Warcrow book exudes quality

If you were to poll the members of ‘The Meeple Guild’ you would find miniature gaming would rate at or very near the top in terms of favourite category of game.

Over the years we have played and reviewed many – Warmachine, MERCs, Blackwater Gulch, Guildball and others.

Among the best are the games which survive long term – it shows players like the game and the company is dedicated to new offerings to hold interest.

One company which has done that well is Infinity.

Infinity has a pretty basic but effective philosophy in terms on mini gaming.

It starts with absolutely wonderful minis throughout what is now a rather extensive range from the company which has been around for a quarter of a century – quality really is synonymous with longevity in mini gaming.

The other aspect that has made Infinity a success is the ability to offer new things which garners attention.

In 2024 that included the release of the mini skirmish game Warcrow, which we look at today – or at least its core rulebook as an intro to the game.

So a quick explanation on the game from the publisher; “Warcrow is a miniatures game set in the fantastical world of Lindwurm. In this setting you control a small military force made up of warriors, creatures and wizards, who fight skirmishes pursuing the interests of your faction.

“Before starting the game, you must select a scenario to play. Each of the Warcrow scenarios describes the conditions and requirements necessary to achieve victory. Once you have chosen the scenario, prepare the gaming table and deploy the indicated terrain elements: hedges, forests, buildings ... Some of them will be very favourable to your faction. Once you have understood all the details of the scenario, choose your faction and create the company list that best suits your strategy and victory plans. The game begins with the deployment of the troops, following the instructions stipulated in the scenario rules.

“Warcrow scenarios have a variable length of game rounds, which continue until the end-of-game conditions are met. Each round, you and your opponent will take alternating turns activating your units. You can move them around the battlefield, attack your opponent, cast powerful spells ... until you achieve the objectives of the scenario. To win, you must have accumulated more Victory Points (VP) than your opponent at the end of the game.”

Now since the release of the core book there have been some lavish add-ons, scenarios which come with two starter factions etc. that add greatly to Warcrow, but more on those in a future review.

As for the core book, it could be described simply with a single word – that word being Wow!

The book checks in at a heft 365 glossy pages, with full colour throughout.

It starts with a stunning cover which makes it look like a coffee table book – and for a mini gamer it really is that nice.

The book is really two in one.

In part it’s a storybook. There is lots of lore and history here which immerses the reader in the world of Warcrow. For some that will be a major draw, while others may just flip through those pages to get to the meat of the game itself.

And of course that’s all here – in great detail actually.

The core rules – how minis move, how battles play out, how a scenario works, is all here as one would expect – although with this company the detail is ensured.

Factions get their due here, right down to specific characters.

Ultimately, this is one book that provides it all.

A player can really lose themselves in this one absorbing the lore and characters and game play, hours of game-associated enjoyment before ever getting a mini to the table, or rolling a die.

As for the game – more on those details in a future review – but rest assured Warcrow is a good one – this company doesn’t do bad.

Check it out at warcrow.com

First Kanare Kato creation to miss mark with this reviewer

This review needs a significant disclaimer.

It should be understood up front that I have never enjoyed the classic Hex – I find it about as boring and uninteresting as any game I have tried – even after repeated forays into trying to discover why many rave over it.

So I wasn’t expecting too much from Kanare Kato’s Borderland even though several of his games have impressed over time such as Stairs, Lines of Fixation, Meridians, Iago and RosenKreuz.

Now according to the designer Borderland is a game that combines Hex-like connective goals with Go-like territorial goals. The objective is to create a border with pieces by combination of placement and movement so that your territory occupies more than half of the board.

It was also noted Borderland was inspired by Dale Walton’s Make Muster – also published by Kanare Abstract.

So Trevor and I found the game more Hex than Go, and I suppose not surprisingly Make Muster has been our least-liked game among those from Kanare Abstract not created by Kato himself.

That all said Borderland rates well in limited ratings on Board Game Geek.

The game is played on a hexagonal board (91 hexes).

The objective is a border which is an unbroken group of same-colored pieces that connect non-adjacent sides of the board.

When the board is divided into two or more areas by the creation of your border, all but the area containing the most opponent pieces becomes your territory.

The player who has more than half of the board as his/her territory wins.

On a turn a player may perform up to two actions: placing one piece and moving one piece.

However, placement cannot be done twice in one turn. Also, a player cannot move a placed piece or move the same piece twice in the same turn.

When placing a piece, it must be at least one step away from all of your pieces and at least two steps away from all of your opponents' pieces – this makes blocking an opponent’s progress a challenge one we found more frustrating than interesting.

If one player makes a border but fails to achieve the win condition, the game moves to the Emergency Phase. In this phase, players can place their pieces one step away from the opponent's stones and can move the same piece twice in the same turn player. This all seems a tad forced into the game – although it is probably a rare situation for those who want to explore this game more than we will.

Now we have probably 20 games from Kanare Abstract if I were to count, and while Queen’s Guard might be the lowest rank it holds some interest as an historic game, pushing Borderland to the bottom for us. Now there of course has to be a last place if one were quantifying games from Kanare Abstract, and I know many will likely disagree which of course is normal as we all do not like the same thing, but alas Borderland was not for Trevor and I.

Far more fun with this connection game than most

In general connection games – those where you are trying to string a line of something from one side of the board to the other – bore this reviewer.

While many rave for example about Hex – likely the granddaddy of the game mechanic – I have never found the game of any great interest.

That said, an odd connection game climbs about the norm – Tak for example is a top shelf game being among the best abstract strategy games of this millennium, and PUNCT rises about the norm too.

So when Meteor Shower from Queensell ( queensell.com) arrived I was not exactly sure what to expect.

At its core Meteor Shower is a connection game, one that has a ‘mining mars’ theme over laid upon it which at least ticked up interest out of the box.

Inside the box this one is quite nice.

The game board is boldly coloured, and reversible with a smaller grid for quicker games as you try Meteor Showers out and a bigger offering on the other side for longer game play.

In this one players can roll dice to have a meteor fall on the hex matching the roll, or they can roll out neat little toy buggies to gather meteors then transport them back to be dumped as part of their line across the board.

On the small board a few bad die rolls dropping meteors easily within reach of the opponent – this one is a two player offering – is bad news. It happened to me and Trevor stomped me in the game.

The larger board mitigates that a bit by simply needing more pieces collected, but dice rolls do influence Meteor Showers.

The meteors once collected change to your colour – all the pieces being plastic ‘gems’ – functional and bright to match the ‘feel’ of the board.

Now the buggies move according to one of four – three hex – patterns. The patterns are right on the board so that is handy.

However, we still spent more time than was fun trying to determine if we moving correctly.

And, again on the smaller board you can get boxed in and not have a move that is frustrating way to end a game.

In the end Trevor and I have decided to ignore the pattern, allowing you must move three hexes and you cannot cross the same hex twice. It makes movement more naturally free flowing in our minds.

So first thing, ignore the small board for all but a test drive. The more expansive board simply offers more opportunity for an engaging game.

Try the given movement patterns, but if you get frustrated as we did, try our house rule.

In the end this is better than Hex – although most games are for me – but no way is Meteor Shower on the same planet of Tak either. It falls somewhere in between – inching above halfway to the point of being worth a cautious recommendation – or if connection is a mechanic of choice for you.

Such a versatile box of RPG minis

If you follow along with these humble reviews you will know that The Meeple Guild – the little group I game with – like mini game offerings.

And, you will know too we have become eager fans of Helios – a Canadian mini manufacturer which is doing some very cool stuff (check out their entire range at www.heliostabletop.ca)

The coolest of the cool coming from Helios are their Mythic Encounter boxes. The boxes contain a handful of minis around a particular theme which you can paint up and drop into most fantasy RPG games – a situation aided by Helios actually offering up some pre-generated rules for what can be a sweet random encounter in a game session.

The rules really are the icing on the top with the boxes, reducing the workload on a GM to get the minis to the gaming table.

The Curse of the Eternal Pharaoh Mythic Encounter box is probably the most versatile of the boxes to-date. While the Egyptian-themed ‘baddies’ in this box can slip neatly into a typical D&D-style dungeon crawl, they fit thematically into pulp RPGs, think ‘The Mummy’, or could be dropped into a modern museum heist game setting smoothly too.

The Curse of the Eternal Pharaoh Mythic Encounter was designed with both versatility and compatibility in mind, admitted Nick Di Scipio, owner at Helios via email.

“When we plan these sets, we try to strike a balance between highly unique encounters that deliver a one-of-a-kind experience like our Haemoturgy Lab, (previously reviewed and a set more horror-themed), and more broadly versatile sets that can slot into a wide range of campaigns and settings so DMs with different tastes and styles can all find something that works for them,” he said.

Canadian designer

“The sculpted details in this set lean into that ancient desert civilization aesthetic; you can just as easily drop them into a fantasy tomb-crawl, a pulp desert expedition, or even a modern museum heist where the displays don’t stay as inanimate as they should. That broad usability was intentional, because it lets DMs spin different stories without the minis ever feeling out of place.”

It is this versatility that makes this mythic box an easy first choice from the Helios line.

“As for my personal favourite, it has to be the Pharaoh Lich,” said Di Scipio.” The sculpts intricate detail and commanding presence immediately screamed ‘final boss’ to me. I love how its design combines the regal garbs of a pharaoh with the sinister aura of undeath, making it both awe-inspiring and terrifying on the table.

“On top of that, I’ve always enjoyed the mechanics behind lich-type monsters so this piece felt like the perfect centerpiece to anchor the entire encounter.”

It’s a box which beg the question; ‘when is Helios creating skirmish rules to pit box-versus-box?’

“On the skirmish rules idea, to be honest it's not something we've fully thought through yet, but it’s definitely been floating around in the background among many other ideas we have,” said Di Scipio. We're actually in the midst of releasing our first retail product - Mythic Mystery Hero Minis and so right now the focus is on that as well as working on the latest mythic box 'Crimson Feast' but as we expand, I'm sure this is definitely something we can revisit!”

Well from this reviewers point of view bring skirmish rules to the front burner, turning up the heat to high so ideas for them percolate faster, would be something to be undertaken sooner rather than later.

In the mean time though check out The Curse of the Eternal Pharaoh, it’s a good one.

Crank up the amp and take your best shot at stardom

If you want a game that is super immersive, and heavy on conveying its core theme than check out Famous: Stage 1 from Canadian designer Jared Lutes.

However, be forewarned this is not a light game you pull out for quick play. Famous plays one-to-four and comes with a suggested time to play of one to three hours, and your first game or three with four players is likely to push that upper time limit pretty hard.

There is a lot – and we mean a lot – going on in this one.

Players are musicians with a dream of stardom, but how to get to where the bright lights of success are upon you?

Well you gotta live the life, and in Famous Lutes has tried to make the board game experience mimic real life in as many ways as possible.

Players recruit band members, write songs, promote their band and music hit stages and of course deal with the constraints of time.

What does that all mean – well more than can be covered in a written review actually – but suffice it to say players are having to make choices every turn about where they expend their energy just like real musicians must. You can’t be writing on a new hit song if you are out doing promotion work for example. So which choice will take you closer to the big stage?

Canadian designer

As it turns out Famous is almost autobiographical in nature for designer Lutes.

When asked how the idea came about Lutes via email; “It was one of those idea-in-the-shower moments.

“After my injured voice derailed my music career, I was looking for a way to apply my creative energy. I thought, ‘I know all about modern board games, and what makes them good. I could marry that with my knowledge of music and the business, to produce a super thematic game inspired by mechanisms of my favourites.’”

Ok, so with art by Devin Taylor that while may be a tad of acquired taste, fits well in my mind, Famous is certainly immersive in nature.

“My goal from the beginning was to have the game serve the theme in every way,” noted Lutes. “From the characters, to the events, to the uncertainty of crowds and contacts, I wanted to bring to life the trials of a hometown band, as much as is possible in a tabletop game. . .

“The theme in Famous is absolutely front and center.

“While the game play is engaging and variable, I put endless hours dreaming up the ridiculous homemade merch, dozens of useless ‘junk’ items, punny venues, referential character names, realistic events, absurd reward names, genre-specific outfits, and tons of gear. I didn’t have to come up with 60 individual song titles for those cards, but players really love reading them and laughing out loud when they draw them.

“And I wanted to make Devin’s artwork reflects the both the realism and the zaniness of the realism of the music biz, and he nailed it. This box is a treasure chest of the small-town band life that I experienced so well myself.”

Now the immersive aspect here is one of those good news / bad news situations.

If the theme of being in a band attracts your interest, or you just want a ‘full meal deal’ where your evening is delving deep into a single game full of choices, Famous: Stage 1, is a definite recommendation.

If any of the things mentioned in the previous email have you reticent, well then this one might not be for you. It will demand your full attention for a few hours.

Check it out further at electriclute.com

A surprising charmer

Since card games are generally low cost – at least comparatively – they tend to be great choices to add to the collection.

You can crack a new card game, deal out cards for an evening and have a low cost per entertainment hour which as budgets tighten is important.

And if the game is terrible you have not invested huge dollars.

That card games are generally rather flexible in terms of the number the number of players is an added bonus.

EKKO is a card game that meets the criteria or player flexibility to a ‘T’ playing two-to-eight – quite well for two which is surprising and gratifying, but fun does tend to climb with more.

From designer Xavier Jauneault, artist Allison Machepy and publisher The Flying Games (check ilo3-7.com in Canada), EKKO is incredibly simple to play, yet manages to be fun too.

EKKO is a discard game in which you will have to get rid of your cards before your opponents, which is about as simple as a card game goal can get.

A player lays down a card, and depending what it is, the next player must play a card of a higher or lower value. Don’t have one you can play, you draw one!

Yes the core rules are that simple.

But there are a few twists that help keep EKKO more interesting.

Play a card that is divisible by 11, and you can take an extra turn – in a shedding game that’s big.

And, then there is the ‘mirror’ card play.

The mirror card of a card is the one whose numbers are reversed compared to this card. For example, 73 is the mirror card of the card 37. Playing a mirror card allows you either to make all players draw or to get rid of a card.

Most of the time it will be making others draw.

The mirror mechanic adds some nice spice and comes into play more often as player counts rise – more cards in hands which might be a mirror card to one played. The impact of having opponents pull a card increases with higher player counts too.

Now EKKO won’t win fans on art – it’s OK at best.

And if you are looking for a deep thinking card game – well EKKO isn’t that either.

But for a relaxed group gathering EKKO rates high praise from The Meeple Guild.

Block builder a bit to confined

Few things make me feel happier than getting a new game to the table – one made of wood where you get to move pieces around. There is a tactile joy in the game play that is a hard to put into words – but to put it simply I like it.

So Qubik hit the table with an expectation of enjoying it simply based on the fact the game pieces are all chunky wooden cubes – but well-made cubes at that with rounded corners, and with the varying colours of the pieces it looks very nice.

The rules of Qubik – from designer Preeda Pitianusorn -- are super simple. Players take turns to place a cube into a 3x3x3 space until a player creates a straight line of one colour to win. The player has two cubes pulled from a common bag to chose from, pulling a new one after each placement.

It suggests a typical game of Qubik takes around 5-15 minutes, although it seems to tilt heavily toward the shorter end of the spectrum.

It is interesting Qubik can be played by one-to-seven players. The Meeple Guild only gets higher numbers out for role playing so we have not challenged Qubik with lots of players, but with a maximum cube size of 27, with seven players you are not likely to get many turns, and I’d think games might end before the later players get a second turn. The sweet spot, like many games is likely three or four players.

There are three modes of play casual, competitive, and solo. The first two are rather similar and frankly all games are competitive in general.

As a solo effort Qubik is more ‘puzzly’ in nature, but it is a nice feature in a small package game.

On Board Game Geek it was noted, “Qubik is a combination of the classic Tic-Tac-Toe and the Rubik’s Cube” which is quite an apt description.

Now Qubik is not a game in contention to top a list of great games, but it plays quick and in combination with its compact size is a solid coffee break option that will look good on the table to attract interest.

And of course you do get to stack those nice wooden cubes which is a bonus too.

Check it out at www.facebook.com/LifeDMSgame

 

Chicken game not quite up to scratch

This review is for the small box Gigi Gacker, a sort of sister effort to recently reviewed Das wurmt.

The two games share much, both coming from designer Robert Brouwer, artist Doris Matthäus, and publisher Zoch Verlag.

In Gigi Gacker, players are superficially chicks out to eat worms – yes a silly theme that really adds noting to the game but fits with the cartoony art from Matthäus.

In each game round, the number of numbered worm cards equal to the number of players is laid out, and players essentially bid on them. It’s important to capture high-valued worms as they will count in game-end scoring.

‘Mother hen’ cards add a twist to things, and can be crucial in game play.

There is also a rather unsatisfying tie break mechanism here, that while needed, feels forced onto game play to solve a glitch rather than adding something positive.

There isn’t a lot to this one save it plays quick, but alas without holding the interest of Das wurmt .

Like its sister Gigi Gacker plays two-to-five as well, but for two relies on a ‘dummy hand’ something whist players for sure will be familiar with.

In Gigi Gacker the fill-in for a third player functionally works, but is a patch that seems ill-fitting, detracting from this one for two.

Ultimately, where Das wurmt  was worthy of recommendation Gigi Gacker is the weak sister you likely want to pass on.

'Building' a worm should not be this much fun!

When Das Wurmt arrived it was a game where The Meeple Guild were not exactly sure what to expect.

The game, from designer Robert Brouwer, artist Doris Matthäus, and publisher Zoch Verlag (www.zoch-verlag.com), is a small box card game, but the artwork immediately makes one thing of a game more focused on kids.

However, that is not exactly the case.

This one falls in that niche of a family game, or one to play when the in-laws, or neighbours visit, so is not exclusively for younger players, although if they have some simple math skills they can play.

Weirdly theme-wise Das wurmt is a card game about worms – yes you read that correctly.

Worms start out with a tail on the table, and players add to it on each turn.

As ‘segments’ are added you are hoping to create a worm with a value of 10-11-12 – based on the cards in play. This allows you to score a card.

But if the worms gets ‘too long’ or has cards valued at 13, or more, you score negative points.

Along the way a few ‘special’ cards allow you to influence the games – hopefully to your advantage.

As one card in the worm is revealed each turn it’s important if you remember what you place if you can. You want to know what a card revealed will do if possible to the total of the worm, since the actual ‘growth’ only becomes visible when the next head is played and the previous head is turned over.

The game is super simple, and fast, and surprisingly fun – far more than anticipated as it hit the table.

Cards games are generally recommendable because their low cost makes them worth an evening of play, much like a couple taking in a movie. Not every movie is great for the ticket price, nor is every card game, but with Das wurmt  you can buy with confidence. There’s fun in the little box of worms.

Handy little coffee time filler

It has been a long while since a small box game hit the table that I wanted to like anymore than Flip Chess.

The very thought of a micro-version of chess intrigued, and that is what Verne Homsher offers up.

In this one the game board is the plastic box. Pop it open and you have a 4x8 grid board.

The playing pieces are dice – four for each player. Each face on a die is an etched representation of one of the common chess pieces. That’s it in terms of components, although to be clear the dice are chunky and being etched very nice and the compact board means this one pops in a pocket to take anywhere you want to play. Huge marks on looks and quality.

The rules came on separate pages, a small booklet that would fit in the folded board/box is sorely needed.

As it stands there are rules for a few games you can play, which upon initially seeing I applauded because variety is a plus, especially in a small footprint game where managing a ruleset with the depth to hold interest through multiple plays is naturally challenging.

The core game here is the closet to chess, and it’s OK – well for a play or three at least. It doesn’t offer much if you are seeking lots of repeat play.

So we delved into the other rules offered and while they extended interest through a somewhat extended coffee, they didn’t hold interest long either.

On the website (dicemakers.com) Flip Chess sells for $28 and I never dug into postage, but we know that has gotten ridiculously high in general. The game looks so nice, but play never matched the look for us, so this one is a game you need to consider with care.

Production quality so high in this one

There are games which leave one in awe of the quality of a game that hits the table and Blockoff falls into that category.

The game is actually one of those that ‘feels’ almost over-produced in a sense.

The entire game is 3D printed, board and pieces, rendered in bright yellow and blue, so it just ‘pops’ on the table. Get this one out at a coffee shop and you are likely to attract some eyes.

Also of note is that the designer Nate Denham was 12 when the game was created – so kudos to the young creator, with a pat on the back to family for supporting the game available through www.blockoff.fun

But what about game play in this abstract strategy offering?

Well, this one sort of fits into the realm of games a step up from simple Xs and Os, but still rather straight forward, with a ruleset you can learn in about 90-seconds.

Players – Blockoff plays two to four -- begin with their pieces in the corners of a 6x6 grid.

On a player’s turn they must complete a move of three without hitting the same space twice (diagonal costs two movement) and then place a tile to block off an opening.

If you cannot complete your three paces worth of movement then your piece comes off the board. The goal is to be the last person with their player piece on the board.

Yep, that’s the whole game.

So some quick math tells you that in a four-player game you are likely getting a maximum nine moves, but playthroughs with two showed games typically end with players boxed in even with open spaces left – they just can’t get to them.

Blockoff is thus quick – and maybe too quick to inspire die hard abstract strategy fans.

But that rather ‘cool’ look, and the easy to-learn rules and quick play do lend themselves to making Blockoff one to recommend as a starter game to introduce younger players to the genre that will take them in time to Othello, Chess, Hive and all the other great abstract strategy games. So, if you have younger gamers coming up, this would look pretty good under the tree in a few months.

Every move as a 'ripple' effect

Kanare Kato is a rather prolific game designer best known for creating games which can be packed into a small box and taken anywhere.

To the list you can add Ripples, a game which takes minutes to understand in terms of rules, and plays quickly – it is suggested 15-30 minutes, but you would need to be very analytical in moves to burn half an hour with this one.

For two players Ripples is an abstract strategy game where you are battling for control of a 61 hex board. When the board is full the winner is the player with the majority of pieces – so no draws are possible.

It is a territorial game that uses double-sided discs like Othello, but the discs placed by a player are always immediately surrounded by discs of the same colour So you are flipping a lot of pieces on most turns, which for old guys with bigger hands was at times clumsy on the smaller cloth board – common to Kato games.

The board is initially empty.

On a turn a player places a disc of their colour face up in any empty hex. Then flips over all the opponents' discs adjacent to the disc just placed and places discs of their colour in all empty hexes adjacent to the disc. That’s it for rules – super simple.

This one works because it is simple to learn and quick to play. If it was longer in terms of playtime it would over stay its welcome as they say. There is just not quite enough here that you would want longer.

It’s the same thing in terms of repeat play. Ripples is not a game where you want to  hunker down over the table and play the afternoon away with it. Three games is satisfying. A best-of-five, sure, but a best-of-seven might push the limit of Ripples holding your interest. Better to play a few, slip back in the game bag and bring it out in a few weeks for a few more games.

Still as that neat little time filler on occasion Ripples does hold a certain level of charm.

Check it out at kanare-abstract.com

Mining on Mars can be fun

David McCord has become one of my favourite game designers.

Now that deserves a bit of an explanation. It’s not that McCord has created a game – at least among those that I have played – that would make say my top-25 maybe even my top-50 all-time list – but he is prolific in creating games which are pretty accessible in terms of rules and thus creates a rather fun experience at the game table.

That brings us to Mining Mars which fits the above criteria of simple rules and simple fun.

In this one two-to-four players are gathering minerals – different coloured cubes – to the processing plants (game board).

Collect enough and you have successfully processed the mineral which will give you an in-game bonus, and score you points at game end.

One bump in this one is that two of the minerals – ‘rarium’ and the green stuff -- seem to have far more game impact than the others do. That tends to limit the interest in collecting the other minerals, and that detracts from a play a bit.

Initially I doubted there was an in-game comeback, but then Mark used some special cards, manipulated his scoring options, and frankly stole the win.

That said Trevor who appeared destined to win forced the game-end scenario, and probably should have slow played things while trying to overcome Mark’s moves.

That all actually improved the impression of the game. There are in-game actions which can change outcomes.

The components work, but are not exceptional.

The game plays quick, has a certain charm, that would make Mining Mars a fine filler option especially if time in limited and you have new players to teach rules too.

Check it out at www.newventuregames.com

Diagonal moves lift Quatuor above the norm

Quatuor is a recent abstract strategy game from Canadian designer Louis-David Raymond.

Being from a Canadian designer, and an abstract strategy game which is my favoured genre of games, this one excited upon its arrival.

To begin with Quatuor is a self-published effort and Raymond has created a nice looking game.

The pieces are wooden crokinole discs so nice and chunky.

The board – a 4x4 grid -- is some kind of acrylic, which again is very nice.

Each player has eight pieces, and you win by getting four of the pieces in a row. There is nothing new in that regard. There are piles of games with similar goals.

In Quatuor a player slides a piece onto the board around the outside of the board. If that pushes other pieces that is fine – at least up to three other pieces. You cannot push four as that would force a piece off the board.

In terms of getting a piece onto the board Quatuor ‘feels’ a lot like Quixo a game I like quite a lot largely because it is one of those rare abstract strategy games I can get my better half to play on occasion.

Canadian designer 

Initially, Trevor and I expected the game to be drawish. You have only eight moves to win, and yes we ended in a draw once. We still think the more you play the more lacklustre draws may occur.

But saving Quatuor often is the ability to push other pieces by entering on the diagonals. That simple rule is critical in opening the game to ‘force’ those situations where you have two paths to victory knowing your opponent can only deal with one.

Trevor likens Quatuor to Xs & Os, and there is that vibe, but I feel there is a bit more to it than that – maybe because I won far more than I lost with this one.

I do like that it plays quick, and it left me always willing to play ‘one more’ which is about all you can ask from a game that screams ‘play me over coffee’ – with a monthly Quatuor coffee a reasonable expectation.

Tori Shogi a smaller board shogi variant to love

If you enjoy chess you really should take a look into the world of Shogi – essentially the Japanese equivalent of chess.

There is actually a family of related games with the core Shogi dating back to the mid 1500s. It is played on a 9 by 9 board, and the object is to capture the opponent's king.

There are however differences with Western chess.

Most notably, not only pawns but most pieces can promote if it reaches the opponents three last rows – effectively broadening the diversity of pieces.

Secondly, captured pieces become property of the capturing player and during their turn they can ‘drop’ them back to the board instead of performing a normal move, which really changes the game dynamic.

So that is core shogi in a nutshell.

But, this week the review in about a sister game – Tori Shogi or bird shogi – created about 250 years after Shogi.

Tori Shogi is what we would term a variant. In this case it is played on a 7×7 board.

As the name implies each piece is named after a type of bird. The royal piece (King) is the Phoenix. Other pieces include the Swallow (promotes to Wild Goose), Falcon (promotes to Eagle), Crane, Pheasant, and Quail.

The goal of the game is to capture the opposing Phoenix.

Drops are handled in a manner very similar to modern Shogi, with some oddities such as a third swallow cannot be dropped in a file which already contains two others, nor can one be dropped on the last rank, where it would not be able to move. In addition, a swallow cannot be dropped so as to give immediate mate.

This one tends to be a quicker shogi, the smaller board with drops still in play make it feel a bit like the proverbial battle in a phone booth. Unlike the chess North Americans are most familiar with the board in Tori Shogi – or basic Shogi for that matter – never really opens up as captured pieces tend to cycle back to the board in drops rather quickly.

Since Tori Shogi is quicker it’s a great gateway to the world of Shogi variants.

Now Shogi pieces are generally differentiated by Japanese lettering which can be a barrier some will wish not to overcome.

But there is good news on that front Kanare Abstract (kanare-abstract.com)  has produced a Tori Shogi set with the actual birds in the background (underscored with their English name), with the Japanese lettering over top. It’s a brilliantly simple solution to easier access to the game and designer Kanare Kato needs a big pat on the back for creating the set.

The game is a classic so highly recommended.

The Kanare Abstract set gets a positive nod too. The pieces are wood, the board is cloth, the packaging small and easy to get to the coffee shop – as are most games from this publisher of which many have been reviewed here previously. The only caveat here is that the game seems a bit ‘squished’ with 32 pieces on the small cloth board. Kanare Abstract did a quartet of games in a slightly larger format – Trike, Slyde, Make Muster, heXantafl – and it would have been nice had Tori Shogi been part of that effort.

The size issue aside – it works it’s just a tad crowded – this one needs to be in every chess fan’s collection. A solid version from Kanare Abstract.

Take some time and appreciate depth of Iye

Most games you can play once or twice and while not necessarily grasping the nuances of it, you at least get an indication of what the general game strategy is going to be.

Iye – from designer Onur Şencan, artist Eda Esentürk Durşen, and publisher NeoTroy Games is among those games which didn’t play out that way.

Designer Onur Şencan has had a long relationship with games.

“My relationship with gaming is actually a bit strange,” he related via email. “While I love all kinds of games, my wife and I met 10 years ago while playing a real escape game (she was a horror character chasing me, and I couldn't escape from her). My parents also met 42-43 years ago at a university chess final.”

Now he dabbles as a designer.

“This is the third board game I've designed, but my main job is designing and playing events for corporate companies. Since I started designing board games, I've been trying out at least 300 different games a year,” said Şencan. “Of these, Grand Austria Hotel and Rococo: Deluxe Edition are the ones I wouldn't mind seeing on the table. Azul is still one of the best options for new players to enjoy the board game.”

But what about Iye?

“Actually, the first thing I tried to achieve with the game Iye was to design an abstract strategy game that I could play myself, that I wouldn't get bored of, and that had a lot of replayability,” said Şencan “Whether playing Iye on a tabletop or in a board game arena, players can expect an enjoyable two-player abstract strategy game where each game is different thanks to its quick-to-understand, fast-playing, and completely random setup.
“In my opinion, the best thing about the game is that no matter how many points your opponent is ahead in that round, you have the possibility of winning that round by putting him in an impossible position with just one move.”

In Iye, (pronounced EE-yeah), you lay out 25 tiles face down on the board, then take turns moving ‘the drum’ around the board. In Iye the tiles are nice – albeit just cardboard – with sort of geometric art representing different elements.

The drum is a cardboard standee and that would have been nice as a wooden meeple.

Of course production has its constraints as Şencan notes.

“When I first brought this game to the publisher, it had a leather board and pieces like Azul's. However, due to demand and insufficient production conditions in Türkiye, we had to select the most optimal components. My dream is to increase awareness of the game through positive board game geek reviews from those who try it on BGA (the physical version of the game is currently only available in Türkiye). This way, it can be republished with my dream components in the future, and thus, it will have the potential to reach the global market.”

The Meeple Guild hopes this humble review helps in that regard.

Now for the game itself, the basic movement for the Shaman’s drum is one, or two spaces vertically or horizontally. When you land on a tile, and you must, the tile does to the opponent.

At game’s end the player with the most of each type of tile scores points of varying values.

Initially the tendency is to just dance around the board until it’s empty, without delving into the deeper possibilities.

Those possibilities lie in sacrificing collected tiles to make special moves, in the hopes of doing one of two things, preventing your opponent from having a legal move – an automatic win – or forcing them to respond by using one of their collected tiles to turn game-end scoring in your favour. It is here where a far greater depth percolates to the top which in initial plays can easily be overlooked.

The use of tiles of course is a balancing act, as one used to move they no longer count at game end.

In recognizing the depth Iye goes from ho-hum initial play, to a game worth a much longer look, and a definite recommendation.

 

Comune about finding the angles to build for the win

Regular readers will be aware Kanare Kato is both a prolific and well-liked designer of abstract strategy games.

In the past The Meeple Guild has enjoyed several of his games; Iago, Stairs, Lines of Fixation and Meridians some of the best among the ones we’ve played.

This week we check in with Comune, which to start is not quite the top-shelf offering of Kato’s games mentioned above.

That said, Comune remains a game which will hold some interest for those looking for something just a bit different.

Comune is a placement game using rectangular house pieces. The pieces are wooden, a generally appreciated feature of many Kanare_Abstract published games.

The game allows players three types of placement depending on the angle at which the pieces are placed. This creates some obvious depth, but also makes Comune a bit more challenging in terms of game play.

In the game you can place your pieces next to each other at any angle, but not next to the opponent's pieces at different angles.

Now as are most Kanare_Abstract published games, Comune comes in a small – think necklace box size – box, utilizing an easy to fold cloth board. The combo makes Comune and its sister games easy to take to the coffee shop, cabin or business road trip, but also means the aforementioned placement rules can be a bit harder to vision as pieces are in tight areas from the get go.

And the angles are core to the game. The goal is to create larger groups at each of the three angles. 

The easy to take on the road aspect, and wood pieces are the initial draw, and there is depth here to explore with a bit of patience to get your head around things.

So Comune is worth a recommendation and worth a long look if you are ordering from www.kanare-abstract.com/en-ca

Besont proves addictive in its simplicity

Besont was a surprise when it arrived and hit the table.

The game comes in about as simple a form as possible, a cardboard board and low cost little plastic coins --- functional but certainly in no way extravagant in terms of components.

From designer Colin Leamon and his publishing effort Marric Games Besont is a two player placement where you want to be the last player with a legal move.

Taking turns players lay one-to-five coins along any straight line, they don't even have to be connected.

Given that the board has only 15 spaces games are very quick. They are made quicker still by reaching a point where the end point becomes obvious without playing out some of the coins.

Yet in the short playtime comes some interesting choices based on the ability to place multiple coins in various ways.

The games sort of fills the space of Xs & Os, where you lose and want to go again to try something different. It’s pretty easy to kill a coffee break with Besont for that reason.

You might even pull it out to play over a couple of coffee breaks, but it is doubtful it would make the table on day three, the game just starts to feel same-ish at some point. Taken in small doses over breaks of a couple of months though Besont is a coffee filler.

Also of interest, apparently the theme of Besont is tied up with Cornish history. The game board is the Cornish coat of arms made up from the fifteen gold coins Cornwall had to pay for the Duke of Cornwall's release, which is cool.

“As a games designer specializing in simplicity I was struck by the classic design of the Cornish coat of arms, dating back to 1264, and said to myself ‘there had to be a game there - and what a wonderful opportunity to promote the Cornish language’, so I grabbed a pen and paper and set my mind to the task,” related the designer via social media. “I did try one or two ideas before I struck on the Nim mechanic - which, not meaning to boast, I improved upon - by including diagonals and reversing. What I'm most pleased with is how it can be played as a fun two-minute game and also a challenging game for serious players who know the traps because it has nothing to do with math or who goes first.”

Check it out at marricgames.com

Whiz Bang surprises with its play

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 #20

I mentioned when writing about Gorgon a couple of games ago that Chris Huntoon games would feature again terms of ‘Project 8x8 &48’ and here we go again with his 2009 design Whiz Bang.

Now I will admit I much prefer one word names for abstract strategy games; Dameo, Yinsh, Hive, and while there is actually a reason behind the name Whiz Bang it does not exactly catch attention as a serious game.

A bit of the story behind the name is taken from Board Game Geek; “rapid advancements in artillery during the late 19th and early 20th century meant that when Word War I broke out, the nature of war would be changed forever. That war marked a shift from the infantry charge of old to the modern artillery barrage. Pieces ranged from small mortars to powerful Howitzers. The larger, more complex the ordnance the more soldiers it required in the gun crews to properly fire it. These pieces usually shot exploding shells - called 'Whiz-Bangs' by the troops.”

Once you know that the name starts to take on some interest, as Whiz Bang tries to recreate the trench warfare of the first World War.

The game is played on an 8x8 board, with each player having 16 pieces aligned on the two rows closest to them.

The centre two rows in Whiz Bang are designated as 'No Man's Land' – which the BGG page notes was “the deadly wasteland that existed between the two sides trenches.” Since the two centre rows are obvious there is no real need to specially mark them.

In Whiz Bang the first player to safely get a ‘soldier’ (a piece) across No Man's Land and into enemy territory wins.

That sounds like a simple goal even though a ‘Soldier’ can move only one step in any direction. A line of Soldiers can also be shifted one space in the direction of their line – which reminds quite a bit of David E. Whitcher’s well-respected game Cannon.

But as in the ‘Great War’ soldiers face a barrage in attempting to cross ‘No Man’s Land’.

In Whiz Bang Soldiers attack by firing shells. The direction and range is determined by how many Soldiers are working together. Two Soldiers connected in a line can attack up to two spaces away in the direction that their line is aimed at. Three Soldiers in a line can attack up to three spaces away, and so on. A lone Soldier can attack any neighbouring space. When an attack is made, none of the attacking Soldiers are moved. The opponent's captured Soldier is removed from the board. Again, reminiscent of Cannon.

Whiz Bang is very much a game of attrition. You must occasionally send a soldier forward into the fray, knowing it will not make it.

You need also to keep defensive structures which as flexible – able to alter direction – to be effective.

It’s all about balance, and ultimately survival.

Whiz Bang accomplishes a ‘sort’ or feel of trench warfare reasonably well, while offering up a solid board game challenge too.

Gekitai a neat fit on 6x6

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 #19.

While using our board as a 6x6 adds only a few viable options to ‘Project 8x8 & 48’ Gekitai, a 2020 design from Scott Brady is one of them.

In Gekitai each player has eight coloured markers and takes turns placing them anywhere on any open space on the board.

When placed, a marker pushes all adjacent pieces outwards one space if there is an open space for it to move to. If the space is occupied then it cannot move. Pieces may be pushed off the board. Pieces shoved off the board are returned to the player.

The first player to either line up three of their pieces in a row at the end of their turn -- after pushing -- or having their eight pieces on the board – again after the push action -- wins.

The game is super simple, and plays quickly, and still maintains some interest in terms of depth – planning is important – while also being fun.

There is a second version of Gekitai, but it requires additional coloured pieces so falls outside the parametres of ‘The Project’ although it is marginally a better game.

Ringo perfect coffee time diversion

Right from the start of play, Trevor and I were absolutely surprised, and in the most positive way with Ringo.

This one comes from designer Julien Griffon and designer Steffen-Spiele (www.steffen-spiele.de) via Ilo307.com in Canada, and isn’t a game you might expect to impress as much as it did.

The goal is a familiar one, and one that typically doesn’t create game play which rises above average at best – get four-in-a-row and win.

But Ringo offers a refreshing take on the old standard.

The game starts with a playing field consisting of eight rings: four red and four blue.

Now I must pause here to say just how nice the metal rings are. Just pure wow for a game of this kind – huge marks for the overall components in Ringo with the rings top-shelf.

On a turn, the active player places a disc of their colour in any ring – yes either player’s colour which is another neat twist here -- then moves the ring to a position adjacent orthogonally to another ring. There is no board with Ringo so games can develop in some pretty interesting ways.

If you have placed all your pieces – nice wooden ones by the way – you then begin using one already in play.

Whoever first creates a row of four discs or four rings – orthogonally or diagonally so again a neat twist -- in their colour wins.

Ringo is sort of a sister game to Stakko, (soon to be reviewed), and Nonago reviewed previously which was a solid little game, but this one is far better – one that will be in our thoughts for top-five game of the year come Christmas.

Adh Mor far more fun than anticipated

 

Up front Adh Mor, it apparently means "Good Luck" in Irish, was not a game that was on my radar.

And when I opened the small box and saw that you rolled dice my interest didn’t tick up even a little bit.

Then Trevor and I set up the game, read the rules and started rolling dice – about five-minutes from box opening to that first dice roll.

Immediately, we were captivated by this one from prolific game designer David McCord and publisher NewVenture Games.

So to begin with, as are most of the games from this publisher, Adh Mor has a solid wood board, and nice wooden pegs. It comes in a small box as many from this publisher does, so it’s highly portable -- so ideal for a coffee shop.

In terms of game play it’s about as simple as you can get. The game begins with just four of each player's pieces on the 6x6 board, (each player has 18).

There are two dice, one a common D6, the other with three white faces and three black.

A roll of the unique dice dictates the choices available to place or move a peg, so if you roll white you must move a peg which starts on a white space.

A piece moves any combination of directions based on the D6 – without moving through the same spot twice.

The exception is a roll of six, which means you add a peg to the board.

Obviously, the more pegs there are on the board the less move options you will have on a roll.

The game is for two, and plays in 20-minutes according to the box, but it tends to play longer it seems – almost to the point of seeming just a bit draggy in mid game. Early there are numerous moves, and late you hope for low rolls and longer moves, which become difficult on a more crowded board. That middle game play seems just a bit slow, although not so much so that it drops this game more than a smidge for Trevor and I.

A most pleasant surprise to be sure – maybe the biggest positive surprise of the year to date

Adh Mor is just a fun little dance in a phone booth which is easy to recommend.

 

Gorgon is a surprisingly solid 8x8

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 #18.

Gorgon is a 2001 design from Chris Huntoon which is certainly part of the broader checker family.

I would be remiss if I did not start here with a big tip of the chapeau to Huntoon whose design efforts will pop up again before Project 8x8 & 48 comes to its end. While not a lot of designers seem focused on the checker-game and its potential, Huntoon has done just that and he has created some very interesting games as a result.

In Gorgon each player starts with 16 ‘Gorgons’ – yes just common checkers - eight on each of the two back ranks.

On each turn a Gorgon moves diagonally forward, sliding to an adjacent empty square, again just straight old checkers at this point.

Where Gorgon ramps things up is that they may petrify an opponent’s Gorgon by jumping over it to an empty space on the other side. A petrified Gorgon is unable to move and blocks the space it occupies for the remainder of the game. This is a game changer in terms of tactics, especially as the first player who cannot move loses.

To mark a petrified piece flip it over.

The standard game is played without forced jumps, with forced jumps suggested as a variant.

Jumps may be in any of the five non retreating directions: vertically, diagonally forward, and sideways. Multiple jumps are possible.

Another interesting aspect of Gorgon in that the first and last row of the board are considered to be connected. A Gorgon leaving one edge will be re-entered at the appropriate space on the other edge.

A checker player will adapt to this game with ease, but the impact of areas of the board being blocked is fresh enough to make it a must try. Nicely done Mr. Huntoon.

This one is a near 8x8 classic

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 #17.

Breakthrough was designed by William Daniel 'Dan' Troyka in 2000 and was apparently originally played on a 7x7 board.

After the size of the board was changed, it won the 2001 8x8 Game Design Competition, sponsored by About Board Games, Abstract Games Magazine and the Strategy Gaming Society.

Winning the 2001 contest really makes it an obvious inclusion for ‘Project 8x8 & 48’ and certainly the game scores highly in terms of its pure simplicity – although that does not mean strategy and tactics come easily here. (It should be noted this one can be played on a 10x10 board, each players having 30 pieces.)

In Breakthrough, players each start with 16 pieces aligned on the two rows closest to them – a very standard starting array in many games here.

Players alternate moving one of their own pieces per turn, trying to reach the opposite side of the board. The first player to do so wins.

A piece can move forward or diagonally forward to an adjacent empty cell. Alternatively, it can capture an enemy piece diagonally forward.

Captures are not compulsory – which is a tad different from most ‘checker-esque’ games.

Captures cannot be chained either in Breakthrough.

This game is all about positional play as the two forces approach each other. There is something of a feeling of ‘detente’ as forces drudge toward the eventual battle line.

Then one player will make the plunge and the battle is fully on. The first to break the line and get a runner to the other side will win most times.

This game resonates less with me personally than many in this project. The start a bit slow, the end a bit anticlimactic for me. Still Breakthrough is one players need to try for themselves as many do like it quite a lot.

 

Abande is a solid little stacker

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 #16.

So, a few reviews back I noted how easily our 8x8 games can be used to play a game needing a 6x6 board, (it was India), going as far as to mark the board with a thin black felt marker to define the smaller area.

Now that the 6x6 area is defined without really taking away from the overall look in IMHO, we can use the points to play 7x7 games just as we use the full board to play 9x9 games such as Renpaarden and Fianco already part of ‘Project 8x8 & 48’.

The first 7x7 offering is Dieter Stein’s 2005 creation Abande.

Abande is a versatile little gem that also plays fine on a 37-space hexagonal board, and other configurations too.

Each player starts with 18 stackable pieces held initially off-board.

Players in turn enter new pieces on the board or move pieces already placed to capture opponent pieces (thus building stacks).

The trick here is that pieces on the board must always be connected -- adjacent to other pieces.

When all pieces are placed and both players pass their turn in sequence, points are collected for pieces and stacks.

In Abande pieces are placed on the intersections of the lines, so a perfect fit here.

Initially the board is empty.

Players take turns to;

• enter a new piece on the board, or
• move a stack already on the board on top of an adjacent opponent stack, or
• pass the turn, which is possible only if you have no more pieces in hand.

The game ends if both players pass their turn in sequence.

You may enter a piece as “long as you have pieces in your hand and you do not wish to or cannot move a stack on the board, you must enter a new piece on an empty space connected to the band,” notes the designer’s game page.

Instead of entering a new piece you may also move a stack under your control on the board. As in most stacking games, the top most piece determines the owner of a stack.

Stacks – a single piece is a ‘stack’ which moves one space into any direction, they cannot be split.

Stacks capture by moving on top of an opponent stack. They cannot move to an empty space or on top of a friendly stack.

Stacks cannot grow larger than three pieces high.

Moving is allowed only after Black has entered the second piece, which means Black cannot directly capture White’s reply to the initiative.

The game is over when both players pass their turn in succession.

When scoring, players may remove all stacks not connected to an opponent stack, because each stack not connected to a stack controlled by the opponent is worth zero points.

All other stacks count towards a player’s score:

• Add 1 point for every single piece of your colour
• Add 2 points for every double stack you control.
• Add 3 points for every triple stack you control.

This is a tricky one because making a stack of two makes it an immediate target for the opponent to control a three high stack, and you can’t add to a stack you control. There is a real element of ‘chicken’ here, to see who makes that first move to create stacks.

Once a three stack is made you immediately look for how you might isolate it so it does not count at game end.

A real nice option for this little project.