Under Two Reviews #7: Eldritch Horror By Corey Konieczka and Nikki Valens

"Under Two Reviews" is a weekly video series in which we take a look at tabletop games and present them to our readers in under two minutes.

Eldritch Horror from Fantasy Flight Games proves that it's hard to keep a good monster down. Like, really hard. New gates keep spawning. Watch our video and learn a bit about Mythos cards and Encounter decks. It'll be quick. I promise.

Enjoy the video after the jump!

 

Ticket to Ride, by Alan R. Moon

It’s no secret that Days of Wonder is one of my favorite game publishers. They put out quality games like clockwork, typically elegant, re-playable, and beautiful to look at. Ticket to Ride is the epitome of what DoW creates – a game so simple a six year old could play it, but compelling enough that it’s the second-best selling hobby board game in the US, and one of a very small number of games that I see in every single game library I come across.

Ticket to Ride is for everyone. I love maps and numbers, and TTR has both – but if you love quick turns, little down time, and plenty of tension, well, it’s got those things too. It’s also beautiful – the board, the pieces, the cards, all become something wonderful when laid out on a table. This game feels important. Every time I pick up the box I’m surprised by how heavy it is, and every time I play it, I’m surprised again by how much I enjoy it, despite having played 500+ times before.

If you’re a board game enthusiast, odds are you already own TTR, or at least have played it enough times to have an opinion. If you don’t own it, or haven’t played it, put this on the top of your list. It’s among the three games I ALWAYS recommend to a person starting a new game collection, and I think it should be federally mandated that the app has to be on every iPad. If you’re not already convinced, read on!

Under Two Reviews #6: Glass Road by Ewe Rosenberg

"Under Two Reviews" is a weekly video series in which we take a look at tabletop games and present them to our readers in under two minutes.

Glass Road from Z-Man Games proves that looks can be decieving. It's neither as long or complex as the theme and components would lead you to believe. This isn't to say it's simple. It has quite a bit of strategy! Come watch our video and learn all about how building a villiage can be strategic. It'll be quick. I promise.

Enjoy the video after the jump!
 

DFWNN Custom Summoner Wars Deck

JR and I have been discussing creating a Nerd Night faction in Summoner Wars for a while. Custom factions are pretty common in the Summoner Wars community but as this is Nerd Night specific, I figured I would share this here as well. No it isn't a playable deck! I'm sure it's incredibly broken :), but please enjoy.

Solo Variant Review: Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy by Michiel Hendriks

TLDR: Legacy uses worker placement and card management mechanics to tell the story of a dynasty, and in the solo variant, the story of a dynasty in reverse. More than anything, it tells a story.  If you have played "story" games before (such as Gloom) and enjoyed them, then Legacy is probably a game to add to your collection. I know I did!

Coloretto, by Michael Schacht

Elegant: adjective

1) pleasingly graceful and stylish in appearance or manner.

2) pleasingly ingenious and simple.

Coloretto is an elegant game, as much or more than any other I’ve learned recently. I think of “elegance” as referring to a game I can learn very easily, but that is enjoyable enough to warrant multiple plays. An elegant game has a certain feel, it tickles the senses in a certain way. If you’ve felt that before, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Simple and fun, easy to teach and worth playing multiple times – these are the things that get my attention when I learn a new game. I’m always looking for things to bring to the table between long games or with family, and Coloretto fits the bill perfectly. It’s also a “press your luck” game that doesn’t feel like it’s high-pressure, so it’s a neat way to introduce people to the idea of making decisions based on the chance of good outcomes without overwhelming them with numbers or rules.

Star Realms, by Rob Dougherty

Star Realms places you in the command of a fleet of ships preparing to do battle on a galactic scale. In this deck-building game, players compete head to head to eliminate their opponent(s) and be the last man (or woman!) standing. This is a departure from the victory-point-based scoring system in most deck-building games like Dominion, DC Deckbuilder, and Ascension, and introduces a few mostly-new wrinkles to a genre I greatly enjoy.

From the co-founder of Ascension (and a successful professional Magic player, at that) this game is well-designed, easy to teach, and easy to play. I submit Star Realms as a game that should be in your fleet - so read on, space captain!