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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Gnomes & Wizards in Tabletop Games
Jan 21, 2020
I always thought that Gnomes could BE Wizards. This whole time I was led to believe that a Gnome could take on the class of Wizard and join these two houses splendidly. I did not, however, realize that Gnomes and Wizards were different species and vying for the same power crystals to fuel their magicks… until recently.
Gnomes & Wizards is an area control, map deformation, dice assignment battle game where the players are attempting to earn the most victory points (VP) at the end of the game. Players gain VP by defeating other players’ active characters (clan leaders and tribesmen henchpeople), and having the most hit points (HP) between all their active characters at game end. Sounds easy, right? Read on, my friend.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and the final components will probably be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook from the publisher’s website, purchase the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
As I mentioned in my disclaimer, I will not be explaining every rule for this one as there are quite a few little nuances that make it tick. However, I will cover the basic gameplay, and I will be focusing on a 2-player game for this preview.
To setup the game, each player receives all the components in their chosen color for their clan. A clan consists of a leader (which is represented by the cone on the board) and six tribesmen (henchpeople represented by discs with their specific icon). The board is an elaborate puzzle of triangular pieces that fit together beautifully and create a very interesting map on the table. In the middle of this puzzle map will always be the mine tiles – tiles that have pink power crystals outlining the inner icons. Each leader will have clips placed on their cards to keep track of HP and Defense, and these cards also show baseline movement speed and attack power. Once all players have completed their setup and the black dice have been rolled to determine the starting player, the game is ready to begin and the crystals are primed to be exploited.
Gnomes & Wizards is a game of dice manipulation and allocation at its core. Leaders and tribesmen will always have base movement, attack, defense, and HP, but the dice rolls can alter these. Perhaps you are a super-aggressive player and are just out to destroy the other clan(s). I have played that way and it works very well. If so, then when rolling you will want to concentrate your efforts on the move/attack die face. These add to either your movement speed or to your attack power (not both). Other die faces include defense (which raise your defense clip), horns (which can buy you an ability card OR help to call a tribe – more on this later), or collect power crystals.
Power crystals are used to charge clan abilities (printed on the clan board) and card abilities (attached to clansmen). You can earn your power crystals via die rolls or by passing through the mine tiles in the center of the board map. These power crystals, and the abilities they fuel, are very powerful and can make or break encounters against other clans.
Horns are what need to be rolled to bring more tribesmen on the board. Initially, each clan will only have the leader cones available on the board to play with until more tribesmen can be called to the fray. Rolling three horns and having a leader cone or tribesman disc on tribe-specific icon tiles will allow that tribe to be called onto the board. Did you only roll one or two horns? That’s okay, because horns are also used to draw ability cards from the deck. Draw as many cards as you have rolled horns and choose one of those to keep and the others are discarded to the bottom of the deck. You may attach certain ability cards to your clansmen to be charged by power crystals and used later, or keep certain other cards hidden in your stash to be used any time – even on another player’s turn.
The winner of Gnomes & Wizards is the player who earns the most VP by knocking out opponent clansmen/leaders and earning 1VP per HP remaining on active clansmen cards. I purposely left out a couple twists for you here. Your gameplan needs to be carried out in just 10 rounds in a normal game. So you only have 10 turns to create your all-star clan, earn power crystals, and beat up your opponents. Not enough? Okay how about this – after Round 5 each player will flip over two map tiles at the beginning of their turns – thus eliminating possibilities of calling clansmen to war because their icon is now flipped and unavailable. Each turn is incredibly important to maximize as best as possible as you only get 10 of them, and the map will begin to crumble away.
Components. Again, we were provided a prototype version of the game, so I will not comment on component quality, even though it’s already pretty good. I can see what CavernWire is trying to do here and I am very excited by the plans. The layout on the cards is great. The dice will be cool when final. The amazing power crystals will be a little fragile, so do take care of them, but the design is awesome. The best part about the components on this one – the colors. This game is so wonderfully colorful, and extremely attractive on the table. When playing at work, my coworkers all walked by the table and wanted to know what I was up to. I play games at work a lot, but this one was so vibrant and interesting that they wanted to know more – and they are all mostly non-gamers.
I find Gnomes & Wizards to be a game that I wish I could spend lots of time exploring every strength and weakness of each clan. Trying new strategies, and watching them be dismantled by newcomers. I have not seen every ability card yet. I have not played with each clan yet. But I want to. It’s a deeply colorful game with engaging mechanics (and lots of them) that I feel offers something special to a game collection. So if you are interested in grabbing a copy for yourself, head over to CavernWire’s website and hop on the Kickstarter campaign. Or purchase a copy from your FLGS or favorite online retailer. We dig it.
Gnomes & Wizards is an area control, map deformation, dice assignment battle game where the players are attempting to earn the most victory points (VP) at the end of the game. Players gain VP by defeating other players’ active characters (clan leaders and tribesmen henchpeople), and having the most hit points (HP) between all their active characters at game end. Sounds easy, right? Read on, my friend.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and the final components will probably be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook from the publisher’s website, purchase the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
As I mentioned in my disclaimer, I will not be explaining every rule for this one as there are quite a few little nuances that make it tick. However, I will cover the basic gameplay, and I will be focusing on a 2-player game for this preview.
To setup the game, each player receives all the components in their chosen color for their clan. A clan consists of a leader (which is represented by the cone on the board) and six tribesmen (henchpeople represented by discs with their specific icon). The board is an elaborate puzzle of triangular pieces that fit together beautifully and create a very interesting map on the table. In the middle of this puzzle map will always be the mine tiles – tiles that have pink power crystals outlining the inner icons. Each leader will have clips placed on their cards to keep track of HP and Defense, and these cards also show baseline movement speed and attack power. Once all players have completed their setup and the black dice have been rolled to determine the starting player, the game is ready to begin and the crystals are primed to be exploited.
Gnomes & Wizards is a game of dice manipulation and allocation at its core. Leaders and tribesmen will always have base movement, attack, defense, and HP, but the dice rolls can alter these. Perhaps you are a super-aggressive player and are just out to destroy the other clan(s). I have played that way and it works very well. If so, then when rolling you will want to concentrate your efforts on the move/attack die face. These add to either your movement speed or to your attack power (not both). Other die faces include defense (which raise your defense clip), horns (which can buy you an ability card OR help to call a tribe – more on this later), or collect power crystals.
Power crystals are used to charge clan abilities (printed on the clan board) and card abilities (attached to clansmen). You can earn your power crystals via die rolls or by passing through the mine tiles in the center of the board map. These power crystals, and the abilities they fuel, are very powerful and can make or break encounters against other clans.
Horns are what need to be rolled to bring more tribesmen on the board. Initially, each clan will only have the leader cones available on the board to play with until more tribesmen can be called to the fray. Rolling three horns and having a leader cone or tribesman disc on tribe-specific icon tiles will allow that tribe to be called onto the board. Did you only roll one or two horns? That’s okay, because horns are also used to draw ability cards from the deck. Draw as many cards as you have rolled horns and choose one of those to keep and the others are discarded to the bottom of the deck. You may attach certain ability cards to your clansmen to be charged by power crystals and used later, or keep certain other cards hidden in your stash to be used any time – even on another player’s turn.
The winner of Gnomes & Wizards is the player who earns the most VP by knocking out opponent clansmen/leaders and earning 1VP per HP remaining on active clansmen cards. I purposely left out a couple twists for you here. Your gameplan needs to be carried out in just 10 rounds in a normal game. So you only have 10 turns to create your all-star clan, earn power crystals, and beat up your opponents. Not enough? Okay how about this – after Round 5 each player will flip over two map tiles at the beginning of their turns – thus eliminating possibilities of calling clansmen to war because their icon is now flipped and unavailable. Each turn is incredibly important to maximize as best as possible as you only get 10 of them, and the map will begin to crumble away.
Components. Again, we were provided a prototype version of the game, so I will not comment on component quality, even though it’s already pretty good. I can see what CavernWire is trying to do here and I am very excited by the plans. The layout on the cards is great. The dice will be cool when final. The amazing power crystals will be a little fragile, so do take care of them, but the design is awesome. The best part about the components on this one – the colors. This game is so wonderfully colorful, and extremely attractive on the table. When playing at work, my coworkers all walked by the table and wanted to know what I was up to. I play games at work a lot, but this one was so vibrant and interesting that they wanted to know more – and they are all mostly non-gamers.
I find Gnomes & Wizards to be a game that I wish I could spend lots of time exploring every strength and weakness of each clan. Trying new strategies, and watching them be dismantled by newcomers. I have not seen every ability card yet. I have not played with each clan yet. But I want to. It’s a deeply colorful game with engaging mechanics (and lots of them) that I feel offers something special to a game collection. So if you are interested in grabbing a copy for yourself, head over to CavernWire’s website and hop on the Kickstarter campaign. Or purchase a copy from your FLGS or favorite online retailer. We dig it.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated 1917 (2020) in Movies
Jan 22, 2020
It has felt like a long wait to get to this film, there was a lot of talk when Midway was coming out so I was very glad it finally arrived.
Lance Corporal Blake has been told to report with another soldier, the respite from war was short but something important must be afoot. It's more than just important, it's life and death for Blake's older brother. His company have sent word that they're going to advance on the retreating German troops but communications are down and they don't know they're going headfirst into a trap.
Blake and Schofield are tasked with finding a way to their position to stop the advance before they lead 1,600 men into the ambush. Between them and their objective? No man's land, abandoned German trenches and large expanses of open land. One another and vigilance are all they have to get them to their objective.
I ended up seeing this twice on its opening weekend, mainly for technical reasons. When I completed my first watch I saw a lot of tweets about its "one-shot" filming and details of an interview about the filming techniques used, that all made me want to go back and watch for more detail.
If I'm honest with you I didn't notice the "one-shot" filming during my first trip to the cinema. In the interview I saw it said that there were no takes longer than 9 minutes, with its running time that meant that at the very least there were 14 cuts... of course I wanted to go and try to spot them. There were only a few "obvious" ones, but even then some of those felt so seamless that you wouldn't question if they said it was done in one (two) shot(s).
The effects in the film are fantastic, but also one of my only quibbles. There are several video clips with and without effects on floating around the internet and you'll see the massive effort that went into these effects. The major scene that comes to mind is in the trailer, Schofield is running across the field as the regiment is advancing around him. I had just assumed that the shot was aerial, but no, it was filmed from the back of a truck. That doesn't sound all that strange until you see in this video that the truck has a road to drive down that is then CGId out for the final cut. That was incredible to see. But this scene is also the only scene that made me doubt the effects too. When I watched it on the big screen it felt clear that some of the explosions were generated, and watching the clips proved that feeling to be right.
I could ramble on about the effects in this for ages but I need to remember there are other things to talk about... but well, I want to rave a little.
The nighttime scene is truly incredible to watch. It makes you paranoid and scared, you watch the shadows for soldiers and survivors, ugh, gripping and terrifying all at the same time.
Right, come one... move along, Emma!
Not much of a switch but I want to mention what I believe are mainly physical effects. One of the first scenes shows Blake and Schofield going through the trenches and over no man's land, walking through the trenches takes a long time, the fact they dug all of that and decked out the entire length for what is sometimes just a fleeting view. The soldiers as they sleep against the walls blending in like they're not there, the claustrophobic feeling as they walls creep higher and closer around them, and just the sheer volume of people down there. Both fast-paced and drawn out at the same time this whole sequence is complex and important.
After the trenches we see them go over the top into no man's land. The pair of them make an amazing job of playing in the mud. It's another part of the film that makes you look around. What's floating in the water? What's hidden in the mud? Truly spectacular additions and I imagine that on every viewing you'd see something different and horrific appear.
Come on, Emma... acting.
There are a lot of cameos from recognisable talented actors but the nature of the story means they're only the briefest of scenes. Mark Strong was probably my favourite of those, his tone at that critical part of the film was perfect.
To our main duo... Blake is played by Dean-Charles Chapman, a face I recognised but had to look up. I'd seen him most recently in The King and Blinded By The Light but clearly neither of those roles stuck with me. Schofield is played by George MacKay who I haven't seen in anything before. The pair had an interesting dynamic, there was certainly a camaraderie there but I swung between thinking they were good friends and just acquaintances because of their behaviour towards each other. Their characters felt very much at two ends of the scale, Blake optimistic and almost a little green, Schofield, battle-worn and sceptical.
Between the two I can easily say that George MacKay was the better performer. He does get some of the headier scenes to deal with but Chapman felt like he wasn't in a warzone. There were still good moments there but I wasn't as convinced by his performance. MacKay was acting even when he wasn't acting, his moments of silence were just as impressive as his scripted parts.
There is just so much in 1917 to look at, the background is so well thought out that you're drawn to it just as much as the action that's in the foreground. You're scanning everything as they move with them like you're a member of their regiment. It feels like it needs to be watched a couple of times. I watched it to see it, I watched it to watch the techniques and I feel like I want to see it again just to watch that background. None of these watches are for anything other than the technical side of things though. Even though I felt emotional connections with parts of the story it's still a basic quest with obstacles and while it's an interesting look at soldiers and their dedication it's not all that extraordinary.
This truly deserves to win a lot of technical awards. I'm not sure that the acting or script hit the same heights, but as a whole 1917 is definitely something special to see.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/1917-movie-review.html
Lance Corporal Blake has been told to report with another soldier, the respite from war was short but something important must be afoot. It's more than just important, it's life and death for Blake's older brother. His company have sent word that they're going to advance on the retreating German troops but communications are down and they don't know they're going headfirst into a trap.
Blake and Schofield are tasked with finding a way to their position to stop the advance before they lead 1,600 men into the ambush. Between them and their objective? No man's land, abandoned German trenches and large expanses of open land. One another and vigilance are all they have to get them to their objective.
I ended up seeing this twice on its opening weekend, mainly for technical reasons. When I completed my first watch I saw a lot of tweets about its "one-shot" filming and details of an interview about the filming techniques used, that all made me want to go back and watch for more detail.
If I'm honest with you I didn't notice the "one-shot" filming during my first trip to the cinema. In the interview I saw it said that there were no takes longer than 9 minutes, with its running time that meant that at the very least there were 14 cuts... of course I wanted to go and try to spot them. There were only a few "obvious" ones, but even then some of those felt so seamless that you wouldn't question if they said it was done in one (two) shot(s).
The effects in the film are fantastic, but also one of my only quibbles. There are several video clips with and without effects on floating around the internet and you'll see the massive effort that went into these effects. The major scene that comes to mind is in the trailer, Schofield is running across the field as the regiment is advancing around him. I had just assumed that the shot was aerial, but no, it was filmed from the back of a truck. That doesn't sound all that strange until you see in this video that the truck has a road to drive down that is then CGId out for the final cut. That was incredible to see. But this scene is also the only scene that made me doubt the effects too. When I watched it on the big screen it felt clear that some of the explosions were generated, and watching the clips proved that feeling to be right.
I could ramble on about the effects in this for ages but I need to remember there are other things to talk about... but well, I want to rave a little.
The nighttime scene is truly incredible to watch. It makes you paranoid and scared, you watch the shadows for soldiers and survivors, ugh, gripping and terrifying all at the same time.
Right, come one... move along, Emma!
Not much of a switch but I want to mention what I believe are mainly physical effects. One of the first scenes shows Blake and Schofield going through the trenches and over no man's land, walking through the trenches takes a long time, the fact they dug all of that and decked out the entire length for what is sometimes just a fleeting view. The soldiers as they sleep against the walls blending in like they're not there, the claustrophobic feeling as they walls creep higher and closer around them, and just the sheer volume of people down there. Both fast-paced and drawn out at the same time this whole sequence is complex and important.
After the trenches we see them go over the top into no man's land. The pair of them make an amazing job of playing in the mud. It's another part of the film that makes you look around. What's floating in the water? What's hidden in the mud? Truly spectacular additions and I imagine that on every viewing you'd see something different and horrific appear.
Come on, Emma... acting.
There are a lot of cameos from recognisable talented actors but the nature of the story means they're only the briefest of scenes. Mark Strong was probably my favourite of those, his tone at that critical part of the film was perfect.
To our main duo... Blake is played by Dean-Charles Chapman, a face I recognised but had to look up. I'd seen him most recently in The King and Blinded By The Light but clearly neither of those roles stuck with me. Schofield is played by George MacKay who I haven't seen in anything before. The pair had an interesting dynamic, there was certainly a camaraderie there but I swung between thinking they were good friends and just acquaintances because of their behaviour towards each other. Their characters felt very much at two ends of the scale, Blake optimistic and almost a little green, Schofield, battle-worn and sceptical.
Between the two I can easily say that George MacKay was the better performer. He does get some of the headier scenes to deal with but Chapman felt like he wasn't in a warzone. There were still good moments there but I wasn't as convinced by his performance. MacKay was acting even when he wasn't acting, his moments of silence were just as impressive as his scripted parts.
There is just so much in 1917 to look at, the background is so well thought out that you're drawn to it just as much as the action that's in the foreground. You're scanning everything as they move with them like you're a member of their regiment. It feels like it needs to be watched a couple of times. I watched it to see it, I watched it to watch the techniques and I feel like I want to see it again just to watch that background. None of these watches are for anything other than the technical side of things though. Even though I felt emotional connections with parts of the story it's still a basic quest with obstacles and while it's an interesting look at soldiers and their dedication it's not all that extraordinary.
This truly deserves to win a lot of technical awards. I'm not sure that the acting or script hit the same heights, but as a whole 1917 is definitely something special to see.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/1917-movie-review.html
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Munchkin in Tabletop Games
Jan 6, 2020
A “Munchkin,” in gamer terms, is someone who is only out to better themselves with treasure and power at the expense of everyone else in their adventuring party. That rings so very true in the Munchkin line of games, as you are trying to be the first to gain 10th Level in a VERY loosely-based RPG setting. OG vanilla Munchkin (pictured above) was my first entry into hobby board gaming. Many many games later I ask myself: How has this system of games aged for me as my gaming tastes have changed? Let’s see.
In Munchkin games, you are trying to become the first player to reach 10th Level. That’s the goal. You take on the persona of a 1st Level basic human (no Starbucks jokes please) who will be adventuring with a party of your opponents through a dungeon. You will be kicking down doors, fighting monsters, placing curses on your fellow party members, and buffing yourself with cards featuring funny art and punny references. Your party mates are also trying to achieve 10th Level and will do everything they can to block your progress, so be prepared!
DISCLAIMER: This review is not for a specific game within the Munchkin universe, but for the system as a whole. All Munchkin games will pretty much use similar, if not exactly the same, rules to play the game with minor variations and different theming. I will be using The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin for my review as it is one of the two versions I still own of the franchise. Also, I will not be detailing every rule in the book(s), but giving a brief overview of how the game plays. -T
Setup is easy: shuffle the deck of Door cards and the deck of Treasure cards. Deal cards to the players for their opening hands and keep the included die handy.
Your turn consists of just a few phases: Open a Door, Look for Trouble, Loot the Room, and Charity. To Open a Door, flip over the top card of the Door deck. If it is a monster you must fight it or run. If not a monster, you can move on to the next phase. If it IS a monster, prepare for combat. Combat is simple in that you add up all your bonuses from your gear cards you have attached to your character and try to beat the strength of the monster. Your party mates can screw with you during combat by adding strength to the monster or adding monsters to the fight to make it a more difficult encounter. If you win, you gain a Level on the spot. Some monsters are worth even more than one Level. If you did not encounter a monster, you will add the non-monster card you drew to your hand and you may Look for Trouble by playing a monster card from your hand to initiate a combat. This fight will work the same way and you will be susceptible to pile-ons as before. You may Loot the Room if you defeated a monster on your turn by drawing Treasure cards equal to the printed reward on the bottom of the monster card you defeated. If you defeated the monster yourself, unaided, these are drawn in secret. If you were given help by your mates then you may have to split up the loot per any agreements made. These cards are usually very advantageous to you so they are usually very valuable to others as they attempt to steal away your goods. If you did not fight a monster yet this turn, you may draw another secret card from the Door deck to add to your hand. Should your hand size climb above your limit (dictated by your Race card, if any) you will slide into the Charity phase to relieve your hand of extra cards. Give all excess cards to the player of lowest Level, or split them among those that share the lowest Level. It is now the next player’s turn and you continue play until someone reaches 10th Level.
Components. It’s a bunch of cards and one die. The cards are of okay quality. Nothing to write home about. The die is nice with one of the faces having the Munchkin logo head imprinted on it. It will also have a color scheme that matches the version of Munchkin you are playing, so it’s easy to match them back up if they become integrated with each other. Overall, the components are fine, but not wonderful. That’s probably why these are pretty inexpensive to purchase.
Okay, so like I said earlier the original vanilla Munchkin was the first hobby board game I ever purchased. My friends and family had no idea hobby games existed, so there was actually a pretty steep learning curve for us. Once we figured it out, however, we began to play it a ton and really love it! The cards are cute, the game play is pretty easy if you have played hobby games before, and the puns kept us rolling for a good while. There was a time when I owned every version of Munchkin in circulation and we never even played half of them. Seeing this I got rid of them through BGG Auctions. I have The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin and Munchkin Zombies right now and I feel that will be plenty for me from here on out – unless they make a Doctor Who or Firefly set or something /*checks warehouse23 to find out if these are available/.
Do I still love Munchkin? No, not really. I LIKE it, but I don’t really want to play it all the time any more. Why? Well, as my gamer experience increases and I level up, my game tastes also level up. I see why people enjoy and even love this game system. I myself loved it for a time. But there are better games out there that accomplish the same feelings without being as sophomoric and have better choices to be made. Will I still play these games? Heck yeah! If someone asks to play a Munchkin game I am all in. I have different tastes and preferences now, but I’m no snob. Just come prepared, because I won’t go easy on you.
We at Purple Phoenix Games give this family of titles a backstabby 16 / 24.
In Munchkin games, you are trying to become the first player to reach 10th Level. That’s the goal. You take on the persona of a 1st Level basic human (no Starbucks jokes please) who will be adventuring with a party of your opponents through a dungeon. You will be kicking down doors, fighting monsters, placing curses on your fellow party members, and buffing yourself with cards featuring funny art and punny references. Your party mates are also trying to achieve 10th Level and will do everything they can to block your progress, so be prepared!
DISCLAIMER: This review is not for a specific game within the Munchkin universe, but for the system as a whole. All Munchkin games will pretty much use similar, if not exactly the same, rules to play the game with minor variations and different theming. I will be using The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin for my review as it is one of the two versions I still own of the franchise. Also, I will not be detailing every rule in the book(s), but giving a brief overview of how the game plays. -T
Setup is easy: shuffle the deck of Door cards and the deck of Treasure cards. Deal cards to the players for their opening hands and keep the included die handy.
Your turn consists of just a few phases: Open a Door, Look for Trouble, Loot the Room, and Charity. To Open a Door, flip over the top card of the Door deck. If it is a monster you must fight it or run. If not a monster, you can move on to the next phase. If it IS a monster, prepare for combat. Combat is simple in that you add up all your bonuses from your gear cards you have attached to your character and try to beat the strength of the monster. Your party mates can screw with you during combat by adding strength to the monster or adding monsters to the fight to make it a more difficult encounter. If you win, you gain a Level on the spot. Some monsters are worth even more than one Level. If you did not encounter a monster, you will add the non-monster card you drew to your hand and you may Look for Trouble by playing a monster card from your hand to initiate a combat. This fight will work the same way and you will be susceptible to pile-ons as before. You may Loot the Room if you defeated a monster on your turn by drawing Treasure cards equal to the printed reward on the bottom of the monster card you defeated. If you defeated the monster yourself, unaided, these are drawn in secret. If you were given help by your mates then you may have to split up the loot per any agreements made. These cards are usually very advantageous to you so they are usually very valuable to others as they attempt to steal away your goods. If you did not fight a monster yet this turn, you may draw another secret card from the Door deck to add to your hand. Should your hand size climb above your limit (dictated by your Race card, if any) you will slide into the Charity phase to relieve your hand of extra cards. Give all excess cards to the player of lowest Level, or split them among those that share the lowest Level. It is now the next player’s turn and you continue play until someone reaches 10th Level.
Components. It’s a bunch of cards and one die. The cards are of okay quality. Nothing to write home about. The die is nice with one of the faces having the Munchkin logo head imprinted on it. It will also have a color scheme that matches the version of Munchkin you are playing, so it’s easy to match them back up if they become integrated with each other. Overall, the components are fine, but not wonderful. That’s probably why these are pretty inexpensive to purchase.
Okay, so like I said earlier the original vanilla Munchkin was the first hobby board game I ever purchased. My friends and family had no idea hobby games existed, so there was actually a pretty steep learning curve for us. Once we figured it out, however, we began to play it a ton and really love it! The cards are cute, the game play is pretty easy if you have played hobby games before, and the puns kept us rolling for a good while. There was a time when I owned every version of Munchkin in circulation and we never even played half of them. Seeing this I got rid of them through BGG Auctions. I have The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin and Munchkin Zombies right now and I feel that will be plenty for me from here on out – unless they make a Doctor Who or Firefly set or something /*checks warehouse23 to find out if these are available/.
Do I still love Munchkin? No, not really. I LIKE it, but I don’t really want to play it all the time any more. Why? Well, as my gamer experience increases and I level up, my game tastes also level up. I see why people enjoy and even love this game system. I myself loved it for a time. But there are better games out there that accomplish the same feelings without being as sophomoric and have better choices to be made. Will I still play these games? Heck yeah! If someone asks to play a Munchkin game I am all in. I have different tastes and preferences now, but I’m no snob. Just come prepared, because I won’t go easy on you.
We at Purple Phoenix Games give this family of titles a backstabby 16 / 24.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Dodekka in Tabletop Games
Mar 3, 2021
I am eagerly growing into a big Andy Hopwood fan. He has designed family favorites like Daring Dustbunnies, Mijnlieff, and Niche. Playing one of his games is like playing an old classic with a new coat of paint and some killer new rims. Dodekka may seem familiar when playing, and I will disclose my comp at the end of this review, but again has a special twist. Obviously my family loves the game, but why?
Dodekka is loosely named after the Greek prefix for 12, Dodeca. Twelve is a big aspect of this game. In it players are attempting to score a large value of cards from one suit while keeping other suits to a minimum, as they are negative points at the end of the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game will be crowned the winner.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup shuffle the main deck of cards and reveal three near the deck. The game may now begin! Note: this may be the easiest setup of any game I have played.
Dodekka is played in turns where each player will take one of a choice of two actions: take a card or add a card. When a player decides to take a card they simply take the card closest to the deck into their hand. Should they wish to add a card the player will simply reveal a card from the deck and add it to the end of the line. Easy, right? Well that’s not much of a game, admittedly. Where’s the catch?
When players add cards to the end of the line they must take care not to increase the total value of the cards within the line past 12. Each suit contains cards numbered zero through four, so adding a card to the line can be quite a gamble if the total value of the cards in the line is already in double digits. Many times players will be forced to take the card closest to the deck out of fear of busting the line total. When a players busts they must take ALL the cards in the line and a new set of three will be revealed to form a new line.
However, there is a catch to this catch. A catch-ception! Should the line bust when adding a card, but the newly added card is of the matching value of the card already at the end of the line (for example adding a three when the last card is already a three) then the bust is delayed until another player brings the total value down by taking a card or busts on a failed gamble.
Play continues in this fashion of players collecting cards of certain suits to earn points or pressing their luck by adding cards to the line until the deck runs out of cards. At that point players will add up the values of the suit with the most points in their hand and subtract the NUMBER of non-scoring cards. Using the photo below for example, should the player choose to score blue they would have five points. However, they would need to subtract the number of cards from the non-scoring suit, which also equals five (two purple cards and three green cards). This will be a net zero score. The player with the most points wins!
Components. This game is a bunch of cards. The cards are all great quality and feature minimal art. The numbering text on the cards are ancient Greek-themed and work for me. I actually like that the art gets out of the way of the cards and allows the numbers and suit colors to shine. Although, I try to be conscious of our colorblind friends and Dodekka is also considerate here by the addition of different art for each suit to help these players be successful. I have no qualms with any of the components here.
All in all, this game is quite similar to another favorite of ours: No Thanks! In each, players are trying to keep away from gaining a bunch of cards that will negatively impact their final scores. Also in each is the element of press your luck that I find simply delicious. You try to wait as long as possible sometimes so as not to get stuck with the bad card(s) but sometimes that gamble blows up in your face. I just love it!
What I like better in Dodekka than I do in No Thanks! is that there is so little to setup that this can be taken almost anywhere and played without any real concern for losing or damaging components. Being solely cards and setup just being a deck with three exposed cards is so simple that players I have introduced to Dodekka are floored that they don’t receive any cards or have anything at setup. It is just refreshing to start a game that can be setup in 10 seconds or less, depending on shuffling skills.
I really don’t want to say this because I love No Thanks! but I may have found its replacement. Dodekka is light, fast, and gives the same level of heart-racing excitement when you need to add a card to the line when it is at 11 already and showing a three at the end. Can you risk pulling a 0, 1, or 3 to remain cool, or will a 2 or 4 be your downfall and cause you to take the lot? It’s wonderful! If you are looking for a small card game that is an excellent little filler and has interesting twists on familiar mechanics, I recommend you grab a copy of Dodekka. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an under-the-radar 10 / 12. Go grab your trusty dodecahedrons (or borrow mine – my Monk doesn’t use it for anything) and get Dodekka to the table!
Dodekka is loosely named after the Greek prefix for 12, Dodeca. Twelve is a big aspect of this game. In it players are attempting to score a large value of cards from one suit while keeping other suits to a minimum, as they are negative points at the end of the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game will be crowned the winner.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup shuffle the main deck of cards and reveal three near the deck. The game may now begin! Note: this may be the easiest setup of any game I have played.
Dodekka is played in turns where each player will take one of a choice of two actions: take a card or add a card. When a player decides to take a card they simply take the card closest to the deck into their hand. Should they wish to add a card the player will simply reveal a card from the deck and add it to the end of the line. Easy, right? Well that’s not much of a game, admittedly. Where’s the catch?
When players add cards to the end of the line they must take care not to increase the total value of the cards within the line past 12. Each suit contains cards numbered zero through four, so adding a card to the line can be quite a gamble if the total value of the cards in the line is already in double digits. Many times players will be forced to take the card closest to the deck out of fear of busting the line total. When a players busts they must take ALL the cards in the line and a new set of three will be revealed to form a new line.
However, there is a catch to this catch. A catch-ception! Should the line bust when adding a card, but the newly added card is of the matching value of the card already at the end of the line (for example adding a three when the last card is already a three) then the bust is delayed until another player brings the total value down by taking a card or busts on a failed gamble.
Play continues in this fashion of players collecting cards of certain suits to earn points or pressing their luck by adding cards to the line until the deck runs out of cards. At that point players will add up the values of the suit with the most points in their hand and subtract the NUMBER of non-scoring cards. Using the photo below for example, should the player choose to score blue they would have five points. However, they would need to subtract the number of cards from the non-scoring suit, which also equals five (two purple cards and three green cards). This will be a net zero score. The player with the most points wins!
Components. This game is a bunch of cards. The cards are all great quality and feature minimal art. The numbering text on the cards are ancient Greek-themed and work for me. I actually like that the art gets out of the way of the cards and allows the numbers and suit colors to shine. Although, I try to be conscious of our colorblind friends and Dodekka is also considerate here by the addition of different art for each suit to help these players be successful. I have no qualms with any of the components here.
All in all, this game is quite similar to another favorite of ours: No Thanks! In each, players are trying to keep away from gaining a bunch of cards that will negatively impact their final scores. Also in each is the element of press your luck that I find simply delicious. You try to wait as long as possible sometimes so as not to get stuck with the bad card(s) but sometimes that gamble blows up in your face. I just love it!
What I like better in Dodekka than I do in No Thanks! is that there is so little to setup that this can be taken almost anywhere and played without any real concern for losing or damaging components. Being solely cards and setup just being a deck with three exposed cards is so simple that players I have introduced to Dodekka are floored that they don’t receive any cards or have anything at setup. It is just refreshing to start a game that can be setup in 10 seconds or less, depending on shuffling skills.
I really don’t want to say this because I love No Thanks! but I may have found its replacement. Dodekka is light, fast, and gives the same level of heart-racing excitement when you need to add a card to the line when it is at 11 already and showing a three at the end. Can you risk pulling a 0, 1, or 3 to remain cool, or will a 2 or 4 be your downfall and cause you to take the lot? It’s wonderful! If you are looking for a small card game that is an excellent little filler and has interesting twists on familiar mechanics, I recommend you grab a copy of Dodekka. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an under-the-radar 10 / 12. Go grab your trusty dodecahedrons (or borrow mine – my Monk doesn’t use it for anything) and get Dodekka to the table!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Mijnlieff in Tabletop Games
Mar 3, 2021
This has happened to me a few times recently and I am starting to rethink my entire approach to board games. You see, I set a game in front of me, look at it, open it, read the rules, and then set it up to play. But on these few occasions recently I read the rules and think to myself, “This will be ok I guess.” But then I play it. I play it and then fall head over heels in love with it. Such has happened again, folks. This time with a game I didn’t know existed, didn’t know I would be receiving, and still don’t know how to pronounce. This is Mijnlieff (mine-leaf maybe?).
Typically I explain the theme here and what players’ end goals are. Mijnlieff is a two player abstract strategy game that has no real theme, though the art style uses lots of leaf iconography and the color scheme is very Autumnal. The winner of Mijnlieff is they who score the most points at the end of the game by constructing the most (or longest) sets of 3 tiles in a row.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup each player will choose a color of tiles (or I guess just one player chooses and the other is stuck with the unchosen), and the back of the game bag is placed on the center of the table to act as the game board. Decide the starting player and the game may begin!
On a player’s turn they must place one of their tiles on one of the leaf symbols printed on the bag (the leaf symbols mean nothing other than to show where to place tiles). Easy. The first player will place their very first tile on one of the outermost leaf symbols to begin the game. The second player will then place their tile on the board depending on which tile was just placed by their opponent. You see, in Mijnlieff players cannot just place tiles willy-nilly, no! The tile immediately placed dictates where the next tile may be placed.
For example, if an opponent had just placed the N/S/E/W cross tile (Straight), then the next tile may only be placed on one of those leaves pointed at by the cross. Similarly with the diagonal cross (Diagonal) for diagonal leaves. The leaf tile with a solid circle around it (Puller) instructs the next player to place their tile on any leaf space that touches the original tile, even diagonally. Conversely, the leaf tile with a broken circle (Pusher) means the opposite: the next tile may be placed in any space that is NOT able to touch the original tile.
Players have access to two tiles of each flavor and they are attempting to rid their hand of tiles and create the most lines of three or four tiles for one or two points respectively. Once one player rids themselves of all their tiles the next player may lay just one last tile in an attempt to score more points. Whichever player earns the most points is the winner and, undoubtedly, will wish to play again immediately afterward.
Components. The version I was sent is the most recent XVgames Bagstracts edition in the fancy brown bag. The bag is great, and not only carries the components but doubles as the game board. I mean, I have not really seen that anywhere else. What a great and versatile component. The tiles are all very nicely painted wooden tiles with very clear iconography, which is much appreciated. The rulebook is fantastic and explains the game splendidly. Also included is a set of modular 2×2 mats that can be assembled in ANY fashion to create personalized game boards. I think this is a wonderfully-produced game with excellent components. The art is minimal but effective, and it has orange as a main color, so I applaud that choice as well.
The gameplay is what I would like to rave about here. My wife and I enjoy abstract strategy games together, but I have never seen her be absolutely magnetized to a game as much as she is to Mijnlieff. Right away, the first day I asked her to play it with me we ended up playing it eight or nine times that day. And you know what? We both really were jonesing to play some more. The game is relatively quick, with games lasting around 10 minutes each, but the neural exercises happening whilst playing is such so fantastic.
None of the tiles’ actions are difficult to understand, but each time a tile is placed my mind is racing with possibilities for my next turn. I do not suffer from Analysis Paralysis (AP), and my wife usually takes her times, but I do sit and think a bit more playing Mijnlieff. Sometimes you just need to play a tile to block the other player. You see, if you lay a tile and your opponent is unable to lay a tile legally according to your tile’s actions, then you get to place another tile ANYWHERE on the board. This could lead to a cascade of several tiles being laid on a turn, and THAT is what makes this simply an amazing design.
I now have four titles by designer Andy Hopwood that I will be reviewing, and if any of them are as thoughtful, beautiful, and well-designed I may have found another designer to add to my list of favorites. Purple Phoenix Games (plus my wife) give this one an incredibly respectful 11 / 12. I think what could make this game better is blinged out components. Everything in this bag is great, but Mijnlieff screams for high quality components and just sparkle everywhere. If you need a thinky abstract for two players from a smaller publisher and designer, I plead with you to grab a copy of Mijnlieff. I find it to be a superior design, quick-playing, and just hits all the right spots for my wife and me. And once you receive your copy we can record ourselves pronouncing the title and sending our recordings to the designer for him to choose the closest butchering.
Typically I explain the theme here and what players’ end goals are. Mijnlieff is a two player abstract strategy game that has no real theme, though the art style uses lots of leaf iconography and the color scheme is very Autumnal. The winner of Mijnlieff is they who score the most points at the end of the game by constructing the most (or longest) sets of 3 tiles in a row.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup each player will choose a color of tiles (or I guess just one player chooses and the other is stuck with the unchosen), and the back of the game bag is placed on the center of the table to act as the game board. Decide the starting player and the game may begin!
On a player’s turn they must place one of their tiles on one of the leaf symbols printed on the bag (the leaf symbols mean nothing other than to show where to place tiles). Easy. The first player will place their very first tile on one of the outermost leaf symbols to begin the game. The second player will then place their tile on the board depending on which tile was just placed by their opponent. You see, in Mijnlieff players cannot just place tiles willy-nilly, no! The tile immediately placed dictates where the next tile may be placed.
For example, if an opponent had just placed the N/S/E/W cross tile (Straight), then the next tile may only be placed on one of those leaves pointed at by the cross. Similarly with the diagonal cross (Diagonal) for diagonal leaves. The leaf tile with a solid circle around it (Puller) instructs the next player to place their tile on any leaf space that touches the original tile, even diagonally. Conversely, the leaf tile with a broken circle (Pusher) means the opposite: the next tile may be placed in any space that is NOT able to touch the original tile.
Players have access to two tiles of each flavor and they are attempting to rid their hand of tiles and create the most lines of three or four tiles for one or two points respectively. Once one player rids themselves of all their tiles the next player may lay just one last tile in an attempt to score more points. Whichever player earns the most points is the winner and, undoubtedly, will wish to play again immediately afterward.
Components. The version I was sent is the most recent XVgames Bagstracts edition in the fancy brown bag. The bag is great, and not only carries the components but doubles as the game board. I mean, I have not really seen that anywhere else. What a great and versatile component. The tiles are all very nicely painted wooden tiles with very clear iconography, which is much appreciated. The rulebook is fantastic and explains the game splendidly. Also included is a set of modular 2×2 mats that can be assembled in ANY fashion to create personalized game boards. I think this is a wonderfully-produced game with excellent components. The art is minimal but effective, and it has orange as a main color, so I applaud that choice as well.
The gameplay is what I would like to rave about here. My wife and I enjoy abstract strategy games together, but I have never seen her be absolutely magnetized to a game as much as she is to Mijnlieff. Right away, the first day I asked her to play it with me we ended up playing it eight or nine times that day. And you know what? We both really were jonesing to play some more. The game is relatively quick, with games lasting around 10 minutes each, but the neural exercises happening whilst playing is such so fantastic.
None of the tiles’ actions are difficult to understand, but each time a tile is placed my mind is racing with possibilities for my next turn. I do not suffer from Analysis Paralysis (AP), and my wife usually takes her times, but I do sit and think a bit more playing Mijnlieff. Sometimes you just need to play a tile to block the other player. You see, if you lay a tile and your opponent is unable to lay a tile legally according to your tile’s actions, then you get to place another tile ANYWHERE on the board. This could lead to a cascade of several tiles being laid on a turn, and THAT is what makes this simply an amazing design.
I now have four titles by designer Andy Hopwood that I will be reviewing, and if any of them are as thoughtful, beautiful, and well-designed I may have found another designer to add to my list of favorites. Purple Phoenix Games (plus my wife) give this one an incredibly respectful 11 / 12. I think what could make this game better is blinged out components. Everything in this bag is great, but Mijnlieff screams for high quality components and just sparkle everywhere. If you need a thinky abstract for two players from a smaller publisher and designer, I plead with you to grab a copy of Mijnlieff. I find it to be a superior design, quick-playing, and just hits all the right spots for my wife and me. And once you receive your copy we can record ourselves pronouncing the title and sending our recordings to the designer for him to choose the closest butchering.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Cindr in Tabletop Games
Oct 29, 2020
Finally! A game to simulate dating dragons. I have been waiting for this theme all my life and it’s now a reality!! Well, okay, I have never really considered dating a dragon. But I know I would be signing up for a service app like Cindr to find my true dragon mate FO SHO if it were real. So how does a card game dragon sim play?
Cindr has players taking on the persona of a lonely fantasy creature looking for dragon love on a dating app. Players will be building their character by making choices and then swiping left or right to attempt going on dates with dragons that may be a great match. Roll the dice well and things may go to the Next Step, or even the Next Level. Roll poorly and your dear dragon date may send you home aflame.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. Furthermore I will be covering the game using the Solo rules (which are no different than the multiplayer rules). For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, each player (or just yourself if playing the solo rules as I am) will choose a Character Profile card, filling in the blanks and circling choices to build their new fantasy persona. Each player will take one Try Again card that is useful during game play. Shuffle each Cindr App Dragon Profile and Whelp App Location card deck and place near each other. The dice will be placed near all the cards as well and the game is ready to begin!
On a turn a player will do each of these steps in order: Choose a Dragon to Date, Assemble the Dice Pool, Draw a Location Card, Check Dragon Powers & Location Bonuses, The Date / Roll Dice, Burned by a Dragon, and End of Turn. In the solo game players will be playing long enough to complete five dragon dates.
Choosing a Dragon to Date consists of reading the profile on the top of the deck and deciding whether to date or not. If not, swipe the profile into The Dating Pool below the deck. Players may swipe twice for free, and pay for additional swipes. After a dragon has been chosen, players will Assemble the Dice Pool by flipping the profile card and comparing with the stats they had made for their character at the beginning of the game. For each match players will receive a green die. For each value one space away a blue die, and for two spaces away a red die. Each die color has a different value of faces, but all have hearts and fires. Next the player(s) will Draw a Location Card from the top of the deck, read the front, then flip to the back. The back of the card will list any die up/downgrades and bonuses that may activate at different times during the date. Checking Dragon Powers & Location Bonuses will happen next and are self-explanatory.
Now that a dragon date has been procured and a location chosen, The Date may occur! When on the date, players will roll the four dice up to three times. The first time they are rolled is considered the Meet Up. The Next Step and The Next Level are the second and third rolls respectively. To be considered a full date, players will need to at least roll a second time. It is during The Date that players will be collecting hearts and trying to avoid fires. Three fires and the hearts are lost and the turn over. Players may stop rolling any time they wish and bank the hearts they have won to that point. The hearts then transfer to Love Points that are tracked at the bottom of the Character Profile card.
Should a player roll three flames and have no way to mitigate them, they lose all earned hearts for that round and their turn is over. They were, after all, Burned by a Dragon. The End of Turn is a cleanup phase to setup for the next player (or next round if playing solo). Play continues in this fashion until a player reaches 21+ Love Points in a multiplayer game or after the solo player has gone on five complete dates. Total the points to see who is the winner, or compare against the Love Meter card to see where you stack up.
Components. I’m just going to come out and say it now: I love everything about the components in this game. The dice are excellent and feature GOOD colors (not just boring primary colors). The app cards look like a phone’s screen and that’s brilliant. The Location cards are using a review service named Whelp, and also a stroke of brilliance. The art is amazing, save for the somewhat boring Second Chance cards, and one of the fonts is the same as my favorite game of all time – Valeria: Card Kingdoms, so I am fan for sure.
It’s no use hiding the fact that I am giddy playing this game. Even solo! Yes, I missed out on being able to date dragons from other players’ Dating Pools, but I have access to all the dragons anyway! Being able to adjust your choices during the game as a result of dragon powers or location powers is a neat twist that I wasn’t expecting. Those powers and bonuses are great and can really change the game, and contribute to an already large replayability score from me. It’s just a superb game that I love more and more every time I play it.
Cindr will probably never make my Top 10 Games of All Time, but it will most certainly remain in my Top 100 for years. Again, I wish I had not missed out on the Kickstarter for this one as I am gluttonous for KS stretch goal extras, but I am quite happy with where this game is at retail level. If you are looking for a great game with a hilarious and wonderful theme, plays quickly, and is excellent as a solo game too, then check out Cindr. You will never look at dragon dating sites the same way again. I promise.
Cindr has players taking on the persona of a lonely fantasy creature looking for dragon love on a dating app. Players will be building their character by making choices and then swiping left or right to attempt going on dates with dragons that may be a great match. Roll the dice well and things may go to the Next Step, or even the Next Level. Roll poorly and your dear dragon date may send you home aflame.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. Furthermore I will be covering the game using the Solo rules (which are no different than the multiplayer rules). For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, each player (or just yourself if playing the solo rules as I am) will choose a Character Profile card, filling in the blanks and circling choices to build their new fantasy persona. Each player will take one Try Again card that is useful during game play. Shuffle each Cindr App Dragon Profile and Whelp App Location card deck and place near each other. The dice will be placed near all the cards as well and the game is ready to begin!
On a turn a player will do each of these steps in order: Choose a Dragon to Date, Assemble the Dice Pool, Draw a Location Card, Check Dragon Powers & Location Bonuses, The Date / Roll Dice, Burned by a Dragon, and End of Turn. In the solo game players will be playing long enough to complete five dragon dates.
Choosing a Dragon to Date consists of reading the profile on the top of the deck and deciding whether to date or not. If not, swipe the profile into The Dating Pool below the deck. Players may swipe twice for free, and pay for additional swipes. After a dragon has been chosen, players will Assemble the Dice Pool by flipping the profile card and comparing with the stats they had made for their character at the beginning of the game. For each match players will receive a green die. For each value one space away a blue die, and for two spaces away a red die. Each die color has a different value of faces, but all have hearts and fires. Next the player(s) will Draw a Location Card from the top of the deck, read the front, then flip to the back. The back of the card will list any die up/downgrades and bonuses that may activate at different times during the date. Checking Dragon Powers & Location Bonuses will happen next and are self-explanatory.
Now that a dragon date has been procured and a location chosen, The Date may occur! When on the date, players will roll the four dice up to three times. The first time they are rolled is considered the Meet Up. The Next Step and The Next Level are the second and third rolls respectively. To be considered a full date, players will need to at least roll a second time. It is during The Date that players will be collecting hearts and trying to avoid fires. Three fires and the hearts are lost and the turn over. Players may stop rolling any time they wish and bank the hearts they have won to that point. The hearts then transfer to Love Points that are tracked at the bottom of the Character Profile card.
Should a player roll three flames and have no way to mitigate them, they lose all earned hearts for that round and their turn is over. They were, after all, Burned by a Dragon. The End of Turn is a cleanup phase to setup for the next player (or next round if playing solo). Play continues in this fashion until a player reaches 21+ Love Points in a multiplayer game or after the solo player has gone on five complete dates. Total the points to see who is the winner, or compare against the Love Meter card to see where you stack up.
Components. I’m just going to come out and say it now: I love everything about the components in this game. The dice are excellent and feature GOOD colors (not just boring primary colors). The app cards look like a phone’s screen and that’s brilliant. The Location cards are using a review service named Whelp, and also a stroke of brilliance. The art is amazing, save for the somewhat boring Second Chance cards, and one of the fonts is the same as my favorite game of all time – Valeria: Card Kingdoms, so I am fan for sure.
It’s no use hiding the fact that I am giddy playing this game. Even solo! Yes, I missed out on being able to date dragons from other players’ Dating Pools, but I have access to all the dragons anyway! Being able to adjust your choices during the game as a result of dragon powers or location powers is a neat twist that I wasn’t expecting. Those powers and bonuses are great and can really change the game, and contribute to an already large replayability score from me. It’s just a superb game that I love more and more every time I play it.
Cindr will probably never make my Top 10 Games of All Time, but it will most certainly remain in my Top 100 for years. Again, I wish I had not missed out on the Kickstarter for this one as I am gluttonous for KS stretch goal extras, but I am quite happy with where this game is at retail level. If you are looking for a great game with a hilarious and wonderful theme, plays quickly, and is excellent as a solo game too, then check out Cindr. You will never look at dragon dating sites the same way again. I promise.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Horrified: Universal Monsters Strategy Board Game in Tabletop Games
Aug 6, 2021
I was a child a long time ago. Okay, not THAT long ago, but I remember being frightened of a great many thing on TV: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, the TV show “V,” and so many others. I still to this day have not watched an entire old school Universal Studios Monster movie. However, I used to live in California for part of my childhood and my family had season passes to Universal Studios and we would go quite a lot, so I have always been familiar with the monsters. So when I saw a game was being crafted featuring these lovable, but in a nostalgic way, creatures I knew I just had to have it.
Horrified is a pickup and deliver, action points, cooperative game with dice and miniatures utilizing a variable setup. In it players take on the role of a hero in a monster movie – but not just A monster movie, but SEVERAL monsters will be haunting the town! It is the heroes’ goal to defeat the monsters before the Terror Marker reaches maximum or the heroes run out of time and the monsters take over the town.
To setup, place the board on the table and draw 12 Item tokens from the bag. Place these Items on the board in the specified location printed on the Item. Depending on how many players (for this review I will be using the Solo rules in the rule book) place the Terror Marker appropriately on the board – the photo above was taken before I realized that it starts on three in the Solo game. Choose the monsters to be faced and place their mats near the board. The rulebook states where the monster minis will start the game. Place the Frenzy token on the lowest Frenzy-numbered monster. Shuffle the Monster and Perk decks of cards separately and deal each player one Perk card. Each player chooses or is randomly dealt a character badge and places the standee in the appropriate location on the board. The game may now begin!
Players will be taking turns traveling the town, picking up Items, attempting to defeat the monsters per their defeat instructions on their mats, delivering villagers that randomly appear to their safe locations, and keeping the Terror Marker in the acceptable range. Each character has a certain number of actions that can be taken on their turns, but any Perk cards used are spent as a bonus action on the hero’s turn. The hero actions are: Move (one space along the lit pathways, even with a villager in tow), Guide (a villager one space away from the hero), Pick Up (Items from locations), Share (Items from player to player – not needed in a Solo game), Special Action (if the character being played has one on their badge), Advance (complete a task on the Monster mat to move one step closer to defeat), and Defeat (once all the tasks are complete and the player has enough Items to defeat the Monster at the same location). Once a hero has used up all their Action Points per their badge, it will be the Monster phase.
Monster phases begin with a draw from the Monster deck. Upon the card will be a number printed on the top which instructs players as to how many Items to draw and place from the bag. Next, players will read the text on the card and complete any instructions. Finally, the Monsters will strike. At the bottom of the card will be printed several icons pertaining to Monsters individually and also the Monster who happens to currently be Frenzied. These icons instruct players to move certain Monsters and if they share a space with a hero or villager, to roll the attack dice. One hit from a Monster defeats either a villager or hero (unless the hero discards any Item to block the attack). If a hero or villager is defeated, the Terror Marker moves up a space toward ultimate doom. Play then is passed to the players again. The game continues in this fashion until one of the game end conditions is met and the heroe(s) win or the Monsters succeed in their hostile haunted takeover.
Components. I’d like to start with the art. I love it. The art has a very 1930s Hollywood style and is simply beautiful. The colors are vibrant, where color is used, and the board is stunning. All of the cardboard components are top notch quality, and the Monster minis are fab. Obviously it would be great for all the heroes and villagers to have minis as well, but there is text printed on those standees that just can’t translate to a miniature. All in all, the components here are wonderful and high quality.
The gameplay is also wonderful and high quality. The solo game from which these photos are taken I randomly drew the Mayor character and decided to hit the town with Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. That’s a Standard game in the rules. The Mayor is great because she is able to take five actions on her turn (plus Perks), but she has no special abilities. That is both a blessing and a curse and wonderfully balanced. I would say I finished the game needing just one or two more Monster cards to draw before all three baddies were defeated. But, that’s the difficulty of having three Monsters showing. With just two Monsters I would have won handily, but maybe would not have enjoyed it as much and written it off as too easy. Luckily I always learn games on normal standard difficulty first.
Traipsing around town picking up Items and ushering villagers to their safe spaces sounds relaxing, but when the Monsters are on your trail and ready to Strike it adds a layer of anxiety that is just delicious. I admit I probably spent too much time trying to save every villager and that’s partly why I failed at this one game. Also I miscalculated how many extra Items to have on hand when attempting to Advance the Monster tasks. Couple those with my strategy to concentrate on defeating one Monster at a time and, well, that’s a losing strategy it seems.
The gameplay is so much fun, and the components are so wonderful to play with, it’s really no surprise I enjoy this game as much as I do. I have purposely left out some rules for readers to enjoy discovering themselves, but this is a tight game with pressure from different fronts to complete objectives. It’s the kind of game where even with a loss you find yourself wanting to try again right away. And that’s a sing of an excellent game. Purple Phoenix Games gives this very high ratings, even as a solo experience. If you need more horror-style adventure games in your collection, please check out Horrified. It’s not really that scary to play, but you will certainly be haunted by your choices you make throughout the game.
Horrified is a pickup and deliver, action points, cooperative game with dice and miniatures utilizing a variable setup. In it players take on the role of a hero in a monster movie – but not just A monster movie, but SEVERAL monsters will be haunting the town! It is the heroes’ goal to defeat the monsters before the Terror Marker reaches maximum or the heroes run out of time and the monsters take over the town.
To setup, place the board on the table and draw 12 Item tokens from the bag. Place these Items on the board in the specified location printed on the Item. Depending on how many players (for this review I will be using the Solo rules in the rule book) place the Terror Marker appropriately on the board – the photo above was taken before I realized that it starts on three in the Solo game. Choose the monsters to be faced and place their mats near the board. The rulebook states where the monster minis will start the game. Place the Frenzy token on the lowest Frenzy-numbered monster. Shuffle the Monster and Perk decks of cards separately and deal each player one Perk card. Each player chooses or is randomly dealt a character badge and places the standee in the appropriate location on the board. The game may now begin!
Players will be taking turns traveling the town, picking up Items, attempting to defeat the monsters per their defeat instructions on their mats, delivering villagers that randomly appear to their safe locations, and keeping the Terror Marker in the acceptable range. Each character has a certain number of actions that can be taken on their turns, but any Perk cards used are spent as a bonus action on the hero’s turn. The hero actions are: Move (one space along the lit pathways, even with a villager in tow), Guide (a villager one space away from the hero), Pick Up (Items from locations), Share (Items from player to player – not needed in a Solo game), Special Action (if the character being played has one on their badge), Advance (complete a task on the Monster mat to move one step closer to defeat), and Defeat (once all the tasks are complete and the player has enough Items to defeat the Monster at the same location). Once a hero has used up all their Action Points per their badge, it will be the Monster phase.
Monster phases begin with a draw from the Monster deck. Upon the card will be a number printed on the top which instructs players as to how many Items to draw and place from the bag. Next, players will read the text on the card and complete any instructions. Finally, the Monsters will strike. At the bottom of the card will be printed several icons pertaining to Monsters individually and also the Monster who happens to currently be Frenzied. These icons instruct players to move certain Monsters and if they share a space with a hero or villager, to roll the attack dice. One hit from a Monster defeats either a villager or hero (unless the hero discards any Item to block the attack). If a hero or villager is defeated, the Terror Marker moves up a space toward ultimate doom. Play then is passed to the players again. The game continues in this fashion until one of the game end conditions is met and the heroe(s) win or the Monsters succeed in their hostile haunted takeover.
Components. I’d like to start with the art. I love it. The art has a very 1930s Hollywood style and is simply beautiful. The colors are vibrant, where color is used, and the board is stunning. All of the cardboard components are top notch quality, and the Monster minis are fab. Obviously it would be great for all the heroes and villagers to have minis as well, but there is text printed on those standees that just can’t translate to a miniature. All in all, the components here are wonderful and high quality.
The gameplay is also wonderful and high quality. The solo game from which these photos are taken I randomly drew the Mayor character and decided to hit the town with Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. That’s a Standard game in the rules. The Mayor is great because she is able to take five actions on her turn (plus Perks), but she has no special abilities. That is both a blessing and a curse and wonderfully balanced. I would say I finished the game needing just one or two more Monster cards to draw before all three baddies were defeated. But, that’s the difficulty of having three Monsters showing. With just two Monsters I would have won handily, but maybe would not have enjoyed it as much and written it off as too easy. Luckily I always learn games on normal standard difficulty first.
Traipsing around town picking up Items and ushering villagers to their safe spaces sounds relaxing, but when the Monsters are on your trail and ready to Strike it adds a layer of anxiety that is just delicious. I admit I probably spent too much time trying to save every villager and that’s partly why I failed at this one game. Also I miscalculated how many extra Items to have on hand when attempting to Advance the Monster tasks. Couple those with my strategy to concentrate on defeating one Monster at a time and, well, that’s a losing strategy it seems.
The gameplay is so much fun, and the components are so wonderful to play with, it’s really no surprise I enjoy this game as much as I do. I have purposely left out some rules for readers to enjoy discovering themselves, but this is a tight game with pressure from different fronts to complete objectives. It’s the kind of game where even with a loss you find yourself wanting to try again right away. And that’s a sing of an excellent game. Purple Phoenix Games gives this very high ratings, even as a solo experience. If you need more horror-style adventure games in your collection, please check out Horrified. It’s not really that scary to play, but you will certainly be haunted by your choices you make throughout the game.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated The Expanse in TV
Sep 4, 2020 (Updated Feb 11, 2021)
In this particular future, where there exists a cold war tension between the splintered factions of humanity across the solar system, all is not well. Earthers, Dusters (Martians) and Skinnies (Belters) compete for resources and political strength in an ever shifting landscape of trust and betrayal. It is a sci-fi geek’s paradise, full of believable tech, an extensive character list and jargon coming out of the wazoo! It’s all very complicated… and season five just finished airing on Amazon Prime on Wednesday 3rd Feb, so I thought it a good time to talk about it in detail.
Based on the novel series by James S. A. Corey (actually the assumed name of collaborators Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), which began in 2011 and has produced one book a year since, the TV version has been on the go since 2015, first at SyFy and then at Amazon after being cancelled unfairly, and to mass uproar from the fans, after Season three. It isn’t something you watch casually – either you are into it and make a point of obsessing about it, or you watch a few, feel completely lost and admit it isn’t for you; although you suspect it is good and you just didn’t make the effort to engage enough. Sci-fi this earnest can be like that: a little unforgiving to tourists and passers-by.
Personally, I went through 2 phases with it. The first was watching it late at night with autoplay on, falling in and out of sleep depending on how exciting what was happening was, missing a lot of the detail and feeling largely lost in space. The second was coming back to Season 4 recently (about 3 weeks ago), after taking in a full recap of the story, and becoming a true fan that couldn’t get enough of the complex web of storylines, motives and personalities. Catching up enough to have to wait a week between episodes for the last 4 weeks, which has been tremendously rewarding.
Not that I had a major problem with it from the start. I thought it had a great look and a great mood about it, but lacked some star quality in the cast and was fairly opaque storywise. It always had potential. It was a question of whether you could be bothered to invest in that, knowing that it may go nowhere or even get cancelled very quickly – the TV universe is not known for being kind to sci-fi, as die-hard fans of Firefly still weep about regularly, and quite correctly.
In season one you watch it for the only person onboard that you have heard of, namely Thomas Jane (from The Mist and The Punisher) as det. Joe Miller, a cynical sleuth complete with a great anachronistic hat, who gets wrapped up in a mystery so mysterious it is often hard to work out what he is doing at all, and why… he literally comes and goes, for reasons that become apparent in later seasons. A frustrating and yet fascinating entity that must have been a real test to get right.
The show’s main cast also take a lot of time to warm up, to the point where you wonder who they are and whether they will be in it for long? Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham and Cas Anvar, as the ragtag collective of a small ship (they eventually name The Rocinante) that finds itself at the centre of a huge political shitstorm as the last bastion of impartial hope and moral reasoning, exude such little charisma at first it all seems doomed to fail. But, something magical begins to happen, by virtue of being in their presence a lot – you start to care. And the more you care the more the subsequent events have the power to stun you sideways!
More than anything else I can think of in recent years, this is a show that rewards patient investment. You will have definite moments of wanting to quit or take a long break, but the more faith you show in it, the more it will reward you in the long run. For me it was the climax of season 3 when I realised I was 100% into it, and that everything that had happened to that point was now starting to make sense in a larger context. Basically, what you think this is and what you assume it is about early doors, is not where it ends up. It goes somewhere way better!
Perhaps because it has the support of the book series as inspiration, the writing and story arc feels stronger and stronger in time. There are to date 9 books, so there is still scope to let this run for a good few years. And it does start to feel like there is a point where it will all completely tie together. Anyway, I am rambling as much as an average episode seems to do here. The point is, there is something right on the tightrope edge of classic or near miss going on with this. The cast have all really grown into their skins and personalities, and there are some moments in seasons 4 & 5 that left me jaw dropped at their dramatic weight!
Look, this isn’t going to be for everyone. It is very easy to say “I don’t get it” and move on with this show, but I am a sci-fi veteran , if not full geek, and I now absolutely love it. Cult status then is what we are talking about here. There will be a good wait for season six now, but the cliffhanger is mouth-watering, so I am in! It’s far from impossible they will ruin the vibe at some point and it will all fall flat… or, it could become the stuff of legend. I’ll be there to find out either way. No chance I am doing 5 seasons of something to drop out at that point.
Take away the space and the spaceships and this is a story about division and rights, and the hard work it takes to meet a diplomatic solution to the many differences and grievances that exist between different tribes and factions. What will some do to gain power? What will others do to ensure freedom and justice? How easy is it to waste life in the name of a cause? Oh, yeah and there’s also the little detail of an ancient alien civilisation that have been leaving tech and artifacts all over the solar system for us to fight over and try to control. As I say, the main story element of it all still feels like a partial mystery, and I love that!
Based on the novel series by James S. A. Corey (actually the assumed name of collaborators Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), which began in 2011 and has produced one book a year since, the TV version has been on the go since 2015, first at SyFy and then at Amazon after being cancelled unfairly, and to mass uproar from the fans, after Season three. It isn’t something you watch casually – either you are into it and make a point of obsessing about it, or you watch a few, feel completely lost and admit it isn’t for you; although you suspect it is good and you just didn’t make the effort to engage enough. Sci-fi this earnest can be like that: a little unforgiving to tourists and passers-by.
Personally, I went through 2 phases with it. The first was watching it late at night with autoplay on, falling in and out of sleep depending on how exciting what was happening was, missing a lot of the detail and feeling largely lost in space. The second was coming back to Season 4 recently (about 3 weeks ago), after taking in a full recap of the story, and becoming a true fan that couldn’t get enough of the complex web of storylines, motives and personalities. Catching up enough to have to wait a week between episodes for the last 4 weeks, which has been tremendously rewarding.
Not that I had a major problem with it from the start. I thought it had a great look and a great mood about it, but lacked some star quality in the cast and was fairly opaque storywise. It always had potential. It was a question of whether you could be bothered to invest in that, knowing that it may go nowhere or even get cancelled very quickly – the TV universe is not known for being kind to sci-fi, as die-hard fans of Firefly still weep about regularly, and quite correctly.
In season one you watch it for the only person onboard that you have heard of, namely Thomas Jane (from The Mist and The Punisher) as det. Joe Miller, a cynical sleuth complete with a great anachronistic hat, who gets wrapped up in a mystery so mysterious it is often hard to work out what he is doing at all, and why… he literally comes and goes, for reasons that become apparent in later seasons. A frustrating and yet fascinating entity that must have been a real test to get right.
The show’s main cast also take a lot of time to warm up, to the point where you wonder who they are and whether they will be in it for long? Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham and Cas Anvar, as the ragtag collective of a small ship (they eventually name The Rocinante) that finds itself at the centre of a huge political shitstorm as the last bastion of impartial hope and moral reasoning, exude such little charisma at first it all seems doomed to fail. But, something magical begins to happen, by virtue of being in their presence a lot – you start to care. And the more you care the more the subsequent events have the power to stun you sideways!
More than anything else I can think of in recent years, this is a show that rewards patient investment. You will have definite moments of wanting to quit or take a long break, but the more faith you show in it, the more it will reward you in the long run. For me it was the climax of season 3 when I realised I was 100% into it, and that everything that had happened to that point was now starting to make sense in a larger context. Basically, what you think this is and what you assume it is about early doors, is not where it ends up. It goes somewhere way better!
Perhaps because it has the support of the book series as inspiration, the writing and story arc feels stronger and stronger in time. There are to date 9 books, so there is still scope to let this run for a good few years. And it does start to feel like there is a point where it will all completely tie together. Anyway, I am rambling as much as an average episode seems to do here. The point is, there is something right on the tightrope edge of classic or near miss going on with this. The cast have all really grown into their skins and personalities, and there are some moments in seasons 4 & 5 that left me jaw dropped at their dramatic weight!
Look, this isn’t going to be for everyone. It is very easy to say “I don’t get it” and move on with this show, but I am a sci-fi veteran , if not full geek, and I now absolutely love it. Cult status then is what we are talking about here. There will be a good wait for season six now, but the cliffhanger is mouth-watering, so I am in! It’s far from impossible they will ruin the vibe at some point and it will all fall flat… or, it could become the stuff of legend. I’ll be there to find out either way. No chance I am doing 5 seasons of something to drop out at that point.
Take away the space and the spaceships and this is a story about division and rights, and the hard work it takes to meet a diplomatic solution to the many differences and grievances that exist between different tribes and factions. What will some do to gain power? What will others do to ensure freedom and justice? How easy is it to waste life in the name of a cause? Oh, yeah and there’s also the little detail of an ancient alien civilisation that have been leaving tech and artifacts all over the solar system for us to fight over and try to control. As I say, the main story element of it all still feels like a partial mystery, and I love that!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Blue Moon City in Tabletop Games
Aug 27, 2021
Ahh Blue Moon. Delicious on a hot Summer day night. Hefeweizen is my favorite type of beer, but most places do not serve my all-time fave Hefe: Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. If you haven’t yet tried it, you must. I’m no snob or anything, so I’ll take the Blue Moon when I can’t have the Paulaner, but I wanted you all to know my tastes. So when I heard about a game that was all about a city named after a beer I enjoy (but only with an orange slice) I had to try it. Did it live up to my expectations or did it- wait, this game isn’t about beer? Why the heck did I-
Blue Moon City is a fantasy-set, hand management, set collection, city rebuilding game for two to four players. In it players are attempting to help reconstruct the war-ravaged Blue Moon City to its former glory by utilizing its citizens at crucial construction sites in order to earn crystals. It sounds weird, and it is, but read further to understand why. Oh and there are dragons that act like supervisors or teachers when they come stand by you to watch you take a test and judge you from behind the whole time.
To setup, place the Courtyard tile in the middle of the table and build the city in a 5×5 grid minus the corner tiles. Each player chooses their color and takes the mini and discs of that color. Place the dragons nearby, along with the Obelisk token, draw deck of cards, crystal chits, and dragon scale chits. Deal each player a hand of eight cards and the game may begin!
Blue Moon City is played over a series of turns, and each turn is divided into four phases: Movement, Contribution, Reset, Pass Turn. During the optional Movement phase, a player may move their pawn one to two orthagonal spaces (N/E/S/W) or use cards from their hand for their special movement powers for player pawn AND/OR dragon movement.
Next, a player may discard cards from their hand to contribute to the reconstruction of a building during this optional Contribution phase. By discarding a number of cards whose values equal or exceed the printed value on the matching-colored building tile a player will be able to place a disc upon the tile. Once the tile’s contribution spaces have been filled with discs it can be scored. To score a building tile, determine majority presence on the tile and award the Majority Bonus to that player. Any disc presence in minority will receive the Construction Bonus, including the majority winner. If a player had contributed on a tile that also was hosting a dragon mini, that player would earn a dragon scale from said dragon supervisor. Players may also make their way back to the Courtyard tile in order to donate crystals to the Obelisk. Doing so will allow the player to place one of their discs on the Obelisk itself, and the game ends when a player has placed the proper number of discs upon the Obelisk per the number of players.
When the pile of dragon scale tokens has been exhausted, players will check who currently holds the majority of scales. They will be awarded with six crystals, and any player holding three or more will receive three crystals. Turn all the dragon scales back into the supply to be earned again.
During the Reset phase a player may discard any number of cards from their hand and draw back as many cards plus two. So if a player discards zero cards from hand they would still draw two from the deck. Discarded four cards? Well redraw six.
Finally the active player will Pass Turn to the player on their left, who will complete their turn of the same four phases.
Play continues in this fashion until one player has placed the target number of discs on the Obelisk token to claim victory and dragon approval!
Components. Okay, this is a tough one because overall I love the components in the game. The dragons and player pawns are cool minis (from CMON that just makes sense). The Obelisk token is huge and I love how it looks. The art overall is really creepy, but well done, and enjoyable to behold. The player discs, though poo-pooed by other more-renowned reviewers, I find to be just fine. They are a smooth plastic in the player color and I have no problems with their quality. But speaking of colors… I agree with others that have stated the colors of some cards (or suits, if you prefer) should have been made a different color. What I mean is that the game is very greige-heavy throughout. The card suits (except the red, yellow, and blue) are a variation of the same greige that makes eyes strain to determine exactly which color they are holding. I understand that a certain aesthetic was targeted, and they certainly achieved that, but these colors do make it more difficult to play, especially for us that are starting to over-ripen with age.
Those component gripes aside, this is an incredible game. The color choices aside, I love everything about it! The movement from tile to tile, and trying to align movement with the cards in hand and keeping some back so that you can use them to move the dragon to your spot as well is just fun mental exercise. Each value 1 and 2 card has a special ability, be it movement bonuses, changing other cards’ colors, or just being straight up wild cards, and having to choose to use the cards as either the special power or for contribution values creates tons of crunchy gamer choices. Not super-crunchy. Turns won’t be mentally debated for 10 minutes, but deciding how best to use the hand of cards you hold is great.
I also very much enjoy the theme of the game, even though I was hoodwinked by the title (not really, just trying to tie it all back). I love fantasy worlds and having a unique theme is a definite plus for me. I haven’t yet thrown in the expansion tiles, but I will the next time I play. If you need a relatively quick-playing jaunt through a ravaged city, I recommend you check out Blue Moon City. Purple Phoenix Games give it a 10 / 12. It has nothing to do with beer, which would be another great theme idea – drunken dragons – but I will be holding onto this one for quite a while.
Blue Moon City is a fantasy-set, hand management, set collection, city rebuilding game for two to four players. In it players are attempting to help reconstruct the war-ravaged Blue Moon City to its former glory by utilizing its citizens at crucial construction sites in order to earn crystals. It sounds weird, and it is, but read further to understand why. Oh and there are dragons that act like supervisors or teachers when they come stand by you to watch you take a test and judge you from behind the whole time.
To setup, place the Courtyard tile in the middle of the table and build the city in a 5×5 grid minus the corner tiles. Each player chooses their color and takes the mini and discs of that color. Place the dragons nearby, along with the Obelisk token, draw deck of cards, crystal chits, and dragon scale chits. Deal each player a hand of eight cards and the game may begin!
Blue Moon City is played over a series of turns, and each turn is divided into four phases: Movement, Contribution, Reset, Pass Turn. During the optional Movement phase, a player may move their pawn one to two orthagonal spaces (N/E/S/W) or use cards from their hand for their special movement powers for player pawn AND/OR dragon movement.
Next, a player may discard cards from their hand to contribute to the reconstruction of a building during this optional Contribution phase. By discarding a number of cards whose values equal or exceed the printed value on the matching-colored building tile a player will be able to place a disc upon the tile. Once the tile’s contribution spaces have been filled with discs it can be scored. To score a building tile, determine majority presence on the tile and award the Majority Bonus to that player. Any disc presence in minority will receive the Construction Bonus, including the majority winner. If a player had contributed on a tile that also was hosting a dragon mini, that player would earn a dragon scale from said dragon supervisor. Players may also make their way back to the Courtyard tile in order to donate crystals to the Obelisk. Doing so will allow the player to place one of their discs on the Obelisk itself, and the game ends when a player has placed the proper number of discs upon the Obelisk per the number of players.
When the pile of dragon scale tokens has been exhausted, players will check who currently holds the majority of scales. They will be awarded with six crystals, and any player holding three or more will receive three crystals. Turn all the dragon scales back into the supply to be earned again.
During the Reset phase a player may discard any number of cards from their hand and draw back as many cards plus two. So if a player discards zero cards from hand they would still draw two from the deck. Discarded four cards? Well redraw six.
Finally the active player will Pass Turn to the player on their left, who will complete their turn of the same four phases.
Play continues in this fashion until one player has placed the target number of discs on the Obelisk token to claim victory and dragon approval!
Components. Okay, this is a tough one because overall I love the components in the game. The dragons and player pawns are cool minis (from CMON that just makes sense). The Obelisk token is huge and I love how it looks. The art overall is really creepy, but well done, and enjoyable to behold. The player discs, though poo-pooed by other more-renowned reviewers, I find to be just fine. They are a smooth plastic in the player color and I have no problems with their quality. But speaking of colors… I agree with others that have stated the colors of some cards (or suits, if you prefer) should have been made a different color. What I mean is that the game is very greige-heavy throughout. The card suits (except the red, yellow, and blue) are a variation of the same greige that makes eyes strain to determine exactly which color they are holding. I understand that a certain aesthetic was targeted, and they certainly achieved that, but these colors do make it more difficult to play, especially for us that are starting to over-ripen with age.
Those component gripes aside, this is an incredible game. The color choices aside, I love everything about it! The movement from tile to tile, and trying to align movement with the cards in hand and keeping some back so that you can use them to move the dragon to your spot as well is just fun mental exercise. Each value 1 and 2 card has a special ability, be it movement bonuses, changing other cards’ colors, or just being straight up wild cards, and having to choose to use the cards as either the special power or for contribution values creates tons of crunchy gamer choices. Not super-crunchy. Turns won’t be mentally debated for 10 minutes, but deciding how best to use the hand of cards you hold is great.
I also very much enjoy the theme of the game, even though I was hoodwinked by the title (not really, just trying to tie it all back). I love fantasy worlds and having a unique theme is a definite plus for me. I haven’t yet thrown in the expansion tiles, but I will the next time I play. If you need a relatively quick-playing jaunt through a ravaged city, I recommend you check out Blue Moon City. Purple Phoenix Games give it a 10 / 12. It has nothing to do with beer, which would be another great theme idea – drunken dragons – but I will be holding onto this one for quite a while.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale in Tabletop Games
Sep 13, 2021
I have often wondered how cartography actually works. How was it that people with primitive tools were able to grasp the lay of the land and sea? And are we complete in our mapping of Earth or are there more secrets we have yet to discover? Thankfully, in Cartographers we aren’t really answering those questions, but other practical questions may arise.
Cartographers is a flip-and-write style game where players are competing to gain the queen’s favor and become the royal cartographer. While the main game focuses on finishing with a greater score than your opponent(s) the solo game is more relaxed. The solo player will be competing against their previous scores and comparing against the queen’s title matrix. Each game will be played over four seasons (rounds) and once the year is over the winner or title is claimed. Can you score 30 or more points to become a “Legendary Cartographer?”
To setup, lay out the Queen’s Edict cards that show A, B, C, and D. Shuffle each small deck of like-backed Scoring Cards and randomly place one from each deck underneath the Edict cards. Remove all the enemy Ambush Cards and shuffle one into the main deck of Explore Cards. Set the Season Cards in order: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each player will receive one Map Sheet and a pencil. The game may now begin!
Each Season Card will feature a time threshold number that when met or exceeded will end the season. This corresponds to the time markings on each Explore Card drawn from the deck. For example, Spring allows 8 measures of time before it will switch to Summer. Explore Cards will usually show from 0-2 time measures on it, so seasons could change after four or more cards. At the start of each season, the player will flip an Explore Card to reveal which type of map element is requested and of which shape. The map elements are Forest, Farm, Water, Village, Mountain, and Monster. The shapes shown on the cards are reminiscent of Tetris-style shapes and also some others as well.
Once a card has been revealed, the player now will draw on their sheet the shape (or one of the shapes if more than one are shown) and fill it in with the matching symbol for map element type. If during this phase of the round the player surrounds the four sides of a pre-printed Mountain square they will score one coin and mark it at the bottom of their Map Sheet.
Should a Ruins card be revealed the player will flip another card to reveal the next card in line. Whatever shape and element is shown on the card AFTER the Ruins card will be used, with a twist. The shape shown on this card will now be required to encompass one of the pre-printed Ruins squares on the Map Sheet. If there are no legal spaces to place these shapes (or any shape on future cards) the player will be allowed to place a single 1×1 square on their Map Sheet anywhere they wish.
Should an enemy Ambush card be revealed the player will check which corner of the map the ambush takes place and will draw the provided monster shape in the closest area to the corner as possible. These are awarded negative points at the end of the seasons and can make large impacts on final scores.
After the elements have been drawn on the Map Sheet the player will check if the season ends. The season will end if the total number of revealed cards’ time measures equal or exceed the time printed on the Season Card (again, for example, Spring lasts 8 time). If not, then the player resumes another card reveal. If the time threshold has been met or exceeded then the player will score for the season by referencing the Scoring Cards that were placed under the Edicts at setup. For Spring the player scores Edict Cards A and B. Mark the score in the space provided at the bottom of the Scoring Sheet and flip the Season Card to the next season to begin a new round.
Play continues in this fashion until all four seasons have been played. At the end of the fourth season the game ends and the player will tally up their score to compare against the queen’s title matrix at the back of the rulebook. Not to brag, but my first game scored over 30 points, so I began this journey as a Legendary Cartographer.
Components. This game is 100 double-sided Map Sheets, four golf pencils, and a bunch of cards. The sheets and pencils are just fine, and the cards are good quality. What I really enjoy about the components is that this is “A Roll Player Tale,” meaning that many of the components and art hearken back to the original Roll Player game. As I love Roll Player’s art style, I also love that of Cartographers. There isn’t a ton of art in the game, more of graphic design, the art that IS provided is stellar Roll Player fare. I have no complaints about the components here except my wife thinks the pencil erasers could be better.
I skipped backing this one on Kickstarter and have only recently come to acquire it. I am definitely kicking myself in the rear for that decision because this is an excellent game. Obviously, anything that is enjoyable solo AND multiplayer is a huge boon (my wife scored it a 5!), and being able to play it multiple times in a row is a benefit as well.
We both love the decision-making in Cartographers, and when we first played together I had to shield my map sheet from my wife because she was copying! SHE was copying ME! She ended up handing me my booty in that game (of course) but we both had a great time plotting out our map elements. Determining where and which direction a shape should be placed can certainly be frustrating, but seeing your well-laid plans come to life is very rewarding. I am definitely seeing myself needing to download and print off more map sheets in the future because I have a feeling I am going to be playing the mess out of this one.
If you are looking for something special for your collection, check out Cartographers. If you already enjoy Roll Player, this will feel homey to you while offering a completely different style of game. My wife and I love it, and I am not sure I know anyone who would turn their nose up at it. Once we get into the Post-COVID era I plan to play this all the time at game nights.
Cartographers is a flip-and-write style game where players are competing to gain the queen’s favor and become the royal cartographer. While the main game focuses on finishing with a greater score than your opponent(s) the solo game is more relaxed. The solo player will be competing against their previous scores and comparing against the queen’s title matrix. Each game will be played over four seasons (rounds) and once the year is over the winner or title is claimed. Can you score 30 or more points to become a “Legendary Cartographer?”
To setup, lay out the Queen’s Edict cards that show A, B, C, and D. Shuffle each small deck of like-backed Scoring Cards and randomly place one from each deck underneath the Edict cards. Remove all the enemy Ambush Cards and shuffle one into the main deck of Explore Cards. Set the Season Cards in order: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each player will receive one Map Sheet and a pencil. The game may now begin!
Each Season Card will feature a time threshold number that when met or exceeded will end the season. This corresponds to the time markings on each Explore Card drawn from the deck. For example, Spring allows 8 measures of time before it will switch to Summer. Explore Cards will usually show from 0-2 time measures on it, so seasons could change after four or more cards. At the start of each season, the player will flip an Explore Card to reveal which type of map element is requested and of which shape. The map elements are Forest, Farm, Water, Village, Mountain, and Monster. The shapes shown on the cards are reminiscent of Tetris-style shapes and also some others as well.
Once a card has been revealed, the player now will draw on their sheet the shape (or one of the shapes if more than one are shown) and fill it in with the matching symbol for map element type. If during this phase of the round the player surrounds the four sides of a pre-printed Mountain square they will score one coin and mark it at the bottom of their Map Sheet.
Should a Ruins card be revealed the player will flip another card to reveal the next card in line. Whatever shape and element is shown on the card AFTER the Ruins card will be used, with a twist. The shape shown on this card will now be required to encompass one of the pre-printed Ruins squares on the Map Sheet. If there are no legal spaces to place these shapes (or any shape on future cards) the player will be allowed to place a single 1×1 square on their Map Sheet anywhere they wish.
Should an enemy Ambush card be revealed the player will check which corner of the map the ambush takes place and will draw the provided monster shape in the closest area to the corner as possible. These are awarded negative points at the end of the seasons and can make large impacts on final scores.
After the elements have been drawn on the Map Sheet the player will check if the season ends. The season will end if the total number of revealed cards’ time measures equal or exceed the time printed on the Season Card (again, for example, Spring lasts 8 time). If not, then the player resumes another card reveal. If the time threshold has been met or exceeded then the player will score for the season by referencing the Scoring Cards that were placed under the Edicts at setup. For Spring the player scores Edict Cards A and B. Mark the score in the space provided at the bottom of the Scoring Sheet and flip the Season Card to the next season to begin a new round.
Play continues in this fashion until all four seasons have been played. At the end of the fourth season the game ends and the player will tally up their score to compare against the queen’s title matrix at the back of the rulebook. Not to brag, but my first game scored over 30 points, so I began this journey as a Legendary Cartographer.
Components. This game is 100 double-sided Map Sheets, four golf pencils, and a bunch of cards. The sheets and pencils are just fine, and the cards are good quality. What I really enjoy about the components is that this is “A Roll Player Tale,” meaning that many of the components and art hearken back to the original Roll Player game. As I love Roll Player’s art style, I also love that of Cartographers. There isn’t a ton of art in the game, more of graphic design, the art that IS provided is stellar Roll Player fare. I have no complaints about the components here except my wife thinks the pencil erasers could be better.
I skipped backing this one on Kickstarter and have only recently come to acquire it. I am definitely kicking myself in the rear for that decision because this is an excellent game. Obviously, anything that is enjoyable solo AND multiplayer is a huge boon (my wife scored it a 5!), and being able to play it multiple times in a row is a benefit as well.
We both love the decision-making in Cartographers, and when we first played together I had to shield my map sheet from my wife because she was copying! SHE was copying ME! She ended up handing me my booty in that game (of course) but we both had a great time plotting out our map elements. Determining where and which direction a shape should be placed can certainly be frustrating, but seeing your well-laid plans come to life is very rewarding. I am definitely seeing myself needing to download and print off more map sheets in the future because I have a feeling I am going to be playing the mess out of this one.
If you are looking for something special for your collection, check out Cartographers. If you already enjoy Roll Player, this will feel homey to you while offering a completely different style of game. My wife and I love it, and I am not sure I know anyone who would turn their nose up at it. Once we get into the Post-COVID era I plan to play this all the time at game nights.
