Category: Spotlights

There are many games on the market right now that will advertise themselves as Deck Builders. “A deckbuiding game of combat and exploration” etc. The deckbuilding genre is one that is extremely popular due to the amount of flexibility that can be created with new cards, the low cost of production, and the possibility for tweaking and creativity.

There is another type of building mechanic out there that I find very interesting that not as many games have taken advantage of, and that is “Bag Building”. There are a few games out that can say that they have a “Bag Building” element to them, which is similar to deck building but with some slight differences. Today’s feature review is one of those games. The game that I’m referring to is Orléans, a worker placement, action selection, victory point salad romp that will absolutely keep you coming to the table again and again. I’m a fan of the way Orléans implements the bag mechanic and think that it creates a very interesting element of luck and planning. So how is this game played and what’s it about? Let’s take a look.

Each player will start off by selecting a color and taking the corresponding player board, starting workers, player meeple, track cubes and buildings. You will then need to set up the board and I will say right off the bat, if this game has a downside it’s setup. There are a lot of resource tokens and worker tokens and they need to be set up in a particular way. That being said I will also say that the game would lose some of its appeal to me if it wasn’t set up the way it was. It’s absolutely gorgeous and once the board is out with the resources and workers I get really into the experience and want to dig into the game play. Just know that the first time or two that you play it may slow you down a bit. After the setup you’re ready to turn over the hourglass tile for the round and begin action selection!

The above picture is a close view of the player board. This game can look a bit complicated but in reality the mechanics are very straightforward. On the player board above you will see empty spaces with spots for certain workers to be placed. To take these actions you simply fill in the empty spaces with workers that you draw from your bag and once everyone can no longer take actions the round is over and you begin the whole process again after resolving the hourglass tile for the round (this tile can be good for all players or potentially bad which creates some variability round by round).

Each action that you might select in this game will either allow you to gain a new worker, money, knowledge, a new building, or a movement on the right side of the board. This is where the “Bag Building” element comes into play. When you look at the board above you will see cubes and available workers next to certain colors. Some of the actions that you select will allow you to take one of the available workers, move along that worker’s track and gain bonuses based on what type of action or worker you pick. For instance if you select the red knight, you will move up on the track that allows you to draw more worker tiles from your bag at the start of the round. This gives you more options and allows you to take more actions later in the round. If you select the Black Trader tile you can draw a building tile to expand your player board that will give you bonus abilities and more options to select. This will allow you to pursue a different strategy or follow a strategy more diligently. This is a large portion of the game and this section alone creates so many choices the player has to make and so many viable strategy that could lead to victory that it makes you want to try the game 10 different times just to experiment on worker recruitment strategies.

You also have character meeples on the right side of the board in the starting city of Orléans that incorporate another significant aspect of the game. On the right half of the board is a map with roadways, waterways, and cities. Three of the actions on your starting player board will allow you to move along these roadways and waterways, and build “Guildhalls” in the cities. (Provided no one already did that). When you pass goods on the road while traveling between cities you get to keep that good. The items you collect will be worth victory points at the end of the game and the buildings you construct will also be worth points.

This side of the board also provides a viable potential strategy that my wife and mother in law often use to beat me.

The last board to talk about is the “Beneficial Deeds” board. There is another board that you can send workers to that will give you bonuses in the form of knowledge or money and allow you to collect Citizen tiles that will be worth points at the end of the game as well.

Above is a picture of the “Beneficial Deeds” board. This action can be completed by going to the “Town Hall” action space on your player board. The last person to put a worker in the empty space on this board gains the citizen token and the end game points. You have to be careful though because the workers placed here are lost for the remainder of the game.

Are you beginning to see a pattern? There are a lot of ways to win this game. On the flip side of that coin there are a lot of ways to lose this game (as I can personally attest to). One thing I will say is that no matter whether you win or lose you will want to play again. The design of Orléans is fantastic and creates an atmosphere of tension and strategy that I have seen with few others. The more I play it the more I am loving the experience. From the first moment this game hit the table I knew I loved the art and the theme. As you can see from the pictures the renaissance style is so pleasing and well done. The gameplay is engaging and the strategies are practically endless. I ranked this game as an 8.5 on boardgamegeek and it has crawled its way onto my top 10 of all time. I’m fairly new to the hobby but of the games I have played this is very high on the list. There is a ton of depth and a good bit of complexity with this title so know going in there will be a learning curve. Absolutely pick this game up though. If you have the chance buy it and play it I don’t think you’ll be sorry. This is Orléans by Tasty Minstrel Games. I’ve posted a how to play video below just in case you don’t want to slog through a rule book. If you have any questions please email me at thediceyreview@gmail.com. You can also follow me on twitter at thediceyreview1. I hope you enjoy the video and until next time I’ll see you at the table!

You know those moments, when you finish a game, and you are still running the little things you could have done differently through your head, and all you want to do is reset right away and try again because you were just loving it? That was Splendor. All three times I’ve had the chance to play so far have been the same. I have lost three times, and loved every minute of it, thinking that I was just one or two little missteps away from winning. It is quick, easy to learn, and the components are nice. But most of all it is deceptively simple, with some real strategy. Or at least it feels like real strategy, so much so that it may not matter just how deep it is, because it is fun and compelling. Let’s talk about Splendor.

Splendor is a card-drafting, resource collecting game designed by Marc Andre and published by Space Cowboys. It plays with 2-4 players and is suggested for 10 and up, although I think 7-8 year old kids could play and enjoy, but the strategy would suffer a tiny bit. In Splendor you are a merchant of the Renaissance trying to build your gem-selling empire.

There are six currencies represented by fantastic, hefty poker chip-type markers with their respective currency beautifully illustrated on them. There are rubies, sapphires, diamonds, onyx, emeralds, and gold which is used as a wild card. Gold can only be acquired by reserving a card, but more on that later.

There are three decks of cards that represent merchants, mines, caravans and the like that can be bought to give you prestige points, but also add to your resources to purchase more cards. Tier one cards are relatively inexpensive, but are usually worth zero prestige points, but occasionally they are worth one point. They are all a currency type that is added to your pool. Tier two cards are more expensive, and will likely require having a few tier one cards to afford them, but they will earn you a few prestige points as well as giving you another resource to use for purchasing other resources. The third tier of cards are expensive, you won’t be getting these bad boys without having a good number of other cards purchased, but they are worth a lot of prestige points.

Once your little empire is impressive enough, one of the nobles might pay you a visit. There are noble tiles on the table that have a resource requirement. Once you have the cards to meet their requirement, that noble comes to visit you, and they give you prestige points. Once a player gets 15 prestige points, that starts the final round. When play comes back around to that player, the game is over and points are tallied.

On your turn you choose from one of three actions. You can take chips, purchase a card, or reserve a card. Taking chips means you can take one each of three of the five gemstones, or two of any one type of gemstone. You can only take two of a kind if there are four or more of that gemstone available. Keep in mind that the number of gems is limited based on the number of players, so grabbing resources gets to be very strategic as supplies start to dwindle. It bears to mention that players can only have ten total chips at a time.

To purchase a card, you may choose a card that they possess enough resources to purchase and place that card face up in front of them. You now have the resource depicted on that card permanently in your resource pool, and you get any prestige points printed on the card. The resources used to buy that card return to the bank. You’re building up that little empire, keep at it!

To reserve a card, a you may choose any face up card and put it face down in front of you for later purchase. When you reserve a card you also take one gold piece from the bank that you may use as any type of gemstone. You might want to do this if there is a card you know you might need later for a strategy to get a certain noble to visit you or to be able to afford a certain third tier card. You might also choose to do this just to be tricky and keep one of your opponents from getting a card you know they need. Every time a card is removed it is replaced with another card from its deck.

That is it. That is the whole game. It is very simple to understand, and the mechanic is straight-forward. So why do I love this game so much? What is it about this simple little card-drafting, resource management game that is so compelling? Is it really all that good?

In a word, yes. It certainly is, and how. There are elements of pushing your luck, and there is a sublime tipping point in this game that makes it seem like you are always just about to break away and make it to your win strategy. Then one of your opponents comes along and buys the card you needed, or woos the noble you had your eye on and you have to scramble and come up with another plan. But that is okay! Because there is another strategy right in front of you, and you just shift to that one. You never feel out of the game, and you are always getting new shiny things!

This game is light, but it is somehow deceptively so. Because about 15 minutes into this light little filler, you’ll find yourself analyzing every possibility for the next three or four possible moves. And then the board changes and you do it all over. It is still light, but it feels hefty in the moment. The theme is almost irrelevant. The artwork is really nice, and the gemstones are cool, but the paintings don’t even have to be on the cards, and the gemstones could have easily been different types of produce, or coins, or raw resources, or anything. But gemstones work, and like I said, it doesn’t even matter. It doesn’t take away from the charm of the game.

But that tipping point. You want to buy new resources every round, but you have to decide how many of the cheap ones you should buy before saving up for the expensive cards that give you points. At the end of the day, this is a pretty simple little math game with amazing components, and great balance that feels like it is on the tip of a pin. That is the key to winning, finding the tipping point. But let’s say you misjudge. No biggie, just wipe the board and reset. You’ll want to anyway. And besides, it only takes 30 minutes. So grab Splendor and play a round or 10. You won’t be sorry.

Do you have a go to game? A game that you can play with anyone at any time that you will always enjoy and want to bring out again and again? My favorite game of all time is Imperial Settlers and it continues to grow in my estimation. For me this game takes me back to the type of game I used to play growing up on the PC. Sid Meier’s Civilization, Age of Empires and other games like it were such a draw for me and continued to draw me in for years of game play. Imperial Settlers has the feel of this epic civilization building game transferred to the tabletop.

The goal of Imperial Settlers is to build the largest civilization and obtain the most victory points. You will do this by taking a number of available actions in turn with up to 3 other players. On your turn you can build locations, make deals, raze opponents locations or your own hand of cards, send workers to gain resources and activate action locations. The depth and complexity of this game is figuring out the most efficient way to continue to grow your empire and gain points while making your resources last and work for you. There truly is genius in this design. You will pick one of four factions (or civilizations) to play.

You can choose to play the Barbarians, Romans, Egyptians, or Japanese civilizations (if you want to buy the expansion you can also play as the Atlanteans) Each civilization has a special ability to carry certain resources over from round to round. This can be very powerful depending on what strategy you are using. You will play for 5 rounds in total and the rounds get more and more intense because of the engines that people have built and the resources that people have at their disposal to attack you and grow their own interests.

All of the above set aside this game just hits a sweet spot for me. I love civilization building, this has it. I love resource management, this has it. I love card drafting, this has it. The theme is perfect for me and the artwork and graphic design make me so happy every time I pick up the box. The feel is lighthearted but the depth of the game will keep you coming back for more. Each civilization that you play will feel different and require you to make different decisions. There is a deck building aspect as well that creates tons of variability and replay value.

Imperial Settlers also has the best solo variant of any tabletop game I have ever played. The solo mode keeps the same feel of the game play and allows you to perfect the strategies of each civilization without having to round up a group to play. There is an “AI” deck so to speak included with the game and separate rules for the incredible solo version of the game. There is also a wonderful free campaign mode released online by this game’s incredible designer Ignacy Trzewiczek that you can download and print to create even more depth and replay value to the solo mode. This game is a masterpiece in my opinion and one that I will never get rid of. I believe in this game and I believe in this company. Portal games makes quality products and because they are not a major corporation with hundreds of employees they take personal care and attention to the details of their games and the passion shows. So if you have a chance, go out and buy Imperial Settlers. I don’t think you will regret it. If you can’t find Imperial Settlers, then buy any other Portal game you can find, they’re all good! I’ve rated this game as a 10 on board game geek and I wouldn’t change that rating for anything, this game deserves it. Below I have included a link to my how to play video for the game. It should be enough to get you started and if you have any questions please feel free to email me at thediceyreview@gmail.com. Until next time I’ll see you at the table!

Recently while talking to many of my couple friends I have been asked the question, “what’s a good game for 2 players?”. This isn’t always an easy question to answer. When telling people a good game to get them into the hobby I will usually go with Catan or Machi Koro; something light that takes a bit of strategy to master. What I’ve realized however is that many people are looking for a fun game to share with their significant other or kids that can be taken to a coffee shop or a restaurant and enjoyed in the midst of a busy lifestyle. The game that I’m featuring today hits on all cylinders for a couple’s game on the go. Patchwork by Uwe Rosenberg is one of Mayfair game’s two player line that is extremely simple to teach, straightforward to learn but very difficult to master. You are essentially playing a version of tabletop Tetris but the object of this game is to find the right quilt patch to fill up a player board and get the most buttons. If this game sounds like the cutest, most lighthearted experience you can imagine you would be absolutely right. This game feels like the tabletop equivalent of Little Big Planet for video games. At first whenever I saw the cover I found myself thinking “I’m going to have a hard time enjoying a game about quilting”…I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is my favorite two player tabletop game right now and the more I play it the more I’m liking the strategy and interaction.

To start the game each player will take a player board, a player marker (either yellow or green but who are we kidding, you’re going to want to take green) and five buttons. Besides making this game the most adorable thing you’ve ever played in your life buttons are used as the currency in the game. Whoever has the most wins.

After taking your starting buttons the player who most recently handled a needle and thread will go first. The patch board in the middle will be surrounded by quilt patches that can be purchased with buttons that the players will be looking to buy.

The players will take turns buying patches and filling up their player boards until both players reach the end of the Patch Board Track and then players will count up their scores. First players will need to subtract 2 points for every empty space on their player boards at the end of the game, and then whoever has the most buttons wins…hooray!

Patchwork takes about 5 minutes to setup and about 20 minutes to play. This is a game that you will want to play again and again and one that will stay in your collection permanently if you are anything like me. Uwe Rosenberg has typically designed much heavier more in depth games in the past. To see Mr. Rosenberg design such a lighthearted, quick playing game for 2 players is a refreshing break from some of what he is best known for. I love his heavier designs as well but this is an approachable game that could very well be used as a gateway game for those looking to get into the hobby for the first time, and that is a beautiful thing. This game is about 22 to 25 dollars online and at your friendly local game store and is worth every penny. I rated this game an 8.5 on Board Game Geek and almost rated it higher than that. The game is that good, and for two players only I’m not sure that there are many out that are better. The reason that this game is so approachable is that it will include a large audience appeal whereas other popular two player titles like Magic The Gathering and Dice Masters will not necessarily appeal to everyone in the family like Patchwork will. This game is one that I would feel comfortable playing with my Grandma and Grandpa. It might be a bit tougher to get some of my family excited about piloting a Goblin Aggro deck from Magic The Gathering to victory. There is beauty in the simplicity of this game but there is also such strategic depth that it will draw in new gamers and seasoned tabletop players alike. I’ve posted a how to play video below and I hope you enjoy the video and if you get the chance pick this game up you won’t regret it! I hope you enjoy the article and the video and until next time I’ll see you at the table!

In the year 1894 in Warwick Manor a man died unexpectedly under cover of night. The case was shrouded in mystery and month after month passed with no clear direction or suspect to apprehend. No witness would come forward and no one would provide evidence of any kind leading police to search for clues without any leads or direction. The death was eventually ruled an accident and police wrapped up investigations. As months dragged by the Count of Warwick manor felt a growing sense of unease at the events that had taken place that fateful night. The Count announced that he was leaving the mansion and moving his family elsewhere to the dismay of residents in the surrounding areas. 

After The Count left the mansion the Clan MacDowell purchased the residence and it passed to Conrad MacDowell; a wealthy nobleman from the family who began to notice strange happenings within the house that lead him to believe that the spirit of the deceased servant was not at rest. There was also evidence that this case was hastily closed and loose ends were left in the investigation. Conrad noticed early on that he had a gift of paranormal communication and has sent a call out to his friends of the trade to come to the house for a seance on All Hallow’s Eve to communicate with the spirit to see if any foul play was afoot and lay the spirit to rest.

This is the story of Mysterium, a social deduction game where 2-7 players can gather around a table to try and solve the murder of an innocent man-servant. This is a cooperative game meaning that all of the players will be working together to solve the mystery. The tricky bit with this game is that one player has to play the “ghost” who cannot talk, gesture, or hint at any suspect. The ghost is simply able to hand the “Psychic” players vision cards that suggest certain suspects, places and items using the abstract art on the card. This game is so thematic and so innovative that I truly think it will be in my collection permanently and will be my go to Halloween play. This game is a fantastic thematic experience because it is spooky but still family friendly. I put this game on my “Games to Start Your Collection” list and have listed it as an 8.1 on Board Game Geek because of its accessibility to new players, and its deep thematic game play. The player that plays the “ghost” will need to have some gaming experience and preferably some experience with Mysterium, but the “psychics” that surround the table can be new to the game and new to gaming in general with little to no issue. I’ve linked a how to play video at the end of this article. With any questions please email thediceyreview@gmail.com and until next time I’ll see you at the table.

For a link to the full background music track follow this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ac7ofaphnd9sopi/Mysterium%20Background%20Long.m4a?dl=0