Marvel United: United And Alone!

With work being rained out again, I spent most of my day working on minis.  A date was finally announced for our local Bolt Action tournament so I decided that I needed to get off my duff and actually start painting.  So far I've got one squad of the 12th Company finished up, plus my new transport which currently looks like it's fresh off the showroom floor... but more on that later.

After spending a number of hours painting, I decided to take a break and play a game.  I have a few of them out here with me, but a number of them are... heavier?  Not necessarily from a rules stand point, but length of game.  A short game is good for breaking up the monotony but I wasn't feeling like sitting down for a long play this time.  In the end, chibi super heroes seemed like the way to go.

I had seen Marvel: United back when CMON ran the Kickstarter for it.  It was really tempting.  I enjoy the superhero genre and the chibi figures just looked adorable, but a CMON Kickstater?  Now that is anything but cute.  My first experience with them was the Relic Knights Kickstarter which I ultimately wound up getting a refund on.  Too many delays and it was just starting to feel like they were never going to deliver.

Jump forward to now and preorder has become synonymous with Kickstarter, at least from CMON's point of view.  They do a good job with them, but they also push the envelope of the Kickstarter exclusive to the extreme.  In fact, I've even heard it said by a reviewer that if you don't do the all in pledge, there almost isn't a reason to buy their products... and I tend to agree.  Needless to say, I decided to pass on Marvel: United.  After all the extras, it was massive but it was also quite expensive for what it looked like you were getting.

Then again, when you find the base game on clearance from Wal-Mart for $15... yeah, I had to pull the trigger on that one.  Turns out that I'm glad I did.

The base game is for two to four players with seven heroes from the Marvel universe to choose from, trying to work together to defeat one of three villains.  The main game play is from cards that the players lay down that have different powers associated with them, but that's not all you use.  In addition the the powers on the card that you play, you also use the powers on the last player card that was played.  This means that if you do it right, your heroes can string together their powers to ultimately take down their foes.

Yeah, that's a really high view of the game play but there are plenty of other people that have reviewed it, and probably have dug more into it all than I would.  But is the game worth picking up?  Based on my two solo plays today, I say yes.  Both games were against the Red Skull (the beginner villain) but I mixed up the heroes for both games.  The first was Captain America, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel, while the second featured the Hulk, Black Widow, and Venom.  Even just from a single play for each of the heroes, I could see from why the decks were constructed that they nicely focused on the various heroes strengths.  The mechanics are also very tight, with everything laid out step by step in the rule book.  

The first game I had a couple of mistakes that went both ways, but in the end managed a win... just barely.  The second game... well, let's just say "Hail Hydra" and leave it at that.  This is also a game that you can't slow play, which I love.  You drag your feet, and those villains will walk all over you so you have to push forward as fast as you can.

Now the question that I had before I bought this game was do I need to have all the exclusives to make this game worth it?  No, you definitely don't.  Just the base game has enough in there to make for fun gameplay, which is really good because finding the exclusives... yeah, not too easy.

In my research for this game, I found out that the exclusives for this one weren't necessarily driven by CMON, but by their partner Spin Master Games.  I did find they have released a new bundle through Amazon that includes the base game, the Into the Spiderverse version of the base game, and Dr. Strange.  This is selling for $50 which isn't half bad for as much as you get, and if I didn't have the base game already I might have snapped it up.  Either way, if you are looking for a quick and easy family oriented co-op, I'd say this one is worth tracking down... as long as it's for a reasonable price.  Until next time...

Board Game Review: House... Of Danger!!!

My wife and I stopped by a game store over the weekend, and one game in particular peaked her interest...  The Choose Your Own Adventure game, House of Danger.

I had seen this game before and considered it, but wasn't really sure if my wife would want to play.  Turns out the answer is yes, and we got it to the table the very next day.

Now part of this game for me is nostalgia; I remember reading the CYOA books as a kid, keeping my place at that one spot that must be the crucial decision as I flip through to see if my choice was the wrong one.  The game mirrors that "mechanic" but adds a bit more depth along with a variable element as well.

As you proceed through the "book", you read through the chapters and try to find clues that will help you through the game.  They do this because there are times that you are rolling a die to determine the outcome instead of just choosing which path to follow.  There is also a "damage" mechanic in the form of the Danger Meter.  This forms a damage track that also increases the die roll you need to do to perform some of the tasks in the game.  The target number starts at 3+, but creeps up to 6 before kicking back down to 3+ but at a cost.

In this particular game, you are a psychic private investigator.  As you complete different parts of the story, your level on the psychic scale increases but if you take too much damage that level will drop.  Each time you reset the target number on the damage track, you loose two points on your psychic scale which can affect your overall psychic level.

The mechanics and game play are very simple, but we have been having fun with it so far.  The game has five chapters, and we have played through two of them already.  There is some replay possible as you explore paths you might not have chosen, but that does seem to be the one negative that is popping up for me.  Other than that, it's not a bad game and I'm looking forward to finishing to seeming how it ends.  This is definitely a light game, but if you grew up with the CYOA books this could be a fun trip down memory lane for you.  Until next time...

Random Update: I Finally Played Banker of Catan

I have a confession.  I'm 48 years old and up until this past weekend, I'd never played Settlers of Catan.  Yes, I'm a gamer who never played the game what is considered by some to be one of the gateway games for the hobby.  Instead I went the Ticket to Ride route for introducing people to the hobby (see what I did there?), so I've never even thought of buying Settlers.  The question is, how did it measure up?  Was it worth the wait?  Did it live up to its legendary expectations?

Well, as the title for the post says, I've finally played the Banker of Catan.

Our friends (who are both experienced Catan players) introduced us to the game and it was fun.  It's great to hang out with friends, and I think I can see the allure of Settlers.  Then again, by the end of the game I had a total of two settlements and either three or four roads.  And yes, that's including the two settlements and two roads that I started with.

What went so horribly wrong that I started and ended the game with the same two victory points?  The dice.

With a background in Warmachine, I'm very aware of the bell curve inherent to something involving two d6.  My starting locations weren't prime real estate, but they weren't horrible either.  Unfortunately the die were stuck on a total of 5 for what felt like most of the game, so most of my "gameplay" consisted of handing out and taking back resources that everyone else was getting and spending.

Compared to something like Ticket to Ride where there is almost always something happening on your turn, this might sound pretty dull.  Well, it actually was kind of dull from a gameplay point of view but I think that I just happened to get stuck in the perfect storm that is bad dice luck.  This is nature of that ephemeral mistress that we call Lady Luck and I don't begrudge the game for that and I really had a great time hanging out with my friends and family, which makes it all worth while.  Hopefully we can play it again in the future, and then maybe I too can break out of the financial business and become one of the settlers as well.  Until next time...

Hocus Pocus: Beware! The Sanderson Sister Will Completely Own You!

While wandering through Target before Christmas, I stumbled across Hocus Pocus, designed by Prospero Hall and published by Ravensburger and based on the Disney movie by the same name.

I have to say that I never really got into the movie Hocus Pocus but it's one of my wife's favorites so I knew I had to get this for her for Christmas.  She was really excited to see it and we soon broke it to give it a test run.

Holy crap.  This is a kids game?  What are we doing wrong?!?

As the title for this post implies, we lost against the Sanderson sisters... three time in a row.  We did manage to win the fourth game... by slightly cheating but hey, a win is a win right?  Maybe?

The mechanics for the game are very simple.  You start with a hand of three or four cards (depends on how many players you have...) and you go around the table playing the cards into the "cauldron".  The card must either match the ingredient or the color to be played.  If you match all the ingredients, all the colors, or have one of each ingredient and one of each color, then you stun one of the sisters and go to the next round.

Simple, right?

The trick is that you play with your hand closed and aren't supposed to discuss your cards unless you have Binx the cat in front of you.  Some of the cards have his icon which brings him into play.  During your turn you can also ask the other players one piece of information about their hands, but that's it!  "Does anyone have newt saliva?" or "Does anyone have green cards?"

While you might not think this limited information would amp up the difficulty too much, it really does!  You have to cooperate without actually being able to tell each other what you have which makes things very tricky.  On top of that, there is also a chance the sisters will cast a spell on you.  Play a card with the spell book symbol and then look out!

On top of all of this, there is the limit on the cards.  If you run out of cards and are required to draw, then game over man!  While this isn't too bad the first time through, it gets harder with each round because you don't get all of the cards in the discard pile back.  Only the cards with the Binx or Spellbook icons are shuffled back into the deck so not only have you lost a number of cards, you've kept all of the spells, some of which force you to draw more cards!

After our third lose, we decided to play with all of our hands open just to see if a win was possible.  It is, but man it's not easy!

So is this a good game?  In my opinion, yes.  Sure it keeps kicking our butts but so does Ghostbusters: Protect the Barrier and we still enjoy getting that one to the table.  What makes it so good is game play itself is pretty basic so you can get right into the action.  The tricky part is getting all your ducks in a row to actually pull out the win.  I think once we get our head around the strategy and card distribution a bit better this game will get easier but I like that this simple game really makes you stop, think, and work together to win.  If you are looking for a light but challenging game that won't break the bank, I recommend giving this one a try.  Until next time...

Quick Review: Tesla Vs. Edison by Artana

Last night my friend Mike came over and he showed me and the Munchkin the ins and outs of Tesla vs. Edison: The War of the Currents.  Well, I guess it was mainly me that he showed since Munchkin had played once before but you get the idea.

First off, let me say that this is a beautiful game.  From the box to the components, Artana did a great job with this game really capturing the style and the theme of the game.

Mechanically the game is very straight forward as well.  You can either develop new technologies (giving you access to more projects on the board), build new projects (which increases your stock value), engage in propoganda (which lets you manipulate the turn order, which type of power is popular with the masses, and earn some extra cash), and buying and selling stock (the total value of which determines who wins the game).

This also really seems to capture the ebb and flow of an economic game; using propoganda and buying/selling to manipulate the stock market to increase your own portfolio while decreasing the value of your opponent's portfolio.

All of this sounds really good and looks really nice on the table but there was something about it that was bugging me and I think I finally figured out what it is; how the heck do you defend yourself?

My background is miniature war games and board games that involve direct conflict with your opponents.  You win by achieving victory while preventing your opponent from doing the same.  All the while you have assets in play that can at least attempt to affect the outcome of the situation, but this game didn't feel like it had that which is frustrating on a deeper level for me.  You can "attack" my company by buying up my stock and then dumping it at the last minute to drive its value down at the end of the game which is in fact what happened to me.

To be fair I had actually considered doing exactly the same thing as we went into the last turn but the idea just left a really bad taste in my mouth so I decided against it.  Does this make it a bad game?  Not at all, in fact it seems like it really did capture the economic interplay that they were looking to represent... I'm just not sure that it's a game for me.  I definitely want to try it again but I must admit that I'm glad I decided not to back this one on Kickstarter.

Game Review: King of Tokyo Power Up! Expansion

So a few weeks ago I was raving about how great King of Tokyo by iello Games is and its gotta make you wonder what could they possibly do to make it better?  Maybe add something to make the monsters play a little bit differently to add a little flavor to the whole thing?  That my friends is just what Power Up! does.

What's In The Box?

Since Power Up! is just an expansion it comes in a small box of its own.  Cracking it open you'll find the rules (inside the box this time) and a new monster, giving players yet another option in the game (It should be noted that the game still caps out at six players but having a little variety is always a good thing). Even so, the best part of Power Up! is still in the box; the evolution cards... but more on them soon.  Rounding things out are some handy tokens to track a few new special rules and of course a tray liner to keep it all nice and neat.

How Does This Change The Game?

The basic game of King of Tokyo gives you control of a giant monster seeking to dominate Tokyo which is awesome.  The only thing missing is a little bit of pizzazz to make the monsters more individual which is where the evolution cards come into play.

Each of the monsters in the game (including the newly added Pandakai) is given their own set of eight evolution cards in this expansion.  What makes these really cool is all of them are different but each are really in keeping with the individual monster's theme.  For example, the King has the cards Alpha Male and Simian Scamper while Gigazaur has Tail Sweep and Heat Vision.  These all give you minor tweaks to how your monster plays but really adds a nice flavor to each monster.  Sure Cyber Bunny is cool by himself but add on a Lupine Power Blade and an Electric Carrot and he just gets that much better!

To balance things out, the monsters don't start with all their evolution cards.  Instead players need to earn them by rolling at least three hearts on their turn.  These hearts don't need to be used to heal so you can even evolve while you are in Tokyo which is a nice little feature.  Drawing a card also doesn't replace healing so you don't have to agonize about whether you should keep yourself in the game or try to get a little stronger.

There are also a few variants listed in the rules; active evolution (which lets players start with a random evolution from their deck), controlled evolution (which lets players draw two and keep one as they evolve), and evolution draft (which adds a random drafting element to the evolutions). Our personal favorite is to shuffle all the evolutions together, deal out eight to each player and then everyone starts with the top evolution.  This does reduce the amount of theme that the cards bring to the specific monsters but it adds a really fun mechanic to the game and really helps keep it fresh every time we play

How Does It Measure Up?

Personally I think that this expansion really is a must have addition.  King of Tokyo by itself is a lot of fun but adding in the Evolution cards just takes the game to a new level and also might be part of the reason we play it so much. Using the Evolutions keeps the game fresh as it gives all the monsters enough of a tweak to really keep you on your toes and the amount of replay that it adds to the basic considering its cost makes this expansion invaluable.  Then there is the Halloween expansion... but more on that later.  Until next time...

Game Review: King of Tokyo

Things are finally settling down in our new temporary abode so its time for another game review!  Yes, its finally time to review the game that has dominated our table ever since we first played it, iello's King Of Tokyo.

What's In The Box?

When I opened the box, the first thing I noticed was no instructions... because they were attached to the outside of the box.  Full color and very well laid out, they do a very good job breaking down the game step by step.  They also have a brief glossary and overview of some of the somewhat questionable cards you can bring into play throughout the game which is very handy and to me shows that they put this game through its paces before releasing it to the masses

There is also a small but very colorful board that also has some handy in game reminders, a set of eight special dice, a deck of power ups you can purchase in the game, energy cubes (no they're not candy!!!), a number of pre-punched counters, boards to track each monster and a cardboard figure for each.  All of these are full illustrated and really help to capture the giant monster feel.

As a nice little plus, the box also comes with a tray liner that lets you keep everything nice and neat in the box between plays.  Overall, just great looking components and presentation.

How Do You Win?

Winning the game is elegantly handled and one of the things that I really love about the game.  There are two ways to do it.  You can either be the first monster to earn 20 Victory Points or you can be the last monster standing.  Why do I love this?  More on that later.

How Do You Play?

The basic mechanic of the game is similar to Yahtzee.  You roll six dice up to three times looking for different sets and combinations.  The difference is that in addition to the numbers one, two, and three the dice have a claw, heart and lightning bolt.  So what does it all mean? Let me explain.

As I mentioned before, one of the ways to win is by scoring 20 VPs and you can do this with the dice by rolling sets of three or more ones, twos, or threes.  The set of three is worth the number rolled (so three 2's are worth 2 points) and each additional number increases that by one point (so five 2's would be worth 4 points).

The other symbols work slightly differently.  Each claw that you roll will do a point of damage to the other monsters, while each lightning bolt earns you an energy cube and each heart will heal a point of damage.  None of these need to be rolled in sets and there isn't a bonus it you do (so one claw does 1 point of damage and five claws do 5 points).

Once you have rolled your dice, its time to resolve what's happened.  Damage is applied, healing is done and point are earned according to the final outcome on your dice and depending on whether you are in Tokyo or not.  At the start of the game there are no monsters in Tokyo but as soon as one of the monsters resolves at least one claw that monster will move into the city.  This is an ideal situation in some regards since you are trying to become the King of Tokyo after all and does have its perks, but there are some slight drawbacks as well.

One of the perks is you earn extra VPs every turn starting when you first move into the city.  The turn you move in you earn 1 VP and every turn you begin in Tokyo you earn another 2 VPs.  You also damage all of the other monsters when you attack; roll two claws and everyone takes two damage, roll five and they all take five.  Sounds pretty good, right?  The downside is that you can not use any hearts that you roll to heal yourself and if any of the other monsters roll any claws they are coming right at you.

The good news is that you can yield Tokyo after you are attacked (after you take the damage of course) to get yourself out of the cross hairs for a little while.  As soon as you do this, you move your monster out of the city and move whoever just attacked you in.  Unfortunately this means that your opponent will immediately earn 1 VP and then earn more at the beginning of their next turn (assuming they are still there) but sometimes you just have to step back and lick your wounds.  While outside of Tokyo, you can heal one point of damage for each heart rolled and any claws you roll are applied to whoever is currently in Tokyo but no one else.

So what about those energy cubes that have been piling up?  Those are used in the next phase of the game to buy special cards to power up your monster.  Some of them have a permanent effect for the rest of the game while others are played immediately but almost all of them can give you some kind of edge in the game.  This is also where those extra two dice come into play as there are specific cards that you can buy that will let you roll an extra die (or two if you've greedy!) during your turn.

How Does It Measure Up?

I can honestly say that right now this is my family's absolute favorite game to play.  With 32 plays in less than a year, this game has blown all of the other games in our collection out of the water but the question is why?  There are several things that really make it stick out for me.

The mechanics are very straightforward (after all, who hasn't played Yahtzee before?) but the theme gives the game a really enjoyable twist.  The artwork is also very well done with a fun cartoon quality to it and the monsters are diverse enough that there's going to be something for anyone.

Above all this one of the things that I really enjoy is the built in timer that is inherent with the mechanics.  As soon as someone rolls a claw, they are going into Tokyo whether they like it or not and the race is on!  Leave your opponent in there too long and they'll quickly reach 20 VPs and steal the game but be careful of getting yourself sucked into the spotlight as everyone else will now be gunning for you.  This really keeps the game from going too long but it isn't so rushed that it feels forced.  A great little balancing act that not many games are able to pull off so well.

This is one game that I am very glad we added to our collection and I definitely recommend giving it a try.  There are also two expansions which add even more to the game... but more on those later.  Until next time...

Board Game Review: The Resistance

Plotting to overthrown evil governments and corporations is not that uncommon a theme in gaming but how often do you get to be one of the spies trying to crush the uprising?

In The Resistance by Indie Boards And Cards, the players take on the role of the member of a group trying to topple the tyrannical and corrupt government that has taken over the world.  Not all is as it seems though, as spies have infiltrated the group and threaten to stop them as they stand on the brink of victory.  Will you help defeat the tyrants or are you one of their pawns trying to bring down... the Resistance!

What's In The Box?

Cracking open the box, the first thing you'll find a set of nicely laid out instructions complete with examples of the entire turn process clearly laid out (always a plus in my opinion).  In addition to this there are also three double sided and illustrated play mats (which one you use depends on how many players there are), numerous tokens and markers made of very sturdy cardboard, and the various cards that you will use through out the game all printed on high quality material.  Add to this a tray liner which clearly separates the tokens and cards and you are looking a very polished looking game.

How Do You Win?

Winning is easy.  All the members of the Resistance have to do is succeed at three of five missions.  That'll be easy right?  It's not like there are spies that have infiltrated your group who will do everything in their power to make sure you don't succeed.  Oh wait...

How Do You Play?

The first thing to do is grab the play mat for your size group.  How many spies there are and how many people are required for each mission is all determined by the number of players, from two spies for a five player game up to four spies for a maxed out ten player game, and all of this is laid out on the play mats.  This also lets you know how many of each type of character card should be dealt out to the players.  Shuffle the character cards and then deal out one card face down to each player.  Once everyone has a character card, all the players should secretly look at their card to see which side they're actually on.  After everyone has looked at their character card the fun really begins.

First someone in the group should have everyone close their eyes.  Next the same person should tell the spies to open their eyes and look around so they known who their co-conspirators are.  After a few seconds, everyone should be told to close their eyes and then have everyone open their eyes so the game can begin!

One of the players is designated team leader and they get to choose who they want to send on the first mission.  Once the potential team members have been announced, the group has to vote on whether to accept the proposed team or reject it.  If the team is rejected, a new team leader is chosen and the process is repeated but be careful; if the team is rejected five times in a single round the Resistance looses!  Once the team is approved, then its time to send them on their mission.

Each member of the team is then given two mission cards face down, one a success card, the other a failure card.  These are used to vote whether the mission succeeds or fails.  Each team member secretly votes and hands their chosen mission card to the team leader who shuffles and then reveals the result.  Success means that the mission goes off without a hitch but if even one failure shows up the mission fails and someone who was on that mission was a spy.  Spies are the only ones who can choose to fail a mission so if a failure card shows up everyone who was on the mission is suddenly suspect!  Who can you really trust and who will sell you out to the authorities?  To make things even more interesting, the later missions require larger teams making failure that much more likely if you're not careful.  The game (and the mounting paranoia) continues until there are either three successful missions or three failures.

How Does It Measure Up?

The Resistance is a great party game as long as you don't take it too seriously.  I can see how you could over analyze everything as you try to figure out who the spies are but that's definitely not our style.  We tend to play it much looser, with accusations flying left, right, and center, and so far everyone we've played it with have had a blast.  I definitely recommend giving this one a try.  Until next time...

Board Game Review: Red Dragon Inn 3

Most fantasy games out there focus on the quest.  Killing the dragon, finding that one special ring, defeating the forces of evil (or good, depending on your preference...).  This is all well and good but what about when the quest is over?  Well, that's when the real adventure begins!

In Red Dragon Inn by Slugfest Games, each player is a member of an adventuring company freshly returned from the dungeon.  With your coin purses bulging, its time to see who is the real champion as you proceed to drink each other under the table!

What's In The Box?

Before we look inside, the outside of the box needs a nod as well.  The box art is gorgeous, showing all the characters available in the game along with perhaps the most important person in the game, the wench (can't have a drinking game without the wench to bring you drinks!). This is especially nice as there are currently three versions of the game with a fourth that is currently on Kickstarter so you can make sure you grab the motley crew that most captures your eye.

Opening the box, there are the instructions in the full color glossy glory, a player mat and deck for each of the characters, a drink deck, some sturdy "gold" coins, and glass beads to track you alcohol and fortitude.  As an added plus, the tray liner is perfect for keeping all of the components neatly organized between games which is a major plus in my book.

How Do You Win?

You can win the game a couple of different ways.  The most obvious way is to drink your opponents under the table by plying them with drinks while "accidentally" smacking them in the head but you can also force an opponent out by taking all their money as well.  Most of this is tracked on your player mat.  As you get hurt, your fortitude goes down.  As you get drunk, your alcohol content goes up.  If the two even cross... well, lets just way that you character is enjoying a nap on the nice cool floor at that point.  In addition to this, you also have a stack of gold coins but be careful.  If you are out of money then its out to the stables with you!  So does anyone feel like gambling?  I'm in!

How Do You Play?

Each player takes a player mat and puts the red bead on 20 to indicate their health and a clear bead on 0 to indicate their alcohol content.  Then you choose the character you want, shuffle up their deck and place it on the space marked "Deck" on the mat.  Next each player gets ten gold while the drink pile is shuffled and each player is randomly given one drink card which is placed on the "Drink Me!" space on the mat.  Then place the Drink deck in the middle of the table where everyone can reach it.  Each player then draws seven cards for their starting and its time to start the game!

During your turn you first discard any cards you don't want then draw up to seven cards.  If your Deck runs out of cards when you are supposed to draw no worries!  Just shuffle your discard pile and keep on playing.

Next you may play one Action card from your hand.  Read out the title on the card, give the other players a chance to respond, then follow the instructions on the card.  Action cards tend to be the more powerful cards in your deck and this is when you unleash them on your opponents!  Of course you can also skip this phase if you want to, it just means you won't play an Action this turn.

The next phase is one of the most vital in the game.  After all, you can't have a drinking game without drinks!  Take the top card from the Drink Deck and put it on top of one of your other stalwart friends "Drink Me!" piles.  This is a perfect opportunity to share the love with your friends as you help them maintain their inebriated state or even just get revenge on someone that might have done something to you last turn.

Last but not least by a long shot is the Drink phase.  Take the top card from your "Drink Me!" pile and down the hatch it goes!  A word of warning though; if a player doesn't have any cards in their "Drink Me!" pile when they are supposed to drink, they start to sober up (also known as losing one alcohol content) which is why its always important to make sure you spread the booze in the previous phase.

Once you finish off your drink, your turn is over and the player to your left is up but that doesn't mean that you sit idly by while you wait for your turn.  In addition to the aforementioned Action cards, you also have Sometimes and Anytime cards in your hand.  Sometimes cards have certain conditions that need to be meet for them to be played (for example, maybe a card lets you block fortitude damage from another player's action or even smack them back in retaliation) while Anytime cards can be played yet then, anytime, even if they interrupt another action.  This usually won't stop the action but it adds a fun element to the game.  "Oh, Phrenk.  Before you smash Kaylin in the head could you tip the wench?  Thanks ever so much!"

While most this is very self explanatory, a quick mention does have to been given to Gambling.  This is an Action card that you can play on your turn and potentially the easiest way to help reallocate all of your friends gold.  Playing a "Gambling? I'm in!" card starts what is effectively a mini-game of gambling with the winner taking all the gold in the pot.  As an interesting touch, Slugfest Games have even made a separate game by the same name that you can break out to resolve the round.  I've never used this expansion but its sounds like a really interesting twist so I'm sure I'll pick it up eventually.

In addition to this, some of the later versions of the game (such as Red Dragon Inn 3) also add in some mechanics to add flavor to the various characters.  Phrenk the alchemist troll brews a different potion each turn while you never know just what kind of mood Kaylin's wolf while be in.  These add in some different effects on the game but the way that they are handled flows smoothly into the game play and really gives each character their own little flair.

How Does It Measure Up?

Red Dragon Inn 3 is great game that I highly recommend as it is so much fun to play.  In fact I think this is one of the only games where I have actively had a chance to take a player out of the game early and didn't do it because it was more fun to keep them around!  If you haven't had a chance to play this game, go buy it right now and give it a try; I really do think you'll love playing it.

Parting Shot...

I hope you've enjoyed this look at Red Dragon Inn 3 and remember that if you are reading this before June 18th there is still time to hop on over to Kickstarter and back Red Dragon Inn 4, not to mention get a couple of add-ons for a bargain!  If you have any comments or questions about the game I'd love to here them so go ahead and post them right in the comments and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.  Until next time...

Board Game Review: Why Do I Have That Sinking Feeling?

The first game that we dug out of the recesses of the gaming closet is an oldie from the behemoth of the board game world, Fantasy Flight Games.  Surprisingly enough, this one doesn't come in one of their legendary coffin boxes which is a good thing since this game would leave a lot of wasted space in there.  But enough banter!  Its time to tread carefully as we keep an eye out for Quicksand.

In Quicksand, the players each take the role of one of six explorers all vying to reach the ancient temple before the others.  But don't be too obvious!  If your opponents figure out who you really are they could sink you up to your neck in quicksand while they run past you and grab the ancient treasure.

What's In The Box?

Unlike today's Fantasy Flight, apparently back in the day their components weren't always quite so mind bogglingly high quality.  This isn't to say that the components are cheap compared to others you might find out there, merely average which still says a lot for FFG's overall level of quality.  The game comes with six different colored wooden discs and counters each representing the different explorers in the game, a set of cards, and a two piece board that locks together like a jigsaw.

There is also a generic liner tray which is nothing special but is good enough to keep all the pieces from sliding all around inside the box.

How Do You Win?

The object of Quicksand is pretty simple; you are trying to get through the jungle to the temple before the other players.  Piece of cake, right?

How Do You Play?

Once the board is set up and the cards shuffled, the first thing you do is choose an explorer.  This is done by choosing a random counter to see which one they will play.  Exactly who you are playing is kept secret from the other players until the end of the game, adding a bluffing element to what would otherwise be a straightforward racing game.

During your turn you play cards from your hand to either move an explorer or sink them into the quicksand!  To move an explorer, you play any number of matching cards and move that explorer that many spaces.  Playing three white cards will move the archeologist three spaces, four red will move the hunter four spaces.  In addition to the regular explorer cards, there are also mask cards which work as wild cards to give a little more flexibility to your move.

Depending on where you end your move there could be addition effects.  Some of the spaces are colored which let you discard a card if the corresponding explorer ends their turn there while others have masks which let you discard with any explorer.  And of course there's also the quicksand (can't have a game called Quicksand without it!).  Any explorer that ends their move on a quicksand space is flipped over to show that they are stuck.  This is no where near as bad as it might sound but it does make the game more interesting as only one explorer can occupy a space so you have to play more cards to jump over anyone in your way.

To rescue an explorer from the quicksand you just need to play one additional card of their color and then off they go.  There are also quicksand cards that you can play from your hand which have the same effect on explorers as the spaces except you can play them anywhere you want.

At the end of the turn you draw back up to six cards and you move on to the next player. 

How Does It Measure Up?

Quicksand is not bad for filler game and we definitely had fun with it but there really isn't much too it.  If you happen to find it for cheap it might be worth picking up (I bought our copy for $5 on clearance) but its not one that I'd devote a lot of time to tracking down.

The Parting Shot...

I hope you've enjoyed this look at Quicksand.  If you have any comments or questions about the game I'd love to here them so go ahead and post them right in the comments and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.  Until next time...

The Battle For Itharia Begins Now!

After some hemming and hawing, I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick up the Summoner Wars Master Set by Plaid Hat Games.  This game has been out for a couple of years now but honestly it wasn't until I started following Magehammer's Gaming Table that I had really given it a serious look.

All I can say now is "Wow".

Combining elements of a customizable card game with a strategic board game, Summoner Wars does a great job of making these two blend together in a way that is innovative and a ton of fun to play.  But enough praise!  Let's get down to the nitty gritty.

So What's In The Box?

The Summoner Wars Master Set contains six decks representing six very different armies and a very nice looking game board.  This last bit is a vast improvement over the original two player sets which came with a paper board that you had to unfold and flatten out.  I haven't seen one of these first hand but just the thought of it is enough to make me cringe.  This might be a minor point to some but I'm definitely glad they decided to step it up with the Master Set.

As for the cards themselves, they feel like they are a good quality so its not like you have to worry about these getting worn down after a few shuffles and the artwork is superb as well.

Last but definitely not least the box comes with a spacer that gives you enough room for not only the cards that are included in the set but most of the decks that are currently out should fit in there as well!  This is great bit of foresight by Plaid Hat as there's nothing worse than having to dig around for a bunch of additional boxes to be able to play the game.

How Do You Get Started?

Once you have the board set up its time to pick your faction!  The Master Set comes with six pre made decks for you to just grab and go but Plaid Hat also makes a number of additional faction decks as well.  You're not limited there though as most of the factions currently out also have reinforcements that you can swap into your deck as well as mercenaries to let you really add your own flavor to your deck.  Even with these options available, there are very specific rules on deck construction that makes customizing your deck a very quick and painless task.

After you've chosen your faction, deployment is incredibly straightforward as its all laid out on a reference card that comes with the various decks.  Just pull out the cards you need and put them on the board, give your deck a quick shuffle, and you're ready to go!

How Do You Win?

The goal of the game is extremely straightforward in concept; kill the opponent's summoner.  It sounds easy enough but first you have to get past their defenses while keeping yourself safe from your opponents units.  This creates an almost chess like ballet of moves and counter moves as you each vie for position to deliver that killing blow.

How Do You Play?

A regular turn in Summoner Wars consists of six very distinct phases that you play though.

1) Draw your hand up to fives cards.

2) Summon units from your hand by spending magic equal to their summoning cost.  Of course you have to get build up your own magic to do that but that's one of the ingenious things about this game.  One of the two ways that you can build up your magic is by destroying enemy units so right off the bat the game pushes you to be aggressive and rewards you for going for the throat.  This mechanic virtually guarantees that every game is going to be quick and bloody as holding back and turtling will result in you quickly being overrun.

3) In addition to the units cards there are also event cards, most of which are played at this point in the turn.  These cards let you do some kind of special move that fits in with the character of the various summoners.  The militaristic Mountain Vargath have cards that boost their summoner natural command abilities or call common military units to him instantly while the mind altering Benders have cards that let you steal one of your opponents event cards to use on your own troops.

4) Once you've played your events its time to get to grips and let the bloodbath begin!  The catch is that you can't move all of your cards.  Instead you can only move three of them in your turn and even then most units can only move two spaces tops with no diagonal!  This really pushes you to think about you moves in advance as you try to slowly out maneuver your opponent.

5) After you've moved its time to strike down the enemy but just like the movement phase you can only make a total of three attacks.  The combination of these two limits not keeps the game moving quickly but also greatly reduces the down time you experience during your opponents turn which is great.  There's nothing worse than just sitting around waiting for your opponent to move all of the pieces in their army while you just sit there and wait and this game does a great job of keeping your engaged and invested.

As for the combat itself, its quick and simple just like the rest of the game.  Each unit has an attack value printed on their card which is how many you dice you roll when you attack.  For each die that comes up three or more a hit is scored and a wound is inflicted.  In some cases this is enough to take out the unit (most of the common units for example can out take one wound before being destroyed) while others like the champions can take four to six points of damage.

6) At the end of the turn its time to do one of the most important things; build magic.  This is the second way that you can gain magic that you need to summon units or use various special powers of the summoners or your other units.  To build magic all you do is put cards from your hand into your magic pile.  This sounds deceptively simple but sometimes putting those cards down is almost painful.  Do you really want to get rid of that champion to build up your magic?  Or what about those other units or event cards?  Magic is essential to win the game but that usually doesn't make it any easier to take those cards out of your hand.

And that in a nutshell is a turn!  Quick, simple, and right to the point... unless its the first turn.  This is an additional mechanic that I really like.  The player that goes first in the game skips steps 1, 2, and 3 and can only move two units of the first turn.  This ensures that the first player isn't able to get the drop on their opponent and just run them into the ground.

How Does It Measure Up?

This is a great game that I really can't recommend highly enough and with all the expansions out there you have tons of options available to you so its not a game that's going to get stale any time soon.  Each army has its own distinct feel and the folks at Plaid Hat Games have done everything they can to make sure that the factions are balanced against each other so you don't have to worry about somebody getting a hold of the uber deck and just decimating everyone on a regular basis.

The Parting Shot...

I hope you've enjoyed this look at Summoner Wars Master Set.  If you have any comments or questions about the game I'd love to here them so go ahead and post them right in the comments and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.  Until next time...

Hey There Cthulhu, Look What My Roommates Did To Me...

Last week I told you about Chez Geek from Steve Jackson Games so it only seems appropriate to let the madness run its course.  How do we do that?  Why with Chez Cthulhu of course!

Mechanically Chez Cthulhu is virtually the same as the other Chez Geek games except for some re-theming to a more Cthulhu feel (meaning cultists, sacrifices, and of course tentacles) and adding in a madness mechanic.  After all, what's Cthulhu without a little bit of insanity?

There are various cards that you can play that make you gain Madness tokens (such as Evil Ritual Nookie and the Disturbing Plush Toy) or loose Madness (like Bird Watching and Sleep, With Sweet Dreams).  Of course going mad has got to be a bad thing, right?

Well sure... up to a point.

As you start gaining Madness token you initially get a slack penalty which increases with up to a -3 to your total slack.  Of course this only lasts to a point because Madness brings clarity of a sort.  One you get over six tokens, the penalty actually starts to decrease until you reach a total of nine tokens.  At that point you are Stark Raving Mad and all of your Madness tokens go away.  What's more, once you go mad you actually gain more slack points for instead of Madness tokens for the rest of the game.

Overall I really like this twist to the regular game as it adds another layer to the game.  Do you try to make yourself go Mad so you can go for the "free" slack points or just try to make your opponent go just crazy enough to get the -3 Slack penalty?  And of course the flavor text on the cards is as hilarious as always.

While this set can be combined with the original Chez Geek set, it is also a stand alone game complete with counters and a die.  From a quality point of view this game is pretty much the norm you'd expect from SJ Games though my set was slightly miscut which makes shuffling a little tricky.  Even so I'd still recommend checking this game out if you're interested in a lighter look at the all comsuming darkness of the mythos.  Until next time...

It's Just Another Friday Night Here At Chez Geek...

Before there was Munchkin, there was Chez Geek.

This is a picture of the original game, not the current House Party Edition

Released by Steve Jackson Games in 1999 with illustration by John Kovalic, Chez Geek is all about the joys of sharing an apartment.  From inviting friends over to your room, going shopping, and even getting nookie from your live in S. O., you and your roommates are all competing for to be the ultimate slack master of the apartment.  But enough background!  How does it play?

First each player is dealt a Job card.  This tells you how much free time and income you have each turn, how much slack you need to win the game, and any special rules that might come along with your "chosen" occupation.

Next each player is dealt five cards Life cards.  These cards are played during your turn (or sometimes during your opponents turn) as you try to get enough slack to win the game.  Once this is done then its time to play the game!

Each player's turn consists of five phases.

1) First you draw Life cards until you have a total of six in your hand.

2) Next you roll for any random effects (such as your Income or Free time depending on your job) or to get rid of any unwanted people that are in your room.  Is the Hungry Girl eating all of your snacks?  The Choad Warrior drinking all you booze?  Now is the time to try to get rid of them... and maybe even sick them on your roommates!

3) So just how did those unwanted people get in your room in the first place?  During the Call People phase of course!  If the person doesn't provide any slack you can just put them into play (though your opponents can stop this if they have the right cards in their hand) while people that provide slack have to be called.  Roll well and they come over.  Roll poorly and... there's nobody home.

4) Now it's time for some Free Time!  Your Job card tells you just how much Free Time you have available.  For each Free Time you can either do one activity (such as Hang Out At The Cafe or Surfing The Net) or go Shopping.  So how much can you buy?  Well that's what your Income comes into play.  Each item you can buy has a cost listed on it and the total cost that you can buy in a turn cannot exceed your Income.

5)  Last but not least is the Discard phase.  If you somehow have more than five cards after all of this then you have to get rid of some, plus you can also discard all the way down to one card if you want.  Once this is done, your turn is over and its the next players turn.

During your opponents turn there are a few things you can do such as playing Whenever cards (which can be played Whenever... see how they did that?) or canceling their activities with TV cards.  No one can resist the power of the idiot box!!!  Mwah ha ha ha ha!!!

And that covers the basics for the game except for how you win.  The first player to reach or exceed their Slack Goal instantly wins so keep an eye on your opponents and slack off as much as possible.

Personally I really enjoy this game.  No its not some deep masterpiece of strategy but its definitely a fun and fast play.  Originally there were two separate expansions that went with the basic game but Steve Jackson Games has since combined all three together into one package and added counters and even a die (this is SJ Games after all so including a die is kind of a big thing) so make you get the House Party Edition if you pick it up so you have it all in one box.  Until next time...

The Wench Thought That Was Her Tip

There's been a bit of a lull around here lately as I've been busy with Halloween but I'm back, this time for a look at some drunken revelry.  Grab your gold my friends because its time to go to...

Spacer first introduced me to this little gem and I was instantly hooked.  Yeah, it's really that good.

In this game the players are a group of adventurers.  Having entered the dungeon, slain the monsters, and defeated the evil warlord there's only one thing left to do... get drunk!  But not before everyone else of course.

At the start of the game each player has their own deck of cards (different for each character to reflect their various classes and races), ten gold pieces, a Fortitude of 20, and an Alcohol Content of 0.  In addition to this there is a communal drink deck which gets passed out (and "drunk") as the game goes along.  Using your cards (and the drinks of course) the players are trying to make their opponents pass out by making their Fortitude equal to or less than their Alcohol Content.  As an added twist you can also knock out another player by making them loose all their money gambling (the only thing worse than a drunk is a drunk with no money).  The mechanics are very straight forward and the flavor text and artwork are hilarious.

Currently there are three different versions of this game available and they can all be played together for a massive twelve player game if you wanted to.  Don't know if I'd recommend it as the potential down time between turns would be a little much but it's possible if you're crazy enough to try!  Personally I think the sweet spot for this game is four players but I've never tried it with two.  I imagine that would make for one fast and furious drinking game!

It should be noted that all three versions are not the same.  The third iterration includes some additional mechanics for each character which makes them play somewhat differently than characters from the first two sets.  Nothing too complicated but it does change the game and we have wondered if they might not be very balanced against the other sets.  I don't think it would really boil down to a massive advantage but its definitely worth pointing out.

Overall these are really fun games and I can't recommend them enough.  Interested in picking it up?  Well then give your FLGS a call or hit our Amazon link at the top of the page.

That's about it for this time but I've got more in the works, including that Halloween Fear and Faith session.  Might be a Thanksgiving game at this rate but it really is coming soon along with some other goodies.  Until next time...

Just Don't Say A Word...

Recently we have been bringing a truly insane game to the table more and more often with our friends. Perhaps we should not expose them to such madness for fear of what it might do to them. Perhaps it was our own madness drove us to do such a thing. No matter for now we must tell the world of that which is... unspeakable.

Unspeakable Words
published by Playroom Entertainment

Unspeakable Words is kind of like Scrabble in some ways and like Boggle in other ways. Basically you have a hand of seven letter cards that you use to make words which are worth a number of points depending on which letters you use. Oh and you also have to roll to see if you go insane. Yes that's right, we are talking about Scrabble with a Lovecraftian twist.

The inspiration for this game comes from Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos as you are a researcher trying to find those words which man was not meant to speak. The hounds of Tindalos are coming for you as you seek but you have totems which will protect you... for a time.

In this game you are using the cards in your hand to try to makes words which are worth a number of points depending on how many angles are in the various letters. For example, an O is worth nothing while an A will get you 5 points each. To win the game you have to be the first player to reach 100 points... and still be sane. Each time you play a word, you score the value of the word and then you need to roll a sanity check on a d20. If you roll equal to or higher than the value of the number then everything is fine. If you roll less than the value then your grip on reality is starting to slip and you need to sacrifice one of your totems to remain sane. You still score the points but you are one step closer to losing your grip on reality and the game. The only exception to this is when you are scoring the winning word. For this one you have to pass you sanity check or you don't get the points which adds a nice bit of tension to the game. Your about to win but you have to make sure that you can make the die roll or else it will all be for naught and you'll have to try again next turn.

There are also a few optional rules which add even more Lovecraftian feel to the game such as the Unspellable Oath or Psychotherapy. The Oath lets you play any combination of letters when you only have one totem left (its amazing what crazy people say...) while Psychotherapy lets you discard your had to try to earn back a totem.

Overall I really can't recommend this game enough. The game play is fast and fun, the components are really nicely made, and its even still in print! That's right folks, I actually talked about something you can go pick up without spending a small fortune. So go check it out... but be careful what you say...

Gulo Gulo Gono Gono

After several months of role playing games, our little group has decided to take a short break from the play acting and bust out some board games. Mind you we are not talking about the more traditional games like Monopoly or Life here but something with a little more depth to them (Yeah, I admit that I'm a board game snob) so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at some of them.

Gulo Gulo
published by Zoch Verlag and Rio Grande Games

Okay, so maybe Gulo Gulo doesn't necessarily have more "depth" than you typical mainstream board game you can buy from Wally World but I would be willing to say that it's more fun. This is a dexterity game which might turn some people off but in my opinion it makes a great game for kids and adults. The fluff behind this game is that the baby gulo (aka a wolverine) was caught by a swamp vulture whose eggs it was trying to steal. Now the grown up gulos are trying to save him and grab a few eggs for themselves along the way.

The game "board" is constructed of a number of hexagonal tiles that are laid out face down on the table. During a player's turn, they can either try to move to tile further along the track by doing one of two things. They can either flip over one of the face down tiles and trying to take the wooden egg of the same color out of the "nest" without setting off the alarm or they can try to move to further along to a tile that has already been flipped by attempting the same thing. The catch is that you can only move to the next closest space of that color so if you flip over a yellow tile, you can only move to the next closest yellow tile in the path. This adds a little bit of strategy to the game as you try to decide whether to chance the random tile flip or go with what you can already see. To win the game you have to move the length of the track, find the baby gulo and take the purple egg out of the nest, thus saving the poor little baby who was just looking for a good omelet.

Of the kids games out there on the market I really think that Gulo Gulo was one of the best ones at crossing the lines between the something mindless like Mousetrap and something more advanced, making it an ideal game for families. Or at least it would be if it was still in print. As I was writing this I hoped over to Board Game Geek only to find out that the game sadly went out of print at the end of last year. Truly a shame as this is great children/family game. That said I'm sure that there are still a few copies floating around out there that have yet to find a home. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones to find it hidden away on a shelf in your LGS be sure to snatch that sucker up before it disappears forever.