Unplugged: The Star Wars RPG – Force and Destiny
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Posted on November 7th, 2015 by
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to appear a month from now. Aside from repeatedly watching the film’s trailers, how will a Star Wars fan manage to occupy their time? Enter the Star Wars Role Playing Game from Fantasy Flight Games. A story-oriented game, it features streamlined rules so that player actions aren’t bogged down with complicated rules. Many aspects of combat, such as range, are abstracted and most actions are quickly resolved with a simple roll of custom dice. The core rules have been released in three different settings, with the newest one, Force and Destiny, focusing on force sensitive characters under the Empire’s rule (Episodes IV through VI.)
Splendor (Boardgame, PC, iOS, Android)
Posted on October 22nd, 2015 by
Splendor is a gem-themed game of economic growth. Players use consumable gem chips to purchase point cards, which serve as permanent gems. As players accumulate cards, they are able to purchase more expensive cards worth more points. In this way, the game steamrolls into a finale of large point card purchases. While it sounds rather dry, the game has an attraction as a simple “snowball” game where one’s resources accumulate and become more powerful over time.
Unplugged: Fish Fish Squish! (Boardgame)
Posted on October 8th, 2015 by
A good kid’s game will involve a bit of actual thinking (looking at you Candyland) and a bit of physical interaction (to help those squirrelly ones.) Fish Fish Squish! has a bit of both, matching cards and smashing play-doh fish as a reward for success. This makes it fun for kids and agreeable to parents playing along.
Fish Fish Squish!
Publisher: Winning Moves
Ages: 5+
Players: 2-4
Time: 20 mins
(Review copy provided by Winning Moves)
Unplugged: Patch Products (Kid’s Games & Toys)
Posted on October 6th, 2015 by
I like a nice, deep boardgame: something fun to play that would last 60-90 minutes. However, with two young boys and a toddler girl I am always on the lookout for games and toys appropriate for my younger crowd. Patch Products have none of the former, but specializes in games and toys for the younger (or family with younger) crowd. Scoping out things for the holiday season, here are three newer items of note from the company. They aren’t going to collect awards as grown-up games, but all three were a big hit with my kids.
Unplugged: Cinelinx
Posted on September 30th, 2015 by
Cinelinx is a card party game for 2-6 players. It says on the box that this game is for people who love movies. And that’s definitely true. The object of the game is to connect cards together that have something in common, and all the cards are film genres, titles, and movie stars. Whoever can connect all their cards and get rid of their hand first, wins!
Unplugged: Cardline: Dinosaurs
Posted on September 8th, 2015 by
Which is larger, a tricerotops or an ankylosaurus? If you already know, you may be in the target audience of Cardline: Dinosaurs. The Timeline family of card games challenges players to place cards representing items and events in chronological order. In Cardline: Dinosaurs, players place their cards in order either by weight or by size. While similar to the previous games, the dinosaur theme may be more attractive to younger players.
Unplugged: Legacy-style Games
Posted on September 1st, 2015 by
Sit down to a boardgame with your friends and enjoy a night of fun. Next week you can play it all again, but what if each time you play the game it is subtly altered so you never play the same game twice? About 4 years ago, Hasbro went out on a limb and released Risk Legacy. It was the Risk game known to many, but this time around every game played physically changed the game. What if the green army wins one game and comes back with advantages the next time around. What if western Australia was nuked, a sticker was placed on the board, and that location will never be accessible again. Risk Legacy was a hit amongst the boardgaming crowd. The idea of a boardgame that evolves and permanently changes was out of the bag and now several new titles are coming down the pipeline.
GamerDad Unplugged: Highlights of GenCon 2015
Posted on August 11th, 2015 by
I visited GenCon last week, one of the largest gaming conventions in the U.S. 60,000+ people mobbed downtown Indianapolis for the four days of the event. All types of games were covered including boardgames, roleplaying games, and collectible card games. I have an entire series covering many games in detail over at OpinionatedGamers. I have a rundown of dice games, more complex games, family games, children’s games, and a mix of roleplaying and “everything else.”
However, to save everyone some time, I’ve dug out some of my favorite games of the convention so you don’t necessarily have to wade through all my reports (unless you want to see some of the variety at the convention.)
Unplugged: Hyperborea (Boardgame)
Posted on July 16th, 2015 by
The idea of a deckbuilding game has been around for quite awhile, the idea of making a game solely about building a deck of powerful cards over the course of a single game. Designers have since “riffed” on that basic idea in many ways, and Hyperborea takes as its new twist the idea of bag-building. In Hyperborea, players place and remove colored cubes from their personal bag. The colors drawn dictate a player’s options for that turn. This new(ish) mechanism is used to good effect. Combined with unique player powers and multiple paths to victory, Hyperborea is a fun game that feels something mildly akin to Risk, but Risk where each player (and country) has special powers.
Unplugged: Fantasy RPG Roundup
Posted on May 12th, 2015 by
There seems to be an uptick in old-school computer RPGs lately, with Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity, and Torment: Tides of Numenera on the horizon. But it doesn’t get much more old-school than good old-fashioned paper and pencil role-playing. The classic Dungeons and Dragons had a recent “reset” with their 5th Edition rules, harkening back to older D&D versions with faster, looser play (less of a tactical boardgame feel.) The big launch last fall has simmered down and it’s time to take a look at the line to see how it’s matured. Both D&D and Pathfinder (the other big player on the market) continue to find ways to cater to less experienced players. We’ll start with new items from Pathfinder and D&D, and finish off with the newest D&D themed co-op boardgame, just released by Wizkids.
