My City (Game Review by Chris Wray)

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Chris Wray
  • Designer: Reiner Knizia
  • Publisher: Kosmos
  • Players: 2 – 4
  • Ages: 10 and up
  • Time: 30 Minutes
  • Times Played: 28 (Full 24 Game Campaign, 4 “Eternal” Games)

My City is a legacy game designed by Reiner Knizia.  Released this spring, the game is about placing buildings in a city through generations, watching the community grow from its earliest days through industrialization.  The buildings you construct are represented by polyominoes, those tetris-like shapes we’re all familiar with, so the game has a bit of a puzzle feel.  

The campaign is 24 games, split into 8 chapters of 3 games each.  Depending on your in-game decisions, you’ll be adding new features (generally via stickers) to your city that alters the course of future games.  On the reverse of your board is an “eternal” game that can be replayed anytime. 

My City, designed for 2-4 players, has been receiving significant critical praise for the family-friendly and easy-to-learn gameplay.  My family played through the campaign recently, and we fell in love with My City.

The game is currently released in Germany, and an English-language version is expected this summer.  

Continue reading →
Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Dale Yu: First Look at The Liberation of Rietburg (A Game in the World of Andor)

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Dale Yu

 

 

The Liberation of Rietburg

  • Designer: Gerhard Hecht
  • Publisher: KOSMOS
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 30-40 minute
  • Times played: 6, with review copy provided by Thames&Kosmos

My online group just finished hacking and judiciously slashing our way through The Last Hope (done over a weekly Google Hangout / Zoom conference), and that fun experience had me wanting more.  I’ll admit that I haven’t been keeping up as close with the new release news as normal with everything going on with the coronavirus.  I was pleasantly surprised to read a blurb about this game from the publisher: “In this stand-alone game set in the fantasy world of Andor, Rietburg Castle has been taken over by evil creatures. Without delay, you — the Heroes of Andor — take on the task of rescuing old King Brandur’s fortress and protecting its remaining inhabitants. But time is of the essence as the dragon Tarok has already set out to destroy the stronghold once and for all. The prophecy foretells that you can only prevent its destruction if you are able to accomplish the four tasks. But which tasks are those? Must you appease the Fire Spirit or kindle the Hadrian Fire? Should you free prisoners from the creatures’ dungeons or submit to the will of the old Skral witch? You are going to have to play to find out”

  Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | 2 Comments

Dale Yu: Preview of Dominion Menagerie

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Dale Yu

 

Dominion Menagerie

  • Designer: Donald X. Vaccarino
  • Publisher: Rio Grande Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Times played: ~10 games with cards from the new set, with review copy provided by RGG

Dominion is one of my all time favorite games. Though, I’m biased as I was one of the developers of the base game and worked with the designer and publisher thru Dominion: Prosperity.  Since then, I have had no involvement in the series, but I still remain a great fan of the system and the game. (I have no stake in Dominion Menagerie at all, I’m just a fan boy like everyone else now!)

 

This newest set is the twelfth expansion to the original game, and there are a number of exciting and interesting ideas injected into the Dominion world with these cards.  This is a “full” expansion – it comes in a full size box and includes 400 cards.  I would like to talk about the three larger themes found in this box.  I will leave the descriptions/previews of the new cards to Donald – as he has already provided a number of preview articles on BGG, and there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel here…

Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | 4 Comments

Dale Yu: Preview of Santa Monica

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Dale Yu

 

 

Santa Monica

  • Designer: Josh Wood
  • Publisher: AEG
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: ~45 minutes

I have visited the Santa Monica pier on a few occasions; from what I remember, there is a ferris wheel, an arcade, a super neat aquarium, lots of street performers, and everyone stops and takes a picture at the iconic Route 66 sign.   It was a pleasant enough way to spend a day enjoying the Californian sunshine.  I honestly don’t remember much else other than the pier, but I’ve been told the rest of the city is beautiful as well.   In this tableau building game, players work to create their own section of the Santa Monica beach trying to score the most points.

  Continue reading →

Posted in Preview | 3 Comments

Chris Wray: What I Enjoyed Playing in April 2020

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Chris Wray

This is the April entry for my long-lost series where I post five games I enjoyed playing in the past month for which I didn’t have time to do full reviews.  As always, I limit it to five titles, of which there’s a combination of old and new games.

It has been a long time since I’ve done an entry in the series, so I’m looking forward to returning to this monthly tradition.

My most played game of the month was My City, a legacy polyominoes game by Reiner Knizia, but I’ll have a review of it later this week, so I’ve left it off the list below.

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

Brandon Kempf – Three Games of April

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Brandon Kempf

What a really weird month, right? April 2020 will be a month that we all will likely remember, or more likely try to forget. Since March 24th I have been in this house, with my two kids and my wife. My wife is considered an “essential” worker by the State of Missouri, so she was going to work this entire time. Meanwhile, I’ve been at home, working from home the best I could, which was ultimately fairly minimal up until a week or so ago when I actually was given remote access to everything I needed to work. Along with that I have been trying to keep two kids motivated enough to care about schoolwork that they’d keep working, with some success and some failure. I do not envy the teachers when these kids go back to school, eventually. It has been a month where we just kind of watched the world break down a bit around us as we hunkered in our home, learning to cook a bit better, learning to communicate a bit better, and playing some games along the way to break the monotony of the days, and nights. I have to report back to the office on Monday, luckily I looked at a calendar so I know what day it is now, that hasn’t always been the case. In the meantime, let’s take a brief look back at Three Games that made an impact on me in April.

Continue reading →
Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments