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Game Night Blog Carnival: Martian Dice

General Roleplaying, Highlights for gophers, Reviews 2 Responses »

Aug 302011

Welcome to the new Game Night Blog Carnival! This is a feature we’re doing once a month with a few other RPG blogs. If you have an RPG blog, and would like to participate, check out the FAQ at the main Game Night page.
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As an old school role player, I love dice. I also have a soft spot for cold war era science fiction. Thus, Martian Dice by Tasty Minstrel Games appeals to me on several levels. You are a Martian and are trying to abduct Earth creatures. It is a quick and easy to learn press your luck game that generally plays in 10-20 minutes. The more players the longer the game. One nice thing about Martian Dice is that it can accommodate any number of players. The object of the game is to be the first to score 25 points.

That packaging looks familiar. (Image copyright Dayton Ward)

Martian Dice comes packaged in a dice cup that contains the 13 dice needed to play and an instruction booklet. The dice are black and feature five different symbols, one of which repeats. Each symbol has its own color. This makes it easy to quickly see what has been rolled. The symbols and their colors are red tank, blue human face, yellow chicken, white cow, and a green flying saucer which is on each die twice. The instructions are a full color two-sided fold out sheet that features clear rules and directions and a sample of play. The game is so easily picked up the instructions really will only be needed for first time play.

Once someone is picked to go first, that player rolls a 13 dice and sets any tanks rolled to the side. Tanks represent the Earth resistance forces and can prevent a player from scoring if they are not countered by death rays represented by the green flying saucers. After the tanks are set aside the player can choose one type of symbol to set aside. The human, cow, and chicken can only be chosen once on a players turn. Death rays can always be chosen. All the dice featuring the selected symbol are set aside and then the player can choose to reroll the remaining dice. This continues until the player decides to quit rolling, can’t keep anything, or runs out of dice. Once a player has seven tanks their turn is effectively over as well, since it is impossible to equal or exceed the number of tanks with death rays. Presuming that the player manages more death rays than tanks they score one point for each human, cow, and chicken. If a player manages to get at least one of each of the scoring symbols they get a three point bonus. This means that a perfect series of rolls that produces only scoring symbols would score 16 points. I’ve yet to see that happen but it is possible, so theoretically some one could manage to win in two turns. When one player reaches 25 points the current round is played to the end, possibly allowing another player to catch up and overtake the leader. In the case of a tie each player rolls 6 dice and the one with the most death rays wins.

Martian dice is an ideal game when you are waiting for folks to show up for a game session. It moves pretty fast but there is enough decision making and strategey to hold folks interest. It is certainly easy enough for kids to play and promotes some critical thinking. This one is super quick and fun as well as boasting a $15 price tag. We have played dozens of games and have had a blast. We’ve even named a roll featuring nothing but tanks and death rays a “Michael Bay” since it is all explosions and no points.

This one is worth it for anyone who plays games on a regular basis.

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The next stop on the Game Night Blog Carnival is Glimm’s Workshop. The previous stop is The ID DM. Be sure to check out the main page of the Game Night Blog Carnival!

Game Night Blog Carnival: Cookie Fu

General Roleplaying, Highlights for gophers, Reviews 1 Response »

Jul 262011

Welcome to the new Game Night Blog Carnival! This is a new feature we’re doing once a month with a few other RPG blogs. If you have an RPG blog, and would like to participate, check out the FAQ at the main Game Night page.
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Awesome kung fu flip picture by richardmasoner

I wanted a Kung Fu picture and this one was awesome! Photo by richardmasoner on Flickr.

Back in the late 60′s and early 70′s, martial arts as practiced in Asia became somewhat of a fad in America. Bruce Lee was at the top of his career and badly dubbed “chop-socky” movies were at the drive-in. The game I’m going to be discussing this month is called Cookie Fu and uses dice to simulate a one on one “fu” fight. It is a collectible dice game from Blue Kabuto. Normally I don’t bother with collectible games since I like to know exactly what I’m getting for my hard earned cash. I made an exception for this game because it is easy, cheesy, fast, and fun. The premise is that there are 3 clans preparing to fight against the forces of the Dark Cookie threatening the land of Fu. The clans are the Chocolate Ox, Vanilla Hare, and Coconut Monkey. You are a Fu Fighter from one of these clans training in the Way of The Cookie. Each of the clans has a different style that is reflected in their clan specific chi moves. Chi moves are the most powerful moves in the game.

So why is a dice game called Cookie Fu? The chi moves for each clan are provided as fortunes inside fortune cookies that come with the game. Surprisingly, I have not encountered any stale cookies thus far. I am told that the makers of the game take great pains to ensure that the cookies are as fresh as possible. I must admit that a game that comes with its own snack is hard not to like.

Mahon and Eric playing a game of Cookie Fu!

The care taken with the cookies is indicative of the presentation of the game. Cookie Fu is packaged in facsimiles of Chinese food containers. There are two different sizes of container. The small ones are used for booster pack which come in four varieties, one for each clan and a standard non clan specific booster. The larger container is used for the Battle Royale pack which provides enough dice and cookies for two people to play using the Chocolate Ox and Vanilla Hare clans. It is the most cost effective way to start playing Cookie Fu and lets you get straight to the fighting. The instructions are designed like a tri fold take out menu and present the basic moves and standard chi powers as menu items. They also double as screens to hide your dice rolls from your opponent.

Grey playing some Cookie Fu!

Cookie Fu is above all a dice game and the main course of the game is the dice. There are two kinds of dice provided with one type having several subsets. The first type of die is referred to as the Clan Fortune die and is used to determine initiative. Each clan’s die is color coded and has one of three portraits of fu fighters on it. The other dice are Fu dice and come in four varieties each corresponding with the level of “fu” the die represents. The color of the icons on the dice tell you the die type. There are six icons representing “fu” moves. The basic fu dice have white icons and one of each of the six icons. The dice then advance up in “skill” levels by adding more duplicate icons per die allowing a player to customize their fu. The learned dice have two of the same icon followed by master with three of a kind and finally grand master with four of a kind. All levels of dice have a single chi icon. The learned dice icons are yellow, master icons are orange, and grand master icons are green. The dice are a rich dark brown so the icons are really easy to see.

You want Battle Royale Packs! Seriously, they're awesome!

The game is simple to play. Each turn both players roll their allotted Fu dice including the Clan Fortune die. Players then reveal their Clan Fortune die rolls and use what is basically a modified version of rock, paper, and scissors to determine initiative. Once initiative is set then the first player presents dice to attack and the other player defends with the players alternating attacks and defence until they both run out of dice. Turns continue until one player runs out of hit points. When a player hits zero hit points he may do a “parting shot” consisting of his remaining dice to the opposing player. It is possible for both players to be knocked out. This all sounds very mechanical and unexciting. The joy in Cookie Fu is in the presentation by the fighters. This quote from the rules explains it much better than I.

“Important note: Cookie Fu moves work best when shouted with a dramatic stance. STAND UP, have fun, get into it and give it your best “Hiiiiiiyaaaa!!” Facial expressions and gestures are encouraged.”

The Cookie Fu moves that use chi have great names like “Sugary Nerve Strike” or “Bourbon Bean Hamstring” which are a blast to announce old school chop-socky film style. The fact that the game is relatively quick to learn and understand does not detract from a players ability to use good strategy and make wise decisions. We have had a blast playing this one and I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s been like a Carl Douglas song around here lately. Get out there and show that your Fu is strong, Grasshopper.
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The next stop on the Game Night Blog Carnival is Glimm’s Workshop. The previous stop is The ID DM. Be sure to check out the main page of the Game Night Blog Carnival!

Highlights for Gophers: Minecraft Screenshots

Highlights for gophers No Responses »

Jul 222011

Sure, it’s not the usual fare for a Highlights for Gophers picture post, but I wanted to show off a few cool screenshots I’ve taken the last few months.

And Finally, a great night shot of Obsidian Tower! I spent two weeks harvesting the necessary materials for its construction.

Game Night Blog Carnival: Forbidden Island

General Roleplaying, Highlights for gophers, Reviews, Transmissions 1 Response »

Jun 282011

Stock photos for the win!

In the 19th Century archeology was not always about the study and preservation of historical artifacts and sites. It was all about the spectacular find and often amounted to little more than treasure hunting. This “adventure” style of archeology has been reflected in pop culture by Allan Quatermain, Indiana Jones, and Lara Croft. Forbidden Island is a game that is based around the concept of archeology as great adventure. The premise is classic pulp archeology. There are four artifacts each related to one of the four primary elements (earth, wind, fire, and water) on a previously undiscovered island and the players are a team of adventures out to acquire the treasures from sites on the island. The catch is that the “Archeans”, the ancient empire that called the island home, rigged the place to sink if anyone came after their treasure. The object of the game is to collect all four treasures and make it off the island before it sinks.

Forbidden Island is a cooperative game for 2 -4 players. I love cooperative games because I was a role player before I became a board gamer.The board is made up of 24 tiles that represent the different areas of the island. The tiles are double sided, with the colored side representing the normal version of the tile and a blue side that represents the flooded version of the area.The tiles are randomly drawn and arranged into the shape of the island. The four treasures each have two areas from which they can be retrieved. The plastic figurines that represent the treasures are placed near the board. The plastic figurines look fantastic, particularly the one representing the Crystal of Fire. In fact, Forbidden Island has tremendous production value for it’s price of less than $20. All the components are attractive and well designed. Everything fits neatly into the insert provided in the metal tin in which Forbidden Island is packaged. There are also two decks of cards, colored pawns to represent the players,and a cardbord and plastic water level marker.

The cards in Forbidden Island are used to acquire treasure and to determine which area of the island floods or sinks. The orange deck of treasure cards consists of five cards for each of the four treasures and 3 other special types of cards. The 3 Waters Rise cards increase the water level and thus the amount of flood cards drawn as well as causing the flood deck to be reshuffled.The other two types of special cards are Helicopter Lift and Sandbags. A Helicopter Lift card is required for the players to win the game. Sandbags allow a flooded area to be instantly shored up and brought back to normal. The blue cards are the flood deck and there is a card for each area on the island. When a flood card is drawn for an area its tile is flipped over to the blue flooded side or if the area is already flooded then that tile sinks and is removed from the game along with its corresponding flood card. In fact, prior to starting the game six random tiles on the island are flooded and then the flood deck is reshuffled. The flooding aspect makes for lots of tension because tiles flood quickly and constantly and since certain tiles are needed to win and all players must be able to get to the tile that allows them to leave the island things are tight even at the novice level of difficulty. We finished one game,a win, with only seven of the twenty four tiles above water.

Once everything is set up,each player randomly receives one of six different Adventurer roles. Each has its own special ability, which is an exception to the standard rules for movement, passing cards, or shoring up flooded areas. It seems to me that after a few plays of the game that the Engineer is most vital to the success of the players. It allows for the shoring up of two adjacent flooded areas instead of one per action. A players role also determines which tile the player starts on and which color pawn will represent the player. Everyone then gets two treasure cards and the game starts. Since Forbidden Island is cooperative players just lay their treasure cards out on the table in front of themselves.

In Forbidden Island each player’s turn consists of three parts completed in order. First take up to three actions, then draw two treasure cards, and finally draw flood cards equal to the number requred by the current water level.

There are four types of actions that a player can take in any combination during the take action phase of their turn. The actions are move, shore up, give a treasure card, and capture a treasure. Movement is up, down, left, or right one tile per action. Certain adventurer abilities allow for other types of movement. Shore up allows a flooded tile to be returned to its normal unflooded state. Give a treasure card allows a player to hand another player that is on the same tile one of his treasure cards per action. Capture a treasure can only be done when a player has acquired a set of four treasure cards of the same treasure and is on one of the two possible tiles that allow for the recovery of that particular treasure. A player does not have to take all three actions on their turn but I can’t think of a good reason not to since there is almost always an adjacent tile that needs shoring up and keeping the island from sinking is imperative for winning the game.

After a player has completed their actions for that turn they draw two treasure cards and add them to their hand. This is when the dreaded waters rise cards show up and increase the water level, making this a surprisingly tense part of the turn. When a waters rise card is drawn it is a good idea t use a sandbag card if available to make sure that the Fools Landing tile is not flooded because it is required to win the game.Once the treasure deck has been exhausted it gets reshuffled for more waters rise excitement.

The final part of the players turn is where the game gets tense. The player draws a number of cards from the flood deck as specified by the current water level. The tiles represented by these cards become flooded. If the tile is already flooded it sinks and the tile and it’s corresponding flood card is removed from the game.

Player keep taking turns until the victory condition is met or one of the four losing conditions occur. The only way to win is toacquire all four treasures and get every player to the Fools Landing tile and use a Helicopter Lift card to escape from the sinking island. The losing conditions are if all the tiles on which treasures can be collected sink before the treasure is acquired, Fools Landing sinks, a player is on an island tile that sinks and can’t swim to an adjacent tile, and finally if the water level reaches the skull and crossbones.

Thats all there is to Forbidden Island. It is a easy to play game that is exciting and tense even when played at the novice level. While the game is simple there is a strategic aspect that keeps it interesting. It is a game that would be fun and easy to play with kids and I believe could be played by kids younger than the 10 and up recommended on the box. I know my seven year old niece could play this game. It goes fast and after you have played the game once, the 30 minutes play time shown on the box is pretty accurate.This is a solid recommend from me. Forbidden Island is a blast and has an incredible cost to playability ratio. It makes for a great quick game and is often quite exciting. This one has become one of my game group’s favorites.

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The next stop on the Game Night Blog Carnival is Glimm’s Workshop. The previous stop is The ID DM. Be sure to check out the main page of the Game Night Blog Carnival!

Game Night Blog Carnival: Conquest of Planet Earth

General Roleplaying, Highlights for gophers, Reviews No Responses »

May 312011

Everything is going according to plan!

I love classic science fiction films. I love the good ones and the bad ones. I love Mystery Science Theater 3000 because they turn the classics (usually bad) into something new. This is why I was excited when I found out about Conquest of Planet Earth from Flying Frog Productions. Conquest of Planet Earth is a game of alien invasion where the players take on the role of alien race with unique abilities racing to conquer Earth, classic 50′s sci-fi style. The game does a wonderful job of capturing the feel of a 50′s drive in movie. The object of the game,in competitive play, is to be the first player to collect 8 terror points. This ends the game immediately.

Time to discuss components. Flying Frog continues to produce games with excellent production values and Conquest is no exception. The game features a five piece game board, alien race boards, and several cardboard counters, all of which are solid with a glossy finish. The alien invaders are represented by plastic miniatures in red, blue, green, and yellow. The miniatures are quite detailed and are shaped as flying saucers in keeping with the 50′s theme of the game. There are also four allied creature miniatures molded in gray. Each allied creature is a unique sculpt. The game play relies heavily on cards and there are five different decks in the box. The art on the cards and counters is colorful and fun. The flavor text on the cards really emphasizes the humor of this game.

The rule book is thorough and features plenty of diagrams and examples that make the game easy to learn. I enjoy playing Conquest of Planet Earth because it is a quick and easy game to teach and to play. The game also features two different ways to play, cooperative and competitive. The rules recommend learning the game competitively initially. Since there is a cooperative play mode which provides a way to control the human resistance without player involvement, the game can be played solo as well.

The five piece board allows for different game set ups based on the number of players. This also means the board is free from pesky and weak fold points. With all the different card decks, cardboard bits, and the multiple board pieces, the game can have a bit of a set up time. Although this can be easily shortened by storing the bits in an organized manner.

Conquest of Planet Earth is played in a series of rounds. Each round starts with the Command Phase. The Command Phase determines which player goes first for the current round as well as how many action points each player will have available to them on their turn. This is determined by using a series of chits numbered 2 through 6 and one labeled D6. These represent the number of action points a player will have on their turn. The first player for the round is determined by each player selecting one of the numbered chits from his pile and placing it face down on the table. These are all revealed at the same time. The player with the lowest number will go first that round. Play continues to his left. Since the game ends immediately when the victory conditions are met, turn order can be very important. The used chits get removed from the players pile and do not refresh until a player only has the D6 chit available so timing the use of chits matters as well. The D6 chit is reusable and the player’s action point bid is determined by a die roll immediately after the chits are revealed for a round.

After the command phase each player takes a turn in that round. A player’s turn consists of three phases. These phases are performed in order starting with the action phase and continuing with the battle phase and draw phase. The action phase is when a player spends action points to move his saucers around the board, play cards that require action points to be spent, and return destroyed saucers to the starting area. This is when all of the player’s action points are spent.

The battle phase is really the meat of the game as this is when fights take place. As the players explore the map, cards are drawn to represent locations on Earth, things like cities, towns , hills, power plants, and military bases. Each card has a resistance value which represents how many fights will be required to conquer the area and a population value which represents how many terror points the conquered area is worth. When a saucer, or saucers, explore a new space they have to fight the resistance they encounter. Fights will occur between saucers of opposing players during this phase as well.

The resistance for each fight is determined by card draw and there are several types of defense units as well as heroes which add to the units strength total. Some defense units have special abilities, like Assault, which wins on ties. The aliens strength is determined by the strength of the particular alien race and the number of saucers attacking the area. There are also cards a player can use to enhance the strength of his aliens for a fight. Fights are resolved by die rolling, with another player rolling for the resistance and the current player rolling for the aliens under his control. Die rolls are added to the strength of the aliens and resistance respectively, with the highest number winning the fight. It is very possible to generate enough strength to make fights impossible to win an the roll of a single die. The game design takes this into consideration and the Crushing victory rule allows for prohibitive underdogs to manage a victory. When a 6 is rolled on a fight die, strength totals don’t matter and that side wins that round. This makes any fight a bit of a gamble and doesn’t allow for building tons of power and just trying to steamroll the game. If the resistance wins a fight the aliens lose one saucer and if the aliens win the current resistance card and any heroes are discarded and the next fight with the resistance begins. If the alien wins fights equal to the location’s resistance value, that location is conquered. If the fight is going against the aliens, the player can elect to retreat to an adjacent conquered space. It is also important to note that players can steal conquered spaces from other players by moving into them while unoccupied by the enemies saucers.

The final phase of a player’s turn is the draw phase when the player replenishes their hand of Event cards. Event cards allow players to alter effects during the game, add to their terror points, or make things harder for other players to conquer.

That is the essence of Conquest of Planet Earth. The game moves at a fairly good clip and generally finishes in the projected 30 to 90 minutes. Most of the games I have played have taken about an hour. All of the games I have played have been very close, which I love. It is always better for everyone to be in the game. Conquest of Planet Earth is fairly kid friendly and could be played by folks slightly younger than the recommended 12 and up. The game is simple but does allow for some light strategy. The biggest issue can be the randomness of card draw and dice rolling, which can be frustrating. Those issues are relatively minor as the rules have been implemented to provide some ways to alleviate the worst of those issues, the Crushing victory rule, for examples. I enjoy this game immensely and the overwhelming majority of people I have played with have had fun as well. I have to admit that we have not explored the cooperative game to this juncture but that just means we still have another “new” game to play. Conquest of Planet Earth retails for around $50. Considering the amount of bits and pieces and the fact that the game provides two forms of game play make this one a pretty good value for the price.

I strongly recommend Conquest of Planet Earth to anyone looking for a quick and easy game. People who love classic science fiction should love this game.

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The next stop on the Game Night Blog Carnival is Glimm’s Workshop. The previous stop is The ID DM. Be sure to check out the main page of the Game Night Blog Carnival!