I have a hard time saying no to 4X strategy games, especially if they’re set in space…I’m sure some of you can relate. Perhaps it stems from the fact that I used to watch “Star Trek” religiously as a kid and often dreamt of running my very own galactic empire. “Falling Stars: War of Empires”, a turn-based strategy game seeking your help on Kickstarter, looks rather promising in that regard. What’s more, it’ll be available for PC, Mac, and Linux which is more than some 4X games can say for themselves.
I’m a huge “Ghostbusters” fan, let’s just get that out of the way. As a kid, I owned the firehouse, the Ecto-1, all the action figures, and even had a rubber trap that “activated” when you stepped on the pedal. It pains me to think that only two movies were ever made, though the video game released in 2009 came pretty darn close to being an official third. Well kids (and adults), fret not! “Ghostbusters: The Board Game” is a real thing and is currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. It has already tripled its Kickstarter goal (sitting at $768,960 at the time of writing), though more stretch goals are just waiting to be unlocked.
Dice and I have a sort of an…erm…”understanding” in that they need to give me at least five good rolls during a single game or else they can roll themselves directly into the nearest incinerator. Surprisingly enough, nothing like that needed to be addressed when I first started playing “Qwixx”. Put simply, “Qwixx” will task players with crossing out as many numbers on their scorecard as they can in order to score the most points, though there are a few rules and gameplay mechanics that may sometimes encourage players not to. Before I get ahead of myself, I’d like to quickly thank Marketing Coordinator Nora Meiners from Ceaco/Gamewright for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Do you fancy yourself to be a good “Mahjong” player? Perhaps you and the family should give “Pyramix” a go. In short, you’ll be tasked with collecting the most cubes of all four colors, though these cubes contain Egyptian symbols that effect how many points they’re actually worth. As players take cubes from the grid, the remaining cubes have the potential to move/slide into different positions…oh, and snakes! Before I go any further, I’d like to extend a quick thank-you to Marketing Coordinator Nora Meiners from Ceaco/Gamewright for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Have you ever wanted to be a dragon? Of course you have, what kind of question is that?! In “Dragon’s Hoard”, players will be tasked with collecting treasure whilst trying to prevent angry mobs and wizards from thwarting their plans. The game blew away its $10,000 Kickstarter goal, raising a total of $54,950…for those of you who have attempted to raise funds on Kickstarter before, you’ll know that this is a pretty impressive feat.
“Chess” is a prime example of a strategy game that will test not only your critical thinking skills but your ability to make the most out of a bad situation. Don’t simply take my word for it…a quick “Google-search” will tell you that the game dates back over 1,500 years (and yes, people are STILL playing it). Now, if “Chess” had a modern-day counterpart, I’d have to say that “The Duke” is a strong contender, even if it plays slightly different then what “Chess” players are used to. Before I get into specifics, I’d like to quickly thank Managing Developer Randall Bills from Catalyst Game Labs for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
A lot of the tile-placement games I’ve played revolve around dungeon delving and/or city-building, though I’ve admittedly never thought of “racing” as one of the key ingredients. “Gondola”, a “Tile-Racing” game that’s currently looking for your help on Kickstarter, promises an interesting mix of tile-placing AND racing all the same time. It all reminds me of those racing games I used to play at the arcade when I was a kid (the ones with checkpoints and the like), but here, players will be able to create the course as they go…how awesome is that!?
For those of you who missed my “Eight-Minute Empire” review, let me save you a lot of trouble…it’s a fantastic game! Needless to say I was thrilled to receive a press copy of this stand-alone successor, courtesy of Ryan Laukat from Red Raven Games. “Eight-Minute Empire: Legends” is similar in play-style, but introduces some new rules and mechanics that gives the game a bit more depth.
DISCLAIMER: The title “Early Access” means that the product/game is still under development. As such, the content featured below is subject to change. This includes any opinions I may have at the time of writing, as Alpha and Beta builds sometimes change their core mechanics on a whim. It’s important to stress the word opinions, as I find it unethical to review something not yet released in its final form. In other words, don’t take anything you see here too seriously. You can view all of the articles of this series by clicking the “Video Games” tab, located on the top of this page.
If you were to look up “America’s favorite pastime” in the dictionary (assuming the entry existed in the first place), you’d probably discover that beer is right up there along with Baseball, barbeques, and taxes…okay, maybe that last one was a bit of a stretch. “Brewin’ USA”, a project that’ll be launching on Kickstarter February 18, 2015, will task players with launching beer (not literally, though that might be fun) in order to score victory points. Special thanks to Game Creator Adam Rehberg for reaching out and 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 the rules and components mentioned in this article subject to change.
I saw this game featured recently on “TableTop” and knew that I had to give it a go. In short, it’s a bluffing game with a Robin Hood theme. Each player will take turns being the Sheriff of Nottingham, whose job it is to either inspect or let pass the shipments submitted by the other players. If the Sheriff inspects a shipment with contraband, the submitting player receives a penalty…though if the shipment was legit, the Sheriff ends up paying. So, don your poker face and let’s start smuggling some…I mean, let’s get to the review!
I spent a lot of time harvesting tiberium and building tanks back in the late 90’s, but when it came to real-time strategy games, “Command and Conquer” was one of the best around (along with “Warcraft II” and “StarCraft”). “Command and Conquer: Generals” (released in 2003) still remains to be my favorite RTS of all time, it’s just a shame that my Windows 8 machine won’t run the blasted thing. It’s admittedly been a while since I’ve played anything as good since then (“Supreme Commander” is a close contender) and when I saw “Grey Goo” appear on the Steam store, I knew I had to request myself a copy. It took a couple of weeks, but the folks at Petroglyph (developer)/Grey Box (publisher) and their PR team at Sandbox Strategies West came through and managed to send me a key. They didn’t have to, so while I’m slightly annoyed by the delay, I’m still very much appreciative considering that the price tag is $49.99 (as of 2/10/15)…I’ll get to that a bit later.
“The Ship”, a video game that I had the pleasure of discovering last year, admittedly took me by surprise. I had no idea just how much I’d have with it, especially when playing against other live people. Essentially, it tasked players with assassinating a specific target without being caught by the authorities (whilst avoiding being killed themselves). “Hitman Holiday”, a game that’s currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, has a similar theme. In this case, there are ten assassins gathered at one resort and it’ll be your job to come out on top…sound familiar? Needless to say I’m excited for this project and can’t wait to see how it develops throughout the campaign.
“Sunless Sea” is a very, very strange game (but in a good way). It struck me as a cross between Sid Meier’s Pirates and Elder Sign…it’s like the former in the sense that you can explore/visit ports and engage in activities while it’s like the latter in the sense that it features “terror” and Lovecraft-style monsters. Sound like fun? That’s because it is, though it has a bit of a learning curve. Before I get ahead of myself here, I’d like to quickly thank the folks at Failbetter Games for providing me with a free press copy.
In July of 2013 I had the pleasure of conversing with the folks at Tiltfactor and reviewed three of their games: “ZOMBIEPOX“, “Awkward Moment“, and “Buffalo“. All three received above-average review scores, the general consensus being that they were very easy to pick up and play. In “Monarch” (a game by Dr. Mary Flanagan, Founder of Tiltfactor), players will be assuming the roles of “sisters”, all of whom are competing to be the next Queen. By obtaining Court Cards that in turn award Crowns (points), players can achieve exactly that. The game will be seeking funding through the Kickstarter process on 2/9/15, so go check it out and support it if you like what you see here today (link below). Before we begin, I’d like to quickly thank Max Seidman from Tiltfactor for providing me with a prototype copy for preview purposes. It’s important to stress that prototypes aren’t often reflective of the final product, making the components and rules seen here subject to change.
Red dragons, blue dragons, gold dragons, green dragons…I’m not sure about you, but I’m thinking about relocating to some place a bit less hazardous. I mean, these insurance premiums are killer, especially the surcharge for “fiery death coverage”. Never mind the fact that I’ve um…”remodeled” my house three times this year…*sigh*. As the name implies, “Seven Dragons” features these mythical creatures in spades, tasking players with creating a set of a particular color in order to win the game. So grab yourself a fire extinguisher and join me in reviewing this game, won’t you?