Dale Yu: Review of Hashi

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Dale Yu

Hashi

  • Designer: Jeffrey D. Allers
  • Publisher: NSV
  • Players: 1-4
  • Time: 20 minutes
  • Ages: 8+
  • Times played: >10 with prototypes in multiple stages of development as well as review copy of finished product provided by NSV

hashi

Hashi is one of a growing number of popular pencil puzzles – many of which originate in Japan.  Other examples would be Sudoku, Nonograms, Kakuro and Futoshiki.  All of these puzzles require the solver to use logic to figure out the solution.  I know that these puzzles are also very popular in Germany, as each year when I travel there for SPIEL, I see many different magazines featuring these puzzle varieties in the train station news-stands.  

In Hashi, you start with a grid filled with circles, each of which has a number inside them.  Your job is to draw lines or Bridges between these islands, following a few rules.  The rules are fairly simple:

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Dale Yu: Review of The Search for Planet X

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Dale Yu

The Search for Planet X

  • Designers: Ben Rosset, Matthew O’Malley
  • Publisher: Renegade Game Studios / Foxtrot Games
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 13+
  • Time: about an hour
  • Times played: 7 so far with review copy provided by Renegade Game Studios

The Search for Planet X was touted as the next great logic/deduction game.  As the story goes: “At the edge of our solar system, a dark planet may lurk. In 2015, astronomers estimated a large distant planet could explain the unique orbits of dwarf planets and other objects. Since then, astronomers have been scanning the sky, hoping to find this planet. In The Search for Planet X, players take on the role of astronomers who use observations and logical deductions to search for this hypothetical planet. Each game, the companion app randomly selects an arrangement of objects and a location for Planet X following predefined logic rules.”

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Dale Yu – Review of Sweet Holic

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Dale Yu

Sweet Holic

  • Designer: Olin Jeong
  • Publisher: Korea Board Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 20 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by Korea Board Games

sweet holic

Macarons are one of the more trendy desserts as of late.  They are small in size, packed with flavor, and with the many varying color combinations of cookies and fillings – they are perfect for sharing on Instagram or other social media.   In this game, players vie to be the best patissier by creating the most colors of macarons.

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MicroMacro, Arnak, and Gloomhaven Jaws are Golden Geek’s 2020 Games of the Year

Posted on May 3, 2021 by huzonfirst

BoardGameGeek has announced the winners of the 2020 Golden Geeks. For the first time, there are three Game of the Year winners–one each for Light, Medium, and Heavy games. Here are the winners and the two runner ups in each of these categories:

Light GotY
Winner –  MicroMacro: Crime City
Runner Up – Project L
Runner Up – Santa Monica

Medium GotY
Winner – Lost Ruins of Arnak
Runner Up – Dune: Imperium
Runner Up – Calico

Heavy GotY
Winner – Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Runner Up – On Mars
Runner Up – Viscounts of the West Kingdom

And here are the winners in the other voting categories.

2-Player Game – Undaunted: North Africa
Artwork Presentation – On Mars
Card Game – Dune: Imiperium
Cooperative Game – Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Expansion – Wingspan: Oceania Expansion
Innovative – MicroMacro: Crime City
Print & Play – 7 Wonders Duel: Solo
Solo Game – Under Falling Skies
Thematic Game – Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Wargame – Imperial Struggle
Zoomable Game – Forgotten Waters
Best Podcast – So Very Wrong About Games
Best Board Game App – Root (2020)

Congratulations to all the winners!

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Dale Yu: Review of Inspector Nose

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Dale Yu

Inspector Nose

  • Designer: Reinhard Staupe
  • Publisher: NSV
  • Players: 2-5
  • Age: 7+
  • Time: 15-20 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by NSV

inspector nose

Inspector Nose is a team game where players work together to solve cases.  One player is the Inspector, and his job is to give clues to the rest of the team – and they then discuss among themselves as to the actual meaning of the clue… 

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Solo Gaming 2021: The First Four Months

Posted on May 2, 2021 by Mark Jackson

I’ve written a good bit about my solo gaming over the last couple of years, both for the Opinionated Gamers and for my personal blog…

…so I decided that I’d continue that trend into 2021 by doing a solo gaming post every four months. What you’re reading is the first solo gaming post of this new year – which is, for all but the last week or so of March, before your intrepid writer got his first vaccine shot. 

Interestingly, there’s been a LOT more solo gameplay over the past 90 days – almost 45% of my gaming was solo. For comparison, the yearly total for 2020 was 19% and for 2019 was 6%. 

I’ll repeat my same caveat as each previous report:

I know, I know – there are plenty of board game apps on iOS and Steam… and I own many of them. But there’s something really satisfying about physically playing a game: shuffling cards, moving pieces, seeing it all spread out in front of you. 

So, what follows are my thoughts on a variety of solo games I’ve played over the past three months – ordered by number of solo plays. (Note: this is not necessarily how much I like a particular game for solo play – for example, I think Nemo’s War is a brilliant design but only played it two times this year… so far.)

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