It’s no secret that Vlaada Chvatil is one of our favorite designers – nobody has created so much innovation in the gaming scene of recent years, and he is always trying new things in each of his games. When “Pictomania” hit our table we were skeptical at first, as usually we don’t really like party and family games from a hardcore gamer perspective. But what is so convincing in this game is the scoring system, which refines the simple basic idea of the game (draw something that the others can recognize) in such a way that it makes it different from similar games of this genre. This system results in something that has been unseen before and which only can be described as “tactical drawing”. This alone makes the acquisition of this game a must!
Archiv der Kategorie: News – english
“Village” is our Game of the Month
At first glance, „Village“ appears to be just another worker placement game. Far from it!
We are faced with new and surprising possibilities to gain victory points. Be it be aiming for a quick demise of one’s family members thereby entering the village chronicle and speeding up the game or by a more careful time management slowing down the game by travelling. Whatever strategy we choose, each game turn is short with little downtime for the other players.
Despite its many options “Village” is a light and fun game – a highlight of the current gaming year!
“Style is the Goal” is our Game of the Month
Once more an expansion receives our Game of the Month recommendation. Its base game “Stone Age” has already been a winner of this title.
Expanding “Stone Age” to a 5-player game by adding the required components and rules was a compulsory requirement. However, introducing jewelry and merchants to the game system is a welcomed addition (not only for female gamers) as they create a completely new dynamic to the gameplay. The resulting strategic possibilities need to be explored while jewelry as the new “wildcard” resource can to be used cleverly for the acquisition of huts and cards.
This is the kind of expansion we long for. Keep up the good work!
“Seeland” is our Game of the Month
Günter Burkhardt is the author of 54 games; Wolfgang Kramer developed more than 200 (plus variants). “Seeland” is their first joint effort. No surprise that with such potent fathers their offspring is immaculate.
A single elegantly constructed roundel is used to keep track of our moves, their changing costs and our remaining capital. We buy seed and mills to cultivate a plot in Zeeland, gaining points if we manage to create a healthy biotope in the vicinity of our mills. Being Simple, interactive and fun, “Seeland” is an excellent family game.
“Rapa Nui” is our Game of The Month
There are probably more games about Easter Island than people living there, but it seems that this isolated little island is an endless resource for ideas for game authors. With Rapa Nui we have a very welcome addition to the genre “Easter Island Game”, because the mechanics and the theme go well hand in hand here in this little empire building/action maximizing game. Especially the “sacrifice” mechanic is worth a second look: on one hand I want to keep the most valuable resource cards in my hand for points, but I have to sacrifice the same cards as well to actually make them valuable. Out of this dichotomy the game draws a lot of flair. It is also a very fast game, and is fun in repeated play (especially with 3-players – ideal and less random than the 4-player version).
Happy New Year
We wish a happy year 2012 to all our readers!
The Westpark Gamers
“Québec” is our Game of the Month
Québec convinces as a fast-paced strategy game, which thanks to its introductory rules is also family-friendly. The competition for majority in the zones of power coupled with a win-win based participation in building construction creates a game feeling free of aggression that is little known in a worker placement game like this. The continuous expansion of building sites over four rounds providing plenty of strategic options and the chance to gain victory points in each round by placing workers in the zones of power are a source of multiple strategies.
“Airlines Europe” is our Game of the Month
As also new editions of old games can become „Game of the Month“, “Airlines Europe” is the worthy new winner of this title. Alan R. Moon’s game can easily be called a “classic”, and also in the new version the mechanics – which served as a model for other great games like “Ticket to Ride” or “Union Pacific” – can still convince. The new version also plays more fluidly and the sabotage (deemed unfair by hardcore Eurogamers) is gone. Very recommended!
Yspahan online on Boardspace
A little over four years ago Günther programmed the Windows PC version of Yspahan and made the game available here as freeware for all Ystari fans. Meanwhile, Yspahan for Windows has been downloaded more than 30,000 times and is still enjoying great popularity.
At about the same time on the other side of the Atlantic Dave Dyer’s enthusiasm for the game Zertz led to the development of Boardspace, a platform for playing boardgames for 2 to 4 players online. The Board Space server handles all communication between the clients and executes the clients of the computer opponents. The actual game software, written in Java, runs on the players’ computers.
After implementing many well- and lesser-known strategy games in the style of Zertz, Dave started to add Eurogames such as Medina and Containers. The latest addition is Yspahan, for which Westpark Gamer Günther Rosenbaum provided the logic of the AI opponent as well as the graphics, both ported from his Windows version of the game.
Currently, Yspahan is in its testing phase and hence has a few minor restrictions. At the moment there is just one AI opponent and the game for two players is not yet implemented because of the different rules set. But already now, three or four players can compete against each other in a challenging match of Yspahan. And the AI player can be used to replace a missing human player if needed.
On Boardspace, there are a total of 80 rooms in which online players can compete against each other. Each room can be configured as a game room with a game of the initiator’s choice. The system maintains a player ranking for the games played comparable to the ELO system in chess, unless you play in a room without scoring. Statistics about a country’s best players are displayed on the entry page. A prerequisite is that one plays as a registered user rather than as a guest. As Dave Dyer’s maintains Boardspace as a hobby project, both registration and playing games are free of charge.
So why don’t you try your first online game of Yspahan on Boardspace. Perhaps you’ll even meet one of the Westpark Gamers…
“Strasbourg” is our Game of the Month
If you know the other games by Pegasus you might be in for a double surprise – “Strasbourg” is neither a fantasy game nor a historical roleplaying game (which could have been expected) but a real Euro with an ingenious bidding mechanic. Because all players decide for themselves how many bidding cards they draw and use each round each bidding round turns into an exciting battle for key acquisitions. As it is already fiendishly difficult to earn money in the game one could even call it a “dearth game”, because one has to use the limited resources (bidding cards, money) to utmost effect. A challenge for pro gamers and lots of fun!
If Pegasus has intended to reach a completely new market for their games – the critical Euro gamer – they have been very successful indeed!