Growing up, I didn't have a lot of variety of board games. Those who were in our family were divided into three camps. We had classic games like Risk and Monopoly, also known as "boring games". A friend of mine played complex scrolling games that required a greater investment of time than my infrequent visits could provide. And there were paranormal games capable of ripping apart the fabric of reality like a popped pimple and letting diabolical hordes into our world. These included spirit boards and cards for divination. But later, during a break between episodes of Duck Stories, I saw something new in a commercial. In bright colors and with a charming voice-over, the video boasted something more like a mountain of plastic than a game. But it was all moving. It made sounds. The gameplay was like a hurricane. I had to get it. It was the game Forbidden Bridge. Her commercial stuck in my memory. And that Christmas was my first introduction to a mechanical device as part of the gameplay.  One of the main joys of board games is unboxing them. This is a childish hobby, reminiscent of unwrapping a gift. You carefully cut the tape that secures the edges, afraid to tear it off and leave a scar on the box. You remove the packing material, enjoying the smell of either ink or earth, which you will realize decades later is not much different from the smell of a long-buried clay shard. You untwist the metal wires that hold the parts in place as securely as the seals on a cursed sarcophagus. My grandfather gave me a swiss army knife at a very young age, and it came off one of these procrastinations and cut my thumb. With tears in my eyes, I barely convinced my father to just put a Band-Aid on the wound instead of stitching it up in his basement office. He agreed, but confiscated the knife until I was ten years old. Carefully taping the wound, I returned to the box. The sore thumb, the long assembly of those numbered plastic boards, the confiscation of my..

 Sumatra takes you to what is most likely an unfamiliar area - the largest island in Indonesia - and asks you to do a probably familiar activity: while traveling around the area, make notes about what you see in a notebook. Below is my notebook at the end of a five-player game. So, I saw a few people, a couple of crafts, three flora and fauna each, and (most impressively) two volcanoes, along with various equipment. I ignored Wi-Fi, GPS, and villages in this batch because it doesn't matter how much land you explore during your journey, since you still can't encounter everything.  There are nine types of tiles in the game, most of which allow you to accumulate points in different ways: people reward the player who saw the most (and punish the introvert who met the fewest locals), crafts give points for volume, flora and fauna give points only for the highest scores by species (and vice versa, for the lowest indicators there are no points at all), and so on. The game begins with randomly drawn tiles, so players have a stake in one or more areas of exploration, then you head off to wander the island - and then the game really begins. Your tokens are joined by a tour guide on the island, and as your group moves to the first location, you choose a tile number from the briefcase. When you're with a guide, you can either stay with them and explore the current location and take a tile into your notebook if you want, or you can leave the group and run headlong to the next location. You won't get to take anything this turn since you're traveling alone, but next turn the guide will join you and any remaining tiles from the previous location will be moved to the side and replaced with new ones, and you'll have a chance to choose the first Hey, you get rewarded for your adventure. I hope something interesting came out...  If someone has moved to the next location, you know the guide is going to join that player on the next turn and you don't have much..

 I played 2 test games (dueling in the Monk's Retreat scenario and 3-player co-op in the Unholy Quest scenario) and decided to share my impressions. BOX There are many components here. I would even say too much. Lots of cards, tokens, fields... a lot of fiddling. Yes, black cubes turned out to be too much for us and we played without them, it is good to remember which locations I have already visited on a small map. The layout in the first batch took us about an hour - and this despite the fact that the owner of the game has already laid out most of the components by category. The game itself lasted about two hours. Some components look frozen (for example, the Income tablet), although as far as I understand, they have a different appearance in the final version. RULES What I dislike most is the rule book. In my opinion, it needs to be revised a lot. Example 1: In points 9-11 of the layout, you must lay out the stats, spells, and skill cards "on the deck of cards to the left of your hero's card." However, it does not specify that one deck should come out, and not 3 different ones. Worst of all, the exploded view of the game on page 7 shows them separately. So when point 12 told me to "shuffle the deck of cards to the left of your hero card", I didn't know which one to shuffle. In the first game, we made a mistake and did not mix our hero's specialization into the Might and Magic deck. We later noticed the bug, but less experienced boarders will have a harder time. Example 2: When we were looking for battle rules, like any sane person, we looked at the battle rules section of the rule book. Page 33: "Unit Actions in Battle": "When a player activates a card from one of their units in battle, they can do one of the following actions when activating the unit: Movement - ... Attack - ... Retaliatory attack - ..." However, counterattacking is not an action. This is a reaction that is not performed during the..

 A unique solo game about the first ten centuries of Christianity. In November 2021, the results of the Charles S. Roberts Awards, awarded among tabletop wargames, were published. It was in this list that the name of one of the nominees caught my eye - The Mission: Early Christianity from the Crucifixion to the Crusades. Incredible theme! I couldn't pass. PLAYING WITH OURSELVES So, today I have on my desk The Mission from White Dog Games. It's a solo game: the player creates his own difficulty on the map by handling game sequences and distributing random events, such as the appearance of heresies or schisms. I will say right away that this format of games seems to me to be a big disadvantage. The element of human communication is removed from the game, which (in my opinion) is the most important thing in any board game. On the other hand, if this game was made as a confrontation between churches or communities (conventional Catholics against Orthodox), then, most likely, the game would acquire a sarcastic tone. In this regard, it seems appropriate to me to play even solo games together with someone, consulting and discussing game situations. Here it is all the more appropriate, as the game provides a good reason for an excursion into the history of Christianity and even demonstrates some authorial attitude to the processes inside the church (more on this below). According to the author, the game is Tower Defense. In the center of the map is Jerusalem, six paths lead to it, consisting of squares of cities or regions. We send apostles (and later bishops) to preach in these areas and create new communities. The behavior of pagans is decided by a roll of the dice, each community has its own "difficulty" of appeal. In addition, each region is under one of the political controls. First it is the Roman Empire, then Byzantium, which begins to be tormented by barbarians, and then Muslim troops. This political situation imposes its own..

 Kingdom Rush is one of the most accurate transfers of franchises to the table. Conversions of well-known franchises to board games do not always turn out to be successful (it's not for nothing that no one discusses Batman: Arkham City Escape...). But in this case, it turned out to be a masterful adaptation that preserved the atmosphere of the original. All the mechanics make you think, "Well, of course, this is how it should work on the table!" The conversion is not one hundred percent, but fans of the series will certainly not be disappointed with the work done by the authors. Explanation for those unfamiliar with the franchise: a real-time tower defense game for PC and mobile. You build towers along the road filled with hordes of mobs. The more you kill, the more money you get, which you can use to build new towers and improve existing ones, which in turn will help you deal with even tougher enemies.  In the co-op Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time, players also build towers along a fixed route, destroy hordes of mobs, control powerful heroes and upgrade towers. The game is designed for 2-4 players, the games take about an hour. The action of the board takes place after the end of the events of the computer original. In peacetime, the towers were dismantled, which gave the Time Mage the opportunity to gather the forces of evil and tear through the very fabric of space-time. The engineers and mages of the kingdom, which was left defenseless, quickly learned to cope with the magic of time and call towers from the past to the battlefield. During the player's turn, they place towers along the road so that they shoot at hordes of minions walking along it. On each tile of the horde, a grid is drawn, in which several minions are placed in a certain order. To defeat the horde, you need to cover with polymino attacks all the cells of the tile on which minions are drawn. At the end of each turn, the hordes advance, and if they reach the end of the road,..

 It all started with a book series. Reckoners ("Avengers") is a trilogy by the American writer Brandon Sanderson: "Heart of Steel" (2013), "Avenger of Fire" (2015) and "Star of Scourge" (2016) plus the story "Mitosis". Sanderson did an interesting twist on the superhero template, turning them from humanity's saviors into humanity's worst nightmare. The action takes place in the near future in Newcago, ten years after the appearance of a comet that turned many ordinary people into superheroes... or rather, superhumans - because superheroes only have special abilities. The strongest of the superhumans have divided the world among themselves, and ordinary people do not dare to challenge their tyranny. The so-called epics gave free rein to their baser instincts. Newkago maintains some semblance of order as it is ruled by one of the strongest epics in the world: Iron Heart. He has invulnerability and doesn't seem to have any weaknesses. He rules the city with an iron fist. No one dares to oppose him, except for a handful of rebels - avengers. The Avengers are a small group of people who secretly study the weak points of the epics. Obsessed with hatred for epics in general and Steel Heart in particular, David Charleston dreams of revenge for his father's murder. Armed only with bravery and one of the world's most closely guarded secrets, he tries to join the ranks of the Avengers. And together they try to achieve justice...  So, the Reckoners deck takes place during the first book. David joined the Avengers, and together they fight Steelheart and his henchmen. Here you can play as David, Megan, Abraham, Tia, Cody or Prof. Each character has its own ability and its own set of custom dice: three special (corresponding to the color of the character) and three standard. The difference between special and standard dice is the ratio of the different symbols on the faces. For example, Abraham prefers to openly attack epics, Tia - to do research, etc. Armed with..

 I thought for a long time whether to write this review because Destinies is a popular new game, praised by almost all reviewers. And I do not understand at all what is happening and whether these commentators went through the campaign to the end. Reviews of games with a campaign mode are always difficult. If I were to write a review after the first or maybe second scenario, I would probably call Destinies the best new tabletop game. However, after a full run, many flaws were revealed, so my opinion changed a lot. We played the base campaign and Sea of Sands together, so I can't comment on how it's played in three or solo. Let's start with the pros and cons. PROS OF THE GAME  Quality of components. Some of the highest quality components for this price range. Two-layer player boards, dozens of minions, thick tokens, heavy dice, a great cardboard organizer and very high quality cards. You couldn't wish for anything better.  It's very easy to learn. Anyone can be taught to play in a matter of minutes. A significant plus.  Skills test An unusual method of testing skills for the genre - and, in my opinion, one of the most interesting. There are elements of push your luck when you decide how many dice to use. There are interesting decisions about which skills to improve when pumping: which is better to have 1 almost guaranteed success, or 2-3 increased chances of success? However, the results of the rolls vary greatly, so it is advisable to level up to 2-3 successes, as 1 is rarely enough. Because of this, the pumping is not as flexible as it seems, but still the mechanics are excellent.  Application of items. All items have their own abilities, as well as various uses. For example, lighting a room with a lamp. Or autosuccess when digging if you have a shovel. Most items are useful in more than one situation, not just one. Some can also find interesting uses if you read the dialogue carefully or ask a certain NPC..

 The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch is a 1vs game: skirmish game with puzzle elements from CMON. The action takes place in a whimsical steampunk setting: gentlemen and women protect the Empire itself and the world as a whole from strange monsters from another dimension, controlled by an evil nemesis. This review covers the basics. There are many more buns in the kickstarter version, but I haven't gotten my hands on them yet. First of all, I would like to note that the game looks great. Beautiful, creative drawing style, very detailed miniatures. It is not surprising, because it is a game from CMON. This company has a lot of experience in the production of quality parts and components thanks to the line of "Zombicides", which has raised millions. The rules of Rise of Moloch resemble Zombicide in some ways, but there's nothing shameful about leaning on the shoulders of titans, so to speak. Rise of Moloch is not at all a Zombicide clone in a different setting. COMPONENTS  There is enough content in the database: about 60 miniatures, a dozen tablets, 6 maps, a dozen room tiles, etc., many cards and tokens. This is all without taking into account kickstarter bonuses and add-ons. Everything looks great: high-quality illustrations, nice design. Spectacular miniatures in the style of steampunk fantasy, where metal, flesh and magic grow, are the product of whimsical fantasy. Like straight out of a Tim Powers novel or the Quicksilver books. There are links to Jumping Jack, Anubis, IT, The League of Gentlemen and more. The illustrations are in no way inferior to the miniatures in processing and atmosphere: the spirit of the Victorian era is perfectly transferred to the game. Of course, all the components are of high quality as you would expect from CMON: thick tiles and tokens, thick cards, etc.  I only have a few small comments. First, the cards are a bit shiny and slippery, so they don't hold well on tablets. Secondly, if you lay out the..

Chronicles of Drunagor is one of the newcomers in the dungeon crawler camp. It's a co-op game for 1-5 players that differs from other members of the genre with some unique mechanics. 3D terrain, various enemies and darkness mechanics that threaten to gradually fill the map. From the first games, the game impressed me, despite some overload. There is a great narrative here for story lovers. There are tactical battles for those who like to plan. And there are innovations that will surely be appreciated by many fans of the genre. A monster slasher, an epic quest to fight evil, and depth all in one box. And, of course, gorgeous miniatures. And a built-in organizer. The eye has something to catch. WHAT IS A GAME So what is this game? At first, "Chronicles of Drunagor" look quite standard. Character classes, skill leveling, various monsters (divided into weak, medium and elite enemies) on which heroes test these skills. In general, a familiar structure. However, the first deviation from the standard soon becomes apparent. Not only monsters await the heroes, but there is also another danger: the darkness seeping into this world (on the game map), which strengthens nearby monsters and drains the life force of nearby heroes. To overcome this obstacle, you will have to be cunning and think a little. If ignored, the darkness can decide the outcome of the battle in favor of the monsters and greatly reduce the chances of the heroes. Another feature of "Chronicle of Drunagora" is the three-dimensional terrain. Not that this is the only game with 3D tiles, but they stand out because they give heroes and monsters additional tactical options.  Personally, I really liked the 3D terrain: it helps to bypass dangerous areas of the field, lead monsters away from the growing darkness, and thus get rid of buffs, save a wounded hero... In addition, it adds atmosphere to both the gameplay and the narrative. Nevertheless, the three-dimensional terrain,..

 In short: the game is very, very fan-friendly. A little unpolished in places. Many interesting ideas, but unfinished. I think it wouldn't hurt the developers to test Company of Heroes for a few more weeks. They obviously tried to make it easier to get into the game by splitting one rulebook into two: basic and advanced rules, but there are so few advanced rules that it would have been better to include them in the first book and just make sense of it. And now you have to flip through one or another book, finding out what these symbols mean.  The gameplay is basically very simple: move-attack-supply. But the rules are structured and described in such a way that they are very difficult to digest. For example, movement mechanics: movement is divided into 3 movement actions, each of which uses 3 cubes. These cubes represent how many hexes your unit can move; the maximum is always equal to 3. Excessive freezing. Once you digest them, it becomes clear that these rules lead to unnecessary fuss. You place 1, 2, 3 cubes next to each unit you want to move, then almost immediately remove them from the field at the end of the movement phase. Of course, this is not the end of the world, but the gameplay is too boring. But the attack phase is much more puzzling: because of the symbols chosen by the developers. On the dice there are symbols of infantry, symbols of equipment, symbols of explosions and fire. Intuitively, it seems like infantry symbols would trigger when an infantryman attacks, but they don't; they only mean that this attack damages the infantry. In my opinion, a strange reverse logic. Plus, a surprisingly working defense mechanic. You will have to check the chart, match the dropped symbol with the symbol of the attacked unit to know if it is defending or not. Then roll the dice as many times as the required symbols have fallen out. Then match the cards of the attacker and the unit being attacked... The developers should have ditched all those..