Speelo

Sushi Go is a fantastic example of something that is deceptively simple and looks–to be honest–like there isn’t anything behind that, beyond the “simple game”. Wrong wrong wrong.

It’s flat out good and pretty **** addictive. Game mechanics are indeed simple but after a couple of games you see the different strategies begin to pop up. You also understand certain frames–for example…Everyone is dealt a hand of cards. What isn’t clear immediately is after playing one round you understand that round plays very independently of the one following. Each player turn has all the players rotating your present hand so you suss what’s available that round. You finish a round and dispose of all of those cards and re-deal for the next round. There are 3 rounds so you have different options. Simple and elegant.

Certain cards are played and held by the player to be scored on the last round–pudding for the dessert. This game is a lot of fun and around 20 minutes to play. It’s great for a travel game. I recommend it.

Probably–the only thing I can say negative about Ticket To Ride is when I heard a short theme synopsis my first reaction was, “Trains? really. We build train lines?” After about 10 minutes playing it and seeing the ease of the rules, the strategic possibilities and the flat out fun of it, I quickly dumped my ho-hum attitude. The game is flat out great.

EVERY group of player will love this game from Casual to Hardcore. I don’t have to run this into the ground–it’s fairly perfect. Lots of fun. Do not be put off by the premise–buy it and enjoy.

Elder Sign is a good, solid dice game which essentially takes the premise of Arkham Horror, condences it into a hour to a 90 min experience. I need to play it more but me and my players found ourselves playing turns faster with an honest to god sense of impending doom. I’ll try not to repeat other’s impressions but here we go…

1. Components are gorgeous with jaw dropping art. I’m old and some of the cards and items have insanely small print to read. Pun intended. I’m not kidding when I say, pack a magnifying glass.

2. The Rules are passably clear but could probably do with more examples. I’ve watched a number of YouTube videos on how to play Elder Sign and there are a variety of those. That doesn’t speak too highly of the games’ enclosed rules.

3. Personally, I think Arkham Horror is a slow playing game and I’ve been told if everyone is VERY clear on the game play, the game plays a lot faster. This game is a stripped-down hot rodded version of AH-especially the basic premise. (Get ready for the Great Old One to come barging in on this reality. Prevent it or dismiss him …or die trying)except it boils to a very exciting 60 to 90 minutes. And as I said, the pace of the game picks up nicely.

4. Expansions keep this game fresh and add depth. Nicely done and keep it coming.

5. Finally, if you’re a fan of Lovecraft that’s wonderful and the vibe in Elder Sign will make you happy. If you know nothing about Lovecraft or don’t care, you will still enjoy the game. The Dice mechanics are clever as ****.

Good game–Buy it.

Truthfully, if you have no love of horror movies, pass on this one. It seems like a simple, obvious statement, but I could see a lot of people turned off by this game. A lot of the game feels like you’re moving through it and much less as if there is an exploration strategy. Betrayal utterly changes when the Traitor in the player’s midst is revealed and the so-called “Haunt” begins. My players enjoyed both parts of the game equally though. I’ve read some criticism about the varying quality of the Haunts and I agree, but forgive this–In Betrayal at House on the Hill you have an eminently replayable game where a lot of excitement is built waiting for the Haunt to begin and then playing that part through. It’s clever. I’m hoping expansion packs of new Haunts will be produced. A good game.