All Hands On Deck!

 

Ahoy matey!!! Arrrgh, it be a few weeks and I be stalling writing ye blog because I be having too much fun playing All Hands On Deck. Ok, not that great at talking like a pirate, but so far I have not had anyone that did not like playing All Hands On Deck. My copy is a playtest copy out for review. The final version of the game is not out yet. It will be coming to a kickstarter near you soon.

Setup

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Set up could not be easier. Shuffle the cards and deal out 5 cards to everyone. Turn over the top card for the first auction. Each subsequent turn the dealer is rotated to the left and a new card is dealt to every player and a new auction is started.

Gameplay

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Gameplay is pretty simple. You are a pirate captain who has to collect a crew “cards” to go get a treasure. Each card in the deck is either a pirate, or an action. There are 3 different pirate crews, and each crew has a position from 1-10. The object of the game is to collect a crew of pirates in a run of 7 from the same crew, or to gather a run of 3 pirates from all three crews. Runs are basically sequential numbers. I.E. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. You can pick up your run anywhere in the line for each crew.

Every turn there is a new card put up for auction. And you can “bid” on the card by discarding the cards in your hand face down in front of you. Each pirate has a value of 1-10, and when bidding, each pirates face value is also how much you are bidding. The only exception is when you are bidding on a pirate of the same faction as the pirate you are discarding, the point value of the card gets doubled. Action cards are also played at this time. You place your actions and pirates face down when you bid and after everyone has bid, you reveal your bid. Actions take place first and then bids resolve. Actions resolve from the dealers left in turn order. Many actions can change the outcome of the bid or steal the auction all together. It sure is fun to be a pirate!

Rating

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All being said there are is a lot more to this game and it is a blast. I give it a 9.5 out of 10. (When I get a hold of the final version of the game, instead of just the playtest copy, I might have to give a perfect 10)

Kickstarter

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All Hands On Deck will come to kickstarter on Sept. 9th. Save your money you won’t want to miss it

Salamander games

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Salamander games is the company thy makes All Hands On Deck. I just wanted to mention them because they are a local small independent gaming company and I think they should be supported by the community. You can visit them at salamander games.

Neuroshima Hex

Neuroshima Hex.

That is a funny name, is it not? Now, whether you can even pronounce the name or not, doesn’t mean that you won’t love this game. Neuroshima Hex is a great game, and it is all about strategy.

Set up

I am going to use my imagination here, since I have only played the digital version, and say setting up should be relatively easy. Lay out the board and gather your army. Or play like me and let the digital ones and zeros do it.

The physical and digital version both offer 4 starting armies/faction with the core set. Each army consists of 35 tiles, 1 base, and 34 other support/unit/action tile. I have found that these starting 4 armies are all you need to have fun, but both versions have expansions armies that you can collect and add the your game.

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Armies

The four starter armies are Hegemony, Moloch, Outpost, and Borgo.

Hegemony

The Hegemony are a combination of melee and strength. The base piece gives a melee bonus to friendly units adjacent to it.

Moloch

The Moloch are a combination of melee and ranged attackers with some defensive units. The base piece gives a ranged bonus to friendly adjacent units.

Outpost

The Outpost are a combination of speed and ranged. The base piece gives an addition activation to friendly adjacent units.

Borgo

The Borgo are a combination of speed and melee. The base piece gives you an earlier activation phase if your are adjacent to the base piece.

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 Game Play

Play consists of initially placing your base somewhere on the 19 tile hex grid.  Your opponent will do the same. You and your opponent then take turns placing tiles and battling each other until one base has been dealt twenty damage and they lose. If all tiles have been placed and no one’s base has been dealt twenty damage, whichever base has been dealt the least amount of damage wins.

Hex orientation is crucial on this game. Each piece functions a little differently. I will go over a few details here, but for a game this complex I would suggest that you just start playing and learn as you go.

The best part of the digital game over the physical one is all the mathematical calculations are done for you already, you can focus on your strategy.

There is so much more to this game than I can describe in my blog post, but if you love strategy games and critical thinking, this game is for you. It is like Chess, Risk, and Stratego had a love child. Who wouldn’t want that. I would suggest that you pick it up in the App Store for a measly $5. You can also pick up the physical game on Amazon for $40, $10 off the $50 price tag.

Comment below if you have the game, We could do some multiplayer on the ios version.

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What’s on tap next.

I am super ultra excited to be reviewing All Hands On Deck!!!!!!! It is made by a company local to me, and the guys that make the game were super awesome at a local convention I went to. They are sending me a review copy before it comes out! *fanfare* best day ever *fanfare*. They should have a Kickstarter starting shortly. More on this game soon.

fluxx

Fluxx

Well, it’s time for blog number two! Todays blog is brought to you by Fluxx.

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Fluxx is a deceptively easy game to play, but it can get absolutely wonky in no time. Fluxx is one of my favorite games(i.e. Why I have 4 different varieties of it) simply because it is one of those game that appeals to any gamer type and young and old alike. My kids love Fluxx. They love it so much that they are cutting up pieces of paper and making their own version of Fluxx. Heck, I even made my own version of Fluxx with the help of a program on the computer. “Enough talking, just get on with the game play” you say? Alright right, sheesh.

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Set Up and Game Play.

Set up is easy. Shuffle all the cards together and deal our three cards to every player. Play starts left of the dealer and goes clockwise. The only rule that is in play is draw 1/play 1.

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Now let’s breakdown the cards.

Keepers: keepers are the meat and potatoes of the game. You place them in your play area, and you use them to win the game and occasionally do other things associated with other cards.

New rule: New rules come in various forms and make the game fun. The new rules vary from drawing more cards, playing more cards, or effecting the game states by limiting the number cards in hand or play.

Action: Actions are one time use cards that can change the game in wacky, crazy ways. A few examples of actions are trade hands with another player, steal another players keeper, or trash a new rule.

Goal: Goals are how you win the game. What is the point of playing if there is not a winner. Goal come in many different forms, but most state “If you have keeper A and Keeper B in play in front of you, you win”.

Creepers: Creepers are the bad guys, they keep you from winning, and they automatically go on the table when drawn and get replaced by a new card. There are a few times when creepers can be good. Certain goals use creepers as apart of the goal.

Unique cards; ungoal, surprise, etc. There are a few different cards that get thrown into Fluxx depending on which version you have. Ungoals state “if certain conditions are on the battlefield, everyone loses”. Surprise cards are like action, but you can use them out of turn or on your turn, normally you can only play cards on your turn.

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Different types of Fluxx. I personally own Pirate Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx, Martian Fluxx, Fluxx. I also made my own variant I am now going to call Dorkside Fluxx. Other Fluxx products include, Monty Python Fluxx, Star Fluxx(like a mash up of Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, etc), Cthulhu Fluxx, plus others. They have many varieties to meet most nerdy needs. Also there is a private Facebook group you can join if you join their club. There is a new Fluxx in the making, but I was sworn to secrecy. Join the club/group and find out about it yourself.

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Pro vs cons

Pros. Family fun game that most kids and parents will both enjoy. $15 Relatively cheap compared to massive board games. Skip a night out to eat, pick up a Fluxx and have a family fun night around the table. Many varieties that are sure to please.

Cons. Not much here, for the younger kids(8 and below) the game might be a little confusing and it can take a lot of reading.

Go get it already.

Dorkside rating. 9/10.

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What’s on tap next?

I bring to you, Nueroshima Hex.

(pictured is the board game version of Nueroshima Hex, but I will be reviewing my digital copy)

I am going to be trying to do a weekly blog. One physical game or digital game.

I would love to hear from you? Comment below. Like my Facebook page, or follow my twitter and get notifications when I update my blog.

sorry about the timing of this post. I finished it a week ago and forgot to publish it, it has been sitting in draft form. Blog #3 should be here shortly.

Fluxx images copyrighted Looney Labs or Funagain.com

Battleship Galaxies.

About Me

Welcome to the dork side. We have games. This is my first blog, and my first blog post. I have always wanted to author a book, but I don’t even write very often.  I’ll start a blog, and see how far I get.

Well, let us start off with a little about me. I am 32, and live in Oklahoma.  I work on elevators for a living, am a deacon at my church, and love everything nerdy. More details to come if you are interested.

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Battleship Galaxies

Well enough about me let us get to the games. I will be starting out with one of my newest games. “Battleship Galaxies” What is Battleship Galaxies? It is a reboot of the classic game battleship with a miniatures tabletop spin put on it. Sounds interesting right? I will tell you that this game is a blast. Hasbro did a great job of making this game. It will draw classic board gamers and nerdy people alike.

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The Game

Battleship Galaxies is a space combat miniatures board game. The two opponents in the game, Intergalactic Space Navy (humans) and Wretcheridians (aliens), are represented by miniatures. There are figures for several different ship types, and each has an individual reference card that varies depending on point value used to make your fleet.

Out of the box all you have to do is put together the stands, and put the ships on the stands.  It is really simple. Pictured below are all the components out of the box, the ships pictured in greater detail, and the ship card up close.

As you can see on the last picture, when you roll to hit, the ship is in a grid pattern. You hit if the dice roll indicates a grey square on the target ship. The ships shield, damage pegs, and grid gives you that Battleship feel, but that is where the similarities stop.

In addition to having a fleet of ships, you have a library of tactic cards you can use to upgrade your ships, give it new weapons, defenses, or even a new pilot with special tactics. Also, not pictured, are asteroids and other space anomalies that spice up the battlefield when in play.

 

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Pros And Cons.

Pros: Good game, fairly balanced once you learn everything about the ISN and Wretch. Love the miniatures and how the game hold all the pieces.

Cons: Although the original retail price of $60 is a little high, this game is a few years old, so you can get it a lot cheaper on Amazon. It might take a few play throughs because the Wretch can rush and kill the ISN pretty quickly. The ISN player will need more practice on their strategy, but it is a strategy game. That leaves me with my biggest complaint. Hasbro tanked the game after it’s inception, when it could have had expansions and made a good game great.

If you are a fan of miniatures and battleships, and don’t want to spend a lot of cash on extras Pick it up. If you want a tabletop miniature space battle game, with a growing community and expansions, look for Star Wars X-wings by Fantasy Flight Games.

Dorkside rating: 7/10

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What’s On Tap Next Blog?

Fluxx by Looney Labs

Do you want to know more about me, elevators, board games,video games? Do you want to decide the topic of a future blog? Stuff I have: Star Wars the LCG by Fantasy Flight, Talisman, Descent, Catan, Summonaria, Mage Knight, The World of Warcraft board game, Pencil and paper RPG’s like pathfinder, Magic the Gathering, Heroclix.

Coming up in the near future? “All Hands On Deck!” A game by a local Oklahoma company called Salamander Games. Played the demo at SuperBit Con and fell in love with it. Coming to a Kickstarter near you soon!