Archive for the 'Board Game Review' Category

Some years ago a friend of mine who is a teacher told me about a co-operative exercise he’d created for his students where they organised search-and-rescue operations.  It sounded great and we discussed how it had potential for a board game as he plays some Eurogames.  So, I was very interested when Meltdown 2020 was announced.

In Meltdown 2020, players are trying to evacuate their meeple from the area where reactors are starting to meltdown.  Each player starts with 3 vehicles which each have a speed (spaces it can move) and a capacity (max number of meeple it can carry simultaneously).  The vehicles are a bus (spd:2 cap:4), car (spd:3 cap:3) and a helicopter (spd:4 cap 2). Read the rest of this entry »

Tschak! is a small card game where players are trying to gain treasure and avoid monsters but the gameplay offers something rather clever.

The 40 cards consist of wizards, warriors and dwarves with different values on them.  Each player is dealt 3 of each, plus one artefact card making a hand of 10 cards.  Players will assault 4 towers (one per round) and the player with most victory points (VPs) at the end wins.

Each tower has 3 levels played in order and each level has a random treasure and monster placed on it.  For each level, players play a total of 3 cards and the player with the highest combined value of cards gets the treasure (VPs) and the player with the lowest gets the monster (negative VPs).   A couple of the cards have special abilities: one wizard’s value is only the same as the most powerful wizard played by another player, and the artefact card doubles your weakest card.

Each level is played slightly differently.  On level 1, players simultaneously play 1 card at a time from their hands three times to make their total.  On level 2, players simultaneously play 2 cards and then 1 card.  On level 3, players play all 3 cards simultaneously.  This leaves each player with 1 card and these earn their owners 3, 2 and 1 gold based on the highest card values (gold being worth 1 VP each too). Read the rest of this entry »

Initially, Trajan looks like a complicated game but it isn’t really – it just offers choices all built around a clever, but not over-powering, central mechanic.

GAMEPLAY
Players are trying to score victory points (VPs) by fulfilling the people’s demands and furthering Roman power.  Each turn, a player gets to perform one of the 6 actions: building, shipping, forum, senate, military, and Trajan.  So, the overview is simple, but the mechanics and choices are what really deliver a great game.

Determining the Action to Take
On their turn, players can not simply choose any action they wish.  Instead, each player’s player board shows 6 pots each relating to one specific action.  In these pots are 12 coloured pieces (6 coloured pairs).  On their turn, a player takes all of the pieces from any one pot and distributes them one at a time into the next pots going clockwise from where they took the pieces from.  (This distribution game mechanic is widely known from the game Mancala – a traditional game in Africa and some parts of Asia dating back as far as 600 AD). Read the rest of this entry »

Last Will is a game where players must be the first to spend some money left to them by their uncle.  The first to prove they can enjoy such riches the most (fastest) will then be the sole heir to the rest of the massive inheritance.  In essence, the game is an interesting mix of worker placement with elements of efficiency engine too, but there are lots of things to balance.

Each round consists of several steps.  First, players take turns selecting their place on the actions chart – a player’s position on the chart determines the number of workers (errand boys) they will place (1 or 2), the number of actions they will spend (playing cards and spending money) and the number of cards they will take from the decks (giving them options on how to spend money or other abilities), plus it determines the order of play for that turn too.  This multi-dimensional choice is an excruciatingly interesting decision to make, especially as only one player can select each of the mixture of options.  (It’s a bit like the initial choice of what time to get up in Fresco but even harder to select.) Read the rest of this entry »

Elder Sign is a game set in the Arkham Horror (H. P. Lovecraft) setting  by Fantasy Flight Games.  This time it’s a co-operative dice game where players are investigators inside a museum trying to find enough elder signs to ensure the Great Old One doesn’t enter this world, or (and much more unlikely) to defeat it if it does awaken.

On their turn, a player can choose to attempt to accomplish one of the 6 situations in the museum currently available.  The player rolls 6 special dice (showing results like investigations, peril, etc.) and tries to get enough results that match any of the tasks on the card.  For example, one situation card may show 2 tasks: one requiring 2 lore scrolls, and another requiring 1 peril plus 2 investigations plus 1 terror.  If a player completes one of the tasks, they set the dice needed to do so aside and can roll the remaining dice again to try to complete more tasks on the situation card.  If the player doesn’t complete any of the remaining tasks on a roll, they discard a dice and re-roll their remaining dice again until they complete all tasks or fail.  Players can use special items, spells, allies, etc. that they’ve gained along the way to roll a few better dice, plus the player may use clue tokens to re-roll any of their dice before seeing if they have completed a task. Read the rest of this entry »

Looting London is a game that seems so simple you might think it doesn’t have much to offer as a game when the rules are explained; however, it contains a simple but clever little filler game.  This is not too surprising when you know the game is designed by Renier Knizia and this game is quite typical of his designs.

The players are investigating the theft of London’s 5 biggest treasures (although the theme is inconsequential in this game).  The goal is to score as many victory points (VPs) which are scored by collecting tiles.

The game consists of various tiles and cards.  Each tile is one of 5 colours (each matching a treasure) and has a number between 1 to 5 and a character (boy, detective, policeman and lady) on it.

The tiles are laid out randomly in a 5 x 5 grid.  Each turn you can either take a card (one of 4 face-up cards, or one off the top of the deck unseen) or claim a tile that is at the bottom of a column.  To claim a tile, you must discard a number of cards equal to the number on the tile AND the cards must show the character that is on the tile you’re claiming too.  You can play any pair of matching cards to count as any character. Read the rest of this entry »

London is a primarily card-based game where players construct buildings in their parts of the city and run their city to generate as much income with as little poverty as possible.  The player with the most victory points (VPs) at the end of the game wins.

On a player’s turn, they can play cards (the game’s core mechanic), run their city, buy land or take 3 cards.  To play a card (which builds the building on it), a player must discard a card of the same colour as well as sometimes pay any extra monetary cost.  Each card gives you benefits of different types – some instant, some when running your city – such as money, VPs based on the buildings in play, the power to re-use a buildings’ ability, etc.  This seems simple enough as you try to build a city that will work well in combination; however, players must weight up two other elements too: Read the rest of this entry »

I have played many adventure-style board games over the years – some were simple fun like Heroquest and Space Crusade whereas some have had more meat to them with modular board sections like Claustrophobia and Space Hulk (the latter being a classic game in my opinion).  So, I was very interested when Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft was announced with modular board adventuring and receiving positive opinion.

The game is co-operative with 1 to 5 players aiming to defeat the scenario they are playing.  As you’d expect from D&D, players control heroes of different types each with their own unique abilities.  Players get to choose their abilities (some unlimited use and some one-off) at the start of the game. Read the rest of this entry »

Sneaks and Snitches is a very clever game – it’s incredibly simple but delivers a lot of interaction in the form of trying to out think your opponents.  During the game, players are all thieves trying to steal gems and items so they can win by scoring the most victory points (VPs).

Each round a number of loot cards (depending upon the number of players) are placed in the centre of the table and each one has a letter next to it.  Most loot cards show a number of coloured gems the player that steals it will receive, but they also show items worth VPs and  a few other items.

Next, each player secretly picks one of their lettered criminals to be their sneak (thief) and another be a snitch (guard).  When all players have picked, all criminals are revealed and placed next to the matching letter – snitches above and sneaks below the loot.  Any loot that has a snitch next to it can not be stolen (B, D, F and H in the example picture) and, therefore, any sneaks next to it get nothing.  If a single sneak is next to an unguarded loot, i.e. no snitch (E) then that player gets that loot.  If multiple sneaks are next to an unguarded loot (C) then they get in each other’s way – the main loot stays where it is but each player takes a bonus card (which shows a single colour gem on it). Read the rest of this entry »

Mr Jack is a clever 2-player game that mixes deduction with movement – I put it that way as purely saying it’s a deduction game can give the false impression that it is dry or shallow.  The original Mr Jack and it’s follow-up, Mr Jack in New York, are both games where one player is Mr Jack (the Ripper) and the other is the investigator.  Players take turns moving the various suspects as the investigator tries to deduce which suspect is Mr Jack before Mr Jack escapes off the board.  The deduction in those games is made by saying whether Mr Jack is standing in the light or not at the end of each round.

Mr Jack Pocket is a smaller and more portable Mr Jack game that encapsulates the main elements of the original games but actually delivers a different game experience. The goal of the game is to reduce the 9 suspects down to just 1 before the 8 rounds are over and before the Jack player has accumulated 6 hourglasses. Read the rest of this entry »