Gameblog

Category: Reviews

  • In the Shadow of the Emperor

    In the Shadow of the Emperor seemed pretty cool when it came out. It was touted as a real gamer’s game with clever new mechanics. However, for some reason I played it twice and forgot about it afterwards. What happened? Setting In the Shadow of the Emperor is set in Germany in the late middle…

  • Blockster

    I wrote a review of Blockster (in Finnish and sorry, no naked ladies on the marginals). Blockster is a small dexterity game, where players are trying to stack small plastic pieces according to cards. There’s a timer to add pressure! When someone fails, everybody else scores a point. The basic idea is nice, but the…

  • Louis XIV

    Rüdiger Dorn’s Louis XIV started Alea’s new mid-size series. It’s not a big board game, but not a card-game either, but something in between. There’s no actual board, though there is something quite like it: a grid made of cardboard tiles, functioning as a board. The game definitely plays like a board game. Palace intrigue…

  • Around the World in 80 Days

    Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Rieneck is based on Jules Verne’s book. Players are sent from London to circumnavigate the globe, hoping to make it back to London in 80 days. A race has begun! Race around the world So, it’s a race game. Race games have generally two problems, I think:…

  • Antike

    For me, Antike was definitely one of the brighter hits from Essen 2005. I had reordered the game, mostly tempted by the theme and having some faith in Eggert-Spiele thanks to Neuland, which was excellent. Lower price I got didn’t hurt, either. I wasn’t disappointed. While Antike isn’t the Civ Lite some people would probably…

  • DVD Sudoku

    I played a game of DVD Sudoku with Johanna yesterday (that’s something only an exceptionally good wife would do for her husband!) and wrote a review in Finnish on the other site. DVD Sudoku is one of the games featuring the biggest thing of 2005. This version adds another 2005 trend: a DVD. Can something…

  • Flix Mix

    Another review up: Flix Mix (in Finnish). Flix Mix is one of my favourite speed games. Each player has an identical deck of 16 cards, all featuring six dots sporting different colours. The goal of the game is to get rid of cards by laying them on the table. There’s just one limitation: each card…

  • Caylus

    There’s a review of Caylus in Finnish up at the other site — it’s been there for about a week now. Caylus is, of course, the biggest thing since… well, last Essen. I went to Essen with an understanding that we’re dealing with a quality game here, thanks to Rick Thornquist’s raports. I wasn’t originally…

  • Liberty

    Another: Review of Liberty in Finnish. Liberty is a Columbia Games block war game about the American indepence war. With the help of French, the Americans try to fight the British for their freedom. The shot heard around the world and all that, you know. The mechanics of the game are similar to other Columbia…

  • Victory & Honor

    I wrote a review of VIctory & Honor in Finnish. Victory & Honor is a American Civil War -themed trick-taking game from Ty Douds and Jolly Roger. It’s for four players, and while it can be played individually, it’s probably best played as two pairs. That’s the way I’ve played it. It’s one of the…