Tag Archives: game night

Board Games and TCGs

Dying Light: The Board Game Hits Kickstarter, February 27th

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Dying Light is hitting the tabletop in Glass Cannon Unplugged’s newest Kickstarter coming February 27th. Players can now enjoy their favorite zombie franchise in a board game that seems pretty faithful. 

The world has been overrun by zombies, and only one city is left standing. Run, climb, and jump through the streets of Villendor as you make your final stand. Do you have what it takes to survive?

What is Dying Light: The Board Game

Dying Light: The Board Game is a 1-4 player cooperative narrative game where players must survive in Earth’s last remaining city. The game features dynamic dice mechanics, an impactful day and night cycle, and an adrenaline-fueled parkour and combat system. I’ll have to see more, but the game promises an authentic and unique system.

As for game pieces, the game comes with a double-sided board and easy-to-build modular terrain ensuring that all your games will be different. There will be two editions of the game: Standard and Deluxe. The Standard Edition will include 76 cardboard game pieces while the Deluxe version will have high-quality 32 mm plastic miniature versions. The minis look very cool, but I definitely would need to learn how to paint. 

Both versions include: 

  • 4 Runers
  • 8 Bandits
  • 60 Infected
  • 4 Large Infected Bosses

The day and night cycle is the game’s coolest gimmick. Mechanically, players will experience a shift in challenges and possibilities depending on the time of day. Thematically, this is the fantastic flavor for any zombie game where nighttime is always more dangerous. Visually, the board, buildings, and game pieces light up under UV light for a visually stunning and immersive experience. It looks like I’m going to need to invest in a good UV light for game night. 

If you’re a fan of the game, or looking for a zombie game, you might want to follow the Dying Light Board Game Kickstarter. I like the flavor, the minis look cool, and I love that there is a solo-play option (I don’t have friends who would play with me). 

People who back the Kickstarter within the first 24 hours also receive the exclusive Kyle Crane character pack, so make sure you turn on those notifications. 

If you enjoy these updates, please leave a like, comment, follow the socials, and share this with your friends. 

Board Games and TCGs, video game reviews

Age of Wonders: Planetfall the Board Game is so much fun

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I was sent Age of Wonders: Planetfall for free to review for my site. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, and share this with your friends. You can also always buy me coffee.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is the best way to get into the resource management genre. The game has cool art, fantastic flavor, and it is easy to pick up. Explore the remains of the Star Unions as you seek dominance over the other factions. Challenge your friends in what will be a memorable game of exploration and conquest.

Players choose from one of the six factions and begin their journey through the different planets. Each planet has new adventures and challenges, but what you gain from them will determine your place in the universe. The game is pretty easy to learn. I recommend you check out the tutorial by Rahdo on YouTube to get started.

How to Play

The Sample Size

I am the only person in my family who plays board games, but I have been slowly convincing people to play with me. My wife doesn’t like anything more complicated than Uno and refused to play Planetfall when she saw all the pieces laid out. My sister is a bit more tolerant. She agreed to play but wasn’t as enthusiastic as me and her boyfriend, even though she ended up winning. Her boyfriend is always ready to play board games. 

The Game

This box is going to look great on any shelf. Fans of the video game will appreciate the art a lot more. I don’t usually keep my boxes because I don’t have space for them, but I’m willing to make an exception. The board and design are cool and easy to read. The cards and their flavor are fantastic. Even if you haven’t played the video game, you’ll appreciate how cool the art is. The pips are wood, which I prefer to plastic.

Impressions

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a fantastic introduction to the resource management genre. It has enough moving parts to keep things interesting without becoming overwhelming. The setup was fast and easy, and we started almost instantly. I like to explain the rules as we play, but it didn’t take long for everyone to get settled and work towards strategies. 

One of the biggest mistakes I made during my session was ignoring the flavor. It wasn’t until I explained to the table that we were landing on planets and taking over different objectives that they started to get into it. I was amazed at how quickly the conversation turned from being focused on the points to being focused on fighting a certain unit or discovering this landmark because that’s what their commander would do. 

My sister ended up winning, and we were left wanting a rematch. She says she wasn’t trying, but I think deep down she knew what she was doing. We loved the game for its change of pace, ease of play, and flavor. It is going to be a hard sell for people who don’t like board games, but everyone, it makes for a nice change of pace from Monopoly. For my table, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is as complicated as we’ll get, and I don’t mind it. The gameplay offers enough room for strategy, but with options to keep it casual to fit our current level of experience. I’ll continue working on bringing more complicated games to our sessions. 

If you looking for a new sci-fi game, resource management game, or simply love the video game, I recommend you go pick up Age of Wonders: Planetfall. You can pick up your copy from the official Arcane Wonders store for $44.99, or cheaper at Miniature Market ($31.99)

Board Games and TCGs, video game reviews

GAP: A Simple and Quick Card Game Staple for Game Night

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I was sent the board game GAP for free to review. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. You can also always buy me coffee.

GAP is a quick 2-6 player card game that is easy to learn and teach from our friends over at Arcane Wonders. The goal is to be the first person to get 15/30/70 points by matching the colors on the card. The point goal depends on how of a game you want to play.

The best way to learn the game is through the tutorial video on the official Arcane Wonders’ Youtube.

How To Play

In summary, you have a deck of four colored cards. The goal is to collect the most of a single color. You collect cards based on the numbers on the card you put down. For example if I put down a yellow 9:

You would only pick up the numbers written on the corner, with the biggest taking priority. In this case, you would pick up all the 9s from the middle. If none of these numbers are in the middle, the 9 is added to the pile, and nothing gets added to yours. You repeat this until everyone runs out of cards and tally the scores.

The Game

The game comes in a palm-sized compact box with one multi-color deck. The colors are easily distinguishable, and the shine looks beautiful. The cards do feel a little flimsy and are a little hard to shuffle. While they look nice on the table, I am not confident in their longevity, especially if you play with kids. I recommend using card sleeves.

Sample Size

I am the only one in my family that likes board games. My family agreed to help me with my review but were reluctant. My wife doesn’t like board games, and she’ll check out if it starts to get more complicated than Uno. My sister is a little more accepting, but she also has her limits. Her boyfriend is always down to play anything. 

Impressions

What I loved most about this game is how easy it is to get started. The rules are easy to teach, and the game is easy to understand once you get started. Halfway through our first game, everyone at the table was working on a strategy. By the second game, everyone knew what they were working towards. As simple as this game is, the randomness makes it engaging. My sister had a round where she was consistently working on a stack of blues when one turn forced her to pick up other colors.

Games of GAP only go for about ten minutes, depending on the type of game to play. Ten minutes is perfect, especially if you have people at your table who don’t like board games. Longer games at my table aren’t really an option, so I found this a blessing.

I loved it, and I am happy my family loved it too. If you’re looking for a game to play with your non-gamer buddies, GAP is a fantastic choice. It takes seconds to learn, and it’s fun enough to keep people engaged. GAP goes for $14.99. You can pick GAP up at the official Arcane Wonders’ store or online retailers like Knoble Knight Games.

Board Games and TCGs, video game reviews

The BrikWars are Coming!

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If you are in the market for a new quirky tabletop wargame, you should look into BrikWars. Brik Wars aims to give your old brick systems a new purpose with a ruleset that seems like a silly good time. Build and destroy your own battlefield, collect unique armies, gather powerful weapons and items, or go on one of the prewritten adventures. No building instructions are required! All you need are a set of bricks, the core rule book, and some imagination. The combat mechanics seem simple to learn, and there is an interesting build/destruction mechanic that promises a fresh tabletop experience. There are even prewritten adventures you can run through before breaking off and making your own. Players can either use the rules for wargaming or for running a silly TTRPG.

I don’t think this will be anyone’s main wargame or TTRPG, but it does look like something you pull out when you don’t want to get too serious. This also looks like a great way to get kids into tabletop gaming without having to buy too many game pieces, assuming your kid already has a healthy collection of Legos. The art is cute, the rules seem simple enough to teach, it has a very quirky and fun tone, and there seems to be a lot of room to be creative. 

The book is scheduled to ship on September 2023, but you can preorder your core rulebook today. Preorder now to receive a pdf sample of the rule book for testing. The publisher is looking for feedback before the game’s release so that the game releases at its best version, so make sure you share your thoughts on the game. 

You can preorder the book for $50.44. Now seems like a great time to dust off your old Legos or simply buy new ones.