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Rikki Hammond (33 KP) rated Dominant Species in Tabletop Games

Jun 12, 2019 (Updated Jun 12, 2019)  
Dominant Species
Dominant Species
2010 | Animals, Environmental, Prehistoric
Interesting term mechanism (2 more)
Each species plays slightly differently
Some interesting event card powers
Woefully long at high player counts (2 more)
Boring to look at
Can be almost impossible to come back from losing
An absolute slog of a game
Dominant species is one of those games that you will either love or hate. Now I don't despise many games but this is definitely one of them.

Players choose one of many different types of species in the game, and try to become the dominant species of the game by expanding their species across the different hexagonal tiles on the board, through migrating, reproducing, and attacking other animals. If a player has more animals on a tile than other players, they are considered the dominant species of that tile and can therefore gain victory points from doing so.

Turns are determined by players placing their action pawns on different spaces on the grid to the right of the board. Once everyone has placed their pawns on the grid, actions are then worked from the top of the grid to the bottom. These actions include, but are not limoted to moving your species to another tile, attacking another species, or picking up an event card to use later. The game ends once this stack of event cards runs out, and final scoring takes place.

Each species starts out with a certain traits which means they are suited to a certain type of terrain. You can use one of your actions to gain different traits and therefore allows you to expand your species into different terrain tiles. The event cards are also useful in that they give you special abilities or can change the game in some way. This could be having your species migrate more than once in a turn, to removing every other species from your own tiles.

I like the way the turn mechanism works as it gives each player a little bit of freedom as to where they can place their pawns, and how soon they want their turn to be taken. There are a finite amount of spaces on each place of the grid so if you're action is taken up by other players before you get to it then that's just tough luck. I also like that the different species are slightly different and so gives the game a slight bit of replayability.


These are all the positives that I can give this game however. The game in general is just incredibly dull and boring to look at. Each species is differentiated by different coloured cubes and cones on the board. Take the player boards away and this game could literally be about anything you want.

The game also goes on for far too long especially at higher player counts, and especially if people don't quickly pick up those event cards, as that is the only way the game will end.

The game can also be horrendously unfair to a player. If you make one or two wrong judgements at the start of the game it can be nigh on impossible to come back from being in last place which to me, does not sound fun at all.

Personally I do not recommend dominant species as a game and I do think there are much better ones out there.
  
Bloodborne: The Card Game
Bloodborne: The Card Game
2016 | Card Game, Fantasy, Horror, Video Game Theme
Teamwork (3 more)
Deck building (to an extent)
Pressing your luck
Planning required
Even in card form...f*ck these monsters! (0 more)
Easy to learn and really fun to play!
So I can't say that I've played this game completely right because I actually had to make some house rules so that it would work for 2 players. However, me and my friend played to the best of our ability to stick to the main rules of the game such as dying and losing blood echoes and the monsters escape if you don't kill it.

From what I learned during my playthrough, this game is super fun and I can't wait to get my other friends to play it so we can play a proper 3-5 player game with the Hunters Nightmare Expansion including penalties to trophies etc.

This game requires tactics, teamwork and also careful planning to try and make sure your fellow hunters don't win. You can do this by using certain abilities of certain weapons that allow you to deal damage to the hunter yourself, allow the monster to deal damage or double damage to the player, or ensuring that you take little to no damage from the monster and allowing the other hunters to take the hit and/or fall. The game is very sneaky and you have to make sure that with the 7 card limit you have, that in the hunters dream you choose the right upgrades and new weapons and discard any others you won't need, but make sure that the cards you choose help kill the monster as well as hinder your fellow hunters.

However, you can choose to simply play the game and be fair to see who comes out on top by playing the right cards to hurt the monster more and not harm each other...but where's the fun in that?

If you've played the video game, then you'll love the card game as it has all your favourite elements such as blood echoes, weapons, health vials, molotovs, and of course the monsters! Including mini bosses and a single Final Boss card who's effects are apparent throughout the entire game. For example, the Vicar Amelia boss card, cuts players health's down from the maximum of 8, to the new maximum of 6 during the entire game no matter what other cards are played. If you have a card that says return to Max health, your new Max health is 6 which makes the game harder but also makes you think more strategically, and you have to ask yourself that one question each turn "Am I willing to take the risk?"

The payoff as in the video game, is sweet and the fall also as in the game, is bitter, especially if you took that chance whilst holding unbanked blood echoes.

My only issue with the game is that I believe there could have easily been some form of the game that allowed for just two players, but instead Myself and others like me on the internet have to come up with hosuerules, and be careful not to take away the fun of the game, as well as being careful not to drift to far from the original rules so that it doesn't become too easy. Because again, where's the fun in that?

I highly recommend this game and it's expansion to those who have the friends willing to play and not lose their sh*t when things don't go their way :')
  
Funny Pages: A Comical Puzzle Game
Funny Pages: A Comical Puzzle Game
2021 | Comic Book / Strip, Deduction, Murder & Mystery, Puzzle
I have been intellectually burned by Enigma Emporium before. So it was with a bruised ego that I agreed to check out their next game, Funny Pages. Now, I don’t fancy myself a fool, but boy did their previous offerings knock me down a peg. But what about an innocently-titled game about (and containing) comic book panels? So far I have solved two of the seven provided to me. Here we go again.

Funny Pages is a puzzle game for any number of players and any gaming skill level. In fact, as there are so few rules, this may be a somewhat perfect game (game?) for non-gamers. Read on.

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of the Promo Pack for the purposes of this preview. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T


To setup, open the envelope (or box, if playing the boxed final version) and display the cards. Done. Easy like Sunday morning.
Funny Pages is not a turn-based game, but rather an exercise in visual clue-hunting and some amount of Google-fu. In this Promo Pack, each card represents a day of the week, and some must be on Easy mode, because I was able to solve them pretty quickly. Others, I believe, echo the difficulty of the aforementioned Wish You Were Here.


In any case, the goal of this Promo Pack is to match up the puzzle with the correct day of the week. And while that sounds very easy, the puzzles certainly are not. Good luck to all who attempt!
Components. Well, these are large, oversized cards with linen finish and obviously amazing art. I am unable to speak on the final components, but have been assured that the game is 100% ready to go, so if it mimics the provided Promo Pack, these are a great size and feel.

I will be poring over these cards much much more until I absolutely figure every one of them out. I am still a bit away from that goal, but these puzzles are definitely more my speed than what I experienced previously. Some of the comics are actually funny, even when taken out of context of the game. I like the comic art style (naturally), and having clever puzzles embedded just makes them even more enjoyable.

I must admit that after solving a few of these I am feeling more confident in my ability to solve the others. I just need to take more time and think with alternate logic. Is alternate logic a thing? If not, I call dibs on coining the term. I very much enjoy these, and I think it is partly due to the fact that they look great and all seem to offer a different type of puzzle on each card. If this is something that piques your interest, then I recommend you check out the upcoming Kickstarter campaign to add this little gem to your collection. If nothing else, use it as a distraction for unwanted guests on your coffee table. Challenge them to solve the lot in a time frame and watch them go to town.


PS – Please do not ask me for hints. I may be wrong on some of my solutions.
  
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Paul Kellett (118 KP) created a post in Solo Gamers

May 9, 2019  
"Wait, you can play boardgames on your own? How does that work? Isn't it dull? and wouldn't you just rather play a video game?"

These are the most common questions I see asked whenever someone says they play solo boardgames and, if you have never experienced modern boardgames with solo rules, then you are quite right to wonder what, why and how. Let me shed some light on this side of our wonderful hobby.

You can never play enough games

Whilst we have a great group to play games on a Tuesday, 3-4 hours a week is not always enough to scratch that itch, especially if you want to play something bigger and more involved.

There are a lot of great games that need a good few hours to really get into and are not really suitable for playing in the pub on a Tuesday. If you can't meet up with anyone on other nights, then being able to play a game solo is a valid option.

Some benefits include:

*Being able to really get into the theme of a game

*Not having to worry about being slow and annoying anyone else

* Being able to play without distraction.

*Getting away from computer screens/technology.

So why play solo?

There are many reasons why people play solo games, from not having the time to get to game nights, needing something to do when the kids are asleep to just wanting to relax.

For me, I work on computers and my eyes are suffering from looking at screens all day so being able to sit down and play a boardgame is a great way to unwind and rest my eyes whilst still keeping my brain active. I can come home from work and play a short game (like Friday, Onirim or Deep Apace D6) for half an hour or more to unwind - much better than just vegging out in front of the TV.

I love deep, thematic games which tell stories. If I get a few hours free on a weekend, I can spend a Sunday afternoon lost in another world, no distractions, no stress, just me enjoying an interesting story. It's like reading a book but you are actually involved in the adventure.

So how does it work? Do you just play both sides against yourself?

No. Well, yes, you could and people do, but there is much more.

The solo gaming community has grown massively over the last few years with the 1 Player Guild on the Boardgame Geek website boasting well over 15,000 members worldwide and games designers are taking note (many of them being actively involved in the solo community themselves).

As such, many games released nowadays will have either variant rules for solo play or whole expansions or sets of cards designed purely for solo play. There are even games designed purely for solo players.

The easiest games to play solo are co-operative games. This type of game has players working together to reach a common goal in order to win the game. With a few exceptions (games with hidden traitor mechanics), all co-op games can be played solo either playing one character or taking control of two or more characters. This can get a bit heavy and confusing having to keep track of multiple characters' cards, skills, and what not, but if you know the rules fairly well, it gets easier. A lot of people do this to learn a game before bringing it to the club to teach to the rest of us.

Some good solo co-op games include:
* Robinson Crusoe
* Gloom of Kilforth
* Space Cadets: Away Missions
* Legends Untold

Then there are the games that have specific components purely for solo play. These will sometimes change the basic rules or add "Automa" or "dummy" players which function as close to a human player as possible. Usually this is a separate deck of cards that give instructions on what the dummy player will do each turn.

Games with Automa cards include:
* Scythe
* Viticulture
* Xia: Legends of a Drift System (The Automa is included in the Embers of a Forsaken Star expansion)

Finally there are the solitaire games, the ones designed from the start to be 1 player only games, these include:
* Friday
* Hostage Negotiator
* Deep Space D6
* Unbroken

A lot of these tend to be smaller, shorter games that are ideal for sticking in your bag and taking with you to play wherever you are. I often play a quick game of Deep Space D6 at lunchtime at work and when I am out working as drum tech for bands, it's cool to be able to fill in the downtime with a game of something.