Category Archives: strategy game

Favorite Fridays – Geister Geister Schatzumeister

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geisterWhen I think children's games I traditionally think of games such as Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry O, and Don’t Break the Ice. This is because those are the games I grew up playing, granted this was subsidized by games such as Scotland Yard and Crossbows and Catapults. I’m sure these list would alter greatly based upon each of our families involvement in the gaming hobby as we were growing up, but I have found in general children of gamers often played games that their parents enjoyed as well. I am excited to see what future children’s games look like; especially after this year’s children game of the year went to Geister Geister Scharzsumeister! NOTE the game ships with rules for a basic and for...

Wild Card Thursday – Gloom

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gloomI love a good story; and I love a good game. So what happens when a game tells a story? What if that is a sad story; a tragedy? Gloom happens. Released: 2005 Designer: Keith Baker Plays: 2-5 EPT: 60 minutes Gloom went from near obscurity to a hit due to its feature on TableTop. It was with this exposure that I was able to break out my copy again which I had only previously had a few chances to play. Gloom is a hand management storytelling hybrid in which players are attempting to use the cards in their hand to tell a story about the tragedies afflicting their families and the triumphs effecting their neighbors. Each player takes on one of the four families placing all the family members before them...

Follow Up Tuesday – Risk

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Risk-BoxRisk is one of those games that almost everyone has tried, wanted to try, or heard stories that kept them from trying. A few of the former group love the game while others hate it. The latter group not willing to risk falling into the second half of the formers avoids it at arms length. Why is this? What make Risk a game that players will either love or hate? Lets answer all that and more. Released: 1959 Designer: Albert Lamorisse and Michael Levin Plays: 2-6 EPT: 120-240 minutes (lets be honest we’ve all played those 4+ hour games) Since the game's initial release Risk has refused to leave the war game market and has had many alternate versions made; some to more critic acclaim than others; with Risk Legacy taking...

Favorite Fridays – Eldritch Horror

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eldritchIn my second Favorite Friday I wrote about Arkham Horror; the 2005 reinvisioning of a 1980s classic. Today we will look at the successor of the reinvisioning of the original; Eldritch Horror. It is days like this I am glad I shifted away from in depth rule explanations because this game; is a big one. Released: 2013 Designer: Corey Konieczka & Nikkia Valens Plays: 1-8 EPT: 180 minutes Like the games that came before it Eldritch Horror drops players into the world of HP Lovecraft’s mythos fighting ancient entities bent on making the world their own. Eldritch, however, takes us out of the Arkham area and lets us explore the world; all of it. Someday mayhaps I can do a very in depth critical analysis comparing Eldritch to Arkham, but I feel...

Kickstarter Wednesday – Hitman Holiday

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hitman holidayWe are taking a break this week from our normally scheduled programming to take a look at Hitman Holiday; a game currently on Kickstarter. Released: Now on Kickstarter Designer: Dominic Michael H. Plays: 2-10 EPT: 45 minutes I first learned of the game when contacted by the designer asking if we would be interested in previewing the game before launch. After checking out the games page on BoardGameGeek I was instantly intrigued. Hitman Holiday pits players against each other in a deadly battle in which each player acts as a hitman attempting to remove the competition in hopes of retaining their position in the assassin’s guild. Rather than spend 4 or 5 paragraphs explaining the rules I have embedded our preview of the game on Dice Tower down below; the...

Mechanic Monday – Simultaneous Action Selection

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Friday I looked at 7 Wonders which uses the mechanics of Card Drafting, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers, and Simultaneous Action Selection. Today we will take a look at the last of those mechanics; I will state first that I feel the name is slightly misleading as the simultaneous aspect of these games is not always action related; I will also refer to the mechanic as SAS as Simultaneous Action Selection. Simultaneous Action Selection is an interesting mechanic as it serves multiple purposes from forcing players to plan ahead, increasing a game’s pace, to minimizing downtime between turns. The mechanic is is one that can be utilized in a variety of ways when partnered with other mechanics. Often SAS will be used as a part of a turn round in which players manage minor upkeep, turn...

Worker Wednesday – Castles of Burgundy

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castles of burgubdy Worker Wednesday; the day of the week we get to enjoy the games using Worker Placement as a key mechanic. Today, however, we mix it up as we look at a game that many would not consider a Worker Placement game, but I am not one of the many. I am, however, right…. or at least I think I am; the game, Castles of Burgundy. Released 2011 Designer: Stefan Feld Plays: 2-4 EPT: 90 minutes Before I explain why I consider Castles of Burgundy to be a worker placement game let me explain the way the game plays. In Castles of Burgundy players are seeking to earn the most points by developing their estate and developing it with fields, castles, mines, and learning. The game plays on a...

Follow Up Tuesday – Carcassonne

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carassonneIn yesterday’s post we looked at the mechanic of Tile Placement; today we will take a closer look at how that mechanic plays out in Carcassonne. Released: 2000 Designers: Klaus-Jurgen Wrede Plays: 2-5 EPT: 45 minutes As is the usual we will only look at the base game of Carcassonne and save the expansions for a latter date, and for Carcassonne the expansions are many. I was first introduced to Carcassonne while in high school. My mother received the game as a gift asking for it as she thought it looked interesting. We quickly read the rules and began playing; all four of the players new to the game we each developed strategies as the game progressed. When the game ended we were eager to start over with our newly developed...

Mechanic Monday – Tile Placement

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Some mechanics are moderately new as the hobby of gaming grows and adapts to new players, themes, and play styles. Other mechanics, however, seem to have existed since the hobby’s creation. Tile placement is one of the latter. According to Board Game Geek The mechanic of Tile Placement has arguably existed since 1120 with Chinese Dominoes. The year can be up for debate; but the idea that Dominoes is a tile placement game is clear making this one of the older mechanics that is still used in modern gaming. A vast majority of games that utilize Tile Placement involve matching parts of the tile to other parts already in play. In Carcassonne players must keep roads attached to roads; castle walls to castle walls, fields to fields, rivers to rivers, etc. Similarly in Alhambra players...

Follow Up Tuesday – Forbidden Island

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Yesterday we took a look at the mechanic of cooperative play; a mechanic that must rely entirely upon other mechanics and yet when used tends to be the identifying mechanic. Having looked at the sub-mechanics of all-vs-one and betrayers; today we will follow up the pure default mechanic of all-vs-game as we look at a cooperative classic; Forbidden Island. Vitals Released: 2010 Designers: Matt Leacock Plays: 2-4 EPT: 30 minutes Since the mid 2000s the cooperative game has been becoming more and more common, and Matt Leacock is partially to thank. With his 2007 release of Pandemic followed up by the 2010 Forbidden Island and now the 2013 Forbidden Desert. In Forbidden Island the players act as adventurers seeking to claim four great artifacts that have the power to control the elements. As the players move about the island they find...
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