Category: boardgames

I know, usually I talk about a game that we've played, either one owned by us or a friend, and I've got a few that I want to talk about soon, but today I'm featuring a game I want instead. Mystery Express Designers: Serge Laget, Antoine Bauza Manufacturer: Days of Wonder Year: 2010 Players: 3 - 5 Time: 60 - 90 minutes Ages: 12 and up Seeking a well-deserved break from your latest misadventures, you decide to splurge, treating yourself to the extravagant luxury of the most talked about train of our time - the legendary Orient Express. Most unexpectedly, and rather unfortunately, the holiday turns out to be short-lived. The train has barely left Paris when word spreads that someone has just been murdered, and in the most hideous manner... The rest of the trip - through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and their final destination of Istanbul - is consumed with determining the ...

A couple of new boardgames were under the tree this morning. I'm looking forward to playing them, but in the meantime I thought I'd show you what we got. Colosseum Designers: Markus Lubke, Wolfgang Kramer Manufacturer: Days of Wonder Year: 2007 Players: 3 - 5 Time: 60 - 90 minutes Ages: 10 and up In Colosseum you are a Roman impresario - producing great spectacles in your arena in the hope of attracting the most spectators to your events. You'll earn wealth and glory for each event you run, using it to build ever more ambitious events. Attract the most spectators to one of your events and you'll be granted the title of Grand Impresario, with tales of your extraordinary spectacles acclaimed throughout the empire. Purchase at Amazon or Funagain Games. Forbidden Island Designer: Matt Leacock Manufacturer: Gamewright Year: 2010 Players: 2 - 4 Time: 30 minutes Ages: 10 and up Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to...

The Game of Life Manufacturer: Hasbro Players: 2 to 6 Ages: 8 and up In this classic game of fortune, your goal is to dodge bad luck and make a buck. Along the way, you'll also earn valuable Life Tiles by doing good deeds, helping your community, or just taking a break from the rat race! Retire with the biggest fortune, and you'll win! Each space is a different adventure, so you'll get a whole new Life every time you play. What does Life have in store for you' Take a spin and find out! First of all, our version is not the same one I remember from when I was a kid. There are some changes, like the tiles you collect and don't reveal how much money they're worth until the end. There's a new way of choosing careers and salaries and how those affect the game. The basics are still the same though. It's not a game I...

We played Stone Age last weekend. I talked a little about the game last year. At that time I said that I felt like I was getting an idea on what it took to win. I was wrong. Here's the blurb: The times were hard indeed. Our ancestors worked with their legs and backs straining against wooden plows in the stony earth. Of course, progress did not stop with the wooden plow. People always searched for better tools and more productive plants to make their work more effective. In Stone Age, the players live in this time, just as our ancestors did. They collect wood, break stone and wash their gold from the river. They trade freely, expand their village, and so achieve new levels of civilization. With a balance of luck and planning, the players compete for food in this pre-historic time. Risk and grow as your ancestors did. Only then the victory...

I ran across this quote at Seize Your Turn and had to share it. The Candyland Decree Author Steven Johnson hates the board game Candyland and all board games like it.  I hate them even more than he does. “I realize that games of pure chance have a long history, but that doesn’t make them any less moronic,” he writes.  Here’s how Candyland is played: You pick a card and do what it says.  Repeat. This is early training in agenda following.  Indoctrination in obedience.  We teach our kids that the best way to win is to mindlessly pick cards, follow instructions, and wait for it all to turn out okay. Sheesh.  What a disaster. My decree: If you own a copy, burn it.  Replace it with Cosmic Encounter or chess or a big box filled with wooden blocks.  Please don’t look at school or even board games the same way again.  If they’re teaching your kids or future...

Priests of Ra Designer: Reiner Knizia Manufacturer: Rio Grande Games Artist: Franz Vohwinkel Year: 2009 Players: 2 - 5 Time: 60 minutes Ages: 12 and up A challenging game of Gods, men, and their monuments from Reiner Knizia! The game spans 1500 years of Egyptian history. The priests of Ra seek to extend their power and fame. They do this by directing farmers, warriors, merchants, and scribes. They cause others to build granaries, fortresses, markets, and libraries. And they erect a gigantic pyramid for the glory of the Sun God Ra! The thing that sets this one apart from the games we usually play is it boils down to being an auction game. As a quick overview, each player has three bidding stones with a number on them. The stones are used to bid on groups of tiles that are placed on the auction track. Collecting these tiles are how you earn points. There are people, building, pyramid pieces and plagues.  The...