HarryCallaghan79

Hmmmmmm… I feel like I may have to tread carefully here. This is a widely acclaimed game and I just gave it a 5 out of 10.

You see I recognize the layers of gameplay, the meaty decisions that have to made and the atmospheric theme that is spilling forth from every pore of this game. Normally I love that, so I can recognize it here and respect it.

For me though, it is severely hamstrung by the unnecessary complications that it is full of also. I do not enjoy games that require me to read and reread the manual, both beforehand and mid game. It is when I find myself checking the rules and the flow of the game is being paused so we can confirm a rule or how something should move, that is when I want to punch the creator.

It is not good game design if you don’t get it after 3 games. Good game design is when I can leave a game for a period of time, say… two months, play a bunch of games in the interim and then come back and remember the rules and continue on with the game that has been in limbo. A mild consulting of the rule book may be necessary, but generally you know how to play it.

Bad game design is when I leave it for the same amount of time and then have to study, not casually reread the rules, but study them for a day before playing again. I feel like I am back in college, creating a thesis on a surprise topic! That is how I feel about this game. Although I put up with moments like this when the game play is worth it, however, the game play is the problem.

It’s biggest offense, is when I take a move we then have to stop the game and check what happens next. It is criminal and you feel like the game has not been play-tested enough. Eldritch Horror is a better game as I feel it does not grind to a halt in the manner that Arkham does when we check, the manual is better and you still get your Cthulu kick. I haven’t played Eldritch in 3 months but still remember the flow of play and what order each turn takes. I know I’ll have to check a couple of rules when we go to play it again, but it is only to confirm a few rules that my brain dumped due to time and the other rules I am storing there in between.

Replay Value: Not great. I really never feel like going back to this one and I am a fan of co ops.

Components: I like loads of stuff and the card stock is nice and thick. Those sliders for your characters attributes are a disaster, particularly if anyone bumps the table.

Easy to learn: No… Just… No. Rulebook is a nightmare.

I want to love this game, it looks so cool and has a great theme. I am not getting rid of it yet and am going to try it a few times more before deciding to sell it on or not. I just have to work myself up to being in the mood to go back through that rulebook.

But that statement says it all really, should a game be such a chore?

Imagine, the scenario: You and you’re four trusty team mates have been hurtling through space, patching your ship as needed, dealing with food shortages, prisoners rioting etc.
You have faced every crisis together and beaten it together. You hit the half way point and you are all given your loyalty cards,
You know now, that one or two of the five of you who are playing are now cylons, interested in dooming your mission.
You face another crisis, Put in the cards to deal with the situation and then tally the results. You all gasp, there are three negative cards in the selection, the once-happy crew all start to look at each other, and saying who they noticed put in three cards or who said that thing earlier that, now… in a different light, sounds cyloney!!!
A couple more rounds and crisises happen and then your best mate, grins and plays his cylon card after you are all ambushed by the cylon fleet. The card sends you, the admiral, to the brig, You turn to the president saying you need top get out asap and help your fellow shipmates.
She nods understanding. She asks is it her turn. You shout, ‘Yes, woman, it is! Do Something!’ She smiles and turns over her card… Cylon! She sends your best pilot to the sickbay as a cylon destroyer gets into position to board the ship. ‘When,’ you ask. ‘Just a few turns ago’, she answers shrugging an apology. Your best mate laughs, though. ‘I’ve been against you all from the start.’ He laughs like a maniac as your ship gets boarded and you look on helpless.

This is what this game does best! It tells a story, that is tense, full of treachery and holds a nugget of hope as you all try to work together and root out any evildoers amongst you. Each game is so amazing that any other bad points are bypassed by the highly thematic story unfolding before your eyes. You aren’t being told to follow a story or anything like that, the people who are playing the game are creating it themselves without realizing it and they are totally absorbed.

The rule book is a little messy as is the FFG standard, but a few rounds in and it all flows seamlessly. Basically a turn happens like so;
1. You draw your skill cards based on the character you are playing as.
2. You move to a different location on the ship.
3. You play an action card from your hand or activate an action on the space you are on.
4. You draw a crisis card and deal with it.
5. Play passes left.

At it’s most basic, There are two types of crisis cards, the first is where a character, usually the admiral, the president or you, have a choice of two tough decisions, the second is a skill check.

A skill check, has flavor text, like there is an air leak on the ship, there is a number on the top right which is everyone’s goal, say 8 points, there is usually a few colors, say blue and red, highlighted out of the 5 different colored skill cards everyone has. Two random colored cards are drawn face down so no one know what is going in. then everyone can put in cards on top of the random ones towards reaching the goal. In this scenario any blue and red cards that are played are plus whatever points is listed on the card. (always 1 to 5 points). The cards are then shuffled so no one knows who put what in. and are counted. Any cards of the other three colors are minused from the total and that’s it. If you are over 8 you win the scenario, if you are under, you face the consequences listed.

The game is tough but not unbeatable so you always feel like there is a chance you can win as the humans, but it is the cylon players who are playing in secret that can throw a spanner in the works. They can slip in one or two sneaky minus cards if they want, or spread rumors about other players and watch the humans tear each other apart. Or they can do nothing and watch the desperate struggle unfold, picking there time to destroy the good intentions of the crew with a reveal or ensuring a fail of an important crisis.

Humans win if they can reach earth, a destination everyone is traveling to. Cylons win if they can do one of three things, Make a counter drop to zero on food, morale, population or fuel, damage the Galactica 8 times or board the ship and reach the deck.

This is one of my favorite games of all time, I will play it anywhere at any time, just make sure you have a few hours as it can be 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on all the different goings on.

Replay Value: So many characters and combinations of them and so many ways to play if you are a cylon. The struggle as the humans is engrossing.

Components: All fine, do their job, Ships are nice miniatures. Everything is dripping with theme. I really like the counters for the four resources, really give a doomsday effect.

Easy to Learn: The rulebook is a hot mess, but if you do things step by step, it really comes together.

To some it up, This is a must have for any avid board gamer.

As this is an expansion, this review will be shorter than my normal ones. For good reason too! There is not much to say here. What does buying this get you?

1. An extra player, this is good, as an extra person means more players in the fun, it is slightly bad though, as an extra player can drag out rounds.

2. More Cards more play variety and options in-game.

3. More Aliens means more variety, some are not great but 25 extra means there was bound to be a bit of miss in the hit and miss ratings. But I feel that the more aliens, the merrier as this is a game about chaos and more variety adds to the chaotic nature of the game.

4. Lastly is the hazard deck. This is the component that my group and I feel makes the expansion worthwhile. This is a deck where random events happen depending on if the destiny card drawn has a symbol. It might mean that players have to play low value cards for the next round, or any ships that are supposed to go to the warp go out of the game instead etc.

This part of the expansion is worth it as it freshens up rounds and can only show up on one of the three colored cards for each player in the destiny deck. On average it activates every 3 to 4 turns and keeps everything interesting while not wearing out it’s welcome.

This expansion is worth buying as I believe all of them probably are to add the aliens to the deck but the hazard deck is a bonus that makes it one of the earlier expansions you should buy.

Replay Value – One of Cosmic Encounters biggest strengths and this adds to the re playability.

Components – Same card stock. nothing to report except you get nice shiny black ships, woooooo.

Easy to Learn – Hazard deck is easy to understand and the aliens are rated in how easy they are to use or complicated. No problems here.

My Wife is was a massive Catan fan, at her request we played it and played it and played it until I began to hate the game for a while until one day I stood up from the table and shouted ‘NO, not today’.
‘Okay’, she answered, ‘what do you want to play?’
I began frantically rummaging through my catalog of games I own in the library of my mind and stopped at Waterdeep. Would she turn her nose up at it because it says Dungeons & Dragons in the corner? I know it is easy to teach but will it be immediately interesting? I sighed and took the plunge.
I am glad I did. She loved it and I think it is great too. Now she asks for this all the time and will probably make me dislike it soon but, for now, we’re good.

Basically, you are a lord of Waterdeep… You know what the theme doesn’t really matter here. This is a game where you place little men tokens out on the board and gather the resources or perform the action listed on that space.

You have a list of quests, with a list of requirements, that you can try to finish by paying the list of requirements when you have acquired them. At he end of 8 rounds, the player with the most points after bonuses are added wins.

That’s it. Simple. If you have a quest that says get 4 black cubes and 4 gold to finish it, you look at the board and see where you can gain black cubes or money and place a man there to get it, unless your opponents have just claimed that spot.

The opponents are what make this interesting.

If they have claimed a space you need to figure out from a wealth of options how to either:
a) get another space onto the board to open the spaces up or
b)get a new quest or
c)play an intrigue card to rob a piece or just punish an opponent for hampering you.

I know I just made it sound like it is interaction crazy, but it isn’t really. Everyone is just trying to do the same thing as you and they usually place a agent on a space because they need it. Usually… unless they are evil incarnate.

This game plays well, it is fluid and there is always something you can choose to do.

Replay Value: This game scales excellently for 2 to 5 players and is always busy on the board. The quest and there bonuses means thaqt no two games are the same, and 8 turns means that the game will never go on too long. I have heard the expansion really opens the game up and takes it to the next level.

Components: Beautiful artwork, amazing box insert and easy to understand manual, Perfect.

Easy to Learn: Very simple, place a guy out and get whatever it says on the space, then finish a quest if you can, play passes left, then do it again. Easy.

The perfect step up after you wow people with Catan, show them a intro game with, (shock) no dice!!!!

Yes, he really does seem to be annoyed!

Is it because he is in a game that isn’t quite as great as you feel it could be? Don’t get me wrong it is enjoyable but you can’t help but feel it is missing something… Let’s have a look.

I have played both perspectives in this game a few times and can safely say I have a good enough idea of the game to review.

The hunters are played either all four by one player or whatever way you divide the four amongst 2 to four players. Basically these guys, move once either by road (1 space), rail (1 to 3 spaces depending on where you are on the board) or by sea (get around the outside of the map quickly).

Then they get an action, take items or event cards from their location, rest up and draw two event cards or swap items if they are together on the map.

The interesting thing about drawing event cards is you draw from the bottom of the deck, so you do not know what is being drawn next, if you draw a hunter card you keep it or play immediately if it says to. These can be making Dracula show a recent location he was in or the one he is standing in right now or collecting cards to gain strength in the upcoming fight.

If. however you draw a Dracula card you give the man some powers. Resting presents a bigger risk, as you do not collect events for yourself but Dracula gets any of his. His events can give him a boost in battle or let him create ambushes etc.

Dracula is played with the one player selecting a card with the location he is moving to on it and placing it face down so no one can read where it is. It reminds me of the game snake from the older mobile phones as he cannot reverse or land on a spot he has been to unless he gets the card back into his hand to select again. He will only get a location back after he moves 7 locations away from it. He has a few cheat cards like turning into a wolf to move two spaces, or doubling back etc, all usable once per 7 turns like the locations.

My favorite is hide as it looks like all the other location cards but no one knows you are using it and are basically, staying put!

If the hunters land on a location on Dracula’s trail, (the last 6 turns) he reveals it and the chase is on.

To do any special moves Dracula has to spend his precious blood that the hunters are trying to reduce to 0 to win and he is trying to raise 6 vampires (points) to win. Vampires are raised by getting one point every 3 rounds of play, killing/incapacitating a hunter for two points or raising and maturing a vampire after it has nested for seven turns for two points.

The fighting is done by gathering cards or items that the hunters have collected, while Dracula gathers his based on the time on the board. If it is day, he gets three and they are weak, if it is night, he has his full powers, eight cards and they are crazy good.
There are ways to modify dice rolls, but essentially, you select a card each if you are in the fight, roll a die each and whoever gets the higher, damages the other based on the results on the card.

I have enjoyed both sides of this game, but I must confess to enjoying myself more when playing as a hunter. Working with your team mates to deduce where Dracula is hiding is great, and when one of you catch him, there is a thrill watching the fight and willing your buddy to kick Dracula’s a**.

Playing as Dracula is… stressful. It is fun, but you are being hounded by up to four other players and once they land on your trail, the pressure gets heavy. I once had a game where they played and event and guessed my starting location. The game was pressure as they boxed me in for the next 2.5 hours. Fun, but I was glad when it was over.

I would recommend this if you want to try something a bit different and want to try taking a particular player who thinks he is awesome down a peg or two. Be warned, if Dracula wins, you’ll never hear the end of it.

Replay Value: This will find it’s way to the table, works well in our league as we take it out if the guy in first is getting too far ahead.

Components: Okay, 4 figures and some cards, not amazing, but okay.

Easy to Learn: Seems complicated, but when you get into the flow, it’s fine. The rulebook is unnecessarily complicated and it is annoying to have to constantly reference Dracula’s encounter tokens he leaves behind him on the trail.

Isn’t it great to find something for a game you like that just makes it better? I mean, it doesn’t detract or add a new set of rules that change the normal rhythm of the game, it just takes that base game and adds variety and longevity!

Not much to talk about really so i don’t see this being a huge review.

Why should you purchase this small box? I’ll tell you:

The cards are bigger. They are now the size of normal playing cards and I cannot say enough how this improves the game! Easy to read, easy to hold and shuffle, they just feel right and it makes you wonder why the mini cards were used at all!

There are more tickets than before. No longer will someone just focus on the long routes, now they have to contend with other people building to the furthest stretches of the map to finish numerous short routes. This can seriously hamper the longest route strategy. The scoring also goes much higher due to this and this really adds to the excitement during the final tally.

There is now a most Routes bonus as well as a longest route, giving other players more strategic options to consider.

There are other game modes you can opt to play, Largest Cities, let you focus on routes that connect only the big cities and 1910 lets you work on the routes that would have existed then… or something.

Doesn’t matter as the only way you will want to play is with everything being used, all the cards, all the bonuses This makes this a triple AAA game.

Replay Value: Yes, increases the life of this board game and adds variety.

Components: Larger versions of the already beautiful cards by Days of Wonder, who we all know make beautiful games. Good card stock too.

Easy to Learn: Yes, you already know how to play and it’s as easy as ever.

I know what my title says, but touchdowns actually have nothing to do with this game!

That’s right.

You see, this is a team manager game, where you manage the line up and, ‘in dominion style’, try to get the best possible deck so you can handle anything your opponents throw at you. Winning the matches is not the goal here,having the most loved team is what you are after.

The most loved team doesn’t have to be the most skilled either, you are competing for fans and they can be the biggest cheaters or most violent players out there. Once you realize that this game is great, and I mean awesomely great fun!

A two to four player game, that scales perfectly well with any amount this is a short, hour-a-go game. Everybody gets a different race of players, humans, elves, dark elves, skaven (rat people), orcs, demons or dwarves. (I might be missing one, but I am writing this on my break in work!)

Every team plays differently, the skaven are fast and can get the ball onto their side for two extra fans, the humans are all rounders, the chaos/ demon team are foulers and the dwarves are tough etc.

All starting decks have the same value cards but have different bonuses for play that match the teams different abilities. As you play you get the chance to gain star players, who have crazy, extra abilities or can gain outrageous amounts of fans for you.

The game is played over 5 weeks/ rounds. At the end of each round points are tallied and the player with the most fans wins. It’s that simple!

My game group love this game as it is fast but has many tactical options.

Replay Value – Never gets old due to the extra decks you can earn and its always a close enough game that you want to go back in and see how you could play it differently.

Components – Good durable cards and thick cardboard used for the tokens! Well done again FFG.

Easy to Lean – May seem initially confusing as you read the manual but one round and everything falls into place. Special mention should go to the rulebook for being written with humour and that humour is kept throughout the game.

You’ll have a smile on your face as you play and that smile will still be there as you discuss the game a day or two later. Great Fun!

What a great idea!

An expansion for an amazing game that can also be used as a base game!

I got this soon after purchasing the first Dominion because I found the base game to be very impressive as a quick game and I loved the variety due to the fact you can random up the 25 action cards each game. After playing it quite a bit I found that the base, while good, was lacking a few things. More types of attack and more options from the cards would be the minor complaints I had with the base.

Intrigue fixes both of my issues and ups the randomness of the set up.

With 25 new action cards to add to the base 25, the amount of potentially different games you can have goes through the roof.

Some clever clogs out there on the world wide web have calculated exactly how many different games are possible already but I can’t be bothered as I am too busy playing and enjoying the game!

There are more attack cards in amongst these, my favorite being the saboteur, which makes everyone reveal a card at a time from the top of their decks and trash one worth 3 or more and then gain a card worth 2 less. Evil and alters the balance slightly but excellent fun. When this cards shows up, it will be bought like crazy.

‘So why,’ I hear you ask, ‘is this addition called intrigue?’ Well the majority of the cards now come with choices. Do you want to draw a card or take another action, or gain a gold or take an extra buy? Pawn, for instance makes you choose any two of those options, thus expanding the complexity and strategy of your moves.

There are also cards that are both victory points at the end of the game and actions while in play. Shakes up the adding of VP’s at the end and can pull someone up who looked like they were losing.

My only complaint, and it is a small one, is that, due to the fact that this set comes with another bunch of treasure cards and Victory Points, more players can be added to the mix. This is actually mentioned and discouraged in the same section in the manual. For good reason!
Dominion is at its best with up to four players! It is fast, interesting with short downtime. Adding more players may seem like fun but seriously increases the downtime between turns and completely hampers the feel of the game.

Replay Value: As I said earlier 25 extra action cards, means more and more mayhem and completely different games every time, ranging from attack-fests to massive point grabbing races. Great Game and, justifiably, in most gamers top tens.

Components: Decent quality cards, same as the base. Completely do what they came to do!

Easy to Learn: Yes simple and straight forward. Action, Buy, Clean up! That’s it. The game just plays itself really.

People say, ‘Should I start with the base or intrigue?’ I say both, but, if you have to choose, flick a coin (Haha), they really are both as good as each other. Okay, maybe the base would be easier to start with as the commands on the card are more straight forward to follow. Either game though will get you on the Dominion and will guarantee you buying the other!

What an interesting game this is.
Just to get this out of the way, I got this for the artwork. It is beautiful and eye-catching and I had seen pictures of the board on different sites and thought it looked fantastic. The theme is something that appeals to me as I was always a fan of greek mythology from when I was a kid. I used to watch movies like the original Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts and thought this would go some of the way to helping me relive my imaginative childhood.
I have to say I am delighted with this.
When you first look at the game, you think it is a war game like Risk. Then as you play you realize it is a light civ-builder. Then after your first or second game you realize that what you have purchased is a very interesting auction game with multiple paths to victory but a heavy dependency on funds. I love that this is a hybrid of a few play styles.
The game seems quite heavy until you play a round and then realize that the steps involved in a turn are very simple.

First, as you play, you must refresh and rotate the mythological creature cards. These are cards that can be bought as you play and must be used as soon as you buy them. They range from placing creature figures on the board to removing someones pieces or getting extra money etc. Each card has a different cost that lessons until it is played or passes out of play from the board due to lack of use. These are great as they shake up the normal formula of the game and add an extra consideration in the bidding for gods phase as the player who goes first could potentially buy all three and get extra powers or you might want to stop others from using them on you.
Secondly, you shuffle the gods and place them down on the track. Depending on how many players are playing either all gods are in play or some miss a turn. The only thing to remember at this point is that the player who nabs the top god will go first.
Third, you collect income from how many cornucopia-things you own.
Fourth, you bid on what gods you want to use. This is truly the meat of the game. The player who went last gets to bid first and they place their piece on a number above the god they want. that is their bid. (By the way, no one knows how much money each other has and it is kept secret and hidden by a screen in front of each player)
The next player either bids on a different god or outbids a player who has a bid down. A player who is outbid must then take their piece and bid on any of the other gods apart from the one they were just pushed off. (They might bid low on another god hoping to be outbid just to come back to their first choice!) Once all bids are down and everyone has settled they pay the amounts they bid.
Fifth, you take your turn. Based on what god you have you can only perform different moves relative to that god. You can also perform the moves in any order and as often as you want as long as you have the money to do so.
If you have Ares you get a free man, can pay for more men, can pay money to move men across your boats and fight and/ or you can buy a fort that gives a defensive bonus.
If you have Poseiden, you get a free boat and can buy more boats, pay money to move boats and fight other boats and/ or buy a port to increase defense for your boats touching the island the port is on.
If you have Zeus, you get a free priest (For each priest you have, you pay one less coin while bidding on the gods), you can buy one extra priest and/ or buy a temple which lets you buy the creatures for one less coin per each temple you own.
If you have Athena, you get a free philosopher, can buy one extra philosopher and/ or build a university which does nothing but adds to your number of buildings (more on this in a moment). If you get four philosophers you immediately get a metropolis (more on this in a moment too).
Lastly if you lucked out or are being a planner for the future, you get Appollo, you skip a go but get a cornucopia to add to an island you own (each cornucopia gives you a coin in the revenue phase) and you also get a coin for each island you control or four coins if you only control one island.
Then you do it all again until someone owns two metropolises. Metropolises can be bought by either getting and owning one of each building type and then trading them immediately for the metropolis or taking one by taking someones island with one on it.

Fighting is done by rolling a dice each and adding how many men are in the fight to your dice. Higher number wins while loser loses a man and, interestingly, draws mean players lose a man each.
The excellent thing about this game is, depending on which god you have for your turn, you can only perform very specific tasks, unless there is a creature present to help you perform extra moves not related to the god.
Due to this, it becomes quite easy to see what a player is planning next, if a player is planning an attack in advance, he has to ready ships before his armies can move. and if they are planning metropolises they go for Athena.
Also, everything you do in game costs money! Everything!
You have to constantly balance up your funds against what you can do after you bid for the god you want or do you have to block a player to stop them wining by outbidding them?
Do you let everyone else gain ground and go for Apollo to build up funds and come back mighty?
Or do you try steamrolling ahead and being the target?
The game is played out on ever changing scenarios and interest never wains.
Highly recommended.

Replay Value: Very strong initially, however, due to the specific layouts, based on the numbers of players, it might get old quickly, however, i have heard the Hades expansion fixes this.
Components: Very detailed little pieces and each army color has a different stance and size, as do the boats! I have heard that the stances are also on different colors in other boxes, so everybody’s copy of the game is a little more personal… nice bit of fan-service there.
Easy to learn: Very easy, but you will need a little book from the box to keep track of mythological creatures at the start.

Imagine the scenario: You and your mate have been pushed back to the last intersection. The ravenous, undead horde are piled up on the street in front of you! You have the water, the canned food and the bag of rice you need between you and the exit is up the street to your left. Your mate shouts, “What will we do? If we stay here, we’ll die, but if we run for it, those sprinting zombies will have us! We’re not going to finish this!”
You take a deep breath, “One of us will make it!” With that, you fire up the chainsaw and wade forward into the hordes of the undead swinging like a wild man playing 100 ball squash. just like the hero you always knew you were.
You’re friend gives you one final look, nods silently (he knows what you are doing, and why, and runs for the exit. The zombies fall on you, feasting, ignoring him and giving him that last move to get to the exit and…. You high five each other for finally finishing the first amazing level of Zombicide! WOOHOO! It feels EPIC.
This sums up what I love about this game. I have always imagined the end of world setting and what would I do if it came. Every red-blooded male has a plan for the zombie apocalypse, where we would go, who we would check to see if they are alive (who would be useful) and what would make good weapons within every room we enter.
Zombicide is played on a modular board that can be changed for every game. You can stick to the missions in the book, which range wildly from easy to extremely difficult or create your own mission.
I now that there are games that deal with the human, more psychological elements of the zombie genre but this here is the ‘Die Hard’ of Zombie board games. That’s okay with me!
This game is about action and survival and you will not survive unless you work together. The dice add the luck factor to all of your attacks but that’s okay. These characters are not professional killers and zombies shouldn’t die too easily. There should always be an element of risk when attacking them and the game portrays that excellently.
I really love the leveling-up aspect of the game, it gets tougher as you get stronger and that is how it should be.
Players start with a choice of three actions, ranging from moving to attacking to opening doors to making noise for distracting zombies etc. As the game progresses and you kill zombies, you level up, just like an RPG and get more actions followed by specific skills at later level ups.
One reason why I love this over an RPG is that at the start of every mission all the players start from scratch. You don’t have to chart exp and equipment and have the same players every time you play. I think that is refreshing and adds to the experience as it is a true beer and chips game.
Any group can sit down and play, new players will be up to speed within 5 minutes and you’ll all be kicking zombie ******** by 10 minutes. Later though, you’ll be be quietly stressing as the game went from fun and easy to tense and unforgiving.
If I had one criticism it is that the game does not scale well with four or five players. For all other player amount the six characters are used. For four or five the rulebook says 1 Character each but doesn’t modify the amounts of zombies. This can be fixed by just having one or two people take an extra character, so it is a minor point, but one that should be made.
Seriously, this is hands down one of the best games I have played with my group, it is just focused on giving fun and you’ll be smiling from ear to ear and telling stories from each night to everyone at work or mates whenever you are out, they won’t understand unless they are gamers, but who cares! You remember how epic it was and you know you are ready for the zombie apocalypse when it comes thanks to this awesome game. Get It.

Replay Value: Different missions and create your own. A never ending supply of zombie madness! After that there are more seasons and expansions. It may cost a fair price but it is worth it due to what it gives back.

Components: Beautiful miniatures and they didn’t just do one kind of zombie! There are six different models for the 70 something regular zombies, 2 different models for the 20 something sprinters and fatties and the Abomination! Great single player models. Only criticism is one is colored quite close to the zombies! and can require a search to find him from time to time. (Particularly as more beers are drank!)

Easy to Learn: Very easy to understand rulebook with clear pictures explaining what it being taught. Excellent.

I love expansions that bring more to a game but do not change the core experience. Spartacus, Serpents and Wolf definitely does this. So what does this add-on bring to the already excellent game, I hear you ask? Let me go through each part and what it adds:

1, 2 extra schools/ Dominuses. The game can now be played in 5 and 6 player, It may take longer but it is still as interesting as ever. Also the new house abilities really mix up the game during the intrigue phase.

2, Extra Intrigue and Market cards. This means extra gladiators, slaves and items. New intrigues that really can decimate someone when they are losing their influence and cards that now require you to be higher or lower in influence against the player you are using them on. There is also a new Asher card to replace the old that allows him to switch sides in a Primus (team fight), really highlighting the sneakiness of this character and making him more valuable.

3, The Primus. Once a player hits 10 influence he can host a primus which is a two versus two fight. This makes the race for the end of the game quicker and incredibly exciting.

Replay Value: The cards are designed to be used at all times in the game, no matter how many players. This makes it even more varied and enjoyable to come back to.

Components: Two new gladiator figures, new cards of decent quality with that great look from the show. No faults here.

Easy to Learn: Nothing has changed just one or two new rules to incorporate and very easy to understand.

All in all, think of this as an enhancement, rather than an expansion. Just get it to improve your game!

Small World appealed to me because I had read some reviews detailing how the fighting occurs. It sounded like it could be tactical like risk but without the luck of the dice roll.
Interesting , right?
This didn’t put it up high on my radar though as I have been very busy trying out many different game styles and didn’t think I needed another strategic war game in my collection for the minute. Then when I was browsing a site, i saw a second hand copy for €25 and made an offer of €20 and, voila, I had a copy in my hands.
I opened it up with my league buddies and we all OOhed and AAhed at the colourful art design and beautiful boards. We read the rules, quick and easy to understand. We also watched a video of it being played just to make sure any minor quibbles were addressed. before we started. It should be pointed out we still did not have one or two rules correct for the first 2 play-through’s, but nobody minded as we quickly got into the spirit of the game. Each time it ended we wanted to go again and see what type of armies would become available, every game was different and we enjoy that immensely.
There are 14 races in the game with 20 possible powers. These are both shuffled and then joined to create the races available for the game. You could have flying zombies, that could attack… anywhere on the map!, Dragon Master Giants who… own a dragon, Mounted Trolls who… gain advantages attacking from hills etc, the list goes on and it changes every game! Excellent!
There are 4 boards available, one each for whether you are playing with 2, 3, 4 or 5 players. This, coupled with the fact that the number of turns changed depending on how many players are involved, creates balance. Cool!
Play style generally boils down to taking your army tokens, the amount varies depending on race and power combinations, and placing them in a territory at the edge of the map. You can then attack or spread from this one zone to any that are linked in zones you occupy.
You want to take an enemies territory? You place the same number of tokens in there zone plus two and its yours. Easy!
The true strategy in this game, however, relies on being able to see when your race isn’t going to be pulling in so many points for the territory’s they control anymore and then putting them into decline. This has to be a smart move as you miss a turn but collect a new race to do it all again on the next go.
You get a coin for every territory you control at the end of your turn, plus any bonuses assorted with the race and/or powers you have.
We have found that no matter how well you think you are doing it is always a close game for first. Great!
Go out and get it.

Replay Value: Easy to learn in a bright and colourful rulebook. and race/ power combinations keep the game fresh and interesting.

Components: Lovely artwork and presentation, as is the days of Wonder way. My only grumble is no miniatures., but the box would have had to be enormous then, so can see why.

Easy to Learn: Yep. really, it’s not rocket science and it’s nice and breezy. Highly recommended.

I was heading off on my holidays and needed a quick game for my wife and I to play in the evenings. I had 4 main criteria that that game would have to meet.
1 – My Wife would have to enjoy it.
2 – The Game would have to fit easily into luggage for traveling.
3 – It would have to play fast.
4 – It would have to be easy to teach.
I was looking on boardgaming.com and saw the buzz that was beginning to generate for Star Realms. 8 reviews and an average of 8.2 for a two player game! Sounds good! I had to explore this nugget and see did it tick all my boxes..
Katte mentioned in her review that her and her husband play so that instantly appealed to me as I am always trying to get my wife into the games I play. (Tick)
Top Decker pointed out how excellently compact the game is. (Tick)
Every review mentioned speed of play. (Tick)
Mr Jay Atkinson reviewed it with style on the site mentioning that his kids enjoyed it which meant it was easy to teach and Sock Drawer Monster did an excellent review pointing out how easy it is to Learn. (Double Tick)
I won’t go too much into play (It has been covered excellently by my fellow hobbyists) except to say that this is basically similar to Dominion except the goal is to attack the other player and reduce their points from 50 to 0.
There are multiple strategies to this, whether you are buying the same factions with the in-game currency to create chain attacks with your ships or creating bases that protect you and give you guaranteed actions each turn.
It’s excellent and plays usually at ten to fifteen minutes long.
The real bonus here though, is that my wife thinks it is great. I was worried about presenting this initially, because of the space theme, but I told her to ignore it and focus on what the cards do, the space theme is just window dressing.

Replay Value – Quick and easy to reset after a game. When you both know how to play, the speed at which you can draw cards, attack, buy new cards, is thrilling.
Components – Nice sturdy cards with nice art work and clear instructions.
Easy to Learn – Like Dominion, by your third turn, a light will go on in the brain and you will just get it. Then you can discover the depth of it.
ick this up for some quick, easy, two player goodness.

Okay, we have all played Settlers of Catan, haven’t we? I mean who on this site hasn’t? If you claim to have an interest in our hobby then Catan should be one of your first ports of call and a potent weapon to be used in bringing any non-fans into our world.
We all know Catan rocks with all four players and is interesting with three due to the multiple options you have for winning. It doesn’t matter what is being rolled or where the roads are built there is always a way to win.
But have you ever played Catan in two player? Sure, you all say, but not many of us bother with two player because it is more the luck of the dice and it can get very one sided.
Basically, it is not the same balanced beautiful game it is then when it is played with more people. It’s not the same game and there are better two player games out there so why would we choose Settlers of Catan for two?
Well here is the answer.
I got this as I needed some two player games to bring on my holidays to sun-kissed Lanzarote for two weeks.
Both players start with two settlements and a road and access to six different regions containing one of each resource, Brick, Ore, Lumber, Wool, Wheat, and Gold. One each card is a dice number ranging from one to six on each card. Also it is worth mentioning that neither side has the same number on each resource.
You roll two dice at the start of each turn, production, where you gather the resource from the number that shows up and an event dice where youe resolve whatever shows up. it could be a random event, a brigand attack, a plentiful harvest, basically good and bad things that affect everyone differently each go depending on how far along you are.
Afterwards you can play action cards from your hand to help you or hinder your rival.
And then you can build, spending resources to build either buildings, heroes or ships from your hand for your settlement or cities or building roads to add more settlements and cities for even more options.

The best way I can describe this is… Settlers is a view of the island of Catan from afar focusing on what is generally happening and Rivals is more tightly focused on what is happening within the settlements and cities you build.
The rulebook does a stellar job of teaching you to how to play with a starter game, that players compete to get to seven points in. It recommends that you play this a number of times to get used to the mechanics before moving on. I would say a good five games does the job. After this you play with each theme deck incorporated, The era of gold focuses the game on the struggle for trade and wealth the trade advantage becomes very important, the era of turmoil focuses on the attacks and fighting between the two players with the strength advantage becoming more important and the era of progress focuses the game on upgrading buildings etc.
When you have played everything enough you can them play the full game which incorporates all the decks called ‘The Duel of Princes’. Every game after the starter goes to 12 points.

There is a lot to take in but the rulebook does really hold your hand. My wife is an avid Settlers fan and she loved this, only taking two games to get into it and understand what is going on.
Settlers is a brilliantly balanced game when played with four as it was intended for, Rivals is a brilliantly balanced two player game as it was intended to be.

Replay Value: The more you play, the more you will want to, as you start to see extra layers of strategy revealing itself.

Components: Nice sturdy cards with fitting artwork. Word to the wise: You will need a wide table to play this game. You will have a lot of cards down by the end.

Easy to Learn: As stated the rulebook does everything for you but there is a lot to learn, so you will consult it a lot before you are through with the base game. People familiar with Settlers will pick this up quicker.

Ah Risk, you started it all for me and for many others on this site, no doubt. But over the years you’ve gotten… well… dull. How many times are we going to play and kill each other trying to take Australia and spread outwards? Or South America? Or Africa? Same board, same play style, It’s all so… Vanilla!
The Wife and I had gotten into The Walking Dead TV show after I had been reading some of the graphic novels and we were enjoying it immensely. I noticed, as I was walking through my local Easons (book shop), that there was a Walking Dead version of Risk and picked up the box to look at the back. What immediately hit me was the map was completely different from Normal Risk.
You see, up until this moment, I had always thought that Risk’s other versions were merely re-skins of that normal board game. I didn’t realize that the only thing that stayed the same was the game mechanic but other rules were added or changed. I put the box back on the shelf (it was christmas and funds had to go elsewhere) and saved the pennies until I could purchase it the month after.

I, and my group of friends who play in our league, were happy I did.

First of all the map is based on the area the characters live in, in the Walking Dead novels, with the Prison in the center along with The governors area, the Greene Family Farmland, the Military Zone, the Governor’s Woodbury, Rick’s Atlanta Survival Camp and a small residential area all surrounding it.
In this Risk, it is possible to run around like crazy, taking territories as there are so many ways of getting into the zones. No longer, can players hole up in continents like Australia, with it’s one entry point, now you have to fight on all fronts to hold your territories.
Each player gets a group who have a ability to use throughout the game. Rick, displays his resourcefulness by being able to take a reinforcement phase at any point in the players turn. The Governor displays his ruthlessness, by being able to steam roll a territory and kill everyone in it, if you roll three of the same dice while attacking and killing at least one defender. The Greene’s medical expertise come to the fore, as they have less of a chance of becoming zombies (walker’s for fans’ of the show or book). The prisoner’s can lower a players defense total for a quick kill at the start of their go, displaying their… sneakiness??!! The prisoners are the only ones who seem out of place, if you are a fan, as they didn’t really have an impactful group in either format.
So what’s to stop this becoming a free for all death match, I here you wonder?? One word, my friends, Zombies!
At the start of every players go, you must draw territory cards for the Zombies and place one to three zombies on each territory drawn. It starts slow, first turn, 1 zombie on 1 territory, on each players turn, then escalating to 2 zombies on 2 territories on the second round and so on, until at the start of each players turn 3 zombies are appearing in 4 territories. Once they land they must be fought off as they do not stop until they are all killed.
You have the advantage of speed, add an extra 1 to each dice when fighting them, but if they defeat a defender, the defender can turn into one by rolling a die and getting 1, 2 or 3. This new zombie immediately joins the attack. 4, 5 or 6 and they are fine, dead but you’ll be happy.
This changes play style completely. Now instead of Risks usual strategy of Attack, Attack and reinforce the front lines, now you have to survive! You can attack, (and you will), but you have to remember to bolster all the territories you own for each inevitable Zombie attack.
Event cards are also picked up at the start of each turn, which give players the chance to increase defense, attack or get abilities, if they pass different dice roll tests or take a set number of territories. This increases the chance of pushing for an attack when you, otherwise, would not. Also everyone could be hit by starvation in one zone, including your own players and you would lose one man per territory etc.
The game then ends when the overrun card is drawn. This gets shuffled into the bottom half of the event deck. I like this as each game is around two hours long and doesn’t get tedious, it also forces you to watch how many territories and zones (continents) you own so far as the player with the most wins the game.
You also earn bullets which can be traded for extra men or held until the end for extra points. If you wipe someone out completely you can take all their ammo. Another Risk vs Reward mechanic that forces each person to consider alternating play styles.

Replay Value – We found, in our group that we put this as the second best Risk after 2210. (I have Legacy, but have not played it yet) It is just a different approach to the game and really revives a tired formula.

Components – Sturdy pieces with thick little bases on them to ensure they won’t be falling over easily. Everything is done in the art style of the graphic novels, so fans will be happy.

Easy to learn – Simple, same as Risk but with a few additions.

All in all, I would say this is the best Walking Dead game, not zombie game, but Walking Dead game on the market. It makes you feel like you are a character from the series, making deals with other factions to keep yours alive and fending off the zombie hoards. Pick it up if you loved Risk but felt there was nothing left it had to offer.

Had my eye on this one because I heard that it was faithful to the show., Yes, I know, the show was cheesy and over the top but what piqued my interest was the fact that the show was overflowing with treachery and murder. People did horrible, evil things to each other to rise to power on the show and I thought, if that level of scheming and backstabbing could be replicated to a board game, then you would have an excellent night every time you opened the box.

Boy was I happy I got this!

To explain why this game is so interesting i am going to go into slightly more detail than I usually do regarding the game play.
The game plays 2 – 4 players and is won when a player reaches an influence level (victory points) of twelve and can keep it there until the end of the phase they are in. I think 4 players is where this game shines. First thing you can all do is decide how long you want the game to be for a short game, 60-90 minutes, put everyone’s influence marker at 7. A medium game, 120-150 minutes, put it at 4 and for an epic night, 180+ minutes, everyone start at 1.

First phase, off the bat is the intrigue phase, everyone draws three scheme cards and your influence decides how many you can hold onto at the end of the phase. The higher the influence, the more cards you can hold to use in later rounds in the game. Crucially, they also require influence to use. If you do not have enough influence, you either keep it until you do, sell the card to the bank for the value printed on it or ask another player for a lend of their influence to use it. You never show or trade these cards with other players but can say they are to effect another player or to help the both of you etc. You don’t have to keep these promises but screwing another player could make you a target. The schemes can lower someones influence or get you gold or influence and generally back-stab each other to your hearts content. Some schemes are defense against these or you can use your guards to who halve a 50/50 chance of protecting you. During this phase each house can also use their house abilities to gain influence or extra cards etc.

Then next phase is the market. Firstly everyone can trade or buy each others assets. Assets are Items, Gladiators and Slaves. They can also sell assets to the bank to get even more money. Then the auction happens, a card is drawn from the market deck, 1 for each player and put face down on the table. As each one is revealed, one at a time, all players can then bid their coins for the item, gladiator or slave. Everyone holds their money under the table and puts whatever they are going to offer into one fist and holds it over the board, once everyone has done this, hands are turned over and the highest bidder gives the money to the bank and collects their prize. Everyone else keeps their money for the next item and all players can bid again. The final thing to bid on is becoming host of the games. Whoever gets that honor immediately gains 1 influence and can invite two schools, including their own to fight in the arena.

The next phase is Combat. If a player has to turn down an invite, (they might have no gladiators or an injured one), they lose influence. Once the players who are fighting have chosen their gladiators and items, all players can bet a maximum of three coins on each bet re the outcome or the way the fight will end. You can bet on who will win or will the fight end in an injury or decapitation. Once all wagers have been… waged???! Combat begins.

Each Gladiator has stats. Say one Gladiator has 3 Attack, 4 Defense and 3 Speed, The player Takes 3 Red Dice(ATK), 4 Blue Dice(DEF) and 3 Blue Dice(SPD). First SPD dices are rolled, highest total gets initiative and goes first. He has 3 Blue so can move three spaces. If he is in range he can then roll his 3 Red, while the other player rolls his black to defend.
In Risk style dices are compared, Highest to highest in descending order. Each Higher Red is a wound and all ties got to defender as a block. If a gladiator takes two wounds, he then has to pick two dice to drop from his total. Does he take it from speed lowering his chance for initiative and how many spaces he can move? Does he remove Defense and increase his danger of Damage? Or does he weaken his chance of hurting the other gladiator? Once both players have taken their turn they roll for initiative and go again.
All dices get taken away as the fight continues until one of each colour remain. Then, when the final blow happens, if the gladiator has two dice remaining they have given up, if they have one dice left, they are injured, if they have nothing left, DECAPITATION!

The losing gladiator (if they haven’t died) must now face the host. The host holds his thumb out sideways. If he wants to be gracious or take bribes from the losing player he puts his thumb up, the gladiator lives. If he is feeling nasty, thumb down. That player loses a Gladiator. Winner of the fight gains influence and the favor of the crowd. That gladiator will now start making money and will be harder to give the thumb down to.

Final phase is upkeep. Any assets, whose abilities were exhausted are refreshed to be used again. Players try to heal their gladiators so they can fight again, stay injured or die from their wounds. Then players balance the books, earning one gold from the bank per slave and losing one gold per gladiator. Not enough money for your gladiator? lose him.

That’s the end of the round, do it all again and enjoy! This game is great, you can be evil or fair and still win. What’s interesting though, is that each time we have played everyone does something bad to someone. Just like the over-the-top, glorious show it is based on!

Replay Value: This kick started our 2nd official league last week and has been played the first two nights with everyone asking for the expansion which increases player numbers to 6! Devious and fun in all phases, you will play this again and again.

Components: Nice little Gladiator figures and a ton of dice, plus interesting good quality cards that hold the theme excellently.

Easy to Learn: Once all phases are played, everyone has an idea of how it works and… let the games begin!

Go out and get it!

Ever since my friend got Heroquest back when I was ten, I have harbored a love of being dungeon master/ overlord on a game. I loved watching as my friends band together as a team and try to figure their way through an adventure as they reason with each other about who goes first or how to tackle a strong enemy or clear an area of weaker enemies, I loved the tension as they gathered around a door to the next room before opening the room and then I would fill it up with their next opponents and watch them put their tactics against mine. Then my friend and I grew apart as we grew up and soon the game was forgotten.
I think, deep down I was always a board gamer but that part of me was put away as life took over and I got jobs and married and had a child. Things just sped up and I forgot about the good times I had had.
I always looked at D&D but thought, it looked like a bit too much. I played a few games of monopoly but that was it until, two years ago, we took out Risk. Then my deep-down passion was reborn and I started looking into other versions of Risk and then, other, better board games. To say that this is my true hobby and I love it is understating.

I am 35 now and I have a reliable group of like minded and similarly aged friends who meet weekly. We play leagues and compete competitively. I started thinking would it be possible to get back to an adventure? Would they take that on?
I asked about them what they thought if I was to get D&D but we all felt that that could be a bit too much. We wanted the speed of the games we play now, but in the form of an adventure that would have lasting impacts as you played with items and loot that you kept as you progressed.
In truth, the game I found was Star Wars Imperial Assault but when I went into the shop to purchase… It was sold out and I had a choice to make. Zombicide or Descent. The choice took me half an hour, finally choosing Descent, knowing that my paid parking was running out, outside the shop. (I don’t like to rush my decisions.)

What a great choice!

This game lets my friends go on a quest against me as the overlord for the first play-through. (I swear I will let one of them be the Overlord, really!!!) The tile pieces click together to allow for multiple quest set-ups and the overlord can gain extra abilities as the game progresses in tandem with the heroes.
Gone are the strict rules, where everything is placed on the map and, for example, watching to see if the heroes put a foot wrong on a ***** trap! All the tiresome extra details have been trimmed. If they set a trap off it is because the overlord plays a card to make them. Ha Ha! The game sets up quick and a quest takes about an hour to an hour and a half to play. The booklet says the campaign will take a total of 20 hours to play.
Throughout the course of a campaign you will all play an intro, three quests, an interlude, three more quests and then a big finale.

The finale will decide who wins overall but the victory’s earned from each quest will net the heroes or the overlord experience points to be spent on skills or items and weapons which grant more abilities to the winning side. This gives the game an epic feel and a real sense of progression as it is played. You know that everything you get as you go is all going to be used in the big fight at the end.

Utterly fantastic as my days of gaming bliss from Heroquest can be relived in a much tidier, streamlined game. There is so much more I could mention about how awesome the rules are and how they speed the game up but it is actually a joy to discover them yourself!

The one thing I really should add that the game scales excellently whether you are playing a 2 player game or a 5. Different amounts of monsters and treasure are placed on the board depending on the number, they, (FFG), really thought of everything!

Replay Value: So many quests to choose from. So many different tactical choices. Eight Heroes means no hero groups will be alike and each campaign can have a different Overlord. Value for money!

Components: Beautiful little miniatures, sturdy tokens and cards. usual excellence from Fantasy Flight. ( I think they are my favorite BG company)

Easy to learn: I would say yes, just that there is so much to learn. I would recommend playing two missions as skirmishes first to iron out the rules and then start the campaign proper.

I will just end to say that I am delighted i got this as it is the joy I believe I would get from Dungeons and Dragons but minus the extra more hardcore involvement that someone like me does not have the time for anymore.

Ah, Betrayal At House on the Hill! How I wanted to love thee! I read a few enthusiastic reviews of this and it sounded awesome! After all, what is there not to love? Right?
A modular board that means every game will be different… A two part game, first half exploration, second half a fright filled haunt revealing anybody who is playing as a possible traitor (they wouldn’t even know themselves until it was too late)… Minis that have dual characters to increase your options… A cool creepy horror theme!

After all how many times have we seen those movies where someone is dared to spend the night in the Haunted house, mansion, asylum etc, etc. So, bought it and, with visions in my head of nights filled with laughter as my group and I explore an old house and thrilling chases as we end up haunting each other, I brought it home to play.

Little did I know that the true horror was about to begin!

First thing I will say are the rules are a mess. You read the book and have it in your head how things are going to play. Then you start drawing the house tiles and realize that the tiles are adding extra rules. You have to constantly move sliders as your stats change, you do it (I don’t mind stat heavy games) and then your elbow brushes off your stat chart and the fiddly pieces to mark your current stat figures drop off!!!
‘Wait’, you say, ‘what was I at again? Three or four moves ago I got how many speed?’ Your friends aren’t listening though, they are busy trying to remember their own stats because one of you, very slightly, bumped the table a second ago and now they are all in the same boat. That’s my second problem, brutal pieces that don’t even fit, they’re too loose!!!
Right so, you all agree that no one is to touch the stats unless they are very careful and you ban anymore toilet breaks, no one is to stand up until the game is over. You play on, starting to find a rhythm, tiles are flipping and the house is revealing itself! Its looking interesting!
Then you flip another omen card, perform the haunt roll and the haunt begins.
‘Wait, I’m the traitor? Really? Awesome, Give me the Traitor Tome and let me go into another room and check what is going on.’ The guys get their survivor book and huddle together as I close the door. I read through the rules and things sound like they are going to get pretty crazy when I get back in that room, I just need to double check how to work these extra rules, let me look again… Okay I kinda get that part but what about this rule? I’m the traitor! I can’t ask anyone! Sure I’ll give it a go anyway! I knock on the door, no, can’t come in and I can hear they are arguing about what this new rule means what they have to do when that happens etc, so I wait another 6 minutes before they finally let me back in.

Now the vibe is gone and we have to concentrate on a new rule set each. I have to roll dice in this haunt, every turn, and keep looking at my tome to see what each roll means. The mood we were building is gone! We play on and I come close to winning before the three of them finally defeat me! We all sit up and two of the guys run to the bathroom. ‘Anybody want to play again?’, I ask, but it’s half hearted. They all shrug and mumble that they’ll try again, so we set it back up and go.

We tried it 3 times that night and I have to say that none of the five of us fell in love with it. Since then, it has sat on my shelf. We are all educated men who love board games but none of us want to repeat that experience again.

Beware, all you who enter this house!

Replay Value: Not really any desire to go again. The game is two different halves put together and both would be fine on their own but, it creates too much of a break in game play, when the haunt starts.

Components: Terrible! The figures look like a kid made them and they are painted badly, that start tracking chits are all too lose on the card and they don’t even reach the stats they are showing, leaving a gap of a half inch. The numbers are small so this gap seems huge.

Easy to learn: Play a few times and you will have the exploration phase down pat, but the haunt is a new set of rules that need to be read every game. Some are clear and easy to understand, others are not!

Seriously, some people may love this, for a nostalgia value or something… This is not for me, I don’t mind stats or rules heavy games but I feel the rules are all over the place in this one!

I purchased this second hand for 15 Euro on an adverts site here in Ireland. Waited anxiously for 3 days for delivery and received it on a friday for Board Game/ League night.
My friends confirmed that we would have 4 of us playing that night and I thought, ‘let’s give it a go!’
Upon opening the box I found that everything was in very good condition. The seller had obviously played it more than the once advertised but had cared for the product.
This game is an organizers dream come true. There are seperate compartments sized perfectly in the box for each bundle of cards you will be picking from.

The idea is you have to buy victory point cards throughout the game, adding them to your deck that you build as the game progresses, so that when the game ends you add up the Victory points and the winner is declared.
Grand, says you, I’ll just load up on the old victory points and win? No, says I, You could try but then you would have a useless deck with no money or action cards to attack others or defend yourself from attacks and you would have very little cash!
So you’re time must instead be spent creating a balanced deck, carefully selecting and purchasing cards for more money, Action cards that can help you chain together more actions and Attack, Defence cards. All the while remembering to build your points for the end game.
Over that weekend we played this at least 10 times and it was different everytime. I enjoyed every play but it was by the 5th game something clicked and I found myself playing fast and building with confidence and really enjoying it.

Replay Value: It takes a go or two to click, i would actually recommend skipping the suggested starting layout as this is possibly the most boring deck in the game. Randomise and enjoy!

Components: Not much to say, they’re cards, Good strong cards that will last as long as everyone respects them. I can see there is a theme by the artwork on the cards, but it is not important to the game.

Easy to Learn: Very easy, one read through 30mins before everyone arrives and you have got it. Even easier to show others how to play.

I have heard this game was the started the craze of the deck building game and it is easy to see why. I think i will get a few expansions and really enjoy the depth this game offers before I will look for other deck building games, no rush though, I think this will keep us going for ages.

I got this one two weeks ago for our league and it has proved to be a bit of a hit. Not powering into our hearts the way Cosmic Encounter has or Catan but one we played and then slowly everyone began to say, “you know what that was pretty good and if I play it this way, I think I could win…”
With its unique dice placement mechanic this is a really interesting one to take out. You look at the beautifully designed board and then see that the pieces are dice and then the intrigue starts, “how does this play?…”
The game this is most similar to is Catan in my experience, (I heard Alien Frontiers is closer, but I have not played that! Basically you gather resources and try to build things each round or you can hold onto the resources and try for bigger buildings. All buildings can aid you in different ways. Religious buildings are big on points while military are big on battle. You go through rounds of gathering and building using the dice and selecting advisors who will give resources to you and only you if you place the dice you rolled on them. If someone else has claimed the resource before you, TOUGH! It is an interesting way to play as it means people who are unlucky with dice can still play well. Once the gathering/ building rounds are played, there are three each year in-game, then everyone is attacked! then the year begins anew until 5 years are played and the game ends with the winner being the player with the most points.
We played this first with three players and found we built loads of buildings and generally placed our dices wherever we needed with very little blocking happening. Add another player or two and the game becomes difficult with people being lucky to build the highest level of buildings and the battles becoming genuinely nervous near the end.
Play this with four or five players, not two or three!

Replay Value: Plenty to keep us going in terms of trying different building paths for different strategies and with the dice, no plan can ever be set. This seems to be a grower, we all said yeah it’s good and now the guys seem genuinely looking forward to playing it again.

Components: FFG are fast becoming one of my favourite Board Game companies. The artwork is beautiful and drew comments from my non-gaming family saying that it was lovely and bright and very pleasing to the eye.

Easy to Learn: Yes, very easy to learn, after two seasons everyone will be in the swing of things and enjoying it.

Wow what a game! A Riotous, crazy, barnstorming laugh of a game that deserves to immediately go onto everyones shelf. We have only played this two nights and we all agree that this is excellent and we will all be playing this for years to come.
The mechanics are simple to learn and master,. but the alien powers make every game unique. You could be in the middle of using an ability, one you have cultivated and waited for this moment to use, a smug look of satisfaction on your face and suddenly someone stops you using that power! Not because they were defending but just because! And you’re not even annoyed that it happened. You just laugh, as does everyone else! This game brings people together in the way that board games were intended to be used. A sociable night of entertainment for everyone. Gamers and non gamers alike. Get it!

Replay Value: With the powers and flash cards, every game will be different, none can ever be the same and the madness will be ever present. We wanted to keep going but realized we had to sleep!

Components: Perfect, No Board (This is a card game) But the cardboard planets are solid, the aliens ships are perfect, feel like poker chips and they are shaped to stack on each other. Everything has a purpose here and it is used excellently. Special mention to the artwork! It is wildly imaginative.

Easy To Learn: A lot to take in in game one, A lot of rules, my advice is to introduce them slowly a round at a time add each new element and by game two you will be playing like pro’s and laughing like lunatics.

First thing is first, this is a beautiful and seriously impressive looking game. We have played this twice in our league so far and here is what I have come to realize. All players must be sober to play this one! There are a lot of moving parts and the strategy is deep in it.

First time we played it I drew the Starks, who start in the North of the map, they are isolated and left alone for a good portion of the game, I enjoyed but lost to the Baratheons as they took seven castles. I admit my loss was due to the fact that I was enjoying the game so much and planning my moves without watching the other players. I wizened up for the second game and was dealt the Ironborn, the Grey joys and realized immediately that I had to play differently. I was right beside the Lannisters who were quite powerful and had to make an immediate alliance so I could build my self up. I was also strong in the Naval department so this changed decisions I made. I lost due to the fact that I got wedged between the Starks, who were trying to spread past me and the Lannisters. The Lannisters took the win by holding everyone in the middle of the map and spreading south to the other castles. They won on the final turn of the game. I came second.

The reason I tell you this brief play through is to show you that I have realized that this game forces different play styles onto the players depending who gets which family. May not suit everyone, but I find it refreshing to know I am going to play a game that will keep me on my toes from the start.

Replay Value: You will want to play again but set up takes a while, (20 minutes on the second night and the game will play for around 3 hours) so you will want to dedicate the guts of your game night to it and know that everyone will be exhausted by the end, from strategising and arguing all night.

Components: As per usual Fantasy Flight games have outdone themselves. The art is beautiful for the board and cards. The playing pieces are done up in a beautiful Marble texture. A work of art.

Easy to Learn: Hah hah, yeah right. Best way to approach this is to dive in. If someone sits and starts explaining the game to you, you’ll be dizzy within 5 minutes and they won’t nearly be done. The best way is play and you will be nearly there by turn 3. It is worth sticking with it though as it is a really great game.

Another thing I like is the way the orders are given, everybody has to play there orders onto the board on tokens, they place face down at the same time. Once everyone is done all tokens are flipped over and the orders are cemented, no changing. If you ordered someone to march they march, if you forgot to order someone to defend, they won’t against the incoming attack. This really gives the feeling of being a lord sending out orders that may take a day to get to the men and it can’t be reversed as it would take too long to send a different order.

Overall excellent, but not for everybody as some people do not like games that rely too heavily on strategy and will be turned off by the amount of rules, for others there is a lot to love here, particularly if you love a game with depth!

This game is good, wholesome fun. I have played it numerous times with my wife and daughter, who is six. We just leave out the farmers and play. My daughter loves it as do I. It’s great because it is incredibly easy to understand and yet can be played in 30 minutes. My advise would be get a little velvet bag to hold all the tiles and then people can reach in and pick them randomly.

I must give this a go at league night and see what the more serious gamers think.

Replay Value: So easy to set up, you don’t have to set up a board and can be played in anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour depending on how many players.

Components: Nice simple artwork on little, easy to store tiles. Meeple rock! They are great little pieces of wood shaped men. My daughter and I pretend that the scoring system is them getting older, so when it gets to 50 and you put them on their side we say that is because they are over 50 and can’t walk as good, personal joke between us but shows you how much character the game has.

Easy to learn: Open the box (1 minute), read instructions (2 minutes), play a turn (2 minutes), Done. Now you know how to play!

This is an interesting one. A game that plays well with 2-6 players, the scaling is excellent. No element of luck and money and resource management are your constant areas of attention.

We love this one in our league, even the lads who have played this the once, think it is great and want to play again. The board is big and colorful and invites you to study it in depth so you can consider extra strategies.

The game is also played in three steps that invite you to change your strategy as the game evolves. Excellent stuff, check it out quickly, whether an avid gamer or casual or in a league looking for games that are competitive, this fits the bill.

Replay Value: This is a game that you think about after it is over, what you did wrong and how you could have played better. You’ll be sitting in work thinking of where you will place your first house next time you play. That’s the sign of a very replayable game.

Components: Basic box holding some nice wooden pieces which is always nice in a resource management game. Fake, monopoly style money is used that is kind of flimsy but once you don’t have any ogres in your group, you’ll be okay. I like the power plant cards, they are solid and nicely presented.

Easy to Learn: Yes, once you have played two turns everyone will know what the score is and what they can do next. We introduced this on league night where we usually do a run-through for up to an hour before playing seriously, but each time we did this, the lads just said continue on, no restart.

There is a lovely mechanic in the game where resources get more expensive as they are being bought up and the player in last on each go gets an advantage when buying resources and houses and power plants. This is the first game where you can judge if you want to be in last to get an advantage and you then have to decide when to push for first. This is a new concept to me and one I find very interesting. Very tense and excellently thought out. Can’t recommend this enough. GET IT!

Here it is! The one that started my obsession with board games. I always had it in me, I know but this was taken out at exactly the right time, the moment was perfect and one game was played and I was hooked. We had been playing Monopoly as a pastime on holidays for a little while and I had been suggesting we try something else. Something easy and accessible yet looked complicated and interesting. After a night of intense rows and alliances we were all hooked and I grew my little board game league from this.

It’s one of those classic games, (the first one I played was not the version on this site but a five player only version that is in shops right now,2015. The great thing about this game is that you can have planned and planned and everything seems perfect, airtight until you fight and then the dice is either on your side or hates you. and the toll for bad rolls can be horrific. Lots of people hate that about this game but I enjoy it, there is nothing like seeing a big army at your door and they roll badly and lose most of their men to your tiny little army. Friends will be made and lost but everyone will enjoy it.

I have since bought many other versions of this game (Godstorm, walking dead etc.) and I hope to review them whenever they appear on this site as I prefer these to this original but this is still very enjoyable.

Replay Value: You will want to play again but not the same night. If you have played for total domination the game could conceivably last 6+ hours. So take it out for the long nights. I do find the newer versions better but occasionally we take this one out for a scrap.

Components: Nice little plastic men, horses and cannons, better than the arrows on the version above. and the map is a map of the world, so nothing bad to say here.

Easy to learn: Simple and very straightforward, the manual does a good job of explaining and new palyers will be fighting within the first round.

This game is marmite, you love it or hate it, I love it!

I got this game for christmas from my wife as she knows I used to be obsessed by the video game. She picked this from a wishlist I have at home and what a choice!

First thing I will say is, this can look a little daunting. You pick up the box and, when you feel the weight of it, you know you are going to have a challenge with this one. But, at least you know you have gotten value for your money, this is not a few measly pieces thrown together, this is an epic game that is designed to got through ancient medieval and modern times as you play.

We have only played this a few times so far in my little league we have going but we can all see that this is going to be a contender for top game. There is just so much depth. Every individual gets a civilization and then modifies their play style to suit that civilization. With four ways to win, Economic, Science, Culture and Military, there are options to change tactics on the fly and move towards other areas. The game has been fine tuned and balanced so that everyone is not far from the lead in winning in their own areas and can see how far along the others are.

I will definitely be picking up the expansions for this as I have heard there is even more balancing and civilizations to use, one expansion even adds a fifth player!

Replay Value: Everybody looks forward to the next game, even though we only get one in a night at the moment. Every turn, there is so much going on that you watch to see what everyone is doing, while thinking of your next step and then someone might add something, a technology or unit to their army, and you have to scupper your plan and change your tactic, it’s great.

Components: Good quality, everything is thought of, nice pictures etc. my only gripe is that I would prefer a few little models, of cities, and people etc. I understand why there aren’t any, the box is packed to bursting point. Maybe they will bring out a deluxe and fix this but I am not too worried, everything works as it should.

Easy to Learn: No. Anyone who looks at the game in action will run, as it looks a crazy mess. The manual is not very clear and overly wordy, even adding complications to the rules when it could have been explained in simple bullet points. A Catan-like almanac would have really helped. I myself watch how to play it on Youtube and there are still points I am unsure of. Once you are a few gos in it runs smoothly but expect to play for 5 – 6 hours on your first game. Time will reduce massively per game afterwards. There is just so many questions at the start, but hey, it’s a big game and any time given to it will be returned tenfold.

Great Game that makes you itchy to play it again.

I am going to keep this review short as everything is the same as the original game, but with more players. Any differences at all?, you ask. Just a slight rule change. Now there is an extra ‘special building phase’ after each person has taken their go. Any body can then build before the next person takes their go.
I’m not as fan of this system, someone can win the game when it is not their go.
In my league we ignore this rule and play it without the extra building phase.
Yes, the game is longer, but the tension is ratcheted up as you wait for your go after trading for what you need. Imagine the kick you get when the robber is rolled as you build your resources. It’s great.
Does the expansion make a better game? No. It is perfect with 4.
But it is a reason to play with up to six and more Catan is not a bad thing.

Picked this one up on a whim as I was looking for something a little different. Tried to use it in our league, scoring it that we either gain together or lose points together. We finally agreed that this was not for leagues but perfect for any get togethers where everyone wants to stay friends.

This is a blast! Four diseases are spreading fast and you and your team need to cure them all fast. The strongest piece of advice I can give here is everyone remember your roles you are given at the start and play to your strengths throughout or else you will lose. And defeat comes quicker than you think as the game has three different ways of winning while you have only one.

This is a game of tough decisions and massive leaps of faith. You can take everyone’s council on board but make sure to make your own decisions, win or lose you don’t want to ruin this game by being bullied by people who are pushier and you will never suffer the ‘why didn’t I listen to myself?’, moments if you make your own decisions after taking on board all the suggestions and facts from everyone else, after all you are part of a team, but a team of specialists.

Replay Value: At about 45 minutes a game this one is endlessly replayable. It has a real ‘just one more go’ feel and the set up is different every time. It is at it’s best with 4 but works very well in 2 or 3 player.

Components: Simple ‘Cluedo’ pieces for the people but that’s okay as they serve their purpose the board is nice and gives the feeling of something on a screen being monitored in a command centre. The disease look great as little, coloured, see-through cubes. The cards are perfect for the game also and, thankfully, a nice size.

Easy to Learn: I have found that this can be thought within 5 minutes or two goes and everyone is well able to play by the second game which is quick in coming around.

To sum up, get this, it is perfect if you want to play together and not fight or be competitive. Perfect for when you involve people who shy away from confrontational board games. Basically perfect for a fun night in with serious and new gamers alike. Just don’t let anyone get bossy.

What is there to say, Amazing gaming, competitive and keeps everybody involved until the end.

Got this two months ago and our league asks to play it nearly every time we meet. I also got the 5-6 player expansion but I will review that in a different review.

Replay Value: So simple to set up and we randomize everything, all the hexagons and the number chits and we did that from the start, never even tried the beginners set up as I thought the rules were very straight forward. Easy to understand and a very handy almanac that, at the start, can be checked quickly. You won’t need it after the first game though as it is so straightforward. The genius lies in the way the layout of the board can be changed so you’ll never play the same game twice.
This is a resource gathering game and everybody stays invested as each dice roll means they all could be collecting resources or have to give them up if the robber is rolled. The trading phase also opens up possibilities for diplomacy and back stabbing and the aim is so simple (get to ten points first) that games are rarely less than 1.5 hours.

Components: The hexagons are nice and colorful and very easy to distinguish from each other. Pieces are wooden and feel perfect for the game. The border is a great way to keep everything together. I also think the layout of the box should be praised. It is not everyday you see a game where the packing has been thought out so well. Everything has a compartment shaped for it and they all fit away smoothly with no risk of damage on transport between games. Really Excellent. Even the dice are colored to suit the game.

Easy to learn: As stated we were playing this out of the box from the start, no problems due to the almanac. My six year old has played it and, with a little help, beaten her mam and dad.

To end I have to say this really is one of the most popular games and with good reason. A simple family game? Check. A strategically deep game for more hardened gamers? Check.

The only element people might complain about if they are really serious is the dice and the luck factor it brings, but I feel this fits perfectly with the whole game and is part of the fun of the tension on a role.

I got this game for Christmas two years ago. This became an instant classic and took the place of pictionary in our family games. It is that good!

Replay Value: The games are quick and can last up to 30 minutes. It is a great game mechanic, a drawing version of Chinese whispers. All players have books, everyone gets an item to draw, they write thanswer on a page and then draw it on the next. Once everyone is finished they all pass the book left. The next player looks at the drawing and then writes what it is on the next page and everyone passes left, the next player then reads what it is and draws that thing on the next page and passes left etc. until the original everyone has the book they started with. Then one at a time they show the items and drawings and get a point for everytime the item was named correctly. It is hilarious as this happens and works even better if you have people who are bad drawers in the group.
It is so quick everyone wants ‘one more go’.

Components: Exactly what is needed, non permanent markers, wipes for the books and card for the subjects. Not too flashy but works perfectly. Be wary of heavy drawers and writers damaging the pens though.

Easy to Learn: Not much to say here, you can be playing within 5 minutes of opening the box.

I know it is a pretty short review, but the game is concise and to the point and all about fun for fun’s sake. Pick it up for when you will be having groups of people around.

I saw this game in a shop at the start of October and was immediately interested. I am a bit of a fan of the books and Mr Pratchett (Haven’t read them all but I have all of the guards and the witches stories) and my friends are also fans, one being a super fan. Since all of these friends are in our game league, I thought it would be perfect. Picked it up a few weeks later and opened it the moment I got it home.

It just has not caught on. I can tell there is a mildly amusing game there but none of us have said we want to play it often. I’m not a quitter and would not like to think that this was a waste of money, so we will give it a go or two again, but none of us are particularly excited at the prospect.

Also from the league perspective, how do you score a game where everyone has a secret objective and it stops when one person gets that objective.

Replay Value: I haven’t tried playing it again after two games and feel no urge to, I am not trying to be negative and know I need to give it a chance but if a game does not grab your attention in some way during the first two games (mechanics, components, strategies etc) Does it deserve replays? Usually i I have played a game I try constantly to think of things I could have done differently, or future ways I could play or even admire the workmanship, but… nothing.
I don’t think about it at all, except to go, ‘oh yeah, we have that too?….’ when we are picking our game for the night. And my fellow leaguers all shrug and mumble, ‘if you want…’ and not look each other in the eye and then we all hurriedly gloss over it and get to the good stuff.

Components: I like the board and the wood pieces look as if they could be from an actual game in a discworld book cards are nice and big, just nothing stands out, fairly par for the course.

Easy to learn: A few pages, that explains most rules fairly clearly, I remember we were unsure of one and got no clarification from the text, can’t remember which rule.

I can’t remember much of the two games we played and that is the problem, something should have stuck. I think this will sell because of its licence but I don’t see this staying in a collection unless you are a fan, then you will probably enjoy the humour.

I don’t mean to run this down but I can’t help the way I feel.

Ticket to Ride is one of those special games that can be played by everybody and learned within minutes.

This was the first no-Risk game, I moved onto after my friends and I had our board game league going for a couple of weeks. I had done a lot of research and read a lot of rules of games I thought might interest me for future game sessions. Every site I looked at, this was in a top ten and it sounded like such a fun idea, (It is based on the idea of a bet to see who can build the biggest railway), that it seemed like a no-brainer.

We have since played this numerous times and have enjoyed every play-through.

Replay Value: This is a game that is on a par with Monopoly for family fun and with Catan for more serious gamers. It is essentially a deck building game that reminds me quite a lot of Gin Rummy. You buil a deck in your hand, laying down same coloured cards to claim sections of railway and earning points for doing so. This would be quite fun in itself but there is also the added fun of tickets, which are objectives that can either add points or subtract them based on whether you fulfill the tickets or don’t. This provides a lot of the tension, the rest coming when people claim straight forward routes you needed and you have to figure out how to reroute your railway.

It is worth pointing out that this game gets taken out for our league and when we have guests around for a few drinks, My daughter has also played this and she is six.

Components: Days of Wonder create boards that are very pleasing to the eye, The little railway carriages are very nice and the number markers are nice and wooden. The cards are beautifully illustrated, my only gripe is the size of the cards. They are quite small. Everything else is excellent though and it is not much of a complaint.

Easy to Learn: Two page rulebook!!! Simple to grasp the mechanics of this, Beginners feel like they are getting something from this and so do veterans.

Overall, this is one of the best games I own and should be in everybody’s collection, The same way everybody has a monopoly or Risk.

Hi, This is my first review, so here we go.

I read a brief description of this game on amazon and decided to pick it up. My friends and I do aboard game league and I have gotten quite a few games in the last 5 months and am just starting to feel at home now with the rules of all of them. We meet twice a week and usually play for 4 to 5 hours.
The problem we were finding was sometimes you finish up a game and realize there is an hour or so left and you would like to fill that time and get extra points. Our problem was we wanted something a) quick to set up, b) quick to play, c)competitive enough to warrant replays.
This game ticks all of those boxes and is very neat and tidy.

Replay: It is basically a dice game mixed with King of the Hill and can be played by 2 to 6 players, (Recommend all 6) Whoever enters the center, (the Hill) can hurt all the other players, while the other players all hurt him. Being in the center, though, nets you the easiest point rewards, so there is a good risk/ reward temptation to be in the center. Cards can also be bought to add powers to your monster. Another great point is that it lasts 30 mins to an hour, depending on the amount of players. My six year old daughter enjoys playing this with my wife and I also, so that is a big plus as she asks to play board games a lot and this is quick and easy for her to learn.

Components: I am a big fan of detailed 3D pieces, this has cards containing very nice artwork, but full figures would be nicer. Dice are nice and chunky and would not be lost.

Easy to learn: As I said, my six year old can play it, but my friends and I are in our thirties and we enjoy it also.

Give it a go if you are looking for a fun, quick game.

People who will like:
People who like a good scrap in a board game and people looking to get quick points on a league table.

People who will not like:
People who need strategic depth from their games.