Einfach Genial 3D – K. David Ladage
For those of you who do not speak German, this is a follow-up to Ingenious – Ingenious 3D. Ingenious has had an interesting run. The Second Edition did not do enough to warrant getting it; Axio is a decent sequel (my colleague Andrew Holmes seemed to like it). And there have been others. After experiencing the new 3D version recently, I have two burning questions: (1) why is this not released in the United States, and (2) how the heck do I acquire a copy?
It is not released in the United States. The copy I was able to play was a German version that was acquired through a friend of a friend and we were able to borrow it for an evening. I am currently making inquiries as to a purchase… wish me luck! I need it because this game is amazing! (Update: I got one!)
The game play is almost identical to Ingenious, except that pieces can be stacked. The board is smaller, thus the interaction is in-your-face from the get go. The pieces are thicker, and designed with a brilliance that has to be experienced: they are made such that they prevent illegal moves. The board is dynamic as places become holes that will never see another piece, colors pop into existence only to disappear later: all of this becomes more and more interesting as the game extends upward. If I have any complaints, it is that the game needs a decent bag in which to store the pieces and the trays for player’s pieces are flimsy cardstock constructions you will want to replace as soon as possible.
Read our review of Einfach Genial 3D
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from K. David Ladage.
Railroad Ink Challenge: Shining Yellow Edition – Justin Bell
After previous reviews of both the Railroad Ink base game (the Deep Blue Edition) and Railroad Ink: Archipelago, it’s fair to say that I really enjoy the system. Our partners at Horrible Guild sent a copy of 2021’s Railroad Ink Challenge: Shining Yellow Edition and after a couple plays with this version, I like having a couple options in the quiver if folks want to squeeze in a quick roll-and-write experience to kick off a game night.
Not much is different with Shining Yellow—the Challenge system games include goal cards and buildings that trigger additional bonuses when drawn through during play. The expansion dice in this set include Desert and Canyon content, which can make the game a little more complex or maybe a lot more, based on your needs. For the Railroad Ink junkie out there, one can never have enough options, and I liked the options here even if I only really need to show new players the base game content, which is a little more interactive in this set than in the Deep Blue edition that kicked off my love affair with the flexibility of the puzzle.
Now that the world has a chance to buy all 20+ base game and expansion packs for Railroad Ink—not to mention Railroad Tiles, another iteration of the popular franchise delivering to backers later this year—I’m not sure a person really needs any more of these games. However, I really like Shining Yellow as a place to start for a person who has a small gaming group (this edition plays up to four players out of the box, versus six with Deep Blue), especially if that player is an experienced gamer looking for a challenge, because some of the route dice here are harder to work with. There’s a version of this game out there now for everyone, and Deep Blue is available as an app or via Board Game Arena.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★☆ – Would like to play it again
Read more articles from Justin Bell.
Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread – Jesse Fletcher
Adventure and exploration are two of my favorite styles of games, so when I heard that Far Off Games, who brought us the sandbox space game Xia: Legends of a Drift System was producing an open-world fantasy campaign epic, I was all in. After some significant but understandable delay, Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread finally delivered to backers like me. It’s massive in both size and scope, with a slew of maps of various sizes, hundreds of cards representing items, points of interests, NPC’s, and foes. Boxes with hidden miniatures and sealed books with the tantalizing “Don’t open this until the game tells you” labels send this game right up my alley. It includes a quick start guide consisting of some initial guided exploration and a practice combat. Arydia also has a very helpful combat guide for each of the six unique heroes.
I’ve played the quick start tutorial and done a bit of initial exploration, but the world of Arydia is giant with much to be discovered, hours of content yet to be explored. Therein lies the biggest problem for me. I own a number of large-scale campaign games that require a significant level of time and commitment, of which I have a cruelly limited supply. Will this unseat my unfinished campaigns of Frosthaven and Oathsworn or unplayed worlds of Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies and 7th Citadel? Which game stays at the front of the line and top of my table? Only time will tell.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★☆ – Would like to play it again
Read more articles from Jesse Fletcher.
Ultimopolis – Tom Franklin
Ultimopolis is a six card add-on from Button Shy Games that allows you to combine Sprawlopolis, Agropolis, and Naturopolis into a single game. If you’re not familiar with those three games, the basic premise is you deal out three of the 18 cards face-down to show the three unique scoring criteria and the score you’ll need to beat for this playthrough. One at a time, you’ll place one of the remaining 15 cards onto the expanding plateau of cards in front of you. Along with the three scoring types, you’ll also work to create large blocks of connected environment types (+points) and minimizing the number of roads (-points).
On one side of each of the six cards you’ll find a depiction of four environments, with at least one from each game. On the back is a fourth scoring criteria. Select two at random, use one as your starting card and one for scoring. Shuffle the 18 cards of each of the three games, then turn over the top card of each one to use as the scoring criteria for the game. On a turn, you’ll turn take the top card from each game and choose which one to add to your Ultimopolis, discarding the others. Continue in this way until you’ve run through all three decks.
When played on their own, each game is challenging enough. (My losses far surpass my wins for all three.) Playing all three at the same time is a very difficult juggling act. The scoring criteria from each game is exclusive to that game, forcing you to which to go after and which to ignore. I get what Ultimopolis wants to be but, for me, it was too chaotic. The scoring choices too disparate to feel reachable.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★☆☆☆ – Would play again but would rather play something else
Read more articles from Tom Franklin.
Tinderblox Series – Andrew Lynch
I enjoy a stacking game, but my partner loves a stacking game, and she loves few—if any—more than Tinderblox. Quick, adorable, and with plenty of opportunities to be mean, the game ticks all of her boxes. Players take turns adding to a woodblock fire, using unwieldy tweezers to lift and place the pieces shown on their card. If you knock the fire down, you lose.
Tinderblox has been a big success, and there are several installments, including Tinderblox: Sunset, which comes with circular marshmallow pieces, and Tinderblox: Storm, which introduces clear plastic rain cubes. I had hoped for more variety between the different sets, but in retrospect, that was silly of me. No matter which set you get, you’ll get the Tinderblox experience. It’s just a matter of what specific flavor you prefer. Me, I like the marshmallows, though I find myself wishing they were squishy.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★☆☆ – Wouldn’t suggest it, but would happily play it
Read more articles from Andrew Lynch.
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