Thursday, July 27, 2006

Rules #25: Freya's Folly

Slideshow Review - BGG Listing
  • I bought this game from (and was taught to play by) the designer at my first Essen (2005)!
  • A good set-collection, pick-up-and-deliver game
  • Fantasy theme: dwarves digging in mines for gems, creating jewelry
  • Only 2 actions per turn, so you have to optimize: need to work with others some, but hopefully not too much!
  • Watch out - don't let the end of the game sneak up on you!
  • I'm trying to host the file on the Internet Archive ... I hope it works!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Rules #24: GemBlo (Light)

Slideshow Review - BGG Link
  • Thanks to Tom Vasel for bringing a copy to Origins all the way from Korea!
  • This is exactly the same game as GemBlo, only smaller and not as pretty. I really prefer the look of the pieces in the original game (like cut gems) over this version, in which the pieces look like Blokus pieces.
  • Good abstract game, easy to teach. Blokus seems more intuitive, although that may simply be a matter of familiarity. This game also seems to have more legal plays (at least, early on) because every piece has MANY corners, whereas Blokus pieces only have a few corners to play off of ... so it's easy for people to start playing very quickly.
  • I'm still no good at these kinds of games!
  • Lastly, I know the music in the review isn't Korean ... but that's all I had in Garage Band!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Rules #23: Ninja Galaxy

Slideshow Review - BGG Link
  • DISCLOSURE: Based on a free review copy from the publisher.
  • Images from Boardgamegeek.com and the included rulebook.
  • I've covered the Advanced Rules, which may actually change: the publisher sent the game to several playtesters and modified the rules based on comments (wow!) - even going so far as to send out new playing pieces. I'd suspect the rules may still be subject to change.
  • This is a roll-and-move player-elimination filler game. It's actually kind of fun, although the rules seem overly complex (for a filler), with lots of special cases and details. Still, I'd expect this would be fun for families and kids, if not necessarily for eurogamers.