Solo game drips steampunk theme

 

If you are into solo gaming, and you enjoy a darker world to explore then you might want to look at Clockwork Insanity : A Solo Steampunk Card Game.

This one drips atmosphere albeit a bit of a mixed bag in that regard.

At it’s heart it looks and feels steampunk, but there is a healthy dose of gothic, and a full dash of horror in this one too.

So what of the story here?

“While deployed as a guard to suppress a riot at the Claybury Asylum for the Criminally Insane you discover you are trapped by the automata of the notorious inmate Dr Von Klutzn,” notes its Kickstarter page.

“Can you escape from the asylum by journeying through its dark halls and cells to discover the 5 keys needed to successfully exit the building while maintaining the precious air supply that powers your pneumatic suit and weapons, or will you become yet another victim of the mechanical monsters roaming the asylum?”

This is a nice build as a Print n Play, card driven you can sleeve the game driver rather easily, and then the rules which I at least prefer in print rather than on a screen. The cards here fits the theme, being steampunk through and through but they are AI if that is a factor in your game buying decisions.

From there game play is straightforward and rather well-laid out too.

“Clockwork Insanity is played through a series of rounds which represent the areas of the asylum you are searching for a key,” notes the KS page. “The end of each round is triggered when you retrieve a key, (you are seeking five), within the Exploration deck. The last round is completed once you have retrieved the final key and played to the end of the Exploration deck to successfully escape from the asylum. . .

“Once you have acquired the fifth key you play to the end of the Exploration deck to complete the final turn. If you succeed in reaching the end of the Exploration deck with the five keys you have still succeeded in escaping from the Claybury Asylum for the Criminally Insane.”

This is very much a theme-driven one, that you best be into before hitting print, but once into it Clockwork Insanity is a solid little time burner.

Fianco a 2005 design by Fred Horn

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 #13.

Back a few when I added Renpaarden to the 8x8 & 48 project because 9x9 games work so nicely using the checkerboard intersections I said there would be another game or two that used that little trick.

Well here is the next on; Fianco a 2005 design by Fred Horn, and a production board produced at one point by Gerhards Spiel und Design.

Fianco, which I have seen online is Italian for ‘side’ or ‘flank’, has a rather unique initial lay out – see photo – with the simple goal to be the first player to move one of your pieces to the opponent's back line.

The rules here are rather straight forward too, making it an easy try with your own 8x8 & 48 Project set.

On a turn, you move or jump with one of your pieces either forward (whether orthogonally or diagonally) or sideways. In this one backwards movement is not allowed.

You can capture in Fianco too – in fact you must if possible.

You capture by jumping (diagonally forward) over an enemy stone – so very much like regular checkers -- landing on the immediate empty cell.

While capturing is mandatory as noted multiple / maximum is not enforced.

Fianco is not particularly unique, but you start from a very different formation, that provides just enough difference that it’s a good one to add into a play mix.

Generatorb more game than expected

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 #12.

This one is interesting as it reminds me how long I have been reviewing board games.

It was back in July 2015 I first reviewed Generatorb for Yorkton This Week.

I liked Tim Schutz’s 2001 well-enough back then, and it remains solidly interesting today.

Generatorb is a game of jumping and capturing where you attempt to get one of your own pieces in your opponent's generator square – basically across the board which is positioned as a diamond between the players.

The orientation of the board, while not unique to Generatorb, is not used too often, so it gives this abstract strategy game an unusual visual playing field. It makes you visualize moves in a slightly askew fashion from the norm.

Each player requires 24 stackable game pieces – so the max for the 8x8 & 48 Project.

The playing pieces are called Orbs.

Orbs move by jumping in a straight line over another playing piece to the empty space behind it. Orbs can go in any of the eight directions when moving, but must jump over a piece to move. Orbs can do multiple jumps if it is possible, similar to a checkers jump.

With four pieces starting on the board the remaining 20 are held in reserve off the board.

After an Orb moves out of the Orb-Generator and vacates a space, a new playing piece is placed in the empty space. This is done at the end of a player's turn. It's not considered a turn to create a new Orb. Only one new Orb can be created per turn. Players may leave a space in the Orb-Generator empty until another turn if they so desire.

Capturing opponent pieces is an element of Generatorb. Orbs capture by jumping over a playing piece onto your opponents playing piece. Orbs can only capture Orbs not Spheroids.

So what is a Spheroid you ask?

Spheroids are two Orbs stacked on top of each other to create one playing piece. They are created by jumping an Orb over another playing piece onto one of your own Orbs.

Spheroids are more versatile pieces as they can move two ways, either like an Orb or one space in any direction. Similar to a Chinese Checker.

Spheroids capture by landing on your opponent's piece. Spheroids can capture Orbs and Spheroids.

To split a Spheroid move the top piece like a Spheroid and leave the bottom piece behind. You can split a Spheroid as a move or as a capture. Yes, a splitting Spheroid can capture another Spheroid.

That was basically the game when created.

However, good games evolve, and Generatorb did just that, becoming much more in the process of that evolution.

A few years after creating the game Schutz revisited his creation and added a third piece; the Globe.

Globes are a stack of three same coloured game pieces and are created by stacking an Orb on a Spheroid, a Spheroid on an Orb or by splitting a Spheroid and stacking half of it onto another Spheroid.

Place a stack of three pieces two spaces in front of your Orb-Generator … each player starts with a Globe.

Globes have several rules attached to them which add depth to the game.

Only your own orbs and spheroids may use your globe to jump over as a move.

Globes move along the board like a queen in chess, giving them significant freedom in terms of traversing the board.

Globes cannot jump over other game pieces.

Globes cannot be placed on an Orb-generator core, but may be placed onto any other Orb-generator space.

Globes cannot be captured or capture other game pieces.

Globes cannot be placed or created orthogonally next to another globe regardless of what colour the other globe is.

Once created, Globes cannot be split into its component parts.

The abilities and limitations of Globe pieces add much to the game.

In addition, a new win condition was added as well.

You win by taking control of five of the Front Line spaces. This is the line of eight spaces across the middle of the diamond.

With the revised rules Generatorb goes from the rather mundane, to a game that edges its way into comparisons with some of the best alternative games for your checkerboard, in the conversation with great games such as Lines of Action and Dameo.

This is certainly more game than I think most might imagine and deserves some play exploration.

 

Fine art enhances game play of Embers

 

When it comes to 18-card game offerings nobody produces more games on a regular basis than Button Shy.

And more often than not the games they release are ones you will want to take a look at.

Now you can add Embers to that list.

Embers comes from designer Steven Aramini, and artist Steven De Waele.

And we must start with a tip of the hat to the artist for doing a really fine job on this one. I get a Norse mythology vibe off it, although I believe there is no specific culture this one is tied too. Still the art works.

As for the game play, well to start with this is a solo game of survival – and the copy I am reviewing was Print n Play. At just 18-cards it’s a quick print, cut and sleeve affair.

In Embers you are using your heroes to defend against waves of encroaching monsters and to keep your campfire lit. It’s a simple enough premise, but it works.

You have a band of heroes and through the game you will use each hero's unique strengths and movements to defend the fire from attack and prepare for the next onslaught.

The fire is ultimately the key. If it dies --- well so do you.

As you might expect though monsters tend to be relentless critters, and in each turn of Embers new monsters spawn – again not new but then you must have a challenge for it to be fun.

In the game you spend each hero’s action points to move heroes around the campfire, attack monsters, upgrade abilities, support each other, and forage for material to keep the fire going. Herein lies the meaty part of the game. There are decisions to be made and never enough action points to do everything you want to. Making the right choice at the right time is crucial to a player’s success.

After the heroes act, the monsters strike: damage the nearest hero or even the fire itself.

When the night card appears, a new round begins. Survive four full rounds without the fire being extinguished to win.

A compact game supported with fine art making Embers a great solo option as evenings darken sooner as fall arrives.

Check it out at www.buttonshy.com

Sneak through or blow things up

 

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 #11.

In terms of ‘Project 8x8 & 48’ few have more straight forward rules than Boom & Zoom (Second Edition) from designer Ty Bomba and released in 2018.

This is a much more basic design in terms of components than the first edition, making it perfect here.

Each player has four towers, three pieces high, as seen in photo of the game’s starting position.

From there, on a turn players do one of two actions; they can ‘boom"’ (fire) or ‘zoom’ (move). In both cases the action is the number of spaces equal to the tower's height. The move is in a straight line.

Pieces can zoom or boom in all eight directions, and ultimately you want to get pieces across the board and off so they count at the end of a game.

Along the way you get to blow up pieces. If you are in range you simply remove the top piece of any opponent tower. You want ‘fork’ situations where a boom hits more than one stack.

The twist here is that the game ends when only one player's pieces remain on the board, and the player who managed to exit the most pieces off of the opponent's side of the board wins.

Therein lies the crux of Boom & Zoom, finding a balance of getting pieces through to score, while maintaining some forces to defend against your opponent getting too far ahead.

Games are generally close and you can find yourself facing decisions about whether to boom a piece as it would bring the end of the game closer, and you can see you are behind.

This one plays fast, but there is more depth, and strategy than a first look might suggest.

A most-pleasant surprise to explore.

Around we go with circular chess

When it comes to chess it has been played on so many different boards and configurations its almost impossible to keep track, although amid the myriad are well known versions on 3D boards, hexagonal boards and perhaps less know circular ones.

It appears the first circular board was used in Byzantine Chess (900); an “ancient chess variant which uses a 16 X 4 circular board. Piece movement is the same except that Queen moves only one space diagonally and Bishop moves two diagonally, jumping the first space. Additionally, two pawns blocking one another's path may be removed (both are removed),” details Board Game Geek.

Then in 1983 David Reynolds developed a Circular Chess rule set “after reading a reference to chess being played on a circular board in medieval times. Imagining how it might have played, he developed such a version,” again from BGG.

“His board consists of four rings (files) and sixteen radii (ranks) with a large, unplayable center circle. Mr. Reynolds would often adorn the center with the crest of the city of Lincoln, U.K., thus the design is often referred to as a "Lincoln board".

“A standard set of chess pieces is used. However, each player gets two ranks of pieces surrounded by two ranks of pawns. The king and queen are placed on the innermost file (ring). Movement mimics standard chess, allowing the rooks and queen to move fully around a ring. Castling and en passant capturing are not allowed.”

As you might imagine circular chess and its specific board are not readily available – I was happy to find a set at a thrift store some time ago.

But a set is also available in a small box, cloth board set from kanare-abstract.com

I have come to really respect what Kanare does in terms of preserving some very old abstract strategy games while also offering new design efforts to what is admittedly a niche market.

The rules included in the Kanare set are the original version which more strictly follows both rules of Byzantine chess and orthodox chess.

“The board shape makes the game slightly different from regular chess, and there are no established tactics. Therefore, both familiar and unfamiliar chess players may find this game refreshing,” notes the Kanare website.

Something of a chess novelty, the fact the rules are familiar with the board offering the twist, it’s an easy to learn chess variant which still puts a refreshing take on an old classic, making it a fine addition to a chess collection.

Shrinking the board a wee bit with India

 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 #10.

When it comes to this little 8x8 & 48 project, it is being fuelled in part by the versatility of the basic checkerboard.

While the checkerboard is 8x8, it just as easily plays as a 9x9 board as noted in the posting previously with Renpaarden.

And now I will shrink our versatile board just a bit, with a game that plays on a 6x6 board.

Now of course you can go pretty wild in terms of smaller configurations within an 8x8 board, but of course it can be confusing remembering which squares are in play and which aren’t taking away from the actual game experience.

But, 6x6 is easily envisioned, the outer squares around the entire board out of play.

And, as you will see in the photo here, you can easily use a felt marker to ‘gently’ mark your 6x6 area, without taking away from the overall board.

So welcome to Martin Windischer’s 2003 designed India.

This is a crossing game of a type. You win if you move a stack of size one to the opposite side, or conversely a player with no stacks of size one, loses.

India starts with each player having 12 pieces on the two rows closest to them, and an additional 12 pieces off board.

On a turn a player must do one of the following actions:

• Drop an off board stone over a friendly stack.
• Move a friendly stack to an (orthogonal or diagonal) adjacent empty cell.
• Capture an (orthogonal or diagonal) adjacent enemy stack with exactly one less stone than the moved stack, with captured pieces removed.

India isn’t the greatest game ever, but the need to grow stacks to hold dominance in capture, but also maintain single stones to win – you best have two because lose the last one you have and you lose the game – means some tense decisions. This is very much a game of resource management and balance that makes it a fine first 6x6 game for this effort.