An Average Gamer - Reviews in 500 Words

I have had this for quite a while and finally got a willing opponent. 1066: Tears to Many Mothers by Hall or Nothing Productions is a 1-2 player game designed by Tristan Hall. You have your choice of playing the invading Normans or the defending Saxons. There is no inherent advantage to playing the invader or the defender as each side is building toward the Battle of Hastings. This is a hand management style game. Each player is seeking to build a 3x3 grid of units and characters with each column comprising one of the 3 “wedges.” Within your hand will be characters, units, events and upgrades. The goal of the game is to win 2 of the 3 wedges at the final Battle of Hastings or eliminate your opponent’s leader. To add cards to your wedge, you have to spend points. You can have characters already in play that give you points or you can discard cards from your hand to get points. If you have a card that costs 3 points to play and you have one character already in...

I've talked about board games. I've talked about inserts to help manage storage of your games. And today I'm talking about more ways to bling out your board game, RPG or miniatures game. I backed the Kickstarter for Rubble City from Fenris Games . This is a set of resin cast terrain pieces for a ruined building (or 2 or 3 depending on how many sets you get).  I backed at the single building level since I wanted to see how they would turn out. This past weekend I finally got around to painting most of them and I was amazed at how they turned out. Now, I will probably use mine more for tabletop miniature games. But if you are playing Journeys in Middle Earth and want to spice up your battle boards, I can't recommend these enough. The castings are clean and take paint easily. The detail is amazing and the little bits of rubble that come with the wall and door pieces, really help sell the idea of ruins. They come as sort of a gray-tan resin. I primed mine black (2...

I happen to really like deck building games. I love the deck construction and choosing the best cards to work with what you already have. And I also happen to like horror/occult themes. So it was a no brainer that I would back Terrors of London by Kolossal Games . I reviewed Hero Realms earlier and this plays almost exactly like it. So, you probably ask, why would I want to have another game that plays so similarly? In a word... artwork. The art in Terrors of London is amazing. I spent so much time just studying each card and looking at the detail. But back to gameplay. I managed to get 3 games played in roughly 90 minutes. This is the perfect length for me. I can play one game multiple times or play multiple games in my regular weeknight game time. And because the mechanics are so similar to other deck builders already out, this game is easy to teach to seasoned gamers and simple enough to bring new players in. Player board. Now, one of the things that is interesting is th...

Shadow Thief ready to strike! Latest review is for another older game that I am quite fond of: Dice Throne Season 1 by Roxley Game Laboratory . This is one of those games that people either really enjoy or don't want to play. The first thing you have to accept is that you are going to be tied to the luck of the roll and the luck of the card draw. Depending on the character you choose cards can mitigate some randomness of the dice and some dice rolls can get you more cards. If you can accept this randomness, then it's time to dive into game play. The premise is simple 2 (or more) characters battle it out to win the Dice Throne. Season 1, which is the one I am reviewing comes with 6 possible characters to play. I have played all of them once now and each has a unique feel. And in 6 plays, every game has been close. Even when it seems like my opponent is running away with the game, I am ale to put myself back in with some smart card play and dice choices. The game does ha...