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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Yes! Broccoli! in Tabletop Games
Mar 25, 2020
I’m sure you saw the title of this review and thought I had lost my mind. Well, I thought I had lost my mind when I saw the description of this one and immediately was excited to play it. Not that broccoli is my favorite food, but I do love it. My son, however, loves broccoli. Wait, he LOVES broccoli. Hopefully now you can understand why I would be excited to play a card game about health food geared toward children to teach them about good vs bad food items. I love my kids, and I love games. When I can combine those, I am a happy guy.
Yes! Broccoli! is a card game for 2-5 players that incorporates blind bidding, special player powers (in advanced games), and drafting elements. The hidden benefit from this game is that healthy food cards are worth more points while the junk food cards are worth negative points (boo and hiss).
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 from the publisher directly, or from your FLGS if stocked. -T
To setup a basic game, each player will take a personal deck of cards numbered 1-8 of the same color border (I choose orange or purple). These are the cards that will be used during the game. Shuffle the large stack of food cards as a draw deck. Draw a number of cards equal to the number of players, determine the starting player and the game is ready to be consumed!
The players will all choose one of their bid cards from their hand and place them face-down in front of them. Once all have chosen, all bid cards will be revealed simultaneously. The highest-bid card’s player will then choose one of the drawn food cards to take into their score pile. That winning player now acts as the dealer and will draw and reveal the next set of cards upon which the players will bid. As the players play all their numbered cards, they may win food cards worth many points, or they may be saddled with negative values as well. These are the junk food cards that nobody wants. Except my son, who wanted all the Candy T-Rex cards, even knowing that it will affect his score. Some people play to win. Others play to have a good time. I admire that about him. Play continues in this fashion until all bid cards have been played. Count up the points won/gathered and determine a winner! This is the basic game to be played with new players or young children.
To play a more advanced game, setup will be the same, except each player will also be dealt two special ability cards to be used during the game. These cards are very powerful, and can only be used once during the game. As this adds a new and thinky layer to the basic game, it is only recommended for older children or adult play. Examples of these special abilities are having the lowest-bid card win instead of highest card, or doubling a bid amount, or adding/subtracting three to/from a current bid.
Components. This game is a big stack of cards in a small (but appropriately-sized) box. The cards are great, and while I would prefer plastic cards for my young kids, children who can respect game components will be just fine. The art on these cards is super cute and I found myself just smiling while I was playing because not only is this game educational for youngsters, but it’s fun to look at while playing too. I made a parenthetical comment about the box being appropriately-sized, and I mean it. I appreciate when a game doesn’t try to be bigger on the shelf for that extra “presence” at the game store. When I open a box and more than 50% is air, it is very irksome to me. How wasteful. Well, not here. We have nothing bad to say about these components at all.
So while most kids may not appreciate the backstabbiness of the special abilities, adults certainly will. That said, when playing with the intended audience of children, we found that Yes! Broccoli! was a huge hit! We are still working on the younger kids and breaking them of the, “yes, the cake princess is very pretty, but you really don’t want to take her into your score pile.” Winning and losing really doesn’t matter much in the Lopez household, but gaming experiences do, and though my son doesn’t win this one ever, he loves it, and I love playing it with him. So I consider this a win, and though our official Purple Phoenix Games rating has a caloric value of 8 / 12, I do believe you will enjoy this little card game – ESPECIALLY if there are little ones in your life. Purchase it directly from the publisher at Gangway Games. You can use it as a precursor to Munchkin and Cutthroat Cavern, or as a stepstone to bidding games like Biblios and No Thanks!
Yes! Broccoli! is a card game for 2-5 players that incorporates blind bidding, special player powers (in advanced games), and drafting elements. The hidden benefit from this game is that healthy food cards are worth more points while the junk food cards are worth negative points (boo and hiss).
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 from the publisher directly, or from your FLGS if stocked. -T
To setup a basic game, each player will take a personal deck of cards numbered 1-8 of the same color border (I choose orange or purple). These are the cards that will be used during the game. Shuffle the large stack of food cards as a draw deck. Draw a number of cards equal to the number of players, determine the starting player and the game is ready to be consumed!
The players will all choose one of their bid cards from their hand and place them face-down in front of them. Once all have chosen, all bid cards will be revealed simultaneously. The highest-bid card’s player will then choose one of the drawn food cards to take into their score pile. That winning player now acts as the dealer and will draw and reveal the next set of cards upon which the players will bid. As the players play all their numbered cards, they may win food cards worth many points, or they may be saddled with negative values as well. These are the junk food cards that nobody wants. Except my son, who wanted all the Candy T-Rex cards, even knowing that it will affect his score. Some people play to win. Others play to have a good time. I admire that about him. Play continues in this fashion until all bid cards have been played. Count up the points won/gathered and determine a winner! This is the basic game to be played with new players or young children.
To play a more advanced game, setup will be the same, except each player will also be dealt two special ability cards to be used during the game. These cards are very powerful, and can only be used once during the game. As this adds a new and thinky layer to the basic game, it is only recommended for older children or adult play. Examples of these special abilities are having the lowest-bid card win instead of highest card, or doubling a bid amount, or adding/subtracting three to/from a current bid.
Components. This game is a big stack of cards in a small (but appropriately-sized) box. The cards are great, and while I would prefer plastic cards for my young kids, children who can respect game components will be just fine. The art on these cards is super cute and I found myself just smiling while I was playing because not only is this game educational for youngsters, but it’s fun to look at while playing too. I made a parenthetical comment about the box being appropriately-sized, and I mean it. I appreciate when a game doesn’t try to be bigger on the shelf for that extra “presence” at the game store. When I open a box and more than 50% is air, it is very irksome to me. How wasteful. Well, not here. We have nothing bad to say about these components at all.
So while most kids may not appreciate the backstabbiness of the special abilities, adults certainly will. That said, when playing with the intended audience of children, we found that Yes! Broccoli! was a huge hit! We are still working on the younger kids and breaking them of the, “yes, the cake princess is very pretty, but you really don’t want to take her into your score pile.” Winning and losing really doesn’t matter much in the Lopez household, but gaming experiences do, and though my son doesn’t win this one ever, he loves it, and I love playing it with him. So I consider this a win, and though our official Purple Phoenix Games rating has a caloric value of 8 / 12, I do believe you will enjoy this little card game – ESPECIALLY if there are little ones in your life. Purchase it directly from the publisher at Gangway Games. You can use it as a precursor to Munchkin and Cutthroat Cavern, or as a stepstone to bidding games like Biblios and No Thanks!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Pocket Paragons in Tabletop Games
Sep 25, 2020
It’s a duel then? Fine. Choose your paragon and let’s see who can outwit whom. The ol’ “Battle of Wits” from “Princess Bride” now comes in card format with many planned IPs to skin over it. No, this isn’t a “Princess Bride” game, nor does it have any affiliation to the story, but once you play Pocket Paragons, you will immediately see why I made the connection.
Pocket Paragons is a two player dueling card game where the winner is the player to knock out their opponent’s character(s). This game employs a lot of card play with minimal amounts of cards and tremendous amounts of double-think and flat out guessing as to what your opponent might be thinking.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are prototype media set components, and all complete copies will have extra components including these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but to give our readers an idea of how the game plays. You are invited to back it on Kickstarter, order from your FLGS, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after it is released. -T
To setup a game of Pocket Paragons, players will choose one character (or three in a Tournament Mode), all associated cards, and an HP/Energy dial (I am using dice for my game). Players will display in front of them their character’s main Character card as well as the Ultimate card. All other cards related to their character will begin the game in hand and will be ready to be played immediately.
A game of Pocket Paragons could range from one card played to several rounds and upwards of 10 minutes. Tournament play can be longer still. For this preview I will be describing game play for single games.
On a turn each player will choose one of the cards in hand to be played, lay it face-down on the table, and flip it once both players are ready. When the cards are flipped, the players will compare and check for Counters. Each card may counter other card types and will have text stating so (Example: the Malice card from above shows that it counters Agility cards). If a player can play a card to counter their opponent’s card then the countering player sends the opponent’s card back to their hand and will gain one Energy. If the card played had damage printed on it, the countered player will reduce their HP by the printed damage amount. However, if no cards were countered, then both cards will activate and assign any damage. The next round may now begin with players choosing cards to be played one by one until a player is knocked out of the game.
After a card is played and used the player will be discarding into a discard pile. The only way to regain these cards into hand is by playing a rest card (yellow sun). Using the rest cards at just the right time will certainly reflect the strategy of the player. Players may use a rest card at any time, but some red Weapon cards can immediately Execute an opponent if played while they are resting (think coup de grace in RPGs). Therefore, while waiting until all cards in hand are used before playing a rest card makes logical sense, smart players may be saving their Execute cards for that exact instance.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy that cobbles six characters from multiple sets to create the Media Set we were sent. We have been informed that retail (or Kickstarter) boxes will contain six related characters and dials to track HP and Energy. The cards we were sent are of okay quality, and I do not believe this is the stock that will be used on the final game. The art and art style on the game is quite nice. Icons and placement are logical, and cards are easy to read and understand. The artwork is very colorful and one thing I VERY MUCH appreciate on this (because I almost was lost after taking the messy components shot below) is that each card belonging to specific characters show the same artwork in fade in the background. I had a hot flash (weird for a guy right?) when I was sorting the deck back together after playing it and not knowing exactly which cards belonged with which characters. So, thanks for that Solis Game Studio!
I truly enjoyed my plays of Pocket Paragons. The games are super quick, but certainly test your ability to out-think your opponent and try to guess when they might be using their rest card so you can bust out the Execute. And each character plays so differently from others that it’s truly a joy to try out each and every character you can to see which one resonates with your style of play. The art is fabulous with bright colors (a definite plus for me), and the learning curve is nice and smooth – anyone can play this in about three to five minutes of learning. If your collection is screaming for a super quick card game that can be played in under 10 minutes and you can get some brain cells moving around, then Pocket Paragons is for you. It’s certainly for me and my collection. I love everything about it and can see myself diving down the rabbit hole once more and more IPs are released. Oh boy, this is gonna hurt the wallet…
Back it on Kickstarter launching October 6, 2020!
Pocket Paragons is a two player dueling card game where the winner is the player to knock out their opponent’s character(s). This game employs a lot of card play with minimal amounts of cards and tremendous amounts of double-think and flat out guessing as to what your opponent might be thinking.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are prototype media set components, and all complete copies will have extra components including these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but to give our readers an idea of how the game plays. You are invited to back it on Kickstarter, order from your FLGS, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after it is released. -T
To setup a game of Pocket Paragons, players will choose one character (or three in a Tournament Mode), all associated cards, and an HP/Energy dial (I am using dice for my game). Players will display in front of them their character’s main Character card as well as the Ultimate card. All other cards related to their character will begin the game in hand and will be ready to be played immediately.
A game of Pocket Paragons could range from one card played to several rounds and upwards of 10 minutes. Tournament play can be longer still. For this preview I will be describing game play for single games.
On a turn each player will choose one of the cards in hand to be played, lay it face-down on the table, and flip it once both players are ready. When the cards are flipped, the players will compare and check for Counters. Each card may counter other card types and will have text stating so (Example: the Malice card from above shows that it counters Agility cards). If a player can play a card to counter their opponent’s card then the countering player sends the opponent’s card back to their hand and will gain one Energy. If the card played had damage printed on it, the countered player will reduce their HP by the printed damage amount. However, if no cards were countered, then both cards will activate and assign any damage. The next round may now begin with players choosing cards to be played one by one until a player is knocked out of the game.
After a card is played and used the player will be discarding into a discard pile. The only way to regain these cards into hand is by playing a rest card (yellow sun). Using the rest cards at just the right time will certainly reflect the strategy of the player. Players may use a rest card at any time, but some red Weapon cards can immediately Execute an opponent if played while they are resting (think coup de grace in RPGs). Therefore, while waiting until all cards in hand are used before playing a rest card makes logical sense, smart players may be saving their Execute cards for that exact instance.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy that cobbles six characters from multiple sets to create the Media Set we were sent. We have been informed that retail (or Kickstarter) boxes will contain six related characters and dials to track HP and Energy. The cards we were sent are of okay quality, and I do not believe this is the stock that will be used on the final game. The art and art style on the game is quite nice. Icons and placement are logical, and cards are easy to read and understand. The artwork is very colorful and one thing I VERY MUCH appreciate on this (because I almost was lost after taking the messy components shot below) is that each card belonging to specific characters show the same artwork in fade in the background. I had a hot flash (weird for a guy right?) when I was sorting the deck back together after playing it and not knowing exactly which cards belonged with which characters. So, thanks for that Solis Game Studio!
I truly enjoyed my plays of Pocket Paragons. The games are super quick, but certainly test your ability to out-think your opponent and try to guess when they might be using their rest card so you can bust out the Execute. And each character plays so differently from others that it’s truly a joy to try out each and every character you can to see which one resonates with your style of play. The art is fabulous with bright colors (a definite plus for me), and the learning curve is nice and smooth – anyone can play this in about three to five minutes of learning. If your collection is screaming for a super quick card game that can be played in under 10 minutes and you can get some brain cells moving around, then Pocket Paragons is for you. It’s certainly for me and my collection. I love everything about it and can see myself diving down the rabbit hole once more and more IPs are released. Oh boy, this is gonna hurt the wallet…
Back it on Kickstarter launching October 6, 2020!
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Citadels in Tabletop Games
Aug 13, 2021
It has been documented several times that I, Travis Lopez, would be a horrible city planner. So why do I keep playing these games that require me to build city buildings and components and why do I enjoy them so much? Well, truth be told, this is a game that I had traded for years ago, got rid of, missed terribly, and repurchased. However, this is the newer version that includes a lot more in the box. Does it mean that the game is better? More stuff means better game, right?
In Citadels players will be donning the mantle of potential Master Builders and will need to build the greatest buildings within the city and manipulate the powers of special people within its walls. The game ends when a player has built their seventh district building. The player with the most VP at this time will be crowned Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
To setup, decide which eight characters will be used in the game, gather their cards and tokens, and place their tokens in ascending order on the table. This is to remind all players which characters (and their rank) is in play. Assemble the district (building) cards per the rules and shuffle the deck. Deal each player four of these district cards along with two gold coins. The eldest player will begin the game as the current First Player (complete with crown mini) and will begin the first phase of the first round.
Citadels is played over several rounds, each with two phases played within. The first phase is the Selection Phase, where the current First Player takes the character cards, shuffles them, adds zero to two cards (dependent upon number of players) face-up on the table and one card face-down. They then choose from the cards remaining in hand which character’s powers they would like to enact for the turn. The cards are passed to the next player in line who will do the same, and so on around the table.
Once all players have chosen their character card, the Turn Phase can begin. The current First Player (the one with the crown) will announce the characters in rank order, with the lowest character going first. In a typical game using only original base characters, this is “1: Assassin.” Whomever chose the Assassin card will flip over their character card, perform its special power, and then continue with their turn. In this case, the Assassin’s special power is to announce the name of a CHARACTER to assassinate. NOTE: This does NOT mean the name of the PLAYER. So the Assassin could choose to assassinate the King character, not the Travis player. After the character has used their power, the player can continue with the rest of their turn, though some character powers may be used at any time during the player’s turn.
After the character power is used, the player will gather resources in the form of two gold coins from the bank or by drawing two district cards from the deck and choosing one to keep in hand. After this choice, the player may then build one district in their play area if they wish and if they can afford to do so. Once complete, the crowned First Player will call out the next character rank (2: Thief in our example) who will continue their turn in the same way. The game continues in this fashion until a player has built their seventh district. The round continues until all players have had an equal amount of turns. Players then count VP on district cards and bonuses per the rulebook. The player with the most VP at the end of the game is crowned the Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
Components. I have to say that I enjoyed the components in the older version of Citadels I used to have just fine. I had sleeved all my cards, and the gold coins were nice back in the day. This version, however, includes many more components and each one is higher quality than the previous version’s. The art on the cards has been updated and is much much nicer now as well. The addition of the crown mini, the character tokens, and other components not mentioned here merely increases my love for Citadels. Windrider has knocked it out of the park with this version. And that’s saying nothing about all the additional characters now included in the game! Oh boy, so much variability!
Along with that variability is the customization of the game. You can play with one of the six pre-constructed provided suggestions in the rulebook or create your own combination of different characters. With three versions of each rank, many possibilities are… possible.
I do love Citadels, and with the right group can be a show-stopper all on its own. Some players may get a little offended or sassy because there is a fair amount of Take That in Citadels with the character interactions, so if playing with people who don’t understand the difference between a game and real life, I would prep them appropriately. I love being able to outwit my opponents by drafting certain characters they didn’t think I would want. Keeping them all on their toes during the game is sneaky fun.
So for me, with the amount of replayability, high quality and excellent components, and cutthroat gameplay I simply adore Citadels. I can pull it out with different groups and have different play experiences and try to tailor the character offering to the strengths of my players, or simply use one listed in the back of the rulebook. Purple Phoenix Games gives Citadels an underhanded, yet scholarly 21 / 24. It’s a stunning, magical, wonderful game and one of Bruno Faidutti’s best ever! Surely this is already in your collection, right? If not, make it so.
In Citadels players will be donning the mantle of potential Master Builders and will need to build the greatest buildings within the city and manipulate the powers of special people within its walls. The game ends when a player has built their seventh district building. The player with the most VP at this time will be crowned Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
To setup, decide which eight characters will be used in the game, gather their cards and tokens, and place their tokens in ascending order on the table. This is to remind all players which characters (and their rank) is in play. Assemble the district (building) cards per the rules and shuffle the deck. Deal each player four of these district cards along with two gold coins. The eldest player will begin the game as the current First Player (complete with crown mini) and will begin the first phase of the first round.
Citadels is played over several rounds, each with two phases played within. The first phase is the Selection Phase, where the current First Player takes the character cards, shuffles them, adds zero to two cards (dependent upon number of players) face-up on the table and one card face-down. They then choose from the cards remaining in hand which character’s powers they would like to enact for the turn. The cards are passed to the next player in line who will do the same, and so on around the table.
Once all players have chosen their character card, the Turn Phase can begin. The current First Player (the one with the crown) will announce the characters in rank order, with the lowest character going first. In a typical game using only original base characters, this is “1: Assassin.” Whomever chose the Assassin card will flip over their character card, perform its special power, and then continue with their turn. In this case, the Assassin’s special power is to announce the name of a CHARACTER to assassinate. NOTE: This does NOT mean the name of the PLAYER. So the Assassin could choose to assassinate the King character, not the Travis player. After the character has used their power, the player can continue with the rest of their turn, though some character powers may be used at any time during the player’s turn.
After the character power is used, the player will gather resources in the form of two gold coins from the bank or by drawing two district cards from the deck and choosing one to keep in hand. After this choice, the player may then build one district in their play area if they wish and if they can afford to do so. Once complete, the crowned First Player will call out the next character rank (2: Thief in our example) who will continue their turn in the same way. The game continues in this fashion until a player has built their seventh district. The round continues until all players have had an equal amount of turns. Players then count VP on district cards and bonuses per the rulebook. The player with the most VP at the end of the game is crowned the Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
Components. I have to say that I enjoyed the components in the older version of Citadels I used to have just fine. I had sleeved all my cards, and the gold coins were nice back in the day. This version, however, includes many more components and each one is higher quality than the previous version’s. The art on the cards has been updated and is much much nicer now as well. The addition of the crown mini, the character tokens, and other components not mentioned here merely increases my love for Citadels. Windrider has knocked it out of the park with this version. And that’s saying nothing about all the additional characters now included in the game! Oh boy, so much variability!
Along with that variability is the customization of the game. You can play with one of the six pre-constructed provided suggestions in the rulebook or create your own combination of different characters. With three versions of each rank, many possibilities are… possible.
I do love Citadels, and with the right group can be a show-stopper all on its own. Some players may get a little offended or sassy because there is a fair amount of Take That in Citadels with the character interactions, so if playing with people who don’t understand the difference between a game and real life, I would prep them appropriately. I love being able to outwit my opponents by drafting certain characters they didn’t think I would want. Keeping them all on their toes during the game is sneaky fun.
So for me, with the amount of replayability, high quality and excellent components, and cutthroat gameplay I simply adore Citadels. I can pull it out with different groups and have different play experiences and try to tailor the character offering to the strengths of my players, or simply use one listed in the back of the rulebook. Purple Phoenix Games gives Citadels an underhanded, yet scholarly 21 / 24. It’s a stunning, magical, wonderful game and one of Bruno Faidutti’s best ever! Surely this is already in your collection, right? If not, make it so.
Steven Sklansky (231 KP) rated Live By Night (2017) in Movies
Sep 10, 2017
Cast (2 more)
Gun play
Costumes and Sets
Gangsters, Guns and Money. What more is there?
To me Ben Affleck has always been a good actor. It doesn't matter if it is a good movie or a bad one, he seems to make his acting ability known. Live by Night was no different, he played gangster very well. It might be because he was also directing himself. Some movies you can tell that the movie is being directed by the actor in the movie, but in this one you could not see that line. The senses he was in you could tell they were done with the same quality as a director sitting in a chair.
Ben Affleck really does love Boston, because once again that where this whole thing begins. I didn't live in the 20's but the Boston accent must not have been established yet. It was quite refreshing not to hear it in a movie. I really didn't know Boston's backstory but I guess like everywhere on the East Coast there was a mob presence. They did a really good job showing the life of someone in the mob. It wasn't just the killing and booze. It really went deep with the love story of both women and what he had to go though to keep the love and them alive. Even though one of them turned out to be a backstabbing bitch.
When the story progressed to Tampa it was interesting to see something that I don't think has been portrayed in movies. Or I have never seen it. The mob in Florida. The interactions between the Irish and Italian mob in a world of Mexicans and Cubans was done very well. There was a lot going on and it never got boring. The only part of the story that got a little off was rivalry of the mob in Tampa and Miami. You never saw the fights between them until the end. I just thought it was over and done with after the Italians were run out of town. Or maybe I just missed it.
I won't tell you what happened to anyone at the end but the gun fight was amazing. So may parts put in and the chirography was done very well. I think the very end could have been done differently. To me it was very off putting and didn't understand why they choose to go that direction. Granted it was based off a book that I never read and maybe that's the way it had to be. But it could have been written better in the book too. Books seem to get the point across better anyway.
If you like gangster movies, see it. If you like Ben Affleck, see it. If you just want to watch a movie not to be bored, see it.
Ben Affleck really does love Boston, because once again that where this whole thing begins. I didn't live in the 20's but the Boston accent must not have been established yet. It was quite refreshing not to hear it in a movie. I really didn't know Boston's backstory but I guess like everywhere on the East Coast there was a mob presence. They did a really good job showing the life of someone in the mob. It wasn't just the killing and booze. It really went deep with the love story of both women and what he had to go though to keep the love and them alive. Even though one of them turned out to be a backstabbing bitch.
When the story progressed to Tampa it was interesting to see something that I don't think has been portrayed in movies. Or I have never seen it. The mob in Florida. The interactions between the Irish and Italian mob in a world of Mexicans and Cubans was done very well. There was a lot going on and it never got boring. The only part of the story that got a little off was rivalry of the mob in Tampa and Miami. You never saw the fights between them until the end. I just thought it was over and done with after the Italians were run out of town. Or maybe I just missed it.
I won't tell you what happened to anyone at the end but the gun fight was amazing. So may parts put in and the chirography was done very well. I think the very end could have been done differently. To me it was very off putting and didn't understand why they choose to go that direction. Granted it was based off a book that I never read and maybe that's the way it had to be. But it could have been written better in the book too. Books seem to get the point across better anyway.
If you like gangster movies, see it. If you like Ben Affleck, see it. If you just want to watch a movie not to be bored, see it.