Dale Yu: Review of Venturesome [Essen SPIEL 2024]

Posted on February 25, 2025 by Dale Yu

Venturesome

  • Designer: Michael Rieneck
  • Publisher: Devir
  • Players: 2-5
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Recollect the images from your childhood. All the exciting books, graphic novels and movies full of tireless discoverers and travelers, surprisingly lethal archeologists, secret agents, or crocodile hunters. Now grab your cards and use them to form a unique expedition to find legendary treasures! So, where’s the catch? The heroes we’re talking about are close to immortal – whatever happened they always found a way out, never actually meeting enemies powerful enough to defeat them. You, on the other hand, will have to face your friends, who probably had the same sources of inspiration as yourself… It’s time to prepare for a tough competition full of dirty tricks!

When playing Venturesome, you try to gather a group of adventurers able to undertake a chosen challenge while evading any threats. You use the abilities of your expedition members in order to thwart your rivals’ plans. However, bear in mind that your opponents are equally ready to steal, manipulate, or do anything that is necessary to defeat you. If you don’t act quickly and decisively, instead of finding the treasure, your expedition will get into real trouble. So, forget about scruples and compromises. Be smarter, quicker, and meaner that your rivals.

Venturesome is the spiritual successor of the legendary Palastgeflüster. With the updated game mechanics and victory conditions, you can expect hours of gaming full of negative interaction. In this game each move is a risk that might pay off. Just remember about the most important rule: be RUTHLESS! That’s the only way you can win!

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Alison Brennan: Game Snapshots – 2025 (Part 4)

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Dale Yu

Alison Brennan: Game Snapshots – 2025 (Part 4)

To paraphrase some Facebook repartee I had with a friend recently, there’s a lot of undiagnosed Monopoly trauma out there in our communities folks so, here we are, helping save the world one game at a time.

New-to-me games played recently include …

 

DUNGEON RUMMY (2024): Rank 18534, Rating N/a

A cardy co-op that played better in my mind than in practice and which will almost certainly play better physically than the it-takes-an-hour-longer implementation at BGA. Each player gets a deck of 2-Ace cards in their own colour. You’re building sets and runs (ie rummy) but the catch (and the main conceit) is that cards in sets must be in different colours and you can never have two cards of the same colour next to each other in a run. You can add cards to everyone’s play area and you get three free moves of cards between areas. Knowing nothing about the other hands, you simply do what you think is best given the cards in your hand and what’s required to beat the monster, ignore any sucked-in table-talking breaths (and angsty “what are we allowed to say/imply” verbals), and … well, there’s very little co-op really and play is rather straight-forward. Try to extend melds to their natural end-point and then discard them to inflict damage on the monster. Kill 3 of those plus the boss, and you win.

Rating: 5

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The 50 Most Historically and Culturally Significant Games Published Since 1800 – 2025 Update

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Joe Huber

In 2007, Erik Arneson published an article listing the 50 most historically and culturally significant games published since 1800; the latest version of that article, from 2019, can be found at http://boardgames.about.com/cs/gamehistories/a/timeline.htm.  I last updated my take (https://opinionatedgamers.com/2013/01/18/the-50-most-historically-and-culturally-significant-games-published-since-1800/) twelve years ago.  With the release of the BGG Hall of Fame, I’ve decided it’s time to update my list, to include more recent games and to reflect the change in significance some older games have had.  (To be clear, though – this is _not_ a Hall of Fame; the intent of this list is different from that of BGG.  There is inevitably overlap between the lists, but my aim is not the same.  I also considered all games published through 2020, though with a higher bar for games published since 2015.)  I am retaining the rule I had in 2013 – to qualify, the game must have its own entry on Wikipedia.  And because there were questions twelve years ago – I have not focused on the originator of an idea or mechanism, but on the game which had the most influence.

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Heroscape: Boiling Tension

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Mark Jackson

Well, we’re barreling toward the one year mark of the new era of Heroscape – it was GenCon 2024 in early August that marked the official release of the first new figures & terrain since 2010 – and like clockwork, the Renegade Games Studio team is releasing information about how they’ll empty our wallets expand our armies this summer whilst celebrating 365 days of ‘Scape.

Yesterday was the virtual RenegadeCon event – and the first stream of the day was the wave 4 Heroscape reveal. After a technical glitch, the good folks at Renegade kicked off the con with previews of the next wave of Heroscape – Boiling Tension. (Yes, some of the jokes in the chat while they worked on the sound issues took full advantage of the “boiling tension” title.)

I’m going to take this opportunity to give a rundown on the next 6 months of releases – with special attention paid to the information that just dropped in the last 24 hours.

Releasing Next Week

I’ve had the privilege of playing with the new stuff (the Rising Tide story arc) that shows up on your local game store shelf next week – and I even wrote about it on Valentines Day. (Short version: loving the ability to field a heavily armored force of polar bears, jazzed to see Sonlen back with a much bigger dragon, and the Hellforge is both creepy & incredibly cool. Also, more terrain!)

Releasing In April

Coming soon will be the second half of the Rising Tide wave – including a bunch of very evil bug-like creatures and Wing Commander Tuck Harrigan and his Vorid Glide Strikers (flying animals with weaponry – what’s not to love?) I wrote a preview about the Rising Tide releases – and I’ll be reviewing the new figures when they land (or crawl with horrific chittering noises) into view.

And now we get to the new stuff!

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Dale Yu: Review of Rebirth

Posted on February 21, 2025 by Dale Yu

Rebirth

  • Designer: Reiner Knizia
  • Publisher: Mighty Boards
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 60 mins
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3EpP4J5 
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Following a series of calamities that left civilization in shambles, societies around the world are being rebuilt anew in harmony with nature. Scotland lies in ruins and the ancient clans have taken it upon themselves to restore the land. As clan leaders you will compete for strategic control of the land by rebuilding its prestigious castles.

Rebirth is a new, tile-laying game from Reiner Knizia. The game revitalizes this classic genre by combining Knizia’s elegant mechanics with Mighty Boards’ evocative world building. The result is a eurogame with smooth gameplay, set in a lush and hopeful future.

Each turn, players draw a tile from their supply and place it strategically on the board. These tiles represent your clan’s contribution to rebuilding the land. Rebirth rewards strategic foresight and clever tactical play, with tougher decisions emerging over the course of the game.

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Convention Report: Gulf Games 53

Posted on February 20, 2025 by Mark Jackson

I was there at the (nearly) beginning of Gulf Games… my wife & I were one of nine families who made up the attendees of Gulf Games 2 in the fall of 1998. For the next 5 years, I was a pretty regular fixture – then we moved across the country and I only managed to make two Gulf Games events between 2004 and 2014. Beginning in 2015, I began bringing my sons (first the oldest, then both of them) to enjoy one of my favorite family-friendly gaming events.

My older son (Braeden) and I had delightful time road-tripping and gaming together – due to finishing college & his previous job, this is the first time we’ve been able to both make it to a “winter” Gulf Games since 2019.

Join me as I take you along on our magical gaming mystery tour!

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