To me, one of the cardinal rules of an abstract strategy game should be that the rules be as simple and clear as possible. Many times I’ve played games that had fairly simple rules but clouded them with obtuse game terms in an attempt to give the game a thematic flavor. This, I fear, is…
Tag: Board Games
Game Review: Figaro
“The king is desperate! The whole court is attending the joust, and no one is working in the castle. The king really needs a helper!” Enter Figaro (Mayfair and daVinci Games, 2006 – Reiner Knizia), the lunatic idiot working for the King. Apparently he is attempting to do all the jobs of court, and making…
Game Review: Desert Bazaar
One time, a reader wrote me and asked if I used my own opinions when writing a review. They went on to ask if I ever reviewed a game that I disliked but thought that many others would enjoy. Well, the fact of the matter is that ALL of my reviews are my own opinion,…
Game Review: Courtyard
Courtyard (Blue Panther LLC, 2006 – Steve Jones) is one of several games by Blue Panther and shares the unique feature which categorizes them – the game has 100% wooden components. Produced with some clever wood-burning methods, the game looks like something you would buy in a gift shop and simply has an air of…
Game Review: Hart an der Grenze
There are a few games that, when I first read about them on the internet, I immediately know that I’m going to like them. When I heard about actual smuggling cards inside small metal suitcases, I knew that Hart an der Grenze (Kosmos, 2006 – Andre Zatz and Sergio Halaban) was a game I would…
Game Review: Mimic
I pride myself on being able to tell how much I’ll enjoy / not enjoy a game by simply reading the rules. But occasionally I’m wrong – dead wrong – and Mimic: Safari Version (Funmaker Games, 2006 – Doug Cook) is one of those times. It looked like a bland card game, and the rules…
Game Review: Ticket to Ride: USA 1910
As a game reviewer, I play piles of new games each year, which means that most of my games stay in pristine condition, receiving only a handful of playings a year. Ticket to Ride is an exception to that rule, however, receiving so many playings that my box, board, and – most of all -…
Game Review: Number Chase
When reading feedback from the Dice Tower, one of the hottest topics revolves around games for kids. In fact, about once a week or so I get an email from someone who is looking for good, interesting games to play with their children. Invariably I will point them to the Bright Idea line of games…
Game Review: Justinian
I was very pleased when Justinian: Intrigue at the Emperor’s Court (Phalanx and Mayfair Games, 2006 – Allessandro Saragosa and Leo Colovini) arrived, because it was on the exact day that I was teaching about the Byzantine emperor. I showed it to my class, announcing that this was exactly what we were talking about, even…
Game Review: Castle Merchants
All right, I’ll be honest; when I first read through the rules of Castle Merchants (Z-Man Games, 2005 – Jerry Dziuba), I was less than impressed. Moving goods around from castle to castle really sounded like a drab affair, even though I heard that the game was an excellent “gateway” game. Armed with this information,…
Game Review: Heroes Incorporated: S.U.P.E.R. expansion
I’m a big fan of expansions, and I want to see them produced for many of my favorite games. Many expansions really enhance the experience and cause me to almost exclusively utilize them when playing the basic games. But in the case of S.U.P.E.R. Scrap’s Upgrade Pack and Expansion Revision (Quest Machine, 2004 – Sam…
Game Review: aBridged
Bridge has always been a distant phenomenon for me, as it has permutated a good deal of society; yet I have never actually seen it being played. From articles in the paper to almost crazed fanatics I met, Bridge was certainly touted as a deep, fulfilling game, yet for some reason never attracted me. However,…