Dale Yu: Review of Lunar Laser Frogs

Lunar Laser Frogs

  • Designer: Andreas Preiss
  • Publisher: Loosey Goosey
  • Players: 3-8
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 15 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Lunar Laser Frogs is the laser-fast dice game for up to 8 players! The dice feature icons in three colors as well as blank faces. When it is your turn, you roll three times to cast all six dice. At the same time, and even before you are finished, each other player tosses one face down card onto a shared pile. The fastest opponent to play a particular color card will get one point per matching die. However, if you do not roll a particular color at all, it will be “lasered” onto every die and suddenly be worth six points.

Continue reading

Posted in Essen 2023, Reviews | Comments Off on Dale Yu: Review of Lunar Laser Frogs

Happy 13th Birthday to the Opinionated Gamers!

Well, back on this day in 2011, we went live with our first review – Norenberc.

Since then, we’ve been writing about games, hosted a few web comics, tried some puzzles, given away some games, had more polls that should be legal, and I think we’ve even managed to push a few prototypes towards publication.

In those thirteen years, we’ve published 2,686 reviews and first impressions… and we’d like to thank each of you that has taken time out of your day to read what we have to say.  We’ve been close to 200 games per year recently, and hopefully we can keep that up in the future.

As it stands, we don’t plan to change anything. We remain independent, and while we use Google Ads thru the blog hosting site, we continue to remain free of monetary sponsorship.  Though, to be clear, we certainly accept copies of the games to play and review.  We try to make it clear when games have been provided to us for that purpose.

OK, enough of that, thanks again for reading our blog, and here is to the next great 13 years!

Posted in Site News | Comments Off on Happy 13th Birthday to the Opinionated Gamers!

Dale Yu: Review of Time Collectors

Time Collectors

  • Designer: Mareva Beauchamps & Florian Sirieix 
  • Publisher: Lubee Edition
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

The year is 8053. Time travel is possible now.

Time Collectors invites you to travel through time to combine dice, collect cards, and earn more points than your opponents.

  1. Roll your 4D10 dice and organize them to select the year to which you want to travel.
  2. Use time crystals to alter your results.
  3. Collect the riches of the past on your personal board.
  4. Collect achievements cards, and win with the most beautiful collection…of all time!

Continue reading

Posted in Essen 2023, Reviews | Comments Off on Dale Yu: Review of Time Collectors

Dale Yu: Review of Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect

  • Designer: Anthony Nouveau
  • Publisher: Arcane Wonders, Corax
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 45 minutes
  • Played with copy provided by Arcane Wonders

How do you take the perfect picture of a group of people if you only have one try? Each character has different wishes. Some want to be at the front of the picture; some want to stand next to another; and some really don’t want to be next to that one particular person by any means. Do your best to make everyone happy – even if you don’t actually know all the characters’ preferences…

In Picture Perfect, you need to arrange fourteen characters to take the perfect photograph. Each of them has three specific desires that you want to fulfill. Unfortunately, these desires are hidden in envelopes. During the game, the players try to take a look inside these envelopes to figure out how to place the characters correctly. To do so, they trade their information with others — or maybe try to hide it… Whoever earns the most points at the end of the game has fulfilled the most desires and becomes the master photographer.

Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of Djinn

Djinn

  • Designer: Benjamin Schwer
  • Publisher: H@ll Games
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 60-90 min
  • Played with copy purchased at Spiel 2023

Once your ancestors found or created a source of magic – the exact knowledge of its origin, as far as you know, has long been lost. A small community has developed around the source, which seeks to protect this place and keep it as secret as possible.

Unfortunately, some magical beings — half corporeal, half ethereal — have now tracked down this source. These beings of dubious character, which you call “Djinn”, have appeared in various places of the city to dispute your access to the source. You are young members of the Magic Guild, and to prove your abilities, you are tasked with capturing the Djinn so that they can do no harm. You can control them permanently only if you catch them in special Djinn bottles. To seal these bottles, you also need corks made from the bark of a tree near the magic source.

Whichever of you succeeds best in protecting your small town will be accepted into the inner circle of the Magic Guild and will soon be allowed to learn even more secrets…

In Djinn, you take turns moving across a map that shows thirteen locations. These locations are linked to actions where you can get the resources you need and catch the Djinn that are in six locations. In those locations you can do things like receive bottles and corks, collect magical power, buy magical items, hire mages to accompany you, discover secret passages, and more.

Continue reading

Posted in Essen 2023, Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku

  • Designer: Olivier Gregoire
  • Publisher: Sit Down!
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 60 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

It is said that Wiraqocha created the sun and the pre-Columbian tribes of the Andes. Under his leadership, those who will train the mighty Inca people came out of their caves to discover new horizons in order to subsist and grow in harmony with nature. They venerated Pachamama, Mother Earth, the basis of all living things, plants and minerals, on earth and under the earth.

In Tiwanaku, first announced as Pachamama, you lead your tribe into unknown territory in search of new lands to cultivate. Your goal: To explore regions and draw outlines to develop cultures according to the customs and legacies of Pachamama. If you honor Her by respecting the great principles of diversity and complementarity, Nature will reward you; otherwise, you will suffer his wrath. In this race, risk-taking, deduction, intuition, and a good sense of timing should allow you to get through.

Continue reading

Posted in Essen 2023, Reviews | Leave a comment