Archive for the 'Content Type' Category

Panik is a simple card game that sounds like Ghostbusters in all but name – so that appeals to me straight-away.  Each player starts with a team of 9 ghost hunters and 4 random manor cards.  Players look at their manor cards, choose one to place face-up, and place the other 3 face-down (with one of their tandem ghost hunter cards next to one of the face-down manors).

Players then take turns placing one of their ghost hunters next to any mansion (whether it’s face-up or face-down).  Each manor can have a maximum of 4 ghost hunters next to it.  When a player places a ghost hunter next to one of their own manors, they can also expel any one ghost hunter already placed there (its owner chooses which other manor it is placed next to instead).

Some hunters have special powers like revealing any face-down manor card, or moving a hunter to their location.  Some hunters’ power is that they can not be expelled. Read the rest of this entry »

Francis Drake is a game of sailing, looting and plundering.  So, already, I’m thinking, what’s not to like?  From reading the rules, the game appears to have some very promising gameplay within it too.

Before setting out on to the high seas, players prepare for their journey in the streets of Plymouth by buying/gaining guns, crew, supplies, goods for trading, etc.  The 18 locations that can be used for these preparations are laid out in a long line (street) and the players take turns using a location by placing one of their 10 action discs on the location.  However, players can select an action further down the street from their last action (never backwards).  Also, some locations have limited uses and some of the actions on a location are better than others – so players will want to progress slowly so they can use lots of different locations, but move quickly so they are first to use a location and get the most from it.  This is very similar to Egizia (one of my favourite games) which is a very engaging game mechanic.

Once the players have all finished their preparations, they each set sail.  On the board are various destinations which are comprised of islands (with towns and forts) and galleons which can be attacked, as well as trade ports where players can exchange goods they have brought with them.  Players take turns placing numbered mission discs of their colour next to the destinations they wish to attack (or trade with).  The mission discs are placed face-down so players do not know the numbers that other players have placed, and are revealed when all discs have been placed. Read the rest of this entry »

30 Carats is a game of trading but with an interesting twist.  Each player starts with one of each gem (one colour for each player) and some gold.  The winner is the player with the highest value of gems and gold at the end of the game.

The values of each type of colour gem are determined by cards which range from +30 to -30 each.  However, at the start of the game, each player only knows the value of one of the colours of gems because each player is given one value card each (and that’s the value of the gem colour that matches their player screen).  Gold nuggets are always worth +10 each.

Players takes turns and the game lasts 3 rounds.  On a player’s turn, they will offer a mix of gems and/or gold and the other players will bid some of their gems/gold in return.  If the player accepts one of these offers, the two players swap their offered gems/gold.  However, before the current player makes their offer, they reveal a transaction card which gives them some rules as to what the offer must contain and also whether the other player’s bids will be made simultaneously or sequentially.  The rules are things like using specific gem colours, or mixtures.

If the current player does not want (or is unable) to swap with another player, they can swap their offer with the bank.  The bank is a bag that is filled with some gems and gold at the start of the game.  The player pays a few gold nuggets to do this and draws items blindly from the bag so they receive the same number that they put in.  (In anything other than a 3-player game, a player can also pay gold to look at another player’s value card.) Read the rest of this entry »

Theseus is a sci-fi game set on a space station where the different factions (soldiers, scientists, aliens and greys) are trying to take control.  They do this by either reducing a faction to zero life points, and the scientists and grey can win by collecting 20 data points.

Players take turns moving their units around different locations (sectors) on the space station and playing cards.  Each sector is a separate board piece which are arranged in a circle: one sector for each player’s faction, plus one each for the corridors, control room and tech bay.  Each sector has spaces for cards (that players will be placed during the game) as well as 4 rooms.

On their turn, a player moves one of their units a number of sectors clockwise equal to the number of units currently on their unit’s starting sector (which reminds me of the movement system in Finca – and that’s a good thing).  After their move, a unit is placed in one of the new sector’s 4 rooms (arranged in a 2 x 2 grid).  Some rooms have walls between them which affects combat.  If all 4 rooms are full, the arriving player ejects a unit into space and takes their position.  (Already I can see some humourously nasty screwage of other players.)  If a unit’s move means all the rooms in a sector are now full, combat occurs in that sector and all units attack anyone they can based on who they can see and what combat ability they have.  (Only soldiers have combat ability to start; whereas, other factions’ units need upgrading first.) Read the rest of this entry »

Citrus is a new game by Jeffrey D Allers who has created some great games such as Alea Iacta Est and Sahne (Piece o’Cake), as well as the forthcoming Artifact which is being released this Spiel too.

Citrus is a eurogame where players are growing fruit plantations.  In the middle of the table is the main board showing farming land (grid) with several building sites and fincas.  During the game, players place plantations of different fruits (tiles) onto the board to grow their own groups of matching tiles.

Each turn, a player can either Build or Harvest.  When a player builds, they buy plantation tiles from the market (which is an odd-shaped grid) and pays 1 coin per tile; however, they must buy all the tiles in a single row on the market grid and they must be able to place all the tiles they buy onto the board too.  Players can not hold onto tiles in between turns.

Players can places plantation tiles onto the board to expand a group of matching tiles they already own, or they can start a new group of tiles by placing one next to an available finca.  The four starting points next to each finca must contain a different type of fruit.  Placing tiles on some specific locations gain the player a landscape tile which give extra points or special actions. Read the rest of this entry »

Letnisko (Summer Resort) is a game by the designer of Kolejka (Queue) which is one of my favourite games.  In Letnisko, players are running a summer resort near Warsaw in the 1930’s.

Each player starts with 2 plots of lands and one of these has a cottage on it.  During the game, players will buy new plots and build bigger and more varied accommodations which will attract and suit different types of vacationers.

Each round the train arrives with vacationers.  Vacationer cards are drawn based on the number and type of accommodations that have been built so far, plus an extra amount are drawn based on that round’s weather card.  These are shuffled and dealt out onto the train’s carriages in sequence.  If there are lots of vacationers then there will be more than one vacationer in some carriages.

Next, players take turns taking actions.  A player can either: 1. Go to greet some new vacationers from the train (gain vacationer cards), 2. Receive a package from the train conductor (gain cash), or 3. Invest (build/improve buildings, buy land, etc.) Read the rest of this entry »

Legacy: Testament of Duke de Crecy is a game where players create a family tree and try to create the family with the most honour.  The game looks innovative as players grow their family tree by placing cards in a tree-hierarchy.  Each player starts with a couple who can have children who then get married, have children, buy mansions, and so on.  In each round, the gameplay is focused on the latest generation of family members.  So, children born from a generation in one round grow-up and become the focus of the actions of the next round, having their own children, etc.

The heart of the gameplay is a worker-placement game.  Players place action markers on their own personal actions (marry, have children, socialise, ask friends for money) and on action areas on the main board which any one player can use but these are first-come, first-served (acquire title, hire fertility doctor, buy mansion, initiate venture, undertake mission, and contribute to community).

Having children is important but these children also need to marry so they can have children too.  When a family member marries, the player places one of the friend cards from their hand to create the couple, receives a dowry (or pays for the wedding), executes any effects of the new family member (like gaining income, friends, etc.) and then places a child beneath them too.  (Yes, these newlyweds don’t hang around.)  You can even arrange marriages before the children grow-up. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s Your Game have released some excellent games like Vasco de Gama and last year’s superb (and undeservedly less-known) Oddville.  This year they are releasing Madeira which looks a like a very meaty eurogame with many elements that you need to balance.

In essence, players select a group of action dice and use these on different characters and buildings to perform actions with their workers and ships (visiting fields on islands, colonies, cities and the city watch.  However, this summary completely misses noticing all the many game mechanics and resources to balance.  So, I’ll try to give a more detailed overview of the game which is played over 5 rounds.

At the start of each round, each player selects a row on the Guild Board which gives them 3 dice (the values have been rolled already), plus the player can also select one of the remaining Crown Request tiles in the same row (which can earn points a the end of some rounds).  The row selected also determines turn order for the next phase, plus allows the player to make ready some guild favours (special abilities) if they have any matching ones. Read the rest of this entry »

In Magnificent Style played on the location of the actual combat. The top of the board shows Cemetery Ridge, and the real Cemetery Ridge can be seen at top of the photo.

For a long time, I have been interested in the American Civil War (which is slightly unusual for an Englishman).  I finally realised one long-held goal of mine to visit Gettysburg a couple of weeks ago.  If you’ve read this blog for a while, you’ll know I played Alhambra at the real Alhambra (which prompted a friend to play Carcassonne at Carcassonne) – so I departed for the US armed with a Gettysburg game to play at Gettysburg.  The game in question was ‘In Magnificent Style‘ by Victory Point Games – a single-player game set entirely on Pickett’s Charge – the infamous vast, brutal and final action of the Battle of Gettysburg.

[I want to say a huge thanks to Mark Rivera (Boardgames in Blighty blog) for lending me his copy of the game as I couldn’t get one in time for my trip.  He is currently launching his own game Luchador.]

However, rather than just play the game just anywhere around Gettysburg, I set my sights higher once I saw the battlefield and I actually got to play out Pickett’s Charge on the actual site of Pickett’s Charge!  This is a photo of the game ready to be played on location.  At the top of the board is the Union forces’ position along Cemetery Ridge passing the copse of trees.  In the background of the photo you can see the real Cemetery Ridge and the real copse of trees.  So, I was playing the game whilst sat at the position on the board shown by the top-right square of area 8.

The bottom of the board shows Seminary Ridge from where the Rebels launched their attack which, in the photo, is about 1 mile behind the camera viewpoint which you can clearly see when stood there. Read the rest of this entry »

Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling have an impressive track record in their design partnership with games like the excellent Palaces of Carrara, Tikal, Tikal II, Torres and Asara.  In fact, Kramer has won the Spiel des Jahres 5 times (twice with Kiesling).  So, I’m always interested in any game they create.

Glück Auf is a worker-placement mining game.  Each player has their own mine which has 4 levels (each providing a different type of coal) and a lift shaft down the centre.  The coal trucks you buy during the game must be placed on the matching level and they must also be placed on one side of the lift shaft of the tunnels they are in are torch-lit, or placed on the other if their tunnels are dark.

In the centre of the table is the main board where players place their workers to (a) gain coal orders, (b) gain cash, (c) buy mine trucks (which start coal filled in the relevant mine level), (d) gain movement points (which are used to move the coal and the lift to get the coal to the surface), and (e) deliver completed orders.  The action spaces for delivering orders allow a player to deliver any completed orders that match the action space’s transport method, i.e. a player using the delivery action space showing a train can deliver any complete orders they have with a train on them. Read the rest of this entry »