Gameblog

Author: Mikko

  • Doom

    I got my hands on Doom: The Boardgame today. Oh my, it’s neat! I can’t help being a parakeet. The bits are gorgeous! The figures suffer a bit from silly colours (I’d like to see them painted well), but they are still rather impressive. The amount of cardboard is also stunning — the game is…

  • Monumento and a curious design decision

    I scored a review copy of Monumento (also known as Make’n’Break). It’s a Ravensburger release with a rather simple idea. Players have 10 large colourful wooden blocks and a deck of cards. A card is turned from the deck and the player with the blocks must build the pile of blocks described in the card.…

  • Memoir ’44

    I wrote a lengthy review of Memoir ’44, in Finnish, as usual. I don’t think there’s much need for me to write a review of Memoir ’44 — just go and read the 20 or so reviews the Geek already has. The game has pretty good ratings and a ranking of 8th in the Geek…

  • The Games Journal is out

    The latest issue of The Games Journal is out. Check out the article on Ambition, Mike Church’s card game. I enjoyed the article very much and I’m certainly looking forward to reading the next installment. My friend Stefu has also created a nice Black Vienna puzzle. I solved it, so it can’t be very difficult,…

  • Pirate’s Cove

    I wrote a review of Pirate’s Cove (in Finnish; review number 92!). I like Pirate’s Cove. I like the fancy bits (I think it’s one of the prettiest games I’ve ever seen), the theme is great and the game is simply a blast to play. However, I’m still rating it as 7. The game’s main…

  • Queen’s Necklace, Samurai and Höhlengrölen

    I’ve been busy writing reviews. I have already 91 reviews on my web site — I hear the 100 review mark calling my name already. That’ll take some time, but soon, soon I’ll be there. I’m not going to write long reviews of these games now; I’ll just summarize my thoughts shortly. Links are to…

  • Translation of Don

    I wrote a Finnish translation of Don. Enjoy. I noticed the exchange variant in the rules — has anybody given it a go? Is it any good?

  • About reviewing games

    A typical subject for discussion is how many times a reviewer should play a game before reviewing it? I know I’ve lowered my standards as I’ve written more and more reviews and I’ve even written reviews based on one play of the game (and even part of one play, as was the case with Time…

  • Flowerpower

    I’m churning out review after review… This time I did Flowerpower. Flowerpower is a relaxing little game in the Kosmos two-player range. Designed by relatively unknown authors Peter Haluszka and Angelika Fassauer, Flowerpower is often mentioned as a good couples game. It certainly has some good qualities: it’s a two-player game, easy to learn, easy…

  • Einfach Genial

    Another review I wrote: Einfach Genial aka Ingenious aka Mensa Connections. Einfach Genial is a clever game by master Knizia. It’s an abstract game, a rare thing from Knizia whose games are often fairly thinly themed, but still have at least some theme. Some have questioned if Einfach Genial would’ve won the Spiel des Jahres…