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.
Board Games
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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.
It seems like “Codenames” is causing quite a stir among the gaming community as of late so needless to say I had to try it out. In this spy-themed game, you’ll be trying to figure out which code names belong to the agents of your color before the other team can do the same with their own agents. While the game is designed for four or more players (who break up into two teams), you can play a purely cooperative game with simply two people. So queue up the “Get Smart” theme and ready the “cone of silence”, for only the most clever team will find their agents first.
Mana? Check. Spell cards? Check. Creature cards? Check. Life points? Check. Elements? Check. Yes, friends…today we’re going to don our wizard robes and have at it via “Spell Book”, a 2-4 player fast-paced spell casting card game. The core game comes with 100 different spell cards, though expansions exist that add even more cards to the mix. Before we take our wizard robes to the dry cleaner to prepare for our upcoming battle (as wizards are wont to do), I’d like to thank Game Designer Peter Jank from CnD Games for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
Dice. City. Two little four-letter words that tell you almost everything you need to know when looking at it for the first time. “Dice City”, as you probably figured out by now, is a dice rolling game to where the dice values indicate which buildings within your city will activate (similar to “Machi Koro“). What’s different here is that the buildings are laid out on a grid and can be replaced with other buildings one may purchase from the supply. Besides gathering resources and gaining victory points, you can attack other players and lock out their buildings. I’m a sucker for city-builders so this was a must-grab for me, but did I like it enough to come back to it again? Keep reading to find out!
“Linko!” (a.k.a. “Abluxxen”) doesn’t discriminate when it comes to card values and scoring. You see, every card you collect, regardless of its value, is worth one point. Collect the most cards and you win, simple as that. Or is it? After a few minutes, you’ll realize that keeping the cards in your pile is actually a lot harder than it looks. Let’s take a quick peek at how this particular card game plays, shall we?
I don’t know what it is about train games, but I have yet to meet one that I didn’t like. “Ticket to Ride“, “Sid Meier’s Railroads” on the PC…even “Continental Express“, as simplistic as it is, isn’t bad. “The Last Spike” is a bit more economical, tasking players with cooperating to build a continuous railway from St. Louis to Sacramento. Those who accumulate the most money by acquiring the right land cards at the right time in order to get big payouts, wins the game. I’d like to extend a quick thank-you to Grant Dalgliesh from Columbia Games for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Oh, politics…no matter where I turn, you’re there to remind me that the system currently employed by the US Government is broken. I could be browsing the net, walking down the street, or cooking dinner…it doesn’t matter. Hey, don’t hate…I’m not the one who let Donald Trump get as far as he has. Money talks, I suppose. ANYWAY, we’re not here to talk about my political views (or lack thereof)…rather, we’re here to look at “WAR for the White House”. It’s a card game that essentially plays out like “War”, but with a political twist. Before we get started, I’d like to thank John Kaiser III from GPAC, LLC. for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
While some people may not agree with me, I found “Grand Ages: Medieval” to be an extremely fun & relatively peaceful economic simulator. Sure, you occasionally have to send your armies out to deal with panthers or bandits, but most of your time is spent thinking about resource production. My love for this particular gameplay feature is what prompted me to pick up “Concordia”, a game set during the rule of the Roman Empire. Here, players will be trying to earn victory points in a number of different ways using a combination of resource management, deck building, and by colonizing land.
I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic games. There’s just something about the idea of man’s creature comforts being taken away to see how one would truly survive in such a setting. Despite what you may think though, not all post-apocalyptic games have to involve zombies. “RONE”, a game seeking your support on Kickstarter, is one fine example. In this card game for 2 or 4 players, you’ll be recruiting an army consisting of soldiers, battle machines, and super-mutants and then equipping them with some interesting technologies.