November Daily Game Challenge: Tuscany Essential Edition

November 21, 2018Ruel

This is Day 21 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Tuscany Essential Edition

I got to play one of my all-time favorite games today, Viticulture, thanks to my friends John and Lorena, who brought their copy of the base game and the Tuscany expansion. It’d been awhile since I’ve played so it took me a little while to get into the swing of things, but once I did, I remembered why I love this worker placement game so much. Everything just flows so well together and it’s so fun to see your wines age right before you sell them off for money and those precious victory points.

Even better, though, was being at Game Haus Cafe for their fifth anniversary and gaming with my friends from social media. I get out to the L.A. area once or twice a month so it’s always a treat to connect with fellow gamers. Along with John and Lorena, I got to game with Albert, Jac, Geraldine and Michael. I also got to say hi to Daniel and Jessica, along with Jackie and Allison, but didn’t get to game with them; hopefully, next time.

Hanging out with everybody while Game Haus Cafe celebrated its fifth anniversary was special. My wife and I visited Game Haus during their first year of business with our niece and nephew. We were instant fans: the staff was great, the atmosphere was welcoming, and the game selection was amazing. The following year was when I dove fully into the hobby and that led me into taking the plunge as a content creator.

So, thank you, friends, for a wonderful night of gaming. And thank you, Game Haus, for providing a place for gamers to meet up for the last five years. Here’s to many more years of gaming.

November Daily Game Challenge: Everdell

November 20, 2018Ruel

This is Day 20 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Everdell

Worker placement, tableau building, hand management, set collection … it’s all there in Everdell from Starling Games. The art and table presence drew me into the wonderful world of Everdell, but it’s the deeper-than-expected game play that keeps me coming back for more.

There are a lot of parts to Everdell, but it’s all neatly tied together. You have your hand management and tableau building in the form of the critter and construction (building) cards. You use your workers to gather resources and perform actions that will allow you to add critters or constructions to your tableau. And you score extra victory points by collecting sets of icons.

Everdell hits the right spots for me. It’s about trying to be more efficient than your opponents and nabbing those cards from the meadow at just the right time (of course, luck plays a part in how the cards come out). The more I play, the more I appreciate the world-building that’s gone into this game. And it’s a joy to go back and read the rulebook and learn the lore of Everdell, diving deeper into this fascinating place.

November Daily Game Challenge: Splendor

November 19, 2018Ruel

This is Day 19 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Splendor

It’d been a while since my wife and I played Splendor, one of my favorite gateway games. We love the poker-style chips used for gems; they’re heavy and chunky and they make trading with the bank easy and fun.

I love how Splendor teaches new players the basics of engine building. As players trade in their gems for the cards, they start to figure out that they can use those cards to buy other cards (some with victory points on them). Once they start putting together the gems to get those cards, it’s a fun race to 15 points.

The expansion, Cities of Splendor, is a fine addition to the base game, but not necessary unless you’ve played Splendor numerous times and want to freshen the game. We played the expansion earlier this year, yet I haven’t felt the need to add it to our games library. Until then, the base game is a fine two-player game; one that we get through in about 15 minutes.

November Daily Game Challenge: Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar

November 18, 2018Ruel

This is Day 18 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar

Fun! I never played the original Fireball Island so I can’t compare it to The Curse of Vul-Kar, but this new version was a blast. You’re trying to take three snapshots on the island and high-tail it back to the helipad to make your escape. Along the way you’ll collect treasures, steal the heart of Vul-Kar gem, and try to avoid the fireballs that come spewing out of Vul-Kar.

This had a terrific nostalgic feel to it, with the dexterity challenge of flicking marbles down toward your opponents leading to all kinds of hilarity. It’s bascially a race since you’re trying to collect the three snapshots so you can be the first back to the helipad, which will give you an additional treasure, but there are also ways to score extra points via the action cards. You can also score via set collection by scooping up treasures as you travel around the island.

My buddy Jose and I actually tied at the end, but since he was the first off the island, he won on the tiebreaker. I’m sure we’ll be returning to Fireball Island often in the months to come.

November Daily Game Challenge: Downforce

November 17, 2018Ruel

This is Day 17 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Downforce

I recently got to play Downforce again, this time with the expansion track (the photo above is from an earlier play of the base game). While I liked the dice-chucking of Formula D, I’ve become more a fan of Downforce’s hand management mechanism. Formula D always seemed to go too long, although it was a blast for one lap with a bunch of players.

Best of all, I got to play Downforce with my buddy Oscar, who blinged out his copy with the Mario Kart characters. I’ve played that video game only a handful of times with my nephew, but it’s still fun seeing Mario and the gang out on the Downforce track.

And, yes, we listen to the Mario Kart music whenever we play Oscar’s copy of Downforce.

November Daily Game Challenge: Century: Eastern Wonders

November 16, 2018Ruel

This is Day 16 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Century: Eastern Wonders

The first in the Century trilogy of games, Century: Spice Road, was a favorite of mine and my local gaming buddies. We all loved the smooth play and were all looking forward to the next game in the series.

Century: Eastern Wonders has some similarities to Spice Road, but it adds a pick-up-and-delivery mechanism to go with the engine building style of play. Like the first game, you’re trying to trade and collect spices, then deliver them to the markets for victory points.

While Eastern Wonders isn’t as elegant as Spice Road, there’s more of a game here. Along with the standard victory points, you can also uncover spots on your player board by building trading posts whenever you stop on the map. For every row that you uncover you’ll gain points and for every column you uncover you’ll gain a special ability.

I’d stick with Spice Road for new players and then introduce them to Eastern Wonders after a few plays. Interestingly enough, you can combine both games, which is what I did for my first play. I enjoyed the mash-up, but playing one without the other is probably the way to go for a more straightforward experience. I might prefer Eastern Wonders by itself, which definitely played faster without the cards of Spice Road.

I’m curious to see what the third game brings to this trilogy. So far the first two games have been solid so hopefully the final game will end the Century series on a high note.

November Daily Game Challenge: Keyforge

November 15, 2018Ruel

This is Day 15 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

KeyForge

The new hotness reached retail shelves today and I was fortunate to play a game tonight. KeyForge from Fantasy Flight Games comes from renowned designer Richard Garfield, who created a little game called Magic: The Gathering, which you may have heard of.

I’m not a collectible card game fan. Never have been, never will be. I’ve played Magic and enjoyed the game play and appreciated the mechanisms, but not enough to take the plunge.

KeyForge does away with the CCG business model and retains some of the, um, magic of Magic with its card play and one-on-one battles. Every deck is unique, but the basic game play is the same: open your deck, shuffle up and deal yourself six cards (first player gets seven, but can only play one to begin the game).

There are seven houses/factions that are on the various cards. On your turn, draw six cards and announce one of the houses. You may then play or discard one or all of that house during your turn. After you’re done, draw back up to six.

Simple, right? Ah, but there’s so much more. As you start laying out your creatures, you can start attacking your opponent (creatures enter the game exhausted so you won’t be able to use them until your next turn). Items, upgrades, and artifacts are available to help your attacks and other additional actions.

But you don’t win by simply beating up your foe in KeyForge. True to its name, you’re trying to be the first to forge three keys. You do this by reaping embers from certain cards. If you have six embers at the start of your turn you may forge a key and get closer to victory.

I liked the game play of KeyForge. I’m not a Magic expert by any means, but for me it felt like I was playing Magic. I’m sure it’ll be fun buying decks and seeing how they play against each other; it’s an amazing idea, having different cards in every deck, without having to chase rare cards.

While I won’t be getting into KeyForge, I can certainly see its appeal and would definitely recommend it for fans of CCG game play. Maybe I’ll buy a deck to keep on hand when another player shows up with theirs. Or maybe I’ll buy two decks so I can play the game with new players. Of course, three or four decks would be nice to keep things fresh … looks like Fantasy Flight Games has created another money-printing machine.

November Daily Game Challenge: Kingdomino: Age of Giants

November 14, 2018Ruel

This is Day 14 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Kingdomino: Age of Giants

Got to try the new Kingdomino expansion, Age of Giants, tonight. My buddy Jeff introduced me to Queendomino (basically, a more gamer-y version of Kingdomino) last year, so it seemed appropriate that he introduced me to Age of Giants at game night.

In both games you’re building your 5×5 kingdom using the domino-style tiles. The tiles are laid out in two columns so after you take one, you place your meeple on the tile of your choice in the next column. Turn order will fluctuate as you and your opponents go for different tiles.

To score points you want similar land types next to each other and you’ll need the crown icon on at least one of them to score. The crowns act as a multiplier, so if I had three forest spaces grouped together and there were a total of two crowns on them, then I’d score 3 x 2 for 6 points.

In Queendomino there’s an additional type of land where you can construct buildings from a common pool and you’ll use knights to generate income. They’re simple additions to the game, but it give it a bit more depth than Kingdomino.

The Age of Giants adds two additional types of tiles: those with giants on them and those with footprints on them. If you take one with a giant, then you have to put a giant meeple on one of your crowns, thus eliminating its scoring potential. However, you can take a tile with footprints on it and that allows you to move that giant to someone else’s kingdom. It’s fun piece of take-that that adds some player interaction.

After playing this I immediately added it to my Amazon wish list. Whether you play it with Queendomino or Kingdomino, Age of Giants is a good expansion for a great (and growing) set of games.

November Daily Game Challenge: Sagrada

November 13, 2018Ruel

This is Day 13 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Sagrada

Before Azul took the board game world by storm, there was Sagrada. It was the abstract game du jour, getting rave reviews before Azul came along and started taking all of Sagrada’s thunder.

There’s space on any gamer’s shelves for both of these gems. Azul is easier to teach new players and the turns are a lot smoother, but Sagrada has a more puzzle-like feel to it. I’m a sucker for dice chucking so Sagrada’s dice-drafting mechanism was an insta-hit for me. The placement rules can be stifling at times, especially when the dice aren’t rolling your way, but there are tools that can mitigate some of that bad luck.

The solo game is pretty tough, too. There’s no AI, but you’re placing unused dice on the scoring track (each turn you pull four dice, two for you, two for the track). Play is the same as any regular game, except that you’re now playing against the total of those dice on the track. It adds another element to the puzzle and it’s not easy.

I love the challenge, though, and win or lose, solo or multiplayer, your player board always looks pretty … even if your score isn’t.

November Daily Game Challenge: Dice City

November 12, 2018Ruel

This is Day 12 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Dice City

Dug up an old favorite tonight for a solo run-through and it was as fun as I’d remembered. In Dice City you’re trying to build up Rolldovia (ha!) by rolling dice and activating that spot’s ability. As you gain resources you can buy cards to upgrade the locations in your city (each player gets their own board). Each location can be upgraded to gives more resources, abilities, military strength to attack your opponents, and end-game victory points.

Play is straight-forward and there’s lots of ways to mitigate your bad rolls. It’s a solid gateway game with enough to keep more seasoned gamers engaged. I love that everyone gets their own board and can fill it up the way they want, focusing on different types of buildings for their city. It’s been awhile since I played a multi-player game so I’m hoping to get it to the table with my buddies soon.

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