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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Among the Stars in Tabletop Games
Dec 3, 2021
If there is a mechanic that we at Purple Phoenix Games seem to really love, it is card drafting. One such game that has been a big hit for us (well, at least for 3 of us….) is 7 Wonders. Draft a card, pass the rest to your neighbor, draft another card from those received from your other neighbor, and repeat. Set in the Ancient World, you are working to build the most wondrous city. But Laura, why all the 7 Wonders talk in this review? Well, because Among the Stars gives me major 7 Wonders vibes, but IN SPACE. Keep reading to see what I mean.
Disclaimer: Among the Stars can be played in two different modes – Aggressive and Non-Aggressive. This review covers the core game Non-Aggressive mode of play. -L
Among the Stars is a game of card drafting and tile placement in which players take on the roles of different alien races attempting to build the most efficient space station over the span of 4 years (rounds). After the 4th and final round, players calculate their final scores, and the player with the highest score is the winner! To setup for a game, assemble the Location deck as described in the rules. Each player takes a Main Reactor card and score marker in their chosen color. Score markers are placed at zero on the score board, and players put their Main Reactor card face-up in front of them, along with 2 Energy Cubes. Players choose, or are randomly given, a Race Tile with a special Racial Ability to be used throughout the game. Randomly draw the requisite number of Objective cards and put them face-up near the score board. The game is now ready to begin!
Over the course of 4 rounds, players will be drafting cards and playing them into their Space Station. At the start of each round, every player collects 10 Credits (game currency), and draws a hand of 6 Location cards. Every turn, players will select one card from their hand, place it face-down in front of them, and will pass the remaining cards in their hand to the next player (in either clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, depending on the round). Players will then simultaneously reveal their chosen card and perform one of three actions: Build a Location, Build Power Reactor, or Discard and gain 3 Credits. To Build a Location, you pay its listed cost in Credits and/or Energy and add it to your Space Station. Locations must be placed orthogonally adjacent to an existing Location. When you build a Location, you immediately gain the listed number of VP (tracked on the score board), and may use its ability. Some abilities are immediate and earn you extra VP now, while some are delayed and will be counted at the end of the game. To Build a Power Reactor, you will first discard your selected card for the turn. Pay the 1 Credit cost of a Power Reactor and place it into your Space Station, along with 2 Energy Cubes. Every round, you get 10 Credits, but Energy Cubes do not replenish unless you build more Power Reactors, so keep an eye on your resources! The last possible action is to Discard and gain 3 Credits, and is pretty self-explanatory.
Players continue taking turns (drafting cards, passing cards, and playing cards) until they are left with no cards in hand. The round is now over. Move the round marker to the next space, and begin a new round by drawing another hand of 6 cards. After the 4th round of play, the game ends and final VP are scored. Victory Points have been earned throughout the game, but now any delayed abilities are triggered and scored, Objective points are added, and players gain points for Power Reactors and remaining Credits. The player with the highest score is the winner!
See what I mean about being 7 Wonders in space? The overall gameplay is pretty much the same thing – draft a card, pass cards, play the card – even though thematically they’re on opposite ends of time. That familiarity and simplicity of the gameplay definitely added to my enjoyment of the game. And when I say ‘simplicity’ of gameplay, I do not mean that it is an easy game necessarily. It still requires a decent amount of strategy! Not only do you have to decide what card to draft for maximum benefit, but you also need to figure out exactly where to put it in your Space Station too. Some Locations may give you extra VP for being adjacent to certain other Locations, or they may even earn more VP for distance between two Locations. You’ve got to be thinking in advance, but also able to adapt on the fly. Do you draft a card that you don’t necessarily want because you can see your opponent needs it? Or do you keep your head down and try to fly under the radar? The strategy and mechanics work very well together in creating an engaging and entertaining game.
Components. This game basically just consists of cards, a score board, and some tokens. So even though it’s nothing too fancy or anything, they’re still pretty decent quality! The artwork is thematic and fun to look at, and the layout of the cards is easy to understand. The cards are square, so that makes for some interesting shuffling, but the square shape really lends itself well to the tile-laying aspect of the gameplay. So all in all, good production quality. Just be warned – as the game progresses, it turns into quite a table hog, since you are constantly adding cards to your Space Station. Not a knock on the game, just a heads up so you give yourself plenty of room!
Will Among the Stars replace 7 Wonders for me? Ultimately, no. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great game, but 7 Wonders just offers a little more strategy that bumps it to a higher level than Among the Stars. To introduce players to these mechanics and gameplay style, I would use Among the Stars because it is a little ‘lighter’ than 7 Wonders, if you ask me. If you are a fan of 7 Wonders and are interested in a more futuristic theme, I would definitely recommend checking out Among the Stars. It’s a neat game that has been hiding on my game shelf without the playtime it deserves. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a stellar 15 / 18.
Disclaimer: Among the Stars can be played in two different modes – Aggressive and Non-Aggressive. This review covers the core game Non-Aggressive mode of play. -L
Among the Stars is a game of card drafting and tile placement in which players take on the roles of different alien races attempting to build the most efficient space station over the span of 4 years (rounds). After the 4th and final round, players calculate their final scores, and the player with the highest score is the winner! To setup for a game, assemble the Location deck as described in the rules. Each player takes a Main Reactor card and score marker in their chosen color. Score markers are placed at zero on the score board, and players put their Main Reactor card face-up in front of them, along with 2 Energy Cubes. Players choose, or are randomly given, a Race Tile with a special Racial Ability to be used throughout the game. Randomly draw the requisite number of Objective cards and put them face-up near the score board. The game is now ready to begin!
Over the course of 4 rounds, players will be drafting cards and playing them into their Space Station. At the start of each round, every player collects 10 Credits (game currency), and draws a hand of 6 Location cards. Every turn, players will select one card from their hand, place it face-down in front of them, and will pass the remaining cards in their hand to the next player (in either clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, depending on the round). Players will then simultaneously reveal their chosen card and perform one of three actions: Build a Location, Build Power Reactor, or Discard and gain 3 Credits. To Build a Location, you pay its listed cost in Credits and/or Energy and add it to your Space Station. Locations must be placed orthogonally adjacent to an existing Location. When you build a Location, you immediately gain the listed number of VP (tracked on the score board), and may use its ability. Some abilities are immediate and earn you extra VP now, while some are delayed and will be counted at the end of the game. To Build a Power Reactor, you will first discard your selected card for the turn. Pay the 1 Credit cost of a Power Reactor and place it into your Space Station, along with 2 Energy Cubes. Every round, you get 10 Credits, but Energy Cubes do not replenish unless you build more Power Reactors, so keep an eye on your resources! The last possible action is to Discard and gain 3 Credits, and is pretty self-explanatory.
Players continue taking turns (drafting cards, passing cards, and playing cards) until they are left with no cards in hand. The round is now over. Move the round marker to the next space, and begin a new round by drawing another hand of 6 cards. After the 4th round of play, the game ends and final VP are scored. Victory Points have been earned throughout the game, but now any delayed abilities are triggered and scored, Objective points are added, and players gain points for Power Reactors and remaining Credits. The player with the highest score is the winner!
See what I mean about being 7 Wonders in space? The overall gameplay is pretty much the same thing – draft a card, pass cards, play the card – even though thematically they’re on opposite ends of time. That familiarity and simplicity of the gameplay definitely added to my enjoyment of the game. And when I say ‘simplicity’ of gameplay, I do not mean that it is an easy game necessarily. It still requires a decent amount of strategy! Not only do you have to decide what card to draft for maximum benefit, but you also need to figure out exactly where to put it in your Space Station too. Some Locations may give you extra VP for being adjacent to certain other Locations, or they may even earn more VP for distance between two Locations. You’ve got to be thinking in advance, but also able to adapt on the fly. Do you draft a card that you don’t necessarily want because you can see your opponent needs it? Or do you keep your head down and try to fly under the radar? The strategy and mechanics work very well together in creating an engaging and entertaining game.
Components. This game basically just consists of cards, a score board, and some tokens. So even though it’s nothing too fancy or anything, they’re still pretty decent quality! The artwork is thematic and fun to look at, and the layout of the cards is easy to understand. The cards are square, so that makes for some interesting shuffling, but the square shape really lends itself well to the tile-laying aspect of the gameplay. So all in all, good production quality. Just be warned – as the game progresses, it turns into quite a table hog, since you are constantly adding cards to your Space Station. Not a knock on the game, just a heads up so you give yourself plenty of room!
Will Among the Stars replace 7 Wonders for me? Ultimately, no. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great game, but 7 Wonders just offers a little more strategy that bumps it to a higher level than Among the Stars. To introduce players to these mechanics and gameplay style, I would use Among the Stars because it is a little ‘lighter’ than 7 Wonders, if you ask me. If you are a fan of 7 Wonders and are interested in a more futuristic theme, I would definitely recommend checking out Among the Stars. It’s a neat game that has been hiding on my game shelf without the playtime it deserves. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a stellar 15 / 18.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Go Extinct!: Stardust Catches the Carnivores in Tabletop Games
Mar 26, 2020
“Yo, uhh, got any sevens?” “Naw, go fish.” “Dag, yo.” “Hmm, got any Queens?” “Nope, go fish.” “*&%#@!!” While this may be many of us during the social distancing or self-isolation using meager playing cards, there is now another option – Go Extinct!: Stardust Catches the Carnivores. The title is long, but the playtime isn’t, and the Go Fish is there, but it is masked by an educational skin. Does this one make a case for our collection?
In Go Extinct!: Stardust Catches the Carnivores (which I will shorten to Go Extinct from here on out) players are attempting to score the most points at the end of the game by collecting runs(?) of animals within the same biological family, called “clades.” More points are gained by collecting families with more members, and the game has a known end timeline – when the players’ cards run out.
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, but to give a feel for how the game generally plays. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign running until April 16, 2020, purchase from your FLGS upon release, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, place the large board on the table for all to see. Follow the setup rules per player count listed in the rule book (because it’s different for three players and for 4+). Shuffle the cards and deal each player six cards. The rest of the deck becomes the central draw deck. You are now ready to begin!
A game of Go Extinct is played over several rounds where players are trying to collect and play complete clades of animals. Only clades played to the players’ personal score piles can be scored at the end of the game, and once in the score pile, can no longer be stolen (asked for) by other players – just like in Go Fish.
Go Extinct becomes a bit more distinct when asking for cards. A player can ask a specific player for a specific animal (Wolverine, Polar Bear, etc) or can ask for cards within the same family (a cub of Delicate Dog or Ancestor of Ursidae). If a player is given a specific animal species, the asking player may take another turn to ask for more animals or clade members. If the ask is unsuccessful, the asked player announces, “Go Extinct” to indicate that the asking player must hunt for animals elsewhere, namely, the draw pile. Redraw at the end of a turn to a hand size of six and the game continues with the next player.
Again, the game ends once all the cards are played, but when the draw deck runs out, a new rule enters play. When asked for a clade, the asked player must give up to three of their cards, if they have that many of that clade. Once a player runs out of cards in their hand, they are finished, and the game ends when every player is out of cards. Tally up the points per clade size, and determine who is the best at collecting animal clades!
Components. Again, we were provided a prototype copy of this game, which is on Kickstarter now, so the components may be different from what will be produced via a successful KS campaign. That said, the components we received are great! The cards are good quality with excellent card art depicting extinct and current animals. The graphic layout is good, and once you can read the cards, the board is no longer really necessary for play. That board. It is absolutely beautiful, though not overly ornate, and is also completely unnecessary for play. We did enjoy having it on the table while we played, but players never actually interact with it or use for anything other than reference. It is a nice touch, though.
Being a family man, myself, and having young children, this will be great for when my kids learn to read. Learning the names of ancestral animals and scientific nomenclature of current animals is something I cannot wait to teach my kids. I really see no reason for me to ever teach them Go Fish while I have Go Extinct in my collection, and I do believe I will keep it there for a long time. If you enjoy light games with a heavy dose of education and direct player interaction without conflict, then Go Extinct is for you. It may be too light for hardcore gamers, but those gamers are not the intended audience. If you are looking for games to bond with your kids over, then you simply must check out Go Extinct. Or if you just want to learn a little something yourself, go ahead and pick up a copy or three. I recommend it. Visit the Kickstarter campaign here and tell them Purple Phoenix Games sent you!
In Go Extinct!: Stardust Catches the Carnivores (which I will shorten to Go Extinct from here on out) players are attempting to score the most points at the end of the game by collecting runs(?) of animals within the same biological family, called “clades.” More points are gained by collecting families with more members, and the game has a known end timeline – when the players’ cards run out.
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, but to give a feel for how the game generally plays. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign running until April 16, 2020, purchase from your FLGS upon release, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, place the large board on the table for all to see. Follow the setup rules per player count listed in the rule book (because it’s different for three players and for 4+). Shuffle the cards and deal each player six cards. The rest of the deck becomes the central draw deck. You are now ready to begin!
A game of Go Extinct is played over several rounds where players are trying to collect and play complete clades of animals. Only clades played to the players’ personal score piles can be scored at the end of the game, and once in the score pile, can no longer be stolen (asked for) by other players – just like in Go Fish.
Go Extinct becomes a bit more distinct when asking for cards. A player can ask a specific player for a specific animal (Wolverine, Polar Bear, etc) or can ask for cards within the same family (a cub of Delicate Dog or Ancestor of Ursidae). If a player is given a specific animal species, the asking player may take another turn to ask for more animals or clade members. If the ask is unsuccessful, the asked player announces, “Go Extinct” to indicate that the asking player must hunt for animals elsewhere, namely, the draw pile. Redraw at the end of a turn to a hand size of six and the game continues with the next player.
Again, the game ends once all the cards are played, but when the draw deck runs out, a new rule enters play. When asked for a clade, the asked player must give up to three of their cards, if they have that many of that clade. Once a player runs out of cards in their hand, they are finished, and the game ends when every player is out of cards. Tally up the points per clade size, and determine who is the best at collecting animal clades!
Components. Again, we were provided a prototype copy of this game, which is on Kickstarter now, so the components may be different from what will be produced via a successful KS campaign. That said, the components we received are great! The cards are good quality with excellent card art depicting extinct and current animals. The graphic layout is good, and once you can read the cards, the board is no longer really necessary for play. That board. It is absolutely beautiful, though not overly ornate, and is also completely unnecessary for play. We did enjoy having it on the table while we played, but players never actually interact with it or use for anything other than reference. It is a nice touch, though.
Being a family man, myself, and having young children, this will be great for when my kids learn to read. Learning the names of ancestral animals and scientific nomenclature of current animals is something I cannot wait to teach my kids. I really see no reason for me to ever teach them Go Fish while I have Go Extinct in my collection, and I do believe I will keep it there for a long time. If you enjoy light games with a heavy dose of education and direct player interaction without conflict, then Go Extinct is for you. It may be too light for hardcore gamers, but those gamers are not the intended audience. If you are looking for games to bond with your kids over, then you simply must check out Go Extinct. Or if you just want to learn a little something yourself, go ahead and pick up a copy or three. I recommend it. Visit the Kickstarter campaign here and tell them Purple Phoenix Games sent you!
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Passengers (2016) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
Titanic in the Sky
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are two of the world’s most bankable stars. What with Pratt helping to resurrect prehistoric franchises like Jurassic Park and Lawrence turning The Hunger Games series into one of the biggest ever, it seems they are the people Hollywood wants to work with, right here, right now.
It was inevitable they’d team up together at some point, though director Mortem Tyldum’s (The Imitation Game) sci-fi flick Passengers perhaps isn’t what their fan-bases had in mind. But do the pair sizzle together as much as they do apart?
On a routine journey through space to a new home, two passengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions. As Jim (Pratt) and Aurora (Lawrence) face living the rest of their lives on board, with every luxury they could ever ask for, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction until they discover the ship is in grave danger. With the lives of 5,000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all.
Adding to the ever expanding sci-fi universe, Passengers is a slickly directed and engrossing film with a coat of varnish like no other movie this year. It certainly looks the part, though it’s probably best not to scratch beneath the surface of this Titanic in the sky, as much like the Starship Avalon on which our unlucky duo are stranded on, there’s not much going on underneath.
Pratt and Lawrence thankfully have an intense chemistry together, and that’s a good thing considering they are, by and large, the only two characters throughout. Propping up a 2 hour film is no easy feat and its testament to their talents that they are able to do so. Sure, their dialogue is a little cheesy, but they’re likeable enough to warrant a pardon this time around.
Elsewhere, Michael Sheen comes close to stealing the show as an enthusiastic android bartender, providing yet another great droid to add to the genre’s roster. Alan Tudyk from last week’s Rogue One also showed how deep these mechanical characters can be.
The special effects are on the whole very good, though there are a few instances of CGI that don’t quite hit the spot. The Avalon itself however is fantastically realised and scenes like the much-marketed swimming pool gravity loss are stunning to watch, all the while helped by Pratt and Lawrence’s brilliant acting skills.
There is one big problem however. The story. There are numerous elements to the plot that aren’t mentioned in the trailer, so I won’t spoil them for you here, but Passengers has seriously miscalculated a couple of elements to Pratt and Lawrence’s relationship – with a sudden third act tonal shift leaving a sour taste in the mouth.
Luckily, these flaws don’t detract from what is a thrilling rollercoaster from start to finish. Whilst it may not be as deep and meaningful as Ridley Scott’s The Martian, Passengers has an immersive quality – it’s like being on-board the Avalon, and with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence keeping us company, who can blame us for going along for the ride.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/12/22/titanic-in-the-sky-passengers-review/
It was inevitable they’d team up together at some point, though director Mortem Tyldum’s (The Imitation Game) sci-fi flick Passengers perhaps isn’t what their fan-bases had in mind. But do the pair sizzle together as much as they do apart?
On a routine journey through space to a new home, two passengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions. As Jim (Pratt) and Aurora (Lawrence) face living the rest of their lives on board, with every luxury they could ever ask for, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction until they discover the ship is in grave danger. With the lives of 5,000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all.
Adding to the ever expanding sci-fi universe, Passengers is a slickly directed and engrossing film with a coat of varnish like no other movie this year. It certainly looks the part, though it’s probably best not to scratch beneath the surface of this Titanic in the sky, as much like the Starship Avalon on which our unlucky duo are stranded on, there’s not much going on underneath.
Pratt and Lawrence thankfully have an intense chemistry together, and that’s a good thing considering they are, by and large, the only two characters throughout. Propping up a 2 hour film is no easy feat and its testament to their talents that they are able to do so. Sure, their dialogue is a little cheesy, but they’re likeable enough to warrant a pardon this time around.
Elsewhere, Michael Sheen comes close to stealing the show as an enthusiastic android bartender, providing yet another great droid to add to the genre’s roster. Alan Tudyk from last week’s Rogue One also showed how deep these mechanical characters can be.
The special effects are on the whole very good, though there are a few instances of CGI that don’t quite hit the spot. The Avalon itself however is fantastically realised and scenes like the much-marketed swimming pool gravity loss are stunning to watch, all the while helped by Pratt and Lawrence’s brilliant acting skills.
There is one big problem however. The story. There are numerous elements to the plot that aren’t mentioned in the trailer, so I won’t spoil them for you here, but Passengers has seriously miscalculated a couple of elements to Pratt and Lawrence’s relationship – with a sudden third act tonal shift leaving a sour taste in the mouth.
Luckily, these flaws don’t detract from what is a thrilling rollercoaster from start to finish. Whilst it may not be as deep and meaningful as Ridley Scott’s The Martian, Passengers has an immersive quality – it’s like being on-board the Avalon, and with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence keeping us company, who can blame us for going along for the ride.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/12/22/titanic-in-the-sky-passengers-review/
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Bananagrams 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!
What if I told you that you could play an entire game of Scrabble in about 15 minutes? You wouldn’t believe me, would you? I wouldn’t have believed me either until I discovered Bananagrams. Ok, so it’s not technically Scrabble, but the gist is the same – place tiles and create words! The biggest difference is that there are no points and there is no board. You have a ‘hand’ of letter tiles that you must use to create your own personal crossword faster than your opponents! If anyone uses all of their tiles, all players must draw a new tile from the center of the table and adjust/add to their existing crossword to incorporate the new letter. Once all of the letter tiles are gone, the first player to complete their crossword is the winner!
As a solo game, you play Bananagrams the same way as you would in a group – use your tiles to create your crossword, and the game is over when all of the tiles are used. It’s still a race against the clock – you are just trying to beat your own best time instead of finishing before your opponents.
Some games really were not made to be played solo and, in my opinion, Bananagrams is one of those games. Most of the excitement of this game comes from racing your opponents to finish your crossword before they do. Playing solo just feels a little pointless to me – it’s not as exciting or nearly as fun. You are in complete control when playing solo because the game advances only when you allow it to. In a group game, the game is controlled by the fastest players, and that might not always be you. Yeah, you’re still supposed to be trying to beat your own best time when playing solo, but speed doesn’t feel as necessary because honestly, it isn’t.
The only positive reason I have for playing Bananagrams solo is that it just allows you to practice playing the game. It gives you time to test out different strategies that could then be used in a group game. You can practice creating new words to better utilize your current tiles, or find easy ways to modify your current crossword without losing time. Solo play is a good exercise for your brain. Using the skills you’ve practiced in solo play can help you better succeed in group play. And group play is where Bananagrams really shines.
Bananagrams is a fast and fun game that definitely requires more thought and strategy than its silly title would lead you to believe. However, this is a game I would recommend mainly for group play. Give it a shot solo if you want, but don’t be expecting it to be particularly exciting or fun. I do love to play Bananagrams, but only when I get to play with a group.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/solo-chronicles-bananagrams/
What if I told you that you could play an entire game of Scrabble in about 15 minutes? You wouldn’t believe me, would you? I wouldn’t have believed me either until I discovered Bananagrams. Ok, so it’s not technically Scrabble, but the gist is the same – place tiles and create words! The biggest difference is that there are no points and there is no board. You have a ‘hand’ of letter tiles that you must use to create your own personal crossword faster than your opponents! If anyone uses all of their tiles, all players must draw a new tile from the center of the table and adjust/add to their existing crossword to incorporate the new letter. Once all of the letter tiles are gone, the first player to complete their crossword is the winner!
As a solo game, you play Bananagrams the same way as you would in a group – use your tiles to create your crossword, and the game is over when all of the tiles are used. It’s still a race against the clock – you are just trying to beat your own best time instead of finishing before your opponents.
Some games really were not made to be played solo and, in my opinion, Bananagrams is one of those games. Most of the excitement of this game comes from racing your opponents to finish your crossword before they do. Playing solo just feels a little pointless to me – it’s not as exciting or nearly as fun. You are in complete control when playing solo because the game advances only when you allow it to. In a group game, the game is controlled by the fastest players, and that might not always be you. Yeah, you’re still supposed to be trying to beat your own best time when playing solo, but speed doesn’t feel as necessary because honestly, it isn’t.
The only positive reason I have for playing Bananagrams solo is that it just allows you to practice playing the game. It gives you time to test out different strategies that could then be used in a group game. You can practice creating new words to better utilize your current tiles, or find easy ways to modify your current crossword without losing time. Solo play is a good exercise for your brain. Using the skills you’ve practiced in solo play can help you better succeed in group play. And group play is where Bananagrams really shines.
Bananagrams is a fast and fun game that definitely requires more thought and strategy than its silly title would lead you to believe. However, this is a game I would recommend mainly for group play. Give it a shot solo if you want, but don’t be expecting it to be particularly exciting or fun. I do love to play Bananagrams, but only when I get to play with a group.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/solo-chronicles-bananagrams/
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Meg (2018) in Movies
Dec 4, 2018
Not "So Awful It's Good", just Awful
One of the surprise hits of the summer of 2018 was the "so bad it's good" mega-shark movie THE MEG, starring the impediment of modern-day machismo, Jason Statham. So, when I saw that it was streaming on DirecTV, I thought I'd melt into the couch with a blanket and a beverage of my choice and relish in the over-the-top awfulness that is THE MEG.
Well...I am here to report that THE MEG is awful, just not over-the-top "so bad it's good" awful. It's just awful - and that is an awful disappointment.
I can see the pitch now - THE MEG is "Jaws, but bigger, it's Mega-Jaws! What were the best parts of Jaws? Well, we're gonna do that again, just more!" But what these filmmakers failed to realize is that the best part of Jaws isn't the shark attacking, it's the interaction of the 3 men who go off in search of the shark.
And...the folks that are "fish-fodder" for this big shark just aren't interesting enough. The filmmakers give Jason Statham a PTSD backstory that is forgotten about 2 minutes into the film. His nemesis/former crewmate (a forgettable Robert Taylor) hates Statham's character for about 5 minutes...the stalwart captain is...well stalwart and he is played by "I always melt into the background" Cliff Curtis. Rubie Rose is on-board as the "young genius" who's good looks and youth makes everyone underestimate her - even after she proves over and over again that she is young and a GENIUS. And then, there's good ol' Rain Wilson (Dwight from THE OFFICE) who's the megalomaniacal mega-billionaire who wants to capture (not kill) The Meg for profit.
The problem with all these characters (and others like Masi Oka's homesick scientist) is that they are one-note but not SO one note that they are over-the-top caricatures. They're just boring and forgettable.
As for the shark killings (the real reason that The Meg is intriguing), they are just as boring and forgettable as the characters. Most of them are homages to kills ni the Jaws series of films, so there is some fun in that, but none of them are truly unique and original or over-the-top enough.
The blame, I think, probably goes to "the suits" at Warner Brothers or perhaps Gravity Pictures. There are 3 writers on this, so clearly the script kept getting sent back to the drawing board - and 19(!) producers attached. I heard that Eli Roth was attached at one point and he wanted to make it EXTREMELY graphic and bloody - but "the suits" wanted something they could market to a broader audience, so let him go and hired the always mediocre Jon Turtletaub (LAST VEGAS, THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE) to Direct and mediocrity reigns all over.
If you want a "so bad it's good" mega-shark film and check out DEEP BLUE SEA (the Samuel L. Jackson speech in this film is worth the price of admission). And when you see THE MEG on whatever streaming platform you prefer and are prepared to watch it "for a laugh", save yourself the bother (and the boredom) and stream something else.
Letter Grade: C (it is competently made)
4 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Well...I am here to report that THE MEG is awful, just not over-the-top "so bad it's good" awful. It's just awful - and that is an awful disappointment.
I can see the pitch now - THE MEG is "Jaws, but bigger, it's Mega-Jaws! What were the best parts of Jaws? Well, we're gonna do that again, just more!" But what these filmmakers failed to realize is that the best part of Jaws isn't the shark attacking, it's the interaction of the 3 men who go off in search of the shark.
And...the folks that are "fish-fodder" for this big shark just aren't interesting enough. The filmmakers give Jason Statham a PTSD backstory that is forgotten about 2 minutes into the film. His nemesis/former crewmate (a forgettable Robert Taylor) hates Statham's character for about 5 minutes...the stalwart captain is...well stalwart and he is played by "I always melt into the background" Cliff Curtis. Rubie Rose is on-board as the "young genius" who's good looks and youth makes everyone underestimate her - even after she proves over and over again that she is young and a GENIUS. And then, there's good ol' Rain Wilson (Dwight from THE OFFICE) who's the megalomaniacal mega-billionaire who wants to capture (not kill) The Meg for profit.
The problem with all these characters (and others like Masi Oka's homesick scientist) is that they are one-note but not SO one note that they are over-the-top caricatures. They're just boring and forgettable.
As for the shark killings (the real reason that The Meg is intriguing), they are just as boring and forgettable as the characters. Most of them are homages to kills ni the Jaws series of films, so there is some fun in that, but none of them are truly unique and original or over-the-top enough.
The blame, I think, probably goes to "the suits" at Warner Brothers or perhaps Gravity Pictures. There are 3 writers on this, so clearly the script kept getting sent back to the drawing board - and 19(!) producers attached. I heard that Eli Roth was attached at one point and he wanted to make it EXTREMELY graphic and bloody - but "the suits" wanted something they could market to a broader audience, so let him go and hired the always mediocre Jon Turtletaub (LAST VEGAS, THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE) to Direct and mediocrity reigns all over.
If you want a "so bad it's good" mega-shark film and check out DEEP BLUE SEA (the Samuel L. Jackson speech in this film is worth the price of admission). And when you see THE MEG on whatever streaming platform you prefer and are prepared to watch it "for a laugh", save yourself the bother (and the boredom) and stream something else.
Letter Grade: C (it is competently made)
4 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
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