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The Italian Teacher
Book
Rome, 1955 The artists are gathering together for a photograph. In one of Rome's historic villas,...
Paul Kellett (118 KP) rated Secrets of the Lost Tomb in Tabletop Games
May 1, 2019
Great stories (2 more)
Exciting gameplay
Great solo game with 1 hero
Rules are a little clunky in places (1 more)
Lots of little tokens to track everything
An Indiana Jones style adventure
Have you ever wanted to be Indiana Jones? Well now you can. Secrets of the Lost Tomb is an epic action adventure game in the style of 1930's pulp fiction.
Almost like a cross between Descent and Betrayal at the House on the Hill, you build the dungeon one tile at a time (from a large stack of room tiles) as you explore 3 levels trying to get to and defeat the boss and retrieve the quest item before the time track runs out.
All the creatures and events are automated making this a fully co-op game and action points are distributed evenly between the adventurers. There is also a special solo only character with a bunch of companions so you can play without having to take control of multiple characters if you wish.
I have now played through all the scenarios several times and this game is still on the top of My dungeon crawl list, it really does everything I wanted. With the base game and 7 expansions, there is a HUGE amount of content as well as rules to combine everything into a full campaign with character progression.
The scenarios are much more varied and interesting than other dungeon crawls. One mission you could be trying to stop a long dead pharaoh from coming back and spreading his evil in the world while the next mission might see you trying to stop Russian commandos from stealing Captain Nemo's submarine, The Nautilus. Each scenario has a 1930s pulp fiction feel to it and, despite the occasional typo, are very well written and thought out.
The scenarios have an introduction which sets the scene, a setup guide that tells you what tiles, creatures and items are specific to the story and need to be set aside and the win/lose conditions. There then follows a series of numbered sections which serve as chapters in the story. These are triggered by various events, normally by discovering room tiles with specific icons on them or by the comet track (which is the game's timer) hitting a certain point. This is a great feature and is easy to follow. I much prefer this to the way the quests are laid out in Descent 2e.
The scenarios are long and so far have taken nearly twice the specified amount of time as listed. That said, you are so immersed in the story and exploring the tomb, the game never feels like it is dragging or outstaying it's welcome. You just need to budget for 3-4 hours of play time per story although this does come down once you are familiar with the rules.
Yes, there are a lot of tokens and stats to keep track of, but I wouldn't say it detracts from the game or the feeling of immersion, especially after the first game or two and the fact that each player takes one action at a time going round the table until all actions have been taken means that there is less downtime than other games.
The AI is very well done with creatures moving and attacking the player with the most soul tokens (gained by killing creatures) so the most dangerous character will be the main focus of the enemy and you can plan your turn to have the right people positioned where they will be best protected/best used.
This is by far the best and most immersive dungeon crawl I've played and really has knocked Descent off as My go-to game of this genre.
Find out more about Secrets of the Lost Tomb and more at Everything Epic Games
Almost like a cross between Descent and Betrayal at the House on the Hill, you build the dungeon one tile at a time (from a large stack of room tiles) as you explore 3 levels trying to get to and defeat the boss and retrieve the quest item before the time track runs out.
All the creatures and events are automated making this a fully co-op game and action points are distributed evenly between the adventurers. There is also a special solo only character with a bunch of companions so you can play without having to take control of multiple characters if you wish.
I have now played through all the scenarios several times and this game is still on the top of My dungeon crawl list, it really does everything I wanted. With the base game and 7 expansions, there is a HUGE amount of content as well as rules to combine everything into a full campaign with character progression.
The scenarios are much more varied and interesting than other dungeon crawls. One mission you could be trying to stop a long dead pharaoh from coming back and spreading his evil in the world while the next mission might see you trying to stop Russian commandos from stealing Captain Nemo's submarine, The Nautilus. Each scenario has a 1930s pulp fiction feel to it and, despite the occasional typo, are very well written and thought out.
The scenarios have an introduction which sets the scene, a setup guide that tells you what tiles, creatures and items are specific to the story and need to be set aside and the win/lose conditions. There then follows a series of numbered sections which serve as chapters in the story. These are triggered by various events, normally by discovering room tiles with specific icons on them or by the comet track (which is the game's timer) hitting a certain point. This is a great feature and is easy to follow. I much prefer this to the way the quests are laid out in Descent 2e.
The scenarios are long and so far have taken nearly twice the specified amount of time as listed. That said, you are so immersed in the story and exploring the tomb, the game never feels like it is dragging or outstaying it's welcome. You just need to budget for 3-4 hours of play time per story although this does come down once you are familiar with the rules.
Yes, there are a lot of tokens and stats to keep track of, but I wouldn't say it detracts from the game or the feeling of immersion, especially after the first game or two and the fact that each player takes one action at a time going round the table until all actions have been taken means that there is less downtime than other games.
The AI is very well done with creatures moving and attacking the player with the most soul tokens (gained by killing creatures) so the most dangerous character will be the main focus of the enemy and you can plan your turn to have the right people positioned where they will be best protected/best used.
This is by far the best and most immersive dungeon crawl I've played and really has knocked Descent off as My go-to game of this genre.
Find out more about Secrets of the Lost Tomb and more at Everything Epic Games
Blood on the Page
Book
'Meticulous and gripping' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street A groundbreaking examination of...
Chelsea (449 KP) rated House Of Leaves in Books
Sep 7, 2017
Unique (1 more)
Creepy
Confusing (1 more)
Some people will simply give up on it
Not for everyone, but if you like weird try it!
This book is definitely unique and of course it was its uniqueness that first interested me.
This is a book put together by a guy named Johnny who finds an incomplete mass of manuscript and notes in a chest in a room of a blind man who just recently died, named Zampano. He supposedly died of old age, but even that was questionable. The scatter of pages are written about a serious of videos about a house. This house is by no means your average house. The chilling oddity begins with the discovery that the house is actually bigger on the inside than it is on the outside... I cant say any more on this without possible spoilers... The whole story is presented as true, and the videos referenced were shot by the family living in the house.
The manuscript gets into incredible detail with a million footnotes and at first glance some pages could be out of a text book. Johnny, who has compiled the mass into book form, has decided that 95% of the references don't actually exist. Johnny makes his own notes and includes his own story in amongst the footnotes.
At first, I was not at all interested in Johnny's story or his many sexcapades, but the further in you go, the more the book ends up intruding into his own life. Also, the first many pages of Zampano's writings are difficult to get into. The flip flop between Johnny and Zampano's radically different writing styles takes a bit to get used to.
However, once you've gotten into the book, you're in completely and tangled in its labyrinth. This is not your average story, book, anything.
This is a book put together by a guy named Johnny who finds an incomplete mass of manuscript and notes in a chest in a room of a blind man who just recently died, named Zampano. He supposedly died of old age, but even that was questionable. The scatter of pages are written about a serious of videos about a house. This house is by no means your average house. The chilling oddity begins with the discovery that the house is actually bigger on the inside than it is on the outside... I cant say any more on this without possible spoilers... The whole story is presented as true, and the videos referenced were shot by the family living in the house.
The manuscript gets into incredible detail with a million footnotes and at first glance some pages could be out of a text book. Johnny, who has compiled the mass into book form, has decided that 95% of the references don't actually exist. Johnny makes his own notes and includes his own story in amongst the footnotes.
At first, I was not at all interested in Johnny's story or his many sexcapades, but the further in you go, the more the book ends up intruding into his own life. Also, the first many pages of Zampano's writings are difficult to get into. The flip flop between Johnny and Zampano's radically different writing styles takes a bit to get used to.
However, once you've gotten into the book, you're in completely and tangled in its labyrinth. This is not your average story, book, anything.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Discovery Express in Books
Jun 18, 2018
All Aboard The Discovery Express Emily Hawkins and Tom Adams is a fantastic interactive book about the history of travel with an intriguing puzzle to solve along the way. There are surprises on every page, discoveries to be made and clues to follow.
On the first page the reader meets Pierre Henri, who is to be the conductor of the journey the reader is about the embark on. He explains that this is to be no ordinary train ride, and along with geographer, explorer and adventurer Nancy Delaney you begin travelling in time, history and across the world. The purpose of this trip is to find Professor Pendleton – the leader of the crew, whom without Pierre and Nancy are lost. As we travel across each carriage, each room, and each landmark there are many many clues and information under each flap and it is important that they aren’t missed. From flying machines, the Panama Canal, to one of my favourite pages on the hot air balloon, there will be much fun to be had while learning about inventions of our past and some of the most talent engineers ever.
My words really cannot do this book justice, it is when you get to see the book in person that you realise just how much it is going to spark the imagination of children. Apart from it looking beautiful, it is a textural delight on each page which sparks interaction between those reading through the book. This book is particularly brilliant for those wanting to be scientists or engineers, and those who simply love discovery and adventure.
I recommend this book to children and people who love adventure and trains.
I received this an ARC of All Aboard The Discovery Express from NetGalley via Quarto Publishing Group and Wide Eyed Editions.
On the first page the reader meets Pierre Henri, who is to be the conductor of the journey the reader is about the embark on. He explains that this is to be no ordinary train ride, and along with geographer, explorer and adventurer Nancy Delaney you begin travelling in time, history and across the world. The purpose of this trip is to find Professor Pendleton – the leader of the crew, whom without Pierre and Nancy are lost. As we travel across each carriage, each room, and each landmark there are many many clues and information under each flap and it is important that they aren’t missed. From flying machines, the Panama Canal, to one of my favourite pages on the hot air balloon, there will be much fun to be had while learning about inventions of our past and some of the most talent engineers ever.
My words really cannot do this book justice, it is when you get to see the book in person that you realise just how much it is going to spark the imagination of children. Apart from it looking beautiful, it is a textural delight on each page which sparks interaction between those reading through the book. This book is particularly brilliant for those wanting to be scientists or engineers, and those who simply love discovery and adventure.
I recommend this book to children and people who love adventure and trains.
I received this an ARC of All Aboard The Discovery Express from NetGalley via Quarto Publishing Group and Wide Eyed Editions.
JT (287 KP) rated The Ward (2010) in Movies
Mar 16, 2020
Poor acting (2 more)
Laughable twist
Not scary
Carpenter must have been having an off day
his is a massive disappointment and there is no place to hide here for John Carpenter who making a return to directing since 2001′s Ghosts of Mars has delivered us a real ‘dog’ of a film.
I’m a big fan of his work, but that is his early work with the likes of Halloween and The Thing as my personal favourites, but here Carpenter’s trademark suspense is all but lost in a story that is as predictable as it is stupid.
After setting fire to a barn Kristen (Amber Heard) is sent to a mental hospital, where she is terrorised by a ghost, a hidden past his reflected upon but never fully delved into. There is of course more to it than that, and Heard spends a vast majority of the time either locked in her room or trying to escape while at the same time piecing the puzzle together with the help of some of her fellow inmates.
Carpenter’s use of the wide camera angle is effective in places, and the long cold corridors of the ward are enough to give anyone the chills. However, it is not built on in any way and all the suspense is somewhat lost by the poor acting and monotonous build-up to the next potential terrifying scene. When the ghost is revealed it is, to be honest laughable and not in the least bit frightening which is probably one of the main downfalls of the film.
The twist ending is anything but predictable and you could have spotted it a mile off, it’s a poor effort this perhaps not helped in the writing department, but Carpenter is one of the masters of horror but here he hasn’t even bothered to turn up.
I’m a big fan of his work, but that is his early work with the likes of Halloween and The Thing as my personal favourites, but here Carpenter’s trademark suspense is all but lost in a story that is as predictable as it is stupid.
After setting fire to a barn Kristen (Amber Heard) is sent to a mental hospital, where she is terrorised by a ghost, a hidden past his reflected upon but never fully delved into. There is of course more to it than that, and Heard spends a vast majority of the time either locked in her room or trying to escape while at the same time piecing the puzzle together with the help of some of her fellow inmates.
Carpenter’s use of the wide camera angle is effective in places, and the long cold corridors of the ward are enough to give anyone the chills. However, it is not built on in any way and all the suspense is somewhat lost by the poor acting and monotonous build-up to the next potential terrifying scene. When the ghost is revealed it is, to be honest laughable and not in the least bit frightening which is probably one of the main downfalls of the film.
The twist ending is anything but predictable and you could have spotted it a mile off, it’s a poor effort this perhaps not helped in the writing department, but Carpenter is one of the masters of horror but here he hasn’t even bothered to turn up.
Studio Television Production and Directing: Concepts, Equipment, and Procedures
Book
Master the fundamentals of studio production procedure and become an effective leader on set. Gain...
Spitting in the Soup: Inside the Dirty Game of Doping in Sports
Book
Doping is as old as organized sports. From baseball to horse racing, cycling to track and field,...
Roxanne (13 KP) rated Farm Animals in Books
Nov 14, 2018
These books are so well made and full of different types of textures for your baby to touch. My baby girl is just over 3 months old and she loves this book! She hasn't long learned how to touch and grab but she holds onto this book for dear life! It's a really nice compact book so it doesn't take up much room if you need to take it with you for your little one. The corners are nice and smooth and so there are no concerns when your baby is waving her hands around at it. One of my favourite textures is the sticky mud puddle...when first going through the book I was so surprised it was so sticky! Very clever!
Your baby can learn about all different types of farm animals, like woolly sheep and soft, fluffy sheep dogs. I enjoy reading this to my baby and it keeps her interest for ages, I'd recommend this for all little bubbas who love books.
Your baby can learn about all different types of farm animals, like woolly sheep and soft, fluffy sheep dogs. I enjoy reading this to my baby and it keeps her interest for ages, I'd recommend this for all little bubbas who love books.
Silence Your Mind: Improve Your Happiness in Just 10 Minutes a Day With This New Approach to Meditation
Book
Can't sleep because your thoughts won't switch off? Ever walked into a room to get something, only...