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Earthborne Rangers
Tabletop Game
Earthborne Rangers is a customizable, cooperative card game set in the wilderness of the far future....
RollerCoaster Tycoon® Touch™
Games
10.0
Rate It
App
Create, customize and rule your theme park kingdom in RollerCoaster Tycoon® Touch™. "Easily...
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The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) rated Splendor in Tabletop Games
Mar 14, 2018
Simple and Fun (3 more)
Easy to Teach
Easy to learn
Great gateway game
The theme might not be amazing, but the art is solid, and the games for simplicity and elegance can't be beat.
My wife and I play this all the time, we go on vacation and play on the beach under a cabana. It's a simple engine building game, with simple mechanics, you either collect three different jewels or two of the same, or you buy a card using those jewels to get permanent jewels. You get victory points for the higher value cards which are harder to get. We tend to make the game longer by adding to the number of victory points needed to win, we play to 22.
Fundamentals of Lighting
Book
Fundamentals of Lighting, 3rd Edition, takes an integrated approach to the study of lighting and...
Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders
Tabletop Game
Return to the mysterious island of Arnak in Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders! Give your...
jd2105 (10 KP) rated Valley of the Kings: Last Rites in Tabletop Games
Mar 21, 2020
Strategic Unique Deck Building Game
Very interesting deckbuilding game. This game ventures away a little bit from traditional deckbuilding games. Available cards to purchase are arranged in a pyramid with only being able to purchase from the bottom row only. Making purchases from the bottom of the pyramid allow cards from the top of the pyramid to fall to the bottom of the pyramid for purchasing. Certain cards can change the rules as many games do, such as purchasing cards any where on the pyramid.
Entombing is a new feature to this genre of games that really sets this deckbuilder apart from the rest. Entombing is actually set collecting within this deckbuilder. To entomb a card you simply put it aside in a pile to no longer use for the rest of the game. By entombing a card you can not use it's value for purchasing or it's special actions.
End game is based on how many cards you have entombed. The more sets you collect the more vp you score.
This game works best with 2-3 in my opinion, however this one of my favorite go to solo games.
Entombing is a new feature to this genre of games that really sets this deckbuilder apart from the rest. Entombing is actually set collecting within this deckbuilder. To entomb a card you simply put it aside in a pile to no longer use for the rest of the game. By entombing a card you can not use it's value for purchasing or it's special actions.
End game is based on how many cards you have entombed. The more sets you collect the more vp you score.
This game works best with 2-3 in my opinion, however this one of my favorite go to solo games.
Tail Story
8.0
Rate It
Tabletop Game
Tail Story is the story of the pets who dream to spend their daily lives differently. In this...
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Cthulhu Realms in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
Cthulhu – a theme that is deeply rooted in the board gaming world. There are SO MANY Cthulhu-based games and spin-offs of standard games. Some people really dig the theme, and some people really don’t. So where does this particular game fall on the spectrum? Keep reading to find out!
In Cthulhu Realms, a deck-building game, you are a Cthulhu cultist that is trying to drive your rivals literally insane. By gathering followers, collecting artifacts, and discovering new locations, you will gain enough power to influence the sanity of those who would oppose you! On your turn, you will play cards from your hand to Conjure (acquire new cards from the communal pool), Draw/Discard cards, Gain/Lose Sanity, or Abjure (permanently discard cards from the game). The game ends when a player is reduced to zero sanity – and the player who has retained their sanity is the winner!
I love deck-building games. I really do. I think it’s a neat mechanic that allows you to customize your strategy with every play. So I enjoy playing Cthulhu Realms because of that element. And that’s kind of where my enjoyment ends with this game. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a decent game. I just have a couple of issues with the actual cards and abilities. The cards themselves are very reliant on iconography to communicate powers/abilities. Props to the player boards for having a quick reference for the basic actions, but I still always keep the rule sheet on hand for the in-depth explanation as I play. And even then, the rule sheet still has a bit of ambiguity on how some of the powers work. I wish they’d provided a couple of examples because sometimes I still get confused by certain combinations of icons. Just a little more detail in the rule sheet could alleviate some of the ambiguity of the icon abilities.
For card abilities, each individual card can have anywhere from 1-3 special abilities. The tricky thing is that the abilities do not all have to be used at the same time. So I could use 1 ability from a card, use an ability from a different card, and then come back to my first card and use another of it’s printed abilities. And with a hand of 5 cards every turn (not counting additional cards you may draw…), it can be hard to keep track of which abilities you’ve already used that turn. On top of that, many of the abilities have prerequisites – you can’t use that specific ability unless you’ve already played/have in play the requisite card. Some abilities only have 1 prerequisite, but some have 2, which just adds another layer of bookkeeping to your turns. Not only are you trying to remember which card abilities you’ve already used, but you’re also trying to keep track of your cards/actions that turn that could unlock other card abilities. The rule sheet suggests sliding a card to one side of your play area once you’ve used one of its powers. But again, if it has more than 1 ability on it, you’ve got to remember which ones you’ve used/haven’t used yet, regardless of where they are in your play area. This is a competitive game overall, but with all of these elements to track on your turns, it saps the tension from the game and makes it feel a little more luck-based than strategic.
To alleviate some of my grievances, I think the game could just have more cards with fewer abilities on each. That would make it much easier to execute all of your turns. And eliminate some of the ability prerequisites – having them on most of the abilities just adds another element for you to keep track of, and it feels a little unnecessary. If the turns were a little more clear and concise, I would like this game a lot more. It’s not bad, it just gets bogged down a little bit with too much action on your turns. That’s why Purple Phoenix Games gives Cthulhu Realms a 6/12.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/03/22/cthulhu-realms-review/
In Cthulhu Realms, a deck-building game, you are a Cthulhu cultist that is trying to drive your rivals literally insane. By gathering followers, collecting artifacts, and discovering new locations, you will gain enough power to influence the sanity of those who would oppose you! On your turn, you will play cards from your hand to Conjure (acquire new cards from the communal pool), Draw/Discard cards, Gain/Lose Sanity, or Abjure (permanently discard cards from the game). The game ends when a player is reduced to zero sanity – and the player who has retained their sanity is the winner!
I love deck-building games. I really do. I think it’s a neat mechanic that allows you to customize your strategy with every play. So I enjoy playing Cthulhu Realms because of that element. And that’s kind of where my enjoyment ends with this game. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a decent game. I just have a couple of issues with the actual cards and abilities. The cards themselves are very reliant on iconography to communicate powers/abilities. Props to the player boards for having a quick reference for the basic actions, but I still always keep the rule sheet on hand for the in-depth explanation as I play. And even then, the rule sheet still has a bit of ambiguity on how some of the powers work. I wish they’d provided a couple of examples because sometimes I still get confused by certain combinations of icons. Just a little more detail in the rule sheet could alleviate some of the ambiguity of the icon abilities.
For card abilities, each individual card can have anywhere from 1-3 special abilities. The tricky thing is that the abilities do not all have to be used at the same time. So I could use 1 ability from a card, use an ability from a different card, and then come back to my first card and use another of it’s printed abilities. And with a hand of 5 cards every turn (not counting additional cards you may draw…), it can be hard to keep track of which abilities you’ve already used that turn. On top of that, many of the abilities have prerequisites – you can’t use that specific ability unless you’ve already played/have in play the requisite card. Some abilities only have 1 prerequisite, but some have 2, which just adds another layer of bookkeeping to your turns. Not only are you trying to remember which card abilities you’ve already used, but you’re also trying to keep track of your cards/actions that turn that could unlock other card abilities. The rule sheet suggests sliding a card to one side of your play area once you’ve used one of its powers. But again, if it has more than 1 ability on it, you’ve got to remember which ones you’ve used/haven’t used yet, regardless of where they are in your play area. This is a competitive game overall, but with all of these elements to track on your turns, it saps the tension from the game and makes it feel a little more luck-based than strategic.
To alleviate some of my grievances, I think the game could just have more cards with fewer abilities on each. That would make it much easier to execute all of your turns. And eliminate some of the ability prerequisites – having them on most of the abilities just adds another element for you to keep track of, and it feels a little unnecessary. If the turns were a little more clear and concise, I would like this game a lot more. It’s not bad, it just gets bogged down a little bit with too much action on your turns. That’s why Purple Phoenix Games gives Cthulhu Realms a 6/12.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/03/22/cthulhu-realms-review/