Top Ten Lunch Games

I've written on the subject of lunch games many, many times, but probably most completely here. The category of lunch games--games that can be played and in most cases taught in an hour--is near to my heart for several reasons, not least of which is lunch when I am most likely to have time free to play a game. The pressures and responsibilities of home prevent me from attending more than one game night a month. But over lunch? Then I am free.

In my earlier post, I listed several criteria for ideal lunch games. They are:

• Goldilocks playtime (neither too short nor too long)
• Simple rules
• Simultaneous (or near simultaneous) play (in other words, there's always something to do)
• Chaos factor (players have an opportunity to break gameplay conventions)

So which games am I most excited to play over lunch? Here's my list.

Sprint Through the Ages (a review of Innovation)

Innovations are the foundation of society. Ideas, inventions, new ways of doing things--these are what ground civilization and move it forward.

In Innovation, you are the leader of a civilization, guiding its progress from prehistory through the Information Age and managing its innovations to both benefit your society and destroy your enemy's. And all of this within thirty to sixty minutes. Are you up for the challenge? Then check out Innovation below!

The Name on the Box Top: Carl Chudyk

Over a year ago I began what I imagined would become a regular series of guides called "The Name on the Box Top." Here's how I introduced the series:

I am almost certain that those who participate in the board gaming hobby who have tried to tell others about it have been met, at one point or another, with a response of, "Oh, is that like Clue and Monopoly?" 

What separates hobby board games from the majority of mass-market titles, aside (arguably) from fun, is the name on the box top. Like the byline on books or the signature in the corner of a painting, hobby board games typically bear the name of their creator. But more than their name, hobby board games typically bear the style of their creator as well. Just as you might expect different things from a book by Kurt Vonnegut than you would from Graham Greene, you can expect different things of a game depending on whose name is on the box top.

Alas, I wrote but one entry, on Reiner Knizia. But now it's time to consider another name you might find on a box top, a name that belongs to one of my favorite designers: Carl Chudyk.

What is the Chudykian style? Find out below!

They're Giving You a Number and Taking Away Your Name (a preview of The Agents)

The Agents is a card game currently on Kickstarter with an interesting mechanism, what the designer calls "double-edged cards." The game smashed its funding goal early on and is currently over $200,000, with four more days in its campaign. I had a chance to try the game. Is it for you?

Check out my impressions below!

[Note: all components are prototype components and do not reflect the final product (though the art, I believe, will be the same). Also, please forgive the slight blurriness. That's not an Instagram filter; I think my camera is on its way out.]

News Bits: 8/5/2013

Lots of news this week, including a development from last week's story. Now, the NEWS:

The publisher that saved Atlantic City from doom [Link] After all the hubbub I mentioned in last week's news about the failed Doom That Came to Atlantic City Kickstarter campaign, Cryptozoic has announced that they will produce the game--and provide a copy free of charge to backers. This is most certainly a gracious move on the company's part. It's also a brilliant PR coup. Still, let's not forget what this costs the company: after all, they don't receive the Kickstarter funds to print the game, and they're starting off in the red for both producing the game and giving out free copies. I hope this doesn't become the norm (failed Kickstarter campaign? Don't worry--someone will bail you out), but Cryptozoic does deserve major kudos for this.

Who Am I This Time? (a guide on role selection)

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

Shakespeare wasn't talking about "players" in the gaming sense (at least, I don't think he was--who knows the mind of the Bard?), but today's Guide to Gaming topic--role-selection--serves as a bridge between Shakespeare's players (actors) and the typical players we talk about on this site (gamers), though not in the full-on RPG sense.

Role-selection, especially in Euro games, is a little more abstract than that, but it does allow players within the game to identify as, influence, or otherwise gain the support of powerful personages (roles) to accomplish game tasks. Role-selection isn't the most popular gaming mechanism out there, but as you will see, for the games that use it well, it offers quite a lot of tense decisions and replay value.

News Bits: 6/24/2013

Indeed, the Origins info poured in this week. Here's the NEWS:

Asmadi Games demos Impulse [Link] A new game from Carl Chudyk! It's a 4x space game... But it's Carl Chudyk, designer of Glory to Rome, FlowerFall, and Innovation! Okay, sign me up, especially since it plays in 30 minutes. I can't wait to find out more about this one.

News Bits: 6/10/2013

Here's this week's NEWS:

Donald X. Vaccarino previews Dominion: Guilds [Preview 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] I'm becoming very interested in this set...as I always am when the previews begin.

Let's Build A Tableau Together (A Guide to Tableau Building)

Categorizing mechanics can be a tricky thing as we recently saw in a series of articles about whether or not Settlers of Catan is a worker placement game (Here's the Point and Counterpoint to get you caught up).  Rigid definitions aside, it’s helpful to know what type of games are out there and once you’ve identified what you like there’s a multitude of other games that share similar mechanics. We’ll be picking out some of the most popular mechanics (or at least our favorites) and exploring how they work, what games use them successfully, and why we love them. This week let’s take a look at Tableau Building.

News Bits: 4/1/2013

No fooling this week. Here's the NEWS:

Wil Wheaton announces TableTop season 2 [Link] For those who are interested, geek darling Wil Wheaton has announced the second season of his very popular board game show TableTop. Due to be played this season are The Resistance and Smash Up, among others. The season will begin this Thursday.

News Bits: 1/28/2013

Big news this week. Read on!

Toy Vault acquires Firefly license [Link] Geek worlds converged last week when Toy Vault announced that it had acquired the Firefly license to create tabletop games in Joss Whedon's 'verse. I'm not terribly excited about this news, but only because licensed games don't excite me much. (This is the themeless, soulless Euro part of me coming out.) And I'm especially not too excited when the tabletop games announcement came in the same breath as novelty plush figures and pillows based on the characters. Still, time will tell.

My Year in Games: 2012

Starting near the end of April 2011, I began to track every game I play (give or take a few, I'm sure) on Board Game Geek. And starting in January of 2012, I gave an overview of the games I played in the previous year, namely my "nickels and dimes" (games played 5+ and 10+ times, respectively).

It's time to continue that tradition. Here's my list of nickels and dimes from 2012, along with some commentary and a comparison to my list from 2011.

iSlaytheDragon's Game of the Year 2012

There's nothing we here at iSlaytheDragon enjoy more than talking about the games we love. Reliving classic moments, discussing strategies or favorite mechanisms, teasing each other about the overabundance of theme (or distinct lack thereof) in the games that hit the table most frequently.

While our pick for Game of the Year of 2011 was unanimous and almost instantaneous, this year it took a bit of discussion. Which is great, because there were a lot of great games that came out this year, and we got to play a bunch of them! We wish we could pick all of our favorites for Game of the Year, but that would make the award pointless. In the end, we decided that one game stood out, excelling in all categories, just barely edging out the competition.

To lay out some of the details behind the choice, we only looked at games that released in 2012, give or take a few months back into 2011. In order to be chosen as the iSlaytheDragon Game of the Year, we had to have played and reviewed the game ourselves. And to make our final choice, we looked at a variety of categories, including gameplay, mechanisms, component quality, replayability, and fun factor. Of course every choice and every rating we make is a judgment call on our parts; if you disagree, that's fine. Feel free to share your favorite game of 2012 in the comments.

Read on for the moment you've all been waiting for. And the winner is...

Huge Tracts of Land (A Review of Barons)

It seems the king must prove his piety by building a grand cathedral. Of course, as typical of most monarchs, he wants others to do the job. Therefore, he has charged the lords of his domain to a race in completing the glorious edifice. Surveying the vast lands extending into the horizon, you realize you have your work cut out for you. There are fields to plant, improvements to build, knights to hire, and serfs to tax. A little raiding on the side wouldn’t hurt the cause, either. I mean, the castle’s bills don’t just pay themselves. Will you prove to be the realm’s wealthiest and most powerful noble? Or will you end up just another spoiled, wet-behind-the-ears toff who just happened to inherit his daddy’s estate?

Holiday Gift Guide 2012

"It's that time of year, when the world falls in love..." It's also that time of year when gift-giving is not only encouraged but expected. And as expected as giving gifts is, what is even more expected--at least in the world of gaming blogs--is the ubiquitous holiday gift guide. Here's our unique take on it, from the hearths of a theme-loving Wolf, a mechanism-loving Farmer, and an eclectic Kinderspieler. And if after reading this you still don't know what to buy for someone on your list, leave us a comment. We give recommendations to order.

(And if you want to see how the list has changed over time, here is the list for 2011. And check out our guide to stocking stuffers as well.)

Rome Demands Excellence! (a review of Glory to Rome: Black Box Edition)

I'm a sucker for card games. I like their (generally) compact nature as well as the simple variability and infusion of luck that are inherent in playing cards.

I was lured in by the attractive (and explosive) Glory to Rome: Black Box Kickstarter campaign. I hadn't paid much attention to Glory to Rome before its Kickstarter campaign because of the ugly packaging, but when I investigated the Black Box, I knew it was a game I had to have. After many false starts in their postcampaign production, backer's remorse set in. Now that I have the final product in hand (nine months after the projected delivery date), what is my verdict on this gamer's card game? Read on!

News Bits: 8/27/2012

I was vacationing last week (if camping with a six-month-old can be considered a vacation), so please forgive the sparseness of this news report. Full coverage will return next week.

More Shadows, More Camelot
Not to be outdone in  the Camelot space (see this Kickstarter campaign), Days of Wonder has announced its own traitor-in-the-midst Camelot game, Shadows over Camelot: The Card Game. This game is based on their award-winning game Shadows over Camelot and features gorgeous artwork (much like the original game) and decent components for a $25 price tag. According to Days of Wonder, the game should see an Essen 2012 release. Let's hope the Indie Boards & Cards and Days of Wonder booths aren't next to each other. Awkward...

On the Horizon: 2012

New years are great. New Year's Day may be a seemingly arbitrary holiday to some, but I think it marks a great time to look back and reflect on the past year, and at the same time look forward to new and excellent things on the horizon.

The same is true for games. It's a good time to be a board gamer. The hobby is growing and getting noticed, and a lot of high-quality, excellent games are being produced. Kickstarter has become a major launching pad for independent and small-time game publishers to find an audience and succeed. And there's no shortage of awesomeness coming in 2012 (especially as Essen 2011 releases s-l-o-w-l-y make their way to the States). Here are some of the games we're excited to see.

FDQ: What Game Is on Your Radar?

Conventions, blogs, and BGG—they seem like an endless source of inspiration (and temptation). This leads to today's FDQ: What new game is on your radar? Or, if not new, what game is at the top of your wish/to-play list? Answer in the comments!

@FarmerLenny answers:
As a huge Dominion fan, I'm obviously pretty stoked about the new Donald X. Vaccarino titles, Nefarious and Kingdom Builder, to see if lightning struck twice. (Admittedly, Kingdom Builder's name is lame.) I'm also pretty curious about Ora et Labora from Uwe Rosenberg. I love Bohnanza, Agricola, and At the Gates of Loyang, and this one—combined with a theme that interests me—is one I will follow with interest.

As for games on the to-play list, Fresco is at the top. It looks like a beautiful game, an interesting twist on worker placement. I'm quite excited about trying Glory to Rome—with schnazzy new art! I had avoided the older version because of the kiddish artwork, but I kickstarted the black box edition. I am anxious for its arrival. And thanks to The Card Gamer, I'm pumped to try out Ra. If any of you have a copy and are holding out on me...

@Futurewolfie answers:
This is pretty easy for me to answer.  Rex is the number one title I'm looking forward to right now. As a huge fan of Cosmic Encounter and the designers of that game, I've had my sights on the impossible-to-find-if-you-don't-want-to-spend-hundreds-of-dollars Dune game for a long time, so imagine my excitement when I learned it was being re-released in a new form in the Twilight Imperium universe. Incidentally, though Twilight Imperium isn't new, I haven't had a chance to play it yet, so it's also high on my want-to-play list.

I also really want to get my hands on Star Trek: Fleet Captains. I'm a huge Star Trek fan, but as there have been a number of pathetic excuses for star trek games milking the franchise, I was apprehensive. After trying it at Gencon, though, I found it to be excellent. 

Apparently I really like Space-themed games.

See, Nemesis, I can put in a bunch of random hyperlinks too!

Building the Glorious Empire! (A review of Eminent Domain)

I got my copy signed at GenCon. Woohoo!

[Editors 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!]

Eminent Domain from Tasty Minstrel Games, until just recently, was the largest board game success story on Kickstarter. It more than doubled its funding goal and attracted a lot of attention along the way. But lots of things can succeed in hype. The question remains: is the game itself any good? The short answer is yes, it is good. The long answer? Check out our detailed review below.