Game Brooklyn

GAMEPLAY
Players are the mages of Xidit come together to show off their powers to become the archmage. Each turn the starting player rolls special dice to determine what energies are available for the wizards to craft their items. The Dice are specific to each season and have more or less energy symbols depending on the season. The dice energies have one or two winter, spring, summer, or fall and sometimes one of two different seasons. In addition the dice may indicate that the player can play more power cards, gain a power card, gains crystals, or can transmute energy into crystals. The power cards build the mages’ capabilities. Some powers are simple, use two winter energy to get 20 crystals. Some powers rely on the opponent’s resources, spend two autumn energy to copy an opponent’s energy pool and add it to your own. Some powers make it easier for the mage, spend one energy of each type and for the rest of the game calling powers takes one less energy. The mages look to play as many power cards as possible as they add to the victory point total in addition to their effects. The game is broken down into three years and each year into 12 months. The turns move faster or slower depending on the power dice remaining from the turns’ roll. There are two copies of fifty different power cards in the game and the rules recommend using only the first 30 for the first few play throughs as the effects of the last 20 are more complicated and interact in with each other more. With so many powers there is a lot of replay-ability. At the end of the third year each player totals played powers and crystals, the mage with the most points wins the title of Archmage.

COMPONENTS
The card board elements of the game are the good standard, gamers have come to expect from Asmodee. The energy tokens fit into the top of each player board and the symbols all clearly indicate what they are. The dice are much larger than standard size, so aggressive dice rolling should be avoided. The artwork is top notch with interesting details on the player board and the power cards. There are a lot of colors in play because blue, green, yellow, and red are used for the seasons and player colors are orange, grey, brown, and purple.

THEME
I don’t think the world of Xidit has shown up anywhere else. So this new generic magical world has more exploring to be done in it. Everything that has been presented in this box fits and builds a unique high fantasy world. The flow of time on the circular time board feels smooth and is very well implemented into gameplay. The game turns are fast and building power divided by the mages makes for interesting game choices.

WHO IS IT FOR?
This game can cover a wide range of gamers. Those as young as ten can handle Seasons and because of its short play time, under an hour, will work great for families. Seasons also works well for heavier gamers as there are tons of possibilities with 50 different power cards in the game. The game plays 2 to 4 and more players offers more interaction for more interesting gameplay.

GAMEPLAY

Players take on the role of giant monsters set on rampaging through Tokyo and bashing each other. Each turn the players roll 6 dice Yahtzee style with 2 re-rolls to build energy, attack other players, score victory points, and heal. The objective of the games is to build up 20 victory points or destroy all of the other monsters. Buying power cards with stored energy brings in victory points, augments your dice rolls, or interferes with other players. Stomping into Tokyo builds your victory points but it makes you the center of attention. The game board consists of only the single space (two for 5 to 6 player games) which creates the dramatic tension of the game mechanic. One of the great decisions mid-game after there are fewer players is whether to hold the middle. Games move quickly form turn to turn and none of my games has taken longer than 30 minutes to finish making it possible to play several times or as a filler while waiting for other people to show.

COMPONENTS

The art style is fun and evocative. Monster stands are of thick card and all the images have strong colors. I would have like to see miniatures for the monsters but that isn’t really the point of the game. The box insert is just right for the existing components in the box but there is already one expansion so I don’t think it will fit.

THEME

Giant monsters attack Tokyo. Simple, easy to understand and fun. Monsters are easy to recognize and mimic many trademarked monsters from movies through the decades. The power cards are all over the map from destroying building for victory points to getting an extra head for more dice rolling.

WHO IS IT FOR?

KoT is easy to bring out with a broad range of players. Young kids can enjoy this game. There is some reading involved but if the adults are keeping the game moving kids as young as 6 should have fun. The game is for 2 to 6 players and can get pretty wild with a full group. Because the game is short (20 to 30 minutes) and the rules are basic, it can be played with anyone passingly interested in sitting down. Monster noises encouraged.

GAMEPLAY

The X-Wing Miniatures Game brings the dog fighting action of the Star Wars Universe to the tabletop, Specifically the Episodes 4, 5, and 6 timeframe. The game flows well from turn to turn as the game turn has four phases. One, Planning phase, secretly choose your ships’ movement. Two, Activation phase, move your ships and perform an action to help your ship survive and improve your chances to hit. Three, Combat phase, resolve you shooting for the turn. Four, End phase, clean up the game space. The planning phase offers a fun battle of wits with your opponent as your try to predict their moves and line up you shots. Each class of ship is restricted in their choices of manuevers. The Tie Fighters are fast but have restrictions on short turns with no shields. The X-Wings are generally mobile and have some shields. The Y-Wings are slow very durable and have lots of shield. Most of the turn is spent during the combat phase to resolve shooting. Ships have attack and defense dice. The die rolls can be modified by actions and pilots special abilities. Damage points are scored on each ship and critical hits will cause disruptions to the ship and the pilot.

X-Wing immerses you in the Star Wars setting and gives a fun fast gameplay experience. Having the game in two dimensions was clearly in the interest of keeping the game moving. A more hardcore dogfighting simulation can be found in Wings of Glory a WWII miniature game (Which I also recommend).

COMPONENTS
The models are well detailed, simply painted models. If you are a model painter the painting can easily be improved on, but the out of the box quality will have most fans smiling. The expected high quality Fantasy flight production is in evidence here, thick cardboard for the movement rulers, everything is easy to read, and the art is top notch. All of the stats and abilities are clear and easy to distinguish on the pilot cards.

THEME
Full of star wars. Get to fly as your favorite character from the movie when you are the good guys, Luke and Biggs. While playing the imperials the pilots get sufficiently generic evil names such as Mauler Mithel and Night Beast. The first wave of expansions add Characters with each ship including Wedge and Darth Vader. The Second coming early 2013 will add the Millennium Falcon and Slave one.

WHO IS IT FOR?
Anyone who loves Star Wars will enjoy this game. Players 10 and up can enjoy the game. The quick turns will keep younger players engaged.

The game out of the box will let players experience three basic scenarios which are all fun and different to play. Be for-warned though. As with most miniatures games, to play larger more spectacular battles, multiple expansions are necessary. The game recommends battle of 100 points. Each pilot card has a point value with weapon and droid upgrades available. 100 points battle require between four and six ships per side. The base set comes with 1 X-Wing and 2 Tie Fighters.

GAMEPLAY
A game is broken into five rounds of highlights. Each round lets players vie for the rewards from more star players to coaching abilities to fans. Players commit a player from their hand of six to a highlight in an attempt to pick up the ball or knock down other players. Play moves smoothly through the rounds as star players enter the match and upgrades become a big influence. Upgrades range from a mercenary wizard to blast an opponent to extra training to knock someone out to rewards of fans for hurting a player. This ia a fairly strategic game with luck involved in the player deck shuffle, cheating tokens, and the dice roles for tackling opponents. The winner is the player with the most fans at the end of the fifth round.
COMPONENTS
Cards are very well designed with bright colorful and stylized art. The art is spot on blood bowl, unhinged fantasy. The card is good quality and the tokens are all thick stock. The style is spot on Blood Bowl and if you know the world you will love it.
THEME
If you enjoy blood bowl the miniatures game you will enjoy this game. Committing players to highlights is a little abstract, it doesn’t really feel like individual games played each round. There is a good struggle for control of highlights as your more powerful players get mixed in towards the later rounds.
WHO IS IT FOR?
This game should be enjoyed over a beer. It can be learned by younger players but the raucous nature of Blood Bowl is great for a casual play through with some cursing. Playing with 3 or 4 players allows everyone to win some highlights and keep the game interesting.

…a pocket knife and a smile. “ – Nathan Muir

GAMEPLAY
Simple and engaging is the best two word explanation of Qwirkle. Players have a hand of 6 tiles played in turn to a central area building out like a crossword puzzle. There are 108 tiles in the game with 6 different shapes and colors. A tile must be placed next to a like tile either color or shape. More tiles in the row played scores more points including an extra 6 when the sixth color or shape is played for a “Qwirkle.” Scores are tallied throughout play and totaled once a player is unable to pull more tiles from the bag. Gameplay is great fun for children to develop pattern recognition.
COMPONENTS
The tiles are all solid wood painted black with the six primary and secondary colors on them. They are easy to hold and hide and the colors are bright and easy to differentiate. Tiles are stored in a drawstring sack in the box. This was a simple and excellent choice as it is easy and fun to mix up the tiles and everyone can pass it around the table.
THEME
There is no theme. It is unimportant to the experience.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Qwirkle is great for groups of younger kids 6 and up and families with children.

GAMEPLAY
Players build their cities up to eight districts. Every turn each player chooses one of eight roles. All roles, all secret until played, give the player a special ability from gaining extra gold for having districts of certain colors, choosing a role first next turn, destroying someone else’s district, or building multiple districts. On the turn the first player gets to eight districts finish the turn and count points to determine a winner.
COMPONENTS
The box is small and the pieces consist of two decks of cards (roles and buildings), gold tokens, and a king token. The art is a generic fantasy setting but bright and crisp and very well done.
THEME
The city building is secondary to the role selection process. The gotcha gameplay is well related to each of the roles. Some roles promote winning and some negatively impact the other players.
WHO IS IT FOR?
This game is simple to learn but there is a great deal of bluffing and deduction. The replay-ability comes from your group how well can you predict their actions and bluff your own? There isn’t back stabbing because there are no long term strategies. Knowing the others who play or guessing their tendencies is where the fun is. A great game for a group to warm up a game session. Players 10 and up will enjoy the game, it takes about an hour to play. It plays 2 to 8 players, try playing with 2 or 3, each player gets two roles, changing the dynamic great fun!

GAMEPLAY
Players take turns rolling a dice to move their cars around the track pushing their luck to take the turns as quickly as possible. Cars must slow for the turns as they “stop” in them a number of times depending how tight and twisting it is. If cars overshoot or stop next to other cars they take damage. Take too much damage and the car crashes. I recommend playing with the basic rules unless all of the players have had a chance to play. The small finagling when using the advanced rules for drafting, weather, and multiple categories for car damage can slow the game down greatly.
COMPONENTS
The game board is so big it come in two pieces. You need a large board and the folded sections will need some use to get them flat but its not a big problem. The molded components are all simple and nicely crafted. The car models come in two sets of five color combinations which is too bad but some simple model paint can correct that if you require.
THEME
The gear mechanic is a prefect match for the game as players push their cars to the limit. Damage points are slowly and sometimes not so slowly chipped away as cars rub bodies and rev engines to the limit.
WHO IS IT FOR?
If play with 2 to 4 players consider racing two cars each. The rules are simple but the game can bog down with too much chatter. To keep younger players involved keep the race short at a single lap. Ages 6 and up can enjoy the basic version of the game with strong guidance from an adult. One lap five player 45 minutes to an hour.

GAMEPLAY
A zombie thrashing game with simple roll and move turns and gotcha card playing. The goal of the game is to kill 25 zombies or reach the helicopter and live to tell the tale. The city is built each player turn as they are randomly laid from the stack. Each player takes it in turn to roll for movement fighting zombies along the way. Play cards with weapons on them to more effectively kill zombies or move faster. Other players play cards to add more zombies in your way. This game is a blast to play as you get stuck by your opponents. Unfortunately also because of this the game can drag on quite a long time. There are some house rules to help (check out the strategies).
COMPONENTS
The art is a generic modern city setting of good quality. The cards used for the city are too thin and need some back bending to flatten. Thicker stock would also help prevent the board shifting during gameplay. The models are about 15mm, there is a shotgun toting hero of six different colors and a bag full of zombies. You can and should augment your collection with a second bag purchased separately which will help for bigger games.
THEME
Everyone loves zombies! The simple mechanics and the unexpected twists and turns of the cards makes the game feel very cinematic and full of story. Brains…..
WHO IS IT FOR?
This is not a very deep game, with lots of dice rolling luck. That and the gotcha cards its hard to plan, there is chaos abound. Its tricky to recommend an age because of the subject matter, the game’s length is more of a factor try 12 and up. Games can be as short as 90 minutes but they can go on much longer.

GAMEPLAY
Player take turns laying connecting city, road and abbey tiles to build the city of Carcassonne. A player turn consists of laying a tile and deciding wether to place a meeple. As the city grows, the meeples claim cities(as knights), roads(as thieves), cloisters (as friars), and farms(as farmers). Completing each will give points during the game and return the meeple to the player’s hand. Unfinished areas are scored at the end of the game. Points are totaled and a winner declared.
COMPONENTS
The whole game consists of 72 tiles, 40 meeples, and the scoring track. All of the pieces of of high quality. The tile are thick and hard which is important because they are handled so much. The meeples are painted wood and feel good in your hand.
THEME
Carcasonne is one of the important games of modern board gaming. Meeples have become an icon of gaming. The meeples and the art style work well together but this game could be re-themed to suit many eras.
WHO IS IT FOR?
This is a great game for families and is familiar to so many that its a good way to start your gaming session. Because there is little to keep track of, its fun for younger players from 8 and up. Games last from 30 to 45 minutes.

There is a wonderfully implemented ios version of carcassone. Play locally or online. Also there is a solos version of the game with a set stack of tiles. Scores are based on how few tiles necessary to complete cities and roads.

It is important to note that unlike most games featured on boardgaming.com this box gets you into the game but there is a bigger world with many dollars to be spent.

GAMEPLAY
40K is a war-game based on the turn sequence of move, shoot, and assault. Each player takes their turn with a small amount of response or interjection from the other player. The rules are fairly complex with each phase containing rules to cover almost every eventuality. The basic elements of the game can be grasped through the scenario book included in the box. Each scenario adds rules and models to build comprehension.
COMPONENTS
In the box there are Space Marines and Orcs. Space marines are the prototypical good guys super-humans fighting for humanity to the end. Orks are the colorful chaotic aliens fighting for fightin’s sake. The plastic is well molded and durable. Most of these models are only one or two pieces, easy to put together. Games Workshop makes some of the best sculpted models in the world; these are not their best but considering the quantity there is a ton of great modeling in the box.
THEME
The future is a dark place. Way way in the future. Warhammer 40K is an expansive setting and the rulebook begins as all of their books do, “In the darkness of the far future there is only war.” 40K is the best science fiction setting out there. Its gothic, gritty, and huge. There are adult elements to the world including demons and half naked ladies. These can be avoided for the younger crowd and do not have much if any presence in this box.
WHO IS IT FOR?
I have had a lot of experience with young kids trying to assemble models and remember rules and its very difficult for anyone under 12 to really grasp and enjoy. Small games last an hour. This box is for gamers who are interested in modeling and are able to spend much more of their disposable income on painting supplies and more models.

There is a lot to say about 40K beyond this box. I want to discuss two issues beyond the normal scope of a review. First, cost. I have watched the yearly price increases through the years and every time it makes me wince with pain. Unfortunately the company gets to make the prices and we as hobbyists have to decide whether our dollars are worth trading for their plastic. There are an ever increasing number of good miniature games and companies out there. If Games Workshop has, in your opinion, over stepped their bounds by out-pricing themselves try some of the other cool miniature games. Second, rules. 40K is a complex set of rules which tries to cover every eventuality. With the main rulebook plus over a dozen army books there is a ton of variation in the types of models. It is difficult to cover every rule conflict eventuality, could they do better? Sure. Does it kill the game? No. No other game system has the army variety of 40K and been able to keep as many armies competitive and relevant in the tournament community. And thats only if you require your army to be a tournament success.
Finally, If you do decide to jump into the world of 40k or any war-game there is a ton of satisfaction in the modeling, painting, and playing.

I found it on the interweb (not verified). I had to look Hosea up but the quote captures the moment.

GAMEPLAY
A co-operative game where the players try to stop the spread of 4 deadly diseases across the globe in the largest cities in the world. On a player’s turn you may move around the world, halt the spread of a disease or with gathered resources cure a disease. The game works against the players, but each has a special ability to help slow the spread of the disease, move around the board faster, or more quickly find cures. A common issue with co-op games is that they can really be played by a single person. This is a far comment and I have played it solo several times, its tons of fun. If you are playing in a group make sure that there is not a single player directing everyone, try to allow each player to have space to decide how to play so that everyone stays engaged.
COMPONENTS
The most important game pieces are the infection cubes in four different colors. I was thinking that it would be cool to have microbes of different shapes but the cubes simplicity keeps the board well organized and a quick visual sweep of the board gives a clear understanding of the crisis. The cards and board are of good quality and the art is clear but not remarkable.
THEME
An excellent unique vision for a game. Cinematic gameplay. The first time I played with my brother it felt as though we were flying around the world to hold off the infectious threat. The tension builds throughout the game as outbreaks build. Every time I have played the outcome has been extremely close. This building tension is a credit to the game mechanics and how the theme integrates extremely well with the rules.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Casual non competitive play is found here. With the game rushing the players towards the inevitable doom of mankind, its fairly simple gameplay will be entertaining for most. I have played solo and its fun but its designed for 2 to 4 players. Games last about an hour. This game is not heavy and there is a small amount of determinism as the card stack can prevent victory but not too often.

GAMEPLAY
One of the most well known designer board games out there it has recently seen a huge influx of players with a very well done ios version of the game. The game turn consists of three simple choices. Pick up cards, play a train route by playing cards, or get more route cards. Its great because rounds go very quickly and no one feels left out. There is no direct interaction between players, but it is possible to block others from connecting routes.

COMPONENTS
The board is a good quality card stock and the cards are smaller than playing cards so small hands won’t have a problem. Days of wonder includes some extra trains of each color in case you lose some. Make sure to count out your trains before each game. The art throughout is wonderful, The trains themselves leave something to be desired, I would like to see wooden trains but thats nitpicking.

THEME
The base game uses a map of America which has about 40 cities on it. Connecting routes throughout the country is simple and resonates with most people as a traveling adventure. The small disconnect is that the players don’t have to connect the routes in sequence. This abstraction doesn’t distract from the enjoyment.

WHO IS IT FOR?
This game is for everybody. Really. I entertained three nephews ages 15, 16, and 18 recently. None of them gamers and they all had a great time. Families with children as young as 8 will have a great time with games lasting about 45 minutes. Even power gamers will enjoy it once in a while; there is light strategy based on your route cards and blocking the other players. For established gamers use it as a gateway for your friends you would like to engage in your hobby.