Review of Himaya from Imperial Seal Studios, Reviewed by PaladinElliott Productions

Himaya

Game Design: Jackson Portnoff

Game Artistry: Alessio Alonne, Felip Cekic, Carlos Pozo Jardon, Roman Jircik, George Patsouras, and Ash Rivenai

Published by: Imperial Seal Studios

Reviewed by: Jason Elliott

Edited by: Stephanie Elliott

Number of players: 2 to 6

Time of Play: 30 to 40 minutes

Age recommended: 10 and up

Year of Release: 2016

The story so far: You enter this game as one who can drift through the sands of time, using the most famous and brightest Scientists, Explorers, Generals, Builders, Artists, Historians, Rebels, Spies, and Merchants to create and hold the best Theatres, Paintings, famous Buildings, Museums, famous Ceilings, Literary works, Songs, and Plays. You will need to control well known cities to hold many of these things that will be important to your nation as you strive to make it the most valuable (highest amount of victory points) amongst your fellow players.

Our final thoughts on the game: So this was surprising fun for what some expect as a heavy Historically based game. The game played in about 45 minutes due to teaching new players, and came across as a build up your nation, while trying every so often to use some "take that" to the other players. We had a lot of moments going "I didn't know this person" and "I just learned" along with looking online afterwards to read and learn more about some of the people and works that are represented in this game.

The Historical accuracy and artistic depictions in the game are very high, so if you were looking for a way to teach players some history, whether it would be historical figures, locations, or famous creations, this game would serve as a great teacher, especially to young adults who might be learning such things from in school.

We found one ambiguity in the rules, that we needed to make a house rule on, but otherwise we have not had any other issues in our play sessions. One of our good friends (looking at you Lorenz!) made the comparison that this game has some Fluxx-like moments, and we would completely agree. You will be assigning cards, sometimes removing cards by choice or by random, and you will also have battles between Generals that are settled with dice rolls while adding modifiers (a simple battle mechanic similar to Risk).

Everyone has come away saying they want to play it again, with games where first place to second place is only a matter of 1 or 2 points. You will need to balance whether or not to assign certain cards to certain locations, or use cards to dump out your entire hand for a new hand. The game has strategy in the cards you choose, and how you play some of them, and has luck in what is drawn, and how the dice rolls go.

While the game says 10 and up, I think this would be best with kids that age who have some interest in the theme of the game.  With kids my rating on the Board Game Geek scale is 9 out of 10, as I would want to play this with kids 90% of the time it is mentioned, if for no other reason, it is a good way to teach them about some of the mentioned people, places, and things of history. With just adults I will give this a 7 out of 10, because the game is fun and engaging and I know I can play an entire game in 30 to 45 minutes.

Mechanics and concepts found in this game: You will have decision making throughout the game. You have some card drafting depending on the cards you play, such as dumping your hand and drawing 5 new cards. There are some moments where you can mess with your fellow players with cards like the Spy which allows you to look at another player's hand and then play a second card. If you couple that with the Assassin you will be able to remove a card of your choice from an opponent (if you do this without the Spy it would be random). You can have alliances and betrayal in this game, but it is all casually done and you are not bound to any of this, and could break it upon a whim. You will need to take card placement into account as you can use Generals to attack other player's cities, and then to decide whether to loot the city or destroy it if you are victorious. All in all there are several things at work in this game when you play giving it a nice amount of complexity while still keeping it quick.

The game components: What is listed and what I received varied, but this is also a review copy, so please keep that in mind.

-150 playing cards comprised of 114 Time cards (Normal backed cards with no picture), 18 Artwork cards (back side has a picture of the Statue of David), and 18 Building cards (back side has a building with a rotunda). This deviates from the 152 cards listed in the rules.

-Game box

-I needed to print the rules, and then later reprinted a second version of the rules

-4 six sided dice, different from the rules listing of 2 six sided dice

Winning conditions of the game: Highest score at the end of the game wins. You must follow the agreed upon conditions for when the endgame goes into effect, and pay attention to each and every card, as some will only score points if they have been assigned to the proper type of card, and others will be worth victory points on their own.

Game setup: Separate the three decks (Time, Artwork, and Buildings), shuffle each deck, leave room for a Ruins pile (discard pile) and deal out 5 Time cards to each player. Each player needs to lay out one City card simultaneously to start, if a player does not have a City in their first 5 cards then they need to declare a mulligan, show the cards to the players, and draw 5 new Time cards. Keep doing this as necessary until every player has a City on the board in front of them. Now you are ready to play Himaya!

How to play: On each turn you will draw 1 card. You will then choose to play 1 card or pass. You can assign floating cards as a free action. Depending on the card played many things could happen. Let's highlight each card's role by type:

Cities- 1 victory point each, and are essential to the game. Cities hold Prophets, Buildings, Museums, and Theaters. If you ever lose your last City (by being destroyed from an attacking General, on your next turn you keep drawing from the Time Pile (Normal Deck) until a City comes up, you immediately play it and end your turn. Everything drawn that is not a City is placed in the Discard pile (Ruins Pile). If you lose your last City, you must discard all of your Literature, Songs, and Scientists.

Generals- When played on your turn, you choose an opponent's City to attack, follow the text on the card. Any defending player must use a General card out of their hand to defend that City or Cities, or automatically surrender any City that is undefended by a General. If a City is surrendered in this way, the attack can choose to loot or destroy the City. Any attacking or defending General must add all attacking/defending modifiers (from Buildings, Generals, and Scientists) to a d6 roll. If the attacker wins, then the attacker can either loot the City and take everything in it for their own, or destroy the City and everything that is in that City along with the City card are destroyed. If the defender wins the attack is stopped and the turn is over. In a tie, nothing happens, both attacking and defending Generals go back to their players hands and the turn is over. Otherwise, attacking and defending Generals are always discarded at the end of a battle, regardless of who won and who lost.

Scientists- Gives you 1 Technology point. A Technology point is a +1 modifier to attacking and defending with Generals. Each Scientist is worth 1 victory point. Example, if you have two Scientists, every General can attack or defend with a +2 modifier to their roll. Scientists float, and can't be taken by another player. Scientists have to be discarded if player loses their last City.

Merchants- Once played, you are allowed to draw two cards from the the Time Pile (Normal Deck). You can't play cards this turn that have been drawn by the Merchant.

Explorers- Choose any one card from the Time Pile (Normal Deck). Shuffle the deck afterwards.

Historians- Choose any one card from the Discard Pile (Ruins Deck).

Spies- Choose one opponent and look at their hand. You then may play another card on your turn.

Assassins- Choose one opponent's card at random and discard it. The exception is if you play an Assassin after you play a Spy card, you are allowed to choose which opponent's card is discarded. The Spy and Assassin must be played on the same opponent for this effect to take place.

Rebels- Once played you get to discard your entire hand (except Artwork cards), and draw 5 new cards.

Prophets- Must be played in a City. That city now has a Religion. It is 6 victory points. It gives you a +1 Defense modifier when defending that City. A City can have more than one Prophet, more than one religion, and Modifiers stack to defend the City.

Builders- Allows you to draw the top card from the Buildings deck. If you can't build the Building card drawn for any reason, then you must immediately discard it. This is a play immediately or lose it card.

Buildings- Must be played in a City unless card says otherwise (Great Wall and The Pyramids are considered floating and can't be taken). Once played, effects on the card are immediate. Must meet requirements if listed. Can be taken by a General who captures a City, unless stated otherwise.

Artists- Allows you to draw the top card from Artwork deck. If the card can't be immediately played then hold it until it can. When it is able to be played, it is a free action to do so (doesn't count as your 1 card played).

Literature- Gives you 5 victory points. Only played as floating, can't be taken. Has to be discarded if player loses their last City.

Songs- Gives you 4 victory points. Only played as floating, can't be taken, allows an additional card to be played that turn. Has to be discarded if player loses their last City.

Paintings- Gives you 6 victory points. Can be played floating but isn't worth any points until assigned to a Museum. Can be taken by a General who captures a City if assigned.

Museums- Must be played in a City. Can hold any number of Paintings. Can be taken by a General who captures a City.

Ceiling- Gives you 6 victory points. Can be played floating but isn't worth any points until assigned to a Theater. Can be taken by a General who captures a City if assigned.

Plays- Gives you 10 victory points. Can be played floating but isn't worth any points until assigned to a Theater. Can be taken by a General who captures a City if assigned.

Theaters- Must be played in a City. It can hold one Play. Can be taken by a General who captures a City.




Endgame: You will need to choose with your fellow players and agree upon a final endgame condition. It could be when the Time deck runs out, it could be the first person to a set number of victory points, it could be a time limit (in actual time or a number of rounds), or something else entirely that everyone agrees to. This game allows for that type of flexibility. In our games we have always played until the Time deck runs out.

Thank you so much for reading my review of Himaya by Imperial Seal Studios!

I hope you will check out my PaladinElliott Blog at:

https://paladinelliott.blogspot.com/

check out some of my videos at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58qYf_vaCaCnu6qvd-WpKw

and check out my Ready To Game Podcast at Soundcloud and/or 

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-to-game-podcast-episode/id1111793358?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

and remember I am always….READY TO GAME!!!

RET. SSG Jason L. Elliott (PaladinElliott)

Review of Ugh! from Calliope Games, Reviewed by PaladinElliott Productions

Review of Ugh! from Calliope Games, Reviewed by PaladinElliott Productions

Ugh!

Game Design: Jim Reichert and Lori Reichert

Game Artistry: John Kovalic

Published by: Calliope Games

Reviewed by: Jason Elliott

Edited by: Stephanie Elliott

Number of players: 2 to 5

Time of Play: 20 minutes

Age recommended: 8 and up

Year of Release: 2012

The story so far: Go back to the Stone Age as Cave Dwellers who are pressing their luck to survive. You will collect sets of cards in this game, needing one of each color to create a set.  The cards have humorous depictions of daily life for your Cavemen and Cavewomen. Be careful though, because if you press your luck too far you will encounter a natural disaster and cry out UGH! as some of your cards go away, or you lose your turn! You will flip cards, choose how far to press your luck, and strive to have the highest points at the end of the game by the sets of cards you lock in.

Our final thoughts on this game: First, we have been playing this game with our children (Arnold 8, and Talia 6) as we wanted a fun way to keep them sharp with their numbers as they go into 3rd and 2nd grade respectively. It has been summer break, and having them using addition and multiplication in a card game that we all can enjoy is awesome!

We have a fun theme here, with the Cave Dwellers trying to survive without having an Ugh! moment. These moments can be a volcano eruption, a tornado, a great fire, a great flood, or being frozen. The cards have numbers from 1 to 5 and there are three different colors. You need to make a set containing one card of each color and you multiply the numbers on the cards to determine how many points your set is worth. This is a fun way to get your kids doing some math!

We love seeing the kids decide what cards they have to get rid of with Ugh! cards (decision making) along with them doing the math in their heads, on their hands, and talking it out, as they figure out the best way to lock in a set of cards. They picked up very quickly that a set is 1 purple, 1 green, and 1 orange card, and they had to deal with this game of press your luck in a fun and engaging way!

In the scope of playing with are children I would rate this a 10 out of 10 from the Board Game Geek scale. I will always play this with the kids whenever it is mentioned. In an adult only setting this game becomes a 7 where I would play it 70% of the time when it is mentioned. This game plays quickly, is easy to teach, and serves as a great travel and/or filler game for adults and one that I think all families with kids in elementary school should have.

Mechanics and concepts found in this game: The players will be using addition and multiplication to come up with their scores. There is a card drafting mechanism as you will draw cards to safe piles, and have to decide to keep going and risk getting an Ugh! card, or play it safe, and stop when you can. You have to manage the cards you obtain, when to place them in a set, or leave them out to make a better set. If you go too far, you will get an Ugh! card and possibly lose several of those cards that you have not locked in.

The game components: 

-1 game box
-1 set of instructions
-4 wild cards
-28 Ugh! cards
-78 Number cards

Winning conditions of the game: You will calculate your sets through multiplication, and add them all up, along with adding Ugh! cards that are gained through positive means. The highest points at the end wins!

Game setup: Shuffle all the cards together to make one deck. Make sure there is enough room for everyone to have a card area in front of them, and for the deck to have a discard pile to one side, and three safety piles to the other side. The youngest player gets to go first, then proceed in clockwise order.

How to play: The first player must draw a card to get the game started. If on a player's first draw they pull an Ugh! card they ignore the penalty, flip the card over and place it in their locked in score area. An Ugh! card that comes up on your first draw is worth 3 Victory points at the end. Otherwise, you will have a Numbers card, that will have a value of 1 to 5, or a Wild card. These cards will be in Orange, Purple, Green, or in the case of some of the Wilds a mix of color. You will decide after your first draw on whether to keep the card, or press your luck. You do this again for a second safety pile, but if it is an Ugh! card you must suffer its penalty. If you are safe, and are holding out for a better card, then you draw a third and place it on the third safety pile. If you still don't like what you see, you can draw a final fourth draw from the deck, but you must play that card to your area, regardless of what it is.

The idea as you do this is to try and get a set with a high value. A set is comprised of 1 green card, 1 purple card, and 1 orange card. The values on the cards get multiplied when the set gets locked in for final scoring. So, if I had a 2 green, and a 1 purple in my play area, and I choose from the third safety pile a 3 orange, then I can take those cards and declare that as a set, and I will score 6 points at the end of the game for that set (1x2x3=6). You will add up all of your sets and Ugh! cards that you acquired on a first draw to give you your final tally of points.

Wild cards come in different colors. You can either use a wild card to steal a card of that color from another player (it can not be a card they have locked in) or you will use the wild to finish a set. If you use the steal, then the Wild card is discarded, and you can only use it on cards that are not locked in. If you use it as a card to finish a set, you use it as the color it has on it (if it has more than one color then you choose which one you are using it for) and the value is one less then the lowest number in the set it is a part of. So if I have a green 4, and orange 3, and I use a Wild purple to complete the set, the Wild purple is worth 2 (the lowest number -1), so my set is 4x3x2 equaling 24 points.

So remember, every turn you can draw/claim a card, and you can lock in sets, so make the highest/best sets that you can!

Endgame: The end of the game is reached when the last card of the deck is drawn. All the players get one chance to lock in sets before this last card is drawn. The last player must play the last card drawn, no matter what it is. Cards that are not locked into a set are discarded and the Ugh! cards that were drawn as the first draw of a turn are worth three points each.

Thank you so much for reading my review of Ugh! by Calliope Games!

I hope you will check out my PaladinElliott Blog at:

https://paladinelliott.blogspot.com/

check out some of my videos at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58qYf_vaCaCnu6qvd-WpKw

and check out my Ready To Game Podcast at Soundcloud and/or 

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-to-game-podcast-episode/id1111793358?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

and remember I am always….READY TO GAME!!!

RET. SSG Jason L. Elliott (PaladinElliott)

Review of Dwar7s Fall from MAGE Company, Design and Artistry by Luis Brueh, Review by Jason Elliott, Edited by Stephanie Elliott

Review of Dwar7s Fall from MAGE Company by PaladinElliott Productions

Dwar7s Fall

Game Design and Artistry: Luis Brueh

Published by: MAGE Company, Vesuvius Media, Mysterious Island Games, Mosigra, Mandala Jogos

Reviewed by: Jason Elliott

Edited by: Stephanie Elliott

Edition: First

Number of players: 2-4

Time of Play: 20-60 minutes

Age recommended: 12+

The year of release:2016

The story so far: Winter is coming, and the Dwarves need to be prepared. You will need to deal with Frost Giants and Dragons as you collect Gems and Food, and build your Castles.

Our final thoughts on this game: This is a game that I felt has tremendous theme. Your Dwarves must prepare for winter, while trying to hinder other players. All the things you think about with Dwarves are here, you have your Mining, Gems, Dragons, Castles, Kingdoms, etc.

We like that fact that you are laying tiles, and that placement is key. Players of Carcossone will recognize this and will probably feel at home in this regard. Meeple placement is big, and  you will have lots of options to place your Meeple for maximum effect. You will have Trading Goals (publicly known Victory points that you trade your resources for) and Secret Goals (privately known Victory points to attempt to accomplish by end of game). You will be able to send Ogres to remove Meeples, move Dwarves, steal Gems, steal other Ogre cards, and swap opposing player's Meeples.

The biggest drawback encountered is there is no mechanism in place for players to gang up on someone. If that happens, rest assured that the player will ultimately be knocked down and in far worse shape then before. The game plays quick once it is taught, and the rules were in good, straight order. The game is very colorful, and it is a lot of fun to have Dwarf Meeples to use!

You have to be able to see how your Kingdom is progressing versus the other player's Kingdoms. You may at one point being sharing two Kingdoms, then stack a card and close off one Kingdom, or some other type of manipulation. You will need to focus on how to best increase, strengthen, and solidify your Kingdom, while at the same time hindering the other player's Kingdoms as best as you can.

Overall, if I were asked how often I would play it out of 10 times the game is mentioned (my interpretation of the BoardGameGeek scale) I would give it a 5. I would play it roughly half the times it was offered. It is a solid game, that pulls a strong theme with recognizable mechanics to make the game easy to teach, and fun to play!

Mechanics and concepts found in this game: You have your fantasy setting that you will want and expect to be true for Dwarves. You will be building territories and using tile placement. You will work on set collection to purchase Victory points. You will have some "take that" moments through the use of Meeple placement, and the using cards you have collected.

The game components: 

36 Kingdom Cards

10 Trading Goal Cards

7 Secret Goal Cards

34 Gem Cards

13 Ogre Cards

7 Dwarf Meeples of each color (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow)

1 Rule Booklet

1 Game Box


Expansions you can add:

Dwar7s Fall: Empires

Dwar7s Fall: Royal Decrees

Winning conditions for the game: You will need to have the highest amount of points by collecting the following:

-Your Kingdom size, where cards will either give or take away points from your Kingdom. If your Kingdom is not in play you will receive no points for this.

-The Gem cards in your hand, monsters you have defeated, and your completed Goal cards.

Game setup: 

1. Shuffle the Trading Goal cards, make a deck and reveal 3 of them
2. Shuffle the Secret Goal cards, and deal one to each player. Keep it secret, keep it safe.
3. Sort the Gem cards by type, and have them face up.
4. Sort the Kingdom cards by color. Each player will choose a color, and get 9 cards that correspond with their color.
5. Each player takes the 7 Dwarf Meeples that correspond with their color.
6. Shuffle the Ogre cards, and place the deck where the Booklet shows. 
7. Make sure you leave enough area to lay the Kingdom cards on.
8. The youngest players starts the game, and clockwise turn order to follow.

How to play: 

Each round will have three phases.
1. Perform Actions
2. Resolve
3. Discard

Perform Actions: You can perform 3 a turn, or 4 if you have your Castle in play. These are repeated as long as the situation allows. You can use any combination of them in whatever order you believe to be the most beneficial.

1A. Play a Kingdom card- You will place a card(s) adjacent, or on top (stacking) if applicable. You can orientate the cards however you want (walls matching or not, connected to your Castle or not)

Special Notes- During the first turn the first player places the first Kingdom card anywhere on the table. You can only stack a Kingdom card if it has a shield with either a homeplate icon, a house icon, or a tree icon.

1B. Place a Dwarf- You can place one of your Dwarves on any free space on the Kingdom cards out on the board. That means it can go on any player's Kingdom. You can use another player's Kingdom to dig. You will need as many Dwarves as the card says to complete a task on that card.

1C. Move a Dwarf- You can move any Dwarf you have on the board to one adjacent card. You can't pass through walls, and there must be a free spot on the card for the Dwarf to go there. This also applies if you are moving more than once, each card you move through must have at least one open spot for you to pass through.

1D. Play an Ogre card- Playing an Ogre card is a FREE ACTION. You can play more than one of these during the Action Phase.


2. Resolve-This is where every card that has the correct amount of Dwarves for completing a task goes into effect. All the Dwarves completing a task MUST HAVE THE SAME COLOR. You will move Dwarves that completed tasks back to your Dwarf pile. If they do not complete a task they stay out on the board. If something forces your Dwarves back, but the task is not completed (such as a Dragon) you get your Dwarves back in the pile, but with out receiving anything for the task you were trying to accomplish. If you have more Dwarves on a card when it completes versus how many you need to complete the task then the extra stay in place on that card.

3. Discard- You may never have more than 9 cards in your hand. Any moment that would put you over you must discard. The cards that you count towards this hand limit are:

-Kingdom cards
-Gem cards
-Ogre cards

The types of Kingdom cards are:

-Castles: Having this out allows you count connecting cards as your points for your Kingdom. Having your Castle out also allows you to take a bonus action every turn that it is in play.

Special note: You can dig a stacked card, but you will need two of your dwarves placed on any Castle in play. If you do so, then take one card that is a top of a stack and place it on the bottom of the stack without rotating it. You can only choose a top of a stack if it has no dwarves on it, and the card you are choosing can not be a Monster card. You can only dig if there are no Monsters in your Kingdom.

-Mines: You need these to mine for Gems. You need the Gems to trade for Goals that award you Victory points. You will need the correct amount of Dwarves to complete this, and if there isn't any more of the Gem card then you will not receive anything for Mining there.

-Monsters: Dragons and Frost Giants make it so you can't stack where they are, Dragons stop all mines in a Kingdom from working while Frost Giants cancel the extra action given by a Castle. To defeat this monster, you will need 5 Dwarves of the same color on that tile, and the tile is removed. It will count as Victory points in the end (3 Victory points each at the end of the game).

-Taverns: This is where you can get Ogre cards, and they do bad things to the other players! If the Ogre deck runs out, just reshuffle the used cards back into a deck.

-General Stores: This is where you trade your resources for Traded Goals (Victory points). Once taken, you draw the top card from the stack to replace the one you just selected.

Endgame: When any player has completed at least 3 goals at the end of his or her turn, then you are in the last round, and any players who have not taken their turn get to do so before the round, and therefore the game, ends. You can have any combination of Traded Goals and Secret Goals to make a grand total of 3 total goals.

Thank you so much for reading my review of Dwar7s Fall by Luis Brueh and Mage Company!

I hope you will check out my PaladinElliott Blog at:

https://paladinelliott.blogspot.com/

check out some of my videos at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58qYf_vaCaCnu6qvd-WpKw

and check out my Ready To Game Podcast at Soundcloud and/or 

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-to-game-podcast-episode/id1111793358?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

and remember I am always….READY TO GAME!!!

RET. SSG Jason L. Elliott (PaladinElliott)

A Review and Commentary with ordering from Roxley Game Laboratory

A Review and Commentary with ordering from Roxley Game Laboratory

By: Jason Elliott from PaladinElliott Productions

So, I was very happy with Roxley up until a recent order. I backed their Santorini Kickstarter back in March of 2016. It is an amazing game, with all of its Stretch Goals, and I could not speak more highly of how they run their Kickstarter projects. So it has came as a complete shock in how they have been handling a order from their website.

On July 1st of this year, I placed an order for a Promo package (several different promos for different games), and I acknowledge that the Origins-GenCon time frame of summer can be not only hectic for myself, but for the Gaming Industry at large. That being said, if you expect any sort of delay in an order being fulfilled and shipped it should be marked as such on your website.

Two weeks after the order, I made a general inquiry on the status of fulfillment, and was told that shipping was on hold for an event know as Stampede Week. I was also told that most of their day jobs were crazy at that point. I am sorry, but many of us do more than one thing, we work more than one job. Yes, I am Retired from the Army, but along with running everything for PaladinElliott Productions (other than editing), I also drive for Amazon, so I get it. You need to be up front about such things, as I am a paying customer, I should not have to track you down to find out what is going on, and then be given a list of things (that could be viewed by anyone as a list of excuses) as to why the order hasn't been fulfilled, let alone shipped.

So, trying to be patient, I give it a few more days, and a week later (July 21st) I receive a notification that my order will ship soon. It doesn't say when, it doesn't say it has shipped, it doesn't have tracking. So as of today July 24th, I still have no idea it has shipped. I contacted Roxley on the 21st to make note that I would leave this as a review of ordering from them, and that it is my belief that they have been very unprofessional in how they handle orders from their online store.

I received a message from their Community Manager of Logistics (Paul Saxberg) acknowledging they messed up, and that this is not the level of service they strive for, so an apology was given. That being said, I still don't know if and when I am going to see my order, and I only have the words to go on that in the future, these delays will be reflected in new shipping estimates on their website.

So, in closing, be warned when you order from Roxley Game Laboratory, that if time is an issue, as it has been in my case, you might want to contact them first before sending any money, and know there are better companies out there when it comes to placing internet orders.

Roxley Game Laboratory: Great at Kickstarters, Terrible at web store orders.

Wishing everyone out there the best,

Jason

RET. SSG Jason L. Elliott
Creator & Owner
PaladinElliott Productions

Review of Century Spice Road from Plan B Games by PaladinElliott Productions

Century Spice Road

Game Designed by: Emerson Matsuuchi

Artistry created by: Fernanda Suarez

Published by: Plan B Games, Abacusspiele, Asmodee, Broadway Toys LTD, Mandoo Games, Devir, Cube Factory of Ideas, and Piatnik

Reviewed by: Jason Elliott of PaladinElliott Productions

Review Editor: Stephanie Elliott of PaladinElliott Productions

Edition: First

Number of Players: 2 to 5 Spice Merchants (we have played 2, 3, and 4 player games so far)

Time of Play: 30 – 45 Minutes

Age recommended: 8 and up

The year of its release: 2017

The story so far: You come into this game as a Spice Merchant.  You are leading your Caravan across the Mediterranean Sea, heading east, and trying to accumulate more wealth than the other players do. This will come in the form of four different cubes representing four different spices (yellow=Turmeric, red=Saffron, green=Cardamom, and brown= Cinnamon). You will need to work your way up and down through acquiring and trading these spice cubes to accumulate point cards, and coins (the points on the cards you have + the coin values you have = the victory points you have), and strive to have the most.

Our final thoughts on this game: First, it must be said that we here at PaladinElliott Productions love Splendor, and heard that this was going to be similar. That was a great way to spark our interest in the beginning, but this adds a unique twist to that game. There are similarities in the way that you select resources, are limited in the number you can hold and how you use those resources to purchase point cards. However, there is an increased level of complexity as some of the spice cubes are easier to obtain.  In order to gain cubes of the most valued spice, Cinnamon, you would have to trade multiples of lower level spices. The more valuable your spices, the more valuable the points cards you can purchase with them.

That being said, this is a very easy game to teach, both to children and to adults. It also plays quickly, especially if everyone has one game under their belt. The game is highly colorful, with the colors being clear to see, and comes with great components. It is clear the game was thought out very well in what comes with it, how to teach it, how it looks, how it plays, and how it is stored. The only thing I would say is that after playing it you might want to acquire the game mat that is made for it, but must be purchased separately. The mat really ties everything together nicely, but some may find that they don’t want to spend the extra money as it is not necessary for the game to be played.

I have played this game with several different players, and different numbers of players, and everyone finds it highly enjoyable. This is a game that I recommend to show to non-gamers as this is as good of a game to introduce people to gaming as you can get. After one game play, players will find themselves truly considering how they could have played better and moved faster in acquiring higher points before their opponents do.  It is a truly wonderful game, tying its theme with a brilliant color scheme, solid mechanics, and quick play. I would place this on the Board Game Geek scale at a 10 out of 10, as I would play this every time someone asked me to.

Mechanics and concepts found in this game:  This is a game where you will collect sets of cubes to help score points cards. The game has card hand management, and you will want to acquire what you believe to be the best card choices, and then decide when the best time is to use said cards. It has elements of deck building but the card pool is constantly changing and you have to make decisions about whether or not you want to spend resources to get to cards further in the pool faster than your opponents do. You will need to decide between settling for an ok card and paying for a card that is further down in the pool; or you may get lucky that others do not want the card you want, which can happen.  The game requires strategic thinking around cost and benefit analysis as you think about the best way to get the cubes needed to acquire a point’s card. You might have to trade down, trade up depending on the cards you have in order to bring yourself to the right cube combination to purchase the point card you are after. When it comes down to it, this is a game of card collection and card use for cubes to be acquired and spent.

The game components (what is included, and what you can add):

1 Game box

1 Rule sheet

4 Cube Bowls

35 Yellow Cubes

30 Red Cubes

20 Green Cubes

20 Brown Cubes

10 Silver Coins

10 Gold Coins

5 Caravan Cards

53 Resource Cards

36 Points Cards

-You can purchase separately-

1 Century Spice Road Mat (it comes in a nice box that is good for storing the mat)

Winning conditions for the game: Having the most points at the end of the game. Points are added from point cards, along with Gold coins being worth 3 points each, and Silver coins being worth 1 point each. The ending game turn is when any player acquires their fifth point card in a four to five player game (sixth point card in a two to three player game). Any players that have not went during that turn are allowed to finish (you finish the current round of play) and then total everything up. The highest amount is the victor, but in the event of a tie, the last player to take a turn amongst the tied players wins.

Game setup: You want to shuffle the Point cards (Orange back) and draw five cards from this deck, and place them in a row to the left of the deck. You will then take the Gold coins and place them above the first from the left of these five Point’s cards, and then place all the Silver coins above the second from the left of the cards. Place coins equal to 2x the number of players. As players claim the point cards below the pile of coins, they will take one of the coins. You will then take the Merchant cards (these have purple backs and I think of them as resource cards) and shuffle the deck, draw 6 of them and place them in a row to the left of the deck. The deck of Point cards should be above the position of the deck of Merchant cards.  Please note there are 10 cards that have a purple border on the face up side and each player will start with two of these cards. The two cards each player should have are the Create 2 yellow cubes, and Upgrade 2. If any of these starter cards are not being used, then set them aside in the box. You will want the cubes sorted by color in the four bowls and have them within reach of all the players.  You will need them in order, so starting from left to right (or bottom to top) yellow to red to green to brown (Turmeric to Saffron to Cardamom to Cinnamon). Each player will need one Caravan card (grey back) as this is the card to hold your cube inventory. Shuffle these and hand one out to each player, and make sure you have dealt out the card that has the little flower icon on it, as it designates the first player.  Finally, you hand out cubes depending on turn order, the 1^st player gets 3 yellow cubes, 2^nd player gets 4 yellow cubes, 3^rd player gets 4 yellow cubes, 4^th player gets 3 yellow cubes plus 1 red cube, and the 5^th player gets 3 yellow cubes plus 1 red cube. Set up is now complete.

How to play: The game will be played over a series of rounds that could be different every game. Each player plays one turn in a round, and you will only perform one action during that turn in a round. You can choose from the following:

Play: You choose one card from your hand and play it face up, and perform its action. You might play a Merchant Spice card where you immediately grab the cubes the cards indicated on the card. You might play a Merchant upgrade card, you start with an Upgrade 2 in your hand. You are allowed to upgrade one cube twice (yellow to red to green for example) or upgrade two cubes once each (yellow to red, and then a different one, such as a green to brown for example). You are never required to take all of your upgrades, you just need to choose what is most advantageous for you.  The third Merchant card is a Trade type, such as trade two yellow cubes for a green cube. You will simply trade as the card dictates, and you are allowed to perform this trade more than once on that turn as long as you have the resources and space in your Caravan to do so.

Acquire: This is where you will choose a Merchant card from the Merchant row. If you pick from the furthest left spot of the row, the card is free. If you choose anything to the right of the first spot, you must place a cube for each card (each step) to get to it. So, if you want the third card from the left, you will place a cube on the first and second from the left, to purchase the third. You choose what cubes to use from your Caravan. If you choose a Card that has cubes on it, you take the cubes and add them to your Caravan. If this would put you over your limit of 10, you choose the ones you want, and place the remaining back in the bowls. Once a card is acquired, move the remaining cards over to the left, filling in the gap, and draw from the deck to bring out the next card in Merchant’s row.

Rest: Through this action, you take back all of the cards you have played, thus renewing your card hand. Don’t be afraid to do this whenever you deem it necessary, and you will have to call this action if there are no cards in your hand (unless you are claiming a Point card).

Claim: This is where you declare that you are taking a Point card, and you must spend the correct cubes dictated on the bottom of the card. Once you have done this, the knowledge of that card is private until the end of the game. You move the cards to the left in Point’s row to fill in the gap, and draw one new Point card to come out. If you claimed from the furthest left then take a Gold coin. If you claimed from the second from the left, take a Silver coin. Once the coins have ran out, there will be no more coins to be claimed for those spots. It is a limited bonus. If all the Gold coins are taken, then shift any remaining Silver coins over to the spot where the Gold coins resided.

Some reminders: Your Caravan limit is 10 cubes, if you exceed it; you choose at the end of your turn which ones to discard to come back down to the limit. The cubes in the game are not limited. So, if you need more cubes of a color, use whatever is appropriate and/or nearby to supplement what you need.

Thank you so much for reading my review of Century Spice Road by Emerson Matsuuchi and Plan B Games!

I hope you will check out my PaladinElliott Blog at:

https://paladinelliott.blogspot.com/

check out some of my videos at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58qYf_vaCaCnu6qvd-WpKw

and check out my Ready To Game Podcast at Soundcloud and/or 

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-to-game-podcast-episode/id1111793358?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

and remember I am always….READY TO GAME!!!

RET. SSG Jason L. Elliott (PaladinElliott)

Dave & Busters, thoughts about this business after our latest outing there.

A review (if you will) about going to Dave & Buster's

                                         (what one of their locations look like)

By Jason Elliott of PaladinElliott Productions

So, I knew going into it that money would be spent, and from everyone's experiences that I know, to avoid getting any food there (both for high cost and bad taste). I decided to take the kids (Arnold 8 and Talia 6) after being invited by a good friend. Needless to say, I am officially done in taking anyone there. It comes down to being nitpicked and dimed at every opportunity. Yes, I say again I knew I was throwing money away on this one, but the shear level that it reached was enough to break me of this once every 6-12 months trip for good.

It is an exciting place, loud, lots of flashing colors in the dark, a big bar for adults, but right from the gate, you are going to charge me two dollars a card, so I have to decide on the kids running back and forth to each other, or spend four dollars just so the kids each have their own card, shame on you D&B! I wanted to get a higher amount of points for the cards, but no no, you can't split them, so this is the second way that they stick it to you and make you spend more money. So now you get in there, and no matter how much you say to your kids to try and make the cards last with their points, it just doesn't work that way. The whole system is rigged.

So let's break it down, each game, or prize machine varied from what I noticed to be 4.1 points a swipe up to 9.9 points a swipe. I spent $50 on the kids ($23 for each card, and a $ 2 fee for each card) to give them each 125 points. At best that is 30 plays on one of the cheapest machines. If that was 50 cents a play somewhere else (almost any arcade that I still go into these days) that would be $15. On the worst case scenario (which almost seems what Talia did) that is 12 plays. So D&B gets me on not splitting a package, on the card(s) on the games, and that is not including the degree of chance (the house always wins rule applies here) on these games, and how even with the tickets won, they have a little trinket or some candy to show for it.

                                                (this is how I felt afterwards)

Yes, I will come out and say it, I might as well hand them the money to go spend at a store, or to get some movies or video games to be played at home versus this nonsense. Talia comes out and says she had a good time, but it was quick and she couldn't get anything. Arnold, did better in making his card last on a shooting game, but you don't get any tickets for that. I know no one was forcing me to do this, and that I could have said no at the beginning of this trip, which I should have. Yet, I was thinking for no good reason, that it won't be that bad, they won't nickle and dime you that bad. It will last for a little while, and in this case it was one hour and it was all done.

Again, yes they have what my be the latest video games, and some of the coolest prizes. They will let you order food, drinks, alcohol, and all of that, and have your kids parties there (I hate to think of what that would cost). It is a big place, with lots of excitement, and the rent, wages, games, maintenance, overhead, all of it must be paid for. If it isn't then you don't have a business like this there. I know I am going to bother some by saying this, I wouldn't miss this place at all. Oh, that could hurt the local economy, think about the jobs provided, well I guess I would be willing to take that chance on this place.

This is why board games, video games, books, movies, trips, and almost anything else would be better. It is a lesson learned, that I thought I would share with you all today. Part of this sharing is to feel a little better about things, and the other part is to warn the rest of you not to go through with this type of activity. I get it, if this is your thing, you have money to burn, or you simply can see past the things I have mentioned, then by all means go for it. If you are like me, this trip will stick in your mind, and you will make better decisions in the future!

Wishing you all a very good Fourth of July holiday!

Jason Elliott (Father and Husband)
Creator & Owner
PaladinElliott Productions