Game Nite magazine issue 7

Game Nite

Issue # 7

the magazine of tabletop gaming

ee r F

y Pla d n e! t a nsid n i Pr me I Ga

GAME REVIEWS “A CROWDFUNDER’S STRATEGY GUIDE”

ANTOINE BAUZA DENNIS LOHAUSEN BOARD GAME HISTORY PT. 6

AND MORE!

IN THIS ISSUE: HISTORY

REVIEWS

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Boardgame History

Part VI The Renaissance

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BOOK REVIEW 08

18 Web of Spies Deckbuilder.

A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide Jeremy Stegmaier

EDUCATION 10

Games in Education Role of Mechanics in Gaming Community

INTERVIEWS 32

Antoine Bauza

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Dennis Lohausen

Game Designer.

Artist.

HOW TO 58

Build Your Own Game Insert Bill Braun

SOLO GAMING 68

Solo Gaming with Jeff Rhind

COMICS 71

Comics Game Night comic strip.

Cartography Go with Tiles.

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Xia: Legends of a Drift System Sci-Fi Sandbox.

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Orleans Bag Builder.

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Raiders of the North Sea Viking Placement.

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Hoyuk Neolithic Tiles.

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Wizards of the Wild Anthropomorphic Fun.

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Myths at War Myth based card game.

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Ring It! Chime in the Fun.

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Card Caddy

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Hogg Wild for Wealth Capitalist Card Game.

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Mystery on Mars.

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Game Nite Contributors

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Deck Box w/Discard Tray.

The Martian Investigations

PRINT AND PLAY

CONTRIBUTORS 72

Steam Works Engine Building.

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Eccentric Exhibits Robin David PnP

FROM THE GAMING TABLE

Game Nite ISSUE # 7

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ith the start of a new year upon us, we look forward to another year of enticing game releases, and to work towards providing you with even more content of interest. We have a lot of plans in store for the upcoming year, and we hope that you will continue to support our endeavors.

Cover Photograph by Serge Pierro.

Xia: Legends of a Drift System © Far Off Games

John Anthony Gulla continues his popular series on “The History of Tabletop Games”.

In Part VI, he covers the Renaissance and the introduction of playing cards.

Editor in Chief/Publisher: Serge Pierro

Bill Braun delivers three reviews this issue: “Raiders of the North Sea”, “Web of Spies”, and “The Martian Investigations”, as well as an article on tips for building a game insert.

Editor: Eric Devlin

With winter upon us, some of us may find ourselves stuck inside by ourselves because of a snow storm. Starting with this issue, Jeff Rhind will be highlighting solitaire games for those times when you... are your best opponent.

We’d like to thank Antoine Bauza for taking the time from his busy schedule to share with us his thoughts. We look forward to seeing how his co-designed “Attack on Titan” game turns out.

Special thanks to Dennis Lohausen for doing an interview in English and providing us with a wide assortment of artwork to choose from. We wish we had space for all of it!

Congratulations to Reiner Stockhausen & Tasty Minstrel Games (Orleans), as well as Jamey Stegmaier (A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide), for winning this issue’s “Editor’s Choice Awards”. Both are well deserved!

We’d also like to thank Robin David for his Print and Play game “Eccentric Exhibits”.

Feel free to print it out and give it a try!

Contributing Writers: Bill Braun David Niecikowski Kevin Lauryssen John Anthony Gulla Kevin Cox Jeff Rhind Photographers: Serge Pierro Bill Braun Jeff Rhind

If you are a writer, photographer, etc. and feel you have something unique to contribute to the magazine, feel free to contact us. We’d love to have you on board!

Follow us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/GameNiteMagazine

Serge Pierro

Visit us at:

www.gamenitemagazine.com

Editor in Chief

Follow us on Twitter:

editor@gamenitemagazine.com Issue #7

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History

The History of Tabletop Games

By John Anthony Gulla

Part VI - The Renaissance and the Invention of Playing Cards c.1370 - 1600 A.D.

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rance/Spain c. 1370 A.D.: Not long after the game of Chess became prevalent across Europe, the concept of using cards for games was introduced, thereby forming an altogether new genre and mechanism for tabletop gaming that contained within it a plethora of possibilities. Truth be told, however, evidence of rudimentary playing cards goes back much further in Central Asia (perhaps even as early as the 9th Century BC), and the roots of many of the ideas seen in the sort of playing cards familiarized in Europe during the early Renaissance can be traced directly back to Egypt and its surrounding territories up to 100 years prior.

Still, in the Annals of Western History (and going by the available historical record/evidence), the usage of playing cards and confirmation of their wide-spread adoption, due in part to the co-incidence of more affordable mass-production techniques, began as early as 1377 in France and likely even a few years before this in Iberia (present day Spain). From there, the notion of playing cards spread swiftly into other areas of Europe within a decade.

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The earliest cards from the period were handmade from paper or paper-like materials and featured exclusive painted art and designs on every card. This, of course, meant that the very wealthy were the few gamers who were able to own their own decks and that every deck was wholly unique. Such distinctiveness extended not only to the card’s appearance, but also insofar as how many cards and what type of cards (i.e., suits/ ranks) were included. According to various historical accounts, most 15th century decks maintained 4 suits, but suit symbols varied from region-to-region, with the inclusion of rank and face cards varying greatly as well.

Within a generation, though, woodcut reproductions became popular in Germany and quickly spread throughout Europe, making cards both more affordable to all and somewhat more standardized – at least by region/country-state. By the start of the 16th century, there were three main derivations of a deck of cards across Europe: the Germanic system, the Latin system, and the French system.

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Public Domain

The Germanic deck labeled the four suits as, Acorns, Bells, Hearts, and Leaves. These early Germanic decks, however, consisted of only 32 to 36 cards total, since each suit only included in them an Ace, 7, 8, 9, Unter, Ober, and a King. The “Unter” and “Ober” cards (which translate to “Under” and “Over,” respectively) were

akin to the modern ranks of Jack and Queen, and would seem to have been so named for the purposes of differentiation, since the art on them commonly showcased the Knave (i.e. Prince) for both ranks through a sort of “lesser” and “greater” Prince design motif. It is also noteworthy that doing so left the only Continued on next page>

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History (Cont.) female depiction in the entire Germanic deck relegated to the lowly Ace for all suits. More interestingly still is that these feminine Ace cards seem to have fallen out of favor entirely sometime during the 15th century, having been wholly replaced by a 2 (or “deuce”) instead!

The Ace was abandoned, and did not make its return in Germany and Switzerland until much later.

In contrast to the smaller card count found in the Germanic system, the Latin system (found primarily in Spain, Portugal and Italy), utilized at least 4 suits, included in it more numbered ranks and more face cards, and even added the comodine (i.e. a Joker or “Fool”) to their deck. The suits themselves were also different and the decks commonly included Ace through 9 with three or even four face cards in each suit. The Latin system suits were clubs, gold coins (literally “Golds”), cups, and swords. Unlike the more abstract, naturethemed Germanic suits, these Latin suits seem both more aggressive and mercantile in theme. Some sources even claim that the 4 suits represent the 4 major social classes of Latin society at the time: Clubs for peasants, Coins for merchants, Cups for The Church, and Swords for soldiers. The Aristocracy was reserved for use in the face cards, of course, which were often (in ascending order), the Knave (i.e. Prince), the Knight (with Horse), the Queen, and the King. Some existing examples of decks leave out the Knight, while some leave out the Queen.

made its way into other territories, including France, where it would eventually become known as a Tarot deck while the trionfi suit became known in France as the triomph. From this, one can easily infer that our modern day colloquialism of a “trump card” as well as the notion of the trump suit found in numerous card games today finds its humble beginnings there in Italy in the 15th Century. Moreover, this information conveys the early stages of the modern Tarot card deck, used much later (since the late 18th century) as a form of divination and oft associated with occult-mysticism.

Finally, it is known that in some decks, the fool, i.e. the equivalent of the joker, was indeed used as a “wild card” for some early card games in the region.

Lastly, the French system, which was destined to become the most popular deck in Europe and America in later centuries, borrowed elements from both the Germanic and Latin decks, while improving upon the functionality and overall design by simplifying suit symbols. The four well-known suits in the French system are hearts, pikes (later referred to as spades), tiles (later referred to as diamonds), and Clovers (later referred to as clubs).

Fascinatingly, it seems the Latin system’s “clubs” suit stuck in name only, adopting the French system’s clover symbol somewhere along the way. In addition to the French redesigning for simplicity with the card’s pips and suit symbols, the French also standardized the usage of the Queen for the face cards, dropping the Knight and/or the greater Knave so that the face cards in the These were not the only additions to Latin playing card French deck became the Knave (Prince), the Queen, decks, however. During the Mid-15th century, Italians and finally, the King in the early 15th century. With began to develop an even larger deck, including up to the French having succeeded in simplifying the design 21 more cards known as the trionfi. This qausi-5th suit of the suits for functionality, adopting the German was used in an early Italian trick-taking game called woodcut style of reproduction, and spreading their Tarocchini as a mechanic where it outranked all other influence through trade far and wide in the Americas suits when played. After some time, this larger deck and elsewhere, the French deck ultimately became the

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Public Domain

most well-known of the three systems. Nevertheless, decks from the Germanic and Latin systems can be found in Europe even today.

Through Spanish/Italian ingenuity and creativity, German efficiency and invention, and French graphic design and overall influence, the standard playing card deck of today was ultimately fashioned. Join me next time where we will cover the card games people played during this period (using all three major systems) and how to play them yourself. Until then, Enjoy the New Year!

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Book Review A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide

By Serge Pierro

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t is inevitable that in every area of interest there appears a book that gets designated as “the Bible”. With an impressive series of Kickstarter campaigns and a willingness to share both the ups and downs of running them, Jamey Stegmaier has delivered a book that is a must read for anyone interested in Crowdfunding a project.

This is where things get interesting, as he shows that the reasons for his successful projects is that he focuses on his customers and not himself. It is all about what you can do for your backers, as compared to how to make the most money. He stresses the importance of building a community. Chapter Six further develops this core concept.

This 200 page book is crammed with a great deal of information and you will likely find yourself re-reading it several times, savoring each nugget of information, until you have fully digested it and start to apply the principles to your work flow. The book is broken down into eleven chapters along with a resource section. The book is sparsely illustrated and this is a welcome note, as it leaves plenty of room for Stegmaier’s insights.

Chapter Seven is entitled “How to Make Friends and Lose Money”. There is a lot of information here that is relevant to specific topics within a campaign. Two of the big issues that are addressed are: the use of “Early Bird” rewards and shipping/fulfillment. This is a sobering read for those who engage in the use of “Early Bird” rewards within their campaigns. Shipping/Fulfillment is often the achilles heel of first time Kickstarter projects and this chapter will tell you what you need to know in order to stand clear of unseen potential problems.

Chapter One is entitled “You Don’t Have to Launch Today” and right off the bat you are greeted with some excellent advice. Upon reading the chapter you are given a plethora of pre-launch guidance that will enable you to launch your Crowdfunding project from a position of strength. The structure of this chapter is similar to the ones that follow, in which Stegmaier tells of either one of his experiences or that of someone else as a lead in and then addresses the topic at hand and offers great advice. The key part of this chapter is the inclusion of what he calls “The Definitive Prelaunch Checklist” which contains 12 points to be followed. This will be a make or break chapter for those considering pursuing this, as no punches are pulled and the amount of work necessary to bring you “up to game” might be a bit overwhelming to those who are unfamiliar with the practice. This chapter alone will save you a lot of heartache if you are a neophyte that has decided to Crowdfund without proper preparation.

Chapter Four is entitled “I Made These Mistakes So You Don’t Have To”. This includes a list of the “Top Ten Most Common Crowdfunding Mistakes”. There is a tremendous amount of useful information contained here. You will find yourself recognizing many of these mistakes as you peruse the various projects listed on Kickstarter. Having read this book several times now, I mentally check off the items presented as I take a look at various campaigns.

Following the chapters is the resource section. This includes the incredible “125 Crowdfunding lessons in 125 Sentences”. All of the previous information is condensed in an easy to read collection of insight and instruction. Although these have previously appeared on

Mr. Stegmaier’s blog, having them all in one place for easy reference is a plus. Also included is the “One Week Checklist”. This covers all of the essential steps leading up to the launch of your project.

There is so much useful information in this book that it is hard to write a review and not just ramble on about all of the brilliant material contained within. I’ve tried to pick out the highlights to give you an idea of what to expect, but truthfully this is a book that has life changing

qualities associated with it. If you are someone who is interested in Crowdfunding a project, then this is a book that you must read. The only regret that you may have, is that you hadn’t read it earlier.

Author: Jamey Stegmaier Publisher: Berrett-Kwehler Publishers, Inc.

Highly Recommended

Chapter Five develops an important concept that is used throughout the book and that is to “Make it About Them”.

www.bkconnection.com

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Education The Role of Game Mechanics in Gaming Communities

By David Niecikowski, ABD, MAED/CI

T

he last two articles primarily focused on game teaching and the considerations of player background and needs. Issue 5 presented how a player’s developmental level (Zone of Proximal Development) and historic, social-cultural interactions can shape a game teacher’s practices, beliefs, and theories of teaching games. Issue 6 discussed the importance of game teachers positioning themselves as ambassadors to provide a positive gaming experience to welcome and support new players. Based on a recent experience over the holidays, this article will focus more directly on player needs, specifically player perspectives on game mechanics and how it impacts game teaching and game literacy.

Since my boys where young, it has been a tradition in our family, like many gaming families, to play games over the holidays. We are always learning new games as I attempt to find games that will be of interest to all four of us. Lately we played Risk: Game of Thrones as I was wary of introducing the Fantasy Flight version due to its complexity and playing time. I considered that my family loved the show and that the rules would be accessible but different enough from regular Risk with the focus on completing objectives to earn 10 victory points, gold to purchase cards, leader abilities, Maester cards (one time ability cards), and ports that lessened geographical isolation. I thought the game would be a hit but for my wife and youngest son my prediction fell short as indicated in the following interviews: INTERVIEW #1 - SPOUSE What is your feelings about playing Risk: Game of Thrones?

I was excited at first because I really enjoyed the TV show. Once I started playing I started to not like it. I do not like games where you have to take over territories from someone else. I am not into those kind of games.

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Why do you not like these types of games?

I do not like picking on other people. I like games where you can do it all together to accomplish something. I do not like playing the kind of games where you have to kick someone out in order to win. I

like the kind of games where you are all a team together to win the game.

Why do you like games like Bang! the Dice Game, King of Tokyo, and Lords of Vegas?

They are fun and not too hard for me to understand. I usually lose and do not feel so bad letting other people win. They are not those ‘area’ games. I do not like ‘area’ games.

In Bang! and King of Tokyo you may have to kick someone out in order to win but you said you do not like these type of games. Why is there a difference between liking these two games and Risk?

I think the difference is that it is easier for me to understand what I am doing than in Risk. Unless it is a basic game, I struggle with the concept and what I am supposed to do and need assistance to play the game.

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Education (Cont.)

Are you willing to play games where you pick on other players or kick them out if you understand the how the game plays and the strategy of the game?

Yes, if I understood what I was doing on my own rather than having to count on someone helping me. With someone helping me I would not want to pick on this person and instead help them win.

So would you play a game like Lords of Vegas again where you have to control areas/territories and pick on other players?

Yes, I would because I understand it better and can play it without help. However, I can play it without really picking on anybody.

What would have to happen for you to want to play Risk: Game of Thrones again?

I would have to be talked into it because I don’t want to play it again. I would play it if my family really wanted to and I understood it better but I would want to try and win without picking on anybody.

It is important to note that my wife won Risk: Game of Thrones but with help in completing her last objective. She was able to gain most of her 10 victory points earning money without picking on anybody but then needed to be shown how to complete a military objective since she did not like attacking. So for my wife, it seems the primary factor in liking a game, other than the game being fun, is understanding how the game plays and with secondary consideration of the level of ‘take that’, picking on other players, game mechanics.

Based on how the interview evolved, she realized that

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area control was not the main deterrent to liking a game but rather her understanding of the rules and the degree of confrontational player mechanics.

INTERVIEW #2 - SON What is your feelings about playing Risk: Game of Thrones?

The game is good but I do not like area control games.

I liked the different character abilities.

Why do you not like area control games?

I feel like I have no control over what happens to me.

In a three player game two players could team up on me and players can ‘camp’ on some parts of the map.

You played in a 4 player game and the ports in the game made it hard to camp, is there anything else you would like to add?

I have not had a good experience with Risk in the past which ruined the game for me. I played regular Risk in the past where they added house rules and the game took too long.

Why do you like other area control games like Small World, Lords of Vegas, and Cyclades?

I like Small World because you have multiple characters where if you die you still get another character. In Lords of Vegas there is always a chance that you can earn money and I like the investment choices. In Cyclades I like the Greek mythology theme.

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What would have to happen for you to want to play Risk: Game of Thrones again?

I would only play if my mom wanted to play again.

Some possible conclusions can be drawn from the interview of my son. It seems that game mechanic of player elimination is more of a concern than the area control mechanic. It is interesting to note that a bad experience with Risk in the past has really affected his ability to enjoy a different version of Risk.

As the primary game teacher for my family, the reactions of sons and wife impact what games we will purchase and play in the future. I will make more of a conscious effort to play games with my wife that have mechanics that eliminate player confrontation (cooperative games), allow players to avoid confrontation (different paths to victory), or have minimal degree of player confrontation. With regard to my youngest son, it seems area control games are not a problem if the game also does not include the player elimination mechanic or the game is so unforgiving that when misfortune occurs, a player makes a mistake, or players team up on another player, that there is no chance to bounce back and win.

Finally, in terms of game literacy, the event presented in this article demonstrates an example of how experienced gamers can articulate their preferences for certain games through comparison and contrast analysis. However, this example has limited reproducibility with different players when considering my personal knowledge of these two players’ experiences which allowed me to generate more specific follow up questions. Thus,

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“With players new to gaming, similar questioning may not yield in-depth answers due to inexperience (lack of game literacy) and may not therefore be able to articulate why or why not they do not like a game, let alone compare and contrast similar games.� with players whose background is unknown I would likely need to ask questions to ascertain past playing history in order to generate any possible comparison and contrast responses. With players new to gaming, similar questioning may not yield in-depth answers due to inexperience (lack of game literacy) and may not therefore be able to articulate why or why not they do not like a game, let alone compare and contrast similar games. Whatever the response, it is important for a game teacher to encourage discourse without being judgmental and to listen to the needs of all players in order to create a supportive environment where all players have fun playing games they enjoy.

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Game Review

Steam Works

By Serge Pierro

Build an Engine

T

he “worker placement” mechanic continues to be popular amongst modern game designs, and while there are many examples of its use on the actual boards of the games, Steam Works takes the novel approach of actually building the areas in which players may place their workers. Using a Steampunk theme to create machines in which players may place their workers, Steam Works presents an fascinating look at building a worker placement engine from the ground up.

The Steam Works box is heavy due to the amount and weight of its components. Inside the box there are thirteen sheets of cardboard tiles and tokens that need to be punched, as well as a game board made of a heavy cardboard stock.

The 16 page rulebook is well illustrated and does a decent job of teaching and explaining the game, with a glossary explaining the use of each of the tiles. It should be noted that one of the tiles was mistakingly left out of the glossary, “Librarifier” which allows you to take any tile, depending on the energy source, from the relevant conveyor belt. Due to the potential complexity of the interaction between the elements, there is an online IAQ that goes deeper into explaining many of the subjects in the rulebook and it is well worth reading.

Also included are 8 player mats that are represented by a particular character. Each of the mats has an “A” and “B” side. All of the “A” mats have the same set of actions to choose from, however the “B” mats are more advanced with each mat having a different set of actions. I loved the fact that for a 2-5 player game there were eight mats included, thus allowing a nice selection to choose from instead of always having the same characters each game.

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For some strange reason the box insert didn’t seem to actually fit the box correctly, as the sides actually tilted in at a slight angle, thus not allowing the tiles to be able to be stored neatly across each of the two sections. I’m not sure how this got by the inspection, but it does make for the tiles to shift around when transporting.

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Also included are three types of custom, wooden meeples, the Mechanics, the Automatons and the first player Zeppelin token. As well as cardboard currency tokens, prestige point tokens and source multiplier tokens.

of the player mats all have the same available actions, they do not start with the same initial tiles. Each character has special tiles that have their picture on the back which represent their initial components. This was a nice touch as it was quick and easy to distribute these tiles, as long as To start the game, the board is setup as per the rulebook. you had originally separated them and placed them in one Each player will receive a player mat. Although the “A� side of the enclosed resealable plastic bags. Each player will Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) also receive two Mechanics of their chosen color, with the remaining two and the matching Automaton placed on the main board for later retrieval.

On a player’s turn they will place one of their Mechanics on an available space to take its action.

The first Mechanic each round is free, with the others having an additional cost as marked on the player mat.

At the beginning of the game players will only have the opportunity to place a Mechanic on their player mat.

As the game progresses they may place them on either their own or an opponents Device.

Devices are the key element to the game, as well as being the most interesting. Unlike other worker placement games, in Steam Works each player will actually construct the areas in which players will place their workers (Mechanics). This is an engrossing aspect of the game, as players try to create the best Devices that will entice the other players to use them.

The main reason you would want your opponents to use your devices is that whenever someone uses someone else’s Device, they are given a Clock token from the relevant stack which acts as both a unit of Prestige points for winning the game, as well as a timing mechanism for starting the next available Age, as well as being a trigger to end the game.

To build a Device, it needs to be constructed with the following basic rules. It needs to have at least one Source and at least one Component that share the same connection. There are three sources Clockwork, Steam and Electric. Sources and Components are connected by the relevant connectors. In order for a Device to work it must have the proper connection. Example: An Electric Source cannot power a Clockwork Component, etc. However, it is possible for a Device to have multiple Sources, each driving the relevant Component. The

beauty of the Devices is that when you place your Mechanic as an action it triggers all of the Components within the Device that are driven by the pertinent Source. It is not unusual to place a Mechanic and have three or more effects go off. It’s fascinating to see what players create.

The end of the game is triggered when the last Clock token is taken. Players will then add up the points printed on the Components of their devices, as well as any Prestige tokens and Clock tokens. The player with the most amount of points wins.

This was one of the most interesting games that I have played recently. I loved how players were given a free reign to create whatever Devices they were able to imagine with the Components on hand. Although the iconography took some getting used to, on repeated plays there was only a need to grab the rulebook once or twice for some clarification. I would love seeing an expansion added to the mix, as this would greatly add to the replayability, due to the fact that once players have honed in on specific tiles, it soon becomes clear that some tiles are more popular/stronger than others.

Players who enjoy creative and intellectually engaging games, will definitely want to check this out.

Designer: Alex Churchill Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games Number of players: 2-5 Mechanic: Worker Placement Ages: 12+ Length: 90-120 mins.

Recommended www.playtmg.com

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Game Review

Web of Spies

By Bill Braun

Secret Agent Deck Builder

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hat could possibly be more thrilling than assuming the identity of a secret agent? A spy that travels to exotic locations, engages in deadly combat, and uses their cunning instinct to form necessary alliances that will determine the fate of the world. How about running an entire agency of international spies? Web of Spies, designed and published by Cole Medeiros, encourages players to scatter their agents across the world, acquire powerful assets, and defeat their rivals. It certainly sounds exciting, like a page torn from an Ian Fleming novel. But even the most capable spy can run out of bullets, drive off the road, and seduce the wrong woman. Does Web of Spies have the training to keep things consistently locked and loaded?

Gameplay At its heart, Web of Spies is a light deck-building game with a good amount of strategy and “take that” elements of game play. 2-4 players each receive the same starting deck of cards: 7 Basic Spy Cards, 1 Black Car, 1 False Identity, and 1 Silenced Pistol. Each player places their agency of five spies on the board either at a single location or spread out across the globe. An asset pool of three cards – two face up public assets and one face down secret asset - are added to random cities determined by rolling one black and one white six-sided dice. The white dice result indicates the region the asset will be placed, while the black dice result is the specific city. These assets range from a variety of attack, defense, and sabotage cards (weapons, vehicles, and explosives, to name a few). Players shuffle their starting deck of 10 cards, draw five, and begin the game.

The objective of Web of Spies is simple - defeat your rival agents and be the player with the most spies on the board when any other player has been eliminated. This means that, unless you are in the lead, you may second guess eliminating an agency’s last spy. Timing is everything, and you may find yourself forced into an unwilling alliance to keep an enemy agency alive long enough to weaken a much stronger agency in order to win.

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Photo: Bill Braun

On their turn, a player will play cards either face up for their specific ability, or face down to move an agent they control to a connecting city, or to purchase an asset at a location their agent occupies. The cost to acquire all public assets are indicated on the face of the asset card, while secret assets always have a cost of two. Assets may only be purchased if they are uncontested – either an agent is alone in the asset’s location or they control that location with the majority of agents.

Web of Spies is seemingly split into two very distinguishable halves. The first half of the game is a race to obtain the greatest number and variety of assets, build up your deck, and prepare for the inevitable spy vs. spy battles to come. As soon as players become confident with their pool of assets, the game quickly turns to offense; the elimination of opposing agents through interesting, yet simplified, card combat.

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Game Review (Cont.) locations, depending on the attack card played) using one of the assets they have acquired during the game.

Each asset card displays the appropriate attack symbol (crosshairs), defense symbol (shield), or both (can be used for either attack or defense) in the upper left corner of the card. In addition to any special abilities that are detailed on the bottom of the asset, each card also displays up to three combat symbols: Binoculars (surveillance and awareness), Folder (information gathered), and Pistol (brute force and violence).

In order to defend against an attack, the defending player must play an asset that is clearly identified as a defense card AND matches at least one of the combat symbols displayed on the attack card. If successfully defended, the attacking player may choose to continue their assault by playing another asset attack card that now matches one of the combat symbols played by the defending player’s defense card. Once in combat, enemy agents continue to play cards back and forth in response to each other for as long as they have cards that counter the last card their opponent played. In the end, the combat will either eliminate a player’s agent, or the combatants will reach a stalemate.

This card combat is quick to learn, easy to understand, and undeniably thematic; even more so if the players encourage one another to describe the actions of their cards as they are played: “My agent pulls out an Uzi and sprays you with bullets…”

“Ha! Good thing I’m wearing a bullet proof vest.”

“No worries, my loyal group of armed thugs will get the job done…”

“My shotgun cuts them all in half.”

Adding to this fun card combat is the rule that players do not draw five new cards from their draw pile until the end of their turn. This can spell disaster for a player that just finished successfully defending from a lengthy battle. They may have kept their agent alive to fight another day, but on their turn their hand of playable cards has just been significantly reduced. Even more devastating, their next turn may not occur immediately and their agents have now become sitting ducks for other players that still have an opportunity to take action.

With almost 70 unique asset cards to play with, Web of Spies has a lot going for it and provides for a high degree of strategy, defensive positioning, and tactical maneuverability. However, as impressed as I am with the variety of asset cards, there are several in the deck that feel a bit overpowered. While I never thought the game suffered from imbalance issues, I would like to see some of the more powerful asset cards have equally powerful defensive cards made available as potential counter measures.

Theme and Components

“Have fun dodging this rocket launcher!”

“I saw that coming a mile away, jump into my black car, and drive away.”

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The asset cards – the driving force of the game – significantly contribute to the overall theme. More

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importantly, they make thematic sense when played. Laying down a bomb card when another player uses their jet as a move action is a wonderful form of sabotage – boom goes the dynamite AND the jet.

Bullets easily ricochet off an armored truck that has been played to defend against an Uzi attack. A rocket launcher is incredibly powerful, but rolling a six before using it trashes the card and immediately ends combat.

Why? Because the damn thing blew up in your face, why else.

From a component standpoint, Web of Spies comes out on top. I immediately fell in love with the game’s artwork. Artist Christine MacTernan is spot on with every linen-finished card. Whether it was the basic spy cards that each player starts with (21 unique images), or the large variety of asset cards, her ability as an artist cannot be overstated. The art style - a combination of black and white with sporadic splashes of color and incredible shading - gives the game a gritty and cinematic feel, reminiscent of a graphic novel and, in particular, the images incorporated into Remedy’s PC game, Max Payne.

Final Thoughts Something about Web of Spies immediately jumped out at me when I first saw it listed on Kickstarter. Perhaps it was the idea of playing as a spy, a theme I feel is severely under-utilized in board games. Or, maybe it was the overall sincerity of the game’s designer as he described his game ideas. Regardless, backing the project was an immediate reaction and I couldn’t be more pleased with the final product. I have played Web of Spies with my

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Photo: Bill Braun

gaming group(s), with my wife, and with my 9 and 10-year-old daughters. The simplicity of the rules and immersive gameplay have consistently won over each and every group. With a handful of variants to alter the game play and a solid experience across two, three, and four players, Web of Spies is an all-around enjoyable gaming experience.

Designers: Cole Medeiros Publisher: Self Published Number of players: 2-4 Mechanic: Deck Building, Hand Management Ages: 14+ Length: 60 mins.

Recommended www.web-of-spies.com

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Game Review Cartography

By Serge Pierro

Caracassonne Meets Go

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artography is a game that combines the tile laying aspects of Carcassonne with the venerable strategy game Go. The results are a game that is strategic and always interesting, as the board itself is different every game.

The 12 page rulebook is deceptive, only one page lists the rules. The other pages are for the rules in various languages. The back cover offers three examples that are referenced on the rules page, however there is no mention of this. A simple “see page 12” would have made things easier, instead of a mysterious “2A” appearing in a sentence with no explanation.

The components include 30 orange and 30 blue, wooden discs, as well as the 48 region tiles. The tiles have a linen finish and have a black back with a subtle graphic design. It should be noted that there is another version of the game available which uses tiles made of Birch wood and have laser etched rivers and markings. This would make a nice upgrade for players who are interested in a more durable and organic looking game.

Although Cartography is essentially an abstract game, the publisher felt the need to paste on a theme from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This is almost as useful as pasting a theme on Chess or Go. The game is strong enough to stand on its own and the “forced” theme is a distraction. Fans of Romance of the Three Kingdoms will find nothing to relate to, other than the names of the Shu Han and Cao Wei kingdoms.

To begin the game, players will assemble a hexagon from the six basic tiles in the middle of the play area and sort the remaining tiles off to the side, each in their own respective stack. The stacks add an interesting element to the game. Unlike tile laying games such as Carcassonne, players are able to choose the tile in which they would like to play. Instead of it being a game with random possibilities, players can build a strategy of their own creation, by planning ahead which tiles they would like to use and in what order. This removes the randomness from the game and further strengthens its strategic element.

After the hexagon has been formed, the first player (orange tokens) will choose a tile from a stack and connect it to the starting formation, making sure that all of the edges match those of the tile(s) they are connecting to.

After placing the tile, the player then has the option to claim territory by placing one of their tokens anywhere where there are no other tokens present. This introduces the first element of Go, the claiming of territory.

Another element of Go is the concept of surrounding your opponents tokens and capturing them. Like Go, the concept of “eyes” and “liberties” come into play. As long as tokens have at least one open tile next to them, they can’t be captured. These open lands represent

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“liberties” for those who are familiar with Go. If there are no open lands attached to that group, the group of tokens is captured and kept by the player who captured them.

The game ends when the stacks of tiles have been depleted and the players are unable/unwilling to place any of their remaining tokens. Players will count their tokens on the board, plus any tokens captured, and the player with the most wins.

As a tournament Go player who also enjoys playing Carcassonne, this seemed like something I would enjoy, and it is. The ability to build the board each game removes the element of rote memorization of openings (though one could say that after X amount of games an opening theory could emerge) and allows players to create a unique game each time they play. I loved how players had open information as to what tiles were available, as this not only allowed for creativity, but it allowed the player who was not on the move to be able to plan their own strategy while waiting for their turn. I have always disliked the random draw element of games like Carcassonne or The Duke, as games are often decided on the drawing or not drawing of a tile. Cartography does away with the randomness and yields an excellent gaming experience. This game will appeal to all players who enjoy strategic, open information games.

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Designer: Jon Adams Publisher: Playford Games Number of players: 2 Mechanic: Abstract Strategy Ages: 10+ Length: 20 mins.

Recommended www.playfordgames.comÂ

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Game Review

Xia:

Legends of a Drift System

By Serge Pierro

Galactic Sandbox

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ow is it that I’m not a fan of “roll and move” or “dice driven combat”, yet I enjoy “Xia: Legends of a Drift System”? Let’s take a look at why this game caused me to reevaluate my preferences and find out what makes this game enjoyable.

The large oversized box contains an assortment of high quality components that will leave you stunned. This was clearly a labor of love, as designer Cody Miller and Far Off games spared no expense in the production of this game. The box includes two custom formed plastic insert trays, one black and the other clear. I’m not really sure why there are two separate inserts instead of one, but each of them are nicely done. The black insert holds the Sector tiles, decks of cards, Cargo cubes and the ship miniatures on stands. The clear one holds the metal coins, Outfits, Damage markers and the other assorted components.

The beautiful 20 page magazine sized rulebook does a great job of teaching the game, as well as providing background story/info on the sectors. This further adds to the immersion element that permeates much of the game, which will satisfy many fans of the Sci-fi genre. There are an abundance of illustrations and examples throughout and each component has its own section so that everything is covered.

Let’s take a look at some of the standout components.

Obviously the first thing that jumps out at you are the 21 prepainted miniature ships. As one would expect these are not museum quality paint jobs, but they are certainly more than adequate for the task at hand. Since there are three levels of

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ships and the game plays up to five players, there is a nice variety of ships to choose from. The ships display nicely on their clear, elevated, plastic stands.

Another component that exceeds expectations is the inclusion of two types of metal coins, 10 blue coins (5000 credits) and 30 silver coins (1000 credits). Each of these feature a nice design, as well as having a great solid feel and sound.

As far as the rest of the components are concerned, they are all top notch. The cards, Sector tiles and Outfits are all linen finished. All of the plastic cubes have rounded off sides and corners, and the unique damage markers standout with their gem-like design. As previously stated, there were no corners cut in the production of this game.

While it is easy to “ooh and aah” over the components, the real question is how does it play?

Xia is what is known as a “sandbox” game. This means there’s freedom to approach the game as you like, of course while staying within the boundaries of the rules.

This allows you to choose a ship and configure it how you wish and then freely play the game as you desire.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Without predefined roles, the players are given the creative impetus to become engaged in a game that they can freely make decisions, without any preconceived constraints forced upon them, other than the ruleset.

Each player will spend 3000 credits on Outfits to equip their ship. The offerings include: Engines, Missles, Shields and Blasters. Each one of these cost either 1000, 2000, or 3000 credits and have abilities that reflect their cost. These “Tetris” shaped objects have to fit the grid on the associated ship. You are free to choose what you like as long as they fit. You can buy an Engine for 3000 credits and be able to fly greater distances or perhaps you would like an engine for 1000 and a shield for 2000 as you fear being attacked, etc. Players who are interested in pick up and deliver should keep in mind that they will need to leave space available for the necessary Cargo Cubes, as well as realizing that if they take any damage the empty spaces and the Outfits themselves will be filled and cause negative effects.

After following the setup directions within the manual, each player will take a turn consisting of an Action Phase, Business Phase and Status Phase. The Action phase is the bulk of the game, whereas the Business Phase is only when you have landed on a planet and the Status Phase is more of a “clean up” phase. Let’s take a look at each.

During the Action Phase players will be moving around the Sector tiles that currently form the board. Should a player wish to expand the board

by Exploring, they have two choices to stop their movement at the edge of an existing tile and spend one energy to take a Sector tile from the draw pile and place it in the relevant area, making sure to match the symbols on the tiles. They can also Blind Jump and place the tile as above, except they now have to move onto the new tile and this can result in catastrophe as they may wind up in an asteroid field

or a star and take serious damage or die outright. A risky endeavor for sure, but there are times when it might be worth the risk.

During the Action Phase players may also Attack, pick up and deliver Cargo, try to complete Missions, as well as any combination of the above. This can lead to some downtime for players in a five player game, as each player can take as many actions per turn that they can afford. This can be problematic, but players are usually immersed in the experience and bantering amongst themselves.

The endgame condition for the game is variable.

You can choose to end the game at 5 Fame points or go for an epic 20 Fame point game… or anything in between. This is yet another feature that allows you to tailor the experience to whatever you are interested in.

I have barely touched upon all of the nuances and elements within the game. For fans of the Sci-fi genre or Ameritrash games, this can keep you satisfied for a long time, as long as you are comfortable with all of the random elements within the game (the combat is dice driven). There is a good amount of replayability.

Although my preference is for Eurogames, I found this to be a game where you are drawn into an entertaining, thematic experience in which you can cast aside heavy decision making and just roll the dice and have some fun.

Designer: Cody Miller Publisher: Far Off Games Number of players: 3-5 Mechanic: Modular Board Ages: 13+ Length: 60-180 mins.

Recommended www.faroffgames.com

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Game Review

Orleans

By Serge Pierro

Brilliant Bag Builder

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ver the last several years we’ve grown accustomed to various game related nomenclature such as “worker placement”, “deck builder”, “drafting”, etc. Orleans adds to this mix by using a mechanism called “bag building”, which is related to “deck building” except that tiles are placed and drawn from a bag. Is this a cute gimmick, or is it something more substantial? Let’s find out…

The first thing you notice upon holding the box in your hands is that it is heavy… quite heavy. This is because it is packed with a wide range of components and the quality of the cardboard is high. There is no insert included, but the box gets packed to the brim when all of the components are enclosed in the resealable bags.

The 12 page rulebook is heavily illustrated and breaks down each game phase and a detailed breakdown of each of the components. The back of the book also includes a detailed breakdown of the events and the Place tiles. It will allow you to get up and running quickly, while at the same time providing additional information during the game when needed.

Since this is a “bag building” game, there are four, vividly colored bags included. The velvet bags include a drawstring which can aid in storing components, though it seems unnecessary. They are fairly large and are of a decent quality, so they should last for a while.

The four panel game board is made of a very heavy stock cardboard and captures the feel of the time period nicely. Kudos to Klemens Franz for the simple, yet thematic, artwork that adorns the game. The four player mats and the “Beneficial Deeds” board are all made of a sturdy cardboard, though not as thick as the main board.

Each player receives a set of wooden components. While the rest of the components are in two different grades of cardboard. The 104 Character tiles, 16 Technology tiles and the First player marker are of a very heavy stock similar to the game board, whereas the remaining components are of a stock

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similar to the player mats. There are over 300 components included in the box.

To start the game, each player will take a Player Board, cloth bag, and a set of items that match the color they are playing (Four starting Characters, Cubes, Trading Stations and Merchant Token). The manual does a great job of showing how to set up the Game Board for play.

The main actions during each round are:

Draw Character tiles out of your bag and place them on the Market spaces on your Player Board. The number Turn over the top Hour Glass tile and note its effects drawn equals the amount designated on the Knight for the current round. There are 18 tiles and these are track. used as a timing mechanism for the game. Once the stack is depleted, the game ends at the end of that round.

Place your Characters on the associated spaces on the Player Board for the Action in which you want to take.

Players check to see who has the most/least Farmers. If you meet the conditions, the Action is triggered. An The player who is furthest along the Farmer Track unfulfilled Action can be completed and triggered on a receives one coin. The player who is furthest behind has later turn. to pay one coin. If either are tied, there is no reward/ penalty.

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Game Review (Cont.)

In order, each player is then able to resolve one of the Actions on their board. This continues in player order until everyone passes. When an Action is resolved, the Characters used and those obtained are placed into the player’s bag.

The Town Hall area is one of the more interesting Places on the Player Board. A player may place either one or two of their Characters (they may not be any of their starting Characters) here, and as an Action they may remove them from the game and place them on the “Beneficial Deeds” board. This does two things; players The aforementioned Hour Glass tile for the current are able to thin out their bags of unwanted Characters, round is now resolved. while at the same time obtain the benefits granted from the “Beneficial Benefits” board. You can think of this There are ten actions that can be taken on the Player as “Trashing” from games like Dominion, yet with the Boards. Six of them require three Characters, whereas perk of actually receiving a reward for doing so. the other four require only two. The three along the top of the Player Board allow players to move their At the end of the game players will add up their points Merchant Token along a road or waterway, as well as in all of the categories and the player with the most building a Trading Post in a town that doesn’t already points wins. contain one. These are essential Actions should a player decide to focus on a “map strategy”.

Orleans is one of the best games that I have played this past year. There are many interesting decisions to Four of the remaining actions involve obtaining be made, yet it is never overwhelming. The multiple additional Characters to put into your bag. The two paths to victory is nicely implemented. This is a game beneficial effects of using these actions is that you obtain where multiple plays reveal more and more possibilities. a new Character tile of the relevant type and you get to The ability to customize your strategy with the use move along the track of the associated Character. This of the Builder/Places allows for some creativity to be gives additional bonuses each time a player moves along incorporated into the gameplay, as each player can tailor the same track. Case in point: At the start of the game their purchases to the strategy they want to pursue. you are limited to drawing four tiles out of the bag at This was nominated for the Kennerspiel Award, yet it the start of your turn. However, each time you obtain a somehow lost to Broom Service, but for my money this is Knight Character you may move up the track associated a much better game. There is also a deluxe version that with the Knight and each time you do you increase the contains wooden components. Serious fans may want amount of tiles that you may draw at the start of your to consider this, as this is a game that will be hitting the turn. Like everything in this game, there are multiple table often! paths to pursue and various strategies to employ!

One of the most popular Characters you can pursue is the Monk, as he is a wildcard that can be used in place of any other Character.

The Trader Character allows you to build Places.

These can be considered extensions of your personal Player Board that only you have access to. They provide various opportunities for supplementing your strategy.

Designer: Reiner Stockhausen Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games Number of players: 2-4 Mechanic: Bag Builder Ages: 12+ Length: 90 mins.

Highly Recommended www.playtmg.com

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31

Interview

Antoine Bauza

By Serge Pierro

“Antoine Bauza is an award winning game designer.”

Game Designer Who are your favorite authors?

When did you first become interested in designing games?

In random order: Jacques Zimet, Alex Randolph, Vladaa Chvatil

I remember that I was very young.

I used to modifiy the existing games I played as a kid. I think I designed my first game from scratch around when I was 10 years old. It was very bad, but I spent a lot of time and energy on it. I would like to find the prototype one day, it may be somewhere in the attic!

Do you feel your background as a school teacher has had an impact on your approach to game design?

I’m not sure of the impact of one on the other, but the two jobs share some common skills (mathematics, pedagogy, sociology and psychology). I used boardgames in my class and had kids designing games as class projects.

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If you had the opportunity to design a game around a novel, which one would it be?

Antoine Bauza Designer 7 Wonders Takaido

Hanabi Ghost Stories www.antoinebauza.fr

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Discworld! But, several games are already be made based on the novels, so I missed the opportunity to do so. Same for Joss Whedon’s Firefly (well, it’s a TV show, not a novel, but I love it).

What are your favorite games to play?

Right now, I will go with Codenames, Imperial Assault, Blood Bowl Team Manager, 8-28, Pictel, Edrich Horror, Machi Koro.

All-time: Kaker Laken Poker, Im Schatten Des Kaiser, Galaxy Trucker, Schotten Toten and Magic the Gathering.

When you start to design a game, do you generally start with a theme or a mechanic?

I usually start with a story I want to tell, of the playing experience I want to bring to the table.

Mechanics are tools, so I almost never start with them.

How do you go about designing a tough co-op game such as Ghost Stories or Samurai Spirit? How do you know at which point the game is “difficult” or “unsolvable”? Once you arrive at this point do you scale it back a bit to make it “easier” or do you push it “a little” to make it more difficult?

Tuning the difficulty is the most tricky part when you are designing a cooperative game.

Difficulty is relative to the playing group, and playing groups differ a lot from one to another. Ghost Stories is hard, and maybe a little too hard, because I playtested it a lot and my playing group got very good at it. Overall, I think cooperative games should be hard to win, because the playing experience is stronger when the difficulty is high. That’s why I tuned Samurai Spirit to be hard, too.

Do you feel that the philosophy of Aikido in which you may defend yourself, yet also keeping the welfare of your attacker in mind, has influenced your game designs? Case in point, your games don’t feature direct conflict.

I’m not a competitive human being, that’s why I enjoy/design cooperative and non competitive games and that’s why I enjoy Aikido. I guess our world can use a little more cooperation, so I intend to stick with this value :)

Who among your game design peers do you admire?

Vladaa Chvatil because he is able to design a wide range of different playing experiences.

Is there a designer that you haven’t had the opportunity to work with, but would welcome the opportunity in doing so?

Senji Kanai

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Interview (Cont.)

How is working with a co-designer different than working by yourself?

It’s very different! You have to find a common ground, to go outside our confort zone. You learn a lot about your job by co-designing.

It’s a very rich experience, professionally and humanistically. It also more efficient from a development perspective, because you get to run twice as many playtests and get a lot of feedback to improve your prototypes.

The theme and violence of “Attack on Titan” seems to be quite a departure from your usual game themes, what is it like working on a project that is seemingly outside your comfort zone of more peaceful themes.

vs. large group of Titans element and the game play would revolve around the defending of the three walls. However, you chose to bring it down to a handful of humans vs. a specific Titan. How did you go about choosing the more “up close and personal” As a matter of fact, I don’t think that Attack on vision as compared to a more “distant” map oriented Titan is outside my confort zone! It’s a game board game? with a strong theme and story, it’s a 1 vs. Team gameplay. Yes, it’s fighting game, but it’s nearly a cooperative game. It also have some special features, it is vertical, and I love to have one of those features in my games.

My initial impression about an “Attack on Titan” game was that there would be a human/military

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Well, when I came to Ludovic and said “How do you feel about designing an Attack on Titan game”?, he was very excited and the first idea we had, right at the on the spot, was “We should having Heros climbing up a Titan to fight it”. We never second guess this idea, because we loved it from the start.

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The one thing that stands out about your designs is that they are all so different. While some designers have a distinctive style, you keep coming up with ideas that are uniquely yours, and yet they can’t be easily associated with you. What do you feel ties together the design elements of games such as “Hanabi”, “Tokaido”, “Takenoko”, and “7 Wonders” that make them “Antoine Bauza” designs?

I like to design different games, that’s right. I don’t like to do the same things several times, I get bored easily. So, when I will have the feeling that I’m designing new games that feel like my old, I’ll stop designing games! I guess this day will happen, but I have more stories I want to tell first!

What game of yours do you feel best represents you as a designer, and why?

Like you pointed out in your previous question, you have to look at my entire work to find that represent me the most as a game designer.

Picking one is not enough, I guess.

What advice would you give to aspiring game designers?

Design gameS, with a capital “S”! You need to design games to learn how to design games, so don’t get stuck with your one and only project.

Watch and listen your playtesters carefully. You will improve your prototypes a lot by observing them being played. Keep an open mind.

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Game Review

Raiders of the North Sea

By Bill Braun

Viking Worker Placement

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here has been a recent surge in Viking popularity.

The fourth season of the History channel’s television show is scheduled to begin in the next few months (fantastic show, btw), and the tabletop industry has seen a number of highly rated board games delivered just this past year that embrace the Viking theme. Most notable is Eric Lang’s Blood Rage, selected by both Tom Vasel and Sam Healey from the Dice Tower as their pick for the number one game of 2015. Right on its heels is Champions of Midgard, a game that has been given the Dice Tower’s Seal of Excellence. Jarl: The Vikings Tile-Laying Game and Fire and Axe: A Viking Saga aren’t necessarily new releases, but they further enhance the notion that Vikings, and Viking-themed games are on the rise. The most recent addition, thanks to the efforts of game designer Shem Phillips and his hugely successfully Kickstarter, is Raiders of the North Sea. Raising almost seven times the game’s actual pledge goal, Raiders of the North Sea has clearly set its sails for victory, but is the game’s flashy components and unique worker placement mechanics enough to keep it from sinking into obscurity?

Gameplay In Raiders of the North Sea, 2-4 players will work to assemble their crew of Viking Warriors, collect the necessary provisions, and journey north to plunder a variety of gold, iron, and livestock. Set in the central years of the Viking Age, there is glory to be found in battle, even at the hands of the Valkyrie.

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To set up the game, all of the wooden Plunder components (gold, iron, and livestock), along with the Valkyrie tokens, are mixed into the included draw bag and then randomly placed onto each raiding space of the game board. Any remaining items are removed from the bag and added to the general supply for future use. The 16 Offering Tiles are shuffled together and stacked facedown, with three tiles placed face up at the Long House location of the Viking Village.

These Offering tiles can be purchased throughout the game and yield additional victory points during final scoring. Lastly, each player is dealt five Townsfolk cards (choose three, discard two), receives two silver coins, one black worker Meeple, and a ship card of their chosen color.

Gameplay for Raiders of the North Sea is simple, yet provides for a number of options and, eventually, a fair amount of strategy. Proceeding clockwise, each player will either Work or Raid. Regardless of their choice, each turn always follows the same pattern: Place a worker and resolve its action; pick up a worker and resolve it’s action. At the end of their turn, players are limited to holding no more than eight silver, eight provisions, and have eight cards in their hand (the rule of eight). When there is only one set of plunder left in the Fortress, the Offering draw pile is empty, or there are no more Valkyries left on the board, the game will end and the player with the most victory points will live out the remainder of their days basking in the glory of Valhalla.

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Raiders of the North Sea does a fantastic job of slowly increasing the level of strategy. Because each player begins the game with only a single black Meeple, the initial options of worker placement are limited. The goal is to build up your hand of potential warriors, hire the best to create a battle-hardened crew, gather the necessary provisions for the long journey, and raid the available Harbours, Outposts, Monasteries, and Fortresses of their plunder. However, visiting the necessary Village and Raid locations generally has specific worker and/ or crew requirements. Some require a specific type of worker (black, grey, or white) that may not be available until later in the game. Other locations, in typical worker placement style, can only accommodate for one worker at a time, essentially blocking other players from taking the same action. As raids progress, different colored workers will be obtained and be available to use at new locations in the Village, yielding a greater variety of benefits. The mechanism of placing a worker and then taking a worker promotes a significant shift in the future actions players will have available throughout the game.

Victory points are scored when a raid is completed. The further inland the raid is (Monasteries and Fortresses) the higher the requirements (number of Vikings, amount of provisions and gold) and the greater the reward. Some of the more “difficult� raids dictate the total number of victory points by how strong your Viking crew is.

The player rolls one or two dice and adds the result to the strength of their crew, the level of their armor track (that can be raised by spending coins or silver at the Armoury), and any specific crew actions that are clearly stated on the individual Villager cards. The total is compared against the military strength of the location raided and the player is granted that number of victory points.

While I like the idea of spending turns to increase the armour track (which also provides additional victory points at the end of the game), the notion of building up your crew to be the strongest it can be falls somewhat flat when raids are always successful, regardless of the military strength you have. Of course, you will want to have a strong crew to be rewarded the highest number

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Game Review (Cont.)

Photo: Bill Braun

clearly identifying each location’s worker requirements and the actions that are available. The wooden Meeples and plunder are cut in a variety of shapes, and the silver (metal) coins are beautifully etched and have a nice weight to them; delivering a solid clank when dropped But it’s not all fame and glory. During the random into a pile. Just as impressive is the variety and style placement of plunder for each Raid location, there is of art that was employed for the 71 Townsfolk cards. also the possibility that a number of Valkyrie tokens Corners were most assuredly not cut when Raiders of the will be included. When a raid has been completed, a North Sea was being produced. member of your crew is killed for each Valkyrie token that was taken. While this may cause a player to spend However, I expect a game that incorporates the Viking future actions hiring new crewmembers, a Viking’s history to be exceptionally strong in theme. While the death adds points to the Valkyrie track that are included visuals for Raiders of the North Sea has a moderate grasp to the end game scoring. After all, victory is found in of Viking lore, the theme does tend to wear off as the game progresses and players begin to focus more on the warm embrace of Valhalla. the worker placement mechanism and scoring points, and less on the idea of leading a clan of Vikings on raid Theme and Components missions. This is further reflected in my earlier critique Raiders of the North Sea is generally only available to that raids are successful regardless of the strength of Kickstarter backers and through the designer’s website the raiding party. I feel this is a missed opportunity for (garphill.com). Consequently, the focus seems to be less the designer to further enhance the theme by making on mass production and more so on developing a game the consequences of a “failed” raid more detrimental. with very high production value. The 6-way folded Perhaps the leader of the raiding party is forced to leave game board delivers a wonderful sense of scope, while the clan? Or a large portion of the plunder is contributed to the clan’s Jarl? of victory points available, but the plunder that comes with the raid is always taken. This somewhat breaks the theme for me and I would have preferred there be greater consequences when raiding with a weaker crew.

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Photo: Bill Braun

Final Thoughts Raiders of the North Sea has a lot going for it. It is a very easy game to teach, learn, and play – regardless of skill level. The mechanic of placing a Meeple and taking a Meeple makes for an extremely fluid experience, and the game does a wonderful job of easing the player into a greater variety of strategy as the game progresses.

Although the presentation and components are incredibly strong, the overall theme does tend to fall flat as the game progresses. Regardless, if you have enjoyed worker placement games in the past and are looking to try something new, I urge you to contact the developer through his website and order the game now while there are still copies available.

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Designer: Shem Phillips Publisher: Garphill Games Number of players: 2-4 Mechanic: Worker Placement Ages: 12+ Length: 60-80 mins.

Recommended

www.garphillgames.com

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Game Review

Hoyuk

By Serge Pierro

Neolithic Tile Layer

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ile laying is a popular game mechanism, and of course one can’t mention it without bringing up Carcassonne. And while Carcassonne is certainly an excellent game, there are times when you are looking for a play experience that has a bit more depth. We will be taking a look at an interesting tile laying game in which players are looking to build a community in the Neolithic period, while at the same time trying to cope with the natural disasters of the times.

Hoyuk comes packed with a lot of quality components. There are 165 tiles broken down into 40 pens, as well as 25 tiles for each of the five clans. The clan tiles are differentiated by both the illustration, as well as the roof being a specific color. An assortment of custom meeples are included: 20 Villagers, 20 Shrines, 20 Ovens, 20 Cattle, and a Shaman Meeple. Also included are mini cards for the Aspect and Catastrophes decks, as well as 12 Construction cardboards. Perhaps the most impressive component is the large game board which nicely portrays the area in which the players will be attempting to build their community.

The oversized 20 page rule book is well illustrated and covers all of the various game types: Basic, Medium and Advanced.

Each phase of the game is broken down and is accompanied with examples. It also includes an FAQ. As mentioned above, there are three different game types available. We would only recommend the Basic game for those who are interested in quickly learning how to play the game, however experienced gamers will probably want to skip both the Basic and Medium games and immediately move onto the

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Advanced game. Essentially the main difference is that the Advanced game uses all of the game components, thus presenting the players with additional options and more strategic decisions.

To begin the game players will set up the board according to the instructions in the rulebook and

then choose which clan they want to play. Game play is simple, there are four phases per round: Construction 2x, Check for Catastrophes, Aspect cards, and the End of the Round.

The cardboards designate what the player will be able to build that turn. A typical cardboard will allow a player to build two huts and then one of the other categories; ovens, temples, pens, etc. After each build, the cardboards are discarded and players move onto the The Construction phase is done twice, and both next phase. A key decision during this phase is whether times each player is dealt a Construction cardboard. to build your huts as normal, or build on top of a hut.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Building a second story is beneficial for two reasons. The second story will be used as a tie-breaking mechanism during block inspections, as well as being an aspect that is rewarded during the Medium and Advanced games.

In the Catastrophe phase, the top card from the Catastrophe deck is revealed and the results resolve.

There are 24 separate events and they are listed in the rulebook. The effects can be quite devastating at times and can easily disrupt your strategy. The one saving grace is that there is a Shaman that can be obtained on one of the Construction cardboards that allows him to be placed on a hut in a block. All of the elements within that block are immune to the effects of the catastrophe and the Shaman is then returned to its place on the board and can only be brought back into play when the relevant Construction cardboard is played.

The Aspect phase is the most important one for the acquisition of victory points. During this phase players will inspect each of the blocks on the board and see who has the most of each Aspect within that block.

The winner will receive the top card from the relevant stack of cards on the board. The Basic game only checks Ovens, Temples and Pens, whereas the Advanced game checks all of them. The cards are then used for either scoring points or obtaining additional Elements. It is important to note that only the icon in the upper left corner is used, as you are looking to increase the amount of these to score the most points, the larger pictures are only for “flavor” and are ignored for scoring purposes.

The last phase is the End of Round phase and here players will take any Aspect cards they have played and each of them will place all of their used cards under any one stack of cards on the board. They may not place them in an empty area. This is an important strategic element within the game, as you don’t want a stack to run out of cards if you are consistently winning that category. Once this is completed, the first player token is passed and a new round begins.

Play continues until a player places their 25th tile (or whatever number is agreed upon at the start of the game), this triggers the end of the game and players complete that round. The winner is determined by the score on the track plus cards in hand and bonuses for the most huts in a block. The most points win.

Ever since playing the original German edition of Carcassonne, I’ve always been fascinated in tile laying games and this one is no exception. Although the game play is simple, there is a level of depth that makes the game engaging. Since it is necessary to build at least five blocks of multiple families on the board to score the most points via Aspect cards and trigger your Clan’s ability, you are constantly juggling the decision of when to expand and where, as well as how you are going to invest the available resources across all of these blocks.

This is a good looking game that many will find appealing. There is variety in the game play, as you can choose to play with the house rules for a short Basic game using only 15 or 20 huts, or use all 25 tiles and all of the options for a longer game of more strategic depth. Although it may be considered heresy, I would prefer to play this over Carcassonne, seeing as it is a deeper gaming experience. If you enjoy tile laying games, then this is a game you will certainly want to take a look at.

Designer: Pierre Canuel Publisher: MAGE Company Number of players: 2-5 Mechanic: Tile Placement Ages: 10+ Length: 60 mins.

Recommended

www.magecompany.com

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Game Review

Wizards of the Wild

By Serge Pierro

Anthropomorphic Magic Contest

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t’s always nice when you sit down and play a new game, that it exceeds your expectations as to the size of the box that it came in. “Wizards of the Wild” is such a game, as it delivers a lot of game play within a fairly small box.

The box that is approximately the size of a VHS box, though a bit deeper. The cover art is a glimpse of the quality of the artwork that you can expect inside. The insert does a nice job of storing the included items and keeps them from moving about.

The full color, 16 page rulebook is quite comprehensive and includes a “Questions and Answers” section that deals with specific cards and game play. One caveat is that there was some ambiguity on if each round started with the same player or if the “first player” moved to the next player. We played both and feel that it is necessary to switch, as going later in the turn is a distinct advantage as to trying to avoid the accumulation of skulls.

The deluxe edition of the game comes with ten beautifully illustrated player mats, a scoring mat, six custom dice, 48 Arcane cards, 46 Challenge cards, 14 Acolyte cards and wooden cubes and discs for keeping track of resources and the score.

To begin the game, each player will choose one of the Character mats and a set of colored cubes/discs. They will place the cubes on the spots marked on the mats and the disc will be put on the “10” spot on the scoring mat. Although the wooden cubes look nice, they seem to be made of a very light wood and were easily moved by light accidental contact. Players may wish to substitute glass beads or other heavier components in case this proves to be a problem.

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The Arcane, Challenge and Acolyte decks need to be prepared before the game starts. Depending on the amount of players, “X” amount of cards are used for the level “I” of both the Arcane and Challenge decks and they are shuffled and placed on top of the level “II” cards. For a four player game this would be 10 cards. Two Arcane and two Challenge cards are turned over and displayed, as these will be the cards that will be first available for purchase. Randomly choose 7 of the 14

Acolyte cards. Due to the amount of extra cards that are included in the deluxe edition, the replayability factor is increased nicely. It is possible to play your first two games with totally different Acolytes, which is a nice touch.

last card is drawn. Each Acolyte has different stats, but the essence is that each one may affect the players resources, as well as providing a “bribery” cost that players can attempt to pay to gain victory points, as well as displaying the amount of points a player will lose if they gain the most amount of skulls that turn.

At the beginning of each round an Acolyte card is turned over and revealed. Besides stating the conditions for “Wizards of the Wild” is a “push your luck” resource the current round, the deck acts as a timing mechanism management game in which players will be vying for and the game ends at the end of the turn in which the both the resources to obtain cards and the gems in Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) which to bribe the Acolytes. At the start of each players turn they will roll the six dice and then decide whether to keep the results or to keep some of the results and “push their luck” to hopefully obtain what they are looking for. However, each time a Skull is rolled, it is immediately marked on the player’s mat. After the player’s initial roll, they are allowed up to two additional rolls and then they have to accept the final results. At this point a decision needs to be made. Either they can purchase cards or store Arcane and Tome resources, but they can’t do both. Gems and Mana may be stored regardless.

There are two types of cards available for purchase: Spells and Challenges. To purchase a Spell card, a player needs to pay the cost with the number of Tome resources listed. If the player did not roll the amount needed, they may add to their results with the Tome stored on their player mat, if enough is available. Spells have abilities that can be used once a turn and have endgame Victory Points listed on them. The Challenge cards are purchased in the same manner, however, they use Arcane resources instead. Unlike Spells, Challenges have a one time effect and are then placed face down.

We tucked them halfway under the board. Challenges tend to be worth more Victory Points at the end of the game.

Once a player is done with their turn, they pass the dice to the next player and they take their turn. Play continues until everyone has taken a turn. At the end of the round the player with the most Skulls on their player mat receives the penalty listed on the Acolyte card for that round. Then all players reset their Skulls to zero and another Acolyte card is revealed and play continues as above, until all seven Acolyte cards are eventually revealed. Then the final round begins and at the end of the round players will add the Victory Points on their Spell and Challenge cards to the points accumulated during the game on the scoring track and the player with the most points wins.

The game also comes with a challenging Solitaire version. There are three levels of difficulty listed in the rulebook and a separate section for the special rules associated with it. This was quite fun and is useful for both getting a feel for the main game, as well as an enjoyable game when no one else is available to play.

Kudos to Crosscut Games for the inclusion of a solo variant!

I was a bit surprised at the amount of game play and replayability that came in this fairly small box. It was quite enjoyable for all who played it, and the laughter and groans associated with a “push your luck” game were present. It is light enough for newcomers to understand and play, yet there is enough depth to keep serious gamers engaged.

Surprisingly there were some players who didn’t like the artwork and felt that it detracted from the game play. They felt that it was a bit too “cartoony”, however, it is a light fantasy oriented anthropomorphic game, so I thought that it was not only suitable, but excellent as well. However, when I’m playing a game I tend to focus on the game play and not the artwork.

I can see this as an entry level/gateway game for youngsters, as well as a family game in which “gamer parents” can play along with their children. Having said that, this is also a game in which more serious gamers will enjoy - the best of both worlds!

Designers: Dan Schnake, Abe Schnake, A.B. West Publisher: Crosscut Games Number of players: 1-5 Mechanic: Push Your Luck, Resource Management Ages: 10+ Length: 30-45 mins.

Highly Recommended www.crosscutgames.com

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Interview

Dennis Lohausen

By Serge Pierro

“Dennis Lohausen is an artist in the board game industry.”

Artist

Do you come from an artistic family?

Are you self taught or did you study art in school?

No, I don’t. Back then my mother owned a bookstore, which wasn’t so bad for a child—this way I could easily get my hands on the newest comic books.

I did an A-level exam in art. Then I studied graphic design, focusing on illustration.

However, my grandfather was very much into art and so he taught me the basics of drawing. When I decided to become an illustrator, my family was very encouraging and supportive.

What are your earliest recollections of doing art?

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but a very early memory of mine is me drawing Garfield cartoons, including the text and speech bubbles.

Since I couldn’t read at that time, the results were rather disconcerting.

Who are your main artistic influences?

Since I was a little boy, I was always fascinated with Iron Maiden’s album covers because of the atmosphere they create and the many small details that are each telling their own little story.

Dennis Lohausen Artist Terra Mystica Camel Up

Dominion The Voyages of Marco Polo www.dennis-lohausen.de

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Today I’m still following the works of Keith Parkinson, Larry Elmore and Brom, who were involved in the AD&D role-playing game, thus being part of my adolescent life.

Who are your favorite board game/card game artists?

Franz Vohwinkel! If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t believe one can live off illustrating board games. Apart from him, I’m also very fond of Michael Menzel—he’s got it.

What is your favorite medium to work in?

I’m still using pen and paper to draw sketches and making drafts. In the past, I liked using ball pens for that, but today I prefer pencils. I use a computer and various graph tablets to do everything else.

How did you get involved in creating artwork for the game industry?

After my studies, I was a freelancing illustrator, doing about everything I could get. Once I got this going well enough, I asked myself what I would really like to focus on and the answer was simple: board games.

So, in 2005, I went to the games fair in Essen (for the first time anyway) to show my portfolio to small publishers. Publisher Argentum showed sincere interest in my work and so I could present my first game one year later. Since then, the number of publishers asking for my services has grown and so has the number of games I’ve illustrated—and luckily, this doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon …

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Interview (Cont.)

Do you enjoy playing games? If so, what are some of your favorite games?

I used to play a lot more in the past, but I would never consider myself a diehard gamer. I’ve always enjoyed good games—this is why I chose this line of work anyway. Today I usually only get to play prototypes. That’s why I haven’t even played my most favorite game for years—Full Metal Planet.

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You have a broad range of styles… from a clean cartoon technique to a more realistic illustrative one. Which style do you consider to be more “you”?

I can’t really give a definitive answer to this one. I usually find the cartoonish stuff easier to draw, but on the other hand, the realistic works are so much more satisfying when done right.

A good friend of mine says he always recognizes my hand in the characters I draw—be it the camels in “Camel Up” or the factions in “Terra Mystica”.

If you had an opportunity to do the artwork for a game from a specific game designer, who would it be, and what would you like the theme to be?

As mentioned earlier, “Full Metal Planet” is my favorite game, but it has been out of print for years now. If they should ever reprint it, I would really like to do the artwork for it.

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Interview (Cont.)

How does working on the cover of a box differ from painting cards or components? Are you involved in the actual graphic design of the box?

Covers usually provide more freedoms; components are always heavily constrained—be it by the game’s iconography or for various reasons from a production standpoint. Cards are somewhere in the middle— sometimes they are much like cover graphics, and other times they are more like components.

With covers, the big picture is what makes them fun.

With components, it’s all the little miniatures I like to include on every possible occasion.

Usually the publisher dictates what the cover has to look like. With Feuerland though, I did the cover designs all by myself.

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What is the piece of artwork that you are most proud of?

It’s always the most recent one ;-). No, honestly, I cannot really decide on that. I believe I’m still in the process of improving on myself. If I had to redo some work I did a long time ago, I’m sure it’d look a lot different today. Currently I’m very proud of my work on a card game called “Elements”, which will be published by Pegasus next year. For this game, I was involved in both the entire design concept and theme. The game is roughly about the five-element theory and I’ve worked with much blood, sweat and tears on the concept of its characters.

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Interview (Cont.)

Do you illustrate projects outside of the game industry?

Currently I’m almost exclusively working for the game industry. But aside from that, every year, I’m creating some graphics for TSG, a company for skate board helmets and protective clothing.

What projects are you currently working on and do you have any news on upcoming projects?

Aside from the before-mentioned “Elements”, I’m also working on a funny little dice game called “Yeti”, also by Pegasus. In addition, we’re finally getting Uwe Rosenberg’s “A Feast for Odin” done, which we couldn’t get ready this year, unfortunately.

Apart from that, I’ve got a lot of games from Eggert Spiele, Hall Games, White Goblin games, Feuerland, Adlung and, of course, Argentum in the pipeline, as well as from Stefan Feld, Stefan Dorra, and Kramer and Kiesling. As you can see, there’s a lot of work to do …

Do you accept private commissions?

Yes, in theory, but I’m practically booked out for a very long time.

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How can readers keep up to date on what projects you are working on?

The best place to look is boardgamegeek—there’s practically nothing more up-to-date. I do have an own website, but it’s been a construction site for years now due to time constraints.

Meanwhile, I’m a little amused by the fact that today, in the digital era, it is still possible to get along without a website.

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Game Review Myths at War

By Serge Pierro

Clash of the Cardboard Gods

O

ver the years I have played dozens of CCG’s, often at the tournament level, so when a new one becomes available I’m always interested to see what it has to offer. “Myths of War” is a customizable card game from Spain that has a devoted following, as well as a World Championship. We will be taking a look at their first English release and seeing what it brings to the table.

The game includes 300 cards in which players will build their decks, as well as 30 yellow and 30 red plastic cubes. The mythologies represented in this base set are: “Japanese”, “Norse” and “Egyptian”.

The rulebook for the game is a bit of a disappointment. It contains both Spanish and English instructions, but the English translation is poorly done. I had to go to several sources to put together enough information to play the game “correctly”. Seeing as this is their entry into the English speaking market, I would have thought they would have put in the effort to make sure that it was up to par.

Although you will be able to learn the game, there are nuances and ambiguity that you’ll have to search online to remedy. The Spanish section’s Glossary is in alphabetical order, while the English version is just translated in the same order, yet the results are not alphabetical and you have to search through the entire list to look for a specific topic, if it’s even there. This should have been proofread by someone in an English speaking country and not by someone who speaks English as a second language.

Players will construct their deck with: 1 Pantheon card, 20 God cards and 30 Design cards. I was able to construct five decent decks out of the supplied cards, two Japanese, two Egyptian and one Norse. It would have been nice if there were enough cards to complete the second Norse deck, as there were 45 cards that were left over and many of them were not Norse related. Prebuilt decks would have been a better choice for an introductory set. However, many of the cards that are supplied were quite useful, although there were times that your hand contained “dead cards”. With all of the expansions for the game, this should be a non-factor.

The included cards are more than good enough to get a feel for the system.

One of the things that separates this game from others is that it uses “Power Tokens” as resources to bring cards into play. However, there is a “suicide” element, because you can lose the game if you are reduced to zero tokens. So you need to balance how to allocate the Power Tokens against how low you can afford to go in your pool. Each player starts with the amount of Power listed on their Pantheon card (They range from 18-20 Power). And while there are cards that can add Power to your pool, there are also cards that can remove it. There are two ways to win the game, lower an opponent’s Power reserve to zero or if a player has 30+ Power at the end of their turn.

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Combat is also a bit unusual. Players take turns putting their cards onto the Battlefield, each card removing 1 Power from itself to do so.

After all players are done playing Confrontation cards, players total up the Force totals of each army and the lowest one loses Power from their reserve equal to the difference in the Force totals.

No cards are destroyed as a result of having the lower total. Another point of interest is that there is a Confrontation phase on each players turn and since all cards are made ready again at the end of a turn, they are all available for combat on the next player’s turn.

Even with the caveats mentioned, this proved to be a solid game. Each of the Myths were unique in their game play and yet seemingly balanced.

Many games came down to one turn where it was anyone’s game to win or lose. There were no runaway games, which is probably due to the cards that were included, as well as the balance. I really enjoyed playing the “Yomi” deck that I built, as it was a challenging deck to play, as I was racing to spend my Power to deplete my opponents - in true “suicide deck” style! Many players liked the Norse warrior deck, as it was an attack deck with force modifiers that pressured opponents to get defenders into play quickly. The Egyptian decks were also interesting in their own way, yet not at all similar to the Japanese or Norse. I would be very interested to see what the Myths of the other expansions are like. If they are up to the same quality of design and balance as these, then this would be a game that I would be interested in playing on a regular basis.

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Designer: Francisco Gallego Arredondo Publisher: GDM Games Number of players: 2-5 Mechanic: Customizable Card Game Ages: 10+ Length: 20-40 mins.

Recommended

www.guerrademitos.com

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How To

Build Your Own Game Insert

By Bill Braun

W

e all know that the majority of the inserts that come with board games are generally useless.

They inhibit proper game component storage and are often the first item to be thrown away. Several companies have surfaced over the years that specialize in custom board game inserts. While I admire the craftsmanship of The Broken Token, go7gaming, and Daedalus Productions - and wish that I could afford a custom made, laser-cut insert for all of my games that simply is not an option. Instead, I offer a different solution.

Create your own.

Tools of the Trade Like any project you are about to undertake, ensuring that you have the right tools for the job is the first step.

As luck would have it, the tools needed to create your own board game box insert are inexpensive and should provide for a number of finished projects before needing to be replaced or refilled. All of these materials can be purchased at your local hobby and craft store and are easy to come by: • Sold in a variety of sizes, foam board is sturdy, easy to cut, and generally comes in either white of black • A sharp, crafting knife - while several options are available, I prefer the brand that allows the end to be snapped off after it becomes dull; ensuring that you always have a sharp edge

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• A long, metal ruler - I would advise against using a ruler made from wood. Over time, a wooden ruler’s edges become shaved off, resulting in less accurate cuts • A thick, durable cutting mat to avoid damaging your table • Basic, PVA glue (or something similar) to secure the foam core pieces that are used in your final project.

I also use sewing pins along the edges of the foam core to help keep the pieces in place while the glue dries.

Be Creative, Use Your Imagination Developing a board game insert can be time consuming.

Consequently, I have become selective with the games that I choose and usually ask myself if an insert will either help me save on space (condensing expansions into a single box), or reduce the game’s set-up time (can I eliminate dumping components out of multiple bags).

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Patience and Planning Take your time when creating your first game insert.

Measure twice, cut once, and don’t be discouraged if your edges don’t line up perfectly. Everything is a work in progress and none of us are experts at this (unless, of course, you are an expert at this). This won’t be a project that you’ll be able to complete in 30 minutes time. Spread it out over multiple sittings if needed. Take caution when cutting the foam board.

It’s better to make several cuts for a straighter edge than try to force it and lose a finger (those blades are incredibly sharp). Watch a few videos on YouTube for additional guidance and, above all else, be happy with your final work. I guarantee that you’ll learn from your mistakes and find new ways along the way to be even more creative the next time.

Photo: Bill Braun

The Esoteric Order of Gamers is a wonderful source (among others) for downloading and working from stepby-step plan instructions to create a variety of game inserts.

However, I prefer to develop my inserts on the fly and assess what I feel will be the greatest benefit. Should the insert include removable sections (a tray of tokens, perhaps)? Do parts of the insert need to be dedicated to cards? Does the game come with miniatures that need to be organized?

If it makes sense, re-use components from the game’s original insert. As an example, I developed an insert that combined the base game of Zombicide with the big box expansion, Toxic City Mall. Both boxes came with cardboard cutouts used to hold the individual board tiles. I continued to use both and placed them on top of the new foam board insert to keep the tokens, miniatures, and cards from falling out of their respective spaces when transporting the box or storing it on its side.

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Photo: Bill Braun

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Game Review

Ring It!

Chime in the Fun!

By Serge Pierro

T

here are times when parents wish to play a game with their children on a somewhat level playing field. Ring It! by Blue Orange Games in just such a game. Let’s see how this party game brings families to the table for some fast paced fun.

Ring It! comes in a cylinder shaped, metal container with a hole at the top that provides access to the enclosed bell.

Needless to say, everyone who saw it felt the need to hit the bell.

Twisting of the top reveals the bell mechanism. Between the 3” circular, plastic base and 1 3/4” plastic top lies an actual metal bell that is activated by a metal clapper. It’s a pleasure to see, in this day and age, that there are still companies willing to use actual items, instead of substituting their digital counterparts. Since this is a key element of the game, it’s nice to see that it holds up to the frantic game play.

Next up is the circular rulebook. This accordion-like manual introduces players to the basic game as well as several variations. It is concise and sufficiently illustrated to aid in the learning process.

The remaining contents are of the cards that are used for the game. There are 90 3 inch circular cards broken down in several categories: colors, numbers and symbols.

To start a game, each player is dealt 10 cards face down in front of them. Then each player in turn order will reveal the top card of their deck by playing it away from themselves so that other players get to see it first. For competitive players it becomes important to be able to flip over these cards as quickly as possible so that they can try to minimize the disadvantage of having to reveal outwards. When a condition is met, (see below) the player who first sees it, claps their hands and then rings the bell and the play resolves. If the player was correct they take all of the face up cards and put them on the bottom of their deck. If they were incorrect, they have to remove three cards from their deck and all of the other cards played this turn are removed from play. The first

player to run out of cards triggers the end of the game and the player with the most cards wins.

As mentioned above there are conditions that need to be met.

With the basic game these are either two of the same numbers or two of the same colors. It is important that the players reveal their cards on top of their previously revealed cards so as not to confuse their opponents as to what card is currently in play.

There is a little trickiness involved with the special orange cards.

There are two different cards, one of which has a bell symbol, while the other one has a skull and crossbones. There is no way to win a hand with the skull and crossbones being in the resolving set.

There are several variations included. One of which revolves around Addition, where two of the cards on the table add up to a third card on the table. This was quite interesting as you had to be able to quickly find it before the next player went.

Other variants include the usage of the symbols on the card in addition to the numbers and colors. This allowed for a more “complicated” version of the game. Not surprisingly many of the adults preferred the variations that offered more choices.

This is a fun party game for both adults and children, although it clearly leans towards the younger crowd. It is fast paced and provided numerous opportunities for laughter and groaning.

Since Ring It! plays up to 9 players, it makes it an ideal game for a children’s party.

Designer: Thierry Denoual Publisher: Blue Orange Games Number of players: 2-9 Mechanic: Pattern Recognition Ages: 5+ Length: 10-15 mins.

Recommended

www.blueorangegames.com

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Review

Card Caddy

By Serge Pierro

Card Case/Discard Tray

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ne of the most popular accessories for CCG and card players are deck boxes. These come in all sizes and materials. We are going to look at an interesting new entry into the marketplace, the Card Caddy, which features an attachable discard tray.

The first thing that you notice about the Card Caddy is just how strong they are. The hard plastic case seems almost “bullet proof ”.

I dropped it from shoulder height onto the floor and there was no adverse reaction. The box stayed closed even after repeated drops.

This is one strong case. However, I did find the case a bit difficult to open and the method seems counterintuitive, but once you get use to it, it’s not a problem.

The Card Caddy is designed to hold a Poker sized playing deck.

However, it held a 60 card Magic the Gathering deck with no problem. The main downside of this version is that it only holds 30 double sleeved cards. I found that standard Ultra Pro sleeves fit nicely in the case, whereas I had some sleeved L5R cards that used sleeves provided by Alderac in their starter decks which did not fit comfortably inside and even “pinched” the top of the sleeves on the interior struts of the case, as they are approximately 1/16” taller.

This is something to be aware of if you use nonstandard sleeves for some of your decks.

Although the opening on the case allows you to see what deck is contained within, it also has the capability of being a lightning rod for wear and exposure. Apparently in the future a custom coin will be available to plug the hole and will be used as a reference as to what the Card Caddy contains. I was not a fan of the opening, as unsleeved cards were left vulnerable, especially if you placed your thumb there while opening the case.

I was a bit surprised to see that these were not stackable. Due to the slippery nature of the material, when two of them were stacked, they would often slide off of each other, especially if they were on a slightly inclined surface. Since there are already inset grooves along the top and backs, it would have been nice to see a design that allowed

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the bottom of one Caddy to be inserted into the front groove of the other one. Not a big deal, but when holding two of them in one hand they would slide about.

The big feature of the Card Caddy is that one half of the unit can be used for the main deck, whereas the other half can be easily connected to it and form a discard tray. This is a great feature for games where a discard tray would be useful, as well as for situations such as traveling in a car/train/plane and not

having to worry about the discards falling on the floor.

It would also be viable on a windy day at the beach.

Another aspect of the discard tray is that you can use the side opening to allow you to line up the discard pile in a manner that allows you to see all of the previously discarded cards, should a game need this function.

However, this does not have the same benefits as the aforementioned discard tray usage, as the cards have to be lined up on a surface.

This is a nice unit for gamers who like to travel and have games that use a discard pile. Currently it seems

its best use would be for a standard playing card deck. It will be interesting to see what the next series of double decker and triple decker products, as these will address the needs of larger sleeved decks, which are essential for those who play CCG’s.

Creator: Chris Nichols Manufacturer: Narrows Hill Games

Worth Trying www.narrowshill.com

Game Review Hogg Wild for Wealth

By Serge Pierro

A Whimsical Wealth Builder

W

e’ve all heard the term “Capitalist Pig” bantered about, yet here is an opportunity to actually play a game as a Capitalist Pig, and I don’t mean as a human, but as an actual pig! “Hoggs Wild for Wealth” is a whimsical card game that does a nice job of capturing the feel of the monetary markets.

The game comes in an oversized tuck box (2 1/2 inches deep) which contains 234 cards. However, 108 of these cards are used as the currency in the game and an additional 5 are player aids.

The cards are of decent card stock, yet the artwork/graphic design seems more suited for a prototype than a finished game. Which is a shame, as at first glance it would be easy to pass on this due to how it looks, but there is a decent game here, so you’ll have to contend with this if the game sounds interesting to you.

The rules come on three separate sheets of paper. One sheet is a diagram showing how the game is laid out on the table. Another sheet is the overall rules for the game, while the last sheet is the main rules broken down as per level. It’s a bit confusing at first, but once you understand the concept, it isn’t hard to follow.

I’m a fan of rulebooks that offer progressive levels of engagement so that the players can take their time to understand each level of the game. This game has 4 levels, each building upon the other until the full game experience is realized. Level One is the “Piglet Apprentice” which proved to be quite satisfying on its own. Level Two “Capitalist P.I.G.” introduces the PIG Profile cards which are characters cards that have special abilities and such. Level Three is “Hoggs Revenge” and adds a further variety of action cards and Level Four is “Full Boar!” which includes the rest of the cards into the mix. Each of the cards has different color borders and it is by these borders that players add the appropriate cards to the level.

To begin play, each player is dealt a hand of five cards and given $20 million. Players will also have to agree to the length of the game, as it is triggered by the appearance of the Economy cards.

It is suggested that for 2-3 players that the game ends after five

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Economy cards are revealed and with 4-6 players, seven Economy cards. On a player’s turn they will have several options to choose from, however, the main option is to buy the assets that you have in your hand. These will provide various benefits, either providing an income each turn, selling assets for profit, or playing for the endgame by accumulating a large portfolio. When the game ends, players will sell off their entire portfolio and the player with the most cash wins.

I thought that the game play was thematic and captured the feel of buying and selling stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets.

Even the lackluster artwork didn’t detract much from the game, as players were mainly focused on the various income producing sections on the cards. I liked how the timing of the economy cards added uncertainty to the game play. The addition of Level 4 could be seen as being a bit overambitious, as it added numerous cards that interrupted the flow of the game. Levels One and Two proved to be the best in terms of smooth game play. I’m sure that there will be people who will enjoy the game play provided by the additions of Level Three and Level Four. If you are looking for a whimsical, economy driven card game, then this is one that you might want to take a further look at.

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Designer: Richard L Parker II Publisher: MindGameConcepts Number of players: 1-6 Mechanic: Hand Management Ages: 14+ Length: 30-60 mins.

Worth Trying

www.topphogggames.com

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Game Review

The Martian Investigations

By Bill Braun

Death on the Rust Planet

I

t seems like just yesterday I was enjoying the freedom of adventure provided by the TSR Endless Quest books.

Whether it was Revolt of the Dwarves, Revenge of the Rainbow Dragons, or the Mountain of Mirrors (to name just a few), my imagination as a child was set to overdrive and these stories paved the way for what inevitably transitioned into years spent enjoying Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, and James Bond 007 role playing games.

Reflecting back on those books - all of which have since been handed down to my children – the immersion and investment in both the characters and overall experience are what ultimately set them apart from so many other stories that I read during that time of my life. Having the power to choose a path, or make a decision that changes the story’s outcomes, had a huge impact on my imagination.

Although this style of literary entertainment is still widely available today, and has spread to a greater variety of genres, as well as mediums (print and mobile App), it’s been years since I last indulged in this type of leisurely activity. Not surprisingly, similarly themed experiences have also entered the tabletop space with the likes of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, giving players an opportunity to match their deductive abilities against other opponents and the master sleuth himself. Providing a rather unique take on board games, it wasn’t until I was given a downloadable copy of The Martian Investigations: Death on the Rust Planet that I was able to experience this type of “game” firsthand.

Written and developed by Robin David, Death on the Rust Planet drops the player(s) into the role of Hayley Bendis, a detective employed by Habitat Corporation, an organization that controls numerous small mining settlements on Mars.

A series of suspicious deaths on the Banks Settlement has prompted the corporation to enlist your services to investigate further. After all, these are the first reported deaths in the entire history of the Mars colonization program.

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The rules are simple. After reading two short case files and a handful of potentially relevant news feeds, you are prompted to visit any location within the colony.

A listing of the inhabitants and a Banks Settlement Directory is included to help your investigative efforts.

When you feel confident that you have solved the case there are a number of questions that need to be answered and compared against the resolution section.

Fair warning, once the resolution section has been reviewed there’s no going back; all is revealed and the experience comes to an end.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect as I began digging into the details and having conversations with the people of Banks Settlement, but it didn’t take long for the choose-your-own-adventure imagination of my youth to fully take over. In a very short amount of time I was fully invested in the experience. The futuristic setting of 2307 AD could not have been better realized. Within moments of starting my investigation I felt like I was walking in the shoes of Rick Deckard, the notorious Blade Runner portrayed by Harrison Ford in 1982, and I was determined to discover the nefarious murders of Banks Settlement.

A handful of notes and a few hours later, justice was served. My hunches paid off and the trail of breadcrumbs that I followed led me to the culprit. It was a satisfying end to the experience, but one that I question whom it may best serve. Would this appeal to gamers? Novel enthusiasts? I’m hesitant to recommend Death on the Rust Planet to gamers or gaming groups even though the rules suggest that if “playing” with more than one player a lead investigator should be designated to make the final decision as to where to go next. Then, each time a new investigation is visited, the next player, in clockwise direction, should become the

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lead investigator. In theory, I think this would work just fine, but I feel as though The Martian Investigations would be better experienced in a more intimate setting; with a family member, loved one, or close friend, sitting across from one another, hot cup of coffee in hand, during a cold and rainy day.

Regardless of your company or preferred setting, Death on the Rust Planet is worth the short investment of time it takes to get the full experience. It was thematic and represented a wonderful sense of discovery that, unlike even the best mystery novels, you are in complete control of – and that was the best part.

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Designer: Robin David Publisher: Self Published Number of players: 1-5 Mechanic: Deduction Ages: 16+ Length: 60-90 mins.

Worth Trying

https://payhip.com/b/hSDG

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Solo Gaming

The Hunters

German U-Boats at War 1939-1943

By Jeff Rhind

S

ometimes we may be learning a new game or we just don’t have anyone to play with. Sure, it may be easier to play a game on an iPad, but often times it’s just nice to sit back and relax with our favorite beverage and relish in the cardboard on the table -- to disconnect from our electronic lives. In this on-going series I hope to highlight some games that play well solo. These could be co-op games, multi-player games with solo variants, or games specifically designed for one player.

It’s midnight, December 1941, your U-Boat is patrolling the icy, North Atlantic. Several days have gone by without incident until… off your port bow a tanker, a small freighter, and an escort. You surface and sneak up on the small convoy, you decide to fire on the small freighter with your deck gun. A hit! It sinks but you’ve been spotted by the escort, you immediately submerge trying to escape, depth charges hit the water, explode and you start to take on water...

This is the kind of narrative that emerges from gameplay and enters your imagination in The Hunters German U-Boats at War, 1939-1943 – a solitaire game designed

by Gregory M. Smith and published by Consim Press.

Initially, you choose a U-Boat type specific to the starting year of your patrol. Historically, only certain U-Boats were in service during certain times during the war. You

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have a limited number of steam and electric torpedoes at your disposal and your deck gun may have a limited number of rounds to fire. Choosing a different sub may mean your patrol starts later in the war, which gives you less time to level up your captain and his or her crew. Also, U-Boats became easier to detect in later years, so there’s also that danger.

You have a play mat that depicts your sub, and using counters to track your armament, hull damage, flooding, damaged systems, crew status and track your patrol progress. Don’t be afraid, there are not a lot of counters in this game. However, there are a lot of dice rolls, so providing additional dice will make the game move a little quicker and smoother.

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Photo: Jeff Rhind

A U-Boat combat mat tracks damage to convoys and other ships you encounter. It also tracks your range to the target and incoming hits on your U-Boat. Conveniently, there is a player aid to track all the steps required during combat vs. escorted ships. There are encounters tables, patrol assignment tables, torpedo dud charts, escort detection charts and damage charts to check but the more you become familiar with the game the easier it is too manage it all. What’s really nice is that you can perform a patrol or two, put the game away and come back to it later (after your sub has been refit in port) and continue your career.

Although the mats are pretty bare bones and track what needs to be tracked, BoardGameGeek user Koinskyz (real name: Delphine Echassoux) created a giant play

mat utilizing an old map of Europe, the Atlantic and North America as well as a custom submarine graphic to more visually present torpedo loads, mechanical systems and track damage. Although not necessary at all, it does add a significant amount of theme and ambiance to an already fantastic solo experience.

The Hunters is a great solitaire experience especially if you are interested in submarine warfare during the Second World War. For those of you who’d rather play the allied part, there is a version coming called Silent Victory where you control U.S. submarines in the Pacific. Randomness is pretty high in the game since it relies on dice rolls for most outcomes but much of that is offset by the decisions you make: should I surface or perform a submerged attack? Should I attack during

Continued on next page>

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Solo Gaming (Cont.)

the day or follow the convoy and wait until night? At what range shall I attack thereby increasing my chances for success but increasing my chances of being detected? Should I even attack at all against so many ships with such a damaged U-Boat? When all is lost, should I crash dive to dangerous depths to escape my enemies? Tensions are always high when you are discovered by the escort and you are still trying to attack vessels. Or are you trying to escape but the enemy keeps hammering on you with their depth charges?

Die roll after die roll, the game is a nail biter as your torpedo and deck gun resources are dwindling. Levels of victories are contingent upon you sinking enough ships. It may seem a little abstract but out of your game play comes a personal chronicle as you track which vessels you sink, which in the game were all real ships sunk

by U-Boats during WWII. You will track their tonnage on a log sheet as you try to complete a patrol in the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic or off the west coast of Africa. Your captain could be promoted, which gives you modifiers for die rolls against enemy ships. Over time, the career of each captain has a permanence, which gives each play and the game overall a history all to itself on your gaming shelf.Â

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Interview Comics

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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 scheduled for a 2016 release.

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.

Bill Braun Bill has been a contributing writer for PSNation and High-

Def Digest, an Editor and Publisher Relations Director for 30PlusGamer, and the co-creator and podcast host of A Band of Gamers.

John Anthony Gulla John graduated with an M.A. in Humanities, wherein he focused his study on games, the history of gaming, and game design as it relates to the Humanities. He is an avid board gamer and game collector, with over 200 games in his current collection. You can reach him on BGG.com under the username JohnAG68

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Jeff Rhind Jeff is a single father raising a 17 year-old son and a 6 year-old daughter,

and slowly coaxing them into the world of tabletop gaming. He has been gaming for many years and shares his love and appreciation for the hobby by reviewing and talking about games on his web site: completelyboard. com as well as his You Tube channel at youtube.com/completelyboard.

You can also follow him on twitter @jeffrhind

David Niecikowski David is a published game designer and recognized expert on using traditional

games with families and students. Since 2000, over two dozen of his board games, role-playing supplements, books, and articles have been published. He has also worked as a freelance marketing and event consultant with scores of industry companies such as Alliance Game Distributors, Gen Con, Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, Mayfair, Rio Grande, AEG, and Out of the Box.

Kevin Lauryssen Kevin has a Master in Audiovisual Arts and majored in

Animation. He works as a Freelance Draftsman for multiple companies in Belgium. He’s an avid gamer who has created a web-comic about boardgaming. His work can be found at www.game-night.be

Kevin Cox Kevin is a published game designer, graphic designer and co-owner of KnA Games. His first tabletop release is a sci-fi co-op called Space Movers, which he created with his wife, April. Kevin has been gaming for over 30 years and has an extensive collection, which features many vintage games. In addition to gaming, Kevin enjoys being a husband and all around geek.

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Print and Play ECCENTRIC EXHIBITS

By Robin David

In Eccentric Exhibits, players are rival museum curators. Each player is trying to arrange the best exhibit of weird and wonderful artefacts. Each season, both players will score prestige points based on which artefacts they have been able to gather. After four seasons, the the player with the most prestige is deemed the best curator and wins the game.

Eccentric Exhibits is a game for two players and takes around 20 minutes to play.

CONTENTS 20 artefact cards (shown here) 4 bonus point cards 1 season tracker Note: Players will need paper or a phone to keep track of scores between rounds.

ARTEFACT CARDS

SET UP ● Place the four bonus cards in a pile within reach of each player. ● Place the season tracker with the number 1 orientated on its top. This is so you don’t lose track of which season you are in. ● Shuffle together the artefact cards and deal 5, face down, to each player.

This forms their hand. ● Place one more artefact card face up on the table and place the rest of the

artefact cards face down, at a 90 degree angle on top of the face up card, as shown. This is the draw pile.

GAMEPLAY ● The start player will alternate each season over the four seasons of the game. ● Each season consists of ten tricks. ● In a trick, both players will plan an artefact card on the table of the owner of the strongest card win win both cards for their collection.

SEASON STRUCTURE ● The start player begins by playing an artefact card from their hand onto the table. The other player then plays any card of their choice from their own hand. ● For the second player to win the trick, they must play a stronger card of the same suit, or any trump card. ● A trump card is any card from the suit shown on the face-up card on the bottom of the draw pile. This is what type of artefact is popular this season. ● If the first card of the trick is a trump card, the second player can only win by player a stronger trump card. ● At the end of a trick, the winner of that trick takes both card and places them face down in their own score pile. Players cannot look at cards in the score piles. ● The winner of the trick then draws a new card from the draw pile. Then the loser of the trick draws a new card from the draw pile. (This order is important!) ● Then the winner of the trick starts a new trick and play continues in this fashion. ● When the last card of the draw pile (the face-up trump card) has been taken, play continues until players have no cards left in their hands. The trump suit remains the same, even though the trump card is no longer on the table. ● Once all cards have been played, the round is over. Players count the prestige points in their score piles, along

● ● ● ●

with any bonuses, and keep a record of their total prestige.

Gather all the artefact cards and shuffle them together.

Rotate the season tracker 90 degrees to indicate a new season.

Deal each player 5 new cards, create the draw pile and begin a new season.

The game ends at the end of the fourth season. The player with the most prestige is the winner.

BONUS CARDS ● There are four bonus cards available. ● When a player is starting a trick, they can win a bonus card by playing a 3 and 4 from the same suit together, placing them on the table. ● If the player who placed the 3 and 4 wins the trick, they score their opponents card, the 4 card that they played and a bonus card. The 3 that they played goes back into their hand. ● If the 3 and 4 cards were from the trump suit, the player who played them takes the 40 point bonus. If they were of any other suit, that player takes the 20 point bonus. ● If the other player wins the trick by playing the 5 of the appropriate suit or a trump card (if the 3 and 4 are not already of the trump suit), then that player scores the opponent’s 4 card and their own card. Their opponent takes the 3 back into their hand. No bonus card is scored. ● After bonus cards are scored, they are removed from the game. If there is no appropriate bonus card remaining, then players cannot score a bonus. ● If a player tries to take a 40 point bonus, but the 40 point bonus card is gone, they can take a 20 point bonus card if one is available.

Eccentric Exhibits is inspired by the traditional card game, Schnapsen.

2-Players

Game design by Robin David robin@robindavid.info www.robindavid.info Graphic design by Tiffany Moon www.tiffymoon.com All game icons are from www.gameicons.net and are licensed under Creative Commons BY 3.0. Yellow suit icon by Vicious Speed. Animal Hide by Delapouite. Brutal Helm by Carl Olsen.

All other icons, including main spiked tentacle icon by Lorc.

Player icon by Daniel Solis. CCBY 3.0. www.patreon.com/danielsolis

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