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Board Gaming Super Weekend Quick Reviews

This weekend my gaming group had an opportunity to get together for a rare 2 day super gaming session, I’m talking 12+ hours a day of non-stop, unlimited, wife and children free gaming. It was epic, it was hilarious and it offered me an opportunity to play and reminisce about a great many games. These are not going to be anything even approaching full reviews but some snippets and thoughts on some of the games we played. All of our games were played 4 players, I mention it now so I don’t have to in each review. Enjoy!

Cutthroat Caverns (2007 by IELLO & Smirk & Dagger Games)

Designer: Curt Covert

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Cutthroat Caverns is a strange beast, it has the appearance and mechanics of a warm up game but really this is a robust and despite simple mechanics fairly thinky game. It’s really all about fucking over your friends and that alone means it belongs in your collection and reason enough to love it. The truth is however that it’s a fantasy (D&D like) game of fighting monster and every time I play it, it reminds me of those classic AD&D moments where players weren’t just cooperating to solve the many problems of a dungeon crawls but trying to manipulate the events in their favor so that their character walked out with the loot. Some foolishly compare it to munchkin and while It has built in humor and silliness there is some weight behind the game, a bit of actual gameplay. I’m surprised to find it ranked so low on boardgamegeek.com because this is really a true gem and must own game for fans of the genre. If the game has any faults it’s that as an opener it can run a bit long, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome in my humble opinion.

Verdict: Highly recommended if you love take that games with a fantasy theme and have hilarious friends with a plethora of inside jokes and great banter.

Conquest of Nerath (2011 by Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast)

Designer: Richard Baker, Mons Johnson, Peter Lee

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Richard Baker is actually one of my favorite writers/designers that worked for Wizards of the Coast, among his many wonderful creations he is the man who brought us the Stardrive campaign setting for the Alternity roleplay game with which I fully intend to be buried!

Conquest of Nerath is a D&D fantasy spin on old school classics like Axis & Allies, Shogun and Fortress America but with modern mechanics. I love it for its theme, its Asymmetrical gameplay and the fact that it’s a straight forward unapologetic war game. Sure it might not be the most balanced of games and it certainly has a few places where it could use some polishing but it looks beautiful on the table, it’s furiously fast paced and constantly puts you into tough push your luck decisions. In my humble opinion this is one of the most underrated and unappreciated games to come out of Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast. You have to love a war game that starts and finishes in under 3 hours yet gives you the full bodied feel of games that historically go 6+ hours. I have read a great many reviews on this game and the complaints are justified from a design perspective but gaming isn’t always about pure balance and I find it outrageous that reviewers & boardgamegeek ratings find fault with Conquest of Nerath (rated 1037 on BBG) but give similar games like Runewars (rated 100 on BBG) a pass. Are you fucking kidding, Runewars is outright broken as fuck, it is a complete failure as a game, my mind is boggled! There is opinion and there is objective and responsible reviewing, and in this case it’s a complete injustice, Conquest of Nerath kicks the shit out of Runewars any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

Verdict: If you want a fantasy war game with Asymmetrical gameplay this is about as good as they come. It’s by no stretch of the imagination a flawless execution but if you go by BBG ratings and buy alternatives be ready to be horribly disappointed, this is THE premiere fantasy war game.

Galaxy Trucker (2007 Czech Games Edition)

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Designer: Vladda “Never Fails” Chvatil

Ok I will say this upfront, Galaxy Trucker is not a serious game and the normal rules for reviewing a board game simply do not apply. It’s not fair, it’s not balanced, it is random and by traditional definitions it’s barely a game. Despite all that, if you have a sense of humor and good group of friends who don’t mind playing a game just for shits and giggles it creates, look no further. Galaxy Trucker is a silly exercise in futility which simply challenges you to get stupidly lucky enough to survive it. Yet despite it all, if you play it enough you will actually find that there is some element of control, it’s definitely an illusion, but clever folk will win this game more often than not. In the end it’s just good clean fun and what is a board game night about if not laughing your ass off at your friends as they fail miserably at the hands of the gods of dice. I have and always will love Galaxy Trucker for the countless memorable nights it has created in my gaming group and there is absolutely no question that there should be room in your collection for this one. If you don’t like Galaxy Trucker, you probably want to re-evaluate your life and your friends, just saying.

Verdict: A classic romp of silliness that will, assuming you have a pulse and a sense of humor liven up any board game night, grumpy Euro gamers stay as far away from this one as possible.

Game of Thrones The Card Game 2nd Edition (2015 by Fantasy Flight Games)

Designer: Nate French, Eric M. Lang

game of thrones

Game of Thrones the card game is frustratingly perfect, it’s the only way I know how to describe it. It is a serious game in my opinion, one that will have you trying to read people’s mind, raise you out of your chair in frustration and give you nightmares while simultaneously challenging you to your wits end. This is not a game for everyone, it really is complex, not in the sense of rules but depth of play, a game that inspires a tremendous amount of thought and will have your head spinning before, during and after you play. This really was THE game of the weekend in my opinion, a game that drew out everyone’s best effort. It really does help a great deal if you are a Game of Thrones fan, without that backdrop while I think it would still be a hit with most card game fans, many of the moments of the game probably won’t have the same flare. This game is dripping with theme, for a fan, you might want to buy the cards even if you don’t ever play the game because the art is that damn good.

Verdict: If you (a serious gamer) and especially if you are a Game of Thrones fan and play/buy only one game this year, this most defiantly should be that game. Game of Thrones the card game (2nd edition) is a masterpiece. Lightweights need not apply.

Shadows over Camelot (2005 by Days of Wonders)

Designer: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval

traitor

Shadows over Camelot on the surface is a cooperative, player vs. the game type of game with mechanics most hardened gamers might find almost oversimplified. There is a lot of randomness here but despite that if it were not for the potential of a betrayer this would be a fairly easy game to beat cooperatively. In the end though it really is about the betrayer and it’s really this secret player, real or imagined, that creates the atmosphere that catapults this game into a completely different gaming sphere.

Everyone at the table knows that if there is a betrayer he is going to nail them at the worst possible moment and so you spend as much time playing the game as you do trying to figure who in the end is going to screw you and it is this simple twist that pulls this game out of the yawn it would be otherwise and into a fun and mostly paranoid experience.

I think the great thing about Camelot is that it’s so simple mechanically that it really lives in the realm of every day family games. This really is something even mom and dad could play as an alternative to the drudgery of traditional Monopoly-infused boredom. Yet there is sufficient weight here for proper gamers and we experienced that to its fullest this weekend where Camelot really shined as a highlight of the weekend creating a memorable betrayer reveal in the final tense moments of the game. Quick, easy to learn yet creates an atmosphere of anxiety and stress that is just right for gamers of all walks of life.

Verdict: A great game for a gamer’s collection to pull out as an alternative to traditional family/dinner party games that is certain to be a hit yet with sufficient weight to get table time with board game fanatics.

Archipelago (2012 by Asmodee Games)

Designer: Vincent Boulanger, Imsael Pommaz, Chris Quilliams

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I had very high hopes for Archipelago this weekend, my group and I have talked about it many times and it’s something I put up on my shelf largely after high recommendation from reviewers like Shut up and Sit Down which I respect greatly. In the end though this really was a moderate disappointment that landed pretty flat with me.

While there are plenty of salvageable mechanics and interesting concepts, this thematically edgy worker placement game was simultaneously fiddly, visually bi-polar with unpredictable winning conditions and really disappointing player interaction. Every mechanic had either an “it’s almost good” feel to it, was marred by oddly misshapen components, strange unnatural rules or bizarrely heavy handed special powers. It was always uncertain who was actually winning, the game ending conditions ranged from “never going to happen” to “It WILL happen in round X, a prediction you can make in round 1”. It was just very odd and didn’t play out at all as described by the reviewers who’s recommendation led me to the purchase. Now I will say that I think we probably got several of the rules wrong, despite me doing several test plays well in advance and that likely contributed to my confusion and disappointment. Still it just didn’t have the result I was looking and hoping for.

I do believe this game deserves a second chance though, I think as a group we really weren’t sure exactly how we should interact, whether the game was truly cooperative, or competitive and exactly how it is you actually find a route to victory here. I don’t think it was a bad game and I honestly feel compelled to play it again because I have this nagging feeling that as a group we really just missed it but for us after all the great and memorable games we had played to this point over the weekend this one really stood out as the big dud.

Verdict:  Uncertain, definitely deserves a second chance but first impressions are not great.

Pillars of the Earth (2006 by lots of people including Kosmos)

I love it when game designers understand that game pieces can be functional and cool at the same time. The use of a cathedral made out of wooden blocks to act as a turn counter is thematic and fun.

Designer: Michael Rieneck, Stefan Stadler

For me personally, Pillars of the Earth is THE definitive worker placement game in terms of classic, solidified Euro gaming that actually caters to human beings without the need for a calculator. Ok, perhaps that’s mean but most Euro worker placement games I just find dreadfully boring. While Pillars of the Earth’s subject matter is not exactly awe inspiring, there is something about it’s simple and fast paced gameplay that speaks to me. It’s a thinky strategy game with just enough luck to mix things up but not so much that clever players can’t get a hold of the reigns and win it.

I think most of the gaming group enjoyed the game “sufficiently” and It did create one of the most hysterical one liners of the weekend which I won’t repeat as pretty much everything that happened this weekend most would consider horribly offensive but I don’t think this is what most of my gaming group would consider “Their bag”. They humored me and I appreciated it because I really do think this is a little hidden gem, one I will happily play anytime.

Verdict:  A classic, its as simple as that.  If you are new to the hobby, this is a good place to start your education and a game that will remain in your collection indefinitely.

Dead of Winter (2014 by Plaid Hat Games)

Designer: Jonathan Gilmour, Isaac Vega

dead of winter

Amidst a theme that is so played out that it can basically fuck off, Dead of Winter puts a spin on Zombie survival that has not only made it a house hold name among gamers everywhere, but was the only game of our big gaming weekend that was demanded a second time!

Dead of Winter has the same thing going for it that Camelot does, but in my humble opinion does it 10 times better while maintaining the same mechanical simplicity that a casual gamer can instantly pick up. It’s the Betrayer tension, that’s where it’s at, but in Dead of Winter the betrayer has to be clever because not only does he have to ensure everyone loses, he must first complete his own mission, which is hard, really really hard. He needs the survivors at the start of the game as much as they need him so he is initially motivated to actually help the players survive. More than that though I think in big part the game itself is actually very difficult in its own right so there is a good chance that even with everyone helping, betrayer included you will still lose the game and I love that aspect of it. I also really love the fact that there is the group victory, aka beating the game and the motivating push of trying to accomplish your own personal objective. So you not only have the betrayer screwing the colony but potentially even the players that are supposed to be ensuring its survival as they greedily try to complete their own missions. Fantastic concept for the win!

I recall the first couple of times I played this game I thought it was ok, it didn’t blow me away or anything but after this weekend I have joined the ranks of pretty much everyone else in endorsing this one. It really is as fantastic as everyone says it is and after the first game we played I found myself being the eager beaver shouting out “again.. again…!”

Verdict: If you like cooperative games with betrayers, this really is THE game for it. The theme may be played out but the writing and mechanics for this game are so good it just blows everything else out there out of the water.

Lords of Water Deep (with Scoundrels of Skullport) (2012 Wizards of the Coast)

Designer: Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson

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Lords of Water Deep is a worker placement game and in a sense very much a traditional one with the caveat that there are plenty of take that mechanics and theme to bring it into the realm of Ameri-Trash games. The truth is the lines are blurred and who really gives a crap about those labels anyway. The only question is, is it a good game and the answer is a resounding yes as long as you use the expansion. I recall playing this game a couple of times without the expansion and frankly it’s a fairly dull affair. Those corruption mechanics, the cards, buildings and worker placement spots that it brings give this game a second life.

I have played a lot of Lords of Waterdeep, it really is a kind of staple game for our group and I’m certain it would have landed a bit better if it wasn’t played at the tail end of a very long gaming weekend but to me the game has lost some of its spit shine. I think it’s mostly from simply having played it so many times which is not to say I don’t think it’s a fantastic game, because I really do think it is, it just doesn’t rank that terribly high on my must play list anymore in a backdrop of the 30+ games sitting on my shelf. I think if you like worker placement games, this is an absolute must own with the caveat again that you have the expansion which I think is absolutely mandatory. There is plenty of depth and tension, the intrigue cards really add a lot to the game and unlike most worker placement games it actually has a theme that comes to life in the game. Great game but came a bit late in the weekend and might be a bit played out for me.

Verdict: A classic must own worker placement game if you’re a fan of the mechanic, Scoundrels of Skullport is an absolute must own expansion.

Gaming Articles

Rating System

People sometimes mention that I don’t give a full description of the game mechanics in my game reviews.  This is true and intentional.  For me personally, the best opinion I can get for a game is to find out what people think of it.  If I want to learn to play the game, I read the rules and always there are instructional videos and tutorials on the subject.  Hence my reviews focus mainly on my specific opinion about the game, how it feels, how it handles, what I like and don’t like etc.  I make the assumption that when the review is read, you have already done some preliminary research on the games mechanics.  I find explaining how a game works on a blog adds unnecessary word count for something ultimately that will still give you very little clue about how to actually play the game.

Regarding The Rating System

On a number of occasions I have received opinionated emails, mind you always respectfully, that mentioned that when I review games while the reader gets a picture of what the game is about and what I think about it, they don’t have a basis for comparison. In other words if I speak highly of two games, there is no way to tell which I might like better, nor is there a way to know how the component quality effects the overall experience or how gameplay compensate for the lack luster adherence to theme. In a sense I think the complaint is that I don’t have a rating system that governs my judgement in reviews. I think it’s a valid complaint and one I intend to rectify. The truth is that I have given a lot of thought to this but never came to any conclusions until now.

Part of the reason is that I think rating systems can limit or force a certain score even when the reviewer actually thinks far higher of the game. For example the component quality might be terrible and the game might not have any theme to speak of yet the gameplay is so awesome that I love the game despite all its flaws and it would be unfairly graded if I simply scored each component and tallied it up.

I have looked at many different systems and really haven’t found one I liked in its entirety but I did find enough inspiration and ideas that I could use to create my own. Consider the following an explanation of the rating system that I will implement for all future reviews (I won’t be going back on old reviews to apply the system).

How it all works
I think it’s fair to give some background as to how the system developed as I explain it, I think might give the system a bit more credibility.

I began with determining what I think are the most important elements of a good board game, another words, what I think is worth judging. The list is as followed.

Components: It’s important to note that I’m speaking directly to the quality of the components rather than the quality of art work or style or thematic correctness. It think this often gets mixed up and I never really liked that a games components are judged on the quality of the art, rather than the quality of components. As a gamer I want my games to last and I want to know if cards are flimsy, miss printed or missing for example. Wonderful art is hardly compensation for bad component quality. For me personally, that goes more to theme and it’s their art work is judged. So in terms of components I’m speaking strictly to quality of the physical components.

Gameplay: The bread and butter of a games core mechanic and a judgement of how well it plays, how balanced it is and how complete it feels. Reviews are opinions of course, but when it comes to some things like components and replay ability you can decipher some objective facts, for example card quality is either sturdy and will last long or it might be flimsy and tear easily. Those aren’t opinions, they are observations. Gameplay leans far more towards the opinion side but the goal here is to judge it objectively, point our benefits and flaws of the gameplay and discuss balance and fun factor.

Longevity & Replay ability: Not all games are designed with longevity and replay ability in mind and to me this often a deal breaker. In this section I judge a game based on multiple plays and whether the fun and excitement of the original play is holds up over repeated plays. I also judge the game on its expandability and longevity as a product which I also think is vital to the success of a game in the long term.

Theme: When I look at a games theme I typical judge it on its fulfillment of a promise. For example if the game is about running a train company in Russia, do I have a sense of that as I play? Theme is often realized through artwork and judgement is made here as well but great games are a merging of art work and gameplay to realize the presence of the theme, so judgement is passed more on an overall look at a games thematic presence. It’s an important aspect of gaming that a games theme comes through gameplay and in this section we judge a games ability to do just that.

Giving the games different a score becomes important to come up with a final verdict and I settled on a simple 1 to 5 stars system. Each star represents an increasing level of quality.

0 Stars : FAILURE This represents an abysmal failure in the game. It simply means that for this part of the game has failed on every conceivable level.

1 Stars: POOR This game is well below a reasonably expected standard of quality. While its not an outright failure, its lacking far outweigh its success.

2 Stars: FAIR There are redeeming qualities here but still below a standard of quality that is worthy of note. A 2 star score means that the section is passable if you can overlook some flaws but far from good.

3 Stars: AVERAGE This simply means that the game has met the minimum requirements for standards, the section is passable or great, its simply right in the middle with an equilibrium of shortcomings and success.

4 Stars: VERY GOOD: This means that the section has exceeded expectation, its impressive and there few flaws hardly worth mentioning.

5 Stars: PERFECT: Simply put, a perfect score for this section. It means that there are no flaws, the game has over exceeded expectation and pleasantly surprised the judge.

Now for me personally it’s simply not enough to judge a game on a 1 to 5 scale even if it is sectioned out because every game is unique. For example a game might have very simple components that aren’t terribly impressive and this might ordinarily lower its overall score, but the games designer or even the intent of the game might not be to impress with components but rather gameplay. As such, I feel strongly that I need to have some sort of tilt for myself where I can consider the weight of a particular section to its overall score for any given game. After all an awesome euro might be compromised of nothing but wooden cubes, yet it may have awesome gameplay.

As such I have lovingly called this part of the system “Tilt”. The tilt is simply a reference to the importance of the section. The tilt is a categorization of importance hence each section will be given a 1 to 4 tilt score (one for each section) which identifies how important that score is to the game. The tilt is than used to calculate the final score of the game.

4 Tilt: This is the most important score and is responsible for 50% of the game’s final score.
3 Tilt: This is also vital but considerably less so 30% of the score
2 Tilt: Even less important. 15% of the score
1 Tilt: Hardly worth mentioning, tilt weight barely effects the score 5%

Example
Lets imagine I just reviewed a game and gave it the following scores for each section

2 Stars – Components
4 Stars – Gameplay
3 Stars – Longevity and Replay-ability
2 Stars – Theme

Not a terrible good score for a game. However when I consider the game I come to the realization that the gameplay of the game is first and most paramount. The longevity and replay ability of the game are very important as well but the theme and components of the game are really kind of unimportant to the games quality.

So I assign the tilt to each score.

Gameplay – 4 Tilt
Longevity/Replaybility – 3 Tilt
Components – 2 Tilt
Theme – 1 Tilt

Mathematically the final score works out as followed.

Gameplay 4 stars is 50% of the score
Longevity/Replayability is 30% of the score
Components is 15% of the score
Theme is 5% of the score.

The score is calculated.

50% of 4 is 2 Stars
30% of 3 is .9 Stars
15% of 2 is .3 Stars
5% of 2 is .1 Stars

The total is score for this game is 3.3 Stars making this an average game.

Lets imagine however that the tilt was different. Let’s say that for this was supposed to be an awesome thematic game about conquering space full of awesome miniatures that fly around on a tactical game-board. Lets say that Theme and components carry more weight in this version.

Gameplay – 2 Tilt
Longevity/Replaybility – 1 Tilt
Components – 3 Tilt
Theme – 4 Tilt

How does that effect the score?

50% of 2 Stars is 1 Stars
30% of 2 Stars is .6 Stars
15% of 4 Stars is .6 Stars
5% of 3 Stars is .1 Stars (rounded up)

The total is now 2.3 Stars. A lot more disappointing given the new tilt. You can see that while in order to get a high total score you not only have to score well, but you have to score well where I place the tilt. The tilt is a vital component of the scoring system, but one I believe is important in order for games to be judged appropriately. After all, a Euro game might not have a lot of theme, but if the tilt is a 1 for that game identify that clearly theme was never intended to be a priority it will minimize any negative score it would get in that department and likely will still get a great final score it if did well in more important sections.

I might find reason to adjust the system in the future, but for now I believe this is at least as fair as I can get a rating system and over time I will hopefully get better and better at doing more concise reviews with a platform for comparison.

Enjoy!

Gaming Articles

Games That Get Better With Time

One thing I can say about board games is that I like most of them at first. The truth is that board gaming as a hobby is actually less about the games for me and more about spending time with friends. It’s a social occasion, which is why I have never enjoyed playing games online (I have tried many times). The experience is just not the same.

That said however I do find that over time, most games I tire off. In fact, despite having played hundreds of games over the years, my actual collection is quite thin. I don’t hold onto games I don’t have an itching desire to play and the result is that there is a tremendous amount of culling of the collection that happens.

There are some games however that have made it into my collection and have proven themselves to have lasting power, some for over decades. Today I will talk a bit about some of these great old school games that, even though they didn’t make my top ten lists, I would never get rid of. It’s not so much that they are amazing games by today’s standards, though they are good in their own way, but it’s that they have a certain element to them that just makes them keepers for me.

Ikusa (Formally known as Milton Bradly’s Shogun or Samurai Swords)

This 1980’s classic has been in my collection since I started gaming nearly 30 years ago. It’s a game that hasn’t aged particularly well in light of modern mechanics and is often referred to as “RISK like” which has its own negative connotations to gamers. It’s a long game and it can be a bit mean given the potential for player elimination, but I still love it for its purity as a classic war game.

While many gamers consider dice chuckers like RISK to be beneath them, to me Ikusa has sufficient "extra's" to make it a quality strategic game. The fact that it looks amazing on the table is just a cherry on top.
While many gamers consider dice chuckers like RISK to be beneath them, to me Ikusa has sufficient “extra’s” to make it a quality strategic game. The fact that it looks amazing on the table is just a cherry on top.

There are many war games made today but very few of them go for the pure war mechanic. Most are filled with card play, overly complicated, have various euro style abstractions, some even go the gimmick route and while I like many of these games, classic RISK style dice chucker war games still appeal to me. I grew up on games like Fortress America, Axis and Allies and Ikusa.

Ikusa is actually seriously underrated as a board game even for today’s standards. It is a dice chucker for certain, but it has a pretty considerable depth to strategies that can be employed and there is far more to it than simply building units and fighting, there is a kind of sequence of events that transpires. First there is this war preparation period, the consolidation of troops, the choosing of battlefields, the defining of borders and alliances. In the second part of the game all hell breaks loose, pure chaotic war, when players make all of their big moves. Than in the final rounds there is that last man standing period where players get clever and try to push the limitations of their forces and prepare for the end game. The climatic finish usually comes in the form of two or three contending players fighting out a couple of critical make it or break battles that define the winner. It’s always clutch in the end and though usually a couple of players lose the war much earlier, there are always two or three contenders for the win in the final rounds.

The game can stagnate in the sense that these “periods” in the game can get pretty extensive, but it’s a war game made for gamers who are accustomed to 4 to 5 hour games. Faulting it for taking a long time is like faulting golf for being played over 18 holes instead of a more manageable 5. It’s part of the game and you kind of embrace it or don’t play it.

Ikusa has never disappointed me, it’s always fun to play and just easy enough to teach to anyone. While its mechanics have aged a great deal in comparison to some modern improvements in war games it still holds up quite well in my opinion and remains one of my favorite games to pull out for that pure war game itch. I actually love many of the old Milton Bradly classics but games like Axis and Allies and Fortress America are really two player games, Ikusa is the only one in that group that works well with multiple players and yes, it’s a far better alternative to RISK.

Ticket To Ride
I have never played a game of Ticket to Ride I didn’t enjoy. Despite its simplicity and casual nature, it’s one of those games that just finds its way to the table out of convenience. It’s so easy to teach, it’s very kid/family friendly and really requires very little of your attention so it makes for a good beer and pretzels, not too serious type of board game night. While light on the theme, it’s clearly a game about trains which I think is a topic that has always appealed to me.

Ticket to Ride is a simple game, doorway game that is perfect for introducing people to the hobby of board gaming. It's theme is attractive and strategies immediately apparent.
Ticket to Ride is a simple game, doorway game that is perfect for introducing people to the hobby of board gaming. It’s theme is attractive and strategies immediately apparent.

Despite this casual nature though the game has some mini depth, there is actually quite a few strategic options and if analyzed a little closer can actually get people involved on a higher than normal casual game level. It’s a doorway game one I played a decade ago and fully expect to still play a decade from now, it’s a staple game.

The Great Dalmuti

Simple trick taking card games like the Great Dalmuti are ideal for camping trips.
Simple trick taking card games like the Great Dalmuti are ideal for camping trips or as fillers.  It’s ability to handle larger amounts of players can allow it do double as a small after dinner party game.

A very simple trick taking card game it is THE game that goes into a backpack on any road trip, camping trip or anywhere else where I might find myself with a group of bored friends wanting to relax and pass the time. There are many such games out there but The Great Dalmuti is definitively a social game and plays as well with 4 players as it does with 8 players. It has this addictive nature to it, I’ve never introduced it to any group who ended up only playing it once, it always gets repeated plays and over the years I have had to replace my copy 3 times because of wear and tear. Great, simple game, an old stand-by classic.

REX (Formally DUNE)
A long time ago when I first got into board gaming on a bit higher level there was a game based on the beloved franchise DUNE (called not surprisingly DUNE). It’s a quasi-war game, though it plays more like chess where multiple players fight to control of the thematic spice planet. Each player had unique and very different special powers depending on which house they represented. With immense replay ability, great strategic depth and a lot of intrigue, negotiation and surprises, its one of those games that I vividly remember playing.

REX is a really deep game, but relatively simple to teach. It's not really a war game, but there is plenty of conflict via intrigue, diplomacy and bluffing.
REX is a really deep game, but relatively simple to teach. It’s not really a war game, but there is plenty of conflict via intrigue, diplomacy and bluffing.

When the game was reprinted using the Twilight Imperium Franchise I naturally jumped on the opportunity to revisit it and while a bit different than Dune, REX is just as good and carries the game thematically just as well as the old classic.

REX is relatively easy to teach, but it is definitively a gamers game, in fact, I find most people either absolutely love it, or absolutely despise it. It can be a rather infuriating game because there is so many things to consider and the human element has such an enormous impact on the outcome of the game. It’s a purely strategic game with no luck element and is perhaps one of the most balanced games I have ever played. Absolutely fantastic and the truth is that if I had the opportunity to play it more often it would very likely creep it’s way to my top 10 list. If you find a likeminded group who appreciates intrigue games, REX can be a beautiful thing.

Illuminati
Steve Jackson is a notorious game designer, notorious because his games are always very different than anything that has come before it. Whether it’s GURPS and its focus on realism, Munchkin which pokes fun at other games or Illuminati, quite possibly one of the meanest and infuriating games you will ever love to play.

A cult classic, a pain to teach and kind of mean, its one of those games I love to play with people who already know how to play and love it to. Teaching it to new players is a real bitch.
Not a game I play often, definitely a “gamers” game-

Illuminati no doubt deserves far more praise from me than I give it, but the truth is that I haven’t played it for years. It’s main drawback is that Illuminati is a bit mathi and it’s a bit difficult to teach. Those two flaws however when overcome like a lot of great complex games, results in a fantastic gaming experience. It’s pure brutality, but it’s so well balanced and so fun to watch people squirm. It’s one of those games where you have “I can’t believe you just did that” moments.

It’s in the same category as Race For The Galaxy for me and see’s little play for the same reason, I love playing it, but hate teaching people how to play it. It’s been in my collection for over a decade, built into its gameplay are nostalgic memories of friends from years ago I miss very much. A game I never see myself getting rid of.

Carcassonne

There are many expansions for this game, but for me personally the simplicity and elegance of the base game makes this a perfect warm up game. I'm always happy to play it, though I would be hard pressed to give you a good reason, its just fun.
There are many expansions for this game, but for me personally the simplicity and elegance of the base game makes this a perfect warm up game. I’m always happy to play it, though I would be hard pressed to give you a good reason, its just fun.

I don’t know why this game lingers as it does, it’s really kind of simplistic and while the expansions (of which there are many) add a lot of variety, I rarely ever play anything but the base game. I suppose it’s got that “Monopoly” thing where it’s a game everyone knows, requires little explanation and is quick to play. I don’t love it but always enjoy playing it, there is no denying its appeal as a simple, quick game.

Gaming Articles

Fantasy Flight Games and Star Wars Perfection

Since Fantasy Flight Games took over the Star Wars license for making board, card, miniature and role-playing games, there can be only one thing said about it. Perfect. There is absolutely no doubt that across every platform they have produced not only the best version of a Star Wars game in that class be it Board, Card, Miniature or Role-playing games, but they have done it by such a wide margin I can’t even remember what we had before it.

Let’s go over the list shall we.

Star Wars Edge of The Empire Role-playing game
Up until I played Star Wars Edge of the Empire, role-playing in the Star Wars universe was always a frustration for me. Every system I tried from old West End Game version, to more modern D20 versions by Wizards of the Coast, nothing did the trick. These systems always failed miserably in some element of presenting the Star Wars universe. Some of the these version of Star Wars RPG’s managed to get some things right, like the Saga system’s combat system was not all together terrible but they fumbled other things like ship to ship combat or messed up balance between force and non-force users. There was always a problem.

Star Wars Edge of the Empire has grown to include a ton of material, but the truth is that the core book alone already makes this one of the best RPG's ever made
Star Wars Edge of the Empire has grown to include a ton of material, but the truth is that the core book alone already makes this one of the best RPG’s ever made

Then came Star Wars Edge of the Empire and what can I say about it other than not only is it hands down one of the best Star Wars role-playing games ever made, it may just be one of the best role-playing games in any genre ever made. It’s simply exquisite, it works on every level, it’s got depth where it’s needed, it’s streamlined, it handles every element of the Star Wars universe flawlessly, simply put, it just can’t be done any better. A++ to Fantasy Flight Games for finally making a Star Wars RPG we can actually play without frustration.

Star Wars Card Games
There have been many and frankly, they have been miserable failures across the board. There has never been a good Star Wars Card game until Fantasy Flight took over and not only did they produce Star Wars The Card game, a fantastic living card game but they gave us Empire vs. Rebels as a bonus.

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This catchy Star Wars Card Game is filled with a variety of depth and strategies, but it’s quick and painless to setup and play. More importantly FFG maintains it’s living card game strategy as opposed to the presumptuous and often over priced CCG style games.

Both are amazing games that represent the Star Wars universe in perfect splendor capturing its many nuances with style. More importantly I don’t see how it would be physically possible for the art to scream STAR WARS any louder, the game is worth buying just for the illustrations and collectors of Star Wars Memorabilia do just that. Awsome job, another A++ for both games.

Star Wars Board Games
Now I will say this, there have been some pretty awesome Star Wars board games in the past. Queen’s Gambit, Epic Duels, even Star Wars RISK was actually quite fantastic. When it comes to Board Games toping games like the elaborate Queen’s Gambit wasn’t going to be easy but as always Fantasy Flight Games was more than up to the task. It took a while but the result is Imperial Assault, a game I believe will be in the top 10 on board game geek within the next year or so, already debuting at number 37. Now this is a kind of cross over game, one could say it’s a miniatures game but the truth is that by those standards so would Queen’s Gambit be. The truth is that if you’re going to make a Star Wars game, it very clearly needs to have miniatures in it, it’s just part of the allure of that franchise and it needs.

Queen's Gambit is an as impressive to look at as it is fun to play, but unfortunately it's out of print and has become something of a collectors item making it very expensive to pick up these days.
Queen’s Gambit is an as impressive to look at as it is fun to play, but unfortunately it’s out of print and has become something of a collectors item making it very expensive to pick up these days.

That said Imperial Assault not only blows any Star Wars game that came before it out of the water, but it does so with style, balance and experience. It’s a fantastic game that offers immense amount of replay ability and I suspect like the Arkham Horror series, this one is going to see a ton of expansions.

Star Wars Miniatures
Without question Star Wars X-Wing is not only the most successful miniatures game in decades, but it may very well rise to be one of the most successful miniatures games of all time. It’s simple to learn impossible to master mechanics and infinite replayability made accessible by taking the work out of the hobby with pre-painted miniatures has paved it’s way with gold. It is hands down in my humble opinion one of the best products Fantasy Flight Games has produced to date and with each expansion they release the game is improved 10 fold. It just gets better and better and better with no end in sight. Now with a third faction released, the game has already immortalized its iconic status, if nothing is ever released for it again it would still be a near perfect game. To say I love it would be an understatement, if I was stuck on a desert island and was forced to choose a single form of entertainment to take with me, Star Wars X-Wing would unquestionably be that entertainment.

I will probably never stop praising Star Wars X-Wing, easily one of the best games ever made.
I will probably never stop praising Star Wars X-Wing, easily one of the best games ever made.

Star Wars Armada
So why should you be excited about Star Wars Armada? Well if it isn’t obvious already, Fantasy Flight Games kicks ass at making Star Wars games and Star Wars Armada is slated to be the biggest, most epic and most iconic Star Wars game to ever be made. If they succeed, they will have done more for the Star Wars franchise than the last three movies did.

Star Wars Armada is as ambitious as it is elaborate and expensive, it's going to have to be one hell of a game to get my money.
Star Wars Armada is as ambitious as it is elaborate and expensive, it’s going to have to be one hell of a game to get my money.

War on a massive scale with all the fittings of Star Wars X-Wing, but bigger and more elaborate. Now I don’t usually do hype, I believe very firmly that objectively speaking no matter how excited I get for something, I recognize the possibility that I will be terribly disappointed, but I can say that if Armada isn’t the crowning achievement of Star Wars based games coming out of Fantasy Flight Games, my disappointment will reach epic proportions. It has all the markings of an amazing game, designed and produced by an amazing company at a time when they are on a hot streak of perfection. It’s the perfect storm for success, but it may also be the perfect recipe for disaster. I reserve my opinion until I play it, but to say that we should be anything by hyper excited would be selling the potential short.

Fantasy Flight Games is an amazing company, they have done for gaming what Quentin Tarantino did for movies, they showed us that games can be awesome again, that the status quo can be changed and that it’s still possible to invent new things or take old things and make them new again. They have done an amazing job and they have earned every bit of praise for their accomplishments. For me personally if I’m looking for a new game my first stop is always Fantasy Flight Games official website, there are so many diamonds in their product line I feel like I should just mail them my credit card.

Gaming Articles

Creating A Great Game Night

Planning a game night may seem like a simple thing, pick a time and place, everyone shows up and you game, piece of cake! The truth is that most game nights are ruined long before anyone shows up to the table as there are so many things people don’t think about when they decide to host a gaming night at their house. Any one thing in this list of problems/solutions may not ruin your game night, but mix a couple of them together and the combination can create some pretty horrible game night experiences. If your host or organizer of a game night, be a good one; Here is some advice!

Lighting
Without question one of the most important thing you can do to see massive improvements is proper lighting. In particular dulled, but bright lighting focused on the table itself rather than the people. There is nothing worse than playing an awesome board game or role-playing game and finding myself squinting to read the often small text of cards, game boards and RPG books. I can honestly say that most of the gaming environments I have played in over the last 30 years of gaming have been in relatively shitty lighting, it’s an epidemic in gaming areas as gaming space requires far brighter lights than you would ordinarily need in a room. It has to be more akeen to a pool table light than a room light. I’m certain that lighting and performance, speed and organization of game play is severely effected by poor lighting. If you take no other advice, take this one, keep your playing area’s very bright.

High Seating
Another common problem to gaming space is low seating. Typically when you game you need to be almost hovering over the table, in particular for board gaming. You want a top down view of the game board and as such the table either needs to be low with normal seats or you need high seats. Again this comes down to visibility, gamers need to be able to see what’s going on, if you are sitting at a table and you can’t see what’s happening on the other side of the table without standing up, you have a seating issue in your game space that needs fixing.

Be A Good Host And Know When You Can’t Be
One of my biggest pet peeves, one that has resulted with me actually skipping game nights when a certain player hosts in some cases even leaving a game group all together is the quality of it’s host. Being a good host is not so much about being gracias and generous but rather welcoming and comfortable. So often I find that when I go to someone’s house for a game night it’s crystal clear that it’s forced. It’s little things that get to you like a host who has children who are being ignored because they are gaming, or where clearly someone’s wife or girlfriend doesn’t want us there giving us the stink eye all night, or where instead of playing in the kitchen table with great lighting and access to a fridge and bathroom we are ordered out to a fidget garage or basement.

Gamers are often willing to tolerate inconveniences and rudeness for the opportunity to game, but as a host it’s your job to know if your house/situation is not a good one for gaming. Sure, it’s in a way easier for the host as the gamers come to him, no need to drive anywhere, but if you can’t be a welcoming host, if your situation is obviously not ideal and makes your guests uncomfortable then don’t host.

Proper Gaming Table
If you don’t have a proper gaming table, don’t host gaming nights at your house. There is absolutely nothing more detrimental to a game night, in particular a board game night than playing on a table that is obviously way too small. It’s absolutely destructive to a gaming experience to not have enough space. It’s better to skip gaming all together than play on a cramped table or cramped space. Let the people breath!

Plan Ahead
In particular for board game nights it’s absolutely vital there is a plan in advance. You want everyone coming to your game night to know what games you are going to be playing so that they have the opportunity to read the rules/rulebooks of the games. More importantly if your hosting or if you are going to be introducing a game to players, read the rules in advance, know how to play the game well so that you can explain it to the others quickly and efficiently.

There is absolutely nothing I hate more than someone pulling out a board game and saying “hey let’s play this”, followed by him pulling out a 20 page rulebook to “figure out how to play”. It’s practically a guarantee that three things will happen. First the game will take 2-3 times as long to play. Secondly you will play rules incorrectly, overlook important rules and this will likely lead to someone winning/losing a game because of this fact. Finally it’s likely that the game will be rejected in the future, this often happens because the game appears unbalanced/broken or boring as a result of getting the rules wrong.

So be smart about your game nights, plan what you’re going to play in advance, read the rules for the games that are planned and be ready to teach players how to play the games without having to read the manual to them.

Know Your Audience
Kind of part of planning ahead, but know who your gamers are and what games are appropriate for them. There is nothing worse than inviting casual gamers or first time gamers to a game event and trying to introduce them to an epic, highly complex board game like Twilight Imperium for example. You really need to think about what sort of game you’re going to play, in particular it’s complexity level and compare that to who’s coming. It’s a sure fire way to ruin a game night to pull the wrong game off the shelf for the wrong kind of group.

This goes a bit further as well for player count. For example Twilight Imperium is clearly a 4, 5 or 6 player game. Sure you can play it with 3 players but you know it’s a shitty game with 3 players so don’t pull it out. Find a game appropriate for the audience and the amount of players you have.

Don’t force it, play games that you know will work with the amount of people you have and the type of gamers you have.

Don’t Take It Too Seriously
It’s a tragic illness that many gamers have, myself included, that we often take the hobby too serious. We become obsessed with trying to find that victory in a complex strategic game and if we can’t be it because the dice gods are against us, or the rules of the game leave something to be desired that we can get outright mean towards our opponents. We forget that we are there to play games and have fun, become competitive, aggressive sometimes even vengeful.

Remember, it’s a game, the people you’re playing with are your friends, quite possibly your guests if you’re the host. Keep your cool and win or lose do it with grace.