Duelosaur Island is a game that is a sister game to Dinosaur Island in the same way 7 Wonders and 7 Wonders Duel are related. This is a two-player game that shares the general idea of the larger games, but changes the mechanisms to more suit a two-player game.
Duelosaur Island is a mixture of a card-drafting and dice-drafting game. You are trying to collect cards that can be dinosaur attractions, facilities, or specialists to give you powers, income (both in visitors and coins) and special powers. You then collect money and dinosaur attractions to give you more excitement. At the end if the game, most visitors wins.
At its core, the game sounds exciting. Each player choosing the specialists available and the dice position to give different combinations of bonuses. However, this is definitely a game of one too many steps. Compared to really good 2 player games such as Raptor and 7 Wonders Duel, it plays very slowly as one player chooses all the combinations to go out. Unfortunately, this is also the only place any real interaction comes.
Add to the slow pace and lack of interaction in this game is the production errors. From the PR marker where you can't see what is underneath it (something you need to do quite often) to all the errors in the rulebook, this game feels rushed out. It is a shame, because the core idea sounds okay. It just needed a bit more development to streamline it a little bit and get rid of all the production errors.
2 out of 5 duelling waffles.
Monday 31 December 2018
Wednesday 19 December 2018
BOARD GAME REVIEW: ARCHITECTS OF THE WEST KINGDOM
Architects of the West Kingdom is a game by the maker (Shem Phillips) of Raiders of the North Sea. They also made some other games I didn't enjoy nearly as much as Raiders, so the real question is how does this compare? I really enjoy Raiders so is Architects just as good?
Architects does something Raiders also does well. It does worker placement, but puts its own little twist on it. Here, you start with 20 workers. Then, you slowly use them up during the game unless you sacrifice an action to get them back. Outside of this, it is a pretty standard game of collecting resources, turning them in to complete building goals for points, hiring crew with special abilities, and doing one or two other things.
The other things you can do are what gives the game some more flair. One of the actions is capturing workers and sending them to jail (or just rounding up your workers again). This is because the more workers you have out at a spot, the stronger the action you have. This also makes them more tempting targets for capturing. The other action is using the black market, where you lose virtue in order to get more immediate bonuses. But if you are caught there during a raid, your workers go to jail and you lose more virtue.
Virtue is important and is one of the few ways the theme comes through. The virtue track means at higher virtue you can work on the cathedral but at lower virtue you may lose victory points but you also get a discount on actions. Apart from that, the theme is quite generic as a standard conversion of resources to points via the most efficient means possible.
This lack of theme isn't bad. But Raiders had the theme come through allot stronger with the progressive raids, your crew and the skulls. I think Architects is different from Raiders and the mechanisms are as strong. However, Raiders you had allot fewer boring turns. Architects has those building up turns which are a bit quick and boring, especially if you just need to get people out of jail. It does move slightly quicker than Raiders, with a much more deliberate pace and more direct player interactions. I also like the virtue track. I would probably place them pretty equal depending on what type of game you prefer.
4 out of 5 well-designed waffles.
Architects does something Raiders also does well. It does worker placement, but puts its own little twist on it. Here, you start with 20 workers. Then, you slowly use them up during the game unless you sacrifice an action to get them back. Outside of this, it is a pretty standard game of collecting resources, turning them in to complete building goals for points, hiring crew with special abilities, and doing one or two other things.
The other things you can do are what gives the game some more flair. One of the actions is capturing workers and sending them to jail (or just rounding up your workers again). This is because the more workers you have out at a spot, the stronger the action you have. This also makes them more tempting targets for capturing. The other action is using the black market, where you lose virtue in order to get more immediate bonuses. But if you are caught there during a raid, your workers go to jail and you lose more virtue.
Virtue is important and is one of the few ways the theme comes through. The virtue track means at higher virtue you can work on the cathedral but at lower virtue you may lose victory points but you also get a discount on actions. Apart from that, the theme is quite generic as a standard conversion of resources to points via the most efficient means possible.
This lack of theme isn't bad. But Raiders had the theme come through allot stronger with the progressive raids, your crew and the skulls. I think Architects is different from Raiders and the mechanisms are as strong. However, Raiders you had allot fewer boring turns. Architects has those building up turns which are a bit quick and boring, especially if you just need to get people out of jail. It does move slightly quicker than Raiders, with a much more deliberate pace and more direct player interactions. I also like the virtue track. I would probably place them pretty equal depending on what type of game you prefer.
4 out of 5 well-designed waffles.
Saturday 15 December 2018
BOARD GAME REVIEW: CODENAMES DISNEY
Codenames is a game I really enjoy. It is a nice filler party game where perhaps it greatest strength can also be its greatest weakness (people trying to bend to rules or it overstaying it's welcome), but it is great as a starting or ending game on a game night. I'm not the only one who has enjoyed it, with the games getting a bunch of spin-off variants.
Disney is one of these variants. In this game, you are doing the normal Codenames thing of giving clues to guess the right stuff on a grid. But what you are trying to guess now is not words, but Disney pictures. This means you have pictures from Disney films such as Hercules, etc. and your clues have to relate to them.
My most glaring problem with this is that the pictures just aren't really that good. Most the pictures are really close-ups of a specific character or the like. I would have liked if the pictures were allot broader so you could relate more things together (i.e. taking objects from the background). It would've been really good if the cards were a bit bigger to accomodate this, but this is where being stuck to the Codenames card size is a detriment.
The card issue is compounded by the fact it loses allot of its accessibility. Now, you need to know obscure characters from movies in order to compete with those more knowledgable about Disney films. This issue is compounded by the previous issue of the extreme close-ups limiting the scope of the clues you can give, thus eliminating the clever word plays originally used.
That isn't to say this game doesn't do some good things. The intro/kid variant is a neat idea and the Disney background gave a wealth of iconic moments to draw from. Unfortunately, the price it pays in order to slap the Disney tag on this makes it feel like a cash-in on the Codenames and Disney brands.
2 out of 5 Frozen Waffles.
Disney is one of these variants. In this game, you are doing the normal Codenames thing of giving clues to guess the right stuff on a grid. But what you are trying to guess now is not words, but Disney pictures. This means you have pictures from Disney films such as Hercules, etc. and your clues have to relate to them.
My most glaring problem with this is that the pictures just aren't really that good. Most the pictures are really close-ups of a specific character or the like. I would have liked if the pictures were allot broader so you could relate more things together (i.e. taking objects from the background). It would've been really good if the cards were a bit bigger to accomodate this, but this is where being stuck to the Codenames card size is a detriment.
The card issue is compounded by the fact it loses allot of its accessibility. Now, you need to know obscure characters from movies in order to compete with those more knowledgable about Disney films. This issue is compounded by the previous issue of the extreme close-ups limiting the scope of the clues you can give, thus eliminating the clever word plays originally used.
That isn't to say this game doesn't do some good things. The intro/kid variant is a neat idea and the Disney background gave a wealth of iconic moments to draw from. Unfortunately, the price it pays in order to slap the Disney tag on this makes it feel like a cash-in on the Codenames and Disney brands.
2 out of 5 Frozen Waffles.
Monday 10 December 2018
KICKSTARTER RETROSPECTIVE: STRIFE and A SOFTER WORLD
So this is a new series where I look back at my Kickstarters (2 at a time) and give a retrospective on where are they now.
A Softer World 4- Lets Do Something Wrong: So the first Kickstarter I backed (and how I found out about Kickstarter) was due to a webcomic I was reading (A Softer World). This is a great comic which seems to set up a normal scenario then twists it via a few photographic panels. This kickstarter gave me a flask and a book. The Kickstarter was cool, although you miss the alt-text (what you get when you leave your mouse cursor over the comic) if memory serves me correctly. All up, a good Kickstarter, although I think I eventually wore out the flask (I drank cordial from it because it looked cool, not alcohol).
Strife- Legacy of the Eternals: This was a perfect information game where the conceit was that it was like war (play a card to beat the other), but your champion inherits traits from your last champion (i.e. bonus power, an ability, etc.). It was a better idea than it was in execution. The rulebook needed more examples and the special ability rules needed to be a bit clearer. There was a follow-up Strife that could be combined, but it didn't interest me too much. I did sell this off eventually as better games for 2 players were available.
A Softer World 4- Lets Do Something Wrong: So the first Kickstarter I backed (and how I found out about Kickstarter) was due to a webcomic I was reading (A Softer World). This is a great comic which seems to set up a normal scenario then twists it via a few photographic panels. This kickstarter gave me a flask and a book. The Kickstarter was cool, although you miss the alt-text (what you get when you leave your mouse cursor over the comic) if memory serves me correctly. All up, a good Kickstarter, although I think I eventually wore out the flask (I drank cordial from it because it looked cool, not alcohol).
Strife- Legacy of the Eternals: This was a perfect information game where the conceit was that it was like war (play a card to beat the other), but your champion inherits traits from your last champion (i.e. bonus power, an ability, etc.). It was a better idea than it was in execution. The rulebook needed more examples and the special ability rules needed to be a bit clearer. There was a follow-up Strife that could be combined, but it didn't interest me too much. I did sell this off eventually as better games for 2 players were available.
Sunday 9 December 2018
MOVIE REVIEW: ASSASIN'S CREED (2016)
Do you remember the most interesting parts of the Assasin's Creed games? You know, the parts where you are scouting targets and moving around the ancient world (choose which one depending on the game), climbing up things that shouldn't be climbable and experimenting with abilities?
Well, at least you know the interesting parts, unlike whoever decided to make this movie. This movie has most of its plotting firmly centered on the near future, where the main character Cal is going into the Animus (a device to make him live his ancestors memories). Which is weird, as he goes back to play another character. So effectively, the most interesting part of the movie is divorced from the part given the most story and character developments.
The story and character progression is set in the most boring part of the games. Which is a shame, as this feels like 2 different movies not really given enough time to merge or work well together. While movies like Avengers take a bunch of different narratives and make them work well together, this just ends up a mess. You have the most interesting action and set pieces with no emotional investment, and the investment in the present is about a bland dystopian future
This film really suffers for this blandness. The entire story isn't even anything to be proud of anyway, with some half-cooked revenge plot and allot of things trying to set-up sequels, especially the inconclusive ending. This feels like a case that the writers should've known what to cut out, focusing the action on the past only and perhaps putting in a post-credits stinger about how he was in the Animus all along. Instead, they have made a movie that will go down as just another bad video game adaption.
1.5 out of 5 Waffles of the Creed.
Well, at least you know the interesting parts, unlike whoever decided to make this movie. This movie has most of its plotting firmly centered on the near future, where the main character Cal is going into the Animus (a device to make him live his ancestors memories). Which is weird, as he goes back to play another character. So effectively, the most interesting part of the movie is divorced from the part given the most story and character developments.
The story and character progression is set in the most boring part of the games. Which is a shame, as this feels like 2 different movies not really given enough time to merge or work well together. While movies like Avengers take a bunch of different narratives and make them work well together, this just ends up a mess. You have the most interesting action and set pieces with no emotional investment, and the investment in the present is about a bland dystopian future
This film really suffers for this blandness. The entire story isn't even anything to be proud of anyway, with some half-cooked revenge plot and allot of things trying to set-up sequels, especially the inconclusive ending. This feels like a case that the writers should've known what to cut out, focusing the action on the past only and perhaps putting in a post-credits stinger about how he was in the Animus all along. Instead, they have made a movie that will go down as just another bad video game adaption.
1.5 out of 5 Waffles of the Creed.
Wednesday 5 December 2018
BOARD GAME REVIEW: PAPER TALES (2018)
Paper Tales by Stronghold Games came out of nowhere a bit. A simple card-drafting, tableau-building game on the surface, this game wears its 7 Wonders inspirations on its sleeves (in terms of wars, resource generation, etc.). However, in this case, inspiration does not mean it is just a poor mans copy.
Paper Tales does a couple of things very differently. Firstly, you have to place your units in a front and back rank to determine who fights and who doesn't. For the most part, this doesn't really play a big part as you just stick powerful units at the front and weaker units (resource generating) at the back. The main thing it limits you on is your military strength. Eventually you can play a fifth unit by upgrading a building, which is a really good idea.
The big change, however, is the aging mechanic. Most cards only stick around for a couple of turns (generations) before growing old and dying. Add to this a very tight coin income (unless you specialise in coins at the expense of other things), only 4 rounds to build buildings (the main source of VP outside of wars), and only 4 battles, you have a very tight game.
This is a very tight game and the hard choices start immediately and only get harder with time. Do you use up your limited income to fill up with 4 units in round 1 or save a bit to try to get a stronger unit in round 2. In addition, you always have to keep in mind people can hate draft against you and keep the strong units from you. The only round that has some easier choices is round 1 as most times you want to get as much out as possible. However, this can be easily solved by drafting an extra card on the first round if so inclined. I never found it much of an issue as the first round gave plenty of other choices already.
Playing through the round also goes very quickly. Drafting, everyone takes turns simultaneously and at only 4 rounds, there are plenty of options you can explore to score points and alternative pathways you can take in following games. Add to that the variable buildings and great solo mode from the expansion, this game is a real winner.
5 out of 5 tearable waffles.
Paper Tales does a couple of things very differently. Firstly, you have to place your units in a front and back rank to determine who fights and who doesn't. For the most part, this doesn't really play a big part as you just stick powerful units at the front and weaker units (resource generating) at the back. The main thing it limits you on is your military strength. Eventually you can play a fifth unit by upgrading a building, which is a really good idea.
The big change, however, is the aging mechanic. Most cards only stick around for a couple of turns (generations) before growing old and dying. Add to this a very tight coin income (unless you specialise in coins at the expense of other things), only 4 rounds to build buildings (the main source of VP outside of wars), and only 4 battles, you have a very tight game.
This is a very tight game and the hard choices start immediately and only get harder with time. Do you use up your limited income to fill up with 4 units in round 1 or save a bit to try to get a stronger unit in round 2. In addition, you always have to keep in mind people can hate draft against you and keep the strong units from you. The only round that has some easier choices is round 1 as most times you want to get as much out as possible. However, this can be easily solved by drafting an extra card on the first round if so inclined. I never found it much of an issue as the first round gave plenty of other choices already.
Playing through the round also goes very quickly. Drafting, everyone takes turns simultaneously and at only 4 rounds, there are plenty of options you can explore to score points and alternative pathways you can take in following games. Add to that the variable buildings and great solo mode from the expansion, this game is a real winner.
5 out of 5 tearable waffles.
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