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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Space Explorers in Tabletop Games
Jan 4, 2021
Space! It’s all the rage nowadays. Okay, it has been for many decades now, but I feel like recently we have, as a human race, decided to get back out there and start exploring again. While this game is not set in modern times, the excitement of exploration and the different facets of what actually goes into successful launches is certainly prevalent. Will our heroes overcome the G-Forces that press them into their seats and become one of the few to view Earth from afar, or will they fizzle out at launch and come back shamed?
Space Explorers is a card drafting, set collection game for two to four players. In it players will take on the mantles of unique Human Resources managers… in space! Well, not IN space, but FOR space. By recruiting the best and brightest engineers, testers, scientists, builders, and astronauts players will score points in addition to scoring points for completing projects.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, assemble Hub parts tableau organizer for each player. Shuffle the deck of Specialist cards (engineer, tester, et al) to be recruited and reveal six face up to symbolize the Center. Deal each player one of these Specialist cards to create their starting hand. Randomly choose two plus the number of players Project tiles and lay them on the table to be completed throughout the game. Each player will also receive a reference sheet (VERY handy) and one token of each Research type. Determine the starting player and the space race may now begin!
On a player’s turn they have two choices to make: take a Specialist card from the table into their hand, or recruit a Specialist from either their hand or from the table and place in their personal tableau. After this is completed the player may collect one Project tile if they now control the correct number of Specialists per Project tile.
To take a card into hand, a player simply selects one face-up Specialist card from those on the table and places it in hand. Simple.
To recruit a Specialist the player will need to spend Resources equal to the recruitment cost printed on the Specialist card. Resources may be spent in any combination from actual Resource tokens, Resources provided by recruited Specialists already in the player Hub (tableau), and discarding a Specialist card from hand to the table to give two Resources of any type.
As Specialists are recruited to the players’ Hubs they will then give a discount toward recruiting future Specialists of the same type along with other abilities. For each Specialist in the Hub the player will receive a discount of one Resource icon needed to spend to recruit a Specialist of the same type. For example, if a player already has recruited two Scientists, the next Scientist they recruit will be discounted by two Resources. These Resources are discounted from the bottom-up on the listed recruitment cost, and may even result in Specialists being recruited for free. Similarly, some Specialists have certain abilities printed on their card that allow such actions as recruiting cards for free, or providing Resource icons to be used to recruit, or even providing extra points at game end for a variety of reasons.
Play continues in this fashion of players taking Specialists in hand or recruiting them to their Hub to be used to complete Projects and earn points. The game ends once the last Project has been completed or any one player has recruited their 12th Specialist. Every player will have the same number of turns, after which the winner will be the player with the most points!
Components. I have a lot to say about the components here. I think that 25th Century Games has absolutely nailed every single component in this box. The Specialist cards are excellent quality: linen finished, great thickness, and they shuffle realllllly well. The Project tiles, Hub parts, and Resource tokens are thick board stock. The reference sheets are good and the rulebook is just perfect. One thing that may be slightly polarizing is the art style. Space Explorers uses imagery similar to what you would find on many things in the 1950s and 1960s in America. That said, I absolutely love the art style and it is reinforced on every component in this game. The icons are slick and stylish, the color scheme is muted without being drab, and everything you play with is meant to help immerse you into the time of the first astronauts. It’s simply amazingly well done.
The gameplay is also quite stellar (Laura will like that one). I know many compare it to Splendor, and that is certainly warranted, but I feel that Space Explorers pulls it off much more fluidly. Yes, Splendor has those weighty chips that everyone likes while Space Explorers has cardboard tokens. But other than that Space Explorers surpasses the other by leaps and bounds. The gameplay is much more intriguing, the theme is way cooler, and I am just overall much more attracted to it.
While gameplay overall is similar, there is quite a number of differences Space Explorers offers. Foremost, when Resource tokens are spent to recruit Specialists, instead of being sent to a communal bank they are passed along to the player on the left. That’s right, you literally give those Resources to your opponent that will be playing next. This small change really increases the need to be aware of what each player’s strategy may be in order to recruit who you need without also helping your rivals. Being able to utilize three different sources of currency in combination to recruit Specialists is also quite nice. Don’t have the right number of tokens? No problem! Check out what your Specialists are providing from their years of experience.
It is really no shock here that I am enamored with Space Explorers. I really didn’t know that I needed a Splendor killer in my collection, but now that I have this I will be holding it tightly and in high regard. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an out-of-this-world 11 / 12. If you LIKE the aforementioned game that everyone seems to own but don’t LOVE it, then you need to check out Space Explorers. The theme is great, the components are superb, and the gameplay is light and fast. I love it dearly and hope you do too.
Space Explorers is a card drafting, set collection game for two to four players. In it players will take on the mantles of unique Human Resources managers… in space! Well, not IN space, but FOR space. By recruiting the best and brightest engineers, testers, scientists, builders, and astronauts players will score points in addition to scoring points for completing projects.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, assemble Hub parts tableau organizer for each player. Shuffle the deck of Specialist cards (engineer, tester, et al) to be recruited and reveal six face up to symbolize the Center. Deal each player one of these Specialist cards to create their starting hand. Randomly choose two plus the number of players Project tiles and lay them on the table to be completed throughout the game. Each player will also receive a reference sheet (VERY handy) and one token of each Research type. Determine the starting player and the space race may now begin!
On a player’s turn they have two choices to make: take a Specialist card from the table into their hand, or recruit a Specialist from either their hand or from the table and place in their personal tableau. After this is completed the player may collect one Project tile if they now control the correct number of Specialists per Project tile.
To take a card into hand, a player simply selects one face-up Specialist card from those on the table and places it in hand. Simple.
To recruit a Specialist the player will need to spend Resources equal to the recruitment cost printed on the Specialist card. Resources may be spent in any combination from actual Resource tokens, Resources provided by recruited Specialists already in the player Hub (tableau), and discarding a Specialist card from hand to the table to give two Resources of any type.
As Specialists are recruited to the players’ Hubs they will then give a discount toward recruiting future Specialists of the same type along with other abilities. For each Specialist in the Hub the player will receive a discount of one Resource icon needed to spend to recruit a Specialist of the same type. For example, if a player already has recruited two Scientists, the next Scientist they recruit will be discounted by two Resources. These Resources are discounted from the bottom-up on the listed recruitment cost, and may even result in Specialists being recruited for free. Similarly, some Specialists have certain abilities printed on their card that allow such actions as recruiting cards for free, or providing Resource icons to be used to recruit, or even providing extra points at game end for a variety of reasons.
Play continues in this fashion of players taking Specialists in hand or recruiting them to their Hub to be used to complete Projects and earn points. The game ends once the last Project has been completed or any one player has recruited their 12th Specialist. Every player will have the same number of turns, after which the winner will be the player with the most points!
Components. I have a lot to say about the components here. I think that 25th Century Games has absolutely nailed every single component in this box. The Specialist cards are excellent quality: linen finished, great thickness, and they shuffle realllllly well. The Project tiles, Hub parts, and Resource tokens are thick board stock. The reference sheets are good and the rulebook is just perfect. One thing that may be slightly polarizing is the art style. Space Explorers uses imagery similar to what you would find on many things in the 1950s and 1960s in America. That said, I absolutely love the art style and it is reinforced on every component in this game. The icons are slick and stylish, the color scheme is muted without being drab, and everything you play with is meant to help immerse you into the time of the first astronauts. It’s simply amazingly well done.
The gameplay is also quite stellar (Laura will like that one). I know many compare it to Splendor, and that is certainly warranted, but I feel that Space Explorers pulls it off much more fluidly. Yes, Splendor has those weighty chips that everyone likes while Space Explorers has cardboard tokens. But other than that Space Explorers surpasses the other by leaps and bounds. The gameplay is much more intriguing, the theme is way cooler, and I am just overall much more attracted to it.
While gameplay overall is similar, there is quite a number of differences Space Explorers offers. Foremost, when Resource tokens are spent to recruit Specialists, instead of being sent to a communal bank they are passed along to the player on the left. That’s right, you literally give those Resources to your opponent that will be playing next. This small change really increases the need to be aware of what each player’s strategy may be in order to recruit who you need without also helping your rivals. Being able to utilize three different sources of currency in combination to recruit Specialists is also quite nice. Don’t have the right number of tokens? No problem! Check out what your Specialists are providing from their years of experience.
It is really no shock here that I am enamored with Space Explorers. I really didn’t know that I needed a Splendor killer in my collection, but now that I have this I will be holding it tightly and in high regard. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an out-of-this-world 11 / 12. If you LIKE the aforementioned game that everyone seems to own but don’t LOVE it, then you need to check out Space Explorers. The theme is great, the components are superb, and the gameplay is light and fast. I love it dearly and hope you do too.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure in Tabletop Games
Mar 25, 2021
Those of you with kids: you know how you are just aching for a good game to come out that will satisfy your 3-year-old’s interest, keep their attention throughout, and even get them talking about board games afterward? At least a game that isn’t super-basic and boring? Well have I a treat for you today. I may have just found the game for us!
The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure (can I please just call it MA from here please?) is a tile matching game based off the old evergreen Memory mechanic. However, this isn’t your gramma’s Memory. In it players are recruiting The Quest Kids to scare off the silly bad guys by matching tiles and collecting treasures. The player with the most stars at the end of the game will be the winner! But in actuality, all the players will be winners because all will have had a great time.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, shuffle the brown tiles, forest tiles, and river tiles separately. Lay out the brown treehouse tiles face-down into a 5 x 4 grid. Around these brown tiles will be placed the river tiles and forest tiles, the numbers of which are dependent upon how lengthy the players wish the game to be. Add the appropriate types of treasure tokens to the provided treasure chest and the game is ready to begin! We ALWAYS let our little go first. They like that.
On a turn each player will attempt to recruit a Quest Kid Hero from the brown treehouse tiles. Once a match has been found the player may begin taking their hero on an adventure! Adventures can only be attempted when a player has matched two Hero tiles from the treehouse. An adventure consists of finding a matching pair of bad guys, one each from the forest and river. For example, in order to find the matching Honey Beard bad guy tiles a Hero would need to search the river for one tile AND the forest for its match.
When bad guys are matched they provide the player with a certain number of treasures, as printed on their tile. The player reaches into the treasure chest and pulls out the correct number of treasures (my son’s favorite part). These treasures provide a number of stars (VP) depending on whether the player has matched a specific hero or not. Less stars are awarded if the appropriate hero is absent, more stars if that hero has been matched by the player.
Some treehouse tiles contain Quest Kid Allies. These Allies provide stars, but also very helpful special abilities to be used on a future turn. When these Allies are matched, the active player keeps the tile with stars and gives away the matching tile to another player. So that other player may also use the Ally for its special ability on a future turn. Alliances with a 3-year-old? I can dig it! Alliances that do not involve said 3-year-old? Watch out for the forthcoming tantrum.
Play continues in this fashion of matching tiles, scaring away bad guys and receiving treasures, and utilizing Ally special abilities until all tiles have been matched and claimed. Players all add up their stars on their collected tiles and treasures, and the most stars collected wins the game!
Components. This game is a ton of tiles and treasure tokens. That equates to, well, a whole bunch of thick cardboard in a box. The material quality is very good, but I am most impressed with the art style. I love game art that can be cartoony while also being interesting and detailed. Such is the art here. The characters are really well illustrated and each have their own personality. I have one gripe about the components: the treasure tokens feature a small picture of the Hero that allows it to be worth more stars. That Hero picture is very very tiny and details do not really transfer well to the small space, so it IS difficult to know which Kid will power up the treasure. I did find a workaround if players are not colorblind: each Hero is featured along with a color. That same color is used as the token icon and can more easily be matched to the Hero. It may save some headache if players are able to use the color as the indicator instead of the tiny picture.
In a nutshell this is Memory with strategy. The main game mechanic is memory – matching up the tiles in order to collect them. However, by throwing in the randomness of treasure token pulls and the Ally special abilities, MA just becomes a thousand percent more compelling for children and adults alike. At the end of the game my son is having a great time and almost always asks to play again. The adults are also impressed that Memory can be so much fun!
So if you are looking for that game to introduce to your youngster that actually challenges their little minds, then I strongly recommend The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure. Yes, it’s Memory, but it’s Memory that is actually fun. It’s Memory with a theme, and a kid-based theme at that. It gives the littles an opportunity to look up to these kid heroes and lets them imagine being heroes themselves. Any game that helps to empower my children will definitely be a well-loved addition to my collection. Purple Phoenix Games (well, my wife, my son, and I) give this one a victoriously heroic 16 / 18. I won’t say that I will beat you every time, but my son may. I dare you to play against him. Just make sure you throw all your extra Allies to him or he will get real mad real quick.
The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure (can I please just call it MA from here please?) is a tile matching game based off the old evergreen Memory mechanic. However, this isn’t your gramma’s Memory. In it players are recruiting The Quest Kids to scare off the silly bad guys by matching tiles and collecting treasures. The player with the most stars at the end of the game will be the winner! But in actuality, all the players will be winners because all will have had a great time.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, shuffle the brown tiles, forest tiles, and river tiles separately. Lay out the brown treehouse tiles face-down into a 5 x 4 grid. Around these brown tiles will be placed the river tiles and forest tiles, the numbers of which are dependent upon how lengthy the players wish the game to be. Add the appropriate types of treasure tokens to the provided treasure chest and the game is ready to begin! We ALWAYS let our little go first. They like that.
On a turn each player will attempt to recruit a Quest Kid Hero from the brown treehouse tiles. Once a match has been found the player may begin taking their hero on an adventure! Adventures can only be attempted when a player has matched two Hero tiles from the treehouse. An adventure consists of finding a matching pair of bad guys, one each from the forest and river. For example, in order to find the matching Honey Beard bad guy tiles a Hero would need to search the river for one tile AND the forest for its match.
When bad guys are matched they provide the player with a certain number of treasures, as printed on their tile. The player reaches into the treasure chest and pulls out the correct number of treasures (my son’s favorite part). These treasures provide a number of stars (VP) depending on whether the player has matched a specific hero or not. Less stars are awarded if the appropriate hero is absent, more stars if that hero has been matched by the player.
Some treehouse tiles contain Quest Kid Allies. These Allies provide stars, but also very helpful special abilities to be used on a future turn. When these Allies are matched, the active player keeps the tile with stars and gives away the matching tile to another player. So that other player may also use the Ally for its special ability on a future turn. Alliances with a 3-year-old? I can dig it! Alliances that do not involve said 3-year-old? Watch out for the forthcoming tantrum.
Play continues in this fashion of matching tiles, scaring away bad guys and receiving treasures, and utilizing Ally special abilities until all tiles have been matched and claimed. Players all add up their stars on their collected tiles and treasures, and the most stars collected wins the game!
Components. This game is a ton of tiles and treasure tokens. That equates to, well, a whole bunch of thick cardboard in a box. The material quality is very good, but I am most impressed with the art style. I love game art that can be cartoony while also being interesting and detailed. Such is the art here. The characters are really well illustrated and each have their own personality. I have one gripe about the components: the treasure tokens feature a small picture of the Hero that allows it to be worth more stars. That Hero picture is very very tiny and details do not really transfer well to the small space, so it IS difficult to know which Kid will power up the treasure. I did find a workaround if players are not colorblind: each Hero is featured along with a color. That same color is used as the token icon and can more easily be matched to the Hero. It may save some headache if players are able to use the color as the indicator instead of the tiny picture.
In a nutshell this is Memory with strategy. The main game mechanic is memory – matching up the tiles in order to collect them. However, by throwing in the randomness of treasure token pulls and the Ally special abilities, MA just becomes a thousand percent more compelling for children and adults alike. At the end of the game my son is having a great time and almost always asks to play again. The adults are also impressed that Memory can be so much fun!
So if you are looking for that game to introduce to your youngster that actually challenges their little minds, then I strongly recommend The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure. Yes, it’s Memory, but it’s Memory that is actually fun. It’s Memory with a theme, and a kid-based theme at that. It gives the littles an opportunity to look up to these kid heroes and lets them imagine being heroes themselves. Any game that helps to empower my children will definitely be a well-loved addition to my collection. Purple Phoenix Games (well, my wife, my son, and I) give this one a victoriously heroic 16 / 18. I won’t say that I will beat you every time, but my son may. I dare you to play against him. Just make sure you throw all your extra Allies to him or he will get real mad real quick.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Soul Raiders in Tabletop Games
Jul 5, 2021
Check out that cover art! Amazing! If there is one thing that will certainly help my enjoyment of any game, it is definitely great art and components. Yes, I want the game to play well, but if it also looks great, that merely sends it soaring for me. While Soul Raiders has great art in spades, will I equally love the gameplay? Spoiler: yeah, it’s a pretty good game!
Soul Raiders is a storytelling role-playing game for up to four players. Each player takes the role of an aspiring Soul Raider tasked with saving the realms from the influence of evil. The game is played over several sessions that all affect the overarching plot of the narrative, but this preview version simply allows players to learn the game mechanics through a prologue scenario.
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 which final components will be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, follow the instructions in the rulebook. There are too many to list here. Once setup, the play area may look similar to the photo below.
As there are 36 pages in the preliminary rulebook, I am unable to detail everything in this preview. However, I can give an overall gameplay feeling.
Players control pawns (standees in this version, but plastic minis in the final) that will adventure on Location tiles that spawn baddies, traps, and other elements. Each round played has no turn structure; players can take their actions however they like in any order, and sometimes players will take actions simultaneously. Once all players have taken their actions, the baddies will attack (though some attack immediately upon spawning in a Location as well).
Combat is resolved through clever chaining card play. The cards drawn to the players’ hand are multi-use and can be combined with others in hand to pull off complex combos. All players will have access to melee combat cards, movement cards, and also magic spell cards. Utilizing the cards efficiently, as well as leveraging each players’ inherent strengths, can make or break combats and skill checks throughout the game.
In addition to the myriad combats players will face, they will also be able to encounter events, special characters, and traps. Many times these will result in skill checks or other card shedding activities in order to progress the story.
Throughout the game a tracker board constantly keeps players aware of the current vitae of the party (collective health), threat level, and active events. Players will also be using personalized player boards to keep track of their deck of cards, active engaged enemies, and status tokens. Each character has special talents different from each other, and the final game will have at least four characters, whereas this version has two.
If the players can navigate the game efficiently and quickly enough to satisfy the win conditions, then victory is to be shared. However, if you, like me, are still trying to figure out how to win, the game ships with an interesting session saving ability so you can pick up where you left off with any combination of players and characters.
Components. Again, this is a preview copy of the game, and not everything is final. That said, I can see the direction this game is going, and if it results in a successful Kickstarter campaign, I foresee me praising the publisher for their excellent components. Most of the art seems complete, and the character art is so amazing. In contrast, I feel the landscape art doesn’t necessarily match the intensity and details given in the character art. It just feels out of place in an otherwise excellently-illustrated game.
The gameplay, however, felt very fresh and familiar at the same time. I have played several games where the players’ card decks offer multi-use cards in much the same fashion, and here in Soul Raiders, the cards can be played for their numeric values or their special abilities. What I like about this is the ability to use the cards in hand to pull off sweeping combos of insane damage, or to really nail the lockpicking difficulty checks. There will be times the heroes will need to be engaged in combat with four or more enemies, and having certain spells that can wipe out most of them with one card is always very satisfying.
Movement has largely been neglected in my plays of Soul Raiders, as I haven’t found a great way to make it sing as a card type. Players will need to use movement to travel from one Location card to others, but there are also mechanics in place for the heroes to flee away from battles. I have yet to feel the need to flee from battle. I also have yet to truly understand the need for a big selling point for the game – character invisibility. Yes, I can see how being invisible would be a great benefit, but I rarely had the ability cards in hand to use it properly or effectively. I am told, though, that the game will ship with both a normal character mini and a transparent mini to indicate when they are invisible. So there’s that.
All in all I really do enjoy the storytelling gameplay of Soul Raiders. I think this intro prologue scenario has piqued my interest and triggered my desire to play more in the story. I hope that some adjustments will be made to make invisibility and fleeing more important aspects of the game, but for now I am ignoring them almost systematically. That said, if you are looking for a new game with a great theme and some pretty good mechanics, I invite you to check out the Kickstarter campaign launching very soon. I think this would be a great one to have in a collection, especially as I can see it being infinitely expandable with new books of scenarios and small expansion packs with new heroes, etc.
Soul Raiders is a storytelling role-playing game for up to four players. Each player takes the role of an aspiring Soul Raider tasked with saving the realms from the influence of evil. The game is played over several sessions that all affect the overarching plot of the narrative, but this preview version simply allows players to learn the game mechanics through a prologue scenario.
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 which final components will be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, follow the instructions in the rulebook. There are too many to list here. Once setup, the play area may look similar to the photo below.
As there are 36 pages in the preliminary rulebook, I am unable to detail everything in this preview. However, I can give an overall gameplay feeling.
Players control pawns (standees in this version, but plastic minis in the final) that will adventure on Location tiles that spawn baddies, traps, and other elements. Each round played has no turn structure; players can take their actions however they like in any order, and sometimes players will take actions simultaneously. Once all players have taken their actions, the baddies will attack (though some attack immediately upon spawning in a Location as well).
Combat is resolved through clever chaining card play. The cards drawn to the players’ hand are multi-use and can be combined with others in hand to pull off complex combos. All players will have access to melee combat cards, movement cards, and also magic spell cards. Utilizing the cards efficiently, as well as leveraging each players’ inherent strengths, can make or break combats and skill checks throughout the game.
In addition to the myriad combats players will face, they will also be able to encounter events, special characters, and traps. Many times these will result in skill checks or other card shedding activities in order to progress the story.
Throughout the game a tracker board constantly keeps players aware of the current vitae of the party (collective health), threat level, and active events. Players will also be using personalized player boards to keep track of their deck of cards, active engaged enemies, and status tokens. Each character has special talents different from each other, and the final game will have at least four characters, whereas this version has two.
If the players can navigate the game efficiently and quickly enough to satisfy the win conditions, then victory is to be shared. However, if you, like me, are still trying to figure out how to win, the game ships with an interesting session saving ability so you can pick up where you left off with any combination of players and characters.
Components. Again, this is a preview copy of the game, and not everything is final. That said, I can see the direction this game is going, and if it results in a successful Kickstarter campaign, I foresee me praising the publisher for their excellent components. Most of the art seems complete, and the character art is so amazing. In contrast, I feel the landscape art doesn’t necessarily match the intensity and details given in the character art. It just feels out of place in an otherwise excellently-illustrated game.
The gameplay, however, felt very fresh and familiar at the same time. I have played several games where the players’ card decks offer multi-use cards in much the same fashion, and here in Soul Raiders, the cards can be played for their numeric values or their special abilities. What I like about this is the ability to use the cards in hand to pull off sweeping combos of insane damage, or to really nail the lockpicking difficulty checks. There will be times the heroes will need to be engaged in combat with four or more enemies, and having certain spells that can wipe out most of them with one card is always very satisfying.
Movement has largely been neglected in my plays of Soul Raiders, as I haven’t found a great way to make it sing as a card type. Players will need to use movement to travel from one Location card to others, but there are also mechanics in place for the heroes to flee away from battles. I have yet to feel the need to flee from battle. I also have yet to truly understand the need for a big selling point for the game – character invisibility. Yes, I can see how being invisible would be a great benefit, but I rarely had the ability cards in hand to use it properly or effectively. I am told, though, that the game will ship with both a normal character mini and a transparent mini to indicate when they are invisible. So there’s that.
All in all I really do enjoy the storytelling gameplay of Soul Raiders. I think this intro prologue scenario has piqued my interest and triggered my desire to play more in the story. I hope that some adjustments will be made to make invisibility and fleeing more important aspects of the game, but for now I am ignoring them almost systematically. That said, if you are looking for a new game with a great theme and some pretty good mechanics, I invite you to check out the Kickstarter campaign launching very soon. I think this would be a great one to have in a collection, especially as I can see it being infinitely expandable with new books of scenarios and small expansion packs with new heroes, etc.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated You're Pulling My Leg! in Tabletop Games
Aug 3, 2020
At the time I am writing this preview, the world is in the midst of a pandemic. That being said, the need for social distancing and quarantining has really affected the board gaming world. Without being able to have normal game nights, gamers must be creative in figuring out how to continue to play together, while still maintaining safe and healthy distances from one another. And one game that offers a solution is You’re Pulling My Leg!
Disclaimer: We were provided a copy of this book for the purposes of this preview. The pictures below show the final production copy you can expect to receive when ordering this game. Check out the publisher’s website to get your hands on this unique party game! -L
You’re Pulling My Leg! is a party game of bluffing and storytelling in which players are trying to be the first to earn 21 points. The rules are simple, the gameplay is straightforward, and it can even be played remotely!
To setup the game, every player needs a coin and a way to keep track of their score (paper/pencil, notes on a phone, etc.). Every player begins the game with 7 points. To start the game, choose a player to be the first Storyteller. The Storyteller selects a card from the book, reads the three questions on their chosen card, and chooses 1 to answer. The Storyteller then flips their coin – if HEADS, the answer must be a true story, but if TAILS, the answer must be false and untrue in essence. Only the Storyteller knows the result of the coin flip. The Storyteller proceeds to answer the question, telling a story dictated by their coin flip result.
After the Storyteller has told their response to the chosen question, the remaining players will vote (with points) on whether they believe the story was true or false. Players can vote with up to 3 points, and votes are revealed simultaneously. If you believe the story is TRUE, you vote with 1, 2, or 3 fingers pointing UP, and if you believe the story is FALSE, you vote with 1, 2, or 3 fingers pointing DOWN. After everyone has voted, the Storyteller reveals whether the story was true or false, and points are added/deducted accordingly. If a player voted correctly, they add the number of points with which they voted to their score. If they voted incorrectly, subtract the voted points from their score. The Storyteller can earn 1 point for each other player they have fooled, up to a maximum of 3 points per story. After tallying points, choose a new Storyteller and begin again – each player should have a chance to be the Storyteller once before repeating Storytellers. Play continues in this fashion until one player has scored 21 points, and is declared the winner!
At this point in my life, the thing I love about You’re Pulling My Leg! the most is that it can be played remotely. Everybody does not need to have an individual copy of the book to play via video chat or conference call. As long as one person has the book, your group can play! Instead of having each player read their own cards then, the owner of the book reads the cards aloud and the Storyteller chooses their question that way. The only supplies needed, apart from 1 copy of the book, are a coin and a way to track your score. Easy as pie. Another aspect of this game that I really enjoy is that it is pretty light-hearted in nature. Yes, there is an element of deception and bluffing, but it is all done in a light and quirky way. I especially enjoy this because I am a notoriously bad liar, and most bluffing games stress me out. But the ability to choose my question, and then weave a (hopefully) convincing story for my opponents takes some of that pressure off and allows me to really be creative and have fun.
That being said, one tricky thing about this game is that when coming up with a false story, if must be false in essence. You cannot tell a mostly true story with a few trivial details changed. People who have trouble with storytelling or improv-type scenarios might have some difficulty in coming up with an appropriate story for the different questions. Just something to be aware of – you have to be able to come up with a story on the fly, with no hints or help whatsoever. Another tricky, yet usually fun, aspect of this game is that some cards have a Wild feature which can immediately affect someone’s score. For example, one Wild feature might say “Player with the longest hair gains 3 points.” That goes into effect immediately once the card is selected, and can put a fun twist and some good-natured take-that into this storytelling game. The process of voting with points adds an element of strategy as well. How confident are you that someone’s story is TRUE? Are you willing to bet 3 points on it? It’s a balance of risk and reward, and that adds excitement to the game table.
Let me touch on components for a minute. This game is a book, where each page contains 3 cards. You can start at card #1 or select a random page and pick a card there, but there are 225 cards from which to choose! On every other page there is also a blank page titled “Game Highlights,” and this space is for you to write down any particularly hilarious or creative responses someone may have come up with in response to a card. It’s not a game requirement, but just an element of fun for future reminiscence. The quality of the book is pretty good, and I know it is sturdy enough to withstand lots of travel and play.
So all-in-all, I think that You’re Pulling My Leg is a great and light little game to get your creative juices flowing. If you need an ice-breaker for a game night, this would definitely be a great one to get to know your gaming comrades. Is it a game I will pull out at every game night? No. But it is a fun and light-hearted game that I can see myself pulling out with different gaming groups on several occasions. Whether a family reunion, office party, or friend Zoom call, this game is one that will entertain all involved. If you’re looking for something unique, fun, and relatively simple overall, give You’re Pulling My Leg! a shot. It might just open the door to storytelling based games for you!
Disclaimer: We were provided a copy of this book for the purposes of this preview. The pictures below show the final production copy you can expect to receive when ordering this game. Check out the publisher’s website to get your hands on this unique party game! -L
You’re Pulling My Leg! is a party game of bluffing and storytelling in which players are trying to be the first to earn 21 points. The rules are simple, the gameplay is straightforward, and it can even be played remotely!
To setup the game, every player needs a coin and a way to keep track of their score (paper/pencil, notes on a phone, etc.). Every player begins the game with 7 points. To start the game, choose a player to be the first Storyteller. The Storyteller selects a card from the book, reads the three questions on their chosen card, and chooses 1 to answer. The Storyteller then flips their coin – if HEADS, the answer must be a true story, but if TAILS, the answer must be false and untrue in essence. Only the Storyteller knows the result of the coin flip. The Storyteller proceeds to answer the question, telling a story dictated by their coin flip result.
After the Storyteller has told their response to the chosen question, the remaining players will vote (with points) on whether they believe the story was true or false. Players can vote with up to 3 points, and votes are revealed simultaneously. If you believe the story is TRUE, you vote with 1, 2, or 3 fingers pointing UP, and if you believe the story is FALSE, you vote with 1, 2, or 3 fingers pointing DOWN. After everyone has voted, the Storyteller reveals whether the story was true or false, and points are added/deducted accordingly. If a player voted correctly, they add the number of points with which they voted to their score. If they voted incorrectly, subtract the voted points from their score. The Storyteller can earn 1 point for each other player they have fooled, up to a maximum of 3 points per story. After tallying points, choose a new Storyteller and begin again – each player should have a chance to be the Storyteller once before repeating Storytellers. Play continues in this fashion until one player has scored 21 points, and is declared the winner!
At this point in my life, the thing I love about You’re Pulling My Leg! the most is that it can be played remotely. Everybody does not need to have an individual copy of the book to play via video chat or conference call. As long as one person has the book, your group can play! Instead of having each player read their own cards then, the owner of the book reads the cards aloud and the Storyteller chooses their question that way. The only supplies needed, apart from 1 copy of the book, are a coin and a way to track your score. Easy as pie. Another aspect of this game that I really enjoy is that it is pretty light-hearted in nature. Yes, there is an element of deception and bluffing, but it is all done in a light and quirky way. I especially enjoy this because I am a notoriously bad liar, and most bluffing games stress me out. But the ability to choose my question, and then weave a (hopefully) convincing story for my opponents takes some of that pressure off and allows me to really be creative and have fun.
That being said, one tricky thing about this game is that when coming up with a false story, if must be false in essence. You cannot tell a mostly true story with a few trivial details changed. People who have trouble with storytelling or improv-type scenarios might have some difficulty in coming up with an appropriate story for the different questions. Just something to be aware of – you have to be able to come up with a story on the fly, with no hints or help whatsoever. Another tricky, yet usually fun, aspect of this game is that some cards have a Wild feature which can immediately affect someone’s score. For example, one Wild feature might say “Player with the longest hair gains 3 points.” That goes into effect immediately once the card is selected, and can put a fun twist and some good-natured take-that into this storytelling game. The process of voting with points adds an element of strategy as well. How confident are you that someone’s story is TRUE? Are you willing to bet 3 points on it? It’s a balance of risk and reward, and that adds excitement to the game table.
Let me touch on components for a minute. This game is a book, where each page contains 3 cards. You can start at card #1 or select a random page and pick a card there, but there are 225 cards from which to choose! On every other page there is also a blank page titled “Game Highlights,” and this space is for you to write down any particularly hilarious or creative responses someone may have come up with in response to a card. It’s not a game requirement, but just an element of fun for future reminiscence. The quality of the book is pretty good, and I know it is sturdy enough to withstand lots of travel and play.
So all-in-all, I think that You’re Pulling My Leg is a great and light little game to get your creative juices flowing. If you need an ice-breaker for a game night, this would definitely be a great one to get to know your gaming comrades. Is it a game I will pull out at every game night? No. But it is a fun and light-hearted game that I can see myself pulling out with different gaming groups on several occasions. Whether a family reunion, office party, or friend Zoom call, this game is one that will entertain all involved. If you’re looking for something unique, fun, and relatively simple overall, give You’re Pulling My Leg! a shot. It might just open the door to storytelling based games for you!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Tales of Evil in Tabletop Games
Oct 1, 2020
It is no surprise that following the enormous success of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” that creators would begin developing ideas borrowed from the show’s setting or characters. Of course we have seen games in this “80s kids Goonie-esque adventure game” genre before, and I have to say that I love the setting. When I saw the Kickstarter campaign for Tales of Evil I was immediately drawn to it. Did my investment pay off or is this one a gnarly bust?
Tales of Evil is a cooperative, horror, storytelling, adventure game that uses a unique new “Fusion System” throughout the game. Players will be taking on personas of kids from the 1980s who belong to a club named “Pizza & Investigation.” I do not wish to reveal too much in this review, so I will be covering this as a Solo Chronicles using one character going through the introductory tutorial mission.
DISCLAIMER: We are using the Kickstarter Deluxe version of the game. We do have the expansions from the KS campaign, but will not be using those for this review. Also, we do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, well, just follow the setup instructions in the rulebook. There’s too much for me to explain here. For one character playing the tutorial scenario, the game setup should look similar to what is pictured below. Maybe. The rulebook does not specifically state WHERE each item should be placed, so players will have ultimate freedom to setup items where they see fit to be most efficient for themselves.
Players in Tales of Evil will have no real “turn structure” as most games do, because all players will be adventuring together as a group. So characters will be moving as a group and never splitting the party (RPGers breathe a sigh of relief… maybe). However, as with many adventure games of this style, once players explore into new areas certain markers will placed on the board (Clue, Darkness, Mystery, Search, etc). These markers signify different actions that can be taken, or entrances to areas that are blocked or found, or something that could be traced from one area to another. The leader of the group for the time being is in possession of the Walkie-Talkie and will make all final decisions for the group after any discussion (for solo players, it is just a nice prop). Usually searching for items will result in a card draw and upon the card will be a test to pass using the stats on the player character mat to roll dice for successes. Of course, the other side of that are horrible losses as well.
Players will be traipsing through the area and reading passages from two actual books: the Story Book and the Event Book. Most of the action happens in the Story Book and it will guide players through the story and once choices are made or tests succeeded/failed, the book will instruct players what to do next and to which section to turn to further the story (a la Tales of the Arabian Nights). The game continues in this fashion until the story ends with victory or defeat.
Components. Why yes, that is a real spoon in the photo above. No, it does not come with the game. I will explain in a bit. The components in this game are great. Each character has their own mat for organization, action cards, equipment cards, and status cards that dictate the difficulty of the game and how the character degrades over time in the horror-filled mission. Some components are even glow-in-the-dark! A nice touch, but certainly unnecessary. I find everything to be wonderful quality, even the cards that are kind of polarizing on the KS comments are nice (people are complaining that they are not linen-finished, but I believe the publisher made the right call to make them matte finished if the linen obscured the look and art on them). Thumbs up for components from me.
I wanted to wait until my final thoughts to explain the whole “Fusion System” that is in play here. Tales of Evil uses the catchphrase, “You will get into the game and the game will get into you!” Now, I’m not sure exactly how this game is getting into me, but I’m certainly digging the game and this Fusion System. You see, some cards (in the tutorial, remember, so I’m not really giving much away here) will give players 60 seconds to grab a kitchen spoon for some benefit and a debilitation if they are unable to find one – hence the spoon in my photos. Another card relies on the character (and also then the player) removing their shoes. Still yet another deals with fire or people smoking in the vicinity. If there is fire nearby in real life, it affects the effects of the card drawn. It’s ingenious and I love every little bit of it! I can’t wait to see how the Fusion System will work in this game more and how it can be applied to other games in the future.
All in all I love everything about Tales of Evil. The setting is great, the Pizza & Investigation kids are awesome, and the game itself is incredibly engaging and makes you really think about the choices you make within. Perhaps the haunting feeling of doubting some choices is how the game gets into you, because I did find myself wondering what would have happened had I chosen a different course for some instances. I am very drawn to this game and I want to tackle all of the scenarios. Even solo! And another great thing about Tales of Evil is the fact that a player (or players) can join a game already in progress! So if I am exploring solo and my wife decides she wants to hop in, she just grabs a character mat, sets up the character, and dives right in with me. I LOVE games like that. So versatile.
While I should probably stop gushing at this point I just can’t. This game is so much fun and worth every penny spent on it. I implore you, if you are a fan of exploration adventure games in this vein you definitely need to snatch up a copy whenever you see one. And if you love it as much as I do let me know. We can swap adventure stories.
Oh did I mention the designer is even created a way for us normies to create our own scenarios and upload them to other Tales of Evil players? Yeah, I’m fascinated by that as well…
Tales of Evil is a cooperative, horror, storytelling, adventure game that uses a unique new “Fusion System” throughout the game. Players will be taking on personas of kids from the 1980s who belong to a club named “Pizza & Investigation.” I do not wish to reveal too much in this review, so I will be covering this as a Solo Chronicles using one character going through the introductory tutorial mission.
DISCLAIMER: We are using the Kickstarter Deluxe version of the game. We do have the expansions from the KS campaign, but will not be using those for this review. Also, we do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, well, just follow the setup instructions in the rulebook. There’s too much for me to explain here. For one character playing the tutorial scenario, the game setup should look similar to what is pictured below. Maybe. The rulebook does not specifically state WHERE each item should be placed, so players will have ultimate freedom to setup items where they see fit to be most efficient for themselves.
Players in Tales of Evil will have no real “turn structure” as most games do, because all players will be adventuring together as a group. So characters will be moving as a group and never splitting the party (RPGers breathe a sigh of relief… maybe). However, as with many adventure games of this style, once players explore into new areas certain markers will placed on the board (Clue, Darkness, Mystery, Search, etc). These markers signify different actions that can be taken, or entrances to areas that are blocked or found, or something that could be traced from one area to another. The leader of the group for the time being is in possession of the Walkie-Talkie and will make all final decisions for the group after any discussion (for solo players, it is just a nice prop). Usually searching for items will result in a card draw and upon the card will be a test to pass using the stats on the player character mat to roll dice for successes. Of course, the other side of that are horrible losses as well.
Players will be traipsing through the area and reading passages from two actual books: the Story Book and the Event Book. Most of the action happens in the Story Book and it will guide players through the story and once choices are made or tests succeeded/failed, the book will instruct players what to do next and to which section to turn to further the story (a la Tales of the Arabian Nights). The game continues in this fashion until the story ends with victory or defeat.
Components. Why yes, that is a real spoon in the photo above. No, it does not come with the game. I will explain in a bit. The components in this game are great. Each character has their own mat for organization, action cards, equipment cards, and status cards that dictate the difficulty of the game and how the character degrades over time in the horror-filled mission. Some components are even glow-in-the-dark! A nice touch, but certainly unnecessary. I find everything to be wonderful quality, even the cards that are kind of polarizing on the KS comments are nice (people are complaining that they are not linen-finished, but I believe the publisher made the right call to make them matte finished if the linen obscured the look and art on them). Thumbs up for components from me.
I wanted to wait until my final thoughts to explain the whole “Fusion System” that is in play here. Tales of Evil uses the catchphrase, “You will get into the game and the game will get into you!” Now, I’m not sure exactly how this game is getting into me, but I’m certainly digging the game and this Fusion System. You see, some cards (in the tutorial, remember, so I’m not really giving much away here) will give players 60 seconds to grab a kitchen spoon for some benefit and a debilitation if they are unable to find one – hence the spoon in my photos. Another card relies on the character (and also then the player) removing their shoes. Still yet another deals with fire or people smoking in the vicinity. If there is fire nearby in real life, it affects the effects of the card drawn. It’s ingenious and I love every little bit of it! I can’t wait to see how the Fusion System will work in this game more and how it can be applied to other games in the future.
All in all I love everything about Tales of Evil. The setting is great, the Pizza & Investigation kids are awesome, and the game itself is incredibly engaging and makes you really think about the choices you make within. Perhaps the haunting feeling of doubting some choices is how the game gets into you, because I did find myself wondering what would have happened had I chosen a different course for some instances. I am very drawn to this game and I want to tackle all of the scenarios. Even solo! And another great thing about Tales of Evil is the fact that a player (or players) can join a game already in progress! So if I am exploring solo and my wife decides she wants to hop in, she just grabs a character mat, sets up the character, and dives right in with me. I LOVE games like that. So versatile.
While I should probably stop gushing at this point I just can’t. This game is so much fun and worth every penny spent on it. I implore you, if you are a fan of exploration adventure games in this vein you definitely need to snatch up a copy whenever you see one. And if you love it as much as I do let me know. We can swap adventure stories.
Oh did I mention the designer is even created a way for us normies to create our own scenarios and upload them to other Tales of Evil players? Yeah, I’m fascinated by that as well…
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated First Man (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
He captured a feeling. Sky with no ceiling.
A memorable event
I am a child of the 60’s, born in 1961. The “Space Race” for me was not some historical concept but a pervasive backdrop to my childhood. I still recall, at the age of 8, being marched into my junior school’s assembly hall. We all peered at the grainy black-and-white pictures of Neil Armstrong as he spoke his famously fluffed line before stepping onto the lunar surface. The event happened at 3:54am UK time, so clearly my recollection of “seeing it live” is bogus. (I read that the BBC stayed on air until 10:30 in the morning, so it was probably a ‘final review’ of the night’s events I saw). It is probably lodged in my memory less for the historical event and more due to the fact that there was TELEVISION ON IN THE MORNING! (Kids, ask your grandparents!)
A very personal connection. My personal copy of Waddington’s “Blast Off” board game, briefly shown in the film.
The plot
But back to Damien Chazelle‘s film. We start early in the 60’s with America getting well and truly kicked up the proberbial by the Russians in the space race: they fail to get the first man in space; they fail to carry out the first spacewalk. So the Americans, following the famous JFK speech, set their sights on the moon. It’s the equivalent of making a mess of cutting your toenails but then deciding to have a go at brain surgery. NASA develop the Gemini programme to practice the essential docking manoevers required as a precursor for the seemingly impossible (‘two blackboard’) mission that is Apollo.
But the price paid for such ambition is high.
Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong as a dedicated, prickly, professional; altogether not a terribly likeable individual. Claire Foy plays his long-suffering wife Janet, putting her support for her husband’s dangerous profession ahead of her natural fears of becoming a single mother.
Review
There is obviously little tension to be mined from a film that has such a well-known historical context. Those with even a subliminal knowledge of the subject will be aware of the key triumphs and tragedies along the way. The script (by Josh Singer, “The Post“; “Spotlight“) is very well done in developing a creeping dread of knowing what is shortly to come.
Even with these inherent spoilers, Chazelle still manages to evoke armrest-squeezing tension into the space flight sequences. A lot of this is achieved through disorientating camera movements and flashing images that may irritate some but I found to be highly effective. (Did anyone else flash back to that excellent “Mission Space” ride at Epcot during the launch sequences?) This hand-held cinematography by Linus Sandgren (Chazelle’s “La La Land” collaborator) is matched by some utterly drop-dead gorgeous shots – beautifully framed; beautifully lit – that would be worthy of a Kaminski/Spielberg collaboration.
Those expecting a rollercoaster thrill-ride of the likes of “Apollo 13” will be disappointed. The film has more of the slow-and-long-burn feeling of “The Right Stuff” in mood and, at 141 minutes, some might even find it quite boring. There is significant time, for example, spent within the family home. These scenes include turbulent events of which I wasn’t previously aware: events that form the cornerstone of the film’s drama. For me, the balance of the personal and the historical background was perfectly done. I found it curious though that with such a family-oriented drama Chazelle chose to ditch completely any cuts away to the earthbound onlookers during the tense lunar landing sequence. (Compare and contrast with Ron Howard‘s masterly inter-cutting in the re-entry scene of “Apollo 13”). With the outcome foretold, perhaps such tension building was considered unnecessary? I’m not suggesting it was wrong to ‘stay in the moment’ with the astronauts, but it’s a bold directorial move.
Overall, the foolhardiness of NASA trying to do what they did with the 60’s technology at their disposal is well-portrayed. If you’ve been lucky enough, as I have, to view the Apollo 11 capsule in the National Air and Space museum in Washington you can’t help but be impressed by the bravery of Armstong, Aldrin and Collins in getting in that bucket of bolts and putting their lives on the line. True American heroes.
On that topic, the “flag issue” has generated much self-righteous heat within the US media; that is regarding Chazelle not showing the American flag being planted. This seems fatuous to me. Not only is the flag shown on the moon, but the film ably demonstrates the American know-how and bravery behind the mission. If Clint Eastwood had been directing he would have probably gone there: but for me it certainly didn’t need any further patriotism rubbed in the viewer’s face.
The turns
Are Oscar nominations on the cards for Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy? For me, it would be staggering if they are not: this film has “Oscar nomination” written all over it. I’d also certainly not bet against Foy winning for Best Actress: her portrayal of a wife on the edge is nothing short of brilliant. And perhaps, just perhaps, this might be Gosling’s year too.
Elsewhere there are strong supporting performances from Kyle Chandler (as Deke Slayton), Corey Stoll (as the ‘tell it how it is’ Buzz Aldrin) and Jason Clarke (as Ed White). It’s also great to see Belfast-born Ciarán Hinds in another mainstream Hollywood release.
For me, another dead cert Oscar nomination will be Justin Hurwitz for the score which is breathtakingly brilliant, not just in its compelling themes but also in its orchestration: the use of the eerie theremin and melodic harp are just brilliant together. I haven’t heard a score this year that’s more fitting to the visuals: although it’s early in the Oscar season to be calling it, I’d be very surprised if this didn’t walk away with the statuette.
Summary
Loved this. Damien Chazelle – with “Whiplash“, “La La Land” and now “First Man” – has hit all of three out of the park in my book. It’s not really a film for thrill-seekers, who might get bored, but anyone, like me, with an interest in the history of space exploration will I think lap it up: for this was surely the most memorable decade in space history… so far.
On leaving the cinema I looked up at the rising moon and marvelled once more at the audacity of man. My eyes then drifted across to the red dot that was Mars. How long I wonder? And how many dramatic film biographies still to come?
I am a child of the 60’s, born in 1961. The “Space Race” for me was not some historical concept but a pervasive backdrop to my childhood. I still recall, at the age of 8, being marched into my junior school’s assembly hall. We all peered at the grainy black-and-white pictures of Neil Armstrong as he spoke his famously fluffed line before stepping onto the lunar surface. The event happened at 3:54am UK time, so clearly my recollection of “seeing it live” is bogus. (I read that the BBC stayed on air until 10:30 in the morning, so it was probably a ‘final review’ of the night’s events I saw). It is probably lodged in my memory less for the historical event and more due to the fact that there was TELEVISION ON IN THE MORNING! (Kids, ask your grandparents!)
A very personal connection. My personal copy of Waddington’s “Blast Off” board game, briefly shown in the film.
The plot
But back to Damien Chazelle‘s film. We start early in the 60’s with America getting well and truly kicked up the proberbial by the Russians in the space race: they fail to get the first man in space; they fail to carry out the first spacewalk. So the Americans, following the famous JFK speech, set their sights on the moon. It’s the equivalent of making a mess of cutting your toenails but then deciding to have a go at brain surgery. NASA develop the Gemini programme to practice the essential docking manoevers required as a precursor for the seemingly impossible (‘two blackboard’) mission that is Apollo.
But the price paid for such ambition is high.
Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong as a dedicated, prickly, professional; altogether not a terribly likeable individual. Claire Foy plays his long-suffering wife Janet, putting her support for her husband’s dangerous profession ahead of her natural fears of becoming a single mother.
Review
There is obviously little tension to be mined from a film that has such a well-known historical context. Those with even a subliminal knowledge of the subject will be aware of the key triumphs and tragedies along the way. The script (by Josh Singer, “The Post“; “Spotlight“) is very well done in developing a creeping dread of knowing what is shortly to come.
Even with these inherent spoilers, Chazelle still manages to evoke armrest-squeezing tension into the space flight sequences. A lot of this is achieved through disorientating camera movements and flashing images that may irritate some but I found to be highly effective. (Did anyone else flash back to that excellent “Mission Space” ride at Epcot during the launch sequences?) This hand-held cinematography by Linus Sandgren (Chazelle’s “La La Land” collaborator) is matched by some utterly drop-dead gorgeous shots – beautifully framed; beautifully lit – that would be worthy of a Kaminski/Spielberg collaboration.
Those expecting a rollercoaster thrill-ride of the likes of “Apollo 13” will be disappointed. The film has more of the slow-and-long-burn feeling of “The Right Stuff” in mood and, at 141 minutes, some might even find it quite boring. There is significant time, for example, spent within the family home. These scenes include turbulent events of which I wasn’t previously aware: events that form the cornerstone of the film’s drama. For me, the balance of the personal and the historical background was perfectly done. I found it curious though that with such a family-oriented drama Chazelle chose to ditch completely any cuts away to the earthbound onlookers during the tense lunar landing sequence. (Compare and contrast with Ron Howard‘s masterly inter-cutting in the re-entry scene of “Apollo 13”). With the outcome foretold, perhaps such tension building was considered unnecessary? I’m not suggesting it was wrong to ‘stay in the moment’ with the astronauts, but it’s a bold directorial move.
Overall, the foolhardiness of NASA trying to do what they did with the 60’s technology at their disposal is well-portrayed. If you’ve been lucky enough, as I have, to view the Apollo 11 capsule in the National Air and Space museum in Washington you can’t help but be impressed by the bravery of Armstong, Aldrin and Collins in getting in that bucket of bolts and putting their lives on the line. True American heroes.
On that topic, the “flag issue” has generated much self-righteous heat within the US media; that is regarding Chazelle not showing the American flag being planted. This seems fatuous to me. Not only is the flag shown on the moon, but the film ably demonstrates the American know-how and bravery behind the mission. If Clint Eastwood had been directing he would have probably gone there: but for me it certainly didn’t need any further patriotism rubbed in the viewer’s face.
The turns
Are Oscar nominations on the cards for Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy? For me, it would be staggering if they are not: this film has “Oscar nomination” written all over it. I’d also certainly not bet against Foy winning for Best Actress: her portrayal of a wife on the edge is nothing short of brilliant. And perhaps, just perhaps, this might be Gosling’s year too.
Elsewhere there are strong supporting performances from Kyle Chandler (as Deke Slayton), Corey Stoll (as the ‘tell it how it is’ Buzz Aldrin) and Jason Clarke (as Ed White). It’s also great to see Belfast-born Ciarán Hinds in another mainstream Hollywood release.
For me, another dead cert Oscar nomination will be Justin Hurwitz for the score which is breathtakingly brilliant, not just in its compelling themes but also in its orchestration: the use of the eerie theremin and melodic harp are just brilliant together. I haven’t heard a score this year that’s more fitting to the visuals: although it’s early in the Oscar season to be calling it, I’d be very surprised if this didn’t walk away with the statuette.
Summary
Loved this. Damien Chazelle – with “Whiplash“, “La La Land” and now “First Man” – has hit all of three out of the park in my book. It’s not really a film for thrill-seekers, who might get bored, but anyone, like me, with an interest in the history of space exploration will I think lap it up: for this was surely the most memorable decade in space history… so far.
On leaving the cinema I looked up at the rising moon and marvelled once more at the audacity of man. My eyes then drifted across to the red dot that was Mars. How long I wonder? And how many dramatic film biographies still to come?
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Exit: The Game – The Polar Station in Tabletop Games
Mar 11, 2022
One thing that has grown in popularity over the recent years are Escape Rooms. You know, where you’re physically trapped inside a room and have to solve various puzzles, crack codes, and beat the clock in an effort to get out before it’s game over. It should come as no surprise that this premise has made its way into the world of board gaming. Yeah, you’re not physically trapped somewhere, but you still have tons of puzzles to sort out in the fastest time you can. So how does this EXIT game hold up when compared with a real-life escape room? Keep reading to find out!
Disclaimer: In order to avoid spoilers, I will not be going too in depth with this review, but rather provide a general overview of the type of gameplay involved. Also, this review covers one specific EXIT game, but the general mechanics and gameplay are the same across the entire EXIT family.
In EXIT: The Game – The Polar Station (simply referred to as just EXIT from hereon out), you are a member of a research team stationed in the Arctic. One morning, the evacuation alarm goes off unexpectedly, and everyone makes a break for the helicopters. Just one problem for your crew – your exit door is already locked and sealed! You make your way to another section of the lab to look for an alternate escape route. What you find is a room full of locked drawers/doors. You must quickly crack these codes, in hopes that the materials contained within will aid you in your attempts to escape before the final rescue helicopter takes off.
To setup for a game, sort the cards into their appropriate decks – Riddle cards, Answer cards, and Help cards. Place the Decoder disk and the Book in the center of the table. Leave the other items in the game box, to be introduced later in the gameplay. You will also most likely need a pen/pencil and paper to help you as you solve the riddles. And bam! You’re ready to start. You may then open the Book and begin the game. The game ends if or when players are able to successfully solve all of the riddles/puzzles and make their escape from the polar station.
Without spoilers, that’s basically as much detail as I can provide. Over the course of the gameplay, players will be using the pages of the Book to find clues, solve puzzles, or even identify secret symbols. Riddle cards will be drawn and used as ciphers, puzzles, or clues to help crack a code. When you think you have the correct 3-digit code for a specific Riddle Card, enter the code onto the Decoder disk. The disk will then provide the number of an Answer card, which you will draw and check to see if you were correct or incorrect. If your answer is incorrect, you simply keep trying to solve the Riddle card. If your answer is correct, you will then be instructed to draw other Riddle Cards, or the other items from the game box, and will continue with these new puzzles. If at any point in time you feel stuck, you may draw a Help card for the corresponding puzzle. The first and second Help cards will give you hints, and the final Help card will tell you the solution to the puzzle. Draw these sparingly if you can, as they affect your end-game score!
When all puzzles/riddles/codes have been completed and cracked, the game is over. Players will then check the rulebook to see how many Stars were earned, out of 10. The number of Help cards you use, as well as how much time you took to complete the game, will affect the overall score.
All in all, I think that EXIT is a unique game. The games of the series have varying difficulty levels, and this particular EXIT is rated a 3 out of 5. So this one isn’t the most difficult game in the bunch, but it wasn’t easy either! All of the puzzles require creative solutions, and the answers are rarely ever as straight-forward as they appear. Some puzzles are more logical than others, while some require you to physically manipulate components to be used in creative ways. I guess that’s as good a segue as any to get into components. This game consists of a deck of cards, a Decoder disk, a Book, and a couple of special ‘items.’ All decent quality overall. But here’s the thing – you will have to bend/cut/manipulate/destroy many of the components to help you in your mission to solve the riddles. So this game is literally a one-and-done. It cannot be played again.
Did I enjoy my play of this EXIT game? Yes. It was uniquely challenging, while forcing me to think creatively when addressing the different riddles. The method used to solve one riddle is not necessarily the same to solve the next, so you have be able to adjust on the fly. And often times you will have several riddles in play at once, so you have to decide which to address and when, when do you have the right information, which riddle it goes with, etc.
The biggest drawback for me is that it cannot be played again, The fact that you have to alter the components to a point of destroying the original card is something that was personally hard for me to get used to. I try to keep all my games so nice and pristine, that having to cut a card apart was tough! I got over it though. Having played a couple of the EXIT games, as well as a few of the Unlock! games, I would have to say I prefer the Unlock! system. The puzzles are just as challenging and creative, but you do not need to alter components to complete the game. That way, I can pass along an Unlock! game to a friend, as opposed to just tossing this EXIT game right in the recycling bin. I might pick up another EXIT game if I had a specific group/game night in mind, but in general I don’t think I’ll be grabbing any more of these, for the lack of replayability alone. The gameplay itself is pretty great, but the fact that I can’t play it again is a con I can’t ignore. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a chilling 4 / 6.
Disclaimer: In order to avoid spoilers, I will not be going too in depth with this review, but rather provide a general overview of the type of gameplay involved. Also, this review covers one specific EXIT game, but the general mechanics and gameplay are the same across the entire EXIT family.
In EXIT: The Game – The Polar Station (simply referred to as just EXIT from hereon out), you are a member of a research team stationed in the Arctic. One morning, the evacuation alarm goes off unexpectedly, and everyone makes a break for the helicopters. Just one problem for your crew – your exit door is already locked and sealed! You make your way to another section of the lab to look for an alternate escape route. What you find is a room full of locked drawers/doors. You must quickly crack these codes, in hopes that the materials contained within will aid you in your attempts to escape before the final rescue helicopter takes off.
To setup for a game, sort the cards into their appropriate decks – Riddle cards, Answer cards, and Help cards. Place the Decoder disk and the Book in the center of the table. Leave the other items in the game box, to be introduced later in the gameplay. You will also most likely need a pen/pencil and paper to help you as you solve the riddles. And bam! You’re ready to start. You may then open the Book and begin the game. The game ends if or when players are able to successfully solve all of the riddles/puzzles and make their escape from the polar station.
Without spoilers, that’s basically as much detail as I can provide. Over the course of the gameplay, players will be using the pages of the Book to find clues, solve puzzles, or even identify secret symbols. Riddle cards will be drawn and used as ciphers, puzzles, or clues to help crack a code. When you think you have the correct 3-digit code for a specific Riddle Card, enter the code onto the Decoder disk. The disk will then provide the number of an Answer card, which you will draw and check to see if you were correct or incorrect. If your answer is incorrect, you simply keep trying to solve the Riddle card. If your answer is correct, you will then be instructed to draw other Riddle Cards, or the other items from the game box, and will continue with these new puzzles. If at any point in time you feel stuck, you may draw a Help card for the corresponding puzzle. The first and second Help cards will give you hints, and the final Help card will tell you the solution to the puzzle. Draw these sparingly if you can, as they affect your end-game score!
When all puzzles/riddles/codes have been completed and cracked, the game is over. Players will then check the rulebook to see how many Stars were earned, out of 10. The number of Help cards you use, as well as how much time you took to complete the game, will affect the overall score.
All in all, I think that EXIT is a unique game. The games of the series have varying difficulty levels, and this particular EXIT is rated a 3 out of 5. So this one isn’t the most difficult game in the bunch, but it wasn’t easy either! All of the puzzles require creative solutions, and the answers are rarely ever as straight-forward as they appear. Some puzzles are more logical than others, while some require you to physically manipulate components to be used in creative ways. I guess that’s as good a segue as any to get into components. This game consists of a deck of cards, a Decoder disk, a Book, and a couple of special ‘items.’ All decent quality overall. But here’s the thing – you will have to bend/cut/manipulate/destroy many of the components to help you in your mission to solve the riddles. So this game is literally a one-and-done. It cannot be played again.
Did I enjoy my play of this EXIT game? Yes. It was uniquely challenging, while forcing me to think creatively when addressing the different riddles. The method used to solve one riddle is not necessarily the same to solve the next, so you have be able to adjust on the fly. And often times you will have several riddles in play at once, so you have to decide which to address and when, when do you have the right information, which riddle it goes with, etc.
The biggest drawback for me is that it cannot be played again, The fact that you have to alter the components to a point of destroying the original card is something that was personally hard for me to get used to. I try to keep all my games so nice and pristine, that having to cut a card apart was tough! I got over it though. Having played a couple of the EXIT games, as well as a few of the Unlock! games, I would have to say I prefer the Unlock! system. The puzzles are just as challenging and creative, but you do not need to alter components to complete the game. That way, I can pass along an Unlock! game to a friend, as opposed to just tossing this EXIT game right in the recycling bin. I might pick up another EXIT game if I had a specific group/game night in mind, but in general I don’t think I’ll be grabbing any more of these, for the lack of replayability alone. The gameplay itself is pretty great, but the fact that I can’t play it again is a con I can’t ignore. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a chilling 4 / 6.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Kim-Joy's Magic Bakery in Tabletop Games
Apr 8, 2022
A magical bakery in a forest co-owned by a quirky board game loving contestant on The Great British Bake Off? If there was ever a game specifically designed for my wife, this is it. She loves baking, cute card games, and that super-famous show (she was always a fan of Mary Berry). That said, I don’t think I would ever be able to live with myself if I didn’t bring this one home and share it with my wife. Let’s see what we liked and what we didn’t.
Kim-Joy’s Magic Bakery is a cooperative hand management scenario-based card game for two to five players. In it, players are employees of the Magic Bakery and are tasked with baking wondrous items to satisfy a group of customers requesting their favourite (it’s British, I’m just doing my part) dishes. The game ends once all customers have been served or are otherwise no longer in the game. Depending on the current scenario, the group scores points based on how many customers they were able to serve. All players win together or they do not win.
Setup the Customers card deck according to the number of players, shuffle them, and deal out one or two (depending on number of players as well) face up to the table to begin the Customer Row. Do NOT shuffle the Layers cards. Instead, separate them by type and place them all face-up in decks by type. Do shuffle the yellow Ingredients cards and place out five face up (or face down depending on scenario) to form the Pantry Row. Each player draws a starting hand of three Ingredient cards from the deck, and the starting player takes the Kim-Joy standee to begin!
On a turn, the active player will have choices of actions to be taken, in any order they choose, from among the following: take an Ingredient card, pass a card to another player, bake a Layer, fulfill a Customer order, or refresh the Pantry. Depending on the number of players, each turn will consist of either two or three actions being taken. Most actions are self-explanatory, but I will give a quick hit to them all. The active player may see an interesting Ingredient card in the offer row and may simply draw it into their hand for an action. Once the player has enough Ingredients to bake a Layer (by discarding the requisite Ingredient cards) they may do so for an action. If the player has a card they believe another player could utilize, they may simply pass them that card as an action – either Ingredient or Layer. The goal of the game is help fulfill customer orders, so by using an action to fulfill an order, the player discards all the necessary cards and helps the group inch one step closer to victory. At a loss and need a suggestion for an action? Discard all cards from the Ingredient Row and draw new ones.
Once each player has completed their actions, the Customer Row is shifted one space to the right and a new Customer comes into the bakery. The bakery can only accommodate three customers, so if a new hungry Customer visits, they force out the Customer who has been there the longest, and the players lose the opportunity to serve that (possibly irate) Customer. Play continues in this fashion of players completing actions working toward satisfying as many Customers as possible until there are no more Customers in the deck nor in the bakery. Players then count the number of Customers they served, and score points according to the goals set by the scenario card! As the game typically takes 15-30 minutes, player usually request another try, so be prepared for that eventuality.
Components. This is simply a card game that includes an unnecessary, but cute, standee to mark the starting player. The cards are nice, and come in two sizes. Surprisingly, the cards sport a non-linen low-gloss finish (I’m just saying that many games nowadays are linen and as thick as possible) and feature whimsical and wonderful artwork. The game as a whole is very stylish and boasts a super fun theme. I have no issues with the components, artwork, or theme here. It all works together really well.
I will definitely suggest that new bakers player their first game without the added challenges of the scenarios. They throw in some extra complexity and difficulty that younger bakers just will not appreciate. The different scenarios are all very interesting and add in a little wrinkle to the game to make it just that much more intriguing. I have enjoyed all the different scenarios I have played, though I have not played all of them. In time, my dears. In time. Luckily, the designer has aptly seen it fit to include Helpful Duck cards that act as any Ingredient card needed at the time. These little cuties are God-sends in certain situations, and can also be included in more numbers to make scenarios easier to complete.
Being big fans of the show, I knew my wife and I would love this one. It is cute, challenging, but doesn’t try to be much more than what it is. With so many games out there competing to be bigger, more complex, and more aggressive, it is so nice to settle down with a light and jolly little card game like Kim-Joy’s Magic Bakery. I feel like I am working in a bakery while I’m playing – orders are coming in too quickly and I need just one or two more actions each turn to gather ingredients and bake new layers. It’s a really great theme and a really great game regardless of theme. The weight is perfect for young and older players, and good cooperative games that are not susceptible to quarterbacking are sometimes hard to find. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a quite scrumptious 10 / 12. I wonder if Kim-Joy herself plays this game. If so, I officially challenge her to play with my wife and I… and maybe show us a couple tricks in the actual bakery as well. I could go for a killer Chocolate Bombe, Millionaire’s Shortbread, or a vegetarian Old Fashioned Trifle! And if you get THAT joke, my brother will love you.
Kim-Joy’s Magic Bakery is a cooperative hand management scenario-based card game for two to five players. In it, players are employees of the Magic Bakery and are tasked with baking wondrous items to satisfy a group of customers requesting their favourite (it’s British, I’m just doing my part) dishes. The game ends once all customers have been served or are otherwise no longer in the game. Depending on the current scenario, the group scores points based on how many customers they were able to serve. All players win together or they do not win.
Setup the Customers card deck according to the number of players, shuffle them, and deal out one or two (depending on number of players as well) face up to the table to begin the Customer Row. Do NOT shuffle the Layers cards. Instead, separate them by type and place them all face-up in decks by type. Do shuffle the yellow Ingredients cards and place out five face up (or face down depending on scenario) to form the Pantry Row. Each player draws a starting hand of three Ingredient cards from the deck, and the starting player takes the Kim-Joy standee to begin!
On a turn, the active player will have choices of actions to be taken, in any order they choose, from among the following: take an Ingredient card, pass a card to another player, bake a Layer, fulfill a Customer order, or refresh the Pantry. Depending on the number of players, each turn will consist of either two or three actions being taken. Most actions are self-explanatory, but I will give a quick hit to them all. The active player may see an interesting Ingredient card in the offer row and may simply draw it into their hand for an action. Once the player has enough Ingredients to bake a Layer (by discarding the requisite Ingredient cards) they may do so for an action. If the player has a card they believe another player could utilize, they may simply pass them that card as an action – either Ingredient or Layer. The goal of the game is help fulfill customer orders, so by using an action to fulfill an order, the player discards all the necessary cards and helps the group inch one step closer to victory. At a loss and need a suggestion for an action? Discard all cards from the Ingredient Row and draw new ones.
Once each player has completed their actions, the Customer Row is shifted one space to the right and a new Customer comes into the bakery. The bakery can only accommodate three customers, so if a new hungry Customer visits, they force out the Customer who has been there the longest, and the players lose the opportunity to serve that (possibly irate) Customer. Play continues in this fashion of players completing actions working toward satisfying as many Customers as possible until there are no more Customers in the deck nor in the bakery. Players then count the number of Customers they served, and score points according to the goals set by the scenario card! As the game typically takes 15-30 minutes, player usually request another try, so be prepared for that eventuality.
Components. This is simply a card game that includes an unnecessary, but cute, standee to mark the starting player. The cards are nice, and come in two sizes. Surprisingly, the cards sport a non-linen low-gloss finish (I’m just saying that many games nowadays are linen and as thick as possible) and feature whimsical and wonderful artwork. The game as a whole is very stylish and boasts a super fun theme. I have no issues with the components, artwork, or theme here. It all works together really well.
I will definitely suggest that new bakers player their first game without the added challenges of the scenarios. They throw in some extra complexity and difficulty that younger bakers just will not appreciate. The different scenarios are all very interesting and add in a little wrinkle to the game to make it just that much more intriguing. I have enjoyed all the different scenarios I have played, though I have not played all of them. In time, my dears. In time. Luckily, the designer has aptly seen it fit to include Helpful Duck cards that act as any Ingredient card needed at the time. These little cuties are God-sends in certain situations, and can also be included in more numbers to make scenarios easier to complete.
Being big fans of the show, I knew my wife and I would love this one. It is cute, challenging, but doesn’t try to be much more than what it is. With so many games out there competing to be bigger, more complex, and more aggressive, it is so nice to settle down with a light and jolly little card game like Kim-Joy’s Magic Bakery. I feel like I am working in a bakery while I’m playing – orders are coming in too quickly and I need just one or two more actions each turn to gather ingredients and bake new layers. It’s a really great theme and a really great game regardless of theme. The weight is perfect for young and older players, and good cooperative games that are not susceptible to quarterbacking are sometimes hard to find. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a quite scrumptious 10 / 12. I wonder if Kim-Joy herself plays this game. If so, I officially challenge her to play with my wife and I… and maybe show us a couple tricks in the actual bakery as well. I could go for a killer Chocolate Bombe, Millionaire’s Shortbread, or a vegetarian Old Fashioned Trifle! And if you get THAT joke, my brother will love you.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Viceroy 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!
Power. That’s what everyone wants, isn’t it? Well, at least it is in Viceroy! As an inhabitant of the world of Laar, you are fighting to become the ultimate ruler. Recruit allies who provide strategic advantages and enact laws that solidify your claim for power. Do you have what it takes to build and maintain a powerful kingdom, or will your attempts fall short?
DISCLAIMER: There is an expansion to this game, but we are not reviewing it at this time. Should we review it in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. -T
Viceroy, a game of card drafting and tile placement, is played over 12 turns in which players build a pyramid with their cards – paying to place each card and collecting rewards based upon which level of the pyramid a card is placed. Each turn is divided into two phases: Auction and Development. During the Auction Phase, players bid gemstones to buy a card from the auction line. Once every player has either collected 1 card from auction or passed, play moves to the Development Phase. During the Development Phase, players can either play a card into their pyramid, pass, or discard a card and take 2 gemstones from the reserve. To play a Law card into your pyramid, you place it for free. To play a Character card into your pyramid, you have to pay for it with gems. The cost is dependent upon which level of the pyramid the card is to be placed. You must pay for the level the card will sit on, as well as pay the cost for every level beneath it. For example, to add a card to the third level of the pyramid, you must pay the cost for the 3rd level, AND 2nd level, AND 1st level. The rewards gained from adding a card to the pyramid, however, are taken only for the level on which the card sits. In the earlier example, you would only get the reward for the third level alone, since that is the level on which the card sits. The Development Phase is played over 3 rounds, so a player could play up to 3 cards into their pyramid during 1 Development Phase. After the 3 rounds are up, the next turn begins again in the Auction Phase. When all cards are gone from the Auction Deck, the game ends. Players count up all of their Power Points, and the player with the highest Power value wins!
The only change in Viceroy between a group and solo game is during the Auction Phase. Obviously, if you are playing solo, there is nobody to bid against for cards. How that is alleviated is that you still bid your gemstone as normal, and you randomly draw an unused gemstone from the box as an AI bid. If the colors match, you lose your gem and go on to the next auction. If the colors do not match, you collect your choice card, and the card the AI would have collected gets discarded. If the AI color does not match an available card, you just discard one of the remaining cards. This mimics group play in the sense that you might not always get the card you want from auction! The Development Phase is played as normal. At the end of the game, count points as normal and try to beat your own high score.
Viceroy is a neat game. Every card has so many options that there is no one single strategy that is a sure-win every time. Maybe one game I’ll go for Magic tokens. And maybe the next I’ll try to go for raw Power Point tokens. The possibilities really are endless, and that keeps this game fresh for me. I don’t feel like I’m just going through the motions because every card will act differently depending on where it is played. Strategy really is everything here. On the flip-side of that, however, is that sometimes the options can be a little overwhelming. With so many possibilities for each card, it can get hard for me to decide on what strategy I really want to use. It should also be noted that a card can only be played onto a level if it can sit on exactly 2 cards on the level beneath it. So sometimes I buy a card to play on a certain level only to get to the Development Phase and realize I don’t have a legal place to which I can play it. So do I sacrifice other cards/gemstones to build a slot for this one card, or do I play it to a different level and change my strategy a bit? There’s a little bit of a learning curve, but the more I play, the better I get (or at least, the better I think I get).
Another grievance with Viceroy is that I find myself running out of cards in my hand a lot. The only opportunity to draw cards is if you play a card into your pyramid that allows you to do so. And since I’m usually focused on other strategic routes, I don’t use those cards for those purposes. So then I play all of the cards in my hand (leaving me empty-handed), get 1 card at the next auction, play it, and am again left with no cards in my hand. To fix this issue, I wish one of the actions you could take during the Development Phase was to draw 1 card. I’m not sure if other people have this issue, or if it’s just me, but it’s a problem I run into almost every game.
Overall, I think Viceroy is a good game. It’s unique in the sense that there are so many possibilities that you’ll probably never play the same game twice, even if you decide to play by the same strategy. The mechanics and gameplay are cool too – it’s fun to watch your pyramid literally grow in front of you as the game progresses. This game takes a little more focus and thought than you might think, so it’s not one I’d necessarily just pull out for some light fun. I think Viceroy is as exciting as a solo game as it is as a group game since there really aren’t any differences between the two settings. If you like Viceroy, give it a try solo! If you’ve never played Viceroy, try it either solo or in a group – it’s the same game after all!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/18/solo-chronicles-viceroy/
Power. That’s what everyone wants, isn’t it? Well, at least it is in Viceroy! As an inhabitant of the world of Laar, you are fighting to become the ultimate ruler. Recruit allies who provide strategic advantages and enact laws that solidify your claim for power. Do you have what it takes to build and maintain a powerful kingdom, or will your attempts fall short?
DISCLAIMER: There is an expansion to this game, but we are not reviewing it at this time. Should we review it in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. -T
Viceroy, a game of card drafting and tile placement, is played over 12 turns in which players build a pyramid with their cards – paying to place each card and collecting rewards based upon which level of the pyramid a card is placed. Each turn is divided into two phases: Auction and Development. During the Auction Phase, players bid gemstones to buy a card from the auction line. Once every player has either collected 1 card from auction or passed, play moves to the Development Phase. During the Development Phase, players can either play a card into their pyramid, pass, or discard a card and take 2 gemstones from the reserve. To play a Law card into your pyramid, you place it for free. To play a Character card into your pyramid, you have to pay for it with gems. The cost is dependent upon which level of the pyramid the card is to be placed. You must pay for the level the card will sit on, as well as pay the cost for every level beneath it. For example, to add a card to the third level of the pyramid, you must pay the cost for the 3rd level, AND 2nd level, AND 1st level. The rewards gained from adding a card to the pyramid, however, are taken only for the level on which the card sits. In the earlier example, you would only get the reward for the third level alone, since that is the level on which the card sits. The Development Phase is played over 3 rounds, so a player could play up to 3 cards into their pyramid during 1 Development Phase. After the 3 rounds are up, the next turn begins again in the Auction Phase. When all cards are gone from the Auction Deck, the game ends. Players count up all of their Power Points, and the player with the highest Power value wins!
The only change in Viceroy between a group and solo game is during the Auction Phase. Obviously, if you are playing solo, there is nobody to bid against for cards. How that is alleviated is that you still bid your gemstone as normal, and you randomly draw an unused gemstone from the box as an AI bid. If the colors match, you lose your gem and go on to the next auction. If the colors do not match, you collect your choice card, and the card the AI would have collected gets discarded. If the AI color does not match an available card, you just discard one of the remaining cards. This mimics group play in the sense that you might not always get the card you want from auction! The Development Phase is played as normal. At the end of the game, count points as normal and try to beat your own high score.
Viceroy is a neat game. Every card has so many options that there is no one single strategy that is a sure-win every time. Maybe one game I’ll go for Magic tokens. And maybe the next I’ll try to go for raw Power Point tokens. The possibilities really are endless, and that keeps this game fresh for me. I don’t feel like I’m just going through the motions because every card will act differently depending on where it is played. Strategy really is everything here. On the flip-side of that, however, is that sometimes the options can be a little overwhelming. With so many possibilities for each card, it can get hard for me to decide on what strategy I really want to use. It should also be noted that a card can only be played onto a level if it can sit on exactly 2 cards on the level beneath it. So sometimes I buy a card to play on a certain level only to get to the Development Phase and realize I don’t have a legal place to which I can play it. So do I sacrifice other cards/gemstones to build a slot for this one card, or do I play it to a different level and change my strategy a bit? There’s a little bit of a learning curve, but the more I play, the better I get (or at least, the better I think I get).
Another grievance with Viceroy is that I find myself running out of cards in my hand a lot. The only opportunity to draw cards is if you play a card into your pyramid that allows you to do so. And since I’m usually focused on other strategic routes, I don’t use those cards for those purposes. So then I play all of the cards in my hand (leaving me empty-handed), get 1 card at the next auction, play it, and am again left with no cards in my hand. To fix this issue, I wish one of the actions you could take during the Development Phase was to draw 1 card. I’m not sure if other people have this issue, or if it’s just me, but it’s a problem I run into almost every game.
Overall, I think Viceroy is a good game. It’s unique in the sense that there are so many possibilities that you’ll probably never play the same game twice, even if you decide to play by the same strategy. The mechanics and gameplay are cool too – it’s fun to watch your pyramid literally grow in front of you as the game progresses. This game takes a little more focus and thought than you might think, so it’s not one I’d necessarily just pull out for some light fun. I think Viceroy is as exciting as a solo game as it is as a group game since there really aren’t any differences between the two settings. If you like Viceroy, give it a try solo! If you’ve never played Viceroy, try it either solo or in a group – it’s the same game after all!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/18/solo-chronicles-viceroy/
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Dance of the Dead (2008) in Movies
Jun 18, 2019
Jimmy Dunn (Jared Kusnitz) never seems to take anything seriously. He likes to spend more time in detention than he does in class. So it’s no surprise that Lindsey (Greyson Chadwick), the girl Jimmy was going to take to prom, decides to not go with him after realizing that Jimmy has no ambition. To make matters worse, something weird is going on in the graveyard next to the nuclear power plant in town. The dead are walking and they’re headed to the prom. The town is now in the hands of the losers who couldn’t get dates to the prom. There goes the neighborhood and here comes the pain; that is something that is certainly meant in more ways than one.
This is the type of horror film you have the urge to turn off as soon as it starts. Written by Joe Ballarini (My Little Pony: The Movie) and directed by Gregg Bishop (the “Dante the Great” segment of V/H/S Viral), Dance of the Dead is a part of the eight films that made up Ghost House Underground; horror films from all over the world chosen by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert supposedly representing a “fresh” perspective of the horror genre. The problem is that most people would seek out one of these films and then never bother with the rest because why would you torture yourself any further?
The first 20 or so minutes of the film revolve around high school melodrama and the prom. This is supposedly where you get accustomed to the film’s humor, but it’s mostly nothing more than high school kids being obnoxious and unbearable. The graveyard scene is where things get even worse. Zombies start rising from beyond the grave and decomposing hands start bursting through headstones since that makes more sense than soil. Emerging from the ground simply wasn’t enough either; these zombies explode from their graves with smoke and a loud crash. Moments later during the same sequence, there are zombies jumping several feet into the air out of the ground, landing on their feet, and running after these kids. If it sounds cool in the slightest, then this description isn’t doing this dumpster fire justice.
The zombies are all over the place in Dance of the Dead. They start off as the zombies that run similar to the zombies in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake. Later on in the film, they stumble around and are slow like George Romero’s zombies. Even later after that, the zombies are running again while some attempt to speak, say, “Brains!” and then get in a car and drive off. Someone had pointed out that the zombies in the film who are fresh out of the ground run while older ones move slower, which only makes this turd milkshake slightly less nutty. Dance of the Dead also can’t decide what zombie films to pay homage to either. Return of the Living Dead has a massive influence, but the film clearly pays tribute to Night of the Living Dead when the kids reach a house and decide to board up all the windows and take shelter. It seems like the one consistent aspect this film has is to be inconsistent.
Did you know zombies can be held at bay solely by the power of rocking out? Three stoners in a band (a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer) inadvertently discover that their music stops zombies in their tracks. A bit later in the film during the prom, the gymnasium is full of zombies. There’s music playing and it shows three zombies on stage playing musical instruments; a guitar, a bass, and a drum set. Fast forward a little more and the three stoners are back again playing their stoner rock and the zombies are back to being frozen during their performance. There’s no consistency when it comes to what they play or how it affects zombies.
“In extreme circumstances, the assailants can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain.” Do you remember this quote from Shaun of the Dead? Try to keep it in mind, especially the, “removing the head,” part. A guy gets his head torn off by a zombie and you’d think he’d be dead, but this actually turns his decapitated head into a zombie. He comes back later on; his headless corpse carrying his decapitated head around. It’s one thing to try and reinvent a genre, but when you have so many reinventions along with homage out to wazoo you’re basically throwing cow pies at a brick wall and seeing what sticks.
Zombies shouldn’t make out with each other. Vampires shouldn’t sparkle and Warm Bodies isn’t canon. Two students turn into zombies and still end up in a giant make out session after they’ve turned. The kiss turns awkward as they start chewing on each other mid-kiss. They start taking bites out of each other while they’re still sucking face. This is the scariest aspect of the film considering that maybe most of us don’t want our eyeballs chewed out of our skulls during something so intimate.
When the special effects aren’t being a complete eyesore from being so cheap and ugly, the gore in Dance of the Dead is decent. Blood splattering everywhere is pretty common throughout the film. The acting isn’t completely terrible either. It absolutely isn’t good by any means. Dance of the Dead is basically Degrassi with zombies and everything lame you’re expecting to tag along with that reference. Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class, MacGyver) has a brief cameo as one of the rockers in the film and he's probably the only cast member you'll recognize.
The jumbled mass of homage and redefining of zombie lore in Dance of the Dead throws a monkey wrench in calling the film stereotypical and cliché, but it certainly feels that way. It seems like a rejected, alternate, first draft of a film you’ve already seen rather than a film that attempts to stand on its own two legs. It may be fun for fans of campy horror films, but its originality is borderline offensive since Dance of the Dead seems to just combine everything you know about zombies or purposely does the opposite at an attempt at being a different chomp of undead horror. Unfortunately though, Dance of the Dead is too overwhelmingly absurd for its own good as its gore feels like the drunken antics of a washed up clown rather than a competent horror film.
Dance of the Dead is available to stream on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Google Play for $1.99, Vudu for $2.99, and iTunes for $5.99. The DVD is $7.72 on Amazon while the Blu-ray (which is Region 2 only) is $25.52 from a third party seller. The DVD is $7.49 in new condition and with free shipping on eBay or $4 with $2.99 shipping pre-owned. If you enjoy terrible things, the eight disc set of all the Ghost House Underground titles are available as a boxed set on Amazon for $179.74 and on eBay for $39.99 in brand new condition and with free shipping.
This is the type of horror film you have the urge to turn off as soon as it starts. Written by Joe Ballarini (My Little Pony: The Movie) and directed by Gregg Bishop (the “Dante the Great” segment of V/H/S Viral), Dance of the Dead is a part of the eight films that made up Ghost House Underground; horror films from all over the world chosen by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert supposedly representing a “fresh” perspective of the horror genre. The problem is that most people would seek out one of these films and then never bother with the rest because why would you torture yourself any further?
The first 20 or so minutes of the film revolve around high school melodrama and the prom. This is supposedly where you get accustomed to the film’s humor, but it’s mostly nothing more than high school kids being obnoxious and unbearable. The graveyard scene is where things get even worse. Zombies start rising from beyond the grave and decomposing hands start bursting through headstones since that makes more sense than soil. Emerging from the ground simply wasn’t enough either; these zombies explode from their graves with smoke and a loud crash. Moments later during the same sequence, there are zombies jumping several feet into the air out of the ground, landing on their feet, and running after these kids. If it sounds cool in the slightest, then this description isn’t doing this dumpster fire justice.
The zombies are all over the place in Dance of the Dead. They start off as the zombies that run similar to the zombies in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake. Later on in the film, they stumble around and are slow like George Romero’s zombies. Even later after that, the zombies are running again while some attempt to speak, say, “Brains!” and then get in a car and drive off. Someone had pointed out that the zombies in the film who are fresh out of the ground run while older ones move slower, which only makes this turd milkshake slightly less nutty. Dance of the Dead also can’t decide what zombie films to pay homage to either. Return of the Living Dead has a massive influence, but the film clearly pays tribute to Night of the Living Dead when the kids reach a house and decide to board up all the windows and take shelter. It seems like the one consistent aspect this film has is to be inconsistent.
Did you know zombies can be held at bay solely by the power of rocking out? Three stoners in a band (a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer) inadvertently discover that their music stops zombies in their tracks. A bit later in the film during the prom, the gymnasium is full of zombies. There’s music playing and it shows three zombies on stage playing musical instruments; a guitar, a bass, and a drum set. Fast forward a little more and the three stoners are back again playing their stoner rock and the zombies are back to being frozen during their performance. There’s no consistency when it comes to what they play or how it affects zombies.
“In extreme circumstances, the assailants can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain.” Do you remember this quote from Shaun of the Dead? Try to keep it in mind, especially the, “removing the head,” part. A guy gets his head torn off by a zombie and you’d think he’d be dead, but this actually turns his decapitated head into a zombie. He comes back later on; his headless corpse carrying his decapitated head around. It’s one thing to try and reinvent a genre, but when you have so many reinventions along with homage out to wazoo you’re basically throwing cow pies at a brick wall and seeing what sticks.
Zombies shouldn’t make out with each other. Vampires shouldn’t sparkle and Warm Bodies isn’t canon. Two students turn into zombies and still end up in a giant make out session after they’ve turned. The kiss turns awkward as they start chewing on each other mid-kiss. They start taking bites out of each other while they’re still sucking face. This is the scariest aspect of the film considering that maybe most of us don’t want our eyeballs chewed out of our skulls during something so intimate.
When the special effects aren’t being a complete eyesore from being so cheap and ugly, the gore in Dance of the Dead is decent. Blood splattering everywhere is pretty common throughout the film. The acting isn’t completely terrible either. It absolutely isn’t good by any means. Dance of the Dead is basically Degrassi with zombies and everything lame you’re expecting to tag along with that reference. Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class, MacGyver) has a brief cameo as one of the rockers in the film and he's probably the only cast member you'll recognize.
The jumbled mass of homage and redefining of zombie lore in Dance of the Dead throws a monkey wrench in calling the film stereotypical and cliché, but it certainly feels that way. It seems like a rejected, alternate, first draft of a film you’ve already seen rather than a film that attempts to stand on its own two legs. It may be fun for fans of campy horror films, but its originality is borderline offensive since Dance of the Dead seems to just combine everything you know about zombies or purposely does the opposite at an attempt at being a different chomp of undead horror. Unfortunately though, Dance of the Dead is too overwhelmingly absurd for its own good as its gore feels like the drunken antics of a washed up clown rather than a competent horror film.
Dance of the Dead is available to stream on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Google Play for $1.99, Vudu for $2.99, and iTunes for $5.99. The DVD is $7.72 on Amazon while the Blu-ray (which is Region 2 only) is $25.52 from a third party seller. The DVD is $7.49 in new condition and with free shipping on eBay or $4 with $2.99 shipping pre-owned. If you enjoy terrible things, the eight disc set of all the Ghost House Underground titles are available as a boxed set on Amazon for $179.74 and on eBay for $39.99 in brand new condition and with free shipping.
