Flip 7 – Andy Matthews
I love it when a game “hides” the premise in plain sight, like Flip 7 from The Op. It’s a lightweight (and I do mean light) press your luck game that has you flipping over cards from a shared deck and deciding “do I stay or do I go?”. Number cards earn you points, action cards do special things, and if you ever “Flip 7” cards you earn a sweet 15 point bonus and end the round. But if you flip over a number card that you already have in front of you, then it’s a bust for you.
You’ll earn points based on the numbers on the cards; their values ranging from 0-15. With the exception of the 0, each card is worth its face value and there are that many cards in the deck: three 3 cards, ten 10 cards, etc. But there’s also a handful of action cards which can be both angel and demon (depending on who’s receiving them). The Second Chance card lets you skip a “bust”, the “Freeze” card helps you stop a runaway leader, and the “Flip Three” card forces a player to flip over three cards even if they might bust!
I played with 3 players and it hummed along just as easily as a subsequent game with 7 players. Flip 7 might not win any awards, but if you’re looking for lots of laughs, groans, and fun, then Flip 7 might be a good choice for your game shelf or closet.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★☆ – Would like to play it again
Among the Stars – K. David Ladage
This year, I went to the Congress of Gamers for their fall session (earlier this year I went to the spring session and wrote about the experience; I even did an interview with Eric Engelmann, the wonderful gentleman who runs these events). Once again, I had the opportunity to try several games I had not played before. Perhaps the best of those was Among the Stars.
The theme revolves around building star bases. The game operates a lot like a fusion of Suburbia and 7 Wonders in that you are drafting cards with sections that can be added to your space station, and each of these different sections provide base points as well as potential points based on the other spaces on your station. Most new spaces have just the immediate points they score; others have immediate points and some that are calculated at the end of the game (and so, playing one of these spaces might impact how you look at future options). After four rounds, each round consisting of six potential new sections, you calculate those final points to see who is the victor. I lost (as usual), but had a blast. This is one I may have to add to my collection.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from K. David Ladage.
Civolution – David McMillan
Civolution is the newest game from Stefan Feld. In the game, the players take on the roles of deities who are taking a test for an advanced civilization building class under the tutelage of an advanced AI… or something like that. The story is a bit nonsensical, but the game itself is not. Civolution is Feld’s meatiest game yet and there’s a lot to dig your teeth into.
At its core, it’s a dice placement game wherein your dice are used, in pairs, to take any one of a plethora of actions: moving up various tracks, exploring (and populating) the game’s map, producing and transporting goods, upgrading your actions to make them better, gaining and playing cards into your tableau, and a whole host of others. While there is a good deal of luck involved, there’s a lot of dice mitigation and manipulation baked into the game. After four eras, the game comes to an end and the person with the most points wins. And, true to Feld form, victory points come at you from every angle.
I had an amazing time playing this game and I am dying to get it to the table again. There are so many avenues to explore that I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Civolution may just be Feld’s best game yet.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from David McMillan.
Sausage Sizzle! – Justin Bell
2012’s Sausage Sizzle! recently hit the table, a game I had never heard of before play began. The original game, designed by Inka & Markus Brand (the same people behind the Exit games, Village, and Rajas of the Ganges), is being re-released by 25th Century Games. Sausage Sizzle! is also getting the deluxe treatment—the new artwork is brought to us by Ian O’Toole, diversifying outside of the heavy strategy game market. By the end of my first play, I almost lost my voice because I was laughing so hard by the time it was over.
Sausage Sizzle! is easy to teach. Players have access to eight dice: four red dice with pips that range from a cute brown sizzle (the one) up through five. Some red dice have more sausage than others. The other four dice are six-sided cubes that represent six different animals. Players roll all eight dice, then get the chance to keep at least one rolled result until all dice have been used up. Players will score points equal to the number of matching animal faces kept multiplied by the lowest pip value showing on the red dice.
There’s one exception—when all four red dice are showing a sausage. Then, a player gets to multiply the number of matching animal faces by seven instead of one…which is the only way to get a turn’s perfect score of 28 (four matching animals, multiplied by seven). In our game, players tried to shoot the moon on every turn, and one player was successful earning a 28-point score. I haven’t heard a group of men yell this loud since the Cubs won the World Series a few years ago. Sausage Sizzle! runs a round or two too long, but it is otherwise a comedy, with lots of fun moments as players press their luck and yell silly phrases like “it’s all about the Sizzle, baby!!!” all night long.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from Justin Bell.
Free Ride USA – Tom Franklin
German designer Friedmann Friese takes on train games with this US-themed version of his original European mapped Free Ride. In this train game, you’ll be building tracks to connect cities across the US, with the first instance of your completed routes cities being worth five points each. (Subsequent duplicates are worth two points) If someone else needs to use your tracks, they must pay you one coin (worth three points). At that point, the track becomes available for everyone’s free use.
This is a quick train game, with plenty of difficult choices and head shaking as your opponents claim routes you need. I’ll happily play this over Ticket to Ride any day.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from Tom Franklin.
Look for a full review of Free Ride:USA coming soon!
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