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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Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu, is exactly what it sounds like. It’s Pandemic. With Cthulhu. And we are all going to the asylum for it.Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

There isn’t much for me to explain about this game. If you have played Pandemic, you know the basics of this high-stakes, crazy-tough cooperative game.

Pandemic can be a long game. It is very hard to win. The characters in Pandemic: Reign of Terror are very similar to the ones in the original, though, so if you are familiar with the original it is easy to swap over mentally. I played the Reign of Terror version of the medic, who could eradicate all of the disease cubes on a specific space. This is important because every turn you draw cards determining where you add more disease, or, in this case, cultists. When three disease cubes are on a space, and another is placed there, an outbreak happens and it spreads to the adjacent spaces. This spill can, if under proper circumstances, have a ripple effect.

In both versions you are trying to rid the board of the given enemy.

The special cards are a nice addition to the original. You draw relics and can use them against the cultists.

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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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Wait… What? Are You Phrazy?

Are You Phrazy is a fast-paced conversation game. In it, you are racing to get rid of all of your cards by interrupting people. You can interrupt if you have the same card as the last one played or if you are the person clockwise of the previous player.Are You Phrazy?

It is hilarious because everyone reads their card off as they play it, and the conversation is so random it makes no sense. “Hello, how are you?” “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” “Hubba, hubba!” “I know you are, but what am I?” “Can the chatter!”

If you do not like fast-paced games, do not play this. It is very fast moving, as well as strategic. Finding the cards in your hand can be a challenge, choosing when to play a “stop” card is strategy that has to be carefully done, and you have to do it all before someone else.

On the other hand, fast-paced makes it good for points when you may need to leave anytime, like when you are waiting for a ride to pick you up.

 

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Garden Gnomis

Gnomi is a cute game about compost, gnomes and mushrooms. As we all know mushrooms have a high magical content when dealing with fairies and gnomes. Or, if you didn’t know, now you do (“What can I say except you’re welcome…”). Gnomi is kind of like Spy in the fact that the cards always remain in your hand.Gnomi

You have two types of cards: gnomes and mushrooms. You start with four mushrooms and three gnomes. Mushrooms can be used as follows: use one mushroom to ask for one mushroom of that color or use two mushrooms to get any mushroom regardless of color. “Using” a mushroom means you flip it upside down, which is called “composting”.

The gnomes have special abilities that allow them to steal mushrooms, grow mushrooms from the compost (flip the mushroom back to usable), and wake other gnomes. “Waking” a gnome happens because when you use the gnome, it gets flipped over to say that it is “asleep” and not usable.

The game ends when only one person has good mushrooms or awake gnomes left.

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Time to go Gold Digging!

Gold Digger is an Out of the Box game in which you are prospectors (sort of). There are 6 mines, up to three of which you may own later in the game. You put gold (and fool’s gold) in the mines and place people there to mine it.Gold Digger

This game is pretty simple to get the hang of, making it ideal for time constraints. This also adds to making it so fun.

Unfortunately, the company is closed. This makes it a little harder to buy. I’m sure you can still find it around, if you look, though.

The puns are awful! I love this. For instance, one of the Explorers is “Sackapotatoes”. This is a play on Sacajawea. It’s quite amusing.

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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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Come make a country!

NationStates is an online game where you make and govern your own country. You can join regions, role-play and form your country through Issues. Your answers will alter the statistics on your nation.NationStates

I think this game is  creative and fun, as it makes a way to role-play while creating a nation that can represent what you believe, what a friend believes, or just something that comes into your mind!

It is not a fast-paced game. Role-plays and other social interactions can only take place when people are online, so it spans over quite a while. Issues have a timer for how often a new one comes in, so if you aren’t in any role-plays and you’ve just finished all your issues there isn’t much left to do.

I do like the statistics, though. You can see percentages for government expenditure, how most people die and the ownership of the industry. You can click on other peoples’ home pages and hit “Challenge”, where it compares random statistics with theirs to see who has a higher number on it. This is where having low numbers isn’t always good. For instance, I have a rubbish low crime rate, which is actually quite good, but it means I almost always lose if the selected statistic is crime.

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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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Batman- the Dice Game!

Batman Dice is similar to Zombie Dice. The biggest difference is that in Batman Dice, you have a special character. That character is a Batman villain. They each have a super power, like Catwoman, who gets two points instead of one with blue cash.Batman Dice Game

There are three die rolls: Cash, Bat Signal, and the Doorbell. The Cash is like the brains in Zombie Dice, you want it. The Bat Signal is the shotguns, if you get three then all the cash you collected goes away. The Doorbell is like the footsteps, you just re-roll them.

I like the portability of this game. It is small, confined, and very fun. It comes in a round container that you also use as a dice cup. Just like Zombie Dice and Dino Hunt Dice, it uses the three normal symbols, granting that Zombie Dice also has a Christmas edition with some tweaks.

It is easier to pack for close spaces than to play in them. The dice make it hard to play without a given surface and a very controlled roll. I would not take this on an airplane, as there would be too much risk of losing the dice.

I also enjoy that they put in characters. This creates some diversity, which is a good contrast to Zombie Dice, where there are no special tweaks per player.

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