I liked “Fairy Tale“, though all the information displayed on the cards resulted in sensory overload my first few times out. Despite the learning curve, I began to appreciate it more and more over time…so much in fact that I sought out other games with a similar drafting mechanic. “Tides of Time”, while only supporting two players as opposed to Fairy Tale’s five, seemed interesting enough to pick up. I admit, the attractive $12 price tag (on Amazon as of 10/21/15) had something to do with it. Let’s see how it compares with “Fairy Tale”, shall we?
Board Games
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When I reviewed “Concept” earlier this year I stated that it was extremely visual intensive. “Dohdles!” operates on a similar theme, though instead of placing pawns on various pictures to give clues, you’ll be sculpting the solution out of dough. Folks who lack artistic ability (like myself) will be pleased to know that players will be able to ask questions to help overcome this “all-thumbs” barrier. Before we get into all of that though, I’d like to quickly thank Sarah from Southard Inc. (a representative for Thames and Kosmos) for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
In the mood for a fast-paced abstract puzzle game? Then “Ubongo” may be what you’re looking for. In this game, players will be racing to complete their individual puzzles in order to earn gems. Having the most valuable gem collection will win you the game, so get those thinking caps on and don’t dawdle! Before we go any further, I’d like to quickly thank Sarah from Southard Inc. (a representative for Thames and Kosmos) for providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
I immediately compared this game to “Get Smart” within seconds of finishing the manual, what with agents being the center focus of “Agent Hunter”. This is a two player game where the goal is to eliminate your opponent’s safe houses before he/she does the same to you and secure the most victory points at the game’s end. Que Johnny Rivers and get ready, because you’re about to be a “Secret Agent Man”.
Firstly, let’s get something cleared up. When I refer to “Red7” in this article, I’m talking about the card game, not the pilot named “Elyhek Rue” who flew as “Red Seven” during the Battle of Yavin (may he rest in peace). I know, I know, it’s easy to get the two mixed up. Count yourself lucky that you know someone as knowledgeable as me who can help you out with such things. Yeah. At any rate, “Red7” tasks players with having the best card at the end of their turn…or be eliminated. Sounds simple, but holy heck there’s certainly more going on here than meets the eye.
“Love Letter: Batman” is just so flippin’ awesome…there, I said it. It’s just so easy to jump into and seriously, who doesn’t like Batman? “Coup” wasn’t half bad either, though it tends to be slightly more complicated. I later learned that “Lost Legacy” is the official spin-off to “Love Letter”, prompting me to pick it up. “Lost Legacy”, based on my research, includes two sets of cards: “The Starship” and “Flying Garden”, the former of which we’ll be touching on today.
If you’re clumsy, then perhaps you shouldn’t be a thief. I mean, what good would you be as a thief if you constantly lost the money you’ve um, “acquired”? It’s good for those TV blooper shows I suppose…but for the thief, not so much. “Clumsy Thief” revolves around this theme, tasking players with stealing money piles from other players in order to have the most by the end of the game. Before we get hauled off to jail to serve hard time, I’d like to thank Game Designer Jeanie Mehran for reaching out and providing me with a press copy for review purposes.
In case you missed last week’s press release, “Yokai Battle” is on Kickstarter and looking for your support. In short, it’s a strategic card battler featuring Japanese occult monsters. The idea is to be the first player to conquer five terrain cards by summoning these monsters onto them. Of course, it wouldn’t be a battle without all sorts of weird looking monsters that possess varying abilities (called “jutsu”). Before we dive into this preview, I’d like to thank Arno Guenshérian from Moe Blaze for reaching out and providing me with a press copy. It’s important to stress that I received a PnP (print-and-play) prototype, meaning that everything you’re about to read about is subject to change. In my experience, most prototypes are not reflective of the final product. With that said, I’ll be featuring pictures provided by the developers to give you a better taste of what you’ll get should you support the game.
“Fairy Tale” has quite the history, having been around for over five years now. After giving it a fair shake I can see why, though I’ll get to that in my review. “Fairy Tale” is a challenging draft/set collecting card game that is simple to play but hard to master (at least, in my experience). It’s a non-collectable kind of game, meaning everything you’ll need to play is right in the box without having to buy more cards. For the record, the version I bought was the second edition by Z-Man Games. There’s an Amazon link below for those who want to check it out.
The name of this title is pretty apt, considering the theme. In “Sky Tango”, players will be laying down sun and moon cards onto separate rows in ascending order with the intent on trying to earn the most points. There’s obviously a bit more to it than that, what with solar, lunar, and total eclipses hovering over players. Let’s jump right in and see what the sky has in store for us, shall we?
Fancy yourself a seasoned “Pokémon” trainer? Like the idea of summoning and controlling monsters with the purpose of doing battle with other monsters? Then perhaps you should go check out “Yokai Battle”, a strategic monster battler that’s currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. I’ll be writing up a preview for the game in the upcoming week based on the PnP files I received, so stay tuned! In the meantime…
While I’m a big fan of all things wolves, I can see where in some cases they wouldn’t wanted…like if you were running a sheep pasture, for example. “Wolf & Hound” focuses on this particular setting, putting players in the shoes of shepherds who are trying to safeguard their sheep. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Dan Kobayashi from Ninja Star Games 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 everything you read about in this article subject to change.
There’s been a boatload of excellent city-builders as of late…”Cities: Skylines” and “We Built This City“, just to name a few. I came across “City Tycoon” on Amazon and while the price seemed to be outside my usual buy range ($40 as of 10/6/15), I went ahead and splurged a little hoping that my love of the genre would accept it no matter how good or bad it ended up being. Like “We Built This City”, players will be laying down tiles and contributing to a city and in the end, the player who does so the most strategically will win. However, this game features drafting and resource generation (water, electricity, goods, etc.) that make the game a bit more complex than the aforementioned game.
I did a double-take when I read the name of the game for the first time, more out of surprise than anything else. See, I cover a crap-ton of video games and when I come across the word “tycoon”, it usually relates to some kind of business simulator. I was surprised to see the word in a tabletop game’s title, though after playing it, the name is pretty apt. Essentially, your goal is to form the longest words you can so that you can earn both money and stocks. You can actually buy patents for the letters you use, collecting royalties from anyone else who uses those letters in the future. I immediately bought the game upon discovering that particular mechanic, because it just sounded so darned awesome. So did the game meet my high expectations?
If you’ve ever played the two player “Lost Cities” card game, then you’ll know that the game is almost as simple as laying down cards in ascending order in order to score points. “Trambahn” takes this idea and pumps it full of steroids. While still being a two-player game, “Trambahn” tasks players with building stations and passenger demand, all the while managing a bank account in order create the best tramway company. So don your conductor hats and start shoveling that coal, because we’re about to chuga-chuga choo choo right into the review. (Yes, I wrote that and yes, I rolled my eyes and snickered too.)
A long time ago in a living room about twenty miles from where I currently am, I watched the most epic three-fold battle sequence I’ve ever seen: The Battle of Endor via “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”. No seriously, it was epic enough to where I’d skip the rest of the movie and only watch that part…I was a kid, what do you want? With the recent influx of Star Wars toys hitting the shelves for the upcoming Star Wars movie in December, I figured I’d do my part and give this newcomer a go. Was the Force strong with this one, or did it turn out to be a big heaping pile of bantha poodoo?