Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com The best place on earth for nerds. Tue, 05 Mar 2024 14:36:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-nerds_head_thumb2-100x100.png Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com 32 32 All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, under one umbrella. We create short run podcasts for nerds, covering D&D, Marvel, Starfinder, and more! You vote for your favorite shows and they just might get a second season. Nerds on Earth false episodic Nerds on Earth jason.sansbury@nerdsonearth.com podcast All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, the best place on Earth for nerds. Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/noe-podcast-logo.png https://nerdsonearth.com/blog/ Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity: Even More Tavern-Brawling Fun! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/03/red-dragon-inn-9-the-undercity-even-more-tavern-brawling-fun/ Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41346 Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity

Abram reviews Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity, the latest expansion to the Red Dragon Inn board game featuring new characters, published by Slugfest Games.

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Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity
Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity
Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity, published by Slugfest Games

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity, the latest expansion to the highly-touted Red Dragon Inn board game published by Slugfest Games, invites even more adventurers to the famous tavern to test their mettle in brew and brawl!

Designed by Geoff Bottone, Jennifer Kitzman, Jeff Morrow, and Sam Waller, the Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity board game also includes a new tavern to use in the Pub Crawl variant as well as the ability to play 2-person RDI with Otto, an automated third player!

So, fill your flagons as we begin to check out Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity!!

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity Character Overview

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity introduces a riotous group of new characters to add to the frivolity and chaos that is a game of Red Dragon Inn. Usually in the gameplay section, I outline the general rules of play and flow of the game and Stake our CLAIM, but this time I’ll focus on highlighting a little bit about each of the new characters. That way you’ll get a feel for how they all function and hopefully one (or more) will speak to you!

Dale the Mycologist

Dale utilizes his Planter Box to grow Mushrooms over time. The Planter box can hold up to four Mushrooms, and their Growth levels are marked with a Rake token. These Grow every turn at a minimum, with some cards prompting Growth as you play them.

Some cards will have an additional Harvest cost you can pay that will allow you to discard Mushrooms equaling that value to get an extra or replacement effect. Lastly, if Mushrooms get to their highest level, you’ll have to Gather them at the end of your turn. This will sometimes come with an extra effect of its own!

Dale is really fun if you enjoy planning ahead and have a plodding, methodical approach to playing the game. You can time out your Mushrooms to have really big swings of effects all at once, which is an absolute blast when it happens.

Jett the Courier

Jett is one of my favorite characters in Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity. You will be managing Jett’s Momentum track; he’s the fastest courier around and sometimes he runs so fast he loses his hat. Playing cards can require you to Gain or Lose Momentum, and some will allow you to spend Momentum to gain an additional effect.

There is a really satisfying ebb and flow to Jett’s deck. I especially enjoy playing cards that cause me to lose all of my Momentum when I don’t have any left, because it feels like I’m getting away with something. I didn’t see anything against that in the rules so…am I getting away with something?

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity

Petra the Devious

Originally I was going to say that Jett was my favorite character, but then I remembered Petra! She is one of the more complicated characters of the bunch, mostly because you’re juggling a handful of different things. One is her Hellfire track, which cycles around as you play cards, causing a nice effect when it finishes a revolution.

Players will mostly be annoyed with you, however, thanks to your Schemes and Plotted cards. Harkening back to Yu-Gi-Oh trap cards, Plotted cards are placed down in front of you. They’ll get discarded at the beginning of your next turn, but if you have a Scheme face down, you can activate it like a Trap card, resolving its effect. They’ll never know what’s coming!

Doctor Terci

If you’ve ever wanted to play a barber – medieval barber, that is – now is your chance! Doctor Terci has a seemingly never-ending slew of full-art Patients that need assistance. As you play cards, you will earn Medical Supplies that you can use to treat those Patients. When they’re all full-up, you can bring them into your hand as a playable card.

Sometimes you’ll run into situations where you are strapped for a particular Supply, but with how quickly hands cycle in Red Dragon Inn, I didn’t find that to be too much of a problem with the Wilds that are in the deck. And while there are some Patients that require 3 Supplies to complete, there are plenty that only need one.

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity

Beastsergeant Ygella

You don’t need any special decks or side-hustles for Ygella; the main mechanic that she has is a Pet-subtype on her cards. These will come into play occasionally, sometimes by revealing cards from your deck until you reveal a Pet card, or regaining a Pet card back to your hand from the discard pile. There isn’t anything extra to keep track of here, but timing your cards right in order to get the most benefit out of those Pet cards is beneficial.

This is probably the most straight-forward of all the characters in Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity; there is usually at least one character that is primed for beginners or first-time players, and Ygella is it in this expansion. She plays very similarly to some of the characters in the base game.

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity!

So do are characters featured in Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity deserving of a spot in your RDI Character Trove? Definitely! Just when I think Slugfest has tapped all of the fantasy tropes, they come right back with something new, fresh, and inspired.

It should be noted that Petra can also be played in Boss Battle mode, which is where you can team up against the Boss as a group. This is a really fun mode that scales with the number of players in the sense that the Boss gets more Actions on their team to balance it out. This is also where you’ll utilize those vibrant Potion tokens which can be spent to regain Fortitude, remove Alcohol level, or gain some Gold.

If you also have Red Dragon Inn 8, the Star Mole Drinking Hole is another Tavern for you to add to your Pub Crawl variants. This is something I have access to at the moment, so I’m afraid I can’t comment on the variant, or how this new Tavern plays within it.

That being said, this expansion doesn’t feel too “samey” with all of the other content out there; it fits right in without missing a beat.

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity

Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity: Three Cheers for RDI!

Nerds on Earth logo with 'Deal with It' sunglasses. Text inside the seal reads "Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness".

I played Red Dragon Inn at my first Gen Con back in 2018, completely on a whim, and it’s been a favorite to introduce at game nights ever since. Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity, offers a slew of fun new characters that aren’t too complex to handle; I feel like there was a period of time where the mechanics were getting a bit cumbersome and now they’ve been reigned back in a bit.

If you are already a fan of Red Dragon Inn, then this expansion should already be on your radar. If you’re new to the game, then this is a great expansion to couple with the base game. Because of its approachability in terms of mechanics and the originality of the new characters, we are happy to award Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity with the Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness Award!

You can pick up a copy of Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity from Amazon, or right at your FLGS!


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity from Flat River Group in exchange for an honest review.]

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Quicksand: Gotta be Fast! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/02/quicksand-gotta-be-fast/ Mon, 26 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41313 Quicksand Board Game

Abram reviews Quicksand, the real-time timer-flipping board game that all millennials should approach with caution, published by Horrible Guild.

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Quicksand Board Game
Quicksand Board Game
Quicksand board game, published by Horrible Guild

Quicksand, a real-time cooperative timer-flipping board game published by Horrible Guild, brings every millennial’s fear of quicksand back into the forefront of their mind and onto the gaming table!

Designed by Hjalmar Hach and Lorenzo Silva, of Railroad Ink fame, the Quicksand board game utilizes a series of timers whose sands you need to keep flowing in order to win the game. If they all run out, you’re done!

So, let’s channel our inner Pitfall Harry as we jump into Quicksand!

Quicksand Gameplay

The Quicksand board game is all centered around the various cog-like discs and the sand timers that rest on top of them. Your goal is to get all of the timers neatly lined up at the other end of this line of discs while all of them are still running their sand.

First and foremost, this is a cooperative game where all of the players are working together. Each player has three cards and it’s open season as far as anybody being able to play cards whenever they want.

When a card is played, any timers on cogs matching that card are flipped over and advance one cog forward. This could be a matching symbol or matching color, so some coordination is needed for players to chain together their cards in a positive way in order to make progress down the track.

If there’s a timer on the next space ahead of a timer that needs to be flipped, it simply gets flipped and stays in the same location it’s already at. This can create some logjams where you need a specific card to progress.

There are also varying levels of difficulty which increase the length of the track or add special rules on top of the base game. For example, you might need to play without speaking, or you could run into tokens that require a timer to be flipped twice before proceeding onwards.

If a timer runs out, it gets set aside next to the cog that it ran out on. This clears the way for lagging timers, but you’ll need to play one of the rare Wild cards in order to get it back into the mix.

Managing to maneuver all of the timers to the very end of the track wins the game! Whew! Just in time!

Quicksand Board Game
Setup for the easiest difficulty in the game.

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Quicksand!

Components

It’s time to talk about the components for the Quicksand board game! See what I did there? There isn’t a whole lot that goes into this game, so the components had better shine and all have a purpose, which they definitely do.

The main attraction is obviously the set of timers that come with the game. I love the contrast between the orange sand and the green ends of these timers, setting them apart from the -boring- white-sanded timers you might be accustomed to. I should also note that the tops of the timers are different and indicate which timers are faster and slower than the others. This is important for the different scenarios that you can play through in the game.

All of the cards are rounded and square – the same size as one of my favorite games, Wild Space. The iconography on all of them is large and instantly readable across the table, which is really key in a cooperative game like this.

The cardboard cogs are also a nice step up from using more cards or something as a base. Their varying edges adds a satisfying bit of visual interest, all lending themselves to the swirling nature of a raging sand-tornado.

Quicksand Board Game

Luck

What’s really interesting about the Quicksand board game is that the strategy is all about timing and coordination. Intuition would lead you to believe that in a game about trying to NOT run out of time, you should be playing cards as quickly as possible. Playing fast means you win, right?

Not necessarily!

Sometimes you’ll explicitly want to wait until a timer is almost gone so that you get the maximum benefit from flipping it over. Or you may need to quickly play two cards right in succession because you’ll have to undo one of the timers that get flipped on the first. It’s actually a really clever system that offers enough variability to never lend itself to be a ‘solved game’, while also giving plenty of difficulty through the scenarios and variant rules outlined in the rulebook.

Aesthetics

Again, with not much in terms of components, it’s really important for the existing aesthetics to really shine through in the Quicksand board game. The color choices are easily distinguishable from each other, so from an accessibility standpoint there really aren’t any red flags to mention.

The game itself is more on the abstract side, and I think that’s the only major downside in terms of table presence. You’re just concerning yourself with various core shapes and colors but the only thing really tying the mechanics together thematically is the use of the timers.

That’s not to say that the game wouldn’t grab your attention as a passerby at a game store or convention, because the timers and constant action definitely sell the game on its own merits. I just wish there was a little bit more visual interest while still recognizing that I respect and appreciate the simple iconography and design.

Quicksand Board Game
The tops of the timers indicate how fast they spill their sand.

Interest

One of Quicksand‘s greatest strengths is that you can set the difficulty to be as nerve-wracking or as easy as you like. Now, I will caution that even the easiest difficulty can be a challenge if you just play cards all willy-nilly, but for the most part there is a really wide range and variety in how you play this game that leaves something to like for almost any gaming group. It plays really smoothly as a 2-player game, whereas there’s a bit more chaos with a table of 4.

If you’re a fan of other real-time games, perhaps like Captain Sonar or Pendulum, Quicksand has a a much more condensed ruleset that will get you up and running in no time at all. It also plays really quickly, even at the higher difficulties, all because of the literal clocks built into the game.

Mood

The Quicksand board game gives you that kind of anxiety and just a dash of stress that can only be felt with a real-time game. It can be frantic, exciting, devastating, and harrowing all at once. If you can narrowly flip a timer right before it falls it is such a satisfying feeling. But it’s also a feeling that is short-lived because you immediately have to worry about the next timer and the one after that.

This is not a game that lends itself to conversational table talk; everybody needs to be engaged for the game to work and for the team to be successful. Although that puts it out of ‘Beer and Pretzels’ range, the amount of interaction that you get by trying to quickly order cards means that everybody can feel a part of the win (or loss) and have that sense of accomplishment!

Quicksand Board Game
Reaching the end is the key…so long as all of the timers are still running!

Quicksand: Not a Pitfall!

Nerds on Earth logo with 'Deal with It' sunglasses. Text inside the seal reads "Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness".

Even though quicksand itself isn’t nearly as much of a day-to-day threat as our parents may have led us to believe, the Quicksand board game is certainly a threat to my limited free time! It reminds me a lot of the back-and-forth you have when you play those first opening moves in a chess match, pressing down the timer in that nice rhythm, except that eventually you hit a wall and have to make quick decisions to stay in the game.

Quicksand feels innovative in how it leverages timers of varying durations to achieve a sense of urgency and satisfaction with every turn of the sands. For that reason, we’re happy to aware Quicksand with the Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness Award!

You can pick up a copy of Quicksand from Horrible Guild directly, from Amazon, or better yet – your FLGS!


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Quicksand from Flat River Group in exchange for an honest review.]

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King of Tokyo: Origins: It’s a Monster Mash! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/02/king-of-tokyo-origins/ Sun, 18 Feb 2024 13:06:44 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41297 King of Tokyo Origins board game

Abram reviews King of Tokyo: Origins, the board game about massive monsters using Tokyo as a battleground, published by IELLO.

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King of Tokyo Origins board game
King of Tokyo Origins board game
King of Tokyo: Origins, published by IELLO

King of Tokyo: Origins, a board game about massive monsters battling it out on the streets of Tokyo, published by IELLO, is a brand new Target-exclusive entry into the King of Tokyo line of products.

Designed by Richard Garfield, the King of Tokyo: Origins board game expands the current roster of Monsters to play with in the universe by four, has a simplified board, and brand new Power cards to slam onto your opponents.

So, let’s watch for flying cards and broken fire hydrants as we dive into King of Tokyo: Origins!

King of Tokyo: Origins Gameplay

The important thing to note about the King of Tokyo: Origins board game is that it plays exactly the same as King of Tokyo. This version is primarily to introduce the game at a lower, more accessible price point in Target (exclusive for its first year in circulation), as well as bring four new Monsters into the fold. There is also a game board with only the singular Tokyo location, meaning that it’s designed to play with its advertised max player count of four.

The core gameplay loop is similar to Yahtzee: roll the dice three times, setting aside specific dice that you wish to spare from being rerolled with the rest. Here’s the breakdown of the iconography:

  • Claws: deal a point of damage. If you’re in Tokyo it is dealt to all others, otherwise it is dealt to the monster in Tokyo
  • Hearts: If you aren’t in Tokyo, heal one point of damage.
  • Lightning Bolt: Gain an energy cube which you can use to buy cards at the end of your turn
  • Numbers: If you roll at least three of a kind of a number, gain that many victory points. For each additional instance of that number beyond 3, gain an extra point.

If a monster damages someone in Tokyo, they have the option to yield Tokyo to that monster. Holding Tokyo at the beginning of your turn gives 2 points, so depending on how the other turns are going, holding out can be worthwhile in some occasions.

Being the last monster standing or reaching 20 victory points marks you as the winner!

King of Tokyo Origins board game
Four new Monsters to choose from!

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on King of Tokyo: Origins!

King of Tokyo IconComponents

Taking a look at the components for the King of Tokyo: Origins board game, the intent is to keep this iteration completely compatible with other versions of the game. For example, if you already have the original base game or maybe the Monster Box, getting King of Tokyo: Origins would be mainly for the new colorway green and yellow dice, the new Monsters, and the new Powers.

The board is only good for up to four players, as there is no ‘Tokyo Bay’ location that can be used with 6 players, but that doesn’t really impact your ability to play the game with 6 if you happen to pick up some of the numerous promo Monsters floating around out there. Then just designate a spot on the board or put down a coaster or something and you are off to the races.

And the dice are absolutely gorgeous; engraved with a wonderful heft, these are a must-have for dice enthusiasts. I’m not even-exaggerating with how much I love rolling these dice.

King of Tokyo Origins board game

King of Tokyo IconLuck

The King of Tokyo: Origins board game has a lot of luck since it follows the Yahtzee convention. At the same time, however, you do have to be careful about the timing of your attacks and moving into Tokyo. Being in Tokyo is dangerous, especially with more Monsters in the game. You’ll be tanking hits all for the measly prize of 2 points versus 1 point for just trying to take it back next turn. Patience is the name of the game here.

Power Cards also play a huge role in your strategy. I like to push those cards early and hopefully get a good ‘Keep’ card that’ll be in effect for the whole game. You can also watch for ‘Discard’ cards that dish out a specific amount of damage, because if you time it right you can knock out another Monster unexpectedly.

It’s almost always better to heal up and charge your energy to live and fight another day. Don’t sleep on earning points from dice, either; focusing on that can definitely be worthwhile, even if it puts a target on your back. It’s those errant damage dice that could mess up your strategy if you roll them with low health.

King of Tokyo IconAesthetics

Everything gels perfectly together between this version of King of Tokyo: Origins and the other versions, so before long you won’t know what Monsters go in which box. Unless you look at the box, I suppose. Checking out the card on the Powers cards is definitely worth your while; there are plenty of little nods to kaiju movies that you’ll notice if you’re a fan of the genre.

Let’s take that a step further and talk about the new Monster designs! I have a soft spot for Cosmic Joe, who is like a buffed out Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. Mechamster is also a very good portmanteau for a Monster that wants to make you feel the repetition of that cursed wheel. All in all, these new monsters are quite fun in their design, even if they don’t offer any different mechanical benefits. We’re keeping things approachable, remember?

King of Tokyo Icon Interest

King of Tokyo: Origins is a riot of dice-chucking fun that will appeal to anybody. It is super approachable, especially if you compare it to Yahtzee, and you can be up and running in ten minutes with a new group of players. It really is that simple.

There’s also the collectible element of wanting to gather up all of the different Monsters and play with them. In fact, leading up to this review we’ve been conducting a 19-Monster tournament to see who comes out on top! You can find the first video of that series over here on TikTok. I won’t spoil anything, I promise!

King of Tokyo IconMood

You can’t go into a board game like King of Tokyo: Origins with expectations of some kind of grindy, strategic affair. It’s competitive dice-rolling at its absolute best, and it is a super chill game that fits solidly into any game night with little-to-no stress involved. It’s also a great family game that many kids can easily grasp, setting up their own battles and expanding their imaginations accordingly.

One of my favorite things to do – much to my friends’ chagrin – is to pretend I’m some sort of arena announcer and hyper-embellish everything that’s going on. Lean into the absurdity of the kaiju/Monster genre, and have fun with it! After all, games are meant to be fun, and King of Tokyo: Origins delivers that in droves.

King of Tokyo Origins board game

King of Tokyo: Origins: MOAR MONSTERS!

I had never played any King of Tokyo game before King of Tokyo: Origins, thinking that its simplistic gameplay wouldn’t really appeal to me. I was absurdly incorrect on that. Dice games bring the opportunity to push your luck in exciting ways that can lead to heartbreak or ultimate triumph!

Nerds on Earth logo with 'Deal with It' sunglasses. Text inside the seal reads "Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness".

King of Tokyo: Origins is a perfect entry point into the King of Tokyo series, and for that we are awarding this game with the Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness Award! Just don’t be surprised when you pick up Origins and suddenly you have 20+ Monsters because you must have all the content! I hereby am exempt from blame.

You can pick up a copy of King of Tokyo: Origins exclusively from Target starting on its release on February 18th. After a year the exclusivity drops and you can likely find it elsewhere, like your FLGS!


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of King of Tokyo: Origins, the Monster Box, Halloween box, and the other various Monster Packs and promos (Anubis, Cthulhu, Cybertooth, King Kong, Baby Gigasaur) from Flat River Group in exchange for an honest review.]

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Tribes of the Wind: Soaring High https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/02/tribes-of-the-wind-soaring-high/ Mon, 05 Feb 2024 17:34:40 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41271 Tribes of the Wind board game

Abram reviews Tribes of the Wind, the board game about using elemental magic to quell the spread of pollution, published by La Boîte de Jeu.

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Tribes of the Wind board game
Tribes of the Wind by La Boîte de Je

Tribes of the Wind, a board game about decontaminating the land with powerful elemental magic published by La Boîte de Jeu, makes a statement about the important of environmental conservation, albeit in a more fantastical way than you might initially expect.

Designed by Joachim Thôme, the Tribes of the Wind board game has you using the cards in your neighbors’ hands to build up your player board, develop villages, and move your windriders around to combat the pollution that you find yourself a part of.

So, let’s grab an air current as we check out Tribes of the Wind!

Tribes of the Wind Gameplay

Starting a game of Tribes of the Wind has players taking their own asymmetric character and associated player board. After setting up the initial levels of pollution on the board and drawing cards, players will take turns performing one of the following three actions:

  • Play a Card: If you meet the requirements for it, play a card and gain the benefit
  • Build a Temple: Discard three cards from your hand to place a Temple on a tile that doesn’t have one, and gain that Temple’s benefit
  • Build a Village: If you have enough windriders on a tile, you can transform it into a village

Playing a card will be the most common action, with the card’s requirements listed on the left and the benefits listed on the right. There are plenty of requirements that a card might ask for, but typically they are doing some sort of comparison between yourself and your two neighbors. For example, you might need to have fewer Fire cards in-hand compared to one or both of your neighbors, and if you have fewer than both then the benefit is going to be much better.

Everybody’s card backs are visible thanks to some handy little card stands, and you’ll always have five cards in your hand that others can reference for their requirements. This makes the game-state constantly changing, as the cards that you could play are always in flux.

The game itself plays like a race, as the game ends when a player has placed their fifth Village token. In order to be successful, you’ll want to be working towards those Villages, but also keeping in mind your personal scoring objectives that you’ll gain for each Village placed. Additionally, your characters have unique objectives that can unlock more powerful abilities that you can leverage on your turns.

At the end of the game, scores are tallied. Points are summed based on remaining pollution, number of tiles placed, Villages placed, and personal objective completions. Highest score wins!

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Tribes of the Wind!

Tribes of the Wind IconComponents

The Tribes of the Wind board game features a smattering of components that all contribute to a gorgeous overall presentation. First and foremost, the card holders showcasing the vibrant card backs are an excellent way to add table presence and a pop of color as you play, while making it quite easy to keep track of the elements that your neighbors have in their possession. The cards themselves are great quality, which is good since they are being moved and placed rapidly; we essentially went through the entire deck in a three-person game.

The pollution and water tokens are appropriately sized, although the water tokens feel almost a little bit too small and fiddly to manipulate, as I was usually just pushing them to the edge of the table instead of picking them up directly. I absolutely love the village, windrider, and temple wooden tokens; their custom shape leaves no ambiguity to what they represent and they look really solid on the player board.

The main thing I wish the game included was some form of player aid card. Just starting out on our first play, we were constantly checking what all the iconography meant, almost until the end of the game. I suspect that if we don’t play this for a few weeks that we’ll need to resort to spending the same amount of time relearning them again. There is a reference section in the rulebook, but it’s not even on the back; you have to flip to the pages, of which there are 2-3 of actual iconography references.

Other than that, Tribes of the Wind has everything it needs to support its gameplay mechanisms.

Tribes of the Wind board game

Tribes of the Wind IconLuck

Discussing strategy for the Tribes of the Wind board game is actually quite interesting, because there is only so much ‘planning ahead’ that you can actually do. For example, you can have broad stroke ideas like wanting to build a temple in a certain spot or hoping to place a certain color tile somewhere on your board, but on a turn-by-turn basis, the game is actually played very reactionary.

The reason for this being a more tactical game is because you are leveraging the elements of your neighbor’s cards. These can change considerably between turns, suddenly opening up a card in your hand that was previously unplayable. In that case, if you want to play that card, now is the time! Playing in the moment is key, and taking advantage of what your opponents are indirectly giving you is super important.

You can have an impact on other players, but the game is largely more independent than that. You might take a card or tile that they wanted, sure, although generally that kind of disruption is going to be entirely unintentional without knowing what requirements exist on their carts. You’ll need to be constantly pivoting and reacting appropriately to the gamestate in order to keep up and win the race to five Villages.

The elements also tend to skew towards specific actions, like the Wind cards are geared more towards movement of the windriders, and Water cards generally will help you gain water. You can use this to your advantage when deciding which cards to replenish your hand with.

Tribes of the Wind IconAesthetics

Overall, the look and feel of the Tribes of the Wind board game is amazing; just take a second to check out the art on the elemental cards and you’ll see what I mean. They were illustrated with such a colorful intensity that integrates really well with the idea of elemental magic. Red pollution seems like a strange choice, although it certainly helps it stand out.

There is definite cohesion between all of the game’s visual elements, and nothing feels disjointed or out of place in the slightest. I give Tribes of the Wind top marks for standing out; I know that I was also drawn to the game immediately upon seeing the cover for the first time, which is exactly what you’re looking for.

Tribes of the Wind board game

Tribes of the Wind Icon Interest

I’m trying to think of some other games that utilize this ‘neighboring cards’ mechanic employed by the Tribes of the Wind board game, and I’m sort of coming up empty. There’s some extent of that in 7 Wonders, I suppose, although it’s not exactly the same. It’s almost like there’s this shared experience in that although you are all working on your own objectives and player boards, you need each other in order to be successful in the game. Granted, you don’t exactly know how to help the other players specifically, but it’s an interesting mindset at least.

If you favor games that have fast turns, then I have some great news for you here. As I said before, most of the time you’re simply playing a card and that’s your turn. There will be some analysis as the gamestate changes with cards cycling through your neighbors’ hands, but you only have five cards’ requirements to keep track of, and some might be completely out of the question regardless of what your neighbors do on their turns.

You might also enjoy Tribes of the Wind if you like games that have you building patterns, as you will do with your tiles, or games that offer personalized scoring objectives. It plays really smoothly and doesn’t overstay its welcome, plus the scores tend to be fairly close to each other.

Tribes of the Wind IconMood

Tribes of the Wind board game

Theme is unfortunately where I think the Tribes of the Wind board game falls a bit short. The idea that they’re working with regarding mankind’s pollution and trying to conserve is a noble one, but unfortunately I don’t see the theme connecting really well with the mechanics. Part of this is because there is just a lot of thoughts going on: catapults to launch your riders around, magical portals to use as gateways…there just seems to be something missing actually bring all this together, like a bit more backstory.

That being said, the Villages spreading pollution makes perfect thematic sense, and you do get the sense of a flock of windriders soaring throughout the board when you push those tokens all at the same time. It just requires some suspension of disbelief to get through it.

You’re also playing mostly a solitaire game by yourself, with little intentional player interaction. The race is what keeps you all driving towards the same goal and towards the conclusion of the game, so keep an eye on how everyone else is doing because the five points you get for finishing your Villages first is nothing to shake a stick at.

Tribes of the Wind: Ride the Wind!

Despite leaving something to be desired thematically, the Tribes of the Wind board game still shines with its mechanics. It doesn’t seem super novel or unique at first blush, but I really enjoyed how I have essentially 15 card backs to consider with every turn, without there being a ton of mental load in my decision-making. And it looks beautiful to boot.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game in the sense that it was constantly giving me more objectives to score with and different things to accomplish within the game. I could never do them all, of course, but then it would just be too easy, wouldn’t it?

You can pick up a copy of Tribes of the Wind from Hachette Boardgames, from Amazon, or – better yet – your FLGS!


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Tribes of the Wind from Hachette Boardgames in exchange for an honest review.]

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The Great Split: Dividing Up the Riches! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/01/the-great-split-dividing-up-the-riches/ Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41244 The Great Split board game

Abram reviews The Great Split, the board game of antiquities drafting that will turn anybody green with envy, published by Horrible Guild.

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The Great Split board game
The Great Split board game
The Great Split by Horrible Guild

The Great Split, a board game about accumulating prestigious riches published by Horrible Guild, dangles wonderful luxury in front of the players, enticing them to gather and exchange them to form the most illustrious collection that would be unrivaled by anyone.

Designed by Hjalmar Hach, and Lorenzo Silva, The Great Split board game forces you to make the tough decision of splitting your treasures while choosing which pile you want to keep for yourself from another player’s splitting efforts. The allure of jewels and rare finds is more than enough to draw you to the table and keep you there.

So, despite the name of the game, let’s have some undivided attention as we check out The Great Split!

The Great Split Gameplay

In The Great Split, players take one of the Character Tiles to start with, along with a personal wallet (no money in it – sorry) and a player board. Each turn, players will take their hand of cards and divide it up into two piles, separated by a splitter card. They hand this to their neighbor who must choose one of the piles to keep and one to return.

At the same time, you’ll be choosing which pile you want from another player. After everyone has made their decision on what to keep, the original remaining pile for each player is returned to them, as well as the rejected pile. Combining these two halves gives you the final hand that you’ll be scoring for that round.

To score, move the corresponding resource cubes on your player mat based on the cards in your hand. For example, you might have a card with 3 Topazes on it, so you would move the blue cube up three spaces. Within each of these tracks you may also find yourself passing over other icons, which could allow you to gain other resources or seals. Seals are important for mid-game and end-of-game scoring.

As you might suspect, each of the Resources scores in a slightly different way. Gems are scored by multiplying 2 by the number of whichever Gem you have fewer of. Art, on the other hand, has a value determined by a variable Market track that ticks up with each passing round. One game you could have Art worth much less than another.

Whoever has the most points at the end of the game is crowned as the most successful connoisseur of luxury items!

The Great Split board game

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on The Great Split!

Components

I debated just writing ‘double-layered boards’ with a few hundred exclamation points, but I should probably go into a bit more detail for the components in The Great Split, huh? To be fair, the double-layered boards are almost a necessity for this kind of game, where you are constantly picking up cubes and dropping them someplace else. Aesthetically, however, I’m really digging how they’re all rotated 45 degrees, as it is more visually interesting than the usual orientation.

For a game about luxury, the metallic finish covering a lot of the components is striking and elevates the entire collection up a few points. And there easily could have been no player envelopes to pass around, but including them is another thematic upgrade that evokes the idea of secretly swapping artifacts from person to person.

If I had to choose a negative, it would be that I wish the double-layered board was cut for the four scoring squares, which just hang out on top of the board when everything else is within. Maybe they’re just too small to accommodate that? Either way, it’s entirely minor.

My favorite component in the game, however, is the Art track. It utilizes the double-layer board while sliding a token across the opening as an actual track. If it gets jostled, you can always verify the position with the other round tokens.

Luck

I really can’t remember the last ‘I cut, you choose’ game that I’ve played, unless it’s a mechanic that is often cleverly disguised as something else. The strategy in The Great Split board game is that you must pay attention to your two neighbors. It doesn’t matter if there are three players or a full table of seven, you only need to worry about the two people beside you.

It’s definitely okay to neglect a track in favor of really hammering home another, especially if you have the opportunity to accumulate some seals in that area. I’m particularly fond of pushing Gems, but that’s probably because they’re the most glamorous.

That being said, there are a ton of ways that you can approach the game, and it really rewards you for taking advantage of what’s given to you. Certainly – as is the case of most games – you can’t force a strategy that isn’t really there. Take what’s given to you and pivot accordingly.

I wouldn’t say that there’s a huge depth of strategy here, as oftentimes you’re being presented with even splits, with some exceptions here and there. You really are picking what will help you progress the most tracks, with a minor bit of combo generation to stretch those winnings into something more.

Splitting is such a psychological mechanic that can really get into your opponents’ heads. You can prey on their greed, offering a bunch of lesser cards on one side with one or two high-value cards on the other, and see what they take. Bonus points if they aren’t really working towards the high-value cards anyways. It’s a bit of subtle manipulation that will have you second-guessing your every move.

The Great Split board game

Aesthetics

I touched on the aesthetics of The Great Split board game at the top of the review, but for a game this simple Horrible Guild went all-out on the look and feel of the game. Keeping track of the various loot could have been done in a variety of ways, which multiple little boards or spin dials, etc, but opting for a lavish, double-layered board feels more luxurious than most of the other options.

And there are plenty of details to get lost in. Flipping over the player boards, compare the repetitive pattern to the back of the split card and the envelope. Each one is just a little bit different. These easily could have been the same, but the way it was done makes each character feel more unique in their own right.

I also love the character style! It reminds me a lot of the character style in Caper: Europe, which is one of my favorite 2-player games right now. You don’t spend a lot of time on the characters, and yet including them breathes that much more life into the theme.

The Great Split board game

Interest

The Great Split board game is quite fast-paced given the simplicity of the splitting and passing mechanics. I mentioned that I’m not sure that I’ve played (m)any games that had a similar mechanic, so I don’t have much to compare it to in that sense. However, if you enjoy card drafting games, like Sushi Go, this is tangentially close enough.

If you’re looking for a game that is easy to socialize and play at the same time, then I’d say this is an excellent fit. It really doesn’t require a whole lot of brainpower to multitask, so if you want an ‘easy-listening’ style game for game night, The Great Split could definitely be up there on your list.

Mood

With every round of The Great Split, you’ll find yourself giving a tiny jump of glee or a slight frown of disappointment, depending on what cards come back to you. It’s sort of like when you wheel a card in a Magic: the Gathering draft all the way around the table and you’re able to pick it up when it gets back to you, although on a much smaller and more frequent scale.

Even so, the game isn’t really cutthroat or ‘take that’; you’re basically wheeling and dealing in antiquities so you’re going in with the understanding that you can’t possibly end up with everything that you want. The envelopes give you that feeling that you’re getting away with something, which is much better than just having a pile of cards being passed back and forth.

The Great Split board game

The Great Split: Amass Riches Galore!

The Great Split is simple in its design and elegant in its execution, opting for table presence over a complicated ruleset. The feeling of ‘numbers go up’ is totally present here, and the little dopamine hits of racing up the tracks is super satisfying.

And really what the game does best of all is make me want to try other games in the same mechanical vein. Just doing a quick search through BGG, I guess it’s been awhile since I played Castles of Mad King Ludwig or New York Slice (another favorite with my nephews and nieces). So there are games out there, and I want to see how they stack up to The Great Split!

You can pick up a copy of The Great Split from Horrible Guild directly, from Amazon, or – better yet – your FLGS!


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of The Great Split from Flat River Group Games in exchange for an honest review.]

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Horizons of Spirit Island: Protect the Land at All Costs! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/01/horizons-of-spirit-island-protect-the-land-at-all-costs/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 16:58:43 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41216 Horizons of Spirit Island board game

Abram reviews Horizons of Spirit Island, the board game that introduces you to harsh cooperative world of Spirit Island, published by Greater Than Games.

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Horizons of Spirit Island board game
Horizons of Spirit Island board game
Horizons of Spirit Island by Greater Than Games

Horizons of Spirit Island, a board game of fighting back invaders published by Greater Than Games, has players assume the role of a mystical island’s spiritual defenders as they attempt to repel ignorant invaders from destroying the natural beauty and inhabitants of said island.

Designed by R. Eric Reussi, the Horizons of Spirit Island board game is a Target-exclusive game that serves as a suitable introduction to the highly-acclaimed Spirit Island board game, complete with five Spirits that will make your initial foray into the island easier to manage.

So let’s tap into the powers of the island and see if you have what it takes to secure the safety and sanctity of the land around you!

Horizons of Spirit Island Gameplay

Players take on one of the Spirits, each of which have their own strengths and style of play, which makes it easy to find one that suits your preferred playstyle. Each turn will have the Invaders Ravaging, Building, and Exploring different terrain on the map, so it’s important to keep an eye on the progression so that the situation doesn’t get out of hand.

You will decide which cards you play, both based on the limit of the maximum cards you could play, as well as ensuring you don’t exceed your max energy with the costs of the cards. Some cards have a red bird on them; these are played before the invaders begin their turn. Others, marked with a blue tortoise, resolve at the end.

The invaders will be building up towns and cities, dispatching explorers in neighboring locations, and attacking the land and its inhabitants each turn. The goal is to generate Fear on the Island which will ease up the win conditions as the island becomes too terrifying for the invaders to remain. You can increase fear primarily by destroying the towns and cities, and this also helps prevent the spread of more explorers.

At the same time, you will need to manage the Blight that will spread across the island. This Blight is representative of the ‘stain’ left on the land by the disrespectful invaders, and it is very difficult to remove once it has appeared. If the land is Blighted too much, then there is no hope of recovery, and the Spirits lose.

Between the hand management, area control elements, and loose engine-building, the Horizons of Spirit Island board game offers a difficult cooperative experience that will have you heading back to the island for more, again and again.

Horizons of Spirit Island board game

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Horizons of Spirit Island!

Components

Keep in mind that Horizons of Spirit Island is meant to be the introductory version of Spirit Island, and therefore the components reflect that. Instead of wooden Dahan pieces like you’d find in the main version, you’re just going to have cardboard tokens. However, the Spirit Presence tokens are wooden discs, so no everything is cardboard.

The Spirit Panels are also thinner than what you might expect, simply having a linen finish, the thickness of a playing card. You can upgrade these to the cardboard versions which would put them right in line with original version if you’d like.

The only reason I’m making these comparisons is because the original version exists; all of these components are perfectly serviceable and keep the price point down to something more manageable for players looking to dip their toes into the world of Spirit Island.

Oh! And there’s a delightful Quick Start Guide that will help you play through the first turn, which is incredibly helpful in learning the game. I wish more games did something like this, because a lot of players learn best by doing and diving right into the game instead of reading a rulebook aloud and then being forced to referenced it again every two minutes anyways.

Horizons of Spirit Island board game

Luck

The Horizons of Spirit Island board game – and subsequently the original – is one of the more difficult cooperative games that I’ve ever played. It usually takes me a few games with a new Spirit to understand how they operate, which honestly is a really good challenge that makes me want to ‘figure it out’.

As for the five Spirits included in the game, they are all of an easier difficulty than some of the Spirits in the base game. Each has its own niche that you can leverage to defend the island, and finding interesting combinations of the Spirits makes each play unique.

The key to winning Horizons of Spirit Island is to understand the progression of the Invader track. The terrain types all slide over each turn, so if you fail to deal with a specific location on the board, it’s going to continue escalating until you do. Use this to your advantage; if you can nullify a location right after it’s explored, you don’t have to worry about it for another few turns at a minimum!

Every game feels like a puzzle where the slightest misstep can send you reeling into the throes of defeat. But that’s exactly why I keep coming back for more, to see if I can beat these scenarios with proper planning and execution.

Aesthetics

The Spirits in Horizons of Spirit Island were drawn by a variety of artists, which makes them really enjoyable to look at. However, this does lead to a qualm of mine that there is a stylistic lack of cohesion because of the various styles. This makes it seem like all of the Spirits were drawn independently without following a style guide. It’s a minor quibble on my part, but it’s worth mentioning.

Besides that, the art on the cards is excellent, and the naming conventions of everything are outstanding. I never have any issues trying to discern what type of terrain is being referenced or which elements are being granted by the cards I’m playing. Everything is clear and clicks, especially with the large cardboard tokens that make it painfully obvious which locations are going to be problematic for you each turn.

Horizons of Spirit Island board game

Interest

I recommend Horizons of Spirit Island to anybody who hasn’t played Spirit Island yet, but wants to see what the game is all about. It serves its purpose as a gateway to the broader game, and its much lower price point is easier to swallow than dropping $70 on the original game. Obviously if you can try it from other sources, like a library or a game cafe, then that would be another route to go as well.

As far as cooperative games go, one of the primary benefits of the Horizons of Spirit Island board game is that it is fairly difficult for a single player to ‘quarterback’ and take over everybody’s turns with constant suggestions. Because of the asymmetric nature of the Spirits, coupled with their unique powers, each turn becomes a question of who can manage which locations. The rest of the table can then put their faith in the actions of those players, because they have plenty to strategize with in their own hands.

If you’re looking for a cooperative game that will test your strategic thinking abilities and offers nothing but a constant challenge, then you can look no further than Horizons of Spirit Island. It is one of the more rewarding feelings to successfully repel the Invaders, a feat that feels exceptionally good the first time that you accomplish it.

Mood

The overall mood of the table when playing Horizons of Spirit Island is one of hopelessness. But Abram! Why would I want to play a game that makes me feel like I’m constantly running uphill with no end in sight? Eventually you’ll turn a corner and begin to make some progress, and you get a tangible, palpable feeling from the table when that happens. That yes, you actually CAN do this!

With all of the different Spirits and cards, it’s honestly amazing to me how the designer was able to evoke that feeling in every single game. It’s packed with those little moments of victory followed by the idea that you cannot let up for a single second if you hope to win. And even within those moments are other victories of chaining together a powerful set of elements to unleash a decisive turn, or having a miraculous Dahan that puts in more than their fair share of work defending the Island.

The game is incredible.

Horizons of Spirit Island: Strike Fear into the Invaders’ Hearts!

Nerds on Earth logo with 'Deal with It' sunglasses. Text inside the seal reads "Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness".

Horizons of Spirit Island does everything that the original does, just in a much more approachable package. You don’t have to worry about learning uber-complicated Spirits right off the bat, instead easing yourself into understanding the mechanical interplay of Spirit Island.

I can’t speak highly of Horizons of Spirit Island enough, and I’ve logged over a dozen plays of it already. I won’t tell you how many of those I’ve won, mostly because it’s a process! Just like the original, it’s a no-brainer to hand out the Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness Award to Horizons of Spirit Island. It’s a delightfully crunchy puzzle that gives you just enough hope to keep you going along the path to victory.

You can pick up a copy of Horizons of Spirit Island from Target, as I don’t think they’re available from your FLGS.


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Horizons of Spirit Island from Flat River Group Games in exchange for an honest review.]

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Get on Board: New York and London Need Buses! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/01/get-on-board-new-york-and-london-need-buses/ Fri, 12 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41194 Get on Board: New York and London

Abram reviews Get on Board: New York & London, the board game of ducking and weaving as your drive your bus through traffic, published by IELLO.

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Get on Board: New York and London
Get on Board: New York and London
Get on Board: New York and London Board Game by IELLO

Get on Board: New York & London, a bus-laden board game published by IELLO, puts players in the proverbial driver’s seat as they plot bus routes through the complicated thoroughfares of Manhattan and London, picking up important fares along the way.

Designed by designer Saashi, the Get on Board: New York & London board game forces you to think quickly, as your bus route is only developing a few blocks at a time. How will you content with traffic, passengers, and trying to get people to their intended destinations?

So let’s swing open those folding doors and make the best bus route ever seen in Get on Board: New York & London!~

Get on Board: New York & London Gameplay

Hitting its 30 minute estimate playing time squarely in the nose, Get on Board: New York & London is a combination of a roll-and-write style game that also utilizes pieces on a central board. It is played over 12 turns, and a bus ticket is pulled during each that dictates the length and shape of the route that must be used this turn.

Players extend their current route with this shape, picking up passengers and stopping at sights along the way. Each time your route goes through an intersection, you gain the associated passenger by marking it on your player sheet. There are a few types:

  • Students – Students score based on the number of universities that you’ve passed through, multiplying the two values together
  • Seniors – Seniors score a growing range of points the more that you shuttle
  • Business Professionals – Every time you pass through an office, you drop off associated business-folks, scoring more points for having more of them on your bus
  • Tourists – Similar to the business professionals, you drop off any tourists when you pass through worthy sightseeing spots

Each player also has a personal objective of guiding their route through three specific stops on the map, and there are two public objectives to work towards as well. The public objectives are first-come, first-served, so don’t wait too long to cash in on those.

It’s also important for your bus line to be efficient; you cannot revisit the same intersection that you have previously, otherwise you’re out of the game entirely! Luckily you can sacrifice a few points to manipulate the route segments that you need to draw, to hopefully mitigate such a chance. But even those are finite!

Whoever has the most points after all of the bus tickets have been punched is the winner!

Get on Board: New York and London

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Get on Board: New York & London!

Components

Although not a true roll-and-write because there aren’t any dice, it’s always nice to get some other physical components for roll-and-writes that aren’t just pen and paper. Get on Board: New York & London gives thin tokens to map out the routes along the board, and some traffic light-shaped pieces to mark the route beginnings.

Of all the colors, I do find it very interesting that IELLO went with purple and *checks notes* a slightly darker purple. I really don’t think that the two shades are different enough from each other to stand out, and people with issues perceiving color differences will undoubtedly have difficulties distinguishing these when playing with a full table.

Other than that, I love the little aesthetic touch of having the bus ticket cards be punched; that’s the kind of thoughtful component care that helps bring everything together thematically.

Luck

You may feel that you’re living at the behest of the bus tickets that are pulled each round, but Get on Board: New York & London offers plenty in the way of strategy. I personally think that the New York side is a better challenge to play on, because of the traffic mechanics. There are certain roads marked in black, which means that you have to mark off buses on your sheet to drive through them. This can lead to negative points at the end of the game.

However, it leads to a lot of interesting choices by the players, because people tend to creating the same traffic issues by navigating around the perimeter of the island. It’s a fun dynamic to consider with real-world traffic patterns, where everyone tries to avoid the congestion which thereby leads to more congestion in those previously-alleviated areas.

The nature of the gameplay – placing 1-3 pieces of route each round – allows you to consider your strategy in more manageable chunks than just analyzing the entire board and becoming overwhelmed. React to the traffic and move the bus in the best route for what you’re given.

Get on Board: New York and London

Aesthetics

I haven’t documented this particular game design journey on the site, but one of my game designs nearing completion has the same 50’s/Mid-century vibe present in Get on Board: New York & London. I absolutely love how Manhattan is angled on the board, and how clarity and legibility isn’t sacrificed for the sake of gameplay; both support each other equally.

I really don’t have much more to say on the aesthetics than that; it’s very inviting and fun, compelling us all to get on that bus and start driving.

Interest

Get on Board: New York & London is a board game for people who like games that feel more connected to the table than the solitaire feeling that roll-and-write games often evoke. After a few short rounds, you’ll see how the map becomes a quagmire of transportation as you attempt to navigate towards your goals.

Other games that have aspects of route-building that are similar would be any of the Railroad Ink titles, Ticket to Ride, or even something like On Tour. What sets Get on Board: New York & London apart is this combination of writing and also managing your route on the central board. It’s one of the more interesting games of the genre because of this, promising higher interaction between players than you might get otherwise.

Get on Board: New York and London

Mood

You know when you first set out on a long drive and everything’s perfect? The route is mapped, water is cold, and your snack bags aren’t quite tempting you yet. That’s like the beginning of Get on Board: New York & London, where everyone has a clean slate. But then rush hour hits and suddenly you’re scrambling to grab a Red Vine which avoiding getting sideswiped by a guy shaving in his Camry.

You’re going to have a hard time trying to drive a perfect game, so your goal instead turns to optimizing what you can with the opportunities that present themselves to you. It feels devastating to cross out a mostly-empty row of Tourists or Business Professionals, and yet it feels equally satisfying if you can manage to get a full row together.

Practice doesn’t make perfect, but soon you’ll be able to navigate London and New York without your precious Waze and Apple Maps!

Get on Board: New York & London: All Aboard!

Get on Board: New York & London is a re-implementation of Let’s Make a Bus Route, and comparing images to the original definitely proves that this version is a major glow-up. It’s hard to call the game innovative, but it’s impossible to deny that I really enjoy the game at the same time.

Coupling easy route-building with a low barrier of time entry, Get on Board: New York & London easily gets the shiny Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomness Award! We’re citing its quirky mid-century presentation and bite-sized strategic decisions for its ability to pull off the shelf again and again.

You can pick up a copy of Get on Board: New York & London from your FLGS, or you can pick up a copy from IELLO through Amazon.


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Get on Board: New York & London from Flat River Group Games in exchange for an honest review.]

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Sunrise Lane: New Kids on the Block! https://nerdsonearth.com/2024/01/sunrise-lane-new-kids-on-the-block/ Tue, 02 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41167 Sunrise Land Board Game

Abram reviews Sunrise Lane, the board game of building real estate with fantastic curb appeal, published by Horrible Guild.

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Sunrise Land Board Game
Sunrise Land Board Game
Sunrise Lane Board Game by Horrible Guild

Sunrise Lane, a recent board game published by Horrible Guild, offers players a chance to channel their inner real estate mogul, building up tenements and parks along the pristine and coveted neighborhood of Sunrise Lane!

Designed by fabled designer Reiner Knizia, the Sunrise Lane board game leaves you balancing the height of your buildings, chaining them together, and just generally having a lot of them. It’s a very quick play and teach that will have you up and running in less than 15 minutes.

So let’s go fill out some paperwork for city permits and dive into the world of Sunrise Lane!

Sunrise Lane Gameplay

The Sunrise Lane board game starts in the center of the courtyard. Players will take one of two actions on their turn; either they will build a house, or they will draw 2 cards.

In order to build a house, you must select an open space that is either adjacent to the center of the board or to another house that’s already built. You must spend cards matching the color in order to build the house, and this number of cards will correspond to how many houses will stack together to place on the space. For example, if you play three Purple cards to build on a purple space, you’ll stack three houses together and place them there.

You score points based on the number of pips on the space that you build multiplied by the number of houses that you stacked as a part of the build.

After you’ve built, you can keep building on additional adjacent spaces provided that you have the cards for it. Alternatively, you can also build a park, which serves as a space-blocker that yields no points, but also prevents everyone from placing buildings and scoring points there. When you’re done, draw a card for your efforts.

If you choose to not build anything on your turn, draw 2 cards and discard until your hand has no more than five cards in it.

Play continues until the spaces are filled or a player only has 2 houses remaining. Everybody gets equal turns, so finish through the remaining players for the round and then it’s time for bonuses.

The board is divided into quadrants, two of which are A and two are B. Each scores a little bit differently: tallest house in the area or most houses in the area. Lastly, add up bonus points for the longest run of connected houses. Highest points wins!

Sunrise Land Board Game

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Sunrise Lane!

Sunrise Lane board game iconComponents

Let’s start with the components and production quality of the Sunrise Lane board game. Whenever you’re dealing with a city-building style of game, you expect there to be some solid table presence and that is certainly the case here. I love how seamlessly the houses stack together to form a taller building; the material reminds me of the same stuff from the Tapestry buildings.

One thing to note is that there are only a couple baggies in the box – which I fully support, considering how many extras I have lying around – so if you want to create separate packs for all of the players with their houses and score chits, then you’ll need to supply a few of your own. I don’t find any issue with putting them all in a single bag and sorting out before the game.

I’ve also seen some qualms about there only being a single player aid for the table. Sunrise Lane’s rules are fairly straightforward, and referencing the bonuses isn’t something you’ll generally need to do often throughout the game. One table aid seems sufficient for this game.

Sunrise Lane board game iconLuck

At first blush, the Sunrise Lane board game seems a tad light in the strategy department, although you’ll soon see some of the options that you’ll be faced with. A lot of these choices are similar to ones you might encounter playing similar games, like Ticket to Ride.

Mostly you’ll find yourself presented with the choice between making a push towards the higher-scoring spaces, blocking your opponent, or going wide with a bounty of houses. I don’t feel like going wide (building a lot) or tall (focusing on taller buildings) is inherently better than the other; your choices are going to be reactive and situational to what presents itself on the board.

Your decision-making tree in Sunrise Lane starts at four possible building spaces, but as the game goes on that will gradually open as players reach the various intersections. It’s actually a very elegant progression of mechanical choice which probably goes unnoticed because the hand-size helps to keep your optimal options in a much smaller pool.

Sunrise Land Board Game

Sunrise Lane board game iconAesthetics

I already mentioned before that Sunrise Lane has excellent table presence thanks to the mini-houses, but the art on the carts is quite vibrant as well. Each color represents as specific style of house, and each player-color has house pieces that are of a different architectural style as well.

One of the things I was worried about was the cohesion of how a stack of houses would look, and honestly the transitions are spot on. It’s the little details like this that really help position Sunrise Lane into a comprehensive game package.

Sunrise Lane board game icon Interest

Again, I’m putting the cart before the horse here because I already mentioned that Sunrise Lane is mechanically similar to Ticket to Ride. Personally, I feel like Sunrise Lane actually has a small leg up on the alternative here, mostly because the game board is restrictive in a different way. That is to say that Sunrise Lane’s spaces are static, but the entire board isn’t open to building right away; you’re only building from the perimeter of placed pieces.

I’m most appreciative of the low rules overhead. With only 4 pages of rules, you’ll breeze through a read and start playing within minutes. I’m talking Point Salad levels of simplicity here, and yet there’s still strategic depth. Turns can get longer as the game goes on, but you can seriously get 30-minute games in, even if you aren’t playing super snappy.

Sunrise Land Board Game

Sunrise Lane board game iconMood

The Sunrise Lane board game gives you a similar feeling to when somebody snatches up that section of rail that you’d been eyeing up. Whenever somebody would build in a space I’d been shooting far, it would make me want to stop saving up for a massive turn and just chip away at the points instead. But then you’ll slowly get enticed back to trying to place a 5-stack in no time at all.

Because of the simple mechanics, Sunrise Lane really is a game that feels approachable to everyone, and would probably fall into a category of gateway games that help to bring more players into the hobby. As it turns out, ‘gateway games’ also tend to be something I refer to as ‘core games’, which are games that help stand the test of time because of replayability through strategy, memorable rules, and meaningful choices.

Sunrise Lane: Corner that Market!

Will Sunrise Lane shoulder the burden of being considered a ‘core game’? It’s honestly hard to tell. I don’t think that it will unseat Ticket to Ride, who is already transcontinental with the number of variants and expansions. However, I do think that Sunrise Lane has the opportunity to expand the niche of gaming to non-gamers because of its curb appeal and simplicity.

You can pick up a copy of Sunrise Lane from your FLGS, or you can pick up a copy from Horrible Guild directly.


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Sunrise Lane from Flat River Group Games in exchange for an honest review.]

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Tabletop Takeaways: Prepping for Your Roleplaying Games https://nerdsonearth.com/2023/12/tabletop-takeaways-prepping-for-your-roleplaying-games/ Thu, 14 Dec 2023 20:52:17 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41162 Paizo Pathfinder Exploring the Jungle

Recently there was a discussion on the Cannon Fodder show for the Glass Cannon Network, talking about the time that it takes to prepare for your tabletop roleplaying game sessions. The main point revolved around the intense time investment to actually prep for a session, and I wanted to share my thoughts on this since […]

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Paizo Pathfinder Exploring the Jungle

Recently there was a discussion on the Cannon Fodder show for the Glass Cannon Network, talking about the time that it takes to prepare for your tabletop roleplaying game sessions. The main point revolved around the intense time investment to actually prep for a session, and I wanted to share my thoughts on this since I’ve evolved as a Gamemaster over time.

Troy, the Gamemaster for the Glass Cannon Podcast: Campaign 2 – in which they run the Gatewalkers Adventure Path by Paizo Publishing, mentioned that he would spend upwards of 6 hours preparing for each episode of the podcast, which runs for roughly an hour of actual gameplay, give or take.

First of all, I understand the difference between running a game at home with your friends versus coordinating a video and audio experience for a bunch of listeners. That is not lost on me at all. However, 6 hours of preparation seems astronomical for that long of gameplay, especially if you’re doing that every week.

I ran a Rise of the Runelords campaign over the course of 3+ years and I don’t think I ever approached 6 hours of prep for a 2-hour session. However, I definitely did spend a lot more time early on compared to the amount of time as the campaign hit the halfway mark and, eventually, the endgame. So what changed?

Prep Smarter, Not Harder

Especially when you’re talking about a pre-written Adventure Path, the initial preparation is bound to be longer. You want to understand the broad scope of the story starting out so that you can plant seeds, provide foreshadowing, and give context for the motivations of the various NPCs. Reading through the books one time is a must, but from then on you can mostly use the summaries at the beginning of Paizo’s APs for reference.

From there, you really only need to focus on the current book and the immediate future. There’s no sense in agonizing over minutiae of what’s likely to come hours and hours from now because the actions of the players could totally invalidate things that you’re sweating over.

Instead, before each session, I would think about a couple of options that the players might end up taking. This is generally easier than it would seem. Maybe they’re already mid-combat, and you have a feel for how long combats of this difficult normally take. Or perhaps they’ve been given a quest or directive, so you just need to know the steps of how that might play out.

The hardest preparation is when you’re dealing with a sandbox environment, where the players could go in a multitude of directions. Technically they always can, but when you’re running a pre-written adventure there should be an understanding at the table that you’re all working on progressing that story.

With sandboxes, again there is this idea of narrowing down the scope of your preparation. You are the Gamemaster! You can prep a handful of things and then nudge them in certain directions with either an NPC’s actions, global events like commotion happening, or put a ‘Closed’ sign on a shop window.

Image from Paizo’s Dark Archive.

Experience is King

Perhaps the factor with the biggest impact in allowing me to cut preparation time was experience. The more that you GM, the more you’ll be able to improv certain things or focus on aspects of the game that enhance the player experience beyond the pre-written module. This means incorporating flashbacks or set-pieces that the players have prepared that showcase backstory or little vignettes that bring your table to life.

Some people focus a lot of their preparation time on monster/enemy statblocks and abilities. Over time this gets easier too. Paizo is really good about putting in typical turns for how enemies will react and act in a combat, so use that to your advantage.

Even when it comes to preparing NPCs, I keep it very simple. What are their key motivations and what are a few things that flesh them out as a person? For example, I might know that the blacksmith is primarily known for their unique forging ability which allows them to temper weapons more efficiently than anyone else in the vicinity. They might have bushy mutton chops that he obsessively maintains and a ‘pet’ squirrel that constantly annoys him at the forge. Boom. In a matter of a minute or two, I suddenly know more about how I want to portray this character to the party, and have a funny little scene in mind where the squirrel interrupts whatever conversation they might have.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

One of my most important tips is that you can always keep things waiting in the wings. Even if you prepare for something that doesn’t come to pass, you can always reskin and repurpose that to use elsewhere. Because guess what? Your players won’t even know the difference!

Whether it’s a monster that you can tweak into something else or a little sidequest that was never introduced, you can shuffle things around and use them another time instead of throwing them on a scrapheap. You’ve already prepped it, so why prepare something else?

I do this ALL THE TIME and it saves me a lot of headache. Part of the stress of a newer Gamemaster is that they prep for all of these things and then only a sliver makes it to the table for that session. This alleviates that fear and lets you operate in the present in a more carefree manner.

Pathfinder Lost Omens Firebrands
Image from Paizo’s Lost Omens Firebrands.

Prep Easy, Rest Easy

And those are my main tips for you! Yes, they’re fairly generalized but my main point is that being a Gamemaster doesn’t mean you have to spent gobs of hours preparing for every session. My prep time for games like Blades in the Dark was down to about 15 minutes, and most of that was just generating a list of various setbacks and consequences that I could spring on the players. For Pathfinder 2E, my prep was under a half hour: a cursory glance at statblocks, reading ahead a few pages, and making sure the Virtual Tabletop was loaded up.

Cutting down on preparation time is key to keeping your sanity as a GM, and gives you more freedom and flexibility to curate your prep into enhancing the game experience for your players. Because when you prep easy, you rest easy.

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Redwood: The Picture Perfect Board Game https://nerdsonearth.com/2023/12/redwood-the-picture-perfect-board-game/ Wed, 13 Dec 2023 20:29:55 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=41129 Redwood board game

Abram reviews Redwood, the board game that has you lining up the perfect photographic shot, published by Sit Down!

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Redwood board game
Redwood board game
Redwood Board Game by Sit Down! Games

Redwood, a recent board game published by Sit Down! Games, puts the photographic power in the players’ hands as they attempt to line up a perfect set of five amazing wildlife shots. You’ll traipse across several biomes in search of a panorama worthy of any fireplace mantle.

Designed by Christophe Raimbault, the Redwood board game tests your spatial geometric skills as you guesstimate and estimate which movement templates will get you into the sweet spots to photograph the wildlife. You’ll also need to choose the right lens that for the job, hoping that you will be able to capture the most scenery.

So let’s take a look at this game through a critical lens as we check out Redwood!

Redwood Gameplay

The Redwood board game is dependent on the players’ ability to spatial reason in order to score the most points with their photographs. On your turn, you will eye up all of the templates and pick one of the Move templates and one of the Shot templates. Remember – once you touch one of them, that’s the one you have to use!

Your goal is to choose a Move template that will get your miniature photographer in position for the shot. Each of them is a slightly different size and angle from the others. You’ll clip that onto your miniature’s base, and then you can swivel it around to see all of the various spots you can end up this turn.

Then you take your Shot template and hope that your choices served you well. You want to fill up your photo frame with the assorted flora and fauna, possibly even getting a perfect shot if one of the animals is lined up with the template’s hole. If you manage to snag a pic of one of the major wildlife, they will bond over rock and stream to their other favored biome.

After five rounds the game is over, and the scores are tallied. You earn points for photographing sequoias, animals, flowers, and having a sun token. Whoever has the most pinecones wins the game!

Redwood board game

Staking Our C.L.A.I.M. on Redwood!

Components

Obviously the whole game design with the templates is super interesting and unique, which is why the Redwood board game initially stood out to me at Gen Con. The miniatures come with little neoprene stickers for the bottoms which really helps in a game where every millimeter matters. It helps them slip less and you can actually kind of push down on them to keep them even steadier as you line up your shot.

I did hear some reports of some component failures on the first printing of the game, where the notch that holds the animals in place on the board would break off or get stuck inside. My copy has a balsa bottom, so I’m not sure which printing that falls into, but I haven’t had any issues after several games. I would just be careful in that you don’t push them in too far.

Personally, I think that the rulebook layout is a tad on the busy-side with its use of many side-by-side columns which makes it a bit more difficult to parse through if you’re searching for something in particular.

Overall, everything in Redwood is exceptionally produced, including the plastic templates for the Move and Shot actions. The miniatures are excellent and building your photographs is very satisfying.

Redwood board game

Luck

The number one important rule in the Redwood board game is that you have to completely cover the subjects of your photos. It’s bolded several times in the rules, but I still didn’t have that click with me on the first game. That’s what makes photographing the 3-point animals (like the bear) so difficult, because prioritizing that is going to impede your ability to fill the frame with other subjects.

You also can’t use the same set of templates that you used last time, if they’re still in front of you. I found that the smaller Move templates, such as the one that is U-shaped, seemed to be in higher demand. If you can stick around the middle section of the board, you have a lot more versatility into your subjects, but you can also miss out on those animals that are closer to the outside edge.

It’s actually quite hard to anticipate what animals might move between your current and next turns. Generally, the higher point animals are going to be in more demand, but it also makes sense to pay attention to the current round objectives to see what people might be going to focus on. At the end of the day, it’s up to your intuition to put together a solid string of photographs.

Aesthetics

Redwood‘s box art made my jaw drop; it’s absolutely superb. The entire thing, coupled with the production quality, is very well put together in the sense that I feel the message being conveyed of nature’s beauty. There really doesn’t need to be much incorporation of iconography on the board, since the mechanics generally revolve around the templates. This opens up the board to be much more free of clutter, letting the art shine through.

At the same time, the division of the biomes and the placement of the objectives is very intuitive and works really well on the table. There is a certain thoughtfulness in the presentation that lets you know exactly what you’ll be doing in the game, and I’m appreciative of that.

Interest

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of other games that Redwood reminds me of, and nothing is coming to mind. It really feels like its own animal, no pun intended, and that makes it a standout on the table and on the shelf. If you’re a photography buff or a nature-lover, those two themes are coupled together nicely in this game. And, because of the simplicity of the mechanics, Redwood is exceptionally approachable by all ages, although I’d have a little bit more leniency with younger ages, like suggesting that the animals don’t have to be completely covered.

Other than that, I suppose if you’ve played other games with movement templates like X-Wing or the like, you might like this as well! I’m really stretching with that one, but like I said, it’s a very unique game that marries the theme and mechanics together really well.

Redwood board game

Mood

The Redwood board game is one of those games where you’re really hoping for player interaction and that they use your templates. After all, that helps to open up your options when it comes back around to your turn! You’ll feel a bit of agony if the animal you were planning on photographing suddenly moves, but in a way, the fluid state of the board makes you feel like every turn is a little puzzle for you to solve.

Now, because of this, some players will succumb to analysis paralysis when choosing their templates. I get it – it’s a big decision. However, there is something to be said about keeping a bit of an internal timer going to just make a decision. You’re only choosing the templates, but you can spin those around all you want; it’s not like you’re locked into your original idea if suddenly your template offers you a fresh perspective when you finally lay it down.

Redwood board game

Redwood: Panoramic Perfection!

Nerds on Earth logo with 'Deal with It' sunglasses. Text inside the seal reads "Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness".

When I attend conventions, I’m always looking for that diamond in the rough, and I think I found it in Redwood. I really haven’t heard buzz about it at all, and it really might be my favorite game of 2023.

It should be no surprise that based on this I’m happy to award Redwood with the Nerds on Earth Seal of Awesomeness Award! Add that to the trophy case! I love gambling on a sweet shot, crossing my fingers that I chose the best templates to capture those critters in the frame perfectly.

You can pick up a copy of Redwood from your FLGS, or you can pick up a copy from Sit Down! directly.


[Disclaimer: Nerds on Earth was provided a copy of Redwood from Flat River Group Games in exchange for an honest review.]

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