board games

Fan Expo Canada 2017 Recap

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As much as Fan Expo tries its best to provide attendees with wall-to-wall excitement, the likelihood of meeting everyone’s expectations in terms of personal taste is a tough order. This year was a year where that came to light for me. With a list of guests that didn’t appeal all that much, combined with a short shopping list, and I had my concerns that this would be a weak show. While it ended up being not as entertaining for me in years past, I did find enough to keep me entertained for the most part.

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The Great Dinosaur Rush Review

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Paleontologists in the late 1800s made great strides in learning about many of the different dinosaurs that existed in the past. However, their methods for accumulating fossils weren’t always ethical in nature. The Great Dinosaur Rush is a 2-5 player game about that experience, as you’ll dig up bones and discover dinosaurs, even if that means you need to do shady things in order to get the most credit.

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Deception: Murder in Hong Kong Review

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A murder has taken place in Hong Kong. You and your group of investigators have been assigned to the case, but someone on your team is the murderer. Can you pinpoint who in your ranks is the murderer, along with the how they did it and the evidence that proves it was them?

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My Hardware Roadmap For Better Video and Streaming

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When it comes to producing video content, I’ve come a long way from pointing a webcam at my TV. I can output video in 720p HD, live stream, and produce video segments for shows like Board Game Talk. Hope you have enjoyed at least some of my output thus far.

While there’s still much for me to learn in terms of the things I can do to produce a better product that go beyond hardware, I can’t ignore my hardware deficiencies. As I’ve become slightly more proficient at this, I continue to run into the same or new challenges that either slow down my workflow or prevent me from executing on my ideas as originally intended.

Below is a list of things I would like to add to my repertoire someday. It won’t be cheap, and I certainly don’t have the money to add most of these items to my collection any time soon, but if I want to push this video thing as far as I can go, I should have the right tools for the job.

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Pandemic Iberia Review

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Pandemic Iberia is a spin-off of the hit board game that puts players in a point of history far earlier than the present. With this shift in time period comes some changes to core gameplay. In a world without fight, movement around the board is somewhat hindered. In a world where science is far more primitive, you don’t have the means to cure diseases. Is this evolutionary step backwards compelling enough of a twist to get board game players to the table?

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StarFall Review

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Since the days of Galileo, astronomers have been gazing into the night sky, calling dibs on particular planets, comets and star formations among other fascinating elements in space. StarFall is a board game that puts you and your friends behind the telescope as you lay claim to formations in space.

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Karuba Review

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Best known for making quality kid-friendly games such as Animal Upon Animal, Karuba by Haba Games is a step forward for making strategic games for the whole family. In it, players will race their adventurers across an island in hopes of collecting the most treasure. Should you trek through this jungle in search of treasure and glory?

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Santorini Review

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Santorini is a gorgeous game. The main board sits atop a stand that makes it look like its a raised island. Each worker figure is detailed. Most impressive are the building blocks, which form intricate buildings with clearly defined windows and stairs.

But high production values does not a good game make. Is this a game worthy of its beautiful components and somewhat steep price point?

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Box of Rocks Review

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Are you smarter than a box of rocks? The answer may surprise you. Box of Rocks is a trivia game in which players work together to compete against…a box of rocks. How hard could it possibly be?

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The Pursuit of Happiness Review

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I have a soft spot in my heart for The Game of Life. Despite only discovering it in my adult years, I greatly enjoyed the experience of playing through the life of my character. However, as I refined my taste in board games, the faults in the classic game’s design became too difficult to ignore. Sure, the theme continues to be great, but the outcome was almost entirely driven by the luck of the spinner.

The Pursuit of Happiness takes the theme that makes The Game of Life great and places it into a board game with modern worker placement mechanics. Eschewing the dice and most elements of chance, it aims to simulate the human condition with gameplay that is much more strategic in nature. Is this the hobby-grade version of The Game of Life you never knew you wanted?

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