I can’t draw. I’ve tried. I can tell you how to find the missing side of a right triangle using Pathagorem’s theorem, but I can’t cut along dotted lines to save my life. At first, I was a bit weary of previewing a game that tasks you to draw…but once I read that you’ll be using a blindfold, I was IN. I had no excuse for drawing poorly before, but now…NOW it’s the blindfold’s fault! Totally not mine…yeah, we’ll go with that.
Board Games
All posts tagged Board Games
The year is 1875…ten years before Doc Brown was thrown back into the past because of a stray bolt of lightning…but I digress. “ToughTimes” is a 2-4 player card game (30-60 minute average playing time) that will task players with achieving “Stability” by collecting certain cards and resources. There aren’t any DeLoreans around, but there does exist a powerful “Saloon Time Machine” card that can erase the present…no joke!
Special thanks to Travis Mullinix for sending me a copy for review purposes. Per FTC regulations I’m required to note that I was paid to cover this game, but any and all opinions are my own. As always, the only thing paid for here was my time.
A long, long time ago, my grandmother taught me the game of “WAR”. The concept was easy enough…each player gets half a deck of shuffled, regular playing cards and you both flip your top cards one at a time. The player with the higher value placed both cards into their own personal discard pile. Ties were handled a bit differently…draw another face down and another faceup…the card that was facedown determined who won (the faceup card was simply spoils of war). This continued until one player got all the cards and was declared winner. “Twisted Game of War” goes a step beyond that and introduces its own quirky way of playing. Special thanks to the folks at Mental Eclipse for sending me a copy for review purposes. I’m required by FTC regulations to note that I was paid to cover this game, but any and all opinions are my own.
I grew up playing “Chess”, as most of you regular readers / viewers already know. I’ve played in countless tournaments as a child and dabbled in a game or two as an adult. When I was 12 I believe my FICO rating was somewhere around 1400…I did okay. As an adult I’ve come to appreciate the crazy amount of “Chess” variants out on the market. One of them is “Martian Chess” by Looney Labs and I’d like to quickly thank them for sending me a copy for review purposes.
2020 has been a rough year for everyone. I myself had 3 surgeries this year and I am now trying to find a way to deal with chronic pain that keeps me awake at all hours of the night. I’m so thankful that game developers/publishers continue to pump out games so that the rest of us gamer folk can enjoy them, especially now that social distancing is a thing. Platforms like Tabletop Simulator and Steam have been incredibly helpful. I personally would love to see more board games go digital.
The universe is vast and full of stars. Some of these stars line up to form constellations…but why I am telling you this? You’re probably one of those people that plan their day around the daily zodiac horoscope. Sorry, I’m a Taurus, I tell it like it is! I digress, we’re here today to talk about “Twinkle”, a tabletop game that’ll be entering the Kickstarter process in December, 2020. Before we begin it’s worth noting that the copy I received is a prototype and thus, everything you’re about to see is subject to change. I’m also required per FTC regulations to disclose that I was paid for my time to cover this game, but any and all opinions are my own.
I’m conflicted. One on hand, I like this game’s art, mechanics, and overall theme. On the other, the backbone of the game is half-formed and the balance off. “The Few And the Cursed” is a deck-builder / western that tasks players with getting the most grit / VP. There is no deck-building market however…players draw two cards and choose one to add to their hand immediately, which is interesting. Again…I’m conflicted, because bad RNG can mess up your deck plans and there’s nothing you can do about it.
As an older dad with a teenage son and plenty of fur-babies, I rarely have time to indulge on a long-winded RPG. “Dragon Age”, “The Elder Scrolls”, “The Witcher”…I try to play them but often never finish them because of how busy I can get. “RPG Battles: The Card Game”, an upcoming Kickstarter project, aims to curb the long play times with a quick 15-30 minute play session. It also supports 2-6 players and has a recommended age limit of 14+. Before we get into the specifics I’m required by FTC regulations to disclose that I was paid to cover this game, though any and all recommendations are my own.
Space exploration, dice manipulation, resource gathering…”Stellar Leap” has a lot going for it. In this game, players will be trying to earn the most prestige (victory points) by completing missions, growing population, discovering new planetary bodies, and so on. Like in “Settlers of Catan”, resources are earned by rolling dice. Whoever has rested population on the planets of the numbers rolled will earn resources! I personally like games like this as it keeps players invested even when it isn’t their turn.
There’s a fire in the library and only you and your friends can go in to save as many books as possible! “Fire in the Library” is a push your luck game where you’ll be drawing cubes of different colors from a bag and deciding whether or not to continue. Red/fire is bad and can end your turn with zero points. Luckily, you’ll have some tools to help you out along the way.
I can’t say that I’ve ever played a game where I managed a group of street musicians…yet that’s what you’ll end up doing in “Big Easy Busking”. You’ll be assigning energy cubes from three different musicians from your team (trumpet, drums, sax) and play songs onto the available crowd cards / venues in order to hopefully earn both majority and threshold points.
“Dreams of Tomorrow” is probably one of the more beautiful games I’ve ever played. It’s the kind of game that grabs your attention from across the room and draws you over to inquire more about it. It’s a tableau building game where players will be catching dreams by paying experience, then weaving said dreams by paying creativity and hope. Said dreams have abilities on them that can be used to give players an edge, but once a dream is weaved over, the ability is lost. Only weaved dreams count as points in the endgame, so you’ll have to weigh your options carefully.
“Tetris Link” is a fairly enjoyable tabletop game that involves a little bit of dexterity. That, coupled with the fact that there aren’t a whole lot of games like it on the market, makes it a “play more than once” candidate in my household. “Drop It”, truth be told, was even better. Here, you’ll be paying attention to piece placement rules moreso than “Tetris Link” as well as score points in a number of different ways. In other words, I found it to be a bit more strategic.
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Most of us have been there…reluctantly agreeing to house a family member or friend for a certain period of time and it turning out to be more than we bargained for. My ex’s cousin, who shall remain nameless, took hour long showers and was quite the drama queen. He then had the nerve to tell me that I was selfish for kicking him out even though I was supporting him while he went to school. *Shrug*
“Apples to Apples” set something of a trend. I’ve seen hundreds of variations of this card game out on the market ever since its release. Who could blame these developers? Apples to Apples is not only highly popular but a fun social experience to boot. Now, I can’t possibly cover them all because science. That being said, I do take on those that either seem unique or make me laugh really, really hard. That’s why I agreed to look at “Top Tale”, a game coming to Kickstarter in mid-July. Since the game has not released yet it’s worth noting that my copy may not be representative of the finished product. I’m also required by FTC regulations to disclose that I was paid to cover this game, but any and all opinions are my own.