Vienna – David McMillan
This past weekend, I finally got my copy of Vienna to the table. Vienna, for those not in the know, is the 5th game in the much-lauded (and also highly criticized) Stefan Feld City Collection from Queen Games. Reimplementing La Isla, which I reviewed as part of my Focused on Feld series, Vienna plops the players down right smack dab in the middle of Austria during the early 1950s. World War II has ended, but the Cold War is just getting started. Espionage is the name of the game.
Vienna comes with two modes of play: the basic mode—which plays almost exactly like La Isla— and an advanced mode that introduces a whole lot of new elements. I got to play the basic mode. A few mistakes were made, but I enjoyed the experience overall, and I feel like that was the consensus among the other players at the table as well. I’m really excited to get it to the table again so that I can dig into the new material.
Keep an eye out for my upcoming review!
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from David McMillan.
Spellbloom – Andrew Lynch
Is it Spellbloom or Spell Bloom? The box cover suggests one, BGG suggests another. Either way, it’s a mediocre game. There was a time when I think Spellbloom would have been pretty well-received, but in this day and age, it’s below par. Collecting spells using dice to create a tableau sounds neat, but the reality never rises above the lackluster. My play group staged a coup after shockingly few rounds, and I understand why.
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 Andrew Lynch.
Agueda: City of Umbrellas – Andy Matthews
Last year my teammate Brody Sheard reviewed Agueda: City of Umbrellas from 25th Century Games as part of a 3 game Kickstarter campaign which also included Donut Shop and Color Field. Having seen the production values of 25th Century Games first hand, and being quite intrigued with the puzzly gameplay, I decided to back Agueda. I’ve just received it, and if you’re looking for a gorgeous family game that you can finish in short order, then this should be on your list.
Memorializing the iconic city street in Portugal, Agueda: City of Umbrellas takes players on a tourist stroll. Collect umbrellas for your personal board, unlock one of 5 unique murals, and earn points for strategic placement and planning. The components are superb (metal coins, thick plastic umbrellas), the gameplay is challenging enough to make you think, but easy enough that even younger children can learn. Agueda: City of Umbrellas includes enough variety in scoring bonuses that even repeated plays should hold up.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★☆ – Would like to play it again
Watch our review of Agueda: City of Umbrellas.
Read more articles from Andy Matthews.
Villagers – Bob Pazehoski, Jr.
I’ve had my eye on these brick-shaped boxes for a long time. Haakon Gaarder has released a family of three games with the aesthetic sensibility that’s all but guaranteed to gather my attention: Villagers, Streets, and Moon. I finally acquired Villagers in a trade and I must say I’m pleased.
I get 7 Wonders vibes from the way cards function inside production chains, with base cards providing the prerequisite conditions for future additions. One does not simply become a Cartwright without first cultivating the skills of the Lumberjack. So it goes for stonework, grain, grapes, and sheepcraft. At the same time, I get a taste of The Flow of History from the evolving iconography of stacked cards. Tech trees tableaus are quite satisfying. As strategic hopes arise and plans form, there is very real tension in the revelation of each new card to the draft pool. Even more, there is tension over the face-down cards because there is a very real incentive to draw blind based on suit. The mechanism by which the cards cascade into availability is genius; the fact that players add cards back into the face-down decks is also fascinating. We really enjoyed the ebb and flow through and through.
Our first play was a four-player affair. I lost horribly. But the finest testament to the potential inside this box is the fact that I loved it anyway. I looked around the table at the various combinations and strategies employed and I was proud of the whole group. We built things, and we had fun doing it.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from Bob Pazehoski, Jr.
Doomlings – K. David Ladage
I was at a friend’s house for a long-weekend of board gaming. As a palate cleanser (between games of Twilight Imperium), our host asked if we would like to try Doomlings. I heard the name and said something to the effect of not wanting to play something depressing. Without saying a word, he walked over to the shelf, picked up the box, and placed it on the table. I did a mental double-take. The game is called Doomlings, yet the box was this multi-colored, foil-laden, psychedelic thing that looked like it belonged in the 1960’s next to a Grateful Dead poster. We played it. It is light, airy, and oh so much much fun!
The game is surviving from the Birth of Life until the World’s End. Each turn, you play a card, perform any effects it instructs you to, then draw or discard a number of cards needed to match your hand size with your hand limit (called your Gene Pool). After each player has had a turn, a new age begins that will cause some shifts, possibly apply some restrictions for the next round, and so on. Some ages are catastrophes: these will not only cause things to shake up, but will start a new era. Once the third catastrophe hits, a World’s End effect is triggered, then everyone counts their points.
Nothing in the game is complex. The artwork is simple and effective. The flavor text (included on every card) perpetuates a non-stop giggle-fest. I borrowed the game to share with my wife. She loved it. So I ordered it. I then started looking to see if more expansions were available. And this leads me to one of my few complaints. The latest expansion (Overlush Mystery) is being released in a ‘booster pack’ format (i.e., you buy a pack of random cards from the expansion with cards falling into several rarities) – you have to spend several hundred dollars to get all the cards. Even then, unless you delve into insanely overpriced single-card markets on eBay and the like, you are not guaranteed a complete set. That part I loathe to a degree that cannot be expressed in words.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
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