Yikes, this thread has been quiet this year. I've picked up a few board games since I last posted about Rising Sun. I did get the Kami expansion but I find it hard to use expansions in that game. I don't play Rising Sun very frequently because it is a pretty long game with a lot of rules. If someone is playing it for the first time, I generally don't like to use expansions and I usually have someone playing it for the first time when I bust it out. However the Kami expansion was pretty fun the one time I have used it.
I got Islebound for Christmas in 2018 and it was just ok based on the one play through that I have done. I really need to give this one another go. I played it with my wife and one other player. My wife and I don't do competitive board games well together. She just isn't a good strategic thinker and gets frustrated when I defeat her. I'm shocked we made it through this game with our marriage intact.
Res Arcana is one that I got in 2019. It is an enjoyable little card based game that reminds me a bit of Magic the Gathering but without the massive money sink. I got this one to have another quick game in my stash.
I think I got Azul sometime in 2018 and the whole family really enjoys it. There isn't any reading involved once you know the rules so even little ones can play if they can grasp the rules and some basic strategy.
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a game that I bought so I could have another game that supports a large amount of players. It can go up the 7! It also goes pretty quickly because everyone is doing stuff at the same time. Rounds move along at a good pace as a result.
I decided on a purely coop game with Forbidden Desert. There are a lot of games in this series but so far this is the only one that I have played. Man is it tough. I have only legitimately beat it one time on the lowest difficulty setting. I've beaten it a few times by artificially lowering the difficulty by not placing the initial starting sand.
Finally my most recent acquisition is Istanbul. I got the Big Box edition with all the expansions for $40 new on eBay. Considering the base game is usually $30+ on Amazon, I felt pretty good about that deal. Anyway, I am really liking this one. I think this one will become a frequent occurrence at my monthly game night.