Onward and Forward

To all new followers of this blog...welcome! To those who've been around for a while...also, welcome! We hope you stick around for a long time to enjoy our reviews, discussions, and Friday questions—and hopefully contribute some of your own thoughts.

This week marks our approximate one-year anniversary (November third is the actual date of my first post). Since then I've joined forces with my Nemesis (@FarmerLenny), so I could prove once and for all that I'm better than him. In the meantime we've been adding reviews and a wide range of discussions. And thanks to you guys, our readers, we've been slowly and steadily growing. We like to think that we write this blog for ourselves, and if no one showed up we'd still do it for our own satisfaction. But the fact is, your readership, your comments, and your presence make this worth keeping up. So thanks to you.

[Ended] FDQ: Do You Want to Win a Copy of Dominion: Hinterlands?

EDIT 3/14/2012: This contest has ended, but our review of Dominion: Hinterlands is posted here.

The answer to that question is probably yes, you would like to win a copy of Dominion: Hinterlands. At least, if you are alive and an appreciater of fine games, that is probably your answer.

To celebrate our one-year anniversary of bringing you gaming views and reviews, iSlaytheDragon.com is giving away one copy of Dominion: Hinterlands. There are several methods you can use to enter:

• Comment on this post and any FDQ post dated between now and November 11. (Only one comment per FDQ post counts as an entry.)
• Follow our new Twitter account: @iSlaytheDragon (It doesn't count for entries, but you are also welcome to follow us individually, @Futurewolfie and @FarmerLenny.)
• Retweet our contest tweet (only counts once, but feel free to retweet as often as you like).
• Like our new Facebook page.
• Pay attention for more chances at entries in the days to follow...

Now for the fine print:
This contest is in no way sponsored by Rio Grande Games (we are supplying the prize ourselves) or anyone associated with Dominion (we chose this prize because we love Dominion), so you will receive the prize whenever the game is released to the public. We will do our best to ship your prize in a timely manner, but please understand that in the world of board games, release dates are guidelines rather than rules, and we have no control over that. The contest will end on November 11 at midnight (central time) to ensure prompt delivery of your prize right around when Hinterlands releases. We will contact winners the following day using their method of entry (DM for Twitter, Facebook message for Facebook, e-mail for comments on FDQ—therefore, use a real name and e-mail address; it will only be used for this contest, promise). If the winner does not respond within three days, we will choose a new eligible winner, and so on, until someone claims the prize. This contest is open to anyone with an address in the continental United States, except for our family members (sorry, Mom!). (International folks: if you can find a continental US address willing to accept your prize, we'll ship it there, and they can handle the next leg of the journey to you.) The winner will be chosen using random.org. We reserve the right to cancel the contest, modify the rules, or disqualify any entrants if there appears to be any tomfoolery or loopholing—please, follow the spirit of a good-natured giveaway contest.

Good luck, and happy slaying!

Rome WAS Built in a Day (a review of 7 Wonders)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

Gamer hype is not uncommon, and 7 Wonders, even before its many official accolades (including the first-ever Kennerspiel des Jahres), has been a particular geek darling. Copies last fall were hard to track down, and the hype continued to be laid on thick. (I suspect some of this was an indirect geek brag: "Not only is this game awesome, but I have a copy and you don't.") Still, a seven-player game that could be played in half an hour, produced interesting decisions, and allowed strategic planning seemed far-fetched, and I was sure the hype could not be true.

After a geek super-couponing deal at Barnes & Noble that any frugal mom would be proud of, I secured a copy of 7 Wonders (for less than $2 out-of-pocket, I might add /geekbrag). What do I think about it? Find out below!

High Adventure in High Finance (a review of Acquire)

The jewel of my collection: the 1999 Avalon Hill version.

When I first came to Illinois, I moved into a house where I had three roommates. The roommates bonded over several shared experiences—the change-jar meals at Outback Steakhouse, watching Boston Legal, the near losses of the Indianapolis Colts—but none as much as the game Acquire.

I hadn't played Acquire before moving to Illinois (despite its age—it was first printed in 1962—and its many iterations), but it soon became one of my favorite board games. We played often, and while I seldom won, it is a fun game to lose, one of the marks of a good game.

Gaming Weekends and First Impressions

Living as I do on the edge of civilization (or at least far away from the rest of my kin), I try to spend my birthday among family, and this year was no exception. I traveled to the exotic land of Nebraska to spend the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, and true to Nebraska's landscape, there wasn't much to do except game. All told we fit in eleven plays of eight unique games (three of them mine, two already reviewed—El Grande and Eminent Domain—and our 7 Wonders review coming this week), four of which were first-time plays for me. I also got to try a new game I got for my birthday and attended open gaming at my local gamestore this past Saturday (I went with friends, so I didn't chicken out this time). Needless to say, this would be considered gaming overload for most, but I took it in stride, and now I'll give you my first impressions of all the new games I played.

(First plays of Midgard, Glen More, Puerto Rico, Resident Evil Deck-Building Game, Ra, and Stone Age)

FDQ: Expansions or new games?

Board gaming is a pretty great hobby. You get the benefits of getting away from a screen for a while and interacting face-to-face with friends and family. You get your brain a little exercise. And you have a whole variety of experiences to jump into and out of for a few hours at a time.

Not only can you buy new games to get this variety, but you can often buy expansions to your favorite games to change up or deepen the experience. Of course, most people have pretty tight wallets and can't just buy whatever they want. So today's question... which do you like the most—buying a new game, or buying an expansion to one of your favorites? Answer in the comments!

(P.S. You'll definitely want to check back for next week's FDQ. It's a super special surprise, and I don't think you'll regret it. And I'm not giving any hints; you'll find out what it is next week!)


@Futurewolfie answers:
 This is probably a tough answer for most gamers. The call of new games is always strong, but at the same time, my favorite games deserve a little love as well, and most of the time new expansions add variety and excitement to an already great game. With limited money, it's always a tough choice between buying an expansion or going for something totally new. Not to mention the fact that I'm somewhat of a completionist, so when I have a game I love I feel like I want to get every expansion just to complete the collection. I bought waaaay too many Heroclix in high school for that reason. Still, I think at least at this point I prefer buying new games. There are a lot of unique experiences out there that I haven't had a chance to get my hands on, and as a blogger of games, I'm pretty willing to risk my money on a game that I don't know much about just to try something new. Whereas with expansions, it's just a variation on a familiar experience; not necessarily a bad thing (Dominion expansions, you rock my world) but just not necessarily my first priority.

@FarmerLenny answers:
This is a tough question. Buying new games can be a mixed bag, whereas expansions to a game you already like generally seem like a safe bet (except maybe some Carcassonne expansions, which seem to have jumped the shark). Because I like new shinies, I usually opt for new games (after copious research), but I'm rarely disappointed when I decide on expansions. For Dominion, I think the expansions are what keep the game so exciting, but there are other games that seem more complete in themselves, making expansions less necessary (Agricola, for example). Really, I'm open to any purchase that brings exciting plays to the table.

From Russia with Love: Evolution (a review)

Image taken from BoardGameGeek

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

What would it be like if you could control a species from its genesis through its adaptations? What traits would you give it, and what traits would allow it to survive?

This is the thrust behind Evolution, the last in our series of Russian board game reviews. It is a brutal game that mimics the "survival of the fittest" mentality behind the theory of evolution. It's also a lot of fun to play.

From Russia With Love: It's not real, it's just practice (A review of Potion Making Practice)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house thematic-loving @futurewolfie and his ferocious opponent, the stodgy euro-loving @Farmerlenny.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

"Based on the potion classes of a well-known school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." That's what the back of the box reads, anyway. Well, lack of Harry Potter tie-ins aside, the next game from Right Games is "Potion Making Practice." Are your alchemical talents up to the task? Will you wow the rest of the class with your expertly mixed formulas, or will you watch in jealously as the other students produce useful potions, powerful talismans, and beautiful magical creatures? There's only one way to find out.

From Russia with Love: It Really Is an Enigma... (A review of "The Enigma of Leonardo")

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house thematic-loving @futurewolfie and his ferocious opponent, the stodgy euro-loving @Farmerlenny.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]


To continue our series on Russian games, let's talk about The Enigma of Leonardo.

It's often said about board games, movies, etc., that shorter and simpler is better. If you can break something down to its essential parts, you can get a quality, enjoyable product that isn't too overwhelming to take in. Games like Carcassonne and even yesterday's game, The Kingdoms of Crusaders, are built on an extremely simple rule set that is easy to learn but still allows a lot of strategy and results in fun.

And then you have games that are just too simple for their own good. The Enigma of Leonardo is a very simple game that's easy to learn and play, but has a major flaw that ruins the game.

From Russia with Love: The Kingdoms of Crusaders (a review)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

We here at iSlaytheDragon.com are always on the lookout for new and interesting games. So when the call (or rather e-mail) came in asking us to take a look at four Russian games published for the first time in English by Right Games, we could not refuse.

Each day this week we will be taking a look at the four games in turn and letting you know what we think about them. We will begin this series with a look at The Kingdoms of Crusaders.

FDQ: What Game Do You Wish You Played More Often?

We discussed it earlier—the near tragedy of the box that sits. Variety may be the spice of life, but too much variety leads to being spread too thin. And while "the cult of the new" has its draws, it sometimes pushes old favorites to the background. So today's FDQ: Which game do you wish you played more of? And the corollary question, why don't you?

@FarmerLenny answers:
I game most frequently over lunch hours at work, so the games that I wish I got to play more are mostly games that don't fit within that time frame. Most notably, I wish I got to play El Grande more. This game takes a double hit: it's too long to be played over lunch, and it takes at least four players to make gaming circumstances optimum. This is one of my favorite games, but the box sits there most of the time. Still, it's worth keeping around for those golden moments when I get to play it. Acquire is another game I don't get to play enough of because it's long. It also has the added strike against it that it's fairly mathy. I take advantage of playing this one whenever I can.

@Futurewolife answers:
Even though I've actually played it fairly often recently, I just can't get enough of Ascending Empires right now. Shadows over Camelot has been sitting on my shelf far too much since I obtained it in trade at Gencon.  And darn you, Smallworld, for being just too long to fit in a lunch hour comfortably. I will always keep you around, though, because you are so fun, even though I get to play you so very little.

***Next week is our special  "From Russia with Love  " week, when we will review at a gallop four new titles from Right Games out of Russia. You won't want to miss it!***

"In Spanish it means...'The Grande!'" (A Review of El Grande)

The box doesn't bode well, but this is a great example of
"don't judge a game by its box."

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

The box is ugly, there's no disputing that. Even after reading about the game, reading about the mechanics, and seeing the reassuring "Spiel des Jahres" pawn on the cover, I was almost convinced by the box art to turn my back. If I had done so, I would have missed out on one of my very favorite games. Well, now you know how I feel about it. But keep reading for a more in-depth review.

Bean Farming at Its Finest (a review of Bohnanza)

Perhaps this is a larger box than necessary, but there is
a lot packed into this small game.

About a year ago, when my love for hobby board games was rekindled, I had some birthday money, and I thought I would try a new game. I pored over reviews, and my choice came down to two games: Puerto Rico and Bohnanza. I thought Puerto Rico was a better bet in terms of which game I would prefer...but I also doubted I could find anyone to play with me since the rules looked more complicated and it couldn't regularly be played over a lunch hour. Bohnanza looked stupid, but the Amazon customer reviews were glowing, and I also thought I had a better chance of finding other players, so I chose in favor of it. When the game arrived in the mail and I examined the simple, cartoony cards, I thought I had made a huge mistake.

Turns out I was wrong.

FDQ: What Is Your Gaming Pet Peeve?

We all love board gaming. It's a great way to kick back, relax, have some fun, and enjoy time with friends. But as with any hobby, there are those things that really grind our gears. We try not to say anything about it—we don't want to ruin the fun over something small or discourage people from playing. And we probably do things that irk the other players. But now is your chance to blow off some steam.  Let loose, and share your sufferings in safe place. We're here for you. What is your biggest gaming pet peeve? Answer in the comments!

@Futurewolfie answers:
For me, there are really two things that bother me the most: first of all, when someone is trying to explain a board game and someone else interrupts with their own thought. I think this throws the teacher off a little and can overwhelm the players trying to learn—too many messages from too many different places. I like teaching people how to play board games, but if someone else is doing it, I sit back and wait till they finish before I add any of my own thoughts. Because of this, my wife usually volunteers to leave the room if I'm explaining a game she already knows; she can't help but jump in with her comments if she's sitting there listening.

The thing that bothers me in actual gameplay is when someone rushes through their turn without giving the other players a chance to see what they're doing. For example, in many games other players can often play cards as a reaction to things the current player (let's call him Rudolph) does. When Rudolph burns through his turn without giving people a chance to react, people can unfairly miss an opportunity. "But wait, I wanted to..." is a line I hate hearing. Another example—in something like Dominion, when someone announces their purchase, takes it, and discards their hand without actually laying down the necessary treasure. Okay, I get that we all know how to play and it's nice to keep things moving, but it's even nicer to allow all the players a chance to see what you're doing—when it's supposed to be public knowledge. It's not that I'm assuming you're cheating, but I know I've made mistakes before and people have called me on it, but they can only do that if they see the treasure I lay down, which is part of the rules of the game.

@Farmerlenny answers:
I don't like it when other players cheat. There, I've said it.

Okay, a little broader than that, I know that I have a low patience/tolerance level for players who take too long on their turns. Not every game is a brain burner. I realize that, given infinite time, a player might be able to figure out the exact path to victory, but it really sucks the fun out of a game. Granted, there are some 2+ hour games where a little calculation is necessary in order not to ruin the prior two hours' build up. Then again, there might not be so many 2+ hour games if...

I also have a low tolerance level for sore winners and losers. I don't like excessive gloating or whining. I know it can be frustrating to lose and exhilarating to win (and it can be especially tempting and sometimes appropriate to rub your nemesis's nose in it), but extended griping sessions or celebrations also suck the fun out of the experience. I wouldn't say that winning and losing don't matter--they should matter, at least within the game--but postgame, it's time to let it go and enjoy the common experience shared with friends. Unfortunately, these two peeves often go hand in hand.

At the Movies

Did you see the trailer for the Battleship movie? Have you heard about adaptations of Candyland and Monopoly into film? I don't know where it started, but in recent months it seems like movie studios have been jumping on the bandwagon of movies based on board games. Of course we love our favorite hobby getting a little attention, but from the looks of things, not all publicity is, in fact, good publicity.

While I don't work in Hollywood, I studied filmmaking in college and I work as a video editor and sometimes producer. As such, I feel slightly qualified to rant both about the poor adaptations of board game films and Hollywood in general. And I don't believe you'll be seeing a quality movie coming out of a board game franchise anytime soon.

More Reviews Imported

Like fine wines and other quality (read: expensive) products, soon some of the game reviews I wrote for my other blog will be imported to iSlaytheDragon.com. This only makes sense, as this site is meant to be a repository for that kind of thing. However, I don't want to pass these off as "new," so I will probably bury them by the date they were originally published. As always, you can keep track of our reviews by subscribing by RSS (this is what I do for all the blogs I read regularly, and it's fantastic) or by keeping tabs on our "Reviews" page, linked at the top of the blog. If this causes any problems with the RSS feed, mea culpa. I think it will be better in the long run.

And as always, if you have any suggestions for games you'd like to see reviewed or games you'd like to send us for review, leave a comment, send us an e-mail, or find us on Twitter. Happy slaying!

The Plethora! (A Review of Dominion: Cornucopia)

Without a doubt, my favorite Dominion box art

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house thematic-loving @futurewolfie and his ferocious opponent, the stodgy euro-loving @Farmerlenny.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

One of the great things about Dominion is the wide variety of new cards that can be added to keep things fresh and always keep players on their toes—new cards added to the mix always changes up the strategy a bit.

Speaking of variety, the expansion Cornucopia adds a series of cards that reward you for having a variety of different cards in your deck. Being a Dominion expansion, Cornucopia plays functionally the same as Dominion (if you are unfamiliar with Dominion, start there first. Read our review and then buy yourself a copy!), but the cards added can drastically change up the strategy involved.