Entry 97: Week 52- Hisss & Year in Review

        We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that this new year will be one full of joy and happiness for everyone. 

        For the last new game of the year we decided to play a nice and easy family game so we can focus on a review of the complete year. The game of choice is Gamewright’s Hisss. 

HISSS (2001) 

BGG Description 

The players try to form snakes, which are as long as possible. A snake always consists of a head-section, at least one middle-section and a tail-section. The player who has formed the most and longest snakes wins.

The cards are shuffled and placed face down fan-like on the table. One card is drawn from the "fan" and is placed face-up in the middle of the table. In turn, each player draws a card from the "fan" and tries to match the color with a card in the middle of the table. The card can be turned around to match. If the colors of the two cards match, a snake is started. 

If a player draws a card which cannot be placed next to a card or a snake in the middle of the table, this card is then placed on its own in the middle of the table. A card which is drawn from the "fan" can be placed next to a snake to lengthen the snake. A snake can be made longer on both sides. If a head or a tail was already added to the snake, the snake cannot be made longer on that side where the head or tail was placed. A snake without a head or a tail is an incomplete snake. Incomplete snakes remain in the middle of the table until they can be made complete and claimed. 

A complete snake consists of a head-section, a tail-section and at least one middle-section. A complete snake does not need to have all colors. The player who is able to complete a snake by laying down a head or a tail with the matching color next to the "open" side of the snake may pick up the snake from the center of the table and place it directly in front of him. 

The head and the tail with the rainbow colours are jokers. They may be placed next to every middle-section of a snake. 

If several incomplete snakes exist in the middle of the table, a player who draws a matching card from the "fan" can combine two incomplete snakes. The player picks up the combined snake and places it directly in front of him. The player is only allowed to combine two incomplete snakes if he uses the card which he just drew from the "fan." 

The game ends when the last card is drawn from the "fan." If the player with the last card is able to complete a snake, he is allowed to pick up the snake and place it directly in front of him. Now the cards in front of every player are counted. The player who has the most cards wins. If two or more players have the same number of cards the player with the longest snake wins. 

Weight 1.02/5 

A Little More Info

    The description from BGG covers the game from start to finish. Nothing else is needed for this section. 

What we like about the game 

        The game is nice and basic. It is slated for ages 4 and up but even younger players can get into it with some assistance from a “grown-up” (anyone older than the tot) since the main point is to draw a tile and match a color on it. 

        We love that this game does not take a lot of time to play at all. 15 minutes of play time is about the right time for each game even with distractions. 

        With only two mechanics (tile placement and pattern building) the game has the lowest learning curve of any game we have played this year. 

What we don’t like about the game 

        Very basic game, no complaints. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

        Gamewright is known for publishing nice and simple and easy games geared for young and old. This game is a great introduction game for even the youngest players. 

FAMILY GAMER VERDICT 

        This is a 6 out 10 game. 

        A very basic game that we would probably only play with younger kids. Good to have in collection for that purpose. 

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW 

        This year did not necessarily go as planned at all for us. Having to move twice in the span of four months wreaked havoc with our game playing and life in general. We have had many ups and downs throughout all of this and we truly struggled with trying to keep our composure. The one thing that we focused on to keep our relationship strong in the past (playing at least one game each day) became very weak and to be honest with you, it felt like we would not be able to recover and it became a burden. Even now as I write this it feels like there is a huge chasm that will be hard to fill in the future. 

Game Plays 

 

        Are we going to give up on what helped us in the past to strengthen our relationship? The answer is no. For 2023 we have vowed to take up the 365 day challenge again and play a game each day (even if it is Hisss). We are trying to get our lives back into a more “normal” mode and we will not give up. 

        So looking back, how many games did we play this year compared to last year? We were about 300 games less. We are going to focus on getting back up to where 2021 had us when we focused on tracking our game plays and focused on us as a married couple. 

10x10 Challenge 

        We did have a focus on completing our 10 x 10 Challenge and we did complete it but it took us all year to do it. Yes we had some longer and heavier weighted games on it (our 2023 challenge is the same way) but I have to say that I am proud that we not only completed our challenge but also helped my mother to complete hers too (hers was done before ours). 

        So between our list and my mother’s list for 2023, we should be able to get our numbers up and complete the challenges once again. 

52 Week Challenge 

        We did our 52 Week New Game/Expansion challenge which was the focus of our blog entries for this year. I am happy to report that even though we did not complete all 52 weeks, we did get 50 of them. Did we get just 50 new games/expansions? The answer is no because 12 of those weeks we had two or three new titles. 

        We feel that this challenge overall was a huge success for us. So much so that we will do this challenge again because we still have a bunch of games and expansions that we haven’t played from our collection. 

        For the 2023 Challenge we will also include new games that our friends introduce to us as well but those will be marked with an asterisk because the focus will be on our personal collection. Speaking of friends, this next section is extremely important to us…. 

Friends, Family, and Acquaintances 

        The Family Gamer Facebook Group has grown to over 100 members now and we love and appreciate everyone that is a part of it. We have members from all over the world and also from coast to coast across the United States. 

        For my wife and I over this past year, we have met so many great new people and have become good friends with quite a few that we consider them as family. Some of them are also pseudo-Aunts and Uncles to our daughter. 

    This picture is from our Christmas Eve gathering. 

There are more people not pictured who are family to us

        What is the origin of most of these new friendships? I can pin-point it to when we purchased some games from a seller on a local Facebook buy/sell board game group and was able to play one of the games with him before we left his place. From there, he started working at our FLGS to the north of us (Around the Table in Lynnwood) and from there have met so many other great new friends. Thank you Peter for helping us boost our “family.” 

         Everdell Game Day that Peter (bearded guy, top right at the table) hosted at Around the Table

        As for Around the Table, even though we are up there only a few times a month we are friends with most of the employees and the owners and it is the regular meeting place for us with some people of our gaming group. One thing for me to note is that I was grateful that the owners had approached me and offered to pick up a new game from Essen Spiel this year from my favorite game designer, Francesco Testini, and even had it signed. 

        The one thing I really love about the board game community is that we are really a family in the sense that you can “talk shop” and not feel bad about sharing your likes and/or dislikes of games. If there is a type of game that is not suitable for you, there are dozens of other types out that you can discuss and find common bonds with. 

        The bottom line is that you do not have to be blood related to be family. With having to distance ourselves from some that are blood related, we have more than made up for it with our gaming family. Again, we love and appreciate all of you and thank you all for your kindness and friendship to us and our 3 year old daughter. 

What’s to come?

        Besides the two dozen Kickstarter projects that are still being worked on, we are looking forward to another great year of gaming. 

        We have our games to play to write about for next year’s blog entries. 

        We have our own place with a dedicated game room so we can freely play on our big game table (our pride and joy pandemic project) as well as meeting up with friends and family at other locations. 

        We are looking forward to working on strengthening our relationship as a family and keeping the toxic pieces out. 

        We love that we can share all these things with you all and thank you for supporting us through thick and thin.

Entry 96: MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

    From our family to yours, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas. We hope everyone is able to spend it with loved ones. 

    Enjoy these simple games to play....

Entry 95: Week 51- Blossoms

         We wanted to release the next blog earlier than Sunday since it is Christmas Day so we jump started the week playing one game one our 10 x 10 which is nearly complete and then after dinner on the same day we played our new game, even adding another player after the first few games to try out the 3 player variant. 

        If you recall from Entry 81, we have enjoyed the games from Rebel Studio (Meadow & Chronicles of Avel) and have a third game sitting on our shelf that we needed to try out from called Blossoms. Well, this week we played it to finish off all the game we have from this publisher. The big question is did we like this game as much as the other two that we have? Read on my friends, read on. 

BLOSSOMS (2018) 

BGG Description 

In Blossoms (original title Kwiatki), players compete to create the most beautiful flower bouquet. The longer the flowers, the higher they score! 

To set up, give each player two random face-down cards and three action tokens. Place the flower pots in the center of the playing area with space above them for the growing flowers. Place four different flower cards, one in each pot. Take one card from the draw pile and place it aside face-down. 

Players alternate taking turns, trying to make the most valuable combination of flowers possible. On their turn, a player can conduct any number of actions, which are: 

• Growth — Draw one card from the deck and place it in any pot that has the same flower type. 

• Cut — Cut down one pot of flowers to score points; this ends your round. 

• Special — Use your action tokens to perform one extra action depending on which pot you choose. 

A player's turn ends when they decide to cut flowers, pass, or when they have BAD LUCK. The game ends when the last card from the deck is drawn. Points are then scored by the size and diversity of sets you have planted. Whoever has the higher score wins! 

Weight 1.22/5 

A Little More Info 

        The game has a total of 54 cards in it. There are six different types of flowers with nine cards each. This is important to know because on your turn you have to take the growth action in the game in which you have a chance to draw one of the two sets that are not planted in the flower pots. If you cannot place the drawn card into one of the pots, then you have Bad Luck and your turn immediately ends. 

        There is also one other action that was not listed in the BGG description which is to plant a card from your hand into a pot. This action can be done only once per turn. 

        The next thing to note is that each flower pot has a special action that you can place one of your three tokens on it. There a few reasons for placing doing this, the first being to take the action on the pot to further your game play that turn and the second being that your opponent cannot cut the pot on their turn because it is reserved for you. However, if a seventh card is to placed in that pot, then all those flower cards are discarded and nobody gets the points from it (six card maximum per flower pot). On your next turn the token you used is returned back to the box. 

        Oh, I guess I should mention what each flower pot action is. One is the Watering Can that allows you to place one of your cards from your hand to the bottom of any flower pot (not to exceed the six card maximum). Another pot action is the Rake which lets you look at the top three cards in the draw deck and put them back on top in any order thus allowing you to stack the deck for the next few growth actions you may or may not want to take.  The third pot action is the Fence that lets your forget the first time you have Bad Luck for the turn, if you continue with more growth actions and get a second Bad Luck from it, sorry, your turn ends. The last pot action is the Pruner which allow you to draw a card from the deck and put it into your hand. Between this and the BGG description, you are ready to play the game… really? Yup. 

What we like about the game 

        We love that this game plays fast. The box says 20 minutes playing time but that is true only on your first game. We were able to play a total of 6 games in the span of an hour which included teaching a new person the game (using the 3 player variant). Why so fast? The next item explains it… 

        We absolutely love the “Push Your Luck” mechanic of the game. You have to ask yourself (knowing that there are only nine of each type of flower and four out of six types in the pots) “do I draw just one more using the growth action or do I need to stop and cut a plant?” This is the reason the game moves fast is because you are constantly and quickly drawing cards. Yes, there is some analysis to the game but not enough to draw out the game an extended period of time. 

        The next thing we like is, of course, the artwork. From the soft blue tones in the backgrounds to the warm colors used for the flowers, this game is just so welcoming. For me a nice cup of warm tea would be a nice companion to playing the game. 

        We like that this game does not take up a lot of table space. I know people online have always looked for games that could be played on airplanes or in airports, this one would fit that bill. 

        The last thing we want to point out is that we do like that there is a family friendly variant of the game in which there are no special actions with the pots. 

What we don’t like about the game 

        For what it is, the game is well rounded. There isn’t anything that stands out to us that needs to be changed in the game. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

  

        Rebel Studio has another great hit on their hands. The game play is fast, the learning curve is quick, and with the few variants provided it keeps the game fun and interesting for us. 

        Of the three games we own from them, this is the easiest to play and understand. We love that this publisher has a variety of games for all levels of game players. 

        We might just have to see if anyone else in our gaming group owns any other their other titles so we can at least try them out once. 

FAMILY GAMER VERDICT 

        Another solid 9 out 10 game. 

        The game looks beautiful, plays beautiful, and it will “grow on you.”

Entry 94: Week 50- The LOOP

        What is the key to any relationship? Most people would say that trust and loyalty is in the top, however, based on my experience they key to any relationship (if you are married or not) is the three C’s which are communicate, communicate, and communicate. 

 

        What better way to practice this crucial aspect than to play a game which you work together openly and communicate what each player should do on their turn to accomplish the objectives of the game. So this weeks “Dr. Gamer” therapy session is a game by Pandasaurus called The LOOP. 

The LOOP (2021) 

BGG Description 

The LOOP is a quirky co-operative game in which you battle the evil Dr. Faux. Play a Temporal Agent in four different game modes, full of new challenges and replay value. Gather powerful artifacts, defy the Doctor's duplicates, and sabotage his maniacal machine. Make the most of your cards and master the LOOP to use them multiple times in impressive chains — but the Doctor isn't going to make this easy on you! 

The evil Dr. Faux has built a terrrrible time machine! With the help of the duplicates of himself that he is creating through the ages, he aims to carry out his Omniscience 2000 project to become master of the universe. But the rifts that he is opening in spacetime will probably destroy quantum space way sooner...

Join the Agency in the shoes of one of its most legendary agents, and co-operate to foil the fiendish schemes of Dr. Faux, using quirky but still powerful artifacts. 

—description from the publisher 

Weight 2.79/5 

A Little More Info

        This game is a 1-4 player game in which you work together to accomplish your goal of completing 4 missions plus any extra requirements based on the mode you pick. 

        The game has a solo mode rulebook, an “operational booklet” that talks about each of the five characters and the four different game modes to play, and the agency rules of procedure” which is the main rule book providing everything else you need to know (such as setup and game play). More details about the last two below. 

Operational Booklet: 

        The operational booklet discusses the different characters and game mode found in the game and all that is outlined in this book. 

        The game includes five different character each with their own abilities and complexity levels (two easy, two medium, and one hard). 

        The game also has four different modes to choose from (one easy, two medium, and one hard complexity levels) and within each mode are three different difficulty levels.

Agency Rules of Procedure: 

        This book discusses the set-up, how to play, and provides additional information regarding the mission tiles and artifact cards. 

        The 18, yes 18, step-by-step setup directions is great and is not hard to follow at all. You may be thinking that 18 step is a lot, but really it isn’t because some of the steps is “place the game board” or “place the player aid tile.” One of the last steps in placing X number of clones on the board and artifact cards based on the number of players. 

        Next in the book is the “how to play” section and details will be outlined below. The last few pages in the book outline the 10 different mission tiles (only seven are used in the game) and details about various artifact cards, icons in the game, and agent tiles. 

How to Play: 

        Each player turn consists of five phases which are the following: 

 I.     Faux Phase: 

        This two part phase is where you add clones based on which cycle you are in plus an artifact card and then you draw a Faux card and move Dr. Faux to the era* drawn and drop a number of rift (red) cubes a minimum of 2 (plus number of clones in Faux’ era) into Dr. Faux’s machine which spreads them out over Dr. Faux’s era and the two adjacent eras. 

*An Era is one of the seven areas of the game board. There are only seven Faux cards, one for each era. 

II.     Action Phase: 

        This is where each player can take any number of the three different actions available as long as they can do it. The first action is move. Each character has one free movement they can do (this is moving one adjacent space) by using their character cards energy. Additional moves can be made by using and energy (green) cube in the Era they are in. 

        Next action is use an artifact card. Each player has 6 unique artifacts cards they begin with and you can acquire more during the game (next phase of the player turn). Each players hand consists of three face up cards to use during your turn. Once you use a card, you turn it sideways (tap in Magic the Gathering terms) to signify that it is done. 

        The last action you can do is perform a LOOP. This ability uses the energy cubes in the Era you are in. Doing a LOOP allows you to untap all the cards of a Elementary Dimension artifact cards (ones with a symbol is card type) so you can reuse again on the same turn. 

         Once you are done performing actions you then move to the next phase 

III.     Acquire Artifact: 

        If you end your turn in an Era that contains a artifact card, you may pick one and put it on top of your draw deck. This adds to the deck building aspect of the game. 

IV.     Complete Mission: 

        If you end your turn on an Era that has an active mission that the requirements have been fulfilled, you then complete that mission. This is the only way to complete a mission. Each player then gets to add a new artifact card to the top of their deck (the person completing the mission draws a card for each player plus one, the left over card is destroyed). If you have  completed all requirements in the game mode you are playing (4 missions plus whatever else) you immediately win the game. If you need additional missions, you flip of the mission in Dr. Faux’s area or the next one available in a clockwise direction. 

V.     Refresh: 

        This last step of your turn consists of flipping your character card back over if you used your free move, discard your whole hand (used and unused cards), and draw up to three new cards from your deck (if another player has less than three cards, they also draw until they have three). Lastly, if there are no Faux cards in your cycle, you shuffle and prepare the Faux deck for the next cycle. 

Additional Info:

        What needs to be pointed out is that on each players turn a new Faux card is drawn. This ensures that the game will be over in a maximum of 21 turns. If there is an Era that gets more than three of the rift cubes, a vortex is created and that Era looses it’s mission (revealed or not) and any artifact cards drawn can not be placed there. 

        We had discussed how to win the game already, so now let’s look at the defeat conditions. You immediately lose the game if you reach the end of the 3rd cycle (if you need a 22nd turn), if you have to place a 4th vortex on the board, and/or you have to place a second vortex in an Era. 

What we like about the game 

        First thing I want to point out is that even though some of the colors of the Era’s are harder to distinguish, the game has symbols that are easy to identify with for each area making the game color blind friendly. The overall aesthetics of the game is wonderful and just gives you the feel-good feelings. 

        The game itself being a maximum of 21 turns total (not each player) is very attractive to us. Does that mean the play time decreases? Nope, with more players and more decisions to be made the game can be slower as you communicate with everyone coming up with the best strategy to win. Is it a turn-off for us? Absolutely not. 

        The next thing that we like is that the game has the four different modes to choose from and within each mode there is three difficulty levels to pick to play making the game more challenging and replayable in our eyes. 

        The game being truly co-operative where you win or die together is outstanding. If you recall with The Age of Atlantis (see Entry 81) it being a semi co-operative game with someone still taking a win, The LOOP is a “ride or die together” game. 

        The last thing that we really love about the game is the whole dropping rift cubes into a pseudo-dice tower to disperse them over a three-Era area. It made the game fun even for our 3 year old who always wants to us play our games. 

What we don’t like about the game 

        My wife feels that if you are able to randomize the location of each of the Eras (like the game Sovereign Skies does) it would make the game even more playable. I personally feel that it is fine the way it is because you randomly draw a Faux card. There isn’t anything else that have haven’t liked about the game. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

        We have enjoyed the few games that we have played so far. This game is going to be fun to introduce to other players that love the challenge of completing different missions as a team. 

        We are looking forward to trying the game using the more complex characters and more the difficult game modes to make it more challenging. Even if you do not want to do the more difficult levels, the game is fun and replayable at the easy level. 

        Oh, as a side note, the bottom of the box contains achievements to aim for in the game.

FAMILY GAMER VERDICT 

        This game deserves a solid 9 out 10. 

        The game is the next step up in co-operative play from the Forbidden series. It is fun and exciting, and it is a game that you definitely want to communicate, communicate, and communicate.

        Is the game worth adding to your collection if you like co-operative games? The answer is a HUGE yes it is. 

        There are expansions to the game called The Revenge of Fauxzilla (2021) and  The Fur Brigade (2022) that we need to add to our collection.

 

Entry 93: Week 49- Canvas & Canvas: Reflections

         We are inching our way towards the end of the year and we are still working on completing our 10x10 Challenge as well as my mother’s 10x10 Challenge. One of the games on her list is Canvas because she “loves to make pretty pictures.” Since we do own the first expansion (the second was Kickstarted this year) and have not played it yet, we decided to “kill two birds with one stone” and play Canvas with the expansion. 

        Great idea, right? So, this blog will talk about the base game (since we have previously played it) and the expansion (which counts as the new game/expansion for week). 

        Then I proceeded to start writing this blog entry and realized that even though this is a game we like, it is from a company that was not very kind to us when we backed the original game on Kickstarter. I know we had spoken about this in previous blogs (without naming names if I recall) and I will touch up on it again in the Final Thoughts Section. 

CANVAS (2021) 

 BGG Description 

In Canvas, you play as a painter competing in an art competition. Players will collect art cards, layering 3 of them together to create their own unique Painting. Each card contains a piece of artwork as well as a set of icons used during scoring. Icons will be revealed or hidden based on the way players choose to layer the cards making for an exciting puzzle. Paintings are scored based on a set of Scoring cards which will change each game. Once players have created and scored 3 paintings the game ends. 

On your turn you may take an Art card or make a painting. Art cards are selected from a row of cards in the center of play. Each of these cards has a cost associated with their position. After selecting an Art card you must pay its cost by placing an Inspiration token on each of the cards to its left. If you do not have enough Inspiration tokens, you may not select that card. Any tokens on the card you have selected are kept for future turns. The far left card costs no Inspiration tokens to take. 

If you have three or more Art cards you may choose to make a painting. Select 3 of your art cards, arrange them in any order and then score them by comparing the visible icons on your painting to the Scoring conditions. 

Once all players have made 3 paintings the game ends. 

The player with the most points wins! 

—description from the publisher 

Weight 1.67/5 

CANVAS: REFLECTIONS 

(2022) BGG Description 

 Paint from a new perspective! In Canvas: Reflections, the artistic puzzle has a new layer -- Mirror Cards! These reversible cards add deeper strategy, and also give you increased flexibility to string together combinations of Elements. Additionally, the new board offers a wider selection of Art Cards that allows you to better plan ahead and presents more choices even when running low on Inspiration Tokens. 

Also features: Gold Bonus Ribbons - Grab a Gold Bonus Ribbon for lining up a specific Element next to a Gold Bonus icon. 

New Scoring Cards for puzzling new challenges and added replayability. 

-description from designer 

Weight 2.0/5 

A Little More Info 

        This section will just add a tough to each of the games. 

        Canvas- What was not mentioned in the BGG Description is that once you have 5 art cards you must then complete a painting on you next turn. You also start with only four inspiration tokens to use to pay for the cards. 

        Canvas: Reflections- The expansion adds a cardboard (instead of cloth) gameboard that adds 3 additional art card spots in a two row format instead of 5 art cards in a single row (base game). The game board also adds a spot to put the ribbon tokens on it. You also start with 6 inspirational tokens instead of 4. 

        You can select art cards from either the top or bottom row but you do have to pay extra inspirational tokens for any card that is not furthest to the left in both rows. 

What we like about the game (base & expansion) 

        The game itself is simple to understand. There is some strategy involved if you focus on getting the most points but if you just want to create neat looking art pieces, it’s a cinch to learn. 

        The backgrounds for your paintings are beautiful and can help you set a mood for your three art cards you add to it. The new backgrounds from Reflections are also beautiful. 

        The clear cards are awesome and the concept of layering them is really cool. To my recollection, there are only a few other games that uses the clear cards. 

        The amount of time needed to play the game is 30 minutes or less. Even with distractions, the game is fast. This is a huge plus for us. 

        The last thing that we want to say is that we love that the objectives change each game. The expansion also adds additional objectives keeping the game fresh each time we play it. 

What we don’t like about the game 

        Regarding the base game, we did wish that the cards were double sided so we could flip them. This was “fixed” with the expansion having flip-able cards. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

        This is the company that during the first Kickstarter campaign for the base game we had pledged enough funds for three copies of the game and when it came time for the pledge manager they had said, “thank you for supporting us, here is your one copy of the game. Thank you for your kind donation of X amount” (the cost of the additional copies). 

        This is where we said hold on a minute, we want three copies because we want to give some away as gifts for family (like my mother). Their response was, sorry, we will only send you one copy. I made sure that we got our extra funds back. The only reason we backed one copy of the expansions is because we truly enjoy the game enough to table it and introduce others to it. 

        Will we support this company any more than that? The answer is no, unless a local game store has more games (because the stores would have paid them for their product and we would be helping the store to recoup some funds). 

    As for the final thoughts on the game itself. We love the looks, we love the game play, we love being able to become painters of fine arts without having to get our hands messy, and we love that you can create some nice looking artwork and some darker themed ones too. 

FAMILY GAMER VERDICT 

        We give both this game and the expansion an 8 out 10 each.    

        Whether you are playing for the points to win or just playing the game to make pretty looking paintings, the game is enjoyable. A nice light weight game that is easy to understand. 

        The game is really good for both gamers and non-gamers alike.

Entry 92- Week 48: Kingswood

        This week we started our Christmas preparations by putting up lights on the house, baking some cookies, and decorating the inside of our home (our main is not up yet because we always go with a fresh cut tree and not artificial). 

        We still wanted to get a new game in for the week and, just like last week, we planned out for a certain game but when it came time to play I decided on something lighter to play due to being tired from the days activities. 

        So now, we present to you a game from 25th Century Games called Kingswood. 

KINGSWOOD (2020) 

BGG Description 

The King has assembled the most prominent village Guilds and issued a challenge: rid the surrounding forest of monsters to earn your Guild widespread fame and glory! 

Players take turns controlling the guild's adventurers moving about the village. The purpose of traveling to different locations is to either build up new or refresh your existing resources. For example, you will visit the Blacksmith for your swords, the Academy for your spell books, the Market for coins, and the Tavern for your hearts. 

Liquid courage perhaps? There are also 7 other locations in the game, of which you will use one per game. This adds variety to the playing experience as these special locations have a wide range of abilities. Once you feel like you have enough resources, you will venture out into the Forest. There you'll encounter a variety of monsters. These monsters will give you points to add to your glory and some of them provide immediate benefits when they are defeated. The first player to gain 20 glory triggers the end game and once all players have had an equal number of turns, the guild leader with the highest glory total is declared the victor! 

Kingswood features an action rotation mechanism that puts players at the heart of the game. Each turn you select an adventurer and move them to a new location, taking the actions associated with both the starting and ending locations. 

Since every player controls the same adventurers, your choices change your opponents options on their turn. Kingswood: A guilded quest for 1-5 adventurers! The game is designed by Henry Audubon (Space Park & PARKS) and illustrated by Tristam Rossin (3 Laws of Robotics & Rune). 

Weight 1.36/5 

A Little More Info 

        The description above does a good job of explaining the jest of the game. What I should add is that there are 3 Adventurer meeples and the King’s Guard meeple and only 6 location tiles in play. Which means you can only go to one of the two open spots unless you want to take action of where the King’s Guard meeple is at (which also means you take one location action instead of two). 

        The next thing to note is that when you move an adventurer more than one space away from the start location, you have to pay one coin per additional spot. This really makes you want to become a “little piggy” and go to the market often. 

        Regarding the game ending at twenty points, it is possible to go beyond that and also add more from certain monster cards that you collected throughout the game. So do not be discouraged because you are behind, if you have the right combination of monster cards you can pull out the victory (I did on our second game). 

What we like about the game 

        The first thing we really like about the game is that is plays fast. Even with the distractions of our child, we were able to play a few games in about an hour total. 

        The game mechanisms of it being a worker placement/resource management combination works really well together. It is because of this you can plan out what you want to get but also expect to not be able to do what you want on your turn based on what your opponents did on their turns. 

        The seven different guilds to choose from is great with each one providing a different in-game ability and starting resources. Learning how to master each guild to the best of its ability doesn’t take long to do but you do have to take in consideration that the monster cards do change out once someone defeats them and/or are captured (an interesting part of the game) which can mess with your plans at the forest location. 

        It wouldn’t be our blog if we didn’t talk about the artwork. The artwork from the game, at first glance, you would think it is from “The Mico” but is actually the work of Tristam Rossin. My wife says the artwork is “adorable” (because we do not use the word “cute” in our house unless it pertains to our beautiful daughter). The artwork does fit the theme of the game and just puts a smile on your face. 

        The last thing to mention in this section is that all of the components is very well made. The wooden meeples and first player marker is exceptional; the cardboard components are thicker stock and durable; and the playing cards are of higher quality as well. We were very impressed by all of this in one game.

What we don’t like about the game 

        

        The one item for this section is that there is one, maybe two, of the guild cards that is “broken” meaning the ability of the cards give a great advantage than the other guild cards. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

        Easy to set up, easy to play, and quick to learn. What else could you ask for in a game. It does not take a lot of table space and the box is just the right size for the parts and will not take up a large section of shelf (unlike Everdell’s Complete Collection box). 

FAMILY GAMER VERDICT 

        We give this game a 8 out 10. 

        We recommend this game if you are looking for something simple to play with up to 5 players. We can’t wait to play it with others in our gaming group to see how it fairs with them.