GamesReviews written by WadeMonnig
Viticulture has proven itself as a enduring worker-placement title. Adding the Co-operative element (along with what I consider the Legacy element) means, going in, you know if you like the game itself. So, if this sounds like something you will dig, you will dig it. I love the elements they have added, even if I am not a huge fan of how much it adds to the playtime (Each new continent you play feels like a teaching game...but on a much smaller level).
It is written that God saw all that he created and it was good. After playing Sagrada, I say “Well, It's...okay.” Nothing about it invokes passion or glory and whatever the other façades are called. It falls into that sub-section of visually attractive games that I don't dislike playing but are nothing I would actively seek out. It gives Sodoku-but-with-luck-limited-solutions vibes.
Literally nothing is stopping you from playing without the timer and Power Cards if you dig Risk at it's normal slog...err...pace. Because, despite the thin veneer of the Doctor Who setting, it's “just” Risk. But I can't say I don't enjoy pushing Daleks into Madagascar and bellowing “Seek. Locate. Destroy.” even if my vision is a little impaired by nostalgia.
Ruination provides Boom, Bam, and Pow in significant doses and the entertainment that comes with that. It may not be the Khan of the Wasteland, but it's shiny, chrome and a true War Boy.
The Monster Box is also a near-perfect entry point for anyone interested in King of Tokyo. The base game is a battle of Stars and Scars, with players attempting to either eliminate all the other monsters by reducing their health to zero or earning twenty stars. You do so by rolling six dice with faces that include Paws (Damage to other monsters), Hearts (That give you back Health), Energy (the currency you use to buy evolution cards that give you variable powers), and numerical faces of 1, 2 and 3. Roll at least three of any number and you earn that many stars. You get three rolls per turn, so “It's like Yahtzee with monsters” will almost inevitably come up when teaching the game.
Will I be keeping Blue Moon City in my collection? Not this version. Hopefully my copy finds a home with someone with either better hallway vision or more patience for sorting out which of the bland colors the tiles are supposed to be representing.
Yes, KONY/KOT Power-up did it's job. It brought King of New York back to the table. While long overdue and short of everything it should be, it does finally bring (most) of the Monsters to New York.
Ares Expedition, despite it's confusing name (Yes, this is a hill I'm willing to die upon and, Yes, I do know how to read....thankyouverymuch), provides a great Terraforming Mars experience. The “If you have the resources to boost a track, you must boost that track” requirement sidesteps the drawn out TM experience where players try to tweak their engine to Nth degree. It plays in a shorter time the more players you add, so you'll never hesitate at adding additional players. I'm more than happy to follow the rabbit down this Terraforming Mars wormhole.
Keep it 100 managed to take my least favorite type of trivia questions and turn them into a party game that I enjoy. Put an extra emphasis on the word party in that sentence. The stakes are low and casual. If you guess wrong when you slide a card into the number line, you rarely feel “bad” about it. It was a guess. The whole game is about guessing. Oh, by the way, Keep it 100 is, according to my kids, slang for “Keep it real.” Care to guess what percentage of people writing this review knew that?