rynelf Reviews

by rynelf

--Jul2018-- Fascinating. On the first play, several of the atrocities I'd expected didn't (and couldn't have) occurred; and yet another set of hitherto-unforeseen eventualities did come to pass. It was very cool. Definitely need to give it another try.

by rynelf

--Jul2015-- I'm very enthusiastic about this title. It's reminiscent of 1889 (though with a couple fewer terrain effects); pretty fast in play; and the reduction in total trains make the rush quite brutal. Very happy to play this one.

by rynelf

--Sep2017-- Quite cool dynamics: early turn priority is really important - even as early as leaving the private auction. Initial pricing is also more subtle than our 1830-tuned sensibilities would describe. And the train rush is fast. Definitely need more practice here to time things correctly.

by rynelf

1836 --May2019-- Fascinating early game. The possibilities of the minors (buy in for tokens or trains, or run deep into the game for revenue) are cool. Needs more play: I'm sure it has lots more potential than shown in one play.

by rynelf

--Dec2003-- Far more random than either Monopoly or Solarquest. But surprisingly appealing for my small children. See my review!++ >20 unlogged plays. ++

by rynelf

--Aug2012-- Many thanks to Olav Müller for the expansion.--Jun2013-- Finally got it in play (most of my Gipsy King plays are with folk that aren't familiar with the game: it seemed unfair to add the additional complication before they'd played once or twice.) I really like it! "Will attempt to employ in future Gipsy King games."

by rynelf

--Dec2010-- I'm definitely not very good at this one. But it's a lovely not-particularly taxing game in the social vein of Boggle - and that's a niche that gets played occasionally in our house. Given that daughter #1 enjoys it, and it's her game, it's a success.

by rynelf

--Aug2005-- Lots of plays as a youngster. Until I claimed the game from my parents' closet, the most recent of those was more than 20 years ago. The game is a trivial (though not quite so much as Airline) roll and move, and is ranked high out of nostalgia.++ >50 unlogged plays. ++

by rynelf

--May2007-- More interesting game than I'd been lead to believe from the initial reviews. It's certainly something that I'd be willing to play again: but, equally, I'm not sure that I'd ever have the opportunity to suggest it.

by rynelf

--11Sept2004-- Rules are quite poor, but somewhere inside is a vaguely interesting deduction game.

by rynelf

--May2009-- Relatively trivial memory game. It might be more amusing with more players - but with 2 it was over before much memory was required. I'd play if my children requested it, but I'd never suggest it.

by rynelf

--May2015-- Quite interesting. I enjoyed it, and yet am a bit unconvinced about the lumpiness of the Captain cards: they're definitely quite variable of utility and synergy. The uncertainty of era end is of similar cloth: possibly entirely appropriate (and certainly entertaining) - but it leaves one with a rather long game with significant random elements.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- I've played this more times than recorded; look on the Ystari Box entry for the others. But this is my default way to play Metropolys.

by rynelf

--Jul2010-- The palace influence objective card is pretty nice: it makes the Procession and turn order selection independent variables. Adding a "First Recruit" power increases the seemingly-significant choices. At this point, I'm a fan.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- It's extremely pretty. And pretty random, too. The limits on the possible moves each turn leave one at the mercy of the draw to a great degree - but there's still opportunity for interesting play. I think. Some of this is still hypothesis.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- It's quite cool: loads of special powers (with the natural benefits that come from accumulating synergies); a great deal of asymmetry, yet with entirely regular scoring. I'd be happy to play again, but wonder how many plays before one game starts living in the echoes of its predecessors.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- No idea whether this will keep one's interest over loads of plays - but I really enjoyed the first time out (despite blundering near the end. At least I won't make that mistake ever again.) The academic conceit is lovely; the opportunity for havoc with repeated plays against the same opponents also quite amusing.--Aug2015-- Traded for a copy.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- Quite entertaining. And distinctly better than I'd expected, too. The game permits planning and interference with one another's plans both: the result is pretty nice. (Even if I'm not completely convinced by the theming.)

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- Fluffy; entertaining; random. It's a nice beer & pretzels (or for son #2, chocolate milk and potato chips) weight game: there are decisions, but the better cards - and there's lots of variance, so there absolutely are better and worse cards - will likely win. Willing to play, anyway.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- This is really pretty sweet: it's reminiscent in places of OMEGA (scoring) and Yavalade (player interactions); but the two sizes of tile change things up more than a little. Cool stuff.

by rynelf

--Apr2015-- Hmm; quite cool. Not so good with son #1 (20) and I (who vaguely understood the scoring from the beginning) and son #2 (12) who distinctly didn't. I expect this would work nicely with my colleagues.

by rynelf

--Oct2015-- Very interactive, engaging, and fascinating. There's a lot to consider here: possibly too much for a first game. But the decisions seem both real and meaningful: the evidence of my first game is that distinguishing good patterns from bad is vitally important, and that good play triumphs over bad.--Nov2015-- After five plays, I've made it a _9_; it's really cool. I've played with three different groups, and all have enjoyed it.

by rynelf

--Jun2015-- Not completely impressed with the _Hundred Years' War_ set. Needs more play. (And I need to try the _Dragon Princess_, too.)

by rynelf

--May2015-- Quite entertaining. The two card sets are quite dramatically different, though both interesting.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- It's weird. Fast. Relatively harmless. And surprisingly engaging given it's flyweight duration. My kids enjoyed it - which is a note in its favour.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- This is very nice: sensible dynamics; great pacing; good story. Really enjoyed my first play.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- This is hard - for a newbie, at least. We floundered our way through a game (with multiple backtracks to avoid truly insensible play.) It was cool; we enjoyed it; but the end-game fragility (when player 3 chose which of player 1 or 2 would win) was a bit of a turnoff.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- Fun to try: I rather like the dynamics of the three ferocious modules - particularly against the creeping ooze that is Neojungle.

by rynelf

--Jul2015-- It's fluffier than I'd expected: more a nice family-weight game than not, I think. But also quite sensibly straightforward and comprehensible. Happy to play.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- This is very cool: happy to play with the Yavalath set.

by rynelf

--Sep2015-- It's a fascinatingly unconstrained system: while the initial 1936 setting is plausible, the players may conduct themselves as they see fit thereafter - with very little need to adhere to historic patterns. It's cool; and I need to play more.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- Rating is very uncertain; this is likely the best I can do on one play. The game is odd: it has quite a lot of merit (clarity; interesting decisions) and some significant (if only potential, since my one observation isn't sufficient to declare dogmatically) flaws (volatility; randomness of building refresh; viability of long-term planning.) I guess I'm happy to play again, but wonder whether my long-term view is better or worse than this.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- This is an odd duck: it's very pretty, but as I'm usually unconvinced by dice games I didn't expect much. And it's intriguing. It neither outstays its welcome, nor pretends to things it isn't. Not sure it's great, but it's at least interesting.--May2017-- And after replaying it with the mindset of Mike Fogus "Like pseudo-Backgammon from another galaxy" I think I'm more entertained. I'm no longer interested in trading it away, at least.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- This is hard. And fascinating. And just fiddly enough that I'll always wonder if I've made a blunder; but that's likely ok.--Jan2017-- Given to Grace & Jon a couple years ago. Haven't missed it.

by rynelf

--Feb2015-- Quite charming. And much clearer in play than the very busy board might imply. There are real decisions here: and interestingly crunchy ones that affect the opponents. I'd be delighted to play again. (Amusingly, perhaps, it's taken me three tries to have even a vague sense of how it all ties together. I might be able to actually play - as opposed to simply taking actions that are vaguely legal within the rules framework - in one or two more attempts!)

by rynelf

--Sep2012-- As silly party activities go, this one is very amusing. Probably ideal for the crowd for which _Dixit_ is too gamy. I hope this will become an occasional staple. (Comment duplicated from essentially-identical Telestrations entry.)

by rynelf

--Feb2015-- This is quite cool: more intricate than Love Letter, while still quite accessible. I like the art in this Japanese print, too.

by rynelf

--Sep2016-- They're tremendously amusing. But I'm not (yet) confident I prefer them to the default trains.

by rynelf

--Mar2015-- This is entertaining. I think it's lighter & fluffier than Race: but it's much easier to get into play; easier to explain; and likely an easier sell for folk that haven't played Race dozens of times.

by rynelf

--Jan2015-- It's a cool exercise: though I'm not completely confident that navigating the farmer movement is possible as an advance planning exercise. But as a game where chaos happens and one does one's best with the available options, it's quite amusing. (If possibly over-rated here. I suspect that the rating would/will fall with additional play.)

by rynelf

--Feb2015-- Added to the CoC:Civilizations materiel.--Sep2017-- And, quite belatedly, they appear in a game. Interesting powers; but not quite as significant as the holder hoped.

by rynelf

--Jan2015-- It's cute. The endgame comes on pretty abruptly when one isn't ready for it; but I rather expect the game works nicely when all players have the same understanding of the game dynamics.

by rynelf

--Jan2015-- Fast, silly; an excellent filler. Seems quite appealing (for a game with very little substance.) My rating is a bit odd here: the game isn't terribly worthwhile - yet, in context, it works very well.

by rynelf

--Jan2015-- Both easier to play and perhaps a tiny bit less compelling than Neuwahl's previous Aztec. They've got similar patterns; similar scoring; dissimilar (but similarly lovely) aesthetics. It's cool; the sort of thing that gets occasionally played in my house.

by rynelf

--Jan2015-- It's quite clever. But I'm increasingly finding randomness where one I thought I saw evidence of subtlety. And that's not at all to claim there isn't opportunity for good play: there is. But sometimes even very competent players (i.e. not me) get dealt terrible hands.

by rynelf

--Dec2014-- Charming little turn-based push-one's-luck game. I'm susceptible to the genre, and my youngsters found this one amusing. A winner!

by rynelf

--Dec2014-- It's quite pleasant, for a little abstract game with no real theme. Daughter #1 was amused - which is nice; and the game definitely didn't outstay its welcome. On the other hand, it's not something I'd ever choose for its own merits: other than the mechanical effort of playing, there's little else going on.

by rynelf

--Dec2014-- Long, intricate, and completely engrossing. There's loads of opportunities for havoc and chaos here; lots of interaction. I was very impressed. (Subsequently bought a copy: waterframe is pretty viable with 3 on a game night - but still too long with 4 to play easily.)

by rynelf

--Dec2014-- It's quite surprisingly entertaining: despite the rock-paper-scissors mechanisms it seems well worth playing. Caveats: the various neutral camps aren't of equivalent difficulty. And the rules' recommendation that it plays "best with 5 or more" seems completely plausible.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- It's surprisingly compelling. It's taken the parts of Citadels I like and distilled them out to a short brutal game of black humour. Quite entertaining.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- The new buildings are quite entertaining; I've added them to the base set to use by default.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- Looks great: cool quirky theme; sensible rules (thanks Zimeon & Brandon); cute art. Sadly (for me) it's also quite clunky in play. One spends a good deal more time calculating (and re-calculating) the various influence totals on each one of the girls. As daughter #1 said "This would be delightful as an app - where the scoring would be automatic" - but it's not nearly as compelling as a boardgame.I'd be tempted to keep running scores by piling poker chips along with the cubes, and mutating them appropriate on each action in a subsequent play.--Jan2017-- Sold a couple years ago. With no regret to date.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- It's amusing and attractive in play. And (even after two games) I still haven't played it correctly (mea culpa on that front.) The real game is better than what I've played so far.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- Oh, this is quite lovely. Very impressive remix of familiar themes and patterns into a cool short package. Rating has increased a couple times as I continue to play.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- A bit random; but there's a lot of opportunity here for clever placement, too. I rather like it - and imagine that my rating could still improve with further play.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- It's a cute little push-your-luck dice game. And a bit more random (it seems perhaps unkindly to me) than things of that ilk (_Pickomino_ comes to mind) that amuse me.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- For the most part, harmless and pleasant. There's a bit of take-that; but the compensation is usually on the order of the harm, so it doesn't seem so bad. I could be talked in to playing again, I think.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- Very cute; charming original theme; and a bit of the puzzle-solving and deduction that I enjoy in _Love Letter_ and _Palastgeflüster_. And it works for my younger two children. Nice.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- Added to TM - and while it's been part of the kit, it only gets included occasionally as the random draw allows.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- Added to the base game. It's quite nice: other than the one "Not recommended for 3/4 player games" engineer (who wasn't, in fact, part of this game) the rest seems sensible, interesting, and well worth using.

by rynelf

--Nov2014-- It's not great; but, equally, it's not as bland as I thought after reading the rules. It's probably longer than I'd prefer for its style; but I'd be totally content to play again.

by rynelf

--25Oct2014-- The Med seems cool; I like the monument-or-colony divergence. But it doesn't change my view of the base game, since I've never played without!

by rynelf

--25Oct2014-- It's cute, amusing; definitely more involved (and possibly less well balanced) than its Bronze Age ancestor. But not better by sufficient a margin to want to buy it.

by rynelf

--25Oct2014-- Quite cute. The instructions were sensible; the game quite tractable (if a bit more random than I might prefer) in play; there was a pretty reasonable correlation between good play (not mine!) and victory. Happy to play again.

by rynelf

--Aug2017-- Took a while to get it played; but it was quite charming when it happened. Lots to consider on this map, and some interesting scoring dynamics, too. Interested to try with 4 or 5, to pull Scotland into play.

by rynelf

--Dec2014-- Added to the Concordia box. Two plays in early 2005: one on each side of the expansion board. The mutations of Germania are entertaining, and the simplicity and familiarity (despite the changes) of the Britannia side is cool, too.

by rynelf

--Oct2014-- It's a lovely simple design, and fast and sensible in play. Since it doesn't take itself too seriously, the result is quite delightful.

by rynelf

--Sept2014-- Quite happy to play: it's cute and fast. I'm increasingly (but not completely) convinced that my decisions make as much difference to the results as the set of cards I'm drawn. It's quite entertaining, though.

by rynelf

--Sep2014-- It's a curious thing. Physically pleasant; harmless; at least modestly intriguing. Looks to be a successful filler, I expect.--Jan2017-- Sold last year. And not terribly missed.

by rynelf

--Sep2014-- The art is lovely; and the game? Well, it's a blind bidding thing - so I'm incapable of treating it seriously. Fortunately, though, it doesn't seem to be a serious game. One plays some cards, and sees what happens: and before memory becomes a factor, someone will likely win. My rating is inflated because of the enthusiasm of my youngest child.

by rynelf

--Sep2014-- It's entertaining: the patterns of play (both to score as well as possible, and to deny scoring to others) are not obvious. While it's true that a (relatively) low hand will ensure you'll not score well, it might also provide enough mojo to ensure everyone else will also not score well (or not; which would be unfortunate.)

by rynelf

--Sep2014-- Random; volatile; amusing. But the tie between "good play" and victory is tenuous at best. So: a fine light amusement, but not more.

by rynelf

--Jul2013-- It's quite cute. If I liked co-ops, I might well find this charming, compelling, and interesting. But, sadly, I don't: the fault is mine, rather than the game's.

by rynelf

--Sep2014-- Fun memories of 1978. Easily my favourite of the S&T included games.

by rynelf

--Sep2014-- Very cute; potentially fluffier than I really want - but it's possible that my rating isn't boosted by the (huge) enthusiasm of my younger children. It's short and quite entertaining.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- Pretty trivial, but fun for son #2: he liked it a lot. There's a lot of luck-of-the-draw here; but the decision making is not completely trivial.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- Lovely art; amusing gameplay. Turn order seems really important. I'd be totally content to play more, but probably won't look to buy a copy.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- I'm no more fond of this than I am of the base Munchkin game. They're a bunch of jokes that might be amusing the first time, but quickly get tiresome in the take-that context.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- I'm no more fond of this than I am of the base Munchkin game or the first expansion. More of the (mostly tiresome) same - though, admittedly, some of the jokes are amusing the first time they're seen.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- Interesting stock chart; cool map dynamics. I'm definitely a novice at these things, but I'm intrigued nonetheless. I wonder if the lack of privates make games feel the same.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- Clean; tractable; distinct turn order effects. Not sure about an optimal player count - but I could believe it was 4 instead of the 5 that we had in the first game. And that's the worry here: it's possible that (with better players than we are) the game could be decided by the initial seating assignment.

by rynelf

--Aug2014-- A bit of a preliminary rating, after a "let's pull the levers and see what happens" exploratory play with some colleagues from work. The duration is very tractable, and there looks to be some interesting decisions here, too. I hope to be even more amused on further play.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- A cute little multi-level set collecting abstract. And easier to explain without the balloons getting in the way. I found it pleasant; son #2 enjoyed it.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- I'm sure I'm not the audience for this one. It's silly. And amused a set of my friends. So not all bad.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- Daughter #1 was amused (and I rather enjoyed it too.) The dynamics are sensible; the push-your-luck dynamics of the various market cards are cool; it's a nice design.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- Charming little push-one's-luck game of acquiring some modestly thematic collection of piratically themed cards. The decisions are cute, and the side effects become more interesting as the game wears along. I'd be happy to play again.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- Quite charming revisiting of (something very much like) the cards originally seen in 6 nimmt!. The decisions seem real; the game amusing: quite impressive.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- Definitely has merit; and is possibly a distinctly better game than my rating would indicate. I'm content to play again - but the simultaneous secret bids seem more capricious to me than I prefer.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- It has some merit; and I expect I'd have a better feeling for the possible variance one might expect in replenishment on a subsequent play. But while I'm happy to play again, I expect it's not quite my style.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- This is very entertaining. It might be a bit slow; but it's charmingly cool. I like the 3-4p auction rules a good deal better than the 2p ones - though the ability to select from two sides of the same tile in the 2p game is delightful. It's possible that there's also a greater appreciation that might come once the patches are known and their distribution understood. But for the moment, I'm definitely looking forward to more play.

by rynelf

--Jun2014-- Fascinatingly non-standard interleaving of stock and operating rounds make this an interesting exercise in prediction and incentives. The trains are interestingly lumpy (the "plus" versions, at least in this all-novice table seemed very strong compared to the ordinary-ish trains that came before and after); it seems necessary to be able to predict (or at least manipulate) the way the trains fall out: and that will require some practice. Yet given the length, it's not one I'll be able often to get to the table. I suspect I'm stuck in that enjoying-but-having-no-expertise zone for a while.

by rynelf

--Jun2014-- (Thanks, Dave!) Many thanks for the 1st ed. copy. It amuses me. Other than the lovely original Bill Gates and Elvis cards, it's much the same as the reprint; but I love the aesthetics of this version.

by rynelf

--Jun2014-- Much more enthusiastic about this than I'd expected. It's something that might work nicely for a work lunch; and my kids might tolerate it too. It's a cool little race game, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

by rynelf

--Jun2014-- It's quite cute; but I'm not convinced I'd want to play often. Well - except with the right people. This is one that my Mom might enjoy (and Dad would have enjoyed.)

by rynelf

--Jun2014-- Hard to rate this outside the context of the base game in which I'd played it. I'm not even certain which of the cards we played were expansion (I presume Harbor was one; other than that.) So my rating and reflections are very much equivalent to those of the base game: random; a bit overlong (for my taste); fluffy; fairly amusing (so that I'm happy to play, but wouldn't request it.)

by rynelf

--Feb2015-- I've enthusiastically employed this expansion when playing against the AI; and it works nicely in person, too. I find the dynamics of the new roles to be quite entertaining.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- Cool little abstract: fast; sensible; replayable. I like it.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- It's very pretty, and really quite cute in play: roll the dice; flip up tiles; activate tiles that were previously flipped; collect status chips. Or defeat the opposing princess. The economic and militaristic choices seem plausibly balanced (though further investigation will make that clearer.) Definitely happy to play again.

by rynelf

--Jul2014-- It's cute, and physically very lovely. Definitely more interesting with 4 than with 3 players, too. The endgame is strangely (and interestingly) confined: as the capabilities of the players increase, the opportunities do not: so there's some subtle timing that's both possible and necessary to have a good result. I'm more impressed after the second play than I was after the first (may it continue!)

by rynelf

--Jun2014-- Nearly certainly less random than it appeared in the first hand. In fact, even by the third hand things were looking a bit more sensible. There's an odd set of incentives here that need to be parsed and manipulated; and I suspect the game is well worth playing once one has come to grips with everything that is going on.