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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Dollars to Donuts in Tabletop Games

Jul 21, 2020 (Updated Jul 21, 2020)  
Dollars to Donuts
Dollars to Donuts
2020 | Abstract Strategy, Puzzle
I don’t think I even have to say anything up top here to get those juices flowing – just looking at the box to Dollars to Donuts makes you pine for them. Just me? Nah, everyone loves donuts – even most of the diabetics I’ve known. So when I heard that we had a chance to preview a tile-laying, set collection donut-themed game, I knew we had to jump on it. And oh, spoilers, it’s GREAT.

Dollars to Donuts is a game where you are literally turning dollars into donuts. Pretty on the nose with the title, eh? Agreed, but once you play it, I promise you will be hooked.

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and the final components may be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but to give our readers an idea of how the game plays. You are invited to back the game on Kickstarter running until August 10, 2020, order from your FLGS, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after it is fulfilled. -T

There really are plenty of rules for this game, and I will not touch on everything. To setup, deal each player a board in their color along with the matching starting 1×1 donut tiles to be placed on the boards according to the rules, as well as the proper starting Dollar Tiles. Populate the Specials Board (shown below), reveal the top four Customer Cards (shown below), separate the Donut Tiles into like piles, and throw the rest of the Dollar Tiles into the cloth bag. The game is now ready to begin!

Each player will be purchasing a Donut tile (1×4) on their turn and placing it on their board. The interesting thing here is that these tiles do NOT have to be confined to the spaces on the Player Mat (board) – tiles can hang off the edge. And icons that are hanging off, however, cannot score or provide any benefit, so that is the trade-off. After placing the Donut Tile on the board, players will then collect Donut VP Tokens if placing on the board created a complete donut. If the placing created a mismatched donut, the player will instead collect as many Dollar Tiles as the highest number of $ symbols of the mismatched donut (so a plain donut half is worth $1 but a chocolate is worth $2 so a mismatched donut of those two flavors would count as $2). At this point, the player may choose to place a 1×1 double-sided Dollar Tile on their board to fill a gap, or hole, and I’ll be darned if you don’t use donut holes to fill holes in your board. Lastly, a player may then Serve a Customer using their earned Donut VP Tokens. Serving customers increases the value of the VP tokens, so serving is certainly beneficial.

Play continues in this fashion until a player has filled their empty board spaces with delicious donuts. Complete the round and then count the scores to see who really is the Donut Champ.

Components. Again, we were provided with a prototype copy of Dollars to Donuts, and upgraded components are stretch goals for a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, the art on this is really great. Dylan Mangini can illustrate games superbly for sure. I love the colors they have chosen, the art style, and fun start player token that came with it (and I hope it is something that can be offered to all through a stretch goal or something). I have no complaints here and I look forward to seeing how the final products looks.

So it is absolutely no surprise that I loved this one. I have a special place in my heart for games with ever-changing resource costs, tile-placing, donuts, multi-use components, and donuts. I love being able to use any part of the Donut Tiles, even if my board looks kooky at the end (see below). It’s so refreshing when a game comes along that takes a comfortable given and turns it on its head. We all know how to keep components within the boundaries of our player board. But WHYYYYY? Dollars to Donuts fixes that, even at the cost of our more organized players’ sanity. I simply love this game and can’t wait to get my final copy. If you also are excited to grab a copy of this one, head over to Kickstarter and join the campaign going on NOW (at the time of this writing) until August 10, 2020. I would also suggest ordering a dozen or two of your favorite bakery treats to have on hand when you play this – your tummy will thank you. Unless you’re diabetic. Then I am sorry.
  
Everyone is John
Everyone is John
One Page RPG, Easy To Learn (1 more)
Every Game is Different
The Game That Splits The Table (And Your Mind)
If you've ever seen the movie Split then you know exactly how this is going down.

Everyone is John is a game where all the players control a single character. Each player is one part of a split personality, each with their own goals and skill sets. The Game Master gives you a scenario and each player bets a value of willpower, whoever has the highest amount of willpower bet gets to control John until they fail a skill check.

This game is high speed, and makes a good game for any night. It's easy to pick up, and easy to screw over your friends. For a game that is free, this is incredible. Honestly, I'd pay at least £10-£15 for this game.

Gameplay is fun, and sparks conversation around the table. With John being a sociopath you can pretty much do anything.

TL;DR
-Incredible Game
-Easy to Play
-FREE! (But I'd totally pay for it)
-Good Sobre & Drunk
  
Race for the Galaxy
Race for the Galaxy
2007 | Card Game, Civilization, Economic, Science Fiction, Space
Race for the Galaxy Review
In Race for the Galaxy (which, along with San Juan, is the card game adaptation of Puerto Rico), each of the players controls his own intergalactic empire. In order to grow his empire, a player can explore (draw cards), develop new technologies, settle and conquer new worlds, consume goods, and produce new goods. Like in Puerto Rico, which actions are performed each round are based on which roles the players take. After the players choose roles, those roles are performed by all the players (with the person selecting the role getting a bonus). After all of the victory points have been collected, or (more likely) once a player has 12 cards in front of him, the game is over. At this point, each of the players adds up their total victory points from developments, worlds, and victory points earned through the course of the game, and the person with the most victory points wins.

Reviewer: Josh Edwards
Read the full review here: http://www.boardgamereviewsbyjosh.com/2011/02/race-for-galaxy-review.html
  
Sheriff of Nottingham
Sheriff of Nottingham
2016 | Bluff, Card Game, Medieval
Bluffing and Bribing (3 more)
Expandable 6th player
Learn who your real friends are
Simple and good fun
Goods bags could be slightly larger (0 more)
Trust No One!!! Your Friends are Lying!
Players: 3-5 Expansion for 6th player is available
Bluffing and Bribing are encouraged in this game. It's how you win and learn who your real friends are. Are they lying about bribing you with a free contraband if you don't check their bag? Is it really in their bag? Should you take it or check them anyway? Such a hard choice.
Make and lose friends in this game which is sure to become a classic as it grows in popularity with your group. My and my friends love it! There is deffinently some strategy in there as to what to bring to market and when but there is also a bit if luck as to whether you will get checked or not. Either way the game is a blast and I recommend it to any group as it plays a decent size group.