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Terraforming Mars
Terraforming Mars
2016 | Business / Industrial, Economic, Environmental, Science Fiction, Territory Building
Terraforming Mars is one of the current hallmarks of today's tabletop gaming. It's based around building an engine to turn Mars into a livable land using cards. As a sci-fi lover, its theme is fantastic. Its art.... Is mostly stock pictures, which doesn't bother me too much, but could be a nitpick for other folks. It's component quality is okay, but the player boards, thanks to the squares that are your primary tokens/markers, can easily be bumped and ruin your board. I highly recommend getting 3rd party player boards that have recesses to solve this problem.

Every turn, every player draws cards and decides which ones they want to keep. Then use resources to either terraform mars or improve their engine using cards. The game length can be highly dependent on group. I've talked to people who have games last up to four hours as people focus solely on engines versus terraforming Mars actually. My personal meta has it around 1.5 hours (with expansions). The early game can be very slow and sometimes you just never draw the cards you need for your planned engines.

Still though, I love this game for its heavy emphasis on theme and on how good a powerful engine can be.
  
Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Star Wars: Imperial Assault
2014 | Adventure, Entertainment, Fighting, Miniatures, Science Fiction
Star Wars: Imperial Assault: The Kotaku Review
Imperial Assault is a board game that was released in late 2014. I only got around to playing it over the weekend, and I already count those months between as wasted.

Having made a ton of money off their excellent X-Wing game before moving onto capital ship battles, Imperial Assault is Fantasy Flight’s shot at moving Star Wars into more traditional tabletop territory.

If you’ve ever played HeroQuest, Space Crusade or even XCOM, you’ll be familiar with the basics here: players take control of a character and take turns to move about a grid-based battlefield, using terrain as cover as they battle enemies and complete objectives.

It’s designed for 2-5 players, but shines brighter the closer you get to the latter. A single player—basically the dungeon master—takes control of all Imperial forces, while everyone else selects a single Rebel character, choosing from a stable of RPG class stalwarts (support, sniper, etc).

Reviewer: Luke Plunkett
Read the full review here: https://kotaku.com/star-wars-imperial-assault-the-kotaku-review-1734772222
  
    Mammoth Mini Golf AR

    Mammoth Mini Golf AR

    Games and Sports

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    Looking for a relaxed introduction to augmented reality? Mammoth Mini Golf AR has you covered with...

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)
Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)
2023 | Fantasy
8
7.5 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Very enjoyable fantasy adventure.
Based on the tabletop game, a group of adventurers bands together to exact revenge on the thief Forge (Hugh Grant).

Honor Among Thieves moves along at a brisk pace, using plenty of humor, which is well delivered by its humorous cast.
I was particularly worried from the trailer that this would be too focused on action and humor. Thankfully it wasn't.
Characters all have different backstories, though they are all quite predictable.
The main villain is very interesting and intense.
Action sequences are spaced out, well-choreographed, and quite clever.

Overall, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves doesn't really do anything new or different for the fantasy adventure genre. But what it does, it does well.
Very enjoyable, and a good introduction for D&D into the world of cinema.
  
    MONOPOLY for iPad

    MONOPOLY for iPad

    Games and Entertainment

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    **YOU VOTED & THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG** Thanks to the votes from YOU and thousands of loyal...

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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) created a post

Apr 13, 2019  
Can anyone recommend some good two-player tabletop games, be it board, and, or dice games? I'm going to have surgery and will have a lot of downtime and don't want to spend it as a couch potato.

I like to play city building games online, like Banished, Civilization, and Sierra Impression Games (Pharaoh, Caesar, and Emporer) and have looked at a few board game versions but they look complicated and come with so many pieces. Are they manageable or will a cat coming into the room destroy the game with a swipe of its tail? My roommate doesn't play games yet so it would have to be a game that isn't overly complex or complicated to a newbie or a highly-medicated me.

We also like Scrabble, word puzzles, and trivia games but are looking for similar games. We've played Uno (which is now forever known as F-U/No, F-U, haha) and Yahtzee. So traditional board, card, and dice would be nice. We like mystery, paranormal, and educational games, not big on fantasy, sci-fi, sports, or anything chaotic.

I'm also hoping to find games my boyfriend and I can play kind of mindlessly to do in the background while we chat about life and tell stories. I'm really needing some good intimate (not sexual) discussion.

All advice appreciated.
     
Show all 4 comments.
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Awix (3310 KP) Apr 14, 2019

Seven Wonders Duel is a pretty good, medium-complex card game. Splendor and Carcassonne also both work well with two and they're a little simpler and possibly more cat-proof too.

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The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) Apr 15, 2019

Jaipur is one of my favorites and has an App you can get as well.

Kleptokittens!
Kleptokittens!
2021 | Kids Game, Memory
Growing up, I didn’t really have pets. We had a couple hamsters, fish, and even a turtle for a bit, but nothing that lived outside of a cage/tank. My cousins had cats, and I remember I loved going to visit them and play with the kitties! Many a time, a small item (be it a sock, shoe, Beanie Baby, you name it) would be ‘misplaced’ by its human owner, only to later be found in one of the cat beds. So when I heard about Kleptokittens!, it was a hilariously real theme that I knew I had to try out. Keep reading to see if this game has been missing from your life!

Disclaimer: We were provided with a Tabletop Simulator version of this game for the purposes of this preview. The images below are screenshots from my plays. The components may not be finalized and could change after a successful Kickstarter campaign. -L

Kleptokittens! is a memory game of push your luck in which players are trying to amass the most points over the course of 5 rounds. Setup is simple – shuffle the deck of cards, and then lay them out face-down in a grid. Each player receives a Stash player mat, and the point tokens are set off to the side. Grab a timer, choose a starting player, and you are good to go!

On your turn, you will have 30 seconds to flip over cards and match as many pairs as possible. If you turn over a match, leave them face-up, and continue flipping cards. If the 2 cards you revealed do not match, flip them back face-down and keep looking for a pair. At the end of the 30 seconds, count up the number of matches you found, and take as many treasure tokens to your Stash. The game then moves to the next player, the cards are reset (either flipped back facedown, or shuffled and placed anew for an added challenge) and the game continues until all players have had a turn. That signifies the end of the first round. A new round commences as before, and the game keeps going until 5 rounds have been completed. The player who has amassed the most treasure tokens is named the winner!


Seems simple enough, right? Well, there are a couple of twists. If, at any point in your turn, you reveal a Spray Bottle, your turn immediately ends, regardless of how much time is remaining on your timer. You will then only score your last match made, and any previous matches this turn are lost! How much are you willing to push your luck to make matches? Or should you play it safe and quit while you’re ahead? It’s ultimately up to you! Conversely, you could also flip over a Catnip card. Catnip cards are collected to your Stash and are score multipliers at the end of the game! Put your memory to the test, and see how far you are willing to push your luck in hopes of coming out victorious.
At its core, Kleptokittens! is a matching/memory game, and the gameplay is pretty straightforward. The Spray Bottle and Catnip cards add that small element of push your luck that really helps elevate it beyond a simple matching game. You’ve got 3 matches – should you risk going for a 4th, and thus take the lead? Or should you play it safe, since you can’t remember exactly where you last saw that Spray Bottle card? There are some real stakes in this game, and that keeps the gameplay engaging for everyone. Another great thing about Kleptokittens? It’s really accessible for younger gamers! Matching and memory games are great for development in children. And it’s not every day that you find a game fun for adults that can also be played by the littles. The gameplay can be tailored to the group as well. Got a bunch of junior gamers? Maybe take out the Spray Bottle and Catnip cards for now and extend that timer to 1 full minute. Playing with a bunch of adult friends? Try re-shuffling the deck after every player so nobody can rely on the previous player’s grid for their memory of card placements. You can play this game with just about anyone, and that is the sign of a good game to me.


As mentioned earlier, this was a Tabletop Simulator version of the game, so I can’t really talk too much about component quality. I will say however that the art style is cute and fun, and matches the lighthearted feel of the game. The digital version of the game looks great, and I can’t wait to see how the physical version turns out!
Overall, I think that Kleptokittens! is a fun little filler game. A memory/matching game isn’t that novel these days, but the addition of the push your luck element makes for a unique gameplay that feels fun and fresh. The theme is cute, the gameplay is straightforward and simple to understand, and it can be played with gamers of all ages – so what’s not to love? If you’re in the market for something light and fun, I would recommend checking out Kleptokittens! It hits Kickstarter on June 23, 2021, so be sure to snatch it up like kittens snatch up little treasures in this game!