If you’ve ever watched the television show “Merlin”, then you’ll know how difficult it can be to become a knight. Luckily, “Medieval Academy” is here to help you train to become one…well, sort of. You’ll have to do a number of tasks like complete quests, serve the king, and even show a sense of charity and gallantry. Only one player will be knighted, so it’s up to you to make sure you’re on top when the smoke clears.
Mars seems to be all the rage these days (and it’s about time). This might be my inner-geek talking, but space exploration and awareness seem to have taken a back seat as of late, at least here in the US. That’s a real shame, mainly because there’s so much out there that we haven’t discovered yet. “Mission to Mars 2049” doesn’t exactly get us on a shuttle to outer space, but it does envision a day where man begins to colonize Mars. Of course, they’ll need a steady supply of water, which is where the North Pole comes in. Here, players will be racing to the get to the North Pole first by building structures and managing resources. Before we begin, I’d like to thank Designer and CEO Dagnis Skurbe for reaching out and providing a press copy for review purposes.
This game gave me an odd sense of Déjà vu…I mean, it seemed like I had just left Jaipur having traded all my gems and acquiring a good deal of camels in the process. For those of you familiar with the two player game “Jaipur“, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. “Johari” happens to be a world famous jewelry market situated in, you guessed it, Jaipur. Your goal will be to buy and sell gems with the intent on gaining the most prestige by the end of the game. Watch out though…some of those gems are counterfeit and could land you in a bit of trouble!
Think you have what it takes to beat, “The Game”? It’s a cooperative card laying game that tasks players with getting rid of as many cards as possible by laying them across four piles. Two piles start at “1” and any future cards must be higher in value, while the other two piles start at “100” and any future cards must be lower in value. The exception is that you can play a card that goes in the opposite direction, but only if it’s “10” more/less than what’s showing. The pile still maintains the original direction, but it’s a way to get your pile back to where it originally started. Each player also has to play a minimum of two cards per turn, so there’s sure to be a lot of wincing when you’re forced to play some bad cards. What’s worse, communication between players is quite limited.
In the mood to beat the snot out of a fearsome Lich, but don’t have three hours to spend building up a character to do it? Perhaps you should take a look at “Epic Roll”, a game that supports two to three players. Each player will choose a character (Wizard, Warrior, or Elf) and battle for their lives by rolling dice against enemy mobs like skeletons and ghouls in order to gain the items they’ll need to defeat the Lich. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Matt Nord, the Co-Founder of Summon Entertainment, for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
Things aren’t looking too good for the hostages. Not only is the captor pissed off, but you’re running out of time in meeting their demands. In this single player game, you’re exactly what the name of the game suggests, a hostage negotiator. Through buying cards and by rolling dice, you’ll attempt to defuse the situation and hopefully bring everyone out alive. Are you up to the challenge? Only time (and some luck with the dice) will tell.
I don’t drink beer. It’s foul, nasty, and leads to all sorts of problems…physical and legally, to name a few. Have a mixed berry smoothie with a scoop of whey protein instead. I’m having one right now, in fact. It’s okay to be jealous, I won’t hold it against you. “Brew Crafters: The Travel Card Game” is a lighter version of the board game “Brew Crafters” (which I admittedly haven’t played) that tasks players with earning reputation points by brewing beer. I’m okay with that, seeing as how I don’t have to drink any of it after the fact. Blech.
Fancy yourself as a person who is good with numbers? Can you look at a nearby jumble of numbers and quickly come up with the best way to organize a grid? Then you may want to give “Lucky Numbers” a go. Essentially, you’re trying to be the first player to completely fill up your grid…though the columns and rows have to go from low to high starting from the top left to the bottom right, respectively. Due to time constraints and medical issues, I’ll opt to let the below video do the talking. In summary, it’s a pretty cool family game that’s relatively cheap to boot.
“Deep Sea Adventure” is a semi-cooperative push-your-luck diving game that tasks players with collecting as many treasures/points as possible in order to win the game. It’s semi-cooperative in the sense that players share an oxygen supply and the more treasures a player has, the more oxygen that depletes from the shared pool on their turn. Due to time constraints and medical reasons, I’m opting to simply let the video below do the talking. I will say however that we really enjoyed this one and will most likely play it again on family game night.
A few months ago I was approached by Kristen Koch / Associate Editor on behalf of GEICO More regarding my top board game picks for family game night. It looks like they published the article, which you can find here:
https://www.geico.com/more/living/home-improvement/best-games-for-family-game-night/
As a side note, they seemed to have omitted and shortened some of my entries…I apparently had a lot to say. I included my full Q&A below for anyone who wants to read everything I provided. All of the games referenced below include a review, which can be found by clicking on the “Board Games” tab on the top of the page.
It’s very unfortunate that arcades are becoming less and less of a thing as I get older. Sure, you can go to Dave and Busters, Chuck E Cheese, or a Replay FX event, but there used to be way more options when I was growing up. “Arcadeopoly: The Card Game” themes itself around those arcade machines we used to know and love. Here, you’ll be trying to earn quarters by owning and operating your own arcade cabinets. Of course, your opponents are out to do the same thing. Before we press player one to start, I’d like to thank Eric Park from Park Productions for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
Ten minutes may seem like a long time. Sometimes waiting ten minutes for the bus in the rain can seem like an eternity. Of course, if you’re defusing bombs, I have a feeling those ten minutes will fly right on by before you know it. In “Fuse”, players will be communicating and working together to defuse the required number of bombs (based on difficulty and number of players) before the timer runs out. Will you crack under the pressure, or successfully pull off this daring and virtually life threatening attempt?
I’m not much of a risk taker, to be honest with you. The only time I gamble is when I’m playing with virtual pretend money, giving me the opportunity to lose it all and instantly replenish my funds with the press of a button. It would be awesome if the real world worked that way, wouldn’t it? I’m even less familiar with the stock market, but that’s okay…”Stockpile” doesn’t require you to be a Wall Street guru in order to play it. Let’s take a quick peek at the rules so I can show you what I mean.
Are you a fan of steampunk themed games? Enjoy blowing pirates out of the sky during airship battles? Then “Aether Captains”, a game seeking your support on Kickstarter, may just be what you’re looking for. This game is scenario-based, tasking one player with surviving against a wave of air pirates (who are controlled by the other players). The player who takes up this challenge will get a mighty zeppelin filled with gun emplacements and other goodies, though the pirates will each have their own objective to complete. “Aether Captains” is dice heavy and takes about twenty to thirty minutes to play. Want to read about my experiences with the game? Go check out my written preview before heading on over to the game’s Kickstarter page.
I never owned a treehouse when I was a kid…I was too busy playing games anyway. Sure, I’d go outside once in a while and play football, basketball, or street hockey, though nothing satisfied me more than beating a tough game on the ol’ NES or bringing out “Fireball Island” and burning adventurers alive. “Best Treehouse Ever” makes up for that, sort of. I mean, I’m still playing a game inside the home, but that’s basically the same thing as having a real treehouse, right? Sure, let’s go with that. In this light strategy/drafting game, players will earn points for building a treehouse. The more efficiently they match colored rooms, the more points they’ll earn. So who’s ready to build the best treehouse ever?
Escape Rooms seem to be all the rage these days, but I’m not one to complain. A escape room makes you feel like you’re actually part of a “SAW” movie, but without the risk of meeting a gruesome end. Typically, Escape Rooms are group exercises that challenge players to beat all the puzzles before the time limit expires. That’s exactly what you’re getting with “Escape Room In a Box: The Werewolf Experiment”, a game that’s seeking funding through the Kickstarter process in February, 2016.