Gameblog

Category: More about games

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Dune

    I wrote a review of Dune (in Finnish). I haven’t played Dune in ages — there’s not a mention of it in this blog, for example, and I haven’t missed many sessions since I started writing. Usually if I own a game and don’t play it, there’s a reason. With Dune, the reasons are obvious.…

  • Bad rules of Victory & Honor

    Peter Sarrett writes about bad rules, mentioning Victory & Honor as an example. He’s spot on: Victory & Honor has probably the worst rulebook I’ve ever seen in a good game. I practically threw the rule book across the room three times while explaining the rules. It took us MUCH longer than it should have…

  • Ambition

    Those reading rec.games.board or rec.games.card might have noticed a thread called truth about church’s ambition. It had nothing to do with church, it’s in fact about Mike Church and his card game Ambition. For some reason there’s a flamewar of sorts going on around the game. Why, I have no idea, but the thread, especially…

  • Rush Hour

    I bought myself a Rush Hour puzzle set and all three extra card sets. It was a total impulse purchase, I just thought it would be interesting to try. I’ve tried Lunar Lockout, another puzzle from the same company and enjoyed that (that one is very much like Ricochet Robot), so I thought Rush Hour…