This blog isn’t Marvel. We know this because I’m flat broke, and it doesn’t take a year to get a sequel. A couple weeks ago I reviewed Love Letter, and this week I’m back in the expanded Love Letter universe to review Lovecraft Letter. Although there are many flavours of the original game, Lovecraft Letter is the only version that revisits and re-implements core design of the game. It’s a 2-6 player game designed by Seiji Kanai and published by AEG.
I’ve hit the point that every board game collector, and hoarder, hits where their collection outgrows their space. Therefore, I’m introducing a new type of review called On the Chopping Block – inspired by Click Clack Lumberjack – where I look at games that will be sold off. These aren’t necessarily bad games, but games that have either been outshone by other games or are not a good fit for me. Heck, we’ll see some games I really enjoy but I’m going to sell because I can’t see myself reaching for it from the shelf. Let’s begin by introducing the first game on the chopping block: Click Clack Lumberjack designed by Justin Oh and published by Mayday Games.
There are a few games in my collection where the review is a bigger story than just one solitary review. For instance, I wanted to review Lovecraft Letter but to do that I need to establish my thoughts on the original. Otherwise we’d be skipping forward to seeing Neo being The One, without understanding what the Matrix is. Although to be fair, even after three movies, and a mini anthology, I’m still not sure that I know. By the end of this review, you’ll hopefully be in a better place than I, so without further ado introducing Love Letter: Premium Edition a 2-8 player game designed by Seiji Kanai and published by AEG – for now.
There’s an old joke: a Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. I feel like this encapsulates what CrossTalk is all about, you’re trying to get your team to guess the meaning of the word in vague yet creative ways. It’s a team-based party word game where you need to pick your words carefully, and your team carefully-er. Designed by Brett Sobol, Seth Van Orden and published by Nauvoo Games, let’s see how it rates.
When I first heard about Mad Love, I thought Harley Quinn. Then I had awful flashbacks to watching Suicide Squad; already, this game put me in a bad mood. To regain my trust, it offered artwork that reminded me of another Batman comic – one of my favourites – The Doom That Came to Gotham by Mike Mignola. Now that it brought be back to being even keeled, it was time to review Mad Love. A two-player memory game designed by Darth Rimmer (actual name, not a Sith lord), and produced by Imp House Game Company.
This Kickstarter preview was given to me for review, some details will change but the mechanics will not.
As trashy as Jersey Shore gets, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Greek gods. Zeus, for instance, slept with anyone and anything, and ended up having more babies than a kindergarten. Seriously, once you hit double digits, maybe it’s time to consider a vasectomy? I mean I’m six months into having my first child, and I’m already thinking about it. Anyway, believe it or not this is a review for Santorini, a 2-4 player abstract board game designed by Dr Gordon Hamilton, and published by Roxley and Spin Master.
For this review, it was only played with 2 players as recommended by the rule book.
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.
I can’t say the name of this board game without thinking about Fatman Scoop, drop the plant, Fatman Scoop, drop the plant, Fatman Scoop, drop the plant, give it up give it up give it up. Always a laugh whenever radio stations go overboard cleaning up profane songs. Anyway, engine, engine NMBR 9 is a 1-4 player spatial puzzle game designed by Peter Wichmann and published by Z-man Games.
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.
Last weekend Roll to Review hit a bit of a milestone – 50 subscribers! Thanks to you all for stopping by, and I hope you continue to enjoy the content provided. Anyway, to celebrate – and because I’ve been too busy with work all week to write a decent article – here’s my collection!
