Search
Unique for iPhone
Music and Entertainment
App
“Unique sounds like syrup with dirt kicked into it. If Bootsy Collins, Roger Troutman and Daft...
Hohner-FBbEb Mini-SqueezeBox - All Tones Deluxe Edition
Music and Entertainment
App
Hohner announces the introduction of a revolutionary new app for the iPhone: The Hohner...
Bully: Anniversary Edition
Games
App
***PLEASE NOTE: This game is officially supported on the following devices only: iPhone 5, 5s, 5c,...
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Tiny Epic Tactics: Maps Expansion in Tabletop Games
Dec 18, 2021
In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection.
This breakdown is for the Maps expansion for the game Tiny Epic Tactics.
The Maps expansion for Tiny Epic Tactics offers players of the game 2 new locations in which to play: The Winter Highlands and the Savage Wastelands. Although the rules and gameplay are identical to that of the base game, the new locations are set up in different configurations, providing players with a variable setup of sorts with which to play the game.
The components of the Maps expansion are as follows: a new map scroll for each location, as well as a set of 6 box covers depicting the artwork of the location. The map scrolls are cloth, and are the same quality as the map scroll of the base game. The box covers, however, leave much to be desired. Instead of providing new sets of actual boxes, this expansion instead has cardboard covers for the existing base game boxes. They are folded and flattened in the expansion box, and then are popped up and fit over top of the base boxes. My main issue with this is that with many plays, I anticipate that the thin cardboard box covers will start to tear or break. Also, since they are stored flattened, sometimes the covers do not fit snugly over the boxes, causing some of the sides to curve out a little bit. With how high quality all of the Tiny Epic games are, the box covers in the Maps expansion just don’t meet my expectations.
All in all, is the Maps expansion necessary for complete enjoyment of Tiny Epic Tactics? In my opinion, no. These new locations do not change any of the rules or gameplay. The purpose of this expansion really is to just provide players with a couple of alternate locations. Since each of the new locations does set up its boxes differently than the base game, there is a bit of uniqueness in each map. But by not adding any new rules or mechanics, it kind of falls a bit flat for me.
Official recommendation: If you play Tiny Epic Tactics so often that you are bored of the base game map setup, then I would definitely check out the Maps expansion. It just offers a new setting to freshen up the gameplay. If you are like me, though, and don’t get around to Tiny Epic Tactics enough to feel bored by the game layout, then this expansion really is just to satisfy your completionism. If the components were higher quality, I would be more willing to pull this expansion out more often. But the shortcomings of the production, as well as the lack of real changes to gameplay, keep it on the shelf for me.
This breakdown is for the Maps expansion for the game Tiny Epic Tactics.
The Maps expansion for Tiny Epic Tactics offers players of the game 2 new locations in which to play: The Winter Highlands and the Savage Wastelands. Although the rules and gameplay are identical to that of the base game, the new locations are set up in different configurations, providing players with a variable setup of sorts with which to play the game.
The components of the Maps expansion are as follows: a new map scroll for each location, as well as a set of 6 box covers depicting the artwork of the location. The map scrolls are cloth, and are the same quality as the map scroll of the base game. The box covers, however, leave much to be desired. Instead of providing new sets of actual boxes, this expansion instead has cardboard covers for the existing base game boxes. They are folded and flattened in the expansion box, and then are popped up and fit over top of the base boxes. My main issue with this is that with many plays, I anticipate that the thin cardboard box covers will start to tear or break. Also, since they are stored flattened, sometimes the covers do not fit snugly over the boxes, causing some of the sides to curve out a little bit. With how high quality all of the Tiny Epic games are, the box covers in the Maps expansion just don’t meet my expectations.
All in all, is the Maps expansion necessary for complete enjoyment of Tiny Epic Tactics? In my opinion, no. These new locations do not change any of the rules or gameplay. The purpose of this expansion really is to just provide players with a couple of alternate locations. Since each of the new locations does set up its boxes differently than the base game, there is a bit of uniqueness in each map. But by not adding any new rules or mechanics, it kind of falls a bit flat for me.
Official recommendation: If you play Tiny Epic Tactics so often that you are bored of the base game map setup, then I would definitely check out the Maps expansion. It just offers a new setting to freshen up the gameplay. If you are like me, though, and don’t get around to Tiny Epic Tactics enough to feel bored by the game layout, then this expansion really is just to satisfy your completionism. If the components were higher quality, I would be more willing to pull this expansion out more often. But the shortcomings of the production, as well as the lack of real changes to gameplay, keep it on the shelf for me.
Frontline Commando: D-Day
Games and Entertainment
App
Lead the charge on D-Day as the tip of the spear in the largest Allied invasion of WW2! Defeat the...
NBA AR App
Sports and Entertainment
App
Welcome to the NBA AR App – the official augmented reality app of the National Basketball...
Rachel King (13 KP) rated The Hunger Games in Books
Feb 11, 2019
Right away this book captures my attention with a quick introduction to Katniss's survival skills followed by the District 12 Hunger Games lottery, a grim holiday that nobody wants to celebrate, but is still mandatory. It does not take long for the reader to feel sympathetic towards Katniss and the hardship she struggles with everyday just to survive.
Every detail leading up to the actual event of the Hunger Games has a surreal feel, as Katniss is primped and paraded like a beauty pageant contestant, as if everyone is ignoring the fact that these are children, with all but one facing imminent death. This is reality television meets the ancient gladiator games of Rome, combined with the sick irony of using a nation's most precious commodity -- its children. As a mother of three, I can not even fathom living in a country that tolerated this year after year. These Hunger Games are the country's way of preventing rebellion in its citizens through fear, brainwashing, and desensitization, as it is mandatory for every citizen to watch. In some districts, this is so successful that children are routinely trained specifically for the Hunger Games, volunteering to face murder and death for a chance at fame and fortune.
The love triangle is obvious early on, though the conflict can't come into play until the second book in the series. Peeta is the one in the spotlight, the one that humanizes Katniss for the viewers and makes her likable due to his own romantic feelings for her. Unfortunately, Katniss is too busy staying alive to be certain of her true feelings, even though she can pretend well enough to convince even Peeta. Peeta is self-sacrificing, while Katniss is observant and resourceful. Katniss is able to avoid becoming a cold-hearted murderer only because of Peeta's presence.
Regarding the actual Game, those that run it operate to keep the entertainment value up, adding to the danger of the contestants still alive, handing out gifts to give one an edge over another, forcing contestants into battle to increase bloodshed and drama, and generally treating the twenty-four as actors and actresses in any other fictional television drama. What Katniss keeps returning to is how "normal" these people of the Capitol see of the deaths of these children. It occurred to me while reading this that it would be better to be one of those that died in the Games, rather than live with being the monster responsible for the deaths of twenty-three other children purely for the entertainment of the shallow and self-absorbed.
This book is both shocking and heart-rending, and I look forward to the next installment, Catching Fire.
Every detail leading up to the actual event of the Hunger Games has a surreal feel, as Katniss is primped and paraded like a beauty pageant contestant, as if everyone is ignoring the fact that these are children, with all but one facing imminent death. This is reality television meets the ancient gladiator games of Rome, combined with the sick irony of using a nation's most precious commodity -- its children. As a mother of three, I can not even fathom living in a country that tolerated this year after year. These Hunger Games are the country's way of preventing rebellion in its citizens through fear, brainwashing, and desensitization, as it is mandatory for every citizen to watch. In some districts, this is so successful that children are routinely trained specifically for the Hunger Games, volunteering to face murder and death for a chance at fame and fortune.
The love triangle is obvious early on, though the conflict can't come into play until the second book in the series. Peeta is the one in the spotlight, the one that humanizes Katniss for the viewers and makes her likable due to his own romantic feelings for her. Unfortunately, Katniss is too busy staying alive to be certain of her true feelings, even though she can pretend well enough to convince even Peeta. Peeta is self-sacrificing, while Katniss is observant and resourceful. Katniss is able to avoid becoming a cold-hearted murderer only because of Peeta's presence.
Regarding the actual Game, those that run it operate to keep the entertainment value up, adding to the danger of the contestants still alive, handing out gifts to give one an edge over another, forcing contestants into battle to increase bloodshed and drama, and generally treating the twenty-four as actors and actresses in any other fictional television drama. What Katniss keeps returning to is how "normal" these people of the Capitol see of the deaths of these children. It occurred to me while reading this that it would be better to be one of those that died in the Games, rather than live with being the monster responsible for the deaths of twenty-three other children purely for the entertainment of the shallow and self-absorbed.
This book is both shocking and heart-rending, and I look forward to the next installment, Catching Fire.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Samurai Spirit in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
One of the best parts of the board gaming experience is finding a fun group of people with whom to play! Sometimes, though, coordinating a game night is easier said than done. We all must occasionally forego the group experience and face the world as the Lonely Only. But fear not! The world of solo-play is a vast and exciting realm! What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the solo-playing world – notes on gameplay, mechanics, rules, difficulty, and overall experience with solo variations of commonly multiplayer games! I hope this will provide some insight as you continue to grow your collection, or explore your already owned games!
As a Samurai, you spend your life traveling across the land to help those in need. Most recently, you and a handful of other Samurai have been contracted by a small village to defend them against a clan of invading raiders. Only by working together, and by using your extensive training, will you succeed in keeping this village safe!
Samurai Spirit is a cooperative game of press-your-luck. Players take on the role of a Samurai, each with a unique power, and take turns drawing cards and fighting off the invaders or offering support to your fellow Samurai. Invaders can have recurring negative effects, so strategize wisely on how best to combat them and see how far you can push your luck each round. If you are able to survive through 3 rounds (waves) of invaders with at least one surviving farmstead and family, the Samurai are victorious and the village is saved! If any of the Samurai are killed, or the village has been completely destroyed by invaders, then the game is lost. As a solo game, Samurai Spirit plays essentially the same as in group play, with only 2 main differences – the solo player controls 2 Samurai instead of 1, and the support tokens from the unused Samurai are each available for use once during the game.
For such a neat theme, this game falls short for me. It seems simple enough, but there are areas of ambiguity in the rules that lead to some confusion. For starters, the text size is so small that I am not able to find any information at a quick glance! The text itself is not always clear either – like when, at the end of a round, the rules say to collect all cards used this round, does that include cards that have been discarded due to Samurai abilities? How about the cards of the Intruder stack that are presumably discarded after being revealed? The rulebook offers no clarification, and I honestly still don’t know the right answer.
The order/layout of the rules feels mismatched too – relevant information is not always grouped together, and I find myself flipping between several pages at a time trying to figure out one single thing. For example, in the ‘Fight’ action description, it says that if you reach your Kiai value exactly, you can activate your Kiai ability. You have to turn the page to a different section to see exactly what activating that ability means, and then you have to flip an additional 2 more pages to see what each individual Kiai ability is! Why not just put them all in one place? It would certainly be easier to understand if all relevant information was grouped together.
The prominent mechanic of Samurai Spirit is press-your-luck, and I would definitely say that this game is very luck-based. When setting up the game, the initial deck of cards is randomly selected and that can impact whether or not you are able to complete certain requirements each round – if there aren’t enough hat/farm/doll cards for each Samurai, you are guaranteed to incur a penalty at the end of every round. Actual gameplay is very luck-based too, and for me it feels like there are no good ways to strategize – your choices are all dependent on the luck of the draw. You can push your luck to draw more cards and use special abilities, but since you are suffering from recurring penalties each turn, it feels futile to keep going at a certain point.
For me, Samurai Spirit is repetitive and kind of boring – suffer penalty, draw card, and repeat until you eventually pass or the deck runs out. It’s like a too-complicated version of blackjack in which the deck is stacked against you. It’s such a bummer because the theme and artwork are neat, and the gameplay (in theory, at least) should be effective. But the actual execution is too reliant on luck to be successful.
I do quite a bit of solo gaming, but this game is never one that I willingly decide to play. I honestly only broke it out recently as a refresher for this review. Perhaps it is better at higher player counts, but since that is not where most of my gaming occurs, Samurai Spirit is a dud for me.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/solo-chronicles-samurai-spirit/
As a Samurai, you spend your life traveling across the land to help those in need. Most recently, you and a handful of other Samurai have been contracted by a small village to defend them against a clan of invading raiders. Only by working together, and by using your extensive training, will you succeed in keeping this village safe!
Samurai Spirit is a cooperative game of press-your-luck. Players take on the role of a Samurai, each with a unique power, and take turns drawing cards and fighting off the invaders or offering support to your fellow Samurai. Invaders can have recurring negative effects, so strategize wisely on how best to combat them and see how far you can push your luck each round. If you are able to survive through 3 rounds (waves) of invaders with at least one surviving farmstead and family, the Samurai are victorious and the village is saved! If any of the Samurai are killed, or the village has been completely destroyed by invaders, then the game is lost. As a solo game, Samurai Spirit plays essentially the same as in group play, with only 2 main differences – the solo player controls 2 Samurai instead of 1, and the support tokens from the unused Samurai are each available for use once during the game.
For such a neat theme, this game falls short for me. It seems simple enough, but there are areas of ambiguity in the rules that lead to some confusion. For starters, the text size is so small that I am not able to find any information at a quick glance! The text itself is not always clear either – like when, at the end of a round, the rules say to collect all cards used this round, does that include cards that have been discarded due to Samurai abilities? How about the cards of the Intruder stack that are presumably discarded after being revealed? The rulebook offers no clarification, and I honestly still don’t know the right answer.
The order/layout of the rules feels mismatched too – relevant information is not always grouped together, and I find myself flipping between several pages at a time trying to figure out one single thing. For example, in the ‘Fight’ action description, it says that if you reach your Kiai value exactly, you can activate your Kiai ability. You have to turn the page to a different section to see exactly what activating that ability means, and then you have to flip an additional 2 more pages to see what each individual Kiai ability is! Why not just put them all in one place? It would certainly be easier to understand if all relevant information was grouped together.
The prominent mechanic of Samurai Spirit is press-your-luck, and I would definitely say that this game is very luck-based. When setting up the game, the initial deck of cards is randomly selected and that can impact whether or not you are able to complete certain requirements each round – if there aren’t enough hat/farm/doll cards for each Samurai, you are guaranteed to incur a penalty at the end of every round. Actual gameplay is very luck-based too, and for me it feels like there are no good ways to strategize – your choices are all dependent on the luck of the draw. You can push your luck to draw more cards and use special abilities, but since you are suffering from recurring penalties each turn, it feels futile to keep going at a certain point.
For me, Samurai Spirit is repetitive and kind of boring – suffer penalty, draw card, and repeat until you eventually pass or the deck runs out. It’s like a too-complicated version of blackjack in which the deck is stacked against you. It’s such a bummer because the theme and artwork are neat, and the gameplay (in theory, at least) should be effective. But the actual execution is too reliant on luck to be successful.
I do quite a bit of solo gaming, but this game is never one that I willingly decide to play. I honestly only broke it out recently as a refresher for this review. Perhaps it is better at higher player counts, but since that is not where most of my gaming occurs, Samurai Spirit is a dud for me.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/solo-chronicles-samurai-spirit/
Jo (37 KP) rated Opposition (Lux, #5) in Books
Oct 6, 2018
The last installment in the Lux series. Luxen have invaded earth in their thousands without so much as a smidgeon of friendly intent. In the face of alien domination, salvation rests on our brave ragtag bunch of Lux, Hybrid and Origin heroes. Who can they trust? Where can they turn for help? Oh my, things are grimmer than grim.
Opposition was a decent read, and it certainly wrapped the series up neatly. However, it does conclude rather abruptly on a note which felt slap-dash rushed. On reaching the epilogue at only 63% -way before I was prepared for the story's end -I did feel kinda cheated. I don't know how long the book actually is, but it buzzed with a powerful not-long-enough vibe. And going off my kindle's progress bar, it was like I was robbed of almost half a book. The Shadows novella takes up the final 40%. I skimmed through this with very little interest. In place of this prequel, I'd have most definitely preferred more of the Opposition storyline, and there was a wealth of play space to expand upon the drama of the whole invasion fiasco and the fight against it.
I enjoyed the Lux series on the whole; the characters were great, and their interactions never failed to tickle me. But...
- Kat's excessive use of 'Holy alien babies' and similar such exclamations became increasingly annoying.
- The sizable proportion of word count devoted to declarations of love everlasting (and promises of sacrifice in the name of) would have been better spent on developing the actual plot.
- Daemon's lips 'kicked up' repeatedly. Sometimes, he could have just 'smiled'.
- Kat and Daemon reacted to situations in some bewilderingly dumb ways.
- Solutions to, and escapes from life threatening situations of doom played out way too swiftly and conveniently.
Opposition was a decent read, and it certainly wrapped the series up neatly. However, it does conclude rather abruptly on a note which felt slap-dash rushed. On reaching the epilogue at only 63% -way before I was prepared for the story's end -I did feel kinda cheated. I don't know how long the book actually is, but it buzzed with a powerful not-long-enough vibe. And going off my kindle's progress bar, it was like I was robbed of almost half a book. The Shadows novella takes up the final 40%. I skimmed through this with very little interest. In place of this prequel, I'd have most definitely preferred more of the Opposition storyline, and there was a wealth of play space to expand upon the drama of the whole invasion fiasco and the fight against it.
I enjoyed the Lux series on the whole; the characters were great, and their interactions never failed to tickle me. But...
- Kat's excessive use of 'Holy alien babies' and similar such exclamations became increasingly annoying.
- The sizable proportion of word count devoted to declarations of love everlasting (and promises of sacrifice in the name of) would have been better spent on developing the actual plot.
- Daemon's lips 'kicked up' repeatedly. Sometimes, he could have just 'smiled'.
- Kat and Daemon reacted to situations in some bewilderingly dumb ways.
- Solutions to, and escapes from life threatening situations of doom played out way too swiftly and conveniently.
AL
A Literary Commentary on the Elegies of the Appendix Tibulliana
Book
This volume focuses on the nineteen elegiac poems of the Appendix Tibulliana, a series of...