Gamer Reviews

I love the look and feel of the game. Basically players are taking dinos from their hand and putting them in their zoo habitats. You get rewards for different placement bonuses. Once you have played around 20 times you get to a pretty comfortable strategy but there is enough that gets mixed up to keep you thinking each time you play the game. A perfect filler or warm-up game. I highly recommend for kids as you can put the dinosaurs anywhere and get some kind of points, and it is enough for adults to have a good time as well. Your hard-core gamer friends might not be too impressed, but I would be very surprised if there isn’t something in here that everyone can enjoy.

Stuffed Fables is a storybook adventure where the stuffed animals protect their children from nightmares. It is designed for ages 7+ but as it is written, I would guess it needs to be closer to 10+. Here are the reasons I like it and why the age should be modified:

There is a lot of story here. I liked the story and enjoyed getting into the world. However, the kids I know (and some adults) can’t sit still listening to a page of story before anything happens. If you are playing with youngsters, I would suggest reading the story ahead of time and paraphrasing for your audience.

The mechanics are straight forward. Different colored dice go into a bag and the colors you pull that turn determine if you can heal, move, melee or ranged attack, and if the bad guys activate that turn. There are wild dice to group with other colors. Dice can be rolled individually for more actions or same colors can be rolled and added together for more chance of success. Items and abilities also grant bonuses and/or change the color of dice.

The scenario book is also the map. There are times I want to set out massive tile maps and there are times I just want to play. The book drastically reduces setup time. In our first play through, we did the whole first adventure in 3.5 hours and we went through 4 maps. Side note – the adventures are split into smaller sections and we could have split them up and come back later if we wanted to.

Who this is for: Players looking for a lighter version of Jaws of the Lion, a game to play with youngsters, and adorable miniatures.

Who might enjoy this less: Power players looking for crunchy tactical battles, those less interested in the the children’s story style, or those that want a heavier plot.

If you are familiar with d20 rpg character building concepts this will be an easy game to pick up for you; races, classes, ability stats, alignment and background are all implemented in this game.

And the goal of the game? To score most points after 12 rounds. Thematically? Before you enter a dungeon or a fight with your fiercest enemies.

A game round consist of chipping dice, choosing what die you want and puti it on your player mat and then useing the power of that ability score you place the die in. Then you in turn order buy an item from the market is you have the cash for it.
Sounds quite simple? It is, but when you dig a little deeper you will find more layers of tactics and meets the eye at first glance.
And I like it!

I have been wondering about getting one of the expansions (Monsters and minions) where you test your mettle against some real monsters so that when your character is build the game doesn’t end (like in the base game).
I am a bit unsure of how long I will be playing this as I already have played all classes solo twice and 3-4 sessions with friends.
This is a good game but there are so many times to play it before you have have experience what is has to offer.
I am glad I have added it to my collection as this is a great intro game, but I am rethinking the expansion – at least for now.

This is a puzzle game that makes you find a trail through four rooms, collecting money, and possibly finishing missions. It`s my suspicion that it is inspired by a video game.

You play a man with a jetpack trying to fly through some rooms. Along the way there are obstacles to avoid, and there are some scientists there. So you need to navigate through the rooms. To mark it off you have polyominoes tiles to lay down on your sheets, to show where you go. Some gadgets may help you along the way, but you have your work cut out for you. The game ends after three rounds.

This is a fun little game with a good real time presence. In multiplayer you are fighting others to finish the road, but as a solo gamer, you only fight to get as many VP at the end as possible. And this review will be based on solo plays.

As a big solo gamer, I brought this game into my collection around New Year`s Eve. First the retail, then the Deluxe version. In the solo mode you have to remove from the start two of each shape tiles, and then you need to remove the mission and gadget cards. After that you remove the tiles used from one play to the next, until you have played the three rounds. Then you tally up the VP from money you gathered and missions you finished, and gadgets giving you some extra VP.

You can feel the real time, when you try to avoid the obstacles, and you want to finish missions, or get those coins, and you try not to use too many tiles. In a solo game that will mess you totally over when you hit the third round. Till now I have ended not being able to finish room #4. I can see this on the table late at a gaming evening, or at a party, even with non-gamers. Rules are easy to learn. You choose one tile, put it on your sheets, one after another, so they follow all the way to the end, and then you score between rounds. If you choose one that you don`t find fitting, you simply put it back, and then choose another one, with a different shape. A thumb rule; you need to start with at least one square on the tile outside of the sheet, and end with at least one square on the tile outside. And the squares are easy to see on the tiles. With the Deluxe version there also comes a Solo Challenge book, where you find nice, little challenges if you don`t feel like playing the entire game. I won`t say it`s quick and easy, but it is very thought provoking, and you wring your brain to find that one and only solution it has (even if you will get the same result in different ways). It comes with the answers. They are still quite replayable, as long as you don`t have a photographic memory, because you can start over, and be just as stomped about the solutions.

Components are cute. I wish the room sheets had been tiles instead, because they are thin and slide a bit. The tiles are neat. I still fear breaking them, but I think it demands a bit in regular play. Even though you would think it would feel very samey, it will bring with it diversities to bring something new to each play. All four sheets of all four rooms are two sided, so there are so many different setups. There are also expansions, especially in Deluxe version, that will contribute to make the game new. One of the downsides are that you can only play it up till 4 players (though with Collector`s edition you can play with 6). It would have been fun to see this game being played with more people by the table to see the frantic race. But for me it`s important that there is a solo mode in the game, and it is tough! I haven`t scored all too well yet. I also love the fact that there are Solo Challenges, because I can set up the game while making dinner or doing something else, and go back and forth to it, trying to solve the puzzle.

This game can reach a big range of people. And it`s an easy game to explain at a party to bring up the mood, if need be. As a solo game it`s a nice wind down or start up game. It doesn`t demand much setup, especially if you have already sorted it out for solo play. And the box is fairly small, or you can bring only the necessary stuff in order to bring it along on vacation. And you don`t need much table space, so you can play it just about anywhere.

Although, as I write this it`s Covid time, and parties and travel is not in our immediate future. But sometime soon…I hope.

This game is great if you are trying to help your kids with math. There are several math elements in the game without feeling like a math game. Machi Koro requires nothing in hand other than when you are rolling the die/dice, so its great if you are playing with someone with less hand coordination.

You may think this may sound like Monopoly, but there is no trading of properties and you don’t have to sell “properties” if you run out of money (debt forgiveness).

One thing to always remember is to stock up on blue supply cards first. Those will get you coins when it is anyone’s turn. The coinage is smaller, but you have a higher chance of getting the coins because… more rolls. My kids forget this every time.

I have a review on my website, listed on my profile.