Skylar

Let me start this off by saying that I have been playing Magic the Gathering or MTG since the beginning. Throughout time the game has had some ups and downs, as to be expected with any game that has been around this long but throughout MTG has maintained its strength.

For those that do not know Magic the Gathering is a CCG where you buy cards and build a deck to compete against other people. Each person starts off with 20 life and the first to zero loses. The basic rules are fairly simple to understand, but the more technical rules can get a bit complicated. I am not going to get into all the rules here as there are plenty of sources for that information. (posted a link to the official comprehensive rules to help)

http://magic.wizards.com/en/gameinfo/gameplay/formats/comprehensiverules

One of the biggest complaints against this game is its price. Starting out you can spend less than $20 and have a solid deck that you can play with against your friends. Will this deck win tournaments? probably not. However Magic is not a “pay to win” game. With its nearly endless deck combinations and various strategies MTG has enough depth to it that cards alone will not win the game.

The other big complaint is how competitive it is. If the tournament scene is not your style and you want more casual games the best answer for this is to just play with your friends and gamer groups. When you go to any formal WOTC/DCI event you should expect people to be serious about winning, as you should probably expect at any competitive tournament.

For its few downsides MTG is and immersive game that you can spend years getting to the core of. If you are a power gamer or strategy gamer then this is for you. There is a little bit of a luck factor, but that can be fairly well mitigated through clever deck construction.

If you are looking for a serious game with a massive community then Magic the Gathering is the game for you.

With its quick gameplay and easy to learn system Smash Up is a fun game for any group. The concept is fairly straight forward, choose 2 out of the 8 starter factions in the starter box to be your deck. Reveal a certain amount of base cards depending on how many players you have. Then everyone plays cards on the revealed bases in an attempt to break the base and score points. The first player to 15 points wins.

The big draw about the game is the faction combinations. With the base sets 8, and each additonal expansions 4 you can have a grand total of 20 factions. With all of these possible factions the combinations become nearly endless. Even if you stick with the base game deck combinations often make for interesting and sometimes comical interactions(See Wizard Dinosaurs). However some of these combinations seem to be completely unbalanced(See Robot Zombies).

For all of its upsides Smash Up is not without its share of problems. Its a card based game that comes in a boardgame box and although there are some slots for the faction decks the holders do not really do a great job of keeping the decks from getting shuffled around. If you have the 3 expansions you will not be able to fit the 12 additional expansion factions in the base game box and will be left carrying around the additional boxes. In addition to this minor inconvenience is the seemingly loose phrasing used with some of the rules. This game was not really built for the power gamer type and without some simple house rules can become a bit silly.

Overall this game is a great grab if you are looking for a casual game.

Pros-
-Easy to learn
-Nice art
-Lots of combinations and replay value

Cons-
-Packaging could have been better
-Not for the power gamer
-Some unbalanced faction combos
-May need some house rules to navigate some of the ambiguous wording.

Summoner Wars is a 2 player strategy game that offers all the carnage of a regular minis game, but with an army that fits in a card box. The base set comes with the 6 starter armies, but with the large amount of expansion armies and reinforcement packs the replay value becomes endless. The system is easy to pick up on but the strategy goes way deeper than what you might see at first glance. This is because of Summoner Wars unique resource system. Your hand, your library, your spells, troops on the field and everything come from the same deck..and when they’re gone, they’re gone. This makes every move you make be of critical importance, every unit you field has the upmost value. Not to mention that if your unit gets killed by the opponent they get to use it as a part of their resource pile. There is a bit of heavy reliance on dice rolls, and if you are on a bad streak it can cost you the game but technically the odds are in your favor(3 or higher is roughly 66% of the time you should hit).

Although technically only a 2 player game you can run multiple boards next to each other and have as many players as you have boards. Not sure how well the balance of armies holds up like this but so far its worked for me.

Overall- Great game with tons of replay value!!!

Components- Looks amazing but the card layout could have been better.

Learning curve- easy to learn but difficult to master.

Let me start this off by saying that I am a huge zombie fan and own many of the other zombie themed games. Unfortunately I feel like many of these games miss the mark.

That said Zombicide breaks free from the shackles of its predecessors and stands tall as one of the best games in the genre, setting the bar pretty high for the other shambling hordes that wish to join this elite zombie game club.

During a typical game you and your friends will each choose a character and a objective that you must complete. You run through the town trying to complete the objective and avoid the evergrowing horde. Along your way you gather equipment and gain XP eventually leveling up using Zombicides innovative and easy leveling system. Each turn more zombies are generated based off of how much of your map is explored. The higher your level the tougher this can be.

A cooperative game with self controlling zombies(they move toward/attack the nearest character) Zombicide is a quick to learn and fun to play. With tons of minis and high quality components Zombicide good for any game night.

The downside is this game lacks a little for those of you that really want a tough strategical game. Pretty much as long as you keep moving and do not get yourself into a corner you should be fine.

Pros
-Easy to learn
-Great components and minis
-innovative leveling system

Cons
-if your gamer group is looking for a hardcore challenge, this probably is not for you.