Unplugged: Survive: Space Attack! (Boardgame)
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Posted on February 18th, 2016 by
Can your people leave the collapsing station, avoid the aliens, and make it to safety? Players take a turn by moving crewmember, destroying part of the station, and then moving one of the aliens. Get caught on a destroyed piece or eaten by aliens and your crewmember is no more. Reach one of the escape routes with a crew member to score points. The game is simple to understand, but the fun part comes in using special abilities and simply picking on the other players. A quick conflict-ridden game that allows players to really stick it to their neighbors.
Survive: Space Attack!
Publisher: Stronghold Games
Ages: 8+
Players: 2-4
Time: 60 mins
(Review copy provided by Stronghold Games)
In Pictionary you draw for speed, but in Duplik you draw for elegance. Duplik is a party game where one player describes and all others draw a detailed scene. Players then judge each other’s creations on ten, previously unknown, criteria. Players score points for correct drawings while the caller scores points for any player who meets a criteria. After points are awarded, drawings are shared around and hilarity ensues. Duplik rewards thoroughness (not necessarily skill) under pressure and is a great choice for a drawing-focused party game.
Traditional RPGs are games of the mind, but it doesn’t hurt to have spiffy little plastic figures on hand to help set the tone and sort through the complexities of battle. Figures can be bought unpainted or, for a bit more cash, they come prepainted. As a busy parent, I easily fall into the latter category. While any figurines aren’t cheap, they can add a bit of fun as players can see the unruly monsters gather around their poor characters, eager for a kill.
Boardgames like Runebound pack the positive feedback loop gaining power in MMORPGs into a few short hours of a boardgame. This new (3rd) edition of Runebound provides a new-player friendly boardgame where everyone can choose their own character’s path to power. Players can gain in power by questing to explore locations, interact with the denizens of the land, or simply fight monsters. The first player to become powerful enough to defeat the final villain wins the game. With its open-ended options, playing a game of Runebound gives the enjoyment of adventuring in a MMORPG packed into a single evening of face-to-face game play.
It’s nice when the art of boardgame design meets more traditional art. In Musée, players place art-covered cards into their three-tiered museum, attempting to place similar cards adjacent to each other in order to score points. Simple and fast to play, Musée features more than 60 pieces of wonderful licensed art from the fifteenth to early twentieth century. It is an attractive game appropriate for gamers and non-gamers alike. 
Give the gift of face to face time with a boardgame. It’s time once again for me to preach to the masses on the greatness of boardgaming. Nothing beats the social aspect of in-person gaming with friends. 
