Matt Carlson: Review of DGT Cube and Pyramid Game Timers

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Matt J Carlson

dgt_cubegametimer

DGT Cube & Pyramid
Publisher: DGT
Players: 1-4 (Pyramid), 1-6 (Cube)
Time(r): yes

Reviewed by Matt Carlson
Review copy provided by DGT

Awhile back, I was given the chance to check out both the DGT Cube and Pyramid game timers. These are colorful cubes and pyramids (surprise) that serve as a game timer for up to 6 / 4 people. Several timing modes are available, giving the timers a wide range of uses. The bright colors, interesting shapes, and fun technology gives the idea of timing turns a slightly friendlier vibe. While the prices are a bit high for some ($25 MSRP for a pyramid, $50 MSRP for a cube), they are solidly made and would easily be my timer of choice over a sand timer or iPhone/iPad app.

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Matt Carlson: A Brief RPG Interruption

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Matt J Carlson

DnD next imageA year and a half ago, the folks at Wizards of the Coast announced a move to create (yet another) new version of the popular role playing game (RPG) system, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).  This is the seminal role playing game that spawned many others, and inspired the use of its theme in other mediums such as computer games (ex. Skyrim, World of Warcraft) and board games (ex. Warhammer Quest, Descent, Castle Ravenloft).  This new version, “D&D Next” for now, is freely available in prototype form for anyone interested in playtesting.  It is an effort to ‘get back to the roots’ of D&D in some fashion, simplifying the base rules while simultaneously providing many optional bits for gamers who wish to emphasize specific styles of play.  Along with moving forward towards a new, retro D&D game, Wizards of the Coast has spent the past year re-releasing many old, out of print titles in both electronic and premium hardback editions.

Surprised to find mention of role playing games on the Opinionated Gamers site?  Did it bring a smile to your face or make you spit your coffee out in disgust?  Even if you don’t read the post, hop down to the bottom and give your feedback via the poll, so I know whether to mix in the metaphorical RPG chocolate in with the boardgame peanut butter on this site on a semi-regular basis.  

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Dale Yu: Review of Via Appia (Queen Games)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Dale Yu

Via Appia

  • Designer: Michael Feldkötter
  • Publisher: Queen Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Ages: 8+
  • Time: 45 minutes
  • Times played: 3 (with review copy provided by Queen USA)

Via Appia is a new 2013 release from Queen Games – it was announced at Nurnberg, but I did not get a chance to see it or play it until Origins last month.  In the game, players are working to build the Via Appia to connect some Roman cities, and it uses a novel mechanic to distribute the building pieces to the players.

via appia box

The board is fairly simple – it depicts a road (which needs to be built) in three distinct segments.  Each segment is bounded by two cities.  The road is constructed out of three different shaped rock pieces.  The other main feature of the board is the Quarry.  This is an elevated ramp made out of a bunch of cardboard.  Despite the fact that the game comes with a nice graphic help sheet on how to put the ramp together, I’ll admit that the first time my group tried to play the game, it took three of us about four tries to get the thing together… Clearly we’re not engineers!  On this raised sloping platform of the Quarry, you’ll find wooden discs of three different sizes (which correspond to the three different sizes of tiles needed to build the Via Appia).  Alongside the board are a row of income cards.  There are two parts to the income cards, one which shows wooden disc(s) and one which shows coins.

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Matt Carlson: Review of Cheeky Monkey

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Matt J Carlson

Cheeky Monkey GryphonCheeky Monkey
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Publisher: Gryphon Games (rerelease)
Ages: 7+
Players: 2-6
Time: 20 mins

Reviewed by Matt Carlson
Review copy provided by Gryphon Games

Cheeky Monkey has been around for several years as a small box game, but the folks over at Gryphon Games have gone above and beyond in sprucing up the game by replacing both the game box and the token bag with a cute stuffed monkey plush doll!  (OK, it could be considered scary due to its complete lack of lower limbs…)  This over-production of cuteness takes a good Knizia (ie. math-y) filler title and propels it into an excellent family or gamer-newbie game due to the strong draw of the components.  As I frequently game with less hard-core gamers I find the new edition to be an excellent addition to my game collection.

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Cincygamer July Session Report

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Dale Yu

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve written an old-fashioned session report – my writing has been focused on reviews and stuff for the blog.  When I started writing about games, it was mostly session reports posted to BGG, Spielfrieks (if you remember the good-old-days of Spielfrieks before an errant click by Snoop closed the group off and pretty much started the decline of that great mailing list), or rec.games.board.

After the first extended hiatus in a long while (5 weeks off!), the group has gotten together for 3 consecutive weeks.  We did have one theme night last week (the day after the SdJ awards) where we played the SdJ and Kennerspiel winners as well as nominees and previous winners.  A quick recap of the titles that hit the table in that time span and some short notes on them

  • Bruges – played this again for the first time since the Gathering.  I still really like this, though not quite sure if I love it.  It is definitely my favorite of the recent crop of Feld games as it hits the sweet spot for me on game length and game weight.
  • Castle Dice – a new Kickstarter game that I picked up at Origins.  It has a lot of good ideas, and a butt-ton of custom dice, but I’m not sure yet where I stand on it.  I have played it a few times with the kids as well, and I will write up a full review soon. Continue reading →
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41 years of gaming

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Andrea "Liga" Ligabue

Today I got 41. Since it is summer and the web-site is not yet full of reviews and previews (also opinionated gamers go holidays sometimes) It is time to look back to my gaming life and see what made me a gamer.

1972 was nothing special in gaming word: Spiel des Jahres was not yet there and according to BGG and Rpggeek no special releases too. I start gaming since I was really young: LEGO, small plastic soldiers (using rudimental miniatures rules involving balls and dice) and inventing games squaring paper. In the meanwhile I was watching on TV almost all the robot series from Japan (Goldrake, Jeeg Robot, Captain Harlock, …) and other cartoons like Heidi, Candy Candy … almost everything … Taking also the first steps into fantasy and sci.fi worlds thanks to books like The Wizard of Oz.

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