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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising in Tabletop Games
Dec 3, 2020
Have you read our review of Thanos Rising: Avengers Infinity War? If you have not, please do. I’ll wait. The reason I ask is because this Harry Potter version is a reimplementation of Thanos Rising with a few new twists. Great twists. In fact, I’ll spoil it for you and let you know that I now prefer the Harry Potter version even though I enjoy Marvel-related things in my life much more. But why is it good or better than its predecessor?
Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising is a game utilizing the Rising system of games (which also includes Batman, Star Wars, and SpongeBob Squarepants as of now) for two to four players. It is a cooperative game where players will take charge of one of the three factions: Dumbledore’s Army, Hogwarts, or Order of the Phoenix in order to defeat Voldemort and his Death Eater cronies. Though Voldemort will be menacing players throughout the game, the players will not be able to attack him directly until about half way through the game. Can you survive long enough to battle the big bad?
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, follow the instructions in the rulebook, but generally the central board will have the large painted Voldemort “mini(?)” and three areas that hold Place cards: Hogwarts, Ministry of Magic, and Diagon Alley. Players will be given one Leader card in their chosen faction (obviously Order of the Phoenix is best) to begin the game. Set aside the damage counters, corruption gem tokens, and Spell tokens in their own piles. Shuffle the main deck of character cards, reveal and place three per Place and then insert the Voldemort card somewhere near half-way into the shuffled deck. The game may now begin.
On a player’s turn they must complete the following steps: 1. Travel to a Location, 2. Roll Voldemort Die and resolve actions, 3. Roll, assign, and resolve Wizard dice, and 4. End Turn. After taking these actions it will be the next player’s turn.
To Travel to a Location, the active player will place their faction-matching Mission token upon one of the Places on the board. This is the Place that the active player may now be able to recruit Wizards from and also attack enemies.
Once at a Location, the active player will Roll Voldemort Die and resolve actions thenceforth. The game affords players a large green Voldemort Die to be rolled. Upon the faces are sides that instruct players to turn the Voldemort mini Left or Right one Place and attack all Wizards there (including all Wizards on a player’s team if Voldemort is now in their Location). Two faces will also show the Dark Mark. When this face is rolled Voldemort does not move, but will attack all Wizards at his current Place (by placing damage counters on the card) as well as activating ALL Death Eater Dark Mark abilities. Not all Death Eaters will have Dark Mark abilities, but when they activate, they can be deadly.
Now that Voldemort has had his fun, the active player will Roll, assign, and resolve Wizard dice. Players will have in front of them faction cards that indicate how many and of which color dice to be rolled on a turn. These dice may be added to or otherwise altered as a result of recruited Wizards’ special abilities as well. Once a player takes the appropriate dice to be rolled, they must roll them and begin assigning faces to Wizards for recruitment, Death Eaters for damage, or other abilities on team cards. Recruiting more Wizards to a player’s team or damaging Death Eaters is how the game progresses because each time a card is recruited or defeated it is removed from the main board and a new card replaces it. As long as at least one die is removed from the player’s pool each time the dice are rolled the player may continue rolling to match symbols needed.
To End Turn, the active player will add any recruited Wizards to their team, discard any defeated Death Eaters, Wizards, or Places, and retrieve their Mission token to be used on the next turn.
Play continues in this fashion of taking turns through the four steps until the Voldemort card is drawn. He then comes into play as an enemy that may be attacked like normal. Players win when they defeat enough Death Eaters and Voldemort, but can lose if the players allow a Place to be completely corrupted (usually by Death Eater card abilities), allowing four Places to be corrupted, if too many Wizards have been defeated per number of players, or any player has all their Wizards defeated from their team.
Components. This game includes a lot of components of varying style and materials. The cards are all very glossy (meh) and feature headshots of the characters mostly. The board is three pieces fit together like a pizza and is great. The damage counters are little translucent red cubes, and the corruption gem tokens are also translucent gems but gray in color. The best components in the game are by far the Voldemort, well, statue and all the dice. The Voldemort piece is incredible, and pre-painted. The stance he is taking is formidable and somewhat intimidating when he’s pointing his wand right at you. The dice have been upgraded to a matte finish (as opposed to yucky polished finish) and feature some great inking. The one negative I have to say is also about the dice: I believe that the faces sometimes can be confusing because the icons are more detailed than is necessary. While some would argue that detailed dice are better than merely serviceable dice, I would much rather see a sword on a face and know it’s a sword than to look at a die face and wonder what I am looking at exactly. In any case, that’s my opinion and yours may be different. Let’s still be friends.
So overall this is a big upgrade over the Thanos version of a Rising game for several key reasons. In Thanos I always felt like every turn could lose the game for us, and Thanos seemed to gain the Infinity Stones too quickly for my taste. In this version, you know you have half a deck before you are able to even fight Voldemort, so being able to tackle his minions until then seems more surmountable. The dice have been upgraded, and the Voldemort die is wonderful and easy to read. That was an issue I had with Thanos: his die was hard to read and the colors were not distinct enough. Not a factor in this version at all. I also feel that this version has much more faction-dependency and interplay. What I mean is that an Order of the Phoenix card may require a player to also have a Dumbledore’s Army card on the team in order to unlock access to their special ability. I like that. I like a well-balanced team, though my first game saw me recruit eight Order of the Phoenix cards and one Dumbledore’s Army card. We won, but I felt bad.
So it’s no surprise that I love this game. I find it better and easier to learn/play than the Thanos version. I like the components a whole lot more. I like the interplay between the factions more. I am sad that I prefer Marvel to Harry Potter, but I do not dislike Harry Potter, let it be known. And I do enjoy this version much more. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a triumphant 10 / 12. My wife and I truly love it and can’t wait to play it again very soon. If you are looking for a good Rising game, I certainly recommend you look at Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising. It’s a guaranteed hit if you or a loved one is a Harry Potter fan. For sure. It’s brilliant.
Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising is a game utilizing the Rising system of games (which also includes Batman, Star Wars, and SpongeBob Squarepants as of now) for two to four players. It is a cooperative game where players will take charge of one of the three factions: Dumbledore’s Army, Hogwarts, or Order of the Phoenix in order to defeat Voldemort and his Death Eater cronies. Though Voldemort will be menacing players throughout the game, the players will not be able to attack him directly until about half way through the game. Can you survive long enough to battle the big bad?
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, follow the instructions in the rulebook, but generally the central board will have the large painted Voldemort “mini(?)” and three areas that hold Place cards: Hogwarts, Ministry of Magic, and Diagon Alley. Players will be given one Leader card in their chosen faction (obviously Order of the Phoenix is best) to begin the game. Set aside the damage counters, corruption gem tokens, and Spell tokens in their own piles. Shuffle the main deck of character cards, reveal and place three per Place and then insert the Voldemort card somewhere near half-way into the shuffled deck. The game may now begin.
On a player’s turn they must complete the following steps: 1. Travel to a Location, 2. Roll Voldemort Die and resolve actions, 3. Roll, assign, and resolve Wizard dice, and 4. End Turn. After taking these actions it will be the next player’s turn.
To Travel to a Location, the active player will place their faction-matching Mission token upon one of the Places on the board. This is the Place that the active player may now be able to recruit Wizards from and also attack enemies.
Once at a Location, the active player will Roll Voldemort Die and resolve actions thenceforth. The game affords players a large green Voldemort Die to be rolled. Upon the faces are sides that instruct players to turn the Voldemort mini Left or Right one Place and attack all Wizards there (including all Wizards on a player’s team if Voldemort is now in their Location). Two faces will also show the Dark Mark. When this face is rolled Voldemort does not move, but will attack all Wizards at his current Place (by placing damage counters on the card) as well as activating ALL Death Eater Dark Mark abilities. Not all Death Eaters will have Dark Mark abilities, but when they activate, they can be deadly.
Now that Voldemort has had his fun, the active player will Roll, assign, and resolve Wizard dice. Players will have in front of them faction cards that indicate how many and of which color dice to be rolled on a turn. These dice may be added to or otherwise altered as a result of recruited Wizards’ special abilities as well. Once a player takes the appropriate dice to be rolled, they must roll them and begin assigning faces to Wizards for recruitment, Death Eaters for damage, or other abilities on team cards. Recruiting more Wizards to a player’s team or damaging Death Eaters is how the game progresses because each time a card is recruited or defeated it is removed from the main board and a new card replaces it. As long as at least one die is removed from the player’s pool each time the dice are rolled the player may continue rolling to match symbols needed.
To End Turn, the active player will add any recruited Wizards to their team, discard any defeated Death Eaters, Wizards, or Places, and retrieve their Mission token to be used on the next turn.
Play continues in this fashion of taking turns through the four steps until the Voldemort card is drawn. He then comes into play as an enemy that may be attacked like normal. Players win when they defeat enough Death Eaters and Voldemort, but can lose if the players allow a Place to be completely corrupted (usually by Death Eater card abilities), allowing four Places to be corrupted, if too many Wizards have been defeated per number of players, or any player has all their Wizards defeated from their team.
Components. This game includes a lot of components of varying style and materials. The cards are all very glossy (meh) and feature headshots of the characters mostly. The board is three pieces fit together like a pizza and is great. The damage counters are little translucent red cubes, and the corruption gem tokens are also translucent gems but gray in color. The best components in the game are by far the Voldemort, well, statue and all the dice. The Voldemort piece is incredible, and pre-painted. The stance he is taking is formidable and somewhat intimidating when he’s pointing his wand right at you. The dice have been upgraded to a matte finish (as opposed to yucky polished finish) and feature some great inking. The one negative I have to say is also about the dice: I believe that the faces sometimes can be confusing because the icons are more detailed than is necessary. While some would argue that detailed dice are better than merely serviceable dice, I would much rather see a sword on a face and know it’s a sword than to look at a die face and wonder what I am looking at exactly. In any case, that’s my opinion and yours may be different. Let’s still be friends.
So overall this is a big upgrade over the Thanos version of a Rising game for several key reasons. In Thanos I always felt like every turn could lose the game for us, and Thanos seemed to gain the Infinity Stones too quickly for my taste. In this version, you know you have half a deck before you are able to even fight Voldemort, so being able to tackle his minions until then seems more surmountable. The dice have been upgraded, and the Voldemort die is wonderful and easy to read. That was an issue I had with Thanos: his die was hard to read and the colors were not distinct enough. Not a factor in this version at all. I also feel that this version has much more faction-dependency and interplay. What I mean is that an Order of the Phoenix card may require a player to also have a Dumbledore’s Army card on the team in order to unlock access to their special ability. I like that. I like a well-balanced team, though my first game saw me recruit eight Order of the Phoenix cards and one Dumbledore’s Army card. We won, but I felt bad.
So it’s no surprise that I love this game. I find it better and easier to learn/play than the Thanos version. I like the components a whole lot more. I like the interplay between the factions more. I am sad that I prefer Marvel to Harry Potter, but I do not dislike Harry Potter, let it be known. And I do enjoy this version much more. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a triumphant 10 / 12. My wife and I truly love it and can’t wait to play it again very soon. If you are looking for a good Rising game, I certainly recommend you look at Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising. It’s a guaranteed hit if you or a loved one is a Harry Potter fan. For sure. It’s brilliant.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated FUSE in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
One of the best parts of the board gaming experience is finding a fun group of people with whom to play! Sometimes, though, coordinating a game night is easier said than done. We all must occasionally forego the group experience and face the world as the Lonely Only. But fear not! The world of solo-play is a vast and exciting realm! What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the solo-playing world – notes on gameplay, mechanics, rules, difficulty, and overall experience with solo variations of commonly multiplayer games! I hope this will provide some insight as you continue to grow your collection, or explore your already owned games!
FUSE is a fast-paced game where a bomb squad is working against the clock to diffuse a number of bombs discovered on their ship! The goal is simple: diffuse all of the bombs before they explode. The gameplay, however, is a little bit more complicated. While there are a few minor differences between group- and solo-play, the basics of the game are unchanged – players roll and place dice in unique combinations to ‘diffuse’ each card. If all cards are diffused in the 10-minute time limit, then the game is won! And if not…then I think you know what that means. BOOOOOOOOOM!
Having played and enjoyed FUSE in both a group and solo setting, I think I can honestly say that I miiiight like it a little more as a solo game. My main reason is purely selfish – playing alone means that I don’t have to share dice. In a group game, the dice are rolled and divvied up between all of the players. Playing solo means that I can keep all of the dice for myself! And, theoretically, that means that I should be able to diffuse my bomb cards more quickly since I have more dice with which to work! Gone is the agony associated with sacrificing dice to other players – they’re all mine! Yeah, I have to deal with all of the bombs by myself too, but not having to share my materials makes the job seem easier even though it might not necessarily be any easier.
For me, one of the most challenging parts of playing FUSE solo is the real-time countdown. I know, I know, the timer is one of the most integral parts of this entire game. However, the pressure of a time limit is stressful and it makes me a sloppy player – dropping dice, knocking over towers, etc. Some lucky people have been blessed with the ability to remain calm under pressure, but unfortunately I am not one of them. I hope you don’t misunderstand my grievance with the timer for disliking the overall game, though. Having a timer adds an element of excitement that creates such a high-energy atmosphere, even when playing solo. I’m literally just rolling and placing dice, but with a ticking clock, I’m on the edge of my seat with adrenaline pumping as I try to complete my cards as quickly as possible! With every play, I’d like to think that I have gotten better at managing the pressure of the timer, even though that may not necessarily be true…
I do thoroughly enjoy playing FUSE as a solo game. Since time is of the essence, the game forces me to be creative with my dice placement and I must constantly be changing my strategy based on which dice I draw and what cards I have before me at any given time. If you are looking for a high-energy game, even when playing solo, look no further than FUSE. It will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat and will keep you engaged in the action until the game ends – either in celebration of success or a fiery explosion!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/18/solo-chronicles-fuse/
FUSE is a fast-paced game where a bomb squad is working against the clock to diffuse a number of bombs discovered on their ship! The goal is simple: diffuse all of the bombs before they explode. The gameplay, however, is a little bit more complicated. While there are a few minor differences between group- and solo-play, the basics of the game are unchanged – players roll and place dice in unique combinations to ‘diffuse’ each card. If all cards are diffused in the 10-minute time limit, then the game is won! And if not…then I think you know what that means. BOOOOOOOOOM!
Having played and enjoyed FUSE in both a group and solo setting, I think I can honestly say that I miiiight like it a little more as a solo game. My main reason is purely selfish – playing alone means that I don’t have to share dice. In a group game, the dice are rolled and divvied up between all of the players. Playing solo means that I can keep all of the dice for myself! And, theoretically, that means that I should be able to diffuse my bomb cards more quickly since I have more dice with which to work! Gone is the agony associated with sacrificing dice to other players – they’re all mine! Yeah, I have to deal with all of the bombs by myself too, but not having to share my materials makes the job seem easier even though it might not necessarily be any easier.
For me, one of the most challenging parts of playing FUSE solo is the real-time countdown. I know, I know, the timer is one of the most integral parts of this entire game. However, the pressure of a time limit is stressful and it makes me a sloppy player – dropping dice, knocking over towers, etc. Some lucky people have been blessed with the ability to remain calm under pressure, but unfortunately I am not one of them. I hope you don’t misunderstand my grievance with the timer for disliking the overall game, though. Having a timer adds an element of excitement that creates such a high-energy atmosphere, even when playing solo. I’m literally just rolling and placing dice, but with a ticking clock, I’m on the edge of my seat with adrenaline pumping as I try to complete my cards as quickly as possible! With every play, I’d like to think that I have gotten better at managing the pressure of the timer, even though that may not necessarily be true…
I do thoroughly enjoy playing FUSE as a solo game. Since time is of the essence, the game forces me to be creative with my dice placement and I must constantly be changing my strategy based on which dice I draw and what cards I have before me at any given time. If you are looking for a high-energy game, even when playing solo, look no further than FUSE. It will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat and will keep you engaged in the action until the game ends – either in celebration of success or a fiery explosion!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/18/solo-chronicles-fuse/
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Tokaido in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
Tokaido is one of those simple, yet beautiful, games where you can bring it to the table and nearly everyone will have a great time, errrr I mean trip… Just keep reading! You’ll see!
DISCLAIMER: The photos showing game play reflect components from the Collector’s Edition, as they are upgraded from the traditional retail copy. There is no affect on game play, the components are just nicer. -T
I don’t recall another board game on the market, as of today 1/9/2019, that has been able to recreate some of the intuitive mechanisms that Tokaido provides its players. So okay, envision one of those looooong car rides as a kid in the stuffy old car full of suitcases with your parents. Boring, right? That’s NOT Tokaido!
NOW, Imagine one of the most thrilling trips across Japan – where you get to see the sights, experience the extensive shopping, eat great delicacies, and yes, even take a dip in a sultry hot spring! THAT is Tokaido! It is an immersive vacation in a box. So, how does it all work…
In Tokaido, you take on the persona of a Japanese tourist, a.k.a cute, very detailed, little meeples (or minis). From the start you are on a race, albeit not in a complete hurry, to have the most fulfilling vacation across Japan. Here’s the catch: go too fast and you will miss out on all the wonderful opportunities Japan has to offer, as well as victory points. Your goal in Tokaido is to stay just ahead of the other players, yet to visit as many places as possible. Each location provides you with some sort of benefit on your vacation. It may be a beautifully drawn panoramic picture of the landscape (something T.I.M.E Stories would later copy), a visit to a knickknack shop, a dip in a hot spring, some delicious looking hand-rolled sushi, or even a reverent donation to a beautifully ornate temple (highest donation equals BIG victory points later on). All of these items in your collection will reap you some sort of reward in the form of victory points at the end of the game. How you coordinate your collection is VERY important. Simply jumping from space to space will NOT get you delicious sweets like in Candy Land. It’s about timing your moves just right so that you are able complete that entire panoramic landscape, or eat just enough of the right food to satisfy your taste buds.
Seems simple, right? It is! That is the best part. New gamers in your group will gravitate toward the simplistic nature to which the game lends itself. In my gaming groups it has even lead to multiple plays! Experienced gamers will enjoy the delicate artwork and creative mechanics. Because the gameplay is so centered around the mechanic of, “don’t get too far ahead of your neighbor but stay just ahead of them,” it truly feels like you are on the T.V. show “The Greatest Race”. It is a very simple, but clever and excitement-driven concept. With that said, it can be played in under an hour, even with 4 players. Tokaido provides so much gameplay in one simple box, but yet allows you to have a little time left in your game night to still play that heavy Euro afterward. That’s a huge plus in my book, and one reason why it is ranked so high for me. That, and well, those cute little meeples (or minis) get me every time!
I really hope you give this one a try. It is a nice and relaxing experience that lends itself to quick gameplay, immersive theme, and excellent artwork. I hope your trip across Japan will truly be as rewarding as mine was! Ganbarou!! (Good luck!)
Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a relaxing 13 / 18 (Laura has not played it yet).
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/11/tokaido-review/
DISCLAIMER: The photos showing game play reflect components from the Collector’s Edition, as they are upgraded from the traditional retail copy. There is no affect on game play, the components are just nicer. -T
I don’t recall another board game on the market, as of today 1/9/2019, that has been able to recreate some of the intuitive mechanisms that Tokaido provides its players. So okay, envision one of those looooong car rides as a kid in the stuffy old car full of suitcases with your parents. Boring, right? That’s NOT Tokaido!
NOW, Imagine one of the most thrilling trips across Japan – where you get to see the sights, experience the extensive shopping, eat great delicacies, and yes, even take a dip in a sultry hot spring! THAT is Tokaido! It is an immersive vacation in a box. So, how does it all work…
In Tokaido, you take on the persona of a Japanese tourist, a.k.a cute, very detailed, little meeples (or minis). From the start you are on a race, albeit not in a complete hurry, to have the most fulfilling vacation across Japan. Here’s the catch: go too fast and you will miss out on all the wonderful opportunities Japan has to offer, as well as victory points. Your goal in Tokaido is to stay just ahead of the other players, yet to visit as many places as possible. Each location provides you with some sort of benefit on your vacation. It may be a beautifully drawn panoramic picture of the landscape (something T.I.M.E Stories would later copy), a visit to a knickknack shop, a dip in a hot spring, some delicious looking hand-rolled sushi, or even a reverent donation to a beautifully ornate temple (highest donation equals BIG victory points later on). All of these items in your collection will reap you some sort of reward in the form of victory points at the end of the game. How you coordinate your collection is VERY important. Simply jumping from space to space will NOT get you delicious sweets like in Candy Land. It’s about timing your moves just right so that you are able complete that entire panoramic landscape, or eat just enough of the right food to satisfy your taste buds.
Seems simple, right? It is! That is the best part. New gamers in your group will gravitate toward the simplistic nature to which the game lends itself. In my gaming groups it has even lead to multiple plays! Experienced gamers will enjoy the delicate artwork and creative mechanics. Because the gameplay is so centered around the mechanic of, “don’t get too far ahead of your neighbor but stay just ahead of them,” it truly feels like you are on the T.V. show “The Greatest Race”. It is a very simple, but clever and excitement-driven concept. With that said, it can be played in under an hour, even with 4 players. Tokaido provides so much gameplay in one simple box, but yet allows you to have a little time left in your game night to still play that heavy Euro afterward. That’s a huge plus in my book, and one reason why it is ranked so high for me. That, and well, those cute little meeples (or minis) get me every time!
I really hope you give this one a try. It is a nice and relaxing experience that lends itself to quick gameplay, immersive theme, and excellent artwork. I hope your trip across Japan will truly be as rewarding as mine was! Ganbarou!! (Good luck!)
Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a relaxing 13 / 18 (Laura has not played it yet).
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/11/tokaido-review/
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Faza in Tabletop Games
Oct 28, 2020
You know those fantasy dreams you have where an alien race comes to Earth and tries to take over the world and terraform it to match their homeland? Just me? Well, this is awkward. Okay, how about the ones where you are a freedom fighter trying to save the world from those aliens and you only have three friends to help you in your impossible mission? That one is better? Okay! Then you are in for a treat with Faza, no matter which dream is yours.
Faza is a sci-fi, grid movement, modular board, purely cooperative board game for one to four players. In this review I will be addressing it from a solo player’s viewpoint. In my plays I have used the full complement of four characters and controlled them all simultaneously.
In Faza, players take on the roles of four Faction Zeta members tasked with saving Earth from the Faza alien race. They will accomplish this by using each character’s skills effectively and efficiently, killing alien drones invading the town tiles, and attacking motherships using the help of turncoat rebel Faza. Only one path to victory lies ahead with several ways to lose. Do you got the GUTS? DO YA??
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 a game of Faza, each player will choose a character to control throughout the game. These characters are medical, political, tactical, or technological in nature, and there are two of each from which players may choose. The map of the town is comprised of 16 tiles, and once randomly setup in a 4×4 grid players will place their color-matched meeples on the appropriate Outpost tiles along with two rebels (purple fazeeples). Each of the three mothership standees will be placed on tiles corresponding to rulebook placement along with three drones and two drones per orthogonally adjacent tiles. The Faza deck is to be shuffled and placed aside, along with the remaining drones and rebels. Each player places out their character action cards in numerical order and the game may now begin in earnest!
On a player’s turn… well, there aren’t any turns in this game. In fact, the game is played over several phases: the Team Phase and the Faza Phase. During the Team Phase players may use several free actions and one action pertaining to each of their four player action cards. Each of these cards offer the player a choice of two actions. Perhaps one side is movement and the other a bazooka. Or one is an airplane while the other is a raygun, for example. As actions are spent cards are twisted 90 degrees to keep track.
During the Team Phase players may play their actions in any order that would benefit the team best. This also includes fighting drones and sending rebels to damage the motherships. However, with every damage to the mothership taken a Faza card is drawn and put into play. These could be real bad news for the heroes, or even reward cards. They can be devastating or not so bad at all. Once players have finished the Team Phase, the action now turns to the Faza.
During the Faza Phase the Mothership Activation Tracker will move to the next mothership in sequence and activate their abilities. The motherships will typically move, do something bad to the terrain or drop more drones or destroy something, and then pass play onto the players again.
Each mothership starts the game with 4 HP and once players send enough rebels and encounter the same number of Faza cards the mothership is downed and less powerful when their ability card is activated. However, players will win once all three motherships have been defeated! On the other hand, players will lose when any one player dies of injuries from unsuccessful battles, the players run out of drones to be placed on the board when needed, all of the Outpost tiles have been terraformed by the Faza motherships, or all rebels have been removed from the board in Hard Mode.
Components. When contacted about reviewing the game I first turned to the website and watched a how to play video by Jon Gets Games. He did a great job explaining the rules clearly and succinctly. Then I happened to get a notification on BGG that Marco Arnaudo posted a video on Faza, so I watched it as well. In his video he complains that though the components are all very nice (which they are for sure) the color palette is not great. I can certainly see why he would say such a thing, but orange is my favorite color, so to see so much of it on a game is a big plus for me. Yes, having the orange drones sitting atop an orange town tile can maybe make for unpleasant color contrast, I happen to find it tolerable and enjoyable. The quality of the components is wonderful and the box has a nice heft to it. No complaints from ME about the components. Did I mention the rebels are an amazing purple color as well? No secret here that we love the color purple! Maybe even more than Oprah!
The gameplay is where it’s at for me. Marco too. We both love this little gem! The ability to sandbox your entire turn and just have one character do one action, then switch over to another character to do one or more actions, then back to the original is just so much fun. Each character has a special ability and four action cards. Even when an injury must be sustained, actions are still available, but at a much lesser potency. That’s a great way to negatively affect the players without having to completely debilitate them. To sustain an injury the player will flip their lowest-numbered action card to the back side, and once all four of their action cards are injured they are dead. D-E-D dead.
As a solo game Faza really delivers the goods. Being able to control two to four characters by oneself and determine the best order to activate abilities and move meeples around is delicious. Having certain tiles offer combat bonuses to matching characters is excellent and a great way to thin the herd of pesky drones. I really cannot say enough great things about the game. If you have never heard of this one, please don’t worry. I really hadn’t either until the designer contacted me about reviewing it. And I am certainly glad he did because this is a marvel of a game. I am looking forward to my next play against the Faza and increasing the difficulty to really bash my confidence on this one.
If you are looking for a game that is relatively quick to play and offers so many great choices, while using a wonderful art style and color palette, I urge you to check out Faza by visiting the website and ordering your copy right away. The Earth needs you to ward off the invaders and you need to play this game of mostly orange with a dash of purple.
Faza is a sci-fi, grid movement, modular board, purely cooperative board game for one to four players. In this review I will be addressing it from a solo player’s viewpoint. In my plays I have used the full complement of four characters and controlled them all simultaneously.
In Faza, players take on the roles of four Faction Zeta members tasked with saving Earth from the Faza alien race. They will accomplish this by using each character’s skills effectively and efficiently, killing alien drones invading the town tiles, and attacking motherships using the help of turncoat rebel Faza. Only one path to victory lies ahead with several ways to lose. Do you got the GUTS? DO YA??
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 a game of Faza, each player will choose a character to control throughout the game. These characters are medical, political, tactical, or technological in nature, and there are two of each from which players may choose. The map of the town is comprised of 16 tiles, and once randomly setup in a 4×4 grid players will place their color-matched meeples on the appropriate Outpost tiles along with two rebels (purple fazeeples). Each of the three mothership standees will be placed on tiles corresponding to rulebook placement along with three drones and two drones per orthogonally adjacent tiles. The Faza deck is to be shuffled and placed aside, along with the remaining drones and rebels. Each player places out their character action cards in numerical order and the game may now begin in earnest!
On a player’s turn… well, there aren’t any turns in this game. In fact, the game is played over several phases: the Team Phase and the Faza Phase. During the Team Phase players may use several free actions and one action pertaining to each of their four player action cards. Each of these cards offer the player a choice of two actions. Perhaps one side is movement and the other a bazooka. Or one is an airplane while the other is a raygun, for example. As actions are spent cards are twisted 90 degrees to keep track.
During the Team Phase players may play their actions in any order that would benefit the team best. This also includes fighting drones and sending rebels to damage the motherships. However, with every damage to the mothership taken a Faza card is drawn and put into play. These could be real bad news for the heroes, or even reward cards. They can be devastating or not so bad at all. Once players have finished the Team Phase, the action now turns to the Faza.
During the Faza Phase the Mothership Activation Tracker will move to the next mothership in sequence and activate their abilities. The motherships will typically move, do something bad to the terrain or drop more drones or destroy something, and then pass play onto the players again.
Each mothership starts the game with 4 HP and once players send enough rebels and encounter the same number of Faza cards the mothership is downed and less powerful when their ability card is activated. However, players will win once all three motherships have been defeated! On the other hand, players will lose when any one player dies of injuries from unsuccessful battles, the players run out of drones to be placed on the board when needed, all of the Outpost tiles have been terraformed by the Faza motherships, or all rebels have been removed from the board in Hard Mode.
Components. When contacted about reviewing the game I first turned to the website and watched a how to play video by Jon Gets Games. He did a great job explaining the rules clearly and succinctly. Then I happened to get a notification on BGG that Marco Arnaudo posted a video on Faza, so I watched it as well. In his video he complains that though the components are all very nice (which they are for sure) the color palette is not great. I can certainly see why he would say such a thing, but orange is my favorite color, so to see so much of it on a game is a big plus for me. Yes, having the orange drones sitting atop an orange town tile can maybe make for unpleasant color contrast, I happen to find it tolerable and enjoyable. The quality of the components is wonderful and the box has a nice heft to it. No complaints from ME about the components. Did I mention the rebels are an amazing purple color as well? No secret here that we love the color purple! Maybe even more than Oprah!
The gameplay is where it’s at for me. Marco too. We both love this little gem! The ability to sandbox your entire turn and just have one character do one action, then switch over to another character to do one or more actions, then back to the original is just so much fun. Each character has a special ability and four action cards. Even when an injury must be sustained, actions are still available, but at a much lesser potency. That’s a great way to negatively affect the players without having to completely debilitate them. To sustain an injury the player will flip their lowest-numbered action card to the back side, and once all four of their action cards are injured they are dead. D-E-D dead.
As a solo game Faza really delivers the goods. Being able to control two to four characters by oneself and determine the best order to activate abilities and move meeples around is delicious. Having certain tiles offer combat bonuses to matching characters is excellent and a great way to thin the herd of pesky drones. I really cannot say enough great things about the game. If you have never heard of this one, please don’t worry. I really hadn’t either until the designer contacted me about reviewing it. And I am certainly glad he did because this is a marvel of a game. I am looking forward to my next play against the Faza and increasing the difficulty to really bash my confidence on this one.
If you are looking for a game that is relatively quick to play and offers so many great choices, while using a wonderful art style and color palette, I urge you to check out Faza by visiting the website and ordering your copy right away. The Earth needs you to ward off the invaders and you need to play this game of mostly orange with a dash of purple.
MetaMoJi Note Lite
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MetaMoJi Note is a cross-platform note taking app, PDF annotation tool, and a digital scrapbook for...
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Castle Dice in Tabletop Games
Jun 28, 2021
Ahh castle building. One of my favorite pastimes. Well, medieval building games, anyway. I love ’em! So put together medieval building with a bunch of dice and that should make a hit right? Well, yes, but I fear this game has flown under the radar for too long! Why do I like it, but more importantly why does it get so little love?
Castle Dice is a dice and resource management game that pits players against each other to build the greatest castle in the land. It is played over seven rounds and when the seventh round is complete players will tally up VPs to declare a winner!
To setup place the Turn Tracker board where players can see it. Shuffle each of the differently-backed Castle Deck, Village Deck, and Market Deck from which players will be drawing cards throughout the game. Assemble piles of Villager Tokens, Animals, and all dice. Each player receives their own playmat and five Tracking Beads placed just like the photo above. The game may now begin!
Castle Dice spans seven rounds with each round following a strict order of play. This play order and any special effects of the round are conveniently printed on the playmats and Turn Tracker respectively. The Turn Tracker will display which type of dice each player will take from the pool, roll, and add to the World Pool – to which every player will have access. The turn order will show all the phases of each round (which will not be thoroughly covered in this review, but will be at least mentioned): Determine first player, Draw cards, “Choice Dice”, Roll dice, Gather dice, Market, Workers produce, Merchants, Build castle parts, Barbarians.
Players will be able to draw cards from either the Castle or Village decks to supply their hand limit of five and give the player options to build at different phases of the game. Each round players will have standard dice to cull and roll from the pile, but also a choice of any dice type they prefer to be added to the World Pool in the next phase. After the World Pool has been populated with all the dice the players have rolled, each player will then choose a die from the World Pool one at a time around the table in player order. These dice will show resources (Wood, Stone, Gold, Land, and Iron), animals (Pig, Chicken, Cow, Horse), and Barbarians. By hiring Workers and Guards players will be able to produce more resources and subsequently protect them from raiding Barbarians who wish to drain players of one of each of their resources at the end of the round. The Build action is self-explanatory as players will be spending resources gathered to build castle parts using cards from their hand. Play continues in this very structured fashion until the end of seven rounds. Whichever player has amassed the greatest amount of VP from having the most animals, most villagers, Bards, and built castle parts will be the winner!
Components. Castle Dice is sold in a large box – a little wider than Kingdomino’s box, about two inches longer, and about three times as tall (still taller or thicker than Legendary Marvel, Harry Potter Hogwart’s Battle, and The 7th Continent). So there are a lot of components, and they are all good quality. The cards are nice, the boards are thick, but glossy (boo), and the dice are all fine. I question the use of the red Tracking Beads, as they are a little too large to fit in the areas they are designed to track, and a simple wooden cube would have been just as effective and fit the space better. Perhaps I will de-bling mine to boring cubes, or find something else more suitable. The art style, though, is very lovable and cute. Except the Farmer, who seems to have a large dangle of snot hanging out of his or her nose. Being from the Midwest I see a lot of farmers, and I know that they aren’t always super snotty. Maybe they were back in the Medieval Period, but it is a strange detail in the art. Overall though I am very impressed with the quality of the components.
I am similarly impressed overall with the gameplay. I am not incredibly Type A, but I think I lean that way, and having a game with very strict phases of play with a definite end game trigger is very appreciated. I absolutely LOVE how each round is plainly shown on the Turn Tracker and similarly how each phase is clearly printed on each playmat. These notifications eliminate the need for reference cards/sheets/what have you, and I applaud the design team for this. One of my gaming pet peeves is needing to reference the rulebook every turn because I am unsure of what I do next or being worried that I have forgotten a step. No need here – it is all in front of me.
Playing the game is also quite enjoyable. I do not know many gamers who hate games utilizing dice, and typically the more dice the better. Well Castle Dice comes with 64 custom dice and it just feels good to be rolling seven or eight dice each round. But the coolest part is that each player has the standard dice to roll but also several “Choice Dice” that can be of any flavor. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will end up gathering those dice, but they will be options for all players. That is a unique twist that I thoroughly enjoy. Also the balancing act of wanting to do 34 things on your turn, but not having the time to accomplish it adds that level of danger I like in my games. Those dang Barbarians! Overall Purple Phoenix Games gives Castle Dice a non-boogery-farmer’s 14 / 18. It’s a great game and if you see it in the wild pick it up! You will have a good time with it.
Castle Dice is a dice and resource management game that pits players against each other to build the greatest castle in the land. It is played over seven rounds and when the seventh round is complete players will tally up VPs to declare a winner!
To setup place the Turn Tracker board where players can see it. Shuffle each of the differently-backed Castle Deck, Village Deck, and Market Deck from which players will be drawing cards throughout the game. Assemble piles of Villager Tokens, Animals, and all dice. Each player receives their own playmat and five Tracking Beads placed just like the photo above. The game may now begin!
Castle Dice spans seven rounds with each round following a strict order of play. This play order and any special effects of the round are conveniently printed on the playmats and Turn Tracker respectively. The Turn Tracker will display which type of dice each player will take from the pool, roll, and add to the World Pool – to which every player will have access. The turn order will show all the phases of each round (which will not be thoroughly covered in this review, but will be at least mentioned): Determine first player, Draw cards, “Choice Dice”, Roll dice, Gather dice, Market, Workers produce, Merchants, Build castle parts, Barbarians.
Players will be able to draw cards from either the Castle or Village decks to supply their hand limit of five and give the player options to build at different phases of the game. Each round players will have standard dice to cull and roll from the pile, but also a choice of any dice type they prefer to be added to the World Pool in the next phase. After the World Pool has been populated with all the dice the players have rolled, each player will then choose a die from the World Pool one at a time around the table in player order. These dice will show resources (Wood, Stone, Gold, Land, and Iron), animals (Pig, Chicken, Cow, Horse), and Barbarians. By hiring Workers and Guards players will be able to produce more resources and subsequently protect them from raiding Barbarians who wish to drain players of one of each of their resources at the end of the round. The Build action is self-explanatory as players will be spending resources gathered to build castle parts using cards from their hand. Play continues in this very structured fashion until the end of seven rounds. Whichever player has amassed the greatest amount of VP from having the most animals, most villagers, Bards, and built castle parts will be the winner!
Components. Castle Dice is sold in a large box – a little wider than Kingdomino’s box, about two inches longer, and about three times as tall (still taller or thicker than Legendary Marvel, Harry Potter Hogwart’s Battle, and The 7th Continent). So there are a lot of components, and they are all good quality. The cards are nice, the boards are thick, but glossy (boo), and the dice are all fine. I question the use of the red Tracking Beads, as they are a little too large to fit in the areas they are designed to track, and a simple wooden cube would have been just as effective and fit the space better. Perhaps I will de-bling mine to boring cubes, or find something else more suitable. The art style, though, is very lovable and cute. Except the Farmer, who seems to have a large dangle of snot hanging out of his or her nose. Being from the Midwest I see a lot of farmers, and I know that they aren’t always super snotty. Maybe they were back in the Medieval Period, but it is a strange detail in the art. Overall though I am very impressed with the quality of the components.
I am similarly impressed overall with the gameplay. I am not incredibly Type A, but I think I lean that way, and having a game with very strict phases of play with a definite end game trigger is very appreciated. I absolutely LOVE how each round is plainly shown on the Turn Tracker and similarly how each phase is clearly printed on each playmat. These notifications eliminate the need for reference cards/sheets/what have you, and I applaud the design team for this. One of my gaming pet peeves is needing to reference the rulebook every turn because I am unsure of what I do next or being worried that I have forgotten a step. No need here – it is all in front of me.
Playing the game is also quite enjoyable. I do not know many gamers who hate games utilizing dice, and typically the more dice the better. Well Castle Dice comes with 64 custom dice and it just feels good to be rolling seven or eight dice each round. But the coolest part is that each player has the standard dice to roll but also several “Choice Dice” that can be of any flavor. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will end up gathering those dice, but they will be options for all players. That is a unique twist that I thoroughly enjoy. Also the balancing act of wanting to do 34 things on your turn, but not having the time to accomplish it adds that level of danger I like in my games. Those dang Barbarians! Overall Purple Phoenix Games gives Castle Dice a non-boogery-farmer’s 14 / 18. It’s a great game and if you see it in the wild pick it up! You will have a good time with it.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire in Tabletop Games
Feb 22, 2021
Excellent Work Placement Game
The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire- is a excellent work placement game. I love work placement games and this one is one of them. Lets talk more about the game.
Players sit in the roles of countries trying to develop industry and energy production over a period of time roughly from the end of World War II to the present day. Throughout the game, players will construct buildings, power plants as dice, and manage the pollution in their environment with the aim of scoring the most points.
To begin play, the main board for Energy Empire is seeded with starting Building cards. These are divided into three different sectors: Government spaces, Industry spaces, and Commerce spaces. A set of pollution tokens, depending on the number of players, is also stacked on a track as the game timer.
Once the game begins, it flows continuously without rounds. Each player chooses, on their turn, to take a Work Turn or a Generate Turn.
Work Turn- During this type of turn, players must place a single worker on the main board on one of the spaces which represent activities and resources to collect. For example, this may be gaining science, steel, or purchasing oil. Afterwards, depending on which sector the player placed their worker, they can activate any previously purchased buildings, assuming they have enough workers and/or energy. Players can also activate their nation card and move up on the United Nations track, which is a pure competition for end game points. Energy is also used if a player wishes to place a worker on a space occupied by another worker. The player must place additional energy under the worker until their placement stack is larger than any other already placed.
Generate Turn: This type of turn represents the player resetting their work potential for a new set of placing workers. They do this by first potentially collecting an achievement which represents end game points for a variety of goals. They then recall any workers to their Player Mat and discard all Energy tokens. Players can also spend any oil resources to gain oil power plant dice. Finally the player rolls any or all power plant dice they have. This might include Solar/Wind (green dice), Hydro Power (blue dice, limited to one per player), Coal (black dice), and Nuclear (yellow dice). The resulting number of lightning bolts on the dice are delivered as energy tokens to the player. If a clean energy source rolled the highest cardinal number, the player does not collect pollution. If coal, oil, or nuclear dice resulted in the highest number, then the player places a single pollution token into their environment. Players continue this process one after another until a predesignated number of pollution tokens are removed from the game. Players get one final turn and then points are tallied. Players receive points for keeping their player mat free of pollution, building power plants, the United Nations track, and various points for each building constructed.
The most engaging part of the game and the main reason to seek it out, comes from the theme of global power intrigue. The building cards show off the exceptional art in the game.
Manhattan Project: Energy Empire Cards
The global impact cards for the first half of the game are green with a milder impact. Once they go red, prepare for some serious negative events. On top of this theme, the actions associated with everything in the game fit just right. The concept in game actions connect directly to the theme concept. In addition, the country actions to move up on the United Nations track also represent the tone and success formulas for those countries. The mechanism for rolling dice to gain energy and how much pollution is delivered feels just perfect given the competing goals of clean environments and high energy production.
The worker placement mechanism itself (largest stack among existing workers) is not new, but it is just the right mechanism to promote the overall feeling of energy competition. Choosing the space on which to place a worker is highly engaging and the choices tense to maximize efficiency. It is easy to connect with both strategy and tactics in this game.
Even with this engagement, it is also easy to see optimal routes for gaining points assuming opponents follow their strategies. It’s not “easy”, but it is possible to not even worry about opponents blocking a particular path to victory with low numbers of players.
Its a excellent work placement game. One i highly recordmend getting and play.
Players sit in the roles of countries trying to develop industry and energy production over a period of time roughly from the end of World War II to the present day. Throughout the game, players will construct buildings, power plants as dice, and manage the pollution in their environment with the aim of scoring the most points.
To begin play, the main board for Energy Empire is seeded with starting Building cards. These are divided into three different sectors: Government spaces, Industry spaces, and Commerce spaces. A set of pollution tokens, depending on the number of players, is also stacked on a track as the game timer.
Once the game begins, it flows continuously without rounds. Each player chooses, on their turn, to take a Work Turn or a Generate Turn.
Work Turn- During this type of turn, players must place a single worker on the main board on one of the spaces which represent activities and resources to collect. For example, this may be gaining science, steel, or purchasing oil. Afterwards, depending on which sector the player placed their worker, they can activate any previously purchased buildings, assuming they have enough workers and/or energy. Players can also activate their nation card and move up on the United Nations track, which is a pure competition for end game points. Energy is also used if a player wishes to place a worker on a space occupied by another worker. The player must place additional energy under the worker until their placement stack is larger than any other already placed.
Generate Turn: This type of turn represents the player resetting their work potential for a new set of placing workers. They do this by first potentially collecting an achievement which represents end game points for a variety of goals. They then recall any workers to their Player Mat and discard all Energy tokens. Players can also spend any oil resources to gain oil power plant dice. Finally the player rolls any or all power plant dice they have. This might include Solar/Wind (green dice), Hydro Power (blue dice, limited to one per player), Coal (black dice), and Nuclear (yellow dice). The resulting number of lightning bolts on the dice are delivered as energy tokens to the player. If a clean energy source rolled the highest cardinal number, the player does not collect pollution. If coal, oil, or nuclear dice resulted in the highest number, then the player places a single pollution token into their environment. Players continue this process one after another until a predesignated number of pollution tokens are removed from the game. Players get one final turn and then points are tallied. Players receive points for keeping their player mat free of pollution, building power plants, the United Nations track, and various points for each building constructed.
The most engaging part of the game and the main reason to seek it out, comes from the theme of global power intrigue. The building cards show off the exceptional art in the game.
Manhattan Project: Energy Empire Cards
The global impact cards for the first half of the game are green with a milder impact. Once they go red, prepare for some serious negative events. On top of this theme, the actions associated with everything in the game fit just right. The concept in game actions connect directly to the theme concept. In addition, the country actions to move up on the United Nations track also represent the tone and success formulas for those countries. The mechanism for rolling dice to gain energy and how much pollution is delivered feels just perfect given the competing goals of clean environments and high energy production.
The worker placement mechanism itself (largest stack among existing workers) is not new, but it is just the right mechanism to promote the overall feeling of energy competition. Choosing the space on which to place a worker is highly engaging and the choices tense to maximize efficiency. It is easy to connect with both strategy and tactics in this game.
Even with this engagement, it is also easy to see optimal routes for gaining points assuming opponents follow their strategies. It’s not “easy”, but it is possible to not even worry about opponents blocking a particular path to victory with low numbers of players.
Its a excellent work placement game. One i highly recordmend getting and play.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Throw Octopus in Tabletop Games
Dec 18, 2021
It’s a great sign when your 5-year-old wants to play a game over, and over, and over, and over… right? Especially if you also really enjoy playing? You never really know what to expect with new games and, luckily, this one is great… especially if you have kiddos or uptight friends.
In Throw Octopus, players are underwater city planners. Of sorts. Depending on the mode of play, players will attempt to rid themselves of their hand of seascape tiles, which depict wonky underwater creatures. The first player to shed their entire hand of tiles will be the winner!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any 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, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, chuck the tiles into a giant face-down pile and swirl them around to shuffle. Or try to riffle-shuffle, like, a thousand little cardboard tiles. Good luck. From the pile each player will choose eight tiles for their starting hand. Eight tiles, eight octopus tentacles. Coincidence? Also shuffle the Octopus Cards and place in a draw pile nearby. Flip over one of the tiles from the pile to serve as the starting tile. Youngest player goes first, and the game is ready to play!
On a turn, players will try to play one of their tiles to the ever-growing seascape being built on the table. Only by adding a tile from their hand to an appropriate place within the seascape can hands dwindle. At times a player will play a tile to the seascape depicting an octopus icon. After placing this tile, the active player will draw a card from the deck and either perform its action immediately or save it to be used at a later time (the card will instruct the players which to do). These cards could have players drawing more tiles, forcing other players to draw tiles, giving the active player the ability to manipulate tiles already placed in the seascape, or THROWING THE ADORABLE PLUSH OCTOPUS that comes with the game at an opponent. When the octopus is thrown at a player, they must immediately draw two tiles and skip their next turn. Should a player not have any other play, they must draw a tile from the pile and pass play to the next player.
As players are gaining and playing tiles to the board, the seascape is constantly changing, thus reflecting the real-life constantly-changing seascapes across the world. I may be reading too much into it. In any case, once a player places their final tile, they win and may challenge the players to a rematch immediately.
Recently added two-player rules allow for Speed Octopus play. In this mode, players are attempting to add to their own seascapes, and when they cannot play a card, they must discard a tile from their hand to their box top/bottom and draw a new tile from the shared pile. Once the game ends by players unable to play legally, points are scored for completed creatures in their personal board and negative points are earned for each tile in their box top/bottom. In this mode the cards and plushie are not used, but we house-ruled the usage of a Throw Octopus each time a creature was completed, just to further humiliate the other player.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, but what we received was a box full of tiles, cards, and just the cutest little octoplushie we have ever seen. I really hope that all copies of the game come with this style of octopus, as my daughter immediately confiscated it the first few nights to sleep with her, no joke. I can only imagine the upgrades this will receive as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign.
This is a silly, and sometimes frantic, tile laying game with take that and dexterity elements. Throwing the octopus and seeing the finished seascape at the end of the game are so satisfying. The art is great, and the concept is unique. I just know we will be playing this game for years to come. Again, if you happen to have littles in your your life or uptight friends, this is the game for you.
In Throw Octopus, players are underwater city planners. Of sorts. Depending on the mode of play, players will attempt to rid themselves of their hand of seascape tiles, which depict wonky underwater creatures. The first player to shed their entire hand of tiles will be the winner!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any 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, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, chuck the tiles into a giant face-down pile and swirl them around to shuffle. Or try to riffle-shuffle, like, a thousand little cardboard tiles. Good luck. From the pile each player will choose eight tiles for their starting hand. Eight tiles, eight octopus tentacles. Coincidence? Also shuffle the Octopus Cards and place in a draw pile nearby. Flip over one of the tiles from the pile to serve as the starting tile. Youngest player goes first, and the game is ready to play!
On a turn, players will try to play one of their tiles to the ever-growing seascape being built on the table. Only by adding a tile from their hand to an appropriate place within the seascape can hands dwindle. At times a player will play a tile to the seascape depicting an octopus icon. After placing this tile, the active player will draw a card from the deck and either perform its action immediately or save it to be used at a later time (the card will instruct the players which to do). These cards could have players drawing more tiles, forcing other players to draw tiles, giving the active player the ability to manipulate tiles already placed in the seascape, or THROWING THE ADORABLE PLUSH OCTOPUS that comes with the game at an opponent. When the octopus is thrown at a player, they must immediately draw two tiles and skip their next turn. Should a player not have any other play, they must draw a tile from the pile and pass play to the next player.
As players are gaining and playing tiles to the board, the seascape is constantly changing, thus reflecting the real-life constantly-changing seascapes across the world. I may be reading too much into it. In any case, once a player places their final tile, they win and may challenge the players to a rematch immediately.
Recently added two-player rules allow for Speed Octopus play. In this mode, players are attempting to add to their own seascapes, and when they cannot play a card, they must discard a tile from their hand to their box top/bottom and draw a new tile from the shared pile. Once the game ends by players unable to play legally, points are scored for completed creatures in their personal board and negative points are earned for each tile in their box top/bottom. In this mode the cards and plushie are not used, but we house-ruled the usage of a Throw Octopus each time a creature was completed, just to further humiliate the other player.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, but what we received was a box full of tiles, cards, and just the cutest little octoplushie we have ever seen. I really hope that all copies of the game come with this style of octopus, as my daughter immediately confiscated it the first few nights to sleep with her, no joke. I can only imagine the upgrades this will receive as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign.
This is a silly, and sometimes frantic, tile laying game with take that and dexterity elements. Throwing the octopus and seeing the finished seascape at the end of the game are so satisfying. The art is great, and the concept is unique. I just know we will be playing this game for years to come. Again, if you happen to have littles in your your life or uptight friends, this is the game for you.
