Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (1811)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Peter Shephard (2822 KP) rated Terraforming Mars: Venus Next in Tabletop Games

May 25, 2019  
Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
2018 | Space, Territory Building
8
7.7 (13 Ratings)
Tabletop Game Rating
Great, but fully optional, expansion
There are lots of things about Venus Next which are enjoyable. The addition of a new card resource (floaters) adds an interesting mechanism, which with a bit of luck can really be a huge boost to your game (in some cases, however, they can be a bit of a damp squib).

Venus itself isn't a game changer, and it is absolutely viable to completely ignore Venus - remember, Venus itself it supposed to be the next challenge for Humanity after Terraforming Mars (hence "Venus Next..."!). I have had a couple of games where Venus' terrforming didn't get beyond a couple of percent (but there were plenty of Floater cards!) but equally I've had a couple of games where Venus was developed as far as the Board would allow, before Mars was even half-way completed.

It is a very good expansion, but personal opinion it would be one to get after the other expansions - some of the others offer much more
  
    Fort

    Fort

    9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

    Tabletop Game

    Fort is a 2-4 player card game about building forts and following friends. In Fort, you're a kid!...

40x40

Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated 5-Minute Marvel in Tabletop Games

Jun 12, 2019  
5-Minute Marvel
5-Minute Marvel
2018 | Card Game, Fighting, Real-time
7
6.5 (6 Ratings)
Tabletop Game Rating
I’m a sucker for Marvel. Not necessarily the comic books, though the ones I have read have been pretty good. But I’m a sucker for Marvel games, movies, shows, gear, etc. I saw this on sale at my FLGS and had to have it. I finally was able to get it played on International Table Top Day 2019 and was happy with the result. It’s easy to understand, plays quickly (ahem, reference the title), and is Marvel-related. I have to LOVE it, right?

Ok so here’s the quick rundown. Setup is almost as long as the entire game, but needs to be reset with every subsequent play. You have the individual hero decks for each player, a LARGE resource deck, and a mission deck to divvy up and shuffle each time. It’s not difficult to keep it all straight, but you are given a LOT of cards to handle. Once the decks are all setup you are ready to play. I downloaded the 5-Minute Marvel timer app to accompany my game plays, but that’s completely unnecessary (I do like it though). Start the timer, and then flip over the first card of the mission deck on the boss’s mat. Each card will have several resource icons that the heroes will need to discard from their hands to overcome the card. There are no “turns,” as all heroes are attempting to gather the necessary resources at all times. Each hero has a special ability they can use that is printed at the bottom of their play mat, and they are very powerful, so use them often! If you can get through the entire mission deck and defeat the boss within the 5 minute time limit, you win! Since the game lasts only 5 minutes you should probably play it several times in a row using different bosses of the six that come with this base box.

Components. This game is a combination of thick cardboard play mats for heroes and bosses and linen-finish cards for everything else. The quality of the cardboard and the cards are both pretty good, so I have no issues here. The art on the game is really spectacular. I have not really seen Marvel art like this and it is very refreshing. It is somewhat cartoony and not very gritty at all (which seems to be the comic book trend). Definitely a positive for me.

Do I love this game? Um, no. Maybe with more and more plays with different playmates it will grow on me, but the several times we played it we had a great time and it was very stressful to acquire the needed cards, or to decide to use your special ability, but we never once failed. I know we can increase the difficulty and use higher-ranked bosses. AND WE WILL, but the first few bosses are pretty much chumps and we had no problems dispatching them. I do believe this game would benefit from lots of expansions, but I do not know how successful the base has been for the publisher, so that may never come to fruition.

I do recommend you try out this game, as the frenzied rush to beat the clock is something I very much enjoy in games (a la FUSE, Escape: The Curse of the Temple, et al). Also: it’s Marvel. The game unfortunately does not come with Dr. Strange nor Iron Fist like I would have preferred, but it DOES come with a couple of my other favorites: Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl. They are so so fun! Purple Phoenix Games is pretty consistent with this one (even my wife agrees!) and we give this a frantic 12 / 18. Go get ’em Cap!

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/5-minute-marvel-review/