Rich...!

Like Paladin above, I realise I have two main hobbies, the one is boardgaming, the other is kickstarter. Things have become so bad (good) of late that KS fits into a category all on its own. Thus the reason I bought this.

Contrary to popular BGing wisdom, I don’t feel that every reviewer needs to repeat the game mechanics, in my mind, I believe that Paladin did a fantastic job there. Thus if you’ll indulge me a bit, I’d simply like to pick up where he left off, but from a parent’s perspective.

I have two kids, an 11 y/old boy and a 6 y/old girl. I found IncrediBrawl to be one of the few games that both of them love equally. The reason being is two-fold.

Firstly the artwork has appeal to both of them (and my wife and I too), while Calumn likes his Spartans, Bailey loves her Unicorns.

https://twitter.com/richmulholland/status/466991543455580160

The second reason is that this game is scalable from an age point of view. When my daughter plays, we take out the ability cards and the colour coding on the character cards makes this super easy for her to play – it’s just RPS with a heap more humour, and as you can see in this pic – she loves it 🙂

https://twitter.com/richmulholland/status/466994232402919424

Lastly, and this is more of a tip (I’ll include it there too) is the microgame varient we play when we go out. Before leaving, each of us choses 9 cards – 3 of each colour, this allows us to have a micro brawl where we just cycle the played cards – it also allows us to build more themed decks, a case in point being my daughter’s “girl power” deck. This is great little filler while we’re sitting at a table some place, and also a sneaky way of me introducing the fun of deckbuilding.

I enjoy it, my wife enjoys it, and sure, it’s light – but this is exactly why my kids LOVE it, and for that reason alone, it’s worth every cent.

One small note about the component rating of three. In a game where the expectation is kids (and adults) “brawling” with cards, card quality is hugely important. The only downside to this game for me was the flimsy card stock used.

Okay, so while no one wants to be the bad guy, and get their reviews boo’d, I feel that this game needs to hear from the voice of the opposition.

I think it’s fair to say that the reviews above have covered the mechanics of the game, so hopefully you’ll forgive me for not repeating everything already said, let me just get down to it.

This game is beautiful.

I had so much fun setting it up, I even sat there and put two stickers on each and every meeple so that they looked great.

When my wife and kids walked it there were all the right “oohs” and “aahs”, I even did an impromptu photo shoot.

Then we played.

It started off well enough, monsters were dropped, buildings were blown, and cars were thrown. We all had a great laugh. For about 10 minutes.

Then the repetition set in.

All of a sudden the novelty of it all just wore thin – and my kids are 6 and 11! Everything just became less fun, and once that novelty wore off, you’re left what we all found to be a pretty uninteresting and tedious game.

I promise, I really wanted to love this game. I just didn’t. Perhaps it needs to be broken out at a dinner party once my guests have a had a few bottles of wine, however personally I have no interest in playing again.

Okay so imagine The Resistance was hanging around a bar one night and Love Letter walked in, they smiled, they laughed, they shared a few drinks, and BAM! the next morning they woke up and somewhat awkwardly promised that they’d call each other (they didn’t). Well that happened, and nine months later Coup was born.

I couldn’t be happier.

Basically, Coup is like Love Letter, but with the possibility of bluffing.

Each player has two unrevealed influence cards, these are the people that they have influence over. These people have abilities that can be played. You can play these whether you have them or not, it’s up to your opponents to decide whether you do or not. Your job is to try and reveal the influence that the other players have, thus negating it. Once both your influence cards are revealed – you’re out the game.

So what’s so good?

Firstly, it’s small. This game is small enough to carry by hand or get thrown in a handbag. That’s a big deal for my fiancé and I as we like to take a game with us when we go out to dinner. It’s just 15 cards which appeals to me.

Secondly, it’s fast. The average game takes just a few minutes (the more players, the longer it takes).

Third, it’s fun. Bluffing feels great. Getting away with bluffing is greater still, and catching your friends trying to bluff you is the greatest. You will laugh.

Fourth, it’s pretty, the art is great (the tokens are meh).

Lastly, it’s easy to teach. Really easy. This is thanks to a very well written booklet, and simple mechanic. It took me under five minutes and one or two practice hands and we were sorted (TIP: for the first hand when teaching, keep one of each cards face up next to the reference cards, it’s much easier for the noob to make the connection).

So what are the downsides?

Well, as I do compare it to Love Letter, I do wish it came in a similar sized carrier. The cards are slightly oversized which just adds unnecessary bulk – you also have a lot of tokens, when in reality each player could just have a D10. The reference cards are also pretty large.

It’s very fast. That’s why LL has a “best out of X” aspect to it – this needs the same, no big deal, decide on the number before you play.

Lastly, it’s not super strategic, but really, that’s never what filler games are about.

Coup is a super portable game that’s one part filler / one part party game – what more could you want?

Okay so this is one pretty game.

The components are perfect, not only nice looking but tactile too (there’s a wooden die, bamboo markers, and fully painted figurines). This really makes a difference to the game itself, the longer you play the better the board looks, it’s really hard to explain but it’s just really satisfying which adds to the enjoyment.

The rule book is no different. Designed as a hi-gloss comic book, it’s pretty much the easiest to follow rulebook I’ve read. You read the book in 10 minutes and you’ve got it completely.

Now for the gameplay. Think Ticket to Ride. The idea is to draw objective cards (from three suits), and to build the board to fulfill objectives you’re holding (while trying to predict what your opponent is doing and get in their way). Each objective is worth victory points with are calculated once a certain amount of objective cards have been fulfilled by a single player. The winner is the player with the most victory points.

The game plays quickly, with the average player’s turn taking approximately a minute. I’ve only played two player games and they seem to be done in 20 – 30 mins.

Lastly, it’s a strategy game, there’s thinking, and planning involved, however it’s still a lot of fun to play. Again I feel the visual aspect adds to this.

Takenoko is without a doubt the best looking game I own, this alone makes it worth trying, however it’s fun, easily accessible for all levels of gamer, and is a thinking person’s kinda fun. Do it.

I am so impressed with this game.

Firstly, as has been mentioned by other reviewers is its size – just sixteen cards (get deck protectors). There are counters too, but you can just use an app/paper for that.

Secondly, there’s the packaging. Everything fits in a small silk pouch.

Thirdly is the ease of learning. This game takes seconds, just explain the basic premise and then get going, the cards are so self-explanitory, people invariably get it within a round or two.

There’s thinking, planning, card counting, and strategies that change depending on how early in the round you are – there’s also a lot of laughs.

Not too shabby for 16 wee cards.

I got this last week and set it up to play with my parents, kids, and fiancé. What I love is that everyone enjoyed it as much and the engagement all around was cool.

10 minutes in, everyone had it. The first time you play you’ll probably just try finish your routes and not draw more (I’d suggest that you do).

The game itself takes a while, however the player turns are fast so it works. Well, they’re almost always fast. If you do select a route card, there’s quite a bit of PT trying to decide if you’re going to keep them or not, which invariably results in someone putting the kettle on – which I guess is not a bad thing.

Okay, so the truth is, this game could be about pretty much anything, the Walking Dead reference pretty much is a gratuitous marketing ploy (but you knew that already).

That said, it certainly doesn’t distract from the game.

This is a quick to learn game that has two modes, with two rules for each mode. Easy peasy.

It takes a few rounds of play (that are really quick) before you start playing strategically.

It’s fun, but I’m not sure how often I’ll reach for it. Perhaps if the packaging was better. This should have been one, maybe two decks in a box that fits in your pocket. Instead it’s in an over-sized box that will keep it stuck in the game chest.

This game is small, fast, and great fun for two people.

I have yet to be able to play this game just once. You always want to play as Holmes, and Mr. Jack – the strategy for each is different.

It takes a few minutes to teach people but I’d suggest that this is one of those, “the best way to teach is to play” games. Once they get it though, I haven’t had anyone not love it.

I confess that I’ve never played it’s larger counterpart, however I really feel that this is a great game in its own right.

And at only 15 mins per game, it’s the kinda game you could break out every night/week.

Every mate that pops over to visit has been introduced to this game.

For five minutes they’re confused, then when they get it, they’re hooked.

I love the kill vs Victory Points option, it completely changes your play strategy, the modifier cards aid this.

I felt that it lacked any kinda individuality based on the monster you played, but I understand that the expansion fixes this, so I’m looking forward to getting that.

It’s a dice game with a largely superfluous board, however the quality of the components and the artwork really make this.

I’m awaiting a pocket version.

So, by far the best thing about this game is that you can carry a single die in your pocket and you’re good to go.

– I download all rule sheets of games I own to Evernote
– Toothpicks at restaurants make for great counters (you need three per person).

I also invested in the large foam die. We throw this one around the office, I’d highly recommend this as an option – there’s something about tossing a big foam die hard against a wall that’s deeply satisfying.

Again… 1 die people FTW.

I can’t remember the last trip I went on that I didn’t take these along with me (as well as my Corx).

The key for me is that this is a game that gets people into games. The free iPhone app is also a nice touch, get’s people into it.

Quick to teach and fun with any group (from my 10 year old so, to my 66 year old parents). Like the expansion too.

Blah blah blah, the “Experience shows that short reviews
(< 500 characters) get poor ratings" warning won't let me submit.

So the ninja skill of this game is the character cards.

These cards modify the strategy of the game a lot. Imagine every time you played Zombie Dice things changed. That’s what happens here. Thing is, it took us three games before we really got the subtlety.

I feel that people are putting it away before it’s had a chance to shine. That said, it’s a casual game. We take it with us if we’re going to the local to grab a quick pizza. However it will make an appearance at the next game night.

TIP/HACK FOR GAMEPLAY:
The game’s downfall is that the player rolling for the dungeon doesn’t have any strategy – they’re just a dice rolling machine. The complicated fix would be to give each adventurer card a DM skill, so when you’re rolling as DM you could have an ability you could choose to play. The other way is to roll a D6 when the character rolls his party. Let’s say the die lands on 4. At any point after rolling, the DM could choose to re-roll up to 4 die before the character gets a chance to resolve.. So if as the DM I rolled 2 treasure chests in level 2, I could reroll them, and turn my reroll die from 4 to 2 indicating the amount of rerolls I have. It’s not huge, but it goes a long way towards keeping the DM roll interesting as opposed to mechanical. Give it a try.

BTW. I found the booklet really confusing, I had to watch a video online to understand the game.