Gameblog

Category: More about games

  • 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…

  • Domaine

    There’s a new Finnish review of Domaine posted on my website. Domaine is a reworking of Teuber’s earlier Löwenherz (and published under that name in Germany). I’ve tried both and I think Domaine is an excellent work and much better game than it’s predecessor. The game’s about medieval lords, fighting over the lands while the…

  • Age of Steam

    I wrote a review of Age of Steam (in Finnish). Age of Steam is probably my favourite heavier game right now. As the name betrays, it’s about the golden age of steam engines, the most romantic and glorified period of rail transport. A slightly boring theme, perhaps, as laying railway tracks across the map of…

  • Cults Across America

    I wrote a review of Cults Across America (in Finnish). Cults Across America is a light wargame with a Cthulhu theme. Players lead cults, trying to conquer USA. The theme is fun, which is typical for a design this American. First thing you’ll notice: the game’s ugly. The thin cardboard board looks very amateurish and…

  • Feudo

    I wrote a review of Feudo (in Finnish) after just a single game. That always means the game sucks so bad, I don’t want to play it again. However, as my opinion seems to be in a minority, I thought writing a review might be a good idea. Or then I’m just fishing for GeekGold…

  • Dawn Under

    Another review on my Finnish site: Dawn Under or Dicke Luft in der Gruft. Dawn Under is a delightful game of putting vampires to rest before the dawn. The thick, double-layered board has sixty graves covered with headstones made of thick cardboard. Each headstone has one of six colours in it’s bottom. Players must find…

  • Die Sieben Siegel

    I reviewed Die Sieben Siegel (in Finnish). Die Sieben Siegel (The Seven Seals) is a trick-taking game (one of these days I should write an introductory article on trick-taking games, in Finnish). In the Card Games classified index it would probably be in the exact bidding group (Spades is not in that group, but is…

  • Karibik and TransAmerica

    I got a nice packet yesterday. Inside I found two games from Winning Moves, Karibik and TransAmerica and some Kosmos two-player games (Lost Cities and Balloon Cup). What all these games have in common? They are all coming out in Finnish next year and I’m working on the translations. You know how much I like…