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- 

"Boardgame News" Making the Move to BGG

Well, BGG fans, if you haven't heard it from the horse's mouth by now, BGG has swallowed up the Boardgame News blog and its author; the two will be incorporated into the BGG site beginning in January. What does this mean for us Internet-surfing gamers? A few things:

1. We have one less independent source for board gaming news
2. Easy one-stop shopping from here on out for interesting gaming reading...assuming BGG doesn't glitch out anymore
3. There's one less board game blog out there to compete with my tiny little blog
4. BGG set out to devour a blog and a writer....and it wasn't me. Shit.

Well, maybe the folks at BGG will discover the need for a humorous and sarcastic BG blogger in 2011. In the meantime, you can read the full news update over at the BGG website:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/597425/boardgame-news-moving-to-boardgamegeek

Converting the Next Generation of Gamers: Mission Accomplished

Or: Heyyy Kiddies....I've Gotta Surprise for Yoooou

My neighbor's kids were off school today for Christmas break, and their confused mom asked me to check in on them a few times, since I'm at home all day. Poor things. So what does "Auntie Katie" suggest when the 13 y/o girl and 7 y/o boy come over to my house bored? Board games anybody? I was over at their house last weekend to teach the whole family how to play Clue (poor family didn't even know), and they loved it. This time, they needed something Clue-like for two players, so I showed them my glorious Board Game Closet of Glory and Doom and loaded them up with Clue: The Great Museum Caper. Sure, I think the game's a snore and an unworthy addition to the Clue family, but they might like it on a boring winter day, right?

RIGHT! They loved it. They loved it so much, I had to give it to them to keep. Plus their mother spent most of the day on eBay looking for a cheap copy of regular Clue. Awesome. And, you know what just tugs at a gamer's heart? Hearing that this little 7 y/o boy asked later that night, "Mommy, can I have a board game collection?" Sniffle. Another gamer is born.

My Holiday Gaming To-Do List

Sniffle. Snort. That's the sound of me snorkling and wheezing through my third cold in four weeks, dear readers. I'd like to thank all the preschool children who made this month of misery possible. (You're all lucky I don't own a taser.) What? Who said that?  Well anyway, we can't let a little phlegm get us down, since this is the time of year to remember the true meaning of Christmas: Extra vacation days that can be spent playing board games! The Best Husband in the World can't escape my germs anyway, and there's something wonderful about being wrapped head-to-toe in blankets playing games through a Nyquil haze. So without further ado (or disgusting references to phlegm), here's my...

Christmas Break Board Game To-Do List:

 1. Play The Da Vinci Code Board Game while watching The Da Vinci Code on Blu-Ray.
Yes, that's really the full unimaginative title of the game. And yes, I know there are many unnecessary parts of this plan, including watching The Da Vinci Code, doing so in Blu-Ray format, owning a game about said movie, and actually opening it up. But, you see, we got this game new in shrink at a live auction at Origins last year for one dollar. One dollar. It was sort of a joke that I even bid, and now I have to see it through. Maybe it won't be so bad? (Don't laugh!)

2. Give Small World another try.
I started out loving this game, once upon a time. In fact, it was one of my first real board games I ever got into. And now going back to it is kind of like having lunch with an old boyfriend who you made out with in school for the first time. Awkward, but maybe worthwhile. I "broke up" with this game last year after deciding that some of the races were just too unbalanced--mainly those damn reproducing skeletons (which I briefly banned from the game). But I think I may have been to hasty. (Notice I haven't traded it in yet.) Hey com'on Small World, baby, I think we can make it work.

3. Learn how to play Alien Frontiers.
This game came to us from Kickstarter.com, since we were one of the (many) original investors in getting this board game produced. It was a fun adventure to see it go from just a dream to a shiny, pretty reality, but so far all it's done is sit on our shelf. Not cool. You can bet your buns a review is coming on down the line pretty soon.

4. Continue the Clue marathon holiday tradition with my brother-in-law.
Every year he flies up to Michigan from Florida, and for the past couple years we (The Best Husband in the World, The Coolest Brother-in-Law in the World, and I) stay up multiple nights in a row into the wee hours playing game after game of Clue. What started as a Hey, wouldn't it be wild if we tried that game? idea turned into an amazingly good time filled with lots of meta-gaming, diagram drawing, and suspicion. We've also begun throwing Puerto Rico into the mix as well.

5. Print off the "Through the Seasons" expansion for Agricola.
If you don't know yet, YES! There's a downloadable expansion available for Agricola called "Through the Seasons." It's being hosted over at boardgamegeek, and I absolutely need to get my Christmas-cookie-padded ass over there and print it! If you are interested, here's a link to the expansion:
Agricola: Through the Seasons

If I forget to say it later this week, I want to wish all of the gamers out there a very...

Merry Christmas!

What's Better than Christmas Cookies? Board Game Cookies!

Who needs lousy ol' Christmas cookies with malformed angels, moldy green food coloring, and burnt biscuits covered in insipid red sugar? Any board game fan worth her salt (or his salt) knows that board game cookies are the way to go. Wow your friends with these holiday creations that will have them oooohing and aaaahhhing....or wondering what dark hole you crawled out of.

....Okay, let's face it: No one in your family will appreciate the carefully crafted replicas or obscure gaming references. But that doesn't matter. You'll know. And out there, us other nerds stand with you.

Need inspiration? Let's take a look at the work of some people who clearly don't have children or full-time jobs. Oh hell, I'm just saying that because I'm jealous.

Cookies of Catan

 

 

 Monopoly Cookies

C-C-C-Carcassonne C-C-Cookies

Giant Battlestar Galactica Cookie
('sup Cylons!)

Scrabble Cookies

...for people who really aren't up for a lot of artistic rendering....or frosting colors

 

Meeple Cookies

...in case you can't pick a game

...or if you can't take the time to craft cookies and fondle frosting bags, then just consider plating your normal Christmas cookies and using your retired Trivial Pursuit game board as a doily placemat.

Except you might want to advise your friend in the douchey shirt not to stick the cookies up his nose. Not cool man.

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-

Ho-ho-ho! Board Game Geek Christmas Has Come Early This Year!

So, my husband and I are active members of the board game community, BoardGameGeek. If you don't know what "The Geek" is and you love board games, then you should be slapping your forehead right now since it's the absolute authority on all things boards and games. (If you are a member of BGG, look me up! I'm "wonderwitch".) And every year this magnanimous authority holds a giant worldwide Secret Santa exchange. Yeaaaa!

How could this work, you ask? Well simple, you sign up in November and a giant super computer positioned somewhere in Board Game Geek headquarters...named WOPR...randomly assigns each participant with a Secret Santa, who could reside anywhere in the world. Once you have your victim's gift recipient's name, you just check out their Geek wishlist for games, order, and ship. Then you taunt, poke, stalk, etc., until they have a general feeling of unease and anxiety.

Our sucker lucky target this year is someone who lives in.....oops....let's just say Europe (wouldn't want to give any specific hints!). I'm really stoked for the two items we sent this person. We worked off of his BGG wishlist exclusively, since it's our first year and didn't want to push our gaming agendas on someone quite yet. (That'll be next year.) It was an interesting adventure trying to find the games we wanted to send at European locations and in the right languages. And I temporarily went cross-eyed from converting Euros to dollars so many times. But it's all worth it. So much fun to surprise someone half a world away with a merry board game present!

And today was our turn! Our very, very kind Santa had his FedEx elves deliver our mystery gifts to our doorstep today. Yippeeee! Like two kids on Christmas morning, my husband and I sprinted from the front door (rudely slamming it in the face of the FedEx man) and jostled elbows side-to-side to get to the box cutter and begin opening our precious package. Our three year-old rolled her eyes. I swear. With mouths watering and eyes ablaze with early Christmas fervor, we found two a-m-a-z-i-n-g gifts inside.

The first one was a game that our Secret Santa had taunted us about, noting that he was going to "throw us some curve balls". Said curve ball ended up being a game I had never heard of, and didn't even have on my BGG wishlist: Infinite City. But you know what? I am so jazzed that this jolly (fat and red?) elf has so much enthusiasm for the game, that he sends a brand-new-in-the-shrink copy as a holiday present. Oh, you know it has to be good. That's like if you were to go to a new restaurant and someone in your party orders for you (okay, I guess that specifically would be kinda rude...but you get my point.). I cannot wait to try it and love it. And bonus!--it's two-player capable. If any readers have any feedback on Infinite City, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

The second gift was a different kind of curve ball. Yes, it was from our wishlist....but I don't think we dared hope that this would be a Secret Santa item. We scarcely ever thought we'd get our hands on a copy! The game is....Java! This is a Rio Grande title that's been out of print for over six years and is mega-sought after. And the copy we got? Yeah, it's gorgeous and mint condition. The opened game has protective sleeves on each of the cards in the "palace cards" deck. And it looks like it's never been played. My husband had to tie a lobster bib around my neck so my drool wouldn't land on the game pieces.

So if my Secret Santa is out there reading this, I'm sending a very big THANK YOU to you, and I hope you and your loved ones have a very merry Christmas!

Board Games on a Plane

When us gamers go a-travelin', you know that at least a few games get packed in suitcases and carry-on luggage. The husband and I recently flew out to California from Michigan and were sure to include Lost Cities, Alhambra (small box), and Bohnanza in our cases. Good choices? Me thinks so. Especially for hotel room gaming.

But what about on the plane? Well, imagine our horra when the airline peeps red-flagged all carry-ons for stowing under the plane. I could only carry to my plane seat what I could fit in my leather coat pockets (thank the gaming gods those pockets are 'uge....next time, I bring a giant purse!). So then it was Sophie's Choice: Which game do you stuff in your coat pocket for hours of plane entertainment?

On the first leg of the (layover-laden) flight, I opted for Lost Cities. For those who don't know, it's a light card game with quick-paced play. Each player takes the role of a Panama Jack/Indiana Jones explorer on expeditions to conquer...different colors of cards. Great pace, and for a vacation, it's a great theme. I also thought we could convert the game space to two divided spaces--one on each tray table. Yeahhhhh. Didn't work so well. It became clear to me mid-flight that the whole center depository board really needs more space than I had gauged from the terminal. Suckssss. So flight #1 is mostly gameless. And I pass the time kicking the chair of the snooty lady in front of me.

Flights #2-4 though are much more exciting thanks to what I estimate to be the most perfect, happy, excellent board game for two-person in-flight entertainment: Bohnanza. If you're not familiar with this card game, each player "works" as a bean farmer, growing a slew of comical beans in boom-or-bust fashion. It's deliciously interactive between the two players (unlike, say, Lost Cities, which is more silently contemplative, in my experience), it is fast-paced, and....best of all...wait for it....

....wait for it...

It turns out that two standard size coach-class commercial airline tray tables are the absolute perfect size to play Bohnanza. Granted, you must use the box with tray for the draw piles and discard piles a little creatively; My recommendation is to use two of the card tray slots for two separate draw piles to start the game--players can just choose which pile to draw from. When the discard pile starts to build up, then it's time to consolidate the draw piles into one tray slot and allow discards to take up two slots. This way, when there's turbulence, your slippery cards don't go sliding under the seat in front of you. (Can you imagine...losing Bohnanza cards on a plane? Oh the horra!)
So this, my sky trotting friends, is my recommendation to you. If you plan to game on a plane, don't leave the Bohnanza at home. Or Samuel L. Jackson will make you pay.

Oh, and just because I had one other Samuel L. Jackson gaming photo on-hand, and I just couldn't NOT use it, here you go: