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Game Reviews

Reviews of games—some are longer and more in-depth than others but each should give you enough information to decide whether or not a game deserves a place in your happy home.

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Headlines

April 25, 2008 - Game Review: Mall World
April 21, 2008 - Game Review: Utopia
April 9, 2008 - Game Review: Key Largo
April 7, 2008 - Game Review: Lascaux
April 4, 2008 - Game Review: Gisborne
March 30, 2008 - Game Review: Key Harvest
March 27, 2008 - Game Review: Pick & Pack
March 24, 2008 - Game Review: Word Blur
March 17, 2008 - Game Review: Treasure Trot – Pro-Choice Gaming
March 9, 2008 - Game Review: Fantasy Pub
February 8, 2008 - Game Review: Schwarzarbeit
January 28, 2008 - Game Review: Darjeeling

Articles

Game Review: Mall World

By Brad Keen
April 25, 2008

Publishers: Rio Grande Games / BeWitched Spiele
Designer: Andrea Meyer
Artwork: Sebastian Wagner and Sebastian Balogh
Players: 3-5
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 70-90 Minutes
Some Useful and Interesting Links:

Tips for Players (English, German)
Errata (English, German)
Andrea Meyer’s Game Origins Geeklist
Board Game Speak episode featuring Andrea Meyer

Mall World was designed by Andrea Meyer and co-published in 2004 by Rio Grande Games and BeWitched Spiele (as Große Geschäfte). The game is based on an innovative 3D approach to tile placement where players are forced to focus not only on the first layer of tiles but also on a second layer of chips, placed on top of those tiles. The original theme for Mall World was the terraforming of an island, an idea that Meyer came up with “after having read a travel guide on Mallorca.” The game was later re-themed and set in the former German Democratic Republic with the title 1989. In this game, players took on the role of West German building companies terraforming Eastern Germany, and it even included two variants where players had the choice of either improving the GDR or selling it off piece by piece.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 25, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (5) - Link

Game Review: Utopia

By Greg Schloesser
April 21, 2008

Publishers: Editions du Matagot / Rio Grande Games
Designers: Ludovic Vialla & Arnaud Urbon
Players: 2-5
Playing Time: 60-90 minutes
Rules Language: French, English & German

Last year, the heretofore unknown company Editions du Matagot caused quite a stir at the Spiel game convention in Essen with its release of Khronos, a big-box game that caught the attention of just about every gamer at the convention. It was an impressive first release and left gamers anxious to see what the company had in store next.

Now, Editions du Matagot and designers Ludovic Vialla and Arnaud Urbon have offered the gaming world Utopia. No, I’m not speaking of the perfect world, but rather a good, albeit not perfect game.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 21, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Key Largo

By Greg Schloesser
April 8, 2008

Publisher: Titanic Games
Designers: Paul Randles, Mike Selinker & Bruno Faidutti
Players: 3-5
Playing Time: 45 minutes
Rules Language: English

Originally published in three foreign languages by Tilsit back in 2005, the late Paul Randles’ Key Largo has found renewed life with a new, revised edition released by Titanic Games. This spiffy new edition has received an artistic facelift, as well as some rules twists and modifications. The end result, however, is not much different from the original, which may be good news to some and disappointing to others.

The theme has players scurrying to obtain divers and equipment in order to pillage ancient shipwrecks for the treasures they contain. There are dangers, however, as monsters lurk in the deep, and greedy thieves lay in wait for the opportunity to pilfer players’ hard-earned goods. Further, only ten days remain before the hurricane season begins, thereby making it impossible for further diving expeditions. Victory goes to the player who recovers the most treasures and sells them at the market for the greatest profit.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 9, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Lascaux

By Greg Schloesser
April 5, 2008

Publisher: Phalanx Games / Mayfair Games
Designers: Dominique Ehrhard & Michel Lalet
Players: 3-5
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 25 minutes
Rules Language: German / English

I am somewhat of a history buff, and whenever I travel in Europe, I love visiting historical sites, particularly ancient castles, cathedrals and ruins. I remember being amazed on one visit having lunch at a restaurant and noticing that the building was built in 1356 – over one hundred years before Columbus landed in the New World!

The subject of the game Lascaux by designers Dominque Erhard and Michel Lalet is actually older than the castles and cathedrals I enjoy visiting, MUCH older. The subject is the ancient drawings of animals found on the walls of caves in southwestern France. These animals are no longer found in France, but they did roam the countryside over 15,000 years ago. Now that’s old!

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 7, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (0) - Link

Game Review: Gisborne

By W. Eric Martin
April 4, 2008

Publisher: Clementoni
Designer: Carlo A. Rossi
Players: 3-5
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 30-40 minutes
Rules Language: German (English rulebook (PDF) available for download)

Version: Production copy
Times Played: Five, twice with five players and thrice with three

I advise caution when opening a copy of Gisborne. Think of the “Crunchy Frog” sketch by Monty Python, specifically the treat labeled Spring Surprise that throws steel bolts throw your cheeks when you pop it in your mouth.

Ideally, you’ll convince a mortal enemy to open the game box. You’ll invite him over under the pretense that you want to settle your differences, that you want to limit future confrontation to family board games and not acid-filled scarfs and showers booby-trapped with razor wire. You’ll wave towards the box in a friendly manner, inviting him to open it, while you fetch him a drink from the kitchen. Will a Merlot be good?

Whatever he asks for, though, you can put it out of mind and pour a celebratory glass for yourself since his doom is near thanks to this lethal chunk of cardboard…

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 4, 2008 at 04:30 PM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Key Harvest

By Greg Schloesser
March 30, 2008

Publisher: R&D Games / Abacusspiele / Rio Grande Games
Designer: Richard Breese
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 90 minutes
Rules Language: English / German

I thoroughly enjoy many of British designer Richard Breese’s creations and count Reef Encounter and Keythedral amongst my favorite games. I have been impressed by how he has weaved the “Keydom” story through a series of fine games. The latest in this series is Key Harvest, which has players obtaining fields to grow and harvest crops. It isn’t exactly the most exciting theme, but success depends upon careful planning and clever manipulation.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 30, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (3) - Link

Game Review: Pick & Pack

By Patrick Korner
March 27, 2008

Publisher: Z-Man Games
Designer: Simon Hunt
Players: 2
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Rules Language: English
Online Play: YourTurnMyTurn.com

One of the nice things about reviewing games is that you’ll occasionally get the chance to review something you’d never in a million years have expected to like – only to find out after playing that it’s exactly the sort of game you should have checked out in the first place.

For me, Pick & Pack is such a game. Oh, wait, that gave away the punch line, didn’t it? Drat. Ah well, read on if you want to know why I feel that way, okay?

Posted by Patrick Korner on March 27, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Word Blur

By Neil Edge
March 24, 2008

Publisher: Word Blur, LLC
Designer: Geoff Girouard
Players: 3-12
Playing Time: 60 minutes
Rules Language: English

Word Blur is a new party game by independent designer/publisher Geoff Girouard. Take your standard pocket-sized dictionary, shove it in a blender, and hit purée and you’ll have the bulk of the components in this box: 900 teeny-tiny tiles with a single word on each one.

The game also includes a giant bag to hold these tiles; open bag, dump tiles on table – voila, the game set-up is pretty much complete. You also have a deck of cards and a handful of modifier bars that perform modifications on words placed next to the various categories on the bar. Place “Feed” under the “ing” section, for example, and you now have “Feeding.”

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 24, 2008 at 04:00 PM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (0) - Link

Game Review: Treasure Trot – Pro-Choice Gaming

By W. Eric Martin
March 17, 2008

Publisher: SimplyFun
Designer: Paul Peterson
Players: 2-4
Ages: 5+
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Rules Language: English

Version: Production copy
Times Played: Four, twice with four players and twice with two

Candy Land is the Trojan Horse of the game world. It looks like a game, it’s sold in the game section of big box retailers – often with a branding tie-in like Dora the Explorer or Winnie the Pooh or Borat – and it’s widely referred to as a child’s first game, yet Candy Land is lacking in one essential feature of all games: choice.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 17, 2008 at 08:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (8) - Link

Game Review: Fantasy Pub

By Brad Keen
March 9, 2008

Publisher: Tilsit / Mind the Move
Designer: Emanuele Ornella
Players: 2-5
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 20-40 minutes
Rules Language: French, German & Italian (with English rules (PDF) on BGG)
Useful links: Summary cards (PDF) and Player’s Aid (PDF)

The opening blurb from Mind the Move: “Welcome to the Fantasy Pub!! In this special and ill famed Pub you will direct Imps, Dwarves, Orcs, and Trolls in a hot spot night-party! Everyone has money to spend and wants to drink really good beer! You will move around tables, have a stop at the bar, and meet friends and dangerous guys. The goal of the game is to drink, collect points and leave the Pub before you are completely drunk or run out of money!”

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 9, 2008 at 05:00 PM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (3) - Link

Game Review: Schwarzarbeit

By Brad Keen
February 8, 2008

Publisher: BeWitched Spiele
Designers: Friedemann Friese & Andrea Meyer
Players: 3-5
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 30-40 minutes
Rules Language: German / English rules on BGG (PDF)

Schwarzarbeit, published in 2003 by BeWitched Spiele, developed from a 1997 discussion between Friedemann Friese and Andrea Meyer, when the designers discovered that they both enjoyed deduction games and would like to design one. A few hours later they had a design that was sent out for review by a publisher; a few years later their game was returned by the publisher who had just finished cleaning off its shelves and apparently did not want to publish the game. After changing the theme and tweaking the rules, the design team created a finished product that is a blast to play.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 8, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Darjeeling

By Greg J. Schloesser
January 28, 2008

Publisher: Abacusspiele / Rio Grande Games
Designer: Günter Burkhardt
Players: 2-5
Playing Time: 45-60 minutes minutes

Early in 2007, we were treated to Guatemala Café, a game about harvesting and shipping coffee in Guatemala. Now we have the pleasure of doing the same with yet another beverage—tea. Darjeeling by designer Günter Burkhardt challenges players to harvest crates of tea, then ship them abroad at the prime time in order to maximize their profits.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 28, 2008 at 03:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (4) - Link

Game Review: Pick & Pack (aka Floriado, Mark II)

By W. Eric Martin
January 25, 2008

Publisher: Z-Man Games
Designer: Simon Hunt
Players: 2
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Rules Language: English
Online Play: YourTurnMyTurn.com

My ideal game might be Corné van Moorsel’s Floriado, which I’ve played online at Mastermoves.eu close to 300 times. Which elements in Floriado appeal to me?

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 25, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (1) - Link

Game Review: Jamaica

By Greg J. Schloesser
January 23, 2008

Publisher: GameWorks Sàrl
Designers: Malcolm Braff, Bruno Cathala & Sébastien Pauchon
Players: 2-6
Playing Time: 45 minutes
Rules Language: English, German, French, Italian

GameWorks is a Swiss publisher that so far has solely designed games under contract for a private insurance company. The design team of Malcolm Braff, Bruno Cathala and Sebastien Pauchon has collaborated on two releases, both designed to be light, family games. The first was Animalia, a card game of collecting awards at animal shows. The latest is Jamaica, a fanciful pirate ship race filled with loot, combat and treasure.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 23, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (0) - Link

Game Review: Mad Scientist University

By J. Neil Edge
January 21, 2008

Publisher: Atlas Games
Designer: Zachary Anderson
Players: 3-7
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 30-60 minutes
Rules Language: English
Price: $24.95

To preface this review of a neat idea of a little game, let me confess that when it comes to games that are not considered party games I am a theme whore. A full-fledged, street-walking, corner-working theme whore. I love a game with a theme, and even if the theme is kind of loosely applied I’ll still go out of my way to embrace the theme and play it up. For me, that’s part of the game itself even though no game mechanisms are put forth to support it. Hell, you should see me teach the game Himalaya; it was once medieval themed, but now I can sell the theme of that game of herding yaks, visiting Himalayans and meditating at stupas like no other!

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 21, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (0) - Link

Game Review Redux: E.T.I.: Estimated Time to Invasion

By W. Eric Martin
January 18, 2008

Publisher: Eye-Level Entertainment
Designers: Matthew and Mark Anticole
Players: 3-6
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 60-120 minutes
Rules Language: English

Version: Production copy
Times Played: Three, twice with six players and once with four

In case you couldn’t tell from the title of this game, E.T.I.: Estimated Time to Invasion presents us poor humans with a bunch of aliens who plan to invade Earth. Shaking our fists at the alien scum might be a good first step in the minds of some people, but a more positive approach to the defense of humanity can be taken by the game’s players, who happen to run research organizations that will work to create defense projects.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 18, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (1) - Link

Game Review: E.T.I.: Estimated Time to Invasion

By W. Eric Martin
January 15, 2008

Publisher: Eye-Level Entertainment
Designers: Matthew and Mark Anticole
Players: 3-6
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 60-120 minutes
Rules Language: English

Version: Production copy
Times Played: Three, twice with six players and once with four

Aliens are invading—again. Don’t aliens have anything better to do than invade Earth? Couldn’t they just swing by for a movie, maybe swap music clips or share photos? Friend me on Facebook? Personally I don’t have anything against the aliens—other than that they keep trying to enslave us, natch—but I’m getting a little tired of trying to defend them when friends and neighbors start yammering on about the invasions yet again. I get it, okay: Aliens bad, humans good.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 15, 2008 at 02:30 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (8) - Link

Game Review: Antler Island

By Greg J. Schloesser
January 11, 2008

Publisher: Fragor Games
Designers: Gordon and Fraser Lamont
Players: 3-4
Playing Time: 45-60 minutes
Rules Language: English / French / German

The always jovial and friendly Lamont Brothers have developed a reputation of using clever and adorable components in their games. Their first release, Leapfrog, featured colorful rubber frogs, while their last two releases have included wonderful three-dimensional sheep and rats. Their latest release is Antler Island, wherein player’s pieces are whimsical stags. The presence of these special components never fails to generate considerable excitement amongst gamers and no doubt helps boost sales.

The theme of Antler Island, while perfectly natural, may be a bit too mature for younger audiences. Players represent stags whose main purpose is to mate with does, called “doeples” in game parlance. Victory tends to go to the player who is most successful in this task. Along the way, stags must gather food for sustenance and antler growth, both of which help in the inevitable conflicts with opposing stags. The theme is certain to cause sophomoric chuckles and jokes from most males, but can be changed to “kissing” as opposed to mating in order to make it kid-friendly.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 11, 2008 at 05:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (5) - Link

Game Review: Brass

By Greg J. Schloesser
January 9, 2008

Publisher: Warfrog Games
Designer: Martin Wallace
Players: 3-4
Playing Time: 120-180 minutes
Rules Language: English / French / German

Martin Wallace has designed some of my favorite games, including Struggle of Empires, Age of Steam and Liberté. He has a penchant for designing games that have considerable depth and are a bit more complex than most European fare. As such, I am always keen to play his latest release.

Most of his designs from the past several years have had a decided militaristic tone. Princes of the Renaissance, Struggle of Empires, Byzantium and Perikles have all involved warfare and military conquest. His latest release, Brass, breaks this trend and instead attempts to portray the industrial revolution as it sweeps through 18th century Lancashire, England.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 9, 2008 at 05:00 PM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (3) - Link

Game Review: Trump-ephants (Trötofant)

By Dale Yu
January 9, 2008

Publisher: HABA
Designer: Roberto Fraga
Players: 2-4
Ages: 5+
Playing time: 5-10 minutes

If you have kids, I’m fairly certain that you’ve been to plenty of children’s birthday parties and seen your child receive a goodie bag filled with all sorts of candy and trinkets. In the past, I used to try to get those bags (and their contents) to the trash as soon as the kids had forgotten about them. Now, with Trump-ephants in my game closet, I’m looking through each goodie bag carefully for extra party horns (tooters)!

Posted by Dale Yu on January 9, 2008 at 01:02 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (5) - Link

Game Review: Chicken Squabble (Zoff im Hühnerof)

By Dale Yu
January 9, 2008

Publisher: HABA
Designer: Marco Teubner
Players: 2-4
Ages: 4+
Playing time: 20 minutes

One of the curious problems that I’ve noticed with children’s games is that it’s hard to find a good dexterity/skill game that works for children while remaining interesting for the parents that will have to play the game at the same time. Generally, the games are so simple that there is little challenge left for the adults. Chicken Squabble, a 2007 HABA release, is an exception to this rule. It presents a good balance of skill and strategy for children and adults alike.

Posted by Dale Yu on January 9, 2008 at 01:01 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review (with Bonus Video): 10 Days in Asia

By W. Eric Martin & Ted Cheatham
January 7, 2008

Publisher: Out of the Box Publishing
Designers: Alan R. Moon & Aaron Weissblum
Players: 2-4
Ages: 10
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes
Rules Language: English

If you ever get the chance to play 10 Days in Asia with ambassadors from the smaller countries on that continent, here’s my advice: Don’t. You will inevitably make comments along the lines of “Brunei is where?! Why isn’t it in the Middle East as it should be?” or “Bahrain is the black hole of travel,” or “Maldives is completely useless.” International tensions will escalate, and Bad Things will result.

For gamers not intending to reach out to those in the Eastern Hemisphere, 10 Days in Asia is a decent game with a short playing time that includes a minor educational element. For the basics of game play, let’s turn to the ever able Ted Cheatham:

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 7, 2008 at 05:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (1) - Link

Game Review: The Market of Alturien

By Greg J. Schloesser
January 5, 2008

Publisher: Pro Ludo / Mayfair Games
Designer: Wolfgang Kramer
Players: 2-6
Playing Time: 60 minutes
Rules Language: German / English

There has been a trend lately for designers to revamp and reissue older titles from their body of work. Examples of this abound, and a comprehensive list would fill pages. Wolfgang Kramer, perhaps my favorite designer, has been capitalizing on this trend, with many of his older titles being modified and reissued, including Tycoon (as El Capitan), Big Boss (as the forthcoming Altura), and City. Often, this breathes new life into an older title and introduces it to a new audience who may have missed the original.

Kramer’s City, which was published in the 1990s, has been revamped as The Market of Alturien. It is the first installment in a series of games that are tied to the Alturien stories and mythologies. Sadly, City would not have been one of my choices for games that needed to be reissued. Indeed, it is one of the few Kramer titles I simply don’t enjoy.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on January 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Kingsburg

By Greg J. Schloesser
December 30, 2007

Publisher: Stratelibri / ElfinWerks/ Mario Truant Verlag / Ubik
Designer: Andrea Chiaversio and Luca Iennaco
Players: 2-5
Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 90-120 minutes
Rules Language: Italian / English / German / French

Games being released by a collaboration of publishers seem to be increasing in popularity. Perhaps this is being done as a way to spread the financial costs amongst a variety of entities, or give the game more widespread distribution. Kingsburg is one such game, being a cooperative release by both Stratelibri and ElfinWerks. In addition, it is also a collaboration between two Italian designers, Andrea Chiarversio and Luca Iennaco.

I was keen on trying the game as it seemed to be quite clever and was visually appealing. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to play during the Spiel ‘07 game convention in Essen. My first experience, however, didn’t exactly “wow!” me. I found the game to be fine, but just not terribly exciting. Still, I didn’t want to judge it on just one play, especially since that one playing was during the convention, where it is notorious for games to be played incorrectly.

I’m very happy I didn’t judge the game with just one playing as it has now risen to become one of my favorite games from Essen 2007.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on December 30, 2007 at 04:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (2) - Link

Game Review: Hamburgum

By Greg J. Schloesser
December 21, 2007

Publisher: Eggertspiele / Rio Grande Games
Designer: Mac Gerdts
Players: 2-5
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 75-90 minutes
Rules Language: German / English

Two years ago, Max Gerdts introduced a clever and original mechanism in his game Antike. This mechanism, which became known as the rondel, was a method whereby players chose the action they desired by moving around a “wheel”. Constraints based on distance traveled prevent players from repeatedly taking the same action in quick succession without paying a cost. The mechanism was unique and has since become the staple in his game designs.

His latest design to utilize the rondel mechanism is Hamburgum, a game which challenges players to build the great cathedrals and churches in 17th century Hamburg. Players produce and ship goods; purchase materials, buildings and ships; and help construct the churches. Victory comes to the player who garners the greatest prestige in the city.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on December 21, 2007 at 03:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (1) - Link

Game Review: Caveman

By Torsten Meckel
December 18, 2007

Publisher: Make a Game (MAG) Ltd.
Designer: Simon Hall, Matthew Hall, Magdalene Vrijland & Terry Shaw
Players: 2-6
Ages: 10+
Rules Language: English/German

This game was completely under my radar, but after being talked into playing by the designer at Spiel ‘07, what looked like a children’s game at first glance developed into a very interesting game. (Having the opportunity to play a game under the eyes of the designer is a first for me and highly recommended if you can manage it.)

Posted by W. Eric Martin on December 18, 2007 at 03:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (1) - Link

Game Review: Danger City

By W. Eric Martin
December 12, 2007

Publisher: Isimat
Designers: Laurent & Nadege Morelle
Players: 3-8
Ages: 8
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Rules Language: French, English & German (with Italian online)

Version: Production copy
Times Played: Seven (twice each with 3 & 4 players, thrice with 5)

One of the reasons I enjoy playing games is to see how the rules interact with the players interpreting them. Every set of game rules brings a new puzzle, a new system of interlocking bits and moving parts, and if you pay attention, you can exploit game situations and crush your opponents. (That part is also fun.)

Given this outlook, I have a high tolerance for games with hidden depth, that is games in which possible strategies are overlooked by other players or are apparently non-existent, a situation. Some players look at simple games like Coloretto and Qwirkle and find them obvious and uninteresting. All the choices are obvious, they say, and these games amount to nothing more than people moving bits around for twenty minutes. Either I’m more observent than others or I’m delusional, but in almost every game that I play, I can see possibilities for strategic play or—when I’m sliding into the loser pit—situations that I should avoid in future games to improve my chances of winning.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on December 12, 2007 at 01:30 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (3) - Link

Game Review: Quinamid

By Patrick Korner
December 10, 2007

Publisher: Third Dynasty Games
Designer: Antony Brown
Players: 2
Ages:
Playing Time: 10-15 minutes
Rules Language: English & German
Price: 25€ / approx. $44

One of the things I look forward to most when visiting the Spiel board game fair in Essen, Germany, is just wandering up and down the halls. I spend a lot of time poring over the preview articles, printing out hall plans, marking out stands and games I think might be interesting—but even with all that effort, I can bank on one thing: I will end up intrigued and impressed with a game that was so far off my radar screen as to be invisible. This year was no different, and this year the game was Quinamid, designed by Antony Brown.

Quinamid is, at heart, a variation on the “get five in a row” genre of two-player abstract strategy games. In this case, though, the game board changes regularly over the course of play, and this fluidity is enough to make the gameplay experience very different from most games of this type that I’ve played.

Posted by Patrick Korner on December 10, 2007 at 10:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (3) - Link

Game Review: Geominos

By Greg J. Schloesser
December 8, 2007

Publisher: Hilaria and Ludi
Designer: Tod Teeple
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes
Rules Language: English

In spite of being packaged in a cardboard pizza box and bearing a name that sounds strikingly similar to that of a major pizza enterprise, Geominos has nothing to do with the sauce-covered doughy delight. Rather, it is a clever placement game wherein players must match the geometrically-shaped tiles in a dominoes-like fashion while avoiding having their tiles overlap into “unsafe” spaces on the board.

The game is the creation of Tod Teeple and the first title published by Hilaria and Ludi. The board is comprised of a series of squares laid out in a 7x7 pattern. Each of these squares is further subdivided into nine squares contained in a 3x3 grid. Twenty of the larger squares are shaded, and represent “safe” spaces when playing the tiles. The board is not mounted, but is laminated to protect the surface from damage. The twenty-one tiles come in a variety of shapes, and depict a variety of numbers in a domino-like fashion. The layout of the numbers is different on both sides of the tiles, so players have several options when placing the tiles. Completing the components is a set of cards, one matching each tile, and two 1-minute sand timers. While the components are certainly functional, they do fall short of those with which most gamers are accustomed.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on December 8, 2007 at 10:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews - Comments (0) - Link

Dale Yu: Agricola Review: the Family Game, the Full Game, and the Solo Game (Agrisolo)

Publisher: Lookout Games (with foreign licensing to follow)
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Players: 1-5
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: The box states approx. 30 minutes per player but with experience, I’d say it’s quicker than this
Rules/Component Language: German (but English pasteups are available)

You can play any way you want at Agricola’s Restaurant…

Agricola is the 2007 Essen release from Lookout Games by Uwe Rosenberg. Of note, an English version has been announced by Z-Man Games, which will have a new set of 24 cards - one of which may have been inspired by Arthur Murray’s profession. Rosenberg is most famous for his Bohnanza series of games though his résumé is filled with other inventive ideas (Bali, Klunker, Schnäppchen Jagd, and Nottingham to name a few). I will admit that I was a bit skeptical that Rosenberg would be able to develop a good meaty and complex game given his previous track record of lighter card games. Happily, I was quite wrong to have any fears as the full version of Agricola has enough depth to please the most diehard gamer, yet the basic game can still be approached by a novice.

There has been a great deal of buzz about the game since its Essen release. However, due to the German-only nature of the game and the small number of games available at Essen (only 900 copies), this is not a game commonly found (yet). Agricola is a hard game to get a good feel for without playing it yourself. Thus, I will try to delve enough into the details of gameplay during this review so that the reader can get a good feel for what goes on in the game even without having played it. For those of you who have already been lucky enough to play the game, you may find that much of the first part of the review will be a rehash of your rules explanation; however, please remember that for every English speaking gamer who has been able to play the game, there are likely four or five gamers who have yet to have that chance.

Posted by Dale Yu on December 5, 2007 at 01:00 AM in Reviews > Game Reviews > Columnists > Dale Yu - Comments (26) - Link

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