Review: Star Realms

Star Realms Review

Players: 2

Publisher: White Wizard Games

Year: 2014

Deckbuilding games are played for quite some time. One of the most popular games in this genre, is Star Realms, released by White Wizard Games. Read the review to understand a bit about why it’s so popular.

Part of the game, the traderow at the top and the personal cards at the bottom.

Star Realms puts you in charge of a small fleet and your goal is to annihilate your opponent. A turn consists of playing your cards and acquire new ships or bases or dealing damage to your opponent. The trick is to scrap unwanted cards, so that the good cards come by frequently.

The space ships generate trade (coins), authority (life), or combat (damage). The bases do the same, but remain in play, while the ships go to the discard pile at the end of the turn. The bases and ships are divided across four factions: the Trade Federation (blue), the Blobs (green), the Star Empire (yellow), or the Machine Cult (red). A turn will consist of playing the cards in your hand, spending the trade on preferred ships and/or bases, and dealing damage to your opponent. The ships or bases that can be bought are laid out in the traderow.

The game is swift and brutal. Sometimes matches can be unbalanced, due to a couple of bad draws or because no suitable ships are in the traderow. Matches can be battles of attrition or curbstomping victories. We have played battles where the victor had 75 authority remaining, while others were won with just one life left. The luck of the draw has a huge influence. However, because it’s so fast, a new game can quickly be played.

What I like about this game is that it has a huge community. There’s even an app where people can play online. The physical game is cheap and portable! Expansions to tweak the game are available for a small price. While they are not mandatory, it’s nice to have the option. Even better is that it can be taught to others easily and so new players are quickly to grasp the game. Also, the game involves a lot of strategy. You need to manage your own deck, keep an eye on the cards in the trade row and make the maximum use of the cards in your hand. The game fits together nicely.

A downside is that the starting set is only playable with two players. Three or four would have been nice, but another set (or another expansion) is necessary for this. However, the game can be played with more people with a few rule modifications. Sleeves for the cards are recommendable. You’ll be doing quite a lot of shuffling and it detracts from the game if cards become marked. The biggest detractor to me personally are the authority cards. There are 18 of them, numbered 20, 10, 5, 1. They are unwieldy and take up a lot of space, which could have been used better in my opinion. However, many solutions are available.

Overall, I like this game a lot, because it’s so quick and easy to learn, while still being complex enough to remain interesting. It’s a small game that remains interesting. Although our deck has gone through a dozen of play already, it will go on to play quite a lot more.

Mechanics review: Dead of night, the Long Winter

Review the Long Night

As I have reviewed Dead of Winter before here, I will not go into depth about the gameplay and the components, which are largely similar. Rather I will discuss a few mechanics and how they change the game. Let’s start minor changes, then the bandits, followed by the Raxxon institution and finally a few thoughts.

There are a few minor tweaks, such as explosive traps and despair, which change the game slightly, but not dramatically. Despair tokens serve as an alternative to physical wounds and symbolize mental injuries, while the explosive traps can take out zombies. Improvements can change the base of the survivors, which can help with morale or managing zombies. Helpless survivors can become unruly, which means they require more food. Starting players can be determined, rather than passing the first player token along. Overall, they are nice and add a set of options or complications to the game. However, the game can also be played without them.

Bandits:

The bad guys. The stands all look the same and now they have their own hide-out. Like the survivors, they search places and take up the limited available spaces, while sometimes they may attack the players or the colony if they want something. Their location can be visited and their supplies stolen at a risk. At least you know what you are getting, so it’s a choice to make. The exiled player can also become the leader of the bandits.

Raxxon:

The Raxxon module allows two things. First of special, horrible, zombies can be released, while at the same time also new powerful weapons or modifications can be acquired. These powerful zombies have their own distinctive themes and attacks, as well as special stories behind them. These beasts are tough to kill as well. The zombies can be contained with dice, but it if you are playing with a just a few players, this can be quite a burden on the group. On the other hand, the rewards that can be gained at Raxxon will turn your timid survivor into familiar heroes from videogames. Special weapons and addition upgrades, such as pills, can be gained there. The trade-off seems fair to me.

So what are my thoughts? Well, the game is nice and it certainly is good to have more options. The improvements and minor tweaks are welcome additions to the game and can easily be implemented. The Raxxon module is my favorite for what it adds to the game. The bandits are an okay addition, but they can just as easily be ignored and make no difference on gameplay. However, that’s just my opinion. Overall, the game can easily be played without the modules, which leaves me in favor of Dead of Winter, which represents the physical struggle and the post-apoc drama that is featured in movies. The Long Night seems to be more of a videogame, such as Resident Evil or Left for Dead, with end-bosses and special powers that you can acquire. Both games are still brutal and great fun. Personally, I’m more in favor of Dead of Winter, due to the realism, but the additions of improvements.

Review: Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter

Players: 2-5

Publisher: Plaid Hat Games

Year: 2014

Series like The Walking Dead and the comics it originated from are hugely popular. After it many more zombie series spawned, and zombies are still hugely popular in videogames and board games. Dead of Winter shares the zombie theme with many other board games, but does it rise to the challenges of so many competing games or will it join the undead masses of forgotten zombie games?

Dead of Winter has a lot going on. You and your fellow players are in charge of a group of survivors and need to complete a certain scenario within a certain amount of time in order to win. Managing the colony is not easy, as you need to prevent it from being overrun, feed your survivors and acquire more supplies. You also fight against zombies and need to keep an eye on your personal objective and the mission. Supplies can be gathered from one of the locations surrounding the colony.

Here’s the catch, there’s a potential traitor in the game. There is the possibility that someone has a potential mission that forces them to attempt to destroy the colony, rather than save it. When personal objectives are assigned, there is the option of including traitor cards, which could be dealt out. However, because not all cards are handed out, you are not sure if there really is a traitor. It adds a nice touch to the game, as you watch other players during their turns, to see what happens and try to discover the potential traitor. 

A unique mechanic in this game is the crossroads mechanism. During your turn, another player draws a card and if the conditions on the card are met, your turn stops and the card is read out. This can be the sudden arrival of a new survivor, the potential to save some extra supplies or a nasty attack by a zombie. These cards really add flavor to the game.

This game really bursts with flavor. Every game you play feels like a story that is unfolding before your eyes. Together with the others, you are participants in season or episode of The Walking Dead. The characters have their own personalities, reinforced by the Crossroad Cards. A particularly interesting one is the drunkard in the Santa Costume. The Crossroads and the traitor add interesting mechanics to the game and it adds much more excitement to each turn.

While this might not entirely be fair judgement, I feel that it should be said. This game has a huge learning curve. After the first trial game, two or three more are needed, before people finally grasp the full potential of the game. That said, when it has been grasped, it can be a very rewarding experience. The dicerolls can also be quite harsh, because you need to roll in several cases. Characters die off quickly, but new ones can be gained through time.

This game packs a lot. It’s great, however, the learning curve is steep and this game is not intended for casual games. If you can find the time to teach it to people and play a few games, you will have a great time.

Review: Lift Off

The box

Lift Off

Players: 2-4

Publisher: Queen Games

Year: 2000

Action games are centered around action during the gameplay. Strategy games are all about the plan that the players have. This German game combines these two aspects. Let’s see how these two elements play out.

Several cards

The gameplay revolves around preparing missions for the colonization of several players. First there is the ‘preparing’ phase and then the ‘settling’ phase. Five in the case of two or four players or six in the case of three players. Players play their cards simultaneously in a certain order. Blue cards must be played first, these are preparations for the mission. Then a yellow lift off card needs to be played, which launches the space ship. Finally, the red cards can be played, which are the results of the preparations. Players draw a card and assign these facedown to one of the five/six planets or discard them by putting them aside and not using them again or placing them at the bottom of their deck. Then they draw a new card and assign this to a certain planet or discard it. This continues until a players deck runs out and everyone quits playing. The game moves on to the second phase, where the missions take off and points can be scored. Planets give various points when they are colonized or mined.

Three player set-up

 Some of the planets that can be contested

Here the order of cards is important, as illegal cards are removed from play. For instance, playing a red card before the yellow lift off card, where only blue cards are allowed, removes that red card. Colonization attempts on planets that have no yellow lift off card are immediately invalid, and thus no points can be scored. Points can be won, either by colonizing a certain planet or by resources from it. Then all cards are shuffled again and a new round is played. The scores carry over and after three rounds, a person with the most points is declared winner.

However, that’s not all, as certain cards allow special abilities. There’s a red card that allows you to steal a blue card from the opponent, while there is also a blue card that specifically prevents beforementioned red card stealing from you.

What I like about this game is that there’s a certain tension. Do you play as fast as possible, denying your opponents the chance to plan out their turn accordingly and have the benefit of forcing them to quit preparing, even though they might have several cards left. Or do you plan properly and accept the risk that you can’t play all your cards? Putting your cards back on the bottom of your deck means they come back later, but do you really want this? Do you focus on all the planets or is there a specific one or two where you need to win? It’s refreshingly complex and plays fast.

The bottom half  of the box sliding into the top part

It’s a bit strange that only two score cards are supplied, while the game can be played with four players. The box also is much bigger than necessary and the bottom half tends to slide into the top part. These are not huge detractions, but they feel a bit weird. Also, there’s a huge benefit if you are the first to have finished your deck. While it’s understandable, it may yield to someone basically throwing their cards down one after another and then hoping they have won.

The verdict? This game is fast and enjoyable. It’s complex and there’s a certain amount of strategy, but it’s not overly complex. It’s a welcome addition to every collection, but not a necessity.

Review: Lost Legacy: The Starship

Lost Legacy: The Starship

Players: 2-4 players
Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group
Year: 2014

Microgames are games that are supposed to be, as their name indicates, small and quick. A famous example is Loveletter, which is ranked highly on BGG. So let’s see how this game plays out.

The cards

Gameplay can be summarized as locating the starship or eliminating all other players before the starship is discovered. While it sounds easy, there is a surprising amount of strategy to this game. The cards are shuffled, everyone is given a card and one card is placed aside to form the ruins. The game is divided into two phases, the playing phase, where people can be eliminated and the investigation phase. In the playing phase cards the active player draws a card and plays one of his two cards. Other players can be eliminated here by placing ambushes other players. Also the starship’s location can be moved with certain cards. If no more cards can be drawn, the investigation phase starts and players can guess where the starship is based upon the order as indicated by the number in the corner of the card that they are holding until either the starship is found or everyone guessed wrong, in which case everyone loses.

The famous starship everyone is looking for.

 What I like about this game, is how complex a game of 16 cards can be. While it may seem simple, as there are not many possibilities, the game still involves a lot of strategy and thinking. There are various choices to be made. Do you lay ambushes for other players, hoping they stumble into it? Do you search for the starship, leaving you open to attacks from other players? The previous tactic might be safer, but if you wait too long, you can’t join the search when the game moves on to the next phase. While I am not a huge fan of player elimination, in this game it’s not a problem as the game is over in less than 5 minutes. The game comes with four player cards as well and a simple rulebook.

There is not much that I don’t like about this game. To put it rather simple, it doesn’t pretend to be anything more than that it is. The game light and quick. Sure, a more challenging game would be nice, but that would deviate from what it sets out to be. Perhaps a minor detraction would be the felt bag that comes with the game. While it’s not bad, it’s an interesting way of storing the game and I must admit that I have lost track of where I kept this game a few times. While there is a certain lore in this game, it could be utilized more. However, again, this could detract from the microgame-principle. Also, the game doesn’t play as well with two players as with three or four people, but that might be because the game is so small.

The extra components

I’d like to point out that this game is the first in a series. These can be mixed and shuffled to create special decks. However, since I haven’t played any of the other games, so I can’t say a lot about it.

So the verdict? The game is enjoyable and an addition to every collection, both due to size and budgetary constraints. While not every group may enjoy this game, it’s a light filler that can easily be whipped out and put away again. However, if you are looking for heavier games, you might want to continue searching.

Critical Component Comparison: Wings of War and Wings of Glory

Critical Component Comparison: Wings of War and Wings of Glory.

The boardgame Wings of War has been out for some time and proven to be extremely popular. After Nexus went out of business, Ares took over and continued to release the game, albeit with a slightly different title and a few minor tweaks. I will not go over the game again, as I have discussed it previously on this blog. So let's dive right in! 

So how does these games compare?

Wings of War: Famous Aces (WOW)

Players: 2 – 4

Publisher: Nexus

Year: 2004

Wings of Glory: Duel Pack (WOG)
Players: 2
Publisher: Ares Games
Year: 2013

I own both Wings of Glory duelpacks, but for the purpose of this review only one is used. 

The biggest difference is that Wings of Glory can only be played with two players, as there are only two planes and two movement decks. So if you want to play with more people, you need to buy more duelpacks. However, in exchange, you get two miniature planes, which were not available with the Wings of War set. 

The planes that come in one of the duelpacks

Let me start off with those, as the planes are an incredible addition to the game, compared to the cards that were used previously. Also the planes are more sturdy and less likely to shift during movement. They really add something to the game, as they are zipping around the battlefield, diving and climbing to attack one another.

The Albatros in WOW and WOG 

The  Spad in WOW and WOG 

That leads me to another comparison, the movement decks. There are only two included of course, but that aside. The WOW set had a much lighter background and a black arrow. The WOG set has a much darker background and a blue arrow. This is where WOW is simply much better than WOG and I don’t really understand why they chose for such a dark color and dark arrow.

The promoplanes

The objectives

Wings of War featured two promocards, the Ufag and the Nieuport 17. With a little bit of tweaking, these could be incorporated as their movement decks are similar to some of the ones in the Famous Aces set. WOG comes with several potential objective cards. These can be used for missions.

The playerboards

The playerboards are different. Wings of War comes with a full player board where all the cards could be placed on and everything can be neatly sorted and placed upon. The WOG set comes with a much flimsier board, where everything needs to be placed in certain brackets. However, during movement it can easily shift or cards can slide under it. It does the job, but less good than the WOW set. As you are moving across the table, this board can easily be moved with it. The WOW set was more compact.

The (damage) tokens are roughly similar and I don’t think it’s necessary to comment much on them. The same goes for the (damage) cards, which have appeared above.

The damage tokes, left WOW, right WOG

Overall, the planes are really an improvement. They really add something extra to the game. However, the movement decks are not as good as they could have been. I can understand some of the decisions that were made. Some elements needed to be cut to keep the cost down or to make one big set with four planes would have made this game tremendously expensive. On the other hand, people that want to play with the four planes now have duplicates of the damage deck, the tokens and various other stuff. Some of these materials can be used, but others cannot. Overall, the WOG set is better, because of the miniatures add so much more to the game, however, if you leave them out of the equation WOW is better. Despite that, as I said before, the planes make this game really shine and I would recommend to go with Wings of Glory over Wings of War (But that’s just my opinion). 

Review: Coup

Coup

Players: 2 – 6

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year: 2012

Revolutions are a common trope in science fiction or fantasy. One of the most famous series at the moment, Game of Thrones, is even centered around revolutions. In this game, you’re in charge of a dynasty and must secure your future in the upheavals of this universe.

The roles in coup

The front of the box

In Coup gameplay is rather simple. Everyone starts with two face-down cards, with one of the five roles, on it. These roles have various possibilities, such as allowing you to attack someone or to block specific attacks. The game features an element of bluffing, because the cards are face down and thus you can claim to have specific role, but it doesn’t have to be true. The bluffing can be called out by challenges. If you claim to have a card, but can’t show it when someone challenges you, you lose one of your two face-down cards and are left with one life. On the other hand, if you are challenged and can show the card, the challenger loses a card. The game ends when there is only one person left.

The game can easily be taught to other people and after a trial round, almost everyone understands it. Since it’s light and simple, it can easily be taken on the go.  The cards are big and sturdy, allowing multiple replays. While a science-fiction theme is present, this can easily be altered to fit another theme. 

Several custom-made sets are available, featuring other science-fiction universes or fantasy themes.

Rear of the box

While the game says that playing with two people is possible, as advertised on the rear of the box, I would personally disagree. The game just doesn’t play the same with two persons. A serious problem as it is advertised for two people. Gameplay is much better with three, four or five players. With six persons, the downtime takes too long. Another minor details is that the cards can’t be sleeved easily, due to their size.

 All ‘n’ all, the game is good. Not the best game ever, but still entertaining. I would recommend this game for people that are looking for an easy game for' a small (3-5) group of people. At smaller or bigger sizes, the gameplay doesn’t live up to the expectations. However, if you are in the sweet spot (3  – 5 players) this game can be great!