My top 5 board games for halloween

Halloween is approaching and here in Edmonton it’s snowing outside. So you could bundle into something warm and stretch a costume over it to trudge around getting a bag of random “fun size” candy. Or you could get friends together in a warm house where their costumes fit they way they should, with some good food and play some board games. Here’s my list of board games to play this Halloween.

Gloom – Each player selects a dysfunctional family and proceeds to weave a tale of misery and death. Gloom is game where you actually want terrible things to happen to your characters and you despise your friends for making good things that happen to your “family.” This is a fantastic Gothic story telling game perfect for Halloween.

Zombies!!! - This game from twilight inc. is a hardcore competitive zombie slay-fest. Explore a town as each player adds map tiles on their turn. Gather items, kill zombies, and play cards to mess with your opponents. Be the first to slay 25 zombies or make it to the helipad and escape to win the game.

Zombie Dice – Simple, fast and fun. This is an easy to learn dice game. Be the zombie to collect 13 or more brains to win the game. Beware three shotgun blasts and you end your rolling streak without collecting your braiiinss! So do you go after the runners or stop to enjoy the brains you collected?

The Haunting House – A basic shifting maze game that’s great for people who want a Halloween themed game without scares. Make your way through the haunted mansion to the exit before the other players. Just don’t question to hard as to why the house is all corridors and no rooms.

Betrayal at House on the Hill – So far the best horror game I have played. This game is played in two stages. In the first the adventurous players explore a spooky old house on a hill, adding rooms from the room tile deck as they go. Players collect items, trigger events or find omens of horror. Eventually one of the omens triggers one of 50 haunts for the game. This haunt is the second phase where you discover which horror story you are in and which person in your group is the one who betrayed you to this horror. The randomness and story elements of Betrayal at House on the Hill make for a night of thrills, chills, and player kills.  If you are getting one game off of my list this is the game to buy.

So what do you think of my list? This list only covers games I have played so are there any reader recommendations for me to try out for next Halloween?

All of these are available from Mission Fun and Games.

The Haunting House Game Review

The inlaws picked up a game called The Haunting House quite some time ago because we were all looking for a horror game. It received mixed reviews at the table.

In The Haunting House players are competing to exit an ever shifting house of horror. Each turn players have two phases. First select 4 actions from their deck of cards to move through the maze of corridors. Players proceed through this phase in turn order. The second phase is similar but the 4 actions are selected randomly from their deck of cards; proceeding again in turn order.

The random move phase seems a little jarring. It does bring in the theme of how some characters in horror movies do inexplicably dumb things but it can be quite frustrating in how randomly it can botch strategy.

The game board and pieces are incredibly thematic. Upon setting up the board I was excited to play because this looked like an exciting and dynamic dungeon crawl style haunted house. However I was disappointed in the game play. For something that looks dynamic and thematic there is little theme or change in the play-style. The haunted house has no rooms, its only square of random corridors. While the box suggested exploring a haunted house it was actually laid out at the beginning of the game. There is no exploration, no haunted story element, nothing to really fit the theme. The Haunting House came off as a childish maze romp of frustration.

The frustration came from the constantly moving exit. The basic strategy of the game would be to work your piece to a corner and attempt to move the exit to your tile while preventing other players from getting to the exit.

The game play is rather uncomplicated with little interaction between players other than screwing over your other players by moving or rotating tiles in their path. This can be fun if that is what you are expecting of the game. Honestly I did have a little fun after I realized what the game was about, but everything about the game box led me to believe it was a more thematic game. It really disappointed me on that fact.

To sum up The Haunting House is an okay game. It does very little with the horror theme it is based upon. Game play is quirky yet uncomplicated. I would recommend this game mostly for kids or adults looking for a basic shifting maze game. Be warned the only thing that haunts The Haunting House is the spirit of more thematic games out there.

Betrayal at House on the Hill board game review

I played a fantastic board game for Halloween back at GameALot and that game is Betrayal at House on the Hill. When I saw it was on the schedule I knew I had to sign up because I had been itching to try it after the TableTop episodes.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a horror themed board game. Players work together  to explore a spooky mansion discovering items, traps, new rooms and omens until the haunt phase is triggered. At this point a haunt story begins and the players have new objectives in order to survive the haunt.

I fell in love with the game for so many reasons. The biggest aspect of the game I love is how the cooperative to betrayer rules work out. The players are all working together at the start of the game working to gain items and explore, however when the haunt triggers there is often a betrayer character. BUT the betrayer is only discovered when the haunt is triggered. It’s completely random. Because of this random aspect players tend to be wary during the initial phase of the game; anyone who gathers a large number of items, or is in close proximity, could be an opponent after the haunt is triggered. This creates an atmosphere of tension and wariness that fits with the horror theme.

Another reason I enjoy Betrayal at House on the Hill is everything is random. There are multiple levels of the board, main floor, upper floor, and basement. Only the entrances to these floors exist at the beginning. The board is randomly laid out each game. As players move around the board they reveal rooms by moving through doors and drawing a random room card. Once the room card is laid the player checks for any event, item or omen card icons and draws these cards. Event cards usually require a roll according to a character skill level in order to avoid damage or gain benefits. Item cards are equipment that the player can use, drop or trade with other players. Omen cards usually provide items but as their name suggest they are omens for the haunt. After drawing an Omen card the player rolls six dice, if that roll is below the number of omen cards drawn during the game the haunt is triggered.

When a haunt is triggered players consult the rulebook and use the room and omen combination to determine which haunt to use. The rulebook will state who the traitor is, often the one who triggered the haunt but it could be another player based on a certain character ability. There will be two books, one for the betrayer and another for the remaining players. The betrayer leaves the room to review their goals and rules while the remaining players do the same for their version of goals and rules. There are 50 scenarios in the books that cover a wide range of horror archetypes: Frankenstein’s monster, zombies, Dracula, or even the house itself. Some scenarios allow for the traitor to recruit new traitors such as werewolves.

The game ends when either the player goals or the betrayer goals are met.

Betrayal at House on the Hill isn’t a typical game. The fun is more in the building of a story with the other players. The goal really isn’t to collect the most items or be the first to a finish line, it’s more about working together to achieve and objective. It’s also more about telling a story and discovering who survives the horror story of the night. I love the creativity of it.

There are some drawbacks to the game. First off in order to be fun players really need to enjoy the horror genre. Then there is the elimination aspect. Characters can be killed off after the haunt begins by having a player stat drop to the lowest position. This can be disappointing however the game does move forward quickly after the haunt begins limiting this. Also players can be killed by simply entering a room, as an example at GameALot our betrayer entered a room and because of a card effect he died. This made for an easy escape for the remaining players. He also just so happened to reveal the exact room the players needed in order to escape and win the game. This leads me to the problem of the variable difficulty level. Some games scenarios are too easy to beat while others become impossible. Some players may become upset if the difficult level didn’t match their expectations. Also some players may not like being randomly selected as the betrayer.

To sum up while Betrayal at House on the Hill does have shortcomings due to random difficulty level and sometimes arbitrary deaths of characters it is still an amazing horror game. The randomness of the game ensures a high replayability factor. The story telling element really sells the game for me as it feels like more of an experience rather than just a game. It’s a game I could go back to time and again just like a favourite horror movie or book. I would recommend Betrayal at House on the Hill to any horror fan looking for game that is more about weaving story than about reaching a finish line.

Ouija Board review

October should be about Halloween themed board games. What has Hollywood obsessed about as horror themed more than the Ouija board? The game pictured in horror movies and T.V. shows as the contact to the great beyond. It has been touted as the ultimate ancient board for arcane contact with the other side.

Could you be communicating with ghosts, demons, or something more sinister?! Actually no. Sorry to burst your paranormal bubble but the Ouija board was created in 1890 by a business man by the name of Elijah Bond. That makes it a little over a decade more ancient and arcane than Monopoly. However it is believed it was an evolution of the talking board created in Europe circa 1854. When the Ouija Board first entered the market it was only thought of as a harmless parlour game. That is until a few decades later when a Spiritualist by the name of Pearl Curran began using it for divination. Since then its popularity has waxed and waned over time.

If you do not know about the Ouija board it is a basic board with the alphabet, the numbers 1 through 9 and zero as well as a yes and no printed in the top corners. Usually there is also a hello and goodbye spot for when "visitors" come and go. Typically there is also artwork around the edges, sun, moon, stars or arcane symbols or sigils. Users place their hands on a Planchette (pointer) that moves around the board in response to questions. Older versions could be quite ornate and were made from wood. Newer cheaper versions are printed on cardboard and use a plastic Planchette.

There is evidence that the ideometer effect works the board. Basically you are doing the work without realizing it. Muscles in your body often work without conscious control. Think laughing out loud during a surprise when you didn’t intend to. Random or subconscious muscle contractions move the pointer all while you are sure you are not the one doing it.

Obviously I am a complete skeptic about its powers. My first personal use with one was during Junior high. I went to a friend’s for a birthday party. His dad was a performing clown (seriously) and a true believer of the Occult. After playing around with clown stuff, he tested us for psychic ability. Oddly enough I was the only kid who he was convinced had psychic ability. I was able to find the queen of spades 9/10 times in various piles of face down cards. (I have never repeated these results) He insisted we work the Ouija board together. What followed was the board answering questions about the other side and it claiming to be demon possessed. Since none of the predictions came true and it decidedly felt like his dad was moving the piece I remain unconvinced of any paranormal link.

However there are adherents to the idea that the Ouija board has supernatural power or connection. Some believe it is a tool for contacting other worldly powers, good or evil. This will be up to you to decide. Keep in mind that the power of suggestion is strong and there have been cases of people who believe in the board’s power enough that they have been strongly impacted, psychologically speaking.

In terms of Ouija board as a game I find the rules too simple. The fact that a limited number of participants actually work the board while the rest of the group just watches doesn’t make for the best of board games. However those watching could be allowed to suggest questions and the results can be entertaining. Personally I find the game (or whatever you chose to call it) doesn’t live up to the hype and I find the groups I’ve used it with lost interest fairly quickly as novelty only lasts for so long.

Many adherents to the paranormal aspect suggest several traditions be held. Such as using white candles and sage for smudging, use at night, use a wood board, say a prayer before using, ask the spirit to leave when done, use in a protective circle, use silver jewelry for protection etc. All of this adds to the theatrical atmosphere or perhaps paranormal power if that’s your perspective.

Honestly I don’t recommend the Ouija board as a game. Its novelty wears off quickly. If people don’t find it trivial then they could adhere to the perceived paranormal properties and react accordingly. Also adherents find it disrespectful if it is not used respectfully or seriously (as in as a game.) Even as a nonbeliever and someone who thinks you shouldn’t believe either I don’t condone disrespecting others beliefs. If you do want to use the Ouija board please keep its actual origins in mind. I actually recommend going to your board game store and asking about a more appropriate horror based game if you are looking for a scare this Halloween.

Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo 2014 review

Guess who had a great weekend? This guy and the wife. We went to the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo and had so much fun. Our weekend started early because we both took the Friday off of work. Get in early and pack in as much nerdity as possible was our plan. And it worked.

Just read the shirts.

We decided to plan our weekend out beforehand so we checked the event website for programming and events. I clicked on the special event link. Seeing as the costume contest was a given I just scrolled down… to see my wife and I. Turns out we are the face of geek speed dating. This obviously declared us the unofficial Mr. and Mrs. Edmonton Expo, right? Despite the fact that neither of us has speed dated and we met online. Well, for those who attended I hope you find a love story for all Time Lords like ours. How was the speed dating? We didn’t go because we don’t need to, with the pictorial decree of being faces of geek love. Or in the style of Stan Lee: The King and Queen of Curiously Quirky Connections.

Friday was great because we got there super early to trade in our passes. We were able to sit, relax and check the layout of the centre. After getting ourselves oriented we lined up in hall H. This was the designated line up hall as well as a space for some extra food vendors, kids play place and the board gaming tables. I was happy to find out food trucks were available this year as it spaced out the lunch rush and kept the flow between halls clearer. For us Friday was all about the vendor booths. We made sure to say hi to our friends at the Mission fun and Games booth as well as Alan Graham of Exterminatus Now. My wife loves to browse and chat with vendors so checking out all of them took the entirety of the day. My back and feet were killing me.

Saturday was our panel day. We arrived about a half hour late for the show but we already had 3 day passes so we were able to go in an alternate entrance skipping the Saturday only people lineup.

Our first panel was the spotlight on Alice Cooper. He delved into a variety of topics. He talked of issues in the music industry, the difficulties of doing shock rock in the modern world, raising kids, and most importantly to me his time on the Muppets. It was like story time about shock rock. Quite the oddly fantastic indulgence for the day.

Story time from Alice Cooper

I'm attracted to two of three here...

The next panel was on the Whedonverse which included Amy Acker, Summer Glau and J. August Richards. It was interesting to hear the shared experiences as well as the variety of experiences of the actors. The panel moderator wasn’t the greatest but the actors certainly kept it flowing. Summer Glau related how being River was a product of the time as it was her first acting role. The being lost, unsure of how to act and being out of her element was something fuelling the role. The topics bounced around on everything from Firefly, Agents of SHIELD, Dr. Horrible, Much Ado About Nothing, Angel and all the other projects the actors were in. This panel was all about the wife’s and my inner Whedon Geek.

Making fun of our picture taking skills no doubt

The third panel of the day was the Big Bang theory panel with Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg. The room was packed. The two complained about the weather a bit even though it ranged from 2.2C (36F) at night up to 20.9C (69.6F) during the day; Normal autumn weather. The panel kept sidetracking with a running joke about child rearing in the city. The panel was funny and kept us both entertained.

We ended the day with the costume contest. My wife and I both love the costumes at the con and someday we will work up the nerve to cosplay. I was really impressed with the costumes this year. My personal favourites were the kid in the Princess Mononoke, the Death Star dress, and Wolverine. On a side note here my wife is super into cosplay and wanted to get as many pictures as possible to work on ideas. The bright side of this is I got to take a lot of pictures of attractive ladies in cosplay. The downside is I took a lot of pictures of attractive ladies in cosplay which kinda made me look like a certain nerd stereotype. Meh it was fun.

Who says I'm not fashionable and sexy?

Sunday was all about finishing what we wanted to do. We ran into some friends who had never been to a comic convention and they aren’t all that geeky. The wife didn’t think she’d enjoy the show but meeting Alice Cooper got her into a high and she bounced around like a kid in a candy store. She squeed with glee “It’s like another Halloween!” I was glad to see at least one new addition to the geek world. She is now one of us. ONE OF US!

We hit up two panels. To start was Grant Imahara. He started by dispelling myths about the departure from Mythbusters. He talked a lot about the show; mostly stories about builds. He also talked about his appearance on the Guild, his old jobs in the industry, and his role in Star Trek continues that I hadn’t heard about but am now eager to watch.

The last panel was the spotlight on Jim Beaver. The crowd cheered when he came out and said hi to all his “Idjits” then he called us “Idjits” for liking being called “idjits” to which the crowd cheered louder. I got the impression he doesn’t understand the total fanboying/fangirling for Supernatural but he certainly tried to. I liked his fanboy moment when he talked about acting on a set from his childhood favourite John Wayne movie. I must say that he is totally mistaken about long beards being not sexy. I’m living proof it’s totally sexy. Just ask my wife.

I'm an uncle I can find this cute.

With that we made sure we said hi to some family and friends at the con (at least the ones we could track down) then we made for the exit. My wife is now geared up to re-watch all the old Angel and Supernatural episodes. I’m planning my Viking costume, and we are both thinking of some other cosplay which we will piece together as funds allow. Speaking of low funds, buying a house made a lean year for the comic expo. About all we bought was a dress for a niece. I would have modelled it but it just didn't come in my size. I'm glad geekiness is becoming more normal. The Edmonton Expo is expected to be the fastest growing Comic Expo and hopefully that means it's going to grow more fantastic every year!

I hope you all came out and see you next year!

Preparing for a Comic Convention

As the wife and I will be at Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo this weekend I thought I would post some tips for preparing to attend a convention.

1. Queue prep. You will be lining up all day long. Be prepared to stand for prolonged periods. Wear sensible shoes and make sure you get to your signings, photo-ops or panels well ahead of time. Get in the right mindset to be patient with lineups because that is the convention way of life. Make sure you are in the right line! Ask anyone in it.

2. Check the event schedule. Plan which guests you want to meet, get pics with, and which panels you want to go to. Getting into a con can overwhelm the senses and it’s easy to get distracted. Organizing your time ahead of the con helps you see more.

3. Bring a bag. You will want various items with you and there are all kinds of swag to procure. Have a bag that’s comfortable to lug and not too large to cause problems moving through the crowd.

4. Plan signing items. If you have a lot of items you want signed space them out over the days. Personally I like to focus on item signature on either Friday (it’s usually a short day) or Sunday (not as many attendees.) It sucks lugging around a pile of stuff if you really don’t need to. You also risk damaging your items in a crowd if you over pack. Less time bouncing in your bag = less chance ruining your super-awesome-thing signed by super-awesome-person.

5. Food & water. With so many bodies in one location it gets hot. Bring a water bottle to rehydrate and refill at the drinking fountains. Con food is expensive so budget accordingly or bring food with you. Think of what would be easiest to eat in a crowd and remember that finding a table can be nearly impossible at the lunch rush. Meal bars and sandwiches are good ideas. You won’t find a microwave and anything complicated will end up on the floor.

6. Charge electronics the night before and every night. A dead battery in your phone or camera can make you miss the perfect picture. A dead phone battery can kill organization.

7. Plan purchases. Make a list of wants, and what you already have. That way if you come across something you didn’t expect to find you can remember which editions you have etc. Your impulse buy part of your brain might start firing and you can really blow your budget.

8. Sleep. Cons are crowded, problems arise that can frustrate, lineups are exhausting, and some people who really don’t know how to behave in public will be there. Being tired at a con can really ruin the experience. Get a good nights rest to prep your brain for a long day of excitement and stress.

9. Payments. Cash, credit, debit, ID. Have your payment items ready.

10. Pack everything the night before. That way you can roll out of bed and go to the show with minimal stress. Running around in the morning leads to freaking out and forgetting things, so night before prep can save you time and stress. Start your day off right.

11. DON’T STINK! The last thing you want is to run into someone super-awesome-cool and have them think of you as a stink monkey. Cons are crowded and hot. Shower daily, brush your teeth, wear deodorant, and take some gas reliever. Most people eat terribly at cons, all that fat, sugar and salt fuels the stink factory of your insides. Be kind to your fellow attendees.

12. Have fun. Cons are entertainment take time to stop and check out the booths, meet some new people, take in the cosplay. Enjoy yourself!

Legendary Encounters Alien Game Review

I could not wait for this egg to hatch

While I do blog about board games I am also a movie nerd. There is one film franchise that shrieked into my teen years, hugged my face and burst my chest with love. I am of course talking about Alien. I seem to have been in cryo-stasis or something because I had not heard about the Legendary Encounters: Alien game until GameALot where I was asked out of the blue if I would like to play. What followed was a round of Aliens themed combat horror that made me want to run home and watch the entire series all over again. (I did just that over the following week.)

I am so glad I went to that event.

Opened the box to craft paper and foam filler.

I want to do nothing but gush about this game so I’m going to start with the negatives; I don’t want to forget about them. First of all upon opening the box I was immediately disappointed in the amount of filler paper in it. I paid almost $70 for craft paper? Either Upper Deck is planning on some serious expansions for this game or they get a special bulk deal on this size of box. I have to warn you, when you buy this game go home into a room where you can swear a lot and seethe with rage at Upper Deck for a couple of hours because what followed was sorting through cards. There are several sealed packs of what seems to be a random assortment of cards which need sorted into a playable order. I'm guessing these were packed by however they were fired off the print press. This is a normal thing for collector cards but when you are designing a non-collectible game it’s a major faux pas to pass such a critical quality control step. It took about an hour and a half to sort the cards into their playing decks and the rules don’t explain these decks very well. Also depending on your point of view you may or may not like that this game is extremely hard to beat. For a fan like me that fits the theme as the Aliens do kill a lot of people, of course I love a challenge.

Cards sorted

The things I loved when opening the box are the high quality of the cards and player mat. The artwork and design are beautiful. The included fabric covered mat works better as it prevents the glossy cards from sliding everywhere as opposed to a glossy board. Physically game play is smoother.

I’m not the biggest fan of the Legendary series nor am I a fan of deck building games in general but for the Aliens theme the concept actually works extremely well. If you aren’t familiar with deck building games they work by each player starting with a small deck of cards. Each turn the player has a hand of 6 cards drawn from their personal deck which they use in any combination to perform actions: buying cards, causing damage, or other special actions. Buying cards from the central deck, called the crew deck in Legendary Encounters: Alien, is very important as these cards increase the power and versatility of your deck. As you build your deck it becomes increasingly important to kill the low value cards. When a card is killed it is removed from your deck permanently. By doing this to low value cards you ensure stronger card combinations come into your hand each turn.

The cooperative team aspect works very well in the game. This is highlighted by the “coordinate” cards. A player may allow another player to borrow these cards in order to complete an action they would otherwise not be able to do. An example is in the Sergeant deck that has 10 of these cards, 2 each of the 5 different power icons. These have a card buy power of 2, so if multiple players coordinate they can buy a player a very strong card. While the Sergeant cards aren’t the best cards as you select them blindly and get random power icons I find they are still extremely valuable throughout the game and each player should buy a couple early on.

This board pic won't upload the right way around!

Combat is what everyone looks for in the game and I find the mechanic really suits the Alien theme. There is an enemy deck that feeds into the facility. Each turn a new face down enemy enters the facility and displaces any it encounters further into the facility. These cards can be turned face up with a combat cost. This cost isn’t applied as damage though, it just lets you know what’s there. Should the facility fill (and it will fast) these cards are moved face up into the combat area. Cards that enter the combat zone are turned face up and effects are immediate. Any Xenomorphs in the combat area that are not killed on a players turn cause a strike on the player. Too many strikes can kill a character, and since this is Aliens people die often. The fact that you know there is an unknown enemy slowly creeping into combat range can be quite stressful and the creepy factor of the atmosphere sells the theme. Also the gamble of revealing enemies is scary because it can be anything, a lowly drone, an event, a hazard, the queen or...

One scary thing is if a facehugger card is turned over it immediately attacks the current player no matter where in the facility it was revealed. If the facehugger is not killed by that player or the next the facehugged player gains a chestburster card into their discard pile. Eventually when the player draws the chestburster card that character dies horribly and painfully… BUT they come back as a Xenomorph! Their goal is now to kill the players with cards drawn from a new deck of Alien cards. It's a cool twist where players killed can come back into the game. Typically this really swerves the power into the favour of the Aliens.  I wish there was another mechanic where players killed otherwise could still participate.

Of course there has to be a twist, because it is never simply just killing Xenomorphs in the Alien universe. No each game you play has a facility and a set of three goals which alter the game. The box includes 4 facility cards and 12 goals. These are divided along the four movies. The facilities come into play when hazard cards are drawn. These hazards can be minor or major such as the Nostromo self destruct activating. The goals fit with themes in the movies like "They mostly come out at night... mostly" where your goal is to set up sentry guns. I agree with the recommendation in the rule book of playing with goals and facilities in order according to the movies but you can mix and match as you see fit. If you are a fanboy or fangirl you are going to love this mechanic as you see which of your friends would survive the movies. Set up and take down will take a while as there are so many specific cards that only apply to certain scenarios but I find it makes each play through a very singular experience. The work is well worth the play payoff.

The player deck is also separated into crews and crew members. The rules state you should have a 4 crew member deck. Of course if you are following the movies you don’t have to bother separating the crew members out of their respective crew decks to save yourself some time in set up and take down. Each crew currently has 4 crew members, so this is where expansions can definitely come in to play. Of course if you want you can play with a 4 Ripley crew deck. I find the optional nature of the game really allows you to streamline your play experience. If you don’t like certain films leave those cards in the box and play what you love, or play to how you would have made the movie.

There is a traitor option for the game. It’s like the running theme in the movies about someone having a weird almost love vibe with the Xenomorphs. It’s the whole reason Resurrection happens. At the beginning of the game a good alignment card is randomly selected for each player, then one evil alignment card is added to that deck. The cards are shuffled and one given to each player. Good players play as usual but the Evil player tries to undermine the rest, have them all killed so they can have The Company come claim their Xenomorph prize. When your alignment is revealed it adds a card to your deck. The traitor element doesn’t seem to be designed well for me as the traitor reveals are forced when a Secrets Revealed card appears. It’s too random and anticlimactic. However there is a rule for blind alignment draws where people only learn their role when forced by the Secrets Revealed card.

But lets go back to speaking of expansions; everything about the game has an air of future expansions. The empty space in the box, the limited number of crew members, material from the video games and comics, the Prometheus prequel and Prometheus 2 in the works, and the fact that everyone knows AVP is a huge thing. While I usually am against AVP I think this game is engineered well enough to handle it (and it would probably work better than the traitor option.) Of course the game is compatible with the Marvel Legendary product line. Upper deck also announced that they do have licences for Firefly and Predator. Once these products are out I would like to see an expansion set out for blending Aliens with them. After all there are a host of Aliens Vs crossovers out there. And as fans of the series know Aliens take on characteristics of their hosts, Humans make humanoid Xenomorphs, animals make 4 legged "Runner" Xenomorphs, then there is the Pred-alien. What would a Hulk Alien look like?

I must point out that the game does have a 17+ rating on the box. If you know the franchise you know why the box has it. If the game strayed from the violent swearing gore-fest of the movies it wouldn’t be worth that pile of filler paper in the box. Of course this makes Legendary Encounters Alien less of a family game. Unless you are okay with facehugging and chestbursting children while exposing them to harsh language… then have fun.

To sum up Legendary Encounters Alien is pretty much the gateway game to trying deck building games, I'm actually considering having another go at Marvel Legendary now. I would recommend this game for any teen to adult fan of the franchise who is up for a cooperative game they will rarely ever win. Don’t expect to pick up the game and start playing right away. The cards in the box are packaged so randomly you would think the designers hated people for buying the game. However once you get past the initial frustration the Legendary Encounters Alien is a game designed for a fan and will present so much enjoyment.

Until next time: