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Illimat
Illimat
2017 | Abstract Strategy, Card Game
A Modern Classic
Come for the classic card game feel; stay for the Decemberists themes. A working knowledge of The Decemberists concept albums The Hazards Of Love (and The Crane Wife if you have the expansion) are not required at all and provide no tactical advantage but you will enjoy the flavor of the tarot-like Illuminaries a bit more if you get the references.
  
Viticulture
Viticulture
2013 | Economic, Farming
Everything about this game is great (3 more)
The Art
The Game Mechanisms
Deeper than it looks strategy.
I love and adore this game.... Especially with the Tuscany expansion
I could go on and on about this game. This game has multiple layers and a learning curve on it so that new gamers can catch on, and yet there's always more for the deeper veteran game players.
  
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Ben (262 KP) rated ICECOOL2 in Tabletop Games

Aug 4, 2019  
ICECOOL2
ICECOOL2
2018 | Action, Animals, Kids Game, Racing
ICECOOL2 is both a standalone game and an expansion for ICECOOL. If played on its own, ICECOOL2 differs from the original.
If you combine both ICECOOL sets, you get:
Multiple new layouts
New game mode called "The Race"
Games playable for up to eight players
Chance to create your own new layouts.
Overall great edition. Love the huge setup that both games put together make!
  
Wingspan
Wingspan
2019 | Card Game
Gameplay (4 more)
Replayability
Expansions
Variety of Birds
Quality
Plastic Containers (1 more)
Cost
Superb!
My mum bought me this for Christmas, I'd put off buying it for so long because of the price, but new board games do seem to be very expensive these days.

The game is beautiful, it's fun to play, the artwork is stunning, and all the pieces are of an excellent quality.

The game itself it won by scoring points by doing certain tasks, including collecting different species of birds, laying eggs, collecting food, and several other ways. The game is made up of 5 rounds I believe, and each round you use your tokens to complete actions. It's a very simple game, and great for the whole family!

If you're in Europe, I strongly suggest purchasing the European expansion, as in the base game quite a few of the birds are only found in North America, so the expansion brings it a bit closer to home :)

As I mentioned, the cost (approximately £45 for the base game, around £25 for the expansion), does let it down slightly, but it certainly feels worth every penny! The only thing that really disappoints me is the plastic containers included for storing different tokens and eggs. They aren't really necessary, and are bulkier than they need to be.
  
Mystic Vale: Conclave
Mystic Vale: Conclave
2018 | Card Game, Fantasy, Game Expansion
Mystic Vale: Conclave is a good expansion if you have multiple other expansions for Mystic Vale already. It is at first a giant box/organizer that lets you organise multiple expansions. It also comes with additional decks for more people (or if you like the colors purple and white instead). It adds 8 new cards called totems that are in your play area from the start of the game. I did not like these too much as they sped up the game too much in my opinion and seemed unbalanced. The best part of this expansion in my opinion were the Conclaves. These are cards with advancements and vales from the expansions printed on them. By picking 6 of them randomly, you can allow for a more focused game and actually see multiples of some card types. Especially at smaller player counts when your level 1 advancement deck is more limited.
  
Steam Park: Play Dirty
Steam Park: Play Dirty
2016 | City Building, Dice Game, Game Expansion, Real-time, Science Fiction
In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection.

This breakdown is for the action dice-rolling and them park-building game Steam Park’s modular expansion, Play Dirty (as in dirt, not as in adult themes). Play Dirty is a modular expansion, so some modules may be added or left out depending on comfort level and enjoyment of each module.

One major module added to this expansion is the addition of a fifth player to Steam Park. As if Steam Park wasn’t frantic enough with four, go ahead and throw in a fifth set of hands going crazy at the table! Also included are gray “Stingy Visitors,” which act as wild visitor types for color, but provide one less Danari (currency in Steam Park) but create NO DIRT. Excellent! Play Dirty also includes a new set of five stands for robots to do business: Fountain, Hall of Mirrors, Office, Shooting Gallery, and Incinerator. Along with these new stands are a set of stand reference tiles to remind players what each stand actually does in the game. Very handy.


The biggest difference-makers in the expansion box are the Ride Extensions, Park Directors, and Espionage Dice. Ride Extensions do just that – extend existing rides in one’s park, but the two different colored extensions (golden and rusty) have their own rules that are triggered depending on colors of robots upon them. The Park Directors module adds a new twist that changes the rules for an aspect of the base game for all players throughout the entire game. These are very powerful changes, and one Park Director is chosen to be used at the beginning of each game. Espionage Dice are very special in that one is added to each player’s white dice and rolled as normal throughout the game. However, the Espionage Dice cost 4 Danari to activate after the Roll Phase. The power here is that the player using the die pays one Danari less to use it when matching the face of white dice in their opponent’s pig sitting to their right. For example, to use a Build Stand face on Espionage Die will cost four Danari normally. However, should the opponent on the right have four Build Stand symbols showing on their white dice, the Espionage Die activates for free!
Must you own the Play Dirty expansion to truly enjoy your plays of Steam Park? Not at all. I do very much enjoy several of the modules in the box though. I really enjoy the powerful Park Directors because it freshens up a rule from the base game or modifies it in interesting ways. I like the new Stands that come in the box as well for additional options during play, but you MUST use the reference tiles, especially if combining all 10 Stands. The other modules are fine, but I would have been happy with just the ones I mentioned here.

Official recommendation: I remember my first play of Steam Park and falling in love with it right away. I have never felt stagnation in my future plays, but adding Play Dirty certainly is a game-changer in every sense of the term. I say definitely pick it up if you are feeling the base game no longer gives you the excitement and frenzy it once did.
  
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
Massively Multiplayer
Gameplay (1 more)
Graphics Style
Playerbase (0 more)
Great MMO, Terrible playerbase
I really liked this game when it first released years ago. I was one of the first players on my server to get a mount. However what ruined this game for me was the playerbase. I just couldn't stand it. I left shortly after the first expansion came out. Although I would go back in a heartbeat if they would make Ogre's playable.
  
Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
2018 | Space, Territory Building
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
  
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Liliannar (58 KP) rated Hero in Books

May 25, 2018  
H
Hero
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Character development (1 more)
World Expansion
WOW
There are parts of this book that do drag a bit, but if you can get through those small pieces, this is an amazing read. The last 20 pages or so of the book make the entire read an epic journey. Without any spoilers, it's safe to say that this book brings about pieces of the story every Drizzt fan has been waiting for since day one.
  
Firefly: The Game
Firefly: The Game
2013 | Entertainment, Science Fiction, Space, Travel
Variety of options (1 more)
Add-ons
Set up time (1 more)
Insufficient instructions
As a Firefly fan I was excited to play this game and I was not dissapointed. The base game has multiple story options and ships, both of which can be added to with the expansion packs.

The rules can be a bit confusing to start with which increases set-up time, however you may find you modify the rules to suit yourself/group.