Dave and Jennie brought Clans of Caledonia for our game night last week. This Euro-style game released in 2017 was both fun and challenging. I will share an overview of the game as well as thoughts and opinions. An Overview of the Game In Clans of Caledonia, players take on the role of Scottish Clans in 19th century Scotland. The game is designed for one to four players. Each player selects from a group of unique clan tiles and starting tiles which make the starting resources and persistent abilities slightly different for each. The game takes place over the course of five rounds. Each round utilizes a randomly selected bonus which can earn each player victory points for completion at the end of the round. Players place workers, farms and factories on different locations on the board. Considerations must be made for terrain on the board; forests, mountains fields and water. The workers produce money (coins), farms produce resources and during the production phase the factories can process resources creating produced goods. Export contracts can be selected and completed by supplying the proper resources then gaining the resulting points, products and resources. Players can choose to buy or sell their resources and produced goods at the market. These market actions require the use of merchants and will drive the prices of goods up (after a buy) or down (after a sale). After five rounds have been completed, players tally the results of multiple victory point categories. The player with the most points wins. Thoughts and Opinions
This medium-to-heavy-weight Euro game has a lot going on. In addition to the robust economic mechanisms, there is also an element of territory control. Different locations may block other players or take advantage of neighborhood pricing in nearby hexes. Interacting with other players occurs primarily on the board in the placement of pieces on the board, in the export contract board and in the market. There are a lot of choices and decisions to be made, though all are manageable. The shipping and navigation portion was a bit confusing as it seemed to be calculated slightly differently when applied to shipping across water tiles versus when using to calculate separation of settlements at the end of the game. Our group of Jennie, Dave, Chris and myself enjoyed the game. Chris and I were new to the game and attempted to compete against Jennie and Dave who had a few plays under their belts. I can see how it might take a game or two to get fully familiarized with the nuances of how the goods relate to each other and advantages to locations on the board. Somehow I ended up with the high score by just a couple of points, so being new to the game was apparently not a huge handicap. Those liking Euro-style games and some brain drain should enjoy Clans of Caledonia. If you'd like to read more about it on Board Game Geek, click here. I appreciate the continued support and feedback from fellow board gamers and those getting into the hobby. Please use the comments section to add your thoughts or ask questions. Thank you for visiting King's GameNight tabletop gaming blog and... Game on!
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The More Than Five Players DilemmaWhen your game night group grows beyond five, picking games to play becomes more difficult. My group has this occur frequently. Let me explain the options as I see them and one of the recent ways that my group managed this situation. Many in the board-gaming community have noticed that there seems to be a bit of a sweet spot when it comes to player count. Most of the more robust strategy and adventure games tend to be created to handle three to four players ideally. Recently we've seen publishers and designers create more game with a player count of up to five or even six. However at six plus, there seems to be a transition to more social or party style games. So what do you do when your game night group is going to be six or more? As more people gather at homes, pubs, game stores and the like, this issue seems to be occurring more frequently. Here are what I believe to be the primary options:
At a recent game night we had seven players planning to attend, so we decided to split into two tables. Since the group had two copies of AuZtralia (which can only play up to four) we set up two tables playing the same game. This turned out to work quite well. Everyone got to play the same game, just at different tables. The games ended within 15 minutes of each other. We even discussed the possibility of taking the highest scorers and pairing them together next time we play this game on two tables. Almost a tournament concept across multiple game nights. Maybe you have come up with a creative way to make six or more players work in a gaming group. If so, please share your experiences in the comments. Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden FortressRecently I was invited to join in with a group of four others in playing the Forbidden Fortress standalone expansion/game in the Shadows of Brimstone series. Troy, Kurt, Kurt, and Mike were kind enough to let me select a new character and join them in their adventures. Shadows of Brimstone is a cooperative dungeon-crawl board game. It utilizes miniatures, dice and a role-playing foundation that allow players to play as a predefined character that can level-up and gain items along the way. In the original game, characters are based on classic western heroes. These characters encounter all kinds of foes and enemies on their adventures. When traveling through caverns and other locations, the party can encounter a portal. Portals send the group or a portion of the group to another location and/or time. Depending on the expansions you have available, the characters could be transported into a space ship or a fantasy setting. Anything is possible. Forbidden Fortress is a standalone game or can be combined with other Shadows of Brimstone expansions to expand the universe. Forbidden Fortress characters are based on Feudal Japanese heroes, legend and lore. Our party consists of a Sumo, Ninja, Monk, Sorceress and Kitsune. The mission we are currently embarking on is set within an ancient temple. The battles we have had thus far seem to be epic in scale, fighting as many as fourteen enemies at once. Even though its just been this one outing, I am really enjoying playing. I'm excited to build up my Kitsune character with new items and abilities as we complete adventures and level up together. I'll keep you informed with occasional updates and photos of our adventures. If you'd like to read more about Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress on Board Game Geek, click here. Other Current Kickstarter CampaignsI occasionally receive requests to share information about current and upcoming gaming-related Kickstarter campaigns. Not all of them make it to my blog, however I do like to help out where I can. Many times I'll supply a little information and a link or even help promote when I can. One such recent request was for a new game called Kittens vs Puppies: The Card Game by Shadows Games. This is a cute deck-building game where teams of kittens and puppies battle it out by gaining items and rolling dice. This is the first Kickstarter project for this company. It's very difficult to get started in this industry and even more so, to gain the confidence of backers when you don't show a track record of past successes. If you're interested in learning more, check out the Kickstarter campaign by clicking here. To see the prototype in action and learn more about how the game is played, I've provided the YouTube video below. Thanks again for reading the King's GameNight gaming blog. I hope you find items of interest in my posts. If you have any suggestions for topics or want to let me know what you think about the site, please use the contact form. Or you can always leave comments after any of the articles. To check out previous posts, click on the archives links in the right column. Have a great time playing tabletop games and...
Game on! Migration MARS Kickstarter ProjectRecently I spotted a new board game project that caught my eye while perusing Kickstarter campaigns. As luck would have it, I was contacted by the developer who asked if I could take a look at their project and, if interested, help to promote it. I took a second, closer look and am pleased to say that Migration MARS looks really good. This game and the campaign promoting it appear to be well thought out and professionally produced. I am happy to help promote it here on King's GameNight. I'll share some images and thoughts as well as provide links at the end where you can learn more and back this already successful campaign. Thoughts When reviewing the Migration MARS Kickstarter campaign, I couldn't help but notice the high level of professional quality in the graphic design and overall presentation. The developer Enhance Product Development is relatively new, though they do show 2 created projects. So I took a little extra time to check out their website and to scrutinize the Kickstarter information. They did a great job in being prepared and putting together a nice package. I haven't had an opportunity to see the game in person or play the prototype. I watched the videos available on Kickstarter including the Tantrum House overview video. The game seems to be a medium (or medium/light) weight strategy game, accessible to a wide variety of gamers. The pieces and sculpts all fit a hex grid and are consistent in theme. I think a part of the fun would be in the construction of your unique colony. The game board itself seems fairly straightforward and without a lot going on. The plastic colony miniatures will add the to the visual interest as players sprawl out and occupy their territory. The rover tokens, cards and other components balance out the full assortment of game pieces. I really enjoy the Mars theme. It's in danger of being overdone, however you can never have too much of a good thing. The science-based theme and the resource gathering are appealing. It appears that there is a bit of a "take-that" mechanic as players have the option to damage each others' colonies with meteor strikes. Some game groups may not like this kind of interaction, however there are ways to mitigate meteor strikes by better preparing for such disasters. Gathering resources and being prepared are a part of the strategy. Overall, it looks like there is a satisfying amount of strategy, interaction and resource management in Migration MARS. Early Bird pricing and a reasonable price point make supporting this game even more enticing. There are some nice stretch goals available with the first couple already unlocked. Migration MARS is already fully funded and the amount of backers is growing. All good signs that it will be a success. Final Comments
I am happy to help promote Migration MARS. If you would like to find out more about the Migration MARS Kickstarter campaign, CLICK HERE. Take advantage of the special early bird pricing while it lasts. Should you choose to back this project, your purchase will provide a commission to King's GameNight. Thank you for supporting King's GameNight and... Game on! Played Coldwater Crown at my friend Troy's house last Friday. A game that brings two of my favorite hobbies together; board games and fishing. Was it a match made in heaven or a mistake to use this odd theme? I'll supply a brief overview of the game and my thoughts. Overview In Coldwater Crown players compete against each other in a fishing challenge. Anglers Attempt to collect fish from the Lake, River and Shore regions. Players place "bait" in the form of color crystals drawn from a bag, onto their player board resembling a bait/tackle box. By "casting" their player token (alternating between values of 1 to 2) onto an available location on the board. Colored locations allow for the player to remove one of that colored bait from each section of the player bait box (if the token is indicating the #1). When activating a token with the number 2, all of the bait of that color may be removed from the player board. When "reeling in" or retrieving the cast, a player removes a token from the board from a different location and playing the associated action, much the same as the cast. When at the special port location, players may choose to select a master angler card or to draw additional bait pieces from the bag and populate one of their bait box sections. When the result of your actions clears all the bait from any number of sections on your bait box, you have "caught" the fish associated with that section or sections in the region you took the action. The corresponding card(s) are selected and added to your player area in front of you. Players continue to collect fish from sections, noting the weight and time each fish was caught (indicated on the back of the card). Players also use removed bait to fill in the slots needed to collect the Master Angler cards. There are also different tackle tokens which give special abilities when catching fish. For instance, when using the rod tackle token the player may choose the fish from any region in the appropriate section, not just the current region. These special tokens are exhausted after one use, however you can earn new ones by catching fish in the #5 section of your bait box (player board). Crown points (victory points) are awarded for a number of things. Each region has varying trophies with decreasing VP amounts for the most weight of fish caught in that region. There is a small species challenge awarded for players who catch one of each of the smallest fish in each region. Each Master Angler card that is completed is worth a victory point and additional points awarded for collecting three of the same and/or four different ones. Catching a fish of a specific weight can gain a bonus. Awards are also given to anyone catching 8 different species and the first to catch 12 fish. Catching 12 fish also triggers the endgame. At the end, players compare weights in each region and award points based on ranking. After adding in all other victory points, tagged fish bonuses and challenges, the angler with the most crown points wins. Thoughts Troy put Coldwater Crown on the table for his game night selection. A game none of the rest of us had played. I don't think any of us had even heard of it. Unfortunately the player count was one to four and we had five players. As usual, Troy did an expert job of modifying the game to allow for a fifth player. Essentially he printed out a separate player card and used a substitute token - new five-player game variation! The components were fairly standard. The board, cards, plastic crystals (bait), and tokens all seemed nice but nothing particularly unique. The artwork was nicely done. Illustrations of the fish seemed well drawn, but not quite to the level of the bird illustrations in Wingspan. I'll stop for a second and compare this game to Wingspan due to the similar subject matter. The gameplay itself in these two games is quite different, however both games require players to collect the respective animals in a player tableau area. The idea that a game about birds would be any good, seems about as odd or mundane as a game about fish and fishing. I think both games pull it off quite well. And Coldwater Crown was released before Wingspan. Coldwater Crown didn't have the promotion and commotion when it was released, yet it is a very good game about a subject matter few would have thought would be interesting. Continuing with my thoughts on the game... I think Goldwater Crown has a lot of interesting mechanisms. Casting out with one token and retrieving with another which supplies your actions for each turn. Using bait as an indicator of when a fish is caught. There were so many possible areas to concentrate on: trophies in each region; master angler challenge; small species challenge and more. There was some randomness in which color bait was pulled from the bag, however that was part of the fun and challenge. I think its got a lot of replay value. New strategies to try and areas to focus. We even told a few fish stories as we played, adding to the social enjoyment of playing. Even though I've only got this one play under my belt, I think its solid and would recommend it... especially if you have an affinity for fishing. If you want to read more about Coldwater Crown on the Board Game Geek site, click here. Please continue checking out King's GameNight blog and follow the Facebook page.
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