November 23, 2011 Reviews, Specials Dungeon Lords, Bunny Bunny Moose Moose, Mage Knight Board Game, Dungeon Petz, Pictomania, Galaxy Trucker, Catan It’s back! This sixth episode of the board games review show is entirely dedicated to just one very special person. But which person? Well, you’ll just have to press play to find out. Or … Read more
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Quinns: I’m going to go ahead and stick my fork-like opinion into your ribeye reality, here-
Paul: That’s disgusting.
Quinns: Dixit is a multi-award winning game that everyone should know about. An honest-to-god revelation. That’s because where most board games test your logic, wit, or even dexterity, Dixit tests your ability
to toy with the imagination of your friends.
Imagine you were reading some beautiful, surrealist children’s novel and the rag-tag band of loveable protagonists wander into a smoky tavern for
a drink of… apple ale, or something. Dixit is the card game they would start playing that would get you whispering “Man, why doesn’t that exist in real life.”
But Dixit is as real as it gets, and you should have a good long think about buying it.
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Quinns:We didn’t provide the most glowing of reviews in our recent Halloween Special, which raises a question. What would we actually choose to play on Halloween here at &SD?
Absolute no brainer. Say hello to Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space. Not only is it much smaller and cheaper than Arkham Horror, while Arkham has a grim setting, this game is genuinely horrible.
All you’ll find in the box is a thin handful of cards, a handful of black and white paper maps and a second handful of pencils, but what the game achieves with them… it’s just alchemy.
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October 31, 2011 Reviews, Specials Arkham Horror Our first ever Halloween Special sees the boys making a terrible discovery in their very own flat, before commencing their most ill-advised review to date! WARNING: PROBABLY NOT FOR KIDS OF A SMALL OR MEDIUM SIZE.
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Oh my GOODNESS! If you’ve watched Episode 3: Civil Surface you’ll have seen us squeaking about a great little two-player game called Summoner Wars. Well, it’s just gained some weight. The luxurious Master Set is now on sale, containing everything you need to play, a “premium board” (read: an actual board) and six all-new races to play.
Prior to this your only option for getting involved with Summoner Wars was to buy a Starter Set containing a couple of races and a paper disasterpiece of a playing mat. Whether our review of Summoner Wars piqued your interest or you’ve invested in your first decks, you’ll probably be wanting this.
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Quinns: We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “SU&SD, what I really want is a board game about being an oil prospector, except with all the tension and exclusively brutal interaction of a wrestling match.” Well today’s your lucky day!We’re reviewing Black Gold, a game of racing across Texas in a pick-up truck, trying to build wells before your opponents, as well as fierce, arena-like auctions where everyone bids for the right to sell their oil. There Will Be Blood? Yes. Yes, there will.
Paul: You know what? This is the sort of game I wish Monopoly was. A capitalist, pugilist slugging-it-out where the only thing that matters is money and how much of it you can wrench out of the hands of others. And it doesn’t have disgusting paper notes in, either, so that’s another pro. I’m not really sure there will be blood, but there will be a lot of oil and an awful lot of very cruel business practices…
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The year is 1922 and the Texas Oil Boom is in full swing. Prepare to head West, surveying the Permian Basin for profitable gushers and gaining more wealth than your fellow prospectors. Are you part of a burgeoning oil family fixed on becoming a dynasty, or a shrewd yankee, tired of watching southerners making their fortune? Whatever your reasons, join the race to become the wealthiest son of a gun in West Texas.
Black Gold is a board game of drilling and discovery for 2-5 prospectors, and play can last from 1-2 hours. Competitors attempt to claim the best wells, bid wisely against their neighbors, and sell their oil at the highest price in order to finish the game with the most money when the Oil Baron’s train reaches the last track.
To secure wealth, players explore the terrain of the provided map tiles for oil wells, and they survey and build their derricks. Map tiles are double-sided and modular, ensuring a unique experience every time. Money is made if a player can transport his oil to one of three oil companies, and win the right to sell at auction. The Oil Baron’s train moves nearer every turn, counting down the rounds of the game’s thrilling ride; all the while it begs you and your fellow prospectors to ask the question: Am I making enough money?
The landscape of the Texas Oil business can be fickle and lonely as it is arid. Players can strategize against their opponents, and upset their play through special actions. During auctions, players can even lie about the value of their Sales Licenses in order to force their neighbors to bid more! But careful, you future tycoons – if you’re caught bluffing, you’re penalized.
Although Black Gold is a satisfying bidding game, it is also an exciting contest of strategy and exploration. Every game variable can offer an advantage or variation in play each round. The round’s starting player has the first choice for powerful Action cards, which dictate his options for that round. Subsequent prospectors can be savvy and alter their exploration based on other players’ surveying, or the last player could choose to sell his oil at a different company than his neighbors and find an easier auction at which to bid.
Black Gold is easy to learn, but offers an abundance of intriguing game play choices. Black Gold also provides players with optional rules that can shorten or extend game play, increase the challenge, give inexperienced players a handicap, or even reduce the randomness of well distribution. With all of these options players will discover that Black Gold is a new experience every time, even offering unique variation depending on player number, map tile setup, and well placement.
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October 8, 2011 Reviews, Specials Race for the Galaxy, Space Alert, Catan, Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition The Science Fiction Special sees the boys reviewing enormous games, exciting games and extraterrestrial games! Is this really wise, and quite where will this gaming journey take our hosts?
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Quinns: Did you ever play hide and seek as a kid? Do you remember the hysterical thrill of wedging yourself under the bed, trying to control the unbelievable noise of your own lungs? Or being the hunter, creeping through a familiar environment with carbonated anticipation tingling along your veins? Because I’m inclined to call board game Fury of Dracula hide and seek for adults. This is a beautiful, beautiful game, and it deserves a place in houses the world over.
Paul: I didn’t have anywhere exciting to hide as a child or very many people to play with anyway. But we did play a game called Nine Nine In on our school field, which involved-
Quinns: FURY OF DRACULA sees four players each controlling a vampire hunter chasing Dracula across Europe. It’s a glossy update of a classic called Scotland Yard, which was a board game about catching a runaway criminal in London, but here a fifth player gets to control the immortal Count Dracula rather than some greasy burglar, so it’s already the better game.
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We’ve reviewed a lot of smart games lately, a lot of intricate and very
cleverly designed ones. Let me tell you, we have some even smarter and
even bigger ones coming too, with all sorts of clever twists, but
sometimes size isn’t everything. Sometimes smarts aren’t everything,
either. It’s not always about brains, you know.
Unless, of course, you’re playing Zombies, in which case it really is
about brains. Brains and bullets and using the bullets to keep your
brains where God intended. Sure, you can try and tell those wandering
cadavers that brains are overrated, that they should consider a
vegetarian option, but it’s really very difficult to engage them in any
kind of extended dialogue. Because they’re dead.