Clue board game review

Growing up my Mom and I got into cop dramas. Our favourite was Homicide Life on the Street. We used to place bets on how many murders each week. So a good murder mystery game was something we liked. Clue is one of those murder mystery games.

In Clue you take on a role of one of the detectives. Mrs White, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mr Green or Mrs Peacock. You are in the mansion of Mr Boddy, who is the victim of foul play. Your job is to collect the clues to figure out who murdered Mr Boddy with what weapon in which room.

At the start of the game three clue cards are selected at random. One weapon, one
suspect and one room. These are put into the case file envelope. This is the answer to the riddle for the game. The remainder of the clue cards are shuffled together and dealt to each player. This will be your starting clues.

Now players have to collect the clues of the other players. This is done by moving around the board and once you enter a room you may make a suggestion like "Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with the wrench!" Proceeding clockwise around the table each player determines if they have a clue. The first player to have one of those clues secretly shows it to the suggester. Only one card must be shown. So if I have both Colonel Mustard and the wrench I would decide between the two to show.

Proceed play until a player figures out the clues. On their turn they make an accusation in the same way as a suggestion but must be clear they are making an accusation. They then secretly check the case file envelope. If they are right they win, if not they lose and play proceeds without them. Make sure you have the clues right. People do lose by getting the clues wrong.

Weapons, from wikipedia because it's easier this way.

As a detective game Clue is very basic in play. The rules are simple and don't really reflect true detective work. However it does teach that there is a process of collecting clues and that criminals do get caught eventually. Good lessons for kids.

Some tips for upping your game are, say one or more of the clues in your hand. If you make an a suggestion and it goes the entire way around the board you don't want the next person to be able to win. If you have Colonel Mustard and the wrench in your hand and nobody shows a clue you now know that the kitchen is the correct room. You no longer need to figure out the room but nobody else can win on your work. Once people know you use your own clues then you can occasionally make wild suggestions without the risk of another player winning on your effort. Next is to mark your note pad as to who has which clue. If you know I showed both the Colonel Mustard and Wrench Cards and the Mr Green player is showing a card, process of elimination means it's the kitchen card. This means to also pay attention to everyone else's turn. If you weren't watching another player make the same suggestion then you could miss simple clue gains.

Some people think that murder should not be in a kids game, but I can tell you that murder children learn about these things without you if you don't find a responsible way to teach them about it. Clue is actually a great structured way to teach them that crime and murder are wrong and that there is a detective process for catching the culprits.

A bonus is that after playing the game you can watch the movie. It's cheesy and weird. Of course Tim Curry is in it so that's a given, but that also means that its a fantastic movie too.

To sum up I love this simple detective game. The randomness of the clues does change the game play up enough to make it replayable. It's fun for all ages and can be great for family night. It's light on strategy while still being challenging. I would recommend this game to families or game groups who want some lightweight process of elimination type challenge.

Check back next week when I review Red Dragon Inn 2

Red Dragon Inn Game Review

It’s not often my wife gets to introduce me to a new game. I’m usually the one scouring the net looking at games and I am the one who led the board game nerd childhood. However while I was playing Twilight Imperium at GameALot she tried out Red Dragon Inn. She fell in love with it. In fact she ran over to my table to interrupt and demand my credit card so we could get a copy. She was so sure I would love it, and as usual she was so very right.

The game box

Red Dragon Inn, from Slugfest games, is about a group of fantasy adventurers after their adventure is complete. They are flush with loot and are at the Inn for a bit of celebration. They drink, gamble and roughhouse. Of course you need to keep an eye on your gold. If you run out then the inn tosses you out and you spend the rest of the night in the stables. And try not to get too drunk or beaten up. If you black out your friends continue the party without you… after looting your gold.

To start the game each player selects a character. In the base game there is Zot the Wizard, Dierdre the Priestess, Fionna the fighter, and Gerki the thief. Each deck has a slightly different advantage. Gerki is great at gambling and backstabbing, Dierdre is excellent at avoiding drinks and healing damage, Fionna is good at dealing damage and Zot is an all around interesting character.

Each player gets a player board. There are glass “gems” for keeping track of your alcohol level and fortitude. If your alcohol level rises above your fortitude or your fortitude drops below your alcohol level you pass out and are out of the game. The player board also has space for your player deck, the discards from the player deck and your drink deck.

Player set up, I seem to be drunk with my drink gem placement

Once each player is set up they each draw a seven card hand and get a single face down drink card on their drink deck. Now you are ready to play.

To start a turn discard as many cards as you want then draw up to your seven cards. Review your new cards and choose a single card to play as your action for this turn. Once this is resolved “buy” drinks for the other players; which is take one face down drink card from the drink pile and add it to a player card drink pile. Finally take one drink card from your drink pile and do what it says. If you have no drink cards you sober up. Congrats you lose one alcohol!

For player cards there are different types: Action- which can only be played during the action phase of your turn, Sometimes – these cards can only be played under certain circumstances such as when a player attempts to damage your fortitude, and Anytime – which can be played at any time you feel like.

What I like most about the player cards is the humour. Most have in jokes about the fantasy and role playing genre. Little pokes at the tropes and idioms of the character and player archetypes. I have to say, while I was playing Fionna the “no more jokes about chain mail bikinis” and “are you saying I’m not a lady” cards were rather funny to play. Thinking of chubby and hairy me in a chainmail bikini made most players shudder (including myself.)

Of the player cards the most different are the gambling cards. A player can start a round of gambling during the action phase of their turn. Once this happens all players must ante up one gold. Of course there are cards you can play to avoid gambling or paying the ante. Once everyone has anted up play proceeds clockwise with each player either playing a gambling card or passing. Eventually someone plays an “I win” or “cheat” card and they win the pot. But be careful sometimes the waitress thinks the pot was her tip and all the money goes to the inn.

Some drink cards

The drink cards are interesting. They range from simple 1 drink ale cards, to the 4 drink dragons breath card. There are also water cards with no drinks or “cut off” cards that help sober up a player and many more special drink cards. There is the dreaded “with a chaser” effect that makes a player draw another drink card and add the cumulative alcohol. Then there are drink event cards, such as “drinking game” or “on the house” which cause all players to drink. It’s these mini-games within the game that really add to the charm.

The game plays rather quickly and the rules are easy to learn. For most players Red Dragon Inn rules are picked up in one or two games. Remembering what each card does may take time but eventually players will learn and it makes the game run a little smoother. Game time runs around half hour to an hour so it’s a great light game.

Some small drawbacks: There is an exclusion factor to the game as the point is to eliminate other players, but due to the rather short play time this isn’t much of an issue. Of course due to the more adult nature of the theme it probably won’t be great for young players. There is a lot of “luck of the draw” in how the game plays out. Watching the Dierdre player constantly get water cards and passing on the strong drinks can get a little frustrating... unless you are playing her.

Being able to play a different character each game keeps up the replayability and the randomness of the draw ensures each game is played differently. There are expansions to the core game (which I will review after I collect them all) which will allow for more than four players and add greater variety to the characters at the table.

Of course there are many house rules out there for adding in actual drinking and gambling which we have yet to try. If you attempt these please do so responsibly. I like my readers; I want you to stay safe and having fun.

To sum up Red Dragon Inn is a fun and easy to learn game based in a fantasy setting. It’s full of humour and good natured competition. I would recommend this to any group of teens to adults who appreciate some immature adult gaming. Trust me, once you play a round you will be coming back for more.

Check back next week when I review the classic game Clue.

Twilight Imperium Third Edition Review

I’m a big fan of large scale combat games, and sci-fi games. There’s one game that seems to stand out  somewhere on the shelf of every board game store. Its box is massive. I think you could fit my torso in this box. That game I am talking about is Twilight Imperium.

Ever since I noticed the game I routinely pick it up just to look it over. I oooh and aaah about all the details it has. It looks big, it looks complicated and it looks fun. Of course I stand there thinking about buying it but then my wallet starts to whimper a little in my pocket and I force myself to put it down and walk away. I could never justify buying a game I wasn’t certain I would enjoy. Thankfully GameALot came along and I was able to test it out.

Opening the box is like opening a treasure chest of game pieces. There are so many things: ships, cards, units, map tiles, player cards… oh my! I got a little giddy not knowing what to grab out first.

Of course before playing I had to familiarize myself with the rules. At 44 pages long it almost classifies as an actual book. For an experienced strategy gamer most of the rules are quite familiar in style. Picture a mash-up of all the various styles of strategy games. Political, space combat, resource management, tech development, and map exploration. If you have played games with these elements the rules should actually feel straight forward. I like the layout of the rule book. Charts and specific rules are easy to find for clarification. Several helpful images give clear visual aids to explain various rules and actions excellently. Fantasy Flight seems have put out a thoroughly planned out product. Of course this was a Third edition so most of the kinks seem to be ironed out.

Map layout is done with octagonal tiles much like those found in German style games such as Settlers of Catan. Each player is dealt a number of tiles and lays them out in rings around the central planet of Mecatol Rex. Eventually each player has their home world placed in the outer ring. This random map generation is always popular with me as it reduces map memory advantage for veteran players and increases the replayability factor.

Resource control is fairly simple. Each planet has two values, resource and influence. “Resource” value is used for building units or researching tech. Influence is used for political actions. A planet can only be tapped for one or the other so budget planning is a big part of the game. There are also trade goods which can be acquired through various means. These can be used for purchases you cannot afford with planetary resources.

Victory is awarded to whoever attains the most victory points. These are gained through attaining game goals. There are public goals which anyone can achieve but there are also secret goals assigned to each player. Once a player has achieved 10 victory points they win the game.

Turn play is rather innovative as each player selects a strategy at the beginning of each turn in what is called the strategy phase. The players selected strategy determines order of play. A player who selects initiative gets to go first as it is assigned “1.” Trade strategy is a “5” while imperial is ranked “8” or last. Each card allows a specific primary strategy to be engaged on the players turn. For instance the Technology strategy allows one free technology to be obtained. However once a strategy is activated all other players can use the secondary strategy on the card. In the case of the Technology card each player may pay 8 resources to obtain a technology card.

Back to the innovative turn play. The next phase is the action phase. Each player takes a single action in their numerical order. This can be anything as simple as moving a fleet or activating a strategy etc. This then repeats for the remainder of the turn in order with each player making single actions until all players elect to pass. Once finished this action phase you move to the Status Phase.

Basically the Status Phase is resetting the player boards. Players claim completed objectives and their associated victory points. They also draw new cards, reorganize their player board/area and return their strategy cards. Basically this is the upkeep phase. Once this is completed go back to the strategy phase for the next turn.

So each turn is basically a series of rounds of single actions until players decide they cannot play any more. At the end of these rounds everything is reset and you start again. With this format a single turn can last for over an hour especially late in the game. However since each turn is broken up by single actions it keeps all players involved nicely.

As you can probably guess space combat is a big part of the game. However this combat isn’t normally part of the victory conditions. So it is a means to an end. You do not need to defeat all other players militarily. In fact you can win the game without ever engaging in a single battle. This is something I didn’t truly understand on my first play though. I amassed a big fleet and conquered a sizeable portion of the map. However I didn’t claim all that many victory points. So I lost. But the space battles were fun all the same.

The game is listed for up to 6 players. To really get the full playability I would recommend getting the full 6. It really allows for a complex game with political swaying and dealing. The board placement also makes the most sense with 6 players.

I really like the complexity of the game. There is so much you can do strategy wise. It is really a thinking player’s game. You need to keep an eye on all opponents. Your neighbours can threaten your planets. Players on the other side of the map can find wormholes to your territory and any player can be politically manoeuvring against you.

The play through time is long… VERY long. The first play through took about 5 hours. I think it would have been longer but the only experienced player at the table was able to amass victory points while the rest of us were building armadas and fighting over territory.

Twilight Imperium includes a variety of optional pieces and rules for making more complex games. There are also two expansions out, called Shattered Empires and Shards of the Throne, if you choose to make the game more complicated or even add up to eight players. I haven’t touched the expansions yet as I still feel the core game is highly replayable and am still trying to master it.

To sum up Twilight Imperium is an amazing big box game. It is complex in nature but with a rule system that is rather intuitive for strategy game enthusiasts. I would recommend this game for an experienced group of strategy gamers who have the time and sheer force of will to play the game. While it may be difficult for you to find enough players to set aside the time and are willing to delve into this geeky of a game, I think you will find that Twilight Imperium is a truly rewarding game experience.

Check back next time when I review Red Dragon Inn.

Magic the Gathering Review, or why I stopped playing Magic the Gathering

Magic the Gathering is one of those games pretty much everyone has heard about. It seems every high school has that one table in the lunch room with the guys who play it. Well, back in the day I sat at that table sometimes. I played recreationally with friends. I thought “hey it’s just a game of collectible cards, some harmless fun.” How naïve I was. What follows should only be taken as one mans opinion on the game.

At the core of the game the concept is actually really interesting. Gather out resource cards called “land.” When you have enough of these they can be “tapped” for the energy they produce in order to cast spells or summon creatures to fight for you.

Sounds pretty simple yet nerdy eh? Well I was in school in the 90’s when there was still a stigma around nerds. Some people thought we believed we could actually cast spells with these cards. “It’s just a game” really didn’t register. So my friends had a hard time with teachers, schoolmates and parents. But that’s not why I quit playing. It actually added to the allure. I thought “these troglodytes didn’t know what they were missing out on!”

I have to say the game is really fun at the core of it. However there is so much wrong with the game and the community that plays it. Hey I can criticize I was a member of that community.

My biggest problem is that you must develop a deck to play. A decent deck is hard to acquire unless you spend significant amounts of money collecting cards. You can buy packs hoping for the best or you can spend big money buying individual cards from the game store or those lucky enough to find them. The game win usually goes to the player who spent the most on their deck. Yay for poor kids!

Of course that isn’t always true. The first draw can actually make or break the game for you. If you don’t draw up a combination of land cards and cards you can play with those cards you are usually doomed to lose to a player who can start building their playing field.

Getting back to the player who spends the most: Time is also a big factor in who wins. Players who can devote time to researching cards and deck planning will usually win over other players. I’ve encountered many players who build several specialty decks to counter other players specially designed decks. It boils down to a collectible card arms race. Whoever devotes the most time wins.

Tournaments became another nail in the coffin for my playing days. When my friends and I finally decided to enter a tournament we were told we couldn’t play. I didn’t have the most recent edition of cards and several of my friends had “illegal” cards they built their decks around. The fact that the company printed cards then decided they weren’t allowed to be used spoke volumes about the poor planning behind the game. It also spoke about a distinct lack of respect for the players, who devoted large sums of money only to essentially be told it wasn’t good enough or done in the right way.

Power creep became the end for me. If you didn’t buy cards from the current edition you weren’t even at the right power level to play for fun anymore. This is on top of the fact you couldn’t play in tournaments. Each new edition or line of cards that come out have a raised power level. If you are two editions out of touch you are probably an easy target.

Even with all of these issues it was hard to break from the game. It’s what my friends did and if I didn’t play I wasn’t included. For a socially awkward geek it meant a whole new level of exclusion. If I didn’t pay I couldn’t play, I couldn’t fit in with yet another crowd.

If you think about it it’s actually a great business model. Force players to continually pay more to play your game. Since they are socially addicted to actually fitting in for once they will continue to pay as much as they can. I wish I thought of this first.

My most recent encounter with a Magic the Gathering player was at my local game store. We were trying out a non-collectible card game. Each player gets a deck, but it’s always the same deck. The teen MtG player had been beaten out of his game and looked over at it confused. The host explained the game to him. He stared blankly around the table and said “but why not play Magic?” We explained it was because we felt this game was more fun. It seemed completely baffling to him that other games existed. We coaxed him to play and he seemed to enjoy himself, but when he got knocked out he scurried back to his Magic friends; eager to be back to his group.

Maybe we won a player back to the other table top games. Games you don’t need to stress over how to build the deck, games that don’t require investment strategies. You know… fun games.

To sum up Magic the Gathering is fun at the core, but for me it became to stressful to keep up. The cost in time and money required to keep playing the game became too much work and killed the fun for me. This happened LONG before I stopped playing. In my own humble opinion I would recommend not even picking up a deck. Honestly I feel like a recovering addict when it comes to this game. I’m often surprised my addiction to keep up the game didn’t end up with me living in a cardboard box protected by layers of “common” cards, tin cup in hand “hey man got any rares? How ‘bout an artifact? Come on I got blue and red decks to feed.” This is the game that pushed me away from the Collectible game market entirely. I gave away my deck and walked away forever. It feels to me that the corporate engine behind this game has taken away from what could be a really fun experience.

Check back next week when I review Twilight Imperium.