Helios lizards are best 'encounter boc' to-date

For many gamers out there fun is equated with moving miniatures they have painted around the table.

That might be a band of orcs discovered in a dungeon room by a group of role players.

Or, it might be players manoeuvring their ‘band of heroes’ in battle with an opponent is one of many miniature-based games.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter the game or ruleset, as much as the minis.

Yes there are games with specific minis, but many allow gamers to be creative in what they put on the table, and if you are a gamer who likes to create a bit, well head over to heliostabletop.ca.

Helios does boxes of outstanding minis – themed though -- they are Egyptian mythos, Hordes of the Inferno, Goblins, Kobolds and more.

I have reviewed a few boxes in the past and this week the focus is ‘Savages in the Swamp’ and it is an absolute beauty – in an angry critter sort of way.

In this one you get a band of lizard men, led by the big guy ‘Dreadjaw’ supported by seven weapon wielding underlings.

As are all Helios minis – at least the ones I’ve seen to-date – the minis – all with dramatic ready for a fight poses -- come basically ready to prime and paint with limited prep work.

Canadian 

This box will have game masters drooling, and they can fit nicely into traditional D&D campaigns, something more current in a bayou, or some jungle adventure where a bit of weirdness would fit.

It would be hard to imagine a GM not being able to work these lizards into a game scenario to challenge their table mates.

It helps that Helios provides some ideas of just how to do that, along with some mini stats which of course are easy to tweak as needed.

In past Helios box reviews I’ve suggested a ‘rule set’ designed to pit box against box as a miniature game, is much-needed.

Dreadjaw and his buddies reinforce that view. They would be a near ideal miniature battle group. So please Helios think about it some more.

Ultimately, my favourite box set to-date.

Far from chess, and long way from fun too

To start, a pet peeve in the world of board games is slapping the word chess into the name of a game as a way to draw eyes.

Sure sometimes it makes logical sense. Omega Chess as an example is acceptable because the game is so obviously a variant – one of my personal favourites – of the basic chess most know.

Shape Chess – this column’s review game – has zero that connects it to chess unless you count being an abstract strategy game and that would mean it should be Xs & Os Chess, (it would make as much sense).

So out of the box this one was a tad misleading. I know when I first read the rules online I was quite surprised that it had no connection to chess.

That doesn’t mean the game play is bad, it just isn’t reflected in the game name.

So what is game play here?

Well, players’ are trying to build up reflectional symmetric shapes with their stones  -- a concept a little hard to visualize from a rules read (at least for Trevor and I, but in-game it becomes more obvious).

To achieve this goal, players can either drop a stone on a empty point, jump one of their stones to another empty point, or push an opponent's stone to an adjacent empty point.

Once you achieve a scorable pattern the pieces are removed. You will often find you need to avoid completing patterns because the removal opens the board allowing your opponent freedom to complete bigger patterns, or the one needed to win. It’s annoying that you could score but really mustn’t if you want a chance to win.

Points are given according to the size of the symmetric shape, and the winner will be the player who reach four points – although the end goal can be adjusted to taste.

This one is another small box, cloth board, wooden pieces effort from Kanare_Abstract. On the publisher’s website it notes, “Shape Chess originated in China around 2010 and has evolved into its current form through years of refinement within the game design community.”

Shape Chess isn’t a bad game, but it didn’t capture our imagination either. There are, in the end a number of game from the same publisher which we enjoy significantly more.

But tastes do differ so check it out at kanare-abstract.com, it might be the perfect game for you.

A very solid addition to solitaire card games

If you are a board gamer and you own a deck of regular playing cards, you have most likely played at least a few hands of Patience, the solitaire that dates back to the 1780s.

It’s a classic time-killer that most will know.

The idea of a solitaire card game is as a result not new, and there have been dozens, maybe a few hundred variations on the idea of a solo player taking on some challenge created within a deck of 52-cards.

Now a new game has emerged; Concealed from designer Ivan Marić, artist Luka Čubrilo, and publisher Mowl Games – although this one is available as a print and play offering.

In this one you play cards around a printed board with the basic game play being to play out all the cards required in 13 turns, or you lose.

Before the game starts you draw one card and that will be your concealed card for the game.

The goal is to “fulfill the prophecy of that card by drawing and placing cards around your board every turn until you fill up the whole board except for the two cards that together create the concealed card,” details the game designer.

Now there is not a great deal here that is hugely different from the old reliable Patience, but it adds a neat twist that makes it feel just different enough to be a fun one.

Adding to Concealed is that there are several different boards each with slight rule tweaks which will help keep this one fresh.

A definite one to look into for solitaire fans. Check it out at mowl-games.itch.io/concealed

Great book offers up fine card game

This review is a bit different.

To begin with it arises out of the novel Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding – the first book in Tales of the Ketty Jay.

I happened upon Retribution Falls when I read somewhere online it was somewhat in the vein of novels based on a favourite TV series of mine: Firefly.

The suggestion is bang on in terms of flavour, a crew of misfits with a spunky captain and delivered with a hearty dollop of humour – I am most definitely buying book #2 (The Black Lung Captain) on my next order.

The book is definitely in the steampunk vein, and while one catches only glimpses of the world – the book focuses on the efforts of the crew – the opportunity for the three other books in the series to be good seems high.

But you are wondering how this fits into a game review?

Well on several occasions Wooding references a card game called Rake in his writing. In story the details of the game are rather scant – other than it is a card game played for money – so poker of a kind.

Its mention in-book would be easily forgotten except for there being actual rules for Rake in the back of the book.

So there are 52 cards – 13 of each of four suits; Wings, Fangs, Crosses and Skulls.

The face cards are priest, lady and duke.

Yep its familiar – but you have to expect some book flavour too.

The Ace of Skulls is the key card. If you have it in hand as part of a combo you basically win the hand. If not used you lose no matter what else you have.

Players – two-to-eight but six is supposed to be optimum – each ante up a predetermined amount and are then dealt three cards each, and bet on those based on basic poker hands.

Then cards are played to the table two per player – one face up, the other face down.

Starting with the player to the dealer’s left players select a card – then when all have their fourth card then another betting round.

Then players in the same order pick a fifth card – there will be extra cards likely as players fold.

Then another round of betting – until no one wants to add more to the pot.

Sure it sounds a lot like Texas Hold’em but it is worth a try.

Of course this is not the first game to emerge from a book.

Jetan, also known as Martian chess, is a chess variant first published in 1922. It was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs as a game played on Barsoom, his fictional version of Mars. The game was introduced in The Chessmen of Mars, the fifth book in the Barsoom series, noted Wikipedia.

And, again from Wikipedia there is the modern classic Tak a two-player abstract strategy game that first existed fictionally within Patrick Rothfuss's fantasy trilogy, The Kingkiller Chronicle, before being brought to life by James Ernest in collaboration with Rothfuss, and published by Cheapass Games in 2016.

Rake isn’t at the level of either Jetan, or Tak, but as an avid reader and board game player it is a neat find to try.

Flash Flood just a bit too simple

Having reviewed a number of games from prolific designer David McCord, and others published through his NewVenture Games (www.newventuregames.com) The Meeple Guild has come to expect solid games from them.

There have been several that have actually impressed quite a lot; Causeway, The Lychgates, Breakthru and GeeHaw coming immediately to mind.

However, not one hits a home run every time they go to bat.

With this week’s game Flash Flood! it’s a case where McCord doesn’t hit a triple, or a double, or a single. This one is really a soft pop out to the pitcher.

That is extra surprising because the game is a co-operative one, a game mechanic The Meeple Guild generally likes quite a lot.

Flash Flood! is a card game for one-to-four, that at least plays quickly.

The river is rising and players have essentially been assigned a section of the riverbank and a wagon-load of sandbags. You must build a levee before the river rises to flood the road.

This is a limited information sharing co-op, the rationale being your communication is hindered by the roaring river, which thematically does fit well.

Typically, players place a sandbag card – the art fits but is ho-hum – to stop the water.

But along the way you will have to play levee leak cards that must later be fixed, or you must take a rest (miss a turn), both slowing progress on the levee.

It sounds like a fine idea, and it works in terms of simple play, but we never found any feeling of in-game tension. It was sort of a mechanical process of card play which never gained traction for us.

River rising cards are seeded into the deck and should one come up it is immediately played. If it sits higher than a competed level of the levee you all lose. It can happen quickly.

Of the McCord / NewVenture Games experience to-date this is the one that we liked least – a situation where even fine designers sometimes fall short of expectations.

Solo word game a fine time filler

This review is perhaps a touch off-brand in the sense it’s really not exactly a game.

Q-Less is a solo ‘game’ without time limit, and without exactly a ‘win’ condition past an inner feeling of satisfaction when you manage the game goal.

So what is the goal with Q-Less?

Well inside a tin that reminds of one good peppermints might come in, you find 12, six-sided dice. The faces of the dice are letters.

You roll the 12 dice and then go at it to create words which use all 12 dice. The words must connect like those in the class Scrabble, and words must contain at least three letters.

The brief rules suggest not all rolls can be ‘solved’ -- I got one with a single vowel that makes success unlikely – but most should be managed.

The game helps a bit in the fact there is no ‘Q’ to deal with.

Oh, and there in no time limit, so you can sweat over a given roll as long as you have the patience.

This one from designer Tom Sturdevant and publisher Grand Isle Games has some age to it created in 2018 according to data at Board Game Geek.

Now there is nothing exactly new here.

Scribbage released in 1963 by E.S. Lowe was the same idea, except it is a competitive game for two. Players roll out the lettered-dice and create words using the same process as Q-Less, except you race against an ‘egg-timer’. In Scribbage letters are valued as in Scrabble so you score words created to a particular point value.

Scribbage was later released as Ad-Lib Crossword Cubes.

Earlier still was the 1956 release Spill and Spell. It is a word dice game where players make words to score points. Scoring is determined by squaring the number of letters in the words spelled (e.g. making a three-letter word and a four-letter word would net 25 (9+16) and subtracting the square of unused letters.

While Q-Less is not particularly innovative in terms of games with lettered-dice, it has merit based on a few factors.

To begin with it is accessible, where others mentioned are basically thrift store finds or online auction buys. You can find Q-Less at qlessgame.com

The presentation with Q-Less is great too. The dice are a good size, and the tin small enough to pocket and take anywhere.

And, while I admit my skill at this one could use some improvement, it is a rather addictive experience. For some that will mean extended study to get all 12 letters into words per the rules, and others it will be a case of ‘surrender’ and a fresh roll. Either way this is a fine time eater that fits when having coffee, or even during commercials of a sport event you are watching.

Well worth looking into as a stocking stuffer for someone a bit hard to buy for.

Quirky characters and simple rules make this a charmer

Some games just charm you from the moment you rip off the cellophane.

Cube Creatures is one of those games.

It starts with the nifty magnetic closing box lid, and the clean front of box design – both a credit to someone wanting to present their game in a most satisfying way.

Inside is a rather straight forward two-player card battler that will remind a bit of Magic the Gathering if you striped it down to its most basic mechanics – critters battling critters.

In Cube Creatures players share a single deck of cards – no pre-game time consuming deck building here, and no expense buying booster packs. (The caveat being if this one sells well you almost know an expansion would be forthcoming).

So each player gets a hand of cards – they are going to be creatures, or creature enhancements for the most part with a spattering of ‘instant’ play cards or spells.

You must have creatures in play and you have to battle. It’s really that straightforward.

You win five battles so that you claim the losing creatures and you win.

It’s quick and it is so much fun.

Helping raise this one a click higher is amazingly charming art – think the best doodles in the margins of a middle school student’s notebook. That is actually the case here since Cube Creatures is the creation of a dad and his seven-year-old son.

That combo is no doubt why this game plays so easily. It is an entry level battler for even the youngest player.

And, while it is all easy and geared to the broadest audience of gamer, grizzled old vets like Trevor and I with years of Magic, Warlord, Flesh and Blood and so many more card battlers, Cube Creatures was still ‘fun’.

Ultimately, fun is all one should want from any game, and with that you really need to check this one out via a Facebook search.