Citrus (Game Review by Chris Wray)

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Chris Wray
  • Designer:  Jeffrey D. Allers
  • Publisher:  dlp games; TMG
  • Players:  2 – 5
  • Ages:  10 and Up
  • Time:  60 Minutes
  • Times Played:   > 5

Citrus

Note: The game’s designer, Jeff Allers, is a contributor to this site, but he did not participate in the review portion of what I’ve written below.

The second edition of Citrus was released at Essen last year, and I saw it  when I stopped by the dlp booth to chat with the game’s designer, Jeff Allers. I flipped through the rulebook, and the game looked like something I’d enjoy, so I imported a copy from Germany. I’ve played it with a variety of groups since then, and it has been a hit with both my friends and family.

I was interested in reviewing the game, but I put the project on the backburner since Citrus didn’t have a U.S. release. But then, in late June, Miniature Market announced that it would begin importing more than 90 games from international publishers, and Citrus was one of the games on their list.

More importantly, Tasty Minstrel Games (TMG) has announced that they’ll be printing and releasing Citrus in the U.S. market.   Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2015, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Dale Yu: Preview of the Colonists

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Dale Yu

 

 

The Colonists

  • Designer: Tim Puls
  • Publisher: Lookout Games
  • Players: 1-4
  • Ages: 14+
  • Time: 30 to 240 minutes

colonists box

OK, so I’m a self professed Lookout fanboy.  I should also make my usual disclaimer that I have at one point been a business partner with the head honcho and head artist of Lookout – we worked together designing games once upon a time.  (Flizz&Miez FTW!).  But, even before I worked with them, the games chosen for the Lookout line just seem to always hit my sweet spot.

 

I was warned by Hanno that this year’s “big” game was going to be big.  Physically, at least as massive as Caverna.  Conceptually, over the course of many eras.  Timewise, possibly as long as 4 or 5 hours at its fullest.  This short description both intrigued me and worried me… I’m not the biggest fan of super-long games.  The game is designed by Tim Puls – who according to BGG has not had anything else published in the database – so nothing to go on there either…

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2016 | 2 Comments

Essen 2016 Preview Quickbar

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Dale Yu

This page will stay at the top of the blog thru our Essen Coverage.  Quick links to our posts – games listed in alphabetical order.  If you want to stay up to date – you can always subscribe to our blog in the Follow Blog by Email box in the right-hand sidebar –>

  1. 3 Wishes (Passport)
  2. America  (twice!) (Bezier)
  3. Area 51: Top Secret (Muecke)
  4. Avenue (Aporta)
  5. Aya (Act-In)
  6. Brains (Pegasus)
  7. Capital Lux (Aporta)
  8. Codenames Pictures (CGE)
  9. The Colonists (Lookout)
  10. Costa Rica (Lookout)
  11. Crabs (Moaideas Game Design)
  12. Deus: Egypt (Pearl Games)
  13. Fabled Fruit (2F/Stronghold)
  14. Flow of History (Moaideas)
  15. Fuji Flush (2F/Stronghold)
  16. Grifters (Indie Board and Cards)
  17. Guns&Steel: Renaissance (Moaideas)
  18. Hanimakoji (EmperorS4)
  19. Hashtag Me! (R&R)
  20. Hit Z Road (Space Cowboys)
  21. Ice Cool (Brain Games)
  22. Inis (Matagot)
  23. Jolly&Roger (Abacus)
  24. Junk Art (Pretzel)
  25. KO Heroes (MO ZI)
  26. Kraftwagen v6 (Stronghold)
  27. Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft (DEVIR)
  28. Last Friday (Ares)
  29. Mino & Tauri (AMIGO)
  30. Mondo: der rasante Legespass (Pegasus)
  31. Morocco (Eagle-Gryphon)
  32. Mysterium: Hidden Signs (Libellud)
  33. Mystic Vale (AEG)
  34. The Networks (Formal Ferret)
  35. Ocracoke (MO ZI)
  36. Order of the Gilded Compass (Grey Fox) and Interview with the designers
  37. PaiMiahhh (Homosapiens)
  38. Pandemic: Reign of Chthulu (Z-Man)
  39. Perfumer (Big Fun)
  40. Planet Surprise (Notre Game)
  41. Power Grid: the Card Game (2F)
  42. Really Bad Art (Wonderforge)
  43. Schotten Totten (IELLO)
  44. Scratch Wars (Notre Game)
  45. Sea of Clouds (IELLO)
  46. Stadt Land Anders (Pegasus)
  47. Sweet Nose (MO ZI)
  48. Suspicion (Wonderforge)
  49. Terraforming Mars (Stronghold)
  50. Tichu Booster (ABACUS)
  51. Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails (Days of Wonder)
  52. Vikings on Board (Blue Orange)

 

(last updated 4 October)

Posted in Essen 2016 | 1 Comment

Dale Yu: Essen 2016 Preview of Fuji Flush

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Dale Yu

Fuji Flush

  • Designer: Freidemann Friese
  • Publisher: 2F (distributed in USA by Stronghold)
  • Players: 3-8
  • Ages: 8+
  • Time: 5-10 minutes
  • Times played: 4 – in previous form of Doppelt und Dreifach

fuji flush

So, back around the Gathering, I made short mention of a game that popped up in my Cacao box when I arrived home. A curiously small, self-produced game that had my name on it.  It actually said that it was being donated to me.  Nothing else about it – no designer, no source, no nothing.  I didn’t know what to make of it, and then like many things, it got put in a big stack of games to be played later.  A few weeks later, it finally made it to the table… it got a decent reception from the three who played it, and we brought it out again the next week.  I still wasn’t quite sure what to do with it though – it was good but not awesome…  I had a pretty clever card game, but I didn’t know how I got it, who made it, or what its purpose was.  I was actually in the process of starting to write a mini-review on it, when I found this geeklist on BGG.

 

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/210813/futschikato-story-must-be-told

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2016 | 3 Comments

The Opinionated Gamers Preview Essen SPIEL 2016

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Dale Yu

As we do every year, the writers of the Opinionated Gamers will preview some of the new games to be presented at the SPIEL fair in Essen, Germany.  Sadly, as the number of games at the show rises every year, that generally means that the percentage of games that we can cover in advance of the show shrinks ever smaller…

spiel-logo

However, as I have mentioned in a few different blog posts, the nature of beast seems to be changing a bit.  In the ancient days (say 2007 or so) – the bulk of the new games in the hobby came out at Essen.  Even for many American companies, new games showed up in October in Essen, and then the race was on to try to get them back into the retail channel for Christmas.  That timing has always worked in Germany, because the games are already ready to go in Germany, and they will definitely be ready for gift giving! Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2016, Site News | 2 Comments

The Last Friday (Game Review by Chris Wray)

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Chris Wray
  • Designer:  Antonio Ferrara, Sebastiano Fiorillo
  • Publisher:  Ares Games
  • Players:  2 – 6 (Best with 6)
  • Ages:  14 and Up
  • Time:  30-120 Minutes
  • Times Played:   > 5

Last Friday Cover

The Last Friday (which I’m going to call “Last Friday”) is a hidden movement, hunting, and deduction board game similar to Letters from Whitechapel or Scotland Yard, albeit with a clever twist.  Depending on which of four “chapters” you play, the game’s goals change, creating highly engaging gameplay: in some chapters the maniac is trying to find the campers, but in others, they’re trying to find him.  

Last Friday was one of my favorite games of Gen Con 2016, although I only got in a partial play at the convention.  Now that I’ve played it a few times, here’s a full review, which is coincidentally being published on the Last Friday of this month.   Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2016, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment