JRPGs are an acquired taste, mainly because of how long it takes just to get through a single game. “Final Fantasy” and its sequels, for example, aren’t games that you can just simply breeze through in one night. Meet “Terrene Odyssey”, a card game that is currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. It simulates the encounters that you might find in a typical RPG, except that you’ll be facing off against a live opponent. It promises deep & engaging gameplay and judging by the card art featured on the game’s Kickstarter page, I’d have to agree! The best part? You won’t have to spend months playing it!
Board Games
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…”Apples to Apples” is probably one of the most popular games in our household. It’s easy to play and the kids really get a kick out of making silly combinations with the cards. Earlier today, I saw “Apples to Apples: Big Picture” sitting on the shelf at my local Wal-Mart and figured I’d give it a go. It looked similar to the “Apples to Apples: Junior Edition” we often bring out to play, but it had pictures…I admit, I was a little intrigued. I had to wonder how it compared to similar picture games I’ve played (like “Crappy Birthday“), though I’m sure the big question on your mind is, “is this version of ‘Apples to Apples’ as fun as the other editions?” Well, keep reading to find out!
I’m a sucker for zombie-themed games…if that hasn’t been made readily apparent by now. There’s just something about those lovable undead walkers that gets the adrenaline pumping…perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they want to eat your brains. One might think that professional help would be in order, but I’m sure I’ll have the last laugh when Milla Jovovich shows up in your town with a ten-ton nuke strapped to her back. At any rate, “Card of the Dead”, as you may have guessed, is a quick zombie-themed card game that tasks players with earning the most survival points over three rounds. Before we see whether or not this zombie game stacks up with the others I’ve played, I’d like to thank the folks at Alderac Entertainment Group (the same company who published “Smash Up” and “Trains“) for providing me with a free press copy.
It’s never too early to begin the quest for knowledge…heck, we humans begin doing so from day one whether we realize it or not. While most of the games I cover are fit for ages eight and over, I’d be negligent if I didn’t mention “Tinker Wheels”, a project that aims at a much younger audience (specifically kids that are in preschool, kindergarten, and the first grade). This game’s main goal is to help those youngsters hone their reading and writing skills…what parent worth their two cents wouldn’t want to introduce their toddlers to games that are both educational and fun?
Want to play as wizard dinosaurs, robot pirates, or ninja zombies? Of course you do. “Smash Up” is a card-fighting game that lets players choose two factions, combine them into one deck, and duke it out with their fellow players. While ruining someone else’s day is certainly fun to do (in the realm of gaming, of course), players will be earning points by trying to control various bases as they appear on the table. Which two factions will YOU choose? I admit, dinosaur ninjas have a certain appeal…I mean, who wouldn’t want to see dinosaurs sneaking around and doing backflips? It worked for the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, didn’t it?
“Crootle” was one of the unfortunate games to not meet its Kickstarter goal back in September of 2013. That, of course, isn’t stopping the developers from trying again. After listening to feedback from their supporters and implementing a few changes, “Crootle” is back on the charts. There’s still some question as to whether or not the developer will seek the Kickstarter option, but it’s good to know that they haven’t given up. What’s new, you ask, and why should you support “Crootle” this time around? Before we answer those questions, I’d like to thank Bruce over at World Village Games, LLC for providing me with an updated prototype copy. As with most prototypes, it’s important to stress that they usually aren’t representative of the final product. The content in the pictures featured below are therefore subject to change.
“Dominion” was one of the first board games I purchased when “Dad’s Gaming Addiction” was but a mere speck on the horizon. The idea of building your deck during the game rather than before it was definitely a foreign concept to me at the time. “Trains”, surprisingly enough, plays a lot like “Dominion” in that you’ll be building a deck of cards as you play by purchasing them from the available supply. At the same time, you’ll be constructing rails/routes on the map, similar to that of “Ticket to Ride”. It’s as almost as if “Dominion” and “Ticket to Ride” went out on a date and got a little bit too tipsy during the obligatory nightcap (close your eyes, kids). At any rate, I wanted to see if the game was any good, seeing as how I am a fan of both games. The results may (or may not) surprise you. Before we begin, I’d like to quickly thank David Trudeau from Alderac Entertainment Group for providing me with a free press copy.
Let me tell you a little story…the year: 1990-ish. Gym class and I rarely got along, mainly due to the fact that I favored the academics as opposed to the athletics. I couldn’t catch a football to save my life, but that didn’t stop me from managing my very own football team in “Tecmo Bowl” for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was through video games that I learned how to “play” sports…by play I mean hike the ball, send my quarterback fifty yards in the wrong direction, and throw a hail mary for one hundred yards hoping that my receiver would catch the ball in the end zone. Why am I taking you on a trip down memory lane? Before I answer that, I’d like to thank Clay Dreslough from Sports Mogul Inc. for providing me with a press copy of “Masters of the Gridiron”, a game that is currently seeking your support on Kickstarter. It’s important to note that prototypes aren’t usually representative of the final product, making everything featured below subject to change.
“Masters of the Gridiron”…now there’s a game I never thought I’d see cross my desk. For those of you who know me, sports and I have a love/hate relationship. I (at best) tolerate watching them, but I enjoy interacting with them via the art of board games and video games. “Masters of the Gridiron” is of the former genre and will be shortly seeking your help on Kickstarter to reach the homes of American pro football fans everywhere. I’ll be covering the game in an upcoming preview so I won’t divulge too much, but I will say that this is one sports game that I can get behind as it is fast and easy to play…even for someone like me who doesn’t live and breathe football.
We named “Castle Panic” as our favorite cooperative board game in our 2013 DGA Awards and with good reason…it’s both easy and fun to play, without the need to worry about competitive players. Some of you may already be familiar with this little gem, though I’m willing to bet that most of you didn’t know that there was an expansion to the game. “Castle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower” is the official expansion to “Castle Panic” and it goes without saying that you’ll need the latter to play the former. What’s in this expansion? Fire, mega bosses, wizard cards…essentially all sorts of goodies to take your game to the next level. It’s worth noting that because this is an expansion, I’ll be switching up my usual review format with something a bit more informal.
In my review of the base game, I called “King of Tokyo” a “fun, light dice rolling game”. While there was a luck factor at work, players could minimize or maximize the risk at will, depending on how aggressively they wanted to play. Today, we’ll be taking a brief look at the “Power Up!” expansion, which introduces a few new concepts to help mix up the core gameplay mechanics. I should note right off the bat that this expansion requires the base game to play. Since this is going to be brief, I’ve opted to switch up my regular review format with something a bit more informal.
I’m not too big on Kaiju movies, but I do enjoy playing Kaiju related games from time to time. “Rampage” for the NES was one of my favorites, even if the monsters’ names were George, Lizzie, and Ralph. “King of Tokyo” puts players in the role of a monster who is wrestling for control of, you guessed it, Tokyo. There’s punching, there’s healing, there’s special abilities…but there can only be one monster left standing at the end of it all. Will it be you?
In the mood for a little “Dungeons & Dragons” but don’t have a lot of time on your hands? “Dungeon!” may just be what the doctor ordered, as it is a simplified version of the aforementioned game. I admittedly have never played “D&D”, mainly due to time constraints. There’s also the fact that I seem to enjoy simpler things the older I get…just ask the kids. I’m apparently hilarious when I attempt to work that blasted DVR on the TV remote. At any rate, I picked “Dungeon!” up on a whim to see if it was as user-friendly as it claimed to be. If you’re curious as to whether or not a “D&D” game can be simplified enough for the layman, read on. For the record, my copy is the English fourth edition, released in 2012.
Just because word games are educational doesn’t mean that they can’t be a lot of fun to play. “Qquip”, a two to six player card game currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, seems to be the best of both worlds in that regard. It not only features intuitive wordplay, but will force players to make some pretty tough decisions…as a gaming dad myself, these games are typically ideal for family game night.
I seriously have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t find pandas to be the cutest thing on this planet…that is, except maybe for those who have said no to “Panda Cheese”. “Takenoko” (which means, Bamboo Sprout) puts players in the role of courtesans who must not only feed the emperor’s panda, but manage an ever-growing bamboo plantation. Players earn points for satisfying the emperor’s requests, as well as for feeding the panda and catering to the wishes of the gardener. Will you assist the gardener in growing specific patterns of bamboo, or will you just let the panda devour it all? The choice is yours…though my money’s on the panda.
After a fairly successful experience with the video game adaptation of “Elder Sign: Omens”, I decided to take another plunge into the world of H.P. Lovecraft. Only this time, I’ll be trying to form words with the available letters without going crazy. The trick lies in both the length of the word, as well as how many angles are present in the letters used to form said word. Who will go insane and who will manage to escape the funny farm by the skin of the teeth? Only time (and perhaps a few visits from Cthulhu) will tell…