Author Archives: Dan Thurot
Neuroshima Rectangle
Ignacy Trzewiczek is best known for two things: one, he’s the only boardgame designer alive today whose name is harder to pronounce than Vlaada Chvátil’s (I think. It’s not like I can pronounce either of them); and two, his clockwork brain is responsible for a few recent hits like Prêt-à-Porter, 51st State, and the upcoming Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island. When I heard that The Convoy was set in the same hard-bitten world as Neuroshima Hex, and that it used one of my favorite cardgame mechanics (horizontal area control!), I could neither eat nor drink until I had a copy in my hands. Was my excitement justified? Find out below.
Pirates. Dinosaurs. Still At It.
A week ago, I wrote something that might have come across as a bit mean. I know, I know. Sometimes I disappoint even myself. In the comments after my review of Richard Launius’ Defenders of the Realm: Battlefields, I voiced a theory that perhaps Mr. Launius is a bit of a prodigy when it comes to designing cooperative games — after all, he’s been involved in some pretty impressive projects, like Arkham Horror, the original Defenders of the Realm, Elder Sign, and even the Infernal Relics expansion for Sentinels of the Multiverse — but that he might not be quite as adept at crafting interesting competitive games.
Well, today we’re looking at his newest game, Pirates vs. Dinosaurs, and I’m going to be eating my words. Or at least some of them.
Alone Time: Solopelago
Greetings, fellow lonely boardgamers! Now now, before you wind your typewriters for the composition of strongly-worded letters (in my imagination, your typewriters are electric but powered by treadle), I realize this issue of Alone Time is over a month late. Worse yet, the content isn’t even original — I talked about the rather-fantastic Archipelago a mere couple weeks ago, and here I am caught on repeat.
Still, this is an experience any self-respecting solo boardgamer ought to know about, because it turns out that one of the freshest recent multiplayer boardgames is also one of the freshest recent solo games to hit the market. Once you pick up the Solo Expansion, anyway.
Fallen Kickstarter of Karez
Now and then, people ask me how we manage to review some of the, ah, less agreeable board games we cover here on Space-Biff! The answer is the Crap Patrol. These are our very own Dirty Dozen, except they battle bad board games in place of Nazis. Also, there are only three of them in addition to me, they’re relatively well-groomed, and they aren’t criminals pressed into service in exchange for pardons. We don’t have an analogue for A.J. Maggot either. Thankfully. Alright, really the only point of comparison is that they do the dirty jobs nobody else wants to — though this time, it was more than just a mission… and some of them might not be coming back.
A Pair of Saboteurs
As most of the board games we cover here on Space-Biff! are comfortable members of the ruin-your-partner’s-evening genre, today I figured we’d take a break from that by looking at a friendly little pair of games that are all about working together, promoting peace, and being superfriends!
Except they’re totally not! They might not look it, but Saboteur and its expansion, the improperly named Saboteur 2 (“2” infers a sequel, not an expansion), are possibly the most devious games ever to sport a happy pipe-smoking grandpa-dwarf on the cover. Little does grandpa-dwarf realize, he’s about to get worked.
The Other Defenders of the Realm
Defenders of the Realm: Battlefields holds the unfortunate distinction of being the game everyone gets excited about for all of five seconds before someone realizes it’s not the original Defenders of the Realm. “Hey, is this that really good co-op game by Richard Launius?” Somerset asks excitedly when she sees it sitting on the table. Just kidding, she doesn’t know Richard Launius’s name off the top of her head. Worse, five seconds later she’s disappointed because she can see the box is way too small, not to mention it’s got that apologetic “battlefields” hiding under the main title like a bashful turtle.
Instead of holding that against Battlefields, let’s give it the benefit of the doubt and examine whether this tiny turtle is too timorous for success.
Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension
Dominions 4. If you’ve played Dominions 3: The Awakening, the mere mention of another entry to this utterly unique series should send shivers down your spine. If you haven’t, then… well, this article might not be for you. In that case, I recommend getting up to speed with my game diary RPS Ascension, or maybe taking a look at some articles I wrote about one of Illwinter Game Design’s other titles, the similar-yet-distinct Conquest of Elysium 3.
Returning to those of you who know exactly how remarkable this series is, today we’re going to walk through my first match, and take a look at a few of the ways Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension is refining its own formula.
How to Write a Board Game Manual
Hi there! I’m Dan Thurot. I’m not a professional at writing board game rulebooks, but I’m here to tell you how to write board game rulebooks.
If you’re now thinking, Well why the hell should I listen to you?, here’s my response: Wow. That was kind of harsh. Maybe I’m just some dummy, but I’m a dummy who reads a freighter’s worth of board game manuals every year, and I’ve come to appreciate certain details that make them easier to read and much better at actually teaching me your game. What follows is a list of ten tips I’d appreciate you following the next time you’re seated at your computer trying to type out your new board game’s rules.
Archiwhatago?
Turns out 2013 is one hell of a year to be playing board games. Back in March, I wrote about a game called Kemet that I assumed would be one of the best titles of the year — and it turns out it still is, though now it has a competitor in the form of Archipelago, the latest from designer Christopher Boelinger. Now, maybe at this very instant you’re muttering that Archipelago technically released in 2012, but I have two counters for that: one, I had no idea this gem even existed, and we’ve always run things on our own time here at Space-Biff!, and two, if you knew that off the top of your head, why are you even reading this review? Surely you know it’s amazing by now? Why don’t you go play it instead of hassling unpaid board game reviewers?
Anyway, Kemet and Archipelago would be about as different as two games could be if it weren’t for precisely two similarities. For one thing, both force their players to ration a limited pool of actions like precious canteens of water in the desert; and for another, they’re both determined to make you despise your friends for the evening. This time around though, it’ll be because your best friend just swindled you out of a bumper pineapple crop. That little turd.
Infested Planet: 20,000 kills, 20 minutes
On Tuesday afternoon, my elite squad of bug-hunters descended into a particularly overwhelmed mine shaft, squashed over 20,000 space-slugs, and secured it permanently against further infestation — and all in under 20 minutes.
This is Infested Planet from Rocket Bear Games, a highly polished spiritual sequel to their earlier free experimental game Attack of the Paper Zombies. Just like in Attack, Infested Planet is all about facing down an ever-evolving enemy that has no shortage of cannon fodder and always seems to have you surrounded. Just another day in the life of your regular space marine.
SPACE-BIFF! 