Kingdom of Solomon

Kingdom of Solomon
Designed by Philip duBarry
Produced by Minion Games

Kingdom of Solomon is a very fun game for 2-4 players and it takes about an hour to play. I have recorded a video review of the game that I will hopefully get up soon as well (after I figure out the best way to do that). I really liked this game a lot and from what I have heard of The Manhattan Project, Tahiti, and of the upcoming Hegemonic (currently on Kickstarter) combined with my love of Nile deLuxor - Minion Games is creating a real name for itself right up there with Rio Grande Games.  A big SHOUT OUT to Minion Games for making this review possible and for making such great entertainment.

The game is basically about worker placement, resource management, and strategic building. I like the theme, and as such it may become a Sunday usual around my place. The components are good, but I love the game play. It really has a great mash up of different gaming elements that remind me of a lot of other games I like:

Agricola - The fact that you take turns placing pawns out on the board and each space is limited to one pawn is very reminiscent of the farming favorite.

Settlers of Catan -You obtain resources (by pawn placement instead of dice rolling in this case - I like this difference between Catan and Solomon) and you use them to build roads and to build "cities."

Power Grid - The Market phase and the fact that you have limited resources reminded me a lot of the green wonder's energy game. Sell them high, buy them low. Make sure you have the resources you need.

Roll Through the Ages - The fact that you can build different things that give you a special ability or advantage along with victory points reminded me of the great dice rolling favorite, RTTA. The temple building also reminded me of checking off little boxes, but here we are placing little cubes to represent the temple being built. It can trigger the end of the game like finishing monuments in RTTA, and it is another way to obtain victory points.

What do you get when you combine all of these great elements? You get Kingdom of Solomon. I think that the game is very well done and I know that my wife and I really enjoyed it. I give the game 3 fingers up (or an equivalent 8 stars out of 10) rating.  I can't wait to try out another Minion Game, seems like they are all fantastic. Check out their newest game Hegemonic on their Kickstarter page and check out what games are in your local store or check out Minion Games' website. This is a link to be able to buy the upgrade kit which includes a really cool promo card. Stay tuned for the video review or at least an update with some pictures.

Buy a board game instead of a video game - and that is How Lou Sees It!

Play Like an Egyptian

Day 47 - Nile DeLuxor
Designed by Daniel Callister and James Mathe

Now that you have the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" stuck in your head, you can now read this blog post. If you don't already have it stuck in your head from the simple title of tonight's post, then here are some of the lyrics to help out:

All the old paintings on the tomb

They do the sand dance, don'cha know?

If they move too quick (Oh-Way-Oh)

They're falling down like a domino

And the bazaar man by the Nile

He got the money on a bet

GOLD crocodiles (Oh-Way-Oh)

They snap their teeth on a cigarette

Foreign types with their hookah pipes sing:

Way-oh-way-oh-way-ooo-aaa-ooo...

Walk like an Egyptian.

OK...onto the game review! Nile DeLuxor is seriously one of the best new card games that I have played in a long time. I guess the game isn't really that new, but tonight was the first time that I played the game. Nile DeLuxor is actually a newly expanded and updated version of Nile which originally came out in 2009. This new version allows the game to be played with up to 6 people and it also provides an expansion that can be played with that is really a lot of fun.

For those who enjoy the game Bohnanza, I would say that you would also really enjoy Nile DeLuxor (and if you are one that doesn't enjoy some of the elements in Bohnanza, I think you would actually like Nile DeLuxor). Nile DeLuxor is a 30 minute card game for 2 to 6 players. The game is very easy to learn and isn't really complex but it provides a lot of strategy and luck that is a perfect combination. Players are trying to plant and harvest each resource. Scoring is similar to the game Ingenious, where the winner is determined by having the highest lowest score. This drives a lot of the strategy for game play because each player is trying to harvest each resource as evenly as possible. In other words, you are only as strong as your weakest link. On each active player's turn a card is flipped to determine what crop or crops are harvested for that turn (all players) and what crop or crops can't be planted that turn. The game is brilliantly designed and well balanced. The expansion portion of the game adds another "crop" which is stone. The stone can be used to build monuments which can help the player a lot throughout the game but have no impact on the actual scoring at the end of the game. The game ends when the resource deck has been exhausted a number of times equal to the number of players. The Wife and I played twice this evening, once without the expansion and once with the expansion. She won the first game and I won the second game (I gave myself the win for tonight though since Nile DeLuxor includes the expansion).

I am actually very surprised that I had not heard of this game prior to a few weeks ago. Nile DeLuxor is awesome and is quickly becoming one of my favorite card games. A big SHOUT OUT to Minion Games for making tonight's game possible! After my introduction to Minion Games through Nile DeLuxor, I am very excited to try out their other games (especially Tahiti and The Manhattan Project - I helped make a documentary on the Manhattan Project with some classmates in high school and have a great interest in nuclear power). Thanks Minion Games and keep up the good work! Everyone else, Nile DeLuxor is definitely a game worth checking out and I'm certain you will enjoy it and that is How Lou Sees It.