I fell in love for the first time in my life when I met my wife, the second time I fell in love was when I found out about IELLO’s mini games collection. Within this treasure trove resides Schotten Totten, a two-player card game designed by the renown Reiner Knizia. However, you might know it by another name, as this game is a very similar to the board game Battle Line.
Before we begin, included in Schotten Totten is deck of 10 tactic cards. These cards provide temporary powers that change the rules of the game. We preferred the game without these additional cards and I have reviewed the game as such.
Given the Commonwealth Games are 100km away, you’d forgive me for mistaking Jump Drive for a board game about the determination and drive required to become a professional long jumper. Instead, what I found was a baby board game; essentially My First Race for the Galaxy. A 20 minute engine builder for 2-4 players, designed by Tom Lehmann and published by Rio Grande Games.
Red 7 is a 2-4 player card game designed by Carl Chudyk and Chris Cieslik and published by Asmadi Games. It’s a card game that’s seen Talladega Nights one too many times, as the rules are simple: if you’re not first you’re last. If at the end of your turn you’re not winning, you’re eliminated, with the winner being the last player still standing.
If you’re like me and thought all board games are abstract, well, you’re both right and wrong. The term abstract game is now a genre term that reasonably means the game contains minimal luck, usually two players, and little to no theme. Think of Chess and Checkers as prime examples of abstracts, or more recently Azul. A 2-4 player abstract game designed by Michael Kiesling and published by Plan B games.
If I had a bucket list, seeing a panda would be on it, and it would be crossed off. Fortunately, I got the chance to see them in Japan, and it surprised me that they were exactly as accident prone as the gifs around the internet would have you believe. Coincidentally, Takenoko is a board game about a panda being gifted to Japan, could it be an ancestor of the ones I saw? I want to believe.
Suburbia is the second of four board games to feature in Roll to Review’s Critical Hit January, so let’s get the verdict out of the way. Suburbia is great, and I highly recommend it. That’s my opinion, but be aware it’s more biased than usual. I have an affinity for these types of build and manage games. In the two and a half months since my wife gave birth, I’ve spent exactly thirteen hours playing video games. That’s wrong. I’ve spent thirteen hours playing a single video game: Planet Coaster. Keep this in the back of your mind as you read, and remember, never have kids.