Latest Game Reviews
Tinderblox – Board Game Review
Tinderblox, by Rob Sparks is a dexterity game in a small package. Literally, a mint tin holds the entire contents of this game, Which is just some red and yellow cubes, brown sticks, a small deck of cards, and a pair of painfully ineffectual tweezers.
Equal Rites – Book Review
Equal Rites, by Sir Terry Pratchet was his 3rd Discworld novel, originally published in 1986 and tells the story of young Eskarina as she inherites magic from a dying wizard, and grows up with the innate ability to use magic, despite being a woman.
Magic Maze – Board Game Review
Magic Maze is a real time cooperative game for 1 to 8 players. The goal of Magic Maze is to guide the four characters, a dwarf, mage, ranger, and warrior, all represented by brightly coloured pawns, though a convoluted mall so they can steal an item and be prepared for their next adventure, then escape the mall, all before the time runs out.
Jenga Maker – Board Game Review
Considering how often I profess that I love dexterity games, I’ve never really liked Jenga. Even that’s an understatement. Jenga stresses me out and makes me want to leave a room. So imagine my surprise when I found Jenga Maker on clearance after Christmas at my local Canadian Tire. Perhaps it was the brightly coloured pieces that drew me in, but at rock bottom prices, I figured worst case, it’ll be a toy for my toddler to play with.
Knarr – Board Game Review
My trajectory as a board gamer has taken an interesting dip lately. When I first got into the hobby, I skyrocketed up the weights, seeking out heavier and heavier games at every opportunity. Nothing was too long, too complex, or too onerous for me. But over the past few years I’ve regressed back into the mid-weight range. Someone inviting me over for a 4.0 or higher on the Board Game Geek complexity scale would give me a lot more pause than it used to. I just don’t want to put in the effort of learning a big, complex game, only to play it once and never again.
First Rat – Board Game Review
You are controlling a colony of rats who have set their sights on landing on the cheese moon. You’ll collect resources to construct rocket parts, grow more members of your colony, read comic books to attain superpowers, collect bottle caps and energy drinks, train to be rastronauts, and more.
The Fifth Season – Book Review
The Fifth Season is a fantasy story told via 3 storylines. Essun, a woman, Syenite, an apprentice orogene (Earth Mage), and Damaya, a young, feral orogene. The narrative for Essun is told in the second person perspective while the other storylines are written with the present tense. It’s a bit jarring, and is a choice that I didn’t really like, but it didn’t chase me away from the book. The voice of the story is quite casual as well, with narrative lines like ”Back to the personal. Need to keep things grounded, ha ha.” and ”Pyramids are the most stable architectural form, and this one is pyramids times five because why not?”. It was a bit of a rocky start, but once I got used to the books voice, it stopped bothering me.
Too Many Poops – Board Game Review
Too Many Poops was better than I expected it to be, but that’s hardly praise, as my expectations were in the basement. For fans of Exploding Kittens, Unstable Unicorn, or just cats in general, Too Many Poops offers a fast, chaotic, combative experience with a touch of set collection. It’s not a bad game by any stretch, but it’s best enjoyed with children who giggle every time you say poop. I