In his first article for the site, Jaya Baldwin - new member of the Naylor Games team, makes a forceful case for both titles *** "Ladies and gentleman welcome to another exciting episode of Boardgamemania! In the blue corner we have long standing heavyweight champion Dominion! The game that started an entire genre and really packs the Donald X factor. Meanwhile iiiin the red corner, we have new kid on the block, featherweight Star Realms!" *** It's a classic scenario: two games with a certain amount of similarity are pitted against each other, argued over and taken apart in order to figure out which is 'better'. When those two games are trying to fill exactly the same niche, it's a...
Last week I started my first look at Flashpoint; considering how it builds game arc and the nature of the puzzles it presents. This week I look at the critical role of theme in the game. A thorough smelting of mechanics and theme As I have previously written, the execution of theme is a sizeable element of Flashpoint's appeal. Its everywhere in the game: not just in the specific business of the advance fire roll, or its representational rather than symbolic art style. Rather the theme is completely intertwined with the vast majority of the game's mechanics. The fire itself is one of the most perfectly thematic co-op opponents we could hope for. It expands exponentially and somewhat erratically, just...
In my second adventure into forging designer-focused reviews, I start my look at the well-loved co-op Flashpoint: Fire Rescue and go for the world record number of colons in a blog post title. If you haven’t played this game, please read the BGG link for a description. While this review will cover a broad outline of some game mechanisms, it will assume some prior knowledge. Player activity summary Flashpoint is a co-operative game very much in the 'traditional' mode popularised chiefly by Pandemic: players are pitted against a random jeopardy creation mechanic which - if left unchecked - will result in them being overwhelmed; in this case, by fire in a house. They attain victory by reaching a given score...
I was bothered by how much the "cult of the new" is making boardgamers unhappy. It’s time to fight back! When I think back to the time that I first got into games, I notice a curious thing. Most of the boardgames that I had recommended to me back then were not that new, especially compared to the films, books or television that people were talking about. Back in 2007 – long before the explosion of popularity that we have recently witnessed – they were often at least a few years old by the time anyone said “you should try this!”. These were not traditional games, like Chess or Go but many of the classic modern titles that we still...
Eight practical tips for first time exhbitiors at Spiel As regular readers will know, I took Magnate to Essen last week. I am glad to say it was an absolute blast; even if it was also so tiring that I needed multiple early nights just to bring myself back to full human functioning. Overall, I think we did a good job. We had a ton of email sign-ups, lots of reviewers visited the stand, and I handed out every flyer we had. But there were some things we could have done better. The following lessons come from my reflections on the most intense show of my life. If you are not already an "old hand" at this and intend to...
