tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2853124277697664442024-03-13T18:43:15.479-07:00Mike's Big Year (Game Edition)Taking inspiration from birdwatchers this blog will be a record of every unique game I play during 2014. I will provide an overview of each game with my experiences or thoughts about the game. Additionally I will be tagging with labels shown on the left hand side for easy searching of game types.
On a grander scale I hope to inspire others to attempt their big year and experience the joy of gaming!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-1585970908868273232014-12-29T09:33:00.003-08:002014-12-29T09:34:22.428-08:00152) GosuIn this game you're leading your hoard of goblins to defeat the other players armies. Each turn you can play a card, activate an ability, or draw cards. As the round continues you start to run out of options and once each player has passed the round ends and there is a great battle. Whomever has the most points (cards) on the board gets a point. Rounds are played until someone gets 3 points.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun art<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our four player game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Winning board</span></span></span></td></tr>
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This is a fun little card game with interesting interactions and good game play. It's somewhat easy to learn and plays quite smoothly. All in all a solid game. My one complaint is that if one player has a bad draw they can be forced to pass early in a round and then is forced to sit and watch while other players continue to play. That was my experience this game although I was able to catch up (somewhat) in subsequent rounds to it did feel balanced in that regard. The other potential issue is that some colors (out of the 5 colors in the game) may be more powerful then others although I haven't played enough to know that yet. After our game I was excited about playing again so that is a good sign.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-89451677391181010622014-12-28T13:04:00.000-08:002014-12-28T13:04:29.075-08:00151) Poo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There's no surprises here, when you read the name and see the box you know exactly what your getting into. Each player takes the roll of a monkey who flings poo at other players. On your turn you play a card and draw back up to five cards. Cards allow you to fling poo at other players, clean poo off of yourself, or provide special actions or abilities. Additionally, there are defensive cards that can prevent players from throwing poo and even toss it back at them. Once a player has accumulated 15 poo they are out. Last person standing wins.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thats exactly how I felt<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hand<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Help for everyone<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Some cards</span></span></span></td></tr>
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The only redeeming value to this game is using m&m's for the poo counters. Each time you clean yourself you get a little snack and it never gets old to make fun of people for eating poo. Apart from this the game isn't that enjoyable to me. The amount of random luck is monumental. Players for the most part choose who they want to attack so if everyone gangs up on you you'll probably lose. Also, some players will draw the cards they need and others wont. Because of this the game doesn't fall that high on my list of games I enjoy. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-10819798286180219822014-12-28T12:26:00.000-08:002014-12-28T12:26:08.830-08:00150) Camel Up<div>
It's a race! There are five different colored camels vying to be first across the finish line. Each player is betting on which camel will win. There is end game scoring based on which camel wins and which lost. Additionally after each camel has moved once there is a scoring round. A player gets one action on their turn in which they can roll the dice of a random camel, take betting tokens for the round, place modifiers on the track, or place an end game bet. After each round money is paid out (or debts collected based on bad bets). All the dice are added back to the dice tower and a new round begins.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgWjnSPX63ukrX_3Iqnte7j3G4nWhtYKGf3g4LMRpYkqV5CmKzDH0F49yb9gvIj5qhj3ylRdomCPyccuXZb25_keQ66m1-cA2iTUddXISLrEpYCp7vfvnAy86GW4XlMFzZsMCribvKu88/s1600/P1030248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgWjnSPX63ukrX_3Iqnte7j3G4nWhtYKGf3g4LMRpYkqV5CmKzDH0F49yb9gvIj5qhj3ylRdomCPyccuXZb25_keQ66m1-cA2iTUddXISLrEpYCp7vfvnAy86GW4XlMFzZsMCribvKu88/s1600/P1030248.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building a dice tower<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to race<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf36D0_-OOG0wa147nnvW3aSdL1mfiDiaiW9Guc5zw986__la-bqym4_D6hDzavllAl0UfZw22-6PvB87i6ojY4JYSG1G29K7Ea88aI9vM8wqGxrD3LV-d3ZQJX-1uKeMxVJM3kxgZf3FU/s1600/P1030252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf36D0_-OOG0wa147nnvW3aSdL1mfiDiaiW9Guc5zw986__la-bqym4_D6hDzavllAl0UfZw22-6PvB87i6ojY4JYSG1G29K7Ea88aI9vM8wqGxrD3LV-d3ZQJX-1uKeMxVJM3kxgZf3FU/s1600/P1030252.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This happened<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Yellow wins! My endgame score.</span></span></span></td></tr>
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This game won the Spiel des Jahres this year so it has to be good...right? Well, this game does feel a bit random, which immediately turns me off to the game. Bets are largely based on statistics and that is a good learning tool, but in the end there is too much left to random chance and you're essentially betting on a dice roll. The highlight of this game for me is that the camels can stack and carry camels that are on top of it. This can cause huge swings in the race and can make for some interesting calculations when placing a bet. The dice tower is pretty neat as well. The one drawback to the game play is the worst action by far appears to be rolling the dice. If you roll then all the players behind you have a much better chance of making the correct bet on the round winner and thus are more likely to get more points then you.</div>
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I'm really glad I got to play this game once, but it won't ever be on the top of my list to play again.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-21770293428609535932014-12-28T11:48:00.002-08:002014-12-28T11:48:51.708-08:00149) Pandemic Contagion<div>
This is a fun take on Pandemic. Each player takes on the roll of a disease and attempts to infect as many cities as possible. Points are awarded throughout the game and at the end of the game based on how much of your disease you've gotten on each city. Additionally, each city has a population and when everyone in the city is diseased the city is destroyed and points are awarded. Players spend their turn evolving their disease, infecting cities, or drawing more cards to fuel future actions.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After my first turn<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Infecting different cities<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbWMjUv0Ngr5qghq6JOewPU6bqVkOMHBK-ute7GMCzt0Lw4F6QyN6AIm8vfFLO9dK-QHaM1VOK_vvZYtVNkfDirJEO5EOdOQ-Dz2p6_eKK75b7zoof0I6icB3NmSo2ttI2QAscSLF3hsb/s1600/P1030241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbWMjUv0Ngr5qghq6JOewPU6bqVkOMHBK-ute7GMCzt0Lw4F6QyN6AIm8vfFLO9dK-QHaM1VOK_vvZYtVNkfDirJEO5EOdOQ-Dz2p6_eKK75b7zoof0I6icB3NmSo2ttI2QAscSLF3hsb/s1600/P1030241.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Four player game</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
I really enjoyed this game, but I question if the re-playability is there. I think after 5-10 plays this game may start to feel a bit stale, although this is my first play so I should reserve judgement. Some things I really enjoyed: The theme and game play mesh really well together. I also really like the mechanic of trying to be involved at least a little bit in infecting each city. Sneaking in a few extra points by placing just a few cubes can make a big difference. Finally, I really like that on your turn you want to do everything. Anything you do is beneficial and builds on itself, the trick comes down to figuring out which action will lead to the biggest benefit.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All in all a solid game that I highly recommend trying at least once.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-42959769889727437142014-12-28T11:26:00.001-08:002014-12-28T11:26:22.746-08:00148) Sentinels of the Multiverse<div>
In this game all players take on the roll of a comic book hero and work together to defeat a villain. Each player takes their turn by playing one card and activating one power. Then the terrain takes a turn by flipping a card that can be good or bad. Then the villain takes their turn by usually flipping over more enemy cards and dealing damage to some or all players. Play continues until all heros are eliminated or the villains lose, usually by taking the required amount of damage.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAk1R_S5l_o3phxI8CdMmqIYB9B7WN2xmX1Qp4jCaxJO3qnx2Soz7epJ8aBfdlQrz438cfjI-uIIBaKvWXFfZ5s0w4FLD-gdskjLizRkZ5H5sIPIg_GtF_F5IrJeLxyUcuci78hryBMVt/s1600/P1030234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAk1R_S5l_o3phxI8CdMmqIYB9B7WN2xmX1Qp4jCaxJO3qnx2Soz7epJ8aBfdlQrz438cfjI-uIIBaKvWXFfZ5s0w4FLD-gdskjLizRkZ5H5sIPIg_GtF_F5IrJeLxyUcuci78hryBMVt/s1600/P1030234.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team guns<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Z2IEmd5AU8BPe4uNmNOFXc2UAapluglhlpRHBfiAz2iuw4C1oNLmTV3e1S96zH4I3QVTWnUm80mr3aOPd5gT6XXhp5Vg-3HJkp10Px14ddGbr9GfJn3mGAZAZEymlfH5Iqv0nY6Sk17D/s1600/P1030235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Z2IEmd5AU8BPe4uNmNOFXc2UAapluglhlpRHBfiAz2iuw4C1oNLmTV3e1S96zH4I3QVTWnUm80mr3aOPd5gT6XXhp5Vg-3HJkp10Px14ddGbr9GfJn3mGAZAZEymlfH5Iqv0nY6Sk17D/s1600/P1030235.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four player game</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnu5bHunKhLt-p0Z9ocFiX4HJqJ3ID9JnCMokcN9AICwoqBxOcqmNMFE5dBojwPem_x_a2EafVD9vV96Ss8llxTo1EFja-V6YP3_yjXbpGJNYjH1FcOQFZKzXmwVLAduxTiOINzll2jVEv/s1600/P1030236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnu5bHunKhLt-p0Z9ocFiX4HJqJ3ID9JnCMokcN9AICwoqBxOcqmNMFE5dBojwPem_x_a2EafVD9vV96Ss8llxTo1EFja-V6YP3_yjXbpGJNYjH1FcOQFZKzXmwVLAduxTiOINzll2jVEv/s1600/P1030236.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our enemy</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSrDSWYz7VSY9MEXbZ_-i3gh37PgeOeDXMj5V4r6QleD8KRGDYywniHfVm2RQRHfwjw1kewUbkCuakrKfTD4AMJVHSxn7TycODOGS9n_0Z25HBaOshHDGG0vixGmFtJ7omZxQOQi1C8iE/s1600/P1030237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSrDSWYz7VSY9MEXbZ_-i3gh37PgeOeDXMj5V4r6QleD8KRGDYywniHfVm2RQRHfwjw1kewUbkCuakrKfTD4AMJVHSxn7TycODOGS9n_0Z25HBaOshHDGG0vixGmFtJ7omZxQOQi1C8iE/s1600/P1030237.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonus<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<br />
The best aspects of this game are the flavor and replayability. There are so many different villains and hero decks that each game can play out vastly different then the next game. Each game offers a unique puzzle that everyone must work together to figure out.<br />
<br />
This game has three major downsides in my mind. First, is the amount of time you spend waiting for other players to take their turn. As players become more accustomed to how to play the game the turns may speed up a bit, but if you take a quick turn you can be waiting a while before your next turn comes around. The second downside is how fiddley the game is. At times its really hard to remember how all the cards interact and affect one another. They have pieces to help alleviate this, but when each card is affected by a different card (or cards) and they're all dealing damage to different players based on different conditions...well something is bound to be missed. Finally, if you don't draw the correct cards you may not have any effect on the game. My deck was all about having guns, but I didn't draw a gun until turn 4. This meant that my first three turns were inconsequential. Doing nothing on your turn only compounds the feeling of waiting too long for everyone else on their turns.<br />
<br />
Despite all my criticism I would recommend trying this at least once. Lots of people really love the game so it can't be all bad.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-23423968321310099862014-12-27T10:16:00.000-08:002014-12-27T10:16:54.776-08:00147) MythotopiaDeck building meets Risk in this war game. Like most deck building games each turn have five cards in hand. Each card has multiple uses allowing you to acquire new cards, build things on the board, attack, or recruit new armies. Most of these actions result in points gained or lost by players. If a player has the required number of points for victory at the start of their turn they can declare the game over and they win.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx4Q0JleWbpSxGEO-KdZBOne8vdervYMnhoWm6ksQ7p0e83RmgvFP3JZmoQ-GddlrpAUIpKEO7PZNrinbPSVHkCupuQQZbNC7aI0Ox0_2bJ8hHWEkjyeg6zmGfHhxrpYcLIy9oNkdcL13n/s1600/P1030230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx4Q0JleWbpSxGEO-KdZBOne8vdervYMnhoWm6ksQ7p0e83RmgvFP3JZmoQ-GddlrpAUIpKEO7PZNrinbPSVHkCupuQQZbNC7aI0Ox0_2bJ8hHWEkjyeg6zmGfHhxrpYcLIy9oNkdcL13n/s1600/P1030230.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Figuring out how to play</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48nYBBwO3HvloPRNbHDUWpe-OXBJbFwHhjrJnuvc9Z0pY0PmASAqN3qh6c_i3p79QrTlEFxhjibP34Rz23uA3QPNDX_SL1Ynpk9107q2ShHWbxWqy3nM0Cgtov63JseUGT83Svcou7lHh/s1600/P1030232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48nYBBwO3HvloPRNbHDUWpe-OXBJbFwHhjrJnuvc9Z0pY0PmASAqN3qh6c_i3p79QrTlEFxhjibP34Rz23uA3QPNDX_SL1Ynpk9107q2ShHWbxWqy3nM0Cgtov63JseUGT83Svcou7lHh/s1600/P1030232.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Our four player game</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8MtV_qUyT1Pp7_unNU3VALaAw_CQlCiVpJ4MLa16uWM4oM-zhtzLkvsVp-uTLIoQzqA-d8wkgJhG21g1HkvfDbkaaYChyTTiBwYFVw95Ip3lg68fcyKwNo8a__gwO5pFNfQ6GtU23bqB/s1600/P1030233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8MtV_qUyT1Pp7_unNU3VALaAw_CQlCiVpJ4MLa16uWM4oM-zhtzLkvsVp-uTLIoQzqA-d8wkgJhG21g1HkvfDbkaaYChyTTiBwYFVw95Ip3lg68fcyKwNo8a__gwO5pFNfQ6GtU23bqB/s1600/P1030233.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Stale mate</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<div>
I think this game would be really fun if you're willing to put in the time (probably at least 3 plays) to fully grasp the way this game plays. The first game is rather daunting as we were all new to the game. You start by flipping up x number of this card type and then a different number of a different card type and then 16 of the other card type, then deal out these cards....and so on. That's just the set-up and as expected with games like this it took a few turns to fully understand the consequences of what we do on our turns. The game started to flow more smoothly once we got more accustomed to the game play. Unfortunately, at the end of the game only a small part of me thought "I want to try this again" where most of me thought "I'd rather spend my time getting good at other games". But, I do think if you have a group that enjoys war games with a more euro-game feel this game is perfect and I would highly recommend it.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-42054655786556434412014-12-26T10:07:00.002-08:002014-12-26T10:08:30.620-08:00146) Evolution<div>
In this game you're creating and protecting various creatures you control. This is a card driven game where you use cards for their ability or discard cards to improve your creature, activate special abilities, or even to create another creature. All your creatures start out as herbivores, but certain cards turn them into carnivores and you can start attacking (eating) other players creatures. You can only eat as much food as your population allows and food can become scarce. The player who eats the most food over the course of the game is the winner.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid093tt6HNxZS9drCV4BBbmb_feGzwQVqOkpLVcR7NmKDwJLiLY_fJxgQiabbc0FBVAJKLBf3DSNf1U-fJf_-2sn4ioykXsljAA83pFrxjtLxjgH9kaL7GGuknUC4xTyUFtLXfEVJuXGL0/s1600/P1030225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid093tt6HNxZS9drCV4BBbmb_feGzwQVqOkpLVcR7NmKDwJLiLY_fJxgQiabbc0FBVAJKLBf3DSNf1U-fJf_-2sn4ioykXsljAA83pFrxjtLxjgH9kaL7GGuknUC4xTyUFtLXfEVJuXGL0/s1600/P1030225.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upgrade options<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTz4m4BqXGkZV9y5zb9979lKo0IJKV8SFF79OXEAMLQ5_BAa1FT3CYRGCR4WU_nn6gA9Jn_5KtmgP751RpRGbWBZHgYlPyKBIb-nZ_p8Rpweb9BPjhoBN9eROo4saAAUuIxytJ7FsEJWz9/s1600/P1030226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTz4m4BqXGkZV9y5zb9979lKo0IJKV8SFF79OXEAMLQ5_BAa1FT3CYRGCR4WU_nn6gA9Jn_5KtmgP751RpRGbWBZHgYlPyKBIb-nZ_p8Rpweb9BPjhoBN9eROo4saAAUuIxytJ7FsEJWz9/s1600/P1030226.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first creature<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEd9D5aiN_XWDwdDfIvjUVHUpE4IVy3Cm3U0lqMlqLRF_NwyyQ3bqFl_3LtUBVlCB9Ur4gnu80Vpy61YeshITKMPE5cp2UI8tESjQ0_PZIlvI-JqGDsMFwDkAcO30nSvfcBiKE0cg0EFvq/s1600/P1030228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEd9D5aiN_XWDwdDfIvjUVHUpE4IVy3Cm3U0lqMlqLRF_NwyyQ3bqFl_3LtUBVlCB9Ur4gnu80Vpy61YeshITKMPE5cp2UI8tESjQ0_PZIlvI-JqGDsMFwDkAcO30nSvfcBiKE0cg0EFvq/s1600/P1030228.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our four player game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AKonFf7hv9aawFqqG5L99SDe4GNbN8lXHQqpPPm8WTRE8_gAMDpdhGm6BqqD2HcyFPTwJdFlKC7aCi7MIxXdhUqdhyY9_W4tTkTy-7dSabEGvBkl-3KIyU1-zdtwY6Q8gvoS8tjwDESR/s1600/P1030229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AKonFf7hv9aawFqqG5L99SDe4GNbN8lXHQqpPPm8WTRE8_gAMDpdhGm6BqqD2HcyFPTwJdFlKC7aCi7MIxXdhUqdhyY9_W4tTkTy-7dSabEGvBkl-3KIyU1-zdtwY6Q8gvoS8tjwDESR/s1600/P1030229.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End game score</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<div>
I enjoyed playing this game although it didn't leave me wanting to play again. A big mechanic is destroying (eating) creatures that other players have spent time building up. I'm not a huge fan of this mechanic and often try to turtle up and hide in games such as this. I felt like in our game the balance between carnivores and herbivores was largely skewed towards the herbivores having a big advantage. I would guess that multiple plays would lead to a more balanced game as players start to learn the different abilities, but in our game the carnivores often had no other creatures to eat and were essentially worthless investments. Additionally, when a creature did become weak enough to start getting eaten, each player with a carnivore would attack that player, which felt a bit unfair that the weakest player is the one that continues to get attacked. I don't think this game is for me, but I would encourage you to give it a try for yourself as there are a number of fun interactions and mechanics that I think a lot of people would enjoy.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-87435900805490194502014-12-16T18:20:00.001-08:002014-12-16T18:20:39.137-08:00145) SagaIn this game you're building up armies to conquer as many of the six different lands (colors) as possible. On each turn a player may collect victory points for the lands they control. Then they must play a card from their hand and they also have the option to purchase a card to put in their hand. The game ends when one player has played all the cards from their hand. Some end game scoring happens and then the player with the most points wins.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjNJpaF2unKBtf6_e9ROvFYqKRik_hIEfrrpcOyJO7rk7LNcx9HWlR1AV4zfNAP-fpfApRrNas5XBIlGCkPYiYSMp8CKo-Tz-K2_VL1Tsqpm2uQDaSPjfvJ1EP9suPl6-NWJ8IQBkmf8s/s1600/P1030221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjNJpaF2unKBtf6_e9ROvFYqKRik_hIEfrrpcOyJO7rk7LNcx9HWlR1AV4zfNAP-fpfApRrNas5XBIlGCkPYiYSMp8CKo-Tz-K2_VL1Tsqpm2uQDaSPjfvJ1EP9suPl6-NWJ8IQBkmf8s/s1600/P1030221.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPz9ZMXG6ZVslZ9GLZThwT-Q9sj_N2ta9vQDnHRDFn-tf_qvsDnd689Zv3o03C2Us7YaVNxTdutSDbdf7W5S52tGj3IlPz7aXoYhF0Su_IfyOHES9oixomQ_JqkvB5a2JH821BUVBCbBF/s1600/P1030223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPz9ZMXG6ZVslZ9GLZThwT-Q9sj_N2ta9vQDnHRDFn-tf_qvsDnd689Zv3o03C2Us7YaVNxTdutSDbdf7W5S52tGj3IlPz7aXoYhF0Su_IfyOHES9oixomQ_JqkvB5a2JH821BUVBCbBF/s1600/P1030223.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZd6OsajEo931JcjMHyl4I2wyEQ_pQ50ZBoxWiPNNArnrH-fPg-a9HExxHoT8pNNseHP_OHK9927F5KIdmgZrx3jTPCOY_YoFwts4zNPQXuLX-LlrqdWwghLZitQea01CxGVvr2JJf826/s1600/P1030224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZd6OsajEo931JcjMHyl4I2wyEQ_pQ50ZBoxWiPNNArnrH-fPg-a9HExxHoT8pNNseHP_OHK9927F5KIdmgZrx3jTPCOY_YoFwts4zNPQXuLX-LlrqdWwghLZitQea01CxGVvr2JJf826/s1600/P1030224.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Our four player game</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
Initially this game feels like it will ever end as it seems almost impossible to get rid of all your cards, but somehow the end always sneaks up on me before I'm ready. I really like a lot of the mechanics in this game - my favorite being the play between the game ending when you play all your cards and having to return cards to your hand when you lose control of one of the land cards. My biggest dislike of this game is that if you forget to take your points at the beginning of your turn you don't get to take them. You'd think you would always remember to take points as thats how you win, but you can get so wrapped up in planning which card you play that it just slips your mind. All in all a fun game unlike others I've played before.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-10419841384953355132014-12-16T18:05:00.001-08:002014-12-16T18:06:40.558-08:00144) BohnanzaThis is set collection game that will hone your negotiation skills. At the beginning of each players turn they must plant (play) the first card and optionally the second card of their hand (card order is important). The the player flips up two cards from the draw pile and must either plant them or trade/give away these cards. Finally the player draws cards to add to the back of their hand and the next players turn begins. As you may start to notice there is a lot of player interaction through trading of cards to both get the beans you want and weed the ones you don't want out of your hand.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAf5E0OQDk-gjj1h3lf8sE9n3-WFHBtUxA1qIJSl2drftAClN8_KvtFoc1w5NynEWgJQkNH5xdqhJ9sIvJsmsU4XryeJ1_5pM_9VPWJYVXFG936onwdsjvOEWxCQhS0Zak7O1Hi6oHsDXw/s1600/P1030218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAf5E0OQDk-gjj1h3lf8sE9n3-WFHBtUxA1qIJSl2drftAClN8_KvtFoc1w5NynEWgJQkNH5xdqhJ9sIvJsmsU4XryeJ1_5pM_9VPWJYVXFG936onwdsjvOEWxCQhS0Zak7O1Hi6oHsDXw/s1600/P1030218.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our 7-player game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhud8DDFOnYNGG6g6p-POjcd1bGHiPnATw7fFPW22KvFrUfDcGDEGfPKloH3x1zfG4MS_hoGGJKdpmyJevUYgQ13cAIXJ3LwDHORCBMFS6SwZec0pkBcgkHFaanYCCAl1qyEpzrGZq2fRaX/s1600/P1030217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhud8DDFOnYNGG6g6p-POjcd1bGHiPnATw7fFPW22KvFrUfDcGDEGfPKloH3x1zfG4MS_hoGGJKdpmyJevUYgQ13cAIXJ3LwDHORCBMFS6SwZec0pkBcgkHFaanYCCAl1qyEpzrGZq2fRaX/s1600/P1030217.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One blurry coffee bean<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJGxz-YLt_QRjrmmHuiJ-PRw9Wceq02l_XOsTuGmomVIq3nId6CVMMr9qZO58NvPMn6Tpn2rB2ryAuiOKwIohgb8YIFF05KeHrsiFp0R99Ff-62_2RH4qDH57gLTHdrKjuAzFBp-Ozo-z/s1600/P1030219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJGxz-YLt_QRjrmmHuiJ-PRw9Wceq02l_XOsTuGmomVIq3nId6CVMMr9qZO58NvPMn6Tpn2rB2ryAuiOKwIohgb8YIFF05KeHrsiFp0R99Ff-62_2RH4qDH57gLTHdrKjuAzFBp-Ozo-z/s1600/P1030219.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quality art<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysY-0G_kKBqE0rhoRI0jhZac3a7Y6JRF35cb9UnF6UXohCUf6hnSoSE9ZQJq3vqB6N3V6Q7VNYvUqbYr6mJ9eMGoVEsZKEnH6A9-4fYP7j2cWrtecFw1OTaeLZIDl5Uz0j46Xgn2oyL04/s1600/P1030220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysY-0G_kKBqE0rhoRI0jhZac3a7Y6JRF35cb9UnF6UXohCUf6hnSoSE9ZQJq3vqB6N3V6Q7VNYvUqbYr6mJ9eMGoVEsZKEnH6A9-4fYP7j2cWrtecFw1OTaeLZIDl5Uz0j46Xgn2oyL04/s1600/P1030220.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End game score</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
This game will always hold a special place in my heart. The people I've played with and fun times I've had playing make me partial to this game. Thus, in my biased opinion you should certainly play this game (although after playing space beans I might recommend that game over this one).</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-56487240778802067802014-12-16T17:48:00.001-08:002014-12-16T17:48:32.326-08:00143) CaylusThis is a classic game that launched the popularity of worker placement games and is a must play for everyone (at least in my opinion). There is too much going on to give a comprehensive overview, but more generally you're collecting resources and building new locations and increasing your favor with the king and getting special actions and scoring points. All this is done through the worker placement mechanic. Needless to say there's a lot going on and its a fun challenge to try and balance everything.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyalqbEUpG0ziqSvDg2emFYRnqBrM6UC4qRiNeYXfylF9Ew8kcW02MEoMC1s-ekchTCsbRgN4GE6ui0kSnHKY2acrNhOp5JSdKmiXA2FZgfposBtBBhb0OCPFXSAF8slC41deyUMDg4lfP/s1600/P1030212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyalqbEUpG0ziqSvDg2emFYRnqBrM6UC4qRiNeYXfylF9Ew8kcW02MEoMC1s-ekchTCsbRgN4GE6ui0kSnHKY2acrNhOp5JSdKmiXA2FZgfposBtBBhb0OCPFXSAF8slC41deyUMDg4lfP/s1600/P1030212.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJE7NxoJ7RrXZVh4UjkIt9MAbnC90mOO8KZ8_fxO_1mR7TQpZht06Pxvg-TkU-ga3JBI59mB1S6NRb5YIzo1W3NDR6Xvk-8lWxw2LlKG1GbTHm83I4nB8v3rk6Odvp-MLtq37RfRp-40I4/s1600/P1030213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJE7NxoJ7RrXZVh4UjkIt9MAbnC90mOO8KZ8_fxO_1mR7TQpZht06Pxvg-TkU-ga3JBI59mB1S6NRb5YIzo1W3NDR6Xvk-8lWxw2LlKG1GbTHm83I4nB8v3rk6Odvp-MLtq37RfRp-40I4/s1600/P1030213.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Should I build a house...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXoZNoEeNoWa1Qn_2J34BDGggrwDtDsq-5idPU1WJ_v2oSjq5io6OBdLnSo2PbKEVQSqOk6aig8LKfLcWgWAyJ4Z3Ttm0YtlPu9QEtOXwZY8uQNALm9I41923894aChF6CEQ0OnW0I73R/s1600/P1030214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXoZNoEeNoWa1Qn_2J34BDGggrwDtDsq-5idPU1WJ_v2oSjq5io6OBdLnSo2PbKEVQSqOk6aig8LKfLcWgWAyJ4Z3Ttm0YtlPu9QEtOXwZY8uQNALm9I41923894aChF6CEQ0OnW0I73R/s1600/P1030214.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...Ok, I'll build one</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
As you can guess from the intro I highly recommend playing this game. It is fairly in-depth and a bit complex so be prepared to put some time into your first few plays. Once you get a feel for the game you'll be impressed at how smooth the game play is and the nuances and depth that this game provides will keep you coming back for more.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-39961291299388992952014-12-16T17:35:00.000-08:002014-12-16T17:35:01.809-08:00142) Agricola: All Creatures Big and SmallAnother version of agricola that is way better then the original. All the complications have been stripped away and you're left with a beautiful two player worker placement game where your primary goal is to breed as many animals as possible. Of course to do this you're going to need buildings and fences and resources as well as expanded farming territory.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHsk8moQ4Ova80PAZTIrB8i4WzsxrM_Hs135G_KYSlPE60rsayhOHjmyEp-stXy9cGK3V4SxwlCUhEMYQne-nDO6NiHwLIdBUxXdXtCKHM87BoLK9sXogpwGr0lNUT74Jv7Jel7ehCMbSr/s1600/P1030207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHsk8moQ4Ova80PAZTIrB8i4WzsxrM_Hs135G_KYSlPE60rsayhOHjmyEp-stXy9cGK3V4SxwlCUhEMYQne-nDO6NiHwLIdBUxXdXtCKHM87BoLK9sXogpwGr0lNUT74Jv7Jel7ehCMbSr/s1600/P1030207.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBll1HPdzSuL2XdQ0eT-dQgYtsW66yFCN36d5cRLPvdRr_1yYzMY-h85A511Pnzk1Y1Z3yuc-mGJm-tOXzdiMiXu6r3nb7l_GCczcaPNF1WpeJbVc90oSsTLc6_3MCK_N6-WWWUfGmKEdy/s1600/P1030208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBll1HPdzSuL2XdQ0eT-dQgYtsW66yFCN36d5cRLPvdRr_1yYzMY-h85A511Pnzk1Y1Z3yuc-mGJm-tOXzdiMiXu6r3nb7l_GCczcaPNF1WpeJbVc90oSsTLc6_3MCK_N6-WWWUfGmKEdy/s1600/P1030208.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shared central board<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xggKLDUC2rEaiwt6nuM5PJWZPwTs3-4UhzycSaVxfSK41Aj8UoeiBXMvcHuf_l6qtn6c_F72aH-XDb-_ebcMrAMXbwz0MO7vEUFNz6Y3zum3pn16U3zQnToxcscWjoNZLhCVkSDent43/s1600/P1030209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xggKLDUC2rEaiwt6nuM5PJWZPwTs3-4UhzycSaVxfSK41Aj8UoeiBXMvcHuf_l6qtn6c_F72aH-XDb-_ebcMrAMXbwz0MO7vEUFNz6Y3zum3pn16U3zQnToxcscWjoNZLhCVkSDent43/s1600/P1030209.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Multiplying animals</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<br /><div>
This is a great two player game where you're racing to build up your farm faster then the other player. Many worker placement games have a moment of reckoning where you have to pay a price at the end of the round such as feeding your workers. I this game there is no such requirement, which means you can expand and grow and build with reckless abandon. I think that is the strong point of this game for me in that you always feel rewarded because you're always building and gaining more. And, it also has awesome ani-meeples that provide endless enjoyment. I highly recommend playing this game.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-12881646098342712292014-12-16T17:15:00.002-08:002014-12-16T17:15:55.368-08:00141) MorelsIn this game you're collecting mushrooms as you travel through the forest. On your turn you can add cards to your hand or play cards for end game points or immediate 'money'. At the end of each players turn a card is removed from the line-up and one or two new cards are added. The goal of the game is to collect sets of the same mushroom and then cook them in a pan (playing cards from your hand). Of course there are all sorts of bonus cards that can change your hand size, give you more pans, or even count as double of a given mushroom. When you've gone through the deck once the game ends.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJ8Qk9vUSt_XFpv1RU3xa0JNhMW2GtjL0t6RrSgW6Rcn7RFuaNC_Q33pxM0YdwNK6uXZnZK4Q4Dewh3IyrW4_IcNdXMeIFseHCvv423XVM02XGGTQ321P7KU9xPzZ_gPosDlb9xLqZweY/s1600/P1030203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJ8Qk9vUSt_XFpv1RU3xa0JNhMW2GtjL0t6RrSgW6Rcn7RFuaNC_Q33pxM0YdwNK6uXZnZK4Q4Dewh3IyrW4_IcNdXMeIFseHCvv423XVM02XGGTQ321P7KU9xPzZ_gPosDlb9xLqZweY/s1600/P1030203.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to go mushroom hunting<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKWYFbdUdxbIVV2ti6taRRzzbpYf15FdBs6DX3CHgEtgs8QcHA6IhFFur5Ymp9_DesL1tcnBmAD_eEOOyVNZ4tELyunJpHuFDFYGzFFMe9QksOkugwHNeC2edlHynU7jiVXd15lFIwm9xo/s1600/P1030204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKWYFbdUdxbIVV2ti6taRRzzbpYf15FdBs6DX3CHgEtgs8QcHA6IhFFur5Ymp9_DesL1tcnBmAD_eEOOyVNZ4tELyunJpHuFDFYGzFFMe9QksOkugwHNeC2edlHynU7jiVXd15lFIwm9xo/s1600/P1030204.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hand<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hy99uuxLkuTnS_0YXcSGId2UH2spqOAvzB2FQ8x3lJN457Jumhm-aa7wfEt2bHB8p_Kie0nZwQogd7n1FcCk3fzpY_cu-uakVLP8IRCxBFxEVUv5n4iiGiKAGr6zBWxCLiV4kqgcZ1Oy/s1600/P1030205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hy99uuxLkuTnS_0YXcSGId2UH2spqOAvzB2FQ8x3lJN457Jumhm-aa7wfEt2bHB8p_Kie0nZwQogd7n1FcCk3fzpY_cu-uakVLP8IRCxBFxEVUv5n4iiGiKAGr6zBWxCLiV4kqgcZ1Oy/s1600/P1030205.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End game scoring<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkn1NgP0uqR9xSJ8xFPR7sJtplxXS6Ste29Mw7cvcxgtYOYQsZkfGkJhLBJmY9CRT3JsFBDYfNzUgyaoxWoDt3bGIfiBlmP4X0XKD-hHwhelckrZdIz9jChggJlFa4QZGSYvyVW_w3yp-/s1600/P1030206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkn1NgP0uqR9xSJ8xFPR7sJtplxXS6Ste29Mw7cvcxgtYOYQsZkfGkJhLBJmY9CRT3JsFBDYfNzUgyaoxWoDt3bGIfiBlmP4X0XKD-hHwhelckrZdIz9jChggJlFa4QZGSYvyVW_w3yp-/s1600/P1030206.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Cool artwork</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
I really enjoyed this game. It's very tight to the point where you're counting cards and trying to remember what is left in the deck. It's a great balance of collecting the cards that benefit you and trying to thwart the other players plans. For a two player game there is quite a bit going on and we both enjoyed this one.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-49354226786191345342014-12-16T17:02:00.001-08:002014-12-16T17:02:54.075-08:00140) Space BeansThis is a fairly simple drafting game that is very similar to bohnanza. The game starts with all but one person having cards in hand. The start player draws two cards then chooses as many cards in one color as they want to lay in front of them. The first color is face up, but a second color can be started face down on subsequent turns. Once the cards are played the remaining cards are passed to the player with no cards and play continues clockwise. Players can score their played cards by keeping the highest value card in their pile that does not exceed the total cards in that pile and discarding the rest.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnJSiEZjWGGHnaAfLH_1hLYHAniZp2w4kEDE2JKGsJkR44vtNIcU0shkfl2Szh_8nw2ekwIVks4_XyN8FJWbiRxXzgCy6de2pTMtZsEyJlZZ_qK919yexmhAYsw-jtcGKWEkwx6pYFzII/s1600/P1030197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnJSiEZjWGGHnaAfLH_1hLYHAniZp2w4kEDE2JKGsJkR44vtNIcU0shkfl2Szh_8nw2ekwIVks4_XyN8FJWbiRxXzgCy6de2pTMtZsEyJlZZ_qK919yexmhAYsw-jtcGKWEkwx6pYFzII/s1600/P1030197.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just as fun as it sounds<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpAMk_zbktVXqOUrdbc_tQX86tEMd69UvVB-J4ySj2lbq4WxNCXusfSLU6rMSz_sHfwtV7rLLrg_mzZDYNiV1GhfHuZRX1Xvts_OkBbMFykd_NnJEU7QtU3vSS2YBxsdgJ9qFnmhGPoXHl/s1600/P1030198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpAMk_zbktVXqOUrdbc_tQX86tEMd69UvVB-J4ySj2lbq4WxNCXusfSLU6rMSz_sHfwtV7rLLrg_mzZDYNiV1GhfHuZRX1Xvts_OkBbMFykd_NnJEU7QtU3vSS2YBxsdgJ9qFnmhGPoXHl/s1600/P1030198.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4-player game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fOmAznuNYCmfGxUFn-gjBCvAykMtEKZPGtfdH_4Id0Frjxm_KN4DN2W1aS4UIMv0RGQfWExjxm0NOnjJ2yxG57XGYDPVEG8lOnzdQPZucn6CqDkaLwwU3oiI1oNYxFQWuc0RjTihwhrk/s1600/P1030199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fOmAznuNYCmfGxUFn-gjBCvAykMtEKZPGtfdH_4Id0Frjxm_KN4DN2W1aS4UIMv0RGQfWExjxm0NOnjJ2yxG57XGYDPVEG8lOnzdQPZucn6CqDkaLwwU3oiI1oNYxFQWuc0RjTihwhrk/s1600/P1030199.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some planted space beans<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DKcZfyJdfc7f5PNGYTyAKx7orqFwd6XLzdeLb5M2RapqsQVfmwAeH07ip3VY-A5R32Mo5I3pLL5PzBHP3edbF_bvEZmw9aWL1q7h70CeUgScvfP7wqjA1Po56WyLSp0wx3x6yjXACmh6/s1600/P1030202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DKcZfyJdfc7f5PNGYTyAKx7orqFwd6XLzdeLb5M2RapqsQVfmwAeH07ip3VY-A5R32Mo5I3pLL5PzBHP3edbF_bvEZmw9aWL1q7h70CeUgScvfP7wqjA1Po56WyLSp0wx3x6yjXACmh6/s1600/P1030202.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Fun artwork</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<br /><div>
I really enjoyed this game as a light starter game. It's easy to play, easy to teach and the drafting mechanic and set collection work really well together. I recommend giving this a try.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-8025544173215504352014-12-05T17:42:00.000-08:002014-12-05T17:42:04.845-08:00139) Hero QuestThe original dungeon crawl game. In this game there is one person who runs the game and controls all enemy units. Everyone else is playing against this one person. The game has multiple scenarios so each game will play out differently. Generally, the heros are moving around the dungeon killing enemies and searching for and attempting to complete their objective. Along the way they'll find gold and equipment that is kept from one round to the next. Gold can be spent between games to buy various items.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRIjuC-EFch4J-yAjrM3rm7HF-BBCmNiRvYpFi-7wSNSBaSJo0W9JPTJGmvV3nqvAdIGBQdZu_-6sOX23mbtymTlsQd4WDY096mC704PYG60awRfI7MMcinfMyeM-YsSUsw6_LfPc9XKo/s1600/P1030188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRIjuC-EFch4J-yAjrM3rm7HF-BBCmNiRvYpFi-7wSNSBaSJo0W9JPTJGmvV3nqvAdIGBQdZu_-6sOX23mbtymTlsQd4WDY096mC704PYG60awRfI7MMcinfMyeM-YsSUsw6_LfPc9XKo/s1600/P1030188.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The box is this awesome!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVgKiuDdZzeHPShDtcAlenHiNGJJHOjIucGpgMUGrWEFD-WT4m72M5R_493hDwGySLteHc3lQXTzlDrso-gKTtB_3JHHYe8geuLwadbEzrNH3Wauz_6CXWWYbDm3mwXySJfS6aYYjJq-p/s1600/P1030189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVgKiuDdZzeHPShDtcAlenHiNGJJHOjIucGpgMUGrWEFD-WT4m72M5R_493hDwGySLteHc3lQXTzlDrso-gKTtB_3JHHYe8geuLwadbEzrNH3Wauz_6CXWWYbDm3mwXySJfS6aYYjJq-p/s1600/P1030189.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAIXtRdtNp3gR0Q_ImNa6ApPr-Dcl9VQaOW1Pu1uSGBa7nRYuevv7FiTSC2uwvznD-oRmFqoKGgGZi9hwML9dCFtwmikd8lDeVyrfihG9DuJav5hyphenhyphen-vRAvRcW_cEFqZE_dnmtO_ogsy5L/s1600/P1030190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAIXtRdtNp3gR0Q_ImNa6ApPr-Dcl9VQaOW1Pu1uSGBa7nRYuevv7FiTSC2uwvznD-oRmFqoKGgGZi9hwML9dCFtwmikd8lDeVyrfihG9DuJav5hyphenhyphen-vRAvRcW_cEFqZE_dnmtO_ogsy5L/s1600/P1030190.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dungeon master plotting against us<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7x7ALHNFUt4_9EYQEIILXY9ZgbZFT1TDkqWqSofVXOBLyyIz6atE8h-ITOJN-B6HGxy2cWVoIOC2njc4ZP0IvuCMWQO9r9MajzQFYGpp5S4agnzvU2hHT4izmLN8V35thT7UUt_nTJSU/s1600/P1030191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7x7ALHNFUt4_9EYQEIILXY9ZgbZFT1TDkqWqSofVXOBLyyIz6atE8h-ITOJN-B6HGxy2cWVoIOC2njc4ZP0IvuCMWQO9r9MajzQFYGpp5S4agnzvU2hHT4izmLN8V35thT7UUt_nTJSU/s1600/P1030191.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool pieces<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKi_g3XHyCjrTD1a8AG1t5yp96cag4LGEAgY8aTzKWbU_vII1AntF7NSqL21RpQlisFLtRE5041_PH_oBIsALcbIsI-PE1eUsjhDWxJZA7lRnMcNoBAmauvsrLW_jlm5Ov7pmqPOnoM81/s1600/P1030193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKi_g3XHyCjrTD1a8AG1t5yp96cag4LGEAgY8aTzKWbU_vII1AntF7NSqL21RpQlisFLtRE5041_PH_oBIsALcbIsI-PE1eUsjhDWxJZA7lRnMcNoBAmauvsrLW_jlm5Ov7pmqPOnoM81/s1600/P1030193.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">More cool pieces</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<br /><div>
All in all a fun game. My one major complaint is there is no built in clock. The movement of the heros is limited by a dice roll, but when there were no enemies on the board the heros could just cycle turns until they had the board state the way they wanted it. This can lead to some long drawn out parts in the game where the dungeon master is not doing anything. Despite this, if you like dungeon crawl games this is certainly worth a play or two.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-67364526716669963392014-12-05T17:30:00.000-08:002014-12-05T17:30:10.169-08:00138) The SpeicherstadtIn this game you're collecting cards that will give you points and money during and at the end of the game. Each round six cards are flipped up for bidding. The start player places one of their meeples on a row above one of the cards and play continues clockwise until all meeples have been placed. Then each row is resolved from left to right. The player who played first in a row (closed to the card) can buy the card at a cost equal to the number of other meeples in the row. They can also opt to not buy the card and take their meeple back to their supply.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGnuuHr80PCcbzFEjB68pZaukAwidILWiC8Sw9wYnc1VXYCtKD7-byW8gUHqdl18s0iYARVnatsKVp28pBeCqDhUjVnKqrrm6pV17AOgSUemYvjcZVxpm3WLmn0k9_ogCjp7NIn5_UnjI/s1600/P1030184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGnuuHr80PCcbzFEjB68pZaukAwidILWiC8Sw9wYnc1VXYCtKD7-byW8gUHqdl18s0iYARVnatsKVp28pBeCqDhUjVnKqrrm6pV17AOgSUemYvjcZVxpm3WLmn0k9_ogCjp7NIn5_UnjI/s1600/P1030184.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angling for the best position</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_zB1Sv2papdFbAb9UT193JzZd0jrFXO3riScWSl2ypn3CkMufNzUnvOZdj-nx-nFKmWGlPsNRxJbqXzuN05vv9L3sz2pcfpOMvZHwwxHwGhjUAdUxh1isX7mEUldUKZvimijw0LHQDxN/s1600/P1030185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_zB1Sv2papdFbAb9UT193JzZd0jrFXO3riScWSl2ypn3CkMufNzUnvOZdj-nx-nFKmWGlPsNRxJbqXzuN05vv9L3sz2pcfpOMvZHwwxHwGhjUAdUxh1isX7mEUldUKZvimijw0LHQDxN/s1600/P1030185.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Some cards I collected</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgNqw-cgkTpiDh11P7YRij0Ar_muR9YS3v43xNaKZqomFIGO86rVc6eFK33yIunuqeDR9xn7NXcMqlNH_aK5WcOrnUgHjleFIHaGMVZrkHbGT1KGrGN1Vz_b6vceyr9h5EeL-y-vnahOO/s1600/P1030186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgNqw-cgkTpiDh11P7YRij0Ar_muR9YS3v43xNaKZqomFIGO86rVc6eFK33yIunuqeDR9xn7NXcMqlNH_aK5WcOrnUgHjleFIHaGMVZrkHbGT1KGrGN1Vz_b6vceyr9h5EeL-y-vnahOO/s1600/P1030186.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End game</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
This is a fun game where you're always wishing you had more money. It had a good balance of cards and had fun tension in players always wanting to buy more then they can afford. I really enjoyed the process of buying cards based on how many people and when people bid on different rows. This game is on the lighter side and fairly easy to teach. It plays relatively quickly and we all had a good time playing this one.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-25431605179492392842014-12-04T16:56:00.000-08:002014-12-04T16:56:30.583-08:00137) Russian Railroads<div>
There is so much going on during this game. Trying to even scratch the surface of the rules would be daunting, but more generally, you're placing your workers on a central board, which allows you to manipulate your own board. There are multiple tracks to focus on and you're going to want to try and do everything, but it would be wise to focus on a few to start.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuDNxNRvZcBLJhyphenhypheny3h81m9vqOIpUDlLcCQkBuMdO4YnnpBl2kO8CqHZXspgwoRgm2JYh10XKXJG766GZssHkdgtcynfug5Pw3LnII2etEkEl8Ps2hibZ2cQZHnzmAIZBd3lI99Bh_Zu9w/s1600/P1030176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuDNxNRvZcBLJhyphenhypheny3h81m9vqOIpUDlLcCQkBuMdO4YnnpBl2kO8CqHZXspgwoRgm2JYh10XKXJG766GZssHkdgtcynfug5Pw3LnII2etEkEl8Ps2hibZ2cQZHnzmAIZBd3lI99Bh_Zu9w/s1600/P1030176.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPXyPkQFomtKu2zr4Yqjbq_sX0ctPfB6dt7Nniy0ZdyJ9k29umn_STtVcPqF1OnowAlK8KElgs0p1u0vTchpVh22LdjNcKwF_N77W8wJ_HeJEte-OqI_kLrQ3chFTaZ8C5X46T8cfLsIOn/s1600/P1030177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPXyPkQFomtKu2zr4Yqjbq_sX0ctPfB6dt7Nniy0ZdyJ9k29umn_STtVcPqF1OnowAlK8KElgs0p1u0vTchpVh22LdjNcKwF_N77W8wJ_HeJEte-OqI_kLrQ3chFTaZ8C5X46T8cfLsIOn/s1600/P1030177.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worker placement</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguy-jYYaa9pNmZkFSYiL-pHWZqqviuQlAODSLKb-rmddlyH6pd60WJScWPNhQ9qzetdN9KkUfTCG8sBv0WLl59gOyk29EsbAlW5xrTqs3cyg_dLVoraFvn-zuGsEU8LDuLIVPTPlQRZrN0/s1600/P1030178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguy-jYYaa9pNmZkFSYiL-pHWZqqviuQlAODSLKb-rmddlyH6pd60WJScWPNhQ9qzetdN9KkUfTCG8sBv0WLl59gOyk29EsbAlW5xrTqs3cyg_dLVoraFvn-zuGsEU8LDuLIVPTPlQRZrN0/s1600/P1030178.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Personal player board</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7732K38Cx43z8ezJu9nqYdJNltXfeP37V1kUmECfAIk2Eqcw5fT9Gf6Kz5rynTXo3XBqyXrWSLY7nHLIwbXJ2DdFDzKSpbdTu2-zNRUBUvL8wDWYkKEQAuD7dF9LGM_DWCRm98L2dmhPX/s1600/P1030181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7732K38Cx43z8ezJu9nqYdJNltXfeP37V1kUmECfAIk2Eqcw5fT9Gf6Kz5rynTXo3XBqyXrWSLY7nHLIwbXJ2DdFDzKSpbdTu2-zNRUBUvL8wDWYkKEQAuD7dF9LGM_DWCRm98L2dmhPX/s1600/P1030181.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End of a 4-player game</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<br />
I do love everything this game has to offer. Games that make you want to do everything at once are great. They often force tough decisions and its rare that you're completely blocked from everything you want to do. This game is also complex enough where I feel like after my first play I've barely scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. I look forward to playing again and if you enjoy heavier euro games then this is one for you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-10563383594359147062014-12-03T17:18:00.001-08:002014-12-03T17:18:34.072-08:00136) Saint Petersburg<div>
In this game you're slowly building up your cards, which provide increasing amounts of points and money each round, thus allowing you to purchase more and more stuff. There's four different turns in each round which correspond to the different colored cards (green, blue, orange, rainbow). Each turn new cards of the appropriate color are turned face up, players have a chance to buy cards, and then (with the exception of the rainbow turn) each player is paid money and points depending on the cards of that color he/she owns.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0sOGFjX2CdiolQlypCjBnJz0D3Nuu4f43-n165db9uTSfu7wIH9jSVma6QdLtCNvbvDas6Chc6hLH8g-pLYW2nbB8mBNLjjjeUbN_Wsx_j2UyLw6c4Eido6mCqtY2U1Z6BDiHjauQMGk/s1600/P1030172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0sOGFjX2CdiolQlypCjBnJz0D3Nuu4f43-n165db9uTSfu7wIH9jSVma6QdLtCNvbvDas6Chc6hLH8g-pLYW2nbB8mBNLjjjeUbN_Wsx_j2UyLw6c4Eido6mCqtY2U1Z6BDiHjauQMGk/s1600/P1030172.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part way through the game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnNbKq9LHatJ1RTrmumwUoMg7lfKEXmL_E36eqVXpbi62EWcTYmvyOBF1a1zMjFFK9TIkHyz6VmaUWa6biJcJpLAIkFTrvQoPyYrC-2F0ffKsjxl-ruP8xmMlSPiJL3XyqCr92wRA5pdV/s1600/P1030173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnNbKq9LHatJ1RTrmumwUoMg7lfKEXmL_E36eqVXpbi62EWcTYmvyOBF1a1zMjFFK9TIkHyz6VmaUWa6biJcJpLAIkFTrvQoPyYrC-2F0ffKsjxl-ruP8xmMlSPiJL3XyqCr92wRA5pdV/s1600/P1030173.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up of my team<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkoVe3aJBiyUec58mST2h4DSI0kx90U22Xy519zNDClphc2GwJXAOLVKtuG1iFjfs7rwrtWNZW_Ki8AXG1dnI3Il3oE6Jbld9dpluBCUCS-FlzVzrmfLtjrwSAHF2CjIEOd0qF6Phj6dh/s1600/P1030175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkoVe3aJBiyUec58mST2h4DSI0kx90U22Xy519zNDClphc2GwJXAOLVKtuG1iFjfs7rwrtWNZW_Ki8AXG1dnI3Il3oE6Jbld9dpluBCUCS-FlzVzrmfLtjrwSAHF2CjIEOd0qF6Phj6dh/s1600/P1030175.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End of a 3-player game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<span id="goog_672337868"></span><span id="goog_672337869"></span>This game is really easy to learn and I really enjoyed playing when I first got it. Unfortunately, now I think there is only one strategy towards victory and whomever does that strategy best (or gets lucky on card flips) is going to win. Conversely, if one person doesn't do that strategy then more often then not the person directly after will easily win. I almost never pull this game out for play because of this. If you're sitting down with a group of people who have never played, then the first few games will be fun, but once someone figures out the winning strategy this game quickly loses its charm.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-78154377648316308902014-11-28T10:29:00.000-08:002014-11-28T10:29:12.903-08:00135) Lagoon: Land of the DruidsAn interesting tile building game where each tile with one of your workers on it grants you special abilities or actions. Each turn consists of you refreshing (flipping up) three of your workers. You then use workers to build new tiles, move to an adjacent tile, activate the ability on a tile you're on, or destroy a tile that you have a worker on. Using a worker causes them to flip face down and become inactive until the next turn. The goal of the game is to collect resources and destroyed tiles, which count for points at the end of the game. The trick is only certain resources or tiles are worth points based on which tile resource is most prevalent on the board at the end of the game.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsUkEgztK93t6xrm2FoJcQ_veSNs_k-pQhf8KyvYsiLsTv5dN8ie3IVuGnL4RPtsMwO4qYnv8JHt-aJfrO7a8KhtUmqdBbAV8A1oBix1mHjFpkLQ7U49NXuVcIjctD6r6CiLrynXdR-7u/s1600/P1030168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsUkEgztK93t6xrm2FoJcQ_veSNs_k-pQhf8KyvYsiLsTv5dN8ie3IVuGnL4RPtsMwO4qYnv8JHt-aJfrO7a8KhtUmqdBbAV8A1oBix1mHjFpkLQ7U49NXuVcIjctD6r6CiLrynXdR-7u/s1600/P1030168.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHFZbV6zRBiwoG2joVOyDnKFSphJt0_oHZmazxdpKpOO2Ypza_laTnC9fj55O8kUNdQG8Tznzp7MR3IOAxaDaY6T84MvWYzql3dLhfw3jak4iCFHuiBq7qpjgtHh4Lm1jjoADSJY_BKzK/s1600/P1030169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHFZbV6zRBiwoG2joVOyDnKFSphJt0_oHZmazxdpKpOO2Ypza_laTnC9fj55O8kUNdQG8Tznzp7MR3IOAxaDaY6T84MvWYzql3dLhfw3jak4iCFHuiBq7qpjgtHh4Lm1jjoADSJY_BKzK/s1600/P1030169.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mid-game tiles<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkB4waprM4inUw69WBrCIkYhQZ_xip26GjRg4A6_uGeOT0N8wmP6a3zqbBLxrE84Hdtb7v7Fyxdv4NVk5MxyWdkJyleKP6r6Y1X9dIihOBAZomfXmy-t0xYiYczxlDTOHzyVkxt7BQLJmL/s1600/P1030171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkB4waprM4inUw69WBrCIkYhQZ_xip26GjRg4A6_uGeOT0N8wmP6a3zqbBLxrE84Hdtb7v7Fyxdv4NVk5MxyWdkJyleKP6r6Y1X9dIihOBAZomfXmy-t0xYiYczxlDTOHzyVkxt7BQLJmL/s1600/P1030171.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End game board</span></span></span></td></tr>
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The potential for this game to be really awesome is there. The difficult part is figuring out how to make your pieces do what you want. Everyone playing felt very limited by the amount they could do. So often my pieces were in the wrong spot and there was just no way to move them to where I wanted. Each turn felt like an insurmountable struggle to get anything done. Part of that is learning how to play, but the more interesting part should be trying to solve the puzzles that each new combination of tiles presents. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it feels like once you figure that out this game will be really fun.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-69245899179848740732014-11-28T09:08:00.002-08:002014-11-28T10:30:33.394-08:00134) Valley of the KingsThis is a set collection game combined with the deck building mechanic. It plays very similar to dominion where each turn you have five cards in hand. Each card can be played for money or its special ability. You can buy cards from the bottom row of the pyramid (seen in picture two). The twist is that on each turn you can take a card from your hand and remove it from the game. This card will then be scored when the game ends. Some cards are worth a set amount of points, but most cards belong to a set of like colored cards and you get a lot more points for each additional card in the set that you collect.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgk6QIqBDa_jPd9m9BPMZQD0zBlGrOZrms4CWioJkHP59Qfw5no1wnENQJUV0VxfkSi85JnQWbWYJSGqEx5kL0UaSivSDPGxdRXznyTk4JU_TKPAVA7oMI5JpbJHMdk6UeItVg_1SLxZF/s1600/P1030162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgk6QIqBDa_jPd9m9BPMZQD0zBlGrOZrms4CWioJkHP59Qfw5no1wnENQJUV0VxfkSi85JnQWbWYJSGqEx5kL0UaSivSDPGxdRXznyTk4JU_TKPAVA7oMI5JpbJHMdk6UeItVg_1SLxZF/s1600/P1030162.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting up the game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTplqtdNL82W6WG8hLlDRSNnRT8XNZt78X1-H9GYRq6vv4J8-RArh_DRU7210D2ThWLGvFHY-g_pQS4qZaPjiKpZWwtrLUtB4pQjwOkhR_0ei24zf-kmHdPXLNSsGD9-ARZB35_NkkfyAR/s1600/P1030163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTplqtdNL82W6WG8hLlDRSNnRT8XNZt78X1-H9GYRq6vv4J8-RArh_DRU7210D2ThWLGvFHY-g_pQS4qZaPjiKpZWwtrLUtB4pQjwOkhR_0ei24zf-kmHdPXLNSsGD9-ARZB35_NkkfyAR/s1600/P1030163.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Available cards for purchase<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNqd0n6Ectb7f28ATS7yRUYQpbQbxYsN7tI5CasI_LdUD4uRELrd7VxIGyO746mYqZHOt-xFVdQex04WTAHSYlENXVq0P-AzQwypKgkD3Va44OSEHa-2AAQ_rtTXnpo_ZmexvfIeVotoM/s1600/P1030165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNqd0n6Ectb7f28ATS7yRUYQpbQbxYsN7tI5CasI_LdUD4uRELrd7VxIGyO746mYqZHOt-xFVdQex04WTAHSYlENXVq0P-AzQwypKgkD3Va44OSEHa-2AAQ_rtTXnpo_ZmexvfIeVotoM/s1600/P1030165.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hand<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xeqtQpAzi-ERK13lzV8-EgHLD6q1DNm-x-upLb1FPciqL1DEzxeDCzImFLIF8s1dY1s0srbPDd8cSpHG3DeMaq7ffigBxwkUtwhFqWKhI4BLizxetSAaS5EOpviOO1G0dYp-a9jVO-eP/s1600/P1030166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xeqtQpAzi-ERK13lzV8-EgHLD6q1DNm-x-upLb1FPciqL1DEzxeDCzImFLIF8s1dY1s0srbPDd8cSpHG3DeMaq7ffigBxwkUtwhFqWKhI4BLizxetSAaS5EOpviOO1G0dYp-a9jVO-eP/s1600/P1030166.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End game score</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<div>
This game felt a lot like a deck management game rather then a deck builder, which was a unique twist. The built in ability to remove a card from your deck every turn made for some interesting choices, especially in the first few turns when money is fairly tight. It did feel like some cards were overly powerful and could break the game, but after only one play its very difficult to know this for certain. The one annoying thing is that you're constantly shuffling your cards. My deck size remained around 10 cards the entire game and I was able to draw my entire deck most turns so I was constantly shuffling. Apart from that it was very fun and I would happily play this again.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-49345322816731665402014-11-16T20:30:00.001-08:002014-11-16T20:30:10.487-08:00133) RumisThis is a neat tetris style game. Initially a map is chosen and placed on a neat spinning center board. Then players take turns placing one of their pieces. The first three pieces placed must all be touching and each subsequent play a player must have the played piece touch one of their other pieces on the board. Additionally, no piece may go higher then the fifth row. Once all the pieces have been played you look down on the board and count up how many of each color is represented. The high score wins.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvaiT8Lhg0p2EGauzxe-oLe4sMKCYVd_9Us2g0zHRDzjOBNKooKRiblXJd9cnsNVH2plHXeekNwr-asFi3lXiZ02ui9xpTRJMzVjET4rxD7RLUCi9D-RKKNJPMO3hqng3MhggnLO9n6W-/s1600/P1030157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvaiT8Lhg0p2EGauzxe-oLe4sMKCYVd_9Us2g0zHRDzjOBNKooKRiblXJd9cnsNVH2plHXeekNwr-asFi3lXiZ02ui9xpTRJMzVjET4rxD7RLUCi9D-RKKNJPMO3hqng3MhggnLO9n6W-/s1600/P1030157.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcYrEOQbHhj69QZ8hpZt7nVKCmxPNQARJToz5P_shhJWO9u9Y9r2CzusSZubfNYdo8-JAhVS3tkZNy4jXN8c8UC0HChamT4SSwP2XJj3OzZmUsVhWVvzNfvVWR9ixL_Y1Rsuaeya24v4i/s1600/P1030158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcYrEOQbHhj69QZ8hpZt7nVKCmxPNQARJToz5P_shhJWO9u9Y9r2CzusSZubfNYdo8-JAhVS3tkZNy4jXN8c8UC0HChamT4SSwP2XJj3OzZmUsVhWVvzNfvVWR9ixL_Y1Rsuaeya24v4i/s1600/P1030158.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just getting going<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbWU3k8t5wbD99MJ9rwQijLj3KNav3Izdo7QE8Nt1AfQsCwRyEclntVoRrCC2rWZ4xbJqLrAU-b15_oJPId6jk6Z0wXrMiuitEmhdpcegu9w9lo9wZcnAbK0syROPs1Mph74jPTDH4rdv/s1600/P1030159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbWU3k8t5wbD99MJ9rwQijLj3KNav3Izdo7QE8Nt1AfQsCwRyEclntVoRrCC2rWZ4xbJqLrAU-b15_oJPId6jk6Z0wXrMiuitEmhdpcegu9w9lo9wZcnAbK0syROPs1Mph74jPTDH4rdv/s1600/P1030159.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To branch out low or build high?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGqH2mbTzC-L7mDsxmQpURfH7VZZFZJAsPeMZgTo4y9Xg_5vquOjaumPmuki9DPJliz5OU1_20rEZEyyricKy7qwSzpgOygXWRASujyXqE-OXHlSKStcH_0-VhKPnYVPWmLSSBDS51vSl/s1600/P1030160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGqH2mbTzC-L7mDsxmQpURfH7VZZFZJAsPeMZgTo4y9Xg_5vquOjaumPmuki9DPJliz5OU1_20rEZEyyricKy7qwSzpgOygXWRASujyXqE-OXHlSKStcH_0-VhKPnYVPWmLSSBDS51vSl/s1600/P1030160.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End game score</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<br /><div>
A great little game that we all enjoyed enough to play a second time. About half way through the first game a light bulb went off and I said "oh, this is an area control game". Then one of the other players said roughly 'so it is...now I see how to play.' I guess I shoulda kept my mouth shut until the end of the game. Despite the games simplicity there is a quite a bit of strategy. Trying to figure out the area control aspect is difficult. There is also a balance of trying to build to the top level and assure points as opposed to grabbing lower locations in the hope that everyone else runs out of time to cover your pieces. If you can find a copy of this I would recommend giving it a try.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-76104953715170596382014-11-16T20:11:00.001-08:002014-11-16T20:11:10.145-08:00132) Praetor<div>
An interesting game, which upon first glance appears to be amazing and everything I want in a game. In this game you're using your workers (dice) to gather resources and money by placing them on buildings. Additionally, you can purchase new buildings and build wall segments, again using your workers and the resources you've collected. Many of these actions result in points and whomever manages to get the most points by the end of the game wins.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6Xp9ODeg_4VkzP43JJHl6rekLXsPrO1ESJszIZ3sd5i1IifqH6YNbXwQJ5KV5SU1o5A5rDrz-VUSQpxSgTVPCC5UBfI4cTOLS3r0Oz0HNUFpBGwrYVQRDMLY7vLTKEf-erKIhl_tWirU/s1600/P1030151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6Xp9ODeg_4VkzP43JJHl6rekLXsPrO1ESJszIZ3sd5i1IifqH6YNbXwQJ5KV5SU1o5A5rDrz-VUSQpxSgTVPCC5UBfI4cTOLS3r0Oz0HNUFpBGwrYVQRDMLY7vLTKEf-erKIhl_tWirU/s1600/P1030151.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just starting our 3-player game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIIK6zwyn0OF4yOvz1_ddfW9FMPXS8JmD8RjoE5-qJn1umcDWmJAQIkOk2fgixnsB9FzdGWF3noFCM2Hwn8nEqtdQ1BWv1Ou_SiG1NVAIzYEWKPNfm8yArDRqdiTyFgoUoMG3_gGhTveh/s1600/P1030152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIIK6zwyn0OF4yOvz1_ddfW9FMPXS8JmD8RjoE5-qJn1umcDWmJAQIkOk2fgixnsB9FzdGWF3noFCM2Hwn8nEqtdQ1BWv1Ou_SiG1NVAIzYEWKPNfm8yArDRqdiTyFgoUoMG3_gGhTveh/s1600/P1030152.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building and activating buildings<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0jFEuycX7rR5eufl8ignwt_2LL9Z1iAXLk9x2nmrdM7uwEImIDJlOvzRzLWO7c7RtRSY5R4x3F1daNrO6jNxUhJK1Xk_2yl5RXiBo2__IWd7jVnCAGMmzNs4SFAQxymGJjNsInmnA52P/s1600/P1030153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0jFEuycX7rR5eufl8ignwt_2LL9Z1iAXLk9x2nmrdM7uwEImIDJlOvzRzLWO7c7RtRSY5R4x3F1daNrO6jNxUhJK1Xk_2yl5RXiBo2__IWd7jVnCAGMmzNs4SFAQxymGJjNsInmnA52P/s1600/P1030153.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Individual player board</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyjm0iCEOhr4Lpm2aIvgCKEz_OpN8v2eTMQ2hDKa3FKkIFfBPY0hyvL-QC2oTYW05cdra-D6mW6zIFDUxoW1pgWisDYXEQXsjhCatsVcf6bq3y69dcDuQzqmbTqom8eo1fi0bLCXs1MgM/s1600/P1030155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyjm0iCEOhr4Lpm2aIvgCKEz_OpN8v2eTMQ2hDKa3FKkIFfBPY0hyvL-QC2oTYW05cdra-D6mW6zIFDUxoW1pgWisDYXEQXsjhCatsVcf6bq3y69dcDuQzqmbTqom8eo1fi0bLCXs1MgM/s1600/P1030155.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End game buildings</td></tr>
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<br />
After playing, no one was sure exactly how they felt about the game. We loved the mechanics and what your actually trying to accomplish in the game. We really had questions about how balanced the game is. Since printing there have been some official rule changes due to broken or overpowered buildings, but this only adds to my questions of how easy it is to break this game. Without playing a few more times I'm not sure how to address this potentially huge issue. But what I can say is the thing I disliked the most about the game is that it reward players for being last to the extent that a strategy could be to do poorly for the first half of the game...ugh. The thing I liked the most about the game is that you never roll the dice. The dice are actually used to show the age/experience of your workers and eventually the end up retiring, which is a great mechanic. That said, the jury is still out on this game so approach at your own risk.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-20526025643773984002014-11-16T19:49:00.002-08:002014-11-16T19:51:39.623-08:00131) JengaWho doesn't love a good old game of Jenga. This is a classic game where you must remove one of the pieces from the stack and put it on top without knocking the tower over. Sounds simple enough.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedY6GKVVlJ9A8uXkfMjWv5dnMFAaXMyCk63LoanzOBXnzIieWd-nLALsKljfgBmg0wil-x6A0iAEH-hi0KfO8T1vmYY79GRA5eYeZYH_RIOPDmeRL-kYQQcRTjy_D2RmJ1mb1Fy2IRzxW/s1600/P1030146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedY6GKVVlJ9A8uXkfMjWv5dnMFAaXMyCk63LoanzOBXnzIieWd-nLALsKljfgBmg0wil-x6A0iAEH-hi0KfO8T1vmYY79GRA5eYeZYH_RIOPDmeRL-kYQQcRTjy_D2RmJ1mb1Fy2IRzxW/s1600/P1030146.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you find our error<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2DsBpBd1sLTxf1N-9ebRTGpeYNcrviGUyzR-nLAdIHwIRtO5bgq-kOkoDWUrfsC9SI0dds-ZoUY9kRw3FNPZtOcx3mJLgdA48cBOThoLzVgYhH6ITGqiHxoQXZsdnEhgNPxdQPL-hKSY/s1600/P1030147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2DsBpBd1sLTxf1N-9ebRTGpeYNcrviGUyzR-nLAdIHwIRtO5bgq-kOkoDWUrfsC9SI0dds-ZoUY9kRw3FNPZtOcx3mJLgdA48cBOThoLzVgYhH6ITGqiHxoQXZsdnEhgNPxdQPL-hKSY/s1600/P1030147.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting sketchy down there<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUR0PpksBz7nkJxe47cu26NNGt0vZ2Pd7uLjLfZ4MdxOqj14bzN5rnUZx-8wPjRIXVTySyu6RgPtv8YVy6eMAaoqTKQd1msii3DMiYjIAwOZgAIBJwEMIumEhMpyuUhyphenhyphenbM6nKG92i7SS9u/s1600/P1030148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUR0PpksBz7nkJxe47cu26NNGt0vZ2Pd7uLjLfZ4MdxOqj14bzN5rnUZx-8wPjRIXVTySyu6RgPtv8YVy6eMAaoqTKQd1msii3DMiYjIAwOZgAIBJwEMIumEhMpyuUhyphenhyphenbM6nKG92i7SS9u/s1600/P1030148.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Risky moves<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHR4fyHUJ-iWPznW0SFuH689iBjXtdiJ1AiB8fDCWMg6V8H7y1KIdV7gCx4K_LJ2J8oU1qW3RWTLrioKK2uYnt7AyF4jeiwECRiiOBtipwrwItcunihdjH8fKIxMMQ3b0Mf8Vsi438BcXT/s1600/P1030149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHR4fyHUJ-iWPznW0SFuH689iBjXtdiJ1AiB8fDCWMg6V8H7y1KIdV7gCx4K_LJ2J8oU1qW3RWTLrioKK2uYnt7AyF4jeiwECRiiOBtipwrwItcunihdjH8fKIxMMQ3b0Mf8Vsi438BcXT/s1600/P1030149.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The inevitable</td></tr>
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<br />
<div>
I had forgotten how much tension there is in this game. Each time your turn comes back around your heart sinks and then you try and figure out which piece is loose as the entire tower wobbles all over the place. Then when its not your turn you must remain perfectly still as one miss-movement could be the one that shakes the table and ends the game. Thankfully with high tension comes a high level of enjoyment.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-61875527327094563142014-11-16T19:39:00.002-08:002014-11-16T19:39:46.136-08:00130) New England<div>
In this game you're buying tiles to place on the board and cards that give you points and occasionally special abilities. Each round players select a turn order/price per item bought token in turn order. Then in order of highest token value to lowest players may purchase up to two items currently available for purchase (which each cost the value on their token). Once this is done the start player shifts and the market is reset.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWxlfSdeXSeH_hHl4W_Qaejh_aituOesBa6rdLFNSCkj9RDfYaEh3wLiYSLmojxJT_UlwUOERp9HnwvFZFQjNOo2d95cONuKZ9djvGq5ieI9a3Dlco_VR2DOx-5K5GguNRQkXL3tXy-c9/s1600/P1030139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWxlfSdeXSeH_hHl4W_Qaejh_aituOesBa6rdLFNSCkj9RDfYaEh3wLiYSLmojxJT_UlwUOERp9HnwvFZFQjNOo2d95cONuKZ9djvGq5ieI9a3Dlco_VR2DOx-5K5GguNRQkXL3tXy-c9/s1600/P1030139.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Initial placement<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHt-FoORrbXqojwe2mF8kivMMCf-ZlI7lvws97xnb0jzWZlhXaoy_PbmlQVlgiqA8pSvBF3yN1ffkNThhu2ewSza8FCQXrmmepsU0vQOjOmNT7PLldYk798XReAv2X_JI4zouf8xS_I-or/s1600/P1030141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHt-FoORrbXqojwe2mF8kivMMCf-ZlI7lvws97xnb0jzWZlhXaoy_PbmlQVlgiqA8pSvBF3yN1ffkNThhu2ewSza8FCQXrmmepsU0vQOjOmNT7PLldYk798XReAv2X_JI4zouf8xS_I-or/s1600/P1030141.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bits<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaPONlunezm1fj14b04ITk-qYaymvJjvu0M4MBuN4OVfgF_lm7BQBkdJ2S3JYcpbP94O_avVIuomvS6psL0TCjVSYG-ZzCDrKuJWQG5TCZMBi2qL8PbVQ7Oj7e3Fo1PEySQpxo8EI92TX/s1600/P1030143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaPONlunezm1fj14b04ITk-qYaymvJjvu0M4MBuN4OVfgF_lm7BQBkdJ2S3JYcpbP94O_avVIuomvS6psL0TCjVSYG-ZzCDrKuJWQG5TCZMBi2qL8PbVQ7Oj7e3Fo1PEySQpxo8EI92TX/s1600/P1030143.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My early game action<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnNv4JiZlfVT2INNXiIc2TJCGsWMxbKojGpEp2hw_zDwvaa2htvvLIIAdb4q7LGm1YFlZskkavHGEuJUlzreP-YzyizjrH6xbmu-o3f-f1BAOt1nGPcbXP4fJCtlgp1pyi5bf4NQGET3e/s1600/P1030144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnNv4JiZlfVT2INNXiIc2TJCGsWMxbKojGpEp2hw_zDwvaa2htvvLIIAdb4q7LGm1YFlZskkavHGEuJUlzreP-YzyizjrH6xbmu-o3f-f1BAOt1nGPcbXP4fJCtlgp1pyi5bf4NQGET3e/s1600/P1030144.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting down on their level<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1_mBy8WlsPJL6CUajJyd04aTS_w0ebaIQcF4MaX2h7YS-gjOtNyAi3nZrM4mDV8Ae4VKu8FVstKkS0EhzWMNaj7RbTD8gM591_iPUZO6GzF_yUBPx6459zKE_R5NZweVZdoQIOSIXuzJ/s1600/P1030145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1_mBy8WlsPJL6CUajJyd04aTS_w0ebaIQcF4MaX2h7YS-gjOtNyAi3nZrM4mDV8Ae4VKu8FVstKkS0EhzWMNaj7RbTD8gM591_iPUZO6GzF_yUBPx6459zKE_R5NZweVZdoQIOSIXuzJ/s1600/P1030145.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">End of our four player game</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<br /><div>
A fairly easy game to learn with a moderate level of strategy. It's perfect when you're in the mood for a lighter game although there are still meaningful decisions to be made throughout the game. A lot of the skill in this game comes in knowing when to spend your money, which directly relates to which turn order token you take. All in all a good game that I recommend playing, but do realize that (at least for me) this is a game I only pull out once every few months as it would get a bit boring if I played it more frequently.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-59703418025971926202014-11-09T11:27:00.000-08:002014-11-09T11:27:26.748-08:00129) Quilt Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In this game you're attempting to build the fanciest (and most expensive) quilt. If successful you'll win first place and collect lots of money. In order to do this a player collects cards which then allow them to buy quilt pieces (tiles). Once a certain number of tiles have been purchased players build and reveal their quilts for judging. This is repeated a few times and at the end of the game the player with the most money wins.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45biX1glWzhhEG5rUH9MPIpnUmRTCgz5hGsFeXa9W7JUPIKGpNHhvJbDK586qcr98tTmr61Lp-fzqeZPwxfda_szc-pWVUT5SgInqh-363OSHprr1SGoyqiF4J-FLJ754f8uB-toSkR_F/s1600/P1030134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45biX1glWzhhEG5rUH9MPIpnUmRTCgz5hGsFeXa9W7JUPIKGpNHhvJbDK586qcr98tTmr61Lp-fzqeZPwxfda_szc-pWVUT5SgInqh-363OSHprr1SGoyqiF4J-FLJ754f8uB-toSkR_F/s1600/P1030134.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting set up to start.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6VVJkAKXno1OZQHh0iuOLlWI5M13fm9bJmKYE8I6mibLvkDkNp_yhE6KQHcb_gEVHJhNYz5LHb47_6x5VTFxy-ih_xxZTMsIbQpnGne_lLTt9YGIzlKr5tU4ICvRiCaqeUVk65P74iNy/s1600/P1030135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6VVJkAKXno1OZQHh0iuOLlWI5M13fm9bJmKYE8I6mibLvkDkNp_yhE6KQHcb_gEVHJhNYz5LHb47_6x5VTFxy-ih_xxZTMsIbQpnGne_lLTt9YGIzlKr5tU4ICvRiCaqeUVk65P74iNy/s1600/P1030135.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just getting started</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdP6Q2YOhA4AXaruwkLOKV7rp2qsXCstRLXT3zEkSIn_BvDgM9rGKG8kpumOTcMyRes28WwK8Aj1GSJkxZWGTjWpjq0dy6BHaSJ5D7tITAc896PjbYOWcBcTksscytCwdcXe5TlLeACEyd/s1600/P1030136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdP6Q2YOhA4AXaruwkLOKV7rp2qsXCstRLXT3zEkSIn_BvDgM9rGKG8kpumOTcMyRes28WwK8Aj1GSJkxZWGTjWpjq0dy6BHaSJ5D7tITAc896PjbYOWcBcTksscytCwdcXe5TlLeACEyd/s1600/P1030136.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building quilts was never easier<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRlslg-FqpObLUVYGmM9CNSBSs_Bl-JPywIFX3oCw42RAHsPk7XgCvMpCpUpzpzXlV96U0pCvVROBSFIHD9JpkoVm2SN2Oz3-3RAOivm8bjZ0-WpnBLPoIE0TDKKxgEiYyWGe2x0aDBNH/s1600/P1030137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRlslg-FqpObLUVYGmM9CNSBSs_Bl-JPywIFX3oCw42RAHsPk7XgCvMpCpUpzpzXlV96U0pCvVROBSFIHD9JpkoVm2SN2Oz3-3RAOivm8bjZ0-WpnBLPoIE0TDKKxgEiYyWGe2x0aDBNH/s1600/P1030137.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the glory of a two player game</td></tr>
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I love the theme of this game, unfortunately the game itself falls a bit flat on multiple levels. First, the card draw mechanic makes you believe that having wild cards would be valuable as taking them is more expensive, but in reality card quantity is much more valuable. Second, it felt backwards that buying less valuable (2 point) quilt pieces was more valuable in points per card spent then the more expensive quilt pieces. Third, there is so much luck involved in which quilt piece you flip up next. It seems so unfair when one player buys tons of cheap tiles and the next player is stuck buying less efficient and more expensive tiles. And finally, the quilts you build are generally fairly ugly. Despite these tiles looking like they belong together in a certain way you are never rewarded for what your quilt actually looks like. The game only cares about if you have the correct color or shape and what the point value of the tiles is, not whether you're able to arrange them in a certain way or make a neat pattern.<div>
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I should note that we played this as a two player game and it may be a bit better with more players, but I think the above issues would carry through to more players and because of this I wouldn't recommend this game (which makes me sad because I so wanted this to be an awesome game).</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285312427769766444.post-51313329179052545592014-11-09T10:58:00.003-08:002014-11-09T10:58:22.686-08:00128) Cardline (animals)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is one of many timeline games, which range from history to pop culture to animals as seen below. Each version has you guessing the correct order for cards in your hand based on categories, in this case you could choose length (height), weight, or life span. On one side of the card the categories are hidden and thus you don't know the card values until you attempt to play the card. On your turn you get to play one card somewhere along the line of cards such that the chosen category fits in order from low to high. If you're correct you play the card. If incorrect you discard that card and draw a new one. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsx8uQbFQ9yx7zS_w7Lfd8DhcOFSaDFGb7TaGV-7XFRcP-ytAZ5sGHRnhbATkaI_mHl3HqcxV2UL42MLtQwhTnr_XR4m3rJRg5-64gKM1TwX1n0vKNiE2FncoZ_Mc23TO965naHvwFJvF/s1600/P1030130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsx8uQbFQ9yx7zS_w7Lfd8DhcOFSaDFGb7TaGV-7XFRcP-ytAZ5sGHRnhbATkaI_mHl3HqcxV2UL42MLtQwhTnr_XR4m3rJRg5-64gKM1TwX1n0vKNiE2FncoZ_Mc23TO965naHvwFJvF/s1600/P1030130.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comes in a nice tin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkFcoLolGQoJZD1zqU7Awk2b0TUNAw9cbk31233JZzRcfoNvgP2ogkPttLzVfIBsZ4oREyxftedCx7XU_3KSY1EIyqf0TktQxvLA7ISkXAbWdfHwkaL0ySgBF36kcKzRkHMRqzZ9-3AJJ/s1600/P1030132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkFcoLolGQoJZD1zqU7Awk2b0TUNAw9cbk31233JZzRcfoNvgP2ogkPttLzVfIBsZ4oREyxftedCx7XU_3KSY1EIyqf0TktQxvLA7ISkXAbWdfHwkaL0ySgBF36kcKzRkHMRqzZ9-3AJJ/s1600/P1030132.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Correctly played cards</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uMAthzEKBD3FyDnzS2KKA-lfnOczi_l7NqGlHKwDiOzhYBGu4AogYF5DaE6xbVi7LpFQhx7H7GFxxxlYVswqwwVTqIBZ5C8O3Fayy3kZ65irrCtNKdhmCyDogyG9g91ASMomAsKJJonp/s1600/P1030131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uMAthzEKBD3FyDnzS2KKA-lfnOczi_l7NqGlHKwDiOzhYBGu4AogYF5DaE6xbVi7LpFQhx7H7GFxxxlYVswqwwVTqIBZ5C8O3Fayy3kZ65irrCtNKdhmCyDogyG9g91ASMomAsKJJonp/s1600/P1030131.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tuna is longer then me?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpz6Rnd5103mp9MFECtpHdLQVb4KBGmfDurShhy59i7sFcE3maisL72e54Cj-MQPdCt8xLChJ8rsKfQZLMcCJHeNXRp99GQt1Zw-J0rDJk1_Az79ZYxPmQK91jgaA8RJlRWLr2yKWvyOvI/s1600/P1030133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpz6Rnd5103mp9MFECtpHdLQVb4KBGmfDurShhy59i7sFcE3maisL72e54Cj-MQPdCt8xLChJ8rsKfQZLMcCJHeNXRp99GQt1Zw-J0rDJk1_Az79ZYxPmQK91jgaA8RJlRWLr2yKWvyOvI/s1600/P1030133.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pelican is longer then a gazelle. Hmm.</td></tr>
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This is a fun game that can sometimes surprise you as seen in the two bottom pictures. It's a light game that acts as a good starter game. It's easy to learn and everyone is involved and interested in each other players turn. I would certainly recommend this game (or others in the series, although I haven't played them).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0