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.
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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.
So, I was taking a look at some of my older reviews…especially the ones that weren’t published with the format that I’ve come to adopt and enjoy. I admittedly bashed “For Sale” pretty hard and based on suggestions from the community, I’ve decided to take another look at the game to see if my opinion about it has changed. Let’s take a quick look at what the game is about and how it plays.
“Crootle”, put simply, tasks players with matching colored tiles in an attempt to form a path from one end of the board to the other. Sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no. While being able to match colors is a skill that we learn at a very young age, the manner in which players place the tiles will ultimately determine who wins and who loses. I have weakness for games that are easy to play but involve a bit of critical thinking and strategic planning…to that end, “Crootle” certainly fits the bill. Before we get started with the preview, I’d like to thank the folks at World Village Games, LLC for providing me with a prototype copy. As with most prototypes, it’s important to stress that they usually aren’t representative of the final product. The content in the pictures featured below are therefore subject to change.
More and more board games are being funded through Kickstarter as of late, and I’m not going to complain. “Bring em on!”, I say. Most of them show a lot of promise, and such is the case with “Elemental Blast.”
I’ve written so many zombie articles at this point that I’m all out of lead-ins and funny puns. So, you may ask, why do I continue to cover zombie games? Well, why not? Most of the zombie games I come across are incredibly fun to play, and “Tiny Zombies” ended up being no different in that regard. Don’t let the name fool you, these zombies are anything but tiny. In this instance, you and your friends will team up and take on the role of a group of survivors. For those of you who have played the video game, think “Left 4 Dead”, but on your dining room table with cards. Will your group successfully make it to the safe zone before you succumb to the horde? Before we take a quick look at what makes this game tick, I’d like to thank Christopher Haskins from Nord Games for sending out a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that prototypes aren’t usually representative of the final product, so the content and pictures featured below are subject to change.
Sharpen your pencils and flex your math muscles, it’s time to play “Mahta Mahti”! In this easy-to-play card game designed for three to ten players, you’ll be trying to match numbers on the cards you play in order to score points. The game itself comes with a deck of one-hundred and twenty-nine square playing cards. The four numbers listed on any one card can vary, forcing players to think about which card they should play when considering the playing field as it stands. Before we get into specifics, I’d like to thank Jeff Greenmun from Mahta Mahti Ent, LLC for providing me with a prototype copy. It’s worth noting that because this copy is a prototype, it’s possible that the pictures you’ll see in the content below are not fully representative of the final product.
Show of hands…how many of you folks dabbled in creating your own space missions in whatever pop-culture medium you happened to like at the time? I myself had a very bad addiction to the “X-Wing” series on the PC, followed by “TIE Fighter” and later, “X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter”. The latter of the three even had a downloadable mission editor which I relentlessly picked at. “Gunship: First Strike!” reminds me a little of those days, as I didn’t find myself focused on any one ship, but on the larger picture at hand. In this particular game, players will be given three different types of ships and will be endeavouring to outmaneuver the other in deadly space combat. Before we start priming the turrets and charging the shields, I’d like to thank Steve Wood from Escape Pod Games for providing me with a free review copy.
When I first laid eyes on this particular game, I had trouble envisioning just what was inside the box. Did modern-day technology advance to the point where they can shrink herds of buffalo and put them inside a small box? Is this some odd variant of “Pass The Pigs”? Thankfully, it turned out to be neither, despite how badly I wanted miniature buffalo to go stampeding through my living room. “Buffalo”, in this case, takes on the role of a verb meaning, “to outwit, puzzle, or baffle”. It’s a card game designed for two to eight players, meant to be played by older children and adults. Before we get started checking out this game in further detail, I’d like to thank Amanda Young from Tiltfactor for providing me with a free review copy.
“Apples to Apples” and “Crappy Birthday” are big hits in my house, as both (we feel) are casual games and a lot of fun to play. “Awkward Moment” is similar to the aforementioned games, moreso to the former. For those of you who haven’t played games of this genre, you are essentially choosing someone to be a judge. Players then submit a card or cards to the judge anonymously and whoever’s card gets chosen scores points. Of course, the rules vary depending on the game, but that’s the basic idea. Before we take a look at the rules and gameplay elements of this particular one, I’d like to thank Amanda Young from Tiltfactor for providing me with a free review copy.
I’m a sucker for zombie games, whether they be open-world post-apocolyptic survival games or themes that involve players being the zombies themselves. “ZOMBIEPOX” is neither, focusing more on zombie control and outbreak prevention. Players will be teaming up to prevent the spread of the disease (ZOMBIEPOX, hence the name) all the while vaccinating and curing as many as they can. Before we get started fighting off the undead, I’d like to thank Amanda Young from Tiltfactor for providing me with a free review copy.
“The Agents”, put simply, features more agents than an episode of “Get Smart”. It’s a tactical, turn-based card game that tasks players with earning the most victory points. As always, there’s a catch: cards have two different effects. You can play one of those effects on yourself, but the other effect will be made available to your opponent. It’s an interesting give-and-take mechanic that I don’t see very often in card games, but before I get into all of that, I’d like to thank Saar Shai for providing me with a free prototype copy. While the prototype may not fully represent the finished product, it is close enough to where I could do a full review. Be advised however that some of the rules mentioned below may be subject to change.
Go on, admit it…you played with blocks as a kid. There’s no sense in denying it. We, as educated and mature adults (ha!), often refine our tastes as we get older…yet there are occasions where the simplest things can grant us the most enjoyment. “Convert” is one such item, tasking players with stacking blocks in such a way that would earn them the most points. It’s a very simple, yet elegant abstract game for two players that you won’t want to play just once. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Ian Reed from Yodeo Games for providing me with a free press copy. It’s important to note that the copy I received was a prototype, meaning that it may look a bit different from those created during production. The box and the scorecards, for example, will look much better in the final version than in the pictures below. Because my copy was close enough in quality to the final product however, I opted to do a full review.