Roland

I’ve never been able to such a diverse group of people playing one game. Mice and Mystic’s style seems to be the catch all for every gamer (even some non-gamers) ever.
Some people enjoyed it with me because it was cute, some because they like RPG elements, some because they liked the story, some because you got to work together, pretty much anybody can enjoy this game for some aspect.

It’s very easy to get engrossed in the little mouse world with the great story telling and wonderfully crafted personalities of each character mouse. I have found that every player gets rather attached to the mouse they chose as “theirs” or “them.”

Not only is it well crafted on the narrative side, it’s a game that looks as good as it feels. Every piece of art, every character picture, every path tile is not wasted on it’s visuals. Everything has a distinct visual personality to it.

In addition, when I first got it I was skeptical about the replay value of a one off set of story missions. I figured they might get bland after awhile. In response to that, I have played the very first mission 8 different times with different people and groups and every time for me has been a blast. There is a little “forbidden knowledge” when you play a second time but that doesn’t mean that you know exactly how the mission is going to turn out.

Overall, this game is close to my heart because so many people have had great experiences with it. Mice and Mystics is perfect for families, friends, and anybody else who even slightly enjoys gaming.

I haven’t spoken a lot on the actual game play part because I don’t think that this game is focused on rules, rules, rules. This game is all about having a great time. Jerry Hawthorn (the author of this game) fully supports changing it if there is an aspect that you do or do not like. It’s all about a great time, and it delivers. If someone is grumpy playing Mice and Mystics, you aren’t playing it right. =) Now go have some mousey adventures!

Being a college gamer I am always on the lookout for easy to learn game that people enjoy and can laugh about. This game definitely filled that criteria. 8 people were able to learn this game in a matter of seconds. (Literally seconds)

Tsuro is a game of survival that all you need to do is stay on the board. Played with easy rules and quick turns everyone was able to have a blast while still stopping to think on real consequential choices. If nothing else this game is worth getting for the low cost and the beautifully designed simplicity that this game capitalizes on.

Looking for a game that you can play in the short time before dinner or several times in an hour? GET THIS!

The first time I played Summoner Wars was on an empty Saturday and my shiny new master set had arrived in the mail just the day before. (At least it was mostly my master set, my friend and I split it). My good gaming buddy arrived early just as excited as I was to learn a game we had heard nothing but good things about. It truly didn’t disappoint. We rapidly, and carefully, cut the plastic wrapped around 6 decks of beautiful cards. After each one was open we looked at each deck, not knowing what any text or numbers meant, and stared at all the pretty pictures on the cards. After we had finished gawking at the pretty game components we opened the rulebook. Not 15 minutes later we were taking the first turns of a game that would then become number 1 on my top 5 board games in the universe.
Summoner Wars is a game of tactical combat and strategy developed by Plaid Hat Games. You play as a summoner who uses magic to call troops to his aid. In a very chess-like fashion, the object of the game is to be the last player with a summoner on the battlefield. The summoner, like a king in chess, is the most important card and you must protect him while trying to destroy your opponent’s.
Summoner Wars is most definitely my personal favorite game right now. For such an easy-to-learn combat game I was amazed how many strategies there were at my disposal. Most combat games, in my experience, have big thick rule guides having to mass out all the possible combat situations. (The thickness of the rule book is what turns a lot of people off the board games). In Summoner Wars, 8 paragraphs are spent on combat and movement total. And that includes the how to use combat special abilities portion of the rules. Even with all this simplicity and logical format, there is an amazing amount of ways to play. To drive the point home; this is the simplest strategy game to learn, and the most complex set game play ideas to make every second of play interesting. On top of that, this game is just plain fun. There are games which “work” and yes they are “games” but they just aren’t fun to play. Summoner Wars really brings out the best in how to make a game playable, fun, intense, and exciting all at the same time.
With a fluid and easy to understand game play system it’s easy to make tactical mistakes that can be your undoing. An advanced game of Summoner Wars takes an uncanny amount of fore-thought, prediction, and vigorous attention to your own weaknesses (because they are always there). Though on the other side, this is a game that it can be the game that you are able to convince people to play because it only requires a simple understanding of the cards to play. While I love thinking and being able to win, I love even more having fun with my friends and getting excited about random happenings of luck (or misfortune). The twists and turns of Summoner Wars allows for just that. Very few instances will you be able to predict how the entire game might shift in the matter of one turn.
The only weakness of Summoner Wars is the fairly small amount of customization of the game there is. To clarify, each deck comes preset exactly the same, you can then buy the reinforcement pack for it and start editing the deck to your own style but even then there are a good amount of limitations. Most of the time you can only have cards in your deck from one of the 15 factions. The exceptions to this are the mercenaries whom may be in any deck and there are also some people who do away with the faction limit rules and use a free build style. Either way, the Summoner Wars system is fairly new and has somewhat limiting product so far, especially if you like to play 1 deck most of the time. Myself, I prefer to use a different faction every time I play so of course that expands the variety with which to play. But, this is mainly because of the fact that Summoner Wars has just been published in 2009 and is still expanding. From what I have heard there will be secondary summoners being released at some point which will at least double the amount of variety within each faction.
To sum everything up, Summoner Wars is hands down a fantastic game that has yet to grow to it’s full potential. I have had loads of fun with this game. Easy set-up, easy learn, easy play, complex strategies, a GRAND old time! I recommend this game to any pro, avid, and casual gamer that looks for the most in every game. I have certainly been impressed by Plaid Hat and I expect great things from their upcoming additions and games. Summoner Wars if most definitely a game that everyone should try at least once and get a feel for a really incredible game designed by geniuses.

Dominion is a good family/group game.

Dominion is one of my families favorite games. Easy to understand and has great dynamic game play and can really get you thinking.

In Dominion you play the role of an enterprising citizen during the mid-evil era. The object is to collect up as much estate as you can before the very last province is sold. You collect up money to buy your victory and action cards. Normally on a turn you can only play 1 card and buy one card, the action cards have different effects and often give you more plays and buys to use on your turn. When you buy something, it goes straight to your discard pile. Any money you spent goes there too, as well as any card you haven’t played during the turn…. Confused yet? This is the wonderful brilliance of Dominion. When you run out of deck to draw from, you shuffle your discard pile and place where your deck is supposed to be and continue to play. That means you don’t get to use your cards that you bought quite yet, it’s all about planning ahead and thinking on a large scale that will earn you the most money and victory points at the end of the game.

Dominion really impressed me when I first bought it. You get a lot of variety in just one starter box, and each expansion doubles the possibilities. For a small $50 Dominion really delivers. Lots of variety in game play and game setups, easy to learn in say 10 minutes, and a fantastic concept that really makes game interesting. I have had more fun with this game than most, simply because games are rarely similar. On top of that, there are 6+ expansions to make even more combinations of cards to play with. If you look for games that give you a lot of replay value this is where to go. With countless amounts of combinations of cards to use, you won’t get bored quickly.

You can find Dominion in almost any game store it seems. You will pay a max of 60 bucks for a starter set and just the starter will keep you going for months. I didn’t get my first expansion for 8 months at least, and I still only own the one expansion. You really get your monies worth on this and this game is fun for all.

The worst part is clean up (as is with all games). You have to organize the cards all pretty if you’re a neat freak like me. Sometimes when you play with 4+ players the games seem to go slow, especially if not everyone is experienced. The best amount of players to have is usually 3.

So really! Everyone has to play this at least once just because it’s FUN! Not to mention the cards are beautifully printed on real quality stock.