Game Nite Magazine Issue 34

Game Nite

Free

the magazine of tabletop gaming

March 2019

Shem Phillips game designer

v

Issue # 34

“The castles of burgundy� app review

game reviews

In this issue: Interview 26

Shem Phillips Game Designer

mobile Review 06

The Castles of Burgundy For Android and iOS

Abstract games 46

Pentago by Tom M Franklin

book Review index 52

game Reviews 10

Tara Wolf: In Valley of the Kings

14

Timebreaker

18

Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

36

Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard

40

Frazetta: Card & Dice Battle Game

44

Reviewed Books Index

Reviewed Apps Index

Past Interviews Index

Game Review index 58

Game Review Index

“Trajan” Meets “Hansa Teutonica” Perdition’s Mouth Expansion.

The Legendary Frank Frazetta.

RevoltaaA

Knizia, Robots and Ducks.

04 Top 10 Anticipated Apps

Interview Gallery 48

Travelling Through Time.

Top 10

Mobile Review index 54

Lara Croft Inspired Tomb Raiding.

Calendar 69

April 2019

Contributors 57

Game Nite Contributors

© Game Nite 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

All information contained in this magazine is for educational purposes only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of release. Readers are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers with regard to the price of their products. All material remains the property of its respective creators. Opinions expressed by the writers are their opinions alone and may not reflect the opinions of Game Nite. Disclaimer: Game Nite receives review copies of games, but does not accept payment for reviews.

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From across the table

Game Nite ISSUE # 34

A

s the board game hobby continues to expand, it is interesting to note some of the emerging trends. When I was putting together the list of my Top 10 Anticipated Apps, I couldn’t help but think that the Solo gamer and Apps in general are starting to become strongly positioned in the marketplace. There are now groups on Facebook and other outlets devoted to those who play games solo, and many designers have started to incorporate a solitaire variant in their games.

This is a godsend for those who live in remote areas and are unable to put a gaming group together, as well as for those that enjoy the experience of engaging a game “one on one” at any time.

And while this trend is noteworthy, what makes it especially interesting is the quality of the games being brought to the digital platforms. Although I am especially interested in seeing how a game like “Gloomhaven” or “Root” is going to be produced, the inclusion of high quality games like “Terraforming Mars”, “Scythe” and “Mage Knight” is quite amazing! It looks like both the gaming groups and the solo players have a lot to look forward to in the future!

Cover Photograph by Serge Pierro.

Time Breaker © Looney Labs

Editor in Chief/Publisher: Serge Pierro

Editor:

Eric Devlin Writers:

In this issue: Tom M Franklin’s Abstract column features the game “Pentago”.

Photographers:

Serge Pierro Serge Pierro Tom Franklin Tom Franklin

Tom also reviews the Reiner Knizia game, “RevoltaaA” I would like to thank Shem Phillips for taking time from his busy schedule to share his thoughts with our readers.

Follow us on Facebook:

The April calendar features “Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done” and provides the release date for issue #35.

www.facebook.com/GameNiteMagazine

If you are interested in contributing to Game Nite, feel free to contact us, as we’d love to hear from you!

www.gamenitemagazine.com

Serge Pierro

Editor in Chief/Publisher editor@gamenitemagazine.com

Visit us at:

Follow us on Instagram:

@gamenitemagazine Follow us on Twitter:

@GameNiteMag

Game Nite Issue #34

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Top 10 - Anticipated Apps

1

Gloomhaven Cephalofair Games

2 Terraforming Mars Stronghold Games

3

Mage Knight WizKids

4

Scythe Stonemaier Games

5

Five Tribes Days of Wonder

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By Serge Pierro

6

Root Leder Games

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Shards of Infinity Stoneblade Entertainment

8

Raiders of the North Sea Garphill Games

9

Yellow & Yangtze Grail Games

10

Mystic Vale AEG Game Nite Issue #34

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Mobile Review

By Serge Pierro

The Castles of Burgundy

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here are many fans of the red and white wines of Burgundy, however, when it comes to the Burgundy of board games, Stefan Feld’s, The Castles of Burgundy has a large following. It is the one Feld design that appeals to a wide variety of players - from casual players and couples to euro and hardcore gamers. So it should come as no surprise that the release of an app developed by Digidiced is of great interest.

Let’s take a look and see if the app invokes the magic that is Burgundy.

The initial game screen will offer you the opportunity to take the game’s tutorial, as well as list the icons to take you to the different areas of the app.

The tutorial is fairly decent, but for the new player it may prove to be a bit confusing. After all, this is a Stefan Feld game, and as such, new players may not be familiar with his approach to design. I went through the tutorial rather quickly, since I play the game online daily, but I thought that it covered all of the main points.

In The Castles of Burgundy you roll two dice I would recommend that even veteran players at the start of your turn and then use them to take the tutorial, if for no other reason than to either purchase tiles from the market area and/ learn how to use the User Interface. or use them to place previously purchased tiles The options for the game are rather sparse. on your player board. This simple, yet satisfying mechanism, has made this game a modern You can control: The language, game speed, classic. It also features, in my humble opinion, HD, FX, music and send bug reports. I would the best mechanism for helping mittgate the recommend setting the game to “Fast” in order to cut the AI’s time to a more acceptable level. randomness of die rolls.

When the program first loads you are greeted And speaking of the AI, when you choose to play with an opening screen that displays the title against the computer opponent you are greeted and designer and this is the last time you will with a screen that allows you to choose up to see this style of artwork in the game, as the rest three opponents at three different AI settings. of the game is 3d influenced.

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All three levels of AI are challenging, with the weakest one being able to win if you don’t play carefully. There is also a drop down box that has the settings for player board usage. You have the option of Standard, Random Identical and Random Different. This is an important setting that can easily be overlooked, as it greatly increases the replayability of the app by using different boards. However, there doesn’t appear to be a means of choosing a specific board from a list. This is a feature that I’d love to see implemented in a future update/expansion, as it would allow me to practice against specific boards. A Shuffle mode is also offered.

Perhaps the most demanding element of developing a User Interface for a tablet/phone is the limited screen space. Digidiced has done a good of implementing all of the pertinent information onto one screen, and after a couple of plays it becomes fairly intuitive.

The main means of play is as follows: You can either tap on the space on the board that you want to place one of your tiles or you can tap one of your tiles and the associated areas will “light up” on your board. You are then greeted with a popup box that contains your to dies and the possible tiles. You click on the die you want to use and the tile you want to play and a red checkmark slides out from the right for you to Continued on next page>

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Mobile Review

(Cont.)

click on to confirm your play. At the end of your turn you tap the bottom right corner for play to continue with the next player. This is greeted by an animation of what can best be described as a camera lens’ aperture blades closing with the board sinking and then reopening to reveal the next player’s board.

Overall, this is a solid implementation of the board game and is one that should certainly be welcomed by fans who want to be able to play the game at anytime - with or without an internet connection. Regular players will have to adjust to the new layout and such, but after a game or two everything flowed nicely.

The graphics contain 3d animation and will be a point of contention for some players, as the game has slightly altered the look of some of the tiles and you will have to adapt to the variance. It looks fine, but I’m not a huge fan of needless animation of animals and such, as all it does is tax the mobile device and adds little to the actual gameplay. The board can also look a bit cluttered towards the end of the game.

I really liked that the app kept a running score of the Knowledge tiles instead of waiting till the end of the game. This is one area that a digital device will always be superior when compared to the analog version.

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Another excellent feature is that when you hold down a tile, a window pops up explaining what the tile does. This was extremely useful for the

first few games. I was also happy to see the inclusion of an Undo function, seeing as how it is easy to tap something by mistake on a tablet/ phone.

As I mentioned above, I do play this game online everyday, so the question is… how does that influence my final thoughts on the app?

I would say that the ability to play online or against AI opponents offline will make this my “go to” app for getting my Burgundy fix.

My main interest in apps is being able to play a game against a decent opponent - any time and anywhere, without being tied to an internet connection, and Digidiced has produced an app

that does just that. So perhaps we should raise a nice glass of Pinot Noir from Burgundy and offer a toast to another worthy addition to the digital market. Cheers!

Version # Price: Devices:

6 $8.99/$9.99 iOS and Android Developer: Digidiced

Recommended www.digidiced.com

Game Nite Issue #34

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Tara Wolf:

In Valley of the Kings

By Serge Pierro

Lara Croft Inspired Tomb Raiding

I

remember when the first Tomb Raider game was released and how innovative it was with its female protagonist, Lara Croft, and its 3d environment. I’ve always had a fascination with archeology and ancient cultures, so the Tomb Raider series was an inviting one. However, these days I prefer to play board and card games, so I look to have my archeology itch scratched in that manner. With Tara Wolf: In Valley of the Kings, The Red Joker & River Horse have produced a game that attempts to capture the atmosphere of the Tomb Raider series in a card game. Let’s dig into the game and see what we can discover.

The 6 1/4” square 12 page rulebook is profusely illustrated and does a decent job of teaching the game.

The oversized Adventurer and Tomb cards measure 3 1/2” x 5” and are made of a decent card stock. The main decks of cards are the standard 2 1/2” x 3 1/2” and are made of the same stock as the others. A side note: there is an enclosed pack of cards that appear to be promos, however there is no mention of them anywhere and two of the cards display a card back that isn’t used in the game. The two cards are labeled “Equipment” and we thought that they were “pre-game” cards that each player received along with their Adventurer to be used during the game. Since we weren’t sure what they Tara Wolf comes in a box with a magnetic flap. were actually used for we will not be covering them in The box measures 7 1/8” x 7 1/8” x 2”, with the this review. flap covering half of the top of the box. When opened, the two flaps extend out to 21+ inches, The cardboard tokens are made of a standard with one side displaying an overview of the Tomb punchboard stock. cards and the other side giving an overview of a game turn. The box itself has a custom, black, To start the game each player receives an Adventurer plastic insert that has three wells, two for the decks card, as well as being dealt 5 cards from the main deck of cards and one for the tokens. The card well also and 3 cards from the Papyrus deck. Each player also has a shallow area on which the oversized cards are receives a pass token and the player that is going first stored. receives the Medallion, which is needed to activate the Adventurer’s special ability when in the Tomb, as well as acting as a tiebreaker.

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A turn is divided into equal Camps phases, one for After both players have taken their Camp phase, each player, and then the opening of a Tomb. a Tomb from the top of the Tomb deck is revealed and placed in the middle of the table. Each Tomb Each Camp phase resolves in turn order. On your has a unique effect that will affect the winning of turn you have the following options: Take 4 coins, the Tomb. Beginning with the player with the take 4 cards, take 3 coins and 1 card, 3 cards and Medallion, each player will send any number of 1 coin, or 2 cards and 2 coins. After choosing you Allies/Animals into the Tomb, as well as their can play Ally and Animal cards from your hand, Adventurer. Then the other player does the same. paying their cost with your coins. Some cards have Next is a Guardian phase, where players starting an immediate ability that is resolved as soon as it’s with the Medallion owner place any Traps, Undead played. Non-Ally cards such as Undead and Traps and/or Papyrus cards face down in front of the are not played during this phase, but saved for when Tomb. You can choose to bluff, but you can only the Tomb is opened. Once a player finishes this bluff with 1 card face down. Then the other player phase they can have no more than 5 cards in hand gets to respond in the same manner. Once both and 2 coins remaining, any extras are discarded players have completed their Guardian phase, all (The 3 special Papyrus cards don’t count towards of the cards are turned over and the player with your hand size). Then the other player gets to take the Medallion will resolve all of the Traps they had their Camp phase. played and then the other player does the same.

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Tara Wolf:

In Valley of the Kings

Then the Combat phase begins by totaling up the number of Power each side has remaining in the Tomb. The highest score wins, with a tie going to the player with the Medallion. The winning player receives the Tomb card (4 Tomb cards win). All of the cards played in the Tomb will be discarded at the end of the turn. The Medallion is then passed to the other player and play begins anew.

Tara Wolff makes for a fun, light filler game that has the potential to be developed into an even better game. This seems like a “base set” of a game that could be improved with expansions. There are only 7 Tomb cards, so the replayability of the game is a little stale from that perspective, and a wider variety of Tombs would keep players more interested. After a few plays of the game we all knew what to expect and there was no sense of excitement with exploring a Tomb. We used the optional rule of winning the game with 3 Tombs so that none of us could plan for Tombs that we knew were coming up, as only a maximum of 5 of the 7 Tombs were used in a game.

The Adventurers were another area that could be subject to expansion, as there are only four, and we all agreed that we’d love to see some more of them, especially with more interesting abilities.

We all enjoyed the card/coin mechanism each turn, as you had to balance what you had in hand versus what you hoped to achieve on this and the next turn. Oftentimes it was worth taking the extra coins to get more cards on the table, but eventually you will have to restock your hand, as the used cards are discarded.

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(Cont.)

Some players really enjoyed the bluffing aspect during the Guardian phase and it did cause me to tread carefully as I wasn’t always sure if the threat was real or not. Since I value cards highly, I very rarely bluffed, as the result was usually not worth the cost of the card being bluffed. This will all come down to personal playing styles.

This is a game that is worth trying, as it is a light filler that will have appeal to families looking for a game to play with their children, as well as couples who enjoy light card games. There is just enough gameplay to keep players engaged, but serious gamers will be looking for more. Perhaps a future expansion will satiate their desires. Until then, the game does a decent job of capturing the theme and provides for a fun one-on-one card game that isn’t a brain burner, yet provides for some engaging entertainment.

Designers: Pascal Bernard & P.O. Barome

Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:

River Horse 2

Hand Management

12+ 30 mins.

Worth Trying www.riverhorsegames.com

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Time Breaker

By Serge Pierro

Travel Through Time

T

ime travel is a fascinating subject that captures the imagination of many. The concept of traveling both back in time, as well as into the future, has spawned numerous works of fiction, in particular books and movies. For many game designers, it is a tantalizing subject to try and capture in a board or card game. With Time Breaker, Looney Labs presents an original card game that attempts to impart the feel of traveling through various periods in history, as well as those in the future.

The “board” that the game uses is made up of 25 cardboard tiles that are 1/16” thick and are double sided. One side features the main face of the game, while the other side denotes the name of the tile when it is removed from the game. The cardboard stock is average at best.

The components that really stand out are the player pieces and the Time Breaker. The player pieces are made of a translucent plastic and everyone commented on how great they looked. They each measure 3/4” and come in the following colors: orange, red, blue, green and purple. The Time Breaker comes in a small 3 3/4” x 5” x 1 1/2” Time Breaker is represented by a 1/2” clear cube. sturdy, cardboard box. Inside is a custom, cardboard To set up the game, you shuffle up the tiles and randomly insert that is divided into three areas. This well designed insert has separate storage areas for the cards, form a 5 x 5 grid with the “Time Repair Agency” (“TRA”) tiles and game pieces. placed in the center. Each player will place their token on the “TRA” tile and the Time Breaker is placed on the tile in In addition to a product catalog, the game’s rules are the upper left corner of the grid. Each player is then dealt printed on a double sided piece of paper that is 8 1/0” 3 cards. x 13 1/2” when unfolded. The rules are clearly laid out and are fairly easy to follow. As a bonus, there is The goal of the game is to “arrest” the Time Breaker and an FAQ section. bring them back to the “TRA”.

The cards measure 2 3/16” x 3 7/16” and are of a On a player’s turn they will draw a card and then take one decent, thin and snappy card stock. The cards shuffle of the three following actions: Play a Card, Follow an Arrow nicely and are only shuffled at the start of the game, so or Wormhole. sleeving can be considered optional.

Not surprisingly the “Play a Card” action allows you to play one of the card from your hand. These include cards that allow you to move in a specific direction, Jump to another

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when an opponent was about to arrest it. But, the most interesting cards were the ones devoted to removing Gates. The “Crash a Gate” card allows you to remove a Gate tile that the Time Breaker was not on, while the If you should choose to use your action to Follow an “Shut and Run” card allowed you to remove the Gate Arrow, you place your token on the tile that the green that the Time Breaker was on and move it to an adjacent arrow indicates. tile. Both of these cards really changed the dynamics of the game play.

The Wormhole action is a somewhat chaotic action Since arresting the Time Breaker and returning it to in which you don’t play any cards from your hand, instead you draw the top card of the deck and play it the “TRA” is the winning condition, it is important to immediately. You never know what is going to happen! understand how this is done. When a player lands on the same tile as the Time Breaker, they announce that it While that summarizes what card types and actions has been placed under arrest. Now when you move, the are available, there are a couple of other things to note. Time Breaker moves along with you. However, you are not granted sole access, because if another player moves The Time Breaker cards really make the game, as they onto the same tile as you and the Time Breaker, they allow for the manipulation of the Time Breaker. Their too can announce an arrest and the first player to move use allowed for some interesting tactical moments off of the tile will take the Time Breaker with them. It within the game, such as moving the Time Breaker should be noted that if a player forces you to move, the tile, play Special actions, Stop Time (cancel an action) and Breaker which allow you to control the Time Breaker.

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Time Breaker (Cont.)

Time Breaker does not move with you! Often times you will find that it is harder to return and win the game, than it is to make the initial arrest.

The only downside to the game was that graphic layout of the tiles were considered too “busy”. It took some players several turns to zero in on the black box Date as being the tile’s Date, as often times the player’s eye Time Breaker proved to be a fun and accessible game. would go to one of the other numbers. Of course the I brought it to a local gaming event and had players up more you play it the easier it is to put the other numbers and running in no time, which is no small feat when out of your mind, but for initial plays I can see how they you consider the “complexity” of current games for would have been a bit confused. non-gamers. Within a hand or two everyone was able to play fluidly, only stopping when there was an action It is also worth noting that in this day and age where card that needed to be clarified. Players who were the vast majority of games are being made in China, more accustomed to more advanced games were able to this game was produced in the United States by Delano manipulate the Time Breaker in expert fashion.

Services. American designers/publishers might want to take a look at it just to check the quality of their work.

And while the game play was smooth, there was an undercurrent of “screw your neighbor” by the Overall, this is an entertaining family game that has filler aforementioned manipulation of the Time Breaker appeal for more serious gamers. The use of the random and the Crashing of Gates. More advanced gamers tile setup provides for a good deal of replayability, as embraced these tactical elements and made the use of the starting board is always different. If the concept of Stop Time cards essential throughout the game. This traveling through time sounds appealing to you, then was one of the more positive elements of the game, it this is a game that you will want to take a look at. appeals to both gamers and non-gamers, each having their own style of play.

For me the most interesting aspect of play was Jumping to different era tiles trying to strategically align my Jumps with the movement cards in hand. At first everyone thought that the game was a bit too simple, that is until they ran out of ideas from their opening hand and had to start Jumping throughout time. Which brings up one of the main rules, you can’t skip your turn, so just when you thought you were going to arrest the Time Breaker, you wound up being sucked into a Wormhole and appearing somewhere else. Of course this was frustrating at times, but provided a good laugh for all involved!

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Andrew Looney Publisher: Looney Labs Players: 2-5 Mechanic: Hand Management, Pickup and Deliver Ages: 8+ Length: 10 - 40mins.

Designer:

Recommended www.looneylabs.com

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Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

By Serge Pierro

“Trajan” Meets “Hansa Teutonica”?

E

very once in a while a game captures my attention due to some interesting mechanisms, especially if they have a “Feld” feel to them. With Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, Seth Jaffee has designed a fascinating game that combines elements of Trajan and Hansa Teutonica, along with a theme that is seldom seen in non-war games. Let’s see if this can be considered amongst the “Holy Grail” of this year’s games.

The four panel game board is double sided, with one side dedicated for a two player game and the other side for three and four player games. It is constructed of a sturdy, thick, cardboard stock.

The four player boards are made of a decent punchboard stock, though not as thick as the other cardboard components, which are very thick and sturdy.

And speaking of the other cardboard components, Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done comes in a 8 they are all above average - the same thickness as 3/4” x 11 3/4” x 2 3/4” box that contains no the stock used for the game board. insert and is quite heavy, as it is packed with components.

The rest of the game’s components are custom wooden pieces. Each player receives a set of The 16 page rulebook is well designed and not custom pieces, which include buildings and only contains all of the pertinent information, knights. The player colors for the game are: but it also devotes 3 pages to the history of Orange, Lime Green, Purple and Cyan, with the each of the Knight Orders. action tokens being Yellow. The custom meeples are quite nice and it’s almost hard to believe that there is a deluxified version of the game, as the “basic” game is quite attractive in of itself.

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Overall, the quality of the components is Wheel, while others have you starting with less excellent and Tasty Minstrel Games deserves than normal (12) Action tokens, yet are given kudos for the high production values! a powerful ability to compensate. Another interesting aspect of the Action Wheel is that While not difficult, the game’s setup does take the distribution of the wedges is random, a few minutes as you have to place the buildings thus granting a high level of replayability to on the player boards and the various tokens on the game, as every game will offer a different the main board. strategy based on both the Knight Order and the wedge distribution.

The setup for the player boards is quite interesting. Each player will be randomly The object of the game is to play until all of the dealt 2 Knight Order tiles and they will choose Influence stored in the pool is depleted (140 in to keep one. The chosen Knight Order will a 2 player game, 200 in a 3 player game and 260 have specific setup instructions, as well as how in a 4 player game) and there has been an equal many Action tokens you place on your Action number of turns for each player and then the Wheel. Some of the Knight Orders allow you final scoring commences, and the highest score to start with upgraded wedges on the Action wins.

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Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

(Cont.)

For a game of this depth, the gameplay is Action Wheel or bonuses from buildings (see actually quite simple. On your turn you will below). Example: If you have 3 tokens on the either Resolve an Action or Upgrade a Wedge. Muster wedge you can then flip over the 1st Troop token on your player board. You then The Resolving of an Action entails taking a have +1 strength when using the Crusade action. group of action tokens from one of the Action You also receive Influence equal to the level of wedges, and in Mancala fashion, placing one of the Troop token flipped. them at a time in clockwise order around the other wedges. However, the most important Crusade: This is your main action to conquer aspect of this is the wedge that you pickup territories across the map. Like the other Actions, from, as this is the action that you will take on this one’s initial strength is determined by the your turn and the amount of tokens picked up number of tokens on the wedge with Crusade. from the wedge will indicate the strength of the Bonuses from Mustered troops are additionally action. Let’s take a look at the various actions. added when using this action. Your strength must equal or exceed that of your enemy. There Travel: Not surprisingly the Travel action are three types of enemies; Prussians, Slavs or allows you to move your Knight(s) around the Saracens. The Saracens have a fixed strength of main board. The amount of spaces that you 6 and you will want to Muster troops to aid in can move is indicated by the number of Action their conquest. The Slavs and Prussians start out tokens on the associated wedge. Example: If with a strength of 3, however, after each defeat there are 3 tokens on the wedge, you can move they increase in strength. When you defeat the 3 spaces.

Slavs or Prussians you receive Influence equal to their strength. When you defeat the Saracens Muster: At first Muster doesn’t appear to be you are able to place your associated building that important or strong, however, after the and place it in the hex, though it is possible to first couple of enemies are defeated and grow in also be rewarded with a free flip/Muster/troop strength, it will become important to have the action as well. You also collect Influence equal additional support of the Muster troops. This to the building/troop level. is accomplished by having the correct number of Action tokens on the Muster wedge of your

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Influence: Since the game’s winning condition is based on Influence, this can be a fairly important Action to keep an eye on. Quite simply the amount of Influence you gain is equal to the amount of Action tokens on the associated wedge.

Build: The Build action is probably second in strength to Crusade, as it allows you to build various structures on the board, while revealing bonuses on your player board. Each building type increase in cost as you build it. Example: your first Church costs 3, and the second costs

4, etc. Structures can only be built in hexes that don’t contain an enemy token. The cost of the building, as well as any bonuses, can be altered by the use of the tokens that are randomly placed during the setup of the main board. It should be noted that the first three levels of building reveal current bonuses, while level four is an end of game bonus. Example: each of the first three levels of the Church add +1 Influence (cumulative), while level four gives an endgame bonus of 6 VP. Finally, when you construct a building you receive Influence equal to the level of the building built.

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Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

(Cont.)

Crusaders: Thy Will be Done turned out to be a real pleasant surprise. This is perhaps the perfect bridge between a lighter game and a heavier Stefan Feld design. As stated in the opening paragraph, it reminds me of elements of Trajan and Hansa Teutonica, yet is able to stand on its own. The Mancala use here is a combination of Trajan and Five Tribes and is really well done, One of the more powerful options available kudos to Seth Jaffee on an interesting design. on your turn is that of Upgrading a Wedge.

This can be done throughout the game. Some Let’s talk about some of the things that makes this players felt it was best to do so early, while others game really enjoyable. Obviously the Mancala/ felt that waiting until later was more beneficial. Action Wheel is the standout mechanism and as Instead of taking one of the above actions you such it does a great job of allowing players to can remove the tokens on a wedge and turn it plan ahead and set themselves up for “explosive” over to reveal the more advanced wedge which plays. The simplicity of each turn enhances has an additional action available. And while it the gameplay experience, as it allows for quick does cost you a turn to do so, it can often yield rounds as each player is able to quickly resolve large advantages. For instance, in one game I their actions. I’m sure much will be made of the didn’t need to move and there were 6 tokens Action Wheel/Mancala mechanism, however, on a Travel wedge, I used a turn to flip it and the implementation of a random setup and now I had 6 tokens that could be used for either the ability to upgrade a wedge takes the game Travel or Crusade - very useful and powerful - it to another level, both in terms of depth and was well worth spending a turn to do so. One replayability. thing to note about the the basic wedge is has an icon for the upgraded Action available on the Another highlight of the game are the Knight other side, this way you don’t have to lift up Orders. Since there are 10 Knight Orders to the tile to see what is on the other side when choose from, there is a great deal of replayability, especially when you add this to what’s mentioned contemplating an upgrade.

Generally the structures add the following bonuses: Castles unlock more Knights, Churches give additional Influence, Farms increase Muster and Banks aid in Building.

The third level of each building type adds an additional bonus. Example: Level 3 Farms add +1 Influence in addition to the usual +1 Muster.

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Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

(Cont.)

This is clearly not a game that will grow stale anytime soon, though the simple game play may have some gamers craving for something a bit heavier. But the design itself has enough randomness in both the set up and the collection of Knight Orders to provide for many The Hansa Teutonica influence on the player entertaining games without a clear, emerging, boards is a joy. I love having the option to pursue winning strategy. a specific strategy on my own without having it “scripted” for me. I’ve enjoyed a few different Tasty Minstrel Games has always had a good strategies thus far and they were all interesting line of games and this one jumps into the top and unique. What building you build and in 3 of their games for me, with the others being, what order only adds to diversity of strategies. Orleans and Gold West. It hits a sweet spot on While there are “only” four different building the light/medium/heavy scale of games, being types, each of them provide a substantial boost accessible to gamers who have played “gateway” to a related strategy and each of them are able games, as well as being an enjoyable game for to stand on their own. I’m a huge fan of these more experienced gamers. Before you know it, types of player boards and the decisions/rewards you’ll be leading a crusade to get this game to the table more often… and you’ll be blessed with it’s that are presented to the player. excellent euro-styled game play!

As far as the gameplay on the board goes, there is also various strategies to employ. At Designer: Seth Jaffee first it was worth building in the areas that Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games were surrounding your starting hex. Yet, there Players: 2-4 were some players who immediately decided to engage with enemies and start accumulating Mechanic: Mancala, Engine Building 14+ those tokens and rewards. And once again the Ages: 45-60 Mins. replayability of the game is enhanced by the Length: random placement of both the enemy tokens Highly Recommended and the building bonus tiles. above about the Action Wheel setup. The asymmetrical nature of the Knight Orders is really interesting and I could see playing this quite often,due in large part to each game having the potential of being fresh and unique.

www.playtmg.com

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Interview

By Serge Pierro

• Raiders of the North Sea • Architects of the West Kindom • Bethel Woods Shem Phillips - Game Designer/Publisher Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with our readers, can you tell us a little something about yourself?

I am a designer and publisher from Waikanae, New Zealand. I am married and have two daughters (they’re just starting to show an interest in board games). My town is part of a small coastal region called Kapiti, just north of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington. Aside from games, I also enjoy writing and playing music.

Did you start designing games at an early age? If so, do you remember what your first game design was like?

I only started designing in my early twenties.

Back then I knew nothing about modern board gaming. So all my inspiration for design was drawn from the simple family games that I

grew up playing. Soon after designing my first roll-and-move game, I discovered games such as Catan and Carcassonne. I also found a local gaming convention and met a lot of people in the hobby. Since then, I have played hundreds of games, which have helped shape who I am as a designer.

What games over the years have you enjoyed most, from both the point of personal enjoyment, as well as those that influenced your growth as a designer?

Carcassonne, Citadels and Ticket to Ride were some of the earliest games that I loved to play.

I still really admire those games as well. More recently I’ve enjoyed Asara, Coimbra, Azul, Concordia, and many more. What I love to see in games is simplicity of rules, with a lot of depth within the gameplay.

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Interview

(Cont.)

When the opportunity presents itself, what games have you currently been playing?

Downforce, Scythe, Pandemic, Endeavor, all those mentioned above, and pretty much any other game I get the chance to play. This year I’ve also been trying to play more games from the top 100 on BGG. This includes games like Brass, Through the Ages, Troyes, Race of the Galaxy, etc.

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Who are your favorite game designers?

Which one of your games do you consider your best design, and why?

Some of the standouts for me are Bruno Cathala, Stefan Feld and Alexander Pfister. But there are Right now, I think Paladins of the West Kingdom, so many great designers making fantastic games which will be releasing this year. It was the now. first game that Sam and myself collaborated on from the very beginning. We spent a lot of Is there a particular designer that you would time getting everything to work well and flow be interested in collaborating with? If so, together. I am really happy with the final result.

what type of game would you be interested in making?

As the owner of Garphill Games, what made you want to become a publisher?

I believe collaboration works best when born out of a good friendship. Right now I am just really enjoying working with Sam Macdonald, I only started self-publishing because there were another local New Zealand designer and close no publishers in New Zealand. If I wanted to put my games in front of international publishers, friend. that would have meant spending a lot of time and money traveling to overseas conventions.

What do you think defines your “styleâ€? as a However, over time, I have discovered that I game designer, is there a specific mechanic or really enjoy development, product design and publishing - even more than designing. rule set or‌ ?

I am more known for my twists on workerplacement, but I never set out to do that. I tend to lean towards streamline games and removing unnecessary rules. So hopefully people recognize my games for simplicity with depth.

Seeing as how you are both a publisher and designer, how does the business side influence your game designs and how does your game design influence your business decisions?

Quite a bit! When designing a game, I will often be consciously be thinking about production costs, component restrictions and table presence.

While it can slow down the design process at times, I feel it helps me as a publisher in the long run.

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Interview

(Cont.)

While the “North Sea Trilogy” firmly established you as a designer and a company, what can you tell us about your earlier designs, such as “Linwood”?

Before the North Sea Trilogy, and before Kickstarter was available in New Zealand, I mainly designed games to sell locally. I would print a lot of the components at separate manufacturers and assemble them myself. I even hand-cut a lot of the cards in my early games. It would often take me around 20 minutes just to assemble one game. It was a labour of love though.

I learned a lot about design. What works and what does. What sort of games I enjoy playing and what annoys me in other games.

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Bethel Woods was quite a departure from your previous titles, both in artistic vision and game design. What prompted you to design and publish this game?

I was a big fan of Jessy Ribordy’s audio book Hours. It was released in conjunction with his band’s concept album under the same name. It was a fascinating story, which lead me to think about designing a game in the universe. I reached out to Jessy, and he was open to the idea of a game.

I wanted to do something very different. So I worked towards making it a cooperative game and used a local Kiwi artist to help build the world. The game wasn’t a huge success, but I had a lot of fun working on it.

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Interview

(Cont.)

“Shipwrights of the North Sea” was the first game in the “North Sea Trilogy”. Were the other games in the series already designed, or were they designed after the initial success of “Shipwrights”?

Shipwrights was actually designed years before it came to Kickstarter. I shelved the game for a long time, as I knew I couldn’t publish it using the current “local” production style I was using. Once Kickstarter became available in New Zealand, I saw a chance to finally publish it. I was blown away by the success of the Kickstarter. It was the enthusiasm and support of my Kickstarter backers that lead me to start working on Raiders of the North Sea. Once that came together, I figured it would be fun to turn it into a trilogy.

concepts for Shipwrights, I knew I’d found the perfect artist for the job. Now he is one of the most recognizable artists in the hobby game industry.

“Architects of the West Kingdom” is the first game in your next trilogy, with “Paladins of the West Kingdom” appearing next. The concept of releasing trilogies of game titles is fascinating. What made you want to design games in this manner?

As I mentioned earlier, I sort of stumbled into it. I wanted to do a sequel to Shipwrights, but making a trilogy just seemed to make more sense. I definitely feel the pressure to keep creating really great games for each series, but it also takes some of the pressure off in other areas - finding artists, developing a graphic design style and building a fan base, for example.

We mentioned in our review of “Architects of the West Kingdom” that you and The Mico have established yourselves as a “dynamic What effect has being a New Zealander had duo”. He has clearly established a “look” for on your game design and company? your games. What do you feel he brings to on I felt like it was quite restricting. the table with his artistic style and how did Early But thanks to the exposure that comes from this partnership come about?

Kickstarter, I am now able to reach thousands He is a great guy and I love working with him.

What I feel he brings is a rich, comical, yet gritty world. I love all the characters he dreams up. I discovered The Mico while browsing artists on Deviant art. He had never worked on a board game before, but after seeing some of his first

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of people around the world. I’ve even had the chance to travel to Essen and GenCon recently, which was an amazing experience. Now they I have established a fan base, I don’t feel like my location is a hindrance anymore. It is expensive to travel anywhere from New Zealand, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Do you have any plans to release any of your games as apps for the mobile platforms?

Raiders of the North Sea will be available on iOS, Android and Steam in a few months. I have been testing the beta app a fair bit and it’s amazing. This has been produced by Dire Wolf Digital, working closely with Renegade Game Studios. I think it’s safe to say we will see more of my games released by them in the future too.

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Interview

(Cont.)

Are there any other upcoming projects that What advice would you have for would be you are at liberty to discuss or announce? game publishers?

Z-Man recently announced an abstract dice game I designed called Noctiluca. That should be released in a couple of months. I have a new IP that I am working on with an artist from Weta Workshop. The first game in this world is 90% done, but we are not sure on when this will be released yet. Other than that, I am already starting to work on the third game in the West Kingdom series and thinking about potential expansions for some older games.

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Only get into publishing if you have a passion for it and if you see room in the market for another publisher. There are already a lot of amazing publishers out there, looking for designers to work with.

What advice would you have for aspiring game designers?

Don’t sit on one game for too long. Try to design a lot of games early on. Figure out what sort of games you like to play and design. It’s very rare that your first game will be a breakout hit.

Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard

By Serge Pierro

Perdition’s Mouth Expansion

L

ast issue we reviewed a game that I called “the thinking man’s” dungeon crawler, Perdition’s Mouth: Revised Edition, and this issue we have been fortunate to have been sent the expansion, Traitor Guard.

Let’s take a look at what this expansion adds to an already excellent/challenging game.

miniature. Unlike the miniatures of the base game which are grey plastic, this 1 1/2” tall miniature is composed of a green resin and is also nicely detailed.

The shrink-wrapped package contains an interesting variety of items to add to the game. One thing to note in particular is the small sticker sheet that is used for Brother Orn’s player token on the rondel, this is not mentioned on the “contents” listing and had fallen to the floor when the package was opened, it would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it or noticed that it fell.

Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard does not ship with a box. Instead the components come as two separate packages. The first is a shrink-wrapped package that contains two sealed decks of cards, Scenario/Hero sheets and a punchboard, while the other one is a two piece, plastic container that contains the resin miniature and shield tokens. All The other items include: the Brother Orn of which can be stored in the box of the player sheet, 7 new Scenarios (ranging from base game. “easier” to “very hard”) and a punchboard sheet containing several new tokens for placement Clearly the highlight of the expansion on the main board. The player sheet and is the inclusion of the Brother Orn resin Scenario sheets are all of the same linen finish

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as the base set. The punchboard tokens add a couple of new elements to the game and are made of a decent cardboard stock.

There are now “flammable” and “burning” tokens which are tokens that can be attacked and triggered to produce a Fireball effect, which proved to be useful when luring enemies into their vicinity. There were also several other “detritus” that could be placed during the setup of the game to provide for obstructions and such. Another addition is the use of an “empty barrel” token/card, which allowed Heroes to lug it around and use it for concealment.

As far as the cards go, there are a lot of new things to add to the various decks. Needless to say, there is a deck of cards for Brother Ohn, as well as one new card for each of the previous Heroes (and future Heroes?).

One Hero card that really stood out was the “Teleport Trick” for Elisa, as this allows her to teleport an ally in her line of sight to another square in her line of sight, this proved to be a very powerful ability during the course of the games that we played. There are also some interesting new Treasure cards. The one that really caught my attention was the “Bedroll”, as this allows the healing aspects associated with a “Flea Mattress”, thus making it a little Continued on next page>

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Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard (Cont.) easier to heal and not being tied down to the location of a “Flea Mattress”. There are also 4 new Wound cards that are pretty nasty. A new card type “Booster Treasures” have a red back and are given to Heroes at the start of a campaign. They provide a small boost during the game, example: “Elven Candy” allows you to spend one Action to remove one Fatigue token. These are meant to aid those who feel that the standard game is too difficult. They can also be shuffled into the Treasure deck and used as normally, though it is suggested that you draw from the bottom of the deck so that you can’t see the card backs.

Overall I was quite impressed with the design and scope of the expansion. Of course the inclusion of a new Hero(?) is perhaps the main focus, but the other items are equally impressive. I found Brother Orn to be an interesting character to play. He has some very interesting cards, including one that allows him and one other Hero escape the current scenario through a trap door, which proved useful for times where the objective was reached and players were trying to leave the map as soon as possible.

And speaking of scenarios, I found the first one of the expansion to be quite fascinating.

Without giving too much away you play the scenario and there are a couple of outcomes that are possible. However, what makes this really interesting is that the result of the scenario will indicate how Brother Orn is used for the rest of the campaign.

Once again the introductory stories of each scenario really set the tone for the adventure, as well as fleshing out the characters and how they react with each other and their circumstances. And like the base game, the scenarios are brutal!

If you already own Perdition’s Mouth: Revised Edition, then picking up the expansion is a no-brainer. However, if you don’t own this game yet, it is certainly something that you will want to look at further, especially if the concept of a “thinking man’s dungeon crawler” appeals to you. If any of the future expansion equal or exceed the substantial additions that this one brought to the game, then the future of this game looks quite bright.

Designers: Timo Multamaki & David Hladky

Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:

Dragon Dawn Productions 1-6

Dungeon Crawler, Rondel

12+ 60-120 mins.

Recommended www.perditionsmouth.com

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Frazetta:

Card & Dice Battle Game

By Serge Pierro

The Legendary Frank Frazetta

W

hen the word “legend” is mentioned, it’s hard not to think of Frank Frazetta. He took fantasy based artwork to the level of fine art. And while the fine art world chose to ignore him, his amazing paintings continued to rise in value and become entrenched in our culture. Whether it was a Conan paperback or a Molly Hatchet album cover, there was no avoiding his genius.

I’ve been a Frazetta fan for many years (we even shared the same birthday, February 9th) and when the opportunity arose to review a Frazetta game, I was excited to see what the game had to offer. It’s a given that we can count on excellent artwork!

The game doesn’t come with a rulebook, instead there is a double sided card that contains the instructions on how to play. One side is the standard game and the other side contains the advanced variant.

And speaking of the cards… each of the 36 cards measure 2 3/4” x 4 3/4”. The tarot sized card provides plenty of room for the fantastic Frazetta artwork. The card stock is decent and although sleeving can be considered optional, many fans will want to preserve the condition of the cards by protecting them with sleeves. I would not be surprised to see Frazetta fans purchase the game just to have the artwork available on a tarot sized cards, though the icons/symbology could prove to be distracting for the art connoisseur.

The game’s box measures 7 3/4” x 5 3/4” x 1 1/2”. Inside the box is a custom insert that The set of dice are finished in a pearlescent finish is made of black plastic and has a black velvet and contain: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20. The finish - very classy. There are two custom colors of the dies are: red, gold, green, blue, purple molded wells, one for the deck of cards and and black. the other to store the dice.

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The setup is simple, you shuffle and deal the decide on which of the Categories to battle in. deck, dividing it evenly amongst the players and Play continues until only one player is left with returning any extra cards to the box. any cards.

For the basic game, each player’s turn will consist of drawing the top card of their deck.

The first player will select one of other four Categories (Strength, Defence, Cunning and Infamy ) and then roll the relevant die, play will proceed around the table in a clockwise fashion with each player rolling the die that matches the declared Category on their card. The player(s) with the highest result place their cards on the bottom of their deck, while the other cards are removed from play. The player who won the previous round will become the first player and

The advanced variant adds the special ability icons to the game play. These include: Reroll, Gang-Up, Swap, Critical Hit and Bodyguard.

Not surprisingly, Reroll allows you to roll your die again, with the resulting number being the one that is used.

Gang-Up allows you to draw your next card and add the die roll in the relevant Category to your previous roll. However, should you lose, you lose both cards.

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Frazetta: Card & Dice Battle Game (Cont.)

Swap is used before the dice are rolled and extremely disappointed with this game. As a it allows you to swap your die for the die of game designer myself, I would have loved to have another player. had the opportunity to work on an Intellectual Property such as this, and I’m sure that others Critical Hit allows you to roll an additional die would have too, but this design probably should (the next highest die in the series: example, roll not have never seen the light of day. a “6” on a d6 and you can then roll a d8 and add the results) if you roll the maximum number on I hate writing negative reviews, as I’m well aware your die. This effect “chains” for as long as you of the work/effort that goes into a game design, continuously roll the highest number on a die. and it seems harsh to “belittle” the designer for their efforts, but it is hard to even call this a The Bodyguard ability allows you to set the game, as the only decision you make is what card aside after winning with the ability and category/die to roll, and even then it is already makes it available for a future contest, with you somewhat predetermined by always choosing using the set aside Bodyguard card in place of the higher number die. The advanced effects the card drawn from the deck. However, if you don’t add enough to elevate the game play. lose, both cards are discarded.

The ironic thing is that the game might That’s the game. be entertaining for a young child, yet the mature nature of Frazetta’s work would not be Hmm… I’m not sure what to make of this. In appropriate for that age group. the basic game the cards are essentially useless.

You just pick a category and use that die and Having said that, this game will appeal to roll the results. The other players do the same. Frazetta collectors as something to add to their The highest roll wins. It’s mindless. We just collection, but as far as gamers go, we will have looked at each other and questioned what we to continue to wait for a game that is worthy of were doing. So, we tried the advanced game, the Frazetta name. and it was more of the same, with the exception being that we could use one of the effects. But Designer: River Horse again, why would we ever pick a low ability/ Publisher: River Horse die? In almost every game that I’ve ever played, 2-6 the weaker die would have some great ability to Players: compensate for the fact that you were initially at Mechanic: Dice Rolling 14+ a disadvantage. That’s not always the case here, Ages: this is really nothing more than just rolling dice Length: 15+ mins. and comparing the results. Needless to say I’m Pass www.riverhorse.eu

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RevoltaaA

By Tom M Franklin

Knizia, Robots and Ducks

R

evoltaaA is a quick trick-taking card game featuring numbered cards: blue with robots and red with ducks. Why a robot? Why a duck?

Why not a chicken? You’ll have to ask Dr. Reiner Knizia, the game’s designer.

All of the cards in play are examined. The numerical value of the blue cards is totalled, then the red cards are added together. The color with the highest total value of cards is the winning color. In case of a tie, the color played by the House is the winning color.

The game starts by shuffling the deck of 66 cards.

Eleven cards are dealt facedown to each of up to four players, with an additional eleven cards being dealt face down to the House. Any leftover cards are placed in the box and are not used in this round.

The cards of the winning color are examined further, because the the trick is won by the person who played the card with the lowest value, with the following caveats:

Cards are each numbered 0 - 5, and arranging them in your hand according to color and value is a good starting point.

Rounds begin with the top card of the House’s hand being revealed on the table in clear sight of all players.

Players then examine their hands and choose a card to play. They then take their chosen card and hold it out facedown. On a count of three, all player reveal their cards at the same time and the trick is decided.

Being a Knizia game, the rules start off simple but there’s an interesting twist to the scoring.

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* If two people have played the lowest card in the winning color, the player who played the next lowest card wins the trick. * If all of the winning color cards played that round are the same low number, the House wins the tie.

Tricks are stacked in front of the winning player with the winning color face up.

The game ends after four tricks of either color have been taken. The color of that final trick is the winning color for the point tally in the game.

To determine the winner, tricks of the winning color count as one point -- as do each card of that winning

Photo: Tom M Franklin

color left in a player’s hand. The player with the most This is a true filler game, one that you can pull out after points wins that round. a long gaming session has ended but you still have a few minutes before calling it a night. Individual games go RevoltaaA is best played over a number of games. We by very quickly -- in fact, due to the scoring twist, it can found that a total of two games per player worked well. take longer to explain how to play RevoltaaA than it can That way points are added up over a series of games, to actually play a game. making it more competitive.

The scoring twist in RevoltaaA means the player needs to take into account what colors and numbers they think they can play the best. With the remaining cards of the winning color in your hand counting towards your final score, it’s more important to try and push that color to become the winning color rather than focusing on capturing individual tricks.

Reiner Knizia Publisher: Pumpkin Games Players: 3-5 Mechanic: Trick Taking, Hand Management Ages: 10+ Length: 10-20 mins.

Designer:

Recommended www.pumpkin-games.com

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Abstract Games

By Tom M Franklin

Pentago

P

entago is a two-player abstract invented by Tomas Floden and was released in 2005.

That year it won the Game of the Year in Sweden. The following year it was named Game of the Year in both France and Finland and was a winner in the Mensa Mind Games.

Players take all the marbles of one of two colors, typically white and black. On each turn a player must (a) place a marble of their color onto an unoccupied spot on the board and then (b) turn any one of the four sections of the board 90º in either direction. (180º turns in a single move are not allowed)

This is a tic-tac-toe variant, where players are trying to make a consecutive row of five marbles On the first series of moves the turning of one of your color before their opponent. The five can of the four sections is optional, as it won’t make be made vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. much of a difference which section is turned in what direction. As the game progresses, this The board is a six-by-six series of curved twisting of one of the four sections of the board indentations that hold marbles which are placed becomes the most important part of the game. by either player on their turn. As well, the board is divided into four equal squares, each with a This twisting not only changes the section of set of three-by-three spots. Each of these four the board that has been turned, but the other sections can be pulled diagonally away from three sections in their relationship to that the board and then twisted either clockwise or turned section. This means on each turn you counter-clockwise, and fitted back in place. must reassess all of the pieces on the board, both in their current positions and their future positions relative to the piece you’re going to play and the section you’re going to twist – all before making your next move.

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Photo: Tom M Franklin

The trick to playing Pentago well is to learn how to set up each of these winning combinations during the game before your opponent can either do the same or spot your plans. The rulebook that came with my edition of the game (put out

by Mindtwister USA) has examples of how to build towards each of the types of five-in-a-rows that can be made on the board. It’s an essential strategy reference guide for the game.

Pentago also makes for an excellent gateway game. The concept and rules are simple and the board-moving aspect is both unexpected and unique. Given that games only take a few minutes to play, it’s easy to play many games in a row while a new player gets used to the movements of the board and the strategies needed to win. It’s yet another game that, when I’ve introduced it to new players, the first game has always been followed by a, “Let’s play again!”

This is a very easy game to recommend.

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Interview Gallery

Steve Jackson #1

Dan Verssen #1

Paul Herbert #1

Reiner Knizia #2

Franz Vohwinkel #2

James Ernest #2

Mark Copplestone #2

Reiner Knizia #3

Peter Adkison #3

Brom #3

Chenier La Salle #4

Ryan Dancey #4

Brian Snoddy #4

Beth Sobel #5

Bruno Faidutti #5

Tom Jolly #6

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Antoine Bauza #7

Dennis Lohausen #7

Ryan Laukat #8

Chad Hoverter #9

Matt Leacock #9

Greg Isabelli #9

Ignacy Trzewiczek #10

Jacqui Davis #10

Johan Koitka #10

Jamey Stegmaier #11

Michael Menzel #11

Kay Wilke #11

Vincent Dutrait #12

Mike Fitzgerald #12

Sandy Petersen #13

Mihajlo Dimitrievski #13

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Interview Gallery (Cont.)

Bruno Cathala #14

John Ariosa #14

Friedemann Friese #15

Joshua Cappel #15

Eric Vogel #15

Mac Gerdts #16

Keldon Jones #16

Steve Finn #17

J. Alex Kevern #18

Richard Ham #18

Ludovic Roudy #19

Bruno Sautter #19

Phil Walker-Harding #20

Luke Peterschmidt #21

Mike Richie #22

Grant Wilson #22

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Curt Covert #23

Daryl Andrews #24

Rob Dougherty #25

Nestor Romeral Andres #26

Leonard Koh #27

Rui Alipio Monteiro #28

Luke Laurie #29

Darwin Kastle #30

Serge Pierro #31

Justin Gary #32

Tom Lehmann #33

Shem Phillips #34

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Book Review Index

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Mobile Review Index

Issue #12

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Issue #20

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Mobile Review Index (Cont.)

Issue #27

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Issue #28

Issue #31

Issue #29

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Issue #33

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Contributors Serge Pierro Serge has playtested numerous games for several companies, including

Wizards of the Coast and AEG. He has also written for Duelist, Inquest and Gamer print magazines. His award winning photography has appeared in both newspapers and magazines. He has self published a game, and has several other designs ready... but, currently finds his free time devoted to doing Game Nite.

Eric Devlin Eric has been the North East Regional Representative for Wizards

of the Coast, the brand manager of Legends of the Five Rings, as well as working with Sabretooth and Third World Games. He has an extensive background in playtesting for top companies. He has also written for Games Quarterly, Duelist, Inquest and others.

Tom M Franklin Tom lives in North Carolina where he and his wife are staff to their five cats.

His writing has appeared in his agent’s Inbox and the occasional hand-written letter to friends. He grew up playing Abstract Strategy Games (back when they were simply called games) and still regards dice of all kinds with suspicion. His Board Gaming Claim to Fame is having taught over 300 kids how to play Chess. Considering he’s been playing board games for over 50 years he really should be much better at them than he is.

Contributors Game Nite is always interested in hearing from would be contributors! If you are a writer, reviewer, photographer, etc. and would like to contribute to the magazine - we would love to hear from you! Feel free to contact us: editor@gamenitemagazine.com and let us know what you have in mind.

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Game Review Index (Isuues 1-6)

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Game Nite Issue #34

• • • • • •

This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us Small World Stella Nova Shoot-Out Postcard Cthulhu Postcard Empire

• • • • • • •

Tile Chess Cards of Cthulhu Samurai Spirit Golem Arcana Pairs Sutakku Timeline

• • • • • • • • •

Baseball Highlights 2045 Samurai Sword Paperback For the Crown Trench Firefly Cutthroat Caverns Rise of the Zombies Shadow Throne

• • • • • • • • •

Rhino Hero Attila Spurs and Sprockets Chaosmos March of the Ants AquaSphere Fidelitas Rise of Cthulhu Maha Yodah

• • • • • • • • • •

Animal Upon Animal Sushi Draft Stones of Fate WWII: Stalingrad Stockpile The Magnates Sentinel Tactics Flip City Space Movers 2201 Dark Tales

• • • • • • • • •

Nevermore Gold West Arcadia Quest

Dragon Flame

New York 1901

Lift Off! Tesla vs. Edison

Yashima Targi

• • • • • • • •

Outer Earth 1944: Race to the Rhine Runecast Cycling Tour Witkacy Firefly: Fistful of Credits Dozen Doubloons King Down

Game Nite Issue #34

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Game Review Index (Issues 7-12)

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Game Nite Issue #34

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Steam Works Web of Spies Cartography Xia: Legends of a Drift System Orleans Raiders of the North Sea Hoyuk Wizards of the Wild Myths at War Ring It! Hogg Wild for Wealth The Martian Investigations

• • • • • • • • • • •

Cosmic Run Imperial Harvest Under the Pyramids (Eldritch Horror Expansion) Bomb Squad Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization Luna Biblios Dice Trekking the National Parks Fuse Skulldug!

Horrible Hex

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Cuisine a la Cart Foragers The Shadow Over Westminster Scoville Valeria: Card Kingdom Onitama Knit Wit Worlds Fair: 1893 Flip City: Reuse Gruff The Walled City Empires at Sea

• • • • • • • • • • • •

JurassAttack!

Oh My Gods!

Looting Atlantis 13 Days Apotheca Tiny Epic Galaxies Automobiles Daxu Slaughterville Kheops Scoville: Labs Ancient Conflict Treasure Chest

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Dr. Eureka Stockpile: Continuing Corruption Sugar Gliders Dawn of the Zeds: Third Edition Vast: The Crystal Caverns The Networks Grifters Trajan Conspiracy!

Secrets of the Last Tomb Best Treehouse Ever Matryoshka

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Imhotep In the Name of Odin Centauri Saga Draconis Invasion Dastardly Dirigibles Flamme Rouge Haspelknecht Hansa Teutonica Star Trek Panic Theomachy Commissioned San Ni Ichi Small City Game Nite Issue #34

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Game Review Index (Issues 13-18)

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Game Nite Issue #34

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Kanagawa Lunarchitects Hero Realms Santorini Vinhos: Deluxe Colony Sun Tzu Bermuda Crisis Tavarua Explorers of the North Sea America San Allies Crisis

• • • • • • • • • •

Hanamikoji Element Villages of Valeria Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition 7 Wonders Duel Oceanos Herbaceous A Feast For Odin Schotten Totten This Belongs in a Museum

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Ninja Taisen Space Invaders Dice!

The Dresden Files Card Game Pyramids Quests of Valeria Amun-Re Cultists of Cthulhu Magic Maze Knot Dice The Cohort Crazier Eights Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

• • • • • • • • • • • •

7&7 March of the Ants: Minions of the Meadow Honshu Web of Spies Saga of the Northmen Tournament at Camelot Haspelknecht: The Ruhr Valley Plague Inc. Zephyr Terrible Monster 5ive Duress

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Fantasy Realms Space Race Isle of Skye Unearth ION Escape from 100 Million BC Battle for Souls COG Near and Far Terraforming Mars Caverna: Cave vs. Cave Pocket Mars Terra Mystica Hafid’s Grand Bazaar

• • • • • • • •

The Climbers Whistle Stop The 7th Continent Witches of the Revolution Viral Sentient Road Hog PeltaPeeps

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Game Review Index (Issues 19-24)

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Game Nite Issue #34

• • • • • • •

Mini Rails Nightmare Forest: Alien Invasion The Ruhr Summit Seikatsu Tulip Bubble Covalence

• • • • • •

Joraku Michael Strogoff Minute Realms Castle Dukes Rajas of the Ganges Cytosis

• • • • •

Ancestree Exodus Fleet Tak Mistborn: House War Expedition: RPG Card Game

• • • •

ShutterBug Divinity Derby Wakening Lair Planet of the Apes

• • • • • •

Vast: The Fearsome Foes Vast Miniatures Expansion Vast Bonus Cards Wildcatters Alexandria Tzolk’in

• • • •

Gretchinz!

Button Men The Flow of History The Game of Nines

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Game Review Index (Issues 25-30)

•

•

•

• •

66

Game Nite Issue #34

Dicey Peaks Coldwater Crown Thanos Rising Peak Oil Wordoku

• • • •

Zombie Dice: Horde Edition Codenames: Marvel Fog of Love Cthulhu Dice

• • • •

Gearworks Grackles Maiden’s Quest The Veil

• • • •

Outpost: Siberia Outpost: Amazon Root Planetarium

• • • • •

Shards of Infinity Blood Rage Mistfall: Chronicles of Frost

•

•

•

•

• •

Wish You Were Here Onitama: Way of the Wind Master of the Galaxy

The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire

Barker’s Row

Hero Realms: The Ruin of Thandar

Shifting Realms Hero’s Crossing

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Game Review Index (Issues 31+)

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• •

• •

• • •

• • • •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

68

Game Nite Issue #34

Dicey Peaks Command Decks Star Realms: Coldwater Your Town Crown Thanos Wu WeiRising Peak Oil Star Realms: Frontiers Wordoku

Darwinning!

Zombie Dice: Horde Edition Codenames:Card GoVenture Marvel Game Fog of Love the Board Game Highlander Cthulhu The Forbidden Dice Sanctuary

Highlander: Princes of the Universe Gearworks Architects of the West Kingdom Grackles Tricky Dungeon Maiden’s Quest Perdition’s Mouth: Revised Edition The Veil Warigin

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