I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to lead armies of livestock against people that I didn’t like. Some might argue that there are more effective & non-violent methods for dealing with such people, but nothing says “in your face” more than letting a herd of cows run rampant on someone’s property. The smell from the droppings alone would almost certainly guarantee that the victim in question would have a rather crappy day (ba dump ch!). Thank you, thank you…no autographs please! At any rate, we’re here today to take a look at “Livestock Uprising”, a strategy/war game that involves…you guessed it, livestock. Don’t worry, there’s no manure involved. Rather, you’ll be collecting resources and recruiting livestock in an attempt to create a “super army” and wipe out all who oppose you. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Game Designer Mike Cameron from Dog Might Games for reaching out and providing me with a free press copy.
Board Games
“Roller Coaster Tycoon” meets “Zooloretto“…at least, that’s the impression I got a few minutes into playing “Steam Park”. It’s like “RCT” in the sense that you’re attempting to build a successful theme park, but like “Zooloretto” in the sense that you’re placing structures down inside a small grid and maximizing spatial efficiency in the process. Theme park simulators and management games have always been up my alley, so dropping thirty bucks to try it out seemed like a good investment. The question remains, “is it any good?”
If you’re concerned that this game is a horse racing betting simulator, you needn’t worry. “Trifecta” comes off as a more complex version of “Blackjack” (at least to me) in that you’ll be endeavoring to form rows with cards that total between twenty-one and twenty-six points. Each player will have their own grid with which to work and must obey specific rules that govern each row. Before I delve too deeply into that, I’d like to thank Karen Wolterman from Victory Point Games for reaching out and sending me a press copy.
The life of a pirate can be an appealing one at times…no responsibility, no one to answer to, and all the gold & adventure you can handle! “Dead Men Tell No Tales”, a cooperative board game seeking your help on Kickstarter, promises the latter in spades. Like the ever popular “Pandemic”, “Flash Point: Fire Rescue” and “Forbidden Island”, players will be racing to complete particular objectives while up against a ticking clock. In this case, you and your friends have already done the hard work of catching up to and shredding a ship full of the undead. It’s up to you to board it, take the treasure, and get out lest ye share a locker with Davy Jones.
I generally shy away from tactical card games nowadays…not because I don’t find them appealing, but because I’m usually too busy to devote many hours to a single game. “Ruckus” breaks with that tradition, offering a tactical card game experience in under forty minutes, max. To sum this bad boy up, you and your opponents will be preparing a goblin army in an attempt to win skirmishes and earn victory points. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Michael Lubbers from Goblin Army Games for providing me with a free press copy. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because they are the same folks who developed “Monolith“.
My fourteen-year-old stepdaughter Carolyn introduced me to this game via an app for her mobile device. Don’t ask me if it was an iPhone, iPad, iTablet, iNook, or iCarly, because I couldn’t tell you. I’m getting too old for all that crap. All I know is that one night, my family was taking turns holding an electronic device up to their heads while everyone else shouted at them in strange accents. Being a gamer who enjoys a wide variety of genres helped me to determine that they weren’t all in need of a straight jacket. Rather, they were playing “Heads Up!”, a game featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. As I’m wont to do, I got curious and reached out to the developer for a press copy of the board game. Along those lines, I’d like to quickly thank Maria Aguilar from Spin Master Ltd. for providing me with one.
Like “Scrabble”? How about “Dominoes”? If you said yes to either question, then you may want to pay attention as “Double Double Dominoes” is a blending of both games. Players will be tasked with placing their dominoes in “Domino” fashion on a game board reminiscent of “Scrabble”. Placing dominoes on point squares will net you a path up the victory point track, though you may also inadvertently cause your opponents to do the same…more on that later. Before we dive into this particular game, I’d like to thank both Ray Wehrs and Cassidy Werner from Calliope Games for providing me with a free press copy. Calliope Games are the same people who brought you “Tsuro“, “Tsuro of the Seas“, “Roll For It!“, “Got ‘Em!“, and “Ugh!“, for those of you who recognize the name.
Sometimes it pains me to only have one brain and ten fingers…there are just so many great “Early Access” games out there with tons of potential. Like the previous articles in this series, this is a quick look at the games I’ve been gifted via their respective developers. All of them are currently in an Alpha or Beta state (as of today’s posting), so this is less of an official review and more of a quick look at what they currently have to offer in their present state. Enjoy!
“Ugh!”, as best as I can describe it, is a press-you-luck set-making game with a caveman theme…I’ll give you a few seconds to process that. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, though it does offer players some interesting choices. Before we get into all of that though, I’d like to thank both Ray Wehrs and Cassidy Werner from Calliope Games for providing me with a free press copy. If the names sound familiar, it’s because Calliope Games are the same folks who brought you “Tsuro“, “Tsuro of the Seas“, “Roll For It!“, and the more recent “Got ‘Em!“.
I’ve been following “Yushino” ever since it was successfully funded through Kickstarter in September of 2013. In short, it’s “Scrabble” but with numbers. This crossword game will likewise test your math and number recognition skills as opposed to your spelling abilities. Originally, the developers wanted to name this game “Enable the Numbers”, but instead opted for a shorter name. Having used “Google Translate”, they came up with “Sūji o shiyō kanō ni” and took parts of it to come up with “Yushino”. I admittedly don’t speak Japanese, but the name is catchy enough. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Yiannis Tsiounis, the Founder & CEO of “Yushino”, for providing me with a free press copy.
Four different factions? The ability to customize each faction with units of your choosing? A customizable battlefield that offers a unique experience each time you play? Where do I sign up? “FACTIONS”, a game currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, promises all of these things and more. It’s like “Stratego”, but on seven different types of steroids. Your goal? Manuever your armies to capture key victory points on the battlefield all the while taking the battle to your opponent. Each faction/unit has unique abilities that will keep things fresh and exciting.
Elimination games can be hard to play with others sometimes, depending on the group. Those who hate losing or always feel like they’re being ganged up on can ruin the entire experience for everyone else. “Tsuro” is one of those rare games that my household will play on a regular basis, despite the fact that winning involves being the last one on the board. I think it has to do with the fact that you’re limited to placing tiles adjacent to your own pawn…if others happen to be affected by it, all the better. There’s a little of that in “Got ‘Em” as well, though it does tend to be a bit more aggressive. Before we take a brief look at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank both Ray Wehrs and Cassidy Werner from Calliope Games for providing me with a free press copy. If the names sound familiar, it’s because Calliope Games are the same folks who created “Tsuro“, “Tsuro of the Seas“, and “Roll For It!“.
There are a TON of trick-taking games out there…but seriously, how many of them feature dragons? “THE DRAGON GAMES”, a family-friendly trick-taking card game that will be launching on Kickstarter on or around 6/28/14, has them in “Spades” (pardon the reference). In this variant, players will assume the role of an actual playing piece, unlike most card games of the genre. By winning tricks, you’ll be able to advance your pawn further up the playing board. The first player to reach the end of the path, wins! Before we take a brief look at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank Carl Hansen and Rebecca Smith from Dream Options Inc. 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 featured in this article (including the rules) subject to change. The symbols on the dice, for example, will be a bit more clear in the final version.
Listen up, you trick-taking card game fans! “THE DRAGON GAMES”, a family-friendly card game reminiscent of “Spades” and “Clubs”, will be launching on Kickstarter on June 28th, 2014. As the name implies, this isn’t your standard run-of-the-mill trick-taking game. While it does use terms like “trump” and “trick” regularly, it features a game board, an action card deck, and of course, plenty of dragons! Winning tricks will nudge your character along the board, but you’ll need to pay attention to the colored spaces and the suits being played to get ahead of the others. A written and video preview are in the works for those of you wanting to learn more, so stay tuned for more content as it’s released.
Pythagorean theorem? Check. The atomic number of Carbon? Check. The correct use of “their”, “there”, and “they’re” in a sentence? Check. The capital of South Dakota? Ummmm…let me get back to you on that. As well as I did in school (proud honor student), there were always a few things that I just couldn’t grasp: geography, the lunch menu, and why “The Custom House” in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” was necessary. I can’t help you on the latter two, but “State Master“, a game currently seeking your support on Kickstarter, might just be able to help with the geography bit. In short, it’s a family-friendly card game that will help teach players about the fifty US states. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Nat Dunn, the founder of Homeschool 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 components, making everything featured below subject to change.
Most of us have been there: sword in hand, shield in the other, and a trusty book of spells in your back pocket for emergencies. Whether you’re playing an action game, an RPG, or an adventure game, this scene will probably be second nature to you by now. Enter “RPG Merchant Tycoon!!”, a game that reverses your role and puts you behind a counter. Rather than selling off all the junk you looted from the corpses of your dead enemies to some random NPC, you’ll be running a shop and providing customers with the loot they’ll need to succeed. It’s a bit like “Recettear” minus the dungeon crawling. When I first learned about this game, I initially suspected that it was developed by a disgruntled NPC merchant who was tired of having to buy useless junk…”oh, the irony!” he’d/she’d gleam happily. In all seriousness though, I’d like to thank game designer Ryan Cowler from FiercePunch!! Games for reaching out and providing me with a press copy.