Dale Yu: Review of Inheritors

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Dale Yu
  • Inheritors
  • Designers: Jeffrey CCH and Kenneth YWN
  • Publisher: North Star Game Studio
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 30-45 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by North Star Games

Per the publisher: In the dark of the night, whispers spread throughout the court: “The King is dead!”  Inheritors is a 2-4 player open drafting, hand management card game. As one of the King’s Inheritors, you will seek influence among five clans, spy on your competitors, and tip the courts in your favor to win your rightful place on the throne.

  • Build Influence in the 5 Realms.
  • Gain the support of Clan leaders – each with unique abilities.
  • Use Advocates to outthink your opponents.
  • Race to claim Honors.
  • Journey on Quests to prove yourself to the Realms.

Inheritors provides a big game experience in a small box you can take with you anywhere.
Let the games begin!

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US/CAN Giveaway for Shake that City (AEG)

Posted on September 11, 2023 by Dale Yu

We are thrilled to partner up with AEG for a giveaway for Shake That City!  Two lucky readers will win a copy, to be shipped directly from AEG to your home.  For reasons, only US and Canadian residents are eligible to win…

Below is a reprint of our review, and below the review is the information on how to enter the giveaway.  Additional entries can be generated by liking our posts on Instagram and Bluesky.  Enter by September 17!

 

Shake That City 

shake that city

In Shake That City, players strive to design the best city block, using cubes found in the novel Cube Shaker Device.  Before your first play, you’ll have to follow the fairly detailed instructions on how to assemble said device, but once put together, you’ll never have to re-do that process.  To setup the game, take all the wooden cubes and place them into the Cube Shaker device.

The game is played over 15 rounds, tracked on a handy reminder board.  Each player gets a personal Player board (double sided) – but make sure that all players use the same side!  Also make sure that all players place their board in the same orientation in front of themselves.  Each player gets a set of bonus point tiles, and each player places the corner tile on the upper left corner of their board.  One player randomizes the other 6 Bonus tiles, placing 3 along the top and 3 along the left.  All other players copy this arrangement.  

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Gen Con 2023 Master Post

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Matt J Carlson

OpinionatedGamers Gen Con coverage for 2023 is winding down. There’s been a lot of information sent out through the interwebs so I thought it might be useful to compile it all in a single location. There will be a large RPG report coming soon and I expect another annual “kitchen sink” of photos to cap it off. In the meantime, enjoy and visit any of the posts you missed! Drop a note below to let me know if you preferred this year’s “one post per publisher” or past years’ “mega-publisher” posts.

First, we have Chris Wray’s whirlwind visit and Dale Yu’s preview:

A Few Hours at Gen Con 2023 (Article by Chris Wray)

Games to look out for at GenCon 2023

A brief write-up of Handelabra Games’ digital lineup:

Matt Carlson: Gen Con 2022 – Digital

And then an alphabetical list by publisher (or game, if there’s only one covered) for all the rest, coverage courtesy of Matt Carlson…

Gen Con 2023 – AEG

Gen Con 2023 – Asmodee

Gen Con 2023 – Bézier Games

Gen Con 2023 – BOOoop.

Gen Con 2023 – CATAN

Gen Con 2023 – Cephalofair

Gen Con 2023 – Chip Theory Games

Gen Con 2023 – Cosmoctopus

Gen Con 2023 – Czech Games Edition

Gen Con 2023 – Dice Veggies

Gen Con 2023 – Dumb Ways to Die

Gen Con 2023 – Flat River Group

Gen Con 2023 – Flock Together

Gen Con 2023 – HABA

Gen Con 2023 – Hachette Boardgames

Gen Con 2023 – Hasbro

Gen Con 2023 – Horrible Guild

Gen Con 2023 – Invincible: The Dice Game

Gen Con 2023 – IV Studio

Gen Con 2023 – Keymaster | The Opinionated Gamers

Gen Con 2023 – Kosmos

Gen Con 2023 – Mattel

Gen Con 2023 – NorthStar Game Studio

Gen Con 2023 – Pandasaurus

Gen Con 2023 – Ravensburger

Gen Con 2023 – Renegade Game Studios

Gen Con 2023 – Restoration Games

Gen Con 2023 – Snap Ships Tactics

Gen Con 2023 – The OP

Gen Con 2023 – Tiger & Dragon

Gen Con 2023 – Wise Wizard Games

Gen Con 2023 – Wizkids

See you all next year, hope you enjoyed the ride!

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Gen Con 2023 Digital – Handelabra Games

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Matt J Carlson

Many moons ago, Gen Con was infested (in a good way) with digital gaming of all types. Over the years, the digital portion of the convention has waned. Gone is the mainstream gaming, but boardgame focused digital content lives on. Handelabra Games is one of my favorite developers because they provide a way for me to conveniently play some of my favorite solo/co-op games from Greater Than Games. I had a great chat about recent and upcoming developments in their portfolio. These include new content for Sentinels of the Multiverse, Spirit Island, Aeon’s End, and the new One Deck Galaxy.

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Dale Yu: Review of Alan & Bobby’s Block and Guess

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Dale Yu

Alan & Bobby’s Block and Guess

  • Designers: Alan R. Moon and Bobby West
  • Publisher: Matagot
  • Players: 3-8
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Played with copy provided by publisher

Make other players guess a word using wooden pieces, easy? Not that much! In Block Guess, your opponents will choose the wooden pieces you will use… Good luck!

Players will be playing in two teams of two players. Each round, one person from each team will be building an object. The other two people are the guessers. They will be trying to identify their teammates’ objects in order to gain points. Beware the construction cards! You might end up playing with just one eye open… Block Guess ends after 4 rounds and the team with the most points win the game.

—description from publisher

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Gen Con 2023 – Cosmoctopus

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Matt J Carlson

Sure, you can play an engine-building game that constructs a farm, builds a cathedral or castle, or even an entire empire. Or…, stay with me here, you can play an engine building game to collect eight octopus tentacles! Stick that in your medieval farming community! Cosmoctopus is a 1 to 4 player, mostly card-based game where players are trying to gather up eight tentacles for the win.

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