Stonemason

My wife and I both enjoy Forbidden Island and so we were not disappointed when we played Forbidden Desert. Both games are fun to play and easy to learn (Forbidden Desert perhaps a little more difficult)and both offer much replay value.
The rules are quite easy to understand and adults should have no problem understanding them and explaining them to younger players.
The game components are similar to Forbidden Island which in my opinion are very good quality. I did have a card that was marked, but customer service was very friendly and I had no problem asking for a replacement card.
The objective of the game is to explore the desert and find the missing parts to an air ship. Once you have all the missing parts, all players must make it back to the launch site to win. Players must work together to recover the missing air ship parts and the exploration is hampered by water consumption, heat, sand and the sand storm that moves the tiles around.
The game difficulty can be adjusted and I would recommend that new players should start on the Novice level for their first game. After the first game you should have a good grasp of the rules and how the game plays.
This game uses cards to help the explorers, and cards that control the actions on the board (made up of tiles). Tiles are placed face down at the start of the game and must be explored along the way. Each tile has some symbol or picture that represents something of significance (or not).
The game does not take too long to setup and play, so more than likely you will want to play more than one game; perhaps using different characters.
I have nothing bad to say about this game and if I could pass on some words of advice to would be desert explorers, make sure you have lots of water, stay out of the sun and be wary of any sand storms.

Well I finally managed to sit down and play my first game of Pathfinder the Adventure Card game. The scenario I played was called Brigandoom.
The is an introductory scenario, but it was quite enjoyable and one that I would play again with a different character.
My character for this scenario was the Paladin (from the Character expansion pack) who felt it was her responsibility to track down a bandit leader who had been causing lots of trouble in the area.
The Paladin was on her own and as such had three locations in which to search for this villain.
The Paladin is a great character to play when adventuring on your own. She has very good stats and certain abilities that can help you on your quest. She is also proficient with armor and weapons and has quite a few blessings of the God on her side.
The longest part about the game was the setup, but even that was kind of minor considering the fun I had tracking down the bandit leader.
Deciding which location to start at is important and a player should read the location cards (as well as all the other cards) carefully when making this decision.
The rules were pretty easy and I only had to look in the rule book a couple of times. There are some good player aids available online that are of great help when playing this game (game summary of turns…)
As I was playing a story kind of developed in my head about what my character was going through and the hardships she had to endure.
Most of the encounters were pretty easy to overcome, but there were many. The villain was defeated on all occasions but always managed to elude me by escaping to another location to which I had not yet searched.
Another wonderful thing about this game is that your character will or may not acquire various items, allies, spells.. along the way and these cards are added to your Character Deck for the next adventure, so in essence your character becomes stronger as he/she completes adventures.
The game ended when the villain was finally cornered at the Waterfront and attempted to make a last ditch effort to avoid capture, but all to no avail.
I won this game and was rewarded with a random item for my effort, but what does a Paladin do with a crowbar? The Gods work in mysterious ways and as such I should be grateful they have found me worthy of such an item.
I look forward to more adventures with my stalwart Paladin as she journeys onward. Her shining armor and shield reflecting into the sun and her crowbar of justice firmly grasped in her hand ready to smite the evil that has been unleashed upon the land.

I bought this game quite awhile ago because my wife and I both love racing. I read some good reviews online and when I saw it in the store, I just had to buy it. I have not regretted it since, and I have purchased additional tracks since then.
The basic game is easy to learn and teach to others although once you get familiar with the rules, you will most likely want to learn the advanced rules which adds more enjoyment and strategy to the game.
The game is dice driven so there is luck involved, but this is a family board game that represents racing and the enjoyment of racing, so in my opinion it doesn’t take away the fun from playing the game, but in a way it adds to it.
Players have to think ahead and adjust the speed of their cars according to the track (each die represents a certain gear)and at the same time, take risks to remain in the lead or to not fall too far behind.
The game can last as long as you like, but usually my wife and I play for 3 laps.
The more cars on the track, the more fun it is, so if you are playing with only 2 people I suggest you each use 2 or 3 cars each. There is not too much micromanagement so it’s not too difficult to play with multiple cars each.
During the game, your car may sustain damage (hitting other cars, driving over debris, braking or overshooting a corner…) and if too much damage is sustained, your car may be eliminated. You can always make a pit stop to fix your car when you approach the finish line, and depending on the weather, you can change the type of tires that are on your car.
The components are well made and the boards are very sturdy. Each board represents a different race track and all tracks have different challenges. Other tracks can be bought separately, although it will take some time before you become board with the tracks that come in the base game (unless you play every single day…).
Remember to make racing car noises when moving your car because this will add to the excitement and always keep your eyes on the road ahead.

I played this game co-op with my wife against the vile Nazi organization (optional rule) and we had a great time! My wife and I had to collect 20 Fortune to win, while the Nazis had to collect 15 Fortune.
There were some memorable moments during the game where my wife was attempting to capture an artifact but before she was able to, a Nazi villain showed up and managed to steal it from under her nose. This happened a couple of times and for some unknown reason, it always happened to my wife. I also remember a time during the game where a Nazi villain was at a temple and the temple ended up collapsing on the villain and her bodyguards.
By the time the game ended, there were Nazi soldiers everywhere and a couple of Nazi Secret Bases as well. My wife and I were defeated by the Nazis, but even so, we had an enjoyable time pretending we were adventurers for a day.

“Did I ever tell you I hate snakes?”

I bought this game because it’s based on HP Lovecraft and I enjoy
playing Arkham Horror.
The object of this game is to complete adventures inside a museum and attempt to stop the Ancient One from entering the world by collecting
a certain number of Elder Signs (the number of Elder Signs required
depends on the Ancient One)before time runs out.
The rules for the game are well written, but I did find a “Summary of
Rules” online which explains the rules better. The game is not difficult
to learn, but it will take you a game or two to feel comfortable playing it.
The components are well done, as is to be expected from FFG.
There is no board as such, but instead there are large cards that
represent certain locations inside a museum on which the adventures
take place. There is also a wide variety of smaller cards (items, allies and spells) as well as many large cards representing the Ancient Ones.
As well as cards, the game comes with colored dice on which are printed
strange symbols. These dice are used during an adventure to complete
certain tasks.
This game plays differently than Arkham Horror but shares the same theme. The game does not take long to play and it’s not too difficult
to win (I haven’t lost a game yet, but there were times when it was close) but I would not let the lack of difficulty deter me from playing this game, which is playable solo or with others cooperatively.
I don’t play this game that often (too many games so little time) but when the stars are right and something strange is occurring at the museum down the road, I am prepared to do what it takes to prevent the
world from certain doom.

Combat Commander is a card driven WWII boardgame. The cards are used to perform Orders and Actions as well as die rolls.
There are many expansions out for this game and each scenario can be played more than once with different outcomes due to the randomness of the cards and certain random events that will occur during a game. So in my opinion, the game does have a high replay factor.
Each scenario has an objective and sometimes each player has either an open objective (visible to all players) or a secret objective (only revealed at the end of the game and not visible to all players).
The time it takes to finish a game of Combat Commander varies because the turn marker is not directly controlled by the players. Just because a scenario has less turns than another scenario does not necessarily mean the game will end sooner. The turn marker advances when a “Time Trigger” card is drawn as a random event or a player’s draw deck is empty.
The quality of the game components are very good although the map is not mounted, but is a paper map. I would suggest to have the map laminated or perhaps place a piece of glass over it to prevent it from wearing out while playing the game.
There are no dice in this game because the cards are used for die rolls.
Is this game fun? Well this depends on the individual. To some extent your planes during this game are somewhat restricted by the cards you have available to you. There will be times where you will not be able to move or shoot and only skip your turn in order to discard and draw new cards, while your opponent smiles at you and drops artillery shells on your poor hapless soldiers turn after turn. Oh the horrors of war!
Although there are no vehicles in the game, I would not let that deter me from trying the game. What it lacks in vehicles it makes up for in other ways.
As for myself I love playing this game. This is probably because I love playing most games, but mainly because it’s fun! I’ve forgotten how many times while playing this game that I was playing a lost cause and suddenly when I least expected it, Bam!!! I was in the lead. The game can change at a moment’s whim and, that’s fun for me.
So give this game a fair try and decide for yourself if this game is for you. You will either be saying “Please Please Please, can we play Combat Commander?” or not.

This is an enjoyable horror mystery game that can be played solo or cooperatively.
The object of the game is to find out where a certain villain is located and defeat it before time runs out. The longer it takes to find and destroy the villain the stronger the villain gets, so there is not much time for sight seeing.
There are many villains to choose from such as the Vampire, the Werewolf or Scarecrow and all play differently.
The game can be played with 1 to 8 players, but too many players can slow the game down and add too much downtime between player turns.
The game ends when the villain is defeated, time runs out or all the heroes are knocked out (heroes don’t actually die in this game, they are simply knocked out) at the same time.
The game has many components such as town elders, militia and minions which all play a part in this horror mystery game. The town elders have secrets that can be revealed and although some of them can help you against the villain, others have turned to evil.
The game is not too difficult to learn (depending on the villain), but you can find a “Rules Summary Sheet” online which will explain how to play the game much easier than scrolling endlessly through the rule book.
I’ve played this game with all the expansions and although the expansions add new locations and other goodies to the game, I have yet to explore all the boards during a game. The reason for this is that time is short and you need to collect clues as fast as possible before the game ends. Time waits for nobody and especially in the town of Shadowbrook where supernatural forces are a daily occurrence.
So grab your pitchfork and light those torches because there is a town to save!

This is one of my favorite lite WW2 war games. The game is card driven but even though luck plays a part, there is still a lot of strategy involved. A good player will usually win because knowing how and when to play your cards is a key strategy in this game. Also it helps if the dice are on your side. : )
There is very little downtime and depending on the scenario played and the person you are playing with, it doesn’t take too long to finish a game. There are many scenarios available that encompass all theaters of the war. The one thing I like about it is that it is available to play on Vassal as well as online in a digital format through Steam or the “Days of Wonder” website.
The quality of the components are very good; which is to be expected from all “Days of Wonder” games.
There are many expansions out for this game, and if you are like me,
you will want to buy everyone of them. It’s sort of like getting a tattoo, you can’t get just one.
I wouldn’t say this game is for everyone, but if you enjoy playing war games and not getting bogged down with rules, you may like to give this game a try.

Cheerio pip pip

This is a fun game the whole family will enjoy playing. The game does not take very long to setup or play.
In this game each player represents a character with special abilities and working as a team, you must capture the treasures before the island sinks. Once you have captured all the treasures, you must all make your way to the helicopter to escape a watery grave.
The game is played using tiles and cards. The cards drawn will cause certain things to happen, such as flip a tile over to its flooded side or remove it if already flooded. Some cards will cause the water to rise thus increasing the number of cards drawn. As tiles are removed, it gets more and more difficult to make your way around the island and capture the treasures or evacuate the island with the helicopter.
According to the rules, the board is setup in a certain way, but I have found various other ways of setting up the board, online.
My wife likes playing this game and that is saying a lot considering she is quite fussy in the types of board games she enjoys playing. The game is simple to play, and although there is luck involved, it does not deter from having a good time.
I would encourage people to try this family friendly game and although the island is forbidden the fun you will have will not be forgotten.