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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Tiny Ninjas in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
We at Purple Phoenix Games love Kickstarting games. We probably do it more than we should, but I am sure we are not alone in this. I, myself, have backed 59 games or game-related products to date (as of February 2019). Not all of them have been that good (I’m looking at you Shadow Days, IncrediBrawl, and A Duel Betwixt Us!), but some have been simply amazing. Where does this game about dueling ninjas rate? Pretty dang good.
So this one is a riff off the old regular deck of cards game “War.” In War you simply blindly compare cards from your personal deck and the highest number wins… essentially. In Tiny Ninjas, however, that concept has expanded this very familiar game and made it really sexy. Well, as sexy as you can make a game with chibi-esque ninja artwork.
There is still comparison of strength, but you take turns being the attacker and the defender. As the attacker, you decide how many of your hand of 5 cards you wish to play this round, resolve their effects, and then you become the defender. On defense, you are able to use only the cards you didn’t use as the attacker, whereas the attacker refills their hand back to the hand limit of 5 cards. Uh oh. Did I plan well enough to have plenty of defense, or will my hit points be depleted?? This is essentially the game’s skeleton.
Each card has a special attack or defense ability and sometimes it requires you to roll one of the two dice that comes with the game to determine strength or proc abilities. We all know that once dice are invited to the game a certain amount of luck is also introduced. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing here. I like a small amount of luck in my games. For me, it’s just another little wrinkle to be applied to my perfect strategy.
But let’s talk about those dice. The dice themselves are really great quality, and the stamping is great, and the icons on the dice are really really good. But I have problems with the card iconography that corresponds with the dice. On the cards, icons are printed in a variation of a circle. The circle looks a certain way if you are to use the white die. And then the circle looks differently to indicate usage of the red die. But then there are circles that correspond to the ink colors of the white and red dice that are also different but the same. That irks me just a bit because I think there could be other ways to do that. I found myself constantly looking at the reference card (which, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INCLUDING THIS) but maybe that’s just me and my preferences. After a while I caught on and it didn’t impede my enjoyment of the game any longer, but it was annoying at first.
I have not mentioned any of the other components because, frankly, they are really really great. The ingenious box-becomes-the-game-board idea is wonderful, the life trackers that hang out on the sides of the dice tray are great, the dojo sensei trackers, the cards and art on them are all top notch. For such an affordable package, you really do get quite a production.
I have no other qualms about the components, or the game play. It’s truly a fun experience. That said, Purple Phoenix Games gives Tiny Ninjas a stealthy 15 / 18. Don’t let this one sneak under your radar!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/tiny-ninjas-review/
So this one is a riff off the old regular deck of cards game “War.” In War you simply blindly compare cards from your personal deck and the highest number wins… essentially. In Tiny Ninjas, however, that concept has expanded this very familiar game and made it really sexy. Well, as sexy as you can make a game with chibi-esque ninja artwork.
There is still comparison of strength, but you take turns being the attacker and the defender. As the attacker, you decide how many of your hand of 5 cards you wish to play this round, resolve their effects, and then you become the defender. On defense, you are able to use only the cards you didn’t use as the attacker, whereas the attacker refills their hand back to the hand limit of 5 cards. Uh oh. Did I plan well enough to have plenty of defense, or will my hit points be depleted?? This is essentially the game’s skeleton.
Each card has a special attack or defense ability and sometimes it requires you to roll one of the two dice that comes with the game to determine strength or proc abilities. We all know that once dice are invited to the game a certain amount of luck is also introduced. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing here. I like a small amount of luck in my games. For me, it’s just another little wrinkle to be applied to my perfect strategy.
But let’s talk about those dice. The dice themselves are really great quality, and the stamping is great, and the icons on the dice are really really good. But I have problems with the card iconography that corresponds with the dice. On the cards, icons are printed in a variation of a circle. The circle looks a certain way if you are to use the white die. And then the circle looks differently to indicate usage of the red die. But then there are circles that correspond to the ink colors of the white and red dice that are also different but the same. That irks me just a bit because I think there could be other ways to do that. I found myself constantly looking at the reference card (which, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INCLUDING THIS) but maybe that’s just me and my preferences. After a while I caught on and it didn’t impede my enjoyment of the game any longer, but it was annoying at first.
I have not mentioned any of the other components because, frankly, they are really really great. The ingenious box-becomes-the-game-board idea is wonderful, the life trackers that hang out on the sides of the dice tray are great, the dojo sensei trackers, the cards and art on them are all top notch. For such an affordable package, you really do get quite a production.
I have no other qualms about the components, or the game play. It’s truly a fun experience. That said, Purple Phoenix Games gives Tiny Ninjas a stealthy 15 / 18. Don’t let this one sneak under your radar!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/tiny-ninjas-review/
MichaelS (0 KP) rated Thor: Ragnarok (2017) in Movies
Feb 20, 2018
Thor has always been the red headed stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's there, but nobody really seems to care all that much. His presence in the Avengers films is always more in the background, and his solo movies have been mediocre at best. Nothing that warrants more than one viewing. Now, with a healthy dose of Flash Gordon flair, Thor finally gets a movie that elevates this particular branch of the MCU to good, popcorn fun.
Visually, the movie is splendid. Bright colors and sweeping visuals create great backgrounds and settings. The hand to hand fights are impactful, and a aerial chase scene is exciting, and well shot. The music smacks of 70's science fiction, and 80's action movies, giving it a very retro feel. And the director is obviously a big fan of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". It's used in 2 fight scenes, which seems redundant, as Kiss' "God Of Thunder", or AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" would've been welcome additions.
But the film suffers from the same shortcomings as most other Marvel movies. First, the over reliance on humor continues to be crutch for the entire MCU. Way too often, the plot stops dead in it's track to tell a joke, and humor is injected into serious situations, completely erasing any feeling of something actually being at stake. After all, if the characters are cracking jokes, what they're fighting for must not be that important.
Once again, Marvel shits the bed when it comes to having a threatening villain. As Hela, Cate Blanchett is a step up from the useless villains Marvel usually produces, but even so, we're never really sure what exactly she's after. And when Thor devises a plan to stop her, it seemed to me that plan was simply doing Hela was out to accomplish in the first place. Other than that, she talks slow, walks, slow, and flicks her wrists a lot for various reasons.
The biggest problem with this movie is indicative of the entire MCU at this point. These movies simply can not stand on their own. They're so dependent on the viewer having seen all the other Marvel movies, that you'll be lost on many plot points if you go into this movie cold. Cameos by characters from other Marvel movies serve no point, other than to remind you that this movie is a part of a "cinematic universe"...two words, and a concept, I'd be glad to never deal with again.
Chris Hemsworth is solid as Thor, but he's always been rather unremarkable in the role. He does have a good chemistry with Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, but it's never really explained how Hulk was suddenly able to be such a chatterbox. Tessa Thompson is a welcome addition as Valkyrie. She has more layers to her character than any other in the movie, and looks great in tight leather. Tom Hiddleston is back...again...as Loki. It's never a good thing when the villain of your movie is more popular than the hero, and this movie completes Loki's transformation into full blown good guy. So, there's that.
All that being said, the movie is undeniable fun. It's has a very retro, Flash Gordon feel to it. Right down to a synthesized musical score that is a mixture of 70's science fiction, and 80's action movies. The action consists mostly of hand to hand fights, and for the most part, they're done very well. The final "three fights at once" scenario is reminiscent of movies like Return Of The Jedi, where the effects of all separate fights merge into one.
It's a fun, popcorn movie, and a major step up from the first two Thor movies. It's nothing great, or even memorable. But there's enough here to warrant additional viewings, and that's a first for this branch of the Marvel franchise.
Visually, the movie is splendid. Bright colors and sweeping visuals create great backgrounds and settings. The hand to hand fights are impactful, and a aerial chase scene is exciting, and well shot. The music smacks of 70's science fiction, and 80's action movies, giving it a very retro feel. And the director is obviously a big fan of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". It's used in 2 fight scenes, which seems redundant, as Kiss' "God Of Thunder", or AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" would've been welcome additions.
But the film suffers from the same shortcomings as most other Marvel movies. First, the over reliance on humor continues to be crutch for the entire MCU. Way too often, the plot stops dead in it's track to tell a joke, and humor is injected into serious situations, completely erasing any feeling of something actually being at stake. After all, if the characters are cracking jokes, what they're fighting for must not be that important.
Once again, Marvel shits the bed when it comes to having a threatening villain. As Hela, Cate Blanchett is a step up from the useless villains Marvel usually produces, but even so, we're never really sure what exactly she's after. And when Thor devises a plan to stop her, it seemed to me that plan was simply doing Hela was out to accomplish in the first place. Other than that, she talks slow, walks, slow, and flicks her wrists a lot for various reasons.
The biggest problem with this movie is indicative of the entire MCU at this point. These movies simply can not stand on their own. They're so dependent on the viewer having seen all the other Marvel movies, that you'll be lost on many plot points if you go into this movie cold. Cameos by characters from other Marvel movies serve no point, other than to remind you that this movie is a part of a "cinematic universe"...two words, and a concept, I'd be glad to never deal with again.
Chris Hemsworth is solid as Thor, but he's always been rather unremarkable in the role. He does have a good chemistry with Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, but it's never really explained how Hulk was suddenly able to be such a chatterbox. Tessa Thompson is a welcome addition as Valkyrie. She has more layers to her character than any other in the movie, and looks great in tight leather. Tom Hiddleston is back...again...as Loki. It's never a good thing when the villain of your movie is more popular than the hero, and this movie completes Loki's transformation into full blown good guy. So, there's that.
All that being said, the movie is undeniable fun. It's has a very retro, Flash Gordon feel to it. Right down to a synthesized musical score that is a mixture of 70's science fiction, and 80's action movies. The action consists mostly of hand to hand fights, and for the most part, they're done very well. The final "three fights at once" scenario is reminiscent of movies like Return Of The Jedi, where the effects of all separate fights merge into one.
It's a fun, popcorn movie, and a major step up from the first two Thor movies. It's nothing great, or even memorable. But there's enough here to warrant additional viewings, and that's a first for this branch of the Marvel franchise.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Hunger Games (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
“The Hunger Games” is based in a post-apocalyptic time when the world has been overcome by a series of devastating natural disasters and people have turned on each other to provide supplies for their families and for themselves in order to survive.
Bringing peace to the land was a nation known as Panem which is ruled by the Capitol. Panem had once consisted of thirteen districts all providing a resource essential to the survival of its people. An uprising against the Capitol caused much anger and destruction resulting in war and the annihilation of its thirteenth district.
With the intent to make sure such an uprising would never happen again, the Capitol required each of the twelve remaining districts to abide by the rules and regulations written in the Treaty of Treason to make sure that there is peace within Panem. Once a year a lottery is held where each of the twelve districts must offer up one young man and one young woman as tributes. This must be done in order to remind the people of Panem what was lost. Each of the 24 tributes must train and then battle for survival in an outdoor arena against each other leaving only one tribute to become the victor. This is known as The Hunger Games.
“The Hunger Games” is based upon the New York times best seller written by Suzanne Collins and directed by Gary Ross who also directed Seabiscuit. The storyline follows the main character Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteers as tribute in order to save her younger sister from having to fight and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcheson) has also been randomly chosen as tribute for the twelfth district.
The movie mostly follows these two characters on their journey to the battle ground as opposed to the book where we get a little more background into each of the different districts and their tributes. Who will be the victor of the 74th annual Hunger Games?
Let me start off by stating that you do not need to have read the book in order to enjoy this film. However, the movie does follow the book very well. Fans will always have their own very strong opinions as to whether the films follow their favorite books but for someone who read the book after I watched the movie I must say I was not lost nor did I feel disappointed that I did not read it prior to screening it.
This film includes a great cast such as Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland and a surprisingly effectively-cast Lenny Kravitz. Along with a fitting cast the film also offers a great soundtrack, colors that fit each district and great cinematography.
It is always interesting to hear the comments of the other reviewers after the end of a movie screening. Some commented on how they pictured certain characters as a totally different type of character than what was portrayed in the book such as Cinna played by Lenny Kravitz.
One lady pictured him as a slim Asian man while my guest pictured him as a flamboyant white man with a high fashion sense. Others commented on how shaky the cinematography was. Yes, granted it does get shaky in a lot of the scenes but it only adds action to the heart pounding edge of your seat scenes. This film is a kickstart to the season of great movies to come and I predict “The Hunger Games” will reach a bigger audience as it provides elements of action, drama and sci-fi to satisfy a larger audience.
For those of you who have not read the book I do have to warn you some of the scenes and or elements of the story may be just a little too disturbing for some but is a great story nonetheless.
Bringing peace to the land was a nation known as Panem which is ruled by the Capitol. Panem had once consisted of thirteen districts all providing a resource essential to the survival of its people. An uprising against the Capitol caused much anger and destruction resulting in war and the annihilation of its thirteenth district.
With the intent to make sure such an uprising would never happen again, the Capitol required each of the twelve remaining districts to abide by the rules and regulations written in the Treaty of Treason to make sure that there is peace within Panem. Once a year a lottery is held where each of the twelve districts must offer up one young man and one young woman as tributes. This must be done in order to remind the people of Panem what was lost. Each of the 24 tributes must train and then battle for survival in an outdoor arena against each other leaving only one tribute to become the victor. This is known as The Hunger Games.
“The Hunger Games” is based upon the New York times best seller written by Suzanne Collins and directed by Gary Ross who also directed Seabiscuit. The storyline follows the main character Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteers as tribute in order to save her younger sister from having to fight and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcheson) has also been randomly chosen as tribute for the twelfth district.
The movie mostly follows these two characters on their journey to the battle ground as opposed to the book where we get a little more background into each of the different districts and their tributes. Who will be the victor of the 74th annual Hunger Games?
Let me start off by stating that you do not need to have read the book in order to enjoy this film. However, the movie does follow the book very well. Fans will always have their own very strong opinions as to whether the films follow their favorite books but for someone who read the book after I watched the movie I must say I was not lost nor did I feel disappointed that I did not read it prior to screening it.
This film includes a great cast such as Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland and a surprisingly effectively-cast Lenny Kravitz. Along with a fitting cast the film also offers a great soundtrack, colors that fit each district and great cinematography.
It is always interesting to hear the comments of the other reviewers after the end of a movie screening. Some commented on how they pictured certain characters as a totally different type of character than what was portrayed in the book such as Cinna played by Lenny Kravitz.
One lady pictured him as a slim Asian man while my guest pictured him as a flamboyant white man with a high fashion sense. Others commented on how shaky the cinematography was. Yes, granted it does get shaky in a lot of the scenes but it only adds action to the heart pounding edge of your seat scenes. This film is a kickstart to the season of great movies to come and I predict “The Hunger Games” will reach a bigger audience as it provides elements of action, drama and sci-fi to satisfy a larger audience.
For those of you who have not read the book I do have to warn you some of the scenes and or elements of the story may be just a little too disturbing for some but is a great story nonetheless.
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