Steam Rollers

• Designer: Mark Gerrits
• Publisher: Stronghold Games/Flatlined Games
• Players: 2-5
• Ages: 10+
• Time: ~45 minutes
• Times played: 3, with review copy provided by Stronghold Games [10+ plays with original from Flatlined]

Steam Rollers was a new release at Essen 2015, though in small quantities.  We initially reviewed the game back then. It has received new life with a reprint from Stronghold Games – I was given a copy of the new version to try out.  The rules are essentially the same. In the game, players work to become the best railroad tycoon by building a network of track and delivering goods. Continue reading →

The Legend of the Cherry Tree That Blossoms Every Ten Years

• Designer: Hinata Origuchi
• Publisher: IELLO
• Players: 2-4
• Ages: 8+
• Time: 15-25 minutes
• Times played: 4, with review copy provided by IELLO

The Legend of the Cherry Tree That Blossoms Every Ten Years (TLotCTTBETY) was one of the games that I got a sneak preview at Essen 2017.  It looked to be nearly finished, but the final product was just released around GenCon 2018. I had not recognized the name of the designer at first, but it turns out that I own a number of other games by him (Tezuma Master, Kaleido and Colors of Kasane). Continue reading →

Istanbul the Dice Game

• Designer: Rudiger Dorn
• Publisher: AEG
• Players: 2-4
• Age:
• Time: 30 minutes
• Times played: 5, with review copy provided by AEG

Istanbul (the regular board game) is one of my favorite strategy games in recent years.  I am not alone in this opinion as the game was named the winner of the 2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres.  In that game, there is a modular bazaar of market tiles where players race to collect rubies. Following the recent trend of successful games, the complex board game has been minimized into a dice version.

This dice game has a small board which is placed on the table, and there are multiple tracks on this board.  Place rubies on the spaces on the track based on the player count. Each player gets a small player aid card which summarizes the possible actions in the game.  There is a deck of Bazaar cards – they are shuffled and placed as a face down deck near the board. Finally, the Mosque tiles are shuffled facedown and a display of 6 tiles is created. Continue reading →

Scarabya

• Designer: Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc
• Publisher: Blue Orange
• Players: 1-4
• Age: 8+
• Time: 15-20 minutes
• Times played: 4, with review copy provided by Blue Orange (USA) and 6 solo games

Scarabya was a game that kind of flew under my radar – and I don’t say that in a disparaging sense, but one meant to reflect the large number of games that have come out this summer combined with the huge distraction of moving to a new house this summer that has severely cut down on my time available to keep abreast of all the new games…

When I arrived at Gencon, having done almost no research, Scarabya was one of the games that was constantly on the lips of the convention goers.  When I arrived at the Blue Orange stand, it was mobbed. I’m sure that some of this was due to the excitement over the two main releases – this game as well as Blue Lagoon – but there was also a long line wrapped around the stand as folks waited to meet Bruno Cathala and have him sign their new Scarabya box!

Continue reading →

• Designer: Jeff Lai
• Publisher: Blue Orange Games
• Players: 2-6
• Ages: 7+
• Time: 10-15 minutes
• Times played: 5+, with review copy provided by Blue Orange Games

Cover posted by Eric W. Martin on BGG, credited to the publisher

Let’s start this review like so many that have come before, with a walk-through of the game’s indisputable facts. Maki Stack is a dexterity game. Two teams play, cards are flipped, wooden bits are hurriedly stacked, and a point is scored by the fastest correct team. If a red card comes up, one player from each team races to make a stack while wearing a blindfold as their partner tells them what is on the card. If a yellow card comes up, two members of a partnership use one finger each to lift the blocks and form the stack shown on the visible card. The first team to collect six points wins.

By description there’s nothing wrong with any of that. A short wacky dexterity game with blindfolds sounds like a can’t-miss proposition. Frankly, it was why I took on this review. My wife and I have a soft spot for the genre, so at the very least Maki Stack seemed like it would be easy to get to the table in a variety of situations.  By and large, this was true. We did manage to play it enough times to get a taste for its merits. Continue reading →