tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84334023309270484892024-03-14T02:18:13.825-07:00Random NerderyA UK blog about board games, crafting and other random geeky things, written to share the fun and make more smiles!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-14418778154868717772018-08-28T11:54:00.000-07:002018-08-28T11:54:47.342-07:00Guest Post: Brighten up your tabletop<div style="text-align: left;">
Following on from his <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/05/guest-post-board-game-soundtracks.html" target="_blank">post in May about soundtracking your board games</a>, Piete is back with another guest post to help take your gaming experience up a notch. This time he's targeting those ubiquitous grey miniatures we all have so many of these days, and whether it's lack of time, skill or patience that's holding you back from brightening things up a bit, he has some suggestions to help you out. Enjoy!</div>
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<br />
What I wanted to do was write about how to spruce up your game miniatures in fairly easy steps. A few photos, some nice words around it, and boom. Done.<br />
<br />
As I started this piece, however, it struck me that it might not be obvious why you'd want to do this, and more so, why you should probably at least *think* about doing this and getting half good at it for the next 3 - 5 years.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Of Miniatures and Meeples</h4>
<br />
First, some history about one of my favourite topics: me. As a neat side-effect, some observations about what's going on next.<br />
<br />
When I was growing up (child of the 80s and 90s here!), I was fascinated by the MB/Games Workshop crossover series. For Warhammer it was Hero Quest, and for 40k it was Space Crusade. That formative experience means that to this day, I still get excited by seeing and playing a good looking and well thought out 'miniatures board game'.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjnDet4lbjkc5taDn20Brx_gdskssoNPHQPq4ZN7k940SVzPL0L2auDGwyTgjMHnaZLuwtIaxvo2_tQzfHZro3Kzx8glzyCyl2_5YUkeRavW55Sv1rz10tu1GPBiEH36rGOlhhLGU3OOZ/s1600/01-space+crusade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjnDet4lbjkc5taDn20Brx_gdskssoNPHQPq4ZN7k940SVzPL0L2auDGwyTgjMHnaZLuwtIaxvo2_tQzfHZro3Kzx8glzyCyl2_5YUkeRavW55Sv1rz10tu1GPBiEH36rGOlhhLGU3OOZ/s640/01-space+crusade.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I still have my Space Crusade box to this day!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So over the years my choices have been various war games (Warhammer, Malifaux, Warmachine/Hordes, etc) which were made up of tape measures, unbounded movement and (unpainted) millions of collectable fancy little figures (that may or may not need assembly), or board games (Risk, Pandemic, Carcassonne) which were... well, a fold out board or some tiles, and meeples. Lots of meeples.<br />
<br />
The game could be amazing, but meeples don't excite me in the same way as well painted miniatures.<br />
<br />
Sorry Vicky. [<i>There's just no helping some people...</i> V]<br />
<br />
Fast forward to 2010 and I'd still never really seen anything else quite like those MB/Games Workshop crossovers. I mean yes, I could play a variety of war games, but it was a lot of commitment both in time and money. And yes, games like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22827/starcraft-board-game" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">StarCraft: The Board Game</a> existed, but they didn't start cheap and certainly felt like the exception. So I looked on enviously at all the wargamers with their pretty miniatures without ever really being able to get stuck in myself.<br />
<br />
However, there was another revolution happening in the background that was changing everything: 3D printing. This technology and digital sculpting has reduced the cost of producing interesting sculpts and miniatures, and allowed many more people and companies to get in on the fun. And they have done.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitixAK8WQeBP0nas8CGvFKWWAMf3AciuZGSORgUl0xkigM6VBd1sAeB-aoEhooxi8wMpvJUI_DGtAxIFl4CYxR47bx8QOrROpIuu9HiO1KuFNvB4ObJBt8oHPl2x2quXeGGuK58Iq3kmC5/s1600/02-overwhelming-SDE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitixAK8WQeBP0nas8CGvFKWWAMf3AciuZGSORgUl0xkigM6VBd1sAeB-aoEhooxi8wMpvJUI_DGtAxIFl4CYxR47bx8QOrROpIuu9HiO1KuFNvB4ObJBt8oHPl2x2quXeGGuK58Iq3kmC5/s640/02-overwhelming-SDE.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have rather a lot of SDE, in varying states of paintedness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In 2012 I got some of that MB/GW crossover buzz in the form of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/92190/super-dungeon-explore" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Super Dungeon Explore</a> (Soda Pop). Subsequent games like Cool Mini or Not's <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113924/zombicide" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zombicide</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/104162/descent-journeys-dark-second-edition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Descent</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/146439/battlelore-second-edition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Battle Lore (2nd edition)</a> have proven that I'm not the only person who found this stuff popular and appears to me to have created a whole new range of games with a 'premium' visual appeal with the prior huge price tag.<br />
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While early options from CMON were completely miniature-based, technology has moved on rapidly making it easier and easier to digitally sculpt and print miniatures, either for rapid prototyping or for shipping off to China for mass manufacture. This has allowed other companies to upgrade from meeples to printed parts. Some games like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169786/scythe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scythe</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/174430/gloomhaven" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gloomhaven</a> use miniatures where it matters, and meeples or standees where it doesn't, but others like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/139976/cthulhu-wars" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cthulhu Wars</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/124708/mice-and-mystics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mice and Mystics</a> just replace the meeples wholesale.<br />
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<h4>
Into the future!</h4>
<br />
So the premise here is that we're going to see more and more miniatures on our game tables, whether we want them or not, as the price of producing them steadily falls. Additionally, injection moulding is typically only one colour, and the cheapest colour is usually grey.<br />
<br />
Therefore, more and more of our tabletop time is going to be spent staring at grey, lifeless, figures that have no easily distinguishable parts beyond maybe their base.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw80Bj_509030YrzRcBkisOkLX_v0MUrtU6f4UQ6n9FKs2ug8Wh8gEkyP8pwsXQqO1BgsybozZ05xIgUEDi0ENcJu2rLU1s_hszoMmB2kcG77Y6FIubUj-fBFG93TgxUe417m9iklzz4Jz/s1600/scythe-game-board.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1600" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw80Bj_509030YrzRcBkisOkLX_v0MUrtU6f4UQ6n9FKs2ug8Wh8gEkyP8pwsXQqO1BgsybozZ05xIgUEDi0ENcJu2rLU1s_hszoMmB2kcG77Y6FIubUj-fBFG93TgxUe417m9iklzz4Jz/s640/scythe-game-board.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is entirely possible to injection mould multiple colours (and multiple materials), but that's not going to be cheap or particularly easy to sort out, so since we're going to be stuck with a pile of grey things for the foreseeable future (I guess about 3 - 5 years): how can we make that a bit easier on the eyes?<br />
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While this could have turned into a post about how to actually paint miniatures, there are plenty of those already out there, so this is focused more on how to improve the grey-blobs situation for board games where only some suggestions involve getting a paintbrush out.<br />
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Ultimately we want to do two things:<br />
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1. Improve the aesthetic of the plastic blobs ...<br />
2. Without reducing the practical usability of the miniature.<br />
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This means it should look better, but without losing any colour markings it already has or getting lost on the board or being scary to handle, and so on.<br />
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Let's get started.<br />
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<h4>
0. Failing to plan...</h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnrETGGnf9vpIoWOlpI9kADgcfaWBGWKxM7y3eaSB7-ClFAVgAtuN7jUiizO3x4wqd3YbnZR3lJQT08xEPhdp6y5oaAeIHpeq3f9SWioYFaqmia2wgZWimWyLzBNivSw0G3Sl6SfZyPL5/s1600/04-cleaned-scythe-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1600" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnrETGGnf9vpIoWOlpI9kADgcfaWBGWKxM7y3eaSB7-ClFAVgAtuN7jUiizO3x4wqd3YbnZR3lJQT08xEPhdp6y5oaAeIHpeq3f9SWioYFaqmia2wgZWimWyLzBNivSw0G3Sl6SfZyPL5/s640/04-cleaned-scythe-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All clean and shiny, mounted models ready for undercoating</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
First things first, I would suggest spending some time with a scalpel or other sharp knife just cleaning up the flash (the plastic that leaked out between the mold halves during casting). In my experience some models are fine, others are terrible, and it's a pretty arbitrary mix. If you don't do this though (I didn't spend long on it at all), no big deal.<br />
<br />
Once you've done that, you want to clean your models in some soapy water, probably with a toothbrush to make sure you get right in there, to get the release agent and any sticky finger grease off. Having spent time removing sticky finger grease, it can be helpful to mount your figure on something so you don't have to handle it or paint around your fingers.<br />
<br />
When cleaning, be careful of very hot water, which can have the effect of softening the plastic and deforming parts of the model, especially thin sticky-outy-bits. This can be turned to your advantage if you happen to have some guns or spears that are bent - a bit of hot water, soften it up, reshape, and let it cool.<br />
<br />
Not all plastic is the same, mind you, so if it doesn't seem to be softening, don't flex it!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDIEGgfMIEsHgmtcFu04anVKp85VAVIug1HJalOGIsqrRo7cggYOUl6l0Lx1fxBO3ovmKxXT-JoyvkvVV1X2l-wEIFS85MoKqQAfBbTHPqPYttpRpz21JNkiBqyRkzui2NmV6QWyF73xUJ/s1600/05-washed+undercoated+scythe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDIEGgfMIEsHgmtcFu04anVKp85VAVIug1HJalOGIsqrRo7cggYOUl6l0Lx1fxBO3ovmKxXT-JoyvkvVV1X2l-wEIFS85MoKqQAfBbTHPqPYttpRpz21JNkiBqyRkzui2NmV6QWyF73xUJ/s640/05-washed+undercoated+scythe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Here's some Scythe people I undercoated earlier...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To make the most of sticking paint on a model, it's probably best to undercoat it with something too. That said, if I was going straight for one of the spray can options below (volume painting in section 2 or colour changing in section 3), I'd be happy to skip the undercoat step and go straight to the base colour after cleaning them.<br />
<br />
Once you've put some paint on the model, you definitely want to protect your paint job from handling. A nice matt varnish, again spray can shaped, will do wonders (although matt varnish tends to be less robust than gloss). Or you can go straight for the gloss if that seems appropriate for what you're painting.<br />
<br />
I once had a situation where the model just became sticky after painting and varnishing. I couldn't figure out what weird interaction had occurred, but the internet to the rescue: if this happens to you, paint your model with some PVA thinned with water.<br />
<br />
One thing to note though, is that while varnish (and or PVA!) will protect your models to some extent, they are now covered with a fine amount of paint, and paint can scratch off. Plastic models are less likely to damage each other rattling around in a box than heavy metal models, but even so you may have to consider a more careful or dedicated storage system, especially if you're travelling with them often. Check out companies like <a href="https://uk.battlefoam.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BattleFoam</a> and <a href="https://www.krmulticase.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">KR Multicase</a> for some some generic and specific options.<br />
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<h4>
1. Wash the grey away</h4>
<br />
So now we're all ready to go.<br />
<br />
As it turns out, human beings are pretty sensitive to brightness as much as colour, so a grey blob that doesn't cast a lot of internal shadows won't really register. Especially at 28mm tall.<br />
<br />
We can raise the contrast on the model to improve the aesthetic, and on a grey blob that's going to have a fairly significant impact.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=oscar-multi-%282%29~hfa158b&category=miniatures~fantasy-humans~sci%252dfi-%26%0D%0Aweird-war~sci%252dfi-humans" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Miniatures companies</a> have a neat way of photographing their metal cast miniatures and capturing all the detail. Maybe it's Photoshop, or maybe they've just done something called "washing" the miniature.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zru212Z-R9szZ99ExuaGceq1IRSMg0PZGsXuV9NzSUtWVk5gYM-O1IiQ3q351sAXtuX-Nf5L0TPpHUWz6b6gg7p9ePc-2IRM0umhkl5XWGMR2nKyIoSn7Cbl3ZXuRQMs06m5R-f1yf8C/s1600/06-washed-mechs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zru212Z-R9szZ99ExuaGceq1IRSMg0PZGsXuV9NzSUtWVk5gYM-O1IiQ3q351sAXtuX-Nf5L0TPpHUWz6b6gg7p9ePc-2IRM0umhkl5XWGMR2nKyIoSn7Cbl3ZXuRQMs06m5R-f1yf8C/s640/06-washed-mechs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The difference just a simple wash makes on the yellow and white mechs is huge. The red, not so much, but we'll get to those later.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This is where you take some acrylic paint, thin it right down with some water, and cover the entire miniature. The thin paint ends up sitting in all the recesses, and leaving the wide surfaces alone, increasing the perceptual depth of shadows, and thus, making it clearer to your eyes what you're looking at.<br />
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One of the nice things about washing is that you can experiment with different shades to get different effects. Washing everything with black will give you a very stark, very deep shadow, which can be perfect over the top of colours like purple or blue. For a softer shadow, try a deeper tone of the base colour - for yellow, use brown, for white, try grey.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJvUnUsYTTYA9IoSV5rRKW8ZzW9EK7QKnfAYyQbfOjtF9VkrYQPeWuHhfNLI48OMovhyphenhyphenx6dEz5_zLjLzkSAG2zm4KuSe2yFueDOi0kNFoCTDuEpwS4ha_uKjrC6uX8UCJO-0BL4KSTliE/s1600/07-washed+white.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJvUnUsYTTYA9IoSV5rRKW8ZzW9EK7QKnfAYyQbfOjtF9VkrYQPeWuHhfNLI48OMovhyphenhyphenx6dEz5_zLjLzkSAG2zm4KuSe2yFueDOi0kNFoCTDuEpwS4ha_uKjrC6uX8UCJO-0BL4KSTliE/s640/07-washed+white.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVc6jS-HmY0_XPene45KR3467Jz347QtbUruo-Ots-nrfR6ift8hAcwuahThOOboQL1G4dhDqyYKoemRxP3Z50ej8tswBY7RhUnGQRHBzkqueObOkPv-Xvlit-qgZMX9sc_22iLUvL-_n/s1600/07-washed+yellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVc6jS-HmY0_XPene45KR3467Jz347QtbUruo-Ots-nrfR6ift8hAcwuahThOOboQL1G4dhDqyYKoemRxP3Z50ej8tswBY7RhUnGQRHBzkqueObOkPv-Xvlit-qgZMX9sc_22iLUvL-_n/s640/07-washed+yellow.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All washed and done, assembled they look fantastic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Some companies produce a product for exactly this use, like Army Painter's Quickshade, but if the internet is correct you can get away with all sorts of things including, but not limited to, wood stain or varnish, oil paint, enamel washes and Indian ink.<br />
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<h4>
2. Turn up the volume</h4>
<div>
<br />
For a more interesting aesthetic you want want to try "volume painting", or at least a cut down version thereof.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5IOPcDTIQgx9jbO4XTywZ_g3bJDv6epX3WUZiXS9l0uXgrtbEqB79ne2NZiI3KUojjcH6bew7B6p3ui3thL3pIEUF4cEeK3Z6qttv5-KWxLZcZRonPmb2myHq0HQ9to8fwCmjNExukAv/s1600/08-volume+painted+scythe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5IOPcDTIQgx9jbO4XTywZ_g3bJDv6epX3WUZiXS9l0uXgrtbEqB79ne2NZiI3KUojjcH6bew7B6p3ui3thL3pIEUF4cEeK3Z6qttv5-KWxLZcZRonPmb2myHq0HQ9to8fwCmjNExukAv/s640/08-volume+painted+scythe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although this is with an airbrush, the same technique will work with a spray can.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In artistic circles this is where you paint in greyscale, making dark things dark, light things light and including the idea of light sources.<br />
<br />
Since doing that can get a bit complicated, there is a shortcut option that will get you most of the way there: spray the model black, and then spray white from directly above.<br />
<br />
The improved version of this is to spray the model black, spray a little bit of grey at 45ish degrees around the model, and then spray the top white.<br />
<br />
Or if you're really going for overkill, use an airbrush and go crazy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwi-BKm6gwOMRRlyMVMEBHriIwWgcLE_MVCZ8qt0HRTQQnhTyaQWYSgmo3sQj3nXUMOErdHpNQFl3KfLsXcXpDdKUjmZ0IN76_bGTUHCw-sGHCbA8q6_5R7_LfIWF2iVWIWBPU4VE9cd6U/s1600/09-volume+painted+all+scythe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwi-BKm6gwOMRRlyMVMEBHriIwWgcLE_MVCZ8qt0HRTQQnhTyaQWYSgmo3sQj3nXUMOErdHpNQFl3KfLsXcXpDdKUjmZ0IN76_bGTUHCw-sGHCbA8q6_5R7_LfIWF2iVWIWBPU4VE9cd6U/s640/09-volume+painted+all+scythe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apologies for the lighting, but they look way better than they started!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4>
3. Colour changing</h4>
<br />
The previous two options will bring out the detail on each model individually, but you've just traded one type of grey blob for another. The models are all the same paint job, so still low on the gameplay experience improvement scale.<br />
<br />
Eventually it might be cheap enough to injection mould in colour for smaller runs, but in the interim you could just do it yourself!<br />
<br />
Grab some coloured spray paint or cheap acrylic and a brush and just go to town. Typically board games use bright or primary colours, so by investing in only a few colours of paint you'll have enough to mix up small batches of any colour you need.<br />
<br />
<h4>
4. Edge highlighting</h4>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dUirWrkMFab0qJcBEsNfEai-H_Mt0EZlm3OprJ-QpS3nviKvCFgtx_Obm82rQ2Jm9Tl-fSDAbgYE6qi63zh3iLk7yh1e36Dn0GK3b3gVkDNLF46GzP3AlAv42YJrjjsNoWZ04Cl6JMd0/s1600/12-edge+highlighted+purple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dUirWrkMFab0qJcBEsNfEai-H_Mt0EZlm3OprJ-QpS3nviKvCFgtx_Obm82rQ2Jm9Tl-fSDAbgYE6qi63zh3iLk7yh1e36Dn0GK3b3gVkDNLF46GzP3AlAv42YJrjjsNoWZ04Cl6JMd0/s640/12-edge+highlighted+purple.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some wash to deepen the shadows, and some edge paint to pop the highlights!</td></tr>
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The other way of handling contrast is looking at the upper end of the scale and raising the highlights, instead of deepening the shadows. Of course, why not both!<br />
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The technique is theoretically simple, but requires a small brush, some practice, and a plenty of patience. Take the brush, get some paint and sorta drag the middle of the brush at a 45 degreeish angle over some sharp edges on a model.<br />
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I've chosen to simulate a zenithal highlight, by imagining where the primary light source would be coming from (top left in my case), and then highlighting the top of the edges and the left of the edges. I don't think it's always the case, but the golden rule with all of this is simple: looking cool is more important than being accurate.<br />
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The technique is mostly practice, but the next step is picking the highlight colour. When it comes to wash, most of the time black will work okay, but the same isn't true in reverse. Solely using white to highlight will often be far too stark, so you're looking for a paler version of the colour you're covering. Black goes to grey, purple goes to pink, red to orange, and so on.<br />
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Simple technique but tricky to master, so keep practising!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR42YJa1uS0dEFkoxiRRO1oCntSJSBGwId8zEbwZfMGvrNpcvbT0_kFseOv9VyRLhfb3Na7BtJhR0qwI5BHyGdDNlMR_l6PW5K8DNNzzLOdaTghFCA2m4pck5lSCtJKb9XBQHb9kdP4OTT/s1600/13-edge+black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1027" data-original-width="1600" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR42YJa1uS0dEFkoxiRRO1oCntSJSBGwId8zEbwZfMGvrNpcvbT0_kFseOv9VyRLhfb3Na7BtJhR0qwI5BHyGdDNlMR_l6PW5K8DNNzzLOdaTghFCA2m4pck5lSCtJKb9XBQHb9kdP4OTT/s640/13-edge+black.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even without the wash on the black, they look great to me!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1st0vk5641lpVDnDLYa6Dilf4qIzVSnRkmoCjPq0sTnUEkYzHBzq0BDoYqSzkaPLHI61oFrWOgZy5l5VjDTGvBhvsrqijQJKzBDeDIgzXbkCtU25FN_TwQOpcslCN-r_GbWm5tKAG-w0/s1600/13-edge+blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1st0vk5641lpVDnDLYa6Dilf4qIzVSnRkmoCjPq0sTnUEkYzHBzq0BDoYqSzkaPLHI61oFrWOgZy5l5VjDTGvBhvsrqijQJKzBDeDIgzXbkCtU25FN_TwQOpcslCN-r_GbWm5tKAG-w0/s640/13-edge+blue.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6ryfh0b6GOG9lTZ6ZMXiUXRKF81Udg4Z7bpIh9_eJJWWKTCPYi7mFqHfp_bbknlRrUMIZzTjTa6dxMEVxeqbMYi4K3nMPAitJJ91UxaFvgB6jmh8nIcc9ZEIobUWQf8YLda-phHgygTp/s1600/13-edge+green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6ryfh0b6GOG9lTZ6ZMXiUXRKF81Udg4Z7bpIh9_eJJWWKTCPYi7mFqHfp_bbknlRrUMIZzTjTa6dxMEVxeqbMYi4K3nMPAitJJ91UxaFvgB6jmh8nIcc9ZEIobUWQf8YLda-phHgygTp/s640/13-edge+green.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
5. Three-colour standard</h4>
The bottom of the war gaming painting standard, you might hear referred to as table top or 3 colour standards, and it's exactly what you'd expect: a primary, secondary and tertiary colour for the model.<br />
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With human models it's likely to be at minimum a clothing or armour colour, a skin colour and a detail colour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2msb1YdtzJeseYwPYIUTwaNU1YJTeCuYQ1T2fcNlNbU7wQ0JedOwyIrY3eNxZ1anzAplpBooRJA5HWyi6chxHu5EfgVC2Oxt2zObx4AWRMlwagtILeWVVkULLGpDVYu7I8kOmyfa-DrBQ/s1600/11-faceless+gunmoll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2msb1YdtzJeseYwPYIUTwaNU1YJTeCuYQ1T2fcNlNbU7wQ0JedOwyIrY3eNxZ1anzAplpBooRJA5HWyi6chxHu5EfgVC2Oxt2zObx4AWRMlwagtILeWVVkULLGpDVYu7I8kOmyfa-DrBQ/s640/11-faceless+gunmoll.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't do this for Scythe, so you get some gun molls instead!</td></tr>
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Of course 3 colours is just a suggestion - maybe the best thing you could do is one or two. Maybe skip the big primary colours and just add some metallic paint to the shiny bits!<br />
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I would suggest unless you're already an accomplished figure painter (or willing to use your game miniatures for practice) that sticking to sections of flat colour will yield better results for boardgaming than complex detail work. Keep the lines neat and don't worry about details like eyes or techniques like dry brushing or blending.<br />
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In general I believe simple tactics will be better for usability than more advanced ones: pieces are colour coded for a reason, you need to enhance that rather than obscure it's function as a game piece - beautiful painting that gets lost in the background art of the game board would be a terrible shame.<br />
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<h4>
Outsourcing</h4>
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Of course, you could always get someone else to do it for you! There are plenty of people who would be happy to exchange money for painted miniatures, potentially you even know a friend who'd love to try something different from their usual Warhammer 40k fare..<br />
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<h4>
Mix it up</h4>
<div>
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These are just some options on improving the visual and playability of your board game pieces, but they're not mutually exclusive!</div>
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For my Scythe figures I took the volume painting idea, expanded it a bit by being selective with my washing and then went in to colourise particular pieces. They're not going to win any prizes, but I love how they look like a cross between statues and Sin City!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFndQAreIMd4N7xipjO31lnRChGsYMxNuhljrcAY6I_d6NtmK7phkBqlIq8lebTNeloP-siolc8VmsZep0zb141Iv3RWXDJ5gwEsue_iNs4GibQ8HvGGbz2PwnlrNlxoswO5gNVN8q7e0/s1600/14-complete+beauty+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFndQAreIMd4N7xipjO31lnRChGsYMxNuhljrcAY6I_d6NtmK7phkBqlIq8lebTNeloP-siolc8VmsZep0zb141Iv3RWXDJ5gwEsue_iNs4GibQ8HvGGbz2PwnlrNlxoswO5gNVN8q7e0/s640/14-complete+beauty+shot.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They all turned out nice!</td></tr>
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<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Put the lid back on</h4>
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Personally, I get a huge kick out of the activity of painting, and then get to bask in the compliments when the game is unpacked and on the table. I know a good number of people who don't enjoy it, so the easy wash+varnish option would be more than enough for them.<br />
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I'm also getting a kick out of looking at the work I've done when I'm *not* playing the game, and board game pieces are starting to encroach in my own display cabinet, which is way better than hiding away your pretty things in boxes. Granted, my cabinet isn't <a href="http://www.senseiswag.com/studio-tour/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this guy's</a>, but hey, we can dream right?<br />
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Whatever choice you make, keep gaming!<br />
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[With thanks to my Editor Vicky, and my Creative Director and Photographer <a href="https://certainlygeeky.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pam</a>!]<br />
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**********</div>
<br />
Thanks again to Piete for another really interesting post; you can read more from him at <a href="http://www.pietersartain.com/post/" rel="nofollow">his blog</a> or in his last awesome guest <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/05/guest-post-board-game-soundtracks.html" target="_blank">post about board game soundtracks</a>. I'm currently looking at all the unpainted games on my shelf and feeling inspired to do something about them. If you are too, why not <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">tweet us a picture</a> of the results?<br />
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!</div>
Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-50266939069588087802018-08-07T12:34:00.001-07:002018-08-08T12:28:27.204-07:00Review: Azul board gameSince trying a demo of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/230802/azul" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Azul</a> at <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/03/airecon-2018-convention-diary.html" target="_blank">Airecon</a>, I've fallen completely in love with this colourful box of wonderfulness from the abstract wing of Plan B Games, <a href="https://www.nextmovegames.com/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Next Move Games</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhPgJ1njX0d1mc8j1jqtLwM2CJywcGXQ9UjpDSwCibn-7pTZpMKNsWZSwJNjPmjltj7Js_OAGxDPu1Gv530ex_DdCDT-irJEMabnuPUVl4wcbUXb3A_ot4M2cFroRJcqeYpOP-HGMkIRd/s1600/azul-box-art-random-nerdery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1591" data-original-width="1600" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhPgJ1njX0d1mc8j1jqtLwM2CJywcGXQ9UjpDSwCibn-7pTZpMKNsWZSwJNjPmjltj7Js_OAGxDPu1Gv530ex_DdCDT-irJEMabnuPUVl4wcbUXb3A_ot4M2cFroRJcqeYpOP-HGMkIRd/s640/azul-box-art-random-nerdery.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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By wonderfulness I'm mainly referring to the beautiful little clicky-clacky plastic tiles that look like tasty Opal Fruits. Yes, Opal Fruits; none of this 'Starburst' nonsense, however much it dates me. No, I won't let it go and move on. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be talking about the game and not sweets from history... Okay, fine:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_F13S3VMjZSBMIyuqAqGbyxWyKCetTTDmZUZWC45Fa6V336yQNU7VjybujpWt0iBaCgFCEwCVdKcE7JYl36kL0dOs_BvoogLAMcAuP7Alj_3Mha8nDrVPL7GMCAe-yZYdrNdy0sIcnwz/s1600/azul-tiles-random-nerdery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_F13S3VMjZSBMIyuqAqGbyxWyKCetTTDmZUZWC45Fa6V336yQNU7VjybujpWt0iBaCgFCEwCVdKcE7JYl36kL0dOs_BvoogLAMcAuP7Alj_3Mha8nDrVPL7GMCAe-yZYdrNdy0sIcnwz/s640/azul-tiles-random-nerdery.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Starting a review with your final thoughts isn't necessarily the best way to go about getting people to read the whole thing, but I have trouble containing my enthusiasm for Azul. It's been to games nights, friends' houses, family gatherings and work and I've still never had players not ask for a second game straight away. I've basically been carrying the box around with me like an impractical cardboard handbag for the last few months, making anyone who sits still for too long play the game. Since I started writing this (back in March!) Azul has won the prestigious Spiele de Jahres (Game of the Year) award, so plenty of other people are clearly loving the game's simplicity and colour.<br />
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Designed by Michael Kiesling, Azul is an abstract puzzle game for 2-4 players where we play artisans working in the palace of King Manuel I of Portugal. The King has just returned from a trip to the Alhambra in Spain where he's become enamoured with the beautiful Moorish tile designs and has, in the grand tradition of bosses-returning-from-conferences everywhere, come back with A Good Idea.<br />
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We're going to be recreating this exceptional artwork for him at home, carefully selecting tiles and positioning them in the most aesthetically pleasing way. Obviously we have to make sure our work meets with the King's exacting standards, but most importantly we want to make sure our wall is better than our co-workers' walls. There's tiling pride at stake here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjN8ZUptrXgpsYG64b5DjO1sOC1jvt4vHEc_3FEtQXedzLycTvkAI1p47_kveDSgpF8S8X9NmuxnOuOrvRMSCy9Ok-YtvXhCNIzsFfoJ8B03XhbVRKdzt3QAhhUc-3V7OuWVi1uBV5cZr/s1600/azul-tiles-on-player-board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1600" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjN8ZUptrXgpsYG64b5DjO1sOC1jvt4vHEc_3FEtQXedzLycTvkAI1p47_kveDSgpF8S8X9NmuxnOuOrvRMSCy9Ok-YtvXhCNIzsFfoJ8B03XhbVRKdzt3QAhhUc-3V7OuWVi1uBV5cZr/s640/azul-tiles-on-player-board.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nerd interlude: This was the point during my review-writing research (for yes, on occasion I do do some!) that I accidentally fell down a wikipedia rabbit hole searching for background on the Alhambra, its beautiful artwork and how this translated over to Portugal. I ended up reading about 'wallpaper groups', crystallography and a whole bunch of maths that I hadn't planned on, but it seems there are exactly 17 different ways to make a two-dimensional repeating pattern and the Alhambra manages to have examples of all, or almost all of them, depending on which research paper you read. Cool! End of nerd interlude.<br />
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I've heard it said that Azul is theme-less but, whilst at its core it's definitely an abstract game, I think the story fits the game-play really nicely. Perhaps I've gotten too into the tiling spirit! You grab your tiles from factories, line up your pattern to decide what looks good and then stick it onto the wall. If you drop a tile onto the ground, it breaks and counts as negative points. All of this makes sense to me in terms of the theme.<br />
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Here are a couple of the lovely player mats that each player uses in the game, demonstrating how tiles for completed lines get moved at the end of a round (before and after):<br />
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You can see a handy score track along the top and the wall we're trying to make on the right, with coloured spaces to show us what can be placed where: a colour can only appear once in each row or column. Fallen tiles, or negative points, go in the spaces provided on the bottom left.<br />
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Factories are represented by a number of cardboard discs in the centre of the table. They hold four tiles each, randomly drawn from the supply at the start of each round.<br />
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The game takes place over a number of rounds, with players taking it in turns to take all tiles of one colour from a factory. The remaining tiles on that factory are pushed into the middle to form a central pool. This functions a bit like an extra factory that players can take tiles from, but the first person who does so each round has to take the first player marker and put it into their negative points area.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX4YNy2wL_r1NtkvBCeFKRQP4iTTXi03LQW7fEdHoBmzOwnBwjRpQ8iW_gp2mASNWhQvgcnfVIjlo58a5gYsKzturOKfoaSlQSxQdJDDwT-Jq71LgfIn1ret2ISBIc7oqFSrnJSLNL2lJ/s1600/azul-first-player-marker-random-nerdery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1600" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX4YNy2wL_r1NtkvBCeFKRQP4iTTXi03LQW7fEdHoBmzOwnBwjRpQ8iW_gp2mASNWhQvgcnfVIjlo58a5gYsKzturOKfoaSlQSxQdJDDwT-Jq71LgfIn1ret2ISBIc7oqFSrnJSLNL2lJ/s640/azul-first-player-marker-random-nerdery.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Everyone continues to take it in turns choosing until all the tiles are gone.<br />
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The selected tiles need to be fitted into one of the rows on the left-hand side of the player mat. Each row can only hold one colour of tile, so this is where the thinking really begins. At the end of the round, completed rows are scored by moving one tile onto the matching coloured space on the wall and discarding the rest of the tiles into the box. This means you're normally looking to fill as many rows as possible, but you have to balance this with trying not to take too many tiles of the wrong colour - anything that doesn't fit somewhere will overflow into the negative points (floor) area.<br />
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You'll be considering what colours will fit, what would offer the best scoring combinations and, if you're mean, whether you could get something useful whilst forcing someone else to take some negative points. If you're *really* mean you could take something sub-optimal for you purely to force someone into taking negative points! Mean or not, you'll always need to be aware of other people's boards to see what they're trying to collect and how that changes the availability of certain colours for you.<br />
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The game ends at the end of the round in which someone completes a whole row of their wall, so you're also adding timing into the thought equation to try and ensure that the game ends at a point where you have the potential to win.<br />
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Points are scored as you go along based on the number of consecutive tiles your newly placed tile is adjacent too, and at the end of the game based on number of completed rows (you can end up with more than one), completed columns and completed sets of each colour. Predictably, most points wins!<br />
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Once you've mastered normal mode you can flip the board over to play a variant mode. Oooh, grey:<br />
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Much like bowling with no guard rails, the back of the board has a grid with no pre-determined colours, but you still follow the same rules of the original grid - a colour can only appear once in each row and each column. 'How could this possibly go wrong', I thought... 'This is easy', I thought... And then I backed myself straight into a corner filled with stupid red tiles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbjkjgpQk9lOtKGHB9j3BhzmbAVhEPaPDsVWiIPzZoaY7a911QMOA_jnoQKuwQJv_YnRlvMlMMWu0YkdmOGA2I9vq_moaIYkF0Rj5VxW5Te6_Vf3zxLp5EIUj9Kq7U_GMKYzZs1Pn_s90/s1600/azul-hard-mode-fail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1600" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbjkjgpQk9lOtKGHB9j3BhzmbAVhEPaPDsVWiIPzZoaY7a911QMOA_jnoQKuwQJv_YnRlvMlMMWu0YkdmOGA2I9vq_moaIYkF0Rj5VxW5Te6_Vf3zxLp5EIUj9Kq7U_GMKYzZs1Pn_s90/s640/azul-hard-mode-fail.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doh.</td></tr>
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Any row you mess up in this way goes entirely into your negative points space, so you can guess how well I did in this game!<br />
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The variant mode doesn't add vast amounts in terms of original game-play but it does give you another dimension to think about, and I enjoyed the added potential for getting things completely wrong.<br />
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This is the best bit, for me - the laughs that flow when it all goes wrong. The slowly-dawning realisation that someone else has made sure you'll have to take a huge pile of completely useless tiles. Or worse, that you've just done it to yourself without realising. I find it so funny, whether or not I'm on the recieving end of the negative points!<br />
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In theory the game doesn't have a lot of player interaction, but in practice it really does, as you laugh together and try to reverse-psychology or Paddington-Bear-hard-stare your opponents into taking the tiles you want them to.<br />
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Like any game, not everything is perfect. The tiny little score tracking cube is easily knocked off-course and the whole player mat could have benefited from a Scythe-style double-thickness-with-recesses type deal to keep everything safely in place. I've seen a couple of really nice wood or acrylic overlays that people have custom made themselves, but it's a shame this couldn't have been part of the original design - I'm guessing the cost is prohibitive.<br />
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Outside of that niggle, there's no questioning the component quality in Azul. The design is beautiful, the tiles are infinitely satisfying to handle and my reprinted copy even has a nice first player tile which upgrades the original run's rather tragic little cardboard offering.<br />
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The tile bag is also nice, although we found it quite annoying to pour the tiles back into the bag from the box lid without spilling them everywhere, as they all decide to lay flat and cling to the lid for dear life. After his first game, <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/05/guest-post-board-game-soundtracks.html" target="_blank">Piete</a> (who does not like to leave a solvable problem unsolved) immediately got out his sewing machine and made a second bag to hold used tiles instead of the box lid. I can only wish that I was this prepared for emergency crafting at my house! Whilst slightly straying from the game's base colour scheme, this makes a super-useful addition and I'm very grateful and happy to have my watermelon bag:<br />
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Whilst Azul's replayability might not be infinite, we're definitely getting our money's worth from our copy. The appeal of the puzzle can't last forever, but for now I'm still finishing each game convinced that I could have done something just that little bit better, and that's what keeps people coming back. It's had the most play of any of the games I've bought this year and appeals across a huge spectrum of people from complete beginners to experienced gamers looking for some lighter fun. Now if only I could afford <a href="https://www.nextmovegames.com/en/blog/azul-giant-edition-preoders-now-open-b76.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the giant version</a>...<br />
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<h3>
Azul</h3>
<b>Designer: </b><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/42/michael-kiesling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Kiesling</a><br />
<b>Art: </b><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/74074/philippe-guerin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Philippe Guérin</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/14057/chris-quilliams" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Quilliams</a><br />
<b>Publisher: </b>Next Move Games<br />
<b>Play time: </b>30-45 mins<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-4<br />
<b>Age: </b>8+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £39.99<br />
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Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-16408838316901334782018-06-15T02:14:00.002-07:002018-06-15T03:21:42.571-07:00UK Games Expo 2018 - Gaming HighlightsIt goes without saying that seeing friends is always a huge Expo highlight, even though with more and more people getting into the hobby it's getting harder to see everyone enough over the weekend! We're all there to see the games, too, and below is a selection of games that I played or talked about over the weekend. For an overview of the rest of the show, you can see <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/search/label/UKGE">my first Expo post</a> (yes, I've gone on about it enough to fill up two whole posts!)<br />
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Board&Dice</h3>
After really enjoying Pocket Mars last year, quite a few of games on my to-see list for the weekend were at the Board&Dice stand:<br />
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<h3>
Escape Tales: The Awakening</h3>
A father fights to save his daughter from a mysterious coma, relying on our wit and problem-solving ability to guide him through his ordeal. Uh oh...<br />
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I reeeally enjoyed <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/253214/escape-tales-awakening" rel="nofollow">Escape Tales</a>. Designer Matt Dembek was kind enough to give us a demonstration of where the game is so far - after taking us on an epic journey around both show halls to find somewhere to sit, which I'm assured won't be a standard part of the game experience!<br />
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Escape room games like Exit or Unlock are high up on my list of favourite things to play, and Escape Tales feels like a natural next-step combination of the two. The puzzles were fun and clever, and the game has an app-driven results system similar to Unlock, but without the stressful timed element so you can really take your time to enjoy the story. Obviously that hinges on whether or not the story is any good, but I'd definitely be willing to play a ton more of this to find out.<br />
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Oh and this is what our puzzle-solving ability reduced Matt to:<br />
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<h3>
5 Minute Chase</h3>
<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/249039/5-minute-chase" rel="nofollow">5 Minute Chase</a> is a simple little real-time tile placement game where you're split into two teams: escaped convicts and the detectives charged with catching them. In practical terms the escapees are trying to do a puzzle connecting the correct types of roads, locating special tiles before ultimately escaping to their hideout. Meanwhile the detectives are doing a different counting and symbol matching puzzle to place the correct symbol token on each tile placed by the runners. If the runners don't place a new road tile before the detectives place a symbol on the last piece of road, they're caught.<br />
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Quick, chaotic, loved it. I really enjoyed the puzzle of this game; we had tons of laughs running away, even if I'm awful at finding the right tiles. Some rounds were short enough that I didn't manage to place a single tile, which is pretty tragic, but others had us building a sprawling roadway across the table in our (still failed) escape attempt.<br />
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<h3>
InBetween</h3>
I've opened up my shiny new copy of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/230342/inbetween" rel="nofollow">InBetween</a> to go through the rules, and this two-player tug of war between dimensions looks beautiful - or as beautiful as a horror-themed game can be! In a very Stranger Things-like way, players fight for control of people living in the town of Upsideville, using asymmetric decks of cards to adjust safety markers and edge characters closer to their own dimensions.<br />
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Hopefully I can get this played soon and let you know my thoughts!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepNuXlK4F1xJxtnwts-yjT-94qmL_aSCcCAvpfrMH23aQQxeicfImYEFque0Q8abGB4Kky5Xj2A1YMbd4UUtojkPEcYqf-ItOQobsG-6ngTKQdnXFKIhS1dMWkg3xvn_Q2ys2EtkBC-hI/s1600/UKGE-2018-board-and-dice-inbetween2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1357" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepNuXlK4F1xJxtnwts-yjT-94qmL_aSCcCAvpfrMH23aQQxeicfImYEFque0Q8abGB4Kky5Xj2A1YMbd4UUtojkPEcYqf-ItOQobsG-6ngTKQdnXFKIhS1dMWkg3xvn_Q2ys2EtkBC-hI/s640/UKGE-2018-board-and-dice-inbetween2.jpg" width="542" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Alleycat Games</h3>
There were so many great designers and publishers at the Expo, but it was brilliant to meet and chat to Caezar and Kuly of <a href="https://www.alleycatgames.com/" rel="nofollow">Alleycat Games</a> (and completely intrude on their nice quiet breakfast!). Aside from being lovely, friendly people and sharing my love of cats (I found the one other person that owns <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/204141/cat-town" rel="nofollow">Cat Town</a>) they also have a ton of great designs coming through their pipeline and it's so interesting to watch their business grow from afar.<br />
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<h3>
Dice Hospital</h3>
This is a worker placement and dice manipulation game where you run a little hexagon-based hospital. The dice are your patients, and you treat them by raising their value to a healthy six in the most efficient way possible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCpbTd4658CMmEvtTSbZuMEgXqpoIrnfT3JqAXaQEozZEgSIMrXMAVp2CLguVRzCe140bPsDZDE6b_P7ZI2XKkzOHKXaXqW3KrPqDLIa5xKXDrefrWEeHXzQcwXUnFusQnYNCaHD6WdPH/s1600/UKGE-2018-dice-hospital-alleycat-games-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="965" data-original-width="1600" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCpbTd4658CMmEvtTSbZuMEgXqpoIrnfT3JqAXaQEozZEgSIMrXMAVp2CLguVRzCe140bPsDZDE6b_P7ZI2XKkzOHKXaXqW3KrPqDLIa5xKXDrefrWEeHXzQcwXUnFusQnYNCaHD6WdPH/s640/UKGE-2018-dice-hospital-alleycat-games-3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I finally got to play <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/218121/dice-hospital" rel="nofollow">Dice Hospital</a> after staring longingly at the always-full demo tables at last year's Expo. I really enjoyed it and I'm very excited to receive my copy now. I'm mortified that I didn't go for the amazing deluxe version with fancy 3D ambulances, though, because these look brilliant!<br />
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<h3>
Chocolate Factory</h3>
<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240567/chocolate-factory" rel="nofollow">Chocolate Factory</a> was one of the games I was most excited about on my preview list, and I didn't manage to fit it in! A lesson for next time to see if I can book a demo beforehand. The closest I got was a quick photo while demoing a different game, and you can't see much yet as the artwork is still in progress, but my hopes remain high after other people's feedback.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89u7plQXRFSTJ8CoCm1XN5Mv4g1GQaEwRO3_kP3QoEFg_5PyAsrvuFXB8c-pQwiHVsza0wLsJreqxBbQroJwu00-ihTTSA6PK1MkP49naoEhYJYqESoXO231K6ibsv47cfPzY3nKKMa5u/s1600/UKGE-2018-chocolate-factory.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1600" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89u7plQXRFSTJ8CoCm1XN5Mv4g1GQaEwRO3_kP3QoEFg_5PyAsrvuFXB8c-pQwiHVsza0wLsJreqxBbQroJwu00-ihTTSA6PK1MkP49naoEhYJYqESoXO231K6ibsv47cfPzY3nKKMa5u/s640/UKGE-2018-chocolate-factory.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can check out the rules in development on <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/158856/rulebook-v20" rel="nofollow">boardgamegeek.com</a>.<br />
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<h3>
Coral Islands</h3>
Another game in development that I was excited to try out was <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244305/coral-islands" rel="nofollow">Coral Islands</a>, where we played divers repopulating a coral reef. The dice are the coral, and we get points for making particular shapes with our placements as we stack them up in a colourful tower.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbri9kGC5cB2rsaIclsmWYolrG4GgW_ufR1ENvI5rCiTX7qy37DJzKLaXbS5SvC_oOJO6kaKuqSk4jJ_UR93JOT2-Z_38tUa_xOwZoTFHvPCCi6bULhyphenhyphenZqB6_M7kNG0sR3wEPuSW78ZXnH/s1600/UKGE-2018-coral-islands-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1547" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbri9kGC5cB2rsaIclsmWYolrG4GgW_ufR1ENvI5rCiTX7qy37DJzKLaXbS5SvC_oOJO6kaKuqSk4jJ_UR93JOT2-Z_38tUa_xOwZoTFHvPCCi6bULhyphenhyphenZqB6_M7kNG0sR3wEPuSW78ZXnH/s640/UKGE-2018-coral-islands-2.jpg" width="618" /></a></div>
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The game looks absolutely beautiful on the table and I found it fun to play and easy to learn, but since you can only use each die in a shape once we found it quite difficult to tell which ones were already used. Coral Islands is still in development, so it will be interesting to see if/how this is addressed going forward as it feels a bit fiddly in its current form - I have every faith in Alleycat to fix anything they're in any way not happy with!<br />
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<h3>
Stuff by Bez</h3>
It was great to see Bez again and add another contribution to her wall of cats, which is becoming a convention staple. Bez's stand is always a place of joy and imagination where you can guarantee people will be smiling!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdyd4M_y5uBKmHSpKFQROABhuXVz-m-WVcfVDRNoy8-VzBm3FEm9t2clgmoB6lZUbrZSYFSRrm6pTVqwZ6GSwOGiEWySQ-YgpJFfk00tu3UZ22zRsyK697rspIIYE2KCtTDVGH-_LLrQ2/s1600/UKGE-bez-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1600" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdyd4M_y5uBKmHSpKFQROABhuXVz-m-WVcfVDRNoy8-VzBm3FEm9t2clgmoB6lZUbrZSYFSRrm6pTVqwZ6GSwOGiEWySQ-YgpJFfk00tu3UZ22zRsyK697rspIIYE2KCtTDVGH-_LLrQ2/s640/UKGE-bez-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Wibbell++</h3>
I finally got to try a couple of games from the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/180845/wibbell" rel="nofollow">Wibbell++</a> game system, including Wibbell itself and also Grabbell.<br />
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I had a great time playing these, despite how short all my words ended up being when given so much scope - I need more practise! I love the infinite possibilities packed into this little box of lettered cards, and look forward to trying the other games included in the rules, as well as seeing what the new games released each year for the system will bring.<br />
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<h3>
Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger (Z-Man Games)</h3>
This game does exactly what it says on the tin - it's the 'I'll keep my thumb in this page just in case and peek ahead' book series from my childhood, but in game form. I'm already sold based on the box alone!<br />
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The particular <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/251420/choose-your-own-adventure-house-danger" rel="nofollow">Choose Your Own Adventure</a> book has been broken into five chapters, with the intent being to play one chapter per gaming session. Each chapter is a deck of cards that has you reading out the story and choosing options, just like in the originals, but with the addition of equipment cards, the exciting sounding 'danger meter' and a 'psychic scale' to use in simple challenges.<br />
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I'm not sure if it was the nostalgia factor, but I really enjoyed this one. It's very straightforward to play and I love any game where you get to read out the story and make lots of choices. I'm not sure how much replayability there would be once you'd explored a couple of the possible paths, but I've made that trade-off with plenty of games before, like T.I.M.E. Stories or Exit. Hopefully I'll find out when it comes out later this summer!<br />
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<h3>
Core Space (Battle Systems Ltd)</h3>
I really enjoyed my demo of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240271/core-space" rel="nofollow">Core Space</a>, in no small part due to the enthusiasm and helpfulness of the team on the stand. Core Space is a sci-fi miniature skirmish game which, whilst the game play wasn't really anything I haven't experienced before, really stood out for me because of its amazing terrain. I absolutely love the detail on this stuff, so I may have gone overboard with the number of pictures I took of it; here are a select few!<br />
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It was a really enjoyable game, but sadly a bit out of my price range for something that I don't feel would add anything new to my collection. If you'd like to read more, Core Space is still available for post-Kickstarter pre-order <a href="https://core-space.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders" rel="nofollow">via Backerkit</a>.<br />
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<h3>
Ganz Schön Clever (Schmidt)</h3>
This game has started a bit of a roll-and-write revolution in our house. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244522/ganz-schon-clever" rel="nofollow">Ganz Schön Clever</a> is a completely theme-less dice game that on first glance looks super-dull, but we've become obsessed and can't stop playing!<br />
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You roll a handful of colourful dice, choose one to keep and put every die of a lower value on a tray in the middle of the table. Then you roll what's left and do the same again, and then do that once more until you have three dice selected and the rest on the tray. You use the dice you've chosen to tick off values in various areas on the score sheet that meet the right criteria, whilst the other players get to choose one of the values on the tray to use on their own sheet.<br />
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I've made that sound super-dry, I know, but I promise it's fun! Ticking off certain boxes give you bonuses in other areas, which can lead to chains that let you tick off more boxes that lead to more and more points... Okay, I appreciate that it's still not sounding high on the excitement scale, but it's really rewarding and everyone stays engaged as they're all playing on everyone else's turn.<br />
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I didn't know how much I liked rolling dice and ticking off boxes until I played this game, and now I've already added <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/206931/noch-mal" rel="nofollow">Noch Mal</a> to the collection since getting home - this time I get to tick off *colourful* boxes!<br />
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<h3>
Hyper League Racing (Mad Dad Games)</h3>
Described to us enthusiastically as Mario Kart in space, how could we not try this out? Hyper League Racing is a space racing game with adorable miniatures, originally put together with the designer's daughter in mind. It has straightforward rules that quickly have you crashing and bashing your way around asteroids, moons, wormholes and black holes to get to the finish line before your friends.<br />
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This was a lot of fun, played quickly and generated a lot of laughter. They're planning to put the game on Kickstarter in July, so keep your eye out if you think this is something you'd like to see more of.<br />
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<h3>
Solar City (Games Factory)</h3>
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<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/248182/solar-city" rel="nofollow">Solar City</a> is a futuristic city builder where we've finally realised that polluting the air is A Bad Idea and started to convert our existing buildings to create clean energy, oxygen and water with green energy sources. It's referred to as 'solarpunk' and I really enjoy this theme - in dark times it's nice to think that we might wake up and save ourselves!<br />
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It's a tile laying game where you build up a city grid of skyscrapers and public structures. You're working to gain victory points by upgrading those skyscrapers to (beautifully illustrated!) skygardens. Each turn you buy and place a building and then activate the row or column you placed in to gain various benefits from the buildings in that line.<br />
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The clever bit here is that whichever row or column you choose to activate blocks it for other players, so you can be really tactical with your choices. This makes the game really fun and puzzle-y, so much so that I think it has to be one of my favourite games of the Expo! I've backed the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1689336268/solar-city-a-solarpunk-game" rel="nofollow">Kickstarter which runs to 9th July</a>.<br />
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<h3>
Spirits of the Forest (Thundergryph Games)</h3>
Everything on the Thundergryph Games stand was beautiful, including <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/235375/spirits-forest" rel="nofollow">Spirits of the Forest</a> which, after actually playing the game, has me regretting not backing its recent Kickstarter.<br />
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Spirits of the Forest is an abstract set collection game you're trying to get the most spirit symbols, earning points at the end of the game for having the majority for each of nine spirits. You gain spirit symbols by taking tiles with matching colours from the edges of the tile layout, and can use gems to try and block other players from taking particular tiles.<br />
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It was clever, strategic and a lot of fun, as well as looking beautiful on the table.<br />
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<h3>
Sub Terra (ITB Board Games)</h3>
I've heard so much about <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/204472/sub-terra" rel="nofollow">Sub Terra</a> in the past but still hadn't played, so it was great to finally try it out at the Expo. It's a tile laying exploration game where you're trying to escape from a cave deep underground which is filled with hazards like floods, cave-ins and poisonous gas.<br />
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To win the game you have to ideally all escape together, but after taking one wrong turn I suffered a string of hazards that pushed my further and further from the others with no hope of regrouping. Everyone knows the first rule of adventuring is 'don't split the party', but this cave system had other ideas! The final tile came out to reveal the exit, right next to my cowardly explorer who promptly skipped out and left everyone else trapped in the darkness...<br />
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Great game, unless you happen to be in an exploring party with me!<br />
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<h3>
Assembly (Wren Games)</h3>
Assembly is a one or two player puzzle game that takes place on an orbital platform used to build fancy spaceships. In a highly suspicious fit of misbehaviour from the station's computer, a deadly virus has taken out the rest of the crew and the air is now being vented. To escape you need to complete a half-built spaceship that's currently on the production line, but it's almost like something is trying to stop you...<br />
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I really loved my demo of this game, and I'm not usually a big solo gamer. The puzzle was really clever and engaging, with a deck of cards that dictate the moves you can make, swapping/rotating components around, locking them in place or adding new components to the ring. There's also a two-player mode which I can't wait to try when my Kickstarter copy arrives (yes, I liked it enough to back!).<br />
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Finishing on 21st June, there's still time to back this yourself at the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wrengames/assembly-a-compact-solo-or-cooperative-puzzle-card" rel="nofollow">Assembly Kickstarter page</a>!<br />
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<h3>
What did I miss?</h3>
There's so much I didn't see! <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/223321/detective-modern-crime-board-game" rel="nofollow">Detective</a> from Portal Games and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/245444/holding-troubled-life-billy-kerr" rel="nofollow">Holding On</a> from Hub Games both sound completely amazing and I missed them both completely! You can read brilliant write-ups from Rory Somers on the Polyhedron Collider blog <a href="http://www.polyhedroncollider.com/2018/06/uk-games-expo-2018-detective-first.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href="http://www.polyhedroncollider.com/2018/06/uk-games-expo-2018-holding-on-troubled.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, though!<br />
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-16072169956403621042018-06-15T02:14:00.000-07:002018-06-15T03:45:54.410-07:00Review: UK Games Expo 2018Not only is the UK Games Expo over for another year, but it's been almost two weeks, and it's flown by! With more lovely people, more fun things to see and more games than you could shake an oversized meeple at, this year's Expo was bigger and better than ever (21,700 attendees, up 30% on last year!).<br />
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If you've not been along to UKGE before, you can find my <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/05/uk-games-expo-1-3-june-2018.html">original post here</a> for some background information. It's a fun, friendly convention held every year at the NEC in Birmingham, rambling (in a very organised fashion) across multiple convention halls, function rooms and surrounding hotels. There's something there for every analogue gaming enthusiast, whether you're looking for the latest heavy Euro game, the coolest wargame miniatures, the cutest kids game or the dice-rolliest (yes, we're making up our own superlative adjectives now) pen-and-paper RPG.<br />
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With so much to see and do it can be pretty tough to get round and see everything, even if you've tried to formulate a bit of a plan beforehand. I definitely didn't play as many games as i wanted to, or see all the shows I would have liked, but unless I'm presented with a complimentary TARDIS to go with any potential press pass next year there's always going to be that amazing 'problem' of having too much to choose from!<br />
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Luckily I get to cheat a little bit by getting a head start at the Thursday evening press preview. This was a great chance to talk to designers and publishers about their games before hitting the show floor for longer demos over the weekend.<br />
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I've <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/06/uk-games-expo-2018-gaming-highlights.html">written about all the games</a> I talked through, coo'ed over, tried out or brought home in a separate post, as this one was getting ridiculously long, but with over 375 exhibitors at UKGE this year suffice it to say there were many, many new shiny games to investigate and I don't feel like I even made a dent in what there was to offer!<br />
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[<a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/06/uk-games-expo-2018-gaming-highlights.html">Go to the games post</a>]<br />
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After the press preview a big chunk of official open gaming space made available in the second NEC hall, for all the other enthusiastic early arrivals. The bring-and-buy area was also open for check-in, which was a huge relief as it meant I could take along the victims of my ruthless shelf-cull to meet their new owners (for a small fee, of course!) without the worry of using valuable Expo-time to queue on Friday. There was still a queue, of course, but everything was very well organised. The Expo uses a computerised system for checking in your games, so when you get to the front of the queue it's just a case of telling them your name to get your strip of labels. Stick, stack and go!<br />
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Checking unsold games out is a bit more of an ordeal, as you have to go and retrieve them from the *huge* bring-and-buy area yourself. It's not the funnest thing to do when you're tired out at the end of the weekend, but I tend to think of that as my own fault for having overpriced anything that's left over. An additional incentive to be realistic with your pricing!<br />
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A small charge (£1 per 10 items) is made for putting items into the bring-and-buy, with a 10% commission taken on all sales, with all profits going to the UK Games Expo's charities of choice. This year they are supporting <a href="https://birminghammind.org/" rel="nofollow">Birmingham Mind</a> and <a href="https://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/" rel="nofollow">Beanstalk</a>, so as well as trading your games you're also helping brilliant causes.<br />
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Entry tickets can also be collected on Thursday too, which is really helpful if you're around early and don't want to join the substantial morning ticket queues!<br />
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Having made space in the collection with bring-and-buy drop offs, there are plenty of opportunities at the Expo to fill your shelves up again with shiny new games. If I'm shopping for specific games I try to get that out of the way early on Friday so that I can store them away in the hotel and continue my day bag-free. This rarely works out as I see something else that's shiny (plus I'm always lugging the camera!), but there's a shop-and-drop storage facility if you need it where you can rent a box for the day. The shopping choices at UKGE are epic, with hundreds of stands filled with friendly people ready to sell you some cardboard (or a Kickstarter pledge - lots of those!). It's definitely worth shopping around a bit, though, as prices can vary between stores by something like £5 a game, which soon adds up if you're buying a few things. If you have the time (and energy!) to look around, take it.<br />
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Having said that, if there's a 'new hot game' of the Expo it can sell out pretty fast, so my first stop was at the Gameslore stand to grab a copy of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/242574/century-eastern-wonders" rel="nofollow">Century: Eastern Wonders</a>. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/209685/century-spice-road">Century: Spice Road</a> was hugely popular last year and I didn't want to miss out in the initial rush for the sequel, but I'm avoiding looking at how much it costs elsewhere so that I won't find out what my panic cost me!<br />
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There was plenty of scope to try before you buy for a lot of games, with large demonstration areas staffed by friendly experts who will distil the rules down for you and get you playing in no time. Or if you're feeling really modern, at the Dized stand you can even learn games from a tablet! Their app (currently in development) takes you through setting up a game and feeds you the rules as you play, meaning you can just sit down at the table and go. It wasn't exactly hitch free when we tried out the system with Blood Rage, but from a standing start the fact that we were playing in a few minutes was really great. You can find more information on Dized at <a href="https://dized.com/" rel="nofollow">their website</a> and it's due for general release in Autumn.<br />
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I also spent some time this year at the Family Zone run by Imagination Gaming, as at three years old my son is finally starting to expand his own games collection. They were really knowledgeable about children's games and kindly took time to explain which ones would be suitable and the benefits of each. I may have come away with a couple more to add to his cubes of the gaming shelves...<br />
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It's not just games for sale at UKGE, though. I'm super jealous that <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/05/guest-post-board-game-soundtracks.html">Piete</a> and <a href="https://certainlygeeky.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Pam</a> got to order their amazing new gaming table at the show, courtesy of <a href="http://www.geeknson.com/" rel="nofollow">Geeknson</a> who make beautiful, practical and customisable gaming tables.<br />
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Or sometimes, really random cool ones that happen to fit their booth theme!<br />
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Awesome artists like <a href="http://jenefer.net/" rel="nofollow">Jenefer Ham</a> and her Gamer Glass stand offered a chance to pick up some unique gaming accessories. These adorable 'mooples' were made especially for UKGE to match the Wild West theme of the Geeknson area where her stand was located (plus cat, because, well, cats!).<br />
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Meeting Jen and her husband <a href="https://www.youtube.com/rahdo" rel="nofollow">Richard (Rahdo) Ham</a> was one of my real Expo highlights. I love their work and the podcast that they put together is essential listening for me, although it feels really odd to meet people you've laughed and cried with over the years when they have absolutely no reason to know who you are! I bought way too many things from the Gamer Glass stand, but these are people I'm more than happy to support, and I have shiny new meeple accessories that I love. [<a href="https://www.patreon.com/rahdo" rel="nofollow">Rahdo's Patreon</a> - <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/JeneferHamGlass" rel="nofollow">Jen's Etsy store</a>]<br />
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On Friday night I headed to one of the many panels and seminars run over the course of the weekend. This particular one was a live recording of the <a href="http://gaming-rules.com/" rel="nofollow">Gaming Rules!</a> podcast, featuring Paul Grogan, Edward Uhler of <a href="https://www.heavycardboard.com/" rel="nofollow">Heavy Cardboard</a>, Matt Evans from <a href="http://www.creakingshelves.com/" rel="nofollow">Creaking Shelves</a> and Tom Heath of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/jimshears" rel="nofollow">Slicker Drips</a>. Apologies for the photos taken with a zoom in the dark!!<br />
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Simon Cutforth received his Heavy Cardboard 2016 Golden Elephant Award for <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/193867/1822-railways-great-britain" rel="nofollow">1822: The Railways of Great Britain</a>:<br />
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It was great to hear everyone's highlights of the weekend so far, as well as learn how to definitely not pronounce <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/229853/teotihuacan-city-gods" rel="nofollow">Teotihuacan</a>...<br />
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Sadly I didn't manage to fit in any of the other live entertainment events this year, but all my favourites of previous years were on the slate, including Pandemic Live, Knightmare Live, and <a href="http://www.thejohnrobertson.com/thedarkroom/" rel="nofollow">The Dark Room</a>. You can <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2017/06/uk-games-expo-2017-highlights.html">read more about them in last year's post</a>, and I'd thoroughly recommend any of them if you can squeeze the time into your schedule! There are always the Viking and Orc camps to visit as you wander around the lake, too. Here are some brave Vikings, about to be beaten up by a horde of marauding children:<br />
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Having discovered the loss of the early entry powers that came with last year's press pass on Friday, we choose to skip the morning queues for the rest of the Expo and have a game in the hotel after breakfast before heading around the lake to the NEC. The rest of the time was filled pretty solidly with demos and gaming that you can <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/06/uk-games-expo-2018-gaming-highlights.html">read more about in my dedicated post</a>.<br />
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Saturday was capped off with the epic charity raffle organised by Gaming Rules! and co-hosted by Edward from Heavy Cardboard. I was on co-photography duty that day, so there are plenty of snaps to show for a fantastic event that raised over £2,700 for the chosen UKGE charities.<br />
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In it's second year now, this event has exploded in scale and it makes me so happy to see how generous the exhibitors are with their prize donations. I was far less happy with my luck, however - I am some kind of raffle jinx, and somewhere in here are all my losing tickets!<br />
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This was further proved by my failure to win anything in the Gamer Glass raffle on Sunday - cursed, I tell you...<br />
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So, that was a little extract of my 2018 trip to the UK Games Expo! Thanks to everyone involved in organising the event, especially the kind people that generously volunteer their time to help out over the weekend and make it so fun. Fingers crossed that I can find an affordable way of attending next year, although with climbing hotel prices that's looking less and less likely. There are plenty of cheaper places to stay if you're willing to travel, but staying on site is where I feel safest and happiest, so with the Hilton where I've historically stayed now topping £260 a night I'm not sure what to do. We shall see what the next year brings!<br />
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[<a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/06/uk-games-expo-2018-gaming-highlights.html">Onwards to the games post</a>]<br />
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-82384820312403906232018-05-29T08:57:00.001-07:002018-05-29T08:57:17.627-07:00UK Games Expo 2018 - Exciting Things!With just a few days left until this year's UK Games Expo, I've made a little list below of some of the games I'm looking forward to seeing more of. The draft of this post has been kicking around in my Evernote for a while now, as there's so much to see that I keep adding and removing things each time a new press release arrives. Time to make some choices, though, as it's ALMOST TIME FOR UKGE, WOO! There might be a recurring theme of 'this is on the list because it looks shiny', so prepare for in-depth game coverage at its finest, people...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbsGHMavbCqOOzoWVufkDCIDPahYDQrYR33R9YH35oeyRdRc36GSDmjAXuZZ2nLiu4oNAa7AQQIDjzbPUxuBlzXhnNll-xwn_VcmkDUhj0kOMxpYHuvygTj9Fh1uqPurZAQ3AfOgS2ex7/s1600/UKGE_Logo_Orange_Black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1600" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbsGHMavbCqOOzoWVufkDCIDPahYDQrYR33R9YH35oeyRdRc36GSDmjAXuZZ2nLiu4oNAa7AQQIDjzbPUxuBlzXhnNll-xwn_VcmkDUhj0kOMxpYHuvygTj9Fh1uqPurZAQ3AfOgS2ex7/s640/UKGE_Logo_Orange_Black.jpg" title="UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Alley Cat Games (Stand 1-B6)</h3>
Pretty much everything on the Alley Cat stand is calling to me for one reason or other. They've acquired a lot of my hard-earned cash over the past few months via Kickstarters for <b>Pocket Pharma</b> (Brett J Gilber/Chu-Lan Kao), <b>Pocket Sub</b> (Darrin Horbal) and <b>Dice Hospital</b> (Stan Kordonskiy/Mike Nudd), so it'll be great to see how those are going.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXywg4LXQk7hW0qCX64hNGpeeBSSR5NQ5W5DxRYUO1jeNjYLC7rW5OEH7B2V6V2y2cB3vKsw1NUWYvPsCiuxyJy2p6Gv15XfFnHnEzWxuUbXbIWhIact1pT2t3K3UGPQPjheaCxzSX9Sx/s1600/chocolate-factory-alley-cat-games.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chocolate Factory - Alley Cat Games" border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="1024" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXywg4LXQk7hW0qCX64hNGpeeBSSR5NQ5W5DxRYUO1jeNjYLC7rW5OEH7B2V6V2y2cB3vKsw1NUWYvPsCiuxyJy2p6Gv15XfFnHnEzWxuUbXbIWhIact1pT2t3K3UGPQPjheaCxzSX9Sx/s640/chocolate-factory-alley-cat-games.png" title="Chocolate Factory - Alley Cat Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shallow as ever, the box art and themes for <b>Chocolate Factory</b> (Brett J Gilbert/Matthew Dunstann) and dice-stacking-reef-creation game <b>Coral Islands</b> (Richard Maass, Rohan Dagard) had me hooked before even knowing anything about the gameplay, so looking at these demo games in more detail would be brilliant. Chocolate factory has an actual conveyor belt and little wooden chocolate pieces, so I might have trouble walking away from the stand without accidentally eating someone's carefully crafted prototypes...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJdO_G3gHl4bH0Y7yaJBbYOknsPNYgnuK5tKXjLI6ush3nMeCkCfxYetPm1wV77AQi_p8p-UmhMn375FUf1Ccd6nMAtdErI_2xYFeDsX8YRDT0MQdfldKjFAf4IoZgjCNDMgvQA9EqRzL/s1600/coral-islands-alley-cat-games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Coral Islands - Alley Cat Games" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJdO_G3gHl4bH0Y7yaJBbYOknsPNYgnuK5tKXjLI6ush3nMeCkCfxYetPm1wV77AQi_p8p-UmhMn375FUf1Ccd6nMAtdErI_2xYFeDsX8YRDT0MQdfldKjFAf4IoZgjCNDMgvQA9EqRzL/s640/coral-islands-alley-cat-games.jpg" title="Coral Islands - Alley Cat Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Asmodee (Stand 1-C10)</h3>
Having slightly skipped over <b>A Song of Ice & Fire</b> in the release list (possibly a huge mistake!) for being both another Game of Thrones game and another miniatures game, I'm still excited to see <b>Century: Eastern Wonders</b> (Emerson Matsuuchi) at the Asmodee stand. Having enjoyed last year's Century: Spice Road so much, it will be great to finally find out what's next in the series, and how much Eastern Wonders can be combined with the original game as our merchants set sail to the Far East.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBpu3Eno5eQqVqne31aNwGdPbMMDGoTCj9ilcK0lUME94YjX1lzRLOMY3wJpZa_mUZ1cvuJ2q1nyLUZ8vMqlqQ_Kb2sunP1v3mVKbJR7vWdhQTXf3iDQeeApkQ75Viqy8CkPmWZ98jneW/s1600/century-eastern-wonders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Century Eastern Wonders - Plan B Games" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="710" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBpu3Eno5eQqVqne31aNwGdPbMMDGoTCj9ilcK0lUME94YjX1lzRLOMY3wJpZa_mUZ1cvuJ2q1nyLUZ8vMqlqQ_Kb2sunP1v3mVKbJR7vWdhQTXf3iDQeeApkQ75Viqy8CkPmWZ98jneW/s640/century-eastern-wonders.jpg" title="Century Eastern Wonders - Plan B Games" width="441" /></a></div>
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Asmodee also have <b>Ticket to Ride: New York</b> on the slate, a new scaled down version of the original Ticket to Ride game where you map out routes in Manhattan with taxis rather than trains. It's supposed to play in 15 minutes, which makes it very interesting to me while game time is at a premium.<br />
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<h3>
Board & Dice (Stand 1-K2)</h3>
Another stand where I pretty much want to see everything, Board & Dice impressed last year with <b>Pocket Mars</b> and <b>Superhot</b>. They also seem to be really nice guys, and were so happy to find us playing my new copy of Pocket Mars in the bar last year that they posed for a photo:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrmtFjxpXkcAR-RJGVcw-Cxc7Wx-EGE_r8ccYo5DJXNEpYxtKilIyzlj8pENYFvsGYByzl0zogxYmZQRbaY-Zym2kP2M9uMJOBjVbw94GbxswCJo44MgAvbGFEV7zwQ5-irFY1nSwSL9R/s1600/gaming-rules-board-and-dice-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Board & Dice - UKGE 2017" border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrmtFjxpXkcAR-RJGVcw-Cxc7Wx-EGE_r8ccYo5DJXNEpYxtKilIyzlj8pENYFvsGYByzl0zogxYmZQRbaY-Zym2kP2M9uMJOBjVbw94GbxswCJo44MgAvbGFEV7zwQ5-irFY1nSwSL9R/s640/gaming-rules-board-and-dice-2.jpg" title="Board & Dice - UKGE 2017" width="640" /></a></div>
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This year they're bringing <b>5 Minute Chase</b> (Dave Neale/Antony Proietti), a real-time tile-laying game where players are either prison escapees or the detectives sent to track them down. I feel like this has the potential for plenty of chaos and shouting, so it totally makes it to the list.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYl1zDek5X0O0oxiwQfT04EkdqbO7dd4X5LN1dOnb5A_vjI2Zv-sjVl_FmZjaEUj_o6EL5pcIMlctLegp-eExyKaAn1M890zkNIXBgfmJIp2G-ZDOk7PwqLQbnIytRJ2JO00GNene-OXG/s1600/board-and-dice-5-minute-chase.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="5 Minute Chase - Board & Dice" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYl1zDek5X0O0oxiwQfT04EkdqbO7dd4X5LN1dOnb5A_vjI2Zv-sjVl_FmZjaEUj_o6EL5pcIMlctLegp-eExyKaAn1M890zkNIXBgfmJIp2G-ZDOk7PwqLQbnIytRJ2JO00GNene-OXG/s640/board-and-dice-5-minute-chase.png" title="5 Minute Chase - Board & Dice" width="640" /></a></div>
There's also <b>Escape Tales: The Awakening</b> (Jakub Caban/Matt Dembek/Bartosz Idzikowski), a story-driven escape game where a father strives to rescue his daughter from a mysterious coma. I've really enjoyed the Exit games and the first Unlock! installment, so I can't wait to see what the Board & Dice take on the escape-room-in-a-box genre will be like.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8V6TFh6PeMIEmfysT7kGER1bFKhDHAKGaE459yejq0Q5Ikx6Cg-IuADl7YDcJs2HFGAKeAKDrM7BlSggaUMatp1ee7uaH5NzEnhzr25-mM5pe3Dlh2jRDKxBl2BAw7t9ktjhDZ5PIuV1/s1600/escape-tales-the-awakening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape Tales: The Awakening - Board & Dice" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8V6TFh6PeMIEmfysT7kGER1bFKhDHAKGaE459yejq0Q5Ikx6Cg-IuADl7YDcJs2HFGAKeAKDrM7BlSggaUMatp1ee7uaH5NzEnhzr25-mM5pe3Dlh2jRDKxBl2BAw7t9ktjhDZ5PIuV1/s640/escape-tales-the-awakening.jpg" title="Escape Tales: The Awakening - Board & Dice" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>InBetween</b> (Adam Kwapiński) sounds a lot like Stranger Things the board game, in a two player tug-of-war over the town of Upsideville between the Human and Creature dimensions. Once again, I'm going mainly on theme with my excitement about InBetween - but hopefully I'll learn more at the Expo!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmrCVgUpdf-Zmybhi2OW9EcJ2B_9ig0j1uTA8lk5V4OvVG0b2spmNhevIKAPjJjp83GjsnlahSRBhSi3oeevBpQdkSSU_ATI9t4At4jBhkgZL8VFBxA3XgOvF-dKBAzGFFDLMR8IRywIE/s1600/board-and-dice-inbetween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="InBetween - Board & Dice" border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="1024" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmrCVgUpdf-Zmybhi2OW9EcJ2B_9ig0j1uTA8lk5V4OvVG0b2spmNhevIKAPjJjp83GjsnlahSRBhSi3oeevBpQdkSSU_ATI9t4At4jBhkgZL8VFBxA3XgOvF-dKBAzGFFDLMR8IRywIE/s640/board-and-dice-inbetween.jpg" title="InBetween - Board & Dice" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Brain Games (Stand 1-B14)</h3>
We've had a lot of fun with the original family dexterity game Ice Cool, and I'd like to see how Brain Games are going to expand the gameplay in <b>Ice Cool 2</b>. You can combine the new version with the original for races and other game modes, which sounds like a lot of fun.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3Twcx0HvBuBWkT4j3iNiqaDVNoxVOt7fZYSaij9MAoABneAtuyfmDiNX6Rx4YYZccaWQttyMNyXPIw0sh23NAalpItQNcGKRkpBMhbW6XOYLgbNw_ksetCPGwRrO4oKX9BkWyemAByEy/s1600/Ice_Cool_2_box_front_web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ice Cool 2 - Brain Games" border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="1000" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3Twcx0HvBuBWkT4j3iNiqaDVNoxVOt7fZYSaij9MAoABneAtuyfmDiNX6Rx4YYZccaWQttyMNyXPIw0sh23NAalpItQNcGKRkpBMhbW6XOYLgbNw_ksetCPGwRrO4oKX9BkWyemAByEy/s640/Ice_Cool_2_box_front_web.png" title="Ice Cool 2 - Brain Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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They're also expanding their penguin-ey universe with <b>Pyramid of Pengqueen</b>, another family game involving a cat-and-mouse chase between some adventurous treasure-seeking penguins and a mummy through the mysterious pyramid that they discovered under the school from Ice Cool! It also has a double-sided vertical magnetic board so that the mummy player can't see where the other players are, but the other players can see the mummy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3IIh4l3I4bN2evCL9oPLDkaKQZQfGiTGOq51BtTBsZJDDo_Zzue-LGO_lyAkoBdk5LH1ZvUDnwFJkTIUxI0huYD9dSJjsFNsUjCKo6M8clQ-AHStywQ2CWrYJfgiBW7LVyu_ltPvoVv8/s1600/Pyramid_of_Pengqueen_box_front_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pyramid of Pengqueen - Brain Games" border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1000" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3IIh4l3I4bN2evCL9oPLDkaKQZQfGiTGOq51BtTBsZJDDo_Zzue-LGO_lyAkoBdk5LH1ZvUDnwFJkTIUxI0huYD9dSJjsFNsUjCKo6M8clQ-AHStywQ2CWrYJfgiBW7LVyu_ltPvoVv8/s640/Pyramid_of_Pengqueen_box_front_web.jpg" title="Pyramid of Pengqueen - Brain Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Coiledspring Games (Stand 1-B18)</h3>
Coiledspring are the distributors for plenty of great games, including the amazing Photosynthesis, and they have a few on their stand that are definitely on my go-and-look-at list. Not a new game, but <b>Gonuts for Donuts</b> (Zachary Eagle) has to be on the list for no other reason than the amazing cover, the doughnut theme and the beautiful <a href="http://www.sugarhighscore.com/go-nuts-for-donuts-cake/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cake it inspired from Sugar High Score</a>. Seriously, click that link!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcsRZxgU8I4Vx-uXvMb1vM0JveRCMC_CEORXR1G0zFUpnZ61uy5Wyn3jalhwjTUKv8qMqMznSI8R84A1EVR6Skib9qBT3ZzQn0HmvPukt3fbECqBtHe18wDsDip1Sv5H1JUQM1-3QZNur/s1600/go-nuts-for-donuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Go Nuts for Donuts - Gamewright" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="827" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcsRZxgU8I4Vx-uXvMb1vM0JveRCMC_CEORXR1G0zFUpnZ61uy5Wyn3jalhwjTUKv8qMqMznSI8R84A1EVR6Skib9qBT3ZzQn0HmvPukt3fbECqBtHe18wDsDip1Sv5H1JUQM1-3QZNur/s640/go-nuts-for-donuts.jpg" title="Go Nuts for Donuts - Gamewright" width="516" /></a></div>
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<b>Mountains of Madness</b> (Rob Daviau) is another game from last year that I still haven't had a chance to look at, and since it's based on my favourite H P Lovecraft story I really do need to check it out.<br />
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<h3>
Czech Games Edition (Stand 1-B2)</h3>
<b>Adrenaline</b> (Filip Neduk) is an amazingly fun first-person shooter board game, and CGE will be showing off the <b>Team Play DLC</b> expansion this year. As well as adding a sixth player into the mix, the expansion also adds (as the title might hint) the ability to play in teams, so I'm interested to see what attempting to work together and plan combos does to the currently super-straightforward gameplay.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXYGsI3bF4LkZehEH-DHX5iDrgHgycDneD9-yl4PNDiKojXdOLeVvOOnx7Phu7XNLNXRb97Ze9X_jgaBXZBUddhhCICY2FAidYodLSUoVb-nu7gm7RF-f5ZXH777YZfNJ2VmHUxHzz-OV/s1600/adrenaline-team-play-dlc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adrenaline Team Play DLC - Czech Games Edition" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="366" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXYGsI3bF4LkZehEH-DHX5iDrgHgycDneD9-yl4PNDiKojXdOLeVvOOnx7Phu7XNLNXRb97Ze9X_jgaBXZBUddhhCICY2FAidYodLSUoVb-nu7gm7RF-f5ZXH777YZfNJ2VmHUxHzz-OV/s640/adrenaline-team-play-dlc.jpg" title="Adrenaline Team Play DLC - Czech Games Edition" width="468" /></a></div>
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At Airecon earlier this year I saw plenty of people playing a demo of <b>Pictomania</b> (Vlaada Chvátil), but didn't get a chance to try - maybe UKGE is my chance! Any game involving people drawing and trying to guess what other people are drawing is always a good laugh, and in Pictomania this all happens simultaneously so the potential for chaos is huge.<br />
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<h3>
HABA (Stand 1-A5)</h3>
At three years old, my son's boardgame collection is already starting to encroach on mine (he's up to two cubes, now!) - but that's because I keep finding shiny new things from people like HABA to add to it. They make tons of amazing games for little kids, so I'll be interested to see what's new here.<br />
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<h3>
Hub Games (Stand 2-E2)</h3>
I initially skipped over <b>Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr</b> (Michael Fox II/Rory O'Connor) as the theme (dying and regret...) looked a bit heavy for my usually frivolous tastes, but reading the description on a second pass it sounds like a really interesting take on the co-operative storytelling genre. You all play as nurses caring for the terminally ill Billy Kerr, trying to balance providing his medical care with attempting to unravel his memories and regrets. It's different to anything I've seen before, so I'm not sure what to expect, but definitely think it's worth investigating further.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiA-wzIHW0URM9LXZlG7PugJR3xefg0R314mJEcAySqhCU2C_8ia0z5WAiaW37JxPJxQ-AnaW07UmtaVYHTj_WRPtzXvqYNwlBTRsqi2gOxOGNIC8cdYjOcykkAoJ1uSQeSKRy3uIMN-dR/s1600/holding-on-billy-kerr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr" border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1024" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiA-wzIHW0URM9LXZlG7PugJR3xefg0R314mJEcAySqhCU2C_8ia0z5WAiaW37JxPJxQ-AnaW07UmtaVYHTj_WRPtzXvqYNwlBTRsqi2gOxOGNIC8cdYjOcykkAoJ1uSQeSKRy3uIMN-dR/s640/holding-on-billy-kerr.jpg" title="Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Juniper Games (Stand 2-C11)</h3>
I can't find vast amounts of information on <b>Defenders of Dragonfell</b> (Ben Crundwell), but it's labelled as co-operative tower defense game where attacking enemies gains you gold to spend on upgrading defensive towers. This ticks a couple of major boxes for me, as I love tower defense games in the digital realm but haven't found anything quite the same as a board game. I'm definitely planning on popping to this stand for a quick look!<br />
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<h3>
Lucky Duck Games (Stand 1-H26)</h3>
<b>Chronicles of Crime</b> (David Cicurel) is a co-operative crime investigation game with an added VR element where you use an app on your phone in combination with some VR glasses to find clues. Without the technology element it sounds like a theme I'd enjoy, but I'm not totally sold on how well VR would integrate into a board game. I'm always willing to be proved wrong, so would love to see more on how this works.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2EUKgXmxk9AlGG2Z6LUVfefkt9OMs8zZPzb7CAeHZ3zQnBRKMVXwNJPNfZJ2kASKAlMSGYruL3l4GlN1DCeh0jGapwy3rsfXI24VhloIU1vuESuY95_hixIwNs4sDnf5ZeomZWE6p2KP/s1600/chronicles-of-crime-lucky-duck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chronicles of Crime - Lucky Duck Games" border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="734" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2EUKgXmxk9AlGG2Z6LUVfefkt9OMs8zZPzb7CAeHZ3zQnBRKMVXwNJPNfZJ2kASKAlMSGYruL3l4GlN1DCeh0jGapwy3rsfXI24VhloIU1vuESuY95_hixIwNs4sDnf5ZeomZWE6p2KP/s640/chronicles-of-crime-lucky-duck.jpg" title="Chronicles of Crime - Lucky Duck Games" width="610" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Ludicreations (Stand 1-J8)</h3>
I was hoping to see <b>Mr Cabbagehead's Garden</b> (Todd Sanders) so that I could make my mind up on the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ludicreations/mr-cabbageheads-garden/description" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> that's currently running. However, it looks like it finishes tomorrow, so I have to decide a bit more quickly than planned! The artwork for this game (also by Todd Sanders) is both amazing and terrifying in an inexplicable way, and I love it. I also love the theme, with Mr Cabbagehead desperately trying to grow a prize-winning vegetable garden whilst his annoying neighbours constantly interfere.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4I7ZFTGfLNzPhuFxp7OfztW-Dwe_oFKkEheGf4AiTbjEZQ-6zaqFWoG0h1pL0HTa4A58NqxCNzT0qye-3fDsURyK_oOP6i6dYArv-h4AadrxJOoCb9FHOKUn13M0TQ4Dyvvp-aINTJesu/s1600/mr-cabbageheads-garden-todd-sanders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mr Cabbagehead's Garden - Ludicreations" border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="576" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4I7ZFTGfLNzPhuFxp7OfztW-Dwe_oFKkEheGf4AiTbjEZQ-6zaqFWoG0h1pL0HTa4A58NqxCNzT0qye-3fDsURyK_oOP6i6dYArv-h4AadrxJOoCb9FHOKUn13M0TQ4Dyvvp-aINTJesu/s640/mr-cabbageheads-garden-todd-sanders.jpg" title="Mr Cabbagehead's Garden - Ludicreations" width="434" /></a></div>
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<h3>
One Free Elephant (Stand 1-J7)</h3>
I had a brief look at Lovecraftian tile-placement game <b>Carcosa</b> (Nigel Kennington) at last year's Expo, and have since picked it up a couple of times in my FLGS but never quite tipped over the edge to buy a copy. Perhaps this is the year?<br />
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I'd also like to take a look at <b>Microbrew</b> (Sarah Kennington/Nigel Kennington), a two-player worker placement/puzzle game hybrid that comes in a teeny tin. I love a teeny tin, I love microgames and I love beer, so this is definitely on the radar.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRBfJjO3Jet0dZ1Ou77iZdzERNF5llAjd6E1LH7-5bcRZqDJQKaNctqdmxY8DC6JmWaMS5dkJVNV1BvicoT7OU6oZZA1L6Jz2K6I3VKAOthw42RXDKZcXbBdvB4E2cLU-UJBX1HWdnbXb/s1600/microbrew-one-free-elephant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Microbrew - One Free Elephant" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRBfJjO3Jet0dZ1Ou77iZdzERNF5llAjd6E1LH7-5bcRZqDJQKaNctqdmxY8DC6JmWaMS5dkJVNV1BvicoT7OU6oZZA1L6Jz2K6I3VKAOthw42RXDKZcXbBdvB4E2cLU-UJBX1HWdnbXb/s640/microbrew-one-free-elephant.jpg" title="Microbrew - One Free Elephant" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Sinister Fish Games (Stand 1-G3)</h3>
<b>Villagers</b> (Haakon Gaarder) is an engine building and card drafting game set in something similar to medieval Europe, where you work to populate the most prosperous new village. It's on Kickstarter now, so it would be great to check this one out 'in person' and see if it lives up to its beautiful, minimalist artwork (also by Haakon Gaarder). Check out the <a href="https://boardmeetings.co.uk/2018/05/22/villiagers-review/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Board Meetings review</a> if you'd like to read more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX30_x7Cr2l2du7Icth-ap26vMiU3nw2krU8u8RW8L8XAZFCXEe3JSFUyvSbmHWVMNaJEBR468xvx4dgBwPb9HW_uwZnrEn0Mwdmzi1wsDiqjKO2HcfZxjnMqkidsqzlXbNYnOp_wZTzFQ/s1600/villagers-sinister-fish-games.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Villagers - Sinister Fish Games" border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX30_x7Cr2l2du7Icth-ap26vMiU3nw2krU8u8RW8L8XAZFCXEe3JSFUyvSbmHWVMNaJEBR468xvx4dgBwPb9HW_uwZnrEn0Mwdmzi1wsDiqjKO2HcfZxjnMqkidsqzlXbNYnOp_wZTzFQ/s640/villagers-sinister-fish-games.png" title="Villagers - Sinister Fish Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Stuff by Bez (Stand 1-T9)</h3>
Bez has the most amazing imagination and always has something new and fun to look at, especially the prototype of '<b>+</b>' which won't be released until August 2019, so I have to get in a game while I can. Plus I owe her a cat for the amazing wall of cat-based drawings collected from conventions past!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhhU07xLV6g-fFepLlOaxrL9mgjlWftNpPK4oP1uCci-w9uEJehzVjZwJdl19I6MPyV41Pc5GZ_cuGNSDZCf3v2Fpnl29gOPmHmKE0UQQTrNqXislV0vZUibl1QgaaHGlRlIqv9NIEEpV/s1600/airecon-bez-cats.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Stuff by Bez" border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhhU07xLV6g-fFepLlOaxrL9mgjlWftNpPK4oP1uCci-w9uEJehzVjZwJdl19I6MPyV41Pc5GZ_cuGNSDZCf3v2Fpnl29gOPmHmKE0UQQTrNqXislV0vZUibl1QgaaHGlRlIqv9NIEEpV/s640/airecon-bez-cats.png" title="Stuff by Bez" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Taiwan Boardgame Design (Stand 2-B15)</h3>
<b>Rescue Polar Bears: Data & Temperature</b> (Jog Kung/Huang Yi Ming) was for sale on Kickstarter recently and I didn't quite make the leap, but this might be a second chance! It's a co-operative game with a big global warming message, where you rescue polar bears from melting icebergs while collecting data on climate change. It has the most adorable little polar bear pieces and teeny cardboard ships that make the game look amazing on the table.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXus_CJ6YWooU95heuotR0mTzcC451FbsZCk6nf7KrahAwRDUXcal7V3GPZyeAJ_9lkGW4P3Yxz-I2zH2jP8xqUurvXmw65busvvUzqHReDjqgn1cPef9P6ODy-evUnj9ooPWZNn5AF-7x/s1600/rescue-polar-bears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rescue Polar Bears Data & Temperature" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="953" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXus_CJ6YWooU95heuotR0mTzcC451FbsZCk6nf7KrahAwRDUXcal7V3GPZyeAJ_9lkGW4P3Yxz-I2zH2jP8xqUurvXmw65busvvUzqHReDjqgn1cPef9P6ODy-evUnj9ooPWZNn5AF-7x/s640/rescue-polar-bears.jpg" title="Rescue Polar Bears Data & Temperature" width="594" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Thundergryph Games (Stand 1-H20)</h3>
With a Kickstarter launching on June 18th, it will be great to take a look at Thundergryph Games' <b>Tang Garden</b> (Francesco Testini/Pierluca Zizzi), where you build up a beautiful three-dimensional garden to be judged and admired by the noblemen of ancient China. I think the picture pretty much sells itself; just look at it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpkJhqhlYB3xyU5vhwKPUqnWDSqH3E6PtESqIMBLBRhJRO0Y9UZQ2Q9tWUL9JSx8QCGDBv-Vozl40_6EtD-FDNhHobCNTpNXX5fZTC3VAI_CQnLmrlgDaY2quDFzZ7ssuRq6VucOz4lT_/s1600/tg-overview-info.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tang Garden - Thundergryph Games" border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="740" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpkJhqhlYB3xyU5vhwKPUqnWDSqH3E6PtESqIMBLBRhJRO0Y9UZQ2Q9tWUL9JSx8QCGDBv-Vozl40_6EtD-FDNhHobCNTpNXX5fZTC3VAI_CQnLmrlgDaY2quDFzZ7ssuRq6VucOz4lT_/s640/tg-overview-info.png" title="Tang Garden - Thundergryph Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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Plenty more information and pictures are available on their website <a href="https://thundergryph.com/tang-garden/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<h3>
Z-Man Games (Stand 1-K28)</h3>
Okay, I know I said earlier that I didn't need more miniatures games... but: giant space samurai mechs!! <b>Starship Samurai</b> (Isaac Vega) is previewing at the Z-Man stand and I'm pretty in love with it just from the title and cover art, which I realise is (again) shallow, but... did I mention giant space samurai mechs?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmSPF6XKFx9Qg-LtnEaaIIQSB94tblH6jCowk7c7HfRlgADuLYNRwfvF1X28YXUHkNj1oggl4V3YUOWyt7jpu7XJTjunmvx-IRtEEpYoCzn_plcL1ANpIc-Scj-hPe09N_GXbDxAlFpO9/s1600/starship-samurai-plaid-hat-games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Starship Samurai - Plaid Hat Games" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmSPF6XKFx9Qg-LtnEaaIIQSB94tblH6jCowk7c7HfRlgADuLYNRwfvF1X28YXUHkNj1oggl4V3YUOWyt7jpu7XJTjunmvx-IRtEEpYoCzn_plcL1ANpIc-Scj-hPe09N_GXbDxAlFpO9/s640/starship-samurai-plaid-hat-games.jpg" title="Starship Samurai - Plaid Hat Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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Firmly on the list for nostalgia reasons is <b>Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger</b> (Prospero Hall). It looks just like the books we had as kids, and falls into the co-operative storytelling genre I love so much. This isn't based on one of the ones I read, but at least that means I can't cheat!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASohY-L_fPNF5mOD8O2bM50rrRiO0XE82iRUurnG6_AVMqUixAjr4MIyvRfORQx5ZUvrP0hv7LqwVRz-iZv-U7Byd43lBmvwaec8__pWLZdFCclpjivlyqpvq8PkynpCztg8jWzkNsv7n/s1600/choose-your-own-adventure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Choose Your Own Adventure - Z-Man Games" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="669" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASohY-L_fPNF5mOD8O2bM50rrRiO0XE82iRUurnG6_AVMqUixAjr4MIyvRfORQx5ZUvrP0hv7LqwVRz-iZv-U7Byd43lBmvwaec8__pWLZdFCclpjivlyqpvq8PkynpCztg8jWzkNsv7n/s640/choose-your-own-adventure.jpg" title="Choose Your Own Adventure - Z-Man Games" width="418" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Wreck and Ruin - Mark McKinnon (Stand 1-K22)</h3>
Mark McKinnon returns to the expo with his <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/197946/wreck-and-ruin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">post-apocalyptic miniatures game</a> where rival factions smash each other's convoy vehicles to pieces and sieze control of valuable salvage. I had a chance to try this out at Airecon and backed his recent Kickstarter campaign on the strength of this playthrough, but sadly it was unsuccessful. I'd love to catch up with Mark and see what his plans are for the renewed campaign, starting in time for the Expo.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc40WFxueobgpUupv8ewvwC_BHoeSK2SWZlmfS6lw9Vu1Q0-qYNennYQQy5NJnOREKrbOKw1Wb2MK4IDR91gu1yGeCr8R5Pv2fpf14OM5BBz9qcVexv716XraiaueAS23_gwhshvGRewFq/s1600/wreck-and-ruin-cover-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Wreck and Ruin" border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="1024" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc40WFxueobgpUupv8ewvwC_BHoeSK2SWZlmfS6lw9Vu1Q0-qYNennYQQy5NJnOREKrbOKw1Wb2MK4IDR91gu1yGeCr8R5Pv2fpf14OM5BBz9qcVexv716XraiaueAS23_gwhshvGRewFq/s640/wreck-and-ruin-cover-art.jpg" title="Wreck and Ruin" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
The Dice Dungeon - Richard Massey (Stand 1-D9a)</h3>
This two-player dungeon explorer caught my attention on a recent UK Games Expo newsletter, mainly for this clever 'dungeon waffle' idea where players slot dice in to make a map, trying to connect the two sides of the grid. The idea looked really original and I love anything with lots of custom dice, so I'll be checking this out if I can, along with their <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/34735497/the-dice-dungeon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kickstarter campaign</a> (ending 10th June).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypMw5eOE62K7OqvpWcixfr7s7dbbcFeuFrYdaOLeN-fvQcVoTuXZ_7rzvGzxPoYKg5s5adAPXpvY7uqrbBEXQtTdZpsJBitiFj67oZCCikoDxjqEpch6ZXaqNLuhrq5SIZQXucFe3Aqsm/s1600/dice-dungeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Dice Dungeon" border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="530" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypMw5eOE62K7OqvpWcixfr7s7dbbcFeuFrYdaOLeN-fvQcVoTuXZ_7rzvGzxPoYKg5s5adAPXpvY7uqrbBEXQtTdZpsJBitiFj67oZCCikoDxjqEpch6ZXaqNLuhrq5SIZQXucFe3Aqsm/s640/dice-dungeon.jpg" title="The Dice Dungeon" width="640" /></a></div>
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Well done for making it to the end of that list, which barely scratches the surface of what's on offer! A huge thanks to Tom Heath for putting together the big UKGE game list, which you can find <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/240841/uk-games-expo-2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> if you want to take a more in-depth look at what's on offer.<br />
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You can of course find an abundance of information on the main <a href="https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UK Games Expo website</a>.<br />
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Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-11490034411944036602018-05-21T14:15:00.001-07:002018-05-21T14:16:14.707-07:00Review: Photosynthesis board gameYew wooden be-leaf how many arboreal puns you could get into one (t)re(e)view, but stick with me, ash I promise I've gotten them all out of my sy-stem in the first line...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTO28aIJCK_Qrcn3fQztSy1jgesSd2yY_ds6j7Clkseqz7QyHITZ08o6SFy31V9fcFI4NFGhYv7SQ0kJ-RsYSgWZCvLJAiAuniTM6qIJhYv14jmEKUVBcV-Bkl1qPFCf98nFHTDQ49bv4/s1600/photosynthesis-box-art-random-nerdery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis box art | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1593" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTO28aIJCK_Qrcn3fQztSy1jgesSd2yY_ds6j7Clkseqz7QyHITZ08o6SFy31V9fcFI4NFGhYv7SQ0kJ-RsYSgWZCvLJAiAuniTM6qIJhYv14jmEKUVBcV-Bkl1qPFCf98nFHTDQ49bv4/s640/photosynthesis-box-art-random-nerdery.jpg" title="Photosynthesis box art | Random Nerdery board game review" width="636" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Yeah, sorry about that. Sensible review time! Photosynthesis is a game I immediately fell in love with earlier this year when I picked up a copy during my trip to Airecon. It's a beautifully produced abstract strategy game from Blue Orange, designed by Hjalmar Hach and lovingly illustrated by Sabrina Miramon. It's also pretty much impossible to have on the table without people coming to ooh and aah over the three dimensional forest that you grow on the board throughout the game. Whilst magpies like me are initially drawn to the shiny production values, there has to be some awesome gameplay under the surface if a game is going to earn its place in an already-crowded collection, so I'm going to talk a bit here about whether or not Photosynthesis sticks around or gets the chop. Okay, sorry, really no more now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG5meGcGL_AE4ql6a1pczFxOE0uzzxn9XxmSWvB2oVNuCr2_Toe9RhmqjLjS-vjlCtWtCkpvG-iod7IJqcaCV1tbJsSUH0PGMCBx9KuvU0OQJrVM0mHz2JYNvLnodKeoyRspoFpV3fXbsz/s1600/photosynthesis-trees-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis trees | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG5meGcGL_AE4ql6a1pczFxOE0uzzxn9XxmSWvB2oVNuCr2_Toe9RhmqjLjS-vjlCtWtCkpvG-iod7IJqcaCV1tbJsSUH0PGMCBx9KuvU0OQJrVM0mHz2JYNvLnodKeoyRspoFpV3fXbsz/s640/photosynthesis-trees-2.jpg" title="Photosynthesis trees | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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As far as gameplay goes, Photosynthesis pretty much does what it says in its title. Players gather light points as the sun shines on their trees, then spend them on growing their colour-coordinated forest: planting seeds, growing young trees or chopping down old ones. All the while you're vying for position, with the most victory points available for growing trees in the fertile soil at the centre of the board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GEGvmV9YhA1OE29CkVxGi30u3iHR214rnVQ182WEhnH12fS-wNwS3DKry4VoX9dpEGYt2j1Bu6SVIsC-Ei2UcvXZGnCEOYAZD3R2mcrZwEFKpKmbaM-_MJ2BhgFOv7IV-C-pjfVzO9FN/s1600/photosynthesis-setup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis setup | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1600" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GEGvmV9YhA1OE29CkVxGi30u3iHR214rnVQ182WEhnH12fS-wNwS3DKry4VoX9dpEGYt2j1Bu6SVIsC-Ei2UcvXZGnCEOYAZD3R2mcrZwEFKpKmbaM-_MJ2BhgFOv7IV-C-pjfVzO9FN/s640/photosynthesis-setup.jpg" title="Photosynthesis setup | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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The cardboard sun circles the board three times over the course of the game (four, if you're playing advanced mode). It moves around to each corner of hexagonal board, and a round is played in each position. Rounds comprise two phases:<br />
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<h4>
<b>Photosynthesis Phase</b></h4>
The sun shines brightly on the board, allowing all the trees to photosynthesise and earn those all-important light points. That is, of course, if someone hasn't grown a bigger tree in the way: every tree casts a shadow according to its size. If your tree is in another tree's shadow and isn't tall enough to see over the top it won't earn any light points, and this is where things get really good. Or bad, if you like to avoid games where you end up mentally making your friends eat their stupid giant cardboard trees that just cost you all your points that round...<br />
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<h4>
Life Cycle Phase</h4>
If you made it out of the first phase with some light points (and weren't choked on a tree) you get to spend them in the life cycle phase. Each player takes it in turns to spend their points taking the following actions:<br />
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<b>Buy: </b>Before a seed or tree can be used on the board, it needs to be purchased from the tree 'shop' on your player board with the light points indicated.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZbNfMkbEhWsdytNvSy_tXaMin2gDxJ54bWvzlqiUkWYHsfvQZdpmaOJ56nkM33ioNyJ31fSRnqW538cKUS2bX6QhyphenhyphencsnGdP463zLtG4CjYP8-lmPFRyoU3GzSJ5D6flAPCxN8XNro9SJ/s1600/photosynthesis-blue-trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis player board | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1003" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZbNfMkbEhWsdytNvSy_tXaMin2gDxJ54bWvzlqiUkWYHsfvQZdpmaOJ56nkM33ioNyJ31fSRnqW538cKUS2bX6QhyphenhyphencsnGdP463zLtG4CjYP8-lmPFRyoU3GzSJ5D6flAPCxN8XNro9SJ/s640/photosynthesis-blue-trees.jpg" title="Photosynthesis player board | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Plant a seed:</b> Any seeds that have previously been purchased can be shed from one of your trees already on the board. Bigger trees can shed seeds further away, which is helpful for reaching the big-point spaces nearer the middle of the forest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT38XGUD4XKd6EB6g9VajnNYm3onsL-8cHFPl15dXxW0RU82GeHh62pNJIzu6057hRaq-faW7eFDaY5Gm6aHNiC46To5nhnny2tcf7pmJJG4v8O_U5EiZjfD7omr_p5VhFCtPGMNn_Xiqb/s1600/photosynthesis-seeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis seeds | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="1600" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT38XGUD4XKd6EB6g9VajnNYm3onsL-8cHFPl15dXxW0RU82GeHh62pNJIzu6057hRaq-faW7eFDaY5Gm6aHNiC46To5nhnny2tcf7pmJJG4v8O_U5EiZjfD7omr_p5VhFCtPGMNn_Xiqb/s640/photosynthesis-seeds.jpg" title="Photosynthesis seeds | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Grow a tree:</b> You can pay light points to grow a seed into a small tree, a small tree into a medium tree, or a medium tree into a big tree. You can only interact with each space once per turn, though, so growing a big tree takes a number of rounds.<br />
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<b>Collect: </b>This is where victory points are scored; you can pay light points to 'end the life-cycle' of large trees and collect scoring tokens based on the quality of the soil they were grown in. It's a much nicer way of saying 'chop your tree down for points', which is how I've been describing it to people!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhet3t45cCtGRkpRfcvjvW7RHi_4WFSmiKgYMZkrr9j6ZlT4fTkSRWIfkTZzzbYpkdObXwvdboWm_bSs90w6h2uRNX7f62oc53fhSA3g0bRGGcoW6VgOZO5nlB5uToVlR9LI0x25VJwHoIP/s1600/photosynthesis-points-token-random-nerdery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis points tokens | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="1600" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhet3t45cCtGRkpRfcvjvW7RHi_4WFSmiKgYMZkrr9j6ZlT4fTkSRWIfkTZzzbYpkdObXwvdboWm_bSs90w6h2uRNX7f62oc53fhSA3g0bRGGcoW6VgOZO5nlB5uToVlR9LI0x25VJwHoIP/s640/photosynthesis-points-token-random-nerdery.jpg" title="Photosynthesis points tokens | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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When the sun completes its third lap, everyone adds up their victory point tokens and any points earned for residual light points; most points wins.<br />
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As you'll have seen by now, Photosynthesis is clearly eye-catching. Beyond that, though, the theme feels really different to anything else in my collection and the straightforward gameplay feels streamlined and well designed rather than simplistic. It's an enjoyable strategic puzzle to solve, with as much of a take-that element to it as your group chooses to bring. I've played with people who apologise profusely for shading other trees, and with others who find it hilarious to deliberately target their friends - the experience really does depend on the players. The fact that I now refer to this game by the alternative title of 'Mean Trees' might give you a clue as to which side people normally ending up falling, though!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KMVd8RVgT_NLd15NKJIDb5KeqTJgUpr_Tv4iwivRUcN3_V5o3VVxr6Pj-amfc-up88eE3CGJjeDhzuF4D5zW71cMOvdFQ1jf1AVnxc0EEfYBoB7EKWUsGAnqacZMNMhF5WVVAQ-zxMet/s1600/photosynthesis-top-down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis top down | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1091" data-original-width="1600" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KMVd8RVgT_NLd15NKJIDb5KeqTJgUpr_Tv4iwivRUcN3_V5o3VVxr6Pj-amfc-up88eE3CGJjeDhzuF4D5zW71cMOvdFQ1jf1AVnxc0EEfYBoB7EKWUsGAnqacZMNMhF5WVVAQ-zxMet/s640/photosynthesis-top-down.jpg" title="Photosynthesis top down | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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There are plenty of decisions to make, and these change focus throughout the game. At the start you're balancing whether to plant new seeds or grow existing trees, keeping an eye on the sun's position and everyone else's moves to maximise your light gathering capacity. Towards the end you're deciding whether it's the right time to cut down your trees or whether you need the extra light that the bigger trees gather to keep your forest growing. It sounds like a lot to think about, but feels quite natural when you're playing and makes sure you're invested in everyone else's turn.<br />
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Sabrina Miramon's artwork is beautiful, with so many sweet little details to spot amongst the roots and branches. I'm very guilty of judging a game by its box, but Photosynthesis was in no danger of being passed over on that basis. Everything from the shiny tree on the front (yes, I got excited about spot UV, this is what I've become...) to the calming colour scheme adds to the already stand-out look of the game. The iconography is also very clear, with the reference guide on each player's board acting as a great reminder on light point costs throughout the game.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxbiiGKtu8WyyQONXwcZeJdLbxh-nNwBSPgWe-Gd131dXMofVYa0qCjkfCHlOSIjkpI_DtC-g_atrctyxgz20PTBcqL-_pwjMkowCDwT3JKdJq00jtFXQVmZayNCmEXggnxoUZlOyse_9/s1600/photosynthesis-costs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis light point cost | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxbiiGKtu8WyyQONXwcZeJdLbxh-nNwBSPgWe-Gd131dXMofVYa0qCjkfCHlOSIjkpI_DtC-g_atrctyxgz20PTBcqL-_pwjMkowCDwT3JKdJq00jtFXQVmZayNCmEXggnxoUZlOyse_9/s640/photosynthesis-costs.jpg" title="Photosynthesis light point cost | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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The components are great, with everything made from nice chunky cardboard, and the box is just about big enough to store all the trees while still assembled, so this keeps setup time to a minimum - although it takes quite a while to punch everything out in the first place, so allow some time for that on your first play.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlInSrP_C2yhMH5Qbz9A0vY79nPm4QT13Ng7fGAq5Uo5yQBOooKmgIt1v5cmSD_bCnndwsDPhJuc_fR9oj4I9RCZRuoc3KCLalT8n71UlaUffcIhDDLwjaaiDd3uI5J0sKKcbbqWdY9VV/s1600/photosynthesis-box-storage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis storage | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1576" data-original-width="1600" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlInSrP_C2yhMH5Qbz9A0vY79nPm4QT13Ng7fGAq5Uo5yQBOooKmgIt1v5cmSD_bCnndwsDPhJuc_fR9oj4I9RCZRuoc3KCLalT8n71UlaUffcIhDDLwjaaiDd3uI5J0sKKcbbqWdY9VV/s640/photosynthesis-box-storage.jpg" title="Photosynthesis storage | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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Photosynthesis is the current holder of my record for 'most rules messed up in a first play', which is completely my fault given how straightforward it is. I think I must've had the rulebook upside-down or something, because it really is very clearly explained and laid out, as well as being reassuringly thin. In my defense, it was very late at night when I read it! There's a great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a84AJ5ht_ng" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">video from Watch It Played</a> to take you through everything, too.<br />
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So, does it get to stay on the shelf? Whilst I love the theme and the puzzle, I think Photosynthesis will have limited replayablility with less casual gamers. Saying that, it's a definite keeper for the collection because of its brilliance as a game for new players. The theme draws people in really easily and the rules are quick and easy to explain (unless you're me, clearly!). It would also make a fun, lighter alternative to bring out every so often as something different for more experienced gamers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpUreQ_TKfuQZRrU-MzH7AdfisnIfgBgCVQh768p3IfkZou9bF_fe0OZ2j5kvpLGA8-FZG3sUw3NfCb-zP97yuSw3niw3Th7MYNzavTjZs-o3MKwlIXL_wf_HvdGmi2bDgsb_Gt54R8LJ/s1600/photosynthesis-trees-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photosynthesis trees 2 | Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpUreQ_TKfuQZRrU-MzH7AdfisnIfgBgCVQh768p3IfkZou9bF_fe0OZ2j5kvpLGA8-FZG3sUw3NfCb-zP97yuSw3niw3Th7MYNzavTjZs-o3MKwlIXL_wf_HvdGmi2bDgsb_Gt54R8LJ/s640/photosynthesis-trees-3.jpg" title="Photosynthesis trees 2 | Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Photosynthesis</h3>
<b>Designer: </b><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/91211/hjalmar-hach" rel="nofollow">Hjalmar Hach</a><br />
<b>Art: </b><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/69113/sabrina-miramon" rel="nofollow">Sabrina Miramon</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Blue Orange<br />
<b>Play time:</b> 45-60 mins<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-4<br />
<b>Age: </b>8+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £37.99<br />
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Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-60944255862936803652018-05-12T12:59:00.002-07:002018-05-12T12:59:24.287-07:00Guest Post: Board Game SoundtracksThe best bit about playing board games (apart from punching out the cardboard and organising everything, obviously) is sharing them with lovely people. I was lucky enough to spend a whole weekend with two of the loveliest recently, when I went to stay half way across the country with my friends Piete and Pam.<br />
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We got through quite a few games over the weekend, including Azul, Onitama, Fresco and Skull, but the new thing for me was in how we played them. Piete hand-picks a soundtrack for every game they play, and it really changes the experience - so much so that I said 'hey, you should really write a guest post about this!'.<br />
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And very kindly, he did! I wonder if we can find a use for my very first vinyl...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPHf0_9GLEAUNrZTmbji1dgSm_1VOCI-lkRl_-kHzNrGui9YHz3vCSiPHx0auv0cfwOB7DE8obo-niP6vGmctm5Zcozg8QdzLdAMKPoHa2kFyd9ZtIeFD_6G5wYkvbLJvSWjSwPSwCbvS/s1600/dancin-in-the-street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dancing in the street vinyl" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPHf0_9GLEAUNrZTmbji1dgSm_1VOCI-lkRl_-kHzNrGui9YHz3vCSiPHx0auv0cfwOB7DE8obo-niP6vGmctm5Zcozg8QdzLdAMKPoHa2kFyd9ZtIeFD_6G5wYkvbLJvSWjSwPSwCbvS/s320/dancin-in-the-street.jpg" title="Dancing in the street vinyl" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
The soundtrack to your games</h3>
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We've been playing board games for the better part of a decade, and since we only see many of our gaming friends once or twice a year, I've often used the gaming time as an opportunity to put on the most recent band/album/stuff that's caught my imagination.<br />
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Recently though, I've ended up concentrating too much on the music and having "feeling clashes", where the game is making me feel one thing, but the music is evoking something entirely different, or in the case of background silence I've found that it has been challenging to immerse myself fully in the games.<br />
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So I struck upon the idea of looking for soundtracks for the games we've been playing, to better align what I should be feeling with what I was feeling. Searching the interwebs for inspiration it turns out I'm not the first person to have this idea (obviously!), and more importantly, there is a lot of inspiration out there!<br />
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<h4>
Music on the mind</h4>
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So why bother with a sound track? Since (most) board games don't come with a sound track, it's not part of the design, but look at other mediums like films and computer games. These are much more aural experiences, and sound is used to enhance certain feelings or emotions.<br />
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In films: the orchestra swells with the hero's chest as he embraces his destiny; it lurks in the dark and pounces for the jump-scare in horror; and offers pacing and a sense of urgency in action films.<br />
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In games: a jaunty tune supports the gentle bustle and safety of a town; a haunted forest might feel a bit tense or suspenseful; and getting into combat suddenly provokes feelings of danger.<br />
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Pam's been playing the Legend of Zelda a lot, and the combat music there appears to make you feel at risk, or in danger. Compared to something like Final Fantasy, where the music starts and you're suddenly very powerful.<br />
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Try it yourself: switch the sound track to your favourite game, and see how you feel when you play it, or if you find yourself fighting a really tense and difficult boss... hit the mute button or swap it out for calmer, classical tunes.<br />
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This extends outside of just those two mediums of course, so if you want a truly hilarious experience, grab your phone and headphones, and listen to Yakety Sax while shopping in Tesco!<br />
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<h4>
Borrowing with pride</h4>
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So if it works for other mediums, it should work for us!<br />
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There are many sources of material for extending your auditory extravaganza if you want to do it from scratch, but the easiest first choice would be to check streaming services and try <a href="https://melodice.org/" rel="nofollow">Melodice</a> for game playlists - searching for "<name of game>" and "soundtrack" often brings back a plethora of results.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4MbzUpxvQS6SyYJ100_ck33TaEFtPfJBeOK8aM67N1VWztHEoBRmU1NJ65pDAPKum-vJofrLmCG806-TZ0cOH96971vYz0YTDa_6xMaQz_2FHtO9q-tuZoOsdVeiXPFG6OgYfiVcnEJPQ/s1600/melodice.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Melodice website" border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="870" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4MbzUpxvQS6SyYJ100_ck33TaEFtPfJBeOK8aM67N1VWztHEoBRmU1NJ65pDAPKum-vJofrLmCG806-TZ0cOH96971vYz0YTDa_6xMaQz_2FHtO9q-tuZoOsdVeiXPFG6OgYfiVcnEJPQ/s640/melodice.png" title="Melodice website" width="640" /></a></div>
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If that doesn't do it for you, maybe borrow from a producer who knows what they're doing. Game and film studios both spend at least some of their huge budgets on music, and at least some of that on the score, which is a great source of material for game sound tracks.<br />
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There are broadly three categories of sounds that you might care about in the context of gaming: ambient, soundtrack and score.<br />
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<b>Ambient</b> are the noises of the area. These are sounds you might find birds tweeting in the forest, or mutterings and cutlery sounds in a coffee shop.<br />
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<b>Soundtrack</b> is a bit of a mixed bag, it could be rock/pop music from the films or it could be ...<br />
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<b>Score</b>. This is the incidental music that supports the film, usually. These are the big swells and long music passages that create all that dramatic tension or release!<br />
<br />
Of course, there's that fourth option which is common or garden "music" as well. Consider different genres beyond just pop and rock, like jazz and funk, R&B, classical, and the subgenres amongst them, and then the various periods (so 90s pop will be a different vibe to 70s, to 80s), and even the locality - searching for country-based playlists can offer another option.<br />
<br />
I love music, so over the years in addition to the music, I've gathered a collection of scores and soundtracks from games, films, television and anime, so have a rummage around your own MP3 library, but you can find a ton of this stuff on Spotify, Amazon Prime and other good music subscription services, as well as YouTube and <a href="https://tabletopaudio.com/" rel="nofollow">Tabletop Audio</a>. On the purchase front, obviously wherever you'd find music, but also check out the various options on <a href="http://bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow">bandcamp.com</a>; <a href="https://erdenstern.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow">Erdenstern</a> produce music with this in mind!<br />
<br />
Some of our biggest successes are directly stolen from computer games:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Time Stories: Marcy Case</b> - The Last of Us</li>
<li><b>Scythe</b> - Civilization VI</li>
<li><b>The Captain is Dead</b> - Space Quest 4 and Space Quest 6</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Xo0ctk3YB-fa62sIV6HPs7pVFXh_ewEo9tv2TyWO8soZ1oZahWbUmL70de-XRSdvK2SCIN412UkSEzVEzgKRiFpV9pfYSJeyExFo8Kcvaag3T-vGBPW6lI3bMja6FlYxhc1dPFE95jEA/s1600/time_stories_components.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="TIME Stories | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1600" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Xo0ctk3YB-fa62sIV6HPs7pVFXh_ewEo9tv2TyWO8soZ1oZahWbUmL70de-XRSdvK2SCIN412UkSEzVEzgKRiFpV9pfYSJeyExFo8Kcvaag3T-vGBPW6lI3bMja6FlYxhc1dPFE95jEA/s640/time_stories_components.JPG" title="TIME Stories | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Genre and period pieces:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>T.I.M.E Stories: Asylum</b> - Bohren & Der Club Of Gore (credit to <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/forums/region/1/boardgamegeek" rel="nofollow">BGG forum</a> for this suggestion!)</li>
<li><b>Pandemic Iberia</b> - classical Spanish guitar playlists and mixes</li>
<li><b>Onitama</b> - traditional Japanese koto and shakuhachi albums</li>
</ul>
And we've borrowed a few bits from films, too:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>T.I.M.E Stories (mission briefing)</b> - Recognizer from Tron: Legacy (again credit to <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/forums/region/1/boardgamegeek" rel="nofollow">BGG forum</a>!)</li>
<li><b>Fireteam Zero</b> - Resident Evil soundtrack</li>
</ul>
<div>
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<h4>
Change it up</h4>
<br />
In my experience, supporting the game with a theme- or era-appropriate sound track tends to enhance my immersion, but there's also another trick you can play if you want to change how the game is perceived: pick a theme- or era-INappropriate track!<br />
<br />
Playing a game like Azul with some calming tunes offers focus on your individual game, but switch to an epic soundtrack (like Tron!) and you've got yourself a very definite versus game where you must destroy your opponent... or in our case, ignore the third player who quietly smashed us both.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkhEB5d1H9xdLTHI3v067O_aSDNX6zt1UB4xXSmZCh8OFnb5h1Y5UOzjUWWSyOILG_NAqc1tgAPZE4-iOvco2PcUeQBCzrjiW2Ij0lUUm21-MQ9RUib-o5M15LLab_ox6RHDR5RkRmZFe/s1600/azul_components_random_nerdery.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Azul | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1600" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkhEB5d1H9xdLTHI3v067O_aSDNX6zt1UB4xXSmZCh8OFnb5h1Y5UOzjUWWSyOILG_NAqc1tgAPZE4-iOvco2PcUeQBCzrjiW2Ij0lUUm21-MQ9RUib-o5M15LLab_ox6RHDR5RkRmZFe/s640/azul_components_random_nerdery.png" title="Azul | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
The crescendo</h4>
<br />
We have a Sonos speaker right next to the gaming table and a Chromecast connected to the television, connected to a different Sonos in the living room, so getting sound from many sources to the right place can be a bit of a faff, but once set up works pretty well.<br />
<br />
I've yet to settle on a consistent way of storing the choices I've made in the past: I have some YouTube playlists, some stuff favourited in Spotify and Amazon Music, some stuff saved on the Sonos ... it's all a bit of a mess, but I get excited to find new music to a game, so it's become part of how I play now.<br />
<br />
One thing I'm not sure of yet is how much sense memory this is going to create, which could be amazing or terrible. I can imagine a future where just hearing the Civ VI sound track alone makes me think of my time with Scythe. It could draw me back into all of the defeats I've suffered and the missteps I've taken, or equally it takes me back to a wonderful time, and I'll reminisce over handling the little cubes, moving the mechs around, and spending quality time with my friends.<br />
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I'm hoping for the latter, win or lose with Scythe!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcJ9kK3L-21n4zxT4qYwOxD6U_5JxHipt9xNPIELzbKGryRMW5nHzkEA7K55MdO5Fj8_Ci0G6HB-Tm7IgDFjMXBJraB8SrfBF8Uigwy6QlI8G-VhqAnPrfL7yFukaDGAcV3qQviWdBVHD/s1600/scythe-game-board.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Scythe | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1600" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcJ9kK3L-21n4zxT4qYwOxD6U_5JxHipt9xNPIELzbKGryRMW5nHzkEA7K55MdO5Fj8_Ci0G6HB-Tm7IgDFjMXBJraB8SrfBF8Uigwy6QlI8G-VhqAnPrfL7yFukaDGAcV3qQviWdBVHD/s640/scythe-game-board.JPG" title="Scythe | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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**********</div>
I think there might be a few requests coming Piete's way in future for some appropriate tune suggestions, and <a href="https://melodice.org/" rel="nofollow">Melodice</a> is going firmly into my bookmarks! A huge thanks to Piete for the brilliant post, and you can see more from him at <a href="http://www.pietersartain.com/" rel="nofollow">his website</a> or from Pam at <a href="https://certainlygeeky.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">her blog</a>.<br />
<br />
If you enjoyed the post you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-34427332264293871562018-05-02T14:31:00.004-07:002018-05-02T14:31:49.445-07:00UK Games Expo: 1-3 June 2018Time to get (even more) excited about the UK Games Expo, everyone! Only a month to go until thousands of happy board gamers descend upon the Birmingham NEC and its surrounding hotels to paint the town cardboard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8aSDSE3JZMxiSwYQuqWFfaZ-REoP8fF9Ts8q2vIL1lqjNfhODcSoNYm35TJPXgpvT0J07zXOsVXIxhPtySALv11dlCHXBm232sFvX1oqiGsvkdD01rDinj8wMumxpyrSTnKg8i61qmqj/s1600/ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UK Games Expo advert" border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1600" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8aSDSE3JZMxiSwYQuqWFfaZ-REoP8fF9Ts8q2vIL1lqjNfhODcSoNYm35TJPXgpvT0J07zXOsVXIxhPtySALv11dlCHXBm232sFvX1oqiGsvkdD01rDinj8wMumxpyrSTnKg8i61qmqj/s640/ad.jpg" title="UK Games Expo advert" width="640" /></a></div>
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1-3 June 2018 will be the 12th annual UKGE and the fourth one that I've attended, and each year the event has gone from strength to strength. It's the largest hobby gaming convention in the UK, and with unique attendance topping 16,300 last year it's now one of the largest in the world (fighting it out with Origins for third place). This year they've added an extra hall in the NEC to accommodate everything, so growth doesn't show any signs of slowing down!<br />
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There's a lot to cram in to those halls, as the <a href="http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/downloads/UKGEHall1and2.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">huge map on the UKGE website</a> can illustrate, and you're in no danger of running out of things to see and do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja38ZBtVUQuJeVLi7TjX31yRowd817EhcAig_vZrYTih9elIuqFvxa44Y-GBncH39zwdbc-qrxJi14wjnBghxphaqJDr0PFkNq8q0rwX2zc8yN3TjuYYP_aT0DMHY7MsKasQCMOobNFtqh/s1600/IMG_7555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UKGE trade hall" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja38ZBtVUQuJeVLi7TjX31yRowd817EhcAig_vZrYTih9elIuqFvxa44Y-GBncH39zwdbc-qrxJi14wjnBghxphaqJDr0PFkNq8q0rwX2zc8yN3TjuYYP_aT0DMHY7MsKasQCMOobNFtqh/s640/IMG_7555.JPG" title="UKGE trade hall" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Shopping</h4>
As you'll see on the map, with over 300 companies in attendance there are plenty of opportunities available to buy shiny new games (or shiny old games, with a fab <a href="http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/bringandbuy.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bring and Buy section</a>). But UKGE is so much more than a shopping trip, giving you the chance to talk to publishers and designers about their new or upcoming releases, or to try out demos of their latest prototypes. Getting to meet the people behind the games you love or having the chance to influence the design process of a new game in the Playtest Zone really makes the convention fun.<br />
<br />
I'm planning on making a bit more use of the Family Zone this year, with my little one getting a bit less little and a bit more into his first games. It's sponsored by HABA who make some of his current favourites - so this year I'll be shopping for two!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpyyUE87CYf60Dc-BmU0smCmWttCKrMsm7L6e7RaSCGOX-EYIgpyKTgLidTy5u-BoT1ahjlzlqAV9W03zNLaTPyXoNs0-tHXI4tHTzPNOx9_ijcHAy4rEmgwwjbpUHTZJzSbS3HpUM8ja/s1600/bring-and-buy-uk-games-expo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Board game bring and buy at UKGE" border="0" data-original-height="967" data-original-width="1600" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpyyUE87CYf60Dc-BmU0smCmWttCKrMsm7L6e7RaSCGOX-EYIgpyKTgLidTy5u-BoT1ahjlzlqAV9W03zNLaTPyXoNs0-tHXI4tHTzPNOx9_ijcHAy4rEmgwwjbpUHTZJzSbS3HpUM8ja/s640/bring-and-buy-uk-games-expo.JPG" title="Board game bring and buy at UKGE" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Seminars and guests</h4>
UKGE attracts plenty of well known faces from around the gaming world, this year including Ian Livingstone, author of the Fighting Fantasy series and founder of Games Workshop and game designer <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/6/martin-wallace" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martin Wallace</a>. Tom Vasel of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/thedicetower" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Dice Tower</a> will be back for another year and will be recording shows at the Expo, as will plenty of other board gaming media types including folks from <a href="http://gaming-rules.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gaming Rules!</a>, <a href="https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shut Up & Sit Down</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/NoPunIncluded" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">No Pun Included</a> and <a href="http://www.whodaresrolls.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who Dares Rolls</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_fUs9earmPQsvJl484VYHk4jrX50ylQmEAS9yh7POLXpl2O-6ND6KC0AjwctMAxS0NCjv4c8D4YgapQngTiTu3wmB7Lh6LiUOe2FF_Ik3w3FxZxrkjIVFXRr0E3IS21vxRzCk_Q7o1oy/s1600/ukge-shut-up-and-sit-down-board-game-rules.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gaming Rules! CGE, Shut Up and Sit Down" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_fUs9earmPQsvJl484VYHk4jrX50ylQmEAS9yh7POLXpl2O-6ND6KC0AjwctMAxS0NCjv4c8D4YgapQngTiTu3wmB7Lh6LiUOe2FF_Ik3w3FxZxrkjIVFXRr0E3IS21vxRzCk_Q7o1oy/s640/ukge-shut-up-and-sit-down-board-game-rules.JPG" title="Gaming Rules! CGE, Shut Up and Sit Down" width="640" /></a></div>
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As well as live podcast and video recordings there are a whole raft of other talks to attend, covering everything from how to GM an RPG to how to run a board game company.<br />
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<h4>
Tournaments</h4>
You'll see a big section of the NEC map dedicated to tournaments for people much better at games than me: the Catan, Agricola and Carcassonne UK Championships, the Fantasy Flight European championships including huge X-wing Miniatures and Android Netrunner European Championships and a Legend of the Five Rings Grand Kotei event are all on the slate for this year's UKGE.<br />
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<h4>
Events</h4>
As if you hadn't filled your time three times over by now, there is a programme of ticketed entertainment events run across the weekend including:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>John Robertson's <a href="http://www.thejohnrobertson.com/thedarkroom/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Dark Room</a> (I love this show... can I go for a third time? This year with additional kid-friendly showing on the Friday)</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/piratemoustache?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Flannery</a>'s Knightmare Live and MMORPG (both of which I saw last year, great fun and very nostalgic)</li>
<li>Live Pandemic (always ridiculously funny)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.jollyboat.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jollyboat</a> (musical comedy pirate brothers, what's not to love?)</li>
</ul>
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I'm so excited, there's just so much to do! I didn't even get time to talk about everything, like:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The food festival</li>
<li>Viking and Orc encampments (if you're under 10 you can do Orc training, which sounds like the best thing EVER)</li>
<li>RPG and LARP events</li>
<li>Cosplayers</li>
</ul>
You can read about all of these things and more on the lovely <a href="http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UK Games Expo website</a>, of course, or read more about my previous adventures in <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/06/uk-games-expo-2016-day-1.html" target="_blank">2016</a> and <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2017/06/uk-games-expo-2017-highlights.html" target="_blank">2017</a> where you'll find lots more pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNFM2_eq7lKcp3AvF3DQDoo0iK7YfbY-3Q-gQM2JAAEYDbyZJC6Fg3GM6IoY6DlxA4TeQS9z0S2l9IWjfbTcFebYGKJNkhpmuiNn2KaKyWAnGNg6xR6gd7XHMcKNf4j2olCkLusOtvkrQ/s1600/open-gaming-uk-games-expo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UKGE Open Gaming" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNFM2_eq7lKcp3AvF3DQDoo0iK7YfbY-3Q-gQM2JAAEYDbyZJC6Fg3GM6IoY6DlxA4TeQS9z0S2l9IWjfbTcFebYGKJNkhpmuiNn2KaKyWAnGNg6xR6gd7XHMcKNf4j2olCkLusOtvkrQ/s640/open-gaming-uk-games-expo.jpg" title="UKGE Open Gaming" width="640" /></a></div>
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The best bit of any convention is always getting to see your friends and play some fun games. UKGE provides a wonderful environment to do this whilst giving you the opportunity to try new things and meet like-minded people from across the country (and the world!). There's lots of open gaming space available to try out your purchases or play something from the excellent board game library, but demand for the space is high so make sure you stake your claim early to avoid having to play on the grass!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZmpPIYk05Gynq2_eR198S93yFscSpnGitEjDM5j6LaTqF-NLlXfnW5pHiEMK4IVmoQsEbc-jHf_CqJMVdbePx08QaF-hgguxE17VQ4pZf7e4pyppqRQ1QbYtEChKXLViRJ998FXKwea1/s1600/ukge-deep-sea-adventure.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Deep Sea Adventure on a pizza box" border="0" data-original-height="1059" data-original-width="1600" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZmpPIYk05Gynq2_eR198S93yFscSpnGitEjDM5j6LaTqF-NLlXfnW5pHiEMK4IVmoQsEbc-jHf_CqJMVdbePx08QaF-hgguxE17VQ4pZf7e4pyppqRQ1QbYtEChKXLViRJ998FXKwea1/s640/ukge-deep-sea-adventure.png" title="Deep Sea Adventure on a pizza box" width="640" /></a></div>
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Yep, that's a pizza box. From the awesome food fair!<br />
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So if you're new to the board game hobby and thinking about your first trip, do it! Or if you're worrying about coming to UKGE on your own, don't panic! You'll find so many lovely people willing to help you find a game, offer advice and recommendations or just point you in the direction when you're lost. It's a really welcoming environment and I can't wait to go.<br />
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Give me a wave if you see me wandering around!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtT5Zh0wkyosHHt36WW43fiywwfOPRbnA9jXhWyyfmISrZGe7rBSkLBYdmeXhgEZ0tfIEFyqvzbiIOTmj_xK5murZRavM6FEfsgzEsi-XnhyuMZs846mh3ii4CvUaPFe3V4z2pn2p6jaZD/s1600/UKGE%2528horizontal_dark%2529_CMYK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UK Games Expo logo" border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="1600" height="56" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtT5Zh0wkyosHHt36WW43fiywwfOPRbnA9jXhWyyfmISrZGe7rBSkLBYdmeXhgEZ0tfIEFyqvzbiIOTmj_xK5murZRavM6FEfsgzEsi-XnhyuMZs846mh3ii4CvUaPFe3V4z2pn2p6jaZD/s640/UKGE%2528horizontal_dark%2529_CMYK.jpg" title="UK Games Expo logo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>When:</b> 1 to 3 June 2018<br />
<b>Where:</b> NEC and NEC Hilton Hotel<br />
<b>Cost: </b><a href="http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/bookevents.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ticketing website</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/">www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk</a><br />
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If you enjoyed the post you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-47596732379030184232018-04-17T12:31:00.000-07:002018-04-17T16:38:17.689-07:00Review: Eight-Minute Empire board gameI seem to be forming a bit of a Red Raven Games series recently, with reviews of the beautiful <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/02/above-and-below-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Above and Below</a> and its sequel <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/03/cardboard-near-and-far-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Near and Far</a>. To continue the theme, this week I'm taking a look at an older Ryan Laukat game that has grand ambitions on a tiny scale: Eight-Minute Empire.<br />
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<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131366/eight-minute-empire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eight-Minute Empire</a> is a game of area control and set collection for 2 to 5 players. It's light on rules but still packed with decisions, making it a great introduction to this style of game for newer players or a brilliant filler for games night (by filler I mean a short, lighter game that usually gets played before, after or in between bigger games).<br />
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Each player takes control of a number of armies (little wooden cubes) and embarks upon a mission to spread them across the map and control as much territory as possible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCJoYj5kprYQsay3EFnbTyQGTs2DEDiDLFwIMQzSK9-Q9WqSSmwdWyxP1Bx0KKnwvUujxCftFF6xRjgb3vz6wB_VWxkqHEUs8ZrT6YlIuzmR-wI42c3jd3GGvVS3lf9SzjqdBTnv6qhBD/s1600/eight-minute-empire-game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eight-Minute Empire - gameplay | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCJoYj5kprYQsay3EFnbTyQGTs2DEDiDLFwIMQzSK9-Q9WqSSmwdWyxP1Bx0KKnwvUujxCftFF6xRjgb3vz6wB_VWxkqHEUs8ZrT6YlIuzmR-wI42c3jd3GGvVS3lf9SzjqdBTnv6qhBD/s640/eight-minute-empire-game.jpg" title="Eight-Minute Empire - gameplay | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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The map is broken down into regions and continents. A player has control of a region when they have more armies there than any other player. To control a continent, a player needs to control more regions on that continent than anyone else. Everything that you control at the end of the game is worth victory points, and the player with the most points wins the game.<br />
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The actions you take to grow and spread your armies are dependent on the choices you make from a track of six cards at the top of the board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTKNUqQHQrSec2N0In-H9y24Of0nSEJ4Mm626OlZ9N66-PK7uLAt0bNq6cOc7tpV4rcpmJ0FQ2dHIKsrpi_p6c6H26oXBvUoj5pyVFNxcY_wv1RozzV2G8AH8KQW0XVEVdCqujAdxS81D/s1600/eight-minute-empire-action-card-track.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eight-Minute Empire - card track | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="1600" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTKNUqQHQrSec2N0In-H9y24Of0nSEJ4Mm626OlZ9N66-PK7uLAt0bNq6cOc7tpV4rcpmJ0FQ2dHIKsrpi_p6c6H26oXBvUoj5pyVFNxcY_wv1RozzV2G8AH8KQW0XVEVdCqujAdxS81D/s640/eight-minute-empire-action-card-track.jpg" title="Eight-Minute Empire - card track | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Players take it in turns to select a card from the row, pay its coin cost as shown under the track, and place it in front of them. Each card will show an action and a type of good (trees, carrots, crystals etc - I'm sure they all have more sensible resource names, really). The goods will be worth points at the end of the game depending on how many of the same type of good you're able to collect, so this gives you another factor to think about when choosing your action.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VcZxTcPlIvtKOPQdyXeMZ4-ohIZRwwyS_Zkcqsrd7uJtka2Wija0RshKtmztltpl_haTQzHVtfb_vdXi0Ln0fle7xBhuxAT8KX2FIgFHndkTdedWxN8v1KBiYHdZEGQOhfD6dAc-SnLg/s1600/eight-minute-empire-resource-types.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eight-Minute Empire - resource cards | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1600" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VcZxTcPlIvtKOPQdyXeMZ4-ohIZRwwyS_Zkcqsrd7uJtka2Wija0RshKtmztltpl_haTQzHVtfb_vdXi0Ln0fle7xBhuxAT8KX2FIgFHndkTdedWxN8v1KBiYHdZEGQOhfD6dAc-SnLg/s640/eight-minute-empire-resource-types.jpg" title="Eight-Minute Empire - resource cards | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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The cost of each card is also a consideration; the track gets more expensive from left to right, ranging from a cost of 0 (yay, free stuff!) to an extortionate 3 coins. Players start the game with only 8 to 14 coins (depending on player count) that don't get replenished, so money is a finite resource that you have to manage carefully if you don't want to get stuck with whatever happens to be free in the last few turns. Once a card is taken, the remaining cards in the track move down to fill the gap and become cheaper (very reminiscent of Above and Below).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_wdjXgQblTGdCCm3J88pXu-u4HrgNft-QSf_XwM4aT-QxELd5womD-hXyje-PIcdLkgIXPpoQAGGWbyI68t-OyUUM8ute-AFbnzZRqKGKXoqoTpjtaTBV3vlBvxBJBPvN-ndIXcl1Xnm/s1600/eight-minute-empire-build-city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eight-Minute Empire - build a city | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1600" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_wdjXgQblTGdCCm3J88pXu-u4HrgNft-QSf_XwM4aT-QxELd5womD-hXyje-PIcdLkgIXPpoQAGGWbyI68t-OyUUM8ute-AFbnzZRqKGKXoqoTpjtaTBV3vlBvxBJBPvN-ndIXcl1Xnm/s640/eight-minute-empire-build-city.jpg" title="Eight-Minute Empire - build a city | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Actions available include:<br />
<ul>
<li>Placing new armies on the board</li>
<li>Moving armies (without crossing the sea)</li>
<li>Moving armies over land or sea</li>
<li>Building a new city</li>
<li>Destroying an army</li>
<li>A choice between two of the above options</li>
</ul>
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New armies have to be spawned in the same location as one of your cities (or the start region), so building new cities is helpful for spreading out over the board. They also count as an army when working out who controls a region.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVs-YtLW_-w1oXWVEJ77Nsbvthgxj50h81ink0xazzkbNg2I7om21LUEzpltP2vB1VYP7aEhoQkZWpckBXnIknGq8uuPGcnakg0WPRBRQb2TeMGjmtALHLrByj4yGEVREPRbCssU0-iWoc/s1600/eight-minute-empire-start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eight-Minute Empire - starting region | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVs-YtLW_-w1oXWVEJ77Nsbvthgxj50h81ink0xazzkbNg2I7om21LUEzpltP2vB1VYP7aEhoQkZWpckBXnIknGq8uuPGcnakg0WPRBRQb2TeMGjmtALHLrByj4yGEVREPRbCssU0-iWoc/s640/eight-minute-empire-start.jpg" title="Eight-Minute Empire - starting region | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Play continues with each player taking it in turns to select a card and perform the relevant action until all players have a certain number of cards in front of them. The number of cards depends on player count - 13 cards for 2 players, ranging down to 7 cards for 5 players. When everyone reaches this number of cards, the game ends and it's time to add up everyone's victory points in the following categories to see who has won:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Regions controlled</b> - 1 point per region</li>
<li><b>Continents controlled</b> - 1 point per continent</li>
<li><b>Sets of goods collected</b> - points for each set of goods, as shown by the victory point shields on that good's card. For example, 2 trees gives you 1 point at the end of the game, 4 trees gives you two points, 5 trees gives you three points etc.</li>
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The rules also suggest a couple of 'variant' ideas such as playing three games in a row to get a longer experience, and adding up the victory points from all three to determine a winner. My favourite, though, is adding goods tokens to regions marked on the map with a triangle at the beginning of the game. Whoever controls these regions at the end of the game gets to count an extra resource of this type when scoring their resource cards, so playing this variant really gives you something to aim for in the game. It's such a straightforward little tweak that there's almost no reason not to play with this rule in place.<br />
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Eight-Minute Empire doesn't break new ground with its core ideas, but I do think it brilliantly distils the experience of an area control game into a neat little package that new and experienced gamers can enjoy. With barely any setup, easy to pick up gameplay and the same attention to detail I've seen from the newer Red Raven Games, I'd struggle to criticise anything other than the slightly under-advertised play time. Even that isn't far out; eight minutes was always going to be a stretch, and maybe it's doable with some really speedy players, but 15 minutes is probably more realistic. Fifteen-Minute Empire sounds rubbish, though. I'm happy to abandon absolute accuracy for the accomplishment of artistic alliteration!<br />
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(If you do want to play in eight minutes, by the way, there is a really great app implementation of the game for <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acram.EightMinuteEmpire&hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Android</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eight-minute-empire/id1164894268?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iOS</a>).<br />
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Loads of the 'filler' length games I have are card games, with the odd dice or dexterity game thrown in here and there for good measure, but area control seems a bit under-represented (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/223779/pocket-mars" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pocket Mars</a> is the only other one in my collection that springs to mind). Eight-Minute Empire fills this nice little niche on my shelves and also does double duty as a solid introductory game that lets you teach a few different core mechanisms to new gamers in a really straightforward way before moving onto 'bigger' games. The neat combination of area control with set collection and management of your coin resource means you always have plenty to think about on your turn, but not so much that you fall victim to the dreaded Analysis Paralysis.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3m59qiIuvniwwaIwnqNRNQrVncfza2yfVSTGjxtm1ywZC9bLE0hCG_cteh2_XdgCWy8d4BIskDVx5PE8ZMGGO1mza-OR3ZZazrOhLVxoeLq03anGD55qC5OTqaZrzJrKwOanEUHZGthw/s1600/eight-minute-empire-final-scoring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eight-Minute Empire - completed map | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3m59qiIuvniwwaIwnqNRNQrVncfza2yfVSTGjxtm1ywZC9bLE0hCG_cteh2_XdgCWy8d4BIskDVx5PE8ZMGGO1mza-OR3ZZazrOhLVxoeLq03anGD55qC5OTqaZrzJrKwOanEUHZGthw/s640/eight-minute-empire-final-scoring.jpg" title="Eight-Minute Empire - completed map | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's incredibly inspirational to think that this sort of idea could just pop into your head; as I mentioned in my <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/02/above-and-below-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Above and Below review</a>, Ryan Laukat was at <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/59901/my-game-illustration-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">home with a high fever</a> when he came up with Eight-Minute Empire and had knocked up a prototype 20 minutes later. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be struck with a game idea of my own!<br />
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Until then, I'll just be here doing my thing, so if you enjoyed the post you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!<br />
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<h3>
<b>Eight-Minute Empire</b></h3>
<b>Designer: </b>Ryan Laukat<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Red Raven Games<br />
<b>Play time:</b> 8-20 mins<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-5<br />
<b>Age: </b>8+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £22.99<br />
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[There's a free print-and-play expansion, 'Mountains', available on the <a href="http://redravengames.squarespace.com/eightminute-empire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Red Raven Games website</a> (scroll to the bottom) which I hadn't seen before and thought I'd share, too!]<br />
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I have a copy of Eight-Minute Empire to give away to a lucky someone in the UK, so check out the Gleam widget below if you'd like to add this game to your collection.<br />
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<a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/MzvjL/eightminute-empire-board-game-giveaway" rel="nofollow">Eight-Minute Empire board game giveaway</a>
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Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-72321523165992423412018-03-28T16:07:00.001-07:002018-04-17T12:32:04.746-07:00Review: Near and Far board game review
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbsjGjPBCSDZu9RItlMH3xVGwXL2CedtK5DymiiFI45YHxDmy99ThC2yA4WkIPZ-6uZtnBvwdfF3ONmXiMBNV-n7BRqxNAcLJa1Jgtd60dEbujD2xGK6awFAyPPLD6Esj8vqPVkNFw1WY/s1600/near-and-far-character-standees.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1600" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbsjGjPBCSDZu9RItlMH3xVGwXL2CedtK5DymiiFI45YHxDmy99ThC2yA4WkIPZ-6uZtnBvwdfF3ONmXiMBNV-n7BRqxNAcLJa1Jgtd60dEbujD2xGK6awFAyPPLD6Esj8vqPVkNFw1WY/s320/near-and-far-character-standees.JPG" width="320" style="display: none;"/></a>
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It's been a while now since we escaped barbarian hordes, fled across the country and founded our shiny new village in <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/02/above-and-below-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Above and Below</a>. We've clearly gotten tired of exploring the cavernous world of Below, because it's time to set out into the big wide world on a brand new adventure. Legends tell of the Last Ruin, a hidden city far away across the wastes of Arzium where we'll apparently find an artifact that will grant our hearts' desires. Let the quest for the Voucher of Infinite Jaffa Cake Supply begin!<br />
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Near and Far is an adventure game for two to four players set in the same world as Red Raven Games' adorable Above and Below. Building on the storytelling elements of its predecessor, sequel Near and Far is described in the rule book as an 'atlas' game, where your quests take you across a series of maps from a book that replace a standard game board. It also incorporates elements of card drafting, worker placement and a little dose of luck with dice roll skill tests as you split your time between preparing for travel in town and wandering the land on your journey.<br />
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You have a few options for modes of play in Near and Far, which give you slightly different game experiences depending on what you choose:<br />
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<b>First adventure:</b> an introductory game with basic rules to help you get a feel for the game.<br />
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<b>Campaign mode: </b>play through a series of ten maps whilst developing your character with experience points, talents and side quests that carry over from game to game.<br />
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<b>Arcade mode:</b> for quick, one-off games, where you use little arcade cards instead of reading quests.<br />
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<b>Character mode:</b> play through a selection of maps using the character-specific quests to tell one of eight unique stories.<br />
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On first reading the amount of ways you could play the game, I had an unreasonable panic and shut the rulebook for a long time. It turned out that everything really was a lot more straightforward than I'd built it up to be, though, and I wish it hadn't put me off for so long. The basic rules are mostly the same across modes, with differences being clearly highlighted in big, friendly looking boxes throughout the book. Once you've played one mode, it's just a case of a few tweaks to try out one of the others.<br />
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Having chosen how you're going to play, setting up the game is simply a case of following the step-by-step instructions laid out methodically in the rulebook. I've loved every Red Raven Games rulebook I've seen to date, as they've all been really well organised and illustrated to make your first games as smooth as possible. From clear iconography to well labelled diagrams, everything feels helpful and considered. Near and Far is no exception, despite being a good deal heftier than any of the others I've read previously - but we do have a big adventure to cover!<br />
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Whilst searching for the Last Ruin you'll be gathering Journey Points for doing various adventure-type things, and the player with the most Journey Points at the end of a game is the winner. The game ends when a player runs out of 'camps', represented by teeny little wooden tents that you can scatter liberally across the map on your travels.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aEtHdFlUyhld6d0NgQpOOHdqHf0HXXjF7KWQmgEHygHMhHXWf9lok3OpElPr9huv8qv5xnWhtWSvDnWjUnOdl0A5c6a0kwL68zF8PIPYEW8FzPvHxgulBYNM6fAplXHqph7GQqff1ZOh/s1600/near-and-far-tents.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Near and Far - camps | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="1600" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aEtHdFlUyhld6d0NgQpOOHdqHf0HXXjF7KWQmgEHygHMhHXWf9lok3OpElPr9huv8qv5xnWhtWSvDnWjUnOdl0A5c6a0kwL68zF8PIPYEW8FzPvHxgulBYNM6fAplXHqph7GQqff1ZOh/s640/near-and-far-tents.JPG" title="Near and Far - camps | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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As part of setup, you'll do a little bit of card drafting to select artifact cards to start the game with. These do lots of helpful things throughout the game and are worth Journey Points, but will cost you resources to buy. Any artifact cards left unpurchased in your hand at the end of the game are worth negative points, so they definitely give you something else to think about! With setup complete and cards chosen, it's time to begin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgj3tFxqZTMNXoyvxQcc5unkESzMVT9tDjax9COu4jpjXs74LILh9mB5ls7UsZS16ugGNGzXEUxkEA4M96tHE3zWmvlsFiJuuxXJS9HE5rzqSmLfQvhg9nBxgTwrnjeCpOrZBTpA66xvm/s1600/near-and-far-setup-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Near and Far - player board | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1600" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgj3tFxqZTMNXoyvxQcc5unkESzMVT9tDjax9COu4jpjXs74LILh9mB5ls7UsZS16ugGNGzXEUxkEA4M96tHE3zWmvlsFiJuuxXJS9HE5rzqSmLfQvhg9nBxgTwrnjeCpOrZBTpA66xvm/s640/near-and-far-setup-2.JPG" title="Near and Far - player board | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Every good role-playing game starts off in a town, MacGuffins you into an adventuring party (usually in some kind of drinking establishment), kits you out in shiny new gear and then ships everyone off into the big wide world quicker than you can say 'critical failure'. Near and Far follows this time-honoured tradition, offering players a town board where they can recruit allies and stock up on supplies before heading out on the road. Each turn, players have the choice of two options: 'visit town' or 'adventure', which means you can come back at any time during the game to rest and regroup.<br />
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Town has a number of useful action spots to choose from, and has a basic and advanced side:<br />
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<b>Town Hall</b><br />
All of your trading is done here. The main currencies of the game are food, gold, gems and faction tokens in four colours, and this is where you can swap them about or bribe some dodgy officials to adjust your reputation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3x26yVwWbs5a3s3yOBjwFswS5Gdc6dA2IfMZkC5bT_x6fCrFGyEylQHkmdBciBgIkzgZ8ZPWIqaR6sGqaeIgNUQFswqpaBWjoOkk78JO1Oz9kDEKAIQMET87iHet9RtQjlYm4jTqvI9VI/s1600/near-and-far-resource-tokens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Near and Far - currencies | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3x26yVwWbs5a3s3yOBjwFswS5Gdc6dA2IfMZkC5bT_x6fCrFGyEylQHkmdBciBgIkzgZ8ZPWIqaR6sGqaeIgNUQFswqpaBWjoOkk78JO1Oz9kDEKAIQMET87iHet9RtQjlYm4jTqvI9VI/s640/near-and-far-resource-tokens.JPG" title="Near and Far - currencies | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Saloon</b><br />
I will always wish this spot was called 'tavern', I can't help it. This is where you can recruit new adventurers to your party and add them to your player board. Each new recruit brings something extra to the party, adding additional points of skill, combat, movement, caution or search to the team as indicated on their token. They also bring additional hearts, which will add to your heart total when you leave town. Hearts are needed to move around the map and build camps, so the more the better!<br />
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And I completely forgot to say that you start with an adorable pet, so you're never adventuring alone!<br />
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<b>Stables </b><br />
Here you can buy pack birds, which are very clearly adorable, but also hold one treasure card each. In 'advanced town' mode you can even have a pack tortoise - as if things couldn't get cuter.<br />
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<b>Mystic's Hut</b><br />
This is where you can pick up said treasure cards. These give players special abilities or extra Journey Points.<br />
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<b>General Store</b><br />
Grab a coin or draw some additional artifact cards (remembering that any you keep that you haven't purchased by the end of the game will count as negative points!)<br />
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<b>Farm</b><br />
Gain a number of food tokens equivalent to your skill level.<br />
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<b>Mine</b><br />
Place camps here to gain rewards of gold and gems.<br />
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For most of these buildings, only one player can occupy them at once. If someone wants to visit a building already being used by another player, they have to duel for it. To duel, each player rolls a die and adds any combat modifiers they have available. The active player can choose to 'fight dirty' to gain a bonus to their roll, but this will also cost them a reputation point if they win. If they fight honourably and don't take the bonus, this will gain them a reputation point instead. If they lose, however, they get put into 'jail' and effectively miss a turn, neither gaining nor losing reputation.<br />
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This isn't my favourite mechanism ever, as there have been a few times where I've found myself really needing to go to one spot and ending up taking an extra turn to get there because of a rubbish die roll. I'm sure this is down to my own poor planning somehow, but it felt a little jarring with the rest of the game and risked turning any player interaction outside of quest reading into a bit of a passive-aggressive-standing-in-the-way competition. Yes, that's a thing.<br />
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Of course, whilst your turns are ticking away in town as you're making sure you've herded enough giant kiwi, cancelled the milk, packed enough food and turned the oven off, the other players could all be merrily disappearing off on their adventures. This is an interesting balancing act to figure out, because the longer you spend in town, the further everyone else will be getting in exploring the map.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtl3sFKrZY5-iCIyHiRO4-2eSf45uIDBOo6tZ8kGp4Dd6cS-CUqga3IlFg0Gc4igK0h1LjaoKyYY1W0xEwZLMSs3_paeSkWXGKfOGGtzSAs8YibHzC8x0GfqTM_Eq3qVCdMfz9O3fTUbur/s1600/near-and-far-grear.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Near and Far - character standee | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1600" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtl3sFKrZY5-iCIyHiRO4-2eSf45uIDBOo6tZ8kGp4Dd6cS-CUqga3IlFg0Gc4igK0h1LjaoKyYY1W0xEwZLMSs3_paeSkWXGKfOGGtzSAs8YibHzC8x0GfqTM_Eq3qVCdMfz9O3fTUbur/s640/near-and-far-grear.JPG" title="Near and Far - character standee | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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When you choose to leave town, you'll count up your starting hearts as shown on your active party members, adjust the tracker accordingly and start moving around the map. It costs you one heart for each empty space you pass, so your first adventure isn't going to take you far.<br />
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This is especially true as you're also limited by your movement stat, which has a base value of 2 but increases with the movement symbols shown on pack birds and party members acquired during the game. As people start to move around a bit and place their camps, there are fewer empty spaces to worry about and moving becomes a lot cheaper in terms of heart cost. Hang around in town long enough and you might find yourself skipping merrily across a map that someone has neatly filled up with camps for you, taking you straight to that shiny quest space you wanted. Of course this could also leave you behind in setting up your own tents, so deciding what to focus on always gives you interesting choices to make when taking your actions.<br />
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Out in the big wide world you'll also find dangerous threats to deal with, treasure to find and quests to complete. The quests are my favourite bit!<br />
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To attempt a quest, a player needs to end their movement on a space with a quest token. The player to their left then gets to read out the quest from the storybook, just like in Above and Below, giving the adventurer a choice and a skill test. If the player is successful, there are lots of shiny rewards to be gained (or consequences to be faced, depending on how mean you are!)<br />
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Quests can chain together, with rewards sometimes including the reference number for a different side-quest, or perhaps you'll gain a 'keyword' that will have a consequence in future quests. (This can come a little unstuck if there's the odd error or two in the quest text, however - check out the BGG errata here https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1789431/errata). Anything you need to remember can be noted on the handy character sheets provided and used for future reference.<br />
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We played the game mostly in campaign mode, but the character mode stories are well worth a visit. The fact that each of the eight characters have their own story makes it really special, and the game even comes with suggestions of which ones you should pick at low player counts to get the most out of your adventure.<br />
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The purpose of arcade mode is a bit mystifying to me, as the rulebook suggests this is a good way to play for people who want a quick game and don't fancy reading, or have read the quests too many times to find them interesting. Personally I find the quests are one of the funnest parts of the game, and I can't ever see getting to a point where that's not the case. This could be because Near and Far is more of an 'occasional' game for me rather than a game that would hit the table every week, so I probably won't run out of replayability in the same way as someone who puts in the hours all at once. It's lovely that Red Raven Games have tried to cater for everyone, though, and I can see that using the shorter cards could help to decrease some of the language dependency in the game for anyone who would struggle with big blocks of text.<br />
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Near and Far has been a very happy experience for us. It may not be the most mechanically complicated or challenging game out there, but it does deliver on what it promises from the moment you open that beautiful map book: an adventure. It's not all sunshine and rainbows - the quests can sometimes feel a bit few and far between in the same way as Above and Below so that you always want to do more, and I don't love the duelling mechanic - but it has the same original, refreshing feeling that I've found with other Red Raven Games before. In an increasingly crowded marketplace I'm so pleased that there is still space for games that can just tell an interesting story and focus on giving the players a memorable experience. These are the games that will stay with me for longest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBpbQZ-7bEamKI7UiOCM60zIBu2GVhmIwVrzM7INWkJP3dfarcYZk71RzlGWoqTzPorQbBJAAroy8s0Hl0oX1yX00Y4o29fw0jvulCjuhpAsptaQjIOR8wN1rZIGWQtf3Q7vp3Di_NVlK/s1600/near-and-far-map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Near and Far - Atlas Map | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1600" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBpbQZ-7bEamKI7UiOCM60zIBu2GVhmIwVrzM7INWkJP3dfarcYZk71RzlGWoqTzPorQbBJAAroy8s0Hl0oX1yX00Y4o29fw0jvulCjuhpAsptaQjIOR8wN1rZIGWQtf3Q7vp3Di_NVlK/s640/near-and-far-map.JPG" title="Near and Far - Atlas Map | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Just like Above and Below, the world painted by Near and Far is charming, whimsical and beautifully inclusive. Thoughtfulness and consideration is everywhere throughout the game, from the components to the artwork to the rules. I know this is the case nowadays with most games - designers and publishers have no choice but to put their heart and soul into the products they make - but it seems to radiate from this game, somehow. I can just see the writer smiling to themselves when they describe how to use Near and Far adventurer tokens in Above and Below (because you can, by the way), where a player gets points at the end of the game for each set of bacon and bread symbols on their tokens, because that makes a bacon sandwich. I feel the nostalgia and history of including a little section on the very first map showing your old home village of Above and the caves of Below, just to blow your mind about the scale of the new game's journey. These little touches go that one step further to make the game feel loved, and I really appreciate that as a differentiating factor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJiGLNNSPcPlKMJaIFwFSaa1SwRUe-eYsI5gY8px5JkI9c1iGtouf1v58rrC_e_ZpiD3ZpTkXhF4v4Ui0deajHPV78VDxAxhx_k2fjfvetx_ni_xknHQAFEBQEJS5-Op_focv84Z5Y-GE8/s1600/near-and-far-character-tiles-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Near and Far - Adventurer Tokens | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1600" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJiGLNNSPcPlKMJaIFwFSaa1SwRUe-eYsI5gY8px5JkI9c1iGtouf1v58rrC_e_ZpiD3ZpTkXhF4v4Ui0deajHPV78VDxAxhx_k2fjfvetx_ni_xknHQAFEBQEJS5-Op_focv84Z5Y-GE8/s640/near-and-far-character-tiles-2.JPG" title="Near and Far - Adventurer Tokens | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
With the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/236667/near-and-far-amber-mines" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amber Mines expansion</a> due out soon, this is definitely going to see more play over the coming months! Let me know if you've tried Near and Far yourself, and what you thought of it.<br />
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Thanks to Asmodee UK for providing me with a copy of the game to review.<br />
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<b>Near and Far</b></h3>
<b>Designer: </b><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/11854/ryan-laukat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan Laukat</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://redravengames.squarespace.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Red Raven Games</a><br />
<b>Play time:</b> 60-120 mins<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-4<br />
<b>Age: </b>13+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £69.99<br />
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-56672338450608941242018-03-17T15:58:00.003-07:002018-03-17T16:00:41.726-07:00AireCon 2018 - Convention DiaryI can't believe it's already been a week since I made the epic drive north to <a href="https://airecon.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AireCon</a>, an 'analog gaming festival' held in the Harrogate Convention Centre on Friday 9 - Sunday 11 March 2018. <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/02/airecon.html" target="_blank">Having taken an age</a> to decide whether or not it would be worth braving the 500 mile round trip, I'm so pleased I decided to go. I spent an amazing weekend meeting up with tons of lovely people and playing loads of great games, and wanted to share some of it here in case you've been in a similar dilemma.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAN7cn4ykLFW32rksFOy2xlhF0m3MiZcyYQXC7KZWFDTS4Xus6VC-_z0ehiUMXxAX2eNwpORYaw4PPXe9SP7eiwfx_Y7MauNiZPeK81ixWolndWZoM3QlpT4OM2AidmZcrOxTkXnpKX7_B/s1600/airecon-sign-march-2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Sign | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1600" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAN7cn4ykLFW32rksFOy2xlhF0m3MiZcyYQXC7KZWFDTS4Xus6VC-_z0ehiUMXxAX2eNwpORYaw4PPXe9SP7eiwfx_Y7MauNiZPeK81ixWolndWZoM3QlpT4OM2AidmZcrOxTkXnpKX7_B/s640/airecon-sign-march-2018.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Sign | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Having left ridiculously early in the morning expecting a nightmare drive, I actually ended up arriving early enough that I was there and already checked in to my hotel when AireCon opened on Friday afternoon.<br />
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With friends Katie, Jeppers and Gemma not arriving until Saturday, I was a bit nervous about picking up my lanyard, guide booklet and (er...) flat pack mug before heading into the hall on my own. I'd bought the full three-day ticket (£25, pretty darn reasonable in my opinion) just in case, but hadn't really anticipated arriving before dinnertime and actually having to use it! Luckily everyone was super-friendly and I felt a lot more at ease.<br />
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Since I wasn't entirely sure what to do with myself at this point, I took a quick spin around the hall to see what was what. I say quick, but this hall was huge, with massive amounts of open gaming space that make up the core of this con. The biggest downside for me of the UK Games Expo (outside of the hotel prices... *waves an angry fist at the Hilton*) is the lack of space to actually sit and play games with people, but AireCon provided space in spades. As the weekend began my first instinct was to grab a table, stake a claim and guard it with my life, but as time went on I realised there was absolutely no need to panic. There was never a time when we wouldn't have been able to pack up our things, go for a wander and then come back to find another gaming space. Kudos on providing enough seats for the tickets sold, AireCon peeps - winning at maths!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSAinN1wUnO6QpI_tbs8XD3cVJPydoCax85S7SlL5xlfFzyMsbPR2H6BjNZkOh2c0r1IvudWPue20Gly0eSnRk5uMbqhJpkqbv_1ZnlIPflNyqsGyGO2OoCjJLMc30qz-MbhfqqxQnVKX/s1600/airecon-open-play-demo-areas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Space | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1600" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSAinN1wUnO6QpI_tbs8XD3cVJPydoCax85S7SlL5xlfFzyMsbPR2H6BjNZkOh2c0r1IvudWPue20Gly0eSnRk5uMbqhJpkqbv_1ZnlIPflNyqsGyGO2OoCjJLMc30qz-MbhfqqxQnVKX/s640/airecon-open-play-demo-areas.JPG" title="AireCon 2018 - Space | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Having converted my flat pack mug into a real mug (it was a token) and filled it with discounted tea (£1 per drink for mug owners), I felt a bit braver about checking out the open gaming area. AireCon provided a Gameseekers area with a table of balloons that people could take to float above their tables if they wanted extra players (black for a game that lasts less than two hours, white for over two hours). Brilliant idea, but all my games were still in the car and I didn't see any balloons about yet. This was secretly a bit of a relief as I'm still not sure I'd be brave enough to go up and ask if I could play. Perhaps for future cons I'll take my own balloon that says 'Ask me to play your game, please, because I'm too much of a wuss to ask you!'.<br />
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I was sort of joking there, but actually a third 'game wanted' balloon option might not be such a bad idea for shy people!<br />
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But anyway, if you want to be asked to play a game, playtesting areas are usually a safe bet and this is where I accidentally ended up next, mainly attracted by the initial construction of what was to become an epic wall of cat pictures over the course of the weekend. I had the great pleasure of meeting the amazing (and best-hug-giving) Bez, the genius behind the cat wall and games like Yogi, Wibbell++ and Kitty Cataclysm (currently <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bybez/kitty-cataclysm-chaos-cardplay-dickery-and-cat-pun" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">on Kickstarter</a>).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I-fjGEiVZ0CrG8iUmKMEIiWWaSkhTEK9_eej9bW6GUh7FBBXJHTjUNMz0kmaWl_CMvveQ5W1rXlIOVdgWE5N4eKAkBsSiXEo2wcT4JLogOiCX_8ov_B6iL9XMdg6GRkVdptbhnYP0TpK/s1600/airecon-bez-cats.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Bez and Cats | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I-fjGEiVZ0CrG8iUmKMEIiWWaSkhTEK9_eej9bW6GUh7FBBXJHTjUNMz0kmaWl_CMvveQ5W1rXlIOVdgWE5N4eKAkBsSiXEo2wcT4JLogOiCX_8ov_B6iL9XMdg6GRkVdptbhnYP0TpK/s640/airecon-bez-cats.png" title="AireCon 2018 - Bez and Cats | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Bez kindly sat me down for demos of some of these existing games, as well as a really fun prototype that I wish I could buy now but will have to wait until its Kickstarter. I left under strict instructions to return the next day to add a cat to the wall, which had been built up over a number of past conventions. One cat, per person, per day - those were the rules. You can see my little kitty contribution above!<br />
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I also got to try out another current Kickstarter: post-apocalyptic vehicle battling game Wreck and Ruin. Drawn to the table by the amazing miniatures, I stayed for the fun gameplay and I think I'm going to have to back it (despite supposedly cutting down on Kickstarters). You can check out Mark's campaign <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1358316989/wreck-and-ruin-0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWjqcFHxM4XO0EGu6WZDL9UuFpjNl8OWMNxjiySPU8VPlo5Ixj6byazpyKZ6tbtgYvBAdS7axOTGMyT01oo631hByijFysYtXXREQgjDIFuxFxxGrUcSbR7HYAGCiIulmngtfi-sin8Js/s1600/airecon-wreck-and-ruin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Wreck and Ruin | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWjqcFHxM4XO0EGu6WZDL9UuFpjNl8OWMNxjiySPU8VPlo5Ixj6byazpyKZ6tbtgYvBAdS7axOTGMyT01oo631hByijFysYtXXREQgjDIFuxFxxGrUcSbR7HYAGCiIulmngtfi-sin8Js/s640/airecon-wreck-and-ruin.png" title="AireCon 2018 - Wreck and Ruin | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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It seemed a waste to come all the way up north and not actually investigate Harrogate itself, so I took a bit of a break to look around the town. Other than visiting the legendary Betty's Tea Rooms, the only thing I managed to accomplish was finding a board game shop and accidentally buying Photosynthesis (thanks, <a href="http://www.gamescrusade.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Games Crusade</a>!). Clearly my mind was too cardboard-focused to be too touristy!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrffp-PQGaaPL_XWLOMtwXswB0X_Qa9WPXeMYd8QQDCG2PqkQAm_Ghe0ezBp_15lV4L9kmJV3LXXyavlcN9kkJkKrn6wxdKqTAgaK-uoUDIRqPYTsZC293K5K6BYVeRI02Qc5bNC_1ZTPj/s1600/airecon-bettys-tea-rooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Betty's Tea Room | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="1600" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrffp-PQGaaPL_XWLOMtwXswB0X_Qa9WPXeMYd8QQDCG2PqkQAm_Ghe0ezBp_15lV4L9kmJV3LXXyavlcN9kkJkKrn6wxdKqTAgaK-uoUDIRqPYTsZC293K5K6BYVeRI02Qc5bNC_1ZTPj/s640/airecon-bettys-tea-rooms.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Betty's Tea Room | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Saying that, the next photo I took was more food-based than cardboard-based, since I was hovering around waiting for dinner at the CGE demo booth where <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvIWBOfYGXYQQQORhjAJKCQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Grogan</a> was still hard at work. I did get to nose in on this board-game-celebrity game of Pictomania though (which looks very fun and silly):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iF1qOfOFvogymOUWL0KioTAPyOSC0zruoY5kotwhamZ7H3kYXM4DMDubkeFq4vESOAzsmDh3zYH_vFa1XaaBcDCdzrPJ9WGkw3ePw4SRwMkTJkXlSfdzckSwE5BdklpLuCJJD_YlG-71/s1600/airecon-gaming-rules-demo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - CGE Demo | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1600" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iF1qOfOFvogymOUWL0KioTAPyOSC0zruoY5kotwhamZ7H3kYXM4DMDubkeFq4vESOAzsmDh3zYH_vFa1XaaBcDCdzrPJ9WGkw3ePw4SRwMkTJkXlSfdzckSwE5BdklpLuCJJD_YlG-71/s640/airecon-gaming-rules-demo.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - CGE Demo | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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After a speedy fish-and-chip dinner with Paul and friends, we headed back to the convention centre where we tried out a new prototype game from CGE that I really enjoyed, followed by a game of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/202732/raise-your-goblets" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Raise Your Goblets</a> which Ian had picked up from the AireCon bring and buy sale. Ian had bumped into the game's designer, Tim Page, when making his purchase and he'd promised to teach Ian how to play. He may have come to regret this when he was stolen from his T.I.M.E. Stories game to play with us. What a kind man!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrYNuKVfvEw13ht8LRB2db17NziFDAcEijEg6H8-PJ87Ry33WPDz0RRIXAGsZwh7KR0xVkG9Me_Z4xh-o1G5K5dlxt_7W2Fb6sD7TONsTqDDQcTWo1ESx85g3o6i9_Xm3pIVh5dJTvNO8/s1600/airecon-raise-your-goblets.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Raise Your Goblets | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1600" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrYNuKVfvEw13ht8LRB2db17NziFDAcEijEg6H8-PJ87Ry33WPDz0RRIXAGsZwh7KR0xVkG9Me_Z4xh-o1G5K5dlxt_7W2Fb6sD7TONsTqDDQcTWo1ESx85g3o6i9_Xm3pIVh5dJTvNO8/s640/airecon-raise-your-goblets.png" title="AireCon 2018 - Raise Your Goblets | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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With not much time left before the hall closed at 11pm, we started a game of Mint Works. I was so pleased to finally play this, as it has been sat on my shelf of unplayed shame ever since the Kickstarter campaign delivered at the end of 2016. It's such a neat little worker placement game and I was still enjoying it when we had to pack it away early so they could lock up.<br />
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Some people went on to play games in the hotel after the hall closed, but having had a 4.30am start that morning I very much appreciated the excuse to go straight to sleep!<br />
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Day 2 of Airecon, and more lovely people arrive!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIO5wdgVQuMx0XxQs1MFmen_M5cV1Yk0ID5b9J1B7BmUDJ0gOiZMtUkZYP-3hwB5rHbjmZJKI30u3i-PFIgN2lUN0kko9UMbyXd34h-lh_1zUWOXnUIxysSMWe5enaxt876ijUpDAhWYY/s1600/airecon-friends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon - Friends! | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1600" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIO5wdgVQuMx0XxQs1MFmen_M5cV1Yk0ID5b9J1B7BmUDJ0gOiZMtUkZYP-3hwB5rHbjmZJKI30u3i-PFIgN2lUN0kko9UMbyXd34h-lh_1zUWOXnUIxysSMWe5enaxt876ijUpDAhWYY/s640/airecon-friends.jpg" title="AireCon - Friends! | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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The first game of the day was a demo of Azul with Katie, guided by the lovely folks from Asmodee UK. I'm completely in love with this game but still can't find a copy anywhere to buy, so I'll just have to look sadly at these photos until a reprint arrives:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUwRlbHuW60jWMPXCpfOGGXCB3QOYzVlsT6EfVlmL3WuYHTdCgiwPAlFszJHO1YZ9nB9yYpklJBZR28uv9zvWAOXvR_hpNIS8GTyRqgQCkZ1bhcWzPRj0Uy2BqVdEQoIuzBOD6wIkS0ZI/s1600/airecon-azul-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon - Azul | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1091" data-original-width="1600" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUwRlbHuW60jWMPXCpfOGGXCB3QOYzVlsT6EfVlmL3WuYHTdCgiwPAlFszJHO1YZ9nB9yYpklJBZR28uv9zvWAOXvR_hpNIS8GTyRqgQCkZ1bhcWzPRj0Uy2BqVdEQoIuzBOD6wIkS0ZI/s640/airecon-azul-2.png" title="AireCon - Azul | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then we had a quick game of abstract puzzle game <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/217449/nmbr-9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">NMBR 9</a> to ease everyone gently into the day. This has become a firm favourite filler game for me, although sadly I missed the Mega-NMBR 9 event laid on later in the day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBXQ9qqgqlwCMq7dprHNaNTumhqiVOi-vJmvD9QKcJ26Ss4p2jAEL9jP3B7-HN0TBKwbwBt4NYvmn0nYMg4qlGELkqyDU4CA07IALgAngQ7Sv7GRTQGeBuinGKzdHglOir4S50o9ocm11/s1600/airecon-nmbr9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon - NMBR 9 | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBXQ9qqgqlwCMq7dprHNaNTumhqiVOi-vJmvD9QKcJ26Ss4p2jAEL9jP3B7-HN0TBKwbwBt4NYvmn0nYMg4qlGELkqyDU4CA07IALgAngQ7Sv7GRTQGeBuinGKzdHglOir4S50o9ocm11/s640/airecon-nmbr9.JPG" title="AireCon - NMBR 9 | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Next it was time for a quick look at the board game library available at AireCon. There was so much on offer that you could easily have turned up with none of your own games - something I probably should have thought about before filling the boot of my car!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzObKGdxTPvPOEiDlaCENmEwTHvozl96taNOgz65JiO9qg9zPUxNdJUKh6tH4wDLxix7YEunDV4elhddjXgdqgv5cQISlDuyCvJiPNZ4pFLSS3G3l8br6aDLDWqRrzQmdEImQDTX7DOwr/s1600/airecon-board-game-library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon - Board Game Library | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1600" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzObKGdxTPvPOEiDlaCENmEwTHvozl96taNOgz65JiO9qg9zPUxNdJUKh6tH4wDLxix7YEunDV4elhddjXgdqgv5cQISlDuyCvJiPNZ4pFLSS3G3l8br6aDLDWqRrzQmdEImQDTX7DOwr/s640/airecon-board-game-library.jpg" title="AireCon - Board Game Library | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Katie wanted to try out <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/234277/nusfjord" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nusfjord</a> and I was more than happy to try out another Uwe Rosenberg game (although I've still never quite managed to try out A Feast for Odin - one day, one day!). With Jeppers and Gemma on board too, we were just starting to pile up the components and dig into the rules when a very kindly chap showed up offering to teach us how to play and be our fifth player.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQw9GZjJ57fdTWUjnO3TC1JaxUMiKmUhZhBxRi8uHR6iKbmJu6J3gUjzv7-MUPJVr5Pq6W1ZtaZYzKYN_CjBqstndMPaJmGLetGXwU-i-qeq4MzKWBW0lIP5pRDPKPNki0cm5SovnRcHI4/s1600/airecon-nusfjord-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon - Nusfjord | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1600" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQw9GZjJ57fdTWUjnO3TC1JaxUMiKmUhZhBxRi8uHR6iKbmJu6J3gUjzv7-MUPJVr5Pq6W1ZtaZYzKYN_CjBqstndMPaJmGLetGXwU-i-qeq4MzKWBW0lIP5pRDPKPNki0cm5SovnRcHI4/s640/airecon-nusfjord-2.png" title="AireCon - Nusfjord | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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This turned out to be Jon from <a href="https://www.handycon.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Handycon</a>, a bi-annual board game conference held in Maidenhead - a lot closer to home, yay - and he was very patient with us Nusfjord-newbies. I really enjoyed the game, which seemed to combine lots of fun parts from previous Uwe Rosenberg games without any of the family-feeding bits that stress me out in some of the others. Might be sneaking that one onto the wish list...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikCeCQy9IXh55V0lqDrCRlbvs3fep3gfu907aLHabzeDzwo1PpYgfqf6EXNmbQIlUGt3X0j75sKnUXl3bJ0gLMZn3o58alsvLsTrqHL27KcGP4bGrEFSc_fJkMmv7zYhzXTyNGZRuZgF-Y/s1600/airecon-nusfjord-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon - Nusfjord | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1600" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikCeCQy9IXh55V0lqDrCRlbvs3fep3gfu907aLHabzeDzwo1PpYgfqf6EXNmbQIlUGt3X0j75sKnUXl3bJ0gLMZn3o58alsvLsTrqHL27KcGP4bGrEFSc_fJkMmv7zYhzXTyNGZRuZgF-Y/s640/airecon-nusfjord-1.JPG" title="AireCon - Nusfjord | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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We opted for something lighter next, so I attempted to teach the others how to play dice-drafting window crafter <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/199561/sagrada" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sagrada</a>. This one is just so beautiful, but still has plenty of substance under the stained glass.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlADhLJB1BmhdqQ62end_a0RE-ge3Jn5_9ZAw_l1h_bTFN2cRWw47zuFizTPR90cB9g5c8tfYUFBjAP7tItb9BDwIxZBOxWURzgorsWrTbOAnKrv-qj9CNaCGdhhpC4oyibkFlyqrW4UeS/s1600/airecon-sagrada.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1253" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlADhLJB1BmhdqQ62end_a0RE-ge3Jn5_9ZAw_l1h_bTFN2cRWw47zuFizTPR90cB9g5c8tfYUFBjAP7tItb9BDwIxZBOxWURzgorsWrTbOAnKrv-qj9CNaCGdhhpC4oyibkFlyqrW4UeS/s400/airecon-sagrada.JPG" width="312" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/210008/rails" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Off the Rails</a> was next up, with minecart chaos ensuing as we hurtled around constantly changing tracks trying to pick up the shiniest gems before the mine started to cave in around us. We had to pause the action part way through, however, to make sure we got to the 'On the Couch with Polyhedron Collider' panel, handily located in a suite just off of the main hall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4UWyYDZwVKXrVJlWaNf5JQnh43hO9zGO1s28eq6EjhTZSISNx4mNUQk2Ylsi_U367yU73ndYERJKqtZObkNVBcZHGj7Q-jdEcchWW_55cbUcTT1QYDRqiQyDv-Npwo4nv3f3yXpqUHFB/s1600/airecon-off-the-rails-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Off the Rails | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4UWyYDZwVKXrVJlWaNf5JQnh43hO9zGO1s28eq6EjhTZSISNx4mNUQk2Ylsi_U367yU73ndYERJKqtZObkNVBcZHGj7Q-jdEcchWW_55cbUcTT1QYDRqiQyDv-Npwo4nv3f3yXpqUHFB/s640/airecon-off-the-rails-2.JPG" title="AireCon 2018 - Off the Rails | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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The panel gave us a chance to hear from loads of board game media types like Efka and Elaine from <a href="https://www.nopunincluded.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">No Pun Included</a>, Matt from <a href="http://www.creakingshelves.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Creaking Shelves</a>, Luke from <a href="http://brokenmeeple.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Broken Meeple</a> or Kat from <a href="https://iplayred.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I Play Red</a> and also introduced me to many more things I should be listening to, like <a href="https://thegamepit.podbean.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Game Pit</a> or <a href="https://www.unluckyfrog.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Unlucky Frog Gaming</a>. And then of course there are the <a href="http://www.polyhedroncollider.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Polyhedron Collider</a> folks themselves - if you don't listen to their podcast already, you really should. Awesome panel; far from ramshackle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGR7Uf1ZVPRjMug7LatauDwU4swmCIvQolMxvmq3LLZdH1HcAJaCsv5sQoQE-MHcK49erXWeBmDJAE_B7Dhr2Ag2sQnThAt0DzvUpBjyh9YSwI-LFfO3M4mgVs9tTgiGZoL_h2f_FF0MN/s1600/airecon-polyhedron-collider-panel-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Polyhedron Collider Panel | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGR7Uf1ZVPRjMug7LatauDwU4swmCIvQolMxvmq3LLZdH1HcAJaCsv5sQoQE-MHcK49erXWeBmDJAE_B7Dhr2Ag2sQnThAt0DzvUpBjyh9YSwI-LFfO3M4mgVs9tTgiGZoL_h2f_FF0MN/s640/airecon-polyhedron-collider-panel-1.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Polyhedron Collider Panel | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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I did my best to embarrass myself in front of most of the people on the panels over the course of the weekend by awkwardly saying hello or talking complete nonsense, but everyone was super nice and it's much appreciated!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNzby6lFDwEFJlYoUfrf4Y3g2IOz-NSfKodH2808E38z-FGNyJnvlqTNy_gqVyaHhZB0DAkDaY2k5kF2ubtpvxgoJukLg5ycwAfm1_MOsQA5U9YpbGsRBVOGF3se_H8pbJmIMmiBn7nwB/s1600/airecon-polyhedron-collider-panel-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Polyhedron Collider Panel | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNzby6lFDwEFJlYoUfrf4Y3g2IOz-NSfKodH2808E38z-FGNyJnvlqTNy_gqVyaHhZB0DAkDaY2k5kF2ubtpvxgoJukLg5ycwAfm1_MOsQA5U9YpbGsRBVOGF3se_H8pbJmIMmiBn7nwB/s640/airecon-polyhedron-collider-panel-2.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Polyhedron Collider Panel | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Day 3 brought a chance to finally try out the copy of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/218603/photosynthesis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photosynthesis</a> that had been burning a hole in my game bag since Friday. It is a beautiful, mean, mean game and I love it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixn3d9xzieCrWrsjm-SJyvJ6J7n0Cf6BD2s_JubLThBdvycELoPDmN0Kl4QaQ2nV_DOyunDt88_u4jHNI8rs9Yi8E0vq52ovGFL01Z5vmUO9ysxA8ejQMfv__VWVfiXCyUXosbe3pHGe7n/s1600/airecon-photosynthesis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Photosynthesis | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1600" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixn3d9xzieCrWrsjm-SJyvJ6J7n0Cf6BD2s_JubLThBdvycELoPDmN0Kl4QaQ2nV_DOyunDt88_u4jHNI8rs9Yi8E0vq52ovGFL01Z5vmUO9ysxA8ejQMfv__VWVfiXCyUXosbe3pHGe7n/s640/airecon-photosynthesis.png" title="AireCon 2018 - Photosynthesis | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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It did also give me a chance to use the snazzy new AireCon dice tray that I'd bought, despite not having any dice:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRUw_oiRfKf-B4Hmq7I37V0-2QOnOEsBKC22OfuwmfKS92rNX7nPlWc_J1qWaBK0xu63N0sjZUpMcXC6RxaATxm0-us_qdQ8zuYGpxyw_eOeG5oFD1346ggJO4xMPgGJXHM1HfcS8Ns-j/s1600/aircon-photosynthesis-dice-tray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - AireCon dice tray | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRUw_oiRfKf-B4Hmq7I37V0-2QOnOEsBKC22OfuwmfKS92rNX7nPlWc_J1qWaBK0xu63N0sjZUpMcXC6RxaATxm0-us_qdQ8zuYGpxyw_eOeG5oFD1346ggJO4xMPgGJXHM1HfcS8Ns-j/s640/aircon-photosynthesis-dice-tray.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - AireCon dice tray | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sadly I managed to completely botch some of the rules for our first game, which is ironic since we went straight into the 'Top 5 Tips for Teaching Games' panel after we'd played...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhoX6X13ugKQGEq889UTZF95G6cBq0fuLudl98rZghtdPWN2rHLblBaNoziPJN3FRSHt4NpW0hKSSvpFFV_SEACbyj0uBAGaoFxeuyJSAY0zpQokNWgBUT41dt14aG1kDu_b7f73JhVlV/s1600/airecon-rules-panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Top 5 Tips for Teaching Games Panel | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="1600" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhoX6X13ugKQGEq889UTZF95G6cBq0fuLudl98rZghtdPWN2rHLblBaNoziPJN3FRSHt4NpW0hKSSvpFFV_SEACbyj0uBAGaoFxeuyJSAY0zpQokNWgBUT41dt14aG1kDu_b7f73JhVlV/s640/airecon-rules-panel.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Top 5 Tips for Teaching Games Panel | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another interesting panel with people well known for their rules explanation or overview videos: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMeNWd9KqCFGjTEx9HSxjUg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Toucan Play That Game</a>, <a href="http://gaming-rules.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gaming Rules!</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/WatchItPlayed" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch It Played</a> and <a href="http://www.skiptherulebook.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Skip the Rulebook</a>. Brilliant tips were given, although I don't think I'll ever be a natural teacher, however good my intentions are. Fingers crossed that these guys keep putting out the helpful rules videos for a long time to come!<br />
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So that was my AireCon. I had to leave fairly early to make the epic trek home, but I'm so glad I went. I met so many brilliant people and caught up with lovely friends that I haven't seen for ages. Well worth the journey and I'd love to go back next year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgi0lrEEBZjR4VfaWtC7sekXkxZ8kuk4jTR9qCmE1booT6t1CZCKiVl167Px1ab7wHaILU5Gej0GAZGFFGDeA-adpmHoPAOQTlxTrUFOFxguS4utoicEiy-x2a0iYdsjgh84DEbGpG_jU/s1600/airecon-harrogate-view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Harrogate | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="1600" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgi0lrEEBZjR4VfaWtC7sekXkxZ8kuk4jTR9qCmE1booT6t1CZCKiVl167Px1ab7wHaILU5Gej0GAZGFFGDeA-adpmHoPAOQTlxTrUFOFxguS4utoicEiy-x2a0iYdsjgh84DEbGpG_jU/s640/airecon-harrogate-view.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Harrogate | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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And I'm finishing with a dessert picture from a Harrogate gelato shop, for no real reason other than it was beautiful and pretty much sums up my feelings on AireCon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz0uKMcWTE1899DSiANGJkI_EmLlgpLV5btuiSMndPj-y2uL_Wt7mQ_C2cn-rZz6KivBRml-xi99_zMVh299EVmcp3K4T843xPcUR5alMiFXxEwLDZAO3oWmRah-JFOqjD6nBhJM7kF_b/s1600/airecon-ice-cream-waffle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon 2018 - Ridiculous Dessert | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz0uKMcWTE1899DSiANGJkI_EmLlgpLV5btuiSMndPj-y2uL_Wt7mQ_C2cn-rZz6KivBRml-xi99_zMVh299EVmcp3K4T843xPcUR5alMiFXxEwLDZAO3oWmRah-JFOqjD6nBhJM7kF_b/s640/airecon-ice-cream-waffle.jpg" title="AireCon 2018 - Ridiculous Dessert | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-29897501258850118172018-03-07T14:53:00.001-08:002018-04-17T12:32:30.688-07:00Review: When I Dream card gameIn a hugely competitive market place, publishers are finding all kinds of ways to make their game stand out from the crowd, from splashy cover art to fancy components to the occasional animal costume (I'm looking at you, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHIo5FXfDt0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Grogan</a>!)<br />
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But Repos Production definitely went the extra marketing-mile last summer, when they launched When I Dream into the board gaming stratosphere by literally tying it to a balloon and floating it into the upper atmosphere...<br />
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You know you need to work on your life goals when a board game makes it 20 miles closer to your dream of space travel than you ever will!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLeJ7574h7P14igxOKu5rLSpX0OTgqS09DcU2nnW44wRXlIkYKw5WShzgAki3Q4__uw2xsxs1fK3lo5hV9RO4vJQQz7cfoeaA7JC0T9c0nlJ8DRBFm6WkSKfkZcI1rS3I_g9n2apx4iG9f/s1600/when-i-dream-box-art2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - box art | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1541" data-original-width="1600" height="616" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLeJ7574h7P14igxOKu5rLSpX0OTgqS09DcU2nnW44wRXlIkYKw5WShzgAki3Q4__uw2xsxs1fK3lo5hV9RO4vJQQz7cfoeaA7JC0T9c0nlJ8DRBFm6WkSKfkZcI1rS3I_g9n2apx4iG9f/s640/when-i-dream-box-art2.JPG" title="When I Dream - box art | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Speaking (tenuously) of dreams, I'd better talk about the game itself! It feels like this would be a good spot to write something witty about whether the game was going to be a dream or a nightmare, but I'm sure that must have been done by now...<br />
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When I Dream is a party game for 4 to 10 players where everyone has a go at interpreting their (really, really odd) dreams using clues given to them by the other players.<br />
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One player becomes the Dreamer, taking their life into their hands and placing huge trust in their friends by putting on the snazzy sleep-mask blindfold that comes with the game. Everyone else is allocated a role as a Dream Spirit: Fairy, Boogeyman or Sandman (every time I read this, I just hear Metallica).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEbH377tkM6Q-vP2ggkFvcyn76MMRRTwt79NyEq2zktevR9CzfBKvkeUOECOfqkhyphenhyphenqYfWPK8wdQJOcZ1hnQ1X8U74ISWNmiT8Yf88SU2UkbbfI8iDkgmfFFZn4r1LRVM2OV2iJxMFqXaT/s1600/when-i-dream-spirits.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - dream spirits | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEbH377tkM6Q-vP2ggkFvcyn76MMRRTwt79NyEq2zktevR9CzfBKvkeUOECOfqkhyphenhyphenqYfWPK8wdQJOcZ1hnQ1X8U74ISWNmiT8Yf88SU2UkbbfI8iDkgmfFFZn4r1LRVM2OV2iJxMFqXaT/s640/when-i-dream-spirits.JPG" title="When I Dream - dream spirits | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Each round is broken into two phases: Night and Day. As night falls, the Dreamer starts to snooze and players take it in turns to give them a single-word clue to describe the first Element of the dream. Elements are words shown on the beautifully illustrated cards tucked into the cozy-looking bed at the centre of the game board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eBXc3RFLikXuDjgwTpUrAumzwvp425rRV1Y0Ngj8hbsOdCN45M3dsJF-qMteQBBiBmIWefpCjBgeFYemTVhoBBO8LmeMNIAHs-Qf9_0pdrx2qPvosh3blTNCPhE30rR19GXfR2B8jBAP/s1600/when-i-dream-bed-random-nerdery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - bed | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="1600" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eBXc3RFLikXuDjgwTpUrAumzwvp425rRV1Y0Ngj8hbsOdCN45M3dsJF-qMteQBBiBmIWefpCjBgeFYemTVhoBBO8LmeMNIAHs-Qf9_0pdrx2qPvosh3blTNCPhE30rR19GXfR2B8jBAP/s640/when-i-dream-bed-random-nerdery.JPG" title="When I Dream - bed | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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When the Dreamer thinks they know what's being described, they can interrupt to make a guess. If they're correct, the Element card is removed and placed on the yellow side of the board. If they're wrong the card is placed on the blue side instead. The Dreamer isn't allowed to know if they're right or not, so make sure you're quiet about it! Once this is done, play starts again with the next card and continues in this manner until two minutes (timed with a handy sand timer) have passed.<br />
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Not all the clues given will be as helpful as they might seem; whilst Fairies will always be trying their best, Boogeymen will be actively working to make the Dreamer get the wrong answer. Sandmen will keep changing sides to try and get an equal number of correct and incorrect guesses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0FQ1auzeUKsa4VzwXsrPJ_-bL44E2dnvE2mGUA33iHzNLTtX85393keH5HmccG71xmJwv35wJReTxmSFz3PakS5JcXbIaKof4qNWw9sMHe_IU49qGzlEYY_-TkvDZOLPW8h-MWwukSKk/s1600/when-i-dream-game-board.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - game board | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1133" data-original-width="1600" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0FQ1auzeUKsa4VzwXsrPJ_-bL44E2dnvE2mGUA33iHzNLTtX85393keH5HmccG71xmJwv35wJReTxmSFz3PakS5JcXbIaKof4qNWw9sMHe_IU49qGzlEYY_-TkvDZOLPW8h-MWwukSKk/s640/when-i-dream-game-board.JPG" title="When I Dream - game board | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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With the Night phase complete, the game moves into the Day phase. The Dreamer tells everyone about the dream they just had, trying to mention all the Elements that they've guessed over the last two minutes. This is so much harder than it sounds! They can then take off the sleep mask and everyone counts up their points for the round. Fairies and the Dreamer score points for each Element the Dreamer identified correctly. The Boogeymen score points for every card the Dreamer got wrong. The Sandmen score extra points when Fairies and Boogeymen score same number of points.<br />
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The game ends when everyone has had a turn at being the Dreamer, and you can quickly add up your points tokens to see who has won.<br />
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When I Dream has plenty of points to praise. It's really light, quick to teach and simple to learn, especially with the concise and nicely written rulebook. The little plastic bed that stores the Element cards is hugely eye-catching and brings loads of novelty appeal to the game. It's also very practical, with the headboard conveniently hiding one of the words to make sure everyone always knows which end of the card to be look at. The artwork is amazing and mad, with contributions from 20 different talented artists across the Element cards (and not to forget the beautiful box art by<br />
<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/63617/gael-lannurien" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gaël Lannurien</a>).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdElXYw1LQU8e1gPQKTP8mmIGbdeD8hdJFzubeYWJ3JaAW48E6YSc4SXvF77QiwtW8pCBLJ3xT3xmKF8kACbmXAPjc6sEfvBADwX9-5tx3GlM6y1Rzv-aCZEWQSKDmlLVQfGhaa1Fajg8k/s1600/when-i-dream-element-cards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - element cards | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdElXYw1LQU8e1gPQKTP8mmIGbdeD8hdJFzubeYWJ3JaAW48E6YSc4SXvF77QiwtW8pCBLJ3xT3xmKF8kACbmXAPjc6sEfvBADwX9-5tx3GlM6y1Rzv-aCZEWQSKDmlLVQfGhaa1Fajg8k/s640/when-i-dream-element-cards.JPG" title="When I Dream - element cards | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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Most importantly, it's tons of fun. I even enjoyed the hidden role aspect of the game, which is very unusual for me. Games like The Resistance, Spyfall or even Battlestar Galactica tend to stress me out when I'm one of the 'bad guys', as they require you to actively lie and I'm awful at it. I'm terrible at making up fake stories and I'll always get caught out trying to tell them. In When I Dream, though, the hidden role is much lighter. There are no lies to tell; as a Boogeyman (or sometimes as a Sandman) you just have to think of a word association that's close enough to fit with what the Fairies are saying (so you don't get identified by the Dreamer) but clever enough to lead the Dreamer astray. Non-stressful, but still challenging!<br />
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The challenge does seem to show up in scoring, though. It feels a bit easier to score points as a Fairy, and since your role in each round is down to luck of the draw you can end up avoiding the Boogeyman role and raking in the (adorable) points tokens.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH797NANzYV6JuWwURIP_PWCn1kvO5ZTKWTWPdhzKr7i59IDHcVnW9WCOy4NWcEjxagYjWD7pnXX6UlfYE_HYi3KpfvmeBPOlQHGcCyrK83pc6mp7OIqAI8hjJ5XPEDqb04seFnkDkiYoc/s1600/when-i-dream-scoring-tokens-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - points tokens | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="1600" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH797NANzYV6JuWwURIP_PWCn1kvO5ZTKWTWPdhzKr7i59IDHcVnW9WCOy4NWcEjxagYjWD7pnXX6UlfYE_HYi3KpfvmeBPOlQHGcCyrK83pc6mp7OIqAI8hjJ5XPEDqb04seFnkDkiYoc/s640/when-i-dream-scoring-tokens-3.JPG" title="When I Dream - points tokens | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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As with any word association game, there's the risk that a group who play together a lot would start to build their own shorthand for communicating particular words to the Dreamer. This is mitigated in large part by the huge pile of cards that come with the game, which are double-ended and double-sided to give you 440 words to potentially choose from. This would be easy for Repos to expand in future with Dixit-style card packs if they wanted, but even with the standard deck I think there's plenty of replayability in the base game.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7P21KRDqRPNTy2U_T4LAtaBWpVoEvmmJVmHSs3YeTB4WweXt09wUAHlbJZSwTLMF_OsmtgJiYH_qSJqlkiIWBn2MB2NigkCKmbi3eDcd1P1y7Sw5DJVC2o7arTV_TkSMeD7I-rhYAd2Z/s1600/when-i-dream-components.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - components | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1600" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7P21KRDqRPNTy2U_T4LAtaBWpVoEvmmJVmHSs3YeTB4WweXt09wUAHlbJZSwTLMF_OsmtgJiYH_qSJqlkiIWBn2MB2NigkCKmbi3eDcd1P1y7Sw5DJVC2o7arTV_TkSMeD7I-rhYAd2Z/s640/when-i-dream-components.JPG" title="When I Dream - components | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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When I Dream gets a huge thumbs up and is definitely a keeper. That just leaves the small matter of deciding what has to go in order to make a space for it on the shelves! Repos Production keep putting out brilliant games for bigger groups (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">7 Wonders</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155362/cah-n-guns-second-edition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ca$h 'n Gun$</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/200847/secrets" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Secrets</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147151/concept" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Concept</a>) and they're fast becoming a favourite publisher and I can't wait to see what's next.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_5Haj0gk6rxhjQ17hwG8GMQVjtMQPqiSViKtV24A9sCcRz_LliQtP4LhBlbTvvnkHDmIA-_C25gOw4_HxypBniHnfAfANCTtQUM2fWyepHobXhdWZFu8KuRs7sIANkImDCXLg2h8zDih/s1600/when-i-dream-sand-timer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When I Dream - sand timer | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1600" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_5Haj0gk6rxhjQ17hwG8GMQVjtMQPqiSViKtV24A9sCcRz_LliQtP4LhBlbTvvnkHDmIA-_C25gOw4_HxypBniHnfAfANCTtQUM2fWyepHobXhdWZFu8KuRs7sIANkImDCXLg2h8zDih/s640/when-i-dream-sand-timer.JPG" title="When I Dream - sand timer | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
<b>When I Dream</b></h3>
<b>Designer: </b><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/90787/chris-darsaklis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Darsaklis</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Repos Production<br />
<b>Play time:</b> 30+ mins<br />
<b>Players: </b>4-10<br />
<b>Age: </b>8+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £26.99 [Find your <a href="http://www.findyourgamestore.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">friendly local brick-and-mortar retailer</a> in Europe]<br />
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Thanks to Asmodee UK for sending me a copy of the game to review. If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-56184136061251729752018-02-25T15:04:00.002-08:002018-04-19T08:25:26.544-07:00Review: Bärenpark board game<div>
<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Bear-tetris, koala disputes, and for some reason, cause to use the phrase 'one toilet short of a draw' in a public place. I'm taking a look at Bärenpark, the latest offering from Phil Walker-Harding of <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2015/12/christmas-stocking-fillers-5-sushi-go.html" target="_blank">Sushi Go!</a> and Imhotep fame, that had me googling for Gobi bears and the umlaut keyboard shortcut!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_feKzIfhk2TPGRBS9kKv3pn0W2BlWluinevXB2bcKrxKA9y2O8Q_3CHgiDvL6GLSRf1Dg2sBnFrkoqUUUjJfc1qnIpFSuY3mBteV9gzoDf2KDacFd6SiRIRWuxfcSVuBDt2JpoigePKdX/s1600/barenpark-box-art.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barenpark board game - Phil Walker-Harding - box art" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1169" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_feKzIfhk2TPGRBS9kKv3pn0W2BlWluinevXB2bcKrxKA9y2O8Q_3CHgiDvL6GLSRf1Dg2sBnFrkoqUUUjJfc1qnIpFSuY3mBteV9gzoDf2KDacFd6SiRIRWuxfcSVuBDt2JpoigePKdX/s640/barenpark-box-art.JPG" title="Barenpark board game - Phil Walker-Harding - box art" width="466" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'm no expert, but I'm fairly certain that box doesn't depict safe bear-care procedure...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I've played so many fit-together-the-cardboard-tile games over the last year or so that it's hard to find enough words for 'tile' to write about them without sounding boring. Google has provided 'polyominoes', the actual description for these shapes and pretty much the best word ever. With <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/01/cardboard-patchwork-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Patchwork</a>, Cottage Garden and NMBR9 all in our collection though, you'd think we'd be all polyomino-d out by now.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ExxopoQFerm_UlOHjtMgVvmaMGKzJZzTuL5UaAna25w1yn56ODnJepfrR6ZLkP3xTmzF9phM-xH7CMV3WrAD7vIhqMZSTTnvke3LhFTwfnkXRUmCx3Fq-0qDUdNpyfU8bi8OB96nGY_y/s1600/barenpark-completed-park.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barenpark - completed park | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1455" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ExxopoQFerm_UlOHjtMgVvmaMGKzJZzTuL5UaAna25w1yn56ODnJepfrR6ZLkP3xTmzF9phM-xH7CMV3WrAD7vIhqMZSTTnvke3LhFTwfnkXRUmCx3Fq-0qDUdNpyfU8bi8OB96nGY_y/s640/barenpark-completed-park.JPG" title="Barenpark - completed park | Random Nerdery" width="580" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Enter Bärenpark, one of the most hyped games to come home with me from the last <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2017/06/uk-games-expo-2017-highlights.html" target="_blank">UK Games Expo</a>. Bärenpark is a puzzle game where up to four bear-loving park designers can create a comfy new home for a collection of Gobi, polar, panda and koala bears. Yes, they know that koalas aren't actual bears, but the rules make it very clear that they've been included for their lovability factor rather than their taxonomy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Each player takes on a very bleak looking patch of land to develop into their own shiny bear-topia. These are divided into a grid of squares, some of which are marked with special symbols.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">On your turn you add a polyomino (yes, I'm going to keep using it...) to your park from your individual supply. The symbols you cover with this tile dictate which tiles you can take from the central supply to use in future turns:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Green wheelbarrow</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Take one of the small 'green area' tiles - toilets, playgrounds or food streets - and add it to your supply.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">White cement truck</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Take the top 'animal house' tile from one of the available stacks. These go down in victory point value as the stack starts to disappear, so you have to balance up the choice of shapes available with the potential points. You can instead choose to take one of the green area tiles instead.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireNMcJgUgwAW6hKFg_iz8t_p1x6Bi_rtyPpHL8RuQLean-ff0UDMxqMcobOCbpC-o7znQxx60dA5Bfm2vgqu7vajL_Hjgl7Ef7uzfca1UtZ-AsD3NY-B2PWtGst1H_3ubT4PAZS7V8rKR/s1600/barenpark-tile-market.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Barenpark tile board" border="0" data-original-height="969" data-original-width="1600" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireNMcJgUgwAW6hKFg_iz8t_p1x6Bi_rtyPpHL8RuQLean-ff0UDMxqMcobOCbpC-o7znQxx60dA5Bfm2vgqu7vajL_Hjgl7Ef7uzfca1UtZ-AsD3NY-B2PWtGst1H_3ubT4PAZS7V8rKR/s640/barenpark-tile-market.JPG" title="Barenpark tile board" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Take one of the big 'enclosure' (or awkward-shaped-but-high-points-value) pieces. Again, you can choose to take one of the previously described animal house or green area pieces instead if you don't think you'll have anywhere to fit the bigger shapes.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnSvweOmXPgInA15nmyBUdL3Fdq55VpfrGPbb9w5IuFqEgznAhMxCa25T_GBz7oShPaGslTdu8I2QJE_Mmdumnw19LYylnk2ZO5rLEpVTA0qvhSWFEmB_6lZ2mWya094TyLLOXHgg-eLz/s1600/barenpark-orange-digger-tiles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barenpark enclosure tiles | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1007" data-original-width="1600" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnSvweOmXPgInA15nmyBUdL3Fdq55VpfrGPbb9w5IuFqEgznAhMxCa25T_GBz7oShPaGslTdu8I2QJE_Mmdumnw19LYylnk2ZO5rLEpVTA0qvhSWFEmB_6lZ2mWya094TyLLOXHgg-eLz/s640/barenpark-orange-digger-tiles.JPG" title="Barenpark enclosure tiles | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Construction crew</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Add another section of empty land to your park. You can have a total of four of base boards in your park; once you have four, covering the construction crew symbol no longer does anything).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29VDpFFTK6ckP7YnXi49fxWOIwfl6KjID_oIoGmQuZ_VqHJssOeeGI_K59OK4koNTZUF9SaTkq1iNfvYW18E06CmaqLT5zu2ax7bo25vTMeIDERtUS43VLSAQmA_vNzY6hIfcAropI4Or/s1600/barenpark-park-tile-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barenpark park tiles | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29VDpFFTK6ckP7YnXi49fxWOIwfl6KjID_oIoGmQuZ_VqHJssOeeGI_K59OK4koNTZUF9SaTkq1iNfvYW18E06CmaqLT5zu2ax7bo25vTMeIDERtUS43VLSAQmA_vNzY6hIfcAropI4Or/s400/barenpark-park-tile-2.JPG" title="Barenpark park tiles | Random Nerdery" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">You're aiming to fill up each tile, covering all squares except the little fenced-off pit; once you've completely filled all other squares on a base tile, you get to take the bear statue tile with the highest remaining points value and slot it neatly into this last space.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">These statue tiles go down in value from 16 to 1, so Bärenpark becomes a race to fill your park tiles faster and more efficiently than everyone else to make sure the highest point statues end up in your park.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Once a player completely fills their park, everyone else has one last turn to patch up what they can before the game ends and scoring takes place. Scoring is as easy as counting up all the points shown on the tiles you've managed to place in your park. The player with the most points wins!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">If you want to add some more challenge into the mix, there are also a number of achievements available with their own associated points, for things like having three consecutive river tiles, or having one of each animal house. These add an extra element to think about that really helps with replayability, as the base game could get a bit stale over repeated plays.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I like that there's not a huge amount of adjustment needed to set up the game for different player counts, just removing a few tiles for two or three players. The game components are great, with loads of adorable artwork and chunky cardboard tiles. The box insert was a bit of a mystery, using spare bits of punchboard to create three triangular sections in the box. I'm afraid I can't show a picture, because I immediately abandoned it in favour of some ziplock bags - although I'd be seriously eyeing up the <a href="https://www.meeplerealty.com/product/bear-park/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meeple Realty insert</a> if it weren't for the vast UK shipping cost!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJ0zvYjcCh1HeCSZBsbgkVaA1WLvQ5XUa3acfie_CBJub71UAio3ZaUs3iPfs6FAXwz2ZJLvykrjbzjl6n2EwNX7-mugWUMRPX0C71OzvkUwdQ3EL6ouvQtU2QLTrJStC7gQodunizlcV/s1600/barenpark-completed-park-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barenpark board game - completed park | Random Nerdery" border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1600" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJ0zvYjcCh1HeCSZBsbgkVaA1WLvQ5XUa3acfie_CBJub71UAio3ZaUs3iPfs6FAXwz2ZJLvykrjbzjl6n2EwNX7-mugWUMRPX0C71OzvkUwdQ3EL6ouvQtU2QLTrJStC7gQodunizlcV/s640/barenpark-completed-park-2.JPG" title="Barenpark board game - completed park | Random Nerdery" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">We've played a ton of this since UKGE and it's still a really popular go-to choice when we want something fun, quick to play, light in terms of rules but still offering something to think about. And yes, we do have too many tile-laying puzzle games now, but it won't be Bärenpark getting axed from the collection. Sorry, Cottage Garden!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTDIeDpO-aD3VnEPStCHZxQD10zVjnGTgo90Htg6v3Teq_xvZ1ZQIMseL5y3asl3fNElBz39IoYAuH5QNkdhOmkjtC7z30qWdb3acWEisEuYF3JaWIj91v1q55hoInmAUE7r18lF6aE3Y/s1600/barenpark-food-street-tiles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barenpark board game - food street tile" border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1600" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTDIeDpO-aD3VnEPStCHZxQD10zVjnGTgo90Htg6v3Teq_xvZ1ZQIMseL5y3asl3fNElBz39IoYAuH5QNkdhOmkjtC7z30qWdb3acWEisEuYF3JaWIj91v1q55hoInmAUE7r18lF6aE3Y/s640/barenpark-food-street-tiles.JPG" title="Barenpark board game - food street tile" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!</div>
Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-84635779524506022562018-02-18T16:08:00.000-08:002018-02-25T15:29:03.204-08:00AireCon Incoming!Since I went to the <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/search/label/UKGE" target="_blank">UK Games Expo</a> back in June I've been arguing a lot with myself over whether or not to go to <a href="https://airecon.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AireCon</a>, an analog gaming festival due to be held at the Harrogate Convention Centre on 9 - 11 March 2018. This month, after much deliberation, I finally caved; looks like I'm heading north next month!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxorgRp0XUrsPLFDDouf7IewV6RsQjgFRy3GsXNuJGWiQVzLCTE9fZpFigNIu-yl4uHO-QQgQQDtOS7FUQVjilsjvXJ77Tlsq_TjgtGQ5mJ3Cs6_aSKpMRTmDSI8M_cwOPAuTK0Ro0q-q/s1600/airecon-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AireCon logo" border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="306" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxorgRp0XUrsPLFDDouf7IewV6RsQjgFRy3GsXNuJGWiQVzLCTE9fZpFigNIu-yl4uHO-QQgQQDtOS7FUQVjilsjvXJ77Tlsq_TjgtGQ5mJ3Cs6_aSKpMRTmDSI8M_cwOPAuTK0Ro0q-q/s400/airecon-logo.png" title="AireCon logo" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's a 500+ mile round trip for me, so the cost and the drive are big factors, but the huge <a href="https://airecon.uk/events" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">list of events</a> going on over the weekend helped to tip me over the edge. I'm definitely heading for the seminars on game design and teaching games, plus I need to try out giant Tsuro and NMBR9! The whole con also sounds super-friendly and relaxed, so I can be a bit braver about joining in with everything.<br />
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This year the con is sponsored by publisher <a href="https://czechgames.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Czech Games Edition</a>, comic and games shop <a href="https://www.travellingman.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travelling Man</a> and the <a href="https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UK Games Expo</a>, with a guest list featuring the lovely folks from:<br />
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<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvIWBOfYGXYQQQORhjAJKCQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gaming Rules!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.watch-it-played.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch It Played</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/NoPunIncluded" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">No Pun Included</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.polyhedroncollider.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Polyhedron Collider</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMeNWd9KqCFGjTEx9HSxjUg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Toucan Play That Game</a></li>
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With less than three weeks to go, I'm super excited to try out a new convention. Wish me luck, and let me know if you're going too!</div>
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AireCon</h4>
Friday 9 to Sunday 11 March 2018<br />
Harrogate Convention Centre<br />
<a href="https://airecon.uk/tickets/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tickets</a>!<br />
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Find me on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds :)Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-56830058521377064302018-02-14T14:43:00.002-08:002018-04-15T06:05:24.089-07:00Cardboard - Above and Below board game reviewI spend a lot more time than I really should on being jealous of the talents of others, and one of my recent targets of envy is artist and designer Ryan Laukat. Being imaginative enough to design games, artistic enough to illustrate them and organised enough to get them published would be a stretch for most people, but Ryan Laukat somehow manages to do all of them at once. But is it possible to juggle so many elements without dropping something along the way? Time to pick up a lantern, head out for adventure and find out!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtg5EjZkem-ueAKg0tI01PDDW0lw8GDIGp7xUdHTXXAjCuAT5ngQbw0rs9HwrMxgJvK3CK4OuDTdIgVN7UHXCCRX8jQ6ksaDx6Ro22L8iZfhTd4RFdxNuwDF0BqsjRdyFONpGadc6ia4U-/s1600/above-and-below-box-art.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - box art" border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1600" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtg5EjZkem-ueAKg0tI01PDDW0lw8GDIGp7xUdHTXXAjCuAT5ngQbw0rs9HwrMxgJvK3CK4OuDTdIgVN7UHXCCRX8jQ6ksaDx6Ro22L8iZfhTd4RFdxNuwDF0BqsjRdyFONpGadc6ia4U-/s640/above-and-below-box-art.JPG" title="Above and Below - box art" width="640" /></a></div>
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Above and Below is part action-selection and part storytelling game. The storytelling part was a big draw for me as I had lots of fun with Tales of the Arabian Nights a couple of years back and love the interaction involved in reading out a story for someone and making choose-your-own-adventure style choices. My problem with Arabian Nights was that for the most part it was just a big bundle of (fun) chaos, and I was hoping for something a bit more structured with Above and Below.<br />
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Cracking open the box, it's immediately obvious that the components are great quality and that the artwork is stunning. The rule book is reassuringly short, well laid out and clearly written; it's so easy to refer back to and the handy symbol reference guides at the back were so useful. I love a rule book that starts by telling me a story and pulling me into the theme, but Above and Below goes one step further with a beautifully illustrated page of panels describing my epic escape from barbarian hordes and my intrepid journey across deserts, mountains and seas to find just the right place to make a new home.<br />
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Home, it turns out, is a cosy looking little house that will soon be the first of many in our shiny new village. This is, however, a competitive game of barbarian-escape-village-building, so we'll need to make sure ours is better than everyone else's by racking up 'village points' from building structures and harvesting resources. These tasks fall to our little group of starting villagers, who will need to work on the new buildings or train new villagers to help out, depending on their own skill type as indicated at the top of their token (quills for recruiting, hammers for building).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLObrWclOtGog51zDZWA_apqfnSWThfKrmayRY8Ha7w2lHIu6FkKz4ocJzQrEK6yW-CWEyQkZG1Jl81gPgU0I4Kg277ZQ1xh1WuVWr39gRcAOWCSUH0eXNVixb5bFx42Dh6Z8d8zcMem0l/s1600/above-and-below-player-board.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - player mat" border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1600" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLObrWclOtGog51zDZWA_apqfnSWThfKrmayRY8Ha7w2lHIu6FkKz4ocJzQrEK6yW-CWEyQkZG1Jl81gPgU0I4Kg277ZQ1xh1WuVWr39gRcAOWCSUH0eXNVixb5bFx42Dh6Z8d8zcMem0l/s640/above-and-below-player-board.JPG" title="Above and Below - player mat" width="640" /></a></div>
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The villagers also have a level of adventuring skill, which is handy, because it turns out that our new stomping ground is built bang on top of a network of underground caverns, filled with shiny things and begging to be explored. You can see how adventurous your villagers are by looking at the number of little lantern symbols they earn on a specified die roll (i.e. more lanterns on a lower number is better). Exploring the caverns will give you space to expand your village under the ground with 'outpost' buildings.<br />
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A game of Above and Below takes place over seven rounds, tracked on a central reputation board. Each round, players take turns assigning actions to their villagers and moving them from the 'ready' area of their player board to the 'exhausted' or 'injured' areas, depending on what happened during the action. When they don't want to take another turn (normally when they've run out of villagers) they pass. When everyone has passed, the round ends.<br />
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Villagers then get a nice rest; for every bed symbol shown on buildings in the village, players can move one villager by one area on the player board i.e. from exhausted to ready or from injured to exhausted.<br />
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Sometimes you might need a bit more help getting everyone recovered, especially if the village has a bit of a bed shortage, and this is where potions and cider come in. Potions move a villager from the injured area of the player board to the exhausted area. Cider allows you to move one villager from the exhausted area to the ready area (because everyone knows that being drunk means you're ready for work, right?)<br />
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Villager actions can include:<br />
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Build</h4>
During game setup a few different types of structure are laid out to choose from when building. There are standard houses and outposts that will make up the bulk of your village.<br />
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There are also four 'key' buildings which can give you some handy extra powers like dice re-rolls or extra potions. These are drawn from a little deck of nine key buildings, meaning you'll see different ones come up each time you play. The six 'star' buildings are high-cost, high-points-value structures that you tend to purchase nearer the end of the game to get additional points for particular resources, structures or villagers. These six cards are the same each game.<br />
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To take a build action you would move a villager with the hammer symbol from the 'ready' area of the player board to the 'exhausted' area and then pay the cost in coins shown on the top left of the building card you want to add to your village.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEkeLYQQAFrLlunjg8vhsfHLELJu6KWR_BecK839bbJCx5_TgUnZZmlammDz83QZAkavo299Ib1J2wpynA2blaseQKXc1X2_i6cSGK77GUkT5fwcj9mlkg0RZ8IZWAc5YgcsTLWm7s4yb/s1600/above-and-below-town.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="1600" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEkeLYQQAFrLlunjg8vhsfHLELJu6KWR_BecK839bbJCx5_TgUnZZmlammDz83QZAkavo299Ib1J2wpynA2blaseQKXc1X2_i6cSGK77GUkT5fwcj9mlkg0RZ8IZWAc5YgcsTLWm7s4yb/s640/above-and-below-town.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Train</h4>
A villager with the quill symbol can be moved to the exhausted area of the player board in order to train one of the villagers on the reputation board. These all have an associated cost in coins, getting cheaper the further from the supply deck you go. At the end of a given round, any villagers left on the track will slide as far as possible to the cheaper end of the track and the gaps get replenished from the supply.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH7HNofVJ8E9sV_j7DNtuZ-K60-mGagGIdz7QEAL31CqUfSQ9zGG3XGvPImnWEvHFEEerZEYiiSvBHKYwvjhpim-vGTVGovBO3vFPPeBD0AB_AZAhf4K9ZzW_P51ewSHOZqzKS7WGo2neM/s1600/above-and-below-setup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - character select, reputation track and round marker" border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="1600" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH7HNofVJ8E9sV_j7DNtuZ-K60-mGagGIdz7QEAL31CqUfSQ9zGG3XGvPImnWEvHFEEerZEYiiSvBHKYwvjhpim-vGTVGovBO3vFPPeBD0AB_AZAhf4K9ZzW_P51ewSHOZqzKS7WGo2neM/s640/above-and-below-setup.JPG" title="Above and Below - character select, reputation track and round marker" width="640" /></a></div>
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This track gives you some interesting choices - do you take the cool villager that's just appeared now but pay a fortune for him/her/them or wait for them to get cheaper and risk someone else pinching them in the meantime?<br />
<h4>
<br />Harvest</h4>
Villagers can be exhausted to harvest goods from houses or outposts. Harvested resources can be placed in the advancement track from left to right, which is one of my favourite bits in the game. Not only does it look pretty filling up with the different resources, but it gives you another little area to strategise within.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtQZq_mvQ0SLARvDdVTb2nWq9uY181LqVluNzNOPpADtgsl5-H25-e-fb6EdccNf0sTpb5FVEdEPdRS0b_X8yuxWIsEwZc-v0ISzdvNW6vfooxuOaKpGy-rp6WvdSqocJJqfhNy4SRiVK/s1600/above-and-below-resource-track-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - Red Raven Games - advancement track" border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="1600" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtQZq_mvQ0SLARvDdVTb2nWq9uY181LqVluNzNOPpADtgsl5-H25-e-fb6EdccNf0sTpb5FVEdEPdRS0b_X8yuxWIsEwZc-v0ISzdvNW6vfooxuOaKpGy-rp6WvdSqocJJqfhNy4SRiVK/s640/above-and-below-resource-track-2.JPG" title="Above and Below - Red Raven Games - advancement track" width="640" /></a></div>
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Your position on the advancement track determines your base income for each turn, so you're pretty desperate to fill it up in order to bring in more cash and buy better buildings. However, which resource you place in what space can also be important, because its worth in village points at the end of the game is marked above each slot. Once you place a resource in a slot, if you choose to put more resources of that type on the track they would have to be placed on the same spot. So, for instance, if you know you'll be generating a lot of fruit from your buildings you don't necessarily want to put fruit into the first slot (worth 1 VP); you'd much rather it was a couple of slots further up where each fruit would be worth 2 VP. But whilst you're waiting to get different resources to fill the earlier slots, you could be missing out on valuable extra income per turn. Decisions, decisions!<br />
<h4>
<br />Labour</h4>
You can exhaust a villager to gain a coin if you're short on cash or things to do. If you're the first player to labour on a turn you also get a cider token. Mmm, cider...<br />
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<h4>
Explore</h4>
This is the exciting one - adventuring! Time to choose your party and grab the Encounter Book to go exploring in the caverns.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4SbbX94fBFUFmWuF-_fBtHdTz91V4pf30hysHXsqzbzmHemvmn4IX64qA1SGgMDF3enqxz46iQSbjndJNm3a5SMKwvXKCFeJR6JqxPb9SlVlH-yGnV5zyYy1GG0AB4hz6OHdCjXkX6zd/s1600/above-and-below-encounter-roll.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - Encounter book and cave card" border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="1600" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4SbbX94fBFUFmWuF-_fBtHdTz91V4pf30hysHXsqzbzmHemvmn4IX64qA1SGgMDF3enqxz46iQSbjndJNm3a5SMKwvXKCFeJR6JqxPb9SlVlH-yGnV5zyYy1GG0AB4hz6OHdCjXkX6zd/s640/above-and-below-encounter-roll.JPG" title="Above and Below - Encounter book and cave card" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can send as many villagers as you like on an adventure, but there have to be at least two (it's dangerous to go alone, take this!). Once they've selected a party, the active player draws a cave card and places the intrepid adventurers onto it. The cave card shows reference numbers next to each side of a D6 which you use, after picking a side with a die roll, to determine which story paragraph should be read from the encounter book. The player to the left of the active player reads out the paragraph along with any choices available and their target numbers. The reader doesn't disclose what the potential rewards or consequences are (but they are totally free to feel smug about knowing).<br />
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The active player states their choice and then rolls a die for each party member. This roll is compared to the 'explore' dice shown on each character's token to see how many lanterns they earn. Total lanterns gathered can then be compared to the target number for the player's chosen option to determine if they've succeeded or failed, and the reader goes on to explain the rewards or consequences. If you're slightly short of lanterns you can 'exert' one or more villagers to gain an extra lantern for each one. This is lovingly referred to in our house as 'breaking a leg', because exerting a villager puts them straight into the 'injured' area of the player board. Ouch.<br />
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There are also a few free actions you can take without exhausting a villager: putting an item up for sale, buying an item someone else is selling, or paying a coin to refresh the available houses or outposts in the supply.<br />
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Once seven rounds are complete it's time to count up scores, and the player with the most village points wins.<br />
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Above and Below has been a big hit with us. It's a beautiful game with a theme that draws you in from the start and a thoughtful, clear rule book that speeds you along your way to starting your first turn. There are always plenty of choices to balance, building your village up is fun and the story book really helps to keeps everyone well engaged outside of their own turn.<br />
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I can see the storytelling element of the game being the point that divides people's opinion of the game. As with Arabian Nights, there's a big random element here and it can sometimes mean that you make a fairly high villager commitment for potentially little or no reward. Personally, I love this part of the game and find the randomness fun. I enjoy reading the stories for other people, making the choices when it's my turn and reaping the rewards on the rare occasion when you've made the right choice and rolled the right dice.<br />
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Long term replayability can be a bit of a worry with anything story-based, but having played a few times now we've only come across a repeat story a couple of times and the gaps between plays have been long enough that no-one could remember what options were chosen last time anyway. Perhaps if you played the game intensively over a short period then repeat encounters could become a problem, but as one game among many this won't be an issue in a lot of people's collections.<br />
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As I've already mentioned, the artwork is lovely and I could rave about it for ages. I'll try to be concise, though, as you can make up your own mind easily from the pictures!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hYPQHfYVcX-BfoOe8mhWZjxC9QoCrT6WAl9l1jZ3X4b-oKRTRLcRLq59KtK_4p9tM8VcaKkoohv6s0s3K3Xq7FXnKRwPoQwmKrS-fKTSl5WDLHtd41l71MkYYlrqMp-3XD61phK1BAb_/s1600/above-and-below-box-resources.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - resource tokens" border="0" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="1600" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hYPQHfYVcX-BfoOe8mhWZjxC9QoCrT6WAl9l1jZ3X4b-oKRTRLcRLq59KtK_4p9tM8VcaKkoohv6s0s3K3Xq7FXnKRwPoQwmKrS-fKTSl5WDLHtd41l71MkYYlrqMp-3XD61phK1BAb_/s640/above-and-below-box-resources.JPG" title="Above and Below - resource tokens" width="640" /></a></div>
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From the smallest tokens through to the player mats, everything is colourful, thematic and well marked up with clear iconography. My favourite artwork, though, is on the villager tokens. The character art here is amazing, with a huge array of diverse and interesting characters to breathe life into your little adventures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sQd-0U3q8ehnOwrKkuPezLhkOS5YgaiaNPeTsDPYliCIiH_TfC-hyghyphenhyphenJgWnjcLh6J6u10kBnivfFk09b_em4kPD3PO_RWkg9FQxR-yBb8pUwnG9N4ESS83wFuR5szXGX2FWPnTbdLDd/s1600/above-and-below-characters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Above and Below - Red Raven Games - character art" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1488" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sQd-0U3q8ehnOwrKkuPezLhkOS5YgaiaNPeTsDPYliCIiH_TfC-hyghyphenhyphenJgWnjcLh6J6u10kBnivfFk09b_em4kPD3PO_RWkg9FQxR-yBb8pUwnG9N4ESS83wFuR5szXGX2FWPnTbdLDd/s640/above-and-below-characters.JPG" title="Above and Below - Red Raven Games - character art" width="594" /></a></div>
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Despite the choice of villagers available, fate has more than once dictated that I end up with Team Hipster Dude, but that just becomes part of the story!<br />
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So my conclusion appears to be, yes, Ryan Laukat can do everything.<br />
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We are, by the way, talking here about the kind of person who was at <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/59901/my-game-illustration-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">home with a high fever</a> when he came up with the idea for area-control game <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131366/eight-minute-empire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eight-Minute Empire</a>, completing the prototype 20 minutes later. I was at home sick last week, and the most productive thing I managed was a mug of Lemsip. If he didn't make such darn lovely games, I'm slightly afraid I'd have to hate him just a little bit. Oh, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-445353918" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">he has a podcast</a>, too.<br />
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Take a look at what we thought of <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/03/cardboard-near-and-far-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Near and Far</a>, Red Raven Games' sequel to Above and Below, <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2018/03/cardboard-near-and-far-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-40143689614305980792018-01-27T13:38:00.000-08:002018-03-25T12:35:46.187-07:00Gloomhaven Diary: Session 1 (In which our intrepid heroes learn the rules)It's been three months since the reprinted version of Gloomhaven hit my doorstep. The doorstep is still recovering from the blow. In all that time, we'd only gotten as far as unpacking, punching and sorting it all out - but now we finally get to play!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9GkuBsjHzLlnSDryW_VEwWsbZlJVgjJX_K0xryqEV7FxqVKK0gsxS5KzYMfmkosuD4TzVTDIlrXHL5qTZmzuJEArh4xKBNPU4lmjH4Ffnfr9At4Jpin2XufUuEkRCoZUGzUMFG23NizL/s1600/gloomhaven-box-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gloomhaven box art" border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1600" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9GkuBsjHzLlnSDryW_VEwWsbZlJVgjJX_K0xryqEV7FxqVKK0gsxS5KzYMfmkosuD4TzVTDIlrXHL5qTZmzuJEArh4xKBNPU4lmjH4Ffnfr9At4Jpin2XufUuEkRCoZUGzUMFG23NizL/s640/gloomhaven-box-3.jpg" title="Gloomhaven box art" width="640" /></a></div>
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The hype has been huge, the reviews glowing and our excitment levels high. Despite all of that, I couldn't help but be a little bit daunted by the size and scope of Gloomhaven when I (eventually, after much heaving on the box and several amusing noises) opened the lid. To make things a bit less scary I took a couple of steps to help get us on our way:<br />
<h4>
<br />Step 1: Speed up the setup</h4>
Having revolutionised the setup of my copy of Scythe with the brilliant <a href="http://www.thebrokentoken.com/scythe-organizer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Broken Token insert</a>, my first move was to pack everything into their (also completely brilliant) <a href="http://www.thebrokentoken.com/gloomhaven-organizer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">insert for Gloomhaven</a>. The price is steep, and I spent a good few hours covered in PVA glue, but even after just one session it feels like the insert has paid dividends in time saved. The inclusion of labelled monster tuckboxes has really helped us find things quickly as beginners and it makes a nice change not to have the table awash with ziplock bags. Packing away takes barely any time, and most of that is me trying to remember what order the trays get packed away in! I'm reliably informed that I could have done without the insert, but I don't regret the investment for a moment.<br />
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<h4>
Step 2: Get someone else to read the rules and explain them to everyone</h4>
Cephalofair games wisely commissioned Paul Grogan of Gaming Rules! to put together their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSWMvXT6jCw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">how-to-play videos for Gloomhaven</a>, which were required pre-game viewing for everyone involved. These are a great introduction to the game and make sure that everything is nice and familiar when you get to the table, even if you have to look things up again once you get going.<br />
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After all this preparation, I was going to be super sad if Gloomhaven turned out to be rubbish...<br />
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The big day came, and it was time to form a party of brave adventurers. Setting up the night before meant we were totally ready to go when everyone arrived and got straight into picking characters.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9g2TvUkO5XDZoIgzfx4-4mTDHHzU0Y0cFWc_EnJdAIyMkU32ho9dFcZdACTlI0BKab4CQ2ONGwqbkaT0pT2FSk13-XiFWe3DXZ5Ouk8zYltW7lQwpCmNUkZR8bdcqTbc90deeZuw42Bl/s1600/gloomhaven-starting-setup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gloomhaven starting setup" border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="1600" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9g2TvUkO5XDZoIgzfx4-4mTDHHzU0Y0cFWc_EnJdAIyMkU32ho9dFcZdACTlI0BKab4CQ2ONGwqbkaT0pT2FSk13-XiFWe3DXZ5Ouk8zYltW7lQwpCmNUkZR8bdcqTbc90deeZuw42Bl/s640/gloomhaven-starting-setup.jpg" title="Gloomhaven starting setup" width="640" /></a></div>
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With a Brute, Mindthief and Tinkerer already selected, I was left with a choice of Spellweaver, Cragheart or Scoundrel. All of these sounded exciting just from their names and I found it so hard to pick that in the end I closed my eyes and went for 'random'.<br />
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Enter Kerilya the Scoundrel (thank you, random name generator!) ready to delve into the Black Barrow in the ever-so-appealingly-named Corpsewood.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJeqoarxEgBaDzmwKbaNHjA6QQvq0glAWJ47S2aRZ5LcxnuhYiinuk1wdUdiAPawKDLWsf1OcpP-vUOmjkJMzgojgYMQ-EM-Pg_hhk5uI7IKrbQqGrpygTl19OweiUeUYQD2gcVAxa99t/s1600/gloomhaven-scoundrel-miniature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gloomhaven - Scoundrel miniature" border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1600" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJeqoarxEgBaDzmwKbaNHjA6QQvq0glAWJ47S2aRZ5LcxnuhYiinuk1wdUdiAPawKDLWsf1OcpP-vUOmjkJMzgojgYMQ-EM-Pg_hhk5uI7IKrbQqGrpygTl19OweiUeUYQD2gcVAxa99t/s640/gloomhaven-scoundrel-miniature.jpg" title="Gloomhaven - Scoundrel miniature" width="640" /></a></div>
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My trepidation about our impending doom was somewhat lessened by being allowed to put a little location sticker on the board, a feeling I've been missing since finishing Pandemic Legacy: Season 1.<br />
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This session was very much a learning game, with a lot of time spent poking through the rulebook and figuring out how our characters worked (not helped by the fact that I'd forgotten about the handy player reference cards and didn't hand them out...) It took us the whole rest of the evening to get through the first room of the three-room starting scenario, but by the end of the night we had a much better grip of what was going on and I was excited for our next game. All the mechanism seem to fit together really nicely and I can see how deep the strategy and co-operation could go.<br />
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Not just yet, though - I made some awful moves by picking silly card combinations, mostly due to misunderstanding what they actually did and occasionally by accident. Even so, I really like the idea of choosing an action from the top of one card and the bottom of the other. Powering up the deck as I level up should be really fun (provided I can learn to use my cards sensibly by then!)<br />
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A random selection of my favourite things so far: earning XP through using your character's moves, easy to follow monster rules, dreaming about all my future character upgrades, brilliant artwork.<br />
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Hopefully next time we'll get to finish the Black Barrow and see what lies beneath!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-48460253297280837612017-10-17T13:38:00.000-07:002017-10-17T13:38:10.608-07:00Cardboard - Hanamikoji ReviewJust an ordinary Saturday night in, waving teapots at geisha and trying to be more charming than everyone else in Hanamikoji, a two-player card game that packs a big punch (mainly to your poor little brain) for such a small game. It's too pretty for a boring box-shot, so everyone pretend this is lovely cherry blossom, okay?<br />
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Shh, I was trying to be artsy...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I've bumbled on before (in my <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2017/05/cardboard-yamatai-board-game-review.html" target="_blank">Yamatai review</a>) about how much I love Japan-themed games and how so far I haven't come across one I didn't like. A bit like doughnuts, really. So when Esdevium Games offered me a copy of <b>Hanamikoji</b> to look at, I may have been ever-so-slightly excited to discover a new potential addition to the collection.<br />
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Opening the little box you're greeted by minimal components of good quality, beautiful artwork (by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/92066/maisherly" target="_blank">Maisherly Chan</a>) and a super-slim rulebook that is clearly laid out and easy to digest, helped by the simplicity of the design. The game is made up of 7 Geisha cards, 21 Item cards, 8 action markers and 7 victory markers. (Also in my case, oddly enough, mysterious Disney Princess box lining... Recycling, perhaps? Yay!)<br />
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As the owner of a traditional restaurant on Hanamikoji Street, Kyoto, you're working to earn the favour of the seven geisha masters, attracting them to perform at your establishment and hopefully boost business. To do this you need to collect the items they need for their art, from flutes to fans to teapots. Whoever collects the most of a particular item will 'win' the associated geisha master and their associated Charm Points. Because everyone knows the more teapots you have, the more charming you are, right?<br />
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The goal of Hanamikoji is to win 4 Geisha or 11 (or more) Charm Points. Charm Points are shown on the corner of each geisha card, which also corresponds to the number of items of that type in the deck. The game is played over a series of rounds (normally only one or two, with an optional rule to limit it to three), each of which has three phases: Deal, Action and Scoring/Update.<br />
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<h4>
Deal</h4>
The items cards are shuffled and one is randomly removed from the game before dealing six cards to each player to form their hand.<br />
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<h4>
Action</h4>
Players take alternating turns until both players have had four turns. On their turn a player draws a card and then performs an action. There are four available actions, each of which can only be chosen once in a given round.<br />
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These are:<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Secret:</b> Choose a card from your hand, place it face-down under the Secret action marker. This card will be revealed and scored at the end of the round.</li>
<li><b>Trade-off: </b>An oddly-named action where you choose two cards to place face-down under the Trade-off action marker which will not be scored at the end of the round. Basically selecting two cards to throw away.</li>
<li><b>Gift:</b> Choose three cards from your hand and show them to your opponent. They choose one card from this set and place it next to the appropriate geisha on their side, whilst you get to keep the remaining two cards and place them next to the corresponding geisha on your side.</li>
<li><b>Competition: </b>Similar to Gift, but this time you choose four cards from your hand and place them in two sets of two cards. Your opponent gets to choose one set and you keep the other, placing them next to the relevant geisha as before.</li>
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As you take each action, flip over the corresponding action tile so you can keep track of what you've used this round.<br />
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<h4>
Scoring/Update</h4>
When both players have used up all four of their actions, it's time to score. Cards under the Secret markers are revealed and placed next to the corresponding geisha. Then for each geisha, the number of item cards on each side is compared. If one side has more than the other, the Victory Marker is moved to the winning side. If both sides are equal then the marker stays in the middle of the card.<br />
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Players then count up the number of geisha that they've won and the sum of their Charm Points (shown on each geisha's card) to see if they've met the goal of four geisha or 11+ charm points. If they have, then the game ends immediately. If not, it's time to update for a new round, with everything resetting except the position of the Victory Markers from the first round. Play continues until someone wins.<br />
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<h4>
Thoughts</h4>
Looking at the number of components in the box, I thought we might have something a bit like <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/02/batman-love-letter.html" target="_blank">Love Letter</a> on our hands: a similarly light, card-based filler but this time geared for two players. What we actually got was a lot deeper than that. Whilst the rules are really straightforward, figuring out when to use those four little actions can be pretty tricky. Trying to get into the head of your opponent, steering their decisions with your choices (or figuring out where they're trying to sneakily steer you) gives Hanamikoji just the right amount of brain-burn without causing too much of the dreaded analysis paralysis. It seems so simple, but each decision you make is important and interesting.<br />
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I love the uncertainty thrown in by the removal of one card each round and the puzzle of working out whether to go for big point geisha with their larger number of cards or play safe and go for lots of smaller ones. Once again my favourite theme hasn't let me down - this is a brilliant little two player filler game and will be in my collection for a long time to come!<br />
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<h3>
<b>Hanamikoji</b></h3>
<b>Designer:</b> <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/74989/kota-nakayama" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kota Nakayama</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> EmperorS4<br />
<b>Play time:</b> 15 mins<br />
<b>Players: </b>2<br />
<b>Age: </b>10+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £16.99 [Find your <a href="http://www.findyourgamestore.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">friendly local brick-and-mortar retailer</a> in Europe]<br />
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Thanks to Esdevium for sending me a copy to take a look at. If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!<br />
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Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-76090565421105334602017-10-08T14:40:00.000-07:002017-10-08T14:40:04.190-07:00Handmade Fair - September 2017It looked like a grey start for this year's Handmade Fair as we arrived at The Green at Hampton Court, not helped by the distinct reduction in <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2015/09/the-handmade-fair-september-2015.html" target="_blank">bunting levels from previous years</a>. Still, it didn't take long to get into the spirit of the day and start looking around for exciting things to do.<br />
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This year we took a bit of a different approach; we hadn't pre-booked for any of the scheduled events and instead decided to see what we felt like doing on the day. A number of stall-holders were offering their own workshops, so this decision turned out really well for us as we were able to book onto these spontaneously. It also took off the time pressure of heading from workshop to workshop, making for a lovely relaxing day! We even ended up with some sunshine after not too long:<br />
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As ever, the tents were filled with fun and beautiful things to see. We did an amazingly fun workshop at glass stand <a href="http://www.cravenandwhite.com/glass.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Craven & White</a>, where we got to make our own piece that they took home, fired in their kiln and posted back to us. Here's the sort of thing we were aiming at:<br />
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Work in progress (my shoddy copy of their signature flower design and Pam's amazing under-the-sea soap dish):<br />
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And the finished coaster that arrived safe and sound in the post this weekend!<br />
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Not sure I have a career in glass ahead of me, although it was great fun to have a go. In the meantime I'll have to rely on other people to make shiny things for me (like <a href="http://jenefer.net/gamer-glass/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gamer Glass</a>, so cute).<br />
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Here's an embossing demonstration from the enthusiastic team at <a href="https://www.englishstamp.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The English Stamp Company</a>:<br />
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And we took up the offer of a free wire jewelry making workshop in the <a href="http://www.molliemakes.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mollie Makes</a> tent, creating this little bendy heart with Swarovski crystals.<br />
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At the press tent they were trying to fill a wall with origami faces and we were happy to help out with our own contributions:<br />
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Not sure how much they bore resemblance to the real things, but hey - I blame the paper selection!<br />
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It wouldn't be a Handmade Fair if we didn't fit in some shopping. This year I finally bought something from the stand of <a href="http://www.nicolahanrahan.co.uk/birds-baking/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nicola Hanrahan</a>, whose bird-and-baking art I fell in love with <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/09/the-handmade-fair-september-2016.html" target="_blank">last year</a>, and now have one of her lovely tote bags housing my knitting supplies.<br />
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We also had a long chat at the <a href="http://www.emmassoap.co.uk/index.asp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emma's Soap</a> stand about their lovely handmade ethical soap. A lot of bars were sniffed (and purchased!)<br />
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The usual amazing range of food and drink stands were on offer, although if you wanted to find somewhere to sit with your lunch you had to have a keen eye and move fast to grab any space you could find - next year picnic blankets are definitely on the list of things to pack! The Deco Bar was back on site, although we were more drawn to the churros. Mmm, churros...<br />
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Another wonderful day at the Handmade Fair. Until next year, I'll leave you with some more pictures of the lovely things we saw. See you there in 2018!<br />
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<br />Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-39921958351623156512017-09-13T15:11:00.001-07:002017-09-13T15:32:50.789-07:00Cardboard - Dice Forge board game reviewWith all the games on display at the <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2017/06/uk-games-expo-2017-highlights.html" target="_blank">UK Games Expo this year</a>, new titles had to work super-hard to get themselves noticed. From the tiny wooden ladders of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/218129/decrocher-la-lune" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Catch the Moon</a> to the novelty bed and sleep-mask in <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/198454/when-i-dream" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">When I Dream</a>, fancy components played a big part in the fight for attention, and one game doing a particularly great job in this respect was Dice Forge from Libellud. Upgradeable dice with interchangeable faces, striking box art and a beautiful board packed with a rainbow of colours all help the game to scream novelty - but is there any substance under all that chunky cartoon style? We've done deck building. We've done bag building. Time to try some dice building!<br />
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In Dice Forge, players work to upgrade their two starting dice by slowly replacing the removable faces with better ones, gaining and using currencies of gold, sun shards and moon shards to make further upgrades and ultimately gain the most Glory (or victory) Points.<br />
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But what are we doing with the dice in the first place? Well, it turns out that we are Heroes, competing for the gods' entertainment in a tournament where the winner will become the next demigod. Epic stakes! As the gods don't play dice you'll be doing it for them, improving your dice and taking on heroic challenges along the way, all in the hope of beating out the opposition over the course of up to nine rounds. And here was me thinking I was just going to roll some awesome-looking dice and move pretty cubes about!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-a7AQCjkpru9JIUkKqZEmyzsounsGw3BYCozC4bdP5yl9aviTKJR4uPzyd-7KMzKpMNh_VXyvICENCymgccTOqGFBomQ2by9L2j8r0kkcMYJvKoQNc2fMiTY86haOoI-bsOSN3smQsTa/s1600/dice-forge-custom-dice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - dice - Random Nerdery review" border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="1600" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-a7AQCjkpru9JIUkKqZEmyzsounsGw3BYCozC4bdP5yl9aviTKJR4uPzyd-7KMzKpMNh_VXyvICENCymgccTOqGFBomQ2by9L2j8r0kkcMYJvKoQNc2fMiTY86haOoI-bsOSN3smQsTa/s640/dice-forge-custom-dice.JPG" title="Dice Forge - dice - Random Nerdery review" width="640" /></a></div>
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The play area consists of a Temple (or Sanctuary, or Temple Gardens, depending on where you look in the rules...) filled with lovely little replacement die faces and the Islands board which forms the arena for your tournament and a convenient base in which to set up the 'Heroic Feat' cards that you'll use during the game.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgf12LnqxKhaQ4S0Ukg1urJMP2M9AzQcMOTrLcXmQh-LsLTP1X9UL9_FbGCFCQ8gNSF7SRYQ7iuVSOM250VPjGGHKoudAIXEdVHw2JOGBW2dJV0L3MR5WP4CPFj-K9QMfmquTGwvQmvqaD/s1600/dice-forge-setup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge setup" border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="1600" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgf12LnqxKhaQ4S0Ukg1urJMP2M9AzQcMOTrLcXmQh-LsLTP1X9UL9_FbGCFCQ8gNSF7SRYQ7iuVSOM250VPjGGHKoudAIXEdVHw2JOGBW2dJV0L3MR5WP4CPFj-K9QMfmquTGwvQmvqaD/s640/dice-forge-setup.JPG" title="Dice Forge setup" width="640" /></a></div>
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A valiant attempt to thread some theme through the rulebook has rendered it a bit cumbersome to read - 'all players simultaneously receive divine blessings' sends you off looking for what 'divine blessings' means, when explaining that 'all players simultaneously roll both of their dice and resolve the results' without the fancy title might have been a bit clearer. Perhaps I'm being a grumpy old lady, but I'd rather have clear rules than try to remember what particular phrase has been made up for 'roll the dice'!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaOkOymwiOATLhIZEJwc_5xrN00iYBNU4YNLHGtLGegpLeREdPUBDjRui8rJkTNTXDpqLxZPonMUi1KZF3MyTTSB9fgXs75NpMulFRpaFyQUrQvkiK7sQrqHlLSB1GVJ_as4aAXv0i1-P/s1600/dice-forge-currency-tracker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge currency tracker" border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaOkOymwiOATLhIZEJwc_5xrN00iYBNU4YNLHGtLGegpLeREdPUBDjRui8rJkTNTXDpqLxZPonMUi1KZF3MyTTSB9fgXs75NpMulFRpaFyQUrQvkiK7sQrqHlLSB1GVJ_as4aAXv0i1-P/s640/dice-forge-currency-tracker.JPG" title="Dice Forge currency tracker" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once you've waded your way through the rules, however, the game-play is actually quite straightforward:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Everyone rolls their dice simultaneously and resolves the result, usually gaining currency or victory points but sometimes applying special effects gained from upgraded faces.</li>
<li>The active player then chooses whether to use any available powers on their collected Heroic Feat cards</li>
<li>The active player can then buy a new die face from the Temple (makes an 'offering to the gods' to 'forge' their die) or travel to an island portal on the Islands Board to buy a card (or 'perform a Heroic Feat'... See what I mean about the theme thing?)</li>
<li>The active player can spend two Sun Shards to take another action if the want/can afford to (once per turn)</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhayK0Q02jZ-wx6prJu8pO7W6hHH5mmS4SpBdENP31Mj2bx81Vz2-vLgeXigGCFd_ke71V3MPEYvN0QmyWEm5RRsUpioblzwYQ7-U-0EBUJ9kP_zRmPhK30vDupQkPrE2UOj8X1P05RlzGo/s1600/dice-forge-hero-pawns.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - Island board and pawns" border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1600" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhayK0Q02jZ-wx6prJu8pO7W6hHH5mmS4SpBdENP31Mj2bx81Vz2-vLgeXigGCFd_ke71V3MPEYvN0QmyWEm5RRsUpioblzwYQ7-U-0EBUJ9kP_zRmPhK30vDupQkPrE2UOj8X1P05RlzGo/s640/dice-forge-hero-pawns.JPG" title="Dice Forge - Island board and pawns" width="640" /></a></div>
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A new round starts when each player has taken a turn at being the active player, and play continues for a fixed number of rounds depending on player count. The player with the most Glory Points at the end of the game is the winner.<br />
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Most of the die faces are pretty self-explanatory and tend to make you more stuff. If you can't work out any particular piece of iconography there's a handy guide included in the box to let you know what your shiny new power is, as well as clearing up any ambiguities on the Heroic Feat cards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVa2iS5OVSjMXGVrhryXdQuNEeegjL0nA27QaYUgjDjSfahI5Z8lBNEncTprDgdl9gFYn4ZxKrOjXlzwH_0-7gBHFj8kWqySmjIYhcoYQ9jpJUc79IGjr2dkGQMt50V5W_0aPU5Dez0YbY/s1600/dice-forge-portal-heroic-feat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - Island board and pawns - heroic feat cards" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVa2iS5OVSjMXGVrhryXdQuNEeegjL0nA27QaYUgjDjSfahI5Z8lBNEncTprDgdl9gFYn4ZxKrOjXlzwH_0-7gBHFj8kWqySmjIYhcoYQ9jpJUc79IGjr2dkGQMt50V5W_0aPU5Dez0YbY/s640/dice-forge-portal-heroic-feat.JPG" title="Dice Forge - Island board and pawns - heroic feat cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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Heroic Feat cards are a great way to build up victory points and they often come with extra effects that add some variety to the game, giving you things like extra rolls, an inventory expansion or a little mini-game track to use up your gold when you don't want to spent it on new die faces. The game includes a basic set of cards for your first few games and an additional set to swap in when you want to change things up a bit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_8QjhOBcySQ-rI1kU4hnzN6-eqcLeAl5ZaVsGSzMH3vRe7_OvkwKvbRwrXgj6qDtIoikaMz8zTJIDr6fjdaxC-onFhvoxNXx-XVN3_STFR2bHdruRrVfeYOEXlhg4POTqOtXvCdIdgJV/s1600/dice-forge-heroic-feat-cards-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - heroic feat cards" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_8QjhOBcySQ-rI1kU4hnzN6-eqcLeAl5ZaVsGSzMH3vRe7_OvkwKvbRwrXgj6qDtIoikaMz8zTJIDr6fjdaxC-onFhvoxNXx-XVN3_STFR2bHdruRrVfeYOEXlhg4POTqOtXvCdIdgJV/s640/dice-forge-heroic-feat-cards-2.JPG" title="Dice Forge - heroic feat cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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Dice Forge is super light and fluffy, making it easy to teach and quick to play. The light weight of the game-play might mean that it's not for everyone, and you may have gleaned that I'm not in love with the rulebook, but overall we really enjoyed the game. It's had good replay value in our house so far, especially with the interchangeable Heroic Feat cards, and I look forward to seeing what Libellud do with respect to future expansions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Mz3kkpVlJQS-4bGrdHqqUAmrzfWlC94FylBvnbVJ3L0Fu6MgJDuz_in2RLBo0d_mh_rEmuFdEPMtaXuI6ATwCpDE83oW7Pnx501PTfuiRyG8hr-FzOukyoKkb5qZIHzYJf1dkxIgnn4o/s1600/dice-forge-heroic-feat-cards-4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - Heroic Feat cards" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Mz3kkpVlJQS-4bGrdHqqUAmrzfWlC94FylBvnbVJ3L0Fu6MgJDuz_in2RLBo0d_mh_rEmuFdEPMtaXuI6ATwCpDE83oW7Pnx501PTfuiRyG8hr-FzOukyoKkb5qZIHzYJf1dkxIgnn4o/s640/dice-forge-heroic-feat-cards-4.JPG" title="Dice Forge - Heroic Feat cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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One of the best things about the game is how well it includes all the players on every turn. There is practically no down-time, provided you don't have someone who's particularly choosy about their purchases (or who fires a die face across the room while trying to change it). Having all players roll dice on the active player's turn keeps everyone involved and it feels great to move your little cubes up towards the top of your tracker even when it's not really your go.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEznLMQqvqmbSuLoud62QBJXGUn_2iIGP3vJkt2rChNg62PN2-uSvjL7dD8E87VDgBvOkt4oUwJfP8HLo7gZ92hiiQLF7bylAVEfyXrhr209LZCtmBhg9ZXzvXZs4tHqQ5DTEJvvhCjIM6/s1600/dice-forge-box-insert-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - Box insert" border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1600" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEznLMQqvqmbSuLoud62QBJXGUn_2iIGP3vJkt2rChNg62PN2-uSvjL7dD8E87VDgBvOkt4oUwJfP8HLo7gZ92hiiQLF7bylAVEfyXrhr209LZCtmBhg9ZXzvXZs4tHqQ5DTEJvvhCjIM6/s640/dice-forge-box-insert-2.JPG" title="Dice Forge - Box insert" width="640" /></a></div>
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The production quality of the game is great and the box insert is amazing, keeping everything snugly in place between plays - essential when a big part of your set up is a tray of tiny die faces. Make sure to leave some set-up time when you first open the box though; there are a lot of little bits to sort out before you're properly organised!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3c2it9W0EaWqFdBBVlS63jBmnGq6l23v2O7zjbxWBWKTqOVHtxRRKKhaFP9HtDF_q7q7PjNlywHuFPcS3VPai9sGKoya5A4UrGBv5GjamqWBmJSuxmT05LSGdG0MmDh8K55eF7lbeKmP7/s1600/dice-forge-die-faces.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - pile of die faces" border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1600" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3c2it9W0EaWqFdBBVlS63jBmnGq6l23v2O7zjbxWBWKTqOVHtxRRKKhaFP9HtDF_q7q7PjNlywHuFPcS3VPai9sGKoya5A4UrGBv5GjamqWBmJSuxmT05LSGdG0MmDh8K55eF7lbeKmP7/s640/dice-forge-die-faces.JPG" title="Dice Forge - pile of die faces" width="640" /></a></div>
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The novelty hasn't worn off for us yet and Dice Forge has become a firm favourite. If you're into heavier games, big decisions and depth of gameplay, you might want to pass this one by. If you're looking for something fun, light and relatively quick though, this could make a great addition to your collection.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Dice Forge</b></h3>
<b>Designer:</b> <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/1532/regis-bonnessee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Régis Bonnessée</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Libellud<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-4<br />
<b>Age: </b>10+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £34.99 [Find your <a href="http://www.findyourgamestore.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">friendly local brick-and-mortar retailer</a> in Europe]<br />
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Thanks to Esdevium for sending me a copy to take a look at. If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!<br />
<br />Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-48557590857195652242017-08-30T12:34:00.001-07:002018-04-19T08:25:08.628-07:00Guild Ball: I finally played some! (Farmer's Guild launch event)<img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Snow and Skatha" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicEkfAw6ZNpX9j1jdHOoYAO_bOPDMB2CNKU5eDr7IQHpqTNtba4dNKvmatKuwiYf3XcV_c7XuQadY5YHDdI9NGfRuE2ldpUHapT7E9eoiUfY70rca3KVoKdNf9-76uwK2A3aQxVK2V0sud/s640/20170826_215916.jpg" style="display: none;" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Snow and Skatha" width="640" />
I've been guilty of vanishing slightly over the last month, partly being busy with the usual mix of life, work and games but also having dedicated a big chunk of time to fixing this hideously unpainted situation:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKxALUFVRUb2BQ31CoqwO2r5WQjcqVDFc0E8elm9V5-R6EiHk5G8esJ3ByLDjLqMwZDrYyiRdIpqvJeej5lCgZkPIbLZyNjaZrQ-KdTtgIraVAgYn5VlYbKOPtsG1aF9jHyD9qXASeZgQ/s1600/20170804_200531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Unpainted" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKxALUFVRUb2BQ31CoqwO2r5WQjcqVDFc0E8elm9V5-R6EiHk5G8esJ3ByLDjLqMwZDrYyiRdIpqvJeej5lCgZkPIbLZyNjaZrQ-KdTtgIraVAgYn5VlYbKOPtsG1aF9jHyD9qXASeZgQ/s640/20170804_200531.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Unpainted" width="640" /></a></div>
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That's an awful lot of grey to cover...<br />
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Guild Ball is something I've written about before when we attended <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/11/steamcon-2016-guildball.html" target="_blank">Steamforged Games' SteamCon in Leeds late last year</a>. It's a mob football miniatures game where you're attempting to play the most dangerous game of football ever on a kill-or-be-killed pitch filled with dodgy (but beautifully detailed) characters from various power-hungry guilds from across the Empire of the Free Cities.<br />
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I came back from the con super-enthused to pick up the game, learn the rules properly and get my models painted up. True to form I did none of these things, and the Hunters returned to their bag, lost and forgotten in the shadow of shiny new board games (as much as it was possible to forget, that is, living with the most Guild Ball obsessed man ever...)<br />
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But then earlier this month, during a bit of a resurgence in the game at my local gaming store, Dice & Destiny, I found out about a launch event for the new Farmer's Guild: a few friendly games being played, with some promos and prizes up for grabs. The store is under new management and much improved in terms of decor, outlook and community engagement, so I'm more than happy to support what they're doing and in a fit of enthusiasm I signed up to play, along with my husband. This gave me just over three weeks to get my act together. Nothing like working to a deadline, eh?<br />
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Obviously I prioritised painting over learning the actual rules, spending lots of happy evenings pottering about with acrylic paints, green stuff and PVA glue making them a lot less plain and grey:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_B1YwH06Z_Hh183NHUliBkuhfiSiI0YyFlFmt_9EsZFx7a-myNh342Ism0idlUFfwo5aunmyVJtP2PYfTTREEc9Buzr0ck2LMTwU-qegHzkVqWz9XKc-BgjfNHq5YTCX6vL1STEWM2FnQ/s1600/20170826_215841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Seenah" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_B1YwH06Z_Hh183NHUliBkuhfiSiI0YyFlFmt_9EsZFx7a-myNh342Ism0idlUFfwo5aunmyVJtP2PYfTTREEc9Buzr0ck2LMTwU-qegHzkVqWz9XKc-BgjfNHq5YTCX6vL1STEWM2FnQ/s640/20170826_215841.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Seenah" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPAwpGQhRFyagGPSSAicrdHXLPe8Y1YIHv8xwNCUWhZ_MIePRheRY12L-942fueI8oseAgWQ9m5jrWK5lt18QWA36dEE5TcdE6T1mKlMJCbkgORqnmmXizmGfYNbHXO1sL2e5U4aPRbaO/s1600/20170826_215826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Egret" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPAwpGQhRFyagGPSSAicrdHXLPe8Y1YIHv8xwNCUWhZ_MIePRheRY12L-942fueI8oseAgWQ9m5jrWK5lt18QWA36dEE5TcdE6T1mKlMJCbkgORqnmmXizmGfYNbHXO1sL2e5U4aPRbaO/s640/20170826_215826.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Egret" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkxfUAXjGvYxPTLGamwdRc_qM2fXGo5uDvf3uYPdjq5uXjaI-xMGhTkjhh0diMknXgxO_xQIeBx_rcnL-uBeovGmazXAe4-X8i4TQOkyb7CxxcLIfSWlC6jtumQNRaUR6rotSFpf_qf9B/s1600/20170826_215743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Hearne" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkxfUAXjGvYxPTLGamwdRc_qM2fXGo5uDvf3uYPdjq5uXjaI-xMGhTkjhh0diMknXgxO_xQIeBx_rcnL-uBeovGmazXAe4-X8i4TQOkyb7CxxcLIfSWlC6jtumQNRaUR6rotSFpf_qf9B/s640/20170826_215743.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters - Hearne" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkUqbT69doLDEm1-MOnF7foGGidpDg1U9v2ZpBj_77ZBA_ml8yGGkh_XIpZ7OK5gjBCU9_z1qtDCmeH3AMHpGVrYIkyy78dDMnVrgPYAOQqG4sDO3jpb8FDS-39qgc1oNSkm1mLlnxpT7/s1600/20170826_215808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Chaska, Theron, Hearne" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkUqbT69doLDEm1-MOnF7foGGidpDg1U9v2ZpBj_77ZBA_ml8yGGkh_XIpZ7OK5gjBCU9_z1qtDCmeH3AMHpGVrYIkyy78dDMnVrgPYAOQqG4sDO3jpb8FDS-39qgc1oNSkm1mLlnxpT7/s640/20170826_215808.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Chaska, Theron, Hearne" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPt_adz0A2Y4R2WAGKkoCMLZ5fhqQDTJRhFYydcRkw0MVYCLGZ1xSh0l26Jz7rtKJ-lC41m9ehletH0T7xjFbBRmk9_0rpu0TJsCozvbQgko4_Fke6JaIjukYkb0yv_BkhONGJPW01Idn/s1600/20170826_215955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Young Theron" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPt_adz0A2Y4R2WAGKkoCMLZ5fhqQDTJRhFYydcRkw0MVYCLGZ1xSh0l26Jz7rtKJ-lC41m9ehletH0T7xjFbBRmk9_0rpu0TJsCozvbQgko4_Fke6JaIjukYkb0yv_BkhONGJPW01Idn/s640/20170826_215955.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Young Theron" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUm6ZZM-LgzNnlDaoxLZnpD5NrB-LToqhGSqOy-X2hfeKIXQE1q0YcG-8KRLEv_9HAk5dc3L0vmEHCcz2aSSGt-aHIh1s_OaiQhAFLQn1Jex-4C9moSNQ9ihfqGv0vYtHyHraVeXelepnO/s1600/20170826_215719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Theron and team" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUm6ZZM-LgzNnlDaoxLZnpD5NrB-LToqhGSqOy-X2hfeKIXQE1q0YcG-8KRLEv_9HAk5dc3L0vmEHCcz2aSSGt-aHIh1s_OaiQhAFLQn1Jex-4C9moSNQ9ihfqGv0vYtHyHraVeXelepnO/s640/20170826_215719.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Theron and team" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-CCPHgkd2kJhXtv8WOzEVntoKp5DP9FUJHdV7YbR1cICOuEPK6NDetCyaDZqKeEKVs1ixetP7j1y0XemkULgD9eEDMuOwOuLb9oTMn5JElxA2pW9gEQc_eWq326KSBtckMOqV-bNFLBM/s1600/IMG_-4g47pj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters team" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-CCPHgkd2kJhXtv8WOzEVntoKp5DP9FUJHdV7YbR1cICOuEPK6NDetCyaDZqKeEKVs1ixetP7j1y0XemkULgD9eEDMuOwOuLb9oTMn5JElxA2pW9gEQc_eWq326KSBtckMOqV-bNFLBM/s640/IMG_-4g47pj.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Hunters team" width="640" /></a></div>
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[If you like the bases, by the way, they're roughly based on the one in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OVnCFq1j04" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this Sorastro painting guide</a>.]<br />
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I also got in a rules refresher and some practice introducing friends to the game on a visit, and a couple more panicked 'aaargh, I don't know anything' games with my husband before the big day.<br />
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Guild Ball is one of those games where the rules, at their most basic, are pretty fast to pick up, but to get good takes lots of practice, strategic thinking and good knowledge of what everyone's models can do.<br />
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It will be little surprise to say, then, that I did not play well! Even so, the day was amazingly well run by our local Pundit (volunteer Steamforged rep) and loads of fun. Everyone was playing in the spirit of the day regardless of experience level and it looked like they were having a great time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiE4Jx_zM5c1lIK_Ewuqlu13Nt1FP9SCbB96XwMIDcn7gjfP6tggJOgYCl3FX2BrbtQ8h5rqbmfwtYu-YO6hpBwm895Ipw5Lsn5_6na_4X-hZD85-HQq2At4vQpLC8FedW1FRvZ7wvSdbx/s1600/20170827_111316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - vs Fishermen" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiE4Jx_zM5c1lIK_Ewuqlu13Nt1FP9SCbB96XwMIDcn7gjfP6tggJOgYCl3FX2BrbtQ8h5rqbmfwtYu-YO6hpBwm895Ipw5Lsn5_6na_4X-hZD85-HQq2At4vQpLC8FedW1FRvZ7wvSdbx/s640/20170827_111316.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - vs Fishermen" width="640" /></a></div>
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Highlights of my games included conceding two goals to Salt, the sea otter, a hilarious post-match overtime kickabout during which I scored a goal with 'borrowed' momentum and five minutes containing the most horrendous string of dice rolls I have ever put together in a game, ever!<br />
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Here's Salt, scoring his second goal...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSldO1IYM2CczNoHdhr1LzuFG8cRObpAzSsJkIZztmV2d8Wl9OmLunJyQW0eDKOQ8gQjTWZiYizglPFbbtxjuoemTJuE9SFIU0ynn_sEpp4qHqhS7DoBcBCw9hzeg8ZMNKqqYgQoMynb6/s1600/20170827_124617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Salt goal" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSldO1IYM2CczNoHdhr1LzuFG8cRObpAzSsJkIZztmV2d8Wl9OmLunJyQW0eDKOQ8gQjTWZiYizglPFbbtxjuoemTJuE9SFIU0ynn_sEpp4qHqhS7DoBcBCw9hzeg8ZMNKqqYgQoMynb6/s640/20170827_124617.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Salt goal" width="640" /></a></div>
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Everyone received some promotional tokens and an alternative art card for Grange, the Farmer's Captain. There was also a Farmers themed cauliflower ball model to take home for best painted team, which I was very excited to win against some amazing competition:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0perTA1PBI79F_MoV1t7MmQJGw1RhMz4HtKcbDbBwI8jAzWkdx2re4Jj94fSojZZ05fE0N9jHk8DTmvq-irQdEfW532EPrUc5XWEguCNO5XlJphB9rkVnc6qDGp-VYaXoiASVGLrK31Hk/s1600/IMG_20170827_185044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Farmer's Guild cauliflower ball" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0perTA1PBI79F_MoV1t7MmQJGw1RhMz4HtKcbDbBwI8jAzWkdx2re4Jj94fSojZZ05fE0N9jHk8DTmvq-irQdEfW532EPrUc5XWEguCNO5XlJphB9rkVnc6qDGp-VYaXoiASVGLrK31Hk/s400/IMG_20170827_185044.jpg" title="Random Nerdery - Guild Ball - Farmer's Guild cauliflower ball" width="400" /></a></div>
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It might look like just a tiny metal vegetable, but it was very exciting to me!<br />
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Nicest of all though was a prize for best opponent, where people voted for their most enjoyable game of the day. I was very proud (and super embarrassed) to win this prize too!<br />
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Prizes aside, I think it's so nice that Steamforged have designed an event around having fun rather than the usual winning-focussed tournament formula and I hope they offer lots more like it in the future. And I'm not just saying that because I'm terrible at the game... Hopefully I'll get lots more practice in with Theron and co before heading to SteamCon again later this year.<br />
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Big thanks to everyone involved at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diceanddestiny/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dice & Destiny</a> and especially our Pundit, Haydn, for the awesome day!<br />
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-45822323375572327632017-07-11T13:28:00.000-07:002017-07-11T13:42:33.040-07:00Handmade Fair September 2017 (and ticket discount offer!)With all the recent board-gaming excitement and my ridiculously long break I've written nothing about craft-based-nerdery since Christmas! As if to redress the balance, I was reminded that it's time to start booking fun trips for 2017!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOKowqNzkdevYi1l1zaLvtfjk_NC9Cx9OuiX1aCe-cSWKtmk4oYtpZJpkLKHBRJ1XgrWZF6VeB9zi95IjDg72xEok68JYa8xFEKjQzrgpBe6avIT8j2XIzZpurwA-7Tahk3VR6q8qGNpU/s1600/the+handmade+fair+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kirstie Allsopp Handmade Fair 2017 with discount code" border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="334" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOKowqNzkdevYi1l1zaLvtfjk_NC9Cx9OuiX1aCe-cSWKtmk4oYtpZJpkLKHBRJ1XgrWZF6VeB9zi95IjDg72xEok68JYa8xFEKjQzrgpBe6avIT8j2XIzZpurwA-7Tahk3VR6q8qGNpU/s400/the+handmade+fair+logo.png" title="Kirstie Allsopp Handmade Fair 2017 with discount code" width="371" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>A year has *flown* by since I <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/09/the-handmade-fair-september-2016.html" target="_blank">last headed to The Green</a> at Hampton Court Palace for Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Fair, an always brilliant chance to meet amazing, clever people and fuel new and existing craft addictions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0E-eT1BOJebTL2lCw_Te7vvW_cRn1iZp_CuOvJzgAcGgweVEgO2QkYSA4ETEd_LA7158eEUe8CKCmMYuQM-d2wJgPWmWIo5YHMaGSc8mHuFbOaev2S_VcIn0A4pPJkwluPLFZ-K9n4Hyx/s1600/IMG_6083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Handmade Fair - bunting" border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1600" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0E-eT1BOJebTL2lCw_Te7vvW_cRn1iZp_CuOvJzgAcGgweVEgO2QkYSA4ETEd_LA7158eEUe8CKCmMYuQM-d2wJgPWmWIo5YHMaGSc8mHuFbOaev2S_VcIn0A4pPJkwluPLFZ-K9n4Hyx/s640/IMG_6083.JPG" title="Handmade Fair - bunting" width="640" /></a></div>
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This will be the third year running that we've made the trip, and for the first time the organisers have kindly given me a discount code to offer to you lovely people if you'd like to come along too!<br />
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Book using the code<b> RANDOM15</b> to get 15% off of your tickets (see below for full details).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwM_Afw3Sxfv0YIjwctiqqAvBI6Pvi8HrZD3iK9VE1wAbrn5GoC0haix59SJi_xqDMotQsEKhjmHThsuoZzI8XAqQYzwMDHxxXj191j3TLgZihIkNYWnvkHzr8q9G1njTILTMspyFIDWz/s1600/handmade-fair-hannah-bass.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Handmade Fair - Hannah Bass" border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="1600" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwM_Afw3Sxfv0YIjwctiqqAvBI6Pvi8HrZD3iK9VE1wAbrn5GoC0haix59SJi_xqDMotQsEKhjmHThsuoZzI8XAqQYzwMDHxxXj191j3TLgZihIkNYWnvkHzr8q9G1njTILTMspyFIDWz/s640/handmade-fair-hannah-bass.JPG" title="Handmade Fair - Hannah Bass" width="640" /></a></div>
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This year's Super Theatre shows cover everything from cooking to cocktails as well as a range of Kirstie Allsopp interviews.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS50UawRz_bY2OzAvcSxebKRmXH3PUe8eca3GAIFQRNr855vo0fQf0pzL0A9aSOderXoJsxTZJkvxOPFd2j5ZqmU8icVJjGe3Aqy3KHY1AJrOA_zX0u_xltk_Vong4CVjbzuiecOvsMCUx/s1600/handmade-fair-kirsty-allsopp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Handmade Fair - Kirstie Allsopp" border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="1600" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS50UawRz_bY2OzAvcSxebKRmXH3PUe8eca3GAIFQRNr855vo0fQf0pzL0A9aSOderXoJsxTZJkvxOPFd2j5ZqmU8icVJjGe3Aqy3KHY1AJrOA_zX0u_xltk_Vong4CVjbzuiecOvsMCUx/s640/handmade-fair-kirsty-allsopp.JPG" title="Handmade Fair - Kirstie Allsopp" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then there are the Grand Makes and Skills Workshops where you can transform a tote bag, learn to lino print, brush up on your embroidery or choose from a <a href="http://www.thehandmadefair.com/hampton-court/timetables/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">wide range of other fun activities</a>. Oh, and don't forget the shopping!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNXv09kYJ-Q53OA0Xc_XqBugxcHRFoPUXMiD-jYZyPdcry8VlXDTqBtRD7qkVO0c9IqKz2rxn0CsQp9v4SxNvHNo7YywN-IRezcJuq22XyDg94-7iJhCkie76SekXaMjh1W613DrZkwnn/s1600/handmade-fair-stitchkits-ruth-craig.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Handmade Fair - StitchKits" border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNXv09kYJ-Q53OA0Xc_XqBugxcHRFoPUXMiD-jYZyPdcry8VlXDTqBtRD7qkVO0c9IqKz2rxn0CsQp9v4SxNvHNo7YywN-IRezcJuq22XyDg94-7iJhCkie76SekXaMjh1W613DrZkwnn/s640/handmade-fair-stitchkits-ruth-craig.png" title="Handmade Fair - StitchKits" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Fair runs from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th September on The Green at Hampton Court Palace. I hope I see you there - make sure to say hello!<br />
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<h4>
Full offer details:</h4>
<ul>
<li>15% off <b>Full Experience</b> or <b>Entry + Super Theatre</b> tickets</li>
<li><b>Full Experience</b> tickets (including entry, 1 x Super Theatre, 1 x Skills Workshop and 1 x Grand Make): £27 instead of £32 – save £5</li>
<li><b>Entry + Super Theatre</b> tickets (including entry and 1 x Super Theatre session): £17 instead of £20 – save £3</li>
<li>Book at <a href="http://www.thehandmadefair.com/hampton-court" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">thehandmadefair.com</a> or by calling 0871 230 7153* quoting <b>RANDOM15</b></li>
</ul>
*<i>Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras. Booking fees apply. Offer ends 14/09/2017 or when sold out.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iE2VPoJXpNKLRwsg9UXm7x86X39yuh2vrxUrdW14nld3kJWNmAihWPg58VX4J0NmB3vp6q910Vp8KvVbrasFQINUDCZkMVfggx-QZw3nTZHcwI_4fJmw7vHGXDYxOhR4pJEz37gt79XL/s1600/blacker-yarns-blacker-swan-falkland.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Handmade Fair - yarn" border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1600" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iE2VPoJXpNKLRwsg9UXm7x86X39yuh2vrxUrdW14nld3kJWNmAihWPg58VX4J0NmB3vp6q910Vp8KvVbrasFQINUDCZkMVfggx-QZw3nTZHcwI_4fJmw7vHGXDYxOhR4pJEz37gt79XL/s640/blacker-yarns-blacker-swan-falkland.png" title="Handmade Fair - yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-36244664209338368082017-07-03T14:02:00.000-07:002017-07-03T14:03:18.418-07:00Cardboard - Star Wars: Destiny dice game reviewA long time ago, in a living room far, far away...<br />
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This week I'm taking a look at the Rey and Kylo Ren starter sets for Star Wars: Destiny, a collectible card and dice game from Fantasy Flight Games. Each player brings their own deck to the table, centred around a character (or characters) from the Star Wars universe and packed with weapons, equipment, events and support characters that will hopefully leave them as the last team standing.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Star Wars license has the potential to make a game an auto-buy in our house, so I was very interested to try this out. Having announced that I was definitely going to need to play the Rey set because it contained a BB8 die, it was time to crack open the boxes and fight to the death.<br />
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Each starter set contains everything you need to start playing, with a deck, tokens, dice and rules summary. The starter decks are slightly cut down versions of what you'd play in a standard game, using 20 cards instead of 30, but there's plenty there to get you learning the game and how a deck should work together.<br />
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You get 30 points to spend on characters for your deck, with a card's points cost differing if you bring one or two of their dice to the table. In the starter sets you get a combination of Rey and Finn or Kylo Ren and a random storm trooper. I can't help but feel that Kylo got short-changed somewhere there, but otherwise these seem like great choices to appeal to fans of The Force Awakens. These combos don't quite use the full points allocation, but again, this is a starter deck to give you a feel for how things work.<br />
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The rest of the deck is made up of a mixture of different types of cards, some of which come with dice and some which don't; you can see when they do by checking the left-hand side of the card where you'll see a list of die faces. Cards fall into the following groups:<br />
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<h4>
Events</h4>
Event cards have an immediate effect on the game and do lots of fun things like messing with your opponent's dice or cards, or improving your own. They'll normally have a resource cost, shown on the top left of the card. <br />
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<h4>
Upgrades</h4>
Each character can have up to three upgrades, which could be a shiny new lightsaber or force power. These cards get placed under the relevant character card and often add an extra die to that character's dice pool.<br />
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<h4>
Supports</h4>
These cards remain on the table once played and have repeatable effects that you can use on your turn, for instance this BB8 card adds a helpful extra die to the mix.<br />
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Each card also has a colour, which you have to bear in mind when building a deck. A colour can usually only be included if you're also running a hero or villain of that colour. Sometimes there are exceptions, though, so you have to pay attention to the card text!<br />
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The objective of the game is to use your deck to wipe out all the hit points of the opposing team before they can do the same to you. You also win if your opponent runs out of cards in their deck. <br />
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To kick off the game, both players roll all of their dice and total up the points shown. The player with the highest points total gets to choose a battlefield for the game and gets to go first. Each player brings one battlefield to the table; you'll have a chance to take control of the battlefield during each round, giving you access to its useful effect (such as removing some of your opponent's dice) until the other player takes it from you.<br />
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Destiny takes place over a number of rounds until the victory conditions can be met. Players take alternating turns to take one action each until a player passes. The other player then takes as many actions as they want to/are able to before also passing, which ends the round. Players then refresh their characters, gain two resources, and start a new round.<br />
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Actions you could take on your turn include:<br />
<ul>
<li>Playing a card from your hand</li>
<li>Activating a character or support (i.e. roll the dice associated with that card)</li>
<li>Resolving your dice</li>
<li>Discarding a card to reroll dice</li>
<li>Using a card action</li>
<li>Claiming the battlefield (which automatically makes you pass, but you get to go first next round)</li>
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Symbols on the dice can do a range of things, including range and melee damage, placing shields on your characters, gaining resources, making your opponent discard cards or resources, special attacks, or (as I'm very good at rolling) absolutely nothing at all. The powers are all nicely described on the handy reference card:<br />
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Some sides of your dice may have '+' symbols on a blue background to mark that are only modifiers, and need to be resolved other matching non-'+' dice to have any effect. I may have accidentally skipped over this rule for part of our first game... slightly overpowered! Other faces may require you to spend more resources in order to use them (but they tend to do something cool!)<br />
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Each turn you're looking to make the best combination of dice and card powers to whittle down your opponent's hit points as quickly as possible whilst safeguarding your own.<br />
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The game plays relatively quickly; the short downtime between actions means the game never feels like it's dragging - you'll have taken out your opponent before you know it! If you get stuck along the way, each starter pack includes a great rules summary and there are expanded rules online for when things get more technical (I found the <a href="https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/22/71/22719609-501a-40f2-8b75-343b672839c4/swd_rules_reference_13.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">latest copy with errata here</a>).<br />
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Overall, I really enjoy the game. I love the speedy pace of the back-and-forth 'you go, I go' turn structure. Every action gives you an interesting decision to make. The chunky, colourful dice are great (despite some misgivings on first sight, thinking they were covered in stickers - they're not). The artwork is beautiful. It's Star Wars. I now own BB8 on a die. All of these are brilliant things.<br />
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What I don't love, unfortunately, is the Collectible Card Game release model. Having sunk a lot of cash into games like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/463/magic-gathering" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic: The Gathering</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/25290/dice-masters" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dice Masters</a> and even digital games like <a href="https://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hearthstone</a> in the past, the absolute last thing I need in my gaming life right now is another set of blind boosters.<br />
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Don't get me wrong: I love opening mystery booster packs as much as the next person, but with Destiny it doesn't feel like you can make enough of a difference to your base game without buying heaps of them, especially when if you want to use two dice on a new character you need to come across that card *twice*. The two starter sets, whilst playable in their own right, are 10 cards short of a full deck, which means you'll need at a few five-card booster packs to top up your deck with anything useful. I opened four packs, but didn't get anything that seemed to fit better than what I already had, suggesting a significant extra outlay would be needed to get creative with deck-building. It didn't help that this was also the point when I realised they'd gone all the way back to the prequels for characters to include, which dampened my enthusiasm slightly!<br />
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I know a lot of people will have bought the big bulk boxes of boosters and will be having tons of fun with them, but I'm afraid I'm just not able to make that kind of investment any more, which is a shame as I really thought the game was clever, engaging and full of great choices. Sadly I think my CCG days are over; there are just too many other fun games out there for me to justify pouring more money into one gaming system on a random basis or trawling eBay for over-priced singles.<br />
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If you have the cash to splash, I think this would be an amazing system to explore some more. If not, the starter decks still provide a great insight into the game and will be good fun to play until the cards start to become familiar and replayability begins to wane.<br />
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Maybe there's more to come in terms of 'predictable' expansions for the base set, but for now it feels like Fantasy Flight have missed an opportunity to relieve me of my hard-earned cash. I'm not sure they'll be too worried, though, as the Star Wars license carries enough clout to ensure that my contribution won't be missed amidst that of the hordes of fans desperate for Darth Vader dice!<br />
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As great as it is, I'm afraid I don't love the game enough to commit. I'm sorry Destiny; it's not you, it's me...<br />
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<h3>
<b>Star Wars: Destiny</b></h3>
<b>Designer:</b> Corey Konieczka, Lukas Litzsinger<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Fantasy Flight Games<br />
<b>Players: </b>2<br />
<b>Age: </b>10+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £13.99 per starter set, £2.99 for booster packs [Find your <a href="http://www.findyourgamestore.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">friendly local brick-and-mortar retailer</a> in Europe]<br />
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Thanks to Esdevium for sending me the starter sets and boosters to try out. If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-31652036370547866002017-06-26T16:30:00.002-07:002018-03-25T12:35:09.251-07:00Cardboard - Mystic Vale card game reviewDruids, fancy see-through cards and a substantially reduced chance of ruining your game with a drinks spillage. What more could you ask for in a deck-builder? Cue Mystic Vale, newly crowned Origins <a href="http://www.originsawards.net/current-origins-award-winners/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">card game of the year</a>!<br />
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As anyone who's met me in any kind of geek capacity will know, I'm one of life's support characters. Somewhere around 95% of my pen-and-paper RPG characters take their classes from the following priority list: druids > other healers > scientists > wait, there are other characters? Yes, my default game setting is to immediately pretend I have sticks in my hair and possibly a talking badger. So it was with no small amount of happiness that I broke open my shiny new copy of Mystic Vale, a deck-building game with a lovely theme and definitely the coolest, most novel cards in my collection to date.<br />
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The Beastbrothers, Lifewardens, Dawnseekers and Waveguards are druidic clans tasked with safeguarding and restoring the cursed-but-mystical Valley of Life. Each player takes on the role of one of these clans and uses their magical druidey powers to bring the Mystic Vale back to life, one card upgrade at a time. Clever, see-through plastic upgrades!<br />
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Although not the first game to use the 'clear plastic cards' idea, Mystic Vale did mark the debut of AEG's Card Crafting System, due to be continued with Edge of Darkness later this year. The idea of the Card Crafting System is that rather than gradually adding cards to improve your deck as you would in a normal deck-builder, you instead start the game with a deck of sleeved starter cards into which you slide clear plastic upgrades that add new powers and symbols. Now not only are you worrying about how your cards work together as a deck, but also the interplay of individual sections of the cards. Sounds complicated? I promise, it's not so bad!<br />
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As with most deck-building games, your original deck is made up of almost-but-not-quite complete uselessness, although this game is unique in my experience for including some cards that start out absolutely blank...<br />
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You'll spend the rest of the game trying to make your 20-card base deck look a little more like the picture below, with the thematic idea being that each card is a piece of the valley that you're working to restore to life:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvG5uPggGds_3OD7pqnTtXXF_s0WOzcN860AvQZesHbxhJLZfwEB3jmIDCNuMu9YCka43IMNk0elJCrISPOsFWiKOWWeKVVaG_wlTOcgvb6RX4ICnnq5pq3c0RBs-jGVCkj3MC-1Ozyuv/s1600/mystic-vale-filled-cards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale - completed cards" border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1600" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvG5uPggGds_3OD7pqnTtXXF_s0WOzcN860AvQZesHbxhJLZfwEB3jmIDCNuMu9YCka43IMNk0elJCrISPOsFWiKOWWeKVVaG_wlTOcgvb6RX4ICnnq5pq3c0RBs-jGVCkj3MC-1Ozyuv/s640/mystic-vale-filled-cards.JPG" title="Mystic Vale - completed cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is such a fun idea, although the fact that you aren't allowed to cover any existing sections of a card with upgrades means you'll be forever stuck with nasty Cursed Land sections in your beautiful new valley... Sad times!<br />
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At its heart, Mystic Vale is a race to build the best cards into the fastest engine to score the most victory points. This engine runs on a number of symbols, including those for <b>growth</b> (happy green tree), <b>decay</b> (mean red tree), <b>mana</b> (blue circle), <b>victory points</b> (blue gem), <b>spirit</b> (animal, forest, sky and the swirly purple wild spirit) and the <b>guardian</b> (helm).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VKUnlqHsNusAIRYk6adINVyf7a_htIqUjmPeRVhkxViQ2zN2zhb1lsfq5hCX1dlCGAXvbHp3rFJ4_l761KsOj6moRHS22mdcI2RhUMx9mMWoCVBaGHRw3DnTcp1Lue9cGYQUBHRmH8BQ/s1600/mystic-vale-symbols.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale review - symbol overview" border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VKUnlqHsNusAIRYk6adINVyf7a_htIqUjmPeRVhkxViQ2zN2zhb1lsfq5hCX1dlCGAXvbHp3rFJ4_l761KsOj6moRHS22mdcI2RhUMx9mMWoCVBaGHRw3DnTcp1Lue9cGYQUBHRmH8BQ/s640/mystic-vale-symbols.JPG" title="Mystic Vale review - symbol overview" width="640" /></a></div>
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During setup of the game, each player will lay out their initial <b>field</b> of cards. This is the most fiddly bit to explain but breaks down nicely into steps:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Flip the first card of your deck and lay it back on top of the deck face up. This card is now known as your <b>on-deck</b> card.</li>
<li>Play the on-deck card onto the table to start off your field</li>
<li>Turn over a new on-deck card</li>
<li>Play the new on-deck card into your field</li>
<li>Turn over a new on-deck card</li>
<li>Continue in this manner until you have two <b>decay</b> symbols showing in your field and one on the on-deck card</li>
</ul>
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This is the starting point for every turn, which then goes through the following phases: <br />
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<h3>
Planting Phase</h3>
This is the push-your-luck part! If you're happy with the field set up above, you can choose to <b>pass </b>and move on to the Harvest phase. However, if you're feeling brave/lucky/good at probability, you can choose to <b>push</b> and play your next on-deck card into your field. This means you have to turn over a new on-deck card. If the new card shows a decay symbol (meaning you have four or more decay symbols revealed) sadly you <b>spoil</b>, effectively ending your turn. This phase is basically like playing Blackjack but with mean red trees... <br />
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There is a little consolation prize for spoiling: you get to turn over your mana token, which gives you one more mana to spend on a future turn. Not great, I know, but better than nothing, eh? It's easy to become overly familiar with this token, as it can be hard to resist the little voice that says 'if only I could just get one more mana to spend...What could possibly go wrong?' I'm fairly sure it's the same self-destructive voice that tells me it's fine to have another biscuit or that it's definitely okay to back *another* new Kickstarter project. Spoiling on every turn is not going to win you the game, though, so it's often wise to settle for what you've been dealt!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnOs95YIq3cvdg9V3py8f0WSzdvjdtI0oprXi6W-IPpMvCK3_Hgk9lNz96lBXL97lBmhZf726DIuWT-i6miZ8jHp-Guyp6BSTI6VDyMDf5PfstLFiITmjefuml0QKAYo2_8GXYOdc7WIk/s1600/mystic-vale-mana-token.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale - mana token" border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="1600" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnOs95YIq3cvdg9V3py8f0WSzdvjdtI0oprXi6W-IPpMvCK3_Hgk9lNz96lBXL97lBmhZf726DIuWT-i6miZ8jHp-Guyp6BSTI6VDyMDf5PfstLFiITmjefuml0QKAYo2_8GXYOdc7WIk/s400/mystic-vale-mana-token.JPG" title="Mystic Vale - mana token" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Harvest Phase</h3>
If you pass on the Planting Phase without spoiling, you get to resolve any 'harvest' abilities on the cards in your field and count up what's available to spend on shiny new upgrades (remember not to count the symbols on your on-deck card!)<br />
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Mana symbols can be spent on <b>advancement</b> cards. There are nine advancements available at any one time as well as a pool of basic Fertile Soil cards. These can be for the top, middle or bottom of a card, and you can only buy upgrades that will fit onto one of the cards in your field without covering up something that's already on the card.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUkLX221sMdFAG5xAKa50cm1rcEh1AVCUw0nWdW236oKMP0-9cunYDXjq6Xgp7Sv8rEv13MFs9gq-NgZ8ulTP1P_-3EzHsqrdt1265mMXFm2fUx3ZhFs3sACqjwjxvvDN_Egx9o68x8PG/s1600/mystic-vale-upgrade-cards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale - advancement cards" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUkLX221sMdFAG5xAKa50cm1rcEh1AVCUw0nWdW236oKMP0-9cunYDXjq6Xgp7Sv8rEv13MFs9gq-NgZ8ulTP1P_-3EzHsqrdt1265mMXFm2fUx3ZhFs3sACqjwjxvvDN_Egx9o68x8PG/s640/mystic-vale-upgrade-cards.JPG" title="Mystic Vale - advancement cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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Spirit symbols can be spent on <b>vale </b>cards, which offer various abilities to supplement the cards in your deck:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFB8GjQ022WM1UuvC9wGA7cJBSXChj6keBgrSAx3VVOCYcJOTjRz-L_5IjDx9bz062oj12yLZgZS_uk3fmBDp2l4zqRuw3bUY-FzCNMSX5nnjkMafsGW5qUOujdhoD1xhNoXx94ahQ-vpj/s1600/mystic-vale-vale-cards-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale review - Vale cards" border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="1600" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFB8GjQ022WM1UuvC9wGA7cJBSXChj6keBgrSAx3VVOCYcJOTjRz-L_5IjDx9bz062oj12yLZgZS_uk3fmBDp2l4zqRuw3bUY-FzCNMSX5nnjkMafsGW5qUOujdhoD1xhNoXx94ahQ-vpj/s640/mystic-vale-vale-cards-2.JPG" title="Mystic Vale review - Vale cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can also harvest any victory point tokens indicated by blue gem symbols on the left side of your cards. When the little heap of victory point tokens runs out, the game ends after the current round is completed. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRIkEHYWMlH2sITaB7Js8iYb3ksUO8aPHfecdmG4p5qq3Xmzm_-TFpMTx_ULBlgfRBDjMahsxPUToJNCzPMp2y8rj4mFgPfmgDi4MWeY7AE8DSuTKaww6DQqY2DJ0Bsrt0_LizEaBN53E/s1600/mystic-vale-victory-points.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale - victory point tokens" border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1600" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRIkEHYWMlH2sITaB7Js8iYb3ksUO8aPHfecdmG4p5qq3Xmzm_-TFpMTx_ULBlgfRBDjMahsxPUToJNCzPMp2y8rj4mFgPfmgDi4MWeY7AE8DSuTKaww6DQqY2DJ0Bsrt0_LizEaBN53E/s640/mystic-vale-victory-points.JPG" title="Mystic Vale - victory point tokens" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you see any grey gem symbols on your advancement or vale cards, they count as extra victory points at the end of the game.<br />
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There are also <b>guardian</b> symbols, which can do different things depending on the context of the card, for instance 'gain one victory point token for each guardian symbol on this card'. This throws in an extra thing for you to think about collecting in your deck, although usually provides a focus for a particular card.<br />
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<h3>
Discard Phase</h3>
During the discard phase you need to sleeve any advancement cards you purchased and replenish any advancement or vale cards that you bought from the supply.<br />
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This is where the next player can start their turn, while you move on to the prep phase.<br />
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<h3>
Prep Phase</h3>
The final part of a turn is to set up the field for your next turn. Just like you did at the beginning of the game, play your on-deck cards into the field until you are showing three (or more) decay symbols. You're then ready to go as soon as it's your turn again (which it usually is, by the time you've done this!)<br />
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As mentioned above, the game ends when all the victory point tokens are claimed and when everyone has had an equal number of turns. Everyone counts up their points, either from tokens or cards, and the most points wins.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAlayHjqc1F-7BKJjsnjyKERz3eU9HeqO2wNQ042GoAle_edfqLZQcFFKCrSd-1gnnTpkge7g3WvgO4RnKROtSYVAYVDlMFjIT9yTs6i4LBS9BzFvui1ZKnee1dodFL2sWpEzrzIpI1Vt/s1600/mystic-vale-vale-cards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale - game in play" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAlayHjqc1F-7BKJjsnjyKERz3eU9HeqO2wNQ042GoAle_edfqLZQcFFKCrSd-1gnnTpkge7g3WvgO4RnKROtSYVAYVDlMFjIT9yTs6i4LBS9BzFvui1ZKnee1dodFL2sWpEzrzIpI1Vt/s640/mystic-vale-vale-cards.JPG" title="Mystic Vale - game in play" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed Mystic Vale. I love the new dimension added to the standard deck-builder puzzle by making it important to have combinations on individual cards as well as making your deck fit together. The game plays really quickly, with tiny amounts of downtime between turns. This is partly because you're busy setting up your turn while everyone else takes theirs, but is also helped by the finite number of choices available. There will only ever be a small number of things you can afford to buy on each turn, and often some of them won't fit in to the empty spaces on your cards anyway! That doesn't make the choices less interesting, though, and whatever you choose always feels positive because even if you haven't bought the optimal card, it's always going to be better than the blank card you started with.<br />
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The see-through cards shtick is not new, by any means - games like Gloom and Redakai use the same idea to good effect - but this is the implementation I've enjoyed the most. The sleeved base cards make the whole arrangement easy to manage and fun to use. There's a huge amount of satisfaction to be gained from filling cards with lots of shiny upgrades, both visually and when they power your points-grabbing engine.<br />
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The setup time for the game is minimal (after the first game, which can take a while if you're planning to peel off all the film coverings on the plastic cards) and tear-down is not as cumbersome as I thought it might be, if people help to unsleeve and sort their own cards when the game ends. The rules are clear and all the quick reference material provided is really helpful, both on the back of the rulebook and on individual player reference cards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfyAzi8ZKRkGzczbxxPAneq1Gs8K_026QCrg6awEALrUG1q2biYQRzy9ngz_5fLo04rXsUYlkd0uwWFTmECC8WoIxtX1w4YEM020O8vVS-2G0s5zR-_cg77ZcOb9hMnTXMgey9DP1rYmy/s1600/mystic-vale-reference-cards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mystic Vale - player reference cards" border="0" data-original-height="1379" data-original-width="1600" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfyAzi8ZKRkGzczbxxPAneq1Gs8K_026QCrg6awEALrUG1q2biYQRzy9ngz_5fLo04rXsUYlkd0uwWFTmECC8WoIxtX1w4YEM020O8vVS-2G0s5zR-_cg77ZcOb9hMnTXMgey9DP1rYmy/s640/mystic-vale-reference-cards.JPG" title="Mystic Vale - player reference cards" width="640" /></a></div>
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I do have a few niggles with the game, though. Trying to 'shuffle' the plastic cards has made me want to throw the deck straight out of the window. Static is not your friend in Mystic Vale, and with or without their original film covering the advancement cards can tend to glue themselves together. A few plays renders the cards a little grubbier and easier to separate, but the first few games may leave you slightly rage-filled when setting up the game. It's lucky they're pretty! <br />
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Mystic Vale can also be a very solitary experience, as there's not a lot of player interaction. It's fun to watch someone if they choose to push their luck in the planting phase, although in a two-player game you can end up missing this whilst buried in your own prep phase.<br />
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The theme is fairly thin, with everything translating quickly back into coins and points, although I like the idea that the cards are 'blooming' as you develop them and the artwork is really beautiful throughout, which helps a lot.<br />
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All-in-all this is a really solid, fun game with plenty of options and replayability. It might not be for you if you hate games with an element of luck thrown in (or if you are easily enraged by static), but for fans of deck-building games in general this will be a fun twist on a comfortably familiar experience. If you do start to feel like you've exhausted all available combos there are already two expansions on offer to help fill up the pre-requisite empty box-space: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/207591/mystic-vale-vale-magic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mystic Vale: Vale of Magic</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/220502/mystic-vale-vale-wild" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mystic Vale: Vale of the Wild</a>.<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">If you'd like to read more about the Card Crafting System, I came across a really interesting article by the game's designer, John D Clair, on the development process for (amongst other things) Mystic Vale on </span><a href="https://www.alderac.com/mystic-vale-origins-card-crafting-system/" rel="nofollow" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">the AEG website</a><span style="text-align: center;">.</span><br />
<h3>
<b>Mystic Vale</b></h3>
<b>Designer:</b> John D Clair<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-4<br />
<b>Age: </b>14+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £41.99 [Find your <a href="http://www.findyourgamestore.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">friendly local brick-and-mortar retailer</a> in Europe]<br />
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Thanks to Esdevium for sending me a copy to take a look at. If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!<br />
<br />Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-67702483307928556282017-06-08T00:01:00.001-07:002017-06-08T05:20:40.028-07:00UK Games Expo 2017 Highlights<div>
<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">It's official: the <a href="https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UK Games Expo</a> is currently the world's <a href="https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/board-games/news/uk-games-expo-is-now-bigger-than-origins-making-it-the-third-largest" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">third largest board gaming convention</a> having welcomed over 16,500 unique visitors to the Birmingham NEC and Hilton Metropole over the last weekend, including a very excited and over-caffeinated me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I was lucky enough to be given a press pass of my very own this year, meaning I could get a close up look at some of the shiny new games on show before being mown down by a stampede of other cardboard-hungry gamers. Two hours seemed like plenty of time beforehand, but when it came to it the time flew by! Here's a selection of the games I had a look at, tried out, or wished I had:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">SHINY NEW GAMES</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Asmodeus / Esdevium</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Century: Spice Road</b> (published by Plan B Games) was the talk of the Expo; everyone seemed to either have a copy or be searching for one, and with good reason. Designed by Emerson Matsuuchi, Century: Spice Road is a light, simple filler game where players guide their caravan along the silk road, trading spices as they go. Players build a hand of cards that allows them to take and swap different spice cubes, working towards trading them for victory point cards.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Apparently this is the first in a series of games and I'm excited to see what's coming next. I'm hoping to write a review for this soon, as it was one of the first things I bought at the Expo and one of the best demos I played over the weekend!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Catch the Moon</b> (published by Bombyx) is an eye-catching dexterity game designed by Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez (in a massive departure from their previous title, The Grizzled). </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dw8xfJDUsCLSoRcm5tBluSNpdp2zRA4N2ySTkfZP5s5dqnx_qzMpndZB4W_qgXHg1EjrGAj7BZ3FDrh0lNGlw6E2hYWVUJ-lXHLw3xb1x3EFW7ZQ0Ur8v5oyLM404Gz_kNpfDXxSiPru/s1600/catch-the-moon-uk-games-expo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1008" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dw8xfJDUsCLSoRcm5tBluSNpdp2zRA4N2ySTkfZP5s5dqnx_qzMpndZB4W_qgXHg1EjrGAj7BZ3FDrh0lNGlw6E2hYWVUJ-lXHLw3xb1x3EFW7ZQ0Ur8v5oyLM404Gz_kNpfDXxSiPru/s320/catch-the-moon-uk-games-expo.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Players hook ladders on top of each other to go as high as possible in order to reach the moon, with a dice roll determining how many other ladders your next ladder has to touch. If you place wrongly or clumsily knock the tower down, you upset the moon and gain a teardrop. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The game requires a combination of balance, imagination and luck; needless to say I didn't fare too well, but I thought it was a very sweet, fun little game that I'd like to pick up when it comes out later this month.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>When I Dream</b> (published by Repos Production) is a party game where you, as the 'dreamer', wear a handily provided sleep mask and your friends attempt to describe dreams to you using Dixit-esque picture cards marked with one target word. The only problem is that some of these so-called 'friends' are trying to make you get it wrong. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Correctly guessed cards go into one pile, incorrect ones into another, with players scoring points according to the size of their respective piles. Others can be on a team who score according to how even the piles are, so they'll be switching sides throughout the game just to make sure your brain really hurts! This looks like a great idea (even if the blindfolding idea could go so very wrong) and a lot of laughs, so I'd love to take a better look at this when it comes out in October.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Secrets</b> is a hidden role game from Repos Production, designed by Bruno Faidutti and Eric M. Lang. I only glanced over this at the press preview but luckily got to play a game of it later on courtesy of Esdevium.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_XW4jDKjUnk7l-gcpVSmYfyj-GcJK4vgIepzr6FKOKm4TSadB28eY-5UUw_iq3K24YgCRUQ1GquDSXUFhjgxiGV_6xZCDQtMtGFPGjkaxL5bvf_VEz1Knvs5YPp423jHkBztbiornIwv/s1600/secrets-asmodee-uk-games-expo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Secrets - Asmodee - UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1600" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_XW4jDKjUnk7l-gcpVSmYfyj-GcJK4vgIepzr6FKOKm4TSadB28eY-5UUw_iq3K24YgCRUQ1GquDSXUFhjgxiGV_6xZCDQtMtGFPGjkaxL5bvf_VEz1Knvs5YPp423jHkBztbiornIwv/s640/secrets-asmodee-uk-games-expo.JPG" title="Secrets - Asmodee - UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">In Secrets everyone is assigned a hidden team, either the CIA or KGB, using lovely giant tokens which are kept face down in front of them. Everyone is trying to collect the most points for their side, unless you happen to have been given one of the Hippy tokens, in which case you are working to 'fight the Man' and have the fewest points.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">On your turn, you draw two agent cards and offer one to any other player. These cards are worth points and have various token swapping and checking abilites. The player can either accept the agent, in which case they score it, or refuse, in which case you score the card instead. The game ends when a player has five cards in front of them and the final points are counted up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">We played with a full complement of 8 and it played really well, with a huge amount of player interaction, accusations, bluffing and double bluffing. It was quick to teach and really fun - can't wait for it to come out in August!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Unlock!</b> is a co-operative escape room card game published by Space Cowboys and designed by Alice Carroll, Thomas Cauët and Cyril Demaegd. It uses numbered cards to simulate searching the room, combining items and solving puzzles - so clever! The game runs in conjunction with a free app which you use to time yourselves, enter codes and ask for hints.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzw1cIQjunynBuTpZZZ-X3GP8Bq7PJgsYBu3SuduR2wwWAwl9uqUkGJ1SpwZ9ELDxLiI_nMOp99qCK5Sd8jgKKlVfEU1S3gyenbrj2IJanEid_6irBDZFAR5gxio_VguqRU2pzqOe610X/s1600/unlock-card-game-asmodee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1600" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzw1cIQjunynBuTpZZZ-X3GP8Bq7PJgsYBu3SuduR2wwWAwl9uqUkGJ1SpwZ9ELDxLiI_nMOp99qCK5Sd8jgKKlVfEU1S3gyenbrj2IJanEid_6irBDZFAR5gxio_VguqRU2pzqOe610X/s640/unlock-card-game-asmodee.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Demonstrating any of the scenarios in the box would effectively ruin part of your new game, as these are one-shot style puzzle decks, but Esdevium had handily provided an additional, shorter demo deck for to allow you to try the game out. This gave everyone a great feel for how the system worked and left me feeling excited to try out 'The Formula', 'The Island of Doctor Goorse' and 'Squeek & Sausage', the three adventures included in the Escape Adventures box.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The next set of decks arrives in August, with three new puzzles to solve in Unlock! Mystery Adventures.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Dice Forge</b> was definitely one of the prettiest games I saw over the weekend. The dice used in the game have removable faces that you pop off and change, so I was immediately sold on the toy factor! I have a few dice games in my collection now but none quite like this, where I can mitigate some of the usual luck-based gameplay with some strategy behind the upgrades.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCVbA03Z06OUEjF5hTuEZhwqOnoxEjp_8p6lh28bqpfGhkPTXeIrcAcBnK422BM_MYje53EffkvXsbapedIK-pkQD9XNlGs_3mrQXtHfV3x0GD31y5E7oQPAW0FAqz3ssDRneLsB4eo5c/s1600/dice-forge-asmodee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Forge - Asmodee - UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="1600" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCVbA03Z06OUEjF5hTuEZhwqOnoxEjp_8p6lh28bqpfGhkPTXeIrcAcBnK422BM_MYje53EffkvXsbapedIK-pkQD9XNlGs_3mrQXtHfV3x0GD31y5E7oQPAW0FAqz3ssDRneLsB4eo5c/s640/dice-forge-asmodee.JPG" title="Dice Forge - Asmodee - UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>That's a Question</b> (working title, prototype) is a new party game from legendary design genius Vlaada Chvátil. I'd heard mixed things about this going in, so it was with a skeptical mind that I sat down for a demo later on at the CGE stand.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The game format isn't an unfamiliar one; a player asks a question of another player, then everyone except the questioner votes on what the answer will be. The difference with this game is that the questions are constructed from a colour-coded prompt ('What do you consider generally worse?', or 'What would you rather choose?' for example) and a choice of answers from a hand of little hexagonal cards.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The idea is to make the choice as difficult as possible, making it hard for everyone to guess what the player will answer, since the questioner gets points for everyone that gets it wrong. Here's a tough one:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CA2lcOHhpI_GzBNy5HFc2H8dnzAoJzR2HY8sw7B18EdlSCijHcmLF_ABXk24IpO9Ltt_8QR4mEK5A4eFWK2VheOmuSnB4svAXOUy9l1mohfkIZHhQTh7EbuHg93gqLQXQco5KUly5_j2/s1600/thats-a-question-cge-uk-games-expo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="That's a Question - Vlaada Chvatil - CGE - UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="1600" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CA2lcOHhpI_GzBNy5HFc2H8dnzAoJzR2HY8sw7B18EdlSCijHcmLF_ABXk24IpO9Ltt_8QR4mEK5A4eFWK2VheOmuSnB4svAXOUy9l1mohfkIZHhQTh7EbuHg93gqLQXQco5KUly5_j2/s640/thats-a-question-cge-uk-games-expo.JPG" title="That's a Question - Vlaada Chvatil - CGE - UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">With previous CGE hit Codenames coming from the same designer it would be fair to have high expectations of this game. Right now I'm still on the fence, although our demo game was good fun. I think it's the sort of game that needs the right group of people in the right mood, and also relies heavily on what answer cards come up in your hand to create the more amusing or difficult choices.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Codenames Duet</b> takes the <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/06/cardboard-codenames-card-game-review.html" target="_blank">original Codenames</a> word association format and changes it into a co-operative game, with the two teams now working together to find all of their agents instead of against one another. Key cards in Codenames Duet are double-sided, showing nine agents on each side, three of which are common to both. The teams need to identify all of the agents without revealing any assassins (there are now three on each side!) or too many innocent bystanders. The box also includes a campaign mode, where players can work through progressively more difficult games to see if they can beat the final level.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaK2_n3N0kg-gRatxspSo70R7rPxwXzYlLL1Wlx-FYcaLUPRUrgrwXx7zCsuangqXJBwJfAow5MVAwTsG4BejBxlAAeQbjEsJTOjPNJ7fU48rvw2rbYE9yHaqzle6XxZLDBVrfGONEKgS/s1600/codenames-duet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Codenames Duet - CGE - UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="1600" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaK2_n3N0kg-gRatxspSo70R7rPxwXzYlLL1Wlx-FYcaLUPRUrgrwXx7zCsuangqXJBwJfAow5MVAwTsG4BejBxlAAeQbjEsJTOjPNJ7fU48rvw2rbYE9yHaqzle6XxZLDBVrfGONEKgS/s640/codenames-duet.JPG" title="Codenames Duet - CGE - UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'm not sure if I'm all Codenames-d out at this point, with the original and Pictures versions already on my shelf, but as Duet is co-operative I might just have to try it. I'm really sad to have missed a demo of this, but just couldn't fit it in in the end, so I'll have to hang on until it comes out in September.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Adrenaline</b>, the first-person-shooter board game, has an expansion due out at Essen Spiel in October this year which ups the player count from 5 to 6 and throws in rules for team play. We're in need of some higher player-count games and I've wanted to get this since the last UK Games Expo, so I picked up a copy of the base game with the intention of adding in the expansion when it's available. I can't wait to try this out!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Pocket Mars</b> is a heavy weight filler card game for up to four players designed by Michał Jagodziński, where our objective is to set up an infrastructure for the first colonists to arrive on the planet. Cube-shaped colonists move from Earth to space shuttle to planet in an attempt to get as many of them as possible into the settlement buildings. To do this you use actions on your cards, which differ depending on whether you're playing them from your hand or from face down on the table (known as your 'prep module'). Other players can also use cards in your prep module on their turn if they want to trigger the ability of a particular building, which can potentially throw a real spanner in the works.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BpN2qjuSMKooSVQpI1ghbqRRP2djTXnXwxfNOcnZhl864yoGSdx5rHcvx0vBkJaTTdShRk_P0ayc_iA3_o-6tHVl1tksrNRzyI5MUjJX3QphSDhMbna3prHuusPBJAz-1QIPHUBFt2_w/s1600/pocket-mars-board-and-dice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pocket Mars - Board & Dice" border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="1600" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BpN2qjuSMKooSVQpI1ghbqRRP2djTXnXwxfNOcnZhl864yoGSdx5rHcvx0vBkJaTTdShRk_P0ayc_iA3_o-6tHVl1tksrNRzyI5MUjJX3QphSDhMbna3prHuusPBJAz-1QIPHUBFt2_w/s640/pocket-mars-board-and-dice.JPG" title="Pocket Mars - Board & Dice" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Whilst there are a lot of games out there at the moment themed around Mars, this is the first one I've actually bought! There's a lot to think about in Pocket Mars relative to the size of its tiny box and I've really enjoyed the couple of games I've had so far.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">It also helps that the Board & Dice guys are so nice! We were playing the game at the Gaming Rules! meetup on Saturday and they were so excited to see us playing their game that they came over to take pictures - so I took pictures back...</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnbw8GUrkrAInCo-37fgPwrUfxf9xlYw-bMOIeSBHeFLYYKY966pTEnnFv8-qVhODf_pBPoxC75dPYagie26wysU-fR2q5_BR8g0KRTUUT8hCp-MdVV2WLwISoW0cE3wTHxBmUoTXxBgj/s1600/gaming-rules-board-and-dice-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Board & Dice at the UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1600" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnbw8GUrkrAInCo-37fgPwrUfxf9xlYw-bMOIeSBHeFLYYKY966pTEnnFv8-qVhODf_pBPoxC75dPYagie26wysU-fR2q5_BR8g0KRTUUT8hCp-MdVV2WLwISoW0cE3wTHxBmUoTXxBgj/s640/gaming-rules-board-and-dice-1.jpg" title="Board & Dice at the UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCzo1b3nrpc8GlRbWNY-rBqbSahT44cbIRjqNxpmAsTPIkG6CsagcioyKM1FJ_q-H2PXwEbPeSksXjmRoQd0TVHJK5IDpyeaYNVDYUcmYqZiJAiUJm-EJOgz42maJL-RG-VyEYDQ8oRsf/s1600/gaming-rules-board-and-dice-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pocket Mars - Board & Dice" border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCzo1b3nrpc8GlRbWNY-rBqbSahT44cbIRjqNxpmAsTPIkG6CsagcioyKM1FJ_q-H2PXwEbPeSksXjmRoQd0TVHJK5IDpyeaYNVDYUcmYqZiJAiUJm-EJOgz42maJL-RG-VyEYDQ8oRsf/s640/gaming-rules-board-and-dice-2.jpg" title="Pocket Mars - Board & Dice" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>SUPERHOT Card Game</b> is a micro deck-builder game designed by Manuel Correia, based on the first-person shooter video game of the same name. In SUPERHOT, time only moves when you move - an idea that sounds like it should translate well to tabletop gaming!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAZ6UcaWrEqpyaG7TKRGUonycOE7wH2ZPHa-8gYpZW4xfCTo6bKq84KZQCKd8C1cca1ApZKrnZmLyveLoLLnIwlzsdahlkj8X8Gs6kvUHKkUZTkb0pGcZ4MiB_e_Lzb4IMOFFn4vnEHmN/s1600/superhot-card-game.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="SUPERHOT Card Game" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1090" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAZ6UcaWrEqpyaG7TKRGUonycOE7wH2ZPHa-8gYpZW4xfCTo6bKq84KZQCKd8C1cca1ApZKrnZmLyveLoLLnIwlzsdahlkj8X8Gs6kvUHKkUZTkb0pGcZ4MiB_e_Lzb4IMOFFn4vnEHmN/s320/superhot-card-game.JPG" title="SUPERHOT Card Game" width="218" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'd been put off of this initially because I thought it was only a one-player game, but it turns out you can play with one to three players in various configurations of player versus system. A line of obstacles (enemies, scenery, objects) moves towards you and you have to choose how to deal with each one. The cards you use to deal with them are discarded to the obstacles pile, while the obstacles you don't deal with end up in your personal draw pile, so it's a case of figuring out what the best balance is. I thought it was a clever-looking concept, but having already been sold on Pocket Mars I chose to leave this one on the shelf for now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Alley Cat Games</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Dice Hospital</b> from designers Stan Kordonskiy and Mike Nudd is coming to Kickstarter later this year and looks like a clever little worker placement game. Dice patients arrive at your hex-based hospital in cardboard ambulances ready for treatment, with the number of pips on the die representing how healthy a patient is. Actions on your hospital player board allow you to treat the patients by manipulating the number on their die, helped by meeple doctors.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9Cw4ZvJ0PV119k3paqbhq7vbbGA3aQ3mb8bxIwggO8jZwzErf13v3Z6qdW9WZgMsSGDbR-HtwZ-CpSmEUrkjKi4x0Ki3bOZx3uuu86q5V__t0PLW-A4G7bZ2zHFHKEtd3sMftDh2q7wz/s1600/dice-hospital-alley-cat-games.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dice Hospital - Alley Cat Games" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9Cw4ZvJ0PV119k3paqbhq7vbbGA3aQ3mb8bxIwggO8jZwzErf13v3Z6qdW9WZgMsSGDbR-HtwZ-CpSmEUrkjKi4x0Ki3bOZx3uuu86q5V__t0PLW-A4G7bZ2zHFHKEtd3sMftDh2q7wz/s640/dice-hospital-alley-cat-games.JPG" title="Dice Hospital - Alley Cat Games" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">It's all very Theme Hospital and I definitely have to play it, although I hovered around the Alley Cat Games stand quite a bit over the weekend but didn't end up getting in for a demo, which is a shame!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">One Free Elephant</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Carcosa</b> bears a striking similarity to a Lovecraftian version of Carcassonne on first glance. However there are lots more mechanisms at work here, with lots of strategy to the double-sided tiles that you draw and cultists to drive insane or sacrifice to impress the King in Yellow. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFdmUr4mNOAIx11_5OcBFGCkX8ly-5vMB36yxE0UhMB5hyphenhyphenIMnCMupPJVT9-WLr7aavzVnSISaadeoo6ePGvdBLEbclrF5jhtjNQ5c__Sfij8-anahhIwAzwvqmfv4HQtGbmZNLiRX6HE0/s1600/carcosa-one-free-elephant-uk-games-expo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1600" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFdmUr4mNOAIx11_5OcBFGCkX8ly-5vMB36yxE0UhMB5hyphenhyphenIMnCMupPJVT9-WLr7aavzVnSISaadeoo6ePGvdBLEbclrF5jhtjNQ5c__Sfij8-anahhIwAzwvqmfv4HQtGbmZNLiRX6HE0/s640/carcosa-one-free-elephant-uk-games-expo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The artwork on this game looks really cool, but I think for now I have enough similarly themed games on my shelves. If you want to check out the Kickstarter campaign, though, you can <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1707132801/carcosa-a-lovecraftian-board-game-of-cults-and-mad" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">have a look here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Formal Ferret Games</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>Wordsy</b> is a nice straightforward word game for 1-6 players designed by Gil Hova (designer of The Networks). Each round a grid of 8 consonants are laid out in two rows of four, with a score card underneath each column (5/4/3/2). Players think of a word that includes as many of the letters as possible - you can add as many other letters as you need, but these won't score any points. When the first person writes down their word, they flip an egg timer and everyone else needs to have written down their word before it runs out. The words are then scored and a new round begins. After seven rounds, players add up the scores of their five best words and the player with the most points wins.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2Y4FzGlZoxsZ0dSMzVDnq938Akqdc_-wF0_1othDnscuLgTikSRxlTxFGFnZYs0M9xrUrNumO0i66r5mFUw7dVhC9JlRnDLvMaSJg7zutuTLDLkY3iRLydJKAoJ6cGzUONSmHWg-BMqW/s1600/wordsy-gil-hova.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Wordsy - Gil Hova - UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1600" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2Y4FzGlZoxsZ0dSMzVDnq938Akqdc_-wF0_1othDnscuLgTikSRxlTxFGFnZYs0M9xrUrNumO0i66r5mFUw7dVhC9JlRnDLvMaSJg7zutuTLDLkY3iRLydJKAoJ6cGzUONSmHWg-BMqW/s640/wordsy-gil-hova.JPG" title="Wordsy - Gil Hova - UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">If, like me, you managed to miss the Kickstarter campaign for this, Wordsy will be available from the third week of August.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">SHOPPING</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Trying out new games aside, there are plenty of other things to keep you busy at the Expo.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Obviously there's a lot of shopping on offer, with bigger online retailers like Gameslore and Board Game Guru emptying out their warehouse for the weekend to feed our cardboard addictions. There are are also plenty of smaller retailers selling games and accessories like dice, tokens and box inserts. Make sure you shop around though, as prices can vary from stand to stand, sometimes by as much as £10!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I spent a lot of time pining for a Geeknsons gaming table:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KX0lmna2tJYAwEjHZuxa5jDjk9DhBUJp8Bs7Aee9uVepVg1RhVj20wDL5JMWdMqdrwgrrMgnoXAMHVWFxmLeiMODWnK0Mdd6EY4kGkY95e8_xAwWIkZHL7Qps_SA8Ml1n1XcS1KNB2Om/s1600/geeknsons-viking-table.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Geeknsons tables" border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KX0lmna2tJYAwEjHZuxa5jDjk9DhBUJp8Bs7Aee9uVepVg1RhVj20wDL5JMWdMqdrwgrrMgnoXAMHVWFxmLeiMODWnK0Mdd6EY4kGkY95e8_xAwWIkZHL7Qps_SA8Ml1n1XcS1KNB2Om/s640/geeknsons-viking-table.JPG" title="Geeknsons tables" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I still keep staring at my table, hoping it'll magically transform, somehow, into a fancy new gaming table with cupholders. Cupholders! So far, success is limited. Well, non-existent...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">In the absence of a lottery win, however, my first purchases of the day were Pocket Mars and Century: Spice Road. I hadn't tried either game at that point, but I had firmly taken my seat on the hype train and didn't want to miss out. A good thing too, as it became almost impossible to pick up Century by the end of the Expo. I also grabbed a copy of Barenpark by Phil Walker Harding, because... bears and tetris tiles!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJKqW6Q_YKLWa3hgJEeOjntZmwQJ9zXTV_x1Eww14d5711ksix1yTlNnLzJtqoZkfY-RtvG7Ca5qY4ZN33UOA05Isq02Kmtlw4qMXRGYRyTIMxalK6OfkjBW_VDJ0BsuTeBjhY3uvxYVb/s1600/ukge-shopping.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UK Games Expo shopping" border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1600" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJKqW6Q_YKLWa3hgJEeOjntZmwQJ9zXTV_x1Eww14d5711ksix1yTlNnLzJtqoZkfY-RtvG7Ca5qY4ZN33UOA05Isq02Kmtlw4qMXRGYRyTIMxalK6OfkjBW_VDJ0BsuTeBjhY3uvxYVb/s640/ukge-shopping.JPG" title="UK Games Expo shopping" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">BRING & BUY</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">This year I decided that I'd clear some space and take along a pile of games to sell at the Bring & Buy run by the Expo. This was a lot easier and more efficient than I'd imagined; I pre-registered the games online, brought them to the hall (admittedly queuing for half an hour, as I think I picked peak drop-off time), applied the stickers I was issued with and released them into the wild for other people to buy. There's a £1 per 10 items charge for selling through the Bring & Buy, along with a 10% commission charge on all sales, and all profit goes to the UK Games Expo's nominated charities.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJBvcjeJz0sA6kEKf7FdgoV0QJeQxNyZxmPJlB0rFP1e6_tkY8q8ZGMVWKY39dvlBAX1XTvG0UmhxnsH_Uk2GoTGe25W777TzBklBkELtldITisjw416NYgwgJgbY1GCGxD73AUS0mhBT/s1600/bring-and-buy-uk-games-expo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bring and buy sale at the UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="967" data-original-width="1600" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJBvcjeJz0sA6kEKf7FdgoV0QJeQxNyZxmPJlB0rFP1e6_tkY8q8ZGMVWKY39dvlBAX1XTvG0UmhxnsH_Uk2GoTGe25W777TzBklBkELtldITisjw416NYgwgJgbY1GCGxD73AUS0mhBT/s640/bring-and-buy-uk-games-expo.JPG" title="Bring and buy sale at the UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">LIVE ENTERTAINMENT</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">There was a packed schedule of seminars and live entertainment events this year. I sadly couldn't fit in any of the seminars, but I did see lots of the live shows. I was too far away for good pictures, so please bear with me!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Pandemic: Live</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Pandemic: Live pretty much does what it says on the tin; it's literally a game of Pandemic, played in front of a crowd. Supervised by comedian (and 2015 UK Carcassonne champion) James Cook, an elite pandemic-fighting team consisting of Zee Garcia (<a href="http://www.dicetower.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Dice Tower</a>), Paul Grogan (<a href="http://gaming-rules.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gaming Rules!</a>) and John Robertson (<a href="http://www.thejohnrobertson.com/thedarkroom/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Dark Room</a>) took on the diseases of 'Posh', 'Darren', 'Covfefe' and 'Strong & Stable' with the audience helping out as the fourth player. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuJvsWrKPwE7Scumf3-AUo4KqUcdgjVO2ca3H89bXgE2kt8pbsNpohlmSq9qfH8tnVV5qvMJuW-gLirKC72G55dfJ6kmbwIcfaBUQCsH2ESU7D65GMPHOmSq4dDGhyphenhyphenycON2tE3rSnnXlb/s1600/pandemic-live.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pandemic Live" border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1600" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuJvsWrKPwE7Scumf3-AUo4KqUcdgjVO2ca3H89bXgE2kt8pbsNpohlmSq9qfH8tnVV5qvMJuW-gLirKC72G55dfJ6kmbwIcfaBUQCsH2ESU7D65GMPHOmSq4dDGhyphenhyphenycON2tE3rSnnXlb/s640/pandemic-live.jpg" title="Pandemic Live" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The audience were allowed to pick the difficulty level and, clearly wanting a shorter show for their money, settled on hard mode. Despite eradicating Posh, the world was ended by an 8th outbreak and the game was lost. This was a cause of much celebration for the Concept of Disease, something I won't go into here - I'll let you go and see the show!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">MMORPG</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">'There's jelly afoot, let's get the vicar' - just one of the amazingly surreal moments to be experienced in Paul Flannery's MMORPG show, a roleplay adventure where the characters, epic quest, locations and monsters are all sourced from the crowd. Success (or critical failure) is decided by a giant D20.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Our quest was for The Other Glove, tasked to us by an octopus (with only seven gloves). This was successfully retrieved from an old people's home in a tree house in a forest following a gripping final fight between Peebly (the half house, half elf thief) and an evil wing-back chair with wings. At some point there was a Unicornetto, but I think I lost track... Great fun and lots of laughs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Knightmare Live</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">'You're in a room!' A phrase that sends anyone around my age crashing back to their childhood and the wonders of watching Knightmare on TV as a kid. Enter, stranger!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">In Paul Flannery's Knightmare Live, members of the audience get a chance to wear the helmet of justice, hold up the eye shield and travel through the dungeon. I was unreasonably excited to go and see this, and I wasn't disappointed; everything was there, from the terrible special effects, to dragons, to Lord Fear himself. Oooh, nasty...</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_x4-AV8F_s0S9W6PJwttRxia2lFnjglGBvXRcIv03nzEkD3bC8EZDtQthbkoMvEeuaCitUZKPgU5m-8ZpbDQTxbzI2QAxCo3n8BANEJqlID6g5aOQh5tB6VQAMqgPoArW1ml_iQJ4Evi/s1600/knightmare-live-ukge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Knightmare: Live - dragon" border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="1600" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_x4-AV8F_s0S9W6PJwttRxia2lFnjglGBvXRcIv03nzEkD3bC8EZDtQthbkoMvEeuaCitUZKPgU5m-8ZpbDQTxbzI2QAxCo3n8BANEJqlID6g5aOQh5tB6VQAMqgPoArW1ml_iQJ4Evi/s640/knightmare-live-ukge.JPG" title="Knightmare: Live - dragon" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkIuvsHEFNMwofzCvDBM4YpvI8hZ_wD1DT-39rO6ucLMzBXX1zfroZWI5O4LpmIkCcXRK-3Gbu3grTWUpERt9J7K3PnKykZi1B-15Rco5mlU_2kfmtmiUutwQgg7F_R0v9QOE8vMncpmk/s1600/the-dark-room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The Dark Room @ UKGE" border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1600" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkIuvsHEFNMwofzCvDBM4YpvI8hZ_wD1DT-39rO6ucLMzBXX1zfroZWI5O4LpmIkCcXRK-3Gbu3grTWUpERt9J7K3PnKykZi1B-15Rco5mlU_2kfmtmiUutwQgg7F_R0v9QOE8vMncpmk/s200/the-dark-room.jpg" title="The Dark Room @ UKGE" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My comments from last year entirely stand: John Robertson was both hilarious and terrifying as the host of an interactive retro gaming experience that comes complete with its own catchphrases and awful prizes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">You can see a YouTube version of the show's premise on <a href="http://www.thejohnrobertson.com/thedarkroom/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John's website</a> which is the best way to find out what it's like short of going to a show (but definitely go and see a show!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">There was plenty of amazing food on offer from stall like Becky's Bhajis, Street Souvlaki, Habaneros, Bournville Waffle Co and Bare Bones Pizza to name just a few (tragically, no beer bus this year...)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The queues could get pretty long, but it was nice to meet new people while waiting, including getting to say hello to Zee Garcia from the Dice Tower in the lunch queue and assuring him that yes, he had seen me around a lot and no, I wasn't stalking him!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Once you've gotten your hands on those shiny new games it's only natural you'd want to break them out and play. The UK Games Expo provides lots of open gaming space for just this purpose, both in the main NEC hall and at the Hilton hotel.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3l3Z90LazLvNa1alzboXjEotYl_afQyb9onZsiuEwTw9MQZburWI-mH8ZDwvXhG0NFRH0XgF9aJinO06ZRXsYLuE-AbvkX3JXvV7iXrDfG_KYbx2SGu-Z6coTA2LZL6fL5QKbpvDzsJE8/s1600/open-gaming-uk-games-expo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Open gaming at UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3l3Z90LazLvNa1alzboXjEotYl_afQyb9onZsiuEwTw9MQZburWI-mH8ZDwvXhG0NFRH0XgF9aJinO06ZRXsYLuE-AbvkX3JXvV7iXrDfG_KYbx2SGu-Z6coTA2LZL6fL5QKbpvDzsJE8/s640/open-gaming-uk-games-expo.jpg" title="Open gaming at UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">If I could improve anything about the Expo it would be the availability of this space, though. There were plenty of times during the weekend when we just couldn't find anywhere to play and it felt like we were missing out on some valuable gaming time, spending more time wandering about looking for a table than actually playing (or seeing new games).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The lack of space did allow us to fit in some well earned rest by the lake though, getting in some rules reading in a gap between shows.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">SHINY SLIGHTLY-LESS-NEW GAMES</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">On Sunday I made an extremely dignified half-waddle-half-run to secure a spot at the sole demo table for <b>Scythe</b>, Stonemaier Games' monster 2016 hit which had up to now scared me off by looking super-complicated (but so, so beautiful!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Scythe is set in a 1920s alternate-history Europe where each player takes on leadership of one of five factions struggling for power. The factions are asymmetrical, each with their own strengths and weaknesses (and meeples!) to work with. Players build an engine to enlist new recruits, produce resources and villagers, build structures, activate mechs and conquer territory with the aim of achieving particular goals</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Turns out I needn't have been so terrified. Once we had the explanation part covered, the game turned out to be really straightforward and had surprisingly little downtime for something so meaty-looking, even with five players. I really enjoyed playing and have firmly added Scythe to my wishlist! I love how different each of the factions is, from design of their actions down to the components themselves. The upgrade mechanism is clever too, where you move a cube from the top of the board to the bottom, uncovering an extra benefit and covering over a cost. Clever design, fun gameplay and beautiful artwork.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">HOME TIME</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">It did, however, eat up a large chunk of the day, so after another spin around the shops and a lot of goodbyes it was time for me to head home and say goodbye to the UK Games Expo for another year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">As crowded as it may feel at times, the Expo is always such a friendly place - from the hardworking organisers, volunteers and staff on the stands to people chipping in with recommendations when you're dithering over a purchase, to sitting down to demos with strangers and getting along brilliantly. It was pointed out to me by a friend that for such a potentially introverted bunch, we gamers are happy to talk to each other with confidence about the things we love and I think that's possibly one of my favourite things about the Expo.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I can't believe it's over for another year, but hopefully I'll see you all there in 2018! Hopefully by then I'll have found some shelf space for all the cardboard I came home with...</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vAhSqQsn20RKONeuNZaDy6I7ukc8hA3miIotIU92r6BdCAk25FrxBzqlja2pcco5LMaP42RLxRsBeMB13pO6qtU6l763YMMllzvqZWz-bhU0piu3f1u5f2LO-ncHpsIsT1Ot9GQmv2Ix/s1600/board-games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Board games from UK Games Expo" border="0" data-original-height="1521" data-original-width="1600" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vAhSqQsn20RKONeuNZaDy6I7ukc8hA3miIotIU92r6BdCAk25FrxBzqlja2pcco5LMaP42RLxRsBeMB13pO6qtU6l763YMMllzvqZWz-bhU0piu3f1u5f2LO-ncHpsIsT1Ot9GQmv2Ix/s640/board-games.jpg" title="Board games from UK Games Expo" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thank you to everyone involved for another awesome weekend!</div>
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If you enjoyed this post you can find lots more photos on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/">Facebook page</a> or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/">Instagram</a> feeds!</div>
Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8433402330927048489.post-16152743738322226802017-05-30T11:33:00.000-07:002017-06-26T15:15:42.717-07:00Cardboard - Yamatai board game reviewIf you take a look at my game shelf there's a notable trend towards picking up every game I see with a Japanese theme. From Tokaido to Takenoko, Mottainai or Hanabi, I think I have a small obsession - but it hasn't let me down yet! Let's start by going down the list of reasons for me to be excited about this game:<br />
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<li>Colourful shiny box: check</li>
<li>Days of Wonder: check</li>
<li>Japan: check</li>
<li>Lost, ancient, mysterious kingdom setting: check</li>
<li>Smile-based reward system: wait, what?</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXPFM4KjETpVr6Lofi1T7fqhQLr9AOgXNxezkyXMEMz9GsDmm7p76rH0S_T3dM2rbTx2qUhF62tmFXCewoKrjqI4Wc0Pxu_btMfEeeX8rQltLuPD2rQL40ODMRrHzkMOh4JOltEDZZtLj/s1600/yamatai-box-art-random-nerdery-review.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Yamatai box art - Random Nerdery board game review" border="0" data-original-height="1564" data-original-width="1600" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXPFM4KjETpVr6Lofi1T7fqhQLr9AOgXNxezkyXMEMz9GsDmm7p76rH0S_T3dM2rbTx2qUhF62tmFXCewoKrjqI4Wc0Pxu_btMfEeeX8rQltLuPD2rQL40ODMRrHzkMOh4JOltEDZZtLj/s640/yamatai-box-art-random-nerdery-review.JPG" title="Yamatai box art - Random Nerdery board game review" width="640" /></a></div>
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Yamatai is the latest offering from Days of Wonder, designed by Bruno Cathala (Five Tribes, Dice Town, Shadows Over Camelot) and Marc Paquien (...Yamatai). With the prospect of a rewarding smile from Queen Himiko at stake, 2-4 players strive to become the most prestigious builder as the capital of Yamatai takes shape on an archipelago in ancient Japan.<br />
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Over 40-80 minutes you'll be working to get more Prestige Points (PP) than everyone else, placing resource fleets, recruiting specialists and constructing buildings to make sure you are the deserving recipient of that all-important smile. Which had better be good, by the way...<br />
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Aspiring builders have a pool of buildings available each turn which have certain resource requirements. To get these resources, players have to lay down supply lines in the form of tiny colourful wooden boats which snake their way through the archipelago as the game progresses. Match the available boats around an island to the requirements on one of the building tiles, and you're good to go! The problem is that every boat is available to any island adjacent to it, so everything you do has a very high chance of being super-helpful to someone else. And we wouldn't want that, now, would we?<br />
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<br />Choose a Fleet Tile</h4>
Building supplies arrive at the archipelago in the aforementioned tiny boats. The goods all have a rarity and corresponding price, with bamboo (green), wood (brown), stone (black), clay (red) and gold (yellow) available to help build your amazing smile-worthy buildings.<br />
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At the start of your turn you'll choose which fleet you'd like to control, take the corresponding Fleet Tile and receive the boat (or boats) depicted on it. Each Fleet Tile (numbered from 1 to 10) also has a special power which you have the option to use during your turn. These can be anything from taking extra boats to moving boats or even destroying them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPle-0oV9U-T6njNlXw_gOd-EKzhfv5dhG_tbYuoG8sJFjimhrH9_aaoTZCimy-_fSFh5QIc-rv9pnHoHoOCjpM2sBgdfWg8JjhyphenhyphenavDOt1UO4pxmPRc-3tGqn6HwA-muf_9QbDBVN6dfo/s1600/yamatai-fleet-tiles-randomp-nerdery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai Fleet Tiles" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1467" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPle-0oV9U-T6njNlXw_gOd-EKzhfv5dhG_tbYuoG8sJFjimhrH9_aaoTZCimy-_fSFh5QIc-rv9pnHoHoOCjpM2sBgdfWg8JjhyphenhyphenavDOt1UO4pxmPRc-3tGqn6HwA-muf_9QbDBVN6dfo/s640/yamatai-fleet-tiles-randomp-nerdery.JPG" title="Yamatai Fleet Tiles" width="586" /></a></div>
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The number on your Fleet Tile is also your turn order number for the next round, and you'll find that the cooler special powers come at a price. Taking fleet number 10 will get you three additional boats, but it also lands you in last place for next round. Fleet number 1 will guarantee you the first move next round, but has no special power at all!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxD2Iqz_S5W7BpBdTOXt49Ki5b1SEx_kJ2G8zB_6tTlHP0isvk8v-H7O-mc6HrznZYf-WJkouqoSLx50D_BahMRU2Soy4d9BN2pnh7LI9Aq7Q5z5egF31FmdHqEXWECwecGklHXZ9mEtd/s1600/yamatai-turn-order-track.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai turn order track" border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="1600" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxD2Iqz_S5W7BpBdTOXt49Ki5b1SEx_kJ2G8zB_6tTlHP0isvk8v-H7O-mc6HrznZYf-WJkouqoSLx50D_BahMRU2Soy4d9BN2pnh7LI9Aq7Q5z5egF31FmdHqEXWECwecGklHXZ9mEtd/s640/yamatai-turn-order-track.JPG" title="Yamatai turn order track" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Trade</h4>
Each turn you can buy or sell a boat's worth of goods for the coin value shown on your player mat. Very handy for picking up that one missing boat for your grand master-plan.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycDam1uUzgUZZW1qudpJlE_fpoAMBrRztagQLvAm1s3G_3T32bQnhI3kuNzrSCfP4riDIvahU3iulFk4Cmd-5H6BI8YTIHtDWBvFj-nsQV8Jiwt3tfUvnzBdXTDMCVP98qqKr3fTVKrqh/s1600/yamatai-coins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai coins" border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycDam1uUzgUZZW1qudpJlE_fpoAMBrRztagQLvAm1s3G_3T32bQnhI3kuNzrSCfP4riDIvahU3iulFk4Cmd-5H6BI8YTIHtDWBvFj-nsQV8Jiwt3tfUvnzBdXTDMCVP98qqKr3fTVKrqh/s640/yamatai-coins.JPG" title="Yamatai coins" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Place boats</h4>
Next it's time to lay down some supply lines. You can place as many of your boats around the islands as you want/are able to, with the following placement rules:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The first boat must be placed on an empty entry spot or</li>
<li>The first boat must be placed on an empty spot connected to a boat of the same colour.</li>
<li>Subsequent boats are then placed on an empty spot connected to the previous boat (even if they aren't the same colour).</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCkZ4DckYs2WslpIdon2YEGwMyOX4u8Aiik3ydIIwsvav8bMu1VL47tRvB-xTPNz2a78mfzYP70dxpKVW2IsGGUMK8FTBiFI4WLZi7-5yINwgzu-xuVJr51l2HypsXnAb5WUkmHJbc1z_/s1600/yamatai-sacred-ground-token.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai sacred ground token" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCkZ4DckYs2WslpIdon2YEGwMyOX4u8Aiik3ydIIwsvav8bMu1VL47tRvB-xTPNz2a78mfzYP70dxpKVW2IsGGUMK8FTBiFI4WLZi7-5yINwgzu-xuVJr51l2HypsXnAb5WUkmHJbc1z_/s640/yamatai-sacred-ground-token.JPG" title="Yamatai sacred ground token" width="640" /></a></div>
<h4>
<br />Collect Culture Tokens or Build</h4>
After placing your boats you'll need to decide between clearing islands of Culture Tokens, or building on previously cleared islands. The rules sort of give up on theme for this point; I'm not sure why we have to sweep away the culture on an island before building over it, but the mechanism and choices are cool so we might have to gloss over that for now...<br />
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<br />
If you decide to go with culture-sweeping, for every boat you placed this round you can take a Culture Token on an island adjacent to that boat. These tokens can be used to recruit Specialists later on in the turn; these are rule-breaking helpers who can also be worth Prestige Points at the end of the game (more on them later). However, whilst you're happily counting your new Culture Tokens, you've also left a nice new patch of clear land for your opponents to build on. This dilemma has you weighing up the benefits of taking tokens against (gasp/grinding of teeth) actually helping out another player, adding another interesting dimension to the puzzle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_GrEl4jhDxAkuPg7Mp07IjQpp-CWv3VxfjZ3Rdx-XKyZ4PZFmuF-AzFJS0PVDAPZhgVhFTFCC2EISBwbCwLes5EHsVCnvZglUu8ln6nJIdzJBZCV0n18ri1T63fH5qb546pkDcNWzGuv/s1600/yamatai-torii-prestige-building.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai torii Prestige building" border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="1600" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_GrEl4jhDxAkuPg7Mp07IjQpp-CWv3VxfjZ3Rdx-XKyZ4PZFmuF-AzFJS0PVDAPZhgVhFTFCC2EISBwbCwLes5EHsVCnvZglUu8ln6nJIdzJBZCV0n18ri1T63fH5qb546pkDcNWzGuv/s640/yamatai-torii-prestige-building.JPG" title="Yamatai torii Prestige building" width="640" /></a></div>
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Instead of collecting tokens you might choose to build on a previously cleared island (adjacent to one of the boats you just placed). To do this, the arrangement of coloured boats around the island has to include those depicted on one of the available building tiles. If you have the right boats, you take the tile and place the corresponding building on the island.<br />
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<table><tbody>
<tr><td></td><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3N51Lb-MZEbVt5W4YvHCFgb7vY0wdAOSGLq_BA2LNhOs5QGvvRBI1He-5dPJHpsicSxq3lGq-I030BQRq38HCZriDDPP9_Np8pbDOB03FNyh7RWeMj_7JJZe26oj7S1RADi0tc1aTsvDx/s1600/yamatai-building-tile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai building tile" border="0" data-original-height="1541" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3N51Lb-MZEbVt5W4YvHCFgb7vY0wdAOSGLq_BA2LNhOs5QGvvRBI1He-5dPJHpsicSxq3lGq-I030BQRq38HCZriDDPP9_Np8pbDOB03FNyh7RWeMj_7JJZe26oj7S1RADi0tc1aTsvDx/s200/yamatai-building-tile.JPG" title="Yamatai building tile" width="222" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_dQXxqv48EKT0d9xEOpue9Xs7lR7yK4VcconE40oBMEOkc-F7dJPcxWhbWsQMW7n2diZxttvxJrmAiHAIXGjTOfonyAyvtlj-9OWtIbme8DBsvNpzWRBCu5EOa7NcET73uDlSwMcLagy/s1600/yamatai-building-tile-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai boat placement for building" border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_dQXxqv48EKT0d9xEOpue9Xs7lR7yK4VcconE40oBMEOkc-F7dJPcxWhbWsQMW7n2diZxttvxJrmAiHAIXGjTOfonyAyvtlj-9OWtIbme8DBsvNpzWRBCu5EOa7NcET73uDlSwMcLagy/s320/yamatai-building-tile-2.JPG" title="Yamatai boat placement for building" width="320" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are two types of buildings: Standard Buildings or big red shiny Prestige Buildings. When you place a Standard Building adjacent to another of your own colour, you gain coins equivalent to the size of the new group. This gives you another thing to think about as you try to get all your buildings in a continuous chain, or break up your competitors' groups to stop them cashing in. Placing Standard Buildings adjacent to Prestige Buildings or on top of a mountain also gets you extra PP in the form of cute little fan tokens; clearly a good view is important!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zWA5YTcuhGPIdCLDZwlnhNmUBE7HRE4Ao9nTHm3DkaFP-lNj-PG523fjWPZqJBmJsPT4-powSQncpO58umkZ0n9DIG2yJqEXgvAkNSYyHCW8Gd0ePP0L8WJ-2st7FfwQvyLcik2bu6Xh/s1600/yamatai-prestige-point-token.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai Prestige Tokens" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zWA5YTcuhGPIdCLDZwlnhNmUBE7HRE4Ao9nTHm3DkaFP-lNj-PG523fjWPZqJBmJsPT4-powSQncpO58umkZ0n9DIG2yJqEXgvAkNSYyHCW8Gd0ePP0L8WJ-2st7FfwQvyLcik2bu6Xh/s640/yamatai-prestige-point-token.JPG" title="Yamatai Prestige Tokens" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Store a boat</h4>
If you didn't use up all your boats, you can keep one unused boat from your turn on the harbour space of your player mat for use in future turns. Invariably I forget I've left a boat here and it gets flipped onto the floor when I pack away at the end of the game, but more sensible people will find this handy for planning their next move.<br />
<br />
If you have more than one unused boat, however, the extra ones get put aside and are worth negative points at the end of the game (-1PP per two boats).<br />
<h4>
<br />Recruit a Specialist</h4>
You can recruit a Specialist from the track at the top of the board using Culture Tokens (again I'm not sure on the theme - the rules refer to them as 'gifts').<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkDZijJDnzo27FylE3jCR3DONwHx-DQrg7jcMl-wXOL_-Vx24AqaSNAjV0o311UabsVraD2IDS7wZ1ze8_Rvk4nEuMeJCUMcUfRgAElvadTxd9ZaQoAZOGJDxczwPBOuH7UiAfXGZ7Uke/s1600/yamatai-specialist-track.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai specialist track" border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkDZijJDnzo27FylE3jCR3DONwHx-DQrg7jcMl-wXOL_-Vx24AqaSNAjV0o311UabsVraD2IDS7wZ1ze8_Rvk4nEuMeJCUMcUfRgAElvadTxd9ZaQoAZOGJDxczwPBOuH7UiAfXGZ7Uke/s640/yamatai-specialist-track.JPG" title="Yamatai specialist track" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
All Specialists have the same cost: three different coloured tokens, or two matching ones. These Specialists have all sorts of useful rule-changing powers, such as allowing you to store extra boats or to score extra PP for certain things at the end of the game. Some of them are also worth some PP in their own right.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNNfMQ25caxNq0oHQw4IBLOfBHgrEd4Nx2wj0TQn62oFJNZhKjH1E2HRt7zQHnB1D08w2DN0XdFvdXJyFjtTZdQrieqk_YOtKITRqy9AsMrMD8Iigd3ezLqYyEZf7apA9nV5egv_OjzSm/s1600/yamatai-specialists-random-nerdery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yamatai specialists" border="0" data-original-height="1318" data-original-width="1600" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNNfMQ25caxNq0oHQw4IBLOfBHgrEd4Nx2wj0TQn62oFJNZhKjH1E2HRt7zQHnB1D08w2DN0XdFvdXJyFjtTZdQrieqk_YOtKITRqy9AsMrMD8Iigd3ezLqYyEZf7apA9nV5egv_OjzSm/s640/yamatai-specialists-random-nerdery.JPG" title="Yamatai specialists" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
After this phase, the round ends and you replenish the Specialist Track and Building Row. Players place their turn order meeples according to their Fleet Tile numbers from last turn and a new set of Fleet Tiles are drawn.<br />
<br />
The game ends when you can't replenish the Building Row or Specialist Track, when a player places their last Standard Building, or when one colour of boat runs out. Scores are added up, totaling the points for Building Tiles, Specialists, coins and Prestige Point Token fans. The player with the most PP is declared the greatest builder of Yamatai (in a small ceremony of your own devising) and wins the favour of Queen Himiko.<br />
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So what did we think? Our house hasn't been so divided by a game since we <a href="http://www.randomnerdery.com/2016/05/7-wonders-duel-review.html" target="_blank">completely messed up the rules for 7 Wonders: Duel</a> last year...<br />
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<br />
Let's get the obvious bit out of the way first; the game is absolutely gorgeous. From the big, colourful box to the tiniest of coin tokens, the artwork and design throughout is stunning. The iconography is, for the most part, clear and self explanatory, which really helps in a game where there are 10 fleet powers and 18 specialist powers to get to grips with. You don't want to spend the whole game checking the rulebook each time a new token comes out!<br />
<br />
Days of Wonder have set a high bar for quality in the past and Yamatai definitely doesn't disappoint in this regard. All the components are colourful wood or chunky punchboard, apart from the thinner player mats which I think I'm actually starting to prefer now - it feels like they don't slide about the table so much. It does take up a huge amount of table space, so make sure to clear some room first!<br />
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<br />
Quality aside, I'm pleased to say that under all the pretty, polished production there is a puzzle game that I really love, packed with decisions that interlock in so many different ways - choosing Specialists that will give you the most beneficial combinations, balancing your turn order with getting the powers you need and bearing in mind the Fleet Tiles that will come up next round, figuring out how to best cash in on your opponents moves (and how to make sure they won't cash in on yours), building or clearing Culture Tokens - this list goes on.<br />
<br />
However, there is a downside to all this decision making, and for some people this could be a dealbreaker. Constantly feeling on the edge of that perfect, magical combo can lead to some mega Analysis Paralysis if you're that way inclined. A little like Bruno Cathala's other Days of Wonder offering Five Tribes, you can find yourself just staring at a colourful board while your brain grinds away, willing the tiny boats to tell you what your best move should be while the other players silently tear their hair out waiting you to make up your mind. (Come on, guys, the death stare doesn't help me think faster!)<br />
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Personally I don't think this has to be too big a problem once everyone's familiar with the Fleet Tile powers and what all the Specialists do, but I can understand how this could put people off. It's also a little heavier than Days of Wonder's usual fayre, giving you a bit more to explain to new players at the outset (but greatly helped by an accessible and clear rulebook).<br />
<br />
I think I have a lot more to get out of Yamatai and it'll definitely be sticking around in my collection for a long time to come. Thanks so much to Esdevium games for sending me a copy to try out.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Yamatai</b></h3>
<b>Designer:</b> Bruno Cathala and Marc Paquien<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Days of Wonder<br />
<b>Players: </b>2-4<br />
<b>Age: </b>13+<br />
<b>Cost:</b> RRP £49.99 [Find your <a href="http://www.findyourgamestore.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">friendly local brick-and-mortar retailer</a> in Europe]<br />
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Thanks to Esdevium for sending me a copy to take a look at. If you enjoyed this post perhaps you could take a look at my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and leave a like or come and say hello on my <a href="https://twitter.com/randomnerdery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomnerdery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> feeds!Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647253675534549776noreply@blogger.com