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Kyera (8 KP) rated Princess of Thorns in Books
Feb 1, 2018
Princess of Thorns is a not-so-classic retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. The main character is actually the daughter of the cursed princess, who awoke from a kiss. Her name is Aurora, like the Disney movie's princess and her mother's name is Rose. In the french version of the tale, Sleeping Beauty's daughter is named Aurore. I believe that her mother's is the shortened form of Briar Rose, like German version of her tale by the Brother's Grimm. If you are familiar with the Grimm and Perrault versions of the tale, not only the Disney one, then you will notice many similarities. In a few versions of the tale, there is an evil step-mother or mother-in-law who attempts to eat the leading lady's children.
The author makes use of these characters and plots in her novel. She chooses to include the ill-fated mother, brother and sister, as well as the villainous step-mother. Although that familial tie is not explicitly stated, the King was the children's father and he married the ogre. Thus, she would be their step-mother. And you thought you had a dysfunctional family?
In true fairytale fashion, there are ogres, witches, fairies, and ruffians. Not all are portrayed as you would expect. The ogres have evolved, or perhaps devolved depending upon who you ask. In the early years, the ogres were monstrous creatures that devoured souls whole. They did not control themselves, but feasted on the entire soul leaving nothing behind. As time went on, they were forced to change and limit how much they took. After a time, the ogres began to become smaller and take on much more human-like appearances. Their food source never changed and they prided themselves upon each soul they took, marking their bare skulls.
The Fae seem human, although they possess extra-human traits and magic. One may not think of fairies and immediately imagine a human-like creature with great dexterity, skill in battle, and a lack of guilt -but the Fair Folk are shown this way in the novel. A fairy can bestow a gift upon a human child, like beauty, courage, eloquence, obedience, or strength. But each blessing comes with a curse, as the magic always finds a way to turn the gift into a burden. There are untold consequences to the blessings that cannot be avoided. As such, the fairies stopped giving their gifts to human children.
As with most fairytales, there is an element of romance. The love story blossoms under unusual circumstances and not without its share of problems. The two characters get to know each other throughout the journey, but their are many secrets left untold. As they are discovered, the relationship is altered for good or bad. And in the end, a choice must be made.
Most importantly, the novel isn't entirely predictable (although the budding romance was expected). Generally, you expect good to triumph over evil in most modern retellings of the story - unlike their Grimm counterparts. The plot's climax was frankly a little anti-climactic, but enjoyable non-the-less.
I think the author showed an average amount of character development, although I usually think more would be incredibly beneficial. Certain aspects of the world were explained, but not vividly enough. The "show-don't-tell" method could have been employed here to create a richer, more immersive world. Overall, I was pleased with the author's lexicon, grammar, and spelling - which happens much less often than should reasonably be expected.
I would certainly read another novel by this author as I love stories based upon fairytales. If you read Alex Flinn, I would highly recommend this novel to you just keep in mind it is slightly darker. Readers of fantasy, romance, and the like will enjoy this book and should give it a chance. It seems to target the female demographic, but males should enjoy it as well.
The author makes use of these characters and plots in her novel. She chooses to include the ill-fated mother, brother and sister, as well as the villainous step-mother. Although that familial tie is not explicitly stated, the King was the children's father and he married the ogre. Thus, she would be their step-mother. And you thought you had a dysfunctional family?
In true fairytale fashion, there are ogres, witches, fairies, and ruffians. Not all are portrayed as you would expect. The ogres have evolved, or perhaps devolved depending upon who you ask. In the early years, the ogres were monstrous creatures that devoured souls whole. They did not control themselves, but feasted on the entire soul leaving nothing behind. As time went on, they were forced to change and limit how much they took. After a time, the ogres began to become smaller and take on much more human-like appearances. Their food source never changed and they prided themselves upon each soul they took, marking their bare skulls.
The Fae seem human, although they possess extra-human traits and magic. One may not think of fairies and immediately imagine a human-like creature with great dexterity, skill in battle, and a lack of guilt -but the Fair Folk are shown this way in the novel. A fairy can bestow a gift upon a human child, like beauty, courage, eloquence, obedience, or strength. But each blessing comes with a curse, as the magic always finds a way to turn the gift into a burden. There are untold consequences to the blessings that cannot be avoided. As such, the fairies stopped giving their gifts to human children.
As with most fairytales, there is an element of romance. The love story blossoms under unusual circumstances and not without its share of problems. The two characters get to know each other throughout the journey, but their are many secrets left untold. As they are discovered, the relationship is altered for good or bad. And in the end, a choice must be made.
Most importantly, the novel isn't entirely predictable (although the budding romance was expected). Generally, you expect good to triumph over evil in most modern retellings of the story - unlike their Grimm counterparts. The plot's climax was frankly a little anti-climactic, but enjoyable non-the-less.
I think the author showed an average amount of character development, although I usually think more would be incredibly beneficial. Certain aspects of the world were explained, but not vividly enough. The "show-don't-tell" method could have been employed here to create a richer, more immersive world. Overall, I was pleased with the author's lexicon, grammar, and spelling - which happens much less often than should reasonably be expected.
I would certainly read another novel by this author as I love stories based upon fairytales. If you read Alex Flinn, I would highly recommend this novel to you just keep in mind it is slightly darker. Readers of fantasy, romance, and the like will enjoy this book and should give it a chance. It seems to target the female demographic, but males should enjoy it as well.
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Say more with GIF Keyboard by Tenor. Add tone to your conversation. With Tenor’s GIF Keyboard...
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Matthew Weiner recommended And Now My Love (1974) in Movies (curated)
Merissa (13123 KP) rated Sexted by Santa (Thrust Into Love #4) in Books
Nov 18, 2021 (Updated Jul 10, 2023)
SEXTED BY SANTA is the fourth book in the Thrust Into Love series and could easily be read as a standalone as the connection is the college, not the people.
Oh, man. Where to start? Maybe with the Found Family, which is something I always love? Or maybe with the grumpy, grinch-like main character who also warms up? Or maybe I go with the amazing amount of research done into Type 1 Diabetes? I don't know. All of the above.
Having my own Found Family; this is a trope I love. It has been proven to me over and over that they can step up when your biological family won't. It doesn't always mean it's straightforward though, as Hugh so brilliantly demonstrates.
As for the main characters, Christian never had it easy, from the time he was named! And Jaxson, bless his heart. He became a single parent at a young age, determined to do the right thing. And, for the most part, he succeeds admirably. Yes, he's over-protective, but so would I be! I adored how these two were together, so capable and supportive of each other, yet so hot my Kindle was steaming.
And yes, that research definitely deserves a mention! I honestly had no idea it was so involved. Absolutely heartbreaking that you can do all the right things and some outside force can make it go wrong! Luckily for me, this author believes in happy endings so all was well in the end. I was worried!!!
Put all of this together and you get a stonking book that is so much more than 'just' a Christmas story. It's about love, hope, and learning to live again. Absolutely fantastic and highly recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 18, 2021
Oh, man. Where to start? Maybe with the Found Family, which is something I always love? Or maybe with the grumpy, grinch-like main character who also warms up? Or maybe I go with the amazing amount of research done into Type 1 Diabetes? I don't know. All of the above.
Having my own Found Family; this is a trope I love. It has been proven to me over and over that they can step up when your biological family won't. It doesn't always mean it's straightforward though, as Hugh so brilliantly demonstrates.
As for the main characters, Christian never had it easy, from the time he was named! And Jaxson, bless his heart. He became a single parent at a young age, determined to do the right thing. And, for the most part, he succeeds admirably. Yes, he's over-protective, but so would I be! I adored how these two were together, so capable and supportive of each other, yet so hot my Kindle was steaming.
And yes, that research definitely deserves a mention! I honestly had no idea it was so involved. Absolutely heartbreaking that you can do all the right things and some outside force can make it go wrong! Luckily for me, this author believes in happy endings so all was well in the end. I was worried!!!
Put all of this together and you get a stonking book that is so much more than 'just' a Christmas story. It's about love, hope, and learning to live again. Absolutely fantastic and highly recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 18, 2021
PICKA - Dating, Meet, Chat
Dating, Lifestyle and Social Networking
1.5
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PICKA! One of the best dating apps launched in 2017. A new, thrilling location based free dating...
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Journey of the Emperor in Tabletop Games
Jun 13, 2019
Do you think you know how to party? I thought I did, too. Then I played Journey of the Emperor, where you are planning an exciting party of journeys for the Emperor and their friends. They are all relying on YOU to provide them with the best journeys seeing exciting animals, beautiful flowers, and colorful lanterns along the way. But will you be able to plan wisely in the limited time you have been given? Let’s find out.
We were very excited to receive this game from Laboratory H for preview before they began their Kickstarter campaign. We love games with an Asian influence, and it seemed to have touches and inspirations from Tokaido, another favorite of ours. What we received is its own beast with great art and components.
So like I alluded to in my intro, you play a party planner drafting the best path cards to build the most killer journeys for your Emperor. You are dealt a hand of path cards – big, beautiful cards – that can feature different combinations of Journey Start, Journey End, animals, and lanterns icons. To assist you in focusing your strategy, you are also dealt four Emperor’s Favorites cards, from which you will keep two and discard the others. From the large stack of remaining path cards you reveal six as an offer and the game can begin.
On your turn you will be drafting cards from the offer, playing cards from your hand, and trying to complete objectives for points on your Emperor’s Favorites and Journey Start and End cards. These cards have scoring conditions printed on them to help tailor your play. So a Journey End card could have a picture of a flower on it (as all Start and End cards do) with a scoring condition of 3 points for every tiger icon on this completed Journey (I want to call this a “scoring panel” for this review to make it easier). So then you want to concentrate on getting as many tiger icons into this Journey to score tons of points. Or perhaps a Journey Start card will have a different flower, and state that you get 21 points for every set of tiger, dragon, and turtle icons. Either way, you now have a goal to achieve and you spend the game trying to amass the most points from these scoring opportunities and those found on your Emperor’s Favorites cards, which have similar scoring iconography. Most points at game end wins!
While this seems easy and that there is no inherent strategy, let me introduce the wrinkle. You can only score points from completed journeys. Each completed journey has at least a Journey Start and Journey End card. These cards will be adjacent to each other to form a pathway through the cards. You may never add a path card to your journey between two existing cards, but they can be added to the edges of a journey – either at the beginning or the end. If you add to the beginning, you will completely cover up the Journey Start card’s scoring panel so that you can create an uninterrupted path. Herein lies the strategy. At what point do you take the plunge and cover up a scoring panel to add to your journey? Yes, you can get way more points by doing this, but in a 4-player game you only have EIGHT turns. So do you feel like you will be able to draft just the right cards to maximize your scoring or will you falter and not be able to complete a journey in time, thus forfeiting any points you could have scored? Oh, you clever game…
Components. This is a smaller card game. The Emperor’s Favorites cards are about the mini size you would find in OG Ticket to Ride. The path cards are much larger and similar to the tarot sized cards, if not even taller. Both are of great quality with the wonderful linen finish (that I’m learning is more polarizing than I originally thought, but I love it!). Our review copy came with a few scoring sheets to tally the final scores – which we didn’t use correctly but still arrived at the correct final scores. The art in this game is truly breathtaking. The details in the murals in just the backgrounds of the path cards are amazing, and the flowers and animals are really really incredible. If we had one small gripe about the art, it was mentioned that someone could not tell much of a difference between the tiger and the dragon icons on the path cards. I didn’t have much of a problem deciphering the difference, but they are very similar in color and style, so I can see how others may view this as an issue for them.
DISCLAIMER: These are preview copy components, and I do not know if the final components will be similar or different, or if the Kickstarter campaign will alter or add anything through stretch goals. That said, I am very satisfied with the components provided in this game.
This is a really good game. A lot more thinky than Tokaido (using a similar theme), and ultimately more enjoyable because you really feel you have control over your turns and aren’t just going for the best available at the time. You actually have to employ strategy here in order to be competitive. And although this is not a spiteful take-that game, you most certainly can foil your opponents’ plans indirectly by drafting their much-needed path cards. The art is amazing, the game is a great length, and you really want to keep playing. To me, that is the mark of a really good game. All that said, I would recommend this one if you are looking for a quick game that gives you all the good feelings of Tokaido but also scratches more of a gamer’s itch for actual strategy. Oh, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
We were very excited to receive this game from Laboratory H for preview before they began their Kickstarter campaign. We love games with an Asian influence, and it seemed to have touches and inspirations from Tokaido, another favorite of ours. What we received is its own beast with great art and components.
So like I alluded to in my intro, you play a party planner drafting the best path cards to build the most killer journeys for your Emperor. You are dealt a hand of path cards – big, beautiful cards – that can feature different combinations of Journey Start, Journey End, animals, and lanterns icons. To assist you in focusing your strategy, you are also dealt four Emperor’s Favorites cards, from which you will keep two and discard the others. From the large stack of remaining path cards you reveal six as an offer and the game can begin.
On your turn you will be drafting cards from the offer, playing cards from your hand, and trying to complete objectives for points on your Emperor’s Favorites and Journey Start and End cards. These cards have scoring conditions printed on them to help tailor your play. So a Journey End card could have a picture of a flower on it (as all Start and End cards do) with a scoring condition of 3 points for every tiger icon on this completed Journey (I want to call this a “scoring panel” for this review to make it easier). So then you want to concentrate on getting as many tiger icons into this Journey to score tons of points. Or perhaps a Journey Start card will have a different flower, and state that you get 21 points for every set of tiger, dragon, and turtle icons. Either way, you now have a goal to achieve and you spend the game trying to amass the most points from these scoring opportunities and those found on your Emperor’s Favorites cards, which have similar scoring iconography. Most points at game end wins!
While this seems easy and that there is no inherent strategy, let me introduce the wrinkle. You can only score points from completed journeys. Each completed journey has at least a Journey Start and Journey End card. These cards will be adjacent to each other to form a pathway through the cards. You may never add a path card to your journey between two existing cards, but they can be added to the edges of a journey – either at the beginning or the end. If you add to the beginning, you will completely cover up the Journey Start card’s scoring panel so that you can create an uninterrupted path. Herein lies the strategy. At what point do you take the plunge and cover up a scoring panel to add to your journey? Yes, you can get way more points by doing this, but in a 4-player game you only have EIGHT turns. So do you feel like you will be able to draft just the right cards to maximize your scoring or will you falter and not be able to complete a journey in time, thus forfeiting any points you could have scored? Oh, you clever game…
Components. This is a smaller card game. The Emperor’s Favorites cards are about the mini size you would find in OG Ticket to Ride. The path cards are much larger and similar to the tarot sized cards, if not even taller. Both are of great quality with the wonderful linen finish (that I’m learning is more polarizing than I originally thought, but I love it!). Our review copy came with a few scoring sheets to tally the final scores – which we didn’t use correctly but still arrived at the correct final scores. The art in this game is truly breathtaking. The details in the murals in just the backgrounds of the path cards are amazing, and the flowers and animals are really really incredible. If we had one small gripe about the art, it was mentioned that someone could not tell much of a difference between the tiger and the dragon icons on the path cards. I didn’t have much of a problem deciphering the difference, but they are very similar in color and style, so I can see how others may view this as an issue for them.
DISCLAIMER: These are preview copy components, and I do not know if the final components will be similar or different, or if the Kickstarter campaign will alter or add anything through stretch goals. That said, I am very satisfied with the components provided in this game.
This is a really good game. A lot more thinky than Tokaido (using a similar theme), and ultimately more enjoyable because you really feel you have control over your turns and aren’t just going for the best available at the time. You actually have to employ strategy here in order to be competitive. And although this is not a spiteful take-that game, you most certainly can foil your opponents’ plans indirectly by drafting their much-needed path cards. The art is amazing, the game is a great length, and you really want to keep playing. To me, that is the mark of a really good game. All that said, I would recommend this one if you are looking for a quick game that gives you all the good feelings of Tokaido but also scratches more of a gamer’s itch for actual strategy. Oh, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan (2021) in Movies
Aug 20, 2021
Good jokes, most of which land (1 more)
Enough David Brent/Partridge moments to make you cringe
As a PJDN virgin, I still laughed a lot!
It’s brave then that such a relatively niche UK TV show should have a go at ‘jumping the shark’ onto the big screen. Would fans like it? And, just as importantly, would newcomers to the characters, like me, be able to enjoy the film as a standalone entity? The answer to the last question is a qualified “yes”.
Positives:
- It well-surpasses the “6 laugh test” for a comedy. There are some scenes that I found extremely funny, with others that rated highly for me on the David Brent / Alan Partridge scale of cringiness.
- I’ve seen comment that the story is "silly" and “unbelievable”. But having experienced the crazy clash between English and Japanese culture first hand, it strikes me as very true to form! The way in which the Japanese music execs try to stylise the ground as a ‘boy band’ (“Bang Boys”!), which Grindah greedily goes along with, is a nice satire on the music industry asserting its brand over musician’s art.
- A subplot of a love story beween the inept Steves and the cute Japanese translator Ishika (Ayumi Itô) is nicely done and strangely touching.
- The good news is that you don’t need any previous experience of the characters to get fun out of the movie: you can jump right in. That being said though, I’m sure fans of the series will get more out of this than I did.
Negatives:
- While the ending was uplifting, I was itching to know what fallout (or success?) there was from the event we witnessed. Perhaps if its a box office success (unlikely I think!) then there will be a sequel.
Summary Thoughts on “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan”: IMDB is littered with disastrous reviews of British TV shows that have tried and failed to make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. “On the Buses”; “Are You Being Served?”; “Steptoe and Son”; “Please Sir”; “Love Thy Neighbour” – the list is endless. They are mostly all horribly unfunny. Even the great “Morecambe and Wise”, although showing occasional moments of brilliance, struggled to fully land any of their three big-screen outings.
The ‘go-to’ of many of these efforts was to “go abroad”: take the well-loved characters and put them into a ‘bigger’ and stranger pool. So “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan” was following a well-trodden path here. It’s a tribute to the team and their TV-series director Jack Clough, in his feature debut, that they pretty much pull it off.
I’d like to agree with Kevin Maher of “The Times” that the movie is full of “Japanese stereotypes… drunken businessmen, passive giggling women etc”. But having travelled extensively on business in Japan, it seems pretty close to the mark with its observations to me! More importantly, the film never seems to be particularly derogatory or disrespectful of the culture. For example, they take their shoes off too much!
Key to its box office success will be whether or not it can attract an audience outside of its niche TV fan-bases. As a member of that sub-group, I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one, but I actually did. It was good fun, and if you want a good laugh at the cinema – a pretty rare thing – then I’d recommend this one, even if – like me – you haven’t seen the original TV show.
(For the full graphical review, please check out onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks!)
Positives:
- It well-surpasses the “6 laugh test” for a comedy. There are some scenes that I found extremely funny, with others that rated highly for me on the David Brent / Alan Partridge scale of cringiness.
- I’ve seen comment that the story is "silly" and “unbelievable”. But having experienced the crazy clash between English and Japanese culture first hand, it strikes me as very true to form! The way in which the Japanese music execs try to stylise the ground as a ‘boy band’ (“Bang Boys”!), which Grindah greedily goes along with, is a nice satire on the music industry asserting its brand over musician’s art.
- A subplot of a love story beween the inept Steves and the cute Japanese translator Ishika (Ayumi Itô) is nicely done and strangely touching.
- The good news is that you don’t need any previous experience of the characters to get fun out of the movie: you can jump right in. That being said though, I’m sure fans of the series will get more out of this than I did.
Negatives:
- While the ending was uplifting, I was itching to know what fallout (or success?) there was from the event we witnessed. Perhaps if its a box office success (unlikely I think!) then there will be a sequel.
Summary Thoughts on “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan”: IMDB is littered with disastrous reviews of British TV shows that have tried and failed to make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. “On the Buses”; “Are You Being Served?”; “Steptoe and Son”; “Please Sir”; “Love Thy Neighbour” – the list is endless. They are mostly all horribly unfunny. Even the great “Morecambe and Wise”, although showing occasional moments of brilliance, struggled to fully land any of their three big-screen outings.
The ‘go-to’ of many of these efforts was to “go abroad”: take the well-loved characters and put them into a ‘bigger’ and stranger pool. So “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan” was following a well-trodden path here. It’s a tribute to the team and their TV-series director Jack Clough, in his feature debut, that they pretty much pull it off.
I’d like to agree with Kevin Maher of “The Times” that the movie is full of “Japanese stereotypes… drunken businessmen, passive giggling women etc”. But having travelled extensively on business in Japan, it seems pretty close to the mark with its observations to me! More importantly, the film never seems to be particularly derogatory or disrespectful of the culture. For example, they take their shoes off too much!
Key to its box office success will be whether or not it can attract an audience outside of its niche TV fan-bases. As a member of that sub-group, I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one, but I actually did. It was good fun, and if you want a good laugh at the cinema – a pretty rare thing – then I’d recommend this one, even if – like me – you haven’t seen the original TV show.
(For the full graphical review, please check out onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks!)
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Villagers in Tabletop Games
Jan 16, 2020
The saying is, “It takes a village…” but that village didn’t just magically appear overnight. Creating a prosperous and thriving community takes not only time, but hard work, ingenuity, and a little bit of luck! Villagers is a game that takes you through that process, as you strive to create a village of renown.
Disclaimer: I do not intent to rehash the entire rulebook in this review, but rather provide an overview of the gameplay, and how it differs between multiplayer and solo play. -L
Villagers is a game of card drafting and tableau building in which players are competing to build the most prosperous village in the land. The game is played over a series of rounds, each broken up into the Draft Phase and the Build Phase. During the Draft Phase, players take turns drafting villagers from the available card stacks into their hands. During the Build Phase, players can add villagers from their hand to their tableau. Certain cards can be chained together, and provide more powers and/or end-game points – but they must be added to the village in chain order. At two points throughout the game, the First and Second Market Phases, all players will collect money depending on which cards they have in their villages. The game ends immediately after the Second Market Phase is completed, and the player with the most money is the winner!
As a solo game, Villagers plays very similarly to group play, with only a couple of differences. First, the solo player is battling against The Countess, an AI character, to create the best village. The Countess is incorporated into the game in a unique way. During the Draft Phase, whenever you draft a villager to your hand, you also select an available villager to go straight into the village of the Countess. The Build Phase is carried out as normal. At the end of every round, you blindly draw a face-down card from the Reserve (draw deck), and it automatically goes into the Countess’ village as well. The other twist to a solo game of Villagers is that there are Event cards in play each round. Events are resolved after the Build Phase, before beginning the next round, and are often detrimental to the player – like making you pay extra gold to unlock padlocks, for example. The First and Second Market Phases work the same as they do in a multiplayer game, and the game ends immediately after the Second Market Phase. If you have managed to accrue more money than the Countess, then you have won!
I want to start off by saying that I love Villagers. Card drafting and set collection are my JAM, and this is a game that highlights those really well without making it too complicated. Even when playing solo, those mechanics still feel balanced, and that makes the overall game enjoyable. From my previous Solo Chronicles, I have stated how much I dislike “Beat your own high score” solo modes, so I was extremely happy when I saw that Villagers pitted the solo player against an AI character – the Countess. For the most part, I think that the Countess works really well in this game. When you draft a card, the Countess gets a card as well. But the best part about that is that you get to choose which card goes to the Countess. That means that you are able to keep some semblance of strategy in your game, because you have the power to decide what cards go where, for the most part.
The other neat thing about solo play is the inclusion of Event cards in the game – which are not present in group play. The Events add an extra element that you have to take into account for the given round. Depending on the Event, it could compromise your strategy quite a bit, but that’s what keeps it interesting. You can’t just get into a groove and grind through the rounds, drafting everything you want, when you want. You have to adapt your strategy based upon the Event(s) in play, and the Countess’ village.
The only downside for me is that at the end of every round, the Countess gets the top face-down card from the Reserve, and depending on what card that is, it could throw a wrench into the strategy you’ve been working hard to set up. I guess that mimics a multiplayer game in a sense, though, because you can’t always control what your opponents will do. The biggest downside about solo play for me has nothing to do with actual gameplay, but rather table space. Every card that goes into the Countess’ village is a stand-alone, meaning that they do not chain together like cards in your village will. So depending on how long the game goes, the Countess’ village will get to be pretty large, and hog lots of the table. I think that just means I need a bigger table though…
All that being said – is Villagers a good game for solo play? I would say mostly yes. Strategy is still required for success, but adaptability of that strategy is what keeps the game engaging and entertaining. Nothing can quite replace the multiplayer experience, but playing against the AI character keeps the competitiveness alive in the game. As someone who does a lot of solo playing these days, I am glad that I have added Villagers to my collection. If you haven’t gotten a chance to play Villagers yet, I would highly recommend checking it out. Solo or multiplayer, it’s a great time!
Disclaimer: I do not intent to rehash the entire rulebook in this review, but rather provide an overview of the gameplay, and how it differs between multiplayer and solo play. -L
Villagers is a game of card drafting and tableau building in which players are competing to build the most prosperous village in the land. The game is played over a series of rounds, each broken up into the Draft Phase and the Build Phase. During the Draft Phase, players take turns drafting villagers from the available card stacks into their hands. During the Build Phase, players can add villagers from their hand to their tableau. Certain cards can be chained together, and provide more powers and/or end-game points – but they must be added to the village in chain order. At two points throughout the game, the First and Second Market Phases, all players will collect money depending on which cards they have in their villages. The game ends immediately after the Second Market Phase is completed, and the player with the most money is the winner!
As a solo game, Villagers plays very similarly to group play, with only a couple of differences. First, the solo player is battling against The Countess, an AI character, to create the best village. The Countess is incorporated into the game in a unique way. During the Draft Phase, whenever you draft a villager to your hand, you also select an available villager to go straight into the village of the Countess. The Build Phase is carried out as normal. At the end of every round, you blindly draw a face-down card from the Reserve (draw deck), and it automatically goes into the Countess’ village as well. The other twist to a solo game of Villagers is that there are Event cards in play each round. Events are resolved after the Build Phase, before beginning the next round, and are often detrimental to the player – like making you pay extra gold to unlock padlocks, for example. The First and Second Market Phases work the same as they do in a multiplayer game, and the game ends immediately after the Second Market Phase. If you have managed to accrue more money than the Countess, then you have won!
I want to start off by saying that I love Villagers. Card drafting and set collection are my JAM, and this is a game that highlights those really well without making it too complicated. Even when playing solo, those mechanics still feel balanced, and that makes the overall game enjoyable. From my previous Solo Chronicles, I have stated how much I dislike “Beat your own high score” solo modes, so I was extremely happy when I saw that Villagers pitted the solo player against an AI character – the Countess. For the most part, I think that the Countess works really well in this game. When you draft a card, the Countess gets a card as well. But the best part about that is that you get to choose which card goes to the Countess. That means that you are able to keep some semblance of strategy in your game, because you have the power to decide what cards go where, for the most part.
The other neat thing about solo play is the inclusion of Event cards in the game – which are not present in group play. The Events add an extra element that you have to take into account for the given round. Depending on the Event, it could compromise your strategy quite a bit, but that’s what keeps it interesting. You can’t just get into a groove and grind through the rounds, drafting everything you want, when you want. You have to adapt your strategy based upon the Event(s) in play, and the Countess’ village.
The only downside for me is that at the end of every round, the Countess gets the top face-down card from the Reserve, and depending on what card that is, it could throw a wrench into the strategy you’ve been working hard to set up. I guess that mimics a multiplayer game in a sense, though, because you can’t always control what your opponents will do. The biggest downside about solo play for me has nothing to do with actual gameplay, but rather table space. Every card that goes into the Countess’ village is a stand-alone, meaning that they do not chain together like cards in your village will. So depending on how long the game goes, the Countess’ village will get to be pretty large, and hog lots of the table. I think that just means I need a bigger table though…
All that being said – is Villagers a good game for solo play? I would say mostly yes. Strategy is still required for success, but adaptability of that strategy is what keeps the game engaging and entertaining. Nothing can quite replace the multiplayer experience, but playing against the AI character keeps the competitiveness alive in the game. As someone who does a lot of solo playing these days, I am glad that I have added Villagers to my collection. If you haven’t gotten a chance to play Villagers yet, I would highly recommend checking it out. Solo or multiplayer, it’s a great time!
Olivia (102 KP) rated Girls of Paper and Fire in Books
Aug 13, 2018 (Updated Aug 13, 2018)
I'm still trying to process all my feelings about his book, but right now I'm going to give it an 8.5
Girls of Paper and Fire is an incredibly addicting read. Within picking it up, I finished reading it in under 24 hours. Every minute that I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. It was like an impossible earworm chanting "Read me. Read me!".
Ngan's writing style and character development left me in awe at times. She somehow managed to write this imaginative tale whilst keeping it grounded, a combination that I haven't seen successfully executed very often. The romance in this book is perhaps one of my new all-time favorites. The love is believable. It wasn't a case of "Oh, I like this person a lot and so now I'm gonna make out with them for 80 pages straight and forget about everything else." there was actual chemistry between the two and it made the story all the more intense.
In the seemingly effortless way Ngan could create palpable romantic chemistry, she could also create absolute revulsion.
My problem with so many villains is that the writer will have them have done something terrible, and that's it. They don't truly explore how vile this villain is; they rely on one or two things that all of decent humanity can agree is unforgivable and let that be the reason why they're evil. Sure, anyone would be repulsed by a man who rapes and murders people; it's not like you have to convince people to hate that guy. But Ngan doesn't just throw those two things onto the character and call it a day. She made the king an absolute vile creature with words that made me physically gag, actions that made me have to put the book down and walk away.
Ngan's descriptions are extremely rich; whether that is a good or bad thing will vary from reader to reader. Personally, I found myself sometimes skimming over all the imagery; not because it wasn't good, but because I just really wanted to get back to the main plot and character interactions.
I'm not usually a huge fan of series, but this is one that I heavily look forward to continuing.
Girls of Paper and Fire is an incredibly addicting read. Within picking it up, I finished reading it in under 24 hours. Every minute that I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. It was like an impossible earworm chanting "Read me. Read me!".
Ngan's writing style and character development left me in awe at times. She somehow managed to write this imaginative tale whilst keeping it grounded, a combination that I haven't seen successfully executed very often. The romance in this book is perhaps one of my new all-time favorites. The love is believable. It wasn't a case of "Oh, I like this person a lot and so now I'm gonna make out with them for 80 pages straight and forget about everything else." there was actual chemistry between the two and it made the story all the more intense.
In the seemingly effortless way Ngan could create palpable romantic chemistry, she could also create absolute revulsion.
My problem with so many villains is that the writer will have them have done something terrible, and that's it. They don't truly explore how vile this villain is; they rely on one or two things that all of decent humanity can agree is unforgivable and let that be the reason why they're evil. Sure, anyone would be repulsed by a man who rapes and murders people; it's not like you have to convince people to hate that guy. But Ngan doesn't just throw those two things onto the character and call it a day. She made the king an absolute vile creature with words that made me physically gag, actions that made me have to put the book down and walk away.
Ngan's descriptions are extremely rich; whether that is a good or bad thing will vary from reader to reader. Personally, I found myself sometimes skimming over all the imagery; not because it wasn't good, but because I just really wanted to get back to the main plot and character interactions.
I'm not usually a huge fan of series, but this is one that I heavily look forward to continuing.