The Bear Seriously ABC the Fantastic Four! (1977)

Information
Category Children's Game
Card Game
Mechanic Betting/Wagering
Dice Rolling
Description This game uses a standard deck of cards.
Comments
Very nice expansion to Consulting Detective.
Bump, bump bump, bumpbump! Very similar to Jedko's Field Marshall', too abstracted to really be of interest. I picked up P&P years ago after reading about it in Dragon Magazine. I hate that these games aren't replayable, because they are so much fun! If you can't think of who that may be in your group, then more than likely it's you. Looking forward to trying this with more players.
Best deduction game for two players - this really is solving a mystery as it is meant to be. The Black Death is just too far removed. Cool, albeit dark, artwork.


John Away (2004)

Information
Category
Mechanic Acting
Hex-and-Counter
Description Publishers Description: The idea is that you have just completed high school and you now face decisions as what to do with the rest of your life. Now, there's GENUS III, with thousands of new questions in classic subjects. It's filled with fun facts from Afghanistan and Alcatraz to Zebra and Zorro...from Soup and Sing Sing to Nuts and the Nile...with plenty of intriguing tidbits about famous people. Was Admiral Beatty the second coming of Nelson himself, or a charismatic, risk-taking glory hound?
Comments
Master Game. 1994 $20 (2010)
A little disappointed with this one, coming right after I was pleasantly surprised by Day of the Rangers by another KCL alumni. Take your best guess and you will be correct. Often the answers are buried in the question. Ever. Fair amount of book keeping but not unreasonable. This made the pain last even longer as players kept rolling the dice and trying to hit the center of the board. If I'm lucky, I will never have to play this again.
A little out-dated, but still quite enjoyable... It's Trivial Pursuit, which means two things... Don't write off the Pursuit!
This game lived in my truck for camping trips for years...I think we have actually gotten through all of the questions at least once.


My Ringbearer (1969)

Information
Category Card Game
Children's Game
Wargame
Mechanic Hand Management
Rock-Paper-Scissors
Role Playing
Description This title basically translates to "Wind Force 6 : Pirates in View". The small Eskimo child Enuk is already completely excited. Today he may go with his large brothers on journey into the ice. Well then… let’s put you to the test! Placements rules are basically that your symbol must overpower at least one other symbol beside it (using standard rock-scissors-paper rules.) You lose a turn if you can't place your reserve piece onto the board, and you must then choose a new reserve piece for your next turn.
Comments
Summer order 2011
Played twice.
Downloaded March 2007 - not yet constructed. Too bad NECA isn't a game company.
A fun game which burnt out due to limited choices. The game is not about matching tiles as in traditional memory but about turning over certain types of tiles without turning over others.


Rocket War card England (2007)

Information
Category Card Game
Mechanic Simultaneous Action Selection
Description Cleopatra's Caboose: The train game based...in Ancient Egypt?!? Cleopatra's Caboose is a train game for 3 to 5 players that's based in Ancient Egypt. Core Rules. Charts.
Comments
My wife loves pirates. But the game was actually simple and enjoyable and the cards had lots of flavor text. Fun game with a lot of interesting mechanisms, many of which seem to have been taken from other good games: - auction mechanism, #rounds in game, special action (aka designer special power): Age of Steam - special power also dictates turn order: Canal Mania - card drafting: lots of games! Some good ideas that just don't work. The theme is a bit wonky, of course. I seen it suggested that maybe the lower cards should have the higher yardage, that sounded feasible to make decisions tougher when I first seen it but after playing I'm not so sure it would work right since a pair of 3's will beat a King. Fruit is just too valuable in front of you to want to 1) use an action, 2) burn those points and 3) likely be setting up the person after you for a move. The voting at the end to see if you can recognize your starting sentence based solely on the final drawing, as well as rewarding funny entries, makes Scribblish into an actual game, rather than just an activity. Why does the score track go to 92? I like how portable this game is - you can take it camping or travelling. Winning and losing doesn't matter in this type of game to me, it's all about having fun. You have to wait for your opponents to complete their turns, as well as all the cards, which are screaming to be read throughout the game. Too light for me to personally rate it above average though, and I would only really play this even occasionally with someone else who was enthusiastic about it because I like many standard, non-themed 2 player card games such as Canasta more than this. Flippin' ridiculous. My board was BADLY warped however, I did not see this complaint anywhere else though so maybe I got unlucky. I enjoy the auction, and its a pretty important part of the game....but it also has some drawbacks. Another note is that once a ship returns to a haven, you lose it. It's gone. So every ship is an investment. I have to wait until the new batch of Auction Cards flips before I can really start to consider things. Theme: I don't know what the theme would be? I feel like the majority of this design is wanting me to play strategically, but then the auction card element kind of imposes a strong tactical element.
Poker and football! However, I'd be willing to try again with the advanced rules. Still think Gridiron is my favorite, but this can be no. Especially the latter was a bit too random for my taste. It might also suffer from a group that does not play aggressively enough. I enjoy this much more than tallying #s. There should be a random fruit placed on the board for every 2 players rounded up EVERY turn....the game would feel much better then. Red and Green Hats - A fiddly handling of the felt "hats" and little consequences for the scoring make this a superfluous addition. Overall impression: It's not the worst game I've ever played, but the theme alone is plainly disgusting, along with the graphics. As I said, it will certainly need more plays to know for sure. Oh, and the game is really not like poker at all just because you can make poker hands, maybe a little and a little bluff but completely different game, mechanic-wise more like Football using a WAR resolution. Setup: Just take a slip of paper and roll it into a scroll. Once you load your ship with silver (capacity depending on current ship's cargo size), you bring it back to your Haven (which can change at the play of a card). The game felt very stop and go with more stop than go. "Oh wait, I can't do that as I don't have the right city card...shoot, there is no city card that I need in the city card display." Game text should be at the top of the text box and in a larger more normal font. You're either drawing, writing, or trying to stop laughing. It's gone. The biggest negative to me is that this leaves me with not that much to think about during the down time. Do you fill your huge warship to capacity, risking odds it will survive your opponents attempts to sink it and steal your silver? This multiplies the playing time (at least the way our group plays). This game also divides you up into two factions, the red bucaneers and the black pirates. I'd like to play again, but I doubt there will be much enthusiasm in the local group. Only red can attack red battle sites, play red ship improvements, and vice versa. This provides a bit of control causing you to divvy up your own resources and feels like you're controlling two characters. Some players in our group wouldn't play because they don't like 18xx....and others who did were disappointed when I started explaining it.
Sounds cool/fun. The feeling is that it could catch very well the tension of a football game with 2 players. Also, you need to recognize that this game is not about relative prices and gains but about absolute gains. The power hands are uncommon, but possible if you draw for them. But all of these are easily ignored for actual gameplay. First, the lower the card - the less useful and reward if it wins. Though, making low pairs are a good way to beat the single high cards. As it stands, there are several directions you can go in what you are choosing to do. I still think 5 is really the maximum number of players for this game.
Nice swashbuckling game, bringing a lot of atmosphere to the gaming table. It totally breaks the game...DON'T DO IT!!! Still think Gridiron is my favorite, but this can be no. Can't see playing this without at least six players but think it would be best with eight. Holy cow, where is the control? No doubt that was a spoof too that stopped being funny very quickly, particularly on a small table. I'm sending a pirate out that way. EDIT: Another play today showed that offense is indeed possible.


No Cross (1999)

Information
Category Card Game
World War II
Mechanic Auction/Bidding
Variable Player Powers
Description From the publisher: The game begins with placing the ships on the board. The premise is that the players are trying to get the landlord's attention by plugging up the toilet in their apartment with anything they can find on the theory that, while the toilet is being fixed all the other things wrong with the apartment will be fixed also. 1 double-sided game board.
Comments
1992 MB 3 boxed Just great fun with my sons and a great introductory wargame!! Well-balanced, quick, simple, abstract, fast playing. I could have picked up some slotta bases and had an enormous influx of minis for under $10. This is no doubt due (at least in part) to the absolutely horrible art in the game, as well as Spy being the prize winner for having the most blatantly pasted on theme in the history of games. Not RK's best game, but certainly not bad either! A slow, analytical approach would kill the game, as I consider this to be a lightweight filler for two. Playing short also means that other players may be forced to play a longer game by putting cards in front of them. How can it hurt? With 4 there is even more luck involved.


Crazy Come hans Pack (1987)

Information
Category
Mechanic Roll and Move
Variable Player Powers
Description This is an old Swedish game seeking to simulate the beautiful and sometimes harsh sport of orienteering. This is the fourth expansion to the popular Beer & Pretzel’s Game Starfight. This expansion features a mighty doomsday machine called the Death Cube.
Comments
Perfect Christmas eve stuff. If you have children that like star trek this is the game for them . To be or not to be an elector? HI HI HI!
Played once ..and never again. Much funnier and more diverse than e.g.


Lowell II Chance (2004)

Information
Category
Mechanic Dice Rolling
Hex-and-Counter
Description Late 19th Century game with a basic spin and move mechanic. For one thing, it isn't the highest-valued card that takes the trick. It's the card closest to 7 that takes the trick. Secondly, players may beg to change the trump suit, but there are pros and cons to both begging and granting or denying a beg. 1066: End of the Dark Ages can be played by two, three or four, each representing a different side: Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Vikings and Britons (the latter representing an amalgamation of the various peoples then indigenous to the island).
Comments
S&T240 The game plays rather quickly, I found. I was able to return it to the store where I bought it. Rules are fairly complete, especially given this is an S&T in-mag game. Under “1”, the player can pick one Action marker from the Pool, not Battle or Event markers. History has been doctored to fit the game.


Campin' Fps

Information
Category Wargame
Educational
Card Game
Mechanic Co-operative Play
Description Players roll a die to move their piece along the track and answer questions about the Michigan State Park System and nature. II, this 32-pages booklet contains also all the characteristics for naval and aircraft units for Germany, UK, Italy, France, Japan and USA. Will Churchill’s ill-fated adventure finally capture Gallipoli, or result in ignominious retreat from the Dardanelles?
Comments
I was introduced to this little gem at the Gathering of Friends.


Camel Diosa (2001)

Information
Category Educational
Mechanic Card Drafting
Tile Placement
Description A rally game designed with kids in mind, as they get to know Icelandic geography while playing it. The Magic Garden is full of surprises, tricky tasks and puzzles. Your want of challenges has lead you to enter into a prestigious bet with your friends. One of the players is the emperor, others are trying to break the Empire into pieces and collect her remains into their kingdoms. Then, one moonlit night, an impossibly crooked tower emerged high above the mist, casting a long and dark shadow on the surrounding land...
Comments
Funny game. Good filler for speed gamers. I immediately rolled an event card which made me the evil player. I'd rather play a true co-op game, like Shadows Over Camelot or something similar. It's silly, it's fast and it's fun. Turns go quickly, so the game has a nice brisk pace to it.
A nice and quick roll and move-ish type game that offers some interesting decisions with easy to understand gameplay.
Not thrilled with this expansion. It just complicates the play.
Who will recognize the most colour combinations? One has to strike a fine balance between going for points and also taking responsibility to clear out the ghosts. Not so good with 2. Another potential problem is that the other players are still competing with one another for victory points, but eventually one has to turn on the Necromancer to ensure he doesn't win. The only down point is that Zoch had the Suleika version produced in China, which means that the card used in the box and board is not up to German quality - though the other components are excellent (I don't know where the Gigamic version was produced).


Odea (2005)

Information
Category Wargame
Abstract Strategy
Miniatures
Mechanic Area Enclosure
Hex-and-Counter
Description "For the first time, a complete reference guide to some of the most popular strategy gaming publications over the past 30+ years. It contains strategy articles, explanations, after action reports, and, last but not least, a number of ASL scenarios. A range can be selected (with some restrictions) - narrow ranges will yield more game points (hearts) than higher ones, if successful. Which towers you are required to build (i.e. Following Suit was first published in Game Trade Monthly in 2000. As is becoming normal, this expansion was released shortly after Elfenland won Spiel des Jahres.
Comments
5+ Because the game is coöperative, it ends always with a happy feeling.
My first "favorite" game. He loves this, and it's been a hit with all of his friends.
Good and quick rules, well portraying command problems. And I see, that there is a big difference depending how many players will participate.

Data from BoardGameGeek, mashed up by Leonard Richardson. Logo by Beth Lerman.

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