Game of Thrones

Based on the best-selling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition lets 3-6 players take control of the great houses of Westeros in an epic struggle to claim the Iron Throne.

Voice of the Mummy

Players move around a multi-level pyramid collecting gems; small battery-powered record player inside sarcophagus at the center of the board instructs players who land on certain spaces on their moves or gem collecting.

Hive

Chess, reborn, in the form of ants, grasshoppers, dung beetles, spiders, and grasshoppers. An amazingly complex yet simple abstract strategy game.

Legacy The Card Game

An Expandable card game that uses Line of sight mechanics to add a layer of depth and strategy to this already awesome roleplaying-fantasy card game.

Lift Off! Get me off this Planet

A 45min, semi-cooperative game (2-5 players). Race to save your aliens before the planet explodes!

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Follow Up Tuesday – Sheriff of Nottingham

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sheriffYesterday we looked at at the mechanic of bluffing and how and when it works in games. Today we will be looking at Sheriff of Nottingham; a game that uses this mechanic quite well. Released: 2014 Designer: Sergio Halaban, Bryan Pope, and Andre Zatz Plays: 3-5 EPT: 60 minutes Sheriff of Nottingham is one of those rare games that when I first hear the premise I know the game will be one that I will either love or hate but am not sure at the time which side of the fence the game will land on. The game sounded like it was a party game made for a small group; and yet when played it was nothing of the sort. Each player takes on the role of a merchant attempting to get...

Mechanic Monday – Bluffing

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Just about everyone has been raised with the moral standard that lying is wrong; what about when that lying is part of a game? This has been a hot topic among groups for some time now; The Dice Tower’s temporary side cast, The Dice Steeple, had a good discussion on the topic as well as a few others. Rather than tackle the issue of the moral side of bluffing in games we will rather look at is as a mechanic. How does the mechanic work? When does it work? And what can the future hold for Bluffing games? I went to check Some history on bluffing as a mechanic and to my surprise it was not listed on Board Game Geek. I thus decided to look at a few games that use bluffing and discovered the...

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...

Biblios (8/10)

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Sean and Brian take a look at Iello Game’s Biblios

Worker Wednesday – Agricola

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agricolaThe second most asked question since I started Worker Wednesday has easily been, “Brian, when will you look at Agricola?” preluded only by, “Worker Placement games? Really how long can you keep that going?” Today we will address the first of those two questions. Released: 2007 Designer: Uwe Rosenberg Plays: 1-5 EPT: 30-180 minutes I have intentionally postponed my review of Agricola for one prime reason; I wanted a palate cleanser before the review. I will go into more details on that later, but up until recently my last experience with the game was far less than idea leaving a bad taste in my mouth; did my recent re-experience change that? You’ll have to stick around… or scroll down… and see. Just about everyone who is active in the gaming hobby has,...

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...

Mechanic Monday – Player Elimination (and a challenge)

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Some mechanics I love; other mechanics… not so much. Today we are going to look at a mechanic that I, more often than not, wish was not used. There are a few games that use the mechanic well, however, and we will look at how it is done well in those cases in comparison to how it is used poorly in other games. So without further delay lets look at the history of Player Elimination. The mechanic is an old one; a very old one. According to BoardGameGeek the mechanic can be traced back to an ancient Indian game, Chaturanga, from the year 650. I have never heard of said game, but another common example would be poker. Looking at poker and the history of gambling it is safe to presume that the mechanic is possibly...

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...

Wild Card Thursday – The Resistance

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resistanceThere are times that my friends accredit me with the term “Board Game Hipster” I would argue the title is undeserved though it is not uncommon to hear me say I enjoyed a game “before it was cool”. The Resistance is one such game. Released: 2009 Designer: Don Eskridge Plays: 5-10 EPT: 30 minutes I picked up The Resistance while on a family vacation after hearing it described as “Mafia without player elimination or a need for a narrator.” Having lived in a dorm environment the year before that enjoyed almost weekly mafia games where I was always eliminated round 1 or made the narrator I was very excited at the prospect. In The Resistance players find themselves living in a world in which the government has become too powerful and run...
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