There is such a type of card game - on a bribe. It seems to me that many with this definition imagine a 36-card deck with queens and kings of four suits. At least for me, the bribery game is associated with exactly that. And today we will talk about one of these modernized tables. I got Fox in the Forest by accident - I saw a wonderful fox on the cover of the announced game on bgg, I was interested in the pictures on the cards, and in one of the orders "from there", when it was delivered, the box was somehow thrown in for delivery in the parcel. At that time, I did not expect anything special from it, I just liked the illustrations, it turned out later that the toy is not bad and is praised in various ways by foreign table-toppers. When it got to us, I didn't manage to try it for a long time, because I didn't feel a great desire, then I evaluated it after a couple of batches and threw it away again. But already in autumn and winter he recorded several sessions to his heart's content. WHAT IS THE GAME ABOUT? In euros, you can safely score on the plot almost always, what can we say about fillers? But Fox in the Forest even has a flavor, can you imagine? Well, as a flavor, this is a short story by Alana Jolie Abbott and it has nothing to do with the maps and game mechanics, only the characters and the general environment are borrowed. But generally funny. WHAT'S IN THE BOX  A deck of cards, 33 pieces, of three suits: Bells, Keys and Moon. From one to eleven. Odd cards are text-ability cards, even numbers are just numbers.  The second component of the game is the scoring tokens.  Lots of rules and attractions. For a classic filler, the filling is quite normal, but by modern standards of stuffing boxes with any good - could the fairy tale be included in a separate mini-book, don't you think? And then I had to search on the publisher's website, and if it weren't for the Internet, I wouldn't have known that there was a plot here. HOW TO PLAY?  Fox in the Forest is designed for two. 13 cards are dealt to each person, the rest of the deck is placed face up on top of one card that is turned face up – as in The Fool, a deck with the trump card at the bottom. After that, the active player enters with one card from his hand, and the second player responds with his own, and it must be of the same suit as the first one. If the right suit is not on the hand, you can discard anything. Whoever has a larger denomination is a bribe. Trumps beat the rest of the suits. In general, such a classic bribery game that there would be no rule to describe the meaning, if not for two buts. But these are the features of the tabletop that fans of this genre have come to love.  The first is that all odd cards have some feature that works when drawn, and thanks to which you can trick and turn the tide of the game in your favor. The face and suit of most of the cards in the opponent's hands can be guessed, but there are always 6 unknown cards in the deck that add randomness and surprise throughout each hand. Second, in the game it doesn't matter if your hand is full of powerful nines and tens, because points are given here not only for collected bribes, but also for "undertaken". In order to better understand what we are talking about, here is a simple table of rules from which everything becomes clear.  That is, there is a strategy in Fox in the Forest - depending on what comes to your hand in the game, you can plan and estimate the approximate schedule for the game, whether you should chop for each card, or play for a scarcity. Taking into account the fact that a full-fledged game in "Lysitsa" is considered several hands, after which the winner is declared who has reached a certain threshold of points, the long-term strategy is also respected here. Well, as far as this concept is applicable to the filler. IMPRESSION  Fox in the Forest is a smart box with gameplay that you wouldn't expect from such a simple content. Personal impressions of "Lysytsia" only become more positive with each game. As I said above, at the beginning of last year, I didn't even expect anything from the box, except for good art, but I got more than I expected. The problem with the perception of the board is that the basis of the game is banal bribes, from which by definition you expect something... well, what I described in the introduction, some ancient nonsense. Personally, I was helped to discard my superstitions not only by personal experience and recording parties, but also by constant positive reviews from abroad (perhaps, in part, they were the ones who inclined me to spend a few dollars on an order). The game was especially appreciated by fans of trick-taking mechanics. It is supplemented with such cool things as the special capabilities of some cards and the system of counting points, which turn this little toy into something much more interesting. But its relative "difficulty weight" according to the version of bgg is absolutely true (1.59 out of 5) and at first it seemed too primitive to me, for example. However, with the acquired experience and pumping of skills in the use of mechanics, you delve deeper into the nuances, you gain an understanding of subtle moments, awareness of the possibilities of using the powers of different cards.  The tension of the parties is a plus, since every map played is important. At the beginning of the next hand, you don't know how strong your hand is and how it should be played (because the exact cards of the opponent are unknown) - whether you should take bribes or give away (play a little). At first, the course of the game will seem almost random, but it is worth gaining experience (at least 10+ games) and you will get into tricks and tricks that can be rolled with a "losing" hand, realize how to roll and output a winning sequence of moves using abilities cards that are crucial in Fox in the Forest.  Extracting information from the opponent with a "king" (denomination "eleven"), collecting points individually with the help of cards-"treasures"-sevens, the same "foxes"-threes that fundamentally break the course of the game during the game - you change the trump card, turning everything from upside down, and you can use this tool so subtly that the difference between a master in "Fox" and an inexperienced player can be noticed just by the ability to use the fox. This is not chess, of course, but. In fact, it is the whites of the cards that can be considered the main feature of the game, on which the base works - bribes.  Being a classic filler for two, Fox in the Forest is not like its counterparts and gives some new experience, which I will explain now. For example, Jaipur or Lost Cities are just right for comparison (in the latter, by the way, 35 batches have already been laid out this year). In all these games, we compete with an opponent, grab/lay out cards at a fast pace, calculating a little in advance the simplest actions. "Fox" works differently - you also see approximately the correct moves, but the choice is influenced by an additional layer in the gameplay, namely the abilities of the cards. It is necessary, as always, not only to mathematically analyze what and how to do, but also to calculate and, most importantly, invent tricks with the abilities of cards. This cardinal difference gives a slightly different impression - later the game seems more complex and deeper, or something. More than one approach is needed in order to get used to the opportunities provided to the player in this filler.  I will not say that it is better and more interesting, it is simply a fact that is a distinctive feature of the game from the two taken as an example. They are chosen because the feel of the parties are very similar to Fox in the Forest, so if you are a fan/hater of them, Fox will also fit/no need to worry. Once again, don't take the game as a consolation, no. This is just another filler whose popularity is justified by its really good gameplay, the quality of which was able to reach the heights of the top recognized boxes, such as Jaipur and Lost Cities, given as an example of exactly what are excellent games. So don't get hyped if you're a die-hard genre hater. If you are not unfamiliar with simple dueling tabletop joys, then "Fox" is at least worth a try, it may well be placed on the shelf among a number of good fillers. USEFUL LINKS Fox in the Forest on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/221965/fox-forest VIDEO REVIEWS ..

 In Back to the Future: Back in Time, you play (minimum 2 players) as Marty, Doc, Jennifer, and/or Einstein the dog as they try to help Marty's parents fall in love with each other and get the DeLorean to the right place on Main Street by 10: 04 to go back to 1985. The task is complicated by Biff, who constantly tries to get George with Lorraine and prevent them from falling in love. Each character has a unique special ability and a set of starting power tiles that give you a starting set of dice. During the course of the game, completing various tasks, you can get additional tiles.  Moves are divided into 2 phases: 1. Time phase Here you simply move the cube one division along the move counter and activate effects from the corresponding icons. Each round you must draw at least one movement card that moves Biff, George and/or Lorraine around town. In some rounds, you will also have to draw a Nuisance card: they are placed on the field and constantly have certain negative effects. In some rounds, you'll also have to check your love level, and if you haven't raised it to a high enough value, the McFly family photo fragment will disappear. 2. Action phase Here you use your power tiles and item cards to move around the field and attempt various tasks. When moving, you can take George or Lorraine with you to move them to more suitable locations. Challenges include trying to raise the love level between George and Lorraine when they are together, battling Biff, moving the DeLorean, trying to collect key items needed to go back in time, completing challenges from opportunity cards, and solving problems from trouble cards. When attempting a task, you can flip over any number of power tiles available to you, roll the appropriate dice, and get as many success symbols as you like. Any dice without a Biff symbol can then be rerolled in hopes of improving the outcome. The results can then be modified with some power tiles. If there is another player in the same location as you, they can help you by flipping over their power tiles and/or item cards, adding their dice to your pool.  At the end of the phase, you flip back your power tiles and item cards, but the allies who helped you will have to wait until the end of their next turn. Each Biff symbol on the die and on the movement card moves him closer to George or Lorraine. If Biff is in the same location as one of them, and you have to activate Biff's next symbol, then the level of love decreases. You win if the DeLorean is in the ready-to-go zone at 10:04 and the love level is in the love zone. Otherwise, you will lose. You also lose if the sixth, last fragment of the McFly family photo disappears. PROS OF THE GAME What impressed me the most about Back to the Future: Back in Time was the excellent transfer of the atmosphere of the film to the table. Biff is just as crazy, all the cards feature objects or famous scenes from the movie, and making George and Lorraine a couple is not easy at all (making the disappearing McFly family photo part of the game mechanics is a great idea). Everything is like the original. During the batch, the voltage is maintained. Biff is pretty dangerous to begin with, and is made even more dangerous by the trouble cards. In addition, something new constantly appears on the playing field, and it becomes much more difficult to complete the main tasks. Combined, this creates a complex puzzle that you will solve in each game. It's great to be able to help other players on their turn. When allies sacrifice their tiles and cards for you, it causes positive emotions. Probably, the game would have worked perfectly without this mechanic, but it takes cooperation to a new level, which, in my opinion, is always a plus. I also really like the opportunity map. They promise very useful rewards to help you win, but at the same time you risk wasting your turn if the task fails. It is also pleasing that the game has many ways to level unsuccessful dice rolls. You can reroll them as much as you want (provided you don't discard a Biff symbol), and some power tiles allow you to reroll Biffs and swap symbols for others. The game scales well. There are different move counters for different numbers of players, so the level of difficulty and the length of the games do not change. So far I've only played with 2 and 3 players, but it's pretty obvious that 4 players won't change either. In my opinion, the illustrations of characters, maps and fields look simply gorgeous. I really like this style of drawing. It is good that the authors did not decide to simply insert frames from the film. Great miniature Delorean! CONS OF THE GAME As I said, it's great to have a lot of dice modifiers, but cuborandom can still hurt you a lot at the start, drastically reducing your chances of winning. If at the start your team doesn't roll dice well and you don't manage to get used to new abilities and items, then the whole game you will be playing catch-up. We had this happen only once, but as a result we lost with a bang, which became clear already after the first 5-6 moves. However, this is the only party out of seven that left a negative impression. There is no regulated difficulty in the rulebook. The game is quite hardcore in itself, but the lack of an opportunity to increase the difficulty, if we put our hand in it and it becomes very easy to play, is not pleasing. Biff and George's miniatures look amazing. Biff resembles a zombie version of Drago from Rocky, and George is just an elderly zombie. CONCLUSIONS I'm a huge fan of the Back to the Future movies, so I was very pleased to see Back to the Future: Back in Time live up to the spirit of the original... and the fan gameplay. It takes coordinated teamwork to win, the games are quite intense, and the game looks impressive on the table. Apart from one unfortunate incident, we really enjoyed all the games. If you like dice co-op and/or are interested in a Back to the Future family, then I highly recommend checking out Back to the Future: Back in Time...

 13 Clues is a pure deduction game. At first glance, 13 Clues is an update of the classic Clue . I solve the mystery. Through thorough questioning, I must determine who committed the crime, what weapon was used, and where the crime was committed. But 13 Clues offers a few twists and advantages over Clue . The first feature is that each player has their own unique secret. During the preparation, 3 cards are distributed - the person, the weapon and the scene of the crime. They are placed at the front of the screen so that the player cannot see his 3 cards, but everyone else can. I have to guess what my 3 cards are before my opponents guess theirs. Just looking around the player sheet, you see a lot of information. Next, everyone begins to cross off the cards they see on the player's sheet, eliminating all known combinations except 13 (hence the name 13 Hints).  (There is plenty of space on the player sheets to write down thoughts and observations.) Each player, solving his own mystery, corrects the main drawback of Clue - the elimination of the player. In Clue, guessing the solution is very risky. If the guess is wrong, I'm out of the game. If I'm the first-guess player, I'm at a huge disadvantage. Not only can I lose instantly, I also give my opponents useful information. In 13 clues, I can guess my solution as many times as I want without penalty. Other players will tell me if I'm right or wrong. A wrong guess has no negative impact. I really like this system. Often there will be one clue that I can't figure out. Perhaps it is difficult for me to formulate the question correctly, or the opponent is deliberately withholding information, or someone made a mistake. But in 13 Clues, I can only guess when that will happen. Often a wrong answer gives me the clue I need and I can solve the case next turn. Even better, I never have to be afraid to guess. Sometimes my opponent makes a wrong guess that's so close that I know he'll figure it out next turn, while I might be a few hints away from perfecting my decision. Instead of waiting for the inevitable, I can safely venture to guess on my own. Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky! The second twist is tempo. Competitive deduction games should slow down the leader, allowing the laggards to catch up. Clue does this with a dice roll and move where I can spend a few turns moving to a new location. 13 Hint leads the game with magnifying glass tokens. I start with 1 token that I can spend on my turn either interrogating my opponent, looking at a hidden card, or making accusations. When I interrogate an opponent, I give him my magnifying glass. So a player who is constantly passing on information will get more opportunities in his turn. If I ever run out of dandruff, I take it from the stash. This has a nice side effect — players will naturally hold the magnifying glass without giving them ice. If everyone at the table thinks I'm ahead, that I know too much, they can stop asking me questions and instead pick a player they think is behind. I'll still get one question per turn, but others will get 2 or even 3 pieces of information per turn to help them catch up. Of course, at some point these players may have enough information from others to ask me questions, allowing me to catch up. I really like games with catch-up mechanics, and 13 Hints has a real subtle method that doesn't feel like an overt help. The questions are also very different. Instead of asking for specific cards a la Hint, I ask the opponent how many cards are of a certain category (male/female person, indoor/outdoor location, melee/ranged weapon) or color (grey, brown, white, orange) they can see From their answers, I draw the cards in front of me. For example, if I ask how many male characters you see and she says "none," I know my suspect must be a woman. If I ask her how many open locations she can see and she says "one," then my location is most likely outside. It just might not be. We each have 2 hidden cards that we can see. One of these 2 cards can be an outdoor area. So when it says it sees 1 outdoor location, it could mean that my location is actually indoors.  (People, places, and weapons are easy to distinguish with simple icons.) All information is shared openly. Often I can get information from the questions and answers of my opponents. It doesn't matter who is asking the question, if someone says they see 0 gray cards, I know none of my cards can be gray. Likewise, if someone says they see exactly 2 ranged weapons, and I also see 2 ranged weapons, I know my weapons must be melee. I love it. It keeps me interested and attentive even when it's not my turn. I also need to be careful with my questions so I don't inadvertently cause a leak. Determining the cards I have is much harder than Clue. Since I can't ask about a specific card, discarding cards can be very difficult. Imagine that I know the person and the weapon, but have 2 options for the location. Both options are out of place, so I can't ask about that category directly. One is gray, one is orange, but I also have an orange person and a gray weapon. No question seems to help me choose! Even without guessing (what would I do in this situation), it is still possible to identify the cards. This complexity of deduction can be frustrating. 13 Hints lose some of their fun when players don't understand each other. Perhaps 13 Clues's worst sin is that it can hang with the wrong crowd. If everyone around the table is deadlocked, move after move will go through without progress. Eventually, players will start guessing at random. Taking a stab in the dark and being right isn't that exciting. Fortunately, most games are played quickly and all players are agonizingly close to the solution when the crime is solved. Often we will play 2 or 3 games of 13 Hints back to back. 13 Clue is a great modern update to Clue . Similarities to this classic make this game easy to teach others. Giving each player their own secret solves the problem of player elimination. Deduction is a bit more complicated than I expected, making some games a real puzzle. Despite the difficulties, everyone around me loves 13 Tips!..

The holiday of Nicholas is approaching, Our consultants will be happy to help you choose a board game. Contact us by phone, email or visit our store. We are also happy to inform you about new products and renewal of goods in our store Meet the fresh arrival and what's new in our store :) Hurry up, the games are great and for all tastes, be the first to buy :)..

 Today we want to tell you about one new item in our collection that recently arrived. And this is Honey Buzz by Elf Creek Games.  If we talk about the publisher, then, in fact, this is still a little-known office, but judging by the games, this is a publisher with ambitions. Honey Buzz is first of all a very good game. Gorgeous illustrations on the maps and field, everything is bright and colorful. The rules are made on paper that looks like plastic.  The first time I felt such rules in "Kryly". In general, it is very clear that the publisher did not skimp on the components - and this gives the game a lot, because any beautifully designed game attracts the attention of players much more than an Excel table, although I would argue with myself about the "beauty of a square" here . Of course, it was not without shoals.  The bee markers in the field are covered with some kind of hairy substance that falls off (they look very sharp and unpleasant in reality due to the fact that, apparently, they were smeared with glue before that to stick this fluff and the color of the bees does not correspond to other bee markers of the same color); the pollen markers, made in the form of shoulder bags, were badly damaged during transportation, and for some reason the pollen in them is painted in different colors (probably they thought it would be more beautiful), although it does not carry any aesthetic or practical load. We did not like these moments, because we know that it can be implemented much better. Well, that's all the bad things we found in it. By the way, it is worth noting that the manufacturer immediately created a survey and decided to replace all damaged components to the owners of the boxes. In every other sense, the game is simply stunning, especially honey.  I would like to tell a little about the gameplay itself. The game is closer to the family segment, although playing with "inexperienced" children under the age of 10 will most likely not work, as generally stated on the box, but the rest will clearly find a lot of fun in it. And now you will understand why. The game implements the mechanics of building an engine not on maps, but on honeycombs.  In the game, you are tasked with producing different honey by activating different values on the honeycombs. But here it was necessary to think about how to collect the "correct" empty place to place the desired honeycomb that will produce honey, and which honeycombs should be placed next to each other for simultaneous activation, as well as choosing honeycombs from the market to activate the necessary icons, which by their actions are activated in turn. All this gives a lot of variety in terms of building your own strategy and makes your gray matter move. There are different ways to win, but as in all Euro games, you have to overcome points or money, which is the same in this game. The gameplay is simple and clear. You take a bee, put stacks of tiles with honeycombs in front of it, from which you want to take one. You take a tile - you put it in your hive; if you closed a circle of cells, you activate all the icons in the circle and after that perform all the actions of the icons in any order. Here, of course, there is variety (of course, it does not make the brain boil, as in some games, but still): if you want, send a bee to reproduce (you start with one bee); though, collect pollen; well, you can go to the market and sell what you have made (it is worth noting that every time you sell honey, the market price will fall inexorably, so someone has time - and slippers), or fulfill an order (the same gypsy story). Accordingly, the one who scored the most and more wins. The game plays pleasantly not only due to the design of the game components, but also due to the implemented mechanics: everything is difficult and good, checked and plays quickly. You don't have time to get tired of the game, there is practically no downtime, and the interaction between players is enough for a game of this level: you can fight on the field for honeycombs, in the hive for tiles, on the market for the price and contracts, as well as for the championship in queen bee tournaments.  I highly recommend it to everyone who likes nice families where there is room to think! USEFUL LINKS Honey Buzz on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284742/honey-buzz VIDEO REVIEWS ..

REVIEW In Quetzal, each player leads a group of meeples adventurers and archaeologists on a journey through the ruins of an ancient civilization. Each meeples is black on one side and white on the other, and its color affects what actions you can perform with it. At the start of a round, players roll their meeples (just like they roll dice) to determine their party composition for the round, then take turns placing their meeples in various action locations to earn money, collect artifact cards, and deliver those artifacts for victory points. After 5 rounds, the game ends and the player with the most points wins. PREPARATION Each player chooses a color and receives all the wooden components of that color and the Character tablet, as well as some money. One of their wooden markers is placed on the 0 scoring track and the other on the 0 research track. Next, the artifact decks are shuffled, 14 of them are drawn and placed in each artifact location, the circular marker is placed in the first position of the circular track, and the enhancement tiles are shuffled, with 3 of them placed in the corresponding locations on the playing field. Some locations will have tokens that close them with fewer players.  Once that's all set up, the first player is chosen and given the first player token, and you're ready to start playing Quetzal. THROWING MEEPLES In Phase 1 of a round, players collect all of their meeples (their workers as well as character meeples), shake them in their hands, and then roll them onto the playing field as dice. All that land on a side are treated as any color. If one lands on a side, it is considered wild and can replace any color when placed. Ditto for all who get on their feet, but they also bring their owners a coin. The meeple character has always been considered a joker. LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS Phase 2, the placement phase, is where most of the game action takes place. During this phase, players will take turns assigning their workers to different locations on the field. In general, there are 3 types of locations: unique, betting and free locations. The unique locations—the Stele of Knowledge, the Temple, the Black Market, and the Village—only accept meeples of certain colors. The pond locations — Temple Precincts, Black Market, and Ships — can accept meeples of any color. However, once a color has been used in that location, it is locked and other meeples sent to that location must be of the same color. Any jokers sent to these spots become any color that is already there, or the player chooses the color that joker will become if there are no other colors. Also, if meeples are already present in that location, the player sending meeples there must send more than are currently in that location. Meeples that were already there are banished and returned to the owner's supply (their colors do not change). Of these locations, only the Black Market crosses the line between unique locations and trading locations. Free locations - Camp Captain's Office and Harbor - can accept meeples of any color, regardless of what may already be there.  Here's a quick rundown of the locations and what they do (in the same order they play during the third stage): Stele of Knowledge - The player receives the first player token and movement on the research track. Temple – Players pay coins to get artifact cards. Some locations reward face-up cards, other locations reward cards drawn from the deck, while others reward a mix of both. Surroundings of the temple . Each of these locations rewards the highest bidder with two cards shown and a coin, research track movement, or victory points. Black Market - This place allows the highest bidder to discard an artifact card from their hand for 7 coins. Settlement - Players pay coins to take 1 of the open upgrade tokens. Tile A player's character can only have 2 face-up tiles at a time. If they already have 2 upgrades, they must replace one of them. This tile is stored face down to the left of the Character tile and will be worth a certain amount of victory points at the end of the game. Harbor Master's Office - Player can spend 2 coins to send meeples here. This will allow them to deliver 3 artifact cards during the third phase. Ships - In these locations, the highest bidder will have the opportunity to deliver 6 artifact cards. Camp - The player takes a coin from the pool and can re-roll one of their meeples. If a newly rolled meeples gets back on its feet, its owner gets another coin. This location is a special case and is activated immediately when a meeple is sent there. WORKERS HAVE TO WORK In the third phase, each location is played in order of numbers (from top to bottom in the case of Temple and Village locations). When a player plays an action, their worker is removed from it. After players have played the Village location and taken their upgrade tiles, it's time to start delivering the artifacts. Each artifact card has a specific type, and the more cards of the same type a player can deliver at once (maximum 3), the more victory points he will receive for delivering them. Players can mix and match artifact cards during delivery, but this is less efficient and earns fewer victory points. Some artifact cards also have bonus icons in the upper right corner and award these bonuses when the cards are delivered.  After all the workers are removed, the round marker moves forward, any empty artifact card slots are filled with cards drawn from the deck, and the village slots are refilled with new upgrade tiles. If it's the end of the 5th round, it's game over and you move on to the final scoring. THIS IS THE END The owner of the First Player marker gets 2 points. Each player gets 1 point for every 3 coins they have left, and however many points are printed on all the upgrade tokens they have collected. These are added to any points scored by players throughout the game, and whoever has the highest total wins. CONCLUSIONS Reading about the game, everything about it sounds like something that would be right up my alley – worker placement, bidding, kit collecting, and even the intriguing meeple rolling mechanic – but the actual experience comes with so much baggage that it ends up being the one that I am in no hurry to repeat never. The problem starts before you even open the box. The game's subtitle says City of the Sacred Birds, and you'd be right to think that birds might play a part in the game. But you would also be completely wrong. Aside from an icon that looks like it could be a bird, Quetzal has nothing to do with any birds; a minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.  First, there is the unpleasant aspect of the "looting ancient ruins for personal gain" narrative. This is not much different from the problem of colonialism, which Thomas Wells talks about in his "What are we playing at?". Researching and understanding the inner workings of an ancient civilization (a la The Lost Ruins of Arnak) is not problematic. However, upload found loot and ship it for victory points or money. The rulebook simply silences this aspect of the narrative, ignoring it or even acknowledging its existence. It seems like the designers were so overly focused on the game and its mechanics that they lost sight of what the game was really about, and that's not okay. Nowadays, we have to do better. We have to BE better. And speaking of mechanics, what's the deal with throwing meeples? It was this mechanic that got me the most excited when I first heard about Quetzal, and I really hoped that something interesting would come out of it. A few years ago I tried to develop a game with the meeple rolling mechanic, but I just couldn't figure out how to make it work in a way that would make anyone actually want to play the game, so I put it on the back burner. I was in awe of how Quetzal was going to do it. It looks really bad. The problem I have isn't so much with the meeples themselves. The fact is that there is no point in throwing them. When you roll your meeples, you get one of three possible outcomes: a black meeple, a white meeple, or a joker. However, at the end of the day, these meeples do the same thing, so there's nothing special about them. What is the difference between an "adventurer" who goes to a temple to collect cards and an "archaeologist" who goes to a temple to collect some cards? There is nothing that sets these titles apart thematically. As a result, I feel the same way and it really bothers me. It feels like the mechanic was added to the game just to give the game something unique to point to. I wish there were more spots on the field where only adventurers could enter and others where only archaeologists could enter, so that the decision between the two would be agonizing. Of course, the Black Market action can only be used by a black worker, and the stele of knowledge can only be activated by a white worker, but this is not enough. It never feels like your decisions really matter. And this is probably my biggest problem: the lack of interesting options. At the end of the day, Quetzal comes down to two things: collecting cards and selling cards. The cards you can collect mostly come down to sheer luck. You drop your meeples and hope for the best. The only mitigation is the Camp, which costs you a worker to recast another. There is no way to give up something now for a better outcome at another time (as in Castles of Burgundy). There's also no built-in conversion factor (à la Catan) so you can manipulate your choice of workers. You never add additional workers to your pool. No, you're just stuck with what you came in with, and the choice of what to do with these workers is always pretty obvious. For example, if you have a large collection of cards on hand, you send exactly one, of whatever color you have the most, to the location that will allow you to deliver..

 Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King Number of participants: 1-6. Game time: 60-150 minutes (depending on the selected game mode). Age: 12+. Preparation time for the party: 10-15 minutes.  Forgotten King is the sequel to Super Dungeon Explore , which is a complete base game. New features include co-op mode, new heroes, enemies and terrain, as well as updated rules. GAME OVERVIEW  Super Dungeon Explore is a board that simulates an old-school computer game: hacking heroes through hordes of monsters pouncing on them. Forgotten King has some innovations, but overall the gameplay is very close to the original. COMPARISON WITH SUPER DUNGEON EXPLORE  The main innovation of Forgotten King is a fully cooperative arcade mode. In this mode, monsters that are in a certain radius from the heroes are activated. And most of them are collected in groups of elite and ordinary minion enemies. Minions themselves do not act, but increase the attacks of elite enemies to which they are attached. Monsters take actions according to the command card you draw. It may have instructions to move and/or attack, use special abilities, or summon new monsters from spawn points. Monsters in arcade mode have a fixed attack parameter, so you have to roll the dice only to determine the hero's defense level. Monsters choose targets based on the amount of rage. When killing a monster, the hero receives points of rage, which makes it a priority target.  There are other innovations in both classic and arcade modes. Mini-bosses drop keys that can be used to get additional treasures. Among the treasures can be pets that join the group and choose their master. Pets are activated together with the owner and give him additional abilities.  When entering a new tile, you draw a research card. The find may turn out to be additional enemies, a trap, or (occasionally) something useful for the heroes. When a spawn point on a tile is destroyed, princess coins are placed in its place. With the help of these coins, you can resurrect a dead hero or completely heal any hero.  In addition to the unique actions, special abilities and attacks available to the hero, certain basic actions are available to all characters: bandage a wound (heal a comrade), rummage (search for tokens and items), cheer up (remove status effects), etc.  The original rules and classic mode have also undergone some changes. In classic mode, the consul either activates monsters with a total cost of 4 skulls, or spawns new ones. Moreover, spawning in any mode causes damage to the spawn point and spawns as many monsters as indicated on the card.  For activation, the hero can drink only one potion, and during his turn. The exception is one potion that can be drunk during consul activation. It is still possible to exchange potions, but swallowing bottles at any chosen moment will no longer work.  When you kill an elite enemy or minion, you get a loot card; a maximum of three per activation. This loot does not equip immediately. Now, at the end of each activation, there is a boost phase, in which heroes try on loot and treasures. IMPRESSION  Forgotten King licks the gameplay and rules of Super Dungeon Explore . The new co-op arcade mode is great when no one feels like playing as the consul. And many innovations make the gameplay smoother. The components are about the same level of quality. Great art, excellent (and do not require assembly) miniatures. The rulebook is better developed. I really like the new co-op mode. Once you get the hang of the mob mechanics, it's really easy and I can play with my son instead of against him. You can even play solo. Difficulty is adjustable, good thing there are options in the rulebook. And that's good, because we found the game easy. But maybe we just got lucky. Many new monsters poison the heroes. Some get bonuses by attacking poisoned heroes. This gives the monsters and consul synergy, which is great. The new characters are all interesting and very different from their predecessors.  You can also purchase an upgrade pack for the game, which allows you to use all the cards from the basic Super Dungeon Explore and previously released add-ons in Forgotten King. It's inexpensive and more than worth the chance to play arcade mode with all the SDE miniatures. If you liked the original Super Dungeon Explore, you will like Forgotten King. It adds fan innovations and licks the game a bit. If you haven't played SDE before, you should start familiarizing yourself with the line with Forgotten King. USEFUL LINKS Forgotten King on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/156548/super-dungeon-explore-forgotten-king VIDEO REVIEWS ..

 If there's one thing that captures my heart from a board game, it's a big bag of meeples. I don't care what shape or what color, give me a big drawstring bag filled with the most famous image in board games and I'm good to go! Wait, wait… There's a game with all that and even more wooden components? So, little wooden palaces, palm trees and camels? And it's published by Days of Wonder ?! We dive into Five Tribes REVIEW  Five Tribes is a game in which you control the tribes of Nakala in the hope of becoming the most powerful leader of a legendary city. Set in the mythos of the 1001 Nights, this game is filled with beautiful Arabian Nights Tales imagery. Genies, camels, palaces, oases and mystical lands are soaped on the five tribes to create unforgettable and beautiful art that will truly stay with you.  In this game, each player will compete for power by influencing all five colorful meeples, each representing one of the five castes. Each caste has a special ability that will give you some power when used. In addition, each of the 30 tiles that make up the playing field also has a special attribute that will be useful in your quest for power. Some tiles will even give you the ability to summon a special genie that will give you even more unique abilities. The game continues until there are no moves left or until a player captures eight different city tokens as their own. The player with the most influence by scoring victory points is crowned the Sultan of Nakala and the winner. PREPARATION FOR THE PARTY The playing field consists of 30 tiles randomly distributed in a 5x6 grid. When the tiles are placed to create a field, three meeples are allocated to each tile randomly from the great bag. Nine resource cards are placed in a line on one side of the field to create a market, and three genie cards are flipped over to reveal available genies. Each remaining token (money/victory points, palm trees and palaces) should be placed in stacks near the field. After completing the field preparation, each player receives eight camels and 50 coins. GAME PROCESS My favorite part of this game is the Mankala (Kalaha) game mechanic that is the foundation of every turn. Similar to Mankala, on your turn you collect all the meeples on one tile and place them on adjacent tiles until they run out. There are a few small rules that are important when moving these meeples: You must place a meeples on an orthogonally adjacent tile. (without moving diagonally) You cannot immediately return to the tile you just placed the meeples on. You must place the last meeples on a tile that has at least one meeples of the same color as the one you discard. Once all of these rules have been met, you will take all meeples of that color and perform their tribe's actions. Also, if you've completely cleared a tile of meeples, you'll gain control of it by placing one of your camels on it. After checking control, you can (and sometimes should) activate a tile's ability and then end your turn. Simple enough, right? Move some meeples and perform some bonus actions! FIVE CASTES One of the things that makes this game so great yet challenging is that each of the tribes (the colored meeples) has different abilities. Not only are you trying to maximize the number of meeples you can draw from a single tile, but you're also trying to maximize the number of one particular tribe that will benefit you the most. This can be a difficult task because there are so many different options available on the field at once. Each of the five castes has different abilities: Yellow visors just net you victory points at the end of the game. White Elders give you victory points at the end of the game and are used as a means to obtain genies and/or summon their powers. Green merchants allow you to draw an amount of resources from the front of the resource stack equal to the number of green meeples you pick up. Blue Builders immediately give you money based on the number of blue tiles surrounding your end tile multiplied by the number of blue meeples you pick up. Red assassins (assassins) kill one meeple either from another player's supply or from a tile adjacent to the tile where the assassins were selected. Each additional assassin allows you to extend the range by one tile from the starting point. PROPERTIES OF TILES As I mentioned before, once you take your meeples off the last tile you placed the last meeples on, you'll have the option of getting one of several special abilities. The first two mandatory abilities force you to place an oasis or village token on the tile. These tokens increase the value of the tile to the player controlling it and can be activated multiple times.  The second set of abilities is optional. Small Market and Big Market give you the option to pay a certain amount of money to get a certain number of cards in the market. The Sanctuary ability allows you to acquire one of the available genies by discarding either two white Elder Meeples, or one Elder and a special card.  All of these abilities will be extremely important in gaining victory points throughout the game. END OF ROUND AND UPDATE At the end of your turn, you can sell resource cards in sets of up to nine. The more cards in the set, the more money you earn! There are nine different resource cards, and you cannot include more than one copy of a resource card in a set.  After your turn is over, play continues to the next player until all players have had a turn. After all players have had their turn, the resource market and available genies are replenished and a new round begins. Here's another genius mechanic from the Five Casts: the first-come, first-served auction. You can imagine that playing with so many options available will result in some being clearly better than others. Since every player knows that if they don't go first, their plans will most likely be disrupted, the opportunity to go first is a very welcome bonus. Five Tribes presents an ingenious intellectual game to solve this problem.  Somewhere near the field there will be a path of the order of the players. At the end of each round, players take turns placing their rooks of the wrong shape)) on the track, the cost of which they are willing to pay in the hope of being the first player. This track is made up of spaces with a value between 0 and 18. Each player must pay the value they placed their chip on, no matter what, even if the other players choose not to pay anything. This creates tense moments in the game when someone wants to be first more than anything and has to decide whether he or she wants to spend a large amount of money to guarantee it, or spend less in the hope that no other player will outbid them. I've seen people win by betting aggressively to get the best odds, but I've also seen people lose by spending too much money on their turn order bets. The difficult decision of whether or not your move is worth more than the 18 coins needed to guarantee the first move makes for such an intense first player choice. I'm not sure I've ever spent so much time talking about a small mechanic like move selection, but this system is the icing on the cake for such a well-designed game. EXPERIENCE FROM THE GAME Obviously, I love this game. Her tough decisions certainly make you think hard every move, but the constantly changing nature of the field forces you to constantly think on your feet as your turn approaches. While I like that depth, I know it's not for everyone. The sheer amount of choice and variety that Five Tribes offers is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. For some players, sometimes the sheer number of options available will either turn them off or cause significant analysis paralysis. My general philosophy when playing is to go with your instincts so you don't spend too much time thinking about your move. However, many players do not see this as an option and may take more time than desired. If a good game is made up of many difficult decisions (which I believe it is), then Five Tribes is impressive. During a turn, the player must find the best tile to draw from, the best ability tile to place the meeples on, and the optimal color of meeples to place on that tile. The fact that Five Tribes published Days of Wonder gave me confidence that this was going to be a great game before I even opened the box. DoW is a publisher known for several distinctive qualities of its games. Two of the most fruitful characteristic qualities are their quality of arts and components; and their tendency to publish games that are deep enough for gamers, yet light enough for families. Not only are these two mainstays of their games, they usually only publish one new title each year. They seem to take a quality over quantity approach and Five Tribes is no exception.  The first of these two qualities I mentioned are arts and components. The five casts follow the lead of past Days of Wonder games with lots of colorful and hefty figures. There's a huge bag of wooden meeples (oh man….) in addition to plenty of fat wooden camels, palm trees, palaces, and the starting players' pawns. Everything is as colorful as the majestic world in which it takes place. Not only do the meeples look great, the designs on the tiles and cards are equally attractive. Clément Masson has done a fantastic job of portraying the myths of the 1001 Nights in a colorful, mystical and engaging way. The second quality I mentioned is their ability to publish games that are easy to learn, yet deep and challenging to master. Having games that can be pulled with a mix of "gamer" and "non-gamer" friends is invaluable in a collection. This is one aspect where Days of Wonder stretched itself a bit. This is definitely the more sophisticated side of their line. While I don't think Five Tribes is an extremely difficult game per se..

 So, class. sit down Today we will learn about "Argent: The Consortium" . It all begins with the resignation of Chancellor Nostros Calagaan and the appearance of a vacant position. They pay a good salary and you can wear your Harry Potter costume without being judged. So you definitely need to apply. But it will not be easy. A group of twelve secret judges choose who will sit in the chair, and you have to win their place. But who are they? And what do they want? Welcome to Argent: The Consortium . To win, you must win the support of the majority of the judging panel, but each judge wants something different from their candidate. The richest, most mana-hungry, most influential, most supported candidate. These judges start the game face down. And open to you only if they have your tag.  You start the game with one marker on the field, but throughout the game you have a chance to place more. Until you put all twelve, you never know where you stand or how close you are to the chance of getting into the chancellery. This creates a level of uncertainty between you and other applicants. Since everyone starts the game with their information, you have to try to guess what they saw, or spend a turn to place a tag and check it. This doubt makes it feel like you are all stumbling in a dark room together. However, the game does not become completely aimless. You keep getting stronger and stronger, regardless of whether you're getting closer to victory. That feeling of doubt is compounded when you do get the label. You immediately check the table to see who won. And usually it's not you. This is where human nature kicks you in the ass, because even though you may win several other tags, you focus on the one you didn't. Because of this, you have a constant feeling of pressure and tension - you are never satisfied with what you have. But when you seek the terms of another juror, it means that the claims you focused on earlier remain open to competition. At this point, you become a plate spinner, trying to spin as many umpire conditions as possible, hoping no one gets knocked out. This is a great solution compared to the boring old victory points.  But let's go back to the beginning. You start in the waiting room where there are students who want extra points. On each turn, you can direct one of these students to one of the buildings on campus, earning you a reward at the end of the round. However, now you need to understand where to place whom. Each student is trained in one type of magic, and when placed, they put their talents to work. For example, red students injure mages already in the room, sending them to the infirmary, while gray mages can be placed as an extra action when you've spent your turn casting a spell. This eliminates the delay between placement and feedback often found in worker placement games. This allows placement decisions to be made without being limited to the basic question of whether I should go here now or later. Instead, you focus on how best to allocate your resources. Should you use your red guys to destroy the opponent early on? Or green girls — immune to injury — to take up defensive positions? But what if it makes you unable to cast spells and cast gray pupils? It's this mechanic that should make you sit up straighter in your chair right now. The way Argent: The Consortium combines tactical and strategic thinking takes board gaming to a new level.  Sometimes you won't want to place a worker. Instead, you can use an item, minion action, or spell. These spells belong to different schools of magic. All of them are unique and very strong. Some spells allow you to make several moves, others can send everyone in the room to the infirmary. Each spell can be upgraded twice more, becoming exponentially more powerful. You get the same feeling as the 1st, 50th, 100th level character from the mobile game ad. You're guaranteed to get spells every game, but they're expensive to cast, and even more expensive to improve. However, when you do, you can control the playing field in a way that other games feel out of place. But here you will feel at home. The game has some crazy moments that stay in your memory long after the game is over. The last action you can take is to take the clock tower card. These cards give you a bonus per round. When you take the last clock tower card, the round ends. You and other candidates can use this mechanic to control the fleetingness of the round like a two-year-old with the last pea on his plate. Sometimes you'll be fighting a slow war of attrition, trying to use each worker as efficiently as possible. Other times, you'll use fast mages to fill the field as quickly as possible. This is another mechanism that creates strategy and tactics in the game. At very little cost. It also allows you to test your luck, as when the round comes to an end, you have the choice of using an action or spell, or putting workers on the field. This is another interesting but difficult choice that this game throws at you. Once the last clock tower is taken, each room and each worker in it will activate in turn. And you get a bonus for where they are. Now you cross your fingers and toes and hope that all your tactical warfare has resulted in a strategic advantage. After five rounds, the game stops and you reveal each judge in a dramatic fashion worthy of a reality show. Once all the judges have been revealed, you will know your winner.  It's a difficult game, but in my opinion, it's not. As with Spirit Island and Great Western Trail, the difficulty of this game comes from the space of decision-making, not from learning and learning the rules. Also, at the beginning of the game, similar to the games listed above, you are limited in your moves when you start playing. This gives you time to familiarize yourself with the rules and how to play before throwing you into the deep end. The highlight of "Argent: The Consortium" is that even if you are in the deep and can't swim, you can still trade. And what I mean is that there are no bad moves here. Everything you do makes you stronger and has meaning. Even if no judge praises you for it. If we talk about depth, Argent has enough of it. And that's before exploring everything inside the box. Each building tile is double-sided with different places to place workers on each side. The same applies to game characters. Also, there are more spells, items, and minions in the game than you'll ever need. There are so many game components here that you may never need another board game again. That's a huge compliment. But let me give you another compliment: this game is special; I get excited just thinking about picking it up again. So much so that while writing this review I was so inspired that I bought the app. This has never happened before. Argent. Magician's Advice is definitely one of the top four games I've ever played. It's a critical hit and I can't wait to play it again. USEFUL LINKS Argent: The Consortium on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/144797/argent-consortium VIDEO REVIEWS ..

 Kemet: Blood & Sand looks much more complicated than it really is. You see this big box, this sprawling board, the various parts of the pyramid, the power tiles, the cards that can only be played at certain times, the battle cards with three separate stat categories to track, the miniatures - the scorpion! , phoenix!, witch mummy! — and you'd be right to feel overwhelmed. However, once you get the hang of a few small bits of the rule, it will be a very easy game for you. NEW VERSION OF KEMET A slightly updated version of the 2012 classic Kemet, Kemet: Blood & Sand is a map-based troop game, a subgenre of the board game you can probably guess. Players control groups of soldiers, moving them from region to region as they attack and defend. The ultimate goal is to win enough battles and capture enough territory to emerge victorious. Each Turn - Early rounds of the game involve five turns for each player, although this can change - you choose and perform one of several actions on the player's tablet. These include moving, praying, recruiting, purchasing power-up tiles, and building your pyramid level. This is it. Like I said, it's a lot more affordable than it looks.  Combat is initiated by moving troops into a region that contains enemy pieces. The struggle is mandatory and intense. Strength is determined by the number of soldiers each player has in the region, any applicable strength tiles, any applicable Divine Intervention cards—small bonus cards that can mostly be played during your turn or during combat—and the player's chosen combat card. The combat system is great. Each player starts the game with an identical set of eight battle cards, choosing one to use and one to set aside at the start of each battle. The cards, which are the same for all players, include a certain amount of strength bonus, damage modifier, self-damage modifier, and defense modifier. Strength wins you fights, damage removes enemy troops, self damage removes your own troops, and defense protects your troops from enemy damage.  Troops are not automatically removed from the board during combat in Kemet. Maybe they're just backing off. One of the strategic nuances of Kemet, as an aggressor and a defender, is the determination of its goal. Do you want to prioritize winning the battle and capturing/holding territory, or are you more interested in leaving your troops to fight over the same piece of land again? Do you want to win or try to thin the ranks of the opponent, regardless of the result? Do you want to have a place when the dust settles or just want another player to not have it? Different cards serve different purposes. Another place where Kemet made its name is the power token market, a huge, at first completely overwhelming, but later only slightly overwhelming collection of tokens of various colors. These tiles have a wide range of possibilities. Some increase your attack or defense. Some of them increase the power of various basic actions, giving you more prayer points when you pray or allowing you to move further.  The most attention-grabbing are the various creatures that add a mythical beast or, you know, an elephant to your army. They are represented on the map as large, chunky miniatures. From my point of view, Scorpio is the best. That's why it's pictured on the box. They knew!  The number of tile sets available varies depending on the number of players, and each color encourages different play styles. They are part of an economy that includes prayer points, which are used to recruit new troops, build pyramids and buy tiles, as well as pyramids that players can build throughout the game. The more levels in your pyramid of any color, the more powerful tiles you can purchase. Kemet: Blood & Sand has tons of strategies, combos, bluffs, and great combat mechanics that keep both the attacker and defender on their toes. COUNT THEM  The tablet that keeps track of victory points is unchanged. With an adjusted victory condition—you win if you have 9 or more points and have the most points at the start of your turn—the tablet makes the escalation of tension even more apparent. Your leader is rarely safe, and the VP board highlights when it's time to kill someone. Points in Kemet are measured by a combination of square and round tokens. Square tokens cannot be taken from you. Round tokens, on the other hand, have no loyalty. They bounce from player to player as control of various temples and pyramids changes hands. Round tokens can be earned quickly by helping to defend an early lead or launching a forgotten player into the fray. Given that, uh, it's hard to hold more than two or three round tokens for long. If your advantage is based on round chips, selected shots in selected spots can easily tie the score. I understand if some players would prefer to play in foggy conditions. Some people won't like the idea that players don't have to pay attention to tracking points. Others may not like that they cross the threshold and everyone has a chance to whip them. This makes the game one or two rounds longer. For the money it is worth it. The idea of staking a claim to leadership and then having to hold it is much more satisfying. Games like Root allow you to play last turn, where long-term strategy is abandoned for the sake of victory. You can't do that in Kemet: Blood & Sand. VETERANS TOKENS The addition of veteran tokens is a great design tweak. If you attack in Kemet: Blood & Sand, if you are the aggressor, you get a victory point for winning, just like in the original game. However, now if you lose a battle as an aggressor or as a defender, you get a veteran token that can be exchanged for troop deployments, Divine Intervention cards, or prayer points at the end of the round. If you win as a defender, you get two of these bonuses. It's more satisfying to our lizard brains—I managed to hold my ground, I get something for it—and it scares the dog away. If everyone attacks the same player for the entire round, they will become much stronger going into the next round. I like almost any design tweak that takes the sting out of aggressive targeting.  If you want to play a big board game but are afraid of being overwhelmed by the rules, Kemet: Blood & Sand is a good entry point. This is especially true if you are playing with someone who can teach you the game. The guide is good, but it makes Kemet less accessible than it is. As with most of the hard games I love, the real weight here is not in the game, but in trying to play well. USEFUL LINKS Kemet: Blood & Sand on the BGG portal https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/297562/kemet-blood-and-sand VIDEO REVIEWS ..