Battle for Greyport

It's Saturdaaaaaaaaaaay! Woooooooo!
Due to the rain, my initial plans for the day fell through. But I'm hoping to rebound and maybe hang out with some people here and just chill. Yes, just me, them, and a whole pan of homemade banana pudding cheesecake...
But at the moment, I know what you all really want are the day's reviews.

Today we have: Ethnos, Founders of Gloomhaven, Macroscope, Dragonstone Mine, Sheep & Thief, Gyrating Hamsters, Pests, Potion Explosion iOS, Salem, Exit: The Game, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Covil, Meduris, Saltlands, The Flow of History, Sagrada, The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport, and Ulock!.



Toucan Play That Game:

Ethnos Review

In this video you can find out my thoughts on Ethnos by CMON.

theMCGuiRE review:

Founders of Gloomhaven Overview

theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Founders of Gloomhaven - the brand new game from Isaac Childres, the designer of the EPIC Gloomhaven board game. Gloomhaven has been taking the board gaming community by storm this year and just hit a record on kickstarter for its second print and currently #4 on BGG!

Isaac takes us through the new euro style game, setting the stage for what we find in the Gloomhaven campaign. So as you choose your race and start to build one of the most influential cities in gaming history, make smart choices and watch your opponents because the fate of Gloomhaven is in your hands!

Macroscope Review

theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Macroscope a brand new one from Mayday Games, which was recently successfully kickstarted. This game is great for adults and kids and is a ton of fun trying to guess what the picture is as you slowly remove the dials on top of the device.

That brings me to the Macroscope device, which you assemble once you open the game up. Its a very innovative game component which integrates with the actual game box. Well done Mayday on this one, so grab a copy and see if you can guess what's under the dials!

Dragonstone Mine Review

theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Dragon Stone Mine from Legion and Jade Dragon Studios. A very nice fun little strategy placement game we have had a great time with and a kid favorite at this point. you mine gems and stack them on your own personal spire for the max points at the end of the game. Although its not as easy as it sounds, watch out for other players to foil your well laid plans!

I definitely recommend - so pick up a copy of this game and enjoy all your gem mining.

Breacher18:

Sheep & Thief Review

Breacher18 reviews Sheep & Thief by Yuichi Sakashita published by Pegasus Spiele

In2thereview:

Gyrating Hamsters Review

Gyrating Hamsters is a fun fast paced hamster themed deck building game. Gameplay is approx 30min and is for 2-4 players.

Gyrating Hamsters got funded on kickstarter within its first week and for good reasons, this game has it all! Replay value is extremely high, after every game you always have someone shou “Lets play that again, I’ll beat you this time!” which to me is a good sign to any game dev! The aim of th egame is to build up your clan of hamsters and use them to battle your opponents, the winner of the battle takes the opponents losing cards.

Pests Review

‘Pests the game’ was sent over to me all the way from the States and I can honestly say I am so glad I got to play test this! It is brought you from the wonderful mind of Michael McFarland who is a keen gamer and has been since childhood.

Board Game Quest:

Potion Explosion iOS Review

Bumbling students of potions class mixing colored ingredients to make potions is the subject here. Players will take ingredient-spheres from a rack (dispenser) hoping that the spheres on either side of the selected ingredient cascade down into one another and create explosions which deliver more ingredients to the potion maker. The player who makes the most points worth of potions wins.

Salem Review

Players in Salem control a group of individuals living in the eponymous village. In the basic mode of play, a random set of individuals are laid out in the middle of the table and the object is to discover which ones are witches with deductions similar to Clue. In the more advanced mode, the witches are controlled by other players. The object is the same, to find the witches, but if you control a witch, you’re also able to penalize other players to make sure your witches aren’t caught. In each case, the player to identify the most witches wins.

Exit: The Game Review

In EXIT, players are trying to solve a series of puzzles and open the “locked door” of the room they are in, all as quickly as possible. While each game of EXIT has its own theme (currently Abandoned Cabin, Secret Lab, and Pharaoh’s Tomb), the goal remains the same. Start the timer and use the clues at your disposal to solve a series of puzzles to ultimately escape.

Lorenzo il Magnifico Review

Each player is an Italian Renaissance family seeking to impress the church and expand their power. This is accomplished by acquiring cards representing lands, people, activities or ventures. Dice-based workers are placed to action locations while resources such as wood, stone, and money are managed to the highest efficiency. Victory points determine the winner.

Board To Death TV:

Covil Preview

In Covil: The Dark Overlords you will struggle for the supremacy of the regions surrounding an isolated town. Each player controls a Dark Overlord with unique powers and countless troops of minions to “defend the world from enemy hordes”, bring “peace and security to the territories” — at a cost, of course!

Meduris Review

Following the call of the gods, the players settle at the base of mountain Meduris. Building huts, bringing offerings to the druid, gathering precious runestones, and building monumental temples is the only way to earn the favor of the gods in Meduris.

Saltlands Review

In Saltlands, the first group of players to find and reach an exit point wins, leaving the rest to the Horde. There are no fixed teams, players can decide to co-operate or backstab each other as they see fit. Each player starts the game with a single captain but may increase his crew as the game progresses. Each crew member represents an extra life and an action each turn. Players move with their land sails according to the wind direction: being able to criss-cross slowly upwind or speed in the fastest direction, sailing on a broad reach. Each player can choose which group of raiders to move at the end of their turn until all raiders have moved. This allows players to help each other or force a confrontation with the Raiders. Players can fight the raiders and take their vehicles as an alternate mode of transport.

The Flow of History Review

History is a harsh river that flows steadily through the ages. Since the dawn of time, numerous civilizations have risen over the fallen ashes of others, and yet every one of them had once shone brightly in its own moment of glory!

The Flow of History is yet another innovative civilization game from Taiwanese designer Jesse Li. Players develop their nation using a unique bidding/price-setting mechanism to purchase new cards, but what is paid to the supply might also be harvested into the pockets of other players later, which puts a twist on your strategy of bidding cards, and also simulates economic inflation in the game. Don’t forget to build a formidable military to clash with cultures led by your enemy, and create an unforgettable tale of your civilization in The Flow of History.

Sagrada Review

Draft dice and use the tools-of-the-trade in Sagrada to carefully construct your stained glass window masterpiece.

In more detail, each player builds a stained glass window by building up a grid of dice on their player board. Each board has some restrictions on which color or shade (value) of die can be placed there. Dice of the same shade or color may never be placed next to each other. Dice are drafted in player order, with the start player rotating each round, snaking back around after the last player drafts two dice. Scoring is variable per game based on achieving various patterns and varieties of placement…as well as bonus points for dark shades of a particular hidden goal color.

Special tools can be used to help you break the rules by spending skill tokens; once a tool is used, it then requires more skill tokens for the next player to use them.

The highest scoring window artisan wins!

iSlaytheDragon:

The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport Review

The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport is a cooperative deck building game set in the same universe as The Red Dragon Inn. There are a lot of rules and card effects with this game that would take a while to explain, so I’m just going to give you a quick and dirty overview of how the game works.

In each game, you’re trying to beat the chosen scenario. There are seven scenarios in the game of varying difficulty and in order to win you generally must defeat the boss monster for the scenario. (There are occasionally other win conditions and these are spelled out on the scenario card.) Each scenario has its own requirements for which components to use and which monsters will be in play, so game setup varies.

Unlock! Review

Unlock! is a cooperative puzzle-solving game intended to simulate an escape room for one to six players. Players have sixty minutes to solve the puzzles keeping them from their goals. If they’re able to solve them in that amount of time, they win.

Hey everyone! As you're reading this, I'm enjoying Day 2 of the CMON Expo. If you're in the Atlanta area, head down and check it out. It's a great time had by all. Can't make it? Be sure to check out the TGN Facebook Page for updates about all the stuff going on here throughout the day.
As for here and now, it's time for those game reviews I know you all love so much.

Today we have: Zombie Tsunami, Arctic Scavengers, Dastardly Dirigibles, Ivion, Darkrock Ventures, Battle for Greyport, Phalanxx, V-Commandos, Mangaka, Onirim iOS, Twenty One, 3 to 4 Headed Monsters, Neroshima Hex: Mephisto, Veggie Garden, Barcelona: The Rose of Fire, Dragoon, Path of Light and Shadow, Watson & Holmes, Steam Works, and Gyrating Hamsters.



Toucan Play That Game:

Zombie Tsunami Review

In this video you can find out my thoughts on Zombie Tsunami by Lucky Duck Games.

Arctic Scavengers Review

In this video you can find out my thoughts on Arctic Scavengers Base Game + HQ + Recon by Rio Grande Games.

Club Fantasci:

How to Play Dastardly Dirigibles

Watch to learn this exciting game!

Professor Phineas Edmund Hornswoggle, known for building the highest quality airships, has announced his retirement. As one of the greatest airship engineers in the kingdom, you have gathered at the Hornswoggle factory in a competition to build the best airships you can and become the successor to the Hornswoggle empire.

In Dastardly Dirigibles, you will build your airship from different parts of 9 beautiful suits. Each airship is made of 7 cards, each representing a different part of the airship, such as the nose cone or lift engine. Whenever you add a part to your airship, ALL players MUST add the SAME part, even if it means replacing an existing part.

Use Special cards to your advantage or to thwart your opponents. The round ends when the first airship is complete. But you score only the suit used most in your airship. The player with the highest score after 3 rounds wins!

Board to Death TV:

Ivion Preview

Ivion combines the intensity of a fighting game with the strategy of deck-building card games to create an experience unlike any other. In Ivion, your deck IS your character.

Build your deck from a variety of Classes and Specializations, ranging from the brutal Giant to the occult Ebon Mage. Each character type has numerous cards to choose from, and wildly different play-styles. Mix and match them to create your own, unique character to fight with!

Upon the field of battle, crush your opponent with various strikes, stabs, slashes, spells and other mayhem at your disposal. Be careful, though–they have numerous ways to block, dodge, parry, fizzle and disrupt your assault.

Only one can be the victor, and the battle will be bloody.

Zombie Tsunami Review

Zombie Tsunami is a party game for 3 to 6 players that plays in under 30 minutes.

In the game, every player leads a horde of zombies storming the city. The winner is the one with the most zombies at the end of a 3 round game. But beware, humans are everywhere and they won’t let you win without a fight.

Players will have to collaborate, bluff, and sometimes betray one another in order to win the game!

Darkrock Ventures Review

Darkrock Ventures is a worker placement game about mining and exporting in a hostile outer space. Players will be controlling a mining company working in harsh conditions to acquire the most credits.

Battle for Greyport Review

You and your adventuring companions are just returning to the bustling city of Greyport after your latest adventure. You are all looking forward to relaxing and spending some of your hard-earned loot at The Red Dragon Inn. The party will have to wait, though, because the city is under attack by evil monsters!
Battle for Greyport is a cooperative deck-building game based on the characters and world of The Red Dragon Inn. You will travel to important locations around the city, fighting epic battles and recruiting whatever heroes and items you can along the way. Each encounter presents more opportunities to improve your deck, but also brings more dire foes for you to face!
With five playable characters, seven different scenarios, and an assortment of variants, you can have a new game every time, adjusting the game’s difficulty as you improve.
Will you defend the city from the monsters and defeat their nefarious boss, or will the city (and the tavern!) be overrun?
The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport also contains two items for use with any of the standalone The Red Dragon Inn titles: Chronos the Time Mage character deck and Drog’s Special Reserve drink card.

Phalanxx Tutorial and Review

Alexander the Great has conquered a vast empire, but his power is now waning and the time is ripe to compete for his inheritance.

Each player in Phalanxx leads one of four competing factions that are ready to rule that vast empire. To do this, you must become the most powerful faction by reinforcing your troops, ensuring sufficient supplies, and occupying the most important cities and oases.

Check out the unique dice drafting and dice management mechanism.

V-Commandos Review

Victory depends on you!

V-Commandos is a WW2 commandos co-operative board game. Players can either select a pre-generated mission or create their own by combining objective cards, then they assemble a team from famous Allied corps: U.S. Raiders, British SAS., Devil’s Brigade, SOE, etc. During play, you hide in darkness, wear enemy uniforms, and sneak up on your targets. Get spotted? Open fire with emblematic allied weapons and try to turn the enemy’s weapons against them! If you can, get back to cover and turn off the alarms as the enemy has more available troops than you. Thus, you need to focus on completing the mission, then leaving the area as quickly as you can

Mangaka Review

Mangaka: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics is a creative fast-paced card game in which players draw comic stories over four rounds combining Themes & an ever-growing number of Trends.

Players start by drawing three Theme Cards (such as “Kaiju/Giant Monsters”, “Robots and Androids,” or “Desire to be a Parent”) to determine the subject matter of their comic. (These three Themes stick with the player throughout the game. Many but not all of the Themes have a manga/anime/Japanese flavor.) Then each player chooses a title and “pen name.”

Board Game Quest:

Onirim iOS Review

In Onirim, players are “Dreamwalkers” in a labyrinth. In order to escape, they must discover “oneiric” doors. There are 4 colors of doors and 2 of each color. As players play consecutive cards of the appropriate color and symbol, they unlock the doors. If a player manages to unlock all 8 doors, they win the game.

For a full reading of the rules to understand how complex the card manipulation can get, check out the rules on Z-Man Games’ website.

Twenty One Review

In Twenty One, players will roll six different colored dice and, depending on the result, write scores onto their sheet. Each sheet contains 6 rows and each player can only write a number the top-most incomplete row.

3 to 4 Headed Monster Review

Players represent different heads of a monster rampaging through a city who must decide to be peaceful or dangerous. Through the course of the game, either the peaceful role player will win subtly or the dangerous players will win by deducing which player is peaceful. As players choose who will control the legs of the monster, they’re also determining the outcome of the game in a way similar to how The Resistance is played.

Neuroshima Hex: Mephisto Review

Neuroshima Hex: Mephisto comes in the standard Neuroshima Hex small-sized expansion box that you’ll immediately toss out once you open it. Like all Neuroshima Hex expansions, the main attraction here is the new army tiles.

iSlaytheDragon:

Veggie Garden Review

Veggie Garden is a game about growing, well, a vegetable garden. Duh. The idea here, though, is that this is a community garden and while you’re trying to make it flourish for everyone, you want to have the richest personal harvest.

Barcelona: The Rose of Fire Review

As the decision maker in an influential family, it is your goal to grow your wealth by constructing buildings while balancing the social unrest of the new immigrant population. The game is divided into five phases in which players take turns playing action cards and constructing buildings. There are three scoring periods in the game in which players will gain victory based on the type of buildings they’ve constructed. Whoever can collect the most points by game’s end is the victor.

Dragoon Review

In Dragoon, you take on the role of a dragon forced to deal with the arrival of humans. You’ll need to burn their cities to the ground, or at least subjugate them and take their gold. The first dragony player to reach 50 gold wins the game.

Drive Thru Review:

Path of Light and Shadow Preview

This was video was a paid sponsorship courtesy of Indie Boards & Cards and Drive Thru Review.

Watson & Holmes Review

Intro (00:00); game overview (01:40); final thoughts and review (09:55)

Polyhedron Collider:

Steam Works Review

Picture the scene: you’re at a large convention at a popular UK site and you see through the crowd a man wearing a metallic owl on his shoulder, together in Victorian getup and an extendable spyglass fixed to the side of his head. On the streets, this kind of behaviour would usually result in a swift recapture followed by a series of injections and perhaps a straightjacket. In the safe and womb-like environment of the UK Games Expo however, it’s worthy of perhaps a gently raised eyebrow before being distracted by another miniatures vendor. Unless you’re me of course, where Steampunk holds a particular fascination ever since I donned the light gem and began a career as a thief in the PC game… er… Thief.

In2thereview:

Gyrating Hamsters Review

Here we have a fantastic card game for 2-4 players, it’s quick and easy to learn, 20 minutes play time and the most fun you’ll have with hamsters legally!

Gyrating Hamsters is bought to you by a team composed of Alex & Rebekah Host and Andrew & Allison Gerbsch, all hailing from Tenessee U.S.A.

Hey everyone! As you're reading this, I'm enjoying Day 2 of the CMON Expo. If you're in the Atlanta area, head down and check it out. It's a great time had by all. Can't make it? Be sure to check out the TGN Facebook Page for updates about all the stuff going on here throughout the day.
As for here and now, it's time for those game reviews I know you all love so much.

Today we have: Zombie Tsunami, Arctic Scavengers, Dastardly Dirigibles, Ivion, Darkrock Ventures, Battle for Greyport, Phalanxx, V-Commandos, Mangaka, Onirim iOS, Twenty One, 3 to 4 Headed Monsters, Neroshima Hex: Mephisto, Veggie Garden, Barcelona: The Rose of Fire, Dragoon, Path of Light and Shadow, Watson & Holmes, Steam Works, and Gyrating Hamsters.



Toucan Play That Game:

Zombie Tsunami Review

In this video you can find out my thoughts on Zombie Tsunami by Lucky Duck Games.

Arctic Scavengers Review

In this video you can find out my thoughts on Arctic Scavengers Base Game + HQ + Recon by Rio Grande Games.

Club Fantasci:

How to Play Dastardly Dirigibles

Watch to learn this exciting game!

Professor Phineas Edmund Hornswoggle, known for building the highest quality airships, has announced his retirement. As one of the greatest airship engineers in the kingdom, you have gathered at the Hornswoggle factory in a competition to build the best airships you can and become the successor to the Hornswoggle empire.

In Dastardly Dirigibles, you will build your airship from different parts of 9 beautiful suits. Each airship is made of 7 cards, each representing a different part of the airship, such as the nose cone or lift engine. Whenever you add a part to your airship, ALL players MUST add the SAME part, even if it means replacing an existing part.

Use Special cards to your advantage or to thwart your opponents. The round ends when the first airship is complete. But you score only the suit used most in your airship. The player with the highest score after 3 rounds wins!

Board to Death TV:

Ivion Preview

Ivion combines the intensity of a fighting game with the strategy of deck-building card games to create an experience unlike any other. In Ivion, your deck IS your character.

Build your deck from a variety of Classes and Specializations, ranging from the brutal Giant to the occult Ebon Mage. Each character type has numerous cards to choose from, and wildly different play-styles. Mix and match them to create your own, unique character to fight with!

Upon the field of battle, crush your opponent with various strikes, stabs, slashes, spells and other mayhem at your disposal. Be careful, though–they have numerous ways to block, dodge, parry, fizzle and disrupt your assault.

Only one can be the victor, and the battle will be bloody.

Zombie Tsunami Review

Zombie Tsunami is a party game for 3 to 6 players that plays in under 30 minutes.

In the game, every player leads a horde of zombies storming the city. The winner is the one with the most zombies at the end of a 3 round game. But beware, humans are everywhere and they won’t let you win without a fight.

Players will have to collaborate, bluff, and sometimes betray one another in order to win the game!

Darkrock Ventures Review

Darkrock Ventures is a worker placement game about mining and exporting in a hostile outer space. Players will be controlling a mining company working in harsh conditions to acquire the most credits.

Battle for Greyport Review

You and your adventuring companions are just returning to the bustling city of Greyport after your latest adventure. You are all looking forward to relaxing and spending some of your hard-earned loot at The Red Dragon Inn. The party will have to wait, though, because the city is under attack by evil monsters!
Battle for Greyport is a cooperative deck-building game based on the characters and world of The Red Dragon Inn. You will travel to important locations around the city, fighting epic battles and recruiting whatever heroes and items you can along the way. Each encounter presents more opportunities to improve your deck, but also brings more dire foes for you to face!
With five playable characters, seven different scenarios, and an assortment of variants, you can have a new game every time, adjusting the game’s difficulty as you improve.
Will you defend the city from the monsters and defeat their nefarious boss, or will the city (and the tavern!) be overrun?
The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport also contains two items for use with any of the standalone The Red Dragon Inn titles: Chronos the Time Mage character deck and Drog’s Special Reserve drink card.

Phalanxx Tutorial and Review

Alexander the Great has conquered a vast empire, but his power is now waning and the time is ripe to compete for his inheritance.

Each player in Phalanxx leads one of four competing factions that are ready to rule that vast empire. To do this, you must become the most powerful faction by reinforcing your troops, ensuring sufficient supplies, and occupying the most important cities and oases.

Check out the unique dice drafting and dice management mechanism.

V-Commandos Review

Victory depends on you!

V-Commandos is a WW2 commandos co-operative board game. Players can either select a pre-generated mission or create their own by combining objective cards, then they assemble a team from famous Allied corps: U.S. Raiders, British SAS., Devil’s Brigade, SOE, etc. During play, you hide in darkness, wear enemy uniforms, and sneak up on your targets. Get spotted? Open fire with emblematic allied weapons and try to turn the enemy’s weapons against them! If you can, get back to cover and turn off the alarms as the enemy has more available troops than you. Thus, you need to focus on completing the mission, then leaving the area as quickly as you can

Mangaka Review

Mangaka: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics is a creative fast-paced card game in which players draw comic stories over four rounds combining Themes & an ever-growing number of Trends.

Players start by drawing three Theme Cards (such as “Kaiju/Giant Monsters”, “Robots and Androids,” or “Desire to be a Parent”) to determine the subject matter of their comic. (These three Themes stick with the player throughout the game. Many but not all of the Themes have a manga/anime/Japanese flavor.) Then each player chooses a title and “pen name.”

Board Game Quest:

Onirim iOS Review

In Onirim, players are “Dreamwalkers” in a labyrinth. In order to escape, they must discover “oneiric” doors. There are 4 colors of doors and 2 of each color. As players play consecutive cards of the appropriate color and symbol, they unlock the doors. If a player manages to unlock all 8 doors, they win the game.

For a full reading of the rules to understand how complex the card manipulation can get, check out the rules on Z-Man Games’ website.

Twenty One Review

In Twenty One, players will roll six different colored dice and, depending on the result, write scores onto their sheet. Each sheet contains 6 rows and each player can only write a number the top-most incomplete row.

3 to 4 Headed Monster Review

Players represent different heads of a monster rampaging through a city who must decide to be peaceful or dangerous. Through the course of the game, either the peaceful role player will win subtly or the dangerous players will win by deducing which player is peaceful. As players choose who will control the legs of the monster, they’re also determining the outcome of the game in a way similar to how The Resistance is played.

Neuroshima Hex: Mephisto Review

Neuroshima Hex: Mephisto comes in the standard Neuroshima Hex small-sized expansion box that you’ll immediately toss out once you open it. Like all Neuroshima Hex expansions, the main attraction here is the new army tiles.

iSlaytheDragon:

Veggie Garden Review

Veggie Garden is a game about growing, well, a vegetable garden. Duh. The idea here, though, is that this is a community garden and while you’re trying to make it flourish for everyone, you want to have the richest personal harvest.

Barcelona: The Rose of Fire Review

As the decision maker in an influential family, it is your goal to grow your wealth by constructing buildings while balancing the social unrest of the new immigrant population. The game is divided into five phases in which players take turns playing action cards and constructing buildings. There are three scoring periods in the game in which players will gain victory based on the type of buildings they’ve constructed. Whoever can collect the most points by game’s end is the victor.

Dragoon Review

In Dragoon, you take on the role of a dragon forced to deal with the arrival of humans. You’ll need to burn their cities to the ground, or at least subjugate them and take their gold. The first dragony player to reach 50 gold wins the game.

Drive Thru Review:

Path of Light and Shadow Preview

This was video was a paid sponsorship courtesy of Indie Boards & Cards and Drive Thru Review.

Watson & Holmes Review

Intro (00:00); game overview (01:40); final thoughts and review (09:55)

Polyhedron Collider:

Steam Works Review

Picture the scene: you’re at a large convention at a popular UK site and you see through the crowd a man wearing a metallic owl on his shoulder, together in Victorian getup and an extendable spyglass fixed to the side of his head. On the streets, this kind of behaviour would usually result in a swift recapture followed by a series of injections and perhaps a straightjacket. In the safe and womb-like environment of the UK Games Expo however, it’s worthy of perhaps a gently raised eyebrow before being distracted by another miniatures vendor. Unless you’re me of course, where Steampunk holds a particular fascination ever since I donned the light gem and began a career as a thief in the PC game… er… Thief.

In2thereview:

Gyrating Hamsters Review

Here we have a fantastic card game for 2-4 players, it’s quick and easy to learn, 20 minutes play time and the most fun you’ll have with hamsters legally!

Gyrating Hamsters is bought to you by a team composed of Alex & Rebekah Host and Andrew & Allison Gerbsch, all hailing from Tenessee U.S.A.