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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Small World in Tabletop Games
Aug 13, 2019
A neat thing about this hobby is getting in on all the hype of a soon-to-be-produced game. It’s exciting to follow the development, and neat to get sneak peeks and inside access to the production. But another awesome thing about this hobby is getting to discover a game long after it’s release, and still finding yourself excited about it. That’s what happened with me and Small World. That game is 10 years old at this point in time, but I was only introduced to it within the last year. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so when I saw it at a used game sale, I knew I had to have it.
The population of the world is growing, but unfortunately the world is running out of space. Many different races of creatures are vying for dominion over the land – conquering as many regions as possible to extend their empires. However, as every great civilization rises to power, it will also eventually fall and give way to a new empire. Which race can garner the most influence before it begins to fade away? And which race will be lying in wait, ready to capitalize on the vacancy left by its predecessor?
DISCLAIMER: There are several expansions for this game, but we do not have any at this time, so this review is concerning vanilla base game Small World. If we review any of the expansions in the future we will update this review or link to the new material here. -T
Small World is a game of area control/movement and variable player powers in which players are attempting to use their chosen races to gain control over as much territory as possible. Once your chosen race has reached its limit, you can push it into a decline and pick another race to start fresh and conquer more land. Each race is coupled with a different power that could give you added benefit when used. On a typical turn, you will place tiles representing your race onto the game board. If you want to conquer a territory that is already inhabited by an opponent, you must play a specified number of tiles that will subsequently drive the opposing race from the territory, leaving it available for you to claim. Once you have played all the tiles you wish to play, you can re-distribute your race tiles – perhaps moving more to a territory near an opponent so they will not be able to overtake you easily on their turn. To end your turn, you receive one Victory Coin for each region of the world that you occupy. When you decide that your chosen race is no longer earning you enough points, you may push it into a decline and select a new race (with its own race tiles) to start a new conquest. The game ends after a finite number of turns, and the player with the most Victory Coins is the winner.
One thing that I really love about Small World is the variability of the game. There are 14 different races available each game, as well as 20 different powers. And the neat thing about the powers is that they are not tied to a specific race. Each game could yield a different combination of races/powers. So maybe in one game you get an awesome combination of a race and power, and the next game, the same race coupled with a different power turns out to be a dud. The only way to find out if a combination works is to try it! There are so many possibilities here, and that keeps the game engaging.
Another thing that I really like about Small World is that each player can go at their own pace. If I decided to push my race into decline, that does not mean that everyone else has to as well. It all depends on your specific strategy/race/power. This is also a cool part of the game because it makes it harder to determine your opponents’ strategies. You’re trying to maximize your own race/power while trying to figure out what everyone else is planning. There’s no hidden information – everyone knows all races/powers in play, as well as the races/powers available for purchase. The tricky part is trying to keep your opponents oblivious to your long-term plans. That keeps this game captivating and way more strategic than meets the eye.
The only negative thing I have to say about Small World is that there is a learning curve to this game. There are a lot of moving parts, and many things to keep track of each turn. Not to mention figuring out how the different races and powers work in conjunction with each other. It’s kind of a daunting game at first, but after a couple of plays it becomes a lot easier.
Small World is a strategic game with lots of variability and replayability. You may need to keep the rulebook on hand the first few plays, but once you get the hang of the gameplay and learn how the powers work, the game flows easily. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to play Small World, I recommend you do. Just because it’s an ‘older’ game doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a good game anymore! Purple Phoenix Games give Small World a big 22 / 24.
The population of the world is growing, but unfortunately the world is running out of space. Many different races of creatures are vying for dominion over the land – conquering as many regions as possible to extend their empires. However, as every great civilization rises to power, it will also eventually fall and give way to a new empire. Which race can garner the most influence before it begins to fade away? And which race will be lying in wait, ready to capitalize on the vacancy left by its predecessor?
DISCLAIMER: There are several expansions for this game, but we do not have any at this time, so this review is concerning vanilla base game Small World. If we review any of the expansions in the future we will update this review or link to the new material here. -T
Small World is a game of area control/movement and variable player powers in which players are attempting to use their chosen races to gain control over as much territory as possible. Once your chosen race has reached its limit, you can push it into a decline and pick another race to start fresh and conquer more land. Each race is coupled with a different power that could give you added benefit when used. On a typical turn, you will place tiles representing your race onto the game board. If you want to conquer a territory that is already inhabited by an opponent, you must play a specified number of tiles that will subsequently drive the opposing race from the territory, leaving it available for you to claim. Once you have played all the tiles you wish to play, you can re-distribute your race tiles – perhaps moving more to a territory near an opponent so they will not be able to overtake you easily on their turn. To end your turn, you receive one Victory Coin for each region of the world that you occupy. When you decide that your chosen race is no longer earning you enough points, you may push it into a decline and select a new race (with its own race tiles) to start a new conquest. The game ends after a finite number of turns, and the player with the most Victory Coins is the winner.
One thing that I really love about Small World is the variability of the game. There are 14 different races available each game, as well as 20 different powers. And the neat thing about the powers is that they are not tied to a specific race. Each game could yield a different combination of races/powers. So maybe in one game you get an awesome combination of a race and power, and the next game, the same race coupled with a different power turns out to be a dud. The only way to find out if a combination works is to try it! There are so many possibilities here, and that keeps the game engaging.
Another thing that I really like about Small World is that each player can go at their own pace. If I decided to push my race into decline, that does not mean that everyone else has to as well. It all depends on your specific strategy/race/power. This is also a cool part of the game because it makes it harder to determine your opponents’ strategies. You’re trying to maximize your own race/power while trying to figure out what everyone else is planning. There’s no hidden information – everyone knows all races/powers in play, as well as the races/powers available for purchase. The tricky part is trying to keep your opponents oblivious to your long-term plans. That keeps this game captivating and way more strategic than meets the eye.
The only negative thing I have to say about Small World is that there is a learning curve to this game. There are a lot of moving parts, and many things to keep track of each turn. Not to mention figuring out how the different races and powers work in conjunction with each other. It’s kind of a daunting game at first, but after a couple of plays it becomes a lot easier.
Small World is a strategic game with lots of variability and replayability. You may need to keep the rulebook on hand the first few plays, but once you get the hang of the gameplay and learn how the powers work, the game flows easily. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to play Small World, I recommend you do. Just because it’s an ‘older’ game doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a good game anymore! Purple Phoenix Games give Small World a big 22 / 24.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Salty Dogs in Tabletop Games
Aug 27, 2019
Avast ye land lubbers!! Batten down the hatches! I am a scary pirate! Ok so maybe that last one isn’t necessarily historically accurate, but it’s fun. Sometimes you can enjoy something purely because it’s fun and you don’t have to analyze everything down to the mechanic or pixel. I am not even going to attempt that with this one, but I will explain the rules and our thoughts through several plays of Salty Dogs.
Salty Dogs is a small card game – it fits into a normal deck box – where each player is captaining their pirate ship and vying to become King of the Mountain! … or, rather, the High Seas! Players must protect their crew and be the last pirate ship standing to win the game!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a review copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know if the final components will be similar or different, or if the Kickstarter campaign will alter or add anything through stretch goals. Similarly, you will see the play mat that was provided. You can download a play mat from the game’s website or order these from the publisher. -T
Setup is easy peasy scurvy squeezy. Remove from the deck all the pirate cards (they have a blue banner with a unique name at the bottom). Shuffle these, and deal each player five pirates. This will make up the crew for each player’s ship. No individual cards have certain abilities – they are all the same – so either place your crew randomly or choose who you would prefer to be Captain, First Mate, and then dump the others into the generic Pirate spaces. From there shuffle the remaining pirate cards into the deck, deal each player five cards and the battle is on!
On your turn, draw a card and play a card. Ok, on to final thoughts! Kidding, but game play is really that easy. There is no hand minimum or maximum limit, but it usually stays around five for the duration of the game. Cards drawn will be pirates, actions, attacks, illnesses, cures, or defense cards. You use pirate cards to refill any vacant crew slot on your ship. Vacancies happen when an opponent plays an attack or illness card on one of your crew. Your crew may only be attacked in a certain order with the first attackable card being furthest away from your Captain, and said Captain being targeted last. So your pirate is ill, eh? Simply play a cure card that affects the illness and heal your crew right up. Example – you have contracted Scurvy. Well, obviously the only cure for Scurvy is Piggy Peg Leg’s Gumbo. So throw the Gumbo card to cure your crew’s illness. That dastardly Captain Doodles McPoodle is firing their cannon attacks at you? Throw your Fog defense card to protect yourself – BOOM! There are several other illness and action combinations in the game I will allow you to discover for yourselves.
A note about attacking First Mates and Captains. First Mates are immune to Mutiny cards, and the Captain is immune to Mutiny AND Illness cards. This is a rule pair that can easily be forgotten, so try to keep that in mind the whole time as your crews are blown to smithereens.
Components. Per my disclaimer we were sent the deck of cards and four optional play mats. These components may change or improve over the course of the upcoming Kickstarter campaign, but I will comment on what we were sent. The cards are of good quality and the art upon them and throughout the game is quirky, but really really good. We really enjoyed seeing some tongue-in-cheek pop culture references in the pirate cards and in the accompanying art. The play mats feel like the top layer of a mouse pad – they are silky smooth and just as thin. I thought having thin play mats would be a negative, but then I packed up the game again and was thankful that they weren’t complete neoprene pads. So I’m in on those play mats. If you don’t splurge for the play mats, just line up your crew in front of you and it’s quite functional that way as well.
Salty Dogs. What did we think? Well, honestly, we really loved it. The art is whimsical and colorful. The cards are all super useful, and there’s something to be said about just obliterating your opponents’ ships and giving in to the piratey bloodlust. I was targeted early and was raring to come back as soon as I could in the next game. With so many pirate games, take that games, card games, and battle games on the market, I still think most gamers will enjoy Salty Dogs. It is not at all a brain burner, but it’s a great light (and light-hearted) filler game that will leave you with a smile on your face and a desire to play again and again. We at Purple Phoenix Games highly recommend this title, and cannot wait to see what the Kickstarter campaign has in store. May yer poop decks be sparkling and yer booty be plentiful!
Salty Dogs is a small card game – it fits into a normal deck box – where each player is captaining their pirate ship and vying to become King of the Mountain! … or, rather, the High Seas! Players must protect their crew and be the last pirate ship standing to win the game!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a review copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know if the final components will be similar or different, or if the Kickstarter campaign will alter or add anything through stretch goals. Similarly, you will see the play mat that was provided. You can download a play mat from the game’s website or order these from the publisher. -T
Setup is easy peasy scurvy squeezy. Remove from the deck all the pirate cards (they have a blue banner with a unique name at the bottom). Shuffle these, and deal each player five pirates. This will make up the crew for each player’s ship. No individual cards have certain abilities – they are all the same – so either place your crew randomly or choose who you would prefer to be Captain, First Mate, and then dump the others into the generic Pirate spaces. From there shuffle the remaining pirate cards into the deck, deal each player five cards and the battle is on!
On your turn, draw a card and play a card. Ok, on to final thoughts! Kidding, but game play is really that easy. There is no hand minimum or maximum limit, but it usually stays around five for the duration of the game. Cards drawn will be pirates, actions, attacks, illnesses, cures, or defense cards. You use pirate cards to refill any vacant crew slot on your ship. Vacancies happen when an opponent plays an attack or illness card on one of your crew. Your crew may only be attacked in a certain order with the first attackable card being furthest away from your Captain, and said Captain being targeted last. So your pirate is ill, eh? Simply play a cure card that affects the illness and heal your crew right up. Example – you have contracted Scurvy. Well, obviously the only cure for Scurvy is Piggy Peg Leg’s Gumbo. So throw the Gumbo card to cure your crew’s illness. That dastardly Captain Doodles McPoodle is firing their cannon attacks at you? Throw your Fog defense card to protect yourself – BOOM! There are several other illness and action combinations in the game I will allow you to discover for yourselves.
A note about attacking First Mates and Captains. First Mates are immune to Mutiny cards, and the Captain is immune to Mutiny AND Illness cards. This is a rule pair that can easily be forgotten, so try to keep that in mind the whole time as your crews are blown to smithereens.
Components. Per my disclaimer we were sent the deck of cards and four optional play mats. These components may change or improve over the course of the upcoming Kickstarter campaign, but I will comment on what we were sent. The cards are of good quality and the art upon them and throughout the game is quirky, but really really good. We really enjoyed seeing some tongue-in-cheek pop culture references in the pirate cards and in the accompanying art. The play mats feel like the top layer of a mouse pad – they are silky smooth and just as thin. I thought having thin play mats would be a negative, but then I packed up the game again and was thankful that they weren’t complete neoprene pads. So I’m in on those play mats. If you don’t splurge for the play mats, just line up your crew in front of you and it’s quite functional that way as well.
Salty Dogs. What did we think? Well, honestly, we really loved it. The art is whimsical and colorful. The cards are all super useful, and there’s something to be said about just obliterating your opponents’ ships and giving in to the piratey bloodlust. I was targeted early and was raring to come back as soon as I could in the next game. With so many pirate games, take that games, card games, and battle games on the market, I still think most gamers will enjoy Salty Dogs. It is not at all a brain burner, but it’s a great light (and light-hearted) filler game that will leave you with a smile on your face and a desire to play again and again. We at Purple Phoenix Games highly recommend this title, and cannot wait to see what the Kickstarter campaign has in store. May yer poop decks be sparkling and yer booty be plentiful!
Pumpka (57 KP) rated Cards Against Humanity in Tabletop Games
Aug 15, 2019
Humour (2 more)
player count is high
a game specifically tailored to party people
creativity is limited (2 more)
often a popularity contest
multiple plays decreases the enjoyment of play
Here comes an unpopular opinion - hear me out
now - don't get me wrong, my first time playing Card against Humanity was hilarious! I loved it, I was in. The concept is very simple, you're presented with a silly, funny or rude situation and you have to fill in the blanks using the inappropriate cards from your hand to make the others laugh.
NOW
On MANY plays later, I see the flaw in this design. I've realised this is more of an activity than a game as such. Again, don't go pointing fingers too fast, I did enjoy the game at the start remember? Now, theres an AI built into the game called 'Rando' he can play too for various reasons and he can often win. As suggested, random cards are drawn, and because it usually doesn't make sense, its funny, and therefore wins! This made me realise that I'm not funny. Damn, I've been caught in this web of lies cards against humanity had me caught in. I have very limited choice and often my choices are a result of a card "dump" where really nothing was funny nor fit. A well thought out game might have a mechanic that allows me to do something else with these cards that maybe I don't see use for. So I'm not the one being funny, the predisposed topics and cards are just used as a shock factor -
which promptly brings me to my next point, these things and statements are often funny because you're shocked! THAT is in a card game, woaaah I'm such an adult, wow. No. sadly this may be funny the first time but there's only so many times I can see the "chunks of a dead hooker" card before it looses it's humorous effect. I've played with all of the expansions (which were available before I quit on this game) which was a fair few, and even then it wasn't enough.
The buzz was gone, and I no longer enjoy this game, I've not grown out of it, I'm not a humour buzzkill. There are many other similar style games that provide ample creativity. Now before one of you thinks it, yes, there are blank cards to write on, but it's often not enough to change and sustain the games core.
One more thing before I sign off on this one, it's often a popularity contest. I'm not the most popular in our gaming group, there are certainly people who will favour others and thats normal and fine. BUT when games like this swing around and the winner is essentially cast on a vote of the other players choosing. The winner can often be the same person again, and again and again. Because them putting cards down that were drawn out of a stack randomly and they had no input into the outcome of what those cards says was totally hilarious. They win again.
To summerise, creativity is so limited, it's not YOU being funny, it's the cards. It's not really that re-playable and it's often a popularity contest,
there are many other games of this genre that do it better.
NOW
On MANY plays later, I see the flaw in this design. I've realised this is more of an activity than a game as such. Again, don't go pointing fingers too fast, I did enjoy the game at the start remember? Now, theres an AI built into the game called 'Rando' he can play too for various reasons and he can often win. As suggested, random cards are drawn, and because it usually doesn't make sense, its funny, and therefore wins! This made me realise that I'm not funny. Damn, I've been caught in this web of lies cards against humanity had me caught in. I have very limited choice and often my choices are a result of a card "dump" where really nothing was funny nor fit. A well thought out game might have a mechanic that allows me to do something else with these cards that maybe I don't see use for. So I'm not the one being funny, the predisposed topics and cards are just used as a shock factor -
which promptly brings me to my next point, these things and statements are often funny because you're shocked! THAT is in a card game, woaaah I'm such an adult, wow. No. sadly this may be funny the first time but there's only so many times I can see the "chunks of a dead hooker" card before it looses it's humorous effect. I've played with all of the expansions (which were available before I quit on this game) which was a fair few, and even then it wasn't enough.
The buzz was gone, and I no longer enjoy this game, I've not grown out of it, I'm not a humour buzzkill. There are many other similar style games that provide ample creativity. Now before one of you thinks it, yes, there are blank cards to write on, but it's often not enough to change and sustain the games core.
One more thing before I sign off on this one, it's often a popularity contest. I'm not the most popular in our gaming group, there are certainly people who will favour others and thats normal and fine. BUT when games like this swing around and the winner is essentially cast on a vote of the other players choosing. The winner can often be the same person again, and again and again. Because them putting cards down that were drawn out of a stack randomly and they had no input into the outcome of what those cards says was totally hilarious. They win again.
To summerise, creativity is so limited, it's not YOU being funny, it's the cards. It's not really that re-playable and it's often a popularity contest,
there are many other games of this genre that do it better.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) in Movies
Feb 12, 2021
Give Chadwick the Oscar
Pulitzer Prize winning Playwright August Wilson wrote 10 plays that he labeled his “Century Cycle” - one placed in each decade of the 20th century that depicts the Negro experience in America. Denzel Washington has pledged to produce a film for each one of these plays.
The first film, FENCES (2016), earned Viola Davis an Oscar and was nominated for Best Film. The 2nd film, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM looks to be just as awarded.
Set in a recording studio in Chicago in the 1920’s (the only play of Wilson’s Century Cycle NOT set in Pittsburgh), MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM tells the story of a recording session for Ma Rainey and her band.
Nominated for the Tony for Best Play of 1984, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM is the perfect stage play, for it takes place in one room - the recording studio. The problem with turning this into a film is that Director George C. Wolf felt compelled to “open things up” and added scenes, mostly at the beginning of the film, that takes you out of the studio. He also included Ma Rainey in some of these scenes, thus taking away the power of her entrance about 1/3 of the way into the story. These added scenes add nothing to the story and waters down some of the strength that being confined in one place brings.
But, oh, with performances and dialogue like this, those things are quickly forgotten.
Davis, of course, is stellar as Ma Rainey grabbing the spotlight and commanding the room with her presence. Ma Rainey (and Davis) are not to be trifled with and this is a powerhouse performance, so much so that I can forgive the film for having Davis’ voice dubbed for much of her singing performance.
But…Davis performance pales in comparison to the elite level work of Chadwick Boseman in the central role of trumpet player Levee who has some demons to unpack, demons that drive both his artistic and emotional self. This is a difficult character to root for, but Boseman’s charm shines through and mixed with his rage and sadness, makes for a potent combination and an interesting character to watch. Adding to the poignancy of the performance is the knowledge that this as Boseman’s last role before succumbing to cancer.
Colman Domingo (my favorite actor in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) brings a strong grounding to the preceedings in the role of Cutler while veteran character actor Glynn Turman (who I remember from the 1970’s mini-series CENTENNIAL) is at a career best as another musician, Toledo. Most of the film (and play) consist of Cutler, Toledo and Levee talking, arguing, bantering and pontificating and these 3 are more than up to this challenge.
All of this, of course, would not be possible without the power of the original stage play script by August Wilson. This work was ably adapted to the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination).
A very strong, very interesting tale with some very moving performances makes MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM a worthy Oscar-type film that should be checked out by all.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
The first film, FENCES (2016), earned Viola Davis an Oscar and was nominated for Best Film. The 2nd film, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM looks to be just as awarded.
Set in a recording studio in Chicago in the 1920’s (the only play of Wilson’s Century Cycle NOT set in Pittsburgh), MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM tells the story of a recording session for Ma Rainey and her band.
Nominated for the Tony for Best Play of 1984, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM is the perfect stage play, for it takes place in one room - the recording studio. The problem with turning this into a film is that Director George C. Wolf felt compelled to “open things up” and added scenes, mostly at the beginning of the film, that takes you out of the studio. He also included Ma Rainey in some of these scenes, thus taking away the power of her entrance about 1/3 of the way into the story. These added scenes add nothing to the story and waters down some of the strength that being confined in one place brings.
But, oh, with performances and dialogue like this, those things are quickly forgotten.
Davis, of course, is stellar as Ma Rainey grabbing the spotlight and commanding the room with her presence. Ma Rainey (and Davis) are not to be trifled with and this is a powerhouse performance, so much so that I can forgive the film for having Davis’ voice dubbed for much of her singing performance.
But…Davis performance pales in comparison to the elite level work of Chadwick Boseman in the central role of trumpet player Levee who has some demons to unpack, demons that drive both his artistic and emotional self. This is a difficult character to root for, but Boseman’s charm shines through and mixed with his rage and sadness, makes for a potent combination and an interesting character to watch. Adding to the poignancy of the performance is the knowledge that this as Boseman’s last role before succumbing to cancer.
Colman Domingo (my favorite actor in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) brings a strong grounding to the preceedings in the role of Cutler while veteran character actor Glynn Turman (who I remember from the 1970’s mini-series CENTENNIAL) is at a career best as another musician, Toledo. Most of the film (and play) consist of Cutler, Toledo and Levee talking, arguing, bantering and pontificating and these 3 are more than up to this challenge.
All of this, of course, would not be possible without the power of the original stage play script by August Wilson. This work was ably adapted to the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination).
A very strong, very interesting tale with some very moving performances makes MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM a worthy Oscar-type film that should be checked out by all.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
Lenard (726 KP) rated One Night in Miami (2020) in Movies
Jan 9, 2021
One Night in Miami is from start to finish a frank examination on responsibility and acceptance. On February 25, 1964, four friends who happened to highly visible black men, Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown, met in a hotel room after Cassius surprised the world in winning the heavyweight championship. But, before we get to that night, we are introduced to each man at a crossroads. Malcolm X is breaking away from the Nation of Islam after witnessing the corruption of its leadership. His actions would lead some members to view him as a direct threat. Cassius Clay is a great boxer, but his focus is waning. His brash style is alienating the audience and he has opinions about the way his brothers are being treated in the country. Sam Cooke is recognized as a great voice, but still not respected in the "white" world where success is gauged. He is looking for a way to crossover without betraying his roots. Jim Brown is the greatest football player, but even in his hometown he is still seen as inferior socially. In this dramatized version of the events of that night, each man must come to terms with the path he has chosen and the path forward.
Like another recent film, the path is a choice between making changes within the system, like Sam Cooke and Jim Brown have attempted, or to change the system from the outside, like Malcolm and Clay. Both paths have their advantages, and both are also deadly. Within a year, both Malcolm and Cooke would be dead. The movie based on a play finds ways from each character to learn from the others by pairing them off in various combinations (Malcolm-Cooke, Brown-Clay, Cooke-Clay, Malcolm-Brown, Malcolm-Clay, Cooke-Brown). The main antagonism takes place between Cooke and Malcolm. Cooke sees Malcolm as a militant who is creating sowing seeds of fear in the eyes of "America" and Malcolm sees Cooke as a Stepin Fetchit with a huge amount of talent wasted playing by the rules. Cooke shows Malcolm that he is quietly taking control while Malcolm gives Cooke the spark to sing for civil rights for the less fortunate members of black society. Malcolm also begins to see how his actions have hurt his brothers by grouping all members of one race together similar to the way whites do not distinguish between black individuals. The movie never shies away from shading each hero with flaws.
Malcolm may be paranoid as evidenced by a couple scenes where he sees people on his trail who may or may not be real. Under a lot of pressure to break from his organization, Malcolm sees his staff betraying him to the feds who have been investigating him since he first started speaking. The whole subplot humanizes a man who many view as dangerous to the world. Jim Brown is also seen as a hero to most. He broke records and is about to conquer the film industry. Maybe they are using him, but he is using them to shine a light on the inequality of the races.
Lastly, one scene in the movie is a highlight. It is not in Miami, but in Boston. It shows how one man can turn a riot into a celebration of joy. With the main road blocked, a man of great talent can turn adversity into victory using his wits and his voice.
Like another recent film, the path is a choice between making changes within the system, like Sam Cooke and Jim Brown have attempted, or to change the system from the outside, like Malcolm and Clay. Both paths have their advantages, and both are also deadly. Within a year, both Malcolm and Cooke would be dead. The movie based on a play finds ways from each character to learn from the others by pairing them off in various combinations (Malcolm-Cooke, Brown-Clay, Cooke-Clay, Malcolm-Brown, Malcolm-Clay, Cooke-Brown). The main antagonism takes place between Cooke and Malcolm. Cooke sees Malcolm as a militant who is creating sowing seeds of fear in the eyes of "America" and Malcolm sees Cooke as a Stepin Fetchit with a huge amount of talent wasted playing by the rules. Cooke shows Malcolm that he is quietly taking control while Malcolm gives Cooke the spark to sing for civil rights for the less fortunate members of black society. Malcolm also begins to see how his actions have hurt his brothers by grouping all members of one race together similar to the way whites do not distinguish between black individuals. The movie never shies away from shading each hero with flaws.
Malcolm may be paranoid as evidenced by a couple scenes where he sees people on his trail who may or may not be real. Under a lot of pressure to break from his organization, Malcolm sees his staff betraying him to the feds who have been investigating him since he first started speaking. The whole subplot humanizes a man who many view as dangerous to the world. Jim Brown is also seen as a hero to most. He broke records and is about to conquer the film industry. Maybe they are using him, but he is using them to shine a light on the inequality of the races.
Lastly, one scene in the movie is a highlight. It is not in Miami, but in Boston. It shows how one man can turn a riot into a celebration of joy. With the main road blocked, a man of great talent can turn adversity into victory using his wits and his voice.
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Chronicles of Drunagor: Age of Darkness
Tabletop Game
Daren has always been a land mired in conflict – from the moment the Mortal Races met in its...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the Xbox One version of XCOM 2 in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
Back in the day when having a 486 CPU make you the envy of many gamers, game called XCOM arrived and quickly establish the bar for which all other turn-based strategy games would be judged against. The sequel XCOM: Terror From The Deep was also very worthy but sadly subsequent entries and the series including a flight Sim, Exo-Suit Combat game, and a canceled first-person shooter left the game pretty much being a fondly remembered relic of an age long ago. When 2K 10 the rights to the franchise and put out the very solid XCOM: The Bureau and X-Com, fans could not be happier. XCOM was a modern day turn-based strategy game that contains all the elements that made the original game such a success along with updated graphics and capabilities that are made possible by today’s modern computers.
The success of the game spawned XCOM 2 were once again players must take command of the team of soldiers fighting against an alien incursion.
This timeout players need to command a resistance unit and as before, delegate valuable resources to areas such as combat research, weapons research, scientific research, base expansion, equipment, and much more.
From there base players are free to upgrade the facilities, research new technologies, select which missions to take, and which soldiers and equipment to use. The level of detail is so high that players can even promote their troops, and mourn fallen comrades at the base Memorial.
Typically a player quips their vehicle and assigns squad of soldiers to a combat area where they can use their relegated turn units to move, take cover, assume support position, attack, reload, and so much more. When a turn is complete, players must watch while the enemy takes their turn and he can be a little frustrating to have your poor helpless Squaddie cut down in their prime by enemy you did not notice.
The enemies are extremely advanced, well-armed, incapable of Psionic powers such as being able to mind control your troops and even raise the dead which can be very frustrating is nothing is more demoralizing than cutting down an elite enemy unit only to see them resurrected back in the game.
As with the best elements of the series you’re constantly in an arms race to research new technology and weaponry to keep up with the enemy and just when you think you have turned the corner. The enemy will roll out new units and weaponry to once again put you at a disadvantage. Combine this with the fact that resources and funding are always paramount to your success, players must always maintain good relationships with there’s financial supporters as a lack of funds is more deadly than any combination of alien assaults.
The game is graphically impressive and highly diverse as there are multiple styles of play that can be employed which gives the game an unparalleled level of strategy. It should also be noted that the game is exceedingly difficult at times and I spoke to one player who said that he nearly deleted the game several times while playing it in frustration but was glad he stuck it out because the final confrontation was absolutely epic.
There is a multiplayer mode for the game that allows players to assemble a trained team of units and take on various challenges and while entertaining, I must admit that I spent the majority of my time playing the campaign mode but look forward to playing this more in the future.
XCOM 2 is a very worthy sequel that in many ways surpasses the original in terms of a deeper and more intense story and gaming experience that really draws you in. One can almost feel the horror at seeing the latest alien terror up close and watching your squad members could cut down as you desperately attempt to achieve the mission objective. Whether you want a dose of nostalgia or a solid challenge, I highly recommend XCOM 2 as it is not only a first rate game, it is one of the best games of the year and likely will be the recipient of several awards in the not too distant future.
http://sknr.net/2016/02/29/xcom-2/
The success of the game spawned XCOM 2 were once again players must take command of the team of soldiers fighting against an alien incursion.
This timeout players need to command a resistance unit and as before, delegate valuable resources to areas such as combat research, weapons research, scientific research, base expansion, equipment, and much more.
From there base players are free to upgrade the facilities, research new technologies, select which missions to take, and which soldiers and equipment to use. The level of detail is so high that players can even promote their troops, and mourn fallen comrades at the base Memorial.
Typically a player quips their vehicle and assigns squad of soldiers to a combat area where they can use their relegated turn units to move, take cover, assume support position, attack, reload, and so much more. When a turn is complete, players must watch while the enemy takes their turn and he can be a little frustrating to have your poor helpless Squaddie cut down in their prime by enemy you did not notice.
The enemies are extremely advanced, well-armed, incapable of Psionic powers such as being able to mind control your troops and even raise the dead which can be very frustrating is nothing is more demoralizing than cutting down an elite enemy unit only to see them resurrected back in the game.
As with the best elements of the series you’re constantly in an arms race to research new technology and weaponry to keep up with the enemy and just when you think you have turned the corner. The enemy will roll out new units and weaponry to once again put you at a disadvantage. Combine this with the fact that resources and funding are always paramount to your success, players must always maintain good relationships with there’s financial supporters as a lack of funds is more deadly than any combination of alien assaults.
The game is graphically impressive and highly diverse as there are multiple styles of play that can be employed which gives the game an unparalleled level of strategy. It should also be noted that the game is exceedingly difficult at times and I spoke to one player who said that he nearly deleted the game several times while playing it in frustration but was glad he stuck it out because the final confrontation was absolutely epic.
There is a multiplayer mode for the game that allows players to assemble a trained team of units and take on various challenges and while entertaining, I must admit that I spent the majority of my time playing the campaign mode but look forward to playing this more in the future.
XCOM 2 is a very worthy sequel that in many ways surpasses the original in terms of a deeper and more intense story and gaming experience that really draws you in. One can almost feel the horror at seeing the latest alien terror up close and watching your squad members could cut down as you desperately attempt to achieve the mission objective. Whether you want a dose of nostalgia or a solid challenge, I highly recommend XCOM 2 as it is not only a first rate game, it is one of the best games of the year and likely will be the recipient of several awards in the not too distant future.
http://sknr.net/2016/02/29/xcom-2/
Lee (2222 KP) rated Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018) in Movies
Dec 12, 2018
Imaginative portrayal of the internet (2 more)
Ralph and Vanellope
Good positive messages throughout
Enjoyable Sequel
I cannot believe it's been 6 years since we last saw Ralph and Vanellope! And when we join them again, they're still in the same arcade, right where we left them. By day carrying out their respective gaming duties, by night socialising with the other arcade characters and drinking together in Tappers bar. They seem happy and content with life, although Vanellope is beginning to feel that there's more to life than the same old Sugar Rush races all day every day.
In an attempt to help his friend and spice things up for her, Ralph decides to smash a new race course through the Sugar Rush landscape. But things don't go quite according to plan, resulting in a broken steering wheel on the arcade machine. Unfortunately, the company responsible for making that machine is no longer in business so parts for it aren't readily available, or too expensive to buy online, so the plug gets pulled on the machine. With the future of the game in jeopardy, and with the Sugar Rush inhabitants having to find new homes with the other arcade residents, Ralph and Vanellope decide to try and help. The arcade has just had a Wi-fi router plugged in, and they overheard one of the kids in the arcade earlier talking about the steering wheel being available online on some site called eBoy? So, they decide to go investigate this thing called the internet.
I've seen a few reviews that draw comparisons to this movie and with 'Ready Player One' from earlier this year. As we entered the Oasis of Ready Player One, we were treated to an amazing visual onslaught of wonderful imagery and instantly recognisable characters. And, as Ralph and Vanellope enter the internet, it's a similarly enjoyable experience. Recognisable brands and websites are everywhere you look, either as buildings or with their concepts imaginatively represented in some form. Twitter birds fly around, characters force suspicious looking spam adverts in your face while busy web traffic is everywhere, constantly being directed to its next destination. Ralph and Vanellope eventually find their way to eBay, where the steering wheel they need is currently being auctioned, but they don't really understand the bidding process and end up winning it for more money than they can possibly pay. They then set about finding a way to get rich quick so that they can pay for the wheel and get it shipped to the arcade before the game gets removed for scrap. Their journey takes them to an online game called 'Slaughter Race', a violent racing game featuring skilled racer Shank (voiced by Gal Gadot), a world which immediately excites racing fiend Vanellope, who feels right at home.
It's great to see the characters of Ralph and Vanellope back on our screens. Ralph is still very funny and Vanellope is still extremely cute! There are also a large number of sections of the movie which work very well and are extremely enjoyable. Aside from the initial introduction to the internet, and the whole Slaughter Race segment, probably the most enjoyable portion is the visit to Disney and the Disney princesses, which received such a big reaction when featured in the various trailers for the movie. And we don't just get the princesses either, we also get to see Marvel and Star Wars characters too! Another chance to scour the screen to try and spot background characters, and a reminder that Disney is in fact slowly taking over the world!
Towards the end of the movie I felt that things weren't so interesting and enjoyable, with a lengthy segment involving a virus and how it spreads and manifests itself, threatening the whole internet. But that's a minor negative from me in what is overall a hugely enjoyable sequel. There are also a number of very strong messages throughout, from the Disney princesses and the way they act, to the way that internet negativity is portrayed. I'm not sure of the longevity of this movie though - after all, at the speed the internet develops these days, how many of the sites or concepts featured are going to still be around or even relevant in another 6 years time?
In an attempt to help his friend and spice things up for her, Ralph decides to smash a new race course through the Sugar Rush landscape. But things don't go quite according to plan, resulting in a broken steering wheel on the arcade machine. Unfortunately, the company responsible for making that machine is no longer in business so parts for it aren't readily available, or too expensive to buy online, so the plug gets pulled on the machine. With the future of the game in jeopardy, and with the Sugar Rush inhabitants having to find new homes with the other arcade residents, Ralph and Vanellope decide to try and help. The arcade has just had a Wi-fi router plugged in, and they overheard one of the kids in the arcade earlier talking about the steering wheel being available online on some site called eBoy? So, they decide to go investigate this thing called the internet.
I've seen a few reviews that draw comparisons to this movie and with 'Ready Player One' from earlier this year. As we entered the Oasis of Ready Player One, we were treated to an amazing visual onslaught of wonderful imagery and instantly recognisable characters. And, as Ralph and Vanellope enter the internet, it's a similarly enjoyable experience. Recognisable brands and websites are everywhere you look, either as buildings or with their concepts imaginatively represented in some form. Twitter birds fly around, characters force suspicious looking spam adverts in your face while busy web traffic is everywhere, constantly being directed to its next destination. Ralph and Vanellope eventually find their way to eBay, where the steering wheel they need is currently being auctioned, but they don't really understand the bidding process and end up winning it for more money than they can possibly pay. They then set about finding a way to get rich quick so that they can pay for the wheel and get it shipped to the arcade before the game gets removed for scrap. Their journey takes them to an online game called 'Slaughter Race', a violent racing game featuring skilled racer Shank (voiced by Gal Gadot), a world which immediately excites racing fiend Vanellope, who feels right at home.
It's great to see the characters of Ralph and Vanellope back on our screens. Ralph is still very funny and Vanellope is still extremely cute! There are also a large number of sections of the movie which work very well and are extremely enjoyable. Aside from the initial introduction to the internet, and the whole Slaughter Race segment, probably the most enjoyable portion is the visit to Disney and the Disney princesses, which received such a big reaction when featured in the various trailers for the movie. And we don't just get the princesses either, we also get to see Marvel and Star Wars characters too! Another chance to scour the screen to try and spot background characters, and a reminder that Disney is in fact slowly taking over the world!
Towards the end of the movie I felt that things weren't so interesting and enjoyable, with a lengthy segment involving a virus and how it spreads and manifests itself, threatening the whole internet. But that's a minor negative from me in what is overall a hugely enjoyable sequel. There are also a number of very strong messages throughout, from the Disney princesses and the way they act, to the way that internet negativity is portrayed. I'm not sure of the longevity of this movie though - after all, at the speed the internet develops these days, how many of the sites or concepts featured are going to still be around or even relevant in another 6 years time?