Pitchcar Review

‘Real world’ games have an important advantage over video games: they’re physical, tangible objects. While it’s possible to simulate games such as pool, snooker, darts and so on, there’s little satisfaction to be had in doing well at simulated versions of those games as the majority of the enjoyment comes from being able to physically interact with the table, the balls or the darts themselves. Doing well at a game such as pool requires a certain level of physical and mental competence, and it’s immensely satisfying when things come together and players start doing well at games that have a high level of physical interaction and real-world physics, free from the virtual tables where physics can be wrongly implemented.

Which is why Pitchcar is so appealing. Coming in a brightly coloured and weighty package containing solid, wooden pieces, it’s immensely satisfying to behold even before you play. The aim of the game in Pitchcar is to flick your wooden disk (which is adorned with the picture of a car) around the track and be the first to complete three laps. Players take turns to flick their ‘car’, and if the disk flips over or falls off the track, it must go back to where it was flicked from, then play passes to the next player. Similarly, if a player knocks an opponent’s car off the track, they must go back to where they flicked from, while the car that was knocked off goes back to where it was (effectively losing the active player their turn).

Pitchcar is an amazing game that can be set up in minutes on any large, flat surface, and provides immediate fun for up to eight players. What’s important is that there is very little to learn – even without reading the rulebook, it’s a very intuitive game and one that can be enjoyed by anyone without any lengthy explanations or constant referring to the rules. Games play very fast and are always incredibly fun, with players cursing themselves for being too cocky and launching off the track or reprimanding themselves for being too cautious when a car doesn’t move as far as hoped. It’s a very satisfying game to play due to its physical nature, and provides a similar kind of thrill that games such as pool provide, albeit on a slightly smaller scale and for more than two players.

Some people may have a problem with the size of the game, but there is a smaller sized version (Pitchcar Mini) for those gamers who don’t think they’ll have enough space to accommodate the game. Expansion packs for both the full sized version and the Mini edition are also available, thus providing even more track pieces with jumps and chicanes included – further enhancing an already stellar experience.

It’s very hard to convey just how exciting and addictive Pitchcar is without actually physically seeing it in action, but this is one game that absolutely begs to be played with, touched, flicked and shouted at. Pitchcar is an exciting experience as well as an absolutely stunning game.

Summary

Presentation: Large, sturdy wooden track pieces form the majority of what’s included in the game – they’re well made, very solid and great fun to put together. The wooden ‘cars’ are all brightly coloured and distinct, but the actual car stickers do have a somewhat odd choice of colours in some cases. 9.2/10

Clarity of Rules: Short and to the point, with a few variants thrown in for good measure. 9.6/10

Game Length: Games move incredibly fast and a race with 8 players using all of the track pieces is over surprisingly quickly. Players always seem to be hungry for more games too! As tracks can be custom built to individual needs, game length can be tailored to be as long or as short as players wish, depending on track size. 9.8/10

Value: Pitchcar is expensive, but it is a very addictive game that doesn’t ever outstay its welcome – therefore the cost per play ratio (if you’re worried about such things) will end up being pretty low. 9.7/10

Overall: A highly compelling game that is thrilling and instantly appealing for pretty much anyone that lays their hands on it. I cannot recommend Pitchcar highly enough. Unquestionably one of the very best games in my collection. 9.8/10 (not an average)

Cosmic Coasters Review

Cosmic Coasters is an interesting concept – it’s an inexpensive game that comes printed on 4 coasters, which can be used both as a game and as actual coasters. What makes this especially useful is the fact that the only extra components needed to play are seven matching tokens for each player (coins are perfect for this), so it really is the perfect game to play in a pub. Further adding to the neat concept is the fact that the instructions for the game are actually printed on the reverse of each coaster, making this an incredibly compact and portable game needing just the coasters and some coins to play (pennies for one player with the other player using two-pence pieces seems to work very well).

Each player takes a coaster, which displays their home planet, along with the factories, control point and teleporter located on the planet surface. Each coaster is the same - with the only differences coming in the form of special powers (each planet has a different special power which is detailed on the back of the coaster). For the first few games it is advisable to ignore the special powers in order to grasp the basic concept.

To win the game, one player must teleport to the opponent’s planet and then teleport back. This is easier said than done - in order to teleport, a player must have at least two out of four control points occupied, but also the other player cannot be occupying any of the control points. If ownership of control points is shared, no teleporting may occur. When teleporting, a player can place his ship anywhere, on any point on either planet - if landing on an opponent's ship, it is instantly destroyed. On a turn, players may perform one of the following actions: Move, Build or Teleport. If both control points flanking a factory are controlled by a single player, that player can build a ship (providing they have destroyed ships). If deciding to move, a player can move one space - if moving onto an enemy, a game of rock-paper-scissors is initiated, with the following conditions: if the attacker wins, the defender is destroyed and the attacker moves into the now empty space; if there is a draw, the defender is destroyed but the attacker remains where he/she is; if the attacker loses nothing happens.

It really is as simple as that, which is to be expected considering that it has been designed with pub play in mind – it’s an easy enough game to play as long as you haven’t imbibed too many beers!

One problem with the game is that the special powers are quite unbalanced, and don’t seem to have been properly playtested. It does seem to be much more preferable to play the game without using the special powers as players are then on an equal footing. Also, playing rock-paper-scissors to determine the result of combat can be a little frustrating, but it is understandable that this method is used in order to keep the game components to a minimum and therefore make sure that it is as portable as possible.

The nature of the gameplay can lead to a lot of repetitive situations, with players going through the motions until someone gets a bad run of luck with the rock-paper-scissors contest. It therefore seems like little more than a lengthened game of something like noughts and crosses, albeit with reusable, drink-friendly boards. It does say a lot that a 10-minute game of Cosmic Coasters can feel incredibly long and drawn out!

As an experiment in using a different, pub friendly format for a game, Cosmic Coasters is partially successful – the coasters are sturdy and can be used comfortably both as game and coaster – but the game itself is a little too repetitive and frustrating to be enjoyable for long.

Summary

Presentation: Everything that is needed for play except the tokens is included in the small, inexpensive package. Well designed, sturdy coasters that are perfect for resting drinks on. 8.9/10

Clarity of Rules: Not many rules to speak of considering that they are printed on the back of each coaster. The rules that are there are reasonably well written, although some of them are a little unclear. 7.3/10

Game Length: The biggest problem with the game is the duration – it can feel like it’s dragging on for ages even after ten minutes of play, due to the stalemate situations that players can often find themselves in. 4.4/10

Value: Cheap and functional, but more useful as coasters than as a game. 5.8/10

Overall: The price is right, and it’s a neat conversation piece for gamers unfazed by taking their gaming out in public – but the game itself is uninteresting and repetitive. Nice coasters though. 6.1/10 (not an average)

Shadows Over Camelot Review

I like to co-operate. It’s nice when all the players get along, with no arguments, and none of that worrying double-dealing and side-taking that can occur in other games. This is why I like Lord of the Rings so much. Shadows Over Camelot is all about co-operation, with each player taking a knight of the round table during the times of King Arthur, trying to fend off the encroaching darkness that threatens to overwhelm Camelot.

Things are not rosy for the beleaguered knights, with threats from all sides: the Picts from the north; the Saxons to the south (or east depending on how good your geography is); the threat of the Holy Grail disappearing forever; the danger that the Lady of the Lake might decide to take Excalibur and disappear with it forever; the mystery knight on the bridge (or ‘Lancelot’ as everybody who knows anything about Arthurian lore will know him) saying “None shall pass!” to anyone with half an ear; a dragon on the rampage; the non-stop tournaments that non-stop black knights turn up for; and of course, the siege against Camelot itself.

It’s like three seasons of 24 piled into two hours of gameplay! You have to feel sorry for these knights…

During the game, the knights need to keep each and every one of these threats at bay, or else suffer the consequences (usually in the form of black swords on the Round Table). Defeating these quests usually reward the knights with white swords, and when the table is all full up with swords, if there are more white than black, the knights win. Otherwise, evil in all its Shadowy glory wins…

Add to this the potential for one of the knights playing a traitor, secretly playing on the side of darkness and doing all they can to stop the good knights succeeding in their goals, and you have a marvelous game that makes a mockery of my initial comments about co-operation! (I like contradicting myself too…)

At the beginning of the game, each player secretly chooses a card from the Loyalty deck, one of which says Traitor. That knight only wins the game if the loyal knights fail.

In a stroke of genius, the designers (Serge Laget and Bruno Cathala) have decided to ban table talk in any form other than pure role-playing. So you can’t say (for example) “I have two strength five combat cards” but could say “My arm is strong, and any foe will fall before me!” or some other knightly banter. This also makes the banter very lively, with each player having to justify their actions during the game in such a way as to divert suspicion from themselves, all the while keeping in character. It’s a lot easier than it sounds, and we never had any trouble (bar the occasional slip-up and the odd rules question) keeping to this rule.

There is a lot of talk on the internet about how easy the traitor’s role is. It is said that the best way for the traitor to win any game is to constantly place catapults on the battlefield, thus overwhelming the knights through sheer force of numbers. However, I would have to heartily disagree. This may indeed be the easiest or most efficient way to win as the traitor – but goes completely against the spirit of the game.

In our last game – and I am still reeling with the genius of the move – our traitor remained almost completely in the shadows, with only a few suspicious actions and statements as our only clues as to her real loyalties. She played brilliantly, expertly deflecting suspicion by self-sacrificing, and working as a kind of hidden decay beneath our valiant efforts. By the end of the game, we just scraped a victory, having seven white swords to five black. Our traitor then revealed herself – far too late for anybody to do anything about it – and victoriously read out the final rule on the traitor card: “If you are still undetected by the game’s end, turn 2 White Swords over to Black.”

We were all stunned. Shocked, horrified, upset and downright violated. The traitor in our midst all along, stealing victory from our grasp at the last moment. It was deliciously painful, and I felt like applauding. This is what the traitor should be doing – working against the knights and making good use of the shadows, all the while pretending to be their friend and supporting them. So while it might be easy to lay siege to Camelot and take an easy victory, I think you can see how much satisfaction can be gleaned by turning over your loyalty card at the end of the game, viciously flipping two hard-earned White Swords to their dark, evil side, and calmly declaring a victory for the forces of darkness.

I love this game!

Summary

Presentation: As can now be expected from Days of Wonder, it is brilliantly packaged, with excellent artwork, sturdy components and evocative pieces. The knights each have their own distinctive miniature to represent them, and there are even colour-coded dice for each player to use (any six-siders would have done, but Days of Wonder had to make them colour-coded). There are Pict and Saxon figures, little plastic catapults, and four – yes four – boards to play on. The only thing I would have liked to see included would be a little bit of background for the knights involved, and the quests they go on – although there is a lot of information out there to find, so this would probably be a little redundant. I little more flavour wouldn’t have hurt, though… 9.1/10

Clarity of Rules: There is a fairly thick rule-book, and extra quests book to explain each little bit more thoroughly, and even a downloadable FAQ. This is not a light game to learn to play. Although after some explanation, it is playable by non-gamers, I would advise having a gamer in your group to explain it to you. It can be pretty heavy-going to start with. The rulebook does what it can, but the problem is that each player will need to at least know about every rule (even if they don’t fully understand it yet) before starting, which might possibly overwhelm or frighten some players. 8.4/10

Game Length: The game never seems to last long enough to get everything done. The knights are always on the defensive, trying to hold back the tide of darkness, and fighting for every inch they gain. The game takes about an hour to play, and although it might not be one to play again the same night, it definitely leaves me wanting more. 8.1/10

Value: For the pieces that come out of the box, this is well worth the price. Some might say it is over-produced for what is essentially a set-collecting card game. But the bits and pieces that come in the box make the experience one worth the hassle. And all the part here make the role-playing that much easier. 9.7/10

Overall: A co-operative game with a deadly twist that really will bite you in the backside if you aren’t watching out for it! The game has all the elements I look for, co-operation, backstabbing, wonderful pieces, a great theme (what’s not to like about King Arthur?), and some very difficult and meaningful decisions that really affect the game. Fantastic. 9.3/10 (not an average)

Pirates CSG Review

The Pirates of the Caribbean movie (and its imminent sequel) has helped to bring the romantic image of the pirate back into mainstream consciousness. Despite this image having very little basis in reality (a little searching on actual pirates on Wikipedia gives you a sense of what they were really like), it remains a popular subject for films, books, comics and games alike.

The Pirates CSG (Constructible Strategy Game) continues this tradition of appealingly anti-authoritarian pirates and chivalrous officers of the British Empire. Different to most board and card games, Pirates is sold in small packs that are similar to the booster packs for CCGs (Collectable Card Games). Within each pack is everything that one player needs to play, at least for a basic game. Packs are stuffed with goodies – within one small pack you get ships, an island, treasure, crew members, a tiny six sided die (these have to be seen to be believed…possibly the smallest dice in existence!) and basic as well as advanced rules. Considering the price per pack (£2.19 from this very site!), this it pretty good value for money. Two packs give you enough to play with for two players which means a 2-players game costs less than a fiver – at least initially. For a full game using all of the available options, each player will need several packs in order to build their fleet, with crew and varying amounts of treasure and special items and terrain also being brought into the game.

The ships themselves are great fun to build and are actually pretty impressive looking once built – it’s amazing when one of the larger types of ship is built for the first time, as they look huge and very nice indeed considering they are made up of smaller parts flat-packed into a relatively tiny foil game pack.

The object of the game is to collect over half of the available treasure in the game (usually players contribute 12 points worth of treasure each, which means that to win, coins totalling 12 points must be collected) or to destroy every single ship belonging to the other player. The game itself is simple to learn, with the basic rules being very clearly laid out in the form of sequential diagrams. Players take turns to place islands on the play area (any large flat surface will do, such as the floor, a table or the deck of a ship) and then each choose the home island for the opponent. Players then place their ships so that they are docked at their home islands and treasure is distributed among all wild islands.

Each turn, players can choose one action from a small number of options. Many of these actions allow more than one thing to be done per ship (moving will sometimes allow more than one direction to be moved in, but this depends on the speed of the ship – and shooting allows each cannon on a ship to fire as long as the target is within range and line of sight). Moving and firing are both calculated using distances which are measured using the cards that the ships are punched out of when being built – a white S uses the short white bar printed on the ship card, and a red L uses the long red bar. Each ship has a different speed and cannons have either short or long ranges, and as the cards are used in all cases it is usually very simple to calculate these distances. Repairing involves being docked at a home island and then adding a mast that has been previously lost in an attack, and exploring requires players to be docked at a wild island and then taking gold onto the ship (as many coins as their ship can carry, noted by the cargo number on the ship card).

At first this seems like a neat, German-style game with many options available – but soon enough problems arise with the fact that you cannot perform more than one action, such as move and shoot each turn: combat is incredibly slow and it’s very tough to actually hit a ship when it is constantly just moving away from you. If you then choose to move to catch up with it next turn, it can fire at you or just move away again. Some crew members can be used that allow a combination of two actions to be used (a captain on board allows a ship to move, then attack, for instance), but with a smaller number of ships and crew Pirates can degenerate into immensely frustrating, drawn out games of hit and run.

The ships themselves are well made, but as damage is tracked by removing masts they are prone to breaking. The masts are the flimsiest and most easily breakable parts, and if you don’t break them when putting them in for the first time, there’s a good chance that they’ll break when pulling them out or putting them back in during play. To solve this, I use a small amount of blu-tack or something similar to mark a damaged mast – this can then be removed if the mast is repaired.

There is a certain amount of enjoyment to be had with the Pirates CSG – ships are great fun and immensely satisfying to build, the game can play pretty quickly and can be played anywhere that you have enough space to play it – but there’s quite a few negative points to the game too. The damage tracking system can lead to broken masts, the one-action-per-ship-per-turn mechanic can prove very frustrating (especially if playing against someone who has a particularly useful crew member on board their ships) and the game is a little too simplistic even when using advanced rules. Also, measuring distances between ships for firing cannons is sometimes difficult as the three-dimensional nature of the ships means that parts do sometimes get in the way.

It is, however, a perfect game for children (as long as they aren’t too young – there are many small bits and pieces involved!), with difficulty and complexity seemingly pitched just at the right level. Not that it can't be enjoyed by adults - of course, lighter games do have their place and can be every bit as enjoyable as a more complex game, but Pirates CSG just feels like it's missing something. Although to be fair, the cost is not prohibitive, unless you are caught up in collecting every ship and every piece of treasure, but this is unlikely – I don’t mind admitting that I have a very addictive personality and find myself getting caught up in collecting all kinds of things just for the sake of it, but the Pirates CSG has not been compelling me to buy, buy, buy. For adults looking for a satisfying and involving Pirate game, I would recommend looking elsewhere, but that doesn't mean that adults looking for the 'wow' factor and a simple game to go with it won't be well served with this aesthetically stunning game. For kids (and parents looking for a suitable game to play with them), Pirates is an excellent choice – the toy factor alone is very enjoyable, and the game has enough (albeit simplistic) German style mechanics for those parents looking to introduce their children to slightly deeper games with many choices to be made every turn, rather than simply throwing dice and being a slave to the numbers rolled.

Summary

Presentation: Excellent ships in small packages that contain lots of well made components. Superb! 9.4/10

Clarity of Rules: The basic rules are well laid out and brilliantly illustrated, but the advanced rules are poorly laid out and later sets add and replace game mechanics seemingly at random, with some crew members and effects being left out of later rulesets altogether (forcing players to check out websites in order to properly find out how to use certain game pieces). 6.3/10

Game Length: Varies wildly, with some games being over within 20 minutes and others being dull, drawn out conflicts with no clear end in sight for a long time. 6.5/10

Value: Each pack is full of game pieces, and provides incredibly good value for money. However, players will need at least four packs each in order to properly play the advanced game. 8.1/10

Overall: A little simplistic for adult gamers looking for a deep and involving pirate game, but a perfect game for children looking for a toy they can play a proper game with. It’s also a bit more demanding than the average children’s game, which is great for parents desperate to get their children introduced to German-style games as quickly as possible. 7.4/10 (not an average)

Catan Card Game: Expanded, improved, finally re-released!

There are exciting times ahead for fans of the perennially popular Catan series of games, as Mayfair Games have announced that they will shortly be shipping the long out of print and now revised (as well as renamed) Catan Card Game. In addition to this, they will also be releasing an accompanying expansion and the Catan Card Game Barbarians and Traders Upgrade Kit (which is for players who own the original Settlers of Catan Card Game and/or the first edition of the Expansion set.

The expansion that will accompany the revised card game features six themes, which are as follows: Knights & Merchants, Science & Progress, Wizards & Dragons, Barbarians & Traders, Politics & Intrigue and Trade & Change. Each unique theme will dramatically enhance the flavour of the Catan Card Game experience, and allows players to design their own expansion decks.

With the standard Catan board game a minimum of three players are required to play, whereas the Catan card game is designed for two players. This makes it perfect for those times that a third player is absent and players are still looking to itch that Catan scratch!

By Jason M. Brown

Gulo Gulo Review

There are a woefully small number of games out there that are great for kids and fun for grown-ups. The only real all-rounders I’ve managed to find are German games. They seem to have this corner of the market sewn up, and do it so much better than anyone else out there.

Warning: Generalisation alert!

Most of the English games for kids are all snakes and ladders variants, with a player rolling the dice and moving his dobber to get to the end, following inane instructions that completely randomise the outcome.

American games for kids tend to be the same, but with a gimmick such as a rolling ball that knocks you over, or a timer, or a flashing light or something.

German games for kids seem to concentrate on having great games with interesting and thought-provoking rules, as well as excellent and very ergonomic components. These are usually made from long-lasting and colourful wood. Gulo Gulo being a perfect example.

The game is about a bunch of wild wolverines trying to rescue Junior Wolverine from the clutches of the evil vultures by stealing eggs. It doesn’t make much sense as a theme, but makes for a brilliant game that the little ones can routinely trounce us oldies on a regular basis.

The components are top-notch, as could be expected from a German games company. You get a bunch of nice thick card tiles to make a track with (each featuring a wolverine stealing a particular coloured egg), a little wooden bowl, a bunch of wooden eggs of varying sizes and colours, and a cloth bag. Most importantly though, you get The Alarm – a wooden stick with an egg on the top of it.

The idea is that the eggs get randomised in the cloth bag, poured into the bowl, and 'The Alarm' is stuck in the mix (egg-end poking into the air), so that the eggs in the bowl are keeping it upright. The players then take it in turns to nick eggs from the bowl without letting 'The Alarm' touch the table. If you successfully nick an egg, you get to move to the next tile with that coloured egg on it. Otherwise you go back to the last tile of the colour that you tried to nick. There are a couple more rules (like how exactly to rescue Junior and so on), but that is basically it.

The reason that the kids find this one easy to play are those damn small fingers of theirs! They can nip in and take an egg that we thicker-fingered adults would balk at. I can almost hear the little ones laughing in my face as they play – finally being small has its advantages. Damn them!

This game is a definite favourite in our house (along with its sister game Chicken Cha Cha Cha), and this kids love it. My three-year-old can play (with some help to select the best colour) and is quickly learning how to optimise her colour-choosing strategy.

The only small problem I have with the game is with the alarm. It is a flimsy stick with an egg on top, and will break very easily with pressure applied in the wrong place (exactly the sort of thing likely to happen with a three-year-old playing). And if your alarm is broken, the game is unplayable. I have mild palpitations every time my daughter says “let me do it!” and grabs for the Alarm to set it up again.

Presentation: Lovely cartoon artwork of wolverines stealing eggs make this a winner in first sight with most children. The tiles are thick and sturdy, the eggs are wood and brightly painted, and the bowl and bag are functional. The Alarm is the only slight quibble, with it looking really really breakable! 8.7/10

Clarity of Rules: Oddly, the game seems confusing at first glance, with some odd-looking rules and set-up. However, after their first turn, people pick it up very quickly. The rules do their best to lay things out in a clear manner, but for some reason, the game needs to be played to be fully appreciated (or maybe I’m just bad at explaining the rules!) 8.1/10

Game Length: It’s all over pretty quickly, with the endgame coming at an unexpected moment (Junior is shuffled into a stack of five tiles at the end of the track). Things happen fast in the game, with players leaping huge swathes of track, meaning it is always a close thing at the end. Really quite evocative of the race this is supposed to be. It’s very well timed, and is always begging to be played again. 8.7/10

Value: Because of the lovely wooden bits and pieces, and those wonderfully illustrated thick tiles, the game is worth the money. Factor in the fun that can be had with your little ones (or your grown-up friends if you are in the right mood) and this one is a real winner. 9.1/10

Overall: An excellent game that appeals to children as well as those adults forced to keep the little ones entertained for hours on end…! It can also be enjoyed by adults on their own, as long as they are in the right mood (e.g. drunk). Definitely one to bridge the generation gap. 8.9/10 (not an average)

Review by David Plank

Ticket to Ride: Europe Review

Ticket to Ride: Europe is at first a very odd proposition. Seeming at first glance to be an expansion, it is actually a standalone game that does not require the original game to be played, and it isn’t actually that different to the original Ticket to Ride.

So what is different? Firstly and most immediately apparent, instead of claiming routes along railway lines in North America, players now do this across the whole of Europe. The longer destination tickets are also now more fairly allocated, with players each receiving a long ticket at the beginning of the game in addition to the shorter route tickets that they are dealt.

Next, players have the options to use stations in order to ‘borrow’ part of a route from another player if it has already been claimed. This does have a huge impact on play, as it gives players one more option to consider during a turn, as well as removing a large amount of frustration from the game – now when a route you need is claimed, it is not necessarily a disaster – you can use a station and make everything ok again. Except you have to pay for stations (one train for the first, two for the second and three for the third and final station), and each one is worth four victory points if unused at the end of the game - so stations do remove the frustration of ‘arrrrgh-my-route-cannot-be-completed!’, but add yet more to think about. Tunnels and ferries are also added into the mix to make things a little harder for players, with tunnels providing the possibility of extra cards needed on routes that have them and ferries requiring locomotives to be used in order for them to be completed.

All of the added extras are great for players who are familiar with the main game, as it adds an extra layer of depth to an admittedly very simple game. The simplicity of the original Ticket to Ride is a massive selling point – especially to players who are looking to entice non-gamers to play – but Ticket to Ride: Europe is not so welcoming to new players. The new options and rules add just a little too much complexity to make it a good game to recommend playing with non-gamers – but this is probably the only area in which the original Ticket to Ride is more successful. Ticket to Ride: Europe is more complicated, yes, but still not too complicated to put off those non-gamers that have had their interest piqued by the original game. The new additions to the game work really well – players will experience less frustration with the addition of the stations, as well as with longer tickets fairly dealt out at the beginning of the game. Increased options during turns help to make the European edition an even more agonising affair, which again keeps gameplay interesting for even the most jaded of Ticket to Ride players.

Summary

Presentation: Brilliant aesthetic design, which is to be expected from Days of Wonder. 9.3/10

Clarity of Rules: As with the original game, the rules do seem very lengthy for a game that trades on its simplicity (even if this is more complex than the original game), but this means that clearly written answers are never far away. 9.5/10

Game Length: Often slightly longer than the original game, but given that there are more options this is understandable. 9.5/10

Value: Lots of replay value here along with lots of components. Not much to justify the price tag for owners of the original game, unless they are particularly looking for the more of the same in a slightly more complex form. 8.8/10

Overall: Undeniably a great game, this does lose out slightly by being essentially an expansion boxed as a full priced game. Excellent for gamers not interested in the first game, not so good for those that already own the original. 9.2/10(not an average)

Review by Jason M. Brown

10 Days In Europe Released!

The ‘10 Days In…’ series from Out of the Box Publishing has proven incredibly popular, and is a rare example of educational games actually being entertaining. Teaching geography (almost inadvertently) through a nicely fast paced and easy to learn game of set collection, the series has gone from strength to strength since the first game, 10 Days in Africa, was released.

Following the aforementioned jaunt across Africa as well as the second game, 10 Days in the USA, Out of the Box Publishing have announced that 10 Days in Europe has now been released. Touring by plane, boat, and on foot, players chart their course from start to finish using destination and transportation tiles. As in the other games in the series, the first traveller to make connections for a ten day journey wins the game.

“The introduction of 10 Days in Europe means three continents are now covered with our 10 Days series of games,” says Mark Osterhaus, Out of the Box Publishing President. “We’re delighted consumer demand continues to motivate us into exploring new territories for this great line of games!”

10 Days in Europe can be ordered here. Reviews of all three currently available ‘10 Days in…’ games will be appearing on the IGUK Blog within the next week: watch this space!

By Jason M. Brown

Shipwrecked Review

Lost has been an incredible success internationally, and has a pretty original premise for a TV series. Stranded on a desert island with weird goings on that are as yet unexplained, the survivors of a traumatic plane crash must learn to get along with each other while dealing with lots of Twilight Zone style creepiness. With the current interest in Lost, now seemed to be a good time to revisit the charms of the game Shipwrecked – which sees players stranded on a desert island and competing for food, shelter, companions and water in order to become the most content castaway.

Shipwrecked is a blind bidding game, but quite unlike any that have been released before. Players have a hand of cards which they use to bid for different resources, with the object of the game being to own 100 points or more of one particular type of resource or 150 points in any combination of resources. Gemstones are used to pay for the winning bids, with many resource cards earning income for players at the start of every turn.

At first, Shipwrecked is a very confusing game to play – due to the unique mechanics of the secret, symbol-driven bidding. The terminology used and the bid resolution are incredibly tough to work out for new players, but a handy chart is included – without which players would be very lost. Despite the very steep learning curve, Shipwrecked is an interesting and enjoyable game to play – each turn is very tense as players are never quite sure what everyone else is up to. Attempting to trick everyone into either paying lots for a particularly desirable card or trying to win a card very cheaply for yourself become highly fraught games of pushing your luck, bluff and double bluff.

Aesthetically, Shipwrecked is superb – John Kovalic’s cartoony illustrations are highly amusing, and the general visual feel is very bright and breezy. Even though the theme is fairly thinly applied, there are certain mechanics that do make sense – the income and value of certain resources, for example, do help to make the game feel like more than just an abstract exercise in blind bidding. It’s a very hard game to learn, and once learned the blind bidding means that poker faces are needed - it can be pretty easy to second guess the intentions of the other players if you know them particularly well.

Shipwrecked is an enjoyable, fast paced game but – and I can’t emphasise this enough - it does take a little time and patience to learn. If the players aren’t worried about trying to get their heads around the tough to learn concepts that the blind bidding is based around, they will find much to enjoy here. Much like Lost, as long as players don’t expect all of the answers straight away they will be very entertained.

Summary

Presentation: The small package is fairly heavy, with lots of gemstones and nicely designed cards along with a sturdy but slightly redundant board. 9.1/10

Clarity of Rules: The designers obviously realised that the game would be incredibly tough to learn, so many clearly illustrated and well written examples and charts are included to ease the strain on the players as they learn the game. The learning curve is still a pretty steep one, however. 8.4/10

Game Length: After the first few games, Shipwrecked is usually fast paced and fun. However, bidding can degenerate into several ties which drag out the game considerably, leaving a player or two out of the proceedings. 7.8/10

Value: Lots of replay value as bidding becomes increasingly addictive and competitive the more that players get used to the unusual mechanics. The well made components are built to last too. 9.2/10

Overall: An unusual game that rewards patience when being taught and learned. Blind bidding is not the most common or well-loved of genres, but Shipwrecked succeeds in making it interesting and highly enjoyable. Players looking for a totally unique game experience would do well to give it a chance. 7.9/10 (not an average)

Review by Jason M. Brown