Tasty Tatsu Review

John Yianni does it again! A great two player game that takes the most exciting moments of backgammon (capturing opponents pieces) and the movement of pieces by utilizing 2 dice. Dragon pieces each have their own abilities based on the type. Fun game that can be long winded at times. Quality of components are fantastic. Packaging (box) is a little frustrating. Backgammon fans should really enjoy this game. I know I do, and that is How Lou Sees It!

Queendomino Review

Cottage Garden iOS Review

Unearth Review

Eight Minute Empire iOS Review

I may never run an eight minute mile, but I can build an empire in that time.

Qwingo

Witches of the Revolution

Witches of the Revolution published by Atlas Games is one of the strangest themed games I have had the pleasure of playing. The other week we played a dog's life by drinking out of fountains, piddling on lampposts, and burying bones. This week we were witches trying to ensure the colonists were successful in their Revolution. Board games are awesome.

This theme is a bit weird for me, and yet it is also somewhat humorous as well since one of your objectives can be to resurrect Benjamin Franklin. Check out the video review. There is a lot more to the rules and gameplay than covered in the video, such as the event cards also having "when flipped" effects that make you discard cards or move up the moon track, or they may make it more difficult to complete by restricting the cards you can use to complete that quest. Other events are more difficult when other card types are in the event line or based on position.

There really is a lot here. The quality of the game is very nice and the insert well designed. Artwork is well done and fits the theme. For me, I'm not a huge fan of the strange theme, but I have to admit the game play is solid and provides for a fun co-op or solo game experience. The solo mode works well, but a lot of the witches abilities on the bottom of the cards refer to helping and supporting other players during their turns. This is great for the multiplayer co-op but during solo play is a little frustrating at first that a lot of the abilities just are not used in solo play. The game provides interesting and challenging decisions with what event is your highest priority, and what witches do you recruit and which witches do you banish to do so. Use of the objective trophies is also vital to winning the game and therefore choosing events with symbols needed to complete those objectives in a certain order can make a difference too. This could easily fit into a Halloween themed board game night I think. A very fun game with a very strange theme and that is How Lou Sees It!

A Dog's Life

Scuttle! A quick pirate themed card game that is lots of fun.

Ninjatsu! A sequel stand alone game to Scuttle is on Kickstarter now.

My first Jelly Bean Games review, I am very impressed with the company and people bringing these games to our tables. Keep up the good work Peter, Kelly, and Nicole! I hope to review more of their games soon! Until then, check out the Kickstarter and snatch up some doubloons!

New Featured Kickstarter - Burning Rome

Burning Rome is a great 2 player strategic war card game. Easy to learn and fun to play. Provides a quick gameplay and a lot of cards for nice replay ability. Emil Larsen is very thorough in his game designs and yet humble enough to ask for feedback and embrace suggestions to make his games better. Definitely check out the game yourself on Kickstarter now (Starting July 18, 2017).

Herbaceous is one of the best games of 2017

Pillbug Rolls into Action

Looney Labs Mixes Up More Fluxx Fun

Dr. Microbe is Crawling with Fun

Dr. Eureka Excites Fun in Logic Dexterity Game

Action Princesses Review

Math + Fluxx = Best Fluxx Ever

Mad Libs The Game Review

Loonacy Retro Style!

Card Crawl and Card Thief by Tinytouchtales (audio review)

Digidiced Agricola All Creatures Big and Small / Patchwork (audio review)

Asmodee Digital Game Reviews (audio review)

Sushi, Let's Go Party!

Potion Explosion Digital Release Today!

Asmodee Digital Releases Award-Winning Board Game “Potion Explosion” on iOS and Android

Become a master at the Horribilorum Sorcery Academy with strategic marble-matching game, Potion Explosion

Paris, January 26, 2017 - Asmodee Digital, an international publisher and distributor of digital games, today announced the release of Potion Explosion for mobile devices on Google Play and the App Store. Developed by Studio Clangore and created by Horrible Games, Potion Explosion refreshes the traditional tile-matching game mechanic by adding unique strategic and inventory management elements in a whimsical atmosphere. Players are tasked with creating magic potions, whose abilities can be used during play to provide special techniques for completing additional potions. The player who assembles the most valuable potions and combinations wins.

Enter Professor Albedus Humblescore’s classroom and compete against other potion making apprentices to become an honor student of the Horribilorum Sorcery Academy by developing your inner wizard skills. Learn how to master the art of making complex and valuable potions using spellbinding ingredients such as unicorn tears, dragon smoke, ogre mucus and fairy dandruff. Manage your laboratory apparatus and apply the right dosage to your test tubes and flasks to design the ultimate potions whose abilities will help you grow into a master potions student. Gather your resources in the dispenser, and compete with ingenuity to collide ingredient marbles of the same color to trigger explosions! The more identical marbles collide, the more ingredients are collected through chain reactions to cook up your magic potions. Combine the correct ingredients to create stunning potions such as the Elixir of Blind Love, the Potion of Prismatic Joy, or the Sands of Time. You can also drink potions and benefit from their magical effects to collect more ingredients, or steal directly from a rival’s pool.

“The team at Asmodee Digital and Studio Clangore has been hard at work for the past seven months to develop the mobile version of Potion Explosion in collaboration with Horrible Games,” says Remi Hanesse, Asmodee Digital Product Manager. “It is an honor to finally deliver Potion Explosion for everyone to play anytime, anywhere.”

Powered by Asmodee Digital technology, offering both a single and multiplayer mode (local and online for up to 4 players), Potion Explosion delivers an original and captivating symbol recognition play experience in a fantasy world environment. Players must use their talent to win skill tokens by mastering a particular potion several times or by proving their skills at preparing a variety of potions. Garner the most skill tokens to win the game and become a Potion Master! Follow the tutorial to learn the secrets of potions and revise your exam before you begin your careful blend of mixtures. Don’t panic if you’re new to wizardry, once in the classroom, players can ask for a little help from Professor Humblescore.




Price and availability

Potion Explosion is available now on the App Store and Google Play store for $4.99

Discover the visuals of Potion Explosion here:

http://bit.ly/2j6bg0m

View the Potion Explosion trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmn2y7nKHH4



About Asmodee Digital

Asmodee Digital, a fully owned subsidiary of the Asmodee Group, is an international publisher and distributor of digital games. Asmodee Digital manages the conception, publishing, marketing and distribution of board and card games on the app stores of Apple, Google, Steam and Amazon. Asmodee Digital designs and publishes games not only for the Asmodee Group (Asmodee Editions, Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight Games) but also for third party publishers. The Asmodee Digital catalogue includes best-selling digital games such as Ticket to Ride, Splendor, Small World 2, Mysterium and digital versions of many other well-known board games.

About Studio Clangore
Studio Clangore (www.studioclangore.com) is an independent developer based in Monza, Italy. Founded by the team behind the award-winning game “Magnifico - Da Vinci's Art of War", Studio Clangore consists of four industry veterans committed to the design of unique and exhilarating experiences, play after play.

About Horrible Games
Horrible Games is an Italian publisher of board games, known for the award-winning titles Dungeon Fighter, Steam Park, Co-Mix, Potion Explosion and Raise Your Goblet. Horrible Games has the will to bring players fun games that are also simple and frantic, providing originality and entertainment thanks to the mechanics of the gameplay. Their motto remains "Something horrible is on the way!”. CMON Limited is the publisher of the Potion Explosion board game in English speaking countries.

Mysterium Apparates to iOS

Mysterium (iOS app version)

Designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko

App Implementation by Asmodee Digital
Supports Solo Play (Story Mode) and Online Multiplayer
Social Deduction Game

I have always heard a lot about Mysterium the board game, and yet I never got a chance to ever play it...until now! So, this review is from a fresh and new perspective of the game via introduction through the app. The game reminds me a bit of Dixit or Codenames, where you are trying to get others to guess information one person has. You may or may not have good cards to work with, but it is up to the Ghost in this game to try and connect some random pictures with important clues such as who is the killer, where it happened, and with what. Classic murder mystery with a very interesting ambiance and story. I think the theme fits well into the game. The game itself is very fun. I like the artwork and challenge that the cards provide. It can be very frustrating to have a hand of cards as the Ghost and feel like nothing really fits, but there is some enjoyment in the challenge as well.

The app interface is pretty great! Everything is pretty intuitive and it makes for very quick games. The app features a magnifying glass that allows a closer look at the cards, vital for some "visions" to be understood. The games tutorial is well done, I don't see any real big issues. I haven't experienced any crashing of the app or anything, so it seems to be working well with no noticeable bugs I have encountered. The story mode provides a nice little storyline to go with some solo games. I was addicted to it and played probably 8 or 10 times one after the other. The AI is not perfect and can be frustrating, but let's be honest - there are some humans we play with that arnt much better. The goal is still the same, but not knowing all the ins and outs of the AI programming, I imagine they created a probability of one card being matched to another. It works. I am enjoying it anyway.

There are a few options for online play provided and I am so glad they included this option as the game shines with playing with other humans. I have tested out the play with my wife and it worked very well. It's nice that with this app you can get friends together and play even when you are scattered around geographically. I wish the online featured a password protected or private games. This would be a great addition. As far as I could tell, I had to create the game and then have others join quickly before someone else joined in.

I really enjoy Mysterium as experienced from my iOS phone. I suspect it will only get better with time. The other thing I noted was a small number of people online using the app. I imagine this will grow with time and popularity. They also already have an expansion available with an in-app purchase. (I haven't bought the expansion yet, but it is only a matter of time I think.) Overall, the game is well done and I like the mechanics. The app is well made and provides a great experience to the game. After many many many plays, I could see some of the game feeling old as you see the same cards over and over again (thus the expansion would be nice), but for now, I will continue to enjoy Mysterium via my iOS app! If you like games like Codenames or Dixit, definitely try out Mysterium and if you like the board game version of Mysterium, I think you will enjoy the app - just get your friends and relatives on board as well and that is How Lou Sees It!