Monthly Archives: March 2014

Not long ago I had the chance to sit down and play another indie game, Movie Deal, by Blanket Games.

The Vitals 30-60 minutes 3-6 players Contains: 1 box with 3 decks composing 106 total cards and the rules on a folded piece of paper. The Game Each player takes on the role of an emerging movie star attempting to build their clout by acting in bigger and better movies than the others gathered around the table. The game composes 3 decks; Box Office, Acting and Films. Play Each player is dealt 5 acting cards; which are kept in their hand, hidden from the other players, until played Five movie cards are drawn and placed in the center of the table The player left of the dealer plays and action card from their hand onto a movie of their choice. Play then continues in...

It is time; time to finish why the rubric.

In my previous post: Why The Rubric Part 1 I explained briefly why we use a rubric and I broke down the first half of my rubric; visuals, skill/luck and pacing. Now it is time to get real with the serious issues the world wants to know; Theme/Immersion, mechanics and fun.  Now let us face it many have posed the question, “shouldn’t how fun the game is be the only factor.” and as promised in part 1; that will be addressed today. Without further adieu, however, let us jump into the rubric!

Theme/Immersion If you read part I you may recall me explaining in the skill/luck spectrum it is not one vs the other it is seeking a balance; this is similar yet different. Theme...

“I’m Brian; and I play Ameritrash games.” “Hi Brian.”

OK; so maybe there is no program to help gamers expand their horizons; but maybe there should be.  I am by self admission an ameritrash gamer; I love games with deep theme; lots of components and most importantly no worker placement… at least that is what I thought. This last weekend my world was shaken; I was invited to a friends house to play some games, I of course accepted, would you expect anything else from me? Now I have played all make and manner of games with this guy (and those whom join us when we have our small gatherings) from summoner wars to BANG! to Eldritch Horror and thus I always arrive willing to play whatever is put before me. This time was different, however, there...

In the youtube comments we have had a fair few people voice the question; why do Sean and I use the rubrics we do and how did we come up with them. As it has also been noted in comments; Sean and I have different scoring rubrics; and I would argue so does pretty much everyone else who plays games, even if on a subconscious level.  Even if we had the same categories we would look at them differently as no two gamers are exactly alike.  Many of you have been asking why our rubrics are designed as they are and how we interpret them as we run a game through the scores; so here is my reasoning behind my rubric; part 1  Visuals, Skill/Luck and Pacing with part 2 soon to follow.

First off;...

Anyone who has watched half of our reviews knows there is one mechanic that Sean and I both look down upon greatly; a mechanic that, though often despised, is shockingly prominent in many games. There are very few games I can say I genuinely enjoy that feature this mechanic and yet I find myself often playing these games thinking I can out play the mechanic. Player Elimination. I have played a fair amount of games with player elimination and honestly if you ask a casual gamer (one not familiar with the extended hobby) what their favorite games are chances are they will name at least one game featuring the player elimination mechanic. Monopoly, Risk, Axis and Allies, Mafia/Werewolf; all games that my non-hobby gamer friends are familiar with and often enjoy. Confession: I do enjoy some games...