Good Board Games

Valeria Card Kingdoms is a game I was fortunate enough to demo this year at Origins Game Convention in Columbus Ohio. It is a tableau building game (Similar to Machi Koro if you're familiar with that) in which you roll dice to gain resources from various citizen cards you aquire on your turns, that you will exchange for various other cards on your turn. To put it more simply, you get cards that give you stuff when certain numbers on a die are rolled. You then use that stuff to buy more cards to give you, you guessed it, even more stuff. Inflation tends to be a thing in this game as towards the end of the game everyone has alot of stuff, but the game does not disappoint in what you can do as a player to spend your stuff. You can slay monsters with might and magic that will earn you victory points (and stuff), you can buy citizens to get you more stuff from the dice being rolled, or you can buy domain cards for special powers and even more victory points (and stuff). Each play...

We all know the tale of the Hare and Tortoise , well now we have another chance to play out their historic race. Rio Grande games has purchased the rights to a classic Ravensburger game "Hase und Igel" (Hare and porcupine as the German fable goes). The original game by Ravensburger won the first ever Spiel Des Jahres award for excellence in game design back in 1979, and with seemingly few tweaks to the original, Hare and Tortoise looks as good as the original, if not better. The game plays 2-6 racers with an interesting mechanic of needing to calculate how fast you should run to burn your fuel, (carrots) while still having some left to make it across the line. The game being a race, it helps to go fast like a hare; however, being the fabled race it is sometimes better to pace yourself like a tortoise. The racing mechanic is fairly straightforward and players will learn how they can move easily. The tricky part comes in when they need to manage moving forward to win the ra...

One of the most interesting games I've ever played is The Mind . It's not a game where the rules are complicated or even one where the rules are hard to understand, but it is a game that when you have success it's an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment by the entire group. Players that I've personally sat down and played a game or two will literally be standing on furniture screaming for joy fists clenched in the air like they've just won the Superbowl. What's the premise of the game then? Well you play cards numbered from 1-100 in ascending chronological order. Seems like sorting rather than a game so far, I know. Here's the catch. You and your partners can't talk. In fact the only form of communication is direct and indirect eye contact. Not even small hums and buts are permitted. You and your teammates work as a group to achieve the task of effectively in shuffling the giant deck. To achieve this the game is played in rounds. In round one each...

One of the newer board games that became the topic of many conversations as gaming conventions last year was Photosynthesis . The game involves its namesake process in which you gain points from the sun based on how many trees you have that are growing in open, non-shaded areas. The game play is based around resource management and board control, but has enough quirks and foibles to make the game unique and exciting. Players take turns planting seeds, growing trees, throwing new seeds towards the center of the board, and eventually harvesting mature trees to accommodate space for new sprouts. To score points players harvest only the largest, most mature trees from the board. By doing this that player is sacrificing gaining new points from the sun in exchange for a leg up on the scoreboard. If you do this too soon you might not have the resources to repopulate; however, too late and you might be left behind. In addition to being a good strategy game that has beautiful pieces. This...

Another game I was introduced to this year is Rattlebones . It is a unique game for 2-4 players that incorporates customize-able dice that help you to move your set of meeples around the game board. The dice are six sided but have interchangeable faces on them. This allows the players to make their dice uniquely their own while you play. The dice themselves come with a tool to pop out the sides (be careful these pieces really can fly) and allow you to put a new piece into the dice face. These new pieces let you change out number faces as well as adding new (non number) faces that you pick up from moving your pieces around the board. The game play is a unique risk/reward system that incorporates a limited betting system and press your luck tactics, with their own interesting twists. There are many ways to change your dice and also many different ways to setup your board with different pieces to ensure lots of replay- ability, without the need to buy additional expansions. I'm ...

Origins board and tabletop game convention was this past week, and I was fortunate enough to attend this year. There were many great new games, and many great classics on full display. One of the new ones that caught my eye early was from capstone games, called The Climbers . In the game 2-5 players move blocks of varying heights to allow them to move higher up the colorful pile. Each block is a 2 wide square, but the heights range from one high, two high, and 4 high. Players can move any piece they want, but can only climb on the face of the block that corresponds to their meeple's (or player piece) color. Each block has all 5 colors on them, but also a white, or neutral side. These neutral pieces can be used by anyone; however, you may need to make alliances as you make your ascent to the peak. To aid in your climb to the top, players can use a 2 high ladder or a 4 high ladder, in order to skip ahead to higher heights. These pieces are a one time use, so use them wisely. If y...

This is one of the greatest "games" that I wish I'd thought of first. Start Player  is simply a game that determines who will go first in the next game that you play. The game itself is merely a deck of cards, each with a different prompt that will have one person be the winner, and thus, be the starting player in the next game you're about to play. It's not a necessity per say, but Start Player  does clean up many of the tedious and in some cases social oddities of how many games determine their starting player. Will Start Player , change your life? Likely not... Will Start Player be your new favorite game? Hopefully not... Will Start Player bring some added fun, and end debates at your next game night? Yes. Hands down yes. I was introduced to this game recently and it's exactly what it says it is, and will be an excellent gift for anyone you know that plays games.

Dixit Odyssey  is a standalone expansion to basic Dixit  and allows additional players to enjoy the game. This version allows up to 12 players to play at once. I have never played a game that's similar to any version of dixit. It incorporates basic storytelling into beautiful artwork, and adds elements of deception and creativity. The game itself is just a deck of cards each with completely unique artwork and design on each. A round of dixit incorporates one player being the "storyteller" an they will say one word or a short phrase that tells a story about one of the cards in their hand, and other players will play a card in their hand that they believe also fits, or fits the best to the same story. Cards are then shuffled and laid out in an order that numbers them identifying them as card #1 card #2 etc. Players then vote on which card played was in fact the original storytellers (while not voting on their own but we'll, get into scoring later). If EVERYONE picks...

Spacewalk  is an older game, that has been used as an educational supplement game in the STEM system. Game play is similar to a version of mancala, the stone moving game into your home goal. Unlike mancala, you want to avoid your ships falling into one of three black holes. To play, each player (2-5 can enjoy this one) receives 3 ships of three different sizes, 9 in total. Players go around in a clockwise motion and place their ships one by one in turn order until each is placed. The game's objective is somewhat battle royal, where you're trying to be the last ship standing. Ships are eliminated from play as they enter a black hole, and cleverly the game board and box is designed so that you put the game away as you play it. On your turn you must move all ships on any one space that originally had one of your ships on it. You are allowed to move your opponents ships as well, but only if they're on the same initial space. Your goal is to try to put their ships into the b...

You read the title right, This game is called Bears Vs. Babies.   The game is the next in line from the producers of exploading kittens, and the gameplay is just as interesting as the furry box it comes in. You begin play by laying out the play mat and dealing out starting hands to each player. Then you work to build bears (and other monsters) one body part at a time until you feel you're ready to take on a baby army. There are three categories of these baby armies: land, air, and sea; each with coresponding bears and monsters color coded for batteling ease.  When someone is brave enough to provoke the baby army attack, any and all monsters enter the coresponding frey. An example of this is if the land babies are provoked then all land monsters (and wild card bears) enter the fight and the most powerful monster wins. This is of course only if the baby army numbers aren't superior, in which case there are no winners of that round and those babies are discarded, as the ...

So the new flagship game from  Dead Box Games  is Alestone. I was able to play this game at a nearby Cider/Wine establishment known as  Bent Ladder  located at the Rittman Orchards just north of Orrville Ohio, when its designer  Frank Tedeschi came to demo it.  A small note, Bent Ladder is a newer gaming friendly Cider/Wine house, and they host a tabletop game night the first Thursday of each month. AleStone is a game that was once never physically played, but was the "game within a game" as it was the game that characters played within a role playing game setting, but the game in now real, for 2/4 players to enjoy. Gameplay, is similar to chinese checkers trying to get your chits into your opponents home base. While you're moving your pieces, you can also battle your opponents, and pin their pieces (preventing them from moving). While moving, you can enter the center square (or side squares in a 2 player game) and pick up various buff items making y...

The Great Dalmuti  is a strategy party game for 4-8 players, but I've played it with 12 and it still works well and was enjoyed by all. Winner of a Mensa Select award in 1995, this card game implies a solid level of strategy along with its quick and quirky game play. In the game, the objective is to play all of your cards before everyone else. The cards themselves are a pyramid deck, with twelve 12 cards, eleven 11 cards, ten 10 cards, all the way down to two 2 cards, and one 1 card. In addition there are also two Jesters which are played as wilds. Play starts with the leader, or Great Dalmuti, playing a card or a set of cards. You're trying to get rid of all of your cards, but there's no rules on when you have to play anything. The only play rules are that you must play lower card values than what has been played; ex. If the great dalmuti plays a 12 you can play anything lower, if the great dalmuti plays a 2 you can only play a 1. The other way to play cards is in a se...

If you're looking for a new party game, Red Flags might be the one for you. Darin Ross, the creator of SUPERFIGHT , has made another card game, slightly ruder than his original.  In the game, one person will be the prospective suitor. (Taking turns around the table) The rest of the group uses two of their attribute cards to make the best possible date for the suitor judge. One by one they will play these attributes, all while making the best case that their date is better than the rest. Once all characters are introduced, players then place "red flags" on each others characters, sabotaging them so that the suitor judge may look more fondly on their character instead.  An example of this may be that one players character is a billionaire, and a supermodel. Based on their initial attributes, they sound like quite the catch. After the round of red flags, however; you learn that they also keep a dozen orphan slaves in a sweatshop. Not quite as appealing as before. Onc...

The Game  is a cooperative card game for 2-5 people, that can also be played solo as a solitaire. In The Game , players work to play cards numbered 2-98 in one of four piles. Two piles ascend from lowest to highest, and two piles descend from highest to lowest. It's fairly easy to grasp the concept of, but there are a few game play elements that make this more interesting than simply putting cards in order. Play starts when players in the game have 6 cards in hand. Now the group decides together who should go first, based on the cards they have. Usually this becomes an I volunteer as tribute situation. They then take turns clockwise around the table playing cards. On your turn, you must play at least two cards, but if you happen to have cards that are very close to each other, you can play as many as you're holding. During game play, you can discuss where you would like players to play or not play, but you CANNOT discuss the cards numbers in you hand. There will be times wh...

Hanabi  is a cooperative card game for 2-5 players. It seems very simple on the surface, play 5 different colors of cards, in ascending order from one to five. This seems fairly easy to do, 25 cards for a perfect score on the surface appears to be a quick game with no strategy and achievable with merely the ability to count. Hanabi  is anything but simple and lacking strategy, because of one simple fact. You don't get to look at your own cards. Yes you read that correctly. Your cards are viewed by your teammates, and NOT by you. This turns the game into a pseudo team building exercise. In order for the group to succeed together, they must set each other up to do well. But, how can I play a card in the correct location, when I don't know what I have in my hand? Your teammates can tell you what you have, but you're on a (figurative) time crunch so they can only tell you incomplete information. So as an example, you have three white cards, a red, and a blue in your hand. Y...

The Aesop tale we learned growing up as kids "the tortoise and the hare" has been revitalized and brought to life in the adorable game, The Hare and Tortoise . In this rendition of the game, not only is it a race between the tortoise and the hare characters, but we've also involved the big bad wolf, the fox, and the sheep. To begin the game there's a little assembly required. You'll layout the race track in a fun shape of your choosing, you'll build the race podium, and finish line. Then every player (2-5) receives a character card that they are betting on to win the race. This is not an optional choice, but a forced character dedication. In addition to this character, the players will receive cards that they will use to pick their secondary betting character. Players are trying to get either of their characters to win the race and/or just get on the podium because the better their character does in the race, the more points the player gets towards winning...

So I recently played the game Gravwell  and quickly fell in love with its at least semi-realistic quirky game-play. The game is older and had fallen out of print, but the rights were sold, and a new company has it and it running with it, or that's at least what I'm told but I digress. Gravwell , is a game that can be both fun and educational. The object of the game is to escape from a blackhole. The game board is setup in a spiral, and you're working to go from the center outwards. You draft movement cards from piles of cards, one face up and one face down, (to enter some element of chance) and these cards have a number on them indicating how far the movement will be. After the first round, in which all movement moves you out of the spiral, the game mechanics take full effect. What does that entail?  In space, you're always atracted to the nearest form of gravity and in this game, the same mechanics apply. What provides the gravity? Your enemy ships, as well as ...

In the world of deck builders and resource gathering games Splendor is, without a doubt, top notch. The mechanics are simple, gather resources in the form of colored chips. Then turn them in to acquire permanent resource cards that can be paired with the chip in further rounds in order to acquire cards that give you points. First player to the target score wins. That's Splendor in it's simplest explanation. Going more in depth, there are also ways to reserve cards that you do not yet have the resources for, (which also permit you to attain a "wild" chip used in place of any color) in order to prevent your opponents from getting the card first or to ensure you get "dibs" before anyone else. Game-play is balanced, you can prioritize one resource, or diversify and collect more resources in the process. In addition to the cards and resources, there are noble cards that you receive as a bonus action whenever you have the resources to claim them. These cards ar...

Hands down, this is the next game you want for larger groups to play with and enjoy. What game is it you ask? Well, the title didn't lie,  Werewolf   has quickly become on the top of my must have list. If you've ever played the game that I've learned as a card game called Mafia, you may already be familiar with Werewolf 's game play. For 3-10 players (the more the better in my opinion) game play begins by selecting a role card. This role comes with certain abilities, each one different. Once they're decided, the mischief ensues. First things first, the Werewolves identify themselves to each other privately (in a game where multiple exist). Followed by the other townsfolk carrying out their assigned tasks. Once all of the rounds are completed, let the accusations fly. To win the game it's the Werewolves (and maybe a minion) vs. The rest of the townsfolk in a sort of trial by fire. Someone will be executed as a result of the night time festivities. If it's a...

Are you tired of the same person winning all of your strategy style games at your local game nights? Or are you tired of competitive games in general? Well, what if you tried a cooperative game where all of the players work together to beat the game! Pandemic  is a board game were 2-4 players become agents of the CDC in Atlanta Georgia. Each player takes on  a different identity in the game, fulfilling a unique role within the party. These characters are chosen at random, and this adds to the replay-ability of the game. What combination of  characters work the best together, and how good are you at using their unique skills determines the likelihood of success. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (had to say it) is to cure the world of 4 different diseases before they spread to far. Each one of your group members will have a crucial role in finding the cure, and eradicating the diseases. Information on how to cure the diseases will need to be exchanged, making ...