39 Reviews in 16.5 Minutes - with Tom Vasel

0:13 Hey everybody, I'm Tom Vassel and welcome to a summary of a bunch of board game reviews. 39 games in well, however many video minutes this uh the name of this video says here. These are real short summaries of games that I played in the past month or so. And I have either done reviews on them or will likely do reviews on most of these. This is not the only review most of these games will get. Um, but maybe it is. We'll see. Uh, but just some real quick thoughts on them. I'm going to do them in alphabetical order. So, let's get started now. All right. First, we have Alphabet Code. This is from Plate Games. It's a deduction game where it uses the numbers like on the old calculators. So, you're filling in lines and trying to find out what exactly the alphabet letters are. There's a number code game that uses the same thing. I haven't played that one yet, but the alphabet code one, it's very fun. I think it's it's it's a nice back and forth two-player game trying to outguess the other person. I like logic games, so this one's fun. Seven out of 10.

1:13 Aquaria. This is a a a game about building an aquarium and I really wish the theme was stronger in this one, but the game itself is really good as you're taking actions, moving a piece on the board, and the action gets better as time goes by or gets worse or not. Okay, but they there's this there's an idea of taking the actions before other people. A lot of moving parts. It's fun. Eight out of 10. Bathlon blast. This is based on the very unusual sport of skiing and then shooting. Uh the game itself from this is from Carl Max which I think is based on the names of the uh designers Carl and Lars Max. Uh but they the idea is interesting. The rules are pretty bad and it takes a bit to get into and I think I would like it more if it just was easier to get to the table. There's also some lucky die rolling so just not quite there. 6 out of 10. Boss Fighter QR from Pegasus Shiel. This game uses an app and you're fighting a boss. It's a boss battler type game and man I do I wish I like this game more. Um it it's it's so close. I'm giving it a 6.5 because I the idea of fighting a boss is interesting and idea of the app working is interesting but the app doesn't really add anything. It's a really boring app. It makes some noises. It does a you know few things and yes I get that the app is better than a deck of cards but the app needs to give me more if it's going to be part of the game.

2:37 Citizens of the Spark. So, this is a game from uh Philip Dubberry and from Thunderworks. And this is a game that I kind of as time went by, my rating of it went down. You take a bunch of cards, you're putting them out there, you're collecting cards, then discarding one, and other people can follow you. But I'm giving it a six because while I like a lot of the concepts of the game, it's it's, you know, it's like, hey, it's Dominion. It's you you take a bunch of these different people in there, it just feels it's too short. It's way too short. the actions feel very random. I'm doing this. I'm doing this. I'm getting points here. I'm doing this. And when you file, you just don't feel like you have a lot of um agency and it's just so fiddly. You have to keep taking coins and it, you know, it's pay take pay take take coins, take coins and I feel like it's just too much for the game to be great.

3:27 Um, epoch course cult course of cultures. This is another one. This is from Jeffrey CCH and I kind of came down at the end on this one that I didn't like it. It is a big uh sprawling civilization game and I like a lot of stuff that Jeffree CCH does, but this one did not work for me. Epoch is a as like I said, civilization style game, but I think the combat is way way too convoluted for me to for it's just so complex. So many pages for something that seems like it's such a minor point of the game. And then there's just so much again a lot of upkeep in this game. Taking things back and forth. It was I just didn't like it. Five out of 10. Epona from Vladimir Sushi. Delicious games. Vladimiruchi has made some of my favorite games. Epona is another game that's almost there. A 6.5. It almost makes me liking a game. What keeps me from doing it? Well, you're building out a a tableau of these horses that all score points in different ways. The symbology is just off the charts. It is off the charts in just how much symbols are in this game that keeps me from liking it.

4:31 I mean more. It's a 6.5. If it wasn't for the symbols, I think I would I would like the game more. Farm Hand. This is a small trick taking game from Grail Games where it's just a really funky one where you you're trying to kind of guess what cards other people have in her hand. There's only what I I think there's only like a small number 18 or however many cards 20 cards are in this game, but it works in a funky sort of way. Seven out of 10. Fosters verse Methisto. This is from Mandu Games. Uh 7.5 for me on this one. This is a two-player trick-taking game. I did not play the first one in this series. But this is so weird where one person's trying to get someone to take all the tricks of one color and the other person is trying to stop that from happening. And that back and forth knowing when to use these these tokens is a really weird It's definely weird. I feel so stupid when I play it. But I I think I think it's enjoyable. 7.5. And then another trick- taking game, Fearless from Freriedman Freeze. Um, this is a game in which you are trying to score as close to zero as you can, but not zero. You don't want to score nothing. Um, and and there's positive and negative cards and you're scoring to, you know, you're trying to go up and down in the scale and get as close as you can. I like that concept. It's light. There's more luck in it than many trick- taking games, but it works for me. Another 7.5.

5:48 Fest season. This is from Green Astric uh games and I love this game. There is uh some definitely some uh component issues in it and I'll talk more about those in the full review of the game some and that kind of keeps me but I love the theme. I love the choices. I love moving up tracks. You take this action which snowballs and gives you another action over here which snowballs and gives you another action over here. The theme definitely is carrying the game but I really like the mechanisms too. Nine out of 10. Gazelle. Um, this is a game I wrote in my notes here, Argue. So, this is based on that white and blue pottery from the Hobby World makes this game. And it's a pretty decent game. It's about scoring. You're going to pick different ways to score. You're you're taking tiles and replacing them and moving tiles around to get these to match scoring conditions. I don't hate that kind of game. It's a little overdone, but I don't hate it.

6:40 But the fact that it's all white and blue, I it is so hard to figure out your scoring all the time. This is one time where theme hurts the game because they really want to show those white faces with those blue pictures all over it in the game, but man, a splash of color would have really helped differentiate between everything. So, unfortunately, it's a five out of 10 because it hurts it that much. Uh, hats. This is from Thunder Griff Games, a game in which their hats become different values. You think this would be something I would like? I hate this game so much. There's no agency at all. You're just stuck with the cards in your hand. You hope you have good hats. Yes, you can put hats out. Someone it there's so many other games. Ryan Kitia has designed better games than this. There's so many games that do it better. I give this one a two out of 10. I core. This is one of the two player games that Bitewing released last year. I know that Chris Yei has said these games. I I know he put them in his top games of all time. I don't think they're that good, but they are pretty solid. And I like I core. I like the sliding of pieces around and the special powers. The thing that would keep me from loving it is the fact that you're constantly have to say, "What does your special tower do? What does mine do?" But I like it other than that.

7:48 Eight out of 10. And then Iliad. Iliad a game where you're placing pieces on the board. This is also in that same two-player series. I like Iliad a little less. I still like it. Seven out of 10, but there's some you feel sometimes really restricted by the tiles that you have in your hand. I think I would like it more than that as you surround things. Also, the game is interesting and then it snowballs at the end, which which is fine. I don't know. It's just not me not my style as much as I was. Insurrection. This is from Labot Deju. Uh this is a fun version of uh well a lot of these games that are out there now, but I I guess Magic Realm. Uh the the idea of playing a bunch of cards or collecting cards in your hand actually and then they're worth points at the end of the game and you're discarding cards and collecting them and they have a few special powers. But the the thing that makes this game fun is that the bad guys might win, which will change the score of many cards, or the good guys, and you kind of manipulate that and control it.

8:45 It is a really fun filler. 8.5. Junior Strateggo. Well, I mean, I think Strateggo can be understood by kids anyway. And this is an older game, but a new version of it came out here that I thought worked okay. It's a nice way to kind of teach young kids into Strateggo. 7.5 Keyside. Richard Breeze keeps making new games from R&D games uh that are about the key in the key series and some I like some are eh some are great. This one is a solid good one. Eight out of 10. Keyside is definitely a game that there's a lot going on in because you are taking in action and trading this for that and trading this for that. It almost feels like Freedom Fest was a co-designer in it to some degree, but I still find it to be fun. Just realize how much is going on. Uh I'd give it an eight out of 10. Lunch at top a skyscraper based on the famous picture of well people having lunch at top a skyscraper. Uh this one is a new series of games and games made them where it's like hey it's based on these famous pictures. Um it's fine. It has a weird theming like there's you see the front of the card and one thing is different on the back of the card. Okay, that's fine. Why would these guys who are eating lunch lie that they're wearing a hat or not or whatever? It's just kind of an oddity and it's an okay game of lining stuff up. Uh, six out of 10. Maki Master. This is a remake of Wasabi from Kids Table Board Games. Josh Capel. Uh, this is basically Scrabble with pictures. I think it's there's too much

10:15 scoring and too much going on. I I I it's been so long since I play Wasabi, I don't know how what the exact changes are. This one's fine. It's a good way to pass time, but it's really light and sometimes the piece you need is just in the right spot or someone just covers it up right before you do. So, it can kind of feel almost capriccious in how it scores, but if you like sushi, you might really like this one. I give it a six out of 10. Number line, we actually played this one live in our uh marathon that we did recently. Uh this is a game that's well, you're have a number and you're putting them in front of you. You put it in the right spot. You get to keep a card. You're trying to build a line of cards, but then you guess the card before you put it in a spot and if you're within a range, you get another turn. If you don't get it, it goes to the next person. Just a really nice kind of an upgrade version of timeline that I liked. 7.5 Ohio Bob. This is from a series of games from Grail where you are moving a little guy Indiana Jones around a board and avoiding traps. The rules are absolutely atrocious and the game just feels bad as just a really slow dull solo type game.

11:21 Five out of 10. Patty. This is a from Two Tomatoes, a tying laying game, and it looks really pretty, but the rules, there's so many like edge case rule type things for a game that's really simple tiling. Didn't like it. Five out of 10. Um, Panat, I'm not sure how to pronounce this one. This is about building sidewalks in Barcelona where you place these cards down and then you're trying to make matches of different patterns. I like the concept of this a lot. It It works pretty well. just kind of falls a little shy because at the sometimes the right card is in your hand at the right time and I felt like that affected scoring a little more than I'd like it to but it's close to 6.5 peaks from Tangerine Games. This is about climbing mountains uh all the way up to Mount Everest and just different mountains all over the world. Little this is from Tangerine Games and their games always look amazing and then the rules are not quite there and this is again another one in that category. It's fine. six out of 10, but you're just trying to go through these mountains. You're trying to climb up and then someone else can come join you in the same spot. So, there's a lot of people moving around the board just to be in groups.

12:29 They're just it just missing something that keeps it from being exciting. And that can also be said Pilgrim's Curious Adventures from Prank Troubador. I know this is based on a video game which I've not played, but it's move cards around kind of it's almost pick up and delivery in a grid of cards situation. Love the artwork. Love how it looks, but the gameplay is fine. Racehorse Alliance. This one I gave a six out of 10, which is probably way too high. This game is stupid. You put the horses on, you press the button, and one horse wins. Is a six really that? I don't know. But I love it. It's a fun first player uh decider. It's so stupid though. It's just basically a toy. Cenod. This is from uh BS Games. An abstract game about placing these tiles out in a certain spot. It's another wonky game that I that works, but I think I would be more enjoyable to me if I quite understood. You know, it's it's hard to gro how this one plays out.

13:23 Skybridge for Michael Rinick. This is from Deep Print Games, and I really like almost everything Deep Print Games does. Skybridge is just okay at best. In this game, you're you're building a sky bridge. The theme is kind of fun, but you're collecting resources and building a bridge. And if you build a certain part, you get points and someone else builds it on the exact same turn. But if you're building it and someone builds it the turn before you can, then you got to kind of refigure for the next one. I didn't love that. It just felt slow and plotting. Uh, it's fine, but not good enough for me to ever remember again. So, just a six out of 10. Snowfall Over Mountains. This is a very beautiful game from Pencil First. Of course, a lot of their games are really pretty. And I found this one to be a nice, very enjoyable style game. Seven out of 10. Tax the rich from a lion. This is a a trick taking game and has a very evocative theme, right?

14:17 People are going to argue about the theme all day, but the game itself is where you you're playing these tricks and the high cards win. But if someone has a certain only cards in their hand with a certain marker, at some point they declare a revolution and now the low cards are the highest. And that's such a fascinating idea if you if you can pull it off. It's a fun way to flip the script in a trick- taking game. Eight out of 10. The brain. This is from play to Z. And this is a game in which you are trying to it's it's kind of like the mind cooperative. Well, the mind is cooperative, but kind of a game where you cannot communicate with each other, but you have to play cards. I just found the lack of communication to be a little frustrating. It's one of those games where if you sat down beforehand and said, "Okay, if I do this, if I say this, if I do this, if I do that, and I don't want to do that in a game, this one is a five out of 10." The Last Spell from Tabula, I love Project Elite, a game where all these monsters are coming in and you fight them at in real time.

15:09 Tabula's if I mean Tabula's game here, the last spell is like if you did that, but it was in slow motion. This monster moves. This monster moves. This monster moves. This monster moves. I move. I do this. And it's just so slow. So plotting. So much movement of pieces. It really kind of just kills that whole vibe. Five out of 10. Tricky Treats. This is a kids game. I think should be getting more love from Cranial Creations because in this game you are going to houses and and you have these characters in front of you that they're going to houses to collect candy for Halloween. And you get to place clear cards on top of them that create their costume. Do you want a costume of the same type or maybe different types to work at different houses? There's some pretty good decisions there, but it's also just fun to put the clear cards out and make the costumes a seven out of 10.

15:57 Troublebot. This is from Lucy Goosey. The idea is you have two cards in your hand and then you play one and it does stuff like love letter except the cards are more complex and it's just weirdness, which is Lucy Goosey style and it works for them a small percentage of the time. Does not work here. a 5.5 virtues. This is from Giachi. It's about gaining virtues and there's a way you're collecting these cards and each card does something different. The cards themselves have no clue on them what they do. It is almost unplayable because I'm like what? This is the virtue of courage. Whatever the virtues are and this does h What does that do again? How does this score again? Four out of 10. Got X here from Stefan Spiel. This is a two-player game and you're putting down these abstract pieces that represent fish and sharks and you score. It's interesting. The theme is a little lost there and it's a little slower than I like it to be. It's close. A 6.5. And then finally, Yaka is a game about building pyramids. I like this one a lot as you put out these blocks and then you're going to score for a bunch of blocks put together. And it's done so in a drafting way where you're all secretly picking a group of blocks, but if I pick the same one as someone else, then I might not get it. And but you still get some blocks and you build this little pyramid. It's a fast little filler that I thought was enjoyable. A 7.5.

17:19 All right, there you go. 16 and 12 minutes. A bunch of games. Hey, you probably feel differently about many of these games. Why don't you let me know in the comments? And you know, we'll probably talk more about these games or have already done so in other videos. Before we go, I want to say thank you to some of our uh game found backers. I want to say thank you to the Lawn family from Simco Ontario, the Norfolk Game Group from Simco Ontario, Jeremiah Kuster, Sam Robertson, and Megan and Male Gordon. Thank you all for supporting us and thank you guys for watching. I'm Tom Vassel. We'll see you next time.

17:58 Hey everybody, thanks for watching another video from the Dice Tower. Hey, you want to learn more about us, communicate with us? We have a Facebook group, we have a Discord channel, lots of different ways to get involved with the Dice Tower. And you can find that in our link tree link below. So, just click that. It will take you and you can communicate with us on Facebook. Join our Facebook groups. There's lots of cool things that you can find and become part of the Dice Tower. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Tom Bassel.