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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Evolution in Tabletop Games
Sep 12, 2019
I very much have a science-based mind. I like facts, figures, data, charts, timelines, etc. Yes, I can be a dreamer, too, but at the end of the day, I need verification to really believe in something. That’s why I’ve always been on Team Evolution vs. Team Creationism. It fascinates me how these huge beings like dinosaurs (oh yeah, I love dinosaurs a lot, too) could be preserved in time well past their deaths. But it leads to questions like, “What happened to them? Why couldn’t they make it in the end?” And the game Evolution by North Star Games attempts to answer those.
Disclaimer: There are several expansions to this game, but we are not reviewing them at this time. Should we review them in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. Furthermore, I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. – B
You start the game in control of one species of animal. One non-descript, traitless species that you will slowly (or maybe quickly) build up to be something bigger and better. You evolve it. (Huh.) You’ll start each round by contributing plant food to the watering hole. Each card in your hand is worth a certain amount of plant food. Once that food is in the watering hole, it’s fair game for anyone to eat. Depending on your strategy, you may want a lot of food in that watering hole, or you may want to starve your opponents out (some cards are even worth negative food!). Once all the food is in the watering hole, it’s time to evolve your critters. The cards in your hand have unique traits on them. To imbue your species with that trait, simply place the card next to your species’ gameboard and voila! You now have horns, or intelligence, or the ability to forage, or many other possibilities. You may also take this opportunity to evolve your creature into a carnivore (more on that later). At this point in the game, you may also discard cards in order to increase the population of your species, or to increase the body size of your cute little guys. This will be important later. You can also discard a card to create a whole new species. There’s no limit to how many species you can have, but there is a limit to the available food, so be wise with the number of species you create.
After everyone has evolved, it’s time to feed! You’ll take turns taking plant food from the watering hole. Yummy! You want to eat enough food to sustain your whole population size (1 piece of food per population). If not, your population size will decrease, meaning your species is dying. If you are unable to sustain the last remaining member of your species, that species will become extinct for eternity. Sad face. But don’t worry. You’ll get a new species for free at the beginning of your next turn. Once everyone is fed and happy, the round is over and you start a new round. The winner of the game goes to whoever has eaten the most food because, just like in real life, the success of your population is based on its ability to sustain itself, which, in this case, means eating the proper amount of food.
It SOUNDS simple, but I haven’t told you about all the curveballs yet. As stated before, you may choose to make your species a carnivore, which means that you will no longer take plant food from the watering hole. In order to eat, you have to attack another species! You can only attack other species who have smaller body sizes than you (I told you body size would be important. It’s your first means of defense against predators!). But some of those smaller species might have evolved some defensive traits, like a hard shell or the ability to burrow underground or to climb trees and taunt their predators from on high. This is the beauty of the game. How well can you evolve your herbivore creature in order to keep it well-fed and also free from predators? If you’re a carnivore, how well can you adapt to your surroundings and your ever-evolving prey before you can no longer feed on them? (I should also mention that you may find yourself in the truly depressing situation where all of your opponents have out-evolved your carnivores and the only other option left to feed them is to attack one of YOUR other species. The rules clearly state that every species MUST feed if able to, so you may have to sacrifice your other friends. VERY sad face.)
Components: Evolution comes in a standard cardboard box containing lots of high-quality trait cards, plant and meat food tokens and a large watering hole token (on which you put the plant food tokens). It also comes with cardboard food screens so you can conceal how much food your little (or maybe not so little) critters have eaten. You’ll get a stack of thick, double-sided species boards for you to keep track of your body size and population. I love that they’re double-sided because it gives you the flexibility to change their orientation (portrait or landscape) to save on table space. Body size and population are tracked using little brown and green cubes, which fit nicely in little holes on your species board. And to top it all off, the first player token is a a very large dinosaur-shaped meeple. Adorbs. The cards do tell you how to use them, but the rulebook has extra clarification for each card in case you need it. The cards are even color-coded so you’ll know if the trait is used for defense or eating, or maybe only usable by carnivores. Everything is very top-notch quality and the artwork is quite beautiful, creating new creatures and using bright, vivid colors. The artwork alone drew me to the box in the first place.
I really love this game. The theme is very on-brand for me, but I also really like that it’ll take a bit of luck (by hopefully drawing usable cards) and a ton of strategy to try to outwit your opponents. It’ll never be played the same way twice. Evolution is so spot-on, in fact, that it’s actually been used in the evolutionary biology department of the University of Oxford, so come on. It’s fun AND educational. I’ve also downloaded and quickly become obsessed with the mobile version, which is available on Google Play, in the App Store and on Steam. As of this writing, there are two expansions available: Flight and Climate, but there’s also a Climate stand-alone game, and an Evolution: The Beginning game, which is suitable for our younger friends. I own the Flight expansion but have yet to play it and I can’t wait to change that! Give this game a go. You’ll be happy you did. In the words of esteemed Dr. Ian Malcolm, “Life, uh, finds a way.” Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a (r)evolutionary 13 / 18.
Disclaimer: There are several expansions to this game, but we are not reviewing them at this time. Should we review them in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. Furthermore, I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. – B
You start the game in control of one species of animal. One non-descript, traitless species that you will slowly (or maybe quickly) build up to be something bigger and better. You evolve it. (Huh.) You’ll start each round by contributing plant food to the watering hole. Each card in your hand is worth a certain amount of plant food. Once that food is in the watering hole, it’s fair game for anyone to eat. Depending on your strategy, you may want a lot of food in that watering hole, or you may want to starve your opponents out (some cards are even worth negative food!). Once all the food is in the watering hole, it’s time to evolve your critters. The cards in your hand have unique traits on them. To imbue your species with that trait, simply place the card next to your species’ gameboard and voila! You now have horns, or intelligence, or the ability to forage, or many other possibilities. You may also take this opportunity to evolve your creature into a carnivore (more on that later). At this point in the game, you may also discard cards in order to increase the population of your species, or to increase the body size of your cute little guys. This will be important later. You can also discard a card to create a whole new species. There’s no limit to how many species you can have, but there is a limit to the available food, so be wise with the number of species you create.
After everyone has evolved, it’s time to feed! You’ll take turns taking plant food from the watering hole. Yummy! You want to eat enough food to sustain your whole population size (1 piece of food per population). If not, your population size will decrease, meaning your species is dying. If you are unable to sustain the last remaining member of your species, that species will become extinct for eternity. Sad face. But don’t worry. You’ll get a new species for free at the beginning of your next turn. Once everyone is fed and happy, the round is over and you start a new round. The winner of the game goes to whoever has eaten the most food because, just like in real life, the success of your population is based on its ability to sustain itself, which, in this case, means eating the proper amount of food.
It SOUNDS simple, but I haven’t told you about all the curveballs yet. As stated before, you may choose to make your species a carnivore, which means that you will no longer take plant food from the watering hole. In order to eat, you have to attack another species! You can only attack other species who have smaller body sizes than you (I told you body size would be important. It’s your first means of defense against predators!). But some of those smaller species might have evolved some defensive traits, like a hard shell or the ability to burrow underground or to climb trees and taunt their predators from on high. This is the beauty of the game. How well can you evolve your herbivore creature in order to keep it well-fed and also free from predators? If you’re a carnivore, how well can you adapt to your surroundings and your ever-evolving prey before you can no longer feed on them? (I should also mention that you may find yourself in the truly depressing situation where all of your opponents have out-evolved your carnivores and the only other option left to feed them is to attack one of YOUR other species. The rules clearly state that every species MUST feed if able to, so you may have to sacrifice your other friends. VERY sad face.)
Components: Evolution comes in a standard cardboard box containing lots of high-quality trait cards, plant and meat food tokens and a large watering hole token (on which you put the plant food tokens). It also comes with cardboard food screens so you can conceal how much food your little (or maybe not so little) critters have eaten. You’ll get a stack of thick, double-sided species boards for you to keep track of your body size and population. I love that they’re double-sided because it gives you the flexibility to change their orientation (portrait or landscape) to save on table space. Body size and population are tracked using little brown and green cubes, which fit nicely in little holes on your species board. And to top it all off, the first player token is a a very large dinosaur-shaped meeple. Adorbs. The cards do tell you how to use them, but the rulebook has extra clarification for each card in case you need it. The cards are even color-coded so you’ll know if the trait is used for defense or eating, or maybe only usable by carnivores. Everything is very top-notch quality and the artwork is quite beautiful, creating new creatures and using bright, vivid colors. The artwork alone drew me to the box in the first place.
I really love this game. The theme is very on-brand for me, but I also really like that it’ll take a bit of luck (by hopefully drawing usable cards) and a ton of strategy to try to outwit your opponents. It’ll never be played the same way twice. Evolution is so spot-on, in fact, that it’s actually been used in the evolutionary biology department of the University of Oxford, so come on. It’s fun AND educational. I’ve also downloaded and quickly become obsessed with the mobile version, which is available on Google Play, in the App Store and on Steam. As of this writing, there are two expansions available: Flight and Climate, but there’s also a Climate stand-alone game, and an Evolution: The Beginning game, which is suitable for our younger friends. I own the Flight expansion but have yet to play it and I can’t wait to change that! Give this game a go. You’ll be happy you did. In the words of esteemed Dr. Ian Malcolm, “Life, uh, finds a way.” Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a (r)evolutionary 13 / 18.
Deborah (162 KP) rated The White Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #2) in Books
Dec 19, 2018
Not quite sure why I decided to read this as the only other book I've read by Gregory was The Other Boleyn Girl, which I thought was pretty dreadful. I suppose I find it difficult to keep away from anything connected with The Wars of the Roses; I certainly found that I'd read almost every book listed in the bibliography and could have recommended a few more that might have been beneficial for the author to have perused.....
While not the worst book I've ever read I know I won't be reading this again and as to The Red Queen - well, I'd probably want to strangle Margaret Beaufort before the first chapter was out, so let's leave it at that shall we.
I do read a lot of historical novels and in general I find that it is much harder for a novel to work well when it is written in the first person, as this is. With a single viewpoint you are restricting yourself and that shows here at several points where the author has to break out of the Elizabeth Woodville narrative to give us a chunk of what is going on elsewhere. I've never found EW a particularly sympathetic historical character and I'm not sure she comes across that well here, either. Certainly in the latter half of the book it's difficult to see what motivation Gregory is ascribing to her.
The family of EW's mother did believe themselves descended from a water goddess and it was not unusual for powerful women to be accused of witchcraft, to discredit either them or their husbands (see Eleanor Cobham). I daresay that mixing of love potions and use of figures and all that sort of thing would have gone on, but the whistling up of storms was going just a bit too far for me. I also thought that the Foreshadowing element of the story was a bit overdone - although that may be because I know too much about the period!
There were also a number of glaring errors and oddities which should have been picked up somewhere down the line. Looks like the favourite one is the anachronistic use of the word 'numpty'! In other places George of Clarence is described as a duke one moment and his wife, Isabel as a countess the next (she would have had that as a subsidiary title, but she was the duchess of Clarence!), an execution was said to have taken place by the axe when the person in question is known to have been hanged, the Parhelion (three suns)are said to have been at Towton when it was in fact at Mortimer's Cross (Towton took place in a snowstorm - I doubt they could see one sun, let alone three!) and Gregory needed to study her history of Barnet a bit more closely as she had her battle lines completely mixed up!
Obviously there are some big gaps in our knowledge, which is grist to the fiction writers mill! I thought her Princes in the Tower solution was interesting and glad to see that she acknowledged that Richard III would have had little to gain from their deaths at this point. Not sure if Lambert Simnel is 'explained' in one of the other books in this series, as EW's part is certainly interesting. Also interesting that although the name of Eleanor Butler is mentioned early on and the anullment of the marriage on grounds of Edward's previous marriage come into play later, the two are never linked by the author and she chooses to offer no comment on this piece of the puzzle.
While not the worst book I've ever read I know I won't be reading this again and as to The Red Queen - well, I'd probably want to strangle Margaret Beaufort before the first chapter was out, so let's leave it at that shall we.
I do read a lot of historical novels and in general I find that it is much harder for a novel to work well when it is written in the first person, as this is. With a single viewpoint you are restricting yourself and that shows here at several points where the author has to break out of the Elizabeth Woodville narrative to give us a chunk of what is going on elsewhere. I've never found EW a particularly sympathetic historical character and I'm not sure she comes across that well here, either. Certainly in the latter half of the book it's difficult to see what motivation Gregory is ascribing to her.
The family of EW's mother did believe themselves descended from a water goddess and it was not unusual for powerful women to be accused of witchcraft, to discredit either them or their husbands (see Eleanor Cobham). I daresay that mixing of love potions and use of figures and all that sort of thing would have gone on, but the whistling up of storms was going just a bit too far for me. I also thought that the Foreshadowing element of the story was a bit overdone - although that may be because I know too much about the period!
There were also a number of glaring errors and oddities which should have been picked up somewhere down the line. Looks like the favourite one is the anachronistic use of the word 'numpty'! In other places George of Clarence is described as a duke one moment and his wife, Isabel as a countess the next (she would have had that as a subsidiary title, but she was the duchess of Clarence!), an execution was said to have taken place by the axe when the person in question is known to have been hanged, the Parhelion (three suns)are said to have been at Towton when it was in fact at Mortimer's Cross (Towton took place in a snowstorm - I doubt they could see one sun, let alone three!) and Gregory needed to study her history of Barnet a bit more closely as she had her battle lines completely mixed up!
Obviously there are some big gaps in our knowledge, which is grist to the fiction writers mill! I thought her Princes in the Tower solution was interesting and glad to see that she acknowledged that Richard III would have had little to gain from their deaths at this point. Not sure if Lambert Simnel is 'explained' in one of the other books in this series, as EW's part is certainly interesting. Also interesting that although the name of Eleanor Butler is mentioned early on and the anullment of the marriage on grounds of Edward's previous marriage come into play later, the two are never linked by the author and she chooses to offer no comment on this piece of the puzzle.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Unsolved Mysteries in TV
Jan 22, 2021 (Updated Jan 22, 2021)
It is a guilty secret of mine that when in the right mood I love to get a small fix of the unexplained or the macabre true crime documentary type thing. They tend to range from truly ridiculous to the mildly convincing, but tend not to have especially high production value. Netflix seem to know there is demand for it however, and every now and again there is a mini-series that can live in the same box as the more serious docs.
Making a Murderer was maybe the first to break through into the mainstream consciousness, some five years ago. I watched the first series of that with a morbid fascination, as did everyone else. The second season was interesting too, but lacked the cliffhanger drive of the first. Then there are three or four parters like the superlative Ted Bundy Tapes, which get to the point and don’t out stay their welcome. Unsolved Mysteries is sort of something in the middle.
The twist on this series is that these six stories are all active cases that remain unsolved by local police forces, and we are encouraged at the end of each one to call a hotline with any info that may lead to an arrest. This is a gimmick, of course, and I can’t imagine the calls and emails they have been getting! Those would make a better TV show than this actually is, for sure.
Each episode is an hour long, which in honesty is twice as long as it needs to be in half the cases. In fact, only two of the six captured my imagination enough to give me chills and want to know what happened. The other four were standard missing person stories that although “unsolved” were pretty mundane. As mundane as murder ever gets… which is a pitfall of watching this stuff… it all gets quite normalised and loses its power to disturb, as it should.
The first to interest me was the first up, the strange story of Rey Rivera, known as “the mystery on the rooftop”. The thing that got me was the hidden note taped to the back of his computer, that read like a coded message, and hinted at involvement with a secret society. That, combined with the fact that his fall to death was impossible, and that his boss put a gagging order on all his staff after the event. Whatever this guy had going on in his life it was weird! And his family knew not one thing about it…
The second was “House of Terror”, the story of a French aristocrat who secretly shot his entire family while they slept, carefully buried them under the back porch with immense care, left no other trace of evidence in the house, then disappeared forever into the mountains, seemingly creating a deliberate false trail on CCTV. What got me here was the calculation and calm of it all, combined with the mystery of not knowing his motive, other than the fact he may have been living a lie about how successful he was financially. Regardless, his actions were so cool and unpanicked, it was like watching something out of the Bourne Identity.
As I say, otherwise it is all pretty standard stuff, and nothing to write home about. But I will remember those two cases and be holding out for any new developments in them. I guess that’s all they want – enough intrigue to keep you hooked for more down the line. Of course, you are never quite sure how manipulative with the “truth” these things are? It seemed to be presented soberly and without a sensationalist angle, but you never know. Why do I watch them at all, that is the biggest mystery…
Making a Murderer was maybe the first to break through into the mainstream consciousness, some five years ago. I watched the first series of that with a morbid fascination, as did everyone else. The second season was interesting too, but lacked the cliffhanger drive of the first. Then there are three or four parters like the superlative Ted Bundy Tapes, which get to the point and don’t out stay their welcome. Unsolved Mysteries is sort of something in the middle.
The twist on this series is that these six stories are all active cases that remain unsolved by local police forces, and we are encouraged at the end of each one to call a hotline with any info that may lead to an arrest. This is a gimmick, of course, and I can’t imagine the calls and emails they have been getting! Those would make a better TV show than this actually is, for sure.
Each episode is an hour long, which in honesty is twice as long as it needs to be in half the cases. In fact, only two of the six captured my imagination enough to give me chills and want to know what happened. The other four were standard missing person stories that although “unsolved” were pretty mundane. As mundane as murder ever gets… which is a pitfall of watching this stuff… it all gets quite normalised and loses its power to disturb, as it should.
The first to interest me was the first up, the strange story of Rey Rivera, known as “the mystery on the rooftop”. The thing that got me was the hidden note taped to the back of his computer, that read like a coded message, and hinted at involvement with a secret society. That, combined with the fact that his fall to death was impossible, and that his boss put a gagging order on all his staff after the event. Whatever this guy had going on in his life it was weird! And his family knew not one thing about it…
The second was “House of Terror”, the story of a French aristocrat who secretly shot his entire family while they slept, carefully buried them under the back porch with immense care, left no other trace of evidence in the house, then disappeared forever into the mountains, seemingly creating a deliberate false trail on CCTV. What got me here was the calculation and calm of it all, combined with the mystery of not knowing his motive, other than the fact he may have been living a lie about how successful he was financially. Regardless, his actions were so cool and unpanicked, it was like watching something out of the Bourne Identity.
As I say, otherwise it is all pretty standard stuff, and nothing to write home about. But I will remember those two cases and be holding out for any new developments in them. I guess that’s all they want – enough intrigue to keep you hooked for more down the line. Of course, you are never quite sure how manipulative with the “truth” these things are? It seemed to be presented soberly and without a sensationalist angle, but you never know. Why do I watch them at all, that is the biggest mystery…
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Books
Jun 6, 2018
(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
Okay, so I'd been wanting to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky since I heard about the film. Everyone went on about how great the book was, and I knew that I had to read it. There was one major thing that bothered me, but on the whole I loved it!
Charlie is a freshman in high school and is a little bit of a geek. This is the coming of age of Charlie as he writes letters to unknown friend. Together, we experience the highs and lows of one year of his life in which he does a lot of firsts and finds out some important information about himself.
I like the title of this book. I really do. Our main character is a big time wallflower, and he does discover that it has its perks. Therefore, the title really explains the books. I also think it's quite an original title and an interesting sounding one at that.
The cover of this book is quite simple yet it just kind of works. I think that if there would've been more on the cover, it would've lost its appeal.
Chbosky did an excellent job with the world building. Reading this book, it took me back to my high school days. I thought the author did a great job in capturing the essence of high school kids. I also love how the narration of the story was told through letters.
I thought the pacing was spot on. I would've finished this book in less than a day if real life hadn't have got in the way! I devoured every word, and I couldn't wait to find out what Charlie would experience next.
As for the dialogue, I thought it did sound like a bunch of teenagers talking to one another which is was supposed to. However, the way Charlie spoke bugged me a bit. His dialogue (both internally and to the other characters) made him sound like he was either really young or a bit slow. Perhaps this was done on purpose, and I'm missing the point completely. There are references to sex, drugs, and the like so please keep this in mind when deciding if this is the book for you as I know some people might not like reading about that. As for swear words, I think there may've been only one, but it wasn't a bad swear word.
As stated in the previous paragraph, I felt that the character of Charlie seemed to be either slow or really young. I'm not saying that he was a poorly written character because he wasn't. He just came across as too naive on most things to feel believable a lot of the time. He is meant to be 15 year old, yet he acts, speaks and thinks more like a 10 year old. Maybe this was just me, but that really bugged me! However, I did love Sam and Patrick. I loved how feminine and sweet Sam came across as, and I loved how big of a personality Patrick had. I would have to say that Patrick was probably my favourite character in the book.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was definitely an enjoyable read for me. I think if Charlie would've acted more like his age, it would've been a tad bit better.
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 14+ that enjoys reading about the ups and downs of life as well as those adults who want to remember their high school years.
Okay, so I'd been wanting to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky since I heard about the film. Everyone went on about how great the book was, and I knew that I had to read it. There was one major thing that bothered me, but on the whole I loved it!
Charlie is a freshman in high school and is a little bit of a geek. This is the coming of age of Charlie as he writes letters to unknown friend. Together, we experience the highs and lows of one year of his life in which he does a lot of firsts and finds out some important information about himself.
I like the title of this book. I really do. Our main character is a big time wallflower, and he does discover that it has its perks. Therefore, the title really explains the books. I also think it's quite an original title and an interesting sounding one at that.
The cover of this book is quite simple yet it just kind of works. I think that if there would've been more on the cover, it would've lost its appeal.
Chbosky did an excellent job with the world building. Reading this book, it took me back to my high school days. I thought the author did a great job in capturing the essence of high school kids. I also love how the narration of the story was told through letters.
I thought the pacing was spot on. I would've finished this book in less than a day if real life hadn't have got in the way! I devoured every word, and I couldn't wait to find out what Charlie would experience next.
As for the dialogue, I thought it did sound like a bunch of teenagers talking to one another which is was supposed to. However, the way Charlie spoke bugged me a bit. His dialogue (both internally and to the other characters) made him sound like he was either really young or a bit slow. Perhaps this was done on purpose, and I'm missing the point completely. There are references to sex, drugs, and the like so please keep this in mind when deciding if this is the book for you as I know some people might not like reading about that. As for swear words, I think there may've been only one, but it wasn't a bad swear word.
As stated in the previous paragraph, I felt that the character of Charlie seemed to be either slow or really young. I'm not saying that he was a poorly written character because he wasn't. He just came across as too naive on most things to feel believable a lot of the time. He is meant to be 15 year old, yet he acts, speaks and thinks more like a 10 year old. Maybe this was just me, but that really bugged me! However, I did love Sam and Patrick. I loved how feminine and sweet Sam came across as, and I loved how big of a personality Patrick had. I would have to say that Patrick was probably my favourite character in the book.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was definitely an enjoyable read for me. I think if Charlie would've acted more like his age, it would've been a tad bit better.
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 14+ that enjoys reading about the ups and downs of life as well as those adults who want to remember their high school years.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Top Pop in Tabletop Games
Jul 22, 2021
THANK YOU, TALON STRIKES STUDIOS! I recently moved from Illinois to Tennessee (where things are mostly “Coke”) and I have always grown up calling soft drinks “pop,” so when I saw a group was creating a game using the proper terminology, I jumped at the chance. Stackable bottlecaps AND a bidding mechanic? I’m so in. This may not be everyone’s jam, but it’s working for me!
Top Pop is a 2-5 player (well, I would say 3-5) card game of market penetration and territory influence. In it, players are representatives of rival pop manufacturers bent on skyrocketing their company’s popularity in various major cities across the country. The winning rep is they who can diversify their influence and hit influential cities hard and often.
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, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup a game of Top Pop, refer to the rulebook to determine the starting resources per number of players. Each game is setup differently depending on how many players are involved. Shuffle the deck of city cards, and if using the optional City Power or Scenario variants, place these cards on the table for all to access as well. Each player chooses a color, receives the appropriate starting resources and the game is ready to begin!
On the active player’s turn, they will complete the following steps: Collect City Cards, Play a City Card, Take Caps, Place Stacks, and then Draw a Card. The first turn of the game Collect City Cards is skipped, but after that, each card the active player owns the largest stack of tops on they will collect. Caps that were stacked on the card are redistributed depending on where the card was placed (in front of the active player or a rival player). Next, the player will Play a City Card from their hand either in front of themselves or in front of a rival player. This is an important step to consider because once a card has been claimed then caps are distributed according to card placement, as referenced in the first step. Also noteworthy here is that if a card is placed in front of a rival, the active player takes one of said rival’s caps (Take Caps) from the bank of caps in the middle of table as well as a cap of the active player’s choice.
Now that the active player presumably has some caps with which to play, they Place Stacks on any City Card(s) they wish. The stacks of caps need to be the tallest stack on the card, must include a cap of the same color of the player who currently owns the highest stack, and must also be topped with a cap of the active player’s color. Any amount of caps may be added to a City Card in order to achieve these requirements, and the active player may place stacks on any number of City Cards in play. Once the active player has placed all caps they wish, they must then Draw a Card and prepare for their next turn.
As City Cards are played, caps placed out in stacks, and players winning bids on cards, players are jockeying for endgame points. The game ends after a player collects their sixth City Card and every other player has a chance to spend their remaining caps to claim cards. At the end of the game, points are awarded for having simple majority in each city as well as points for collecting a more diversified set of City Cards. The player with the most points scored at the end of the game wins!
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so components are in no way final. Most notably, the final copies of Top Pop will include nice plastic stackable bottlecaps that look way better than the painted wooden discs (which for a prototype, are actually quite nice). The City Cards look and feel complete to me, and are pretty impressive. I like the art quite a bit and the game’s style is spot on. I am very excited to see how this one ends up, and I think gamers will love handling the finished bottlecaps.
There is a lot going on here that is hard to put into words. I played this solely three-player and included the City Powers with a few Scenarios (Kickstarter exclusives, I understand). I found the base game to be very good, but adding in those optional rules really makes it pop for me (I know you saw what I did there). Every player is constantly engaged throughout, and the tactical play always has me considering tons of options. I would not necessarily want to play this with extremely AP-prone players, but it is quick enough to include them as well from time to time.
What I like most about Top Pop, in addition to the overall aesthetic (even in the prototype), is the tactics in watching what other players are collecting, where the cards are placed, and cross-referencing all that with your personal bottlecap economy. There are just so many things to consider on each turn that makes me hungry for more and more plays. I say this a lot, but when I think about a game and ways I would attack it differently outside of the game session, that is a mark of a great game to me. And this one is a great game to me.
If you are looking for a uniquely-themed bidding card game with (promised) excellent components, I urge you to check out the Kickstarter campaign, which ends August 7, 2021. And on a personal note, I’m so excited to have both Chicago and New Orleans in this game. Two of my favorite cities in the world!
Top Pop is a 2-5 player (well, I would say 3-5) card game of market penetration and territory influence. In it, players are representatives of rival pop manufacturers bent on skyrocketing their company’s popularity in various major cities across the country. The winning rep is they who can diversify their influence and hit influential cities hard and often.
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, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup a game of Top Pop, refer to the rulebook to determine the starting resources per number of players. Each game is setup differently depending on how many players are involved. Shuffle the deck of city cards, and if using the optional City Power or Scenario variants, place these cards on the table for all to access as well. Each player chooses a color, receives the appropriate starting resources and the game is ready to begin!
On the active player’s turn, they will complete the following steps: Collect City Cards, Play a City Card, Take Caps, Place Stacks, and then Draw a Card. The first turn of the game Collect City Cards is skipped, but after that, each card the active player owns the largest stack of tops on they will collect. Caps that were stacked on the card are redistributed depending on where the card was placed (in front of the active player or a rival player). Next, the player will Play a City Card from their hand either in front of themselves or in front of a rival player. This is an important step to consider because once a card has been claimed then caps are distributed according to card placement, as referenced in the first step. Also noteworthy here is that if a card is placed in front of a rival, the active player takes one of said rival’s caps (Take Caps) from the bank of caps in the middle of table as well as a cap of the active player’s choice.
Now that the active player presumably has some caps with which to play, they Place Stacks on any City Card(s) they wish. The stacks of caps need to be the tallest stack on the card, must include a cap of the same color of the player who currently owns the highest stack, and must also be topped with a cap of the active player’s color. Any amount of caps may be added to a City Card in order to achieve these requirements, and the active player may place stacks on any number of City Cards in play. Once the active player has placed all caps they wish, they must then Draw a Card and prepare for their next turn.
As City Cards are played, caps placed out in stacks, and players winning bids on cards, players are jockeying for endgame points. The game ends after a player collects their sixth City Card and every other player has a chance to spend their remaining caps to claim cards. At the end of the game, points are awarded for having simple majority in each city as well as points for collecting a more diversified set of City Cards. The player with the most points scored at the end of the game wins!
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so components are in no way final. Most notably, the final copies of Top Pop will include nice plastic stackable bottlecaps that look way better than the painted wooden discs (which for a prototype, are actually quite nice). The City Cards look and feel complete to me, and are pretty impressive. I like the art quite a bit and the game’s style is spot on. I am very excited to see how this one ends up, and I think gamers will love handling the finished bottlecaps.
There is a lot going on here that is hard to put into words. I played this solely three-player and included the City Powers with a few Scenarios (Kickstarter exclusives, I understand). I found the base game to be very good, but adding in those optional rules really makes it pop for me (I know you saw what I did there). Every player is constantly engaged throughout, and the tactical play always has me considering tons of options. I would not necessarily want to play this with extremely AP-prone players, but it is quick enough to include them as well from time to time.
What I like most about Top Pop, in addition to the overall aesthetic (even in the prototype), is the tactics in watching what other players are collecting, where the cards are placed, and cross-referencing all that with your personal bottlecap economy. There are just so many things to consider on each turn that makes me hungry for more and more plays. I say this a lot, but when I think about a game and ways I would attack it differently outside of the game session, that is a mark of a great game to me. And this one is a great game to me.
If you are looking for a uniquely-themed bidding card game with (promised) excellent components, I urge you to check out the Kickstarter campaign, which ends August 7, 2021. And on a personal note, I’m so excited to have both Chicago and New Orleans in this game. Two of my favorite cities in the world!
Hazel (1853 KP) rated This Secret We're Keeping in Books
Dec 7, 2018
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
A pupil and a teacher. Is it ever right to break the rules?</i> This is the dilemma which debut author Rebecca Done basis her novel on. <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> is set seventeen years after a maths teacher began an inappropriate relationship with a schoolgirl; but did he really deserve what happened to him, after all he loved her and she loved him?
Jess has never got over her love for the teacher she ran away with when she was fifteen. Although she has got her life together: living in Norfolk, freelance catering business, a rich boyfriend; she cannot help but think back to way Mr. Landley, Matthew, made her feel. Suddenly, after a chance encounter, Matthew is back in her life with a new name, Will, and a girlfriend and daughter. Delighted to see each other again, it is not long before they fall back into their illicit affair, however the potential consequences are almost as bad as the previous time.
<i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> causes the reader to question strong personal beliefs, primarily whether a teacher-student relationship is as wrong as it sounds. If certain events in this novel were to be made public through the media, the majority would instantly hate Matthew, deem him a paedophile, and be satisfied with his punishment. However on reading the situation from his point of view, initial opinions begin to crumble. It appears he genuinely loved Jess, and she him; there were no abusive occurrences, and it was Jess that instigated the relationship in the first place. Did Matthew truly deserve to go to prison for something that would have been legal in a year’s time?
Matthew/Will’s narrative helps to show that it is virtually impossible to pinpoint a single moment that changes a life forever. At which point did he know that he had stepped over the line from right to wrong? In hindsight it is fairly obvious, but at the time the warning signs are not so clear.
Due to the challenging of preset judgments, <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> can often be difficult to read. Whilst on the one hand logic will be screaming, “This is wrong!” Done plays with her readers’ sentimentalities to consider the other side of the argument. As the novel progresses it becomes easier to fall in line with Jess and Matthew/Will’s viewpoints, however a brief interaction towards the end forces readers to temporarily reconsider their forgone conclusion. After all, how much can a first person narrative really be trusted?
Having read the blurb I admit I was a bit wary about reading this book. For one, it falls under the genre of Chick Lit, which I am not all that fond of, but secondly the book’s theme appeared rather controversial. On the whole, <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> was much better than I was anticipating, however I began to lose interest towards the end as nothing much had changed throughout the present day chapters, and it was already obvious how the past narrative would pan out. The ending is also frustratingly ambiguous, as we never find out whether either of the key characters gets a “happy ever after.”
If you are someone who enjoys Chick Lit, do not let the themes of the book put you off. <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> is essentially a romance story, one that is written remarkably well for a first time author. Rebecca Done will be a name to look out for in the world of contemporary literature.
A pupil and a teacher. Is it ever right to break the rules?</i> This is the dilemma which debut author Rebecca Done basis her novel on. <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> is set seventeen years after a maths teacher began an inappropriate relationship with a schoolgirl; but did he really deserve what happened to him, after all he loved her and she loved him?
Jess has never got over her love for the teacher she ran away with when she was fifteen. Although she has got her life together: living in Norfolk, freelance catering business, a rich boyfriend; she cannot help but think back to way Mr. Landley, Matthew, made her feel. Suddenly, after a chance encounter, Matthew is back in her life with a new name, Will, and a girlfriend and daughter. Delighted to see each other again, it is not long before they fall back into their illicit affair, however the potential consequences are almost as bad as the previous time.
<i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> causes the reader to question strong personal beliefs, primarily whether a teacher-student relationship is as wrong as it sounds. If certain events in this novel were to be made public through the media, the majority would instantly hate Matthew, deem him a paedophile, and be satisfied with his punishment. However on reading the situation from his point of view, initial opinions begin to crumble. It appears he genuinely loved Jess, and she him; there were no abusive occurrences, and it was Jess that instigated the relationship in the first place. Did Matthew truly deserve to go to prison for something that would have been legal in a year’s time?
Matthew/Will’s narrative helps to show that it is virtually impossible to pinpoint a single moment that changes a life forever. At which point did he know that he had stepped over the line from right to wrong? In hindsight it is fairly obvious, but at the time the warning signs are not so clear.
Due to the challenging of preset judgments, <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> can often be difficult to read. Whilst on the one hand logic will be screaming, “This is wrong!” Done plays with her readers’ sentimentalities to consider the other side of the argument. As the novel progresses it becomes easier to fall in line with Jess and Matthew/Will’s viewpoints, however a brief interaction towards the end forces readers to temporarily reconsider their forgone conclusion. After all, how much can a first person narrative really be trusted?
Having read the blurb I admit I was a bit wary about reading this book. For one, it falls under the genre of Chick Lit, which I am not all that fond of, but secondly the book’s theme appeared rather controversial. On the whole, <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> was much better than I was anticipating, however I began to lose interest towards the end as nothing much had changed throughout the present day chapters, and it was already obvious how the past narrative would pan out. The ending is also frustratingly ambiguous, as we never find out whether either of the key characters gets a “happy ever after.”
If you are someone who enjoys Chick Lit, do not let the themes of the book put you off. <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> is essentially a romance story, one that is written remarkably well for a first time author. Rebecca Done will be a name to look out for in the world of contemporary literature.
A Bibliophagist (113 KP) rated The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3) in Books
Feb 5, 2020
Characters (3 more)
Worldbuilding
Plot
Pacing
A fantasic finale
After the amazing cliffhanger of Thunderhead, I rushed to pick up this because I just HAD TO KNOW. This cover is even prettier, they really nailed this series (sans the transformers font) and I hope it inspires more YA books to hire illustrators and not photo manip garbage. I'm an Illustrator though, so I'm biased. This review will have spoilers for Thunderhead, so don't read if you haven't read that!
The Toll picks up immediately after Thunderhead. Goddard has returned the MidMerica, no one knows that he was demoted to apprentice and with the death of Scythe Curie he stands uncontested for replacing Xenocrates. Anastasia and Rowan rest at the bottom of the ocean, and Goddard has made the site a site of remembrance to avoid any evidence being drudged up. The sinking of Endura is also squarely blamed on Rowan, and the world suffers as the Thunderhead punishes everyone, marking them unsavory. Cutting off communication with all but one, our former unsavory, Greyson.
With the rise of Goddard, the Schism amongst the Scythedom widens. He seizes more power, overturns rules and makes new ones and slowly starts taking control of other nations. Dubbing himself the Overblade. The story arches over 3 years post Thunderhead, and we jump around a little bit. During the three years Goddard continues to take a chokehold on the world, Greyson suddenly finds himself a living god amongst the tonists and humanity, as the only one able to speak to the thunderhead, he takes on the role of the Tonist's mythological figure, The Toll. Acting as a go-between, and manipulating those around him to fulfill the Thunderhead's goals.
Meanwhile, Faraday continues his search for the land of nod, making serious headway and discovering something that makes the Thunderhead uncertain. So the Thunderhead starts making plans. Faraday finds himself stranded with his helper, far away from the Scythedom, the Thunderhead and the horrible things that have been happening far away. He knows nothing of the fate of Marie, Goddard, Citra, Rowan, or the world. Finally, in the third year since the sinking of Endura, Rowan and Citra are raised from the depths, squirreled away by the Amazonian Scythes before Goddard knows they aren't dead. Being raised from the dead did wonders for Goddard's cause, so can Anastaisa's return do wonders for the plight of the old guard? But first Anastasia must plan and play her cards right, digging deep in the Thunderheads back brain to piece together mysteries long since written off and uncover the secrets of the Scythedom.
This book was really good, and a very satisfying finale to the series. The already rich worldbuilding is made richer by his choice to cut the world off from the Thunderhead, showing us what happens when people lose their connection to the world. He believably shows the influence one charismatic politician can have, and how easy it is for things to fall into disarray. You can tell he had a gameplan when he wrote these books, because everything comes together just right, not loose ends, everything had a purpose. Characters are tested, grow and develop. New parts of the world are further explored, completing the picture he begun in the other two books. I thoroughly enjoyed his take on the age-old sci-fi trope of "How does the benevolent computer protect humans from themselves". Well written, and elevated, especially in terms of other YA fiction. Shusterman really wrote a fantastic series. Once again, the romance is understated, but the emotions run deep enough at this point to pull at your heartstrings and make you believe in their love, even if it came from somewhat unbelievable beginnings.
This series is well worth the read, and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale and formulaic YA world.
The Toll picks up immediately after Thunderhead. Goddard has returned the MidMerica, no one knows that he was demoted to apprentice and with the death of Scythe Curie he stands uncontested for replacing Xenocrates. Anastasia and Rowan rest at the bottom of the ocean, and Goddard has made the site a site of remembrance to avoid any evidence being drudged up. The sinking of Endura is also squarely blamed on Rowan, and the world suffers as the Thunderhead punishes everyone, marking them unsavory. Cutting off communication with all but one, our former unsavory, Greyson.
With the rise of Goddard, the Schism amongst the Scythedom widens. He seizes more power, overturns rules and makes new ones and slowly starts taking control of other nations. Dubbing himself the Overblade. The story arches over 3 years post Thunderhead, and we jump around a little bit. During the three years Goddard continues to take a chokehold on the world, Greyson suddenly finds himself a living god amongst the tonists and humanity, as the only one able to speak to the thunderhead, he takes on the role of the Tonist's mythological figure, The Toll. Acting as a go-between, and manipulating those around him to fulfill the Thunderhead's goals.
Meanwhile, Faraday continues his search for the land of nod, making serious headway and discovering something that makes the Thunderhead uncertain. So the Thunderhead starts making plans. Faraday finds himself stranded with his helper, far away from the Scythedom, the Thunderhead and the horrible things that have been happening far away. He knows nothing of the fate of Marie, Goddard, Citra, Rowan, or the world. Finally, in the third year since the sinking of Endura, Rowan and Citra are raised from the depths, squirreled away by the Amazonian Scythes before Goddard knows they aren't dead. Being raised from the dead did wonders for Goddard's cause, so can Anastaisa's return do wonders for the plight of the old guard? But first Anastasia must plan and play her cards right, digging deep in the Thunderheads back brain to piece together mysteries long since written off and uncover the secrets of the Scythedom.
This book was really good, and a very satisfying finale to the series. The already rich worldbuilding is made richer by his choice to cut the world off from the Thunderhead, showing us what happens when people lose their connection to the world. He believably shows the influence one charismatic politician can have, and how easy it is for things to fall into disarray. You can tell he had a gameplan when he wrote these books, because everything comes together just right, not loose ends, everything had a purpose. Characters are tested, grow and develop. New parts of the world are further explored, completing the picture he begun in the other two books. I thoroughly enjoyed his take on the age-old sci-fi trope of "How does the benevolent computer protect humans from themselves". Well written, and elevated, especially in terms of other YA fiction. Shusterman really wrote a fantastic series. Once again, the romance is understated, but the emotions run deep enough at this point to pull at your heartstrings and make you believe in their love, even if it came from somewhat unbelievable beginnings.
This series is well worth the read, and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale and formulaic YA world.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Paragon: Trials of the Chosen in Tabletop Games
Sep 18, 2021
I am going to start off with complete honesty. I have been dreading writing this review. Not because I am afraid to give anything negative criticism or because a game has been too daunting for me, but rather, because I still do not feel that after all my plays of this game that I have an absolute understanding of each of its components. I hope you will continue reading as I explain what I mean.
Paragon: Trials of the Chosen (which I will lovingly refer to as Paragon from here on out) is a fantasy deck construction fighting card game where players will be outfitting their chosen avatars with awesome gear and abilities and sending them to battle against other players’ avatars. All players will know EXACTLY what is in their draw deck AND in what order because they have constructed it card by card and the deck will never be shuffled. Intrigued?
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, each player chooses two avatars with whom they will play. Avatars belong to one or two different Disciplines, which allows players to construct their deck with Discipline-specific cards to be used during the game. As part of setup, each player will choose 20 cards from the gigantic deck of Equipment and Ability cards with which they will form their deck for play. Per the rules, each player will then place their chosen avatars and ordered decks in front of themselves along with a blue 1d10, the green 1d10 (all set to 1 to begin), and pile of Hearts tokens. Players draw their starting hand of five cards and the battle can begin!
The green 1d10 notates the round number, and the blue 1d10 per player represents their current Energy. To bring cards into play a player will spend the printed amount of Energy and track this on their 1d10.
Each round is played over several phases. The game is designed to play to 10 rounds, but players may play past 10 while keeping the round tracker and Energy static for all rounds after 10. The first phase is the Start Phase, and acts as a maintenance phase where players will activate any “Start Phase” effects from played cards, ready all exhausted cards, increase all the d10s, and draw the top card from their deck. Should a player be unable to draw a card during this phase due to the draw deck being empty, they immediately lose the game.
The second phase is the beefy Main Phase. This is where all the action happens. During this phase, players will take turns playing cards until both players have passed. On a turn a player will have the choice of five actions: Play a Card, Trigger an Activated Effect, Declare an Attack, Channel Energy, and Pass. To Play a Card the active player will pay the cost (in Energy) printed on the card and bring it into play exhausted. Cards brought into play this way will be attached to one of the avatars and act as an equipment or new ability, as long as the card played matches the Discipline of the avatar to which it is attached.
To Trigger an Activated Effect, the player will need to satisfy any qualifying conditions of the activation, which are printed on the card. These abilities can vary wildly and add immense strategy to play.
Once a player believes they have enough firepower attached to their avatars they may instead Declare an Attack by announcing their target and exhausting the card that is attacking. It is here that Paragon strays from the norm. Instead of damage simply being dealt to the opponent, the player may engage in a volley of playing Instant cards from hand (and paying their Energy costs) to add to the card stack. This is important, as the stack is then resolved in reverse order of play. So the last card to be played on the stack will be resolved first. This can result in attacks being nullified or shielded before they even proc. Sneaky and wily players will certainly use this phase wisely to draw out cards from their opponents’ hands. Once the stack is built, it is resolved and damage is calculated.
Players may instead elect to Channel Energy by exhausting one of their avatars to add 1 Energy to their pool. This may be repeated as long as the other avatar is available to be exhausted.
Lastly, and most easily, when players have no other actions they can or wish to complete, they may Pass in order to close out the round of phases.
When both players have Passed, the End Phase begins, and acts as another maintenance cleanup phase to ready players for the next round. This includes resolving any “End Phase” effects and increasing the round d10 by 1. The game ends once a player’s two avatars have been defeated or a player is unable to draw a card from their draw deck. The winner then boasts mightily in the face of their competitor and spews taunts and rematch challenges.
Components. This one is simple. Paragon has a giant stack of cards, a few d10s, and some wooden Heart tokens. The tokens are double-sided with a 1 printed on one side and a 3 on the other. These are obviously to track HP loss, and are fine. The 3d10 in this version are entry-level, and I will probably bling it out with some d10s that are more themed. The cards. Okay, I will certainly be sleeving this game. I want to keep my copy in excellent condition for as long as I can. In the last photo here, I splayed out the avatars that are currently included, and all the other cards stacked are the equipment and abilities to be attached to the avatars. I have no problems with the components in Paragon (I just want to get more exciting d10s to use).
There really is an insane amount of choice and customization that can be had in constructing a deck for the chosen avatars, and that is precisely why I mention in the opening that I have yet to understand all the components: how will I ever be able to perfect a combination that speaks to me and works with my style when I have about a zillion options available? I know many gamers will salivate over the amount of deliberation and possibilities contained in the box, and after several plays, I find myself weighing options in my head throughout the day. When you think about a game throughout the day and how you will attempt to play it next time, I feel that is a sign of a truly great game for you.
This is certainly not for everyone, but it definitely is for me. I truly cannot wait to try out different combinations, strategies, and deck configurations each time I play. I can also see Paragon being ripe for multiple expansions, with new avatars representing new Disciplines, or adding in expansion material that is themed for different IPs or historical eras. Well, I guess it is time to pick up a part-time job to fund my Paragon expansions.
If you are like me and enjoy games that offer near-infinite possibilities and the true feeling of never playing the same game twice, then Paragon needs to be on your shelf. The rules are easily-digestible, games take 30 minutes once you are familiar with it, and there are a ton of unique cards included in this box. Purple Phoenix Games gives Paragon an excited 5 / 6. I really think that with more plays and tweaks to my copy (maybe an expansion or two thrown in) this could eek up to a 6 and earn a Golden Feather Award from me. It is smooth, exciting, and just oozing with customization that many gamers are going to absolutely love. Go find yourself a copy and get it to the table right away!
Paragon: Trials of the Chosen (which I will lovingly refer to as Paragon from here on out) is a fantasy deck construction fighting card game where players will be outfitting their chosen avatars with awesome gear and abilities and sending them to battle against other players’ avatars. All players will know EXACTLY what is in their draw deck AND in what order because they have constructed it card by card and the deck will never be shuffled. Intrigued?
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, each player chooses two avatars with whom they will play. Avatars belong to one or two different Disciplines, which allows players to construct their deck with Discipline-specific cards to be used during the game. As part of setup, each player will choose 20 cards from the gigantic deck of Equipment and Ability cards with which they will form their deck for play. Per the rules, each player will then place their chosen avatars and ordered decks in front of themselves along with a blue 1d10, the green 1d10 (all set to 1 to begin), and pile of Hearts tokens. Players draw their starting hand of five cards and the battle can begin!
The green 1d10 notates the round number, and the blue 1d10 per player represents their current Energy. To bring cards into play a player will spend the printed amount of Energy and track this on their 1d10.
Each round is played over several phases. The game is designed to play to 10 rounds, but players may play past 10 while keeping the round tracker and Energy static for all rounds after 10. The first phase is the Start Phase, and acts as a maintenance phase where players will activate any “Start Phase” effects from played cards, ready all exhausted cards, increase all the d10s, and draw the top card from their deck. Should a player be unable to draw a card during this phase due to the draw deck being empty, they immediately lose the game.
The second phase is the beefy Main Phase. This is where all the action happens. During this phase, players will take turns playing cards until both players have passed. On a turn a player will have the choice of five actions: Play a Card, Trigger an Activated Effect, Declare an Attack, Channel Energy, and Pass. To Play a Card the active player will pay the cost (in Energy) printed on the card and bring it into play exhausted. Cards brought into play this way will be attached to one of the avatars and act as an equipment or new ability, as long as the card played matches the Discipline of the avatar to which it is attached.
To Trigger an Activated Effect, the player will need to satisfy any qualifying conditions of the activation, which are printed on the card. These abilities can vary wildly and add immense strategy to play.
Once a player believes they have enough firepower attached to their avatars they may instead Declare an Attack by announcing their target and exhausting the card that is attacking. It is here that Paragon strays from the norm. Instead of damage simply being dealt to the opponent, the player may engage in a volley of playing Instant cards from hand (and paying their Energy costs) to add to the card stack. This is important, as the stack is then resolved in reverse order of play. So the last card to be played on the stack will be resolved first. This can result in attacks being nullified or shielded before they even proc. Sneaky and wily players will certainly use this phase wisely to draw out cards from their opponents’ hands. Once the stack is built, it is resolved and damage is calculated.
Players may instead elect to Channel Energy by exhausting one of their avatars to add 1 Energy to their pool. This may be repeated as long as the other avatar is available to be exhausted.
Lastly, and most easily, when players have no other actions they can or wish to complete, they may Pass in order to close out the round of phases.
When both players have Passed, the End Phase begins, and acts as another maintenance cleanup phase to ready players for the next round. This includes resolving any “End Phase” effects and increasing the round d10 by 1. The game ends once a player’s two avatars have been defeated or a player is unable to draw a card from their draw deck. The winner then boasts mightily in the face of their competitor and spews taunts and rematch challenges.
Components. This one is simple. Paragon has a giant stack of cards, a few d10s, and some wooden Heart tokens. The tokens are double-sided with a 1 printed on one side and a 3 on the other. These are obviously to track HP loss, and are fine. The 3d10 in this version are entry-level, and I will probably bling it out with some d10s that are more themed. The cards. Okay, I will certainly be sleeving this game. I want to keep my copy in excellent condition for as long as I can. In the last photo here, I splayed out the avatars that are currently included, and all the other cards stacked are the equipment and abilities to be attached to the avatars. I have no problems with the components in Paragon (I just want to get more exciting d10s to use).
There really is an insane amount of choice and customization that can be had in constructing a deck for the chosen avatars, and that is precisely why I mention in the opening that I have yet to understand all the components: how will I ever be able to perfect a combination that speaks to me and works with my style when I have about a zillion options available? I know many gamers will salivate over the amount of deliberation and possibilities contained in the box, and after several plays, I find myself weighing options in my head throughout the day. When you think about a game throughout the day and how you will attempt to play it next time, I feel that is a sign of a truly great game for you.
This is certainly not for everyone, but it definitely is for me. I truly cannot wait to try out different combinations, strategies, and deck configurations each time I play. I can also see Paragon being ripe for multiple expansions, with new avatars representing new Disciplines, or adding in expansion material that is themed for different IPs or historical eras. Well, I guess it is time to pick up a part-time job to fund my Paragon expansions.
If you are like me and enjoy games that offer near-infinite possibilities and the true feeling of never playing the same game twice, then Paragon needs to be on your shelf. The rules are easily-digestible, games take 30 minutes once you are familiar with it, and there are a ton of unique cards included in this box. Purple Phoenix Games gives Paragon an excited 5 / 6. I really think that with more plays and tweaks to my copy (maybe an expansion or two thrown in) this could eek up to a 6 and earn a Golden Feather Award from me. It is smooth, exciting, and just oozing with customization that many gamers are going to absolutely love. Go find yourself a copy and get it to the table right away!
RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Saving Private Ryan (1998) in Movies
Feb 25, 2019 (Updated Feb 25, 2019)
Groundbreaker mired in slop
Contains spoilers, click to show
Regarded as one of the best war films ever made, it certainly qualifies. The opening twenty minutes are still as breathtaking, shocking and disturbing realistic as they were back in 1998. It is hard to imagine that it has now been over twelve years since Saving Private Ryan broke the mold of World War II film making.
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Director for Spielberg, Best Cinematography, and Sound, which was astonishing, even by today's standards, it failed to win Best Picture, losing out to Shakespeare In Love. Shakespeare In Love! Don't get me wrong, it's a good film, but easily forgettable compared to Ryan, only proving yet again that if you touch upon the British monarchy you get Oscars.
The film is a fictional account of four brothers, all serving in the U.S. Army, three of which were killed in action on or around the D-Day landings. The fourth, James Ryan played by Matt Damon is somewhere in Europe, and Tom Hanks with his platoon are sent to bring him home, to spare his mother anymore heartache.
Tom Hanks, who was also snubbed at the 1998 Oscars for his perfect performance as Captain Miller, the everyman who was losing himself in the horrors of war, underplayed his role perfectly. He is believable on every level, emotionally, physically and has a sense of subtly with makes him of Hollywood's greats.
The action is visceral, gritty and horrifying. But never played for crass effect. Scenes of soldiers intestines spilling out, limbs flying a sunder and brutal killing left, right and centre are recreated for one purpose. To truly demonstrate the horrors of war, and to change our perceptions of the global conflict which had almost become a joke, a setting for gung- ho action films, where the Yanks reign supreme and single-handedly win the war.
This shows troops crying, hurting and making decisions which should not be made under any moral circumstances, but you understand why, whether you agree or not. There is no doubt that Spielberg is not innocent of making an American film, but it is about as even-handed as you might expect, with the exception of Tora! Tora! Tora! or The Longest Day.
So, the action is first-rate, graphic and perfectly toned to recreate to horror of the last century's greatest and most of destructive conflicts. But that's only half the story.
The other half is the talking, reminiscing and the almost sepia tone is more than a little cloying. The U.S. General's monologues, which seem to consist almost entirely of Lincoln quotations are overly sentimental, erring on the side of sloppy patriotism rather than Jingoism, which is hardly a bad thing but it isn't good either.
The civilian scenes, such as Mrs Ryan, washing a plate as she sees the car drive down to road to inform her of her sons deaths are so sentimental that they jar against the realism of the war scenes. It's not so much contrast as it is as extreme as black and white.
The action is obviously interspersed, as all war films are, with rest stops and moments of talking, pondering etc., but the scenes drag on too long and disrupt the tone of the film. On the other hand, the direction is brilliant when explaining the situations during and around the action, but Spielberg seemed to think that we needed these sloppy and often boring moments, such as The Church, and the outside the cafe in Ramelle, to express the emotional torment of the characters, but I think that these scenes are so boring and pointless that I' can hardly remember them, as my attention drifts off during them! But I do have an understanding of the soldiers, and this was achieved, quite adorably without these scenes.
Overall, this is a film of two halves if ever there was one. The battle scenes and the journey through war-torn France are brilliant, gritty and educational, but the scenes of American sentimentality are in danger of derailing the whole film. Many feel that is the best war film of all time. I do not agree, favouring Black Hawk Down over this, but I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that Blank Hawk Down owes a debt to Saving Private Ryan, by opening the door to the gritty war dramas of the naughties and to the style itself.
This film is on of the most important contributions to cinema ever, and has done so much to finally show to true nature of WWII and war in general. But even though I would rate this 10/10 if it was just for the war scenes, the slop just gets in the way and devalues what should have been perfection.
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Director for Spielberg, Best Cinematography, and Sound, which was astonishing, even by today's standards, it failed to win Best Picture, losing out to Shakespeare In Love. Shakespeare In Love! Don't get me wrong, it's a good film, but easily forgettable compared to Ryan, only proving yet again that if you touch upon the British monarchy you get Oscars.
The film is a fictional account of four brothers, all serving in the U.S. Army, three of which were killed in action on or around the D-Day landings. The fourth, James Ryan played by Matt Damon is somewhere in Europe, and Tom Hanks with his platoon are sent to bring him home, to spare his mother anymore heartache.
Tom Hanks, who was also snubbed at the 1998 Oscars for his perfect performance as Captain Miller, the everyman who was losing himself in the horrors of war, underplayed his role perfectly. He is believable on every level, emotionally, physically and has a sense of subtly with makes him of Hollywood's greats.
The action is visceral, gritty and horrifying. But never played for crass effect. Scenes of soldiers intestines spilling out, limbs flying a sunder and brutal killing left, right and centre are recreated for one purpose. To truly demonstrate the horrors of war, and to change our perceptions of the global conflict which had almost become a joke, a setting for gung- ho action films, where the Yanks reign supreme and single-handedly win the war.
This shows troops crying, hurting and making decisions which should not be made under any moral circumstances, but you understand why, whether you agree or not. There is no doubt that Spielberg is not innocent of making an American film, but it is about as even-handed as you might expect, with the exception of Tora! Tora! Tora! or The Longest Day.
So, the action is first-rate, graphic and perfectly toned to recreate to horror of the last century's greatest and most of destructive conflicts. But that's only half the story.
The other half is the talking, reminiscing and the almost sepia tone is more than a little cloying. The U.S. General's monologues, which seem to consist almost entirely of Lincoln quotations are overly sentimental, erring on the side of sloppy patriotism rather than Jingoism, which is hardly a bad thing but it isn't good either.
The civilian scenes, such as Mrs Ryan, washing a plate as she sees the car drive down to road to inform her of her sons deaths are so sentimental that they jar against the realism of the war scenes. It's not so much contrast as it is as extreme as black and white.
The action is obviously interspersed, as all war films are, with rest stops and moments of talking, pondering etc., but the scenes drag on too long and disrupt the tone of the film. On the other hand, the direction is brilliant when explaining the situations during and around the action, but Spielberg seemed to think that we needed these sloppy and often boring moments, such as The Church, and the outside the cafe in Ramelle, to express the emotional torment of the characters, but I think that these scenes are so boring and pointless that I' can hardly remember them, as my attention drifts off during them! But I do have an understanding of the soldiers, and this was achieved, quite adorably without these scenes.
Overall, this is a film of two halves if ever there was one. The battle scenes and the journey through war-torn France are brilliant, gritty and educational, but the scenes of American sentimentality are in danger of derailing the whole film. Many feel that is the best war film of all time. I do not agree, favouring Black Hawk Down over this, but I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that Blank Hawk Down owes a debt to Saving Private Ryan, by opening the door to the gritty war dramas of the naughties and to the style itself.
This film is on of the most important contributions to cinema ever, and has done so much to finally show to true nature of WWII and war in general. But even though I would rate this 10/10 if it was just for the war scenes, the slop just gets in the way and devalues what should have been perfection.