It was my birthday the other day (34), which gave me the excuse to climax a massive, by my standards, buying spree. Here are my acquisitions:

• Breaking Away – An impulse purchase. It was only £18 from the designer. I am still astonished at how ugly the box art is. It arrived flat-packed, with a box that you assemble yourself.
• San Juan – An obvious buying decision. Almost everyone I trust enjoys it.
• Domaine – I was surprised at how simple the rules are. It is just a pity it is so expensive.
• Louis XIV – I was hesitating, because I have only played Traders of Genoa out of Rudiger Dorn’s ludography, which I found ponderous. On the other hand, Louis XIV looks like a meaty, interesting game in a smallish package.
• Santiago – I played this several months ago at Michael’s. I really enjoyed how cutthroat it was.
• El Caballero – Carcassonne is too light for me, so the Carcassonne on Steroids summary suckered me. I won this and Volle Hütte on German eBay in a lot and I only paid €25 for both. The box, although good-looking, is ridiculously large compared to the contents. I might have to replace it with something smaller.
• Volle Hütte – I know almost nothing about this. The cartoon artwork is very fun and typically European. I will have to upload some pictures to the Geek.

I realise this would be a light month’s buying for someone like Tom Vasel, but it is going to take me ages to get through this.