Spectral is a competitive deductive game, and an unusual one at that. The haunted house you and your companions explore is represented by a 4 x 4 grid of semi-randomized face-down cards, full of gems and curses. You want gems! But beware of curses. You find out where they are by placing any number of explorers between any two rooms and then exploring the contents of one of them. "Content" is somewhat misleading. The rooms in this house don't tell you what's inside. They tell you about the contents of other rooms. On the face of each card is either a curse or, more likely, a gem and one of four symbols. The symbols indicate where the displayed item is located. This card, for example, says that the gem is on the opposite side of the grid:  This card tells me that the curse is in a room that is within two spaces, diagonally:  You spend most of the game placing pieces on a grid and gathering information, all the while taking notes in the notebooks provided. Information is not the only purpose of these components. At the end of the game, when all rooms are revealed and all gems and curses are placed on the field, the gems are distributed among the players using the pieces surrounding that room. Each gem, conveniently enough, is worth 12 points and easily splits into two, three, or four, regardless of the circumstances.  Curses, on the other hand, banish nearby players before the final count. In many cases it is better to find out the location of curses than gems. Precious stones that you can risk, or curses that will not bring any good! There is an element of betting around the placement of pieces. You can give other players an advantage from a position that seems particularly profitable by placing twice as many pieces in the same position. You can even substitute your own pieces, which represents aspects of bluffing that I adore. If I realize I've put one piece next to a curse, who's to say I can't convince someone else I'm on to something good by replacing it with two or three? One of the biggest challenges of puzzle games is to make them interactive, and Spectral has found just about the best way to do it that I've seen. Unused pieces also score points at the end of the game, and depending on the number of players, they score quite a bit. You always have the option of giving away your move if you feel it is better to hold your pieces than risk a bad return. You will never have time to explore every room. By the end of the game, you're making tough choices based on opportunities and hunches.  I have nothing but good things to say about Spectral. Designer Ryan Courtney, of Pipeline fame, managed to combine the trade-offs of territory control and auction games with an engaging puzzle game, all in about thirty minutes. Spectral is smart, interactive, easy to learn and fun. Also, the final reveal of all the rooms provides a nice dramatic moment. Spectral is one of the first two releases in a new series from publisher Bitewing Games, Deep Clean. The idea behind the series is to combine complex game states and inherent gameplay with simplified rulesets. They speak my language. That's all I want. Spectral is a very good start. Oh, and to top it all off, the game comes in a pretty small box. You know, maybe 4.5/5 is too little. We may have finally done it. Maybe this is the perfect game...

 “How different can a card game be?” you might ask yourself. But then you play Faraway and get your answer. Faraway requires you to think in forward and reverse, at the same time, which means that at the end of eight rounds you’re never quite sure whether you made the right moves or not. Let’s find out more. Faraway Overview In Faraway plays will take a journey across the land of Alula “a mysterious continent where a harmonious nature reigns” (Pandasaurus is leaning in pretty heavy on the mythos here). Over the course of eight rounds, players will draft Region cards from a central display, placing them left to right into a personal tableau, and hopefully also acquiring critically useful Sanctuary cards. At the end of the eighth round, players flip all of their region cards face down, and one by one reveal them—starting with the rightmost card. But I’m getting ahead of myself…in Faraway the goal is to earn the most points, which are acquired via end game scoring on both Region and Sanctuary cards. In some cases, points are simply given (this card is worth 5 points), in other cases points are collected from icons or colors on other cards (1 point for every map icon, 2 points for every red or yellow card), and in the remainder of the cards the points are gated behind requirements (2 points for every night card, as long as you have 2 thistle icons). Now, let’s get back to the gameplay. As you reveal the cards from right to left, you score them based solely on the cards which are already revealed. “Oh, you’ve got a card which awards 10 points if you have 3 antler icons? Bummer for you…seems like you didn’t plan ahead.” This is the reason why Sanctuary cards are so important, as they don’t get flipped over at the end of the game. You can earn them for always playing Region cards which are a higher number than the one immediately to your left. If you placed a 7 last turn, and place a 16 this turn, you get to draw a Sanctuary card—and you get to draw additional Sanctuary cards for each map icon you’ve previously played. Sadly you only get to keep one, but these Sanctuary cards generally make the difference between winning and losing. After revealing and scoring all your Region cards, you make one last pass to score any points found on Sanctuary cards, then tally up the points.Faraway or Far Out?  Let’s just lay it out there…everyone I’ve played Faraway with has been tripped up in the first game or two. Even though I always double down on calling out the “forwards then backwards” scoring approach, it still takes them off guard. It usually takes 2 or 3 games to really catch on to how you must shift your thinking. Faraway rewards strategic thinking, but because it’s a card game, you also have to be able to respond to shifting situations. Faraway is also a game which requires making sacrifices. If you draw a card near the beginning of the game that intends to give you 16 points, you better play it for the points. But if you draw that same card in round 7, it might never even hit the table—unless you play it for the icons. Even though Faraway isn’t a multi-use card game in the traditional sense, I think it belongs in that group in spirit. Cards can be both points and resources, or they can just be resources if you can think far enough ahead.  Even though the others members of my game group ultimately felt that Faraway was a bit too thinky for the “small game” time slot we had placed it in, that didn’t prevent us from playing the game a number of times, in an effort to develop an understanding of the game and the strategy it requires. Faraway is definitely a game that rewards multiple plays. What about you, will you give Faraway a shot at your table? In my opinion, it’s a journey worth taking...

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ОГЛЯД ГРИ EL GRANDE El Grande is back. Hosanna. For those who are unfamiliar, El Grande, The Big itself, is one of the great canonical games in our hobby. Every podcast, list, and forum that extends beyond the Cult of the New considers it one of the greatest games ever published. That’s for good reason. El Grande is, in fact, a masterpiece. LE GRAND El Grande is an area-majority game in which players aim to accumulate political power throughout Spain. There are nine rounds, each of which follows the same pattern: players bid for turn order, then choose one of the five action cards available for that round while placing some of their caballeros out onto the board. Every three rounds, players score the board. A big part of the beauty and brilliance of the design is in the way those two—2!—decisions are woven together. Bidding is, on the face of it, simple. Each player starts the game with 13 cards, numbered from 1-13. The higher the card you bid with each round, the earlier in that round you’ll go, but there are two catches. Catch number one: the lower your card, the more caballeros—the meeples you place on the board to mark your influence—you get to add from the pool to your personal supply. Catch number two: the lowest bidding player in any given round gets to bid first for the next.  Then there are the action cards, split into five unique decks. The actions on the cards affect the board in various ways, but it mostly boils down to placing, moving, and removing caballeros. Choices are deeply political and involve a good amount of table talk. A great session of El Grande is a roiling seabed of agreements, betrayals, and machinations. The bottom of each action card also includes between 1 and 5 caballeros, which indicates the amount of influence you can place on the board that turn. There are, of course, some restrictions on placement. On the board, and as yet unmentioned, stands el rey, the King, visiting the various provinces of his kingdom. His position is critical. Caballeros can only be placed in regions adjacent to the King, and nothing—absolutely nothing—can change in the region where the king is present. In addition to putting caballeros out on the board, you have one other option: any number of caballeros can be placed in the Castle, a tall cardboard tube standing on an island to the southeast of the mainland. Why would you want to do that? Every three rounds, scoring triggers. Most of it is rote: go through each region, one at a time, and give the leading players in each region the points indicated on the board. If I have the most caballeros in Toledo, for example, and you have the second most, I get 7 points and you get 4. Before all that happens, though, we have a little bit of drama. At the start of the game, each player gets a spinner wheel showing all the regions. Before scoring begins, each player sets their spinner to one region, places their wheel down on the table, and the Castle is emptied. A moment to shovel praise on whichever member of Hans-im-Glück’s production team suggested giving the new castle a functioning gate. In the history of El Grande, the Castle has had various levels of aesthetic sophistication, but it has always been, fundamentally, a tube. To reveal its contents, one would simply lift the tube. That’s fine. Perfectly fine. Lifting that little gate and having all the caballeros spill out is wonderful.  The Castle itself counts as a region, but the real value comes in what happens after scoring it. Each player reveals their selected region and then places any caballeros they had in the castle out onto the board. This happens, I’ll reiterate, before the rest of the board is scored. The Castle is a source of tension, a sword of Damocles hovering over the board. I love a sword of Damocles hovering over the board. DER GROSS El Grande does everything I want a game to do. The rules are simple. The board state is never confusing. You make three choices every turn: how much to bid, what to pick, where to place. The choices are simple, the ramifications are complex. Truly, the ideal. Oh, and I have to say, do you know how long it takes to set up El Grande? Two minutes. That process is improved by Hans-im-Glück’s decision to include little boxes for each player’s components to be stored in between games, but even without those, that amount of time is a pittance. Lay out the board, hand out the boxes, place the starting pieces out in each province, shuffle the action cards, and you are done. Heaven. Find me a contemporary, comparably rich Euro with that kind of setup time. It cannot, by and large, be done. El Grande is not only a great game, finally made available to the masses. It is a reminder of what games can be, that complication isn’t necessary to create complexity. The Big indeed ..

ОГЛЯД НАСТІЛЬНОЇ ГРИ PINATA У грі Piñata гравці беруть на себе роль дітей на святкуванні дня народження, обоє намагаються з усіх сил зламати піньяту та отримати всередині смачну цукерку. Розумне керування вашими картками допоможе вам першим розкрити цю оболонку пап’є-маше. Піньята — це весела швидка карткова гра для двох гравців, у якій гравці протистоять один одному, обидва намагаються отримати якомога більше цукерок певного кольору, щоб виграти бажані медалі. Будь першим, хто заробить 3 медалі та стань переможцем вечірки до дня народження! Piñata постачається з 4 полями для маркерів великого розміру, які вказують, скільки цукерок належить на цій картці та чи намагаєтеся ви грати низько чи високо. Колода з 54 карт червоного, жовтого, зеленого, фіолетового, рожевого та білого кольорів (джокерів), кожна з різними номерами. 5 карток медалей, які використовуються для відзначення перемоги. Значення на медальній картці вказує, скільки цукерок цього кольору потрібно, щоб отримати медаль.  Кілька дерев’яних цукерок чудової форми в непрозорому тканинному пакеті.ПРИГОТУВАННЯ ДО ГРИ Приготувати Piñata швидко та легко. Перемішайте великі дошки (і випадковим чином переверніть їх набік) і розкладіть між обома гравцями в порядку від 1 до 4. Витягніть випадкову кількість цукерок із мішка відповідно до числа на кожній плитці та покладіть туди цукерки. Повторюйте, доки на кожній великій дошці не буде правильна кількість цукерок. Розкладіть 5 нагородних карток збоку.Перетасуйте колоду і роздайте кожному гравцеві по 8 карт. Виберіть першого гравця та починайте гру. ІГРОВИЙ ПРОЦЕС Мета гри «Піньята» полягає в тому, щоб гравець зіграв певні карти на своїй стороні кожної великої дошки «Піньята». Дошка зі стрілкою, спрямованою вгору, означає, що гравець намагається розіграти комбінацію карт із найбільшим значенням очок, тоді як стрілка вниз означає найменше значення очок. Кількість цукерок на кожній дошці визначає, скільки карток можна використати для отримання результату. Крім того, кольори на цукерках обмежують гравців грати лише в карти цих кольорів і саме тих кольорів. Використовуючи наведений нижче приклад, зауважте, що картка «3» має спрямовану вгору стрілку з фіолетовими, рожевими та жовтими цукерками. Це повідомляє гравцям, що вони можуть зіграти лише 3 карти, що карти мають бути фіолетовими, рожевими та жовтими, і що вони намагаються отримати якомога більше очок за допомогою цих 3 карт. Коли гравець розмістить правильну комбінацію карт на своїй стороні дошки, він має можливість розіграти карти на стороні суперника. У наведеному нижче прикладі гравець ліворуч уже розмістив правильну кількість і колір карток (використовуючи білий дикий символ як заміну необхідної жовтої картки).  Це означає, що тепер вони можуть зіграти жовту картку за власним вибором на табло іншого гравця. Враховуючи, що ця дошка має високі бали, якщо вони зіграють жовту 1 або 2, вони виграють дошку.ПЕРЕМОГА У ГРІ Коли обидва гравці мають правильну кількість і колір карток на дошці, гра зупиняється, і гравці визначають, хто виграє цю дошку. Гравець-переможець бере цукерки з цієї дошки, перевертає дошку на протилежний бік, кладе на неї нові цукерки, витягнуті з мішка, і гра поновлюється. Якщо після отримання цукерок гравець має достатньо, щоб претендувати на медаль, він бере цю медаль і кладе її перед собою. Гравець, який першим здобуде 3 медалі, є переможцем. ЩО МЕНІ ПОДОБАЄТЬСЯ В ГРІ Як завжди, я починаю з оформлення: якщо коробка не приваблива візуально, ви навряд чи візьмете її, і Piñata не розчарує у відділі мистецтва. Коробка чудова: святкова, яскрава, з темою мексиканської вечірки. Піньята має відчуття 3D, якого зазвичай не можна знайти в настільних іграх, і воно досить освіжає. Юнак, що бігає, зображений на кожній із карток, здається цілком сповненим рішучості добитися свого з піньятою, і вираз задоволення на його обличчі на картках із медалями є винагородою. Поля товсті та міцні, як і можна було очікувати від того, що можна буде перевертати десятки разів в одній грі. Гральні карти мають високу якість і повинні витримати багато ігор. Нарешті, цукерки… яка весела форма та яка тематична, що вони мають форму, як старомодні загорнуті цукерки! Ви та ваш партнер чудово проведете час, витягуючи їх із сумки та складаючи перед собою.ЩО НЕ СПОДОБАЛОСЬ Єдиний мінус, який я можу сказати про Піньяту, це те, що вона іноді може тривати трохи довго. На полі зазначено 30 хвилин, але іноді гра може збільшити 40 хвилин, оскільки гравці аналізують розташування карток. Це не велика угода, якщо обидва гравці знають про це, але просто знайте, що це може бути проблемою. ВИСНОВКИ Варто зазначити, що Piñata – це свого роду ребрендинг старішої гри під назвою Balloon Cup. Якщо ви хотіли спробувати цю гру, але не можете, тому що її важко знайти, тоді Piñata може подряпати цей свербіж за вас, і за набагато нижчою ціною. Якщо ви шукаєте чудову, веселу, досить швидку гру для двох гравців, то Piñata точно вам підійде. Чому б не покачатися і перевірити, чи подобається вам Піньята?!..

 У 1995 році Клаус Тойбер представив світові Settlers of Catan. Того року він виграв Spiel des Jahres і, без жодних гіпербол, назавжди змінив настільні ігри. Через чотири роки Тойбер запустив свою гру у відкритий космос із The Starfarers of Catan. Ця версія включала набагато більшу дошку з планетними системами, нові ресурси для збору та одну велику ракету на гравця. На жаль, виробничі аспекти підвели гру. Ракета та деталі, які до неї прикріплюються, часто ламаються під час повторних дій. У результаті Starfarers зникли з прилавків, залишивши неоднозначну спадщину. З того часу Settlers of Catan було перейменовано на Catan із багатьма розширеннями. Такі люди, як я, які давно чули про те, що Starfarers кращі за стандартний Catan, терпляче чекали перевидання Starfarers. У 2019 році це перевидання нарешті потрапило в магазини. Він поставлявся з покращеними пластиковими деталями та модульним полем. Але чи справді Catan: Starfarers щось хороше? І чи може він бути кращим за Catan? Давайте подамо гру до столу, щоб самі переконатися, чи не так? ПРИГОТУВАННЯ ДО ГРИ Ви почнете зі створення ігрового поля. Воно складається з шести частин головоломки розміром 11 x 11 дюймів, які після збору матимуть кілька порожніх місць, які ви заповните відповідними частинами долілиць. В альманасі гри запропоновано налаштування першої гри, включно з тим, які планетарні системи (відповідні фігури до порожніх місць) куди йдуть, а також позиції стартових фігур кожного гравця в основі поля. Ми дотримувалися цього і виявили, що це призвело до добре збалансованої першої гри, але потім змінили приготування для наступних ігор.  Планети в кожній планетарній системі мають свій символ. Знайдіть відповідні диски та покладіть їх символом догори на кожну планету. Відкладіть усі інші диски вбік.  Помістіть усі картки ресурсів у лоток, що входить до комплекту, переконавшись, що картки товарів увійшли в слот, позначений 2:1. Кожна з інших карт знаходиться в слотах 3:1, тобто їх можна обміняти на інші карти протягом усієї гри за цим обмінним курсом. Візьміть вісім карток з кожного ресурсу, перемішайте їх разом і помістіть у відкрите отвір у лотку. Роздайте по три карти з цієї колоди кожному гравцеві.  Ще один трей додається для різних модернізованих ракет (Booster, Freight і Cannon) і зламаних частин слави. Перемішайте колоду карт Зустріч і покладіть їх у великий отвір у кінці підноса. Розсортуйте карти Дружби в чотири окремі колоди та покладіть їх збоку від дошки. Поставте відповідні стоячі жетони біля кожної колоди. Потім кожен гравець вибирає колір і бере всі фігури цього кольору. Сюди входять колонії (великі шестигранні частини), торгові станції (менші шестигранні частини), верфі (шестигранні кільця, які підходять навколо частин колонії) і транспортні кораблі (крихітні ракетні кораблі). Розмістіть круглі маркери результатів на цифрі 4 на дошці. Перемагає гравець, який першим набере 15 очок. І ще є Ракета. Давайте подивимося правді в очі: що стосується ігрових компонентів, ці ракети досить круті. Якщо ви граєте вперше, обережно відкрутіть верхню частину ракети та киньте туди 2 жовті, 1 синю, 1 червону та 1 чорну маленькі пластикові кульки. Потім замініть верхню частину ракети. Тепер потрясіть її. (Ви знаєте, що хочете!) Візьміть один із помаранчевих прискорювачів із лотка для покращення ракети та додайте його на дно одного з трьох ракетних плавників. Потім кожен отримує половину жетона слави. (Два жетони = 1 бал) Виберіть першого гравця, і гра починайте гру.ІГРОВИЙ ПРОЦЕС Якщо ви знаєте, як грати в Catan, ви будете знайомі з більшістю того, як грати Starfarers. Під час ходу ви кидаєте два кубики, берете загальну суму та співставляєте це число з числами на планетах. Гравці, які мають торгову станцію, колонію або космодром поруч із номером, збирають ресурс, який збігається з кольором планети. Після цього активний гравець може торгувати ресурсами з іншими гравцями та/або торгувати ресурсами, щоб покращити свою ракету або побудувати космодроми, колонії чи кораблі. Якщо ви викинете сімку в Starfarers, будь-хто, хто має на руках більше семи карт ресурсів, має скинути половину своїх карт, округлених у меншу сторону. Додаткова дія в Starfarers також передбачає струшування вашої ракети. У фазі руху ви підрахуєте кількість показаних кульок. Це число вказує, на скільки кутів гексів на дошці ви можете перемістити кожен свій корабель у просторі. Однак, якщо одна з цих куль є чорною, рух не відбувається. Замість цього гравець ліворуч від вас витягує верхню картку зустрічі з колоди та читає верхню частину вголос. Багато карток зустрічей містять сценарії («Ви зустрічаєтеся з торговцем…» або «Ви зустрічаєтеся з космічним піратом…»), які вимагають від вас зробити вибір. Якщо, наприклад, ви вирішите битися з космічним піратом, ви та інший гравець потрясете своїми ракетами та порівняєте загальну кількість маленьких пластикових кульок, які з’являються в основі (червоний = 3; жовтий = 2; синій = 1). ; чорний = 0). Картка Зустріч пояснює результати та наслідки. РОЗВІДКА Коли ви рухаєтесь у космос, ви можете вибрати контакт із тими планетними системами, про які я згадував раніше. Приземляючись на перехресті, яке примикає до одного, ви перевернете всі три диски стороною догори. Деякі з них будуть числами, що вказує на те, що вони генеруватимуть ресурси, якщо торгова станція, колонія або космодром розташовані на сусідньому перехресті. На деяких дисках може бути або Крижана планета, або Піратська база. У цьому випадку планетні перетини з цими маркерами заборонені, доки вони не будуть розв’язані. У випадку з крижаною планетою один із ваших кораблів має бути поруч із нею, а ваша ракета має бути оснащена вантажними контейнерами, які дорівнюють чи перевищують номер на диску. На піратській базі ваша ракета повинна мати кількість гармат, що дорівнює або перевищує вказане число. Під час тераформування крижаної планети або перемоги над базою піратів ви спочатку заберете жетон на планеті й отримаєте один бал. Потім ви заміните його диском із тим самим символом, помістивши його лицьовою стороною догори, щоб було видно номер. ШУКАЄМО ДРУЗІВ Дошка також населена чотирма форпостами. Кожен Форпост має центральну точку стикування та місця, де можна розмістити торгові станції. На знак доброї волі, коли ви це зробите, ви зможете вибрати одну з бонусних карт цієї інопланетної раси. Усі ці карти надають вам особливу силу до кінця гри.  Перший гравець, який досягне аванпосту, також отримає жетон друга для цієї раси вартістю один бал. Цей жетон друга залишається вашим, якщо інший гравець не розмістить на форпості більше торгових станцій, ніж ви. Якщо так, інший гравець вимагає Друга. Ви втратите бал, а вони отримають один. ВИСНОВКИ Catan: Starfarers має багато речей, які можна порекомендувати. Почнемо з вивчення гри. Наскільки я бачив, підказки гравців у Starfarers майже ідеальні. Навіть якщо ви не знайомі з системою Catan, картки легко читати. Вони пояснюють ходи гравців і показують ресурси, необхідні для покращення вашої ракети та будівництва торгової станції, колонії чи космопорту. Подібно до Catan, Starfarers постачається з Правилами та Альманахом. Збірник правил охоплює основні правила та детально розповідає про можливості певного ходу. Альманах — це алфавітний перелік усіх елементів гри з подробицями кожної частини гри. Якщо у вас є запитання, відповідь на нього буде наведено в одному (якщо не в обох) із цих посібників. Не дивлячись на кількість планет у різних планетарних системах, шанс отримати ресурси набагато більший у Starfarers. Більше ресурсів означає більшу можливість торгів. Крім того, стандартна торгівля в грі становить 3:1 (на відміну від 4:1 Катана). Ми все ще відчували дефіцит певних ресурсів, але було більше шансів побудувати космічний корабель або посилити наші ракети протягом гри. Я впевнений, що деякі люди можуть не погодитися з цим, але я вітав відсутність карток розвитку від Catan у Starfarers. Карти розвитку в Catan — це прихований елемент гри, який можна отримати, коли ви наближаєтеся до перемоги. Я ніколи не був великим шанувальником цих карток, і відсутність їх є великим плюсом для мене. Це зберігає Starfarers як гру з відкритою інформацією, що є моїм улюбленим стилем гри. З іншого боку, Starfarers грається значно довше, ніж стандартний Catan. Наша остання гра в Catan для трьох гравців зайняла близько години, гра в Starfarers з такою ж кількістю гравців зайняла близько 2,5 годин. (Наша перша гра для чотирьох гравців, у яку грали люди, які добре знайомі з Catan, зайняла 3,5 години.) Незважаючи на розширений доступ до ресурсів, залишатися лише на початкових ресурсах буде недостатньо. Тому вам потрібно буде будувати космічні кораблі та переміщувати їх на інші планети. Хоча обидві ігри відбуваються в межах обмеженого поля, поле Starfarers у багато разів більше, ніж поле Catan. Карти зіткнень часто призупиняють гру (знову ж таки, вони витягуються, коли біля основи вашої ракети з’являється чорна куля), перериваючи потік гри. Крім того, багато карток Encounter є дублікатами. З увагою до деталей, яку команда приділила решті гри, повторення цих часто витягуваних карт просто не має сенсу. Це стало чимось на кшталт жарту щоразу, коли витягували карту Encounter, коли люди навколо столу говорили: «Ви зустрічаєте трейдера…» ще до того, як картку було прочитано. Якби була більша різноманітність Зустрічей, до них підходили б з деякою мірою обережності. Як це було, навіть найгірші результати були лише трохи дратуючими і навряд чи вартували зусиль. Повертаючись до запитань, які я поставив на початку цього огляду, «Чи справді Catan: Starfarers хороша?» Так. З Starfarers Тойбер взяв концепції свого попередника та перетворив його на велику пригодницьку гру. Це залишає мене з питанням: «Чи може це бути краще, ніж Catan?» Для мене Starfarers краще, ніж Catan. Під час..

PIES GAME REVIEW I love old pictures and illustrations of fruits like those found in botany textbooks from the late 1800s. The attention to detail is impressive, the gradation of shades and shapes, flaws. Cards for Pies captivated me, lovingly executed work in an identical style. I found myself getting stuck on the cards while going through them. These cards create a world with a distinctly pastoral feel, the spine of the book covered in dust. Then I got to the tokens with the pie cut out on them, and I started to worry. They did not feel aesthetic. I caught myself thinking about the old writer's maxim: "Don't put a hat on top of a hat."  Pies is supposed to be an empowerment game and is being marketed as such, but that's flat out wrong. There are no suits, no pressure to follow, no trumps. The game exhibits none of the defining characteristics of the genre. This is an auction game about collecting fruits and recipes to turn them into pies.  Each player places one card from his hand in the middle of the table. Then, from the highest card to the lowest, everyone can choose any of the cards played to add to their table. Some cards have recipes that require fruit combinations, while others give you an immediate bonus. Bonuses can be three Pi tokens that can change the value of the card you play, the ability to steal a card from another player, or the aforementioned dog that protects your painting from being stolen. If you have successfully collected the required fruit combinations, you can turn over the recipe card and discard the corresponding fruit. This flipped card is now locked, a safe source of late game points.  Pies are boring from start to finish. There are very few solutions. Playing cards is rarely fun. The quality of solutions is somewhere between limited and non-existent. The only enjoyment to be found is when you play a Pi token that changes the value of your card by 3.14 so that your card is exactly 0.14 higher than the other player's card. A dog card comes out of nowhere. Pi tokens seem like a gratuitous joke. Their combined aesthetic departure from the game's world, suggesting a creation that doesn't know what it is, is perfectly aligned with the game's inability to choose a meaningful line...

 Project GIPF is a series of eight abstract strategy games designed by Chris Burm. Each game has a hexagonal playing area and involves reducing the number of pieces or mechanics of the playing area. The way they approach these elements is not only unique, but also combines what I think are the best qualities in most theses: simple rules that reveal a complex game. If you've never heard of Project GIPF, GIPF , TAMSK , ZÈRTZ , DVONN , YINSH , PÜNCT , TZAAR , and LYNGK , I encourage you to look them up in cardboard form or digitally online. They are worth your time. Today's game: TAMSK  Before I begin, I know some supporters may object to including TAMSK here. This is because in 2007, when Broome introduced TZAAR , he stated that it would replace TAMSK in the GIPF project. fine. When you write a review about a GIPF project, feel free not to mention it. Having played TAMSK, I know it deserves a mention every time a GIPF project comes up. That's because TAMSK , a game about balancing the falling sands of time against a rapidly shrinking board, is a great game. Great game. GAME PROCESS The game takes place on the hexagonal black field located between them. Each player has three hourglass timers; one takes the black timers and the other takes the red timers. You will also have 32 white rings.  At the start of each turn, you'll take one of your three hourglasses, flip it over and place it in any available pipe next to where it started. You will then place one of your rings on top of the hourglass where it will fall around the tube that holds the hourglass. As soon as one player places the hourglass in the tube, the next player can move. They don't have to wait for the ring to sweep through the hourglass just played. When a tube has rings equal to its height, that tube is out of play. This means that the outermost trumpets can only be played once, the second "ring" of hexes can be played twice, and so on. For an hourglass timer to remain in play, it must always have sand from the top half to the bottom. If the hourglass runs out of sand at the top, it freezes on the board. The pipe he is standing in is blocked until the end of the game. The game continues until neither player can make any additional moves because their timers have run out of sand or they have no valid moves. Again, the winner is the one with the fewest rings at the end of the game. CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE GAME When the taller pipes are toward the center of the board, the gameplay will naturally move toward the center. However, the outer edges can be good places to quickly drop rings in an attempt to block your opponent's hourglass. (Remember that a frozen hourglass cannot move and therefore will not help you get rid of the rings.) By introducing real-time as a game mechanic, players are forced to quickly assess their hourglass, their position on the board, the position of their opponent's hourglass, the areas where their hourglass can be trapped, and how you can catch one of your opponents. sand clock. All in a fraction of a second. With varying degrees of 3-minute hourglass, there is no time for analysis paralysis in TAMSK.  TAMSK is the only game I play standing up. Too much is happening too fast for me to sit and feel like I can take it all in. It's also the only abstract strategy game that gives me an adrenaline rush. True, this type of game is not for everyone. I once played TAMSK with a friend who, at the end of the game we were playing, said, “I play games to relax and take my time between turns. I never want to play that again." Personally, I will play it when I can. It's a fast-paced game similar to Speed Chess, except you don't hit the timer after making a move—the timers are your playing pieces, and you have to manage them both in time and place. TAMSK was removed as an official game in Project GIPF mainly due to production costs. As a result, it has been out of print for years and is hard to find. However, if an exciting abstract strategy game sounds intriguing, then this Pluto from the GIPF project is worth your time...

 In this review, I want to talk about an unusual board game. It is unusual for two (even three) reasons: firstly, it is based on a popular computer game (no, no, this is not Civilization), and secondly, this game is an action game. A real action game in a desktop version! And thirdly, the game was successful, which, as you understand, does not always happen in games (or movies) based on well-known franchises. So, meet: Gears of War, or "Six of War"! The board game Gears of War is based on the computer game of the same name, released on PC and consoles in three parts, which has gained considerable popularity. To be honest, I haven't played the original, so I don't even know who the Locasts are and why they fight the humans. Then, you ask, how did I buy it if I'm not a fan of this game on PC? For several reasons: FFG, Corey Konicka, and fancy Artificial Intelligence (AI). The game promised a never-before-seen opponent AI (yes, this is a cooperative game in which one to four people face off against a cardboard dummy), and looking ahead, I will say that the developer managed to fully realize the illusion that you are playing with a fairly intelligent opponent. And all it took was a deck of cards! A very unusual game genre. Although there were games with a similar content before that (Doom, Space Hulk), it was quite a long time ago and each of them had a villain player. So, this is a real tactical shooter! I wonder how Konichka managed to adequately transfer the infernal shooter from the computer to the table and also turn it into a multiplayer? Miracles, and sometimes...  Perhaps, I will tell you about the composition of the box. Since Gears of War was released by FFG, the quality of miniatures and maps should not be mentioned separately - and so it is clear that it is excellent. Although, I will stop a little bit on minky - I have not seen such high-quality ones anywhere on the tables (or so I think). The detailing is excellent, you can see every little thing, and they did not skimp on the size. The artist who painted the miniatures for me noted that it was both easy and difficult to paint them at the same time - precisely because of the excellent detailing, where every jamb was immediately visible. In the tabletop Gears of War, 4 heroes are available, each with their own card, which indicates their starting ammunition (it is slightly different for each fighter) and some unique special ability (more details below). There are a lot of cards in the game - as I already said, the II engine consists entirely of them; also, all orders to fighters are given using maps, all weapons, mission conditions and information about locast monsters are displayed on the maps. Ammunition and grenades are made using tokens, very convenient. The terrain tiles are great, the cardboard is very thick and dense. Some expressed complaints, they say that the small ones are too small, the monsters pile up on them, it's inconvenient, but I didn't notice this during the game - everything is perfectly contained and practical. The tiles are divided into zones, along which the fighters and Locasts walk, very conveniently, there are practically no questions about the range of movement and line of sight (unlike the unforgettable Descent, where the tiles are divided into cells and disputes of this kind arise at every step).  Let's move smoothly to the gameplay. All the missions in "Gears" are varied, it may seem to some that 7 missions are too few for the game, but it is not so. Not only are they all different and use different monsters, but each time the tiles of the terrain will be laid out in a different order, and because of this, the optimal order of passage (if there is one at all) will be different. Each type of monster has its own card, where all the information about them is displayed - how much protection it has, whether it can be cut down by a lancer (ooooo, rifles with chainsaws are not only a feature of "Warhammer"!), how many life points it has, how powerfully it attacks. Some have ranged weapons, some only attack in an area with a fighter. Well, each type of monster has its own special feature, which is activated only if a special sign, popularly known as a "skull", or, using the game's terminology, an "omen", falls on one of the attack cubes. By the way, each weapon in the game not only has 2 alternative modes of fire, but also has its own features that are activated by the "omen". Each fire mode shows how many dice the fighter will roll in an attack, attacking with or without spending an ammo token. The "trick" is that with the consumption of cartridges, the attack is much stronger, but replenishing stores can become a real problem. And if you take into account that with the lack of cartridges, even the "gentle" mode of shooting stops working, you will involuntarily start saving ammunition and sawing more often (especially since some order cards hint).  Now about the Locust AI. Like I said, it's just a deck of two types of cards: 1) monster-specific order cards, and 2) general orders. Due to the fact that the orders are formulated very competently, one gets the impression of an "intelligent" opponent. For example, the order on the Locust map indicates that if the drones (men with rifles) are no more than two zones away from the nearest fighter in line of sight, then they move to him one zone and attack. Otherwise (that is, they are two zones away) - they move two zones to the nearest fighter. In this spirit, almost all the orders are kept, it is very difficult to interpret them. If none of the conditions are met - draw the next card of the order, and so on until the order does not work. The difficulty of the missions varies due to which orders are mixed into the II deck. Monsters appear on the map also in an original way - the tiles are marked with "holes", from which they climb out thanks to the general order cards, and the number and type of Locusts that appear depends on how much a person resists them (the game has excellent scalability , although, of course, the most complete Gears of War opens on the 4th). These holes, by the way, can be sealed with grenades (the goal of the first mission is to seal such a hole), and this is one of the tactics of the game.  And the last type of reaction is "defense". Let's say the preemptive strike didn't work, Cole also missed, and Boomer is already preparing to attack with four cubes. You can discard a card with a "defense" reaction before attacking, and then 2 more is added to your defense dice, which is quite a lot and can save your ass from getting hurt. When wounded, let me remind you, you discard cards from your hand, and if you have nothing left in your hands - you are wounded, and all your actions are limited to crawling one zone in a move; you can be picked up by a friend who is in the same zone as you and spends a card from your hand. Then you go up with zero cards in hand, and take two at the start of your turn. Thanks to all of the above, all this fun with tactics arises. As a rule, there are no less than three reprehensible options for a move, what can we say about unreprehensible ones. By ill-judged, I mean moves that completely ignore the Locust's counter move, or ignore a possible harsh response in the hopes of something. But maybe it doesn't flow here; I witnessed the cruel end of the party move to the 6th - II is sometimes inhumanly insightful and accurate. However, even taking into account "good" moves, you can have unpleasant surprises from a seemingly stupid "cardboard". But it depends to a greater extent on the dice and to a much lesser extent on the issued order cards. You can shamefully miss the Thing with 4 cubes (in the last game I personally saw 5 (!) misses on 5 attack cubes at once), but you can throw away 5 "shields" on 3 defense cubes.  Ah yes, I didn't talk about the combat system. Everything is very simple (it is similar to the game Descent) - there are attack cubes with successful and unsuccessful hits, and there are defense cubes with "shields" and without. Moreover, the defense modifier can change depending on whether a fighter or a Locust is in the shelter or not. Those hits that were not absorbed by the shields are applied. Also, depending on the mission, the tactics of passage also change. Rush to the treasured door to the second level on all pairs, or carefully clean everything and everything, covering each other? By the way, at first, when completely clearing the area and wiping out opponents, be careful. It may seem that it becomes boring to play, because the fighters advance without losses, Locasts are cut out in packs, there is a sea of cartridges ... Suddenly, everything can change, and after a pitiful couple of activations, a couple of fighters will already be crawling under your feet with sobs "don't leave me!" or "run, I'll catch them!" depending on the seriousness of the moment. I note that in a game of 4, getting a couple of fighters to their feet and fighting off the Locusts at the same time is like a feat. Although the situations are different, in one game a soldier blew himself up with a grenade, killing four Locasts (and even managed to stay on his feet, although he was all wounded). Although I talked about the fact that it is most fun to play with four, it is quite a raking composition for three, and for two, and even for one! True, many order cards then stop working, because they are designed for at least two, but I assure you that the game does not lose its charm and fun at all! And yes, an add-on was released for Gears of War, which is a set of maps (more), where there are 2 new missions, new types of monsters and new types of weapons. The new Locasts use base miniatures, replacing their stats. Also, I know that fans make up their fighters, creating their own characteristics.  Summing up, I can't help but note some of the game's shortcomings. Some missions are very long,..

REVIEW In Periodic: a Game of the Elements (hereafter referred to as Periodic), players compete to collect sets of elements and advance their research as they navigate the periodic table. Doing this research requires energy, but a lot of it. Players will need to use their reserves effectively to find the items they need to complete the objective cards and progress along the achievement track. When the game ends, points are earned for the objectives achieved as well as the achievement track, and the player with the most points wins. If you're just curious to know what I think of Periodic, feel free to scroll down to the Opinions section. For the rest... PREPARATION Preparing Periodic is relatively simple. The game board is laid out, and 8 element group cards are randomly placed around it, 4 on each side of the board. The objective cards are separated by color and shuffled into four face down decks. They are placed above the playing field, and the top card of each is turned face up.  Objective cards depict specific sets of items. The objective dice that correspond to the objective cards are then placed on top of each of those items, the bonus tiles for each stack of objective cards are placed on top of the corresponding objective cards, and the lab tokens are set aside. Finally, one energy is placed on each of the periodic trends below the periodic table. After choosing their player's color and collecting their pieces, each player gets some energy to start the game. After the starting player is chosen, each player places one of their lane markers on one of the element group cards (dictated by turn order), their flask on the element with the lowest number corresponding to that element group, and then another lane marker on the first place of achievement track. You are now ready to play Periodic. MOVING In Periodic, players will use energy to move their vials around the game board so they can find the items they need to fulfill the requirements of the objective cards. By putting energy into or taking energy from the Periodic Trend, the player can move their flask in the specified direction from 1 to 5 times. If the move causes the bulb to end up on the spot with the target die, then the player places one of their research dice on the corresponding target card to show that they have discovered the item. If the player has placed energy, then the extra energy can be spent during the player's turn to move multiple times and in different directions if the player wishes. If any player discovers all the elements on the target card, that card is scored. Any player with only 1 research die on their card gets 3 lab points. Any player with 2 research dice on their card gets a 5 point token. The player who completed the card does not receive lab tokens, but instead takes the card. The new card is then turned face up to replace it and the corresponding target dice are placed accordingly.  When setting up the map, Element Groups were laid out around the play area, and players would place one of their lane markers on one of them. To advance along the achievement track, a player looks at the next card of an element group clockwise from their current marker position, and then attempts to end their turn with their flask on one of the elements included in that group. If they do, they place their marker on that card and then advance their other marker one position on the achievement track. As we will soon see, this will provide players with points at the end of the game. ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END A Periodic Game End is triggered when a player meets one of the following conditions: 2 stacks of objective cards are empty, 1 stack of objective cards is empty, and one player has reached one of the last 3 cells of the Achievement Track, or 2 players have reached one of the last 3 spaces of the Achievement Track. Each other player then gets one extra turn. When this is done, the scores are tallied and the player with the most points wins. Players earn points for completing objective cards, collecting lab tokens, remaining research cubes that have been placed on unfinished objective cards, and tracking achievement progress. CONCLUSIONS If you've read my past Cytosis and Subatomic reviews, you'll no doubt know that I'm a huge fan of Genius Games. John Covia's ability to gamify the science behind everyday things continues to amaze me. I've always wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of a game designer. Being able to look down on the periodic table of the elements and see the game there is something that puzzled me. Yet John Covey did it, and it works. In his past games, John turned real scientific processes into games. Cytosis changes the way cells take in nutrients and expel waste, while in Subatomic, players manipulate subatomic particles to create protons, electrons, and neutrons, then combine them to create atoms. However, periodicity is something completely different. In Periodic, you don't put things together to make new things. Instead, you learn about what already exists by examining the structure in which the data is organized. It's like finding out about a person by going through their files in a filing cabinet. Although this can be interesting and informative, the process itself is not very exciting. It's easy to get carried away with smashing atomic particles to create things. It's much harder to get excited about looking at a chart.  However, if you can get past the theme, you'll find a game that might surprise you. On paper, Periodic is a game about efficient resource management and route planning. How do you get the most you can in one go using only the energy you have at your disposal? At its core, however, Periodic is a fast-paced racing game. These goal cards fill up quickly and the achievement track is a ticking clock. You are constantly forced to choose between generalization or specialization. Do you focus all of your efforts on one objective card or spread out over several? If you finish your move here, will it be an easy opening for your opponents to capitalize on and score big points? Is the personal benefit of ending your turn really worth it, or should you wait and see what happens next? There is constant pressure to keep moving and at the same time you feel the same pressure to stand still and stay put. These conflicting desires create an interesting tension, and that tension grows closer to the end of the game. Aside from wishing the theme was a little more exciting, the only downside I can find with this game is that there is no way to change the turn order as of this writing. While this doesn't affect gameplay, it was pointed out to me in at least one play session that if two players were racing to get to the end of an achievement track and could progress each turn, the player who goes first in queue order would always wins. This is important because the last 3 spots on this lane can only accommodate a certain number of players. If you reach the end first, the people behind you will have to settle for second to last place. It's only 5 points, but in a tight race those 5 points can make all the difference. I understand that the final round of the game is designed so that each player will have the same number of moves, and this will be impossible to calculate since a player's starting token is constantly changing positions, but the inability to change the move order is still worth mentioning. In the end, I really like Periodic. While this isn't Genius Games' strongest game, it's still very good. I like the fast pace of the game and I appreciate the challenges that are presented to me. And like all of Genius Games' offerings, I definitely approve of Periodic's sneaky educational nature. John Covey's games always teach you something, even if you don't know you're learning it. When you see Periodic Trends as more than just places to place energy tokens, you realize that these are real concepts that are accurately reflected in how your bulb token moves along the periodic table, and before you know it, you'll be re-searching for periodic trends in Google. And that is the magic that Genius Games constantly brings to the table. The experience goes beyond the tabletop. Their games don't just make you a better player, they make you a smarter person...