Dream Home is a pretty simple game. In effect, you are drafting cards that are a combination of a room and a special card (that gives an ability, points, etc.). You then effectively place the cards in a tableau to make your house.
Dream Home really is a nice little game. The decisions aren't deep but it plays quickly and gives you good decisions throughout the whole game. You are waiting to get the right cards for your house, as you get bonuses for making rooms bigger and having the home be functional. However, collecting a matching roof is also worth allot of points, which may make you choose a sub-optimal room.
The one thing that it may lack is replayability. The cards are pretty straightforward but the variety sometimes feels lacking. While it is an enjoyable gameplay loop, the game mechanisms sometimes feel a bit too straightforward, particularly towards the end. The other thing is that constantly refreshing the display can feel a bit fiddly.
The artwork in the game is great, with each room looking different. In addition, you have decor items which you can place on top of the rooms, which also look great. The artwork and the appeal of making your own house appeals to younger gamers allot.
At the end of the day, this game is a nice game. Despite concerns about it being fiddly and potentially lacking replayabiltiy. the core gameplay loop and choices involved with what combinations of cards you take keep the tension up in the game. It is definitely a game worth checking out.
4 out of 5 architectural waffles.
Monday 25 March 2019
Tuesday 19 March 2019
BOARD GAME REVIEW: KEMET
Kemet by Matagot Games is a war game based on area control and battles. Set in Ancient Mythological Egypt, it is a game of conquest. In fact, you are awarded handsomely for winning combats and are punished if your forces are left weak, able to be crushed by the enemy.
The basic engine behind it is a mix of action selections and power allocation (similar to Blood Rage or Cthulhu Wars). You get a certain number of power per turn to spend recruiting and getting technology upgrades. You then also have to move your forces around, trying to win fights and capture key locations.
There is allot Kemet does right. The map is great, with everyone 3 spaces from everyone else regardless of location. It does this and still makes the spaces and territories make sense (mostly). The other good thing is the combat system, which is fast but still gives plenty of decisions and ways to manipulate the outcome for your benefit both immediately and in the future.
However, Kemet does two glaring things wrong that come up in a game this long far too often. The first is that it is very easy to play kingmaker. With how turn order works and the ease points can be taken, people can very easily end up having to choose who is going to win. This is somewhat relate to the second big problem in that you can be stuck losing slowly and it is no fun.
At the end of the day, board games are a big time investment. A bad start that can cripple you in a video game means you can easily hit restart. A board game requires time commitment and so most my favorite games (that aren't co-op) tend to be games where you can still work on things or have fun when losing. Kemet tends to only have kingmaking as something the losing players can do.
So that is it. Kemet is a game with allot of cool mechanics and premise, but the game just takes too long for these issues. I know I am in the minority but it is a game that I think ends up being pretty average.
4 out of 5 mummified waffles.
The basic engine behind it is a mix of action selections and power allocation (similar to Blood Rage or Cthulhu Wars). You get a certain number of power per turn to spend recruiting and getting technology upgrades. You then also have to move your forces around, trying to win fights and capture key locations.
There is allot Kemet does right. The map is great, with everyone 3 spaces from everyone else regardless of location. It does this and still makes the spaces and territories make sense (mostly). The other good thing is the combat system, which is fast but still gives plenty of decisions and ways to manipulate the outcome for your benefit both immediately and in the future.
However, Kemet does two glaring things wrong that come up in a game this long far too often. The first is that it is very easy to play kingmaker. With how turn order works and the ease points can be taken, people can very easily end up having to choose who is going to win. This is somewhat relate to the second big problem in that you can be stuck losing slowly and it is no fun.
At the end of the day, board games are a big time investment. A bad start that can cripple you in a video game means you can easily hit restart. A board game requires time commitment and so most my favorite games (that aren't co-op) tend to be games where you can still work on things or have fun when losing. Kemet tends to only have kingmaking as something the losing players can do.
So that is it. Kemet is a game with allot of cool mechanics and premise, but the game just takes too long for these issues. I know I am in the minority but it is a game that I think ends up being pretty average.
4 out of 5 mummified waffles.
Tuesday 12 March 2019
NETFLIX REVIEW: UMBRELLA ACADEMY
The Umbrella Academy is a show based on the comics (graphic novels) by Dark Horse Comics. In it, it follows a young superhero team who has grown up. It attempts to be both a satire of the superhero genre and also a bit of a love letter.
The premise of the show is that a young superhero team is trained by a Professor X-type figure. The superheroes all have powers because they were effectively immaculate conceptions all on the same date. As they grow up, they go their separate ways, reuniting when there mentor dies. Each of these heroes is not a well-adjusted adult, each suffering some trauma from the distant mentor they had.
While the premise may be intriguing, it ends up feeling quite generic. There are a ton of stories about realistic superheroes and how they struggle to adjust to life (with Watchmen being the best example). The fact that this is effectively based on the X-Men doesn't help, as recent X-Men storylines have also explored things Professor X being manipulative and a bad mentor, the effects of child-soldiers, etc.
The final nail in the coffin is the music. You can almost tell that this was made near Guardians of the Galaxy and its success, as pop music is shoved into nearly every scene. It is loud and obnoxious, and kept taking me out of any investment in the already quite generic characters.
Overall, this is the definition of Netflix binge-watching. It is predictable and brainless, with the acting being okay. Unfortunately, the premise is too generic and the constant music blasting over the scenes actually takes me out of the actual story they are trying to build.
1.5 out of 5 covering waffles.
The premise of the show is that a young superhero team is trained by a Professor X-type figure. The superheroes all have powers because they were effectively immaculate conceptions all on the same date. As they grow up, they go their separate ways, reuniting when there mentor dies. Each of these heroes is not a well-adjusted adult, each suffering some trauma from the distant mentor they had.
While the premise may be intriguing, it ends up feeling quite generic. There are a ton of stories about realistic superheroes and how they struggle to adjust to life (with Watchmen being the best example). The fact that this is effectively based on the X-Men doesn't help, as recent X-Men storylines have also explored things Professor X being manipulative and a bad mentor, the effects of child-soldiers, etc.
The final nail in the coffin is the music. You can almost tell that this was made near Guardians of the Galaxy and its success, as pop music is shoved into nearly every scene. It is loud and obnoxious, and kept taking me out of any investment in the already quite generic characters.
Overall, this is the definition of Netflix binge-watching. It is predictable and brainless, with the acting being okay. Unfortunately, the premise is too generic and the constant music blasting over the scenes actually takes me out of the actual story they are trying to build.
1.5 out of 5 covering waffles.
Tuesday 5 March 2019
BOARD GAME REVIEW: SPACE PARK
Space Park is a game Keymaster Games that seems to be fitting into that ever so crowded genre of light-medium games, or gateway games. It is of the same weight as games such as Splendor and Ticket to Ride. It has a couple of rules and plays quite simply.
In this game, you are travelling around a board (which forms a circle), taking actions to collect gems. You use these gems to trade in for points (either directly or by victory point cards). The cards here also can give you special abilities. It is a victory point race like Splendor, with the game ending once a victory point goal is reached.
The components in the game are really good. The space-rock-gems are great, are a good size and easy to handle. The spaceships moving around the board are also great. The cards and board look really nice, with nice big artwork and also thought given to maximise there usability. The only complaint is that the fast travel and xp tokens could have done to be a little larger.
In terms of gameplay, it is a gateway game. Very few rules, non-complex interactions between the rules, and some player interaction but a lack of heavy take-that. The game plays very quickly as the board only gives each player 3 choices per round, effectively limiting analysis paralysis. This all makes the gameplay smooth and fast, which is good.
In the end the game is good. It doesn't really put a step wrong. It doesn't quite have the potential for big surprising plays that other games do. Although it never really sets out to accomplish this, it does hold it back from those high ranks. Instead it is just a really fun, solid little game.
4 out of 5 whizzing waffles.
In this game, you are travelling around a board (which forms a circle), taking actions to collect gems. You use these gems to trade in for points (either directly or by victory point cards). The cards here also can give you special abilities. It is a victory point race like Splendor, with the game ending once a victory point goal is reached.
The components in the game are really good. The space-rock-gems are great, are a good size and easy to handle. The spaceships moving around the board are also great. The cards and board look really nice, with nice big artwork and also thought given to maximise there usability. The only complaint is that the fast travel and xp tokens could have done to be a little larger.
In terms of gameplay, it is a gateway game. Very few rules, non-complex interactions between the rules, and some player interaction but a lack of heavy take-that. The game plays very quickly as the board only gives each player 3 choices per round, effectively limiting analysis paralysis. This all makes the gameplay smooth and fast, which is good.
In the end the game is good. It doesn't really put a step wrong. It doesn't quite have the potential for big surprising plays that other games do. Although it never really sets out to accomplish this, it does hold it back from those high ranks. Instead it is just a really fun, solid little game.
4 out of 5 whizzing waffles.
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