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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Babyteeth (2019) in Movies
Aug 25, 2020
I've had more fun at the orthodontist's
Now, before I start, I know I'm likely to be at odds with a lot of viewers on this one. Having had a glance at the IMDB ratings, I can see a lot of arthouse love for this Australian movie. But this really was not for me.
Eliza Scanlen plays Australian schoolgirl Milla, displaying typically rebellious symptoms of adolescence but hampered by a crippling medical issue. She meets a 23-year old drug addict, Moses (Toby Wallace), and the pair feel an immediate pull towards each other, much to the horror of her parents Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Anna (Essie Davis). The kids are dysfunctional (for different reasons); the parents are not much better. Adding to the drama is a strange violin teacher (Eugene Gilfedder) and a pregnant (MILF-to-be) next door neighbour (Emily Barclay). We follow the life and love of Milla as she struggles with her circumstances... and the last of her Babyteeth.
I can draw parallels here to the movie "Animals" from last year. Indeed to the Oscar-winner "Moonlight" from four year's ago. I could readily perceive it to be intelligent and artfully produced. But I'm afraid I felt zero empathy or pull from any of the characters. Given that, and the slow burn of writer Rita Kalnejais's screenplay, I found myself constantly looking at my watch for the last half-hour of the movie.
The movie's not without its merits though. Babyteeth has picked up a number of nominations, and as many wins, on the international film-festival circuit, mostly for the direction of Shannon Murphy. This is a first-time feature for TV-director Murphy (she directed two episodes from this year's series of "Killing Eve" for example). Awards have also gone to Toby Wallace for his portrayal of the slightly unhinged and unpredictable Moses. But for me, it was Eliza Scanlen's performance as Milla that appealed to me most and kept my attention. Other-worldly and slightly ethereal, she pulls off the role well. Scanlen was of course Beth March in the recent superb version of "Little Woman". (She's a young lady with great potential, but she needs to be careful not to get typecast as sickly waifs!)
Babyteeth was for me a curate's egg in the photography department. Cinematography was by Andrew Commis, and I found it both breathtaking and frustrating in almost equal measure. There's a scene towards the end of the movie with Milla's face half-lit in the moonlight that was reminiscent to me of the star-child in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Simply gorgeous. And scenes in a nightclub are both strangely and effectively shot. But - and art-house movies seem to mandate this approach - the movie is shot on handheld cameras. This makes a lot of the shots drift in and out of focus. Moreover - and most frustratingly for me - it makes the multitude of scene titles, employed in the telling, float ever-so-slightly against the backgrounds, with a generally nauseating effect.
I'll no doubt feel a right Charlie if Babyteeth gets into the Oscars nominations short-list. But for me, it just wasn't engaging enough to be entertaining. It's billed as a "Comedy Drama". While there were a few good comic lines, it rarely made me do more than smile. And as for the drama, I'm afraid tears were far from being spilled. It's in no way a "bad film": it just personally wasn't for me.
(For the full graphical review please check out One Mann's Movie on https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/08/25/babyteeth-you-might-have-more-fun-at-the-orthodontists/.)
Eliza Scanlen plays Australian schoolgirl Milla, displaying typically rebellious symptoms of adolescence but hampered by a crippling medical issue. She meets a 23-year old drug addict, Moses (Toby Wallace), and the pair feel an immediate pull towards each other, much to the horror of her parents Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Anna (Essie Davis). The kids are dysfunctional (for different reasons); the parents are not much better. Adding to the drama is a strange violin teacher (Eugene Gilfedder) and a pregnant (MILF-to-be) next door neighbour (Emily Barclay). We follow the life and love of Milla as she struggles with her circumstances... and the last of her Babyteeth.
I can draw parallels here to the movie "Animals" from last year. Indeed to the Oscar-winner "Moonlight" from four year's ago. I could readily perceive it to be intelligent and artfully produced. But I'm afraid I felt zero empathy or pull from any of the characters. Given that, and the slow burn of writer Rita Kalnejais's screenplay, I found myself constantly looking at my watch for the last half-hour of the movie.
The movie's not without its merits though. Babyteeth has picked up a number of nominations, and as many wins, on the international film-festival circuit, mostly for the direction of Shannon Murphy. This is a first-time feature for TV-director Murphy (she directed two episodes from this year's series of "Killing Eve" for example). Awards have also gone to Toby Wallace for his portrayal of the slightly unhinged and unpredictable Moses. But for me, it was Eliza Scanlen's performance as Milla that appealed to me most and kept my attention. Other-worldly and slightly ethereal, she pulls off the role well. Scanlen was of course Beth March in the recent superb version of "Little Woman". (She's a young lady with great potential, but she needs to be careful not to get typecast as sickly waifs!)
Babyteeth was for me a curate's egg in the photography department. Cinematography was by Andrew Commis, and I found it both breathtaking and frustrating in almost equal measure. There's a scene towards the end of the movie with Milla's face half-lit in the moonlight that was reminiscent to me of the star-child in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Simply gorgeous. And scenes in a nightclub are both strangely and effectively shot. But - and art-house movies seem to mandate this approach - the movie is shot on handheld cameras. This makes a lot of the shots drift in and out of focus. Moreover - and most frustratingly for me - it makes the multitude of scene titles, employed in the telling, float ever-so-slightly against the backgrounds, with a generally nauseating effect.
I'll no doubt feel a right Charlie if Babyteeth gets into the Oscars nominations short-list. But for me, it just wasn't engaging enough to be entertaining. It's billed as a "Comedy Drama". While there were a few good comic lines, it rarely made me do more than smile. And as for the drama, I'm afraid tears were far from being spilled. It's in no way a "bad film": it just personally wasn't for me.
(For the full graphical review please check out One Mann's Movie on https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/08/25/babyteeth-you-might-have-more-fun-at-the-orthodontists/.)
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated American Made (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Cruise Flying High Again.
If you ask anyone to list the top 10 film actors, chance is that “Tom Cruise” would make many people’s lists. He’s in everything isn’t he? Well, actually, no. Looking at his imdb history, he’s only averaged just over a movie per year for several years. I guess he’s just traditionally made a big impact with the films he’s done. This all rather changed in the last year with his offerings of the rather lacklustre “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” (FFF) and the pretty dreadful “The Mummy” (Ff) as one of this summer’s big blockbuster disappointments. So Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was sorely in need of a upward turn and fortunately “American Made” delivers in spades.
A quick stop in Nicaragua to pick up some paperwork from Noriega.
“Based on a True Story” this is a biopic on the life of Barry Seal, a hot shot ‘maverick’ (pun intended) TWA pilot who gets drawn into a bizarre but highly lucrative spiral of gun- and drug-running to and from Central America at the behest of a CIA operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson). All this is completely mystifying to Barry’s wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) who is, at least not initially, allowed to be ‘in’ on the covert activities.
Flying high over Latin America.
The film is a roller-coaster ride of unbelievable action from beginning to end. In the same manner as you might have thought “that SURELY can’t be true” when watching Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can”, this thought constantly flits through your mind. At each turn Seal can’t believe his luck, and Cruise brilliantly portrays the wide-eyed astonishment required. This is a role made for him.
Also delivering his best performance in years is Domhnall Gleeson (“Ex Machina“, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“) as the CIA man with the (whacky) plan. Large chunks of the film are powered by his manic grin.
Domhnall Gleeson as the CIA man with a sense of Contra-rhythm.
As an actress, Sarah Wright is new to me but as well as being just stunningly photogenic she works with Cruise really well (despite being 20 years his junior – not wanting to be ageist, but this is the second Cruise film in a row I’ve pointed that out!)). Wright also gets my honourary award for the best airplane sex scene this decade!
“Time to pack honey”. Seal (Cruise) delivering a midnight surprise to wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) – and not in a good way.
Written by Gary Spinelli (this being only his second feature) the script is full of wit and panache and – while almost certainly (judging from wiki) stretches the truth as far as Seal’s cash-storage facilities – never completely over-eggs the pudding.
Doug Liman (“Jason Bourne“, “Edge of Tomorrow“) directs brilliantly, giving space among the action for enough character development to make you invest in what happens to the players. The 80’s setting is lovingly crafted with a garish colour-palette with well-chosen documentary video inserts of Carter, Reagan, Oliver Stone, George Bush and others. It also takes really chutzpah to direct a film that (unless I missed it) had neither a title nor any credits until the end.
The real Barry Seal.
The only vaguely negative view I had about this film is that it quietly glosses over the huge pain, death and suffering that the smuggled drugs will be causing to thousands of Americans under the covers. And this mildly guilty thought lingers with you after the lights come up to slightly – just slightly – take the edge off the fun.
Stylish, thrilling, moving and enormously funny in places, this is action cinema at its best. A must see film.
A quick stop in Nicaragua to pick up some paperwork from Noriega.
“Based on a True Story” this is a biopic on the life of Barry Seal, a hot shot ‘maverick’ (pun intended) TWA pilot who gets drawn into a bizarre but highly lucrative spiral of gun- and drug-running to and from Central America at the behest of a CIA operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson). All this is completely mystifying to Barry’s wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) who is, at least not initially, allowed to be ‘in’ on the covert activities.
Flying high over Latin America.
The film is a roller-coaster ride of unbelievable action from beginning to end. In the same manner as you might have thought “that SURELY can’t be true” when watching Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can”, this thought constantly flits through your mind. At each turn Seal can’t believe his luck, and Cruise brilliantly portrays the wide-eyed astonishment required. This is a role made for him.
Also delivering his best performance in years is Domhnall Gleeson (“Ex Machina“, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“) as the CIA man with the (whacky) plan. Large chunks of the film are powered by his manic grin.
Domhnall Gleeson as the CIA man with a sense of Contra-rhythm.
As an actress, Sarah Wright is new to me but as well as being just stunningly photogenic she works with Cruise really well (despite being 20 years his junior – not wanting to be ageist, but this is the second Cruise film in a row I’ve pointed that out!)). Wright also gets my honourary award for the best airplane sex scene this decade!
“Time to pack honey”. Seal (Cruise) delivering a midnight surprise to wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) – and not in a good way.
Written by Gary Spinelli (this being only his second feature) the script is full of wit and panache and – while almost certainly (judging from wiki) stretches the truth as far as Seal’s cash-storage facilities – never completely over-eggs the pudding.
Doug Liman (“Jason Bourne“, “Edge of Tomorrow“) directs brilliantly, giving space among the action for enough character development to make you invest in what happens to the players. The 80’s setting is lovingly crafted with a garish colour-palette with well-chosen documentary video inserts of Carter, Reagan, Oliver Stone, George Bush and others. It also takes really chutzpah to direct a film that (unless I missed it) had neither a title nor any credits until the end.
The real Barry Seal.
The only vaguely negative view I had about this film is that it quietly glosses over the huge pain, death and suffering that the smuggled drugs will be causing to thousands of Americans under the covers. And this mildly guilty thought lingers with you after the lights come up to slightly – just slightly – take the edge off the fun.
Stylish, thrilling, moving and enormously funny in places, this is action cinema at its best. A must see film.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Lost Daughter (2021) in Movies
Feb 17, 2022
Strong Acting and Direction
The nice thing about being fanatical about catching all of the Oscar Nominated films in the “Major” categories is that it forces me to watch films that, normally, my interests would not gravitate towards - and, most of the time, I am rewarded and my mind and emotions are expanded because of this.
Such is the case with THE LOST DAUGHTER, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film Directing debut (she is also Oscar nominated for Adapted Screenplay) that follows the emotional journey of a College Professor (the great Olivia Colman) on Holiday in Greece who is forced to confront her past decisions amidst the emotional toil that these decisions have created.
Normally, these introspective, “Art House” films are not my cup of tea and during the first half of this film, I did find myself wandering a bit. This is because Colman’s character of Leda arrives on-screen at the onset of this film heavy with emotional (almost crippling so) baggage and it is almost too much to bear…which is the point. The movie, then, peels the layers back slowly to reveal why.
It is, yet again, a tour-de-force performance by Colman - who just might win ANOTHER Oscar for this work - it is that strong without being show-offey (if that is a word). Colman becomes Leda and delves strongly into the introspection, guilt, hurt and confusion that this character has. She allows the character to breathe (sometimes in gulps of crying). It is the type of character (and performance) that film today rarely allows time for on screen.
Credit for this has to go to Directer/ScreenWriter Maggie Gyllenhaal who adapted Elana Ferrante’s novel into a quiet, retrospective film. The adaptation works well for someone who has no prior knowledge of the novel and the direction and camerawork of this film is unwavering in it’s look into a character that is flawed and at times unlikeable. It is a strong Directorial and Screenwriting debut for Gyllenhaal.
Jessie Buckley is also Oscar nominated (for Best Supporting Actress) for her role as the younger Leda - a character who’s actions strongly affect the older Leda. While this character is not as nuanced as Colman’s version of Leda, she still is strong and Buckley’s performance is just as confident, self-centered, and fierce showing the roots of the person that would become Colman’s character. This is only the 3rd time in Oscars history that 2 actresses have been nominated for Academy Awards for playing younger and older versions of the same person (Kate Winslet/Gloria Stewart playing Rose in TITANIC and Kate Winslet/Judi Dench playing Iris in IRIS).
Ed Harris shows up as the proprietor of the space that Leda is renting in Greece and is a welcome presence (as always). The surprises to me in this film were the performances of Dakota Johnson and Jack Farthing. Johnson is proving that she is more than just the “50 SHADES” girl and spars with Colman quite well, more than holding her own. Farthing, who played the cold and distant Prince Charles in SPENCER is the husband of the younger Leda and he is the polar opposite of Prince Charles - open, loving and emotional. It is fun to see 2 clearly differing performances by the same actor. Farthing is someone to keep an eye on.
As is Gyllenhaal, Colman and THE LOST DAUGHTER. It is a strong piece of film-making and not an easy watch. But, if you can click into the emotion of this flawed character - and stick with this film through the ugliness and mistakes that Leda selfishly makes, you will be rewarded with a character study, the likes of which is rare in film today.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Such is the case with THE LOST DAUGHTER, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film Directing debut (she is also Oscar nominated for Adapted Screenplay) that follows the emotional journey of a College Professor (the great Olivia Colman) on Holiday in Greece who is forced to confront her past decisions amidst the emotional toil that these decisions have created.
Normally, these introspective, “Art House” films are not my cup of tea and during the first half of this film, I did find myself wandering a bit. This is because Colman’s character of Leda arrives on-screen at the onset of this film heavy with emotional (almost crippling so) baggage and it is almost too much to bear…which is the point. The movie, then, peels the layers back slowly to reveal why.
It is, yet again, a tour-de-force performance by Colman - who just might win ANOTHER Oscar for this work - it is that strong without being show-offey (if that is a word). Colman becomes Leda and delves strongly into the introspection, guilt, hurt and confusion that this character has. She allows the character to breathe (sometimes in gulps of crying). It is the type of character (and performance) that film today rarely allows time for on screen.
Credit for this has to go to Directer/ScreenWriter Maggie Gyllenhaal who adapted Elana Ferrante’s novel into a quiet, retrospective film. The adaptation works well for someone who has no prior knowledge of the novel and the direction and camerawork of this film is unwavering in it’s look into a character that is flawed and at times unlikeable. It is a strong Directorial and Screenwriting debut for Gyllenhaal.
Jessie Buckley is also Oscar nominated (for Best Supporting Actress) for her role as the younger Leda - a character who’s actions strongly affect the older Leda. While this character is not as nuanced as Colman’s version of Leda, she still is strong and Buckley’s performance is just as confident, self-centered, and fierce showing the roots of the person that would become Colman’s character. This is only the 3rd time in Oscars history that 2 actresses have been nominated for Academy Awards for playing younger and older versions of the same person (Kate Winslet/Gloria Stewart playing Rose in TITANIC and Kate Winslet/Judi Dench playing Iris in IRIS).
Ed Harris shows up as the proprietor of the space that Leda is renting in Greece and is a welcome presence (as always). The surprises to me in this film were the performances of Dakota Johnson and Jack Farthing. Johnson is proving that she is more than just the “50 SHADES” girl and spars with Colman quite well, more than holding her own. Farthing, who played the cold and distant Prince Charles in SPENCER is the husband of the younger Leda and he is the polar opposite of Prince Charles - open, loving and emotional. It is fun to see 2 clearly differing performances by the same actor. Farthing is someone to keep an eye on.
As is Gyllenhaal, Colman and THE LOST DAUGHTER. It is a strong piece of film-making and not an easy watch. But, if you can click into the emotion of this flawed character - and stick with this film through the ugliness and mistakes that Leda selfishly makes, you will be rewarded with a character study, the likes of which is rare in film today.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Paul Kellett (118 KP) rated Snowdonia in Tabletop Games
May 4, 2019
Great replayability (2 more)
Good solo mode
Plenty of expansions
Fiddly set up (1 more)
Worker placement suffers a bit at 5 players
It's a train game, isn't it.
Well, there are trains (many, many wonderful (and stupid) trains), and there are tracks, but Snowdonia is not your typical stuffy old train game.
Snowdonia is a worker placement Euro game (one of the best in My opinion) which has players working to complete the railway up to the top of Mount Snowdon.
While you are all working on the same track, this is a competitive game in which you score points for laying tracks, building stations and completing contracts.
The Dai is Cast
The game is set up by choosing which scenario you wish to play, and there are a good number, and laying out the track & station cards around the edge of the board. This is one of the great things about Snowdonia - each expansion is just a deck of cards which replace the original station & track cards, add a few additional rules and make a completely different experience.
The main board has a number of actions you can take like gathering resources, digging out rubble to clear the way for laying tracks (another action) or building stations to name a few. Each action location is further split into worker slots and in true worker placement fashion, these are limited so not everyone can do what they might want to.
There is a deck of contract cards, 3 of which are drawn at the start and replenished each round. If no-one has taken a contract, then the leftmost one is discarded and the other cards shift across with a new contract appearing on the right.
These contract cards are in two sections - the main part is a one time action that can give you a bonus to specific actions and is then spent. You keep the card though as the top part shows a game end bonus. If you satisfy the contract (by having laid a certain number of rails, built a number of stations, or dug enough rubble (and usually a combination of these things)) then you can get a decent bunch of points at the end of the game. Going after these can be rewarding but also quite tricky.
The backs of the contract cards also have a weather icon on them and this can be sunny, raining, foggy or, depending on the scenario, snowy. There is a weather track on the board which indicated the current weather as well as the forecast for the next 2 days so you can try to plan what you are going to do. The weather affects what actions you can take and how efficient you will be at doing them. Sunny days increase the amount of rubble you can dig and the number of tracks you can lay while rainy days decrease this and foggy days restrict the number of action spaces available. These work rates are marked on a track so if you get a run of 2 or 3 sunny days, you can get a good amount of work done.
The way this weather mechanic works really changes how each game feels. You can have games where it's very sunny and you can fair fly up the mountain or you could trudge through the fog gloomily laying the odd track and wishing you were in the pub.
It's warm in here, boyo, leave me to my pint will you
Ah, the pub. You have three workers, but only two are always available. The third one is found in the pub and will only come out if you get a train to take him up the mountain. Firstly, this involves buying a train when it becomes available and then paying a coal cube (not a cola cube, he's not that easily bought) to fuel the train. You only get him for that round after which he goes straight back to the pub.
This brings me on to resources. There are three types - Iron, Stone and Coal. Iron is needed to make tracks and build some station spots while Stone is used to build stations. Coal, as said, get's your man out of the pub.
Resources are restocked at the end of every turn and drawn blindly from a bag. The bag has finite resources determined by the player count but also contains 5 white cubes. These white cubes are the game's timer and represent "the company" coming in and doing work while you are messing about so keeping an eye on what resources are out is vital if you want to get a decent score.
When white cubes are drawn, they get placed on the AI track and will make the company dig, build or lay tracks so if you are not careful, the company will bring the game to a swift end.
Very Chuffed
The base game comes with 6 trains and each expansion adds more. Each train has it's own different special ability like granting you a bonus to your dig rate, letting you convert more Iron into Rail tracks or giving you a free build action.
All these really change how you can play and combined with the weather and the variety of contracts available really give a ton of replayability to Snowdonia.
Not only do the expansions come with trains, but the designer, Mr. Boydell has been creating additional trains for many a year, both as physical promo cards given away at conventions and with other games in his stable and as print and play cards posted up on his blog on BGG. Many of these trains are funny, silly or rude, often being inspired by events on the news and in the gaming world and there are A LOT of them. Check out www.snowdoniacentral.com to see the full list.
The Solo Game
Technically, the solo game is played exactly as the multiplayer game and is a "beat your best score" but that is really doing it a disservice. Like in the multiplayer game, the vastly different ways the weather, contracts and trains can interact makes each game feel totally different and the AI is unforgiving if you linger too long hoarding resources. This makes for a very challenging puzzle of resource optimisation and action efficiency that is very satisfying when you nail it.
There is a campaign of sorts where you play through a number of games using each train in order and there have been various challenges posted on Boardgame Geek.
Ooh, It's Big and Shiny
The Deluxe Edition (currently on Kickstarter) has collected all the expansions, many of them incredibly hard to find, (almost) all of the trains (even the print & play ones) and every other promo over released for Snowdonia and put them together in a lovely big box with a myriad up upgraded wooden pieces, all screen printed, as well as a larger board (with spaces to lay the track cards), more trains and some exclusive new scenarios. There is also the hint of a dedicated solo Automa to be added, but we will have to see, I wouldn't be bothered if it doesn't as the game is a superb solo experience as it is. Oh yeah, they have also added a set of cards that have each space on the board printed on each one so that you can use those to play the game if you are tight on space or want to take the game travelling. These were originally uploaded to BGG by a fan and I have used these many times when I have been working away as you can take them plus just enough pieces and cards to play solo and fit them all in a tiny box.
Snowdonia is My top Euro game and has been for a number of years, and I highly recommend going and checking it out.
Well, there are trains (many, many wonderful (and stupid) trains), and there are tracks, but Snowdonia is not your typical stuffy old train game.
Snowdonia is a worker placement Euro game (one of the best in My opinion) which has players working to complete the railway up to the top of Mount Snowdon.
While you are all working on the same track, this is a competitive game in which you score points for laying tracks, building stations and completing contracts.
The Dai is Cast
The game is set up by choosing which scenario you wish to play, and there are a good number, and laying out the track & station cards around the edge of the board. This is one of the great things about Snowdonia - each expansion is just a deck of cards which replace the original station & track cards, add a few additional rules and make a completely different experience.
The main board has a number of actions you can take like gathering resources, digging out rubble to clear the way for laying tracks (another action) or building stations to name a few. Each action location is further split into worker slots and in true worker placement fashion, these are limited so not everyone can do what they might want to.
There is a deck of contract cards, 3 of which are drawn at the start and replenished each round. If no-one has taken a contract, then the leftmost one is discarded and the other cards shift across with a new contract appearing on the right.
These contract cards are in two sections - the main part is a one time action that can give you a bonus to specific actions and is then spent. You keep the card though as the top part shows a game end bonus. If you satisfy the contract (by having laid a certain number of rails, built a number of stations, or dug enough rubble (and usually a combination of these things)) then you can get a decent bunch of points at the end of the game. Going after these can be rewarding but also quite tricky.
The backs of the contract cards also have a weather icon on them and this can be sunny, raining, foggy or, depending on the scenario, snowy. There is a weather track on the board which indicated the current weather as well as the forecast for the next 2 days so you can try to plan what you are going to do. The weather affects what actions you can take and how efficient you will be at doing them. Sunny days increase the amount of rubble you can dig and the number of tracks you can lay while rainy days decrease this and foggy days restrict the number of action spaces available. These work rates are marked on a track so if you get a run of 2 or 3 sunny days, you can get a good amount of work done.
The way this weather mechanic works really changes how each game feels. You can have games where it's very sunny and you can fair fly up the mountain or you could trudge through the fog gloomily laying the odd track and wishing you were in the pub.
It's warm in here, boyo, leave me to my pint will you
Ah, the pub. You have three workers, but only two are always available. The third one is found in the pub and will only come out if you get a train to take him up the mountain. Firstly, this involves buying a train when it becomes available and then paying a coal cube (not a cola cube, he's not that easily bought) to fuel the train. You only get him for that round after which he goes straight back to the pub.
This brings me on to resources. There are three types - Iron, Stone and Coal. Iron is needed to make tracks and build some station spots while Stone is used to build stations. Coal, as said, get's your man out of the pub.
Resources are restocked at the end of every turn and drawn blindly from a bag. The bag has finite resources determined by the player count but also contains 5 white cubes. These white cubes are the game's timer and represent "the company" coming in and doing work while you are messing about so keeping an eye on what resources are out is vital if you want to get a decent score.
When white cubes are drawn, they get placed on the AI track and will make the company dig, build or lay tracks so if you are not careful, the company will bring the game to a swift end.
Very Chuffed
The base game comes with 6 trains and each expansion adds more. Each train has it's own different special ability like granting you a bonus to your dig rate, letting you convert more Iron into Rail tracks or giving you a free build action.
All these really change how you can play and combined with the weather and the variety of contracts available really give a ton of replayability to Snowdonia.
Not only do the expansions come with trains, but the designer, Mr. Boydell has been creating additional trains for many a year, both as physical promo cards given away at conventions and with other games in his stable and as print and play cards posted up on his blog on BGG. Many of these trains are funny, silly or rude, often being inspired by events on the news and in the gaming world and there are A LOT of them. Check out www.snowdoniacentral.com to see the full list.
The Solo Game
Technically, the solo game is played exactly as the multiplayer game and is a "beat your best score" but that is really doing it a disservice. Like in the multiplayer game, the vastly different ways the weather, contracts and trains can interact makes each game feel totally different and the AI is unforgiving if you linger too long hoarding resources. This makes for a very challenging puzzle of resource optimisation and action efficiency that is very satisfying when you nail it.
There is a campaign of sorts where you play through a number of games using each train in order and there have been various challenges posted on Boardgame Geek.
Ooh, It's Big and Shiny
The Deluxe Edition (currently on Kickstarter) has collected all the expansions, many of them incredibly hard to find, (almost) all of the trains (even the print & play ones) and every other promo over released for Snowdonia and put them together in a lovely big box with a myriad up upgraded wooden pieces, all screen printed, as well as a larger board (with spaces to lay the track cards), more trains and some exclusive new scenarios. There is also the hint of a dedicated solo Automa to be added, but we will have to see, I wouldn't be bothered if it doesn't as the game is a superb solo experience as it is. Oh yeah, they have also added a set of cards that have each space on the board printed on each one so that you can use those to play the game if you are tight on space or want to take the game travelling. These were originally uploaded to BGG by a fan and I have used these many times when I have been working away as you can take them plus just enough pieces and cards to play solo and fit them all in a tiny box.
Snowdonia is My top Euro game and has been for a number of years, and I highly recommend going and checking it out.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Festival! in Tabletop Games
Nov 24, 2020
Remember music festivals, or concerts of any kind? I most certainly do. I used to perform almost every weekend with my band pre-COVID. Well, I haven’t performed in over eight months as of this writing. I miss it so much. So when I heard that a designer was working on a game about musicians putting on music festivals I just had to check it out.
Festival! is a competitive set collection game for larger groups, three to seven players. It is set in a medieval kingdom and the game lasts for four festivals. During the game players will be collecting sets of cards to be scored immediately and collecting other cards to be scored at the game’s end.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but give an idea of how the game plays. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the forthcoming Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, place the board in the middle of the table. Each player chooses a color of pawn to represent them and places one pawn on the 0 space upon the scoring track and the other pawn in the Festival! area upon the board. The game comes with four different types of cards and each type will be shuffled and placed face-down in stacks as in the photo below. Place the festival marker on either the 0 or 4 space (the rules are not clear, but it is to track the number of festivals, so just choose one) and give the first player busteeple to the youngest player. The game may now begin.
Festival! is played over several turns, but the first three turns will see players taking turns to travel to the different areas of the board and collect cards once they arrive. The initial Festival! area is located between the City and Village areas so a player can choose to move their pawn into either of those areas. As is printed on the board areas themselves, when players arrive in the Country they will immediately draw three Ensemble (green) cards to their hand and their turn is over. A trip to the Village affords the player two Ensemble cards to be drawn, while a visit to the City will allow a player to either draw one Ensemble card OR play as many cards from their hand as they choose. Finally, should the player’s wanderlust urge them to the Palace, they may draw a Palace card to be played to their tableau immediately. Movement from one area to the next is always done to the adjacent area. So if in the Village a player may only move to either the Country or the City. If in the Country a player may only move to the Village.
As I mentioned, the first three turns are head start rounds where players are merely collecting cards to amass a hand (of limit 7) of cards that can be played in sets in their personal tableau. These cards are divided into Exotic, Percussion, Melodic, and Choir cards. Players may play as many cards as they like when in the City, but will score bonus set and superset points if they are able to lay down multiple unique cards in each group. For example, a Horn card is worth one VP alone, but with three other unique Melodic cards earns bonus points for the entire set.
After the first three turns have been played, the first player will then flip a Festival card (stacked on the game board) at the beginning of each turn. It is from this stack that the four “Festival!” cards are located, and they are the time trackers for the game. If the result is “Preparation,” the turns continue as normal with no change. However, should the flipped card be a “Festival!” face, then players within range of the Festival Stages may claim a stage and participate in the festival. Participation in the festival simply means that players may play cards as normally played in the City, but then are entitled to one of the drawn Finale cards. These cards are scored at the end of the game and typically award bonus points for various reasons.
Play continues in this fashion of traveling the board areas to collect cards, performing in festivals, and earning the most amount of VP at game end, which is immediately following the fourth festival. The player with the most VP is the winner!
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so the components may be different upon completion of a successful Kickstarter campaign. What we were provided, however, is a good-looking, though muted, game board, a ton of cards, and some painted wooden tokens. The tokens are fine, and I am sure will look different once the game is finalized. The cards are good, an interesting dimension, and the art upon them is good and simple. In fact, the cards’ art remind me of several computer icon sets, specifically Shadow or Sardi (though I use Sweet-Rainbow).
But how does it play? Okay, every time I get a new game I always play it solo multi-handed. During this initial play I had several questions for the designer about scenarios and other oddities that were not covered in the rulebook. He graciously, and immediately, answered my questions and the next play through ran quite smoothly. So I am sure the rulebook will be tweaked quite a bit before final production.
Once I was playing the right way the game ran smoothly and quickly. I found myself planning my turn in advance, however your success truly is dependent on the cards you draw. Ensemble cards are just the instruments, voices, and Minstrel (wild) cards, while the Palace cards are the rule-breaking fun cards. They allow increased travel, protection from certain cards in the deck, and other goodies I won’t spoil here. So having a nice collection of Palace cards can alleviate a lot of the random card draw issues that will plague players who refuse to grab the Palace cards. As I played more and more I found that I generally follow one strategy, but have to switch up tactics depending on my card draws. This is good and okay (not “bad”). Going in with a plan of attack is great, and being able to become flexible mid-game is enjoyable.
Overall this one is surprising to me because I was initially frustrated with the vague rulebook, but once I truly knew the real rules and how everything played together I found a real fondness for it. Festival! will probably never make it close to my Top 10 Games of All Time list, but for larger groups who are tiring of the hidden traitor or social deduction games, this one is a breath of fresh air. It can handle up to seven players, and is an easier teach than many other games for mid-to-large groups.
So if you are looking for something different for a weird player count, and you need some more medieval rock star games in your collection please check out Festival!. (Do I need the period there or am I covered with the exclamation point from the title of the game? I was not an English major.) I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how this unassuming set collection game (with aspects of take-that which I did not explore here) will perform. I am looking forward to following the Kickstarter campaign set to launch in Spring 2021, so keep it on your radars, people.
Festival! is a competitive set collection game for larger groups, three to seven players. It is set in a medieval kingdom and the game lasts for four festivals. During the game players will be collecting sets of cards to be scored immediately and collecting other cards to be scored at the game’s end.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but give an idea of how the game plays. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the forthcoming Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, place the board in the middle of the table. Each player chooses a color of pawn to represent them and places one pawn on the 0 space upon the scoring track and the other pawn in the Festival! area upon the board. The game comes with four different types of cards and each type will be shuffled and placed face-down in stacks as in the photo below. Place the festival marker on either the 0 or 4 space (the rules are not clear, but it is to track the number of festivals, so just choose one) and give the first player busteeple to the youngest player. The game may now begin.
Festival! is played over several turns, but the first three turns will see players taking turns to travel to the different areas of the board and collect cards once they arrive. The initial Festival! area is located between the City and Village areas so a player can choose to move their pawn into either of those areas. As is printed on the board areas themselves, when players arrive in the Country they will immediately draw three Ensemble (green) cards to their hand and their turn is over. A trip to the Village affords the player two Ensemble cards to be drawn, while a visit to the City will allow a player to either draw one Ensemble card OR play as many cards from their hand as they choose. Finally, should the player’s wanderlust urge them to the Palace, they may draw a Palace card to be played to their tableau immediately. Movement from one area to the next is always done to the adjacent area. So if in the Village a player may only move to either the Country or the City. If in the Country a player may only move to the Village.
As I mentioned, the first three turns are head start rounds where players are merely collecting cards to amass a hand (of limit 7) of cards that can be played in sets in their personal tableau. These cards are divided into Exotic, Percussion, Melodic, and Choir cards. Players may play as many cards as they like when in the City, but will score bonus set and superset points if they are able to lay down multiple unique cards in each group. For example, a Horn card is worth one VP alone, but with three other unique Melodic cards earns bonus points for the entire set.
After the first three turns have been played, the first player will then flip a Festival card (stacked on the game board) at the beginning of each turn. It is from this stack that the four “Festival!” cards are located, and they are the time trackers for the game. If the result is “Preparation,” the turns continue as normal with no change. However, should the flipped card be a “Festival!” face, then players within range of the Festival Stages may claim a stage and participate in the festival. Participation in the festival simply means that players may play cards as normally played in the City, but then are entitled to one of the drawn Finale cards. These cards are scored at the end of the game and typically award bonus points for various reasons.
Play continues in this fashion of traveling the board areas to collect cards, performing in festivals, and earning the most amount of VP at game end, which is immediately following the fourth festival. The player with the most VP is the winner!
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so the components may be different upon completion of a successful Kickstarter campaign. What we were provided, however, is a good-looking, though muted, game board, a ton of cards, and some painted wooden tokens. The tokens are fine, and I am sure will look different once the game is finalized. The cards are good, an interesting dimension, and the art upon them is good and simple. In fact, the cards’ art remind me of several computer icon sets, specifically Shadow or Sardi (though I use Sweet-Rainbow).
But how does it play? Okay, every time I get a new game I always play it solo multi-handed. During this initial play I had several questions for the designer about scenarios and other oddities that were not covered in the rulebook. He graciously, and immediately, answered my questions and the next play through ran quite smoothly. So I am sure the rulebook will be tweaked quite a bit before final production.
Once I was playing the right way the game ran smoothly and quickly. I found myself planning my turn in advance, however your success truly is dependent on the cards you draw. Ensemble cards are just the instruments, voices, and Minstrel (wild) cards, while the Palace cards are the rule-breaking fun cards. They allow increased travel, protection from certain cards in the deck, and other goodies I won’t spoil here. So having a nice collection of Palace cards can alleviate a lot of the random card draw issues that will plague players who refuse to grab the Palace cards. As I played more and more I found that I generally follow one strategy, but have to switch up tactics depending on my card draws. This is good and okay (not “bad”). Going in with a plan of attack is great, and being able to become flexible mid-game is enjoyable.
Overall this one is surprising to me because I was initially frustrated with the vague rulebook, but once I truly knew the real rules and how everything played together I found a real fondness for it. Festival! will probably never make it close to my Top 10 Games of All Time list, but for larger groups who are tiring of the hidden traitor or social deduction games, this one is a breath of fresh air. It can handle up to seven players, and is an easier teach than many other games for mid-to-large groups.
So if you are looking for something different for a weird player count, and you need some more medieval rock star games in your collection please check out Festival!. (Do I need the period there or am I covered with the exclamation point from the title of the game? I was not an English major.) I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how this unassuming set collection game (with aspects of take-that which I did not explore here) will perform. I am looking forward to following the Kickstarter campaign set to launch in Spring 2021, so keep it on your radars, people.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Seasons in Tabletop Games
Jul 6, 2019 (Updated Nov 4, 2021)
I have mentioned before that I have a bad habit. Well several, but this one pertains to board games. You see, I once had a collection of games that I loved, but was pulled into the BGG Auctions and would engage in auctioning off many of games that I deemed of good return value. But then I would start to miss them. And then I would start to reacquire them. Then my wife stepped in and made me see how foolish I was to rid myself of them in the first place. Well, next up in this line is a game I recently reacquired and never should have let go in the first place – Seasons!
Seasons is a fantastical dice rolling, card drafting, hand management game for two to four players. In it, players are sorcerers competing in a legendary magical tournament that spans three years in an attempt to be crowned the next Archmage of the kingdom. As the seasons change, sorcerers may draw power from changing mana sources, and utilizing these sources most efficiently and effectively will earn victory over all. So tighten up your belt and get to casting, young mage!
To setup, follow the rules in the rulebook (there are many steps, and I have feeble and weak fingers) until the table looks somewhat similar to the photo below – except for the obvious oversight in placing the orange cube on the zero space of bonus actions. The main areas of interest are the main game board where the years and seasons are tracked, the Crystal score track, and player board/tableau area. Players will be dealt a hand of nine cards to start, and then draft one card at a time, passing to their neighbor each time, and deciding which three cards they would like to start the game with, and assigning three more cards each into the Library for rounds two and three. The game begins in Winter, and the black cube is placed on the number 1 of the seasons board. The game is now setup and ready to begin with the first player!
Each turn the active player will roll all dice in the current season (this game is setup for two players, so three total dice are used each turn). They will choose one die to use for the turn, and other players will choose theirs. The players then gather the resources present on the die face. These could be element tokens, crystals (VP), summon gauge stars, cards drawn from the deck, or even transmutation powers. Once resources are gained, the active player may then choose to play a card from their hand to their personal tableau, given they have adequate summoning power (the number of cards that can be played) available on their board. The cost to play the card is found under the illustration, and is usually paid in crystals, element tokens, or a combination of both. These Power Cards may allow the player immediate benefits, ongoing benefits, or benefits that may be activated at certain times during the game.
Another option players have from their chosen die is the ability to transmutate. When a player chooses a die with this option, they are able to consult the current season on the main board and exchange element tokens for crystals, depending on the provided exchange system. For example, a player wishing to exchange earth tokens (the green plant) during Winter will be provided with three crystals each, while attempting the same transmutation during Spring will only provide one crystal each.
Once each player has taken their turn to collect their resources, complete their turn actions, and pass onto the next player, the unchosen die is resolved. Each die face also shows a number of dotted pips at the bottom. The number of pips shown on the unchosen die refers to the number of spaces the cube on the main board season tracker is to be moved forward around the board. One pip, one space forward. This could result in the current season continuing or progressing into the next season. When the cube progresses from Fall to Winter, players will collect their cards set aside for year two or three, respectively. These cards are added to their hand and available to be used immediately on their turn. If, however, on their turn a player has little they can do, or simply wish to boost their turn, they may use one of four bonus actions, as printed on their player board. These actions allow the player to trade two element tokens from their reserves for any other two element tokens from the main supply, allow transmutation if the symbol is not present on their chosen die face, increase their summoning gauge by one, or draw two power cards from the deck and choose one to add to their hand instead of drawing one, per their die face. Each player can use three total bonus actions for each game at a cost of crystals for each usage. Certainly a trade-off.
Play continues in this fashion of choosing and resolving dice, playing cards, and transmuting tokens for crystals until the cube has completed its three year journey around the main board. At that time crystals are scored from cards and added to the tracker, with five points deducted for each card remaining in hand and points deducted for the usage of bonus actions. The player with the most crystals at the end of the game is the winner!
Components. I have a lot to say here, but will attempt to be as succinct as I can. The components in Seasons are simply phenomenal. Yes, the boards, cards, and cubes are all fine quality and unimpressive. However, the art style throughout the game and those big chunky dice are the real standouts to me. I mean, who DOESN’T like to roll big, chunky dice? And the player colors? Oh man, I love them! Players can choose orange, purple, gray, or lime green. Those are some great color options, and such a simple upgrade from primary colors used on many other games. The dice are primary colors, but I still enjoy them and I will let it slide. No real complaints on components from me. I have heard complaints about people not vibing on the color choices associate with the elements/energy, but I applaud the mold-breaking here. Why can’t Fall be red and associated with a feather? Why can’t Summer be yellow and associated with a flame? Fire doesn’t always have to be red. Go on, Seasons! Be you!
Our thoughts on each game should never be a surprise. I will say this for Seasons – I believe that when I auctioned it off the first time, part of the reasoning was because I did not fully understand the rules. I was a newer gamer at the time and was lured in by colors and art style (which are still stunning). More than likely I thought I was smarter than I truly am and included all the cards in my first plays instead of heeding the suggestions given by the rulebook for easier first games. Now, being a more seasoned (I couldn’t resist) gamer, I can better appreciate what is in this box. The unique card play, the dice drafting for resources and actions, the progression of time as a result of the rejected die, all come together to make a very solid and different game. I am trying to think my way through my collection to find a parallel that uses all these mechanics together as well as Seasons does and I am finding it difficult. It is so easy to just throw mechanics into a blender and see the goo that results, but everything with Seasons feels right and I am just in love.
Why did I ever get rid of Seasons? I will claim young and dumb, though I wasn’t very young. Do not emulate my decision to shed this one out of your collection. You don’t have a copy? I would recommend visiting your FLGS to see if they might have a copy in stock. It’s a great one, and one that I will treasure from here on out. Purple Phoenix Games officially gives this one an amazingly colorful 5 / 6. I know the others will enjoy it too, but until they play it, I will be giddy with excitement each time I am able to play my copy. Why are you still here? Go get Seasons!
Seasons is a fantastical dice rolling, card drafting, hand management game for two to four players. In it, players are sorcerers competing in a legendary magical tournament that spans three years in an attempt to be crowned the next Archmage of the kingdom. As the seasons change, sorcerers may draw power from changing mana sources, and utilizing these sources most efficiently and effectively will earn victory over all. So tighten up your belt and get to casting, young mage!
To setup, follow the rules in the rulebook (there are many steps, and I have feeble and weak fingers) until the table looks somewhat similar to the photo below – except for the obvious oversight in placing the orange cube on the zero space of bonus actions. The main areas of interest are the main game board where the years and seasons are tracked, the Crystal score track, and player board/tableau area. Players will be dealt a hand of nine cards to start, and then draft one card at a time, passing to their neighbor each time, and deciding which three cards they would like to start the game with, and assigning three more cards each into the Library for rounds two and three. The game begins in Winter, and the black cube is placed on the number 1 of the seasons board. The game is now setup and ready to begin with the first player!
Each turn the active player will roll all dice in the current season (this game is setup for two players, so three total dice are used each turn). They will choose one die to use for the turn, and other players will choose theirs. The players then gather the resources present on the die face. These could be element tokens, crystals (VP), summon gauge stars, cards drawn from the deck, or even transmutation powers. Once resources are gained, the active player may then choose to play a card from their hand to their personal tableau, given they have adequate summoning power (the number of cards that can be played) available on their board. The cost to play the card is found under the illustration, and is usually paid in crystals, element tokens, or a combination of both. These Power Cards may allow the player immediate benefits, ongoing benefits, or benefits that may be activated at certain times during the game.
Another option players have from their chosen die is the ability to transmutate. When a player chooses a die with this option, they are able to consult the current season on the main board and exchange element tokens for crystals, depending on the provided exchange system. For example, a player wishing to exchange earth tokens (the green plant) during Winter will be provided with three crystals each, while attempting the same transmutation during Spring will only provide one crystal each.
Once each player has taken their turn to collect their resources, complete their turn actions, and pass onto the next player, the unchosen die is resolved. Each die face also shows a number of dotted pips at the bottom. The number of pips shown on the unchosen die refers to the number of spaces the cube on the main board season tracker is to be moved forward around the board. One pip, one space forward. This could result in the current season continuing or progressing into the next season. When the cube progresses from Fall to Winter, players will collect their cards set aside for year two or three, respectively. These cards are added to their hand and available to be used immediately on their turn. If, however, on their turn a player has little they can do, or simply wish to boost their turn, they may use one of four bonus actions, as printed on their player board. These actions allow the player to trade two element tokens from their reserves for any other two element tokens from the main supply, allow transmutation if the symbol is not present on their chosen die face, increase their summoning gauge by one, or draw two power cards from the deck and choose one to add to their hand instead of drawing one, per their die face. Each player can use three total bonus actions for each game at a cost of crystals for each usage. Certainly a trade-off.
Play continues in this fashion of choosing and resolving dice, playing cards, and transmuting tokens for crystals until the cube has completed its three year journey around the main board. At that time crystals are scored from cards and added to the tracker, with five points deducted for each card remaining in hand and points deducted for the usage of bonus actions. The player with the most crystals at the end of the game is the winner!
Components. I have a lot to say here, but will attempt to be as succinct as I can. The components in Seasons are simply phenomenal. Yes, the boards, cards, and cubes are all fine quality and unimpressive. However, the art style throughout the game and those big chunky dice are the real standouts to me. I mean, who DOESN’T like to roll big, chunky dice? And the player colors? Oh man, I love them! Players can choose orange, purple, gray, or lime green. Those are some great color options, and such a simple upgrade from primary colors used on many other games. The dice are primary colors, but I still enjoy them and I will let it slide. No real complaints on components from me. I have heard complaints about people not vibing on the color choices associate with the elements/energy, but I applaud the mold-breaking here. Why can’t Fall be red and associated with a feather? Why can’t Summer be yellow and associated with a flame? Fire doesn’t always have to be red. Go on, Seasons! Be you!
Our thoughts on each game should never be a surprise. I will say this for Seasons – I believe that when I auctioned it off the first time, part of the reasoning was because I did not fully understand the rules. I was a newer gamer at the time and was lured in by colors and art style (which are still stunning). More than likely I thought I was smarter than I truly am and included all the cards in my first plays instead of heeding the suggestions given by the rulebook for easier first games. Now, being a more seasoned (I couldn’t resist) gamer, I can better appreciate what is in this box. The unique card play, the dice drafting for resources and actions, the progression of time as a result of the rejected die, all come together to make a very solid and different game. I am trying to think my way through my collection to find a parallel that uses all these mechanics together as well as Seasons does and I am finding it difficult. It is so easy to just throw mechanics into a blender and see the goo that results, but everything with Seasons feels right and I am just in love.
Why did I ever get rid of Seasons? I will claim young and dumb, though I wasn’t very young. Do not emulate my decision to shed this one out of your collection. You don’t have a copy? I would recommend visiting your FLGS to see if they might have a copy in stock. It’s a great one, and one that I will treasure from here on out. Purple Phoenix Games officially gives this one an amazingly colorful 5 / 6. I know the others will enjoy it too, but until they play it, I will be giddy with excitement each time I am able to play my copy. Why are you still here? Go get Seasons!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Cubitos in Tabletop Games
Mar 17, 2022
Let me tell you a story about how I came to own Cubitos. My FLGS, which since moving to Tennessee is an hour away in Knoxville (Sci-Fi City), had great stock of this game a couple months ago. I would step in, browse around, and pass on picking up a copy since they seemed to have so many. Forward in time to a month ago, when I was ready to grab my own copy, they are sold out. WHAT. Well, I had to order a copy online from somewhere I don’t normally shop because my favorite online sellers were also out of stock. Then Christmas came and my brother gifted me a copy of Cubitos. So then I had two. Long story now short – I have a copy and that’s all that matters because Cubitos is amazing.
Cubitos is a push-your-luck, dice building, racing game for two to four players. In it, players have runners that will be moving around a crazy race track, and another runner who keeps track of fans (the manager maybe?), and the first player’s runner to cross the finish line will be the winner! Now, managing movement and special abilities is where the game REALLY is, and it all boils down to which special dice are purchased and used, and whether Lady Luck will find favor or not. It’s a wild ride, so prepare your runner and let’s go!
To setup, place out one of the double-sided Racetrack boards, along with the Fan Track board. Runners for each player are placed at the Starting Line on the Racetrack board, and the other on the bleachers of the Fan Track. Each player receives a color-coded Player Board and nine gray starting dice. They receive a Phase Token to keep track of each phase in a round, and the starting player receives the Start Player Die. Each dice box is placed around the boards with the dice on top. All corresponding cards for each die type is placed by the dice box, and the game may now begin!
DISCLAIMER: We have adopted an unofficial variant/house rule that differs from the rules because we find it works better for us. During the phases where all players may play simultaneously we instead just have each player take a turn individually. -T
A turn in Cubitos is divided into two main phases with several sub-phases for each. During the main Roll Phase, players will first Draw dice from their personal Draw Zone (on the Player Board) and place them into the Roll Zone. Initially, players will have a hand size of nine, but that may be adjusted as the game progresses. Once the dice have been drawn the player then Rolls their dice. Every die face showing an icon is counted as a Hit, and every die showing a blank face is considered a Miss. All dice showing Hits are moved to the Active Zone of the board, and the player then decides if they wish to Push (their luck) and re-roll all the Misses in hopes of more Hits, or if they are done rolling. Once a player re-rolls their Misses, if the result is all Misses, the player Busts and must move ALL rolled dice to the Discard Zone on their board. However, players may continue to roll all Misses until they Bust or are content and stop.
The Run Phase then begins with players resolving their red die icons (crossed swords for attacks), and determining their other icons rolled for coins and movement. Feet icons (and certain dice special abilities) provide players with movement along the Racetrack board, and coins provide the player with purchasing power to buy new dice. Once a player’s Runner has landed on a reward spot on the board, the player receives the benefit and moves all dice used this turn to the Discard Zone on the Player board.
Every time a player Busts, or lands on a Fan icon on the Racetrack, the other matching Runner on the Fan Track board will move one spot along the track, and the player receives the benefits of the new space. These benefits are either an increase in hand limit of dice drawn, or more purchasing power in the form of credits. Reward spaces on the board could give players extra dice for free, allow players to remove dice from their collection, or even gain credits to be used at any time. The game continues in this fashion of each player taking their turns until one player crosses the finish line and wins!
Components. This box is chock full of tasty components that we all just adore. The boards and cards are all good quality and feature some fantastic art, and the custom dice are just so fun to handle. A truly ingenious use of folding arts is used when setting up all the dice boxes. Not only are they used in-game to remind players what icons are on each die face, but they also hold the dice during play, and store the dice in the box. I mean, triple duty dice boxes are where it’s at! Everything is super colorful and just a joy to play with each time. My one quibble is the very offensive block of cheese on the box cover. I am a big Chicago Bears fan, and seeing something so proudly displayed that even remotely resembles an homage to the Packers is such a shame to me. I really hope that wasn’t intentional, but I am also joking. Mostly.
The absolute best part about this game is the selection of action cards associated with each special set of dice. For example, the purple dinosaur dice could be paired with seven different cards, each with different abilities when the icon is rolled. Each color has a seven card deck, from which a card could randomly be used each game. The rulebook also offers 10 suggested combinations of cards, and also invites players to choose their own combos. This reminds me of a similar mechanic I first saw with the Dice Masters system, where each die’s faces could mean something completely different depending on the card associated with it. I loved that mechanic back then, and I do now as well.
I cannot believe I passed on this game for as long as I did. I mean, I like AEG-published games. We have reviewed John D. Clair games positively: Mystic Vale, with Custom Heroes and Space Base coming soon. Was it a subconscious dislike for the dumb cheese man on the cover? I am not too sure, but I am clearly glad to have it now. The cool dice. The interesting theme. The multi-use dice/card components. The fact they included both orange and purple dice. Am I into racing games now? The reasons are plentiful, and I just cannot wait for my next play of Cubitos. Maybe I can get my wife into it and it can be a staple in our rotation.
There are several other little rules that I did not mention here, but all in all I have had a blast every time I play Cubitos. I was certainly correct in wanting to add it to my collection, and having Josh teach Laura and me originally just adds a unique personal touch to the game for me. Creating lasting memories is a big reason I am so into board games in the first place, and I think Cubitos will hold a special place in my heart simply because I was able to play it with my best friends. They agree with me that this is a special game, and Purple Phoenix Games gives this a nonsquare 16 / 18. If you see this at your LFGS I highly recommend you pick up a copy. Don’t wait, like I did, because when you do get around to it, they just may be out of stock. And a suggestion: because the cheeseperson is wearing lederhosen, just refer to them as a great German friend. AND THAT’S IT. Go Bears.
Cubitos is a push-your-luck, dice building, racing game for two to four players. In it, players have runners that will be moving around a crazy race track, and another runner who keeps track of fans (the manager maybe?), and the first player’s runner to cross the finish line will be the winner! Now, managing movement and special abilities is where the game REALLY is, and it all boils down to which special dice are purchased and used, and whether Lady Luck will find favor or not. It’s a wild ride, so prepare your runner and let’s go!
To setup, place out one of the double-sided Racetrack boards, along with the Fan Track board. Runners for each player are placed at the Starting Line on the Racetrack board, and the other on the bleachers of the Fan Track. Each player receives a color-coded Player Board and nine gray starting dice. They receive a Phase Token to keep track of each phase in a round, and the starting player receives the Start Player Die. Each dice box is placed around the boards with the dice on top. All corresponding cards for each die type is placed by the dice box, and the game may now begin!
DISCLAIMER: We have adopted an unofficial variant/house rule that differs from the rules because we find it works better for us. During the phases where all players may play simultaneously we instead just have each player take a turn individually. -T
A turn in Cubitos is divided into two main phases with several sub-phases for each. During the main Roll Phase, players will first Draw dice from their personal Draw Zone (on the Player Board) and place them into the Roll Zone. Initially, players will have a hand size of nine, but that may be adjusted as the game progresses. Once the dice have been drawn the player then Rolls their dice. Every die face showing an icon is counted as a Hit, and every die showing a blank face is considered a Miss. All dice showing Hits are moved to the Active Zone of the board, and the player then decides if they wish to Push (their luck) and re-roll all the Misses in hopes of more Hits, or if they are done rolling. Once a player re-rolls their Misses, if the result is all Misses, the player Busts and must move ALL rolled dice to the Discard Zone on their board. However, players may continue to roll all Misses until they Bust or are content and stop.
The Run Phase then begins with players resolving their red die icons (crossed swords for attacks), and determining their other icons rolled for coins and movement. Feet icons (and certain dice special abilities) provide players with movement along the Racetrack board, and coins provide the player with purchasing power to buy new dice. Once a player’s Runner has landed on a reward spot on the board, the player receives the benefit and moves all dice used this turn to the Discard Zone on the Player board.
Every time a player Busts, or lands on a Fan icon on the Racetrack, the other matching Runner on the Fan Track board will move one spot along the track, and the player receives the benefits of the new space. These benefits are either an increase in hand limit of dice drawn, or more purchasing power in the form of credits. Reward spaces on the board could give players extra dice for free, allow players to remove dice from their collection, or even gain credits to be used at any time. The game continues in this fashion of each player taking their turns until one player crosses the finish line and wins!
Components. This box is chock full of tasty components that we all just adore. The boards and cards are all good quality and feature some fantastic art, and the custom dice are just so fun to handle. A truly ingenious use of folding arts is used when setting up all the dice boxes. Not only are they used in-game to remind players what icons are on each die face, but they also hold the dice during play, and store the dice in the box. I mean, triple duty dice boxes are where it’s at! Everything is super colorful and just a joy to play with each time. My one quibble is the very offensive block of cheese on the box cover. I am a big Chicago Bears fan, and seeing something so proudly displayed that even remotely resembles an homage to the Packers is such a shame to me. I really hope that wasn’t intentional, but I am also joking. Mostly.
The absolute best part about this game is the selection of action cards associated with each special set of dice. For example, the purple dinosaur dice could be paired with seven different cards, each with different abilities when the icon is rolled. Each color has a seven card deck, from which a card could randomly be used each game. The rulebook also offers 10 suggested combinations of cards, and also invites players to choose their own combos. This reminds me of a similar mechanic I first saw with the Dice Masters system, where each die’s faces could mean something completely different depending on the card associated with it. I loved that mechanic back then, and I do now as well.
I cannot believe I passed on this game for as long as I did. I mean, I like AEG-published games. We have reviewed John D. Clair games positively: Mystic Vale, with Custom Heroes and Space Base coming soon. Was it a subconscious dislike for the dumb cheese man on the cover? I am not too sure, but I am clearly glad to have it now. The cool dice. The interesting theme. The multi-use dice/card components. The fact they included both orange and purple dice. Am I into racing games now? The reasons are plentiful, and I just cannot wait for my next play of Cubitos. Maybe I can get my wife into it and it can be a staple in our rotation.
There are several other little rules that I did not mention here, but all in all I have had a blast every time I play Cubitos. I was certainly correct in wanting to add it to my collection, and having Josh teach Laura and me originally just adds a unique personal touch to the game for me. Creating lasting memories is a big reason I am so into board games in the first place, and I think Cubitos will hold a special place in my heart simply because I was able to play it with my best friends. They agree with me that this is a special game, and Purple Phoenix Games gives this a nonsquare 16 / 18. If you see this at your LFGS I highly recommend you pick up a copy. Don’t wait, like I did, because when you do get around to it, they just may be out of stock. And a suggestion: because the cheeseperson is wearing lederhosen, just refer to them as a great German friend. AND THAT’S IT. Go Bears.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria in Tabletop Games
Jan 5, 2022
As you’ve read in our previous reviews, we are BIG fans of the Valeria-verse games. Whether we have to recruit adventurers for quests, build a thriving village, or traverse the lands to protect its people from various Monsters, we are all about this realm. For this newest installation in the series, the tables have been flipped on us – because doesn’t it get tiring always being the ‘good guys’? Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria allows players to embrace their inner dark side and fight back against these ‘heroes’ to reclaim dominance over the lands. Sometimes, it just feels good to be bad!
Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria is a game of worker placement and dice drafting/pool building in which players are trying to amass the most VP by the end of the game. Played over a series of rounds, players will take turns moving their Warden, drafting dice, and performing various actions. To setup, place the main board in the center of the play area. Shuffle and place the Battle Plan deck, Award cards, and Champion decks in their corresponding locations. Fill the dice bag with the requisite number of dice for your player count, and draw/roll/place the listed number of dice in each of the 5 Shrines (areas) of the main game board. A specified number of Gems are placed in the appropriate Shrine, and each player places their score marker on the 0 space of the score track. Each player receives a player board, random Campaign Map, Warden and Conquest Markers in their chosen color, as well as markers for Gold, Influence, and Magic. Choose a starting player, and the game is ready to begin! The setup for a 2-player game is pictured below.
On your turn, you will move your Warden from its current location to one of the other 5 locations on the board. Whichever location you choose dictates what actions you may take this turn, and are as follows: Gem Shrine, Magic Shrine, Champions Shrine, Gold Shrine, Tactics Shrine, or your own Camp. When placing your Warden at any location (with the exception of your own Camp), you will first select one of the dice found at that Shrine and place it on an open space of your player board. You may not move to a Shrine if it has no dice! After taking a die, you may perform the action associated with your chosen location. The Gem Shrine allows you to take 1 Gem, which can be used to manipulate dice in future turns. At the Magic Shrine, you may gain 2 Magic or claim 1 Award card. Magic can be spent in the game to manipulate dice or partially refresh the Champion/Battle Plan decks, and Award cards give you VP and can be claimed once you have met their requisite conditions. The Champions Shrine grants you the opportunity to buy a Champion card. Champions can provide either Immediate, Ongoing, or End-Game effects. The Gold Shrine allows you to gain Gold (used to purchase Champions and Battle Plans), and the Tactics Shrine allows you to buy a Battle Plan to be placed in your reserve on your player board.
The final location, your own Camp, is on your player board. When you place your Warden here, you are committing to perform a Battle. To do so, select which Battle Plan you wish to complete (either from your reserve, or pay Gold to buy directly from the Battle Plan line), and place it on your player board. All Battle Plans have certain dice requirements that need to be met in order to be completed. Select and manipulate which dice you want to use for your chosen Battle Plan, and add up your total Strength. Compare your Strength to your Influence marker – the lower of the two will be your total strength for this battle. Check the chart on your player board to find the number of VP you earn for the total Strength level achieved in the Battle, and immediately move your score marker the appropriate number of spaces. After performing a Battle, you get to level up your player board. During the game setup, each player receives 10 Conquest Markers that are housed on their player board, blocking/locking certain bonuses, abilities, and dice slots. After a Battle, you may remove 1 Conquest Marker from your player board (granting you a new bonus/ability for future turns), and place it on your Campaign Map. Campaign Maps have nine different slots that will grant you differing rewards. Once you have moved your Conquest Marker, return all dice used in this Battle to the dice bag, and move your completed Battle Plan card to the side of your player board. Your turn then ends and the game moves to the next player.
The game continues in this fashion, with players moving their Wardens, collecting dice, and performing actions, until one player has completed their 7th Battle Plan. The round continues until all players have had an equal number of turns, and then players add up any remaining VP. The player who has accumulated the most VP is then declared the winner!
It really should come as no surprise to you that I love this game. Beyond just the Valeria-verse theme, though, the gameplay is more strategic than I originally thought. Yes, it’s a worker placement and dice drafting game, but the underlying strategy is really what makes it great. You see, the dice in the game have 3 different elements that affect your strategy. First is the color: each color matches a Faction, and different Factions are required to complete specific Battle Plans. Next, is the actual die value: you want higher numbers to get a higher Strength, which equates to more VP when completing Battle Plans. And lastly is the discount: depending on the face value of the die, you will receive a discount towards purchasing Champions, Battle Plans, or collecting gold. The lower the face value of the die, the higher the discount, and vice versa. So yeah, maybe taking a 1 value die won’t really help in the Battle Plan, but the amount of gold it allows you to collect might be worth it. You have those 3 things to consider for dice alone! And that doesn’t even take into account which Champions you might want to buy, or what Battle Plans would be beneficial to you.
Another neat strategic element are the Conquest Markers on your player board. Everyone starts with the same number/placement of Conquest Markers, but as the game progresses, players may resolve them in various ways. There is no ‘correct’ order in which to move Conquest Markers – it all comes down to your strategy. Maybe you want more dice right off the bat, so you remove those first. Or maybe you want to be able to reserve more than 1 Battle Plan at a time, so you go for that one. It’s going to be different for every player, and it’ll be different every game. It all depends on the layout of the main board, and which dice and actions are available to you at any given time. There are so many strategic considerations throughout the entire game, and it keeps all players actively engaged.
Components. No surprise here, but the component quality is great, which is to be expected of Daily Magic Games. The cardboard is all thick and chunky, the wooden tokens nice and sturdy, and the cards are easy to manipulate and clear to read. The artwork is, in my opinion, one of the greatest things about the Valeria games, and Shadow Kingdoms is no exception. When getting the game set up, sometimes I find myself just looking through the cards and really appreciating the artwork. So all in all, great production quality here.
Does Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria climb the ranks to my favorite Valeria game? Not quite, but I have to say honestly that it’s getting there. The gameplay is solid and straightforward, the strategic implications are vast, and the components make the game feel awesome. And to get the Monster perspective in this universe is a neat twist that I otherwise would not really have thought of. If you’re a fan of the Valeria games, definitely check this one out. Or if you’re just a fan of worker placement, with some unique elements of drafting, then I highly recommend this one as well. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a mighty 5 / 6. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria is a game of worker placement and dice drafting/pool building in which players are trying to amass the most VP by the end of the game. Played over a series of rounds, players will take turns moving their Warden, drafting dice, and performing various actions. To setup, place the main board in the center of the play area. Shuffle and place the Battle Plan deck, Award cards, and Champion decks in their corresponding locations. Fill the dice bag with the requisite number of dice for your player count, and draw/roll/place the listed number of dice in each of the 5 Shrines (areas) of the main game board. A specified number of Gems are placed in the appropriate Shrine, and each player places their score marker on the 0 space of the score track. Each player receives a player board, random Campaign Map, Warden and Conquest Markers in their chosen color, as well as markers for Gold, Influence, and Magic. Choose a starting player, and the game is ready to begin! The setup for a 2-player game is pictured below.
On your turn, you will move your Warden from its current location to one of the other 5 locations on the board. Whichever location you choose dictates what actions you may take this turn, and are as follows: Gem Shrine, Magic Shrine, Champions Shrine, Gold Shrine, Tactics Shrine, or your own Camp. When placing your Warden at any location (with the exception of your own Camp), you will first select one of the dice found at that Shrine and place it on an open space of your player board. You may not move to a Shrine if it has no dice! After taking a die, you may perform the action associated with your chosen location. The Gem Shrine allows you to take 1 Gem, which can be used to manipulate dice in future turns. At the Magic Shrine, you may gain 2 Magic or claim 1 Award card. Magic can be spent in the game to manipulate dice or partially refresh the Champion/Battle Plan decks, and Award cards give you VP and can be claimed once you have met their requisite conditions. The Champions Shrine grants you the opportunity to buy a Champion card. Champions can provide either Immediate, Ongoing, or End-Game effects. The Gold Shrine allows you to gain Gold (used to purchase Champions and Battle Plans), and the Tactics Shrine allows you to buy a Battle Plan to be placed in your reserve on your player board.
The final location, your own Camp, is on your player board. When you place your Warden here, you are committing to perform a Battle. To do so, select which Battle Plan you wish to complete (either from your reserve, or pay Gold to buy directly from the Battle Plan line), and place it on your player board. All Battle Plans have certain dice requirements that need to be met in order to be completed. Select and manipulate which dice you want to use for your chosen Battle Plan, and add up your total Strength. Compare your Strength to your Influence marker – the lower of the two will be your total strength for this battle. Check the chart on your player board to find the number of VP you earn for the total Strength level achieved in the Battle, and immediately move your score marker the appropriate number of spaces. After performing a Battle, you get to level up your player board. During the game setup, each player receives 10 Conquest Markers that are housed on their player board, blocking/locking certain bonuses, abilities, and dice slots. After a Battle, you may remove 1 Conquest Marker from your player board (granting you a new bonus/ability for future turns), and place it on your Campaign Map. Campaign Maps have nine different slots that will grant you differing rewards. Once you have moved your Conquest Marker, return all dice used in this Battle to the dice bag, and move your completed Battle Plan card to the side of your player board. Your turn then ends and the game moves to the next player.
The game continues in this fashion, with players moving their Wardens, collecting dice, and performing actions, until one player has completed their 7th Battle Plan. The round continues until all players have had an equal number of turns, and then players add up any remaining VP. The player who has accumulated the most VP is then declared the winner!
It really should come as no surprise to you that I love this game. Beyond just the Valeria-verse theme, though, the gameplay is more strategic than I originally thought. Yes, it’s a worker placement and dice drafting game, but the underlying strategy is really what makes it great. You see, the dice in the game have 3 different elements that affect your strategy. First is the color: each color matches a Faction, and different Factions are required to complete specific Battle Plans. Next, is the actual die value: you want higher numbers to get a higher Strength, which equates to more VP when completing Battle Plans. And lastly is the discount: depending on the face value of the die, you will receive a discount towards purchasing Champions, Battle Plans, or collecting gold. The lower the face value of the die, the higher the discount, and vice versa. So yeah, maybe taking a 1 value die won’t really help in the Battle Plan, but the amount of gold it allows you to collect might be worth it. You have those 3 things to consider for dice alone! And that doesn’t even take into account which Champions you might want to buy, or what Battle Plans would be beneficial to you.
Another neat strategic element are the Conquest Markers on your player board. Everyone starts with the same number/placement of Conquest Markers, but as the game progresses, players may resolve them in various ways. There is no ‘correct’ order in which to move Conquest Markers – it all comes down to your strategy. Maybe you want more dice right off the bat, so you remove those first. Or maybe you want to be able to reserve more than 1 Battle Plan at a time, so you go for that one. It’s going to be different for every player, and it’ll be different every game. It all depends on the layout of the main board, and which dice and actions are available to you at any given time. There are so many strategic considerations throughout the entire game, and it keeps all players actively engaged.
Components. No surprise here, but the component quality is great, which is to be expected of Daily Magic Games. The cardboard is all thick and chunky, the wooden tokens nice and sturdy, and the cards are easy to manipulate and clear to read. The artwork is, in my opinion, one of the greatest things about the Valeria games, and Shadow Kingdoms is no exception. When getting the game set up, sometimes I find myself just looking through the cards and really appreciating the artwork. So all in all, great production quality here.
Does Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria climb the ranks to my favorite Valeria game? Not quite, but I have to say honestly that it’s getting there. The gameplay is solid and straightforward, the strategic implications are vast, and the components make the game feel awesome. And to get the Monster perspective in this universe is a neat twist that I otherwise would not really have thought of. If you’re a fan of the Valeria games, definitely check this one out. Or if you’re just a fan of worker placement, with some unique elements of drafting, then I highly recommend this one as well. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a mighty 5 / 6. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Rick and Morty - Season 2 in TV
Jul 21, 2017
Absolute insanity (1 more)
Will leave you in stitches throughout
The Universe Is A Crazy and Chaotic Place…
Rick & Morty was one of those shows that totally flew under the radar for me while it was on the air for months, then all of a sudden almost every podcast and youtuber that I subscribe to were recommending it. Though by the time that I was recommended it, I was aware it was an Adult Swim show, so I assumed each episode would only be around six or seven minutes long and put it on the backburner. Then one day I had run out of things to watch, I was up to date on all of my youtube videos and decided to give it a shot. Whilst I didn’t fall in love with it immediately, it did hook me right away and I was pleased to learn each episode was 20 minutes long and because the episodes are so short, I decided to watch a few episodes in a row and by the time I had finished watching Anatomy Park, the third episode of the first season, I realised how great this show was. The writing is so off the wall and insane yet dry that it works and the characters and the dynamic that they have is honestly hilarious, the comedic timing is also spot on. If you haven’t seen the show, think a blend of Family Guy style animation, with a backdrop of a Back To The Future or Doctor Who kind of universe and sprinkled with Always Sunny In Philadelphia style comedy. There is so much about this show that makes it funny, the sheer insanity and traumatisation that Rick exposes his grandchildren to, only to then brush it off as if it is totally normal as it is them that are overreacting and then there is Gerry and Beth’s broken marriage that only exists because Gerry got Beth pregnant with Summer when they were teenagers. Rick and Gerry are probably my two favourite characters in the show, Rick because you know he has seen so many insane things all over the galaxy over the years that literally nothing bothers him anymore and everything is normal to him, no matter how insane it seems to us and the other characters in the show and Gerry because of his exceptional mediocrity and impressive amount of general naivety. Also it would be criminal not to mention the other vast array of fantastically hilarious characters that we meet throughout the show, from Mr Meeseeks, (look at me!) to Mr Poopybutthole, to Birdperson, the list goes on getting more and more crazy as it does. The show is two seasons in so far, with a total of 21 episodes and I can honestly say that there is not one episode that I don’t like. I do have my favourites however, like M Night Shamaliens, when Rick, Morty and Gerry are stuck in a simulation of the real world and Gerry thinks he is having the greatest day of his life, or Rick Potion No.9, where said potion makes everybody fall in love with Morty, then transform into grotesque monsters, so they simply leave that reality behind and move into a fresh one, or Raising Gazorpazorp, where Morty goes through fatherhood in the space of a day, or Mortynight Run where they leave Gerry in a nursing home full of other Gerrys, I don’t want to spoil too much for those who haven’t seen it, but if you haven’t then stop watching this review right now and go watch Rick & Morty. The animation uses an odd art style, which may be initially off-putting, but a few episodes in, it becomes clear that this animation is to a high standard, just done in an odd style. The voice acting also seems fairly amateur at first, but as the show goes on and you get to know the characters and the world, the voice acting actually works perfectly in unison with the way that the show is written.
There isn’t much more to say, this show has hardly any negative qualities, it is one of the best animated shows that I have seen in the last decade and it is totally my kind of humour.
There isn’t much more to say, this show has hardly any negative qualities, it is one of the best animated shows that I have seen in the last decade and it is totally my kind of humour.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Circus Galacticus in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Have you ever wanted to run away and join the circus? How about a galaxy-traveling circus complete with your very own Doctor Who-like Ringmaster and spaceship? Sounds pretty awesome, right? While you sadly may not be able to do that in real life, Deva Fagan's Circus Galacticus takes the reader on a voyage through the stars. Okay, so maybe reading instead of experiencing those adventures isn't quite as fun, but it's still a grand ride to hop on while I impatiently wait for my very own Doctor to show up and whisk me away to galaxies unknown and unimagined.
Meet the Earther Beatrix "Trix" Ling: miserable, friendless orphan, you know, the usual. On the surface that is. Seriously unhappy at her boarding school, she often gets into trouble due to the fact she's quick to rile and doesn't think things through before acting or speaking. After a few weird events happen to Trix, such as some strange dude breaking into her room and her hair deciding it'd like to be a cotton candy pink, the Circus Galacticus comes to town promising her some answers. Here is where the journey for Trix and the reader begins. Aliens and gadgets abound, as do allies with their own special Tinker power and enemies trying to suppress that power, a spaceship that's alive with many mysterious corridors, and too much to even begin to cover, and really, they'd be better serviced by reading the book instead of this review. This book is like Doctor Who, The X-Men, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory all tossed into a blender to make one scrump-diddly-umptous concoction. Smoothly written, the book moves at a swift pace as Trix struggles to find somewhere she belongs, make and keep friends, and to believe she deserves it. I don't believe there's a person out there that hasn't felt like an outsider at one time or another, though some more-so than others perhaps, and while Trix may make mistakes and may not always follow rules, that only makes her all the more full-bodied as a character. Except a little with the Ringmaster and the circus tent spaceship, Big Top (as much a character as anyone, if not more), the others aren't delved into as much but they each add their own quirks to make the book well-rounded.
And while I'd heartily recommend Circus Galacticus with no reservations, it isn't a perfect book by any means. Trix's age is never mentioned and at one time she describes the others as her age or a few years older. Umm, okay, I don't even know how old you are, chica, so how am I supposed to know how old everyone else is? At first, I surmised she was somewhere between 12-16 until unneeded curse words popped up, so she's probably a teenager. I finally found out how old Trix was by going to the author's site. She's 15. Call me odd, but I like to know the main character's age. The book could also have stood to have a little more meat on its bones, even as little as fifty pages tacked on. This was like a sampler platter and I wanted a full-course meal. With dessert. So many questions were left unanswered and it is just begging for a sequel to explore these more fully. And as I said before, the curse words really added absolutely nothing to the context of the scenes they were in. Other words could have been substituted easily and been more fitting. Sure there weren't many, but this is intended for middle-grade students and except for the cursing, it's good, clean fun. I'm not naive enough to think that children don't come across foul language from many sources, and even use it themselves, but that doesn't mean that books tailored for their age range should include them either.
However, I had a blast travelling through space with the crew of the Big Top. If there is a sequel, and I truly hope there is, you can be sure I'll be there for the next adventure of Circus Galacticus.
If interested, the author has up illustrations of the main characters: http://devafagan.com/circus-galacticus-characters/
Meet the Earther Beatrix "Trix" Ling: miserable, friendless orphan, you know, the usual. On the surface that is. Seriously unhappy at her boarding school, she often gets into trouble due to the fact she's quick to rile and doesn't think things through before acting or speaking. After a few weird events happen to Trix, such as some strange dude breaking into her room and her hair deciding it'd like to be a cotton candy pink, the Circus Galacticus comes to town promising her some answers. Here is where the journey for Trix and the reader begins. Aliens and gadgets abound, as do allies with their own special Tinker power and enemies trying to suppress that power, a spaceship that's alive with many mysterious corridors, and too much to even begin to cover, and really, they'd be better serviced by reading the book instead of this review. This book is like Doctor Who, The X-Men, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory all tossed into a blender to make one scrump-diddly-umptous concoction. Smoothly written, the book moves at a swift pace as Trix struggles to find somewhere she belongs, make and keep friends, and to believe she deserves it. I don't believe there's a person out there that hasn't felt like an outsider at one time or another, though some more-so than others perhaps, and while Trix may make mistakes and may not always follow rules, that only makes her all the more full-bodied as a character. Except a little with the Ringmaster and the circus tent spaceship, Big Top (as much a character as anyone, if not more), the others aren't delved into as much but they each add their own quirks to make the book well-rounded.
And while I'd heartily recommend Circus Galacticus with no reservations, it isn't a perfect book by any means. Trix's age is never mentioned and at one time she describes the others as her age or a few years older. Umm, okay, I don't even know how old you are, chica, so how am I supposed to know how old everyone else is? At first, I surmised she was somewhere between 12-16 until unneeded curse words popped up, so she's probably a teenager. I finally found out how old Trix was by going to the author's site. She's 15. Call me odd, but I like to know the main character's age. The book could also have stood to have a little more meat on its bones, even as little as fifty pages tacked on. This was like a sampler platter and I wanted a full-course meal. With dessert. So many questions were left unanswered and it is just begging for a sequel to explore these more fully. And as I said before, the curse words really added absolutely nothing to the context of the scenes they were in. Other words could have been substituted easily and been more fitting. Sure there weren't many, but this is intended for middle-grade students and except for the cursing, it's good, clean fun. I'm not naive enough to think that children don't come across foul language from many sources, and even use it themselves, but that doesn't mean that books tailored for their age range should include them either.
However, I had a blast travelling through space with the crew of the Big Top. If there is a sequel, and I truly hope there is, you can be sure I'll be there for the next adventure of Circus Galacticus.
If interested, the author has up illustrations of the main characters: http://devafagan.com/circus-galacticus-characters/