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Processing

Review by Globus the Elder

“Whenever feasible, one should always try to eat the rude.” - Hannibal

One of the biggest challenges to reviewing games, at least in my experience, is how few bad games I have run into. There have been few games that a publisher has put in front of me where I have to respond that the game is incomplete, or it doesn't do what it says on the tin, or that it simply doesn't work.

I surmise that most of that is due to good efforts on their part to playtest and design the game, which is what you hope for, but ultimately leaves the appearance of reviews as a sales pitch, which I assure you is not the case.

I try to be critical whenever my opinion can lead to someone else spending their dollars. I try to give details in the closing sections to underline how not every game is for every person, and highlight what happens in a game so that you can make an informed decision.

Personally, I like a game that takes between 4-8 hours, is about war, and has a level of detail that allows me to prove I am more competent than the great leaders of history, but I can look at, and play, a social deduction party game, because I understand what the game should do. My gamer group enjoys a variety of game types, and in the interests of having a weekly experience, compromises have to be made, which has helped expose me to those games I would normally not look at twice.

But I digress...

Today we have a game about pleasing our intergalactic overlords and food processing.

Gameplay

Processing is a game of voting and light resource management. The goal is to acquire victory points, while avoiding offending the CAO (Confederated Alien Overlords).

Each player receives three Agenda cards, and nine Voting Tokens, in three colors: red (Process), green (Probe), and blue (Free). Each color token also has a different symbol on it, for easy discernment.

The Voting Tokens correspond to three Fate cards, arrayed in the middle of the play area. On one side of the Fate cards is the Conveyor Belt containing Lot cards, where players will place their votes, and on the other is where Lot cards that are full and have been Tallied will go until the end of round scoring.

Deal three cards from the Lot deck to the Conveyor Belt, and determine first player. You're ready to begin.

The game has two phases: Voting and Scoring. The first player, or Overseer, is the first to vote, and before voting, adds a Lot card to the Conveyor Belt. The Lot cards contain three or four voting spaces, one of which may contain a predetermined vote, and one or more Icons, either Hipster or Cow.

The Agenda cards indicate which of the Icons will score you points if they are Tallied to the appropriate Fate cards, and which will get you Mad CAO points.

For example: one of the current cards on the Conveyor Belt has two Hipster Icons and one Cow icon, as well as three voting spaces. The Agenda I wish to work on this turn scores points for Hipsters in the Free Fate and Probe Fate, and Mad CAO points for Hipsters in the Process Fate. I will place a Free Vote Token on one of the voting spaces, hoping to have it Tallied to that Fate.

Play proceeds around the table, with the Overseer adding a new Lot card each time before they vote. Should all spaces on a card be filled, that card is removed from the Conveyor Belt and Tallied. When a card is Tallied, you simply check the votes. Assign the card to whichever Fate has the most votes. In case of a tie, the card is void. Place it on the bottom of the deck, and put the tokens back in supply.

The Voting phase continues until all players have voted six times. All new Lot cards are added to the bottom of the Conveyor Belt. If a sixth card is added, Tally the topmost card, even if it isn't full. If the number of cards on the Belt drops below three due to Tallying, add cards to bring it up to three.

After the last vote, we move to the Scoring phase.

First, Tally down to three cards on the Belt, from the top, even if they have empty spaces. Then, each player chooses an Agenda from their hand, and places it face down. All Agendas are revealed simultaneously. Score each card, awarding VP and Mad CAO as appropriate.

Using the example above: There are five Hipster Icons in the Free Fate, three in the Process, and three Cow Icons in the Probe. I would score 5 VP, 3 Mad CAO, and nothing for the Cows, as they do not appear on my Agenda.

The player who scores the most points this round becomes the Overseer for next round. All Lot cards are removed from the Fate area, and the tokens on them returned to the supply. Players then each receive two tokens of each color, and the next round begins (after round two, each player gets one token of each color).

After the third round, the player with the most Mad CAO points is eliminated. Whoever has the most points out of the remaining players is the winner.

Theme

The art style is a pseudo-retro 50's look, like Mars Attacks. Everything is clear and easily readable. The details of the Belt cards and scoring track are well thought out additions.

The Flaw

There are some variant rules that seem to break the game, and it's not a deep game.

I think this game does what it does well. There are variant rules included, some good, some not so much. I like the Agenda Draft and the Vote Doubler. I do not like the Passive Aggressive Points or Rebels. It's a small box game, plays fast once learned, and can easily be filler or a lunchtime game. It has a lot of parts for it's size, so you are getting your money's worth. Definitely a buy.

See you next time, and keep your drinks off the table.

[todieforgames-blog]

Construction Fever

“How's that working out for you, being clever?” - Tyler Durden

A review by Globus the Elder

(Note: All components are pre-production, and subject to change)

The hardest part of writing reviews is being entertaining. Some days it just flows, some humor, some evocative writing, some Googling the meaning of evocative to confirm you're using it correctly. Encapsulating the rules for quick consumption is the easy part, for me at least. Telling you what's wrong with something, also easy, but trying to be clever enough to be interesting, not use the same words over and over, creating articles that other people want to read, that is the challenge.

And it doesn't take much to throw a wrench in the works. Some days you can't write anything more substantive than, “Game good, you buy now,” and you deserve more than that.

Warren Ellis, one of my favorite writers, has a process of stuffing his head with input until ideas and concepts smash together and create literature. I draw on that for inspiration. Stephen King has said that to be a writer you have to write, as much as possible. I draw on that for inspiration. Sometimes, though, it's just deadlines and obligation, and you put out your best, and hope you're doing justice to someone else's labor.

And so, here we are.

Gameplay

Construction Fever is played over 10 rounds. Each round, the players will be bidding on a Green Project and a Black Project. The goal is to have the most Credits at the end of the game, without having the lowest Reputation of all players. Juggling these two competing aspects is what sets this game apart from other auction/bluffing games.

Players start the game with 8-10 Workers on their Player Board (More players equals fewer Workers). Two decks of ten (one Green Projects, one Black Projects) are set in the center of the play area, along with a token for each deck, and a Bank of Credits. The first player is the player who last built a building, or at random.

During the Round Setup Phase, the top card of each deck is revealed. The Black Project then creates a pool of the number of Credits listed on the Black Project card.

Next comes the Worker Rest Phase, when Workers assigned to Projects on previous turns will begin to return to each player's Player Bpard. A player will have up to three Workers return to the rest area, one from each of two Green Projects, and one from the Black Projects. More on that later.

Following that is the Bidding Phase. Starting with the first player, each player will either: Bid on the Green Project, Bid on the Black Project, or Pass. This round ends when all players Pass consecutively. This is an important rule, as a player may Pass their current Bid, but jump back in when it comes back around to them. If a player is the highest bidder on either Project, they must Pass. If they are then outbid, they may bid again in the future.

When bidding on a Green Project, a player bids any number of Workers from their Board, exceeding any existing bid by at least 1. They then take the Green Project token, placing it next to their Worker bid. Should they be outbid in the future, they return those Workers to their Board.

When bidding on a Black Project, the process is different. Black Projects indicate how many Workers must be bid, 1 or 2. The bidder also moves Credits from the pool to the Green Project, at least 1. Credits moved in this way remain on the Green Project until the bidding is complete. The player then takes the Black Project token.

If a Project isn't bid on, it is returned to the box with any associated Credits.

When bidding is complete, play enters the Construction Phase. The winner of the Black Project takes the Credits, places the Black Project face down in front of their Board, and places their bid Workers on top (all Black Projects form a single stack, and all Workers combine on top).

The winner of the Green Project takes any Credits, and places their Workers and card face up in front of them until the Developing Phase.

In the Developing Phase, the players to the right and left of of the winner of the Green Project engage in a bid to participate in that Project. Each of those two players takes all the Workers from their Board into hand, secretly bids an amount in their other hand, and simultaneously reveal them. High bid wins, ties go to the player on the left. Place the Green Project in the stack between the Green Project winner, and the Developing bid winner, and add all the winning bid Workers to the pile on top.

Finally, the Workers Return Phase, move any Workers in the Rest areas to the HQ section of the Player Board, move the first player to clockwise, and begin the next round.

Once 10 rounds are complete, players total their Reputation. Each Green Project has a positive Reputation, as do Worker locations on the Player Board. Black Projects have a negative Reputation. Total these values, and compare them to the other players. The players with the top 3, or 2 in a 3 player game, Reputations are eligible to win. In case of a tie for lowest 2, or 3 in a 5 player game, Reputation scores, all players are eligible.

Eligible players then total their credits, highest value wins. Ties share victory.

Theme

The theme of Construction Fever is futuristic construction, and i'st there in everything, except the Workers, which are standard meeples (this may change with the Kickstarter, but it doesn't detract from the experience).

The Flaw

The only flaw I can find with the game is the name. Yokai Septet had a great name to go along with a great game, and I would like to see that here, but as I don't have a suggestion, my opinion has limited value.

I like this game a lot, and is another home run from Ninja Star. The balance between when to bid, how much to bid, and what to bid for, while establishing an efficient engine to get your Workers back from your Projects, really made this a great experience, regardless of player count. Adding the Reputation mechanic adds one more plate to keep spinning, making this a standout, unique game. Definitely a Buy.

See you next time, and keep your drinks off the table.

[todieforgames-blog]

Board Game Resolutions

By Kate Thompson Is it too late to make a post about New Year’s resolutions? Maybe. But I’m doing it anyway! As many people do, I started this new year by reflecting on the things I would like to improve in my life. Not all of my resolutions are gaming-related, but of course one of them is. When I make resolutions, I like to keep them modest. Setting yourself an unachievable goal only serves to set yourself up for failure. This year I have decided that I will not purchase any board games for myself.

If that sounds to you like the opposite of modest, I don’t think you are alone. First, let me start by explaining the philosophy I have always had about purchasing board games for my own collection. I have ready access to board games even before I purchase them. My passion for this hobby has naturally led to many friends who have their own massive collections of games. We are also very lucky to have a local board game cafe, The Board Room, where you can play any of the games in their varied collection. You can also eat and drink there! Because I don’t need to BUY a game in order to play it most of the time, I have always tried to limit my game purchases to games that I love with such fervor that I cannot stand to not own them. When I constantly think about a game in the days after playing it, when I yearn to play again so frequently that I want a copy on hand at a moments notice -- THEN I buy the game. I certainly do not like to buy games that I have never played. I want to know that I will love the game in a lasting way before I add it to my personal collection. Now, not every game I own has passed that test. There have been exceptions. I have backed a few Kickstarters despite this breaking my rule about playing a game before purchasing it. But the fact that this has always been the rule with some exceptions makes my resolution not to buy any games this year fairly reasonable.

But… WHY?

So, this resolution should be feasible for me. But… why on earth would I make a resolution like this? A good resolution needs to be motivated by something meaningful. Games are, like, my favourite. Here is why:

Money

I already own what I consider to be a lot of games. So, it feels like a waste of money to keep buying more. The fact is that I have student debt from many years of university. I have a mortgage to pay. I have decided that these things should come first.

Board games are amazing. I love them. They are also a luxury. And I don’t need more of them.

Waste

I already own what I consider to be a lot of games. I can only play so many games in the free time that I have. Every time I add a new game to my collection, the chances that any given game I own will get used decreases a bit. Board games are made of STUFF. Cardboard, paper… often a lot of plastic. For the past several years I have been making a concerted effort to reduce the waste that I produce. To me, this includes purchasing things that I won’t end up using.

Board games are amazing. I love them. But if I don’t use what I have, they are wasteful. And I don’t need more of them.

Clutter

I already own what I consider to be a lot of games. Some games come in compact little packages that you could throw in your bag and carry with you. But that’s not the norm. Usually, board games are pretty big. They take up space in my home. I currently have three shelves that are storing board games. I’m not a strict minimalist, but I do believe in only keeping things that are truly useful, or that you truly love.

Board games are amazing. I love them. But not every game sparks joy. And I don’t need more of them.

The board gaming hobby attracts collectors. In recent years, the industry has exploded. This combination has lead to a community where it sometimes seems the focus is on acquiring as many games as possible. How many times have you seen someone’s shelfie on a board game group? I am certainly a collector, and I am not saying there is anything wrong with collections of things you love. I just believe that, at least for some people, purchasing new board games has become automatic and relatively thoughtless. Purchases are made based on the hype surrounding a game, rather than careful consideration of whether that game will be cherished and used.

I want to be mindful of what I bring into my life. And I want to make sure that I am prioritizing the things that matter. This year, I want to play so many games. I want to play my old favourites, and I want to learn as many new games as I can.

But I will not buy any of them. Not this year.

[todieforgames-blog]

Your Keyforge Deck Doesn’t Matter

By Kate Thompson

I’ve been thinking about discussing Keyforge since it was announced in August 2018. I have long been passionate about Magic: The Gathering, so any collectable card game piques my interest. So far, the only other card game that has gripped me in the way Magic did is Hearthstone. But I was so hopeful that Keyforge would.

As I read more about Keyforge, I became even more hopeful. It sounded like they designed this card game intentionally to diverge in some meaningful ways from Magic. In Keyforge, rather than purchasing booster packs of cards and building a deck, you simply purchase a deck. Keyforge is the first Unique Deck Game, which means that each deck you purchase is completely unique -- there is no other deck with that exact card composition in the world. And there never will be. The unique aspect of this game intrigued me for a couple reasons: It removes deck building from the picture This could be good or bad, depending on what you enjoy most about card games. Personally, I like this because it forces players to focus on honing their play skills. It makes you work with the deck you have to figure out how to best play that deck. It discourages mass purchasing of product Because the decks are generated based on an algorithm and are all unique, there will be some decks that are inherently more powerful than others. So, if playing with unique decks were the end of it, people would be trying to acquire the most powerful decks. They would do this by buying up decks en masse, and/or buying decks second hand for a premium once they can see the deck list. Specifically to discourage this, there are certain mechanics that were designed to create balance between all decks. For example, when playing a best-of-three match, players can swap decks for the second game. If the same deck wins both games, players bid chains to decide who gets to play that deck in the third game. These chains impose a card disadvantage in the game, thus hopefully balancing out the stronger deck. In addition, Keyforge comes with an app that will eventually allow you to track wins and losses with a deck. When a deck wins a certain number of games, the player using that deck will begin games with increasing numbers of chains to counterbalance that strength. Once the deck balancing mechanics are implemented, each player must win games by playing their best. They must make good choices in each game, and they must come to understand the intricacies of their deck -- it’s strengths and weaknesses. In this way, you only really need to buy one deck, and just come to understand it very well. This was what excited me about Keyforge, and this is what will determine whether the game has lasting power for me.

Despite the balancing mechanics seeming to very clearly indicate that the specific deck you play doesn’t matter, many people have been reacting to Keyforge in the way they would react to the release of any new collectible card game. At the prerelease event I attended, several of my opponents were planning to buy entire boxes of decks, hoping to find something powerful. Soon after release, high powered decks could be found on eBay for upwards of $1000 (decks cost about $10 to buy normally). Videos on the topic of Keyforge were often focused on how good a particular deck is. On what the best cards are. To me, this was all so beyond the point of Keyforge. I have so enjoyed Keyforge up until now, and if you haven’t tried it yet, I recommend you invest in a deck (or two if you need one to play against) and try it out. But I implore you to reframe how you think about this type of game. Stop wondering how powerful your deck is, and start seeing each deck as the puzzle it was meant to be. Your skills as a player are what brings power to a deck. In this age of consumerism and material clutter, there is a growing trend towards minimalism. Buy a deck, and truly see it. Let yourself learn to love it. Let that one deck spark joy in you, and let it allow you to play Keyforge with other players in a wonderful variety of formats. Disclaimer: I do own 3 Keyforge decks. One of them seems pretty good! ;)

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Terraforming Mars: Prelude Review

By Kate Thompson I may have mentioned this before, but Terraforming Mars is one of my favourite games. Ever. It should come as no surprise, then, that I purchased the new Prelude expansion as soon as it came out. I’ve played it several times since, and now I would like to review it for you!

What’s In the Box?

This expansion contains:

5 new corporations

7 new project cards

35 Prelude cards

The corporations and project cards are always welcome. They add variety to the game, and this is definitely a welcome shake-up for those who play the game frequently. However, the meat of this expansion is obviously the prelude cards! So… I’m going to start with those.

At the beginning of the game, each player will receive four random prelude cards along with their ten project cards and two corporations. They will then choose two of the prelude cards to play. Each of these cards will give some kind of benefit to the player. Many of them boost one or two resource productions. I like the prelude cards for two reasons: More Synergy Opportunities Just like you can choose the best corporation by looking at your project cards to find synergies, you can choose which prelude cards to use based on the corporations and project cards you have available. Finding the best synergies in the cards you happen to get is pretty much the thing I like about this game, so an expansion that makes that process more rich and diverse appeals to me. Boosts/Speeds the Game The prelude cards give a pretty hefty boost to the first few turns of the game, and from my experience, this speeds up the overall play time of the game. This is especially true if you are also playing with the Venus Next expansion. That expansion introduces the world government phase, which can also speed up the game if players choose not to terraform Venus. The new corporation cards are powerful and interesting. They are especially welcome since the selection of corporations was much more limited than project cards, for example. So, any increased choice with corporations will make a big difference. It is always fun to try out a new corporation, and they were creative with coming up with unique corporate abilities that feel powerful. I also enjoy seeing new project cards added to the game, but there is a bit of a downside to mention here. Unlike the corporations, the number of existing project cards is very high. Including the base game and Venus Next cards, there were already more than 250 cards in the project deck. So, while it is exciting to shake things up by adding seven new project cards, it’s fairly unlikely you’ll actually see or use them in any given game. A related issue is that every time new cards are added to the project deck, it becomes more and more difficult to achieve any given synergy. For example, if you are interested in collecting a specific kind of tag, the more cards there are in the deck, the less likely it is that you will draw the projects with that tag. Remember that creating these synergies is one of my favourite aspects of the game! There are two potential solutions I can think of to this bloated project deck issue: Draft One of the rule variants allows you to draft new project cards each turn rather than simply drawing four random project cards. Using this mechanic will help you sift through more cards, allowing you to find more of those synergies. Drafting does tend to increase play time, which is the reason we often don’t use that method. However, as I mentioned above, the prelude card boosts could offset this, so if you don’t typically draft, it might be a good practice when using the Prelude expansion. One other thing to consider is that drafting doesn’t work as well with only two players. Prune Something I have contemplated is whether the project deck could be pruned in some way when new cards are added with expansions. Perhaps there are some project cards from the base set that could be removed from the deck to maximize the probability of fun synergies occurring. I haven’t tested this out yet, but theoretically, you would want to remove cards that don’t have a clear place in any known synergies. So, you would want to keep cards that have relevant tags (e.g., Jovian tags, plant tags, power tags, etc), animal cards, floater cards, or anything else that might synergize with any other cards, milestones, or awards.

So, What’s the Verdict?

This is another solid expansion to Terraforming Mars. If you love the game, you’ll enjoy this expansion. It’s a small, simple, affordable expansion, but it really does add something new to the game, and I’ll be playing with it from now on.

I’ve tried this expansion with the base game, as well as with the Hellas and Elysium expansions, and with Venus Next. The integration feels pretty seamless!

I have also, of course, played the solo variant with the Prelude expansion a few times. This expansion actually includes a solo variant variant where the goal is to achieve a TR of 63 rather than the usual goal of fully terraforming the planet. In addition, any time you are playing a solo game with the Prelude expansion, you are only allotted 12 rounds to complete your goal rather than 14 (this is because of the boost you get from the prelude cards). I've still quite enjoyed the solo variant with this expansion, and have found that it is still challenging, but definitely still achievable!

Have you tried Prelude yet? Let me know what your thoughts are!

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Review by Jillian Schmett Hey Everyone! This week I wanted to share my thoughts with you on a game that is currently on Kickstarter, Crazier Eights: One Thousand and One Nights. Designed by James Gray and with illustrations from various artists, this is the latest version/theme  in the successful series of Crazier Eights games. It’s a standalone game that can also be mixed with previous versions if you choose. If you’ve played the classic card game Crazy Eights, you already basically know how to play. The game is played with 52 cards that each have a color and suit assigned. Cards also have artwork by various talented artists that is, for me, reminiscent of Magic: The Gathering cards.  The biggest difference between the classic version and this one is that each card has text that will affect the gameplay. Event and Asset cards will allow you to do things such as discard an extra card or force your opponent to draw cards. The first player with zero cards left in their hand wins. The game plays in 10-30 minutes, depending on the player count and how familiar you are with the card abilities. It is a great entry level card game, especially for people who are familiar with Crazy Eights. Believe it or not, I have actually never played Crazy Eights, but I have played other similar games and was able to pick up the rules to this one very quickly. It would be a great game to play with kids who are starting to move on from basic, simpler games, into some more complicated things, the caveat being that there is a lot of text to read on the cards so they will need to have good reading skills and the attention span to want to sit and read each one.  This is also a great game to take with you on the go. It fits in a deck box and doesn’t take up much table space.  I found the abilities on the cards to be interesting and well balanced. Each game we played ended up being pretty close. Another nice touch is that each artist is credited at the bottom of the cards featuring their illustrations. If you like games such as Uno, Skip Bo, and obviously Crazy Eights, this game is definitely worth checking out. At around $14 (with other pledge level options available) it is also a reasonable price point. ​

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by Globus the Elder “ Gladiators seek to best all. It’s the only way to survive in the arena.” – Spartacus ​ Kickstarter is a hell of a thing. Many of us have pre-ordered games. It gives the publisher a rough idea of how many games to print in the initial run. Some companies have their own way of doing it for limited runs, like GMT’s P500 system, wherein people pre-order a game, and once it hits at least 500 orders, then do a print run. GMT doesn’t charge until the game is ready to ship, which can be a bookkeeping hassle. I like Kickstarter. What I like less is waiting nine months to a year for a game (though I do like future me getting presents from past me), and the potential delays when the game isn’t actually finished. However, many times these issues occur when a game company is trying to get their first game off the ground, and they don’t have the finances to fully implement the game before funding. And today on Kickstarter… Gameplay (NOTE: this is a pre-production copy, and the art is subject to change.) ​ Gorus Maximus is a trick taking game, like the previously reviewed Yokai Septet, and like that game, this one is different enough to be worth a look. What’s unusual here is the player format. You can play teams or individuals, and you can play with between two and eight players. ​ You start by constructing a deck of ten cards per player, using a number of Schools (suits) and card values dependent on the number of players. There is a table in the rules, but the cards themselves indicate which ones to use, with 2+, 6+, 7+, and 8 in the lower right corner. There is also a card indicating each of the Schools and a marker to track the Preferred School (trump). Shuffle the cards, deal them out, and you’re ready to begin. ​ The player to the left of the dealer can lead any card. That card becomes the Preferred School and the Initiating School (mark the preferred school on the tracking card). Like most trick taking games, you generally have to follow suit, or School in this case, but in Gorus Maximus, you can also Challenge, by playing a different School, but the same va...

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Article by: Jillian Schmett Hey everyone! Sorry for my absence in the past few weeks, but summer vacation is in full swing here and we’ve had birthdays, holidays, and general craziness abound, not leaving much time for gaming or writing. I’m back though and thought, what better way to get going again than to make a list? Because people love lists. I love writing lists. So, without further adieu, here is a list. As usual, this list is in no particular order because I can never choose just one favorite and I mostly just enjoy sharing a bunch of games that I love and hearing the recommendations offered by others in response! The Tower/Bank combo is my favorite way to get a bunch of points in San Juan San Juan (2004)- San Juan is a card game based on the board game Puerto Rico, and in my opinion is much better than the game it’s based on. Cards are multi-use, and serve as your buildings (which are the source for your end game points), the currency to build said buildings in your tableau (aka your city), and the goods you will be producing/trading in your city. I’ve had this game for about 3-4 years now and have played it countless times, but just pulled it out the other night and still enjoyed it just as much as I always have. The game is listed as taking about 45-60 minutes on BGG, but in my experience it usually takes closer to 20-30 at 2 player and not too much more if the additional players are familiar with the game. Battle Line (2000)- Battle Line is retheme of the slightly older game Schotten Totten with different graphics and very minor changes to gameplay. It’s designed by Reiner Knizia. I’ve yet to meet a Knizia game that I don’t like and this is no exception. It’s an excellent 2 player deduction game, in which players are playing cards from their hand onto the table and trying to gain control of the majority of the “battle line.” 9 wooden pieces (referred to as flags) laid out in a line between the 2 players represent the different areas, and victory is achieved by either taking control of 3 adjacent flags, or 5 total flags. The way the cards are played and areas are won is reminiscent of poker, using things like pairs/three of a kinds/flushes/straights, etc. to determine the winner of each flag. I love poker so that was a plus for me. The deduction part comes in when you are trying to consider your best play based on what has already been played and is showing on the table in addition to what’s in your hand and what is likely in your opponent’s hand. Special power (tactics) cards that can only be played in a limited amount and under certain circumstances keep the game ever-changing. This is another one that I really enjoy after numerous plays and don’t see it getting old any time soon. It has so much strategy in a little box and gets better and better with more plays. ​ Alhambra (2003)- Alhambra is one of the first games I played when getting into the hobby and I still love it. It’s got tableau building, hand management, and tile placing, which are all mechanisms that I like. Players use cards to buy various tiles and try to place them in a way that will create the best Al...

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by Globus the Elder “ But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” – Donald Rumsfeld I grew up in video game arcades. At home, the best you could hope for was an Atari 2600 or Pong. In the arcades, the fight for your quarter was much more intense, with every new game cabinet trying to outdo the rest. One summer, at my local roller rink, I met Gauntlet. If you don’t know, Gauntlet was an early multiplayer arcade game, with you and up to three friends taking control of an elf, warrior, valkyrie, and/or wizard, and taking on hordes (and I mean hordes) of enemies, while exploring a dungeon and gathering treasure. ​ There are a few board games out there that attempt to recreate video games, or at least the experience, without the electronic attachments. Gears of War attempted to recreate a first person shooter in a third person, top down environment. Boss Monster is an 8 bit dungeon crawl (sort of). Bioshock just used the environment and mythology. And now, we enter The Pit… Gameplay ( NOTICE: the copy of The Pit I was given to review is a prototype. Normally, I feature pictures of as many of the components as I can reasonably fit. However, in this case, not all components were available, and those that are may not be in their final form.) The Pit is a one to four player cooperative game in the vein of Gauntlet, but in the science fiction genre. The goal is to advance through the Floors of the game, collecting new items and weapons, exploring rooms, fighting monsters, eventually reaching the final Floor, where you fight the Lord of the Pit and his minions. Clear the final Floor and you win. If all players die, you lose. Each turn consists of four phases: Player Action, Monster, Special Action, and Loot. The Pit uses locations to determine turn order. There are four slots in each Room, and four in each section of Hallway. Initial placement is random, future locations are determined by player action, with the player closest to the Starting Location acting first. For example, when a player unlocks a Room, that player chooses which of the four locations to place their figure on. These locations also determine Monster attack priority, i.e. different Monsters have a printed value, indicating they will attack a numbered location, and proceed downward if that location is unoccupied. On a player turn in the Player Action phase, the player may Move, Reveal and/or Fight Monsters in the Hallway, reveal a Room (and potentially the Monsters therein), Unlock the Room, Fight Monsters in the Room, Use the Room’s ability (if there are no Monsters), and Eat Food, which is required. If you Fight Monsters at any of these points, you skip to Eat Food after combat. In Movement, players will move into unexplored Hallway sections and Rooms, or can move from a Room through an explored Hallway to any Room. Encountering Monsters ends movement, as does attempting to Unlock a Room. ​ In an unexplored Hallway, the player rolls 1d6 to encounter zero to two Monsters. In Rooms, the Room card determines how many Monsters, and what deck they are drawn from. There are five decks, labeled A through D, and X. A Monsters are the weakest, D Monsters the strongest. X is used for other purposes. Room Monsters also have the potential to Ambush. The Room will indicate a die roll number, and you roll for each card. If you roll equal to or above that number on 1d6, that Monster is placed face down, and cannot be attacked at this time.

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By Kate Thompson In general, I aim to be positive and optimistic in life. Whatever the situation, I always try to see the GOOD. But not today. Today I am giving in to the dark side that resides in all of us. Today I want to describe in excruciating detail my least favourite board game mechanics, and why they are the literal worst.

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Mandi covers Ottawa Comiccon 2018 on Sunday May 13th!

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by Globus the Elder ​“ Are you not entertained?” – Maximus Gladiators. I watch the movies and the TV shows, and have played the games, from Avalon Hill’s Gladiator to Gale Force Nine’s Spartacus. Gladiator, though good, has a lot of bookkeeping, and Spartacus just seems to drag more than it should. So, Luke Seinen decided to try his hand at a gladiator game using deckbuilding, which left me intrigued but skeptical. I am hit or miss with deckbuilders. I like Star Realms. 3012, which was gorgeous, turned out to be unfinished. Aliens is good, Dominion is boredom in a box. DC Crisis has a runaway leader problem. But this would have to be something different, as there is a miniature combat component. How do you mesh these two seemingly separate mechanics together? Gameplay Like most deckbuilders, Carthage assigns each player a starter deck. These are low power cards to get you going, but are intended to be replaced as the game progresses. Each gladiator has a deck, a player board to track your Armor and Favor, as well as a place for your deck and discard pile, and a miniature. ​In the middle of the table you place the main board, which has a place for the Action deck, the cards you will buy to improve your deck, for the Theater deck, a deck that has cards that generally affect all players, and the arena, where your miniatures move and fight. There are also tokens that are used to create the environment, providing bonuses, terrain, and hazards. After creating the board, either using their pre-generated maps or with the rules to create your own, each player places their gladiator along the outside edge. Five Action cards are flipped to make a lineup for purchases, and you’re ready to go. Each round starts with a Theater card being drawn, and any effect resolved (sometimes they are resolved after the players have played their action cards). Once the Theater phase is completed, each player gets to draw the top five cards from their deck, and, in turn order, play one, until they have exhausted their hand. Everything you can and want to do will be determined by the cards. They have clear symbols and numbers, indicating what you can do and the order in which you can do it. Some cards have multiple effects, resolved left to right and top to bottom. Some have options separated by a slash, indicating a choice. For example, a card may give you +2 movement, moving you two spaces, or it may give you +2 movement and +1 Favor. There are also effects, like Knockback, resulting from you doing damage (you must do the damage to get the additional effect).  

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Article by: Jillian Schmett Hey Everyone! This week I have a great interview with the designer of a game that I was able to play while at PAX East, Blood on the Clocktower. Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game for 5+ players.. Now, I know what some people are already thinking, “Ugh, I hate social deduction games” as they hover their mouse over the exit button at the top of the screen. Well all I have to say to that is, just stop it! Bear with me for a few minutes and you might just find something that convinces you to change your mind. Worst case scenario, you read my whole blog and still don’t change your mind but at least you know all about this cool game that hasn’t been published yet and will have some interesting insight into how it came to be. The biggest difference that makes it stand out in the category is that players are not eliminated when they are “killed” (voted out). They still are able to participate in the discussion, share info they have, and get one more vote that they can use during one of the voting rounds after they have been killed. At PAX, the games were being run by the designer, Steven Medway, and his sister/member of the BotC team, Eden. They assumed the role of Storyteller and facilitated games for groups. Games were scheduled every hour with a sign-up sheet available for people to save themselves a spot in future games. We played three games over the two days we were there, and each ran between 40-60 minutes. None of the games ever felt either rushed or stagnant. Since it was a convention setting, I’m sure that Steve and Eden were moving things along to keep everything on schedule, but it wasn’t noticeable and didn’t affect the game play at all as far as I could tell. I could definitely see games running much longer at events with either larger groups or with people who know each other well and play often, and I don’t think that is a bad thing at all. One of my favorite things about the game is how every single time you play it is a completely different experience that is dependent on how the players interact, strategize, and so much more. There are many variables that can change from game to game. At the start, a bag was passed around for each player to draw a button, which would assign them their secret identity. Each identity is either a “good” player (the Townsfolk and the Outsiders), or a “bad” player (the Demon and his Minions- the amount of minions vary depending on player count). Every character in the game has a different, interesting ability. The Storyteller (basically the moderator of the game) will then collect the buttons and keep them for the rest of the game in a box that is shaped like a book (the Grimoire). The buttons adhere to the inside panel of the box so the Storyteller is able to keep them oriented with the group, and remember who is which character. Some characters are secretly given information at the start of the game, for instance the Washerwoman stars knowing that 1 of 2 players is a particular Townsfolk. Some characters gain information as the game progresses, such as the Empath who, while alive, will learn during each night phase how many of their 2 living neighbors are evil. Some characters are given misinformation without even knowing it, such as the Drunk, who doesn’t realize that they are drunk, thinks they are someone else, and will only discover they are drunk when they realize that their ability malfunctions. ​

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“ Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” – Jawaharlal Nehru A sentence that spells doom for a game is, “It’s a new take on _____.” Like music having only so many chords, there are only so many game mechanics, but outright taking an existing game and trying to make your house rules a game generally lacks the ingenuity to make something sufficiently different as to be worth a purchase in a game budget. Spades is a great example. There are so many variations that you have to have a conference and a lawyer before you can even begin playing with new people. None of these variations brings enough to the table to require the purchase of a specialized game. So, if you want to make a game that makes a trick taking game into something new, how do you do it? Like this… ​ Gameplay Yokai Septet follows the standard trick taking approach, so if you are familiar with Hearts or Spades, you have the general idea. One player leads a card, and the following players must follow suit, with the highest card taking the trick. Winning those tricks, or a set bid number of them, usually wins you the hand. In Yokai Septet, the only tricks you really want are the ones that include a seven. These are the Boss Yokai. Collecting four or more Boss Yokai in your tricks wins the hand, and score points (There is a basic two point game, and an advanced seven point game). There are seven suits with seven cards each. The deck is shuffled, and each player receives twelve cards, with the final card revealed as the trump suit for that hand. Players then choose three cards from their hand, and pass them to their partner. On the first hand of the game, the player with the A card (there is only one) is the lead player. In future hands, the lead player is the player who took the last trick.   The lead player throws the first card, each following player plays a card in the suit, and the highest value wins. If a player does not have the suit, they may “throw off”, play a card of a differing suit, or throw trump, whatever the current trump suit is. Playing a trump suit allows you to win the trick, unless another player plays a higher trump card. The A card is the highest card in the game, and beats all other cards, regardless of trump. Taken tricks are placed in front of you, Boss Yokai tricks face-up, others face-down. Should you take seven total tricks, between you and your partner, the hand is over, and the other team wins. They also get all un-played Boss Yokai in your hands, which is part of scoring in the advanced game. These aspects, seven suits, specific target cards to take, losing for taking t0o many books, are what make this game shine. Veteran Spades players, who can normally divine who has what cards by bids and what’s played, had a much more difficult time trying to track who had what. The subtle strategy of when to throw your Boss Yokai. Trying to take that last Boss before you get stuck with seven. I exclaimed with glee when I snatched a Boss trick that my opponents thought they had. It happened. Theme...

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“ Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” – Jawaharlal Nehru A sentence that spells doom for a game is, “It’s a new take on _____.” Like music having only so many chords, there are only so many game mechanics, but outright taking an existing game and trying to make your house rules a game generally lacks the ingenuity to make something sufficiently different as to be worth a purchase in a game budget. Spades is a great example. There are so many variations that you have to have a conference and a lawyer before you can even begin playing with new people. None of these variations brings enough to the table to require the purchase of a specialized game. So, if you want to make a game that makes a trick taking game into something new, how do you do it? Like this… ​ Gameplay Yokai Septet follows the standard trick taking approach, so if you are familiar with Hearts or Spades, you have the general idea. One player leads a card, and the following players must follow suit, with the highest card taking the trick. Winning those tricks, or a set bid number of them, usually wins you the hand. In Yokai Septet, the only tricks you really want are the ones that include a seven. These are the Boss Yokai. Collecting four or more Boss Yokai in your tricks wins the hand, and score points (There is a basic two point game, and an advanced seven point game). There are seven suits with seven cards each. The deck is shuffled, and each player receives twelve cards, with the final card revealed as the trump suit for that hand. Players then choose three cards from their hand, and pass them to their partner. On the first hand of the game, the player with the A card (there is only one) is the lead player. In future hands, the lead player is the player who took the last trick.   The lead player throws the first card, each following player plays a card in the suit, and the highest value wins. If a player does not have the suit, they may “throw off”, play a card of a differing suit, or throw trump, whatever the current trump suit is. Playing a trump suit allows you to win the trick, unless another player plays a higher trump card. The A card is the highest card in the game, and beats all other cards, regardless of trump. Taken tricks are placed in front of you, Boss Yokai tricks face-up, others face-down. Should you take seven total tricks, between you and your partner, the hand is over, and the other team wins. They also get all un-played Boss Yokai in your hands, which is part of scoring in the advanced game. These aspects, seven suits, specific target cards to take, losing for taking t0o many books, are what make this game shine. Veteran Spades players, who can normally divine who has what cards by bids and what’s played, had a much more difficult time trying to track who had what. The subtle strategy of when to throw your Boss Yokai. Trying to take that last Boss before you get stuck with seven. I exclaimed with glee when I snatched a Boss trick that my opponents thought they had. It happened. Theme...

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by Globus the Elder ​“ I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’m a conspiracy analyst.” – Gore Vidal When I first started writing for To Die For Games, my first review was for Fief, a medieval game of war and negotiation. It’s one of my favorites, and, like most favorite games, we played it to death. Some of group started to lose interest in it, as they felt that after the set up and opening few turns, the results became predictable. While I don’t necessarily agree, I respect those feelings, and looked for a game that provided the same feel, but added more unpredictability. During a recent trade through BGG, Medieval Conspiracy appeared on my radar. It seemed to provide many of the elements that Fief has, but with more opportunities. Can this be the replacement? Almost… Gameplay Medieval Conspiracy is a card driven, area control and negotiation game set in the German States during the Holy Roman Empire. Player start the game with between four and six random territories, depending on the number of players (three to five profane and one clerical), drawn from a deck, one hundred ducats, two action cards, and two mercenaries and one knight. The units are placed on the map by choosing up to three territory cards, placing them face down, and simultaneously revealing where they are placed. The remaining cards are formed into their respective decks (profane territories, clerical territories, electors, Events, Action cards, and Master cards). First player is determined randomly. Unlike many area control games, you cannot just choose to attack another area or produce more units. Most of the options available to you are determined by the Event and Action cards. (Side note: The game refers to non-clerical territories as “profane”. As I had thought I understood what that word meant, I was confused by this usage. Google dictionary has one of the definitions as “relating or devoted to that which is not sacred or biblical; secular rather than religious.” You learn something new every day.) The goal of Medieval Conspiracy is to be elected Emperor. You do this by acquiring Electors, who vote, either for the controlling player, or a neutral non-player. If a player has the most votes, they win. If the neutral does, the game continues. The game rounds are divided into six phases: Income, Event card, Fate, Movement, Action card, and End Turn. Income is determined by territories controlled (ten for profane, twenty for clerical, fifty for electoral), features added through play (such as castles, monasteries, relics, etc.), Master cards, and trade routes that exist between territories. There is also a feature, the Reichstadt, that increases trade route income. During the Event card phase, a card is added to the Event track for each player. Each card is then auctioned, in increments of ten. Once a player wins the current auction, the card’s effect is resolved immediately. Four cards, two Death of an Elector, and two Death of the Emperor, are resolved before any others, without auction. These are distributed into the deck during setup, one of each in the middle third, and one in the last third. Event cards allow you to build Knights, attack another territory, double your income, and a host of other effects. After all Events are auctioned, players proceed to the Fate phase. Each player rolls a six-sided die, in turn order. On a one, two, or three, a lord, bishop, or elector is killed. On a four or five, a child is born, and on a six, twins. Lords, bishops and children are represented by control markers. At the beginning of the game, each player places four control markers, representing children, into either the profane or clerical education areas. Each territory owned at the beginning is marked with a control marker, indicating a lord or bishop, depending on the ...

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by Globus the Elder “ Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect, but maybe the universe doesn’t insist on cause and effect.” Edward M. Lerner Time travel, and by extension alternate history, is my favorite genre of science fiction. It’s difficult to do well, so when you get someone who knows how to do it, it’s like fine wine. There’s a whole slew of books to read, many of them disappointing (time traveling people supplying AK-47s to the South in the American Civil War is not alternate history, Mr. Turtledove), but there are rare gems, like The Man in the High Tower. There are fewer time travel games than I’d like, because it is difficult to do. How do you indicate something has happened, and how does that relate to the rest of time? ​ This is one way to do it… Gameplay Endstream is a two-player card game taking place across a period between 1800 and 2300. Players create a deck, or take a pre-generated deck, of six Operators and one Hideout. The goal is to either disintegrate your opponent’s Operators, or destroy their Hideout. Players receive six random Turnpoint cards, arrayed in front of them in each of the six columns corresponding to each century. These cards are how you pay to play Operators, or use their abilities. Your Hideout starts out in the century printed on the card, placed above the Turnpoint card, creating four areas of play, your Turnpoint, your Stream (where you will play your cards), your opponent’s stream, and their Turnpoints.   Each Turnpoint has two Agendas, one on either side. They are Green for political, Red for military, and Blue for scientific (they also have clearly different symbols). Cards have costs listed to play them or use their abilities. For example, a card may cost two military to play, and then have an ability with a cost of two of any color (Grey). You move two red Turnpoint cards halfway towards you, play the Operartor, and then do the same with two of your choice. On a player’s turn, Activate an Operator (play it from your hand), use an ability on an Operator or Hideout, move any of your Operators one space (either up or down the timestream, or to your opponent’s stream), or Spin an Agenda. Spinning an Agenda allows you to flip a Turnpoint card, providing you with a different Agenda color/symbol. It also flips each other Turnpoint going forward to 2300. ​ Operators have a Defense number, and in order to disintegrate them, you have to beat that number, either through lowering their Defense or by using abilities with the Strike keyword. They must also have been Disabled on the previous turn, using the same process. Failure to do enough damage on a single turn has no effect, and if your Operator is Disabled, and is not disintegrated on the following opponent’s turn, they are return to active status. You track their current status by rotating the card ninety degrees. Hideouts also have Defense, but they do not have to be Disabled, and damage done to them is permanent.   Theme The cards look and feel fantastic. I would like all cards I play with in the future to feel like these. The art is great, and the details make each picture.