GamesReviews written by Gary Sax
The worst of the big box expansions, only necessary to own if you want the extras to the base deck. I think you're only rarely going to want to actually play the underlying scenario in this one. That said, I do value having the expansions that were created before INSANE DIFFICULTY was the design mantra of AH expansions.
Even less necessary adds than in the bigger expansion. Only for the completionist except, weirdly, for a strong introductory scenario which would be a great way to get people into this otherwise extremely busy game. Shame the intro scenario is included in an obscure expansion no newcomer will likely have.
Good expansion but not utterly essential. A solid "more is more" expansion where the permanent elements are always in my copy, but some of the more modular elements only rarely make an appearance (e.g. scenarios, alternate magic powers).
See review. Ultimately, this game is procedurally very good but I found several of the systems frustrating and, as a pacific game, it basically comes down to how fast can you steamroll and just a couple of high stakes naval battles to determine who will win. The game's too long for that, though many people do love these Pacific front strategic games so who am I to say?
I enjoyed the structure of this game, particularly the different zones and the fundamentally creature based combat. But, as with most CCG/LCGs, unless you have a multiple people around you and time to deck build, there's a ceiling on how much fun you can really have. I didn't go deep on this one, so have no idea what unfun directions the meta ended up taking.
Solid game, but almost no drama. Apropos to the theme, everything is relatively incremental changes in size, body parts, population, etc which does not create a strong or memorable narrative structure. It's also a game that demands a great deal of careful attention to other players' species tableaus across the table, as the difference of a couple size or multiple trait cards can be enough to sink your own species. With more than a couple opponents this is very demanding, and not in a fun way.
I think this game is close to a perfect casual game. Just the right amount of decisionmaking, fun with dice rolling, and gets in and gets out in *just* the right (short) amount of time. As Josh Look has observed, you actually get to run your engine a few times in this game instead the game immediately ending, which is a huge plus for an point engine game.
Washington's War and its predecessor leave me ice cold. It's a tile flipping area control game that is interminably dull for the British player who can basically only move with 3op cards.
It's especially nuts because I *adore* CDGs. This game birthed the entire genre.