Tag: Review

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Shadow Spells

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Product– Shadow Spells

Producer– Catalyst Game Lab

Price– ~$7 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/137717/Shadowrun-Shadow-Spells

System- Shadowrun 5e

TL; DR– Good, but more for your GM.  92%

 

Basics– Always geek the mage first!  Shadow Spells is the first pdf book to be released post Gen Con for Shadowrun.  This book builds on larger magic book Street Grimoire by introducing new traditions, new threats and allies in the shadows, and ending with new spells and abilities for mages of all sorts.

 

Mechanics or Crunch– This book does have some cool stuff in it, but most of the presented crunch is focused on making the GM’s life easier.  The book introduces several new threats and allies for the PCs to tangle with, and they are all well done with fun new magical powers.  On the PC’s side, the new traditions all look great and look fun to play with.  The best thing introduced by far in this book is the Norse tradition.  So if you want a mage who has a crow familiar and worships Loki for power all the while screwing with everyone with illusions, then this is the book for you.  The powers and spells are ok.  Nothing is bad here, but most of the spells have extremely limited use.  There are some winner spells that are pretty useful on most runs.  However, most of these might be spells you buy later, as most of what’s here is not the kind of spells you would pick up at character generation when you only can choose 10 spells.  4/5

 

Theme or Fluff–   I love the way Catalyst presents information in their books.  Instead of “here is X information”, everything is always presented as an internet post with people commenting on what just was presented either to provide new information or to provide some snark.  It might not be laughing out loud comedy, but it’s funny and entertaining enough to keep you reading and interested in what is basically a textbook on obscure magical persons and traditions in the sixth world.  5/5

 

Execution– Much like the rest of the short Shadowrun PDFs, this one is well done.  I’d like a few more pictures and some more white space to break up some text, but overall, I enjoyed reading this.  It never felt like a slog through dense, boring text.  There are some cool pictures as well as some nice text boxes to break up the text and give the reader a chance to breath.  These all help to keep me interested and entertained rather than bored.  Some things I would have liked to see are some pictures of the named characters in this book as we see some pictures of the named people of interest, but not all.  But overall, it’s a well done book.  4.75/5

 

Summary– I love magic in Shadowrun.  It’s always fun to take down a fully armored troll street samurai with a timid elf pinned down in an alley.  This book adds some more story to the Shadowrun world.  Overall, it’s pretty well done, but if you don’t play a mage, then this book is completely useless to you.  If you don’t want to play an obscure tradition, then this book doesn’t help you either.  As a GM, this book is very useful as it provides a new set of enemies and powers that you might want to throw on an enemy.  For the average player, you really have to consider what you want.  This book provides some great character options, but it might not be useful to most players.  92%

Ring Side Report-Board Game/ iOS review of The Manhattan Project

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Game-The Manhattan Project on iOS

Producer-Domowicz Creative Group

System-iOS

TL;DR– Great for multiplayer, problems with single player. 80%

 

Basics– BOOM BABY! It’s Manhattan Project on the iOS.  It plays exactly like the original board game.  Players take turns placing workers on the main board and placing workers on different locations on their own boards, or recalling workers from where they have been placed with the goal of building the most bomb points.  For my full review of the base board game, check out this link:  https://throatpunchgames.com/2013/10/29/ring-side-report-game-review-the-manhattan-project/  This is the iOS version of the game that my mother and I played on the iPad.  Let’s break the game down.

 

Mechanics-The iOS game follows the same mechanics as the base game.  What it does add are some nice animations as well as doing all the computations for the game well.  The game functions pretty smoothly. What problem you will have are some things are not indicated well.  Some items will glow if you can do them, but others like the construction area don’t.  It’s not indicated if you can have multiple people on there.  The game works well, but a few changes would really help things.  HOWEVER, NO MATTER WHAT BAD THINGS YOU CAN SAY, THIS GAME HAS AN UNDO BUTTON!  That makes life so much better! 4.5/5

 

Visuals/Sounds– The game looks nice, but it’s basically just the board game floating in space.  It’s easy to read as you can zoom in, but it’s not suped up like some other board games on the iOS.  The game looks like the developer just took the tabletop version and placed it on the iPad.  That’s not bad, but I would like a bit more.  The sounds are ok, but the music can get a bit repetitive. 4/5

 

Execution-This game is well done, but the major problems you will have boil down to a lack of instruction.   Everything in this game comes directly from The Manhattan Project board game box: tokens, boards, and instructions.  The bad thing is that there are no instructions for how to play the game on the iOS.  If you’ve played a few of these before, you will be fine.  Your first play through will be a bit of a mess because you have to learn as you go.  That’s a pretty sizable problem.  However, it’s a problem you will have only for your first play through.  Nothing you won’t get past, but it will turn a few people away.  The AI is a bit weak; I’ve never been bombed by the AI, had espionage happen, or even lost once!  It’s fun to play, but if you’re a decent player, you will win.  When you do win, the game doesn’t allow you to do anything or prompt you to quit.  You have to manually quit.  That’s not a problem per se, but a little bit more effort would really make this game better.  As for the multiplayer, it does amazingly well with either the pass and play or internet versions.  I had to explain to my mom how to play and start an internet game (see above), but once she understood how to play she was off to the races.  So, great job on the multiplayer!  3.5/5

 

Summary– I love The Manhattan Project.  It’s one of my favorite games that I can’t convince my local gaming group to play.  I loved it before, and now I have the chance to play on my iPad.  If Playdeck’s games are the A tier games, then this is a solid B game.  The game is good, but you will be left wanting a bit more.  It’s the game you want, but a little bit more would really knock this out of the park.  The absence is what really notice and hurt the game: no iOS instruction, no prompting for things, and limited AI.  What is here is the board game you want that works well and is fun.  If you can get past the problems and know this game,then this is a great iOS title. 80%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of People of the Stars

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 3 Comments

Product– Pathfinder Player Companion-People of the Stars

System-Pathfinder

Producer-Paizo

Price-$13 here http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Player-Companion-People-Stars/dp/1601256744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410741048&sr=8-1&keywords=People+of+the+stars

TL;DR-It’s that book with android stuff! 93%

 

Basics-I want to believe!  People of the Stars is the player companion to Distant Worlds.  This book follows the standard Pathfinder formula for player books by adding new races, feats, items, traits, archetypes, and spells for races from beyond Golarion in the solar system.

 

Mechanics or Crunch– This is crunch-tastic.  The book is full of all kinds of great stuff to build otherworldly characters.  What’s here is pretty useful and well done if you want to have an intergalactic campaign.  If you want to keep you game on Golarion, there isn’t much for you here.  5/5

 

Theme or Fluff– There are some amazing stories here.  Each world in the solar system gets about half a page and gives a nice, short summary that world.  The races all have some nice build up and are varied enough to be good additions to the Pathfinder race line up.  However, like I said above, the stuff presented here really won’t be that much use to any campaign or player if you just stay on Golarion. 5/5

 

Execution-Paizo knows how to make a good book.  This book is well written, laid out well, and entertaining.  This isn’t the best book put out by Paizo as there are some parts that drag on, and there are a few sections with “textbook problem”.  But, this is generally a good book. 4/5

 

Summary-Going to play in the solar system in Pathfinder?  Then, get this book.  Going to play the Iron God’s campaign and want to play an android?  Get this book, because this book has some android feat and traits you might want.  Otherwise, this book might not help you much.  It’s a well done book, but this book will mostly hit a niche market.  Even the Iron Gods adventure path doesn’t use this book and advices the use of another book called People of the River.  This is a good book, but only a few people will really need this book. 93%

Ring Side Report- Board Game Review of Guildhall  

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Game-Guildhall
Producer-AEG
Price– $50 here http://www.amazon.com/Alderac-Entertainment-Group-AEG5601-Guildhall/dp/B00AQJ5Y92/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410285314&sr=8-2&keywords=guildhall
Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 40 minutes
TL; DR-An awesome, quick card game. 88%

Basics– Rise up through commerce!  In Guildhall, you play someone who starts a guildhall in the middle ages vying for power through the economy.  You do this by creating the most powerful guild in town.  You start with a hand of six cards.  These cards each show a profession and a color.  Each turn you choose two actions: play a card, discard and draw up to six, or buy victory points.  When you play a card, you place it directly in front of you and get a benefit based on the number of other cards of that profession you already have in your guildhall.  The current card does not count for this. That is really important! As an example let’s look at the weaver.  If you have no weavers in your guild hall, when you play a weaver from your hand, you get to place one card in your guild hall.  If you have two weavers in your guildhall already, you get to place two cards directly in your guildhall, but you have to take one card back to hand.  If you have four weavers in your guildhall, you can place as many cards as you want from hand into your guildhall, but you must pick up two cards from your guildhall.  There are five colors to each profession.  You can only play cards that you do not all ready have.  As an example, you can’t play a red farmer if you have a red farmer, but playing a blue farmer is ok with a red farmer in your guildhall.  When you have five different color cards of one profession in your guildhall, that stack is turned over and can be used with the second action to buy points.  As another action, you can spend one or two stacks of cards by placing those cards in the discard area to buy a victory card.  Some of these cards are just a ton of points while other cards give some points and extra actions or free cards.  The last action that you can take is to discard as many cards as you want and draw up to six cards.  After your two actions, you move all your played cards into your guild hall, and the next player goes.  The game continues until someone scores 20 points and is the winner.

Mechanics-I love this game. The mechanics are tight and card combos come out really quickly.  Nothing is too broken since any card you have a chance to get could always show up in your opponents hand too.  It moves quickly, teaches easily, and is a great game even in a short timeframe. 5/5

Theme-This is not a theme heavy game.  The art is all nice and the characters look like their concepts, but beyond that it’s just playing cards.  Some of the actions the cards do is related to the role on the card, but it’s not as strong as I would hope for some cards.  The game is really fun, but the mechanics and theme are just too separated. 2.5/5

Instructions-AEG does an excellent job on these rules.  It’s even written in two languages-English and German.  The rules have text, but columns and boxes to break up the text making this a quick easy read.  It’s read quickly and teaches the rules really well. 5/5

Execution-This game is executed really well.  The box is way too big for the cards in it, but the box also comes with some really cool plastic dividers to help make the size less of a problem.  The cards are nice quality and don’t tear easily.  The coins are nice and chunky.  And the iconography teaches the rules in a way that requires no language, just concept pictures.  Well done! 5/5

Summary-I love this game.  It’s a quick game to get out either between longer games as a filler or as a few games over a night.  It’s less than an hour even for four players.  I wish the theme was a bit stronger, but that’s my only problem.  This is a game I keep in my car when I’m out and about.  You never know when you might want or have the opportunity to get a good game in, and this one is easy to teach, quick to master, and a blast to play. 88%

Ring Side Report- Board Game Review of Shadowrun: Crossfire

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Game– Shadowrun: Crossfire

Producer- Catalyst Game Labs

Price– $60 here http://www.amazon.com/Catalyst-Game-Labs-CYT27700-Shadowrun/dp/B000B2VCDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409799537&sr=8-1&keywords=shadowrun+crossfire

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 20 min per player (2-4 players)

TL; DR– Randomness hurts the story. 84%

 

Basics-Welcome to the shadows, chummer.  Crossfire is a co-op deck building card game where players take the roll of different Shadowrun characters.  Each character chooses a race and a roll.  The race give you hit points, a starting hand size, and  starting money.  The rolls are twofold.  The rolls give you a starting deck of cards as well as determine what cards will attack your character.  The players then choose a scenario.  The scenarios give you a set up conditions, new rules, and a story.  Aside from the scenario specific changes to the basic game, the game goes as follows.  A number of obstacles are dealt out equal to the number of players.  Each obstacle has a color and that obstacle will attack a player with the same roll color.  Then, players take turns as follows.  First, the start player draws a crossfire card.  This card will give an effect for the round such as increased damage to players or players not being able to heal.  Some cards also have an effect if enough crossfire cards are in the discard pile.  Next, the player play cards with icons that match the current icons on any obstacle to damage it.  If the players play enough cards to completely damage an obstacle, then the players get money.  Otherwise, counters are used to indicate the next icons that have to be played on the obstacles to defeat them, so damage to an obstacle is tracked between players.  When the player is done playing cards on obsticles, any obstacle in front of him/her damages that player.  Finally, the player draws cards if he/she has less than three cards, buys cards from the center, and play passes to the next player.  This player takes an almost identical turn except does not draw a crossfire card.  Play continues until it’s the start players turn, a new crossfire card is drawn, and the game continues.  If all the players do not have an obstacle in front of them, then the crossfire pile is discarded.  The game keeps going until the players beat the scenario or a player dies.  If the players beat the scenario, they score karma (experience) based on the scenario.  If a player dies, then the players run away and only get one karma each.  Between scenarios, players can spend karma to upgrade their characters, but they almost always start with the same basic cards in their starter deck.

 

Theme-This game feels like a stripped down Shadowrun game.  It’s fun, but you don’t get the complete experience.  There is a bunch of Shadowrun things here ranging from quotes and story starts for the scenarios, but the games random nature makes the cohesiveness come apart a bit.  You don’t get the story you would expect from a standard night of playing Shadowrun, the Pathfinder adventure card game, or the Lord of the Rings card game.  Both of those card games have more targeted effects and story.  Make no mistake, this is Shadowrun.  But, it’s not as Shadowrun as I wanted. 4/5

 

Mechanics– Your enjoyment of the mechanics of this game will directly reflect how many people you play with.  If you play with four, this game is awesome.  Each player gets a roll; everybody gets a ton of turns to help, even if one player has all the obstacles in front of him/her.  The mechanics of building a deck, using icons to target icons to damage an obstacle, rolls, karma, and money will all work pretty well.  But if you play with three players, or god forbid two, this game is a ride on the pain train.  With fewer players, the current players take more rolls.  But, those same players DON’T take more cards for those rolls.  You take two roll cards, choose one, and then get the base cards for the roll you choose, not the one you didn’t.  This means you get fewer icons and can still be target by obstacles from that color.  That’s a problem as the random nature of the obstacle deck means the Orc Decker/face could get all face obstacles even though Orc only has Decker cards.  That player will die, and his/her partner won’t be able to do anything because the center market cards could only be black attacking cards.  The balance is off if you are missing players, so that is a very troubling problem for me as my wife and I typically only play co-op cards together. 4 /5

 

Instructions– The instructions are ok.  The rules start with a quick start guide, but the quick start isn’t quick, and to really understand the game, you have to read the full rules anyway.  Also, the rules hide some of the more fiddly bits of the game in text.  They rules do a decent job of explaining the game, but it could use a bit more polish and a one page external summary of what to do to get you playing in under five minutes. 4/5

 

Execution– I like what I see here, but the game makes a very BAD sin!  This box is full of cards, room to expand the decks, glossy character cards, stickers, and lots of nice, hard tokens.  The cards don’t bend or tare easily.  A major complaint a while back was that the stickers would ruin the game.  But, the glossy cards and the stickers work together to hold the stickers just enough to keep them on the character cards, but not hard enough to make it a pain to change stickers.  However, this game could really use a start player marker among the many other tokens.  Also, the book says to just use a dry erase marker to track karma on the characters.  But, no marker comes in the box.  I HATE when instructions do that.  If you tell me to use something to do X, by god, you better have put X in the box!  This game has a MSRP of $60, and I don’t get a nice way to track karma besides buy another thing?!  Why not give me stickers? What’s here is well done, but what’s missing is pretty obvious. 4.8/5

 

Summary– This is a fun game, but your fun will really very with the number of players you got.  Like any good Shadowrun RPG game, you need all the bases covered-one person on magic, another on computers, a talker, and a guy/gal with a gun.  Playing a game without those people will really make life that much more hard, and that’s reflected in this game.  It’s fun, but it’s punishing if you don’t have that full party.  Another problem is the story.  It’s there, but get used to randomness.  I’d like a bit more targeted problems for my team to deal with, so each game fits the story, not just random encounters.  This game is fun, its one I want to play more of, but it’s one that I know the sheer randomness of could really make me hate playing.  A bad draw, and a bad night can really spin out of control easy.  What this game really needs is more options and cards.  I really want some more cards for characters, half rolls, and more scenarios.  If Catalyst promised semi-regular releases of this game, I’ll keep buying!  Keep that in mind, shoot straight, never deal with a dragon, and you will have a great time. 84%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Crawl! #10

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Product– Crawl! #10 (Fanzine)

Producer– Stray Couches Press

Price-$3 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/133560/Crawl-fanzine-no-10

System– DCC RPG

TL;DR– Class options for demi-humans! 100%

 

Basics-Crawl! is the semi-official fanzine of the DCCRPG.  This month its options for demi-humans.  Instead of the basic race as level options frorm the main DCCRPG , this book presents Dwarven Priest, Elven rogue, Halfling burglar, and Halfling champion (fighter) as options for Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings.  The book also presents a system to take half levels or multiclass and the random stats tables for height, weight, build, hair type, eye color, and other physical features.

 

Mechanics or crunch– The one thing DCCRPG needs more of is options.  This is not a universal opinion, but I know I want more books for this system.  The class options here are still fairly balanced, and things I’d allow at my table.  If you want more options for your dwarf, this is worth a look.  Also, even the tables to add to your character are random, so you get more options, but don’t lose the randomness that is pervasive in the system. 5/5

 

Theme or Fluff-I know it’s not in the OSR spirit, but I don’t want to grow up to be a dwarf!  I like the idea of race shaping your character, but I want more options for that character.  This gives a few more options for what your characters can be instead of the basic dwarf has to be a dwarf idea from old school gaming.  The classes still fit the mold for DCCRPG, so they don’t stick out badly but really just add to the world.  The last half of the book is random tables to make your character more of a living person, not just a few stats, so that is great for story and character building as well. 5/5

 

Execution- All too often a fanzine will be crap because its one guy in a basement.  This one is not one of those.  This is well done with the same layout, art, and style of the DCCRPG main book.  It’s a quick read that’s priced right for its content and size. 5/5

 

Summary-Want some quick options for your demi-humans?  Get the book.  Want some ways to build your character a bit more than just a few stats?  Get the book.  Want more DCCRPG?  GET THE BOOK!  My only problem is I’d like MORE class options, but for three bucks, I’m ok with what I get in this book.  Hopefully, we will see the more options like this soon. 100%