Author Archives: Dan Thurot
When Cultures Clash
The thing is, I don’t really like Sid Meier’s Civilization series. I can see the appeal — crud, half the game’s bullet points sound like they were plagiarized straight out of the “This Should Appeal to Dan” playbook. But for whatever reason each Civ experience leaves me wondering what part of my soul is missing and wanting my thirty dollars back. So I was greatly surprised when I genuinely liked the board game version (this one). I didn’t play it too many times because it had some problems, most notably a very long playtime, but it still captured a lot of the things I liked about the Civilization series.
Now I’ve found a Civilization-type game that I love, courtesy of Z-Man Games and Christian Marcussen, designer of the marvelous (so I’m told) Merchants & Marauders. It’s called Clash of Cultures, and it’s one of the best things I’ve played all year. And I don’t mean that as a joke, considering it’s only the eleventh day of the year, I mean from the entire previous year. Find out why below.
Board Games & Me: The Lost World
The Lost World: Jurassic Park: Game, from 1996.
Here we are at the end of the road — hm, scratch that — at the end of the onramp that set me on a lifelong Board Game Highway. I’d already decided I liked at least the social aspect of board games thanks to Risk, and later that I was fascinated by their components thanks to Forbidden Bridge. I still hadn’t found the right game though, the one that was more than just a social catalyst or pretty components, that would convince me that board games were more than a once- or twice-a-year hobby. I hadn’t found the one that was good.
Sometime around 1997, I found it. If the header image is broken, read on to discover what it was.
Summoner Wars Mega #3: Phoenix Elves vs. Sand Goblins
Phoenix Elves vs. Sand Goblins.
The outcome of today’s match should leave everyone happy, because regardless of whether the fiery Phoenix Elves or the hell-continent-dweller Sand Goblins win, a faction of evil jerks has lost — and in battle-torn Itharia, where every madman has a summoning stone nowadays, that can only be a good thing.
As always, Somerset and myself were provided with a surprisingly unique match. It lacked the early-game assassination of our first match and the stalemated battle lines of our second. Instead, it was a highly tense game in which both Summoners felt the sting of enemy blades, and both subtle trickery and brute force had their moment. Spoiler Alert: At the end of this one, our score stands at 2-1. Oh, that was obvious? You want to know which of us is now ahead? Sorry, you’ll have to read on to find out the winner.
The Leftovers, 2012 Edition
It’s hard to believe that 2012 has already reached its end. Only moments ago it was 2011 and I was young and innocent and had a head full of ambitions and dreams. Worse, I didn’t write about some dozen games that I intended to, and now it’s really too late to get to them for fear of appearing out of vogue. Instead, here’s what I would have written, though in much abbreviated form — the leftovers of 2012, if you will.
Summoner Wars Mega #2: Vanguards vs. Mercenaries
Vanguards versus Mercenaries.
Today’s battle is something of a class war. The sprawling (and smelly) City of Heap has long stood in the shadow of the Citadel of the Fist, home to the Vanguards, but at long last Rallul’s Mercenary company, which often recruits out of Heap’s slums, has challenged young Sera Eldwyn to a battle for ultimate control! Or at least control for a while, since the Summoner Wars are functionally unending.
This match couldn’t have been more different from our last one if it tried. Rather than being full of trickery and win-stealing, this one was all about two forces slowly grinding each other into dust. And I’ll tell you now, it was a close one.
Board Games & Me: Forbidden Bridge
Forbidden Bridge, the jewel of 1992.
After being bored out of our minds retrying Risk last week, I promised this time we would play something fun — and I’m making good on that promise with Forbidden Bridge, the first board game I ever begged my dad to get for Christmas (I think I asked for the Game of Life a few years earlier, but we’re going to pretend that never happened. We only played it twice, so it functionally didn’t).
Forbidden Bridge is amazing, despite not being that great a game. I’ll explain why.
Summoner Wars Mega #1: Mountain Vargath vs. Jungle Elves
Mountain Vargath versus Jungle Elves.
Today the stout Mountain Vargath will face off against the mobile Jungle Elves. This matchup probably wouldn’t even occur if the lore of Summoner Wars were ironclad, since both factions are only fighting to defend their homeland. Ah well, maybe there’s a tract of mountainous jungle somewhere that everyone lays claim to. The Itharian Poland or something.
This match caught us both by surprise. It was surprisingly nonviolent, though it lasted fewer than 10 full rounds. Neither faction managed to get through their entire deck, and nobody was sure who would win until the very last dice roll.
Race to the Meuse
Much like the elusive okapi, good strategy games are hard to come by on the iPad. How many times do developers think we want to sit through bad Advance Wars clones anyway? So the release of Shenandoah Studio’s Battle of the Bulge has been a breath of fresh air in a stale warehouse. This week I played the three-day introductory scenario, Race to the Meuse. Did I take Bastogne? Did I reach the Meuse River itself? Find out below.
Board Games & Me: Risk
The family’s 1980s version of Risk.
Hi there, friendly reader. Today I’m inaugurating a short series about the games that instilled me with my current love of boardgaming, and about trying them again years later. Be warned that these aren’t necessarily the most interesting games, or even particularly good games — today’s article is about Risk, for instance, which is neither.
“So why talk about it then?” Good question! I have a good answer to go with it: Because Risk was the first game I ever longed to play. And when I finally did, it taught me something important about the power of board games.
Upcoming: Summoner Wars Mega
Inspired by Space-Biff! friend Digital Pariah, who’s been battling his way through his Summoner Wars collection one faction at a time and making me jealous with all manner of fascinating tales, the wife and I have decided to follow suit. Beginning next Monday, we’ll be posting weekly Summoner Wars battle reports in addition to our regular programming. Details below.
SPACE-BIFF! 