board game

One Night Ultimate Werewolf Review

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One Night Ultimate WerewolfWerewolf and werewolf-style games have their roots tracing all the way back to the 80s. One by one, villagers are killed until the wolf is executed or until the wolf is the last one standing. Due to the nature of its gameplay, it’s been a go-to game for many when playing with a large or very large group. Heck, there are versions of this game that support dozens of different players at once! Having said that, the common knock on this formula is that completing a game can take a really long time, especially with large player counts.

Enter One Night Ultimate Werewolf. This standalone game takes the core concept and condenses all of the action in one night, which translates into about 10 minutes per game. Does it still deliver the thrills in a much shorter time?

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Munchkin Review

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MunchkinSteve Jackson’s dungeon crawler has been a staple in the tabletop gaming space for over a decade. At this point, you can buy Munchkin pretty much anywhere along with a countless number of expansions, spin-offs, booster packs and accessories. When I got into the designer board and card games a few years ago, this was one of the first games I played. Does Munchkin stand the test of time?

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Board Game Memories of Yesteryear

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Though I may consider board games to be a new endeavour for me, when I really think about it, they entered my life in a meaningful way long before I got tricked into showing up for Dominion night. From the time I was in kindergarten up until grade 6, there were a handful of moments and phases where board games left a positive impression on my life that I somehow forgot.

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No Thanks Review

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No ThanksBased on the name and its nondescript theme, it’s easy to say, “No thanks,” to No Thanks. Once you open up the box, there isn’t much to look at either besides a handful of numbered cards and a baggie filled with plastic tokens. But once you get it going, it delivers an experience far greater than what you’d expect from its pedestrian components.

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Forbidden Desert Review

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Forbidden DesertPandemic made a fantastic first impression on me. Since that fateful first try, the game has become a favourite on board game night while inspiring me to look for more games of that flavour. After weeks of research, I picked up Forbidden Desert. Some may know it as the direct sequel to Forbidden Island, but the immediate connection is the fact that this is the latest game from the designer of Pandemic. While this is another co-operative adventure, does it do enough to step outside of its spiritual successor’s shadow?

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Blokus Review

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At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss Blokus as some sort of board game knock-off of Tetris. In actuality, this blocked-based experience shares virtually no resemblance to the classic puzzler beyond the look of its pieces. Instead, this is actually an awesome strategy game that’s easy to pick up with a ton of depth.

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Fluxx Review

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Fluxx is a game whose presence is ubiquitous. Practically every board game store I’ve been to carries this as well as the game’s many variants and expansions. Since it’s being widely distributed, it must be good, right? It also doesn’t hurt the game’s cause that I’ve generally read favourable things about the game online. On one fateful date night at Snakes and Lattes, we gave this one a shot.

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Legendary: Fantastic 4 Review

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Legendary: Fantastic 4Playing with your favourite Marvel superheroes and villains is clearly Legendary’s big draw. Having said that, the more I play the game, the more I appreciate the characters I don’t know or actively dislike. For instance, I dislike Hawkeye, but I think he’s great to use in the game thanks to his useful abilities.

I used that logic to justify my purchase of the Legendary: Fantastic 4 expansion. I don’t care much for Mr. Fantastic’s side of the Marvel universe, but the cards bring all-new elements to the experience. Are these gameplay benefits enough to overcome my indifference towards the Fantastic 4? More importantly, is this 100-card “small box” expansion worth it when the 350-card”big box” expansions like Dark City provide a much better cost-per-card value?

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Saboteur Review

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SaboteurSaboteur is a game of deception and greed. Everyone plays the role of an elf that’s mining for gold. However, some of your party is looking to get the goods through nefarious means. You know that one or more members of your party aren’t on the up-and-up, but you don’t know who. Or maybe you’re the saboteur that’s looking to thwart everyone’s quest for gold. How far will you go to come out on top?

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Ticket to Ride USA 1910 Expansion Review

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photo 1(5)Over the past few months, Ticket to Ride has almost become a mainstay at Steff and I’s tabletop nights. I think it’s masterfully done, though if I were to knock it for anything, it’s for the fact that the 30 destination tickets wears a bit thin after playing the game a number of times. They also leave certain swaths of the map largely untouched because they don’t directly map to destination tickets.

With 39 new destination cards, The Ticket to Ride USA 1910 Expansion is a direct answer to this dilemma. However, the expansion comes with a total of 181 cards. What the heck are the rest used for?

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