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.
Showing posts with label Codenames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Codenames. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 December 2018
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
BEST BOARD GAMES OF 2017 (THAT I HAVE PLAYED)
In this list, I will highlight the five best new-to-me board games of 2017. Sometime in the future I will go back and rank all the new to me games from 2017 from best to worse (particularly because there are several that are probably going to be added in when I play them a bit more, such as Gloomhaven). I will try to stick to 2017 releases and I have not played all the games, with the big list of games probably incorporating older games. So without further ado, here they are:
UNLOCK- An escape room in a box. There has been a few come out this year. I have not played them all, but the one I did play (Unlock) hooked me in. Space Cowboys have done a good job of app-integration, and the non-consumable nature means that you can sell this off and not have it break the bank (similar to TIME Stories). I would imagine EXIT, Escape Room in a Box, etc. would also be high up if I played them.
CODENAMES: DUET- Codenames was a good game with a couple of small problems. However, after playing Duets, it makes the original Codenames feel lacklustre for me. Things like downtime and bending rules go away. The only downside is it loses support for large number of players (realistically, you wouldn't play Duets with more than 4 at most), but what you gain in the card deduction and mechanisms more than makes up for it.
7TH CONTINENT- This game is a big sprawling world where you go around and have adventures. It is one of my most played games despite its length. Eventually, I guess world knowledge would reduce the thrill of exploration. However, I think I am still 40 or so hours away from even contemplating this.
SWORD & SORCERY- A generic name with generic classes and generic enemies. This game proves you don't need to have oddball or unique themes to be a great game. Solid mechanisms that reward teamwork without feeling forced, meaningful choices and intriguing stories. make this a compelling experience When the Kickstarter stuff becomes available I am looking forward to getting more of this.
AVENTURIA ADVENTURE CARD GAME: THE DARK EYE- A great system where there is a bunch of cards in your deck that are all good, but you must sacrifice a couple of them each turn to get mana. I don't care too much for the duelling mode, but I like the adventure mode. It is quick to setup, teach and get stuck into while giving a very lite roleplaying adventure story leading up to it, its main strengths are its intriguing card play and how fast it is. Coming back to it doesn't feel like you have to relearn allot of rules. Once I get started on building experience and deck building I imagine this is going to climb.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS- An intriguing game that is a spatial timing puzzle around resource management and area denial with some gorgeous trees. Can be a touch too mean though. Also I haven't played it enough to see if it has long term appeal.
BARENPARK- On the opposite end of the spectrum from Photosynthesis, a cool tile-laying game. However, there is a slight lack of interaction to truly make this stand-out compared to Patchwork. An expansion that increases the interaction (but without being mean) a bit would be really good.
ASSAULT OF THE GIANTS- A very assymetric game that isn't quite as assymetric as first appears. Falls into the trap of railroaded strategies for each faction to be most effective and have a chance at winning.
TIME STORIES EXPEDITION ENDURANCE- Another TIME Stories by Space Cowboys before there disappointing last couple of scenarios (Lumen Fidei and Estrella Drive). This delivered on the promise of exploring a time period, playing around with time travel mechanics and having an engrossing adventure and puzzles for the first time. I wish things from this, Prophecy of Dragons and Under The Mask get incorporated bettter in the future instead of fake difficulty and a railroaded story. The only reason this missed out is because it is technically an expansion.
UNLOCK- An escape room in a box. There has been a few come out this year. I have not played them all, but the one I did play (Unlock) hooked me in. Space Cowboys have done a good job of app-integration, and the non-consumable nature means that you can sell this off and not have it break the bank (similar to TIME Stories). I would imagine EXIT, Escape Room in a Box, etc. would also be high up if I played them.
CODENAMES: DUET- Codenames was a good game with a couple of small problems. However, after playing Duets, it makes the original Codenames feel lacklustre for me. Things like downtime and bending rules go away. The only downside is it loses support for large number of players (realistically, you wouldn't play Duets with more than 4 at most), but what you gain in the card deduction and mechanisms more than makes up for it.
7TH CONTINENT- This game is a big sprawling world where you go around and have adventures. It is one of my most played games despite its length. Eventually, I guess world knowledge would reduce the thrill of exploration. However, I think I am still 40 or so hours away from even contemplating this.
SWORD & SORCERY- A generic name with generic classes and generic enemies. This game proves you don't need to have oddball or unique themes to be a great game. Solid mechanisms that reward teamwork without feeling forced, meaningful choices and intriguing stories. make this a compelling experience When the Kickstarter stuff becomes available I am looking forward to getting more of this.
AVENTURIA ADVENTURE CARD GAME: THE DARK EYE- A great system where there is a bunch of cards in your deck that are all good, but you must sacrifice a couple of them each turn to get mana. I don't care too much for the duelling mode, but I like the adventure mode. It is quick to setup, teach and get stuck into while giving a very lite roleplaying adventure story leading up to it, its main strengths are its intriguing card play and how fast it is. Coming back to it doesn't feel like you have to relearn allot of rules. Once I get started on building experience and deck building I imagine this is going to climb.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS- An intriguing game that is a spatial timing puzzle around resource management and area denial with some gorgeous trees. Can be a touch too mean though. Also I haven't played it enough to see if it has long term appeal.
BARENPARK- On the opposite end of the spectrum from Photosynthesis, a cool tile-laying game. However, there is a slight lack of interaction to truly make this stand-out compared to Patchwork. An expansion that increases the interaction (but without being mean) a bit would be really good.
ASSAULT OF THE GIANTS- A very assymetric game that isn't quite as assymetric as first appears. Falls into the trap of railroaded strategies for each faction to be most effective and have a chance at winning.
TIME STORIES EXPEDITION ENDURANCE- Another TIME Stories by Space Cowboys before there disappointing last couple of scenarios (Lumen Fidei and Estrella Drive). This delivered on the promise of exploring a time period, playing around with time travel mechanics and having an engrossing adventure and puzzles for the first time. I wish things from this, Prophecy of Dragons and Under The Mask get incorporated bettter in the future instead of fake difficulty and a railroaded story. The only reason this missed out is because it is technically an expansion.
Thursday, 7 April 2016
BOARD GAME REVIEW: CODENAMES (2015)
Codenames has been the party-game darling from the end of last year. Done by the same guy who has done Mage Knight (Vlaada Chvatil), this game is at heart a deduction-word game for large groups of people.
In Codenames, you have a set of 25 words arranged in a grid. Each belongs to either one of two teams, neutral or a single assassin (which is instant loss, to discourage random guessing). Each team (or if <3 players, one team) has a spymaster who gives a clue and number that relates to the words on their side. It goes each way until one team wins.
This game is an awesome party game and filler. The addition of the assassin is great to keep tension throughout the game. It is pretty easy to pick up for allot of players. There isn't really that much to say about this game. It is great and simple and really good to bring out with a full range of players (people who don't play to really experienced gamers).
However, its strong points are also some of its weaker points. The rules are simple, but that means that players keep trying to twist them. Every game has had people not able to keep quiet and just let the game go. It isn't that hard to know that the spymaster can only give one clue and if the clue is a dud (a homonym that wasn't spelled out, a word no-one knows the meaning of), it is a wasted clue. This means that the choice of spymaster is very important, and I already have a list of people I don't want to be spymaster.
These problems wouldn't be that bad, but the game is really quite fun and engaging so it is sometimes used as more than just a filler. When this turns into the main gaming event of the night, having these problems continuously happen during the night quickly sours the game experience. At the end, I would still prefer to play this with smaller groups (and 2 and 3 player works really, really well- even better than competitive in some respects) and definitely not as a main course.
Codenames is a great little game. It is at its best with smaller groups and used as a filler. However, this game is mostly a victim of its own success. The problems mostly stem from their own success (it tends to stay out too long and people keep trying to bend the rules) that is currently holding it back in my opinion.
3.5 out of 5 Hidden Waffles.
In Codenames, you have a set of 25 words arranged in a grid. Each belongs to either one of two teams, neutral or a single assassin (which is instant loss, to discourage random guessing). Each team (or if <3 players, one team) has a spymaster who gives a clue and number that relates to the words on their side. It goes each way until one team wins.
This game is an awesome party game and filler. The addition of the assassin is great to keep tension throughout the game. It is pretty easy to pick up for allot of players. There isn't really that much to say about this game. It is great and simple and really good to bring out with a full range of players (people who don't play to really experienced gamers).
However, its strong points are also some of its weaker points. The rules are simple, but that means that players keep trying to twist them. Every game has had people not able to keep quiet and just let the game go. It isn't that hard to know that the spymaster can only give one clue and if the clue is a dud (a homonym that wasn't spelled out, a word no-one knows the meaning of), it is a wasted clue. This means that the choice of spymaster is very important, and I already have a list of people I don't want to be spymaster.
These problems wouldn't be that bad, but the game is really quite fun and engaging so it is sometimes used as more than just a filler. When this turns into the main gaming event of the night, having these problems continuously happen during the night quickly sours the game experience. At the end, I would still prefer to play this with smaller groups (and 2 and 3 player works really, really well- even better than competitive in some respects) and definitely not as a main course.
Codenames is a great little game. It is at its best with smaller groups and used as a filler. However, this game is mostly a victim of its own success. The problems mostly stem from their own success (it tends to stay out too long and people keep trying to bend the rules) that is currently holding it back in my opinion.
3.5 out of 5 Hidden Waffles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)