Ordinarily before I do a review of a game I want to play it dozens of times, have plenty of time to think about it and in general dive into it as deep as it can go. It’s kind of my process and the only way I feel comfortable and certain that my review will hold up as I’m writing it as well as 2 years later when I look at it again. I have realized over the last year however that while I play a wide variety of games and plenty of them, I actually typically only review a dozen or so games a year as result of this sort of system. More than that, I generally only review games I like because naturally, I don’t want to dive that deeply into games I don’t like.

The end result is that I don’t review a lot of games I play and I kind of don’t like that, I want this blog to be filled with played games and opinions. As such I have created a new article format I like to call Quick Plays & Reviews. For these shorter reviews I will effectively apply the same rating system, but will only post the final score and my overall comments about the game. There will be less nuts and bolts to the review, but it will allow me to get more game coverage. Some games on my quick reviews may get full reviews later on as well.

This last month I have played several games so let’s see if we can stick some scores on them.

Colt Express by Asmodee 2014

Final Score: 

The winner of the Spiel des Jahres, among countless other awards, this western themed card game includes some visual pizazz, robo-rally reminiscent pre-programming mechanics and just enough take that to be fun but not mean. It is a family game both visually and mechanically, it has the appeal typically associated with Spiel des Jahres winners.

I liked it well enough, it was simple and intuitive enough that rules explanations could be done as you play, yet had just enough depth to ensure that some strategy is required to win. This game sort of falls into that “I like it but have no desire to own it” line of games for me, which to be fair, is most games. I think in part this is due to one common issues with these sort of very light family games, over the course of many plays it just doesn’t hold up and it’s in particularly problematic when I can see that after playing it just once.

I definitely think this is a great game for kids, it’s just simple enough to teach to youngsters to more or less get it and thanks to great artwork and theme it’s an easy sell. Again, everything you expect from a Spiel des Jahres winner, it’s no surprise at all to me that this game won the award.

Conclusion: Clever combination of classic mechanics in a streamlined package based on an easily relatable theme. For me personally it’s a bit too simple for the collection, perhaps something I might put on the kids shelves. Great design, lack of re-playability will probably hurt it in the long run.

Terra Mystica by Feverland 2012

Final Score: 

When Terra Mystica hit gaming collections in 2012 it become an instant boardgamegeek sensation catapulting it into the top 10 where it sits comfortably in the no. 4 spot today. I had played this game a couple of times online shortly after it released, but after my most recent in person play I’m convinced that it firmly deserves a spot on my top 5 games popular games you can skip list.

I’m sorry but there is very little to love here and while I have my grudges with boardgamegeek.com, I can usually at least understand why a game like Twilight Struggle or Pandemic Legendary reaches the heights it does. I can see that these games have that objectively good design thing going even if it doesn’t speak to me personally. Terra Mystica on the other hand is just a very mediocre, poorly streamlined, cube pusher and it’s neither objectively a particularly great design nor is it innovative. There are at least a dozen boring cube pushers that are a lot more interesting than this one and far less pointlessly confusing. We get it, push cubes, score points, it’s a simple concept yet in Terra Mystica its made painfully slow and complex to the point where caring or even knowing if your winning requires someone to wake you up. Your going to spend a lot of your time calculating how many points you have and how many your opponents have to even know how well your doing, I really hate that about most Euros but in Terra Mystica this is particularly annoying. This is one of those games that even obscene amounts of alcohol can’t make entertaining.

What little substance that is here, is rather poorly executed resulting in an awkward un-intuitive game that can be at best described as an “interesting” design. There is some cleverness buried under all the gears and pistons that make this workhorse go, but there is little pay off in the end and it takes far too long time to get there. Games end very anti-climatically after being played in silence for far too long with virtually no interaction between players, some might say it’s a fun game but you better check that persons definition because about the most exciting thing that happens the entire game is when a player digs for terrain in a location you considered at some point you may want to dig for terrain in the future, maybe. The entire game just felt like I was waiting for a dentist appointment, I was neither enjoying my wait nor looking forward to my turn, I just wanted the whole mess to be behind me.

Conclusion: This is a huge pass and I believe even more now than before that this is without question one of the most over hyped games in existence.  Boring, slow and overly complicated for a cube pusher.

Tyrants of the Underdark by Wizards of the Coast 2016

Final Score: 

Where Terra Mystica is over hyped and overrated, Tyrants of the Underdark has the exact opposite problem. No one is talking about it and they really should be because it’s fantastic. The D&D themed game driven by a deck building mechanic, area control and dark elves hit with my group like strippers and beer. It’s a game practically tailored made for us as it taps the theme and the mechanics we love with just enough take that to create and settle some rivalries.

Personally I think this is going to be one that is likely going to become a regular at our gaming nights for a long time to come, it hits those joy centers, in fact its already hit the table top more times in just a short month then most games will see all year.

I think the trick to the game is the smoothness of play and the fact that each players turn causes you to have to adapt and adjust your strategy. You’re constantly in over watch mode, adjusting your plan until your turn comes up. There is also this element of time pressure, people are buying up cards, taking over cities, scoring points and it quickly starts to feel like a race but one where you can slap your opponents to get them back in line behind you. That is definitely right up my ally mechanically.

Of course I think the theme helps a lot as well, my group, myself includes loves the D&D franchise, in particular forgotten realms and we are a twisted lot so getting to play the “evil” side of things is definitely a cherry on top.

Now I will say that I think the game is very open to expandability and in the past with games like Lord of Waterdeep Wizards of the Coasts created a great core game, but it was a interaction focused expansion that really nailed it home. I kind of see the same thing with Tyrants of the Underdark, it has a great core, but what it really needs is a hard hitting “complexity” raising expansion that makes the game just a wee bit nastier.

I think this one will eventually get a full review but my first impressions are quite solid, I’m surprised how little hype this one is getting.

Conclusion:  Strong gameplay and streamlined mechanics, tough decisions with a unique take on a nostalgic theme.  Great choice for both casual and veteran gamers.

Star Wars: Rebellion by Fantasy Flight Games 2016

Final Score: 

When FFG announced Star Wars: Rebellion the word “excited” barely describes it, this bad boy easily made my top 5 most anticipated games list and as I sat down to play it for the first time it suffices to say that being objective wasn’t going to be part of the experience. Star Wars Rebellion is a Star Wars nerds wet dream, taking on the role as either the Empire or Rebellion players have the opportunity to use the entire weight of the Star Wars universe from the Death Star to Luke Skywalker, from freezing people in carbonite to shooting open exhaust vents, it’s all here.

My first play of this went down exactly as one can imagine, grinning from ear to ear, I was simply overwhelmed by the spectacle of it over all and if you asked me what I thought about the game right then and there it would have gotten an 11 out of 10. Time however is the reviewer’s greatest weapon and I was wise enough to hold back my opinion about the game, taking a step back to get a more objective perspective on things.

Now Rebellion is often referred to as the Star Wars version of War of the Rings, a story driven game heavily tilting the theme over gameplay and I think that is without question the most accurate way to describe. This of course assumes you have played War of the Rings, if you haven’t it leaves you with little perspective to go on. I think perhaps a better way to describe is that Star Wars is a board game that leans so hard on bringing the story to the game that mechanics almost take a back seat, which is not to say the mechanics aren’t good, they are in fact great, but it does mean there are some sacrifices made that more critical reviewers might be quick to point out.

For one the game is a bit scripted and this is something that only comes to light after a long hard look at what is under the hood once the fanboy rainbow glasses are removed and you focus in on those mechanics. One problem that immediately jumps to mind is the fact that while the game hinges on finding the rebel base, it can and most likely will very anti-climatically be revealed by simply accidently stumbling across it. As such the Imperial players ability to win the game is often driven by his ability to get lucky and find the base. The quicker he does it the more likely he is to win because once the base is revealed; given sufficient amount of time (one or two turns) typically the Empire can overwhelm the base and win the game. More than that, once the base is revealed the games nuances and core mechanic, that cat and mouse game of finding the base dissipates and the game becomes a RISK like war game of simply conquering a single important territory, something that the rebels are not well equipped to do against the overwhelming forces of the Empire. Now this is a very simplistic view of things, there actually is a bit more to it than that but in a nutshell the game boils down to the Empire looking for the base, winning if they find it, losing if they don’t. All of the other mechanics are kind of a thematic show boat full of distractions, but matter little in the bottom line of things.

There are some reset buttons here, the Rebels can for example move their base to a new location which is a good solution to the problem for rebels if the opportunity is available. I’m not really here to complain about this element other than to say that a lot hinges on that random game of chance where an Imperial player can simply get lucky to put him in a position to easily win the game or get unlucky and never find the base. Play this game 6 or 7 time and I think you will start to see some repetitive patterns emerge on the static map of the Star Wars universe.

The objective review for this one is still very far away for me, I really need to get more plays as the game does have some subtle nuances I’m sure I missed but for now I can say that the thematically driven gameplay is strong enough to easily push this to the top of the list of a Star Wars fans play list. I don’t think you need to hesitate but keep in mind that while it has the look of Twilight Imperium, it doesn’t have the dynamics. This is a two play game and that epic feel might start to feel quite a bit less epic once you have played it a few times and start to see the formula for what it is. For what it’s worth, I think mechanically, Star Wars is not as good a game as War of the Rings but thematically it has the same strength which personally I think is more than enough to carry it.

Conclusion:  For Star Wars fans this is a must own/play game, for everyone else I strongly suggest you look over the mechanics and consider the fact that without the strength of the theme this one may be a bit linear.   Loving Star Wars is an absolute must.