We're Not Wizards - Tabletop Board Game Reviews

"Yeah, it's good" is the "Yeah they're a nice person" of the board game world. It's the 6/10 of the video game world, the 3 out of 5 stars for movie reviews. It's something that does exactly what it planned to do and nothing more, not being rubbish enough to anger you for wasting your time, but not making you glad you carved out time from your day in order to experience what was on offer. The issue with tabletop is that we expect our tiny entitled minds to be blown away every time we sit down in front of the latest boxed goods sitting on our table, and so when something does something 'good', it is sometimes easy for 'good' to find itself not picked up and played again. The Digital Agency Game from David Storey is a perfect example of a 'good game', where there is a lot to like from the outset. The graphical presentation is clean and crisp, the rules are well laid out and easy to understand, and you'll grasp the

Radiant Offline Battle Arena (ROBA) is a card based version of a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena or MOBA. (I will now revert to acronyms as that's a lot to type repeatedly).  Initial impressions upon opening the box, are that there are a lot of characters to choose from for your team of three heroes, which could be good for longevity, given the amount of combinations possible. Each hero comes with it's own set of cards and all 3 decks are shuffled together to form your skill deck from which you draw your hand each turn. A deity is also selected and the accompanying three Conduit cards are placed on the board with your heroes "defending" these. This reminded me a little of the game play I love in the Legend of the Five Rings LCG. Each player also received a deck of item cards which can be used later in the game, as power is earned by defeating heroes, destroying conduits or from card effects. Power can also be used to level up heroes as the game progresses.

Gnomes & Wizards is a funny beast. A skirmish game where tribes of fools and idiots in pointy hats face off against each other with asymmetrical powers, fighting for shares of power crystals and trying to wipe out each other's tribes over ten rounds in order to score as many points as possible. It's a game about adding on to basic traits and movement using dice rolls and skill cards. It's a game about flipping over the triangular tiles in order to create a sense of urgency. It's very much a game about gathering crystals and charging up your team in the hope of gaining the upper hand when you face each other across the battlefield. At the beginning you'll start off with your leader, and them alone, as you roll dice to help you move about the modular triangular board. Your dice decide your actions and in many ways enhance them, and will also allow you to summon in additional clans that will bring their own special skills that you can take advantage o

The new Kickstarter Campaign can be found on https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ministryofmeeples/theurgy-the-area-control-game-of-monsters-and-miracles There is always a certain level of nervousness when you first dive into a game, especially one where the words 'Kickstarter Preview Copy' are attached. You are literally hoping that you aren't just a tertiary level of play-testing for the designer, and that you don't end up playing the 'benefit of the doubt' card when things don't quite mesh. You don't often get the same experience in a professionally produced game where entire teams of play testers might be used, and there's not a sparing of feelings when it come to criticism. It's not that I want to be overly critical on a creator for their attempts, but at the same time, if you want to be accepted as a professional, then you have to be pushing yourself to being as close as you can to that level. The Ministry of Meeples want you to take the

The original Kingdomino was a huge hit in our household, and is one of those games that gained a coveted position away from my collection of heavier games such as Dinogenics, Root and Scythe, and earned a special place next to Super Rhino Hero Battle and Gonuts For Donuts in the cupboard in the lounge. Kingdomino is one of the games that we'll continually bring to the table when we want something familiar and fun, but it's also been introduced on several occasions when we've been showing friends and relatives games away from the normal familiar assortment, usually to a lot of success. We've not had the pleasure of trying Queendomino to date, but I've heard that its like its sibling, but with strategic additions, and this concerned me as to whether it would be as accessible. Jump forward a year, and we have another player in the Kingdom.. ino.., Coiledspring have taken the plunge and licensed Kingdomino Duel in the UK (United Kingdomino), which is followi

I've always fancied myself as a bit of a property magnate. I rented out my house in Burntisland for a bit, but got fleeced by the last tenant I had and he ended up owing me about £2,000 by the time he was turfed out. That's a pittance compared to the eye-watering sums of money I managed to lose playing Magnate: The First City from Naylor Games. The game sees you take on the role of a budding property developer in Humbleburg. A location where the council have seen fit to get rid of zoning laws and open things up for the budding Donald Trump's of the world (not the current version, but the previous version that kept going bankrupt on bum deals). Before I really knew what I was doing, and with little planning (not entirely down to relaxed zoning laws either) I had bought my first retail unit and was feeling good. The land had come up for sale at a good price so I thought "what the hell" and went for it. What's 300k after all. That would be coming

If Vector Wars demonstrates anything about the nature of Kickstarter, it is that a strong marketing campaign is almost as important as making sure the game itself works. As the platform continues to grow and change, Vector Wars joins the list of games that we might simply never see climb back on the kickstarter bandwagon, due to the huge task that getting the word out involves. Vector Wars has been on Kickstarter previously, and failed to reach its funding goal. So why even bother telling you about it now, when you can't jump on and back it? Well, I'm hoping you're reading this because Eli Mamane has made the bold move of starting to produce the copies through his own source of funding, or it has managed to find a safe port in the arms of a careful and interested publisher. I hoping that you are  reading this  because you've heard about it and you want to find out more. Vector Wars isn't the big game that "should have been", and this is not goin

One of my major bugbears for any game that comes from the Kickstarter platform, is that of one that is simply too over-produced. Bling for bling sake, additional pointless tokens and miniatures that serve no purpose than as an impolite marker as to how much money a campaign made. The creator didn't have the good grace to pull back the reins, and say WHOA, THAT'S ENOUGH. It's like a fear that creeps in, that every part of the funding needs to be used, and unfortunately the original vision can get lost in all that 'extra' nonsense.  I don't mean to be skeptical, because after all, who am I to punch down on someone's success? So I'll say this. I'm impressed by someone who goes into a campaign knowing they have a finish line, a final vision, and they can't make their game any better no matter how much money they gather in over the course of thirty days, especially when they have far exceeded the fundng target. Skulk Hollow from Pencil Fi

The entire structure moves at a slow pace, like an iceberg, but the ice is replaced with glass and concrete pieces. Unlike an iceberg, there is nothing underneath to catch an unexpected ship, except a cardboard tile and beneath that, the warm brown varnish of a dining room table. The finger controlling the move stutters slightly, as if the varnish underneath has an imperfection which is stopping the traversal to the final destination. Some things should be wiped up after dinner.. There is a slight wobble, as one of the asymmetrical pieces is no longer sure if it wants to be part of this tabletop journey. Doubt turns to fear, and the piece commits to leaving in a cascade, taking other pieces in the structure with it. A curse word sits on the lips of the owner of the finger, but the company across the table is likely to take uttered bad words to the person in the next room, and we do not want that happening. We do not want that happening. Even early doors.. Look At It. Megacity

Editors Note: It's unfortunate that this turned into the huge shit show it became. It also wasn't that big of a surprise considering how long it took to get a simple prototype copy to us.  The Sub Terra II campaign finished almost a month ago, and garnered almost £300k in funding, we unfortunately received our copy of the prototype far too late to have the time to give it a decent run through, and to therefore give it our final thoughts. We do however like to make an entrance, and we like the way we write good, and we think you might like to look at our good writing too. So here it is. For those unfamiliar with the campaign, Sub Terra 2 took the mechanics of the original highly successful but troubled Sub Terra cave exploration KickStarter game and has pretty much given it a taste for treasure and high adventure and set it on its way. Inferno's edge is about exploring, and finding keys, and reaching the inner Sanctum to grasp your own slice of fortune and glor