I have come to the realisation that the hallmark of a great game is one when you look at your options, mull over your choices and then let out a cry of exasperation. It is that moment when you realise that to pull off that game winning moving you really should have started your plan in motion three turns ago, or that you are simply one action or one resource short of pulling off a complete blinder.

I say this because my time with Star Scrapper: Cave In has been embarrassingly short, to the point where I feel slightly dishonest in using the word review in the title, (not too I guilty mind you as an article titled first impressions never gets the traction it deserves) but I will say within my brief time with Star Scrapper Cave In there have been multiple cries of anguish, so surely it is a truly great game.

Continue reading

It is said that the early bird catches the worm. However, I’m one of those weird folks who, whenever anyone mentions worms, I immediately think of the sandworms in Dune. Huge great things with mouths bigger than the Channel Tunnel and with more segments than a Terry’s Chocolate Orange. To catch these worms would take a very big bird indeed and we’re not talking Sesame Street here.

For anyone familiar with Frank Herbert’s novel, I refer to the worms here due to the Spice Melange – a substance in the books that enabled long term space flight and which only grew on the planet Arrakis. The spices in the subject of this review are less potent and would barely allow you to make a tasty rice pudding, let alone navigate you across the galaxy. 

Continue reading

Anyone alive in the 90s who owned an Amiga will almost certainly have remembered the Sensible Software game “Cannon Fodder”. If you don’t remember the game, look it up. I’ll wait.

I mention Cannon Fodder because it came with the tagline: “War has never been so much fun”. And it was right – Cannon Fodder was awesome and still stands as one of my favourite games of all time. Making those little men dance across the screen as you shot their twitching corpses was highly entertaining, if a little morbid.

Continue reading

I will be perfectly honest, at first I passed on Bärenpark, a tile laying game where you build a zoo specifically for bears. I will admit that the theme didn't grab me and the mechanics looked a little too simplistic for my tastes and, worst of all, the cover artwork did nothing to inspire me. But I am happy to say that Bärenpark has proven me wrong because not only is it a fun and light game it's also got a surprising depth of strategy.

Continue reading

It is time yet again for a slice of tabletop gaming chat as the boys explore the latest miniatures game from Fantasy Flight Games Runewars, get all depressed by This War of Mine and explore the latest Kickstarters with our thoughts on Burning Rome and Star Scrappers Cave In.

We also discuss the latest news about Talisman and organising a Dungeons and Dragons session.

Continue reading

I grew up a stone’s throw from the city of Chester, famous for being an ancient Roman city and having some of them oldest city walls in the country. As such the sight of a man dressed as a Roman legionnaire touting entrance to the Deva museum (Deva being the Roman name for Chester) was a common sight. And because this was such a perfect opportunity for a school trip, I should be no stranger to Roman history, but all that I can remember is that the Romans used to eat dormice.

Continue reading

Reviewing games is largely a discussion of opinion. I can give you some objective facts about a game, but in the end the tone and final thoughts of such a written piece are going to rely on my experience of the game and nothing more. While it is true that some games can actually be bad, most games just have some features that mean they don't rise to the top of the quite staggering list of games available today.

And then there are games like Brutal Kingdom, a game I don't like, but that I'm beginning to think it's not because it's a bad game, but because it is simply not a game for me.

Continue reading

One of the many casualties of the recent split between Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight Games was the famous (or should that be infamous?) fantasy quest game of Talisman.  It has long been a staple of the tabletop gaming world and though many people will criticise its old fashioned mechanics there are no doubts that it remained a big seller throughout its life at Fantasy Flight Games.

Continue reading

 Alanis Morissette would call it ironic that I am writing a review about Game of Trains while sitting on a train. It’s not ironic, it's just where I seem to spend most of my time these days, squirming on London Midlands putrid green seats that where no doubt designed to eradicate slouching on public transport by 2019. The good thing is Game of Trains is a damn sight more fun than sitting uncomfortably on a morning commuter train, in fact I would go so far as to say that it has been the best game I have played so far in 2017.

Continue reading

At the UK Games Expo we got to see something very special, it wasn’t something that was on a stand or something you could play. Instead it was an early prototype of a game called Nemesis – a game we have been following for some time and even called it one of our most anticipated games of the year – and it looks glorious.

Continue reading

This week’s theme would appear to be the quicker lighter games in our collection. The boys all gush over A Game of Trains, play Isle of Skye while on the Isle of Skye and discuss the hot game of the moment Century Spice Road.

We also end up down rabbit holes within rabbit holes as we discuss kilt patterns, how to pronounce garam masala and wearing a Victorian cape to work.

Continue reading