Pre-orders for the next set for 51st State are being taken now. It's called Allies and if you're a fan of the game, you'll want to get in now. There's two factions that are only going to be released a
Pre-orders for the next set for 51st State are being taken now. It's called Allies and if you're a fan of the game, you'll want to get in now. There's two factions that are only going to be released as part of the expansion's pre-order.
From the website:
Even after the apocalypse, life forms have managed to endure within the remnants of the United States. Groups began to form, uniquely adapted to the new, harsh environment. Each one has its strengths, and you know that it would be in your best interest to be on good terms with all of them.
As of late you’ve noticed a few of these bands in your region. In the abandoned tunnels and underground structures, intelligent, stealthy ratfolk – the Sharrash – have been spotted. On the nearby stretches of road the large machines of the resilient Uranopolis have begun to roam, and further scouting revealed them to be in conflict with the Iron Gang who can occasionally be spotted darting among the machines, destroying and scavenging anything they can.
Dive headfirst into the never ending conflicts among the groups and try to deftly pull the strings from above. Increase your influence with the assistance of Sharrash, gain new capabilities with the aid of Uranopolis, or dispatch the Iron Gang to raze your enemies!
It's nice to know when new games are coming out. You can start saving your nickels now and make sure you've got plenty for when the game hits your LGS shelves. Portal Games is letting you know when th
It's nice to know when new games are coming out. You can start saving your nickels now and make sure you've got plenty for when the game hits your LGS shelves. Portal Games is letting you know when their next three games will be coming out. So, if you want Detective: L.A. Crimes, Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales, or 51st State: Allies, you can find out when they'll be dropping.
From the announcement:
Detective: L.A. Crimes by Ignacy Trzewiczek and Mateusz Zaród, the first expansion for an award-winning (Game of the Year 2018 in Expert Category in France, Coop game of the year by Brawlin' Brothers, and more) Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, will be available on March 28th. Expansion will let you play as a group of LAPD detectives solving three cases set in Los Angeles in the 80s. Together they form a short campaign.
Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales by Ignacy Trzewiczek and Joanna Kijanka is the second big expansion for Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island. It includes the campaign (titled The Lost City of Z), where you follow great explorer, Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett, and a full set of rules and components that can be used with the base game of Robinson Crusoe.
51st State: Allies is the second expansion for 51st State Master Set, a card game by Ignacy Trzewiczek and Portal Games. In Allies, you will find new ways to ally your factions - cards are going to include a new alliance mechanism, that will grant you new unique bonuses and features. The expansion introduces three new factions: Iron Gang, Uranopolis, and Sharrash.
Woo! Saturday!And I'm finally mostly over being sick. You never realize just how much you are thankful that you can breathe through your nose or take a couple breaths without coughing until that's exa
Woo! Saturday! And I'm finally mostly over being sick. You never realize just how much you are thankful that you can breathe through your nose or take a couple breaths without coughing until that's exactly the opposite of how you're doing. Ah well. While I groove along to The Guess Who (because why not?), let's get you some gaming reviews.
This week, we've got: 51st State Master Set, Betrayal at Baldur's Gate, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle: The Monster Box of Monsters, Arkon, Pockety Odyssey, Noises at Night, Siege Storm, Rambo: the Board Game, Hardback, Voodoo, Palette Swap, Vast: The Crystal Caverns, Pryamids, Kingsburg (2nd Edition), Crossfire, Through the Desert (Euro Classics Edition), Nemesis, Bad Squiddo Games Onna-bugeisha, and Test of Honour: Ninjas of Iga Warband.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shadows of the Past is a one versus all miniatures skirmish game. Up to four players take on the roles of the Turtles and face off against the player using the forces of evil.
The Monster Box of Monsters is the first expansion for Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle. It adds more difficulty and more content, including a new Hero to help you and creatures to fight.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Siege Storm a brand new (super new) TCG out of Awaken Realms and designed by Marcin Swierkot. A very cool new take on a traditional card game. There are tons of TCG's out there and this adds to a market that is already saturated. Thing is....its different in many ways and feels like a completely different experience than your standard run of the mill TCG's. Its not just the fantastic artwork but the game play mechanics and layout of the cards really feel like much more than your standard card game. Excellent design and very fun, versatile, and quick experience! Well done Marcin!
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Rambo The Board Game a brand new one from Everything EPIC, which is currently in kickstarter (upon uploading this video) and the link is below! Here you will find a very nice and fun easy tactical miniatures war game. Simple mechanics and combat keep this title a really good gateway for anyone and the missions are based on the movies. I find the game has excellent theme and you really feel as though you are on a mission in the jungle to bring justice! This is not one to miss and is a very fun mission by mission based game!
Hardback is essentially a race game to be the first player to earn 60 points. Each player starts with a 10 cards deck of letters, eight identical and two random ones.
Each player is trying to be the first to score 11 points by casting curses on the other players. To do this, players will first need to roll five dice. If you happen to roll the required ingredient for a curse, you can spend those dice to cast it onto another player and earn victory points. This will cause the player to do certain actions during the game, such as talk like a frog, cover one eye, or don’t let your feet touch the floor. If that player doesn’t follow the curse requirements, the casting player earns extra points.
In Palette Swap, you attempt to complete your color schemes via mixing, matching, and trading colored cubes with other players. Each player is given a color palette and six color schemes to complete based on the colors contained on their palettes and other players. A small set of primary colored cubes represent your actions – swapping with other players, mixing yours and their colors, or gaining a cube of a color they possess. Once your palette and an opponent’s contain the right colors, you complete color scheme card. The first to complete all six of their cards wins.
Explaining the entire concept of the game involves a brief description of each of the five sides in play. In general, various creatures and/or heroes find themselves at odds inside a cave littered with crystals and treasures. Each side has a separate goal depending on which other sides are also in play. The general game structure is one of continuous rounds until one side fulfills their win condition.
Players in Pyramids are ancient Egyptian architects. They complete structures by acquiring building cards from a center pool and then adding them to various buildings, including a mandatory pyramid.
Apart from the cosmetic changes in all new illustrations, a slightly redesigned board, revamped components and custom dice, this new edition from Z-Man Games plays exactly the same as the original. However, it also includes all five of the modules from the separate expansion To Forge a Realm (identical rules, as well), plus a couple of additional ones. These may be mixed and matched or thrown in all together as your heart desires – or the Queen demands.
Not to be confused with the action-packed disc-shooting game from the 1970’s (and yes there’s a new version in stores), or that other card game about futuristic agents and operatives, this Crossfire is a hidden role game set in the Specter Ops universe about agents and assassins and protecting a VIP.
Roles are dealt at the start of a round, but it’s not a straightforward deal. First everyone is given a role card (and a chance to look at it). Then everyone pass that card to the left and looks at their new role. Next, every 3rd player shuffles their role cards with their neighbors’ on either side, and deals them back out again – and finally, everyone has their final role.
Through the Desert is a network-building game for two to five players. Players are nomadic caravan leaders trying to connect their caravans to the most valuable desert territory (namely, oases and watering holes). The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
The aim of the game is to get home, ensure the navigation computer is pointing in the right direction, make sure the engines are working and get back in the hibernation pods before the ship jumps to hyperspace. I think. One of my initial problems with the Nemesis prototype is that although the rulebook is by no means awful, it appears to leave a lot of aspects of the game open to interpretation, and appears to be missing some rules completely. Now we are talking about a prototype game here, so it’s understandable that this is by no means the final rulebook, but it does make providing my thoughts on the game rather problematic.
Ninjas of Iga is the latest box set of miniatures to be released by Warlord Games for their Test of Honour Samurai skirmish game – it is the second box set they have released which includes all new metal miniatures.
Man, it's hard to think that Gen Con was a week ago. At this point, the show was more than half-over. How time flies. Hopefully everyone was able to recuperate well. I seem to have missed out on getti
Man, it's hard to think that Gen Con was a week ago. At this point, the show was more than half-over. How time flies. Hopefully everyone was able to recuperate well. I seem to have missed out on getting Con Crud. So that's good. My feet were feeling just fine again by Tuesday. So that's good, too. And, just yesterday, I finally caught up on the massive back-log of e-mails I'd had. Of course, as I finished that back log, more had come in. But I'm getting to those as well.
Anyway, as it's Saturday, I've got your regular bit of reviews that I know you so desperate desire. I'm also looking forward to the coming weeks when I'm sure all the games people picked up at the show get reviewed.
This week we have: Barenpark, Whistle Stop, Flamme Rouge, 51st State: Scavengers Expansion, Herbaceous, CVlizations, and Cigar Box Battle Plush Gaming Mats.
Much like the other small box expansions for 51st state, Scavengers doesn’t include any new factions. Instead there are 50 cards that can be mixed in with the core set.
The new cards in Scavengers change-up the game play in a few ways. The biggest new feature is that each player now has their own personal discard piles. This is important because any time a player has to discard a card, it goes to their own pile and many cards in the Scavengers expansion will reference another player’s discard pile. Some will let you draw cards from them, while others will give you resources based on the icons showing on the top card.
Herbaceous is as simple and accessible as it comes. If it takes you more than a minute or two to explain the rules, chances are you trying to teach the wrong game.
Barenpark is a tile laying game that has you building your own personal bear park using tiles you take from a communal supply. Note that the first available tiles in any area are worth the most points and values dwindle as tiles are claimed and placed.
CVlizations is an action-selection engine-building game for two to five players. Players are the leaders of civilizations trying to write the story of their accomplishments through the ages. The civilization with the most happiness at the end of the game wins.
One of the newest products they produce is the PLUSH fabric gaming mat. This was developed due to the rise in popularity of using ‘Teddy Bear Fur’ mats for gaming – the PLUSH finish provides a deeper texture/pile on the gaming mat – it’s it not as long as ‘standard’ Teddy Bear Fur, but enough to provide a grass texture on the mat.
This review is looking at one of the Double-Sided PLUSH terrain mats that Cigar Box Battle will only be producing using a special kickstarter campaign, which is running until Friday 1st September.
Saturday! Glorious Saturday!As you read this, I'm at a library that a friend works at. They're having their first Board Game Day and so I'm playing some board games. Actually, there's a very high like
Saturday! Glorious Saturday! As you read this, I'm at a library that a friend works at. They're having their first Board Game Day and so I'm playing some board games. Actually, there's a very high likelihood that I'm playing Guild Ball, which isn't really a board game, but it's still alright.
Anyway, while I'm doing that, I've also got some review articles for you.
Today I have: Stolen Treasures, Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space: Ultimate Edition, Statecraft, Shinobi, Terminator Genisys Heavy Weapon Endoskeletons, Ice Cool, The CopyCat, Stak Bots Red, 51st State, Tyrants of the Underdark, StoryLine: Fairy Tales, Dr. Eureka, and Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh.
An alien plague turned some of the crew into monsters, so it’s time to put on your Ellen Ripley underwear and fight for your survival in Osprey’s incredibly original and immersive Escape From The Aliens In Outer Space board game.
This is a very user-friendly and simple card game which will bring a lot of fun and probably you will get to know your friends from other points of view (there is a note on the box which says “Warning: May Ruin Friendships!”). The game mechanics are quite similar to Mafia and Werewolf . As for the word stuff, this game was inspired by such games as Taboo and Codenames. It takes about 15 minutes to play it and 4-15 players. You can gather big and crazy crowd to experience this brilliant work of art!
Red is the third box in the Stak Bots range; a new expansion that can be played either on its own, or combined with either or both previous boxes for a mega game. If you're already a Stak Bots fan, don't bother reading this review, it's more of the same, with some new interesting bots and twists on old mechanics, just go to the Kickstarter now and back Red. We won't be offended if you leave.
In 51st State, players take control of one of the game’s four factions in an attempt to rebuild the country with their own faction in power. During the game, player’s will be building out their tableau by constructing buildings, hiring leaders, making deals, and razing things to the ground.
The ultimate goal is to work together to create the best story possible. You start with a Narrator deck, which leads your tale along a merry path filled with adventure and peril. There are two different Narrator decks for you to choose from.
Dr. Eureka is a simultaneous puzzle dexterity game for one to four players. Players rearrange the contents of their test tubes to be the first to match the flipped card. The first player to win five cards wins the game.
When playing with Mocha and Baksheesh, the goal of collecting rubies remains the same as do the majority of the rules. This review assumes that you are familiar with how the base game works, but if you are new to Istanbul I recommend checking out the review here. Mocha & Baksheesh adds five major components to the main game. The namesake addition of coffee adds another type of resource. There is no limit to the amount of coffee you can hold and it may be used to pay for various benefits.
Aaaaaah... Saturday.What a glorious day. What cannot be achieved on such a day as Saturday?Well, I know I can be working on various articles for the site. Hopefully you're getting in some gaming, like
Aaaaaah... Saturday. What a glorious day. What cannot be achieved on such a day as Saturday? Well, I know I can be working on various articles for the site. Hopefully you're getting in some gaming, like I am, too.
At the moment, though, we've got ourselves the Review Roundup.
In today's feature we have: Vikings Gone Wild, Blood Rage: Mystics of Midgard Expansion, Codinca, Blood Rage: Gods of Asgard Expansion, Imperial Settlers: Atlanteans Expansion, King's Forge: Queen's Jubilee Expansion, Talon, 13 Days, 51st State, The Grizzled: At Your Orders, One Night Ultimate Vampire, Area 1851, Tesla vs. Edison: Powering Up, No Thank You Evil, Valeria Card Kingdoms, Legends of the American Frontier, Jail Break, Adventure Land, Anachrony, Android: Mainframe, Shogunate, T.I.M.E Stories: Under the Mask, Aya, Porta Nigra, The Gallerist, Doctor Panic, and Knit Wit.
Queen’s Jubilee is the first expansion for King’s Forge. It has new craft cards and some new gather cards too. It adds variety without adding complexity. And even makes the game play quicker!
In Area 1851, you are one of the area’s top five Tinkerers and you’re looking to prove your grit to the citizens of this Wild West town.
Each turn, players have to deal with and negotiate random events in the area, then continue the turn under those circumstances, by drawing Tinker cards to fill their hand up to five cards, then rolling dice to determine their resources for that turn. Players then spend those resources to build new Gadgets or augment their existing Gadgets with Modifications. These Gadgets and Modifications can then be Delivered to the townsfolk for Reputation. In addition players can choose to scrap cards from their hand, and pull them out of circulation.
The Powering Up! expansion takes Tesla vs. Edison gameplay to a whole new level by infusing exciting new systems and introducing both a sixth player and a solitaire variant! Fans of the game will delight in exploring:
Building a headquarters. What is a good electric company without state-of-the-art facilities such as a laboratory, works, office, and studio? Each option offers different bonuses and rewards to the enterprising player!
Valeria: Card Kingdoms is a tableau-building game for 1-5 players and will feel familiar to deck-building fans. The cards you buy can work for you on your turn and on all the other player turns, as well. On your turn, roll two dice and activate citizen cards with the result of each individual die and the sum of both dice. Other players will simultaneously activate their citizen cards based off of the roll. Next, take two actions from the following: slay a monster, recruit a citizen, buy a domain, or take 1 of any resource. The player with the most victory points at the end wins the game.
Legends of the American Frontier is an adventure game for 3 to 7 players in which you live the life of a newly-minted citizen in the colonial days of America, starting just after the Revolutionary War in the 1780s and running through the early 1800s.
Jail Break is played on a randomly setup, modular board. Consisting of 24 cards, the jail can be laid out in a 6×4 grid, or really into any shape the players would like. Changing the configuration of the jail can lead to a different experience in each game.
Players will each have a mugshot card that shows their special ability. During the game, players will be able to move throughout the prison, gathering resources and potentially attacking other players. Each turn a card will trigger a random event that could be positive or negative, and at the end of the turn, a guard will be moved to a new location of the player’s choice. The first player to successfully escape is the winner.
Adventure Land is a bit of an abstract fantasy adventure game. There are three different adventures (scenarios) included in the box, each of which has their own complexity level and win conditions. The basics of the game remain the same no matter which adventure you are playing.
In Adventure Land, players will be moving their heroes around a 10×11 gridded game board. As your adventurers move, they will be collecting items and companions to use when they try to defeat the game’s fog monsters. While each of the three adventures has their own unique win conditions, many require players to collect a certain type of item(s) to earn victory points. At the conclusion of the adventure, the player with the most victory points will be the winner.
Each player in Anachrony commands one of the games four Paths. During each round, players will be collecting resources, workers, and scientific breakthroughs in the hopes of advancing their society. Anachrony is a two-tiered worker placement game, meaning that players will be taking actions on a shared main board, while also building up their own player board with actions and special powers.
For you historians out there, Android: Mainframe is a reimplementation of a game called Bauhaus. That probably doesn’t mean much to most of you, since it was released only in Spain and only 17 people have it marked as “owned” on BGG. Allow me to explain.
No, there is too much. Let me sum up. The goal of Mainframe is to capture “nodes” (squares) on the board by surrounding them with “partitions” (little blue walls) with your Access Point Tokens inside. You only get points at the end of the game if your enclosed zones contain only your own tokens, and no other players. The bigger the zone, the more points your access tokens score.
Shogunate pits players against each other as heads of rival clans in a power play maneuver seeking the emperor’s throne. You’ll need to deceive others as to your true intentions, deduce that of your enemies’ and even eliminate other claimants.
In this quick, social deduction card game each player secretly receives a clan affiliation and five action cards. Cards corresponding to the five clans are then randomly lined up on the table. The goal is to scheme your clan’s way to the head of the succession line by the end of the game. The twist is that someone else gets to resolve the actions you play!
If you read my review of A Prophecy of Dragons, you'll know I was disappointed with the previous adventure for TIME Stories, the time travelling cooperative game which I still believe is one of the best cooperative board game experiences on the market. Thankfully, I am happy to say that Under the Mask is a return to form, a fun puzzle and adventure that gets everything just right.
TIME Stories is a mystery and as such your experience will rely on not knowing the puzzles ahead so I'm going to attempt to keep this review as spoiler free as possible. However, there will be some very mild spoilers from here on, so if you want the Under the Mask to be a complete surprise then come back later.
Imagine someone had created a cooperative board game out of domino rally. There you go, you've just imagined Aya and to be fair I could leave the review right there.
In Aya you and your friends have discovered a new land and are travelling inland via river, exploring the untouched wilderness and photographing the local wildlife and breathe taking scenery.
You are a builder in ancient Rome. But you want to be a Master Builder, known as the greatest in the Empire. To claim that title, you’ll work to construct four Roman structures, including the titular city gate, the Amphitheatre, the Basilica, and the city wall, faster and better than your opponents.
It’s a perfect economic strategy board game for all art lovers – manage your own art gallery and became successful and internationally well-known art dealer! You have to do a lot of work to achieve that – make promotions for pieces of art and artists themselves, buy and sell in the international market, bring visitors to your exhibitions, sign contracts and of course hire assistants, who will help you to cope with all this work. Develop your own business-strategy and become the richest and the most famous Gallerist! We are happy to offer you a board game review. Designed by Vital Lacerda, artist is Ian O’Toole, published in 2015 by Eagle-Gryphon Games, Fire on Board Jogos and Giochix.it.
It's here. Doctor Panic, the first co-op game to ever feature a whoopie cushion, or a hairnet, or a needle and thread, is now available in shops. Best of all, it's every bit as dumb as advertised!
There's never been a game that demanded SU&SD's attention more. Time for us to turn on the bright lights, disinfect our mouths and begin the delicate operation... of the review.
In (almost!) five years of running Shut Up & Sit Down we’ve always put the game first. We’ve fretted about player counts and waxed lyrical about themes. We’ve snapped apart mechanics like so many Lego bricks. So today, I hope you guys will indulge me in putting something else first.
Look. At. This. Flipping. Box.
I mean that literally. Knit Wit, the new game from Pandemic creator Matt Leacock, is opened with a flip-top magnetic catch at one end. But we’re just getting started.
play board games have posted a review of the 51st State boardgame.
From their announcement:
51st State is a card game set in the post-apocalyptic world of Neuroshima. To win, you’ll need to manage yo
51st State is a card game set in the post-apocalyptic world of Neuroshima. To win, you’ll need to manage your resources and build a better city than your opponents.
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