<div>Fishing Designed by Friedemann Friese and published by 2F Spiele in 2024 Played four times during development and eight times in published form on a review copy provided by 2F Spiele. The Game Seemingly since cards were invented, there have … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/20/review-fishing/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div>Rapture (Masters of Crime) Designers: Lukas Setzke, Martin Student and Verena Wiechens Publisher: Kosmos Players: 1-6 Age: 16+ Time: 2-4 hours Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Z4T3SV Incognito is a cooperative deductive murder mystery game where players must solve puzzles, follow clues … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/20/dale-yu-review-of-rapture-masters-of-crime-spoiler-free-essen-spiel-2024/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
After releasing a pair of flip-and-roll-and-write games in 2024 — Cascadia: Rolling Rivers and Cascadia: Rolling Hills — Flynn has got together with designer Fertessa Allyse to create Cascadia Junior, a game for 2-4 players, aged 6 and up:. In Cascadia Junior, players take turns drafting habitat tiles and adding them to their environment! They must try to match the same habitats to grow their habitat corridors and score more points while creating groups of three wildlife icons on connected tiles
<div>The crowdfunding campaign for my first game, First Monday in October, went live this morning. In case any OG readers are interested, it’s available at www.firstmondaygame.com. For those of you that have been around for a while, you may recall … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/19/the-supremes/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div>This is the next in the series of articles highlighting games designed by Opinionated Gamers writers, this time by Larry Levy. Game SummaryThis article represents the “coming out party” for my game Double Exposure. Even though I first created it … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/19/designers-corner-double-exposure/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div><p>we have a group of many strong Friends at this game ad we are used to play almost Every Sunday, with all these expansion together. Very funny and we also know all rules and combo!!! Almost... 😂 <strong>I have Always some questions:</strong></p> <ol> <li><p>Can a dead player be resurrected by a Zombie Kittens IF he died from the Imploding Kitten? If yes, what happens since he doesn't have the Exploding Kitten in front of him?</p> </li> <li><p>Is there a way to play more than 10 ppl? We wanted to try all the 4 expansions (seems they are really many cards) together with Zombie Pack included, always using the RULE -1 Exploding on the Number of players. How many Players can be added on the 4 expansions + Party pack? I could buy another Party Pack of needed, NP.</p> </li> <li><p>I got Streaking and 1 secret Exploding Kitten in my hand: if I die with the 2nd bomb (or by a Barking Kitten or whatever), WHERE do i put the 2nd bomb in my hand? I get out from the game, that's sure I know. But... Should i put the other 1 Exploding Kitten in the deck even if I died?</p> </li> </ol> <p>We are the Exploding Kittens competitive Sunday Players🤣🤣🤣🤡❤️❤️❤️</p> <p>Thanks guys and Sorry for my bad eng!</p></div>
<div>Beasty Bar Down Under Designer: Stefan Kloss, Anna Oppolzer Publisher: Zoch Players: 2-4 Age: 8+ Time: 20 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher In Beasty Bar: Down Under, a flood of new faces floods into the Beasty Bar. … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/19/dale-yu-review-of-beasty-bar-down-under/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div><p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blogger/15868/duncan-molloy">Duncan Molloy</a></p> <div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7186560"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/ywWVqGH03eEOWFaRPtmlAg__small/img/zSIuSMwVuw0ZnLBCow6a71SBeHM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic7186560.png" border="0"></a></div><i>Tired of endlessly shuttling the kids from soccer practice to dance recitals to God-knows-what? Inching your three-ton fortress into tiny parking spaces on the school run because you wanted the kids to be protected, and now they won't even put on their seat belt without a fight? This machine can do so much more. <b>You</b> can do so much more. <b>Don't you ever want to cut loose?</b></i> <br> <br><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/371183/joyride-survival-of-the-fastest"><b><i>Joyride: Survival of the Fastest</i></b></a> is a loud, fast, high-interaction racing game with big open boards, variable track layouts, and the ability to push other cars into a wall. I'm <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/83608/duncan-molloy">Duncan Molloy</a>, founder of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/44217/rebellion-unplugged">Rebellion Unplugged</a>, here with my co-designer <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/148231/pete-ward">Pete Ward</a> to give some insight into how <i>Joyride</i> came to be. <br> <br><b>Gearing Up</b> <br> <br>In 2021, Rebellion Unplugged was growing. We had recently hired Pete Ward as the third member of our team to run Unplugged's marketing, but pandemic-related friction meant we had to delay <i>Sniper Elite</i>'s retail release shortly afterwards. <br> <br>I'd worked with Pete for many years while I was running the board game line at <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/29313/osprey-games">Osprey Games</a>. I knew he had a good brain for games, but more importantly, his games brain worked differently to mine. He had very different influences, interests, and approaches within tabletop games, even as we often loved the same titles. I sought out tactics, optimization puzzles, atmosphere, and emotion, while Pete loved dramatic moments, thematic mechanisms, and games that tell a story, so I decided to look at Pete's availability as an opportunity to develop a title entirely in-house. <br> <br>We both loved racing games, but neither of us had a racing game that we loved. It was a popular genre that seemed to have few standout releases. The decision was made: we were at the races. <br> <br><b>The Starting Line</b> <br> <br>Having decided we wanted to take on racing as a genre, we set out the design goals we wanted to achieve and the racing experiences that served those needs well. <br> <br>We immersed ourselves in the genre, refamiliarizing ourselves with games like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37904/formula-d"><i>Formula D</i></a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38531/powerboats"><i>Powerboats</i></a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2285/dark-future"><i>Dark Future</i></a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/184824/gaslands-post-apocalyptic-vehicular-combat"><i>Gaslands</i></a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/298069/cubitos"><i>Cubitos</i></a>, as well as video games such as <i>Mario Kart</i>, <i>Burnout</i>, <i>Micro Machines Turbo Tournament</i>, <i>POD Gold</i>, and <i>Wreckfest</i>. Pete deep-dived into Formula 1, NASCAR, demolition derbies, and even monster truck racing, while I started thinking about racing more abstractly. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5432/chutes-and-ladders"><i>Snakes and Ladders</i></a> is a race game. <i>Is tag is a race game?</i> <br> <br>Out of all of that, we came up with a few core principles that would guide the design of <i>Joyride</i>: <br><font color="#2121A4"><div class="quote"><div class="quotetitle"><p><b>Joyride Core Principles wrote:</b></p></div><div class="quotebody"><i>1. It had to be fast: fast to learn, fast to play, fast to get to the table. Maybe not tag fast, but there shouldn't be a sense of waiting around. <br>2. High player interaction in a way that genuinely plays out on the board. <br>3. Players should be able to recover, adapt their plans, and get back into the race if they fall behind. <br>4. A sense of momentum, with less focus on raw speed and more on turning and control. In practice this meant more driving lanes – too many crashes in <i>Gran Turismo</i> had taught me that finding your lane is as important as managing your speed. <br>5. As much variety in the races as possible, and ideally customizability, too. <br>6. It should work at two players. <br>7. Make it as sustainable and accessible as possible. <br>8. It had to feel playful. Almost every home has had a Hot Wheel vehicle in it as some point, so we wanted it to be something you played with as much as something you played.</i></div></div></font> <br>That final point was the real kicker. We wanted your car to feel weighty, but a big car means a big track. A straight 15-spaces long, where each space is roughly the size of a toy car, is not going to fit on anyone's table. <br> <br>Design on a system that works with the other points was already well underway, but we were still left with a board that would cover the best part of a medieval banquet table and a game that felt a bit...bland? We were having fun with it, but we weren't getting excited. <br> <br>It was after a weekend spent alternating between playing <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/videogame/234715/wreckfest"><i>Wreckfest</i></a> (a demolition derby style video game) and playing around on the prototype with his collection of converted <i>Gaslands</i> matchbox cars that Pete had an idea: Why not have the cars take up two hexes instead of one? <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8528915"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/EpfNO6FOUcz-DdfwTT2k2Q__small/img/VGeEnUZ7fzRYsn790k2IO67ctZM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8528915.png" border="0"></a></div></center> <br>This single suggestion instantly unlocked the design. Previously we had cars in a single hex, and a collision would push it a space and deal a point of damage. This worked fine, but it wasn't capturing the visceral, metal-on-metal action we were after. <br> <br>With the cars taking up two hexes, suddenly we had options. Sideswipe a car and spin it round. Rear end it, and you'll push it along. Smash headfirst into it – well, that's gonna be a bad time. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8528925"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Cb8bqwTh2rsmCI2CHTYp3w__small/img/tzuZa7IksQulX_6dK3KmSvi8C2c=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8528925.png" border="0"></a></div></center> <br>Crucially the two-space system opened up these new options without hurting any of the mechanisms we had in place for shifting gears, movement, and steering. Like a real front-wheel drive vehicle, your car moves from the front, and the tail follows it everywhere it goes. <br> <br>The game would still have tons of table presence, but it would actually fit on a table. (I pulled average table sizes from both the Ikea website and my furniture-store-owning dad, then tweaked the hex and dashboard sizes to make sure. We spent a <i>lot</i> of time on hex sizes.) <br> <br>"Cars are two hexes long" was the first of two major turning points for what <i>Joyride</i> would become. The second was my realization that <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/130072/pye-parr">Pye Parr</a> <i>really</i> loves cars. <br> <br><b>Trading Paint</b> <br> <br>I'd adored Pye's comic art since I was first introduced to it in <i>2000 AD</i>'s <i>Intestinauts</i>, and he had proven his graphic design strengths with <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/rpgitem/319010/tartarus-gate"><i>Adventure Presents: Tartarus Gate</i></a>, as well as a number of smaller contributions to other projects. <br> <br>I hired Pye to begin concept art and layout work long before we had the systems fully locked, and his designs and playfulness played an enormous role in helping us find the tone of the game, somewhere between the tongue-in-cheek spikiness of the late 1970s/early 1980s <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/26/games-workshop-ltd">Games Workshop</a> and <i>2000 AD</i> and the bright colors of a Saturday morning cartoon. <br> <br>It's fair to say he over-delivered. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8528951"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/2mVsrG3JjVDg2r1kj7COJA__small/img/G5MYzyHCgjaMzyGOUdYzcKEUF3Q=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8528951.jpg" border="0"></a></div></center> <br>Pye pitched the idea to foreground the rear-view mirrors on the dashboards so that we could get a glimpse of the drivers, which massively ramped up the personality of each car. That in turn prompted us to make the cars even more diverse, making the unique abilities as much a part of their drivers' personalities as the vehicles' capabilities. <br><font color="#2121A4"><div class="quote"><div class="quotetitle"><p><b>Pye Parr wrote:</b></p></div><div class="quotebody"><i><i>A brief detour into the path from concept to final design, as viewed through the muscle car (as seen on the box cover and the banner above) and its driver Bad Bob.</i> <br> <br></i><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8510538"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/12KYfp61zN0FBLLuagdKrg__small/img/x_u5-MWJ7hEm8lc24sutc2jmlEA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8510538.png" border="0"></a></div></center> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8510542"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/QqoJg0fJdWXpU45HlbwOxQ__small/img/Rd0TCYkVSnW-Td82L0ge2A29yQw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8510542.jpg" border="0"></a></div></center><center><i>Early character designs</i></center> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8510543"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/M94RNKGi4NN0FOniyl3S1g__small/img/urDU3qn1M9MZjc3bbnaE1mYIqxg=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8510543.png" border="0"></a></div></center> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8510539"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/y4-YPOo0ghoGL5i3aAOG0A__small/img/DRdsvXVVZbR9vpYVjlZ_H9epC7w=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8510539.jpg" border="0"></a></div></center><center><i>Figuring out how to lay out the dashboards</i></center> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8510613"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/p8BSdIeZAQtsUScPSQ9rjA__small/img/3bvBoWhQfPWkSDRLjOdC4MSq9XM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8510613.png" border="0"></a></div></center><center><i>The final art</i></center></div></div></font> <br>Pye also, unprompted, produced pin-up art for each of the initial four cars. "They can fill a bit of space in the rulebook", he told me. This is the type of thing he intended as space filler: <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8528964"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/lT8BXE7BSaqrZjXYFT_Ecg__small/img/hiTF8Hj88GmGCwWUiLpnSJYOmm4=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8528964.jpg" border="0"></a></div></center> <br>The desire to showcase these pieces was a big part of the inspiration to split the rules in two, with the core rules covered in a 16-page, example-filled Racing Rules & Regulations book and a separate Race Guide showcasing Pye's art (and the unique abilities of the cars and items in each set) in all its glory. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8510651"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/0DbHNnzJt2TSPIs1j690Tg__small/img/eQxJV5b7M4Ik69rRdB5WUoEkElc=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8510651.png" border="0"></a></div></center><center><i>A spread from the Race Guide showcasing the Off-Roader and the Junker</i></center> <br>As the game expanded, the act of creating new cars was a pretty equal back and forth of me pitching him abilities and him pitching me fun vehicle concepts, each for the other to design cars around. Having that level of input and enthusiasm from such an incredible talent was a gift I don't take lightly. <br> <br><b>Kicking the Tyres</b> <br> <br><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/5077123"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/XNYzds5V8NLjmbUwNQbFpg__small/img/g7OIZXOGp4wPuGHk9SoK391dnuQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic5077123.png" border="0"></a></div>We'd now hit 2022, and Rebellion Unplugged welcomed <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedeveloper/103648/filip-hartelius">Filip Hartelius</a> onto the team, fresh off the back of him sending <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/354570/undaunted-stalingrad"><i>Undaunted: Stalingrad</i></a> to print. <br> <br>At this point, Pete and I had a game that worked and that met our key design goals. The interaction was there through the collision mechanisms. Our tracks were entirely customizable, and players could recover by taking alternate routes and greater risks. <br> <br>The game was in good shape – we had tracks designed, items for players to pick up as they went round the track, driver abilities that gave cars a unique feel while doubling as a catch-up mechanism – but we had a niggling problem: damage. <br> <br>As you drive around the track in <i>Joyride</i>, you're going to take damage, but we were struggling with making it work in an interesting way. Do you just have a threshold you can hit, after which you're knocked out? Do you draw cards that make your car do something? Nothing was quite working for us. <br> <br>We'd played around with damage that affected your dashboard after accruing a certain amount, and Filip immediately (and correctly) identified that as the fun bit. He proposed we have damage not as something adjacent to hit points, but purely as something applied to the dashboard, covering up the bits you're depending on. You cover a gear, locked dice slot, or item slot with a damage token and lose it for the rest of the race. Importantly, you get to choose where that damage goes, allowing you to decide which options you need to prioritize. <br> <br>This transformed damage from bookkeeping to something that was less frequent but always exciting and that always prompted a quick but engaging decision. We mostly removed damage from hitting other cars (since knocking them off their line is punishing enough) but kept the danger of hitting walls and the fear of explosives: always a threat, never a slog, and if you can't shift up to fourth gear on the final turn because you wanted to keep both item slots undamaged, you've got only yourself to blame. <br> <br>We took the damage revamp as an opportunity to re-evaluate the systems we had added to the game and judge them on a ratio of added fun to added rules-overhead. We'd considered tiled boards, but they added more set-up faff than track flexibility; moveable checkpoints and a few key obstacles do the same thing more cleanly. The initiative track added lots of tension and the opportunity for dramatic tactical swings at the cost of little extra rules – it stays in. <br> <br><b>Tuning the Engine</b> <br> <br>I had enough confidence in <i>Joyride</i> at this point that for the first time since signing <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/268864/undaunted-normandy"><i>Undaunted: Normandy</i></a> I decided to develop multiple games within a system concurrently, allowing us to showcase the flexibility of the system without it coming at the cost of approachability. <br> <br>All the chaos and cheers and tactical flexibility of the core systems have been piled into <i>Joyride: Survival of the Fastest</i>, and we have done our damndest to make that box feel as generous as possible, from team-based variants, four unique cars plus standard abilities that allow for a symmetrical race, and twelve tracks showcasing every player count and skill level. <br> <br>We've distilled that box to the best possible racing experience, but we haven't done away with our other ideas. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/399318/joyride-duel-next-gen">Joyride Duel: Next Gen</a> narrows the focus to a tense tactical experience with a smaller footprint. (This is coming in February 2025 as a standalone two-player release with new cars and maps.) There are more twists in the road for anyone who wants them, from mutant beasts to active volcanos, and we've taken a leaf from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/34846/restoration-games">Restoration Games</a>' <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/56937/game-unmatched"><i>Unmatched</i></a> system by making every car, map, item, and extra addition compatible with everything else. Don't get confused about it, though. <i>Joyride: Survival of the Fastest</i> is the experience we have been working on for years now. Everything else is the fun we had while doing so overflowing in as many directions as possible. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8244594"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/00yYWNtiL4-RkqDmRSao_A__small/img/EPZxUVHGfMbzNKSjo_CFOH-u-GI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8244594.jpg" border="0"></a></div></center> <br><b>Taking It for a Test Drive</b> <br> <br>Developing more than one title concurrently allowed us additional time to give every aspect of <i>Joyride</i> more playtesting and polish. In truth, the heart of the game has changed little since our first public playtests at shows in 2022, but the level of iteration it has had has been immense. <br> <br>The game has had a full accessibility pass from the in-house accessibility team that work across Rebellion's video games, with high-contrast versions of the dashboards and accessibility recommendations throughout the rulebook. Production manager Alysa Thomas and accessibility consultant Cari Watterton both deserve credit for the work they put in here. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8529002"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/SOO95IB2A20QbEsYU_6nRA__small/img/0LvuUV-dRCeTZY3ZSGIDsY6kkzw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8529002.png" border="0"></a></div></center><center><i>The high-contrast version of the hot rod dashboard</i></center> <br>We also refined an awful lot during playtesting, listening to what got players excited...even if it was a bad idea in-game. The strongest example is that many (most) early races featured at least one player who wanted to immediately drive into another player head-on. This meant both cars smashed, dropping to gear zero, taking damage, and significantly impacting their game. It was fun, it was thematic, it was enthusiastically asked about mid-rules explanation on a consistent basis — and it felt <i>awful</i> to be on the receiving end of. <br> <br>We repeatedly tried to tweak the rule to make it more obviously a bad idea (largely ignored) or remove it entirely (unthematic, less enthusiasm). <br> <br>The resistance I was coming up against forced me to reconsider which problem I was trying to solve: player behavior, or game design. The active player's fun was coming at another player's expense. The solution was not to reduce the active player's fun; it was to increase the other player's fun. Once my thinking changed, a simple solution presented itself: consent. <br> <br>When a player is hit head-on by another car, they have a choice: either both cars smash (as originally intended), or they get pushed backwards (in the same manner as if they were hit from behind). Crucially, the active player must commit to their move before knowing which decision the other player will make. The theme remains, the bitterness has been removed, and if anything the tension involved in this type of collision has been ramped up. <br> <br><b>Fun, Then Clever</b> <br> <br>This lead to a final core principle that <i>Joyride</i> has given to me as a designer, rather than the other way around: <br><font color="#2121A4"><div class="quote"><div class="quotetitle"><p><b>Duncan core principles wrote:</b></p></div><div class="quotebody"><i>If someone is having fun, reward it.</i></div></div></font> <br>I love party games as much as I love brain-melting tactical puzzles. I play an awful lot of games in which there is a huge amount of fun, but not much opportunity for players to showcase their tactical smarts. Equally I've enjoyed (and had a hand in creating) no shortage of titles in which the fun to be had from the systems is somewhat gated behind identifying clever plays and executing them. <br> <br>I truly believe <i>Joyride</i> has found a sweet spot, giving players the opportunity to make satisfying crunchy tactical decisions, while remaining big and noisy and approachable and joyful regardless. <i>Joyride</i> is fun and clever, in that order, and I am incredibly proud of that.</div>
<div><p>One person matching solitaire game with 2 rows, 4 cards in each row. Discard all cards leaving matches. Can be very hard to win but is an easy game of matching.</p></div>
<div>Boxtop Pinball: Haunted House Designer: Zach Connelly (+ Alex Cutler) Publisher: Pandasaurus Players: 1-4 Age: 8+ Time: 30 minutes Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/40jr03p Played with review copy provided by publisher Get ready to flick your dice, and roll to victory … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/18/dale-yu-review-of-boxtop-pinball-haunted-house/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
(review copy): I'm a fan of most Colovini designs, and this title from 999 Games hits just right, featuring his hallmark approach of players creating an entangled space in which everyone's actions affect possible outcomes, with your action often creating a cloud of possibilities rather than leading to the direct result you want. Players are weather forecasters, and you aren't concerned about predicting the weather as much as you are about predicting how well you can predict the weather. That one
Each players turn they either have to pick up one card from the top of the face down deck, or one card from the TOP of the discard pile, or one from the opposing players hand (this is picked blind from the opponent who fans the card in their hand). Then the same player has to discard one of their 5 cards in their hand to the top of the discard pile facing up so they are back to 4 cards, this ends their turn. It is now the opponent players turn who picks up a card from the top of the face down de
<div>Dinky Dungeon Designer: Shun Taguchi, Aya Taguchi Publisher: Jelly Jelly Players: 2-4 Age: 10+ Time: 15 minutes Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher You are an adventurer who came to this island under the king’s orders. … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/17/dale-yu-review-of-dinky-dungeon/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div>Taxi Over Designer: Alex Randolph Publisher: playte Players: 2-4 Age: 14+ Time: 15-30 minutes Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/48prPcS Played with review copy provided by publisher Drive your taxi as fast as you can! Each additional roll of the dice makes … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/16/dale-yu-review-of-taxi-over/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div><p>In the card game Cassino, there are many printed rules about building. But I've never seen this one and it led to a heated discussion!</p> <p>Let's say it's my turn, and I begin building in a legal way. On my opponent's turn, he also starts a build. On my next turn, am I allowed to steal his build before I complete my own? The rules I have found only state that I must hold the card to claim my own build. I can't find any rule that specifies <em>when</em> I am required to bring my original build home.</p> <p>So... <strong>is it illegal to capture an opponent's build before claiming my own, and if so where is it stated?</strong></p></div>
<div><p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blogger/17/w-eric-martin">W. Eric Martin</a></p> <div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8431586"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/XKwasleOxcSQ61IMquJ4NQ__small/img/Re_8fKChPmCEsvatc2Jl7e7g8AQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8431586.png" border="0"></a></div>• <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/423816/trickadee"><b><i>Trickadee</i></b></a> is the second title from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/111474/rob-newton">Rob Newton</a> through his <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/51492/coin-flip-games">Coin Flip Games</a> brand, and this 3-5 player trick-taking game due out in mid-2025 challenges you to collect high-scoring flocks. (<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coinflipgamesllc/trickadee?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Kickstarter link</a>) <br> <br>In each round, you start with a hand of cards and with a flock of one card on the table in the role of your "spark bird", the term birders use to refer to the bird that got them birding. <br> <br>To start each trick, the lead player lays down a card in one of the five suits, then everyone else must follow any suit previously played in the trick. The highest trump wins, with non-trump suits being ranked by the number of cards played and tied suits being ranked by their sum. Each player in order claims one card from the trick, assigning that card to an existing flock or a new flock. <br> <br>The lowest-ranked player in a trick earns two sunflower seeds and everyone else but the winner earns one, with sunflower seeds allowing you to use ability cards to move cards between flocks, swap a hand card with a flock card, etc. <br> <br>Once all the cards have been played, you score your flocks. If all cards in a flock are the same suit, species, or rank, or they form a sequence, you earn points per card, and a flock can meet more than one of these qualities. After three rounds, the player with the most points wins. <br> <br>• I missed out on <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/134528/taylor-reiner">Taylor Reiner</a>'s <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gotgotgames/zoo-and-more-card-game-compendium?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">crowdfunding campaign</a> for <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/428538/zoo-and-more"><b><i>Zoo and More</i></b></a>, due out in mid-2025 from his own <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/54864/gotcha-gotcha-games">Gotcha Gotcha Games</a>. Ideally he'll have extra copies to sell down the road...or at least send out a press release when he does a reprint. <br> <br><i>Zoo and More</i> includes Reiner's previously published <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/366458/short-zoot-suit"><b><i>Short Zoot Suit</i></b></a>, a trick-taking game in which you're trying not to be short-suited too often, along with: <br> <br>— <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/423048/hodge-podge-dodgeball"><b><i>Hodge Podge Dodgeball</i></b></a>, co-designed by Reiner and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/149048/daniel-kenel">Daniel Kenel</a>: In teams of two, players cannot play the same suit as others in a trick, and the trick "winner" must bench a card from their hand, make their hand smaller. If you can't play a card because you're out of cards or you must follow, your team loses the round. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8452075"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/NOiBPTQa3A_Qs9epqzdTUg__small/img/oYiSzLmN7XlWXu2YvH5rB6N0MrY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8452075.png" border="0"></a></div></center> <br>— <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/423675/chai-tea-jazz"><b><i>Chai Tea Jazz</i></b></a>, co-designed by Reiner, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/162538/chris-cepil">Chris Cepil</a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/10938/sean-ross-i">Sean Ross</a>: At the start of a round, players can claim a contract that they want to complete (e.g., naming the trump, or making low numbers better than high ones, etc.) or outbid another player's contract. Everyone will end up taking all of the contracts once, then you score points based on how well you do in each contract compared to the other players. <br> <br><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8278919"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/VV_Dzn3UKNtkEVT4G4AQqg__small/img/BlqIYaIAn_FJmpAV8eBRi7xUXd8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8278919.png" border="0"></a></div>— <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/423674/bug-house-millionaire"><b><i>Bug House Millionaire</i></b></a>, designed by Reiner: Teams of two players sit side-by-side, each player participates in a real-time climbing game with the player opposite them. You can play singles, pairs, and suited runs, and when you win a trick, you must give your teammate a card from the completed trick before you lead to the next trick. You can talk all you want, but each game has a chess clock recording each team's time. If you run out of time, you lose; if either teammate sheds all their cards, they win! <br> <br>— <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/428537/through-the-zoo"><b><i>Through the Zoo</i></b></a>, designed by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/164110/mason-sokol">Mason Sokol</a>: In this meta game, each player has their own deck from which they draw thirteen cards, discarding up to thirteen cards in the process, then they play a round of hearts, spades, etc., scoring points based on how they finish compared to others. After four rounds, you've run through your entire deck, and whoever has the most points wins. <br> <br><div style="display:inline;"><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8508896"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/SDyq9ACL-LmDcWNmQpC5Mg__small/img/ZWzOELbE-R40QOEgRzkQ_QdfPFM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8508896.jpg" border="0"></a></div> <div style="display:inline;"><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3030044"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/r3mv23L-ggvawFKN05rK4Q__small/img/TzABHvz3mTfE4Qy9BexZHcmjML8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3030044.jpg" border="0"></a></div>• <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/35026/charlie-bink">Charlie Bink</a>'s <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/431717/verhext"><b><i>Verhext!</i></b></a> from Swiss publisher <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/17159/game-factory">Game Factory</a> seems like a refined version of his self-published trick-taking game <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/200512/pups"><i>Pups</i></a> from 2016. <br> <br>Each round, a player gets seven cards in hand from a deck that contains cards numbered 1-9 in four colors and magic potion cards labeled +1, +2, and +3. Players each predict how many tricks they'll take in the round, with seven choices: 0-3, 1+, 2+, and 3+. This means you can predict you'll take exactly three tricks or at least three tricks, with the former being worth more points than the latter. <br> <br>When you play a card to a trick, you can add magic potions to increase its value...which means you're playing more than one card in a trick, and the round ends when someone has no cards in hand. Winning three of seven tricks might be hard if the round ends sooner than you expected! <br> <br>Complete seven rounds or end the game when one of the prediction piles is empty. <br> <br><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8533039"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/_V8TsPkjatdZCGtNPKIHQw__small/img/_D788yCYSA7aHo2t-R-ZUsit9rM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8533039.jpg" border="0"></a></div>• <i>Trickadee</i> has bird species on cards that fall across multiple ranks, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/432839/tricq-shot"><b><i>TRICQ SHOT</i></b></a> does something similar, with this billiards-themed trick-taking game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/145482/tqin-fang-master-t">T親方</a> (Master T) and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/44268/paixguild">PaixGuild</a> featuring cards with both a letter and a rank: As are 1-5, Bs are 2-6, etc. <br> <br>In a round, each player first secretly "pockets" a card from their hand to indicate whether they're stripes or solids, then the round's lead player announces whether cards are better in ascending or descending order. <br> <br>In a trick, the lead player lays down a card, then the next player must follow with a card of the same letter or rank, if possible. As more cards are played, you can imagine balls ricocheting on the table, with the possibilities for which cards can be played increasing. The round ends when the 8-ball hits the table, then you score 1 point for the cards that match your pocket card and lose 1 point for other cards. When someone has at least 8 points, the game ends. <br> <br><i>TRICQ SHOT</i> debuts at Tokyo Game Market in mid-November 2024. <br> <br><center><div style=""><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8533041"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/I6PD0zcf0esvkZ66RDo-Qw__small/img/kDlovadTw9oHeinmy4ual3PzESQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8533041.jpg" border="0"></a></div></center></div>
<div>Incognito (Masters of Crime) Designers: Lukas Setzke, Martin Student and Verena Wiechens Publisher: Kosmos Players: 1-6 Age: 16+ Time: 2-4 hours Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3O9Bmvq Incognito is a cooperative deductive murder mystery game where players must solve puzzles, follow clues … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/16/dale-yu-review-of-incognito-masters-of-crime-spoiler-free-essen-spiel-2024/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
The government has issued Decree 147/2024 on the management, supply and use of the internet and information on the internet ...
<div>DESIGNER: Uwe Rosenberg, Tido Lorenz PUBLISHER: Capstone Games/Feuerland PLAYERS: 1 -4 AGE: 14 and up TIME: 60 -120 minutes Played with a copy I purchased. It’s time to experience life as a glassmaker in the early 13th century. Take your … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/15/black-forest/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>
<div>Five days. Seventy-five plays. Seventy games that were new to me. Yeah, that’s a lot of games. But thanks to our fearless leader (Dale Yu) and BasementCon, I had a wonderful time playing many of them. (Well, a number of … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/11/15/marks-bundle-of-2024-essen-game-thoughts/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></div>