Author: Bill H

Card games I can stick in my handbag, because you never know…

Parade

I think this is my favorite small card game in the universe. It does an excellent job of mitigating the luck factor that can be frustrating in card games, while also offering a tonne of interesting decisions and strategies to play. It also does one thing that is very rare in a game. Plays well as a 2 player and as a 6 player game (plus all numbers in-between).

Parade is designed by Naoki Homma from Japan and in it you are looking to get the least amount of points. 6 cards are laid out in a row at the start to form the parade (from Alice in Wonderland) and on your turn you lay a card from your hand of 5 at the end of that Parade. If your card is a ‘Green 4’ you ignore the first 4 cards on the parade, but if any of the rest are 4 or lower and/or green you take them and they become part of your score. What makes this game great is that at the end of the game whoever has the most cards of each colour gets to flip them over and they become worth 1 point each. So if you do have to take the Red 7 & 9 (16 points), you can attempt to take a lot of red cards and reduce your score to say 5 (for 5 red cards). There is no real ‘bad’ hand, high cards allow you to skip a lot of cards, but any you can’t skip you are almost guaranteed to take, low cards are vice-versa. Lovely purple box too.

Red 7

The latest and greatest from Carl Chudyk, a maverick designer who likes to test the limits of what’s been done before (see Flowerfall for an example). 49 cards, 1-7 in the 7 colours of the rainbow. The golden rule, if you are not winning at the end of your turn you are out! You start with 7 cards plus 1 in front of you, and you can play a card in front of you, one to the middle to change the rule, or both. However, you are not going to draw cards, so playing two will drain you fast.

Just a second, did I say change the rules? Why yes indeed! Each colour is a rule about how to currently win the game, meaning the game is about trying to cover as many bases at once with the cards in front of you. The more you play, the better you get and the more the game opens up to you. A brilliant little design, with a round taking about 5 minutes, and variants for longer play and more complex rules.

No Thanks

Another, take the least points possible game. Every player starts with 11 red chips. Place a card in the middle of the table (numbered 4-36) and on your turn either place a chip on the card to not take it or take the card (and receive the points on it) and the chips on it. Obviously if you keep putting chips on the cards, you will run out of chips and have to take the card, which would suck of it was 30+, hence the balancing act. However if you have cards that are consecutive they only count as the lowest number (i.e. 26, 27 & 28 would count as just 26 points). But 9 cards are removed from the deck, so taking 19 & 21 doesn’t mean that 20 is in the deck…

A 20 minute push your luck game, that’s easy to learn but leads to some tough decisions and really fun game play.

Sky Tango

Brand new, a game about Suns and Moons (and numbers), rising and falling. It’s really quite gorgeous, but quite cut-throat at the same time. The goal is to try and collect as many cards as possible by creating runs of 5 cards in a row, in either Sun or Moon.

Cards can be added to either end of the row, but must be sequential. However, your opponent can also play on your card rows and the only time you draw is when your hand of 5 runs out. If you can’t make a legal move (by adding to the end of your or your opponents rows) you lose all the cards you played and must start again. There are also eclipses which can also be played on top of Suns/Moons to break up a row of cards (and hose your opponent). When played as a 4 it also becomes a partnership game, which I always quite enjoy.

no thanks parade red 7 sky tango

IBGC’s Game’s of 2014

Interactivity Board Game Cafe’s Game of the year 2014 is here! At the Cafe we play a lot of games and between Staff and Game Teachers we were able to poll 17 ‘experts’ to vote on the best games of last year and here are the results:

1. Splendor
2. Camel Up
3. Red 7
     Concept
     Colt Express
6.Viticulture
     Sheriff of Nottingham
8.Tragedy Looper
     Istanbul
10.Dead of Winter
     Star Realms

The surprise was probably Tragedy Looper, by far the most brain twistingly/meltery game of the year, but those who played it and retained their sanity loved it. Red 7 which only came out mid-December was the small boxed hit of the year, if you haven’t tried it yet, its a must! Let’s hope 2015 is as great.

Great Kids Games, that are possibly also great late night drunky games

Kids games…lets be honest, a lot of them really are terrible. Too often they are a gimmick with bright colors on the box that are more toy than a game. There are some really good ones out there though. I always say to parents, that it is more important to find a game that they want to play. Don’t worry about the kids; kids love all games and just want to play with you, so if you also like the game they get to play more 🙂

There are some good classics out there. Guess Who, Operation and Battleships all have fond places in my memory. Others like Snakes and Ladders make me want to tear my eyeballs out (incidentally this games origins are in India and were used to teach ideas of Karma, and how good deeds would move you closer to Salvation, and bad deeds towards reincarnation as a lower form of life). Kids often get frustrated with it as they know they have no control over the game and when they lose will get upset because in games of chance we will more often than not focus on the bad breaks rather than the good ones.

Fear not though, those crazy Germans (and a few French) are experts at making kids games that are fun for both adults and kids. In my opinion a good kids game needs the following:

Decisions. You need to feel that you have some control over what you are doing.
Luck. A healthy dose as well. Its the great equalizer, meaning that parents don’t have to lose on purpose as they will often just get unlucky.
Great components. Its needs to have fun bits and a little gimmick will often help, In a lot of cases this will be a magnet…in Kalimambo its miniature turds!
A story element. If the game has a good theme then kids will get into it and enjoy the story feel of it. If they lose they will often not even care as they enjoyed the process so much.
Surprise. Some element of the unknown that breaks up the game. Something hidden, somewhere, somehow.

After you’ve put the kids to bed it’d be nice if the game was fun enough to play with grown up kids and by grown up kids I mean slightly sozzled adults. Well I’m an adult and have 2 kids and sometimes get a bit sozzled…I even have a friend or two, so here’s primarily a list of great kids game, with their adaptability rating to turn into a late night stooopid drunk game:

Spooky Stairs

Its kind of like the aforementioned Snakes and Ladders I just roundly dissed, but good. First to the top of the stairs wins. Roll a dice and move that many steps (sounds familiar?). However on two sides of the dice there is a ghost, if you role that you take a ghost piece and plonk him on your pawn. A magnet will lock him in place. Eventually you will all become ghosts and guess what, you get distracted for a second, turn back to the game and….just a second, which was my guy? That’s right they all look the same. Not only that. Once you are all ghosts if you role a ghost, you can switch two players on the board. I know, you think you wont forget, how could you forget? Trust me…YOU WILL FORGET which is your piece. Once one gets to the top, reveal who it is and you have winner.

Its quick, only taking 15 minutes, and simple for little ones. Kids do not care if they win or not, their favorite part is looking under the ghost at the end to see who has won, which they think is hilarious when they find out Mummy was moving their piece by mistake the whole time.

Sozzolometer – You can probably guess that this game works pretty well with silly adults. It even comes with an ‘advanced’ rule where instead of switching ghosts you can switch the player colour markers instead, just for added confusion. The moment when someone says how they will not forget this time and then halfway through the game , pauses and goes ‘**** I totally forgot which one is mine’ is priceless. 7/10.

The Enchanted Tower

The winner of last years Kids Game of the Year. Its like a cross between pop-up pirate and an advent calendar. One player is the Sorcerer, the others jointly control the Robin. The object is to find the key hidden in the board by the Sorcerer and try one the the 6 key holes to free the Princess, who will pop out of her tower if the correct hole is chosen. The Robin gets a head start to start searching, but the Sorcerer knows where the key is hidden. Magnets under each piece will lift out the key if you go to the right spot. The bits in this are awesome. Kids love hiding the key (and will often be quite sneaky by opening numerous holes so you can’t get a hint by hearing where it goes). They love the excitement of putting the key in and hoping the Princess will pop out. The Sorcerer will often pretend to go one way to throw the Robin off the trail and when the keys pops out it looks great.

Sozzolometer – nope sorry, doesn’t work I’m afraid. Its strictly one for the kids, but you’ll also enjoy it with them. 3/10

Banana Matcho

Huzzah, it has a picture of a blinged out Orangutang smoking a banana on the front, that’s a good start. Its a race to the top of the fruit tree. You play in pairs, one person rolls the 6 fruit dice looking to get sets of fruit (e.g. 3 pineapples, 3 pairs of fruit or a fruit full house), the other rolls three monkey dice trying to get three monkeys. You can roll as fast as you like, setting aside what you want to keep, its a race. As soon as 3 monkeys are rolled or the fruity player is happy, you bash a squeaky banana and the winner moves up the tree. Then the dice are passed one place to the left and a new pair battles. The player rolling the monkey dice only ever move up one spot if they win, whereas the fruit dude can move up to 12, so all other players are cheering for the monkeys. Its a lot of fun and dice will go everywhere. Its only really suitable for 6 year olds and up I would think, as younger children would have a hard time rolling the dice and processing a good roll as quick as an adult.

Sozzolometer – we’ve had post bar people hit the cafe looking for something new, but not in a state to learn anything difficult and this goes down very well. Everyone is cheering for the dice and when those three monkeys hit you’ll hear a big roar and a lot of laughs. 9/10

The Magic Labyrinth

Its a Maze game, where you can’t see the maze! Its hidden under the board. You can add pieces of the maze to make it easier or harder depending on how old the kids playing are. Again a powerful magnet is used, this time to hold a metal ball in place under your wizard piece with the board in-between. You wander through the maze trying to pick up tokens, but when you walk over an ‘invisible’ wall it’ll knock your ball off and you have to go back to the start, remembering not to go that way again. Its quite a thinky game, with a good memory required and kids love the maze aspect with the walls.

Sozzolometer – you probably will have a hard time remembering your own name, never mind where the walls are. Don’t play this one. 2/10

Loopin’ Louie

This is it, the ultimate kids/adult game. The plane spins around and you use your lever to knock him over your chickens so they don’t fall down. Last man with chickens wins. Kids love it, adults love it. We all love it.

Sozzolometer – ’nuff said. 10/10

banana matcho enchanted tower loopin' louie magic labyrinth spooky stairs

The 2014 Game of the Year – Did they get it right?

The Spiel des Jahres is the Family Game of the Year awarded annually in Germany. Its the best game for people who enjoy board games, but only play occasionally, buying perhaps one or two a year. It therefore needs to be:

accessible
fun
easy to learn
original

I’ll start by saying that the three nominations this year were excellent, all three would have been worthy winners. The winner was, however, Camel Up. It was also the last to get an English release, so we have the least experience with it, but over the last two weeks it has been taught 30+ times here at the Cafe so we have a good idea of its strengths and weaknesses with the average gamer.

Most of our customers are not avid players, in general they are people who have played some Settlers, Pandemic and Ticket To Ride. We are lucky that they are very receptive to being taught new games and as a result all three of the nominations have been forced upon our willing clientele multiple times. So, did they get it right? If I and my staff were the SDJ Judges would we have picked Camel Up? Let’s find out.

Splendor

This was the first of the three to darken our doors and to say it has been a hit at the Cafe is an understatement. People absolutely loooooooove this game. It gets played over and over again, with people coming just to play it because they still can’t buy their own copy. My staff love it because its so quick and easy to teach while the customer feels they can sink their teeth into something with substance. The ‘if only I had just one more turn I would have won’ or the ‘ I know I can do better’ aspect is what keeps people coming back for more. All age ranges enjoy it, as exemplified by our tournament pictured below, with participants from every demographic.

However, it did fall flat for a fair few people, lacking a bit of theme or being a bit dry. As a Cafe owner, tables playing Splendor I knew were always enjoying themselves, but they never looked like they were, with a lot of silence punctuating the odd ‘its your turn’ or ‘you b@$##rd I was going to take that.’

However, this game has been the most popular game in the Cafe’s first year (not called Cards Against Humanity) and the list of people waiting to buy it (both hard core gamers and regular Joes) would make the Encyclopedia Britannica look like short story. Will its lack of perceived ‘fun’ hurt it though?

Concept

Game #2 to arrive. Now that’s a game where people look like they are having fun. This is kind of like Charades on a board. So far the record for a group playing Concept is 4 hours straight. Rules take about 45 seconds and are best explained through a demo, which is awesome because I like playing the game A LOT. The genius of the game is the fact that the ‘describer’ can only say YES, and watching people wandering off in completely the wrong direction and being unable to tell the they are on the wrong track (unless you call someone bashing a Question Mark on the board a lot, as a way of saying they are on the wrong track) is very amusing. It really brings out the creative juices as you try to use the limited options available to describe your card. We have had the odd group that only thinks its OK, they are usually looking for something more competitive though or find the descriptive process too difficult. It doesn’t play well as a two either which kinda blows for us as we get a lot of couples in the Cafe. A lot of fun, but lacks that winning edge and needs a decent sized group to play. A thinking mans Cards Against Humanity, is that enough to win?

Camel Up

New kid! Welcome to the store. 2-8 players eh? Many have made that claim, but do you actually play well across such a wide spread. Indeed we have tried all those numbers and….well yes you do. To be fair, your sweet spot is 3-6; you become a lot more tactical with 2 and a bit of a party with 8, but at only 30 minutes you don’t out stay your welcome and usually you are only warming people up. Almost everyone plays this at least twice, most three times. That dice pyramid is excessive but awesome and adds to to the sense of fun. Everyone loves it when a camel, seemingly completely out of the race, literally rides on the back of everyone else to victory. Or when a player who is losing backs a camel to the hilt in the hope that the three dice come out in the exact order to give them a last gasp win. Awesome fun. It is a little awkward to teach, however. People need to play one leg and then the ‘Oohhhh I get it’ comes out. This means we usually have to stick with them through that first leg and check in a few times to makes sure everything is tickety-boo. It feels the most ‘boardgamey’ of the three and has gone down a storm so far with those who get it. Its main downside is it is too tricky for some people. The leg betting and race betting causes confusion quickly and puts people off. Another excellent game, another worthy contender. Too fiddly though?

——————————————————-

Did they get it right? Its wonderful to see people having fun here, which is why I enjoy watching people play Concept and Camel Up. They look like they are having a great time! But people love Splendor, they just love it. The reception has been incredible for that game across all demographics. Personally if I could only own one of the three, it would be Concept. Putting on my impartial hat though, I have to go with Splendor as the winner, it plays well as a 2 player, which is very important for a huge portion of the gaming community and is a game that people want to play instead of doing other things.

So well done Splendor! You beat out a stellar crowd and my own favorite. Lets hope next years crop is as strong.

Here’s some thoughts from my staff here at IBGC:

Jade – Camel up is wacky fun! Concept is whacked and splendor is the slam down whack daddy! I loved em all but splendor and concept hold a place in my library and an heart while camel up is a high possible maybe probably gonna buy it next week, I have an addiction.

Dave – Splendor is totally the best.

Dawn “the Amaze-nificent” McNeil – I actually enjoyed all three finalists. Splendor might edge ahead of Camel Up in re-playability, but I can see why Camel Up took the prize (3D pyramid dice roller… woooo!). And Concept is just straight up good times

Robyn – I think concept should have won. It is an amazing game that takes very little explanation and has everyone playing at the same time. It is a great game to bring out at Christmas to involve my parents, younger sibling, and even my grandma! Because everyone gets to guess at once, there is no down time, so no waiting and being bored. And trying to give good hints so your answer is guessed makes it challenging. It’s fun as a 2 player game, and you can play it with more people, while including everyone! Camel up is an exciting game with lots of luck. The game mechanic is super simple and because of the luck, you can be good at this game even if you suck at strategy games like me 🙂 the dice tower is super awesome, and I am often rolling the dice every turn because it is so much fun to shake it, flip it upside down, and push the little tab in to release a single dice. It is a bit boring as a 2 player game, but it seems to be more exciting the more people you have. And it definitely gets loud with people cheering on their favourite color camel. Splendor is a great game, very easy to pick up, and quick to get good at. There are a lot of games very similar out there. The builders is a game with similar game mechanics, but in a small travel size which is more convenient. I do however, Love that the jewel tokens are heavy, poker style chips. It is very satisfying paying for your card with them. It works awesome with 2 players and more. But it only plays 4, which sucks because my family has 6 people, which means someone if left out. Although I put camel up as my second pick, I still really enjoy splendor for replay value.

Arlo – Camel Up is the best, anyone who disagrees is wrong.

Curtis – People like race games and the genre is due for a comeback: Camel Up is a start. It isn’t the best race game in my opinion but it is engaging on a very addictive level. Spendor, like Candy Crush, has shiny parts, is easy to learn, is enjoyable, is addictive, is involved, and only has superficial thematic elements. Concept is a game about communicating with deliberate limitations to explore ideas surrounding an unspoken concept within the group. Concept is clever and nonlinear, which is why it is such a big hit. Overall, I go for Splendor though.

camel up concept splendor

Recent(ish) Library Additions

Its been quite a busy last 6 months here at IBGC, loads of game have been added to the library, some you may have seen, some may have passed you by. Here are a few of the highlights you could try next time you come down.

Sushi Go – A wonderful little card drafting game. You take a card from your hand put it in front of you face down, and pass that hand to the left. Everyone else does the same thing at the same time. One you are ready, reveal the card you picked and then pick another one from your new hand. The art is cute as a button and the game play is simple and fun. A classic for years to come I think.

Splendor – nominated for game of the year, it has been a mega hit down at the Cafe. The only problem we have with it is having none to sell when people play it and want to immediately buy it. Simple rules, with great components, but lots of choice make for a great game. You collect gems and then use them buy the cards which give you discounts to buy more expensive cards with more points. First to 15 wins.

Freedom: the Underground Railroad – this is a co-operative game believe it or not. You are trying to help slaves escape from plantations in the South to Canada while progressing the emancipation movement through financial donations. Sounds great? Its really good and bloody hard. I’ve played it a few times and been soundly thrashed every time

Dungeon Fighter – Another co-operative game, but this one is a dexterity, dungeon crawl that can even be played solo. There is a big target laid flat in the centre of the table that you must try and hit. You but you do this by bouncing dice off of the table on to it, tricky? Yes, very! You wander through rooms trying to beat monsters till you get to the big boss, which you must beat to win. You can get power ups to help you, but they will often involve having to toss the dice under your leg first, or rolling it off your nose or perhaps doing a 180 degree turn and then bouncing it all with your eyes closed! The art is awesome as well.

Boss Monster – A card game, that borrows heavily from the classic Nintendo art style. You are a dungeon boss and must create your own dungeon with the intention to both attract and defeat heroes looking for the goodies your rooms hold. Its pretty simple game-play, but both the art and quick play make this one very popular down here.

Istanbul – Winner of this years Kennerspiel des Jahres (complex(ish) game of the year), this is a first to x gems game. The board is a series of tiles that all do different actions and can be configured differently every time you play it. You have a stack of workers that you drop off at the different tiles to do the actions available there, however you will eventually run out of them and need to collect them again, so trying to be as efficient with your movement is the key to the game. Plays in less than an hour and has done well so far in the cafe.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Dual at Mount Skullzfire – Do you like Munchkin, but find the art a bit tame? Then try this sucka! Make a three part spell such as this one (not for the faint of heart):

and try to knock out the other Battle Wizards to be the last man standing. Its bonkers and comes with a Mount Skullzfire that does nothing except be…well…Mount Skullzfire!

Black Fleet – The second game from Space Cowboys, the makers of Splendor. Its a Pick up and Deliver game, where you take control of a merchant ship trying to collect goods and take them to other ports around the board, while simultaneously controlling a Pirate ship you use to pinch other peoples goods. You use the money you collect to develop fairly bizarre special abilities (such as being able to surf over an island in your Merchant ship…useful indeed). A bit more chaotic than Splendor (OK, a lot more chaotic), but a blast to play…c’mon let out your inner Pirate!

Also recently arrived:

Five Tribes, the Euro style hotness from GenCon, a worker displacement game that has people drooling enough to put a Wet Floor sign out.
Dead of Winter: A Crossroads game. This is the one I am most excited about. A semi co-op Zombie game where there MAY be a traitor, and all the good guys share an objective they need to complete to win plus each individual has a secret personal objective they also need to complete to win, leading to some serious conflicts of interests. You can also play as a messed up Mall Santa and get bitten by the Zombies and try to heal yourself, but if you fail you cause other people to become Zombies….so much brilliance in one game I hope. I will let you know when I actually play it 🙂
Archer the Game
Walking Dead Board Game
Machine of Death – Game of Creative Assassination
Diamonds – an excellent trick taking game
Munchkin – Adventure Time

black fleet boss monster freedom the underground railroad istanbul splendor sushi go