Show of hands…how many of you “lost it” when you first saw the trailer for this game? *Raises hand* I’m a big Back to the Future fan, mainly because I find the idea of time travel so appealing. I would love to have the ability to go back in time and tell my earlier self things that would have saved me a lot of headaches…at the risk of creating a universe shattering paradox of course. I’d also love to see how I’d end up in ten years, just to see if I’m on the right track in life now.
Mankind has been fighting over natural resources for decades. We’ve evolved to a point where we can settle most of our differences through diplomacy and trade, but a time will come in the far (or near) future when certain resources will be endangered. I wonder how civilized we would be as a race and how well we’d truly react under pressure?
I recently reviewed Wits & Wagers Family and promised a separate review of this edition, mainly because the components and bidding mechanics were slightly different. Both have the same general premise but as you’ll soon see, this version is a bit more complicated.
When I was purchasing Say Anything and Say Anything Family, I saw both Wits & Wagers and Wits & Wagers Family and thought I’d give them a try as well. I normally don’t buy games without doing research first, but they looked like a lot of fun.
Due to my busy schedule as of late, I’ve been opting to review some of the cheaper family games that I’ve run across a few times in the store. It turned out that most of them were pretty good games…Monopoly Deal and Scrabble Slam!, just to name a few. Yahtzee and I have never been the best of friends, quite the contrary in fact. If you’ve been following along in my reviews, you’ll know that dice and I don’t always speak the same language. I am pretty sure that dice are prejudiced against Italians named “Vince”, I just haven’t been able to prove it yet.
For years, kids (at least ours) have always acted as if they know everything. We, as adults, don’t know a thing, even though we’ve lived longer than they have. I do admit to forgetting a lot of the things that the kids are currently learning in school, but I’ll put my life experiences and know-how against knowing all the different species of shark known to exist any day of the week. *Shrug* Well kids, here’s your chance to get one up on your elders…
I was never a fan of dice games, especially Yahtzee. I think I must have left dice in my pocket one too many times as a kid…to the point where the little buggers got tired of the spin cycle. Maybe they came up with their version of the twilight bark and alerted their brethren to screw me over any time I happened to need them.
I came across this little gem about a year ago and wasn’t sure if I’d take a liking to it. It played very similarly to Tetris, but promised the introduction of various musical instruments as more of the board was covered. Its price tag was five dollars on Steam, so that factored in a bit…what’s more, the developers donated a portion of sales to charity. Not only was the game cheap, but they were helping to support a good cause. It was honestly a no-brainer, so I picked it up and dove right in.
I’ve been playing Endless Space for a while now, having been fortunate enough to be involved in the Beta. For those of you who haven’t heard about this game yet, it’s a 4X space sim, much like the Galactic Civilizations series. For those of you who have never heard of Galactic Civilization, then think of the game Civilization, but in space.
Jennifer introduced this game to me and I figured I’d share it with the rest of you. Most people have at least heard of the card game “Rummy”, however there is a variant called “Aggravation Rummy” that makes the original card game that much more challenging. Let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need to play and how the game is played.
I was anxious to get my hands on Star Trek: The Next Generation Deck Building Game, mainly because I’m a Star Trek fiend. I owned the Star Trek: The Next Generation Customizable Card Game as a kid (review to come eventually) and have recently reviewed Star Trek Fleet Captains and Star Trek Expeditions.
This was the first trivia game that I remember playing as a teenager that I actually liked. I can’t remember if we were sporting the Windows 3.1 or 95 back then, but I remember that the game was really funny. I didn’t have a lot of games that pushed the boundaries of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, but this one took all three and defecated all over them. I used to play this game just to listen to the end credits…mainly to see what new Xena Warrior Princess spoof would come up. Every skit had me in stitches, which was saying a lot considering how much I hated being a teenager.
I’ve reviewed a few worker placement games already…Lords of Waterdeep and Agricola, for example. For those of you new to the genre, worker placement games task players with strategically placing (you guessed it) workers around the board in various places in order to gain resources and other bonuses. The kinds of resources you can acquire in this fashion vary from game to game, but you’re ultimately using said resources to perform other actions and ultimately trying to score more points than everyone else.
Tetris Link, a board game that I recently reviewed, was well received in our household. When I discovered that there was a Tetris card game, however, I was on the fence. How can something like Tetris be adapted to cards? Yet, I couldn’t ignore that the board game adaptation was an overall success among the kids.
I recently reviewed an old favorite of mine called Clue: The Great Museum Caper and thought I would keep with the theme by taking a look at a similar game called Scotland Yard.
If you’ve been following along, you may have picked up that I enjoy strategy games. I like reasoning and problem solving…mainly because I enjoy the journey itself and the satisfaction that I receive when I do come through successfully. Tower defense games scream strategy, as you are constantly trying to find the best setup possible to stave off whatever those enemy mobs are after.