Just recently played another game in IS (already played about 5, which is extremely small for such a game), and decided to describe my first impressions of the game, and now compare it with its predecessor, TS. For those who don't know what these stragglers are: TS was #1 on BGG for a long time, about 10 years ago. And even now, in 2021, it is in 14th place in the overall rating. The genre of the game is hard to say. Some say it's a wargame, some call it area control, and some call it a card game. It's all in the game in general, but it doesn't really matter what genre it is, what matters is that a game from 2005 still ranks better than BGG games, and that's saying something.  Without going into details, both games are a field with a world map and regions/countries that players fight for control of throughout the game. At certain moments, an intermediate count takes place, at which point the players receive points. However, the PO scale and accruals here are not quite ordinary, but are a kind of analog of a rope that players pull. If one player received 5 points, he moves the common marker in his direction, the opponent thus loses his 5. The goal, accordingly, is to "pull the rope" in his direction by a certain amount of PO. There are a few more conditions for ending the game early, but in general, the game plays out in this way. Control over regions here takes place with the help of troops, as in some Dudes on Map, and the so-called "Influence", represented by some virtual points. For example, spent 3 points, threw 3 influences in one of the regions - everything is simple. These points are obtained by drawing cards as in TS, or by simply drafting tokens with these points as in IS. In this way, players spread their influence, either by accumulating more in a certain region, or simply by removing the enemy's influence.  Congratulations, you have learned almost all the rules) Of course, in the games there are a lot of nuances and..

 Gloom of Kilforth is an adventure fantasy game in which you try to successfully complete your hero's adventure (write a saga about him) and defeat the Ancient or Ancients. Almost every card in the game has keywords. In each chapter of the saga, you must collect a certain set of keywords, traveling through Kilforth and meeting various creatures and objects. At the beginning, you create your character: you choose race and class cards. Together, a unique combination of skills will result. Over the course of the game, you'll overcome the obstacles that come your way—encounter cards—using these skills: Combat, Exploration, Stealth, and Influence. You travel on a map consisting of 25 (laid out in a 5x5 square) location cards. 24 belong to one of four types of terrain: mountains, wastelands, plains, and forests - and 25, Sprawl City, is your starting location, located in the middle of the kingdom.  Rounds are divided into dawn, day and night phases. At dawn, you regain action points (equal to your current health). All defeated heroes are respawned in Sprawl City. During the day, you take actions: movement, searching locations, buying cards from the market, resting, drawing cards from your hand as assets to strengthen the hero. At night, you draw a card from the deck of the night; one of the locations is enveloped in "darkness" (it turns over), and at the same time, one of the abilities on the card of the Ancient's plan can be activated. As in many other adventure games, here you will have to pass a lot of checks to find out whether you have passed the encounter card or not. Let's say if you want to fight an enemy and you have a combat rating of 4, you will try to roll enough successes (fives and sixes) to defeat the enemy on 4 dice. Also, every day you can add +1 success to the result of any check by discarding a hearing card or using a fate token.  When you enter a location, you draw the appropriate encounter card for the location, then..

 Cthulhu Wars has often been called a Cadillac game. This is an exemplary Kickstarter project: a niche game that would not have been born without Kickstarter. Features available: miniatures (giant size), extras larger than the Black Goat spawn, and matching horse price tag. Much to the chagrin of those who don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a single piece of fun, Cthulhu Wars is also a great game; A great choice for anyone who likes to cook on the table. That's why Sandy Peterson has been asked for years to release a version of the game with cardboard instead of miniatures, which will allow you to familiarize yourself with the gameplay without emptying your wallet, and also move the box without the help of a crane. And those requests were granted...or not? Now "Cthulhu Wars: Duel" was born - a purely dueling game without miniatures in a small box, with slightly changed rules. Duel area controls are a rather rare and niche thing for a number of reasons. This game does a good job of bringing the feel of Cthulhu Wars into a duel format. However... let's put it this way: not all the components of "Cthulhu War" are in place.  As expected, in terms of components, the game is not as eye-catching as the original. The box and box are much smaller, and instead of plastic - cardboard. The illustrations are a little dark, but the silhouettes of the monsters are very different, so it's easy to tell them apart - especially if you're already familiar with the original. Including only 10 dice in the set, although during large batches each participant of the battle often has to roll more than 10, is a strange decision. Personally, we added more cubes so that we don't have to remember how many people got what results. Otherwise, there are no complaints about the components. A reduced copy of "Cthulhu Wars" with the same sense of scale of what is happening and increased transportability succeeded in glory.  Of course, the rules had to be reworked in order to..

COMPONENTS In the deluxe box, everything is very tight, the lid closes only if everything is carefully packed. At the same time, the components are very high-quality: the tablets of heroes, bosses and torches are made of linen, as are all maps of loot, henchmen and goblins. All small components are of good quality, and the wooden henchmen and goblin figures have a stylized shape (all different!) and pattern. The miniatures of the heroes resemble "Blood and Fury" in both size and quality. PREPARATION FOR THE PARTY  Game-mechanically, we have a co-op dungeon crawler with a gradually opening map. The preparation consists of laying out the entrance to the dungeon + 4 rooms around it, as well as pouring the rest of the components from the box onto the table. Choose from 2 to 4 heroes, take their tablets and figurines - and go on an adventure! Well, you still need to mix henchmen and the boss in the deck of rooms according to special rules. It's very fast by the standards of the genre; By the way, cleaning in the box is also done quickly. GAME PROCESS  Heroes have 3 stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, which can vary from 1 to 3, indicating how many dice will be rolled on the corresponding checks. It is they who determine the path of the hero's development, because they almost never change during the game (there are things that can increase one characteristic by 1, not higher than 3, but there is always a lack of space for them). There are starters, which are the maximum values of lives and energy, a special skill of each hero and 2 items. One of them is a basic weapon, the other is usually a skill, like running or learning spells. Unfortunately, this skill is usually replaced by something more useful by the middle of the game. Special skills stay with the heroes permanently, rather than being valuable. The barbarian can add +2 to melee for 3 energy (it's pretty strong, believe me), and the sorceress can shoot a long-range, magic arrow, perfect..

 "Burgle Bros." - another great game in a long list of great games from one of our favorite creators, Tim Powers. One to four players become members of a team that tries to pull off an elaborate heist in an office building in search of valuable items. Gameplay takes place from a set of 16 room tiles, each of which is a floor of a building. In total, the building has three floors, through which players will have to make their way, with the hope that they will not be discovered. Each floor has walls that affect how players can move from tile to tile. On each floor, players must work together to find a safe and crack it to retrieve their loot inside. Guards patrol each floor, moving around the building according to the coordinates indicated on the stack of event cards. If players cross paths with guards, they will lose one of their invisibility tokens, which serve as your hit points or lives in the game. BANK HACKING Room tiles are full of all kinds of traps and surprises that can ruin your plans. Many tiles can trigger an alarm that will cause the guards to change course and head towards the source of the trouble. Other cards affect your movement, such as ventilation that allows you to move through a floor faster, or passages that collapse beneath you and send you to the floor below. In general, players must always be alert in order to successfully reach safes. Your job isn't over once the safe is found, because you have to crack it! To do this, you need to roll the dice to match the numbers found on the tiles in the same row and column as the safe. Not only does this add a bit of randomness to the game, but it also forces you to carefully explore each floor to be able to roll the right values on the dice, even if you find a safe quickly. I HAVE POWER! Don't think that the game will leave you to your own devices when you solve these tasks. There are several different ways players can recharge their energy to overcome the difficulty of..

WELCOME TO THE MOON  Welcome to the Moon is a game for 1-6 players created by Benoit Turpin and Alexis Allard , with illustrations by Anna Heidsik . This is a remake of Welcome To... ("Paper Quarters"), which was first published by Blue Cocker Games in 2018. Welcome to the Moon includes eight scenarios that describe the story of humanity's resettlement from Earth and its attempts to find a new home. These scenarios can be played individually in any order or as part of a sequential narrative campaign with additional features added as you progress. This provides a huge amount of content in a very small but very heavy box (heavy because it contains six copies of laminated player tablets for each scenario). There is a basic format that each scenario follows, with additional rules, mechanics, and scoring methods that vary depending on the scenario itself. Each player takes a tablet corresponding to the scenario being played out. The main deck of playing cards is shuffled and divided into three equal piles face down in the center of the table. Three mission cards are drawn from the six available for each scenario and placed face up in front of all players. After that, you can start playing!  The central deck of cards is the engine of all the decisions you have to make. In each round, the top card is played, which is placed face up next to its deck. Each of these cards has a number (1-15) on the back and a symbol on the face. So in each round you will be presented with three numbers and three symbols. For example, 14/Energy, 3/Astronaut and 11/Water. Each player then chooses a combination of number and symbol and applies it on their tablet. By writing the number in the appropriate place, according to the rules of the script, and if possible, taking the action that follows from the symbol. This review would be very long if I were to list all the possible actions, as they are different in each of the eight scenarios, so the best way to illustrate..

 Have you ever wanted to lead an army of ninja aliens into battle? Wizard leprechauns? Or maybe robo-pirates? "Zamis" gives you such an opportunity. It's a modern classic that spawned countless dopes and remains popular among players. Personally, I fell in love with the game from the first game a few years ago thanks to the crazy mix of settings and chaos that takes place in it. ABOUT THE GAME  In Smash Up, each player chooses two factions and shuffles their decks, each consisting of 20 cards. As a result, combinations like those described above are obtained. The goal of the game is to score 15 victory points. Points are scored for capturing the base. To capture the base, the total strength of the henchmen on it should exceed the value indicated on it. At the start, players have 5 cards in their hand. During his turn, a player can place 1 of his henchmen on one of the bases and play 1 action. If, after a player's turn, the total strength of the henchmen in the base exceeds the specified value, it is captured, and the VPs are divided among the players depending on whether they took first, second, or third place in that base. After counting the points, the player draws 2 cards, and the next move comes. The game ends after someone has scored 15 points. WHAT MAKES ZAMIS SO GOOD? 1. Great and unique illustrations and setting. For a game of this kind, a mixture of many factions is exactly what is needed. In my experience, newcomers are very attracted to the process of choosing and mixing two factions in the most ridiculous combinations. In the last game, one of the players got really excited about the prospect of playing zombie dinosaurs.  2. In the game, surprisingly, there is a place for strategy. The D&D fan part of my gaming cell became familiar with the strengths of the chosen factions after a few turns of the first game and developed strategies accordingly. Indeed, some factions focus on discard pile manipulation, others pile on..

 The world sank. Endless downpours caused by a sunken god rising from the abyss threaten to engulf the last bastions of human civilization. Only a few brave captains can stand in his way - to set off to find out the cause of the eternal downpours and stop them. They have to fight, chart a course, investigate and trade in order to win. Everrain is a co-op game for 1-4 players set in a bleak apocalyptic world engulfed by the ocean and Cthulhu-like sea monsters. Game time — about 3 hours + 1 hour for each player, except for the first. There is an elaborate plot, engine construction and placement of workers. GAME PROCESS  Your task is to collect evidence. Up to 5 evidences can be mined in ports, which will speed up your progress. If you collect the required number of evidence (usually 16), then you win. You are faced with a game timer; if it reaches zero, the Drowned God avatar will appear, and the players will only have a few turns before the avatar destroys the world (destroys ports, sinks ships, etc.) and everyone loses. Evidence can be obtained in several ways: by exploring the surrounding world, completing quests, exchanging for artifacts, randomly finding in the moon and buying at the port. In general, there are many options; In terms of freedom of action, Everrain is almost a sandbox.  Obstacles in your way will be the fatigue of the crew members, the attacks of the enemies (both ships and boarding teams), as well as the mechanics of orders. Each turn you have 3 orders recharged, which you can use to control your team, move and attack your ship. But you can give at least all orders per turn, only 3 will be recharged. This adds tactical depth to the game: you have to think about which orders to recharge and which to leave later.  Team management is also not an easy task: crew members must be in certain locations so that movement and attacks are as effective as possible. But at the same time, the crew members accumulate fatigue, which can..

 In space, no one will hear your scream... However, space marines do not scream. These genetically modified and devoted to the Emperor death machines fight fiercely and die without fear or doubt. A small squad of these armored warriors, armed with saw swords, flamethrowers and psi-powers, land on the Space Traveler - an abandoned ship that roams the vastness of space. It is clearly teeming with the local Zerg variety, the gene stealers. Your space marines have to carefully make their way through the claustrophobically tight corridors of the traveler, blowing the oncoming aliens to pieces and, most likely, dying one by one. Your task is to reach the final location, where the goal of your mission is located: an alien lair, a self-destruct mechanism, etc. According to the plot, the chances of success are about 44% with the loss of 86% of the personnel. Sound tempting? Then go ahead, for the Emperor! GAME PROCESS  "Space Hulk: Death Angel" is a lightweight/middleweight card co-op for 1-6 players aged 12+. Parties take 20-45 minutes. Each player controls 1-3 squads of 2 Space Marines (the number of squads controlled depends on the number of players; i.e. in a party of four each player controls only one squad, while in a solo party you will control three squads). You lay out space marine cards in a vertical axis and thereby form a battle formation. Location and alien cards will be laid out to the left and right of your paratrooper column.  After the aliens spawn (which is often accompanied by unpleasant events that make life difficult for you), your Space Marines can react with one of the following actions: supporting each other, moving, interacting with the surrounding location, or the Space Marines' favorite option: blowing the hell out of everything with futuristic weapons. But the game prudently limits you, forbidding you to repeat the action played in the previous turn. So you can't just shoot all the time and be forced to resort to various..

 Family games are the most versatile genre of board games. Games from our TOP can be played with children, with parents, with friends and with newcomers to the world of board games. 10. TICKET TO RIDE, CARCASSONE These games will most likely be offered to you in the store :) They are very popular and sold in large quantities. Moreover, each of these three games has many varieties. Train ticket: Europe, America, Nordic countries... Carcassonne: Classic, Gold Rush, Amazon... They share a common mechanic, but the setting, the place of action in the games are different. If you haven't played these games yet or you're choosing a gift and don't know what the person likes, any of the games will be a good option. 9. POTION EXPLOSION  A very simple and enjoyable game with a bunch of colorful glass balls. During the game, you will collect various ingredients and brew potions. You will learn, for example, how to make potions of wisdom from unicorn tears and dragon smoke 8. THE CASTLES OF BURGUNDY  The events of "Castles of Burgundy" take place in the region of medieval France. Players, playing the role of aristocrats, rule small principalities, building settlements, strong castles, practicing river trade, developing mines and using the knowledge of travelers. The principalities are represented in the game by the personal fields of the players, spread out in a hexagon. During the game, hexagons are filled with settlement tiles. Each tile has its own purpose, and they start working when they appear on the field. One of the best family strategies that opens the way to more complex economic games. 7. SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM  Do you like player interaction, dialogue and bluffing? If so, try the Sheriff of Nottingham game. In it, each participant in turn becomes a sheriff, and the rest try to transport legal goods and contraband through him. You put all the cards in a bag, give it to the sheriff and declare what is there. For example, like this: "Sheriff,..