Blog Archives
A Bingo Ate Your Baby
Back in the winter of 2005, I spent one morning of every week volunteering in a retirement home. It was a rewarding time in its own way, but also rather ho-hum, especially because my job was to play bingo or bunco with the residents. For four hours straight. Not kidding, I’m occasionally bored awake by dreams of that ceaselessly shaking bunco cup. Night terrors would at least be interesting.
So when I cracked open the rulebook for Dingo’s Dreams only to discover a riff on bingo, the fact that it had been designed by Alf Seegert and illustrated by the prime target of my affection, Ryan Laukat, didn’t do as much for me as it might have otherwise. A pair of fantastic designers and artists making a ritzy version of bingo?
Oh.
Dragon… PUNCH!
There comes a moment in all our lives when we must kick and throw and taunt and launch fireballs, to say nothing of the possibility of launching an electric uppercut. For many of us, that moment goes by the name
DRAGON
PUNCH
and pretty much centers around either standing in an unbearably long line or passing the time at a crummy restaurant.
Evolution Evolved
If you haven’t played Evolution from North Star Games, you’ve been missing out. Not only was it incredibly smart, rightly portraying evolution as a raging contest of one-upsmanship between ever-changing species, it was also one of my favorite games of last year, and has been a regular feature at Château de Thurot game nights for so many months that we now play hands in between discussions about our vestigial kidneys and budding telekinetic powers.
Well, for all you creatures who missed out on the first (and second) of Evolution’s appearances, here’s your chance to finally shed that tail. Climate is soon in coming, and it’s set to heat things up a bit.
Keep Away
I’ve mentioned the Small Box Games Curse before: that for every three titles they release, there will be one I love, one I like, and one I hate. Well, with both Soulfall and Hordes of Grimoor having captured my fancy, there probably wasn’t ever much hope for Keep.
Hordes of Tiny-Omen
One of the things that always stands out about John Clowdus’s designs is just how much gameplay he packs into a tiny package. As it should be — after all, his guiding principle is written right into the name of his company, a manifesto laid bare for all to see. These may be Small Box Games, but that doesn’t mean they should be inconsequential.
And for the most part, Hordes of Grimoor makes good on that tradition.
Hold Your Breath and Count to Ten
What’s the difference between a Skyfall, a Spyfall, a Seafall, and a Soulfall?
No really, I’m asking. I don’t even get it. After about ten seconds, my brain morphs that sequence of words into mush. Then again, maybe it’s just me trying to parse how I feel about Soulfall.
Streets Slick with Neon and Lies
Until last Friday, I’d always wanted to visit Hong Kong. Then there were four totally unrelated murders within an hour of each other. One of them went unsolved. The other three had all been carried out by police officers.
Yikes.
Posthummus
It’s the nature of children to kill their parents. I’ve come to terms with this, which is why Baby Cate has already received the best firearms, outdoor survival, and martial arts training available to two-year-olds. For a premium, anything is possible. And when the time comes, I’ll put up a noble fight.
Which is perhaps why Posthuman stands out in spite of itself.
Empires: Age of Taking Stuff
Our modern sensibilities may protest all they like, but it’s a fact of human nature that we as a species absolutely love the prospect of racing headlong into the unknown, finding people dissimilar to ourselves, and swiping all their stuff. And Empires: Age of Discovery, the spiritual reincarnation (and license sidestep) of Glen Drover’s 2007 board game Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery, understands this fact deep down in the pit of its belly.
Elsewhere: Raid & Trade
It isn’t often that I play truly terrible games. For the most part, my personal filter has seen enough use that it strains out the turds before they ever land on my table, like a sieve umbrella that keeps my hat smear-free. Also in this metaphor, it rains poo.
Unfortunately, every so often a wet one trumpets through the net. This time it was Raid & Trade, one of the dullest games that has ever besotted my living room. My review can be found over at Miniature Market’s Review Corner. It’s perhaps my most openly negative critique in a long time — frankly, I’m surprised they agreed to publish it. If you do take a look, take note of the unintentional hilarity to be found after the article’s conclusion.
SPACE-BIFF! 