We all love our games (I'm pretty sure that's why you're perusing the site), but we sometimes want just a little -more- from them. The base box is nice, but just a touch extra could make it amazing. T
We all love our games (I'm pretty sure that's why you're perusing the site), but we sometimes want just a little -more- from them. The base box is nice, but just a touch extra could make it amazing. Thankfully, that's where Z-Man Games comes in with their mini-expansions. They're just a couple extra cards or pieces that you can add to your games to expand them out. They have new mini-expansions for Cacao, First Class, NMBR 9, Stone Age, and The Voyages of Marco Polo.
From the announcement:
Right on time for the holidays, check out these new mini expansions for some of your favorite games from Z-Man! Get a stocking-sized gift for the gamer in your life or treat yourself with some new content for your collection. With expansions for Cacao, First Class, NMBR 9, Stone Age, and The Voyages of Marco Polo, there’s a little something for everyone.
All of these expansions are dual-language products (English and German) and require their respective base game to enjoy with loved ones this holiday season.
For those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is upon us. Thankfully, with the comforts of modern society, we don't actually have to go out and collect wood to burn, or worry about having en
For those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is upon us. Thankfully, with the comforts of modern society, we don't actually have to go out and collect wood to burn, or worry about having enough food. The Stone Age was a little different, where survival wasn't guaranteed. Stone Age, the worker placer game, recreates that feeling, and Z-Man Games has announced a new 10-year anniversary version.
From the announcement:
Usher in a new era of civilization at the dawn of humanity. Beginning with archaic tools, you must collect wood, stone, and gold to attain higher levels of knowledge and build sturdier structures. Through diligence and insight, you can build the foundation of human civilization and persevere through the high heat of summer and the harsh cold of winter to lead your people to a better life.
Stone Age Anniversary celebrates 10 years of the classic worker placement game and features foil detailing on the box, screenprinted meeple, a double-sided board and new mini expansions for additional content. Pre-order your copy of Stone Age Anniversary through our webstore or your local retailer today!
Persevere Through Winter
For 10 years, thousands of gamers have strategically sent out members of their tribe to collect resources and move their civilization forward. Stone Age has become a favorite worker placement game for many. In Stone Age Anniversary, players will not only be able to play the classic game they know and love, they’ll take their civilization through winter with variants and mini expansions to add more gameplay.
In this Year of New Editions, that includes anniversary editions of games. In this case, Stone Age is celebrating 10 years of placing workers in a prehistoric city. Z-Man Games has announced that they
In this Year of New Editions, that includes anniversary editions of games. In this case, Stone Age is celebrating 10 years of placing workers in a prehistoric city. Z-Man Games has announced that they're taking pre-orders for a new version, with new components, a double-sided map, and rules for playing in the cold of winter. Have a look.
From the website:
At the dawn of civilization, our early ancestors faced a constant battle for survival. Over time, they discovered new tools and techniques to improve their lives and the lives of their descendants. For ten years, fans of Stone Age have taken on the role of a human in this bygone era. Beginning with archaic tools, workers have been carefully sent out to collect wood, stone, and gold to attain higher levels of knowledge, build sturdier structures, and create a solid foundation of human civilization. Working under the bright, warm sun of summer, the tribe has grown and thrived.
Now the winter wind has blown in and the biting cold spreads. A dusting of crisp, white snow covers the ground. The kids marvel at the snow, sliding on the slick surface and throwing snowballs at each other. Winter is not all fun and games though. Wild animals stalk the edge of the camp, waiting for their opportunity. The snow continues to fall and temperatures continue to drop. The tribe must quickly work to gather resources, insulating buildings for warmth and storing food to avoid starvation, in order to survive the long winter.
Stone Age Anniversary edition celebrates ten years of this beloved worker placement game. This limited edition features a beautiful double-sided board, upgraded components, and new options for playing in the bitter cold of winter. Stone Age Anniversary will be $79.99 and release in Q4. Prepare for winter by pre-ordering your copy through our website or your local retailer. Stay tuned to our website for upcoming articles diving into more details about Stone Age Anniversary.
Hey everyone. We've made it around to another weekend. I said I was going to probably be doing some baking. Well, I've got some magic cookie bars cooling right now. I love these things... probably too
Hey everyone. We've made it around to another weekend. I said I was going to probably be doing some baking. Well, I've got some magic cookie bars cooling right now. I love these things... probably too much... *looks at my stomach* ... definitely too much. But issues with my waistline aside, I hope you're having a good weekend so far. I'm sure many of you are out gaming, which is awesome. But if you're stopping by here, I know it's because you want to check out those gaming reviews I know you all so desperately desire.
So, as I sip on a Pineapple Crush and wait for these bars to finish cooling, today we have: The Walking Dead: All Out War, Exit the Game, Legendary: X-Men Expansion, Orleans, Quantum, Race for the Galaxy App, First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet, Serengeti, Stone Age, Maze Racers, Purrrlock Holmes: Furriarty's Trail, Memoarrr!, The Goonies Adventure Card Game, Photosynthesis, Incantris, Hafid's Grand Bazaar, Ascension X: War of Shadows, Fate of the Elder Gods, and The Champion of the Wild.
The Walking Dead: All Out War is a skirmish game that pits your survivors against your opponent’s and you both must deal with hordes of zombies. It can be played as a cooperative or solo board game too.
X-Men is a big box expansion for Marvel Legendary the Deckbuilding Game. It features heroes and villains from the X-Men comics and adds some new mechanics to the Marvel Legendary series.
Orleans is a bag-building and worker placement board game. You must increase your followers to take more actions, get board position and gain more VPs.
Frankly, this section is almost unnecessary for Maze Racers. You can probably figure out what you need to do by looking at the back of the box, which is one reason why Maze Racers works so well. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
A starting block is placed in one agreed upon quadrant of the board, while the goal is placed in another. Say go and each player tries to build a maze as quickly and creatively as possible. The walls are rigid foam with a magnet on the bottom. As everyone should be familiar with what a maze is, teaching the game takes seconds. The only rule is that the maze has to be possible to complete. A spacer stick is included for checking your work.
In Purrrlock Holmes, each player will have a suspect card in front of them that displays the suspect and time of the crime they are trying to solve. You cannot see your own suspect card and must perform investigation actions to solve the crime.
When you investigate, you play one of the 4 suspect cards in your hand. Other players will tell you if it is a lead or a dead end. If the suspect on the card matches your suspect, it is always a lead. Alternately, if the time on the card is within an hour of the time your crime was committed it is also a lead. Everything else is a dead end.
Players are tasked with moving the three potion ingredients necessary to the bubbling cauldron at the center of the circular game board. The issue is that you don’t know which ingredient is in each of the potion bottles at the start of the game. Each turn, players will roll the set action dice to determine what they will do on their turn.
Players may be able to move one of the potion bottles closer to the center, move the Wizard looking to block your path or send bottles back, place a path blocker on one of the six paths, or roll the magic dice.
Being a family weight game, Memoarrr! is about as easy to learn as you might expect. The deck of cards in Memoarrr! is comprised of 25 cards, each card containing one of 5 different backgrounds and one of 5 different characters. The 25 cards are randomly laid out in a face down grid, and the center card is replaced with the scoring cards.
Each player gets to look at 3 cards before the game begins. The first player then randomly flips over a card. The next player clockwise must then flip over a card that matches either the background or the character on the card the first player flipped.
As The Goonies is a family weight game, learning to play is fairly easy. Each player will control one of the famous Goonies characters, each of which has 2 special abilities.
Incantris is a wizard dueling/skirmish game that uses dice to settle the score. Unlike some games of this type, you are not required to build a deck or otherwise create your army/team in order to play. Simply choose your team of three wizards from the pre-made teams and start attacking each other! Each team has their own unique abilities and things they do “best,” so each one plays a little differently.
Merchants enter Hafid’s Grand Bazaar hoping to emerge from their commercial haggling the wealthiest trader. And a grand bazaar indeed it is. With five unique goods each in five different commodity types – from cut gems to goats to ore to carpets to olive oil – it’s a veritable medieval Wal-Mart! You accumulate goods through bidding for caravan loads, negotiating with your competitors and with just a little outright luck. Okay, maybe more than a little.
In Ascension X, like previous games, you can play your entire hand without limitation, buying cards and fighting monsters in any order. Runes are used to buy cards, Strength to fight monsters, and you accrue Honor tokens to score points. A pool of 6 cards in the center of the table contains the monsters you’ll be fighting along with the heroes and constructs you’ll be adding to your deck.
In Fate of the Elder Gods, players take on the ever-maddening role of cults trying to summon ancient evil and herald the fall of mankind! Each cult is in competition to be first to summon their god, but they all must also repel intrepid investigators working to seal off the gate to beyond with Elder signs. Gather arcane artifacts, cast powerful spells, embrace the Dark Gift of your Elder God, and be first to hasten doom…before it’s too late!
It's a board game review cliché to say "if you like this kind of game, you'll like this game". It's a tired and lazy get-out clause for a reviewer, they can thoroughly dislike a game and then issue this kind of statement completely admonishing any form of reviewer responsibility while remaining pretty, positive and ever so cuddly. It is a phrase I detest, but trying to write a review of The Champion of the Wild while avoiding this statement is turning into the literal equivalent of a daytime charge across the minefield.
Let's see if the system decides to eat this one or not. Anyway, it's Saturday, and that means I'm happy. I've been doing various domestic things this morning in order to be ready for when a friend com
Let's see if the system decides to eat this one or not. Anyway, it's Saturday, and that means I'm happy. I've been doing various domestic things this morning in order to be ready for when a friend comes over for some gaming (Guild Ball and Ascension are the most-likely games to be played). The other thing I need to get done this morning is type up this post. Yes, I'm typing this up early and scheduling it to post later. The Magic of the Internet, everyone! Anyway, let's get to it.
Today we have: Stone Age, Wits and Wagers: Vegas, Space Editor, Kingsport Festival, Deadline, Herbaceous, and Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft, Tiny Park, Suburbia: 5 Star Expansion, Windup War, Ethnos, Quartz, Medici, Frogriders, Mini Rails, and Drakkar.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Wits and Wagers Vegas Edition. Vegas has recently successfully kickstarted and ready to make its way to retail. This version of Wits and Wagers is awesome and probably the best so far in many ways. So get your group and make your bets because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas....or at least that is what Bear says!
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Space Editor a brand new game from Tactical Games and will be hitting kickstarter soon (Sept 13th 2017). I definitely recommend looking for this one as over the course of game play you build a beautiful space layout on the table with stars and planets and tactically make decisions on the fly that effect the rest of the game and the cards you have available to you as a player. Fun, simple, good game.
In this video I will teach you how to play including: Setup, components, game rounds, player turns and final scoring. I will also give you my thoughts and opinions on the game, and would love to hear yours.
We are back with another edition of Parental Guidance, where I play games with my parents and they let me know what they thought of my choices. This is all part of my never-ending search for games I can play with people who aren’t part of my usual gaming group. While we’ve always got the old standbys like Ticket to Ride or Catan, eventually you can get tired of playing those. With this article series, I’ll let you know what games I chose and why, and my mother will chime in to let you know how good of a choice it was for non-gamer.
The goal in Tiny Park is to be the first player to complete your amusement park. On their turn, a player rolls the game’s 5 dice, with up to two re-rolls allowed. Once they are finished rolling, they must match the symbols from the dice to available tiles in the market. The bigger the tile, the more symbols will be required to collect it.
Once chosen, the tile is added to that player’s board and the next player takes their turn. The tiles are a polyomino shape, so players must be aware of the space remaining on their board as they begin to run out of room. The game ends once a player has finished their park.
Suburbia 5? adds 50 new building hex tiles to the game and six new ‘boundary’ tiles (like the ones in Suburbia Inc.) These new building tiles represent tourist-friendly attractions to add to your borough. New goals, challenges and bonuses are also there to be added to the game.
To start, you choose one of the six factions to play. Each faction is their own type of toy, you can play as the Dinosoldiers or the Alien Army, for instance. Other than artwork, each faction contains exactly the same units and action cards.
Each player in the land of Ethnos leads tribes of creatures ascending to dominance. To win, players acquire victory points by maintaining control over land areas, having large bands of warriors, and collecting various racial bonus points.
Each card in the game has two features: race and color. Players holding a hand of cards have two choices on their turn: play a set of cards (called a band) or take a card from the display or the deck.
Quartz is a push-your-luck game about dwarves mining gems and sabotaging each other.
Over the course of 5 rounds, you and the other players will dive into the depths of the mine, hoping to find valuable gems instead of worthless and troublesome Obsidian.
Medici: The Card Game is a press your luck set collection game for two to six players. Players are merchants competing to get the most valuable goods on their ships and to be the best trader in five separate commodities. The player with the most florins after three rounds is the winner.
Now we all love a bit of Norse mythology. The Marvel films are testament to that. A good looking chap with a big mallet walloping things around the head seems to make for the good times. And I’m sure he’s handy in a workshop too. Smacking nails into wood with one mighty swing – even less if he uses his hammer.
A big part of the old Norse history is the Vikings – another favourite of games and stories in general. Huge hairy folk raiding and pillaging their way around Scandinavia and eventually making their way over to Blighty to start the Celts on their merry way and give people like me their lineage. Focussing on the raiding and pillaging is the subject the upcoming game Drakkar from Spaceballoon games. Each player acts as the leader of their village and attempts to muster the resources needed to scamper off on a mission to grab as much loot as they can get their oversized hands on.
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