So it’s been established that you like to kill dragons and other mythical creatures, but you don’t have the time to play for hours delving through dungeons in order to do it. Well, what if you based “combat” entirely around card tricks (straights, pairs, flushes, etc.) and simplified the game to the point where it only takes twenty minutes to play? Enter “Dragonwood”, a game that features all of these things (and more). Before I elaborate on that however, I’d like to thank Marketing Coordinator Nora Meiners from Ceaco/Gamewright for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Board Games
Ingduhl, a “diabolical shadow demon” whose name rolls right of the tongue, must be stopped. That, dear player, is where you come in. In “Ember”, a game that’ll be seeking funding through the Kickstarter process sometime in July 2015, tasks players with collecting the most Ember stones in order vanquish this demon and win the game. Before we begin, I’d like to thank Josh Paugh, the co-owner of Paw-Warrior Games, for providing me with a prototype for preview purposes. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often reflective of the final product, making everything you see in the article (including the rules)subject to change.
I don’t remember much from my childhood, though I do remember a certain little cartoon featuring two sneaky chipmunks that would often steal acorns from right under the nose of a certain yellow dog. While you won’t be taking on the role of Chip and Dale in this game, you will be aiming to score as many points as possible by rolling acorns. Of course, it won’t be that easy…rolling all squirrels or cars will add to the chaos and force players to lose all their hard-earned points for that turn. Before I go any further, I’d like to thank Marketing Coordinator Nora Meiners from Ceaco/Gamewright for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Are you the type of person that can not only bluff well, but keep track of the web of lies you’re spinning in the process? If you answered “yes”, then “Coup” is the game for you. As the head of an Italian city-state, it’ll be your job to eliminate all the other heads (players) and be the last one standing. To do that, you’ll need to make use of varying card abilities whilst keeping your identities both secret and safe. If people generally laugh at your poker face, then you’ve got a LONG road ahead of you…or possibly a short one, whichever way you want to look at it.
There are a few different versions of “Love Letter” out on the market, all of which sell for about ten to twelve bucks a pop. Why did I choose the “Batman” variant as my first “Love Letter” game? Because…”I’m not wearing hockey pads.” Bonus points if you know which movie that quote is from. Anyway, like “Love Letter”, players will be trying to figure out who has what character whilst drawing cards from the deck and making use of their abilities to knock other players out of the game. So, take your thinking cowls out of your utility belt and let’s get this review on the road…no, I’m driving. You really thought that YOU would get to drive the Batmobile? No, no…”I’m Batman”.
Tongue twisters do more than make you look like a blubbering idiot…in fact they’re quite educational in the sense that they help improve one’s pronunciation skills. “Twistocity”, a game that’ll be seeking your support in June of 2015, takes this idea a step further and forces players to do silly voices on top of the tongue twister they’ve been assigned. Special thanks to Michael Kiely, the founder of Mass Middle Games, for reaching out and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often reflective of the final product, making everything you see below (including the rules) subject to change.
There are a lot of games on the market that feature beautifully sculpted miniatures. “MIDDARA”, a game currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, takes it a step further and puts an emphasis on story telling. The project has already quadrupled its goal with nineteen days still remaining (as of 6/4/15), though it’s not to late to help unlock some of those stretch goals.
Who’s ready for another “12 Realms” expansion? “12 Realms: Bedtime Story” is the latest of em’ all and is currently seeking your support on Kickstarter. Amazingly (but unsurprisingly), the project has already reached its goal with 18 days still left to go (as of 6/1/15)…though there’s still time to buy into the project now to get some nice bonus content via the various pledge levels.
“Charades“ has a lot of variants…”Pictionary”, “Heads Up!”, and “Guesstures” just to name a few. “Concept” is more like “Pictionary” in the sense that it’s visual intensive, though in this case, the pictures are already drawn for you. It’s up to players to convey the word or phrase using various picture icons along with tokens of varying shapes and colors. Before we go any further, I’d like to quickly thank Dominic Rouillier from Asmodee for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
I have yet to see a board game that truly captures the feel of running your very own Italian Mafia…that is, until I ran into “GAMBONI”, a game that is currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. After all, what’s a Mafia game without things like power, respect, and running your very own businesses? As someone who’s played “Omerta: City of Gangsters” and “Mafia” (video games), I admit to really being interested on where this game is going to go in the upcoming months.
Just when I think I’ve played them all, something like “Hogger Logger” comes along that reaffirms my faith in the gaming community. While it might appear to be a simple “High-Low” card game on the surface, it has some really creative mechanics that gives the game enough oomph to set it apart from the rest. I know of at least 341 Kickstarter backers (who raised $12,279) who would agree with me. Before I go any further, I’d like to quickly thank Ryan Shapiro from Hogger Logger LLC for reaching out and providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
“Five Tribes” can be a little difficult to describe, mainly because there’s so much going on at once. It has “worker placement” and “set collecting” mechanics, yet the execution is not what I expected…that is, turns play out as if I was playing the simple yet elegant game of “Mancala”. Still confused? Don’t feel bad, I was too at first. All you need to know for now is that the Sultanate of Naqala has died and players will be competing to take his place through the ancient art of earning the most victory points. Don’t scoff…our history would be a little less bloody had folks back in the day actually adopted such a policy. Before get into how the game plays, I’d like to quickly thank Madison Sites from Days of Wonder for providing me with a free press copy for review purposes.
Like the idea of “Acquire” but find it too complicated for either yourself or your gaming group? “The Game of 49” might be a bit more your speed. In short, it’s an auction game that tasks players with getting four chips of their color in a row on a 7×7 grid…doing so earns them victory. I suppose one could compare it to “Bingo”, but with auctioning instead of random number calling. Further, players will be able to earn back the money they’re spending from time to time, though the amount they earn is often dependent on how many tokens they have out at the time. Before I go any further, I’d like to thank Game Designer & Publisher Mark Corsey for reaching out and providing me with a free prototype copy for review purposes.
There are some war games out on the market that can literally take days, even weeks to complete. Now, I’m all for large and grand battles…but there are days where I need to tone it down (just a tad) to make way for real life engagements. That’s why I can appreciate games like “Fog & Friction WWII”, a card/strategy game that’s currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. It’s easier to learn and play but features artillery, tanks, supply routes, planes, battlefields…almost everything you’d expect from an in-depth war game. What’s more, expansions are planned that’ll allow you to custom build your very own Axis/Allies deck…who doesn’t like a little deck building from time to time?
As a review critic, I own a TON of tabletop games. I of course am not complaining, but I often run into situations where I need to buy extra “stuff” for some of those expandable games. Take “Magic: The Gathering” for example…while at first glance you might think you’d only need card sleeves or a binder, you may also need some dice to act as counters. Just where are you going to put all that stuff? Enter: “The Adventure Case: the Ultimate Tabletop Gaming Accessory”, a project that’s currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. With still over a month to go, the project has blown past its $1,000 goal and is currently sitting at $12,519 (as of 4/30/15). If you’ve ever wanted a beautiful-looking case with which to hold some of your miscellaneous gaming supplies, then look no further.
I have an extremely low tolerance when it comes to bullying, mainly because I was often a victim myself (I was short and hella-smart). I simply can’t stand people who are jealous or miserable enough to go about making someone else’s life harder than it needs to be. As an adult you learn that bullying is mostly misguided and misdirected anger, but somehow that doesn’t give you comfort when you’re just an eight year old kid who doesn’t know any better. “Bad Bully!” takes me back to those days, though this time I can actually DO something about it. Here, players will be targeted by the game (a bully) and be tasked with being either the last one standing or the one with the highest point total at the end of the game. Before we get started, I’d like to quickly thank Game Designer Anton Spalding for reaching out and providing me with a press copy for review purposes.