grumbeld

This is a game that probably takes three or so hours to play, and a lot of that time is set up.

Once you get over that hurdle, and you’ve deciphered all of the rules, which have a mythos of their own, you are in for a treat. This game has texture to it. The story elements, the characters, the equipment, the allies, the plot cards… everything is just rich. This is not a game for someone who’s afraid of words. However, you will never forget that time that you ran over to the antique store and managed to purchase an elder sign so that you could close the last gateway and win the game.

Last word of advice, however, make sure that you have the time to play it. I recommend starting around noon on a Saturday.

This is nearly pure strategy gaming. The only thing that keeps it from being a pure strategy game is the fact that there are the random plantation tiles. Otherwise, you’d have all the information you need laid out in front of you. Do you want to ship some goods that you’re now able to produce? Well, if you choose to produce the goods, then maybe the player two spots to your left will take shipping. They have a lot of corn there, and you’re sure that you’ll be able to ship all of your sugar if they take it.

They did what you thought they’d do?

Pure gaming gold.

I’ll take this game over Race For the Galaxy simply because it is so easy to repeat strategies. It’s great when you can actually plan out your next three turns, and it all works as you had planned it. That is why this game deserves a 10/10.

There is nothing about this product that I really enjoy. It is the Mad Libs of the modern era, and I don’t know why intelligent people seek this game out. If you want to sit around in a circle and play a short game with cards, play The Great Dalmuti. It is fast, easy, and actually requires some strategy. You want to just throw cards down and see what happens? Play Flux. You want to play something that has a bit of a social element to it? Play BS.

Please don’t buy this ‘game’ though.

I love miniature based games. Warhammer Quest, Hero’s Quest, Doomtroppers… those games remind me of a simpler time. Then we started to play without a board with games like Mage Knight and Disc Wars. I know that many people out there have a fondness for Warhammer 40k and other such products. For those people, I’m sure that D&D 4th Edition is a great game.

It is not the game for me.

My love for D&D comes from 2nd Edition, where it was imperative that we all had a clear idea of what was happening during combat in our head because we didn’t use minis. We didn’t use minis because we were young and didn’t have the money and because the rules didn’t support that. Because of this, we had to get into our characters and explain in detail what we were doing. Then came 3rd edition and Attacks of Opportunity. I know that 2nd ed had this idea to a certain degree, but 3rd ed blew it out of the water. Now we really needed to know where we were in relation to everything else. We still played without minis because we trusted the DM to know where we were, but as a DM it became increasingly important to show maps of the rooms. As players, we’d move our tokens around on the board. We got out of the character and more into the game element of it.

4th Edition took this and made it so much worse. The only way to role-play in this system is if you force it. Combat is no longer some abstract notion. Everything is tied down and pinpointed. The classes are all tuned and balanced. These are terms that aren’t good for role-playing.

I know that I’m rambling at this point, and I feel that I should mention that the monsters are actually well done for this system. I like the rules for minions. That’s nice. However, D&D has left the head and cemented itself down onto the board.

For a game with so much chaos possible, it really is simplified. This is a good thing. You move your speed, make checks, and explore a suitably haunted house. The build up to the betrayer is great, though it is possible for a player to be pretty much out of it when the event occurs. However, the game is so fast and easy that you’ll find that you’re playing it over and over again.