A Gentle Rain – K. David Ladage
I not only write for Meeple Mountain, I am a fan. When I first read Tom Franklin’s excellent review of A Gentle Rain, I was immediately drawn in. It was well before the review was published to the site that I ordered a copy. When it arrived, my wife and I sat down to experience this meditative exercise disguised as a game.
The rulebook makes it clear that this game knows exactly what it is. If you want to view it as a puzzle, it is a beautiful puzzle. If you want to view it as a game, it is a wonderful solo or cooperative game. If you want to view this as a meditation, it is as calming the sound of wind through the trees. It is a lot of things, and what it is for you will depend upon what you put into it and what you want to get out of it. My wife and I had three sessions in a row that first day. We have returned to that lilly laden lake a few times since. Each time, the experience is fresh but familiar.
I prefer to think of this as a meditation more than anything. I check my score, but it is easily forgotten. The score was not the point. It is the journey, not the destination, after all.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from K. David Ladage.
Harmonies – Andy Matthews
I love puzzly games like Calico, Cascadia, Akropolis, and the like. Especially ones which require you to think along more than one axis. That’s why when I heard about Harmonies from Libellud, I knew I was going to like it.
In this tableau building, animal-themed game, players draw tokens from a central display; each one representing water, fields, mountains, etc. You’re selecting these differently colored tokens in order to meet different building requirements on animal cards which are also in a shared display. But once you select your tokens, you get to take the animal card. This prevents other players from trying to fulfill the same requirements, and also gives you the chance to earn lots of points for completing each arrangement. Not only can some tokens stack, but each token can potentially be used in more than one arrangement. Nice!
My son and I played a 2 player game and we both loved it; he even beat me by a good number of points (beginners luck I tell you!). The artwork is gorgeous, going for more of an impressionist Gustav Klimt feel of animals rather than the more lifelike versions in Cascadia. The gameplay is engaging and interesting, and keeps you invested throughout the entire game. Now I understand why Harmonies has been sold out for so long. I just hope that more people get it into their hands soon, because it’s great!
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from Andy Matthews.
Slingz – Justin Bell
I picked up a number of party games so that I’d be ready to whip out something fresh each time we have a dinner party at our place. Recently, I had the chance to play Slingz (2024, Blue Orange Games) and after reading all five of the rules to our eight players, we got to work. I have to say, I was surprised that despite the game’s weird title and even stranger cover photo, Slingz won raves from the folks at the party.
Slingz is a word association game featuring letter cards double-sided with provocative questions that require players to shout a word or phrase using a card from their hand. Each player is dealt five letters, with a small number of stars at the bottom of each card. Someone flips a topic card onto the table, then all players think of something that fits for the question. “Something You Would Never Say to a Teacher” was one of the first topics…and, I had an F card in my hand. (I’ll let you math out the rest.)
The game says it accommodates 3-7 players, but our eight-person group did just fine. However, I think you want to try this with a smaller group since everyone has to be able to both see the topics and slap a card down on top of each topic card. When a player’s five-card hand is empty, the round is over and players with leftover cards score points equal to the number of stars…when one player hits 40, the player with the lowest score wins. (We house-ruled that into a simple three-round structure instead, using the same win condition.) With more than 250 topics, Slingz is going to have a tough time getting old, and the amount of chaos it created led to a fun time. (The wine didn’t hurt, either.)
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★☆ – Would like to play it again
Read more articles from Justin Bell.
Inventions: Evolution of Ideas – David McMillan
This past weekend, my wife and I finally found the opportunity to sit around a table with some good friends and a stack of games wanting to be played. After a quick game of Deep Sea Adventure, my friend Chad asked if any of us had ever played, or wanted to learn how to play, the latest Vital Lacerda craze, Inventions: Evolution of Ideas. I’d seen him playing it at the last get together with some other folks and I vividly recalled the way that it beckoned to me from that other table, its myriad bits and pieces calling out for my attention. Of course I wanted to play.
What followed were several hours of board game bliss. I’m not going to delve into the mechanics, as my fellow writer, Justin, has already done a much better job of it than I ever could in his excellent write up of the game. What I will say is that I echo many of his sentiments. Inventions is a game bursting at the seams with big ideas and even bigger combos. The teach was a bit of a bear and it took me a turn or two to start to see the way that everything tied together. But after that, I was off to the races.
My favorite aspect of the game was trying to find ways to do the thing that I wanted to, but to also manage to do something else as well, and preferably even more than that. There were some turns where I was able to pull off three or four actions by chaining one off of the other. It was heady. It was exciting. And, I loved every moment of it. I’m definitely looking forward to giving it another go.
Ease of entry?:
★★★☆☆ – There were a few questions
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from David McMillan.
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