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Babel

In ancient times, monarchs built temples to demonstrate their wealth. The highest temple belonged to the wealthiest monarch. In this two-player game by Uwe Rosenberg, you are one of these long-forgotten monarchs. With the help of various nations, your temples will grow more and more beautiful, reaching ever closer to the sky. But beware of your opponent and the nations on his side, for they will want to destroy your temples and convince your own people to change sides…

So, who will be the greatest monarch?

Matt Lees: Paul, do you like temples?

Paul Dean: I don’t really know much about temples and I don’t come across them much in Lewisham. The last templeish thing I saw was the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons in San Francisco. It had some pretty unusual sculptures outside and I was too scared to go in, so I took some photos really quickly and then scurried off.

Matt: How many points do you think it was worth?

Paul: Pardon?

Matt: How many points? How many levels was it? Are they winning?

Paul: Oh I get it, this is a Babel review.

Quinns: This week’s news is brought to you by Poolside.fm, whose smooth jams have had my soul vibrating like a sex toy since I got up. Try not to watch the accompanying video feed, though. Not because it’s bad, but because it will kneecap your productivity.

Hmm. I wanted to start with our smoothest story, but when you’re writing about board games that’s like trying to pick the straightest banana from the bunch. Let’s go with Board Game Geek’s preview (almost a review, really) of upcoming game Istanbul, seen above. A game of making money and being a boss under a sweltering sun.

Are you ready for the most half-arsed impersonation of explorers Lewis & Clark the internet has ever seen? We’ve got you covered. We’ve also got a lengthy review of much-hyped board game Lewis & Clark, on the off chance you come here for the board game reviews.

It’s an interesting game, though. In a year when fantastic eurogames are coming thick and fast, like hail in the Great Plains, this one looks pretty enough to make a name for itself. But does it have that frontier spirit? Quinns will let you know. Probably. Assuming he doesn’t get distracted and start talking about sodding Timeline again.

Depending on the weather, what we’ve had for breakfast and whether Quinns has won a game of it recently, Cosmic Encounter will sometimes be SU&SD’s official favourite game. We’ve reviewed it before, chatted about it endlessly and played it even more than that. So of course now it’s back in stock Quinns had to spread the love to the mighty Eurogamer, who published his review this morning.

It starts well:

“I want you to imagine poker. It’s not untrue to call poker a perfect game. It’s also not untrue to call it occasionally boring and exhausting, and to disapprove of its chapped mathematical underbelly.

“Now, imagine if poker was made for gamers. Imagine if it was wildly inventive, with a mean streak and a wicked sense of humour. Best of all, imagine if it was a different, surprising game every single time you sat down to play. Or don’t imagine, and pay £40 for this set of linen-finished cards, plastic UFOs that stack like poker chips and gorgeously illustrated aliens. Odds are, you’ll be very glad you did.”

…But then quickly descends into him getting overexcited and just listing aliens. Do you have your copy yet, readers?

“Ugungu!” howled the caveman, a genius of his day. Club in hand, he stomped his feet meaningfully until his tribemates lifted the giant stone block. Thus, the first monument was born.

Club your tribemates to architectural domination! Ugg-Tect is a hilarious game of prehistoric architecture in which two teams, made of up to four player each, race to complete stone-aged structures. Leading each team is the charismatic ugg-tect, who must guide his workers to victory using nothing but a simple vocabulary of primitive grunts, a series of exaggerated gestures, and his trusty club.

Monikers is available exclusively through http://www.monikersgame.com/.

Monikers is a dumb party game for smart people. A game about naming the most inappropriate people and things you can imagine.

We’ve taken the basic formula from the classic guessing game Celebrity and tried to perfect it. The result: 400 of the weirdest, most interesting names we could think up over years of playtesting with friends.

On November 30, 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana from Napoleon. Thomas Jefferson decided to send two explorers, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark to discover this huge terra incognita.

In Lewis & Clark, each player leads an Expedition aiming at crossing the continent. Each player has his own Corps of Discovery that will be completed by the Native Americans and the trappers met during the trip.

Pairs is a “New Classic Pub Game” designed by James Ernest and Paul Peterson. You can play with 2 to 8 players, the rules are very simple, and each game takes about 5 minutes.

Pairs is a press-your-luck game. Each round, players take turns deciding whether to take a card or fold. Folding gets you some points, but catching a pair could get you a lot more points (and points are bad.) The first player to reach a target score loses the game.

Fwssh-pop! A new Shut Up & Sit Down podcast has dropped out of hyperspace, its hull slick with enthusiasm, and its bulbous cargo bays heaving with games. In this episode Paul and Quinns are joined by Mike, Reference Pear’s personal assistant, to discuss the ludicrous architecture of Ugg-Tect, shapely card game Pairs, the somewhat astonishing … Read more

Babel

Review: Babel

Games News! 19/05/14

Review: Lewis & Clark

Eurogamer Review: Cosmic Encounter

Ugg-Tect

Monikers

Lewis & Clark

Pairs

Podcast #16: On the Death of Bothans

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