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Star Wars Rebellion: Rise of the Empire WBG Score: 10 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: Star Wars Rebellion, Twilight Imperium, War of the Ring Published by: Fantasy Flight Games Designed by: Corey Konieczka By Steve Godfrey A couple of things before I jump into this expansion. First, if you want to know how Rebellion plays then go and check out my full review here on the site. Second, I’ve painted all my miniatures for this game so just be aware that the minis in this box do all come unpainted, although, does grey plastic for the empire technically count as a paint job? Third, rather than a traditional review I’m basically going to break down what comes in this box and what I like about each. So if you’re looking for info about a particular aspect then you can scroll right to it. There’s a lot of cool stuff in this box though so it’s worth taking a look at everything if your interested in this expansion. New Leaders The new leaders and, pretty much most of the expansion, are all based around the film Rogue One. The only outliers here are Admiral Motti (the guy who gets force choked in A New Hope) and Jabba the Hutt. More leaders obviously means more choice and if you were a fan of Rogue One then these are all gonna be familiar and a lot of fun to add In The choice to make this expansion fit with that film makes a ton of sense when you consider how it fits into those original films. The new leaders will come with Minor skill icons. These smaller icons count towards fulfilling skill requirements and will allow you to roll the new green dice when it comes to missions. These dice only have two direct hit symbols on them each. Whilst they have fewer symbols on them, being able to roll a few extra dice may just be the difference between loss and victory. As with the base game you’ll also get new action cards that go with the leaders and again this is great for providing some variety into the mix. New Units You’ll get new units for each side. For the rebels you’ll get frigates, U-wings, vanguard (troops with rocket launchers) and a new gun turret. For the Empire you’ll have Tie Strikers, assault tanks, shield bunkers and my favourite, Interdictors. The rebel units are nice additions but are really just standard units. The empire however gets the coolest new additions, plus they get some new abilities with theirs. Having a shield bunker the same system with a Death Star will stop it from being destroyed when the Death Star plans card is played. The rebels now have to take out the bunker before they can destroy the Death Star. Having an Interdictor will mean that the rebels can no longer retreat from the system until it’s destroyed. I love how thematic the shield bunker is. If you want to feel like you're playing out the end of Return of the Jedi then this will do it for you but without the teddy bears! The Death Star plans card was a nuisance and, in a well engineered situation on the part of the rebels, could be easy to pull off. Just survive a round of combat and there goes a hard earned Death Star. The shield bunker brings with it a whole new depth when it comes to planning your strategy. All of the new units will roll the new green dice for combat meaning that they can deal damage to any type of unit in the game. Again the dice have less hits on them but now you potentially get to roll three more dice in combat. I love these new units. The ships in particular are, let’s face it, just cool looking ships. The new abilities for the Empire I would imagine are there to help with balancing the game. The base game was apparently more balanced in the rebels favour. It wasn’t anything that I personally experienced but if this does work to address that issue then I’m all for it. New Mission/project cards There are a couple of cards here that you can replace permanently that are just reworded versions of cards in the base game but now work with this expansion in mind. To use the rest of the new cards you first need to separate all the base game cards with the character pictures on the cards then add those to this new deck. The other cards from the base game can be left in the box. The new cards are easily seen with a Darth Vader symbol on the card. The project cards simply mix in with the project deck. These cards are no better or worse than the base game cards, they're just different and they bring out the rogue one theme. If you’ve played Rebellion enough that the regular cards are feeling a bit familiar then this will give the game some variety. It’s also easy enough to separate the cards and go back to using the base game set. Being as they are aren’t any more complex than the regular cards, I think you could easily teach the game using this new set of cards if you want to. New Objective Cards For these simply add in the twelve objective cards into their respective phases. To set up, build a stage three deck by adding four random stage three cards to a Death Star plans card. Do the same with the stage two cards then deal out five random stage one cards. Just like the mission cards these are more cards to add a bit of variety and also some randomness to stop the empire player predicting the mission cards in your hand. Some of these are immediate objectives and some introduce target markers. You place the target marker in the system indicated by the card. When you place a ground unit in that system you remove the mark and score the objective card. These are fun new cards that add a bit more of a race element to the game because if the system with the marker is destroyed then it’s lost. I love how you can throw a target maker halfway across the galaxy and use them as a potential decoy. The Empire now has a choice between leaving the markers in place for you to score, or head towards them and try and get rid of them. For only a few cards they add a lot to your strategy. The new objectives are a welcome new addition to keep the game fresh and make it less predictable for the empire. New Combat System. This is the big one and the thing I’m guessing you’re all here for and rightly so. The big criticism of the base game is that combat wasn’t the best. It’s the big thing that stopped that game getting a 10 for me. Well meet the thing that claws that point back. Take the base games combat cards. Have you got them? Good, now throw them away, go on, you won’t need them any more. Ok don’t actually throw them away, that’s just wasteful. But you definitely don't need them anymore. Each side now gets a hand of 16 new tactics card that they have access to for every battle. Before a round of combat starts each player will simultaneously pick a card to use and reveal them at which point the cards text will play out. Each card will have two sections to it. The top part you will be able to play if you have the pictured unit in the fight. This is the more powerful of the two actions on the card. The bottom part will be less powerful but you can play it regardless of the unit in battle. Once played, cards will then be put in a discard pile and you won’t get them back until you’ve played all of your cards. So you could potentially go a few battles with a dwindling hand of cards before you get them back. Combat will continue as in the base game with players rolling dice and assigning hits until a new round starts and you pick a new card. Previously in a battle you needed to have a leader with a tactics number in a system at which point you’d draw cards equal to that theatre of combat. With the new system in place those numbers now relate to the number of rerolls you can have per attack in that theatre. The manner in which the crossed Lightsaber symbols work has changed as well. When you roll one you can remove a damage from a unit whose health matches the dice. As I spoke about in my review of the base game I had a real problem with the amount of luck in the original system. This new system isn’t going to stop unlucky dice rolls or the mismatch of attack to defence dice (although the green dice do help with that) but this system is sooooo much better. First of all cinematic combat cards give space for some decision making, a bit of focus and to play a bit more tactically rather than hoping that you roll the right sort of damage or draw a good card. Not only that but not being able to get your cards back until you’ve played all of them makes those decisions even tougher because now you’re not just thinking of this battle but also any future battles. Switching those leader tactic values to make them rerolls is another stroke of genius and in my opinion makes those numbers even more important and valuable. Having rerolls helps, at least a little bit, with that feeling of uselessness when you're staring down the barrel of a really unlucky roll. Lastly, being able to remove damage is huge. Again it’s all based on a die roll but if that symbol comes up that could be the difference between either losing an important system or losing the game and holding on for one more round to play a Death Star plans card. Coupling that with the potential that you can reroll your dice in the hope that you can repair damage gives this all the hallmarks to make some epic battles. I love the improvements they’ve made to combat. As much as I wanted to give the base game a 10 out of 10 combat was bringing it down enough to make me drop that one point off. This system and even this expansion is enough to bump this game up for me. Does this mean the game is perfect? No, of course not, no game is perfect but for me personally I still rate this a ten because despite its flaws I still love this game. Is this the expansion you're looking for? Is this expansion essential? I think this is one of those rare cases where I think it is essential. Granted this may be there to fix a few problems that people had with the base game (i.e. combat, balance) but the fact that it does address that and does it really well it’s more than worth a look at. Especially if you're someone who enjoyed the base game but those factors were a let down. Even though I think this is an essential expansion it doesn’t mean you necessarily need to get it right away, especially since the base game isn’t cheap. Play the base game a few times and make sure you enjoy it before grabbing this. (I’d actually apply that advice to board games in general) Even if you don’t get it for the “fixes” it’s worth it for the Imperial minis alone…..I mean…..tie strikers and interdictors and tanks Oh My!

Love Letter Princess Princess Ever After WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Love Letter, Coup, Lost Legacy Published by: Renegade Game Studios Designed by: Seiji Kanai By Steve Godfrey I love love letters, not as much as I used to love love letters though. My love for love letters has dropped since I don’t get many love letters to make me love love letters as much as I used to love love letters. Rules Love Set up by shuffling the deck, placing one card at random unseen, back in the box. Then deal each player one card and you're ready to go. In a two player game follow the same rules but put three cards face up next to the deck. On your turn you’ll draw a card and then play one of the two cards in your hand out in front of you triggering the text on that card. Rounds will end when either all but one player has been eliminated or the deck runs out, at which point players still in the game compare numbers on their cards and the highest wins. In either case the winner gets a favour token. To win the game you need to have a certain number of favour tokens based on player count. There are 10 different characters in the deck each with their own special ability and with a different amount of cards for each character. So for example there are six guards in the deck and two princes. If you're familiar with other versions of love letter then either most or all of these cards will all be familiar depending on what version you’ve played. Cards in the deck will have you either trading hands with other players, comparing scores, looking at opponents cards or guessing others cards and more in a bid to try and eliminate others from the round or end up with a high scoring card. Every character will tell you how many of each card is in the deck and all cards are played face up so that everyone has knowledge of which cards have been played and which cards may still be in the deck. There are also cards in the deck that will net you extra favour tokens for meeting certain criteria. For example the Spy will give you a token for being the only person to have played a spy that round. For the love of deduction. Love letter is a brilliant, quick, simple game of deduction. After every turn you learn more about the state of play and as such your ability to form a strategy increases. For example, playing a guard (this card lets you guess a player's card and eliminate them from the round if it’s right) as your first play is really a wild stab in the dark, although sometimes you do get lucky and you can’t help but feel like some sort of all powerful mind reader when it happens. As the game goes on though playing that guard becomes more of a tactical strike. There are only a certain number of each card in the deck so as each card is played face up it becomes less and less guess work This means that rather than simply picking a card from the list, you can now throw that guard down with a degree of confidence and if you get it right, well then you get to do your best Sherlock Holmes impression and regale the table with stories of how you worked it all out. Of course if you don’t guess then you utter a confused “oh” and spend until your next turn with a baffled look on your face. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to have a ton of deep, thinky, long term strategies for this game, they’ll all pretty much be on the fly when your turn comes around. But sometimes you’ll pull off a little combo over a couple of turns which will leave you feeling pretty smug when it all works out. A love for Love Letter. The original love letter has been in our collection for a few years now and has been with us on numerous camping trips, nights away and now and then on the occasional day trip, just in case. I’d say our plays to this date have got to be near the hundreds and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. So like a new baby coming into the family and making the older siblings jealous, how does this stack up and are we close to naming this one our favourite simply because it isn’t at that “unreasonable” stage yet. Well straight off the bat there are some new additions to the original game. If you’ve played the most recent edition then these cards may already be familiar to you. First you have the Spy that will give you a favour token if you’re the only player to have played one that round. There are also now two princesses in the game. Both will let you draw two cards, choose one and place the other two in the bottom of the deck in any order. There’s also a new twist to even the newest version. Both princesses want to be together (in keeping with the theme) so if two different players have played one and they are both still in the round by the end then they both gain one token each. In essence these are a really simple addition, it’s just a few cards right? Here’s the thing though, they really do change up how you approach the game. Before it was mostly about deducing other players' cards and trying to eliminate them. Now with the spy it’s all about finding the perfect time to play it. Play it too early and other players may throw down the other one to block you. Wait too long however and the icy hand of elimination could find you. It’s such a simple card but it really does give the game some added tension. On the flip side the princesses will see you almost in a mini co-op game. If two of you have these out you really want to try and protect both you and the other player so you can both gain the benefit. This little twist means that the game changes from, how do I eliminate this player to, how can I keep them in the game, all the while still trying to win the round. Of course if your princess opponent is on the verge of winning if they gain that extra token then at that point all bets are off. These cards also make the game quicker. One of my small issues with the original game is that games can feel a little long. Which for a quick game like this is weird. If games went down to the last favour token then yes, it made that last round pretty exciting. But by that point you’d already played quite a few rounds and were ready to be done. Having a way to gain extra favour token in a round though helps with that massively. You can be done with entire games in half the time of the original. So much so that you don’t mind going for a second game just because you know it could be over pretty quickly. More love letters! I tend to roll my eyes whenever a new reskin of a popular franchise is announced (I’m looking at you Pandemic) and Love Letter is included in that. The recent Star Wars love letter was high on the roll factor list but I suppose Space Slugs need to find love too right? That’s not to say that any of these are bad games but it’s just a lot of the same game. So what makes this particular version different and is it worth it? So this is the third game in the Renegade line of adapting Kay O’Neils comics after the Tea dragon society games. The theme is focused back to the original princess theme (which tends to make more sense) and the art on the cards is a welcome refresh. The theme and the comic it draws from are a perfect match and the LGBTQ+ subject matter is a welcome one and it’s great to see it in a popular game in the hobby. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a ways to go before everyone can feel equally represented in gaming, but every game is another stepping stone towards that goal. The comic itself is geared more towards younger readers and the art and just the beautiful look of the game is more likely to draw in the younger players. My girls love the original game but this is absolutely the more appealing of the two for them and for me too. How many love letters does one person need! So the big question of course is, do I need both. If you own the new edition then I would say that it depends on if you prefer the theme of this one and if you think that rules change is going to make a difference for you. If, like us, you have only played the original then I would say you could absolutely own both and for a few reasons. The original is more portable since it’s in a cloth bag. This one comes in a box with tarot sized cards. I love the size of the cards, there’s more space of art (and who wouldn’t want more of that art) and the text isn’t as small but I do concede that it does make it less portable. Personally for us we’re going to be keeping both. The original for that portability factor and a bit of nostalgia and this one for everything it adds to this already brilliant game. Love Letter Princess Princess Ever After is a welcome entry in this series of games and is fast going to be our go to “at home” version of the game. I mean, who can deny a version where a cute purple dragon is going to protect you.

Go Big or Go Home WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 4-99 You’ll like this if you like: What Came First, Wits and Wagers, Shot in the Dark Published by: Shot in the Dark Designed by: Grant Sanderson, Jordanna Sanderson The team behind Shot in the Dark, an awesome quiz game that gives everyone the chance to do well, have come out recently with two brand new games. Crash Landed, that you can read about here, and Go Big or Go Home, a brilliant version of a game you may have played before with friends or family, at home or in the pub, that always creates a lot of buzz and laughter. Let's get it to the table to see how it plays. Set Up First, split into two even teams. Give each team a pen and white board sheet. Place the category cards in the centre of the table, and finally, choose one person from each team to start as the captain. That is officially all you need to do to set up Go Big or Go Home, but WBG does recommend some form of intimidating war dance from both teams at this point if you want to take it seriously. How to Play Once the dance is finished, and enough time has been given to courteously pay respects to each others moves, the game can begin. The captain of the starting team will take the top category card, choose one of the two categories that they hope will suit their team the best, and declare it to the table. They are all fairly generic and generally suitable for all players, but some may throw younger players, but any that do confuse the group can be easily replaced with another card. The captain is not choosing the one they like the best themselves, but the one they think their team can do the best with. Once a category is chosen and it has been shared with the other teams captain, they then have five seconds to decide how many "things" in this category they and their team can come up with within the time limit. But be warned, it goes quick. You only have 60 seconds to write all your answers down if you bid the highest. Each teams captain must decide how many they can do as a group without consulting with their fellow teammates. You need to think about what your friends knowledge in this chosen category might be, how high you think the other team will bid, and then finally, how quickly you could write them all down! And you have to make this decision within five seconds! When the five seconds is up, both captains will reveal their white board and the captain with the highest number will then have the baton. Only the highest bidder gets to attempt this round. So, you want to bid high to have a chance to win a point, but not too high that you cannot achieve the number. Then, with the help of all players in their team, they need to write down on their white board as many correct answers before the timer runs out. It is advised to write as many as you can, not just the number you are aiming for, because when the time limit is up, you must read all your answers out to the other team. They then have the chance to challenge any answers they believe to be incorrect. If after the arguing, bickering, and general raucous behaviour has finished, if the team who wrote the answers are left with enough correct answers, they will win a point. And so the game will continue. Like any good party game, you can play for as long as you like. To a points or time limit. Or just until all players grow tired of the game, each other, or the seats they are on. The rules suggest playing to either five, ten, or fifteen points, but of course you can adapt to suit your group. Is It Fun Like many party games, Go Big or Go Home's success lies mostly with the group you are playing with. What's in this box is all you need for a great time. But this may not be for all players. The time pressure, first of coming up with number you and your team will go for, and then if successful, the time pressure to deliver the answer won't suit all players. You may find that any answer of 12 or more quickly becomes avoided! As even if you could think of that many correct answers, you don't have the time to physically write that many down within the time limit. Legibly anyway! I have been left starting at my scrawl myself, something that I only just wrote literally a few seconds prior, failing to remember what it was I scribbled down. Unable to read what I wrote down in a frantic panic! Initially this was frustrating not being able to bid higher, as you want to go high to win the chance to have a go. It was frustrating to limit your answer by the time limit rather than your knowledge in the area. But I quickly realised this just adds to the fun and tension in those five seconds. You need to think about how many you could do in total, how many you could write in the time limit, how many you think the other team may go for, and if you want to risk a higher number to win that round. And if you do win, the timer is flipped, and you are away. Players on your side begin shouting out possible answers, you are trying to write them down as fast as you can, and the other team will be staring intently at the ever reducing sand timer. If all this sounds like fun, then you will have an absolute blast with this game. Personally, I very much enjoyed the competitiveness this game brings out. I mainly play games in a fairly chilled way. I am not bothered about scores or my own performance. But in this game, winning starts to really matter! And sometimes, in some games, I think that works. It's ok of course when you loose, and I enjoyed seeing other people do well, and win points. But I also enjoyed doing well myself, and helping my team win points. It's a bit like School Sports day all over again. Everyone tells you it's ok to not win. It's the taking part that counts. But everyone wants to cross that finish line first. It's hard for this game to be billed otherwise. It is a competitive game. The time pressure brings that out even more. And if you like that in a party game, then you will enjoy this.

Crash Landed WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Tucano, 7 Wonders Architects, Sushi Go Published by: Shot in the Dark Designed by: Grant Sanderson, Jordanna Sanderson Crash Landed is the first game from Shot in the Dark that is not a quiz game. This time, they have tried their hand at a family card game. The game is played from the perspective of an Alien race who have crashed landed on Earth. They need to get their ship repaired and back out into space. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. Set Up First, each player must choose from one of the six available Alien races. The rules suggest to get each player to pick one at random and then keep it secret. This is because each one has it's own special power, and it works best if other players do not know which one you have. You then need to remove some cards if you are playing with less than six, all clearly explained in the rule book. Finally, shuffle the remaining cards and deal out three to each player. Place the remaining cards face down as a draw deck in the middle of the table. You're now ready to play. How to Play On your turn, you can do one of four things. Either play one card down face up in front of you to complete your ship. You need four specific cards in order to win the game. One engine, an adductor beam, your Saucer of course, and the finally, your Controls. The first player to have all four of these cards face up in front of them wins the game. The second thing you can do on your turn is play a damage card to break any of your opponents ship parts that they have played face up in front of them. Each part has a specific part that affects it. They are all colour coded, but make sense thematically. Rust affects your saucer. Daisy the cow blocks your beam. You know, obvious stuff. Those pesky bovines! The third thing you can do on your turn is play a card to fix any damage to your ship. If someone has previously attacked one of your ship parts, you can now play the corresponding card to repair the damage. Again, this is colour coded, and makes thematic sense. Daisy the cow has got stuck in your abductor beam? No problem, just shrink that Cow down to a tiny size. The obvious solution! I am honestly embarrassed for you that you didn't think of that sooner! Finally, the last thing you can do on your turn is discard one or two unwanted cards from your hand, and replace them with new cards from the deck. After playing a card or cards, you must ensure you have three cards in your hand again, before play moves to the next player. Seeing as you all you are doing on your turn is playing one card or discarding one or two, the game moves very quickly. Equally, as all you need to do to win the game is have four specific cards played in front of you, Crash Landed can be over in minutes. The quickest game we had was under one minute! This was a two-player game, and I started with two engine parts in my hand, and draw the other two that I needed on my second and forth turn. In this time, my son who I was playing, did not draw the right cards needed to slow me down and the game was over in minutes. But he didn't feel bad. We just shuffled up and played again. The advantage of quick game. I have also had games that swung back and forth. With the discarded cards having to be shuffled back into a new draw deck two or three times. It very much depends on the luck of the draw. There is some strategy to this in terms of what cards you discard and the order that you play your cards. But there is also a lot of luck. There are a few other cards in the deck that add to the strategy. Such as the Worker Bot which can fix any part of your ship. Worth keeping hold of if you ever get one. Although you could hold onto it for a few rounds, finally use it when a ship part gets damaged by another player, only to then draw the specific card you need to fix that ship part on your next turn, which now is redundant to you. There are also Galactic Thug, You've Been Spotted, and the Tin Foil Hat of Invisibility cards which add to the fun. The Galactic Thug will protect one of your ship parts when played, avoiding the possibility that it can be damaged by one of the other players at the table. However, Asa, the alien race, can steal a previously played Thug from another player if they are in the game. The You've Been Spotted card brings the classic miss a turn opportunity to the game. And the Tin Foil Hat of Invisibility card allows you to steel one of your opponents ship parts, proving once and for all that tin foil hats are affective against Alien races. I told you Mom! Is this Fun? All in all, Crash Landed is a very simple game. But it is also a lot of fun. The games play very quick, mostly! The rules are incredibly light, and easily explained to most players within a few minutes. The game play is fast, fun, and heavily luck based. If you are looking for a game high in strategy, you will be disappointed. But if you want a bright, colourful, child friendly game, with a small dose of take-that, and a high dose of humour, you won't be disappointed. The game is so accessible in terms of the rules, length, and space needed. I found I have played this between other games, before food when there are only a few minutes spare, and even once in the car. It has a small footprint and low complexity, but a big heart and large fun-factor. I like the Alien races and the small about of asymmetric power this brings to the game. Each race has a fun ability that can affect the game a lot, although I did find some to be more affective than others. Blocking damage, playing an extra card, or being able to repair a ship part comes up pretty much every game. However, stealing a Galactic Thug is only useful if that card comes up, and is taken and played by another player, and you still need it. A fair few things that all need to align. There are only a few of these Galactic Thug cards in the game, especially in lower player counts when you remove some. And I found this power to be redundant in some games. Although this really is a minor quibble. I would recommend this game to any young family who are looking for something simple to bring their family together. I applaud the team at Shot in the Dark for venturing out of their Quiz game comfort zone, and look forward to seeing what they come up with next. Crash Landed is a nice little family card game that I can see getting a lot of plays in my house. My children already adore it due to its pace, simplicity, and art. They often ask for a quick game, and I for one will never say no to that! Now, where did I put my Tin Foil hat?

Magnate: The First City WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Quadropolis, Between Two Cities, Underwater Cities. Published by: Naylor Games Designed by: James Naylor As with many games, on first inspection Magnate: The First City looks quite busy and complicated. There are a lot of things to look at just on the separate round board alone, let alone the seven city tiles. But you will quickly become acclimatised to this world and realise how well built this city is. Some say it was built on rock and roll, others say it was built with careful and acute understanding of board gamers and how people like to consume game rules. I will let you be the judge. Let Me Walk You Through It. The game comes with an excellent rule book but the first thing you will notice about this is that it tells you not to read it! There is a deck of cards labelled The Tutorial Deck which the rule book directs you too instead. The tutorial lays out exactly how to play your first game. It points you in the way of the rule book for the main table set-up, but this is all very simple, and you quickly return to the tutorial deck and stay with this, and this alone for the remainder of your first game. It is a very interesting experience and one that will ease any player into this game. Interestingly, it asks you to play this first time as a five-player game, no matter your actual player count. This is so that the game can show you as many different turn options in as short a time as possible. But also crucially, explaining the bidding round in full which works a lot better with more players. The tutorial will let you re-set down to which ever player count you are playing after a couple of quick rounds and finish your game yourself. I don’t think everyone will use this tutorial, but those that do will appreciate it and learn the game almost in full in a very easy manner. Oof, that’s gonna cost you! Playing Magnate: The First City feels like a delicate balancing act. You want to spend as quickly as possible, as efficiently as you can strategise, but also in as timely a way as you can plan, as first is not always best. Although it mostly is! Everything is based on the two key factors. First, how much does land currently cost? Second, how close to crashing is the market? At the start of the game, land is relatively cheap, and you will want to buy up what is available as best you can. But so will everyone else, and generally there is less land than players have money. As such turn order is key. The game recognises this and each round starts with a bidding phase for turn order. If you see a key plot of land has become available that you think others will go for that you also want, then you can make sure you get first dibs by bidding high for the first player marker. Again, the game recognises the importance of this by making everything about money. If you want to bid high to go first you have to do so without the knowledge of what other players may have to bid against you, also whilst remembering you cannot bid so high that you are then left with a shortfall of cash to do the thing you were bidding to do first anyway. And of course, all the time knowing that every dollar you bid is points lost at the end of the game. The game is won by who has the most money at the end of the game. Money is kept secret hidden in player wallets during the game, so you will not ever know exactly how much other players have. There is some bluff and bravado here of course, but it is mostly about strategy, timing and considered planning. You need to structure your turns accordingly to build up your financial clout to be ready to strike when the market is ripe for the picking. Buy low. Sell high. And all before the market crashes. And yes, you guessed it, the game recognises this too. The market is highly volatile and unstable in this game and reacts to one thing and one thing alone. What the players do in the previous round. The game starts with the bidding phase for turn order, then everyone has a chance to attract new tenants to previously built buildings and earn rent from them. Each player will then have three turns to buy more land, build more buildings, earn more money from consulting, and selling land. At this point, the game then adjust the game board based on all these actions. The more land you have sold, the more advertising you have spent to encourage new tenants into your buildings, the more tenants you have brought in, this all affects the market. A certain amount of risk cards will be drawn based on these factors, which everyone knows, and each risk card can move the market zero to three steps closer to crashing. Players can work together to ensure less risk cards are drawn, and the price of land is drawn up if it is in their favour as they have land still to sell and need time to do it. Or one player may work against this and try and push the market into a crash as they have already sold their land and want to hurt the other players. Will the market crash before you have a chance to sell? If so, you will inevitably loose a lot of potential profit. If you can time it so you sell at the top of the market, just before the other players get the chance, this is how you win big. When you sell land, your sales will drive the market to crash faster, meaning the other players are potentially forced to sell at the bottom of the market. Timing this all is hard. Crazy fun. But hard. Too Much Plastic? The stand-out thing in this game is the buildings. As we have talked about, they look great. And there is no denying, when you save up a few million in the game and get to place a new building on your owned land, it feels great. But it is a lot of plastic! Sure, lots of games could be labelled with this criticism, but just because lot’s do it, doesn’t make it right. The question is, does this game need this much plastic? And of course, the answer is a resounding no. The game is better with it. It looks cool. It’s way more fun placing miniatures down than tokens or cards. But like most miniatures in games, it doesn’t really add anything to the actual game or its mechanics. Some argue they actually hinder the game a little by blocking the view. Each space of land is relatively small and when you add tenant tokens to these spaces, the buildings do make it hard to see all these tokens clearly. Although this is not a big issue for me. Just adjust your head a little and its fine. I cannot blame the game or designers for this. They are simply doing what the market wants. And most of us love this stuff. But this box is big, heavy, and full of plastic. So, you need to make up your mind as to weather you want this in your collection or not. Will this pull you in? Magnate is a very clever game. It feels more like a simulation than an arcade style of game. This is not trying to make land ownership and building work fun, it’s trying to make it realistic. But in doing so, there is so much fun to be had with this. When you sell land, it all works in multiples. You check the current land price, then multiply this by a number of things. First, one for the land and one for the building. Then one for each tenant there, which could be a lot of you have multiple tenants or high value ones. Then you multiple by any relevant symbols on nearby land or tenant tokens, which again could be multiple. There could be some reductions here based on houses near airports for example but hopefully you built well and were not messed around with by the other players. As such, sales of land can be well into the multiple millions. It is so fun to work this out and take your hard earned money! Stuffing wads of paper money into your wallet genuinely feels great! And I am not sure why, but have asked myself some serious question since. Maybe I am a capitalist after all?! Some criticisms of the game have come from the luck involved in the timing of when you sell. Or to be more specific, the randomness this brings. When you sell lots of land, it drives the market towards the crash and you will just ruin the game for the other players if they have not sold their land yet. But this is literally the game. And once you get an idea for the strategy which really does take at least one game, maybe more; I think a lot of people will realise there is a lot of very clever things in this game that bring board game joy. Being able to earn a few million by turn three after bringing home a few hundred thousand in turn two feels great. Spending a few million on a large piece of coloured shiny plastic that you get to place on the board feels wonderful! Selling this all for eight figure numbers after multiples drive up the land value… well, you may be hooked by this point. In your first few games you may be caught out and the market could crash before you want, and you will be left with a lot of low value land that you paid of a lot of money for. But after a game or two, you will get what drives the market and what causes the crash and you will be able to both manipulate it in your favour, and time when you act. Understanding and using this to your favour is very satisfying and creates a wonderful game experience. This game has been compared to Monopoly due to the paper money and the act you are buying property. So, I can see this. But it couldn’t be further from Monopoly in terms of the strategy to luck ratio, and universal joy this brings to all. Largely, when you earn big in Monopoly, you do so at the expense of another player. When you earn big in Magnate, you do so due to your good timing and strategy and take the money from the game. Also, it only takes an hour or so in a two player, bit more with more players, and I don’t end up hating myself and everyone.

Destinies WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-3 You’ll like this if you like: Lord of the Rings Journey's in Middle Earth, The 7th Continent. Published by: Lucky Duck Games Designed by: Michał Gołębiowski, Filip Miłuński Destinies is a fascinating game. Billed as a table top board game version of an RPG, with an integrated digital app, campaign mode, and expanding universe with future expansions, Destinies certainly feels fresh and new. Playing it as a solo is very different to multiplayer, but each time I play this, I feel like I am experiencing something groundbreaking. Let's get it to the table to see how it plays. Set Up Getting Destinies to the table is a little different to other games. The first thing you need to do is download, then open the app on your tablet, phone or device. It's free and doesn't need internet access once downloaded, and Lucky Duck seem to be backing this game so I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. Once this is done, open the app and select the game you want to play. There are five options to start with. One stand alone game and four others that make up a campaign. Chose the one you want to do, and player count and mode, and the app will take you through the rest of the set up. You will be asked to select one of three characters to play as, and then you are given your starting item and experience points in three areas. Your intelligence dexterity, and power. Get all the tokens, money, and cards out and ready, but there is not much more you can do for set- up until the app tells you so. So, press go and start your adventure. How to Play Destinies works very differently each game, based on the scenario you are playing. I won't go into too much detail there, as I don't want to spoil the story. That's the main part of the game. But each game, your character will have one of two destinies that they want to achieve. Convince a number of people to join their cause. Destroy a certain number of things. Kill a certain amount of people. That sort of thing. You can only achieve one of these, but don't need to choose now. You can start trying to do both to see which one is easier for you, or change your plans at any moment. If you ever achieve your goal, you will then enter the final stages of your destiny. The game will suggest you go to a specific destination, which when you do, you enter the end game scenario. Your characters 'Finale'. This will be a two or three turn part of the game where you will go through certain skill tests, and you will need to use certain items you have hopefully collected thus far to fulfil your destiny. Succeed, and that's game over for all players. This can lead to a somewhat Three Billboards style abrupt ending for the others around the table in two or three player. On your turn you can move up to two spaces to previous explored, or new tiles. The app will tell you to place certain map tiles down as you explore them, and add locations and people to them that you can interact with hen you enter them. When you move to a new location new map tiles that surround the new space you have moved to will be added as they are now accessible. When on a tile space, you can chose, generally between two locations or people to speak with or explore. You will tap on the relevant icon on the app, and then be presented with more story, and a series of choices. Perhaps you want to try and steal something? Maybe you want to help someone, or give them an item? All of your choices will be recorded by the app and go towards shaping your destiny. Later events will be effected by your actions. An angel may not want to help you if you have strayed too far from the path of good for example! So, pick wisely. Skill Checks On your board you will have three or four little wooden discs on each row. You will be given your starting position for these during set up, but will be bale to move them forwards and backwards throughout the game as and when you carry out certain actions. Help a blacksmith in his work due to his sick son, and gain a strength. Pay a wise man three coins, and increase your intellect. That sort of thing. Then, when you have to test one of these characteristics, you will roll your two main white dice, and any purple dice you have access to, and choose to use that skill check, to see what score you get. Your total score from all dice is checked, and then any wooden tokens in numbers equal too or less than your dice total is your score. These are the best example of skill checks I have seen thus far in modern board games. Some cards offers ways to manipulate your score, and these checks are the bulk of the game, and it works so well. You can see in the board below. If you rolled a nine for intelligence you would score two on that skill check. Or a three for dexterity or strength. You have three purple dice, but they all start exhausted. Each round you can refresh one of these, and use when you wish. Certain actions in the game will exhaust or provide you with access to these purple dice. Having access to all three feels wonderful! Adventure Awaits As you move around the map, talking to new people, exploring new buildings, and uncovering more map tiles, there is a real sense of adventure and mystery. You will have a specific goal based on your destiny but you will not always know exactly how to do that, and there are a lot of side quests and distractions to look into. One action you can regularly do is talk to a person you meet about your destiny. This works by showing the QR code on the destiny card, (being sure to pick the right side), to the camera in the app. It works flawlessly, and I have a VERY old iPad. It instantly springs up with new information for you, with the person you are talking to giving you advice as to how best make progress in your quest. Sometimes this can be just the clue you were looking for. Other times, it will tell you of something you have already done. As you uncover new information, and certain events or interactions send you down new paths, there is a huge feeling of satisfaction. It feels like a mystery game in parts. Like you are uncovering new facts in a deep mystery. At times, it can be frustrating and you may feel directionless, but I find this never lasts more than a turn or two. The game will eventually give you a clue or push you in the right direction. You cannot ever be lost for long in Destinies. There is an element of luck in this game. As with anything that uses dice. Sometimes your destiny is not entirely in your hands. But you will mostly only encounter things you feel you can control, or at least have more influence in. As you gain experience, you can move your wooden tokens backwards on one of your characteristics, making your future rolls more likely to give you more successes. If you know you will be fighting a lot in a certain scenario, you should choose to increase your skills here first. Having the right tools for the job will also help a lot. It is best to not go to a well without rope or a ladder first. Do not enter a cave with a torch. But there will be times when things escape you that are well out of your control. Who knew I needed Dice for an encounter with a Daemon! I mean seriously!?! Each round one of your purple dice will be refreshed, if you choose not to use them, eventually you will have access to all three. You can save them up for more testing encounters. And plan your turns accordingly. Luck is involved, but strategy, good choices, and forward planning will help you just as much. The sort of items you can collect through the game is hugely varied and often bring a lot of fun. Sometimes they will be bought from a merchant. Other times they can be found. You will also be rewarded with them as tokens of thanks when you help other non playing characters. Or you may choose to simply steel them when someone is not looking! Or with force. It's all your choice. But remember, like the great red and white bearded one himself, the app is always watching! Which list will you be on come Christmas? Nothing you do will go unnoticed. All your actions are recorded, remembered, and will go a long way to affecting what choices you have open to you later in the game. Destinies is a lot of fun. It feels fresh and new. I have experienced a lot of things similar to this. But nothing quite like it. The stories are quite dark, there is a lot of pestilence, famine, witchcraft, and daemons. But there are expansions that bring new story lines in if this isn't for you. The stories re full of character and suspense. And I find myself getting easily lost in them despite not loving the themes and tone, especially when I play with my son. But it's the stories that make me come back to this. The sense of adventure and mystery that unravels is so intriguing and full of suspense. Despite not being exactly my thing. I love the game no less. In two player or more I do have a a sense of unfulfillment if my destiny is not completed. So, I would say this is more of a solo game than anything else. But it works fine in two or three, it is just set up better for a solo experience in my opinion. But that experience is so rich. So fulfilling. So rewarding. I would put this up there as one of my favourite games of all time, and certainly one of the best solo experiences I have ever had. I cannot wait to try the other expansions and explore more of this world.

Venn WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2-99 You’ll like this if you like: Dixit, Codenames Pictures, Wavelength Published by: The Op Venn is a clever new party game, that combines the picture clue fun seen in games such as Dixit and Codenames Pictures, with the simplistic beauty of the Venn diagram. Don't know what a Venn diagram is? Well stick around. Let's get it to the table. Set Up Venn can be played either in a competitive or cooperative mode. Let's first look at the competitive set up. This requires at least four players, so you can have two teams of two, but works up to any player count. Just split into two even teams. Give each team three plastic circles, one of each colour. Place them down on the table in front of the two teams so that each circle overlaps each other a little bit. Then place the score marker down, shuffle the number and word cards, and lay out four word cards in any order down the side of the score card. Place a score marker for each team at the top of the score tracker. Finally, shuffle the picture cards and split them into three equal decks. Give one to each team and place the final one in the centre of the table. Each team will choose which player on their side will have a first go placing the pictures, and then the game can begin. How to Play Both players chosen to go first on each team will now play simultaneously. They will draw the top numbered card and check the three numbers on it against the current word cards. Each team's player will have three words that they need to get their other team members to guess. They do this by placing picture cards down on the three coloured circles. Players on both teams will do this at the same time, not in turn order, just as quickly as they can find a picture card to match their words. They will arbitrarily choose one circle to represent each word, it doesn't matter which. And they will place one card onto each circle, the picture that they can find that best matches that word. They can also place one picture down in the areas that cross over between each of the two colours one card that matches those two words. And one final picture card can be placed down in the centre if it matches all three. So, in total, seven cards can be placed. If you find a card that better suits a word that you had previously laid a picture card for, you can simply cover up the previous card with the new one. The rest of the team that are guessing can discuss with each other about which word they think their teams picture layer is trying to make them guess. As soon as at least three picture cards are placed down, they can, when they want to, shout "VENN!" At this point, both teams picture layer must immediately stop. No more picture cards can be laid. Then both teams guessers need to try and figure out which three words were being suggested to them. This could leave the other team very short of course in terms of picture card laid. So, both teams picture layers must work as quickly as they can. If they cannot find any picture cards that suit their words, they can swap their deck with the other deck in the middle of the table, and of course if both teams picture layers do this, then you could get a chance to look at all three decks at one point. But the decks are large, the picture cards are double sided. And the pictures on the cards are all so varied with mixed images, you generally will be able to find something that suits your word. The difficulty more comes from find a picture that suits your word and only your word. They often work for more than one word, and you don't want to send your team down the wrong path. Each team will then score one point for each word they correctly guess, and if any team ever guesses all three words they will score one additional bonus point, so four in total. A new picture chooser is then chosen, the word cards are swapped, and a new number card is chosen and the next round begins. This will continue until one team scores 12 or more points. The cooperative version works in very much the same way, and allows games with less than four players. You will just have one Venn set up and only five number cards. Players will take it in turns to lay pictures cards in an attempt to score as many points as they can with their team. Trying to get to 12 or more points with their five number cards. So, five rounds to score 12 or more. There is no bonus point for correctly guessing all three words, and you are working to a two-minute time limit as you place the picture cards instead of against another team. Is It Fun? Venn works well in both competitive and cooperative modes. It is nice to have both, to work not just to different player counts, but also to suit different groups or requirements. I have played the cooperative mode in larger groups and simply increased the amount of number cards we had and upped the target we had to reach. The two minute timer works well to keep the pressure and tension in the game. But sometimes, when the cards align, you will find you are laying the perfect card with one minute to spare. Other times, you may be running out of time with only a one or two cards placed. Two-minutes is the right time, but racing against another team is a lot more fun. As such, I much I prefer the competitive game. It brings a lot more tension, and from that, laughter, table chat, and fun. The cries of anguish as one side calls "VENN!" When their side only has one or two picture cards placed. But then of course, that team could then score two points, and the first team may get them all wrong. The speed and race element adds so much to the game. People's competitive nature comes out, not just from the person rushing to place good picture cards down, but also from the rest of the team who are guessing who want to halt the other team as soon as they can. This makes Venn the perfect game for people who enjoy a little bit of time pressure, but perhaps not the right game for those who find this stressful or unpleasant. Even in the cooperative game, you may feel this in the two-minute time limit they give you. If you don't have their right cards, then this race against the clock or other team can be frustrating or stressful. Equally, if you have words that closely match other words, you may find it hard to find pictures specific enough. But most frustratingly, you may play a picture card you think suitable for one of your three words, only for your team to see that picture very differently to you, and associate it with another word. This may be because you see the art differently, perhaps you hadn't spotted the other word and how it works for that card too. Or worst of all, you had missed part of the picture that works perfectly for an incorrect word. However, these obvious frustration aside, teams I have found, will score on average two points per turn. Getting all three is pretty tough, but possible. But when you miss one word due to one of the above very possible reasons, it won't be too frustrating if you can put into context the average score. An accept the fact that under time pressures, you may sometimes miss something, and look at mistakes or misses like this as being funny and part of the game, rather than annoying, and proving the game is broken. I very much enjoy playing Venn. I have found it to work with most groups I have tried this with. It suits all ages and abilities, and works well in both modes. I have found the need to increase the amount of time allowed in the co-op mode when playing with younger children, but that is very much possible, and easily implemented. The one constant each time Venn hit the table though was laughter. Trying to determine how different people have associated certain picture cards with specific words, and correct or incorrect guesses resulting or cries of joy or anguish. Venn always brings the fun.

Shoot for the Stars WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-8 You’ll like this if you like: What Came First, Wits and Wagers, Shot in the Dark Published by: Big Potato Shoot for the Stars is an absolute blast! (Pun intended) Sometimes, a game comes around that just hits with you from the off. That was the case with this game. From receiving the game, I think it took 15 minutes to open, learn, teach, and then start playing our first game. It's just so accessible. So fun. So good. Lets find out more and get it to the table. Set Up Ok, the first time you play this, you will need to build the space ship. And that was what took most of the 15 minutes I spoke about above! But it's simple, quite fun, and only needs to be done once. When that is done, lay out the board, questions, score tokens, and place the ship on the board. Give each player a meeple and character token and you can begin! How to Play Choose the first player, and they will read out the first question. Make sure their meeple is in the very top spot on the ship. They are the current captain. Once they have read out the question, they then must give an answer. All questions are number based and you need to try and get as close to the answer as you can without going over. If in doubt, go low! Then the next player to your right will give their answer. They can either say a larger number out loud if they think you are too low, in which case they will become the new captain. Or they can agree you are roughly right and stay in the ship. Or finally, they can say they think you went way over the answer and abandon ship, moving onto one of the planets on the board. Either one, but we usually went to our own coloured planet for simplicity. (And my minor autistic needs). The game then moves to the next player. This will go round like this until all players have either jumped out of the ship or agreed that the previous number was about right. At this point, the current captain will reveal the answer by puling the card out of the box. If they were correct or under the answer, the captain will gain four star coins. All other players still in the ship gain two. Anyone who jumped out gets nothing. If the captain is wrong, then they will loose a star coin, every else on the planets gets two star coins, and those still on the ship gets nothing. If the captain is the only one left on the ship, as in everyone else thinks they went too high, but they were correct, then they get six star coins. If they were wrong, they only lose one star coin in this case. The final thing you can do is call "Moonshot." This is when you think you can get the answer 100% correct. Dead on. If you are right, then you will get eight star coins, and anyone who stayed with you also scores three. But if you are wrong, then you loose two star coins and anyone who abandoned ship gets one. That's the whole game. You can play to a time limit, points limit, or as the game suggests, using eight question cards. But that is never long enough for us! The sort of questions you get are either one of the three special types above, or a basic question like the three examples below. The questions with the meeple icon on are always specific to the group currently playing the game. So the card won't have an answer on. You need to work it out yourselves first as a individuals. Guess everyone else's answer and tally up what you think the total to be. Then all players will give their answers as usual, before revealing their own correct answer. Then the group can tally the total and their combined correct answer to work out who came closest. This can be a lot of fun, but be warned, learn about your friends cousins before playing! It may be useful! The question with the QR code shows live data. Questions with answers that are ever changing so the publisher cannot possibly print an answer as it would immediately go out of date. But the QR code will take you to a website that will give you the current accurate answer. What a cool idea! The questions with the calendar icon on work just the same as the normal questions, but the answer will be a date. Start with a low date and work up from there. It's the same rules as usual. Just don't say a date beyond what you think the correct one will be. The normal questions are all interesting, and guessable. Playing with all ages and abilities, I have found this game to be highly accessible. Sometimes, a younger player may be the captain at the start of a question they have no idea too, but this is fine. They can just go very low, even just say "one," as other players guesses will then inevitable go higher, and give them an idea as to what a closer guess may be. And they can then either up their answer, or stay in the ship backing another players answer. Many questions have sparked some fun debate amongst our groups as we played this. Some of the things you learn are funny. Some very interesting. And others down right unbelievable! You wait until you see the question about the amount of beer drunk in one night by one person! I couldn't believe it. The game is a little over produced for a simple question and answer game, but I love that. It adds to the spectacle and theme. But actually helps with the game too. Whenever someone up's the current answer, and becomes the new captain, you move your meeple to the top space of the ship to represent your current status. Players physically move off the ship if they think the answer has gone too high. They stay on if they are still in and agree with the current answer or want to wait for their next turn to up it. This all looks great but also reminds all players exactly what their and all players current situation is. The character tokens remind you which meeple you are, and the points tokens are just a nice touch to physically track your progress. All of this could be removed. It could just be the questions and that's it. But that wouldn't be half as much fun! When I played this with my mum, she said it was her "favourite game yet!" And I make her play a lot of games! My friends all really enjoyed it's accessibility. My kids enjoyed the fact they could join in what they said felt like a grown up game. And I very much enjoyed the debate that many questions sparked. This game is so sociable. Shoot for the Stars is a brilliant quiz based game. It brings a nice theme to the table, looks impressive set up, and offers all the tools needed for a long, fun, enjoyable session of quizzing and debating. You can make it short if you like, that's the proper rules after all. Eight cards, and that's it. That would take around 20 minutes if you played quickly. But each time I have played this game, and it has been six times in four days so far, we have played for well over an hour each time. We just didn't want to stop as we were having too much fun!

Disney Sorcerer's Arena - Turning the Tide Expansion WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-4 (but really 2) You’ll like this if you like: Unmatched, Funkoverse, Smash Up Published by: The Op Designed by: Sean Fletcher Disney Sorcerer's Arena is a brilliant three-on-three skirmish game set in the Disney world. The only thing you want more from with this game is extra characters. Well, low and behold the first expansion is out ready to deliver more Disney fun. You can read what I think of the main game here, or head straight on to see what is new with this first expansion for this brilliant game. First up, lets talk about the new characters. That's what you are hear for after all! Well, we have three corkers! Moana, Davy Jones, and Stitch. They are all together like this in this first expansion as this is nautically themed. Each character is an 'Oceanic' character. I sense the type of character will become more and more important with each expansion as they link to certain tile powers. More on that later. Each character is well balanced and fits right in with the existing decks. They work very much in the same way. The only real change is a new feature, Constant Abilities. Stitch and Davy Jones have this on their character card and they provide ongoing affects that can be enacted at any point in the game. Such as Davy Jones ability to recover health when cursed, when an ally who is also Cursed deals any damage. The cards are very much like the base game such Moana's Oar strike below. However, some utilise another new elements which link these new Oceanic characters. Within this box are three Ocean tiles which can be added to the board using Moana's cards and character power. These can be placed onto any empty space on the board. Whenever an oceanic character moves through them an additional movement point is given to them and they are then removed from the board. But when on the board, Moana's character gain's additional benefits such as recovering health and inflicting damage on rivals. I sense these tiles are the start of a common new addition to the game. The second expansion is already announced. Thrills and Chills, due to be released at the end of August 2022. It doesn't yet say if these set will also add more tiles but I wager most new expansion's now will. It is a welcome addition to the game. This is what I said in my review of the base game. I would like to see some variety in the board in future expansions, with perhaps some tiles to add to the board that bring in more variety based on where you are. At the moment, it is just a rush for the centre spots and a smash-em-up battle once all characters are there. This is fun, but does make the rest of the board someone redundant. Well here you go! Confirmation if ever you needed it that Sean Fletcher reads WBG! Joking aside, the titles are a welcome addition and over time, with more expansions, I can see more coming in of different varieties, making your choice when you set up your team even more important. You will now have to think about the type of character and what tiles they will have access too as well as how they will work together when on the board. Just like the base game, the three new characters come with their gorgeous acrylic standees. Don't forget to peel off the lining! I didn't spot that until I saw it written on the rules for this expansion. But once done, just look how good they are! I know Board Games can be all about minis, and I am down for that. But I don't paint. (Yet!) So, coloured standees like this do get my seal of approval. The other main new addition with this first expansion is the introduction of a new status symbol used with Stich's character. 'No Punchbacks' blocks all damage that would be otherwise inflicted onto the super tough Alien, Stitch. Stitch can give this to other rival players to protect against future attacks. As a first expansion for Sorcerer's Arena, I am very happy. I like the new powers, tiles, and characters. It develops the game nicely and brings in a great new addition when choosing who to play as. For future expansions, I hope they continue with the new tiles, and the big names in Disney. The second one has Mother Gothel, Jack Skellington, and the Horned King which is exciting. I love the Nightmare before Christmas, my daughter is a huge Tangled fan, but I won't lie, I had to google The Horned King! With such a vast array of characters to choose from, and no legal issues as they own the IP, I assume they can go for who they want? King Louie, Slinky Dog, and Goofy would be a dream for me. Who would you want to see in future expansions? And herein lies the core joy of this game. Being thrust into the magical world of Disney, and being able to bring these characters together from so many different worlds, stories, and films. It's an utter privilege. I am a huge fan of this game, and this expansion only serves to increase my feeling of adoration for this box of joy. I love the new characters. They all add their own new take on the game. The new tiles are a very welcome addition. And the use of the Cursed for Davy Jones is thematically brilliant. I am all in for this and cannot wait to see what the next expansion brings, and which characters will be used in the future ones.

Disney Sorcerer's Arena WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-4 (but really 2) You’ll like this if you like: Unmatched, Funkoverse, Smash Up Published by: The Op Designed by: Sean Fletcher Disney characters are cute. They are friendly, funny, and familiar. So, have you ever wondered what would happen if they all had one big fight? Yeah, me neither. It's a funny choice of theme for a fighting game. But the Disney IP sells, the characters are cool, and surprisingly, this game really works! How To Play This game has a brilliant rule book. It guides you through the rules in four simple chapters. The idea is that you play the game four times, each time bringing in new rules until you understand the entire game. You can then play the game in either mode, making it suitable for any age groups desired difficulty, or the full thing, safe in the knowledge that you learnt it all. It brings a streamlined and accessible way to learn the full game in a fun way. What a great way to do it. Chapter One. Sorcerer's Arena is all about points. Can you get to the points total before your opponent, or have the most points when the cards run out. Points are acquired from starting your turn on one of the three points spaces, or reducing one of you opponents hit points to zero to claim their point value. In chapter one, you learn the core mechanics about starting with six cards, then drawing one, before running through a movement then action phase. All very simple. It's a quick game. In a race to 12 points, you will battle off as either Mickey and Aladdin or Gaston and Ariel in a two player, two characters versus two character battle. Players can move two places or play a movement card specific to that character for specific character movement, and then attack for two damage any adjacent character, or play an attack card. Status effects can be added to players and in this chapter Mickey's Magic Broom is introduced which allows the player using Mickey to draw the top two cards of their deck and re-order them in any way. They then draw the top card, and if this is a magic card, they gain another magic broom effect. The magic broom effects work with many of Mickeys cards allowing for some powerful attacks. There are many other effects in the game, but learning this first one really helps you understand the core mechanic of this part of the game. Chapter Two Chapter Two introduces a three versus three mode, (which is the full game) as well as a draft to pick characters at the start. In this core set, there are eight characters to choose from. They are all unique and work very differently with each other sorcerer. In this chapter, you also learn that turn order is very important. Not just in terms of who goes first, but which character goes after whom. Players will order their three order tiles in their own desired preference, and then they will reveal them. The character with the lowest initiative value shown on the tile will go first. As with game one, standard movement each round is two movement points per player, or you can play a movement card. But you are now told you can discard any movement card for any player to add one extra movement to any players movement phase. Likewise for the standard attack, you can discard any attack card to turn a standard attack of two into three. The game now runs to 20 victory points which is the full total. Chapter Three This brings in the most rewarding changes with unique character abilities now being used. Each character will now have its own unique standard movement and attack value, as well as its own skill, bringing in a new phase after the movement and action phase, the Skill phase. The Skill phase allows players to do more things each turn, based on their own ability. It may allow a player to have an extra turn if a specific card is revealed from the top of their deck, or to recover health, or add a status effect. Chapter Four You would have noticed lots of things on the cards during the game you haven't used yet. Most notably the gears symbols on the player cards. There are four kinds. Fire, Shell, Heart, and Wind. Each time you discard a card, you will start working your way towards your characters gear requirements. When you meet this, you can upgrade your character by banishing the required gears, and flipping your character card. This will add a new ability to your character for the final addition to Sorcerer's Arena. You now know the entire game. There is also a team mode, which allows two player to compete against one or two other players. But really this game excels in a one versus one battle. Learning the game in this way, across four games, is so easy. It makes what ends up as a low to medium weight game, so simple for most ages to learn and play. Working out what each character's main strengths and weaknesses are, and forging powerful threesomes is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed discovering this game, and seeing which heroes and villains worked best together. They all feel so unique, and once you get to the end of chapter four, and you see the full scale of each character's powers, you really get an idea for how best to combine certain characters. Ariel does not deliver much damage but she is a great healer. Sully and Gaston have some powerful brute attacks. Maleficent and Mickey have some incredible spells and powers to attack with. Demona has the ability to move to any space and attack multiple sorcerer's. Aladdin can be very stealthy, moving through the crowds with ease to help his fellow summoners, and Dr. Facilier (who ever that is!?) can shrink and fluster his competing sorcerers with his magical spells. It's a great mix of characters, although Demona and Dr. Facilier seem a little niche! But what this game is ripe for is expansions. In fact, one is already out! Bringing three new characters including Stich! What a joy. I want to try that one asap!! The card play in this game is so clever. Most gamers will be surprised at how much you can do each turn. The game has hidden depth, with some very interesting and exciting opportunities to do some really cool things. I am a big fan of combining Sully's brute strength, with Ariel's healing abilities and have everyone's favourite blue monster rampage his way through your opponents, whilst Ariel keeps him fresh for battle turn after turn. All the time, Maleficent or Mickey would be fighting in the background at a distance using their spells to pick people off. Its a great fun romp into the Disney world, in a way you may not have seen it before, that brings so much joy and laughter to the table. The standees are gorgeous acrylic, full coloured works of Disney art, and I just love to watch them dance across the board. I would like to see some variety in the board in future expansions, with perhaps some tiles to add to the board that bring in more variety based on where you are. At the moment, it is just a rush for the centre spots and a smash-em-up battle once all characters are there. This is fun, but does make the rest of the board someone redundant. It also works best in a two-player game, but is marketed as a 2-4 player, which is true with the team battle. But I think this really should be considered more a two-player game. In the future there are so many other characters I would love to see. Tigger fighting Daisey Duck. Goofy in a battle royal with Lady from Lady and the Tramp. And perhaps even Jessie and Rex fighting against some of the seven Dwarfs. It would all be a lot of fun, and I am here for the long haul.

Point Salad WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Arboretum, Sushi Go, Circle The Wagons Published by: Alderac Entertainment Group Designed by: Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Shawn Stankewich Rule book here Pont Salad games are when there are multiple ways to get lots of points. They are very popular as people feel good it seems in games when they are getting lots of points and high scores. I know I do! The Castles of Burgundy is a great example of this. So, too are most Steffen Field games in truth. Well worth a look. Point Salad the game takes this concept and simplifies it to its purist form. A deck of cards, and loads of fun ways to score points. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. Set-Up The only bad bit about Point Salad is sorting the cards pre-game. You need to add or remove cards based on the number of players. I would be inclined to buy a few sets just to have each box set-up for different player counts. It only takes a moment, but always slows down the fun and frustrates me. Once this is done, the grump is over, and the cards are sorted to your player count, shuffle the remaining cards. Then split them into three piles of roughly the same size, don't worry too much about how accurate the splits are, and then flip two cards from each pile underneath each pile so you are left with something that looks like this. How to Play Then in turns, each player can take one of two actions. Either, they can take one point-scoring card or two veggie cards. If you take a veggie card, you must then refill the spaces you have left empty, taking cards from the pile above the row you took from. If you ever run out of cards in one pile, roughly split the remaining cards in the other packs into three new piles. Keep doing this in turn until all cards are used. Players add cards they take into their collection. As a free action at any time, all players can flip any score cards they had previously taken to veggie cards whenever they want. This may be because they desperately need one more veggie card, or because the scoring that this point card offered them does not work for them anymore. The veggie that is on the back of each card is shown in the corner of the other side, so you always know what options you have. When all the cards are gone, players will score all their veggie cards based on the scoring options they took, with the points cards they picked during the game. Veggie cards can be used multiple times, meaning if you have more than one card that scores either positively or negatively for the same vegetable, and you have at least one of those veggie cards, then you will score that card each time for each point card that it is relevant for. Will This Fill You Up? There are a lot of very good small box card games on the market. The 90s classics like Bohnanza, 6 Nimmt, and Tichu. The more modern brilliance of Hanabi, Arboretum, and L.A.M.A. If you have some of these, or others, is there a place for more on your shelf? I would say yes. I own all of these, and many more. I love small box card games. The simplicity of them. The beauty of what can be done with a simple deck of cards. The fun you can have by introducing non or casual gamers so a new game that seems familiar to them, but brings something new to the table. Point Salad is one of the best games for this. I have introduced this game to so many people and have had 100% success rate with it. I have gifted it to so many people as it is so accessible, but also so good. It is the perfect gateway card game. Players feel like they are making significant, meaningful, and complex decisions, but not ones that are confusing when it comes to rules or strategy. When it pays of, and you score well, it feels great. When you score poorly, you rack-em-up and go again. It's a quick game after all and is fun, win or loose. I love how simple, but varied the scoring options are. Some can reward with you with points for having the fewest or most or a certain type of Veggie. Others give you points for having an even or odd number. A lot give points for collecting certain sets. Sometimes you can strike it lucky and get score cards that work well together such as the first two below. Other times, you can make bad choices or get unlucky and have cards that conflict each other, such as adding the third card below. The game rewards multiple plays with the huge variety of score cards. Every card in this deck is a potential score card after all. So there really is a lot of choice! And as each game is so quick, you will regularly want to play multiple games in a row when getting Point Salad off the shelf. Point Salad won numerous awards and rightly so. The games that designers Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich have since released have been instant successes. You can check out my thoughts on TEN, and also Abstract Academy here. This is all on the back of the brilliance of Point Salad. Their next game is Point City. A card-drafting engine-building game. I cannot wait for that. What this team does turns to gold. And that is down to one thing. Their games are good. Simple, easy to digest and get to the table, and a lot of fun to play. But most importantly, good. You can feel the quality as you play one of their games. Everything is well produced, well thought-out. The rules are clear. The iconography is brilliantly simple. The mechanics are smooth, not over-thought, and create enjoyable, strategic moments for all around the table. There are a lot of dream teams in board gaming. I would say that Molly, Robert, and Shawn are on the fast track to becoming legends of the industry if they keep up this quality. It will be interesting if they keep with this level of game weight. Although to be fair, Public Market is more mid-weight. But the bulk of what they have done is about pure, simple rule-sets, within a clean, easy to consume package. I love what they have done with all of their games that I have played, and will watch their careers with great interest.

Dream Home WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: The Networks, Sushi Go Published by: Rebel Sp. z o.o. Designed by: Klemens Kalicki By Steve Godfrey I’ve learned two things in my time with Dream Home so far. 1. I like building my dream home. 2. Apparently my dream home board isn’t sufficient enough to submit as a set of building plans and even if it was, my designs don’t meet building regulations! All I’ll say is that when I’m in my kitchen-less home and I’m laying in my bath, in my bathroom which has been built on top precariously erected scaffolding, we’ll see who has the last laugh then! Building Regulations Each player receives a home board and the main board is laid out in the middle of the table. Place the room cards on the bottom of the main board and deal out five face up. Then place out four resource cards above the room cards leaving the left most empty. On your turn you’re going to draft one column of room and resource cards. Resource cards will either be a roof tile, which will need to go on your home board face down. You can’t look at this pile for the rest of the game so remember what you placed there. Resources cards may also be either special bonuses or give you a decor token which you need to place on your home board if you can. If you choose the leftmost column you only get a room card but you also get the first player marker for the next round. Room cards need to go, well into your house, but with some restrictions. You can’t build a room on top of an empty space, that’s not only a rule in the game but also how gravity works. So on the first round at least you only have three spaces in which you can place regular rooms or there are two spaces in which you can place basement cards. Aside from basement rooms, you can place any type of room in any space. So yes you can have a luxurious bathroom downstairs, your living room upstairs and no kitchen! Most rooms are generally worth points on their own. However if you’re able to place the same rooms types next to each other then they will start to score as sets. So one living room is worth one point, get three together though and it could be worth 9 points. However to score the sets the rooms need to be next to each other. So if you place another next to, say that living room card, then you can no longer add to that set. You can always start another of those sets elsewhere though. Rounds will play out until every player has taken a turn. The remaining cards are discarded and reset for the next round. At the end of the game players will score for the rooms in their house and any decor tokens. This is also where those roof cards will come into play. Four of the same colour will be worth 8 points but four mismatched roofs will be worth 3. The last thing you score for is functionally. Having a bathroom on each floor is worth 3 points and a house with a bathroom, kitchen and bedroom is worth 3 as well. Theme Home Dream home is one of those games that will present you with different choices depending on how you play the game. If this is a game you’re playing to win then your strategy is obviously going to be to take the cards and combos that will get you most points. That’s just how you win games (a lesson I still need to learn apparently ) Then there’s games like Dream Home, games that not only present you with point scoring options, but things you just want to have in front of you regardless of how many points it’s worth. There are some of you out there reading this that will want to win (nothing wrong with that) and others who literally just want to build their dream home and if they happen to get enough points to win then all the better. Will that garage with the DeLorean net me points? No, do I really want a garage with a DeLorean in it ? HECK YEAH! It’s a DeLorean! One of the first things you’ll see when you open the box is those brilliant house player boards. It’s such a simple thing, a player board shaped like a house but it really helps bring out the theme. As rounds continue you’re sure to have discussions like “I’ve put my kitchen right next to the toilet. I know it’s not hygienic but It’s the only space I can put it if I want to extend to put in a double oven” or “well the only space I can put the cat tower is in the bathroom” Games like dream home go to prove that you don’t need to have a big sprawling game with a Kallax shelf full of boxes of components to draw any amount of theme from it. All you need is to give players enough to create talking points and they’ll do all the rest. Talking of theme, the art on each of these cards is beautiful. Like a particularly nice rug, this really ties the game together. For such small cards there’s a ton of detail on each of them. If any games do take longer than usual it’s because people are spending all their time staring at the art. The last little touch is that all the room art flows together to create continuous rooms no matter which way you organise them and this is so satisfying to look at. It’s nice to look back at the house you’ve created at the end of the game, regardless if you’ve won or not, and be impressed of what you’ve created. You need planning permission for that! So the game itself is, rather fitting for a game about building a house, all about planning. Sticking a single point bathroom slap bang in the middle of a row will immediately stop you from building your three card living room. On the other hand leaving the space for that third card could always be a bit ambitious. After all, if you’ve got your eye on that three piece suite then the chances are so does someone else. Open drafting games like this always come with those tough decisions of which card, out of the inevitable river of good cards you want to take. Dream Home gives you a column of two to pick. A room card is the obvious first card to look out but the other cards could be just as important. Tool/ Helper cards are nearly always helpful. Some will let you rearrange rooms in your home whilst others may let you switch cards on the main board. Considering that some combinations of cards aren’t always great, these cards are important. Speaking of resource cards, if you think that remembering which colour roof cards you have in your collection is easy then think again. Guaranteed someone will pick their first one and loudly pronounce “I’ve got a red tile” only later in the game to mutter to themselves “wait, was I collecting brown tiles?” it’s actually a small source for celebration as you finally turn over your cards and see that you’ve matched four colours. At two to three players the first player gets to discard a column of cards before they take their turn. This rule is optional if you're playing with younger players or if you just don’t fancy that sort of play. This rules does make the game a bit more take that in that you can easily see what an opponent wants and take it off of them. It also makes taking that first player space even more valuable. I personally don’t really have a preference between the variants but I like the idea that the game can be tweaked to suit different players and play styles. Dream Home is a fun, thematic family friendly game that I could easily teach to new gamers but will give you more than enough game to take to a game night. Everyone, at one time or another has talked about what they want in their dream home and this is a good start to seeing this played out. Except I’d have a pool…..and a cinema room…….oooh and a spa…..and, I’ll stop now.