It’s been a while since I’ve played a dungeon crawler themed board game. The last one I remember playing was HeroQuest, featuring that menacing barbarian on the front of the box that looked like he had skipped his regular morning dose of Zoloft. I don’t recall ever playing that game correctly either…I just enjoyed making the plastic figures fight each other. I’ve always wanted to get into D&D and other RPGs, but as I got older, I found myself losing patience for things that were overly complex in nature. If I had to spend days understanding the three hundred page rulebook, I tended to just file the game away to be addressed later…much, much later.
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It’s Armageddon for real this time, and Bruce Willis is nowhere to be found…what can be done? Well, for starters, you can take control of a major spaceship corporation and charge an arm and a leg to ferry customers off of Earth and onto other habitable planets. I know, sounds cruel…but the Ferengi’s 22nd Rule of Acquisition states that “A wise man can hear profit in the wind” and Star Trek hasn’t let you down yet. It’s a dog eat dog galaxy, and you’re out to be the biggest asteroid in the belt.
Weather permitting, today has always been a staple day to go outside and grill burgers and hotdogs for the family. Some families go as far as to travel to their local park to spend the day feasting and relaxing with their loved ones. There are those that get away for the weekend and go camping while others might go fishing. Some observe a National Moment of Remembrance while some visit memorials and cemeteries to honor the fallen.
Most, if not all of you, have heard of this little game called Monopoly. Okay, maybe it’s not so little. Anyway, the main complaint that I’ve heard against the original Monopoly board game is that it took too long to play, assuming that you played to be the last man (or woman) standing. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of Monopoly, mainly because it was the first board game I remember playing as a kid. I liked the idea of owning property and charging other players rent…but heck, I really hated that income tax space…I land on it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Even when I am one space away from it, the dice somehow break the laws of physics and I end up paying the two hundred bucks that I just earned for passing “Go.”
Pop Quiz: What is the longest river in the world? Whether you pulled the information out of cobwebs from within the deep recesses of your brain or looked at the title of this article, you probably guessed it to be the Nile River. In ancient Egyptian agriculture, the Nile was essential in providing water to grow food as rainfall was scarce throughout the region. The lands near the Nile on either side were known as the floodplain, where the soil was the richest for farming.
I was extremely surprised to see this game appear on Steam…it literally popped in out of nowhere. I’m very happy that a classic board game made its way into the video game world, especially at an extremely reasonable price. The board game version is one of the most requested to play in our house and I snatched this up without a moment’s thought. So, all aboard fellow readers…let’s take a look at the game that has been and is currently sweeping the nation.
Just when I thought I was caught up with all of my characters…they had to go and release a new class. The Summoner is unique however in that it is the only class that can summon units and send them against the never-ending waves of bad guys via an RTS (Real Time Strategy) interface. As a diehard RTS fan, I could have sworn I heard “Ode to Joy” thundering in my ears when I discovered this new feature…but does it really work?
Before “Say Anything!” was brought into our house, “Apples to Apples” was probably the most requested game to play on family game night. That is extremely high praise seeing as how we have over fifty board games in our living room closet. I’ve often referred to this game in previous articles, but today we’re actually going to address it.
Ready your ice packs and stock up on Ibuprofin…the world’s clickiest game is back and it is better than ever. Not much has changed in terms of overall gameplay, but that isn’t always a bad thing. There are plenty of bad guys to kill and tons of items to loot…though we must ask the question, “Is it worth sixty bucks?” Keep on reading to find out.
Let’s pretend for a moment that you’re hosting a party and that the guests of honor should be arriving any minute. You’ve got your Star Trek DVDs locked and loaded, you’ve got your favorite Hanson album blasting away, and the eighteen topping pizzas that someone is sure to be allergic to are on their way. You’re confident that Captain Kirk can keep your guests actively engaged throughout the evening, but you’re thinking of bringing out a party game just to be sure.
Words can’t express how psyched I was when I discovered this game. I am a big fan of city builder games and a lot of the good ones that people recommended to me are either out of print or go for outrageous amounts on Amazon or eBay. Sure, you could play SimCity 4 or Cities XL on the PC…but the former was released in 2003 and the latter I didn’t find to be all that good. I desperately needed to scratch that city builder itch, and Sunrise City happened to come along just in the nick of time.
Being a customizable card game connoisseur can be expensive. More often than not, you’ll drop five bucks or more on expansion packs in the hopes of getting a rare card that will boost your main deck…sometimes with disappointing results. I experienced a lot of that when trying to build my first Star Trek Customizable Card Game deck when I was a kid. I may have to bring my binder out of mothballs and review that game as well…but for now, we’re going to take a look at a lighter two player card game that is much easier to pick up and play.
I enjoy a good mystery. I am not sure what appeals to me more…the leaps in logical deduction that I make during the ordeal or the smug satisfaction I feel when I finally figure out what really happened. I was secretly hoping that I would find a board game that featured the brilliant Sherlock Holmes, but Jack the Ripper turned out to work just as well.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most of you have at least heard of the board game Trouble. You know, die popper in the middle, diamond-shaped board, different colored pegs that you move around said board, etc? Personally, I am not a fan of games based on chance, but the overall gameplay is sound. I am a little fuzzy on how this particular version of Trouble landed into my board game closet, but I suppose the Force works in mystery ways.
I’ve often maintained that you haven’t lived life to its fullest until you’ve become a parent. Today happens to be the day that we recognize the female of the human species responsible for bringing new life into this world. While not all mothers deserve this honor, there is one in particular that I wanted to recognize for her contributions in my life.
Sometimes the best things come in the smallest packages and sometimes, the smallest package does not always imply simplicity. I’ve often stated in my reviews that the hallmark of a great game is one that is simple to learn and difficult to master…this game certainly applies.