Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from October, 2018

Android App Review #3: Twilight Struggle

For the review of the tabletop version, see here: Review #7: Twilight Struggle Price:  $8.99 CAD Rating: 9* I was very disappointed that I missed the Kickstarter for this digital implementation of Twilight Struggle and had to wait extra time for it to arrive on Android. When it finally did, I was ecstatic and played it repeatedly, reinforcing why it was, at the time, my #1 Game of All-Time. Just because of my sheer love for the physical game I almost rated this app 10 stars, but had to dock a few points for the reasons explained a bit later on. Overall, the interface for the game is very well done and intuitive. A tutorial is available for newcomers or even those familiar with the game so that they can become familiar with the interface. Players can then play offline against an AI or pass-and-play or play online. Players are able to adjust the influence handicap depending on the relative ability against each other or the AI. Players are also able to select fro...

Review #20: Kanban

# of Players:  2-4 Playtime:  2-3 Hours Core Mechanic:  Worker Placement Theme:  Factory Type:  Euro Weight:  Heavy Year:  2014 Rating: 8.5* Over the last couple years, the designer Vital Lacerda has been popping up more and more when I am looking at new euro games that I want to try. From the Gallerist to Vinhos to Lisboa, there are numerous games that look interesting, look heavy, and look like my cup of tea. However, as previously mentioned there are so many heavy euro games out there that I also want to play and only so much time to do so. Luckily, Kanban was available on the Boiteajeux website and so far this super heavy game has been punishing every time, but also extremely enjoyable. In Kanban, each player is a worker in the same car factory. Players will be moving from workstation to workstation each round to complete different jobs in the factory all in the hopes of having the most Productivity Points at the end s...

Expansion Mini-Review #2: Hive: Ladybug/Mosquito/Pillbug

The three mini expansions for Hive are even too small to review on their own in this format so I have lumped them together. In my opinion, Ladybug is the weakest of the three while Pillbug is the strongest and Mosquito is somewhere in the middle. Let's explore why! Ladybug Per the BoardGameGeek description, "The Ladybug moves three spaces; two on top of the Hive, then one down." This is a good piece because it can slip into the spots that are almost completely surrounded and being able to climb onto the hive gives it a lot of flexibility. When I mentioned earlier that it is the weakest of the three, it is only because it is not as interesting as the other two. The piece is still very powerful in terms of maneuverability, especially compared to the Spider which must move around the outside of the hive with its three space move. Mosquito Once the Mosquito is placed into the Hive, it copies the ability of any piece that it touches. For example, if it begins its tur...

New Discoveries - October 2018

This new series will take a look at new games that popped up on my radar in the past month or so and a few thoughts on each of them. Food Chain Magnate: The Ketchup Mechanism & Other Ideas An expansion for one of my favorite games released in the past year? Yes please! I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about this, even if there are no details about what it includes. In a way, I am hoping that the core game experience doesn't change because I have grown more fond of it over the past year, but some modules to make it more forgiving for newcomers might be a good idea. Takla This simple looking dexterity game looks amazing, especially for the engineer in me. Players compete to try to build their structure upward and inward to be the first to touch the red ball. The difficulty can be adjusted depending on where the structure starts or how high it is. There are also several game modes - real-time, turn-based, or fewest pieces. My only hope is that I am actually good at ...

SHUX 2018!

Here it is again, SHUX 2018! Last year was the first time SHUX was held and it was a great chance to try out new games with actual demo teams so I didn't have to read the rules. There aren't many board game conventions that come to Canada, never mind Vancouver, so to have this return and in its second year become the biggest board game convention in Canada is quite the feat and I hope this continues as an annual thing. With family and work commitments, there is no way I would be able to attend a convention outside of Vancouver in the near feature so I definitely appreciate one of such high caliber making its way here. Anyway, the point of this post is to highlight some of the new games I played! Decrypto A brand new party game that has skyrocketed to the Top 10 of party games on BoardGameGeek this year. It takes word deduction games to a whole new level and is knocking on the door of Codenames. Princess Jing This bluffing/deduction game was available to demo at SHU...

Favourite Mechanics #1: Worker Placement

This new series will look at my favourite mechanics in board games, the different ways they get implemented, and board games that feature this mechanic. What better place to start than arguably my favourite mechanic - worker placement. In most worker placement games, players have a pool of players that they will be using to take actions. These actions are typically taken on a common player board and players will take turns placing their workers. One of the key things that make worker placement games stand out from typical action selection games is the use of workers to block other players from taking actions. For example, in Agricola there is a strict rule where each action space can only be occupied by one worker. In this case it may not only be a good idea to take actions that benefit you but perhaps it might be strategic to take actions so that other players are unable to take the same action. This ability to block others is what generates a lot of the tension and interactio...

Review #19: Race for the Galaxy

# of Players:  2-4 Playtime: 30-60 Minutes Core Mechanic: Tableau Building Theme:  Space Type: Card Weight:  Medium Year:  2007 Rating: 9.5* This is my favorite pure card game by a long shot. Although there is a bit of a learning curve due to the role selection and symbols, once you are able to get going, this is a solid engine building game set in space that plays quickly as well. The fact that there was an amazingly solid computer app helped me get a large number of plays in, possibly making this my most played game up until this year, where I was able to hone my strategies and gain exposure to the expansions. Add in some of the developer’s thoughts on creating the game found on the BGG website, including the backstory behind the cards, the game oozes theme every time I play now.  Recently, the Android app was released and I cannot stop playing. It is also available on Board Game Arena. So many options! This game is based on ...

Review #18: Agricola - All Creatures Big and Small

# of Players:  2 Playtime:  30-60 Minutes Core Mechanic:  Worker Placement Theme:  Farming Type:  Euro Weight:  Medium Year:  2012 Rating: 8.5* When I first heard that there was going to be a two-player version of Agricola, I was the first to question why this was really needed - you could play the full version of Agricola with two players perfectly fine and the game wasn’t too long because of the reduced player count.  Add to that the focus on animals in this game when my preferred strategy in regular Agricola was to work the fields, this didn’t seem like it would be a winner for me.  I’m glad to say that once I gave it a chance, I did end up enjoying it after all - it felt the same but different and I realized that the smaller form factor was a blessing in disguise. Similar to its bigger brother, the player with the most victory points in the end wins.  You have a personal farm that can be expanded as the game p...