7 Wonders Duel
7.9
Rate It
Tabletop Game
One of the most celebrated games in the world can now be experienced in a two-player arena. 7...
BoardGames 2PlayerGames
Rainbow Slides: Care Bears!
Games and Education
App
Nothing says ‘quality time’ like playing a Care Bears family board game with your kids....
Checkers Elite
Games
App
*** Over 10 million downloads! *** Checkers board game (Draughts, dame, damas – various...
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Nations: The Dice Game in Tabletop Games
Aug 16, 2019 (Updated Jul 17, 2021)
Nations: The Dice Game (can I please just call it Nations for this review as we know I am not talking about the original? Thanks.) is a civilization building, upgrade tile drafting, dice game for one to four players. Players will be upgrading their civilizations over four game rounds to compete for Books and VPs. The player with the most VP at the end of the game is the winner.
Disclaimer: The photos shown here is for a solo game, as I took them during my learning game using the solo rules. Normally the purple d4 is not used in multiplayer games. -T
To setup, each player will choose a starter civilization mat, receive five white dice, a gold chit, and a re-roll chit. Player order will be determined by cards and each player will receive their player order card which doubles as a reference card (great idea). The Progress Board will be set on the table and populated with randomized Age I Progress tiles according to the rule book. The Score Board will also be placed on the table to track Books, Events, and final VPs. The game begins with each player rolling their five dice.
Nations (TDG) is played over four ages with multiple rounds per age. At the beginning of each age old tiles will be removed from the Progress Board and new ones for the current age added. Also an Event tile will be drawn and placed on the Score Board to signify goals for Famine and War at the end of the age. On a player’s turn they will take one action from the following: Re-Roll (any or all unused dice by spending a re-roll chit), Buy tile (from the Progress Board to upgrade player mat spaces and dice), or Build Wonder (tile using Stone dice or chits for VP). When a player has taken as many turns/actions they wish for the age, they turn their player order card to the side to indicate they have passed for the remainder of the age.
Once all players have passed, they will tally their unused dice and any chits showing Books to be recorded on the Book track. Players will score points for Books based on how many opponents they have outscored for Books. Then players will consult the face-up Event tile that was revealed at the beginning of the round. The top portion displays VP earned when players discard unused dice and chits showing Famine leaf icons matching or exceeding what is on the Event tile. Similarly, for War players will consult the Event tile and use the sword icons on unused dice and chits to score any VPs for War. Play continues in this way across all four ages and once the fourth age has been scored the game ends and winner named victorious!
Components. I have mostly good news here. The dice in this dice game are wonderful. They are all easy to read and understand, and feel great when rolling nine or ten of them at once. The chits are fine, the Progress and Event tiles are nice and thick. The player mats, Score Board, and Progress Board are very thin though. I was going to give that a negative remark, but you know, players don’t really handle them during the game so there is no real need for them to be any thicker. The art is similar as in Nations, and while it does not resonate with me, it is fine. I won’t be playing Nations for the art.
All in all the game is fine. It didn’t blow me away or completely replace Nations (the big game) for me. It IS a pretty quick game to play, so there is one definite improvement over the big brother game; 10-15 minutes per player is pretty spot on. I usually do not prefer dice games to the originals (BANG! The Dice Game being the obvious improvement), and this one is really just on par with the big game. While it takes up less space on the shelf, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over its sibling. I feel the same way about each game, so my recommendation is get the version you feel would be played more often. Purple Phoenix Games gives Nations: The Dice Game a Montezuma-should-be-in-Age-IV 6 / 12. Give it a shot if you are into dice games, but grab the original if you want something meatier.
The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) rated Russian Railroads in Tabletop Games
Oct 18, 2018
ScoreBoard Mini - Your Personal Score Keeper
Sports and Utilities
App
Best score keeping app for your apple watch. Simple score keeper app for your watch or phone. Simply...
Discoveries (Lewis & Clark)
9.0
Rate It
Tabletop Game
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, which was commissioned in 1803 and ended in 1806, was the first...
Boardgame DiceGames
Sara (80 KP) rated Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival in Video Games
Aug 25, 2017
It's a cute game that is fun in small spurts, but has low replay value.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Viticulture in Tabletop Games
Jul 30, 2018
I liked the tokens especially - so cute!
When played for the first time, the rules are hard to process unless you have a person that has played it a lot of times. When you play for the first time - expect to lose. Badly. I could have completed so many orders, but I didn't know I was eligible.
This is a game that you get better and better by playing more and more.
Wingspan
8.9
Rate It
Tabletop Game Watch
Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game from Stonemaier...
Birds Stonemaier Card Building