I’ve never heard of “Bin’Fa: The Tao of War” before today, which is a real shame considering how fun it looks to play. “Bin’Fa: The Tao of War” is an abstract strategy game for two to six players and features a customizable board layout. Players will be controlling between one and three armies consisting of generals, units, and supply pawns. While side dealing and alliances are possible, your main objective will be to surround your opponents’ pieces and be the last army standing. It all reminds me a little of “Go” with a touch of “Chess” mixed in for good measure.
Okay…I’m out of clever lead-ins and I’m too tired to come up with new ones. I think from here on out, I’ll simply make the opening paragraph to articles in this series a simple/standard disclaimer. It’ll go something like this:
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.
The folks over at Mage Company LTD, the same developers who brought you “12 Realms“, are at it again. Instead of a fairy tale setting complete with familiar heroes and evil villains, you’ll be thrust into a post-apocolyptic world that’s been devastated by the Third World War. Competing against other players trying to survive, your goal will be to gather the necessary items needed to enter the Golden City. “Raid & Trade” is currently seeking funding through the Kickstarter process (as of 11/3/14), so go check it out via the links below after you’re done here.
When I first heard the words “post-apocolyptic” to describe this game, I thought I knew what to expect. I mean, most of the post-apocolyptic games I’ve been playing as of late involve zombies…not that I’m complaining. “Raid & Trade”, I’m pleased to report, is somewhat different. Rather than fight against zombies and/or infected, you’ll be competing against other players. Your goal? Scavenge up enough to be allowed access to the Golden City, a place where the privileged few have banded together to rough out these harsh times. Before we take a look at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank Alexander Argyropoulos from Mage Company LTD for reaching out and providing me with a copy of the rulebook (due to International shipping costs). As such, this preview will be focused more on my impressions of the rules based on what I’ve read. It’s also important to note that the game is seeking funding through the Kickstarter process (as of 11/03/14), making everything you see here (components, rules, etc.) subject to change.
It all started with a friendly game of “Blokus” when I got to thinking, “wouldn’t it be cool if there was a game that was like ‘Blokus’, but in 3D?” It turns out that there was, though I was certainly not paying sixty dollars for it. While there were listings on Amazon for “Blokus 3D” by Educational Insights, I quickly skimmed the “Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed” section and came across Rumis (also by Educational Insights). It looked similar and was only fifteen bucks at the time (prices on Amazon vary since sellers set the price), so I went ahead and picked it up. I was interested to see how this particular abstract game stacked up (ba-dum-ch!), especially since I had a pretty good time with “Convert“. If you’re reading this, chances are you are too…hopefully you won’t be disappointed! “Rumis”, just as a quick FYI, means “stones” in Quechua…consider yourself educated for today, you lucky devil.
Games like “Apples to Apples” and “Say Anything” are popular for a reason: they spark the imagination and allow folks to get as silly as they’d like. “What da Blank” follows suit with this idea and tasks players with coming up with the best (or worst) answers to the “messed up” situations with which they are presented. With over $1,000 CAD raised on Kickstarter already, “What da Blank” will need your help to get it across the finish line.
Show of virtual hands: how many of you remember the video game, “Paperboy”? You know, the game that puts you in the shoes of a kid tasked with biking down a street whilst throwing newspapers to the houses of your employer’s subscribers? I honestly didn’t think there’d ever be a tabletop version, though with your help, “Paper Toss” could indeed make it through your living room window…erm, you get the idea. With a goal of $5,000 on Kickstarter and a little over thirty days to go (as of 10/30/14), it’ll need your help to do just that. Hopefully your home owner’s insurance is up to the challenge.
There’s no shortage of games on Kickstarter these days, which is a very good thing. It shows that more and more innovate people are willing to bring their ideas to life and into the dining rooms of families everywhere. “Spell Stealers”, a game seeking your help on Kickstarter, is no exception to that trend. It’s a quick and easy to play family-friendly game that makes use of a number of different gameplay mechanics. Being a family man myself, “quick and easy to play” is right up my alley.
Blah Blah Blah Early Access. Blah Blah Blah not representative of the final product. Blah Blah Blah these aren’t reviews. I’ve published so many of these articles that you should get the idea by now. For those of you tuning in for the first time, go check out my other articles in this series via the “Video Games” tab above.
I’m admittedly not all that fond of sushi, nor do I understand the point of all-you-can-eat sushi buffets. I mean seriously, how much raw fish can one person eat? Blech! Luckily, you don’t need to like or even know sushi in order to play “Sushi Go!”, a fast-paced card collecting game that will task you with earning as many points as you can. Before we take a look at this little gem, I’d like to thank Nora Meiners, the Marketing Coordinator at Ceaco/Gamewright, for providing me with a free press copy. For those of you connoisseurs out there, the pictures and content featured below are representative of the English second edition.
You folks have NO idea how long I tried to NOT watch “The Walking Dead” series. I have this funny quirk where I prefer not to watch a show until it is over, just so that I don’t have to wait in-between seasons. After playing the video games (by Telltale) and really liking them, curiosity eventually won out and I watched all four seasons of “The Walking Dead” on Netflix in one weekend. While I’m waiting for Season Five to play out, I figured I’d try my hand at “The Walking Dead Board Game I was able to get at the Board Game Shop: The Best Defense” (which will be known henceforth as “TWD:TBD” to save space and appease my aching fingers). In short, it’s a cooperative game that tasks players with surviving a certain number of rounds whilst safeguarding assets across four key locations.
“Machi Koro” strokes my ego like any other city builder in that it lets me be the mayor of my own city. Luckily, this one isn’t the type that takes hours to play. Competing against other players/mayors, your task will be to develop all of the landmarks in your city before your opponents can do the same in their own cities. In addition to building landmarks, players will be able to purchase establishments that give them the funds they’ll need to expand their city and win the game. The question remains, did I enjoy it as much as “Sunrise City” and “Suburbia”?
There’s no doubt in my mind that “Legend of Grimrock“, released in 2012, was a breath of fresh air. After all, there haven’t been a lot of tile-based dungeon crawlers to hit the virtual shelves as of late. The last one I remember playing before “Legend of Grimrock” was “Eye of the Beholder”, which was released in 1991 for MS-DOS. That’s quite a gap, though I’m not all that surprised. Action RPGs give the player the freedom to move about the environment without being confined to preset spaces and have been around since the early 1980s. Still, there’s something to be said for tile-based dungeon crawlers and the way they’ve captivated and charmed us retro-gamers. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to see the likes of “Legend of Grimrock II” so quickly, though I’m pleased to have been proven wrong. Before we jump into the review, I’d like to quickly thank Juho Salila from Almost Human Ltd. for providing me with a free press copy.
There’s no shortage of Early Access games these days and I’m not going to complain…well, my elbows and fingers might. I’ve got three more games for you to feast your eyes upon, though keep in mind that they are not yet finished. As such, the following is just a quick look at the games as they stand and not any sort of review…after all, it wouldn’t be fair to review something not yet done yet, right? At any rate, if you missed all of the other articles I’ve done, you can find the full list on my “Video Games” page via the tab above.
“Train Fever” and I have a love/hate relationship. I played it almost religiously during the Beta, something I usually never get to do because of how many games I’m asked to review. Yeah I know…”boo freakin hoo”. Workload aside, I found “Train Fever” to be pretty compelling when I first started playing it. The more I played however, the more things that began to rub me the wrong way. Before I get into that, I’d like to quickly thank Basil Weber, the CEO of Urban Games, for providing me with a free press copy.
Three more “Early Access” games have blessed my library and it’s time to weigh in and see how they look. Like the other articles in this series, it’s important to note that my opinions are subject to change as the games aren’t out of the development phase (yet). As such, the below are not reviews, but merely first impressions based upon the build I played at the time.