One of my favorite “challenges” from “Hell’s Kitchen” is the craps knockoff that tasks chefs with rolling a die and naming an ingredient using the letter rolled. “Scattergories” is for the most part exactly like that: teams roll a die, a letter is determined, and teams have to come up with words that not only start with that letter, but fit the categories chosen for the round. Before you ask…yes, it’s harder than it sounds, especially when that sand timer is “ticking” away.
Board Games
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My skills as a plumber leave much to be desired. I once poured a banking soda/vinegar solution down my shower drain to clear a clog only to be rewarded with a pipe with a hole in it and said solution everywhere. Oh, good times. Luckily, you won’t need a plumber to play “Waterworks”, a card game that tasks players with being the first to make a connection from the valve to the spout after placing so many pipes. Before you ask…yes, pipes CAN leak in this game, though you won’t need a towel to clean everything up.
Based on the history books I’ve read, avoiding the wrath of the church during the Middle Ages seemed like a pretty smart thing to do. In “Biblios”, that’s your primary goal. Each player takes on the role of an abbot who must acquire resources in order to own the most illustrious library. In this case, that’s having the highest score across five different card categories. The person who can do that not only satisfies the bishop’s trust but wins the game! It won’t be easy…for cards are going to be all over the place during the game’s two phases (gift and auction). Let’s take a quick look at the gameplay and show you what I mean.
I enjoy “Battleship”, though there’s admittedly only one way to play it correctly in order to maximize your hit potential…that is, search in an “X” like pattern until you come across something. The game gets boring once you begin playing this way, for it simply becomes a race to see who will come across whose ships first. In looking at “Battleship: Hidden Threat Card Game” on Amazon, it promised special abilities and cards with special powers…naturally I was intrigued. I quickly nabbed it for $6.58, which is about what other card games of the genre tend to go for (“Scrabble Slam” = $5-7, “Monopoly Deal” = $5-$15, etc.).
Normally I try to avoid games that aren’t fun for the whole family, but in the case of “Cards Against Humanity”, I had to make an exception. I’d occasionally hear some very positive things about it from other people in passing, even though it contained a lot of inappropriate content. “Cards Against Humanity”, to sum it up, is an adult version of “Apples to Apples”. It’s rude. It’s vile. In no way is it politically correct, nor does it advertise itself to be so. If Goody Two-Shoes “Apples to Apples” had a sexier twin sister that flirted with the law every chance she got, then her name would be “Cards Against Humanity”. With that being said, I just had to try it out.
Most of us who “video game” on the computer have probably, at one point in their lives, played “Civilization” or a 4X game like it. The genre is admittedly a pretty in-depth one, what with the usual abilities to build cities, research tech, grow armies, and etc. “Tiny Epic Kingdoms” takes all of that and puts it into one “tiny”, “epic” package. The name itself might sound like one big contradiction, but stick with me…you might be pleasantly surprised! If you don’t believe me, then believe the fact that it raised $286,972 during its Kickstarter campaign (the goal was $15,000). Before we get started, I’d like to thank Michael Coe from Gamelyn Games for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
“Jaipur” (J-uh-y-puur or Jiipour) is a set-collecting card game named after the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan in Northern India. Players will be tasked with being richer than your opponent at the end of each week (round). To do that, they’ll be collecting sets of goods and exchanging them for rupees (more or less). How successful a player will be all depends on how well they manage the cards both in their hands and in the market at any point in time. The player who manages to be the richest at the end of the week gets a “Seal of Excellence” and the first player to receive two, wins the game.
Being a waiter at a cafe’ serving nothing but comfort food (desserts in particular) has to be pretty rough. I mean, I know I’d be tempted to “accidentally” finger a glazed donut or a hot fudge sundae so that I could claim it as “waste” and devour it later. “Accidentally” eating these things en route to the table is an option, though I’m not sure the customer would appreciate confronting a waiter with jimmies and sprinkles lining their mouth with no explanation as to what happened to their food. As you may have guessed, “Just Desserts”, a card game that will be available in April 2015, will task players with serving all their hungry guests. Special thanks to the folks at Looney Labs for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Some, if not most of you have probably seen the board game “Othello” at least one point in your lives. If you’ve been fortunate enough, you might have actually played it. It’s pretty simple really: trap your opponents’ pieces between your own to flip them to your color. “Sellswords” has a similar theme in that both players will be trying to get as much as their color showing as possible in order to score more points and win the game. The kicker here is that instead of black/white pieces, players will be laying down hero tiles that each have their very own special abilities. Before I go any further, I’d like to thank D. Brad Talton Jr. and JR Honeycutt from Level 99 Games for sending me a free copy of the game for review purposes.
“Ticket to Ride” has MANY endearing qualities, though sometimes I find its average playtime to be a bit long on nights where homework, cooking dinner, and cleaning are a thing. Enter, “Continental Express”, a much smaller game that can be played in as little as twenty minutes. Instead of claiming routes across the USA or Europe (or whatever version of “Ticket to Ride” you have), you’ll instead be tasked with collecting train cars of a particular type in order to fulfill both short and long-term objectives. Before I go any further, I’d like quickly thank Audrey Debayle from Asmodee for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Like subs? Of course you do. I’m sure there’s at least one sub that you can’t resist, whether it be a meatball, BLT, or cheesesteak. Here’s something I bet you didn’t know…a “sub” is short for “submarine sandwich” because it looks like a submarine. What do you mean you knew that? I call shenanigans. At any rate, “Sub Shop” will task players with putting together subs in order to own a little cash. Whoever earns the most at the end of the game will win! Before we get into the details, I’d like to thank Zachary Roth from Brybelly for providing me with a free copy for review purposes.
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.