Showing posts with label Dice Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dice Game. Show all posts
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Monday, April 27, 2015
Cherry! Foot! Ghost! NADA! Great Fun!
Designed by Thierry Denoual
Published by Blue Orange Games
2 to 4 Players
10 Minutes
Dice Rolling, Quick Matching
(7/10 Stars)
This, believe it or not, is my very first Blue Orange game review (and I have only played one other Blue Orange game prior to this - Pengoloo, which I purchased for my daughter on a whim - great little memory game by the way) and I am very excited to be discovering this new-to-me game publisher. Doodle Quest is one game from Blue Orange Games that is getting a lot of attention and I haven't had the chance to play yet. Any way, back to NADA!
NADA is a fantastic little dice game. The object of the game is to roll dice and then at a quick glance be able to identify a match (a picture on an orange die matching the same picture on the white die). The first player to shout out a correct match gets to claim all of the dice with that symbol. If there are no matches, be the first player to shout NADA! and you get ALL of the currently rolled dice. The game is so simple, but if you like games such as SET, Tenzi, or if you are just looking for a nice little family dice game, I think you will really enjoy NADA! The game comes with a few different ways to play that are fun, or you can make up your own as well. The quality of dice is great, and the game is very portable as it comes with a nice mesh travel bag. The game consists of 36 dice with 12 different symbols. This is such a great little game and that is How Lou Sees It!
(I was provided a free review copy of this game from Blue Orange Games. I will be reviewing Longhorn from Blue Orange Games very soon as well. There is a more detailed video review below. If you liked this video review, please like and follow!)
Sunday, March 1, 2015
9 Cubes, 54 Images, and Lots of Fun
Designed by Rory O'Connor
Published by Gamewright
1 or More Players
15 Minutes
Dice Rolling, Storytelling
(7/10 Stars)
Such a simple idea, but it really is a great way to get the imagination flowing. The quality of the dice are fantastic and they are slightly larger than normal dice which is nice. The images on the dice are etched and I think they will last a really long time. I really like the box as well - it has a great magnetic edge and a plastic insert that can be removed providing a perfect dice rolling area for when your traveling. My 3 year old loves these dice and they provide a great base for some creative story telling. Voyages provides 9 more dice and they have a green tint to the images so that you can keep the sets apart as well. The combinations just multiply and I highly recommend these sets if you are looking for some storytelling and that is How Lou Sees It!
I was given a copy of Rory's Story Cubes: Voyages by Gamewright for the purposes of this review.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
A Qwixx Review
Designed by Steffen Benddorf
Published by Gamewright
2 to 5 Players
15 Minutes
Dice Rolling, Score Card Management
(8/10 Stars)
Qwixx is a simple dice game that provides lots of fun. Published by Gamewright, the game fits in very well with their other family friendly games. Qwixx is easy learn and fun for kids as well as adults. The game is very straight forward and players will always be engaged in the game even if they aren't the one rolling the dice. The game provides solid mechanics that keep all players on the edge of their seats hoping for the numbers they need. It feels like Yahtzee meets Bingo and they had a colorful child named Qwixx.
The game can help children develop simple math skills and sequence understanding. While the game won't be providing a huge amount of strategic depth, you will need to understand and follow basic strategy. The game is enjoyable as a light dice game should be and with nice short play times will keep players coming back for more. The quality of dice, instructions, and scoring pad are fantastic and would make a great gift to someone who enjoys games such as Yahtzee, Farkle, Pass the Pigs, and Bingo. Push your luck and cross of a number, Qwixx will definitely be played many times at my house and that is How Lou Sees It!
Friday, June 6, 2014
Luchador!
Featured Kickstarter InterviewLuchador!Mexican Wrestling Dice
Interview with Game Designer Mark Rivera
Game Published by BackSpindle Games
Hi Mark! Thanks for taking the time to answer just a few questions. Hopefully they will help everyone get to know you and the game you designed better.
Q - First, can you tell us just a little about yourself, your background, and when you started designing Luchador? (Is that cheating? Is that technically 3 questions?) :)
A - I'm an expat American living in the UK for quite a long time. I'm a Learning and Development professional during the day. I'm a Mormon 24/7.
I've been gaming since I was very young with my family (the usual... Monopoly, Game of Life, etc.) and was probably around 12 when I discovered war games (1862 by Parker Brothers and Battle Cry) and D & D. Late teens and I got into war gaming seriously playing Avalon Hill Games and subscribing to Strategy and Tactics Magazine so I was a gamer during the first golden age of war gaming (yes, I'm that old). I even went to the 2nd (I think) Origins Convention sponsored by Richard Dunnigan's SPI war games company. My interests expanded into Warhammer 40K and American style games.
About 4 years ago I started the Boardgames in Blighty blog writing reviews and news pieces.
Interestingly, I started designing war games in the late 80's but with moving to the UK, it all took a back seat. A few years ago, I collaborated with Michael Fox of the Little Metal Dog Show and designed Ace of Spies which was published by Albino Dragon and about 18 months ago, I submitted my design for Luchador to Backspindle Games.
Q - Now that we know when, how did you come up with the idea and what was your inspiration?
A - I blame the awesomely "Bance" guys from the Flip the Table Podcast. They simply tweeted one day that it would be great if someone would design a good wrestling game and we tweeted back and forth a bit and thought, "well why not have a go?"
Q - I really don't know much about the game and I bet some of my readers are in the same boat. I just keep seeing pictures of what seems like a really fun dice game. Can you give us all a low down of your smack down successful game?
A - Well, at its core, its a dice game set in the world of LUCHA LIBRE where 2 players face off, roll wrestling dice against each other at the same time (yes, you can knock each other's dice out of the ring) scoring Hits, Blocks, Counter-blocks, Pins, and Misses. Unblocked or Uncountered Hits allow players to roll their Hit Die scoring damage against their opponent. Hits range from chops and elbows to Chair and Table smashes. 2 Hit results on their wrestling dice can be traded in to roll the special move the big chunky Luchador! die which can cause more damage but risks causing injuries. BUT, its glorious!
Players that are weakened enough can be pinned by rolling the Pin die. If a Pin result is rolled, the opponent has to survive the referee's 3-count or lose the match.
The game can be learned in 5 minutes and games last 10 - 15 minutes. There are rules for 4-player Tag Teams which makes it all even crazier.
Luchador 1st ed is designed for the widest possible accessibility so its an easy game to learn and play.
Luchador 2nd edition, now on Kickstarter, adds more complexity with individual strengths and weaknesses for the Luchadores, 2 new Luchadores, a 3-D ring, individualised Killer combos that call for more decisions, and new match types.
Q - What does a typical turn or round look like?
A - Typically, each player rolls their wrestling dice, only dice that stay on the board count, results are compared, results applied, hit damage is scored and Pins rolled for and applied if the targey opponent is "pinnable".
Q - What is your favorite thing about the game?
A - The smack talk which is hilarious and referee 3-count which is very tense and loud and has the potential for reverse Pins.
Q - This was a successful Kickstarter already, why Kickstarter again for version 2.0?
A - Actually, 1st edition went straight to print so Backspindle Games could deliver for Essen 2013. 2nd Ed needs Kickstarter to raise the funds to publish. Backspindle is a very small company and see Kickstarter as a great way to raise capital.
Q - Who is your favorite wrestler?
A - Have to say The Rock and Rey Mysterio
Q - What is your favorite board game?
A - Tough call. Currently its Memoir 44.
Q - If you had to recreate the game with same mechanics but using a different theme other than wrestling, what would it be? (Space, Midevil, Western, just for example)
A - Probably Horror/Scifi Wrestling
Q - Is there something more you wanted to incorporate into the game, but had to leave it out or one reason or another (maybe too pricey, or it didn't translate well into the board game medium)?
A - Well there are limitations in terms of what translates to the dice game. Some matches are too difficult for instance. It would be cool to have an actual Cage for Cage matches but too costly... A ring made of wood or heavy plastic but costly... Minis are very much a nice to have and not really necessary...
Q - If you could play your game with one famous person today, who would it be and why?
A - Rey Mysterio. I think he would like it.
Q - One word to describe you?
A - Charming
Q - One word to describe Luchador?
A - Crazy
Q - Anything else you would like to add?
A - Luchador started out as a game for wrestling fans but it turns out all types of gamers and non-gamers love it. Lots of families have really enjoyed it, so winning the Best Family Game Award at UK Games Expo last weekend was especially gratifying.
Please check out the Luchador! 2nd Edition Kickstarer project!
Well Mark, thanks again for your time and for answering my questions! I hope that I can get my hands on a copy one day soon! Best of luck on the Kickstarter!
If you are interested in learning more about Luchador! or how you can support the project, head on over to their Kickstarter page and until next time, that is How Lou Sees It!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Stacking SUTAKKU Style
Designed by Curt Covert
Published by Smirk and Dagger Games
For 1 or more players
Push-Your-Luck Dice Game
Background / Introduction
With all of the Japanese characters on the box, the game might seem foreign and be pretty mysterious. The fact is, the game is a very easy to learn, quick to play, push-your-luck style dice game. Fans of Yahtzee, Farkle, Fill or Bust, or Incan Gold are those most likely to enjoy SUTAKKU. The symbols on the dice may be a little intimidating at first, but they just represent numbers with the Japanese characters. The game is really simple, elegant, and fun.
Components
The star of the game (as it should be) is the set of 12 beautifully engraved large (3/4") dice. These dice are awesome! Top notch quality. The bigger dice are perfect for stacking (and yet not too large to make rolling them awkward) and for good visibility around a big table. I repeat, these dice are awesome.
The game also comes with a little black cloth dice bag, a stacking/reference board, a score pad, 11 'Smirky's Challenge' bonus cards, and rule book.
The stacking board isn't necessary, but it is kind of cool. The board really serves three purposes: 1) Look
cool. 2) Center a spot where the dice will be stacked. 3) Provide a reminder to what the Japanese characters represent. You could create a house rule that involves the board (as suggested in my video) when dice fall from an in-progress stack, but in general the board is their to look cool - and it does a great job.
The cloth bag fits all 12 dice for convenient pocket travel. The score pad is nice and there is a blank copy in the rule book so you can make additional copies (smart idea). The rule book is nice and even includes a little Japanese folklore story that gives some background for the origin of the game.
The bonus 'Smirk's Challenge' cards are a great idea and I like playing with them. I am disappointed however in the quality of these little 'bonus cards.' I would have loved for these cards to be more 'poker card' type quality, but they are basically printed on card stock paper. They are considered to be just a little bonus to the game, but I really would have liked to see them included more as a part of the game and the quality increased.
Gameplay Overview
Without getting too detailed with rules, the game really consists of rolling 3 dice and stacking 2 of those dice onto your scoring stack. These 2 dice must be equal to or greater than the top die of the stack and if you can't stack 2 of your 3, you bust - losing all your points for this turn. While you have one free mulligan per turn to re-roll 2 of your 3 dice, you must be careful not to get too greedy. You get bonus points for stacking on 5s, 6s, or if you are able to stack all 12 (which would be amazing!).
That is the game! Simple and yet extremely fun. You can add in the challenge cards which really makes the game interesting. It will basically set a challenge to a player that that player must complete to score any points - and yet the player may get rewarded nicely by doing so. A nice element to the game (again, I wish there was a bit more of).
Conclusion / Thoughts
I really enjoy SUTAKKU and it has been well received by friends and family. The game is a very light dice game and with that comes very little strategy. The real decision you have to make throughout the game is if you will be pressing your luck to try and obtain some major points, or if you will keep the small points and stay safe. Then, there is always the last round or so for those who are so far behind that they will always push their luck trying to score big - and they just might. I like the gameplay and I really enjoy the larger dice in this game. Great quality and they look cool. I also enjoy playing with the challenge cards although I wish they were a little bit better quality. The actual game could really be played with any regular dice, so you will be purchasing this game mainly for the artistic large dice, stacking board, written rules, travel bag, and the challenge cards. That said, I'm giving the game 4 Fingers Up or 9/10 stars because I enjoy the simplistic game and the dice are fantastic and that is How Lou Sees It!
A big SHOUT OUT to Smirk and Dagger Games for making this review possible. Stay tuned for future Smirk and Dagger game reviews (Dread Curse, HEX HEX XL, and Cutthroat Caverns).
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Rolling Into The Dungeon
Designed by Chris Darden
Published by Tasty Minstrel Games
1 - 4 Players (Best with 1 or 2)
Unique Hero Rolling Dungeon Delving Dice Game
Background / Introduction
Dungeon Roll is definitely not your typical dice game. If you are expecting the roll your dice three times routine, think again! One of the things that I really enjoy about Dungeon Roll is how unique and different the game feels. You should already get that feeling just from the actual packaging of the game. I mean, the game comes in a little cardboard treasure chest and not only that but during the game when you gain treasure you actually open the chest to randomly get a piece of treasure - how cool is that. The theme is nice, the variability is great, and the quality of components awesome. The game is very light, easy to learn and doesn't take long to play. There are dice involved and the game does have a large luck element to it. So, for all the hard core strategists that can't stand games with luck, this may not be the game for you. The game has a great variability built in with the different hero cards which really shape what kind of strategy you will play each game. In this base game, there really isn't any player interaction, so while the game makes for great solo play and is enjoyable, don't expect to work together or attack one another in this game (although this may change with future expansions/promos, as the soon to be released Winter Promo has some fun player interaction). Well, enough chit chat, let's talk about the game in a little bit more detail.
Components / Rulebook
OK, so I mentioned the really cool treasure chest packaging. The box actually opens like a treasure chest too. I was a bit worried that it would just rip right off the box after a few uses, but I have to give it to them - it seems to be doing very well. It may not last forever, but even if the "hinge" functionality of the box is lost, it is still awesome.
Moving on to the dice. Being such a huge element in the game, one should expect these dice to be the really nice quality. I'm happy to say they really are. The custom 15 dice (7 party dice, 7 dungeon dice, and 1 dungeon level tracker die) are very well made and I think they will remain that way. The color coding and icons used are good and make sense.
The hero cards (8 included in the base game, and 8 more available in the Hero Booster Pack #1) in the game are printed on good card stock and each of the cards has really nice artwork. Each hero card is double sided (one side is a Novice side and the other side is the Master side) and abilities change when flipped over. I am disappointed that they didn't take the opportunity to provide the hero slightly differently on the Master side as each side has the same artwork of the hero. They could have changed to pose of the hero, or add armor, or something. The game also includes 4 reference cards to help remind players what each face of the die do and what treasure tokens can be obtained with their special purpose.
The game includes 36 treasure tokens and 24 experience tokens. These are your usual card board cut out pieces. the pieces are good thickness and didn't have too much of a problem punching them all out. The game also includes a rulebook along with a Book of Heros. The game play is simple, and the rulebook does well to explain the game and includes some illustrations. The Book of Heroes is just a book comprised of pages summarizing the different hero cards and providing further clarifying information as necessary.
Setup
The game has a very quick setup. Empty out the treasure chest if you choose to use it as your treasure token randomizer (which you always should!). Place the treasure tokens in the chest or flip them all face down if keeping them out on the table. Place the experience tokens near by. Each player can have a reference card and then each player will either choose their hero or deal these out randomly. That is it!
Goal / Gameplay
The game is played by each player entering the dungeon exactly 3 times to seek glory, treasure, and to gain experience points. The winner of the game will be the one with the most experience points once everyone has tried their hand at the dungeon 3 times.
On a players turn (in general, this and other actions can be modified by a heroes special ability or ultimate ability) the player first rolls the 7 party dice. This will represent the company of adventurers entering the dungeon with you and perhaps some scrolls (just in case you feel like reading in the dark dangerous dungeon).
The player will then enter the dungeon at dungeon level 1. The dungeon level tracker die will be moved to show the number 1 face up. The dungeon lord will be rolling dice equal to the number on the dungeon level tracker die or as many available dice as able if that can't be reached. So, for example the dungeon lord will roll 1 of the dungeon dice for level 1 and 4 dungeon dice for level 4.
The player will then enter the Monster Phase of his turn and will need to defeat or otherwise dismiss any monsters rolled (Skeletons, Oozes, and Goblins make up the monsters you will encounter). This is done by using your party dice rolled at the beginning of your "delve into the dungeon" (a.k.a. 1 of your 3 turns going through the dungeon). You may use any one adventurer die (Clerics, Mages, Fighters, Thieves, and Champions) to defeat any one monster die. Each type of adventurer also has specialties that help remove more of a certain kind of monster etc. These are color coded for your convenience. Example: The grey Cleric can defeat (or in other words remove) any number of grey Skeletons, the green Fighter can remove any number of Goblins, and the Thieves can open any number of chests (we will discuss these soon). The gold Champion is pretty special, it can remove any of the same type of monster (consider it a wild die of sorts).Also during the Monster Phase, you can activate your hero's ability or ultimate ability, you can use treasure tokens, or you may use any Scrolls that you have. Scrolls allow you to re-roll any of the dice (party and dungeon). Once all the monsters are removed from play, the player can then continue on to the Loot Phase where players can open chests or quaff potions. It is always optional to open chests or quaff potions. While players may not always want to open chests or quaff potions, each one of these rolled means one less monster (or possible dragon). If you choose to open a chest using your dice, then you can gain a treasure token at random (these can be really useful!). If you quaff a potion (even your scrolls can do this), then you can bring a party die back from the "graveyard" (the place where your used party dice end up) and you get to choose what face you want to use.
Without getting into too many details about all the rules, I do need to mention the dragon and how experience tokens are obtained as well as what happens if you can't defeat the monsters and/or dragon at a given level. Whenever a dragon is rolled, it is set aside in an area known as the dragon's lair (these dice can't be re-rolled with the Scroll, but can be manipulated with certain hero abilities). After the Monster and Loot phase, it is then the Dragon Phase. If there are 3 or more dragons the hero must defeat the dragon. To do this the player must use 3 different adventurers (or Companions as they are really called in the rulebook). This can be done with the help of certain treasure tokens that can act as companions too. So, here is a good spot to point out that while Champions are really versatile, you still need a variety of companions to defeat dragons. When you defeat a dragon, you receive 1 experience point and you get 1 treasure.After the Dragon Phase comes the Regroup phase. Players can now determine if they want to leave the dungeon and receive experience points equal to the number shown on the dungeon level tracker or continue to go down to the next level (although 10 is the maximum and you are required to leave after defeating level 10). If at any time you can't defeat the monsters or you are faced with a dragon that you can't defeat, you must end your delve that round without scoring any of the experience points on the die.
I really enjoy playing Dungeon Roll. The quality of components are great and the theme really works well. The heroes and their special abilities really make the game for me as they provide unique strategies depending on your character. Dungeon Roll is just a great light dice game that can be taught and played very quickly. The base game doesn't really have much as far as player interaction is concerned, but I think most players will enjoy watching to see what other players choose to do as well. Now, with 3 or 4 players, the down time between turns lengthen and may result in people not enjoying the game as much. The game fits well for a nice 2 player game as one player can always be rolling dice (either as the hero or the dungeon lord). The game does have a large element of luck and that keeps the game different and challenging in its own way, but this may keep some gamers away that don't like a large element of luck in a game to mess up all their perfectly contrived strategies. The game retails around $19.95, so the price point is nice too. I am really looking forward to playing the Winter Promo pack and I can't wait to learn more about what they have in store for Dungeon Roll this year (I'm hearing that there will be some great things coming out). If you like dice games and you are OK with a large luck element and dungeon fighting theme, I think you should get it! I'm giving this game 4 Fingers Up or 9/10 Stars and that is How Lou Sees It!
A big SHOUT OUT to TMG for making this review possible. I should be receiving Coin Age and the Dungeon Roll Winter Promo over the next few months. TMG is really coming out with some great little games. I will be reviewing The Village soon as well! Hopefully I can take a look at Belfort too to give you an idea of how the TMG more complex games are. Until next time!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Questing Cubed!
Cube QuestDesigned by Oliver and Gary Sibthrope
2 Player Game
Dice Flicking Dexterity Game
Gamewright
Introduction / Background
I am a lover of dice. I am also a big fan of dexterity games like shuffleboard (doesn't mean that I'm necessarily good at them). Oliver and Gary Sibthrope with Gamewright has combined my love of dice with a great dexterity element to create Cube Quest. The simplicity of the gameplay makes the game very accessible to younger kids, while the game has enough strategy and dexterity skill involved to keep older players coming back for more.
Components / Rule BookInside the box, you will find 50 dice (25 for each side), two playing mats (made of a mouse-pad material), an instruction sheet, and a cube/dice reference guide.
Let's start with the rule book (or rule sheet). The instructions for this game are actually all on one side of the the rule sheet and another in-depth cube/dice reference guide about the different dice is included on the back of the the rule sheet. The rules are well explained and easy to understand. The explanations for the different dice are adequate - the game is simple, and so are the rules explaining how to play it.
The components are nice. I like the mouse-pad type material used for the mats a lot. There has been some issues with some of the mats becoming damaged during packaging as each mat has been folded in half twice to fit into the box. Don't worry though, if you open your box to find creased mats, Gamewright has a very friendly and helpful customer service and I have heard from many who contacted Gamewright and received replacement mats very quickly. They are also sending the replacement mats rolled up instead of folded which has eliminated the possibility of the creases. I contacted Gamewright about this issue, and they are replacing any mats that are damaged and they are looking at a possible re-packaging for the game for future production runs. All this being said, I love the mat material and the mat artwork is nice, but not distracting. For future productions I would think that making the two player mats into a total of eight smaller mats might be best. I'm not sure if having them rolled up in a tube would cause long term warping or not with that material, but smaller mats could do the trick.
SetupThe game can be set up in less than a minute. Each player sets up their side at the same time and even thinking strategically, the game is set up very quickly. The game suggests setting up a divider while players arrange their dice, the game box can be used to do this, but you could also set time limits or setup your dice without a divider. Dice can be placed pretty much anywhere; the king must be played somewhere in the castle. You can stack dice up to create walls, or you can spread your dice out across your side of the mat. This flexibility in game set up helps the game have great replayability as you play around with different opening formations.
Gameplay
Players take turns flicking their dice while trying to knock off their opponent's dice from the playing mats. The winner of the game is the player who can knock off the enemy's king first. You can only flick one dice a turn (or use a special dice's ability once). If a dice is partially off the mats, it does not count as being knocked off and can still be in play.
The other key element to the game comes from how your dice lands when on your opponent's side of the playing area. In a normal basic game, each player will have one king, four strikers, and twelve grunts. Each type of dice has a different number of "captured" sides represented on the die. These "captured" sides are represented by a silhouette of that character. Grunts for example, have four "captured" sides, while the striker dice only have one.
Whenever you flick your dice and it lands in your opponents territory, you must evaluate the status of your dice. If your dice is "captured" side up, then your dice is "captured." You then have the chance of escape by rolling that dice. If it comes up "captured" side again, the dice is removed from play ("destroyed"). If you happen to roll and the dice comes up with one of its "picture" sides, your dice has escaped and is placed somewhere in your castle for future use. So, striker dice are better attackers as they have a much high probability of staying alive in enemy territory, while the grunt dice have a slim chance of surviving long. You start out with many grunts though and they can be sacrificed to an extent (just realize that when you send them over, there is a high chance you won't get them back, so make their attack count).
As the game progresses, your dice (and hopefully your opponent's) will start to thin. Your king may have been knocked close to the edge of defeat. Well, some of the dice have abilities and your king just so happens to be one of them. Instead of flicking a dice your turn, you can spend your turn to move your king back into your castle. This can be extremely beneficial if your king is teetering on the edge of the mat. Grunts and strikers don't have abilities, but there a few other dice that I haven't mentioned yet.
Each dice has a certain point value associated with it and each player chooses an army of 40 or less points. You can determine if it is more important to you to have as many dice out as you can with lots of "weak" grunts, or you can have some highly specialized dice that can sneak into your opponent's territory, or give you "one-use" abilities to revive removed dice or freeze opponent dice to keep them from attacking. Once players pick their armies from their set amount of dice and points, game progresses just like normal, but players may be playing with dice with special abilities. While the selection or variety of dice isn't huge, it does provide enough to keep things interesting. The reference card and sheet is helpful in determining your armies and evaluating your strategy. The reference shows how many "captured" sides each dice has, the point value of that dice, and the ability associated with that dice if applicable.
You can really make this game your own by slightly modifying rules or change the setup of the game. I suggest playing around with the layout of your mats. The game plays just fine as described in the rules, but think of different ways that you could make the game even more interesting. A few game setup suggestions:
- Instead of setting up your dice with a divider, use a sand timer and set up your dice in real time with a time limit. You will be able to see your opponent's dice and try and counter their plan. It will feel like you are playing football, and you are trying to match the audible just called right before the ball is snapped.
- Move the mats apart by six to twelve inches (or whatever you desire) and place a makeshift "bridge" between your two playing mats. You could make this bridge out of an old mouse pad, or just use paper. You can make the bridge wide or narrow. You can come up with some pretty cool setups! This bridge is considered neutral while no dice are on the bridge, but the bridge becomes part of your territory if you have the majority of dice on the bridge. If a captured side comes up while neutral, nothing happens, but if your opponent controls the bridge, then it is just as if you had landed on your opponent's mat. You can skip your dice across the empty spaces, but your dice must land on a mat or bridge to remain in play. You can make it even more interesting by elevating the two playing mats creating cliffs at the edge of the mats. You can add multiple bridges across the gap etc. In my pictures, you can see one "bridge" scenario where I used a couple of chairs, a TV remote, and a mouse pad to create the "Red Bridge of Death!" All the ends of the mat and the bridge across are slopped towards impending doom!
- Along the same lines as the "bridge" scenario described above, you can place items under your mats to create slight variations in your landscape. You can also place objects on the landscape to create "walls" or other things to impede a direct approach to your opponent.
This is a fantastic dexterity game! I don't have many dexterity games, but this is my favorite one by far. I really enjoy the simplicity of the game, the light plastic dice work perfectly for flicking, and I enjoy the mouse pad type material used for the mats. I feel that the sticker type placement of the pictures on the dice works just fine, although I would have liked to see something done to eliminate the possibility of these to fall off over time (I still think that it is pretty unlikely that you will have any fall of, but it is a worry of mine). I enjoy the fact that you can set up your dice in a huge variety of ways (stacking to form front walls, placing dice behind your king to help keep your king on the mat, or trying to spread your dice out to be hard targets). Similarly, you can play around with the actual landscape or playing area. I'm not suggesting that the game needs all this variation, but you can easily do it and you can create some really fun game scenarios.
The dice abilities are good ones and really do add a nice element to the game. Likewise, you can create your own abilities and use those instead of the ones described in the rules. I might have liked some variation in the artwork for each side to further differentiate the dice from one another, but the artwork for the game is good. I really could see a possible expansion for the game creating a "bridge" scenario and a few new dice. The setup time and time to learn the game is very fast and the game time is quick too. This would be a great game to check out for all you Casual Gamers out there! I am giving Cube Quest 3 fingers up, or 8 out of 10 stars.You will want to play again and again and that is How Lou Sees It!
A big SHOUT OUT to Gamewright games for making this review possible!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Big Fat Tomato For Your Thoughts
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The Big Fat Tomato GameDesigned by Casey Grove
First of all, a big SHOUT OUT to Gamewright games for making this review possible and for creating family fun games. Another big SHOUT OUT to all the farmers across the world for providing food for our tables. It is a tremendous and noteworthy profession that goes forgotten all too often. Especially in this tough year with all of the drought our thoughts and prayers are with you.
the big fat tomato game (TBFTG) joins the farming game fray with other farming themed games such as Agricola, Bohnanza, Nile, and The Farming Game. The TBFTG is a game for 2 to 5 brave tomato farmers who have about 20 minutes to harvest the most fuzzy little tomatoes you can. I would say that depending on the child, some younger than the suggested age of 10+ would be able to play the game and enjoy it.
In TBFTG the objective is to have the most tomatoes in your supply come harvest time. This is accomplished by playing cards that protect your harvest (like fences or hot pepper spray) from pesky varmints and weeds that have or will be placed on you by other competitive farmers. Setup is easy enough and is done by shuffling the cards without the "Market Time" card and then the Market card is placed somewhere in the last 10 cards or so of the deck. Each player takes a basket and the tomatoes are placed in the middle along with the dice for easy access. Each player is dealt 5 cards and the game begins with the player who can make themselves look most like a tomato (this is pretty fun and The Wife and I had a laugh while doing this, but if that isn't your style you could always play the highest roll of the die).
A turn is played out something like this: A player may play one green thumb card (used to either rid their harvest of unwanted pests or to build up fences) and one red thumb card (an attack card against another player). The player then rolls the two die to see how many tomatoes he will gather from the middle and place in his or her basket. The red cards will effect your harvest by limiting you to only one die, subtracting from your harvest by one roll of the die etc. There are other cards as well that I won't go to great detail on, but they can be played out of turn to stop attacks or reverse them and steal other's tomatoes etc.
The other key portion of your turn is to decide on whether or not you will "bank" or empty your tomatoes from your basket into your supply. This is key to the game for multiple reasons. First of all, you should try and keep track of the number of tomatoes in your basket (this shouldn't be too hard for the older players, but maybe a bit more challenging for the younglings) because if you choose to empty your basket into your supply and you don't have at least 20 tomatoes - well, you loose all of those from your basket into the middle instead. You want to empty your basket when you can because these tomatoes will be more safe from other players and only the tomatoes in your supply (not your basket) count toward your final count come market time. At the end of your turn, you can discard any cards you would like and then you draw back up to 5.
The game ends when the "Market Time" card is drawn from the deck. The winner again is the player with the most tomatoes in their supply. The game goes pretty quickly, and I might even suggest trying out going through the deck once and then randomly shuffling in the Market card on the reshuffle to lengthen the game and add more of a suspense to when the Market card will actually show up (this suggestion may not work as well if playing with lots of people because the tomato supply in the middle might dry up so to speak).
Everyone knows I'm a sucker for a game that comes in a nice tin. It might be because my mother collects tins or it might just feel like I'm getting something extra. Either way, the components of TBFTG come in a nice tin with great packaging. I love the little tomatoes, the baskets, and the cards. The cards shuffle well and seem that they will hold up nicely.
Overall, the game is a nice quick family game with great components and it plays really well. Sometimes you will find yourself without the proper cards in hand to rid yourself of your current predicament, but that is all part of the game and you will just have to rise above it like any good farmer would do and hope that no flying hippos will swoop in and make matters worse. I give TBFTG 2 fingers up, or in other terms 7/10 stars and that is How Lou Sees It!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
A Game A Day In Review
70 straight days of playing a different board game each night and writing a review. From Day 1 I wasn't really sure how many days that this project would last; I was hoping that I could make it past 40 days. Thanks to the support of friends and family letting me borrow some of their games, the support of Rio Grande Games, Minion Games, and MindWare for their game donations, and especially the amazing support from The Wife who put up with me blogging every night and playing a game when the day didn't even have time for it. A big SHOUT OUT and THANK YOU!
I am still amazed that I made it this long. And yet, there are many more games out there to be played. I will definitely continue to review the games that I own and have played for you all. You will be able to find a list of all of my game reviews which I will organize alphabetically. I love board games. Sometimes I will just find myself reading reviews and rules to board games just for fun. This has really been a really fun project and I have enjoyed it immensely and I hope that you have as well.
If you didn't notice, most of my reviews were 3 fingers up (equivalent to an 8 out of 10 or better. This is because most of the games I played are games that I actually own...and why would I buy a game that I don't love? So, there are a lot of 4 fingers up (or 9/10) which are all amazing games, but the top games that all received a thumbs up (10/10) are listed below (Chess and Scrabble are not included in this list just because they are so well known already, but they also received the full 10/10 thumbs up):
Top 10 (listed alphabetically)
Now on to the Scoreboard results. The Wife and I were pretty much neck and neck throughout the project although The Wife had a winning streak of like 13 games in a row I believe. In the end, I came out on top (even with my losing record, I had the most victories):
W-L-T
Lou 32-35-3
The
Wife 28-39-3
Nicole 3-2-0
Nathan 2-4-0
T.B.I.L. 1-0-0
Sauron 1-0-0
F. I. 1-0-0
Jackie 0-1-0
Spencer 0-1-0
Bryan 0-2-0
I did not get to play all of the games that I would have liked to, but that is one of the great joys of board games. There are so many fun games out there that all offer something a little bit different. Some of the games that I did not get a chance to play or review include (consider it my watch/wish list in no particular order; I have played a lot of these games, but I do not own or have easy access to them):
Tsuro, The Resistance, Black Friday, Friday, Crows, Flash Point Fire Rescue, Ricochet Robots, Fearsome Floors, 7 Wonders, 221 B Baker Street, Nuns on the Run, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride Europe, Alhambra, Le Havre, Blokus, and the list goes on and on.
Thank you again for supporting this project by checking out my blog. I may be taking a break from the Game Reviews for a while, but don't fret everyone. I have a new project on the horizon. Everyone prepare for (drum roll please) .... A Yoga Pose A Day. Now, it may be a little while before I start this project. I have to start some research and find a killer Yoga outfit, but I plan on at least attempting a different Yoga Pose every day and posting a picture to prove it! If only they had a Yoga themed board game. Get excited folks and that is How Lou Sees It!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Swipe It, Swipe It Good
Day 61 - SwipeDesigned by Garrett J. Donner, Wendy L. Harris, and Michael S. Steer
This little dice game is made for 2 to 6 players although it really doesn't play as well with 2 (probably the best with 5 or 6 players). The game is nice because it all comes nicely packaged in the little blue parallelogram as seen in the picture (great for travel; take and play anywhere). The components (10 dice and 50 chips) are nice enough for the price and game. The play of the game is completely determined by what a player rolls with his dice (and he can't change any of his dice) and doesn't really leave any skill left to the game. Actions include taking chip(s) or dice from the middle or from other players. The winner is the one with the most chips after the chips from the center have been exhausted. The game just doesn't have any substance to it. It could be a nice mindless game to play with friends while doing something else (like chatting or playing a different game). Not the greatest dice game on the market (but you do get to roll dice and get chips) and that is How Lou Sees It.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Bluff'n Dice
Day 44 - Liar's DiceDesigned by Richard Borg
You lie. You win or you lose. A fun game that works for any number of individuals greater than two. You know Pirates of the Caribbean? Winning your father's freedom brought to you by Liar's Dice. Or rather winning the honor of being the BEST liar, something we should all strive for.
Everyone starts with a set number of dice, say six, then they roll them and keep them covered. Then you go around the circle with each person raising either the number of die of a certain number or the number on the die or both. (There are many variations on how to do this part.) What follows is a potential round...
Lou: One Two
The Wife: Two Twos
Nicole: Two Threes
Nathan: Three Fives
Lou: Four Fives
The Wife: Four Sixes
Nicole: Five Sixes
Nathan: Call.
When Nathan calls, if Nicole was lying, or rather there were less than five sixes on the table then Nicole loses a dice. If indeed there were five or more sixes on the table then Nathan loses a dice. And thus the game continues with rounds until only one person remains with any number of dice.
Learning to lie never was quite so fun and That is How Lou Sees It.
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