Spots is the newest release from CMYK Games. It is a casual push your luck game that features dozens of adorable dog illustrations. On your turn in Spots, you’ll be rolling and placing dice onto dog cards. Dice you can’t place get buried in your yard. Bury too many dice and you bust. Complete 6 dogs and you win!
Well, the holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to start looking for gifts for loved ones (and assorted family members too). Gamers are notoriously hard to shop for because…. reasons. We’ve polled our writers here and we’ve come up with a few lists that might help you find some gifts for that special gamer in your life. With all these lists, we will use Amazon affiliate links (and if you buy things from clicking these links, we might make a commission that help us keep the proverbial lights on here)
You can check out our previous lists at: https://opinionatedgamers.com/category/holiday-gift-list/
We have always been big fans of Escape Rooms and Puzzle games, and we think they would make great presents as well. Continue reading
Hunt a Killer – Nancy Drew: Mystery at Magnolia Gardens
Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3gEoWi0
So, Hunt A Killer is one of the better known “Escape Room at Home” companies – but one that I’ve never tried before. Why is this? Well, though I love the genre, and I’ve tried many different types of escape room games, the cost and commitment of Hunt a Killer has kept me away. The original Hunt A Killer stories were sold as a six-month subscription, with a new installment coming each month – at around $30/month. It was hard for me to sign up for a subscription without having any experience with the company at all. So, despite the constant bombardment of ads on my Instagram, I managed to remain a HAK virgin. Continue reading
A few years ago, Savannah Park was a big hit here – an easy going Take-it-easy style game where everyone tries to put their animals in nice friendly groupings for maximal scoring. Caldera Park is an interactive puzzle-game that achieves a perfect balance between strategic planning and luck. This, and its accessible ruleset, make it a great next step for anyone who enjoyed Savannah Park.
“Welcome to the wilderness of North America! Breathtaking mountain views and spectacular geysers await you. Vast forests and prairie provide habitats for native animals. Your task is to group animals of the same species together in families as large as possible. But large families are only half the battle: to score a lot of points, they also need access to watering holes and must avoid bad weather. A turn comprises two simple steps: First, one player chooses a feature (species or watering hole) and a terrain requirement from a limited selection. Then, each player must place one of their tokens showing that feature onto one of their park spaces obeying that terrain requirement. What seems no trouble at first grows more and more challenging and exciting as the available spaces become fewer and fewer. But it’s not only the choices of your fellow players that can disrupt your plans. There are also unpredictable weather tokens that you must take into account. After five rounds, the game ends. Then you score your most valuable family of each species and the terrains you completely populated.”
Well, the holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to start looking for gifts for loved ones (and assorted family members too). Gamers are notoriously hard to shop for because…. reasons. We’ve polled our writers here and we’ve come up with a few lists that might help you find some gifts for that special gamer in your life. With all these lists, we will use Amazon affiliate links (and if you buy things from clicking these links, we might make a commission that help us keep the proverbial lights on here)
You can check out our previous lists at: https://opinionatedgamers.com/category/holiday-gift-list/
Sometimes you just want to find neat stuff that gamers might like. A few non-game suggestions that came up in our discussion… Continue reading
Link: https://keyenigma.com/products/kalinasu-escape-room-in-a-box
Key Enigma is a puzzle game company that has had a fair bit of success in recent years. Their most recent release, Kalinasu, just arrived here at the Gaming Basement. It is their fifth release – proof that they’ve been around for awhile and have a good track record of making good puzzle games.
Kalinasu is an Escape box that mixes puzzles, narrative, and technology to immerse you in a challenging experience so carefully designed that it may be impossible for you to distinguish reality from fiction. (To avoid spoilers, most of the images used in the rest of the review are either from the starting materials or from the KS campaign). Continue reading
