Game-Spyrium

Producer-Asmodee

Price– $35

TL;DR– An amazing game with slight execution problems 85%

Basics– It’s time for some steampunk worker placement/terrain control.  A recently discovered element called Spyrium has been found to have amazing properties to power steam machines.  You take the role of a merchant in this steampunk setting vying for control of a Victorian empire.  Each turn you set out building/cards in a 3×3 grid.  Players take turns placing your workers between the available buildings, using that rounds special power, or moving to the second phase where you pick up your workers, use your own buildings, or use that rounds special power.  When you pick up a worker you can either get one money for each worker next to that card or buy that card paying extra money for each other work next to that card.  All cards have a point value for the end game.  The buildings you control allow you to get money, get extra workers, get more money at the start of each round, get Spyrium, change Spyrium to points, or get game changing effects like extra money or ignore a number of workers near a buildings for paying the buildings cost.  The special round powers give you options to get more workers, free money/points/Spyrium, or get an extra worker placement after you enter the worker pick up phase.  The game ends after the sixth round and then points are counted.  Person with the highest points has control of the empire and is the winner.

Mechanics-This is an excellent worker placement/terrain control game.  It’s not terrain control as Carcassonne is, but reading other players and the board can really influence if you buy a property, only use it to gain money, or use your workers to bleed your opponents dry!  The choice of when to move from worker placement to worker retrieval is an underused mechanic that really gives more choice to the players.  I really love what I saw when I played this game. 5/5

Theme- I wouldn’t say this is the best game for theme, as I didn’t feel like a Spyrium baron in this game.  But, I did feel like I was in this steampunk world.  I love the little components.  The little Spyrium random shapes are awesome.  The cards/boards have consistent art that is great.  A good effort when you look at it all together.  4.5/5

Instructions- I liked these instructions.  The mechanics are not simple, but the instructions do an excellent job of explaining the rules.  I did have some questions, but was able to find the rules on Board Game Geek.  Our question focused on if you build over a building that gave an effect like getting more workers, do you still get to keep those workers.  The answer is yes, but I felt the rules should have covered that.  4.5/5

Execution- Here is where things fall apart a bit.  I love the components like the rules and the cards, but I found it hard to keep the active workers separate from the inactive workers.  The other workers did too.  I felt these should have been a spot on the placer place cards that was set up to separate active vs. used workers.  Also, the main board has a spot to list the amount of money you get at the start of each round.  I wanted there to be a similar spot to list the number of workers you have at the start of each round.  In general, great parts in this game, but it needed a bit more. 3/5

Summary- I loved this game.  It’s a phenomenal game with intricate strategy.  The parts that are in the game are amazing and draw you into the game.  I want a bit more, but the game is playable out of the box.  If you love steampunk and worker placement games, then this buy is a no brainer.  Even if you don’t like steampunk, this game is definitely worth playing if it comes to the table. 85%

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%