Things aren’t looking all that peaceful above the skies of Arkady, what with air pirates threatening to take down the Grand Compact. In “Aether Captains”, a game primarily involving dice & coming to Kickstarter mid-January 2016, one player will assume the rule of the HMS Dauntless & Dominion tasked with defending the Grand Compact from all the other players (who assume the rule of the air pirates). The pirates will be sending waves of ships against the Grand Compact, each with their own personal objectives which may pit them against one another, depending on the circumstances. It’s important to stress that I was sent an unfinished prototype…the dice, for example, were not included and paper substitutes were provided. As such, I primarily used art provided by the developer/publisher so as to better represent the game. Also, prototypes are generally not reflective of the final product, making the rules you see below subject to change.
No matter how many games I add to my collection, there’s always room in my closet for “Ticket to Ride”. I play it on the PC, I play it on the Xbox 360, and when the family is in the mood, we bust out the board game. Needless to say I’m a big fan of the game…it’s just so simple to play. I just wish the expansions weren’t so pricy, but I’ll get to that in my upcoming review of the UK map expansion. Today we’ll be looking at a smaller version of “Ticket to Ride”, condensed into card form. Does it hold up to the original? Keep reading to find out!
I normally stay away from the map packs despite my love for “Ticket to Ride”, mainly because I find them to be very expensive. I had to make an exception in this case, as this one features the very state in which I live…Pennsylvania. I was interested to see just what cities would be included and if I could indeed see my house from afar…unfortunately but not surprisingly, I couldn’t. As a quick disclaimer, I’m going to opt to keep this article brief as I’ve already gone over how to play “Ticket to Ride” in my previous review. Rather, I’m going to highlight what you’re getting and what I think.
I can’t tell you how many conspiracy theories I’ve heard regarding the Bermuda Triangle. While some of them are pretty far out there, it can admittedly be fun to think of the mysteries that surround it. “The Bermuda Crisis”, a game that’ll be hitting Kickstarter sometime in January of 2016, puts players in the shoes of competing teams exploring an undisclosed island inside the Bermuda Triangle. Your goal will be to collect treasures in the form of resources, magic, artifacts, and other goodies whilst trading, managing vendettas, and building base camps. Before we get started, I’d like to thank game creator Jerrod Warr for providing me with a prototype copy for preview purposes. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often reflective of the final product, making everything you read about in this article (including the rules) subject to change.
So you’ve already saved the world countless times from various diseases in the game “Pandemic” and you’ve saved as many civilians as you could from a burning building in “Flash Point: Fire Rescue“. All noble causes, don’t get me wrong…but what’s left to do? How about cooperatively pulling off daring and dangerous heists? In “Burgle Bros.”, players choose a scenario and attempt to get out of the building with their precious loot! Before we begin, I’d like to thank Timothy Fowers from Fowers Games for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
I used to play a LOT of space 4x games back in the day when I had a bit more time on my hands. I still enjoy the occasional game of “Galactic Civilizations” or “Sins of a Solar Empire”, but these video games can still take hours to play despite the fact that everything is computerized/automated. “Roll for the Galaxy” appealed to me because of its advertised forty-five minute playtime, despite the fact that you’re still settling worlds, researching technology, and recruiting workers. Before I talk about how I felt about this game after it was all said and done, let’s take a brief moment to look at how the game is played.
We consider ourselves a gamer-family, though there are plenty of times where only two of us are available for a game when we’d like to do something together. This, coupled with the suggestion from a friend that I make some sort of list, led me to this post.
The below is a list of my top-ten recommended two-player board games, though this list comes with a few caveats. For one, there’s no consideration to publication date. Secondly, I only listed games that I actually own. Lastly, there are PLENTY of games that work great as a two-player game but support more, however there were so many that I had to restrict my top ten list to two-player only games. I did include a few exceptions in the honorable mentions section and honestly wanted to list more than I did.
Are there better two-player games out there than the ones I listed? Probably…but again, there’s a good chance I’ve never played them (you know, because I’m human and all). The list is done in video format, so go brew some popcorn and microwave some coffee…or something…and enjoy the show! Links are provided here for your convenience, because I’m awesome that way.
I can’t help but hum “dun-da-dun-tah” every time I glance at this game. Who can blame me? I mean, who wouldn’t want to pretend that they’re Indiana Jones and go on adventures in the search for ancient artifacts? In “Artifacts, Inc.”, you’ll be able to just that! More specifically (taken from the rulebook), “players can choose to focus on making lots of money by selling artifacts, having museum majorities, creating the best combination of expeditions and buildings, or searching below the waves for lost cities and hidden treasures.” Before we ready our whips and don our fedoras, I’d like to thank Ryan Laukat from Red Raven Games for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
I recently praised “Letter Tycoon” for being a word game that utilizes a unique gameplay mechanic: the ability to buy patents on letters. “Paperback”, I found, has a similar unique theme…only here, you’ll be building a deck of letters while spelling out words. Like most deck builders, you’ll start with a very basic deck of cards and will be tasked with choosing what cards you’d like to add to your ever-growing deck. Before we go any further, I’d like to thank Timothy Fowers from Fowers Games for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
I played a LOT of “Street Fighter 2” back when arcades were still very much happening. I’m not going to claim that I was the best, but I had a pretty mean jump kick/sweep combo when playing as Ryu. “Dragon Punch”, a tiny fighting game that’s coming early 2016, reminds me a lot of the aforementioned game. Here, two players will be duking it out with different character and move cards to determine the victor. Before I get started, I’d like to thank the folks at Level 99 Games for sending me a pre-release copy.
I recently had the pleasure of reviewing “Granny Wars” by Cheeky Parrot Games, a game that revolved around players trying to throw points onto their hidden identities in the center of the table without cluing others in as to which color they represented. “Cat Capers” is slightly similar in play style only here, players know which color you are. Rather, players (who assume the role of cats) will be trying to earn points by winning activity cards through a fairly simple bidding mechanic. Once again, I’d like to thank Julia Schiller, Director of Cheeky Parrot Games, for sending me a press copy for review purposes.
Why are the grannies at war? No one really knows. I suspect it has something to do with Martha winning on “Bingo Night” four weeks in row. When it doubt, blame “Bingo”. Someone should make a documentary about that or something. Yes, indeed…”Bingo, The Starter of Wars”. Kickstarter, here I come! ANYWHO, we’re here today to look at “Granny Wars”, a card game that’s all about secret identities and before you ask…no, there’s no “Bingo”. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Julia Schiller, Director of Cheeky Parrot Games, for sending me a press copy for review purposes.
I can’t help but ask (in a badly imitated computerized voice), “shall we play a game?” every time I set “RESISTOR_” up to be played. That’s a “WarGames” reference, kids…go watch your Matthew Broderick movies. Anywho, “RESISTOR_” pits two players against one another, each of whom have entrusted their global thermonuclear warheads to their respective supercomputers. Here, players will be racing to hack one another with the intent on getting their opponent’s DEFCON level from 1 to 5. Before you ask if you’d rather just play a nice game of “Chess”, I’d like to thank the folks from Level 99 Games for sending me a copy for review purposes.
We all know that robbing a bank is generally career suicide, especially if you instruct the bank teller to deposit the money into your personal account while waving a gun around. Don’t laugh…this ACTUALLY happened. “Thieves” puts players in the shoes of well, thieves, with your personal goal being to have as much money as possible when the game ends. Before we get into specifics, I’d like to thank Cassidy Werner from Calliope Games for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes. Calliope Games are the same people who brought you “Tsuro“, “Tsuro of the Seas“, “Roll For It!“, “Got ‘Em!“, “Double Double Dominos“, and “Ugh!“, for those of you who recognize the name.
I previewed “12 Days” a little over three years ago, compliments of Gamesmith, LLC (who published the First Edition). It was one of the first games I had ever previewed, though I never did see an official final production copy to know what customers and Kickstarter backers were getting. The wait, it seems, is finally over. Calliope Games, the same folks who made “Tsuro“ (amongst other games), just sent me a copy of their recently published Second Edition. Along those lines, I’d like to extend a special thank you to Cassidy Werner from Calliope Games for sending me this early “Christmas present”.
Put simply, the word tumult means “loud confusion or disorder by a large number of people”. As royals, players will be taking commodities from the common people in order to build statues, but not so many as to make them unhappy. The goal of each player is to erect as many statues as possible, so you’ll not only be managing resources but pushing your luck while you do it. Before I go any further, I’d like to thank the folks from Thames & Kosmos for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.