To the Dungeon! (A Review of Dungeon Fighter)

[Editor's note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @FarmerLenny, and his deadly enemy, the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

Are you a hero, or merely a toothless charlatan? You better hope to be a hero, because the king has summoned all those claiming to be heroes, and that includes you, and done the only thing that makes sense in order to separate the real heroes from bogus lowlifes. That is, he has tossed you and a few others into a dungeon with only one purpose: fight your way out alive.

If you survive, you will prove yourself a true hero.  Fail, and… well, the kingdom can always use a little more fertilizer. It will be no easy task, as it will require great skill and a bit of luck.  And a bit of silliness.

This is Dungeon Fighter.

Lumberjack Jenga 2: Revenge of the Golden Ax (a review of Click Clack Lumberjack)

Back for more, eh? It wasn't enough that you felled the first tree when you were simply trying to harvest the bark. No, now you've been practicing. Your skills have leveled up, and you're ready for a new challenge, like going for the golden bark or using hidden grubs to your advantage. And you've even sharpened your special tiny golden ax for good measure.

But can you wield it to great effect?

Lumberjack Jenga (a review of Toc Toc Woodman)

The life of a lumberjack. The smell of the forest, the sweat on your brow, the satisfaction after a hard day's work. But what if this life also involved a tiny ax, a bark-only harvesting method, and lots of laughs?

Well, then you'd be playing Toc Toc Woodman. And you'd probably be having a good time to boot.

Tabletop Shuffleboard (a review of Crokinole)

This game takes up most of our kitchen table.

If I ever tell you that I have bad luck in contests, you have my permission to hit me. I've won lots of stuff over the years, and I usually use the excuse, "Well, it was a shallow pool," downplaying the role luck played in my being chosen.

But how do I justify winning a headlining Board Game Geek contest with thousands of entrants?

Twice?

You might want to just hit me anyway.

One item I won on the Geek, and also the highest-valued item I've won, was a brand-new Crokinole board from Mayday Games. Crokinole is an old dexterity game that is very well received but normally cost prohibitive to own. Mayday Games has sought to rectify this with their new line of tournament boards. But how is the quality? Do you get what you pay for?

Flies through the Air with the Greatest of Ease (a review of FlowerFall)

After Origins 2012, I was surprised to hear many people whose opinion I respect say that the game that won the show for them was a small-box affair about dropping flowers. You mean you actually...just--drop flowers? That's it?

When Asmadi Games launched their Kickstarter campaign a few weeks later and I saw the price point was only $15, I knew I had to get in on the action, if only to see what all the hoopla was about. I received my Kickstarted copy early (a first for me--what, no long delays overseas?) and immediately tested it out. But does it float gracefully or fall flat? Find out below!

"No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space." (A review of Ascending Empires)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house thematic-loving @futurewolfie and his ferocious opponent, the stodgy euro-loving @Farmerlenny. Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

Space. Adventure. Empires. Fleets. Battle. Ascending Empires.

Relatively new from Z-man games, Ascending Empires is a strategic empire-building game combined with a dexterity mechanic. While the concept didn’t seem impressive or even appealing to me at first, it all comes together into a neat, tight package that is enjoyable, accessible, and yet maintains a level of strategic depth.