Game Nite
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the magazine of tabletop gaming
june 2019
Luke Laurie guest column
v
Issue # 37
“Dwellings of eldervale� diary
game reviews
In this issue: Guest Column 20
Luke Laurie Designer Diary: Dwellings of Eldervale
mobile Review 06
Shards of Infinity For Android and iOS
Abstract games 44
game Reviews
Quarto by Tom M Franklin
10
Campaign Trail
30
Gentes
38
Vivaldi
36
Wizard’s Garden
Campaign for the White House.
Civilization Builder.
Five Player Card Game. Portable Abstract.
Interview Gallery 46
Past Interviews Index
Top 10
book Review index 50
Reviewed Books Index
04 Top 10 My Current Online Games
Calendar
Mobile Review index 52
Reviewed Apps Index
Game Review index 56
Game Review Index
69
July 2019
Contributors 68
Game Nite Contributors
Š 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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Game Nite Issue #37
From across the table
Game Nite ISSUE # 37
O
ften times we rip open the shrink-wrap of a game and dive into its contents, set it up and enjoy it with a group of friends. However, how many times do you stop and think about how the game came to be? In this issue we are happy to have a Guest Column by game designer, Luke Laurie, about his highly anticipated game, Dwellings of Eldervale. This designer diary provides insight into how the game came into being and the changes made along the way. We are able to see some early prototype designs, as well as some of the art for the upcoming project. Hopefully you will have a greater appreciation for the time and effort that goes into designing a game, and in this case, following it along its way towards release. Perhaps if we are lucky, Luke might provide a future Guest Column on the production process, thus providing further insight into how a game is made.
Cover Photograph by Serge Pierro. Campaign Trail © Cosmic Wombat Games
Editor in Chief/Publisher: Serge Pierro
In this issue:
Editor:
Tom M Franklin reviews “Vivaldi” and “Wizard’s Garden”, while also taking a look at “Quarto” in the Abstract Game feature. I would like to thank Luke Laurie and Peter Vaughn for taking time from their busy schedules to share their thoughts and photos with our readers. Congratulations to the Cornelius family and Cosmic Wombat Games for winning an Editor’s Choice Award for their excellent game, “Campaign Trail”.
Eric Devlin Writers:
Photographers:
Serge Pierro Serge Pierro Tom Franklin Tom Franklin Jeff Rhind Jeff Rhind
The July calendar features “Gentes” and provides the release date for issue #38. If you are interested in contributing to Game Nite, feel free to contact us, as we’d love to hear from you!
Follow us on Facebook:
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Serge Pierro
Editor in Chief/Publisher editor@gamenitemagazine.com
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@GameNiteMag
Game Nite Issue #37
03
Top 10 -
My Current Online Games
1
Chess Browser
2
Star Realms Android
3
Eternal Card Game Android
4
Shards of Infinity Android
5
Lexulous Browser
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Game Nite Issue #37
By Serge Pierro
6
Go Browser
7
Lost Cities Browser
8
The Builders: Middle Ages Browser
9 The Builders: Antiquities Browser
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Eminent Domain Browser Game Nite Issue #37
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Mobile Review
By Serge Pierro
Shards of Infinity
A
s a fan of card games, especially of the competitive variety, Deck Builders have always interested me and I’m always interested in seeing what “twist” a new one has to offer. In issue # 29 of Game Nite we gave Shards of Infinity a “Highly Recommended” rating, so it was of great interest to see what Temple Gate Games did with the game, especially since their Race for the Galaxy app is one of the best ones available.
The main page of the app is rendered in beautiful shades of blue, with golden highlights. The middle of the screen offers you the option to either play offline or online. Along the bottom of the screen are buttons for: Options, Store, Rules and Credits. The upper right corner has a Quit button and the upper left has your user profile.
For those who are unfamiliar with Shards of Infinity, it is a Star Realms influenced Deck Builder that offers some interesting features that allow it to stand out on its own. These include cards that have Shields, which absorb damage when displayed from your hand (they are not discarded when used), Mercenaries that give you the option of using the card’s effect immediately when purchasing it, or instead placing it in your discard pile as normal, and the most innovative one, Mastery, an interesting “resource” that allows certain cards to become more powerful throughout the game, as well as facilitating an Infinite damage combo - if you are able to reach 30 Mastery and play the Infinity Shard card.
The Settings button reveals several options including: Graphics level, Animation level, Controls, Music, Sound and an innovative Text option that toggles between a standard size font and a larger one which makes it easier to read the text. Although I use a tablet for my apps, I could see using the large text option as a boon for those who play on a phone.
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Between the rules section and the tutorial, new players will be up and running in no time. Whether you are playing against the AI, a pass and play friend, or online, the main screen is essentially the same and this is where you will
be spending most of your time. As mentioned above there is support for various means of controlling the game. I use the “drag” method, as opposed to the “click” method. So when I play a card I have to drag it to a specific area. This is well implemented and does a good job of offering a somewhat “tactile” feel to the game. Should you choose to want to look at the text of a card in your hand, you can press and hold your finger over it and it will enlarge to show you the entire card, as well as providing a “play” option to tap if you’d like to put it into play. Tapping outside of the card area will return the card to its previous state. You are also able to look at your deck and/or discard pile by tapping on it to reveal the contents. My only problem with
this area of the game is that oftentimes I want to play cards in a specific order (especially when it comes to paying one to increase the Mastery to a new level) and I’m “forced” to play in a specific “turn order”. I’d prefer more flexibility in how I can play things. The other shortcoming of this display is that i have to tap on my opponents tab to see what Champions they have in play. I found this to be somewhat of a nuisance, and although I realize that the real estate is tight, I would prefer at least some small card icons showing what they have instead of having to constantly keep checking. Otherwise the interface is well designed to show the pertinent information and the layout is pleasing. Continued on next page>
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Mobile Review (Cont.)
When the game is over you are greeted with a screen for either a rematch or going back to the main menu. What I really like about this screen is that the deck you finished with is displayed and you can go through it and see what you wound up drafting. There are three levels of AI for the game. The easy one is capable of defeating you if you are nonchalant in your play. The main AI is certainly challenging. However, the difficult AI is incredibly tough (a good thing) and you will find yourself losing the majority of the time! Normally I play apps for when I want to play a game when no one is available. However, there are a couple that I play online because I like the challenge of competing against “live”
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players. Fortunately the app provides for such competition. There is an online “lobby” for those looking for a game and/or creating one. Various time options are available, including: 30 minutes, 7 days (my favorite) and up to unlimited time. I think the 7 day option is fine, though most games are over in a couple of days at most. There is an area for your games, as well as other games. I’m not quite sure why there are games here that have been already completed, I’d prefer that the area is kept clear for games looking for opponents, thus making it easier to find them. I’ve been able to play against multiple opponents thus far and have had only one person forfeit a game before it started. Hopefully there will be an increase in the amount of players in the future, but even now I’ve been able to get a game up and running
quicker than expected for a new app. I tend to my opponents move awaiting me. And when I have 5+ games running at once and I receive a have some time to sit down for a quick game, the normal AI is challenging and the hard AI is brutal, notification for when it’s my turn. so it’s nice to have those options available. Other It should be noted that in order to use the “play than the aforementioned caveats, the game has with a friend online” option you will need to been a joy to play and has joined Star Realms as have both you and your friend registered with one of my daily online games. (Chess and Eternal the app with the appropriate email addresses. card game, being the other main ones) Of course, This was frustrating when we originally tried to now I’m eagerly waiting for the first expansion to play as the game wouldn’t accept the addresses, be added, and after playing the app a few times, until we were told that we had to first register so will you! our email addresses in the upper left profile button on the main page. Version # 1.0.1634 Overall, I’ve been enjoying my experience with the game - especially the online play. I like being able to make a move and then go on with what I was doing and come back to it later with
Price: Devices:
$7.99 iOS and Android Developer: Temple Gate Games, LLC
Highly Recommended www.templegategames.com Game Nite Issue #37
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Campaign Trail
By Serge Pierro
Campaign Your Way to the White House
W
hen you look back at the founders of the Unites States of America, it is amazing at how they were able to perceive potential problems at that time, as well as those of the future. Instead of deciding elections by the process of “mob rules”, they formulated an elegant system that gave states a proportional vote in the election process, with larger populations having more standing. Campaign Trail captures this process in wonderful detail, by providing an area control experience coupled with a real time scoring track that has all the excitement of a real election, while providing players with tough decisions to make on the campaign trail. Do you have what it takes to be the President of the Unites States? Let’s find out.
logo and stars, as well as two thumb cutouts for making it easier to open the box. The cutouts are a nice touch and I’m a bit surprised to see that other manufacturers haven’t adopted this design, as it proved to be helpful when opening the box. The box is packed with components and therefore there is no insert. There is “just enough” room for the components to be stored in plastic bags and being able to close the box.
The 24 page rulebook measures 11” x 11” and is clearly laid out with numerous examples. Of note is the excellent Setup sect (pages 4-5) that show step by step how the game is setup, as well as having color coded boxes that contain definitions, clarifications, reminders and tips, which made the initial setup of the game easier. Campaign Trail comes in a 12” x 12” x 2 3/4” It also contains 4+ pages of rules for the solo box that features spot varnishing on the cover’s variant.
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One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the innovative scoring track. This track is composed of a very sturdy, 3/32” thick, cardboard stock with another 1/16” cardboard stock glued on top of it. The four sections connect via a jigsaw puzzle-like design. The different layers of cardboard also allow for a trough along each of the scoring tracks for the placement of the Electoral Vote counters. This held the counters nicely in place, while also providing an accurate means of tracking the score. This is easily one of the best scoring designs that I’ve ever seen!
The game’s six panel board features spot varnishing on each state’s initials and associated icon. Each panel measures 11 1/4 inches. Although the spot varnishing is a nice touch, you do have to be careful of having glare with certain lighting angles/types, especially when looking across the table. It is usually not a problem, but it is something to be aware of. In addition to the main rulebook, there are also three identical 24 page “Party Reference” books that can be considered expanded player aides.
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Campaign Trail
(Cont.)
These provide all kinds of excellent information Following the excellent setup instructions in for the players to access during the game. They the rulebook will have you up and running in also include the board setups for the various no time. The only “time consuming” aspects of Party combinations. the setup are the allocation of the Committed Voters of each party and setting up the Scoring All of the cardboard components use the same Track. Committed Voters are placed on each 1/8” thick punchboard stock, which proved to of the states that represent the parties voters be not only sturdy, but yet another indication that give the state its political leaning. This is of the quality of the game’s components. Of determined by the state’s icons,with the party special note is the inclusion of extra Electoral on the left side of the icon being the party of Vote tokens for the smaller ones, just in case you influence and breaking ties, while the party on should happen to lose one. This is a nice touch the right side is used if the other player isn’t being and again reflects on the attention to value for used in the game. The setup of the Scoring Track the consumer. is determined in like fashion by placing each of the states on the appropriate track. This is an The cards used for the game are oversized and ingenious method of tracking the score in real linen finished. These measure 2 3/4” x 4 5/16” time and really adds to the excitement of play. (11mm x 7mm) and are of a good card stock. There is no need to sleeve them. The other cards It should come as no surprise that since in the game use a similar stock and finish, yet Campaign Trail is a card driven, area control they are of different sizes. game, that cards play a big role. On a player’s turn they will play one card from hand and take The Presidents and Vice Presidents are one of the actions printed on it. These actions represented by wooden meeples with a “P” can be: Travel, Fundraise, Register, Campaign, and “VP” printed on them. They come in red Advertise and Politick. Each of the cards has (Republicans), blue (Democrats) and yellow only four of these actions on it, so you have to (Libertarians). The parties also have bags of plan your strategies accordingly. Let’s take a cubes and cylinders to use as voters, each of look at each of the actions. them being the same color as the associated party. The cylinders are octagon shaped to keep them from rolling.
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Travel: The Travel number indicates how many states you can move your meeple. This is the main means of moving around the board. There are also Plane icons that allow you to travel by plane to one of the other cities. (There are 10 Cities that can be reached by plane.) Although this action is fairly straightforward, it really captures the essence of traveling around the country while campaigning.
decisions to make during the game, as there are times when you want to use a card for another action, but you are low on cash. Register: Using this action allows you to take “undecided voters” from your general supply and add them to your “registered voter” supply. Since these are the cubes that you will be placing in order to gain control of a state, having a decent supply of them is necessary.
Fundraise: This allows you to obtain money for your War Chest. The amount of money varies While the above actions are considered Support with each card. This was one of the tougher Actions, the following actions are called Direct Actions. Continued on next page>
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Campaign Trail
(Cont.)
Advertise: This allows you to spend $20 million for each issue icon on the card for advertising in the states that have the same icon. This allows you to place 1 voter in each matching state. Each card may contain 2, 3 or 4 icons. For your convenience the map on the card also displays the states (in orange) that have the icons so that you can easily see what regions of the country you would be influencing by your ad campaign. This was yet another mechanism that really captured the feel of a Presidential campaign.
It should be noted that there is an “expansion” that comes in the base game, “Dirty Politics” which work in a similar manner to the actions above, however, they lean towards attacking and general nastiness. These actions include: Voter Suppression, Flip Contributors, Sway Minds, Mudslinging, Smear Campaign and Dirty Tricks. These add another level of depth to the game, though some players might want to avoid them if they feel their playgroup might not enjoy the experience.
Campaign: And speaking of campaigns, this action allows you to heavily influence an area of the country. You spend $60 million and place 6 of your registered voters into any of the states listed on the card. The states are displayed as brown on the map.
After a player has taken their turn and resolved the chosen action on their card, they draw a new card and play passes to the next player. Play continues in the manner until all the cards in the first (of three) stack of cards has run out and then players participate in the first debate.
Politick: There are three different types of Politick cards, ones that have an immediate effect, ones that stay in play or ones played in response. These all have different actions on them and reflect the partisan politics of the election cycle. Many of these are quite useful and you often find yourself wanting to play the action, but not surprisingly there are other good options on the card. Overall these will have a substantial impact on the game when played.
There are two debates during the game and the issues that are to be debated are randomly chosen at the start of the game. Since this is public information, players can try and collect cards during the game that will influence the results of the debate. This is yet another layer of depth to the game, as many times you will be hesitant to play a card for its action because it will be useful during the debate. This is especially true when you get closer to the time of the debate.
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After preparing for the debate the players will engage in three rounds of debating. This is accomplished by playing a card from their hand and moving the tokens on the debate track. The card must match at least one of the issues being debated. However, there is an interesting strategy that involves playing a card to match one of the issues, yet it contains an issue that is not amongst those being debated, this is called a “Rabbit Trail� and it now allows both players to try and win over the electorate with the new issue(s) as well. There is a push/pull
element to the debate, as the position of the issue at hand changes with each player’s card played. This continues for three rounds and then a final assessment is tabulated and the finishing position on the tracks determine how many undecided voters you are able to place in each state that has the icon that you won the debate on. A strong win in a debate could have a major impact on the campaign. Subsequent plays will give you a better feel for what cards you want to play and which ones you want to hold for the debate.
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Campaign Trail
(Cont.)
to the game and provide for different type of experience that that of the base game alone. Of course the solo variant adds another level of replayability to the game. There certainly isn’t a shortage of options available to the players based on the components and various ways of Even though the base game and production playing. values are excellent, the game went the extra step to include a solo version as well. There are some While some might be turned off by the political changes to the base game, however, this proved theme, the game functions extremely well as an to be just as interesting and was entertaining to area control game, and can be considered on that alone. But, should you be a political junkie, then play against. this game would have to be considered a must Campaign Trail is an excellent representation buy, as the excellent design and components of the Electoral College in the election process. will provide you with a game that will satiate While I wouldn’t consider it a simulation, it does your political cravings. capture the essence of the system and you really The scoring track is ingenious and had feel like you are part of a presidential campaign. everyone speaking highly of it before and after The replayability of the game is quite high, each game. The only “downside” to it is that as there are a ton of options. Having 12 since it is keeping track of the Electoral Votes asymmetrical Candidates leads to a huge in real time, you have to adjust it in real time, variety of games, as the various combinations accordingly. While not an inconvenience, I can are plentiful and provide for a fresh take on see how some people might not want to have the game each time you play. And although to deal with this, but my experience has shown we didn’t delve deeply into the Dirty Politics that there is at least one person at the table who module, it certainly adds a more vicious element volunteers to keep track of adjusting the score. Play continues above until all of the debates have been resolved and all of the cards have been drawn. Then the final tabulation is taken and the player with the most electoral votes at the end of the game is the winner.
Continued on the following page>
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Campaign Trail
(Cont.)
There were moments when an audible “gasp” could be heard when a state such as California or Texas was flipped to an opposing party and the track was adjusted. Besides being an interesting game, it also serves as an excellent educational tool for teaching children (and some adults) about the election process in the United States. I can easily see this being used in a classroom, as well as a teaching aid for home schoolers. Overall, this is a game that I am happy to add to my collection. I realize that there are some people who might be turned off by the theme, but in doing so they will miss out on an excellent game. Rarely does a game capture the essential elements of a theme, but this one really provides for an immersive experience that makes you feel like you are running a real presidential campaign. I will cast my vote for Campaign Trail by giving it a well deserved “Editor’s Choice Award”. Highly recommended!
“Rarely does a game capture the essential elements of a theme, but this one really provides for an immersive experience that makes you feel like you are running a real presidential campaign.” Designers:
Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:
David Cornelius, Nathan Cornelius, Jeff Cornelius
Cosmic Wombat Games 1-6
Area Control, Hand Management 12+ 115 Mins.
Highly Recommended www.cosmicwombatgames.com
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Guest Column
By Luke Laurie
Dwellings of Eldervale “Dwellings of Eldervale”, a Game that Returned from the Underworld. A Designer Diary by Luke Laurie Editor’s Note: Game Nite readers are in for a treat, as Luke Laurie, the designer of “Dwellings of Eldervale” , gives a look behind the scenes at one of the most anticipated games of the year. All artwork and photographs provided by Luke Laurie and Peter Vaughn.
Introduction Some creative works emerge quickly through sudden inspiration, others evolve gradually through the layering of ideas over time. The path that lead to the completion of Dwellings of Eldervale was the latter; a journey of five years, marked by fits and starts, abandonment, rediscovery, and finally systematic development to completion.
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Inception When I talk to other game designers, they frequently say that some of their best inspirations come immediately after attending a game convention or playtesting event, and often, on the journey home from such events. For me, this is definitely true. Driving along with the windows rolled down or listening to music, my mind will buzz with all of the games I played and tested, and all of the conversations I had with other gamemakers. It feels something like REM sleep, facilitating the reorganization of ideas and memories in my brain; and reassembling these concepts in new ways, often inspiring new game themes, and new mechanical innovations. One such journey occurred after Kublacon 2014, but unlike many of my other rides home, on this one, I was not alone. I was heading South on Highway 101, zipping through California’s Central Coast with my good friend Peter Vaughan behind the wheel and my son Maximus exhausted in the back seat. Though Peter and I had barely slept for the past few days, we were somehow invigorated by the success of our recent work. I had been showing a prototype throughout the weekend that would become The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire, while Peter had been playtesting Brad Brook’s Letter Tycoon, a game that Peter would go on to develop and bring to market. The rush of our newfound success gave us an overconfidence in what we might be able to accomplish next. And on that fateful care ride home, Dwellings of Eldervale was born.
Early prototype
We talked for hours about game mechanics and themes, and what seemed to be missing in the market. We cobbled together all manner of different ideas into a game that we would love to play. We agreed that we wanted to see a game with the depth and sophistication of a solid, classic Euro, but the excitement and mystery of a richly detailed fantasy world. We brainstormed all manner of thematic concepts and possible mechanical frameworks that might bring such a game to life. We had a ton of ideas, and many sounded great in theory. Continued on next page>
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Guest Column
(Cont.)
We tossed around the idea that there would be eight fundamental elements: Air, Earth, Water, Fire, Light, Darkness, Order, and Chaos, and many fantasy races or factions that could confer different unique powers onto players. We discussed how monsters, cards, and objectives could enter the game and change the world in some way - like a rampaging Demon or a Giant crashing through villages wreaking havoc. We imagined that there would be story-like aspects, and that every game would unfold in a different way, with different quests or goals for players to pursue. All of these ideas sounded exciting, but I also was skeptical. I wanted a a clear mechanical focus. How would these things work, what are the core mechanisms, what are the resources, what are the costs? How does one choose different actions in this game? Who on Earth would publish a game as vast as what we envisioned? We made a pact that we would build this game together, and we would call it Dwellings of Eldervale. We also agreed that it would begin as a worker placement game with different realms associated with the various elements. But we still had a long way to go. After we returned from the convention, through the Summer and into the Fall of 2014, we worked on various starts for Dwellings of Eldervale. Some of them were interesting, and had promise, but each iteration had shortcomings. None of these early prototypes had the vastness nor sense of adventure of our original conception. They
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Later prototype
were full of compromises. And while they had some mechanical innovations, none of these early versions would shake up the game market or be seen as innovative. It became clear that such a vast game was beyond our skills and access to resources at the time, and our failures decreased our urgency to see this dream through. Creating a mechanical framework that could hold all of the thematic concepts together eluded us. After a year or so of chipping away, Peter and I moved on to focus our attention on other projects. But Dwellings of Eldervale was not forgotten. From 2014 on, I designed a TON of games. Some were signed by publishers, others tested and abandoned, and some held great promise, but just weren’t quite there. Every once in a while, I’d scrawl down some notes or brainstorm another Dwellings of Eldervale idea.
Luke Laurie playtesting “Dwellings of Eldervale�
Rebirth Sometime in 2017, while working on a science-fiction based Euro, something clicked, and I starting scrawling in my design notebook, connecting the dots between what I was working on, with several ideas I had shelved, and realized that I was building the framework on which Dwellings of Eldervale could be built. I built a document diagraming all of the core mechanics and sent it to Peter, and he seemed intrigued. I dropped everything and spent the next several weeks building a solid prototype, with cards,
boards, meeples, dice, resources, tiles, and even miniatures from my D&D collection. As soon as I could, I drove to LA to show it to Peter, who was now the Director of Development for Breaking Games. This was it. Pitch complete. Dwellings of Eldervale had returned from the Underworld, and soon I signed a contract with Breaking Games and Peter focused his development expertise into refining, enhancing, and bringing this monstrous game to life.
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Guest Column
(Cont.)
“Dwellings of Eldervale” Ogre playerboard
So what was this mechanical framework? Dwellings of Eldervale features some of my design hallmarks that you’ll find in other games I’ve designed: Worker placement, clockwise turn sequence with no rounds, regroup turns where something cool happens, and tableauengine-building. But Dwellings does some other things very differently from other games, mine or otherwise. All of the mechanical aspects described below became the working core on which we could finally build the rich fantasy world of Eldervale.
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Variable Setup: Based on the factions chosen by players, and the elements associated with them, only certain components are used in each game. The hex map is arranged randomly, and the resource tokens and cards available are also randomized. Special Units: You have Workers, but you can also have a Dragon, a Wizard, and a Warrior. These units have different rules for placement, and different strength in battle. In each game, you decide which units you will summon. In addition, each faction has special unique powers for some of their units.
“Dwellings of Eldervale” Dark Reaper
Worker Placement on a Hex Map: I don’t know if this has been done before, but in Dwellings of Eldervale, Worker Placement occurs on a unique arrangement of hex tiles. Where you place your first unit, determines where you’ll be able to place your subsequent units on the map, so there is a spacial aspect to which actions are available. You must choose where you’ll be placing based on the value of the action, your desired subsequent actions, but also how you might interact with monsters and the units of other players.
Dice Battles: This is likely to be one of the more controversial aspects of Dwellings of Eldervale. Sometimes, you wind up placing your units in an area where your opponents are, and a battle breaks out. There are many ways to affect battle and mitigate dice or the effects of loss, but there is also risk and consequences to the outcome of battles. You do not lose units permanently, and there are some benefits to losing Battles, but it is still generally better to win fights than it is to lose. The threat of battle creates tension and can affect your tactical decisions throughout the game.
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Guest Column
(Cont.)
“Dwellings of Eldervale” Order Golem
Using Your Tableau When You Regroup: You decide when you’ll pull your units back from the board to your player mat, but as you do, each unit removed allows you to take a different tableau action. You start with a few core actions, but as the game progresses you can build all manner of different engines from the dozens of unique cards. Modifying Your Tableau Cards Using Resource Tokens: When you gather resources in Eldervale, they’re usually in the form of Treasure Tokens which have resource symbols printed on them. You can discard these tokens to gain the actual
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resource bits at any time, or you can save these tokens and later place them into “slots” on cards in your tableau. Slotting these tokens allows you to define or change costs or benefits on the cards, giving you nearly infinite variability in how you construct your tableau. Elemental Power as a score multiplier: Throughout the game, you can acquire cards associated with different elemental powers, and build Dwellings in different elemental realms. At the end of the game, each of these accomplishments is scored based on your positions on the respective elemental tracks.
“Dwellings of Eldervale” Monster miniatures
Refining Through Development With the core in place, we had a game, but much of the work was ahead of us. Over the many months that followed, I worked with Peter and dozens of awesome playtesters to tinker with all aspects of the game: fine tuning costs and powers, troubleshooting overpowered or abusable effects, crafting all kinds of different cards, and creating a few new mechanics that rounded out the experience.
Monsters: We quickly discovered that Eldervale needed an external threat. We needed that rampaging Demon that filled Peter’s imagination from the beginning. We made these Monsters come to life with some simple movement rules and gave each unique abilities. One monster for each of the eight elements. We later added ways for the Monsters to become your own units with some effort. We knew these would need to be real sculpted miniatures.
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Guest Column
(Cont.)
Peter Vaughn and Luke Laurie
Faction Powers: Creating the unique factions was one of the toughest, but funnest parts of the development process. We built special unit powers for each faction. They needed to be useful, balanced, and also help you feel like you are playing fundamentally different beings, whether you’re playing the Ogres, the Clerics, the Ratlings, or any of the other diverse factions.
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“Dwellings of Eldervale” assorted player boards.
Magic Cards: The deck of magic cards also started modestly and simply, but increased in complexity and depth during development. Each player has access to hidden surprise effects to spring on unsuspecting opponents, or to avoid adverse circumstances. Magic cards also can provide hidden scoring, something vital to the game so that there is some uncertainty as to who the winner will be.
Throughout all of our development, we’ve taken great care to focus on the world we were building. To us, Eldervale is a place. Each mechanical aspect tells part of the story of the lost Realms of Eldervale. We believe the incredible artwork and components created for this game will show that Eldervale is a world of mystery, adventure, and danger. And for us now, we enter the next phase of our journey, approaching the uncertainty of bringing Dwellings of Eldervale to life through crowdfunding and publishing. We hope that our creation brings many hours of fun and interesting choices to as many gamers as possible.
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Gentes
By Serge Pierro
Stefan Risthaus Civilization Game
I
believe I’ve mentioned it before, but my favorite computer game of all-time is Civilization. I love the concept of starting a civilization from scratch and building it up over time. So any time when there’s a game that contains that element, I’m always interested in seeing what it has to offer. Couple that with the fact that it is designed by Stefan Risthaus, Gentes is a game I was most certainly interested in playing. Gentes comes in a 8 3/4” x 11 3/4” x 2 3/4” box and features a cardboard insert that has two equal sized wells to store the components and three shelves on which to rest the player boards. The game also comes with a copious amount of resealable plastic bags to store the components in. The game ships with two books, one is for the rules of the game and the other is a glossary for the Civilization cards. The rulebook is 16 pages long and has numerous examples. The two page setup continues a growing trend among publishers in introducing the components of
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the game and delivering a step by step method of explaining the setup. This is most certainly a welcome addition, as it greatly adds to getting the game to the table faster and players becoming familiar with the components. Two pages are devoted to the solo game. The rules are fairly clear, with the only “confusion” being when you initially learn it trying to familiarize yourself with the various icons as quickly as possible, which is usually the case with games that feature a heavy use of icons. The glossary of Civilization cards is four pages long and features a card by card description/ clarification. Needless to say, with all of the various icons that are in the game, this is a welcome/necessary inclusion. The clarifications are clear and aid in helping memorizing what the cards do. The double sided, six panel board is made of a sturdy cardboard stock. Each of the panels measure 7 7/8” x 7 7/8”. One side is for the solo/two player game and the other side for three and four players.
The four player boards are made of a decent All of the cardboard components are similar to cardboard stock. Each board matches one of the material used for the player boards. the player colors and the back of the board reflects this color as well. The boards measure 5 Gentes is played over the course of 3 Eras, with 7/8” x 11 1/4”. each Era having two rounds. At the start of each Era the relevant deck of cards are used, with any The cards for the game are standard size and remaining cards from the previous round being linen finished. Since they are not shuffled or placed on the discard pile area of the main board. excessively handled during the game, sleeving Each round consists of two phases: Heyday and could be considered optional, though not Decline. The Heyday phase is the main phase of necessary. I will not be sleeving them, as they the game and the Decline is more of a cleanup should be fine just as they are. phase. Let’s take a look at each of them. There are various wooden components and all of them are well made. The player pieces come in: black, white, blue and green.
Since the Heyday phase is the main phase of Continued on next page>
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Gentes
(Cont.)
the game, not surprisingly it is also the one that contains the most available actions. On your turn you must take one of the tiles from the board and pay the cost in coins and place it on your player board and pay the associated cost in Hourglass tokens. You will then resolve the action. Let’s take a look at some of them. The Tax Collector section of the board does not contain any tiles, instead you decide how many Hourglass tokens you want to place on your board and then take the associated amount of coins from the supply. 1 Hourglass token will yield 4 coins and 2 Hourglasses will give you 8 coins. The Leader area allows you to take the Leader tile and place it on your board, with you gaining 2 coins. This allows you to be the 1st player for the next round. While this can be useful, it was not used as often as much as we thought it would be, as the other actions seemed to be more important. However, it is there should you feel the need to go first. The Philosopher action is one of the main actions to take during the game. This allows you to train your population in order to meet the requirements of the Civilization cards. In the two player game there are only two available tiles in this area, one costs 4 coins and the
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other costs 8. The 4 cost tile allows you to train one of your population types, while the 8 cost tile allows you to adjust two population types. To complete the training you move the target population type one space. One unique element of the game is that you have three rows of population types that each have a specific population marker (Merchant, Noble, Scholar, Soldier, Artisan and Priest) on the left and right side of the track and you can’t move one tile past the other. Should tiles meet in the middle of the track, the active tile will “push” the other tile one space backwards. The position of these tiles determine whether or not you meet the associated requirements to build a Civilization card. The first player to reach a total population of 18 receives the 8 point bonus tile. And speaking of Civilization cards, these are the main means of scoring points within the game and they can be obtained by using the Scribe area of the board. One section of this area allows you to pay a flat fee of either 6 or 10 coins in order to take 1 or 2 cards from the discard pile. While this is often used in the second and third Eras, the value of these cards will pale in comparison to the points available on the current cards, however, they are easier to meet the requirements, as you will have made several adjustments to the Population area on your player board by then. The other area is
more useful, this allows you to take a tile, paying its cost in coins and Hourglass tokens, and place it on your board. You are then able to take a card(s) from the area below the board, determined by the amount of coins you paid for the tile. What makes this area interesting is that there are three levels printed on the board telling you what you can purchase for the coins spent. You can take either one, two or three cards by comparing the coins spent, with the table printed on the board. If you choose to buy one card, you can choose from among a longer selection of cards. If you want three cards, you
are limited to the first few cards. This was an interesting dynamic to the game. It should be noted that cards that are unfulfilled at the end of the game are going to cost you points, so you don’t want to just keep grabbing large amounts of cards that you are not going to be able to meet their requirements. The Navigator tiles allow you to build Cities and Hometowns. These allow you to acquire various resources throughout the game. It should be noted that there are various regions on the map and any time you build in one of
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Gentes
(Cont.)
those regions, your other Cities also trigger and you collect their resources. The Hometown area provides some interesting effects as well, and they also trigger the Cities in a region of your choice. Since there is a scoring bonus for building all 6 of your Cities, it is well worth devoting time to using this area for their immediate benefits, as well as racing to be the first to grab the 8 point bonus tile.
“tiles” printed on them that only you have access to. The first person to build 8 Civilization cards receives the 8 point bonus tile, the remaining bonus tiles are only worth 4 points.
Although the Decline phase is basically a cleanup/reset phase, it does contain some things of note. Perhaps the most important feature is taking the reward from one of your Cities per each region. The other important aspect would The last main area of the board is the Chronicles be using the Decline phase portion of your section. Like the others, you choose a tile, pay Civilization cards, if you have any. its cost in coins, place it on your board and pay the cost in Hourglass tokens. This allows you Play continues as above for six rounds (two to play one of the Civilization cards from your rounds per Era) and then the final scoring is hand to you tableau. In order to do this you tabulated. Besides the points earned during the must meet the requirements printed on the game there are several other ways to score at the card. The main requirement is the number of end of the game. If you have cards in your hand each of your Population types, though it could that you are able to meet the requirements for, also include something else. When you place yet were unable to play them onto your tableau the card in your tableau you receive the amount before the end of the game, you score them at half of points printed on the card, as well as the their value, rounded up. If you are left with cards special bonus points (synergy points) matching in hand that you don’t meet their requirements, the symbols on your previously played cards. the printed victory points are subtracted from Focusing on a specific synergy will yield large your score at half value, rounded up. You gain amounts of points as the game progresses and 1 victory point for every two Indicator cubes on is well worth paying attention to symbology on your player board. Your receive 1 victory point the cards, as well as the victory point and the for every 10 coins. If you have any Hourglass effects. And speaking of effects, each card has tokens left on your Time track you lose −2 VP’s different effects. These can range from providing for the first one, and up to −16 VP’s for four or “virtual” Population types to having special more.
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The solo game is well worth mentioning, as it is quite challenging. Basically the game play is the same as the main game, with the main difference being that you are the only one taking turns and that there are fewer tiles used. There is a chart in the rulebook that gives you a title for you final score. It seemed almost impossible at the start of the game to reach 70+ points, but as the progressed it seemed more feasible. It’s almost inconceivable as how anyone could reach the upper echelon of the list. Example “Deity” =
141+ pts. and the minimum number of points for a title is 71, “Settler”. All in all, this is a very interesting solo variant and will provide hours of fun (and frustration) as you try to increase your standing. Overall this is another excellent offering by Tasty Minstrel Games. For those who might have been intimidated by Stefan Risthaus’s name on the box, this game is not as heavy as Arkwright, and is quite accessible to a wide range of gamers.
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Gentes
(Cont.)
As far as mechanisms go, the use of the Hourglasses on the Time track is obviously the one that stands out most. In addition to having to consider the cost of the tiles taken, you have to plan your actions so that you will have enough room to place the corresponding amount of Hourglass tokens on the track as well. Of course there is also the strategic element of perhaps placing two Hourglasses on a space in order to lose a space on your following turn in order to accomplish something more pertinent on the current one. This option really made the game interesting at times. Of course it is a priority to make sure that you don’t get stuck with excess Hourglass tokens on your track at the end of the game.
As always, icon driven games can be intimidating on the initial play, and this one is no different. Fortunately, the separate Glossary of Civilization cards provided all of the necessary information to keep the game flowing when the inevitable questions arose during the game. After a play or two you will feel confident in understanding the overwhelming majority of symbols.
Gente is exactly the type of game that I’ve been interested in playing lately, something not overly complex, but still having a bit of depth and the “let’s try that again” feel to it. Everyone who played it enjoyed it and I can see this hitting the table frequently in the future. If you are looking for a civilization based, engine builder that has interesting choices and mechanisms, And while I enjoyed the graphic design of the then you need not look further, as this game game, there were some problems with some of contains it all! them. For instance, on the blue player board the black numbers “melted” into the blue background. Ideally the numbers should have Designer: Stefan Risthaus been printed in white in order to provide greater Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games contrast. But, you know that the game is good Players: 1-4 when the nitpicking comes down to something Mechanic: Engine Builder, Action Selection such as this. Ages:
Length:
14+ 90 Mins.
Highly Recommended www.playtmg.com
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Vivaldi
By Tom M Franklin
Briscoa Chimata Base Card Game
B
ased on the traditional Italian card game Players then bid, choosing any number from one to Briscola Chiamata, Vivaldi is a trick-taking ten, based on the highest card missing from the best game for exactly five players. represented Season in their hand. Subsequent bids must always decrease in number, but need not be in The deck is made up of 40 cards, (divided into sequential order. four Seasons, or suits, and numbered one through ten) four Season reference cards, and a set of rules If in bidding the number reaches one, bidding may printed on both sides of five cards. continue by adding a + number after the bid (as in “one +5”) where bidder believes she can win by at The cards are standard playing card size with a least 5 points over her opponents. linen, glossy finish. The backs of each card display the colorful Vivaldi logo, with representations of When all players but one have passed, that remaining the four Seasons, one in each corner. They shuffle player becomes The Caller. She then plays the first well and fit comfortably in the hand. card -- a card whose Season indicates the Current Season (or Trump Season) for this round of the game. The artwork is professional, representing the Four At the same time, the opposite season to the Current Seasons through a tree and different items for Season (Winter/Summer, Fall/Spring) becomes the each season (Snowflakes, Apple Blossoms, Apples, Weak Season. Dead Leaves). The numerical value of each card is noted in each of the four corners of the card and When The Caller plays the first card, his Hidden is reflected by the number of that season’s items Partner is also silently determined. This is the player on the tree. I found this to be very intuitive, but who holds in her hand the card of the Trump Season several members of the group found artwork to be with the numerical value that won the bidding. (So, too stylized and confusing. if The Caller won the bidding with a 3 and played any Winter card first, the player with the Winter 3 in Vivaldi starts with all of the cards being dealt out, their hand would become the Hidden Partner.) The meaning each player receives eight cards. Players Hidden Partner must not announce his status, but assess their hand by grouping cards of similar quietly tries to influence the winning of tricks and Seasons together, then order them by numerical giving opponents as many negative, Weak Season value.
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Photo: Tom M Franklin
Unlike many trick-taking card games, Vivaldi does not require players to follow suit—that is, to lay down cards of the same suit as the first player, provided they can do so. Therefore, on a turn, a player may play any card from their hand, regardless of Season or number.
There are eight turns in a hand of Vivaldi. At the end of each turn, the trick is taken by the person who played either the highest Current Season card, or the highest Strong Season card, or highest Neutral Season card or, if none of those were played, the highest Weak Season card.
The winner of each trick then plays the first card for At the end of the eighth turn, players count up the the next hand until the end of the round. face value of all cards from the collected tricks. The Current and Neutral Season cards are counted as In an interesting twist, if the first card played in positive points, while Weak Season cards count a turn is one of the ‘Neutral Seasons’, that Season as negative points. If The Caller and his Hidden becomes the Strong Season for that turn. A Strong Partner win, The Caller scores two points and the Season is a temporary, secondary trump Season Hidden Friend scores one point. The other three which can only be trumped by a card from the players score -1 point. If the team of three players Current Season. For instance, if Winter is the win, they each score one point; The Caller then Current Season for the hand and the first player receives -2 points and the Hidden Friend receives on the second turn leads with a Spring card, that -1 point. Spring card can only be beaten by either a higher Continued on next page> value Spring card or a Winter card. Game Nite Issue #37
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Vivaldi
(Cont.)
The rules to Vivaldi suggest playing an agreed upon number of hands or for a set amount of time, then totaling the points to declare a winner. Given that a hand of Vivaldi can last just a few minutes, this is easily done and serves to distribute points more evenly.
It was telling that in every game we played, The Caller and the Hidden Partner never won. In fact, none of the games we played were even close, with the largest gap being over 50 points. While this only translated into a -2 points for the round for The Caller (and -1 for the Hidden Player) by the end of the evening we all agreed on the disincentive to being The Caller. The role of the I am, admittedly, not much of a card game player. Hidden Player sounded like an interesting idea, but in However, two of my weekly gaming friends are, as reality, that person never felt able to significantly sway are members of their family. Five of us sat down or contribute to the game in a meaningful way. for an evening of Vivaldi -- none of us knowing anything about the game other than it required five We tried several variations, including four players players. As avid Pinochle, Hearts, and Spades players, instead of five and having everyone play for themselves they caught on to the game quickly. As the non- instead of in teams. Neither of these improved the card player, I had the easiest time adjusting to the odds of The Caller winning. no need to play the leading suit rule. In the original game of Briscola Chiamata, the bidding The rules were likely translated by an online sequence has players naming the number of points service and then reviewed by someone with some they believe they can accumulate in the hand. This experience in English. We found ourselves referring subtle difference in determining who wins the round to the rule cards at least once or twice in the early and how might make the game more balanced and games to make sure we understood them correctly challenging. and had several discussions to better define the rules for ourselves.
Designers: Marcello Bertocchi
Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:
Xvgames 5
Trick-taking
10+ 10-20 Mins.
Worth Trying www.xvgames.it Photo: Tom M Franklin
We quickly learned that the advantage in a round went to the final player in a given turn. The first player in each turn was able to play a Current Season card or establish the Strong Season for the hand. If this was The Caller, three of the players were quick to unload high-numbered Weak Season cards into the trick, thus forcing negative points onto The Caller. If the trick was laden with high scoring cards, the last player could easily claim the trick with a winning card of the Current or Strong Season.
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Game Nite Issue #37
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Wizard’s Garden
By Tom M Franklin
Abstract in a Bag
W
izard’s Garden is a two-player abstract with a mechanic similar to Othello/Reversi, but with added consequences.
The game comes complete in a velvet, drawstring pouch. Inside the pouch are 16 engraved, wooded discs painted red on one side and green on the other. On one of the sides of pouch is the silkscreened name of the game and its designer, while the other side features a four-by-four grid that makes up the playing board. This makes the game perfect for travel, vacations, or even playing over dinner at a restaurant. To prepare for playing, lay out the board between the two players. Set all sixteen wooden plant discs set to the side within easy reach of both players. The flavor text describes the green and red engraved flowers as being from the Alesalitis plant, a plant that changes color whenever a new plant is placed next to it. As you place plants on the board, any other plant that is directly orthogonally adjacent (one square up, down, right, left – but never diagonal) to the piece just placed, flips over, thus changing color. Players may place either the green or the red side of the Alesalitis plant face up throughout the game. No player ‘owns’ either color. The game starts with each player placing two pieces, one after the other, onto one of the sixteen squares that make up the board. In this opening phase, pieces must be placed
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so they are not orthogonally adjacent to any other piece. Again, players may choose which color is face up. After these first four pieces have been placed, the garden is started. Players then take turns adding new plants to the board. However, after those first four pieces have been placed, all new pieces must be placed orthogonally adjacent to another piece. This ensures that on every move after the first four, at least one plant will change color on each turn. Players are working to ‘harvest’ plants by creating a four-ina-row of either color after all of the plants have been turned over from the most recent move. These four-in-a-rows may be vertical, horizontal, or even diagonal. Plants are harvested by having all four pieces removed from the board. The harvesting player keeps one of the pieces in front of him with the harvested color side left face up. The other three plants are returned to the collective plant pile. It is possible to create more than one four-in-a-row with a given move. In this case, all of the pieces for both rows are harvested and the harvesting player keeps two plants – one for each row – in front of him. The game ends when there are no possible moves left to be made. In our playtesting this meant the reserve plant pile was empty and all of the available pieces were on the board. Players then count the total number of plant pieces in front of them (one from each harvested row). The player with the most pieces wins.
Photo: Tom M Franklin
To avoid ties, the rules claim that one color is considered to be more valuable than the other. Therefore, the player with the most pieces of that color wins. However, the rules I found online (strangely, the game was shipped to me without the rules) were in black and white, not red and green. We worked around this by flipping one of the discs at the start of each game and naming the color that landed face up as the tie-breaking color. Despite the small board, the game makes for a nice, mini brain-burner. Once the garden is started, each move means pieces will flip and the board will be very different when it’s your turn again. We soon found ourselves worrying over moves, trying hard to create patterns that would benefit us on our next move while not setting up our opponent for harvesting move. Frustratingly, we both found points in the game where the board was getting crowded and every move left available to us was going to mean the other person would be able to harvest on their next turn. This happened for each of us in most of the games we played, meaning the game never felt unbalanced – just annoying. (Which, really, is the sign of a good abstract, in my opinion.)
Played on a four-by-four grid with only sixteen pieces, Wizard’s Garden makes for a solid, quick abstract. The rules are simple enough to be taught in under a minute and games take 5-10 minutes to play. Wizard’s Garden will be traveling with me for quite some time.
Designers: Tim Schutz
Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:
XV Games 2 Abstract
12+ 45 Mins.
Highly Recommended www.xvgames.it
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Abstract Games
By Tom Serge By M Pierro Franklin
Quarto
Q
uarto was the 1992 Golden Ace Winner for Game of the Year in France, a 1993 Spiel des Jahres Recommendation, and a Mensa Select winner for 1993. It is one of a series of abstract games published by Gigamic that are both challenging and uniquely, visually appealing. (See Quoridor, Game Nite issue #36) Quarto consists of a board with a four-by-four grid with circles at each of the 16 intersections to indicate where pieces are to be placed, along with 16 wooden playing pieces. These pieces are divided into two sets of eight, with one set being a lighter color than the other eight. As well, eight of the pieces are tall, while eight are short; eight are square, while eight are round; eight are solid, while eight have hollow sections at the top. This means each piece can be sub-divided into four different categories: color, height, shape, and solidity.
first player to notice a four-in-a-row. (This can happen.) The four-in-a-row may either line up across the board or diagonally. If this was all there was to Quarto it would hardly qualify as anything more than a slightly more complicated version of Tic-Tac-Toe. However, Quarto has one brilliant rule that changes the entire strategy of the game and makes it worthy of serious consideration for anyone who likes abstracts: Your opponent chooses the piece you will place on the board and you select the piece they will place on the board.
By choosing the piece for your opponent to play, your control over the board is somewhat reversed from how many n-in-a-row games play out. You can, for instance, force a certain token characteristic onto the board, but not where the piece is placed. You can hand your opponent a piece that, if placed on the right spot, could give you an advantage. However, that same piece could Neither player ‘owns’ any of the four characteristics. be used by your opponent to their advantage. Either player may place any of the pieces on the board and win based on any of the characteristics. Similarly, by not being able to choose your own piece to put into play you will rarely be given a piece that The goal in Quarto is to create a four-in-a-row works to your benefit. You’ll have to regard both the of with any of these four categories -- or to be the piece (and all four of its characteristics) and the board to find the best place to place it.
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Photo: Tom M Franklin
After only a few turns the decision as to where to place a piece will shift to being slightly more defensive than offensive. With only 16 points on the board to play pieces, the board quickly fills up. And, as open spaces become fewer, the variety of shared characteristics of the pieces surrounding those open spaces combine and narrow your choices. If you cannot create a Quarto on this move, you certainly don’t want to leave the board with a possible win for your opponent.
mechanic seems novel. After the first, random pieces are chosen and placed on the board, a look of wait a minute… will cross over the new player’s face as the complexity of the game begins to settle in on them. The first game typically ends with a nod of newfound appreciation for Quarto – and a request to play again right away.
The official rules come with special Variation for This, then, can make choosing the piece to hand Advanced Players. This rule adds an additional your opponent as complicated as where to play the winning condition: the first player to create a two-by-two square of four pieces with shared piece you’ve been handed. characteristics wins the game. Having played with Quarto is a game I love introducing to new this rule I can attest that it makes a challenging players. The game is quick and easy to explain and game even more formidable. the choosing-which-piece-your-opponent-will-play Quarto is an easy game to highly 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
Game Nite Issue #37
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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
Philip duBarry #35
Sen Foong-Lim #36
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Book Review Index
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Issue #1
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Mobile Review Index
Issue #12
Issue #13
Issue #14
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Issue #16
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Issue #18
Issue #19
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Mobile Review Index (Cont.)
Issue #27
Issue #30
Issue #28
Issue #31
Issue #29
Issue #32
Issue #29
Issue #33
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Issue #34
Issue #35
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Game Review Index (Isuues 1-6)
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• • • • • •
This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us Small World Stella Nova Shoot-Out Postcard Cthulhu Postcard Empire
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Tile Chess Cards of Cthulhu Samurai Spirit Golem Arcana Pairs Sutakku Timeline
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Baseball Highlights 2045 Samurai Sword Paperback For the Crown Trench Firefly Cutthroat Caverns Rise of the Zombies Shadow Throne
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Rhino Hero Attila Spurs and Sprockets Chaosmos March of the Ants AquaSphere Fidelitas Rise of Cthulhu Maha Yodah
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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
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Game Review Index (Issues 7-12)
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• • • • • • • • • • • •
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
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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
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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
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JurassAttack! Oh My Gods! Looting Atlantis 13 Days Apotheca Tiny Epic Galaxies Automobiles Daxu Slaughterville Kheops Scoville: Labs Ancient Conflict Treasure Chest
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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
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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 #37
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Game Review Index (Issues 13-18)
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Game Nite Issue #37
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Kanagawa Lunarchitects Hero Realms Santorini Vinhos: Deluxe Colony Sun Tzu Bermuda Crisis Tavarua Explorers of the North Sea America San Allies Crisis
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 #37
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Mini Rails Nightmare Forest: Alien Invasion The Ruhr Summit Seikatsu Tulip Bubble Covalence
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Joraku Michael Strogoff Minute Realms Castle Dukes Rajas of the Ganges Cytosis
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Ancestree Exodus Fleet Tak Mistborn: House War Expedition: RPG Card Game
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ShutterBug Divinity Derby Wakening Lair Planet of the Apes
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Vast: The Fearsome Foes Vast Miniatures Expansion Vast Bonus Cards Wildcatters Alexandria Tzolk’in
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Gretchinz! Button Men The Flow of History The Game of Nines
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Game Review Index (Issues 25-30)
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Game Nite Issue #37
Dicey Peaks Coldwater Crown Thanos Rising Peak Oil Wordoku
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Zombie Dice: Horde Edition Codenames: Marvel Fog of Love Cthulhu Dice
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Gearworks Grackles Maiden’s Quest The Veil
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Outpost: Siberia Outpost: Amazon Root Planetarium
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Shards of Infinity Blood Rage Mistfall: Chronicles of Frost
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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 31-36)
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Game Nite Issue #37
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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Tara Wolf: In Valley of the Kings Timebreaker Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard Frazetta: Card & Dice Battle Game RevoltaaA
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Fortresses & Clans Call To Adventure Gugong Wisdom of Solomon
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Embark Kings of Israel Terminator: Rise of the Resistance Cheese Quest Libraria
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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.
Jeff Rhind Jeff is a single father in Boston who also dabbles a bit in other writing projects as
well as playing the acoustic guitar. Gaming for many years has allowed him to share his love and appreciation of the hobby with family, friends, and on social media. As much as he likes solo gaming, Jeff always prefers playing with others especially his 10 year-old daughter who is currently a fan of Wingspan and Splendor. His 21 year-old son, when not playing the PS4, likes competitive/head-to-head games. You can follow Jeff on twitter @jeffrhind
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