Dale Yu: First Impressions of Imperial Steam

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Dale Yu

Imperial Steam

  • Designer: Alexander Huemer
  • Publisher: Capstone Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 12+
  • Time: 90-120 minutes
  • Played on review copy provided by Capstone Games

imperial steam

As 2021 comes to a close, I’m still mostly stuck in my basement – unfortunately unable to make the trip to Essen this year.  However, I was still able to get a decent stock of SPIEL 2021 games, including a nice bundle of games from Capstone.  Imperial Steam was one of the first to hit the table (in fact, getting its initial play prior to the start of the fair) – and at least in this way, I was able to travel back in time to mid 19th Century Austria.

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Posted in Essen 2021, First Impressions | 1 Comment

Simon W’s Thursday Report from Spiel 2021

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Dale Yu

SPIEL21_Webseite

I was standing near the entrance this morning at 09:45 when they let the punters in and as usual at Spiel there was a healthy buzz of noise and a rush of air as people jogged to find a space on their favourite tables. There was a queue at various booths to buy games with limited copies or which had the most hype – this year definitely made more noticeable by the problems of getting games to Essen on time. Notable long queues were for Arche Nova at Feuerland (only 20 copies in English); Devir for Bitoku (excuse the incorrect accents); Golem even though this year Cranio are in Hall 5; and Kosmos (no idea what they were queuing for though!).

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Dale Yu – Review of Dice Trip Germany

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Dale Yu

Dice Trip – Germany

  • Designer: Hartmut Kommerell
  • Publisher: Helvetiq
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 9+
  • Time 30 minutes
  • Played on review copy provided by Helvetiq

dice trip germany

Helvetiq is one of the game companies that I think are not as well known as they should be. Based in Lausanne, this Swiss company makes games on the lighter/family side, and as such, I think that “gamers” often overlook them.  In the past few years, I’ve been happy to give their games a try.  We recently tried out a prototype of Save Patient Zero which was a fun team-based deduction game.

Dice Trip – Germany is billed as a roll-and-write game where you will travel through Germany.  Your goal is to create the longest possible continuous route on your way through the 25 different cities shown on the map.  The components are fairly simple; you get a pack of 50 one sided map sheets, pencils, and 4 colored dice.

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Posted in Essen 2021, Reviews | 3 Comments

Dale Yu: Review of HELP!

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Dale Yu

HELP!

  • Designer: Kim Vandenbroucke
  • Publisher: Amigo Games
  • Players: 3-5
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 15-20 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by Amigo

help

HELP! Is one of this year’s traditional card games that always appear at the SPIEL convention.  There are usually two to four games in this little double deck box, and when I’m at the fair, I routinely come home with one or two of them each year.  This year, I am not at the fair, but the great folks at Amigo sent me at least one to play.  

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Posted in Essen 2021, Reviews | 2 Comments

Dale Yu – Review of My First Advent Calendar

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Dale Yu

My First Advent Calendar

  • Publisher: Haba
  • Players: N/A
  • Age; 2+
  • Time: 3-5 minutes/day

haba advent calendar

So, I grew up as a Catholic in the Midwest, so I’m quite familiar with Advent Calendars.  As it turns out, it might not be as common a phenomenon in other parts of the country.  As my travels thru Germany have shown, Advent Calendars are a big part of the holiday season, and most of my trips through toy stores and department stores provide me plemty of choices for my Advent Calendar. enjoyment.

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Dale Yu – Preview of Steam Up

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Dale Yu

Steam Up

  • Designers: Pauline Kong, Marie Wong, Haymen Lee
  • Publisher: Hot Banana Games
  • Players: 2-5
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 40-60 minutes
  • Played with prototype copy provided by publisher

steam up

Steam Up places gamers in the midst of a dim sum restaurant – sitting around a common table, competing with each other to get the best selection of the tasty bite size treats as they come out!  The board shows a turntable with spaces of 6 stacks of bamboo steamers.  These are seeded with 2, 3 or 4 pieces of Dim Sum.  The outside rim of the turntable has marks which designate an area for each player.  Any steamers which are wholly or partly in a player’s area can be taken by that player.

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Posted in Essen 2021, Kickstarter, Preview | 1 Comment