Dale Yu – Review of Zoom in Barcelona (reprint)

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Dale Yu

Zoom in Barcelona

  • Designers: Nuria Casellas, Eloi Pujadas, Joaquim Vilalta
  • Publisher: Blue Orange
  • Players: 2-6
  • Ages: 8+
  • Time: 30-45 min
  • Times played: probably 10 total – 2, with review copy provided by Blue Orange and probably at least 8 with original produced by Cucafera
zoom in barcelona

Barcelona is a fantastic city which I’ve had the pleasure to visit a few times during my travels. I have many fond memories of walking along La Rambla and seeing the wonderful sights.  When I saw that there was a game coming at SPIEL 2019 themed around taking pictures of the wonderful sights in the city, I had to give it a try. In Zoom in Barcelona, players are competing in a photo contest where they are trying to take the best pictures – but they’ll have to travel around the city to get to the best pictures of city landmarks as well as views of the city skyline.

This game was well received here in 2019, and I ended up giving it to one of my local gamers as a wedding gift as they liked the game AND they took their honeymoon in Barcelona – so it seemed like a fitting home for the game.  I missed it a bit when I gave it away, but as things go – new games came into the collection, and I didn’t think much about it.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that Blue Orange has produced a new 2021 version of this game, and I was glad to get another copy and get it back to the table.  From what I can tell, it is a straight reprint, as I could not find any changes from what I remembered from the original…

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2021, Reviews | Leave a comment

‘Twas a Tiny Epic Christmas, redecorated by RJ Garrison

Posted on December 18, 2021 by RJ Garrison

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all thru’ the house,

Every gamer was stirring, including my spouse;

The stockings that hung by the chimney were bare,

In hopes that Tiny Epic Games soon would be there;

There were Tiny Epic Dinos, with dinosaur delights,

And ranchers attempting to wrangle them all night,

We gathered research and resources for the dinos to feed,

And purchase some barriers that our ranches will need.

Continue reading →
Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Gaming Timeline: 1970-1973

Posted on December 17, 2021 by huzonfirst

After an extended hiatus, the Gaming Timeline is back!  In case you don’t know what this is, you can check out the initial article (https://opinionatedgamers.com/2021/02/10/a-gaming-timeline-introduction/), which explains things.

With the 1970’s, we start to see more familiar titles on the timeline.  There are wargames, card games, mass market titles, and abstracts; I assume that many of you have played at least some of them.  We even had a gaming event which captured the imagination of the world and that doesn’t happen every day.  So let’s talk about the highlights of this four-year period.
   Larry

Panzerblitz (1970)

PanzerBlitz (Avalon Hill - 1970) - Front Box Cover


Panzerblitz, which was set in the Eastern front of WWII, was the first tactical level wargame, with the counters representing individual tanks and infantry platoons, as opposed to earlier wargames, where the counters represented much larger units, like divisions.  It was also one of the first wargames to feature the extensive usage of ranged combat.  It included other innovations as well, such as isomorphic mapboards.  The game was an enormous success and wound up selling over 300,000 units.  It was Avalon Hill’s top rated game for many years following its release.

Panzerblitz was designed by Jim Dunnigan, who was something of a wargaming wunderkind.  He created his first game for Avalon Hill, Jutland, when he was just 23 and Panzerblitz came three years later.  At about the same time, he founded Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), which became Avalon Hill’s main competitor for most of the next ten years.  Dunnigan is one of the most significant figures in wargame history. Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Trick-taking in 2021: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of My Favorite Mechanic

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Chris Wray

I played Ghosts of Christmas last night. It was, simply put, one of the best trick-taking games I’ve ever played. I’m hooked. Thematically, it is a nod to the Dickensian novel A Christmas Carol. Players can play into one of three tricks — the past, present, and future — and winning a prior trick can help with winning a later one. Not only is it mechanically innovative, but the gameplay is tense and engaging, and the artwork is striking. As a bonus, the theme matches the mechanics, which can rarely be said for trick-takers.

It’ll be released in a few weeks by BoardGameTables.com, and I’ll likely do a full review then. In the meantime, it is one of my most anticipated games of 2022.

But while we’re still in 2021, I wanted to reflect on the state of trick-taking in our hobby. This is my reflection on the past, present, and future of what is likely the world’s most popular game mechanic. I’m sorry if it veers into rambling, but I hope fans of the genre will enjoy the post.

Continue reading →
Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Dale Yu: Review of Art Decko

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Dale Yu

Art Decko

  • Designer: Ta-Te Wu
  • Publisher: Rio Grande Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 60 minutes
  • Times played: 4 (2 on review copy of new version provided by RGG, 2 on original Promenade, 2019 version)

art decko

Art Decko was once known as Promenade.  As Alan How once wrote about the game: “It was my hidden gem from Essen 2019, proving that despite copious amounts of information now available before the show, there are interesting games to find.”  After hearing about the game, I managed to track down a copy and play a few times prior to the COVID era.  Copies were pretty scarce, and their value on the secondary market was rising; but then I heard that the game had been licensed to Rio Grande Games, and I endeavored to wait it out…

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2021, Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu – Review of Full Throttle

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Dale Yu

Full Throttle

  • Designer: Friedemann Friese
  • Publisher: 2F
  • Players: 2-6
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 20-30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by 2F

Full Throttle

So one of the highlights of my trip to Essen each year is stopping at the 2F Booth to see what the new games are. Unfortunately, neither of us was there this year for Covid reasons. However, I was still able to get a copy of one of their new games,  Full Throttle, an intriguingly themed game about moped racing.  I was worried that the game would not arrive here until Christmas time, but they shipping Gods smiled upon me, and the game actually made it here in just under two weeks from Deutschland (much sooner than the box of games I had someone collect and ship for me!)

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2021, Reviews | Leave a comment