Board Game Briefs

Elder Sign is a medium, co-operative game. Set in the Cthulhu Mythos you and your fellow players are investigators trying to thwart the evil gods from descending on a museum filled with ancient mystical artifacts. Players take turns investigating areas of the museum and rolling dice to fulfill the requirements of that area, slowly warding evil and preventing the gods from awakening. Unfortunately this games theme is very light, as there is no board or pieces to speak of. The game boils down to fulfilling the dice rolls on each area and praying for the favor of the dice gods. The game is incredibly random, the rooms are randomly drawn, the evil god for each session is randomly chosen, rewards for successfully clearing areas are randomly drawn. You get the picture.

Elder Sign is a game entirely devoted to its lucked based mechanics. You'll have sessions, as I have, where you'll be tempted to swipe all the components off the table in frustration or where you're pumping your fists as you successfully move from room to room. The only solace you'll find is in your friends as you are all working together, each randomly chosen investigator brings something new to the table allowing for some slight strategy when it comes to choosing which rooms to investigate, but in the end it all comes down to dice rolls. I would recommend Elder Sign for people who like a difficult game and aren't frustrated by pure randomness. It's relatively inexpensive and gives you a taste of what heavier games have to offer without the crazy level of complexities and time investment.
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King of Tokyo is a light, player elimination game. Each player chooses a giant monster inspired by classic films and B-movies and attempt to become the King of Tokyo. All of the monsters are the same and only differ aesthetically, an absolutely essential expansion changes this. The game boils down to a derivative of king of the hill. Players score points by occupying Tokyo but when in Tokyo they cannot heal and all monsters target them, on the same token when they attack they hit all monsters not in Tokyo. This brilliant risk/ reward is so beautifully balanced it propels the game into something really special. To do anything players must roll dice and take the results, be it health, attacks, points, or energy. First player to 20 points or last player standing wins.

Energy is accrued to purchase cards that reward you with special powers, an extra dice to roll, the ability to heal one point every turn, paralyze other monsters, etc. These are the final wrinkle in the game that add an enjoyable amount of crazy that prevent the game from feeling the same every time. The 100% essential expansion I mentioned earlier, dubbed Power Up!, adds even more variety by retroactively making each monster unique, evolving and acquiring new powers each time you play.

King of Tokyo is the perfect contrast to Elder Sign because like the aforementioned game King of Tokyo is entirely luck based, entirely dependent on the results of dice rolls. But the added press your luck element of choosing when to enter or leave Tokyo means the strategy, while simple, is key to winning. In stark comparison to Elder Sign where no amount of strategy can save you from continuously shitty dice rolls. I would recommend King of Tokyo to everyone, it's easy to pick up and play, and exudes a charm that makes the more aggressive player versus player actions you will do to each other less aggravating.

Board Game Briefs

Small World is a light, area-control game. At the start of the game players choose a pair of randomly assorted races and powers, each slightly different for added variety and replay ability. The different abilities effect the way you may play, either going for large land grabs or holding key positions. For example the Giants require one less soldier to conquer spaces adjacent to mountains and the wealthy power rewards you with 7 at the end of your first turn. With 14 races and 20 powers their are hundreds of possibilities. Throughout the game you'll vie for control of the most strategically advantageous spots on the board based on your chosen race and power while reaping the monetary benefits for doing so. The person with the most money at the end wins.

When I introduced the game to my friends I was relieved at how quickly everybody picked it up. The game can seem daunting to casual players due to the numerous tokens and specific rules for each race and power but fundamentally the game is quite simple. I honestly thought, as is often the case, that the person with the most experience, i.e. me, would win. But in fact somebody else won, and won handily. 

Small World is great for those who like a little more strategy in their lighthearted pursuit of world domination. There is enough complexity and variety among the different races and powers that it guarantees the games ability to stay fresh over multiple plays. You may figure out the general strategy of defending positions that net you great benefits but someone may have a race/ power combination that debunks that strategy forcing you to rethink your approach. With an average play time of around 60 Minutes, and easy to teach, simple rules that change only slightly depending on the race and power combinations you decide on, Small World is a great introductory area-control game and one I would highly recommend for just about anyone.

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Tsuro is a light, tile laying, route networking game. In Tsuro you lay down tiles, each with different routes, down on the board and follow the path with your dragon, represented by a token. The theme is pretty light and abstract as the game is supposed to be about dueling dragons but it's reduced to simple tile laying. Each player is a dragon charting a it's route through the sky, players routes can intersect forcing dragons to collide or fly off the board if either occurs those players are eliminated. Last dragon standing is the winner.

Tsuro is what's called an 'opener', pretty self explanatory, but it's the game you play while deciding what game you'll play next or while having a drink or snacks. Tsuro takes no longer than 20 minutes and the more players the faster it goes as players quickly fill up the board and eliminate each other. Tsuro is an odd game to recommend on the one hand, it's light, short, with gorgeous components. On the other hand it doesn't lend itself to many plays. It retails for about $20 and you can get a more robust game that won't get old as fast.

An Overview of Board Games

Board Games are generally split into three major categories heavy, medium, and light 'weight' games with two minor categories medium-heavy and light-medium for more subtle categorization. These weight classes, which  are oddly similar to boxing weight-classes, are determined by three major aspects, length, difficulty, and complexity. The longer, more difficult, or more complex a game is the higher along the weight track it settles. This is generally what you look at to determine, at a glance, if you and your gaming group will enjoy a game. Some groups like long games, others short and simple, and everything in-between.

After the general 'weight' of a game is determined then a games key mechanic, or game-play type, is defined to narrow down the game to a final pretty specific position. Some mechanics which I'll explain in more detail in future posts include, worker placement, area control, bluffing, etc. So for example a game like Ticket to Ride is firmly in the light weight category, taking roughly an hour to play, with very simple player actions and rules. It's three key mechanics include hand management due to objective cards, route networking represented by laying train carts along routes on the board and finally set collection as you try to collect certain numbers of specific colors of cards to lay those colored tracks. And that is how you classify a board game.

This brief overview will be useful as I talk about games and make references to some of the terms above while introducing and describing new ones. I'll end this post with a quick review of Ticket to Ride as template for how future posts will generally read.

Ticket to Ride 

Ticket to Ride is one of the few things that could aptly be described as an instant classic, a term so overused it's a wonder anythings cultural impact is ever really determined, but Ticket to Ride earns the title as it firmly establishing an entirely new baseline for what games can and should be. For anyone whose experience with board games began and ended with games like Monopoly, Candy Land, Life, etc. Ticket to Ride is such an approachable, elegantly designed, and wonderfully enjoyable experience you'll curse the names of those so called 'classic' board games. Ticket to Ride is a perfect game to introduce to non-gamers and experienced gamers alike. Player Interactions are less confrontational and everyone's goals are slightly different so antagonism is kept to the minimum.

The game revolves around collecting different colored cards that allow you to lay tracks of the same color. You lay these tracks in conjunction with your destination cards that show you which cities on the map you need to connect. Connect all your destination cards and you can risk drawing more, a risk because if you do not complete them the score they would have afforded you will be deducted from your total. At the end you are scored for number tracks laid, longest continuous route, and most destination cards completed. And that's all there is to it, Ticket to Ride takes mere minutes to explain and is so quick to play and simple to understand I can't imagine someone having a bad experience as long as everyone is playing correctly. 

Agent Carter Season Review

Agent Carter follows the titular Peggy Carter after the seeming death of Captain America and the end of World War II. During the war Carter was a highly respected and high ranking member of the Strategic Scientific Reserve which was responsible for fighting HYRDA and developing the Super Soldier Serum which would transform the frail Steve Rogers into Captain America. But upon returning to the states Carter was relegated to the second-class citizen status the majority of women found themselves in during this period in time. Carter is forced to secretly undertake a mission for Howard Stark, an old friend from the war, to clear his name after several weapons he developed suddenly disappear and is framed for selling them to the enemy.

Let's get this out of the way now, Agent Carter is a fantastic show that I hope sees renewal simply because of how dishearteningly risky it is. I say disheartening because it shouldn't be a risk to have a female lead, or to have a period setting, or for a show to so willingly ignore a myriad of other conventions. Agent Carter is fresh, fun and a fantastic addition to the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the things I love about the series is Peggy Carter herself, she isn't just the idealistic model of a 'strong female character' she is a real female character. Carter is strong yes, but she is also flawed and complex and that's what makes a good character, that and a great performance from Haley Atwell who continues to knock it out of the park in her continued appearance as this character.

One of things I love about the ever expanding MCU is that every character has the potential to be fleshed out. Peggy Carter began as the love interest in the first Captain America film, coincidentally the only romance in a Marvel film that actually works. But everyone was so enamored with her character that we all wanted to know more about her, so we got a short film continuing her story after the war as well as a small and highly emotional scene in the second Captain America film. We slowly learned more about her and her history but it wasn't enough, so a starring vehicle of her own was the next step. This first season was a great development of her character, both the struggle she has adjusting to post war life as well as dealing with the still recent loss of Captain Rogers. The entire season is a perfectly paces and self contained 8 episodes so if our time with Peggy during this period in her life is to end after this one season at least it ends neatly tied up.

But this isn't the last we'll see of Agent Carter even if this is the only season of this show, Peggy is set to appear in this years Avengers 2: Age of Ultron as well as Ant-Man. It's the power of the MCU that a popular character can continue to grow on screen across film and television. The first season of Agent Carter is great, the production is fantastic feeling more like the late 1940's than Mad Men ever has any of its eras. The characters while only having 8 episodes to develop manage to be fully fleshed out characters, and no one is a one note villain or hero. Even the men who continuously belittle Agent Carter are sympathetic as the season continues. The death of principal character surprisingly manages to elicit real emotion after only 7 episodes, that's the advantage of strong nuanced characters and great performances. But the real stars of the series are Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis, together both actors give steller performances and revel in their chemistry for some of the most memorable moments across the entire season.

I could go on for several more paragraphs about how much of a relief it is to see a broadcast network series without a romantic relationship in sight, or how well it ties into the existing MCU, or how amazing the effects are, or how the cameos are more than fan-service. But suffice to say  I really enjoyed the show and it stands as a stark and refreshing contrast to everything else in the MCU right now. At the same time Agent Carter does take a few missteps; some things are resolved too conveniently, a consequence of the short episode order I'm sure, but it feels cliche regardless. And finally most of the moments played for laughs fall flat. But apart from those minor quibbles Agent Carter is a fine series with two phenomenal leads in  Hayley Atwell and James D'Arcy that deserves to be further explored in future seasons. I for one will be praying to the television network gods for a renewal.

Overall Season Score 

(4 out of 5)

Board Game Fever

A couple of times a year I get this itch, I've never openly discussed it for obvious embarrassing reasons but suffice to say I've tried every cream and ointment and it never dissipates. One day a few years ago I was randomly scouring the internet for a cure when I came across a fervent community around board games. Alas the itch subsided as I explored this fascinating new rabbit hole I would soon find myself lost within, This was new to me, the only board games I had played were popular mainstream games like Monopoly, Trouble, Clue, etc. I was not aware that in the mid 90's European style board games, mostly from Germany, began making their way over to the U.S. and taking the table top community by storm. Settlers of Catan was probably the earliest one of these games to really take off and since then these 'Designer Board Games' have ushered in a more heavily thematic, mindbogglingly creative and intensely strategic era of board games that have reinvigorated enthusiasts and captured the attention of non-gamers alike.

It's been about two years since I've gotten into tabletop games, a more apt descriptor as many games don't even bother with a board, but I still consider myself new to the hobby. The very first set of games I bought I introduced to friends and they seemed to enjoy them quite a bit, since then I've expanded my collection while introducing different genres and slowly increasing the complexity of the games we play. We started off with incredibly simple games that I could explain in 5 minutes and included some strategy but light on complex mechanics, games like: Ticket to Ride, Munchkin, Tsuro and Zombie Dice. Ticket to Ride is a real highlight, correctly considered a modern day classic to rival the all time greats, in fact the game is better than any family game in existence and every home should have a copy, it's simple but doesn't lack complexity and can be easily explained to anyone, even the family dog. From there things escalated quickly.

The games I mentioned above are described as 'light' or 'family' games, they are incredibly simple and typically only have one mechanic, lying train carts along a track for instance. But tabletop games can get significantly more complex from there. Small World was the first game me and my friends tried that took awhile to explain and even while playing the rulebook wasn't far from reach. Categorized as an area control game, players choose unique races alongside randomly assigned unique abilities and vie for control of the map on the board game. A simple game in retrospect but a game with enough rules and nuances that beginners shouldn't hop right in without some prior experience with similar games.

Over the next few posts, as movies and video games are few and far between these days, I'll be diving deep into table top gaming; describing, explaining, reviewing, and reliving moments from my time at the table.

Video Games Should be Interactive NOT Cinematic

Video games have been becoming more cinematic with every passing year, they've always strived to emulate Hollywood and the success of the film industry. But video games are not films nor should they be.

Last week The Order: 1886 was released to a tidal wave of criticism, at first centered around it's shockingly short length, 5-6 hours, and later for it's more critical failures, bland game play, little variety, reused sections, and a general overly scripted feel. The games unskippable cutscenes reportedly add to the games already short length and the argument has been made that there isn't more than a handful of hours of actual game play in the entire game. It isn't my place to criticize the development team at Ready at Dawn for their creative choices, if this is the game they intended players to play than I will form a subjective opinion of the end result but it would simply be my opinion. My main problem stems from an odd trend I've seen developing in the video game industry that I think should be examined before too much money is wasted on a disinterested audience.

During development of The Order: 1886 the games creative director and executive producer, Ru Weerasuriya was interviewed by Play4Real where he expressed disdain for having to make the game and wished him and his team could have made a film instead. In the interview he goes on to call video games archaic and described how the team preferred to work on character animations rather than interesting game play mechanics. It's a fascinating interview I suggest everyone read: link. I can't reiterate this enough, I can not criticize Ready at Dawn for making the game they wanted to make, but I feel better criticizing that they shouldn't have made a game at all, if the feelings above represented how they felt during development. Video games by their very nature and definition are interactive, lately games like Gone Home and anything from Telltale have reduced interactivity to emphasize story and characters but those games alter themselves based on player choices. The Order has been derided for it's unflinching linearity and countless moments where all control is taken away from the player. The cinematic world is vastly different from the interactive one, I love both but they are inherently very different and invoke different feelings.  

Another game developer, Remedy Entertainment, has also opted to focus on this cinematic experience in their next game, Quantum Break, a video game that is tied to a live action television series. How this will work has yet to be fully revealed but the game will somehow incorporate this show that Remedy themselves produced and inter-cut game play sections with the show they developed. Again I wonder why make a game at all, develop a television show if that's is what they want to do, in this day an age an entertainment company could be as diverse as they wanted. They can make games, television series, short films, feature films, comics, etc. But all of these mediums require a different skill set and offer wildly different experiences for the viewer/player/reader and they typically don't cross over. 

Telltale, a favorite developer of mine recently announced a project they've dubbed a "Super Show" where through a partnership with Lionsgate Entertainment, a film and television company, will produce a series that is "one part interactive playable content with one part of scripted television style content". It's still very early for Telltale and whatever it has planned but as you can see there seems to be a trend developing in the video games industry to develop content that is less game and more video. 

Again we are living in one of the most diverse and creatively charged eras of entertainment media, anything and everything is being developed and there are more avenues to distribute this vast array of content. But I fear game developers are developing projects that are half this and half that, which has the worrying chance of satisfying no one. Video games are interactive and the people who play them like them that way, just look at the response to The Order or the idiotic comments that Gone Home is a walking simulator. And films and television are very different beast and while these game companies are free to pursue different projects they should commit to one medium and not split their audience in half, by having one foot in the interactive space and one in the cinematic. 

Quick & Dirty Reviews

Top Five (4 out of 5)

Chris Rocks most honest and revealing film is a career highlight and one of the best comedies of the year. Top Five sees Chris Rock playing, Andre Allen, a nearly identical version of himself with some extra modern day entertainment star qualities to allow for a dissection of the current state of entertainers, and boy does Rock have things to say. It's important to note Rock, directed, wrote and stars in this film and from the second the film starts you can tell this is the most Chris Rock has ever enjoyed himself making a film, it feels honest, it's filled with his friends, it's brimming with heart and most importantly it's hilarious. Top Five at it's most basic can be described as a critique on celebrities and reality stars, with some not so subtle remarks towards the talentless hacks who flood our TV sets. But Chris Rock isn't shy to tear himself apart either, openly mocking his poor creative endeavors and current feelings about being a celebrity. Top Five soars when it acts as Rock's most authentic voice yet and falter when the cliched telegraphed plot rears its head.

Begin Again (3 out of 5)

Begin Again succeeds almost entirely on the performances and chemistry of its two leads. Mark Ruffalo plays a record label executive who hasn't landed a hit in years who finds a young singer/songwriter with tons of potential played by Keira Knightly. Begin Again can be sappy at times but there is a genuine love for music on display and the endearing performances of the two leads keep the film from crumbling under the weight of all of its cliches. Ruffalo isn't playing against type but this is a role he plays so well it's impossible to begrudge him and Knightly has come back in a big way in the past few years and continues to deliver great performances that are slightly out of her comfort zone. One aspect of the film I wanted to point out simply because of how refreshing it was to see, was the romantic relationships that form the basis of these two characters current predicaments are complicated and messy. And the obvious chemistry between Ruffalo and Knightly thankfully doesn't turn into, two wounded souls find each other in the aftermath of difficult relationships. The film isn't going to blow anyone away but it's a well performed film, both spoken and sung, that it's hard to resist. 

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