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Divinus Board Game Review - Lucky Duck Games

Demigods eh? You think every thing is going well and life is nice and quiet, then all of a sudden you're reminded that you've actually got to go and prove yourself and show how powerful you are in order to ascend to some kind of Pantheon type thing. Well, in Divinus you need to. Now, I don't want you to cringe when I mention this game, but Divinus from Lucky Duck Games seems to have crawled from the same evolutionary pool as Charterstone. Now that might be enough to have some of you wince slightly but hang fire. I'm very aware that not everyone had the best time from that game and time has seen it as more an experiment in gameplay than a direction to forge ahead with. What if I said that Divinus also seems to have inherited its mother's love of Carcassonne. Does that make you feel any better? I hope so. I really do.  Divinus is another entry in the application based games that Lucky Duck Games are quietly and regularly producing from their studios. They seem to have

Race For The Title Kickstarter Preview - Webstar Games

In the videogame world there are games that are seen as system sellers. Games which have such a huge fanbase that the mere fact of them appearing on that gaming platform creates one of the reasons for owning that system. Fans will play that game religiously and very rarely touch another game in the lifetime of that gaming machine. One of the biggest system sellers is the FIFA series of games. With yearly iterations and small changes made to how the game plays, it sells copies in the millions due to the huge football fanbase in the UK and Europe. It has always come as a surprise to me that football (or soccer if your an American who thinks a foot based sport comes with padding and helmets and ridiculous scoring), has never really appeared much as a genre with the tabletop space. I'm aware of the Blood, Guild and Dreadballs of this world, but they seem to be all riffing from the US running and tackling model. You would think that the hectic game of ninety minutes would be an easy sho

Wizard Miners Kickstarter Preview - Petro Gaming Group

I've always insisted that the most difficult thing about starting anything is actually just getting on and doing it and then accepting that your first attempt at anything is going to be pretty terrible. Take the beginning of this review. I've done everything tonight from watch crap telly to take the dog out in the garden for an emergency pee. I've boiled the kettle some umpteen times and threatened to make myself a coffee countless times which I abandoned when it became far too late. I've written and rewritten some kind of clever arsed intro in the hope that you get dragged into reading to the end and consider finding out more about Wizard Miners. However, now we're here and I think we're almost at the end of the first paragraph and you're still wondering how the hell we can even begin to link this in to talk about the game.  It's not a good start and I'm hoping you accept it. I'm hoping you can see past the shaky paragraph structure and word cou

Super Truffle Pigs- Games By Bicycle - Kickstarter Board Game Preview

I have an expectation that as someone who can play board games with my kids. If I play things right then I'm pretty much future proofing my chance to guarantee I'm always going to have someone who will sit with me at the table and play all of the games. I'm not expecting to jump into a Turczi rules fest as soon as they get to the age of eight, but it would be nice to know that I'm not just waiting for that next game night to get something meatier to the table. The truth of the matter is that mass market board games often treat our children like they are idiots that only know how to roll dice and move pieces. The actual reality being that kids grow out of board games because they struggle to be challenging, and therefore struggle with the balance of fun confusing simplicity as a good direction to follow.  It doesn't have to be this way. The Dark Imp have proved time and time again to me that kids games can be brain burners, like Doughnut Dash with it's programmin

Amass - The Battle for Resources on Planet XS - Board Game Kickstarter Preview

This is the pre-production version, so the art, rules and mechanics may be subject to change over the next couple of months. Therefore please treat this as a first thoughts piece, based on version of the game that we were provided with. We have not been paid for the preview. We also do not provide a full play by play explanation of the game, so not all mechanics may be mentioned in the preview. I can't think of anything worse than putting your creation out there to an audience in order to ask for money to get the project made, only to have it miss the mark. It must put you into a position where you start to wonder whether you actually don't have something of worth and fun to offer people. Though with Kickstarter it seems to be more about the sizzle and less about the sausage. I've played some mediocre extremely well funded projects in my time. So to me, first time Kickstarter success demonstrates that you're excellent at marketing and audience building, and not necessa

Dice of Dragons Kickstarter Preview - Thing12 Games

This is the pre-production version of Dice of Dragons, so the art, rules and mechanics may be subject to change over the next couple of months. Therefore please treat this as a first thoughts piece, based on version of the game that we were provided with. We have not been paid for the preview. We also do not provide a full play by play explanation of the game, so not all mechanics may be mentioned in the preview. I have a confession to make.  As much as I would be the first to roll my eyes and raise my eyebrows at the thought of playing dice game where chance is the main staple of the game. I must admit that through the last ten years or so, I do like playing them. Give me some Destiny and Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn over Magic every single time. Dice Forge delighted me, Steampunk Rally is a blast. Coraquest and Cubitos produced wild moments and cheers when things rolled the right way. Did I mention King of Tokyo and those chunkiest of chunks clattering across a table? I'm slow

Eternal Palace - Alley Cat Games - Tabletop Simulator Kickstarter Preview - First Impressions

We played this version of the game using Tabletop Simulator on Steam, so the art, rules and mechanics may possibly be subject to change. Therefore please treat this as a first thoughts piece, based on version of the game that we played with. We played the session with a representative from Alley Cat Games. We have not been paid for the preview. We also do not provide a full play by play explanation of the game, so not all mechanics may be mentioned in the Preview. Eternal Palace is coming to Kickstarter on the 8th March. The main board of a tabletop game can be the ultimate in smoke and mirrors. It can completely trick you into thinking you're about to step into something extremely complicated. Or it gives you the impression, like the almost coaster sized board for King of Tokyo, that you're only going to need minimum brain power in order to tackle the rolling of dice and kicking of monster butt. In the case when you're looking at a game online, where the board sits out in

Merchants of Infinity - Rogue Artist Creations Ltd - Kickstarter Preview

This is the pre-production version of Merchants of Infinity, so the art, rules and mechanics may be subject to change over the next couple of months. Therefore please treat this as a first thoughts piece, based on version of the game that we were provided with. We have not been paid for the preview. We also do not provide a full play by play explanation of the game, so not all mechanics may be mentioned in the preview. Of all the genres of games that are available, worker placement remains one of my favourites. Whether it be growing the vine in Viticulture, creating Jurassic chaos in Dinogenics or even completing quests in Waterdeep, placing meeples for actions has always scratched that tactical itch for me. I like the pace it creates, I also like that you can plan ahead and have those blessed moments where three turns of planning comes together like a dream and you're knocking points and opponents out of the park and into victory. Andrew Prowse is attempting to draw you into the d

Ravage: Swamps of Delgor Kickstarter Preview

This is the pre-production version of the Ravage: Swamps of Delgor, so the art, rules and mechanics may be subject to change over the next couple of months. We were provided a couple of scenarios of the game. Therefore please treat this as a first thoughts piece, based on version of the game that we were provided with. We have not been paid for the preview. We also do not provide a full play by play explanation of the game due to possible spoilers. Did you and your band of ne'er do wells survive the Dungeons of Plunder? Well, soon you'll be able to enter the Swamps of Delgor with your band of misfits and see how many faces you can bash in to liberate them of their teef (which acts as the in-game currency) and scoop up any treasure in the process. Now while I have played Dungeons of Plunder, it was several years ago and age does not come alone so I only recall the bare bones of the game. I treated this preview/prototype copy of the game as a new experience and did not look

Samurai Brothers Kickstarter Preview - Moon Rock Games

This is the pre-production version of Samurai Brothers, so the art, rules and mechanics may change over the next couple of months. Therefore please treat this as a first thoughts piece, based on version of the game that we were provided with. We have not been paid for the preview. We also do not provide a full play by play explanation of the game. So you want to be a Shogun do you? Well one doesn't simply walk into the kingdom, pick up a couple of heirlooms, use some ninjas and defeat the opposing Samurai. It takes a lot longer, and you'll have to pay your dues, and that will be in the form of hearts and steel, and the limbs and bodies of your ninjas and your enemies. If you get lucky, the temple guards might also fall to your might, and then you can claim the title and stand unopposed serving the empire. Samurai Brothers is a mixture of Tableau building and Take That, smart and fast and clever and trying to grab your attention from the plethora of other card carrying games out

Geode Board Game Kickstarter Preview - District 31

Of course, choice is something that is closely controlled. In many cases, you're faced with the illusion of choice, governed by external forces, whether that be self imposed or pushed on you by another party, or even the Brownian motion of society itself. You could make the choice of walking out of your job, pouring your water bottle into the middle of the floor and marching out, head held high, sneering at anyone who cares to look at your performance. Though you are more likely to spend the evenings instead scowling and checking recruitment sites, because walking out isn't viable, because of bills and references and what's actually acceptable, and when it comes down to it, it's simply not a choice that is on the table.  Choice can be fun when you limit the choices, and it manifests itself in the form of triumph as previous choices line up and lead to victory, or as analysis paralysis, when a simple choice is not an easy choice to make. Geode from District 31 is

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