The tension in the stadium is palpable. It’s the end of the game and the score is tied between the scrappy underdogs at bat and the powerhouse squad on defense. If the underdogs can’t score now, their opposition will surely beat them in extra innings. This is the scenario you and one other player will face in Bottom of the 9th. Do you have what it takes to score the winning run or record the final out?
Exploding Kittens blew up last year on Kickstarter (pun intended), raising over $8 million dollars during its campaign. While that mark makes it easily the biggest board gaming Kickstarter campaign of all-time, it’s heavily presumed that the game itself wasn’t the biggest driver of dollars. Instead, the key selling point appears to be the creators of the Oatmeal web comic, who co-created the game and provide its humour. Because of this, it’s unfair to expect Exploding Kittens to be the best board game of all-time based on its Kickstarter money. Instead, let’s judge it on its own merits.
The Fire Emblem Fates series of games puts you at the heart of a conflict between two rival armies. On one side is the medieval-style Nohr army. On the other is the samurai-style Hoshido. If you buy Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright first, you’ll play most of the game from the side of the Hoshido clan.
With Fates essentially being three different Fire Emblem games launching at about the same time, this is easily the most ambitious effort. Based on my time with the Birthright edition, it’s also one of the best.
(Originally posted on splitkick.com. Thank you to the Splitkick crew for editing this!)
Ever since its 2003 international debut, I’ve been enamored with Fire Emblem’s personal approach to the strategy RPG genre. I love how every unit I manage is a fully-realized character with a unique look and story. I greatly enjoy helping these characters grow as warriors and as people by managing their combat movements and relationships. As things progress, I grow so attached that I feel compelled to protect everyone at all costs, which proves difficult in a series where perma-death can strike in a flash.
On one hand, the fear of death adds a critical layer of emotional weight. However, the stress that comes with losing comrades can be too much to bear for some. I’ve sacrificed dozens of hours of playtime across every entry in the series in order to complete a casualty-free run. Regardless of how you feel on the matter, Fire Emblem: Awakening is the first to implement features to appease both crowds.
More Cash ‘N More Guns is the aptly named expansion for Cash ‘N Guns. No one will claim false advertising on this one, as it certainly contains more cash and more guns. Is this expansion just more of the same? Or does it add to the base game in meaningful ways?
Tsuro is one of the latest physical board games to make the jump to mobile. In it, players place tiles on the board to create a path for their piece to move along. Be careful though, as moving off of the board or crashing into another player will eliminate you from the game. While the board game might be a popular one, is it something you should also pick up for your phone?
Penny Press puts players at the head of rival New York newspapers as they battle for the highest circulation for their daily publication. This is done sending reporters out in the field to cover hot stories and publishing the best newspaper you can in a timely manner. While the theme isn’t wholly unique, it is one that’s rarely used and full of potential. Does this game deliver the quality newspaper experience that we didn’t know we wanted?
Languishing in mediocrity for years after her groundbreaking debut, Lara Croft came back with a vengeance in the Tomb Raider reboot. Mixing in elements of exploration with a heavy dose of Uncharted-style cinematic events, that game was one of my favourites from the last generation of consoles. With her new origin story in the books, Rise of the Tomb Raider takes Lara on an all-new adventure. What does she have in store for her next act?
Dinner is served! Hope you like beets! No? Well too bad, you’re not leaving the table until you finish them all.
This is the start of Bad Beets, a card game in which players must get rid of all the beets from their plate before they can leave the dinner table. While you can just sit there and eat them, you can also get rid of your beets in faster, less honourable ways. Will you be the first to clear off your plate?
In Third Person 