Town is a 2-4 player board game by Shun and Aya Taguchi. Since I've played Glenmore, one of my favorite mechanics has been tile activation. I just really like it. The game itself is played over four rounds. Everything is fine with the design, it is more than suitable. The picture on the box is good, the buildings are a bit cartoonish. The playing field is two-sided with three types of resources: stone, fish and wood - pre-printed on the map. The box is nice and small, with a great organizer that has enough room for more tiles or additions. The game is very simple. Each turn, players will either place a worker on a square on the map, activating the eight squares around it, or build a building. There are twelve buildings to choose from plus five cornfields. Every time you build a house, you get victory points. At the end of the round you need to feed your workers (at which point everyone sighed). This was already seen in Agricola or Tsolkin, but here feeding is not burdensome: only one fish or corn per worker, and this is easily achieved, especially if you are building a field. If you want, you can exchange three coins for a resource of your choice.  There are several interesting buildings available. Fields produce wheat and stand one tree, and also yield 3 WP. Other buildings give you software or money for resources. The Pawn allows you to trade two resources for two others, while the statue gives you 10 programs. The bar and the well just bring VP, and the bookstore and gold mine produce coins. There are four more special buildings: cathedral, residence, castle and watchtower, which give you VP at the end of the round/game depending on the surrounding tiles - for workers that activate buildings, constructed buildings and empty squares. Players need to think carefully about where to place their workers in order to get the resources needed to build the right buildings to get the bonuses. As the game progresses, the tile placement area..

 Dungeon Twister is a dueling game with a minimal impact of randomness. At the start, players place 8 characters and 6 objective cards each on the dungeon tiles, hidden from the enemy. The goal of the game is to be the first to score 5 victory points. Points are usually awarded for killing enemy characters and for getting your characters out of the dungeon — beyond the enemy's starting line. A character standing on an adjacent cell with a closed tile can spend an action point to turn it over. New characters and items are placed on the inverted tile. Having turned over a tile, the player decides how to place everything on it (except his items), which is a rather important advantage. Each tile has a cage with a mechanism. The staff on it can spend an action point to turn that tile 90 degrees in the direction indicated by the arrow, or a matching tile with the same number if it's already flipped.  In the database of both players, the same sets of characters and items, but they are very different and interesting in their own way. For example, a goblin is fast and weak. However, due to his weakness, you get extra software if you bring him out of the dungeon. There is also a wizard: frail, but able to use powerful magical items unavailable to other characters. You'd expect a game with secret placement of units, tons of fantasy characters and items, and rooms that rotate as the game progresses to be simple thematic filler. But actually Dungeon Twister has nothing to do with them. This game is closer to chess than Descent.  When characters meet in battle, players simultaneously play a card from their hand, the value of which is added to the character's base strength. The loser gets a wound. Injured characters become items that can be carried by their teammates, but are essentially useless cargo until they are healed. They cannot attack and have a base strength of 0, although they can defend. As for combat cards, you can play as many +0 cards..

 SolForge Fusion is a hybrid card game from Richard Garfield (Magic the Gathering, Solforge, etc.) and Justin Gary (Ascension). Half decks are generated by a special algorithm, each of them is unique. Kind of like Keyforge, yes. You choose two factions, mix them and form a deck. One of the unique features of SolForge is that when you draw a card, it automatically levels up. You start with weak cards and end with very strong ones. In addition, your leader Forged is also leveled. Each leader has three abilities that you can use during the game. ABOUT THE GAME Quick layout, simple rules. You start with 50 lives. There are three stacks of cards in front of you: Level 2 cards, Level 3 cards, and the starting deck. You and your opponent take turns making moves, taking control of the forge, which turns each turn, indicating who moves first that round. As a rule, you can play 2 cards at a time. The first to play the card that controls the forge, then the opponent, then again he and again the opponent. Cards are placed in one of five slots on the field. You can play both creatures and spells. When both players have finished their turn, a battle is played out in all slots at the same time. Buffs, debuffs and damage from phase to phase are preserved; they can be tracked with dice or tokens. 3 player moves - one cycle. At the end of the fourth cycle, the one with more life wins - unless, of course, you reduced the opponent's life to 0 even earlier.  SolForge is distributed in two ways. First, there is a starter set with 4 random decks (one for each faction), 2 paper play mats, 12 minion cards, 26 parameter modifier cards, and 2 paper Kowalski counters. RRC - $34.99. Second, there are boosters with 4 random decks and 4 bonus cards. RRC - $29.99. Let's analyze the pros and cons. Is the game worth the price? PROS OF THE GAME — The gameplay is well-thought-out and very fan-friendly. There is a lot of strategy here, but at the same time, the game is not so..

 "Yukon Airlines" is the first game that came out from under the wing of the author Al Leduc, as well as the first localization of RollinGames. That's why I think it's important to talk about this game in more detail! In the game, we will have to take on the role of a seaplane pilot who transports travelers to various points in the Yukon. In addition to this, you also need to improve your seaplane! At the end of the game, whoever earns the most money by transporting passengers wins! GAME PROCESS To understand the gameplay, I will briefly describe how your game will go. The game is divided into 6 rounds, where in each round we have to play 4 phases.  Phase 1: landing. In this phase, the player takes all passengers (cubes) of the same color from any cell, and each digital cell brings its own bonus.  Phase 2: Flight. At this stage, we use ticket cards to transport passengers to various points in the Yukon, but we need to take into account the amount of fuel, because it will not work to make too long flights without it. Also, after the trip, you can upgrade your gaming tablet by improving various indicators or unlocking new abilities to make it easier for you to transport passengers. ;)  Phase 3: Income. In this phase, we receive income from transportation, as well as completed missions.  Phase 4: Maintenance. This round is preparation for a new day. All players draw cards and roll dice. PERSONAL EXPERIENCES To be honest, a bit above I tried to talk about the game in a neutral way to be as impartial as possible, but now I want to say everything I think about it. The history of the appearance of the game is quite sad. In 2014, Al Leduc's father died and he decided to honor his memory with this game. The author transferred all his love for his father in one cardboard box. In addition to his father working as a pilot in Yukon Island, he also left many cute and very heartfelt moments in the game that remind him of his..

 I recently received a parcel. I wanted to buy "Neuroshima Hex!" for a long time, and it finally happened. But now it's not about this masterpiece of Polish play building. And about the fact that the same person also sold Empires of the Void, which I seem to have heard something about once. I thought about the purchase, decided to read... and found nothing. Almost. Next, BGG and the game site were studied, which turned out to be richer in information. As a result, the game has already been on the table twice, acquired a bunch of printed components and managed to like it, although it did not overshadow Eclipse. But about everything in order. I will admit right away that I played only Eclipse among 4X-cosmostrategies, which I will compare with it in the course of the story.  So what is Empires of the Void? 4X? So! However, the main reference of the author of the game, in my opinion, is an attempt to speed up the gameplay as much as possible by adding his own "spices" to the classic recipe. Let's start with something simple - there is practically no space exploration as such. The galaxy consists of 7 tiles, which are laid out openly right from the start of the game. At the same time, the central tile is always the same, the others are spread around randomly. There are only 7 tiles in the box, i.e. they participate in every game, except for the option for 2 players. At the same time, they are large and bilateral. The meaning of the latter escapes me, as both sides are completely identical. The 3 fattest planets are located in the central part of space, and 2 in the rest. Actually, the planets and options for interacting with them are the main feature of the game. Unlike "Eclipse", all the planets here are unique and have their own completely intelligent and different inhabitants. In addition, they are pathologically peaceful - they will not respond with fire even to repeated attempts to seize by force, they will easily obey after the first hit. They..

 A game I've never heard of. Not that I care much about the games over the hill, just what reaches my ears through the hype of the saint. I have enough new products on the Russian market, I would have time to buy them, but trying new things in online areas is completely out of bounds for me. But thanks to friends, this also happens... So, the game is a variation of one against all. Only here everything is the opposite: one hero and several lords. The hero supposedly woke up somewhere, and the villains are trying to send the poor guy to the other world. According to reviews and rules, I got the impression that it is better to play dueling than we actually did. We played two games in a row, with a change of sides. Actually, let's take a closer look at them... HERO The owner places the hero figure on one tile of the field and chases away. You can look into the distance, or you can just take a step into the unknown. Playing for this side, you don't know the map and you don't even have an idea in which part you are. And to give you motivation - the game comes with missions that you need to find and do. The research element in all its glory. Moreover, the ruler breeds all kinds of animals that the hero meets on his way. If the animal jumped out unexpectedly or out of nowhere, then you lose self-control, and if you saw it from afar, then everything is normal. And now you are climbing through the tunnels, having absolutely no idea where you are going, fighting back every step. The game has a lot of tools that help you cope with hardships and wanderings. These are the mechanics of light, where you firmly fix the status of these rooms, plus the monsters there are weaker (after all, in the light it is easier to plant any chthon in the eye), and a clock with echo location, where the owner can answer what is the distance to the object, about which you ask Separately, I want to emphasize the mechanics of noise. If the owner moved a monster that the hero..

 Mythic Battles is targeting an already pretty tight niche: its competitors will be games like Summoner Wars, the Commands and Colors series (BattleLore, Battles of Westeros), Heroscape, and games based on the Clix system (in particular, Mage Knight... no, that's another Mage Knight). The game bills itself as an estate of miniatures wargames, card games, and board games—apparently trying to appeal to several different tabletop groups at once. Why three categories at once? Wargames with miniatures: As far as I understand, the similarity is that here, too, players recruit armies from units with various abilities before battle. Like in Heroscape, for example. Card Games: Mythic Battles was clearly inspired by Summoner Wars. On a large table, you can even lay out squad cards, like in Summoner Wars, and not be limited to tiny round tokens... But the main similarity is in command cards, which add an element of hand management to the game a la Commands and Colors, only with less randomness. Board games: well... because it is played on a table. So, how is the gameplay and how good is it? The following will mainly cover the game in standard mode, not the scenario. Because even in the training campaign, the army recruitment mechanics and victory conditions are so different from the standard mode that the base game cannot be judged by the scenarios. RECRUITMENT OF ARMIES Army recruiting is pretty simple and straightforward: you have 100 points, you need to spend a minimum of 95, you need to have at least 5 and a maximum of 10 units. Given that the game has big, badass monsters, this helps a bit to eliminate the problem common to some miniatures games where a player puts all their points into one or more super monsters, and then their opponent either can't do anything with that monster (besides gnawing on it HP slowly), or the monster will move away from one successful dice roll.  Command cards also help balance the sides of a..

IS ALEXANDER THE GREAT AS BEFORE OR HAVE WAR GAMES PASSED HIM AWAY? Most of the war games that have been part of the series for more than twenty years have tended to get more and more difficult in an effort to offer more opportunities and challenges to dedicated fans. Sometimes such games become almost unrecognizable compared to the original games of the series. So I was more than slightly thrilled when I heard about the new gift edition of Alexander the Great's Battles. You see, I smile when I remember the excited Mark Herman and Richard Berg presenting a prototype of the very first version of Alexander, the game that launched the great History's Great Battles series, more than a decade ago at a convention. Me and my wargamer friends Berg and Hermann were "treated" to a drawing of the battle with "Alexander"; Can you imagine a game designer doing that these days? And although I never found out who won that game, I consoled myself with a new box set of The Great Battles of Alexander. At the time, Alexander had its flaws, including more concise rules than were really necessary, but the game was a revelation—it simply changed the way most players viewed ancient warfare, emphasizing the quality of troops rather than their quantity. So, when I picked up the new version of Deluxe Alexander, I had to wonder: After the changes made to the game system in recent games like Devil's Horsemen, could there be a re-release of the original game in the Great Battles series? Was I, like many wargamers raised on hexes and counters, just nostalgic? MY SUMMER IN CAPPADOCIA Certainly, the new Alexander components are worthy of the name Deluxe. Double-sided battle maps are printed on thick paper and aesthetically look much better compared to previous versions. While the terrain is still generally sparse—after all, ancient armies preferred flat plains for maneuvering their troops—a few trees, bushes, and the occasional flowing river liven up the surroundings, a nice..

After a couple of games of Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles played in Tabletop Simulator, I decided to share my impressions of the game and the solo mode. GAME DESCRIPTION Perseverance takes place in a setting reminiscent of "Stay Alive": a cruise ship is shipwrecked on a mysterious island inhabited by dinosaurs (?!). The game consists of several scenario episodes (there are 2 so far) that tell what happened to the involuntary settlers. In Episode 1, you fend off rampaging dinosaurs while trying to settle on an island. You act as leaders who simultaneously participate in collective defense and try to recruit as many followers as possible (bring victory points). In the plan, the Perseverance mechanic is a worker placement game with an admixture of area control. The action takes place mainly in two zones - the community zone and the defense zone. In the first, you increase influence by placing cubes and settlements, and in the second, you participate in semi-cooperative tower defense, placing soldiers and fortifications. There is also a small third area where players can influence the ship's officers to gain some bonuses and followers. GAME PROCESS The player's turn consists of: draft dice from the general pool, consisting of neutral dice and dice of the main action players; its placement in one of the four community zones; appearance of new dinosaurs; choosing a secondary action; dinosaur attacks (as well as a breakthrough if the defense is not strong enough).  When the dice pool runs out, it's assembly time: in each of the community zones, who has the most influence (cubes, settlements, and leadership) is tallied, and the winners are rewarded with followers and resources. After three gatherings (or two in a party for two), the game is over. Whoever has more followers wins. As with other Mindclash games, the rules are hard to digest. There is no simple central mechanic that ties together myriads of nuanced rules, unlike Lacerda's games. Mindclash..

 The Sylla board game is a crisis strategy game. For 2-4 people, although the optimal composition for the game is 4 people. The game consists of five rounds, 7 phases in each. The compact field is a kind of organizer for the placement of components and is very informative, reminding us what and in what phase we need to do.  "Sylla" is a unique game to some extent - here you do not start with zero points, but with ten, although this is done with a completely prosaic purpose - so that you do not have to immediately drop below zero, you will not only get points here, but also receive them. and lose At the very beginning, you have a choice of 10 characters, two of each type (total of five types), and the merchant, slave and senator have both a simple version and a version with the Christian faith, in addition to them there are legionnaires and vestals. At the top of the characters, the colors that will be useful to us in the construction phase are drawn, in the lower left corner there is a feature of the character, indicating the number of the phase when this feature is used. Everything is very convenient and informative.  Each year begins with the election of the first consul. Our senators vote for us, and if there are not enough votes, others can be bribed. The chosen one will solve controversial issues all this year, will be the first to put the buildings up for auction and will even have the right to the first night, sorry, the first round of hiring. The first consul, in addition to resolving disputes and having the advantage of choice, receives as a reward one of the tokens of the republic, which are one of the main ways of obtaining points in the game. There are three types of them: civic pride, health and leisure. One of the most interesting mechanics is that the "winning" value of each of these tokens changes constantly throughout the game depending on our actions. And if the base rate of points per token is two, then by the end of the game,..