Dale Yu: Review of Le Chocolat

 

 

Le Chocolat

  • Designer: Mashiu
  • Publisher: Allplay
  • Players: 2
  • Age: 7+
  • Time: 10 minutes
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4fBewv6
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Le Chocolat, you’ll split the chocolate bar and claim the flavors that taste best!  Mix up the 36 chocolate tiles and arrange them into a grid. On your turn, split the chocolate into two chunks along a straight line. If there is ever a chunk of three or fewer tiles left at the end of a player’s turn, they’ll claim that chunk. Continue playing until all chocolate has been claimed. Then, score based on the rules of the scoring card (that changes every play). Did you get the best pieces, while avoiding negative ingredients? Most points wins!

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Dale Yu: Review of Movie Night

 Movie Night

  • Designer: Peter C. Hayward
  • Publisher: allplay
  • Players: 1-10+
  • Age: 7+
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Amazon affiliate link:  https://amzn.to/44zVb7i
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Movie Night is a cooperative game where you and your friends try to think of the perfect movie to watch together. Tap into your collective movie knowledge and come up a movie everyone can agree on — before time runs out!

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Dale Yu: Review of Estate: Raise the Realm

 

 

Estate: Raise the Realm

  • Designer:  Devon Grodkiewicz, Kathryn Hahn 
  • Publisher: Grod Games
  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 20-100 mins
  • Purchase link: https://grod-games.myshopify.com/ 
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Estate, players take on the role of a Noble Leader of a Great House who is bequeathed an Estate post war. Each Leader begins the game with resources, a special ability, a unique build of construction(s) and/or citizen(s) cards within their Estate, a Family Secret objective, and workers prepared to rebuild.

 

A worker placement reconstruction challenge, players must use their workers wisely to optimize their Estate’s growth over the five Eras of game play. Workers can be used to take one of four main actions each turn: play citizen/construction Estate Cards, gather resources from the center game board, produce on Production Cards within their growing Estate, and draw new citizen/construction Estate Cards to join the cause. As the Eras progress and your Estate grows, worker actions become more powerful.

 

Don’t forget the Era Events! Revealed at the start of each Era, Era Events impact game play (either positively or negatively) for that Era while also introducing a public Era Objective players can compete for.

 

Time is limited and not on your side, and careful consideration must be made when determining the best actions for your rise to power. Optimizing your leader’s special ability and family secret objective will also provide valuable victory points at game end.

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Dale Yu: Review of Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy

 

Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy

  • Designers: Gricha German, Corentin Lebrat, Florian Sirieix, Benoit Turpin
  • Publisher: Scorpion Masque
  • Players: 2
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 15 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Inspired by classic arcade-fighting games, Tag Team is an auto battler combined with a deck-building game. Make your team of two fighters from the twelve available — each with their own techniques and special moves — and build an unbeatable synergy by combining their two unique decks!

In more detail, you start with a deck of only two cards, and the fight unfolds automatically: Flip your cards one at a time and apply their effects. At the end of each round, you get to turn up the heat on the opposing team by strategically adding new cards to program your deck — but without reordering the cards already present. Determine what makes your tag team tick, play devastating combos, and dominate your opponent by deftly blocking their attacks. Timing is everything if you want to emerge victorious and knock out your foe!

 

Tag Team is back with 6 new Fighters inspired by the legends of King Arthur!  Arthurian legends come to life in the Tag Team arena! Play as Morgan, Merlin, The Dragon, Perceval, The Green Knight… and even Excalibur! In Tag Team, we don’t sit around telling stories, though, we FIGHT!  Who will dominate the arena as these legendary characters engage in epic battles?

 

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Dale Yu: Review of Last Lantern

 

 

Last Lantern

  • Designers: Jeremy Ducret, Gricha Cerman, Anthony Perone 
  • Publisher: Wonderful World Board Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4nP8h9F 

Last Lantern is a 2 to 4-player co-operative polyomino game with set-collection and bag-building elements. As residents of the canopy, players puzzle their way forwards to the now dimming last lantern by placing tiles. Rely on the powers of familiars to not give in to the isolating fog and—perhaps—discover a way to ward it off forever.  The game is played over seven to nine rounds. Players, without communicating, simultaneously choose one set comprised of a tile and a token. The tile is placed on the path before you, moving you closer to your goal, while gaining three different tokens that activate powerful abilities. Echoing the best co-ops, discover ways to communicate by analyzing both the board state and tokens in hand, bettering your group dynamic with each play.

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Dale Yu: Review of Sanctuary

 

 

Sanctuary

  • Designer: Matthias Wigge
  • Publisher: Capstone / Feuerland
  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 12+
  • Time: 40-100 mins
  • Played twice with pre-production copy provided by publisher
  • Played six times more with a real copy (provided by publisher)

In Sanctuary, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically-managed zoo for animals and visitors. A supply of 135 unique zoo tiles provides you with animals, buildings, and projects. In every game, you want to find the best mix from those available to build the most successful zoological establishment. Different effects on the tiles will help you to achieve conservation goals and to increase the attraction of your zoo.

Each player has a set of four action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. One of those cards will let you play projects, and the other three cards will let you play animals of a specific habitat: forest, rock, or water.

Sanctuary is based on its predecessor Ark Nova, but modifies and simplifies many of the mechanisms of that game in an elegant and surprising manner. Your goal to find the best way to puzzle together your animals, buildings, and projects on your zoo map is an ongoing pleasure!

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