Within the realm of board gaming enthusiasts, Animal Upon Animal is highly regarded as one of the best children’s games on the market. This game still eludes me, though I did get a chance to play its mini version. Animal Upon Animal: Small and Yet Great! features tiny wooden animals in a tiny box. Besides its small footprint, this one shrinks the player count, as only two players can enjoy this game instead of three or four like the original. I can’t really provide an opinion on how the two compare, but I can tell you about how much I enjoyed this animal stacking game.
Street Fighter V Ibuki (Aozaki_Kyo) vs. Rashid (jettFTW)
Aozaki_Kyo immediately caught my eye with his ridiculously high ranking. Then he caught me with a beatdown using an Ibuki that’s less than a week old. Turns out, he’s also known as KusanagiMX, who placed 3rd at Japonawa X only behind Julio Fuentes and Chris Tatarian.
After the initial shock, I would settle down and give him a better fight. However, who knows how scary he could be if he keeps practicing this character. Maybe we’ll cross paths again!
Highlights
Ibuki empties the kunai clip on me in a sweet combo
I keep him locked in the corner until eventually breaking his defenses
Pokemon Go and the Use of Tracking Apps Like Pokevision
During my first few days of playing Pokemon Go, and impressive bird-like shadow appeared in my Nearby section. Wanting to strike before it disappeared, I rushed out of my home, trying my best to catch it. Unfortunately, I never actually encountered it. Using the old Nearby system, I wandered in circles with no meaningful way of tracking my progress. As it turned out, the game was actually glitched during that time where the steps weren’t decreasing in count as you got closer. I’ve done many embarrassing things in my day, but aimlessly walking around a kids playground as parents curiously watched me was up there.
After this incident, I started using Pokevision. Unlike the Nearby system or the crowdsourced solutions that were popular early on, Pokevision taps directly into the game’s API to show the exact locations of nearby pokemon, as well as how long they’ll be there. Whether you view it as cheating or as a valuable tool for catching them all, it’s certainly a game-changer.
Council of Verona Review
Council of Verona is a card game set in the Romeo and Juliet universe. Featuring the legendary star-crossed lovers as well as their supporting cast, this is a card game revolving around your actions as citizens in Verona trying to influence the events between the Montague and Capulet families. This may not be the most obvious focus for a Romeo and Juliet game, but does that make for a game that could catch you by surprise? Continue reading
Street Fighter V F.A.N.G (skisonic) vs. Rashid (jettFTW)
Best known for his work as a fighting game commentator and as a top 8 Evo finalist in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, I just so happened to run into Skisonic in Street Fighter V ranked matches. Check out how I fared against this prevalent fighting game personality!
Playing Pokemon Go at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in Toronto
Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in Toronto shuttles 25,000 people per day to-and-from Toronto Island. Over the past few weeks, it’s also been the hottest place for Pokemon Go players to congregate and catch them all. What makes it so appealing is that there are four overlapping PokeStops that are constantly equipped with lures. Furthermore, its geographic location by the water makes it a prime spot for land and water-based pokemon.
The ferry terminal has been so hot that it’s appeared on the local news. Unfortunately, the news isn’t all good. Due to the increased traffic and players getting in the way of people that actually need to use the ferry, the city has asked for the PokeStops to be moved or removed entirely. Before Niantic shuts this down, Steff and I made the pilgrimage to Toronto’s pokemon Valhalla.
Countering Throw Mashers in Street Fighter V
Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed an alarming trend in the online Street Fighter V metagame. As soon as one’s opponent gets close, they mash the input for throw. By doing so, they tech an opponent’s throw attempt, throw an opponent whose blocking, or throw an opponent who tries to attack with a slower move.
As simplistic, flawed and as scrubby as this tactic is, tons of players online are using it to great success. Now that I’m playing in platinum league, I see many highly-ranked players online mashing throw every time they sense an up close and personal threat.
I want to see the community grow beyond this stupid gimmick. I’ve been doing my part to blow people up with counters when I see it, but it’s also worth spreading the word on how to counter a throw masher in Street Fighter V.
Tips for Rashid Players in Street Fighter V
Rashid is my go-to character in Street Fighter V. While he has a bad reputation among the general player base for his sub-par damage output, he’s a ton of fun to use and a deadly combatant in the right hands. If you’re looking to take a ride on the turbulent winds, maybe these tips will help improve your flight!
Board Game Night Playlist: Board Games Inspired By Video Games
Video games owe a lot of its success to board games. Dungeons & Dragons alone has had elements of its gameplay cribbed by countless video games, such as the concepts of quests, health points, item usage, combat and more. If you dig far enough into the history of video games, you can probably find a theme or gameplay concept rooted in a board game. Video games have also innovated within its own space. From Super Mario to Call of Duty, there are a ton of unique experiences that have their roots in this digital medium.
Nowadays, you’ll see those video game specific concepts appear in board games. Whether they’re board games based on video game properties or digital gameplay mechanics that have gone analog, they feed off one one-another to push each other forward.
In this edition of the Board Game Night Playlist, we embark on an adventure that marries the best of both worlds. This list should be particularly interesting for video game fans looking for a smooth transition into the analog side of things. Time to press start on this playlist!
Board Game Geek’s Top 100 Rankings and it’s Impact on My Purchases
Whether its reviews from the major sites like IGN or Gamespot, or aggregate sites like GameRankings or Metacritic, there are a lot of different places you can go to find a ranking of the best video games. With so many different options to view, there isn’t really any consensus as to which list is the definitive list.
Board games are certainly different in this regard. There’s only one list that matters, and it’s the list on Board Game Geek. Ranked based on a countless number of user reviews, this is as close to a definitive list of the best board games as there is on the internet. The movers and shakers on the list are hotly debated, especially since Pandemic Legacy ousted the 5-year champ Twilight Struggle from the #1 spot at the beginning of this year. How does having this centralized ranking system impact my purchase decisions?
In Third Person 