Category: Medium games

Game takes about an hour

Let’s visit Forbidden Island?

Why is it forbidden? Because it holds four treasures, each controlling a different element. What’s to stop me from stealing them? Um… the island sinks itself in the presence of an intruder. Great, huh? No wonder we’re the first to brave Forbidden Island. And the last.Forbidden Island

This is another game from the creator of Pandemic. You can see it in the characters and the Water Rises cards. Like Pandemic, it is a cooperative game.

When my cousin and I played we made it out without much real effort. It could, perhaps, be more challenging.

That said, we played the Novice level. There are options to make it harder and more interesting.

The characters are interesting. I played the Diver, who could move through I flooded or missing space for 1 action. My cousin played the Engineer, who could Shore Up (unflood) 2 adjacent tiles instead of 1 per action.

 

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Devil Cat

Or, you know, Simon’s Cat. Simon’s Cat (the game) is based off of Simon’s Cat (the hilarious videos). These critters seem to have it out for poor Simon. The game is actually a lot like Crazy Eights. You are matching numbers or colors, but instead of drawing when you can’t play a card, you take the “mess”, which is the pile of cards in the center. At the end of each round, when all the cards run out, whoever has the most messes gets a Simon card. Whoever has three Simon cards first loses.Simon's Cat

I love the Simon’s cat pictures and general mechanics. The whole idea is that Simon gets blamed for the messes made by all of the critters.

You don’t have to know the Simon’s Cat storyline to play this either. It can be played just as well without the context, though dialogue is quite amusing with the full context. (“Kitten!” “Yes, it’s a kitten.” “No, as in, its name is Kitten.” “Oh.”)

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It’s Time to Sow!

Alright, I figured since it was the beginning of spring I would celebrate with a game about flowers! Sow is a Mancala-like game where you are trying to collect a certain color of flowers. Failing that, you are trying to collect flowers.Sow

I love the flowers. They are actually kind of comical, since some are red and blue, or yellow and blue, both of which look really odd. There was one with a red center and white petals that I called the “Japan flower”, since it looked like the Japanese flag.

It takes a while to understand, as the rules are very wordy. That, however, can be overlooked – I just had Mom read them. It also complicates Mancala a little with color-coded point values and the Windmill, Watering Can and Groundhog. I would know, since we have played Mancala occasionally in Social Studies.

It is a great strategy game since you are trying to figure out the “favorite color” of the other player. The “favorite color” is the color that determines the point value for each flower to that given player. If the color is in the center, three points, if it is the petals, two points, and if it isn’t present, the flower is still worth one point.

Happy Spring!!!

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Do you have what it takes for Wizard School?

Come find out! Wizard School is a cooperative school-style game where you fight monsters, take tests, skip classes and generally attempt to survive high school. It is quite the challenge and not the game for the faint of heart or easily deterred.Wizard School

I like the level of school and the level of geekiness. I think it connects to the magic, the fandom, and the actual challenges of school. For instance, one of the Tests was “Finding All Your Classes”. Another was “Flying License”. Some of the monsters were “PsyRen” and “Parakeet of Paralysis’, “Its piercing call can shatter your ear drums. It may also wake a beast you didn’t know was right under your feet.” (There is a thought bubble coming from the Parakeet: “Also, I can kill you with my brain.” Go Firefly!)

It does not include counters or markers, which would be useful for showing what you have achieved and what you have yet to complete. It also does not provide a coin, despite the many “Flip-a-coin” cards. It also says “Pass the Wand” for symbolizing the end of your turn and the beginning of another. It had no wand.  (Luckily, we have several wands.)

On the other hand, if you are willing to take the time to play, it is remarkably amusing and great for practicing communication and group strategy.

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Are you going to Ninja Camp?

In Ninja Camp, you are all students, going through the training course and collecting points. Avoid walls and traps while earning points and messing up the other players!Ninja Camp

When you can’t find any legitimate moves to make, you must Pass, at which point you are out of the game. Even though you are out, you leave your pieces on the board, right where you last had them. Now that you are out, these pieces serve as obstacles. Count up how many points you have by counting the point  value on each card in your discard and hand.

It doesn’t matter who is the last one standing. Whoever has the most points wins! They get personal training from the Sensei!

Rating: +1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 mto rating

 

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You Have To Babysit Lil’ Cthulhu!

Lil’ Cthulhu is another Kickstarter game. You are cultists of Cthulhu, and he has given you a challenging task: babysitting his young son, Lil’ Cthulhu. And you thought his Dad was bad!Lil' Cthulhu

You make toys for Lil’ Cthulhu, play Dark Toys to foil with other cultists, and endure many a Tantrum from the Lil’ Brat himself. I enjoy playing this with a plush Cthulhu to play out the Tantrums. One particular time, the title of a Tantrum card referenced “My Father”, as in, Cthulhu. My plush acted this out well:

Lil’ Cthulhu (as acted by my plush) “I’m telling my Daddy!”

Me: “Shut up, Malfoy.”

I have only played against Mom, winning twice out of three times. There are two ways to win: be the last with sanity or make Lil’ Cthulhu’s three current favorite toys (picked at random from the deck of 6).

Rating:+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 mto rating+1 to rating

 

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I’m A Chrononaut!!!

Want to film the Creation of the Universe? Want to go to the future and bring back a cure for cancer (in easy-to-swallow pill form)? Now you can, in Chrononauts!Chrononauts

Everyone has an ID with a timeline containing 3 things that either need to be changed or need to stay true in history. For instance, in 1939, instead of World War 2 initiating, fair-goers could enjoy German cake! You also have a mission involving what artifacts you want, like the Shakespeare’s Last Play. These are how you win. (There’s also the evil giant cockroach that wants the world to explode, which happens if there are 13 unpatched paradoxes).

Rewrite history and collect artifacts to make the world a better place (or, you know, to win)!

Rating:+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 mto rating+1 to rating

English Lesson: The English word “chrononaut” comes from the prefix “chrono”, meaning “time”, like in chronological, and the suffix “naut”, meaning “traveler”, like in astronaut. Thus, “chrononaut” means “time traveler”.

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Gold Ahoy!

Gold Ahoy! is a game my godmother, Marinda, lent us. (Marinda was also mentioned here.) It is really fun and simple, so I’m going to put some role-playing in this post. You have been warned.Gold Ahoy!

Ahoy, Mates! Ye shouldn’t be here! Me hears pirates washed ashore here! Right Boys? Argh!!! Aye, we be thinking ye should leave. Maybe take us with, ay? We don’t much fancy pirates! Hehe.

If ye be staying, let us tell ye our tales of woe. We be shipwrecked here, with only our cutlass and Polly here as company. We be loners in a wide ocean. And we be taking that ship o’ yours, too. What’s that? A contest over the ship? We accept, eh Polly? What it be about?

Oh, finding treasure, eh? That’ll be easy as steering a ship, eh? We be each finding paths to the treasure. Whoever finds the most paths wins, eh? Sounds fun, eh Polly? “Polly want a mango! Polly want a mango!*“ Aye, Polly, a mango be nice.

Aw, ye won by one chest. We just be waitin’ for the next scurvy seadog to come around. They always do, eh Polly? “Polly want a mango! Polly want a mango!” Aye, Polly, we best get back to our ship and sail home. We get a new ship next time.

In other words, I love this game. It’s simple and doesn’t take very long.

Rating:+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 mto rating+1 to rating

* Because Polly doesn’t really want a cracker, aye?

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Rally the Warhamsters!

Rally the Warhamsters! Prepare for the greatest race of all time… in Warhamster Rally! Warhamster Rally is a wonderful game involving strategy, luck, and sabotaging the other players.Warhamster Rally

In it, you choose a Dork Tower character. This is your character for the game. Each character has a special power that can be used once. Each space has an arrow on it. Whichever way it’s pointing is the way the Warhamster wants to go. Thus, at the beginning of the turn, you take your card that you chose last round, align it so the arrow on the card matches the one under your character, then move to where it says to go. Your goal is to get to past the Battle Budgie on the far end, cross the Post, then cross the post on the other side behind the other Battle Budgie.

To make a long story short, you drive a giant Warhamster around the board in a mad attempt to win a pointless race! Well, its not pointless. You know what I mean.

I recommend this for geeks who aren’t afraid to get their Warhamster butts kicked.

Rating:+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 mto rating+1 to rating

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Geek Battle!

Geek Battle is a board game for very intense geeks. In it you have a choice of which character you want to play: Elf wizards, Mutant Robots, Space Heroes, or Brainiac Aliens. It’s really the geeky version of Trivial Pursuit.Geek Battle

Let me give you an example: In normal Trivial Pursuit, the question might be something like, “Who was president during the end of the second World War?”. In Geek Battles, they have questions like, “Weird Al Yankovic won a ‘Best Comedy Recording’ Grammy Award in 1984 for his version of which Michael Jackson song?” (The answer is “Beat it!” which he parodied to “Eat it!”)

In Geek Battle, the questions like the one listed above are used on your normal turn. If you land on a Geek Battle spot, you chose another player to compete with. Then another person reads a card with multiple answers, and both players alternate giving an answer until someone repeats one or says something that isn’t on the answer card. One example of a Geek Battle question is, “Name Monty Python Films.” (The answers are And Now for Something Completely Different, The Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Live at Hollywood Bowl, The Meaning of Life, and Almost the Truth.)

Warning: Not for the faint of heart or short of Geekdom.

Rating:+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 to rating+1 mto rating+1 to rating

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