“Wrong Chemistry” is a recent Kickstarter success that almost doubled the funding it needed to launch its way into the homes of mad scientists everywhere. It’s a game that tasks players with creating bogus elements (inspired by the real periodic table) in an attempt to score points. Players will be working with the same molecule on the game board, rearranging it however they can to get it to match the elements that they currently have in their hand. Before we begin scrambling atoms, I’d like to thank Alexandros Argyropoulos from Mage Company LTD for sending me a free review copy.
Board Games
In a lot of the zombie games I’ve played, I usually find myself without ammo, medical supplies, and anything else I might need to stave off the undead. You’d think that putting countless hours into the early Resident Evil games would teach me everything I needed to know, but I guess herbs and ink ribbons just don’t hold up in the grand scheme of things. Luckily, I came across a game that doesn’t require me to fight off the undead…quite the opposite.
“Monopoly” has been around for quite some time. While many variations of the board game exist that keep with the main theme, “Monopoly: Electronic Banking Edition” was one of the first editions to drastically change how the game was played. Let’s take a quick look at how this game is different from the base game and whether or not it’s worth picking up.
A while back I reviewed “You’ve Been Sentenced!” and praised it for its educational value. To paraphrase, we all thought it was “good, educational fun.” As a thank you from McNeill Designs, I received six expansion packs that add more vocabulary and content to the base game (which we also got a kick out of).
“Bypass”, put simply, is a tile-laying game that tasks you with being the first person to connect roads from one side of the board to the other. Since everyone shares the same stretch of land and any roads that are placed, it becomes a challenge to complete your path and not help your opponents in the process. Before we take a look at the game in further detail, I’d like to thank Sue Jefferson from SimplyFun for sending me a free review copy.
I’ve played many word games over the past year: “Boggle”, “Scrabble Blast”, “WayWord”, “Upwords”, “Word on the Street”, “Jumbalaya”…you get the idea. You’d think that if you played one, you played them all, but any parent worth their two cents knows that this just isn’t the case. Needless to say, I was happy to receive yet another one to try out and review with the kids. Before we take a look at the game and reveal why games like this are beneficial, I’d like to thank Sue Jefferson from SimplyFun for sending me a free review copy.
Ruse is labeled as a murder mystery card game, but there’s a little bit more to it than that. It’s like taking a “whodunit”, simplifying it with a deck of cards, and adding a storytelling element with a Victorian Steampunk setting. A little bit of Clue, a touch of Gloom, a dash of Once Upon A Time…you get the idea. In Ruse, players will be attempting to pin the murder on someone else by using the cards in their hands. Once a player is found to be the murderer, the game is over and the losing player tells his or her sad story.
If retail stores are any indication, it’s never too early to start celebrating Christmas. My local Kmart store already has rows of pre-decorated, fake trees available that are ready to bring joy to kids everywhere come Christmas morning…nevermind that we haven’t even gotten to Halloween or Thanksgiving yet. Today, we’re going to take a look at a game that might very well be the ultimate stocking stuffer for gamer families everywhere.
Alien Frontiers really took me by surprise as I tend to shy away from dice games because of their luck factor. That game turned out to be a joy to play and remains to be one of my favorite games to bring out on family game night. I’m going to deviate a little bit from my usual review format so that I can cover all three of these expansions in one sitting.
Ah, Chess. There’s nothing like reviewing a game that is right up my alley, having logged countless hours at Chess tournaments and at libraries tutoring others. As a former member of the United States Chess Federation, I feel it my solemn duty to touch on this game a bit and give my two cents about how it plays.
What do you get when you throw a bunch of competitive gardeners onto the same patch of land and tell them to be the last gardener standing? I’m sure there’s some asinine reality show in the works for that kind of thing, but in the meantime, there’s something much better…Garden Dice.
My regular readers know by now that I include the kids in my board game reviews whenever I can. While it is true that they help me to see the games I review in a different light, they also provide you parents out there with ideas for that next birthday gift (or what have you). Most important of all, I include them because we enjoy the process of playing and reviewing games together.
Did you know that Kenakalan means “mischief” in Indonesian? Neither did I, that is, until I had played the latest creation from SchilMil Games.
Aztec priests were pretty revered back in their day, as they were often seen as a conduit between man and their gods. They were also known for their combat experience and even led armies of warriors by way of ritual combat. The Aztecs also believed in human sacrifice, utilizing their warrior houses to capture people from whoever they happened to be warring with at the time.
I recently had the pleasure of reviewing FTL, a video game that tasks the player with managing a ship and its crew as you guide it from sector to sector. You’ll be fighting off attacks, repairing battle damage, the works. Imagine my surprise when I found a board game that does something very similar. To top it off, it does something uniquely special that turned out to be a breath of fresh air when compared to the other board games in my collection.
Board games, card games, tile laying games…I’ve played many over these past few years. I’m pleased to report that I’m adding miniature games to that list for the very first time. As a fan of the original X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and all other related video games in the series, what better way to introduce the kids and myself to the miniatures genre than taking a trip to a galaxy far, far away?