Been There, Dune That (A Review of Forbidden Desert)

 FORBIDDEN!  You laugh at the sound of the word!  After all, you’ve heard it before…and survived!  This time, there’s not even a sinking island.  What could go wrong?  Flying deep into the heart of the desert, your team searches for a fabled city of advanced knowledge, great wealth, and unimagined wonders.  But the expedition goes awry quickly as you crash land amongst the buried ruins.  To escape, you must dig through the city and discover its ancient secrets before sun and sand entomb you with storms of time.

The Name on the Box Top: Bruno Faidutti

The board game hobby is indeed a fascinating one.  For those just introduced to it, and looking to delve further into its vast world, one of the more interesting facets is the “name on the box top.”  Just as individual authors, artists, and singers have their own recognizable style stamped upon their books, paintings, and songs, the same is true in the case of designers with their board games.  Our own @FarmerLenny has already looked at two designers in this series – Reiner Knizia and Carl Chudyk.  Today, I take a look at Bruno Faidutti.

Oh, the Humanity! (A Review of Quicksilver)

Airships.  The very word conjures images of sleek silhouettes slicing through the skies and portends of audacious adventure.  It is the height of the Victorian Era and England has organized a rousing gala of pomp and fanfare to showcase its latest lighter-than-aircraft design.  Are you daring enough to brave the winds, elements, and competing aeronauts for glory and honor?  But more importantly, are you gentlemanly enough?  Aye, for the Queen, herself, will grace this event with her attendance!

Release the Kraken! (A Review of Red November)

You are a proud crew member in the Gnome Republic’s crowning naval achievement: the sleek and menacing nuclear powered submarine, Red November.  With the latest advances in design and construction, precision propulsion, state-of-the-art technology, a deadly arsenal of modern weaponry, and previously unheard of sea-going amenities such as a grog-dispensing vending machine, your mission is to cruise the world’s waterways projecting the Motherland’s prowess, capabilities, and glory.  This will be the highlight of your naval career.  I mean, in such a sophisticated and highly-developed vessel, what could possibly go wrong?

If I Only Had a Brain (A Review of Zombie State: Diplomacy of the Dead)

Zombies!  Relentlessly, they sweep over the globe in wave after wave of evil hordes.  Rising in all corners of the earth, the unremitting infection grows and spreads like a plague from Hell.  Armies are overwhelmed.  Cities fall.  Civilization crumbles.  Humanity sits precariously on the precipice of extinction.  Bands of survivors fallback to dwindling strongholds and vulnerable safe havens in desperate efforts to stem the dark, rotten apocalypse…or simply to survive.

Sounds like the new World War Z flick opening this Friday?  Alas, there’s no Brad Pitt to be seen here.  Instead, you will take charge of a world region reeling against an inexhaustive onslaught of walking corpses in the board game Zombie State: Diplomacy of the Dead.

So Say We All (A Review of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game)

Everybody look to your left. Now look to your right. One of you is probably a Cylon. It might even be you.

At least, that's the way of things in Fantasy Flight's Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. Players will take on the roles of characters from the (modern) show as they face dangers, tense political situations, dwindling supplies, and of course the fact that some of the players are secretly Cylons working against them.

There's Some Ameritrash in My Euro! (a Review of Skagway)

Go north, to Alaska; go north, the rush is on!  With money literally lying on the ground, can you strike the mother-load and protect your interests in this ultimate symbol of the American dream?  Or do you want to control the town and its commerce, preying on the misfortunate miners whose hopes die in the frozen Yukon mud?  Either way, you’ll need all of your rugged frontierism and business savvy to succeed in this, the last great gold rush.

Guide to Gaming: Ameritrash vs. Eurostyle--What's the Difference?

When you enter the world of hobby board gaming, even for a quick visit, you will hear about a few different styles of board games. And of course they are referred to by names that don't mean anything unless you already know what they mean.

The styles and names I'm referring to are these: Ameritrash, Eurostyle/Eurogame, with the third option being Mass Market. The styles often collide and intermix, but knowing which type of game you like and what to expect from each type of game can help narrow down the choices when you're looking to try or buy a new game. The following descriptions are generalizations to help you get a feel for what each term means; by no means are any of these hard-and-fast rules, and there are many games that either break out of the normal mold or combine elements of both  Euro and American styles of gameplay.

Assemble Cards! (A Review of Super Hero Squad)

You’ve read their comics, seen their movies, daydreamed about them, and maybe even dressed up as them. Now, you can assume the powers of Marvel’s greatest and lesser known world defending crime fighters. The twist is that you have to fight each other – must be inspired by Marvel’s Civil War?! Do you have what it takes to don masks, capes, high-tech weaponry, and genetic-altering phenomena? Find out with the new Marvel trading card game, Super Hero Squad.

This Table Ain't Big Enough (A Review of Bang!)

The Wild West. A time when six-shooters made the law, vigilantes strung up horse-thieves, you chose whiskey or water, and you bathed maybe once a week. Life was hard. Fate forged a man just as much as tough circumstances. Harsh but honest men found themselves behind a badge, while a cruel twist of fortune might just push some to the other side. Others drifted through life a loner - not having to help, or rely on, others. Yeah, sometimes you had to travel the path that the cards dealt. And there were always men to stand in your way. Well, the table ain’t big enough for you all, and Colt and Winchester stand as judge. When the dust and gunsmoke settle, everyone will see who are the quick and who are the dead.

Wait, Where Was That Betrayal At Again? (Betrayal at House on the Hill review)

When you take a group of friends into a haunted house, it’s almost a guarantee that something crazy is going to happen, and one of those friends will definitely betray you all. Unless it’s you, then you’ll just betray everyone.

At least, that’s what happens in Betrayal at House on the Hill, a thematic horror game that tells the story of a foray into a haunted house, and the mayhem that ensues. But is this ghost story worth telling?