Boardgame talk for Meeple & People
Being a merchant in the bazaar of Istanbul is a demanding job, and some days you just can’t do it without some chemical stimulation. With the new expansion to Mocha & Baksheesh, you can finally have your coffee in Rüdiger Dorn’s Istanbul. But it’s not for you to drink and gain energy for additional actions, it’s another commodity for you to trade in on your quest for rubies. But does coffee really make everything better?
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Wizards never live in peace. Wherever they meet, they fight. Heroes is another game to prove this simple fact, and it packs the excitement of a real-time game into the wizard duel, because players roll at the same time, trying to collect the energy to cast a spell before their opponent does.
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Death is when your life really starts. That, at least, was the belief of the ancient Egyptians, and they prepared for the afterlife by taking everything with them, plus the kitchen sink. If you thought the way your mother packed for a three week vacation was over the top, then you haven’t seen an Egyptian burial chamber. In Valley of the Kings, your goal is to stuff your tomb with more things than the other players, meaning that you’ll be richer than they are in the afterlife. And that’s all that counts, isn’t it?
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There once was an onmyo master, a teller of fortune and summoner of spirits. This onmyo master had two children, both thinking only they deserve to inherit his title. And so the two children fight, with the spirits they summon, over who is the greater summoner and thus deserving of the title. That’s the short story behind the Onitama, an abstract game that barely takes longer than telling its story.
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It’s time for some nostalgia. A long time ago, all was still right with the world in ancient Greece. Then, the city states sprang up and started expanding, building stadiums and temples all over the place, inventing modern civilization. That must have been around 2003, at least that’s when Attika came out, a boardgame about the ancient Greek city states.
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The stars have aligned again to allow the Great Old Ones, beings of such immense power that we are like insects to them, to stir in their slumber. Their cultists, madmen who would do anything for power, may be able to awaken them. Only a few people, those who stumbled upon their conspiracy by accident, may still be able to stop them. With no help from the rest of the world, for who would believe their tales, they must try to prevent the end of the world.
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Games let you play different roles and do things that you wouldn’t do in real life. At least I assume most people playing necromancers in a fantasy RPG, for instance, don’t mess around with the dead in real life. I’ll also assume that most people playing Christope Boelinger’s Illegal don’t really deal with drugs or weapons. That’s the role you take in this adults only party game: that of a distasteful criminal trading his illegal goods for other goods.
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City building games don’t have to be big and complex, Machi Koro proves that. All you need to build your city are two dice, some cards and about half an hour of time. You couldn’t take anything away from this game and still call what is left a game. But even being that light, Machi Koro is published and popular in more countries than most games ever see.
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Thing-building games are still going strong. Deck-building games are the most popular of the bunch, but dice-building games and bag-building games have lots of fans, too. With Orleans one bag-building game has made the Kennerspiel des Jahres nominations this year and it really represents the cream of the genre. To become the most successful leader in medieval France, you need tight management of the followers in your bag.
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Potion delivery is big business. A bit like pizza delivery, only with more magic, and on broomsticks. That is your business in Broom Service, but the competition is tough and you won’t have time to let your brooms cool down before the day is over. So keep a close eye on what your opponents are doing and use your witches and druids to deliver the most potions before the game is over.
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