Qwingo

Sushi, Let's Go Party!

Imagine - A Challenging Party Game with Transparent Fun

Imagine

The Animated Guessing Game

A Party Game for 3-8 Players

Pictionary Style Game Using Set of Transparent Cards

Gamewright

A new pictionary-like guessing game with a unique concept. Using only the 61 transparent cards provided can you overlap and animate the cards to have someone guess "The Olympic Games" "Back to the Future" "Slipping on a Banana Peel" or "Pokemon"? The game has over 1,000 "enigmas" and you can even create your own challenging things to guess! I really enjoyed Imagine and I found it to be a nice fresh take on this genre of game. I will say that this game can be pretty challenging, but I really like the fact that you don't need to have artistic ability to play. You will need a good imagination however and the ability to make something out of random things. It is a good time. The quality of cards is great and the game includes TONS of guessing words as well as nice thick cardboard tokens to keep track of points. All of this fits in a well done insert. I just wish the rule book fit nicely in the box (a lot of games seem to have this issue - they make the rule book the size of inside of the top cover and yet it doesn't really fit inside the bottom box entirely - sorry, a little thing, but it keeps happening and it is annoying).

You don't need to rely on your artistic ability, but only your imagination and that is How Lou Sees It! (Please enjoy the pictures and the video review below!)

Enjoy A Storytelling Treasure With Your Kids. Time to Jump Ship!

Jump Ship!

Cardventure Series #2

Gamewright

15 Minutes

Play Solo or Group

Jump Ship is a great choose your own adventure story using decks of cards to navigate your way through the fun trying to collect as much treasure in the process. Highly recommend for young kids. The adventure may be lost on older kids and adults. My enjoyment of the game is seeing my kids get excited about a story and their interaction and guidance of the story. Would make a great bed time story/activity for anyone willing to Jump Ship and that is How Lou Sees It! Enjoy the pictures and more in-depth (no pun intended) video review below:

9 Cubes, 54 Images, and Lots of Fun

Rory's Story Cubes

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.

We Finish Each Other's Slamwiches!

Super Slamwich

Designed by Monty and Ann Stambler

Published by Gamewright

2 to 6 Players

15 Minutes

Card Slapping, Speed, Children's Game

(7/10 Stars)

I take a look at Gamewright's Super Slamwich! A really solid card slapping game that is pretty fun. It is a very simplistic game, but the artwork and gameplay works well. It is basically war mixed with slap jack mixed with Egyptian ratkiller and it has sandwich themed cards. 

The cards in this version are huge! That is part of the fun, but may not be for everyone as some kids may have difficulty holding the cards - so, in that case you can still get the normal version. I recommend this game for kids or to play with kids (it has been fun to play even with my 3 year old). For me, I consider this a 5/10, but for children I think it would be around an 8/10 - so, overall I give this 7/10.

I was given this copy of Super Slamwich by Gamewright for the purposes of this review.

A Qwixx Review

Qwixx

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!

Bite Sized Sushi

Sushi Go!

Designed by Phil Walker-Harding

Published by Gamewright

2 to 5 Players

15 Minutes

A Card Drafting Game with Set Collecting

Great Artwork, Simple, Quick, and Fun

Card drafting set collecting card game that is fun for both young and old. The mechanics and rules of the game are really simple allowing kids to completely understand and enjoy the game quickly while the game provides enough enjoyment that adults will be asking for seconds too! The game is as simple as choose a card from your hand and reveal that card at the same time as the other players reveal their card. You add that card to your play area and pass the remaining cards to the player to your left and play all over again. You continue until all the cards have been played - score that round and play another. Save room for pudding as that is the only card that stays from round to round and isn't scored until after the third and final round.

Easy to teach and play this is a great family or light card game for all ages. I like the playful artwork and the utility of the cards. 7 Wonders may be another game you have heard about - it uses the same card drafting mechanic of choosing a card and then passing the remaining cards to another player. This game mechanic provides a lot of strategy in such a simple idea. Do you take what you need now? Is there another Sashimi card out there and I should take one in hopes of getting 2 more? Wait...if I don't take the pudding card the next player will and they will make me have the least. The game is like its artwork - simple, clean, and fun. I highly recommend it with 7/10 Stars and that is How Lou Sees It!

I was provided a review copy of Sushi Go! by Gamewright free of charge. This has no impact on my review of the game. Please check out my other reviews and follow me on Twitter (@landonsquire)!

Pyramix Review

Pyramix

Designed by Tim Roediger

Published by Gamewright

2 to 4 Players

15 Minutes

Abstract Strategy

I really enjoy Pyramix. Everyone I have played it with enjoys it. The game is simple to learn and setup with a quick play time. A perfect casual game that seems so simple and yet offers great strategic depth. Good quality product with a very unique feeling game play. My toddler also likes the "triangle" game by building the pyramid watching the cubes slide down. This is a fantastic family game and strategic game that I can highly recommend to just about everyone and that is How Lou Sees It!

Questing Cubed!

Cube Quest
Designed 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 Book
Inside 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.

The actual dice are a light plastic with sticker type faces on all the sides. As a lover of dice, I usually find that the more unique or heavy a dice is, the more I like it (metal d4 dice, awesome). For this game however, the dice fit the need; in this case, I don't want to be flicking a heavy metal dice around. The dice really are perfect for flicking as they can be moved easily and they don't really hurt your fingers. The pictures have been applied as little stickers to the dice faces and are nice enough. I know of some who have experienced these coming off, but that sounds more of an outlier and I don't consider it a big issue. Overall, the game quality is really nice.

Setup
The 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.

If you are playing the advanced game, you will also need to determine which dice you are playing with. Each player selects a team of dice up to 40 points. Each dice is assigned a point value and is noted on the cube/dice reference sheet and card.

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.

Once you get the basic game down (one play should do it), you can then play with the "advanced" dice.
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.

Thoughts / Conclusion
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!

Thirsty?

Forbidden Desert
Designed by Matt Leacock
2 - 5 Players
Co-operative
Gamewright Game

Background and Introduction
Thirsty? Why wait? Growing up in the fine desert state of Utah, I have experienced some hikes in a scorching sun. I have tried to run up a sand dune as the hot sand seemed to grab on and not want to let go.

In Forbidden Desert, players have gone to excavate an ancient desert city rumored to have a legendary flying machine that is powered by the sun. As luck would have it, just as you are arriving to the area a sand storm picks up and your helicopter has to make a crash landing. Now, with limited water and resources, you must excavate the city to find that legendary flying machine and fly out before the desert kills you all. The city has some pretty nifty stuff that will be key to your survival. Time is of the essence and each player's special skills will also be essential to escaping the desert with not only the flying machine, but with your lives!

For those unfamiliar with Matt Leacock; Matt may just be the king of co-operative games. Matt is probably most well known for his game Pandemic, but may be just as familiar from his game Forbidden Island. Forbidden Island also produced by Gamewright games came out a few years ago and was a huge success. Forbidden Desert is a sort of sequel to that game. Some similar mechanics that keep the game somewhat familiar, while adding new roles (such as the water carrier and meteorologist) and game mechanics that keep the game fresh and exciting.  The game has a great theme and Matt with Gamewright games have produced yet another fantastic co-operative game in which families can either win or lose the battle for prestige and survival together!

Components / Rule Book
Gamewright always seems to do a fantastic job with their game components; from the nice collector's tin that the game comes in down to the cards, tiles, and actual flying machine that you will assemble from five fun parts.  I like the idea of tins especially since I consider them a little more durable than most game boxes. I may have also for some reason subconsciously inherited my mother's  love of tins.

Inside the tin, we find high quality cards (storm, item, and role cards), desert tiles, sand pieces, player pawns, the flying machine (with all the removable parts), clip markers, sand storm meter (with base), and an amazing rule book. All of the components fit well in the box, although I have a small tiny irritation with the card holding section as I am unable to easily get all of the cards out (always leaving one or two cards in the plastic base that I have to use a fingernail to get out - this may just be my own game and other plastic bases may not have the same issue).

The desert tiles and sand pieces are double sided and have great artwork (both relative to the game and not distracting). I love that the storm meter has a base which allows the meter to stand vertical. This allows all the players to easily see the meter. The meter is also double sided and allows for flexibility with the amount of players playing (it has a marks and sides for 2,3,4, and 5 players with different difficulties set for how many players you are playing with) and makes it appropriately adjustable.

I also really like the fact that the little clip markers that are used on the sand meter and on the individual
player role cards (to keep track of the amount of water a player still has) work perfectly with the cards and meter. A lot of games seem to either have the clips to hard to install, or they are too loose to stay where they need to (Betrayal at House on the Hill - great game - not so great markers). Forbidden Desert has somehow perfected the clip markers and they couldn't work any better.

Another thing that Gamewright does really well is make incredible instruction books. Really. It can be very frustrating when you open a game and it takes you forever to learn how to play or after you are done reading, you still don't know how to play your brand new game. This rule book does an amazing job presenting the rules and material in a logical order and with LOTS of diagrams and pictures to help show you visually how things are done or what the words are trying to say. Couldn't be happier with the rule book. You should be able to learn it quickly with no frustration.

Setup
With the step by step setup instructions and the picture provided in the rule book, setup is slick and quick. You shuffle the card decks and desert tiles, and then you create your desert. Placing the 24 desert tiles in a 5x5 grid with a tile missing in the middle (representing the eye of the sand storm) followed by some initial sand pieces. The sand meter is set and players choose role cards (either by random or by choice). The flying machine and parts are placed close by with the other cards and you are ready to play. The fact that the desert tiles are shuffled and placed randomly makes each game play differently and usually contributes to the difficulty of the game. Players place their colored pawn on the crash landing site and the game beings.

Gameplay
The thirstiest player always goes first (that's usually me since I'm always thirsty, in fact, my throat feels a little dry right now). A player on their turn takes up to 4 actions and then storm cards are drawn equal to the amount shown on the storm meter. The goal of the game is to find all 4 machine parts, and assemble at the landing pad before anyone parishes from the desert (I'll go over all the ways to lose in a bit, but there is only one way to win).

The actions are very easy to understand and perform. The player can perform any combination of the following actions:

• Move - A player can move one tile left, right, up, or down (exception for the explorer) as long as there is a tile to move to and that the tile is not blocked (if a tile has 2 or more sand pieces, the tile is blocked and players may not travel to or from that tile until the sand markers are removed leaving 1 or no sand on that tile (exception for the climber).
• Remove Sand - Players can remove a sand marker for an action from an adjacent tile or your own tile. 
• Excavate - If you are on a tile with no sand markers, you can excavate a tile by flipping it over and performing the action associated with that tile (you may get an item card, or refresh your water supply, or you may have just found a clue to a flying machine part).
• Pick Up a Part - You can a pick up a part if on the same tile and the tile is unblocked and has been excavated. One step closer to victory!

(Players may also share water or item cards with other players on the same tile - unless otherwise stated by a role ability. This will mostly be for sharing water with other players.)

There are a few different types of desert tiles. Three desert tiles have a picture of a tree or oasis with a drop of water in the bottom right hand corner. These represent potential wells (2 of 3 do indeed provide access to water, but 1 of the 3 is all dried up. When these are flipped over by a player (if it is a well), everyone on that tile may increase their water marker up two tick marks (can't go past your capacity - and everyone may have different maximum tick marks for carrying water). The water carrier may revisit these wells and use an action to draw water from the well later in the game.

Some tiles when flipped over will have a gear in the bottom right signifying that you have found a wonderful device in the ancient city that will help you to either clear sand, fly to another tile, see through piles of sand, or be protected from the harsh sun. These special cards are very important to your survival!

Key to winning the game is finding the two different clue tiles for each machine part. There is a 'row' clue and a 'column' clue for each part. To find a part and add the piece to the board, both clues must be excavated to show where the part lies. As the second clue is flipped over, you can place the part on the tile in the matching column and row (now time to go get it!).

Notice the Orange Crystal appeared conveniently on the Landing Pad!

There are three tunnel tiles which can be very helpful as well. If the 'sun beats down' while you are in a tunnel, you do not need to lose any water. You may also use tunnels to travel a long distance to the other end of a tunnel tile.

The landing pad tile is also important as that is the only tile from which you can assemble and fly away!

Drawing Sand Storm Cards

Drawing sand storm cards is half the fun! This is where all your peril comes from. The deck is mainly comprised of 'Wind Blows' cards where the wind blows the tiles around using the empty tile spot and leaving piles of sand in its wake. If there are no tiles to be moved, you luck out and don't need to apply any more sand etc. This is one of the great things about this game! The game board is always changing and moving and it requires strategy to use this to your advantage. You draw cards from this pile equal to the number shown on the sand storm meter.

The real 'ups and downs' (puns intended) come from the 'Storm Picks Up' and 'Sun Beats Down' cards.

• Storm Picks Up - This moves your marker up one tick mark on your sand storm meter, making you draw an ever increasing amount of storm cards leaving more sand and presenting more opportunities to lose water and increase the amount of cards you have to draw even more.
• Sun Beats Down - When this happens, unless you have a Solar Shield or are in a tunnel, you lose one water from your canteen. Thirsty...so thirsty.

Winning and Losing

When you have all four machine parts, race to the unblocked landing pad for a safe departure and grand victory!

There are three ways to lose the game:

• Thirst - A player reaches the skull and cross bones on their canteen (just one player - remember, you are a team and if someone dies you all lose - probably dehydrate yourself with tears).
• Buried - You need to place a sand marker, but don't have any left in the supply. You just have so much sand you all give up.
• Swept Away - The sand meter marker hits the skull and cross bones. The sand storm has grown too powerful and it sweeps you all away (maybe you will end up on a yellow brick road somewhere if you are lucky - don't forget some bright red shoes).

Thoughts / Conclusion

With a great theme, outstanding components, and innovative Leacock co-operative game play this is a game not to miss! If you liked Forbidden Island this game will have a similar feel while adding some great new game mechanics. This is also a great game for those who have not played a co-operative game before. A great family game where the rules are easily understood and explained, this would be a great addition to any family game night. While remaining simple enough for the entire family to play, you can change the difficulty for more advanced players. The game makes you think and weigh out different possibilities making you decide between two different things that you need desperately. This critical decision making will challenge kids of all ages helping them learn this needed skill.

A quick word of comparison between this and Forbidden Island. I have both games and I'm glad I do. While the object of getting parts/relics and getting out remains the same, you do it in extremely different ways. Forbidden Island requires you to manage cards in your hand, collecting sets to get parts, while Forbidden Desert gets rid of that all together and you need to focus on the board and using your item/device cards. Forbidden Island with tiles being removed from the game seems a bit more scary feeling to me (the tiles sink away forever, while sand may always be removed - even a bunch of it by a dune blaster). I like the moving tiles mechanic and the many different types of tiles with the water, tunnels, and part location clues. Both games are great and I would recommend both. If you have to choose just one, I think I would suggest the Desert.

Forbidden Desert gets a big Thumbs Up from me or 10/10 Stars (check out my video review below)! The Forbidden Desert will entice you to keep going back for more, even if you have a dry mouth. Grab a canteen and definitely check out Forbidden Desert and that is How Lou Sees It! 

A big SHOUT OUT to Gamewright games for making this review possible and for making great games for the entire family!

Big Fat Tomato For Your Thoughts

The Big Fat Tomato Game
Designed 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!

Treasures Found On Forbidden Island

Day 53 - Forbidden Island
Designed by Matt Leacock

The island is forbidden for a good reason, it can be deadly. In forbidden Island 2 to 4 explorers try and collect 4 hidden treasure before the island mysteriously sinks. Each of the players take on different roles with different abilities. Ironically enough, I was the Engineer tonight and The Wife was The Messenger. We successfully collected 3 of the 4 before we both sank with the island.

Matt Leacock is THE name for co-operative games because of his game entitled Pandemic. Forbidden Island has a lot of similarities to its predecessor Pandemic (in which players try and cure multiple diseases spreading across the world) and both are really fun games where players all work together (check out my review on the Lord of the Rings board game which is also a co-op game). I really enjoy each of the different roles and how they help vary each game along with the fact that the island is different each time as well. The game has tremendous replay value because of this. The game also allows you to change the difficulty of the game. The game doesn't take very long either (which means if you lose, you can always set it up again and again until you win :). The game components are all very nice (they all come in a fun tin which is the perfect size). I enjoy the atmosphere that the game creates; it creates a sense of suspense and excitement making sure that no game played is boring. Things you might be saying after a game of Forbidden Island: "Oh...we were so close, if only we had one more turn before that tile sank!" "Wow, that was a little too close for comfort, how did we manage it?" "We lost again? Let's just play one more time. I'm sure we can get it this next round." Forbidden Island is definitely a fun game for the entire family and it is refreshing to play a board game with friends as a team and that is How Lou Sees It.