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This Week’s Explorable Games
This round of Explorable Favorites is from BoardGaming.com member Grant Rodiek. The two games selected from their favorites shelf were:
- Dragonheart
Fantasy Flight Games | Published: 2010 - Ascending Empires
Z-Man Games | Published: 2011
These games will be explorable until next Monday, April 28th.
After you’ve explored these games, let us know what you think about them in the comments below!
Quite disappointing to see that Ascending Empires is out of print. It looks like a game my gaming group would like.
It appears that the Z-Man games website no longer is giving any attention to Ascending Empires. I cannot find the game on the site anywhere.
Another space-themed dexterity game I have enjoyed is Space Pirates. That game focuses on managing cargo and bringing said cargo to different fences to get the best price. You then try to purchase fencing locations to get better profit.
Another kid-themed dexterity game that takes it to the extreme is Dancing Eggs, another HABA game. Great game with a gaggle of kids. You drop rubber eggs on the table, make the kiddies chase them and then hold them under their chin, arm, etc. Actually, it is a pretty humorous game with a bunch of drunk adults too.
Urosh,
I’ll second Granny’s suggestion to look at the HABA line of games.
I’d also highly recommend Animal Upon Animal (Tier auf Tier), it’s a fantastic game for younger kids. I also like Hula Hippos, but games always seem to take too long and overstay their welcome, but are still a lot of fun.
Another game that, while I haven’t tried it in this way, I think could grow with a child is the newer Rampage. You get to destroy a city, and if you trust a child not to eat the meeples, it could easily act as a playset for the kid when not being played as a game.
Toc Toc Woodman / Click Clack Lumberjack also works well, though I found a single player can really ruin the game for everyone if they just want to smash the tree. I’d excitedly brought it to party for kids, and every game seemed to find a kid that just sucked the fun out of it. With that said, when everyone is playing (socially) correctly, it works great, even when all the players are adults.
Granny,
I’m glad I’m not alone in experiencing the Pitchcar reboxing dilemma.
@Urosh
If you’re looking for your kid, I think Animal Upon Animal is one of the best “dexterity” games for youngsters. In fact, HABA has a bunch of great children’s games in this genre…of which I enjoy. There’s also Nacht der Magier by Drei Magier Spiele which is another great company.
You just missed Catacombs on Kickstarter…which is one of my favorite dexterity games. An alternative is Dungeon a Fighter…another Dungeon Slider with fun art and crazy rules. Rampage is an excellent newer dexterity game where you play a monster terrorizing a city full of meeples.
I agree with Andy that Pitchcar and Roadzters are quite good if the racing theme strikes you. I find Roadzters to be the more enjoyable of the two if only because it is easier to set up and take down. Pitchcar is freakin’ heavy, and somehow doesn’t fit back in the box from whence it came.
IMO One of the best dexterity games is still the old standby…Crokinole.
@Andy Yeah, I’m looking for a good example of a game that is primarily Dexterity based, and will check out your suggestions. I also have my eye on a number of similar games designed for kids, as my son is 2-years old and only getting older. Games like Click Clack Lumberjack (or Toc Toc Woodsman, as it’s called now) are also in the line of games I’m thinking about.
Thanks again!
@thegordonshow Yes. If you do not want a light game… don’t get Dragonheart. I’d recommend something like Jambo or Asante as a step up from Lost Cities… or maybe go to a board game like Finca.
Happy Gaming!
Thanks for the info, Granny!
I found Lost Cities to be somewhat light already, so I’m guessing Dragonheart is super light!
Urosh,
Are you looking for a game with a small amount of dexterity required, or do you wish that to be the main feature of the game?
Ascending Empires does not have a very large dexterity compoonent to it (it’s at least less than most people I’ve played it with and I expected). It’s still a great game, but if you’re looking for a full dexterity flicking game, I’d suggest looking at something like Pitchcar or one of Bisikle or Roadzters.
I need to find a dexerity game. The last one I played was Perfection, and that was a different kind of dexterity game. I’m going to try to find a copy of Ascending Empires to play.
@gamerbling, I don’t think it’s bad at all. I’ve seen/played/heard of a LOT of games in my time, but never either of these. That being said, that’s exactly the reason why I love this site so much. I probably wouldn’t have put either of these games on my wishlist at first glance. Having explored them now, though, I find myself quite interested to say the least. Dragonheart will be mine in the future. Ascending Empires looks like something I’d enjoy, but the rest of my gaming group would (quite unfortunately) pass on it.
Thanks for the explores this week. Ascending Empires is now on my wish list!
@thegordonshow Lost Cities is a game with stronger decision making requirements. I describe Dragonheart as almost relaxing in my review. Here are the differences…
1) In Dragonheart you have to play a card(s) on the main board (which can be taken by your opponent). This may sound more stressful, but it isn’t… because you have to do this every turn, and so do they. In Lost Cities, you can choose to play a card on your expedition (which your opponent cannot take), or you can leave a card on the board… but your opponent may not want to take it if it doesn’t fit into their current expedition for that color. Lost Cities is MUCH more tactical than Dragonheart… and thus more stressful.
2) In Lost Cities you have to do more math… i.e. add up your expedition cards and subtract to get your negative or positive number. In Dragonheart, you just add up the points on the cards you collect… no penalties.
3) In Lost Cities you can take a card from the board or from the community card deck. In Dragonheart… you have your own deck and you just draw back up to your hand limit. The only slight complexity is if you get the dragon figure that bumps your hand limit from 5 to 6 cards… and is worth 3 points at the end of the game.
I’ll say this. Lost Cities is a game I like better. I’d give it a true 8. I gave Dragonheart an 8, but it’s more a 7.5 for me. I like both games, but they fill different niches for me. Dragonheart is very light and requires simple decisions…. I can play it at the end of a hard work day. Lost Cities can actually get somewhat stressful… more like Battle Line (same designer). It really depends on what you want. IMO there is a place for both games on the shelf.
Dragonheart seems fun. Might have to check that out.
Haven’t heard of either of these games!
For some reason, Dragonheart seems a lot like Lost Cities. Has anyone played both?
Ascending Empires is an amazing fun game and essentially Catacombs or Crokinole with a space theme 😀
It does help being good at flicking discs but it isn’t a gamebreaker.
Oh well – I stumbled over these early going through the library updating my ‘Want/Own’ lists
Is it bad that Gamer Bling has heard of neither of these?