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Red Otter (340 KP) rated The Castles of Burgundy in Tabletop Games

May 31, 2019

The Castles of Burgundy

2011 | Dice Game, Medieval, Territory Building

8.0

(11 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Castles of Burgundy is one of my favorite light Euros and a great introduction to the hobby. The component quality is definitely one of the worst things about it, but it's easy enough to get past once you learn the game.
At its simplest, Castles is a point fiesta all about picking up and putting tiles down.

It does use dice to introduce randomness and can lead to some feel bad moments for your originally set plans, but it rewards setting up to take advantage of any situation or dice rolls. Every action you do scores you points or leaves you in a better position than before, so as in any euro, there are more efficient actions, but nothing that will end your game immediately or set you behind. Your dice rolls are also malleable, either through workers (one time use to change the value incrementally) or various buffs that make picking up or placing tiles easier. There are a wide strategy of what tiles to focus on that allows you to adjust your plan based on what the opponent is doing. Every tile does something special, and there are rewarding combos that can be pulled off that reward skilled play. For someone who wants zero randomness in their euro, I'd definitely lean away from castles, but anyone who is just beginning their foray either into gaming or euros will definitely appreciate this game.

Kudos

The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) rated Colt Express in Tabletop Games

May 31, 2018

Colt Express

2014 | American West, Fighting, Transportation

7.7

(9 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

The planning and execution don't always line up. (3 more)

Options are good without being overly abundant

can always waste a turn to get more options

Getting shot only means to have a chance at less options

can be slightly frustrating when plans go awry. (1 more)

sometimes hard to move the pieces on the cardboard train.

Really a fun light-hearted game of train robbing

the consequences are light in this game of take that and a race to steal the most valuables from the train. There isn't even the conscience of worry about who you are robbing, they've take that out of the equation. they are just tokens laying on the ground, and you have to go and pick them up. But people can punch and shoot you or send the Marshall after you which will foil your plans and move you against your will. Also each character has a special power, so each game is slightly different when you play the different robbers. Also the changing of the order and the different round options with tunnels and other consequences make it more interesting. Great with kids due to the theme. just enough light strategy though to engage their brains. And it's even good with adults having adult beverages. Overall I'm glad I have it in my collection and it's one of the few 6 player games that works for everyone. (There is also a great app for it as well if you want to try before you buy.)

Kudos

Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated To All the Boys I've Loved Before in Books

Dec 20, 2018

I picked this up mostly because the trailer for the Netflix adaptation looked AMAZING. It's the first book in a trilogy, and I really want to read the other two now! Lara Jean is the middle daughter in a house of three daughters, being raised by their widower father. The relationships between the four of them play a large part in the book, as they are all adjusting to the eldest daughter being away at college. Everyone's roles are changing, and in the middle of that, Lara Jean's private love letters get mailed to the boys she wrote them to, throwing her love life into chaos as well.

I loved almost every character in this book - even Lara's troublemaking best friend has a good heart. I definitely need to watch the Netflix show now, because I really want to see how Chris - aforementioned best friend - is represented!

The family scenes around Christmas really tugged at my heart - Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the author absolutely NAILED the nostalgic, slightly dreamy, loving holiday atmosphere.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before was a cute, sweet read, and really my only negative thing to say about it is the ending left me hanging! Which is part of why I really need to read the other two books, so I suppose it was a good strategy. But man I hate cliffhangers!

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com