Wow, we played boardgames (Part III: Reiner Knizia’s Blue Moon City)

Reiner’s attempt to water down Magic: the Gathering into a game playable by the general gaming crowd was less than impressive. (Read: Blue Moon is underwhelming.) This attempt at franchise-building a-la Catan isn’t unusual, but the product has to measure up. On the heels of a Deutsch novel to further support the world-building of the [...]

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Ha Ha Hacienda (Review of a game by Wolfgang Kramer)

Wolfgang Kramer is a well-known German game designer. He is credited with many of the world’s greatest boardgames, including The Princes of Florence and El Grande. He is a multiple Spiel des Jahres winner, his last being Torres in 2000, arguably the best SdJ winner ever. In all those cases, however, Kramer shared design credit. [...]

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Divining Descent: Journeys in the Dark

What is it?
Descent: Journeys in the Dark is a boardgame. Designed by Kevin Wilson for Fantasy Flight Games, it’s a tactical combat game in a fantasy setting. The main activity is combat. Two to four players each take a character (or characters), ideally forming a team, and explore rooms and passageways. Their opponents are various [...]

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Review – Roberto Fraga’s Dragon Delta

In Vietnam, a traditional rite of passage has young men crossing the Mekong Delta. This is a race, and the first one to get to the opposite side wins. Unfortunately, something happened on the way from Europe to North America, and the Mekong Delta became the Dragon Delta, and now there’s some sort of dragon [...]

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Review – Eric Lang’s The Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game

“That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange æons, even death may die”
Welcome my child. You seek the secrets of the Great Old Ones?
You play with fire.
But, ‘tis not my place to judge your desires, but simply to enable them. Your journey will take you into the dark depths of the shadows, where [...]

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Review – James Ernest’s Falling

FALLING is a frenetic card game for 4-8 players. Everyone is falling, and the object is to hit the ground last. It’s not much of a goal, but it’s all you could think of on the way down. – Blurb on the box of Falling
Say what you want about the game designs of James Ernest, [...]

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Review – Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling’s Java

Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling crafted four Action Point games: the 2000 Spiel des Jahres winner Torres, and the “Mask Trilogy” which includes the 1999 Spiel des Jahres winner Tikal. Java is considered to be the most advanced of the Action Point games, combining elements of the others and even some ideas from another Kramer/Kiesling [...]

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Review – Reiner Knizia’s Royal Turf

Whenever Reiner Knizia teams up with alea, the results are usually outstanding. RA and Taj Mahal are two of Knizia’s best, and they were published in alea’s big box format. Deep in their shadow is the good doctor’s other alea entry, Royal Turf, which was published under the small box line. alea’s small box series [...]

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Carcassonne – The Review

Some game themes take people on tours of interesting places. There are games set in Java in Indonesia, San Juan in Puerto Rico, Tikal in Guatemala, Goa in India and Manila in the Philippines, just to name a few. (P.S. Catan does not count.) A place that’s been brought from relative obscurity to some degree [...]

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Amun-Re – The Review

Before I begin, I’d like to set the tone for this game. In Amun-Re, players assume the roles of Pharaohs, Great Men who led the people of Egypt in the development of civilization. Under their leadership, the Nile was tamed to feed Egypt, and great pyramids were erected at their behest. This game is their [...]

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