Chaos in the Old World: Excellent game, dark theme.

I am a fan of Warhammer. Warhammer is a Game Workshop tabletop wargame with various novels, video games, and other various spin-off merchandise. It has a very rich universe with a developed mythology and history. In the "Old World" era of the Warhmmer universe, the world is constantly at a struggle with the Chaos Powers (also Ruinous Powers), which plague the civilized world with all manner of evil and infestation. A lot of games focus on being the civilized races, and fighting against the other races or against the Chaos Powers. Chaos in the Old World has players playing as the Ruinous Powers, and true to the Warhammer universe, they struggle against each other as well as against the world. There are four powers, Khorne (War and Killing), Nurgle (Disease, Plagues and Pestilence), Tzeentch (Change and Mutation) and Slaanesh (Hedonistic Pleasure and Corruption). Let me just start this off by saying that were it not for the fact that I'm such a Warhammer fan, I never would have looked at this game. It is an extremely dark theme, and not a family game at all.. But that being said, it is very true to the universe on which it is based. So my box was damaged during transportation, but nothing inside was damaged.

Now Warhammer is a game where you buy highly-detailed miniatures, then customize and paint them to create a visually striking army. These pieces came all solid-color, and I painted them like I would a Warhammer army.

The board is great quality, with everything geared towards play but still fitting in with the theme. This is one of the best game boards I have ever seen. There are four "threat dials" in the top left corner of the board, a victory-point track along the bottom, some card spaces on the bottom left corner, and then the map of the Old World on the rest of the board.

You can win by having the most victory points (after someone has broken 50), or by advancing your threat dial to the end. Everyone loses (and the game wins) after seven rounds. During the rounds everyone summons their followers (Cultists and Warriors) to various territories on the board. After everyone has summoned, you fight battles, place corruption, and then resolve any Old World events. Corrupting a territory to full ruination gives victory points, and fulfilling power-specific objectives advances the threat dial.

Fights are a simple matter, involving dice rolls. As with most Warhammer games, a roll of 4 or better scores a "hit", and hits are assigned to various enemy units.

Khorne's primary color is red, and he has very few cultists, and focuses on killing and fighting instead of corruption. He has a total of 7 fighter pieces, which is more than any other power. 

Nurgle's primary color is green. He focuses primarily on corruption, and his fighting units are very weak. He has 5 fighters, but they can not sustain damage.

 Tzeentch's primary color is blue. He focuses on corruption in concert with power cards, but his fighters are not easy to defeat either. He only has 4 fighters, but he has 8 cultists, which is more than any other power.

Slaanesh's primary color is purple. He wants to corrupt nobles and heroes in the old world. He also has only 4 fighters, but his fighters are strong, and exceptionally hard to kill once upgraded.

Speaking of upgrades and power cards, each power has a unique deck of power cards that affect different regions. Each power also has five upgrade cards. Three cards upgrade the followers, and the other two provide special bonuses. The catch is that in any given game, you will only be able to use 3 of those upgrades, so you have to make a choice as to which one will best aid your strategy for domination.

You can pick up a copy at Amazon for about $60, or BGG for around $45.

FUN: 5. This game is tons of fun, and hits the gaming table more often than any other. Even my non-Warhammer players love this game.

THEME: 5. The theme is rich, complex, and worked into the game very well. It is exceptionally dark, but is extremely well done.

QUALITY: 4. Quality cards, thick game board, decent plastic pieces. The only complaint I have is that the cultists come with little staves with the chaos star on top, and these are extremely bendy and break. I clipped them off of mine when I painted them.

ART: 4. Quality artwork, but again, it's very dark.

INTERACTIVITY: 3. Good interactivity without being able to completely hose your opponent through a single move. You can still hose your enemies, it just takes some strategy.

COMPLEXITY: 3/5. Well-written rules make this game fairly easy to learn and figure out. The complexity goes up when you play more. Each time we play we discover a new layer of strategy within the game. The mechanics are not too complicated, but the strategy is complex and deep.

LUCK: 3. Great balance of luck and strategy, between card draws and dice rolls.

This is an excellent, albeit dark, game.

Municipium -- Territory control game.

I picked up Municipium from a BGG seller who was just awesome. I had previously picked up a couple other games from him, and he held this one for me. It is a 2-4 player territory-control game designed by Reiner Knizia. The box speaks quality, but that is to be expected from a Knizia game. Inside:

Quality cards, wooden pieces, cloth bag, nice-looking board, well-written rulebook. I was excited already. First game was played with 2, just myself and a friend from our game group. You have 7 "family members" and 3 "family cards". There are also 12 "Common cards". During initial setup you place all seven of your family members. During your turn you may move up to 2 of your family members along the road to a different location. You then must either draw a common card, or play a family card. The family cards are generally more powerful and more beneficial to you, but you only get to use them each once during the game. The common cards may be reshuffled into the game after running out, but they may benefit your enemies more than you depending on the circumstances.

The fun comes in executing the different locations powers. Whoever has the most influence (family members) in a given location gets to exercise its power. The temple allows you to break influence ties. The tavern lets you move your enemies pieces, etc... The goal is to obtain citizens of four different colors, and then trade those in for decurion coins. 5 coins and you win.

You can find it at Amazon for about $30, or BGG for around $20.

FUN: 3. It's a solid game, but nothing special.

THEME: 3. I like Roman-themed games, and this one works out okay.

QUALITY: 4. Wood pieces, thick cardstock, good quality.

ART: 3. It's okay, nothing fancy.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. Quite interactive.

COMPLEXITY: 3. Simple to learn and play, nothing too deep here.

LUCK: 3. Balance of luck and strategy.

Decent little strategy game that doesn't require too much time.

Hive -- Awesome 2-player

Hive is another one of those that was referred to in several discussions. I went ahead and picked up a copy to see what all the fuss was about. Hive actually comes in a strong, square box, but it also comes with a nylon zip-up bag. I discarded my box. Inside comes the rules, and 22 hexagon tiles.

Hive is a 2-player game. You place the tiles adjacent to each other, only touching your own color. The goal is to keep your own queen bee from being surrounded. Once the queen bee has been placed, your pieces can move. Ants move around the outside of the hive, spiders move three spaces, grasshoppers jump other pieces, and beetles can move on top of the hive. As someone who loves chess, I really enjoy hive. It is extremely portable, can be played on any surface, and is easy to pick up and play. The pieces are made of Bakelite, and are extremely durable.

There are already expansions out, adding mosquito and ladybug. They are working on a pillbug expansion to release this year. They also have a smaller "pocket" version, as well as a "carbon" version.

Get it at Amazon for about $25, or BGG for about $15.

FUN: 4. Nearly endless replayability.

THEME: 2. It works into the rules, but it could be a game about anything.

QUALITY: 5. Great quality, from the box to the tiles.

ART: 3. It's okay, nothing fancy.

INTERACTIVITY: 5. Everything you do affects your opponent.

COMPLEXITY: 2/4. Simple to learn and play, but some strategic depths once you pick it up.

LUCK: 1. There is no luck, this game relies entirely on strategy.

This is a great game, and I was extremely happy I got it. Recommended for anyone.

Love Letter -- Not a loving card game

I decided to go ahead and pick up Love Letter after reading about it on the Board Game Geek forums. I didn't actually read about it, I just saw several people commenting how much they loved it, or referring to it as a "staple of their collection. It arrived in the mail, opened it up, and saw what came with it:

I thought that SURELY a game with a grand total of 16 cards and a little baggie of pink wooden cubes could not be that fun. I read the rules (that little booklet by the handmaiden card), and set about playing a game with our normal game group. Everyone has a "hand" of one card. When it's your turn, you draw a second card, and then choose one to discard. Then you carry out whatever action is listed on the card you discarded. The goal is to have the highest-numbered card out of everyone else when the deck runs out. If you do this, you receive a cube. Obtain a certain number of cubes (dependent on the number of players) and you win.

It's simple, but the card text is what makes this game shine. Say I'm holding a guard and countess. I discard the guard, and hold the countess. The guard lets me attempt to guess someone else's hand. If I guess correctly, they have to discard and are out of the game. Most of the cards involve causing someone to discard a card, or trade a card, or compare a card with yours.

You will be calling your opponents various names as they throw you out of the round, or silently kicking yourself for guessing "Prince" instead of "King". It's a quick game, it's a different game, and it's a great travel or filler game.

You can get it at Amazon for about $10, or BGG for around $7.

FUN: 4. Great guessing fun.

THEME: 4. It's a good theme, with a fun little story in the rule booklet to set up the game.

QUALITY: 4. Solid quality, nice bag, decent cards.

ART: 3. Nothing special, but nothing bad either.

INTERACTIVITY: 5. Everything you do affects someone else.

COMPLEXITY: 2. No complexity here.

LUCK: 3. Card draws make it a luck-based game, but the way you use your cards mitigates that somewhat.

Good game, belongs in any collection.

Age of Gods --- Bluffing game

After doing Atlanteon, I had to post a good game to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Age of Gods is a light-hearted fun little bluffing game for 2-6 players. The box feels like decent quality, and the artwork is interesting.

Doesn't look like too many pieces to keep track of. The game comes with a board, a rulebook, an extra-detail book, a ton of little counter-style tokens, a deck of cards, and some grey markers with a die. Let me tell you, the board is pretty looking.

There are 24 races in the game, 6 of each size. Sizes range from 4 to 1, and the maximum size for each race is double the starting size. For example, the faeries have a starting size of 1, and can grow to a maximum of 2. Orcs have a starting size of 4, and can grow to a max of 8. Each race has a specific "land" where they start on the game map, and the rest of their counters go on the spaces to the left for later use. There are cards that match each race, and 12 "god" cards.

Each player is dealt 2 god cards and selects which one to play. All the gods are made up, and do not follow any mythology or any other type of deity. Unfortunately, they are pretty standard.. In other words, there is no "god of beer", no "god of awesome cars"... Although there is a "god of technology". Each card has a special quality that it grants to the player who chooses it (the god of protection has extra fortify token, the god of war gets a bonus to any attacks he makes, etc...). Each player is also dealt out their first size 4 race card. Now the goal in Age of Gods is to have the races that follow you be the biggest races. You get extra points for owning cities (red-bordered tiles) and for each territory your races control. But you do not receive all your races at once, they are dealt to you throughout the game. You can make any race perform an attack (which is absurdly simple, roll the die and compare the number), including ones you do not control. The trick is to make the other players think that you are controlling different races than the ones you actually are so they don't band together and obliterate you. There are also some cards that do special things to help races on the board.

The theme could have been a bit more deep, but the game makers tried to stay on a line between objectionable and okay. Unfortunately, that makes the theme feel kind of pasted on. Art-wise, the board and box and cards are all great... Then you have the tokens. The art on these feels like a last-minute cop out.

Each token has two sides, one that has a symbol and the name of the race, the other has a depiction of the race on a solid-color background. We typically use the name sides when playing. Other than that, Age of Gods is a pretty good game, if a little light on gameplay.

If you want a copy, as always Board Game Geek has it, and so does Boards and Bits. I paid $6 for my used copy, price ranges from $8 (used) to $25 (new).

FUN: 4. It's a solid game, and fun to play.

THEME: 3. Decent theme, but it really has little to do with the game.

QUALITY: 4. Solid quality here. Wooden fortification tokens, thick cardstock.

ART: 3. Could have been a 4, but I'm disappointed in the counter tokens.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. Very interactive game.

COMPLEXITY: 3. Once you get the hang of it, it isn't hard at all.

LUCK: 3. Some dice and some card draws, but balanced well.

It's a fun game, recommended for people who think they're sneaky.

Atlanteon -- Supposedly a game.

Atlanteon is supposedly a game about underwater combat between mer-people. It has had so so so much promise, but instead, they made it a game about math. And I use the term "game" loosely. The box, while somewhat flimsy, has some pretty artwork, and a neat plastic tray for holding the pieces, which are cardboard tiles and wooden markers:

Play is essentially placing a few scorable tiles, then trying to place your own tiles adjacent to it in such a way that the numbers on your tiles sum out to be greater than the numbers on your opponent's tiles. That's it. I played it with my brother twice, to make sure that it absolutely sucked, and then put it away and never touched it again. Inexplicably, some people enjoy this game... But then again, some people inexplicably enjoy enemas, so I can't be too surprised.

If you happen to be someone who looks for excuses to get a colonoscopy, but really don't have the money for regular colonoscopies, you can find Atlanteon for about $5 here or here. I tried to find a picture of someone playing the game, but this was the closest I could find:

FUN: 1. There is no game here. It's just an exercise in math.

THEME: 1. It could be a game about proctology for all the theme matters.

QUALITY: 2. The wooden pieces are nice, can't lie about that.

ART: 2. Lazy reuse of art with different colors.

INTERACTIVITY: 3. If you use the game as kindling for a bonfire, it could
                                   have some nice interactive components.

COMPLEXITY: 1. Can you add? Then you can "play" Atlanteon.

LUCK: 1. No luck. Just lay tiles down and add.

I recommend this game to you if you look forward to your next appointment with your proctologist.

Grass - Adult themed card game.

I was a bit hesitant to do a review of grass, but ultimately the enjoyable gameplay brought me around to it. Grass is an adult-themed card game about dealing weed. It comes in a little brown "grass bag" and comes with the playing cards and a set of rules. 

It's fairly simple to play, you have to draw and play a "market open" card, and then you can table "peddle" cards of different denominations. Other players can try to steal your tabled cards, or throw "heat on" (like felony or detained) at you, and before you can play any other cards you have to play the appropriate "heat off" card. You can protect some of your money cards, and there are some bad cards that make you lose a turn, like doublecrossed.

Ultimately, the only objectionable item is the theme. Gameplay-wise, it's a fun, backstabby-type of card game where even when you can't play any other cards, you can still harass other players. If the theme bothers you, stay away because there is absolutely no way around it. Everything about the game revolves around the theme. If the theme does not bother you, this is a fun, light-hearted card game.

If you want a copy, you can find it at Board Game Geek or at Funagain Games for around $12.

FUN: 4. It's fun, what can I say?

THEME: 4. Strong (if objectionable) theme.

QUALITY: 3. It's about average quality.

ART: 3. Average art.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. You'll be screwing with your opponents every other move.

COMPLEXITY: 3. Different cards can offer some unique situations.

LUCK: 3. It's a card game, there's some luck involved.

Recommendation? You'll have to decide that one for yourself. I play it with older age friends, but we are able to separate fantasy and fun from reality. I would not play it with my younger siblings or any other young children due to the potential to glorify drug use.

Nexus Ops -- A tactical war game.

Nexus Ops is for 2-4 players. Man, some good times are had when this game rolls out. A new energy source, called Rubium, has been discovered on some distant moon. Four companies are trying to gain control of this source, so they have sent teams to the moon to take control of it. The game is set around one of many "monoliths" that produce the Rubium. Your job is to take control of it, and fight off any who oppose you. Sounds good so far, so what do you get when you open the box?

Alright! Lots of pieces! The "board" is a randomized-tile setup, makign each game different from the last. Each tile gets an "exploration token" (facedown) and when you take the tile, you get the bonus listed on the token. You can control small Rubium mines, and use the proceeds to buy additional units. They player controlling the monolith in the center gets special cards to help them.

I gotta say, the units are a pretty cool neon colored transluscent plastic. I've seen pictures where games have been played under a blacklight, and it makes me want to do it myself.

You win by accumulating a certain number of victory points, which are gained by completing secret mission cards, and also by winning battles. There are six different unit types, each with their own strengths and special abilities.

Combat is fairly simple, roll the dice and see who gets hit.

It can be a little bit of a dice fest, but not nearly as much so as in Risk. The Rubium mines make for strategic thinking, as you want to defend your own mines, and try to capture your opponents mines. Sure, you could try to go for overwhelming force, but leave part of your territory undefended, and watch a third player eat you up from the rear.

Personally, I like to capture the monolith and the overload it with troops so that if someone aggravates me I can simply drop an army next to them. Control the center, and you control everyone (I think).

Nexus Ops has gone out of print, and has recently been reprinted. As always Board Game Geek has members selling it (cost around $50) but the reprint is for sale at Boards and Bits for around $40.

FUN: 4. Solid game, always willing to play.

THEME: 3. It's there, but it could be a WWII game just as easily.

QUALITY: 3. Some of the cardboard parts are flimsy, but the plastic pieces and
                       the tiles are durable.

ART: 3. Nothing fancy, but it isn't ugly either.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. You will be planning for your opponents' possible moves.

COMPLEXITY: 3. There is a little bit to remember, but it's not too bad.

LUCK: 3. There is a bit of luck, but good tactics can mitigate that.

I recommend Nexus Ops to just about anyone who wants a Risk-style game with a bit more depth.

Scotland Yard -- A clever family game.

This is a fun Milton Bradley game for 2 - 6 players. I'll be honest, I think it's supposed to be designed for younger children, but a group of late-twenties adults had a blast with it a couple weeks ago. In Scotland Yard, 5 players (or less) take on the role of Detectives and try to catch the criminal, "Mr. X", in Central London. One player plays Mr. X, the rest play detectives. Sound good so far? Check out what comes in the game...

Inside the box:

Okay, the pen I added to the box. Otherwise, you get a simple map of Central London, 5 colored cardboard "badges", 5 "detective" pawns (they match the badges), one pad of paper, one "Mr. X" blue cover for the pad of paper, a small rulebook, a stack of station tokens, and a metric ton of "ticket" tokens.

Looking closer at the board, you can see that there are routes and stations that are yellow, green or pink. To move a pawn from one station to the next costs you a ticket of the matching color. Generally, Taxis can go everywhere, but they are very short routes. Bus routes can go a bit farther, but they do not go everywhere. Underground routes go the farthest, but they are severely limited as to where they can go.

Detectives have a limited number of tickets. They get a bunch of taxi tickets, a few less of the bus tickets, and only a few underground tickets. When they're gone, they're gone. If a detective runs out of tickets they are stranded and out of the game. If a detective has some tickets, but is stuck on a station that doesn't use that kind of tickets, they are stranded and out of the game.

Now, when a detective uses a ticket, it goes to Mr. X. Mr. X does not run out of tickets, and has two special tickets: The black ticket (2), and the 2x ticket (2). The black ticket can be used for any station, as well as the black route river ferries. The 2x ticket allows Mr. X to make two moves on one turn. Once a black or 2x ticket is used, it is gone.

So how does Mr. X work? Well, the player controlling Mr. X does not put the pawn on the board. Mr. X writes down his moves on the pad of paper, and then covers the move with a ticket of the type he used. This allows Mr. X to be sneaky, and the detectives have to think about where he might have gone based on the ticket he uses.

On the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, and last moves, Mr. X must place his pawn on the board. So the detective spend the first three moves setting up a position, and then on the third move, they have to start paying attention to what Mr. X might be doing.

Scotland Yard is a great game in that the 5 detectives really have to work together to catch the Mr. X player. It is not so hard that younger children can't grasp it, but it is deep enough for older players to enjoy it.  The bad news is that my 1985 Milton Bradley edition is out of print. The good news is that it has been reprinted with some updated artwork. And of course, Board Game Geek always has people selling various versions, anywhere from $7 to $50. You can also buy the newest reprint from Funagain games for around $35. Honestly, I'd say this is a game that is definitely worth $35.

FUN: 4. This is a good game, and virtually infinitely replayable.

THEME: 4. It's a good theme, and the game is built around it.

QUALITY: 3. It was a mass-produced MB game. They used appropriate materials,
                       but some of the cardstock is a little cheap.

ART: 2. The only "art" to speak of is the board, and it is a map.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. It isn't that you affect the other players with your move, but
                                   you have to coordinate your moves together.

COMPLEXITY: 2. No surprises here. Straightforward game.

LUCK: 1. The only "luck" is your starting positions, and that is really just randomized
                 through tile drawing, and not true luck.

I'd recommend this game to anyone, but especially for folks who want a game the whole family can enjoy.

Game Summary --- Potion Making: Practice

So I played a couple games with the wife tonight. It did not occur to me to log the game until after we had started our second game, but here it is. I jumped to the early lead with a lucky play of The Avocado Humunculus and some smaller supporting potions.

The wife was stuck behind me just a bit due to a lousy draw, but started to catch up to me. I stayed just out of reach by playing the Dragon off of her Emanation of Force and my Powder of Obeyance.

I got lucky and drew a Transformation spell. I held it for a couple of turns, and then used it to make a great potion. I then played another great potion off of one of my potions and one of the wife's potions. A turn later I made the Supreme Potion using the two great potions from the last play. That bumped me pretty far into the lead.

A few smaller plays and a talisman (8 points) and I had almost clinched the lead.

Some smaller potions to gain some points, and an unintentional block of the wife's major move (I played a potion to the desk that she needed me to actually create), and the game was mine.

Hooray for Gryffindor! The wife made some obligatory grumblings about losing, but she knows that now she has to be house Slytherin for losing.

Terra Nova: Simple simple game.. But it can be fun.

Game by Gaetano Evola and Rosanna Leocata 
Published by Immortal Eyes
Price: $15 - $30
Number of Players: 2 - 4
Time: 30 - 45 minutes.

Terra Nova. So simple it hurts, but still good enough to play again when you have thinking opponents. The box is sturdy, and has some pretty decent artwork. My biggest question is how in the all-fired hell did it take TWO people to design this game? Inside:

Dang, that's a pretty board. But that's all that's inside.. A board and a bag of wooden people. The game is so  simple to play. You take turns risk-style placing your people on the board. Then, on your turn, you move a guy, make him place a stone (brown wooden token), and move again (or move someone else, or just move one guy and place two stones). When 3 or less different types of land (lake, forest, mountains, plains, etc...) are fully enclosed, they are a property, and whoever has the most guys inside the enclosure gets the points. That's it. No luck at all, so that is a plus, but no real variety either. It's like checkers without the jumping. So again, it took TWO to come up with this? What, did one of them say "Well, lets put guys on a board." Then the other person said "WAIT! Let's make the guys put a rock down too!" "YEAH! GREAT IDEA!!".....That board sure is pretty though:

And the wooden pieces are nice:

But other than that, not much to it.

FUN: 3. It can be fun, but it's not a favorite.

THEME: 1: There's a theme?

QUALITY: 4. It's a solid quality game. Wooden pieces, sturdy board.

ART: 4. That is such a good looking board.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. You're pretty much screwing each other throughout the game.

COMPLEXITY: 1. This is simplicity at its finest.

LUCK: 1. There is none.

Honestly, I do recommend Terra Nova. It is not a staple by any means, but it's easy to learn like Carcassonne. I use it primarily to introduce beginners to games that involve more than throwing a pair of dice and sliding a metal dog across the board. Still though, two people? Two??? I mean, Settlers of Catan only took one.

Oh right. Get it here or here.

Carcassonne: Fun with tiles.

Game by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede
Published by A ton of different people
Price: Around $15.
Players: 2-5
Time: 20 - 40 minutes.

Carcassonne falls into the "Classic" category like Settlers of Catan. Just about everyone has played it, and it's even available on the XBOX 360. You can get it from (of course) Board Game Geek or from Cool Stuff Inc. The box is fairly small, but that's because there is not a lot to this particular game. Open the box and:

Huh. A bunch of tiles? Yes. There are really two things for this game. The tiles:

And the wooden "meeples":

There is also a scoring track, but it's really kind of superfluous as you could just use pen and paper for that part.

Still, it helps to keep the game pretty.

The play is simple. On your turn, you draw a tile, place the tile, and then decide whether or not to place a follower (meeple) on the tile you just placed. But tiles have to match on all sides (empty space doesn't matter, and you could place a tile knowing that it would block a later otherwise legitimate move), and you can not place followers on something that is already claimed. Completing roads, cities, and monasteries gives you points, and returns your follower to you. After all the tiles are placed, the game is over, unfinished projects give diminished points, and the winner is the one with the most points.

It is a simple, but still enjoyable game. We usually play several rounds of it when it comes off the shelf.

FUN: 3.5. Honestly, it is a bit simple for my tastes. I'm always willing to play, but
                 I don't suggest it often myself.

THEME: 1. What theme?

QUALITY: 4. It's a euro game... Wooden pieces and thick stock.

ART: 3. Nothing special, gets the job done.

INTERACTIVITY: 4. Oh yeah, it's interactive alright. Let someone screw up your huge
                                   castle at the last minute... It gets REAL "interactive" then.

COMPLEXITY: 2. This is not a complex game.

LUCK: 4. You're always drawing tiles, and it is the primary mechanic.

I would recommend it to just about anyone. It makes a good addition to any collection, and it does not cost much.