tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809419646360412082024-03-13T21:03:10.687-07:00Everyone Listens to ReasonREASON - as everybody listens to reason.
REASON
version 1.0B7
Catling.type 3.mm hypervelocity railgun system
--- Neal Stephenson "Snowcrash"Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.comBlogger176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-49852175575209009352013-06-26T05:16:00.000-07:002013-06-26T05:16:13.732-07:00Augustus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/augustus-13998.aspx?a=28">Augustus</a> came to my attention as it's one of the nominees for the SdJ this year. I am always on the lookout for a good mid weight game that I can play after a weighty game or something I can play with my kids.<br />
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Augustus fits the bill nicely. Its been nicknamed the Roman Bingo game and its easy to see why. The base mechanic of the game is Bingo, but instead of crossing off numbers on a grid you are sending your roman legions to take control of provinces or gain favour with the senators.<br />
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Opening up the box you get a score pad, a large stack of cards that show the provinces or senators, a bag of red centurion meeples and a number of tokens that fit into a cloth bag.<br />
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Setup is easy, every player gets 7 centurions and 6 random cards. From these 6 cards they must each choose 3 to put into play and the rest are discarded. Picking which cards to keep takes a little bit of thought but as the game is quite light and pretty quick its not a great loss if you make a mistake. 5 cards are then drawn to make a pool in the center of the table.<br />
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Each of these cards is broken down into different areas. On the left is a number of symbols, these match the tokens that are drawn from the bag. To score the card you will need to have a centurion on each of these symbols. Some are more common than others, for example there is only 1 yellow dagger in the bag compared to 6 crossed swords. On the right there maybe an icon that tells the players what happens when they score the card. This can range from adding gaining extra centurions to removing centurions from other players cards. Finally at the bottom of the card there is the number of victory points the card will score at the end of the game.<br />
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So you can see, its nice to have a balance of cards and maybe pick ones that work together.<br />
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The tokens are then put in the bag and someone starts drawing. Each time a token is drawn its type is announced, each player may then put a single centurion onto a card each time they have a symbol that matches. Once a card is filled they shout out "Ave Cesar" or "Bingo" and they remove the centurions and activate the cards effect.<br />
There are 2 joker tokens in the bag, each player can determine what it represents to them, then all drawn tiles are put back into the bag and shuffled. So the bag is re seeded several times during the game.<br />
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They then get to draw another card to replace the one they have just scored. Now, there are a number of bonus tiles that users can score. These are scored when certain conditions are met, such as 3 green provinces or one of each colour. There are also some bonus tiles that you can only grab when you have scored that number of cards, if you miss it you can't go back. So there is a little bit of a push your luck while you are holding out for the higher scoring bonus tiles.<br />
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Play continues until someone scores 7 cards. Victory points are totaled up and the winner is announced.<br />
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<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/augustus-13998.aspx?a=28">Augustus</a> is a light game, you have to think about the cards you are trying to score and making sure you grab the bonus tiles when you can. A game normally takes 30 minutes, so you can get a couple of plays in quite easily.<br />
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So far its been enjoyed by family and gamers, I think its got a good chance of winning the Sdj this year. If its not this then it will be Hanabi which is another of my favorites.<br />
<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-28508987450465923492013-01-18T04:45:00.001-08:002013-01-18T04:45:56.827-08:00Pirates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are some themes that always seem popular, Zombies, Ninja's and Pirates seem to top the list. By adding one of these to your games you are more than likely to sell a few extra copies but it doesn't mean its going to be a good game.<br />
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Luckily <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/libertalia-13290.aspx?a=28">Libertalia</a> is a great pirate game that works its theme into the mechanics very well.<br />
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The aim of the game is to amass the most booty after 3 weeks of sailing the high seas. You do this by playing character cards each with there own power and initiative value. Powers are played out and booty is picked up. At the end of each week the booty is counted and any other effects dealt with. It all sounds very straight forward and it is, which makes it a good gateway game that non gamers should be able to get to grips with.<br />
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Setup is very straight forward, players each take there deck of 30 pirate cards. Every deck is the same so its how you use your cards that matters. The ship board is put on the table along side the scoring track.<br />
The youngest player then shuffles his cards and deals out 9. The rest of the players then take those same matching 9 cards from their decks. Then the main board is seeded with booty tiles. There are spaces for 6 sets of tiles, each set is equal to the number of players. These are drawn from a bag and placed face up so everyone can see what booty is on the horizon.<br />
6 rounds are then played out, one for each day of the week except for Sunday.<br />
In each round players secretly pick their pirate and place them face down on their own player board. The cards are shown and placed on the main board in numerical order. The lowest being the ships parrot and the highest a Spanish officer. Card powers are then dealt with in order as long as they have a dawn symbol on them. Ties are broken with a second number.<br />
Once all of the cars have been resolved, you go backwards through the cards with players picking a booty tile from that days area. Any card with a dusk icon also gets to use its power. Cards are then moves to the players pirate den.<br />
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The powers are varied, ranging from moving your booty to other players, discarding other players cards or just earning booty coins if they are still alive. Knowing what to play when and how the cards interact is part of the fun.<br />
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Night powers are then resolved if you have any pirates alive in your den. These usually allow you to earn more booty depending on what pirates you have in the den.<br />
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This set of actions runs through 6 times, with players using their pirates to hopefully get the best pick of the booty tiles. Finally Sunday is a day of rest. Booty is counted and scored and any pirate with an anchor symbol on display is resolved. All booty is then returned to the bag, pirate cards are returned to the box and the youngest draws another 6 cards.<br />
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Now things get interesting as players will have a mix of old and new cards, and again its what they choose and when will determine what booty they score.<br />
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After running through this 3 times for 3 separate weeks the final scores are tallied and the winner is the pirate with the most booty.<br />
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The mechanics are very simple, its using the pirates at the right time that's the key. Some of the booty tiles are good, some are bad so being able to move the cursed ones to another player helps. Also some of the booty tiles will kill off your pirate or even a pirate in an adjacent pirate den.<br />
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<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/libertalia-13290.aspx?a=28">Libertalia</a> supports up to 6 players and a game should take about an hour to play. Its more than a filler game and less than the main event of a gaming evening. But its a very good game with some lovely artwork and components. It's quite possibly my favorite pirate themed game.<br />
<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-16149411068230735972012-12-31T03:35:00.000-08:002012-12-31T03:35:07.449-08:002012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So the end of 2012 is nearly upon us and its been a very good year of gaming. Yet again I have bought too many games and felt like i needed to play them more often but juggling work, family and the xbox is a fine balancing act.<br />
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Games of the year for me have been<br />
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<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/eclipse-board-game-2012-reprint-12456.aspx?a=28">Eclipse</a><br />
A fantasy 4x space game, great components and a rules set that works very well make for a great game. Nothing is overly complicated and there are more than enough strategies and options available that keep you entertained and wanting more.<br />
An <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/rise-of-the-ancients-eclipse-expansion-13730.aspx?a=28">expansion</a> has been released which takes it up to 9 players, that would be an epic game but maybe not for the faint hearted.<br />
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<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/castles-of-burgundy-12824.aspx?a=28">Castles of Burgundy</a><br />
Probably my favorite euro game of the year. Lots of action choices but all depending of the dice you roll. Another game with variable player boards means that there are lots of choices and options available to the players. <br />
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Hanabi<br />
My favorite filler game, its a co-op game delivered by a deck of cards. Players are trying to get the perfect firework display by playing cards in the correct order. The twist being you can't see your own hand, only the other players. Such a simple game has brought many evening to an end.<br />
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Disappointment of the year for me has been the <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/power-up-expansion-king-of-tokyo-13632.aspx?a=28">King of Tokyo Power up expansion</a> . I love King of Tokyo, its a simple game to explain but the expansion doesn't add much to it. Some super powers for each monster and a new giant Panda. I am not sure what I was expecting, but this one fell a little flat for me.<br />
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What does 2013 bring, hopefully more gaming but along with it I think I need to cull my collection a little. Space is a premium and I have several unplayed games that just seem to gather dust.<br />
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Project wise, I am painting the pieces for my copy of <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/mice-and-mystics-13547.aspx?a=28">Mice and Mystics</a>. The idea being that I can play it with the kids as a precursor to Descent. But so far the rules are unread as I am enjoying painting the figures. I will probably ass dome pics when they are finished.<br />
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I have a couple of game ideas that need fleshing out and prototypes built. I think most gamers have a dream of getting a game published, but it seems like a long road. I am sure if I put some time into them they will turn out ok.<br />
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So Happy New Year everyone, enjoy the fireworks! <br />
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<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-89564773304627326142012-09-18T05:52:00.003-07:002012-09-18T05:52:42.535-07:00Kickstarter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was a bit late to catch on to Kickstarter, it sounded like a good idea but I was worried about the end results and whether or not things would actually be produced.<br />
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A few games came and went, notably <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/eminent-domain-12159.aspx?a=28">Eminent Domain</a>, <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/flash-point-fire-rescue-12491.aspx?a=28">Flashpoin</a>t and <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/alien-frontiers-12156.aspx?a=28">Alien Frontiers</a>. Games I have played, enjoyed and own although I bought them from retail and not from Kickstarter. I felt like I was missing out on teh buzz generated by Kickstarter and as more and more games were being plugged decided to take the plunge.<br />
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I have since helped fund, For the Win, Flashpoint Urban Structure, Day of the Dead, Farmageddon and Zombies at your heels. Most of these are card games, mainly due to the cost. I have no problem in throwing in $10-20 for a game including shipping. But when its going to cost $40 for the game, plus shipping and then the possibility of being hit by a customs charge I just have to say No.<br />
My first experience was For the Win, its not a bad game. It's like Hive but with Ninjas, Pirates, Aliens and other pop culture items. I ordered 6 copies with the view of selling them to cover the cost of one copy. The trouble was I was stung by customs for about half the price of the games. Not ideal, but you live and learn.<br />
Since then its been mainly card games, where the international delivery is more reasonable. These haven't disapointed. Zombies at the Heels is quite a fun Zombire race game. Trying to get your band of survivors to teh bunker before they are "Nom'd" by the hoard. I have played it a few times now and am happy with it, plus some of the money raised went to charity which is always a good thing.<br />
Farmageddon looks great and its another fun card game to play. I haven't given it enough plays yet but am happy with the end result.<br />
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Day of the Dead came in a nice tin, unfortunately I think the postal services had used the box for some football practice. The tin has taken a beating, but the components inside are fine. The card stock is a little thinner than I would have expected but I bought this mainly for the artwork. I am yet to play this as its a 2 player game.<br />
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Flashpoint Urban Structures hasn't arrived yet, this is probably the biggest purchase and I expect to be hit by customs again. I bought 3 copies but they are all accounted for, with the costs being split so I am happy with that. Neither has Avalon, the Resistance remake which looks really nice. <br />
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So, Kickstarter has been a mixed bag for me. Some hits and some misses but the experience has been a ride. I wouldn't dismiss Kickstarter and I think its going to be here for quite a while. It has its good points and bad. It's good that designers can get there games made, but sometimes you have to wonder if Kickstarting is the last resort. If your design has been turned down should it really be made?<br />
I also think think that existing publishers are using it to gauge the reaction to some games, Queen games seem to be using Kickstarter to fund designs when I am sure they could just publish them themselves. How much of a hit do they take in Kickstarter fees?<br />
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<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-47116710517705592582012-08-31T04:03:00.000-07:002012-09-18T05:53:21.790-07:00Dice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/13174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/13174.jpg" /></a></div>
I love dice in most games, except RISK. I hate the dice in RISK, they always seem to be against me and working for everyone else. I am currently at game 10 of our <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/risk-legacy-12393.aspx?a=28">RISK Legacy</a> game and its been a painful and traumatic experience. At times the ride has been fun, causing nuclear destruction in Egypt was a masterpiece but every time I think the odds are stacked in my favor the dice are against me.<br />
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Still, only 5 more games than it can be put to rest.<br />
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Other dice games have been played a lot recently. I have introduced <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/quarriors-11956.aspx?a=28">Quarriors</a> to my youngest and he loves it. It's his current favorite game and I can see why he enjoys playing it. He is getting the creatures and monsters part and enjoys rolling the dice and looking to see what he can afford to buy. He is pestering me for the <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/quarmageddon-expansion-quarriors-13013.aspx?a=28">Quarmageddon</a> expansion and I am tempted.<br />
I was initially unsure how he would get on, I was looking at the shelves for some kind of miniatures game, I have Heroquest but the setup and tear down just takes too long. Other than that most of my other games seemed too complicated for him or would take too long.<br />
<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/quarriors-11956.aspx?a=28">Quarriors</a> just hits the sweet spot, it takes 20 minutes to play and has a good helping of wizards and monsters. The Green slime/frog is his current favorite. Not because of its powers just because it looks good.<br />
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On another front (The Western one) I have been playing quite a bit of <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/dday-dice-13174.aspx?a=28">D-Day dice</a>. Currently all solo plays, but hopefully I can try it with more soon. The aim of the game is to get your troops over the beach and storm the bunker. It reminds me of Roll through the Ages, but after each round you loose troops to German fire. You also need to have specific items or specialists to be able to progress up the beach.<br />
It's all about rolling the dice for resources and trying to plan what resources you are going to need to cross the beach and storm the bunker. It comes with 8 different beaches, so far I have only managed to win the Exercise Tiger map. Omaha beach has been close and the rest just look horrific.<br />
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Its a quick game, taking about 15 minutes to play and has little setup. So when you fail its easy to just reset the board and give it another go. It's my current go to solo game for that reason.<br />
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The game front is looking rosy at the moment, there are quite a few games being released that I am desperate to get my hands on. Netrunner being top of the list, with Smash up, Alcatraz, Smash up and the Star Wars Xwing game close behind. Luckily my birthday and Christmas are on there way.<br />
<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-51433937144583542782012-06-26T05:19:00.000-07:002012-06-26T05:19:32.049-07:00Multiple Plays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sometimes you get a game, give it a play and it just doesn't click. Sometimes its now what your expecting, sometimes it seems more trouble than its worth. When I first heard about <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/kingdom-builder-12340.aspx?a=28">Kingdom Builder</a> I was quite excited. I loved Dominion, to me its one of the greats, bringing deck building back into the forefront at a reasonable cost. Initial reviews were a bit mixed, but I think that expectations might have been a bit high.<br />
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I missed out on the first print run, I was tempted but there just wasn't a copy around. I added it to my wish list and waited.<br />
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I managed to grab a copy at the UK Games Expo, by this time the reviews had evened out and it was getting a more positive response. I also thought it might be a good game to play with the kids.<br />
Reading the rules I was a little confused, not because there was lots to read. Far from it, the rules are barely there. I just couldn't get my head around them. I think I was trying to read too much into them.<br />
First play with the kids went well, the game flowed although we didn't really go for the special tiles that effect placement of your pieces.<br />
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I thin played with some of my game group and it played a bit better, the pieces started to fall into place and strategies were forming.<br />
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Last night we played it again, this was my 5th game and my reservations have now been ignored. Last night was a great game, I lost by 1 point. But the different scoring strategies made more sense.<br />
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Kingdom Builder is never going to be in my top 10 games, but after a few plays its now deffinately going to stay on the game shelf.<br />
<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-78533855976020353362012-06-22T02:55:00.001-07:002012-06-22T02:55:40.946-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There is a new Con in town, this one is local to me and is being put together by our game group.<br />
If you are free and fancy a day of gaming come along.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-28147645247454207762012-05-22T05:46:00.003-07:002012-05-22T05:47:47.300-07:00UK Games Expo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This weekend its time to drive up North to Birmingham for the yearly <a href="http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/">UK Games Expo</a>. I haven't been to many expos, but the one in Birmingham is always a good day out. There is plenty to see and games to play as well as a few bargains to pick up.<br />
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Thankfully its the last time its going to be in its current location, the last couple of years its become more popular and more crowded. I don't feel like I have missed out on anything but it would be nice to have a bit more space. Especially at the demo tables.<br />
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I have a few games lined up, <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/mage-knight-boardgame-12405.aspx?a=28">Mage Knight</a> is back in print and I have ordered a copy. This one looks really good, with some nice bits. The rule book looks a bit in depth but I am sure I can cope with it.<br />
The second is <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/kingdom-builder-12340.aspx?a=28">Kingdom Builder</a>, I tried to buy a copy around Christmas but it soon sold out. It's back now and looks like it might win the SdJ this year. I also think it might be one that I can play with teh kids, well that's a good enough excuse to get it on the shelf.<br />
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Gaming wise its been pretty busy, I have played Helvetia a few times and really like this euro. The bits are lovely and the game is interesting without being too complicated. Our Risk Legacy game has stalled, mainly because we haven't managed to get all 5 of us together at the same time. Hopefully this will remedy itself soon.<br />
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I am off camping in a couple of weeks, so any suggestions of games that I can take would be welcome. Something small, light weight and can be played with 10 year olds.<br />
<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-49525270923764364152012-04-17T03:55:00.004-07:002012-04-20T00:56:08.203-07:00Risk Legacy<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12393.jpg?a=28"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12393.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Games are sometimes put into categories with the biggest two being <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Eurogames</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ameritrash</span>. To me <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/risk-legacy-12393.aspx?a=28">Risk Legacy</a> is the definition of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ameritrash</span>.<br /><br />It got lots of theme and lots of pieces and the rules are a bit on the simple side. Although with the way Risk Legacies change this last point may change. You see, with Risk Legacies the game is going to change and evolve as you play it. Not just the once, each time you finish one of the first 15 games the board and rules can and will change.<br />Risk Legacy is doing something brave in the world of gaming. Its taking a game and allowing the players to change it with stickers, permanent markers and the rubbish bin. Throw in some unlock able expansions in the box and you have an interesting mix.<br />But and its a big one, its still Risk and after those 15 plays realistically how many times are you going to play it?<br />I played a lot of Risk when I was a kid and enjoyed it but I didn't really have much to compare it to then. I have also played an awful lot of Risk and variations online on the Conquer Club web site. So I know how to play Risk and its good and bad points.<br />Legacy is a fun game, its also pretty quick. We played the first 3 games in one evening session. Although in 2 of those games I only actually took 2 turns. Yep, 2 turns before we had a winner. So it feels like its gone from one extreme to the other. Risk used to take hours to play, now its condensed into much less. This may change as the game and board evolve, we have no idea what is in those sealed sections.<br />Altering the board is fun, and making sure that everyone can do something at the end of the game is great. If it were only the winner who could add cities or adjust the resources that would soon start to grate. But they have split the alterations into two sections. One for the winner while everyone else who survived can do a minor modification. These in themselves so far haven't adjusted the game in any major way but again, I am sure there are things lurking in those sealed that may change things.<br /><br />So far I am enjoying the game, I just think that after you have put the stickers on the board and named a continent after your dog the game is going to spend more time on the shelf than on the table. But if the idea of really amending a game as your playing it appeals give it a go, your not going to be disappointed.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-18979247651659116422012-02-27T04:34:00.004-08:002012-02-27T04:50:32.758-08:00Thunderstone Advance<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/thunderstone-advance-to-12677.aspx?a=28"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12677.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I am a bit fan of <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/thunderstone-advance-to-12677.aspx?a=28">Thunderstone</a>, out of all of the current deck building games to me it has the best theme and enough variety to keep me interested. I also really like the fact that most of the cards will fit into a single box which makes getting the game played easier.<br />As much as I love Dominion, its a pain to take anywhere because of the large boxes of cards and unless I setup some decks before hand we generally just use the base set and an expansion. With Thunderstone I am happy to put more cards in the box and just randomize things.<br /><br />My issues with Thunderstone have been teaching the game. The cards have a few icons on them and the light penalty takes a few plays. But mainly its the battle effects. When are they applied? Before, after or during combat. It just seems a little messy. For the first few games we were adding disease cards to the battle itself. Needless to say the first few games took a while to play.<br /><br />Dragonspire was released and with the help of its board and a few rules tweaks things have improved. But now <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/thunderstone-advance-to-12677.aspx?a=28">Thunderstone Advance</a> is about to hit the shops and it looks like Alderac have revamped everything and from what I can see all for the better.<br /><br />The cards have had a revamp with new borders and artwork. I am still not sure about these as the new art style is different to previous cards. I am sure they will grow on me but for now they just look a little odd. The icons are still there but they look refreshed and more readable. I think the main differences on the cards seem to be the text area. It looks bigger and they have put the battle effects into different areas so you can see what is a battle effect and what happens after the battle. This should clear up any confusion and make for a better play experience.<br /><br />Dragonspire was the first expansion to use a board as well as ditching experience cards for plastics tokens. Thunderstone Advance has upped the ante, there is now a full board with spaces for the village cards as well as the dungeon. It's also double sided enabling you to play a wilderness variant on the other side.<br />There are also cards for a new game mechanic, familiars. I am not really sure what they do as yet, I need to read up the rules but I am sure they will add to the game experience.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/thunderstone-advance-to-12677.aspx?a=28">Thunderstone Advance</a> looks like the natural progression with the game, its almost like its version 2.0 with all the irks ironed out. It hits the shops next week, around March 5th and there is a bonus set of cards for people buying from local shops.<br />My copy has been ordered and I'm really looking forward to giving it a try.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-47034850574235087902012-02-05T07:24:00.000-08:002012-02-06T05:09:18.270-08:00Its alive Jim<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/robots-expansion-power-grid-12552.aspx?a=28"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 212px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12552.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />There are always a few topics that are bandied around message boards. They include, what games can my kids play, what game will my wife enjoy and what game can I play solo.<div>So generally it seems like some gamers out there have trouble finding other players and are trying to boost the gamer numbers with family members.</div><div>I'm lucky, I have a good group and my kids are willing to play games. i also have some really good solo games.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are some games that i would love to play more often, Power Grid is one of them. I have had a copy for years but with the cult of the new taking place it doesn't get played as much as usual. One of my friends loves it, but playing it with 2 players just doesn't work. Luckily Friedeman has created some lovely <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/robots-expansion-power-grid-12552.aspx?a=28">robots</a> to help bolster the game. I was initially unsure about them, but as they are pretty cheap I ordered the set.</div><div>You get two thick stock cardboard sheets for your money, with each sheet containing 3 robots. The robots themselves are made up of 5 pieces. To prepare for a game you just pick a random head, feet and 2 body parts and put them together. Each part will tell you how the robot will perform in each phase of the game. Plus each robot will have a special power to help it through the game.</div><div><br /></div><div>For our first game we created a single robot, so the game was set up and played as though there were 3 players. Our robot seemed pretty hard to beat. His power meant that he got his first city for free in phase 4. He quickly became the leader of the game and we were playing catch up.</div><div>Eventually the robot won the game by being able to power one more city then the rest of us. He had built 17 cities and powered 16 of them. Frankly he was one tough robot to beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Playing with the robot was very interesting, initially it was hard work as we had to continually refer to the rules to go over what he would do. But after a few rounds it started to sink in. I think this is the worst part of the expansion. It doesn't quite feel intuitive enough. I am not sure if I would want more than one robot in the game, but maybe things will improve the more they are used.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, it blew our meta game of winner packs up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Would I recommend Power Grid Robots? Yes, if you like power grid and can't get it to the table often enough because of player count. Or want to try with some hard players then its well worth it.</div>Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-63062222831980902022012-01-17T05:15:00.001-08:002012-01-17T05:38:32.913-08:00Civilization<a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/10940.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/10940.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Fantasy Flights <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/civilization-the-board-game-10940.aspx?a=28">Sid Meiers Civilization</a> game has been on my wish list since it was released. I played the computer games and can remember many evening playing it and having "Just one more Turn".<br /><br />The Board game version looked interesting, it was a distilled version of the game that took away a large part of the micro management and was getting favorable reviews. But I held off, I wasn't sure how often I would get to play the game and was unsure if Fantasy Flight had done a good job or just filled a box with as many cardboard bits as possible.<br /><br />I picked up a copy as a Christmas present along with a copy of the expansion, Amazon had it for a good price and I was struggling to find gift ideas to suggest to family. I opened it up and looked through the masses of tokens, cards and boards. All produced to Fantasy Flights usual high standards. The bits looked lovely and the artwork worked really well.<br />I started on the rules and faltered, the rule book was well written but its quite big. Usually I start piecing the game together as I am reading the rules but as there were so many bits I hadn't started punching and bagging yet. Christmas celebrations came and went and I still hadn't finished reading the rules.<br /><br />Then a night was set to play, I had 2 weeks to get my head around the game. I watched a couple of videos from the geek and started to bag the pieces. The rules were read and then reread again. I don't think I have read the rules to a game so many times in such a short period of time.<br /><br />Last night the game hit the table, there were 4 of us and it was the first play for all of us. I had warned people in advance that it was going to be a long one and as the clock struck 8 the game started. I had spent the previous 20 Min's running through the rules and bits and anything we were unsure of or would need later we would deal with as and when the situation arised.<br /><br />The game started smoothly enough, civilizations started developing and cities were being built. It really felt like you were playing a condensed version of the computer game. Analysis Paralysis did start to set in once we all got to 3 cities a piece but the pace of the game was still going well.<br /><br />My Egyptians were doing well with there technology research and culture but I was starting to be harassed by two other players. I managed to research flight then built a stream of airplanes while researching as fast as I could. America was building up its culture and its cities were creating money and trade quite freely. Unfortunately China decided to nuke one of Americas cities which caused it to stall. Rome was doing well, its economy was moving along nicely and was getting to around 12 coins.<br />It soon became apparent that Egypt was going to win and two players decided to send there troops in to attack. I had luckily won a battle the previous round and take a much needed 3 points of trade to get my last level 4 technology. I just needed to hold my ground and not loose any trade this round.<br />China went first and made the mistake of dealing with an American battle first, he lost a few units but won the war. There were 2 battles against my cities but his depleted forces were no match to my air power and I won both battles. I then managed to research the final level 5 tech and win the game.<br /><br />It was just passed midnight and we had been playing for 4 hours. It was a test of the game that we only went through one packet of crisps and 2 rounds of coffee. We were all hyped about the game that hunger and thirst were put to the back of our minds.<br />The story the game tells is brilliant, America will definitely not forget the nuclear attack from China, while its archers very tank battles would like to be forgotten.<br /><br />Simply put I love this game, its going to get a 10/10 score and I cannot wait to play it again. Everything about it just works, the components are lovely. The rules are pretty straight forward once you have played a few turns and the varied victory paths make the game a good challenge.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-47365901303808422812011-12-14T01:55:00.000-08:002011-12-16T07:20:34.308-08:00Games of 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11917.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11917.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />As the year is coming towards its end I thought I would post about the top 5 games that I have played this year. 2011 has been a cracking year for games, there have been so many good ones but these are my top 5.<br /><br />1 <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/a-few-acres-of-snow-war-game-11917.aspx?a=28">A Few Acres of Snow</a> - (My best 2 Player Game of the Year)<br />This has been my favorite game of 2011. I like most of Martin Wallace games and this one could be his best in my mind. Its a 2 player game that uses deck building mechanics and has a play time of about an hour. For me it fills the gap when there are 2 players who haven't got teh time for a game of Twilight Struggle.<br />I have played it quite a few times now and although its a little unbalanced for new players its definitely one that been asked for repeated plays.<br /><br />2 <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/lord-of-the-rings-the-card-game-lcg-core-set-11510.aspx?a=28">Lord of the Rings the LCG</a> - (Best Card Game of the Year)<br />Production and support on this one is great, which is understandable as its a Fantasy Flight Game. Its a solo or 2 player card game where you are trying to win an encounter by using a deck of cards. The game plays very well and you feel like you are actually controlling the characters from Middle Earth as you are trying to complete your chosen adventure.<br />Its been heavily expanded with monthly packs of cards. I don't have all of them but the ones I have picked up have added to the game.<br />I am now attempting to create some custom decks with the cards I have so there is still plenty of game here for me.<br /><br />3 <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/quarriors-11956.aspx?a=28">Quarriors</a> - (Best light and Dice Game of the Year)<br />Mix up a deck building game with dice and you get Quarriors. Its a light game that plays very quickly. A 2 player game can take around 10 minutes. There is a high degree of luck in the game, but another game can be setup really quickly. It's probably the lightest game I have played this year but its short playing time has meant its been played the most.<br /><br />4 <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/mansions-of-madness-board-game-11342.aspx?a=28">Mansions of Madness</a> - (Best production of the Year)<br />As far a box size goes this is the biggest I bought this year and for good reason. I love this game, its a Cthulu Mythos inspired game similar to descent. The boards and minis are brilliant and I have enjoyed every game of it. My biggest gripe with the game is the setup time. There are so many cards and counters this can take a while and you have to make sure you do it perfectly otherwise you will break the game. I haven't played this enough mainly for this reason. I like to set up the game ahead of time and I don't always get the time.<br />Expansions for this have started to appear and I expect to see a big box with more minis is in the pipeline.<br /><br />5 <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/troyes-reprint-11447.aspx?a=28">Troyes</a> - (Best Heavy Game of the Year)<br />I like dice games and this one get you rolling them quite a bit. But the luck factor is taken away as you can use other players dice for a cost. This is quite a heavy game and it takes a few plays for it to sink in. But once it does you will be playing a fantastic game.<br /><br />Biggest disappointment of the year, generally I will play any game and see some good in it. The designer has put the time in to create the game and a publisher has invested in getting the final product to market. That said my biggest disappointment this year has been <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/barons-board-game-11744.aspx?a=28">Barons</a>. I liked Glory to Rome and expected something as good but the game just didn't work for me. It seemed a little too easy and would quickly end once players built churches. The cards and artwork seemed a bit too harsh and it came in once of CCG's trademark plastic boxes.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-43411167951994353412011-11-11T07:39:00.000-08:002011-11-11T08:14:47.104-08:00More Meeples for those Sea Monsters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12099.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12099.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I really like <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/survive-escape-from-atlantis-board-game-10904.aspx">Survive</a> as do most of the game groups I bring it to. The problem, it only plays with up to 4 players. So when a <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/survive-56-player-mini-expansion-12099.aspx?a=28">5-6 player expansion</a> hit the shelves it was a must buy, especially when its only a few quid.<br /><br />The expansion comes in a little box and opening it up you get a whole host of little plastic meeples and some tiles. The meeples are nice, but they are not as good as the wooden ones in the base game. You also have to put numbered stickers on the base of all of them which takes a while. When playing with 5-6 players you use different combinations so as to even things out. Reading the numbers on these new meeples is much easier than the base games which is good. I just wish they had kept up with the wooden ones.<br /><br />The tiles were a bit of a mystery, but reading the rules that came with it there was apparently a printing problem with the first run. One of the mountain tiles was left with white border so players could quickly figure out what tile it was. These replacements are used to resolve this. Not sure about this, were they free or am I actually paying to fix someone else problem?<br /><br />Happily the game plays quite well with 6 players. It's always going to be a bit of a bun fight but with more players it does become a little more hectic. Meeples are very quickly dispatched by an assortment of monsters swimming the shores of a shrinking island. It's a fun game and one that you can't really take too seriously. In my last game I lost every single meeple under my control. I was doing well at the start, head down and happily being ignored by all the other players. Then things turned nasty when they all realized I had not lost a meeple. One by one they were eaten, drowned or sucked under by a whirlpool.<br /><br />To spice things up we had also decided to play with the <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/survive-the-giant-squid-expansion-10905.aspx?a=28">Giant Squid expansion</a>. This adds a number of large white squid to the game. These can be particularly nasty as they can pluck poor meeples off of beaches and out of boats. Nowhere is safe! As an expansion goes its pretty small and cheap and a great accompaniment to the 5-6 player expansion. It just adds to the fun and chaos.<br /><br />So Survive continues to be a popular game and its nice to see that the mini expansions that have been so far released have added just enough to the game. It's not changed drastically or made things more complicated. It's just given you the opportunity to kill off more players meeples in different ways.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-79072220047705591512011-11-08T03:11:00.000-08:002011-11-08T03:43:03.927-08:00Domain in space......<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12159.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/12159.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Gaming has been mental the last month, both face to face gaming and on the web. A lot of new games have hit the table but I wanted to chat about just one for now.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/eminent-domain-12159.aspx?a=28">Eminent Domain</a> has hit UK stores and after a demo I picked up a copy. Its been touted as a space version of Dominion, and although it does have deck building elements I feel that it is more than just a Dominion clone.<br /><br />Game play is very simple, there are 6 different base cards in the game. With each having its own Action and Role ability. All players start with the same distribution of these cards as well as a home world. You then shuffle and draw 5 cards from your starting 10.<br /><br />The first thing you have to do is decide which card you are playing and use its action section. This action only affects you and can range from warfare cards which give you fighters, to survey cards which add more cards to your hand.<br /><br />You then pick another card to play, but this time instead of one from your hand you take one from the piles of cards in the center of the table. This acts as the timer mechanism, the game will end when a number of piles are empty. This card is now played for its role <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ability</span>. Most of the time its the same as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">the</span> action but usually the person picking the card gets a bonus or different effect. Every other player can now discard cards of the same type to also use that action. So for example if I chose the colonize card I can now tuck it under a planet to go towards its colonization cost. If I also had 2 more of these cards in my hand I can also put them down. Other players that also have colonize cards can also put them into play. If they don't or don't want to use them they take a card from there deck instead.<br /><br />Finally you discard and draw back to 5. Pretty simple so far.<br /><br />The only part of the game which can slow things down is the research action, if you have enough of these cards and choose the research role you can take a research card. These are limited in number and give you different actions or effects. Usually altering or improving the strategy your are playing. For example the improved warfare allows you to build more fighters. You can play without these cards if you want a more basic game, but if you have played any deck building game before there's no reason not to put them in.<br /><br />Planet cards are discovered with survey cards and can be either settled using colonization cards or forcibly controlled using warfare. Once the requirements have been met the planet is yours to use. Planets will usually allow you to produce and trade resources for victory points. They will also be worth points at the end of the game. Finally you will need more matching planets to research the higher tech levels. So planets are what you are aiming to get in front of you throughout the game.<br /><br />The game plays well, once players have got there heads around the action/role differences they should be getting to grips with the game. What I like is that you can always choose the role you want, so your never really stuck trying to work your strategy. If you don't have a colonize card in your hand but want to settle a planet, just pick one from the table as your role.<br /><br />Component wise this game is lovely, good strong box, good looking artwork and loads of lovely plastic fighters. Tasty Minstrel have really put together a good game here.<br /><br />I am hoping that there will be a future expansion, it's crying out for ways to trade with other players attack there planets and steal technologies. As well as more technology cards and different planets there is quite a bit of scope for the game.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-54303374366461075882011-10-11T02:17:00.000-07:002011-10-11T02:20:21.758-07:00Lego<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic508464_t.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic508464_t.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I am happy to play any game. I might not be good at some of them but I am still happy to pull up a chair and give it a go. I also find it difficult to give a game a really low score on the geek. Generally I feel like there might be something in there and someone has spent the time on putting a game together and getting it published.<br /><br />Every once and a while comes along a game that I really have problems with and last weekend it was Lego Creationary. My kids like Lego, they seem to get more and more every year and are happy to build whatever there imagination creates. A couple of years ago Lego came up with a range of games, we picked up a few of the cheaper games and they were pretty good. Usually roll and move or roll and pick type games. Nothing ground breaking but they are fun and the kids enjoy them.<br />Creationary on the other hand is just terrible, the concept is quite good. Mix up pictionary with a box of lego and you have a new build and guess game. Players roll a dice then pick a card from one of the 3 piles of cards. Each card has 4 different objects to build on it, one for each colour on teh dice. So if you rolled a yelloe you would build the yellow transport object, green the nature object. The piles are supposed to be in different ability levels so the objects should be harder to build.<br /><br />All sounds good so far, rules are a bit light with players getting a "determined" amount of time to build. We went for 5 mins, not wanting to drag things out. The ability levels of cards don't score any more or less points. I decided to handicap myself by using the level 2 cards while the kids went for level 1. I quickly changed to level 1 for the reasons below.<br /><br />There are 2 major problems with this game, the amount of Lego you get just isn't enough. Not only are you limited with the amount of pieces but also the colours. My first object was a bee, easy I thought until I realized there were no black pieces in the box. I had to substitute brown for black. This happened a couple of times, Flynn got a tiger and started building one. Quickly telling us the yellow was actually orange. He ran out of pieces after building 4 legs.<br /><br />Teh second issue I have with teh game is the objects. The Arc de Triumph maybe a great site in Paris but its difficult for a 7 and 8 year old to know what it is. Model T Ford, its a car!. Well yes, i'll give you that. You see a Lego car looks like a Lego car. Especially when you only have 4 big wheels and 4 tiny wheels in the box. How are kids supposed to know the difference between a transporter plane and a passenger plane. It's tough and there were a few moments when they both yelled airplane.<br /><br />So, Lego Creationary is a good idea but poorly implemented. I would love to see the design team make all of the models on the card using the Lego in the box. I know that you could argue about cost and such but I think they fell short here.<br />The card design needs a little help, adding the names of things would also help and teach them a little as well.<br /><br />Will I play it again, probably. The kids seem to enjoy it and I like to get involved but I think there will be some tweaking along the way. The best thing about the game is that the cards have sparked there imagination with other things to build which is a bonus.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-83319897591013365772011-09-07T03:43:00.000-07:002011-09-07T04:11:13.699-07:00It's a bit chilly<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/a-few-acres-of-snow-war-game-11917.aspx?a=28"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11917.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This week is shaping up nicely on the gaming front. Monday saw Quarriors getting played along with <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/a-few-acres-of-snow-war-game-11917.aspx?a=28">A Few Acres of Snow</a>, tonight should see more games being unboxed and hopefully Quarriors will get another outing.<br /><br />I enjoy playing wargames, but as much as I enjoy playing combat Commander I usually prefer to play something that plays a bit quicker. Memoir 44 usually wins here, probably because its quick to play and with the overlord bits can take more than 2 players. If a wargame is on the cards its usually been booked up in advance, playing a 3 hour Twilight Struggle doesn't usually just happen.<br /><br />This is where A Few Acres fits in nicely, its a 2 play war game that uses cards to perform actions. It should only take about an hour to play and it has enough depth and strategy to keep it going for a while. It's not going to replace Twilight Struggle as my favorite 2 player war game but I can definitely see it being played more often.<br /><br />The game follows the war over modern day Canada, with players taking the roles of either the British or the French. They both start with a number of settlements and to win the game have to either take the opponents capital or use up there settlements. Scoring then happens and the one with the most points wins the game.<br />Each settlement is represented by a card, as you settle you add more cards to your deck. In addition you can buy other cards to help with your money, military and settlement actions. These cards have symbols on allowing you to use them to perform actions. For example, if you wanted to settle a location you would have to play a card that connected to that location. Then another card showing the correct travel symbol. Finally a third card with a settlers symbol on it. Cards played are then put on the discard pile and you draw back to 5. This is only one possible action of many available to the players. The first time I played I was slightly overwhelmed with the options available to me. Settle, raid, siege, fortify, generate income, put cards in reserve .... getting the right combination of cards to perform the actions is a different matter.<br />There is an element of deck building going on, as your deck increases with cards from new settlements and other cards you purchase, but only drawing back to 5 at the end of your turn can really hinder you.<br /><br />Our first game was a bit of a learning one, I won but we realized that the game should have ended a fw turns earlier. We also realized that we were too busy trying to expand and siege each other to think about how we would score in the end. That said it was a really good game, we were left discussing it for a while afterwards. Thinking about what we had done right and wrong and how we always seemed to be limited in what we could do. There were times I was desperate to expand but just couldn't get the right cards in hand. Realizing now that I should have been using the reserve action a bit more often. But then I would have needed more money.......argh!<br /><br />So, A Few Acres is a very good 2 player wargame. But I think labeling it as a wargame could put people off, is Twilight Struggle a wargame? Both games are set around a time of conflict but there are no combat tables and piles of dice being rolled.<br /><br />I really think Martin Wallace has come up with a great game here and its one of my favorite games of the year so far.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-9760055868781454782011-08-31T04:31:00.000-07:002011-08-31T04:45:06.424-07:00It's all about the dice.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11956.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11956.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br />Dice, you either love them or hate them. They also seem to come and go into fashion in the gaming world, and at the moment it looks like they are definitely coming back.
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<br />Recent games such as the excellent Space Frontiers and <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/troyes-reprint-11447.aspx">Troyes</a> have brought dice back into favor. Both games get you to roll a number of dice and place them on the board in various worker placement guises. Troyes also allows you to buy dice from your opponents which is a really nice way of getting around those really bad dice rolls.
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<br />With <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/quarriors-11956.aspx?a=28">Quarriors</a> being released I think we are going to see a new wave of dice games. This is because Quarriors is the first dice building game. When <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/dominion-7485.aspx?a=28">Dominion</a> was released it created a big buzz. It was the first deck building game and has spawned a number of copies and games based on this mechanic. Thunderstone being one of my favorites.
<br />Quarriors takes the cards out and replaces them with custom dice. You draw dice from your bag, roll them and then use then to summon monsters or buy other dice from the pool in the center of the table. It sounds simple and I am sure it is, but working out the dice combos and efficient dice management techniques is going to be the hard part.
<br />Although my copy hasn't arrived yet I am really looking forward to trying this. It has gone down very well across the pond and I believe all of the copies sent to the UK were sold out by pre-orders.
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<br />I suspect like Dominion, Quarriors will spawn not only a number of expansions but also some other games that use a similar mechanic and I am sure that some of these will be just as good.
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<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-57342018765802341432011-08-17T08:17:00.000-07:002011-08-17T08:40:26.579-07:00More Thunderstone, this time online...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/9131.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/9131.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/thunderstone-9131.aspx?a=28">Thunderstone</a>, the deck building game with theme is now available to play online over at <a href="http://www.yucata.de/">Yucata</a>. They have done a very good job of making this one and I am now feverishly playing a handful of games.
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<br />If you haven't managed to try Thunderstone its a deck building game where you are building up a deck of hero's and items. You can then delve into the darkness of the dungeon to fight the monsters and try and claim the Thunderstone.
<br />There are a few elements that make a good hand, you need light. Without it you get combat penalties that get worse the deeper you try and go into the dungeon. So torches, lanterns and wizards all help generate light. Weapons increase your combat value but you have to be strong enough to wield them. Food helps here by bolstering the strength of your heroes.
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<br />there is an element of leveling up your heroes as well, as you defeat monsters you gain experience points. These can then be used in the village to upgrade your heroes to the next level. Each hero type has 3 levels and there powers and abilities improve as they level up.
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<br />As well as experience points, monsters are worth victory points, as well as the highest level (Level 3) characters. The Thunderstone card is also worth points but its hidden somewhere in the bottom of the 30 card dungeon deck.
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<br />Thunderstone has been very successful and spawned a number of expansions. Each adding more cards and slight rules additions to mix things up. The game was also re-released as <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/dragonspire-expansion-thunderstone-11274.aspx?a=28">Dragonspire.</a>
<br />This edition added a dungeon board and makes things a little easier to understand. It's probably where you should start if you are thinking of buying into the game. Although its not necessary if you already have the first base game.
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<br />Other than Thunderstone online gaming has been a little quite recently. 2 Weeks in Italy helped recharge the batteries. Or at least top them up with the local Chianti. Ryanair's luggage restrictions meant that I could only squeeze in a few card games to keep me going. But Coloretto and No thanks always go down well and helped while away the evenings.
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<br />Hopefully this months purchases should arrive soon, I am expecting a few games including the expansions for the excellent Lord of the Rings LCG. I will talk about these more after a few plays.
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<br />Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-2405363439437654752011-07-13T04:31:00.000-07:002011-07-13T05:00:50.275-07:00Deliveries<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11775.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11775.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This month has seen a few parcels delivered. It's always nice to see those jiffy bags and packages waiting patiently for me when I get home.<br /><br />So what did I get, well <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/leaders-expansion-7-wonders-11775.aspx?a=28">7 Wonders Leaders</a> was a must. 7 Wonders was my most played game of last year. The fact that its simple to teach, can handle 7 players and is pretty quick makes it a great go to game. I wasn't bored with the original as I think it still has plenty of life in it but I am a sucker for expansions. Especially if they are reasonably priced.<br /><br />Leaders adds 40 cards, a few tokens and a new wonder, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Collosium</span> of Rome. the meat of the game is the 36 leader cards. The artwork on these is really nice and I hope it will get players into researching who these people were and what they did. They are a really diverse selection that effects how the game is played, but not enough to make it too difficult.<br /><br />At the start of the game everyone is dealt 4 Leaders cards. They pick one and pass the remaining 3 along. From these 3 they pick one and pass, and again until you have 4 leader cards.<br />Now at the start of each Age you get to play a leader. You can play the cost in gold and add it to your area to activate its ability. You can discard it for 3 coins or finally use it to build a part of your wonder. similar actions to the main game so nothing to difficult to understand.<br />The abilities are ranging from VP gaining abilities, cheaper card building, extra science cards, etc. The icons make them easy to understand and the rule book does a good job.<br /><br />So far I am really impressed with this expansion, it adds enough to the game without making it overly complex or bloating it with useless rules. I can see every game of 7 Wonders will now include the Leaders expansion.<br /><br />Paperclip Railway was a game I was very keen to try at the UK Games expo. It sounded like a fun little train game that uses paperclips to represent the railway tracks between stations. Unfortunately it was sold out at the expo, but I received an email last week offering me a copy as there were several <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">pre</span>-orders not picked up. I couldn't say no so a copy was posted out.<br /><br />I haven't played it yet, its down to be played tonight but after reading the rules and pouring over the components it looks like it will be a lot of fun.<br /><br />I will post some thoughts on the game after its been played.<br /><br />Lastly there is <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/barons-board-game-11744.aspx?a=28">Barons</a> by Cambridge Games Factory. They are mainly know for the excellent Glory to Rome. Barons promised to be Glory's little brother. I saw that the first print run was quickly being snapped up so ordered a copy.<br /><br />I have played it a few times now and although its a pretty good game, I have played better. The players are trying to win the game by building a Cathedral. To do this they need to spend cards from each of the 4 coloured decks. Cards in the game can be used in many ways, as "money", lands that increase the size of your barony and as action/buildings or knights.<br />you basically start of playing cards face down as resource generating lands. These are taxed to add more cards in your hand. This increases your options, so you can then place more lands or spend the cards to use them as knights/buildings or actions. You quickly realize that you are not going to be able to buy all the cards you want and deciding what you will have to use as payment starts to hurt. Its a balancing act of increasing the size of your realm to generate more cards as well as building up the special ability cards. All this while playing knights to attack the other players and defend your realm.<br /><br />I really can't put a finger on why I am not overly enamored with this game. The components are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ok</span>, some of the cards have been cut a little wonky and the plastic box that the game comes in is a little cheap. The game itself is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ok</span>, its just missing something.<br /><br />I am now eagerly awaiting the first expansion for the <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/lord-of-the-rings-the-card-game-lcg-core-set-11510.aspx?a=28">Lord of the Rings card game</a>. I played my first 2 player game of it last week and it worked really well. In fact maybe too well as we managed to blitz the starting scenario. Previously playing Solo I wasn't doing that well against it. Having 2 players seemed to help with multiple cards. We were using the Spirit and Tactics decks and questing seemed too easy. We were maybe a little lucky in that we didn't get that many attacking mobs.<br /><br />First print run has sold out, but I believe that the second run is hitting distribution shortly.<br />This has so far been my favorite game so far this year. It's just so easy to get a game in by myself that it's replacing time on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Xbox</span>.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-79587160803311980312011-06-13T04:51:00.000-07:002011-06-13T05:57:37.123-07:00I'm playing Solo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11510.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11510.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The usual questions a gamer asks is, how can I get my partner to play or what games can I play with my kids. These are usually because gamers want to game and a weekly or monthly meet just isn't enough.<br /><br />There are a few games that can be played solo, but I have had mixed results with them. Deathwing was ok, while Runequest just seemed to go on and on.<br /><br />I recently picked up the new <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/lord-of-the-rings-the-ca-11510.aspx?a=28">Lord of the Rings Living Card Game</a>. It's a co-op/solo card game set before the LotR films. As its one of the LCG range the cards you get are fixed, this cuts out the booster addiction of trade able card games but does make things expensive if you want to build your deck with multiple copies of the same cards. As of now there are no expansions for the game, but I expect there to be new cards coming out every month.<br /><br />The game itself is very good, the player cards are divided into 4 decks. Each deck is completely built up of cards from its theme or power. So there is a very strong "tactics" deck with lots of combat cards another, the spirit deck is very strong on quest completion.<br /><br />Playing the game is relatively straight forward, although there are quite a number of steps to each round. You or the players are trying to complete a quest. This is made up of 3 separate card locations with each requiring a number of quest tokens played on it. Once there are enough tokens you move onto the next card. So each round you have to put some of your characters forward to help fulfill the quest. To counter this cards are drawn from the encounter deck and values are compared. If you have more than the enemy you put some tokens down if not your threat level increases.<br />Threat is measured on a spinny dial thing. If you ever reach 50 then its game over! After you have quested you get the choice to travel, this enables you to take out a card location from the encountered area making questing easier in the future. Although quest tokens are now placed on this card as opposed to the main quest cards. In effect acting as a buffer from you completing the quest.<br /><br />The next couple of parts of the round deal with combat. You have to compare your threat level with the enemies in the encounter area. If your threat is higher then they will attack you. Combat is pretty simple, you first have to declare defenders to stop the incoming attacks. Then declare attackers to fight back. There never seem to be enough characters on your side of the table, but cards can be played to help.<br /><br />Played cards cost resource tokens, you get one of these for each character at the start of the round as well as a new card to add to your hand. Add the end of the round your threat counter increases by 1, in effect acting as a clock and pushing you forward.<br /><br />The base set comes with 3 quests, I have played the first quest 3 times now and still haven't completed it. the first time I made some mistakes with the rules while the last 2 have been very close. Games are taking around 30 minutes to play which is really good. I can get a quick game in while the wife is watching something on TV without ruining a whole evening. With more cards on the horizon I think there will be more quests available and a greater selection of cards. I might even start changing decks around to see if I can build on things.<br /><br />Overall the Lord of the Rings LCG is a really good package. The cards and bits are of really good quality, something Fantasy Flight are always good at. The rules seem a little daunting at first but give them a couple of reads and watch the online rules trainer and it should all fall into place.<br />Due to the short play time and the four starting decks this game is going to be picked up quite a bit in the future.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-67235149436436887722011-05-27T04:36:00.000-07:002011-05-27T04:51:40.810-07:00Dice<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic866095_t.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic866095_t.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Unlike the <a href="http://beyondswelterskitchen.blogspot.com/">kitchen boy</a> I love playing new games. Even just the once ;-)<br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class=" down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /><br />One of the new Hotness games is Alien Frontiers. I have managed 2 plays of dice based game and I can see why its gathering pace as a great game.<br /><br />The game is a usual chase for victory points, but to get them you have to colonise the planet and have the majority in its areas. To do this you have to gather resources, build ships, crab cards and build colonies. All of this is performed with dice.<br /><br />Dice are usually the bane of my life. They hate me, but they feel so good. The clinking sound of dice being shaken always draws a look from other tables and in Alien Frontiers its all about the dice.<br />Once you have rolled you dice you place them on the board into the different placement areas. Certain dice combinations can only be placed in specific areas. For example to build a ship you have to put a "double" in the ship building area. To use the resource stealing space raiders you need a "run". Add to this the fact that there are limited spaces and the players dice are only removed from the board when its there go can make some resources harder to use.<br /><br />There is a deck of cards in the game. These represent alien artifacts and technology that can affect the dice and the game. For example there is a card that will allow you to flip a dice. Or reuse one. Or even take a pip off of one dice and add it to another. These can sometimes be invaluable when you are desperate to roll a double to build your last ship.<br /><br />Both times we have played Alien Frontiers its been a very close game. With the winner winning by 1-2 points. My only issue with the game is the last rounds can take a while. When you are down to your last colony and getting it into play can win you the game you mind has to go through a number of choices. Trying to optimise your dice and card powers can sometimes take a while. However this isn't enough to put me off the game.<br /><br />Finding a copy is a little tricky, Clever Mojo games have pretty much sold out of there second print run. I belive that Ystari have picked it up for the Euro market. But not sure if they are doing an English language version. But until then if you are intersted in the game and can find a copy, grab it now.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span>Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-26171070611429913202011-05-18T02:31:00.000-07:002011-05-18T02:46:04.232-07:00Its a Ripper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11471.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.iguk.co.uk/ProductImages2/11471.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This week I managed to play <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/letters-from-whitechapel-11471.aspx?a=28">Letters from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Whitechape</span></a>l. It's a very strongly themed Jack the ripper game where one player is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Jack</span> while the rest are the policemen trying to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">apprehend</span> Jack before he can make it home.<br /><br />If you have played <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Scotland</span> Yard then you will have a very good grounding on how the game plays. I like Scotland Yard but think that Letters is a much better game. The components are better, the theme works really well and the mechanics of the game make for a tense experience, especially if you are playing Jack.<br /><br />Game setup is very simple, the board is placed on the table. There is an explosion of numbered circles and black boxes on the board. Jack uses the circles to move while the police use the squares. Jack picks a location for his home from one of the circles. This is hidden from the rest of the players. To win the police have to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">apprehend</span> Jack and knowing where he is moving to each night is a great help.<br /><br />The game now plays over 4 night, each night Jack will determine which of the 7 locations he <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">commits</span> the murders. He must then make his way back home while the police are trying to close in on him.<br />All of Jacks movement is hidden and recorded on a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">separate</span> sheet. He has a couple of special moves to play. These allow double movement with a carriage or sneaking through alleyways. These are limited per night and the number available decreases through the game.<br /><br />The police move 2 squares and can then ask Jack if he has moved through a neighbouring numbered circle. If he has a clue marker is placed. This helps the police try to determine where Jack is going and ideally the location of his house.<br />If the police are certain that they know where he is, instead of asking for a clue they can arrest the location. If jack is there the police have won.<br /><br />On my first play I was Jack and made it to the end of the third night. I was one step away from my house when I was caught. The last few rounds of trying to out <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">maneuver</span> the police was incredibly tense.<br />We played it again straight after, this time I was part of the police team. We managed to block Jack from getting home on the first night. Partly from a lucky break <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">with</span> the placing of the police but after you gt a few clues you can try and figure out where Jack has been.<br /><a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/letters-from-whitechapel-11471.aspx?a=28"><br />Letters from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Whitechapel</span></a> has <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">successfully</span> built on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Scotland</span> Yard game and delivered a strong game with lovely <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">pieces</span> and a solid theme that ties everything together. I would <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">definitely</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">recommend</span> trying it out.Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-4597786012825059492011-04-26T12:11:00.002-07:002011-04-26T13:14:57.657-07:00Dice Tower Awards - 2010<a href="http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/uploads/images/awardpics/01_2010-bgoty-n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 177px;" src="http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/uploads/images/awardpics/01_2010-bgoty-n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The <a href="http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/index.php/dice_tower_awards/2010-awards">Dice Tower 2010 award nominee</a>s have just been released. It's a bit of a mixed bag in my mind. There are a few that will definitely get my vote while others I really want to try.<div><br /></div><div>String railway and Dominant Species both sound really good, but its impossible to get a copy so I doubt I will get to try them some time soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Best game for me, <a href="http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/7-wonders-board-game-10959.aspx?a=28">7 Wonders</a>. I have played this game so many times and still enjoy it. As for the other categories, I need to think a bit more.</div>Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480941964636041208.post-76351772909121448362011-04-26T12:11:00.001-07:002011-04-26T12:11:47.153-07:00Count Zerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14442400267911382493noreply@blogger.com0