Z is for Zombicide: Black Plague

By CMON

I played the original Zombicide campaign with some friends when Dustin was working graveyard shift and I was alone in the evenings. I wanted to introduce Dustin to the franchise, so when I learned of the medieval fantasy version I had to get it.

Players: 1-6

Time: 60-180 minutes

Ages: 14+

Theme: Medieval Zombies
Mechanics: Co-Op Dungeon Crawler, Modular Board, Variable Powers

This is our last A-Z review of 2020 and it's New Year's Eve AND we've spent all day switching one of our 2nd story rooms with one of our basement rooms, so this is going to be quick, because schlepping furniture up and down two flights for hours has made me sooooo tired. It's a wonder I'm still awake now.

In Zombicide: Black Plague, a gang of necromancers have released a zombie horde on your town. You must scavenge for weapons, gear, and supplies with which to fight off the insane amount of undead that will ultimately converge on you. If you're lucky, you'll find magical weapons that help get the job done quicker. Meanwhile, you must also hunt down necromancers before they escape. When necromancers are in play, zombies are more plentiful.

• The components are excellent and the inserts make me so happy. There are several different zombie sculpts. The player boards are pretty nice.
• The rules are easy to learn, even though the rule book is a bit long and a little disjointed.
• As you kill zombies, your character levels up. As your characters level up, zombies increase in number. The catch is, if one character keeps killing everything and leveling up, but the other characters don't, then they're easy targets for the more plentiful and more powerful zombies that come out to play
• The game can actually be kind of easy, assuming that everyone levels up similarly and finds good equipment. For people that want more of a challenge, there are different zombie packs you can pick up that have more challenging enemies.
•  If you don't like the character art, you can pick up some guest artist character packs!
• The base game comes with 11 missions and there are several expansions with 5-10 missions each. Lots of play time.
  

 

Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Let's see... 7.5/10 - It's good and we're usually willing to play. But we don't like it quite as much as Dead of Winter.

Y is for Yggdrasil Chronicles

By Ludonaute

Dustin and I played Yggdrasil at a gaming convention maybe 7 years back and couldn't get it out of our heads. We've since been unable to find a copy for under $300!! So when this one released, we were excited to give it a try.

 

Please ignore Rescue Riders in the background...

Players: 1-5
Time: 90 minutes
Ages: 14+
Theme: Norse Mythology
Mechanics: Co-Op, Dice Rolling, 3D Movement, Map Deformation

So how does this compare to the original? This version plays fairly similarly, but with an added 3D board and campaign mode.

3D board? How does that affect setup time and ease? Not too bad, actually. After the initial construction, the setup is pretty quick and simple.

How is the 3D board incorporated into the game? It's used in several ways. Each level of the board (there are three total) has 3 worlds on it. The middle level rotates so that the orientation of the three worlds on each level shift in relation to each other. This makes it a little more difficult to get where you want to go, as you can be easily thwarted with an unexpected rotation. The 3D board is also tall, so if you're vertically challenged, you may be sitting on your knees or standing up occasionally to see what's going on up there.

 

What is campaign mode like? Good question... We didn't actually try the campaign mode yet. And we only played the base game in easy mode. And let me just say that even in easy mode, it was quite punishing.

What do you mean? Well, we both spent the entire game almost dead. There aren't a whole lot of opportunities to heal. And this was in easy mode! Yikes... It's definitely not very forgiving. But in its defense, neither was the original-- This game wants you to be clever and strategic.

So how would you rate it? It's hard to say, because the holidays have cut into our playing time and we haven't had a chance to really give it a few good gos. So we're going to give it a 7/10 as a placeholder, but specifically for the easy mode of the base game. We definitely want to play more and see how it holds up in the campaign mode.

X is for X-odus: Rise of Corruption

By Bored Game Ink

Way back on "O is for Oregon Trail," I mentioned that I was chasing the high of how I felt as a 2nd grader playing Oregon Trail on DOS. Another computer game I really miss and am still chasing the high for is Master of Orion. Did anyone play that? Now, I recently discovered that there is a Master of Orion board game and I may or may not be getting it for Christmas (though if it goes the way of my Oregon Trail board game experience, I think I will be disappointed), BUT when I backed this, I was unaware of its existence. So, I backed this because my husband likes science fiction and I wanted to play some sort of cooperative space exploration game.

Players: 1-4

Time: 90-150 minutes

Ages: 14+

Theme: Galaxy Exploration
Mechanics: Co-Op, Rogue Like, Dice Rolling, Modular Board

In X-odus: Rise of Corruption,  you need to explore, complete varying difficult tasks (based on level of difficulty), fight battles, and upgrade your ship, while avoiding the much scarier and more powerful evil Avatar ships, that mostly can only be taken on while in "fleet" formation. When playing with 2 players, each player controls 2 ships. There are six ships to choose from in three categories (combat, rogue, special) and each ship has a unique strength. In our first couple of games, I played the Warship (good at battle) and the Drone Specialist (good at support/repairing). Dustin played the Battlecruiser (good at combat and protecting ships within the fleet) and the Pirate Ship (sort of a Jack of all Trades with an extra action). As you gain experience and level up your ship, you're given choices on how to build up your ship.

Our first few games did not go so well. We separated to explore more of the map, but I was defeated when faced alone with powerful enemies. Some ships are stealthier than others and can avoid detection more easily (My Warship was not one of them). On our subsequent tries, we tried "fleeting" up more often. In fact, in our first won game, we had spent most of the game as one fleet of all 4 ships. When you join a fleet, your actions become more limited and you have to agree with your fleet-mates which actions to take. Additionally, when in a fleet, the map is much slower to build, as you can't send probes in multiple directions while fleeted. Dustin and I were usually mostly in agreement, so it wasn't too much of an issue, but I imagine some people would not like to play this way, stripped of the ability to make their own decisions.

We ended up quitting our first couple games, first from time constraints (each play definitely leaned towards the 150 minutes as opposed to the 90 minutes) and the second time because both of my ships were dead and things were dire. On our third game, we BARELY won. We won on the last possible turn before the corruption meter ended the game. But I'll take it.

Overall, we liked this game. We plan to check out some of the other ships, some of the different builds for the ships we already tried, and attempt to play with more strategic fleeting. Cons include: some unclear rules (that are not addressed in the FAQ on the website-- so we made judgement calls), the length can be a bit long for more casual gamers, and the LOADED DICE (Seriously. Misses are on two sides of the dice, so 33% chance of rolling a miss. I think we rolled misses at least 60% of the time. It was insane. And totally not just our superhuman unluckiness...)

This was one of our rolls.
O's are misses.

 So we give it a 7.5/10.

W is for Wingspan

By Stonemaier Games

I played this one at a gaming convention 15 or so months ago and really enjoyed it. I tried 14 games that weekend and this was the one I knew was coming home with me. Only it was completely sold out from the vendors room, so I had to wait a few months before picking it up so I could introduce it to my husband. 

  

Players: 1-5
Time: 40-70 minutes
Ages: 10+
Theme: Birds
Mechanics: Card Drafting, Set Collection, Resource Management

This one is going to be short and sweet, because I love this game and don't have any complaints. In Wingspan, you play as bird enthusiasts, attracting birds to various habitats, feeding them, getting them to lay eggs, etc. over the course of four rounds. At the end of the game, the enthusiast with the most points wins. There are so many ways to get points: Personal goals, public end-round goals, laying eggs, having predator birds eat smaller birds, caching food, etc.

Why do I love this game?

1. It's simple-- I had the rules totally down after just one round-- yet complex. There's a lot going on and a lot you can do. We've explained this game to non-gamers and they were able to figure it out (mostly) pretty quickly.

2. The boards and components are designed well, which aid in learning the rules quickly. Everything you need is pretty much on the board. The "bird-feeder" dice tower is adorable. The eggs are colorful. The artwork is gorgeous. You can tell that a lot of love went into this game.

3. Personal and public goals change every game, so the replayability is solid.

As I mentioned above, I don't have any complaints. Well, maybe one: It can be discouraging to not get any of the cards you need to score or any of the food you need to play the cards you need to score. That's a bummer and can screw you up for a couple of turns.

Overall, I give this one a 9/10. It's very well done and I'm always open to play. My husband rates it 8-8.5/10 because of "balance issues" when playing with predator birds, but I'm cutting him out of this review, because this game is awesome.

V is for Villanous (Disney)

By Ravensburger

I didn't think I was going to like this one, because I'm not a huge fan of Disney, but it's actually pretty fun and I'm sure the kiddos will enjoy it when they're old enough to read... Not sure yet if we'll buy any of the expansions, but I am an obsessive collector, so we shall see...

Players: 2-6

Time: 45-60 minutes

Ages: 10+

Theme: Disney Villains

Mechanics: Hand Management, Variable Powers, Competition

 

To win Villainous, you (a Disney Villain) must complete a unique-to-you objective before any of the other villains complete their unique-to-them objectives. Since you're all aiming for a different end-goal that is various degrees of difficult depending on how well you shuffled your cards, a question of balance arises. Even so, I'm not really complaining. We played a couple of rounds (once with my dad and once with Dustin's sister) as different characters and we all got close to winning, but in both games, one person got much closer much faster (spoiler alert: it wasn't Dustin or me in either play). At this point in both games, we tried less hard to win ourselves and harder to cancel our opponent's impending win. This strategy didn't work, by the way. It just made us feel like we were playing Munchkin when someone is level 9.

 

 

 

So anyway, I was actually impressed with the simple, but nice components. The game was very thematic and had me reminiscing about the good old days when I didn't have to work, pay taxes, cook meals, etc... *cough* The villain choices in the base game are nice: 

• The Red Queen
• Maleficent
• Ursula
• Prince John
• Captain Hook
• Jafar 

Expansion Villains include (3/exp):

• Evil Queen
• Pete
• Dr. Facilier
• Ratigan
• Yzma
• Cruella DeVil
• Hades
• Mother Gothel
• Scar

We played 2 games. My dad as Captain Hook won the first game and Dustin's sister as Ursula won the second game.

Overall, we give it a 7ish/10. We thought it was fun.

U is for Unlock!: Escape Adventures - The Island of Doctor Goorse

By Days of Wonder

Since we played an Exit Game for "E," we decided to play an Unlock game for "U" and compare them.

Players: 2-6

Time: 60 minutes

Ages: 10+

Theme: Escape "Room"

Mechanics:Co-Op, Puzzle

First, Unlock: the Island of Doctor Gorse: 

This one was a bit of a bummer at the start. It's the first one we've played where the group was "split up" (which means you can't really play solo). The reason I found it to be a bummer is that while we were "separated," I had literally only one puzzle to solve on my side of the island and Dustin had several on his side. So he was over on the other side of the table, throwing cards around, writing on the notepad, while I sat there twiddling my thumbs (because my puzzle was solved and I had to wait for Dustin to solve all of his before I could do anything). I just kept starting at the cards, thinking I was missing something. Spoiler: I wasn't. The takeaway is that the beginning of this particular Unlock scenario was a bit unbalanced. Once we found each other on the island, I was allowed to look at his cards and start solving things again, but up until then I was frustrated and a tad bored.

 

We rate it a 6.5/10, which means we're usually willing to play... if we're in the mood.

Now let's compare the two brands:

1. REPLAYABILITY: Winner: Unlock

You don't cut, draw on, or mutilate the cards in any way, so you can replay these scenarios in a year or two when you've forgotten all the puzzles or you can loan to friends. (Also, when it asks you to destroy cards in games-- like Pandemic/Risk Legacy, I cry giant crocodile tears and then slip the cards underneath the box inserts). In Exit, you have to destroy the game to figure out some of the puzzles, so it goes straight into the trash bin (or recycling) when you're done with it.

2. TIME: Winner: Unlock

Unlock goes way quicker, so I'm not ready to stab my eyes out or bang my head repeatedly against the wall by the end... That being said, the puzzles in Exit are different and more challenging, which is why it takes longer. Unlock also times you (companion app) and you are punished for wrong solutions, which stresses me out, but may add an interesting element for others.

3. PUZZLES: Winner: Exit

The Exit games are admittedly a bit more challenging. They are even somewhat fun when they're not making me feel like a giant idiot. Some of them are pretty obscure, which I find to be frustrating, but when you solve one, you FEEL GOOD. The puzzles in Unlock are simpler and mostly involve pairing items and entering codes into the app.

4. HINT SYSTEM: Winner: Exit

The hints in Unlock are not useful and mostly just give you information you already have. Exit has three hints for each puzzle (first a nudge, then a solid hint, and then the solution).

 

FINAL WINNER: It's a tie? They are both worth playing. Each series has some hits and some misses. Personally, I prefer the quick gameplay and simplicity of Unlock, but recognize that the puzzles are more challenging and rewarding in Exit.

T is for Terror Below

By Renegade Game Studio

I saw this on Kickstarter and wanted it, but sadly missed it. So when I saw it at Phoenix Fire, I had to get it...

Players: 1-5
Time: 45-60 minutes
Ages: 10+
Theme: Worm Attack Survival
Mechanics: Action Points, Dice Rolling, Pick Up/Deliver

In Terror Below, you play Nevada locals hunting down government experiments that have gone loose in the desert. You score points for defeating worms or for collecting on bounties for specific worm kills or specific egg deliveries.

We played a couple of two-player games first and found the "2-player" variant to make things move a little faster. Too slow and a tad boring without... We decided this game would be better tested with more players, so when my friend was driving through Idaho on his way home from New York, we suggested it. I suppose it was slightly more interesting with a third player, but not by much. There isn't much depth to this game and it's actually over pretty quickly. And I promise that my opinion is unaffected by the fact that I lost 3 times in a row.

Game 1: Dustin wins 23-10

Game 2: Dustin wins 24-16

Game 3: Dustin wins 22-14-5 

But seriously, our problems are these:

1. I did not like how the Vehicle cards were resolved in a non-linear fashion. First you resolve the distraction, which is on the BOTTOM of the card. Then you perform the actions as shown at the TOP of the card. Finally, you resolve the special ability, which is listed in the MIDDLE of the card. I'm sorry, I don't care how aesthetically pleasing the card is, can we please have some semblance of order? My OCD hates these cards.

2. When playing with 2-players and NOT using the variant, you can run into a dull period where there is nothing to do. There aren't any more eggs on the board for collecting bounties and you're just dawdling around, trying to get more worms to attack & drop eggs.

3. There were "useless" locations. In 3 games, we only had one death, so the hospital didn't help anyone. We never really needed any hidden bounties because no one really went for the same bounties in all three games... So the government facility was not frequented. 

4. There's not really much need for strategy. The game is over so quickly, any strategy you thought up doesn't really get carried out. For example, Dustin started with the shopkeep as his main character in one game, which has no special ability, but provides a rifle at the start of the game. His plan was to then get him killed off so he could promote someone with a better skill to be the lead. This didn't ever come to fruition.

5. Now I'm just being nitpicky, but when a game has cool giant worm miniatures, I'd like to use them, not just stand them up around the board as decoration. Here we put one on the board, just for fun:

 

So overall, we give it a 6/10-- it's okay and we'll play it if the mood strikes. Just not going to be a go-to game for us.

S is for Steam Park

By IELLO

Picked this one up at a Phoenix Fire swap meet. It's been on my try list for quite some time, so I had high hopes for it.

Players: 2-4
Time: 60 minutes
Ages: 10+
Theme: Fantasy Theme Park Creation
Mechanics: Dice Rolling Race, "City" Building

In Steam Park, you play owners of theme parks competing for visitors (which bring in $$) and keeping the park clean and free of the dirt created by said attractions (which you are fined for at the end). The park owner with the most money at the end is the winner. Attract visitors by building cool 3D attractions!

A quick note on the quality: While I love the 3D aspect of the attractions, many of the punch board pieces were not cut properly (some not at all) and I had to go at them with a paring knife to get them out (which in retrospect probably wasn't the best idea, but got the job done). Before I got the knife out, I tried to force some of them, which resulted in some torn artwork and also I had to glue one attraction together.

At the start of the game, players begin rolling their dice (being careful not to knock down their theme parks) and saving the dice rolls they want and re-rolling the rejects until  happy with the whole roll. Can't be too picky though because whoever finishes first gets some free dirt cleanup, while the last player gets stuck with extra dirt to deal with.

The rules for placing attractions and booths on the park grids are a bit frustrating. Rides can not touch other rides (including diagonally), unless they are the same color. In this case, they must touch at ONLY one square. Booths cannot touch rides, not even diagonally. Booths can only touch (including diagonally) booths of the same type. Extra grid pieces can be added to the park for the cost of any die roll.

Overall, we give this game a 5/10. We decided to keep it for now, because we think it might be a good game for our kiddos when they're older, due to its simplicity and quick play, but we definitely have city builders that we like better than this one.

R is for Roll Player

By Thunderworks Games

I saw the expansion for this game on Kickstarter with two days left and thought the game looked neat, but didn’t want to go all-in on for something we had never played yet (if it was available). So we tracked down a copy of the base game at Abu Games and brought it home that very afternoon to try out. We liked it. So we backed the expansions. They arrived just in time for this challenge.

Players: 1-4

Time: 60-90 minutes

Ages: 10+

Theme: Fantasy Character Creation (+Combat with expansion)

Mechanics: Dice Drafting, Card Drafting

In the base game of Roll Player, the goal is to create a great adventuring hero. You’re given a race, a class, a backstory, and an alignment to attempt to satisfy. You can also equip your hero with gear and useful skills. Satisfying your character goals give you reputation points, and the hero with the most points at the end wins. You don’t actually embark on any adventures with these characters… Unless you have the 2^nd expansion, Monsters and Minions.

In Monsters and Minions, you can chose to go on hunts and fight minions in place of buying skills/equipment. At the end of the game, all heroes must fight a big bad (think kraken or demon or chimera). Your chances of defeating the end boss increase as you defeat minions throughout the game, as the first three minions defeated grant clues as to the boss’ weaknesses.

In the third expansion, Fiends and Familiars, there are fiends that mess with the dice and give you disadvantages (which may cause you to think twice before taking the most powerful dice when it’s your turn to choose). There are also, you guessed it, familiars for your characters with an extra set of needs to satisfy for reputation points.

We enjoy fitting all of the pieces together to make our characters. There are LOTS of races, classes, backgrounds and alignments, which make for lots of replayability. We saw that they had another game on Kickstarter recently (which we did not back because we are trying to save some money *cough*) that you can bring roll player-built characters into and play actual dungeon-crawling adventures). Expansions make the setup longer and the game longer, but also make it more varied and are pretty well-balanced (scores with and without the expansions are fairly similar).

We give the base game alone a 9/10. It’s excellent and we enjoy it. My dad played and he liked it , too. The expansions give the game a bit of bloat, dropping our rating to an 8/10. Not saying they aren’t worth picking up—just that they make an already complex game and add more complexity—with so many different things to manage and consider, it is no longer a quickie to pull out for a lazy afternoon.