Camel Up is an award-winning board game from Steffen Bogen and Z-Man Games. Though my hype for the physical game has cooled with time, I still think that it’s a novel and entertaining title with the right people at the table. This time, it makes the digital jump on iOS platforms. Well, to be more precise, it crawls to the iOS in a sad and sorry state.
Somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, our minds think of extraterrestrial worlds, space ships and out-of-this-world weapons. Board games are generally a playground for medieval fare, though I’m much more interested in games are grounded in the world of science fiction. Why mess with horses and swords when you can play with the Starship Enterprise and lightsabers? This month, let’s go to infinity and beyond with a sci-fi themed board game night!
As a set-piece for action sequences in the Harry Potter stories, Quidditch as a fictional sport serves its purpose admirably. Taken out of that universe, its one of the most ill-conceived sports of all-time due to the mash-up of two completely unrelated activities and a scoring imbalance so insane that it renders 95% of the action useless in regards to determining the final outcome. Many years after the fact, I still scoff at how the characters in that world would accept Quidditch as is without any sort of scrutiny.
Released in 2000, Quidditch: The Board Game lets you experience this fundamentally-broken sport without the appeal of actually flying on a magical broomstick. If this were a perfect translation, it would still be a bad game based on its flaky foundation. However, this shoddy adaptation actually makes things considerably worse.
Video games have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Can’t say the same for their analog equivalent. After growing out of the likes of Monopoly and Risk, I wrote off tabletop gaming for a long time as a pastime for children and those nerdier than I. Only relatively recently have I seen the err in my ways, thanks to fantastic tabletop games like Dominion and Ticket to Ride.
If you’re like the old me, I don’t blame you for being reluctant, dismissive or even oblivious to the modern board gaming scene. However, you’re missing out on a reemerging form of entertainment that isn’t much of a stretch from the video games you already play.
Codenames is part Guess Who?, part Battleship, and way more awesome than those two games could ever hope to be. Working in teams, players will take turns deciphering their spymaster’s clues in order to correctly identify their fellow spies in the field. Guess wrong and you might identify an enemy spy, or worse yet, an assassin that will immediately end the game, causing your whole team to lose.
Playing as an operative, it’s a blast to try and guess the names based on clues that might be amazing or horrible from your spymaster. Being the spymaster takes the experience to another level, as it really takes some thought to craft one-word clues that apply to multiple names. Besides being a fantastic game in both roles, the game scales well to almost any player count beyond four, so it’s something that everyone at the party can (and will) enjoy. This one is fresh in my brain right now from having played a ton of it recently, but I really believe that this one is fantastic and one that will have staying power. Whatever you need to do to play Codenames, do it!
Check out the full list of Awesome Board Games You Should Play!
In a previous post, I covered the tutorial for Star Wars: Imperial Assault. To summarize, I thought that the core aspects of the game’s mechanics, as portrayed in the tutorial, already made for a thrilling tactical combat experience. Now it’s time to ratchet up the complexity with the Skirmish mode, which is one of the two main ways to play.
Working in the field right now are spies from rival sides, civilians and an assassin. Two opposing spymasters must help their field operatives spot their fellow agents with one-word clues before the other team can do the same. Meanwhile, an assassin is looming in the crowd, ready to prematurely end a mission if he’s outed. This is the challenge that awaits you in Codenames.
Geek Out! by Playroom Entertainment is a party game that gives players a worthwhile use for all of the geeky knowledge they’ve amassed over the years. Whether you’re a fanatic for comic books, fantasy, science fiction or games, this has you covered with a wide swath of challenges that will put you to the test. Are you ready to flex your nerd muscles?
Steff and I were just two of the over 127,000 people converged at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this year for Fan Expo Canada 2015. This year was our fifth consecutive year going and it was a good show. Definitely not my favourite Fan Expo, but one that was certainly worthwhile that kept me entertained throughout. Lots of stories and pictures to share with you, so let’s just get into it!
Years ago, the thought of me playing a game like Star Wars: Imperial Assault was unfathomable. Despite my love for the franchise, I had no interest in playing anything approaching Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer levels of complexity was far too geeky for my taste. It’s taken some time and a lot of practice with simpler games, but I’ve finally made it.
Due to the size and scope of Imperial Assault, don’t expect a full review of this with insights on the campaign any time soon. Instead, I’ll share my thoughts on my limited time with the tutorial.
In Third Person 