Run your 'horses' to a win in Renpaarden

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #8.

Renpaarden is a game which really shows the versatility of what I am now terming the ‘8x8 & 24 system’ really is.

This one from designer Fred Horn back in 1981 is actually played on a 9x9 board, so in this case you play on the points of your checkerboard – yes it is that simple.

In this one the checkers take on the movement of knights from chess which already hints at some fun ahead.

On your turn you move a piece and like the chess knight can jump over pieces to get where it is going.

In Renpaarden – which apparently means Racehorses in Dutch – a piece can also jump to a cell occupied by a enemy stone without capture, and in that case, it can jump again. This move can be repeated until the stone lands on an empty cell.

This is where the fun of this one ramps up. Finding and/or planning chained jumps are a key to success.

The goal of Renpaarden is to be the first player that moves all your stones to the opponent's initial position.

Games are generally close, and a chained jump or two can be the difference, as can getting close to home is a good position so you are not wasting moves getting into a final spot. Games are tense as a result and fun too.

This one clearly owes its existence to the classic Halma (1884), and the more recent Chinese Checkers (1893). This one is better – although it’s only two-player – where Chinese Checkers is still for four-to-six.

Interestingly, expanding to 9x9 games doesn’t actually add a lot of options to ‘the system’ but Renpaarden is lots of fun, and there just might be a sister 9x9 before I am done.

Bashni's stacking mechanic good twist on checkers

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #7.

Bashni is another older game that really is a good one and it fits the ‘8x8 & 24’ exploration I’m on.

Created 150 years ago – at least Board Game Geek pegs it as from 1875 – this is a game in the Checkers-family out of Russia.

The game is identical to Shashki (Russian Checkers) in the rules regarding movement, capture, and promotion – check them out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_draughts.

But what makes Bashni most interesting is that every time a piece is captured, it is put at the bottom of the capturing piece or stack. If the captured piece is itself on a stack, only the top piece is captured, and the underlying pieces are thus ‘liberated’.

Pieces are never out of the game – only held hostage if you will.

The mechanic allows pieces to be ‘freed’ which means comebacks at least ‘feel’ more realistic here.

The top checker in a stack determines who controls it, and the entire stack is moved.

A piece/stack can move diagonally forward to an empty cell, as in draughts.

When it reaches the last row, it is promoted to an officer.

An officer can move forward and backwards over a diagonal line of empty cells -- a bishop move in chess.

Capture is mandatory and multiple. Players must choose their capture sequence, it is not mandatory to maximize the number of capturing pieces.

Basic pieces captures by the checkers short leap, while officers capture by the long leap.

A players loses if they have no valid moves.

Bashni was the inspiration for Laska, Chess world champion Emanuel Lasker's stacking game created in 1911. It utilizes a smaller 7x7 board but frankly doesn’t seem to add much to recommend it over the original.

This is a pretty dynamic game with captures and releases happening with regularity one the two sides ‘meet-in-the-middle’.

The potential to regain pieces – multiple ones at times – really keeps one ‘in the game’, and when it happens is just plain gratifying.

This one is an elite offering among 8x8 & 24 games.

Owlman provides a enjoyably different game experience

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #6

If you want to truly experience the potential of an 8x8 checkerboard with only two sets of 24 pieces then I highly recommend you give Owlman a try.

Created as recently as 2010 by Andrew Perkis Owlman lets you delve into an asymmetric board game experience.

Asymmetric games have unequal forces and have been around as long as board games have been most notably through games such as hnefatafl, and bagh chal.

Now Owlman might not be up to the level of those games, but it’s a fun one just the same.

Of course Owlman is not balanced, nor of course is it supposed to be.

Which side has the usual advantage I’ll leave up to players to discover with a few playthroughs.

Now if you Google this one suggestions have using pieces from both a checker and chess set, but checkers are really all you need.

In terms of set up the dark squares on the board represent the trees of Mawnan wood; pieces move between the trees on the light squares.

On one side you have Doc which can be represented by the white chess king – but a stack of two checkers works perfectly well, and his helpers are the 12 single white checkers.

The other player has the Owlman which can be played as a black knight – since he makes a 'swoop' move from corner to opposite corner of a 4x2 rectangle- a kind of elongated knight move – but a single black checker or stack of two works just as well.

The Owlman's main objective is to frighten all of Doc's helpers out of the woods.

By contrast Doc aims to reach the Owlman's lair, along with one of his helpers.

Doc’s side plays first.

All pieces (both white and black) may make a 'step' move to any adjoining white square- the move of a King in Chess and many checker variants.

When the Owlman makes a swoop it may move over other pieces. 

Owlman can also make a 'super swoop'.

Owlman can only generally capture helpers, and can only do so with a step move, not a swoop move. Whenever Owlman advances by making a step move towards a helper, he instills such terror that the poor helper immediately runs out of the woods and plays no further part in the game.

There is an exception you will find if you check out the full rules at https://owlmanthegame.blogspot.com/

One other method of capture is possible for Owlman, and that is by super swoop. A super swoop may only be made when Owlman is placed on Doc’s starting spot (the church tower). From here he may super swoop to any square occupied by a helper. The helper is then captured and removed from the board. From the tower Owlman must make a super swoop move; other move types from the church tower are not permitted. 

The game ends as a win for White if Doc reaches Owlmans start position and has also moved a helper to next to him. Doc also wins (though this happens but rarely) if a trapped Owlman is unable to move on his turn of play. Owlman wins if he either captures Doc or all of Doc's helpers.

This is a game most may not know, even abstract strategy fans, but one that fits this ‘list’ so well, it deserves greater exploration.

Canadian game company hits mark with kobold minis

If you are an avid role player you probably crave new miniatures to get onto the gaming table.

At least that’s the general case with most members of our ‘Meeple Guild’ each of us having dozens of minis we have gathered through the years – admittedly some never glued together, others never or barely painted, and many never seeing game play – but we always look longingly at the next one we want.

Well mini fans Canadian company Helios Tabletop has just ramped up things in terms of our collective collecting addiction.

This company really has burst on the scene in the most exciting of ways.

In a world where increasingly minis are purchased as stl files and you are left to print them hoping your printer is up to the task Helios still produces physical minis.

But they have taken that a step further creating what are essentially ‘theme packs’ releasing a small set of related minis monthly. You can get in on a month delivery schedule and this little white box – nothing fancy in the packaging – of mini joy arrives in your mailbox.

And, better yet the minis inside are complete. No gluing which we all know is the absolute worst part of miniatures.

Now this review specifically is looking at the Cavern of Kobolds, Mythic Box.

Now kobolds are what we might term an under-appreciated dungeon denizen, but one look at this box of kobold baddies will change that. These are fierce defenders of the dark which will have your RPG characters wishing they were back in the local tavern with a mug of grog.

“The decision to do a Kobolds Mythic Box came about for a few reasons,” offered Nick Di Scipio with Helios via email.

Canadian company

“First, they're classic fantasy enemies and almost everyone has faced them before in their campaigns.

“Second, we meet a lot with local DMs and players and during a specific round of interviews with local DMs it was one of the enemies a lot of DMs wanted to see in our Mythic Box line and so we took that input and decided to make it the next Mythic Box encounter at the time. Since many players have encountered kobolds before, we knew we had to make our version stand out and get people excited about Kobolds again. We didn’t want it to feel like just another throwaway skirmish - so we set out to create something that felt fresh, dynamic, and memorable.

“That meant bringing a lot of depth to the encounter like tasking the party with a time-sensitive objective of interrupting a shamanic ritual to prevent the awakening of an ancient dragon, incorporating environmental puzzles that players must solve to progress through the encounter, and designing unique combat mechanics that push beyond the usual kobold tactics.”

Oh yes, Helios makes integrating their mythic boxes into a campaign – at least a D&D 5e one with an included ‘combat encounter’ a more or less random encounter to drop into a dungeon as a very good excuse to get these beauty minis to the table.

“The idea for the Mythic Boxes came from a desire to make Dungeon Master's lives easier so they could focus on the parts of DMing they love without all the stress and time that comes from the hours of prep before a session,” explained Di Scipio. “We wanted to create immersive, ready-to-run encounters that deliver both high-quality miniatures and a range of DM tools like stat blocks and story hooks in one package. With two-thirds of the Helios leads being Dungeon Master's, we know how time-consuming it can be to prep all the aspects needed to run an exciting and unforgettable encounter - so we wanted to make it much easier to deliver a consistently exciting experience for their party, while still allowing the DMs to keep their creative freedom intact.”

So what does The Meeple Guilder in charge of 3D printing, and a mini-painting addict think of the Helios minis.

“I did some work on those kobolds last night, I need to know what resin these guys use it's pretty resilient,” Jordan noted in a  group chat we have going. “Tiny bit of support clean up but no printing errors and the detail is pretty good on them.”

The detail drew praise from Jordan as well, noting he “appreciated the fancied up cave bases for the kobolds.”

When asked about a fav kobold, well Di Scipio has one.

“Most people would probably say the Kobold Shaman is the best piece in the set with his potions, crude staff, and skull mask but I personally think it's the Kobold Thief as his design is quite unique and we wanted to incorporate the bag he carries as part of his combat mechanics by giving him an ability to 'scoop up' smaller players,” he said. “I'm sure DMs will be delighted to work this into their combat and snatch players away when they fail the dexterity save because we sure enjoyed that!”

Overall the kobolds are very nice, and can be very useful for an DM or D&D table, which is really what Di Scipio said was Helios’ goal.

“Just like all our Mythic Boxes, we hope the Cavern of Kobolds set offers DMs a plug-and-play encounter that’s easy and enjoyable to run while giving their players an exciting, cinematic experience filled with surprises, clever enemy mechanics, and meaningful choices that go beyond simple combat,” he said. “Overall if the players are happy, the DMs are happy and we want to help to create that satisfaction.”

Toward that goal Helios hit the target dead centre.

Check it out at https://heliostabletop.ca/products/cavern-of-kobolds-april-2025-monthly-mythic-box

Project 8x8 & 48 - #5 3 Crowns

Over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #5.

Three Crowns, a game designed by Larry Black created back in 2000 is certainly one of the lesser known games to make this little project, but certainly deserves to be included.

With Three Crowns you begin with each player (as all of the games in this project it is for two) having 10 pieces which are placed around the outer edge of the board (see photo).

In the game you are trying to create Triokas. A Troika is formation of three or more ‘uncrowned’ stones in a row, all belonging to the same player, in an orthogonal or diagonal direction.

To alleviate a first-player advantage the first player must move the same stone on the first two turns.

On a turn a player has a few options depending on the in-game situation.

The first is to move either a crowned or uncrowned stone – more on that below. Pieces move to an adjacent empty cell – think a king in chess. 

If an uncrowned stone becomes part of a 'Troika' after moving, it becomes crowned – add an off board piece as in creating a checker king.

You can also make a jump with any piece. The jump though must make a double jump over two opponent stones.

However, there are some restrictions here, and the real depth of the game comes out. There’s a lot to digest but therein lies the attraction of this game.

Crowned stones can only jump over opponent uncrowned stones, and uncrowned stones can only jump opponent crowned stones. 

So a jumping move consists of moving a stone two cells in a direction (orthogonal or diagonal) into an empty cell while passing directly over the opponent stone. After making one jumping move, a stone must make a second. The second jumping move can be made in the same direction, or in a different direction. 

Also a third jump move is not permitted. 

If no second jumping move is possible, then the first jumping move cannot be made.

Jumping moves are not compulsory.

When two uncrowned stones are jumped then the second jumped uncrowned stone is captured and removed from the game. 

When two Crowned stones are jumped, as long as it would not become part a 'Troika', the second jumped crowned stone becomes uncrowned. If a 'Troika' would result from uncrowning, the second crowned stone is captured and removed from the game – so when to jump is a big decision at times.

If an uncrowned stone becomes part of a 'Troika' after making the double jump, it is crowned.

You win if you are the player that first captures three stones, or makes a crowned Troika (i.e., a Troika with three crowned stones).

The more recent LoT (Lines of Three), a 2012 design from Néstor Romeral Andrés reminds quite a lot of this one, it being simpler and Three Crowns more ‘thinky’

Again if you are going to explore the basic premise of this ‘list’ then Three Crowns is a must to try. Just make sure you give it several plays because initially this one can be a bit hard to absorb in terms of its intricacy.

Time for some inner reflection as a robot

To begin this week’s review, I will admit that while I have played a number of solo games over the years You Were Made: A Solo Journaling RPG is unique in my spectrum of experience.

So to define this one I went to the Kickstarter teaser page where it stated “You Were Made is a minimalist, rules-light solo role-playing game crafted to inspire introspective storytelling and creative journaling.

“You take on the role of an Echoform, a synthetic being built by humanity in its final days. Not a servant, not a conqueror, but a vessel of memory.”

At this point I was thinking Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, and there is a sense of that here, you play a construct which is on something of a path of self discovery – with a somewhat understated but also apparent element of learning something of yourself in the process.

Canadian designer

So this one is from Canadian designer Deny Trudel – as regular readers will know that’s a bonus in my books, and Trudel was good enough to answer some questions via email for this one.

An obvious question was why a solo RPG where journaling is its core?

“Over the last few years, I’ve been encouraged to journal for mental health and mindfulness, but I could never really get into it,” offered Trudel. “I’d sit there staring at the page, scribbling a few mundane thoughts, then just stall out. 

“So instead, I built myself a journaling game engine (complete with lore) to help me write through a narrative lens. And that actually worked. It felt like I was keeping a diary from the perspective of a sentient android, but somehow the process still let me explore my own emotions and experiences. I was packaging my own stuff into a story and it felt honest and fulfilling.

“And since making stuff is literally what I do, I decided to turn that little journaling tool into a real game. You Were Made is my first full-fledged TTRPG. I’d done Kickstarter once before (two years ago) for Little Worlds Dice, a line of polyhedral dice sets. It was successful, but the production headaches and the intense competition kind of drained the joy out of it. This time, I wanted to make something personal. Something I was proud of. And it gave me the chance to source most of the materials locally (or semi-locally. lol), which honestly feels like a huge win.”

Not surprisingly there is a lot of Trudel within the game.

“From the start, I wanted You Were Made to touch on some of the philosophical and psychological themes that mattered to me at the time,” Trudel said. “I tend to build ideas around overarching concepts, and I knew early on that I didn’t want combat in the game.

“I also scrapped the XP system pretty quickly.

“What I really wanted was a game that gave space for reflection, something that let players explore feelings like loss, uncertainty, and quiet resilience in a world designed for introspection.

“Based on the play-tester feedback I’ve received, I think I managed to hit that emotional core. And honestly, that core is what holds the entire experience together. Without it, the game wouldn’t work. 

“But I also wanted it to be fun. A creative tool that’s easy to jump into (just a d20, the prompt deck, and a journal) and go. The kind of game that invites you to tell beautiful stories and slowly build your own little world. And really, bottom line, making stuff is just plain fun!”

At this point I will note my experience with this one has been more superficial than I would like. Now maybe if I were at a secluded cabin for a couple of weeks You Were Made would be a good fit, but summer is busy and extra writing journaling is not a good fit. But, the taste was still intriguingly sweet and I am looking forward to winter when time for such an endeavour will be more readily available.

When asked what players can expect Trudel noted, “Simplicity. Reflection. Creative sparks to keep the story moving. At its heart, You Were Made is a journaling game and journaling remains the core of the experience. But the game surrounding it is intentionally solid, even if it leans into simplicity by design.

“I also put a lot of thought into supporting that journaling with a lightweight power system: Fragments. They serve two roles: 1) boosting your rolls and 2) acting as a kind of currency to “buy” special cards that shift, enhance, or twist the narrative. The goal was to give your mind something to grab onto, something to play with, without bogging you down in a bunch of rules or mechanics. If I did my job right, you won’t need to reference the instructions for long. More importantly, I wanted the game to feel freeing, not like a set of rules you have to obey, but a set of tools you can use however you want. The ultimate goal was to create something that opens the door for the writer, not something that locks them in.”

Therein lies the flexibility to be yourself as a gamer and that is important.

Some RPGers will no doubt lament that there are no battles, yet might you recall fragments that harkened back to battles? Who can say what others might discover as the journey is the players own.

In the designer’s mind what is the best element of the game and why?

“At the heart of You Were Made is an emotional core that’s all about healing through memory,” said Trudel. “The adventure deck (the prompt cards) does a great job of tapping into those universal feelings that tend to linger and resurface as we get older. It’s therapeutic without being therapy. It gives you space to sit with your thoughts, to process, without ever feeling clinical.

“On a more practical note, I’m in love with the art. I worked with an amazing illustrator to craft the visual identity of the game, and I think we landed on something really special. I honestly couldn’t pick a favourite piece, but the artwork ties the whole experience together. It brings emotional weight and presence to the game, and when you sit down with the cards, the die, the tokens, it just feels good. There’s a real tactile joy to it.

“Almost all of the components are sourced here in Canada, too, with just a few exceptions (tokens from the UK, packaging from the U.S.). Being able to keep production close to home has made the whole thing feel even more grounded and intentional and helps support the Canadian economy during a difficult time.”

Trudel likes some of the elements built into the game to broaden the experience too.

“I think our dual Fragment system is one of the more unique aspects of You Were Made. Fragments serve a dual purpose: they’re both a power-up and a currency, which forces the player to make meaningful decisions. Do you hold onto them to boost your rolls? Or spend them to twist the story with special cards? That tension adds a nice layer of strategy to what’s otherwise a very introspective game.

“One of my key design goals was to build in multiple layers of choice. First, you draw a prompt: that’s your predetermined event. Then you choose how to respond: that’s personal agency. And finally, you roll to see how it resolves: introducing a bit of luck. That middle step, that choice, is critical. It ensures that the game isn’t just a prompt deck, and it’s not just a dice fest either. It’s a blend of structure and freedom, giving players space to shape their own story while still feeling the push and pull of chance.”

As for what is the most unique mechanic within the rules, Trudel said, “I think of our specialty cards as the spice that kicks the flavour up a notch: Companions, Paradoxes, and Code Augments. Each one adds its own dimension to how the game unfolds.

“Companions let you shift your point of view: You get to respond to a prompt through another voice, another lens. Someone who sees the world differently than your Echoform might. Paradoxes are the wild cards: They throw a wrench into your instinctual response, forcing you to answer in a way that feels off, inverted, or emotionally messy.

“Code Augments are your upgrades: They stick around and grant special permissions that reshape how you play. For example, letting you draw three cards and pick the one that resonates most. They’re core tools that deepen the narrative and open up new angles for play.”

Now this game will not be for all. If you are not a writer at all this may be a hard pass.

But, if you like to think a bit differently about things, and enjoy keeping a diary or writing stories, well here is a framework to work within while still offering creative flexibility.

Watch for this one on Kickstarter as it might be just the winter escapism you need.

Historic original tedious but Kanare Kato offers interesting variants

 

Up front this week is an admission I have a soft spot for the very old games.

There is something very satisfying to be playing a game that people were playing decades, and in some cases centuries ago. I suppose I feel somehow connected to the long tradition of board gaming.

So when Queen’s Guard arrived from Kanare_Abstract I was happy in the sense this is a game which dates back to 1842.

Queen's Guard, also commonly known as Agon, is played on a hexagonal board – cloth in this case -- comprised of 91 smaller hexagons, six to each side of the board.

The central hex is known as the throne; most Agon boards feature alternating colours of hexes in rings, starting from the six hexes surrounding the throne.

Each player has one queen piece and six guard pieces, which are wooden here, and the queen has an actual little crown.

Pieces start in alternating starting positions on the board's outer ring.

Pieces move only a single step, either along the ring they are on, or closer to the centre.

Pieces may be captured if they are surrounded on two sides in a straight line – custodial capture. The captured player must then relocate his piece to the outer ring of the board.

To win the game, a player must have his queen on the throne and surrounded by all six of his guards.

This game with the rules – simple as they may be – is a tedious slog to nowhere good. It is a game where the win condition is almost impossible to achieve.

Now Kanare Kato with Kanare_Abstract does offer up a couple of variant suggestions in this small box edition which help – largely that captured pieces leave play and you win if your queen is in centre spot surrounded by whatever guards she has left – which breathes a level of playability into this one the core rules do not offer.

Check it out, and the full range of generally fine games offered, at kanare-abstract.com

Project 8x8 & 48 - #4 Murus Gallicus

Over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #4

Murus Gallicus is a wee cheat I suppose here, in the sense this fantastic game plays on an 8x7 board, but players can easily remember the one row is out of play.

Like most games that will ultimately be included in this undertaking Murus Gallicus is one easily made at home – even for the least ‘crafty’ among us.

The game rules exist, but no publisher has picked up the game, so if you want to play, you have to fashion the board and pieces. It's not that such games are poor. In fact many are better than some you pay good money for. Understanding the vagaries of why some get published and others do not is fodder for a treatise best left to other outlets than this.

And, then there is a third option for finding a great board game to play, and that is the realm of games where rule sets are created for games utilizing existing game boards and pieces.

Most gamers will own a checker/chess board and a set of checkers. It is about as fundamental element of a board game collection as you can get.

With those simple items there are a wide range of games which can be played simply by accessing online rules and digging out the board and checkers.

Murus Gallicus is one such game.

The game is played on a rectangular board consisting of 56 cells (8x7). A standard checkerboard is 8x8, so you simply ignore one row and away you go.

Each player starts with a set of 16 tokens referred to as stones (the checkers).

At the start of the game, each player takes a set of stones and stacks two stones on each of their eight squares nearest them.

The game is supposed to reflect Romans versus Gauls, so the Roman player uses the light pieces, and the Gaul player uses the dark ones.

The basic units of the game are towers and walls. A tower consists of two like-coloured stones in a cell (the starting formation is all towers), and are the only pieces which can move in the game.

A wall is a single stone in a cell. Walls block movement and can also act as stepping stones which can be used later in the creation of new towers.

A tower moves by a sowing method. Pick up the two pieces and seed forward, one each in consecutive spaces, which can include on top of single wall pieces of the same colour.

Tower stones can be used to remove adjacent opponent walls, through a sacrifice, so both players lose a piece sacrifice.

A player is stalemated if unable to move/sow or sacrifice at the start of his or her turn.

The game sounds simple, and it is in terms of rules, but elements such as set formations, learned as you gain experience, make strategy important.

As examples there is the Gallic Wall consisting of orthogonally connected walls (and sometimes towers) requiring the opponent to go around the wall or blast his or her way thorough using a sacrificed stone; The Chariot consists of a tower, wall and empty space aligned, and the battering ram consists of two towers and an opponent wall aligned whereby sacrificing a tower stone, the opponent's wall can be removed.

Overall Murus Gallicus plays like a much older game. You actually get the feeling Romans might have played this in the shadow of the Hadrian's Wall. That is praise, at least in my books, for game developer Phil Leduc who captured such a classic feel when designing Murus Gallicus in 2009.

So if the checkerboard has been gathering dust search Murus Gallicus online for the full rules, pull out the board and pieces and explore a new game with simplicity and depth. (There is a commercial set available through a European company, although why one would invest in one given the easy use of a checker set escapes me).

-- Parts of this review initially appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper (Saskatchewan) Sept 21, 2011

Patience re-made for D&D fans

The old saying goes that imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Well then whoever created the ever-popular solitaire card game patience back in 1783 – no designer is known -- according to Board Game Geek must be quite flattered by Canadian game designer Ryan Dawson’s Cavern Shuffle: Maze of the Minotaur.

Now over the years I have played literally hundreds of ‘hands’ of patience. It’s a repetitive time filler where you know you will succeed rarely, but you always seem willing to play just one more hand. It’s perfect for rainy days at the lake, minus-40 winter weekends and when you just need a diversion.

From a Canadian designer 

So when Cavern Shuffle arrived and I saw it likened itself to the classic solitaire card game except with a ‘dungeon crawling’ theme,  I dove right in.

For a guy who found and fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons as a role playing game some quarter of a century-plus ago, delving into dusty caverns in search of treasure, battling baddies along the way is almost in the gaming blood.

But getting our current RPG group together is like herding cats as they say, with dad’s with kids and wives, and jobs. Finding a date for the seven of us to gather is about as easy as finding hen’s teeth.

But a solitaire card game that has something of the same ‘feel’ and is based on something as familiar as Patience, what could be better?

As it turned out a great deal – at least in regards to solo games.

This one is pretty straight forward Patience in terms of rules – albeit with unique cards. Gone are typical card suits, for sets featuring four rather standard D&D archetypes; ranger, rogue, cleric and barbarian, with art which is thematically fine by Bodie H.

Where this one diverges is that along the way you will reveal ‘items’ that can be set aside and used to help you later in the game, or you encounter enemies and obstacles that you must best to basically clear them from the board so you have access to other cards to continue your quest.

The Minotaur is the big baddie and it actually moves around the piles, creating an issue which is more difficult to deal with.

It’s a pretty slick idea Dawson has come up with, and it works pretty smoothly, in large part because Patience is so well-known going in.

That said I will note that Cavern Shuffle is probably one best-suited to fans of D&D and similar games, as it tends to provide some of that experience.

Certainly in my case I’ll likely make this my regular Patience option moving forward because it really is more fun than a bunch of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades.

Check it out through Gravy Boat Games (gravyboatgames.com).

Project 8x8 & 48 - #3 Lines of Action

Over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #3.

Lines of Action, at least for me, is arguably the best game that will be included in this exploration of games playable on an 8x8 checkerboard with only 48 checkers to use.

This one actually only uses 12 pieces per player so is fully playable with a common check set, making it so easily accessible. In the past commercial sets were available, but you certainly don’t need to search one out to play this beauty.

Each player starts with six pieces set on facing sides.

The object of LoA is to get all your pieces into a single connected group. A group of pieces is connected if they occupy an unbroken chain of adjacent spaces, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

To do that pieces move in any direction, but with the caveat the piece moves exactly the number of squares as there are pieces in line of intended movement.

Pieces may move over friendly pieces but not land on them.

Pieces may land on enemy pieces but not move over them. When they land on an opponent piece it is removed from the board. Captures can be a two--edged sword, advantageous to disrupt an opponent’s connections, or open a path for yourself, but also reducing the total number of pieces the opponent must connect.

Canadian designer

That’s it for rules.

A variant mixes the starting positions for a little change of pace -- it's called 'Scrambled Eggs'.

Everything about this absolute classic created by Canadian Claude Soucie in 1969 is super simple – well except being really good at it.

Games of LoA tend to be dances where one must balance offence and defence as you try for the win condition.

I’ll conclude by adding I have created a ‘geeklist’ on boardgamegeek.com listing Canadian-created abstract strategy games – now more than 70 – and I would put LoA at the top of that list if rating them for ‘best’ of the bunch.

Project 8x8 & 48 - #2 Dameo

In the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #2.

Dameo is a modern game which is most certainly related to checkers although this one from designer Christian Freeling uses linear movement which makes it a rather fresh approach even if it came out in 2000.

Dameo is of course played on an 8×8 checkerboard to fit this list with 18 pieces per player.

Each player's pieces are arranged so that the bottom three rows, from the perspective of the player, are filled eight in row one, six in the next, and four in the third, forming a distinctive trapezoid shape.

Pieces can only move forward, either straight ahead or diagonally.

Where this one diverges from typical checkers a line of men can advance as a group straight or diagonally forward.

This creates huge options each move, and adds a depth not achievable in traditional checker games.

Kings move like a queen in Chess, which again adds a fresh feel to Dameo, and long range capture potential.

That said there is a limitation. In Dameo men and kings capture orthogonally only, but Kings can capture at long range.

Capturing involves jumping over enemy pieces and removing them from the board. All captures in Dameo are orthogonal only. A man may capture an adjacent enemy piece, forwards, backwards, or sideways, by a jump to an empty square directly beyond the captured piece. 

Maximum capture is enforced.

In terms of checker family games Dameo is perhaps an illegitimate cousin of a sort, but it is also an amazing game, which flirts with being in the top-10 abstract strategy game created this millennium – a list I admit I waffle on rather regularly – but Dameo is always in the mix of thoughts.

Checker fans have to try this, and it is different enough even those not being a fan of Checkers should give Dameo a try – you might find a new favourite.

Project 8x8 & 48 - #1 Turkish Checkers

 

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

Oh, and before going farther a link to the Abstract Nation page -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/154116835214959 -- a great group to be part of.

Now for week one I have to point to an actual checker game – but not common American Checkers most are likely familiar with. While well-organized and sets commonly available I find that version of checkers particularly week.

A far better choice is Turkish Draughts (Checkers) widely played in the Middle-East, where it is known as Dama.

It differentiates with most other games of the Checkers family – and there are many with many countries having versions with slightly different rules -- because pieces move straight forward or sideways, not diagonally.

On an 8×8 board, 16 men are lined up on each side, in two rows. The back rows are vacant.

Men move orthogonally forwards or sideways one square, capturing by means of a jump; they cannot move or capture backwards or diagonally. 

The movement creates an immediate dynamism here not seen in the American version.

Then play ramps up another notch when a piece reaches the last row and promotes to a king. In Turkish Checkers the king (Dama) flies, meaning it moves as a rook in Chess.

Kings can move any number of empty squares orthogonally forwards, backwards or sideways. A king captures by jumping over a single piece any number of empty squares away, landing on any open square beyond the captured piece along a straight line.

A flying king can jump any piece along a path as long as there’s an empty square on the other side of it. The king doesn’t have to be right next to the enemy piece and it doesn’t have to land on the square immediately after it.

As you can likely visualize a king can crisscross a board in a hurry creating havoc for an opponent.

If you are looking to play a traditional Checker game Turkish Draughts or International Checkers are the best choices and since International Checkers is played on a 10x10 board it doesn’t fit this current undertaking, so try out the Turkish game.

 

A very particular niche for this one

 

OK, Not Enough Mana is a step outside games my gaming group plays.

To begin with it will remind of a simplified Magic: the Gathering. It’s not near as deep, nor is it expected to be, but you can feel a connection.

There’s also a kind of dash of Uno.

So this one from designer Paweł Piskorski, artist Krzysztof Maziarz, and publisher SUPERHOT Presents, (in Canada through ilo307), is a rather straight forward card battler.

That said it is set apart because Not Enough Mana is a ‘potion; drinking card game for three-to-six fearless wizards.

So drinking is actually a mechanic in this game, so that limits interest in terms of who plays – legal age of course that varies with jurisdiction – and where you are playing. You need a locale where a few drinks is safe, and where you stash vehicle keys too.

In broader terms in Not Enough Mana you’ll be destroying each other using epic spells, curses and artifacts – using card spells ala MtG, while replenishing your mana by drinking magical potions. (It must be noted the rules say to come up with options to taking a drink to secure ‘mana’ but I haven’t come up with a reasonable option).

Your goal is to eliminate all other wizards from the game, either through depleting all their health points or by K.O. (also known as Too Much Mana).

In their turn, players cast spells and curses, equip artifacts and face epic events by drawing and playing cards. Spells require mana points, which the player can replenish at any point in the game by drinking mana potions.

If a player loses all health points or is incapable of making a move on their turn, they are removed from the game. The last player wins.

At age 65 I’m well past interest in a drinking game – couldn’t afford the good Scotch either – so this isn’t a game that held my interest although 40 years ago this would have been a blast.

Just be aware the game group has to be on the same page for this one.

Check it out at notenoughmana.com and here in Canada find it via ilo307.com/en

Prelude to 'Project 8x8 & 48'

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on a common 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

It was at that point the idea of a series of reviews for the blog began to take form.

I thought it would be simple enough to come up with maybe 10 games that would fit a framework which developed as I delved into what games to include.

The parametres became games you can play on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common check sets – becoming finally the ‘8x8 & 48 Project’.

What the ‘Project’ really comes down to is being a gaming system of which there of course are many – most notably a common deck of cards with which you can play a myriad of games; Icehouse Pyramids with which dozen more games can play, and a Decktet deck for which there have again been many games designed.

But the ‘Project’ then took on something of a life of its own as they say. 

The list of games I want to include seems to grow near daily – with the final number still a mystery to me. I hope viewers will ‘follow’ this humble blog to find out.

The plan – roughly at least – is to post three reviews one week, two the next, then repeat until I reach some undefined number of ‘Project’ games.

It will be some work to write them, but hey I think it’ll be fun too.

Let’s see how it develops – together!

Take a game room tour

 

Welcome to a very amateur visit to my game room.

I do not as a rule make videos -- as I am sure you will agree if you watch -- but I thought I'd give it a try.

As you can see it took three vids to allow me to upload.

Most of the games are abstract strategy games.

There are many other more group oriented games in a game room of another member of a small group I game with.

Interestingly, my all-time favourite game is crokinole and you can barely see the board here -- well main board I own a few (too many according to my better half).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Game on!

A coffee time wizard war

There are a raft full of games where two players assume the role of a wizard – perhaps most notably Magic: the Gathering.

But if you are limited for time, another option to consider is Bahamut Dispute.

Bahamut Dispute is a small footprint card battler from designers Aya Taguchi, and Shun Taguchi with art from Amelicart that the tiny box states plays in 10-minutes, and that is giving you a minute or two cushion in most games.

The website at jelly2intl.com explains “as the most powerful wizard in your kingdom, you must get your hands on Baleful Bahamut, a legendary dragon, before your arch-rival can use it to destroy your home! Utilize various spells to interrupt your rival's summoning ritual while working to complete it yourself.”

The legendary dragon is hidden among the small deck of cards – 16 in total. Successfully summoning him will lead to an immediate victory on the following turn.

However, both players have access to spells and actions, drawing one, and playing up to two of them on their turn -- although the variety is limited in such a thin deck.

Some cards summon creatures, other thwart opponent moves, all the sort of things you’d expect from a spellcaster battle.

The art here is ok, a sort of cartoonish-feel, but certainly not awe inspiring.

Play is quick – this is a coffee break-style offering for sure – which holds some interest but again the thin deck limits the likelihood one will be reaching for this one often.

Nothing not to like in Northwest

When you see Northwest on a shelf, you will note a rather plain, yet surprisingly attractive forest scene, unassuming yet likely to draw you in.

If you were wise enough to buy this one from designer Rick Hou and Brickhouse Games you are in for a treat.

It starts as you crack the box open and find a wooden board. No not high quality oak, buy nicely done with a dark stain.

You will also note the board is recessed to allow 64 cubes to be neatly, and board bump securely – a definite nice touch.

The recesses are for the 64 cubes in the game, which are also wood. These are chunky cubes with nice art, so when randomly spread across the board would have a visual winner – the sort of board which begs to be out on the coffee table to entice visitors to ask about it.

From the good looks the question of course is does play match.

Well, Northwest is a 2-to-4-player tableau-building game which will remind of Azul in as much as you gather pieces and set them on your own board in patterns to collect points at game’s end. Yes comparing a game to Azul is a big deal since Azul is a top game for many – us included – but Northwest has a similar ‘feel’.

Each turn, the player drafts a cube from the board by moving the shared ‘exploration token’ onto the cube and adding it to their tableau. The previously captured cube sets the next player's available move – this is the biggest drawback to Northwest, a near constant having to ask just what cube the previous player took, because casual gaming you just aren’t watching that closely.

• Bees/Honey: next player must move in the L-Shape think the knight move from Chess.
• Mushrooms: next player must move into a space in any of the eight surrounding spaces  - like a chess king.
• Ferns: next player moves one orthogonal space.
• Maples: next player moves one diagonal space.
• Bigfoot: next player may move into any space in the same column or row.

Each of the cube types score victory points in a unique way. For example, a mushroom just scores one point no matter its tableau position. Other cubes need to meet certain criteria to score. The bigfoot scores best at five points, so you want the elusive beast.

“This is ultimately a drafting game where the strategy lies in when and what you draft. Game play lasts anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes. The wood and paper components lend the game a natural feel, and we've received numerous positive comments on the quality and tactile nature of the cubes. While the design may seem simple, it possesses a quiet elegance in its table presence,” said designer Hou via email.

A handy player aid for each participant keeps the movement patterns and score conditions close at hand.

“Ultimately, I wanted to create a game with broad and long-lasting appeal. I wanted something that people could easily learn and bring to the table regularly with family and friends, while still providing meaningful choices. I am a mechanics-first designer, so I started imagining different abstract mechanics that would provide a fun and strategic interplay among players, accommodating up to four. The theme came later. We live in the Pacific Northwest and are regularly inspired by the beauty of this place and the creativity and kindness of the people here. We've been fortunate to be part of a community of passionate designers, publishers, and distributors who support one another. For my first game, I'm glad to honor the Pacific Northwest and share a piece of what we love with those both in and outside of the region,” explained Hou.

“Like any good drafting game, it provides immediate tension between what you want for yourself versus what you leave behind for others. But the drafting in Northwest is achieved through two spatial puzzles - one on the main board and one on your personal board. Players share the same hiker pawn as the primary method of collecting what they want. Then they will decide how to best position the collected item on their personal board to optimize their score.”

Now Guilder Adam didn’t like being forced into a move by the previous player, but the mechanic works, and feels a bit like Quarto where you hand your opponent a piece and they must deal with it.

It is interesting that when you move you of course want something which builds your tableau in a positive way, but you need to at least consider if a move in a particular direction aids, or hinders the next player too.

This game is super easy rules wise, and looks so good, it’s a near must-have in my books, although to be fair Guilder Adam thought it too much a filler game to love it deeply, and Guilder Trevor was somewhere betwixt Adam and yours truly.

Of note Northwest is an abstract strategy game in as much as you know exactly what’s in play and who is doing what. That appeals to many and has the added bonus that it plays admirably as an abstract strategy offering with three or four players as well as two, which was sort of a goal for the designer.

“Most abstract games are presented as 1-on-1 competition. I wanted to design something that can easily accommodate a group of 3 or 4. I wanted to introduce a game play where each player's decision directly impacts the options available to the next player during the play, except not through combat. I also wanted to tone down the "meanness" by presenting multiple ways around obstacles players throw at each other,” said Hou.

Still one that really bares a closer look for most. Find it via www.brickhouse.games/northwest

 

CCG with a mini-battles feel back on Kickstarter

Genesis: Battle of Champions is a tactical, collectible card game that has been available in game stores since 2017.  Originally created by Assad Quraishi, it is one my game group reviewed a year ago.

But, the game is back on KS and as a Canadian design I wanted to give it a push so below is the review.

And, the Kickstarter link: 

There are games reviews which are super simple to write – those games you love, or the rare one that are flops – the two ends of the spectrum being contusive to appropriate verbiage.

Then there are games that when it comes to writing a review you stare at the computer screen and struggle for just where to go.

Welcome to Genesis: Battle of Champions a game with something of a checkered history.

According to Board Game Geek the collectible card game was created in 2017.

“When Assad successfully managed to launch his game in a few select stores in Ontario during 2017, he had ambitious goals. He wanted Genesis: Battle of Champions to offer fans of collectible card games the same satisfying experience of collecting cards and building unique decks to play with, while also incorporating the physical and tactical board experience found in Chess,” explained Jason Malott President at Edge of Exile Entertainment Inc, the new manufacturer of Genesis
In April of 2023 a sudden and unexpected announcement that Haunted Castle Gaming - the original manufacturers of Genesis: Battle of Champions - were immediately shutting down operations, and would be ceasing to produce products for Genesis: Battle of Champions, seemed like it would be the death of the game.

In the end, in May 2023, the people behind a brand new company that would effectively resurrect Genesis: Battle of Champions.

The game’s rebirth is now among a wave of CCG/TCG games trying to woo players, and there are reasons this game – Canadian created as a bonus is worth a long look . . . but.

And the but here is a big one, so we’ll get back to that in a bit.

Malott noted a taste of chess here, and I suppose you can make that leap. It is likely more comparable in terms of mechanics – the placement of cards to a 5x6 grid, and their movement on that grid to the fine Onitama, or The Duke/Centurion from Catalyst Games.

You also get the feel of a miniature game – think Aisteia from Corvus Belli, which is a definite positive.

In a game reminding of a mini battle -- you have a champion and it summons allies to its side -- you can imagine creatures are a must, and since you draw a single card per turn run short on them and you are likely in trouble.

“Our unique element of summoning creatures onto a grid is undeniably the best element of our game. We constantly hear feedback from our players that Genesis: Battle of Champions is the game that they had wished other games could have been in the past. Several companies have tried to introduce tactical game play into their other games, but we believe that our game's design will always remain steps above any of our competition thanks to the unique game play our system offers player,” said Malott.

Interestingly, you start with a finite pool of ‘aura’ the resource used so summon creatures or play spells. Initially it was expected that it being finite mean a core need to manage the pool well, but games seem to end before you need to ration the resource.

Malott also noted, “our game employs a unique points based system in which every card in the game has been rated on a power scale, and that rating is printed on every single card. Build your 50 card deck while using up to a maximum of 250 "Chi" (the name used for the points in our power ranking system) without any limits on how many copies of your favorite cards that you can include in your deck! Most of our competitors in the industry utilize a rule that restricts players to only including a maximum of four copies of any card in their deck, so with Genesis, the deck-building options are far more diverse.”

Onto the art here – with the caveat art is very much subjective to individual tastes – is excellent fantasy style with Genesis.

At this point it seems like a winner – and certainly the foundation of a CCG about that average exists with Genesis.

The ‘but’ arises when you go online to learn to play -- there’s no rule book in a starter deck just a little ‘cheat card’.

The very basic game rules are nicely encapsulated in videos at genesisbattleofchampions.com but there are key words not on the cheat card ‘decay’ for example and then it’s onto the cellphone to try and find what it does.

Creatures and spells are effective only in some squares of a 3x3 grid around the creature of caster, easily seen on the card – but wait at least one card in a starter sheet –Dhuma Ejitr -- where the grid is missing. Back online trying to find the answer.

Then the champion Suttir card has it doing one point damage on one line and three on another. More confusion. More online searching and mounting frustration.

And therein lies the problem here, a game with so much going for it in terms of foundational game ideas, ends up creating a sour taste because of the glitches we had to go searching answers to.

We are carrying on with the original vision and goals for the game that Assad began with.

To offer a game that provides a more fun play experience than our competitors, while remaining at a more affordable financial point of entry for new players. It is our objective to provide an extremely fun collectible card game that everyone can afford to play and enjoy for years to come.

It is difficult not to recommend at least a couple of pre-constructed starter decks to try this one, but beware, you will face some frustrating moments in learning this one.