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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated The Mind in Tabletop Games

Nov 26, 2019  
The Mind
The Mind
2018 | Card Game, Kids Game
6
6.0 (3 Ratings)
Tabletop Game Rating
What IS a game? That’s a question that had never crossed my stream of consciousness until The Mind was released. And even then, I just sat idly by, snacking on my popcorn, watching all definitions and sides emerge in the great debate. So what’s the verdict? That’s ultimately up to you.

The Mind is a card game in which the players are trying to play their cards in ascending numerical order. That’s it. No, seriously. The ONLY catch is that players are not allowed to communicate in any way which cards they hold in their hands. No talking, no noises, and no gesturing of any kind. That’s how they getcha. Here’s how it works – at Level 1 (start of the game), each player is dealt one card. When the level officially begins, you must decide when is the right time to play your card. If the cards are played in order, then you move to Level 2 and receive 2 cards to start the round. Level 3 gives you 3 cards, and so on. Players win the game if they successfully complete a certain number of Levels.

I’m not here to comment on the “Is The Mind a game or not” debate, I’m just here to let you know our thoughts! The Mind is definitely an interesting experience, to say the least. A game that often begins timidly usually turns into a high-energy (and sometimes high-stress) atmosphere of fun. Although it might feel like pure luck, or even hidden telepathic connections, The Mind is ultimately a game of timing. The subtitle says it all – “Let’s become one…” Can you and your friends synchronize your timing well enough to make progress? Or will there be someone amongst the group who inadvertently throws off the groove?

Is The Mind my favorite game? No. But it’s one that I enjoy playing. I think it’s a unique game that keeps everyone on their toes, despite its appearance of simplicity. One thing I really enjoy is playing The Mind several times with the same group of people. It’s neat to see how the group learns the nuances of how everyone plays, and keeping that flow going between games and sessions. I also enjoy playing The Mind with a totally new group of people too for the same reason – everyone has a different play style and you’ve got to be able to learn and adapt to any given player.

The hardest rule is perhaps the one that makes the game most interesting, and that is the no communication rule. Admittedly, I do sometimes accidentally throw up a gesture or two to signal to other players, but even those are sometimes hilariously misunderstood and lead to some close calls or devastating defeats.

Overall, I think The Mind is a pretty neat game. It’s not one that I play too often, but it’s one that is simple enough to teach and play that I like playing it with newer gamers. The Mind plays fairly quickly too, so that makes it a good filler between some heavier games. Purple Phoenix Games (with input from guest score Tony) gives The Mind a thoughtful 14 / 24.
  
40x40

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Chaos Walking (2021) in Movies

Mar 3, 2021  
Chaos Walking (2021)
Chaos Walking (2021)
2021 | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
7
7.2 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Adapting a series of books into a movie is often a daunting task. As anyone who has seen many Stephen King adaptations can attest; plot complexity, characters, and depth are removed in order to condense the story into a two-hour or less run time.

The rise of streaming services has allowed many books to be adapted into series without having to cut much of the adult content in the books which would make it difficult for network television.

As such it makes adaptations such as “Chaos Walking” a delicate undertaking. The film is based on a series of books and stars Tom Holland as Todd; a young ma living on a distant world where there are no women and people can hear and see each other’s thoughts by a process known as “Noise”.

Their rustic colony is run with a firm hand by their Mayor (Mads Mikkelsen); who keeps those around him from seeing his thoughts which gives him a big advantage over those who rule.

When a landing craft from a mothership filled with a new wave of colonists crashes on the planet; Todd is shocked to find that the only survivor is a woman named Viola (Daisy Ridley) whose arrival disrupts the community.

The Mayor wishes to keep her from contacting her ship so they can seize it when it lands to maintain control of his empire as he sees the arrival of new individuals as a threat to his power.

Todd and Viola escape trying to reach a distant colony where she hopes to find a way to warn her ship about the danger the Mayor and his men present and they pursue the duo to keep this from happening.

The film lightly touches on the native race that Todd believes killed all the women of their colony but they are not visited save for a brief appearance. It is clear that the Mayor is hiding something and the reveal of what and why is fairly underwhelming which reduces him and most of his followers as thinly developed stock characters.

There is also the mystery as to why the Mothership does not bother to do any sort of follow up when they did not hear from their lander and like many aspects of the film; require the audience to simply go along with things and not ask too many questions to make things work.

Thankfully the two leads are interesting enough and they hold attention even when the story is slowly moving along with scene after scene of rivers, woods, and a little conversation.

One big issue with the film is the Noise as the visualization of thoughts as well as hearing them mixed in with verbal communication can get very confusing as it is like multiple voices in a crowded room.

Despite the issues, the potential is there and I found myself wondering what was next for the characters and hope that they do adapt future books in the series. While the film on its own does not work as a fully developed story’ as an introduction to the series it does enough to peak the interests for more.

3.5 out of 5
  
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