Welcome back to the board game arena. Last time we saw Machi Koro and Space Base go at round for round. Today, the spotlight shines on two more games. The incumbent Diamant/Incan Gold versus the young, up and comer; Celestia!
Who will win? And who will push their luck too far?
Continue reading “Board Game Battle: Celestia vs Diamant”
We all have our comfort food. That cheeseburger, or tub of ice-cream after a tiring day of work where nothing went right. The same idea applies to board game designers. People who develop games so in tune with your very being that they feel intimate. Like putting on a comfy robe or sliding into a warm bath. For me, my warm bath designer is Tim Fowers.
Name: Now Boarding
Players: 2-5
Publisher: Fowers Games
Designer: Tim Fowers
Artists: Ryan Goldsberry
Continue reading “Fasten your Seatbelts! A Now Boarding Review.”
Not so long ago there were two schools of design within board games. On one hand, the uninteresting theme, no luck, all strategy games that came primarily from Germany – called Euro games or Euros. On the other hand, we had American style games where it was all randomness all the time, extremely high player interaction and jam packed with style. These games were lovingly referred to as Ameritrash. While these terms aren’t used so much today, as these styles have bled together over the years, this board game I’m reviewing demonstrates the differences each style brings while attempting to find a middle ground.
Name: Raiders of the North Sea
Players: 2-4
Publisher: Renegade Games and Garphill Games
Designer: Shem Phillips
Artists: Mihajlo Dimitrievski
Raiders of the North Sea allows players to live a week in the life of the Vikings of old. On Monday: you’ll work at the Mill getting food or gold. Tuesday: The Silversmith gives a silver for any help he receives. Wednesday: time to meet the townsfolk at The Gate House, make friends and they’ll join or aid your crew later. Thursday: make an offering to the chieftain at the Long House who’ll honour you with glory and victory points. It’s a good time to note this board game is not historically accurate. Friday: it’s one silver beer night at the Barracks making it a great place to pick up new crewmates and a hangover. Saturday: spoil yourself. Take the crew out raiding and pillage a nearby settlement. Sunday: pour some mead out for those who journeyed to Valhalla – the Viking equivalent of the big farm upstate, and then loot a now defenceless village. Monday: it’s time to do it all over again.
Continue reading “Raiders of the North Sea – A board game to play before Ragnarok!”
It’s the end of a Scooby Doo episode. The gangs been split up, they’ve run through Escher’s hallway, and Scooby’s eaten his snacks. They’re together again with the local sheriff, and they’ve got Clank!’s core mechanic, deck-building, all tied up. Fred and Velma give some rousing exposition before they rip off the suspect’s mask revealing none other than roll and move!
And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!
Name: Clank! A Deck-Building Adventure
Players: 2-4
Publisher: Renegade Games and Direwolf
Designer: Paul Dennen
Artists: Rayph Beisner, Raul Ramos, Nate Storm
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.
Continue reading “Santorini: Zeus Lands Lead in Greece Lightning”
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.
Tash-Kalar, have you heard of this 
game? It was released to some acclaim and then fell off the face of the Earth. Now, under the watchful eyes of Czech Games Edition, they’ve thrown this board game into a Lazarus pit, and resurrected Tash-Kalar at a price point so good looking that I’d like to take it out to dinner.
A quick heads up: this game comes with many game modes, and player counts. I did not review all of these – booo, you suck Dave! Instead I focused on the best rated game type: two player High Form. This is the objective-based game type, which the Tash-Kalar purists swear by.
Continue reading “Tash-Kalar Review: Tash(-Kalar) of the Titans”
It’s 2:00pm Friday, March 16th, 2018. I’m at my desk doing a business, when Janine from the front desk walks through the office with a large wooden crate. Danger, confidential, and top secret are printed in bold red font down the side. She puts it on my desk, complains about her back, and walks off. I wonder what this is, I didn’t have any packages arriving today, did I? People in the surrounding cubicles stand up and apply standard social pressure; anything to break up their 9 to 5.
Continue reading “Village Pillage Review: Time to Turnip the Heat”
Hope you guys are all enjoying Roll to Review’s Month of Critical Hits, this is the second last review of the event and it’s the party game classic: Dixit. If you have trouble pronouncing the name just imagine owning a dog named Richard. I told my wife that joke, and she looked at me like I belonged in an insane asylum. It was a nice change from her usual I can’t wait until you’re in an insane asylum look.
