Dixit is a visually stunning board/card game. The game had been recommended to my gaming group before PAX, but we hadn't had a chance to try it out until recently.
Dixit is for 3-6 players age 8 and up and an average game takes about 30 minutes.
Each turn a player is the Storyteller - they look at the six cards in their hand and come up with a one or more word sentence to describe the card they've chosen. Telling the other players the sentence, the other players then look through the six cards in their hands and choose one that best matches what the Storyteller described. The Storyteller then takes the cards, shuffles them face down and turns them face up on the table. The other players then use a numbered token to choose which card they think was described by the Storyteller.
If everyone or no one chooses the Storyteller's card then the Storyteller gains no points that turn and everyone else scores 2 points. Otherwise, the Storyteller and anyone who chose the correct card scores 3. Players score 1 point each time their card is chosen by another player. Points are tracked on a board by moving coloured rabbits along a marked trail.
The mechanics of the game are simple, but after playing a few rounds we discovered there is a skill you need to develop for this game. You don't want to be too obvious or too vague when describing your card, or you will get no points for that turn (this happened to me a lot!).
I highly recommend this game; it has great re-playability and really gets your imagination going!
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
Showing posts with label card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label card. Show all posts
Jun 27, 2011
Jun 20, 2011
Gloom
Gloom is published by Atlas Games, and is a quirky, cheerful and uplifting card game. No, wait, that's not right. Gloom is horrible, depressing and a ton of fun!!
Gloom is a card game for 2-4 players ages 8 and up. The average game takes about an hour. Cards for this game are unique - they are transparent plastic, so when you stack cards you can easily see what effects are still in play.
When you play Gloom you control the fate of a family of misfits and weirdoes. Your goal is simple: you want your family members to suffer the worst tragedies possible before they die. Some examples of the tragedies are Distressed by Dysentery and Terrified by Topiary. These modifiers have negative point values and lower your Self Worth, and you want each member of the family to have the lowest possible Self Worth before they die. The problem is your opponents are trying to lower their Self Worth, and raise yours - by playing modifiers that cheer you up and have positive point values (such as Wondrously Well Wed or Delighted by Ducklings).
The game ends the instant an entire family is eliminated. Each player then counts the visible points on each of their dead family members to determine the winner - the one with the lowest total score.
There are a few other types of cards as well, some that block effects, some which have immediate or ongoing special effects, etc.
I played Gloom at VCon and had fun. Adding to the atmosphere, each player should contribute an element of storytelling as they play - explain how Cousin Mordecai The Red-Headed Stepchild was Pierced by Porcupines!
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
Gloom is a card game for 2-4 players ages 8 and up. The average game takes about an hour. Cards for this game are unique - they are transparent plastic, so when you stack cards you can easily see what effects are still in play.
When you play Gloom you control the fate of a family of misfits and weirdoes. Your goal is simple: you want your family members to suffer the worst tragedies possible before they die. Some examples of the tragedies are Distressed by Dysentery and Terrified by Topiary. These modifiers have negative point values and lower your Self Worth, and you want each member of the family to have the lowest possible Self Worth before they die. The problem is your opponents are trying to lower their Self Worth, and raise yours - by playing modifiers that cheer you up and have positive point values (such as Wondrously Well Wed or Delighted by Ducklings).
The game ends the instant an entire family is eliminated. Each player then counts the visible points on each of their dead family members to determine the winner - the one with the lowest total score.
There are a few other types of cards as well, some that block effects, some which have immediate or ongoing special effects, etc.
I played Gloom at VCon and had fun. Adding to the atmosphere, each player should contribute an element of storytelling as they play - explain how Cousin Mordecai The Red-Headed Stepchild was Pierced by Porcupines!
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
Jun 6, 2011
Poo!
Who wants to play Poo?! Wait, where are you all going?!
Poo is a fun, fast paced card game for 2-8 players ages 8 and up, and takes less than 15 minutes to play.
It's quite the intellectual game. Here is the basic concept: Each player is a monkey, and you fling poo and mess with each other until only 1 monkey remains. I am fairly certain no poo or monkeys were actually harmed in the making of this game.
The game play is pretty straight forward. Start the game with 5 cards each. At the start of your turn you draw a card into your hand. You can then play a card from your hand - usually to fling poo at another monkey or to clean yourself off. Outside of your turn you can use cards to defend yourself from incoming poo or foil the other monkey trying to fling poo. After you play a card, draw another card from the pile. Different cards cause (or remove) different amounts of poo, and when you reach 15 points of poo you are out of the game.
There are 5 types of cards in the game:
- Poo: these cause poo points to your opponents. Some target 1 opponent, others target multiple opponents. Eg: King Kong Poo, The Big One
- Defense: these can be played outside of your turn as an opponent is about to fling poo on you, and stops or redirects any poo points that would have been given to you. Eg: Block, Dodge
- Mishap: these can be played outside of your turn as an opponent is about to fling poo on you, and causes a negative effect to the poo flinger. Eg: Just a Fart, Cramp
- Clean: these are played during your turn to remove poo points from you Eg: Found a Towel, Sharing the Love
- Event: these are played during your turn, and have an effect on the game. Eg: Zookeeper Turns on the Hose, Escaped Tiger
While clearly aimed at a younger audience, this game is a blast for adults as well. There is very little strategy involved, but you can add a social aspect by ganging up on a particular player or trying to protect a player. We played a couple games of Poo on the ferry ride home from PAX.
I was going to wrap up by saying this is a fun quick game that could be played anywhere, but I don't think you should ever play with poo at the dining room table.
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
Poo is a fun, fast paced card game for 2-8 players ages 8 and up, and takes less than 15 minutes to play.
It's quite the intellectual game. Here is the basic concept: Each player is a monkey, and you fling poo and mess with each other until only 1 monkey remains. I am fairly certain no poo or monkeys were actually harmed in the making of this game.
The game play is pretty straight forward. Start the game with 5 cards each. At the start of your turn you draw a card into your hand. You can then play a card from your hand - usually to fling poo at another monkey or to clean yourself off. Outside of your turn you can use cards to defend yourself from incoming poo or foil the other monkey trying to fling poo. After you play a card, draw another card from the pile. Different cards cause (or remove) different amounts of poo, and when you reach 15 points of poo you are out of the game.
There are 5 types of cards in the game:
- Poo: these cause poo points to your opponents. Some target 1 opponent, others target multiple opponents. Eg: King Kong Poo, The Big One
- Defense: these can be played outside of your turn as an opponent is about to fling poo on you, and stops or redirects any poo points that would have been given to you. Eg: Block, Dodge
- Mishap: these can be played outside of your turn as an opponent is about to fling poo on you, and causes a negative effect to the poo flinger. Eg: Just a Fart, Cramp
- Clean: these are played during your turn to remove poo points from you Eg: Found a Towel, Sharing the Love
- Event: these are played during your turn, and have an effect on the game. Eg: Zookeeper Turns on the Hose, Escaped Tiger
While clearly aimed at a younger audience, this game is a blast for adults as well. There is very little strategy involved, but you can add a social aspect by ganging up on a particular player or trying to protect a player. We played a couple games of Poo on the ferry ride home from PAX.
I was going to wrap up by saying this is a fun quick game that could be played anywhere, but I don't think you should ever play with poo at the dining room table.
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
Jun 2, 2011
Munchkin
SETTING:
Player 2:Now it's a Humongous Large Angry Chicken!
Player 3:Ha! Now it's an Ancient Humongous Large Angry Chicken! Take that!
Player 4:I will help you for all the treasure cards. If you say no, I'll play a Wandering Monster and guarantee you loose the combat.
Player 1:*sighs* I hate you all.
Have you ever played Munchkin? I think it's one of the most well known geeky card games out there. The text on the box neatly sums up the goal of the game: Kill The Monsters - Steal The Treasure - Stab Your Buddy.
A stark room with a single light over the table. Four people sit around the table, clutching cards in their hands and warily watching each other. There are a number of cards and a single d10 in front of each person. The room has a palatable sense of tension.
Player 1:
I choose to fight the Large Angry Chicken.Player 2:
Player 3:
Player 4:
Player 1:
Have you ever played Munchkin? I think it's one of the most well known geeky card games out there. The text on the box neatly sums up the goal of the game: Kill The Monsters - Steal The Treasure - Stab Your Buddy.
In the basic game (there are a number of other sets that I will discuss in future articles) you and your buddies are Dungeon Explorers and you're competing with each other to kill monsters and grab magic items. The first player to Level 10 wins the game - so do your best to screw your buddies and stop them from gaining levels!
Munchkin really is a ton of fun. Reading through the rules the first time can be confusing, I think it is best to just sit down with some friends and start playing a few games.
There are two decks of cards in the game - Door cards and Treasure cards.
Door cards are:
- Monsters (eg. Gelatinous Octahedron or *shudder* Lawyers)
- Monster modifiers (eg. Ancient or Baby)
- Character classes (eg. Cleric, Thief )
- Character races (eg. Dwarf, Elf)
- Curses (eg. Chicken on Your Head, Duck of Doom)
Treasure Cards are:
- Items (eg. Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment, Pantyhose of Giant Strength)
- Potions (eg. Potion of Halitosis, Flaming Poison Potion)
- other treasures (eg. Go Up a Level)
Each turn goes through a sequence of actions. First you Kick Down The Door (drawing a door card). If it's a monster, then you can choose to fight it or try and run away. If it's a curse then it takes effect immediately. If you didn't fight a monster, then you can choose to Look For Trouble by playing and fighting a monster from your hand. If you didn't meet a monster at all that turn you can then Loot The Room and draw a Door card into your hand. Defeating a monster will net you level(s) and treasure.
Combat is the best part of this game. Each monster has a level, and to see if you can defeat the monster you add up your level and any bonuses from items in play. If your total is greater than the monster's level then you win! But wait, there's more! Once you decide to fight a monster your buddies get 2.6 seconds to decide if they will try and screw you over. They can play Monster Enhancers (making the monster stronger), items, curses, anything they can to make it so you loose the fight. This can get pretty nasty. :-)
If you can't beat the monster, you're allowed to ask for help - one other player can choose to assist you (adding their level and item bonuses to yours). But why would they help you? They are trying to win! You often have to sweeten the deal by offering some or all of the treasure cards to get them to help you.
There's a great Munchkin Flowchart available to guide you through the game.
Take the time to read each card as it comes into play, the cards are pretty damn funny and the artwork just adds to it all! In the case of a conflict between the rules and what the card says, the card always wins.
May 26, 2011
Thunderstone
Thunderstone is a fantasy-themed deck building card game from Alderac Entertainment Group. It is for 1 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, and the average game takes about an hour. That's right - this game has solo rules.
The base game comes with over 500 cards and the goal is to build your deck with stronger and stronger heroes and better weapons and gear to defeat the monsters until you finally claim the Thunderstone. There are three expansion sets for the game as well (Doomgate Legion, Dragonspire, and Wrath of the Elements).
The setup for the game can take a while at first, until you get used to it. Learn from my error - the cards come in groupings so don't mix them up. :-) Once you get a handle on the setup and sort the cards properly, setup becomes much quicker.
You don't use all the cards in every game. To determine what will be in the game, you use the special randomizer cards - there are randomizer cards for each type of Hero cards, Village cards, and Monster cards. To start, find the monster cards that match what you picked from the randomizer - shuffle these together to form the Dungeon Deck. Count off 10 of these, shuffle in the special Thunderstone Card, and put them on the bottom of the pile. Leave space beside the Dungeon Deck for the 3 ranks of Monsters to defeat.
Next you set up the Village. There are the four types of Basic cards that are used in every game of Thunderstone - Militia, Torch, Iron Rations, and Dagger. Additionally there are the Village cards chosen by the randomizer cards. Do NOT shuffle the Village cards - each type is put on the table in its own pile.
Last thing to set up are the Heroes - for each class of Hero there are 3 levels, and each is piled with the level 3 cards on the bottom and the level 1 cards on top.
To start, each player draws 6 Militia cards, 2 Dagger cards, 2 Iron Ration cards, and 2 Torch cards. Shuffle these together and draw 6 cards to form your hand. The remaining 6 cards stay face down as your Party Deck. As you play the game you discard cards into your discard pile and work through your Party Deck. Only once the Party Deck is gone do you shuffle the discard pile and place it face down to form your Party Deck. Each time you purchase cards or defeat monsters the cards go into your discard pile, so the deck gets bigger all the time. In some circumstances cards are destroyed - so they go into a separate pile and are not shuffled back into your Party Deck.
On your turn you have 3 options - you can Visit the Village, Enter the Dungeon, or Rest:
1) If you Visit the Village you reveal you hand, count up the amount of gold you have (indicated on the cards in your hand) and can purchase one card with a value up to the amount of gold you have. You can buy items, weapons, spells, or heroes. Anything you buy goes into your discard pile. If you have enough experience points, you can also choose to level up any or all of the Hero cards in your hand. At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.
2) If you Enter the Dungeon you reveal your hand, declare what monster you are attacking, and resolve the combat. If you defeat the monster you put that card in your discard pile. Shift the monster cards on the table to fill empty ranks from the Dungeon Deck (ie if you defeated the monster in Rank 2, move the monster from Rank 3 to Rank 2, and draw a new monster card and place it in Rank 3). At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.
3) If you choose to Rest you may Destroy one card from your hand (remove it from the game, it does not go in your discard pile). At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.
The game continues until a player has collected the Thunderstone or the Thunderstone moves to Rank 1 of the Dungeon because a monster was not defeated. Each player then counts the amount of Victory Points they have (not all cards have Victory Point values) and the player with the highest total wins.
Overall the game is a ton of fun. There are a few suggestions I would make - I think the pictures on the Hero cards should be different for each level so you can easily see what level it is (eg perhaps older, or better equipment). I think the biggest challenge of this game is keeping the cards in order :-)
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who has played Dominion or Ascension, or anyone looking to get into a non-collectible card game.
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
The base game comes with over 500 cards and the goal is to build your deck with stronger and stronger heroes and better weapons and gear to defeat the monsters until you finally claim the Thunderstone. There are three expansion sets for the game as well (Doomgate Legion, Dragonspire, and Wrath of the Elements).
The setup for the game can take a while at first, until you get used to it. Learn from my error - the cards come in groupings so don't mix them up. :-) Once you get a handle on the setup and sort the cards properly, setup becomes much quicker.
You don't use all the cards in every game. To determine what will be in the game, you use the special randomizer cards - there are randomizer cards for each type of Hero cards, Village cards, and Monster cards. To start, find the monster cards that match what you picked from the randomizer - shuffle these together to form the Dungeon Deck. Count off 10 of these, shuffle in the special Thunderstone Card, and put them on the bottom of the pile. Leave space beside the Dungeon Deck for the 3 ranks of Monsters to defeat.
Next you set up the Village. There are the four types of Basic cards that are used in every game of Thunderstone - Militia, Torch, Iron Rations, and Dagger. Additionally there are the Village cards chosen by the randomizer cards. Do NOT shuffle the Village cards - each type is put on the table in its own pile.
Last thing to set up are the Heroes - for each class of Hero there are 3 levels, and each is piled with the level 3 cards on the bottom and the level 1 cards on top.
To start, each player draws 6 Militia cards, 2 Dagger cards, 2 Iron Ration cards, and 2 Torch cards. Shuffle these together and draw 6 cards to form your hand. The remaining 6 cards stay face down as your Party Deck. As you play the game you discard cards into your discard pile and work through your Party Deck. Only once the Party Deck is gone do you shuffle the discard pile and place it face down to form your Party Deck. Each time you purchase cards or defeat monsters the cards go into your discard pile, so the deck gets bigger all the time. In some circumstances cards are destroyed - so they go into a separate pile and are not shuffled back into your Party Deck.
On your turn you have 3 options - you can Visit the Village, Enter the Dungeon, or Rest:
1) If you Visit the Village you reveal you hand, count up the amount of gold you have (indicated on the cards in your hand) and can purchase one card with a value up to the amount of gold you have. You can buy items, weapons, spells, or heroes. Anything you buy goes into your discard pile. If you have enough experience points, you can also choose to level up any or all of the Hero cards in your hand. At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.
2) If you Enter the Dungeon you reveal your hand, declare what monster you are attacking, and resolve the combat. If you defeat the monster you put that card in your discard pile. Shift the monster cards on the table to fill empty ranks from the Dungeon Deck (ie if you defeated the monster in Rank 2, move the monster from Rank 3 to Rank 2, and draw a new monster card and place it in Rank 3). At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.
3) If you choose to Rest you may Destroy one card from your hand (remove it from the game, it does not go in your discard pile). At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.
The game continues until a player has collected the Thunderstone or the Thunderstone moves to Rank 1 of the Dungeon because a monster was not defeated. Each player then counts the amount of Victory Points they have (not all cards have Victory Point values) and the player with the highest total wins.
Overall the game is a ton of fun. There are a few suggestions I would make - I think the pictures on the Hero cards should be different for each level so you can easily see what level it is (eg perhaps older, or better equipment). I think the biggest challenge of this game is keeping the cards in order :-)
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who has played Dominion or Ascension, or anyone looking to get into a non-collectible card game.
Originally posted at Pretty Gamer
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