Felix

This reviews title is true in two ways! After playing Legacy I don’t enjoy the ordinary Pandemic as much anymore – Legacy is just too much fun! The other meaning is that it is a play once (or more accurately 12-24 times) game! That being said I’ll now try to review it without any spoilers!

What is it about?
In short you and your fellow players must face a year of battling four contagious diseases; finding cures and stop outbreaks!
For those of you who’ve played Pandemic it is almost the same – except that we take part in a year-long race against diseases threatening to spread! There is a deck called the Legacy Deck which is the “game master” since one is only allowed to draw cards when the game tells you to, and those cards can really change the course of the game completely! One is never safe!
Components are being added throughout the game, so one tactic is never durable, since there might be a way better way of dealing with these heinous diseases tomorrow.

Why can you only play it once?
Since we play the game over 12 months, and get to play once or twice in every month (if you loose a game you get to try that month one more time, whereas if you win you continue on with the next month) we do change the course of the game! The Legacy Deck mentioned above is a one time thing – once you’ve drawn a card there is no going back. These cards (and other of the games mechanics) will tell you to do things like put stickers on the board/cards/characters and even rip cards up. There is literally no going back since the cards and board are altered forever!

Pros:
– Is is unbelievably much fun! Imagine opening doors in your top secret dossier to find new rule stickers to put in the rule book, or opening small boxes containing new game components.
– Your characters develop with new skills and other things (no spoilers here) during the game!
– If you like Pandemic this is like it only so much better!

Cons:
– Obviously that it is a one time thing (ironically that is what makes it so fun). However you can play it 12-24 times which de facto is quite a few times! I know I haven’t played some of my games that many times!
– It is literally addicting!!

One additional thought
I do believe this game is best played by the same players throughout the season, since you’ll see your characters evolve! I didn’t know if I were to put this under pros or cons, however it is worth thinking about when deciding who to play it with!

All in all, I think this might be my favorite game so far! It is very exiting and I always look forward to the next gaming session!

With the mysterious and yet adventurous soundtrack playing in the background, I feel like I’ve been thrown into the world of Indiana Jones! The ***** or american mobsters are trying to get the artifacts before me, but I will not let them!
By traveling the world, I will stop these vile organisations before they get world dominance.

However, it is not as funny as it sounds! If I play Fortune and Glory several times in a short period of time I sort of get sucked into it, and really enjoy it, however when only playing every once in a while I forget some of the rules and this definitely makes it less enjoyable. The rulebook is a bit messy and most of the playing time is spend browsing the rulebook, because one game effect is described in one page and the next thing I need to know is described several pages later.
I have only ever played it solo, so the game experience might differ if one plays the competitive version or the co-op version.
However, when it is time for the vile organisation to act, via my hands, I sort of feel like it isn’t quite working. I can’t really describe the sensation more than that it feels like it is underdeveloped. This might be because I frequently have to look at the rules to see if I’ve forgotten anything and this is disturbing my sense of “being in the game”, or because it lacks some elements that I am unable to describe. It also feels quite repetitive, going after one artifact after another, while the same things happen.
The basics are really good, I just wished that they dialed it up a little bit. One tiny detail that really disturbs me is the first player chip; it is a big white circle with the flying frog logo on it. I would of wished that the first player chip would have fitted with the game theme instead of being an ugly blob!

My last comment is the nazi imagery. There is a warning text on the box, however it didn’t quite prepare me for what I was to see when opening the box. There are many, big and small, swastikas, and I am not so keen on seeing them. In a world where nazism and extreme xenophobia is on the rise again, I do not enjoy playing with these symbols, as if they were only a remnant of the past.

Over all , I am not a fan. The theme is good and I do like the thought of the game, however there are too many disturbances for me to be able to fully enjoy it!

When I first read the rules I felt confused, when I started playing it felt like a quite boring game, but oh, was I wrong?!

As soon as I had grasped the rules, which was quite easy as soon as everything was set up, a game unravelled which was unlike anything I’ve played before!

How is it played?
One player takes on the role as a a ghost and the rest are psychics trying to solve the murder of the ghost! The ghost cannot speak directly to the psychics and instead only delivers visions to them. These visions are quite dreamlike and sometimes very hard to connect to either a person, a place or an item, which are what the psychics are trying to reveal!
These visions aren’t very exact and the psychics must then interpret them and deduce what the ghost is trying to tell them!

Would I recommend you buying it?
In a heartbeat!
I don’t think this will be the game I’ll play more than maybe once a month, but I’ll enjoy it immensely every time! I liked playing the psychic almost as much as I enjoyed taking on the role as the ghost! The artwork is very good, and I think that is one of the major reasons this game is worth playing! It is vital to the game, since the visions and our interpretations of them are the main ingredient of the game.
Although, after playing a few times with the same people I’ve noticed that we get to know each other’s way of thinking a little too much, for example “well, xe always uses that card to signal for that chair – it must be that scene this vision aims at describing”. This is a clear disadvantage, however it opens for expansions or at least card packs!

Overall, I recommend it! Play it, buy it, love it!

So, are you getting bored with your original Gloom? Do you know all the mishaps without even reading at your cards? Get ready for some more spice!

In this expansion our families are heading out in the big world, more specifically on different expeditions. During these expeditions unexpected things will happen (read: rules will change) making the game more intricate and obviously funnier to play! A new feature is that some of the modifier cards will have a stronger effect if played during certain expeditions which makes strategical planning hard to avoid! That is something I really like about “Unfortunate Expeditions”! However, as the new deck is shuffled with the original one there will be lots of “normal” modifiers that you can use if you are looking to avoid making it more strategical!

So, I went to my local game store with my mind set on buying a new game, but on a limited budget (Does those encounters ever end well?). After spending quite some time pacing back and forth in the store, reading on almost every box my decision finally landed on this one.
I regretted it the second I walked out the store but tried to convince myself that it would be fun.

So, when the time finally came to test the new game I had glanced at the rules, thought they looked simple and tried to set up the game and explain it to my fiancée. Easier said and done since I noticed that I myself didn’t quite grasp the game yet.
After trying to play we eventually just put it back in the box and decided to have another go at it some other day.

After re-reading the rules thoroughly I noticed that they weren’t very well-written. They were messy and several steps were without explanation. So, as we played we tried to figure out how the creators meant that it should be played.

And! It actually was quite fun!

My thoughts:
So, what I can say is that I definitely will play this game again, however I have some objections. The game mechanics are a bit underdeveloped, making it less fun unfortunately (at least compared to what I like and am used to) however it is easy to learn (well, if one manages to read the rules) and easy to teach.

Biggest con:
There was a lot of native american imagery in it which I do not appreciate. I am guessing the creators are not native american and I am afraid that they have not consulted the native american community about the use of these. It is cultural appropriation, and therefore I will never recommend anyone to buy this game.

This was actually the first game of it’s kind that I played a few years back, and I still find it as funny now as I did then even though I now own a few expansions.

What the game is about is creating and strengthening your own character, killing monsters, taking their treasures and most importantly, make sure that no one else is in the vicinity of winning by backstabbing them.

During gameplay you will have many opportunities to become (among others) elves, thieves, wizards and even gnomes, each one with special powers that will help you (or possibly make it worse) fight all those evil monsters that are out to get you!
Your aim is to collect weapons and other items that will make you stronger compared to the ghastly monsters. If win the fight, you get to steal the monsters treasures, making you even stronger. If you loose on the other hand, baaad stuff will happen to you.

In a game where almost anything is possible there will no doubt be arguments, shouting and bargaining with the other players, and I can promise you a night of great fun!

It can be a bit slow when there are munchkin-newbies playing, but as soon as they learn the game will pick up pace. I prefer playing four players!

Enjoy!

Having played the original Fluxx a few years back I decided to give my brother-in-law the pirate themed Fluxx for his birthday. Needless to say the first stop on the way home was my local game store to pick up a Fluxx for myself. I had totally forgotten how much fun it was!

As usual, the rules of Fluxx is ever changing and unpredictable making it fun to play over and over and over and oh, you get it, over!

What separates this version from the others is the following:

There are four different kinds of zombies, a plain zombie, pair of zombies, zombie trio and zombie quartet. Each kind is killed (or at least momentarily) in different ways making it more fun to do so and watch them travel through the game!

The goal cards have two new symbols on them; making it possible to win either by having zombies in front of you on the table, or on the contrary making it impossible to win whilst having the zombies there!

A whole new category of cards introduced is the Ungoal. They are used just like regular goals, however if the requirements on it are met, the players loose and the zombies win!

How many players?
The box says 2-4 players, but with zombies going around on the table it is actually quite boring only being 2 players, so I recommend more! At least 3!

Final note:
If you are hesitating wether to buy this version or the normal version why don’t you buy this one? In the rules there are instructions how to remove all zombies just making it a normal Fluxx (even though the Keepers of course still will be a bit zombie themed). But, why would you ever want to play the original when you can kill zombies?!?!?!?

On vacation in NY I walked by a game store and couldn’t help going in and getting myself a souvenir. After looking and reading a bit the storeowner recommended this one. And it is funny, but I usually end up playing other more intricate games instead of this one.

Basically it is a draft game. A funny, original such, but still a draft game.
What you do is draft armies of different food and make them battle against each other. Winning a meal gives you battle points, and the first one to have ten wins!

The graphics are absolutely lovely, with an aged retro feeling about them, and the puns are amusing with battlefields such as Triumph of Spaghettis-burg.

When is this game appropriate to play?
For a game night, we usually choose more complicated, strategy games that will last longer.
However, this game is perfect when I play with friends who are social gamers. If we have a few beers while playing, this one is perfect, since we can relax and just talk and play without worrying that we miss events in the game!

Even though I own this game, my fiancée never wants to play it with me, however her family loves it, so we always play it together! It is great fun to enjoy with both her parents and brother; everyone having as much fun as the next one!

Gloomy…
Each player has a family of five on the table in front of them. The objective is to make them as miserable as possible and kill them to relieve them of their misery. At the same time you can make your opponents families happier if you believe that is a good strategy.

All cards are transparent, making it easy to play modifiers (and less messy) since you just put them on top of each other!

There is a storytelling element to this game, but we usually ignore it to speed it up, and I find it just as compelling!

I own the expansion Unfortunate Expeditions which I find make the game more flexible and funnier!

After introducing my brother-in-law to this kind of games the responsibility of presenting more of it’s kind, so for his birthday I gave him Fluxx Pirate.
I was aiming at a game with easy to learn rules (for him to play with his parents), a bit quirky and a lot of fun!

After playing it with him I fell in love, which means that a trip to my local game store is now planned! My thoughts of it are:

1) a perfect family game, even for a mother-in-law with English as a second language!
2) it is great fun playing, with ever changing rules.

Keep in mind that it is a filler game, which if course is a bit sad considering the game is so much fun, however it might be nice for a change, not to spend the entire evening involved in a game!

Difference from other Fluxx games
After being introduced in the Zombie edition of Fluxx, Creeper cards are here to stay. There are two creepers in Pirate Fluxx which in my opinion adds to the replay value.

There are also a new type of cards, Surprises, which one can play whenever, and not only during ones turn, which makes the game more flexible and funnier!

I will play this game many more times!

Having a minor game addiction with a fiancée refusing to play any, we finally found this game! Instead of fighting about who did what to who, we get to work together to beat the game itself in this elaborate co-op game! I love it, and I am often found at my desk playing it myself just because I enjoy it so much. With a lot of possibilities it hasn’t grown old yet! It took me some time to read the rules, but it was actually easier than it seemed to play!

I am a quirky game player, and have never read a fantasy themed book in my life, so this was my first contact with Lovecrafts makings. Having said that I really appreciate this game without knowing any backgrounds or such. So if you are having doubts, just go ahead! It will be fun anyway! Of course it might be an even better experience if one is familiar with Lovecraft.

What is it about?
The setting is a museum in 1926; a collections of ancient artifacts has opened a portal for the Ancient Ones to enter our dimension and if you let them, they will destroy humanity. What you have to do is explore the museum in search for elder signs that will seal the gateway and save the world!

To explore the museum you and your fellow investigators take turns to solve the adventures by throwing dies. So, essentially it is an elaborate dice game. However, with the right accessories one can influence the dies to a pretty big extent.

Thoughts:
I will not even try to explain how it is played, the rule book will help you with that. Instead I will summarize my thoughts about it:

Pros:
First off, it is easy to learn. It took me quite a while to read the rules, but there was never any difficulty when converting into gameplay, and it is actually very easy to teach others.

My favorite thing about it is that we work together against the game itself, making it fun co-operating making the best of our abilities, and planning attacks!

It is great fun. I usually go for the quirky ironic games, but this one was an eye-opener that more serious, fantasy games can be just as fun.

The game offers great replay-ability with a lot of different variations, numerous investigators, many Ancient Ones and even some variety (very little though) of monsters depending on which Ancient One that’s being battled.

Cons:

It is easy to win. After numerous plays I still haven’t awoken the Ancient Ones. There are ways to make it harder though, so it is not a big problem.

A lot of pieces that takes time sorting into and out of the box. Of course one can take care of this by ziplock bags, or something similar.