Augustus Review

I honestly don't remember how Augustus got my attention.  Partially various nominations.  Partially it's Roman theme.  I am a huge Roman history fan after all.  And then lastly, it just looked like a great game to play with my girlfriend.  Gaming isn't her hobby, it's mine, but she's kind enough to indulge me.  Augustus looked like the sort of game we could get through after she's driven 90 minutes through rush hour traffic back home from a 9 hour work day.

Augustus was released in 2013 by Hurrican Games, and was designed by Paolo Mori.  Disappointingly, I have nothing to say about them.  I've never played a game from that designer or publisher before.  However, Augustus is a good first impression.

Augustus is a sort of "Roman Bingo".  You have objective cards, and various icons will be called out, which will allow you to check off requirements for those objective cards.  This is all themed around conquering Provinces and winning over Senators to please the grand Augustus.

Agricola Review

When I first got into board gaming, Agricola was the game.  But it looked complicated.  I read the rules online, but didn't get much out of them.  Then I tried it out at a convention, borrowing it from the library.  But you know how library copies of games can be.  Whoever played it last just unceremoniously dumped all the pieces back in the box helter skelter.  So after an hour of sorting everything back out and setting up the game, I got half an attempt in with it, then we had to quit.  I tried again the next day, and this time someone taught us how to play.  Then they left us in the dust.

To put it bluntly, my initial experiences with Agricola did not endear me to the game.  However a nugget of affection stuck with me.  So much so that years later when I was looking for a heftier worker placement game than Lords of Waterdeep or Stone Age, I came back to Agricola.  This time around, my experience has been much better, and it's now one of my favorite games.

Agricola was released in 2007 by Z-Man Games, and was designed by Uwe Rosenberg.  It's a worker placement game that tasks you with building up your farm, and not starving.  Players will have to plow fields and plant crops, raise animals, and build additions onto their house in order to grow their family.  In the midst of all this, you also need to feed your family at an increasing pace.

No Retreat: The Russian Front Review

I don't quite remember how No Retreat: The Russian Front got my attention.  It was just one of those games that I saw mentioned here and there.  By the time it got my attention enough for me to investigate further, the deluxe GMT edition was already out of print.  There was the Victory Point Games edition, but I really wanted the mounted board and high quality counters that came with the GMT version.  Now the situation is even worse, with VPG no longer offering an edition, and GMT's version still out of print.  Regardless, one day I was looking for No Retreat: The Russian Front on eBay, and was lucky enough to win a copy for only $40!  I was the only person who even bid on it.  Truly a singular occurrence.

No Retreat is an operational level wargame taking place on the front between Germany and Russia in World War II.  It was designed by Carl Paradis, released by VPG in 2008, and re-released by GMT in 2011.  It's a wargame in the classic hex and counter style, with an emphasis on enemy zones of control, supply, and combat result tables.  It also introduces an engaging modern element with it's masterful use of event cards, which simultaneously represent special abilities, reinforcements, rail capacity and combat initiative on your opponent's turn.  Each individual scenario plays in about 2 hours for me, and the campaign would likely take me all day.

Guts of Glory Review

Guts of Glory was another Kickstarter I supported back when I first got into Kickstarting projects.  I probably Kickstarted way too many games in a row back then, as evidenced by the glut of Kickstarters I received over the holidays.  However, Guts of Glory stood out with interesting artwork and novel gameplay.  It also looked like it had a substantial amount of development already.  Lastly, the guy who designed it, Zach Gage, also designed an iOS game I enjoyed called SpellTower.

Well, Guts of Glory shipped towards the end of of December 2013, although I got my copy early in January 2014.  I've played it a good amount since, and so far I've really enjoyed it.  It's a drafting game, themed around a post apocalyptic eating contest.  Everyone is a mutant, and you are eating everything left in the world.  It's quite charming actually.

Zulus on the Ramparts Review

Zulus on the Ramparts has been on my wishlist for a long time.  I love the States of Siege series, and Zulus' has gotten great reviews.  But it looked like it strayed quite far from the formula, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.  I got Zulus for Christmas however, and I've played it nonstop since then.  It's not as easy to get 6 games played in a row, like Soviet Dawn.  But if I play one game, I'm incredibly likely to at least play a second.

Zulus on the Ramparts was released in 2009 by Victory Point Games, and was designed by Joseph Miranda.  It's a single player wargame, based on a battle at a mission station in Africa.  It's 1879, and an enormous hoard of Zulus is descending on the British troops there, who are hopelessly outnumbered, 4000 to 140!  Your goal is to hold out through the night until help gets there.

Star Realms Review

Star Realms is a Kickstarter project that ran in October, and went out to backers in December.  Personally, I almost didn't back it because that just seemed to wildly impossible.  But it arrived the day after Christmas, and I've played it constantly since it got here.

Star Realms is a sci-fi themed deck building game, most closely related to Ascension.  It was designed by Robert Dougherty and Darwin Kastle and published by White Wizard Games.  Robert Dougherty in specific put a lot of work into the Ascension series, which explains how closely related the two games feel.

Forbidden Desert Review

I had just gotten Forbidden Island right when Forbidden Desert came out.  So despite the fact that Forbidden Desert was the new hotness, I knew I couldn't justify getting it for a while.  Well a while passed, and a friend of mine gifted it to me for my birthday.  Man did I get a lot of games played that day.

Now I love Forbidden Island, but it is not without it's problems.  It was a slimmed down, streamlined version of Pandemic.  But in the process of shedding excess rules and mechanics, it's quarterbacking problem became more pronounced.  Quarterbacking referring of course to one player instructing all the others what to do with their cold, ruthlessly correct logic.

So Forbidden Desert is Matt Leacock's third cooperative game, published by Gamewright in 2013.  It's another iteration of the same fundamental design he's been molding since Pandemic.  After escaping from the Forbidden Island by helicopter, you crashed straight into the Forbidden Desert.  You must reassemble an ancient Flying Machine who's parts are scattered, buried in the sands.  Only once you've done this can you escape before you die of thirst, or are buried in the sands yourself.  Today I'm going to look at how it's changed from previous iterations, and how well it handles the quarterbacking problem.

Guildhall Review

I first played Guildhall at my FLGS.  It was a game I'd heard about for a while.  I have a friend a few states away who consistently speaks highly of it.  The Dice Tower would sporadically heap praise on it as well.  But the look and feel of the game just didn't grab me.  Plus, I own a lot of card games already.  Seriously, I own a lot of card games.  But my FLGS had a demo copy, and I had an hour to kill one evening, so I figured why not?  I'm glad I did, because Guildhall lives up to all the fond things said of it.

Guildhall was published in 2012 by AEG, and was designed by Hope S. Hwang.  It's primarily a set collection game, except each set has a special ability you can invoke.  There are only 6 sets in the game, and their abilities delicately play off one another.  The first player who completes enough sets to earn 20 points is the winner.  But for more detail, lets get into the rules summary.

Escape: Curse of the Temple Review

Escape: Curse of the Temple is one of an increasing number of what I call "experience" games.  These are games that usually involve a soundtrack, and are played in real time.  Their hook is mostly altering your perception of the game through their music and sound effects.  As well as some time dilation caused by the stress they put you under.  Escape in particular was published by Queen Games in 2012, and was designed by Kristian Amundsen Østby.

Escape primarily came to my attention thanks to Shut Up & Sit Down.  I bided my time, waited until I got a gift card and then grabbed it.  I just wasn't sure if the people I play with would enjoy it.  $40-50 also felt like a steep price for a game that lasts only 10 minutes.  So using a gift card definitely alleviated my fears of potential buyers remorse.  Of course, I also had fears about teaching the game properly, and successfully getting everybody through a game where I don't have the luxury of time to keep people honest about the rules.  So lets see how Escape did in those regards.

Ottoman Sunset Review

Since getting Soviet Dawn, I've continued to explore the States of Siege series.  It's been extremely interesting to look over the broad range of titles available.  But I eventually settled on the one most like Soviet Dawn, Ottoman Sunset.  It shares probably the most design elements with Soviet Dawn, as it should since it has the same designer.  Although Ottoman Sunset displays more cohesion between the parts, as well as better overall balance.  But I'm getting ahead of myself!

So today I'm reviewing Ottoman Sunset, another game in the States of Siege series by Victory Point Games.  It was designed by Darin A. Leviloff, and was published in 2010.  It takes place in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1.  Your job is to see the nation survive a war it historically collapsed during.

Innovation Review

I first played Innovation at Gencon in 2011.  A guy I had met at the previous Gencon, I was lucky enough to run into again, and he taught us how to play.  I won't lie, that first 3 player game of Innovation was miserable:  the noise of the hall, the analysis paralysis of one player, the open collusion of both my opponents.  After 2 hours I just wanted the game to be over, and I didn't care how.  Meanwhile, out of spite, one of the players was trying to use Fission to reset the board, and just agitate me further.

Despite the fact that we very nearly wanted nothing to do with each other after that first game, we couldn't help but recognize that Innovation was pretty amazing.  So despite that miserable first experience, we both ended up getting our own copies once we got home from Gencon.  We've just never actually played it with each other since.

Innovation is a civilization themed tableau building game.  It was published in 2010 by Asmadi, and was designed by Carl Chudyk.  There is also an Iello edition in the US now, which has better artwork than the Asmadi edition.  I'm not 100% sure how two publishers can be releasing the same game in the same region.

Commands & Colors: Ancients - Greece & Eastern Kingdoms Review

I'm wrapping up my second play through of all the scenarios for the first expansion to Commands & Colors: Ancients.  There is also a reprint of this expansion due any day now!  So I figured it would be a great time for a review.  I won't lie, I may have some rose tinted glasses for this game.  I'm quite open that Commands & Colors: Ancients is nothing short of my favorite game ever.  From the moment I first played it, I absolutely fell in love with it, and every game I play just brings me new appreciation for the system.

Greece & Eastern Kingdoms is published by GMT Games, and was originally released in 2006.  It adds 2 new armies, the titular Greece and the Eastern Kingdoms.  It also includes 21 scenarios, covering a span of time from roughly 500 BC to 200 BC.

Love Letter Review

Love Letter did not initially appeal to me.  The sappy title and the romantic theme were both turn offs.  Plus I had already backed a game called Coup on Kickstarter, and they seemed like similar games.  But one day I was placing an order, and I needed to spend $10 more for free shipping.  We've all been there, right?  So now I own Love Letter, and boy am I glad that I do!

Love Letter was released in 2012 by AEG, and is actually a retheming of a Japanese game designed by Seiji Kanai.  With it's new theme, it now takes place in AEG's Tempest setting, along with Courtier and Dominare.  The Queen has been arrested, and various people of interest are trying to sneak love letters to the forlorn Princess for a shot at the throne.  If that theme doesn't sound like your thing, don't worry about it.  The game is an absolute blast.

Soviet Dawn Review

In my continued exploration of solo games, I've finally discovered the States of Siege series.  It has a long list of games, covering conflicts of numerous scales and time periods.  I decided to start with the first game in the series, Soviet Dawn.  It may not look like much, but let me assure you, it has it where it counts.

In Soviet Dawn, you are attempting to safeguard the formation of the fledgling Soviet state.  It was published in 2009 by Victory Point Games, and was designed by Darin A. Leviloff.  It's core mechanic revolves around a deck of events with associated action points, similar to what you would find in Twilight Struggle.  It definitely bares closest resemblance to a Card Driven Wargame, just tailored to solitaire design sensibilities.  It's a winning approach to a solitaire game, and at the moment stands as my favorite.

Lords of Waterdeep Review

Lords of Waterdeep is a game I picked up on short notice before a beach trip with a bunch of friends.  It was getting a lot of hype on the message boards I frequent, and there was a fantastic sale on Amazon for it.  So I figured why not!  I took a ton of games with me to the beach that year, and Lords of Waterdeep saw a good amount of play.  But less now, over a year later.

Lords of Waterdeep is a worker placement game that takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons setting of the Forgotten Realms.  It was published by Wizards of the Coast in 2012, and was designed by Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson.  It supports 2 to 5 players, and plays in about 60 to 90 minutes.

Lord of the Rings The Card Game Review

When Lord of the Rings: The Card Game came out, I wasn't too interested.  I already owned Warhammer: Invasion, and I was already having enough trouble getting anyone to play that with me.  So I passed on it.  However, years later, a friend of mine was completely geeking out over Lord of the Rings.  When I mentioned there was a card game, she bought it on impulse at PAX East 2013.  It took us a few months to get around to digging it out and learning how to play, but once we did, we immediately loved it.

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a cooperative Living Card Game released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2011.  It was designed by Nate French and Caleb Grace.  For those unfamiliar with the Living Card Game format, small booster packs are released roughly monthly.  They contain a set roster of cards.  There is no randomness, as you would find in a Collectible Card Game.  This is highly appealing to a lot of people, myself included.  But Living Card Games also try to bill themselves as complete games right out of the core box, using only the starter decks.  So how well does Lord of the Rings hold up?

Dominion Intrigue Review

Dominion Intrigue was the second boardgame I purchased for myself.  It and Carcassonne I purchased before a large blizzard in 2010.  We had a week with nothing else to do but get to know those two games.  We got good at them, then we got competitive, then things turned ugly.

But back to Dominion Intrigue.  It was designed by Donald X Vaccarino.  It was published in 2009 by Rio Grande Games and was the first expansion of many to Dominion.  It retailed for the same amount as the base game, and came with just as many cards.  If you were new to Dominion, it fully doubled the amount of Kingdom cards you had to work with.  Which was pretty incredible in an expansion.  But aside from variety, what else did it do to the game?

Dungeon Roll Review

Dungeon Roll is a push your luck dungeon crawling dice game.  It got it's start as a Kickstarter back in February, and was probably one of the best run Kickstarters I've seen.  The people running the campaign were incredibly open and honest.  The stretch goals were interesting and fun.  The entire campaign just nailed this feeling of helping make something big.  Plus at a $15 price point it was a great impulse buy.

Best of all, Dungeon Roll released with no delays, and no major quality issues.  Two things that Kickstarters tend to be known for.

Dungeon Roll was designed by Chris Darden and was published by Tasty Minstrel Games in 2013.  It supports 1 to 4 players, and plays in about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the number of players.  Players will roll up a party of Companions, then delve into a dungeon generated level by level using dice.  Whoever earned the most Experience Points after 3 delves is the winner.

Field Commander Alexander Review

It's been hard for me to have game nights this summer.  So I decided now might be a good time to get over my hang ups with solo board games.  Two of the games that really came to the top of my list after a little research are Field Command Alexander and Field Commander Napoleon.  Today I'll be reviewing Alexander.

Field Commander Alexander was published and designed by Dan Verssen, and was released in 2009.  In it you take control of Alexander the Great and his army as you conquer your way through the known world.  It's designed as a purely solitary game, where you compete against an loosely directed AI.

It includes 4 scenarios, Granicus, Issus, Tyre and Gaugamela.  You can play them individually or as a linked campaign, and they even have additional challenges you can include for some extra difficulty, and a chance at higher scores.

Forbidden Island Review

Forbidden Island is a cooperative game developed by Matt Leacock and published by Gamewright in 2010.  In Forbidden Island you are attempting to retrieve 4 treasures off a sinking island.  As with most cooperative games, there are many ways to lose, and only one way to win.

I had been aware of Forbidden Island since shortly after I got Pandemic.  But it seemed clear it was the lesser game.  It had few bits, no real board, and less mechanics.  Why would I bother with it?  Then I traded Pandemic for Defenders of the Realm, and was awoken to the fact that in board games, sometimes less is more.  Defenders of the Realm was a bloated, lumbering, boring game.

With my new "less is more" mentality, I gave Forbidden Island another try.  My FLGS had a copy in their demo library, and we immediately loved it.  We found it had all the tense decision making of Pandemic, in a more streamlined package.