King of Tokyo: Power Up! Expansion Review

Since I'm reviewing an expansion, my normal format kinda goes to the wayside.  With any expansion, the main question one has to ask is something along the lines of "does this offer enough extra things to warrant the price?"  Now those extra things come in many shapes and sizes.


Power Up offers 2 things - a new character, and evolution cards for each monster.  So first thing, the new monster is the Pandakai.  Not really from the realm of Godzilla movies, but with the success of Kung Fu Panda, no one can blame them for wanting a Panda in the game.  The monster alone wouldn't be enough to justify buying the expansion in my book, so we have to go to the evolution cards.  The expansion includes 56 cards, 8 cards for each of the 7 monsters, that give them some kind of unique ability.  Some evolutions are temporary, meaning one time use, while others are permanent.  When a monster rolls 3 or more hearts on a turn they get a random evolution from their deck.  They hold on to the card, keep it secret, and play it at any time.  This introduces some new strategic choices.  The cards make your intentions a little less obvious, which is good.  It also gives you something to go for at the beginning if you roll more hearts than you need to heal, or if you roll hearts while in Tokyo.


So, the verdict on Power Up.  I like the way it changes the game.  I don't introduce it to new players, but I'll try to bring it in within 3 games.  The evolution cards give each monster their own unique feel.  The Cyber Bunny has cards that make it easier for it to get energy and buy cards, while the King, Gigazaur and Meka Dragon have cards that help them attack.  It will push certain monsters in different paths, but that's not a terrible thing.  I've seen people win without drawing any evolution cards, and I've seen people with 4 evolution cards wipe the floor with everyone else.  These cards do add more luck to an already luck based game, but they also add more flexibility, and offer more choices, which is a good thing in my book.  Overall, I'm happy to own Power Up! I think it's a great addition to King of Tokyo.  The base game is perfectly good without it, so don't feel like you have to go out and get it.  Power Up gives you more things to add to a good game.  It will keep it feeling fresher longer, and that's a good thing for any game.

Want to buy the expansion and support BoBG?  (Right now June 11 2013 the price is a bit high.  It can be had for <$20 if you look around)

In Memorium - Games With Two - Jason Moslander

I woke up today (June 6th 2013) to find out that Jason Moslander had passed away suddenly yesterday.  He was 27, a husband and a father.  He's best known to me through his blog Games with Two.  I never met Jason in person, but I had interacted with him several times.  We worked together on the Christmas buying list, and formed a bit of a collation early on to highlight each other's work.  He most recently wished me a Happy Birthday, which brought a smile to my face then, and a tear to my eye now.

I'm not feeling his loss to anywhere near the extent that his family is, but he will be missed in the gaming community.  He was a friendly guy, always looking for great games to play with his wife, and I never heard anyone say a bad thing about him.  I enjoyed reading his writing and getting ideas for articles of my own, as well as trying to find great games that I will be able to play with my future wife.

Times like this make you realize how small the board game community really is.  We all kinda know each other in some way, even if we never meet in person.  There's rarely a logical reason to why someone goes when they do, but somewhere, someone is being touched by this is a way that no one can imagine.

To Mrs. GWT, know that you're not alone in going through this.  The gaming community is sending our collective thoughts and prayers your way.

To everyone else, be sure to enjoy the time you have with the people you love, and the people you game with, and especially with the people you love and game with.  We never know how long we have, make every moment, and every game count for something.

Edit on Friday June 7th - One of Jason's gaming buddies got in touch with me and wanted to share the following info.

Mossy (Jason Moslander) Introduced me to games, but I never got too involved online so I don't know where to get the info to.

A fund has been created for them by the deacons of Rockport. All that is given will go to their support. Please make checks out to Rockport Baptist and designate the gift as -- "Acts 4 Fund: Moslander" or even "Moslander" 
Send to Rockport Baptist Church 
3761 Telegraph Road
Arnold, MO 63010

Also here are the funeral arrangements:

Visitation will be Sunday (june 9th) from 3 to 8 PM at Bopp Chapel, 10610 Manchester Rd, Kirkwood, MO 63122 
The funeral will be held at 11 AM Monday (June 10th) at Twin Rivers Worship Center, 10575 Tesson Ferry Rd, St Louis, MO 63123.
Pastor Scott Lee from Rockport will be officiating.

May 2013 Recap

Another 31 days and a new month, as well as my birthday, meaning lots of games being played today on June 1st.

May was a good month of gaming.  I had my first experience playing games with a group at church, primarily Catan, but also some other games.  I didn't have as many Mondays due to finals.  The good news is that it's summer, which always means lots of games.
I played 36 games in 31 days, gaining just a tad, but the summer tends to be a boost.  That brings the YTD total to 147/365.  Ideally I would be at 151, so just 4 behind.  I played 15 games for the first time this year, which brings me up to 59/100.  I also got to play with 21 new people, bringing that count to 49/50.

Just a quick list of what I actually played in May

6 Times

• King of Tokyo

5 Times

• Eight-Minute Empire

3 Times

• Catan
• Flash Point

2 Times

• Smash Up

1 Time

• 23
• Ace of Spies
• Alhambra
• Article 27
• Cinque Terre
• Dominion
• Imperial
• Kingdoms
• Martian Dice
• Nefarious
• Race to Adventure
• Scary Tales
• Screaming Eagles
• Star Trek Catan
• Talisman
• Ticket to Ride
• Tiki Topple

I acquired 2 new games in May - Eight-Minute Empire (Kickstarter arrival) and The Hunger Games District 12 game (B&N 75% off clearance).  I also caved and bought the expansions for Dominion online - goko.com - which I've been playing a lot.

Looking ahead to June, my game playing should see a bigger uptick.  My birthday leads to a lot of games, game groups tend to run later since there's less going on, and more people tend to show up.  I'm hoping to review Eight-Minute Empire so look for that soon, as well as a review for the King of Tokyo and Smash Up expansions.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

RAWR HULK SMASH - Smash Up Review

Smash Up

• Designed by Paul Peterson
• Published by AEG
• For 2-4 players (I prefer 3 or 4, but it works with 2) ages 10 and up.
• Playtime is 45-60 minutes.  More people lead to slightly longer games, but the difference isn't that noticeable.

Catch
Combine two completely different decks of creatures (Ninjas, Aliens, Dinosaurs, Pirates, Zombies, Wizards, Tricksters, or Microbots)  in order to take over bases.  

Mechanics

Sample Faction Cards
(Image provided by the publisher)

On your turn, you may play 1 minion and 1 action from your hand.  Minions are played to bases, and they all have a strength value, which is used to determine if a base is "smashed."  Actions affect something in play, either a one time ability, or through lasting effects on minions or bases.  Minions are added to bases until the base's breakpoint is reached.  At that point, whoever has the highest minion strength receives 1st place points, second highest gets 2nd place points, and third gets 3rd.  The first player to get to 15 total points wins the game.

Interaction
There is a great deal of interaction is Smash Up.  Many minions mess with the best laid plans of others.  The same goes for actions.  Some decks are more interactive than others, but every deck has the ability to mess with other players in some way.

Theme

Game in progress

Smash Up has a cool theme concept, and it carries it through reasonably well.  The different decks tend to behave in ways you'd expect from them.  For example, the Ninjas are very stealthy with some minions being able to join a base right before it scores.  The Aliens have a lot of cards that send other minions back to their owner's hand or deck.  All of these ideas make sense, but I feel like the theme could be more immersive.

Components

One of the best game
storage boxes

Biggest complaint of Smash Up is that there is no way to keep score, so players have to use pen and paper, dice, or some form of counter.  Now, this isn't a huge drawback, but it is something that the game should have included from the start.  (Note that the expansion comes with victory point counters, so AEG did recognize and fix the problem.)  The cards are great, they shuffle easily.  All the artwork is fantastic and definitely enhances the theme.  Another complaint is that the game doesn't really have an easy way to organize all the minions on all the different bases.  In a 4 player game, there are 5 bases, potentially each with 4 different players' minions.  That's 25 piles of cards, which gets busy.

2 Sample bases

Learning Curve
Smash Up is fairly straight forward to learn, but it's not the most intuitive game to play well.  There is a fair bit of strategy when it comes to when and where to play minions.  Some of the actions have odd interactions so it really take a play or two to get some of these things down.

Replayability
I've played it 8 times in the past 6 months and I'm enjoying it.  I'm not playing super often, but it still finds table time every so often.  If you play every game with 4 players, you use all the decks, so that could get old fast.  I've played all the decks at this point, but I haven't played every combination, or even seen every combination.  Each deck combination really does feel different, and presents unique challenges.

Why I like Smash Up

Discard and draw deck

It's a fun and random game.  There's a lot of variety with the different decks, and a lot of back and forth.  The game strikes a good balance between messing with people but not destroying all their plans.  There's a natural balance built in because players will start ganging up against whoever is ahead.

Why I don't like Smash Up
The game can often take longer than I feel it should.  It's not that the end drags on, it's more that the start of the game takes a long time, then some bases score, then it takes a long time for more to score.  This is probably still a feature of new players, but it's a pattern I'm seeing repeatedly, and it makes me a little weary.

Overall

I like Smash Up but I don't love it.  I enjoy playing it, but it's probably never going to be in my Top 42.  It has a lot of room for expansions, which is great for variety, but it can also result in a power creep.  I'm not planning on getting rid of Smash Up any time soon, but it wouldn't surprise me if I got rid of it at some point.

Would it be a good game for Tabletop?
I think it could be interesting on Tabletop, but I don't know that it would be a big enough hit.  There's intrigue in the game, and several moments of tension, but a lot of the game is played in the heads of the players, which is why Dominion will never be on Tabletop.

Want to buy the game? Here's a link to Amazon, and you'll help support BoBG.

April 2013 Recap

Another 30 days and a new month.

April was a mixed bag of gaming.
I played 21 games in 30 days, hence falling behind, but I figured this would happen.    That brings the YTD total to 111/365.  I played 3 games for the first time this year, which brings me up to 44/100.  I also got to play with 2 new people, bringing that count to 28/50.  I'm confident that all of those numbers will be going up in May.

Just a quick list of what I actually played in April.

5 Times

• X-Wing

4 Times

• Cosmic Encounter
• King of Tokyo

1 Time

• Aton
• Eclipse
• Fleet
• For Sale
• Jaipur
• No Thanks
• Smash Up
• Star Trek: Fleet Captains
• Survive: Escape From Atlantis

I acquired no new games in April. I did pick up the wonder pack for 7 Wonders, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet.  There are some things on my radar, but I think I'm waiting for Gencon releases to get anything new.

Looking ahead to May, my gaming should see a slight uptick.  Game group on Mondays should be going stronger since summer is starting to hit.  I've been invited to a biweekly game night on Fridays, so that will be great to meet new people.  My sister is graduating college, so she'll be around for games more often, which is great for family time.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

For R&T

This is going to be an odd post to almost everyone who reads it, but it's a post I wanted to make.  On Saturday, one of my good friends, and fellow boardgamer is getting married to the love of her life, a fellow boardgamer.  I won't bore anyone with all the details, but I'm extremely happy for them and the wonderful nerd/geek world that they both happily embrace.

I wanted to share some gaming memories I've had with them.

The first game I ever played with the bride to be was Monty Python Fluxx.  Now, you may think that she's just that kind of gamer, but really, M.P. Fluxx is a silly game, and a great college dorm game.  After that, it was further silliness in the form of Munchkin, and while Munchkin is not a favorite of mine these days, the first few games were good, silly fun.  Those are the only two games I remember playing with her that school year, but the next year, she got recruited to the full game group, primarily due to Shadows Over Camelot.  I still remember the first time she played a traitor, and how she completely fooled everyone at the table.  Later that year, I managed to introduce her to Cosmic Encounter.  While she didn't love the game, she was a good sport, and has played a couple of times.

I first met the groom last March, though we had talked several months before online.  The bride and I taught him Dominion, which is not the easiest of games to pick-up online.  He tends to favor abstract games, which is not my strong suite, but it made a fun challenge.  He taught me Pentago and soundly defeated me, as expected.  I guess it was payback for all those Dominion games.

Our most recent gaming adventure was funding Kings of Air and Steam on Kickstarter (we went for the 2 game package for a discount.)  They've played it more than I have, but we have all enjoyed the game, even through the production delays.

One of my fondest memories of these two was getting a phone call on New Years Day 2012, asking for my advice on a boardgame while they were in a gamestore.  I was half asleep, but I managed to coherently suggest a couple of things.  They ended up getting Elder Sign, which they later traded to me, but it all worked out in the end.  It goes to show you that not every game is right for every person, but every person has some game that is right for them.

To R&T on their wedding eve, congratulations, best wishes, and many happy gaming events.

To the rest of you, grab someone, a wife, husband, best friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, another couple, someone special to you and play a game with them.  Games are best shared with the ones we love.

Dice Tower Award Nominations for 2012

The Dice Tower Award Nominations came out this morning for games produced in 2011.  I wanted to take a look at them, give you my choice from the list, and the one I think will win.  Often these will be the same, but I think some differences will exist too.  If you feel so inclined, leave a comment below as to where you disagree.

Game of the Year:

Android Netrunner: by Richard Garfield, Lukas Litzsinger - Fantasy Flight Games
Descent Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition): by Adam Sadler, Daniel Clark (I), Corey Konieczka, Kevin Wilson - Fantasy Flight Games
CO2: by Vital Lacerda – Stronghold Games
Lords of Waterdeep: by Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson – Wizards of the Coast
Mage Wars: by Bryan and Benjamin Pope – Arcane Wonders
Mice and Mystics: by Jerry Hawthorne – Plaid Hat Games
Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island: by Ignacy Trzewiczek – Z-Man Games
Space Cadets: by Brian, Geoff, and Sydney Engelstein – Stronghold Games
Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery: by Aaron Dill, John Kovaleski, and Sean Sweigart – Battlefront Miniatures Ltd
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game: by Jason Little – Fantasy Flight Games

My Choice: X-Wing
What I Think Will Win: Mice and Mystics

Best Family Game Nominees:
Lords of Waterdeep: by Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson – Wizards of the Coast
Love Letter: by Seiji Kanai – AEG
Legendary: by Devin Low – Upper Deck
Smash Up: by Paul Peterson - AEG
Space Cadets: by Brian, Geoff, and Sydney Engelstein – Stronghold Games

My Choice: Smash Up
What I Think WIll Win: Lords of Waterdeep

Best New Game Designer Nominees:
Lords of Waterdeep: by Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson – Wizards of the Coast
Mage Wars: by Bryan and Benjamin Pope – Arcane Wonders
Mice and Mystics: by Jerry Hawthorne – Plaid Hat Games
Space Cadets: by Brian, Geoff, and Sydney Engelstein – Stronghold Games
Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery: by Aaron Dill, John Kovaleski, and Sean Sweigart – Battlefront Miniatures Ltd

My Choice: Mice and Mystics

What I Think WIll Win: Space Cadets

Best Game Reprint Nominees:
Descent Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition): by Adam Sadler, Daniel Clark (I), Corey Konieczka, Kevin Wilson - Fantasy Flight Games
Merchant of Venus (Second Edition): by Richard Hamblan and Robert A. Kouba - Fantasy Flight Games
Android Netrunner: by Richard Garfield, Lukas Litzsinger - Fantasy Flight Games
Sentinels of the Multiverse: by Christopher Badell and Paul Bender - Greater Than Games LLC
War of the Ring (Second Edition): by Robert Di Meflio, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello - Ares Games

My Choice: Merchant of Venus

What I Think WIll Win: Descent

Best Production Values Nominees:
Descent Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition): by Adam Sadler, Daniel Clark (I), Corey Konieczka, Kevin Wilson - Fantasy Flight Games
Mice and Mystics: by Jerry Hawthorne – Plaid Hat Games
Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar: by Simone Luciani and Daniele Tascini - Rio Grande Games
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game: by Jason Little – Fantasy Flight Games
Zombicide: by Raphael Guiton, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Nicolas Raoult - Cool Mini or Not 

My Choice: X-Wing

What I Think WIll Win: X-Wing

Best Small Publisher Nominees:

Agents of SMERSH: by Jason Maxwell – 8th Summit

Empires of the Void: by Ryan Laukat - Unpublished

Mage Wars: by Bryan and Benjamin Pope – Arcane Wonders
Mice and Mystics: by Jerry Hawthorne – Plaid Hat Games

Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery: by Aaron Dill, John Kovaleski, and Sean Sweigart – Battlefront Miniatures Ltd

My Choice: Mice and Mystics

What I Think WIll Win: Mice and Mystics

Best Party Game Nominees:

Coup: by Rikki Tahta – La Mame Games

Love Letter: by Seiji Kanai – AEG

Plukin' Pairs: by Stephen Glenn – R&R Games

Las Vegas: by Rüdiger Dorn – Alea

Wits and Wagers Party: by Dominic Crapuchettes – North Star Games

My Choice: Wits and Wagers Party

What I Think WIll Win: Love Letter

Best Game Expansion Nominees:

7 Wonders: Cities: by Antoine Bauza – Asmodee

Alien Frontiers: Factions: by Tory Niemann - Clever Mojo Games

Core Worlds: Galactic Orders: by Andrew Parks – Stronghold Games

King of Tokyo: Power Up!: by Richard Garfield – IELLO

Mage Knight Board Game: The Lost Legion, by Vlaada Chvátil – Wizkids Games

My Choice: 7 Wonders Cities

What I Think WIll Win: 7 Wonders Cities

Most Innovative Game Nominees:

Escape: The Curse of the Temple: by Kristian Amundsen Østby – Queen Games

Flowerfall: by Carl Chudyk – Asmadi Games

Mage Wars: by Bryan and Benjamin Pope – Arcane Wonders

Space Cadets: by Brian, Geoff, and Sydney Engelstein – Stronghold Games

Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar: by Simone Luciani and Daniele Tascini - Rio Grande Games

My Choice: Escape

What I Think WIll Win: Space Cadets

Best Game Artwork Nominees:

Libertalia: by Paolo Mori - Asterion Press

Legendary: by Devin Low – Upper Deck

Mice and Mystics: by Jerry Hawthorne – Plaid Hat Games

Seasons: by Régis Bonnessée – Asmodee

Smash Up: by Paul Peterson - AEG

My Choice: Seasons

What I Think WIll Win: Mice and Mystics

Best War Games Nominees:

1812: The Invasion of Canada: by Beau Beckett and Jeph Stahl  – Academy Games

1989: Dawn of Freedom: by Jason Matthews and Ted Torgeson - Bard Centrum Gier

Andean Abyss: by Volko Ruhnke – GMT Games

Thunderbolt Apache Leader: by Dan Verssen – DVG

Virgin Queen: Ed Beach - GMT Games

My Choice: 1989

What I Think WIll Win: 1989

Best Game Theme Nominees:

CO2: by Vital Lacerda – Stronghold Games

Mice and Mystics: by Jerry Hawthorne – Plaid Hat Games

Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island: by Ignacy Trzewiczek – Z-Man Games
Space Cadets: by Brian, Geoff, and Sydney Engelstein – Stronghold Games

Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery: by Aaron Dill, John Kovaleski, and Sean Sweigart – Battlefront Miniatures Ltd

My Choice: Space Cadets

What I Think WIll Win: Mice and Mystics

There are a lot of great nominees here, and picking winners is hard to do, but I think these are mostly great games, and each has a lot to offer.