One may be tempted to compare the new mining-based simulation, A Game of Dwarves, with the currently successful Minecraft game. However, it’s true predecessor (and Minecraft’s as well) is the niche game, Dwarven Therapist. In Dwarven Therapist, one manages a small group of dwarves trying to meet their needs while simultaneously staffing off the occasional crisis like rampaging monsters. A Game of Dwarves is much less complex (and thankfully is much easier to grasp) while also presenting a much more lush and beautiful dungeonscape to explore. Manage a small colony of dwarves who must carve out their domain from the bedrock of a mountain, complete with managing dwarves’ food supplies, contentment, and their need for rest. The game can be played in a campaign mode with successive challenges or in a sandbox mode where a creative player can go wild to carve out their “dream cavern”. As a mix of The Sims, Minecraft, and a role-playing game, A Game of Dwarves serves up a nice bit of exploration, strategy, and creativity.

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Tags: Game Reviews

The Tour de France winds up today and I’ve had a great time watching some of the highlights over the past few weeks. While I’d love to watch the whole thing “live” I don’t quite have that kind of time. Even so, while I’m not a cyclist myself, the Tour has once again piqued my interest in the sport. Recently, I was given the chance to take a look at a cycling simulation, Pro Cycling Manager – Season 2012. The program’s strength lies in its depth of play. Playing not as an individual cyclist, but as the manager of an entire team, one can simulate single races all the way up to multiple seasons including recruiting and trading around various cyclists. This depth of play is also the game’s downfall as the game caters primarily to the die-hard cyclist crowd with very few “easy” modes available.

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Tags: Game Reviews

After Cary’s excellent, positive review, I thought I’d chime in with a few additional comments on the game as well as bring a perspective of the Wii version (reviewed here).  While the game manages to be pretty good for a movie-tie in, it didn’t rise to the level of a great, must-play game.  It provides a nice playground with which to take on various bad guys and pretend to be Spider-Man, but some control issues (at least on the Wii) prevent it from becoming a must-buy.  If you’re looking for a Spider-Man game, you won’t be disappointed, but it doesn’t have as much to offer non-fans.

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Tags: Game Reviews

As I began playing Diablo III, I quickly decided that I’ve had enough of the Diablo III franchise. Little things like how characters advance in power (not too much customization) and an over familiarity with the entire style of what is now Diablo-esque gameplay. However, I gave it a chance, and played on – after all I am a sucker for leveling up my character even if I might have preferred other choices. What I found, was that I was soon engrossed in the game. The main storyline seems to be cut and paste from any other “save the world from demonic enslavement”, but where Diablo (and Blizzard) shines are the little touches of humanity and creativity within the game. Sure, there are boss battles and epic loot to find, but stumbling across a touching (or perhaps morbid) little interlude in a side-quest is where Diablo III really shines. I have to conclude that Blizzard has done it again. Sure, there are many little (or even medium-sized) bits of the game I would have designed differently, but the polish and creativity put into the nooks and crannies of the game make it worth yet another dip into Diablo universe.

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Pixar is back with its latest animated movie and the obligatory video game tie in showed up at my doorstep recently. Brave makes for a pretty decent video game tie-in. It boils down to an exploration/platforming game, with a bit of fighting and puzzle-solving along the way. Pleasant graphics, 2-Player options, and RPG-like upgradeable abilities add to make this a recommended game for family play. Details after the jump…

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OK, there are all those online tournaments that promote huge fan bases watching people play for thousands of dollars.  I’m never going to be one of those people.  However, I do get my moment in the sun…

Yes, my favorite hobby, boardgaming, has reached that next level – whatever that is.  Thursday evening (Tomorrow – June 28th) at 7:30pm EST, Northstar Games will be hosting a live video feed promoting their new edition of Wits & Wagers.   They’ve recruited big names from all over the boardgame blogosphere, and myself for some reason, for a live competition of the new Wits & Wagers Party.  Read on for details and the link…

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Tags: Unplugged

I was recently able to give the latest version of Mario Party a try, and put it through its paces. I have extremely fond memories of the first Mario Party title on the N64, spinning that little joystick like a madman to various goofy, yet fun, minigames. Players competed for stars within a quick series of matches or a strange sort of boardgame structure. The Bumper Balls minigame in particular was a masterpiece. It still remains the best gaming experience I can provide to a group of non-videogamers to demonstrate how fun the hobby can be. Unfortunately for me, Mario Party has since lost its way. The first few games did have random elements, but throughout successive generations of the title, luck became a greater and greater portion of the game. The newest incarnation, Mario Party 9, makes for a fine bit of four player family entertainment (I must admit we experienced occasional moments of hilarity, but they were most frequently due to the capricious nature of the game, rather than arising out of head to head competition.) Thus I cannot recommend the game for anyone seeking a game based upon true competition. It still stands as a valid game that does a good job of equalizing skill between different player abilities, but this is accomplished by its strong luck component rather than any more clever mechanisms.

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Several years ago, when Warcraft III was the real-time strategy game of the moment, Blizzard released tools for gamers to create their own levels and units for the game. Some enterprising programmers designed a level that focused on team play between two teams of hero units, each with a few special powers that improved during the game. Thus an entirely new subgenre of real-time strategy, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), was born. Fast forward to late 2009, and Riot Games released League of Legends (LoL for short). Entirely free to download and play, League of Legends is an excellent opportunity for PC gamers to enjoy this new style of game. The game deserves a look from any real-time strategy fan, as it manages to combine an RTS style game with a healthy dose of Role playing (as your hero gains levels and items) all in a quick 30-40 minutes of game play.

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Tags: Game Reviews

As a boardgame aficionado, I was excited to try out Nintendo’s new boardgame-oriented game for the Wii, Fortune Street.  Fortune Street is a “true” boardgame and doesn’t rely on skill challenges, as one would find in Mario Party.  Instead, one to four players (at home or online) participate in a Monopoly-esque game of rolling dice, buying properties, and investing in stocks and upgrades.  The first player to reach a minimum net worth (or the highest value when the first player goes bankrupt) wins the game.  I admit I’m starting from a lukewarm opinion on Monopoly, but Fortune Street takes the luck element from Monopoly and steps it up.  This is the wrong way to go, completely overwhelming any of the few decisions presented to players during the game.  A game of Fortune Street can take over an hour to play, far too long for a game where one’s fate relies so heavily on the luck of the dice.  However, Fortune Street could be a good purchase for someone looking for a boardgame like atmosphere on the Wii, where nearly anyone in the family has a decent chance of winning.

Tags: Game Reviews

Following on the footsteps of Cary’s excellent Skylander post, I thought I’d throw in my $0.02 of what I (and my pre-K sons) thought of the game as well as some more details on how the collectible figurines work within the game.  Do you need to collect all 30-odd characters? No, but gamers who want to fully explore every nook and cranny of each level will want access to at least one character of each of the 8 elemental types.  Cary summed up the game nicely by comparing it to a kid-friendly version of Gauntlet.  While the game doesn’t have a lot of depth, the combination of colorful figures, gadgetry, and level design results in a very fun game for kids (or gaming with kids) that may be of interest to hard core gamers.
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Tags: Game Reviews