Rothro

Played this the other day and I really enjoyed this. It’s not a very heavy game but it is by no means a game that shouldn’t find time on your gaming table. There is enough strategy to keep hardcore gamers in your group happy. The idea is that you have a merchant ship and a pirate ship each in your own colour. There will also be 2 navy ships (yellow and purple). On your turn you will move your 2 ships and (most of the time) 1 of the navy ships. The movement will be decided by the cards you have in your hand. They will tell you how much to move each ship and you can move them in any order. Your merchant ships are sailing from port to port delivering goods and getting money (WOW is it nice money. Solid metal coins!), your pirate ship is trying to loot from the other merchant’s ships which they then bury for money and the navy ships are sailing around trying to sink pirate ships and to a lesser extent blocking merchants as you can’t sail through the navy unless you’ve played that navy card this turn (if you play a card that tells you to move the purple navy ship then for that turn your merchant can move through the purple navy ship) which gets you money for sinking a pirate. With all this money you may once per turn flip over an upgrade. The first person to flip all their upgrades wins. Now for my one knock against the game and that is we played a three player game and maybe my opinion would change with a 4 player game but this game needs to be 5 maybe 6 player game cause we ran into each other but in needs a little more interaction so that strategies can be more present. There is also cards that you may only ever have 3 in your hand of that bend the rules for that turn only and the upgrade cards there are many so the players will not get the same cards so the replay value on this game is high.

This game is like most co-ops, you know you’re going to lose but you still play and most of the time you enjoy it and this game is no different. As long as you don’t go into co-op games with the mindset that you have already lost then you’ll enjoy this game. The set up is a little long as you got to set out all the cards and get everyone to pick their roles with sufficient discussion on what roles are needed and what can be avoided. Once you get things set up this game follows nicely. The gist is that aliens are attacking the ship you are on and if you can get the space jump up to engage before one of 3 things happen that cause you to lose, you win. I have played this 3 times in the last 2 days and I have another game scheduled for this coming week. I know now that I will enjoy the upcoming game as this is a simple game to understand and the replay value is there. If you have a chance to play this do so and just enjoy the ride as at the end of every turn something bad happens so just keep smiling and enjoy the ride…. while it lasts.

Played this the other day and I added it to my favourites on this website right away. This game was explained to me as Catan but with money and cards. It’s not too far off. The basic thing is you and your opponents are building towns and the first to build their 4 landmarks first is the winner. You do this by buying buildings to add to your city and then you roll a die or 2 if/when you get the landmark that grants that ability and then according to the buildings in you town you get money. You need to pay attention when it’s not your turn cause you can still get money on another player’s turn. There are 4 types of buildings- Green provides money when you have a building with the number you rolled, blue which provides money on anyone’s turn, red which you take money from the person who rolled that number and purple which you take money from the person when you roll the number. You can have multiple copies of each building except for purple ones and you may only make 1 purchase per turn. Good game and I highly recommend playing it if you get the chance or create the chance by buying the game.

This game was explained to me and I wasn’t sure my friend was speaking English as he was talking cause nothing made sense about what he was saying. I played a round and then I knew what I was doing and what to do enough that I played a decent game for a first timer. Deck building games are not my thing. Some are good but most don’t appeal to me beyond playing once. This one is not like that. I won’t die with regrets if I never play again but I wouldn’t turn down a chance to play again. It’s fairly simple once you know how to play but if you’re first learning from a friend lime I was my suggestion is to ask questions otherwise you might not give this game the chance it deserves. The basic concept is to gain control of planets either by colonizing them or using war to conquer them and then using those planets to gain actions or produce resources to then trade those resources for pts. I recommend you give this game a chance.

I played this and I did horribly (the game hates me) but I did have a good time playing. It is not easy to learn from being told how to play or reading the rule book. The best way to learn this game is by playing once and doing horribly and you will understand how to play just a few turns in. The only thing is set aside a good amount of time cause I played for 3 hrs and had a good time but the game was about 75% done. We also were playing to 15VP instead of the standard 20 pt game. I have played only once so I am not sure about the replay value but the game pieces are very nice (love the metal coins) although it may be hard to find your ship as they are not labelled so you need to look at each game piece to find the one that is yours. I do recommend it if you are into heavy games that take some thinking to play.

This is a game i have played several times and although I know it’s not a game I am going to win I still enjoy it each time I play. The game is fairly simple to understand it’s just figuring out your strategy to win an how to adapt that strategy when someone else is using the same one that is hard about this game. The rounds are pretty simple. You’ll have a token(or 2 is playing 2-3 people) for 1 of the 4 parts of each round in front of you and these are randomly assigned at the beginning of the game to let you know what part of the round you are the starting player on. The first part is buying people that will generate most of your income in the game. You have several to choose from and they will have symbols in the upper right hand corner which will tell you what they can be upgraded to. Each double that you purchase costs 1 less the stated value on the card so that is something to keep in mind when you play. The second part is buying buildings which will mostly get you VPs. The third part is purchasing nobles which will give you money and/or VPs. The forth part is upgrading the first 3 (people, buildings, nobles). It’s a good game that I highly recommend you try as I have not done the game justice.

I played the card game before playing this one. If you haven’t played the card game then try this before trying the card game cause it’s so much easier to learn how to play. If you’ve played the card game but never played the dice game then you need to try this version as it’s more fun, easier to follow and faster. I really had no clue what I was doing when i played the card game and I was the renegade which is the most difficult role to play. In this version I was an outlaw and could follow the game so much easier as i wasn’t trying to figure out my cards but following what people were doing and then reacting to the dice I rolled. A good game that is easy to learn and get the juices following before you get into heavier games later in the evening.

This is a game that I was supposed to teach at a local games store about a month ago. I watch the video on how to play it and fell in love with this game. Unfortunately only 1 other person showed up that night and I didn’t get to play. I then got another chance to teach it and the day before I was to teach I bought the game with some gift certificates I won so that is a long way of saying I love this game. It’s simple to play and with no 2 people having the same way of playing you’ll not get bored with this one. The set up is simple just follow how to set up the game in the rules. The rules are quite similar to SoC so if you know the basic rules there is only a little you need to add to enjoy this game. The 4 outside tracks all do different things. The red track is like rolling playing a knight card. The green track is to let you move your explorer farther. The white and black is to allow you to go to certain spots on the board that require you to be at a certain lvl on those tracks. VPs are gotten by building on certain spots or achieving certain criteria. Again if you like Settlers of Catan then you won’t be disappointed playing this game except that it takes a little longer to play this that SoC.

Played this at the usual game night and I have never played any other version of this but I had heard about it. I enjoyed it but like all party or large group games it’s hit or miss with the people you play with. I played with some people who were good and some who were bad. Of course you are probably wondering what makes someone good or bad at this and it’s simple. It’s not if they are a good character in the game or a bad character it’s how they play. The way the game works is at first the moderator will ask everyone to close their eyes and the ask certain people to open their eyes according to their role in the game, for example villager, seer, werewolf, etc. so that they know who is who. Then once that is sorted out they will ask everyone to open their eyes and you will have to nominate someone to go on the ‘chopping block’. It will need to be seconded by someone and then that person will get to defend themselves (this is where you will find people who are good and bad at the game. Defend yourself!!!! Don’t just say ‘I’m a good guy’). After they have given their defense then you will vote. If the majority rules and ties mean nothing. If they lose the vote they die and reveal their identity (OHs and Ahs after revealing). If they win and are voted not to die then a second and third person get nominated. If after 3 people are voted down from the noose you go into night mode and the werewolves kill someone. There may be some exceptions to this such as the witch saving the person being killed (they are told who is going to die and then can 1 time save that person). Anyways I could go on about the game as there are many roles in the game as it can play up to 45 people I think I was told. Try it with your friends or make new friends by trying it with new people.

Played this on my regular gaming night. Maybe it was the way it was explained or it’s just overly complicated but I had my doubts about this game (seriously, slaves!!!) but after playing about half of the game I started to figure out how things worked and strategies. I would like to play this again not going to say I want or need to as other games I have played and gotten that light bulb going off in the middle.
The premise of the game is you take meeples off of one land tile and placing one meeple per tile in a straight line and the last meeple you place you take all the meeples of the same colour off that tile (it must have at least 1 there before you place the second one) and the meeples you take off allow you to do certain things with them. Also the tile that you take the meeples off of has a ‘ability’ and you do that (either placing a palace or palm tree which gives you more points if you own it, buying a god which gives you points, etc). If the tile is emptied by you takes the meeples off then you place a camel their of your colour and each tiles gives you points.
My recommendation is try it.

Played this by accident. I teach a board game every other Wednesday at the local game store and when no one but one of my friends showed up we decided to play this one and I’m I glad we did. As we were waiting hoping to play the game I was to teach he read the rules and then explained them to me. It’s quite simple and straight forward. There’s 3 rounds with 4 phases to each round. First you get your 4 roles that you chose 1 and then pass the rest left (think 7 wonders style) and continue until you have 3. These will be the people you can use their special ability for the round. Then you get 4 plots of land and 4 buildings that you hope to build on your turn. You each choose 1 of the roles for that turn basing it on your plots and buildings. You then place the plots of lands to build up the city, bid on which plots you want to build off of and finally build your buildings, scoring points along the way. I have left out some minor stuff but this is a good game from a company I haven’t heard of. My friend says it’s like Ginkgopolis but with more structure and since I haven’t played it I’ll take his word for it but take my word for it and try this game.

One of my good friends says that this is Steven Jackson’s best game and although I have not played that many of his I would tend to agree. It’s a very simple but fustrating game to play. The rules are simple. Fill the board with your people/cubes and who ever has the most points at the end of the game is the winner. The hard part is getting your cubes on the board cause you’re all bribing/blackmailing/using force to get your cubes on and if 2 people tie no one gets it. The game works like this: you have a board with certain people who can be influenced by using force, blackmail or money which allow you to place your cube on the board but if two people tie neither gets is and force is stronger than blackmail which is stronger that money. Some people can only be influence by 2 of the 3 methods (ex blackmail can’t be used). Some spaces let you move cubes around and others just give you points. No 2 games will be the same so you can play the game over and over and never get bored. Good game and I suggest you try it and you’ll see it’s a good time.

I have played several co-ops and I always go in knowing that ‘we’re going to lose’ but at least it’s fun for the time being. In Shadowrift you go from ‘this is ok’ to ‘we’ve lost’ in 1/2 a turn. It is quite simple to learn how to play just have someone who really knows the game do the monsters/villagers/towns people/travelers cause that is the hard part. The game starts off simple enough in don’t let the monsters kill the villagers but after turn 3 you see it’s impossible to do that cause there’s too many monsters and you still have 4-5 more turns before the game is officially over. So you have to sit there for a couple more turns as people argue on how badly it’s going vs it’s not over until the fat lady sings knowing that it’s over. I don’t recommend this game if you are looking for a good time or a co-op game that it’s possible to win. Play something else!

I know I am going to take some heat from some people but I played this last night as it is similar to Quarriors but just a little harder but I prefer Quarriors. If you know Quarriors and you’ve played MtG this will be easier for you to pick up. It has elements of Q in it in that you pick people/dice but it’s different in that your people can’t be chosen by someone else. You roll and attack with your dice but there is more strategy cause unblocked dice do dmg then are lost by the player and defeated dice are returned to be used the next time and I’m probably confusing people. I do recommend playing it but maybe play Quarriors first. If you enjoy it great but I’ll play Q over this anytime.

I have played this game many times and I don’t like it. Why? I don’t know! There is nothing that I can really put my finger on why I don’t like this game. It’s very simple to learn and play. There is a replay value cause no two games will go the same or close to the same. These are 2 things that I like in a game. The pieces are simple and nothing that will awe you but that’s not something I really pay that much attention to regularly. If you were to twist my arm I guess it is a like dull when it’s not your turn and I don’t like having to guess what I am going to do plus what is everyone else going to do although in most games you need to do this to have a fighting chance to win. The game I hate the most I can rattle off many things I hate about the game but this game I can only nit-pick and still I can’t come up with a very convincing argument why I don’t like this game. My suggestion is to go out and play it and see for yourself. I know lots of people who like this game, I’m just not one of them and I can’t really tell you why.

I played this about 2 weeks ago and I need a second go around cause like most board games I play it’s about half way through where I get that “OH That’s what/why/how/when/where…..” and by that time I am out of the running of winning (oddly I came in second in this one) and I want/need to play again so that I can satisfy my brain with the age old question “How would I have done if……”. To me so far there is good replay value in this game (of course it’s out of print) and it’s not hard to learn but you might want to ask more questions than I did and use your resources at the right time which goes back to the start of this review where I said the light bulb went off and I finally clued in.

This game is very quite simple to learn. It took not very long for my friend to explain it to me and most times I just nod my head and say ‘I understand as I play’ and after the game is over I finally get it but with Blueprints it was shortly after we started playing that I got it. The objective is to build getting the most points but that’s not how you win which is the genius part. The goal is to medal or achieve certain goals which give you points that are used to determine the winner! Short of writing how to play try the game and you will see that there is so much strategy in the game and there will never be 2 identical games. My strategy has never been the same in every game I have played. This game is a big hit at my weekly gaming night cause it was created by someone local and it’s fun. Try it, you won’t regret it!

I have played this many times cause I have several people in my board game group that are in love with this game. I am on the fence. I have played it sometimes and wished that I had spent the time playing something else cause it’s boring/dull, I know I’m not going to win and there’s few little thinking involved. There are other times where I have played it 2-3 times back to back cause it’s fun, there’s a lot to think about and I’m thinking ‘I might win’. Honestly I can’t tell you why I have such strong feelings on both sides of the fence. All I can say is try the game and my suggestion is not with the expansion ‘leaders’. I don’t feel leaders really add anything to the game unless you’re a person who analyses every single little detail.

When I was first introduced back into gaming this was the only Ticket to Ride I knew about. To me this was Ticket to Ride, oh how little I knew. For me this was the gateway game that got me into board gaming. I really enjoyed it and geography was not my strong suit in high school so as a added bonus this game has improved my knowledge of Europe. Although the idea of connecting 2 cities by train tracks sound dull this game is anything but boring. If you are familiar with Ticket to Ride North America the rules have not changed but that have added one small thing and that is tunnels. I like the tunnel idea as is can really change the game with some people trying to complete a route to find out that their route will cost 0-3 more cards. It can give someone people who like to stop people a chance to know what they are doing and then taking their route from them. With the people I play with it is not a family friendly setting, the curse words are flying.

I have only played a few of the maps for Ticket to Ride but I have to say that is one is the hardest I have played so far. That’s not a bad thing it’s just tougher to complete your tickets cause there are fewer tracks between 2 stations. When I played this in our 4 player game no one finished all their routes but that is not to say that our scores reflected that. 3 of the players were all close in scoring with myself getting pretty much the same scores I would get on the European or North American maps. I have no played this map with the monsters so i can’t comment on that but it was a good time and nice to see some locales that I have visited that are not included on the North American map.

The first time I played this game I played with the wrong people. I didn’t like this game but the second time I played it was with friends and although I won the second time that was not what got me to like this game. It’s easy to learn and if you like worker placement type games then you’ll enjoy this game. The randomness of the cards and strategies of this game and other people you’ll never get bored playing it. My advice is to watch what others are doing and then adjust to that. If you don’t like to watch what others are doing when it’s not your turn then you’re in for a long game and disappointment at the end unless you’re lucky or not looking to win.

I took chemistry is high school and maybe cause I didn’t care but I hated it and wasn’t good at it. Although I am not great at this game it makes chemistry so much more interesting. I like how it’s got some individual choices in how you level yourself up so that no 2 games are the same and your opponents strategies will not be the same game to game so that the replay value is high. Pretty simple to learn just get everything out in the open first and don’t try to learn this game as you go. The game sets up fairly quick and with the expansions the game gets better. Definitely try it if you get the chance you won’t regret it.

I played this not too long ago and like most games I play after I have played it I want to play it again cause I have finally figured out how to play the game and I want to play it a second time to see how I would do when I fully understand the game. I have yet to do that but I hope too. I know there are other games out there like this one but I really enjoyed it. The people i were playing with told me ‘It’s a deck building game with dice instead of cards’. Now that I have played I get what they mean. It doesn’t take too long to play and you can make it longer or shorter if you would like. Learning how to play doesn’t take long it’s understanding the strategy that takes time. I recommend playing this if you get the chance.

I have played this game several times with different strategies for different reasons. It’s a good little filler game when you are looking for something not so taxing after a ‘heavier’ game or if you are looking for a game to get the juices flowing before a night of gaming. If you are looking for a game to knock your socks off then look elsewhere but if you are looking for a light game then this is the game for you. I got my nephew interested in board games with this game. It’s easy to play and learn but you will always find a person who this game is beyond (looking at you Mom).

I am torn on what to give this game as a rating. If you are familiar with fluxx games than the rest of this will make sense, if you are not then know that creepers are bad and you can’t win (in most cases) if you have a creeper in front of you. Zombie fluxx is a good game to use as a filler or a game you want to wind down with after a heavy ‘game’ if you are not using the zombies. If you use the zombies it takes a very long time, in fact I have never completed a game with the zombies in the game, to finish the game. In other versions of fluxx the creepers can be destroyed thus making it possible to win the game but in zombie fluxx the zombies get passed left, right or other ways and cause you are playing with so many zombies that the zombies will continuously get passed creating a (almost) never ending parade of zombies flying all over the table. It can get quite confusing and boring after several hands of it. My suggestion is to play a different version of fluxx or to play this version without the creepers.

This is a good game if deck building is not your thing or you’re new to the concept. There is also an element of strategy so if you’re a new to deck building and want to play with your deck building friends you can both play this. The game does need you to go out and get the expansions thought as the base set can get repetitive. I currently don’t own any of the expansions but I do put them on my wish list at christmas and birthday time. Don’t bring this out if you are with some hardcore gamers as they will suggest you to go get more complex deck building games out there.

I own it and have played it only a handful of times. I have watched the videos on it many times and I still have a lot of problems understanding the game. It can get very long and there is not much player interaction. I think it can be a good game but it’s just beyond me the concept of the game. It needs a lot of time and money to get more cards to really get into the game and I don’t have either. I played Magic: The gathering for yrs and it helped me to understand the mechanics of the game but it’s just at another level of difficulty.

I like this game and can’t wait for my nephew to get a little older so that I can teach him the game. I like this game so much that I now teach a version of it every other Wednesday. It’s easy to learn and you won’t play against people who have the same strategy. I have been in tourneys for this game and you can see how passionate some people are and also how much strategy is in the game that you never thought of. There are many expansions and standalones that are in its family that you can play this game for yrs and not get bored with it. I highly recommend playing it. If you are looking to get someone into board gaming this is the perfect game to bring them on board. I tell everyone that it’s the perfect game as it’s the only game I know that an experienced player can get crushed by a new person to Catan.

My mom is not really a board game person but I got her to play this one time and now she asks me for it every time I come over. Even my dad who hates games likes this one. It’s quick and easy to learn. You can play this game over and over and nothing will be the same. I play this game as a starter to board game nights or in between ‘heavier’ games. It gets the juices flowing or it can be used to wind down a night. Just stay on the board as long as you can. No two people will play the same way with the same tiles.

If you play this with the right people it can be a good game/time but be warned it can be a long game and the arguments can/will get heated. My suggestion is know the game before you play and get everyone’s house rules out in the open and discussed before hand. I played with friends and it sometimes was fun, most times I wanted to quit cause of one the people I played with (1 was a suicider, 1 was over bearing in having to win all the time, 1 had no backbone).

Great game with lots of strategy to it. Like my title says it’s the only gm that can take over 2 hrs to play that I would play again after finishing a gm. Not only that but both games would be different. If you don’t like long games or ‘heavy’ games then this is not for you but if you do then you’ll enjoy this. Plus although it’s long you are active during other players turns so the time can fly by without knowing it. A definite must have!

I really like playing power grid and when I first saw this game being sold by someone online I contacted them right away. Luckily it was still available and I was going to meet a friend who owns over 400 board games. He told me it was good and when I told him the price he told me he’d buy it off me for more than that. I picked it up and played just the other day. If you love power grid then you will love this. It plays pretty much the same way but takes about 1 hr to 1 1/2 hr less time to play.

I remember having this game when I was a kid and I didn’t really understand the game all that well but as I got older I never forgot about this game. When I got back into board games as an adult it would always come back to me whenever I thought about my childhood and board games. I found it at a second hand store a little while ago and bought it. Although my tastes in games has changed I still play it occasional at my board game night with friends.