I'll start with a disclaimer that I'm a big fan of PC Skyrim and have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in it. I bought the tabletop simply because the box had the word "Skyrim" on it. Here are my impressions after playing the first campaign solo, including learning and replaying the first chapter (because I didn't understand all the rules right away). In total, it took about 12 hours. WHAT IS ENJOYABLE IN THE GAME  — The atmosphere of "Skyrim" is perfectly conveyed. The art, the field (although it is huge), the game mats, the equipment, the quest markers... everything is perfectly in line with the spirit of Skyrim. It plays very atmospherically if you turn on the soundtrack from the original. - The battles are very simple, but quite fan-like - in this they are similar to the original. You have several attacks to choose from, and enemies have several types of armor. You roll the dice, subtract the armor rating and deal damage. During the course of the game, the loss increases, different types of attacks, status effects, armor appear... but the calculations do not become excessively complicated. You can make a thief build and make a free attack with 2X damage at the beginning of the battle, you can chop with a two-handed ax. For me, the simplicity of the fighting game is a plus, although to some people. Those who expected deep battles that require a lot of thinking will be disappointed. — There are both scripted quests and those drawn from the deck. In my opinion, this is quite an interesting feature. Once a villager gave me a quest to find a fugitive, for which I had to go back and forth in different locations. I did it in parallel with the main quest and as a result had to decide what to focus on. Desktop "Skyrim" has a lot of freedom of action. You can spend the entire game clearing dungeons and doing side quests, or you can follow the main story. Most likely, it is optimal to combine both, but there are always a lot of options. Also, losing a battle or failing a mission doesn't mean it's game over. It will just make your life more difficult.  — There are a lot of side quests here: from the most primitive to those that branch and are performed in several stages. Sometimes very simple tasks (for example, helping a resident of a fortress) can open access to a much larger quest with a significant reward. It is very similar to the computer original. I really liked how well the quests and exploration of the surrounding world were developed here. — It is nice that you can easily change the level of difficulty of the game. As a person who does not like overly complex games, this option is useful for me. - All character classes play very differently, which increases replayability. True, the game forces you to pump according to a certain pattern (Nords are always melee fighters, Khajiits are thieves, etc.). You can, of course, do it your way, but then you will lose all class bonuses. — In battle and during skill checks, you can take risks using the "try your luck" mechanic. This adds tension and intrigue. WHICH IS NOT VERY HAPPY - The rule book is a real horror. The rules are haphazardly scattered throughout the book, some nuances are explained to you even before the basic elements are explained, it is problematic to find the right rule (they are scattered throughout the actual rule book, the scenario book, and the training mode book). The tutorial book has a bunch of typos (wrong page numbers where the book refers to the main rulebook), etc. Overall, it's terrible. I eventually managed to make my way through these slums, but it wasn't easy. In most decks, I can more or less understand how the gameplay is set up after reading the rulebook, but not in this case. I had to watch the video walkthrough. - Crafting, upgrades and equipment enchantments are very poorly done from a thematic point of view. These mechanics are completely random - and the outcome depends entirely on what you are lucky enough to draw from the deck. Maybe I was just unlucky, but all my attempts at enchantment gave bonuses to magic, which is useless for my melee character. By the third chapter, I finally scored on charm, because I never got anything useful.  The same goes for drawing gear cards from the appropriate decks (melee/magic/stealth) in cities: you might end up with something that's perfect for your build, or you might end up with garbage, and the outcome is unpredictable. You have to pay for drawing the card, and then pay extra for the actual purchase, which is a clear overkill. As a result, I introduced home rule (you can look at the top three cards of the deck and choose one for a fee) to reduce the role of randomness. — Layout instructions and quest descriptions are sometimes confusing. Yes, the rule book instructs you to take card 209 at the start of one of the quests. But the tutorial book says you draw this card at the end of your first turn. And at the end of the first turn, I thought I must have done something wrong, because I had no idea where to get that particular card. Also, when the game instructs you to remove cards from the game, you have to be very careful. If you need to draw a card that is not in the deck (because it has been removed from the game), then you draw the next card in order. For example, if card 102 is needed, but it is no longer available, you take 103. If 103 is not available, then 104, etc. During most quests, you remove several cards from the game. If you forget to remove any of them (I've had this happen twice), you'll be very confused by the results. And correcting the situation and finding out where and when you made a mistake will not be easy. — There is little artistic text in the quests. It's not a problem for me because I've spent countless hours in Skyrim on PC, but many may be disappointed by the fact that most quests only have one or two lines of art text. For a game with such an emphasis on story and atmosphere, this is a clear oversight. — Personally, the main minus for me is the crazy price of the game. The components are good, but for $140, I was hoping for more substantial stuff in the box than 6 minions and a bunch of cards. I have games in my collection that are $30-$50 cheaper that have trays with tons of minions, colorful tiles, thick company books, voice acting, etc. Compared to other games with massive campaigns and a similar price (like " Gloomy harbor" or Middara) the content of the desktop "Skyrim" is not impressive at all. And I am silent about the prices of 70-90 dollars for additions, and for the Upgrade Kit with a rather gloomy appearance of minnows ... for 90 dollars. I understand that the authors had to fork out for the franchise, but the kickstarter campaign looks like clear extortion.  Overall, Skyrim is a fan game, but the price is way overpriced. I would give her a 7/10...

TIDES OF TIME REVIEW In Tides of Time , players will draft beautiful tarot-sized cards and compete to build the kingdom that will best stand the test of time. The goal of Tides of Time is to score the most points after 3 rounds of play. HOW TO PREPARE THE GAME  Tides of Time is a quick game that is easy to set up. Shuffle all 18 cards together, then deal 5 to each player. Each player will also receive two Relic Tokens (more on that later). GAME PROCESS  First Round Following the objectives and icons on the cards, each player will choose one card and place it face down on the table. When both players have chosen their card, reveal the cards. Each player then passes their hand to another player. Repeat until each player has 5 face up cards. Players will then score each card based on its purpose (more on scoring in a moment). Players will take into their hands all the cards lying face down. They will then choose one card for the next round, placing it face down in front of them and placing a relic token on top of it. Players will also choose one card to destroy, placing it back in the box where it will remain for the rest of the game. The remaining 3 cards remain in the hand for the next round.   Second round At the start of the second round, each player draws two cards from the deck to increase their hand to 5 cards. Both players then reveal the relic card chosen at the end of the previous round. The gameplay of the second round is identical to the first round. At the end of the second round, players assign their last relic token to another card and destroy the other card.  Third Round The gameplay of the third round is identical to the second: players reveal the relic card chosen in the previous round and replenish their hand to 5. TIDES OF TIME MAPS The maps in Tides of Time are divided into 4 main objective types with different combinations of palaces, temples, fortresses, libraries and gardens. COLLECTION OF THE MAJORITY Most collections reward you for having one more suit than your opponent. Most collection can be affected by modifier cards.  Combination of one set A suit collection gives you points for each of your cards of the same suit. A collection of the same suit can be affected by modifier cards.  Several sets Multiple sets reward you for collecting cards from multiple suits in a set. Sets of 2, 3, and 5 are available, each with different point values.  Modifiers / Big Goals  Cards: Eye of the North, King's Nest, Mole Mountain, Roof of the World, Sapphire Port Cards in this category modify existing cards or provide bonuses for individual cards. For example: King's Nest allows you to win all draws, which is useful when scoring for majority. Top of the World doubles the icons on the cards in your most abundant suit. This means that if you are trying to collect one fortress suit and you have two of them, you will now have 4, giving you 12 points. CALCULATION OF POINTS Points are scored at the end of each round. Players look at each card for a purpose and score on the attached notepads. Let's walk through an example hand to see how it is evaluated. The first player has the following cards. Mole Mountain : 8 points "For most suits with only one card." The first player has 4 suits, each with only one card so they can score 8 points. Eye of the North : 3 points "For each set you don't have." The first player has no palaces, so he gets 3 points. Golden Ziggurat : 7 points "For most in palaces". The first player has no palaces, so he gets 0 points. Pillars of Heaven : 5 points "For each library and garden set." The first player has 1 Libray and 1 Garden, scoring 5 points. Mana Well : 9 points "For each set of palaces, fortresses and temples". The first player has no palaces, so he gets 0 points. The total for this round is 16 points. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE GAME Tides of Time. The artwork is amazing… I really wish the game had full size posters. These artists would also illustrate the covers of fantasy novels. Oversized cards with a nice linen finish that feels good in the hand. It also helps that the art really stands out. Tides of Time is fast. The box says 15-20 minutes, but once you learn the objectives and the cards (there are only 18 after all), your games will take much less time. Actually, a 10-minute game isn't unreasonable. Tides of Time is fun. Of course, you will have to deal with luck, but there is considerable knowledge and skill involved in the game. Deciding what you want to play balanced against what you think your opponent might play leads to some pretty questionable moments. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE As much as I love this game, it can be too luck-based at times. In each game, each of the 18 cards will be played by one of the players, but if you get a bad hand, it can be difficult to come back from a bad round. Also, while I like the oversized cards, it would be nice to have a poker sized deck like Love Letter. Literally throw it in your pocket and you're good to go. CONCLUSIONS Overall, Tides of Time is a great little game that's also pretty inexpensive. I think I picked up my copy for about $9. It is easy, fast and very interesting. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes two player games. USEFUL LINKS Tides of Time on BGG https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/176229/tides-time VIDEO REVIEWS ..

YSPAHAN REVIEW In Yspahan, you try to build bazaars in the wealthiest areas to increase your wealth, use your influence with the Overseer Shah to control the market, and ship your goods and those of your opponents to distant lands in caravans destined for the desert. But don't delay, you only have three weeks before the markets close and the caravans begin their journey east. PREPARATION FOR THE GAME To start a game in Yspahan, place the City square in the middle of the table. In the upper left corner of the "City" field, place a white cube on the "1" field of the "Day" tracker (1-7), a white cube on the "I" field of the "Week" tracker (I - III) and the Overseer (white pawn) in the center crossroads. Place the Tower space on the side within reach of all players. Place 9 white dice and 3 gold dice next to the Tower board. Sort the camels and gold coins into separate piles and place them near the field with the tower. Shuffle the cards and place them near the tower board as well. Set the Caravan field aside. Each player gets 2 gold coins, a construction field of their color, and all the dice of their color. Players place one cube on space 0 on the scoring track on the City space, then set aside 1 cube to use on the building space. Finally, the first player's black marker is given to the starting player and the game can begin. GAME PROCESS In his turn, the player will take all the white dice and roll them. If the player wants more choices, the yellow die can also be rolled at a cost of 1 gold coin per die. After the die is rolled, group them by face value and place them on the tower field as follows: The group of dice with the lowest denomination, regardless of number, will be placed at the bottom of the field. The next highest value will be placed on the next division of the "Rook" field, and so on. Finally, the group of dice with the highest number will be placed at the top of the Tower field, regardless of value.  The current player will choose one group of dice, take them all, and perform the action associated with that group. Any yellow dice rolled by that player will be discarded after being selected, regardless of whether they were selected or not. After that, the rest of the players choose one group of dice and perform the corresponding action. Each player chooses one action on their turn. The Tower space is central to the game and allows players to choose their moves for that round. The "Tower" field is divided into 6 sections, each of which has 3 options. From top to bottom, these sections are: Take the gold Shops supplying vases Dresser stores Supply of barrel shops Bag shops Take the camels Each chapter has 1 unique action and 2 common actions. For the "Camel" and "Gold" sections, the player will take as much of this resource from the general supply as the number of dice. For example, 4 dice will equal 4 of this resource. In the Sack, Barrel, Chest, and Vase sections, a player can place as many cubes of their color as there are cubes in the shops in the area (more on that later). Finally, for all 6 sections, the player can take one card from the deck. or move the manager. If there are no dice on a player's turn, he will simply take a card. SUPPLY OF STORES Shops in each district are grouped into bazaars. Within the neighborhood, all shops of the same color are parts of the same bazaar. If a player chooses to supply shops in a nearby area, the following rules apply: Only one cube per store. If a bazaar contains goods from one player, another player cannot place goods there. You cannot have 2 unfinished bazaars in the same area. You can end one market and start another market in the same turn. If the group of dice selected by the player allows more dice to be placed than there are stores left in the neighborhood, the remaining dice are lost. SUPERVISOR MOVEMENT The warden is moved down the path by the number of spaces indicated by the value in the selected group. Select a group of 3 elements and you can move the guardian exactly 3 cells in a straight line (or at an angle) in any direction. Players can increase (or decrease) this amount by paying one gold per field. If the Overseer ends its movement adjacent to a space containing a cube of any player, that cube will be moved to the Caravan in the order specified by the player moving the Overseer. If the player whose die is being moved owns a camel, he may choose to discard the camel to preserve the position of that die and instead move a die from his supply to the Caravan. CARAVAN The caravan consists of 12 camels, divided into 3 groups of 4 camels each. When placing camels, the player must first place along the bottom row, then the middle row, and finally the top row. Each row will have a number of available spaces equal to the number of players, and each camel can only hold 1 cube. For example, in a three-player game, only 3 spaces in each row are available for dice. The owner of the placed product will immediately receive points for the bottom and middle rows. When the caravan fills up, the game stops immediately and the caravan receives "End of the Week" points (more on that later). CONSTRUCTION While taking a group of dice is mandatory, building a building is optional and only possible if the player can pay the resources shown under the desired building. Buildings grant the player special abilities until the end of the game. The buildings on the player's field are located from left to right: Squad - Whenever a player chooses the "Take Camels" action, they can take 1 additional camel for free. Shop - Every time a player chooses the "Get Gold" action, they can get 2 extra coins for free. Hammam - Each time a player chooses a Movement Control action, they can add or subtract up to 3 additional spaces. Caravanserai – The player who owns the Caravanserai draws a card each time one of his goods is sent to the Caravanserai. Bazaar - A player who owns a Bazaar receives an additional 2 points for each completed souk during the end-of-week scoring (see below). Hoist - Each time a player chooses the Supply Store action, an additional cube can be added to the total. Each time a player constructs a building, the marker to the right of the board moves down, immediately netting the player that many points. END OF THE WEEK AND CALCULATION The game is played clockwise, with each player taking turns rolling the dice and choosing their desired action. Whenever the game returns to the original player, the day marker is moved. If the day marker is at 7, it moves back to 1, the week marker moves forward, the supervisor returns to the intersection, and the end of the week points are tallied. CALCULATION OF POINTS For each completed bazaar in each district, players receive the points indicated in the colored square next to that group. Players who have built a Bazaar receive an additional 2 points per completed Bazaar. After scoring, the dice are returned to the players. CALCULATION OF THE CARAVAN Players with caravan dice will score as many points as their caravan dice multiplied by the highest row occupied by at least one of their dice. The caravan is not empty. In the example below, yellow has 3 cubes in the caravan and the highest cube is the second row. So each of their 3 dice gets a multiplier of 2 times 6 points. Red only has 2 dice but occupies the 3rd row: so each of the 2 dice gets a 3x multiplier; also scoring 6 points. FINAL CALCULATION The scoring at the end of week 3 is identical to the scoring in weeks 1 and 2. The player with the most points is the winner. HOW I LIKED THE GAME Let me start by saying that I love this game. It's pretty easy to explain, has bright colors, is easy to play, and has wooden camels! Yspahan was one of the first games I bought in my current race for "most board games up my street". I watched the gameplay/review video of Yspahan and was mesmerized. It had very little to do with any game I've ever played. It had dice, but you didn't use them to dictate movement. There were figures, but they did not walk on the field as I had seen before. She let you build buildings, but you didn't do anything with them…they just sat there and gave you cool "superpowers". After the release of Yspahan, other games using similar mechanisms appeared. Grand Austria Hotel and La Granja allow you to select the desired action from groups of dice. Jaipur uses camels as pseudo-currency. And while these games are great, Yspahan makes it easier and more straightforward. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE While Yspahan offers strategy, there are only a few basic ways to earn points. It doesn't bother me, but there are people who like to strategize to win a unique game. Yspahan doesn't really have that option. Nothing in Yspahan bothers me anymore. It's not a perfect game, but it's really fun, and plays faster than other similar games because of the one action you take per turn. CONCLUSION  Yspahan is a light European style game that is fun and easy to play. Give her a chance, you won't be disappointed. USEFUL LINKS Yspahan on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22345/yspahan VIDEO REVIEWS ..

DINO DUDE RANCH REVIEW In Dino Dude Ranch , each player tries to catch Triceratops, Stegosaurus and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex by luring them out of the Jurassic hunting grounds with their favorite food and bringing them back to their own dinosaur ranch. You and your mercenaries will have to act fast to fill your ranch with dinosaurs before tar pits cover your land. PREPARATION FOR THE GAME Preparing Dino Dude Ranch for a party is simple and quick. The Jurassic Hunting Lands field is located in the middle of the table and is filled with 4 dinosaurs randomly drawn from the bag. Food tokens (leaves, fish, meat) are placed within reach of all players, hired hand cards are placed in their places on the hunting grounds, and tar pit tiles are stacked nearby. Each player takes a two-sided ranch field (the 15-space "day" side is for 2-4 player games, while the "night" side is for 5-player games), one hired hand card from the deck, and a Farmer Bonus card (which is also is for reference). Keep the bonus card hidden from other players. Finally choose the first player and you are ready to play. GAME PROCESS A player's turn consists of 1-4 actions. Players always roll the dice and collect the corresponding resources. Players can also discard a hired hand (take the top card from the stack) or a tar pit (add a tar pit to their ranch). Players can then capture up to 2 dinosaurs (subject to resources), purchase up to 2 hired hand cards (2 resources of any type per card), or play a single card. The game continues in this way until one player has filled his ranch OR all dinosaurs have been captured (both the hunting grounds and the bag are empty). Players add the total of all the dinosaurs, including the points from the sets found on their hidden bonus cards, and then subtract their tar pit cards. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. CARDS OF HIRED HANDS Hired Hand cards fall into a few broad categories: cards that give you resources, cards that let you take extra dinosaurs from hunting grounds or steal them from your opponents, and cards that give you points. Most cards must be played on your turn, but some cards allow you to play them during any player's turn. They usually allow you to prevent another player from taking an action or to influence another player's action. The cards definitely transform Dino Dude Ranch from what could be a fairly bland game into one with some strategy and planning involved. At any moment, another player can steal a dinosaur from your deck for themselves, or force you to roll a die with the resource you need. Smart use of hired hand cards will definitely affect the course of the game. WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE GAME Dino Dude Ranch Box - Tank. It's so heavy that I joked with the designer on Twitter that I could stand on it. The visuals and illustrations are fun and colorful, but not flashy or overly bright. The Dino and Tar Pit tiles are thick and well printed, and the pouch that stores them is quite well made. Elastic and very easy to grip to pull out the tile. In fact, for any game that uses figure bags, I'd like them to use the same type of bag. Hired Hand cards have a nice linen finish and are easy to read. Food Tokens are beautiful coin-sized cardboard discs with distinct color and iconography. The cubes are excellent with deep indentations for icons, they hold well in the hand.  The gameplay is easy to learn and quite fun. At any given turn, you never know what you might roll out. Will this be the only resource you need? An employee card that will help you? Or will it be a tar pit taking up precious space on your land? The cost of luring dinosaurs to your ranch is low enough that it usually only takes one or two turns to collect the necessary resources, and the turns take such a short amount of time that even my 5-year-old didn't lose patience or get bored. If you backed the Kickstarter at the Deluxe level, you were upgraded to wooden bits instead of cardboard. I stuck with the base level but decided to get the deluxe set which added Veloceraptor tiles and nice wooden components. WHAT ARE THE CONS? There are only a few things that bother me about Dino Dude Ranch, and most of them are purely cosmetic. The drawing, although good, is not my personal style. Also, some of the graphic design elements could use a bit of improvement and overall improvement. Hand cards are the same height as poker cards, but about half the width. Because of this, it is difficult to shuffle them. The text on the Hired Hands cards is easy to read, but they could benefit from some shortening. Anytime you can remove text from something and keep it legible, it's a win for everyone. FINAL IMPRESSIONS My family really likes playing this game and so do I. My 10-year-old sister even invited her friend to play the game. I could see the wheels turning in my sister's head about how she could use the Hired Hands cards to stop her friend from doing various things. My 5 year old brother really likes this game and he likes to buy dinosaurs, place them on his ranch and pull new tiles out of the bag. I was pleasantly surprised after playing this game. I was expecting something that my family would enjoy, but I would just put up with this game. Letimann Games have done a great job of creating a game that is truly family fun. If you get the chance to pick up Dino Dude Ranch, don't miss it. USEFUL LINKS Dino Dude Ranch on BGG https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170477/dino-dude-ranch VIDEO REVIEWS ..

 I'm into fillers. Just the concept of an addictive game that uses very few components and is travel-friendly brings back the days when I was younger and played Crazy 8s , President or UNO with friends and family. Nowadays, with modern game design philosophies, we have seen some interesting card games such as Sushi Go , The Mind , Pairs , Skull King and Cockroach Poker Royal . Another representative of such games that should be added to this list is Point Salad . Aside from being a clever pun on board game slang, it's a fun game that innovates the Set Collection genre with its incredibly simple rules. However, interesting games do not always mean good games, so where is Point Salad ? Let's find out. I usually try to avoid explaining the rules step by step, mainly because that's what everyone does and it's not the most fun to write about. However, I will make an exception because the rules are incredibly easy to learn. With a deck of 108 double-sided cards, you must draw some of these cards depending on the number of players (or, if you are playing with a full number of players, nothing is drawn). Mix them well and make three equal decks with the Point Salad side up. When you have three decks, turn over the top two cards from each deck to reveal the vegetable side to form a column under each deck. This is your "vegetable market". RULES IN TWO WORDS On your turn, you have two options: Take two cards from the market and add them to your play area, or take one of the point salad cards and add it to your play area. As a free action, you can also flip one of your Point Salad cards over to the vegetable side, and the icons in the corner of the card will show you what's on the other side. After you have completed your action, it is the next player's turn. You keep doing this until all the cards are gone. Players will then calculate their points based on the Point Salad cards they receive. Each Salad with points card tells the player what scores they will get, for example, if the most Carrots or Lettuce are 3 points, but for each Onion and Pepper card you lose 1 point. Each Point Salad card in this game is unique, so there are 108 ways to score points. Whoever gets the most points wins.  That's all. Nothing more. COMPLEXITY DOESN'T ALWAYS BREED GREATNESS Frankly, it's very rare to see a game this simple in a market that seems to be drowning in a sea of complexity and gray plastic miniatures from Kickstarter. Point Salad takes a less-is-more approach with its simplified rule set and simple components, while still providing a solid set collection filler that can easily compete with other light collecting games like Cat Lady and Sushi Go. The main reason I'm so confused by this game is that, unlike other set collecting games, there is no linearity to card value. Most deck building games often have cards like "if you have the most of that card you get points" or "for every two cards of that type you get that many points for each pair" etc. Point Salad is a little smarter than that. Yes, Point Salad has these ways to earn points, but the key difference is that players choose these goals themselves. The value of each of the six types of vegetables is determined not by the game mechanism, but by the collective decisions of the players as a group. Additionally, the point value of vegetable types is exclusive to each player at the table. TIME IS EVERYTHING Another hurdle to overcome is time. Get too many types of vegetables early and players can easily determine which Point Salad cards will be valuable to you. If you take a lot of Point Salad cards early on, any Veggie cards you might need to score points may already be taken by other players. Timing is of the essence with Point Salad. Although this game is a very tight package, there are some loose ends that need to be tied up. Like other set-building games, Point Salad will feel repetitive after a few games, especially when you consider that most Point Salad cards are variations of five or six objective types. To be honest, it's hard to call it a mistake since it's the genre's fault. Other games with light rules like Sushi Go and Cat Lady also have this problem. It's like complaining that Social Deduction games require communication with other players; it's just part of the nature of the genre. A big red flag is player scaling. This game says it can be played with up to 6 players, but more players pushes the game in such a direction that 20 minutes feels a bit empty. When you're playing with fewer players, like 2 or 3 players, your move will have a big impact on everyone at the table, and when it's your turn, the game state won't change much. On the other hand, larger players, like 4-6 players, hate draft is a bit fruitless because you're only arguing with the players next to you in turn, and the state of the field changes so much that it feels like you're playing some weird version of cardboard slot machine that does not use cherries. After all that, is it worth it? I'm going to give two different answers. If you already have a matching game like Sushi Go, I see no reason to buy it. Point Salad is the best game of the bunch, but not enough to warrant a new purchase. What's out there in the genre right now are pretty damn good games, and I wouldn't recommend spending the extra money to get another version of the same type of game. Then again, I like to keep my collection sparse, so that's probably my bias. However, if your game library lacks a collection of short games, Point Salad is something I would definitely consider. It's not an expensive game, and it's extremely easy to teach non-players in your circle in very little time. Even though the gameplay is repetitive, Point Salad does a great job of forcing players to make difficult decisions, such as which objectives to target, which kits to purchase, and timing all of their actions within a 20-minute period. In short, it's a very impressive game in a very deceptively small package, making it the perfect gateway game...

GRAVWELL REVIEW In Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension , every player piloting a spaceship is somehow trapped in the Singularity. You will make one last desperate attempt to escape through the Warp Gate before time runs out and you will forever be left adrift, another abandoned spaceship. Gravwell has a unique card selection mechanic, unique turn order choices, and it's a lot of fun. HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE GAME?  Gravwell is easy to make because it has very few components. Lay out the field on the table and place the white token on the circular track. Give each player a spaceship and the corresponding emergency stop card. Shuffle the fuel cards and then deal them as follows. For each player, put 3 cards face down (4 players equals 9 cards face down). Then place 1 face-up card on each face-down card.  Choose the first player, then have them choose 1 pile of cards. In clockwise order, all other players choose 1 pile of cards. The last player will then select an additional pile of cards, and the selection of cards is reversed. Thus, the choice of cards for a 3-player game is decided as follows:P1 -> P2 -> P3 -> P3 -> P2 -> P1 -> P1 -> P2 -> P3  A round can be started after each player has 6 cards. GAME PROCESS Each player chooses one card and places it face down on the table. When all players have chosen their cards, all players will turn over their cards and turn order will be determined alphabetically by the element on the face of the card. So the player who chose Jo (Jodium) will take their turn before the player who chose Kr (Krypton) and the player who chose Si (Silicon). Movement in Gravwell is gravity-based, meaning you will be affected by other players' ships, as well as the 2 existing abandoned ships already on the field. Your ship will always base its movement on the nearest source of gravity (other ships). There are 3 types of fuel cards (an expansion is being developed that will add additional types of cards): Standard Movement (Green Cards): Moves your ship to the nearest gravity source Repulsor Movement: (purple cards): Moves your ship away from the nearest gravity source Attraction Beam (Blue Cards): Pulls all ships towards you In the example above (Iodine, Krypton, and Silicon), the first player will pull all other players 2 spaces closer to him (a tractor move). The second player will move 2 cells away from the nearest gravity source (repulsor movement), while the last player will advance 9 cells to the nearest gravity source. If at any time a player moves in an unwanted direction, they can choose their emergency stop card. This will cancel their movement and the game will continue clockwise.  The game will continue until all players have played all 6 of their fuel cards. The circular marker is then moved up, all the fuel cards are shuffled and dealt again as before, but this time the player in last place will choose first. The game ends immediately when the first player exits the warp gate or if no player exits the warp gate by the end of the 6th round. In the latter case, all players lose. PROS OF THE GAME Gravwell's design is top-notch, with eye-popping bright colors and fantastic artwork. This is definitely a game that will stand out on your shelf. The box is strong, well assembled and should withstand transportation. The ship models are very nice to look at with the tilt upwards on the bases which looks quite lively. The cards are sturdy and well made, and should last quite a few games. The text of the card is easy to read, which will make it easier to determine the turn order for everyone. The game is quite random due to the cards and the fact that you can never be quite sure about the turn order. Choosing a card that moves you forward by 10, only to find out that you're moving backwards because of another player's choice. Fair warning: if you don't like random games, this game might not be for you. But because the game is so short, it's easy to get through. CONS OF THE GAME I have purchased 3 separate copies of Gravwell and each one has quality issues. The ships consist of a plain vessel on a transparent leg. While this looks impressive, it means that the ships are 2 pieces. In each of the 3 copies I bought, one of the ships separated. Although annoying, it is fixed with one drop of super glue. After reconnecting I never had any further problems. The only issue I have is the size of the box. It's a standard 10" square box, but it's tall enough for the contents. Especially since the insert takes up about 75% of the space. It's a small issue and I'm sure it's due to retail issues, but it affects storage. EXPERIENCE FROM THE GAME I like the strategy in this game. If you know the people you're playing against, there's an extra level of outplaying your friends or loved ones. I play this with my daughter and she makes almost the same choices as me. This means that she and I often make the same decisions, which means that we can never be sure who will go first. This may be frustrating for some, but we always laugh hysterically when another person "steals" your turn order, forcing you to backtrack.  Gravwell is a unique and special game that is fun to play. The pending expansion will likely add 2 additional card types and special asynchronous ship abilities. But even without them, this game is just a thrill. Check out Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension! USEFUL LINKS Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension! on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/142992/gravwell-escape-9th-dimension VIDEO REVIEWS ..

KAHUNA REVIEW  Kahuna is a Polynesian themed territory control game that consists of 3 rounds. The action takes place in an archipelago consisting of 12 islands, and you fight to control more islands than your opponent. Each island is connected to each other by 3 to 6 bridges. Players gain control of an island by owning most of its bridges. Gaining majority control of an island causes all of your opponents' bridges on that island to be destroyed. PREPARATION FOR THE GAME To start the game, each player is dealt 3 cards (hand limit 5 cards). An additional 3 cards are placed on the table face up, and the remaining cards form a drawing pile.GAME PROCESS On their turn, each player draws as many cards as they wish, with each card representing a separate island in the chain. They will place a bridge token connecting this island to another. Bridges can also be destroyed by playing 2 cards from the same island or 2 cards connecting the bridge they want to destroy. The player then draws one of the face up cards or a card from the top of the deck to indicate that their turn is complete. At the end of the first round, the player with the most islands gets 1 point. At the end of round 2, the player with the most islands gets 2 points. Finally, at the end of Round 3, the player with the most islands subtracts the opposing player's number of islands from their number and adds that number to their total score. The player with the most points wins. WHAT I LIKED ABOUT KAHUNA First, let's talk about quality. The box is sturdy, bright and with the nice compact square box that many Kosmos games are known for. The insert keeps everything tight and strong. Each player receives a set of solid black or white wooden pieces (25 bridge tokens and 10 majority tokens). The parts are sturdy and should last many games. A total of 24 cards with a nice matte finish and thick that are not difficult to shuffle. Finally, the board is sturdy and just the right size to be placed on a table between two people. The rules are well laid out with plenty of full color illustrations to cover any questions you may have. The cards have icons in each corner that correspond to the icons on the field. It helps to navigate the maps to find the islands more easily. In addition, the island whose card you have will be highlighted in red. The gameplay is intense and quite competitive; this is not a two-player solitaire. At some point in the game, you will get your hands dirty; by directly attacking your opponent, taking cards you know they need, or destroying one of their bridges, causing their advantage to collapse or your advantage to strengthen. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE If you are dealt cards that are close together on the field, it is much easier to lock down 1, 2 or even 3 islands within the first few turns. It's not a sure win, but it sure makes it easier to get that first point. Due to the application of a unique scoring mechanism, this makes it difficult to win the overall game. FINAL IMPRESSIONS  Kahuna is simply one of my favorite games. It is very tactical, as capturing one island can cause cascading effects by destroying your opponents' bridges. You have to think more in terms of web connections rather than linear progressions. It is quite common to be significantly behind, but it will not work to take the lead in just one or two moves. There are enough options to avoid randomness, but few enough to avoid analysis paralysis. If you like games for two, then Kahuna should definitely be in your collection. ..

DICE BAZAAR GAME REVIEW Dice Bazaar is a visual treat. Filled with great colors, friendly shapes and characters, and blocks...lots and lots of blocks. In Dice Bazaar, players compete to buy products from a vendor by rolling dice and matching their values to the corresponding dice under each product. Products found in the bazaar are spices, teapots, ceramics and precious stones. Each product card displays a number of points and a special ability that players can "spend" on their next turn. The sum of each card's points is roughly equal to how difficult it is to acquire. Spices only require 2 matching dice and gems require 5. HOW TO PLAY DICE BAZAAR Players roll dice of their color at the start of their turn and can either purchase the item by matching the correct number (and face) of the dice, or by "putting" the dice on the field for use in the next turn. When a product card is purchased, the player will take that card and then roll all dice found under that product. Dice previously deposited by opponents that no longer match the new dealer's dice should be removed. Each product card has a special ability that can be activated by discarding that card, which is points. This ability allows you to change the face of any die already rolled and place it on the product card with the next highest value. So by spending the 1 point card you get from buying a spice card, you can set any value to one of your dice and place it under the teapot. By spending a teapot card, you can set the die to any value and place it under the pottery product card, etc.  The game ends when any two products are completely sold out in the Bazaar. Players add up the total points of their remaining product cards, and the player with the most points wins. WHAT I LIKED ABOUT DICE BAZAAR The artwork is just beautiful and the colors are gorgeous and vibrant. The game has very clear iconography and the rules are well laid out and easy to read. The game says it's for ages 6 and up, but I'd bet a 4-year-old would have no problem playing this game. The dice are 16 mm in size, so they fit well in the hand and have a certain weight. The gameplay is engaging, but not deep or complex. Special abilities on product cards help alleviate the pure luck aspect of a game like Roll For It.  Dice Bazaar is very easy to play with easy to learn rules on just one sheet. Me and my friends played the game for 5 games after opening the box. There was only one time when we had to seek clarification on the rules. I asked on Twitter (have you lost points from traded cards) and got a reply within 10 minutes. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE It's a try-your-luck dice game. This means that the gameplay is almost entirely dictated by your luck. The special abilities on the product cards help, but the randomness is still there. While not strictly a criticism, it would be cool to see some variation in the special abilities, with each card in the product stack offering a different ability, or with each product ability being a variation on the others. This will increase the strategy as you will have to choose whether you want to buy that particular version of the card or wait for someone else to pick it up. The game starts with the player counting 3 times on the Spice, Teapot, and Pottery cards and the player counting 2 times on the Gem cards. Since it is much easier to get products that only require 2 or 3 dice, it would be nice to increase the number of cards on these cards so that the gameplay is not distorted. IMPRESSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The author spends a lot of time on his designs, and it shows. The box and accessories are very pleasing to the eye. If you're looking for a simple game to play with friends, kids, or people new to board games, then you can't go wrong with Dice Bazaar. If you're a heavy gamer, you might not find anything to suit your needs...

“HANNNNNNNNN!!!!”  This is one of my favorite moments from my favorite Star Trek movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Kirk (William Shatner) grits his teeth and yells from the bridge of the Enterprise at his old nemesis Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban, who sadly isn't nominated for an Oscar for his work here). As a teenager, I was stuck watching Star Trek the other day. You know who else is a Star Trek fan? Peter B. Hoffgaard, designer of the new CGE game Starship Captains. From the cover, to the Enterprise-like player fields, to easter eggs like the mission called "Roddenberries," everything about Starship Captains screams "play this if you like Star Trek." As an addict, I was delighted to play this game. CITY  Starship Captains puts players in control of Enterprise-like ships that work together in a faction known as the Co-op (partly because I assume the Federation has been taken over!). Newly promoted to captain, each player leads a small team of specialists from around the universe. These specialists are your employees and you will place them in various departments of your ship and your technical board to perform actions. (However, I won't call this a worker placement game, since these spaces are available to all players on their various ships, and then spaces are vacated at the end of each turn.) Your workers are cadets (gray figures that represent unskilled workers who can only do repairs after the first hire) and ensigns. Flags are specialized by color: red flags control the ship, yellow flags coordinate weapons systems, and blue flags are your technical experts. Starship Captains' shared main field presents a galaxy with a slightly larger selection of field locations, designed for just four players. (The flip side is for 1-3 players.) Using one crew member to perform an action, each turn allows players to activate a compartment (known simply as a room) or complete a mission on the planet where their ship is currently docked. Starship Captains is easy to learn thanks to the color coding of the actions (and symbols for each action to help with accessibility) and the simplicity of the moves. You'll take a crew member from the "readiness room"—the ship's bridge, in one of my favorite parts of the game's production—and do something to activate the room for many of your turns. Yellow and Red are very simple actions available so that you always have the option to take out any pirates on routes related to your current location or move. The main blue action is technology research, and the volatility of the technology market is the best feature of the game. Taking the tech from the eight card market costs nothing, and the tech is added to a tech board with six available slots. During gameplay, adding tech gives you three different options: Omega technologies are late game scoring conditions, only three of them are available at the beginning of the game Technician rooms can later be activated as regular rooms by the appropriate crew member, and each of these unique cards gives your team better options than the four basic rooms you have on the bridge of your ship. Ability techs are permanent powers that activate during gameplay To start the game, four of the six slots on this tech field are unavailable because they're damaged (your promotion to captain only gave you a "freshly repaired" ship, according  to the manual), so you'll have to spend some of your damage-removing actions on it on board and from the cargo space of the ship. The cargo area is used to store pirate tokens you've defeated in previous turns (perhaps prisoners being brought back to Co-op HQ?) as well as artifact tokens that can be used to activate crewless rooms. TECHNOLOGIES WITHOUT THE TECHNOLOGY TREE The tech panel is my favorite part of Starship Captains because it changes the course of every game. It's interesting to try to capture the Omega techs to increase the results in the endgame. Having room options can be key. Some cards break the idea that only red flags can control a ship, so in the game when I added a Jump Drive card to my field, it gave me more options for my yellow flags. Ability techniques enhance all other actions, so combining some of them resulted in different approaches to missions. Missions are the heart of the game. If you're not doing actions while you're on the move, you're doing missions—there's always at least five missions scattered around the universe to choose from. Flying to the planet before anyone else arrives ensures that the player will have first priority after completing this mission. As the main action of the turn, you will have to assign crew members to a mission (never more than one of the three colors of the game's flag) and attempt to complete them. If you have a crew member color that matches the color of the mission line, you will receive a reward (and possibly a penalty) for that line. For example, a mission may require a red flag and a yellow flag. You can use the cadet and the yellow flag to complete the mission, but you will only get the bonus for the yellow line. This also means that you will avoid any punishments that may correspond to the red part of the mission. Making the missions so easy to do—in terms of learning how to do them—is what made Starship Captains enjoyable. All actions are clear. This is aided by stellar player aids, which reminded me a lot of the aids included in Lost Ruins of Arnak, another CGE product. Almost everything in Starship Captains is covered in the player help, including crew definitions, medal options, and all the iconography shown on maps and faction routes. FORWARD, BUT NOT SO BRAVELY I would argue that games like Starship Captains, like First Rat, and other very accessible recent developments are fantastic ways to introduce gamers to the hobby. The concepts of Starship Captains are easy to understand, but there is still a lot for experienced gamers to enjoy at first, trying to lower the min/max of each turn. Playtime matched the information on the side of the box: my first solo game took 30 minutes, and that was because I had to keep going back to what each icon on the solo cards would do. (Solo? That's fine. Use it as a learning tool and then move on.) My next two three-player games took 75 minutes and 60 minutes. My only two-player game took an hour, including training. For someone new to gaming, I could see a three-player game lasting 90 minutes; with experienced gamers changing moves quickly, the entire journey will take less than an hour. The production is mostly winning. The best tactile part of the game comes when you have to slide your team members around a small indented wheel at the top of the player board. Even better, this wheel only fits crew members. Try to slide a meeple android around that wheel and it won't fit, a reminder that the androids—the feral workers—should be discarded during missions. I love it! The moves are fast, so the downtime is small. The player's help has everything you need. It's fun to plan a move, as the game is definitely a mission competition, but there are still plenty of fallback options if another player beats you to the most coveted planet. Medals allow players to train any of their cadets or ensigns of a different color; pay three medals and you can upgrade an ensign to a commander, allowing the commander to perform double actions or order a crew member of the same color from the waiting area to your ship's readiness room. IT'S A POINT CALCULATION AT THE END Now, as much as I love Starship Captains, I have to admit that I've already played it. After three multiplayer games and four solo games (I was able to do two of those solo games during a recent lunch hour), I've seen everything Starship Captains has to show me until the expansion content arrives in a year or two. (CGE hasn't confirmed this, but let's just say I have a sneaking suspicion.) The first two rounds of the game usually look the same because you won't have many ensigns to work with yet. All players follow the same tactic I do when looking at the board: if there's a 6 or 7 point mission in range, I'll move my ship there and complete it next turn. (Seven points is the maximum for any one mission.) The topic interested me, but the gameplay is less impressive. It's always nice, but never exciting. You can have a turn where you do a mission that pushes you to maybe two different tracks and those separate bumps will get you one repair and a medal. That's fine, but you'd be looking at another player swinging their fist at the end of such a move. Replayability is limited, so guide your expectations accordingly. I enjoyed the first two installments much more than the last two. I was more intrigued by the scoring in Starship Captains. The game manual has some fun text for each specific possible score from 21 to 75. 0-20 sums it up with something like "you're terrible at board games" and I agree - it feels like it's almost impossible to score below 25. The lowest score I've seen is 28 points, but the highest score in seven games is 39. Those worries about points go further. The game's faction tracks, which are pretty boring to begin with, offer a way to level up and trigger in-game events, events that are pretty minor. In this game, it's almost impossible to go at least one track at a time, and I've only seen this happen when players specifically do missions just to go up one track. But there is a bonus of 5 points available to any player who goes around the same track twice. I don't know how you can go up the same lane twice in the short four-round format of this game. Another example: each player has five commander's rings available. These rings mean you've been promoted. The highest total number of commanders I've seen promoted by one player is three. In this game, one player had a technology..

 I got to know the game even before localization, thanks to a friend who loves new things. Then the game seemed pleasant, vaguely reminiscent of "Seasons", but it ended too quickly. As a result, the game left me unimpressed. Next is localization, a nice price, pre-order. While all this was going on, we were already playing with the first dop. And I began to feel worse about the game. Wild randomness of the release of cards without a draft, chaos from 4 players, nothing is clear, and already someone announces 10 points, the end. As a result, I already got my Ukrainian box, played a couple of games and it was still not the same, but it was better because there were three games. The game, as before, seemed uncontrollable, excessively short, if someone got a better card, then there was no way to win back. The box went on the shelf to await a better fate. And so we sat down with a girl to play a duel... We played, reread the rules and found a miracle mode to two victories. They played again - and their eyes lit up. You play the second game on the same components, and maybe the third. And all this is one complete party. Here we realized that we like the game and we want to play it (yes, yes, we like to play dozens of times in the same box). It was the dops that came out. They bought dopes and gave the box to friends to play.  And so six months passed, the long-awaited vacation came, and the decision of what to take with me pointed to such a cherished box. Basically we played 6 games to two wins, that's about 20-22 games in 10 days. Perhaps, without playing the game, you will not understand anything at all from my impression-thought. Tezovo: this is a very crisis card game-race, where you literally build a resource engine on 8 cards, have almost complete open information and plan the game in the preparation stage. The game is extremely replayable: 64 artifact cards, of which 16 are added to the game; 18 monuments, of which only 7 come out; 18 places of strength, from which 4 come out; add to this 18 unique magicians (some are definitely useful, some are situational). The only home rule we use is to give out 3 mages at the start instead of 2. And finally, the preface ends, the recipe for a good game begins. So, how to prepare the game: for two; up to two wins; up to 13 points; full minced meat; with the restriction of monuments and places of power; with a draft A little more about the recipe: With two, you clearly understand what place of strength the opponent seeks. You can select early, attack at the right time, during the draft stage of the second party, select the best synergies with the mage. For two, the game becomes tighter, however, this is to the benefit of many games. Almost every duel game benefits from playing multiple matches to determine the winner. Especially on the same components. Here you will have to demonstrate not the dexterity of a light hand in the draft, but the ability to squeeze the maximum out of the existing one. Timely sacrifice a strong card for resources and understand when it is "timely". 13 points is 4-5 rounds (with only one game ending in the fourth round), here you have time to enjoy your engine, unlike the 10 points that were in the base. Dopa cards add great replayability, new strategies, and all-important gems (a new resource and recruitment method). Power points create party vector and crisis because you have to play through one of them. The restriction on monuments limits the collection of gold and organizes a certain race for them. Draft is the king of this game. Already at the first stage of the draft, you only know each other from the first card. And starting with the second, conduct an open draft, where it is clear from the first moves what your opponent is aiming for. And the main thing is to understand what you are aiming for!  The combinations are incredible, cards that you initially thought were frankly weak can drag you out the game in certain conditions. And incredibly Imbo cards cannot be played on the table at all. The game is a masterpiece if you are willing to play and play it. The components in it are excellent, and there is enough space in the box to save the process and continue another match with the same components. In total, I have 30+ games under my belt, and the game never ceases to amaze. Lehmann is a genius, Gaga is handsome, brought, arcana is top. ..