Tag Archives: sean

Favorite Friday – Clue

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clueI have received a few requests to look at the mainiest of mainstream games; games such as Monopoly and Clue. I have debated doing so and alas I have given in. Clue is one of the few games that I find in the houses of my non gamer friends and am willing to play. Released: 1949 Designer: Anthony E. Pratt Plays: 3-6 EPT: 45 minutes Clue is one of the games that I often look at with a sense of lost awe. It was once a game I loved as a child; not because of frequent victory but rather because of a frequent challenge. Clue, along with Pit and Scotland Yard was a game that was no stranger to my families table. Similar to these games it was not one my...

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...

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...

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...

Follow Up Tuesday – Zombie House

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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...

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...

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...

Favorite Friday – Legend of Drizzt

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The year is 2000, the season summer, and my freetime plentiful. My brother had previously picked up the PC adventure game Baldur’s Gate and I had watched him play it some but had yet to dabble much myself. I decided it was time. The world of Faerun instantly pulled me in and hasn’t let me go since. Baldur’s gate lead me down the path that would eventually lead me to meet the dark elf ranger Drizzt Do’Urdan. When I learned Drizzt was going to get his own game in the tabletop space following the novels I was excited; even so it was not until a couple years after the games release that I finally had the joy of picking up a copy and bringing it to the table. Before I jump into the game’s...

Mechanic Monday – Worker Placement

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Worker placement; a mechanic that I have been referencing all year... or at least the two Wednesdays we have had thus far in 2015, and yet I haven’t dedicated a Mechanic Monday to it yet; that is what we in the biz call an oversight... or clever planning for the sake of building anticipation... I’ll go with the latter... Today we shall delve into this mechanic to the full. What is worker placement? How does it work out in game? Why does it it work, or why may it not work? Thus far I have looked at two games that use this mechanic Caverna and Lords of Waterdeep. Both blogs are, in my biased opinion, worth taking a look at. Let us first define the mechanic of worker placement. Keydom is the game...
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