Game- Flash Point

Producer-Indie Boards and Cards

Price- $40

TL;DR- An ok co-op game with a fun theme 75%

 

Basics- Time to be a hero!  Take a role of a fire fighter and enter a burning building to save the people inside.  Each turn you spend action points to move, fight fires, chop walls, and move people in the house.  Different role cards give you different powers and extra action points.  After your turn you roll to see where the fire spreads.  Fires do structural damage that eventually cause the house to collapse.  Fires also kill victims in the house.  You must save seven before four die.  Good luck out there!

 

Mechanics- This game is an interesting one.  Everyone works together to fix the problem as any good co-op should be.  For the players the game is surprisingly almost a eurogame.  Few if any of the players actions are random.  For the bad things that happen and victim placement, the game is almost completely random.  However, despite the differences in how these two separate parts of the game work, the two mechanics work well together.  4/5

 

Theme- This game has an interesting theme.  I did feel like I was working with a team fighting to save people in a burning building.  Some parts of the game do brake the theme/4th wall like knowing where the points of interest are without knowing if they are people or when people show up in exactly the same spot, but that’s part of the game that makes this a game. 4/5

 

Instructions- Overall I think this was a well done instruction book.  However, a few events happened that were not covered in the rules.  It made playing the game a bit more difficult.  There is a video that answers some questions, but I want the rules to speak for themselves.  All and not, not the greatest rules I’ve read, but it does a good job. 4/5

 

Execution/Art- The art and components are good.  I liked what I saw.  However, art isn’t very consistent.  The game has some very serious art in some places, but then has very comical art in others.  I do love the components as they are good quality.  But the tone tends to shift quickly for a game where people die in fires! 3/5

 

Summary- This was a pretty fun game.  It’s all co-op which makes it fun for my wife and I to play and a slow night at home.  The game has different levels of difficulty for days when I want to win vs. when I want a challenge.  The tone is a mix, but overall I did have a good time.  It might need a bit more explanation up front, but even with all that, this game is fun if you want a pure co-op. 75%

Item-Gun H(e)aven 3

System-Shadowrun 20th Anniversary edition and 5e

Producer– Catalyst

Price– ~$7

TL;DR- An all around well done supplement for both systems. 93%

Basics-Oi, chummers!  It’s time to log onto the shadownet and read about the latest batch of guns to hit the streets of the sixth world.  Each of the over 30 guns in this book gets a full page treatment with a picture, stats for 4th and 5th edition, and some fluff from some of the more notable members of the Shadownet.

 

Mechanics or “Crunch”- I wouldn’t say this is a revolutionary book for mechanics, but its goal is to show off new guns.  And, at that it succeeds quite well.  The book shows off new guns like cap and ball guns and flamethrowers while giving stats for a lot of weapons.  If you’re looking for a good collection of new guns for your game, this is a great addition for Shadowrun. 5/5

 

Theme/Story or “Fluff”-This part is well done also.  Its pretty easy to lose the story of the world when you make a book primarily for numbers, but this book doesn’t do it.  Each gun gets a picture which helps with your mental picture of the game.  Also, I LOVE the fact that each gun gets a little debate by various players of the shadownet.  It really makes me think like I was playing Shadowrun when I read this book.  5/5

 

Execution/Art- I liked the layout of this book.  That was well done.  I loved the art in this book.  That was AMAZING!  What I didn’t like was the price.  The book is under 50 pages and it costs about ~7 bucks.  I know art is expensive, but this was a bit too much for the book.  4/5

 

Summary- Honestly, this is a well done splat book for both SR4A and SR5.  You might only need one copy per group since you only really need it when you buy your gun.  I might complain about price, but I am glad I bought it.  If you want to play the man with the gun and to know why your guy has that gun besides some metagame numbers, this is the book for you. 93%

Game-Pixel Lincoln

Producer– Game Salute

Price– ~$45

TL;DR- An awesome game that you will either love or hate-87.5%

Basics-John Wilkes Booth has stolen Lincoln hat!  Players quest across different levels trying to face monsters like barfing turtles, midlevel bosses, and bosses like Booth himself.  This game is a semi-deck builder/players scroll across different worlds moving each Lincoln meeple encountering different cards that are either added to their deck or score pile changing the standard mechanics of games like Thunderstone.  The game is played till the players defeat two bosses.

 

Mechanics-This game is a deck builder in the very loosest of terms. You start with a deck of cards that have attack and money/jump cards.  Each card you encounter needs either attack to defeat it, money to buy it, or jump to avoid it.  If you can’t beat a card it might damage you or it might just halt you.  If you defeat a card the card either goes to your score pile or your discard pile.  Since point cards only go to the point pile, you don’t have the difficult choices you normally have in deck builders.  It’s a very light game, but it plays quick and is relatively fun.  4/5

 

Theme-This game oozes theme out of every pore.  In every aspect of the game, you get the feeling of 80’s old school video game nostalgia.  If you want to play a card game of a side scroller clone, this is it! 5/5

 

Instructions-The instructions are not bad. It explains the rules fairly well, but I did have some questions that our group had to make some choices over the game to interoperate the rules.  It’s not bad, but a bit more of the rules would have answered most of my questions.  Also a suggested start deck list would have helped.  3.5/5

 

Components/art-Again this part of the game is a home run.  Everything looks like it should if it’s from my childhood.  The cards, inserts, and instructions all look fun and make me think of the 80’s! 5/5

 

Summary- This is the game you will either love or hate.  If you want a really complex deck building card game with depth strategy, then this is not for you.  If you want some crazy fun with an old school theme, this is for you.  There are really only two camps for this game.  It’s well done for what it is.  Just make sure this is what you want!  87.5%

Book– Ultimate Campaign

Publisher-Paizo

Price – ~$40

TL;DR– Tables and Rules Everywhere!-83%

Basics– Ultimate Campaign focuses on the rules around the rest of the Pathfinder RPG. This book is more “meta” then most books.  The book starts with a chapter on how to make characters; not how to make stats, but how to build a story into your characters.  Next the book gives a chapter on what you can do in your down time with ideas ranging from building businesses to creating organizations.  After that is a chapter on different rules systems covering ideas such as bargaining to taxation in your game.  The final chapter is how to build a kingdom and mass combat.

Mechanics or “Crunch”-This book is crunch-tastic!  If you want rules regarding all the extra stuff in your game, this is it.  Want rules for an honor system? It’s here.  Want to start a kingdom? There is a whole chapter on how to do the rules for it.  It covers a lot of ground.  Some of these rules are kind of reprints as these rules were covered in different adventure paths, but that’s not necessarily bad as the rules have gotten a polish since their last printing. 5/5

Story or “Fluff”-This section might not fit the best here.  This book sets out to be a rules book.  It’s pretty system neutral as you’re just running the Pathfinder/3.5 system somewhere and these rules cover the “in between” stuff.  You don’t need a lot of story.  However chapter one is how to build a character.  It does an excellent job of describing what stuff you could include in your character.  If you’re George R.R. Martin, you don’t need this.  However, I have a friend who loves Pathfinder, but when presented with character generation, he freezes.  This chapter gives some good fluff for your characters and suggests traits for you to take for all the fluff.  Heck, if you want to completely randomize your PCs, this chapter gives tables and tables of random stuff to make your new PC.  Where the fluff is needed, it’s done well, but don’t expect it throughout the book. 4/5

Execution-This book is the standard Paizo quality.  The book is a nice hard cover with well put together pages.  The layout lacks a bit.  There are pages after pages of tables or rules or columns of text.  Nothing brakes up much of what you’re reading, so it gets a little boring.  It’s important rules, if you want them, but they get very dry, very quick.   3.5/5

Final Thoughts-Unlink a base book, this is a one copy at the table max book.  This is something you might want to get, skim through, and then give to your GM while telling him which of these rules you want in the game.  It’s a repeat of many of the rules systems explored in the adventure paths, which isn’t bad because the rules do get a little touch up here and there.  However, if you want a dungeon crawling game where you find some monsters, kill them, and take gear, this isn’t for you.  If you want to do some crazy game where you explore a mist filled continent via random hex crawl where you establish a kingdom while maintaining your family’s honor, waging a war for the throne, marrying into different family lines, and dealing with the crushing shame of your fathers half fiend lineage, then YES you will need this book.-83%

Game-7 Wonders

Producer-Repos

Price– ~$50

Set-up/Play/Pick-up– One hour

TL;DR-Sleek, well-crafted, fun game 90%

 

Basics-In Seven Wonders, you play a different country throughout history.  Each country starts with a different resource and a play mat that shows costs to build wonders.  These wonders give the country either points or abilities.  Each turn, you look at a hand of cards and pick one to play.  The cards are resources, points, military, science, trade, or other options.  You can play the card for its value, use it to build your wonder, or spend it to gain money.  You then hand the remaining cards to your neighbor.  After all players have selected their cards, you reveal and repeat with the new cards you got from your neighbor.  When you have two cards left you select one and throw the other away.  After a round of this, there is a military phase where losers in battles gain negative points while winners gain positive points.  After three total rounds, the points are counted and the winner is determined.

 

Mechanics-This is where the game really shines.  The rounds go fast with some quick, important choices flying bye.  What strategies really emerge is what to play vs. what to keep vs. what to bury for your wonders/money.    In addition, what makes the game quick is that everything is done with icons and few rules.  The cards have a sleek design that reads quickly.  This game has won world wide awards because, honestly, besides the rules no changes have to happen to play this game across the world.  I could easily sit down in China and play a game with some people who didn’t speak English.  If you know the rules and can see the card icons, you can play. 5/5

 

Theme-Here is where the game suffers a little bit.  I don’t really feel like ‘Rhodes’ when I play ‘Rhodes’.  I feel like I’m a guy building a place, but not really ‘Rhodes.’  I honestly don’t know what ‘Rhodes’ feels like, but I don’t feel that.  That said, I do feel like I’m building an empire over time.  The different rounds or ages do make this game have a distinctive feel.  I like that feeling.  Also, when you go one in a major direction for points, you change your whole strategy, so that does change what you do thematically.  I like this despite not having a country specific feel. 3/5

Instruction-The rules are short and well-written.  This game is a eurogame despite the cards.  That’s not something you hear often, but it’s true.  The instructions have a lot of ground to cover and it does it well.  Lots of examples really help explain this game well. 5/5

 

Summary-This is, quite frankly, an amazing game.  It’s fast, fun, and really replayable.  I loved every moment of this game.  I’ve play is several times and even my not so geeky friends love to bust this one out.  Go get this one. 90%

Product: Legacy of the Crystal Shard

Producer: Wizards of the Coast

Price: ~$30

TL;DR-Great Season, but consider your group. 83.3%

Basics-Its the second book in the Sundering encounters series, and this one takes place in the frozen north of Icewind Dale.  The players arrive in town just as an attack of Yetis takes place.  After saving the town the heroes must root out the various problems in town with the biggest problem being the worst winter the dale is seen in a long time? Can they save Icewind dale from the cold?

Theme: I have really been impressed with the latest DnD encounter manuals.  One book is pretty much dedicated to theme.  Here are the peoples and places the players (alliteration!) will see.  Having a one book dedicated to this really helps me get the world across to my players.  The book is full of tons of small details that will really help.  Its worth it! 4/5

Mechanics/Story: Here is where things get a little “dangerous.”  I love this story compared to the other one.  The heroes here get to be heroes!  However, the heroes can’t completely save the day.  I’m tipping my hand as a DM, but the Sundering encounter season is set up so Wizards has something to say about what happened here.  Something big occurs, the PCs fix most of it, but some evil will remain that the PCs can’t fix, at least right now.  If you’re group or you hates this, then this might not be for you.  However, I love what I’ve seen and what I’ve read.  Also, see the summary for a few running concerns. 4/5

Layout/construction: Honestly, I love the latest projects from Wizards.  The paperback books are pretty decent quality.  They tear kind of easily, but for the page count it’s a good deal.  Also, the package comes with a nice DM screen.  The screen is encounters specific and full of stuff you need for the game.  You get over 100 pages of stuff to read, but the layout is well done and a pleasure to read.  I never felt like it was hard to get through.  A fantastic job. 4.5/5

Summary and thoughts: I really like this product.  This is a great product that is full of information on the frozen north and a great story.  Keep in mind, you or your group will fail at least in part.  If you can get past that, you will have a great time.  Also, as a tip:  you might want to tell your players to agree on a course of action.  In the last session, it was pretty fair game for the PCs to just go in any direction.  This session, for the players to get the most out of the random encounters and distances between towns, you want to only have one group of PCs running around the realms.  83.3%

Game-Belfort

Producer-Tasty Minstrel Games

Price-$50

Set-up/Play/Pick-up-Two hours

TL;DR-Not a perfect game, but damn fun and well designed! 82.5%

Basics-Time for some urban planning mixed with worker placement, and area control!  In Belfort, you and your friends all play city planners in a fantasy setting that is more Pratchett then Tolken.  The city has hired way too many planners, and you now have to compete to see who is the best.  Each turn you take turns placing workers on the board.  However, at any point you can say DONE and then place your remaining workers on the resource gathering board.  After placing workers is over, every player can then build buildings and use building powers.  After a few of these rounds, all players count to see who has the most of each worker type (elf, dwarf, gnome) and the most buildings in each city section for points.  Most points at the end of the game wins.

Mechanics: Honestly, this game covers a bunch of game ground (worker placement, terrain control, resource management), but it does it really well.  The different types of workers and the fact that these are also points makes getting the workers that much more important.  That sentence is an understatement to seasoned worker placement fans, but now that they are worth points hammers home that fact much more.  Much like most eurogames, the buildings you build give you extra actions that anyone can use, but where you place them gives you more points.  Thus, in addition to thinking through what building you need to win, you now have to think where the building must go so you can win! The addition of a third worker type that makes building better also makes your choices that much more important in this game. This is a great game that plays fairly quick for a heavy euro. 5/5

Theme: You are an urban planner.  That is about as dry a subject as trains, but the game is pretty fun.  The instruction book is full of theme for this fantasy setting.  I love to read instruction books that are full of great theme.  It makes the game that much more fun to play.  However, the game by itself doesn’t have much theme.  You do feel like you’re building stuff, but not a city planner since what I built was just what I could when I could.  Also, the great fantasy setting was just left to the wayside when you play through.  A little flavor test on the cards might have made a world of difference to drag me back into the funny fantasy Tasty Minstrel created. 3/5

Instructions: This book is very awesome.  Any book that makes me laugh out loud is awesome!  Also, this book had a tough task of teaching me the rules to this complex game, and it’s a pulled it off quite nicely.  I had a few questions that my play ground just decided a way the rules would go and we moved on, but all said and done, this is a well done book.  4/5

Construction: This game has some nice components.  Lots of nice wood pieces are in the box.  This game was kickstarter project and the stretch goals really helped pull this thing off.  The different resources really look like the different resources!  Nice sparkly iron!  I love this.  The box is well put together.  The only problem I had was the stickers!  You will spend at minimum an hour putting stickers on wood.  That’s a pain, but for all the worker types, you need it.  Maybe on the exclusive 10 year edition, use some different meeples?  4.5/5

Summary: This game is awesome.  Its lots of fun and has lots of replay.  Tasty Minstrel Games kind of came out of nowhere for me, and after this game, when I see a kickstarter from these guys I give just to see what going to shake out of it.  Give this game a try.  You may have to find your own theme for the game, but if you love mechanics of a well designed eurogame, there is no question.  You must buy this game. 82.5%

Product-Seasons

Producer– Asmodee

Cost– $50

Set-up/play/clean-up– 1 hour

TL;DR- More depth and fun then you would think 92.5 %

 

Summary– Seasons is a dice/card game where players take the roles of competing sorcerers trying to gain the most power in three years.  The game is an interesting mix of dice and eurogame.  Each turn, a player rolls dice with one extra die then the number of players.  After rolling, the players take turns selecting dice that will give them points, summoning power, extra cards, or energy.  Players then play cards or transmute energy to points(crystals).  The die that is left over will advance the season track a number of spaces.  When the season changes, new dice are used that give relatively similar results except that different energy is available each season.  When the season counter crosses into the fourth year, players count their points/crystals and whoever has the most wins.

 

Theme–  I play a sorcerer in this game.  I’m not sure if I feel like a sorcerer, but I do feel the changes in the seasons.  Later in the game, you have ways to save up power, but early on, you do feel that the time of the year is affecting your magic.  Later in the game, it won’t matter as much except for making points.  Its an interesting mix of theme and mechanic that I like.  The world made by the cards and the dice is an interesting one that I enjoy being part of. 4/5

 

Mechanics–  This is a really interesting approach to a dice game.  I wouldn’t say the game is as deep a thinking experience as chess, but if you go in randomly choosing dice, you will lose badly.  It’s a fun game that is always changing.  It feels like a strange hybrid of Quorriors, Agricola, and Seven Wonders;  Its random dice, action choice, and competition for resources.  Even with all this, the game plays quick and is really fun.  It’s definitely worth a look for that alone. 5 /5

 

Instructions-With all the above going on, the instruction book has a big job ahead of itself.  The book teaches the rules very well.  There is much more going on then what my blub above suggests.  Also, the rules give you different ways to play from an easy variant all the way to hard, complex rules.  There are some corner cases where the rules don’t quite cover, but all and all a well done set of rules. 4.5/5

 

Art/Construction-Giant dice make me happy!  This game comes with four giant sets of six sided dice, and they are fantastic!  I love dice games, but most use such tiny dice.  This one makes excellent use of its parts.  The cards are standard card stock, but their art looks cartoony and nice.  The box comes with lots of stuff, so I felt like I got my money’s worth. 5 /5

 

Summary–  This is a fun game.  It has a surprising number of levels for a game that looks fairly easy.  It gives dice randomness with choices the matter, and that is a hard thing to pull off.  My wife and I will often pull this game off the shelf to play even when we have other, newer games to play.  That alone should speak volumes.  This game is quick, easy, and fun.  Go check this game out. 92.5%

 

Product-Codex of Heroes

Producer-Paradigm Concepts

Cost– ~$30

Pages- 192

TL;DR-Simply a must have if you play Arcanis 93%

 

Summary– This is the first hard cover splat book for the Arcanis Role Playing game.  The book starts off with a long narrative detailing how the first arc of Living Arcanis ended.  From this, the book details some of the many different secret societies active in Arcanis.  After these secret societies, the book moves into its true splat book nature by adding several options for each character spanning new races, traits, spells, etc all the way to using old skills in new ways.  The book ends with a chapter detailed how each faith in general worships its gods.

 

Story or “Fluff”– This book is exactly what Arcanis needs.  Arcanis has spanned the 3.x era of DnD and moved to its own RPG, winning an award at Origins for its debut.  However, lots of its old history is in unpublished, inaccessible modules, and newcomers might be lost.  This book greatly adds to the story and helps newer plays quickly become accumulated with the world.  In addition, Arcanis has always had a strong story component, and this book really helps those who haven’t played through five years of living games get a leg up on understanding what is going.  5/5

 

Mechanics or Crunch– Again, this is exactly what Arcanis needs.  Arcanis has not had many extra rule books published for the game, and this is a glorious addition to the system.  It provides an impressive amount of crunch in fewer than 200 pages.  And the book ads rules all the way through the game system.  The book comes with an improved character creations sheets that help you walk through the hardest part of the Arcanis RPG all the way through to high level character options.  Hands down awesome! 5/5

 

Art/Layout-The book is easy to read and well laid out.  The art is all Arcanis in style helping me draw pictures in my mind with ease.  However, a major problem with the art is that some of it is recycled art.  Not all, but enough.  I’m in the world because of the art; but when I can play spot the reprint, it takes away from the book. 3.5/5

 

Final Thoughts-If you play Arcanis, you need this.  There is no question.  It’s pretty cheap at $30 for ~200 pages, and well worth its price.  I love the Arcanis System, and this book is a welcomed addition to the game.  90%

Product-Pathfinder Adventure Card Game- The Skinsaw Murders

Producer– Paizo

Cost– ~$19

Set-up/play/clean-up– 1 hour per scenario

TL;DR-Good second offering, but I feel a little less engaged 68%

 

Summary– It’s the second installment of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and this time it’s a plague of undead!  Players must defend Sandpoint from the horrors of the second part of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path-The Skinsaw Murders.  First the undead attack in mass in Undead Uprising.  Next, the heroes make their way to the outskirts of town to defend the farmers in Crow Bait.  With the undead somewhat quieted, the heroes go to the source and attack the Skinsaw Man himself in Foul Misgivings in a haunted house.  With the main source put down, you then move to putting down the cult supporting him in The Cult Exposed.  The climax of the quest is Angel in the Tower!

 

Theme– This adventure has a strong undead theme, and it’s fairly well done.  I did feel that the undead were nipping at my heels.  However due to the nature of the random monster draw, not all the monsters were undead.  It takes away a bit form the theme of an undead horde when I have to put down a goblin raid.  Also, I only get minimal story from the cards; there is not much written on the cards, so I don’t get the feeling of a coherent story between the adventures.  What would make this much better would be a deeper delve into the story.  Having not played the adventure path, I kind of feel lost in the fiction behind the card game. 3.5/5

 

Mechanics– The mechanics are fairly well done, but somewhat repetitive.  The basic mechanics of the intro game are how most of the scenarios play out. Explore, find henchmen, kill guy, close place, continue till all closed and fight villain.  It’s not bad, but it does get somewhat monotonous.  The real shining star of the game is the scenario Foul Misgivings.  This one has a crazy haunt mechanic that makes fights happen and made me really enjoy this game.  However, since the game doesn’t have any included instructions, the cool new mechanic that is introduced becomes somewhat hard to implement.  This led to my wife and I scrambling to several internet forums to find how to resolve an important issue midgame.  Again, I really want a single sheet explaining the scenario a little bit.  All and all, nothing is bad. It’s just not great. 3.5/5

 

Instructions– This pack came with no instructions whatsoever except for what’s on the cards.  I don’t really like how the base instructions explain the game, so now that we are adding several decks to the game, I’m not sure I’m playing the game right.  I don’t like mid-game having to scramble to boardgamegeek or paizo.com to figure out if I’m doing things right. 2/5

 

Art/Construction– The Art is good and well done.  Some of it comes directly from Paizo’s other properties.  Since this is undead crazy, the art is the right amount of unsettling.  It even unnerved my wife sitting at our kitchen table.  The cards are of decent stock, but after a few plays you will expect some corners to tear. 4.5/5

 

Summary-Not a bad second effort.  I like the core mechanic of exploration, but I feel it gets old fast.  I really enjoyed Foul Misgivings; this scenario gives hints of just how far this card game can be stretched in both rules and theme.  I’d prefer a few tweaks to really help me feel like I’m playing the Rise of the Runelords adventure path, but I’m basically getting the experience of the table top RPG.  I think a few changed would really make this game top notch.  If you have the base game, this is a pretty good follow up. 68%