Board Games Feeds

Game name:  4 monkeys Designer:  Toni Serradesanferm Publisher: Homoludicus — October 2010
Featured at: Spiel 2010

Spanish publisher Homoludicus will publish a new game in October 2010 from designer Toni Serradesanferm. The Spanish edition of the game is 4 Monos, while the international edition – with rules in English, French, German and Italian – will be titled 4 Monkeys.

In 4 Monkeys, you are a monkey in the NASA laboratories and want to demonstrate that you are the smartest monkey in the training program, which means that you deserve to be the next monkey astronaut and go into space! You have your own maze of cards with symbols and colors. On the table, there are different tiles showing many different combinations of colors and/or pieces. Each monkey must manage its cards to fulfill as quick as possible the requirements of the orders on the table.

The game, which was a finalist in the Game Design Contest of Granollers 2010, will be released at Spiel 2010 in Essen, but for now you can watch the game in action in this video:

For those who do know Spanish, you can watch a game demonstration of 4 Monos in that language courtesy of Spanish blog 5mpj (5 minutos por juego = 5 minutes per game). The ilustrations and design for the comercial edition are made by Bascu. Homoludicus is the second Spanish game publisher going to Essen, after Gen-X Games. Good luck!

¡Nos jugamos!

by markgravitygood

Let me start this off by saying that I bought this game on the Down Low. Didn't want the GF to know I had it, and I had little hope of it hitting the table anytime soon given the subject matter and the game group I'm currently playing with.

Having said that, I absent-mindedly left it on the dining room table Monday Morning after perusing the rules Sunday night.

GF: "Hey, what's that game on the dining room table? Wings of War?"
Me: "Yup. Meant to put it away. I'll do it right now..."
GF: "Hang on. What is it about? You build planes or something?"
Me: "Nope. You ever watch those old biplane movies with the 'Red Baron'? It's kinda like that. You pick a plane (or scenario) and go at it. I'll go put it away..."
GF: "Wait! That sounds pretty cool! I bet I'd kick your ass in it..."
Me: "He he he. Hardly. You want to give it a go, GF?"
GF: "Damn right I do. Bring it. You're gonna be shot out of the sky like a duck in duck season, like an Iraqi jet, like..."
Me: "Put your money where your mouth is, sweetheart. Got a fiver here that says otherwise."
GF: "Deal."

Short Story: I'm five bucks lighter in the wallet

Flight #1: I get shot out of the sky like a duck in hunting season with an instant kill damage card.

GF: 1 Me: 0

Flight #2: After pumping her full of lead with about 7 or 8 damage cards, I finally knock her out of the sky, 9 damage to myself. I limp back to the airfield, however.

GF: 1 Me: 1

GF: "Really like this game! Tiebreaker?"
Me: "It's your funeral. Let's do it..."

Flight #3: This was a long, drawn out affair. Several times our airplane cards landed on each other, preventing combat. Several Immelmans ended up us out of range or out of line of fire. Finally, we came in contact and let fly the lead. I simply cannot believe her plane can sustain so much damage (cards actaully). How many "0" damage cards are there? How many times did my prayer for an instant kill not get answered? I count at least 5 times...these are my thoughts as I plummet to my death.

GF: 2 Me: 1

GF: "he he he. I'll be takin' that fiver right about now..."
Me: "Drop dead."
GF: "I really like that game. Next time we play let's use the opional rules."
Me: "Don't you have a cat to kick or soomething? Go away."

by Harrelson

The Z-Man website now has M&M listed for release in November. YES! In time for Christmas...

by Rheingold

I am trying to put together a skirmish and am using the Raid in the Riverlands scenario. I took 2 commanders for Lanni, and am confused about the next step:


The rules state that each player "shuffles his remaining unit cards together" - all three of them. Did they mean to shuffle them together with your commander cards, and THEN draw 2 unit cards (the unit rating for the skirmish in question)?

Or is it that you take your two commander cards, gaining immediate access to the troop selection on those, and THEN take 2 more cards for units?

If its the latter, there is another problem. This leaves you with one card for terrain, when you are supposed to have 2. And they state in bold that the cards you drew for unit selection are removed after use.

Also, if its the latter, choosing 2 leaders with a value of 2 each seems to be an even greater advantage than choosing 1 worth 3 (4 is the limit), since they gain all those extra troops as well.

Ah, FFG. I want to dig you. I really do. So much sloppiness in your games.

Rheingold

by Neo42

We've started playing it at work, so now I keep a contingent of dominion cards at work. This hasn't stopped us from being able to play at home though because I have every expansion. So I have enough extra vp cards (from intrigue) and I have enough kingdom cards that it doesn't hurt too much that 13 of them are not at home. :)

by albaron

I set up today the game, and I found that there are differences between counters and rules for what regards 6GD.

The set up requests 5 AT brigades and 1 mortar unit, while in the counters there are just 4 AT brigades available and no mortar unit.

So, no mortar unit goes on the first defensive line, and I put just 1 AT brigade in reserve instead of 2 as the rules suggest.

by kneumann

Rules: http://www.zmangames.com/boardgames/files/factory_fun/Factor...

A few images:





Looks like the mini expansion from last year is included.

by D6Frog

My wife is getting the game for us at the end of September.

So far the game looks(components) and sounds(rules, free adventures) really good.

One concern though, is that some of you mention the game gets bogged down with 4 or 5 players.

How about 2 or 3 which is how we will usually play the game?

How about solo playing 2 characters?

by songbird

I see the game is available direct for pre-orders. Is this game available for pre-order through other game stores (CSI, TH, etc.)? Thanks!

by woundwart

Hi,
If you are going to use the screws and tubing and have no plans to use the wooden posts, instead of throwing them out may I offer geek gold if you are willing to mail them to me. I plan to always use the wooden posts but have a feeling that they are going to break after a lot of use. It would be nice to have a stash of replacement posts. Thank you for your consideration.

by Ney 84

There are 1 artillery unit and 1 infantry unit in an approach. The artillery bombards so it can't attack in the ensuing assault. If the ensuing assault is lost by the attacker infantry unit which is forced to retreat in reserve, can the artillery unit retreat as well or is it forced to stay in place because it's not an attacking unit.
Thanks for answer.

by malteh

if they had added a sheet with the historical landing places for each squad. I really like this game and I see how the dynamic landing-phase adds to the replayability, but I totally think it bogs gameplay down too much. I'm more of an impatient person so I like games that have a fast flow. Having a fixed landing place would lead to a much faster gameplay.

This lack of speed was the reason I traded this gem away. Lately I thought about an alternative to this problem: I could set up a copy and make an excel-sheet and just do the landing-phases 5 times with me tracking the results. After that I have 5 different tables which I could play through later on without having to deal with the landing-determination.

Is there anyone else who thinks this would speed up the game and therefore ramp up the fun?

Game name:  Munchkin Zombies Designer:  Steve Jackson Publisher: Steve Jackson Games — April 2011

U.S. publisher Steve Jackson Games is working all the angles with its Munchkin series of games, and in April 2011 the publisher plans to release Munchkin Zombies, which like many other Munchkin spin-offs will work as a stand-alone game in addition to being an expansion for any other stand-alone Munchkin game.

Monica Valentinelli at Flames Rising has published a long preview of Munchkin Zombies based on a playing of an early version of the game at a distributor's demonstration day for retailers. An excerpt:

In Munchkin: Zombies you play…a zombie! Immediately, I was struck by how disgusting and wrong the cards were. Class cards cover all the different zombie types from your favorite movies, books and world myths. There are Strong Zombies, Fast Zombies, Plague Zombies — even Atomic Zombies! There’s also also the chance you can pick up different types of zombie Mojo, too, which functions as a special ability.

by papiklfish

Noticed that there were no reviews for this little game, so thought I would write up a quick review. We recently picked up a copy of Qwitch, which appears to be another name for the game Switch, and have played a few games.

Components

The name and the tin were the things that caught my wife’s eye at the thrift store where we picked up our copy. Someone in marketing was doing their job properly. You could fit about 2 regular decks of playing cards in the tin if you were not using it to store the game.

The cards are made like any standard playing cards. They should stand up to some play, but will start to wear out and get bent if you play this on a regular basis. The only other thing that comes with this is the rules.

Game Play

This game moves quickly. There are beginner and advanced rules. The beginner rules seem to be for younger kids since you take turns. In the advanced rules, it is a game of speed to lay down a playable card.

This is a card game where you try to play all the cards you are dealt before anyone else. Each card has a letter A through H and a number 1 through 8 on it. There is another deck that has math symbols, =, +, or – on them. You deal 1 card to start a discard pile, and then an even number to each person. Any extras are set to the side. You take 5 cards into your hand from your own draw pile. Then you turn over a symbol card and the game begins.

You can place a card on the discard it matches what the math symbol does to the top face up card. For =, the letter or the number must match. For + or – the letter or the number must be 1 higher or lower, depending on the symbol. The round ends when no one can play a card, or someone uses all 5 cards in their hand. Then you draw up to the hand limit of 5 and turn over a new symbol card for the next round. The game ends when someone is out of cards.

Conclusion

We have played this game on 3 separate occasions, with adults every time, and have had a blast. The letter/number combinations lead to many puns, and the speed concept is enjoyed by our group. Since we are taught our alphabet starting with A and only going up, quickly thinking of the letter lower can be a challenge. The play is very quick, so you can complete a number of games in a short time. With the 2 versions of the rules, this can be an enjoyable game for a wide age group. It is a filler you should seriously consider adding to that small open spot on your game shelf.

by papiklfish

Noticed that there were no reviews for this little game, so thought I would write up a quick review. We recently picked up a copy of Qwitch, which appears to be another name for the game Switch, and have played a few games.

Components

The name and the tin were the things that caught my wife’s eye at the thrift store where we picked up our copy. Someone in marketing was doing their job properly. You could fit about 2 regular decks of playing cards in the tin if you were not using it to store the game.

The cards are made like any standard playing cards. They should stand up to some play, but will start to wear out and get bent if you play this on a regular basis. The only other thing that comes with this is the rules.

Game Play

This game moves quickly. There are beginner and advanced rules. The beginner rules seem to be for younger kids since you take turns. In the advanced rules, it is a game of speed to lay down a playable card.

This is a card game where you try to play all the cards you are dealt before anyone else. Each card has a letter A through H and a number 1 through 8 on it. There is another deck that has math symbols, =, +, or – on them. You deal 1 card to start a discard pile, and then an even number to each person. Any extras are set to the side. You take 5 cards into your hand from your own draw pile. Then you turn over a symbol card and the game begins.

You can place a card on the discard it matches what the math symbol does to the top face up card. For =, the letter or the number must match. For + or – the letter or the number must be 1 higher or lower, depending on the symbol. The round ends when no one can play a card, or someone uses all 5 cards in their hand. Then you draw up to the hand limit of 5 and turn over a new symbol card for the next round. The game ends when someone is out of cards.

Conclusion

We have played this game on 3 separate occasions, with adults every time, and have had a blast. The letter/number combinations lead to many puns, and the speed concept is enjoyed by our group. Since we are taught our alphabet starting with A and only going up, quickly thinking of the letter lower can be a challenge. The play is very quick, so you can complete a number of games in a short time. With the 2 versions of the rules, this can be an enjoyable game for a wide age group. It is a filler you should seriously consider adding to that small open spot on your game shelf.

by goddambo

Hello-quick question-what constitutes "on a line", "in a wedge", and "on the borderlines" as regards deflection and turning and firing possibilities? How much of an aircraft must be on a line,etc. Must an aircraft be located totally in an wedge or shaded portion of a diagram etc? Love Achtung spitrire! Cheers, Jim Wiseman

by johnwoo

hi all,
can i use the rally action card during a battle?

Game name:  Verona Designer:  Petra Chvala Publisher: Czech Board Games — October 2010
Featured at: Spiel 2010

Czech Board Games has released a bit of information about its 2010 release – Petra Chvala's Verona. Here's a translated description of the game from the publisher:

Welcome to the town that inspired Shakespeare to write Romeo and Juliet – the most famous tragedy of all – and us to create a board game. You will find yourself in the times of the Renaissance, in which Verona has become an important center of commerce and culture, but also of corruption and intrigue. The city is so rich and powerful that both the Government of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire emerged from this site. Its ruler, Prince Escalus, is weak and influential families will fight for control of the government. Who will come to power? The fight is just beginning.

Players compete against one another through auctions and by estimating the planned implementation of intrigue, and secret and public duties. Whoever plans best and rises to an economic and military power will win the game.

Czech site Deskové Hry has published an interview (in Czech) with Verona's designer Petra Chvala, with a couple of prototype images accompanying the text.

by Szachraj

Some of you had a hard time dealing with Orcs, but for me, Empire deck - with a little help of their Dwarven friends - is a killer. Over last dozen or so games, my girlfriend has been virtually demolishing my every tactic. She's done so by toying with my units - that is, by either moving them between the zones, or better, making me take them back onto my hand. Of course, the main villain is this Osterknacht guy who - if I do not corrupt him in time - wreaks such havoc in my army that it's almost unbearable. She additionally enhanced her deck by adding some Dwarven support cards (with some damn runes too) which enabled her to develop almost instantly - believe me, there are practically no weaknesses in this freaking deck.

For example, after a few turns she has so many support cards in her kingdom and quest zones that it's impossible to catch up with her. Moreover, she can move some oh her units between zones (not to mention this freaking old fart on a bird who can freely fly between zones whenever he feels like to) which gives her extra resources and cards. There are also this Dwarven support cards that give her additional card when she puts out a development (it happens that she has both of them on the table - two extra cards for each development. Great, isnt' it?). Did I mention this cheap counter-attacking units, which - once in play - just kill my chaotic weaklings in an instant?

I've been thinking about counter attacking this deck, but so far, to no avail. First off - I can't send units on the mission which could destroy her support cards - no unit can reach the destination, because it will eventually be moved, either by Osterknacht or by some damn card. When I try to develop, I'm always second best. She usually starts with this forge which gives her one extra resource and this lets her play another card in the first round. So, already at the very beginning I find myself lagging behind. If I come up with some powerful combo on the battlefield, she usually makes me take it back onto my hand, or moves it to the quest zone, I love it when Osterknacht comes to play and keeps moving all my units into quest zone - three barrels, and hundreds cards. Wonderful. Oh, and if you think of corrupting this asswipe, forget it - she has this Elvish card which makes corruption impossible.

Oh, and one more thing. If I finally manage to kill some useful units of hers, she comes up with this card which allows her to move two discarded cards onto the top of her deck.
Guys, I'm desperate. Help.

by Robin

I need to solve a tension in the rules about the mandatory aspect in combat, related to ZOCs.

9.1 says : "All non-phasing units in an attacking unit's Zone of Control must be attacked".

However, 9.4.3 speaks of attacking units that are not in the defender's ZOC (Fortified, Redoubt), and says : "Thus, units in these hexes ... need not attack out of ... them"
(I did not cite the case of Major Rivers, which is clear to me)

Let us say that the attacker has a unit in a Town and the defender is an adjacent non-Town/non-Fortified/non-Redoubt hex.

1) Must the attacker attack the defender or does he have the choice to abstain ?

Or, should one see things with some more complexity : same situation, but another attacker is adjacent to the same defender, but that attacker is in the defender's ZOC.

2) Could the unit in the non-ZOC of the defender choose not to fight it, leaving his pal fight alone ?

Thanks in advance for the answers.