Glory. Everyone wants it, but few end up acquiring it. This is especially the case with this quote unquote “little” card game that will soon be punching and kicking its way onto Kickstarter. In “IncrediBrawl”, players will be given their own set of cards and must duke it out with others in an attempt to earn the most glory (victory) points. Before we take a sneak peek at this particular card game, I’d like to thank Jake Leeman from Vision 3 for reaching out to me and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to note that the prototype copy is not representative of the final components, so the pictures and content you’ll see in this article are subject to change.
Board Games
All posts tagged Board Games
No one really knows where the legendary Lost Dutchman Gold Mine is, but that won’t stop people from looking for it. There’s still some speculation as to whether or not the legend is actually true, but those who do believe estimate the mine to lie somewhere in the southwestern parts of the United States. The mine itself is named after one Jacob Waltz (a German immigrant) who reportedly found the mine but kept its location secret. In, “The Lost Dutchman”, players will be taking on the role of prospectors in search of this legend. Not only will they be competing against one another, but they’ll be braving the elements and trying to overcome various dangers. Before we begin checking out the game in further detail, I’d like to thank the folks at Game Salute for providing me with a free review copy.
Kirk: “Bones, did you ever hear of a doomsday machine?”
McCoy: “No. I’m a doctor, not a mechanic.”
Kirk: “It’s a weapon built primarily as a bluff. It’s never meant to be used. So strong, it could destroy both sides in a war. Something like the old H-Bomb was supposed to be. That’s what I think this is. A doomsday machine that somebody used in a war uncounted years ago. They don’t exist anymore, but the machine is still destroying.”
-Star Trek, “The Doomsday Machine”, Airdate: Oct. 20, 1967
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist)
“Doomworks”, put simply, is a card game that tasks players with building a doomsday device. Each player will be endeavouring to complete their machine before everyone else while attempting to earn the most victory points in the process. This Kickstarter success nearly doubled its funding goal and just recently hit the virtual shelves with an Earth-shattering kaboom. Before I get into all of that however, I’d like to thank Daniel Schroeder from One Man Act Games for providing me with a free review copy.
Fasten your seatbelts and place your tray tables into their upright positions…we’re about to take a look at “Airlines Europe”, a board game that deals with airline companies, stocks, and quite a bit of strategy. In “Airlines Europe”, you’ll be attempting to earn the most victory points by having the most shares in the most successful airlines on the playing board. Let’s take a quick look at the components and how the game is played before heading into the review.
“Do Your Job”, a unique card game that features two different ways to play, will be hitting Kickstarter soon. It’s designed to be a quick filler in between longer games, or simply for when you and your family only have ten minutes to spare on game night. Before we sneak a peak at what makes it tick, I’d like to thank Billy Mearns from Wicked Manatee Games for reaching out to me and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to note that the artwork on the prototype copy is not final.
“Heartland” is a three-dimensional tile-laying game that tasks players with earning the most victory points. In this particular instance, each player represents a settler that is trying to develop the best plot of land in Middle America during the early 1800’s (America’s “Heartland”). It’s worth noting that the box art of my copy is in German, but the rules include an English translation. The components themselves have no text on them, meaning that those who are thinking about buying this version will find it to be fully functional (even if you don’t speak German).
“Say Anything” and “Say Anything Family” were among the first board games to enter my “new” collection, my old one having been lost in a series of floods several years earlier (que sad Panda face). Both games revolve around the same theme, much like “Wits & Wagers” and “Wits & Wagers Family” do. They aren’t that different from one another, so I’ll be covering both here to save on time. “Say Anything” and “Say Anything Family” can be described as light party games, designed for either adults (the former) or family game night (the latter). Let’s take a quick look at what comes in each game and how they are played before heading into the review.
Game Salute announced earlier this year that “The Princess Bride” board game was in the works. I know, I know…”Inconceivable!” Not much is presently known about this party-themed game, but I did receive a preview pack in the mail, courtesy of Game Salute.
I’m a big fan of games like “Civilization” and “Risk”, but they often require the user to invest over the long haul…time, effort, a kidney, that sort of thing. “Eight-Minute Empire” solves that problem by simplifying the overall theme to the point where games can be played in under a half-hour’s time. That’s pretty impressive, if I dare say. It’s an area control game at heart that tasks players with conquering lands and owning goods in an effort to score the most victory points. Before we get started taking a look at this game in further detail, I’d like to thank Ryan Laukat from Red Raven Games for providing me with a free review copy.
I give a lot of credit to those who have the patience to sit down with a large jigsaw puzzle and attempt to piece it together, is hard thinking piece a puzzle, choosing This or That is not easy . In my house, a jigsaw puzzle would have a shelf life of about two hours before something “accidentally” happened to it. “Puzzle Me!”, while having a jigsaw puzzle theme, isn’t about spending hours/days to assemble a picture. Rather, players will be trying to build their own crossword as large as they can while trying to stop their opponents from doing the same. Before we take a look at this game in further detail, I’d like to thank Richard Reyes from Brainstormers for sending me a free review copy.
As a retro gamer, I had the pleasure of growing up in an era where real-time strategy games began to take a foothold. “Warcraft” and “StarCraft” were particular favorites of mine, mainly because I enjoyed the resource management aspect and marching armies across the map to reign unholy terror on my opponents. “Hexica”, while not a video game, takes what I like about the aforementioned games and adds a capture the flag element. Players will not only be managing money and a fleet, but will be racing to capture flags as they appear. Before we take a look at this game in further detail, I’d like to thank Eli Ortiz for reaching out to me and providing me with a copy of the game.
North Star Games has always come through for us one way or another, especially when the kids feel the need to get silly (which happens often). “Say Anything” and “Crappy Birthday” are regular hits, with the occasional “Wits & Wagers” thrown in for good measure. Needless to say that I was surprised by “Clubs” as it wasn’t the kind of game I’d have expected from North Star Games considering the pattern. While hundreds upon thousands of card game variants exist (officially or unofficially), I hadn’t seen one yet that focused on the suit of clubs…until today. “Clubs” tasks players with getting rid of all of their cards quickly while trying to collect the only suit that will score them points…you guessed it, clubs. Before we take a look at this particular card game, I’d like to thank Matt Mariani from North Star Games for providing me with a free review copy.
My play session of “The Great Heartland Hauling Company” was an overall positive one. The folks at Game Salute were kind enough to throw in the “Badlands Expansion” pack, so I figured I’d cover it separately just to give you an idea of what it all entails.
If “Euro Truck Simulator 2” has taught me anything, it’s that you shouldn’t take bends at fifty-five miles per hours while hauling a vat of toxic substances. Luckily, “The Great Heartland Hauling Company” doesn’t test my competence as a truck driver…rather, players will be picking up and selling cargo as they move around the board. It’s a buy low, sell high kind of deal (sort of) while managing an inventory of cards and cargo. Before we take a look at this game in closer detail, I’d like to thank Dan Yarrington from Game Salute for providing me with a free review copy.
There’s been a lot of games focused around farming as of late, but I’m not going to complain. I’ve spent hours days months trying to build the perfect farm on games in the “Harvest Moon” series. Perhaps these type of games appeal to my resource management addiction, who’s to say? In “Fill the Barn”, players will be playing cards and trying to harvest crops to earn money. Before we take a look at this game in closer detail, I’d like to thank Dan Yarrington from Game Salute for providing me with a free review copy.
For those of you not familiar with the fairy tale, “Emperor’s New Clothes” is about two swindlers who create clothes for the emperor so grand that they are invisible to anyone unfit for his position, among other things. The emperor dons the invisible clothes and suspects something is amiss, but doesn’t want to appear unfit or “stupid” himself by saying so. While his ministers and the townsfolk also go along with the pretense, one little boy (who is innocent of such things) decides to speak up and point out that there really is no special clothing on the emperor. It’s this classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen that inspired the development of “Emperor’s New Clothes”, a board game by Jonathan Liu (from “GeekDad”).