Buy low…sell high. No matter what business you’re in, this concept is pretty popular, especially if you are interested in making money. Whether it’s goods or services, making a profit is generally a good thing, and that is exactly your goal in the game of Jambo.
Board Games
In the world of real estate, location is everything. Location determines price, appeal, taxes…you name it. In some cases, it can even determine how likely your property is to go up in smoke. All I can say is, if you happen to own property on Pudding Lane, you may want to invest in a generous home owners insurance package…
Two powerful beings. A bunch of islands. Powerful magic. How will they settle their differences? Why…by building bridges, of course! It certainly makes more sense than the last season of Lost…so why not?
The Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. The remnants of Humanity and the Cylons. The Federation and whatever race happens to be attacking them at the time. Stargate Command and the Goa’uld, Replicators, Wraith, and whatever else feels like testing MacGyver’s skill with a P90. The entertainment industry is no stranger to coming up with new science fiction stories that have their share of space battles, and I soak most of it up because darnit, why not? As such, my love for science fiction drew me once again to another space war themed game called Star Borders: Humanity.
Information technology has made leaps and bounds over the last twenty years. I remember as a kid playing “text adventures” on my dad’s TRS-DOS system, which was all black and white output at the time. In grade school, I can’t count how many times “Sara” died of dysentery. In high school, I remember grinding my teeth in frustration as AOL attempted to connect to the Internet for its eighth time while it made god-awful sounds that could only be described as Johnny Five being dragged through an oversized meat grinder. Today, I find that technology has finally caught up and surpassed an aging mind to where I rely on my eleven year old to work the DVR thingy on my television.
Space…The Final Frontier. This phrase is uttered at least five times a week on my television, causing most of the people in the room to sigh loudly and take up a new hobby. Haters gonna hate I guess, but the idea of mankind growing to the point where disease, poverty, and war are no longer major issues has always been appealing to me. While researching and reviewing “Boom & Zoom” by Victory Point Games, I came across “Final Frontier” and was immediately interested, for obvious reasons.
Bunnies. They’re cute. They’re fluffy. Everyone loves them…that is…until they begin knocking each other off to pursue the ultimate prize: the Magic Carrot.
I’m not sure why, but every time I think of this game’s name, I picture Mel Gibson spouting promises of freedom whilst gliding across the battlefield on a Fell Beast. It certainly would have motivated the “Sons of Scotland” to fight sooner, and I probably wouldn’t have had to see what was really under those kilts during the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
My eleven year old son Vinnie was passing by my desk at home and saw “Hive Carbon”. Normally he’d pause to take a look and eventually ask me what my newest arrival was all about, but in seeing the insects on the front of the box, he expressed an interest in playing it immediately. It was a Sunday afternoon and the rain was still running rampant in our area, so why not?
Vampires are often misunderstood. A lot of people think that they are mythological beings that go around sucking the blood out of people…but see, people have gotten it wrong for all of these years. You see, real vampires sparkle. They also get a kick out of stalking and romancing seventeen year old girls, despite being well over a hundred themselves. I guess pedophile laws in the state of Washington don’t cover vampires…*shrug*…someone may want to write a letter to their local congressman.
As a kid, I played a lot of video games that simulated warfare. I’m not sure why, but I always enjoyed setting up scenarios and the units on both sides of the map, just to see how it would turn out in the end. It’s either that, or I’ve watched Matthew Broderick break into WOPR (no, not the sandwich…watch your WarGames, kids) one too many times.
Ah…Camelot. How I respect thee. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been a fan of knights, archers, catapults, and everything else related to stories involving King Arthur, the Round Table, and anything else medieval themed. Perhaps it is because these stories revolve around simpler times, or maybe because some of them involve magic. Whatever the case, the combination of “Camelot” and “Days of Wonder” on the box helped me to take the plunge…though I was unprepared by just how different this game turned out to be compared to everything else in my collection.
My son Vinnie can have a very short attention span at times (as most kids often do), however if there is one thing that I can count on in keeping his attention, it’s television shows about nature. He will sit there for hours, letting his little mind soak in everything it can in regards to animals, reptiles, insects…you name it. He’s often commented that he likes watching Billy the Exterminator because they relocate intruders rather than kill them, not to mention that the show is highly educational. Thus, I was excited when the offer came in to review the game that I’m about to cover.
If I’ve been told once, I’ve been told a thousand times…”Stay out of my kitchen!” I make a mean homemade Hamburger Helper and can heat up Chef Boyardee like no one’s business, yet Jennifer is intent in cooking everything on her own. I’ve honored her wishes mainly so that I don’t show her up…give me a moment while I lock the door…and so that the kids don’t get spoiled by my cooking. I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but Gordon Ramsay once asked for my autograph. True story.
A while back, I posted a review on the board game, Pandemic. Pandemic is a cooperative board game that tasks players with saving the world from deadly diseases. The boys and I have played it on a few occasions and enjoyed our experience overall.
I never understood why schools insisted on going over trivial things that we’d end up forgetting as adults anyway…after all, isn’t that what research is for? What’s the expression…”teach a man to fish…?” I don’t remember what the Scarlet Letter was about, just that the Custom House introductory was painful and could be considered cruel and unusual punishment. I don’t remember a thing about the Aztecs or who the twenty-second President of the United States was. Though, I do remember a thing or two about math and English, mainly because I use both more than any other school subject I was taught. It’s for this reason that I encourage kids everywhere to play educational games that improve both basic math, reading, and writing skills.