1921

No, but I’ve seen it played. I’m told it was good. Apparently you can play it online for free here. I’m JoshL on there, if anybody wants to set up a learning game, throw me an invite.

1922

So I spent all of Saturday at a Game Designer’s Day here in St. Louis hosted by Jamie and Alan from Stonemaier Games (designers of Viticulter and Euphoria). They set this up to give unpublished designers the chance to get their games playtested by a wide variety of players. I’m not a designer so I was just there to playtest and have a good time but there was probably 70 or so in attendance with about 20-30 designers/games there for playtesting. While I didn’t get to try most of the games I had a great time playtesting a few and observing others and just talking with various designers so I thought I’d post a write-up with my thoughts.

Fractured Paradox

This game came out of a game design challenge based around repurposing the gameplay from Chutes and Ladders. It actually turned out really well in my opinion considering the source material. The theme placed you as a potential Chris Stevens (? I’m assuming this is some sci-fi reference that I don’t get) lost in a time paradox and you have to play 4 “anchor” cards to prove you are the real Chris Stevens. These “anchor” cards are drawn from a common deck along with various move cards that give you the ability to move forward and backward in the time stream. The board is layed out in numbered squares that connect sequentially with various wormhole tiles that allow you to jump around. The board is also randomly littered with different colored resource cubes and its these resource cubes that allow you to play an anchor once you’ve piled the correct number of each on a tile that matchs an “anchor” card in your hand. The trick being you can only hold 4 resources at a time so there’s a lot of picking up, dropping off, and jumping around going on to get your cubes where you need them to go. All in all a very entertaining game that involves a lot of planning and flexibility as other players shift your carefully stashed piles to meet their needs. Not sure if this one will make it to Kickstarter or if it was just a one-off.

144: Heroes of Hope

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This was a resource/territory control game that was sort of a mash-up of Risk, Settlers, and Age of Empires. Honestly I wasn’t too impressed with this one. The designer based it on a fantasy world he had created through some books he self-published so it was pretty theme-heavy and I just wasn’t that into it. This game felt like it would have worked better as a computer game as each turn you were rolling dice to collect resources then using those to buy territories or upgrade your territory or battle with heroes you could buy and equip with artifacts. Just a lot going on systems-wise that left it feeling overly cluttered with a lot of downtime between turns. Pretty sure he’s looking to Kickstart this sometime next year but it wouldn’t be a game I’d ever buy.

Heifer Heist

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Probably the star of the show for me. This was a light, family-oriented grab-and-collect type game with a really great theme. I usually don’t enjoy these types of games so the fact that I liked it is saying something. Another 2-4 player game where you play as an Alien whose ship has run out of fuel on Earth and the fuel just happens to be cows. The game board has randomly placed tiles that you flip over as you encounter them and with various things on each tile such as cows you need to pick up and carry back to your mothership, crop circles that let you draw a special card, or silos that block you moves. The cards can help or more often hinder your progress or that of your opponents, and there is a farmer and wife team that moves around the board randomly each turn taking back the cows you stole and sending you back to the mothership. Pretty simple mechanics here and not a lot in the way of strategy but the theme and art-style were really great and just made it really fun to play. Would definitely buy this for my family and it is coming out on Kickstarter early next year.

Bloodstock

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When I saw this name on the list I thought for sure this would be some kind of gladiator-style game but instead it was a horse breeding/racing simulator. There’s a long version that involves starting with a single horse, training it, racing it, using the winnings to buy more horses, breeding those horses, training them, racing them and so one but we played the short version that was more focused on the racing so everyone starts with a full stable that you choose through an auction system similar to Power Grid. This game was heavy on the simulation and the theming was very well done, especially in the racing portion, which was handled through card draw and abilities you trained into your horses. There were different race distances and each horse might be better or worse depending on the distance. It had a great mechanic where you would play cards to move your horse around the track but the cards are cumulative and the more cards you play the closer your horse gets to peak performance (moves the farthest in one turn) but once you get too many cards out your horse slows down significantly. So the abilities help you manage your card deck and keep your horse’s stamina in the high performance zone. It worked very well and made the racing strategic and tense at the same time. Not sure I’d ever buy this game but I’d definitely play it if it was out on the table. Pretty sure this is headed to Kickstarter at some point next year as well.

Those were the only games I playtested but there was also time for published games so I got in some Love Letter, Hanabi, as well as an into to Diplomacy (a game I’d read about for years but never actually got a chance to experience). All in all a great day of board games and I came away really impressed with the inventiveness and creativity displayed by these designers. The guys from Stonemaier were also awesome, providing food all day, donating games for raffle, and generally making everyone feel welcome. There’s a lot more pictures of the day and games up on the Stonemaier Games Facebook page as well. This was my first time attending anything like this but if you get the chance to go to one near you I highly recommend it, it was a great experience.

1923

Great write up, thanks for taking the time. Looks like it was a great day.

1924

Ditto

1925

I just got Colony Clash in the mail today, since I was a Kickstarter backer. I’m underwhelmed.

I love the theme, the art varies from “OK” to “excellent,” but the actual mechanics seem very dull, and surprisingly uniform across 6 different factions. I should try practicing it solo, but it doesn’t look like it’s worth the effort to teach.

It’s more-or-less Magic, but only the very bare bones of Magic, without the mana colors or card interaction. You can play 1 food source per turn, and play any number of other cards you like as long as you can pay the food. Cards are insects, which have an attack and defense value, a handful of permanent enhancements, which give broad benefit like “+1 attack to all of your units,” or instant attacks like “destroy one enemy unit.” There are only 5 different cards for each deck that aren’t food or units, so there’s not much variety.

1926

Hyperborea has been as good as I hoped, two plays in (and looking ahead to many more). It’s a bag-building civ where you get colored cubes representing your nation’s ability in 6 different spheres which you then draw from a bag and place onto your civ’s basic board (or onto advanced technologies that you purchase by having placed cubes into the science portion of said basic board) in order to generate effects like movement, attack, army growth, research (which will ultimately buy you more cubes), or trade (which is really just VPs). I’m very happy with the balance of different actions – there’s a really delicately tuned game beneath the hood here that allows you to go whole-hog in one or two spheres or to try to dip into all six without seeming to give too much advantage to one over the other (or, just as importantly imo, forcing you to change your plan TOO much because someone is pushing heavy on aggression or tech growth).

I’ve played with 2P and 4P and found both to be really solid. I think a 6P game would be enjoyable chaos. Definitely much faster to start and finish than Rune Wars, Clash of Cultures, TI, or Eclipse and, in some ways, feels like a streamlined version of those games with a Dominion feel in terms of mechanics. Strongly recommend so far.

1927

Can anyone recommend Starcraft and Broodwar?

1928

Starcraft has some really interesting game mechanics, but it just didn’t work for me. However, I know quite a few folks who swear it’s the bee’s knees.

1929

Fantastically. I’ve played with 4 twice now, once at Spiel / Essen and once back home since one of my buddies bought it at Essen.

It is very quick and easy to teach, learn and play. There a card for each player which indicates the bonus earned from completing a room and that is about all the documentation you need to refer to thanks to the castle-pieces having all the other information you need. After only a minimum of familiarizing, you are playing, not rule-checking.

The mechanic of the alternating master-builder is a real hook. Being master-building 1 in every 4 turns means that you have to try and gain enough currency during that 1 turn to fund your purchases the next 3. You can pass in order to take 5k but doing so is likely to set you back in the construction race. This presents you with the dilemna of how to arrange rooms so that the other 3 players will neither go for the cheapest nor pass themselves, whilst at the same time you want to deter them from picking up anything you really want or need for later. It is a really elegant mechanic that presents a deep challenge.

You can go at the game with a bit of a plan. Maybe you’ll focus on just 1 or 2 of the favour objectives set by the Mad King, maybe you’ll shoot for room-completions, maybe you’ll try and snatch most of the corridors and stairs so you can monopolize downstairs rooms and deny options to others. I’ve not felt in either game that I was just playing alone. I could follow my own game-plan up to a point but I had to stay flexible, react to what was available and what my opponents were doing, so you stay engaged with others.

The presence of the bonus score cards means that until the game ends the final scoring remains partially obscured so whilst you can get a decent idea of who is well placed, you cannot know if someone has got a great bonus hand to play. This seems to mean that both domination and destitution are both unlikely.

Finally, it is just simple fun to construct your castle, which may turn into a labyrinth, a contradiction or less likely, something actually feasible. Set-up, play and packing away are all quick and slick. A really great game overall.

1930

Only just dipped my toe in Castles of Mad King Ludwig by playing a solo game. Definitely not the way this game shines, I can tell. Really looking forward to playing a real game.

1931

Thanks for the elegant description. :)

I see it on sale at Amazon for $47 do you feel that is a fair price for the game and components?

I am very interested in this game but just having bought a few he past few months may hold off. Not sure if I am running into the chance that it will go out of print.

EDIT:
I just realized I had some points on my AMEX card and was able to buy the game for $20 on Amazon so it was a no brainer. :)

1932

@Nightgaunt

I remember watching a review from someone who stated it really does shine with four.

1933

Well. Shadows of Brimstone didn’t quite make it to the table this weekend. I spent much more time than anticipated doing the modeling stuff. The Stranglers and the three point glue contacts like the Gunslinger’s arms are a serious pain in the rear for the game’s model quality. Even the way they spaced the spruces invites teeth gnashing. I have done plenty of Warmachine or 40K miniatures. However, I suffered through Super Dungeon Explore 1st ED and really didn’t like returning to such intensive pre-game work on a board game with board game quality miniatures. I think this could ultimately kill them at retail. It’s not really a game for modelers and it’s way too much for a board gamer. I fully expect a later printing to be sold fully assembled.

That said, after looking over the rules and materials, I am very excited to finally get to the game part this holiday weekend. This game looks to be a great tactical, campaign based miniature game. It’s going to be one of those that invite solo vs multiplayer discussions, but it looks so seeped in lore with random events and skills that beg for narration, that I can see it as a very special treat for the cooperative social gamer. It is very much a Frankenstein mashup of Warhammer Quest, Lovecraft, and the Wild West…with some assembly required.

1934

I reckon the master-builder arranging the rooms mechanic, simple as it is, really needs at least 3 people and is far better with 4. I’m ignorant of the 2 player variant (I assume there must be a variant) and wouldn’t want to play solo, but with 4, it is right up top of my list of games I want to play, and I have way too many games proportionate to my gaming time!

1935

Shadows of Brimstone sounds like a awesome little game but there is no chances put together minis.

1936

Had a fun time with CastlesOMKL playing just with my son. Way better than solo. I can definitely see how it will work nicely with 3-4.

1937

Played a couple of new games this week.

Infamy
A cyber punk auction worker placement game where you’re gaining infamy or rep in one of 3 underworld organizations. The bidding mechanic is interesting because you have to pay to participate in the bid so if you bid and then get out bid you have to pay again to raise the bid. Lots of take that mechanics. I think it’s a good game but not one I will keep in my too large collection.

Northwest Passage is a tile race game with some worker placement. As you move your ships through trying to reach the northwest passage. What makes this game cool is that the water will freeze and you must abandon your ship and take your sled out to scout ahead, but you need to get back to the ship before the thaw or you might be stranded.

1938

Apparently Martin Wallace designed what he described as “a light, quick playing World War One” game called In Flanders Field http://www.treefroggames.com/in-flanders-field

It’s only available on Amazon UK and won’t allow me to send it to a US address. It sounded like it may also not be widely available in Europe outside of the UK. If anyone British is able to pick it up, I’d love to hear about it. The one sentence description is a fantastic pitch (apparently plays in 45 minutes!).

1939

There’s a Thanksgiving-to-Christmas sale going on at TimeWellSpent.com. The games are rotating out a few at a time each day, but there are some particularly good picks today:

Machi Koro: $18
Among the Stars: $30
High Society: $14

Also La Isla, which I haven’t played but is Stefan Feld: $22.

1940

I played Northwest Passage a month ago and enjoyed it as well. You always have an interesting decision to make, collect more points or move ahead; plus you have to worry about that water your boat is on freezing so do you take the sled, etc. I would definitely play again, but i am not going to add it to my collection.