Boardgame talk for Meeple & People
Usually, when a game tells you to create your own legend, it doesn’t mean you should kill the people participating in it. But when the game is named after the Greek underworld for heroes and demigods it was predictable that they would have to get there somehow, and the usual way is dying. But at least they will contribute to your legend and maybe help secure your place on Olympus.
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Move to Italy, by a vineyard, grow wine, that’s not a plan that appeals to me. But put the same thing in a boardgame and suddenly I’m interested. Viticulture is a classic worker placement game about running a vineyard, from growing to selling wine, while giving tours and entertaining visitors on the side.
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Bruno Cathala and Days of Wonder take us to Naqala, a magical kingdom straight out of Arabian Nights if Arabian Nights had included meeples. Which it should have. Five Tribes is one of the most talked about games of the last year, and after testing it extensively we understand why.
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If you’re following what’s going on in the boardgame world, you will have noticed something is going on. Don’t worry,[…]
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The nominees for this year’s Spiel des Jahres awards were announced this morning. Since that seem is what is most[…]
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A huge Empire without a permanent capital is something that is hard to imagine today. But in medieval Europe, the Staufer emperors had their itinerant court, they would travel around their empire and rule from wherever they just happened to be. That way, everywhere in the empire could have the glory of hosting the emperor, and he would get first hand knowledge of what was going on everywhere. In The Staufer Dynasty, you are a member of the court of Henry VI, working hard to get members of your family into influential offices all over the empire.
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Greenland is a pretty hostile environment for human beings, and survival is at stake there every day. Not so much nowadays, but people have been living there since long before packaged food and electric heating. The game Greenland gives you some idea just how dangerous the place is: careful planning and good tactics will go a long way, but a bit of bad luck can still wipe out your people.
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Stefan Feld is back, and he’s taking us on a trip under the sea this time. Because it’s better down where it’s wetter. But you won’t have time to watch the singing and dancing crustaceans, there’s science to be done. You only have two people working for you, an Engineer and a Scientist, but together with their swarm of robots they will do science, collect crystals and catch invading octopodes.
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Micro games, very small games with few components and few rules, quick to explain and to play, are a minor trend at the moment. They don’t usually keep you entertained for the whole evening, but they are nice to play a round or three while you wait for pretty much anything. Even in a waiting room or on a train, because they’re very portable. Empire Engine is a micro game by Alderac where everything is about cogs and wheels. The whole planet the game is set on is made from cogs and wheels.
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Combining boardgames with mobile apps into a game that people actually want to play is the current Philosophers’ Stone and Holy Grail rolled into one for game designers and publishers. The Philosophers’ Grail, maybe. Previous attempts have had lukewarm success at best. But Alchemists is the first in a new wave of games with companion app, and it might just have found the magic formula how do it right.
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