Patrick Brennan: Game Snapshots –2019 (Part 18)

Posted on August 18, 2019 by pfbrennan
Angus Sampson. Perhaps he is a secret investor in Plaid Hat games?

As at the end of July, I’ve rated (and commented on) 389 of the top 500 BGG games and 700 of the top 1000. 

If we ignore all the puzzle games and the multiple editions that clog up the rankings (did I mention I reckon they don’t belong there?!), and ignore most of the wargames (which I enjoy for the intellectual challenge, but they’re not something I seek out as a preference), there’s only a few games in each bracket of 100 that I’m still yearning to get my hands on.  

Then, whenever I think I have a handle on all the good stuff, new games come inbound. And then someone reels off a session report full of quality stuff that hasn’t risen in the rankings because not enough people have ranked it yet. It’s the nature of the times – there’s always more good stuff out there. Some of that may lie below for you …

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Posted in Sessions | 10 Comments

Patrick Brennan: Game Snapshots –2019 (Part 17)

Posted on August 17, 2019 by pfbrennan

(Gamer Madlibs) I’d rather eat Vegemite than play another game of…

I started keeping game stats back way back in 1999 and part of that stat-keeping is allocating an average time for each play of a game. When multiplied by the number of times played, it provides the total time I’ve spent playing a game, which eventually provides a sense of value on the original purchase. 

By looking at the number of plays within any one year for each game, I can also see which game I spent the most time playing in that year. In turns out that all the following have provided pretty good value for money over the years:

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Posted in Sessions | 2 Comments

Across the United States

Posted on August 16, 2019 by xitoliv

Designer: Hisashi Hayashi
Artist: Ryo Nyamo
Publisher: OKAZU Brand
Players: 2-5
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 60 minutes
Times Played: 7 with a purchased copy

There’s nothing new going on in Across the United States.

It’s not a game that you can point at and say it does this new thing. It has this twist.
Have you heard about that new train game, but where the other thing happens?
It’s like X, but with Y.

And I love it. 
It’s like infrastructure maintenance for board games, and I’m here for it.

Across the United States is a train game.
A classic category.  And it has stock holding.

It uses a favorite mechanism of mine: limited shared-use components.
That dates back to Civilization.
But is also a train game trope.

The actions in the game center around a deck of cards for 6 train companies.
You’ll have 4 in your hand.
Pick one, play it.

Extend that company’s route.
Branch it.
Start a new line from HQ.

You’ve earned the actions at both ends of the link:
Take some gold. A ticket.
Add a cube. Build a depot for cows, apples, sacks, rocks, or gold.
Buy a share.

But also free shares.  
You played one card, now your hand is three.
Place one of those as a share in front of you.
(‘Place’, not buy.)  

(That’s one component. Extend the route or expand your portfolio.)

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Bosk

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Dale Yu

Bosk

  • Designers: Daryl Andrews and Erica Bouyouris
  • Publisher: Floodgate Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Ages: 13+
  • Time: 20-30 minutes
  • Times Played:  3, with review copy provided by Floodgate Games

In Bosk, each player is a species of tree in a national park trying to be the dominant species in the park. The board is set up on the table, and each player takes all the trees, leaf tokens and leaf tiles in their color. A score track and a wind direction track are set off to the side.   The game is played over the four seasons of the year with play happening in summer and fall and scoring happening in summer and winter.  As each season is different, I’ll go over each one separately.

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Posted in First Impressions | 3 Comments

POINT SALAD

Posted on August 15, 2019 by gschloesser

Design by Shawn Stankewich, Molly Johnson and Robert Melvin
Published by AEG
2 – 6 Players, 30 minutes
Review by Greg J. Schloesser 

AEG has introduced a line of games that are targeted squarely at the family and casual gamers market.  The games are designed to be fairly simple and easy-to-grasp, and can be played to completion in about 30 minutes or so.  While we gamers tend to ignore games such as these, the vast majority of Americans – and indeed, folks worldwide – fall into this demographic and are the target market for this line.  

Point Salad by designers Shawn Stankewich, Molly Johnson and Robert Melvin is one entry into this field.  The game consists solely of a deck of cards (108 in total) depicting different vegetables on one side and scoring goals on the reverse.  The theme is to properly grow one’s garden so as to meet the demands of one’s customers. Growing a vegetable garden is one that certainly has near universal understanding and perhaps appeal, so that is one potential success factor in terms of the game resonating with the general public. 

The deck is shuffled and divided into three equal stacks, with the “point” side facing up.  Two cards are revealed from each deck and placed below with the vegetable side showing, forming three columns.  Players do NOT receive any cards to begin the game. 

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (Deluxe edition boardgame)

Posted on August 14, 2019 by Dale Yu

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

  • Designer: Kevin Wilson
  • Publisher: Wizkids
  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 60-90 minutes per adventure
  • Times played: 3, with review copy provided by Wizkids

Over the past few years, the Dungeons and Dragons people have been trying to gain a foothold in the more traditional boardgaming scene.  The first game that I can remember is Lords of Waterdeep – a game that we reviewed here in 2012.  Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (referred to as Mad Mage from here on) is part of the Dungeons and Dragons Adventure system series – bringing elements of the full RPG into a boardgame system.  The different modules in this series can be used to expand and complement one another.  So, games like Castle Ravenloft or Tomb of Annihilation can be combined with this.

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Posted in First Impressions | 3 Comments