Game Review: Bears!

"Sometimes you eat the b'ar, and sometimes the b'ar eats you"

Straight from the campfires, tents, and outhouses of Fireside Games comes a brand-new dice game called Bears! The perhaps inopportunely timed end-of-summer release has a woodsy camping theme that makes me think of s'mores, a crackling fire, and hard-ass feeling of logs and pebbles under my butt. Mmmm. Too bad s'mores weather is almost over. I mean, except for that inevitable dangerous snowy evening when I decide that s'mores can be made in my fireplace because June is just so far away. But earlier this year, it seemed a lot more timely and exciting at Origins when I first heard about the game. Fireside Games had a booth where one little demo set of Bears! was available, preorders were being taken, and people were elbowing to see what all the fuss was about. Okay, that was mostly me elbowing. But that's only because I never did get to demo the game, even on my eighth stop over at the booth. Finally, when my elbowing and glares failed to payoff, I took the plunge and preordered a copy sight-unseen.

This is a review of how that gamble turned out.

Play Scenario:

This review is based on about ten different plays of the game, each being about 15 seconds or less. Some of the plays were with four players, others with two players.

Game Objective:

It's not just you versus your opponents, it's you versus bears...and your opponents. Make fight-or-flight dice pairing decisions in a big hurry in order to escape (or crush) the bear population. You, as a poor camper, have been startled by bears, and must decide, in a big damn hurry, whether to grab yer gun and shoot 'em (hope you don't miss!), or run for your life. Oh yeah, and there's always the chance you'll get caught snoozing in your sleeping bag by the bears, in which case you're about the be shredded into fluffy down ribbons. Dice grabbing determines your fate.

Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 
Twenty dice are rolled in the center of the table, with each player concurrently rolling five personal dice. The moment the dust has settled, all players get grabby trying to pair the community dice, which have either bears or tents on them, with their own personal dice.

 On the personal dice, players will find a gun, running camper, or sleeping bag. Bears can be paired with guns, meaning you're looking to shoot yourself a b'ar. The running man and snoozing sleeping bag can only be paired with tents, meaning you're hoping to avoid the bears.

Each round ends when either all the bear dice OR the tent dice have been snatched, thus prompting an apoplectic shout of BEARS! by one or more panicky players. If the bears are left, and you're caught in your sleeping bag, then you're going to lose points. If everyone chased off the bears with their shotguns and you slept through the attack, then you are going to earn big points. Slacker chicken.

Points are totaled: 1 point for each bear you shot (TENT + BEAR), 2 points for each bear you outran (RUNNER + TENT), 5 points if you slept through a bear attack and the bears fled (SLEEPING BAG + TENT + no bear dice left in community pool), or -2 points if you got eaten in your sleeping  bag (SLEEPING BAG + TENT + only bear dice left in the community pool). People swear. No one likes to be bear trail mix. And then the next round begins. The rounds continue until someone reaches 50 or 100 points, which doesn't take very long at all.

Out of the Box:

This is a sweet little travel-friendly package. The tall, slender box has charming cartoonish artwork, and is made well. The ads for another Fireside Games release, Castle Panic, that have been plastered all over the inner box didn't even bother me much. Inside the box is pretty much just what you'd expect: A whole slew of dice, tiny rules pamphlet, and a couple scoring cards. Simple. Straight-forward. Probably they didn't need such a tall box, but I enjoy it because it can be used as a dice cup for your many rolls. Some thoughtful creativity clearly went into the design, and I really appreciate how portable the box is. Kudos, Fireside Games!

Praise:

+Shazam! What was that? Was that just another round? Man, this is one fast-paced game. Need to fill five or ten minutes while someone's answering a phone call, greeting the pizza dude, or using the bathroom? Break out Bears!

+Portability. True to its theme, this might be one of my top game picks to pack in my camping bag. Or for a picnic, party, long wait in movie theater lines, etc. This game can be played on just about any stationary small surface. Car trips and airplane rides aside, this game will travel really well.

+Cute and humorous theme. The whole funny premise of being eaten by bears, and running from your tent keeps the game light enough so you almost forget that you're getting stupidly railroaded by grabby friends.

+Wide appeal. Serious gamers, party gamers, non-gamers, and everybody in between can easily jump into this game and enjoy it. I could probably play this with my mom. Ugh. But drunk people--and trust me, I have a little insight on this--probably won't do so well, and will just be eaten by bears. I hope bears like tartinis.

+Challenge. For all its silliness, there really is a serious challenge for players to exercise quick-thinking strategy. Just when you think it pays to be the fastest, you realize that sometimes hanging back is the best strategy. Players who care enough to put some thought into strategy will enjoy some creative, if lightly consequential, approaches to play.

+Works with different numbers of players. The game flows well and is equally interesting, I think, with either two or four players. Many will suggest that four players is best since it creates a party atmosphere and gets people laughing and competitive. But, I think with two players, the head-to-head style is still a lot of fun and does not suffer from lack of competition. Somehow, the game is more serious with two players, or at least it is when TGHITW and I play.

Complaints:

-I will start with the obvious: It's a dice game. There's a whole lot of chance involved, even though one can have unlimited rerolls of personal dice. Chance is so strong, there really can be no true mastery of this game, and your success is left to the fates. Mostly.

-Simple strategy. Once players have rolled just a few times, the strategy of stockpiling RUNNING DUDE + TENT becomes an obvious no-lose strategy. You can't win strictly on this combination, but it will get you far. Yes, the strategy can go deeper, but many players won't take it any further than that. And then you risk getting bored. Fast.

-Yes, it's just dice in a box. This isn't exactly Agricola or Twilight Struggle.

-Based on our assessment that the four-player party atmosphere is where this game shines, it's a pity that more than four can't play. Might there be a multi-player expansion idea in the works? Getting six, eight, or more people involved could make this riotous.

-Honestly, I don't think I could get endless hours of enjoyment here.The game will get pulled out now and then for a little peppy infusion of gaming laughs, but this is not solid enough to be the backbone of your evening of gaming fun.

Overall:

This is a light, fun game to tote out for some levity and great summer fun. Snowy weather, hopefully, won't detract from the summery theme, and certainly has a mass appeal. I will, no doubt, get hours of laughs out of this wacky, manic, frenzied game. And I'm grateful for a new portable selection for my tote bag. But its poetic simplicity keeps it from being anything truly brilliant. Don't expect too much from this game, and you won't be disappointed. It's pretty much dice in a box.

Yes, I think the game is a fun addition to any gamer's collection for its quickness, levity, and broad appeal. Not every game can be Diplomacy or Dungeon Lords. There is a place for simple games like this, and I'm glad it fills a certain gaming niche. I'll proudly play Bears! for some time to come, and I am patting myself on the back (whap, whap, whap!) for taking a chance on this game. The reason it doesn't receive a higher grade is only because it's dice in a box. And it's $20. At a lower price, the bargain value may make it even more attractive to a wider audience. Plus, I have to reserve the highest grades for games that have a rich complexity and brilliance to them. Is this game brilliant? Maybe not. But is it fun? Most certainly.

Pimpability:

Not so much. I mean, one could get cutesy with little tents, or bear minis, and such. But really, no one's going to put too much effort into pimping this game. It's just fine and simple on its own.

Game: Bears!
Designer: Anne Marie De Witt
Published by: Fireside Games, 2011
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 10 minutes
AIBG (that's us!) Age Recommendations: 8+
Average Retail Price: $20

Grade: B-

Game Review: Twilight Struggle

John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address,

"Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out..."

And because of that one speech, today I am reviewing a game that sounds, to most people born after 1995, like a board game about sparkly vampires. Make no mistake, folks, Twilight Struggle--the number one game on Board Game Geek--is about something far different from vampires. I mean, I assume anyway. There were those rumors about Gorbachev, but I never saw any fangs or anything, so we'll file that away as unconfirmed. I digress. Twilight Struggle is a war game about the struggle for power between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Yes, that's right, a war game. Wait, what? How did a war game get to be number one on BGG.com? And more importantly, how did I end up playing it...and actually liking it? A lot? Read on for my full review and answers to your burning Cold War-themed gaming questions.

Twilight Struggle, WE WILL BURY YOU!

Play Scenario:

This review is based on two initial plays of the game on two separate occasions. Being that this is strictly a two player game, you can guess how many players we had for each game. If not, I'll get the frying pan.

Game Objective:

To BURY! your opponent. Sorry, if you could hear that, it would sound like my Kruschev voice, which is also kind of like my Soup Nazi voice. Be prepared for lots of corny Soviet references. I'm feeling like 20 years on since the end, I think it's finally kosher to make Soviet jokes, right? I mean, no one here wants to be blacklisted or anything. Ha. Right? Ha. Anyway....in this game, one player takes the U.S. side, and the other becomes Muzza Russia (okay, technically, USSR, whatever). You both battle it out for control of countries around the world, compete in a space race, and try to avoid nuclear war.

 Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 
Laid out in front of you is a daunting map of the world. Study it, see where your opponent has carefully placed their control chips (as originally dictated by the rules booklet set-up instructions). Now you will use your turns to mess up their control around the world. Mwa-ha-ha!

To do this, you will play cards in your hand. There are three different decks opponents draw from: Early War, Mid-War, and Late War. Each card has the name of an event/person and text about what the card effects are. I have to tell you, it's pretty straightforward, and not nearly as heavy and dry as I feared a war game could be. Some of the cards are even a bit humorous. Surprise!

 That's right, this card declares that if the U.S. controls more battleground countries, then the U.S. player gets to poke the other person in the chest and gain 2 VP.

Okay, here's how the turn flow works: Each round starts with a "Headline Phase", in which you select one card from your newly dealt hand and both opponents execute the actions on these headline cards. This is usually a biggie, and--if you're lucky--will impair your opponent's abilities to play effectively for the rest of the round.

After that, you and your opponent take turns playing cards, either for their text effect, or for the points on the corner of the card, which can help you manipulate your control of the map--by adding "Influence" to a new territory, attempting a coup, or realigning power. A single D-6 die will help decide a lot of these power struggles.

OR, you can use your card points to move your chits along the Space Race track and attempt to gain a game advantage. Launch that chimp into space first and you will not only make Tom Hanks and Ron Howard cry, but you also get either VPs or a special advantage.

 The round ends when the cards are spent from each player's hand. The game continues like this for a set amount of rounds, with points being constantly won and lost until the end of the game. The whole time there is a constant threat of thermonuclear war, and a Defcon counter at the bottom of the board warns everyone just how close nuclear annihilation is. Duck and cover, kiddies!

Out of the Box:

The game is a bit underwhelming. Frankly, it looks like a pretty typical war game, with tiny little square cardboard counters, a few decks of cards, and a big-ass map.

 The map itself is a bit disappointing because it's made of flimsy cardboard that never really flattens out totally without weights to hold it down. This means that those little cardboard chits slide around easily or can be bounced in a heartbeat by a devious cat paw. Even the box art is mediocre--nothing to complain about, but nothing to get excited about either. Overall, diehard fans will drool for a deluxe edition with nicer pieces.

Praise:

+The game is straightforward enough to make it fully accessible for non-war gamers. I had reservations, but we were smoothly playing a full game within an hour of opening the box.

+Combat! This is a GREAT game to settle in with on a chilly Saturday afternoon or evening. Get some snacks. Put on some good tunes. Get in pajamas. And then get cozy for a long game of strategy, cunning, and all-out war.

+Humor! Normally a game about the perils of the communist threat, thermonuclear war, and struggles for global domination are generally humorless. Pity. While most of the cards in the game are serious and historical, just a few of them have a little bit of humor interjected to lighten up the game. Consider the card mentioned above that requires the US to poke the USSR in the chest. Some of the cards even reference movies, including one thermonuclear war card that asks us "Would-We-Like-To-Play-a-Ga-ame?" Or there's the above card with a cheeky nod to Dr. Strangelove.

+The scoring mechanism works perfectly for this style of combat game. As you can see below, the score counter starts at zero, and a tug of war ensues between the USSR pulling the score into the "red", (Ha. Get it? Somewhere Lenin's laughing) and the U.S. trying to pull the score into the positive.

+No player who's down should ever count themselves out. There's always a reason to fight in this game, as the decks are always changing, and there are always ways to cheese off your opponent.

+There is an end to the madness. Unlike some combat quagmires, like Risk, there is a finite set of rounds to this game--10 total. While the game still takes quite a few hours to play (usually), the game's conclusion does not hinge on one player being utterly and totally crushed or wiped off the map. This gives both players reason to fight through the whole game and never give up.

+The historical context of the game is really interesting and educational. For those of us who remember at least part of the Cold War, reading the headlines on the cards will bring back memories.

Complaints:

-The game quality is straight-up war game all the way. So I hate to rag on a classic style, but the component and board quality really is lacking. A special game like this deserves a little better. The good news for some of you, is that a Deluxe Edition is available. We just don't own it. Sad.

-Chance. Another excellent game with an element of that infuriating beast, CHANCE. In order to decide a lot of contests to invade and area, boot someone out, or advance in the space race, players roll two little dice. It's a strong enough influence that the game outcome can entirely hinge on the sum luck of all the dice rolls.

-Game play length is a slight problem. Because games can take as long as 4-5 hours, potentially, this might not be a game you can play on the average weeknight after dinner.

Overall:

This is an amazing intense, competitive game for two gamers who want a serious head-to-head brawl. Lighter gamers (you know who I'm talking about) will probably not enjoy this game, as it does require focus, stamina, and a cutthroat nature. However, despite all of these scary qualifiers I've attached to the enjoyability of the game, it's actually not too dry! And most importantly, it's not too fidgety. Da, darling! It's true!

By all rights, a war game like this should be complicated, and have all the lightness of running through a swimming pool of molasses. But somehow it flows really smoothly and keeps players on edge and excited for every turn. It's intelligent, but not pretentious and stuffy. And THAT, my friends, is how a war game found its way to the top of the BGG rankings.

I love that just when Europe seems lost to the USSR, those naughty Ruskies pull out some VPs in the Space Race, or over in Asia. And in spite of the fact that the game is intentionally slightly biased in favor of U.S. victory, us comrades can still pull out a victory over the American dogs on the other side of the table. If only the game weren't sooo reliant on chance and dice rolling, I think I'd really love this game even more. Fate is a fickle friend, and does not always smile down upon Soviet Russia, my friends. Oops, I mean, comrades.

The Greatest Husband in the World and I have been pulling out the game about once per weekend, especially if we really feel like locking horns. And aside from the fact that I've been banned from using my Russian accent (which mainly is derived from Boris Badinov and Natasha Fatale), we have been having a really great time. Throughout our plays, we've done some laughing, some shouting, a good amount of swearing, and I have banged my shoes on the table more than a few times. It's just good raucousy fun. But fair warning: This game is not for the tired or cranky. Go into this fresh and full of piss & vinegar to really enjoy the poetic simplicity of war.

We will be keeping this copy in our Board Game Closet of Glory and Doom for quite some time, perhaps only swapping it out if we can get our cheap hands on a nice copy of the deluxe edition. I just wish it wasn't going to collect so much dust, as I sense that its intensity and play length will limit how often we pull it out.

Similar Games:
You'll be hard-pressed to not draw a lot of comparisons to Risk while playing this game. Domination of the map, and dice rolling to determine geographical challenges will have you reminiscing about the last time you fortified Kamchatka in Risk. But fear not, where Risk utterly fails--in its monotony, and shallow gameplay--this game shines. This is a deeper, smoother game than Risk will ever be, with a real historical twist that makes it riveting and disquieting all at once. If you ever wanted to love Risk, but just couldn't get past its tedium, then this is the game for you.

Pimpability:

The board almost demands pimping, as it's so uneven and flimsy. An inventive person may attach the board to some foldable wooden panels, or may print the map on tin paper that can be rolled up. Or you could just shell out a couple more bucks for the deluxe version. Whatever.

I think I might also be inclined to get some little astronaut/cosmonaut player tokens to replace the cardboard chits on the Space Race track. A nice rocket figure would work well on the Defcon track. And wouldn't it be great to have a little mini of vodka for the score track? I'm just sayin'.Okay, barring someone actually making mini vodka tokens, it would make a lot of sense for players to print and assemble tuck boxes for the three main decks of cards (early war, mid-war, and late war). This game is totally pimpable, especially for someone with a sense of humor about communism and nuclear war. Shoes for hitting table optional.

Game: Twilight Struggle
Designer: Ananda Gupta, Jason Matthews
Published by: GMT Games, 2005
Players: 2
Playing Time: 2-5 hours
AIBG (that's us!) Age Recommendations: 14+
Average Retail Price: $40-50 (maybe a little more for the Deluxe version with nicer pieces)

Grade: B+  

Dueling Board Game Reviews, Part II: Say Anything

After several rowdy games of Wits & Wagers, we took a peanut butter cookie break, regrouped, and began eying the next game on our list: Say Anything. Another party game. How would it hold up, though? Wits & Wagers had already been a fairly solid success that evening, but we knew it probably would be. We had more familiarity with Wits, and frankly, knew almost nothing about Say Anything.

Well the good news is that, as is the case with most party games, a 10-minute perusal of the rules is all it took before we were off and running with out first game. Here's how it went.

Disclosure: The makers of Wits & Wagers and Say Anything, North Star Games, contacted this blog's author about creating this review, and for the purposes of making these reviews possible, copies of the games were provided by the game manufacturer.

Play Scenario:

This review is based on three initial plays of the game, with four players for each game--two men and two women. Served with cocktails. But no ice. It had melted.

Game Objective:

Say Anything has one prime objective: Guess what your game mates think and feel about different questions. On your turn, you become the "Selector" (which, when pronounced just right, has a very cyborg, Schwarzenegger sound to it.), draw a card from the (smallish) deck, and choose one of the questions to read to the group. "What's the best movie sequel of all-time?" or "What's the most useless thing students learn in school?". Most of the questions are based on entertainment and leisure topics, but a handful can be politically charged or more pointed. All the players then use dry erase pens and mini dry erase cards to write down what they think the person asking the question would give as an answer. Very Apples to Apples-ish. Except that instead of the "Selector" simply choosing the answer that's best suited to his/her tastes, the group also votes on which is most likely the best match.

I hope you know the people at your game table! Or this could be an awkward night...

Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 

The game starts once everybody has picked a color (which, by the way, comes with an associated icon that can be very disappointing to people who, say, like purple, but don't want to be the "shoe person" all night) and received a dry erase marker and writing board. After the "Selector" chooses their favorite question and reads it aloud, everyone scribbles an answer that best kisses the Selector's ass best matches the Selector's personality, and passes their writing boards into the center, where they are all read aloud.

Next the Selector uses the SELECT-O-MATIC 5000 (read: the little cardboard spinner) to secretly vote for his/her favorite answer. Then everybody uses two player tokens to rate which answer most likely pleased the Selector. Once the judgment is revealed to the whole table, points are distributed and recorded on a dry erase scoreboard. This continues for 12 rounds, when the game ends and the person with the highest point totals wins!

Dan's Question: "What organization would we be better off without?"

Out of the Box:

It's very evident that a similar level of care was put into the game design for Say Anything as there was for Wits & Wagers. The dry erase boards are thick and sturdy, including the score card, which is a refreshing and eco-friendly alternative to traditional scorepads of paper. Hooray! No more worrying about replacement score sheets either. Hooray!

The markers are perfectly nice, just as they were for Wits & Wagers. For details on their quality and their likelihood to cause freckling on your kitchen table, read our Wits & Wagers review HERE.

There were two major design issues with the game, though. First, was the lack of cards. I griped about this with Wits & Wagers, too. For such card-reliant gaming, it seems like players get about half the number of cards they really should. The deck will suffice as-is for a while, but if I want this game in my closet for years, or even decades, I'm going to run into problems. Meaning this game already has a shelf life....unless I can purchase expansions down the road.

The other major design flaw was the SELECT-O-MATIC 5000. Gods bless the name. It's a great name for a silly cardboard spinner. It really is. Someone had to have a strange sense of humor to come up with it. But really, it's just a cardboard circle with a flimsy plastic arrow that falls off easily. If future editions can secure the arrow to the cardboard better (a simple piece of plastic on the reverse side could anchor it nicely), then the issue would be resolved. Otherwise I have no other quibbles with the orange slice cardboard dial. Okay, maybe just one: What if we made it a little more scary sci-fi looking? You know, to match the name. Killer robots? Mind control helmets? No? Well, think about it. Get back to me.

Praise:

+The questions are delightfully specific--asking for the best beer, the most overrated song of all-time, or what you dreamed about last night. This is where similar party games have failed in the past. Vagueness leaves the door open for a wide range of answers, but more often the humor is in the details. The writers did a nice job.
+Since the beginning of time, party games have served one primal function: Break the ice at parties. Get people talking and introduce each other. Well this game is good at doing just that. If you ever want to get to know family and friends better, you'll learn all sorts of quirky nuances after playing a few rounds. And I have to say, it's less disturbing that I feared!

+Did I mention the silly cardboard spinner is called the SELECT-O-MATIC 5000? Yeah, that's pretty fantastic.
+I'll repeat that the use of a dry erase scoreboard is both healthy for our planet, and kind of fun. Just pick someone with legible handwriting to keep score, m'kay?
+The women had a ton of fun with this game. Call this a sexist observation, but the women seemed to have a keener insight (or maybe just more imagination?) into the minds of the other players. Well, we were certainly the loudest and the rowdiest. (The men were still debating the Wits & Wagers answers.)
+Things got a little....shall we say, blue? Yes, a tad inappropriate at times, but that was half the charm. When you're all adults, you can bend the questions in naughty ways. On its own though, the game is very PG, and can work for mature kids.
+On that same token, blue or not, the game can be downright FUNNY. If players are into this game, expect a lot of laughs. Example: One of the men (Dan) asked "What is the most annoying thing about being a man?" All the answers were submitted, and damnitall, we all answered "Being right all the time". Though it was noted that possible back-up answers included "ball itch" and "women getting the vote". (Hey, the latter was meant to be ironic considering these are two of the most forward-thinking men I know. I swear.)

Jen's Question: "What doesn't taste better with ketchup?"

Complaints:

-I'll start with the obvious and beat the dead horse just one more time: The SELECT-O-MATIC 5000 falls apart pretty easily. And despite it's humorous name, it's kind of a puzzling choice for the mechanic of selecting a favorite answer. I'm not sure if I love it or hate it...even if it didn't fall apart. Maybe if we had more killer robots...
-Once again, I think we get a bit short-changed with the deck of cards. There it is.
-Players who have a spouse or best friend seated at the game table hold a distinct advantage. Because our game table was comprised of two married couples, our betting rounds became pretty routine: Vote for the spouse's answer. That betting had a 90% success rate for the most part. This really blunts the tension and impact of the voting round, and could've been easily eliminated from our game if we wanted to go more casual. Outsiders and third wheels will find this awkward and possibly annoying.
-Yeah, it has a pretty bland title and theme. I have to keep glancing at the box to remember what it's called. I think with a creative and energetic theme, they really could've tapped into something quirky, weird, and funny. I think it was even on the tips of their tongues with the whole SELECT-O-MATIC thing. They just needed to run with it and let their freak flags fly a little more instead of being so generic.
-It's not a terribly unique party game. We've seen its ilk a few times before. I like some of the new twists, but this isn't revolutionary.

Overall:

Compared to Wits & Wagers, there was a LOT more laughing with this game. It was more casual and conversational, and really filled the role a party game is meant to fill. We had a blast. So with that noted, it's really hard to harp on some of the things I didn't like when I started to pick apart the experience the next day. Yes, it's not terrifically unique. Yes, the damn spinner falls apart. Yes, there are some flaws based on relationships and intimate knowledge of a partner.

But we had a good time!

And at the end of the day, for a party game, sometimes that's all that really matters. So yes, I'll be keeping this (wait, what's it called again?) Say Anything game in the Board Game Closet of Doom for quite some time. It'll be a lot of fun at holidays with the family, and sometimes if I need to lighten the mood with gamer friends. And I'd definitely serve this with cocktails every time. Just be prepared that if you do so, gamers are likely to draw some very rude pictures on their dry erase boards in between rounds. Which kind of makes the game even better....

Pimpability:

Oh, truly there is just one thing that is ripe for pimpin' in this game: SELECT-O-MATIC 5000!!! Let's attach this to a snarling robot head, or some funky piece of artwork. Ooh, or better yet, steam punk it! Yes! Throw away the plastic spinner and use copper wire and old dials. Lots of possibilities.

Game: Say Anything
Designer: Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri
Published by: North Star Games, 2008
Players: 3-8
Playing Time: 30-45 min.
AIBG Age Recommendations: 13 and up
Average Retail Price: $25

Grade: B-

Board Game Review: Alien Frontiers

The Greatest Husband in the World and I were some of the early investors in the game Alien Frontiers over at Kickstarter.com, so it was a real pleasure to finally see this game "in the flesh" and put dice to board after so much anticipation. Here's our review of our earliest plays.

Play Scenario:

This review is based on two initial plays of the game on two separate occasions. Both games employed 3 players.

Game Objective:

This is a retro-stylized space game where players compete to build and establish "colonies" (read: little wooden dome tokens of their given color) on an alien planet, and thus earn points to win the game. All the players are competing for the 8 different slices of the planet pie, and will employ plenty of treachery in order to dominate as many territories as possible.

Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 
In order to dominate this alien planet, all the Major Toms (that would be you) need to collect resources, manipulate game bonuses, and build colonies. This is done by rolling between 3-6 dice each turn, and then placing the actual dice onto the board in worker placement fashion. The dice themselves are referred to as your "ships", and can "land" in different resource areas on the board according to your rolls. (Think Agricola, except that instead of placing your farmer on a "wood" space, here you're placing your dice ships on "gray ore" and "orange fuel")

Different dice combos and numbers will help determine where you can distribute your "ships". Roll a 3-of-a-kind? Score, you can land those three "ships" on the "Colony Constructor" slots and pay to build a new wooden dome dealy colony and place it on the main planet. Roll a 5? Sweet, that's high enough to meet or beat the highest die/ship over at the "Lunar Mine" slots--looks like it's time to collect some "ore tokens" (read: little wooden gray cubes).

 
Of course, there are limited slots where the players can place their ships, so you better hope no one cock-blocks you right out of your goals.

When each person has placed her dice ships all around the board and completed all the subsequent actions dictated by the placement, then the turn is over and it's the next person's turn to roll and place.

Oh yeah, and there are some special powers granted by "Alien Tech cards", which are designed to give all sorts of bonuses and/or do damage to others. Any player who dominates a territory of the planet also receives a bonus power. So there are lots of ways to goose your abilities and screw over other people.

Out of the Box:

This game looks straight-up beautiful. The board is vibrant, as are the sets of player dice. I thought we might have to upgrade the dice sets to something more insanely fun, but there's no need; The designers rightly decided to go for vivid colors and quality pieces. The colonies, gray ore, and orange fuel tokens are standard painted wooden pieces (better than plastic!), and the score track is a glossy cardboard rectangle that is separate from the main board.

Praise:

+The theme, along with its vibrant colors and retro card illustrations, are fun (if not totally unique).
+The dice mechanism is refreshing and fun. I know, I know--dice equal chance. But since a bad roll will not truly cripple your play (it'll just make you change your game plan), the mechanism is more fun than frustrating.
+This game is combative. (And usually I love combative games. Cooperation is for Girl Scouts and Kindergarten teachers!) Players can shit in your Cheerios by stealing your resources, claiming control of your territories, blocking your special abilities, blocking resource slots, and more. Is it too much combat though? (see "Complaints" below.)
+Players have a major ability to make a comeback. Just because one person's way ahead on the leader board, that doesn't mean the game is locked up. This keeps the game tense and constantly changing.

Complaints:

-There's certainly an element of Analysis Paralysis in choosing where all of the dice should be placed each turn. Certain drag-asses may benefit from having a turn timer added to the game. Don't play with indecisive people.
-Chance. Yep, there are dice in this game, so us mere mortals cannot fully manipulate and control our own game play. Fortunately, much of this is mitigated by the wide array of options for using your dice. As noted above, a bad roll won't tank you or piss you off too badly. But still, they're dice.
-Is the "Raiders' Outpost" too powerful? The "RO" is used by placing a run of three dice, allowing you to steal 4 (count 'em, 4!) resources, or a card, from any one player. Four is a lot, people. Especially since those four can include the expensive gray ore tokens. You can castrate another player with one easy maneuver, since the resources are somewhat critical to building colonies and it can take an entire turn just to stockpile three or four resources. And the RO user can do this over and over...and over again. Maybe it should only be one or two resources stolen?
-The scoring track is pretty arbitrary and not necessarily a reliable gauge for your game performance while the game is ongoing. Here's the thing: You can lose points as you lose control of territories you previously held. As a result, this game's very much like a basketball game: The score only really matters in the last five minutes of play.

Overall:

This is a fun game. I'm not a "space theme" person, as sci-fi normally bores me. There. I said it. But in spite of an initially unappealing theme, this game is extremely enjoyable and the theme was just this side of pretentious and convoluted.

Overall, the game is well-balanced (maybe except for the Raiders' Outpost bit) and was obviously thoroughly play-tested. All three players thoroughly enjoyed the dice placement mechanism enough to negate the usual grumbles about chance. I was also delighted that the the Alien Tech cards, which at first seemed somewhat tacked-on, ended up being instrumental to gameplay to just the right extent; they're powerful without overriding basic game elements or focus.

Game length is pretty much perfect for this game. We spent about one hour on our second (more seasoned) game, and that felt just right. After playing the Battlestar Galactica Board Game, I have a Charlie-in-the-trees type of fear of epic space games that take hours to play. This is not true for Alien Frontiers. Once you've mastered the rules, expect this to be a game that can be repeated a few times in a single evening.

We will not only be keeping this game in the Board Game Closet of Glory and Doom on a long-term basis, but this is also one that we will trot out fairly regularly, and would be excited to teach novice gamer friends.

Similar Games:
This game is a distant relative of Agricola in many ways, thanks to its worker placement ways. Except, it's not as constricting and nail-biting as Agricola. A little more flex and fun make this a more easygoing version.

Pimpability:

The domed colony tokens are just begging to be replaced by tiny little space colony miniatures...of some sort. I'd be surprised if several sets haven't been pimped to this end already. A truly enterprising person may also consider replacing the wooden gray ore and orange fuel resource pieces with polished stones. Aside from that, the game is pretty solid as-is. Even an organizer tray for the box is pretty unnecessary since little baggies suffice nicely to house dice sets, tokens, and cards.

Game: Alien Frontiers
Designer: Tory Niemann
Published by: Clever Mojo Games, 2010
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 1-1.5 hours
AIBG Age Recommendations: 13-60
Average Retail Price: Out of Print currently (will be reprinted soon, $39.95)

Grade: A- 

Board Game Review: Java

Or, "What Would Happen if Carcassonne and UpWords had a Baby"

Java is one of those games I never really thought I'd get my hands on. It's been out of print for years (word to all the OOP games out there!) and it costs too much dough for me to justify treating myself so nicely. So thank the gods for clever and generous Secret Santas! If you missed it, here's the scoop on how I got my little mitts on a copy of this OOPer and how it made my Christmas.

But what about the game itself? Once the buzz of the unwrapping presents wore off and I was done wheezing "My preccious!" at the Best Husband in the World, then it was time to test the game. Would it live up to all its hype? (All of which was generated by my own tongue...) Would it be a regular playable? Or would it be one of those nice collectibles you brag about, but never really pull out of the game closet? Well, here's my review:

First Impressions:
Weeeeeee! Okay, really, I'll stop being giddy and euphoric now. Serious pretend journalism time here. Honestly, it's hard not being impressed with this particular set. Aside from the fact that this "used" set is in mint condition and my Santa arranged to have all the little cards sleeved for us (so classy!), this board game was made to impress.

First, let's consider the tiles in this tile-licious game--they're thick and well-made. Whomever punched them out clearly didn't have too many problems, as all the tiles are cleanly punched and spectacular. The game also contains a miniature deck of "Festival" cards that have breath-taking artwork. Pair that with the painted wooden player tokens, and you have a well-crafted set. Plus the box contains a very functional organizational tray to keep different tiles sorted, organized, and neatly in place. Whomever worked on designing this game for mass market went to a lot of trouble, and I hope they know it hasn't gone unnoticed. I looked for ways to poo-poo this set, but really the only negative I can possibly figure is that the 17 x 12 x 2" box is larger than many other games, and will require some reconfiguring of my board game closet. Boo.

Set-Up:
First things first--the rules booklet. The good news is that the rules booklet isn't too long and you can be functionally playing inside 30-45 min. The bad news is that the dry text suffers from the same prob as so many other games: The rules are listed in such a peculiar order that you are required to understand the minutia before knowing the big-picture goal. I call it the Rule Jumble Paradox. If Rio Grande ever reprints the game, I might suggest a reordering to make the flow a little more accessible and smooth (I know an eager writer you could hire! Cheap!).
  
Beyond mastering the rules, the set-up is fairly straight-forward. Every player gets a slew of tokens, tiles, a game mechanics cheat sheet card, and three "Festival" cards. No big whoop. The whole game can be set up in about 10 minutes. 

The Gameplay:
In order to avoid violating the Rule Jumble Paradox, why don't I start by explaining the purpose of the game? Each player acts as a Javanese ruler who embarks on a quest to dominate and conquer a yet-untouched area of inner Java. How do the Javanese rulers do this? Through tile laying, a-course! Most of the tiles laid by players consist of three hexes connected to each other in a triangular formation. There are also double-hex and single-hex tiles available to "rulers" in limited quantities.

On each ruler's turn, he (or she) lays a tile on the hex-honeycombed board, and then has the option to place a "developer" wooden token on top of the tile. Oh, but here's the fun part about tile laying: They STACK! Yep, as long as your tile can be placed on "even ground" and is not placed exactly on a tile of the same shape, then you can stack 'em up high. Four tiles, five tiles, watch them tower! And getting the literal high ground is how you dominate your cities via your developers. Interesting, no?

There are several other actions a player may take, including moving developers from tile to tile, placing extra tiles, building palaces, and more--but said ruler had better have the "Action Points" (AP) available to perform the action. This turn mechanic provides 6 APs to spend per turn, before finishing the turn with an optional "Festival" at one of their developer-occupied cities. Said festivals earn rulers big "fame points" (and those are whatcha want to win the game!). In order to throw (or participate in) a festival, the players must play at least one "Festival" card from their hand that matches the top card in the deck; This represents the only real element of chance in the game.

The game ends when three-hex tiles are exhausted, and then "fame points" are tabulated based on who dominates the most territories by literally holding the high ground.

The Review:
Java is a thinking woman's game (or man, whatever). Don't expect to pick up this game for a casual get-together or a breezy night of gaming, since most players will experience extreme Analysis Paralysis every turn. The Best Husband in the World and I have already agreed that this game is reserved for just the two of us, since we'd have to punch anyone else in the face for taking so long each turn. As it was, a fairly stupidly played game (I kept letting him cut off my cities into little villages) took us 90 minutes. And as our strategies develop, I anticipate this only lengthening.


Now, don't think I'm complaining! For all of the "Paralysis" and popcorn throwing (and Jeopardy! theme humming) that went on during our games, each turn was exciting and smile-inducing. Each of us found cunning and delightful places to stack tiles that the other person hadn't yet anticipated.

And what about that chance element? Annoying, sure. Most of us don't like to have craftily-played games trounced by chance card draws. And the fame-point-rich Festivals can have a significant impact on the game, especially if you get gonged a few times. During the last game we played, I was frozen out of Festivals for the second half of the lengthy game, and I fear that was an agent in my sad loss to the Best Husband in the World. But is it a deal breaker? No. Most of the time, the Festivals do not play a large enough role, and the odds are stacked neatly in favor of all players. I chalk up my experience to a rare fluke (I hope!).

How does this compare to other games? Compared to most games in my closet, this is definitely lengthier and requires a serious mental commitment to the game (read: No shows with Nathan Fillion can be on in the background). But I love the unique twist on what I have viewed as classic tile-laying play from games such as Carcassonne. Your brain will be pushed to think in new dimensions and to fight ruthlessly against your opponents (so no playing with anyone deemed "sensitive"!). Overall, for a long winter night's tete-a-tete with someone you love (to screw over), this game is magnificent. [Twists handlebar mustache devilishly]

Game: Java
Creator: M. Kiesling and W. Kramer
Publisher: Rio Grande Games

GRADE: A-

Game Review: Innovation

I sadly don't have official "unboxing" photos of the new game, "Innovation" (Carl Chudyk, Asmadi Games), since I picked it up at 2010 Origins and there was a hasty unboxing during the shuttle ride back to the hotel one night. Since that time the box has been collecting dust in our game closet (with no disrespect meant to the game--it's just so many games, so little time!). But we finally broke it out just a few days ago, and here's what I thought!

First Impressions
This is a simple card game that looks very portable. The box is oddly large considering that the game is entirely one large deck of cards (UPDATE: Newer versions of the game have a more svelt box!). The rule book and action reminder cheat-sheet cards take up a little wider space, but being flat, this is one odd packaging concept. (Note to self: Sew an awesome and portable felt drawstring travel bag for Innovation game deck.)

Set-Up
First, players set out ten stacks of "Ages" cards that represent the evolution of man--1 is Prehistory and it goes up to 10 as the Information Age. For what we can only assume is aesthetic reasons, the game rules have players set up these ten stacks in a circular pattern, with a spread of "Achievement" cards in the center. When tabletop space is limited, we'll probably just spread these out wherever there's space in an untidy row. Same diff. Then each of the players gets two cards from the Age 1 pile, and the game is ready to begin.

The Gameplay
So here's what you do: On your turn, you choose 2 actions to take from a list of 4 types:
option #1 - Meld (lay down a card)
option #2 - Draw
option #3 -Achieve (buy a victory point)
option #4 - Dogma (use a melded card's action)

Drawing cards from the game piles gives you more interesting possible actions to "dogma" later, and you can't draw without taking this action, so the typical sequence to follow throughout chains of turns is Draw-Meld-Dogma. Draw-Meld-Dogma. Draw-Meld-Dogma. (Still waiting for that first "Achieve" moment!)

The whole goal is to earn "Achievements", which are the equivalent of victory points. Us two-player peeps need 6 achievements, which by the way, can take an ass-long time to earn. I can't decide yet if that makes this a richly deep card game, or just boring. But anyway, you earn these Achievements by scoring points that act as currency, and playing your action cards--which are accumulated in color-coded piles in your giant-ass sprawling personal gameplay area (two players playing this game will barely fit on a coffee table)--to screw over your opponent(s) or advance yourself into new Ages (read: start collecting better action cards). Yes, there's a lot going on here. Again, turns will be spent not only collecting and playing cards, but also trying to play actions that either disrupt your opponent, earn you points, or maybe help you reorganize your current piles of playable cards.

The Review
Innovation is, if nothing else, an intriguing game. There are so many different action cards--and, really, "dogma-ing" (to use the new gaming verb husband and I coined) is the bulk of the gameplay--that every game is a bit different, exciting, and potentially mind-boggling. In this sense, it reminds me of the stupidly splendid game, We Didn't Playtest This At All. Anything can happen, and people can win in the blink of an eye, or the whole game can snap around with one crazy action. There's also a lot of excellent opponent bashing that can happen here, giving us a flicker of rowdiness. And all this comes from a simple deck of cards. Nifty! And portable!

That's the really good news. The bad news? It's a bit dry. A fresh spread of clever artwork on the cards, or a little injection of humor could have breathed easy life into a game whose mechanics are all tidily in place. Plus, if you're sitting down for a game, be sure to have plenty of table space in front of you, and tell grandma to put on her reading glasses, because you'll be pouring over lots and lots of text in this game. This isn't a terrible thing at all, but is not for someone who's already fatigued or impatient.
Those paltry criticism aside though, there's something that's just off-beat enough about the different card actions, and the opponent rivalry can be just brutal enough that's it's got me hooked for at least a few more plays. And if the gameplay starts flowing more smoothly (right now it's like gloppy spoiled milk chunking out of a carton because we're a little slow on the reading and light on the focus), this might be a permanent keeper and a nice way to mix up game nights. Different is good, even if it's a bit scary at first. For that reason, this game gets an affectionately high and hopeful grade.
B+

The Market of Alturien: An Unboxing and Review

Last night the husband and I actually had a free moment to dive into our board game closet and pull out a new game. Ooh. Aah. We have approximately 8 or 9 games that are still never played, some of them still in the shrink (for shame!). And last night's choice was....The Market of Alturien--"a game for 2 to 6 crafty traders".

We picked this up at Origins 2010 on super discount, and have let it sit ever since June. Last night, we peeled off the shrink wrap on this giant box, and here's how it went.

First Impressions
Just examining the box it's hard not to notice how large it is. Unlike so many Euro games, it's not especially thick, but due to its large board size, this puppy is going to take up 12"x17" of your game closet space. The box artwork is absolutely beautiful and already tells me that some thought and care went into the game design. Awesome.

The Unboxing
Here are some shots from the unboxing. As you can see from the top photo, the box comes with full-color glossy instructions (which, by the way, were extremely easy to follow and well-written), large size board, a bag full of plastic "trade houses" in an assortment of 6 rather impressive colors: Yellow, fuschia, orange, black, green, and blue. (It's a shame they didn't pop for wooden pieces instead of plastic, which really could've elevated the game.) The game also comes with 7 plastic figures as shoppers and a thief (beautifully designed!), a deck of assorted gameplay cards, 2 special D6s, play money (nothing fancy, very Monopoly-esque), and two black cloth bags for part storage (score!).

                                                             The box freshly opened

The board and pieces all laid out and ready for play

A silver, bronze, and gold customer pose with the thief

The Game Play
Okay, so the game play is actually very simple. Players claim markets using their little plastic "trade house" pagodas, and then each turn is spent rolling dice and moving the "customer" figures around the board, and aiming them at markets you've claimed so they'll give you money for purchases. And money is king in this game, you need to save up enough bucks to buy "Prestige Cards". Purchasing three Prestige Cards before anyone else will win you the game. During a players turn, after the customers have been moved, players can use their money to buy "investments", which can include upgrades, new markets, and whatnot. Players also have to worry about a thief (the man in black) roaming the board. He, too, is controlled by other players and dice rolls. If he lands on your market, whoever placed him there gets to steal some of your money. Since the thief can't steal from the player with the least amount of money, his function in the game is to really act as the great equalizer.

 The board game set up and ready to play. Orange is ready to dominate!

The Review (based on a 2-player game)

The Market of Alturien

by Wolfgang Kramer

Mayfair Games

2007

2-6 players

To start with, this is one beautiful game. The board is artfully created and the customers and robbers really add to the game's prestige points (ha!...ahh, game humor). It's a shame they cheaped out on the Monopoly-type money and the plastic trade houses, since it took a game that could've been really elegant and made it resemble a Milton Bradley offering. The gameplay itself was really simple to catch onto. Let's be clear here: This is not a deep game--this is the type of thing you can pick up and play while watching a movie or chatting with friends. Note I don't necessarily mean this as a criticism, since sometimes we need a break from the deeper strategy gauntlets. 

Beginning the game, we start off with the robber not in play and at first the gameplay focuses on just scooting those little shoppers around the board, building up your markets, and buying investments. Cash is free-flowing. On the surface, this may make the game seem too simple, but there is a certain deeper strategy that experienced and stealthy players can employ to make the game a cute combination of Chess and Nuns on the Run. I'm usually not a fan of games that depend on dice rolls too greatly, but the element of chance is minimal since a single roll doesn't impact game strategies too greatly. In other words, you roll those dice often enough that the chance factor takes a back seat to overarching strategies about where to aim the shoppers on the board and when to remove a heavy spender from one of your opponent's markets. Screwing people over has never been so much fun.

But then the robber entered the game--the great equalizer. And that's when the game took a slide. The problem is the robber equalizes too much. Basically, opponents move him around the board and whenever he lands on an opponents market, he steals money from the market and gives it to the player moving him. This happens every. single. turn. since people who move the robber can then proceed to roll the dice again (feasibly even moving the robber a second time). And since the person with the least amount of money gets control of the City Guard Card, which makes you immune to robbery, the person in last place can REALLY clean up. 

In a two player game, this is devastating. I, as the orange player, was in a healthy lead with two Prestige Cards already in my figurative pocket (we opted to play to four prestige points), and the husband had none. I also had a stack of dough a mile high...until the robber started to take away $2 here, $4 there, and then all of a sudden I couldn't keep up with his thievery. And I couldn't hit back. That was the worst. There was no consequence to the husband just striking with the robber over and over. So in the end, I essentially just handed the husband all of my money until we were on completely even footing (which is the point when the City Guard Card and its immunity can finally change hands). The game was unjustly close at the end, and the husband pulled out a narrow victory, which even he admitted was completely unfair. I unabashedly submit that I should have won the game. My placement strategy was better, my clever Customer movement was spot-on, and my cash management was effective. I did all I could to fight off the robber, but I never stood a chance. He was too powerful.

So by the time the game was over, I had enjoyed parts of the gameplay, but I was kicking the gravel and muttering to myself about the unbalanced robber play. Perhaps in a 3+ player game this wouldn't be such an issue. But since the husband and I almost exclusively play 2-player games, I think next time we will either remove the City Guard Card (and therefore revoke robber immunity), or remove the robber altogether. With a little tweaking this could be a nice, light game for a weeknight (...or for slower friends). Kids and families could certainly enjoy this game as the turns move quickly, the games don't take too long (about 40 min. in our case), and the game is just overall light and airy. No inappropriate themes here, either.

Overall, I'm grading this game based on how enjoyable it was, how well the game was crafted, and how likely I'll be to play this again. The bottom line is that it will hold a space in my game closet...at least for the time being...and we'll probably play it a handful of times down the road. But this isn't a classic I'll cling to.

C+