Sirlin Games Week - Day 5 - Puzzle Strike

Puzzle Strike (Third Edition and Shadows)

Designed by David Sirlin

Published by Sirlin Games

2 to 4 Players

20 - 50 minutes

Deck-building, Character Abilities, Player Interaction

(10/10 Stars)

Wow! Here we are at the end of Sirlin Games Week. Thank you for joining me all this week as I reviewed all of the Sirlin Games currently available. If you missed out on the other blog posts and video reviews, you don't have to look far! Here are links to each of the blog posts from earlier this week for your reading and viewing pleasure! Day 1 - Interview, Day 2 - Yomi, Day 3 - Flash Duel, Day 4 - Pandante, and to close us out - tonight I review my favorite Sirlin Game, Puzzle Strike.

I really enjoy deck-building games (Dominion, Trains, Thunderstone) and Puzzle Strike is one of my favorites! Let's talk about what comes in the box and the quality of the game (lots..and awesome - short version). Both the Third Edition and Shadows are stand-alone games. They both have the base components as well as 24 different puzzle chips and 10 different Fantasy Strike characters (each character is represented by 3 different unique action chips). Each game comes with around 350 chips which includes gem chips, crash gems, combine chips, and wounds. Other than lots of chips, you get 4 player bags, 4 player mats, and 4 player shields. The rule book is really great and includes lots of helpful illustrations. Sirlin Games also provides the rule books online for free HERE.

The quality of all these components are fantastic! The chips really are the star of the game and they are thick and smooth and it seems like they will hold up well over time. The player mats are very useful for game play. The player shields are nice as well and make it easier to see your chips all laid out and even if your opponent is setting next to you, you can easily make it so that they can't see your plans. Very cool. I do wish that they would have added a reminder to the inside of the player shields about the "panic time" mechanic. Everything is top notch, even including the future facility.

Unlike most deck-building games, players do not start with the exact same deck. I really enjoy this a lot as it provides good variety and strategy for players every game. Each player's character has 3 unique character chips and then each player gets 6 "1" chips and 1 "crash gem." So, not only do you get variety from the many different combinations of choosing 10 puzzle chips out of 24, but you also get to change out starting character chips.

Oh...this game does so many things so well. Players win by having the fewest gems in their gem pile at the end of the game (and the end of the game is triggered when someone ends their turn with a value of 10 or more in their gem pile. As you get more and more gems in your pile, the more chips you get to draw at the end of your turn, which should help you out a little in catching up to your opponent who perhaps only has 4 chips while you have 8. I like this and it seems to provide a good balance. The game also speeds up the game as piles run out.

Puzzle Strike provides a lot of opportunity for strategy, but has lots of fun luck elements as well. Both the Third Edition and Shadows are equally amazing. I think may like Third Edition slightly more because it has more of my favorite characters and the chips are perhaps slightly more basic - the Shadow set seems to have a few more complex characters to play with. Puzzle Strike does such a great job of creating this unique deck-building experience and it really simulates a puzzle battle really well I think. If you like deck-building games (and perhaps even if you don't - don't like shuffling your card deck over and over again? - just place the chips in your bag and shake it up :)), I think you will enjoy Puzzle Strike tremendously and that is How Lou Sees It! (Check out the more detailed video review below!)

I was given a copy of Puzzle Strike (Third Edition and Shadows) by Sirlin Games for the purpose of this review.

Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings

Designed by Tom Cleaver

Published by AEG

2 to 4 Players

45 Minutes

Deck-Building and Set Collecting

A very unique deck-building game. It provides a new feel as it mashes together deck-building with set collecting. It provides an interesting balance of utilizing cards in your deck and putting those same cards from your deck into your tomb for points. Very enjoyable. Took longer than I expected to play and it felt like there were many difficult choices to be made. I'm excited to see how the game develops with time and that is How Lou Sees It!

I was provided a copy of this game by AEG for review.

All Aboard the Deck-building Train!

Trains
Designed by Hisashi Hayashi
2-5 Players
Published by AEG
Deck-building Game (with a board!)

Background / Introduction
It seems like trains are "all the rage" these days when it comes to board games. There seemed to be an explosion of train themed games after the tremendous success of Ticket to Ride around the world. I like to actually call this effect "The Twilight Effect" (referring to the endless amounts of vampire themed books, movies, and TV shows after the success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book). Now, of course there were train themed games prior to Ticket to Ride (TTR), but when the money train took off that is TTR, everyone heard the conductor shouting "All aboard!" and many game designers and publishers jumped on board.

I really enjoy trains. Trains contributed to the rich history of the west and they play a very vital and interesting role in our society today. For those familiar with the TV show "The Big Bang Theory," I feel that one can get just as excited about AEG's game Trains as Sheldon can about the real deal (or a model). One family vacation years ago, my family decided to fly somewhere only 530 miles away and then take a train ride back. Part of the fun for the trip was that I hadn't been on a plane or train before this point. It was definitely a great experience and one that has stuck with me. Riding through mountains and beautiful countryside on a passenger train is an experience that not many know (those in Europe may be more likely to have this experience as they are still used frequently for passenger travel between towns and countries).

I will tell you right now that Trains has easily become one of my new all-time favorite games. I really enjoyed Dominion when it first came out a few years ago, and when I heard about Trains for the first time, it sounded pretty similar with the type of cards and mechanics used. I was intrigued. A deck-building game that utilized a train theme and added a board to the mix (now that was different!). Building and balancing a deck full of cards while trying to create the most beneficial railway system on the map. The cards are very well themed for use in the game, and the concept of "waste" cards being added to your deck as you progress in the game is really fun. The game provides many different strategies that could be used for victory.

Components / Rule Book
Trains retails at $59.99 and it includes a good amount of content. In the box, you will find 530 cards (yes,
you read that correctly), 124 wooden rail and station tokens, a double sided board, card dividers, a card tray in-lay to keep your cards organized, and the rule book. Besides the double sided board that is provided in the game, you can download and print other maps from online to play with (fans have created a bunch already including a "Middle Earth" from Lord of the Rings). The different maps add a great deal of replayability and can be a nice change for each game. The quality of the components are all really nice. The cards have a glossy type finish on them which seems pretty good. I did seem like I wasn't able to shuffle the cards as well with this type of card (they clumped up a little more so that I didn't feel like I was getting the best shuffle every time - this could just be me and how I shuffle the cards).

I guess there could be some resemblance... 

Really, the only things that I'm not too crazy about regarding the game Trains fits into this category
(components / rule book) - so, let's get them over with now so that we can focus on how the game is so amazing the rest of the time. While the cards fit the train theme really well and I like the artwork, the game pieces that you actually play on the board are just simple wooden cubes (for the railways) and white wooden cylindrical pieces represent the stations. These pieces are great quality, but I do kind of feel that they are little abstract and they could have improved upon the game by making tokens match the theme (little wooden rails or trains, with little wooden or even plastic stations).

The other thing that I found a little lacking was the rule book. It really isn't a bad rule book, but there just a few things that could have used some more explanation or detailed examples. It would have been really nice to have a FAQ section, or a separate book that discussed each card with perhaps some more detail. Not a huge issue, but it would be convenient to have answers to these very common questions in the rule book (perhaps future printings could include such a sheet for clarifications).

 Setup
The setup time for Trains isn't too long, but it can take a little while to actually sort through and pull out all 16 decks that you will be using for the game. You can speed this process up by everyone helping out. In each game, there are 8 kind of cards that are used each game and there are 8 other cards that are randomly chosen from another 30 different types of cards (huge replayability here folks as each time you can be playing with a different conglomerate of cards).

Each player starts the game with a deck of 10 cards (7 normal trains, 2 lay rails cards, and 1 station expansion card). These cards will be shuffled creating the players starting deck and they will draw 5 cards that will make up there hand. The starting player is chosen by determining who traveled most recently by train. To start the game, each player will choose a starting location on the map (yeah, you would also need to decide what map you will be playing) and place a rail token. The token may not be on a water space, a remote location, or on a location already claimed by another player. Then the game gets chugging.

Goal / Gameplay
The goal of Trains is to have the most victory points at the end of the game. The game ends when either of the following are met: a player runs out of rail tokens, all the stations have been built, or 4 decks from the supply are emptied (waste not included). You obtain victory points through various means. You can gain victory points from the board by building railways in cities with stations (city with no stations = 0 points, 1 station = 2 points, 2 stations = 4 points, and 3 stations = 8 points) and building railways to remote locations (point value shown on board). You can also obtain victory points through victory point cards.

Gameplay is very simple. You start each turn with 5 cards drawn from your deck. You then use these 5 cards for their special actions or abilities and their income. You can buy cards from the supply to help strengthen your deck, and/or you can build your train empire on the board with lay rail type cards or by building stations. The cards are color coded and their are some basic categories of different cards available to you (blue = trains (income), green = laying rails (also reduce cost of building), purple = stations, red = actions, and yellow = victory points etc.).

As you progress toward your inevitable victory or demise, you will be gaining waste cards. Lots and lots of waste cards. This is a really cool concept in my opinion. Whenever you do something that may be really beneficial, you usually will gain a waste card that will go in your deck. You lay a rail (waste), you buy a victory point card (waste), you enter a city already occupied by another player (waste), will the waste ever end? Well, there may be some handy cards available in the supply that allows you to avoid gaining these wastes, or maybe it allows you to dispose of them (properly of course, we wouldn't want the EPA after us). Balancing your deck is very important. You may be able to live with a few waste, but you will want to get rid of waste as often as possible. You can take a complete turn to dispose of any waste in you hand, but that could be a very vital turn you just missed out on. This is a very important part of the game (and really, if you think about it, we create lots and lots of waste each day - how do we take care of it and where does it go) and will be vital to victory.

I won't go into any more nitty gritty detail of the rules, but will rather talk a little about what I like about the gameplay. I really enjoy the deck-building and balancing aspect of the game, but what makes this game really different than those other deck-building games is that Trains has a very well put together board element to it as well. The deck-building element is really similar to other deck-building games, however, the waste cards and the concept of gaining waste (or useless cards) into your deck as you perform actions that gain you points (or place you in a better position to do so) provides a nice new game mechanic that works extremely well.

The rail laying portion on the maps definitely adds to the fun factor and the strategic elements of the game. choosing where to build and how quickly can make a big difference in the outcome of the game. With the double sided board and the maps available online (or if you are feeling creative, you could make your own) there is a nice replayability there to keep placement of rails and board strategy different each time.

Final Thoughts
AEG has now perhaps my top 2 deck-building games (Trains and Thunderstone). I am giving Trains my highest rating, a big Thumbs Up (or 10/10 stars). Even though the playing pieces are a little abstract, they are still great quality and they work well enough. The rule book isn't amazing, but it does well enough. I enjoy this game a lot. It really doesn't take long to play, the general gameplay is simple, and the game provides many different variations to keep each game fresh and different than the last. There are always multiple ways to find victory and each player must adapt to other player styles as well if they want to be successful. Is it Dominion meets Ticket to Ride? Maybe a little bit. Either way, the game is definitely one that I would recommend to everyone out there! Christmas is coming...and that is How Lou Sees It!

A big SHOUT OUT to AEG for providing this review copy and making this possible. The review itself was in no way influenced by the receipt of this complimentary review copy.

Upcoming!
Christmas is almost upon us! My next set of reviews will be on some "stocking stuffer" type games. Games that are small (easily travel), and easy on your pocket book too! These games would make for great stocking gifts, neighbor gifts, or would be great for anyone looking for some simple, quick, less expensive type games. I also will have an exclusive coupon code for some of the card games - so keep your eye out for the next review!

Starting Thunder

Thunderstone: Starter Set
Designed by Mike Elliott
2 to 5 Players
45 to 60 Minutes
Deck-building Game

Introduction
Dragon. Magic. Heroes. Weapons. Gold. Fantasy. Cards. Deck-building. Awesome.

This starter set is a great introduction to the world of Thunderstone, or I think so anyway. This is actually my first and only experience with the Thunderstone realm of deck-building and I really like it. I was introduced to deck-building by playing Dominion and it was a really new concept to me. Deck-building games are exactly what it sounds like; they are games where players start with a minimal starting deck and throughout the game cards are chosen to be added to a players deck by utilizing the cards already in his deck. The winner is the player who best builds and utilizes that deck (usually obtaining victory points of sorts). Take the fun of deck-building and add a solid fantasy theme with heroes fighting monsters in dungeons (leveling up your heroes as you go) - and you have Thunderstone! (Plus the name is really fun to say, and I find it a bit funny that recently there has been a big thunderstorm every night for the last two weeks - coincidence?)

Components / Rule Book
First of all, the box feels amazing. Yeah, is it really weird that I like the feel of a box? The box is nice, the cards are great. The inside of the box allows for many more cards to be added from other expansions and it also comes with card dividers. This starter set however does not include any means of keeping track of experience points (I just use dice face which works pretty well - although, I do believe some or one expansion(s) exist that provide means of keeping track of experience points). The rule book is pretty easy to understand and does well at providing visual examples/instruction on the cards. The rule book does have a nice summary on the back that can be referred to as you get used to the different actions etc.

Game Overview
Setting out with 6 basic soldiers, 2 torches, 2 stone shards, and 2 spears each adventurer sets out to strengthen their coffers, heroes, and gain the most glory (victory points) by defeating monsters and of course the dragon which is found deep in the dungeon. 12 card start, players draw 6 cards for their turn. Players can then choose to go to the village and use the cards in his hand to purchase/hire other cards to help strengthen their deck adding cards with greater money, attack values, or light (to help fight those nasty monsters). In the village players can use experience to level up heroes making them much stronger to handle the more difficult monsters getting a greater reward. The other main action to be taken is to run into the dungeon and fight monsters. You win, you get experience and victory points (maybe a disease card or two - battle damage is not uncommon even in a win). You lose, the monster heads back into the dungeon and you lose the opportunity for progression (sad day for you). Game progresses, monsters flee or get killed and players rack up victory points. Once the dragon is slain (or sneaks out of the dungeon) the game is over! Easy as that.

Gameplay and Thoughts
In these cards, there really isn't any way to attack or affect your opponents other than defeating the more valuable monsters before they do, or getting the level 3 amazing heroes first. Although there isn't great player interaction, the gameplay and theme of the game is fantastic as you and the other players battle through the dungeon and choose different ways to strengthen and use their decks.

Players take turns deciding what would best help their deck with the cards they currently have in their hand. Usually, that means checking to see if you can easily defeat a monster gaining victory points, experience points, and perhaps a bonus provided by that monster. Killing monsters means obtaining victory points and very important experience points which help level up your heroes to become more powerful (and get you another 2 points if you get them leveled up to the max level 3). If you don't have a good fighting hand, then you need to decide what village card can best help you in either future battles, or in purchasing better cards
in the future.

There are many ways to improve your deck and things to consider. If you venture into the dungeon without any "light" (certain cards like the torch, and rolling sparks have a light value - or the Tower hero) the monsters become more difficult to defeat due to the darkness (darkness increases as you go farther into the dungeon). Getting too many victory points upfront could cause issues, but that is generally want you want to do. You may want to start getting cards that have a nice dungeon ability while also providing money if you need to expand your deck that way or purchase new heroes.

Some cards have a "magic attack", which just gets added to your other attack numbers. Some monsters require magic however to defeat it. I like the concept here, but this is one area where it is a bit disappointing because the game only has one of the monsters in the entire monster deck that requires it (would love to see some of the expansions). Some of the magic cards such as Rolling Sparks doesn't require a hero to use it which is nice though - which takes me to weapons. Weapons can add great numbers to your attack, but they do require a hero to wield it (and that hero must be strong enough to lift the thing in the first place).

There really is just a lot going on in this game, and yet it isn't too much. Everything is understandable and I really enjoy the defeating monster concept of the game. There are 3 different variety of monsters and they all have a nitch of sorts (beginner - battle damage type, medium - infest you with disease undead type, and hard - just a lot of hit points type; *keep in mind these are not the official name of the types). There is a lot going on with these monsters! Experience points, victory points, gold rewards, trophy rewards, disease infestation, battle damage, and the timing element of the game. And it all works beautifully.

Keep in mind that this is a "starter set" and the game comes with just enough to wet your palate. For example, 4 different heroes are chosen and available for purchase (or leveling up) and the game comes with 5. The village is made up of 8 cards and the game comes with 10. The game is amazing, and there are opportunities for great variety and expansion with other sets. Not being familiar currently with the other sets of cards, I think these cards are good ones and I do feel that this is a great base/bare bones version. I really can't wait to try some of the other expansions and I think that after playing this game, you would be right there with me adding all the expansions you can to your wishlist and that is How Lou Sees It!

A big SHOUT OUT to AEG for making this review possible. THUNDERSTONE!