Age of Steam Con: Day Zero

I’ll never forget the first time I learned of Age of Steam. I had moved back to the Cincinnati area after discovering modern board games elsewhere, and at a public game night, Mike brought two games: Age of Steam and Reef Encounter.

It was the first time I had met up with this group, and I ended up playing Reef Encounter , but it was the look of Mike’s AoS box that sticks with me. It was so worn. So loved. The number of times he must have taken that box off the shelf to play it or to take it somewhere else to play it. Wow, I thought. That game must be incredible –though I wouldn’t play it for another 10 years.

I didn’t know anything about it that night, and I wouldn’t understand what it meant to play the system until I enjoyed a game of Steam with Mike a few years later and watched him lay his track in knots.

Age of Steam Con was an easy decision for me this year after reading Chris’ recap last year, but it was even easier when I saw a few things on the con website: the map drawer; “homemade cinnamon rolls” are listed on the breakfast agenda each day; and, of course, I love themed game nights, but even more so themed game days and themed game cons.

I don’t imagine anyone wanted to read an Age-of-Steam-Con-Anticipation post, but I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m writing this weeks before the con: I. Can. Not. Wait.

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One Night Ultimate Super Villains (Game Review by Chris Wray)

  • Designer: Ted Alspach, Akihisa Okui
  • Publisher: Bezier Games
  • Players: 3 – 10
  • Ages: 8 and Up
  • Time: 10 Minutes
  • Times Played: > 10

I’m a big fan of social deduction games and the “One Night Ultimate Werewolf” series in particular.  One Night Ultimate Super Villains (“ONUSV”) is the latest title in the series from Bezier Games. It was on Kickstarter last year, and backers (including myself) recently received their copies.  My understanding is that the retail edition will also be available soon.

ONUSV is arguably the most accessible of the titles: it is the easiest to learn, with the most streamlined roles, and I suspect ONUSV was developed with kids and non-gamers in mind.  Many of the roles are similar to those found in One Night Ultimate Werewolf, but here they’re given more of a comic book flair

Overall, I love the game, and I’m thrilled to own this 5th game in the One Night Collection.  

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Dale Yu: Review of Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

  • Designer: Seth Jaffee
  • Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Ages: 14+
  • Time: about an hour
  • Times played: 4, with review copy provided by Tasty Minstrel Games

Crusaders is a game where players vie to have the most powerful religious Order (think the Knights Templar for instance) by moving your forces around Europe, building buildings, winning battles and increasing the overall influence of your order.  The designer is clear to say that this game is not meant to be historically accurate nor a history lesson. I know that religious wars are probably not the “safest” sort of theme in these politically correct times, but I think that Mr. Jaffee makes it clear that this game is not about the actual Crusades but rather the struggle between different Orders.  

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Talisman: Legendary Tales

Talisman: Legendary Tales

  • Designers: Michael Palm and Lukas Zach
  • Publisher: Pegasus Spiele
  • Players: 1-6
  • Ages: 14+
  • Time: 20-40 minutes per game
  • Times played: 2 sessions with review copy provided by Pegasus Spiele

Talisman: Legendary Tales is a new cooperative game set in the fantasy world of the 1983 classic Talisman.  As the story goes, different characters in the kingdom are vying for the Crown of Command – the wearer of which holds power over the entire land.  Your group in a band of good characters who are trying to retrieve the 5 Talismans which act as portals to reach the Crown. There are five different scenarios in this game, and in each one, the band of adventurers will try to obtain one of the five lost Talismans.  If you can get through the entire series, your group will succeed!

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Adventure Island

Adventure Island

  • Designers: Michael Palm and Lukas Zach
  • Publisher: Pegasus Spiele
  • Players: 2-5
  • Ages: 10+
  • Time: 45-90 minutes per session
  • Times played: 4 sessions so far… (with review copy provided by Pegasus)

Adventure Island is the new cooperative game from Pegasus Spiele.  I had read about it prior to SPIEL 2018, but English versions of the game were not yet available.  One has since come in the mail, and I was quite interested in giving the game a try. Admittedly, this sort of game (cooperative, narrative based) is not usually something that I enjoy – but a recent good weekend with The 7th Continent has me considering this sort of game a bit more than I used to…

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Scorpius Freighter

Design by David Short & Matthew Dunstan
Published by AEG
2 – 4 Players, 90 minutes
Review by Greg J. Schloesser

Rondels in space.  Well, that isn’t the entire picture, but it is a large part.

Set in a galaxy far, far away, Scorpius Freighter by designers David Short and Matthew Dunstan has players fomenting a revolution in a planetary system that is experiencing heavy-handed control by an oppressive government.  Players attempt to skirt the law by fostering and participating in a growing black market. While they share a common goal of ultimately overthrowing the government, each is also looking out for number one: themselves.

Each smuggler receives a board representing their freighter, which has 16 spaces for various upgrades, cargo holds and equipment.  Three of these are filled to start the game, with the remainder being slowly but steadily constructed as the game progresses. There is also space for the four officers of the crew, with each player receiving a unique set.  These officers give the players special powers and will earn victory points if they are upgraded.

The linear game board depicts three planetary systems around which players will move motherships (one per system) to determine the action available to them each turn.  Each planet is surrounded by six or seven spaces, each of which allows a specific action. Players generally may only move a ship one or two spaces per turn, which does limit their choices.  Fortunately, each turn a player has a choice of three different motherships to move (one per planetary system), so there is usually—but not always—a viable and useful action to perform.

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