“Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Original Series”, the next game from Bandai in the series, finally made its way into my household. I’d tell you to buckle your seatbelts, but for some reason they did away with those in the twenty-third century. I just chalked it up to William Shatner’s love for flinging himself across the bridge during a ship battle while conveniently ripping his tunic in the process. At any rate, this game will give players a ship, some equipment, and a very basic crew compliment. It’ll be your job to grow that crew compliment and form an unstoppable deck, capable of completing missions and events as they come up in order to reach your point goal. Let’s take a quick moment to check out the components and briefly see how the game is played before warping into the review.
Board Games
If there’s one area that I’ve always wanted to improve upon, it would have to be my health. I’ve recently lost twenty pounds through diet and exercise, but the latter is always a struggle. I don’t know about you, but I find exercise to be very, very boring. I’m the type that needs to be engaged intellectually as my brain rarely ever just switches off. Imagine my surprise when I discovered “Strength Stack 52”, a card game of sorts that promotes fitness. Before we take a look at this current Kickstarter project, I’d like to quickly thank Michael Volkin for reaching out and providing me with a press copy. It’s important to note that because the game is currently seeking funding through Kickstarter (as of 9/17/13), that my copy may or may not be fully representative of the final product.
Ahhhh, the caveman days…such simpler times. All we ever had to ever worry about was starting fires, inventing the wheel, and keeping those darned “Fruity Pebbles” away from Barney. Simple is exactly what “Stack & Attack” shoots for, setting its sights on audiences who love strategic games wrapped around casual themes. In this particular instance, “Stack & Attack” is a casual deck-builder game that tasks players with building a rock tower. Players will be endeavouring to build their own towers while at the same time, attempting to impede the progress of their opponents’ towers. Before we start throwing rocks at one another, I’d like to thank Chris Finlayson for reaching out to me and providing me with a free preview copy. It’s important to note that the game will be launching soon on Kickstarter (as of 9/7/13), so it goes without saying that the pictures and rules included in this article are subject to change.
“Walk the Plank!”, a game that blew its Kickstarter goal out of the water earlier this year (2013), features both dumb pirates and Davy Jones’ locker…you can see where this is headed. In this quick card game for three to five players, players will be trying to push and shove other pirate crews off of the plank and to their doom while trying to safeguard their own. Before we take a quick look at the components and how the game is played, I’d like to quickly thank the folks at Mayday Games for providing me with a press copy. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because I covered their recent Kickstarter success, “Click Clack Lumberjack”.
“Sheepie Sleepy”, a family-friendly board game for up to four players, is currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. “Sheepie Sleepy” tasks players with rolling dice and moving sheep around the board in an attempt to get as far as possible. The dice themselves include symbols for coffee, sleeping, sheep, and earplugs…some of which you’ll want to roll while others will end up setting you back. The game promises easy to learn rules and mechanics, making it fun and accessible for your entire family.
“Jenga” was created in the early 1970’s by one Leslie Scott, whose focus at the time was coming up with games that she could play with her family. “Jenga” also means “to build” in Swahili (your history lesson for today). For those of you who have never played this game before, you have now chance to play the game at casino daisy and win real cash, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing…though you’ll be deconstructing and possibly wrecking things in the process. For the benefit of those who have never had the fortune of playing “Jenga”, allow me to quickly outline the components and rules before launching into the review. It’s worth noting that there are a few different versions of “Jenga” on the market, so the content featured below may differ slightly from what you might see in your travels.
I never thought I’d see a match-3 game appear in board game form…but lo and behold, I saw “Bejeweled” sitting there on Kmart’s board game shelf. I must admit that I had my reservations…most board game adaptations of video games and vice versa usually don’t fare well for one reason or another. I’m personally not someone who is into match-3 games, though I do take exception to games like “Puzzle Quest” that implement similar mechanics but are a bit more involved. Jen, on the other hand, loves her some match-3 games. I quickly scoped out the price tag of fifteen bucks and figured, why not?
I’m not going to lie…I’m absolutely terrible at Golf. If there’s one thing that turns me into Mr. Hyde faster than driving amongst idiots, it’s Golf. Perhaps some of you know what I’m talking about. Luckily, you won’t have to worry about such things when playing “Off The Tee”, a current Kickstarter project that is seeking your help. “Off The Tee” is more along the lines of a trivia game, but with a Golf-esque theme. This game is for 2-8 players , ages 12+, and features a number of different goodies for fans and non-fans alike to sink their nine-iron into.
“Tok Tok Woodman”, a tree chopping game that successfully funded through Kickstarter in late 2011, is back and better than ever. The makers of the aforementioned Korean game have decided to tweak the original design in order to help the game appeal to a wider audience…hence, “Click Clack Lumberjack” was born. The revamped version improves upon the original packaging in order to make it more shelf-friendly, adds a few variants to give the game lasting appeal, and more. Before we take a quick look at this recent Kickstarter success, I’d like to thank Seth Hiatt from MayDay Games for reaching out and providing me with a press copy. It’s important to note that I received my press copy after the campaign ended and before retail copies were made. Thus, the contents in the pictures below may or may not be fully representative of the final product.
Have you been itching for a family-friendly tactical card game? Perhaps you liked my review of Pixel Tactics, but thought it might be too much for your kids to handle? With “WarFields”, I’m pleased to report that the search is over. It’s fun and easy to play, but yet still requires folks to think a little in regards to which cards they should place on the battlefield when. Before we take a sneak peek at this current Kickstarter project, I’d like to thank Chris Green from Menaveth Games for reaching out and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to note that because the game is still in the funding phase, the components featured in the pictures below may not be fully representative of the final product.
Are you the type of person that just HAS to come up with silly words to fit acronyms when you see them? Do you excel at games like “Scrabble” and “Jumbulaya” because your vocabulary knows no bounds? Are you witty and quick with clever comebacks in verbal sparring matches? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then “Phraze-It!” might be right up your alley. In this easy to learn game for kids and adults alike, you’ll be tasked with coming up with phrases that fit the letters that are randomly rolled from turn to turn. Before we take a quick look at the game, I’d like to thank Todd Greenwood from Lots-o-Watts Games for providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that the components featured in previews aren’t always representative of the final product.
Before you ask, no…this isn’t a game isn’t about some lost, wayward robotic faction that Megatron had hiding under his sleeve all this time. Rather, “Septikon” is a board game for two players that features tower-defense mechanics in a retro-futuristic atmosphere. For those of you who frequent my video game reviews, you’ll know that I love me some tower defense. Tower defense games have a way of keeping you on your toes, not to mention the fact that they can be hopelessly addicting. Needless to say, I was intrigued by what this game had to offer. Before we take a quick look at what “Septikon” is all about, I’d like to thank Ivan Karmanov from Hobby World for reaching out and providing me with a press copy. Since the game is still in the process of being funded through Kickstarter, you may or may not see a difference between the final product and the content featured below.
Ever dream of being a Royal Messenger? Now is your chance! In “Give It to the King!”, a game currently seeking funding through Kickstarter, players will be tasked with delivering messages to the King in order to earn gold. In an interesting twist, players will not only be able to control their own messengers, but those of whom which belong to other players. There’s a bit of strategy involved, but the game remains to be family-friendly.
Most families who browse family-friendly card games have at least heard of the game, “Apples to Apples”. It entails players taking turns as a judge, with the other players submitting cards to them in the hopes that said cards are picked. There’s a lot of fun to be had in games like this, especially if your group has an odd sense of humor. Now, make “Apples to Apples” a smidge more complex and add a “heist” theme to it. After the smoke clears, you’ll end up with “Larceny”, the next party game that is making its way onto the Kickstarter front. Before we take a sneak peek at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank William Smith from Waning Gibbous Games for providing me with a prototype copy. As with all prototypes and previews, it’s important to stress that the content featured below may or may not fully represent the final product.
Dragons do more than just breathe fire and boost the sales of undergarment products everywhere…they amass hoards filled with riches and wonder. In fact, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing in “Havok & Hijinks”, a game that’s currently seeking funding through a Kickstarter campaign (as of 8/26/13). In this two to four player family-friendly card game, players will take control of a single dragon and attempt to be the first one to expand their hoard to a value of fifteen. Before we take a sneak peek at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank Adam “Ferrel” Trzonkowski of Epic Slant Press LLC for providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often representative of the final product, so the contents in the pictures you’ll see below are subject to change.
I liked reviewing “Forbidden Island” for a lot of reasons…but the major sticking points revolved around how easy it was to play and its attractive cooperative theme. To steal a quote from said review, “Younger kids who enjoy the idea behind Pandemic but are overwhelmed by its rules and gameplay mechanics will probably enjoy Forbidden Island.” When I discovered “Forbidden Desert’s” existence, I knew that I had to give it a go to see how it compared to its predecessor. Before we take a look at this game in further detail, I’d like to thank Nora Meiners from Ceaco/Gamewright for providing me with a review copy.