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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Steam Park in Tabletop Games

Aug 15, 2019 (Updated Aug 19, 2021)  
Steam Park
Steam Park
2013 | City Building, Dice Game, Real-time, Science Fiction
Who couldn’t go for a nice week or weekend at a fancy theme park these days? I think even our Alexas and Googles would like to catch some rays in their robot bodies, if they had them. Welcome to Steam Park, where all your robots can enjoy themselves on roller coasters, visit vendor stands, and also create metric tons of dirt. You ready?


Steam Park is a real-time dice rolling, theme park building, negative VP mitigating game for two to four players. In it players are theme park owners who are attempting to build the greatest park in the land hoping to attract many robots and keep their parks squeaky clean. The game spans six rounds of four phases and the player with the most VP at the game end will be the winner!
To setup, separate all the different components by type and color and shuffle the cards into a face-down deck. Deal each player six dice, one large starting tile to build upon, six cards from which they will choose to keep three, and one pig board. The game may now begin!

The four phases of each round are Roll, Dirt, Actions, and Income. During the Roll phase players will simultaneously be rolling their dice until they get a result they like. The first player to finish will quickly grab the First Player token in the middle of the table. Each other player may continue rolling as much as they like, but the turn order tokens will be taken one by one until they are all gone. Bonuses exist for the First and Second Player tokens and a negative bonus for the last player (more Dirt).

The Dirt phase causes each player to add Dirt tokens to their park according to the number of Dirt symbols rolled on their dice as well as the number of visitors currently in their park. The player who nabbed the First Player token can now discard four Dirt tokens from the bonus while the last player will add two more Dirt tokens to their park.

Actions that can be taken during the next phase include: Building Rides, Building Vendor Stands, Attracting Visitors, Cleaning Dirt, Playing Bonus Cards, and Expanding the Park. Each of these actions cost symbols rolled on the dice. To build a ride of capacity three, then three Build symbols would need to be spent from those rolled, et al. The only Action that requires no specific symbol is the Expand the Park. Use any symbol to add on a small square tile to the existing park layout.

Players will collect $3 (not USD, just the game money) for every visitor enjoying their park amenities during this Income phase. If a player has less than three Bonus Cards they may draw two from the deck and choose one to take in hand.


The game continues in this fashion over the course of six rounds total and once the final Income phase has been completed players will consult the Final Dirt Track to see how much will need to be paid in Dirt fees. Whomever ends the game with the most money wins!
Components. This game has a LOT of cardboard components. Nearly everything in the box is medium-quality cardboard and generally fine. The art is quirky, whimsical, and endearing. The insert leaves much to be desired so I made my own out of foam board. I have no complaints about the components except that I wish I could visit some of the rides, and I am still not super sure why the dice locking area is a metal pig token.

I originally played Josh’s copy he brought over to my house. I fell in love with it right away, and I still very much enjoy it. It will never make my Top 10 Games of All Time, but I will cherish my copy. I have yet to add in the Play Dirty expansion for it, as I like the base game so well, but I plan to sometime soon.

What I like most about it is the real-time rolling of the dice coupled with the grabbing of the turn order tokens when satisfied. This means that I could just go with what I roll after one roll, or I can take my time and just accept the Dirt coming my way. Sometimes being last and taking that extra Dirt is worth having all the dice read what you really want.

I also like having a lot of vendor stands in my park. Finding room for them is a different story, but I end up usually having just a few rides and mostly stands. They each provide some different benefit or way to change up the game a little that I just love to take advantage of them.

I adore games with real-time dice rolling, so I was predisposed to being attracted to Steam Park. Coupled with the great overall theme, this is an easy win for me, and a prized entry in my collection. In fact, I’m not the only one of us who thinks this as Purple Phoenix Games gives Steam Park a monotone-robot-thrill-seeker-scream 14 / 18. If you are tiring of Escape: The Curse of the Temple (which is possible), then pick up a copy of Steam Park. It will spark your joy of frantic dice rolling once more!
  
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
2014 | Animation, Family
Mixing Anime with the cutting edge animation that Disney is famous for, “Big Hero 6” is the latest offering from the studio legendary for animated classics.
The film is sent in a near-future San Francisco which is now known as San Fransokyo and follows a boy genius named Hiro (Ryan Potter) who along with his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) lives with his Aunt after being orphaned.

Hiro is very good at designing fighting robots and despite it being illegal; he has managed to earn himself some nice money winning fights on the underground circuit.
His brother wants him to do better and takes him to his college, and encourages him to enroll and follow him and his friends in helping build a better tomorrow.
Hiro opts to enter a technology showcase and blows away the competition which ensures him a place in the school and working with his brother and his team.
At the moment of his greatest triumph, tragedy strikes and Hiro finds himself in deep depression and unwilling to enter school and complete his education. When a freak discovery leads Hiro to learn that his invention has been stolen by a mysterious figure in a Kabuki mask, Hiro must use his knowledge along with Baymax (Scott Adsit), a medical robot designed by his brother to save the day.

Hiro is not without help as aside from complex fighting and flight tools and armor added to Baymax, Hiro enlists and equips his brother’s friends to form an elite fighting unit.
As the team gets closer to the mystery the danger grows, and Hiro must grow beyond his years to do what is right and learn some hard life lessons in the process.
The film is a bit slow to start and parents will want to note the PG rating as it may be a bit dark and intense for younger viewers.
Old viewers may get a bit impatient with the setup but after the first 45 minutes the film gets down to great characters and action which are the selling points of the film.
It was very clear to me that Disney was aiming the film mainly to the Asian markets and to fans of anime but I found the characters growing on me as it went along and I really enjoyed the 3D animation which was wonderful to behold.

In the end it was a pleasant enough introduction to what I hope is the first of many films in the series. Eagle eyed viewers will want to look carefully for a Stan Lee cameo as it is one to enjoy as is this charming new franchise film from Disney.

http://sknr.net/2014/11/07/big-hero-6/
  
The Polaris Uprising (Polaris, #1)
The Polaris Uprising (Polaris, #1)
Jennifer Ibarra | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Another bystander review yet again. T_T But throughout the story, I was making connections – yet again – to movies and books:

     Corsets – Incarceron. Mercifully no prisons.

     Probe Bots – *that seriously cute voice from that one movie* Wall-E! Of course, those robots had inflection and it's not Wall-E's voice I'm calling cute.

     Arranged Marriages – At the time I started The Polaris Uprising, I completed Delirium not too long ago and it turned out to be a TERRIBLE experience. Fortunately, this book fared better off and it's not similar to Delirium. *phew* In fact... this quote got me quite worried:
<blockquote>When you’re president, this will all be a distant memory.</blockquote>
     Is this similar to "When you're cured, this will all be a distant memory" or what? I could have sworn I saw that exact same sentence in Delirium a million times maybe. O_O (Obviously I didn't let that stop me from continuing).

     Truth Serum – Welcome to the Candor faction. Need I say more?

     That one sentence before this: And then all hell broke loose – Similar to The Hunger Games, but different. And no, that's no spoiler. Close, but no.
<blockquote>Alanna! Alanna!</blockquote>
     e_e 1984's B! B! B! That book was quite dreadful, so I'm surprised I still remember the letter B! (that was not me in exclamation).

     Now that I've gone through my dreadful (and some positive) experiences with some dystopians, let's get on with some positive notes and why I gave The Polaris Uprising a high rating:

~ The message comes across clearly throughout the book. Maybe confusing at first (switching views from the prologue and first chapter), but everything fits in nicely later.
~ Here's the big plus: it's different from other dystopians. As in really different. How? It's like many years later, a dystopian AFTER another dystopian failed. At least, that's what I assume. The signs were there, which brings me to my next point.
~ Dare to be different. I would've had to choose a faction back in September if I were in Divergent (Movie's out in 28 DAYS). Here, you're an adult at 25. That gives me what? 7-8 years to be a semi-kid? Yippee.
~ This might actually take a different end from other dystopians. Of course, there's no guarantee, so don't take that word for granted.

     But overall, an impressive debut novel for Jennifer Ibarra.
-----------------------
Review copy provided by the author for review on the blog tour
Formatting is lost due to copy and paste
This review and more can be found at <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/blog-tour-the-polaris-uprising-by-jennifer-ibarra-review-and-giveaway.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gi5Rk5yLloA/UtliaUbdL3I/AAAAAAAACbE/J27z92_qrYU/s1600/Official+Banner.png"; /></a>
  
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The World&#039;s End (2013)
The World's End (2013)
2013 | Comedy, Sci-Fi
9
7.4 (27 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This summer’s movie lineup has been crammed full of sophisticated robots, vampires and even a recently passed billionaire genius. And then you have The World’s End (“TWE”), which might simply be the best and most creative of the bunch. Having a much smaller budget than these bigger movies, and being set in England, Edgar Wright shows that it’s not all about money and tropics in this hilarious romp.

 

I cannot honestly think of a better way to wrap up the Cornetto Trilogy then the story told in TWE. For those that don’t know there’s a joke behind the Cornetto name, in that a report brought up that a Cornetto ice cream wrapper was featured in each of the first two movies. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz make up the first two movies, and TWE rounds out what eventually became the Cornetto Trilogy. Ice cream Easter egg aside, all the films in the trilogy share the same cast and crew. They star Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, written by Pegg and Wright, and directed by Wright. The films are chock full of inside jokes that go back as far as this incredible groups humble beginnings with the TV show Spaced. Beyond these connections, though, each films stands on its own as a unique story.

 

While Shaun of the Dead was the group’s take on zombie films, and Hot Fuzz visited the buddy cop genre, TWE is a comedic riff on films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. If you have somehow made it this far without having the full plot spoiled for you, do try and keep it that way. The key things you need to know is that there are robots, creepy “YOLO” kids, and the story centers on Gary King, a man who never quite grew up.

 

Gary (Pegg) is a disaster of an adult male. He’s wild, rambunctious, trying to constantly relive his youth, and irresponsible to boot. This demeanor has not done any good for him as an adult on the far side of 40, but he’s delusional and is not aware that he has not succeeded in life. This actually adds to his charm.

 

Gary gets a bug up his you know what, and wants to relive one of his last greatest days of his youth. A day when he and his four best friends decided to celebrate finishing school by tackling the town-famous golden mile. Newton Haven has 12 pubs spread along a mile path that Gary manages to convince his friends Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver (Martin Freeman), Peter (Eddie Marsan) and former best friend Andrew (Frost) to attempt again just like they did all those years ago. The pub crawl concludes at the film’s namesake: The World’s End.

 

As the evening goes on, and the beers start going down, the five begin to discover that something is off. Between rounds and pubs, the group starts to discuss whether or not the town has changed, or they have. This leads to a fight with the creepy “YOLO” kids that is reminiscent of Chinese Kung Fu movies the likes of Jackie Chan would be found in. As the mates progress from pub to pub, more and more of the mystery of Newton Haven begins to unravel.

 

The film starts in a deceiving way and hides its true nature underneath a veil of middle-aged men trying to reconcile their present with their past. Gary very much represents the past as he still dresses the way he did when he was 18, still drives the same car, complete with the same cassette tape of music given to him more than 20 years ago by Steven. Gary is a loser, but thinks he is the hero of every story, which causes a love/hate relationship with the group of friends. Then it all changes! Wright and company manage to do a complete 180 and combine a very believable mid-life crisis film with a robot invasion. And it works!

 

Pegg absolutely nails the role of Gary, from his movements to his banter with the others in the film. There is an air of desperation hidden under his free spirit persona. But surprisingly, it is Frost that steals the movie this time around. Andrew is the most well-rounded character he has portrayed, even through his transformation from a stiff professional into the atomic elbow dropping fighter he needs to become.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the fight scenes are very reminiscent Chinese Kung Fu movies. The choreography is amazing and the actors have no problem keeping up with the action and bringing the air of humor that the Kung Fu films bring as well. It is impressive watching Frost, a small man by no means, nimbly dispatch several foes. Meanwhile, Pegg is constantly thwarted by enemies as he unsuccessfully attempt to enjoy a pint. For a film billed as comedy, the few fight scenes are among the best of the summer.

 

As good and Pegg and Frost are though, it all comes back to the man behind the camera… Wright. He has a style that is distinctive and unique. He has shown his range over the years with shows like Spaced and films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. And his attention to detail is bar-none. Nothing is included in a shot if it doesn’t have some sort of meaning. Wright is a master film maker in his own right.

 

TWE is steeped in originality and creativity, which is sorely lacking in many films that are released these days. Wright is a master of deconstructing a genre film to honor it and make fun of it at the same time. Pegg and Frost have an uncanny knack for translating Wright’s visions to the silver screen. The World’s End is another example of their shining chemistry, and also one of the best films of the summer.