Yesterday we looked at the mechanic of Simultaneous Action Selection and today we will follow that up with the game Zombie House. While the theme of zombies is one I have seen done more than almost anything aside from farming the european countryside and trading in the mediterranean this is a game well worth a look. (Note: This review will be looking at ‘Zombie House - Beta’ there is another version available on Game Crafter without the beta tag that plays the same but has slightly different components.)
Released: 2014
Designers: Mars Needs Games
Plays: 2-8
EPT: 30-60 minutes
Zombie House is an independently designed game produced via Print on Demand through The Game Crafter. Being an independent game there are noticeable aspects that can be nagged on such as a lower art quality and simpler components; but the game’s...
Tag Archives: fun
Mechanic Monday – Simultaneous Action Selection
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...
Wild Card Thursday – Bang!
Those who know me know there are certain games and mechanics I generally don’t enjoy; some of those being player elimination and larger group games, there are of course exceptions to the rule and Bang! is one of those exceptions.
Released: 2002
Designers: Emiliano Sciarra
Plays: 4-7
EPT: 30 minutes
Bang! is a social deduction, card, hand management, player elimination game in which players take on the rolls of cops and robbers in a spaghetti western. The rules of Bang! are fairly simple yet often altered; I will thus explain the rules and add any additional house rules my group prefers in parentheses; I also played with the early print runs pre-bullet and pre-re-reprint and this the components may vary slightly.
The game has four roles the players take up at random...
Worker Wednesday – Castles of Burgundy
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
In 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
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...
Favorite Friday – Settlers of Catan
Some games are a flash in a pan, they burn bright but not for long; others are embers, they may only let off a dim light but they fail to die out; then every once in a while there are games that are forest fires, they ignite in an instants then before you know it the world is aflame and will burn for what seems like forever. The Settlers of Catan is a forest fire.
As a reviewer one of the most common question I am given is, “What are your views on Catan?” the game has almost come the gold standard many judge other games by; partially because it is the game that brought many into the hobby but also because it is a game so many are familiar with. Quite honestly the question is...
The Next Great American Game (movie)
Today we are looking at something a bit more uncommon for the world of Tabletop Games; a movie. I’m not even looking at a movie that is the component to a game such as is common with murder mysteries, not a movie based on a game in the manner of the 1985 masterpiece that is clue. Today we are looking at a documentary following a man attempting to sell his first game to a publisher in The Next Great American Game.
I will attempt to avoid too many spoilers but I will warn you that I may give away a few minor details; but due to the movie’s nature I do not think that should be an issue, but as is customary the warning should be issued.
The movie; directed by independent movie maker Doug Morse; follows...
Worker Wednesday – Stone Age
Welcome back to the day we look at one of my new favorite mechanics; worker placement. We have thus far looked at a great selection of games within the genre of worker placement, but today we shall look at the one that has, to some of my friends, Jones Ruled out many of their old favorites as well as a game that was recently on TableTop - Stone Age.
Released 2008
Designer: Brend Brunnhofer
Plays: 2-4
EPT: 60 minutes
In Stone Age each player is guiding a community with the goal of having the most developed or most inhabited village at the end of the game… personally the theme is kind of week here and I was stretching just for that, but as is often the case in these games the winner is the person who accumulates the most points....
Follow Up Tuesday – Forbidden Island
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...