I didn't vote for Zero Point. I thought the concept was very clever indeed; my chief objection was that an abstract game based around numbers felt a little "dry" (embarrassing to admit that, as I'm an engineer, and actually like maths).

I was very impressed with the mechanics for acquiring tiles in "Universe" (this was my no. 1 vote, once I understood how it worked). Also, I'm a sucker for hex-tiles and a space-theme.

Void was no. 2 for me - I love reversi/othello, and this looks like it would add quite a bit tactically speaking (and the scoring reminds me slightly of Go, which I also like). Requiring exactly four players would be a bit double-edged for me - its nice to have an abstract strategy game for more than two players, but I don't always have three other people around to play games with, and when I do there are often extra people who would probably also want to join in if they could.

War of the Faeries was no. 3 - It looks like a nice solid little wargame. I'd probably prefer the two-player version, but it is nice to have the 4-player option.

Dark mirror, like Zero Point, looked pretty good to me; it just lost out to others that looked even more interesting, and perhaps it would be a little repetitive. I think it could be played with one or more stripped decks of "normal" playing cards, which would count in its favor for me.

A wee note oan mah entry: "hieland" somehaw got misspelled which main hae bumbaislt an mystified th' sassenach.

After lurking for a year and a half, I join the fray. My friend Bill (billarama) had talked about doing the BGDF contests and I said I would do it too, so this was our first go round at it.

Full disclosure is that I did vote Frontrunner 1st, not because of our friendship but because I really thought the game was outstanding in flavor, completeness, and uniqueness in how it handled the cycle theme.

My notes said:

-A novel idea on the cycle concept that works logically.
-I also envisioned whimsical style art on the cards with all kinds of humorous takes on the political world.
-Player as TV executive was the only real iffy part on the concept. (Is there another "player" in the political game that might make more sense? Idk.)

Top 5 pick. (#1)

Great idea bill!

Thank you for feedback on my game Void. I find it very inspiring with contests like these as you get a theme, limitations and a deadline to work towards. I will move on with the game and finish it somehow. I brought my prototype to a board game meetup this weekend and it was very interesting to see more players react to it. =)

I would love to hear more feedback if you have any! Why did/didn't you vote for it? What seems to be the biggest challenge with the game? Did you even understand my description of it? What should I have explained more clearly?

Frontrunner
I didn't find the gameplay that appealing to me personally, even though it felt kind of solid from the description. It's always a challenge to try and understand the feeling of a game through a short description. I was not very fond of the theme, but I recognize it as a valid and creative interpretation of the theme! I was very uncertain how random the game would feel playing it, and not in the fun way, due to the "laying down cards, see who wins" -mechanic.

(Frontrunner would probably end up as #5 if we had voted that far. Family Vacation would be my #4.)

I've seen people are commenting on more games in the same post, and with not that much activity in this thread I guess that is ok?

Universe
This was my #3 pick. At first I had a hard time understanding the mechanics, but the hunch I got from it seemed very interesting. It followed the theme, although (as I understood it) not as a main mechanic. I love mapbuilders, and the replayability and possibilities to tactics seemed promising. With this description I was uncertain if the mechanics would flow well or be stopping. To be honest, if I would actually have understood the description better and it showed that the game played like I hoped it would, I might have voted this entry higher. =)

Unite the Hieland Clans
My #2 pick. It felt very thought through with an easily understood description which made me curious to play it. Maybe too many layers of card types (but as with all of the descriptions, I might change opinion once playing it). It followed the theme well.

Faerie War
My #1 pick. I really liked the solution to use tiles as health markers and pawns, to a game that would normally be components heavy. It shows that the designer had made an effort with the limitations. Also, it followed the theme perfectly and the description made the game sound interesting. I'm curious how balanced the characters would be playing each other, but that's of course a matter of testing and tweaking.

I will try to get back to give a few comments on the other entries.

Thanks for the inspiration! =)

Hello again.

I got busy yesterday, and fell asleep on the couch to end the day. So I'm going to give my critique for Void AND Universe today. (I have notes for every game)

VOID

My short notes said:

-Othello with 4 players is an interesting idea.
-Does it stick in people's heads as just an Othello variant?
-I like the idea of taking tiles off the board.
-Seems like limited interaction with the player opposite you in the cycle.
-Does this lead to "team ups?"
-Wouldn't there be a lot of stalemates with 4 players?

Top 5 Pick (#4)

So I really liked the idea and concept of the game, though I did wonder if people would start teaming up with the opposite person in order to sort of block in the other two players if possible, which I'm not even sure is possible since I haven't played the game. I did also wonder if the game might benefit from getting away from such a stereotypical cycle. The fire-water-earth-wind thing has kind of been done to death, and since in general your game doesn't rely on that theme, you could make it whatever you want. But there is definitely something worth pursuing here, and glad to see you are doing so! Good luck!

UNIVERSE

Short notes:
-I really enjoyed the concept
-I am missing something in the rules, but there is definitely a solid something here.
-The cycle aspect does seem a bit thrown in, but I see how it fits
-Are there rules for how to build your universe? (Do planets need a star?)

Top 5 Pick (#3) (My bronze medal)

Overall, I loved how different this game felt from all the others, and the idea of competing for elements to build into your own little universe is a good one. Who doesn't like PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS! every now and then. (Even if it comes with an itty bitty living space) This and Void were really neck and neck and since they were tied for 3rd, I went with the more novel use of the theme. I am very interested to see if this concept moves forward beyond this little competition.

Sorry everyone - I also didn't notice the dates - drat!

So in an attempt to "catch up", I'll give my belated impressions of Frontrunner (if this is not acceptable, the editors should please remove this post)
As a non-American who is not too familiar with exactly how their elections and campaigns work, I didn't fully understand the theme. This might be something to consider if the game were to be marketed internationally, although I suppose most other non-Americans are more interested in non-Clausewitz politics than I, and so would be less lost with this theme. Perhaps I also didn't quite understand the mechanics properly; I understood it to be something like a politico/media-themed bridge-like game (though admittedly that is an over-simplification of the game mechanics). Assuming I didn't misunderstand, I can see why this would appeal to many people, but it wouldn't be my cup of tea (purely due to personal taste regarding both theme and mechanics; I don't think there are any obvious flaws in the game).

The theme was cool, and I thought the mechanics of the cards were interesting. A creative use of the cycle theme. I had two reservations on this one. The first was that it felt like a game where there was a lot going on, but ultimately there would usually be one clear best move (or possibly several clear but arbitrarily chosen best moves). The other concern was that I didn't see the map being used as anything other than a list of what's in the game. I think this could work as the core of a more complicated game, but as is it just didn't grab me.

Once again, I've let myself slip and before I know it, it's 3 days later. I'm going to do the last 2 days critiques in this post.

UNITE THE HELAND CLANS

Notes:

- Theme wise, I didn't really think that so many clans would co-exist so closely and only have 1 or 2 rivals. I just didn't see how troops from 3 different clans would all just work together to free a town and their not be a huge fracas over it later.

- With such small hands, it felt like you could end up with no possible turns if you drew cards from clans who didn't have enemies on the board, or cards that all hated each other.

Overall, it seems like it could be a fun game, I just wasn't into the theme, and the cycle use could stand to be tweaked, maybe even by just reducing the number of clans and making them all hate each other with differing levels. Then each card losing some strength based upon which other clan cards you played it with. (That way you have a wider hate cycle, but don't have cards that absolutely cannot work together)

FAERIE WAR

Notes:

-My big issue with the game was that there really is no cycle at all in the game. The seasons really do nothing but determine what team everyone is on rather than actually having a cycle like effect within the game.

-The rest of the rules seemed solid enough, and I even kind of like the overall theme. As someone ranking the games, this game simply got bumped down quite a bit for there being no real aspect of the game utilizing the main theme of the month. (Almost like missing the basket ingredients in Chopped) I also realize that mine isn't the only way to look at the concept of a cycle, so I certainly don't think people were wrong to vote for your game.

I really liked Zero Point. It's simple, strategic, and the game I found myself thinking about the most.

I like games like this, but I can see where it's maybe not for everyone. Since we can interpret the zeros as a kind of "leveling up," that might provide a way to think about a theme and make it seem less mathy. That also might gave same more options if it needs any rebalancing.

I liked this game's theme and the variety of cards interested me. There is a lot of potential for some fun rounds bouncing the mirror back and forth between players. Just when you think you are about to break it, someone will steal it or prevent you from breaking it. I see it playing quickly and you can get several games in so it would be a good side game to play at a bigger board game night. However I did not vote for it because I thought it didn't follow the rules precisely - it doesn't come off as a natural cycle.