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Mycelia Board Game Review

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River Wild Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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30 Dec 2018 20:18 #288901 by DarthJoJo
Finally finished the latest Central-America-and-Yig themed campaign of the Arkham Horror LCG with my wife. It was pretty great. My wife’s soldier decoyed away the biggest, baddest monsters as my painter took the final turn to restore the relic that was destroying the timeline. It’s just been amazing watching the designer go from strength to strength and improve and bring out new surprises over these three full campaigns. After trips to Mexico and Paris I’m looking forward to the next campaign which will be focused on Arkham itself and the Silver Twilight Lodge.

Been playing a lot in coffee shops, and without fail, someone peeks over and asks about it. Default answer is now “It’s a combination of Magic and D&D” though someone did recognize it today.
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30 Dec 2018 20:27 #288902 by repoman
I laugh at the grandson a little bit when he asks to play a game with me because I'm always thinking "Be careful what you wish for. "

Went over to the house of a couple we are friends with today. Neither my wife nor they are gamers but they do enjoy playing games. I'm sure everyone here knows people like that.

So I brought over some things I thought they might like.

First we played a game of Letters From Whitechapel. I own the fist edition. I played Jack, naturally, and the three of them split up the coppers. It has been years since I played this game. It took them some time to catch on to what they should be doing but then they brought the hammer down and captured me one space from my hideout on the 1st night.

I think, this being their first game of this type, that that was probably the optimal ending. They had fun, didn't get frustrated and the game, which took some time due to unfamiliarity, ended without being a marathon session as four nights might have turned into.

In so far as hidden movement games I'm not sure how I feel about it. They came out with a second edition or a redesign I seem to recall. Can't remember what the improvements or changes were though. I will go so far as to say I like it but it isn't the best in class or anything.

Then we played Innovation. About as big a change in gears game wise as is possible to make. Again it took them some time to get what was going on and what they were trying to do but when then did they enjoyed it. The male half of the other couple was having some difficulty. I explained that his problem was that he was trying to analyze the game strategically but that he should be looking at it tactically as the game state changes too much and too fast from turn to turn for long term planning. Not sure if he got what I was trying to say.

Anyway, he was doing well and one turn away from winning through claiming of Achievements when I pulled a card combo that allowed me to execute a bunch of dogmas and in the end triggered a card that said "Whoever has the most leaf icons wins" and as luck would have it, that was me.

I do enjoy this game and as far as Chudyk's games, I think this is much easier to explain to non gamers.
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31 Dec 2018 00:17 #288911 by BillyBobThwarton

Michael Barnes wrote: I wish the production- which is pretty great- wasn’t so hinky though.



I'm curious as to what hinky production means...


Speaking of, I was awakened by my 7 year old daughter this morning who was wanting to break out Fireball Island way too early. I can think of worse things to get up for in the morning, so I started assembling hello-copters while I suggested that she sit down and read the rules. I'll be damned it she didn't know the game after one reading as she was pointing out rules to me during our play. We had a fun time running around, snatching up treasure, and trying to foil each others plans. I can see this being in the family rotation for a long time, well past the use-by date of the crappiest box I've seen in a while. Diapers get more respect.


Introduced my wife to Spirit Island tonight. After setting it up I asked if she would rather me teach her the rules or if she wanted to watch a decent video on youtube instead. Her response seemed a bit too quick for my liking. So she yawns at other peoples explanations too it seems, and she was suddenly out cold when ravaging was being discussed. She awoke to my laughter and we gave it a go., This was my second time, having first played it about a year ago at a local con. I immediately remembered why I had such a good time - I can see it being something I would like to solo if she doesn't take to it as much as I have. As to her experience, it certainly wasn't love at first sight as she struggled with some of the concepts. We called it after 90 minutes so I can hopefully set up for a more positive round two after a week.


It's been nice to have gaming in the house get a bit more active than it has been in a while. At 11 plays so far, Cartouche Dynasties seems to be here to stay. We're enjoying Cat Lady way more than we would admit to our friends. Finally, a recent match of TTR Nordic Countries had my wife blocking off Copenhagen and filling me with the most intense frustration I've felt in a while as it gave me something around 30 negative points from failed tickets.
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31 Dec 2018 00:38 - 31 Dec 2018 00:39 #288913 by Vysetron
Is this where I talk about how much I really don't like the new Fireball Island? Because I REALLY don't like it.

I can't even enjoy it "for what it is" and I normally love goofy random shit. It's cheaply produced, almost completely devoid of decisions, and the trays barely function. I was almost mad about how much fun I didn't have playing it. Thank goodness it's short.

I like Restoration Games quite a bit. Their central concept is a great one. I just hope the Dark Tower redo is far, far removed from whatever led them to FI.
Last edit: 31 Dec 2018 00:39 by Vysetron.
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31 Dec 2018 00:45 - 31 Dec 2018 00:49 #288914 by Michael Barnes
I'm curious as to what hinky production means...

There are some definite production issues with it- playable spaces are unclear, some of the printing is too faint, there are misaligned graphics, and the figures are horrible. It looks great at it has a fun toy-like quality to it, but you can kind of tell it was a challenge to get produced. The vacuform boards look great, but they are inherently warpy and inconsistent.

It’s lots of fun, but you do have to give it a pass on some things- BBT’s comments aren’t off base, he just wasn’t cutting it the slack I think others are, including myself.

I think it is important to point out that the original game was actually pretty shite. It had a fun concept and fun novelty, but the game was garbage. They’ve moderned it up and made lots of improvements...but it’s still not a great design. It is a VERY FUN game if you get into the silliness of it, laughing when a marble gets stuck or when an “island vibration” knocks someone down...but I can see where some might not enjoy it at all. It is totally a tabletop analog to something like a Sharknado movie.
Last edit: 31 Dec 2018 00:49 by Michael Barnes.
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31 Dec 2018 09:03 #288922 by Colorcrayons
I got Fireball Island as a gift for christmas.

I'm glad I didn't have to pay $80 for it, but feel bad somebody else did. It's not an $80 by any stretch.

The kids enjoy it, but the evil coporate Jurassic Park theme just goes over their heads, so it's not quite as fun as Forbidden Bridge's pure sense of adventure or the original FI.

It's a lot better than the original, and could never see myself owning it with this in existence now.

The box is a travesty. Sorry to those who defend it, but the excuse that it was made that way for nostalgias sake is a bold faced cop out lie. The same type of lie as when they say that the KS was not a pre-order system for the game. For $80, we should be able to expect more and not be gaslit about it.

I'm pretty ambivalent about Fireball Island. I'm glad it exists, yet I also wouldn't feel as if I am missing out on anything if it didn't exist...

There is no way in hell I would ever buy the expansions, nor use them if they were given to me. Played a friend's copy that had them, and by and large, they we're not worth the effort. Easy pass.
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31 Dec 2018 09:20 - 31 Dec 2018 09:21 #288924 by Sagrilarus

Colorcrayons wrote: I'm glad I didn't have to pay $80 for it, but feel bad somebody else did. It's not an $80 by any stretch.


Every game is $80 these days.

Colorcrayons wrote: The box is a travesty. Sorry to those who defend it, but the excuse that it was made that way for nostalgias sake is a bold faced cop out lie. The same type of lie as when they say that the KS was not a pre-order system for the game. For $80, we should be able to expect more and not be gaslit about it.


That's a pretty solid endorsement for the game. I figured I'd play someone else's copy of this and figured the components would have to be pretty cheesy. Chinese people don't work for free anymore. But if it's the box catching people's attention then the rest of it must be solid enough. Granted, I've never seen one in real life so take that for what it's worth.

My new graze-gently strategy for game purchases means that titles like this just aren't in the cards for me. Christmas was BSG: Starship Battles which is still getting good press so I think I've made a good choice. The box is quite nice. Have read the rules, plan to put it on the table tomorrow. The rules for movement (the two-part thing kinetic and programmed) weren't entire clear reading at 11pm in bed, hope it's clearer with ships on the table mid-day.
Last edit: 31 Dec 2018 09:21 by Sagrilarus.
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31 Dec 2018 09:29 #288926 by hotseatgames
I will concur that the Fireball Island box is a puzzling travesty. And I wondered why people got so mad about the SEAL Team Flix box.
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31 Dec 2018 09:30 #288927 by Michael Barnes
Yeah, $80 for FI is a joke. I got it for $55 at CoolStuff and that is about as much as I’d pay for it. At the end of the day, it is a silly kids game with marble rolling. Which is why I didn’t go all in on the Kickstarter once the prices started to materialize.

The box is flimsy and ultra cheap Once you have it all punched and assembled, The only way to put it up is to kind of...just throw it all in the box..

You can buy a Broken Token Box for it for -$80-. If you do, I reserve the right to call you an idiot.
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31 Dec 2018 09:36 #288928 by Vysetron

hotseatgames wrote: I will concur that the Fireball Island box is a puzzling travesty. And I wondered why people got so mad about the SEAL Team Flix box.


Look, I love your game, but that centimeter-ish of lift on the lid terrifies me. I constantly think the boards are just going to explode or something. I don't trust putting things on top of it.

At least the STF box lets you sort your components as opposed to dumping them all in haphazardly. And isn't made of paper. And the components actually function. And there's a game inside the box. Little improvements.

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31 Dec 2018 09:41 #288930 by hotseatgames
I put stuff on top of it all the time. No trouble yet. I promise that the expansion will fix this problem.

Offering to sell you the solution to the problem they created... perhaps this game should be published by Microsoft.
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31 Dec 2018 10:08 #288932 by Josh Look
So many folks being down on Fireball Island...and you call Euro gamers the fun murderers...

I’ve only managed to play two games in the last 2 weeks or so. One of them was Spring Meadow which is a newish Uwe Rosenberg Tetris-style jam. It’s not deep, could possibly be more of an activity than a game, but it is oddly satisfying an addictive. It prominently features animals that look an awful lot like the ones that live under my shed, and I like them so I like them in this game. I’ve had the game for a week now and we’ve played it 8 times already. I like it.

The other game was Monster Slaughter. Not a deep game, either, but it’s pretty darn fun. I hear a lot of grumbling about how the game is one by how well you can blindly guess the order in which the victims will go out, but I don’t think it’s as blind as it seems. Two of them have different health values, which suggests a script, but I think the bigger thing is that people are getting hung up on the guessing part. It’s not so much guessing as it is how you manipulate what happens to your liking. It’s really interesting once you start thinking about it that way. Either way, it’s big, dumb-ish fun regardless.

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31 Dec 2018 10:26 #288935 by SaMoKo
Fireball Island, Nightmare, Crossfire, Hero Quest and Mutant Chronicles were my favourite games growing up. It’s tempting to pick up FI again, but it’s one of those games that may be better untarnished in memory.
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31 Dec 2018 10:38 #288936 by SaMoKo
Double post!

The only old game I’d be unable to resist picking up again is Circus Imperium. That game was fantastic, but I may the only person on earth who remembers it lol

Futuristic chariot racing game with space lions. You could ram other players, fight them, customize your gladiator load outs, smash yourself up from cornering or whipping the beasts too much....great stuff with rules for everything. Some games were won by speeding through the race. Others turned into a gladiator match because everybodys rides were smashed up!

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31 Dec 2018 11:00 #288938 by Michael Barnes
But Josh, there is also the fact that Fireball Island is awesome. Super fun. And I actually like that it rather boldly flies in the face of what modern gamers expect. The reality of it is that it is LIGHT YEARS ahead of the “beloved” original game in every respect, including box quality.

The first game I harumphed a little when marbles stuck or someone tipped over, when we couldn’t sort out of there was an extra space to move on on whatever and then I realized I was being a gamer ass about a game that should not be taken seriously in anyway.

Frankly if you are worried about the decisions in it...it’s not really the right game for you.

Regardless, I do wish it were produced a little better given its price and profile. I bet if they do a 2nd printing there will be some cleanup of the board- brighter colors for the treasure spots and caves for example.

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