Star Trek Ascendancy – Borg Assimilation (Boardgame)
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Posted on July 10th, 2018 by
Star Trek Ascendancy is a civilization building wargame. Previously only a competitive affair, the Borg Assimilation expansion adds in a Borg race that runs rampant through the galaxy. Players can cooperate to defeat it, or risk being assimilated (and taking over the Borg race themselves.) The expansion now allows a solo play version of the game (win before the Borg takes over) but if more than one player is present the game remains a competitive one (although with a common enemy.)
Memoarr! (Boardgame)
Posted on June 28th, 2018 by
Memory based games are a great equalizer between young and old. Memoarr! starts out like most, with a grid of upside down cards. However, rather than matching pairs of cards, players attempt to create a chain of cards, with each card matching the landscape or animal of the previous one. The result is a memory matching game with just enough spin to mark it different from the others. It becomes more unique when using the advanced rules which has the cards triggering special actions based on the animal on the revealed card.
RPG Minis Update – Spring 2018
Posted on June 26th, 2018 by
WizKids recent Wardlings release is a great line of kid-themed pre-painted miniatures. Each kid-model mini comes with an associated “pet” to add a bit of playfulness to any RPG session. WizKids other mini lines (D&D Icons of the Realms and Pathfinder Battles) keep on truckin’ with a couple jungle themed releases and one that fits in with D&D’s most recent adventure book. While minis aren’t cheap, they can add a bit of flash and excitement to any game night.
D&D RPG Update: Summer 2018
Posted on June 19th, 2018 by
The popularity of the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game continues to gain traction, particularly with the college/young adult set. With the advent of streamers (gamers who put their D&D sessions online, many of the most popular ones made by voice actors and other entertainment professionals) more and more people are being turned onto the hobby. The current edition of D&D (now in its 5th Edition) has gone back to its “roots” making the game play faster and allowing more “theater of the mind” style play. Gamers can still bust out miniatures and terrain (such as those published by WizKids’ Icons of the Realms line) and have their tactical battles, but it is no longer a necessary component of every game night. In tandem with the new edition, Wizards of the Coast has stepped back from releasing supplement after supplement with enough frequency to cause a glut of books for gamers to buy. Instead, they’ve focused on just two or three big releases each year, allowing gamers to stay “current” with all the books without breaking the bank. This past year, they’ve released two big supplements and one big adventure path. The Tomb of Annihilation takes players through a dinosaur-infested jungle adventure, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything greatly expands player options, and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes provides GMs with new background information and more of the higher-level monsters to include in their games.
Dragonfire (Boardgame)
Posted on May 24th, 2018 by
The popularity of role playing games has inspired many a designer to capture the multi part story and character progression of a RPG within a boardgame. Dragonfire picks up the theme and story of the current edition of Dungeons and Dragons, a places it into a cooperative, legacy-style deckbuilding card game. Does it work? Unsurprisingly, the game has a bit of a learning curve, but is my favorite game in the genre (legacy co-op card game) so far.
Spirit Island (Boardgame)
Posted on April 17th, 2018 by
Sometimes the whole metaphorical peanut butter and chocolate combination sneaks up on you and surprises you with you didn’t even know you were missing. Spirit Island, the cooperative settler-destruction strategy game is not for the faint of heart, but it distills nearly all my favorite boardgame elements into a single game. Cooperative game? Check. Asymmetric (each player has different powers) Gameplay ? Check. Deckbuilding? Check. Player Development (increase in power during the game?) Check. Simultaneous player decisions? Check. Multiple scenarios or options for play? Double, Triple, & Quadruple Check. Quick to play, easy to learn, a great fit for any crowd?….. well, you can’t have everything. For gamers willing to put up with a bit of a learning curve (really only a game or two), Spirit Island offers a deeply strategic, cooperative game with plenty of variations to explore.
NMBR 9 (Boardgame)
Posted on April 12th, 2018 by
With the blocky-ness of Minecraft and Roblox, why not a boardgame with blocky numbers from 0 to 9? NMBR 9 has players stacking up number tiles on top of each other to reach a high score. Tiles are worth more the higher they are in the stack, but numbers can only be stacked if they are completely supported by tiles underneath. NMBR 9 is a great little relaxing game with simple rules and since players are always building on their own number stack there is no antagonistic play.
Codenames: Marvel and Disney Family Edition (Boardgame)
Posted on April 5th, 2018 by
The party deduction game, Codenames, continues to be wildly popular: spinning off a Pictures version, a two-player Duet version, and now USAopoly has licensed to to create a Marvel and a Disney Family edition. Rather than giving clues and guessing words, the new editions come with cards containing full color art of the two different themes. While Marvel serves as a fun version for fans of the comics and movies, the Disney Family Edition makes the game even more accessible to the younger set and is worth a look for families of even younger grade school children.
Hero Realms (Boardgame)
Posted on March 27th, 2018 by
In the Hero Realms card game players alternate between playing cards to fight each other and collecting more cards to be more powerful in the future. This deckbuilder follows in the footsteps of the hugely popular Star Realms but is more than just the same game with a different theme. There are very strong similarities, but in Hero Realms players can begin with a themed starting deck (based around typical RPG character classes) and have the option of playing in a campaign game and/or fighting a specially designed communal boss monster. While Hero Realms feels very similar to Star Realms, the opportunity to play against specific boss monster decks or try out the co-op campaign game makes Hero Realms a unique experience.
Kung-Fu Zoo (Boardgame)
Posted on March 20th, 2018 by
Kung-Fu Zoo has players flicking animal-themed dice into an arena to score points and/or eliminate other players by knocking them into a corner pocket. A fast moving game of skill, with a healthy dose of luck, makes for a great game for younger kids even if it won’t have much staying power for older gamers.
