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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Mass Transit in Tabletop Games
May 13, 2021
Remember back in the day when you used to get off work, have to walk a ways to the bus station, then hop a train to the marina so you could grab a boat, and then walk the rest of the way home? No? Just me? Well imagine having to plan six different peoples’ treks home this way. Which way is the easiest? Can they all make it home by dinner time? Did that guy just prematurely jump off the boat to try to get to the train? What am I even doing here?
Mass Transit is a cooperative, network building card game where players take on the roles of urban planners attempting to lay routes for commuters to head to and from work in the Big City. As the game is cooperative, all urban planners either win or lose together. But in either case, it’s the commuteeples (maybe?) that win or lose.
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 the Big City tiles to make a sweet hexagon. Each commuteeple (ok I think I’m not doing this one any longer) is placed on their worksite in the Big City. Shuffle the big deck of Mass Transit cards and deal each player four cards. The players choose a first player and the game may begin!
On a turn players will need to play at least two of their cards and can play up to all four if they wish. The choices of card play are to add it to a route line or discard it for movement. To add the card to the route line, players simply choose a route line and place the card at the end. This extends the route by one card. To finish a route, players will need to place the suburb card at the end of a line with the appropriate number of cards (some suburbs may show a 4, which means they can only be placed once four route cards have been placed in the same line).
The other way to play cards are to discard them for movement. Cards are discarded out of the game and used for the printed movement type. Green cards are walking, blue are ferry, gray are bus, red are train, and yellow are unavailable to use for movement. For example, a player could discard a green walk card in order to move the meeple one card closer to the suburb card, or could use a red train card in order to move the meeple from one train station icon to the next (which could actually move the meeple over several cards at once). There are some movement restrictions, such as the inability for meeples to simply jump out of a vehicle at a Traffic Stop in order to take an alternate movement type.
If the players can all work together (without expressly verbalizing strategy) and move all six meeples to their suburb homes before a player is unable to play two cards from their hands, they win! However, should a player be unable to play the required two cards from their hand and all meeples are not in their comfy homes, the players all lose together in sweet sadness.
Components. I absolutely love the interconnecting Big City tiles. They are just the right size, and even hold the draw deck. Speaking of the deck, the cards are all nice quality with slight linen finish and excellent graphic stylization. Mass Transit looks great on the table and when finished, looks like a funky subway map with little blue meeples. The meeples come with a sticker sheet, and while you can add your favorite stickers to one side of the meeple, we opted to just randomly add stickers to both sides and it works for us. I have zero issues with the components, and have come to expect that from Calliope Games titles.
All in all, this little game packs a great experience into about 15 or 20 minutes. What I really enjoy is trying to figure out the best usage for the cards in hand. Is it better to use the gray card to add to the route or to use it for fast travel (any Skyrim fans out there?)? To add to this thinkiness, the rules explicitly state that players are unable to discuss strategies, but can hint aloud at what they may be considering. So while this is not a silent game, players will need to carefully decide how best to communicate what they wish the party to accomplish without specifically stating such.
Mass Transit is a game that I can easily pull out and play with my 10-year-old twin niece and nephew, with other adults, or with harder gamers. When a small game can be so versatile, it certainly earns a place in my collection. If you are also looking for a small box game with a smallish table footprint and great presence, consider picking up a copy of Mass Transit. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a blues travelin’ (hehe) 11 / 12. Pro tip: use the yellow cards early and for route addition only, as they cannot be used for movement. Also, stay away from alpha gamers, and they might not be able to handle the communication ban.
Mass Transit is a cooperative, network building card game where players take on the roles of urban planners attempting to lay routes for commuters to head to and from work in the Big City. As the game is cooperative, all urban planners either win or lose together. But in either case, it’s the commuteeples (maybe?) that win or lose.
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 the Big City tiles to make a sweet hexagon. Each commuteeple (ok I think I’m not doing this one any longer) is placed on their worksite in the Big City. Shuffle the big deck of Mass Transit cards and deal each player four cards. The players choose a first player and the game may begin!
On a turn players will need to play at least two of their cards and can play up to all four if they wish. The choices of card play are to add it to a route line or discard it for movement. To add the card to the route line, players simply choose a route line and place the card at the end. This extends the route by one card. To finish a route, players will need to place the suburb card at the end of a line with the appropriate number of cards (some suburbs may show a 4, which means they can only be placed once four route cards have been placed in the same line).
The other way to play cards are to discard them for movement. Cards are discarded out of the game and used for the printed movement type. Green cards are walking, blue are ferry, gray are bus, red are train, and yellow are unavailable to use for movement. For example, a player could discard a green walk card in order to move the meeple one card closer to the suburb card, or could use a red train card in order to move the meeple from one train station icon to the next (which could actually move the meeple over several cards at once). There are some movement restrictions, such as the inability for meeples to simply jump out of a vehicle at a Traffic Stop in order to take an alternate movement type.
If the players can all work together (without expressly verbalizing strategy) and move all six meeples to their suburb homes before a player is unable to play two cards from their hands, they win! However, should a player be unable to play the required two cards from their hand and all meeples are not in their comfy homes, the players all lose together in sweet sadness.
Components. I absolutely love the interconnecting Big City tiles. They are just the right size, and even hold the draw deck. Speaking of the deck, the cards are all nice quality with slight linen finish and excellent graphic stylization. Mass Transit looks great on the table and when finished, looks like a funky subway map with little blue meeples. The meeples come with a sticker sheet, and while you can add your favorite stickers to one side of the meeple, we opted to just randomly add stickers to both sides and it works for us. I have zero issues with the components, and have come to expect that from Calliope Games titles.
All in all, this little game packs a great experience into about 15 or 20 minutes. What I really enjoy is trying to figure out the best usage for the cards in hand. Is it better to use the gray card to add to the route or to use it for fast travel (any Skyrim fans out there?)? To add to this thinkiness, the rules explicitly state that players are unable to discuss strategies, but can hint aloud at what they may be considering. So while this is not a silent game, players will need to carefully decide how best to communicate what they wish the party to accomplish without specifically stating such.
Mass Transit is a game that I can easily pull out and play with my 10-year-old twin niece and nephew, with other adults, or with harder gamers. When a small game can be so versatile, it certainly earns a place in my collection. If you are also looking for a small box game with a smallish table footprint and great presence, consider picking up a copy of Mass Transit. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a blues travelin’ (hehe) 11 / 12. Pro tip: use the yellow cards early and for route addition only, as they cannot be used for movement. Also, stay away from alpha gamers, and they might not be able to handle the communication ban.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Aldabas: Doors of Cartagena in Tabletop Games
May 16, 2021
I’m just going to come right out with it so I can get it out of the way. This game has some really nice knockers. Yes, it is kid-friendly – I am referencing the door knockers that adorn the Doors of Cartagena. These ornate knockers have historically signified professions held by the residence’s inhabitants and can still be found in this Colombian city today. So how does this translate into a board game? Well, let’s dive into the world of Aldabas: Doors of Cartagena.
In Aldabas, players are (loose) urban planners in historic Cartagena attempting to build their city block with the most influential people in town. By drafting the most strategic door cards the winning player is they who scores the most points at the end of the game.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, 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, place out 12 coins per player on the table, create the door offer dock, shuffle the Doors deck, and give each player five Doors and one Vault board. Each player then chooses one card from their hand to secretly place under their vault for endgame scoring. Place the shuffled Doors deck next to the Dock and deal one card to each space beneath the Dock. The game is now setup and ready to play!
On a turn the active player will take two actions. The actions are: Take Two Coins, Buy One Door, and Place One Door. Obviously, the first action has the player adding two coins from the supply to their play area (called the purse). To Buy One Door the player simply chooses one of the Door cards from the Dock area and pays its cost to the supply. The two cards on the leftmost spaces of the Dock are free, while the other cards cost coins according to their placement at the Dock. Once a card has been purchased, a new card is revealed and added to the rightmost space, sliding all other Doors cards to the left.
To Place One Door, the active player will choose a Doors card from their hand and place it on their block they are building in front of them. The Vault card acts as the bottom leftmost space, with the block encompassing a 4×3 grid above it and to the right (as shown below). Once the Door is placed, any special power it offers is triggered immediately, as are the Doors cards’ powers adjacently below and beside the newly placed Door card.
The catch here is that when placing Doors, it is illegal to place them orthogonally adjacent to Doors of the same color, and the spaces both below and to the left of the placed Door cannot be empty. Essentially, Doors need to be placed in a cone starting from the Vault. Play continues in this fashion with players taking turns until either the supply runs out of coins, a player fills up their 4×3 grid with Doors, or the Dock cannot be refilled because the Doors deck is empty. Then final scoring occurs, which is based on individual cards as well as any suit-specific bonuses offered.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so final components may be different in many different ways upon a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, this game looks GORGEOUS on the table. The colors are all super vibrant, and the great knockers really pop. Excellent theme and art here carry an already-spiffy game. The game is basically a bunch of cards and some coin tokens. They are all fine quality, especially for a prototype. I have no issues at all. I love the way this looks!
So I love the way it looks, but do I love the way it plays? I think it’s a good little game. It reminds me a little of Viceroy with the color combinations and placement rules. While Viceroy is good, Aldabas is much better in almost all ways. Aldabas plays quicker and has more easily digestible rules. If you check Viceroy’s profile on BGG you will see that many users enjoy it, and it currently sits just above rank 1000. So when I say Aldabas gives a similar feel but delivers a more enjoyable game experience, I expect Aldabas to perform better in the BGG rankings, if that’s your thing.
The special powers on the Doors cards, though I didn’t really mention them, range from VPs at game end, to moving coins to and from the Vault onto Doors to make them more valuable, to gaining coins from the supply or stealing them from other players, to offering discounts on purchasing Doors from the Dock. There are some other fun rules used in scoring, but I will let you experience those on your own with your backed copy.
So final word from me on this one is that I highly recommend it and hope you give it a shot. It offers lots of strategic game play with a medium-sized table footprint, but boy it looks great on that table! Turns are fast, and everyone is in the game until end scoring, so I never felt there was a runaway winner issue. If you are like me, you will definitely want to be adding this to your collection. Big recommendations from me, I know you will enjoy it.
In Aldabas, players are (loose) urban planners in historic Cartagena attempting to build their city block with the most influential people in town. By drafting the most strategic door cards the winning player is they who scores the most points at the end of the game.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, 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, place out 12 coins per player on the table, create the door offer dock, shuffle the Doors deck, and give each player five Doors and one Vault board. Each player then chooses one card from their hand to secretly place under their vault for endgame scoring. Place the shuffled Doors deck next to the Dock and deal one card to each space beneath the Dock. The game is now setup and ready to play!
On a turn the active player will take two actions. The actions are: Take Two Coins, Buy One Door, and Place One Door. Obviously, the first action has the player adding two coins from the supply to their play area (called the purse). To Buy One Door the player simply chooses one of the Door cards from the Dock area and pays its cost to the supply. The two cards on the leftmost spaces of the Dock are free, while the other cards cost coins according to their placement at the Dock. Once a card has been purchased, a new card is revealed and added to the rightmost space, sliding all other Doors cards to the left.
To Place One Door, the active player will choose a Doors card from their hand and place it on their block they are building in front of them. The Vault card acts as the bottom leftmost space, with the block encompassing a 4×3 grid above it and to the right (as shown below). Once the Door is placed, any special power it offers is triggered immediately, as are the Doors cards’ powers adjacently below and beside the newly placed Door card.
The catch here is that when placing Doors, it is illegal to place them orthogonally adjacent to Doors of the same color, and the spaces both below and to the left of the placed Door cannot be empty. Essentially, Doors need to be placed in a cone starting from the Vault. Play continues in this fashion with players taking turns until either the supply runs out of coins, a player fills up their 4×3 grid with Doors, or the Dock cannot be refilled because the Doors deck is empty. Then final scoring occurs, which is based on individual cards as well as any suit-specific bonuses offered.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so final components may be different in many different ways upon a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, this game looks GORGEOUS on the table. The colors are all super vibrant, and the great knockers really pop. Excellent theme and art here carry an already-spiffy game. The game is basically a bunch of cards and some coin tokens. They are all fine quality, especially for a prototype. I have no issues at all. I love the way this looks!
So I love the way it looks, but do I love the way it plays? I think it’s a good little game. It reminds me a little of Viceroy with the color combinations and placement rules. While Viceroy is good, Aldabas is much better in almost all ways. Aldabas plays quicker and has more easily digestible rules. If you check Viceroy’s profile on BGG you will see that many users enjoy it, and it currently sits just above rank 1000. So when I say Aldabas gives a similar feel but delivers a more enjoyable game experience, I expect Aldabas to perform better in the BGG rankings, if that’s your thing.
The special powers on the Doors cards, though I didn’t really mention them, range from VPs at game end, to moving coins to and from the Vault onto Doors to make them more valuable, to gaining coins from the supply or stealing them from other players, to offering discounts on purchasing Doors from the Dock. There are some other fun rules used in scoring, but I will let you experience those on your own with your backed copy.
So final word from me on this one is that I highly recommend it and hope you give it a shot. It offers lots of strategic game play with a medium-sized table footprint, but boy it looks great on that table! Turns are fast, and everyone is in the game until end scoring, so I never felt there was a runaway winner issue. If you are like me, you will definitely want to be adding this to your collection. Big recommendations from me, I know you will enjoy it.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates in Tabletop Games
Jul 16, 2021
I feel like I try to open pirate-themed games with silly faux pirate talk and it’s getting old. So I won’t do that this time. What I will do is start by saying we reviewed another Forbidden Games title (Raccoon Tycoon) to very high praise, so we expect nothing but greatness now. Does Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates! (or from now on just Pirates) match the quality we enjoy in Raccoon Tycoon? Yarr.
Pirates is a piratey, deck-building, racing game for two to six players attempting to reach Trinidad with the most VP and greatest booty (interpret that as you will). To setup, lay the humongous board on the table and populate the merchant ship locations with the appropriate number of supply crates pulled blindly from the bag. Each player will place one of their ships on the starting locations of each of the three tracks upon the board. Shuffle the Merchant Deck and place it in its position on the board face-down. Shuffle the Port Deck and set it near the board face-down but reveal the top three cards as the offer. Shuffle the treasure tiles and reveal a number of them equal to three times the number of players plus one more. Give each player their starting deck to shuffle and then draw five as a starting hand. The race may now begin!
On a player’s turn they will play three cards from their hand and “move their ships accordingly” says the rulebook. Initially we were not sure if that meant movement cards could all be played to the same ship or each of the three cards needed to be assigned to each of the player ships on the three different tracks so we decided to use the latter rule logic. Cards will contain a number in the lower right hand corner to signify how many spaces a ship may move this turn. Some cards will also have a special power written beside the movement number that may be used instead of the movement. The starting deck contains one card that will be able to thin the deck using this type of special power.
When a player’s ship meets either a Merchant ship or moves into a Port the movement ends immediately to resolve these encounters. When plundering a Merchant ship players will simply swipe the supply crates from the board and draw a Merchant card to their discard pile. When in Port, players will be able to draw one of the face-up Port cards in the offer or the top card from the face-down draw deck. In addition, players will be able to use the supply crates collected as currency to purchase the revealed treasure tiles near the board for VP at game end. Once all card have been played and subsequent actions played as a result the next player takes their turn. Play continues in this fashion until one ship reaches Trinidad and ends the game. The pirate captain with the most VP from cards, treasure tiles, and placement on each track will be the winner with the greatest booty (not in the rules, but I like to play that way).
Components. We were impressed with the components in Raccoon Tycoon, but Pirates scores well above it in component impressiveness. The board is massive and features incredible art. It looks just like a map and it’s simply gorgeous. The cards are all fine quality and the art on them is very good. The true component stars in this game are the supply crates and the player ships. Okay, so I love playing games that feel deluxe. I’m sure I’m not alone with that statement, but when I tell you that these little crates are amazing I meant it. How easy would it have been to just throw in a bunch of colored wooden cubes like 98% of games and call it a day? Easy peasy. But no, not good enough. Pirates goes the extra mile and gives us molded plastic (or resin, idk I’m not a chemist) boxes that look like supply boxes. And the pirate ships? The same super incredibly quality. They are minis where standees could have worked just fine. And they are DETAILED. I love them so much. Components score a big time happy face from us.
But the gameplay. Components are great but make the game they do not. However, having these great components only enhance the already wonderful gameplay here. I love deck-building games and it might be my favorite style of game. I also genuinely love when games throw in additional styles to complement the deck-building. Don’t get me wrong, we all love our Legendary: Marvel DBG (it’s a Golden Feather Award winner after all), but that’s just straight up deck-building. I quite enjoy another little deck-builder that adds a map and an additional way to use the deck-building cards in harmony: Trains. In Pirates we have deck-building paired with racing on a giant board. It just fits the piratey theme so well and combines deck-building with what I love from the game Jamaica.
It’s no surprise that I personally rated this quite high. Though not all our team has had a chance to play it yet, I believe they would all love it as much as I do. Purple Phoenix Games gives Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates! a plunderingly wunderful (I did that on purpose) 11 / 12. Want to add to your deck-building experience with a race using excellent components and art? Pick up a copy from your FLGS today!
Pirates is a piratey, deck-building, racing game for two to six players attempting to reach Trinidad with the most VP and greatest booty (interpret that as you will). To setup, lay the humongous board on the table and populate the merchant ship locations with the appropriate number of supply crates pulled blindly from the bag. Each player will place one of their ships on the starting locations of each of the three tracks upon the board. Shuffle the Merchant Deck and place it in its position on the board face-down. Shuffle the Port Deck and set it near the board face-down but reveal the top three cards as the offer. Shuffle the treasure tiles and reveal a number of them equal to three times the number of players plus one more. Give each player their starting deck to shuffle and then draw five as a starting hand. The race may now begin!
On a player’s turn they will play three cards from their hand and “move their ships accordingly” says the rulebook. Initially we were not sure if that meant movement cards could all be played to the same ship or each of the three cards needed to be assigned to each of the player ships on the three different tracks so we decided to use the latter rule logic. Cards will contain a number in the lower right hand corner to signify how many spaces a ship may move this turn. Some cards will also have a special power written beside the movement number that may be used instead of the movement. The starting deck contains one card that will be able to thin the deck using this type of special power.
When a player’s ship meets either a Merchant ship or moves into a Port the movement ends immediately to resolve these encounters. When plundering a Merchant ship players will simply swipe the supply crates from the board and draw a Merchant card to their discard pile. When in Port, players will be able to draw one of the face-up Port cards in the offer or the top card from the face-down draw deck. In addition, players will be able to use the supply crates collected as currency to purchase the revealed treasure tiles near the board for VP at game end. Once all card have been played and subsequent actions played as a result the next player takes their turn. Play continues in this fashion until one ship reaches Trinidad and ends the game. The pirate captain with the most VP from cards, treasure tiles, and placement on each track will be the winner with the greatest booty (not in the rules, but I like to play that way).
Components. We were impressed with the components in Raccoon Tycoon, but Pirates scores well above it in component impressiveness. The board is massive and features incredible art. It looks just like a map and it’s simply gorgeous. The cards are all fine quality and the art on them is very good. The true component stars in this game are the supply crates and the player ships. Okay, so I love playing games that feel deluxe. I’m sure I’m not alone with that statement, but when I tell you that these little crates are amazing I meant it. How easy would it have been to just throw in a bunch of colored wooden cubes like 98% of games and call it a day? Easy peasy. But no, not good enough. Pirates goes the extra mile and gives us molded plastic (or resin, idk I’m not a chemist) boxes that look like supply boxes. And the pirate ships? The same super incredibly quality. They are minis where standees could have worked just fine. And they are DETAILED. I love them so much. Components score a big time happy face from us.
But the gameplay. Components are great but make the game they do not. However, having these great components only enhance the already wonderful gameplay here. I love deck-building games and it might be my favorite style of game. I also genuinely love when games throw in additional styles to complement the deck-building. Don’t get me wrong, we all love our Legendary: Marvel DBG (it’s a Golden Feather Award winner after all), but that’s just straight up deck-building. I quite enjoy another little deck-builder that adds a map and an additional way to use the deck-building cards in harmony: Trains. In Pirates we have deck-building paired with racing on a giant board. It just fits the piratey theme so well and combines deck-building with what I love from the game Jamaica.
It’s no surprise that I personally rated this quite high. Though not all our team has had a chance to play it yet, I believe they would all love it as much as I do. Purple Phoenix Games gives Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates! a plunderingly wunderful (I did that on purpose) 11 / 12. Want to add to your deck-building experience with a race using excellent components and art? Pick up a copy from your FLGS today!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Wicked & Wise in Tabletop Games
Jul 20, 2021
Who here has only thought of dragons as fearsome fire-breathing beasts of flight in fantastical worlds of magic and whimsy? I probably would be among you, if not for the cutey little Leafy Sea Dragons in our own world. That aside, not many would guess that dragons are actually smooth businesscreatures who employ simple, yet very professional, hordes of mice as their personal accountants. I guess you just don’t know what you don’t know. So thank you to designer Fertessa Allyse for cluing us all in on the inner workings of draconic wealth management.
Wicked & Wise is a trick-taking game where players belong to teams of dragon/mouse-kind bent on epic games of cards upon which they wager and win treasures and gold. Think you know Euchre? Well this is Euchre with purpose!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, 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
Setup is different for each play count from two to six players. For this review, we have tackled the two-player version that uses an open-handed ghost-Mouse player. Separate all card types and place them in decks, per the rules. Each Dragon player will receive 10 basic cards for their hands, and the ghost-Mouse player will be dealt five cards face-up between both players. The starting player is determined and given the Lead Token, which in this prototype copy, is a 3d-printed white dragon (amazing). Each player (or team if playing with more players) also chooses their Goal card for the round and a Table Talk card in use for the entire game. There are more rules for setup, but this is the general idea.
Generally speaking, Wicked & Wise is played like a normal trick-taking game with several embellishments. One such is that the leading Dragon will play the first card to set the trump suit, then the other Dragon(s) will play their card to follow. Once all Dragons have played, the Mouse players will play their one card in the same team order the Dragons followed. The Dragons’ cards are all played for the suit and numeric value, as in Euchre, but the Mouse cards are played for their special abilities printed at the bottom of each card. These abilities could include drawing cards and passing them to their Dragon teammate, or choosing to take some Gold, or discarding and redrawing more basic cards. Oh, but here is the kicker – the Dragons now get another card they may play to help tip the odds and win the trick! I am no master of Euchre (or any trick-taking game for that matter), but I know I have never seen this in any game I have ever played. Two opportunities to play a card to win the trick? Excellent.
The round Goal cards are now consulted to see if the teams achieved their chosen Goal for the round. If successful, the team takes the reward printed. If not, they lose half the amount, rounded down. Afterward, the Cleanup actions will reset hand sizes and get the table ready to play the next round. The winning team is they who are able to amass the largest collection of Gold over the course of the three rounds of play. Games can last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes per my plays, and they get faster with more experience and more focused players.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of this game. That said, I am absolutely impressed with how far along this game seems to be at this point. The art is mostly complete and it is simply amazing. Beth Sobel has always received high praise from us here, and never disappoints on anything she touches. I think the cards have a great look to them, and the suits are differentiated not only by color, but also by iconography – a boon for our colorblind gamer friends. I am very excited to see where the components end up at the end of the Kickstarter campaign for sure.
Euchre has always been one of my favorite games, and it is something I can play with any type of teammate or opponent. I learned how to play on a bus in France in college and will always accept an invitation to play it. So to have a themed version of Euchre to play that also adds so many interesting new decisions and teammate roles and physical score-keeping components just hits on every level. The theme and game are not necessarily securely tied together – I think those that are opposed to a fantasy setting can easily enjoy the game or simply re-theme it themselves to almost anything.
This one is a sneaky little game that pulls you in and keeps you interested throughout its entirety, and that is a mark of a great game for me. Once game nights can get back to normal soon (I hope) I can see this coming out to the table quite often. If you are in the market for a swole Euchre replacement (or extremely fun side session for the die-hards), then I recommend you take a look at Wicked & Wise. It adds so many great new ideas to keep an old standard fresh and tasty. Do consider backing it on Kickstarter when it launches in August, and let’s see if we can get Carla to drop an image of the Lead Player Token they are planning.
Wicked & Wise is a trick-taking game where players belong to teams of dragon/mouse-kind bent on epic games of cards upon which they wager and win treasures and gold. Think you know Euchre? Well this is Euchre with purpose!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, 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
Setup is different for each play count from two to six players. For this review, we have tackled the two-player version that uses an open-handed ghost-Mouse player. Separate all card types and place them in decks, per the rules. Each Dragon player will receive 10 basic cards for their hands, and the ghost-Mouse player will be dealt five cards face-up between both players. The starting player is determined and given the Lead Token, which in this prototype copy, is a 3d-printed white dragon (amazing). Each player (or team if playing with more players) also chooses their Goal card for the round and a Table Talk card in use for the entire game. There are more rules for setup, but this is the general idea.
Generally speaking, Wicked & Wise is played like a normal trick-taking game with several embellishments. One such is that the leading Dragon will play the first card to set the trump suit, then the other Dragon(s) will play their card to follow. Once all Dragons have played, the Mouse players will play their one card in the same team order the Dragons followed. The Dragons’ cards are all played for the suit and numeric value, as in Euchre, but the Mouse cards are played for their special abilities printed at the bottom of each card. These abilities could include drawing cards and passing them to their Dragon teammate, or choosing to take some Gold, or discarding and redrawing more basic cards. Oh, but here is the kicker – the Dragons now get another card they may play to help tip the odds and win the trick! I am no master of Euchre (or any trick-taking game for that matter), but I know I have never seen this in any game I have ever played. Two opportunities to play a card to win the trick? Excellent.
The round Goal cards are now consulted to see if the teams achieved their chosen Goal for the round. If successful, the team takes the reward printed. If not, they lose half the amount, rounded down. Afterward, the Cleanup actions will reset hand sizes and get the table ready to play the next round. The winning team is they who are able to amass the largest collection of Gold over the course of the three rounds of play. Games can last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes per my plays, and they get faster with more experience and more focused players.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of this game. That said, I am absolutely impressed with how far along this game seems to be at this point. The art is mostly complete and it is simply amazing. Beth Sobel has always received high praise from us here, and never disappoints on anything she touches. I think the cards have a great look to them, and the suits are differentiated not only by color, but also by iconography – a boon for our colorblind gamer friends. I am very excited to see where the components end up at the end of the Kickstarter campaign for sure.
Euchre has always been one of my favorite games, and it is something I can play with any type of teammate or opponent. I learned how to play on a bus in France in college and will always accept an invitation to play it. So to have a themed version of Euchre to play that also adds so many interesting new decisions and teammate roles and physical score-keeping components just hits on every level. The theme and game are not necessarily securely tied together – I think those that are opposed to a fantasy setting can easily enjoy the game or simply re-theme it themselves to almost anything.
This one is a sneaky little game that pulls you in and keeps you interested throughout its entirety, and that is a mark of a great game for me. Once game nights can get back to normal soon (I hope) I can see this coming out to the table quite often. If you are in the market for a swole Euchre replacement (or extremely fun side session for the die-hards), then I recommend you take a look at Wicked & Wise. It adds so many great new ideas to keep an old standard fresh and tasty. Do consider backing it on Kickstarter when it launches in August, and let’s see if we can get Carla to drop an image of the Lead Player Token they are planning.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Light of My Life (2019) in Movies
Jan 22, 2021
It is difficult to talk about Casey Affleck in a positive light as a movie-maker without mentioning the heightened media storm that surrounded him in 2017, at the time of #metoo and his own moment of personal glory in winning the Best Actor Oscar for his excellent performance in Manchester By the Sea. The Oscar was deserved, as was the criticism. The latter affecting the sweetness of the former entirely, and perhaps explaining why a recent Academy Award winner would be so quiet for the next 3 years.
The facts are that he settled out of court for two sexual harassment claims, that in interviews later he would admit some guilt and shame towards. He never tried to hide it and seemed genuinely regretful of his part in whatever crimes took place. He never tried to deny it or belittle it or excuse it as something small and insignificant, he owned up and hung his head.
For which I’d be tempted to say, yes, he behaved like an asshole and abused his position, but is worthy of forgiveness, on probation that he learned from the mistake and never remotely did anything like it again. However, the media doesn’t forget, and in a personal and professional way he has been persona non grata ever since.
Like many others in the spotlight before him for nefarious reasons, I believe emphatically in saying it is possible to separate a person from their work. If someone has done something where they need to be in jail, then let the system take care of it, otherwise let them get on with life and continue to work. Affleck is such a talented actor that it is his performances that spring to mind above anything else by far, and that probably won’t change. I’d absolutely hate to think his negative reputation prevented him from doing the best work of his life.
One way to ensure some relative solitude and privacy whilst remaining at work, then, is to write, produce, direct and star in a small personal film about a father and daughter, alone for 90% of the movie, in a post apocalyptic wilderness. Affleck is the nameless “dad” to the pre-teen daughter he dotes on and will do anything to protect, named “Rag”, for reasons that are explained beautifully in the narrative.
Played by promising newcomer Anna Pniowsky, it is a testament to Affleck’s skill and sensitivity as actor and director that Rag always feels as important and centre stage as the “star” of the show. The film begins very unusually with a 7 minute static dialogue between the two, which demonstrates the relationship and energy of the film perfectly, and in such an interesting way. Pniowsky gives as good as she gets in terms of detailed characterisation, and the dynamic between the two is an absolute delight.
Inevitably, this film is always going to be seen as a poor cousin to The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen, from 2009. It is very similar, it can’t be denied. Even the idea of the parent ensuring “the light / fire” is kept alive within the child, considering that the survival of humanity in all senses is paramount, and supercedes the notion of survival at any cost. Dignity, kindness and non-violence must be maintained, or they will be lost. It is a message worth passing on – enough to make Affleck want to fly so close to the themes and tone of a bigger, well liked film. He must certainly have been aware of how similar they are.
It doesn’t always work, and I did find myself wishing for more action, or at least incident, rather than all the static talking scenes. Although they were often beautifully done, there were just one too many of them to keep the film fully engaging. The use of flashback, where we see the past they came from and the absent mother (presumed long dead) played by Elizabeth Moss, who does not get enough screen time to leave a mark, also doesn’t fully ring true.
Where it does work is in the simple beauty of the relationship between father and daughter. Her innocence and growing curiosity about the tainted world she is inheriting, and his single minded insistence on teaching her things his way and keeping her oblivious to the harshness of life for as long as possible. We begin to suspect his methods are not always the best, and that inevitably the time is coming where for good or bad she will have to find her own path without him.
Which leads to a very touching last 20 minutes I can’t possibly explain without leaving spoilers. If it wasn’t two hours but 90 minutes I believe the idea would have had more impact and not outstay its welcome. As it is, it is just a little flabby in the edit to be described as “great”, and might be otherwise described as slightly indulgent and naive, directorially. It is a tough one to pin down, because whilst I don’t think there is much wrong with it, I also don’t think there is enough right to fully recommend it to a wide audience.
I’m putting this one in the box marked “little seen gems”, intersecting with the one marked “near miss with potential”. When in a patient mood, this could be a film you relate to and enjoy. Just don’t go in expecting too much to happen and concentrate on what it means to be a parent in a cruel world. In that sense it has a lot to say and is well worth your time.
The facts are that he settled out of court for two sexual harassment claims, that in interviews later he would admit some guilt and shame towards. He never tried to hide it and seemed genuinely regretful of his part in whatever crimes took place. He never tried to deny it or belittle it or excuse it as something small and insignificant, he owned up and hung his head.
For which I’d be tempted to say, yes, he behaved like an asshole and abused his position, but is worthy of forgiveness, on probation that he learned from the mistake and never remotely did anything like it again. However, the media doesn’t forget, and in a personal and professional way he has been persona non grata ever since.
Like many others in the spotlight before him for nefarious reasons, I believe emphatically in saying it is possible to separate a person from their work. If someone has done something where they need to be in jail, then let the system take care of it, otherwise let them get on with life and continue to work. Affleck is such a talented actor that it is his performances that spring to mind above anything else by far, and that probably won’t change. I’d absolutely hate to think his negative reputation prevented him from doing the best work of his life.
One way to ensure some relative solitude and privacy whilst remaining at work, then, is to write, produce, direct and star in a small personal film about a father and daughter, alone for 90% of the movie, in a post apocalyptic wilderness. Affleck is the nameless “dad” to the pre-teen daughter he dotes on and will do anything to protect, named “Rag”, for reasons that are explained beautifully in the narrative.
Played by promising newcomer Anna Pniowsky, it is a testament to Affleck’s skill and sensitivity as actor and director that Rag always feels as important and centre stage as the “star” of the show. The film begins very unusually with a 7 minute static dialogue between the two, which demonstrates the relationship and energy of the film perfectly, and in such an interesting way. Pniowsky gives as good as she gets in terms of detailed characterisation, and the dynamic between the two is an absolute delight.
Inevitably, this film is always going to be seen as a poor cousin to The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen, from 2009. It is very similar, it can’t be denied. Even the idea of the parent ensuring “the light / fire” is kept alive within the child, considering that the survival of humanity in all senses is paramount, and supercedes the notion of survival at any cost. Dignity, kindness and non-violence must be maintained, or they will be lost. It is a message worth passing on – enough to make Affleck want to fly so close to the themes and tone of a bigger, well liked film. He must certainly have been aware of how similar they are.
It doesn’t always work, and I did find myself wishing for more action, or at least incident, rather than all the static talking scenes. Although they were often beautifully done, there were just one too many of them to keep the film fully engaging. The use of flashback, where we see the past they came from and the absent mother (presumed long dead) played by Elizabeth Moss, who does not get enough screen time to leave a mark, also doesn’t fully ring true.
Where it does work is in the simple beauty of the relationship between father and daughter. Her innocence and growing curiosity about the tainted world she is inheriting, and his single minded insistence on teaching her things his way and keeping her oblivious to the harshness of life for as long as possible. We begin to suspect his methods are not always the best, and that inevitably the time is coming where for good or bad she will have to find her own path without him.
Which leads to a very touching last 20 minutes I can’t possibly explain without leaving spoilers. If it wasn’t two hours but 90 minutes I believe the idea would have had more impact and not outstay its welcome. As it is, it is just a little flabby in the edit to be described as “great”, and might be otherwise described as slightly indulgent and naive, directorially. It is a tough one to pin down, because whilst I don’t think there is much wrong with it, I also don’t think there is enough right to fully recommend it to a wide audience.
I’m putting this one in the box marked “little seen gems”, intersecting with the one marked “near miss with potential”. When in a patient mood, this could be a film you relate to and enjoy. Just don’t go in expecting too much to happen and concentrate on what it means to be a parent in a cruel world. In that sense it has a lot to say and is well worth your time.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
This is an interesting piece. Originally commissioned for a 30 minute documentary piece, Peter Jackson found so much footage and so many stories to tell that he managed to extend it into a feature length production.
I'm going to skip over most of the massive fiasco that was Cineworld's handling of the screening. The issue came from them under estimating how popular it would be. With people interested in history and people interested in the processes used that meant a lot of viewers and unsurprisingly they sold out the small screen and had to move it to a bigger screen. So many people turned up that there were even seats allocated in the first five rows which never normally happens.
The footage and narrative that were put together for this were excellent. Things that never occurred to me before were brought to the screen with a lightheartedness and humour that off-set the horrors of war. For example, it had never occurred to me how soldiers in the field dealt with the toilet situation. Holes in the ground are the obvious conclusion, but I had never seen the images of the giant hole with a log suspended over it where you'd all hang out (literally) to get some relief.
The technical side of films are not something I know a great deal about, but the basics were explained in the Q&A afterward. Old film runs at a different frame rate to new film. (Yes, I know anyone with the technical knowledge is screaming in pain at my description here but you'll have to deal with it!) So all the film had to be lengthened to be used. This meant feeding it into a computer that would extrapolate the missing frames to make everything work. The quality was then enhanced and colourised.
When the film itself is presented it starts in black and white and changes to colour soon after. That moment brought goosebumps. Footage like you've never seen before, AND on the big screen. It made an amazing impact.
The voice overs during the film were all cast to match the regional accents of the soldiers, which was an incredibly nice touch. As well as the voices all the sounds had to be recreated and honestly they fit so well you'd have assumed they were "live".
Here's where I get to my "however" moment.
It was interesting, the sound effects were brilliantly done, and bringing unseen footage to the big screen was a massive accomplishment, especially to do it in a sensitive way... however... I personally wasn't a fan of some of the film outside of the story it was telling.
As I mentioned, the production was only supposed to be 30 minutes long. I can understanding why they made it longer but as a "film" it did begin to drag. It perhaps would have benefited from being a short series as opposed to one long documentary.
Seeing it outside of this screening you would have also missed out on many of the fascinating facts that we discovered during the Q&A at the end. It's entirely possible that the sound effects would have gone completely unnoticed as they feel so realistic. Combining the Q&A style dialogue and the documentary would have been interesting and you would have been even more in awe of what they achieved.
This screening was presented in 3D. You by now will know I have mixed feelings about 3D. I don't think the effect in this instance really added anything to it. The impressive nature of the file footage was what the film needed to concentrate on.
On that point, and as previously mentioned, the archive footage had to be dubbed and they went to a lot of effort with casting and hiring lip readers to stay authentic, which was brilliant. But I also felt that the effort was diminished by the quality of the audio. Not that it was bad, but that is was in fact very good. The stories that were recounted over the footage was wonderfully done. My issue was with the lip-synced scripts. The audio track was a stark contrast to the footage. Restoration can't change the fact that the footage is old and still grainy. Having a modern, perfectly clear track over the top didn't make it feel real. I can't help but think that those sections would have been improved if the audio had been "aged" to match with what we were seeing.
Lastly I come to what I realise is in essence most of the documentary. The restoration. During the showing in close up footage the faces of the soldiers seemed to distort as they moved. I imagine that this is the computer generated frames working with the actual footage. It became increasingly difficult not to notice this happening and I found it rather off putting. The colourisation felt strange at times, perhaps because I expect war to appear more drab because of the way cinema usually portrays it. That wasn't something I found to be constant though, some blended in while watching and just a few frames stood out. There's no denying its initial impact though, that transition was possibly the most effective bit of the whole production.
What you should do
I know I've been critical of a lot of things there and I've only given it 3 stars but you should definitely see They Shall Not Grow Old. The story it tells is undeniably incredible and important. If I was only judging the documentary on its own I would have given this 5 stars.
I'm going to skip over most of the massive fiasco that was Cineworld's handling of the screening. The issue came from them under estimating how popular it would be. With people interested in history and people interested in the processes used that meant a lot of viewers and unsurprisingly they sold out the small screen and had to move it to a bigger screen. So many people turned up that there were even seats allocated in the first five rows which never normally happens.
The footage and narrative that were put together for this were excellent. Things that never occurred to me before were brought to the screen with a lightheartedness and humour that off-set the horrors of war. For example, it had never occurred to me how soldiers in the field dealt with the toilet situation. Holes in the ground are the obvious conclusion, but I had never seen the images of the giant hole with a log suspended over it where you'd all hang out (literally) to get some relief.
The technical side of films are not something I know a great deal about, but the basics were explained in the Q&A afterward. Old film runs at a different frame rate to new film. (Yes, I know anyone with the technical knowledge is screaming in pain at my description here but you'll have to deal with it!) So all the film had to be lengthened to be used. This meant feeding it into a computer that would extrapolate the missing frames to make everything work. The quality was then enhanced and colourised.
When the film itself is presented it starts in black and white and changes to colour soon after. That moment brought goosebumps. Footage like you've never seen before, AND on the big screen. It made an amazing impact.
The voice overs during the film were all cast to match the regional accents of the soldiers, which was an incredibly nice touch. As well as the voices all the sounds had to be recreated and honestly they fit so well you'd have assumed they were "live".
Here's where I get to my "however" moment.
It was interesting, the sound effects were brilliantly done, and bringing unseen footage to the big screen was a massive accomplishment, especially to do it in a sensitive way... however... I personally wasn't a fan of some of the film outside of the story it was telling.
As I mentioned, the production was only supposed to be 30 minutes long. I can understanding why they made it longer but as a "film" it did begin to drag. It perhaps would have benefited from being a short series as opposed to one long documentary.
Seeing it outside of this screening you would have also missed out on many of the fascinating facts that we discovered during the Q&A at the end. It's entirely possible that the sound effects would have gone completely unnoticed as they feel so realistic. Combining the Q&A style dialogue and the documentary would have been interesting and you would have been even more in awe of what they achieved.
This screening was presented in 3D. You by now will know I have mixed feelings about 3D. I don't think the effect in this instance really added anything to it. The impressive nature of the file footage was what the film needed to concentrate on.
On that point, and as previously mentioned, the archive footage had to be dubbed and they went to a lot of effort with casting and hiring lip readers to stay authentic, which was brilliant. But I also felt that the effort was diminished by the quality of the audio. Not that it was bad, but that is was in fact very good. The stories that were recounted over the footage was wonderfully done. My issue was with the lip-synced scripts. The audio track was a stark contrast to the footage. Restoration can't change the fact that the footage is old and still grainy. Having a modern, perfectly clear track over the top didn't make it feel real. I can't help but think that those sections would have been improved if the audio had been "aged" to match with what we were seeing.
Lastly I come to what I realise is in essence most of the documentary. The restoration. During the showing in close up footage the faces of the soldiers seemed to distort as they moved. I imagine that this is the computer generated frames working with the actual footage. It became increasingly difficult not to notice this happening and I found it rather off putting. The colourisation felt strange at times, perhaps because I expect war to appear more drab because of the way cinema usually portrays it. That wasn't something I found to be constant though, some blended in while watching and just a few frames stood out. There's no denying its initial impact though, that transition was possibly the most effective bit of the whole production.
What you should do
I know I've been critical of a lot of things there and I've only given it 3 stars but you should definitely see They Shall Not Grow Old. The story it tells is undeniably incredible and important. If I was only judging the documentary on its own I would have given this 5 stars.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Citadels in Tabletop Games
Aug 13, 2021
It has been documented several times that I, Travis Lopez, would be a horrible city planner. So why do I keep playing these games that require me to build city buildings and components and why do I enjoy them so much? Well, truth be told, this is a game that I had traded for years ago, got rid of, missed terribly, and repurchased. However, this is the newer version that includes a lot more in the box. Does it mean that the game is better? More stuff means better game, right?
In Citadels players will be donning the mantle of potential Master Builders and will need to build the greatest buildings within the city and manipulate the powers of special people within its walls. The game ends when a player has built their seventh district building. The player with the most VP at this time will be crowned Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
To setup, decide which eight characters will be used in the game, gather their cards and tokens, and place their tokens in ascending order on the table. This is to remind all players which characters (and their rank) is in play. Assemble the district (building) cards per the rules and shuffle the deck. Deal each player four of these district cards along with two gold coins. The eldest player will begin the game as the current First Player (complete with crown mini) and will begin the first phase of the first round.
Citadels is played over several rounds, each with two phases played within. The first phase is the Selection Phase, where the current First Player takes the character cards, shuffles them, adds zero to two cards (dependent upon number of players) face-up on the table and one card face-down. They then choose from the cards remaining in hand which character’s powers they would like to enact for the turn. The cards are passed to the next player in line who will do the same, and so on around the table.
Once all players have chosen their character card, the Turn Phase can begin. The current First Player (the one with the crown) will announce the characters in rank order, with the lowest character going first. In a typical game using only original base characters, this is “1: Assassin.” Whomever chose the Assassin card will flip over their character card, perform its special power, and then continue with their turn. In this case, the Assassin’s special power is to announce the name of a CHARACTER to assassinate. NOTE: This does NOT mean the name of the PLAYER. So the Assassin could choose to assassinate the King character, not the Travis player. After the character has used their power, the player can continue with the rest of their turn, though some character powers may be used at any time during the player’s turn.
After the character power is used, the player will gather resources in the form of two gold coins from the bank or by drawing two district cards from the deck and choosing one to keep in hand. After this choice, the player may then build one district in their play area if they wish and if they can afford to do so. Once complete, the crowned First Player will call out the next character rank (2: Thief in our example) who will continue their turn in the same way. The game continues in this fashion until a player has built their seventh district. The round continues until all players have had an equal amount of turns. Players then count VP on district cards and bonuses per the rulebook. The player with the most VP at the end of the game is crowned the Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
Components. I have to say that I enjoyed the components in the older version of Citadels I used to have just fine. I had sleeved all my cards, and the gold coins were nice back in the day. This version, however, includes many more components and each one is higher quality than the previous version’s. The art on the cards has been updated and is much much nicer now as well. The addition of the crown mini, the character tokens, and other components not mentioned here merely increases my love for Citadels. Windrider has knocked it out of the park with this version. And that’s saying nothing about all the additional characters now included in the game! Oh boy, so much variability!
Along with that variability is the customization of the game. You can play with one of the six pre-constructed provided suggestions in the rulebook or create your own combination of different characters. With three versions of each rank, many possibilities are… possible.
I do love Citadels, and with the right group can be a show-stopper all on its own. Some players may get a little offended or sassy because there is a fair amount of Take That in Citadels with the character interactions, so if playing with people who don’t understand the difference between a game and real life, I would prep them appropriately. I love being able to outwit my opponents by drafting certain characters they didn’t think I would want. Keeping them all on their toes during the game is sneaky fun.
So for me, with the amount of replayability, high quality and excellent components, and cutthroat gameplay I simply adore Citadels. I can pull it out with different groups and have different play experiences and try to tailor the character offering to the strengths of my players, or simply use one listed in the back of the rulebook. Purple Phoenix Games gives Citadels an underhanded, yet scholarly 21 / 24. It’s a stunning, magical, wonderful game and one of Bruno Faidutti’s best ever! Surely this is already in your collection, right? If not, make it so.
In Citadels players will be donning the mantle of potential Master Builders and will need to build the greatest buildings within the city and manipulate the powers of special people within its walls. The game ends when a player has built their seventh district building. The player with the most VP at this time will be crowned Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
To setup, decide which eight characters will be used in the game, gather their cards and tokens, and place their tokens in ascending order on the table. This is to remind all players which characters (and their rank) is in play. Assemble the district (building) cards per the rules and shuffle the deck. Deal each player four of these district cards along with two gold coins. The eldest player will begin the game as the current First Player (complete with crown mini) and will begin the first phase of the first round.
Citadels is played over several rounds, each with two phases played within. The first phase is the Selection Phase, where the current First Player takes the character cards, shuffles them, adds zero to two cards (dependent upon number of players) face-up on the table and one card face-down. They then choose from the cards remaining in hand which character’s powers they would like to enact for the turn. The cards are passed to the next player in line who will do the same, and so on around the table.
Once all players have chosen their character card, the Turn Phase can begin. The current First Player (the one with the crown) will announce the characters in rank order, with the lowest character going first. In a typical game using only original base characters, this is “1: Assassin.” Whomever chose the Assassin card will flip over their character card, perform its special power, and then continue with their turn. In this case, the Assassin’s special power is to announce the name of a CHARACTER to assassinate. NOTE: This does NOT mean the name of the PLAYER. So the Assassin could choose to assassinate the King character, not the Travis player. After the character has used their power, the player can continue with the rest of their turn, though some character powers may be used at any time during the player’s turn.
After the character power is used, the player will gather resources in the form of two gold coins from the bank or by drawing two district cards from the deck and choosing one to keep in hand. After this choice, the player may then build one district in their play area if they wish and if they can afford to do so. Once complete, the crowned First Player will call out the next character rank (2: Thief in our example) who will continue their turn in the same way. The game continues in this fashion until a player has built their seventh district. The round continues until all players have had an equal amount of turns. Players then count VP on district cards and bonuses per the rulebook. The player with the most VP at the end of the game is crowned the Master Builder and winner of Citadels!
Components. I have to say that I enjoyed the components in the older version of Citadels I used to have just fine. I had sleeved all my cards, and the gold coins were nice back in the day. This version, however, includes many more components and each one is higher quality than the previous version’s. The art on the cards has been updated and is much much nicer now as well. The addition of the crown mini, the character tokens, and other components not mentioned here merely increases my love for Citadels. Windrider has knocked it out of the park with this version. And that’s saying nothing about all the additional characters now included in the game! Oh boy, so much variability!
Along with that variability is the customization of the game. You can play with one of the six pre-constructed provided suggestions in the rulebook or create your own combination of different characters. With three versions of each rank, many possibilities are… possible.
I do love Citadels, and with the right group can be a show-stopper all on its own. Some players may get a little offended or sassy because there is a fair amount of Take That in Citadels with the character interactions, so if playing with people who don’t understand the difference between a game and real life, I would prep them appropriately. I love being able to outwit my opponents by drafting certain characters they didn’t think I would want. Keeping them all on their toes during the game is sneaky fun.
So for me, with the amount of replayability, high quality and excellent components, and cutthroat gameplay I simply adore Citadels. I can pull it out with different groups and have different play experiences and try to tailor the character offering to the strengths of my players, or simply use one listed in the back of the rulebook. Purple Phoenix Games gives Citadels an underhanded, yet scholarly 21 / 24. It’s a stunning, magical, wonderful game and one of Bruno Faidutti’s best ever! Surely this is already in your collection, right? If not, make it so.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) in Movies
Sep 5, 2021
Superhero Epic With Emotional Family Drama And Gravity-Defying Martial Arts
In the past, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), Shang-Chi's father, used the Ten Rings, mystical weapons granting him immortality and power, to amass an army of warriors and topple kingdoms and governments alike. In the present Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) is just a regular guy working a dead end job as a valet with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) and enjoying life. When he and Katy are attacked by the mysterious Ten Rings Organization, Shang-Chi must confront the past of his former life. A life he thought he left behind.
This movie was really great! I'm so glad I went to go watch it in theaters and on the first day before anybody spoiled anything for me. I hate people who do that. Anyways, this movie was an excellent addition to the MCU and I like the way it went about being it's own thing. It felt like they didn't have to try and adhere to being part of a shared universe and making things fit but at the same time there were plenty of Easter eggs and surprises sprinkled throughout. The film also managed to check a lot of boxes without feeling like they were forced. It had drama, really great action, killer fight scenes, and some comedy mixed in there. The movie felt a lot like the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, especially in how it balanced the seriousness and lightness throughout the film. I liked the chemistry between the characters and thought the casting was perfect. The bus scene was one of my favorite parts of the movie and all the action that went on. If I had to say that there was a biggest flaw in the film it would probably be that they didn't really go too far into some of the lore involved but ultimately that didn't detract from it enough to be something major.
I liked the way the director chose to portray the events in the story and how it was a pretty cohesive plot and not all over the place. The pacing was done well and there was good use of flashbacks in certain scenes to move the plot. I felt like it was done well without turning into "info dumping" with character dialogue. The cinematography was great and seemed naturalistic and heightened. They definitely took advantage of filming on location in San Francisco with some scenes filmed in famous places such as Russian Hill, Noe Valley, Nob Hill and Fisherman's Wharf. The fight choreography in the movie is phenomenal. It's probably the best that there has ever been in a Marvel film and it shows. They got Brad Allen who had worked with Jackie Chan before, as the supervising stunt coordinator and he brought that physical comedy to the scenes where setups and stakes keep rising as do the payoffs. The tone of the movie was light but definitely had it's moments were it got darker however it never left it's core of being about family. The music was more contemporary and modern but with some musical score in the scenes where it fit really well but there was nothing that really stuck out as unique or compelling. The acting was pretty good with even Awkwafina showing a little bit of range with some dramatic scenes and not just comedy. Simu Liu was very convincing as Shang-Chi, both versions, the "average Joe" and the warrior. His father played by Tony Leung was also very good in his scenes from the ones showing the past to his interactions with Shang-Chi. You could really feel the tension between them. And of course Michelle Yeoh was just awesome!
The writing was good and dialogue never felt like somebody said something that was out of character or didn't fit right. The plot was never weak or boring. Although you could tell where it was going it had a little bit of mystery to it. The editing was done very proper and there were some good cuts of action scenes particularly the bus scene. I liked the one transition in the beginning from the tale of the past to the alarm clock. The costume designs were something that you usually don't remember in some films but this one had some really iconic ones that stuck out. For example that one masked blue ninja's outfit, as well as the other Ten Rings soldiers looked cool. Razor Fist's arm design was inventive also. There were so many outfits that come out later in the movie that just fit really well too. Although as cool and nice looking as Shang-Chi's costume was, I did think it could have been better. There were plenty of really cool set designs from the Ten Rings lair to a underground fight club in Macau but the one set piece that stole the show to me was this really ornate wooden carving that looked really intricate. You'll know the one when you see it. The special effects were really good and I couldn't really complain too much except that the movie did suffer from one of those things that happened towards the end like in Black Panther where they just used too much in a certain sequence and it looked bad in that particular part. I did have a favorite character in the movie but it'd be spoiling it if I said who it was, so I'll just say that they have exceptional "acting" skills. Anyways I give Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings a 8/10 and it gets my "Must See Seal of Approval". You need to get out there and check this movie out this Labor Day Weekend.
This movie was really great! I'm so glad I went to go watch it in theaters and on the first day before anybody spoiled anything for me. I hate people who do that. Anyways, this movie was an excellent addition to the MCU and I like the way it went about being it's own thing. It felt like they didn't have to try and adhere to being part of a shared universe and making things fit but at the same time there were plenty of Easter eggs and surprises sprinkled throughout. The film also managed to check a lot of boxes without feeling like they were forced. It had drama, really great action, killer fight scenes, and some comedy mixed in there. The movie felt a lot like the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, especially in how it balanced the seriousness and lightness throughout the film. I liked the chemistry between the characters and thought the casting was perfect. The bus scene was one of my favorite parts of the movie and all the action that went on. If I had to say that there was a biggest flaw in the film it would probably be that they didn't really go too far into some of the lore involved but ultimately that didn't detract from it enough to be something major.
I liked the way the director chose to portray the events in the story and how it was a pretty cohesive plot and not all over the place. The pacing was done well and there was good use of flashbacks in certain scenes to move the plot. I felt like it was done well without turning into "info dumping" with character dialogue. The cinematography was great and seemed naturalistic and heightened. They definitely took advantage of filming on location in San Francisco with some scenes filmed in famous places such as Russian Hill, Noe Valley, Nob Hill and Fisherman's Wharf. The fight choreography in the movie is phenomenal. It's probably the best that there has ever been in a Marvel film and it shows. They got Brad Allen who had worked with Jackie Chan before, as the supervising stunt coordinator and he brought that physical comedy to the scenes where setups and stakes keep rising as do the payoffs. The tone of the movie was light but definitely had it's moments were it got darker however it never left it's core of being about family. The music was more contemporary and modern but with some musical score in the scenes where it fit really well but there was nothing that really stuck out as unique or compelling. The acting was pretty good with even Awkwafina showing a little bit of range with some dramatic scenes and not just comedy. Simu Liu was very convincing as Shang-Chi, both versions, the "average Joe" and the warrior. His father played by Tony Leung was also very good in his scenes from the ones showing the past to his interactions with Shang-Chi. You could really feel the tension between them. And of course Michelle Yeoh was just awesome!
The writing was good and dialogue never felt like somebody said something that was out of character or didn't fit right. The plot was never weak or boring. Although you could tell where it was going it had a little bit of mystery to it. The editing was done very proper and there were some good cuts of action scenes particularly the bus scene. I liked the one transition in the beginning from the tale of the past to the alarm clock. The costume designs were something that you usually don't remember in some films but this one had some really iconic ones that stuck out. For example that one masked blue ninja's outfit, as well as the other Ten Rings soldiers looked cool. Razor Fist's arm design was inventive also. There were so many outfits that come out later in the movie that just fit really well too. Although as cool and nice looking as Shang-Chi's costume was, I did think it could have been better. There were plenty of really cool set designs from the Ten Rings lair to a underground fight club in Macau but the one set piece that stole the show to me was this really ornate wooden carving that looked really intricate. You'll know the one when you see it. The special effects were really good and I couldn't really complain too much except that the movie did suffer from one of those things that happened towards the end like in Black Panther where they just used too much in a certain sequence and it looked bad in that particular part. I did have a favorite character in the movie but it'd be spoiling it if I said who it was, so I'll just say that they have exceptional "acting" skills. Anyways I give Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings a 8/10 and it gets my "Must See Seal of Approval". You need to get out there and check this movie out this Labor Day Weekend.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Disney Shadowed Kingdom in Tabletop Games
Sep 15, 2021
You know how sometimes you see a game box and you are just so intrigued and then you realize it uses an IP that you love and you just HAVE to get it? Me too. This is what transpired as I was trying to fill my cart at my favorite online game retailer. I needed something small, I love Disney, and the box art is so good. So I grabbed it. Unfortunately, the box art on this one is probably the best part of this game. Let’s find out why.
In Disney Shadowed Kingdom players are attempting to drive away the darkness of Doubt with the help of Wish (which are both characters, I guess). In order to do this the players will be splitting up within the Magic Kingdom to cleanse the different locations and, with the help of Wish, gain enough Magic to fend off Doubt and the darkness forever!
To setup, each player receives a random (or chosen) Hero Card (in the photo above I was Daisy). The Magic/Shadow Tracker is placed on the table with the tokens on the 0 spaces of each tracker. Place the Wish card on the table. Shuffle the cards and deal each player 10 cards. Each player will then draw the top two cards from their deck, look at them, and then place them face-down in front of themselves on the table. Once done, the play area will be a 2×2 grid of each player’s first draw. The first player will draw two cards from their deck and the second player will draw one. The game may now begin!
On a player’s turn they will take their “oldest” card in their current hand and play it to the table. They may play it to push a card toward their partner to be Discovered, or play it to a side of the grid to push a card outside grid to be Dispelled (discarded). When a card is pushed to a player to be Discovered the discovering player will read the card aloud and follow its directions. Once complete the discovering player takes the card in hand to be used on a future turn. When a card is Dispelled the partner of the active player will NOT play the card for its face abilities, but will rather place it directly in their own discard pile.
When certain location cards are Discovered they may cause the hero’s (the card that was chosen at the beginning) special ability to trigger. These abilities could be peeking at cards in the grid or partner’s hand, or swapping two cards, or other abilities. Play continues in this way until players have pushed enough Magic cards to their partners to win or enough Shadow cards to allow the darkness to invade and lose the game.
Components. This game is a small stack of cards, some Hero cards, and the Magic/Shadow tracker with tokens. The cards are fine quality, the Hero cards are thick cardboard, and the other components are also fine. The art on the cards is amazing, and the saving grace.
Overall I would not recommend this game at all. I only rated it as highly as I did because I love the art and the theme. The gameplay just doesn’t work. There were times, when playing, we would get stuck in a loop of a card telling us to randomize the grid over and over. So while there IS an amount of memory used in the game, it can quickly be thrown out the window with just one card. This is merely one instance of the strategy and tactics needed to win or even play this one: almost none. As you HAVE to play the oldest card in your hand, it becomes a chore to try to remember exactly where it has been placed, and the hope that your partner will not push it toward you to be Discovered. And as bad as that may sound, the other cog in this wonky wheel is that players may not communicate with each other AT ALL. No talking, gestures, reactions, etc. So players are placing cards into the grid to be pushed about without knowing what may be in the grid. Sure, the Heroes all have special abilities, but they are limited to triggering only when one specific location card is Discovered. In a deck of 20 cards, having just one trigger your ability can be frustrating, as that card may never be Discovered in the first place.
When all is said and done, this is a Disney game in name only, and not a great one. The inability to really enact any strategy is severely limiting and thus just presents a game that you play without really making many decisions at all. It’s a guess as to what your partner has played, and “knowing” when to Discover or Dispel is also a crap shoot. Yes, cards on your side of the grid may be known to you, but once your partner pushes cards to you to Discover you no longer know 3/4 of the grid contents. It is just frustrating.
I will probably not be playing this again, and I really don’t see it staying in my collection. It’s sad, really, because this game feels like it should be grander but there are so many missing pieces that is really flops. Purple Phoenix Games gives Disney Shadowed Kingdom a woeful 5 / 12. With so many Disney-themed games out there, and many of them decent to good, pass on this one and grab a different one. I know a few off the top of my head I could suggest. Just message me or email me and I would be happy to recommend some Disney games that are excellent.
In Disney Shadowed Kingdom players are attempting to drive away the darkness of Doubt with the help of Wish (which are both characters, I guess). In order to do this the players will be splitting up within the Magic Kingdom to cleanse the different locations and, with the help of Wish, gain enough Magic to fend off Doubt and the darkness forever!
To setup, each player receives a random (or chosen) Hero Card (in the photo above I was Daisy). The Magic/Shadow Tracker is placed on the table with the tokens on the 0 spaces of each tracker. Place the Wish card on the table. Shuffle the cards and deal each player 10 cards. Each player will then draw the top two cards from their deck, look at them, and then place them face-down in front of themselves on the table. Once done, the play area will be a 2×2 grid of each player’s first draw. The first player will draw two cards from their deck and the second player will draw one. The game may now begin!
On a player’s turn they will take their “oldest” card in their current hand and play it to the table. They may play it to push a card toward their partner to be Discovered, or play it to a side of the grid to push a card outside grid to be Dispelled (discarded). When a card is pushed to a player to be Discovered the discovering player will read the card aloud and follow its directions. Once complete the discovering player takes the card in hand to be used on a future turn. When a card is Dispelled the partner of the active player will NOT play the card for its face abilities, but will rather place it directly in their own discard pile.
When certain location cards are Discovered they may cause the hero’s (the card that was chosen at the beginning) special ability to trigger. These abilities could be peeking at cards in the grid or partner’s hand, or swapping two cards, or other abilities. Play continues in this way until players have pushed enough Magic cards to their partners to win or enough Shadow cards to allow the darkness to invade and lose the game.
Components. This game is a small stack of cards, some Hero cards, and the Magic/Shadow tracker with tokens. The cards are fine quality, the Hero cards are thick cardboard, and the other components are also fine. The art on the cards is amazing, and the saving grace.
Overall I would not recommend this game at all. I only rated it as highly as I did because I love the art and the theme. The gameplay just doesn’t work. There were times, when playing, we would get stuck in a loop of a card telling us to randomize the grid over and over. So while there IS an amount of memory used in the game, it can quickly be thrown out the window with just one card. This is merely one instance of the strategy and tactics needed to win or even play this one: almost none. As you HAVE to play the oldest card in your hand, it becomes a chore to try to remember exactly where it has been placed, and the hope that your partner will not push it toward you to be Discovered. And as bad as that may sound, the other cog in this wonky wheel is that players may not communicate with each other AT ALL. No talking, gestures, reactions, etc. So players are placing cards into the grid to be pushed about without knowing what may be in the grid. Sure, the Heroes all have special abilities, but they are limited to triggering only when one specific location card is Discovered. In a deck of 20 cards, having just one trigger your ability can be frustrating, as that card may never be Discovered in the first place.
When all is said and done, this is a Disney game in name only, and not a great one. The inability to really enact any strategy is severely limiting and thus just presents a game that you play without really making many decisions at all. It’s a guess as to what your partner has played, and “knowing” when to Discover or Dispel is also a crap shoot. Yes, cards on your side of the grid may be known to you, but once your partner pushes cards to you to Discover you no longer know 3/4 of the grid contents. It is just frustrating.
I will probably not be playing this again, and I really don’t see it staying in my collection. It’s sad, really, because this game feels like it should be grander but there are so many missing pieces that is really flops. Purple Phoenix Games gives Disney Shadowed Kingdom a woeful 5 / 12. With so many Disney-themed games out there, and many of them decent to good, pass on this one and grab a different one. I know a few off the top of my head I could suggest. Just message me or email me and I would be happy to recommend some Disney games that are excellent.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Solo? So-so.
When the whole Disney “broaden out the Star Wars universe” thing was first mooted I was NOT enthusiastic about the prospect. Then, in Christmas 2016 “Rogue One” burst onto our screens as a breath of fresh air, and I thought “OK, I can be wrong!”. But even jolted by that pleasant surprise, I always thought that the second proposed diversion off the main hyperspace highway into “Radiator Springs” – a Han Solo back-story flick – might fall short. It just didn’t float my boat.
Add into that proposition the decision to give the film initially to “The Lego Movie” directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (why Disney? why?); them trying to forge it as a ‘comedy’; them falling horribly short and being fired by Disney; Disney bringing Ron Howard (“Inferno“, “Rush“) in to try to salvage the project; and Howard reportedly re-shooting 75% of the film and you have the makings of a turkey of galactic proportions.
With all that being said, I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. But that’s off a very low base of expectation.
As you might guess, we go back to see Han… just Han… as a delinquent youth trying to keep his head above water under the thrall of the Fagin-like Lady Proxima (who – no pun intended – keeps her head under the water for most of the time). He is desperate to pull off a con that’s lucrative enough that it will get him and his girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke, “Me Before You“; “Terminator: Genisys“; “Game of Thrones”) off-planet and into a free life. Things don’t go to plan though and Han – now Han Solo – finds himself a trooper of the Galactic Empire. He links up with fellow rogues Beckett (Woody Harrelson, “War for the Planet of the Apes“; “Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri“), Val (Thandie Newton, “Westworld”, “2012”), Rio (voiced by Jon Favreau, “Spider-Man: Homecoming“; “Iron Man Three“) and their assertive and rebellious droid L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in a get-rich-or-die mission for vicious gang-boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany, “Avengers: Infinity War“).
The film has its moments for sure:
There are some nice background touches: an army recruitment video plays to the sound of John William’s empire march (played I am assured by my more musical wife in a major key to sound more uplifting and positive!);
Han’s first meeting with that famous walking carpet (played by Joonas Suotamo) is memorable, as is the introduction to that “card player, gambler and scoundrel” Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover, “The Martian“, “Spider-Man: Homecoming“): all flamboyance, self-regard and well-dressed ego;
solo2
Never count your money while you’re sitting at the table. Lando Calrissian played by Donald Glover putting his ship (you probably haven’t heard of it) on the line. (Source: Lucasfilm).
the character of L3-37 is an excellent addition to the saga, forcefully demanding equality for droids: I would have liked to have seen much more of her;
there is a nice twist on the Greedo/Han “who shot first” debate;
production design and special effects are up to standard for a Star Wars film, and I enjoyed John Powell’s score, incorporating a new ‘young Han’ theme from John Williams himself;
and Erin Kellyman (in here movie debut) is just breathtaking and strikingly brilliant as the be-freckled renegade Enfys Nest.
But overall it’s all a bit disjointed and jumbled, probably as befits its growing pains. We are introduced to Solo within five seconds of the film’s opening….. BAM! No exquisite ‘reveal’ as we saw with River Phoenix in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. I found this disconcerting and it took me ten minutes to get into the film as a result.
When it gets going it rather tries too hard to join up more Star Wars dots than it needs to. “Rogue One” did that exceedingly well, but that was because it needed to as ‘Episode 3.5’. Here there are visual and verbal references everywhere as the screenwriters (Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan) desperately try to knit their story into the canon. As an example, the action moves to the mines of Kessel at one point. Kessel? Kessel? Wasn’t that a throwaway C3PO line from the “A New Hope” about being “smashed to who knows what” in said mines?. So obviously, in the WHOLE GALAXY that’s where the story leads us, with the local lingo for the hyperspace fuel McGuffin at the heart of the plot being “spice”! It’s all a bit too trite for my liking.
And while a key protagonist appearing near the end of the film (no spoilers) is both a startling surprise and great fun, don’t get me started on the timeline implications…. (see the spoiler section below the trailer for more).
Alden Ehrenreich, who was just brilliant in “Hail Caesar” (“Was that it t’WERRRE so simple“) for me barely makes it past bland in the lead role. One of the defining characteristics of Harrison Ford’s Solo was his swagger and bravado and unfortunately Ehrenreich barely rates a three out of ten on the scale. I also found the chemistry with Emelia Clarke to be lukewarm. Clarke still seems to be struggling to make a significant breakthrough to the big screen…. “Me Before You” still seems to be her high water mark so far. Here she has a key and complex role, but comes over as just plain unconvincing and “meh”.
Ron Howard has clearly done a good job in buffing up a poisoned chalice so it can at least share space on the Star Wars shelf without being laughed out of the Cantina. Perhaps with a more coordinated and thought-through run-up to a Solo sequel (more Enfys Nest please!) this offshoot might have legs.
Add into that proposition the decision to give the film initially to “The Lego Movie” directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (why Disney? why?); them trying to forge it as a ‘comedy’; them falling horribly short and being fired by Disney; Disney bringing Ron Howard (“Inferno“, “Rush“) in to try to salvage the project; and Howard reportedly re-shooting 75% of the film and you have the makings of a turkey of galactic proportions.
With all that being said, I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. But that’s off a very low base of expectation.
As you might guess, we go back to see Han… just Han… as a delinquent youth trying to keep his head above water under the thrall of the Fagin-like Lady Proxima (who – no pun intended – keeps her head under the water for most of the time). He is desperate to pull off a con that’s lucrative enough that it will get him and his girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke, “Me Before You“; “Terminator: Genisys“; “Game of Thrones”) off-planet and into a free life. Things don’t go to plan though and Han – now Han Solo – finds himself a trooper of the Galactic Empire. He links up with fellow rogues Beckett (Woody Harrelson, “War for the Planet of the Apes“; “Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri“), Val (Thandie Newton, “Westworld”, “2012”), Rio (voiced by Jon Favreau, “Spider-Man: Homecoming“; “Iron Man Three“) and their assertive and rebellious droid L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in a get-rich-or-die mission for vicious gang-boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany, “Avengers: Infinity War“).
The film has its moments for sure:
There are some nice background touches: an army recruitment video plays to the sound of John William’s empire march (played I am assured by my more musical wife in a major key to sound more uplifting and positive!);
Han’s first meeting with that famous walking carpet (played by Joonas Suotamo) is memorable, as is the introduction to that “card player, gambler and scoundrel” Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover, “The Martian“, “Spider-Man: Homecoming“): all flamboyance, self-regard and well-dressed ego;
solo2
Never count your money while you’re sitting at the table. Lando Calrissian played by Donald Glover putting his ship (you probably haven’t heard of it) on the line. (Source: Lucasfilm).
the character of L3-37 is an excellent addition to the saga, forcefully demanding equality for droids: I would have liked to have seen much more of her;
there is a nice twist on the Greedo/Han “who shot first” debate;
production design and special effects are up to standard for a Star Wars film, and I enjoyed John Powell’s score, incorporating a new ‘young Han’ theme from John Williams himself;
and Erin Kellyman (in here movie debut) is just breathtaking and strikingly brilliant as the be-freckled renegade Enfys Nest.
But overall it’s all a bit disjointed and jumbled, probably as befits its growing pains. We are introduced to Solo within five seconds of the film’s opening….. BAM! No exquisite ‘reveal’ as we saw with River Phoenix in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. I found this disconcerting and it took me ten minutes to get into the film as a result.
When it gets going it rather tries too hard to join up more Star Wars dots than it needs to. “Rogue One” did that exceedingly well, but that was because it needed to as ‘Episode 3.5’. Here there are visual and verbal references everywhere as the screenwriters (Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan) desperately try to knit their story into the canon. As an example, the action moves to the mines of Kessel at one point. Kessel? Kessel? Wasn’t that a throwaway C3PO line from the “A New Hope” about being “smashed to who knows what” in said mines?. So obviously, in the WHOLE GALAXY that’s where the story leads us, with the local lingo for the hyperspace fuel McGuffin at the heart of the plot being “spice”! It’s all a bit too trite for my liking.
And while a key protagonist appearing near the end of the film (no spoilers) is both a startling surprise and great fun, don’t get me started on the timeline implications…. (see the spoiler section below the trailer for more).
Alden Ehrenreich, who was just brilliant in “Hail Caesar” (“Was that it t’WERRRE so simple“) for me barely makes it past bland in the lead role. One of the defining characteristics of Harrison Ford’s Solo was his swagger and bravado and unfortunately Ehrenreich barely rates a three out of ten on the scale. I also found the chemistry with Emelia Clarke to be lukewarm. Clarke still seems to be struggling to make a significant breakthrough to the big screen…. “Me Before You” still seems to be her high water mark so far. Here she has a key and complex role, but comes over as just plain unconvincing and “meh”.
Ron Howard has clearly done a good job in buffing up a poisoned chalice so it can at least share space on the Star Wars shelf without being laughed out of the Cantina. Perhaps with a more coordinated and thought-through run-up to a Solo sequel (more Enfys Nest please!) this offshoot might have legs.