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El Dorado
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Go to the Xia: Legends of a Drift System page
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8
Go to the Krosmaster: Arena page

Krosmaster: Arena

121 out of 128 gamers thought this was helpful

Summary of the game
In the OtherWorld, the Demons of Hours and Minutes are so bored that they use a magic ritual to lure the best Krosmaster warriors and make them fight in the arena for their own amusement. You are leading a team of 4 Krosmaster warriors in a battle where your tactical skills is the only path to victory.

Theme: fantasy, cartoon
Game category: miniatures, fighting, tactical
Mechanic: Action point, grid movement, dice rolling
Number of players: 2 to 4. Best with 2, 4 is chaotic but fun, 3 is unbalance
Age: 10+, my 11yo daughter didn’t have any problems learning the game.
Game type: competitive (free for all), team (2 Vs 2)
Game length: 60min

Quality of the game / Components:
The miniatures are the main reason to buy this game, they are just incredible. They are nice to look at and move around the board. Each one has his own personality. It’s easy to fall for one of the character
The 3D environment is a cool touch. It’s pretty fun to hide and move around the trees and bushes. The only negative point are the boxes. They don’t assemble well and keep falling apart. You will have no choice but gluing them and depending of your skills the the results can be a disaster and when you pay a good price for a game you expect more…but the miniatures makes you forget everything.
All the other components are made of great quality.

Design / Artwork
The game is very colorful and very suitable and attractive to children. The artwork is also incredible and unique for every figure. All the symbols are logic, easy to understand and remember. The character card are very well made

Rule book.
I have a mixed opinion about the rule book. The rule book is made of 7 tutorials that teaches you the game step by step, adding a few element from one to another. If you never play a board game and you follow the rulebook page by page it’s one of the best rule book you can get. But for me, after the first 3 tutorials I jumped directly to the rules sections and begin my first game to find out that there were a lots of missing information’s that were explained only in the tutorials. So the first games requires a lot of back and forth in the rulebook and that was painful. The back of the rule book have a nice summary sheet and after a few games it’s the only thing you will use

Learning the game
The game is easy to learn and teach. The mechanics are simple and standard. But still reading the rulebook and playing a learning game took us 2 hours. But after that we feel very comfortable with the game.

Set up
Except for the first setup where you have to punch out a lot of tokens and assemble the 3D environment including the gluing of the boxes the normal setup is very simple and fast. The board shows where to put the tokens, 3D elements and characters. What makes the setup longer is when you try to build the best team one character at the time. But even if you chose randomly, you still need to read your 4 characters card to be sure you understand how he plays before going in the battle

Difficulty
The difficulty of the game lies on the fact that each character have 2 unique attack possibility and special powers for critical hits, armour, tackle, dodge. With a total of 8 attack possibility it can be intimidating at first but after a few games you will find that Krosmaster. is not a difficult game at all. Also, it can be difficult to win against a more experience player.

Replayability
What makes you want to replay a game is how fun it is to play it and this one is fun, a lot of fun.
But it’s true that there is not a lot of changes from a game to another. The variability comes with building a different team each game but with only 8 characters in the base set you will want something new…this is why there is a ton of other character you can add to the game. I did add 4 more characters and it change the game so much….just hope I will not become a Krosmater. miniature addict

Luck based
The combat modifications are dice based so yes there is a bit of a luck factor but it’s not your luck that will make you win or lose a game

Game play
The objective is quite simple, be the last player to own Galons of Glory tokens (GG). You start the game with 6 GG + 1 free GG available for the first player to grab it. There is 3 ways for getting GG;
1) Buy one for 10 Karmas (gold token that you can grab for 1 action on the board)
2) Every player lose 1 GG if the active player rolls 2 identical symbol on the dice at the start of his turn
3) Get 3 GG from your opponent if you knock out one of his character (no killing in the game)

At the beginning of a player turn, roll 2 dice and choose to give the dice power to 1 or 2 character or sell the dice for Karma (gold). The power can give you 1 more a dice when rolling for critical hits, defence, tackle or dodge.

The player plays his 4 character 1 after the other according to the Timeline (initiative value on the character card). The character can move according to his movement points (MP), cast a spell to attack an opponent, grab a Kama, buy a GG or buy a special power. Each character has his own number of Movement Point (MP) and Action point (AP) to use.

When it is done it’s the turn of the other player and you repeat until the victory.

Final thought
The first time my daughter saw the game she felt in love with the miniatures and wanted to get the game. I have to admit that the game is very appealing. At first I was not sure because we don’t usually play fighting or tactical game so we took time to watch game play videos in order to make our mind. We are so glad that we got this one, it’s a nice addition to our gaming shelf. It is the only game of that kind that we have and we are not looking for another one.

It is our new best daughter/father game and we play it on a regular basis. It is easy and fast to play. If you like this game you will also want to add more characters so be prepared to fall for the Krosmaster miniatures addiction.

7
Go to the Jamaica page

Jamaica

138 out of 149 gamers thought this was helpful

When we start boardgaming with our daughter, we picked 2 games from our local store, Carcassonne Jr and Jamaica….We have play these 2 games again and again but a few years later we still play Jamaica.

Jamaica is a pirate themed game putting the players in a race around the Jamaica Island. Players have to gather gold, food, canon powder in order to progress around the island and even participate in a naval combat

Each turn the first player (the captain)roll 2 dice and according to his card hand he chooses which die he wants to use for the day action and for the night action (no rest when you are in a race).

After that, each player chooses a card to play and one after the other each player plays his card and do his two actions. Get food, gold, canon powder, move forward or backward and even find treasures.

When your boat finishes in the same space as another boat a simple dice roll naval combat begins and the winner can steal the looser precious goods.

The components are amazing…It’s all very colorful, even the box is made to be a treasure chest. Everyone likes the little pirate boats. The character card are really impressive.

The rule book is well made, clear and simple to understand. The game doesn’t take long to learn (30min) and to teach (5min)

The set up is quick and simple, it only takes a few minutes and you are ready to sail on the Caribbean seas.

The game is not too long to play, around 30min. Even with 6 people it doesn’t take more than 60 min.

The game is light on strategy and requires some decision making (which card to use according to the dice and which dice to use for the first and second action).

The game has also some player interaction since the decision of the captain (first player) can ruin your plan and during the naval combat…it’s always fun to steal other player’s goods and treasures.

It’s not rare to play 2 or 3 game in a row. Each game is different due to the actions cards and dice rolling.

Last thought: simple to learn, play and teach. Really fun to play, it’s a family winner

8
Go to the Mr. Jack page

Mr. Jack

22 out of 23 gamers thought this was helpful

Mr Jack will always have a special place in my heart because it’s the game that made me rediscover board games.
There is a time, when you are in a couple, that you don’t know what to do after S** on a rainy day. Let’s play game….You open the game closet and take all the dusty board games boxes that you have and played when you were younger…Monopoly, Pay Day, Destin, Yathzee, Mastermind, Othello, Clue….And then you realize that these games are now fun anymore and there are not like you… they didn’t get better with time.
At our game store we ask the lady for an easy, quick and a 2 player game. Mr Jack it was

The Game
It’s a 2 player game only in which 1 takes the role of an inspector and the other one takes the role of the Jack the Villain.
It’s an asymmetrical game where the goal of the inspector is to find and arrest Jack and where Jack’s goal is to get out of the city or not get caught until the end of the last round.

Components
Wow, when you open the box you see and feel the quality of this game. Wooden pieces, thick cards. Well designed and colorful. The board is really detailed, it’s just gorgeous. I have and play this game for more than 10 years and it doesn’t show his age

Rule book
The rule book is well made, the rules are simple and clear to understand. Each round condition are printed on the board.

Set up
There is only 1 way to setup the game and I still have to refer to the rule book …it’s not hard nor long but you have do to it right. After the setup, the player playing Jack pick 1 character card from the pile….It’s now Jack and the game begins

Game play
At the beginning of the game there are 4 characters “visible” and 4 characters “not visible” that are all supspects.
Each round players move 4 selected characters (2 each player) that have all special abilities in order to bring the character “visible” or “not visible” to other characters.
The inspector changes the character status (suspect to innocent) according to the visibility rules.
The inspector must deduce who Jack is and catch him before the 8th round. On his side Jack can use the darkness to escape the city and win the game

Learning curve
The game its self is really simple to understand and to play. It’s light on strategy and deduction. Despite this, Jack’s role is a bit harder and should be played by the most experienced player.

Replay value
This game is quick, around 20-30min so we often play 2 games in a row. With 8 possible suspects and shuffled character deck each game plays differently. Changing roles also change the game play so good replay value

Final thoughts
After 10 years I still enjoy playing this game. I just introduce it to my 11 daughter and she loved it If you like simple game that are quick to play, easy to learn and light on strategy and deduction Mr Jack might be the game for you.
It’s a perfect couple game

4
Go to the Shadows over Camelot: The Card Game page
28 out of 29 gamers thought this was helpful

****** Solo game review *********

Since I am mostly a solo game player, my review only concerns the solo experience of this game.

The Game
The game puts you in the role of sons and daughters of the Knights of the Round Table who unite to defeat the threats that overwhelm Camelot.

You have to listen to rumors and decide when it’s the right time to go on a quest in order to collet 7 white Swords to achieve victory. But wait…there may be a traitor in the group….too bad no traitor when you play solo.

Components
Really good quality components and cards. The illustrations on the cars are beautiful and colorful. It’s a Days of Wonder quality game.

Rule book
The rule book is well made, the rules are simple and clear to understand. There is an index table on the back for fast game reference.

Set up
Shuffle the Rumor deck card and you are ready to go

Game play
On his turn, the player must do one on the following action
1- Listen to rumors: draw the top card of the rumor pile and place it face up on the Threats pile so only the last one is visible. There are 4 different color types of rumors (each one with unique potential rewards).

2- Go on a quest: the top card of the Treats pile is the main quest. Take the Threats pile and sort them in piles by quest type (color). Mordred, Vivien and Merlin cards modifies the gameplay and Quest outcomes then compute the total Rumor value of each quest.

10 or less: the rumors was baseless and was a waste of time: take 1 black sword
11-12-13: you successfully complete the quest: take the number of white swords according to the quest followed.
14 or more: you didn’t take the rumor seriously enough early. Take a number of black swords according to the quest followed

And you have to add black swords for all secondary quests having a rumor value greater than 14

End game: the game ends when there are a total of 7 white swords (you win) or 7 black swords (you lose)

Learning curve
The game itself is really simple to understand and play. It’s almost a memory game since you have to keep track of which rumor cards are in the pile and decide when its best to go on a quest. The difficulty is to remember what each Mordred cards means. But it’s not so bad because each card has a number on it that can be referred to in the rulebook for a detail explanation.

Replay value
For the game itself it has an infinite replay value since the rumors pile won’t be the same twice…It’s more a matter of will you want to replay the game.

Fun Factor
Not fun at all… it’s really hard to forget that it is nothing more than a memory game. You don’t beat the game and you don’t beat yourself neither. There is no real challenge, no rewards…no fun

Final thoughts
I never played Shadow over Camelot (the board game) since it requires 3 players to play it but it is a game that I want to play. When I saw this game in my gaming store I said to myself Wow Shadow over Camelot that can be played alone. The box stated that it is a fast-paced challenge that recapture the tensions and fun of the original board game…..I could I be wrong picking up this game…..The problem is that it is not a solo game. Even in the rulebook the solo variant states that it is for beginner to PRACTICE the game. I think that it is wrong and almost dishonest that Days of Wonder put 1-7 players on the box. What makes this game fun is the traitor aspect and that you cannot control other players action going on a quest…remove that and there is no more game. I will have to try this game with other people to decide if I remove this game from my shelf.

7
Go to the Ghost Stories page

Ghost Stories

71 out of 139 gamers thought this was helpful

I love this game but its getting dust on forgotten gaming shelf. I tried this game with different group of players and they were done after only 1 game. I tried it a few times solo but its too hard for me to handle…

Beautiful game, beautiful components but too hard for my own good.

If you like hard cooperative game this one is for you but I have a psycological limit of getting my butt kicked

9
Go to the Mage Knight Board Game page
62 out of 70 gamers thought this was helpful

It’s harder and harder to find a group of people willing to play board games on a regular basis. For the past year my interest for solo games just begun an addiction so I bought many games that can be played solo.

Most of these games were:
– coop games that you can play solo and you have to manage many hero/player at the same time
– games that you have to beat your own score from game to game
– abstract games / card games
Dont get me wrong I love all these solo games populating my shelves but they never give me a sens of accomplishement . I was looking for a true solo adventure games, a game were I can explore and fight my way through victory all by myself…and I finally got the game I was looking for…Mage Knight.

In Mage Knight you can play 1 Hero (the dummy player is only for initiative order and for end of round trigger) exploringand fighthing monster for treasures and fame.

Its true that the game is a bit hard at first but each game is a total blast

Component : amazing, colorfull design and the painted miniature are just awsome
Rule book : could be better…I will have to make my own resume sheet
Set up: takes a good 15min. to set up and almost all the table space
Play time: 2h to 3h
Difficulty: not that difficult after a few games, the mechanics are simple but there is a lot going on
Replayability: Although the scenarios have roughly the same objectives each game is different du to the exploration tiles that gives random locations like ruins, temple, city and encounters.

For me Mage Knight is the best solo games….contenders to the title Robinson Crusoé and Fortune and glory

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