A Great City to Visit (A Review of Havana)

Havana.  “The Paris of the Antilles.”  A rich history of over 400 years and a luxurious diamond of recent memory.  Now it lay in squalor.  Years of economic hardship wrought by corrupt governance, depression, and the Revolution of ‘59 have left this once proud, exotic, and thriving port a mere shell of its former beauty.  Your task is to restore this Caribbean gem.  Will you emerge as Cuba’s greatest builder?  To do so, you will collect building materials, acquire workers, recruit friends, and even engage in some shady shenanigans.  At least one thing is in your favor – thankfully, Castro and his iron-handed regime are nowhere to be found.

"In Spanish it means...'The Grande!'" (A Review of El Grande)

The box doesn't bode well, but this is a great example of
"don't judge a game by its box."

[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!]

The box is ugly, there's no disputing that. Even after reading about the game, reading about the mechanics, and seeing the reassuring "Spiel des Jahres" pawn on the cover, I was almost convinced by the box art to turn my back. If I had done so, I would have missed out on one of my very favorite games. Well, now you know how I feel about it. But keep reading for a more in-depth review.

To build a city (A Review of Carcassonne)

[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!]

A lot of American games are based entirely on luck (or weird knowledge of an obscure subject). Mechanics such as "roll the dice and move that many spaces forward" are simple and easy to learn, but don't have any lasting value. In fact, it doesn't take long to realize that these games just... aren't very fun. Fortunately, there exists a number of games that are close equivalents to those weakly designed games that are still simple and easy to learn, but add some choices and elements of strategy that give the gameplay lasting value. To put it simply, they are fun.