Matt

I just played this for the first time with my eight year old son this weekend. I opened the box, read through the rules with him, and we each picked two factions. He picked Dinosaurs and Tricksters, and I picked Zombies and Pirates. We put out the three bases and began to play.

Play through:
For each of the first two or three rounds we were both only playing 1 card (a Minion) and then drawing two to get our 5 card hands up to 10. Once I reached 10 cards and had to start discarding I realized that if I’m going to be drawing two I better be playing two like I’m supposed to (1 action, 1 minon per turn unless there are special abilites that come into play).

Perhaps it is more because of our father/son dynamic, but we tended not to go against each other when placing minions on bases. Since there were three bases and only two of us (number of bases = number of players + 1), we didn’t “feel the need” to fight over a base. This made it fairly simple for each of us to score bases and take full points for each. I did finally get to a Zombie card that allowed me to play a Minion on each base that I did not already have a Minion on, so we did have some confrontations, but it was not until scoring the last base of the game (putting us both over 15 points) that there was any true confrontations.

We both had started playing on the Central Brain base (Base special ability “+1 to all Minions on this base”) when I scored my second to last base putting me at a tied score of 13. My minions on this base included three “First Mate” Minions whose special ability is “After this base is scored, you may move this minion to another base instead of the discard pile.” This triggered the scoring of this base as well, and gave me the advantage on the base. Final score Dad: 17 Son: 16.

Components:
The box, which is made of heavy material and will last for some time, contains 9 different decks: 1 of bases and 8 of different theamed factions. There is also 9 additional spots in the plastic tray for more decks so when the much rumored expansions are released you will have some place to put them. The slots for storing the decks are smilar to what you have in a Dominion box, only not as deep. I think that they could have fit more slots in the box (or made a smaller box) if the slots themselves were smaller, but that’s just me. There is also an glossy instruction book in the box that was written with fun in mind, so make a point of actually reading it.

Overall:
I really like this game and will definately be bringing it to game nights with my friends, as well as playing more with my son. It’s quick (listed time 45 mins, but could go faster) and easy to play and depending on the attitude of your players could get very rowdie. I recommend this for anyone who is looking to get fun, social game going at party or just a quick fun game at home.

I just bought this yesterday and all I have to say is WOW! The interface is flawless, the game play true to the board game and the AI opponents are challenging. Definately worth my investment.

If you’re here I don’t have to tell you about how great a game Ticket to Ride is. This digital version is the next best thing to the physical board game.

I’ve played about 10 solo games so far and I can’t wait to play my next one. As I am getting up to speed (it’s been awhile since I’ve played) I watched the video and went through the Tutorial to freshen up on the rules and then jumped right in. I’m only playing 1 on 1 but the game supports upto 4 AI players. There is also Pass & Play, Local Multiplayer (device to device over wi-fi) and Multiplayer via the Game Center.

The in-app store has the the 1910 Classic, 1910 Mega, and 1910 Big Cities variants for $.99 – for all three.

If you already love Ticket to Ride and you’re considering picking up a new game for your phone, look no further.

I was able to play this game this past weekend at GenCon. Having not played Thunderstone, I was not certain what to expect other than “another deckbuiling game”. I was pleasently superised to find that the added element of defeating monsters using the deck you built made the game feel much different from almost any deck builder I’ve played.

Most of what I have to say is already writen in the BG Review above, but I would like to add how quickly it was for me to pick up the additional rules to make the transition from Dominion to Thunderstone Advance. by about the fourth turn in a four player game we were moving along quite nicely. We did not use the familiars in this session, and we seem to have been missing a monster type which shortened the game quite a bit. Other than that it was a lot of fun and I’m adding it to my “I Want” list.

This was one of the first games that I was introduced to by the gaming group I joined. It’s fun and has infinite replayability, and the expansions will keep it from becoming dull. The game itself is avaliable in many places, but of course you can buy it here! It’s also avaliable on many different platforms (including Xbox Live) which means you can introduce others to it fairly easily. This game is easy to learn and a great way to learn stratagy.