-
Tom Lehmann
Before, Tom Lehmann simply didn’t register on my radar. I’m too young or something for the TimJim Games and Fast Food Franchise to mean anything to me. However, now I take a look at my list of three most-anticipated games — Caylus Magna Carta, Race for the Galaxy and Phoenicia — and hey, two out…
-
Just 4 Fun
Just 4 Fun isn’t the most popular game, despite being a Spiel des Jahres finalist. From description, it sounds terribly inane. The name is horrible to start with. Four-in-a-row, with cards determining where you can play — can it be any more drab? But guess what, it’s a surprisingly good game anyway. Nothing special, that’s…
-
Zooloretto with two
I got a review copy of Zooloretto, latest entry to the Coloretto family. It’s out now in Finnish (with Swedish, Norwegian and Danish rules included). The box was bigger than I expected, a full Kosmos-size box. Cute panda! The game isn’t a ripoff, but something quite clever. In its heart lies the basic Coloretto system:…
-
Board game club: Leonardo da Vinci, Taj Mahal
Yesterday’s board game club started with a game of Leonardo da Vinci. This one’s published in Finnish by Lautapelit.fi. Bit of a strange decision, it being such a gamer’s game, but I suppose Puerto Rico has sold well enough. It’s an optimization game, basically. Players use workers to gather resources and convert them into inventions.…
-
Pillars of the Earth for four
Yesterday I got a group together to play Pillars of the Earth. Last time I played, I wasn’t thrilled about the two-player game. The four-player game is much better — yet still I dropped my rating from eight to seven. First the good parts: with four, the game has plenty of tension. As just about…
-
Railroads in Scotland (with insects)
I met Ilari today for games. Finally I was able to get Age of Steam Scotland — the free print-and-play two-player expansion — on table. Age of Steam in general doesn’t seem like a brilliant two-player game, but with a good map, it turned out be a rather pleasant experience. The thing about the Scotland…
-
Hot games for Q1/2007
This was a pretty quiet quarter, with basically one hot game and bunch of other games with just one play each. Previous quarter was a tad more active. Combat Commander: Europe — The obvious one. I was enthusiastic, but now I’m a bit less so. Strong eight, still, but I’m really coming to think that…
-
Games day with Tommy
As the tradition goes (last year, the year before that, the weekend before that, the year before that…), I met Tommy for a day of games. So, this year it was just me and him, and just a single day. It was great fun nonetheless. We kicked off with 1860: Railways on the Isle of…
-
ArsGeek Carcassonne giveaway
ArsGeek is about all things geek, including board games. Right now they’re running a contest where you can win one of 5 copies of Carcassonne. Check it out! It’s very simple: all you need to do is to explain why you deserve a copy. The winners will be published April 19th.
-
Himalaya
Review of Himalaya in Finnish. Himalaya appeared on many radars when it was nominated for Spiel des Jahres in 2005. The game was formerly known as Marchands d’Empire and available as print-and-play. The new edition, published by Tilsit and by Marektoy in Finland, is rethemed: medieval traders became yak caravans in Himalaya. The new theme…