Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
New Game in development and getting old
I'm working on a new space conquest game. It'll be a card driven war game of sorts. It's basically red vs blue across the galaxy.
I've been working on the board for a few days and it's really sweet. The boards background is a huge space shot showing galaxies and star systems, with play areas and tracks overlayed on top. It's the background however that makes it pop out.
The mechanics are not too original, they are a variation of some well know mechanisms but are enough different to make the game play differently.
I'm putting the most effort into the rules. I'm only doing a few minutes per night on it and thats really frustrating as I want to get this done and pushed out into the world. I'm taking it easy because I don't want to burn myself out on it. The rules will include examples of play and diagrams and each of those will take time to produce, so I'm going slowly and hopefully surely.
Once the rules are complete I have still more to do. there are 50+ cards and each has to have some unique flavour text and I know thats going to drain my creative juices so I must rush. I guess that's just part of getting older. :)
I've been working on the board for a few days and it's really sweet. The boards background is a huge space shot showing galaxies and star systems, with play areas and tracks overlayed on top. It's the background however that makes it pop out.
The mechanics are not too original, they are a variation of some well know mechanisms but are enough different to make the game play differently.
I'm putting the most effort into the rules. I'm only doing a few minutes per night on it and thats really frustrating as I want to get this done and pushed out into the world. I'm taking it easy because I don't want to burn myself out on it. The rules will include examples of play and diagrams and each of those will take time to produce, so I'm going slowly and hopefully surely.
Once the rules are complete I have still more to do. there are 50+ cards and each has to have some unique flavour text and I know thats going to drain my creative juices so I must rush. I guess that's just part of getting older. :)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Dune Express Dice
A while back I put together a game called Dune Express which I blogged about at the time. It's a dice game but does not use standard dice. Each of the dice was a special die with strange and mysterious values on each side.
I was delighted to find very clever and arty peole volunteer to create artwork for both the games board and for all of those special dice faces.
Furthermore I then had the good fortune to fall in with a chap who has a laser engraver which he uses to produce wooden Piecepacks. One small fee later and I had the dice engraved and dispatched you can see pictures of them here.
So I printed one of the boards produced by the "Crafty" chaps and kapow! A professional looking game of my own design.
I'm really happy with the dice and the board, and so thankful to all ofthe people who've applied their craft and imagination to produce such excellent dice, boards and even rules variants. I'm proud to be a member of the BoardGameGeek community [sniff].
I was delighted to find very clever and arty peole volunteer to create artwork for both the games board and for all of those special dice faces.
Furthermore I then had the good fortune to fall in with a chap who has a laser engraver which he uses to produce wooden Piecepacks. One small fee later and I had the dice engraved and dispatched you can see pictures of them here.
So I printed one of the boards produced by the "Crafty" chaps and kapow! A professional looking game of my own design.
I'm really happy with the dice and the board, and so thankful to all ofthe people who've applied their craft and imagination to produce such excellent dice, boards and even rules variants. I'm proud to be a member of the BoardGameGeek community [sniff].
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Memoir ''44 Eastern Front - session report
The Suomussalmi battle is a very interesting scenario, there aren't the usual two sides of the board. Both sides have forces in the opposite side of the board as well as their own. Additionally the AirPower card is played as a Barrage in this scenario.
The oddities do not end there! The battle is between the Finns and the Russians, and half of the Finnish forces are ski troops this means they can move three and battle but do suffer from a maximum range of two.
Of course the Russians are also playing with their own special rules that mean they have to select a card to play a turn ahead.
A lot of variables there. It's also a very bloody battle with victory being reached at 6 medals or by the Finnish troops occupying the central multi hex town. The immediate win is obviously an attractive goal, However in this case it does feel near impossible. For the Finns to win that type of victory they have to take over three of the town hexes, fair enough, however the town in garrisoned by 6 infantry units and an artillery unit all of them in town with sandbags or in a bunker!
I played this with my son the other day and he choose to go for the immediate victory but he lost because that central block of russians is very tough and well entrenched.
The session I'm going to talk about is where I played the Finnish against his Russians.
I decided to bypass that central knot of Russians for as long a possible and to rather nibble around the edges.
On my right flank there was an infantry and a tank unit well in advance so I decided to take them on first. I moved my right most finish troops into the woods and that just put them in range of the Russians. The opening salvo just pushed the tanks back.
My son new his strengths and used his guns to return fire and I took damage from that.
On my left flank I advanced my guns, as they start on the back line and out of range. I also used the infanty on that side to take some long range shots at the russians on their own baseline.
My son's brown horde came out for blood. His right flank moved forwards opening a gap for the tanks to shoot through, he put some damage into the sandbagged troops on that side.
On the centre I advanced my left ski troops forwards into the woods to support the left flank and moved the ski troops on the right up onto the hill where they could start attacking the russians who were most advanced. Again I pushed them back rather than eliminating them.
My son now embarked on using his guns almost every turn and when every possible sniping long range at my Ski troops who could not reply due to their shorter range. I was now being wittled down.
In my next turn I barraged his guns but only got a single hit. I wasn't able to hit them again during the rest of the game.
On the russian right they pounded my sanbagged troops and forced one of them to retreat thereby losing the entrenchment.
On my right I once again pounded on the lonely tanks and infantry knocking them both for troops and getting another retreat.
The Russian guns pounded my right flank seriously reducing the ski troops in the woods.
On my left I moved my ski troops on the enemies base line north to close the gap in the line and took some shots at the russian infantry over there and started scoring some serious hits.
I lost some ski troop from the center and yet again took damage from the guns on my right.
In a last gasp type situation I moved my ski troops all with only a single troop each, forwards out of the woods and close assaulted the remaing tanks and infantry. I killed the last tank and forced the infantry to retreat onto the frozen river where they fell through the ice.
The russians took full advantage of my advancing into the opening and took out one of the units on my right and killed off another on the left for a close 6-5 win.
Over all I really enjoyed this scenario. At first it looks like an easy Russian victory but in truth the scenario is really very well balanced and a great deal of fun.
The oddities do not end there! The battle is between the Finns and the Russians, and half of the Finnish forces are ski troops this means they can move three and battle but do suffer from a maximum range of two.
Of course the Russians are also playing with their own special rules that mean they have to select a card to play a turn ahead.
A lot of variables there. It's also a very bloody battle with victory being reached at 6 medals or by the Finnish troops occupying the central multi hex town. The immediate win is obviously an attractive goal, However in this case it does feel near impossible. For the Finns to win that type of victory they have to take over three of the town hexes, fair enough, however the town in garrisoned by 6 infantry units and an artillery unit all of them in town with sandbags or in a bunker!
I played this with my son the other day and he choose to go for the immediate victory but he lost because that central block of russians is very tough and well entrenched.
The session I'm going to talk about is where I played the Finnish against his Russians.
I decided to bypass that central knot of Russians for as long a possible and to rather nibble around the edges.
On my right flank there was an infantry and a tank unit well in advance so I decided to take them on first. I moved my right most finish troops into the woods and that just put them in range of the Russians. The opening salvo just pushed the tanks back.
My son new his strengths and used his guns to return fire and I took damage from that.
On my left flank I advanced my guns, as they start on the back line and out of range. I also used the infanty on that side to take some long range shots at the russians on their own baseline.
My son's brown horde came out for blood. His right flank moved forwards opening a gap for the tanks to shoot through, he put some damage into the sandbagged troops on that side.
On the centre I advanced my left ski troops forwards into the woods to support the left flank and moved the ski troops on the right up onto the hill where they could start attacking the russians who were most advanced. Again I pushed them back rather than eliminating them.
My son now embarked on using his guns almost every turn and when every possible sniping long range at my Ski troops who could not reply due to their shorter range. I was now being wittled down.
In my next turn I barraged his guns but only got a single hit. I wasn't able to hit them again during the rest of the game.
On the russian right they pounded my sanbagged troops and forced one of them to retreat thereby losing the entrenchment.
On my right I once again pounded on the lonely tanks and infantry knocking them both for troops and getting another retreat.
The Russian guns pounded my right flank seriously reducing the ski troops in the woods.
On my left I moved my ski troops on the enemies base line north to close the gap in the line and took some shots at the russian infantry over there and started scoring some serious hits.
I lost some ski troop from the center and yet again took damage from the guns on my right.
In a last gasp type situation I moved my ski troops all with only a single troop each, forwards out of the woods and close assaulted the remaing tanks and infantry. I killed the last tank and forced the infantry to retreat onto the frozen river where they fell through the ice.
The russians took full advantage of my advancing into the opening and took out one of the units on my right and killed off another on the left for a close 6-5 win.
Over all I really enjoyed this scenario. At first it looks like an easy Russian victory but in truth the scenario is really very well balanced and a great deal of fun.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Around the World in 80 Days, review
I've just played my way through a solo, virtual 3 player, game of Around the World in 80 Days.
Background
The game is inspired by the Jules Verne novel of the same name. Each player takes the part of a person racing around the world, attempting to complete the journey in 80 days or less.
Objective
Be the person who gets around the world in the least number of days. It's not actually required to do it in less than 80.
The Board
Around the edge runs the score track from 0 to 80 which scores the number of days taken to travel the journey.
Across the middle of the board are 10 spaces scattered across the world, your piece will travel along these 10 spaces. Between each space it indicates the mode of transport that has to be used to move from space to space. Each location also has two bonus chip spaces.
The Bits
There is a heavy start player counter showing a stopwatch. Each player has a wooden meeple and a matching score token. They also get a coloured chit that the player keeps in front of them until they get around the world.
There are some bery thick card coins that you'll earn.
A standard wooden die.
Two decks of cards. The first bigger deck shows trains and ships in various denominations.
The second deck is the event deck, each card is either an event or a bonus to the player that draws it.
There are also small but thick cardboard bonus counters that get put on the board next to the locations.
Finally there is a detective meeple.
Set Up
Shuffle the decks. Deal three travel cards to each player, put the detective on his start space, pick a start player and your good to go.
Playing
The start player draws and lays out 1 more travel card than players against the boards action track.
Then players take turns. On your turn you take one of the cards layed out by the start player. You also get to carry out the action associated with the card you took. one lets you get a coin, another lets you use a balloon on your turn, another makes you draw an event card, another lets you move the detective, another lets you be the start player next turn and the last lets you discard and replace cards from your hand.
Then you can play cards from your hand to travel to the next location.
Is that it?
No, not really. There are a lot of things to consider when you step through your turn.
The trave cards come in various denomination. A train card of value 4 costs you four days to play it, so picking lower value cards is better than picking higher value cards. But that's not your only decision when picking a card. The action you get to choose when you pick a card is very important.
For instance when you take the Detective action you get to place it anywhere. Any player who ends their turn in the same space as the detective loses two days so zapping the other players with this is very important.
The Balloon action is an important selection. When you take this action you can ignore one of the cards you play to move and instead roll the die to see how many days the trip takes. Additionally if roll high you can spend a coin to reroll that die, so picking the coin action is also important.
The event option is generally a good option as events usually give you a good thing.
Also choosing to be the start player this turn means you get to choose from all of the cards next turn.
Now choosing when to move from one space to the next is also important. Not only do you have the choice to not move and collect cards, but the first and last player to each location get to reveal one of the bonus chips in that location. These give you bonus and often your opponents penalties.
Being the first to get round the world has it's own appeal even if it takes you longer because after someone gets to the goal every other player who hasn't made it yet loses a day every turn.
There are a lot of decisions here. Everything matters. Being first has bonus', being last has bonus' waiting for good cards is important, but not waiting too lonmg is also important!
Opinion
I really liked what I found here, the components are very nice, the game play keeps you interested, the ability to stuff your opponents is fun and the theme is very friendly. of course anyone who remembers the novel is going to get a kick out of the events and game theme.
I like it!
Background
The game is inspired by the Jules Verne novel of the same name. Each player takes the part of a person racing around the world, attempting to complete the journey in 80 days or less.
Objective
Be the person who gets around the world in the least number of days. It's not actually required to do it in less than 80.
The Board
Around the edge runs the score track from 0 to 80 which scores the number of days taken to travel the journey.
Across the middle of the board are 10 spaces scattered across the world, your piece will travel along these 10 spaces. Between each space it indicates the mode of transport that has to be used to move from space to space. Each location also has two bonus chip spaces.
The Bits
There is a heavy start player counter showing a stopwatch. Each player has a wooden meeple and a matching score token. They also get a coloured chit that the player keeps in front of them until they get around the world.
There are some bery thick card coins that you'll earn.
A standard wooden die.
Two decks of cards. The first bigger deck shows trains and ships in various denominations.
The second deck is the event deck, each card is either an event or a bonus to the player that draws it.
There are also small but thick cardboard bonus counters that get put on the board next to the locations.
Finally there is a detective meeple.
Set Up
Shuffle the decks. Deal three travel cards to each player, put the detective on his start space, pick a start player and your good to go.
Playing
The start player draws and lays out 1 more travel card than players against the boards action track.
Then players take turns. On your turn you take one of the cards layed out by the start player. You also get to carry out the action associated with the card you took. one lets you get a coin, another lets you use a balloon on your turn, another makes you draw an event card, another lets you move the detective, another lets you be the start player next turn and the last lets you discard and replace cards from your hand.
Then you can play cards from your hand to travel to the next location.
Is that it?
No, not really. There are a lot of things to consider when you step through your turn.
The trave cards come in various denomination. A train card of value 4 costs you four days to play it, so picking lower value cards is better than picking higher value cards. But that's not your only decision when picking a card. The action you get to choose when you pick a card is very important.
For instance when you take the Detective action you get to place it anywhere. Any player who ends their turn in the same space as the detective loses two days so zapping the other players with this is very important.
The Balloon action is an important selection. When you take this action you can ignore one of the cards you play to move and instead roll the die to see how many days the trip takes. Additionally if roll high you can spend a coin to reroll that die, so picking the coin action is also important.
The event option is generally a good option as events usually give you a good thing.
Also choosing to be the start player this turn means you get to choose from all of the cards next turn.
Now choosing when to move from one space to the next is also important. Not only do you have the choice to not move and collect cards, but the first and last player to each location get to reveal one of the bonus chips in that location. These give you bonus and often your opponents penalties.
Being the first to get round the world has it's own appeal even if it takes you longer because after someone gets to the goal every other player who hasn't made it yet loses a day every turn.
There are a lot of decisions here. Everything matters. Being first has bonus', being last has bonus' waiting for good cards is important, but not waiting too lonmg is also important!
Opinion
I really liked what I found here, the components are very nice, the game play keeps you interested, the ability to stuff your opponents is fun and the theme is very friendly. of course anyone who remembers the novel is going to get a kick out of the events and game theme.
I like it!
Friday, June 05, 2009
I'm an Ass!
Ticket to Ride is a game I've been wanting to get my hands on for the longest time and I finally had it delivered a couple of weeks ago. I played it with the family and it went down okay.
I took it to work this week to play with the guys at lunchtime.
I ran through the explanation and then after a few turns I remembered the longest route rule and told the guys that I'd forgotten it and told them about it. I don't know why that worked them up, but for some reason that seemed to turn the three of them against me and for the rest of the game they were working together to block me at every turn. I got peeved.
Then yesterday we played again. I found them blocking me again. I got really peeved. Were they really blocking me or just completing their routes? They say they weren't blocking me. It didn't feel like it to me at the time. So, you're thinking, what did I do. Let me tell you. I got angry AND peeved, acted like a jack ass and gave it attitude, became sullen and sarcastic.
Now was that any way to behave when you're playing a game? No! I'm such an ass. I'm ashamed. I have to ask myself why I'm playing when I'm going to act like that. They didn't deserve that kind of treatment, I had NO REASON and NO EXCUSE to behave like that.
Sorry Mark. Sorry Gareth.
I took it to work this week to play with the guys at lunchtime.
I ran through the explanation and then after a few turns I remembered the longest route rule and told the guys that I'd forgotten it and told them about it. I don't know why that worked them up, but for some reason that seemed to turn the three of them against me and for the rest of the game they were working together to block me at every turn. I got peeved.
Then yesterday we played again. I found them blocking me again. I got really peeved. Were they really blocking me or just completing their routes? They say they weren't blocking me. It didn't feel like it to me at the time. So, you're thinking, what did I do. Let me tell you. I got angry AND peeved, acted like a jack ass and gave it attitude, became sullen and sarcastic.
Now was that any way to behave when you're playing a game? No! I'm such an ass. I'm ashamed. I have to ask myself why I'm playing when I'm going to act like that. They didn't deserve that kind of treatment, I had NO REASON and NO EXCUSE to behave like that.
Sorry Mark. Sorry Gareth.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
DUNE express, upgrade
I've just upgraded the download file for my game design "DUNE express". This has been my gaming project for the weekend.
The game has turned out to be huge success with hundereds of people visiting tha games home page every day since it was released. Fans of the game have created alternate boards and dice and even come up with new rules and alternate rules set.
This fan work inspired me to take another look at the game and start tinkering. I tried a few things then happened on the idea to add some tokens to the game.
In the original game three faces of the Traitor die had no effect. In this new versin those three faces come into effect.
I've added three tokens , one per face of the die that previously did nothing. These new tokens are kept by the player and last from turn to turn. Each one may be discarded to ignore the effects of the Traitor die rolled by another player.
This new feature gives the players something else to consider when rolling dice and may appeal to the players if they are the defensive sort. These also give the aggresive player somthing to consider when choosing a target.
The game has turned out to be huge success with hundereds of people visiting tha games home page every day since it was released. Fans of the game have created alternate boards and dice and even come up with new rules and alternate rules set.
This fan work inspired me to take another look at the game and start tinkering. I tried a few things then happened on the idea to add some tokens to the game.
In the original game three faces of the Traitor die had no effect. In this new versin those three faces come into effect.
I've added three tokens , one per face of the die that previously did nothing. These new tokens are kept by the player and last from turn to turn. Each one may be discarded to ignore the effects of the Traitor die rolled by another player.
This new feature gives the players something else to consider when rolling dice and may appeal to the players if they are the defensive sort. These also give the aggresive player somthing to consider when choosing a target.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
First play of Bohnanza
I've just finished playing my first game of Bohnanza, a 1997 card game for 2 to 7 players.
There were three of us playing and it was the first time for all of us. Considering that, it was a smooth transition into play. I started the session by explaining the rules. It was quite interesting to watch the family's eyes glazing over.
I don't think I was explaining badly it was just a little too much for them. I gave up explaining and instead played through one turn as the starting player. Of course even that didn't really explain everything as the trading aspect doesn't make sense to a player until they've got some beans on the table. So my first turn was planting a bean and then keeping the two cards that come up for auction.
My son took the second turn and when he drew the two cards I offered to trade cards that would add to his fields even though the cards I was trading for did me no good. That was the main hurdle and everyone could see the benefits at that point.
So play went round the table for a few turns and I made a comment about trading cards just to clear them out of my hand so I could play the cards I wanted to on my turn. This seemed to ring a bell and the trading stepped up a notch.
During one trade on my wifes turn she was asking for a Red Bean which was going to give her a score. I looked at the cards in my hand and offered her a Red Bean, but only if she also took two duff cards I didn't want that she didn't want either. She took them. I was well happy with the trade.
My son was collecting the bigger sets of cards. He was collecting Coffee Beans for the longest time and was trying to maximise the number of coins he collected. On the oter hand I was taking coins at every opportunity except on two occasions where I spent some time collecting Chillie Beans and Garden Beans, ut these were the exceptions.
My wife was doing a mixture of collecting big runs such as Coffee Beans and Blue Beans and doing some give away trades to complete the sets.
The game played on... and on... the game box says the game runs 45 minutes, for us it went on a good deal longer, but I can put that down to it being the first play. the rules say, you play through the deck three times, which we did, but it seemed a bit long for them. I think that in our next play we'll try going through the deck just twice.
I was very pleased to find that the down time in the game is minimal as you can get involved in trades during other players turns.
The final score left us with some very close scores, My son hit 22 while my wife and I both scored 23. This is a game we will be playing again.
There were three of us playing and it was the first time for all of us. Considering that, it was a smooth transition into play. I started the session by explaining the rules. It was quite interesting to watch the family's eyes glazing over.
I don't think I was explaining badly it was just a little too much for them. I gave up explaining and instead played through one turn as the starting player. Of course even that didn't really explain everything as the trading aspect doesn't make sense to a player until they've got some beans on the table. So my first turn was planting a bean and then keeping the two cards that come up for auction.
My son took the second turn and when he drew the two cards I offered to trade cards that would add to his fields even though the cards I was trading for did me no good. That was the main hurdle and everyone could see the benefits at that point.
So play went round the table for a few turns and I made a comment about trading cards just to clear them out of my hand so I could play the cards I wanted to on my turn. This seemed to ring a bell and the trading stepped up a notch.
During one trade on my wifes turn she was asking for a Red Bean which was going to give her a score. I looked at the cards in my hand and offered her a Red Bean, but only if she also took two duff cards I didn't want that she didn't want either. She took them. I was well happy with the trade.
My son was collecting the bigger sets of cards. He was collecting Coffee Beans for the longest time and was trying to maximise the number of coins he collected. On the oter hand I was taking coins at every opportunity except on two occasions where I spent some time collecting Chillie Beans and Garden Beans, ut these were the exceptions.
My wife was doing a mixture of collecting big runs such as Coffee Beans and Blue Beans and doing some give away trades to complete the sets.
The game played on... and on... the game box says the game runs 45 minutes, for us it went on a good deal longer, but I can put that down to it being the first play. the rules say, you play through the deck three times, which we did, but it seemed a bit long for them. I think that in our next play we'll try going through the deck just twice.
I was very pleased to find that the down time in the game is minimal as you can get involved in trades during other players turns.
The final score left us with some very close scores, My son hit 22 while my wife and I both scored 23. This is a game we will be playing again.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Red November
I recently received Red November and yesterday finally got around to playing a solo game to learn the rules.
It took me an age to get the game set up. First I had to read the rules until I got to the Setting up section, that was fine but for some reason I felt like it was taking ages to get the bits set up. The main problem was sorting out the Captains grog which meant I was sorting through the most numerous components. Maybe I was tired, but it just seemed like ages.
The basics of the game were straight forward and within a few minutes I was getting the hang of it. The three Gnomes I was running, were zooming up and down the sub and managing to control the oncoming disasters.
It seems that the game basic are easily grasped, however... there are a lot of fiddely bits. A lot of what if's. A lot of Can I do's. The rules lack an FAQ which in my opinion it is sorely in need of. When you read the text in the rulebook you can find most of the answers but they are buried in places you wouldn't look. For instance you might have a question about fire but the answer is buried in the section about water. The rules aren't long but they are as I said, fiddely.
I think a couple more plays and I'll be breezing through the game without the constant references and look-ups, but its a shame. The game looks so sweet and cute that you also want it to be easy to get into it, but alas it is not so. I bought the game hoping to play with the family, but this level of complexity means that I'm going to have to REALLY LEARN the rules. The "family" does not have patients for rules look-ups.
When I get my head around the rules and a couple of family games done I'll post a review.
It took me an age to get the game set up. First I had to read the rules until I got to the Setting up section, that was fine but for some reason I felt like it was taking ages to get the bits set up. The main problem was sorting out the Captains grog which meant I was sorting through the most numerous components. Maybe I was tired, but it just seemed like ages.
The basics of the game were straight forward and within a few minutes I was getting the hang of it. The three Gnomes I was running, were zooming up and down the sub and managing to control the oncoming disasters.
It seems that the game basic are easily grasped, however... there are a lot of fiddely bits. A lot of what if's. A lot of Can I do's. The rules lack an FAQ which in my opinion it is sorely in need of. When you read the text in the rulebook you can find most of the answers but they are buried in places you wouldn't look. For instance you might have a question about fire but the answer is buried in the section about water. The rules aren't long but they are as I said, fiddely.
I think a couple more plays and I'll be breezing through the game without the constant references and look-ups, but its a shame. The game looks so sweet and cute that you also want it to be easy to get into it, but alas it is not so. I bought the game hoping to play with the family, but this level of complexity means that I'm going to have to REALLY LEARN the rules. The "family" does not have patients for rules look-ups.
When I get my head around the rules and a couple of family games done I'll post a review.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Catching up
Yesterday I got a big box of games delivered. It's the first time I've ever had more than one game delivered at a time and yes, it was just like Christmas in May!
What did I get? Is it all of the latest faddy games, the latest hot numbers from the continent? Nope.
It's kind of a catching up delivery, where I get to catch up with the game world for a while. Nothing new here ( well, except maybe one ). I ordered some cool stuff.
Bohnanza : A card game about bean farming. A classic by all accounts and the bean graphics appealed to me.
Lost Cities : Another classic, I'm hoping to get this to the table for me and my wife.
Red November : The newest of the bunch, it's such a silly theme that I'm hoping that the family will enjoy playing. Fingers crossed.
Ticket to Ride : What can I say, I've played this online and loved it. I've been desperately wanting this for years!
Around the World in 80 Days : I loved the book and the simplicity of play looked rather like Ticket to Ride, so I'm hoping it will rub the same itch.
Zooloretto : It has a cute panda on the box, how can it not be great. A flippin PANDA!
Memoir '44 : I already own M44, but this is a second copy. I'm hoping to try the Overlord scenarios now. Additionally I often play the game at work so having one copy there and one at home should make my life easier. The game gets heavy after cycling to work 10 miles!
M44 Air Pack : I need to have more M44!
M44 Eastern Front : I need to have more M44.
So now I've a good few weeks of gaming to wallow in, and I'm soooo looking forward to it. ;)
I ordered the games from Green Knight Games here in the UK and had very prompt delivery, I'm yet again very happy with their service.
What did I get? Is it all of the latest faddy games, the latest hot numbers from the continent? Nope.
It's kind of a catching up delivery, where I get to catch up with the game world for a while. Nothing new here ( well, except maybe one ). I ordered some cool stuff.
Bohnanza : A card game about bean farming. A classic by all accounts and the bean graphics appealed to me.
Lost Cities : Another classic, I'm hoping to get this to the table for me and my wife.
Red November : The newest of the bunch, it's such a silly theme that I'm hoping that the family will enjoy playing. Fingers crossed.
Ticket to Ride : What can I say, I've played this online and loved it. I've been desperately wanting this for years!
Around the World in 80 Days : I loved the book and the simplicity of play looked rather like Ticket to Ride, so I'm hoping it will rub the same itch.
Zooloretto : It has a cute panda on the box, how can it not be great. A flippin PANDA!
Memoir '44 : I already own M44, but this is a second copy. I'm hoping to try the Overlord scenarios now. Additionally I often play the game at work so having one copy there and one at home should make my life easier. The game gets heavy after cycling to work 10 miles!
M44 Air Pack : I need to have more M44!
M44 Eastern Front : I need to have more M44.
So now I've a good few weeks of gaming to wallow in, and I'm soooo looking forward to it. ;)
I ordered the games from Green Knight Games here in the UK and had very prompt delivery, I'm yet again very happy with their service.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
DUNE express
Two things have come together in my latest free print and play game release.
The first thing is that I've played Monopoly Express from Hasbro.
The second thing is that I'm having trouble getting people together to play DUNE.
So I came round to creating "DUNE express". This takes the Dune premise of taking control of a majority of the habital regions of Arrakis and devolves it down to a simple dice game.
It's not just dice however, these are special dice, and its not just rolling, you have to make decisions with every roll. It's for 2 - 5 players but probably best with 3 or 4.
You have 4 faction dice. These have one face per faction and forgive my spelling these being , Spacing Guide, Atredies, Corrino, Harkonnen, Bene Gesseret and Fremen.
You also have a traitor die, that has six side but only three count, these being, Hunter Seeker, Poison and Crysknife.
There is also a location die that names Arakeen, Carthag and the Sietches.
Finally there is tha Spice die giving numbers 1 to 5 and of course Shia Hulud.
There is also a map which has the Polar Sink at its centre and the 5 other regions surrounding it.
On your turn you roll the dice and then have to accept the result on at least one. The dice you didn't accept you can reroll, but each time you reroll you must accept at least one die from the result.
When you roll your faction that counts as a set of troops. The Spice allows you to move troops onto the map and from the Polar Sink. The traitor die allows you to remove an opponents troop for the board. THe location dictate which of the locations you can move troops to. So each die has a meaning when you roll and you have to decide to accept or reroll.
This gets you into situations when you just cant get the location or the amount of spice that you need so you reroll in but each reroll give you less options.
You need to move troops into three of the locations and be in sole possesion of those three locations to win. Fighting is simple elimination of equal numbers of troops.
So it's very simple but , and I'm being quite imodest here, does have an attractive depth of play, that I think might get you to come back and play again.
If your interested, the game is available for free from my BookRanger site.
The first thing is that I've played Monopoly Express from Hasbro.
The second thing is that I'm having trouble getting people together to play DUNE.
So I came round to creating "DUNE express". This takes the Dune premise of taking control of a majority of the habital regions of Arrakis and devolves it down to a simple dice game.
It's not just dice however, these are special dice, and its not just rolling, you have to make decisions with every roll. It's for 2 - 5 players but probably best with 3 or 4.
You have 4 faction dice. These have one face per faction and forgive my spelling these being , Spacing Guide, Atredies, Corrino, Harkonnen, Bene Gesseret and Fremen.
You also have a traitor die, that has six side but only three count, these being, Hunter Seeker, Poison and Crysknife.
There is also a location die that names Arakeen, Carthag and the Sietches.
Finally there is tha Spice die giving numbers 1 to 5 and of course Shia Hulud.
There is also a map which has the Polar Sink at its centre and the 5 other regions surrounding it.
On your turn you roll the dice and then have to accept the result on at least one. The dice you didn't accept you can reroll, but each time you reroll you must accept at least one die from the result.
When you roll your faction that counts as a set of troops. The Spice allows you to move troops onto the map and from the Polar Sink. The traitor die allows you to remove an opponents troop for the board. THe location dictate which of the locations you can move troops to. So each die has a meaning when you roll and you have to decide to accept or reroll.
This gets you into situations when you just cant get the location or the amount of spice that you need so you reroll in but each reroll give you less options.
You need to move troops into three of the locations and be in sole possesion of those three locations to win. Fighting is simple elimination of equal numbers of troops.
So it's very simple but , and I'm being quite imodest here, does have an attractive depth of play, that I think might get you to come back and play again.
If your interested, the game is available for free from my BookRanger site.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
New game brewing, and battling the bulge
My game designer hairs are twitching again. An idea has yet again kept me awake at night. I hate it when that happens.
This time I tried a "coping technique". that is to say, I stopped trying to sleep and instead sat up, and wrote down everything that was whizzing through my brain.
Didn't help.
Next time, I think I'll just try eating some doughnuts. I don't think it'll help me sleep, but at least it will be tasty!
I thought I'd also let you know how my attempt at Axis & Allies Battle of the Bulge went. It went very well. About two turns in I realised That I had been playng it wrong , DOH! I didn't reset the game, but instead just carried on, and I don't think it help the Axis forces too much.
The German forces zoomed across the board, powering up the centre and simply zooming over the town of Bastogne and forming the bulge.
The Allies get a lot of reinforcements that can come in from the edges of the board. This is quite clever because it recreates the "bulge". It accentuates the bulginess of "the bulge".
The Allies struggled. A mistake of using the trucks coming in from each flank to drop supplies in the centre of the board where the Axis forces were striding forwards left the flanks without the fuel they need to pinch the bulge.
Indeed on one flank the American forces were stacked into just a couple of powerful hexes but I managed to cut the roads behind them stopping supplies from anywhere else reaching them. This kept them immobile for two turns but sadly it was not to last. Just then the Allied air power started to take effect.
The Allied aircraft made a point of attacking unprotected fuel dumps on the first turn and managed to do terrible damage to the Axis plans. From that point on, as the designers of the game intended the Axis was pushed slowly back until the end game was reached.
I really enjoyed the game. Took a couple of hours with interruptions of casual play. It's a one scenario game so I don't intend to try playing again for at least a few months, but I am looking forward to it.
This time I tried a "coping technique". that is to say, I stopped trying to sleep and instead sat up, and wrote down everything that was whizzing through my brain.
Didn't help.
Next time, I think I'll just try eating some doughnuts. I don't think it'll help me sleep, but at least it will be tasty!
I thought I'd also let you know how my attempt at Axis & Allies Battle of the Bulge went. It went very well. About two turns in I realised That I had been playng it wrong , DOH! I didn't reset the game, but instead just carried on, and I don't think it help the Axis forces too much.
The German forces zoomed across the board, powering up the centre and simply zooming over the town of Bastogne and forming the bulge.
The Allies get a lot of reinforcements that can come in from the edges of the board. This is quite clever because it recreates the "bulge". It accentuates the bulginess of "the bulge".
The Allies struggled. A mistake of using the trucks coming in from each flank to drop supplies in the centre of the board where the Axis forces were striding forwards left the flanks without the fuel they need to pinch the bulge.
Indeed on one flank the American forces were stacked into just a couple of powerful hexes but I managed to cut the roads behind them stopping supplies from anywhere else reaching them. This kept them immobile for two turns but sadly it was not to last. Just then the Allied air power started to take effect.
The Allied aircraft made a point of attacking unprotected fuel dumps on the first turn and managed to do terrible damage to the Axis plans. From that point on, as the designers of the game intended the Axis was pushed slowly back until the end game was reached.
I really enjoyed the game. Took a couple of hours with interruptions of casual play. It's a one scenario game so I don't intend to try playing again for at least a few months, but I am looking forward to it.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Battle of the Bulge
I have a day off work and decided to crack out my very unused copy of Axis and Allies Battle of the Bulge. I've had this game for a number of months but have literally only opened once.
Just after I got it I set it all up and run three quarters of the way through the first turn and ran into a bunch of questions. I managed to puzzle out a few of the intentions obscurely stated in the rules but eventually ran into a complete block.
The rules are not the best written I've come across. I'm guessing that the rules assume some knowledge of the other Axis and Allies games but as I've never played any of them I just didn't know how to progress.
So I went to Board Game Geek and posted my questions and even had some answers, but it's only now, some two or three months later that I've got the will power to have another crack at it. I tend to get a little depressed by poor rules that I can't fathom so it it takes me a while to try again.
Wish me luck, I'm going in!
Just after I got it I set it all up and run three quarters of the way through the first turn and ran into a bunch of questions. I managed to puzzle out a few of the intentions obscurely stated in the rules but eventually ran into a complete block.
The rules are not the best written I've come across. I'm guessing that the rules assume some knowledge of the other Axis and Allies games but as I've never played any of them I just didn't know how to progress.
So I went to Board Game Geek and posted my questions and even had some answers, but it's only now, some two or three months later that I've got the will power to have another crack at it. I tend to get a little depressed by poor rules that I can't fathom so it it takes me a while to try again.
Wish me luck, I'm going in!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Racing Dogs
I've just released another Print and Play game. It's a card game called Racing Dogs for 2 to 4 players and lasts about 30 minutes.
The theme of the game of game is players betting on dog races, although I have strictly left the work "Betting" out of the game materials.
Instead of money, players place tokens on the dogs and then score points based on the token values at the end of the race.
Each player gets a hand of cards numbered variously from -4 to +7. That also get three tokens with values of 1,2 and 4.
In each race three dogs run. Before trhe race starts each player places their three tokens one on each dog. The clever bit here is the one of the tokens is face up and the other two face down. This means that there is some information about who's backing each dog but it's not complete.
Then players start playing cards from their hand one at a time onto a dog of thier choice. The numbers on the cards are added up for each dog after every card play, and as soon as one reaches 20 it's won the race. The players then score points equal to the token placed against the winning dog.
It's mechanicly very simple but includes some player interaction and back stabbing but also players will all score every round meaning it stays close right to the end. This also means that every card play matters as you have to make choices about pushing your dog forwards or holding back others.
The theme of the game of game is players betting on dog races, although I have strictly left the work "Betting" out of the game materials.
Instead of money, players place tokens on the dogs and then score points based on the token values at the end of the race.
Each player gets a hand of cards numbered variously from -4 to +7. That also get three tokens with values of 1,2 and 4.
In each race three dogs run. Before trhe race starts each player places their three tokens one on each dog. The clever bit here is the one of the tokens is face up and the other two face down. This means that there is some information about who's backing each dog but it's not complete.
Then players start playing cards from their hand one at a time onto a dog of thier choice. The numbers on the cards are added up for each dog after every card play, and as soon as one reaches 20 it's won the race. The players then score points equal to the token placed against the winning dog.
It's mechanicly very simple but includes some player interaction and back stabbing but also players will all score every round meaning it stays close right to the end. This also means that every card play matters as you have to make choices about pushing your dog forwards or holding back others.
Friday, April 24, 2009
I've finally done it
It's finally happened, I've made a gamer. I took the unsullied flesh of a non gamer and converted him to a real genuine gamer!
The gateway game that did it was one of my favourites Memoir '44.
I've been playing this game on and off during lunchtimes at work with a small group for ages. Then this new guy saw us at play and stopped by to watch.
Then he came back and watched again. About 20 lunctimes later he decided to jump in and give it a go. Today he was playing the first scenario from the base game "Pegasus Bridge".
It was quite funny to see him start the game with a small handful of tactics cards , which is not the easiest of outsets but he's soldiering on.
After a few games of Memoir, I think I'll try him with Dune, thats a games I've been wanting to get back on the table for sooo long. Or will that be going too far too soon?
The gateway game that did it was one of my favourites Memoir '44.
I've been playing this game on and off during lunchtimes at work with a small group for ages. Then this new guy saw us at play and stopped by to watch.
Then he came back and watched again. About 20 lunctimes later he decided to jump in and give it a go. Today he was playing the first scenario from the base game "Pegasus Bridge".
It was quite funny to see him start the game with a small handful of tactics cards , which is not the easiest of outsets but he's soldiering on.
After a few games of Memoir, I think I'll try him with Dune, thats a games I've been wanting to get back on the table for sooo long. Or will that be going too far too soon?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Scooby Doo Escape from the Vortex - Review
My son spotted this the other day and we grabbed it. Today we gave it a try, so here's a detailed look at it.
The game comes in a small box a bit bigger than your average paper back book. The box cover is really shiny and very colourful, prefect fot attracting your average Scooby Doo fan, like myself.
The Game has a puzzle like board making it much larger than the box would suggest. The board is very VERY colourful. It's main feature is a black and yellow circle offset from the middle that actually sits on a spindle just above the board that allows it to spin around. The majority of the board is made up of large purple pipes that lead around and bend back on themselves. These pipes are segmented and these are the spaces along which you will move the pieces.
There are many "pipe break" spaces these show a couple of creepy eyes peering out the pipes dark interior. When setting up the game you place a token on top of each of these. The tokens have a matching "Pipe Break" on their reverse. On their obverse side they show one of three things. Either a box of scooby snacks, a security key rather like a credit card or finally a robot.
For playing pieces you have thick cardboard stand ups. There is one for each member of the Scooby Gang detailing the characters front and rear on eachj side. There are also 3 Robot standups Each comes with a plastic base to stand them in. The bases have a good grip on the figure and are weighty enough to not blow over at the first breeze.
There are also two standard six sided dice one black and one white.
The objective of the game is to move your character around the pipes picking up the counters to pass. Once you have a security key and three Scooby Snacks you make your way to an escape space on the board. First one there wins.
On your turn you start by revolving the vortex circle anti clockwise one space.
The outside of this vortex is made up of movement spaces and the ends of pipes. Characters can only move off of the vortex and into the pipes if they pass through a pipe end that is currently aligned with the pipes on the board.
Once you've turned the vortex you roll a die for movement. If there are any Robots in play you also roll the black die for their movement, you move all of the robots in play the number of spaces indicated. Then you do the same using the white die for your own character.
When moving your piece if you pass over a "Broken Pipe" token you flip it over and see what it is. If its a Key or snack you take it. If it's a robot, you replace the token with a robot standup.
The robots are where the only limited stratergy in the game come into play. When moving them you can pass over spaces occupied by other players, which allows you to send them back to their starting space in the vortex. Sadly that's it for tactics and stratergy. You'll find yourself moving the robots away from your piece and towards your opponents and they likewise.
The game is listed as being for ages 6+ and that's fair enough. It's roll and move with just a little more added and there is nothing to appeal to adults.
The game comes in a small box a bit bigger than your average paper back book. The box cover is really shiny and very colourful, prefect fot attracting your average Scooby Doo fan, like myself.
The Game has a puzzle like board making it much larger than the box would suggest. The board is very VERY colourful. It's main feature is a black and yellow circle offset from the middle that actually sits on a spindle just above the board that allows it to spin around. The majority of the board is made up of large purple pipes that lead around and bend back on themselves. These pipes are segmented and these are the spaces along which you will move the pieces.
There are many "pipe break" spaces these show a couple of creepy eyes peering out the pipes dark interior. When setting up the game you place a token on top of each of these. The tokens have a matching "Pipe Break" on their reverse. On their obverse side they show one of three things. Either a box of scooby snacks, a security key rather like a credit card or finally a robot.
For playing pieces you have thick cardboard stand ups. There is one for each member of the Scooby Gang detailing the characters front and rear on eachj side. There are also 3 Robot standups Each comes with a plastic base to stand them in. The bases have a good grip on the figure and are weighty enough to not blow over at the first breeze.
There are also two standard six sided dice one black and one white.
The objective of the game is to move your character around the pipes picking up the counters to pass. Once you have a security key and three Scooby Snacks you make your way to an escape space on the board. First one there wins.
On your turn you start by revolving the vortex circle anti clockwise one space.
The outside of this vortex is made up of movement spaces and the ends of pipes. Characters can only move off of the vortex and into the pipes if they pass through a pipe end that is currently aligned with the pipes on the board.
Once you've turned the vortex you roll a die for movement. If there are any Robots in play you also roll the black die for their movement, you move all of the robots in play the number of spaces indicated. Then you do the same using the white die for your own character.
When moving your piece if you pass over a "Broken Pipe" token you flip it over and see what it is. If its a Key or snack you take it. If it's a robot, you replace the token with a robot standup.
The robots are where the only limited stratergy in the game come into play. When moving them you can pass over spaces occupied by other players, which allows you to send them back to their starting space in the vortex. Sadly that's it for tactics and stratergy. You'll find yourself moving the robots away from your piece and towards your opponents and they likewise.
The game is listed as being for ages 6+ and that's fair enough. It's roll and move with just a little more added and there is nothing to appeal to adults.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
More thrift store bargains
Another couple of hours spend drifting around charity shops has found c ouple of games for me to have a go at.
The first is a Ravensburger game simply called Quest. You move your piece around a board competing to collect a ring and run it to the the three cities. You also get to plant blocks in front of your opponents and use "lives" to battle each other and dragons!
The other, I don't have must hope for, my son spotted it and hoofed it off the shelf. It's another Scooby Doo game. And after the disaster that was the last Scooby Doo game we tried I was a little jaded. This one however does look like it might actually be a game, where-as the last one was not! This one's called "Escape from the Vortex" and isn't in the BoardGameGeek database ( I've submitted it now ) so I cant guess how good/poor it may really be. Hopefully this holiday I'll get to play it and try it out.
The first is a Ravensburger game simply called Quest. You move your piece around a board competing to collect a ring and run it to the the three cities. You also get to plant blocks in front of your opponents and use "lives" to battle each other and dragons!
The other, I don't have must hope for, my son spotted it and hoofed it off the shelf. It's another Scooby Doo game. And after the disaster that was the last Scooby Doo game we tried I was a little jaded. This one however does look like it might actually be a game, where-as the last one was not! This one's called "Escape from the Vortex" and isn't in the BoardGameGeek database ( I've submitted it now ) so I cant guess how good/poor it may really be. Hopefully this holiday I'll get to play it and try it out.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Wrting Rules
I'm having a hard time putting together some rules for a new game design. I posted here a while ago about a game design based on the or at least inspired by the computer game "Stronghold".
Yesterday I finally got around to starting the rules. It's hard work. I have the entire game in my head and could tell you how to play really quick if we were sitting round a table. It just feels so slow and pedantic to have to write these things down. writing
I'm a very quick typist so its not the actual wordage that's the problem it's the thought process. I write a paragraph, go on the next then stop. Re-read the paragraph and realise I've left something out. Every time, every darned paragraph!
I enjoy creative writing, that stuff just flows from my fingers but when I have to be clear, concise and cover not only what you have to do to, but also word things so that they can't be misinterpreted my brain starts frying. I hope to get this first full draft put together by the weekend, and I'm going to truly grateful to get this job off of my desk.
Yesterday I finally got around to starting the rules. It's hard work. I have the entire game in my head and could tell you how to play really quick if we were sitting round a table. It just feels so slow and pedantic to have to write these things down. writing
I'm a very quick typist so its not the actual wordage that's the problem it's the thought process. I write a paragraph, go on the next then stop. Re-read the paragraph and realise I've left something out. Every time, every darned paragraph!
I enjoy creative writing, that stuff just flows from my fingers but when I have to be clear, concise and cover not only what you have to do to, but also word things so that they can't be misinterpreted my brain starts frying. I hope to get this first full draft put together by the weekend, and I'm going to truly grateful to get this job off of my desk.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
The Dogs
I've just had a most enjoyable 10 minute family game while sat around watching the TV.
"What!" you say. "The Telly!" you say, "How can that be?" you ask.
Well a few months back I noticed that we have a Sky channel called "The Dogs" and every two minutes this channel runs a computer based dog race. It a computer version of going to a dog track.
The TV shows you 6 dogs one after another, you see the dog, the colours its wearing "The odds" and the dogs name on screen for a few seconds. Then a summary, then the computer animates the race. These computer dogs then race once around the track, and the top three are then listed.
Very simple entertainment.
For our game, I gave everyone five chips. Each turn everyone picks a dog and puts a chip in the middle. The player who's dog comes in highest gets the chips put into their score pile. If no one wins, the chips get added to by everyone next time around.
At the end of five races ( or six, if no one wins the last race ) the player with the most score-pile chips wins.
Very simple game, great fun. You sit around with the fizzy pop and some munchies discussing the dogs names for a minute or two then have the excitement of the race with associated highs and lows, and repeat. We'll be doing this again.
"What!" you say. "The Telly!" you say, "How can that be?" you ask.
Well a few months back I noticed that we have a Sky channel called "The Dogs" and every two minutes this channel runs a computer based dog race. It a computer version of going to a dog track.
The TV shows you 6 dogs one after another, you see the dog, the colours its wearing "The odds" and the dogs name on screen for a few seconds. Then a summary, then the computer animates the race. These computer dogs then race once around the track, and the top three are then listed.
Very simple entertainment.
For our game, I gave everyone five chips. Each turn everyone picks a dog and puts a chip in the middle. The player who's dog comes in highest gets the chips put into their score pile. If no one wins, the chips get added to by everyone next time around.
At the end of five races ( or six, if no one wins the last race ) the player with the most score-pile chips wins.
Very simple game, great fun. You sit around with the fizzy pop and some munchies discussing the dogs names for a minute or two then have the excitement of the race with associated highs and lows, and repeat. We'll be doing this again.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Dinosaur King - Review
My son is a dinosaur nut so getting this game was a no brainer. A quick read through the rules game me an impression that its was a simple card game with some tactics and the usual amount of luck that card games always involve.
It's a CCG, but let me say from the outset that a couple of starter decks do give you a good game.
In your starter deck, you get a random selection of dino cards and "move" cards. You also get a play mat and a random character card. Lets take a look at them.
The play mat is a single sided affair. It features three main things. The first is a set of card shaped spaces where you'll place discards, your draw deck, and the cards you've put into play (space for three of these ).
The next feature is a Health track. This is a 20 space track that you'll have to supply a counter for. During the game this starts set to 20, full health and if reduced to zero you become the games loser!
The last feature is the turn track. It runs from 1 to 10, but that's not the length of the game, it's used as a mechanism to make the game build slowly to a finale. Once again you'll have to supply your own counter for this.
The Character card shows a picture of the character in question and details the special ability that character has. These usually involve a "once-per-game" ability such as turning an attack loss into a win, or the ability to add extra cards into an attack, simple things like this.
The cards are split into two basic types. These are "Dinosaur" and "Move". Let me take you through what appears on an example Dinosaur card.
In the top right is a symbol, there are 4 or 5 of these symbols. These are used to combine with similar symbols on "move" cards for bigger bonus'.
In the top left if a paper/scissors/stone symbol. This is used during attacks to determine who have the initiative.
The main area of the card shows a image of the Dinosaur. These vary from CGI critters to cartoon images. Some of the cards have a foil effect which usually indicates the card has a special ability.
A number appear about half way down. This number relates to the turn track on the players mat. You cant put a monster into play that has a number in this location, that is higher than the turn number. The lower numbers are usually lower in power than the higher one.
On the right about half way down are a varying number of life point symbols. These indicate how many life points the player will lose if the dino loses a fight.
Then comes some text. For you average dinosaur card this is just a non-game related fact about the dino, for some dinos this is an in-game power.
Finally at the bottom appears the dinosaurs power value. The higher, the better, the stronger.
Now onto Move Cards. These are played in combat between your dinos and your opponents. The card has a space in the top right which MAY contain a symbol. If it contains a symbol it can only be played with a dino with a matching symbol. If it is blank then it can be used with any dino.
These cards also feature dino's in action with the same variation of image types as the dinosaur cards. The card also has a text block which gives either flavour text or describes a special ability or extra bonus.
Finally at the bottom is a bonus number that is added to the dinosaurs combat value.
Now we get to how the game plays.
You start the game by drawing a hand of 6 cards. At this point you can discard your hand and redraw, but only once.
Then player start taking alternate turns. The turn sequence is as follows.
1) Move the turn track marker.
2) Draw two cards
3) As many times as you want you may play dinosaurs from you hand onto the play mat and make attacks.
4) Discard down to 8 cards in the hand.
Making an attack is very simple. You indicate which of your dinos is making the attack and which of your opponents Dinos you are attacking. You compare the paper/scissors/rock symbols and the loser has to play a move card first, if they want to. The winner may then play a move card. Each player total the points of their dinosaur and move card and the winner is the player with the higher total.
The losers dinosaur is discarded as are both players move cards. The losing player also reduces his life point track by the number of life point symbols on the defeated dinosaur card.
This is very simple, but the play is complicated by the abilities of the dinosaurs in play, the abilities on the move cards and the characters ability if used.
Some cards give you pause for thought. For instance you may have a card that lets you attack with two dinosaurs but at the cost of a life point or two.
I've played the game with just a couple of starter decks and it worked very well, I will be playing again, light and fun.
It's a CCG, but let me say from the outset that a couple of starter decks do give you a good game.
In your starter deck, you get a random selection of dino cards and "move" cards. You also get a play mat and a random character card. Lets take a look at them.
The play mat is a single sided affair. It features three main things. The first is a set of card shaped spaces where you'll place discards, your draw deck, and the cards you've put into play (space for three of these ).
The next feature is a Health track. This is a 20 space track that you'll have to supply a counter for. During the game this starts set to 20, full health and if reduced to zero you become the games loser!
The last feature is the turn track. It runs from 1 to 10, but that's not the length of the game, it's used as a mechanism to make the game build slowly to a finale. Once again you'll have to supply your own counter for this.
The Character card shows a picture of the character in question and details the special ability that character has. These usually involve a "once-per-game" ability such as turning an attack loss into a win, or the ability to add extra cards into an attack, simple things like this.
The cards are split into two basic types. These are "Dinosaur" and "Move". Let me take you through what appears on an example Dinosaur card.
In the top right is a symbol, there are 4 or 5 of these symbols. These are used to combine with similar symbols on "move" cards for bigger bonus'.
In the top left if a paper/scissors/stone symbol. This is used during attacks to determine who have the initiative.
The main area of the card shows a image of the Dinosaur. These vary from CGI critters to cartoon images. Some of the cards have a foil effect which usually indicates the card has a special ability.
A number appear about half way down. This number relates to the turn track on the players mat. You cant put a monster into play that has a number in this location, that is higher than the turn number. The lower numbers are usually lower in power than the higher one.
On the right about half way down are a varying number of life point symbols. These indicate how many life points the player will lose if the dino loses a fight.
Then comes some text. For you average dinosaur card this is just a non-game related fact about the dino, for some dinos this is an in-game power.
Finally at the bottom appears the dinosaurs power value. The higher, the better, the stronger.
Now onto Move Cards. These are played in combat between your dinos and your opponents. The card has a space in the top right which MAY contain a symbol. If it contains a symbol it can only be played with a dino with a matching symbol. If it is blank then it can be used with any dino.
These cards also feature dino's in action with the same variation of image types as the dinosaur cards. The card also has a text block which gives either flavour text or describes a special ability or extra bonus.
Finally at the bottom is a bonus number that is added to the dinosaurs combat value.
Now we get to how the game plays.
You start the game by drawing a hand of 6 cards. At this point you can discard your hand and redraw, but only once.
Then player start taking alternate turns. The turn sequence is as follows.
1) Move the turn track marker.
2) Draw two cards
3) As many times as you want you may play dinosaurs from you hand onto the play mat and make attacks.
4) Discard down to 8 cards in the hand.
Making an attack is very simple. You indicate which of your dinos is making the attack and which of your opponents Dinos you are attacking. You compare the paper/scissors/rock symbols and the loser has to play a move card first, if they want to. The winner may then play a move card. Each player total the points of their dinosaur and move card and the winner is the player with the higher total.
The losers dinosaur is discarded as are both players move cards. The losing player also reduces his life point track by the number of life point symbols on the defeated dinosaur card.
This is very simple, but the play is complicated by the abilities of the dinosaurs in play, the abilities on the move cards and the characters ability if used.
Some cards give you pause for thought. For instance you may have a card that lets you attack with two dinosaurs but at the cost of a life point or two.
I've played the game with just a couple of starter decks and it worked very well, I will be playing again, light and fun.
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