Paper Tales (Game Review by Chris Wray)

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Chris Wray
  • Designer:  Masato Uesugi
  • Publisher: Stronghold Games
  • Players: 2 – 5
  • Ages: 10 and Up
  • Time: 30 Minutes
  • Times Played: > 5 (On Review Copy from Publisher)

PaperTales

Paper Tales is a card game in which players draft units to bring glory to their kingdom.  The units are represented on cards: some fight, others provide resources, and a few victory points.  At the start of the game, you only have four units out at a time, so you have to pick what you value in your kingdom: are you militaristic, income-driven, or resource/building focused?  The game lasts four rounds, and your units age and die each round, so you’ll need to plan for their successors and the future glory of your domain.

Released in the U.S. this summer by Stronghold Games, Paper Tales has developed a reputation as a fast-paced simultaneous drafting game with a fun theme and beautiful art.   That reputation is well-deserved. I’ve been playing Paper Tales quite a bit in recent weeks, and it has become one of my favorite drafting games.  The core of the game is familiar to us gamers — the main mechanic resembles 7 Wonders or Sushi Go! — but the aging of the units is a novel mechanic.  Though the game plays quickly, it has several interesting decisions within, and I recommend checking it out. Continue reading →

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Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 International Gamers Awards!

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Chris Wray

IGA Logo.jpeg

Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 International Gamers Awards, Rajas of the Ganges and Codenames Duet!  The jury announced their decision this morning.

In the multi-player category, the winner was Rajas of the Ganges, designed by Inka & Markus Brand and published by Huch!.

Rajas.jpg

In the 2-player category, the winner was Codenames Duet, designed by Vlaada Chvatil & Scot Eaton and published by Czech Games Edition.

CodenamesDuet.jpg

The IGA is awarded annually by a jury of prominent gamers from around the world, with a stated goal “to recognize outstanding games and designers, as well as the companies that publish them.”  Over the years the IGA has grown to be one of the major prizes in gaming, alongside Germany’s Spiel des Jahres (“Game of the Year”) and the Deutscher Spiele Preis (the “German Game Prize”).  The IGA’s nomination and voting procedures are outlined on the jury’s website (http://www.internationalgamersawards.net/).

The jury had announced their nominees back in August.

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Chris Wray: What I Enjoyed Playing in September 2018

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Chris Wray

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

In case you’re interested, I also have a Geeklist going called One Sentence Reviews of Gen Con Games.  This month, I’ve also published reviews of Ultimate Werewolf Legacy and Sprawlopolis, both of which I loved.  Those were also my two most-played games of September 2018. Continue reading →

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Dale Yu: Review of Layers

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Dale Yu

 

Layers

  • Designers: Yohan Goh and Dave Choi
  • Publisher: Happy Baobab
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 20-30 minutes
  • Times played: 3, with review copy provided by Happy Baobab

Layers is a classical speed game – by which I mean that there is a single type of puzzle in the game, and the player who is the fastest at solving that puzzle will win the round and likely the game.  The puzzle itself is deceptively simple. Each player gets a matching set of 5 plastic cards. Each of these cards has some areas which are cutout, and there are two related though different coloring schemes on each side. Continue reading →

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Dale Yu: First Impression of Spring Rally

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Dale Yu

Spring Rally

  • Designer: H. J. Kook
  • Publisher: Mandoo Games
  • Players: 3-5
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 20-30 minutes

In Spring Rally, players race their spring driven cars around the track – the board is double sided and this allows you to race on two different circuits. Each player gets a contraption made up of two discs that represents the spring in your race car.   There is a deck of cards, made up of three suits from 1-15, which can be modified for player count.  The appointed cards are shuffled and each player is dealt a hand of five cards for the first round.  The later rounds are longer with 7 cards being dealt in the second round and 9 cards being dealt in the third and final round.  The game is won by the first player to complete two circuits of the track. Continue reading →

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Wangdo

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Dale Yu

Wangdo

  • Designers: Frank Crittin, Gregoire Largey, Sebastian Pauchon
  • Publisher: Mandoo Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Ages: 8+
  • Time: 30 minutes

In Wangdo, players are each leaders of a bear clan, and they are canvassing the towns of Northeast Asia to gather enough strength to be the next leader.  Though it doesn’t look like it, the bears are mathematical geniuses and they are helping prove the Four Color Theorem.

Continue reading →

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