jbanas617

Forbidden Island is a great family-friendly intro game to the co-op genre. Players are tasked with collecting 4 sacred treasures and escaping from an island that is sinking into the sea. As the island sinks, tiles are removed from the board restricting players’ options and limiting their movement. Each player has a random special ability that allows them to help in a unique way on their turn, such as the Pilot who can move 1 other player anywhere on the island or the Explorer who can move diagonally.

The game is very easy to set up, easy to teach, and the components are particularly well made, especially the molded treasure pieces. As an intro co-op game it gives players an easy to understand first look at putting each player’s unique skills together to collectively solve a problem.

My only complaint is that it is a bit too easy to understand which leads to two issues. First, in a more experienced game group it quickly leads to an alpha player dictating what other players will do, which naturally takes away from other’s enjoyment of the game. Second, after a few games everything is almost too easy, even on the higher difficulty levels, which severely cuts into the replay value.

Despite those minor issues, the game is a winner for family/casual gamers, with good pacing, good player interaction, and memorable games.

I have played this a few times and found it just ok. There really isn’t a lot going on here besides which civilization to pick and when to go into decline. Even where to place your units is pretty linear.

It was fun, but not something I would buy myself. There are so many other good games around that I would rather play, so this falls pretty far down the list.

Agricola is a true strategy classic. Each player must run a farm starting with only two family members in a two room hut and empty fields. The winner is determined at the end of 14 rounds by a point matrix that favors diversity, rather than focusing on a single strategy.

Each round players place their family members one at a time on any of the available actions. After everyone has placed, family members return home and a new round begins with a new action added to the list of those available. Actions include things like plowing a field, sowing a field, collecting a resource (wood, clay, stone, etc.), building an improvement, extending or renovating their house, having a baby, etc. Once an action has been used, no one else can use that action that round, and the more family members you have the more actions you can take. Every few rounds, there is a Harvest phase during which fields are harvested and animals breed, however you must also feed you family members. Failure to do so results in major negative points at the end of the game. Thus, there is a balancing act between trying to improve your farm and grow your family, while still being able to feed everyone come harvest time.

The beauty of this game is that on every turn you can look at the board and think, “Geez, I could choose anything here and it would be helpful.” So the question becomes, “What is the best thing to do of my available choices?” The result is some very deep strategy options that change every game with the addition (or removal) of different card sets that are included with the game. In particular, one or two good cards can shape the way you play that game and the strategy you pursue. All of this gives the game excellent replay value. Highly recommended.

Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure game heavily based on HP Lovecraft’s Cthulu Mythos. The game is set in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts in the 1920s where one of the Old Gods has begun to awaken. As he awakens, all sorts of strange things happen around town, including the appearance of portals to other dimensions, which release monsters into the streets of Arkham. Each player controls an investigator who moves around town, has random encounters at each town location, collects equipment, fights monsters, travels to other dimensions, closes portals, and ultimately attempts to defeat the Old God.

Gameplay is split into several phases. After a quick upkeep phase, players move, then have an encounter. Random encounters are determined by drawing a card from a deck that corresponds to the neighborhood you are in and reading the entry for your specific location. Combat and encounter outcomes are determined by rolling successes on skill checks. After all players have resolved their encounters, the game AI kicks in: monsters move, portals open, and big events occur (ranging from a change in the weather that affects movement or combat rolls, to “a bunch of monsters appear in X location”). This continues until players reach victory conditions (related to closing portals), or other conditions cause the Old God to fully awaken. In the latter case, players immediately go into final combat against a very powerful Old God to determine the final outcome of the game.

Overall, I really enjoy this game. It is on the longer side, coming in at 3-4 hours with 4-5 players, but there is always a sense of forward motion and tension that keeps things interesting. Winning is never a foregone conclusion with losses coming about as often as the successes, which tends to make every game memorable. Towards the end of the game, things slow down a bit and get fiddly as skill checks – particularly combat involving spells – become more complicated. I don’t mind that aspect, but that dice fest aspect is sometimes off-putting for a more casual gamer.

Most importantly, Arkham Horror is dripping with atmosphere. Every card, player piece, chit, monster token, etc. oozes the sense of dread, mystery, and foreboding that makes up the HP Lovecraft universe. With that said, if the players are not into that atmosphere, enjoyment will be much less and players will most likely find the game tedious and overly long. Otherwise, if that is your cup of tea, this is a very enjoyable thematic adventure game.